Hong Kong, Taiwan suffer from worst China sandstorms in 25 years

HONG KONGMon Mar 22, 2010 10:38am EDT (Reuters) – Hong Kong’s harbor was cloaked in thick smog on Monday as air pollution soared to record levels ahead of the Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament this weekend, the city’s premier sporting event. Taiwan, too, was hit by what are being called the worst sandstorms in 25 […]

Invasive plant strangling Nepal ecosystem

By Navin Singh KhadkaEnvironment reporter, BBC News An invasive plant is emerging as a major problem in a Nepalese national park renowned for protecting endangered wildlife species, say scientists. The Chitwan National Park is listed as a Unesco world heritage site and is a major tourist attraction. It has been a huge conservation success story, […]

Rejected trade ban ‘sounds death knell’ for bluefin tuna

  By MICHAEL CASEY, with Andrew Darby and agencies March 20, 2010 DOHA: Fishing nations have voted down environmentalists, with a US-backed proposal to ban export of the Atlantic bluefin tuna overwhelmingly rejected at a UN wildlife meeting. The decision has been described as the end for the species. The US and European Union, which […]

Chinese zoo closed after tigers starve to death

Employee accuses bosses of making drink from bones of endangered animal By Clifford Coonan in Beijing Thursday, 18 March 2010 It is the Chinese Year of the Tiger but it has been far from auspicious. China’s Shenyang Zoo has closed after 11 Siberian tigers died of starvation or were shot this year amid murky tales […]

Historic China drought leaves millions short of water – cloud-seeding fails

  By Staff WritersBeijing (AFP) March 17, 2010 Millions of people face drinking water shortages in southwestern China because of a once-a-century drought that has dried up rivers and threatens vast farmlands, state media reported Wednesday. The drought has gripped huge areas of Guizhou, Yunnan, and Sichuan provinces, the Guangxi region, and the mega-city of […]

Tuna listing rejection dooms species to extinction

Japan, Canada and scores of poor nations opposed the measure on the grounds that ban would devastate fishing economies By Guardian staff and agencieswww.guardian.co.uk, Thursday 18 March 2010 15.10 GMT A proposal to protect the Atlantic bluefin tuna prized in sushi was rejected at a UN wildlife meeting today. The decision was reached after Japan, […]

Caviar hunters push sturgeon to ‘extinction's edge’

  Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge, editing by Michael Stott and Philippa Fletcher (Reuters) – After more than 200 million years, sturgeon are losing a battle for survival to poachers who have hunted the queens of caviar to the verge of extinction, a leading environmental group said on Thursday. Stocks of sturgeon, known in Russia as […]

Indonesia to allow mining beneath rainforests

By Arti Ekawati & Fidelis E Satriastanti Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan on Tuesday defended a presidential decision to open protected forests to development, saying only underground mining activities would be allowed, thus minimizing damage to the environment. The regulation, which has reportedly been signed by the president, is yet to be issued, he said, adding […]

Shark conservation proposal defeated at UN meeting

By MICHAEL CASEY, AP Environmental Writer Michael Casey, Ap Environmental Writer   – Tue Mar 16, 2:54 pm ET DOHA, Qatar – China, Japan and Russia helped defeat a U.S.-endorsed proposal at a U.N. wildlife trade meeting Tuesday that would have boosted conservation efforts for sharks, expressing concern it would hurt poor nations and should be […]

Largest seabirds in the world threatened by ‘hundreds of thousands’ of fishing hooks

By ANDREW DARBY IN HOBARTMarch 15, 2010 – 4:52PM To save Australia’s biggest seabirds, first go to the South Atlantic. Albatrosses, which breed on Australian islands, specifically Tasmanian islands in Bass Strait and the sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island, face greater peril off South America than they do at “home”. The challenge of saving these birds from […]

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