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How safe does protected status keep the world's national parks?

The Guardian - Fri, 2016-05-06 00:07

Protected areas and habitats are being downgraded and delisted so often, to accommodate mining, logging or population growth, the problem even has its own acronym. Environment 360 reports

It’s the saddest truism in wildlife conservation: When politicians announce that they are setting aside precious habitat “in perpetuity”, what they really mean is until somebody else wants the land.

Protected areas now get reopened so often under the pressure of population and economic growth that the trend has spawned an acronym, PADDD, for “protected area downgrading, downsizing, and degazettement.” There’s also a web site, PADDDtracker.org, jointly maintained by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Conservation International.

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When in drought: the California farmers who don’t water their crops

The Guardian - Thu, 2016-05-05 21:00

Dry farming forgoes modern irrigation and, farmers say, produces much tastier crops. In a drought-stricken state, should others follow suit?

There’s something different about Will Bucklin’s grape vines. At first it’s hard to notice, but a drive through northern California’s Sonoma Valley, past waves of green, manicured vineyards, makes it clear. The black ribbon of PVC irrigation pipe that typically threads the vines is curiously absent here – because Will doesn’t water his crops.

Bucklin’s Old Hill Ranch, purchased by his stepfather Otto Teller in 1980, claims to be the oldest-rooted vineyard in the area. Teller fell in love with the vineyard because it was one of the few that still “dry-farmed”. Dry farming is a method that bypasses artificial irrigation, relying instead on seasonal rainfall and working the soil in such a way that it holds on to water for the drier months.

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The world's top 10 reptiles – in pictures

The Guardian - Thu, 2016-05-05 20:37

Komodo dragon tops poll, compiled by scientists using Wikipedia page view data, that reveals our favourite reptiles are also among the scariest

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Human embryos kept alive in the lab for record-breaking time

ABC Science - Thu, 2016-05-05 10:34
EMBRYO RESEARCH: For the first time, scientists have kept human embryos alive in the laboratory for six days beyond the point at which it would normally implant into the uterus.

Benefits of cycling and walking 'outweigh air pollution risk' in cities

The Guardian - Thu, 2016-05-05 09:01

Study finds only 1% of cities in world have such high levels of pollution that the activities could prove detrimental to health

The health benefits of cycling and walking outweigh the harm from inhaling air loaded with traffic fumes in all but the world’s most polluted cities, according to a study.

An international team of researchers who have modelled the effects say only 1% of cities in the world have such high levels of air pollution that cycling or walking could make a person’s health worse.

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US ceases efforts to end global trade of polar bear parts

The Guardian - Thu, 2016-05-05 02:17
  • US Fish and Wildlife Services to shift focus to climate change’s effects on bears
  • Canada had opposed ban as threats to hunting economy and Inuit practices

The US government has quietly dropped its campaign for an international ban in the trade of polar bear parts, which would have given the practice the same outlaw status as the elephant ivory market.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service has spent several years attempting to ban the overseas trade of polar bear skins, teeth, paws and other parts from Canada, which permits the hunting of the Arctic predators.

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Donald Trump's election would derail Paris climate deal, warns its architect

The Guardian - Wed, 2016-05-04 22:13

A climate change denier as US president would dramatically threaten global action to cut carbon emissions, says ex-French foreign minister Laurent Fabius

The election of Donald Trump would derail the landmark agreement on climate change reached in Paris last December, the architect of the accord has warned.

Trump is now virtually certain to be the Republican candidate for president and has said “I am not a great believer in manmade climate change”, leading to fears he would attempt to unpick the historic agreement if he became president.

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Killer whales: drone footage off the Western Australian coast – video

The Guardian - Wed, 2016-05-04 13:41

Two young aerial photographers filmed a pod of orcas off Bremer Bay on the south coast of Western Australia. Jampal Williamson said the orcas moved so fast they were difficult to film. Williamson and his friend Michael Goetze are using drones to capture different perspectives of WA for their aerial photography project, Salty Wings

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Crocodile sperm provides insights into male infertility

ABC Science - Wed, 2016-05-04 11:26
INFERTILITY CLUES: Crocodile sperm is more like human sperm than scientists previously thought, according to new research that could help in the search for causes of male human infertility.

Faulty gene may help explain why Labradors are food obsessed

ABC Science - Wed, 2016-05-04 11:01
HUNGER GENE: Scientists have pinpointed a fault in a gene that should turn off hunger signals in Labrador retrievers making the dogs more inclined to become food obsessed.

Heathrow expansion opportunity squandered, MPs say

The Guardian - Wed, 2016-05-04 09:01

Transport secretary urged to commit to timetable in light of Airports Commission report backing third runway

Delaying a decision on a third runway has “squandered the opportunity” to act on evidence and expand Heathrow, a cross-party committee of MPs said as it called on the government to commit to a clear timetable.

