UN body to look at meat and climate link

BBC News, March 24, 2010

UN specialists are to look again at the contribution of meat production to climate change, after claims that an earlier report exaggerated the link.
A 2006 report concluded meat production was responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions - more than transport. The report has been cited by people campaigning for a more vegetable-based diet, including Sir Paul McCartney. But a new analysis, presented at a major US science meeting, says the transport comparison was flawed. Read more...

Peruvians harvesting fog

ENN, March 23, 2010

Catching fog with nets is the solution to water scarcity for people who live beyond the reach of utility lines in this sandy hillside shantytown overlooking Peru's capital, Lima.
Lima, which along with Cairo is one of the world's two driest capitals, gets only a few drops of rain each year. But thick fog from the Pacific Ocean blankets the coastal hills surrounding the city for eight months a year as hot tropical sun mixes with cold waters of the Humboldt current. Using nets similar to those used in volleyball, residents condense fog, drip-by-drip, into drainage pipes running down the hill into tanks that store hundreds of liters of water for irrigation, bathing and cooking. Read more...

Scotland gets serious about sea power

ENN, March 22, 2010

cotland has approved ten marine energy projects that leaders predict could provide electricity for one-third of the nation’s homes by 2020 and make Scotland the world leader in wave energy. The government awarded leases to companies to construct six wave energy projects and four tidal projects off the Scottish coast in what experts say would be the first developments of their kind on a large commercial scale. Construction would cost £4 billion ($6.1 billion) and require another £1 billion ($1.53 billion) in government funding to upgrade the national electric grid. Read more...

Blue Fin Tuna Decline and Fall

ENN, March 17, 2010

The Atlantic blue fin tuna is one of the largest, fastest, and most gorgeously colored of all the world’s fishes. Their torpedo shaped, streamlined bodies are built for speed and endurance. Their coloring (metallic blue on top and silver white on the bottom) helps camouflage them from above and below. They have an average size of 6.5 feet and 550 pounds. Unfortunately for them they are also delicious and may be on the brink of extinction due to overfishing. European Union ambassadors agreed to propose protecting blue fin tuna as an endangered species on March 10, a move that would effectively ban international trade in the species. Read more...

Read also: EU countries block bluefin tuna ban

Natural Gas drilling chemicals a concern

ENN,. March 11, 2010

President Barack Obama's top environmental adviser urged the natural gas industry on Tuesday to disclose the chemicals it uses in drilling, warning that the development of massive U.S. shale gas reserves could be held back otherwise.
Joseph Aldy, special assistant to the president for energy and the environment, said concerns about water contamination from drilling chemicals could lead to states requiring disclosure and that could deter additional investment. Read more...

Attention Bikers - Google Maps is for you!

ENN, March 10, 2010

At long last, Google Maps has routes specifically for bikes.
With the click of a mouse, the new feature allows you to plot the best (and flattest!) ride from Point A to Point B. Several cities, including New York, Minneapolis, San Francisco and Portland, Oregon, have bike-specific mapping sites. But Google is rolling it out in 150 cities nationwide and announcing it Wednesday at the 10th Annual Bike Summit in Washington, D.C. Read more...

Environmental Performance Reviews: Greece

OECD, March 15, 2010

This report examines Greece’s progress since the previous OECD Environmental Performance Review in 2000, and the extent to which the country has met its national objectives and international commitments regarding the management of the environment and natural resources. It also analyses Greece’s achievements in strengthening the environment-economy integration and environmental-social linkages. The report also contains 44 recommendations to encourage further environmental progress in Greece. Read more...

Πυρηνικά με εγγύηση Ομπάμα

Ελευθεροτυπία, 07 Μαρτίου 2010

Επρεπε να περάσουν 31 χρόνια από το ατύχημα στο Three Mile Island, στην Πενσιλβάνια, όταν κυριολεκτικά έλιωσε ένας πυρηνικός αντιδραστήρας, για να δοθεί το πράσινο φως από αμερικανό πρόεδρο προκειμένου να κατασκευαστούν νέα πυρηνικά εργοστάσια παραγωγής ηλεκτρικής ενέργειας. Και είναι μάλλον παράδοξο να είναι ο Μπαράκ Ομπάμα -ο πιο «πράσινος» αμερικανός πρόεδρος- αυτός που προωθεί το πιο φιλόδοξο και εκτεταμένο πρόγραμμα κατασκευής πυρηνικών σταθμών. Διαβάστε περισσότερα...

