Cargo-shipping regulators have struck a historic deal to set their dirty fuel-burning industry on a low-carbon course.
On Friday, the International Maritime Organization agreed for the first time to limit greenhouse gas emissions from global shipping.
The nonbinding deal marks a critical shift for the sector — which, until last week, was the only major industry without a comprehensive climate plan.
A difficult negotiation The International Maritime Organization agreed to reduce emissions from global shipping by at least 50 percent from 2008 levels by 2050.
The Marshall Islands and other Pacific nations doggedly pushed the most ambitious proposal on the table: a 100-percent reduction in shipping emissions within two decades, a move that would bring the sector in line with the 1.5-degree target.
The Marshall Islands marshal a deal Back in 2015, The Marshall Islands was first the nation to urge the International Maritime Organization to adopt a greenhouse gas strategy.
In the meantime, regulators are expected to debate binding, enforceable steps that compel — not merely encourage — the industry to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and a shift away from fossil fuels.
But that’s still to come.” No specific proposals are on the table just yet, he explains, however, short-term rules will likely target emissions from existing ship operations to keep them from rising any further.
Mid-term measures could compel shipping companies to replace carbon-intensive fuels with cleaner alternatives, including fuel cells powered by hydrogen or ammonia — or for smaller vessels, batteries that can recharge at ports.
Experts say the International Maritime Organization deal offers a much-needed push for the shipping industry to begin developing and investing in 21st-century technologies.
Conservation & Sustainability
When I was seven-years-old, I was on a field trip at the Great Salt Lake in Utah.
This place, these birds, were nightmarish things that I would continue to fear well into adulthood.
So, when my coworker came to me a year ago with the idea to set up a kestrel nest cam at the Great Salt Lake, I’ll admit I was less than enthused.
I became addicted to watching them, biting my nails anxiously to see if the male found his mate, and audibly cheering in my office when the nest footage revealed not one, but two eggs in the nest.
“I look at birds of the Great Salt Lake as a tapestry,” she said.
“We have more than 300 species of birds at the Great Salt Lake at different times of the year, migrating in and migrating out.
They are filling this particular niche and keeping the rodent population under control.” Common, But Not Unthreatened It’s easy to laugh when you see kestrels and realize they’re such a powerful little package, but the reality is, these birds still need our protection.
Although kestrels are widespread across North America, they are losing their habitat to development like so many other birds at the Great Salt Lake.
This area is a critical stopover in the West for migratory birds, which need lots of space to nest and feed during their visits.
Maybe these kestrels will be okay after all.
Nearly 1,400 basking sharks were spotted in aerial photos in a puzzling gathering off the East Coast of the U.S.
The unusual plankton-eating basking sharks are the second largest fish in the world — surpassed only by the whale shark — and have been generally believed to be solitary swimmers.
The huge fish can reach 32 feet in length and weigh as much as five tons.
Scientist suspect the gathering wasn’t related to mating.
The animals were all adults or juveniles, according to the research published this month in the Journal of Fish Biology.
Researchers speculate the sharks may have been in a feeding frenzy on a plankton bloom in the area before setting off on their annual autumn migration south.
A survey the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration conducted shortly after the 2013 gathering found high concentrations of zooplankton, adding support for that theory.
The population estimates for the area are “in the hundreds,” marine conservation biologist Boris Worm told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
“So 1,400 would be not just a large group, but a large chunk of the population.” Scientists found the unusual gathering by studying more than three decades of aerial photos that were collected in studies seeking North Atlantic right whales.
Whatever the reason for the mysterious gathering, scientists see it a positive sign for the species.
Animals such as elephants, tigers, lions and panda bears are everywhere in movies, books and toy stores.
But their wide pop culture presence skews public perception of how endangered these animals really are, researchers say.
Online surveys, zoo websites, animated films and school questionnaires were scoured by US and French researchers for the study, published in journal PLOS Biology.
