Greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, power stations and industries far to the south are putting shellfish in the Arctic Ocean at risk, an international team reports in the Nov. 20 edition of the journal Science. Acidification may put “some species at risk,” the researchers said, saying this could have a major impact on the entire […]
By MARIAN WILKINSON ENVIRONMENT EDITORNovember 23, 2009 THE collapse of the Coorong wetlands at the mouth of the Murray River is shaping up to be one of the Australia’s worst environmental disasters, an author of a report on the region said yesterday. Bird numbers in the region have fallen dramatically and freshwater turtles continue to […]
Fish reared in water acidified by CO2 may become “fatally attracted” to the smell of their predators, say scientists. A team studying the effects of acidification – caused by dissolved CO2 – on ocean reefs found that it leaves fish unable to “smell danger”. Young clownfish that were reared in the acidified water became attracted […]
On the front line of climate change, the people of the Pacific Islands are desperately looking for higher ground. Adam Morton reports from Kiribati. When a coconut tree dies the decay starts at the top. The leaves fall, then the fruit. All that is left is a desiccated trunk, cut off at half-mast. In areas […]
By Andrew Stern CHICAGO (Reuters) – There are signs Asian carp may have breached barriers designed to keep the prolific fish out of the Great Lakes, which could spell ecological disaster for the vital source of fresh water, authorities said on Friday. Concentrations of DNA discovered by Notre Dame University researchers may indicate the presence […]
By MICHAEL CASEY, AP Environmental Writer KOKONOGI, Japan – A blood-orange blob the size of a small refrigerator emerged from the dark waters, its venomous tentacles trapped in a fishing net. Within minutes, hundreds more were being hauled up, a pulsating mass crowding out the catch of mackerel and sea bass. The fishermen leaned into […]
By JOHN ELDERNovember 15, 2009 THOUSANDS of muttonbirds – upon arriving in Australia to breed – have been found dead along the Victorian and NSW coasts in the past two weeks. The birds, properly known as short-tailed shearwaters, probably died from exhaustion and malnutrition following their migratory flight to Australia from the Arctic Pacific. The […]
By Suzanne Kanehl Just south of Liangqiao, in southern China’s Guangdong province is the small village of Shangba. On the surface, this community of roughly 3,300 appears to be a tranquil, rural village comprised of sugar cane fields and plentiful rice paddies. When a closer look is taken, the people of Shangba have been living […]
By DINA CAPPIELLO, Associated Press Writer – Tue Nov 10, 7:31 pm ET WASHINGTON – Nearly half of lakes and reservoirs nationwide contain fish with potentially harmful levels of the toxic metal mercury, according to a federal study released Tuesday. The Environmental Protection Agency found mercury — a pollutant primarily released from coal-fired power plants […]
By FRAN RIMRODNovember 11, 2009 – 10:40AM There are fears the oil that spewed from a leaking well off the West Australian coast has polluted a stretch of the Indonesian coastline, jeopardising the local fishing industry. The Greens are calling on operator PTTEP Australasia to compensate West Timorese fishing communities in West Timor if reports […]