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Conjoined grey whale calves found in Mexico
Fishermen in Mexico have found rare conjoined grey whale calves that died shortly after being born.
Benito Bermudez, a marine biologist, says the whales were found alive in the Ojo de Liebre lagoon in the Baja California peninsula but lived only a few hours.
Continue reading...Listing and transfers of five Christmas Island species
Why bluefin tuna have no 'fair' price
Each January for the last several, we have celebrated the New Year with unlimited excess—not only the gluttonous, gammony kind, but the excess which heralds the year's first auction of a gargantuan bluefin tuna at the Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo, Japan. Each time, one fish, whose flesh is prized as an expensive delicacy in sushi restaurants, becomes a symbol of the New Year in this way.
Last January's tuna sold for a record-breaking £1.1 million (155.4 million yen), more than double the price it claimed in 2012, upholding a tradition that has seen that initial coveted bluefin growing increasingly expensive each year.
Continue reading...From the steppe to central Spain, Europe echoes to the howl of the wolf
A twig snaps, a crow calls, but nothing moves in the dense pine forests of Spain's Guadarrama mountains. Vultures and eagles soar over the snowcapped peaks and wild boars roam the valleys below, as they have for centuries. But for the farmers who work this land, a threatening and worrying comeback is taking place in this timeless landscape, home to Spain's newest national park.
After an absence of 70 years, the wolf is back in the Guadarrama hills and breeding just 40 miles from Madrid.
Continue reading...Five basic Antarctic facts for climate change sceptics
Commentators say plight of MV Akademik Shokalskiy shows global warming is exaggerated – the truth is not that simple
To most people the prolonged stranding of the MV Akademik Shokalskiy in thick pack ice off the coast of Antarctica is an unfortunate incident that provided passengers with rather static scenery for their Christmas and New Year celebrations.
But to some climate change contrarians, repeated attempts to free the vessel from the ice are proof that the theory of climate change is flawed or, at best, exaggerated. After all, a warming planet has no ice at all, right?
Continue reading...Country diary: Seaham, Durham: With every tide the sea erases a little more of the decades of industrial abuse
When Dawdon pit closed and the sea dumping of colliery waste ended, Blast beach resembled the surface of an alien planet – so much so that it was chosen as the location for the opening sequences of the 1992 movie Alien 3. Since then a massive clean-up campaign has transformed the shore into a pleasant place for a Christmas-morning walk, graced today with dazzling sunshine. At the bottom of the cliffs there are still traces of industrial archaeology: some topsy-turvy geology with boulders brought to the surface from strata below the magnesian limestone cliffs; colourful mineral incrustations; a faint whiff of sulphur. But with every tide the sea erases a little more of the decades of industrial abuse, and also delivers small, sought-after gifts.
Continue reading...Coastal Upland Swamps in the Sydney Basin Bioregion
Emissions Reduction Fund - Green Paper
Emissions Reduction Fund - Green Paper
Galilee Coal and Rail project
Atalaya brevialata listed in the critically endangered category under the EPBC Act 1999 effective 14/12/2013
Australia’s Abatement Task and 2013 Emissions Projections
Call for public comment
Delisting 25 species from the Threatened Species List
Product Stewardship (Oil) Act 2000
Marine reserves review
Fracking hell: what it's really like to live next to a shale gas well
Veronica Kronvall can, even now, remember how excited she felt about buying her house in 2007. It was the first home she had ever owned and, to celebrate, her aunt fitted out the kitchen in Kronvall's favourite colour, purple: everything from microwave to mixing bowls. A cousin took pictures of her lying on the floor of the room that would become her bedroom. She planted roses and told herself she would learn how to garden.
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