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Could giving wild animals property rights help stop their decline? | John Hadley

The Guardian - Thu, 2016-10-27 21:59

Two-thirds of wild animals could be lost by 2020 and the biggest driver is destruction of their homes. A radical idea to give animals a ‘voice’ could encourage land managers to think about wild areas in a new way

Researchers report that the future for the Earth’s wild animals is very bleak. Two-thirds will be wiped out by 2020. While poaching is partially responsible, the biggest threat to wild animals is our impact on their homes – we kill them when we destroy forests and pollute waterways in the name of development.

Judging by the dramatic decline in the number of wild animals, it is safe to say that existing policy responses are proving ineffective. What’s needed is a fundamental change in how we view wild areas, and the policy responses to match.

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Flying squirrel numbers soar in Helsinki

BBC - Thu, 2016-10-27 21:52
The furry rodents are thriving in the city's forests, researchers say.
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UK public support for fracking falls to lowest level

The Guardian - Thu, 2016-10-27 21:21

Just 17% of people surveyed back the process, the lowest level since the government survey started tracking public attitudes about shale gas

Public support for fracking has fallen to new lows, a government survey has revealed.

Just 17% of people backed the process of extracting shale gas, compared with a third who opposed it, and just under half (48%) who had no opinion, the latest figures from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy show.

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Environmental advocate Erin Brockovich

ABC Environment - Thu, 2016-10-27 21:05
Erin Brockovich meets Adelaide residents at the Festival of Ideas to advise on local contamination and environmental concerns.
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Scheme to reopen river Severn to fish wins almost £20m in funding

The Guardian - Thu, 2016-10-27 19:51

Project to open up miles of the river to enable fish to reach spawning grounds will help to restore threatened and declining species

A scheme to open up miles of the river Severn and its major tributary to help threatened fish has won almost £20m in funding.

The £19.4m project will reopen the UK’s longest river to fish species, many of which vanished from its upper reaches after weirs were installed in the 1800s to help river transport during the industrial revolution.

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Frog goes extinct, media yawns

The Guardian - Thu, 2016-10-27 17:23

Is the loss of a unique life form on Earth big news? Not according to most media outlets.


On September 26th, staff with the Atlanta Botanical Garden found a frog dead in his enclosure. The frog had big brown eyes, massive feet with thick webs between the toes, and brownish skin speckled with little yellow dots. His name was Toughie. He was big for a frog and he didn’t like it when humans handled him. He’d lived a long time: 12 years.

And he was the last of his kind.

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10 years on from the Stern report: a low-carbon future is the 'only one available'

The Guardian - Thu, 2016-10-27 16:00

Economist says green development is the only route to global economic growth and points to China leading the world on climate change action

Clean, green development is the sole route to future global economic growth, according to British economist Lord Nicholas Stern, with a continuation of polluting, high-carbon growth only leading to self-destruction.

There is a strong argument that China is now leading the world in action on climate change, Stern said, making the country both a competitor and inspiration for other nations.

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King's favourite fish to make comeback in River Severn project

BBC - Thu, 2016-10-27 15:16
A scheme that aims to re-establish one of King Henry III's favourite fish in the River Severn is given nearly £20m in funding.
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World's wildlife being pushed to the edge by humans - in pictures

The Guardian - Thu, 2016-10-27 15:01

Global wildlife populations will decline by 67% by 2020 unless urgent action is taken to reduce human impact on species and ecosystems, warns the biennial Living Planet Index report from WWF and ZSL. From elephants to eels, here are some of the wildlife populations most affected by human activity

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Tour England's countryside in one London garden

The Guardian - Thu, 2016-10-27 14:30

Natural History Museum, London A short walk takes you on a wildlife journey that would otherwise take days of travel

What would it look like if you tried to compress the English countryside into a 6,000 sq m metropolitan plot? Well, the wildlife garden at the Natural History Museum is as close to achieving the experience as is possible. A short perambulation takes you on a wildlife journey that would otherwise take days of travelling.

Related: An exuberance of life on the undrained fen

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Network lobby proposes special tariff to keep households on grid

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2016-10-27 14:17
Networks lobby suggests small discount to network charges could keep consumers on grid – if they don't mind being cut off in critical peaks. But it also proposes rule changes that signal shift from blanket "rural electrification", even if its technology estimates are still conservative.
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A big day in Manchester for bird fanciers – archive, 27 October 1906

The Guardian - Thu, 2016-10-27 14:00

27 October 1906: Billed as the ‘most important exhibition of cage birds in the kingdom,’ Hulme Town Hall allows breeders to show 1,500 birds

Just now the Hulme Town Hall is filled with the twittering of many canaries. It is the show of the Manchester and Northern Counties Ornithological Society, the most important exhibition of cage birds in the kingdom. To the amateur it is astonishing to find to what an extent the breeding of canaries is carried. There are some dozens of distinct varieties, not to speak of the “mules” or cross-breeds between canaries and other kinds of birds.

One walks down long lanes lined on either side by little cages, each containing a small cheery yellow, green, or cinnamon coloured bird. There are more than 1,500 birds, whose niceties of tint and form are giving pleasure to the fanciers. The Norwich canaries are perhaps the most excellent as they are certainly the most numerous exhibits. The Norwich canary is known by his rich reddish-yellow breast. The aim of the fancier is to get as “warm” a colour as possible. Then there is the Lancashire canary, the “Lancashire coppy,” much affected in Rochdale and Oldham and thereabouts. This is the bird of a beautiful pure yellow, with a little round crest like a cap. The spangled lizard canary is a pretty fellow, too, with his neat, trim body and gold-coloured patch on the top of his head. Some lovers of canaries prefer the cinnamon breed, and they are certainly delightful creatures in their deep mellow coat.

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Victoria turns the tide on value of rooftop solar and feed-in tariffs

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2016-10-27 13:59
Solar households in Victoria may receive 30c/kWh for critical peaks for their solar output. But the most significant aspect of the new Victoria tariffs are the recognition of environmental and network benefits of household solar power. Other states should follow suit.
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Tesla turns a profit, says Model 3 on track and on budget

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2016-10-27 13:46
Tesla Motors reports first quarterly net profit in more than three years, on track to meet forecast delivery and Tesla 3.
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Draft National Strategy for Mitigating Vessel Strike of Marine Mega-fauna - public consultation

Department of the Environment - Thu, 2016-10-27 12:57
To reduce the risk of vessel strikes and the impacts they may have on marine fauna, the Australian government is developing a National Strategy for Mitigating Vessel Strike of Marine Mega-fauna. Consultation closes 9 December 2016
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A Tesla as the family car? Nothing ludicrous about it

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2016-10-27 12:11
Can an all electric vehicle be used as the family run-about? We tested the theory using a Tesla Model S, pretended the price tag was more like a Model 3, and came to these conclusions...
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State of the Climate 2016: Rainfall down, extreme weather and fire up

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2016-10-27 12:02
CSIRO and BoM's 4th biennial State of the Climate Report says climate change is happening now, and we will have to adapt to changes over next 30 years.
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Solar roadway under construction in France

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2016-10-27 11:56
Construction of the first kilometer of solar road in France's northwestern department Orne is underway.
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Australia in reverse, again, on renewables investment appeal

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2016-10-27 11:50
Australia falls to 11th place on EY Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index, just months after cracking the Top 10.
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DP Energy appoints financial and legal specialists for Port Augusta renewable park

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2016-10-27 10:31
DP Energy has appointed EY and Baker & McKenzie as their financial and legal advisors on their hybrid wind and solar Port Augusta Renewable Energy Park in South Australia.
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