Woodburners' Impact on the Environment and Public Health - Excerpt from Sky News TV-Program "The Climate Show" aired on the 29th of Oct. 2023)
Woodburners' Impact on the Environment and Damage to Public Health - Excerpt from Sky News TV-Program "The Climate Show" aired on the 29th of Oct. 2023) (Edited show segment)
A Summary Of The Emissions Characterization and Noncancer Respiratory Effects Of Wood Smoke (U.S.-EPA 1993)
& The Chemical Composition of Wood Smoke - 1993 EPA-Report (EPA 453/R-93-036)
Executive Summary:
Recent studies on the emissions of wood burning reveal that in most northern U.S. cities, wood smoke is a significant contributor to overall community air pollution. The same is true in the urban areas of the Wasatch Front. If wood smoke were evenly distributed throughout the airshed, it would be roughly quantitatively equivalent to all vehicle emissions in the same region. But wood smoke is not evenly distributed. It concentrates heavily near its sources, subjecting neighbors to extraordinarily high levels of a wide range of toxic pollution components, and it has an extremely high “intake fraction,” meaning human exposure is disproportionately greater than average atmospheric concentrations.
Moreover, wood smoke itself is uniquely toxic, probably more so than any other common type of urban pollution. As a result, it deserves special
attention from lawmakers and regulators beyond what would be warranted within the context of a PM2.5 State Implementation Plan (SIP) control
strategy or its contributions to the exceedance of National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). Any public policy incentivizing the trading in of
old wood stoves for newer “EPA-certified” stoves as a substitute for burning bans is misguided and inadequate, because homeowners will still be left
with heating devices that are far more polluting than other alternatives.
Document Source: https://www.uphe.org/report-on-health-consequences-of-wood-smoke/
Publication Date: December 2017
Research and Editorial Team: Carly Nyst; Nicholas Monaco; Samuel C. Woolley
The report published by the Institute for the Future explores how governments are deploying disinformation as part of broader digital harassment campaigns.
This digest has been produced in cooperation with the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)
This report, defined by its authors as “the first comprehensive attempt to describe the phenomenon of state-sponsored trolling from a qualitative and quantitative standpoint”, contains in-depth illustrative examples of state-sponsored trolling in seven countries: the United States, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Ecuador, the Philippines, Turkey, and Venezuela. This study's primary aim is to describe the phenomenon and propose policy solutions that could constitute an important first step in remedying what is defined as a new form of human rights abuse.
The expression "state sponsored trolling" refers to a phenomenon where a state makes use of targeted online hate and harassment campaigns to intimidate and silence its critics. The "surveillance and hacking possibilities afforded by a new era of pervasive technology" offer governments around the world the possibility to use new digital tactics to persecute perceived opponents at scale. The researchers that worked on this study, starting in late 2015, examined this phenomenon for more than eighteen months.
Their findings suggest that, although state-sponsored trolling occurs in a variety of countries and polities, it is possible to identify common features, especially in the strategies and tactics used to carry out attacks. Media figures subjected to state-sponsored harassment are often those reporting on the use of state-sponsored trolling itself or human rights defenders and activists.
Bots and algorithms are described as fundamental units of the "anatomy of state-sponsored trolling".
Bots serve not only to amplify attacks but also to change their character, making a campaign seem more organic and widespread. Political bots are used by political parties and movements to attack or drown out critics, boost follower numbers, and magnify the messages of political candidates.
On the other hand, trolls increase the prominence and pervasiveness of their messaging by appropriating and gaming the algorithms of social media sites. An example of "appropriation" is given when trolls flag legitimate social media accounts as fake accounts in order to have targets’ accounts temporarily suspended until they can prove their identity. On the other hand, the gaming of algorithms is the deliberate exploitation of a platform’s underlying automated process to achieve an outcome not intended by the platform. For example, one form of algorithm gaming consists in hijacking hashtags in order to drown out legitimate expression.
The deployment of language is also an important element of the above mentioned anatomy. Trolls make use of new technologies while also resorting to well-established messaging tactics. These include: accusations of collusion with foreign intelligence agencies; accusations of treason; use of violent hate speech as a means of overwhelming and intimidating targets; creation of elaborate cartoons and memes.
An interesting element pointed out in the report is that trolls often accuse targets of the very behaviors the state is engaging in. Another important feature is that the infrastructure and mechanisms state-sponsored trolling has grown out of or built upon have been established during election campaigns. The same databases of supporters, committed campaign volunteers, social-media-influencing arms, and dedicated communications channels deployed before the elections are often used after the elections, this time to consolidate or extend power.
The authors see four, often overlapping mechanisms by which governments become responsible for online harassment campaigns:
- State-Executed: Meaning that harassment campaigns against critics and dissenters originate directly from the state apparatus.
- State-Directed or -Coordinated: Governments directing or coordinating, but not executing, state-sponsored trolling attacks.
- State-Incited or -Fueled: The government maintains an arm’s-length distance from the attack, but nevertheless both instigates and profits from it.
- State-Leveraged or -Endorsed: As state-sponsored trolling attacks become a more familiar and commonplace methodology for silencing online dissent, such attacks are becoming seemingly more remote from state institutions. In perhaps the most cynical manipulation of online behaviors, governments point to the existence of seemingly independent groundswells of public opinion to justify and legitimate state positions.
Finally, researchers see three main avenues for formulating effective policy responses to address this phenomenon:
(1) international human rights law
(2) US law
(3) policies of major technology companies.
Wood Stove Air Pester: Time Lapse Backwards - Stinkerati, the Smoke Rocket, sucks its 3 hours of awful stench and toxic air pollution back in.
Music in this Video
Title: Empire Seasons
Artist: Dan Henig
Album: Empire Seasons
Licenced to YouTube through
YouTube Audio Library
Title: Russian River
Artist: Dan Henig
Album: Russian River
Licenced to YouTube through
YouTube Audio Library
Amid the ongoing fight to protect British Columbia’s forests, The Fifth Estate examines how the province has become a leading exporter of wood pellets being burned to fuel energy needs in the U.K., where some activists and politicians say both the U.K. and Canada have made a mistake in supporting the industry.
Victorians fired up over suggestions for a wood heater buy-back scheme (ABC Radio Melbourne / Australia)
Would Victoria benefit from a wood heater buy-back scheme?
Northcote woman Liz Poole's neighbours use wood heaters 'all year round'. She has been urging her local council to introduce restrictions around Melbourne.
"In residential areas where you can't get away from it, it's not appropriate. The Government should look at phasing them out."
President of AMA Victoria Julian Rait supports the idea of a buy-back subsidy in Victoria.
"I have many memories in my childhood of the delights of woodfire heating, but in adulthood I now realise that there are adverse health affects from that."
Credits
Richelle Hunt And Warwick Long, Presenter
Broadcast Thu 18 Jun 2020 at 3:00amThursday 18 Jun 2020 at 3:00am
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Melbourne, Community and Society, Regional, Government and Politics, Health, Environment
At the beginning of 2018, the Romanian Forestry Minister resigned unexpectedly. Prior to her resignation, she had been working to prevent illegal logging operations. She had fallen suddenly ill, according to the explanation at the time. The truth only came to light a few weeks ago.
The minister had been poisoned with a high dose of mercury. The most-likely culprits: the Romanian timber mafia who earn millions from illegal logging. The Austrian timber company Schweighofer has been active in Romania for years.
Christoph Lehermayr has investigated their role in illegal logging.