Archive for February, 2010:

Sunken Waste or how to get rid of garbage

¶ Published Tuesday, February 23rd at %I:%M %p ∞ In Environment, Legal IssuesNo Comments »

Treating toxic waste is very expensive. So, some less than savoury companies hire ships to carry their waste and then… the ship mysteriously sinks! Who could imagine? To bring light to this issue, a new mash-up of shipping data exposes some questionable losses. “In Fondo Al Mar“, or At the Bottom of the Sea, illustrates [...]

ISO standard for Tea Making

¶ Published Saturday, February 20th at %I:%M %p ∞ In MiscellaneousNo Comments »

We deal with a lot of companies who are certified ISO 14001 – a popular environmental management system. But who knew there was an ISO standard for tea making. Among other things, the standard outlines the ideal tea pot dimensions. Make sure to follow closely for ideal tea quality. See some interesting comments on the [...]

The steep cost of CO2 in the oceans

¶ Published Wednesday, February 17th at %I:%M %p ∞ In EnvironmentNo Comments »

Carl Zimmer reports on a new study on sea acidification and worries that we may be headed inexorably towards a massive wave of marine extinctions:
The acidification of the ocean today is bigger and faster than anything geologists can find in the fossil record over the past 65 million years. Indeed, its speed and strength — [...]

Bill Gates, climate champion, presenter extraordinaire

¶ Published Tuesday, February 16th at %I:%M %p ∞ In EnvironmentNo Comments »

Who thought this could happen, Bill Gates gives a stunning presentation on climate change. Famous for his cluttered slides and disorganized presentations, Gates has seriously improved his game. Soon, he might be toting an iPhone and wearing black turtlenecks.
Here is a rundown of the presentation by design gurus at Duarte. But just look at some [...]

Site is down – back up

¶ Published Monday, February 15th at %I:%M %p ∞ In AnnouncementsNo Comments »

The main Nimonikapp site is currently down. We are working hard to fix the situation. No data has been lost. We will post when the site is back up and running. Contact us if you have questions or concerns.
UPDATE (16/02/2010 10:30AM): The site is back up and running normally, we apologize for any inconvenience this [...]

Mounting pressure on big oil

¶ Published Sunday, February 14th at %I:%M %p ∞ In EnvironmentNo Comments »

There is pressure mounting on large companies to increase transparency of their environmental damages. Pressure is coming from three places, consumers, investors and other companies. Just recently, Whole Foods, which drives over 21 million miles a year, has decided to boycott tarsands produced oil (article here).
Recently I visited many Canadian companies websites to see who [...]

Bullet to the future

¶ Published Friday, February 12th at %I:%M %p ∞ In EnvironmentNo Comments »

China is building a train network that should wake you up (NYT article here). Their voracious appetite for energy has spurred China to build a high-speed network of trains to remove traffic from the existing rails so that coal and raw materials can more easily be transported around the country. The middle kingdom will build [...]

When the mighty fall

¶ Published Wednesday, February 10th at %I:%M %p ∞ In EnvironmentNo Comments »

Things are really unraveling at the IPCC, with officials finally admitting that the UN panel has to improve its procedures when reviewing reports.
The worst part about any scandal is the cover-up and Climategate is no exception. Had climate scientists come down hard, early on, on the practices at East Anglia and the methods of [...]

Pollution in China much worse than thought

¶ Published Tuesday, February 9th at %I:%M %p ∞ In EnvironmentNo Comments »

A new report from the Chinese government outlines that water pollution, mainly from agricultural fertilizers, is much worse than previously thought. The report outlines the 30 million tons of effluent sent into the waterways and how it is a major obstacle to future growth. The New York Times has a good rundown of the report [...]

Green Police

¶ Published Monday, February 8th at %I:%M %p ∞ In EnvironmentNo Comments »

A funny superbowl ad pits the “green police” against your everyday polluters – plastic bags, hot tubs, composting, … worth a quick watch.