Feed aggregator
Government 'failed to clean up air'
Daring to Doubt
Food and farming 'needs total rethink'
'Alarming' rise in Queensland tree clearing as 400,000 hectares stripped
Deputy premier brands Australia ‘deforestation hotspot’ after a 45% jump in her state’s reef catchment clearing
Queensland underwent a dramatic surge in tree clearing – with the heaviest losses in Great Barrier Reef catchments – in the year leading up to the Palaszczuk government’s thwarted bid to restore protections.
Figures released on Thursday showed a 33% rise in clearing to almost 400,000 hectares in 2015-16, meaning Queensland now has two-thirds the annual rate of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon.
Continue reading...Australia adds 97MW rooftop solar in September, set for record 1GW in 2017
Invitation to comment on listing assessment for Notomys aquilo (northern hopping-mouse)
Vast animal-feed crops to satisfy our meat needs are destroying planet
WWF report finds 60% of global biodiversity loss is down to meat-based diets which put huge strain on Earth’s resources
The ongoing global appetite for meat is having a devastating impact on the environment driven by the production of crop-based feed for animals, a new report has warned.
The vast scale of growing crops such as soy to rear chickens, pigs and other animals puts an enormous strain on natural resources leading to the wide-scale loss of land and species, according to the study from the conservation charity WWF.
Continue reading...Country diary: strange spiders and help from the web
Crook, County Durham Within a day of uploading a picture of what I thought was one species of harvestman, I was told it was a more interesting alien
We may be living in a golden age for natural historians. The old naturalists’ field clubs, rooted in the Victorian passion for collecting and sharing knowledge of flora and fauna, may be in decline, but, thanks to social media, it has never been easier to correspond with a helpful expert when you need one.
Post a picture of, say, an unfamiliar spider on the internet and it’s likely that someone out there will identify it for you.
Continue reading...Melbourne's Yarra river deadliest for drowning deaths in Australia
Men in late 20s and early 30s with alcohol or drugs in their system the most frequent victims of fatal river drowning
Risk-taking young men who drown trying to swim Melbourne’s Yarra river are making it the deadliest inland river per metre in Australia.
New data shows alcohol, drugs, tourists and young men who dare each other to swim the river are contributing to regular drownings.
Continue reading...