The Chocolate Factory

Pipelines in a Settlement in Greenland
Pipelines in Oqaatsut, Greendland

The magic of Greenland can be ruined if you walk along the coast around each major city or settlement and you find sewer pipes outflowing to the ocean. Locals call those spots the Chocolate Factory. It is much less yummy than it sounds. The difficulties to deal with wastewaters in Greenland are well known. There are only four types of waste waters collectors: Flush toilets (including house storage with vehicle hauling and Gravity sewer pipes) and Bucket toilets (Individual hauling and collective collection). As a matter of fact, the wastewaters including domestic and industrial are discharged directly into the ocean without treatment. Little is known about the actual impact into the sea of direct discharges of wastewaters. In a remarkably unpopulated area, such as Greenland, this might not be an apparent problem, yet. The poorly preserved pipeline system is a potential source of pollution, but the situation is not dramatic yet. However, continuous discharges will affect fisheries, drinking water, and tourism hitting the basics values of Greenland if a solution is not found.

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Rethinking National Parks (and other protected areas)

Harvour seals Did you know that we humans have a direct effect (I am generous and avoid the word “damage”) on 83% of the Earth’s surface? In the ocean, it is even worse and reached 100% (41% strongly affected). Although biodiversity contributes to human well-being in many ways, quantified in trillions of dollars, our appropriation of the planet has a perverse impact. The number of endangered species is enormous and, the critical point is that still grows. (more…)

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