'Freezer plan' bid to save coral

BBC News, October 25, 2009

The prospects of saving the world's coral reefs now appear so bleak that plans are being made to freeze samples to preserve them for the future.
A meeting in Denmark took evidence from researchers that most coral reefs will not survive even if tough regulations on greenhouse gases are put in place. Scientists proposed storing samples of coral species in liquid nitrogen. Read more...

Η μοίρα των... δεινοσαύρων απειλεί τις τίγρεις

Ελευθεροτυπία, 29 Οκτωβρίου 2009

Σε λίγα χρόνια οι τίγρεις θα υπάρχουν μόνον στα βιβλία, εάν η διεθνής κοινότητα δεν λάβει μέτρα για να διασφαλίσει την επιβίωσή τους. Σε αυτό το δυσοίωνο συμπέρασμα έφτασαν οι περισσότεροι από 200 ειδικοί που μετέχουν σε διάσκεψη για την προστασία των επιβλητικών αιλουροειδών, στο Κατμαντού του Νεπάλ. Διαβάστε περισσότερα...

Κι άλλο αρκουδάκι νεκρό στην Εγνατία

Ελευθεροτυπία, 29 Οκτωβρίου 2009

Το 8ο τροχαίο ατύχημα με θύμα αρκούδα, τους τελευταίους επτά μήνες. Σύμφωνα με τον "Αρκτούρο", πρώτη και σημαντικότερη αιτία θανάτωσης για το απειλούμενο είδος της καφέ αρκούδας αποτελούν τα τροχαία ατυχήματα στη χώρα μας. Αυτή ήταν 24η αρκούδα που έχασε τη ζωή της τελευταία πενταετία από τροχαίο ατύχημα. Η εκτίμηση ελάχιστου πληθυσμού καφέ αρκούδας στην Ελλάδα είναι 250 ζώα. Διαβάστε περισσότερα...

London Testing a New Way to Refill Your Water Bottle

ENN, October 12, 2009

Finding a way to refill your reusable water bottle is as hard as finding a public restroom in most cities. London is testing a new-tech "fountain" to do just that in an effort to reduce the number of water bottles in trash.

But there are signs that water fountains might be making a comeback—albeit in a slightly different form factor than that to which most of us are accustomed. After banning the sale of bottled water, the Australian tourist town of Bundanoon recently installed three water-bottle refilling stations, which crank out filtered water provided by Culligan. And now London is getting its feet wet with a test of similar dispensers, called HydraChills, at a London bus station and museum, reports The Guardian. Read more...

Saving forests five times better than carbon capture for climate action

WWF Sweden, October 07, 2009

WWF Sweden is urging its government — holding the current EU Presidency - to get behind an effective international agreement on halting forest loss as a key and highly cost effective measure on climate change.
"Sweden should follow the examples set by its northern neighbors in developing systems to halt deforestation," said WWF CEO General Lasse Gustavsson. "One Swedish krona to stem deforestation results in the same emissions reductions as five kronor for the controversial carbon capture and storage technique.". Read more...

EcoDorm offers 'green' college living

ENN, October 6, 2009

A dorm outfitted with composting toilets and kitchen cabinets made from recycled fence-posts is bringing new meaning to the concept of living "green" at college.
The EcoDorm, home to 36 undergraduates at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, N.C., was designed to be sustainable from top to bottom, or in this case, from its rainwater-collection system to a permaculture garden. Read more...

Ozone layer depletion levelling off

European Space Agency, September 21, 2009

By merging more than a decade of atmospheric data from European satellites, scientists have compiled a homogeneous long-term ozone record that allows them to monitor total ozone trends on a global scale – and the findings look promising. Read more...

River Deltas Sinking

ENN, September 21, 2009

A new study led by the University of Colorado at Boulder indicates most of the world's low-lying river deltas are sinking from human activity, making them increasingly vulnerable to flooding from rivers and ocean storms and putting tens of millions of people at risk. The study concluded that 24 out of the world's 33 major deltas are sinking and that 85 percent experienced severe flooding in recent years. Read more...

