EU agrees on key immigration pact
EU ministers have agreed on a sweeping new EU immigration pact, aimed at curbing illegal migration while easing conditions for highly-skilled workers.
The pact, set to be approved by EU leaders next month, will make it harder for member states to grant mass amnesties for illegal migrants.
It will also introduce an EU “blue card” scheme to [...]
Hunting in Africa “will lead to species loss”
Reliance on bushmeat as the only source of protein for the rural poor in Central Africal is in danger of wiping out a significant number of animal species within 50 years, conservationists have warned. The report by the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) estimated that the current harvest of bushmeat in Central Africa amounts [...]
Is methane release the first sign of runaway warming?
The first evidence that millions of tons of a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide is being released into the atmosphere from beneath the Arctic seabed has been discovered by scientists.
Underground stores of methane are important because scientists believe their sudden release has in the past been responsible for rapid increases in [...]
Met Office says climate change deniers deluded
Climate change sceptics such as Nigel Lawson who argue that global warming has stopped have their “heads in the sand”, according to the Met Office.
A recent dip in global temperatures is down to natural changes in weather systems, a new analysis shows, and does not alter the long-term warming trend.
The office says average temperatures have [...]
UK young/ pre teens misled by sex myths
A poll of 500 children aged 11 to 14 revealed the most common misconceptions about sex and relationships that dominate playground chat.
The most popular myths include you cannot get pregnant the first time you have sex, it is unhealthy for a boy with an erection not to have sex and you will lose your virginity [...]
World’s common birds declining
The populations of the world’s common birds are declining as a result of continued habitat loss, a global assessment has warned.
The survey by BirdLife International found that 45% of Europe’s common birds had seen numbers fall, as had more than 80% of Australia’s wading species.
BBC 22nd September 2008
Arctic ice melts to second-lowest level
Arctic sea ice melted to its second lowest level this summer, at 33% below its summer average and less than 10% above last year’s record low.
Given that this summer was cooler than last year, it indicates that the long term trend is still steeply downwards and getting steeper.
Link to Reuters report
England ‘most crowded in Europe’
Immigration levels have pushed population density in England to a higher level than any other major country in Europe.
The figures, released by the Office for National Statistics, indicate there is an average of 395 people in every square kilometre in England.
This is an increase of five per sq km in the past two years.
The increase [...]
Permafrost carbon estimate doubled
A new study by a team of international scientists has revealed the amount of carbon frozen in the world’s permafrost is double what was previously thought. The three-year study concluded that the amount of carbon locked up in the world’s permafrost is at least 1,500 billion tonnes more than double previous estimates and the equivalent [...]
CO2 levels need reducing to prevent climate change
Scientists may have to turn back time and clean the atmosphere of all man-made carbon dioxide to prevent the worst impacts of global warming, one of Europe’s most senior climate scientists has warned.
Professor John Schellnhuber, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, told the Guardian that only a return to pre-industrial [...]
Europeans drag feet on tackling climate change
A clear majority of Europeans see climate change as one of the most serious challenges facing the world, but have not changed their personal behavior to tackle it, a poll showed on Thursday. Four in 10 complained about a lack of information on what they should be doing, while over three-quarters considered that industry was [...]
Huge increase in spending on water urged
Countries across the world will have to dramatically increase investment in dams, pipes and other water infrastructure to avoid widespread flooding, drought and disease even before climate change accelerates these problems, experts have warned.
Investment needs to be at least doubled from the current level of $80bn (£45.5bn) a year, an international congress was told this [...]
Parties ‘retreating on the environment’
All three main political parties have downgraded their commitment to the environment over the last year, a report by the UK’s major green groups said today.
The Fit for the Future study, which analysed the green performance of all three parties over the past year, said many politicians believed the economic downturn made action on the [...]
Global warming threatens Asia-Pacific security
Food and water shortages caused by global warming could lead to military conflict among the Asia-Pacific’s emerging superpowers such as China and India, the Australian prime minister, Kevin Rudd, warned today.
Australia needed to strengthen its armed forces in response to an “explosion” in defence spending in Asia, he said. There was a growing arms race [...]
New migrant worker rules outlined
The list of UK jobs likely to be open to workers from outside the EU has been unveiled as part of a new “points based” migration system. A panel of experts was asked by ministers to work out which type of jobs had shortages. The list includes skilled nurses and consultants, some engineering jobs, maths [...]
UK gives £50m to Bangladesh climate change fund
Britain will give Bangladesh at least £50m to adapt to climate change in the first big attempt by a rich nation to stave off environmental catastrophe in one of the world’s poorest countries. Other European countries such as Denmark and the Netherlands, as well as the World Bank, are expected to contribute to the new [...]
A population fertility chart for your bedroom wall?
See the UN Population Division’s latest fertility rates by country in a wall chart here.
The last decades of the twentieth century witnessed a major transformation in world fertility: total fertility fell from an average of 4.5 children per woman in 1970-1975 to 2.6 children per woman in 2000-2005. This change was driven mostly by [...]
Minister rejects migrant cap plan
The government has rejected demands for strict limits on the number of workers from outside the European Economic Area allowed to settle in Britain.
Immigration Minister Liam Byrne said a new points system based on skills and labour shortages was a better policy. He was responding to an all-party group of MPs’ call for “balanced migration,” [...]
Brazil: Deforestation rises sharply as farmers push into Amazon
Concerns over the destruction of the Brazilian rainforest resurfaced at the weekend after it emerged that deforestation jumped by 64% over the last 12 months, according to official government data. Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research this week said that around 3,145 square miles - an area half the size of Wales - were razed [...]
Climate change consequences collection
For much of the past 20 years, studies by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have been greeted with skepticism and even vilified in some quarters. But, UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, says any lingering doubts that the globe is warming were laid to rest in the Panel’s Fourth Assessment Report. He says the report established [...]
More long-term migrants to UK
The number of migrants coming to the UK for a year or more has risen to a record level, figures show.
Between mid-2006 and mid-2007, 605,000 long-term migrants arrived, up from 591,000 in the previous 12 months, said the Office for National Statistics. The UK’s population is growing by about a million every three years, also [...]
Carbon emission risk from UK moorlands
Well-managed upland is essential. The upland areas cover 40 per cent of Britain’s land mass and provide 70 per cent of our drinking water, and their beauty attracts 100 million day visits annually. They offer refuge to threatened species, including the black grouse, ring ouzel, curlew, golden plover and twite. They preserve 75 per cent [...]
UK population ‘will be top in EU’
The UK population is set to become the largest in the European Union, according to a report.
It is expected to increase from its current figure of 61 million to almost 77 million in 2060 - a rise of 25%.
This would make it the largest population in the EU, ahead of the projections for France (72 [...]