Εμφύλιος στην Κρήτη για το νερό

ΤΟ ΒΗΜΑ, 29 Αυγούστου 2010

Εμφύλιος πόλεμος μαίνεται στη Δυτική Κρήτη για το νερό. Τοπικοί πολιτικοί παράγοντες, υπηρεσιακά στελέχη, κάτοικοι αστικών περιοχών και αγρότες ένα... κουβάρι. Οι αγρότες καταγγέλλουν τους ΤΟΕΒ (Τοπικοί Οργανισμοί Εγγείων Βελτιώσεων) ότι μεροληπτούν υπέρ των ξενοδοχειακών μονάδων, οι οποίες δεν έμειναν το καλοκαίρι ούτε στιγμή χωρίς νερό. Οπως λένε χαρακτηριστικά «στις τουριστικές περιοχές σπαταλιέται το νερό και εμείς δεν έχουμε να ποτίσουμε» . Δεν είναι τυχαίο ότι για πρώτη χρονιά φέτος η Κρήτη κατανάλωνε «εισαγόμενα» λαχανικά (ντομάτες κ.ά.) καθώς πολλές καλλιέργειες καταστράφηκαν εξαιτίας των προβλημάτων στην υδροδότηση. Διαβάστε περισσότερα...

Απελευθέρωσαν 50.000 ζώα στην Καστοριά

Ελευθεροτυπία, 27 Αυγούστου 2010

Άγνωστοι απελευθέρωσαν 50 χιλιάδες γουνοφόρα ζώα τη νύχτα στην Καστοριά. Τα περισσότερα από αυτά ψόφησαν λόγω ζέστης, σύμφωνα με την Πυροσβεστική Υπηρεσία. Διαβάστε περισσότερα...

Διαβάστε επίσης: Απελευθέρωσης ζώων συνέχεια. Μετά την Καστοριά σειρά είχε η Κοζάνη (29/8/2010)

Mauritania plants trees to hold back desert

ENN, August 20, 2010

Mauritania has launched a tree-planting program aimed at protecting its capital from the advancing desert and coastal erosion, a project that could eventually extend thousands of kilometers across Africa. The project is part of a broader ant-desertification plan, the "Great Green Wall," launched by the African Union in 2005 to try to create a 15 km-wide wall of greenery stretching 7,000 km between Africa's east and west coasts. Read more...

Φωτοβολταϊκά και σε μικρά οικόπεδα

ΤΑ ΝΕΑ, 27 Αυγούστου 2010

Φωτοβολταϊκά συστήματα ακόμη και σε μικρά εκτός σχεδίου οικόπεδα, μη άρτια και οικοδομήσιμα, θα μπορούν στο εξής να βάζουν οι μικροεπενδυτές, δυνατότητα που μέχρι τώρα δεν είχαν. Στην πράξη αυτό σημαίνει ότι θα μπορεί πλέον να αξιοποιήσει κανείς ένα οικόπεδο τριών- για παράδειγμα- στρεμμάτων που έχει στο χωριό για εγκατάσταση ισχύος 100 κιλοβάτ, κάτι που που λύνει τα χέρια χιλιάδων μικροεπενδυτών ανά την Ελλάδα. Διαβάστε περισσότερα...

Giant turtle's demise the fault of humans, study says

BBC News, August 16, 2010

Humans helped drive a species of giant turtle to extinction almost 3,000 years ago, according to a study in PNAS.It is one of the first cases that clearly shows that humans played a role in the demise of the giant, extinct animals known as "megafauna". An Australian research team discovered turtle leg bones - but not shells or skulls - on an island of Vanuatu. The bones date to just 200 years after humans' arrival, suggesting they were hunted to extinction for their meat. Read more...

The Right to Water

E-Environment Magazine, August 17, 2010

On Wednesday, August 11, the United Nations General Assembly declared water and clean sanitation a basic human right. Some 122 countries supported the resolution, while the U.S. and Canada, along with 40 other countries, chose to abstain from the vote.

