EU Carbon Market Suspended After ‘Theft’

Environmental Leader, January 20, 2011

The European Union suspended most of its 72 billion euro carbon market yesterday after the suspected theft of 7 million euros of emissions permits from the Czech Republic’s carbon registry.
The EU halted most carbon market operations at all 30 member countries following the attack. It did not give a date for trade to resume, but said it would open the emissions trading scheme as each member state proved the security of its system, Reuters reported. Read more...

Εξοντώνουν και τα τελευταία ελάφια

ΤΑ ΝΕΑ, 19 Ιανουαρίου 2011

Λαθροθήρες απειλούν µε αφανισµό τον τελευταίο φυσικό πληθυσµό ελαφιών στην Ελλάδα, ο οποίος βρίσκεται στη Ροδόπη και αριθµεί το πολύ 30 ζώα. Το άλλοτε διαδεδοµένοστη χώρα µας κόκκινο ελάφι βρίσκεται πλέον στη λίστα µε τα απειλούµενα είδη. Το παράνοµο κυνήγι αποτελεί τη σηµαντικότερη απειλή για την επιβίωσή του. Διαβάστε περισσότερα...

The impact of climate change on Europe's electricity demand

Science for Environmental Policy, December 2010

The impact of climate change on electricity consumption is important to both adaptation and mitigation policies. New research has estimated that over the next 100 years climate change could cause up to a 20 per cent decrease in demand for electricity for heating in Northern Europe and up to a 20 per cent increase in demand for electricity for cooling in Southern Europe. Read more...

2010: The environment year in review

The Guardian, December 27, 2010

From the 'greenest government ever' to Deepwater Horizon to the individuals of the year, John Vidal sums up the highs and lows of 2010. Read more...

Σούπα με ψιλοκομμένα πλαστικά ολόκληρη η Μεσόγειος

In.gr, 30 Δεκεμβρίου 2010

Μικροσκοπικά σωματίδια πλαστικού, συνολικά γύρω στα 250 δισεκατομμύρια κομμάτια, επιπλέουν στα νερά της Μεσογείου, απειλώντας τα ζώα που τρέφονται με πλαγκτόν και γενικά όλο το τροφικό πλέγμα, προειδοποιούν θαλάσσιοι βιολόγοι που πραγματοποίησαν δειγματοληψίες. Τον περασμένο Ιούλιο, ερευνητική ομάδα από τη Γαλλία και το Βέλγιο συνέλεξε δείγματα νερού έξω από τις ακτές της Γαλλίας, της βόρειας Ιταλίας και της Ισπανίας, σε βάθος από 10 έως 15 εκατοστά. «Η χονδρική εκτίμηση είναι ότι υπάρχουν περίπου 250 δισ. μικροσωματίδια πλαστικού σε όλη τη Μεσόγειο» δήλωσε στο Γαλλικό Πρακτορείο ο Φρανσουά Γκαλγκανί, ερευνητής του Ifremer (Γαλλικό Ινστιτούτο για την Εξερεύνηση της Θάλασσας). Διαβάστε περισσότερα...

Freshwater wildlife thrives in cleanest rivers since Industrial Revolution

The Guardian, December 31, 2010

Otters, water voles and species of freshwater fish which had all but vanished from waterways have made a dramatic recovery following the healthiest decade for rivers since the industrial revolution. The toxic effects of pesticides nearly wiped out the wild otter in the 1970s, but steady improvements in water quality mean their numbers are expected to make a full recovery. Otters may already have reached their maximum capacity in parts of the south-west of England, Cumbria and Northumbria. In the past 30 years, positive sightings have risen 10-fold, says a report by the Environment Agency. Read more...

Fiji Water Targeted in ‘Greenwashing’ Class Action Suit

Environmental Leader, December 29, 2010

Fiji Water Company has been named in a class action lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, Calif. that alleges the company has profited by greenwashing claims that it’s water products are carbon negative—which means that the production, packaging and shipment of the water removes more carbon pollution from the atmosphere than it releases into it. The lawsuit was brought by the Newport Beach, Calif.-based Newport Trial Group on behalf of Desiree Worthington and other similarly situated individuals to seek restitution for “the false claims from which [Fiji Water Company has] richly profited.”. Read more...

EU signs off on carbon permits bonanza

EurActiv.com, December 23, 2010

A new regulatory regime for dispensing around 100 billion euros of carbon permits has been approved by EU regulators, granting steelmakers and oil refineries free emission allowances in an effort to shield them from international competition after 2012. Fears that tighter controls on CO2 emissions in Europe will drive factories to relocate abroad has led the EU to grant sweeping exemptions for industries deemed to be at risk. Read more...

Ξεκίνησε η προσπάθεια για αναδημιουργία της λίμνης Κάρλας στη Θεσσαλία

In.gr, 23 Δεκεμβρίου 2010

Άρχισε την Πέμπτη η άντληση νερού από τον Πηνειό στην πολύπαθη λίμνη Κάρλα, η οποία είχε αποξηρανθεί το 1962 αλλά επανέρχεται τώρα στο θεσσαλικό τοπίο. Η λειτουργία των αντλιοστασίων θα συνεχιστεί για περίπου έξι μήνες, οδηγώντας στην Κάρλα τις χειμερινές και εαρινές απορροές του Πηνειού. Εφόσον οι βροχές είναι καλές, ο ταμιευτήρας της λίμνης θα έχει την άνοιξη 120.000 κυβικά μέτρα καθαρού νερού, όγκος που αντιστοιχεί στο 75% της χωρητικότητας. Διαβάστε περισσότερα...

