By Lewis SmithMarch 09 2011 Fish left behind after fishing boats have dragged their trawl nets over the sea bottom are left hungry, skinnier and less virile, scientists have found. Cod, lemon sole and megrim suffer after surviving the bottom-trawling nets because they cannot find as much to eat. Researchers behind the study warned that […]
By Jacob Goldstein1 March 2011 China holds about $1.2 trillion in U.S. government debt, according to the Treasury Department’s latest figures. That’s about 30 percent higher than the previous estimate. This is part of those global imbalances we keep talking about. China exports more than it imports; the U.S. imports more than it exports. So […]
Millions living near the coast are likely to be hit by rising sea levels, erosion, and storm surges, warns a new study By Jamie Doward, The ObserverSunday 6 March 2011 On Benbecula, they know all too well that rising tides threaten the UK’s coastline. For the 1,200 inhabitants of the small, low-lying island in the […]
The FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) rose for the seventh consecutive month, averaging 231 points in January 2011, up 3.4 percent from December 2010 and the highest (in both real and nominal terms) since the index has been backtracked in 1990. Prices of all the commodity groups monitored registered strong gains in January compared to […]
Eradication programme aims to save millions of seabirds from invasive rats on South Georgia By Lewis Smith, guardian.co.uk24 February 2011 14.57 GMT Testing for the biggest rat eradication programme in history is beginning on a remote UK island in the south Atlantic. Scientists are preparing to drop poison in a limited area of South Georgia […]
By Robert Mendick, Chief reporter 05 Feb 2011 Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman has scrapped plans to dispose of publicly-owned national nature reserves following the furious backlash over the forest sell-off. Officials in her department had been in talks with Natural England, the quango which looks after 140 reserves, about transferring ownership. But in an indication […]
Populations of wild birds in the UK are falling dramatically with even slight recent recoveries apparently stalled, government figures show. Only seabird populations remain comfortably above 1970 levels, while farmland bird numbers continue to plunge from a brief mid-1970s peak to half those of 40 years ago. Habitat changes responsible for fewer nesting sites and […]
By Matt Chorley, Political CorrespondentSunday, 23 January 2011 Fish from the Lake District will be moved to cooler waters in Scotland under radical plans – which will be unveiled this week – aimed at coping with climate change. The first seven of more than 100 reports by government agencies and utility companies will set out […]
By James Meikle, www.guardian.co.uk Thursday 20 January 2011 14.15 GMT Populations of wild birds in the UK are falling dramatically with even slight recent recoveries apparently stalled, government figures showed today. Only seabird populations remain comfortably above 1970 levels, while farmland bird numbers continue to plunge from a brief mid-1970s peak to half those of […]
By Mark Kinver Science and environment reporter, BBC News 13 January 2011 Last updated at 08:20 ET The frequency of heavy rainfall during the autumn and winter over the uplands of North England has “significantly” increased, a study has shown. A team of UK researchers said the shift coincided with an increase in westerly weather […]
