As with humans, great Apes and bears amongst others it has been found the dolphins will usually prefer to use one flipper rather than the other.
Most dolphins are right handed- or perhaps right flippered
Do we want to oceans to operate as a carbon sink? Then stop overexploitation
Through a number of different processes oceans can be a significant carbon sink. An increase in the carbon content of water does acidify it so this is not something we are interested in, but in healthy seas there is a great deal of plankton and that plankton does absorb carbon dioxide. It is furthermore believed that some of this carbon, locked away buy plankton, may actually make it to the ocean floor to be locked away long term at least in part. Indeed it is thought that carbon dioxide concentrations would be at least 50% higher wear it not for this part of the carbon cycle.
Continue reading “Do we want to oceans to operate as a carbon sink? Then stop overexploitation”There are calls for the international energy treaty (ECT) to be scrapped
The international energy treaty or ECT has a clause which allows fossil fuel companies to sue the government for any damage that they might incur by governmental moves to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
Initially set up as Western energy companies moved into new markets after the collapse of the Soviet Union, this treaty has increasingly been used by fossil fuel companies to block government from cutting their emissions in a way that all the science says is necessary.
Continue reading “There are calls for the international energy treaty (ECT) to be scrapped”The cop 25 summit in in Madrid appears to have failed in ramping up emissions reduction targets
It would appear that the recent climate change conference in Madrid got bogged down in negotiation and as a result failed to ramp up emission reductions in the way that was intended.
As the UK fights another election neither leading party will commit on aviation strategy
As with many countries in the world, one of the biggest parts of our carbon footprint is air travel. I am not someone who thinks that all people should be grounded for life, not least because the majority of the wild places on the planet rely on tourism to bring in the money to pay for their upkeep. Without a tourism income how can we say to a country in Africa” you may not shoot the Lions that keep eating your cattle”.
Continue reading “As the UK fights another election neither leading party will commit on aviation strategy”Nairobi National Park: a wilderness refuge that borders a capital City, what could go wrong?
Nairobi National Park is world-renowned as it is a wildlife Park that is right on the edge of a capital city (4 miles from the city centre). It is Kenya’s first National Park formed in 1946, it is not a large Park covering only around 45 square miles, so it forms part of migrating roots so what time to the year has large populations. Is particularly known for it rhino population, and while it is not a big 5 preserved as there are no elephants it does have cheetah which is rare for reserve so small.
However the issue with having a wild area this close to the city centre is that on occasion the Lions leave the park. When this happened and they come into contact with local residents it is often that the result is sad. A resident living near the park was unfortunately killed by a lion that left. The park is surrounded by an electric fence but this is not not always working and fences the really able to keep in large mammals permanently.
The Lion has killed around 30 dogs and other livestock in the area, and has clearly lost its fear of humans. If it is not possible to move this lion to reserve where it will not come into Direct contact with humans then this lion must be put down- a lion with no fear of humans sees us only as a source of food and will not stop coming back.
I have talked in the past about lion management and the ability to make man eating highly unlikely, all usual methods will fail though with a reserve like this. Reserves like this are important, but we need to find ways for locals to live alongside them safely.
Party leaders had a climate debate, what should we think
It is still frustrating that often climate issues are one of the lowest priorities for a government. Sure, we want clean air air and clean water but even Donald Trump talks about this. As such it was fantastic to see that one of the main debates was on the climate.
As such it was fantastic that the majority of political parties in the UK sent their leaders to sell their climate policies to the British public.
What should we make of the fact that 2 of the parties failed to turn up. It is true that the Conservatives sent Michael Gove in Boris Johnson’s place, however what does it say about the most likely candidate for Prime Minister that he did not think it was worth turning up and debating with other leaders on climate change.
We live on an island, if as we are currently heading we hit the temperature rises that are predicted by the end of the century then significant parts of the United Kingdom will be underwater. A collapse of the the ice shelves in the Antarctic that hold the ice in the middle, could mean Rises in sea level above 10 m worldwide.
