Scotland's seabird numbers plunged by 19% between 2000 and 2008, a new report has said.
Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) said the major cause was almost certainly a shortage of food due to a drop in the number of small fish, such as sandeels.
SNH said the fish were probably being affected by rising sea temperatures.
Declines have been greater in areas such as the Northern Isles and down the east coast. RSPB Scotland said the figures were "deeply worrying".
SNH said lower fish numbers led to lower numbers of adult birds surviving from one year to the next, and not enough chicks being produced and surviving to replace them.
SNH director of policy and advice, Prof Colin Galbraith, said: "While it's always disappointing to witness declines in important species, we are not entirely surprised at these findings.
"After several decades of increasing seabird abundance, we are now witnessing a period of decline. Key reasons are likely to be linked to food availability, weather, and predation.
"It is important that we are now able to monitor seabird numbers much more effectively than in the past, to inform policy and action. We need to keep a close eye on seabird trends and try to understand what is driving them."
'No reprieve'
SNH said there were now 55% fewer black-legged kittiwake and 71% fewer Arctic skuas breeding in Scotland than in the mid 1980s. Arctic terns declined by 26% over the same period.
Deryk Shaw, warden of the Fair Isle Bird Observatory in Shetland, said: "Breeding kittiwake numbers have been falling for many years now and there was no reprieve in 2008.
"A whole island count for the Fair Isle found that the number of nests is only half of that counted as recently as 2005 with many birds just standing on bare ledges."
Douglas Gilbert, of RSPB Scotland, said: "If the declines continue at this alarming rate, then many of Scotland's famous seabird cities could be virtually deserted within a decade.
"In the past decade the hopes of a good breeding season have been crushed, as eggs are deserted or young chicks starve in their nests because the adult birds cannot find enough fish."
Thursday, June 11, 2009
'Boom and bust' of deforestation
Cutting down Amazon forest for cattle and soy does not bring long-term economic progress, researchers say.
A study of 286 Amazon municipalities found that deforestation brought quick benefits that were soon reversed.
Writing in the journal Science, the researchers say the deforestation cycle helps neither people nor nature.
They suggest that mechanisms to reward people in poorer countries for conserving rainforest could change this "lose-lose-lose" situation.
Jumbled paths
The Brazilian government has long had a twin-track approach to the Amazon, which contains about 40% of the world's remaining rainforest.
While the land development agency Incra settles people in the region as a way of giving them land and livelihoods - a policy that dates from the 1970s - the environment ministry is trying to reduce the rate of deforestation.
Last year the environment ministry named Incra as the country's worst illegal logger.
The Science study suggests that the settlement and expansion policy is not producing real benefits for people.
Ana Rodrigues and colleagues assessed the development status of people in 286 municipalities using the UN's Human Development Index (HDI), which combines measures of standard of living, literacy and life expectancy.
Some of the municipalities were in areas of virgin forest.
Others had already lost all their trees, and some were in the process of being deforested.
Areas in the initial stage of deforestation yielded HDI scores above the average for the region.
But once the period of deforestation had passed, scores returned to the values seen in areas that had not yet been logged.
"It is generally assumed that replacing the forest with crops and pastureland is the best approach for fulfilling the region's legitimate aspirations to development," said Dr Rodrigues
"We found although the deforestation frontier does bring initial improvements in income, life expectancy, and literacy, such gains are not sustained."
The "boom and bust" pattern was the same for each of the three aspects of the HDI, showing that even a straight economic benefit was not maintained.
REDD dawn
As the study emerged, UN climate negotiators are meeting in Bonn to discuss aspects of a follow-on treaty to the Kyoto Protocol, which is suppposed to be finalised by the end of the year.
One of the aspects of the new treaty will be a mechanism that rewards local communities for keeping carbon-absorbing forests intact - a mechanism known as REDD (Reducing Emissions through Deforestation and forest Degradation).
Andrew Balmford, a co-author of the new study, said REDD and other proposals could change the current situation, which he described as disastrous for local people, wildlife and the global climate
"Reversing this pattern will hinge on capturing the values of intact forests... so that local people's livelihoods are better when the forest is left standing than when it is cleared," said the Cambridge professor of conservation science.
