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Could artificial trees be part of the climate change solution?
In the fight against climate change, trees are an ally. They suck in carbon dioxide, reducing the harmful greenhouse gases. But there’s a problem: we’re asking them to work overtime.
Trees can’t absorb enough of the carbon dioxide humanity is throwing at them unless we turn every inch of available land into a dense forest, according to Christophe Jospe, chief strategist at Arizona State’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions.
Continue reading...Giant icebergs are slowing climate change, research reveals
Known more as a symbol of global warming, the nutrient-rich plumes that trail melting giant icebergs are in fact sinking carbon deep into the ocean
Giant melting icebergs may be a symbol of climate change but new research has revealed that the plumes of nutrient-rich waters they leave in their wake lead to millions of tonnes of carbon being trapped each year.
Researchers examined 175 satellite photos of giant icebergs in the Southern Ocean which surrounds Antarctica and discovered green plumes stretching up to 1,000km behind them. The greener colour of the plumes is due to blooms of phytoplankton, which thrive on the iron and other nutrients shed by the icebergs.
Continue reading...Numbers dwindle at Mexico's mountain of butterflies
Decline of Monarch population wintering in Mexico now marks a statistical long-term trend, experts say
This story was published in January, 2014
The number of Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) wintering in Mexico plunged this year to its lowest level since studies began in 1993, leading experts to announce Wednesday that the insects’ annual migration from the United States and Canada is in danger of disappearing.
A study released by the World Wildlife Fund, Mexico’s Environment Department and the Natural Protected Areas Commission blames the displacement of the milkweed the species feeds on by genetically modified crops and urban sprawl in the United States, as well as the dramatic reduction of the butterflies’ habitat in Mexico due to illegal logging of the trees they depend on for shelter.
Continue reading...London takes just one week to breach annual air pollution limits
Parts of the capital have already breached EU hourly limits for nitrogen dioxide pollution which causes thousands of premature deaths each year
London has already breached annual pollution limits just one week into 2016, and only weeks after the government published its plans to clean up the UK’s air.
At 7am on Friday, Putney High Street in West London breached annual limits for nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a toxic gas produced by diesel vehicles that has been linked to respiratory and heart problems.
Continue reading...Montreal traffic camera captures stunning images of snowy owl in flight
Owl, which was likely looking for a place to perch, has become viral internet star after Quebec transport minister Robert Poeti shared the photographs online
A traffic camera above a Montreal freeway has taken stunning images of a snowy owl in flight.
The bird was captured mid-air by the CCTV camera at the intersection of Autoroute 40 and the Boulevard des Sources, in the West Island of Montreal, on the morning of 3 January.
Continue reading...Human impact has pushed Earth into the Anthropocene, scientists say
New study provides one of the strongest cases yet that the planet has entered a new geological epoch
There is now compelling evidence to show that humanity’s impact on the Earth’s atmosphere, oceans and wildlife has pushed the world into a new geological epoch, according to a group of scientists.
The question of whether humans’ combined environmental impact has tipped the planet into an “Anthropocene” – ending the current Holocene which began around 12,000 years ago – will be put to the geological body that formally approves such time divisions later this year.
Continue reading...Organic and small-scale: An alternative vision for the future of farming
The Oxford Real Farming Conference has rapidly outgrown its decades-old establishment counterpart and is calling for radical reforms to the industrialised intensive model they respresent
Two visions of the future of farming played out in Oxford this week.
The five-year-old Oxford Real Farming Conference (ORFC) at the town hall, sponsored by organic farming company Sheepdrove and dominated by small-scale farmers, food campaigners, and the agro-ecology movement, has now outgrown the establishment conference, the decades-old Oxford Farming Conference.
Continue reading...Primates in pictures: US photographer's portraits of endangered species
A selection of photographer Joel Sartore’s images of monkeys, taken from his ambitious, decade-long Photo Ark project.
