The Guardian
Nearly 1m birds were killed on British military base in Cyprus, says RSPB
Poachers took 15,000 birds every day for two months last autumn on Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area as conservationists warn killing is at unprecedented levels
Almost a million birds were illegally killed in just two months on a British military base in Cyprus last year, according to the RSPB.
Dr Tim Stowe, the RSPB’s international director, called on the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to do more to stop local poachers, who reportedly took 15,000 birds every day during September and October from British Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area (SBA).
Continue reading...Health costs of hormone disrupting chemicals over €150bn a year in Europe, says study
Lower IQ, adult obesity and 5% of autism cases are all linked to exposure to endocrine disruptors found in food containers, plastics, furniture, toys, carpeting and cosmetics, says new expert study
Europe is experiencing an explosion in health costs caused by endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) that is comparable to the cost of lead and mercury poisoning, according to the most comprehensive study of the subject yet published.
Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that interfere with the human hormone system, and can be found in food containers, plastics, furniture, toys, carpeting and cosmetics.
Continue reading...Weasel-riding-woodpecker picture prompts weighty Twitter debate
#WeaselPecker trends on Twitter as Photoshop fans have fun with apparently genuine image of weasel flying on bird’s back through London park
It’s that age-old story: weasel meets bird, weasel falls in love with bird, weasel won’t let bird go – even when it flies off.
This extraordinary picture taken by amateur wildlife photographer Martin Le-May has caused some chin-scratching among ornithologists everywhere. Is it possible for a woodpecker to carry a weasel on its back?
Lewis Pugh's Antarctic swim – in pictures
British endurance swimmer and United Nations Environment Programme patron of the oceans, completes most southerly swim in human history after swimming in the Bay of Whales, Ross Sea
Continue reading...Coo roo-c'too-coo! Enter the captivating world of pigeon fanciers
Raising and showing selectively bred birds is a world away from pigeons’ unjust image of ‘rats with wings’ – and it’s a hobby that helps forge lifelong friendships
Don’t feed the pigeons – unless you want to travel the world, forge life-long friendships and fall in love. These are just a few of the many perks of the pigeon hobby touted by fanciers from around the globe.
“Some people make art with paint and clay, we make art with pigeons,” said Leon Stephens, president of the Los Angeles Pigeon Club. Stephens studied genetics in college before starting his career as a health inspector.
Continue reading...The truth behind the story on the 'world's oldest tree' being cut down
‘Hoax’ article on the Amazon correctly identifies threats to Brazil-Peru border region
In December the World News Daily Report (WNDR) published an article claiming that the “world’s oldest tree” had been cut down along the Brazil-Peru border in the Amazon. It stated that a “giant Samauma tree that is thought to be over 5,800 years old” in the “Matsés Indigenous Reserve” had been “accidentally” felled by illegal loggers, and quoted “local tribesman leader Tahuactep of the Matsés tribe” saying it had “brought darkness upon not only our people, but the whole world.”
Some media responded by reporting it as fact, others by calling it a hoax. The Independent described it as “one of the 11 weirdest hoaxes of 2014”, while the Washington Post asserted that the WNDR is a “hoax-news site whose stories — we repeat! — are always fake” and “the world’s oldest tree is actually “somewhere in eastern California” and “only 5,062 years old.”
Continue reading...Quokka deaths on Rottnest Island spark police investigation
Five quokkas that were found stuffed head-first into tree protectors and another lying nearby had ‘clearly been killed’, say authorities
Authorities in Western Australia are investigating the deaths of five quokkas that were found stuffed head-first into tree protectors on Rottnest Island on Monday.
The animals were found by Peter Basford, who told Seven News in Perth that he was visiting the island and found the animals near the camping ground.
Continue reading...Canadian mounties' secret memo casts doubt on climate change threat
Intelligence report identifies anti-petroleum movement as a threat to Canadian security and suggests those concerned with climate consequences occupy political fringe
The US security establishment views climate change as real and a dangerous threat to national security. But Canada takes a very different view, according to a secret intelligence memo prepared by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
The memo, stamped “Canadian eyes only”, repeatedly casts doubt on the causes of climate change – the burning of fossil fuels – and its potential threat.
Continue reading...World's biggest offshore windfarm approved for Yorkshire coast
Dogger Bank Creyke Beck project will cover 430 sq miles and is expected to generate enough electricity to power nearly 2m homes, supporting 900 jobs
Plans for the world’s biggest offshore windfarm have been given the green light by the energy secretary, with planning permission for an array of up to 400 turbines 80 miles off the Yorkshire coast on the Dogger Bank.
The project, more than twice the size of the UK’s current biggest offshore windfarm, is expected to cost £6bn to £8bn and could fulfil 2.5% of the UK’s electricity needs.
Continue reading...Privatisation of UK woodlands is happening by the backdoor | Mark Avery
Plans to build luxury holiday cabins, majority-owned by venture capitalists, in public forests put protected wildlife and their habitats at risk
Four years ago the environment secretary, Caroline Spelman, told the House of Commons that she was ditching the coalition government’s plans to privatise the Forestry Commission (FC). “I’m sorry. We got this one wrong, but we have listened to people’s concerns,” she said.
But if you go down to the woods today, you may have a big surprise, because privatisation of our woodlands appears to be proceeding by the back door.
