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	New phase of globalisation may well worsen CO2 pollution by Agence France Presse, agencies   May 2018   As Asia''s giants move up the globalisation food chain, many of the industries that helped propel their dynamic growth -- textiles, apparel, basic electronics -- are moving to Vietnam, Indonesia and other nations investing heavily in a coal-powered future.   Since the start of the Industrial Revolution, global warming has been caused mainly by burning oil, gas and especially carbon-rich coal.   "This trend may seriously undermine international efforts to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions," said Dabo Guan, a professor of climate change economics at the University of East Anglia in Britain and co-author of a study in Nature Communications.   "The carbon intensity of the next phase of global economic development will determine whether ambitious climate targets such as stabilising at two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) will be met," he told AFP.   The 196-nation Paris climate treaty, which goes into effect in 2020, calls for capping global warming at "well under" 2 C, and 1.5 C if possible.   Global temperatures have already risen a full degree Celsius since the mid-19th century, enough to disrupt weather patterns and boost deadly storms, droughts and floods.   The study, led by Jing Meng at the University of Cambridge, details a "new phase of globalisation" in which trade between developing countries expanded three times faster from 2005 to 2015 than international trade as a whole, which grew by 50 percent.   In 2014, this so-called "South-South" trade stood at $9.3 trillion (7.8 trillion euros).   This rapid growth "reflects a fragmenting of global supply chains," Guan said. "The early-production stages of many industries have relocated from China and India to lower-wage economies, a trend that has accelerated since the global financial crisis of 2008."   The ability to reign in global warming, he warned, may depend on curbing the growth in coal-based energy in countries poised to take off by filling this link in the supply chain.   "The future of climate change mitigation is, to an important degree, in the hands of South-South cooperation," he said by phone.   The point is driven home by a second study showing that the planned expansion of coal-fired energy in Turkey, Indonesia, Vietnam and other 2nd-generation emerging economies could wipe out efforts in China and India to slow coal consumption.   Beijing and New Delhi have announced their intentions to cancel more than 50 percent of proposed coal-fired power plants, yet global coal investment continues to soar.   New coal-fired power in Turkey and Vietnam, for example, would see their CO2 emissions from coal increase four and ten fold, respectively, from 2012 to 2030, according to the study, published in Environmental Research Letters.   Money earmarked for coal development in Egypt has increased eightfold since 2016, while it has nearly doubled in Pakistan.   "Although the costs of renewables have recently fallen, they still can''t compete with cheap coal in many parts of the world," said co-author Jan Steckel, a researcher at the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change in Berlin.   The study also notes that China is increasingly investing in coal-fired power plants abroad. http://go.nature.com/2Ij4aCb   * China''s coal use climbs despite Pollution Plans, writes Michael Lelyveld.   China''s coal consumption appears to be rising at a rapid rate in 2018, erasing several years of low growth and environmental restraint. In the first five months of the year, China used 870 million metric tons of "thermal" coal, a 12 percent increase from a year earlier, the government''s top planning agency said on June 21. The growth rate was the highest since 2011, said the website of the official Economic Daily, citing a statement by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).   The volume estimate is only for thermal coal, used for power and heat, other websites reported. The tonnage figure also covered only coal used to generate electricity, the official English-language China Daily said. Still, the double-digit growth rate is cause for environmental concern.   If the country continues the 12 percent growth pace through the entire year for all coal use, consumption would tie the record mark of 4.24 billion tons set in 2013, based on calculations from National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data. The pressures on coal and the environment have been largely driven by pro-growth economic policies that have tightened China''s energy markets.   Electricity consumption jumped 9.4 percent in the first half of the year, rising eight percent in June from a year earlier, the National Energy Agency said. In late May, the international environmental watchdog Greenpeace calculated that China''s carbon emissions rose 4 percent in the first quarter as coal demand increased 3.5 percent.   Meanwhile in the U.S. the Trump administration is fervently rolling back Obama-era legislation aimed at reducing American carbon emissions. This week directing the EPA and Transport Department to freeze rules requiring automakers to build more fuel-efficient vehicles, as part of national clean car standards.   http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/31/chinas-most-populous-area-could-be-uninhabitable-by-end-of-century http://www.chinadialogue.net/ Visit the related web page
