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The week in wildlife – in pictures
Snowshoe hare, flying fish and pink flamingos are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world
Continue reading...Nine-year-old sues Indian government over climate change inaction
Ridhima Pandey, daughter of green activist, urges ministers to reduce emissions to limit impact on younger generations
A nine-year-old girl has filed a lawsuit against the Indian government for failing to take action on climate change, warning that young people will pay the price for the country’s inaction.
In the petition filed with the National Green Tribunal, a special court for environment-related cases, Ridhima Pandey said the government had failed to implement its environment laws.
Violent end as young stars dramatically collide
The conservationists, the butterfly hunter and the trade in mounted species
He said he was looking for parasitic wasps but volunteers at Daneway Banks where the large blue is flourishing suspected Phillip Cullen had ulterior motives
Mark Greaves, a butterfly enthusiast, points out the slope where he first spotted Phillip Cullen. “He and his mate parked in the layby, climbed over that locked gate, and he was down there running around with a little net.”
Greaves asked Cullen what on earth he thought he was doing with a net on one of the most precious butterfly sites in the UK and was doubtful about the explanation.
Continue reading...Killer of rare butterfly given six-month suspended sentence
Phillip Cullen sentenced for illegally capturing and killing specimens of the large blue, Britain’s rarest butterfly
An insect enthusiast who illegally captured and killed specimens of Britain’s rarest butterfly, the large blue, has been given a six-month suspended prison sentence.
The amateur entomologist and former body builder Phillip Cullen, 57, was caught after being spotted by volunteers and wardens acting suspiciously at two nature reserves in the west of England.
Continue reading...Polish law change unleashes 'massacre' of trees
New law allows private landowners to cut down any number of trees without applying for permission or even informing authorities
A controversial change to Polish environmental law has unleashed what campaigners describe as a “massacre” of trees across the country.
The new amendment, commonly known as “Szyszko’s law”, after Jan Szyszko, Poland’s environment minister, removes the obligation for private landowners to apply for permission to cut down trees, pay compensation or plant new trees, or even to inform local authorities that trees have been or will be removed.
Continue reading...How conniving carmakers caused the diesel air pollution crisis
Cheating, dodging rules and heavy lobbying by motor manufacturers fuelled the toxic air the UK is struggling with today
Conniving car makers and their lobbying might, assisted by the 2008 financial crash, were the key factors in producing the diesel-fuelled air pollution crisis the UK is struggling with today, according to key observers of the disaster.
Earlier government decisions to incentivise diesel vehicles, which produce less climate-warming carbon dioxide, sparked the problem but were made in good faith. The heart of the disaster is instead a giant broken promise: the motor industry said it would clean up diesel but instead cheated and dodged the rules for years.
Continue reading...New study links carbon pollution to extreme weather | John Abraham
Human activities are altering the jet stream, which leads to extreme weather patterns getting stuck in place
It was only a few weeks ago that I wrote about changes to extreme weather in a warming world. That prior article dealt with the increase of extreme precipitation events as the Earth warms. I termed the relationship a thermodynamic one; it was driven by local thermodynamic processes. But extreme weather can also occur because of large-scale changes to the atmosphere and oceans. This issue is the topic of another just-published paper that makes a convincing case for a whole new type of influence of humans on extreme weather. In a certain sense, this study confirms what was previously reported here and here. With the march of science, the tools, methods, and evidence get better each year.
Before getting into the study, a little background. The jet stream(s) are high-speed rivers of air that flow in the upper atmosphere. There’s more than one jet stream; they blow west to east and they mark the separation of zones of different temperatures. A good primer on jet streams is available here.
Rules of memory 'beautifully' rewritten
Wildlife Photographer of the Year: unforgettable animal behaviour
From basking gharial to stampeding muskoxen, these images from the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition have been selected for a Natural History Museum book, Unforgettable Behaviour, and offer a unique glimpse into hidden worlds of animal survival and joy
Continue reading...An adder stirs, a brawny cable charged by the sun
Dartmoor, Devon A thick cylindrical form, bent double like a trombone pipe, in a sheltered patch of grass, stops me short
Beneath the granite knuckles of this east Dartmoor tor the land spreads and softens high above the valley. Sheep-clipped grasses and scattered clumps of gorse cover the sides of the outcrop, punctuated by exposed boulders. After a lengthy spell of rain, morning sunshine makes a welcome change, and the temperature along this south-facing incline is climbing steadily.
Continue reading...Rooftop solar enjoys second boom as fossil fuel scare campaign backfires
Melting in the sun: How fossil fuel generators failed in summer heat-wave
Badly burned cockatoo given new feathers with superglue and matchsticks
Endangered Carnaby’s cockatoo treated by vets at Perth Zoo after it was badly burnt on a power line
Vets at Perth zoo have used matchsticks and glue to replace the flight feathers of a Carnaby’s cockatoo which was badly injured after it was burned on a power line.
Using a syringe to coat the donor feathers with superglue and a matchstick to shape the quill, vets replaced the juvenile bird’s feathers and cut away the burnt remains in an effort to help it fly again.
Continue reading...SolarEdge strengthens business position in India with new office and leadership
Wind, solar to supply 15% plus of NEM, 64% of South Australia, in 2019
How to slash electricity prices … in just five minutes
Iron Mountain data centres powered 100% by renewable electricity
Transgrid gets 6,000MW solar proposals in 2017, sees 95% renewables by 2050
Farm of the future
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