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Giraffe DNA study identifies four distinct species
Campus ought to be where the wildflowers live | Brief letters
Bob Lamb’s letter (8 September) reminds me that my Auntie Jean, who lived in Allerton, recounted the arrival of unexpected guests at her door one day in the early 1960s. It was her cousin, Bill Shankly, with his friend, Matt Busby. “We need somewhere to talk,” said Bill. “Walls have ears at Anfield, you know.”
Karen Lewton
Newcastle upon Tyne
• How sad to read that the University of East Anglia is preparing to sacrifice its green space for car parking (Report, 8 September). At the University of Sheffield, where I work, we are banishing motor cars from the central campus and working with the city to create wildflower refuges, like the “Grey to Green” scheme in the legal district.
Simon Geller
Sheffield
This invention by a British student could save millions of lives across the world
Global effort launched to preserve precious sites
Giraffe genetic secret: Four species of tallest mammal identified
'Good riddance': moving on from the Boxing Day floods
Residents in Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire, didn’t need to be asked twice when the Environment Agency offered to buy their flood-ravaged houses
Eight-and-a-half months after the river Calder invaded his terrace with such force that the neighbouring travel agency collapsed into the water, Tony Kay was finally able to clear out the house on Thursday. “Good riddance,” he said, as he lugged bits of kitchen into the boot of his car on Burnley Road in Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire.
He couldn’t wait to give the keys to an Environment Agency official and be shot of the place, one of 238 homes, 48 businesses and one school in the Calder Valley still uninhabitable after the Boxing Day floods. The Agency offered to buy the doomed property and Kay didn’t need asking twice.
Continue reading...Researchers discover there are not one - but four species of giraffe
Discovery of genetic differences, using DNA analysis, could boost efforts to save declining populations
Researchers have discovered there are not just one but four distinct species of giraffe, overturning two centuries of accepted wisdom in a finding that could boost efforts to save the last dwindling populations.
Analysis of DNA evidence from all of the currently recognised nine sub-species found that there is not just one species of giraffe but enough genetic differences to recognise four distinct species. Experts said the differences are as large as those between brown bears and polar bears.
Giraffe have suffered a decline in number from around 150,000 across Africa three decades ago to 100,000 today, as their habitat has been turned over to agriculture. But as a single species the giraffe is currently listed as of least concern on the red list of endangered species, leaving the tallest living animals a relatively low conservation focus compared to rhino and elephant.
“People need to really figure out that giraffes are in danger. There are only 100,000 giraffes left in Africa. We’ll be working closely with governments and big NGOs to put giraffes on the radar,” said Dr Julian Fennessy, lead author of the new study which saw genetic testing in Germany on 190 giraffe.
The four recommended new species are the southern giraffe, with two subspecies, the Angolan giraffe and South African giraffe; the Masai giraffe; the reticulated giraffe; and the northern giraffe including the Kordofan giraffe and west African giraffe as subspecies.
Continue reading...Humans have destroyed a tenth of Earth's wilderness in 25 years - study
Experts warn there may be no unspoilt places left within a century as report shows an area twice the size of Alaska has been lost since 1993
Humans have destroyed a tenth of Earth’s remaining wilderness in the last 25 years and there may be none left within a century if trends continue, according to an authoritative new study.
Researchers found a vast area the size of two Alaskas – 3.3m square kilometres – had been tarnished by human activities between 1993 and today, which experts said was a “shockingly bad” and “profoundly large number”.
《卫报》为何要用中文报道大象的生存危机？
在接下来的一年，英国《卫报》将与中外对话联合推出大象保护与拯救的系列报道。翻译：金枝 (中外对话/chinadialogue)
从早先欧美的象牙收藏热，到近来亚洲地区对象牙高涨的需求，一波又一波的屠杀已经将非洲大象逼向灭绝的边缘。过去十年，为了满足人们对象牙不灭的热情，非法狩猎活动猖獗，导致非洲大象数量灾难性下降。
Related: 事实上，大象已经濒临灭绝
Continue reading...Why the Guardian is publishing its elephant reporting in Chinese
A new partnership with chinadialogue will bring a year of in-depth reporting, expert opinion and features to a crucial audience of consumers and readers in China
Wave after wave of elephant slaughter, driven first by European and US ivory collectors and more recently by demand in Asia, has brought the African elephant to its knees. A catastrophic decline in the past decade is primarily due to poaching to feed a continuing passion for ivory.
