The Guardian
Cull invasive mammals to save island species, experts urge
Move ‘would save 10% of all endangered birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles’
Nearly 10% of the world’s bird, mammal, amphibian and reptile species currently on the brink of extinction could be saved by killing invasive mammals such as cats and rats on 169 islands, according to a new study.
Islands comprise just 5.3% of the Earth’s landmass yet have experienced 75% of known bird, mammal, amphibian and reptile extinctions since 1500. More than a third of species currently classified as “critically endangered” on the IUCN Red List are found on islands, with many particularly vulnerable to just eight species – including feral pigs, dogs, goats and mongooses – introduced by humans.
Continue reading...Air pollution linked to psychotic experiences in young people
Teens living in dirty air 70% more likely to have symptoms such as paranoia, study finds
Young people living with higher levels of air pollution are significantly more likely to have psychotic experiences, according to the first study of the issue.
Researchers analysed the experiences of more than 2,000 17-year-olds across England and Wales and found that those in places with higher levels of nitrogen oxides had a 70% higher chance of symptoms such as hearing voices or intense paranoia.
Continue reading...Crisis of faith: pilgrims and pollution along the Ganges – in pictures
Giulio Di Sturco has spent 10 years documenting industrialisation and climate change along the Ganges in India – a river with the same legal rights as people
• Ganga Ma is published by GOST Books
Exxon Valdez: high winds threaten Alaskan oil slick - archive, 27 March 1989
27 March 1989: Threat grows from worst US spill as tanker flounders
High winds yesterday threatened to double the size of an oil slick menacing marine life in Alaskan waters as government investigators arrived on the Valdez to question the captain and crew members of the supertanker that precipitated the worst oil spill in US history.
State officials feared that high winds could aggravate the problem by doubling the size of the slick, estimated by Exxon to be about 12 square miles, while state officials contended it was 50 square miles.
Continue reading...Specieswatch: ancient crustaceans still going strong after 450m years
Ostracods live in almost every watery habitat – including Bedfordshire puddles
As Homo sapiens rushes towards extinction (in geological terms) taking with us many other species, it is good to know that some creatures that were here well before us will still be about when we are gone.
In a small puddle in a wood in Bedfordshire some crustaceans called ostracods were spotted last year “zipping about like rockets under water” as they completed their rapid transition from eggs to adults. Magically, ostracods disappear when puddles dry up only to re-emerge when conditions become favourable. The trick is that their eggs dry out and can survive for years as dust waiting for the right conditions to hatch.
Continue reading...Widespread losses of pollinating insects revealed across Britain
Wild bees and hoverflies lost from a quarter of the places they were found in 1980, study shows
A widespread loss of pollinating insects in recent decades has been revealed by the first national survey in Britain, which scientists say “highlights a fundamental deterioration” in nature.
The analysis of 353 wild bee and hoverfly species found the insects have been lost from a quarter of the places they were found in 1980. A third of the species now occupy smaller ranges, with just one in 10 expanding their extent, and the average number of species found in a square kilometre fell by 11.
Continue reading...‘It devours everything’: the crab that hitched a ride to Spain | Stephen Burgen
Only the octopus is a match for the deadly pincers of a creature that has found its way from the US to the Ebro Delta
Voracious and almost without predators, the blue crab was first sighted in the Ebro Delta on Spain’s Mediterranean coast in 2012, and since then the population has expanded exponentially, wiping out native species and forcing the fishing industry to adapt and find new markets.
The blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) is a native of the east coast of the United States. It probably found its way into the Mediterranean via ships’ ballast tanks, says Carmen Barberá, a researcher at the Marine Research Centre at the University of Alicante, who is a specialist in invasive species.
Continue reading...Climate change denial is evil, says Mary Robinson
Exclusive: chair of Elders group also says fossil fuel firms have lost their social licence
The denial of climate change is not just ignorant, but “malign and evil”, according to Mary Robinson, because it denies the human rights of the most vulnerable people on the planet.
The former UN high commissioner for human rights and special envoy for climate change also says fossil fuel companies have lost their social licence to explore for more coal, oil and gas and must switch to become part of the transition to clean energy.
Continue reading...Global coal use up by third as greenhouse gas emissions rise
Younger coal-fired power plants in Asia account for increase, says energy agency
Greenhouse gas emissions from energy production rose strongly again last year, according to new data from the International Energy Agency, with a young fleet of coal-fired power plants in Asia accounting for a large proportion of the increase.
Energy demand grew at its fastest pace this decade, with a 2.3% increase globally driving rises in fossil fuel consumption. Coal use in power stations was up by nearly a third, and together gas and coal were responsible for nearly 70% of the growth in energy consumption, and while demand for solar and wind power also increased, it was by much less overall.
Continue reading...'Coal is on the way out': study finds fossil fuel now pricier than solar or wind
Around 75% of coal production is more expensive than renewables, with industry out-competed on cost by 2025
Around three-quarters of US coal production is now more expensive than solar and wind energy in providing electricity to American households, according to a new study.
“Even without major policy shift we will continue to see coal retire pretty rapidly,” said Mike O’Boyle, the co-author of the report for Energy Innovation, a renewables analysis firm. “Our analysis shows that we can move a lot faster to replace coal with wind and solar. The fact that so much coal could be retired right now shows we are off the pace.”
