Penguins at the Basel zoo (©2012 Basel Zoo)
Morges rowing classes, t-shirts on the lake, ice on the shore
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The days are getting longer in Switzerland, with the sun now rising before 07:30 and setting after 18:00. The last day of the month, 29 February, will give us an additional 20 minutes of daylight compared to 23 February.
The vast quantities of snow in the mountains and continuing chilly winds in several areas may not yet have you thinking of spring, but the signs are multiplying throughout the country:
Temperatures are expected to reach 17C this weekend in Ticino, Switzerland’s hot spot.
Max the stork passed through Geneva Monday on her way north from her winter home in Spain and Wednesday 22 February she arrived in northern Switzerland. She arrived in Tuefingen, Germany, on the northern side of Lake Constance on the Swiss-German border, where she normally mates and builds a nest.
Wednesday afternoon, school's out! Lake Geneva, St Prex, Vaud
This will be the 11th year that the 13-year-old bird raises a family here. She is the longest-tracked banded bird in the world, followed by the Natural History Museum in Fribourg.
Lake Geneva’s shoreline remains laced with ice but Wednesday saw a number of rowing students from Morges out on the water in short-sleeved shirts.
Wednesday afternoon, with school out, the lake served as a magnet for families and small children, with grass beginning to green next to the ice sculptures that decorate the waterfront.
New monkey home at the Basel zoo (©2012 Basel Zoo)
In Basel, penguins at the zoo are enjoying daily walks. The zoo in its annual report issued 23 February says that 2011 saw a record number of visitors, 1.75 million, compared to just over a million in 1999. The zoo opened its doors in 1874 and in the 138 years of its existence more than 78 million visitors have come to see the animals.
The most popular areas to visit are the monkeys and snow leopards, with a rebuilt monkey area that opened in the summer of 2011 and three leopard cubs born during the year.
Click on photos to view larger
US President Barack Obama has flown to New Orleans, Louisiana, to reassure residents of the area following the accident where an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded and sank, releasing thousands of barrels of oil. The slicks from the accident, 40 miles from the Louisiana shore, have been moving inland, threatening the fishing industry and potentially creating the worst such disaster in US history. Obama pointed out that the responsibility lies entirely with BP, which will foot the bill. The bulk of the slick is now just nine miles (a little over 5km) off the coastline.
Meanwhile, supertankers that ship crude to the US may face tighter regulations in the wake of the disaster, reports Bloomberg.
Background, GenevaLunch
Links to other sites: New Orleans Times-Picayune, Times, UK,
Expect more colour this summer on Geneva's lakefront
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Food and souvenir vendors and ice-cream sellers along the lakefront in Geneva will soon be working from bright new stalls that will replace the drab ones they have used for years. The issue of what the new huts would look like was a hot political potato in Geneva for six years but the first 20 stalls have arrived in the city to a remarkable lack of opposition, notes the Tribune de Genève. The cost: CHF2.2 million. The new ones look like crates when closed, but the sides open up to provide shelter from sun and rain.
The five huts to be used as food stalls will have solar panels that will provide enough energy for their electric needs, estimated at 1,300 kWh for each one.
Map of new stall locations: click to view larger
Some 700,000 homes along the coastline in Australia are at risk from erosion as sea levels rise: the government says it expects the level to rise by one meter within 40 years, thanks to global warming. Some homes have already lost substantial amounts of land around them, from storms but also higher water levels, reports Reuters.
Schumacher home in Gland
Gland, Vaud, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Formula 1′s former champion Michael Schumacher, had grandiose ideas about the dock he wants to install at his new lakefront estate on the shores of Lake Geneva in Gland, according to the Tribune de Geneve, quoting Michel Cosendai of the Vaud cantonal water service. The final solution, posted for public consultation until mid-August, will allow docking space two motor boats and the option of an offshore anchor for a sailboat. One group that is likely to oppose the new construction is the Association Rives Publiques, which has been fighting for open public access to the shores of Lake Geneva. According to the Tribune, the group plans to file its opposition.
