By Bridie Jabour 3 February 2014 (theguardian.com) – Two of the board members of the authority that approved the dumping of 3 million cubic metres of dredging spoil in the Great Barrier Reef waters are still involved in an investigation for potential conflicts of interest, including links to mining companies. The environment minister, Greg Hunt, […]
By Tim Craig1 February 2014 ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (Washington Post) – Ramesh Iqbal lives in one of the Pakistani capital’s middle-class neighborhoods and attends college. But on a recent day, he and two friends emerged from a wooded area, their arms full of the logs and branches they had to gathered to warm their homes. “We […]
Contact: Nick Manning, University of Waterloo, 519-888-4451, 226-929-76273 February 2014 (University of Waterloo) – Arctic lakes have been freezing up later in the year and thawing earlier, creating a winter ice season about 24 days shorter than it was in 1950, a University of Waterloo study has found. The research, sponsored by the European Space […]
By Lucy Cormack13 January 2014 (Sydney Morning Herald) – Australia’s standing as the home among the gumtrees could be challenged, with increased climate stress causing extensive change to Australia’s eucalypt ecosystems. A study by the National Environmental Research Program’s Environmental Decisions Hub has found that climate stress on eucalypts will mean many of Australia’s 750 […]
10 January 2014 (Science) – Worldwide population estimates of large-carnivore species. Error bars represent the low and high range of the estimates when available. Population estimates were not available for all species. Species ranges vary widely, and range sizes can have a strong influence on species population levels (table S1). Sources: Gray wolf (90), all […]
16 January 2014By Christa Marshall (Scientific American) – Cracks in sea ice are funneling additional mercury to the Arctic surface, raising concerns about the toxic element seeping into the food chain of the delicate ecosystem, according to a new study. The research, published yesterday in Nature, finds that channels of open water in Arctic ice, […]
By Tony Barboza 5 January 2014 (Los Angeles Times) – The sardine fishing boat Eileen motored slowly through moonlit waters from San Pedro to Santa Catalina Island, its weary-eyed captain growing more desperate as the night wore on. After 12 hours and $1,000 worth of fuel, Corbin Hanson and his crew returned to port without […]
By Scott Sonner16 January 2014 SPARKS, Nevada (Associated Press) – State wildlife officials are trying to figure out why all the fish have died in a northern Nevada marina where the stocked fishery has flourished since the man-made lake was created nearly 15 years ago. An estimated 100,000 trout, bass and catfish have died over […]
By Damian Carrington8 January 2014 (theguardian.com) – The UK faces a food security catastrophe because of its very low numbers of honeybee colonies, which provide an essential service in pollinating many crops, scientists warned on Wednesday. New research reveals that honeybees provide just a quarter of the pollination needed in the UK, the second lowest […]
By Kurtis Alexander20 January 2014 (San Franciso Chronicle) – The black bears of the high Sierra are normally curled up in caves in January, enjoying long winter naps. But with winter conditions hardly wintry this year, some bears are finding little reason to hibernate and are instead traipsing around like it’s the middle of August. […]