Currently viewing the category:
"Environment and nature"
Activists from Seattle hoped to block the departure of an oil rig Shell wants to use for oil drilling in the Arctic. But a small fleet of kayaks proved no match for the giant platform as it set sail for Alaska. “We have made our point well,” a kayaktivist said.
Shell sees the deep sea port of Seattle as an ideal base for its fleet to explore for oil the Arctic. But many people in the city on the West Coast are opposed to the company’s plans. ‘Kayaktivists’ want to stop the impending departure of Shell’s oil rig for Alaska.
The Canadian environmental activist Severn Cullis-Suzuki gained international fame at age 12, when she addressed the Eart Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. More than 20 years on, she is still committed to the cause of sustainability. “It’s great to have a story that inspires people.”
Shell wants to increase oil production from the Canadian tar sands by expanding its Jackpine Mine. The company says it can do so responsibly. But opponents resist the high pace of tar sands development, demanding stronger safeguards for health and the environment in northern Alberta.
Canadian rock singer Neil Young has joined the opposition to oil sands expansion in Alberta. With his ‘Honour the Treaties’ tour, Young has drawn attention to criticism of the industry. His strong rhetoric has come under fire from supporters of the oil sands.
Ever since the sinking of the Titanic, the International Ice Patrol has been mapping icebergs for ships crossing the North Atlantic. Despite modern technologies such as satellites and radar, tracking dangerous ice in the shipping lanes is still a human task. The smaller chunks are especially treacherous.
Shell sees great potential in oil drilling off the north coast of Alaska. The energy company has invested billions of dollars in plans to search for oil in the region. But the permit process is taking years. Opponents fearing an oil spill in the ecologically fragile Arctic fight each permit.
Just like the ‘Anne Frank tree’ in Amsterdam, Vancouver also has a tree that citizens want to save: a dead, hollow tree in the city’s famous Stanley Park. Some Vancouverites are campaigning to keep the tree from being felled. “It’s not just an old, dead tree in the forest, but a monument.”
One of the world’s southernmost populations of white whales can be seen during a boat tour of Quebec’s St-Lawrence River. In silence, the belugas swim alongside the boat and underneath it – a breathtaking glimpse of an exotic northern species.
The drastic melt of the Arctic sea ice is a serious threat to the survival of polar bears, scientists say. The polar bear population is also under pressure because of the hunt by the Inuit. Still, efforts to list the symbol of the Arctic as a threatened species are met with resistance.
Nederlands 
English 