Ivory and bluefin tuna top agenda at UN wildlife summit

BBC News, March 13, 2010

Sales of ivory and a possible ban on trading bluefin tuna top the agenda for the two-week CITES meeting that opens this weekend in Doha, Qatar. CITES - the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species - will set a precedent if it votes to ban trading in a lucrative fish such as bluefin. The US and EU back the proposal, but Japan is set against.
Conservation groups are also hoping for increased protection on sharks, coral, polar bears, lizards and amphibians. Read more...

Σε 100 χρόνια σκοτώσαμε τις μισές φάλαινες

ΤΑ ΝΕΑ, 13 Μαρτίου 2010

Ήταν οι κυρίαρχοι των ωκεανών. Ζούσαν κατά εκατοντάδες χιλιάδες σε κάθε γωνιά του υδάτινου περιβάλλοντος. Και πριν αρχίσει το συστηματικό τους κυνήγι, οι πληθυσμοί κάποιων ειδών ήταν έως και 20 φορές μεγαλύτεροι από ό,τι είναι σήμερα. Τα τελευταία χρόνια, πολλοί ερευνητές προσπαθούν με τη βοήθεια αρχειακών δεδομένων να εκτιμήσουν πόσες φάλαινες ζούσαν στους ωκεανούς πριν από 100 ή 150 χρόνια. Διαβάστε περισσότερα...

Τουαλέτες μίας χρήσης για τον αναπτυσσόμενο κόσμο

TA ΝΕΑ, 11 Μαρτίου 2010

ΜΙΑ ΒΙΟΔΙΑΣΠΩΜΕΝΗ πλαστική σακούλα, που μπορεί να λειτουργήσει ως αποχωρητήριο μίας χρήσης για τους 2,6 δισεκατομμύρια κατοίκους του πλανήτη που δεν έχουν πρόσβαση σε τουαλέτα και στη συνέχεια να επαναχρησιμοποιηθεί για την... καλλιέργεια καρπών, εμπνεύστηκε και προσπαθεί να πουλήσει ένας Σουηδός επιχειρηματίας. Διαβάστε περισσότερα...

West Africa mangroves impacted by salt extraction

ENN, March 8, 2010

Salt is precious in poverty-stricken coastal West Africa, but conservation experts say efforts to extract it are laying waste to mangrove swamps, causing erosion and ravaging fish stocks.
In Sierra Leone, one of Africa's poorest nations still recovering from a 1991-2002 civil war, lawmakers are preparing a bill to join a seven-nation charter to protect the region's mangrove forests. Conservation group Wetlands International says the initiative is essential for West Africa to save the 800,000 hectares (2 million acres) of mangrove swamps it has left, less than a third of the 3 million hectares it started with. Read more...

Insect that fights Japanese knotweed to be released

BBC News, March 9, 2010

A tiny Japanese insect that could help the fight against an aggressive superweed has been given the go-ahead for a trial release in England. Since Japanese knotweed was introduced to the UK it has rapidly spread, and the plant currently costs over £150m a year to control and clear.
But scientists say a natural predator in the weed's native home of Japan could also help to control it here. This is the first time that biocontrol - the use of a "natural predator" to control a pest - has been used in the EU to fight a weed. Read more...

BP and Shell face new shareholder revolt over tar sands

ENN, February 28, 2010

Investors want oil giants to answer questions on their involvement in the environmentally damaging extraction of oil from tar sands
Shareholders at BP and Shell will get the chance to vote at upcoming AGMs on whether to force oil giants to come clean on their Canadian tar sands involvement. Read more...

Πόλεμος στην Ευρώπη για τη σούπερ πατάτα

ΤΑ ΝΕΑ, 04 Μαρτίου 2010

Ένα ετερόκλιτο μέτωπο του «όχι» δημιουργεί στην Ε.Ε. το πράσινο φως που άναψε η Κομισιόν στη σούπερ πατάτα Αmflora, έπειτα από 12 χρόνια εμπάργκο στην καλλιέργεια γενετικά τροποποιημένων οργανισμών. Αυτήν τη φορά οι οικολόγοι δεν είναι μόνοι. Διαβάστε περισσότερα...