Paris: public transport free of charge three days to combat pollution

Have you ever considered the turnout that public transport from Lisbon or Porto have this weekend, if they were free? That's the reality that tourists and residents in Paris will be already from today, as a way of encouraging motorists to leave their vehicles at home.

The measure comes at a time when the French capital is suffering very high levels of pollution, explains the Less A Car, being that the air will remain exceptionally harmful to health until the weekend.

Jean-Paul Huchon, Chief of transport inspection agency in Paris and surrounding areas, said that transport will be free from today until Sunday night, due to "significant risks to the health of residents" posed by pollution.

The level of the index on the overall quality of the air in Paris, yesterday, was approximately the same as in Beijing, one of the most polluted cities in the world. In total, more than 30 French departments were the subject of alerts for maximum levels of pollution, leading the Minister of Ecology, Philippe Martin, to qualify the air quality as "an emergency and a priority for the Government".

The city of Caen, in the North, also decided to free public transport for three days, due to pollution. Reims in the Northeast, will do the same on Friday. The lack of wind, plus cold nights, followed by mild days, has contributed to the severe air pollution.

At night, the land cools, as the atmosphere warms up during the day, due to the Sun, which means the particulate pollutants emitted by automobiles or heated get stuck under a layer of hot air and cannot ascend or be dispersed.

As a result, monitoring centres reported particularly strong concentrations of particles with a diameter of less than 10 microns, PM10, particles in the air designated.

In neighboring Belgium, on the other hand, the pollution will also affect the day-to-day lives of citizens. The authorities have reduced the maximum permitted speed on the main routes, in order to try to reduce the heavy concentration of particulate pollutants in the atmosphere.

Foto: www.FranceHouseHunt.com/Creative Commons

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Notre-Dame Cathedral replaced conventional lighting by LED

Since it began to be built in 1163, the Cathedral of Notre-Dame has had several types of lighting: from the candles to light bulbs. The last type of lighting this Gothic Cathedral will receive are LED light bulbs â€" more than 400.

For fans of dark and characteristic architecture of the churches, the new lighting design includes areas of half-light, which allow you to save the contemplative lighting traditional. Additionally, the LEDs are adjustable through computer, which allows you to respond to the different needs of space lighting.

With this replacement, it will be possible to save around 80% in energy consumption, since the LED bulbs use only 30 kW, compared with the previously used 140 refers to Atlantic Cities.

Who says the monuments cannot adapt to the new realities sustainable? See the new lighting (Photo 1 to 9) and the old (Photo 10.

. fancybox-wrap {position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; z-index: 8020; }. fancybox-skin {position: relative; /* margin-top: 20px! important; */background: #222222; color: #74b32e; text-shadow: none; -webkit-border-radius: 2px; -moz-border-radius: 2px; border-radius: 2px; }. fancybox-opened {z-index: 8030;} . fancybox-opened. fancybox-skin {-webkit-box-shadow: 0 10px 25px rgba (0, 0, 0, 0.5); -moz-box-shadow: 0 10px 25px rgba (0, 0, 0, 0.5); box-shadow: 0 10px 25px rgba (0, 0, 0, 0.5); }. fancybox-outer,. fancybox-inner {position: relative;} . fancybox-inner {overflow: hidden;} . fancybox-type-iframe. fancybox-inner {-webkit-overflow-scrolling: touch;} . fancybox-close {background: url('wp-content/themes/codistage/styles/fancybox/exit.png') no-repeat; width: 25px; height: 25px; float: right; margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 5px; }/*. ng-gallery-image img {width: 565px; height: 393px;}*/A nova Notre-Dame1of 10jQuery (document). ready (function ($) {var thumbContainerWidth = 0, thumbs = Array (), selectedIndex = 1, thumbIndex = 1, imageOffset = 7; $ ('. ng-gallery-thumbnail-box '). each (function () {thumbs.push($(this)); }); /* thumbnail navigation */$ ('. ng-greensavers-thumb-next '). unbind (). bind (' click ', function (e) {e.preventDefault(); if (thumbIndex< == (thumbs.length-imageOffset)) {$ ('. ng-thumbnails-container '). stop (). animate ({left:-$ (thumbs [thumbIndex]). position (). left}); thumbIndex + +; } }); $ ('. ng-greensavers-thumb-prev '). unbind (). bind (' click ', function (e) {e.preventDefault(); if (thumbIndex >1) {$ ('. ng-thumbnails-container '). stop (). animate ({left: $ ('. ng-thumbnails-container '). position (). left + ($ (thumbs [thumbIndex-1]). position (). left-$ (thumbs [thumbIndex-2]). position (). left)}); thumbIndex--; } }); $ (window). load (function () {/* set thumbnail container width */$ ('. ng-gallery-thumbnail '). each (function () {thumbContainerWidth = thumbContainerWidth + $ (this). width () + 10; }); $ ('. ng-thumbnails-container '). width (thumbContainerWidth); }); });

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Foam mattresses are harmful to the health of babies

What is that mattresses of cribs, changing tables and chairs have in common? Are used by babies and all have foam-and this is problematic. The foam used in mattresses and seats release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the environment. The VOCS come from several compounds used in the manufacture of these objects: resins, solvents, adhesives and catalysts that continue to vaporize long after the manufacturing process.