Nasa climate study warns of unprecedented North American drought | Dana Nuccitelli
We need to cut carbon pollution to avoid North American mega-droughts
California is in the midst of its worst drought in over 1,200 years, exacerbated by record hot temperatures. A new study led by Benjamin Cook at Nasa GISS examines how drought intensity in North America will change in a hotter world, and finds that things will only get worse.
Global warming intensifies drought in several ways. In increases evaporation from soil and reservoirs. In increases water demand. It makes precipitation fall more as rain and less as snow, which is problematic for regions like California that rely on snowpack melt to refill reservoirs throughout the year. It also makes the snowpack melt earlier in the year. The record heat has intensified the current California drought by about 36%, and the planet will only continue to get hotter.
Four arrested for allegedly attempting to export 150 native animals to Europe
Suspects could face 10 years’ jail after wildlife including skinks, geckos, frogs and pygmy pythons was found by customs hidden in luggage and parcels
Four men are in custody in Perth accused of attempting to export more than 150 native animals from Western Australia.
The men were arrested at Perth international airport earlier this month after customs was tipped off by postal workers who noticed something amiss in packages sent from destinations including Carnarvon, Tom Price and Geraldton. All were destined for Europe.
Continue reading...We should be outraged by Europe slaughtering sea life in the name of 'science' | George Monbiot
While we focus our anger on Japan using ‘scientific research’ as an excuse to kill marine life, Europe is doing the same thing under our noses with electric pulse trawling, with potentially disastrous effects
One of the biggest jokes in conservation is the Japanese government’s claim to be engaged in “scientific whaling”. All the killing by its harpoon fleet takes place under the guise of “research”, as this is the only justification available, under international rules.
According to Joji Morishita, a diplomat representing Japan at the whaling negotiations, this “research programme” has produced 666 scientific papers. While we must respect Mr Morishita’s right to invoke the number of the Beast, which may on this occasion be appropriate, during its investigation of Japanese whaling, the International Court of Justice discovered that the entire “research programme” had actually generated just two peer-reviewed papers, which used data from the carcasses of nine whales.
Continue reading...Greenland’s hidden meltwater lakes store up trouble
Scientists find evidence of vast ‘storage tanks’ of water deep below the melting Greenland ice sheet that could have a major effect on sea level rise, reports Climate News Network
One small mystery that surrounds Greenland’s melting ice is a little closer to being solved as scientists in the US confirm that surface meltwater can drain all the way down to fill concealed lakes under the ice.
This means that atmospheric warming can reach thousands of metres below the ice sheet − warming the glacial base and potentially increasing its rate of flow.
Continue reading...Sea Shepherd seeks access to jaws of great white sharks culled after Sean Pollard attacked
Freedom of information request by Sea Shepherd and No WA Shark Cull Inc the first attempt in Australia to use FOI to access physical objects
Environmental groups have applied to have the jaws of two great white sharks that were killed after a shark attack off the West Australian coast last year released under freedom of information (FOI) laws.
It’s the first attempt in Australia to use the FOI act to access physical objects.
Continue reading...How to eradicate grey squirrels without firing a shot | George Monbiot
In Ireland, greys squirrels are being pushed into the sea and the reds are swarming back across the land – all thanks to pine martens
Is there anything more stupid than the government’s plan to kill grey squirrels?
I ask not because I believe – as Animal Aid does – that grey squirrels are harmless. Far from it: they have eliminated red squirrels from most of Britain since their introduction by Victorian landowners, and are now doing the same thing in parts of the continent. By destroying young trees, they also make the establishment of new woodland almost impossible in many places. As someone who believes there should be many more trees in this country, I see that as a problem. A big one.
Continue reading...Clouds form inside Grand Canyon in rare phenomenon - timelapse video
Antarctic toothfish poaching ships shrug off New Zealand navy
Three suspected illegal fishing vessels are filmed hauling in prized fish with banned nets in the Southern Ocean
Staying hidden behind sea ice and large waves, sailors aboard a navy patrol boat from New Zealand sneaked up on three suspected poaching ships, then took photos and video of the fishermen hauling in prized fish in banned nets from the ocean near Antarctica. Seemingly caught red-handed, the crews of the rusting vessels just kept on fishing.
Authorities say this month’s high-seas confrontations, and the detailed evidence collected, mark a first in Antarctic waters, where regulators have long suspected poaching activities but have found them difficult to police in an area that’s roughly the size of the continental United States.
Continue reading...India’s tiger population increases by almost a third
Population of the endangered species now at 2,226, with campaigners hailing the latest statistics
The number of tigers in India has increased by almost a third in the last three years, official figures released on Tuesday reveal.
The rise, from 1,706 in 2011 to 2,226 in 2014, will encourage campaigners fighting to protect the endangered species. Activists called the new statistics “robust” and “very good news”.
Continue reading...Rate of environmental degradation puts life on Earth at risk, say scientists
Humans are ‘eating away at our own life support systems’ at a rate unseen in the past 10,000 years, two new research papers say
Humans are “eating away at our own life support systems” at a rate unseen in the past 10,000 years by degrading land and freshwater systems, emitting greenhouse gases and releasing vast amounts of agricultural chemicals into the environment, new research has found.
Two major new studies by an international team of researchers have pinpointed the key factors that ensure a livable planet for humans, with stark results.
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