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Swifts spend ten months a year entirely airborne, study reveals
Research using miniature tracking devices suggests that swifts eat and sleep in the sky, as some birds did not land at all during their migratory period
Swifts already hold the title of the fastest fliers on Earth and now the small soot-brown birds have been revealed as one of nature’s greatest endurance athletes, after scientists discovered they spend ten months of the year entirely airborne.
Using miniature trackers, scientists observed that some birds did not land once during their migratory period, suggesting that they eat and sleep in the sky.
Continue reading...EU proposes total commercial fishing ban on Atlantic sea bass
Move would also cut Scottish whiting catches to zero, while Celtic cod and Irish sole face hefty reductions to prevent stocks collapsing
The European commission has proposed closures on commercial fishing for sea bass in the Atlantic and whiting in the waters west of Scotland from next year, in order to prevent a collapse in fish stocks.
The total allowable catch (TAC) for cod in the Celtic Sea will also be cut by 68% under the plan, while sole quotas in the Irish Sea will be trimmed by a hefty 82%.
We must protect the Grand Canyon before time runs out
Americans must prevail on President Obama to establish a national monument around Grand Canyon National Park before we lose this historic chance
In 1967, my father took me and eight of my brothers and sisters on a whitewater trip down the Colorado River through Grand Canyon National Park. We camped on its massive sandbars, swam in its silty waters and explored the ancient geology of this iconic American landscape. He wanted us to experience the river and to understand the benefits that stem from our nation’s commitment to protecting its inspiring natural treasures.
I had these ideas in mind when I took my own daughter, Kick, down the Grand Canyon 40 years later, in 2007. We joined my old friend, the great anthropologist Wade Davis, and his daughter Tara. Davis was working on a book, and the four of us were guests of Imax cinematographer Greg MacGillivray, who released his film about our journey, Grand Canyon Adventure: River At Risk, in 2008.
Continue reading...Whaling watchdog shrinks loophole allowing Japan's 'scientific' hunts
Resolution imposes stricter reviews of whales killed under the scientific programme which Japan’s critics say it abuses to hunt for meat
The world’s whaling watchdog has voted to conduct stricter reviews of whales killed under an exemption to a 30-year-old moratorium which Japan’s critics say it abuses to hunt for meat.
The resolution on Thursday, opposed by Japan and fellow whalers Norway and Iceland, was adopted by 34 yes votes to 17 against, at the 66th meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC).
Continue reading...Autumn colours around the world – in pictures
Trees across the northern hemisphere are putting on their annual dazzling display
Continue reading...Gut instinct drives battery boost
Could giving wild animals property rights help stop their decline? | John Hadley
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.
Continue reading...Flying squirrel numbers soar in Helsinki
UK public support for fracking falls to lowest level
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.
Continue reading...Environmental advocate Erin Brockovich
Scheme to reopen river Severn to fish wins almost £20m in funding
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.
Continue reading...Frog goes extinct, media yawns
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.
Continue reading...10 years on from the Stern report: a low-carbon future is the 'only one available'
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.
Continue reading...King's favourite fish to make comeback in River Severn project
World's wildlife being pushed to the edge by humans - in pictures
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
Continue reading...Tour England's countryside in one London garden
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
Continue reading...Network lobby proposes special tariff to keep households on grid
A big day in Manchester for bird fanciers – archive, 27 October 1906
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.
Victoria turns the tide on value of rooftop solar and feed-in tariffs
Tesla turns a profit, says Model 3 on track and on budget
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