Feather report: the swifts that
nest at Oxford University
The swifts
are back again over my garden in North London. I never tire of watching them in
the evening as they sweep across the sky, first gliding, then propelling themselves
with a fevered burst of wing beats.
They are normally
found in the balmy waters of sub-tropical coral reefs. But this moray eel got
a bit lost – it was trawled up from the bracing waters off the Cornish coast.
The waiting is part of it, of course, and so is the uncertainty.
I know this little patch of steep earth pretty well, a miniature valley devoid
of any human logic.
Epic trip to trace the remotest of our
native butterflies
Travelling 500
miles to be bitten half to death by midges on a Highland hillside seems a high
price to pay to see a butterfly the size of your thumbnail ...
Scientists have found
that the size and number of pores in plants' leaves depends on how much carbon
dioxide (CO2) was the atmosphere when those plants first appeared.
Filey Golf Club has bagged a
hole in one for its impressive green credentials, becoming one of just a handful
in clubs in Yorkshire to win an award under the English Golf Environment Scheme.
No cover for sunk vessel
due to 'act of terrorism'
The Marine
Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) is unlikely to investigate the circumstances
surrounding the sinking of a shellfish boat off Erris Head, Co Mayo, two days
ago as it was “not accidental”.
Warning over landscapes and wildlife
in Northamptonshire
A report issued
today by Natural England has a warning for authorities in Northamptonshire about
the state of landscapes and wildlife across the county.
Alaska's
Rat Island is finally rat-free, 229 years after a Japanese shipwreck spilled rampaging
rodents onto the remote Aleutian island, decimating the local bird population.
President Barack Obama launched a plan on Friday to protect the
oceans, U.S. coasts and Great Lakes from the threats of climate change, pollution
and overfishing.
Endangered right whales identified where they were presumed locally
extinct
Using a system of underwater
hydrophones that can record sounds from hundreds of miles away, a team of scientists
... has documented the presence of endangered North Atlantic right whales in an
area they were thought to be locally extinct.
1 moose, 2
moose: Scientist seeks correction in number of species
It is a misinterpretation of the application of the bedrock of
scientific naming with regard to the number of moose species that Kris Hundertmark
... seeks to correct.
Researchers have begun testing mechanical "SediTurtles" they
say will protect a legendary Vietnamese turtle while cleaning the historical lake
in which the creature lives.
Biodiversity network to spruce
up 13 ‘dry districts’
The Karnataka
Biodiversity Board, along with the Centre for Sustainable Development (CSD), will
soon set up a biodiversity network in 13 ‘dry districts’ of the State.
Animal migrations disappearing
from face of the earth, study concludes
Massive
animal migrations - which from time immemorial have darkened the world's plains
as they trekked across the continents – are disappearing from the face of the
Earth, the first study into their plight concludes.
UN climate talks make limited progress, hard work still ahead
Negotiators from 183 nations on Friday
concluded another round of climate talks with limited progress towards a new UN
treaty to curb global warming, but huge differences are still to be ironed out
in future negotiations.
US expects China to cut emissions
after a 'peak year'
The United States
wants China to accept slow increases in its greenhouse gas emissions until it
hits a "peak year," beyond which a real decrease must occur, US negotiator Todd
Stern said Friday.
Reduce your pollution 40%, India to industrialised
countries
Industrialized countries
should be legally bound to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions "by at
least 40 percent below 1990 levels in 2020", India and 36 other developing countries
have proposed.
Nations may form global CO2 market without
U.N. deal
Rich countries may act on
their own to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by developing a carbon market they
hope will lure in poor nations even if U.N. climate talks get bogged down, experts
said.
Australia demands bushfire exemption in carbon treaty
Peat bogs in Germany, New Zealand firs and North American forests
will likely allow industrialized countries to lower carbon emissions while still
burning coal and oil, according to a draft United Nations document.
Australian climate
scientists are by and large cautious people. So when they publish findings, as
they did yesterday, warning that sea-level rises caused by climate change and
associated storm surges will be one of the greatest impacts of a warming world,
it is sobering advice.
African bird species
could struggle to relocate to survive global warming
African bird species could struggle to relocate to survive global
warming because natural features of the landscape will limit where they can move
to, according to new research published June 10 in Proceedings of the Royal
Society B.
