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Arctic sea ice extent breaks record low for winter

The Guardian - Tue, 2016-03-29 06:13

With the ice cover down to 14.52m sq km, scientists now believe the Arctic is locked onto a course of continually shrinking sea ice

A record expanse of Arctic sea never froze over this winter and remained open water as a season of freakishly high temperatures produced deep – and likely irreversible – changes on the far north.

Scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Centre said on Monday that the sea ice cover attained an average maximum extent of 14.52m sq km (5.607m sq miles) on 24 March, the lowest winter maximum since records began in 1979.

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Bison to return to Montana after 140 years in the Canadian wilderness

The Guardian - Mon, 2016-03-28 14:43

Herd ‘coming home’ under treaty between North American tribes that seeks to return bison from Canada to Montana

Descendants of a bison herd captured and sent to Canada more than a century ago will be relocated to a Montana Native American reservation next month, in what tribal leaders bill as a homecoming for a species emblematic of their traditions.

The shipment of animals from Alberta’s Elk Island national park to the Blackfeet reservation follows a 2014 treaty among tribes in the US and Canada. That agreement aims to restore bison to areas of the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains where millions once roamed.

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Too good to be true? The Ocean Cleanup Project faces feasibility questions

The Guardian - Sat, 2016-03-26 22:00

While the 21-year-old founder of the Ocean Cleanup Project has succeeded in raising over $2m for a device that would extract plastic from the ocean, critics say the high-cost initiative is misdirected

Last year, nonprofit foundation The Ocean Cleanup hit a milestone en route to its goal of deploying a large, floating structure to pull plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The organization issued a press release announcing it had completed a reconnaissance expedition that would pave the way for a June 2016 test of its prototype. With the help of $2.2m in crowdfunding, 21-year-old founder Boyan Slat announced his plans to deploy 100 kilometers of passive floating barriers in an effort to clean up 42% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch’s plastic pollution in 10 years.

Despite considerable online enthusiasm for the project, oceanographers and biologists are voicing less-publicized concerns. They question whether the design will work as described and survive the natural forces of the open ocean, how it will affect sea life, and whether this is actually the best way to tackle the problem of ocean plastic – or merely a distraction from the bigger problem of pollution prevention. Many have also expressed concern about the lack of an environmental impact statement prior to such a large push for funding.

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Three-quarters of UK children spend less time outdoors than prison inmates – survey

The Guardian - Fri, 2016-03-25 17:00

Time spent playing in parks, woods and fields has shrunk dramatically due to lack of green spaces, digital technology and parents’ fears

Three-quarters of UK children spend less time outside than prison inmates, according to a new survey revealing the extent to which time playing in parks, wood and fields has shrunk. A fifth of the children did not play outside at all on an average day, the poll found.

Experts warn that active play is essential to the health and development of children, but that parents’ fears, lack of green spaces and the lure of digital technology is leading youngsters to lead enclosed lives.

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Has veteran climate scientist James Hansen foretold the ‘loss of all coastal cities’ with latest study?

The Guardian - Thu, 2016-03-24 17:44

Former NASA climate director James Hansen and a team of scientists claim a mechanism in the climate could rapidly raise sea levels by metres

James Hansen’s name looms large over any history that will likely be written about climate change.

Whether you look at the hard science, the perils of political interference or modern day activism, Dr Hansen is there as a central character.

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Queensland Gulf of Carpentaria Developmental Fin Fish Trawl Fishery - application 2016

Department of the Environment - Thu, 2016-03-24 17:19
Application on ecological sustainability - call for public comments open from 31 March 2016 until 29 April 2016.
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Banksia Woodlands of the Swan Coastal Plain ecological community

Department of the Environment - Thu, 2016-03-24 13:22
The Threatened Species Scientific Committee is seeking comments on the proposal to list this as an endangered ecological community. The public consultation period will be open until COB Thursday 12 May 2016; however earlier responses would be...
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Cricket: Batting 'wrong way' is way to go

ABC Science - Thu, 2016-03-24 10:56
SPORT SCIENCE: Cricketers who hold the bat the 'wrong way round' are seven times more likely to become professional batsmen, according to a new study.

