Category: Environment

ROME, December 5, 2008 (AFP) – Twenty-one animal species, including the cheetah, three dolphin families and an Egyptian vulture, were added to the list of those in danger of extinction by a UN conference that ended Friday. Six other bird species as well as manatees have also been placed on the list of animals benefiting […]

PARIS, November 17, 2008 (AFP) – Scientists unveiled Sunday the first direct evidence that massive floods deep below Antarctica’s ice cover are accelerating the flow of glaciers into the sea.How quickly these huge bodies of ice slide off the Antarctic and Greenland land masses into the ocean help determine the speed at which sea levels […]

Nov 17, 2008 (LBO) – Pollution of the seas around Sri Lanka is increasing mainly because of pollutants from land, the Marine Pollution Prevention Authority (MPPA) has warned.MPPA chairman Ranjith Kularatne said most people were not aware that 90 percent of the pollution of the island’s waters came from activity on land. These include pollutants […]

JAKARTA, October 23, 2008 (AFP) – A species of cockatoo feared to have become extinct has been “rediscovered” with the sighting of a handful of breeding pairs on a remote Indonesian island, researchers said Thursday. Ten Yellow-crested Abbott’s cockatoos were found on the Masalembu archipelago off Java island, the Indonesian Cockatoo Conservation group told AFP. […]

Oct 21, 2008 (LBO) – A host of Sri Lankan companies, especially plantations firms, have submitted proposals for projects to earn carbon credits by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Ministry of Environment officials said. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 Most of the projects are for […]

Oct 09, 2008 (LBO) – New rules in Western markets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions offer business opportunities for Sri Lankan companies in products and carbon trading, an expert in financing environmentally-friendly projects said. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 Suranjan Cooray, chief executive of […]

Oct 09, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has approved two waste disposal sites with private sector participation to handle garbage generated in the densely populated western province which houses the capital, Colombo, a minister said. Yapa said the Burns would operate the waste site with two other partners. Burns, which had a concession from the […]

Oct 02, 2008 (LBO) – Growing consumer demand in Western markets for environmentally-friendly products provide new opportunities for Sri Lankan businesses, a European Union official said. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 The opportunities arise through increasing EU efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions that […]

PARIS, September 30, 2008 (AFP) – The crown-of-thorns starfish, a notorious threat to coral in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, comprises four species, not one, biologists reported on Tuesday. The spiny predator, known by its Latin name of Acanthaster planci, has been a worsening peril to reefs for at least three decades, latching onto coral […]

Oct 01, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s government plans to introduce new laws to make energy efficiency improvement measures mandatory that may even extend to private homes, a senior official said.Wickramasinghe said the government aims to encourage supply side and end-use energy efficiency and the Energy Conservation Act will be amended. The authority will prepare […]

GENEVA, August 12, 2008 (AFP) – Two whale species, the humpback and the southern right, are less under threat from becoming extinct, a new study released on Tuesday showed.However, smaller cetaceans, including a species of porpoise, were facing a greater risk of extinction, said the study, which was carried out by the International Union for […]

PARIS, August 10, 2008 (AFP) – The age-old fantasy of rendering objects invisible took a sharp step toward reality Sunday when scientists said they had created a material that can bend visible light in three dimensions.“An observer looking at the cloaked object would then see light from behind it, making it seem to disappear.” For […]