A new database accessible via the Web lists more than 500 people responsible for environmental concerns in town and city governments all around the 10 ``accession nations'' of Central and Eastern Europe. According to an e-mail announcement, the database was put together as part of the Coordinated Action for Pan-European Transport and Environment Telematics Implementation Support (CAPE) project, which aims to encourage the implementation of telematics technologies among local and regional authorities across Europe.

Telematics applications use networks of computers, telecommunication systems and other technologies to help local authorities manage environmental and transportation issues. The database put together for this project is an excellent way to find local environmental specialists in large towns and cities anywhere in the nations of the regions, which are in line for membership in the European Union: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary,Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia.

Shark-tour operators endanger surfers

Shark tour operators competing for business in the narrow channel at Dyer Island near Cape Town, South Africa, are putting tourists and surfers at risk, according to an article published in the New Scientist. Great white sharks proliferate in the channel because it is a breeding ground for seals, a favorite prey of the sharks.

Tour operators compete for business by floating surfboards and children's toys on the surface of the water above tourists locked in cages underwater. Conservationists are worried that these techniques may lead great white sharks to associate food with items such as surfboards.

``The sharks are getting the opportunity to find out that every time they see a surfboard, there might be food around,'' George Burgess, a shark expert at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville, Fla., told the New Scientist. ``One day they will find out there is a human onthe other side of the sandwich.''

Conservationists are asking tour operators to act responsibly in order to prevent a tragedy. Sarah Fowler of the Shark Trust in Newbury, Berkshire, told the New Scientist that tourism can be harnessed to promote the conservation of sharks. ``Done the right way, shark-dive tourism is very important for the future of sharks,'' she said.

Global warming causes economic losses

A staggering increase in US disaster declarations, high economic loss and more deaths are a direct result of global warming, says a report released by the Public Interest Research Group (PRIG). The report, The Rising Cost of Global Warming, blames extreme weather events for 376 deaths and $1,400 million in losses suffered by US victims between January and August 1998. It added that the cost of weather events is consistent with scientists' predictions about global warming. PRIG is a non-profit, non-partisan watchdog organisation that conducts research and public education on environmental,consumer and democracy issues. The report's data comes from the US Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Small Business Administration, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Farm Agency Service. ``Big business keeps making claims about how much it's going to cost us fight global warming,'' said Katherine Silverthorne, staff attorney for PRIG. ``But the better question is what's it going to cost us if we don't fight global warming?''

The average number of disaster declarations has increased dramatically, said Silverthorne, from 25 per year between 1979-83 to 46.6 per year between 1994-98 -- an 86 per cent increase. PRIG has found that worldwide, the economic loss related to natural catastrophes in the last 10 years is 8.5 times the cost in the 1960s (adjusted to present value). American communities experienced more than $3,500 million of insured losses due to weather-related events in the first eight months of 1998, said Silverthorne.

US company plans re-cyclable plastic beer bottles

US-basedMiller Brewing Company is introducing plastic beer bottles using recyclable, food-grade plastic. The company has widespread retail distribution.

Miller's plastic bottle will be introduced in Los Angeles, Phoenix/Tucson and Norfolk, this week. The roll-out will expand to Miami, Dallas/Fort Worth and San Antonio in the weeks to follow. Additional roll-out plans will be determined based on consumer and retailer response to the announcement that it will debut a new, specially developed, recyclable, plastic bottle in six major metropolitan areas across the country in November and early December. Miller is the first US brewer to offer plastic bottles for package. All of Miller's plastic bottles will be marked with a ``1-PETE'' recycling designation, meaning consumers will be able to recycle it.