Και δυο καλές ειδήσεις για τους πάγους της Αρκτικής και τις πολικές αρκούδες

In.gr, 16 Δεκεμβρίου 2010

Σε αντίθεση με ό,τι πιστεύουν πολλοί κλιματολόγοι, η υποχώρηση των πάγων της Αρκτικής δεν είναι μη αναστρέψιμη, υποδεικνύει νέα μελέτη στο περιοδικό Nature, ενώ μια δεύτερη έρευνα προβλέπει ότι οι πολικές αρκούδες θα συνεχίσουν να έχουν πάγο να σταθούν και να επιβιώσουν. Διαβάστε περισσότερα...

The European environment – state and outlook 2010

SOER 2010 provides a set of assessments of the current state of Europe's environment, its likely future state, what is being done and what could be done to improve it, how global megatrends might affect future trends… and more. Read more....

UN climate change talks in Cancun agree a deal

BBC News, December 11, 2010

UN talks in Cancun have reached a deal to curb climate change, including a fund to help developing countries. Nations endorsed compromise texts drawn up by the Mexican hosts, despite objections from Bolivia. The draft documents say deeper cuts in carbon emissions are needed, but do not establish a mechanism for achieving the pledges countries have made. Read more...

Mountain gorilla population up by 100 individuals

ENN, December 08, 2010

Conservation appears to be working for the Critically Endangered mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) in the Virunga massif region, as a new census shows an additional 100 individuals from the last census in 2003, an increase of over a quarter. The Virunga massif is a region in three nations—Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Uganda—and covering three protected area.Read more...

EU countries launch North Sea electricity grid

Euractiv, December 06, 2010

Ten European countries, including Norway, have agreed to develop an offshore electricity grid at the North Sea, in a bold move that promoters say will give Europe the possibility of tapping into an even bigger source of energy than the Middle East's oil capacity. Ministers from all the ten 'North Seas Countries' signed of a 'Memorandum of Understanding' on December 3 to develop an offshore electricity grid seen as a major step forward for a single European market for electricity. Read more...

NASA images reveal disappearing mangroves worldwide

ENN, December 02, 2010

In August NASA and the US Geological Survey released the first-ever satellite analysis of the world's mangrove ecosystems. What they found was dire: mangroves covered 12.3% less area than previously estimated.  Now, NASA has released images of the world's mangrove ecosystems, which currently cover 137,760 square kilometers. Yet this number keeps shrinking: mangroves are vanishing rapidly due to rising sea levels, deforestation for coastal developments, agriculture and aquaculture. Read more...

Η ρύπανση με υδράργυρο «οδηγεί σε ομοφυλοφιλία τα υδρόβια πτηνά»

In.g, 02 Δεκεμβρίου 2010

Αρσενικά υδρόβια πτηνά που εκτίθενται σε ρύπανση από υδράργυρο αποκτούν ομοφυλοφιλικές τάσεις οι οποίες μειώνουν την αναπαραγωγική τους επιτυχία και τις προοπτικές του είδους, υποδεικνύουν πειράματα στο εργαστήριο, τα οποία προσομοίωσαν τις συνθήκες που επικρατούν στο φυσικό περιβάλλον. Οι ερευνητές του Πανεπιστημίου της Φλόριντα στο Γκέινσβιλ θεωρούν αναμενόμενα τα αποτελέσματα της μελέτης, δεδομένου ότι ο υδράργυρος είναι γνωστό ότι επηρεάζει το ενδοκρινές σύστημα πολλών ζώων. Διαβάστε περισσότερα...

Summit agrees tiger recovery plan

BBC News, November 24, 2010

Governments of 13 countries where tigers still live have endorsed a plan to save the big cats from extinction.

Delegates at a summit in St Petersburg, Russia, agreed to double tiger numbers by 2022.
The countries will focus on protecting tiger habitats, addressing poaching, illegal trade and providing the financial resources for the plan. In the last 100 years, tiger numbers have dropped from about 100,000 to less than 3,500 tigers in the wild today. Read more...

Italy Goes Solar With First Sun-Powered Road

ENN, November 11, 2010


Most people will be surprised, but Italy was the first country in the world to build motorways. In fact, the A8 "Milano-Laghi" motorway ("Milan-Lakes", as it connects the city of Milan to Lake Como and Maggiore) was completed in 1926. Time has passed and all developed nations now boast wide motorway networks, a strategic infrastructure that helps interconnecting people, places and is ultimately essential to economic growth. But Italy will soon be able to claim a new "first": the A18 Catania-Siracusa motorway, a 30km addition to Sicily's 600km motorway network, will be a fully solar-powered motorway, the first in its kind. Read more...

Environmental Sustainability Index 2010

The 2010 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) ranks 163 countries on 25 performance indicators tracked across ten policy categories covering both environmental public health and ecosystem vitality. These indicators provide a gauge at a national government scale of how close countries are to established environmental policy goals.Visit the site...

Black magic behind illegal owl trade in India

ENN, November 07, 2010

Use of owls in black magic and sorcery driven by superstition, totems and taboos is one of the prime drivers of the covert owl trade, finds a TRAFFIC India investigation into the illegal trade, trapping and utilization of owls in India. TRAFFIC India’s report entitled "Imperilled Custodians of the Night" was launched today by Shri Jairam Ramesh, Hon. Minister of Environment and Forests at his office in New Delhi. Read more...