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Temperature and CO2 changes reduce the numbers of some species and promote the growth of algae, University of Adelaide study finds
Heating of the world’s oceans could radically reorganise marine food webs across the globe causing the numbers of some species to collapse while promoting the growth of algae, new research has warned.
Healthy marine food webs that look like a pyramid, with smaller numbers of larger predatory species at the top and more abundant smaller organisms at the bottom, could become “bottom heavy”.
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A century ago John Switzer Owens discovered how far pollution could travel, but his research was ignored
In August 1921, John Switzer Owens had a UK holiday. He went to Holme, Norfolk, and took his latest invention with him. Each day he took his device to the beach to sample the air. He also flung thistledown into the sky and noted its passage over the sand to understand where the wind came from.
When the wind came from Germany’s industrial Ruhr, it became hazy and particle pollution soared. Later he found that air pollution from the Midlands reached the south coast and pollution from London reached Devon and Wales. In spring 1922, Owens also discovered widespread air pollution enveloping all of south-east England at the same time but could not find a source.
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Biggest threat is non-native fish, but study was conducted before summer bushfires impacted Australia’s rivers
Some 22 native freshwater fish have a 50/50 chance or worse of becoming extinct within two decades unless targeted action is taken to save them, according to new research.
The most threatened fish is Victoria’s tiger-striped shaw galaxias which, experts concluded, had an 80% chance of being gone in 20 years time.
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ONS finds single-unit increase in pollution exposure over long term may increase death rate by up to 6%
Long-term exposure to air pollution may increase the risk of death from Covid-19, according to a large study by the Office forNational Statistics.
It analysed more than 46,000 coronavirus deaths in England and showed that a small, single-unit increase in people’s exposure to small-particle pollution over the previous decade may increase the death rate by up to 6%. A single-unit increase in nitrogen dioxide, which is at illegal levels in most urban areas, was linked to a 2% increase in death rates.
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Estimated 120,000 hectares stripped bare by rodents and now browning in heatwave
Large swathes of Germany’s farmland are being decimated by plagues of field mice leading to significant crop loss, according to the country’s national farming association.
In some parts of the country, a quarter of the arable land is affected, leading to calls for compensation as well as a relaxation on rules governing the use of pesticides.
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Over 10,000 blazes seen so far in August, with response of President Bolsonaro condemned as ineffective
The Amazon has seen the worst start to the fire season in a decade, with 10,136 fires spotted in the first 10 days of August, a 17% rise on last year.
Analysis of Brazilian government figures by Greenpeace showed fires increasing by 81% in federal reserves compared with the same period last year. Coming a year after soaring Amazon fires caused an international crisis, the new figures raised fears this year’s fire season could be even worse than last year’s.
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Fishing time in first half of 2020 almost double that in whole of last year, Greenpeace says
Supertrawlers vastly stepped up their fishing in the UK’s protected waters during the coronavirus lockdown earlier this year, while most of the UK’s smaller vessels were confined to port.
The amount of time supertrawlers spent fishing in marine protected areas in the first half of this year was nearly double that spent in the waters in the whole of last year, according to a Greenpeace investigation. There were 23 supertrawlers catching fish in UK protected areas in the period, none of them UK-owned.
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Animals died of hunger and thirst after 58,000 returned to Sudan due to quarantine compromise
Around 3,000 sheep sent back from Saudi Arabia by ship to Sudan have died of hunger and thirst according to a Sudanese government minister. Some drowned on the voyage.
Saudi Arabia returned 58,000 sheep to Sudan after finding out that quarantine procedures in Sudan had been compromised, leaving some animals without vaccination against diseases including Rift Valleyfever.
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Satellite images of the MV Wakashio shipwreck off the south-east coast of Mauritius reveal the damage as the Japanese bulk carrier leaked an estimated 1,000 tonnes of oil. The ship, owned by Nagashiki Shipping and operated by Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd, struck a coral reef on 25 July and began leaking oil last week, raising fears of a major ecological crisis
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Pair fledge first chick in Dundreggan for 40 years in eyrie built by conservationist
A nest of arm-sized sticks built on a precipitous crag by an octogenarian conservationist dangling from a rope has enticed a pair of golden eagles back to the Highlands of Scotland.
The eyrie handmade by Roy Dennis, a renowned conservationist who has masterminded the revival of endangered species across Britain, helped the eagles successfully fledge the first chick on Trees for Life’s Dundreggan estate in 40 years.
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