Green Options » In Europe

#4 Copenhagen, Denmark: Great Bicycle City Photo Tour

Zachary Shahan — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:12:29 +0000

Home of the upcoming climate change conference, Copenhagen is #4 in this great bicycle city photo tour series. With about 55% of trips being by bicycle, Copenhagen is an amazing place to visit or live if you like bicycling.

The photos to follow give you a taste of this great bicycle city. From dogs on bikes to bikes on bikes, from bikes in ice to bike counters, enjoy these great bicycle photos.

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#5 Paris, France: Great Bicycle City Photo Tour

Zachary Shahan — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:17:13 +0000

From bicycle lovers to lovers on bikes, bike art to art on bikes, the largest bicycle sharing program in the world to some of the smallest bikers, enjoy this bicycle city photo tour of Paris, France!

Paris doesn’t have a long history as one of the best bicycle cities, but with the introduction of the largest bicycle sharing program in the world, bicycling in Paris has boomed and the city is becoming commonly associated with the bicycle now. Its whole culture is changing due to the bicycle’s increasing relevance in the city’s daily life.

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#6 Groningen, Netherlands: Great Bicycle City Photo Tour

Zachary Shahan — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:23:27 +0000

Groningen would be number one on this list if we were looking at percentage of residents who bicycle for transportation purposes. About 57% of travel in Groningen is by bicycle!

The city has been named the world’s best bicycle city a couple of times (1993 and 2006). It is a university city which is part of the reason why it has so many people bicycling, but it has done amazing things to make the city more bicycle friendly as well. The bicycle facilities you can see on the following pages will probably blow your mind away.

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#7 Berlin, Germany: Great Bicycle City Photo Tour

Zachary Shahan — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:10:05 +0000

Berlin is a great bicycle city! Full of bicyclists, bike art, bicycle infrastructure, and unique bikes for a variety of different purposes, Berlin is #7 on this “great bicycle cities” list.

If you go to Germany, you will probably hear some Germans saying how much they love their cars (i.e. Mercedes, BMW, Audi). However, you will probably be surprised to see how many people actually love their bikes. Berlin is perhaps the best example. You can see people from across the class spectrum using the bicycle for a wide range of purposes. Even the postal service and other delivery services use bicycles.

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#8 Barcelona, Spain: Great Bicycle City Photo Tour

Zachary Shahan — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 22:46:40 +0000

Naked bicyclists, folding bikes, balloon bikes, and more — enjoy this bicycle photo tour of Barcelona.

The third B in a row, Barcelona is next on this list of great bicycle cities (right ahead of Basel, Switzerland and Bogota, Columbia). As a dense city with a wonderful climate, Barcelona is naturally a wonderful place for bicyclists. However, a lot has been done to make it more so. The biggest carrot encouraging bicycling, by far, is Barcelona’s relatively new bike sharing program — Bicing. This is perhaps the best or second best bike sharing program in the world. It is one of a new generation of sophisticated, smart bike sharing programs. Read more about it on page 2.

Beyond Bicing, the city is also working on creating new bicycling routes and bike parking and it hosts fun Bike Week celebrations every year in May. Also, it has been creating better infrastructure for bicyclists due to so many more people bicycling within the past few years. It is transforming itself into a truly world-leading bicycle city.

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UK’s First White Rhino Conceived By Artificial Insemination Born!

Rhishja Larson — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:11:55 +0000

Britain’s first IVF white rhino calf has been born at the Colchester Zoo.

The history-making calf is named Zamba, and was welcomed into the world on October 3, following a 16-month pregnancy. His mother, 11-year-old Cynthia, was in labor for three hours and was able to deliver the calf on her own. Zamba’s father, Simba, had died in April at the age of 41.

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Hunt Nuts, Help Endangered Dormice

Rhishja Larson — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:22:32 +0000

Once widespread in the U.K., the hazel dormouse population has declined by 39% since 1992, due to loss of hedgerows and fragmentation of woodland habitat. Now this tiny mammal is vulnerable to regional extinction.

To help locate hazel dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius ) habitats and gather data about these elusive creatures, the People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) has invited the public to participate in its third annual “Great Nut Hunt.”

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700 Naked People in France for Climate Change Action

Zachary Shahan — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:47:10 +0000

700 people stripped naked in French vineyards this week. Why? To try to influence world leaders to do more regarding climate change.

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Bikes & Trains — New Initiative for England

Zachary Shahan — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:13:36 +0000

England is working to combine two of the world’s cleanest methods of transportation through a new initiative.

A handful of strongly funded programs are geared to get more people bicycling to and from rail stations in England.

