Environment

• Saturday, December 12th 2009 - 15:22 UTC

  Australia threatens Japan with international legal action over whaling

  

  Australia has threatened international legal action after the new Japanese Government declared there would be no change to its stance on whaling. Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said in Tokyo that he saw no need for a review of the Government's policy, disappointing those who thought it might break with the past.

• Saturday, December 12th 2009 - 15:11 UTC

  Arctic climate change forcing Eskimos to build deep freezers to store game

  

  Inuit communities (Eskimos) need funds to adapt to climate change in the Arctic, including measures to build communal deep freezers to store game because warming is reducing their hunting season, an Inuit leader said on Friday.

• Friday, December 11th 2009 - 17:34 UTC

  FAO report predicts “an ocean of change” for fishers and fish farmers

  

  Marine capture fisheries already facing multiple challenges due to overfishing, habitat loss and weak management are poorly positioned to cope with new problems stemming from climate change, a new FAO study suggests.

• Thursday, December 10th 2009 - 06:56 UTC

  Giant 140 sq. km iceberg sighted approaching Australia

  

  A giant 140 square kilometres iceberg was spotted 1.700 kilometres south-southwest of Australia and creeping towards the island continent. The frozen mass, 19km long and 8km wide, is already far closer to Australia than icebergs normally travel.

• Thursday, December 10th 2009 - 06:41 UTC

  German caught in New Zealand airport with lizards in under wear

  

  A German who admitted trading in endangered wildlife tried to smuggle 44 rare animals out of New Zealand in his underpants, a court was told, according to news reports on Tuesday.

• Wednesday, December 9th 2009 - 14:45 UTC

  The year 2009 to rank among the top 10 warmest on record since 1850

  

  The year 2009 is likely to rank in the top 10 warmest on record since the beginning of instrumental climate records in 1850, according to data sources compiled by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

• Monday, December 7th 2009 - 11:12 UTC

  Global warming research image damaged by hackers

  

  United Nations’ top climate official has conceded that hacked e-mails from climate scientists had damaged the image of global warming research but said evidence of a warming Earth is solid.

• Saturday, December 5th 2009 - 02:46 UTC

  EC proposes Anglo-Spanish management of Gibraltar waters conservation

  

  The European Commission, having sparked a diplomatic row by approving a Spanish nature site within British Gibraltar waters, now wants Britain and Spain to draw up a “joint management plan” for marine conservation in the area, reports the Gibraltar Chronicle.

• Friday, December 4th 2009 - 15:36 UTC

  Ozone hole protecting Antarctic from global warming, says SCAR

  

  The ozone hole may be boosting the risk of skin cancer, but it's also protecting Antarctica from global warming, international researchers claim in an assessment of Antarctic climate change from the geological past to the present.

• Friday, December 4th 2009 - 09:21 UTC

  China attacks water pollution and plans massive investments

  

  China will invest 13 billion US dollars in the next three years in projects to improve the quality of water faced with serious contamination problems, reported “China Daily”. Most of the money will go to sewage systems, water purifying and rainwater harvesting according to Deputy Environment minister Wu Xiaoqing.