Chronic exposure to low levels of VOCS is related to allergies, asthma and lung infections in babies. However, a new investigation revealed an entirely different reality. A team of scientists at the University of Texas conducted a new study that quantified the current amount of VOCs are released to the environment where the baby is.

The team analyzed 20 crib mattresses, both new and used, manufactured with polyurethane foam or polyester. In a test Chamber, as the size similar to a baby's room, heated with a cylinder parra mimic the heat released by the child, which accelerates the release of VOCS, the researchers compared the values of VOCS in the room and on the child's breathing zone, approximately 1 to 2.5 cm above the surface of the mattress.

According to Treehugger, scientists have identified 30 different VOCS and some that are classified as environmental pollutants. On average, the researchers concluded, the new mattresses emit four times more VOCs older mattresses.

However, more alarmingly, the team found that the amount of VOCS was significantly higher in the breathing zone of the child than on the environment. gral Such indicator is alarming, since babies tend to sleep 12 to 2:0 pm per day.

However, there are alternatives to foam mattresses, like latex, the natural rubber, organic cotton, eucalyptus fiber, among others.

Foto: eperales/Creative Commons

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Floating capsule filters seawater and air despolui

There's futuristic projects designed for the well-being of the population, not looking for sustainability. Others, like this one, may not yet be out of the paper, but, for the sake of mankind, should be already under construction.

We speak of the Bloom, a project of the French Atelier Sitbon Architectes who was a finalist in the international competition the Architizer + Awards, in the category architecture + weather. The project seeks to answer, through the bold design, the three problems of humanity â€" lack of water, air pollution and increase in mean sea level.

Designed specifically for the Indian Ocean, this giant capsule and partially submerged is a species of aquatic farm that promises to clean the air, convert sea water into drinking water and monitor sea level rise.

The main reason of the capsule is to mitigate the effects of climate change. To this end, will be home to giant aquariums of phytoplankton-microscopic beings that inhabit the ocean and have a major role in the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which will serve as organic greenhouses.

In addition, the structure will have a central weather alerts, able to warn the occurrence or approximation of seaquakes, tsunamis and other environmental disasters. Here are some pictures.

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Monitored by international NGO shark caught in Póvoa do Varzim

Remember of Lydia, a great white shark who is close to go down in history as the first of its kind to cross the Atlantic Ocean â€" being monitored, of course? One of the other sharks monitored by Ocearch, the NGO that is driving the project, should have been caught in Portugal.

According to the BBC, the shark, called Rizzilient, was "apparently caught by commercial fishermen". The shark, a female mako of 1.5 meters, is one of several animals that are monitored via satellite by the NGO.

"The latest satellite information Rizzilient shows-on land, in the city of Póvoa do Varzim, North of Portugal", explains the BBC.

Millions of sharks die every year as a result of hunting specifically for removing their fins, highly valuable in the Asian market for shark fin soup or in alternative medicine.

Click here to see the route of the Rizzilient.

The project Ocearch monitors almost 150 sharks, including great white sharks, hammerhead sharks, Tiger sharks and other species. One of the objectives of the project is to move away from academic research â€" sometimes very competitive, betting on a disruptive approach to research linked to the seas and make all the collected data to the public.

Foto: Martin Burns/Creative Commons

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A day of air traffic in Europe

On a summer's day, about 30 thousand flights across European airspace. To show the various routes of these flights and the way they are managed, the entity that controls the air traffic from the United Kingdom has created a video that, in two minutes, condenses traffic 12:0 am.

The video in question consists of data collected by the British air radars on June 21, 2013 combined with the information of the plan for European aviation day on June 28 last year. Subsequently, through computer programs, information of longitude, latitude and altitude was converted into bright spots that were positioned with precision on the satellite images from the European space.

Although the video create a visual spectacle agravável is also quite enlightening when it comes to carbon dioxide emissions, because the aviation industry is that more CO2 emits. In addition to air pollution, noise pollution and still account for fossil fuels used.

In total, the distance covered by these 30 000 flights â€" about 25 million nautical miles-is the equivalent to circumnavigate the Earth 998 times or 104 trips to the Moon.

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Great white shark can make history and become the first to cross the Atlantic

A great white shark, named Lydia, like going down in history as the first of its kind to cross the Atlantic Ocean. The animal, a female of 4.4 meters, has toured more than 30.5 million miles since it began to be monitored through a scientific project, in March 2013.

Currently, the shark will be near the Atlantic rift, about 1,600 miles off the coast of Cornwall, in the United Kingdom, and Ireland â€" which also puts the animal near the Spanish and Portuguese coast.

If you continue to swim at the speed that the average has done, Lydia could reach the British coast soon, thus becoming the first white shark crossing the Atlantic way monitored.

The animal has been followed through the Ocearch project, which aims to gather data about moving, biology and health of sharks. The project aims to then use the information to not only protect animals but also to promote education and public safety.

See the current location of Lydia, which, moreover, the Ocearch do you think you're pregnant.

"Technically, the Lydia crossed the Atlantic to cross the Atlantic Ridge, which hasn't done," Gregory Skomal indicates, one of the researchers involved in the project. However, the investigator believes that the shark is closer to Europe than North America.

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