Putin orders oil pipeline shifted

[ozone_man]

Last Updated: Wednesday, 26 April 2006, 11:32 GMT 12:32 UK

Putin orders oil pipeline shifted

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the route of a controversial new oil pipeline should be altered to avoid the world's largest freshwater lake.

Mr Putin said the route, which would have passed close to Lake Baikal, should move 40km (25 miles) north.

Environmentalists who feared the eastern pipeline would pose a risk to Lake Baikal's unique biodiversity say the decision is a campaign victory.

The pipeline will link the Siberian oil fields and the Pacific coast.

Lake Baikal, designated a World heritage site by Unesco, is home to hundreds of unique species and the region includes the last remaining wild habitat of Russia's Amur leopard.

.

Greenpeace Russia, which has led demonstrations against Transneft's proposed route, has welcomed Mr Putin's decision.

Spokesman Andrey Petrov said: "It is victory for the whole of civil society in Russia, not just the ecological movement."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4945998.stm


That some good news. :bounce: Lake Baikal contains 20% of all the fresh water on Earth.

Lake Baikal is the largest (by volume), deepest and oldest freshwater lake in the world. It contains over 20% of the world's liquid fresh water. A World Heritage Site, it lies in Southern Siberia in Russia, between Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and Buryatia to the southeast, near the city of Irkutsk. The name derives from Tatar "Bai-Kul" - "rich lake". It is also known as the Blue Eye of Siberia. In Russian, it is called О́зеро Байка́л (Ozero Baykal), and in the Buryat and Mongol languages it is called Dalai-Nor, or "Sacred Sea".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Baikal

[400Years]

1. I'm surprised Putin didn't just murder the demonstrators

I guess I'm just an old cynic.

[whatelseisnew]

4. Image polishing, the fre$h water is worth more than the oil now.

stay cynical

[cliss]

11. Perceptive....

Future prognosticator Gerald Celente writes, "in the near future, wars will be fought and won over water and oil".

The way of the future. Water = survival.

[Robbien]

2. Wow. Didn't think this would really happen. Yay!

Leader of the free world Bush rides his bike through protected wildlife habitat disturbing the spring animal babies.

While the nasty ol' commie Putin agrees to spend millions to move pipeline out of protected habitat.

Crazy world.

Yay again.

[juajen]

3. The world thanks you, President Putin!

This lake sounds like a world treasure, sorta like Iraq was. Sob.

[whatelseisnew]

5. Who owns the water rights?

big money is involved

[ozone_man]

7. Yes, Iraq was the cradle of civilization (sob).

Lake Baikal is a treasure worth saving. I've seen at least one documentary on this lake, where the future was uncertain, but this is a good sign.

[fshrink]

6. There must be a couple of ritzy datshas around there.

[bunkerbuster1]

8. Baikal has as much water as all of North America's Great Lakes combined

huh. Learn something every day.

[tatertop]

9. I would never have guessed that

[ozone_man]

10. And it's home to the Nerpa.

The world's only fresh water seal. But how did it get there, nearly 2,000 miles inland?

Baikal seal - NERPA

Baikal is one of the few continental reservoirs inhabited by "nerpa" (the Baikal seal). It is still a great mystery how nerpa appeared in the centre of the Asian continent, if its relatives live in the northern arctic regions. Some scientists consider that it was pushed southward from the Arctic Ocean by advancing polar ice during the Ice Age when oceanic waters carved out the Yenisey valley up to the mouth of the Tunguska River. Baikal seals are known to go up rivers and rise rather high up with their streams, and sometimes they may even take an overland trip from one river to another. Add to this fact, the chromosomic analyses and other data are in favour of the nerpa being an arctic-sea seal. Anyway, there are many differences that the nerpa has to other seals. First, Baikal seals are more graceful, especially females. Second, they differ from others by the silver-grey colour of the skin. And, finally, they have 2 more litres of blood which enables the nerpa to do without fresh air for almost 70 minutes. According to the observations of workers of the Limnological Institute, nerpa is able to dive at a depth of almost 300 m.

Lake Baikal forms an ideal habitat for nerpa - plentiful food, mainly golomyanka fish and bullheads; an ice regime that creates the optimum conditions for nerpa's breeding and moult cycle, and rather large and deep water body.

Since ancient times nerpa has been an important resource for man. It valued for its wonderful fur, median fat and soft meat. According to the archaeologists' data, since time immemorial nerpa has been attracting people to the Baikal shores. Once nerpa was used as an object of barter and was also regarded as a totem.

Nerpa is a big animal, it grows about 120-150 cm long and can weigh as much as 100-120 kg; it has a long life span. Specimens that appear to at the age of 50 and even older have been found.

http://www.bww.irk.ru/nerpa/nerpa.html

Good site for overall data on Lake Baikal.

A Greenpeace press report on environmental threats. Some bad news. But the lake has 40 to 50 meters visibility!

The environmental situation of Lake Baikal
August 21, 2003

Lake Baikal lies in Eastern-Siberia, Russia. It is a unique Lake in many respects and has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1996. Changes in the environment in and around the Lake have increased concern regarding the quality of the environment and the need to know more about specific threats and their impact on Lake Baikal.

Lake Baikal lies in Eastern-Siberia, Russia. It is a unique Lake in many respects and has been on the UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site list since 1996. Changes in the environment in and around the Lake have increased concerns regarding the quality of the environment and the need to know more about specific threats and their impact on Lake Baikal. The main questions this report tries to answer are: What changes have occurred in Lake Baikal since 1941? Which sources of pollution are most seriously affecting Lake Baikal? What is the situation concerning logging around Lake Baikal? This report summarises diverse sources of information, giving an overall impression of the natural wealth of Lake Baikal and of the threats to its environment, identifies information gaps, gives an indication of the seriousness of the threats and suggests several measurements in order to improve preservation of the Lake. Lake Baikal is generally still intact, but under serious threat. Baikal water quality is deteriorating: toxic substances continue to accumulate in the food chain; numbers of a particular type of zooplankton, seals and several types of fish are in decline; phytoplankton species composition is changing and its biomass is increasing; In addition the temperature of the upper water layer above the thermocline is increasing.

(rest of summary)

http://www.greenpeace.org/russia/en/press/reports/the-environmental-situation-of