The Guardian
It's an agile predator, but a gruesome fate often awaits the dung fly
Wolsingham, Weardale Adult dung flies chew hoverflies like hotdogs, but many fall victim to an insect-eating fungus
Cattle had been sheltering in the lee of the hedge and had spattered the footpath with fresh cowpats. We had to be careful where we put our feet, but the male dung flies, Scathophaga stercoraria, sitting in the centre of these discs of ordure, had no such reservations; these were their courtship arenas. Each suitor, resplendent in golden hairs that glowed in the early morning sunlight, was waiting for the arrival of females – usually found to be in short supply.
Dung flies’ behaviour and their sex lives have intrigued evolutionary biologists. Males vary in size and females tend to choose the largest mates available on the cowpat, with multiple mating being the norm. It’s a situation where large males, which tend to be more fecund, should prosper.
Continue reading...We have a stark choice: protect the global commons or give in to special interests
A year since the pope’s clarion call to climate action, Australia must declare a moratorium on new coal, oil and gas mines and end fossil fuel subsidies
• Divesting from fossil fuels: open letter from religious leaders in full
Few papal proclamations have reverberated more strongly throughout the world than Pope Francis’s encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si’. The anniversary of this clarion call to protect the environment comes as Australia’s election is in full swing and, in terms of its message, the contrast could not be greater.
Released exactly a year ago, the encyclical was part of a deluge of statements from the major faith traditions in the leadup to the Paris climate agreement.
Continue reading...Catholic orders take their lead from the pope and divest from fossil fuels
Exclusive: Four Australian Catholic orders are jointly and publicly divesting from coal, oil and gas: ‘We believe the Gospel asks no less of us’
• Divesting from fossil fuels: open letter from religious leaders in full
Four Australian Catholic organisations have announced they are completely divesting from coal, oil and gas in what they say is the first joint Catholic divestment anywhere in the world.
The move comes as prominent Jewish rabbis, Muslim clerics, Anglican bishops and other religious leaders call on the Australian government to protect the Great Barrier Reef, stop approving coalmines and remove subsidies to the fossil fuel industry, in an open letter published by the Guardian.
Continue reading...Grandpa’s name lives on at Johnny’s Bank | Letters
I, too, used to walk up Piggies Lonnen (Letters, 13 June) with my sisters on our way from Lemington to Walbottle, to see my Grandpa, Johnny McSwine. We were allowed to help feed his pigs and clean out their pigsties. Though the lonnen was near the “piggery”, it had nothing to do with Grandpa’s pigs, who never left their sties. On a memorable visit he took us to see the sow and her piglets cosseted under a heat lamp in the biggest of the three sties. The pigs were fed on scraps and meal which was weighed out in the “flower house”, – so called because that was where mounds of freshly cut blue scabious would be bunched and boxed ready for market. Around the tea table at his house, I would hear about the Bull family who lived in the village, but I don’t think had bulls. My grandfather died in 1963 but his name, or his father’s, lives on – “Johnny’s Bank” is the road that ran past the market garden up to Walbottle Stores. The market garden continued until my Uncle Fred retired.
Judith McSwaine
Newcastle upon Tyne
• The street names of south-west Scotland are evidence of a culture shared with north-east England, at least in their alleyways. For example, Jenny’s Loaning in Castle Douglas clearly matches the lonnens of Northumberland, while Friars Vennel in Dumfries would fit in well in Durham.
Steven Edgar
Bristol
'Bright spots' offer fresh hope for survival of coral reefs
Experts identify areas where coral reefs are flourishing against the odds despite overfishing and environmental pressure
Surprising “bright spots” where coral reefs are flourishing against the odds despite overfishing and environmental pressure have given new hope to conservationists.
Experts believe they could shine a light on better ways to protect embattled coral reefs affected by climate change, overfishing and pollution.
Continue reading...Attack of the Euro-moths: should Britain’s farmers be afraid?
As if Brexit and football violence weren’t enough to make us miserable about Europe, it seems that the UK is now experiencing an invasion of “Euro-moths”. Tens of millions of small but potentially lethal diamondback moths are crossing the North Sea, come to devastate our cabbages and cauliflowers.
The first signs of the invasion came last Saturday night, when observers reported a two-mile long cloud of moths near the Herefordshire market town of Leominster. As one witness reported: “It was like driving through rain.”
Continue reading...Diesel cars in London increase despite air pollution warnings
Figures show the numbers of licenced diesels rose by 29% from 2012-15, despite warnings over their contribution to illegal levels of air pollution
Diesel vehicles have taken a record share of the market on London roads in recent years, despite warnings blaming them for contributing to the capital’s illegal levels of air pollution.
Sadiq Khan, the new mayor of London, has been lobbying for a diesel scrappage scheme, a policy that was backed by his predecessor, Boris Johnson, as a way of tackling the illegal high nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels caused by diesels.
France becomes first major nation to ratify UN climate deal
President François Hollande calls on other European countries to follow France’s lead by the end of the year
President François Hollande on Wednesday finalised ratification of the Paris climate accord reached in December 2015, making France the first industrialised country to do so.
“Signing is good, ratifying is better,” Hollande quipped at the Élysée Palace ceremony, flanked by environment minister Ségolène Royal, foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and other top officials.
Continue reading...UK fracking firm plans to dump wastewater in the sea
Ineos company emails reveal huge amounts of treated wastewater are likely to be disposed of in the sea
A UK shale gas company is considering dumping waste water from fracking in the sea, emails from the company show.
Ineos, which owns the Grangemouth refinery and holds 21 shale licences, many in the north-west, North Yorkshire and the east Midlands, has said it wants to become the biggest player in the UK’s nascent shale gas industry.
