Latest Organic / Eco News
Natural changes pinned to warming
14/05/2008
Major changes in the Earth's natural systems are being driven by global warming, according to a vast analysis. Glacier and permafrost melting, earlier spring-time, coastal erosion and animal migrations are among the observations laid at the door of man-made warming. The research, in the journal Nature, involves many scientists who took part ....
Cash cuts see green grants halved
12/05/2008
The number of government grants made to people who want to fit solar panels or other green energy systems to their homes has halved, the BBC has learned. It comes after the low carbon buildings programme cut the maximum grant on offer from £7,500 to £2,500. The Renewable Energy Association, which says ....
Japan scientists warn Arctic ice melting fast
12/05/2008
TOKYO (Reuters) - Arctic ice is melting fast and the area covered by ice sheets in ocean could shrink this summer to the smallest since 1978 when satellite observation first started, Japanese scientists warned in a report. Ice sheets in the Arctic Ocean shrank to the smallest area on record in ....
Potential of ponds to bury carbon
12/05/2008
Scientists suggest that ponds and lakes across the globe could absorb as much carbon as the world’s oceans. Research, led by limnologist Professor John Downing of IOWA State University, measured the organic carbon (OC) buried in 40 impoundments (ponds and lakes) across farmland in the USA over the past century. The results, ....
Flood risk fear over key UK sites
07/05/2008
Hundreds of UK power substations and water treatment plants are potentially at risk from flooding, a confidential government study suggests. BBC News has seen the conclusions of research commissioned after the devastating floods of 2007. Yorkshire and Humberside, the Midlands and Gloucestershire were among the worst affected areas after heavy rain. And a ....
Shimon Peres sees eco-fuel fighting "terror"
06/05/2008
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli President Shimon Peres on Monday hailed his country's new weapon against the threat of "terrorism" from its Middle East neighbors -- the electric car. Outlining Israel's development priorities in an address to foreign journalists to mark this week's 60th anniversary of statehood, Peres said reducing global dependence ....
Organic farmland prices on the rise
06/05/2008
Recent sales of organic land have been reaching premium prices, according to agents Savills and Stags. The value of farmland has soared by 30 per cent in a year, and according to rural agents, it is predicted to increase by another 15 to 20 per cent this year. Farmland values according to ....
Tropics insects 'face extinction'
06/05/2008
Many tropical insects face extinction by the end of this century unless they adapt to the rising global temperatures predicted, US scientists have said. Researchers led by the University of Washington said insects in the tropics were much more sensitive to temperature changes than those elsewhere. In contrast, higher latitudes could experience ....
Welsh organic sector growth
06/05/2008
Growth of organically managed land in Wales set to continue according to Organic Centre Wales’ producer survey. The land area under organic management in Wales increased by 15% in 2007 and now amounts to 90,000 ha on 800 holdings, or 6.3% of Welsh agricultural area. The report shows organic farming accounted for ....
Judge orders polar bear decision by May 15
30/04/2008
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration must decide by May 15 whether polar bears in the United States should be listed as threatened by climate change under the Endangered Species Act, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday, barring further delay. U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken in Oakland, California, ruled in favor ....
Asian vultures disappearing faster than dodo
30/04/2008
LONDON (Reuters) - Wild Asian vultures could become extinct in 10 years unless officials stop the use of a livestock drug that has caused the birds to decline faster than the dodo, British and Indian scientists said on Wednesday. A new study shows the population of oriental white-backed vultures has plunged ....
Russia says has no plans to cap carbon emissions
30/04/2008
OSLO (Reuters) - Russia's opposition to new cuts in greenhouse gases means all of the world's top four emitters are against making quick reductions, complicating plans for a new U.N. climate treaty by the end of 2009. "The positions ... are just the tip of the iceberg of the problems ahead," ....
Bid to stop River Niger drying up
30/04/2008
West African leaders are meeting to discuss an $8bn, 20-year plan to stop the River Niger drying up. Water experts warn that the river is threatened by drought, silting up industrial waste and population growth. The 4,200km-long Niger is Africa's third longest river, after the Nile and the Congo, while some 110 ....
Climate 'fix' could deplete ozone
25/04/2008
Research has cast new doubt on the wisdom of using Sun-blocking sulphate particles to cool the planet. Sulphate injections are one of several "geo-engineering" solutions to climate change being discussed by scientists. But data published in Science journal suggests the strategy would lead to drastic thinning of the ozone layer. This would delay ....
Greece suspended from UN Kyoto carbon trading
23/04/2008
OSLO/LONDON (Reuters) - Greece has been suspended from U.N. carbon trading in an unprecedented punishment for violating greenhouse gas reporting rules that underpin a fight against global warming, officials said on Tuesday. A group of legal experts enforcing compliance with the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol also said it was opening proceedings against ....
Wild bee decline 'catastrophic'
23/04/2008
Wild bee populations around the UK are experiencing "catastrophic declines", the Bumblebee Conservation Trust has warned. Mary Celeste Syndrome - where a hive is found almost completely deserted - has appeared in Scotland. The Stirling-based trust's Dr Ben Darvill described bumblebees as an "insurance policy", given the problems facing colonies of honey ....
