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Neonicotinoids: new warning on pesticide harm to bees
Consensus builds among scientists though review of evidence also finds there is not enough data on whether pesticide causes population decline
There is a strong scientific consensus that bees are exposed to neonicotinoid pesticides in fields and suffer harm from the doses received, according to a new analysis of the all the scientific evidence to date.
But almost no data exists so far on whether this harm ultimately leads to falls in overall bee populations, the scientists found. They said one “gold standard” field study from Sweden had shown that the insecticides, the most widely used in the world, do significantly damage bumblebee populations. But it found no effect for honeybees, although the study design meant it could only rule out losses greater than 20%.
Continue reading...Atriplex sp. Yeelirrie Station (L. Trotter & A. Douglas LCH 25025) listed as Endangered category under the EPBC Act
Extreme heatwaves could push Gulf climate beyond human endurance, study shows
Oil heartlands of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha and Iran’s coast will experience higher temperatures and humidity than ever before on Earth if the world fails to cut carbon emissions
The Gulf in the Middle East, the heartland of the global oil industry, will suffer heatwaves beyond the limit of human survival if climate change is unchecked, according to a new scientific study.
The extreme heatwaves will affect Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha and coastal cities in Iran as well as posing a deadly threat to millions of Hajj pilgrims in Saudi Arabia, when the religious festival falls in the summer. The study shows the extreme heatwaves, more intense than anything ever experienced on Earth, would kick in after 2070 and that the hottest days of today would by then be a near-daily occurrence.
Continue reading...Indonesia's forest fires threaten a third of world's wild orangutans
Fires have spread beyond plantations deep into primary forests and national parks, the last strongholds of the endangered apes
Raging Indonesian forest fires have advanced into dense forest on Borneo and now threaten one third of the world’s remaining wild orangutans, say conservationists.
Satellite photography shows that around 100,000 fires have burned in Indonesia’s carbon-rich peatlands since July. But instead of being mostly confined to farmland and plantations, as they are in most years, several thousand fires have now penetrated deep into primary forests and national parks, the strongholds of the remaining wild apes and other endangered animals.
Morocco poised to become a solar superpower with launch of desert mega-project
World’s largest concentrated solar power plant, powered by the Saharan sun, set to help renewables provide almost half the country’s energy by 2020
- Read this story in French
The Moroccan city of Ouarzazate is used to big productions. On the edge of the Sahara desert and the centre of the north African country’s “Ouallywood” film industry it has played host to big-budget location shots in Lawrence of Arabia, The Mummy, The Living Daylights and even Game of Thrones.
Now the trading city, nicknamed the “door of the desert”, is the centre for another blockbuster – a complex of four linked solar mega-plants that, alongside hydro and wind, will help provide nearly half of Morocco’s electricity from renewables by 2020 with, it is hoped, some spare to export to Europe. The project is a key plank in Morocco’s ambitions to use its untapped deserts to become a global solar superpower.
Continue reading...It's October - it's time for the Annual Environmental Student Awards Night - this year at QUT's
Cluster of 20 great white sharks spotted off coast of northern California
- Sharks, ranging from 15ft to 18ft, seen 100 yards offshore near Pacifica
- Two coast guard helicopters spotted the sharks from 500ft last week
Experts say a cluster of some 20 great white sharks was recently spotted by the US coast guard off the coast of northern California.
Related: Giant squid writ small: juvenile monsters of the deep captured off Japan
Continue reading...Giant squid writ small: juvenile monsters of the deep captured off Japan
Three young squid caught by marine biologists are the spitting image of their gigantic parents – if nearly 1,000lbs and 50ft smaller
Marine biologists have captured three young giant squid, Japanese researchers reported, in what would be the first confirmed catch of very young juveniles of the elusive creature.
The young squid, caught off south-western Japan, are replicas of their gigantic parents who live in the deep. Two were caught together; all three weighed less than 1lb and spanned 5-13ins. Adults can reach 50ft and 1,000lbs.
Continue reading...Yorkshire dales and Lake District to be extended
Announcement to create largest area of national park land in England welcomed by campaigners after two-year wait for decision
Two of England’s most celebrated national parks, the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District, are being extended, the government has announced.
The Yorkshire Dales national park will expand by almost 24% and the Lake District national park by 3%, creating a large and almost continuous protected area in north-west England.
Continue reading...Spate of snake attacks strikes Melbourne's cats and dogs
Animal hospital reports sharp rise in bites from tiger and brown snakes as reptiles emerge from winter hibernation to exceptionally warm weather
The Victorian government has warned people to be aware of snake activity after a spate of recent incidents in which dogs and cats have been bitten by the reptiles.
