Environmental news

Published on Saturday 22 March 2008 18:46

HEAT IS ON

Despite icy conditions at the start of the year, 2008 is on track to becoming one of the warmest years since records began in the 1860s, UN climate experts say.

Snow fell in unusual places this year, such as Greece, Iraq and Florida, but it was a warm winter in the north, especially in Finland and Norway. Climatologists expect an underlying warming trend to begin after the end of the La Nia cooling of the Pacific.

IT'S A WRAP

Almost nothing has been done to reduce the amount of packaging on Easter eggs this year, even though manufacturers have promised to cut down, a survey has revealed.

For a Nestl chocolate egg, the amount of card, foil and plastic used is so excessive, the chocolate made up less than 10% of the total volume.

BISON CULL

Roughly 25% of all the bison in Yellowstone National Park in the US have been sent for slaughter this winter, setting a new record.

More than 1,000 of the iconic animals have been killed after cold temperatures forced them off park lands in search of food and close to livestock and farms. It is the largest cull of the animals in more than a century.

LIGHTS OUT

The WWF is asking people to take part in Earth Hour 2008, a worldwide event in which people will turn off their lights for one hour to help the climate change fight.

Next Saturday between 8pm and 9pm local time, the lights will be turned off at some of the world's most famous landmarks, including the Sydney Opera House, the San Francisco Bay Bridge and Brighton Pier.