"Discussions being held in the run-up to this December's crucial climate change meeting in Copenhagen... offer some promise that this lose-lose-lose situation could be tackled, to the benefit of everyone - local Brazilians included."
The research was possible only because Brazil has good data on human development and on deforestation, which these days is measured by satellites.
But Ana Rodrigues believes the conclusions probably hold true for other countries stocked with tropical forests in southeast Asia or west Africa.
"I would be very surprised if we didn't see this boom and bust pattern emerging in these areas as well," she told BBC News.
President Lula is currently debating whether to ratify a bill that would grant legal status to illegal settlers and loggers in the Amazon region.
Environmentalists say the bill would increase the rate of land-grabs, with a knock-on rise in illegal logging likely.
A study of 286 Amazon municipalities found that deforestation brought quick benefits that were soon reversed.
Writing in the journal Science, the researchers say the deforestation cycle helps neither people nor nature.
They suggest that mechanisms to reward people in poorer countries for conserving rainforest could change this "lose-lose-lose" situation.
Jumbled paths
The Brazilian government has long had a twin-track approach to the Amazon, which contains about 40% of the world's remaining rainforest.
While the land development agency Incra settles people in the region as a way of giving them land and livelihoods - a policy that dates from the 1970s - the environment ministry is trying to reduce the rate of deforestation.
Last year the environment ministry named Incra as the country's worst illegal logger.
The Science study suggests that the settlement and expansion policy is not producing real benefits for people.
Ana Rodrigues and colleagues assessed the development status of people in 286 municipalities using the UN's Human Development Index (HDI), which combines measures of standard of living, literacy and life expectancy.
Some of the municipalities were in areas of virgin forest.
Others had already lost all their trees, and some were in the process of being deforested.
Areas in the initial stage of deforestation yielded HDI scores above the average for the region.
But once the period of deforestation had passed, scores returned to the values seen in areas that had not yet been logged.
"It is generally assumed that replacing the forest with crops and pastureland is the best approach for fulfilling the region's legitimate aspirations to development," said Dr Rodrigues
"We found although the deforestation frontier does bring initial improvements in income, life expectancy, and literacy, such gains are not sustained."
The "boom and bust" pattern was the same for each of the three aspects of the HDI, showing that even a straight economic benefit was not maintained.
REDD dawn
As the study emerged, UN climate negotiators are meeting in Bonn to discuss aspects of a follow-on treaty to the Kyoto Protocol, which is suppposed to be finalised by the end of the year.
One of the aspects of the new treaty will be a mechanism that rewards local communities for keeping carbon-absorbing forests intact - a mechanism known as REDD (Reducing Emissions through Deforestation and forest Degradation).
Andrew Balmford, a co-author of the new study, said REDD and other proposals could change the current situation, which he described as disastrous for local people, wildlife and the global climate
"Reversing this pattern will hinge on capturing the values of intact forests... so that local people's livelihoods are better when the forest is left standing than when it is cleared," said the Cambridge professor of conservation science.
"Discussions being held in the run-up to this December's crucial climate change meeting in Copenhagen... offer some promise that this lose-lose-lose situation could be tackled, to the benefit of everyone - local Brazilians included."
The research was possible only because Brazil has good data on human development and on deforestation, which these days is measured by satellites.
But Ana Rodrigues believes the conclusions probably hold true for other countries stocked with tropical forests in southeast Asia or west Africa.
"I would be very surprised if we didn't see this boom and bust pattern emerging in these areas as well," she told BBC News.
President Lula is currently debating whether to ratify a bill that would grant legal status to illegal settlers and loggers in the Amazon region.
Environmentalists say the bill would increase the rate of land-grabs, with a knock-on rise in illegal logging likely.
World Bank sees even worse slump
The world economy will shrink by much more than previously thought, according to the World Bank.
The world economy will contract by 3% this year, far more than the 1.75% drop it predicted earlier this year.
"Most developing country economies will contract this year and face increasingly bleak prospects," World Bank president Robert Zoellick said.
