Ecology
Honduran Villagers Take Legal Action to Stop Mining Firm Digging Up Graves for Gold
Nothing is sacred in the path of gold miners in northwestern Honduras – not even the dead. A transnational mining company, Aura Minerals, has been digging up graves in the 200-year-old cemetery near the community of Azacualpa, La Union, to…
Scotland Draft Climate Change Bill Sets 90%-by-2050 Emission Reduction Target
New targets will set Scotland on course to become one of the first countries in the world to achieve a 100% reduction in carbon emissions, the Scottish government has claimed, although it has stopped short of committing to becoming carbon-neutral…
Pollutionwatch: Air Contamination Drops by 30% in China
Beijing is slowly shedding its image as the world’s most polluted city. In 2013, it ranked as the 40th worst city for the particulate PM2.5 in the World Health Organisation global database. Four years on, thanks in part to a…
Iceland first UK supermarket to trial deposit return scheme
Iceland has become the first supermarket in the UK to trial the plastic bottle deposit return scheme. It has installed a reverse vending machine at its store in Fulham, London, as part of a six-month programme. It follows the government’s…
High CO2 Levels Make Rice Less Nutritious, Study Finds
Research published Wednesday in Science Advances found that rice grown with the higher atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations expected by the end of this century was less nutritious, signaling bad news for the more than two billion people who rely on…
Plastic Killed Most Sperm Whales Found Dead in Greek Waters Since 2001
More than a third of the sperm whales found dead in the eastern Mediterranean since 2011 were killed by plastic debris, researchers from the Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute in Athens found. Necropsies on nine of the 24 dead whales found…
Illegal Online Sales of Endangered Wildlife Rife in Europe
The online sale of endangered and threatened wildlife is rife across Europe, a new investigation has revealed, ranging from live cheetahs, orangutans and bears to ivory, polar bear skins and many live reptiles and birds. Researchers from the International Fund…