According to the Scottish Government, measures introduced
in 2011 to protect seals – which included the introduction of
a strict licensing system for shootings these mammals – appear
to be working well.
Terry Pratchett warns Britain's hedgehogs and sparrows
are dying out
Sir Terry Pratchett, the author, has warned that Britain's
hedgehogs and sparrows are in danger of dying out after being "orphaned
by traffic, hurt by pollution and forced out of their natural habitat".
The Sound of Barra marine Special Area of Conservation
(SAC) consultation period has now ended, but local opposition to
the proposal remains considerable.
Could underground cables save our countryside from
march of the pylons?
Some of Britain’s famous landscapes could be
saved from pylons after a new study for the National Grid found
underground cables are less expensive than previously thought.
Senior planners are calling for a moratorium on the
development of wind turbines in rural Buchan because of Ministry
of Defence concerns that renewable energy schemes are interfering
with vital defence surveillance systems.
An Australian biology professor is causing a rumble
in the academic jungle by suggesting that his country should import
elephants and other foreign species into its wild interior.
Twenty tons of the cancer-causing metal cadmium have
been discharged into a river in southern China in one of the worst
chemical spills of its kind that could affect up to 4 million people.
India’s has the worst air pollution in the entire
world, beating China, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh, according to
a study released during this year’s World Economic Forum in
Davos.
Are nuisance jellyfish really taking over the world's
oceans?
In recent years, media reports of jellyfish blooms
and some scientific publications have fueled the idea that jellyfish
and other gelatinous floating creatures are becoming more common and
may dominate the seas in coming decades.
Householders 'could be forced to green their home'
when building extensions
The government yesterday set out proposals for an
overhaul of building regulations that would make new "zero-carbon
homes" commonplace by 2016 and require property owners to install
measures to improve their building's energy efficiency when they
carry out renovations.
U.K. said to plan cuts to solar subsidy at predictable
intervals
The U.K. government will announce as early as next
week plans to reduce subsidies for solar energy at routine intervals
as part of an effort to curb a boom in installations, a person familiar
with the plan said.
DEFRA has published its Climate Change Risk Assessment
(CCRA) highlighting the challenges as well as opportunities for
the UK economy including agriculture.
Wall Street Journal rapped over climate change stance
The Wall Street Journal has received a dressing down
from a large group of leading scientists for promoting retrograde
and out-of-date views on climate change.
China quietly shelves new diesel emission standards
It ought to have been a centrepiece of China's efforts
to reduce smog, but the government has quietly postponed plans to
clean the fumes from truck and bus exhaust pipes.
Poland says EU CO2 goal conditional, has doubts on
cost study
A potential European Union move to a stricter emissions-reduction
goal is conditional on efforts by non-EU nations to cut greenhouse
gases, a Polish government official said.