Scientists made a list of the top 10 most charismatic animals: tigers, lions, elephants, giraffes, leopards, pandas, cheetahs, polar bears, gray wolves and gorillas.
In France, 800,000 Sophie the giraffe baby toys were sold in 2010, more than eight times the numbers of giraffes living in Africa.
Lead author Franck Courchamp of the University of Paris said these animals are so common in pop culture and marketing materials that they create a “virtual population” in people’s minds, one that is doing far better in perception than reality.
“Unknowingly, companies using giraffes, cheetahs or polar bears for marketing purposes may be actively contributing to the false perception that these animals are not at risk of extinction, and therefore not in need of conservation,” Courchamp said.
The average French citizen “will see more virtual lions through photos, cartoons, logos and brands in one month than there are wild lions left in west Africa,” said the report.
“The appearance of these beloved animals in stores, in movies, on television, and on a variety of products seems to be deluding the public into believing they are doing OK,” said co-author William Ripple of Oregon State University.
“If we don’t act in a concerted effort to save these species, that may soon be the only way anyone will see them.” Ripple added that “a major threat faced by nearly all of them is direct killing by humans, especially from hunting and snaring,” a reality he described as “sadly ironic.”
Five wildlife rangers and a driver were killed in a militant attack on the Congo’s Virunga National Park this week as they guarded the region’s critically endangered mountain gorillas.
The park employees, aged 22 to 30, were ambushed and killed in what wildlife officials said was the deadliest such attack in recent history.
Another ranger was injured.
At least 170 rangers have been killed in the past two decades.
We thank you all for your kind messages of support.
This tragedy is a devastating reminder of the bravery of the rangers.
Angèle will run the @LondonMarathon with her colleagues top of mind.
Any donation you can give would be hugely appreciated: https://t.co/xnYJHj3jpf pic.twitter.com/nnuFNFyatI — Virunga NationalPark (@gorillacd) April 11, 2018 “We are profoundly saddened by the loss of our colleagues yesterday,” Emmanuel de Merode, Virunga’s chief warden, said in a statement.
“Virunga has lost some extraordinarily brave rangers who were deeply committed to working in service of their communities.
It is unacceptable that Virunga’s rangers continue to pay the highest price in defense of our common heritage and we are devastated that their lives have been cut short in this way.” Officials blamed a militant group known as the Mai Mai.
But nuclear power comes with plenty of other risks that aren’t so obvious: the hazards of uranium mining, the fouled water, and the radioactive waste.
That’s why some have pushed to keep existing nuclear power plants open, and even build more.
Mining When I started asking around about reasons to oppose nuclear power, I was surprised by how the history of uranium mining kept coming up.
Nuclear experts are sure that terrorists have considered attacking working plants with the aim of causing a meltdown.
After getting enriched, fuel goes to the reactor, and that’s where you run the risk of meltdowns.
Usually, when we’ve shut down a nuclear plant, or decided not to build one, it’s led to a greater reliance on fossil fuels.
“People will die; but not from radiation.
But when I ask Bunn about that he says, “That’s the wrong way to think about it.” Bunn offers up a simple rubric for thinking about nuclear risk: “(a) the risk is often exaggerated, (b) there are options we should be taking to reduce the risk, but (c) the risk can’t be reduced to zero,” he wrote in an email.
“The community went, ‘Nope.’ And the government said, ‘We’re still doing it,’ and the communities said, ‘Nope, you’re not.’ And the government said, ‘Oh, I guess we’re not,’” Vestergaard explains.
“Countries need to educate and work with the people,” Vestergaard says.
I’ve had ample opportunity to watch birders watching birds.
I like identifying birds, but but ticking off species after species after species day after day loses its appeal quickly.
Here are some ways to enjoy all the fun of birding – without the need for list making.
Not just to identify, but to watch.
Observe, really observe, an American robin building a nest.
Enjoy Bird Spectacles Many birding trips are organized to pack as many species sightings in as possible.
That can be a lot of fun, at least for some.
But you could also organize a trip around seeing a natural spectacle, rather than seeing different species.
