The report highlights the collaborative action already happening between cities, states, regions, business, and national government, using data reported by over 1000 cities, states and regions through the CDP-ICLEI Unified Reporting System. Immediate action is needed to stop global greenhouse gas emissions, avoid new emissions, design resilient infrastructure and switch …
from Tuscany to the tip of Sicily, Italy is in the grip of its worst drought in decades. It has wiped out crops, killed livestock and changed the lives of thousands of people. Experts say that rainfall in Sicily is at its lowest level in more than 70 years and …
There seems to be no light at either end of this tunnel, what with a chain of protests being sparked off recently. First Italy filed a complaint against France with the European Commission for its refusal to open the Mont Blanc tunnel to heavy vehicles. Consequently, France allowed trucks with …
harlan Watson, the high-profile us senior climate change negotiator and special representative, arrived in Delhi on April 29, 2002. On the same day, the Confederation of Indian Industry (cii) began closed-door parleys with the Washington-based think-tank, Atlantic Council. Watson did the rounds of various ministries even as cii got on …
The assassination of Dutch rightwing populist Pim Fortuyn, and the stunning electoral advances of his French counterpart Jean-Marie Le Pen have brought some lingering trends in European politics to the forefront. Rightwing movements and parties, mostly campaigning on anti-immigration, anti-globalisation and anti-establishment sentiments, have been advancing in quite a number …
an unusual document called the Bellagio memorandum was released recently. It comprises a set of principles to guide policies for motor vehicles and transportation fuels around the world. The memorandum is unique, as it aims at best practices to benchmark progress in emissions reduction and device strategies to catch up …
italy has lodged a complaint with the European Union that the French government has turned down its request to open the Mont Blanc tunnel to heavy trucks until after the forthcoming elections. This was done to capture environmental votes, contends Italy. The 11.6-kilometre tunnel links the two countries. Three years …
A SMOG emergency caused by two months without rain could prove a blessing in disguise for Italy's Lombardy region. Hope has sprung from the haze with plans afoot to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel-powered cars in the area. The measure is a part of a roadmap outlined …
with smog levels soaring, authorities in Italy's northern Lombardy region recently urged drivers to do away with their cars for three days. This was done to reduce the dense smoky fog made worse by dry, cold weather. Earlier, Lombardy ordered a ban on private vehicle use for 12 hours on …
the death rate in Italy's industrial regions is higher than the less industrial ones, reveals a recent World Health Organisation (who) report. Covering the period from 1990 to 1994, the who study compared death rates in 15 heavily industrialised areas, which account for 20 per cent of Italy's population, against …
In a significant move, Italy recently declared a state of environmental emergency in Venice , Milan and Messina. The move displays the urgency of the authorities to tackle the deteriorating environmental conditions in the country. "Extraordinary measures are needed because of the high levels of pollution,' says Federica Cingolani, the …
a common virus called human herpesvirus 6 (hhv-6) prevents a form of the aids virus from reproducing. This was found during a laboratory study on cultures of human tissue. The study team led by Leonid Margolis of the us -based National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (nichd), included …
recently, a group of Kolkata-based taxi drivers did something quite unusual. They decided to tamper with the fuel in their taxis. They mixed 20 litres of diesel with one litre of mustard oil and ran their taxis on it. For them the doping made perfect economic sense. By default, researchers …
the use of compressed natural gas (cng) has brought some respite for Cairo. Experts say that cng has been able to drive out a haze from the city. "V ehicle conversion to the cng mode is a major factor behind a drastic reduction in Cairo's pollution. cng vehicles emit about …
A group of chemists at the University of Florence have devised a technique to prevent decay of old frescoes using nanoparticles of slaked lime. Frescoes are made by applying pigments onto the damp plaster on a wall. As the plaster dries, the pigments held fast into the base. But, dampness …
The world's first solar-powered funicular, a type of cable railway, has started operating between Italy's Livorno town and the Montenero sanctuary. Photovoltaic (PV) panels on buildings bordering the funicular's parking lot supply 90 per cent of the electricity drawn by funicular's year-round operation. The PV panels are connected to an …
revolutionary Electric Vehicle Alternative, or reva, the brainchild of Chetan Maini, managing director of Bangalore-based Maini group of companies, is not another smoke belching fossil fuel guzzler. The noiseless piece of machinery, first developed in 1996, is electrically driven. reva , India's first electric car, has been much delayed in …
A German food laboratory found traces of potentially dangerous pesticide Dicofol and fungicides Procymidon and Chlorthalonil in six out of 20 random samples of imported strawberries reports Reuters . The samples were from Spain and Italy. All three substances are suspected of being carcinogenic. Dicofol belongs to the same chemical …
vatican city's radio station recently stopped using short-wave transmitters following a settlement with the Italian government. It was said that electro-magnetic radiations from the station's transmitters were causing cancer. Vatican city is an independent enclave inside the capital Rome. The government has also directed the station to transfer medium-wave broadcasting …
Live bacteria have been found inside a meteorite in the Naples museum, Italy. Two researchers at the University of Naples claim the bacteria are not from Earth. If this is proved true , it could dramatically settle the controversial theory that life colonised Earth from space. But UK-based geologists, who …