The gloomier forecast comes despite recent signs that the worst of the recession is over.
This year is likely to be the first global recession since World War II.
'Aftershocks'
The revised figure brings it closer in line with the OECD, which represents rich nations, who predicted that the world economy will shrink by 2.7%.
The World Bank's sister institution, International Monetary Fund (IMF), said in April the world economy will shrink by 1.3% this year.
However, the forecasts are broadly compatible as the World Bank methodology gives a smaller weight to China, still the world's fastest growing large economy.
Mr Zoellick still predicted a recovery next year.
"Although growth is expected to revive during the course of 2010, the pace of the recovery is uncertain and the poor in many developing countries will continue to be buffeted by the aftershocks," he said.
The World Bank said the International Development Association (IDA), a division of the World Bank that focuses on the 78 poorest countries, had received a record number of pleas for help.
For the year to 30 June, the number of grants and interest-free loans are expected to be $13bn, the most ever. In the previous year, the figure was $11.2bn.
The World Bank forecast comes before a meeting of the finance ministers from the Group of Eight richest nations on Friday in Lecce, Italy.
The world economy will contract by 3% this year, far more than the 1.75% drop it predicted earlier this year.
"Most developing country economies will contract this year and face increasingly bleak prospects," World Bank president Robert Zoellick said.
The gloomier forecast comes despite recent signs that the worst of the recession is over.
This year is likely to be the first global recession since World War II.
'Aftershocks'
The revised figure brings it closer in line with the OECD, which represents rich nations, who predicted that the world economy will shrink by 2.7%.
The World Bank's sister institution, International Monetary Fund (IMF), said in April the world economy will shrink by 1.3% this year.
However, the forecasts are broadly compatible as the World Bank methodology gives a smaller weight to China, still the world's fastest growing large economy.
Mr Zoellick still predicted a recovery next year.
"Although growth is expected to revive during the course of 2010, the pace of the recovery is uncertain and the poor in many developing countries will continue to be buffeted by the aftershocks," he said.
The World Bank said the International Development Association (IDA), a division of the World Bank that focuses on the 78 poorest countries, had received a record number of pleas for help.
For the year to 30 June, the number of grants and interest-free loans are expected to be $13bn, the most ever. In the previous year, the figure was $11.2bn.
The World Bank forecast comes before a meeting of the finance ministers from the Group of Eight richest nations on Friday in Lecce, Italy.
Asthma Patients Should Compulsorily Practice Yoga
Settling into a warrior or tree pose a few times a week seems to improve symptoms and quality of life for people with asthma.
In fact, participants in a recent trial studying the effects of Hatha yoga also reported that they had been able to cut back on some of their asthma medication, said Amy Bidwell, senior author of a study presented this week at the American College of Sports Medicine’s annual meeting, in Seattle.
“It’s dramatic but not surprising,” said Dr. Jonathan Field, director of the allergy and asthma clinic at New York University School of Medicine/Bellevue Medical Center in New York City. “There have been some smaller studies that have stated this before, but I don’t think they’ve ever used a standardized scale of this sort.”
Bidwell, a doctoral student in the department of exercise science at Syracuse University, had injured her back when she was working as a personal trainer. “I opted for yoga, not surgery, and it pretty much healed me,” she noted.
And while previous studies had been positive, most had looked at immediate physiological responses following a rigorous yoga practice, for example, twice a day for 10 days.
That regimen, Bidwell said, “really wasn’t feasible,” Bidwell said. “Three times a week for 10 weeks was more realistic.”
Bidwell and her co-authors, one of whom is a physician, randomly assigned 20 individuals aged 20 to 65 to practice Hatha yoga two-and-a-half hours a week or to join a (non-yoga) control group, for a total of 10 weeks.
Results were based on a questionnaire that measured frequency and severity of symptoms, activities associated with breathlessness and social and psychological functioning.
“We hold poses up to a minute and focus on deep breathing, which is critical to asthmatics” said Bidwell, who is also a yoga instructor.
Heart rate variability, oxygen consumption and ventilation were also assessed while volunteers performed each of two tasks: handgrip for three minutes and an upright tilt for five minutes.
