Five environmental organizations, trade union FNV, and an organization for sustainable entrepreneurship will not sign the current climate agreement, they announced at a press conference on Thursday. The signing will continue as planned on Friday, NU.nl reports
Nature
Dec 21 '18 07:32
The current calender year will definitely be in the top three hottest years ever measured in the Netherlands. 2018 will likely come in second place with a average temperature of 11.4 degrees, though that will depend on what the weather looks like this last week of the year, Weerplaza reports.
The hottest year ever measured in the Netherlands is 2014 with an average temperature of 11.7 degrees. 2006 is currently in second place with 11.2 degrees.
Dec 20 '18 08:58
A mistake was made in a survey intended to gauge what the Dutch population thinks about daylight savings time. In one question about implementing permanent summer time the survey states that the sun will set at around 8:00 p.m. at the end of June, while in fact the sun will set at around 10:00 p.m., NOS reports.
Dec 19 '18 16:10
For the first time ever, researchers successfully put a fish species on contraception. Dutch biologist Max Janse and vet Henk Luten of Burgers' Zoo implanted a straw full of hormones into an extremely fertile eagle ray, after which she stopped producing offspring. Two years later the researchers published their results this week, NOS reports.
Dec 19 '18 08:09
The vast majority of Dutch are for scrapping daylight savings time, according to a survey among over 1,800 Dutch ordered by Minister Kasja Ollongren of Home Affairs and Kingdom relations. 41 percent want to keep winter time all year, approximately a quarter want summer time to be the standard time, and another quarter want to stick to the current system of adjusting the clock twice a year, NOS reports.
Dec 17 '18 08:43
An agreement was signed at the United Nations climate summit in Katowice, Poland on Saturday. The Dutch delegation and government are satisfied with the result, NU.nl reports.
Dec 17 '18 08:07
Flight traffic at Eindhoven Airport was halted on Sunday due to fog. This resulted in some 900 travelers being stuck at the airport. The airport asked the Red Cross to place 500 camping cots at the terminal, ANP reports.
Not all the beds were occupied. A number of travelers were able to go home, to family or to a hotel. Food and drinks were organized for those who ended up spending the night at the airport.
Whether the flights canceled on Sunday will all be made up on Monday, is not yet clear. At this stage Eindhoven Airport does not report any cancellations or delays.
Dec 14 '18 09:21
Almost nothing of the 550 million euros in aid money the Netherlands set aside for Sint Maarten after hurricane Irma has been spent. As a result, the residents of the island still have little concrete results a year after the disaster, the Court of Audit said in a report published on Thursday, NU.nl reports.
Dec 14 '18 08:59
Snow is heading to the Netherlands this weekend, according to Weeronline. People living in the north and east of the country have the best chance of waking up to a winter wonderland on Sunday morning. But it won't last long, the weather service warns.
The first precipitation will start in Zeeland on Saturday evening. This will be rain with maybe a bit of wet snow. Inland there will be a long period of wet snow falling, and the snow has a chance of staying on the ground in the middle, east and north of the country.
Dec 13 '18 16:00
As of Tuesday morning the year 2018 is officially the sunniest year ever measured in the Netherlands, Weerplaza said on Thursday. With over 2,022 hours of sunshine, 2003's record of 2,021 hours and 40 minutes is officially broken.
This is only the second time ever since measurements started in 1901 that the Netherlands had over 2 thousand hours of sunshine in a year. On average the Netherlands gets around 1,600 hours of sunshine per year.
Dec 12 '18 10:10
Dutch man Boyan Slat's Ocean Cleanup project is not working quite as it should. The system is moving too slowly to hold on to the plastic it collects in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. But Slat is confident that this problem can be solved, he said on Twitter.
"Most aspects of concept have been confirmed (wind vaning, intercepting plastic, wave following) - it's just not moving fast enough yet. This is fixable", he said.
Dec 12 '18 08:17
The Den Bosch city council decided on Tuesday night to ban the release of helium balloons in the municipality. The balloons pollute nature and are dangerous for animals, the council parties who supported the ban said, NU.nl reports.
