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Global Environment Index Downgrades U.S. and China

Olympic Torch is 'Green'

Green Flame -- In ancient Greece, the Olympic torch represented the fire that the Titan Prometheus -- brother of Atlas -- stole from Zeus to give to the mortals. At the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, this ancient symbol is getting modernized and going green .

Built by train and plane manufacturer Bombardier, the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games torches both have a limited environmental footprint. Ninety-five percent of the materials used to make the torches were sourced locally within Canada. Bombardier used recyclable components as much as possible, including the steel that makes up the torch's interior and the aluminum that makes up its exterior shell.

Bombardier also chose a fuel that minimizes greenhouse gas emissions. Normally in very cold conditions, an oil-based fuel would be chosen. But the company elected to use a fuel that is a mix of propane and isobutane, which burns in cold temperatures, provides a visible flame in daylight and emits 30 percent fewer greenhouse gases than an oil-based fuel.

In addition to thinking about emissions, the company considered energy consumption, which had an impact on energy as well. They designed the flame to burn from the side instead of from the top. "The side-flame design creates a longer flame effect and, consequently, when compared to an equivalent flame-height basis, usually consumes less energy than does a vertical flame design," said Bruno Comtois, lead project engineer for the 2010 Olympic Torch.

After the 2010 Torch Relay, the aluminum from the torches' cylinders and remaining fuel will be recycled.

Image: 2010 The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Olympic and Paralympic Games photography, Getty Images

Trash Island Reports From Your Home Planet

You are looking at the circulating garbage patches, a slowly rotating vortex in the ocean. Scarcely fifty years ago, before plastics and other debris began to choke our water ways, these areas were a region where ocean nutrients accumulated and fed a large ecosystem. Now, because of the buildup of plastics, fishing nets and other marine debris these once pristine areas are being referred to as The Great Garbage Patch.

In this animation, you can follow the flow of surface winds, which drive ocean currents and creates the rotating vortex. Since currents and winds shift, the trash ebbs and flows. Through the churning of the ocean, most of the trash has broken down into tiny pieces, making it difficult to design a clean up plan. (You'd need an awfully big sieve to separate the garbage from the ocean.) A variety of marine animals also make their home here, so simply scooping up of the material would become risky — you may cause more harm than good.

The trash accumulation throughout our oceans, and particularly in this area between Hawaii and California, has a significant impact on wildlife. Animals eat or get tangled in the debris. There is also a concern that some of this garbage, particularly plastics, with its potential for toxicity, may be entering our food chain.

Greenland's glaciers disappearing from the bottom up