Home/Posts Tagged ‘Sweden’
Posts Tagged ‘Sweden’
Health, Pollution, Mar 9th, 2011,
Diesel engines and heating systems produce fine particle pollution, which shortens life expectancy in European cities, according to a study by the Aphekom project. The study measured air pollution and human health in 25 cities in Europe, with Bucharest, Romania scoring worst and Stockholm Sweden as cleanest, the latter’s pollution measuring just below targets set by the World Health Organization. The air in Bucharest, on the other hand, is so bad that it is estimated to reduce life expectancy by two years. The study then focused on 10 cities including Barcelona, Brussels and Rome, and, for the first time, took…
Tags: Bucharest, Europe, european cities, Pollution, Romania, Stockholm, study, Sweden
Climate Change, Health, Politics, Sep 12th, 2010,
Last week Stockholm, Sweden hosted World Water Week, an annual gathering to discuss ‘the planet’s most urgent water-related issues’. Each year the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) hosts the meeting of experts, professionals and policy makers. While traditional water shortage issues have focused on the plight of those who live in dry rural areas, this year the problem of clean water access in urban areas was also brought into focus. According to the UN, the world population grew by 635 million people between 2000 and 2008, with 80% of those people living in urban areas. The proportion of the Earth’s…
Tags: population, sanitation, Stockholm, Sweden, urban, water, week, World
Politics, Aug 5th, 2010,
Supermodel Naomi Campbell has been in the headlines lately for allegedly receiving ‘blood diamonds’ from former Liberian leader Charles Taylor at a 1997 celebrity dinner in South Africa, hosted by then President Nelson Mandela. Charles Taylor was reputedly paid in blood diamonds by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) of Sierra Leone, a rebel group responsible for widespread atrocities – such as using child soldiers and hacking off victims’ limbs – during Sierra Leone’s civil war. Taylor himself currently faces 11 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, including murder, sexual slavery…
Tags: blood diamonds, Campbell, Charles, computers, conflict minerals, Congo, court, Democratic, Hague, Mandela, Naomi, Nelson, Republic, Sierra Leone, Sweden, Taylor, testimony
Weird Stuff, Jul 26th, 2010,
Did you ever have (or want) a tree house when you were a kid? If so, then you might be interested in new accommodations available in Sweden. Located in the village of Harads (about 60 km south of the Arctic Circle), the Treehotel offers some rather unique and eco-friendly lodgings for the world traveler, or locals wanting to get away for a while. There are 6 rooms available, each with a different design and theme; plus a tree sauna—making this the first tree hotel in the world to have a sauna. The designs include a giant bird’s nest, a mirror…
Tags: accommodations, green design, Harads, lodgings, Sweden, tree house, Treehotel, unique, vacation
Nature, Weird Stuff, Jul 11th, 2010,
In the remote sylvan village of Harads in northern Sweden, a unique design themed hotel is set to open on July 17th. The Treehotel hotel was inspired by a Swedish documentary film named Trädälskaren or ‘Tree Lovers’, in which three men built a tree house in Harads. The plan is to eventually have 24 unique rooms designed by a different architects. From a Reuters report: The first six structures were designed by five different architects. The Mirrorcube which stands four meters high and four meters wide, has drawn widespread attention as it will be attached to a single tree. The…
Tags: design, Harads, hotel, mirrorcube, northern, Sweden, tree, Treehotel
Climate Change, Green living, Nature, Politics, Science & Technology, Wildlife & Flora, Jun 18th, 2010,
Sweden is sure making some interesting headlines this week when it comes to energy sources. First, there was the issue of the Greenpeace protest at a nuclear power plant. Now, however, I’m happy to report somewhat better news. This Scandinavian nation plans to build Europe’s largest wind park, which will contain 1,101 wind turbines. The Markbygden farm will cover an area more than 310 miles (500 square km) in size (or 5 times the size of Paris). How did they manage to swing such a project? It turns out most of the land is practically uninhibited. The project is headed…
Tags: Enercon, Europe, grazing, largest wind farm, Markbygden, project, reindeer, renewable energy, Sami people, Samis, Svevind, Sweden, upset, wind energy, wind farm, wind park
Nature, Weird Stuff, Wildlife & Flora, Jun 16th, 2010,
This week’s Creature Feature takes us to the boreal forests of Canada and Alaska to find a species that is one of the most endangered in the world. The Boreal Felt Lichen (so named for its appearance) is a foliose cyanolichen and one of the most endangered lichen species in the world. When dry, the lichen appears to be gray-brown in color and when wet, the lichen turns to a nice shade of slate-blue. Underneath, you’ll find white coloring and the top of the Boreal Felt Lichen is pocked with reddish-brown spots. This fuzzy plant has lobes that can grow…
