SPACE COM || ENVIRONMENT NEWS

ON SPACE.COM WITH GIMALO…SOME ENVIRONMENT NEWS BEACH CLEAN-UP AS DEBRIS WASHES ASHORE MILLIONS OF PLASTIC PELLETS FROM A CONTAINER SHIP ABLAZE OFF COLOMBO HAVE ALREADY WASHED UP ON BEACHES, ALONG WITH OTHER HAZARDOUS WASTE. THE DISASTER THREATENS THE LUCRATIVE FISHING AND TOURISM SECTORS.

PLASTIC WASTE TURNED TO BUILDING MATERIALS THE VINČA LANDFILL IS THE LARGEST UNMANAGED OPEN DUMP LEFT IN EUROPE. THE LANDFILL ABSORBS 600 TRUCKLOADS OF TRASH EVERY DAY: 1,500 TONS OF HOUSEHOLD WASTE AND 3,000 TONS OF CONSTRUCTION WASTE.

ALSTOM DESIGNS ENGINE OF ECONOMICAL RAILCAR AUTOMOTRICE GRANDE VITESSE (AGV) IS AN ADVANCED VERY HIGH SPEED TRAIN DESIGNED AND DEVELOPED BY ALSTOM. IT IS CLAIMED TO BE THE MOST ECONOMICAL AND ECO-FRIENDLY RAILCAR IN THE WORLD. THIS IS THE FOURTH GENERATION OF THE FRENCH HIGH-SPEED TRAIN WHOSE ENTRY INTO SERVICE IS SCHEDULED FOR 2024.

ESTONIANS SET SAIL FOR ARCTIC TO PROBE CLIMATE CHANGE AN ESTONIAN YACHT RECENTLY SET SAIL FOR THE ARCTIC TO GATHER WATER SAMPLES THAT COULD HELP CHECK A THEORY ABOUT THE REASONS FOR CLIMATE CHANGE. THE 24-METRE (78-FOOT) SHIP, CALLED ADMIRAL BELLING-SHAUSEN, HAS A CREW OF SAILORS, SCIENTISTS AND JOURNALISTS WHO WILL SPEND FOUR MONTHS AT SEA.

BOATS DOCKED AT JUPITER-LIKE SHORE COVERED WITH SEA SNOT DRAMATIC DRONE FOOTAGE SHOWED BOATS, YACHTS AND CARGO SHIPS ANCHORED NEAR ISTANBUL ON TUESDAY (JUNE 15) AND THE SEA WATER WAS SEEN FULLY COVERED WITH A THICK LAYER OF ORGANIC MATTER, KNOWN AS MARINE MUCILAGE.

ABANDONED NICOSIA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT A LARGE PASSENGER JET SITS SILENT AND STILL ON THE EDGE OF A SUN-BEATEN TRACK. IT WON’T FLY AGAIN — ITS ENGINES HAVE BEEN STRIPPED DOWN, ITS WINGS WRECKED AND WEATHERED BY TIME. ON THIS PART OF EUROPE’S LAST DIVIDED CAPITAL, TIME HAS LONG BEEN FROZEN. FOR THE PAST 44 YEARS, THE ONCE VIBRANT AND STATE-OF-THE-ART NICOSIA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT HAS REMAINED SHUT, A FADING AND PAINFUL TRAVEL RELIC OF THE TURBULENT HISTORY OF CYPRUS.

REBUILDING PHILIPINES MARAWI THE PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT RECENTLY MARKED THE FOURTH YEAR SINCE MARAWI CITY WAS RETAKEN FROM FIGHTERS ALLIED WITH THE ISLAMIC STATE (IS), WHO SEIZED THE SOUTHERN CITY ON MAY 23, 2017. $1BN ROAD TO NOWHERE TWO ROADS VANISH INTO MOUNTAIN TUNNELS HIGH ABOVE A SLEEPY MONTENEGRIN VILLAGE, MARKING THE UNLIKELY ENDPOINT OF A BILLION-DOLLAR PROJECT THAT IS THREATENING TO DERAIL THE TINY COUNTRY’S ECONOMY.

THE EIFFEL TOWER LIGHTS UP WITH RENEWABLE HYDROGEN ENERGY FOR THE FIRST TIME, THE EIFFEL TOWER IN PARIS HAS BEEN LIT UP BY ELECTRICITY PRODUCED FROM CERTIFIED RENEWABLE HYDROGEN. THE HYDROGEN, SUPPLIED BY AIR LIQUIDE, LIT UP THE TOWER FOR A LASER SHOW DURING THE HYDROGENE PARIS EVENT ORGANISED BY ENERGY OBSERVER.