This week on ENN: Gravity powered lamp lasts 200 years, Global fish sources threatened, Clinton and Obama leading the environmental votes, Practicing Green, Sea levels hit a record low in Venice, UK farm chiefurges for solutions to global warming and much more.
This week on ENN: Gravity powered lamp lasts 200 years, Global fish sources threatened, Clinton and Obama leading the environmental votes, Practicing Green, Sea levels hit a record low in Venice, UK farm chief urges for solutions to global warming and much more.
Gravity powered lamp generates as much light as 40 Watt bulb
Clay Moulton of Springfield, Va., who received his Master of Science in Architecture with a concentration in industrial design from the College of Architecture and Urban Studies in 2007, created the lamp as a part of this master’s thesis. The LED lamp, named Gravia, has just won second place in the Greener Gadgets Design Competition as part of the Greener Gadgets Conference in New York City. Concept illustrations of Gravia depict an acrylic column a little over four feet high. The entire column glows when activated. The electricity is generated by the slow fall of a mass that spins a rotor. The resulting energy powers 10 high-output LEDs that fire into the acrylic lens, creating a diffuse light. The operation is silent and the housing is elegant and cord free — completely independent of electrical infrastructure.
Warmer World May Mean Less Fish
Monaco/Nairobi, 22 February 2008 - Climate change is emerging as the latest threat to the world's dwindling fish stocks a new report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) suggests. At least three quarters of the globe's key fishing grounds may become seriously impacted by changes in circulation as a result of the ocean's natural pumping systems fading and falling they suggest.
Brazil urges rich to fund environment reform
BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva urged developed countries on Thursday to finance measures by poor nations to protect the environment and reduce emissions that cause global warming. Lula was speaking to lawmakers from major industrial nations and emerging countries gathered in Brasilia, Brazil's capital, to discuss global warming and give direction to a post-Kyoto Protocol accord.
Obama,Clinton top McCain on environment votes: report
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - All three top U.S. presidential contenders tout their environmental credentials, but Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton cast far more "green" votes in Congress than John McCain, a conservation group reported on Thursday. Sen. McCain of Arizona, the likely Republican nominee, rated a zero out of 100 for his votes on environmental issues last year, the League of Conservation Voters said in the group's national environmental scorecard.
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Practicing Green: Uncovering and Countering Greenwash
Difficult to uncover, lacking adequate disclosure, regulation and enforcement mechanisms and offering high rates of return now that climate change and environmental degradation are high up on the political agenda, corporate “greenwashâ€Â threatens the real and honest efforts of all those taking steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, mitigate climate change and minimize environmental destruction.
Wildlife trading ring 'dismantled' on Sino-Russian border
Key members of a smuggling ring trading tiger skins and bear parts into China will face trial in March after a 6 month operation in which WWF and TRAFFIC provided technical assistance to customs, police and navy officials in the Russian far east. About 900 paws of brown and black bears, 4 tiger skins, more than 60 kilos of tiger bones and 531 saiga horns, valued at more than $US 200,000 were seized in three joint seizures by customs, police and navy services.
Trouble with Tuna
Today's globalization may be causing more stress to our planet than we realize, and the food industry is just one example. As a gourmet specialty foods purveyor in Manhattan, my job is to source quality products for the city's top chefs. In the course of my work I have seen opposite worlds in the food industry—everything from clean organic husbandry to mass-produced commodity meats. Anyone who witnesses the latter would no doubt have a hard time shopping for meats at their local supermarkets.
Sea levels in Venice plunge to 14-year low
VENICE (Reuters) - Sea levels in the lagoon city of Venice plunged to a 14-year low this week, beaching some gondolas and exposing the canal-beds of famed waterways. The Centro Maree, whose forecasts are vital for organizing transport in Venice, said a high-pressure system set off a "Code White" alert that signals low sea levels.
Global Trade In Tiger Shrimp Threatens Environment
The cultivating of fish and shellfish in artificial ponds has increased dramatically in the last few decades, apace with the ever greater depletion of fish stocks in the oceans. International aid organizations, working with local governments, have made major commitments to expanding aquaculture in the hope that such activities would alleviate poverty and spur economic growth in these areas.
UK farm chief urges science to fight global warming
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain must overcome an aversion to new technologies in parts of society as it seeks to combat the menace of climate change and help feed a rapidly growing world population, farmers' leader Peter Kendall said on Monday. "It is acutely painful to me to see how we have allowed our science base to run down. Part of the problem is the aversion to new technology and risk that has been fostered by a section of our society," Kendall, president of the National Farmers Union, told an annual conference.
Southern Ocean rise due to warming, not ice melts
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Rises in the sea level around Antarctica in the past decade are almost entirely due a warming ocean, not ice melting, an Australian scientist leading a major international research program said. The 15-year study of temperature and salinity changes in the Southern Ocean found average temperatures warmed by about three-tenths of a degree Celsius.
