Kenyan conservationists have urged a ban on the pesticide carbofuran after five hippos were found dead with the substance in their bodies. Four lions that had been eating the hippos were paralysed. In a nation where food production is critical to com
bating hunger, the plentiful and cheap pesticide is used to kill insects in food crops. Carbofuran is banned in Europe and the United States.
BEAR VERDICTPresident Bush must decide whether or not to award the polar bear endangered species status, according to a California judge who ruled in favour of three environmental groups fighting to protect the species. Last week conservationists successfully argued that melting sea ice and rising global temperatures have placed the bears in peril. The president has until May 16 to decide on tougher protection.
GREEN ARMY The Ministry of Defence has pledged to invest in technology that would end the military's dependence on fossil fuels. Officials have plans eventually to phase in solar-powered attack aircraft, tanks that run off desert weeds and hydrogen-powered missiles produced by feeding algae to microbes. It is hoped the efforts, which are expected to become reality in the next 25 years, will also reduce reliance on the unstable Middle East. The MoD spends £400m annually on fuel.
ROYAL DEMANDThe Prince of Wales has called on Britain's business leaders to take "essential action" to make their firms more sustainable.
Prince Charles made the impassioned plea to company bosses and Prime Minister Gordon Brown at a climate change conference in London, urging them to seize "economic opportunities".
The Prince said: "What more can I do but urge you, this country's business leaders, to take the essential action now to make your businesses more sustainable? I'm exhausted with repeating that there really is no time to lose."
AIR QUALITYThe London congestion charge has done little to improve air quality in the capital, researchers have found.
The toll, introduced in central London in 2003 and expanded in both price and area since then, was designed to cut traffic and congestion in the city centre.
Car numbers have fallen by a fifth, but research showed there has been little change in pollutants such as smog, diesel soot and carbon monoxide, New Scientist magazine reported.
The full article contains 378 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