Security risk from climate said underestimated
23/04/2008
LONDON (Reuters) - Countries around the world have hugely underestimated the potential conflicts stemming from climate change and must invest heavily to correct that mistake, a report said on Wednesday. The report for Britain's Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) by environment expert Nick Mabey said the response had been "slow and ....
Ape protest at Unilever factory
21/04/2008
About 50 Greenpeace campaigners are staging a protest at Unilever sites in Merseyside and London. The protesters, some dressed as apes, went into the plant at Port Sunlight, Wirral, and Unilever House on Victoria Embankment to highlight palm oil usage. Greenpeace claims the use of palm oil by companies such as Unilever ....
Turtles to be climate change canaries
21/04/2008
Just as canaries help miners monitor underground gases, marine turtles are emerging as excellent indicators of the effects of climate change. “Turtles are a really good way to study climate change because they depend on healthy beaches as well as mangroves, sea grass beds, coral reefs and deep ocean ecosystems to ....
McCartney urges vegetarianism to fight climate ills
21/04/2008
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former Beatle Paul McCartney is urging the world to go vegetarian in a bid to fight global warming and is surprised more green groups don't promote it. In an interview with the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), McCartney said the global ....
Captive tigers 'may save species'
21/04/2008
Many tigers held in captivity have "pure-bred ancestry" and could play a key role in the survival of diminishing wild populations, a study suggests. A team using a new method for assessing the genetic ancestry of tigers found that a number of "generic" animals were actually pure-bred subspecies. Writing in Current Biology, ....
GM crops yield no more than non-GM
21/04/2008
The Soil Association has published a report on the latest available research on GM crop yields over the last ten years. Following the release of the Country Life manifesto, which suggests people should “learn to love GM crops”, the Soil Association has released a report suggesting that GM crops do not ....
Greenland glacial lake vanishes in warming drama
18/04/2008
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Surface melting fueled by climate warming can trigger dramatic events on the vast Greenland ice sheet such as a lake suddenly vanishing through a crack with force of Niagara Falls, experts said on Thursday. Rising global temperatures are expected to cause an increase in meltwater in frozen expanses ....
More doubt on cosmic climate link
18/04/2008
Research has thrown further doubt on the notion that cosmic rays are a major influence on the Earth's climate. The idea that modern global warming is due to changes in cloudiness caused by solar influences on cosmic rays is popular with "climate sceptics". But scientists found changes in cosmic ray flux do ....
Report outlines failures of industrial farming
18/04/2008
The report of the first international Agriculture Assessment was approved by 54 governments, and calls for a fundamental change to farming. A four year study, involving 400 scientists from around the world, aimed to develop a new approach to world food production. Warning against GM crops and crops used for biofuels for ....
Forecast for big sea level rise
16/04/2008
Sea levels could rise by up to one-and-a-half metres by the end of this century, according to a new scientific analysis. This is substantially more than the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) forecast in last year's landmark assessment of climate science. Sea level rise of this magnitude would have major impacts ....
Bush to announce intermediate goal for CO2 emissions
16/04/2008
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush plans to announce on Wednesday an intermediate goal to limit greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, but will not make specific proposals, the White House said on Tuesday. Bush will "articulate a realistic intermediate goal for reducing greenhouse gasses" and press for incentives ....
Solar Energy: Popcorn-ball Design Doubles Efficiency Of Dye-sensitized Solar Cells
16/04/2008
A new approach is able to create a dramatic improvement in cheap solar cells now being developed in laboratories. By using a popcorn-ball design -- tiny kernels clumped into much larger porous spheres -- researchers at the University of Washington are able to manipulate light and more than double the efficiency ....
Nature's Answers to the Sanitation Challenge
15/04/2008
At a prison on the East coast of Africa, in-mates are pioneering a sanitation project that is working with nature to neutralize human wastes. The initiative, involving the development of a wetland to purify sewage, is expected to cost a fraction of the price of high-tech treatments while also triggering scores ....
China 'now top carbon polluter'
15/04/2008
China has already overtaken the US as the world's "biggest polluter", a report to be published next month says. The research suggests the country's greenhouse gas emissions have been underestimated, and probably passed those of the US in 2006-2007. The University of California team will report their work in the Journal of ....
How to Avoid the Eco-Imposters
14/04/2008
Earth Day is April 20 and many consumers hope to do their spring cleaning with 'green' or nontoxic products. Sometimes, it's hard to tell the environmentally friendly goods from the eco-pretenders. Terms such as 'all natural' and 'organic' are often misused on labels for household cleansers, shampoos, conditioners and other personal ....
Bangladesh faces climate change refugee nightmare
14/04/2008
DHAKA (Reuters) - Abdul Majid has been forced to move 22 times in as many years, a victim of the annual floods that ravage Bangladesh. There are millions like Majid, 65, in Bangladesh and in the future there could be many millions more if scientists' predictions of rising seas and more ....
EU can hit biofuels goal without conflicts: Germany
12/04/2008
BRDO, Slovenia (Reuters) - The European Union can achieve its 2020 target to get 10 percent of all transport fuel from biofuels without adding ....
