Press | Umweltbundesamt

The Federal Environment Agency’s (UBA) H2O-Wissen online database is in time for the back-to-school season to offer more than 400 contributions with ideas and materials for classroom lessons. Links to materials can be located on the Internet by means of various search criteria, e.g. title, author, or topic area such as ‘aquatic animals and plants’, ‘flooding’, or ‘development policy’. Teachers who... read more

Summer, sun, holidays and water play: summertime is the best time of year for many people. But besides fun and relaxation, it can also give rise to health problems related to high ozone levels, heat waves, or ultraviolet radiation. Moreover, ticks which can transmit disease are especially active at this time of year. A new guide titled Sommer ohne Sorgen [Carefree summer] on how to handle the down... read more

The poor often live in an environment which can cause illness, according to epidemiological studies done related to social and environmental factors. Their results show that the lower income populations in Germany are more prone to live in streets where there is heavier through traffic and where they are more exposed to noise and exhaust gases than people who are better off financially. Respirator... read more

The result of collaborative efforts by the Federal Environment Agency (UBA), the Turkish Community in Germany (German acronym: TGD), and the Turkish-language environmental group called Yesil Cember within Friends of the Earth Germany (BUND), is the publication of the first guide on how to save energy in the household to appear in Turkish. The guide gives practical everyday advice. It is UBA’s way... read more

The increasing concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is causing global warming. Air temperatures of ground-level atmospheric layers are therefore also rising. If certain temperature levels are reached, the climate system could react by changing abruptly and severely, e.g. Greenland’s ice could melt, sea levels could rise, Arctic sea ice would melt, the Arctic itself would become warm... read more

Germany imported about 6.2 million tonnes (mn t) of waste subject to authorisation in 2007. After a two-year decline, imports have resumed their climb despite the ban on storage of organic wastes that entered into force in 2005. However, this volume is still below the record set in 2004 (6.5 mn t). Exports on the other hand dropped slightly to 1.8 mn t. Expert estimates for 2008 reveal no signifi... read more

On July 7, delegates of the EU member states and European Commission (EC) endorsed a proposal for a regulation reducing so-called standby power consumption in household and office products. Once approved by the EU Parliament, the new regulations on electronic devices will take effect as of 2010. The EC Regulation will also be effective in all 27 EU Member States immediately. As a result of the pla... read more

At the start of the summer fuel prices are reaching new record highs in Germany.  The frustration felt by many people is understandable. There is no easing of fuel prices in sight, given the rising demand and scarce finite reserves of oil. ”Simply complaining won’t help. Each and everyone of us can take real steps to control and reduce fuel consumption.  ”Ladylike” driving style can help: low revs... read more