China water contamination affects 2.4m after oil leak

China's biggest oil company has been blamed for water contamination affecting over 2.4 million people in Lanzhou.

Queuing up to buy bottled water on Friday - shops are now reported to have sold out

State media said the city's environmental protection chief, Yan Zijiang, blamed it on a leak from a pipeline owned by a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation.

The pipeline is now being repaired.

Lanzhou is the capital of north western Gansu province.

Lanzhou Petrochemical Co., is the subsidiary of state-owned CNPC believed to own the affected pipeline.

Authorities warned benzene levels were up to 20 times national safety limits

The leak tainted source water for a plant owned by Veolia Water, a joint Sino-French venture and the sole supplier for urban Lanzhou, reportedstate news agency Xinhua.

It added that authorities have warned that tap water contained up to 200 micrograms per litre of the toxic chemical benzene - 20 times the national safety limit.

The authorities have since said the contamination has returned to safe levels in most areas.

Exposure to benzene, often used in the petrochemical industry, can increase the risk of cancer and other diseases.

Shops are said to have sold out of bottled water.

The scare has once again raised concerns over China's environmental safety record.

Last year, a ruptured oil pipeline caused explosions in the eastern city of Qingdao, killing 62 people. And in January 2012, toxic cadmium and other waste from factories contaminated water supplies serving millions of people in the south western city of Guangxi.

From, BBC Sci/Enviroment

Climate change report highlights major impacts

The impact of climate change is being felt across all continents and oceans and it is affecting food security, glaciers and the spread of disease, according to a new report.

Scientists and officials meeting in Japan say the document is the most comprehensive assessment to date of the impacts of climate change on the world.

Temperatures are clearly rising and that is a serious problem. 

Watch the picture below carefully

Czech Republic: Wolves return after a century absence

A  hidden camera has captured an image of a wolf crossing a wooded clearing in the Czech Republic a hundred years after the predator disappeared from the area, it's been reported.

Fantastic news!

There have been some signs near the town of Doksy suggesting a wolf may be in the region, Radio Prague reports. But wolves haven't roamed free in Bohemia since the late 19th Century.

Right now, there is probably just one wolf or maybe a pair, says  environmental expert Miroslav Kutal. The animal is likely to have strayed into Bohemia from the border regions of Germany and Poland, where the wolf population has been thriving.

The wolf was not aware of the hidden camera

But Kutal tells Radio Impuls the conditions in Bohemia - especially in former military zones and in the mountainous border regions - seem to be good for breeding. This is something to be encouraged, he adds, since wolves can regulate the  deer population and draw tourists to the area. But the arrival of poachers could become a concern.

From BBC News-Sci/ Environment