Solar Heating Industry Review 2009

Renewable Energy World.com, September 21, 2009

In 2008, solar thermal heating and cooling solutions gained favour in more and more countries,’ says European Solar Thermal Industry Federation (ESTIF) president Olivier Drücke. ‘The solar thermal market in the EU and Switzerland grew by over 60% to 3.3 GWth of new capacity, that is 4.76 million m2 of collector area,’ he adds.
Indeed, the latest ESTIF annual statistics on European solar thermal markets show that while demand for solar thermal technologies increased strongly in Spain, Italy and France, the biggest push came from the German market, which more than doubled from 0.7 GWth to 1.5 GWth of newly installed capacity in 2008. Read more...

Δημοτική Αστυνομία με ηλεκτρικά οχήματα

Η ΚΑΘΗΜΕΡΙΝΗ, 25 Σεπτεμβρίου 2009

Ενισχύθηκε χθες ο «στόλος» της Δημοτικής Αστυνομίας Αθηνών με δέκα ευέλικτα ηλεκτρικά οχήματα, δωρεά της Τράπεζας Πειραιώς. Από σήμερα, οι περιφερόμενοι ένστολοι του δήμου θα μπορούν να περνούν από πεζοδρόμους, λόγω του περιορισμένου τους όγκου, και θα εξυπηρετούνται πολίτες χρήζοντες βοηθείας (έγκυες, άτομα προς αιμοκάθαρση, κ.ά.). Tα οχήματα είναι μικρά, φορτίζονται με ηλεκτρικό ρεύμα στο γκαράζ και σε συγκεκριμένες πλατείες, όπου έχουν τοποθετηθεί πρίζες. Εχουν αυτονομία 50 χιλιομέτρων, είναι απολύτως οικολογικά και μπορούν να εισέρχονται ακόμη και σε πολύ στενούς δρόμους. Διαβάστε περισσότερα...

EU lists industries exempted from carbon trading

EurActiv, September 21, 2009

Experts from the 27-member bloc agreed on a list of industries ranging from plastics manufacturing to iron and food processing that will be largely exempted from CO2 trading after 2013 for fears that their inclusion would move production abroad.
National experts agreed on a list of 164 sectors deemed to be at risk of relocating their activities to foreign countries that have not adopted greenhouse gas emission restrictions similar to the EU's. The threat is dubbed "carbon leakage" because industries and their related polluting emissions would simply move abroad without any benefit for the environment. Read more...

Croatia and Hungary to establish Europe´s largest river protected area

ENN, September 17, 2009

Croatia and Hungary signed today a declaration to establish a Trans-Boundary UNESCO Biosphere Reserve that will protect their shared biodiversity hotspot along the Mura, Drava and Danube Rivers. This paves the way to create Europe’s largest river protection area. Read more...

Half Of Fish Consumed Globally Is Now Raised On Farms, Study Finds

ScienceDaily, September 08, 2009

Aquaculture, once a fledgling industry, now accounts for 50 percent of the fish consumed globally, according to a new report by an international team of researchers. And while the industry is more efficient than ever, it is also putting a significant strain on marine resources by consuming large amounts of feed made from wild fish harvested from the sea, the authors conclude. Their findings are published in the Sept. 7 online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Read more...

Lost world of fanged frogs and giant rats discovered in Papua New Guinea

ENN, Spetember 09, 2009

A team of scientists from Britain, the United States and Papua New Guinea found more than 40 previously unidentified species when they climbed into the kilometre-deep crater of Mount Bosavi and explored a pristine jungle habitat teeming with life that has evolved in isolation since the volcano last erupted 200,000 years ago. In a remarkably rich haul from just five weeks of exploration, the biologists discovered 16 frogs which have never before been recorded by science, at least three new fish, a new bat and a giant rat, which may turn out to be the biggest in the world. Read more...

