The Russian billionaire who saved 140 dogs in Sochi

Half the world is watching in Sochi, which in these days is hosting the Winter Olympics. However, this Russian city has been at the Centre of attention of the international press not only for the games and not for the best reasons.

First by the substantial value inherent in the Organization of the Olympics, what makes these games the most expensive ever. After the bad conditions given to athletes and journalists, who began to be revealed in the press and finally the decision to cull more than 2,000 dogs and stray cats, a decision of the Organization for which the site became "more clean and safe".

However, despite appearing to have fate condemned, a man kept these dogs were exterminated. Oleg Deripaska, one of the richest men in Russia, built a shelter for the animals, on elevation of Sochi. "I found my first dog on the streets of my village. It was a very close friend for almost five years, "said the millionaire.

Initially the animals were attracted by construction workers of the Olympic Park, which fed and took care of the dogs. But quickly the animals began to interfere with the tests in preparation for the opening ceremony and even animals that have bitten children, second describes the company hired to take the animals. It was then that the authorities decided to take more drastic measures: slaughter the animals.

Oleg Deripaska (in the first picture) then decided to act and an animal rescue team started collecting animals from the streets and taking them to the shelter. Were saved about 140 animals and some have already managed to a new home.

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White roofs can help in the fight against climate change? Depends On.

The white-painted roofs can help in the fight against climate change? And the green roofs? A paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences addressed these two themes and the answer, oddly enough, is the same: it depends on the region where they are located.

The study was developed in the United States and explained, for example, that this type of roofs do not produce many effects in the North of the country â€" but work in the South. On the other hand, and when it comes specifically to roofs painted white, they get better results in Florida in the Southeast, in California, in the Pacific.

According to Kill Georgescu, scientist of sustainability at Arizona State University and lead author of the study, the roofs are important primarily in urban areas, heated by the asphalt.

An example are the green roofs New Yorkers, one of the major trends of the city's sustainability and that helped reduce the use of air conditioning.

The work used climate models to examine six megacities. "Our study shows that geography matters," said Georgescu. In the case of northern cities, energy saving by using less electricity in the summer is aborted by the requirement of heating in winter.

"The evaluation of consequences that extend beyond the surface temperatures approaching, as precipitation and energy demands, reveals important factors that sometimes are not taken into account," concluded the researchers, according to the Nature World News.

Foto:  Walmart Corporate / Creative Commons

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Trees in the mountains can combat climate change

If global temperatures raise dramatically, as expected, one of the solutions to combat this scourge will be planting trees in higher places, according to a new study published in Geophysical Research Letters. According to the survey, carried out by teams from the universities of Sheffield and Oxord, England, these trees may have a very important role in the removal of CO2 from the atmosphere.

The survey was developed in the mountains of Peru and revealed that, in the most high and cold, the growth of tree roots slow down. This means that the roots don't reach deep enough, in the soil, to break the rocks below and join to CO2, removing it from the atmofera.

If global temperatures are warmer, however, the layer of organic material between the root and the rock rots faster, less thick and torando allowing the roots reach the rock and begin the removal process.

Mountainous areas are also important for their volcanic material, such as granite and basalt. These elements contain more calcium and magnesium that sediments of lowlands, having a greater effect on CO2 levels.

According to the sustainable planet, researchers claim that this theory suggests that mountain ecosystems acted like a thermostat on the planet, facing the risk of excessive heating or cooling for millions of years.

"A series of weather events over the past 65 years resulted in the rise and fall of temperatures. However, the removal process that regulates CO2 in the atmosphere can be contained by the forests that grow in mountainous parts of the world. In the past, this process may have prevented the temperatures reach levels hazardous to life, "said at the Red Orbit, Chris Doughty, Chief of the study.

Foto: winterriot / Creative Commons

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The indigenous tribes that are threatened by modernization

Jimmy Nelson, a British photographer, traveled the world and documented the lifestyle of 29 Indian tribes â€" before these, threatened by globalization and modernization, disappear forever.

The project "Before They Pass Away" consists of a series of fictional tribes â€" since the Gauchos of Argentina to the Chukchi Sea in the North of Siberia, where Nelson presents elements of the tribes with all its fantastic ethnicity ". The result are iconographic fictional that celebrate the beauty of these cultures and their traditional ways of living.

To document the lifestyles of the various tribes, this photographer spent four years in the most remote locations on the planet, living two weeks with each tribe. For shooting, Nelson used an analogue camera plate with 50 years. The plates (instead of the roll), capture the images and environments with great sharpness and clarity. See some of the pictures.

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Glasgow receives green loan to install low consumption lamps on the streets

Glasgow will replace traditional sodium vapor lamps that illuminate the streets by low consumption LED bulbs. In addition to saving money, the Exchange will allow lighting to reduce light pollution, since one third of the glow emitted by conventional lamps is dissipated into the sky. The brightness of the LED lamps is more directed to the ground, which substantially reduces light pollution.

