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Archive for December 2nd, 2012
United Kingdom: DIY plumbing is polluting rivers, experts warn
Posted by Guardian: Daniel Boffey on December 2nd, 2012
Guardian: The growing popularity of DIY, encouraged by an "explosion" in daytime TV programmes on property, is leading to raw sewage being increasingly pumped into Britain's rivers, killing wildlife.
Botched plumbing jobs mean that foul water that should be piped into the sewage system is being fed into ground and coastal waters. According to the Marine Conservation Society, the growing problem is causing the degradation of the country's smaller rivers and threatening invertebrate ecosystems and depleting...
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Sweden: The land of the rising coastline
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 2nd, 2012
Reuters: A Stone Age camp that used to be by the shore is now 125 miles from the Baltic Sea. Sheep graze on what was the seabed in the 15th century. And Sweden's port of Lulea risks getting too shallow for ships. In contrast to worries from the Maldives to Manhattan of storm surges and higher ocean levels caused by climate change, the entire northern part of the Nordic region is rising and, as a result, the Baltic Sea is receding.
The uplift of almost a centimetre a year, one of the highest rates in the...
United Kingdom: Osborne to offer tax breaks for shale gas
Posted by Independent: Jane Merrick on December 2nd, 2012
Independent: George Osborne is expected to use his Autumn Statement this week to announce tax breaks for companies that carry out controversial fracking, arguing that boosting the shale gas industry is vital to economic growth.
Despite fears from environmental groups and local communities, the Government will publish a gas strategy paper, which will give the green light to shale gas extraction, alongside the Chancellor's economic update. With the cost of fuel soaring, Mr Osborne is expected to say that giving...