Worrying
drop in the number of Africa bird migrants
The
number of African migrants flying into Cornwall, such as yellow wagtails and cuckoos,
has declined over the past 13 years, and bird conservation body the British Trust
for Ornithology has set up a national appeal to do something about it.
Twilight treks are being staged by the Forestry Commission on
the estate at 2,000-hectare (5,000-acre) Hamsterley Forest to seek out the elusive
nightjar.
Fields, woods and gardens are now full of young birds. Most of
them are still being fed by their parents but they are also starting to look for
food themselves.
There was only one word for it: wow. The 30ft-high rowan tree,
the magic tree of Celtic culture, lay on its side at the edge of the Scottish
loch, a fat pile of woodchips clustered around the base of the trunk which had
been so efficiently cut away.
Octopus
and squid can hear. The discovery resolves a century-long debate over whether
cephalopods, the group of sea creatures that includes octopus, squid, cuttlefish
and nautiluses, can hear sounds underwater.
Plans to reform
wildlife laws in Scotland go out to consultation today. Environment Secretary
Richard Lochhead said the government needed the public’s assistance to change
legislation ...
Labour Party president Michael D Higgins has expressed concern
about a “deteriorating situation” with the Corrib gas project in north Mayo, following
the sinking last week of a fishing vessel in Broadhaven Bay.
Work starts on new Ł600,000 Wyre Forest
Discovery Centre
Work has started
on a new Ł600,000 community visitor centre on the Forestry Commission estate in
the Wyre Forest, as part of as part of the Wyre Forest Landscape Partnership Scheme
– ‘Grow With Wyre’.
A farm on The Lizard peninsula
– the first site to be surveyed for its wildlife importance by the National Trust
in June 1979 – has been revisited 30 years to the day to see what has changed.
Prince of Wales criticised over
plan to turn paradise into a car park
Usually
praised for his passionate support of the environment, the Prince of Wales has
found himself the subject of criticism over plans to turn a "paradise" for wildlife
into a car park.
This
weekend the Scottish Renewables Festival is taking place exploring how the power
of the wind, sun and water can be used to provide electricity in a more environmentally
friendly way.
Half the lead produced in the world ends up discharged into the
environment and Ireland and the UK are among the biggest culprits, a study of
52 countries shows.
Australia
will oppose a compromise deal that would allow Japan to resume coastal whaling
in return for scaling back its annual whale hunt near Antarctica, Environment
Minister Peter Garrett said on Monday.
Swarms of snakes
are attacking people and cattle in southern Iraq as the Euphrates and Tigris rivers
dry up and the reptiles lose their natural habitat among the reed beds.
Neotropical migratory bird grants link
sites and people
The work of BirdLife
Partners throughout the Americas will benefit from $4.8 million in US Fish and
Wildlife Service grants for projects supporting Neotropical migratory bird conservation.
How fast can
evolution take place? In just a few years, according to a new study on guppies
led by UC Riverside's Swanne Gordon, a graduate student in biology.
Not 1, but 2 kinds of males found in the invasive
round goby
Scientists have found the
existence of two types of males of a fiercely invasive fish spreading through
the Great Lakes, which may provide answers as to how they rapidly reproduce.
New species of phallus-shaped mushroom named after California
Academy of Sciences scientist
It's
two inches long, grows on wood, and is shaped like a phallus. A new species of
stinkhorn mushroom, Phallus drewesii, has been discovered on the African
island of Sao Tome and graces the upcoming cover of the journal Mycologia.
Ambitous global climate change agreement in sight says top UN
official
An ambitious and effective
global pact to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is in sight, the top United Nations
climate change official said today, as the latest round of negotiations wrapped
up in Bonn, Germany.
Pachauri: Stern stance on China climate
talks 'pragmatic'
The head of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has rejected suggestions that the United
States has adopted too soft a stance on climate change negotiations with China.
Democrats struggling for consensus on climate bills
Democratic allies remain at odds over provisions of a House climate
bill and a Senate energy bill, even as congressional leaders and Obama administration
officials are pressing to complete work on the legislation.
EU disappointed by lack of progress on
climate change talks
The European
Commission voiced disappointment on Monday that international climate change negotiations
last week failed to yield progress in the countdown to a major summit in December.
Government highlights "green" scrappage scheme success
Since its launch a month ago, more than 60,000 people have taken
advantage of the government's car scrappage scheme, according to new figures released
today which suggest the controversial initiative is proving more popular than
expected.
In 1906, Mount Speke, one the highest peaks of Uganda's Rwenzori
Mountains was covered with 217 hectares (536 acres) of ice, according to the Climate
Change Unit at Uganda's ministry of water and environment.
Hundreds of environmental
activists took to the streets of Australia's main cities on Saturday, saying the
Labor government was not doing enough on climate change.
Reviving American chestnut trees may mitigate climate change
A Purdue University study shows that introducing a new hybrid
of the American chestnut tree would not only bring back the all-but-extinct species,
but also put a dent in the amount of carbon in the Earth's atmosphere.