I have been thoroughly frustrated by the conservative party’s record over the last decade in power. For those who read here regularly you have seen occasional articles on this subject in question. From scrapping the the solar subsidies ( apparently because they were too expensive) to continue to give subsidies to fossil fuel companies, for instance by only charging 5% VAT on gas for heating, amounting to over 10 billion pound a year ( I hope I the people see the contradiction here as well).
In my opinion, Boris Johnson’s cowardice yesterday evening in failing to turn up and have his parties environmental policies debated, simply says that he is not a suitable Prime Minister. It is unfortunate with the current standing of the Labour Party that the Conservative Party are a long way in the lead.
I myself live in one of the safest conservative seats in the country. I have proved to be a bit of a political butterfly, unwilling to Settle on one particular party for the simple reason that no party is satisfactory when it comes to the environment ( the greens may indeed come closest but they have some odd views on other areas such as the monarchy, which relegates them in the majority of the country to protest vote).
Given the incredible importance of making dramatic improvements to to our carbon emissions over the course of the next Parliament or two, Brexit is a distraction we’re dont need- when we should be concentrating on making sure that the environment we leave for our children and grandchildren is hospitable, we’re going to spend the majority of the next decade trying to sort out the mess caused by brexit.
I know some would argue therefore for that we should all vote conservative give them a huge majority and allow them to push through whatever they like like leaving us a clean slate to get to work on the environment. However there are still other problems with their position. They are extremely keen to do a trade deal with America, and while it is certainly important for our future prosperity as a country this should not come at any cost. Trump’s government are demanding extraordinary things when it comes to climate and environmental protections: we run the risk of being on the wrong side of History.
It was good to see those leaders who bothered to turn up having a serious debate about climate change and the environment. I certainly hope that some of their policies are able to be put in place whoever wins. My own feeling is that on this occasion both over the climate and Europe we cannot afford a conservative government. With a Coalition of some sort they will have to work together, as such it is worth looking at voting tactically to deny them the ability to go off on their own.
If you wish to have your say either way, and live in the uk the election is today.
The last Sumatran rhino living in Malaysia has died
The Sumatran rhino was once found throughout out much of Southeast Asia including parts of India, Vietnam, China, Myanmar, Thailand as well as Borneo.
Now that the last known Sumatran rhino living in Malaysia has died it is thought that the Sumatran rhino is extinct on mainland Asia. As you can see by the list of countries that was found in it was once relatedly widespread and its decline has been rapid. While there is still a population of perhaps 80 living in Sumatra, its rainforest is still being cut down the main reason it is so endangered now. As one of the most ancient rhino species it is important that we maintain those members that have left to be able to form founding populations in the countries that is been lost from.
Whether this happens is anyone’s guess, unfortunately though given the demand for rhino horn and the decimation of rhino populations in all the countries they are found it is not certain that this population will will survive.
Why would you vote for someone to represent you, who denies scientific consensus on climate change?
There are 130 members of the House of representatives in America who do not believe that climate change is occurring.
While a similar number is hard to find in the UK, there are a significant number of prominent MPs who also deny climate change is taking place. Well-known MPs include Nigel Lawson, and Graham Stringer elected to the science and technology committee in the House of Commons ( this appointment is odd as there are many scientists among the Labour MPs so to appoint one one who denies one of the most important issues facing the planet seems strange).
Continue reading “Why would you vote for someone to represent you, who denies scientific consensus on climate change?”UK political parties leaders climate change debate
It is still frustrating that often climate issues are one of the lowest priorities for a government. Sure, we want clean air air and clean water but even Donald Trump talks about this. As such it was fantastic to see that one of the main debates for the upcoming UK election was on the climate, and the majority of political parties in the UK sent their leaders to sell their climate policies to the British public. .
Continue reading “UK political parties leaders climate change debate”