Taiwan seeing bigger temperature range - CNA ENGLISH NEWS

Taipei, Jan. 22 (CNA) Taiwan has experienced a bigger range of temperatures in recent years and this trend is expected to continue due to the influence of global warming, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said Saturday.

According to the CWB's latest statistics, the Danshui Weather Station in northern Taiwan recorded a difference in temperature of 32.7 degrees Celsius last year, compared to 31.9 degrees in 2009 and 29 degrees in 2008, respectively.

The costs of the EU's Galileo satellite system are still skyrocketing - Telegraph

Criminal gangs have for some time been targeting the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), which forces electricity firms and other large concerns to pay £80 billion a year for the right to continue emitting CO2. In 2009, Europol uncovered a massive VAT racket involving carbon permits which had robbed EU taxpayers of five billion euros in real money, one of the biggest frauds in history. In 2010 it exposed the theft of another half a billion euros in Italy alone, with police investigations still continuing in nine other countries, involving raids on hundreds of offices all over Europe.

What is new about the latest revelations, which have led to the suspension of the ETS for at least a week, is that the criminals have moved on to the electronic theft of millions of the permits themselves. Although the fraud has so far been detected only in five countries, the authorities have, as yet, no idea of the true scale of a crime which could threaten the survival of the world’s largest carbon market.

The Love Affair With the Fireplace Cools - NYTimes.com

Hard as it may be to believe, the fireplace — long considered a trophy, particularly in a city like New York — is acquiring a social stigma. Among those who aspire to be environmentally responsible, it is joining the ranks of bottled water and big houses.