Tag: Climate Change

France Declares All New Rooftops Must Be Topped With Plants Or Solar Panels

In a win for planet Earth, as of 2015 all commercial buildings in France must have at least partial coverage of their rooftop in solar panels or plants.

In this time of doomsday-like predictions where our environmental health is concerned, it’s all hands on deck. We are coming to the conclusion, hopefully not too late, that every little bit of conservation counts.

There is a shift in general consciousness that’s begun to happen. We’re becoming aware of the impact we humans have, and the myriad ways we make that impact. With the purchase of a plastic water bottle as opposed to a reusable one. Using grocery store bags instead of bringing your own. Buying new when used would be perfectly acceptable. These are a few examples of shifts that have started taking place. We see now, how easy it is to carry our own bottle, or our own bag, or shop consignment.

It’s been far too easy, for far too long, to buy into the idea that we as individuals don’t have an impact. One bottle won’t make a difference. One bag won’t hurt anything. But not only is that incorrect, but it also doesn’t really speak to the heart of the matter, which is that we’re all in this together. How we individually live, is how we collectively live. So, not only can one person have a huge impact, we have somewhat of an obligation at this point, to us and to each other, to live as we do. To act like it’s all connected – because it is [ . . . ]

Continue at Source: France Declares All New Rooftops Must Be Topped With Plants Or Solar Panels

Mystery seaweed threatens French Caribbean 

During a trip to the French overseas territory Guadeloupe on Friday, President Emmanuel Macron pledged to keep a promise to clean up toxic Sargassum seaweed within 48 hours of it running aground.Like the rest of the Caribbean, the Antilles suffered in 2011 from an unprecedented invasion of Sargassum seaweed (sometimes known as gulf weed). The problem recurred in 2015 and then on an even larger scale in 2018. The brown seaweed poses potential health risks. The mounds of Sargassum that accumulate on the beach can reach as high as two feet and release hydrogen sulfide and ammonia as it rots.

The colourless, toxic and highly flammable gas smells like rotten eggs. Inhaling it in small doses can trigger eye and respiratory irritation.Former French minister for the environment Nicolas Hulot presented a €10 million plan in June to help combat the problem. His subsequent resignation set off a flurry of panic in the islands over whether the government would renege on its pledge to help with the problem. [ . . . ]

CONTINUE at FRANCE 24: Mystery seaweed threatens French Caribbean – France 24

Tens of Thousands in France March Against Climate Change 

(PARIS) — More than 18,000 people marched Saturday in Paris as part of an international mobilization to show popular support for urgent measures to combat climate change in advance of a San Francisco summit.Crowds overflowed a plaza in front of City Hall before marching east to the Place de la Republique, carrying an urgent message that it’s up to the public to put global warming at the top of the political agenda.

“Planet in Danger,” read some banners.Activists around the world encouraged “Rise for Climate” protests before the summit taking place Sept.12-Sept. 14. California’s governor proposed the event after President Donald Trump vowed to pull the U.S. out of a landmark 2015 climate accord.The international agreement was negotiated in France, and the French capital’s march was more successful than ones held Saturday in other French cities or elsewhere in Europe [ . . . ]

Continue at TIME: Tens of Thousands in France March Against Climate Change | Time

Hundreds evacuated as flash floods hit southern France 

Rescuers backed by helicopters evacuated about 1,600 people, most of them campers, in southern France on Thursday as heavy rain caused flash flooding and transformed rivers and streams into torrents, the interior minister said.

Hardest hit was the Gard region, where 119 children, many of them from Germany, were evacuated from their campsite at Saint-Julien-de-Peyrolas, Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said in a statement.

About 750 people in all were evacuated in Gard, mainly from campsites, a top district official, Thierry Dousset, told France’s BFM-TV news channel [. . . ]

Source: Hundreds evacuated as flash floods hit southern France – France 24

Worst of heatwave yet to come as France braces for ‘terrible’ Tuesday

France’s heatwave is set to continue, with the hottest weather yet expected on Monday and Tuesday across the country.On Monday, temperatures could soar up to around 40C according to France’s national weather agency Météo France. France’s met office has issued heatwave weather warnings for 67 departments out of 101 in France – a record first reached in June last year – and has warned against storms in the country’s southeast in the afternoon, Le Parisien reported.

“The heatwave continues tomorrow Monday, with very high temperatures which will be difficult to bear. Be careful of storms on the southeast in the afternoon with a risk of hail,” the weather forecaster wrote on Twitter.

On Monday, the hottest parts of France will be in the southwestern regions, with temperatures in some cities reaching 36C in Toulouse and 37C in Bordeaux.

On Tuesday, Paris and the country’s northeast and centre will be the most affected by the heat, with Lyon and Paris sweltering under 36C.

Meteorologist Guillaume Séchet, creator of the site meteo-paris.com, is referring to Tuesday as a “terrible day with 38-39C in Ile-de-France and highs of 40C around Bourges and Auxerre”.

There will be a gradual decline in temperatures in the south-east of France on Tuesday but it will remain very hot.

Fortunately, the mercury is expected to drop considerably by Wednesday and Thursday.

“All of a sudden, we will lose 10C in 24 hours in the North and return to a more normal 23 to 24 C in the second half of the week,” Guillaume Séchet told Le Parisien.

France’s scorching weather is also causing air pollution levels to soar.

On Monday, traffic is being reduced in both Lyon and Paris to cut down on the smog with cars belonging to the most polluting category of vehicles being banned.

Similar measures were taken for three days in Paris in July.

Speed limits have also been lowered throughout the Ile de France region around Paris and in the east of the country.

Like much of Europe, France has been hit by a heatwave over the past week – which is already turning into the third hottest since temperatures have been recorded.

Last week, four nuclear reactors were forced to close in order to avoid raising the temperature of rivers whose water is used to cool reactors and then returned.

On Saturday, the southern town of Béziers in the Hérault department reached 41.3C. It was the hottest day in France since a deadly heatwave in 2003, that killed thousands of elderly people.

Source: Worst of heatwave yet to come as France braces for ‘terrible’ Tuesday – The Local