	Soil pollution poses a serious threat to food safety and human health by UN Food and Agriculture Organization   June 2018   Pollutants from agriculture a serious threat to world''s water   Water pollution from unsustainable agricultural practices poses a serious risk to human health and the planet''s ecosystems, a problem often underestimated by policymakers and farmers alike, cautions a new report.   In many countries the biggest source of water pollution today is agriculture — not cities or industry — while worldwide, the most common chemical contaminant found in groundwater aquifers is nitrate from farming, according to More People, More Food, Worse Water? A Global Review of Water Pollution from Agriculture, launched by FAO and the International Water Management Institute.   Modern agriculture is responsible for the discharge of large quantities of agrochemicals, organic matter, sediments and saline trading into water bodies, the report says.   This pollution affects billions of people and generates annual costs exceeding billions of dollars.   "Agriculture is the single largest producer of wastewater, by volume, and livestock generates far more excreta than do humans. As land use has intensified, countries have greatly increased the use of synthetic pesticides, fertilizers and other inputs," write Eduardo Mansur, Director of FAO''s Land and Water Division, and Claudia Sadoff, IWMI Director-General, in their introduction to the report.   "While these inputs have helped boost food production, they have also given rise to environmental threats, as well as to potential human health concerns," they add.   The agropollutants of greatest concern for human health are pathogens from livestock, pesticides, nitrates in groundwater, trace metallic elements and emerging pollutants, including antibiotics and antibiotic-resistant genes excreted by livestock.   The new report represents the most comprehensive review of the scientific literature on the issue complied to date, and aims to fill information gaps and lay out policy and farm-level solutions in one consolidated reference.   How agriculture affects water quality   The boom in global agricultural productivity that followed the Second World War was achieved in large part through the intensive use of inputs such as pesticides and chemical fertilizers.   Since 1960 the use of mineral fertilizer has grown ten times, while since 1970 global sales of pesticides climbed from around $one billion to $35 billion a year.   Meanwhile, the intensification of livestock production — world livestock numbers have more than tripled since 1970 — has seen a new class of pollutants emerge: antibiotics, vaccines and hormonal growth promoters that travel from farms through water into ecosystems and our drinking water.   At the same time, water pollution by organic matter from livestock farming is now significantly more widespread than organic pollution from urban areas.   And another booming sector, aquaculture (which has expanded twenty-fold since 1980) is now releasing ever greater amounts of fish excreta, uneaten feed, antibiotics, fungicides and anti-fouling agents into surface waters.   Water pollution from agriculture is a complex challenge and effectively managing it requires a range of responses, according to More People, More Food, Worse Water.   The most effective way to mitigate pressure on aquatic ecosystems and rural ecologies is to limit the export of pollutants at the source or to intercept them before they reach vulnerable ecosystems. Once off-farm, the costs of remediation progressively increase.   One way to do this is to develop policies and incentives that encourage people to adopt more sustainable diets and limit increases in demand for food with a large environmental footprint — for example taxes and subsidies.   At the consumer level, reducing food waste can help. One study covered in the report estimated that nitrogen pollution from food waste adds up to 6.3 teragrams per year.   "Traditional" regulatory instruments will also continue to be a key tool in reducing farm outputs of pollutants. These include water quality standards; pollution discharge permits; mandatory best practices; environmental impact assessments for certain farming activities; buffer zones around farms; restrictions on agricultural practices or the location of farms; and limits on the marketing and sale of dangerous products.   However, the report acknowledges that well-known principles for reducing pollution, such as ‘polluter pays,'' are hard to apply to non-point agricultural pollution because identifying the actual polluters is neither easy nor cheap.   That means that measures that promote farmer "buy in" are critical to preening pollution at the source — such as tax breaks for the adoption of practices that minimize farm export of nutrients and pesticides or payments to for "landscape maintenance."   On the farm, a number of best practices can reduce the export of pollutants into surrounding ecosystems, for example: minimizing the use of fertilizers and pesticides, establishing buffer zones along watercourses and farm boundaries, or improving drainage control schemes.   Integrated pest management, which combines the strategic use of pest-resistant crop varieties with crop rotation and the introduction of natural predators of common pests is another helpful tool.   On livestock operations, traditional techniques such as restoring degraded pasturelands and better managing animal diets, feed additives and medicines are needed — while more also needs to be done with new nutrient recycling techniques and technologies, such as farm waste biodigesters.   Agricultural water pollution: Numbers of note   Irrigation is the world''s largest producer in volume of wastewater (in the form of agricultural drainage). Globally, around 115 million tonnes of mineral nitrogen fertilizers are applied to croplands each year. Around 20 percent of these nitrogen inputs end up accumulating in soils and biomass, whereas 35 percent enters the oceans.   Worldwide, 4.6 million tonnes of chemical pesticides are sprayed into the environment every year. Developing countries account for 25 percent of world pesticide use in farming, but 99 percent of the world''s deaths due to pesticides. Recent estimates that the economic impact of pesticides on non-target species (including humans) is approximately $8 billion annually in developing countries.   Oxygen-depletion (hypoxia) resulting from manmade nutrient overloading affects an area of 240 000 km2 globally, comprising 70 000 km2 of inland waters and 170 000 km2 of coastal areas.   