01_Mackinley


 * Term: || Definition: ||
 * Neolithic Agricultural Revolution || Human began to become more self-sufficient and manage resources sustainably such as by the use of farms instead of hunting/gathering. ||
 * Industrial Revolution || In the 1800, people began to produce item and machines began to take over jobs in many factories ||
 * Conservationist || People who are concerned with the consolation and preservation and encourage and try to live and “eco-friendly”. ||
 * Green Revolution || A period between 1940’s to 1960’s when there was a large increase in the use of machinery in Agricultural Industry which lead to higher crop yields. ||
 * Environmentalists || A person who believes that the life at humans are living is not sustainable and advocates for the protection of the environment ||
 * Modern Environmental Movement || The use of the Media and political attention that is being draw the the environmental issues and preventing and saving it globally ||
 * Preservationist || People who try to improve or sustain the health of the land and try to prevent deforestation and any other further harm being brought upon it, such as extinction and erosion ||
 * Conservationist || A person who tries to conserve and protect the environment that we live in and make sure that human use is sustainable. ||
 * Stewardship || The human responsibility of managing our environments natural resources. ||
 * German Green Party || The most successful environmental political party so far. ||
 * Ecocentric || A view that suggest the right of nature and the human dependence on nature ||
 * Anthropocentric or Technocentric || A view that suggest that human and self-sufficient enough to live without nature, that nature is here to benefit human life ||
 * Cornucopians || A view that suggest that world has infinite resources to benefit human life and that humans can save the environment from anything. ||
 * Environmental Managers || People at manage the environment to make sure that we don’t over exploit our natural resources. They believe “if we look after the planet, It will look after us”. ||
 * Biocentric || Every life and all life is equal and none deserve to be eradicated or made extinct due to choices made by us humans. ||
 * Self-reliant and Soft Technologist || They believe in the importance of small-scale, local community and the actions made by individuals that make a difference without harming the environment. ||
 * Deep Ecologists || Have a higher value on nature then on humanity ||
 * Bio-rights || The right that the environment has an important value and humans have no right to interfere with this. ||
 * Nurturing || To care for the environment and encourage its growth ||
 * Intervening || To come between as to prevent or alter the course of events with in the environment. ||
 * Manipulative || To have unscrupulous control of the environment ||

by Molly Cotter, 01/20/12 filed under: environmental destruction
 * “Contaminant Slick” Leaking from Shipwrecked Costa Concordia Raises Oil Spill Concerns **

As divers and rescue workers continue to provide aid to the massive shipwrecked Costa Concordia cruise ship, a thin contaminant slick has begun to appear on the surface, raising concerns of a full-fledged oil spill in the bay. Fears of a fuel leak have been on everyone’s minds since the sinking ship began to break up against the rocks, and for good reason – the ship can carry a whopping 500,000 gallons of fuel, which is enough to devastate the region’s coastline. Anticipating these concerns, the Italian government has hired Dutch salvage company SMIT to remove the ship’s half million gallons of fuel once rescue dives end this weekend. The company predicts that removing the diesel from all of the ship’s 17 tanks will take almost a month to complete. The Italian Coastguard spokesman Commander Cosimo Nicastro Says that while the slick has been collected for testing. There is no sign of the 2,200 tons of fuel from the bottom of the ship on the water’s surface. While the bulk of the ship’s oil is still intact, a number of other pollutants could be responsible for the current slick. Franco Gabrielli from Italy’s Civil Protection Agency announced that “we must not forget that on that ship there are oils, solvents, detergents – everything that a city of 4,000 people needs” also that “We must be prepared that there may be spills, and we must be prepared to handle it”. http://inhabitat.com/contaminant-slick-leaking-from-shipwrecked-costa-concordia-raises-oil-spill-concerns/

=Will the Costa Concordia become an oil-spill disaster? = Work is finally under way to begin pumping oil from the stricken Costa Concordia cruise liner. The vast ship ran aground and capsized off the Italian island of Giglio on 13 January. At least 16 people died and the search for bodies continues. Attention is now turning to the vessel's fuel, which could pollute the sensitive marine environment. However, so far it looks as if an oil spill can be averted. All this is threatened by the ship's fuel: about 2200 tonnes of heavy fuel oil and 185 tonnes of diesel, held in 17 tanks. Both fuels contain toxic compounds, says Nancy Kinner of the University of New Hampshire in Durham. Animals that ingest them may die, or suffer long-term harm that affects their ability to reproduce. The fuels can also coat animals, just like crude oil. They will then struggle to retain heat, and so risk hypothermia. Smit plans to mount a control valve on the underside of the ship's hull. Beneath the valve, they will then drill through the hull into the chamber that houses the fuel tanks. They will pump the fuel out of each tank in turn, through a hose. Smit's spokesperson Martijn Schuttevaer says that the company's monitoring systems have not detected any significant movement in the last two days. Additionally, the company has run calculations based on the ship's mass, the amount of friction with the rocks, and the potential size of waves in the area. Results suggest the Concordia is stable. "No one can guarantee anything but the calculations are pretty standard ones," says Kinner. "This is not a place where you're going to get 30 or 40-foot [9 to 12-metre] waves." The fact that the fuel is stored in many small tanks, rather than one big one, also reduces the risk of a major spill. Smit will pump only a small number of tanks, possibly just one, at a time. That means if anything goes wrong, only a fraction of the fuel could escape. Kinner says that although the ship's location so close to shore increases the risks, it also makes the salvage operation easier. "It's bad," she says, "but there are things that make it easier." <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">[] <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Sustainable Cities <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">This is beginning to become and controversial issue with in a small country town, Albany, Western Australia. The local government has decided and has constructed over 18 Wind turbines to collect and produce energy form the town and shire. Many locals support the sustainable power source, saying that it will “lower the pollution level and make the energy which we require much more sustainable”. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Critics of the natural power source say that the (wind) Turbines not only obstruct the picturesque view in the town of the country. But also that the energy, materials and resources so to maintain and build the turbines almost outweigh the amount of “green power” they produce. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Environmental Scientists believe that the amount of power that they produce over the years outweighs the non-renewable resources used in its production. Studies are being made to see when the Turbines have produced enough green energy to outweigh the non-renewable energy used to build them.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">12:56 20 January 2012 by **Michael Marshall**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">What are the risks to the environment? **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">The worst-case scenario is quite serious, as the Costa Concordia has run aground in the Pelagos Sanctuary for Mediterranean marine mammals, a protected area established in 2002 to safeguard species like fin whales and striped dolphins.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">What is at risk? **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">The area has a rich marine ecosystem, and many local communities rely on fishing to sustain themselves when the tourist trade is slack. There are also several nature reserves and a national park on the coast of the nearby Italian mainland.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">What is being done? **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">A Dutch salvage company called Smit has been hired to remove the Costa Concordia's fuel. They began work yesterday morning and the operation is expected to last several weeks.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Isn't there a risk that the ship will move? **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">The Concordia is resting in two places on a submerged rock formation, which is holding it in place. It's unlikely, but stormy weather could destabilise it and cause it to slide into deeper water. This would lead to a fuel spill if pumping was under way at the time, or if the fuel tanks broke as a result.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Is it going to be an ecological disaster? **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Only time will tell, but Smit seems confident that it won't be. The company has installed a double boom to contain any oil that does escape, and there is also an oil removal ship on the scene. These precautions were requested by the Italian authorities, but the company does not expect to need them.

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Great work Mackinley, you`re off to an excellent start with your glossary and with tuning into all the ESS related news that we`ll see in the media everyday. Well done. Mrs S, 26/01