But if a goal like a “big year” seems too big, just narrow your focus.
I’ve found that birding actually goes well with other activities.
Conservationists plan to establish a commercial fishing net-free zone in the northern Great Barrier Reef by buying and retiring the area’s last remaining licence.
The move would create one of the world’s largest dugong havens.
WWF buys shark fishing licence on Great Barrier Reef to scrap it Read more The push also needs Queensland government backing to prevent the holders of existing commercial fishing licences from moving into the area.
The WWF-Australia tropical fisheries and aquaculture manager, Jim Higgs, said the last licence was responsible for about 80% of the catch in the area.
“Once WWF retires the licence, it’s crucial the government ends gillnetting in the far north because there’s nothing currently to stop other licence holders from moving in.
With no local knowledge they may struggle to minimise interactions with protected species.” Higgs visited the licence holder last year and WWF is in the process of valuing and negotiating a price to effectively retire the 600m net.
Dugongs are listed as vulnerable.
Conversely the end to netting could have a significant impact on the species.
Stray dugong saved in herculean rescue will be flown to Queensland by RAAF Read more James Cook university dugong expert Helene Marsh said the northern part of the reef was the most important area for dugongs.
More than half of that population lives north of Cooktown.
This was his first confirmation hearing as President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the second-highest-ranking person at the Environmental Protection Agency.
Democrats drummed up enough concern over her qualifications that they sent her nomination back to the White House in December.
But Wheeler faced much less scrutiny from Democrats.
As a result, the man who could become the nation’s next EPA administrator at a time of historic environmental turmoil and the increasing politicization of science sailed through his nomination process.
), who did not take stances on Dourson or Hartnett-White but voted to approve Pruitt last year, told HuffPost she planned to confirm Wheeler.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) ― who opposed Dourson despite being the only other Democrat to confirm to Pruitt ― said Monday he, too, would vote for Wheeler.
Until mid-2017, Wheeler lobbied for Murray Energy, the mining giant owned by coal magnate and Trump whisperer Bob Murray.
The groups highlighted a February report in The Intercept that revealed Wheeler had hosted fundraisers for Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.)
and Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) five months before his formal nomination and two months before his first White House interview for the job.
In 2005, Wheeler worked with Inhofe to demand tax records from the Association of Local Air Pollution Control Officials and its sister group, State and Territorial Air Pollution Program Administrators, after the nonpartisan groups came out against a controversial greenhouse gas emission bill Inhofe supported.
The little dodo “is the last surviving species in its genus,” Rebecca Stirnemann said.
“The Fijian and Tongan species [of the little dodo] are both extinct.
Stirnemann, currently with conservation New Zealand NGO Forest and Bird, says there are three threats to the manumea or little dodo: destruction of forest on the island, invasive mammals (especially cats) and pigeon hunting.
As to the latter, it’s not that local Samoans are hunting the little dodo itself, but in shooting the Pacific imperial and other pigeon species they sometimes kill the little dodo as “bycatch.” “Action is urgently needed to stop [the pigeon hunting] if the manumea is not to be lost,” said Stirnemann, who recently detailed the crisis in a paper in Biodiversity and Conservation.
Often, it’s either a photo of a dead animal or a gloomy shot that makes the animal look almost vulture-like.
The best estimate is that less than 250 birds survive; the real number could be considerably lower.
Using a government database the scientists estimate that the illegal pigeon hunting trade on Samoa kills a staggering 22,000-33,000 pigeons a year.
“People often think that forest meat is consumed by poor people who have to hunt in the forest to survive,” Stirnemann said.
“However, there are some amazing people in Samoa with the passion to save the forest and the native birds.” The decline of the little dodo and of pigeons in general on the island – Stirnemann says that the Pacific imperial pigeon population has fallen dramatically in Samoa – is likely having a large impact on the diversity and health of the island’s forests.
Somehow, though it’s cousin – the little dodo, tooth-billed pigeon or manumea – has managed to live alongside humans for over three millennia.