The project for the exchange of public lighting will be funded for a Green Investment Bank (GIB), a British institution of public funds which supports projects that promote sustainability. The financing will be done through a loan, paid when the savings from lighting Exchange to materialize.

"These funds do not require government support and is a great project to invest", says the CEO of the Bank, Shaun Kingbury, the Guardian. According to Kingbury, the project can be extended to all cities in the United Kingdom, allowing the replacement of conventional light bulbs until 2020. If this happens, it will be possible to massively reduce carbon dioxide emissions as well as saving millions of pounds with the lighting.

"There are seven million public lamps in the United Kingdom and many of them have more than 40 years. The authorities need help to replace and we want to offer everyone a program like this. I have the ambition that in 2020 the entire lighting can be done with low consumption LED bulbs ", indicates the CEO of GIB.

Annually the United Kingdom spends more than €363,9 million (R $ 1,186 million) with street lighting, including the lighting of streets, highways, hospitals and sites used by the public authorities. With the replacement of lamps can save around 80% of €363,9 million.

The new lamps must pay themselves between five to 15 years, depending on where and how they are used. The time span of life is approximately 40 years. Replacement of street lamps of the United Kingdom, which corresponds to 40% of the expenses of local authorities with energy, can stimulate annual electricity savings equivalent to the energy consumed in more than 670 thousand dwellings.

Foto:   byronv2 / Creative Commons

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Penguins are suffering from climate change

Recent investigations reveal that the Penguins are in danger due to extreme environmental conditions linked to climate change. The studies highlight the difficulties that the colonies of these animals face in dealing with the effects of global warming, notably in Argentina and in Antarctica. In both places the penguins face an uncertain future.

Climate change is killing the penguin chicks in the world's largest colony of Magellanic penguins at Punta Tombo, Argentina, by increasing the number of heat waves and storms that lead to floods, indicate investigators.

The young of this species of Penguin are protected only by a layer of feathers and, when the colonies are affected by storms, are agonizing and eventually die, since parents have no capacity to save. When the colony is hit by heatwaves that still do not have waterproof feathers prevent them cooling off in the sea and end up choking with heat.

Already on Ross Island in Antarctica, it is extremely difficult to Adelie penguins feeding since the melting of the ice caps creates giant icebergs, which hinders the hunt for fish.

According to Ginger Rebstock, a researcher at the University of Washington, in the United States, who participated in a study that monitored an Argentine colony 400 thousand penguins during 27 years, "are expected in years in which almost no penguin chicks will survive if changes give rise to larger and more frequent storms during vulnerable periods of breeding season," quotes the Guardian.

During the study period, approximately 65% of the babies died and 40% starved. It is estimated that climate change will be responsible for the deaths of 7% of the penguin chicks annually, but in recent years this has been the most common cause of death. In a year of study, 43% of deaths were attributed to climate change and another about 50%.

Factors such as hunger and time should interact more closely as the climate changes, the Cubs already hungry and weaker are more vulnerable to extreme weather phenomena.

Foto: wwarby / Creative Commons

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Cueva de los Cristales: a Mexican cave with giant crystals

In Naica, a remote location in Northern Mexico, an hour away from the city of Chihuahua, there is a cave where crystals can reach 11 feet long. Until recently, the location was only known for its silver ore, but the discovery of the Cueva de los crystals (Crystal Cave), in 2000, made the place into a tourist attraction.

The discovery of the cave, coupled with ore, where most of the inhabitants of Naica works, and the bribes to the authorities are sufficient ingredients to make the place a black market. In addition to the smuggling of silver crystals are also sold at the same time.

However, nothing is comparable to these giant crystals. The limestone cave and its crystals was discovered at the beginning of the Millennium by two brothers who were drilling for digging a new tunnel in the mine of Nica, one of the most productive of Mexico, where are extracted tons of silver annually.

The geological process of creation of lead and silver also offers the conditions for the formation of crystals and in Nica, the miners have dug enough to reveal these crystals. However, in addition to the beauty of these geological formations an issue that still intrigue geologists is how these crystals have grown so much.

Some of the crystals are 11 metres long and weighs 55 tons and is 300 metres deep. The crystals were formed over half a million years ago, resulting in a slow crystallization in aqueous medium saturated with crystals, including the cast, with temperatures of around 58° c.

At this temperature the anhydrite, which is abundant in the cave, dissolved in water in the form of plaster, which later crystallized in the form of large crystals. The hot water needed for crystallization, reached temperatures required by that in the immediate vicinity of the Cueva de los Crystals exists a magma chamber, which heated the water.

Access to the cave was only possible after the drainage and pumping of water. Due to the proximity of the magma chamber, the temperatures inside the cave reaches temperatures of around 50° C and the humidity is around 90%, which provides a much greater thermal sensation, refers to National Geographic.

When you inhale the air of the cave, the lung fluids at a temperature lower than the outside air, they begin to condense in the lungs which is dangerous. Thus it is necessary to enter the site with personal protective equipment. The stay-on-site without cooling material and air mask causes death in just over ten minutes and even with equipment, the stay must not exceed 45 minutes.

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