The poachers are mainly Africans, but their clients are often criminal gangs based in Asia who smuggle the tusks on planes and ships to countries where demand for ivory continues to grow. The largest of these is China.
Continue reading...事实上，大象已经濒临灭绝
目前全球大象种群处境危急。卡尔·马蒂森 就将向我们解释，为何大象即将迎来前所未有的生死攸关时刻。
翻译: Estelle/中外对话/chinadialogue
作为陆地上体积最大的野生动物，声音如雷、体重可达六吨的大象可谓是生物演化史上的一个奇迹。除了它们那有着10万块肌肉的灵活无比的鼻子，和能帮助它们驱走热量的特大号耳朵之外，大象族群还有着复杂的母系社会结构，它们甚至还会在同伴逝去之后恸哭哀痛。而大象的另外一个特征就是长长的象牙，这本来应该是它们保护自己的防卫武器，然而却最终成为了族群濒危的导火索。
Continue reading...Overview: a stunning new perspective of Earth from space – in pictures
The overview effect is the transformative experience astronauts feel on seeing Earth from space and mankind’s place and impact upon it. Images from a new book, Overview: A New Perspective, by Benjamin Grant display the beauty and fragility of our planet and its natural resources
Continue reading...Hundreds of key sites in England at risk of floods
Flooding: UK government plans for more extreme rainfall
National review prompted by severe flooding in recent winters anticipates 20-30% more extreme downpours than before
The UK’s new flood defence plans anticipate significantly higher extreme rainfall, after new research was published as part of the government’s National Flood Resilience review.
The government, which had been criticised for not taking full account of the impact of climate change in driving up flood risk, will now plan for 20-30% more extreme downpours than before.
Continue reading...Climate change and other human activities are affecting species migration | John Abraham
Humans have an impact on species migration both through climate change and by changing the landscape.
One of the reasons climate change is such an important topic is that it will affect (and already is affecting) the natural biological systems. Both plants and animals will have to respond to the changing climate. In some cases, this means adapting to higher temperatures. In other cases, the changes may be alterations in the precipitation, length of growing season, availability or resources, or other influences.
While some animals can adapt, others will have to migrate. Obviously migration can be apparent in mobile animals that will move to maintain a more or less similar climate to that to which they are accustomed.
Continue reading...Astronomers search for the vanishing star
Brexit is 'opportunity to rethink flood protection'
Former floods minister Richard Benyon says leaving EU will allow UK to pay farmers to hold back flood water
Farmers could to be paid to hold back flood water under a post-Brexit rural payments system, according to former floods minister Richard Benyon.
Speaking before Thursday’s publication of the government’s report into the response to flooding in Cumbria, Lancashire and Yorkshire last December, Benyon predicted that more resources would be made available.
Continue reading...Beauty and power: how Norway is making green energy look good
On the edge of a forest in northern Norway, an unusually handsome hydroelectric plant is generating a buzz
Ovre Forsland is a big departure from the hulking power stations that traditionally served our energy needs. It looks more like an elegant, custom‑built home from TV show Grand Designs.
Located in the Helgeland district in northern Norway, it’s a small hydroelectric power station capable of supplying 1,600 homes with power.
Continue reading...DNA confirms cause of 1665 London's Great Plague
How rail-to-trail cycling projects are proving their worth
Around the UK, abandoned railway lines are being turned into world-class cycling and walking trails that are boosting local tourism and recreation
When the time came for my family’s first ever multi-day cycle tour, the Devon coast-to-coast ticked all the boxes. The 102-mile route, from Ilfracombe in the north to Plymouth in the south, is 70% traffic-free and passes through some beautiful landscapes.
We began in Barnstaple, rolling along the salt marshes of the river Torridge, up to Dartmoor and down thegorges of the Plym valley. The gradients are gentle as the route follows the path of a series of disused railway lines. I soon realised the easy riding belied the huge challenges of turning a series of abandoned railway lines into a world-class cycling and walking trail.
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