Fishermen know that their livelihoods will be at stake if they don't adopt more sustainable fishing methods. And nonprofits are now certifying -- and thereby rewarding -- companies that follow stringent eco-guideless. Still, many fishermen are frustrated that "going green" often means more work and less money. The fishing trawler FMS Susanne is not a very pleasant place for fish -- or humans. With a crew of only six, the captain and his seamen rarely get a chance to sleep, and their quarters are only slightly larger than the bunk beds they hold. Every four or five hours, the alarm clock goes off, and they lift the net. Saithe, a relative of cod, is brought on board from the stern in nets bulging like balloons. The fish flop onto the deck and whiz down a hatch directly into the processing equipment made up of a slaughtering machine, a conveyor belt and slides. Fresh from the catch, the fish are gutted, sorted according to size and placed on ice. The Susanne can store a good 100 tons in one outing, and it can bring in that amount within just a few days. The ship is 40 meters (130 feet) long and has one of the largest catch capacities in the North Sea, with an official annual quota of 2,300 tons of saithe. More importantly, it has proven that it can fish in a way that both conserves fish stocks and is environmentally friendly.
Fishermen know that their livelihoods will be at stake if they don't adopt more sustainable fishing methods. And nonprofits are now certifying -- and thereby rewarding -- companies that follow stringent eco-guideless. Still, many fishermen are frustrated that "going green" often means more work and less money.
The fishing trawler FMS Susanne is not a very pleasant place for fish -- or humans. With a crew of only six, the captain and his seamen rarely get a chance to sleep, and their quarters are only slightly larger than the bunk beds they hold. Every four or five hours, the alarm clock goes off, and they lift the net.
Saithe, a relative of cod, is brought on board from the stern in nets bulging like balloons. The fish flop onto the deck and whiz down a hatch directly into the processing equipment made up of a slaughtering machine, a conveyor belt and slides. Fresh from the catch, the fish are gutted, sorted according to size and placed on ice. The Susanne can store a good 100 tons in one outing, and it can bring in that amount within just a few days.
The ship is 40 meters (130 feet) long and has one of the largest catch capacities in the North Sea, with an official annual quota of 2,300 tons of saithe. More importantly, it has proven that it can fish in a way that both conserves fish stocks and is environmentally friendly.
Huge investment in breeding hundreds of thousands of fry. keep to the Fen Causeway
A German company is marketing a mobile toilet for women that fits into their handbags and can be used whenever they are caught short. Aware that the fairer sex battle with long queues at conveniences and are loathe to relieve themselves at roadsides like men, the makers of the "Ladybag" believe they are on to a winner.The disposable portable lavatory consists of a plastic bag fitted with absorbent polymers that turn urine into a gel.The size of a chocolate bar when folded, it has a wide opening and can be used squatting, sitting or standing.The gel can absorb a pint of urine, but in an emergency the bag itself can hold 2.2 pints.
Aware that the fairer sex battle with long queues at conveniences and are loathe to relieve themselves at roadsides like men, the makers of the "Ladybag" believe they are on to a winner.
The disposable portable lavatory consists of a plastic bag fitted with absorbent polymers that turn urine into a gel.
The size of a chocolate bar when folded, it has a wide opening and can be used squatting, sitting or standing.
The gel can absorb a pint of urine, but in an emergency the bag itself can hold 2.2 pints.
The prime minister of Bangladesh has ordered male government employees to stop wearing suits, jackets and ties to save electricity.Sheikh Hasina told officials that doing so would minimise their use of air-conditioners. Bangladesh suffers from daily power cuts as power plants are unable to meet the country's demand. A senior official told the BBC the government would soon encourage businesses to follow its example.
The prime minister of Bangladesh has ordered male government employees to stop wearing suits, jackets and ties to save electricity.
Sheikh Hasina told officials that doing so would minimise their use of air-conditioners.
Bangladesh suffers from daily power cuts as power plants are unable to meet the country's demand.
A senior official told the BBC the government would soon encourage businesses to follow its example.
Hundreds of sand lizards are being released at sites across England and Wales in an attempt to bring back the UK's rarest lizard to areas where it has disappeared, conservationists said today. The reintroductions at five sites in Surrey, Dorset and mid Wales are part of efforts to "turn back the clock on amphibian and reptile declines" in Britain, Amphibian and Reptile Conservation said... The sand lizard was once a common sight on heathland across parts of England and Wales, but widespread destruction of its heath and sand dune habitats led to extinctions at many sites.
The reintroductions at five sites in Surrey, Dorset and mid Wales are part of efforts to "turn back the clock on amphibian and reptile declines" in Britain, Amphibian and Reptile Conservation said...
The sand lizard was once a common sight on heathland across parts of England and Wales, but widespread destruction of its heath and sand dune habitats led to extinctions at many sites.
The Arctic has warmed as a result of climate change, despite the Earth being farther from the sun during summer months
By Ian Sample, guardian.co.uk
Warming as a result of increased levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has overwhelmed a millennia-long cycle of natural cooling in the Arctic, raising temperatures in the region to their highest for at least 2,000 years, according to a report. The Arctic began to cool several thousand years ago as changes in the planet's orbit increased the distance between the sun and the Earth and reduced the amount of sunlight reaching high northern latitudes during the summer. But despite the Earth being farther from the sun during the northern hemisphere's summer solstice, the Arctic summer is now 1.2C warmer than it was in 1900. Writing in the US journal Science, an international team of researchers describe how thousands of years of natural cooling in the Arctic were followed by a rise in temperatures from 1900 which accelerated briskly after 1950. The warming of the Arctic is more alarming in view of the natural cooling cycle, which by itself would have seen temperatures 1.4C cooler than they are today, scientists said.
The Arctic began to cool several thousand years ago as changes in the planet's orbit increased the distance between the sun and the Earth and reduced the amount of sunlight reaching high northern latitudes during the summer.
But despite the Earth being farther from the sun during the northern hemisphere's summer solstice, the Arctic summer is now 1.2C warmer than it was in 1900.
Writing in the US journal Science, an international team of researchers describe how thousands of years of natural cooling in the Arctic were followed by a rise in temperatures from 1900 which accelerated briskly after 1950.
The warming of the Arctic is more alarming in view of the natural cooling cycle, which by itself would have seen temperatures 1.4C cooler than they are today, scientists said.
