Environmentalism, Phase II (23-Aug-07)
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In the 1960s, the Hudson River spawned the modern environmental movement. The battle to save Storm King Mountain and the river from a proposed Con Edison power plant redefined activism and opened the courtroom door to battles between corporate giants and citizen groups, who were newly empowered to fight for things such as clean air and clean water.
There has been a lot of water under the bridge since then. Just how much times have changed became clear last week when IBM announced that it was teaming up with the original "riverkeeper," John Cronin, to launch a new high-tech system to monitor the health of the Hudson River.
The system, called the river and estuary observatory network, will consist of a network of sensors that will collect data 24 hours a day along the 315-mile length of the river from the Adirondacks to New York Harbor. The system will gather, sort and analyze data from throughout the river in real time and allow scientists to study how the river's ecosystem responds to everything from global warming to local sewage spills. It will measure the amounts of salt, sediment, oxygen and pollution in the water, map fish populations and even track particular fish species.
Cronin, executive director of the Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries, is the former head of Riverkeeper, the environmental watchdog group. He recently discussed the system with staff writer Michael Risinit. "We know there's a blue crab population in Haverstraw Bay because fishermen tell us that. We don't know if the blue crabs are wandering in the vicinity of Indian Point (nuclear power plants) cooling intakes," Cronin said. "We don't know if they are wandering in the vicinity of sewage treatment plant outfalls."
The monitoring technology was developed through IBM's Big Green Innovations group, which seeks to develop technological solutions to environmental problems and create new business ventures for IBM in the process. Researchers from IBM, the Beacon Institute and several universities and government agencies will use the data to make forecasts of the river's health.
There is no estimate yet on when the system will be installed (or how much it will cost) but when it's up and running IBM expects to replicate it on rivers throughout the world.
So much information should give policy makers better tools for protecting the planet and our water supplies.
- Source: Lower Hudson Online
