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Experts warn against axing green army without restoring Landcare funding
Academic decries what he describes as yet another bait-and-switch to reduce overall spending on conservation in Australia
Scrapping Australia’s “green army” without restoring Landcare funding to pre-2014 levels would further weaken community conservation efforts, experts have said.
The Turnbull government is reportedly set to abolish the derided environmental program – to the dismay of its creator and greatest champion, the former prime minister Tony Abbott.
Continue reading...Scottish fossils tell story of first life on land
'Human swan' completes three-month journey – video
Sacha Dench, known as the ‘human swan’ completes her three-month-long paramotor journey from Russia to the UK on Monday. Dench made the record breaking 4,500 mile trip to raise awareness for the dwindling Bewick swan population. The journey followed the migratory path the swans undertake each year. The final leg of the trip involved crossing the Channel
Ancient shellfish used for purple dye vanishes from eastern Med
Red-mouthed rock shell was one of main sources of Tyrian purple and study blames its collapse on rising sea temperatures
The shellfish that was one of the main sources of Tyrian purple – one of the most storied and valuable trading products in the ancient world – has disappeared from the eastern Mediterranean coast, amid warnings of an ongoing multi-species collapse blamed on global rises in sea temperatures.
Described by Aristotle and Pliny among other ancient writers, Tyrian purple or imperial purple was a dye extracted from shellfish along the Levant coast and favoured by emperors and kings in a trade of huge value. Associated with royalty, clothes with purple in them were believed to convey high status.
Continue reading...Robot aircraft take to British skies
Standing Rock is a modern-day Indian war. This time Indians are winning | Martin Lukacs
A historic growing movement for Indigenous rights is a key to protecting land and water and preventing climate chaos
As Indigenous peoples faced off against armed police and tanks near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in Dakota, theirs wasn’t just a battle over a pipeline. It was a battle over a story that could define the future of America.
The Obama administration’s decision yesterday to refuse the Dakota Access pipeline permission to complete its construction has now shaken up that story. Its old version was that Indigenous peoples have always been in the way of progress, their interests a nuisance or threat, their treaties a discardable artifact. In that story, the American heroes forged on these high plains of the west were never the Indians: they were the gold-diggers or gamblers, the cowboys or cavalry.
Corporate growth still driving deforestation, CDP shows
Tim Peake spacecraft will arrive in UK in 2017
Trophy hunting could help conserve lions, says Cecil the lion scientist
Oxford University professor who studied Cecil says strictly regulated hunting could help stop destruction of lion habitats
Trophy hunting could help conserve lions, according to the Oxford University scientist who had studied Cecil the lion for years before the animal was killed by an American dentist.
A new report by Prof David MacDonald for UK ministers concluded that strictly regulated hunting of lions could provide a financial incentive to protect areas of wild lion habitat from being destroyed, which is the biggest threat to the big cats. But MacDonald said the UK should ban the import of any lion trophies from hunts that failed to prove their sustainability.
Continue reading...Google timelapse shows changing earth – video
Google Earth timelapse show how the earth has changed over 32 years. A series of videos highlight the changing faces of urban and natural environments across the globe. Google combined over 5 million satellite images acquired over the past three decades by five different satellites to create the timelapses
Continue reading...Sea Shepherd activists set sail for Antarctic to battle Japanese whalers
Fast new patrol vessel built with Dutch, British and Swedish lottery funds aims to challenge Japan’s defiance of international court ruling on whaling
Two ships have left Australia bound for the freezing Southern Ocean to confront the Japanese whaling fleet in an annual high-seas battle, the environmental activist group Sea Shepherd has said.
The organisation’s flagship, Steve Irwin, departed for Antarctic waters on Monday along with a fast new patrol vessel, Ocean Warrior, built with financial support from the Dutch, British and Swedish lotteries.
Continue reading...'Human swan' crosses Channel on her epic 4,500-mile migration
Sacha Dench is first woman to cross the Channel in a motorised paraglider, as part of her journey following migrating birds from Russia to Britain
The conservationist and “human swan” Sacha Dench has become the first woman to cross the English Channel in a motorised paraglider during her epic 4,500-mile journey following migrating birds from the Russian tundra to Britain.
The 41-year-old made history crossing the Channel on her paramotor after an eventful 10-week flight accompanying the annual migration of Bewick swans to better understand the reasons for their declining numbers.
Continue reading...Last winter's flooding 'most extreme on record' in UK
Fake news tries to blame human-caused global warming on El Niño | Dana Nuccitelli
Climate scientists and real science journalists pushed back, holding the post-truth crowd accountable
Human carbon pollution is heating the Earth incredibly fast. On top of that long-term human-caused global warming trend, there are fluctuations caused by various natural factors. One of these is the El Niño/La Niña cycle. The combination of human-caused warming and a strong El Niño event are on the verge of causing an unprecedented three consecutive record-breaking hot years.
Simply put, without global warming we would not be seeing record-breaking heat year after year. In fact, 2014 broke the temperature record without an El Niño assist, and then El Niño helped push 2015 over 2014, and 2016 over 2015.
Last winter's floods 'most extreme on record in UK', says study
Highest ever rainfall recorded in UK was in December 2015 at Honister Pass in Lake District with 341.4mm falling in 24 hours
An appraisal of the winter floods of 2015-2016, published on the first anniversary of Storm Desmond, reveals it ranks alongside the devastating flooding of March 1947 as the largest event of at least the last century.
November 2015 to January 2016 was the wettest three-month period in records dating back to 1910, while December was both the wettest and, on average, the warmest on record for the UK.
Continue reading...Sadiq Khan to spend £770m on London cycling initiatives
Mayor’s proposed investment gets near levels seen in cycle-friendly nations such as Netherlands and Denmark
London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, has promised to spend £770m on cycling initiatives over the course of his term, saying he wants to make riding a bike the “safe and obvious” transport choice for all Londoners.
Following criticism that Khan has not been as bold as his predecessor, Boris Johnson, in committing to new bike routes, and amid increasing worries about air quality in London, Khan’s office has set out what is described as a hugely ambitious programme to boost cyclist numbers.
Continue reading...George Christensen backs $1bn federal loan for Adani railway line
But an analyst warns that it is not clear which part of the sprawling Indian conglomerate would receive the money
The conservative backbencher George Christensen has backed the idea of the controversial mining company Adani getting a $1bn loan from the Turnbull government for a rail line in his Queensland electorate.
But an analyst has warned the government would have to conduct strict due diligence to ensure the loan was not funnelled through the Cayman Islands tax haven.
Continue reading...Dakota Access pipeline protesters celebrate after permit denied – video
Protesters at Standing Rock respond to news that the Army Corps of Engineers will not grant the permit for the Dakota Access pipeline to drill under the Missouri river. Environmental activists gathered to celebrate their win after a months long campaign to block the pipeline
Continue reading...Federal Politics: Green Army, climate change and John Key
Mark Butler on renewables and a climate policy review
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