UK must ‘act now’ to prevent severe water shortage
by David Masters
All UK homes should have a water meter installed within the next twenty years if the country is to avoid a severe water crisis, the Environment Agency (EA) said this week. The EA set a 2030 deadline for compulsory water meter installation in all homes, saying that climate change could reduce Britain's water supplies by up to 80%. The Water Resources Strategy document proposes a major rethink of how water is supplied ...
Green spaces ‘integral’ to battle against global warming
by David Masters
A government minister has said that green spaces must be placed at 'the heart' of the UK's fight against climate change. Margaret Beckett, minister for housing and planning, said parks and playgrounds must become an 'integral' part of planning and architecture if global warming is to be averted. The "bits between the buildings are as important as the buildings themselves," Ms Beckett told delegates at the CABE (Commission for Architecture and the ...
British tourism told to get greener
by David Masters
Tourism must become more sustainable and eco-friendly if it is to have a long term future, tourism minister Barbara Follett said this week. Speaking at the launch of the government's new sustainable tourism framework for England, Follett said the tourism industry is as responsible as everyone else for combating climate change. "All of us must try to behave in a more environmentally responsible way and the tourism industry is no exception," Ms ...
Sustainable investments ‘the answer’ to global downturn
by David Masters
Sunken tanker will not have diesel pumped out
by Alan Harten
Mark Butler of the Halifax Ecology Action Centre said yesterday that 70,000 litres of diesel should be pumped from the barge, Shovel Master, before it damages the marine environment. The Shovel Master was under tow to Halifax from Saint John, when it went down back on November 22nd off Yarmouth in severe weather. The owners, Atlantic Towing commissioned two separate reports, which both said that the wreck and the diesel are not ...
Russia sends troops to secure Arctic oil rights
by Alan Harten
Russia has unveiled plans to station military units in the Arctic dedicated to safeguarding Russian interests in gas and oil deposits. Countries in the northern hemisphere are competing for control of the polar zone, believed to have 25 percent quarter of the earth’s oil and gas reserves. The presidential security committee released a strategy paper describing Russia’s intention to protect its huge claim until 2020. Tass reported yesterday that six ...
Earth Hour Criticised
by David Masters
Cities around the world darkened their lights this weekend as millions of people across the globe powered down for an hour in protest against climate change. Earth Hour was started in Sydney in 2007 by environmental campaigners seeking to cut energy use. Now in its third year, the scheme aims to push the weight of public opinion against climate change onto the world's decision makers who are meeting in Copenhagen later this ...
The world switches the lights out
by Alan Harten
Many well-known landmarks around the world were in darkness for an hour on Saturday. The lights were turned off in observance of Earth Hour from 8.30 to 9.30pm, to emphasise the urgent need for action on global warming. In London, the Houses of Parliament, Nelson's Column, Big Ben, City Hall, Buckingham Palace, the National Gallery and the National Theatre were dark. The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Edinburgh castle, the Forth rail ...
Ban on black cars in California
by Alan Harten
The California Air Resources Board is contemplating legislation to control the colour reflective properties of car paints to cut the amount of fuel needed to cool the vehicles and also to increase the thermal efficiency of car window glazing. The Board calculates that stricter specifications may mean nearly a million tons, annually, less carbon dioxide going into the atmosphere by 2020. Dark colours do not reflect sunlight very well, so they ...
Archbishop says God can’t save the environment
by Alan Harten
Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, has called for a fundamental transformation of opinions about the changing climate. Speaking during an Ebor Lecture on Theology and Public Life at York Minster, he said humanity must relinquish the self-interest and self-indulgence that leads it to ignore its cooperation with the environment. He warned that God does not give guarantees of a successful ending. Unless there is a change of heart in ...
Britain recycles £1bn worth of waste
by David Masters
Britain has recycled more than £1 billion worth of waste since 2003, according to figures released this month by Recycle Now. The UK recycled 30% of its waste in 2008, Recycle Now said, nearly twice as much as five years ago. All the glass, metal, plastic and paper sent by the UK for recycling since 2003 is worth £1.1 billion, with even more money saved in landfill costs. England alone has recycled nearly ...
Red squirrels to get their own island
by Alan Harten
Safe havens for red squirrels are to be set up in Scotland, on the island of Arran and in another 18 large forests on the Scottish mainland. The intention is to protect the red squirrels from being overwhelmed by the grey species. The hope is that eventually the havens will turn into attractive territory for red squirrels. Arran and the other safe havens in Scotland will have many coniferous trees, giving ...
American freshwater fish contain pharmaceuticals
by Alan Harten
Researchers said on Wednesday that fish caught near used water treatment stations used by five important cities in the U.S. contained traces of pharmaceuticals. The cities were Philadelphia, Dallas, Chicago, Orlando and Phoenix. The medicines were for depression, allergies, high cholesterol and blood pressure and bipolar disorder. Much of this pollution comes from non-metabolised traces of medicines that have been taken and then excreted. Discarding medications into drains is also ...
Sydney sitting on climate timebomb
by Alan Harten
Scientist Martin Cope yesterday warned delegates at an important global warming conference in Perth, Greenhouse 2009, that higher summer temperatures, less rainfall and pollution from bushfires and vehicles would turn Sydney, Australia into a health risk in 50 years time. Cope, from the state financed Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), said people with heart problems or asthma and the aged would be in danger from heat stress. He ...
Daddy long legs latest creature to ‘disappear’
by Alan Harten
A study by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has established that warmer temperatures are already affecting bird numbers because of the loss or decline in numbers of some insect species. The RSPB studied what effect a later and warmer summer had on cranefly larvae, popularly known as daddy long legs, in Scottish peat lands. It discovered that over 94 per cent of the larvae do not survive ...
Build parks not roads, government told
by David Masters
Public money should be redirected from 'grey' projects to 'green' schemes, two official government advisory groups said this week in a new report. Government funds should be spent creating parks and allotments rather than building roads and expanding airports, according to the report by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) and Natural England. Not only would this save billions of pounds of taxpayers' money, but it would also improve ...
Many products not as “green” as label states
by Alan HartenThe House of Commons Environment Audit Committee says the government should impose stricter standards on labelling because the manufacturers often overstate the environmental properties of their products. The MPs said that a general system is needed, with autonomous checks, because the multiplicity of labels was perplexing to consumers. The Committee says that carbon data on labels is essential and will become more important as consumers' perception and understanding of embedded carbon increases. The ...
EPA stops mining of mountain tops
by Alan Harten
Lisa Jackson, the administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said on Tuesday that a large number of permits for coal mining from mountain tops are now suspended pending a review of how marshlands and streams are affected by the mining. The suspension is aimed at a contentious procedure carried out by mining companies who remove entire mountain peaks with explosives and deposit waste into wetlands and rivulets. It ...
Beached whales will be killed
by Alan Harten
The RSPCA and other British animal welfare charities believe that beached whales should be humanely put down by lethal injection rather than be left to continue suffering appallingly. The announcement was made after investigations proved that the mammals will probably not survive once they become stranded in shallow water or on a beach. The whales are usually already ill, dehydrated, malnourished, or wounded when they are stranded, and many will ...
More whales beached in Australia
by Alan Harten
At Hamlin Bay, south of Perth, close to the tourist region of the Margaret River, up to 80 whales and dolphins have become stranded on a beach. Officers from the Department of Environment and Conservation have gone to the area hoping to save the long finned pilot whales and bottlenose dolphins. Media reports say that as many as 58 of the whales, and some dolphins, may have died already. ...