Summary of newsmakers of the previous days – 16.-17.6. 2007

Wheat on fresh maximums

Trading with wheat was again in token of spurt growth of prices on stock exchanges in Kansas City and in Chicago. Thanks to it a price of wheat got to new eleven-year maximums. The growth was reaction to continuing strong rains in significant growing areas which do harm to crop and slow a course of harvest. Waterlogged soil makes practice of agriculture engineering more difficult. Since the 7th of April when on the contrary frosts did harm to the crop the price of wheat has risen by 35 percent. Also unfavourable weather in other parts of the world contributes to growth of wheat price. A center of attention is especially Ukraine, last year the eighth biggest exporter of this commodity where extreme drought will negatively influence this year's crop.

Warning: Butterflies in the Czech Republic are almost extinct

What Colias chrysotheme, Maculinea arion and Euphydryas maturna have in common? All of these are butterflies which lived in past on wide areas of Czech nature. Now you can not see them because they have become extinct or they are seriously endangered by extinction. Last results of mapping of Czech daily butterflies showed that from 161 species eighteen have died out and territory for their life of other sixteen has been so reduced that they are practically dying out.

There will be other computers due to rescue of the Earth

Producers of computers, chips, their distributors and software giants have agreed on a new initiative which should save 5,5 billion dollars in four years only thanks to a lower consumption of PC. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has taken a patronage over this project. “It is dealt with the first case when our program is introduced in frame of a whole sector and includes producers, sellers and consumers”, John Donoghue, a vice-president of the organization WWF, said. “We are very glad to be able together with front industrial firms to work on solution of climatic changes”.

DEUS 21 treats rain and waste water

An interesting project of decentralized treatment of rain and waste water from households was put, after two-year verification, into operation in Knittlingen near Pforzheim in Baden-Württemberg. On area of about 100 building pieces of land with new development rain water is drained in underground reservoirs; then with use of the most modern filtration technology it is treated and it returns to consumers as supply water in a quality of drinking water. Waste water are connected to vacuum sewerage drained in a waterworks and here it is cleared by anaerobic technology to drinking water. Drinking water from a local water supply is drawn only in an amount necessary for drinking and cooking.