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Reintroducing the Iberian Lynx… on Olive Groves

Zachary Shahan — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:01:44 +0000

The Iberian lynx, at risk of extinction, may be reintroduced into the wild on low-production olive groves soon.

A study by Spanish scientists says this may be the most appropriate place for the cat.

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From Dikes to Natural Flood Plains: The Netherlands Changes Approach to Flood Control

Jennifer Lance — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:34:59 +0000

The Dutch have been fighting rising seas longer than any nation in the western world. Much of the country lies below sea level, including the capital city of Amsterdam. Traditionally, dikes and concrete barriers have been used to hold back the sea, but now the Netherlands is changing course in its flood control efforts due to climate change. The Dutch are embracing natural flood plains for rivers and mangrove swamps in lieu of levees.

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Largest River Protection Area in Europe — in Croatia and Hungary

Zachary Shahan — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 22:51:08 +0000

Croatia and Hungary signed an agreement yesterday to protect a major biodiversity area that crosses borders along three rivers. The agreement is being called a “Trans-Boundary UNESCO Biosphere Reserve” and has resulted in the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) awarding the two countries with a “Leaders for a Living Planet” award.

The reserve will preserve several endangered species, among other environmental jewels. There is also the possibility of the reserve expanding several times over into neighboring countries in the future.

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Vicious Tongue-Eating, Blood-Sucking Parasite Found

Jace Shoemaker-Galloway — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:41:37 +0000

Cat got your tongue? Well, not in this case! According to the BBC, a strange-looking parasite was recently discovered inside the mouth of a weaver fish off the Minquiers. Attracted to fish, the parasite, an isopod, eats the fish’s tongue then takes up residence inside its mouth!

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World’s First Floating Wind Turbine Opens in Norway

Bryan Nelson — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:22:48 +0000

The world’s very first floating fullscale offshore wind turbine has officially been inaugurated in the North Sea off the coast of Norway.

The turbine even has a name: Hywind. It measures 213 feet tall and weighs 5,300 tonnes, and it rests on a floating stand which is filled with water and rocks to provide balast. Three powerful cables anchor the stand to the seafloor.

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Lights Out: EU Bans Inefficient, Incandescent Light Bulbs

Jace Shoemaker-Galloway — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 19:59:11 +0000

In order to cut greenhouse emissions, fight climate change and save energy, 27 countries in the European Union (EU) are gradually phasing out traditional light bulbs. As of September 1st, 2009, 100-watt and frosted incandescent light bulbs can no longer be manufactured or imported, although stores can sell their remaining stock.

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Moose Under Fire in Sweden: Shoot to Kill and Cull Campaign

Jace Shoemaker-Galloway — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:53:09 +0000

Officials in Sweden have introduced a shoot to kill and cull campaign in an effort to reduce the amount of vehicle accidents and damage to forests due to the growing number of moose in the country. 42 people have been killed and almost 2,000 people have been injured in road collisions involving moose over the past five years.

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3 New Species Found in Underwater Cave in Canary Islands

Zachary Shahan — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 11:51:23 +0000

Texas A&M professor and world-leading cave researcher, Tom Iliffe, and others discovered numerous new species in an underwater cave a mile long in the Canary Islands recently. The cave was in Lanzarote off the coast of Africa in the Atlantic Ocean. One of the species might be one of the oldest crustaceans in the world. It might be about 200 millions years old, from the time of dinosaurs.

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Endangered Iberian Lynx Killed by Motorist

Rhishja Larson — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 23:52:38 +0000

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A sad discovery in Huelva province: The body of a female Iberian lynx was found on the road between Almonte and El Rocío.

This is unfortunately the third Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) killed in Andalucía this year - and the second in just two weeks. In March, a female - pregnant with two kittens - was run over in Doñana. She had also been shot.

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Fishing Salmon in the Seine - Paris Cleans the River and Species Return

Dave Harcourt — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 06:21:30 +0000

With the numerous distressing stories on the plight of so many species, its heartening to hear of a positive development in one of the largest cities in Europe.

A century ago the Seine, which flows from the north of France, through Paris to the English Channel, hosted a large flourishing population of Atlantic salmon. The salmon migrated from the sea to their freshwater birth place to reproduce from December to June every year.

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World Water Week Wrap-up

Zachary Shahan — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 21:59:45 +0000

World Water Week (August 16-22) brought some interesting information and important research findings to the world. We got a peek at the true water usage of developed countries, we identified some critical concerns for Indians and all of us who rely in Indian products, we learned more about water usage for beer, we saw the installation of the first commercial-scale hydrokinetic power plant in the US, and more. The following is a wrap-up of some key topics from the World Water Week Conference in Sweden.

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