Illawarra and south coast lowland grassy woodland ecological community

Department of the Environment - Thu, 2016-03-24 08:38
The Threatened Species Scientific Committee is seeking comments on the proposal to list the Illawarra and south coast lowland grassy woodland ecological community as a critically endangered ecological community. Consultation period closes...
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Volcanoes may have caused the Moon's poles to wander

ABC Science - Thu, 2016-03-24 08:04
SHIFTING AXIS: Ice deposits that formed in craters on opposite sides of the Moon three billion years ago indicate it may have once spun on a different axis.

Rockefeller family charity to withdraw all investments in fossil fuel companies

The Guardian - Thu, 2016-03-24 07:39

Started by John D Rockefeller – who made his fortune from oil – the fund singled out ExxonMobil, calling the world’s largest oil company ‘morally reprehensible’

A charitable fund of the Rockefeller family – who are sitting on a multibillion-dollar oil fortune – has said it will withdraw all its investments from fossil fuel companies.

The Rockefeller Family Fund, a charity set up in 1967 by descendants of John D Rockefeller, said on Wednesday that it would divest from all fossil fuel holdings “as quickly as possible”.

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Dyson developing an electric car, according to government documents

The Guardian - Thu, 2016-03-24 03:59

The company last year refused to confirm they were working on a green vehicle, but a government plan on infrastructure suggests they are

Dyson is developing an electric car at its headquarters in Wiltshire with help from public money, according to government documents.

The company, which makes a range of products that utilise the sort of highly efficient motors needed for an electric car such as vacuum cleaners, hand dryers and bladeless fans, last year refused to rule out rumours it was building one.

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Michael Sheen and Massive Attack members support Welsh anti-fracking film

The Guardian - Thu, 2016-03-24 00:42

Welsh actor narrates A River documentary highlighting risk of river pollution from shale gas drilling in Pontrhydyfen village, Richard Burton’s birthplace

The actor Michael Sheen has given his support to an anti-fracking film opposing shale gas drilling in the Welsh village of Pontrhydyfen, Richard Burton’s birth place.

Sheen narrates the documentary A River, which is soundtracked by original music from Robert Del Naja and Euan Dickinson of Massive Attack, and warns of a pollution risk to the river Afan from potential fracking in the area.

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The small fish with a big personality: Study reveals unique blenny behaviour – in pictures

The Guardian - Wed, 2016-03-23 20:23

The discovery of unique face markings on individual blennies enabled underwater photographer Paul Naylor to gain new insights into the secret world of these charismatic UK fish

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Female hybrid fish grows male sex organs and gives birth

ABC Science - Wed, 2016-03-23 13:10
MUM AND DAD: A female tropical fish bred in a UK university has developed a male sex organ, fertilised her own eggs and given birth in a rare case of self breeding in vertebrates.

Clean Energy Innovation Fund

Department of the Environment - Wed, 2016-03-23 12:10
The Australian Government is establishing a $1 billion Clean Energy Innovation Fund to support emerging technologies make the leap from demonstration to commercial deployment. This will drive innovation and create the jobs of the future, while...
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Accuracy of criminal identification may be reduced if all witnesses agree

ABC Science - Wed, 2016-03-23 11:03
PARADOX OF UNANIMITY: As the number of witnesses who identify the same suspect gets larger, the probability of correctly identifying a criminal decreases, suggests a new Australian study.

National eNews - positive & negative of sustainability, NFCRC, Awards/conferences/consultations open

Newsletters National - Tue, 2016-03-22 18:00
National eNews - positive & negative of sustainability, NFCRC, Awards/conferences/consultations open
Categories: Newsletters National

Carbon emissions rate 'highest in 66 million years'

ABC Science - Tue, 2016-03-22 13:13
RAPID RELEASE: The rate of carbon emissions is higher than at any time in fossil records stretching back 66 million years to the end of the age of the dinosaurs, according to a new study

Anti-gravity dream may take off

ABC Science - Tue, 2016-03-22 12:40
GREAT MOMENTS IN SCIENCE: The genius of Albert Einstein lead us to gravitational waves - maybe someday another genius will work out how to make them, says Dr Karl.

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