Tags: Alaska, Boreal Felt Lichen, boreal forests, Canada, Creature Feature, critically endangered species, damp places, fir, moss, Newfoundland, Norway, plant, Sweden
Climate Change, Politics, Weird Stuff, Jun 15th, 2010,
Greenpeace activists broke into Sweden’s Forsmark nuclear power plant on Monday, demanding parliament vote against the construction of new nuclear facilities. Currently, Sweden has 10 nuclear reactors at 3 power stations and last year they reversed a decision to phase out nuclear power. Parliament is supposed to vote Thursday on whether or not to expand their nuclear facilities. The activists managed to get into the plant by scaling a fence, while others came by way of an inflatable boat in a nearby river. None of them posed any threat to the plant’s operations, nor did they resist arrest (for breaking…
Tags: arrest, break-in, decision, Forsmark, Greenpeace, nuclear power, parliament, plant, protest, Sweden, vote
Green living, Videos & Documentaries, Apr 24th, 2010,
The central station in Stockholm, Sweden is Scandinavia’s busiest travel hub, serving 250,000 travelers every day. These hurried commuters generate a lot of body heat – and Swedish engineers have come up with a way to transfer this heat to a neighboring office building. It’s a cheap, renewable and innovative solution for the building’s energy needs. An article in Time magazine’s Going Green section explains: Using excess body heat to warm a building is not a new concept — the Mall of America in Minneapolis recycles the heat generated from shoppers’ bodies to help regulate the temperature of the massive…
Tags: body heat, central, energy, excess, heat, station, Stockholm, Sweden, Time
Climate Change, Politics, Apr 7th, 2010,
Job growth and climate change trump safety concerns amongst most Swedes when it comes to the use of nuclear energy and apparently also the storage of nuclear waste. The Swedish parliament may have (at least until recently) regularly voted to phase out nuclear power in Sweden, but the Swedish public is less steady in their feelings about atomic energy. A poll from 2008 by market research agency Synovate and newspaper Dagens Nyheter showed that 48% supported the construction of new nuclear power stations, with 39% against and 13% undecided. By contrast, only one political party (Folkpartiet or the Liberal Party)…
Tags: atomic, change, climate, economy, Forsmark, nuclear, Östhammar, poll, power, Sweden, Swedes, Swedish, Synovate, waste
Green living, Health, Politics, Mar 23rd, 2010,
As an American who has lived in various European countries during the last ten years, I have an unusual, but perhaps insightful perspective on various health care systems. The cheapest and most efficient health care I ever experienced was during my teenage years and was provided by the US military, in the form of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the National Naval Medical Center in Washington, DC. They weren’t cushy and had lousy magazines, but these massive mega-mall style centers provided everything from GPs to specialists to filling prescriptions to hospital care at no cost to the patient…
Tags: America, American, bill, care, conflict of interest, health care, hospital, insurance, medical, private, profit, Sweden, system, US
Climate Change, Mar 4th, 2010,
The Baltic Sea is known for it’s hard and violent winters. Since 1996, however, the Baltic winter has not been as cold as it is this year. The extreme cold, together with a strong northern wind, creates packs of ice up to 50 inches thick. Fifty ships are currently blocked in the ice again because of this. Alongside 4 ferries with thousands of passengers. The ships are all waiting for the arrival of icebreakers. According to the latest reports, most ships are stuck between Stockholm and Aland Islands. It also seems likely that the cold and thus the ice will…
Tags: baltic sea, ferries, frost, stuck in ice, Sweden, violent baltic winter
Climate Change, Nature, Videos & Documentaries, Wildlife & Flora, Jan 23rd, 2010,
Deforestation is one of the main, direct causes responsible for Global Warming, habitat destruction, and loss of ecosystems. The Swedish branch of Greenpeace released a very important video (shown to the left here) that shows the effects of deforestation and how quickly it can happen. The text you will see in the movie basically states that: Every 2 seconds, an area of rainforest the size of a football field disappears. Reasons for deforestation have included: agriculture, logging, urbanization, globalization, overpopulation, and the corruption of government institutions. Several severe environmental problems also stem from deforestation (apart from global warming and habitat…
Tags: Climate change, deforestation, forests, global warming, Greenpeace, habitat loss, old growth, rainforest, Sweden, trees, video
Green living, Jan 21st, 2010,