Continue reading...Whitsundays shark attack: man in serious condition after being bitten on thigh
The man, 25, was bitten on the thigh in waters at Hardy Reef, about 50km north-east of Hamilton Island
A man attacked by a shark in the Whitsundays is in a serious but stable condition after being rescued from a diving pontoon on the Great Barrier Reef.
The man, 25, was bitten on the thigh in waters at Hardy Reef, about 50km north-east of Hamilton Island about 12.30pm (AEST) on Monday.
Continue reading...Plains-wanderer hatchlings snuggle up to feather duster 'father' – video
The captive population of Australia’s most unique critically endangered bird has doubled thanks to a plan hatched by Werribee open range zoo in Victoria. Last week, nine plains-wanderer chicks came into the world within 24 hours of each other. One of the clutches was hatched in an incubator and raised under the paternal care of a feather duster after one of the fathers, a four-month-old who was daunted at raising his first chicks, stopped sitting on them.
Within four days, the zoo director Glen Holland said, the chicks were eating crickets 'the size of beans' and zooming around their enclosure 'like bumblebees'.
'They have been snuggling up to the feather duster, pushing up into the feathers,' Holland said.
Don't know how to save the planet? This is what you can do
Should we become vegetarians? Is it OK to fly? The author of There Is No Planet B, A Handbook for the Make or Break Years, answers the big questions
Our food makes up something like a quarter of our greenhouse gas footprint, and at the same time as cutting this we need to feed a growing population better than we are doing now, while rescuing our haemorrhaging biodiversity and avoiding an antibiotics crisis. There is no escaping the clear evidence that humans need to reduce their meat – especially beef and lamb – as well as dairy consumption. When we feed a soya bean to a cow, we get back only about 10% of the nutrition in beef, and it comes with a hefty dose of methane (a powerful greenhouse gas) and very likely some deforestation.
Continue reading...Australian zoo breeds rare plains-wanderer by replacing absent father with feather duster
Captive population of critically endangered bird doubles with the birth of nine chicks
The captive population of Australia’s most unique critically endangered bird has doubled with the birth of nine plains-wanderer chicks, helped out by a feather duster, a heat lamp and a lot of cotton wool.
The chicks were born to two pairs and hatched within 24 hours of each other at Werribee open range zoo in Victoria last week.
Continue reading...Ban cars outside UK schools to tackle air pollution, teachers say
Government must take urgent action to improve air quality around schools, report finds
Nearly two-thirds of teachers would support car-free roads outside schools during drop-off and pickup times, while more than half want the government to take urgent action to improve air quality outside schools, a survey suggests.
The study, in which 840 people in teaching roles across the UK participated, found that 63% would support a ban on motor vehicles outside the school gates at the start and end of the day.
Continue reading...In bloom: the art of drawing and painting Australian plants – in pictures
Sydney’s Royal Botanic Garden first launched its Botanica exhibition in 1999, focusing on the often overlooked but historically vital art of painting and drawing plants. Since then, Botanica has become a key event on the gardens’ annual calendar, with the sale of all artworks going towards funding science and conservation programs. This year, the free exhibition will feature 120 artworks from 66 established and emerging botanical artists from Australia and overseas.
• Botanica is showing at the Royal Botanic Garden’s Lion Gate Lodge garden, Sydney, from 30 March
Continue reading...Fracking plan ‘will release same C02 as 300m new cars’
The government’s fracking proposals would release the same amount of greenhouse gas emissions as almost 300 million new cars, fatally undermining ministers’ obligation to tackle the escalating climate crisis, according to new research.
Analysis by the Labour party shows that the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere if the government’s plans go ahead would be the same as the lifetime emissions of 286 million cars – or 29 new coal-fired power plants.
Continue reading...Hunt for bogus asthma cure threatens pangolins
One of nature’s most remarkable creatures, the pangolin, is being driven to extinction as hunting and trafficking have soared in recent years. Studies have discovered that hundreds of thousands of these distinctive, scaly animals are now being killed every year to satisfy markets in Asia, making it the most trafficked and poached mammal on Earth.
The pangolin is hunted for its meat – and also for its scales, which are believed to have important medicinal properties as cures for poor circulation, skin complaints and asthma.
Continue reading...Supermarkets urged to stop stalling over glitter sales ban
It is a familiar adornment of both Mother’s Day and Easter gifts, and brings dustings of sparkle to everything from children’s craft projects to greetings cards and even flowers and pot plants. But campaigners are calling for a ban on glitter, branding it an environmental scourge that contains damaging microplastics.
“Glitter might look lovely but, because it’s plastic, it sticks around long after the sparkle has gone – often in the stomachs of fish and birds,” said David Innes, from the campaign group 38 Degrees, which has launched a petition calling on environment secretary Michael Gove to outlaw the product. Innes cites a recent study showing that up to a third of fish caught in the North Sea contained microplastic particles – including glitter.
Continue reading...The week in wildlife – in pictures
A playful polar bear cub in Berlin, a hopaway wallaby in Texas and a roaming vicuna in Ecuador
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