Related: Thirsty snakes slither into Australian toilets as dry season bites
Continue reading...Commonwealth environmental water for sale in Goulburn
Trudeau’s bold change pledge was a ruse. But Canada now has a fighting chance | Martin Lukacs
Liberals took up a progressive mantle when the NDP failed to project a vision of environmental and social justice – now it’s up to the public to bend them to their will
On Monday night many Canadians breathed out a sigh of relief. Then they breathed in a whiff of apprehension. The ousting of the Conservatives was a victory, a rejection of Stephen Harper’s politics of fear and racism. But Canadians now confront a Prime Minister gifted in the art of warm, fuzzy claptrap. They won’t be offered what they dreamed of: that was never an option in this election.
The election’s most revealing poll was scarcely reported by the media. Those voting against Harper – sixty to seventy percent of Canada, a progressive majority holding steady through his decade in power – were asked in late September what kind of change they desired. They answered overwhelmingly: not moderate but ambitious, not incremental but immediate. In other words, most people didn’t just want Harper out: they wanted plentiful jobs, a healthy environment, indeed a far more just and fair country.
Continue reading...Palau approves huge Pacific marine sanctuary
Tiny archipelago seeks to create world’s sixth-largest area to be fully protected from fishing or drilling
The tiny western Pacific archipelago of Palau has approved the creation of a marine sanctuary twice the size of Mexico.
Conservationists said the 500,000 sq km (193,000 sq mile) sanctuary would be the world’s sixth-largest fully protected area – meaning no fishing, or other uses such as drilling for oil – if it is signed into law by Palau’s president as expected on Monday.
Continue reading...What I learnt from a month cycling in the Netherlands
With the right investment in infrastructure and improved liability laws, cycling in the UK could be this successful and our streets could be reclaimed as places for people of all ages to enjoy
Who builds a bicycle road on a 32km-long sea dyke? One akin to a really, really long Severn Bridge, made of earthworks, tumbleweed and gulls, with a six-lane highway? The Dutch, that’s who, and I’m grateful for it.
With no end in sight, only a straight line of smooth tarmac stretching seemingly to infinity, and bordered on both sides by sea, this bike road on the Afsluitdijk is impressive, if only for its sheer length and optimism. After two roadies and a man on a small, rattly moped overtake me at the start, there are no other cyclists using it but me, laden with panniers and tent, while motorway traffic buzzes past, at the foot of a wide, grassy bank.
Continue reading...Web services now available
Sunscreen contributing to decline of coral reefs, study shows
UV filtering chemical is killing off baby coral around tourist resorts, particularly in the Caribbean and Hawaii
A common ingredient found in sunscreen is toxic to coral and contributing to the decline of reefs around the world, according to new research.
Oxybenzone, a UV-filtering chemical compound found in 3,500 brands of sunscreen worldwide, can be fatal to baby coral and damaging to adults in high concentrations, according to the study published on Tuesday in the Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology.
Continue reading...Australia 'could become world leader in solar home battery storage'
Energy stored from roof panels could offer the cheapest electricity alternative within three years, Climate Council study says
Australia could become a world leader in home battery storage, with the potential for energy stored from solar panels offering the cheapest electricity alternative within just three years, according to a new report.
Related: Australian homes among first to get Tesla's Powerwall solar-energy battery
Continue reading...How humans are driving the sixth mass extinction
Scientists have been warning for decades that human actions are pushing life on our shared planet toward mass extinction. Such extinction events have occurred five times in the past, but a bold new paper finds that this time would be fundamentally different. Fortunately, there’s still time to stop it.
Periodically, in the vast spans of time that have preceded us, our planet’s living beings have been purged by planetary catastrophes so extreme they make your typical Ice Age look like the geological equivalent of a stroll in the park. Scientists count just five mass extinctions in an unimaginably long expanse of 450 million years, but they warn we may well be entering a sixth.
According to a bold new paper in The Anthropocene Review, this time would be different from past mass extinctions in four crucial ways – and all of these stem from the impact of a single species that arrived on the scene just 200,000 years ago: Homo sapiens.
Continue reading...Plastic bag charge cuts use 80% in Scotland
First year of Scotland’s 5p bag charge sees huge reduction in use and £6.7m raised for good causes in bid to cut waste and litter
The number of plastic carrier bags handed out in stores was slashed by at least 650 million in the first year of Scotland’s 5p charge.
New figures released on the anniversary of its introduction indicate the levy has cut usage by around 80%, equivalent to 650 million fewer bags than in previous years.
Continue reading...Hawaii shark attacks: one might have been an eel – officials
Bite by an eel would be the first recorded in waters of the surfing haven, say authorities
A surfer may have been bitten by an eel, rather than a shark, in an encounter off Hawaii’s popular Waikiki Beach, according to officials.
The surfer was hurt on Saturday within hours of a shark attack on a man off Oahu’s Lanikai Beach. Both men were taken to hospital.
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