Overall, scores of individuals participating in the yoga arm of the trial improved an average of almost 43 percent.
There were few or no differences between the groups in heart rate variability, oxygen consumption or ventilation.
“There’s not much of a downside to yoga unless you have a major orthopedic problem,” said Bidwell, who does not hesitate to recommend the practice to asthmatics after receiving proper instruction.
“Breathing symptoms are such a big part of asthma in terms of gaining control over them. Yoga enhances awareness of breathing and you may be able to recognize early on when breathing is not at a level it should be, which would promote earlier care,” Field said. “Also, it’s been recognized that deep breathing in athletes — swimmers or runners — actually improves asthma. When you have more functional use of lungs, it protects against asthma.”
In fact, participants in a recent trial studying the effects of Hatha yoga also reported that they had been able to cut back on some of their asthma medication, said Amy Bidwell, senior author of a study presented this week at the American College of Sports Medicine’s annual meeting, in Seattle.
“It’s dramatic but not surprising,” said Dr. Jonathan Field, director of the allergy and asthma clinic at New York University School of Medicine/Bellevue Medical Center in New York City. “There have been some smaller studies that have stated this before, but I don’t think they’ve ever used a standardized scale of this sort.”
Bidwell, a doctoral student in the department of exercise science at Syracuse University, had injured her back when she was working as a personal trainer. “I opted for yoga, not surgery, and it pretty much healed me,” she noted.
And while previous studies had been positive, most had looked at immediate physiological responses following a rigorous yoga practice, for example, twice a day for 10 days.
That regimen, Bidwell said, “really wasn’t feasible,” Bidwell said. “Three times a week for 10 weeks was more realistic.”
Bidwell and her co-authors, one of whom is a physician, randomly assigned 20 individuals aged 20 to 65 to practice Hatha yoga two-and-a-half hours a week or to join a (non-yoga) control group, for a total of 10 weeks.
Results were based on a questionnaire that measured frequency and severity of symptoms, activities associated with breathlessness and social and psychological functioning.
“We hold poses up to a minute and focus on deep breathing, which is critical to asthmatics” said Bidwell, who is also a yoga instructor.
Heart rate variability, oxygen consumption and ventilation were also assessed while volunteers performed each of two tasks: handgrip for three minutes and an upright tilt for five minutes.
Overall, scores of individuals participating in the yoga arm of the trial improved an average of almost 43 percent.
There were few or no differences between the groups in heart rate variability, oxygen consumption or ventilation.
“There’s not much of a downside to yoga unless you have a major orthopedic problem,” said Bidwell, who does not hesitate to recommend the practice to asthmatics after receiving proper instruction.
“Breathing symptoms are such a big part of asthma in terms of gaining control over them. Yoga enhances awareness of breathing and you may be able to recognize early on when breathing is not at a level it should be, which would promote earlier care,” Field said. “Also, it’s been recognized that deep breathing in athletes — swimmers or runners — actually improves asthma. When you have more functional use of lungs, it protects against asthma.”
Rotavirus: Every Child Should Be Vaccinated Against Diarrheal Disease, W.H.O. Says
The World Health Organization recommended last week that the vaccine against rotavirus, a diarrheal disease that kills 500,000 children a year, be given to every child in the world.
More than 85 percent of those deaths are of poor children in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and the W.H.O. endorsement allows donor money to be used for the vaccine.
Rotavirus drops are already routine for babies in the United States. Without them, virtually all children are infected by age 3; most cases are mild, but some unpredictably turn life-threatening.
In countries with ambulances and hospitals, even unimmunized children with severe viral diarrhea can usually be saved with intravenous fluids. In poor countries, they often die.
The recommendation came after trials in South Africa and Malawi showing that a GlaxoSmithKline vaccine worked even in areas with poor sanitation, competing viruses, high infant death rates and mothers with AIDS. The results of trials on a rival Merck vaccine in Bangladesh, Ghana, Kenya, Mali and Vietnam are expected in the fall.
