Phasmids hailing from New Zealand become asexual after arriving in the UK
A New Zealand stick insect that migrated to the UK more than seven decades ago has given up having sex and become asexual, prompting biologists to wonder about the use of sex at all – especially in Britain.
The Clitarchus hookeri is native to New Zealand but migrated to the UK some time between 1910 and 1935, catching a ride on shiploads of New Zealand plants that were transported to the subtropical Tresco Abbey Garden on the Scilly Isles islands off the coast of Cornwall.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
08/19/2019 - 00:00
National Trust for Scotland says fish farm could harm the environment and economy
The National Trust for Scotland has warned that a large salmon farm beside the Hebridean island of Canna could destroy the island’s culture and wildlife.
The trust, Scotland’s largest heritage charity, said the proposed fish farm posed unacceptable risks to the sea and the birdlife around the tiny island, and would put its booming tourism economy under great strain.
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08/18/2019 - 19:00
Coal-fired stations in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley and NSW’s Lake Macquarie region among biggest hotspots for deadly sulphur dioxide, report finds
Power stations in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley and New South Wales’s Lake Macquarie region have been named on a list of the world’s biggest hotspots for toxic air pollution.
A new report by Greenpeace, published on Monday, used satellite data published by Nasa to analyse the world’s worst sources of sulphur dioxide (SO2) pollution, an irritant gas known to affect human health and one of the main pollutants contributing to deaths from air pollution worldwide.
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08/18/2019 - 13:01
Researchers say eradication of feral cats is required to reduce the prevalence of the parasite and the disease
Feral cats are not just predators that kill large numbers of Australian wildlife, they may also be spreading parasitic disease to native animal species, according to new research analysing the impact of cat populations in South Australia.
The study, published in the journal Wildlife Research, examined Toxoplasma gondii (T gondii), a cat-borne parasite that can cause the disease Toxoplasmosis in a range of species.
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08/18/2019 - 13:00
Australia Institute says claim Australia is only responsible for 1.2% of emissions hides real contribution to climate crisis
Australia’s role as a leader in the global fossil fuel trade is underscored by a report that finds it is the world’s third biggest exporter and fifth biggest miner of fossil-related emissions.
While political debate sometimes emphasises that Australia is responsible for 1.2% of global emissions at home, the analysis by progressive thinktank the Australia Institute says it trails only Russia and Saudi Arabia in exporting fossil fuels.
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08/17/2019 - 14:20
Giraffes, sharks, glass frogs - and the woolly mammoth - may get boosted protection at summit
From giraffes to sharks, the world’s endangered species could gain better protection at an international wildlife conference.
The triennial summit of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), that began on Saturday, will tackle disputes over the conservation of great beasts such as elephants and rhinos, as well as cracking down on the exploitation of unheralded but vital species such as sea cucumbers, which clean ocean floors.
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08/17/2019 - 10:04
Climate activist is four days into a two-week journey on solar-powered yacht
Four days into its two-week Atlantic crossing, the solar-powered yacht carrying climate activist Greta Thunberg is becalmed in the ocean after a choppy start to the trip, still 2,500 nautical miles from New York.
In an update posted to Twitter around midday on Saturday, the 16-year-old said she was eating and sleeping well and had no sea sickness so far.
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08/17/2019 - 00:00
Number of flights taken by BEIS staff rises to 4,500 from 2,700 in previous year despite carbon footprint
The Whitehall officials responsible for tackling the climate crisis dramatically increased their domestic flights last year despite the huge carbon footprint associated with aviation.
Officials from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) took more than 4,500 domestic business flights in the last financial year, according to its annual report. The number of flights taken the year before was fewer than 2,700.
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08/17/2019 - 00:00
Rise in number of local authorities using companies to police streets for littering
The number of litter fines issued by councils has almost quadrupled in six years, with more than 250,000 handed out last year.
The rise coincides with a growth in the number of local authorities in England and Wales employing private companies to police the streets for littering.
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08/16/2019 - 15:00
Things are not under control when it comes to Australia meeting our Paris target, even if Scott Morrison wants us to believe that
We’ll get to climate, and the rumble in the Pacific, but I want to begin closer to home. It’s been a busy news week, so you might have missed an excellent story from my colleague Adam Morton on Tuesday revealing that a coalmine in Queensland has nearly doubled its greenhouse gas emissions in two years without penalty under a Morrison government mechanism that is supposed to impose limits on industrial pollution.
According to documents released under freedom of information laws, mining company Anglo American was given the green light under the safeguards mechanism to increase its emissions by about 1m tonnes at its Moranbah North mine, in central Queensland. The case study matters, because it helps us separate spin from substance.
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