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Weasel-riding-woodpecker picture prompts weighty Twitter debate
#WeaselPecker trends on Twitter as Photoshop fans have fun with apparently genuine image of weasel flying on bird’s back through London park
It’s that age-old story: weasel meets bird, weasel falls in love with bird, weasel won’t let bird go – even when it flies off.
This extraordinary picture taken by amateur wildlife photographer Martin Le-May has caused some chin-scratching among ornithologists everywhere. Is it possible for a woodpecker to carry a weasel on its back?
Report on the Threatened Species Commissioner’s first six months on the job now out
Lewis Pugh's Antarctic swim – in pictures
British endurance swimmer and United Nations Environment Programme patron of the oceans, completes most southerly swim in human history after swimming in the Bay of Whales, Ross Sea
Continue reading...Coo roo-c'too-coo! Enter the captivating world of pigeon fanciers
Raising and showing selectively bred birds is a world away from pigeons’ unjust image of ‘rats with wings’ – and it’s a hobby that helps forge lifelong friendships
Don’t feed the pigeons – unless you want to travel the world, forge life-long friendships and fall in love. These are just a few of the many perks of the pigeon hobby touted by fanciers from around the globe.
“Some people make art with paint and clay, we make art with pigeons,” said Leon Stephens, president of the Los Angeles Pigeon Club. Stephens studied genetics in college before starting his career as a health inspector.
Continue reading...Meeting of Environment Ministers Agreed Statement
Working towards a National Clean Air Agreement – Discussion Paper
The truth behind the story on the 'world's oldest tree' being cut down
‘Hoax’ article on the Amazon correctly identifies threats to Brazil-Peru border region
In December the World News Daily Report (WNDR) published an article claiming that the “world’s oldest tree” had been cut down along the Brazil-Peru border in the Amazon. It stated that a “giant Samauma tree that is thought to be over 5,800 years old” in the “Matsés Indigenous Reserve” had been “accidentally” felled by illegal loggers, and quoted “local tribesman leader Tahuactep of the Matsés tribe” saying it had “brought darkness upon not only our people, but the whole world.”
Some media responded by reporting it as fact, others by calling it a hoax. The Independent described it as “one of the 11 weirdest hoaxes of 2014”, while the Washington Post asserted that the WNDR is a “hoax-news site whose stories — we repeat! — are always fake” and “the world’s oldest tree is actually “somewhere in eastern California” and “only 5,062 years old.”
Continue reading...Invitation to comment on the proposal to delist two plant species
Quokka deaths on Rottnest Island spark police investigation
Five quokkas that were found stuffed head-first into tree protectors and another lying nearby had ‘clearly been killed’, say authorities
Authorities in Western Australia are investigating the deaths of five quokkas that were found stuffed head-first into tree protectors on Rottnest Island on Monday.
The animals were found by Peter Basford, who told Seven News in Perth that he was visiting the island and found the animals near the camping ground.
Continue reading...50th anniversary of 1965 ‘Freedom Ride’ Indigenous civil rights protest at Moree
Canadian mounties' secret memo casts doubt on climate change threat
Intelligence report identifies anti-petroleum movement as a threat to Canadian security and suggests those concerned with climate consequences occupy political fringe
The US security establishment views climate change as real and a dangerous threat to national security. But Canada takes a very different view, according to a secret intelligence memo prepared by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
The memo, stamped “Canadian eyes only”, repeatedly casts doubt on the causes of climate change – the burning of fossil fuels – and its potential threat.
Continue reading...World's biggest offshore windfarm approved for Yorkshire coast
Dogger Bank Creyke Beck project will cover 430 sq miles and is expected to generate enough electricity to power nearly 2m homes, supporting 900 jobs
Plans for the world’s biggest offshore windfarm have been given the green light by the energy secretary, with planning permission for an array of up to 400 turbines 80 miles off the Yorkshire coast on the Dogger Bank.
The project, more than twice the size of the UK’s current biggest offshore windfarm, is expected to cost £6bn to £8bn and could fulfil 2.5% of the UK’s electricity needs.
Continue reading...Privatisation of UK woodlands is happening by the backdoor | Mark Avery
Plans to build luxury holiday cabins, majority-owned by venture capitalists, in public forests put protected wildlife and their habitats at risk
Four years ago the environment secretary, Caroline Spelman, told the House of Commons that she was ditching the coalition government’s plans to privatise the Forestry Commission (FC). “I’m sorry. We got this one wrong, but we have listened to people’s concerns,” she said.
But if you go down to the woods today, you may have a big surprise, because privatisation of our woodlands appears to be proceeding by the back door.
Sea Urchin and Turban Shell Restricted Fishery
Seriolella brama (blue warehou) listed as conservation dependent
Nasa climate study warns of unprecedented North American drought | Dana Nuccitelli
We need to cut carbon pollution to avoid North American mega-droughts
California is in the midst of its worst drought in over 1,200 years, exacerbated by record hot temperatures. A new study led by Benjamin Cook at Nasa GISS examines how drought intensity in North America will change in a hotter world, and finds that things will only get worse.
Global warming intensifies drought in several ways. In increases evaporation from soil and reservoirs. In increases water demand. It makes precipitation fall more as rain and less as snow, which is problematic for regions like California that rely on snowpack melt to refill reservoirs throughout the year. It also makes the snowpack melt earlier in the year. The record heat has intensified the current California drought by about 36%, and the planet will only continue to get hotter.
Four arrested for allegedly attempting to export 150 native animals to Europe
Suspects could face 10 years’ jail after wildlife including skinks, geckos, frogs and pygmy pythons was found by customs hidden in luggage and parcels
Four men are in custody in Perth accused of attempting to export more than 150 native animals from Western Australia.
The men were arrested at Perth international airport earlier this month after customs was tipped off by postal workers who noticed something amiss in packages sent from destinations including Carnarvon, Tom Price and Geraldton. All were destined for Europe.
Continue reading...Chairs’ Update February 2015 | Commonwealth Marine Reserves Review
We should be outraged by Europe slaughtering sea life in the name of 'science' | George Monbiot
While we focus our anger on Japan using ‘scientific research’ as an excuse to kill marine life, Europe is doing the same thing under our noses with electric pulse trawling, with potentially disastrous effects
One of the biggest jokes in conservation is the Japanese government’s claim to be engaged in “scientific whaling”. All the killing by its harpoon fleet takes place under the guise of “research”, as this is the only justification available, under international rules.
According to Joji Morishita, a diplomat representing Japan at the whaling negotiations, this “research programme” has produced 666 scientific papers. While we must respect Mr Morishita’s right to invoke the number of the Beast, which may on this occasion be appropriate, during its investigation of Japanese whaling, the International Court of Justice discovered that the entire “research programme” had actually generated just two peer-reviewed papers, which used data from the carcasses of nine whales.
Continue reading...Community Heritage and Icons Grants 2014-15
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