Australia: heatwave is a consequence of climate change caused by man

Southern Australia is experiencing a wave of extreme heat, with the thermometers to exceed 40° c. Despite being summer, abnormal temperatures are causing several fires, the electrical supply failures and even lead to withdrawals of tennis in Australia Open, taking place in Melbourne.

Scientists indicate that the wave of extreme heat is a clear example of how climate change caused by human species are having consequences on natural climate variability.

According to Sarah Perkins, New South Wales University, a specialist in Australian climate, the latest heatwaves have occurred in the absence of El Ninõ, climatic phenomenon of atmospheric and ocean nature, which causes abnormal warming of surface water and shallow Equatorial Pacific Ocean. "Usually we hope the higher temperatures occur more frequently during the phase of El Ninõ, however, we're checking consecutive heat waves that are not caused by climate variability", says the expert, quoted by the Financial Times.

This week, temperatures exceeded 40° C several times and this is the second wave of extreme heat in 15 days. Recently, the Institute of meteorology Australian confirmed that 2013 was the hottest year since annual temperature monitors in the country. Average temperatures were 1.2° C above average long-term, surpassing the record of 2005, when the thermometers were 0.5° C above average.

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The Portuguese revolutionary innovation that joins the wind and solar energy (with video)

For years, Portugal was seen as an example for renewable energy. This investment has spread not only by companies but also universities and even citizens, being today well rooted in society.

To ride this boom came the Omniflow Omni-directional turbine, a motionless, low visual impact, which captures the wind and the Sun in all directions, allowing you to produce energy through wind or sunlight-or both, simultaneously.

This innovative infrastructure was developed by Pedro Rouen, materials engineer who launched the namesake company just over three months. "We were well received by the market. People were able to understand the message and what is the product, "explained Peter Rouen, who is now CEO of Omniflow.

The entrepreneur explains that has several customers that already have grid connection and who are thinking of expanding into wind production. "Many of these clients have electric cars," continues Peter Rouen.

The company also already has several foreign customers reside in Portugal, which demonstrates that the infrastructure has the potential of globalization.

One of the great advantages of Omniflow is its characteristic facing installation in urban areas. The company is working with the Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto in product testing. "We have an infrastructure that allows us to measure, with excellent quality, the performance of the equipment. Above all, it enables us to measure the performance of the equipment in an environment very close to the ideal, because the lab simulates a low voltage electricity network, "said Louis dryness, Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto.

The system does not depend on the direction of the wind, this being the great asset of the equipment and the characteristic that is attracting foreign investors. In 2013, Pedro Rouen pretended to have a turnover of around € 25 million ($ 80,000), but the value was folded. In 2014, the aim is to reach € 1 million ($ 3.2 million).

France, Brazil and Angola are the three markets where Omniflow has sold equipments â€" there are three different sizes, between € 1,400 ($ 4,500) and €14 thousand ($ 45,000). See the episode 85 of green economy.

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Norway: cold wave last weekend froze School of fish

The waves of cold have multiplied all over the northern hemisphere in recent weeks. The last country to be reached was that Norway, last weekend, faced lower temperatures than normal.

Temperatures dropped enough to freeze a shoal of herrings on Lovund coast. According to Aryl Slotte, specialist in pelagic fish of the Marina Norway Research Institute, the animals will have been forwarded to shallow waters by cormorants, a predator of these animals. Prevented from swimming to deep water, with less likelihood of freeze, the fish ended up trapped and froze near the coast.

Seawater freezes at temperatures of -1.9° C, a temperature slightly lower than fresh water. According to the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, the public broadcaster, in temperatures -7.8° C reached Lovund last weekend and were accompanied by strong winds, the Huffington Post.

In January 2012, about 20 tonnes of herring washed up on a beach in Northern Norway. Scientists found no apparent cause for the death of the fish, but the possibilities include oxygen deprivation, illness or storms, causes that can easily cause the death of fish on the high seas, which are later dragged ashore by currents.

Remember that recently, also in Norway, a frog woke up too early due to the mild climate, having died when the ice came back.

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Portuguese project creates a map of the biodiversity of the Serra da Estrela (with video)

Green Savers was the first information sites to make known the GeObserver, a portal that gathers data from weather, fauna, flora, demographics, hydrography, elevation and Serra da Estrela buildings of the last 30 years.

After 18 months, the green economy was visiting Paulo Barbosa and realize, in fact, how does the project. "The platform collects data from public and private weather stations, in real time. We also have people on the ground to collect data, which are checked by technical experts in each area. Ordinary people can also go to the site and record anything you can see or photograph of biodiversity ", explains Paulo Barbosa.

With the help of the photographs sent in by citizens, the GeObserver makes the confirmation of information and, from that moment on, starts building the biodiversity map of Serra da Estrela.

The main objective of GeObserver is to use these data for environmental protection, by which the platform received the help of a very special partner, the Association Friends of the Serra da Estrela.

"Very few people know who owns the Park in terms of biodiversity, whether of fauna and flora. There is a generic survey, but [the management] of everyday life has not been made. And you can only save what is known, "said the green economy Jose Maria Saraiva, Mountain Association.

In the short and medium term, the GeObserver will have to get new support to the network of information is not lost. One of the main achievements of this cross-was the creation of an index of risk of fire, which helps Civil protection and other local authorities to prevent to the heights of the hottest year. Thus, the public interest is visible.

