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Rare birds ‘at risk of poisoning from eating lead shot’
Several rare bird species, including a breed of red-headed duck listed as “vulnerable”, are under threat from lead poisoning linked to shooting, a new report says.
Numbers of common pochard, a duck species at risk of global extinction, have fallen substantially over the past 30 years, a decline partly attributed to the fact that they eat some of the 5,000 tonnes of lead pellets discarded in the countryside by people shooting game, according to the Lead Ammunition Group (LAG).
Continue reading...CWP brings in Partners for 1,300MW of wind, solar and batteries
How cruise ships bring agonising death to last Greek whales
In an office up a steep hill in a seaside suburb of Athens, a tiny blue light flickers from a computer terminal. Dr Alexandros Frantzis, Greece’s foremost oceanographer, points it out. The light, he says, tracks marine traffic “in real time”.
It is key to saving one of the world’s most endangered whale populations.
Continue reading...Gove urged to follow Europe with ban on single-use plastic
The EU is to ban plastic straws, stirrers, cutlery, cotton buds and balloon sticks in a bid to tackle the rising tide of plastic waste, a move that has prompted urgent calls for the environment secretary, Michael Gove, to guarantee that the UK will follow Brussels’ lead after Brexit.
The restrictions on “single-use” plastic will be launched on Monday by the European commission as part of its plan to ensure that 55% of all plastic is recycled by 2030. About 80-85% of all litter in the oceans is plastic, and half of that is made up of throw-away items such as plastic straws.
Continue reading...Alan Bean, moon-walking astronaut and artist, dies aged 86
CRISPR co-inventor Jennifer Doudna, and debating the ethics of gene editing
England could get new national parks as Gove launches review
Hawaii volcano: How many people do volcanoes kill?
Hawaii volcano: How many people do volcanoes actually kill?
Alan Bean, moon-walking astronaut and artist, dies aged 86
‘Going to get worse’: red fire ants detected in Queensland's Scenic Rim
Pests could cost the state in billions if the spread continues, Invasive Species Council warns
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One of the world’s worst invasive pests, red fire ants, have been detected outside a containment zone in Queensland’s Scenic Rim.
The ants, destroyers of crops and harbingers of doom for many common forms of outdoor recreation, are considered a potential $45b problem should they ever become widely established in Queensland.
Continue reading...Venturing to a breakaway iceberg
Tree-sitters put their lives in the balance to foil Appalachian pipeline
In the hills on the border of Virginia and West Virginia protesters – mainly women – are defying police and energy companies in non-violent environmental activism
Way out in the Appalachian hills, on the line between Virginia and West Virginia, after an hour-long backwoods hike up Peters Mountain, an orderly clutch of tents were surrounded by a plastic yellow ribbon that read, “police line do not cross”.
Past that, a woman sat on top of a 50ft pole.
Continue reading...Country diary: mystery of the walled 'rooms' deep in the wood
Mike’s Wood, River Kent, Cumbria: There are dozens of black gates along the valley, marking the route of the Thirlmere to Manchester aqueduct
Like little beacons among the hazel trees, stitchwort flowers lead me onwards towards the enclosure. There is always a moment, before passing through the black gate into this woodland “room”, of wondering about the motives for creating a separate space within the wood. The deeply mossed encircling wall strides over the crags and boulders of precipitous ground – a fine exemplar of the drystone-waller’s art. But why an enclosure here?
Continue reading...A heart full of wing beats
New Zealand's hoki fishery under scrutiny after claims of fish dumping, misreporting
Senior EPA officials collaborated with climate change denial group, emails show
Newly released emails show senior officials from the Environmental Protection Agency worked closely with conservative thinktank the Heartland Institute
Newly released emails show senior Environmental Protection Agency officials working closely with a conservative group that dismisses climate change to rally like-minded people for public hearings on science and global warming, counter negative news coverage and tout Scott Pruitt’s stewardship of the agency.
John Konkus, EPA’s deputy associate administrator for public affairs, repeatedly reached out to senior staffers at the Heartland Institute, according to the emails.
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