• Read our feature on Sartore’s project here
Continue reading...Bitterns boom in border wetlands
Faster flows trigger fish breeding frenzy
Barmah water delivery benefits fish, plants and birds
Rare grassland at home in southern wetlands
95% consensus of expert economists: cut carbon pollution | Dana Nuccitelli
A survey of economists with climate expertise finds a consensus that climate change is expensive and carbon pollution cuts are needed
The Institute for Policy Integrity at the New York University (NYU) School of Law recently published a report summarizing a survey of economists with climate expertise. The report was a follow-up and expansion of a similar survey conducted in 2009 by the same institute. The key finding: there’s a strong consensus among climate economics experts that we should put a price on carbon pollution to curb the expensive costs of climate change.
The survey participants included economists who have published papers related to climate change “in a highly ranked, peer-reviewed economics or environmental economics journal since 1994.” Overall, 365 participants completed the survey, which established the consensus of expert climate economists on a number of important questions.
Continue reading...Threatened Species Commissioner’s latest progress report now available
On the trail of the wolf, Europe’s much maligned and misunderstood predator
When Poland banned wolf hunting, numbers doubled. But now animal scientists fear that politicians could turn back the clock
Robert Mysłajek stops dead. Between two paw prints on a muddy mountain track, the scientist finds what he is looking for. “Scats!’’ he enthuses. Wolf sightings are so rare that a flash of faeces marks a good day, even for a seasoned tracker.
But it is getting easier. There are now an estimated 1,500 wolves in Poland. The number has doubled in 15 years. Wolves are – along with the brown bear, the lynx and the wolverine – Europe’s last large predator carnivores. Conservationists from Britain, Germany and the Netherlands are beating a path here to find out how the country has saved this protected species, slandered even in fairytales.
Continue reading...Northern Territory removes 290 saltwater crocodiles from waterways in a year
Residents are warned to take more care as 2015’s figure is announced – it’s a high one, based on recent years, although not a record
Wildlife rangers pulled almost 300 saltwater crocodiles from Northern Territory waterways in 2015, more than in either of the two previous years.
As part of its population management program, the Parks and Wildlife Commission NT (PWCNT) removed 290 crocodiles of various sizes from NT rivers, harbours and waterholes, the largest measuring 4.38m from the Daly River.
Continue reading...The Indian village learning to live in harmony with snow leopards
To stop snow leopards killing valuable livestock, villagers in Himachal Pradesh have changed the way they manage land to increase the endangered cat’s wild prey, while an insurance scheme offers compensation for lost stock
In the high altitude treeless expanses of Kibber, Himachal Pradesh, India, snow leopards use boulders and ridgelines to stalk blue sheep and Himalayan ibex. But they also feast on yak calves and horse foals, much to the chagrin of villagers. These animals fetch a pretty penny, and the compensation paid by the state was so measly that livestock owners didn’t even bother to file claims. Had nothing been done to resolve the problem, people’s hostility to snow leopards could have turned volatile.
After studying the situation, scientists at Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF), Karnataka, came up with a couple of ideas. Since livestock overran the pastures, wild ungulates were too few to sustain snow leopards. If people’s losses were to be reduced, the population of wild prey animals had to increase.
Continue reading...Wylfa nuclear plant closes in Wales
Station in Anglesey, the oldest in the UK, shuts as focus is on energy provider EDF over its plans for new facilities at Hinkley Point
Britain’s oldest nuclear plant closed on Wednesday, leaving in its wake a £700m decommissioning bill and further questions about the UK’s ability to keep the lights on.
The closure of the Wylfa plant in Wales after 44 years of service puts more pressure on EDF Energy to take a final investment decision for new reactors at Hinkley in Somerset.
Continue reading...UK floods: torrential rain lashes northern Britain – video
Parts of Britain are under water again as torrential rain from Storm Eva causes mass flooding in the north west of England on Boxing Day. The Met Office has issued severe weather warnings for rain, snow, wind, fog and ice
Continue reading...Countdown begins to prevent loss of thousands of footpaths and alleyways
Right-to-roam law means pre-1949 rights of way that are not on official maps must be recorded in next 10 years or will no longer be protected
Thousands of footpaths, alleys and bridleways across the UK face being lost forever within a decade under a clause in right-to-roam legislation, campaigners have warned.
From 1 January, walkers, horseriders – and even those taking regular shortcuts to the shops in towns – will have 10 years to apply to save any rights of way that existed before 1949 but do not appear on official maps.
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