Worldwide, an estimated 24 percent of the area under irrigation is affected by salinization. Currently, more than 700 emerging pollutants, their metabolites and transformation products, are listed as being present in the European aquatic environment. http://bit.ly/2ytiNOM   May 2018   Soil pollution poses a serious threat to agricultural productivity, food safety, and human health, but far too little is known about the scale and severity of that threat, warns a new FAO report released this week at the start of a global symposium.   Industrialization, war, mining and the intensification of agriculture have all left a legacy of soil contamination across the planet, while the growth of cities has seen soil used as a sink for ever greater amounts of municipal waste, says Soil Pollution: A Hidden Reality.   "Soil pollution affects the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe, and the health of our ecosystems," said FAO Deputy Director-General Maria Helena Semedo at the start of the symposium. "The potential of soils to cope with pollution is limited; the prevention of soil pollution should be a top priority worldwide," she added.   But even though agricultural intensification, industrial output, and urbanization continue at a rapid pace, no systematic assessment of the status of soil pollution at global level has ever been undertaken, FAO''s report notes.   Studies conducted so far have largely been limited to developed economies, so there are massive information gaps regarding the full nature and extent of the problem, according to FAO''s survey of existing scientific literature.   What little we do know is cause for concern, the report adds.   For example, China has categorized 16 percent of all its soils — and 19 percent of its agricultural soils — as polluted. There are approximately 3 million potentially polluted sites in the European Economic Area and the West Balkans. In the United States, 1,300 sites appear on that country''s Superfund National Priorities list of pollution hot spots. In Australia, some 80,000 sites are now estimated to suffer from soil contamination.   Numbers like these help us understand the types of dangers pollution poses to soils, but "do not reflect the complete extent of soil pollution around the world, and highlight the inadequacy of available information and the differences in registering polluted sites across geographic regions," says Hidden Reality.   Danger to food and health   Soil pollution often cannot be visually perceived or directly assessed, making it a hidden danger — with serious consequences.   It impacts food security both by impairing plant metabolism and thus reducing crop yields, as well as by making crops unsafe for consumption. Pollutants also directly harm organisms that live in soil and make it more fertile.   And of course soil contaminated with dangerous elements (for example, arsenic, lead, and cadmium), organic chemicals like PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) and PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) or pharmaceuticals such as antibiotics or endocrine disruptors pose serious risks to human health.   By far, most soil pollution is due to human activities. Industrial activities including mining, smelting and manufacturing; domestic, livestock and municipal wastes; pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers used in agriculture; petroleum-derived products that are released into or break-down in the environment; fumes generated by transportation — all contribute to the problem.   So-called "emerging pollutants" are also a growing concern. These include pharmaceuticals, endocrine disruptors, hormones and biological pollutants; "e-waste" from old electronics; and the plastics that are nowadays used in almost every human endeavour.   (Almost no science on the fate of plastics in soils exists, observes Hidden Reality, while most e-waste continues to be disposed of in landfills rather than recycled.)   * A few noteworthy facts and figures from that research include:   Production of chemicals grown rapidly in recent decades and is projected to increase annually by 3.4 percent until 2030. Non-OECD countries will be much greater contributors in the future.   In 2015, the European chemical industry produced 319 million tonnes of chemicals. Of these, 117 million tonnes (MT) were deemed hazardous to the environment.   Global production of municipal solid waste was around 1.3 billion tonnes per year in 2012; it is expected to rise to 2.2 billion tonnes annually by 2025.   In many world regions, levels of persistent organic pollutants in human milk are significantly above those considered safe, with a higher incidence in India and in some European and African countries.   A number of low and middle-income countries have notably increased their use of pesticides over the last decade. Bangladesh, for example, did so by four times, Rwanda and Ethiopia by over six times, and the Sudan by ten times.   Global manure production increased 66 percent between 1961 and 2016. Manure can contain high amounts of heavy metals, pathogen organisms and antibiotics.   Soils near roads have high levels of heavy metals, hydrocarbons, and other pollutants, posing a threat when food production occurs in adjacent areas or grazing on roadside soils takes place.   Approximately 110 million mines or other unexploded pieces of ordnance are scattered across 64 countries on all continents, remnants of wars that can have deadly consequences for farmers and which can release heavy metals through weathering.   Almost all soil in the northern hemisphere contains radionuclides in higher concentrations than the background level — even in remote areas, as a result of fallout from atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons and radiological events like the Chernobyl accident. http://bit.ly/2jGSvyr Visit the related web page
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