The recommendation “clears the way for vaccines that will protect children in the developing world from one of the most deadly diseases they face,” said Dr. Tachi Yamada, president of global health at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which paid for much of the research.
The next steps will not be cheap, Mr. Gates said recently. Even in poor countries, the vaccine costs about $20 and the vials must be refrigerated — no easy task in places lacking electricity.
More than 85 percent of those deaths are of poor children in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and the W.H.O. endorsement allows donor money to be used for the vaccine.
Rotavirus drops are already routine for babies in the United States. Without them, virtually all children are infected by age 3; most cases are mild, but some unpredictably turn life-threatening.
In countries with ambulances and hospitals, even unimmunized children with severe viral diarrhea can usually be saved with intravenous fluids. In poor countries, they often die.
The recommendation came after trials in South Africa and Malawi showing that a GlaxoSmithKline vaccine worked even in areas with poor sanitation, competing viruses, high infant death rates and mothers with AIDS. The results of trials on a rival Merck vaccine in Bangladesh, Ghana, Kenya, Mali and Vietnam are expected in the fall.
The recommendation “clears the way for vaccines that will protect children in the developing world from one of the most deadly diseases they face,” said Dr. Tachi Yamada, president of global health at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which paid for much of the research.
The next steps will not be cheap, Mr. Gates said recently. Even in poor countries, the vaccine costs about $20 and the vials must be refrigerated — no easy task in places lacking electricity.
Customers Prove There’s a Market for Fresh Produce
But will people buy them?
Vegetables, that is. Certainly on Wednesday afternoon, an urgent line formed at a cheery new produce cart that had materialized at the corner of East Fordham Road and Decatur Avenue near Fordham University in the Bronx.
“These strawberries look great, and they’re a bargain,” said Michelle Cruz, a 38-year-old graphic designer who lives nearby and found herself jostling other produce hounds under the cart’s jaunty green umbrellas.
The cart’s debut was the centerpiece of the first public celebration of a new citywide effort to encourage street vendors to bring fresh vegetables and fruit to low-income neighborhoods that have been called “food deserts” because of the predominance of fast-food outlets offering high-fat, high-sugar fare and the dearth of healthful culinary fare.
The city has approved 1,000 new mobile food carts for neighborhoods in the five boroughs that have long been isolated from traditional supermarkets, grocery stores and farmers’ markets offering fresh produce at reasonable prices.
“There is an epidemic of obesity and diabetes among those who are poor,” said Linda I. Gibbs, the deputy mayor for health and human services.
So far, 200 Green Carts, as they are officially called, are now on the streets. “Already, people are telling us they’re glad we’re here,” said Michael Bracho, the 42-year-old proprietor of the Decatur Avenue cart, a downsized former Office Depot manager who describes his new occupation as “lucrative if you do it right.”
Some of the vendors who hit the streets last year complained about low-traffic locations, and it will take a while to determine whether there is enough demand to keep all the vendors in business in neighborhoods where processed foods are dominant. And some local merchants could see the carts as competition.
The carts do not accept food stamps, though a government-financed pilot program will soon provide $1,000 all-weather wireless terminals so 15 vendors can accept food-stamp debit cards.
The cart permits restrict operators to designated impoverished neighborhoods in the five boroughs and limit sales to raw fruits and vegetables.
The plan, approved by the New York City Council and signed into law by the mayor last year, is part of a public-private effort to make healthier food available to the poor while also providing 1,000 new jobs. Many vendors are immigrants from Latin America, Asia and elsewhere, said Karen Karp, a consultant to the project.
In low-income neighborhoods, “we know that it takes more time to build supermarkets,” said Benjamin Thomases, the food-policy coordinator for the Bloomberg administration, “but we can get carts on the streets right now.”
Even if doctors talk to their patients about eating in a more healthy way, “there is little access to these kinds of foods in minority communities,” said Dr. Peter A. Selwyn, a department chairman at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.
“There’s third-rate stuff around here if you can even find it,” said Tom Johnson, a 25-year-old maintenance worker, as he stood amid the frenzy at the cart. “I can buy here now.”
