Mussels colony wiped out after Delphi Bridge Repairs
Ireland's largest colony of rare freshwater pearl mussels,
in the Bundorragh River in County Mayo, may have been destroyed because
of repair works on a bridge near Delphi Bridge, a well known fishing
retreat.
Salmon and trout stocks in West Cork rivers "are
almost gone" due to fish farming around Bantry Bay, according
to a former National Parks and Wildlife Services manager.
The culling of badgers to combat bovine TB is to continue
even though the numbers getting the disease are at their lowest since
the eradication programme began in the 1950s, said Minister for Agriculture
Simon Coveney.
Listowel Tidy Towns group plans to identify and map
the wildlife and biodiversity of the town and its environs as part
of an effort to raise the awareness and appreciation of local natural
amenities.
The Scottish Government is billing tomorrow’s
talks as the last chance to secure international agreement for the
sustainable fishing of the North East Atlantic mackerel stock during
2012.
Proposals to reform Britain's planning system would
have little or no impact in promoting economic growth and could
undermine public well-being, a report commissioned by conservation
charities claims today.
National Trust comes out against 'public menace'
of wind farms
The National Trust is now "deeply sceptical"
of wind power, its chairman said as he launched an outspoken attack
on the "public menace" of turbines destroying the countryside.
Ed Davey throws weight behind green energy by opening
giant UK windfarm
The new energy secretary, Lib Dem MP Ed Davey, will
face down the growing army of renewable power critics inside the
coalition by making his first major outing a visit to a wind project.
A French court on Monday declared U.S. biotech giant
Monsanto guilty of chemical poisoning of a French farmer, a judgment
that could lend weight to other health claims against pesticides.
A US federal judge has thrown out an animal rights
group's lawsuit accusing SeaWorld of enslaving captive killer whales,
ruling that orcas have no standing to seek the same constitutional
rights as people.
A federal government vessel would be sent to spy on
foreign whaling ships that enter Australian waters, under a private
bill from Greens leader Bob Brown.
Soil erosion increasing global warming
threat: UNEP
Global warming will get worse as
agricultural methods accelerate the rate of soil erosion, which
depletes the amount of carbon the soil is able to store, a United
Nations' Environment Programme report said on Monday.
A Yale-led study of the evolutionary history of Antarctic
fish and their "anti-freeze" proteins illustrates how
tens of millions of years ago a lineage of fish adapted to newly
formed polar conditions -- and how today they are endangered by
a rapid rise in ocean temperatures.
EU open to negotiations but won’t scrap airline
carbon emissions tax
Europe is willing to discuss its new carbon emissions
tax for airlines with disgruntled governments but has no plans to
scrap the levy, top EU officials said Monday.
Carbon capture to net €1bn of infrastructure
funds
Experimental technology to capture, store and bury
carbon emissions in geological formations is in line to receive
a payout of as much as €1.37 billion from the EU’s energy
infrastructure package, EurActiv has learned.
After years of trying to persuade sceptics, the renewable
energy industry continues to face an uphill battle in convincing
power producers that integrating more renewable energies like wind
and solar will not put the electricity grid in jeopardy.
The UK government on Thursday recommended slashing
subsidies for solar panels on homes from July 1 after a boom in
installations last year nearly exhausted its support budget.
Scientists melt mystery over icecaps and sea levels
U.S. scientists using satellite data have established
a more accurate figure of the amount of annual sea level rise from
melting glaciers and ice caps which should aid studies on how quickly
coastal areas may flood as global warming gathers pace.
Melting glaciers on the Himalayas not contributing
to sea level rise
The Himalayas has lost no significant ice over the
past decade, according to a new study, that found melting ice from
glaciers is having a much smaller effect on sea levels than previously
thought.