Organic egg supply chain faces collapse
11/04/2008
High prices of organic raw materials could ‘paralyse’ the organic egg sector, warns a major organic feed compounder. In an open letter to The Grocer, Martin ....
The future of solar-powered houses is clear
11/04/2008
Professor John Bell said QUT had worked with a Canberra-based company Dyesol, which is developing transparent solar cells that act as both windows and energy generators in houses or commercial buildings. He said the solar cell glass would make a significant difference to home and building owners' energy costs and could ....
Farm visits can ease mental illness
11/04/2008
OSLO (Reuters) - Spending time on a farm looking after cows, horses, or other animals can help people with mental illness better manage their anxieties and increase their confidence, according to a study published on Friday. The findings by Norwegian scientists could further widen use of "Green care", which enlists nature ....
Website to encourage shopping at farmers' markets
11/04/2008
Kent Farmers’ Market Association has launched a new website to make farmers’ markets more convenient and encourage more people to shop there. The group, made up ....
Record beach litter threatens marine wildlife
10/04/2008
LONDON (Reuters) - Plastic litter on Britain's beaches has reached record levels, endangering whales, dolphins and seabirds, an environmental charity survey said on Thursday. The Marine Conservation Society, which campaigns for cleaner beaches and seas, said plastic litter has increased by 126 percent since its first survey in 1994. Scores of marine ....
Climate assumptions 'optimistic at best'
10/04/2008
The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has seriously underestimated the technological advances needed to stem carbon dioxide emissions, say Roger Pielke Jr, Tom Wigley and Christopher Green in Nature. They describe the IPCC's assumption that the majority of future emission reductions will occur spontaneously, in the absence of climate ....
Minister plans pilot badger cull
09/04/2008
A "targeted cull" of badgers has been announced as part of a plan in Wales to eradicate tuberculosis in cattle. The location of the area and details of the cull have yet to be decided. The Welsh Assembly Government's plan includes a one-off test of all cattle and a review of the ....
Sustaining the health of honey bees
09/04/2008
Defra and the Welsh Assembly Government have launched a joint consultation on a strategy to improve and protect honey bee health. Health of the honey bee has been of high concern recently, following a growing number of threats from pests and diseases, including news of the Israeli acute paralysis virus, which ....
Car makers try to copy green halo of Prius
08/04/2008
When Tom Weatherbee swapped his minivan for a Toyota Prius hybrid two years ago, he was mostly hoping to save money at the gas pump. But he was pleasantly surprised by both the requests from friends for a test drive and the grins its aerodynamic profile drew at the grocery store, ....
Brazil makes 'rainforest' condoms
08/04/2008
The Brazilian government has begun producing condoms using rubber from trees in the Amazon. The health ministry says the move will help preserve the largest rainforest in the world. It will also cut dependence on imported contraceptives, which are given away to fight Aids. The Brazilian government has one of the biggest ....
Dell Headquarters Powered With Green Energy
07/04/2008
It was announced yesterday that Dell Computer’s 2.1 million-square-foot headquarters in Round Rock, Texas is now powered entirely with renewable energy. 60% of the energy is supplied by wind power generated by Energy Future Holdings Corp.’s TXU Energy and the remaining 40% from Waste Management’s landfill gas-to-energy plant. Dell, a participant ....
Nobel scientist warns on climate change
07/04/2008
MIAMI (Reuters) - The Nobel Prize-winning scientist who rang the first alarm bells over the ozone hole issued a warming about climate change on Saturday, saying there could be "almost irreversible consequences" if the Earth warmed 2.5 degrees Celsius (4.5 degrees F) above what it ought to be. "Things are changing ....
Climate change threatens Australia's koala: report
06/04/2008
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's unique tree-dwelling koalas may become a victim of climate change, new research reported on Saturday shows. Australian scientists say that eucalyptus ....
Global temperatures 'to decrease'
04/04/2008
Global temperatures this year will be lower than in 2007 due to the cooling effect of the La Nina current in the Pacific, UN meteorologists have said. The World Meteorological Organisation's secretary-general, Michel Jarraud, told the BBC it was likely that La Nina would continue into the summer. This would mean global ....
Nutritional benefits of organic food reviewed
03/04/2008
The Organic Centre has released its first major review since 2003 of published scientific literature on the nutritional benefits of organic food. “New Evidence Confirms the Nutritional Superiority of Plant-Based Organic Foods”, State of Science Review, is the culmination of a two-year project by researchers of the Organic Centre. The project involved ....
'Eco-towns' shortlist is revealed
03/04/2008
The 15 locations shortlisted for the first new towns in England in 40 years have been revealed by the government. Bordon, Coltishall, Curborough, Elsenham plus Ford in West Sussex have made the list, as well as Hanley Grange, Imerys, Leeds and Manby. Marston Vale and New Marston in Bedfordshire, Middle Quinton, Pennbury, ....
Welcome to the new look site.....
01/04/2008
The work is finally done, well sort of. The site is basically completed, apart from a bug here or there (well feature). Thanks to Alex and his team over at www.redtigerdesign.com we have a nice new site, and what a job they have done even if I do say so. The ....
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