Introduced by Bolivia’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Pablo Solon, the resolution is the first step in solving a growing epidemic. Solon says: “At the global level, approximately one out of every eight people do not have drinking water," reports the World Health Organization and of UNICEF in a 2009 document titled "Diarrhea: Why Children Are (Still) Dying and What We Can Do." It continues: "every day 24,000 children die in developing countries due to causes that can be prevented, such as diarrhea, which is caused by contaminated water. This means that a child dies every three-and-a-half seconds.". Read more...

AstraZeneca Tops Climate Counts Scorecard among Four Sectors

Environmental Leader, August 19, 2010

The latest Climate Counts scorecard, an updated evaluation of 47 of the top companies in the pharmaceutical, home and office furnishing, toys and children’s equipment and large appliance sectors, shows that companies continue to improve their climate commitment, but their pace is far slower than what is required to meet the climate challenge, says the nonprofit group. AstraZeneca tops the climate performance scorecard among the four sectors with 79 points out of a possible 100. Read more...

Largest tidal power device unveiled

BBC News, 12 August 2010

A device thought to be the largest tidal turbine of its type to be built in the world has been described by its developer as "simple and robust". Atlantis Resources unveiled its AK-1000 at Invergordon ahead of it being shipped to a European Marine Energy Centre test site off Eday, Orkney. The device stands 22.5m (73ft) tall and weighs 1,300 tonnes. It has two sets of blades on a single unit to harness ebb and flood tides and could generate one megawatt of power - enough electricity for about 1,000 homes. Read more...

'First' newborn beavers spotted in the Argyll Forest

BBC News, August 12, 2010

The first newborn beavers born in the wild since their re-introduction to the UK last year have been spotted by officials in a Scottish forest. At least two kits, estimated to be eight weeks old and belonging to different family groups, have been seen in Knapdale Forest in Argyll. A total of 11 beavers were brought to Scotland from Norway last year as part of the Scottish Beaver Trial. Beavers were hunted to extinction in the UK 400 years ago. Read more...

The Legacy of the Gulf Spill: What to Expect for the Future?

Yale 360, August 09, 2010

The Gulf of Mexico’s capacity to recover from previous environmental assaults — especially the 1979 Ixtoc explosion — provides encouragement about the prospects for its post-Deepwater future. But scientists remain worried about the BP spill's long-term effects on the health of the Gulf and its sea life. Read more...

Myanmar creates world's largest tiger reserve, aiding many endangered Southeast Asian species

ENN, August 06, 2010

Myanmar has announced that Hukaung Valley Tiger Reserve will be nearly tripled in size, making the protected area the largest tiger reserve in the world. Spanning 17,477 square kilometers (6,748 square miles), the newly expanded park is approximately the size of Kuwait and larger than the US state of Connecticut. Read more...

Πορτογαλία η... Πράσινη!

ΤΑ ΝΕΑ, 11 Αυγούστου 2010

Πριν από πέντε χρόνια, οι ηγέτες της Πορτογαλίας αποφάσισαν να µειώσουν την εξάρτηση της χώρας από τα εισαγόµενα ορυκτά καύσιµα θέτοντας σε εφαρµογή µια σειρά από φιλόδοξα προγράµµατα παραγωγής ενέργειας από ανανεώσιµες πηγές κυρίως τιθασεύοντας την αιολική και την υδροηλεκτρική ενέργεια, αλλά και την ενέργεια του ήλιου και των κυµάτων του ωκεανού. Διαβάστε περισσότερα...

Galapagos Removed From Endangered List

ENN, July 29, 2010

The Galapagos Islands have been removed from the UNESCO list of sites endangered by environmental threats or overuse. The island chain, about 620 miles off Ecuador's coast, is home to unique animal species that inspired Charles Darwin's ideas on evolution. Read more...

Pollution makes quarter of China water unusable

ENN, July 27, 2010

Almost a quarter of China's surface water remains so polluted that it is unfit even for industrial use, while less than half of total supplies are drinkable, data from the environment watchdog showed on Monday. Inspectors from China's Ministry of Environmental Protection tested water samples from the country's major rivers and lakes in the first half of the year and declared just 49.3 percent to be safe for drinking, up from 48 percent last year, the ministry said in a notice posted on its website (www.mep.gov.cn). Read more...