Environment

• Friday, April 8th 2011 - 22:10 UTC

  Shell moves heavily into bio-fuels from sugar cane bagasse in Brazil

  

  Royal Dutch Shell Plc, the world’s biggest distributor of bio-fuels, is shifting research to waste from sugar-cane farming after ending an algae project in Hawaii. Shell, Iogen Corp. and Codexis have been researching enzymes to produce cellulose ethanol from wheat stalks and sugar-cane bagasse, a sugar industry waste product.

• Friday, April 8th 2011 - 21:54 UTC

  “Naked” penguin chicks in Argentina and South Africa puzzle scientists

  

  Researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society, the University of Washington, and other groups are grappling with a wildlife mystery: Why are some penguin chicks losing their feathers?

• Thursday, April 7th 2011 - 21:49 UTC

  Three year contract for the new Ice patrol HMS Protector to replace the Red Plum

  

  The Royal Navy will have a new ‘Protector’ of British interests in Antarctica. HMS Protector, upholding the famous name of the 1950s and 60s Antarctic survey vessel, is being loaned on a three-year trial with the Fleet while the long-term future of the Antarctic Patrol vessel HMS Endurance is considered.

• Thursday, April 7th 2011 - 21:16 UTC

  Antarctica unveils new mineral ‘wassonite’, found by NASA and co-researchers

  

  NASA and co-researchers from the United States, South Korea and Japan have found a new mineral named “Wassonite” in one of the most historically significant meteorites recovered in Antarctica in December 1969.

• Thursday, April 7th 2011 - 09:43 UTC

  Falklands’ skua population has declined by almost half in five years

  

  The number of Falkland Islands skua has declined by almost half in just five years, a survey of the bird's largest breeding ground reveals. It is unclear why the population has crashed on New Island, on the west of the Falkland Islands.
  Something appears to be limiting the birds' ability to reproduce, say scientists.

• Thursday, April 7th 2011 - 08:56 UTC

  Brazil rejects as ‘unjustified’ request to halt work on a huge dam in the Amazon

  

  Brazil has said a request to halt work on its massive hydro-electric dam in the Amazon rainforest is unjustified despite environmental concerns. Brazil's foreign ministry was responding to the request by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

• Wednesday, April 6th 2011 - 06:25 UTC

  Unprecedented damage to the ozone layer over the Arctic, says WMO

  

  The ozone layer has seen unprecedented damage in the Arctic this winter due to cold weather in the upper atmosphere. By the end of March, 40% of the ozone in the stratosphere had been destroyed, against a previous record of 30%.

• Wednesday, April 6th 2011 - 05:52 UTC

  Radioactive fish lead to first legal limits for radiation in seafood

  

  High levels of radioactive iodine and cesium were detected by Japan’s Fisheries Ministry in fish caught near the Fukushima nuclear power plant this week. Japan has responded to the findings by announcing its first legal limits for radiation in fish and said it is considering a ban on exports of some marine products.

• Tuesday, April 5th 2011 - 09:04 UTC

  HMS Scott spent weeks in Antarctic seas mapping for cruise vessels’ safety

  

  The Royal Navy hydrographic survey ship HMS Scott is returning to Davenport Sunday April 10 after completing her second deployment to Antarctica. During the 22,500-mile journey she has been working on behalf of the British Foreign Commonwealth Office, British Antarctic Survey & United Kingdom Hydrographic Office.

• Tuesday, April 5th 2011 - 08:59 UTC

  Mountain glaciers in the Andes are melting the fastest in 350 years

  

  Melting mountain glaciers are making sea levels rise faster now than at any time in the last 350 years, according to new research. Universities at Aberystwyth, Exeter and Stockholm looked at longer timescales than usual for their study.