Jair Bolsonaro almost achieved a clear majority in the first round of Presidential elections in Brazil. Why am I talking about Brazilian politics? Because this person has made clear that in many ways he is the Brazilian Trump. He raves against the Elite, attacks basic science and supports the brutal Brazilian dictatorship from a few decades ago and the methods they used, including torture.
Ceasing to use plastic straws would be helpful but there are bigger problems
Unfortunately, while plastic straws are a problem, there is something that causes more issues. I am talking of fishing equipment. People have counted, and found that 46% of the Pacific garbage patch is made of discarded fishing equipment such as nets.
Fishing is an important source of protein for much of the human race, but if it’s to remain sustainable we need to remove the equipment left behind. Having said that, drinking straws should quickly be able to become a historical part of the problem if biodegradable straws are taken up quickly.
Continue reading “Ceasing to use plastic straws would be helpful but there are bigger problems”
Start of the grizzly hunt in the US has been suspended, and now permanently halted
Trump’s determination to ignore all Science on all things to do with the environment continues. In recent times, his administration has decided many species should lose their protection. The conservationists must now prove that a proposed development, for example, will harm wildlife, instead of the developer having to prove that it won’t. Continue reading “Start of the grizzly hunt in the US has been suspended, and now permanently halted”
Reintroducing man-eating tigers to the wild
Photo by Sander Wehkamp
Historically, once a big cat has taken to man-eating they will not stop. As such this means once cats have started eating humans they have had to be hunted down and removed, to either spend the rest of its life in captivity, or to be killed. This is a reasonable reaction to the problem, however it is increasingly not possible without large effects. Continue reading “Reintroducing man-eating tigers to the wild”
Surprising buried comment in report from Trump administration
– on its current course the world will warm by 7 degrees by the end of the century.
Giving Trump’s determined assessment regularly spouted that climate change is a con thought up by the Chinese or various other groups, it seems odd the Trump’s administration published a report last month which, buried within its 500 pages, assumed there would be a 7 degrees Fahrenheit (about 4°C) rise in temperatures by the end of the century. Continue reading “Surprising buried comment in report from Trump administration”
News in Brief – Beluga whale spotted in the Thames, Japanese knotweed invasion and Praying Mantises
Beluga whale spotted in the Thames
A Beluga whale, a species usually found in the arctic region, has been spotted in the Thames estuary a few miles from London. As the Thames is a river it is fresh water not salt and therefore not normally the place to find whales or dolphins. Furthermore until recently it was so dirty that none of these animals will come close. However in 2006 the northern bottlenose whale was sighted in the Thames unfortunately the animal died eventually. Continue reading “News in Brief – Beluga whale spotted in the Thames, Japanese knotweed invasion and Praying Mantises”
India coordinating a hunt for a man eating tiger
Over the last two years a tiger in India has eaten 13 people. It is highly unlikely for a tiger to take to eating humans, but generally if one starts it needs to be removed from the wild. Due to the pressures on wildlife territories, and loss of surrounding lands, tigers are coming into contact with humans more often. This makes man eating far more likely. Continue reading “India coordinating a hunt for a man eating tiger”
Wild trip to Sweden – Part Two – Bear watching
We first headed to the area north of Västerås which is prime bear territory. Despite their size and therefore presumed clumsiness, bears are astoundingly quiet when they wish to be.
That being said, an area inhabited by bears or wolves tends to be pretty wild, and so there tends to be a feeling about the area. In the UK there are few areas with low enough density to allow this to happen but in Europe that is different. Sweden accentuates this even more, as Sweden only had a population of just under 10 million spread out over a country the size of France. This means Sweden has a population density of 24 people per square km compared to UK 407 per square km. Continue reading “Wild trip to Sweden – Part Two – Bear watching”
Wild trip to Sweden – Part One – the journey
During our break we travelled to Sweden. Western Europe is such that generally large predators only exist on its peripheral. We have travelled to this periphery in the South East and West, but were yet to experience any wildlife in Northern Europe so this was our chance to correct this. Continue reading “Wild trip to Sweden – Part One – the journey”
A palm oil company can’t control a subsidy? Don’t be ridiculous
Golden Agri Resources, a palm oil company based in Indonesia, has stated its subsidy in Liberia, Golden Veroleum Liberia, can’t be controlled, and that therefore they cannot have any responsibility for the behaviour of its subsidy. Now quite apart from the fact that many of these subsidies are only paper companies, many of them are directly controlled by the same board as its parent company.
In particular the Round table for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) needs to tighter its rules. Golden Veroleum Liberia has been thrown out of the RSPO even though its parent company remains in. This makes a mockery of the organisation, as all a company has to do is set up a subsidy and it can behave badly, cutting down primary rainforest, stealing land and anything else that eases business.
Given the urgency, where such large amounts of the world’s remaining rainforests are being destroyed each year, we don’t have years to sort this. RSPO must grow some serious courage and live up to its founding ideals immediately. We are already seeing some people ceasing to trust the RSPO, and without dramatic action it will cease to have any point.