The success of the platform will be able to take it in the short term, for other stops. According to Paulo Barbosa, have already made some contacts with Portuguese-speaking countries, who are interested in GeObsever to manage, more efficiently, its gigantic natural parks.

Like Green Savers had already in advance, one of these parks is the Gorongosa. See the episode 184 of the green economy.

Foto:  ines saraiva / Creative Commons

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Older trees grow at a rate greater

Trees increase the pace of growth as they grow older, according to a new study published yesterday in the journal Nature.

"The trees continue to grow so intense during its life cycle," said Nate Stephenson, study leader and forest ecologist of the US Geological Survey, in Three Rivers, California.

The research studied 403 species of trees from around the world and concluded that these never suffer from problems of old age. In animals, the change and ageing of cells will ultimately determine his death. But the trees do not have identical problems, only diseases, insects, the man, fire or accidents â€" like lightning â€" the can kill.

"They never stop growing. Each year that passes, always weigh more than in the previous year ", explained Stephenson.

Until now, it was believed that the trees stop growing older as they were made. A 2010 study was the first to go against this theory, when concluded that the giant California trees continue to grow into the sky each year that passed â€" and at a pace always greater.

Was this example it took Stephenson trying to learn more about the growth of trees â€" and if this was connected to his old age.

The study evaluated more than 670 thousand tropical and temperate climates trees â€" about 90% of these grow increasingly larger rhythms. The oldest trees can grow to 600 pounds per year.

Foto:  tkerpe / Creative Commons

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Dried fruits help reduce risk of obesity

Formerly, the nuts were considered too fat to be healthy. Currently, the dried fruits are fashionable and their benefits begin to be widely advertised and studies that come to prove the benefits of the consumption of these foods are multiplying.

A new study, conducted by American investigators concluded that the nuts can help control weight and to reduce the risk of obesity. According to researchers, study participants who ingested quantities of regular dry swipes â€" such as almonds, pistachios, walnuts and Brazil nuts-were between 37% and 46% less risk of becoming obese than those who drank less few amounts of dried fruit.

Frequent consumers of dry fruits are also less likely to have metabolic syndrome, a cluster of risk factors that are linked to heart disease and diabetes. "There is another study which indicates that there is an association between the ingestion of dried fruit and a low risk of obesity, as well as a less prone to suffering from metabolic syndrome", indicates Joan Sabaté, researcher of Loma Linda University in California, CITES Reuters.

Another study shows that people who ingested nuts regularly are less likely to die in the 12:0 am following the intake of these foods than people who do not consume nuts often.

While this conclusion may not fully indicate that the differences observed between those who like dried fruits and those who pass well without them are caused by these foods, researchers indicate that there is reason to believe that the dried fruit provides direct benefits to health.

Most nuts are high in unsaturated fat, which is a "good" fat when compared with the saturated fat found in animal products. The high protein content makes people who ingest feel more satiated, leading to a lower consumption of food less healthy. Furthermore, dried fruit contain other nutrients and plant chemicals that are beneficial to health, indicates Joan Sabaté.

For the study in question was analyzed the diet of 803 participants. In General, those who ingested significant amounts of dried fruit â€" about 16 grams per day â€" were weighing a little more than average. Those who took little or no nuts had a very above average weight and, in some cases, showed signs of obesity.

The body mass index (BMI)-relationship between weight and height â€" a healthy adult should vary between 18.5 and 24.9. People with a BMI between 25 and 29.9 are overweight and a BMI which exceeds the 30 is considered obese.

The volunteers in the study who consumed nuts regularly had an average BMI of 27 while those who ate little or no food of this type had a BMI between 29 and 30.

Foto:  IainBuchanan / Creative Commons

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French student profits €14,6 million with the sale of fresh air in tins

Antoinie Deblay is a young man with an eye for business. With only 22 years, this French student created his own company and already has profits of thousands of euros. But what sells the Antoine Deblay? The answer is simple: the most abundant on the face of the planet â€" air.

However, this is not any air. This is fresh air of Montcuq â€" the location where natural-, which comes stored in tins that are sold at € 6.6 each (R$19,3). And absurd as it may seem the idea, Deblay already profited €14,6 thousand (R$46,9 thousand).

The business started out as a joke, when this student put a financing proposal on a French page of crowdfunding. Donations earned him €723, which allowed him to create an online page and pack the product.

When promoted the idea, she was featured in the French press. Within six months, the young collected the €14,6 thousand by selling cans of fresh air. The success of your product is apparently connected to the name of the locality of Deblay. In French, "Montcuq" pronounced the same way as "mon cul" ("my ass"). "We're the butt of many jokes," says the student of communication.

Although the main market of sale be France, this young entrepreneur already had orders of the United States, Canada and other countries of Europe.

The cans canned air you can read: "the fresh air of Montcuq is 100% organic, involving him in the depths of the city to refresh their ideas. Ideal for when you need creative inspiration. Attention: irreplaceable content, consumable only once. Don't leave it open ".

Antoine Deblay indicates that your company takes into account the environment and "respects the air". As such, so as not to leave no air, only 10 Montcuq liters of fresh air are collected weekly.

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