Continue reading...New study finds evidence for a 'fast' dinosaur extinction | Howard Lee
New sediment data suggests the dinosaurs were rapidly done in, strengthening asteroid impact theory
Boring is beautiful when you’re studying a calamity, especially one as spectacular as the mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs. That’s because exciting sediments, full of variations and gaps, make it hard to disentangle the extinction signal from the noise of natural variability.
So you could say that James Witts, of the University of Leeds in the UK, lucked-out with an especially boring batch of sediments in Seymour Island on the Antarctic Peninsula (the part on the map that points up to South America). His study, recently published in the journal Nature Communications, catches the extinction of marine life in one of the most detailed records ever published for the end-Cretaceous. As Witts describes it:
Brexit would be bad for bees, say campaigners
Green groups warn of UK’s opposition to EU bans on harmful pesticides and promises by the Leave campaign to cut nature protection laws
Brexit would be bad for Britain’s bees, according to campaigners, who point to the UK government’s opposition to EU bans on harmful pesticides and the desire of figures in the Leave camp to cut nature protections.
Bees and other pollinators are vital to producing food but have been harmed by loss of habitat, disease and pesticides. The EU banned three neonicotinoid pesticides in 2013 in the face of strong opposition from UK ministers.
Continue reading...Norway pledges to become climate neutral by 2030
Parliament approves radical proposal of accelerated emissions cuts and carbon offsetting to achieve climate goal 20 years earlier than planned
Norway’s parliament has approved a radical goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2030, two decades earlier than planned.
On Tuesday night MPs voted for an accelerated programme of CO2 cuts and carbon trading to offset emissions from sectors such as Norway’s oil and gas industries, which are unlikely to be phased out in the near future.
Continue reading...Flora, fauna and fraud: cheats of the natural world – in pictures
Deception is everywhere in nature, as plants and animals turn trickster in the hope of eating or avoiding being eaten. The evolutionary biologist Martin Stevens introduces some subtle strategies in the game of life
Continue reading...Experts warn of explosion in numbers of 'super-pest moth'
Exceptionally high numbers of the diamondback moth, that attacks crops such as cabbages and cauliflowers, have been recorded arriving in the UK
Experts have warned of a potential explosion in numbers of an invasive “super-pest” moth that attacks crops such as cabbages and cauliflowers.
Rothamsted Research, in Hertfordshire, issued a warning that exceptionally high numbers of the diamondback moth are arriving in the UK, after reports from a network of moth traps around the country.
Continue reading...Could we set aside half the Earth for nature?
Renowned biologist E.O. Wilson wants to set aside half of the planet as protected areas for nature. But is this possible? And, if so, how would it work?
As of today, the only place in the universe where we are certain life exists is on our little home, the third planet from the sun. But also as of today, species on Earth are winking out at rates likely not seen since the demise of the dinosaurs. If we don’t change our ways, we will witness a mass extinction event that will not only leave our world a far more boring and lonely place, but will undercut the very survival of our species .
So, what do we do?
Continue reading...2016 Great British Bee Count reaches halfway point - in pictures
The 2016 Great British Bee Count has reached the halfway point with more than 189,000 bees recorded so far. The annual count, which runs until 30 June, aims to help people learn more about bees, a key pollinator species that faces multiple threats. Here are some of the species spotted so far
- Download the free app to help monitor the British bee population and get tips for bee-friendly planting.
Boost renewable energy target to 50% and get 28,000 extra jobs, says report
Modelling shows Australian RET of 50% by 2030, rather than current trajectory of 34%, would almost double number of jobs created
Boosting renewable energy in Australia from the current trajectory of 34% of total energy by 2030 to 50% would double the number of new jobs created, according to modelling by Ernst & Young and the Climate Council.
The results come following a similar report from The Australia Institute this week comparing the employment implications of renewable energy policies of the three main parties, showing Labor and Greens policies would cause job growth in the sector, while Coalition policies would see a decline.
Continue reading...Elephants soothed with lullabies in Thailand sanctuary – video report
Sangduen Chailert, the founder of Chiang Mai’s Elephant Nature Park (ENP), sings lullabies to the elephants under her care. She first discovered the technique six years ago when trying to relax a difficult elephant calf and the technique was so successful she maintained the practice. The ENP is a 280-acre park that looks after rescue elephants that have suffered abuse. For more about the sanctuary see the ENP’s website
Continue reading...Endangered sandpipers lay eggs in captivity for the first time
Wildlife experts say the seven eggs laid by two spoon-billed sandpipers at WWT Slimbridge gives new hope for the species’ tiny wild population
One of the world’s rarest birds has laid eggs in captivity for the first time, in what wildlife experts say provides new hope for the species’ tiny wild population.
Only around 200 breeding pairs of critically endangered spoon-billed sandpipers remain in the wild, where they make an annual 10,000 mile round-trip between their Russian Arctic breeding grounds and wintering grounds in south-east Asia.
Continue reading...Lessons from London's failing 'quietways' cycle scheme
The troubled trajectory of the capital’s backstreet bike routes has repercussions for cycling policy across the country
It has arrived with less fuss than the segregated superhighways, but as of this week London has the first in its new generation of officially designated cycling “quietways”.
Quietway 1 runs for just over five miles from Greenwich to Waterloo in south-east London, eschewing main roads for a combination of back streets, traffic-free paths and cyclist-only contraflows. The quietway programme, led by Transport for London, is meant to provide seven of these routes by this time next year, intended in part for less experienced or gung-ho riders who prefer to go at a more leisurely pace.
Continue reading...