People working two jobs “are not going to get on a train, or two buses, to travel to get fresh vegetables,” said Laurie M. Tisch, president of the Illumination Fund, a charity that has donated $1.5 million over two years to provide capital for Green Cart micro-loans for basic purchases, like the $2,000 food carts, through Acción New York, a nonprofit organization that helps those who do not qualify for bank credit.
But not everyone in the Fordham neighborhood was in a celebratory mood. “It may be good for health, but it’s bad for business,” said George Katehis, manager of the Splendid Deli Restaurant at 387 East Fordham Road. “A guy might buy a piece of fruit there instead of coming in here for a soda.”
Fruits and vegetables were available, but the prices were higher, at the Compare Foods market at East 189th Street and Park Avenue, a few blocks away from the Green Cart. Bananas were 99 cents a pound instead of 50 cents, strawberries were $3.99 a container instead of $1.50 and peppers were $1.89 a pound instead of $1.
“Maybe we’ll lose some customers to them,” said the manager, who gave his name only as Fabio V., adding that his produce cost more because “I have to pay utilities, high rent, employees — and he doesn’t.”
If the avid buyers at Decatur Avenue were any indication, residents of produce-poor neighborhoods may welcome the green-umbrella invasion. “Research has demonstrated that the greater the access, the more the consumption,” said Elliott S. Marcus, an associate commissioner of the city’s health department.
Mr. Marcus, who knows of no similar program in any other city, is hopeful that the Green Carts operation will inspire imitators.
Kumar Gouranga, a 45-year-old immigrant from Bangladesh who for three months has operated a cart at 165th Street and Broadway in Manhattan, said that “business is so good that we are staying open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
Mr. Gouranga said his worst problem had been the 15 tickets he had received from the police, despite his legal permit. He said that every ticket had been dismissed in court, but that new ones kept coming.
“My other problem is that the green umbrella you get breaks easily,” he said, “especially in high winds.”
Vegetables, that is. Certainly on Wednesday afternoon, an urgent line formed at a cheery new produce cart that had materialized at the corner of East Fordham Road and Decatur Avenue near Fordham University in the Bronx.
“These strawberries look great, and they’re a bargain,” said Michelle Cruz, a 38-year-old graphic designer who lives nearby and found herself jostling other produce hounds under the cart’s jaunty green umbrellas.
The cart’s debut was the centerpiece of the first public celebration of a new citywide effort to encourage street vendors to bring fresh vegetables and fruit to low-income neighborhoods that have been called “food deserts” because of the predominance of fast-food outlets offering high-fat, high-sugar fare and the dearth of healthful culinary fare.
The city has approved 1,000 new mobile food carts for neighborhoods in the five boroughs that have long been isolated from traditional supermarkets, grocery stores and farmers’ markets offering fresh produce at reasonable prices.
“There is an epidemic of obesity and diabetes among those who are poor,” said Linda I. Gibbs, the deputy mayor for health and human services.
So far, 200 Green Carts, as they are officially called, are now on the streets. “Already, people are telling us they’re glad we’re here,” said Michael Bracho, the 42-year-old proprietor of the Decatur Avenue cart, a downsized former Office Depot manager who describes his new occupation as “lucrative if you do it right.”
Some of the vendors who hit the streets last year complained about low-traffic locations, and it will take a while to determine whether there is enough demand to keep all the vendors in business in neighborhoods where processed foods are dominant. And some local merchants could see the carts as competition.
The carts do not accept food stamps, though a government-financed pilot program will soon provide $1,000 all-weather wireless terminals so 15 vendors can accept food-stamp debit cards.
The cart permits restrict operators to designated impoverished neighborhoods in the five boroughs and limit sales to raw fruits and vegetables.
The plan, approved by the New York City Council and signed into law by the mayor last year, is part of a public-private effort to make healthier food available to the poor while also providing 1,000 new jobs. Many vendors are immigrants from Latin America, Asia and elsewhere, said Karen Karp, a consultant to the project.
In low-income neighborhoods, “we know that it takes more time to build supermarkets,” said Benjamin Thomases, the food-policy coordinator for the Bloomberg administration, “but we can get carts on the streets right now.”
