Blogging the End of the World™
Red List Index (RLI) for (a) birds, (b) mammals and (c) amphibians showing trends driven by the impacts of invasive alien species (IAS) compared with trends driven by other factors, for the proportion of species expected to remain extant in the near future without additional conservation action; n = 9,785 nondata deficient extant bird, 4,555 […]
Nature Notebook: Unlike similar introductions, the little owl has been an attractive addition to Britain’s avifauna By Michael McCarthyTuesday, 26 January 2010 Here’s some sad news for birdwatchers and classicists alike: the wise old owl is in decline. Across Europe, the bird which began the association between owls and intelligence is dropping in numbers – […]
By Bonnie Hulkower, New York, New York on 01.25.10 …While this week of rain has brought some relief to water officials, much more rain and snow is needed to pull California out of its three-year drought. The state could emerge from drought, but only if the rain is persistent, and is complemented by heavy snowfall […]
By Jeremy Hance, www.mongabay.comJanuary 24, 2010 From 2003-2006, Java lost approximately 2,500 hectares a year (10,000 hectares of forest in total) according to the Forestry Ministry. Despite the rate of loss being far lower in Java than other Indonesian islands (such as Borneo, Sumatra, and Sulawesi), Java is particularly threatened because there is so little […]
By BEN CUBBYJanuary 25, 2010 LOGGING is set to start within weeks in a forest that supports the last known koala colony on the NSW far south coast. The NSW Government is yet to release data from a comprehensive survey of koala habitat and population in Mumbulla and Murrah state forests, near Tathra, even though […]
By DEBRA JOPSON REGIONAL AFFAIRSJanuary 25, 2010 WATER that the State Government plans to release from Lake Jindabyne dam into the Snowy River over the next three days will do no more than supply ”life support” to a river which is dying through neglect, a local watchdog body has claimed. From today extra water – […]
By SYLVIA THOMPSON FORGET PEAK OIL. Forget climate change. Peak water is where it’s at, according to Scottish journalist and broadcaster, Alexander Bell, who has just written a fascinating book, Peak Water (Luath Press, Scotland). “It’s the coming issue of our age,” says Bell. “Civilisation is thirsty. It has never stopped to think about what […]
By Andrew BuncombeFriday, 22 January 2010 At times, the moonscape land of Ladakh can appear as dry as a desert. In this most northerly part of India, tucked high in the Himalayas, there is virtually no rainfall and almost 75 per cent of the local farmers rely on meltwater from the glaciers to irrigate their […]
By Michael McCarthy, Environment EditorSaturday, 23 January 2010 One of Britain’s most attractive songbirds has vanished from most of southern England in a dramatic population decline, new research shows. The whinchat is a summer visitor from Africa with an orange breast and a prominent white eyestripe. It was widely scattered across the country 20 years […]
Threat to native species from alien invaders is growing and posing one of the greatest threats to wildlife around the world, conservationists say By Press Associationwww.guardian.co.uk, Friday 22 January 2010 11.14 GMT Hundreds of invasive species – from rats to diseases – are posing one of the greatest threats to wildlife around the world, conservationists […]