Do you live in Sweden? Are you interested in passive living? Do you want a green apartment? If you answered yes to these questions, then it may help you to know that 4 green apartments—with passive house techniques—are being added to the city of Malmö. The project, called Salongen 35, is the winner of a passive house design competition that was held by the builder Höllviksnäs Förvaltnings AB. Designed by Kjellgren Kaminsky, the apartments are expected to be built on the last empty site in the Bo01 housing area. What exactly does passive housing mean? Well, passive house structures are…
Tags: eco-friendly building, green apartments, Green living, Malmö, passive housing, Salongen 35, Sweden
Climate Change, Green living, Dec 8th, 2009,
Sweden’s newspaper Sydsvenskan reports on how your diet can influence the climate and how to shop climate smart. Above all: eat less meat. Steak and rice do not qualify, nor do soft drinks, Dutch tomatoes or many other imported foods. The good news is that it turns out it’s much cheaper to be climate smart: almost 40% according to Sydsvenskan’s grocery shopping sample. ‘Since 1990 meat consumption in Sweden has risen by 45% and it isn’t as if we were unhealthy back then. If we can get to that level again we’ll have achieved a lot,’ Says Gunilla Andersson, project…
Tags: climate, climate smart, environmental, greenhouse, greenhouse gas, organic, Sweden
Climate Change, Green living, Nov 26th, 2009,
According to an article in the Swedish newspaper Sydsvenskan, men are more likely to be enemies of the environment, while women tend to be more climate-friendly – at least in Sweden. Men drive cars and fly more, while women cycle and take trains and buses more often than men. The other big indicator as to whether one is more apt to have a more ‘climate smart’ lifestyle is class, and it may not be in ways you might expect. The guilty party is the middle class. One thing is clear: the more money you make, the more emissions you cause….
Tags: class, climate, climate friend, climate villain, environment, lifestyle, middle class, Sweden
Green living, Nov 25th, 2009,
‘No one can do everything – but everyone can do something.’ – Sofie Österheim, Malmö, Sweden (from sydsvenskan.se) An article in the Swedish newspaper Sydsvenskan explains how so-called ‘light green’ habits can make a difference when it comes to your personal carbon footprint. For example, take cycling instead of driving: A bike with a wire bicycle basket, which can be installed on both the front and back, is a great way to be Green and transport groceries or other goods. It’s not only much more environmentally friendly to cycle rather than drive, it’s also a great way to keep…
Tags: bicycle, carbon emissions, environment, Green, light green, Sweden, Sydsvenskan
Climate Change, Politics, Nov 15th, 2009,
![]( "<!--:en-->Malmö, Sweden – Just a hop, skip and a jump from Copenhagen lies one of Europe")
' src='http://gf1.statico.be/wp-content/themes/greenfudge/thumbnails/1996.jpg' alt='malmo-sweden-%e2%80%93-just-a-hop-skip-and-a-jump-from-copenhagen-lies-one-of-europes-greenest-cities' class='art-teaser' width='95' height='95' /> Malmö, Sweden. An ambitious environmental program including the use of large amounts of vegetation to protect against heat and rain runoff, intelligent drainage systems, dykes and sea walls, solidify this Nordic city’s status amongst the world’s Greenest municipalities. Malmö is Sweden’s third largest city and – according to its own environmental agencies – the country’s most ‘climate smart’. This is no small achievement considering Sweden is often considered to be one of the world’s Greenest nations. A healthy competition for environmental friendliness amongst the towns of the north has resulted in some inventive solutions to deal with the challenges associated…
Tags: cop15, copenhagen, eco-city, Green, Malmö, Pelin, Sweden, Västra Hamnen
Climate Change, Oct 30th, 2009,
Sweden has been a world leader in finding new ways to reduce emissions. Now, consumers around the country are probably perplexed to read labels such as “Climate declared: .87 kg CO2 per kg of product “ on their grocery items and restaurant menus. The concept of creating this food guideline is their first step towards merging safety, nutrition and environmental concern into one. This is part of a new experiment to give equal importance to climate and health by way of listing the carbon dioxide emissions associated with the production of foods. The Swedish effort grew out of a 2005…
Tags: carbon emissions, climate change labeling, co2, food labeling, Sweden
Politics, Wildlife & Flora, Oct 22nd, 2009,
Rabbits are cute, cuddly, furry little creatures. They have been environmental mascots, cartoon comedians, and a favored “pet” around the world. They are also notorious for breeding like mad (a female rabbit can have several litters per year, with 12-18 baby rabbits per birthing). However, for those rabbits living in Sweden, they should high-tail it out of there as fast as possible. The Swedes have deemed rabbits as a problem and a pest (much like the rats or pigeons of a city), and have been involved in a strange and twisted way of dealing with the rabbits. Every year, Stockholm…
Tags: biofuel, bunnies, burning rabbits, rabbits, Stockholm, Sweden
