When the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Global Tiger Forum (GTF) roared the news last week that “for the first time in 100 years, tiger numbers are growing”, the media, including the New York Times, splashed the headline around the world. Few journalists checked out the headline or the facts. After all, WWF said so. Yet, as science writer […]
Swiss buy more and more meat across the border
Swiss are buying increasing amounts of meat in neighbouring countries according to Switzerland’s professional meat union (UPSV). Over the border After three years of rising, Switzerland’s appetite for meat appears to have declined by around 1% in 2015, or 2% on a per capita basis, to an annual average of 51.4 kg per person. These numbers […]
Stiff new fines for littering in Switzerland
Tribune de Genève. Throwing a cigarette butt on the street or an empty can on to the side of a road is set to become an offense with a steep fine. The new rules, supported by the Federal Council, and likely to be adopted by parliament over summer, will apply to all of Switzerland. According […]
Snow returns to Switzerland
20 Minutes. Don’t put your coats and gloves away just yet. Temperatures and the snow line are set to drop significantly by the end of the week. The foehn, a warm wind that blows from the south, lifted Swiss temperatures sharply to close to 25 degrees last Sunday, bringing a taste of summer to western […]
Swiss police get tough on noisy motor cyclists, but will it work?
We have all heard them. Those big thundering noisy bikes that stop conversations and leave your ears ringing. Swiss police in Vaud started to crackdown on noise last year and continue to target noise polluters, especially motorcyclists. Why are these motorbikes allowed on Swiss roads? Some are and some are not. Switzerland has adopted EU […]
French airliner dumps fuel in Swiss and Italian airspace
According to the Swiss news service ATS, a Corsair Boeing B747 flying from Paris to Mauritius on Sunday, dropped 70 tonnes of fuel in Swiss and Italian airspace. The aircraft, bound for Mauritius, had technical problems and had to return to Paris to land. Certain aircraft, such as the Boeing B747, have a maximum landing weight […]
How many planets would be needed if everyone lived like the Swiss?
Humans are eating up the earth faster than it can regenerate. And some of us are consuming much more than others. Luxembourgers, the biggest consumers, gobble up natural resources at nearly 40 times the speed of those in Eritrea, the lowest consumers, according to the Global Footprint Network. Adding up global human consumption shows we suck up more from the earth […]
Geneva wants old French nuclear reactors shut down
20 Minutes. The Bugey nuclear power station in France is under attack by the canton and city of Geneva. At around 75 km from Geneva, as the crow flies, its condition continues to deteriorate according to the French lawyer representing Geneva. The lawyer, Corinne Lepage, a former French minister for the environment, said the plant is suffering […]
Products tested on animals to be banned in Switzerland
Switzerland’s government plans to ban the sale of cosmetics and cleaning products that have been tested on animals abroad. Maya Graf of the Green party called on the government to ban the sale of cosmetics and cleaning products containing ingredients tested on animals. The EU has already banned such products. Other tests can be used to avoid […]
Bad news for Swiss commuters
Last year the Swiss government decided to increase the fees train operators, including Swiss Rail, must pay to run their trains on Switzerland’s rail network. Switzerland has 4,641 km of track running as high as 3,454 metres, and one of the densest rail networks in the world. Maintaining all of this track costs a lot of money, […]
