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Port Metro Vancouver focus on green practices

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, doing business as Port Metro Vancouver, is responsible for facilitating trade through Canada’s largest port. Port Metro Vancouver has recently issued Sustainability Report for 2014 providing an overview of the port authority’s environmental, social and economic performance over the year. The Sustainability Report explains how Port Authority will promote long-term sustainable development of the gateway up to 2050 where its target is to ''plan for the long term by tracking key drivers of change, using scenarios to challenge assumptions and identifying opportunities to integrate sustainability into busing planning process and strategic priorities. '' Learn more about Port 2050 at http://portmetrovancouver.com/port2050 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmIBnwgELEs The report, which is intended to provide greater transparency and accountability in how Port Metro Vancouver  conducts business, focuses on material topics across three themes – economic prosperity through trade, a healthy environment and thriving communities.   Sustainability at a glance       A sustainable gateway maintains a healthy environment focusing on healthy ecosystems, climate action and Responsible Practices. It improves  air quality, advances alternative energy, and promotes energy conservation to minimize greenhouse gas emissions and protect human health Air Emissions Regional air quality is affected by criteria air contaminants and greenhouse gas emissions from port-related activities, many ...

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MEPC 68 consider Regional Reception Facilities Plan

The MEPC 68 considered a draft Regional Reception Facilities Plan (RRFP) for the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the Pacific Region. This plan was submitted by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and co-sponsored by Australia, New Zealand and a number of Pacific island countries. For many Pacific island countries and territories, particularly those comprising small atolls, the provision of adequate waste reception facilities can be challenging, due to unique circumstances such as a shortage of land for disposal sites or limited infrastructure. SPREP has therefore coordinated efforts to develop an RRFP, including the analysis of shipping spatial data and the undertaking of a series of five gap analyses to assess the availability and adequacy of ships' waste reception facilities. The RRFP will allow SIDS to satisfy their waste reception facility obligations under MARPOL through regional arrangements by identifying ports that could serve as Regional Waste Reception Centres. AMSA provided technical assistance to SPREP during the development of this plan, and in partnership with SPREP, conducted gap analyses of reception facilities in five ports across the region, which formed the basis of this plan. The RRFP will now be finalised and is expected to take effect ...

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IMO agrees extension of protected areas in Coral Sea

  IMO MEPC 68 has approved Australia's proposal to extend the Great Barrier Reef and Torres Strait Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA) into the South West Coral Sea.This extension will see an additional 565,000 square kilometres of the Coral Sea protected, more than doubling the size of the existing area -—a 140% increase on the current 403,000 square kilometres! Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Warren Truss said the adoption of the new PSSA will better protect this beautiful and unique oceanic region. “The Coral Sea is one of the world's most distinctive and undisturbed marine ecosystems,” Mr Truss said. “It behoves us to do all we can to reasonably and responsibly protect one of our greatest natural resources. “Our new measures enhance protection for the Coral Sea—as well as the adjacent Great Barrier Reef World Heritage area—by helping ships traverse the region safely and avoid potentially hazardous areas. “This is a concrete example of the Australian Government taking the necessary steps to protect the Great Barrier Reef, implementing measures outlined in the North East Shipping Management Plan released in October 2014.” Designation as a PSSA helps to protect seas where significant ecological, socio-economic or scientific ...

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Investigation on aquatic conditions in Pechora Sea platform

  Researchers from the Knipovich Polar Research Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography (PINRO) have recently completed comprehensive investigations on aquatic conditions around the Prirazlomnaya platform (located in the Pechora Sea) — part of yearly investigations undertaken by Gazprom Neft. Researchers’ reports indicate that key hydrological and hydro-chemical indicators on the status of the aquatic environment around the field, including visibility and salinity, as well as oxygen and hydrogen levels, and the presence of inorganic phosphorus and other elements, are consistent with natural status. Ecological monitoring at the Prirazlomnoye field (covering an area of 744 square kilometres), has been initiated by Gazpromneft-Shelf LLC, and is being undertaken by FREKOM, a company specialising in ecological and industrial safety, with a number of leading specialist research institutions also being engaged in its research. Researchers also examined the shores of the Vaigach, Dolgy and Matveev islands, as well as the mainland coast of the Pechora Sea, the traditional breeding grounds of the Atlantic walrus, listed in the Red Data Book of the Russian Federation (a state document established for documenting rare and endangered species). Recentresults show no major fluctuations in the migration and distribution of walruses at the Pechora Sea following the commencement of oil production on the Arctic Shelf. General Director of FREKOM, Valentin Minasyan, commented: “All key indicators are consistent with natural status, and the presence of pollutants was found to be considerably lower than levels permitted under commercial fishing standards, ...

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NAMEPA issues “An Educator’s Guide to the Marine Environment”

  NAMEPA recently released “An Educator’s Guide to the Marine Environment,” a learning guide designed to provide maximum flexibility for educators in both formal and informal settings when working with students to understand the marine environment. The Guide contains STEM and NGSS objectives and has lessons for students K-12 on ocean acidification, ocean exploration, the marine industry and ecosystem health. The Guide contains twelve lessons in total, and is the second learning guide released by NAMEPA, the first being “An Educator’s Guide to Marine Debris.” The Guide includes a scavenger hunt, a lesson on vessel sound signals, a food web lesson, and more. The Guide was created to provide educators with a tool to help students become more informed on the marine environment and encourage environmental stewardship. NAMEPA, an organization comprised of marine industry professionals – who help carry 90% of the world’s goods and energy – is committed to working with the public to help “Save Our Seas.” The Guide can be downloaded for free online at www.namepa.net/education. Source: NAMEPAIn the start, I was frank with you propecia before and after has changed my existence. It has become much more fun, and now I have to run. Just as ...

