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Privatisation of UK woodlands is happening by the backdoor | Mark Avery

Tue, 2015-02-17 23:03

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.

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Nasa climate study warns of unprecedented North American drought | Dana Nuccitelli

Tue, 2015-02-17 00:00

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.

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Four arrested for allegedly attempting to export 150 native animals to Europe

Mon, 2015-02-16 13:07

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.

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We should be outraged by Europe slaughtering sea life in the name of 'science' | George Monbiot

Mon, 2015-02-09 18:04

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.

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Greenland’s hidden meltwater lakes store up trouble

Thu, 2015-02-05 20:59

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.

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Sea Shepherd seeks access to jaws of great white sharks culled after Sean Pollard attacked

Wed, 2015-02-04 07:54

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.

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How to eradicate grey squirrels without firing a shot | George Monbiot

Fri, 2015-01-30 22:04

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.

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Clouds form inside Grand Canyon in rare phenomenon - timelapse video

Fri, 2015-01-30 06:23
A blanket of clouds amass inside the Grand Canyon on Wednesday in a rare meteorological phenomenon known as 'cloud inversion'. Timelapse footage shows the clouds swirling inside the famous canyon located in Arizona. Experts say the inversion occurs in low wind when warm air sits on top of the clouds, causing them to remain close to the Earth's surface Continue reading...
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Antarctic toothfish poaching ships shrug off New Zealand navy

Wed, 2015-01-21 23:39

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.

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India’s tiger population increases by almost a third

Wed, 2015-01-21 00:06

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”.

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Rate of environmental degradation puts life on Earth at risk, say scientists

Fri, 2015-01-16 05:00

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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Uttarayan: concerns over bird fatalities during kite festival in India

Wed, 2015-01-14 22:28

Many birds get injured or killed as thousands take to the terraces to fly kites to celebrate Makar Sankranti on 14 January, marking the arrival of spring

Kites will fill the skies in many parts of India on Wednesday for the festival of Makar Sankranti or Uttarayan, celebrating the onset of spring, but conservationists will be fearing the worst as they brace for another year of avian fatalities.

The Jivdaya Charitable Trust (JCT), an animal welfare NGO, attended to 2,394 injured birds in Ahmedabad, the heartland of the kite flying festival, in the Indian state of Gujarat around this time last year. Of these, 490 died.

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Hebei's steel cities and China's pollution crisis – in pictures

Wed, 2015-01-14 01:15

China’s Hebei Province has some of the worst air pollution in the country and the area’s vast steel industry is a key focus of government efforts to improve air quality. Lu Guang’s stark images capture the industrial landscapes of some of Hebei’s most polluted cities

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Why you really should (but really can't) eat horsemeat

Fri, 2015-01-09 22:00

An overabundance of wild horses in the American west is driving us to the brink of an environmental disaster – and the most sensible solution may be adding them to the menu

In 2013, in the wake of the horsemeat scandal that gripped Europe, a number of envelope-pushing, high-end restaurants decided to try to introduce horsemeat to the modern American palate. The result was disastrous.

Philadelphia chef Peter McAndrews, owner of upscale Italian restaurant Monsu, was sent graphic images of horses being slaughtered and even received bomb threats after he announced he would serve horsemeat in his dining room. He publicly declared that the intimidation tactics from horse advocates that had convinced other restaurants not to serve horse would not change his menu. But a visit from the FDA to all five of his restaurants did. The agency’s inspectors advised that he “stay away from it,” he told Eater Philadelphia. “I felt like I had the FBI of the food world on me.”

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Leave fossil fuels buried to prevent climate change, study urges

Thu, 2015-01-08 04:00

New research is first to identify which reserves must not be burned to keep global temperature rise under 2C, including over 90% of US and Australian coal and almost all Canadian tar sands

George Monbiot: Why leaving fossil fuels in the ground is good for everyone

Vast amounts of oil in the Middle East, coal in the US, Australia and China and many other fossil fuel reserves will have to be left in the ground to prevent dangerous climate change, according to the first analysis to identify which existing reserves cannot be burned.

The new work reveals the profound geopolitical and economic implications of tackling global warming for both countries and major companies that are reliant on fossil fuel wealth. It shows trillions of dollars of known and extractable coal, oil and gas, including most Canadian tar sands, all Arctic oil and gas and much potential shale gas, cannot be exploited if the global temperature rise is to be kept under the 2C safety limit agreed by the world’s nations. Currently, the world is heading for a catastrophic 5C of warming and the deadline to seal a global climate deal comes in December at a crunch UN summit in Paris.

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Brown bears, wolves and lynx numbers rising in Europe

Fri, 2014-12-19 05:00

Land-sharing model of conservation is helping large predators thrive in the wild – and even the British countryside could support big carnivores, study finds

The forests – and suburbs – of Europe are echoing with the growls, howls and silent padding of large predators according to a new study which shows that brown bears, wolves and lynx are thriving on a crowded continent.

Despite fears that large carnivores are doomed to extinction because of rising human populations and overconsumption, a study published in Science has found that large predator populations are stable or rising in Europe.

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Fishing quotas defy scientists’ advice

Wed, 2014-12-17 09:31
EU decision to increase allowed catches in most areas good news for British fishermen, but conservationists are dismayed

Britain’s fishermen will be allowed to increase their catch of cod and other key fish species next year after late-night wrangling between EU ministers in Brussels resulted in a new set of fishing quotas that flout scientific advice.

The quota for cod catches for 2015 will increase by 5% on last year, though scientific advice suggested that it should be cut by 20%.

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Belo Monte, Brazil: The tribes living in the shadow of a megadam

Tue, 2014-12-16 18:00

Next year the Belo Monte dam will flood vast swathes of Amazon rainforest. Indian tribes living on the river have lost their fight to halt the project – now they await the floods that threaten their entire way of life

By the Great Bend of the Xingu river in the depths of Amazonia, the Juruna tribe is being drowned by what seems at first sight to be a flood of TV game-show prizes.

There’s a shiny new motorboat moored by the old canoe, the latest four-wheel drive parked beside a chicken coop, satellite dishes outside every home and wide-screen plasma TVs inside.

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World set for climate disaster, say activists, as Lima talks falter

Sun, 2014-12-14 06:06

Proposals too weak to keep global warming to the agreed limit of two degrees above pre-industrial levels

Frustrated climate campaigners have claimed that the world was on course for an unsustainable four-degree rise in temperatures, as two weeks of negotiations for a climate change agreement headed for an unsatisfying conclusion.

The proposals, still under discussion on Saturday, a day after the talks were scheduled to end, were too weak to keep global warming to the agreed limit of two degrees above preindustrial levels, setting the world on course to a climate disaster, according to developing countries at the summit.

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Greenpeace apologises to people of Peru over Nazca lines stunt

Thu, 2014-12-11 10:53

Culture ministry says it will press charges against activists for damage to world heritage site as UN climate talks began in Lima

Greenpeace has apologised to the people of Peru after the government accused the environmentalists of damaging ancient earth markings in the country’s coastal desert by leaving footprints in the ground during a publicity stunt meant to send a message to the UN climate talks delegates in Lima.

A spokesman for Greenpeace said: “Without reservation Greenpeace apologises to the people of Peru for the offence caused by our recent activity laying a message of hope at the site of the historic Nazca lines. We are deeply sorry for this.

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