environment
Get flash to fully experience Pearltrees
The world famous landmark in the City of Light will be one of nearly 400 monuments across France participating in the event - which kicks off at 8:30pm local time tonight. For security reasons, the lights will be turned off for just five minutes, but other monuments like the Notre Dame and the Arc de Triomphe will be plunged into darkness for the full hour. More than 100 towns across France are running similar operations. Strasbourg in the country’s east says it expects to save 672 kilowatts of electricity during the hour.
Eiffel tower switches off lights for Earth Hour
An oil company in the Paris area has been building drilling platforms, perhaps in anticipation of this change, which has residents of affected areas worried about the future. "The first people to be affected by drilling will be farmers," explains Christophe Charpentier, a farmer near the town of Jouarre, about an hour's drive east of Paris. Dependent on water, he says, farmers will suffer by deep drilling that could affect the water table.
Activists fear U-turn on French anti-fracking ban - Report: France
Ecosystem Management Applying to Ecosystem Science: I. Robustness and Stability of Organisms and Ecosystems
As a consequence of our increasing use of energy and resources we now face two major challenges: climate change and biodiversity loss. Efforts to manage these have not succeeded and matters are urgent. Since these challenges concern complex eco-systems and human socioeconomic systems, it is important to utilize current scientific knowledge of extant threats to break the political impasse and accelerate the move towards a sustainable world.
Avalanche alert in French Alps after winter's first snowfall
The Alpine departments of Savoie, Haute-Savoie and Isère were on avalanche alert on Saturday and there were fears of avalanches in the Pyrennees and the Vosges. The sport and interior ministries on Friday evening warned hikers and skiers that “exceptional” snow and high winds have “considerably increased the risk of sudden avalanches” in mountainous areas. Authorities are concerned after two avalanches, one of which killed a woman , last week. Although restrictions on heavy goods vehicles were lifted in Savoie and Haute-Savoie, they were maintained in Isère. Trucks were banned from using the Mont-Blanc tunnel on Friday because of weather conditions and the ban was maintained Saturday because of the Italian holiday of Santa Barbara."This was a great place to live, but I don't even want to live here anymore, to be honest with you, I don't. I really don't," says a property owner in Ohio's rural Mahoning County. An oil well is being drilled next door - a deep one, going down two kilometres into the shale rock, which needs to be fracked to release the oil and gas. Hydraulic fracturing , popularly known as "fracking", is a way of getting to pockets of oil and gas in hard shale rock deep underground. It involves pumping an extremely high-pressure mix of water, chemicals and sand deep underground to fracture the stone. The resident, who wishes to remain anonymous for fear of the drilling company's reaction, says he was not informed that a deep well was to be drilled right next to his home of 12 years.
Ohio anti-fracking campaigners warn of pollution and earthquakes - Report: United States
French police teargas anti-airport protest
Witnesses say police used pepper grenades and tear gas as well as flashballs, to try to control the situation. There are unconfirmed reports of injuries. “We were faced with very determined opponents, who have increased considerably in number over the weekend, following internet appeals. Security forces had to deal with violent projectile attacks and disperse groups of assailants using tear gas”, said a communiqué issued by the regional police.Breathalyzer tests In an attempt to cut back on the number of alcohol-related traffic accidents, each driver will from now on be required to keep a breathalyzer test in his or her vehicle. Those caught without the test, which cost between 1 and 3 euros a piece, can expect to pay a fine of 11 euros as of 1 November. According to an Ifop poll published in Dimanche Ouest France , only 39 percent of French drivers owned the test as of Saturday, just one day before the law came into effect. The limit in France for drink-driving is 50mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood. Minimum wage The minimum wage will move up by two percent, with inflation from 1 January accounting for 1.4 percent of that figure and 0.6 percent making up the government’s added “bonus.” The increase will bring monthly salaries up to 9,40 euros per hour, putting 21,40 euros in workers’ pockets each month, after taxes.
Breathalyzer law and minimum wage changes come into force in France - France
environment scoop.it
environment pearltrees
animations
Seven billion people; 350 parts per million; 2°C warming; 13 million hectares per year. All of these numerical indicators for environmental change are important to know. Solid, up-to-date data provides the basis for understanding the limits and benefits of natural ecosystems that support human life. Before we can design clever and sustainable solutions, we need to diagnose complex environmental problems. Or to frame it another way, to know where we are going, we must know where we have come from. But with so many government, non-government and research organizations with overlapping but frequently competing agendas producing so much data, the task to break through a wall of numbers becomes even harder.
The environment in numbers: 1992-2012 - OurWorld 2.0
“If nature is really important to human well-being, people wouldn’t be moving into cities in droves, they’d be living in cabins in the woods,” said the economics professor in 1998. Hopefully that guy has been fired. The above statement contains two heavily criticised tenets of neo-classical economics: firstly, that people know what they want and they always do what is best for them; and second, that nature can simply be traded-off for money. We now know that functioning ecosystems and human well-being (HWB) form a critical and inseparable linkage. One of the major tasks of the new Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is to assess how biodiversity and ecosystem services (BES) contribute material and energy inputs for human societies. IPBES is an authoritative independent science panel convened by the United Nations Environment Programme to give science-based advice on BES and its implications for societies.
The true value of ecosystem services - OurWorld 2.0
“Carbon footprint” – It’s the latest buzz word being thrown around by everyone from politicians to college kids but what exactly is it? Well, roughly defined it’s the amount of green house gas emitted by a person or population over a certain period of time. To make a long story short, the more of these gasses that we let into the atmosphere, the worse it is for the environment. Before moving onto the list, however, we would like to point out that no matter what your stance is on global warming/climate change these ideas at least stand the chance of saving you money. Most of them don’t take that much effort and at the end of the month you may notice less coming out of your bank account to pay for utilities.
25 Ways To Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
maps
#oilspill
humans
health
climate
development
resources