Kenya growers dump tons of roses due to Europe flight ban

By Jeremy Clarke and Antony Gitonga; additional reporting by Duncan Miriri and Elias Biryabarema in Nairobi, Barry Malone in Addis Ababa; Editing by Helen Nyambura-Mwaura and Giles ElgoodMon Apr 19, 2010 4:24pm EDT NAIVASHA, Kenya (Reuters) – Kenyan flower farmer Jack Kneppers was forced on Monday to throw 6.5 tons of his exquisite roses into […]

20 percent of UK plant species are endangered — UK loses one species of wild plant every two years

Stinging nettles have become the most common plants in the British countryside, while more delicate flowers like harebells and orchids are struggling to survive, according to a survey. By Louise Gray, Environment CorrespondentPublished: 8:00AM BST 17 Apr 2010 The annual survey of wild flowers by the charity Plantlife found plants that can tolerate high levels […]

EU ban and lack of ice end Canada seal slaughter

(AFP) A lack of sea ice in one of the warmest Canadian winters on record and a European boycott have ruined what was to be a banner seal hunt off Canada’s Atlantic coast this month. Canada’s Fisheries Minister Gail Shea last month increased by 50,000 the allowable catch of harp seals this season to 330,000, […]

Iceland bank ‘Black Report’

  The English version of the Black Report on the Iceland bank failures was released today. It has it all – regulatory capture, oblivious politicians, shadow banking, loans to shareholders to buy shares and more. (ht Steinn) Here is the website with the English version. … One of the key problems identified in the report […]

Almost all Austria glaciers shrank in 2009

VIENNA, April 9 (AFP) Apr 09, 2010 Almost 90 percent of Austrian glaciers shrank in 2009, some by as much as 46 metres (150 feet), the Austrian Alpine Association (OeAV) said Friday. In a report, the OeAV said 85 out of 96 glaciers had shrunk over the past year. The biggest changes were seen in […]

Graph of the Day: U.K. Natural Gas Imports, Jan 2000 – Jan 2010

The diagram shows the development of U.K. natural gas gross imports and the composition of the imports. Belgium does not export natural gas, but this is gas imported through the Interconnector between Zeebrugge in Belgium and Bacton in U.K. from other sources and ultimately most likely Russia. How Close will the U.K. Come to Running […]

Swarms of venomous jellyfish move toward British waters

Published: 10:15AM BST 07 Apr 2010 The lethal mauve stingers – Pelagia noctiluca in Latin – are tiny but can cover hundreds of thousands of square miles in one “bloom”. They are normally found in the Mediterranean and Caribbean. But billions of them are swarming far more frequently into waters in the north east Atlantic […]

Norway raises hunting quota to 1,286 whales

The government of Norway announced on April 1st, perhaps hoping the unseemly news would be lost amid the fictitious headlines of the day, that the country’s whale hunting quota would be raised to the highest level in 25 years: 1286 whales can be killed this season. The announcement has some animal protection groups scratching their […]

Medicine residues may threaten fish reproduction, Swedish study finds

  ScienceDaily (Apr. 5, 2010) — Researchers at Umeå University and the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, have discovered that traces of many medicines can be found in fish that have been swimming in treated waste water. One such medicine, the hormone levonorgestrel, was found in higher concentrations in the blood of […]

Arctic thaw frees overlooked greenhouse gas

Editing by Philippa Fletcher OSLO (Reuters) – Thawing permafrost can release nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas, a contributor to climate change that has been largely overlooked in the Arctic, a study showed on Sunday. The report in the journal Nature Geoscience indicated that emissions of the gas surged under certain conditions from melting […]

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