Even if doctors talk to their patients about eating in a more healthy way, “there is little access to these kinds of foods in minority communities,” said Dr. Peter A. Selwyn, a department chairman at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.
“There’s third-rate stuff around here if you can even find it,” said Tom Johnson, a 25-year-old maintenance worker, as he stood amid the frenzy at the cart. “I can buy here now.”
People working two jobs “are not going to get on a train, or two buses, to travel to get fresh vegetables,” said Laurie M. Tisch, president of the Illumination Fund, a charity that has donated $1.5 million over two years to provide capital for Green Cart micro-loans for basic purchases, like the $2,000 food carts, through Acción New York, a nonprofit organization that helps those who do not qualify for bank credit.
But not everyone in the Fordham neighborhood was in a celebratory mood. “It may be good for health, but it’s bad for business,” said George Katehis, manager of the Splendid Deli Restaurant at 387 East Fordham Road. “A guy might buy a piece of fruit there instead of coming in here for a soda.”
Fruits and vegetables were available, but the prices were higher, at the Compare Foods market at East 189th Street and Park Avenue, a few blocks away from the Green Cart. Bananas were 99 cents a pound instead of 50 cents, strawberries were $3.99 a container instead of $1.50 and peppers were $1.89 a pound instead of $1.
“Maybe we’ll lose some customers to them,” said the manager, who gave his name only as Fabio V., adding that his produce cost more because “I have to pay utilities, high rent, employees — and he doesn’t.”
If the avid buyers at Decatur Avenue were any indication, residents of produce-poor neighborhoods may welcome the green-umbrella invasion. “Research has demonstrated that the greater the access, the more the consumption,” said Elliott S. Marcus, an associate commissioner of the city’s health department.
Mr. Marcus, who knows of no similar program in any other city, is hopeful that the Green Carts operation will inspire imitators.
Kumar Gouranga, a 45-year-old immigrant from Bangladesh who for three months has operated a cart at 165th Street and Broadway in Manhattan, said that “business is so good that we are staying open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
Mr. Gouranga said his worst problem had been the 15 tickets he had received from the police, despite his legal permit. He said that every ticket had been dismissed in court, but that new ones kept coming.
“My other problem is that the green umbrella you get breaks easily,” he said, “especially in high winds.”
UK beaches set for clean-up following damning report
The government today vowed to boost efforts to clean up the coastline after the latest European beaches report criticised the quality of water at more than two dozen resorts.
The vast majority of the nation's favourite coastal areas meet strict EU bathing water cleanliness standards. But too much rain is being blamed for putting the chic Cornish resort of Rock on the dirty list, as well as Sandgate in Kent and 23 other swimming areas on the country's tourist map. Most of the UK bathing areas needing improvement were in the south-west – Devon and Cornwall – and in Scotland.
"We're working to improve sewerage systems and are aware of the effect heavy rain and flooding can have on our coastal bathing waters" said a government spokesman. "The proposal to make connections to sewers subject to meeting national standards will result in less water reaching sewerage treatment works, and consequently reduce the risk of flooding and pollution to our beaches."
The EU report echoed a survey last month, which recorded a fall in the number of English beaches awarded "blue flags" for cleanliness in 2009. The fall was attributed to the heavy rain and flooding in 2008 and 2007, which washed pollutants into the sea and affected water quality. Earlier this year, the Marine Conservation Society also claimed litter on British beaches had reached record levels, more than doubling in the past 15 years and putting marine life at risk.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) says it is currently tackling pollution from agriculture source, including grants to build fences between livestock and watercourses, and advice to farmers on reducing water pollution.
The latest report is based on 2008 water cleanliness tests carried out at more than 21,000 bathing spots around the 27 EU countries. The large majority meet EU hygiene requirements – 96% of the total coastal bathing areas and 92% of bathing sites in rivers and lakes were found to be up to standard.
The commissioner for the environment, Stavros Dimas said: "High quality bathing water is essential for the well-being of European citizens and the environment – and this goes for all other bodies of water too. I am pleased to see that the overall quality of water in bathing areas is improving throughout the union."
