News in brief

Meacher moves against water bug

Environment Minister, Michael Meacher, has announced new measures to protect the public against cryptosporidium in drinking water. The measures will require continuous monitoring of treated water at plants where there is most risk of contamination, and require monitoring at more plants than originally suggested. They will also strengthen the powers of the Drinking Water Inspectorate to prosecute companies if unacceptable levels of crypto are detected, and create a new criminal offence with an unlimited fine for convictions.

UK presents gloomy climate predictions

The UK is presenting the latest set of gloomy climate predictions from the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research, to the Buenos Aires Summit. These forecast that by 2050 we could see: tropical forests die off in parts of northern Brazil; tropical grasslands transformed to desert or temperate grassland; 20 percent more people at risk from hunger in Africa; 20 million more people at risk of flooding; 170 million extra people living in countries with extreme water stress; and increased exposure to malaria