Dec 10 '18 16:00
While the majority of Dutch are concerned about global warming, 40 percent of voters don't want to contribute any money to measures to decrease CO2 emissions, according to a poll by Maurice de Hond. On the other hand, 24 percent said they are willing to spend more than 50 euros per month on climate measures.
Dec 10 '18 15:10
Over the coming days maximum temperatures will gradually drop to just above zero by the end of the week. There is even a small chance of snow by Sunday night, Buineradar weather woman Amara Onwuka said to RTL Nieuws. "The weather models do not yet agree with each other about the snow, but in any case it will get colder and it will certainly freeze at night."
Dec 7 '18 14:10
The court in Lelystad rejected the objections of nature organizations against the culling of over 1,800 red deer in nature reserve Oostvaardersplassen. Foresters can therefore cull the large grazers. No appeal is possible against this ruling, NOS reports.
The culling is expected to start during the course of next week. The exact start will depend on various factors, such as the location of the animals and weather conditions.
Dec 4 '18 09:19
Prime Minister Mark Rutte called on the government leaders in Europe to be more ambitious in reducing their countries' CO2 emissions, wile speaking at the climate summit in Poland. In the Rutte III coalition agreement the Dutch government agreed to lower emissions by 49 percent by 2030. The government wants to increase that to 55 percent and Rutte called on other European countries to set the same goal, NOS reports.
Dec 3 '18 07:57
World leaders and scientists from almost al countries in the world are gathering in Katowice, Poland for an international climate summit. Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Ministers Eric Wiebes of Economic Affairs and Climate, Sigrid Kaag of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Cora van Nieuwenhuizen of Infrastructure and Water Management, and State Secretary Stientje van Veldhoven of Infrastructure will represent the Netherlands, the Telegraaf reports.
Nov 29 '18 15:00
Climate change and particulate matter are the biggest health risks this century, according to a report by 27 global organizations, doctors, academics and policy experts published in medical journal Lancet.
Nov 29 '18 09:50
An interim environmental impact report for Schiphol airport is incorrect on a number of important points, according to the authors of a second report drawn up at the request of the airport. Both reports are set to be published on Thursday, NOS reports.
Nov 27 '18 09:06
Animal party PvdD will press charges against VVD party leader Klaas Dijkhoff on Tuesday for environmental pollution. Dijkhoff released 500 balloons at a VVD congress in Den Bosch on Saturday, AD reports.
With the release of the balloons, Dijkhoff responded to accusations that he released too many "test balloons" in his political work. He asked the the attendees of the congress to write down political ideas, which were attached to the balloons and released into the air.
Nov 26 '18 08:16
Schiphol airport can theoretically grow to accommodating 540 thousand flights per year in 2023, 40 thousand more than is currently permitted, is stated in an interim environmental impact report on the airport that will be published on Thursday, insiders told NOS. The limit is not determined by noise or environmental impact, but by safety, according to the broadcaster.
Nov 26 '18 07:30
This week will start out cold and gray in the Netherlands, but warmer weather is ahead. From Wednesday the weather will turn autumn-like. "It can be around 11 to 12 degrees on Thursday and Friday", Buienradar weatherman Arjan Willemse said to RTL Nieuws.
Nov 21 '18 07:29
The first snow of the season fell in Drenthe, Overijssel and Groningen on Tuesday evening. According to Weerplaza, it mostly involved wet snow, and not enough to blanket the landscape.
The winter showers moved across the country during the course of the evening, but stopped by midnight in most places.
Wednesday will see mainly dry weather, with sunshine every now and then, according to the weather services. Afternoon temperatures will climb to between 3 and 7 degrees.
Nov 19 '18 15:16
Anyone complaining about the Dutch weather this winter might have to hold their tongue, as the Netherlands is well on its way to the sunniest year in history. With 11 days left in autumn, the Netherlands has already recorded the most hours of sunshine for the season, according to meteorologists at WeerPlaza and NOS.
