Campaigners say next government must reduce use and toxicity of pesticides before it is too late
The UK’s insect populations are declining at alarming rates and the next government must put in place plans to monitor and reduce the use and toxicity of pesticides before it is too late, wildlife experts say.
In recent years, concerns have been raised over earthworm populations, which have fallen by a third in the past 25 years. A citizen science project that monitors flying insects in the UK, meanwhile, found a 60% decline between 2004 and 2021. The overall trajectory, as government monitoring figures show, has been downwards since the 1970s.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
06/14/2024 - 06:00
06/14/2024 - 04:00
Birth control is being trialled as a humane way to limit growing numbers of grey squirrels, pigeons and wild boar
The invention of the contraceptive pill heralded the sexual revolution of the 1960s, and now scientists are looking to revolutionise wildlife control by getting animals in on the action. Trials are under way in the UK and elsewhere in Europe of how to get contraceptives into pigeons, wild boar and grey squirrels, with scientists also proposingother rodents, invasive parakeets and deer as other target species.
As destruction from invasive and pest species grows, researchers are looking to fill special feeders and bait boxes with hazelnut spreads and grains laced with contraceptives. They believe this could be a more humane and effective way of controlling populations that have previously been poisoned, shot or trapped.
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06/14/2024 - 02:00
The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world
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06/14/2024 - 00:00
Results show increase in symptoms such as wheeziness in presence of high aviation-related ultrafine particles
As the public hearings for London Gatwick airport’s northern runway resume, researchers from the Netherlands have found greater inhaler use in children living near Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport.
Stand close to a large airport and, if the wind is in the wrong direction, each cubic centimetre of air that you breathe will contain tens of thousands of ultrafine particles (UFP).
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06/13/2024 - 23:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 14 June 2024; doi:10.1038/s44183-024-00068-4
Up to 80% of threatened and commercial species across European marine protected areas face novel climates under high emission scenario
06/13/2024 - 15:12
Thirty-by-thirty: protect 30% of the planet by 2030. While conservation is popular in principle, the costs of actually enacting it often stall even the most earnest efforts. Researchers have now proposed a market-based approach to achieving the 30x30 targets in the ocean.
06/13/2024 - 13:08
The increase in the frequency and intensity of marine heatwaves in recent decades is one of the effects of global climate change. A study shows that the extreme heatwave of 2022 caused an 'unprecedented' increase in mortality of the red gorgonian Paramuricea clavata, affecting 70% of the colonies located in the Montgr Natural Park, the Medes Islands and the Baix Ter. According to the researchers, these results are 'alarming and threaten the viability' of this species of great value for the biodiversity of benthic ecosystems, since it is considered to be an inhabitant-forming species.
06/13/2024 - 13:00
Fear of being seen as unclean drives overwashing of clothes at expense of environment, Swedish scientists say
How often should you wash your clothes? Doctors don’t really know, but the decision is more cultural than medical, anyway. Worried about leaving the house in sweaty shirts or stained shorts, people often chuck clean clothes in the laundry basket after wearing them just once.
But the urge to avoid whiffy garments carries a climate cost that has largely been ignored. New research shows that feelings of disgust and shame encourage excessive clothes washing even among those who care about their carbon footprint.
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06/13/2024 - 12:13
Researchers made 161 sightings of whales – some of them endangered – south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket
An unexpected number of whales is visiting the waters off New England, including an unusually high number of an endangered species, said scientists who study the animals.
A research flight made 161 sightings of seven different species of whale on 25 May south of Martha’s Vineyard and south-east of Nantucket, officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) said on Thursday. The sightings included 93 of sei whales, one of the highest concentrations of the rare whale during a single flight, the agency said.
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06/13/2024 - 12:01
Makah people, whose right to hunt whales is noted in treaty, granted waiver by US government to kill two or three a year
After facing decades of legal and bureaucratic hurdles, the Makah Tribe in Washington has won approval from the US to resume whale hunting for the first time in 25 years.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) Fisheries announced on Wednesday that it would grant the tribe a waiver, allowing the Makah “a limited subsistence and ceremonial hunt” under an 1855 treaty. The Makah will be permitted to hunt up to 25 eastern North Pacific gray whales over 10 years.
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