Crimes against peregrines are on the rise and some of the most
gruesome cases have taken place in the West Midlands, the Royal Society for the
Protection of Birds (RSPB) claims.
Profitable farming and birds can co-exist,
RSPB shows
Farmland bird numbers have
been boosted by 119% at the RSPB's demonstration arable unit in Cambridgeshire
by "putting the right things in the right places".
Basking sharks have been sighted giving birth off the north coast
of Cornwall in what could be the first time the event has been witnessed in UK
waters.
Sweet
scents are drifting down from the flowers on the lime trees. They are sparkling,
greenish-white flowers, growing on a kind of wing, which will carry the seeds
to earth later in the year.
Plans to develop offshore wind farms in the South West "can now
move forward" following a comprehensive government assessment of environmental
impacts, the southwest sustainable energy agency has claimed.
Today,
Wildlife Trusts across the East coast of England launch a new website, http://www.northseawildlife.org.uk/
to help promote protection of North Sea marine life.
Wetland funding
is good news for wildlife, but it’s only a start
River
conservation experts at the RSPB have welcomed today’s news that the government
will invest £10million in our waterways and wetlands - but warn that more still
needs to be done.
The Welsh Assembly has proposed tough measures to control genetically
modified crops, including GM-free zones and a ban on GM crop growing in national
parks.
The
RSPB has raised "serious concerns" about the Flixbrough Grange windfarm development,
revealing rare birds live in the area of the proposed development.
The Peak District National Park faces disfigurement if the High
Court fails to stop four 335ft (102m) wind turbines being built on its doorstep,
it was claimed yesterday.
While
the world has focused on the destruction mankind has brought to coral reefs, the
massive loss of an equally important ecosystem has been widely ignored.
Norway helps endangered eel wriggle from fish
nets
Norwegian fisheries regulators
in a landmark decision have banned all fishing of the critically endangered European
eel starting in 2010 and cut 2009 catch quotas by 80 percent.
The United States and Indonesia signed an agreement in which
the largest Southeast Asian nation will commit to protect tropical forests in
return for reduced debt payments to Washington, officials said Tuesday.
Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund
(CEPF) opportunities in Indochina have been expanded, with an invitation for applications
from Lao P.D.R. and Thailand for the first time, and a repeat call for applications
from Cambodia and Vietnam.
The federal government
on Monday agreed to put gray wolves in the western Great Lakes region back on
the endangered species list — at least temporarily.
Sara
Lewis is fluent in firefly. On this night she walks through a farm field in eastern
Massachusetts, watching the first fireflies of the evening rise into the air and
begin to blink on and off.
Scientists at UC Santa Barbara have zeroed in on the genes responsible
for changing flower color, an area of research that began with Gregor Mendel's
studies of the garden pea in the 1850's.
China unveils $140bn plan to build seven giant wind farms by 2020
The Chinese government yesterday announced plans for a $140bn
(£84bn) wind farm building programme that will see seven giant wind farms, each
with a minimum capacity of 10GW, built by 2020.
US EPA approves California auto emissions standard
The Obama administration on Tuesday approved California's long-standing
bid to set its own tough standards for vehicle emissions, a decision in tune with
a national plan to boost fuel efficiency and reduce greenhouse gases linked to
climate change.
India will not sign up to targets to reduce its greenhouse gas
emissions but will instead focus on fighting poverty and boosting economic growth,
the environment minister said Tuesday.
Scotland plans to make all
public sector vehicles "low carbon" by 2020
Just
days after passing arguably the world's most ambitious climate change bill, the
Scottish government yesterday proposed new targets that could result in almost
all new cars sold in the country after 2020 meeting tough low carbon standards.
Super-size deposits of frozen carbon threat to climate change
The vast amount of carbon stored
in the arctic and boreal regions of the world is more than double that previously
estimated, according to a study published this week.
Staples such as cassava on
which millions of people depend become more toxic and produce much smaller yields
in a world with higher carbon dioxide levels and more drought, Australian scientists
say.
Extinction risk to plant biodiversity may occur at lower levels
of atmospheric CO2
Scientists have
traced a sudden collapse in plant biodiversity in ancient Greenland, some 200
million years ago, to a relatively small rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide which
caused a rise in the Earth’s temperature.
