Modern practices push farmland birds to brink of extinction
Previously common farmland birds such as the corncrake,
curlew and yellowhammer are now perilously close to extinction in
Ireland, according to a four-year study of the island’s bird
populations.
After an absence of 200 years as a breeding species
in Ireland, Red Kites are once again a familiar sight in parts of
the east coast, thanks to the success of the Irish Red Kite Reintroduction
Project.
Why Britain's garden birds are staying in the country
It has been a hard winter for suburban bird spotters.
The nation's house birds have disappeared from towns and cities, leaving
gardens devoid of our most familiar feathered visitors.
Starlings have been flocking from all over England
and northern Europe to Lower Moor Farm Nature Reserve near Malmesbury,
with spectacular aerial displays every evening.
Looking for a new home for the new year? You’re
not alone. Many birds will get off to a flying start on the house
hunting front early this year too, by claiming a new home with their
version of a ‘sold sign.
More badgers and fewer hedgehogs. Coincidence? I don't
think so
In the wild, animal numbers naturally fluctuate. The
marsh fritillary butterfly, for example, can virtually vanish from
some of its colonies in certain years, only to be present two or three
years later in numbers that are overwhelming (this is caused by cycles
of parasite infestation, and something similar happens with red grouse).
Thames Estuary Airport – a threat to rare bees
and a waste of time
Buglife warns that the proposal for a Thames Estuary
airport will ultimately have to be rejected as an option as it would
jeopardise nationally important populations of rare bumblebees and
other invertebrates, and would contravene wildlife protection laws.
New discoveries in charity’s ‘Lost world’
Highland estate
Biodiversity surveys carried out on Trees for Life’s
Dundreggan Estate, in Glen Moriston, Inverness-shire in 2011... have
revealed a range of rare and endangered species, it was announced
today.
The fate of hundreds of thousands of migrating birds
and the environment are hanging in the balance as the future of
a possible airport on the Thames estuary is argued over by the London
Mayor and the Prime Minister
Urgent action needed to prevent England's rivers
drying up
Britain's rivers are drying up. Unless emergency
measures are adopted, some of our finest waterways could be reduced
to trickles over the next few decades.
One of the largest conservation projects in the UK
will be making moorland near Sheffield green and healthy again –
with the help of a helicopter and 5,500 bags of plant cuttings.
A "pop and ice creams" row has re-opened
the controversy over visitor facilities in the Cairngorms and led
to angry clashes between a landowner and conservationists.
New safety fears for Ayrshire nuclear power station
The company that runs the nuclear reactors at Hunterston
in North Ayrshire is warning that their safety could be jeopardised
by plans to build a huge coal-fired power station next door.
Green energy campaigners are attempting to block
new nuclear power stations in the UK by complaining to the European
Commission that government plans contravene EU competition regulations.
Eighteen wind turbines, each five times higher than
the Angel of the North, will be erected near Alnwick by the end
of the year ... with a further 10 set to follow.
Italy risks worst environmental disaster in 20 years
Italy risks its worst environmental disaster in more
than two decades if the 2,400 tonnes of thick fuel in the capsized
Costa Concordia pollutes one of the Mediterranean's most prized and
pristine maritime reserves.
Anti-whaling campaigners and the crew of a Japanese
whaling ship have had a violent clash at sea, with the activists hurling
containers of rotten butter and paint and getting sticks and teargas
in return.
The challenges of conserving the world's species against
their rapid decline are perhaps even larger than mitigating the negative
effects of global climate change, scientists said.
Conserving biodiversity hotspots 'could bring world's
poor $500bn a year'
Some of the world's poorest people would be half a
trillion dollars a year better off if the services they provide to
the rest of the planet indirectly – through conserving natural
habitats – was given an economic value, a new study has found.
European Commission sticks to plan for environmental
measures
The European Commission will resist calls by France,
the European Union’s largest agricultural producer, to scale
back environmental clauses within the 27- nation bloc’s new
farm policy, a spokesman said.
A new plant has been discovered in Fiji. International
Union for Conservation of Nature said the flowering plant belonged
to the Medinilla plant group and was found in the highlands of Matasawalevu
Village on Kadavu.
A previously unnamed species of horse fly whose appearance
is dominated by its glamorous golden lower abdomen has been named
in honour of American pop diva, Beyoncé.
A group of Australia's leading scientists have rejected
the proposed plan to save the Murray-Darling, saying basic information
needed to have confidence it will deliver a healthy river is missing.
Huge pool of Arctic water could cool Europe: study
A huge pool of fresh water in the Arctic Ocean is
expanding and could lower the temperature of Europe by causing an
ocean current to slow down, British scientists said Sunday.
Animal and insect species in Europe are losing the
fight to keep up with rapid changes in climate in a new phenomenon
dubbed "climatic debt", according to an international
study.
French corn farmers plant earlier, lift yields as
climate warms
Corn farmers in France, the European Union’s
largest producer, are planting their crop earlier compared with
a decade ago as climate change causes higher temperatures, boosting
yields, researchers and growers said.
Coral reefs may be much better able to adapt to rising
sea temperatures due to climate change than previously thought,
according to a breakthrough Australian discovery revealed yesterday.
The Bank of England should investigate how exposure
to high-carbon industries puts the UK’s financial stability
and long-term growth at risk, says a coalition of investors, academics
and environmental groups.
More than 40,000 households and businesses could
claim a higher rate of subsidies for solar panels after the government
on Thursday offered a compromise deal in the row over cuts to the
scheme.
Delays 'stilting Northern Ireland renewable energy
industry'
Companies which build and install renewable energy
products, like solar panels, have said delays at Stormont have stilted
their industry for the last two years.
Last month, I announced that Canada would invoke
our legal right to withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol. This decision
formalizes what our Conservative government has said since 2006
- that we will not implement the Kyoto Protocol.
NASA graphic depicts significant spike in temperatures
in 2011
A new NASA graphic shows that temperatures in several
global regions were appreciably higher in 2011than at mid-century,
with large swaths of Siberia and the Arctic experiencing temperatures
as much as 4 degrees C (7 degrees F) above the 1950 to 1981 average.
Strong growth in renewables not enough to constrain
emissions – BP
Renewable energy will grow almost four times faster
than natural gas in the 20 years to 2030, but its share of the energy
mix will remain small, according to BP, contributing to a 28% rise
in greenhouse gas emissions.
Cost of 30 percent EU carbon cut less than thought:
draft
Raising the European Union's 2020 emission reduction
target to 30 percent would be considerably less costly than originally
thought and the effort could be shared fairly among EU governments,
according to a draft EU document.