U.N. Reports on Developing Nations’ Energy Needs

The New York Times, September 1, 2009

It will cost between $500 billion and $600 billion every year for the next 10 years to allow developing nations to grow using renewable energy resources, instead of relying on dirty fuels that worsen global warming, according to a United Nations report released Tuesday.
That astronomical estimate, far higher than any previously suggested by the United Nations, comes at a time when developed and developing nations are still deeply divided over who bears the responsibility for shouldering the expense of deploying cleaner energy resources, much less what the actual amount might be. Read more...

Παρελθόν οι λαμπήρες πυρακτώσεως

TA NEA, 02 Σεπτεμβρίου 2009

Από χθες απαγορεύθηκε στην Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση η παραγωγή και η εισαγωγή των λαμπτήρων πυρακτώσεως. Εκτός από το ενεργειακό και οικονομικό όφελος που θα προκύψει, η Ελλάδα θα εκπέμπει 1,63 εκατομμύρια τόνους διοξειδίου του άνθρακα λιγότερους ετησίωςόσο σχεδόν παράγουν μηνιαίως δύο μεγάλοι θερμοηλεκτρικοί σταθμοί της ΔΕΗ. Διαβάστε περισσότερα...

Γόπα εναντίον γόπας!

Ελευθεροτυπία, 30 Αυγούστου 2009

Σώστε τα ψάρια από το τσιγάρο! Χερσαία και θαλάσσια πανίδα κινδυνεύουν από τα χιλιάδες αποτσίγαρα, στις παραλίες και τις θάλασσες.
Ολη η χώρα είναι ένα απέραντο σταχτοδοχείο, υποστηρίζει η επιστημονική ομάδα του Ινστιτούτου Θαλάσσιας και Περιβαλλοντικής Ερευνας Αιγαίου, «Αρχιπέλαγος».
Υπερβολές; Μάλλον όχι. Οι άνθρωποι της περιβαλλοντικής οργάνωσης μας ενημερώνουν ότι τα σκουπίδια που σχετίζονται με το κάπνισμα αντιστοιχούν στο 45% του συνόλου των θαλάσσιων απορριμμάτων της χώρας μας για την περίοδο. Διαβάστε περισσότερα...

California to Mandate Recycling for Businesses, Apartments

Earth 911.com, August 24, 2009

by Lauren Hasler

California residents not living in permanent housing may no longer have to deal with the frustration of searching for recycling options. The state’s Integrated Waste Management Board (IWMB) is formulating a program meant to encourage businesses, apartment complexes and mobile home parks to institute recycling. The mandatory recycling directive would most likely set goals for cities and counties, allowing them to implement individual programs as long as they comply. A draft proposal will be released this year, and state law requires the plan to be implemented no later than Jan. 1, 2012. Read more...

Axolotl verges on wild extinction

BBC News, Augut 26, 2009

The amphibian that never grew up is on the verge of going extinct in the wild.
New survey work suggests that fewer than 1,200 Mexican axolotls remain in its last stronghold, the Xochimilco area of central Mexico. The axolotl is a type of salamander that uniquely spends its whole life in its larval form. Its odd lifestyle, features and ability to regenerate body parts make it a popular animal kept in labs, schools and as pets. But in the wild, the future is bleak for this "Peter Pan" of animals. Read more...

University of Colorado at Boulder Tops Sierra’s Ranking of Green Colleges

Environmental Leader, August 21, 2009

The University of Colorado at Boulder, University of Washington at Seattle, Middlebury College, University of Vermont and College of the Atlantic are the top five “green” colleges, according to Sierra Magazine’s third annual ranking of environmentally responsible colleges. The Princeton Review and GreenReportCard.org also recently released their green school rankings.
Sierra’s “cool schools” were ranked by eight categories: efficiency, energy, food, academics, purchasing, transportation, waste management, and administration. Schools could earn up to ten points in each category, and up to five bonus points if they had additional green initiatives. Read more...