Archive for September 21st, 2010

France: Parisians tap into free water supply

Independent: Eco-conscious Parisians can now get free, unlimited sparkling water at a new public drinking fountain which is intended to wean consumers off bottled water and on to tap. The fountain was unveiled in the Jardin de Reuilly in the east of the city by a publicly-owned water company, Eau de Paris. It injects carbon dioxide into regular tap water to make it bubbly and chills it before delivering it to consumers. Separate taps also provide still water, both refrigerated and ...

Pictures: Toxic Foam Chokes Brazil River

National Geographic

Experts search Egypt’s pharaonic past for climate change fix

AFP: As world experts grapple with ways to contain global warming, researchers gathered in Egypt are seeking answers from the country's pharaonic past to help tackle environmental problems of the present. Blessed with incomparable archaeological wealth, Egypt is the most populous Arab nation and the number of inhabitants is expected to more than double by 2050 to 160 million, according to estimates. The effects of climate change have long been neglected in this large North African ...

Italy bans the plastic water bottle along heritage coastline

Telegraph: Instead they will be asked to pay one euro for reusable, metal flasks which can be filled up from newly-installed public water fountains. The quaint Italian villages, terraced vineyards and precipitous cliffs of the Cinque Terre in the country's north-west attract three million visitors a year. However, as well as enjoying the region's wine, food and stunning views, the tourist hordes discard two million plastic bottles, some of which tumble down the cliffs and end up littering ...

Panel Advises More Aggressive FDA Analysis of Engineered Salmon

Greenwire: While a genetically engineered salmon is almost certainly safe to eat, the government should pursue a more rigorous analysis of the fish's possible health effects and environmental impact, members of a federal advisory committee said yesterday. The independent panel made up largely of veterinary scientists was convened by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to discuss the agency's upcoming decision on whether to allow the commercial cultivation of a fast-growing salmon engineered ...

GM rice trials in the Philippines ‘will go ahead’

SciDev.Net: Scientists researching genetically modified (GM) rice in the Philippines have insisted that field trials will go ahead in December, despite the new agriculture secretary, Proceso Alcala, making strong anti-GM statements since taking office two months ago. In particular, Alcala told SciDev.Net that he will not permit the production of GM rice unless it is proved safe for human consumption. Researchers at the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) are developing a version ...

Peru: Have the climate wars begun?

Guardian: The plan was to go from the Four Lakes district in Peru's Cusco province up to the communities in the Espinar region, another three hours and 600m up the Andes mountainsides into the high pastures. These villages are more than 4,300m high (14,000ft), some of the remotest and highest inhabited in the world. But we nearly didn't get there because the city of Yauri, where we were to stay, was in lockdown over water. The following day, we were told, there would be a total strike. No one ...

‘Lost’ frogs found after decades

BBC: A mission aimed at rediscovering amphibian species thought to be extinct has yielded its first results. Conservationists have turned up live specimens of two West African frogs and a cave-dwelling salamander from Mexico. The salamander was last seen in 1941, and was rediscovered by abseiling into caves deep in the forest. The expeditions are partially designed to bring attention to the plight of amphibians around the world, with a third of species at risk of ...

Photos: ‘Lost amphibian’ search makes good: three ‘extinct’ species rediscovered

Mongabay: A search for 100 of the world's 'lost amphibians'--unseen for decades and in many cases supposed extinct--have turned up three species so far, one of which hasn't been recorded since the Nazis were bombing London. The lost amphibian expeditions, formed by Conservation International (CI) and the IUCN Amphibian Specialist Group (ASG), have found surviving populations of the cave splayfoot salamander (Chiropterotriton Mosaueri) in Mexico, the Mount Nimba reed frog (Hyperolius Nimbae) in the ...

Disasters mirror climate models: US environment chief

AFP: The flurry of exceptional weather disasters in recent years is completely consistent with scenarios about an aspect of climate change, the head of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said on Tuesday. Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the top US agency for meteorology and environmental science, said extreme weather events, when viewed individually, should not be considered as firm evidence that climate change was under way. "At the same time, (what) we ...