Geoengineering in the ocean: a solution or not ?

The recent publication of a geoengineering trial using phytoplankton to remove carbon dixoide from the atmosphere again raises the question as to whether this course of action is either sensible or safe notwithstanding the difficulties in controlling CO2. The trial called Eifex was carried out in the Southern Ocean in 2004 and involved adding iron to the ocean in order to stimulate plankton to grow. In many ocean regions, iron is not plentiful so the theory operates on the basis that if iron was added, phytoplankton would grow and in turn remove carbon dioxide. The plankton then die and sink to the bottom of the ocean taking the CO2 with them. A similar trial called Lohaflex was run in 2009 but failed after causing an algae bloom instead so the idea was considered a failure. But how sensible is this solution of iron fertilisation ? And what impacts on other species and various oceans will this artifical intervention cause ? And why was there a delay in publishing the results of a 2004 trial in 2012 ?

Geoengineering is seldom as straighforward as it appears and risks are rarely fully understood.  

Coal Seam Gas - concerns from rural communities

Rural communities in Queensland and NSW, Australia continue to express their fears over the impacts, both existing and potential, of coal seam gas mining in agricultural and key environmental regions (produced by civil lobby/campaign organisation GetUp!).

Coal for power - what more do you need ?

Fossil fuel mining and consumption remains one of the greatest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. An amusing parody of industry promotion in the United States -

Ocean Blue and Seagrass Green - carbon sink loss

Seagrass is also a habitat for small fish

When most people think of oxygen production and carbon storage, most of the time trees and forests are the first items that come to mind - but in fact the single greatest source of oxygen on the planet is the ocean. Similarly the ocean is the single greatest resource for carbon capture on the planet mainly through seagrass which is estimated to capture around 27.4 million tonnes of carbon each year. Unlike forests which only hold carbon for approximately 60 years, seagrass is holding carbon stored in the soil below it from the last ice age.

The startling results from research carried out on 946 seagrass meadows worldwide by the University of Western Australia has revealed that these critical resources are disappearing at a rate of 1.5% per annum due to water pollution, dredging for construction and effects of warmer temperatures due to climate change. This means that the carbon stored beneath the plants is being released back into the atmosphere and with an estimated 19.9 billion tonnes of carbon stored beneath seagrass, the scenario of a widespread release of carbon cannot be discounted. If large areas of seagrass die that is likely to be in excess of 299 million tonnes per year.

National Agreement on Coal Seam Gas Mining

The recent agreement between the Australian Government and State Governments in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Northern Territory and South Australia under the umbrella of the Council of Australian Governments  (COAG) recognises and underscores the level of community unease about this form of mining and its potential negative impacts - whether on the community, the environment and in particular, water resources. The National Partnership Agreement on Coal Seam Gas and Large Coal Mining Development cites the various possible risks and emphasises the need for greater research as a matter of urgency with a strong emphasis on the protection of water resources from the effects of CSG mining.

Of note, local government authorities across several Australian states remain concerned with CSG mining citing the effects on farmland, food security, biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), tourism, local economies and local community health.

A copy of the National Partnership Agreement can be obtained by clicking here.

Accounting and the environment

One of the most pronounced weaknesses identified with the current economic system worldwide has been the lack of measuring or attempting to measure, the externalities of environmental assets required for the production of goods and services. Two newer schools of thought in the economics profession which have evolved, now attempt to address this situation - environmental economics and ecological economics specifically are concerned with including these 'externalities' vis the environmental goods and services (rivers and water, forests, arrable land, and other natural resources) on which we all depend.

Without these externalities, the economics system would collapse and yet, until recent years, Neoclassical, Keynesian and later schools never included these finite resources in their models, so the environment was left to be plundered and exhausted with little recognition of its actual true worth (known in environmental circles as the 'Tragedy of the Commons'). But change has come with the United Nations and some Member States, including the European Union, adopting the 'System of Environmental-Economic Accounts (SEEA). This has occured only this year and Australia has followed suit. SEEA has four types of accounts in its framework and in summary these are:

Physical flow accounts record flows of natural inputs from the environment to the economy, flows of products within the economy and flows of residuals generated by the economy. These flows include water and energy used in production (e.g. of agricultural commodities) and waste flows to the environment (e.g. solid waste to landfill).

Functional accounts for environmental transactions record the many transactions between different economic units (i.e. industries, households, governments) that concern the environment. The relevant transactions are identified by first defining the set of environmental activities - i.e. those activities that reduce or eliminate pressures on the environment and that aim to make more efficient use of natural resources. Examples include investing in technologies designed to prevent or reduce pollution, restoring the environment after it has been polluted, recycling, conservation and resource management. Environmental activities are classified as being either environmental protection activities or resource management activities.

Asset accounts in physical and monetary terms measure the natural resources available and changes in the amount available. Asset accounts focus on the key individual components of the environment: mineral and energy resources; timber resources; fish/aquatic resources; other biological resources; soil resources; water resources; and land. They include measures of the stock of each environmental asset at the beginning and end of an accounting period and record the various changes in the stock due to extraction, natural growth, discovery, catastrophic loss or other reasons.

Ecosystem accounts are a developing area and not yet part of the international statistical standard. Ecosystems are areas containing a dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and their non-living environment interacting as a functional unit. Ecosystem accounts are structured to summarise information about these areas, their changing capacity to operate as a functional unit and their delivery of benefits to humanity.

The benefits received by humanity are known as ecosystem services. They are delivered in different forms and are grouped into three broad categories. The first category of ecosystem services is provisioning services. These are the benefits received from the natural inputs provided by the environment such as water, timber, fish and energy resources. The second category is regulatory services. These include the benefits provided when an ecosystem operates as a sink for emissions and other residuals, when an ecosystem provides flood mitigation services or when an ecosystem provides pollination services to agriculture. The third category is cultural services. These are the benefits provided when an ecosystem such as a forest, provides recreational, spiritual or other benefits to people.

These measures are long overdue but whether Governments and private industry take heed and utilise the data produced is another question. 

Sydney Film Festival - Film Review - Monsieur Lazhar

Fellag as Monsieur Lazhar

French Canadian director, Philip Falardeau's Academy Award nominated film brings to the screen a story filled with compassion, empathy and humour but without falling into maudlin sentimentality. The storyline follows an Algerian refugee, Bachir Lazhar, who obtains a teaching post in a Montreal Primary School following the untimely death of one of the teachers by suicide which has left her class of children badly shaken. Lazhar has his own trauma to overcome through the loss of his family in Algeria during the internal war and his precarious situation as his refugee status is being reviewed by the Quebec Authorities. Two of his young charges, Alice and Simon who witnessed the death of their teacher are profoundly affected and Lazhar is drawn to assist them as far as possible while struggling with his own  tragedy. This is an uplifting film with many humourous points despite its sad premise and has been adapted very successfully from a one person stage play by Philip Falardeau. Of trivia interest, the lead actor, Fellag, actually works as a comedian in France and he is of Algerian origin.