The largest number of coastal bathing waters can be found in Italy, Greece, France, Spain and Denmark, while Germany and France have the highest number of inland bathing waters.
The UK beaches and inland swimming spots failing to meet minimum EU clean water standards in 2008 were:
Northern Ireland
Ballyholme
Scotland
Machrihanish ( Argyll and Bute)
Saltcoats/Ardrossan (North Ayrshire)
Sandyhills (Dumfries and Galloway)
Portobello Central (Edinburgh)
Rosehearty (Aberdeenshire)
Cruden Bay (Aberdeenshire)
Aberdeen
Wales
Llandanwag
South-west
Seaton (Cornwall)
East Looe (Cornwall)
Rock (Cornwall)
Readymoney (Cornwall)
Porthluney (Cornwall)
Plymouth Hoe East (Devon)
Plymouth Hoe West (Devon)
Exmouth (Devon)
Instow (Devon)
Coombe Martin (Devon)
North
Allonby (Cumbria)
St Bees (Cumbria)
Aldingham (Cumbria)
Windermere, Millerground landings (Cumbria)
Yorkshire and Humberside
Staithes (North Yorkshire)
South-east
Sandgate (Kent)
The vast majority of the nation's favourite coastal areas meet strict EU bathing water cleanliness standards. But too much rain is being blamed for putting the chic Cornish resort of Rock on the dirty list, as well as Sandgate in Kent and 23 other swimming areas on the country's tourist map. Most of the UK bathing areas needing improvement were in the south-west – Devon and Cornwall – and in Scotland.
"We're working to improve sewerage systems and are aware of the effect heavy rain and flooding can have on our coastal bathing waters" said a government spokesman. "The proposal to make connections to sewers subject to meeting national standards will result in less water reaching sewerage treatment works, and consequently reduce the risk of flooding and pollution to our beaches."
The EU report echoed a survey last month, which recorded a fall in the number of English beaches awarded "blue flags" for cleanliness in 2009. The fall was attributed to the heavy rain and flooding in 2008 and 2007, which washed pollutants into the sea and affected water quality. Earlier this year, the Marine Conservation Society also claimed litter on British beaches had reached record levels, more than doubling in the past 15 years and putting marine life at risk.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) says it is currently tackling pollution from agriculture source, including grants to build fences between livestock and watercourses, and advice to farmers on reducing water pollution.
The latest report is based on 2008 water cleanliness tests carried out at more than 21,000 bathing spots around the 27 EU countries. The large majority meet EU hygiene requirements – 96% of the total coastal bathing areas and 92% of bathing sites in rivers and lakes were found to be up to standard.
The commissioner for the environment, Stavros Dimas said: "High quality bathing water is essential for the well-being of European citizens and the environment – and this goes for all other bodies of water too. I am pleased to see that the overall quality of water in bathing areas is improving throughout the union."
The largest number of coastal bathing waters can be found in Italy, Greece, France, Spain and Denmark, while Germany and France have the highest number of inland bathing waters.
The UK beaches and inland swimming spots failing to meet minimum EU clean water standards in 2008 were:
Northern Ireland
Ballyholme
Scotland
Machrihanish ( Argyll and Bute)
Saltcoats/Ardrossan (North Ayrshire)
Sandyhills (Dumfries and Galloway)
Portobello Central (Edinburgh)
Rosehearty (Aberdeenshire)
Cruden Bay (Aberdeenshire)
Aberdeen
Wales
Llandanwag
South-west
Seaton (Cornwall)
East Looe (Cornwall)
Rock (Cornwall)
Readymoney (Cornwall)
Porthluney (Cornwall)
Plymouth Hoe East (Devon)
Plymouth Hoe West (Devon)
Exmouth (Devon)
Instow (Devon)
Coombe Martin (Devon)
North
Allonby (Cumbria)
St Bees (Cumbria)
Aldingham (Cumbria)
Windermere, Millerground landings (Cumbria)
Yorkshire and Humberside
Staithes (North Yorkshire)
South-east
Sandgate (Kent)
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