The Commons transport select committee described ministerial claims of progress in the decision-making process as “illusory” and demanded that the transport secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, make clear what the outstanding areas of contention were.

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Global water shortages to deliver 'severe hit' to economies, World Bank warns

The Guardian - Wed, 2016-05-04 05:00

The Middle East, north Africa, central Asia and south Asia due to suffer biggest economic hit from water scarcity as climate change takes hold, report finds

Water shortages will deliver a “severe hit” to the economies of the Middle East, central Asia, and Africa by the middle of the century, taking double digits off their GDP, the World Bank warned on Tuesday.

By 2050, growing demand for cities and for agriculture would put water in short supply in regions where it is now plentiful – and worsen shortages across a vast swath of Africa and Asia, spurring conflict and migration, the bank said.

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The time has come to turn up the heat on those who are wrecking planet Earth | Bill McKibben

The Guardian - Wed, 2016-05-04 00:43

Break free and join the biggest global action against fossil fuel companies the world has ever seen

An interesting question is, what are you waiting for?

Global warming is the biggest problem we’ve ever faced as a civilisation — certainly you want to act to slow it down, but perhaps you’ve been waiting for just the right moment.

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Strawbale Construction - Bohdan Dorniak

April 2016

Bohdan Dorniak - Director of Bohdan Dorniak & Co Architects.

Bohdan Dorniak is the Director of Bohdan Dorniak & Co Architects, an Adelaide based architectural practice, established in 1989 and designing buildings that are sensitive to the environment and energy efficient. With a client-centered approach which respects the client’s wishes, needs, budgetary constraints and lifestyle, further consideration is given to energy demands and ongoing building efficiency and sustainability. Bohdan has extensive experience designing strawbale building, with a number of projects in completed and in progress around the state. He is also one of the founding members of Ausbale - Straw Bale Building: Australia & New Zealand

Cast: AdelaideSBN

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Climate protesters invade UK's largest opencast coalmine

The Guardian - Tue, 2016-05-03 20:11

Hundreds of activists take control of vast site and bring operations to a halt as part of a coordinated global direct action against fossil fuel companies

Hundreds of environmental activists have invaded the UK’s largest opencast coalmine and halted operations across the vast site.

Dressed in red boiler suits, groups of protesters crossed barbed wire fences to gain access to Ffos-y-fran mine near Merthyr Tydfil in south Wales. Some chained themselves to machinery, others lay across access roads.

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Portfolio Budget Statements 2016-17

Department of the Environment - Tue, 2016-05-03 19:51
Environment Portfolio Budget Statements 2016-17
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Hempcrete / Hemp Masonry - Klara Marosszeky

April 2016

Klara Marosszeky - Managing Director of Australian Hemp Masonry Company

Klara Marosszeky has been involved in the Australian Hemp industry for 16 years in both the farming and construction sectors. Beginning with agronomic research on 2ha in Wollombi in the NSW Hunter Valley in 1999, she has grown hemp for fibre on dryland as well as irrigated farms in several regions of NSW and since 2006 she has worked with seed breeders, farmers and processors around Australia.
Her research at the Australian Centre for Construction Innovation at UNSW between 2000 and 2006, resulted in the development of the low embodied energy, BCA compliant Hemp Lime building materials that the Australian Hemp Masonry Company has now supplied into 42 builds in Australia as well as into Singapore's first zero-energy public building. Klara is a qualified workplace assessor and provides training and information to architects, building designers, builders and owner builders. Her goal is to consolidate regional supply of Australian hemp for carbon neutral construction. She is the President of the recently formed Australian Industrial Hemp Alliance and Secretary of Northern River Hemp Inc.

Cast: AdelaideSBN

Tags: green buildings, hemp, hempcrete, hemp masonry, natural building materials, sustainable building, sustainable design and sustainability

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Mammal on Victorian beach thought to be rare dwarf sperm whale

The Guardian - Tue, 2016-05-03 14:22

The 2.42-metre whale washed up on Lake Tyers beach and authorities suspect it could be rare species spotted only 17 times since records began in Australia

A rare dwarf sperm whale that has been spotted only 17 times since records began in Australia may have washed up on a Victorian beach, local authorities have said.

The 2.42-metre whale died after becoming stranded on Lake Tyers beach in Gippsland, about 330km east of Melbourne, on Saturday.

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The time-travelling brain

ABC Science - Tue, 2016-05-03 12:17
GREAT MOMENTS IN SCIENCE: What would it be like to only live in the moment? Or to relive the past over and over again? Dr Karl explores the extreme range of memory.

Three planets discovered orbiting nearby cool small star 'best places to look for life'

ABC Science - Tue, 2016-05-03 09:39
ULTRACOOL DISCOVERY: Astronomers have discovered three planets orbiting the habitable zone of an ultracool dwarf star just 40 light-years from Earth.

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