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SPREP joins CSIRO in the fight against marine litter

  Understanding the impacts of marine plastic in the waters surrounding Papua New Guinea, Samoa and the Solomon Islands is at the core of a new collaboration between the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) of Australia. “SPREP is delighted to be able to work with CSIRO to help protect the marine environments of the Pacific region” said Dr David Haynes, the Director of Waste Management and Pollution Control Division at SPREP. “We look forward to work together with CSIRO to better understand and ultimately reduce the sources and impacts of marine debris in the SPREP region”.  Ms Kelsey Richardson, SPREP’s Pollution Management Assistant, will work with CSIRO Scientist Dr Denise Hardesty, who is a world expert in marine plastic pollution.  Dr Hardesty leads a major marine plastic research programme based in the CSIRO marine laboratories in Hobart, Australia. “Plastic particles are one of the most important and damaging pollutants now found in the marine environment” said Dr Hardesty. “They are widely distributed, contain a range of toxic pollutants, and can entangle marine wildlife.” As part of this CSIRO and SPREP collaboration, Ms Richardson plans to participate in a CSIRO ...

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Blue whales lack the ability to avoid cargo ships

  For millions of years, blue whales have cruised the world's oceans with hardly a care, their sheer size making them largely free from predator attacks. The downside to being the largest animals in history, however, is that the species was never pressured to evolve defensive behaviors. Now, the suggest that this lack of an evasive response might make the whales particularly susceptible to deadly collisions. "It's not part of their evolutionary history to have cargo ships killing them, so they haven't developed behavioral responses to this threat," said Jeremy Goldbogen, an assistant professor of biology at Stanford's Hopkins Marine Station, and the senior author on the study. "They simply have no compelling response to avoiding these dangerous ships." The study, published in Endangered Species Research, could help improve methods to protect blue whales and other marine animals from deadly ship collisions. Collisions with ships are a major threat to whales and pose a significant threat to the recovery of some endangered populations. Efforts to reduce collisions have mostly involved placing speed limits on ships passing through busy whale habitats or rerouting shipping channels around these areas altogether. However, a critical piece of information needed to make these decisions and ...

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2015 GREEN4SEA Forum – Stamatis Fradelos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxrHYfj694s&feature=youtu.be Stamatis Fradelos, ABS, presented an update on the most important regulatory developments in the marine environment highlighting also the most interesting submissions under discussion at the forthcoming MEPC 68 during the 2015 GREEN4SEA Forum. The 2015 GREEN4SEA Forum, a PRO BONO event, successfully concluded on Wednesday 22nd of April 2015 in Eugenides Foundation Athens attracting 950 delegates from 25 countries representing a total of 450 organizations. The event organized by SQE4SEA and sponsored by Bureau Veritas, ERMA FIRST ESK Engineering, Lloyd’s Register, Schneider Electric and SKAI in the media for the event coverage. Other sponsors include: ABS, American P&I Club, Chart Industries, DNV GL Maritime, Dorian LPG, Drew Marine, Du Pont/BELCO, ECOSPRAY Technologies, Kyklades Maritime Corporation, Nakashima Propellers, NAPA, Poseidon Med, SKF Marine, SQEACADEMY, SQEMARINE, Transmar Shipping, Trojan Marinex, UK P&I Club, VAF Instruments, Wartsila and Yara Marine Technology. The event supported by Chios Marine Club, ECOMASYN, ECSA, EENMA, EΛΙΝΤ, Green Award Foundation, HEMEXPO, INTERTANKO, MARTECMA, NAMEPA, QACE, WIMA and WISTA.In the starting, I was straightforward with you propecia before and after has changed my life. It has become much more fun, and now I have to run. Just as it is improbable to sit.

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Five years after Deepwater Horizon

A chromatogram of oil that leaked from the Macondo well. Each peak represents one of thousands of chemical compounds in the oil (Image Credit: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) Five years after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, killed 11 workers, and unleashed the largest accidental oil spill in history, the lingering question five years on is how long will it take the environment to get back to “normal.” What’s normal for the Gulf, however, is an elusive question for scientists. One of the most deviling issues is where vast amounts of the 4.9 million barrels of oil still unaccounted for and 1.85 million gallons of the toxic oil dispersant Corexit that sunk it went, and to what extent this combination is still affecting the seas, marshes, beaches and wildlife. The oil still at large, said a 2014 study from the University of California at Santa Barbara, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and the University of California at Irvine, is estimated at about 2 million barrels, which is on the ocean floor at depths of some 1000 meters. Scientists generally estimate it will take another five to 10 years from now to determine the full impact of the spill from BP’s ...

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Fukushima Radioactivity Detected in British Columbia

Ken Buesseler, a marine radiochemist at WHOI Scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have for the first time detected the presence of small amounts of radioactivity from the 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident in a seawater sample from the shoreline of North America. The sample, which was collected on February 19 in Ucluelet, British Columbia, with the assistance of the Ucluelet Aquarium, contained trace amounts of cesium (Cs) -134 and -137, well below internationally established levels of concern to humans and marine life. The WHOI scientists, with the help of citizen volunteers, have collected samples at more than 60 sites along the U.S. and Canadian West Coast and Hawaii over the past 15 months for traces of radioactive isotopes from Fukushima.  Last November, the team reported their first sample containing detectable radioactivity from Fukushima 100 miles (150 km) off shore of Northern California. However, no radiation had yet been found along any of the beaches or shorelines where the public has been sampling since 2013. “Radioactivity can be dangerous, and we should be carefully monitoring the oceans after what is certainly the largest accidental release of radioactive contaminants to the oceans in history,” said Ken Buesseler, ...

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