Protection for monarch butterflies

An inspiring, if somewhat toothless, plan to protect the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) across three North American countries. Great to see protection being extended to invertebrates, often overlooked in popular and political conservation consciousness. The annual monarch migration is spectacular.

Oceans are getting more acid

In the global debate about carbon emissions and global warming, it's often assumed that if the link between emissions and warming can be disproved then we are free to emit as much carbon dioxide as we like.

Not so. A clear and undeniable link exists between carbon emissions and ocean acidification - the process that lowers the pH of the world's oceans as they absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This has devastating effects for marine ecosystems and, by implication, our ability to feed ourselves.

More on the whaling debate

I was glad to see that someone shares the views I expressed in an earlier post about the recent meeting of the IWC.

For me, the biggest concern I have about whaling is a larger worry about the state of the world's oceans generally. Fish stocks around the globe are in danger of collapse, and the oceans represent a great, unregulated plundering ground.

I would favour cautious, regulated whaling if it were to help feed the world's population, but I think cautious regulation is a tall order.

Saltmarshes for Wallasea

Wallasea in Essex gets converted into a saltmarsh to replace habitats lost to developments. Great to see DEFRA doing something about the problem, but I wonder whether this would have happened had the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds not taken the government to court over its decision to develop a protected area.

The space race

Discovery takes off amid 4th July fanfare in the US. But meanwhile, other (and possibly more useful?) NASA projects flounder due to budget cuts and more, shall we say, pretentious priorities...

Thoughts on the coral question

Florida's coral reefs are in poor shape, reports Reuters, but in that respect they are no different to other reefs across the world.

I used to think that environmentalism had such a relatively poor following in the US because of that country's size: it's easy to ignore the effects of your own activities like carbon emissions when your country is so large that those effects are barely noticeable. But when you consider that Florida's reefs are the only ones of their kind in North America, it's just astounding that nothing more is being done to protect them.

Whales protected from US Navy Sonar

I've long been concerned about the effects of sonar on cetaceans (and indeed, all other sea life). Here's a small victory against needless employment of high-power sonar, but as with all things military we know where the US' priorities are.

No fish, no brainfood

George Monbiot at the Guardian writes a very interesting piece asking whether the steadily collapsing global fisheries means an end to our supply of omega-3 fatty acids and, by implication, a "dumbing down" of the species. Some promising research indicates other possible sources of this valuable oil, but hopefully that should not divert our attention from the urgent need to conserve our fish stocks.

More bird worries

The dodo, an almost universal posterchild for anthropogenic extinctions, may not have been destroyed by man as previously thought.

On the other hand, bird extinction rates are now four times higher than previous estimates.

New weapons against malaria

The antihistamine astemizole has been shown to be effective in destroying the malaria parasite Plasmodium. What's more, the drug is no longer under patent and can therefore be manufactured cheaply.

Meanwhile, a team of researchers appear to have found the component of human body odour which attracts or repels mosquitoes. Reuters reports that they are currently working on a formulation that they can market.

Here we have two new and exciting prophylactics against malaria, an often-overlooked disease that kills up to 1 million people each year. It's a pity that the cheaper option is likely to be the drug rather than the repellant - it'll only be a matter of time before we start seeing resistance to the new medication.

Riding the alternative energy wave... minus surfboards

Oh dear. A plan to utilise wave energy off the Cornish coast runs into opposition... from surfers.

John Baxendale, a chartered physicist and engineer who runs a surf forecasting agency, said it could ruin the coastline's renowned surfing. He told BBC News: "It is fairly obvious to me that any barrage of energy extraction would create a wave shadow because it would remove the energy from the surf.

"It will not just affect the height, it will also affect the quality of the surf.

"Surfers voting for this are like turkeys voting for Christmas."

This seems to epitomise a malaise we have in the UK toward alternative energy sources. We all agree action has to be taken on carbon emissions, but no one wants nuclear (especially because the government refuses to rule that option out, and quite rightly, too). Renewables are great, except for the NIMBY brigade (Not In My Back Yard). Wind farms are great, but look unsightly and no one can agree on whether they affect bird life.

Well, as the saying goes, there's no such thing as a free lunch. We've plundered the environment for our endless thirst for energy too long - now it's time we start paying. If a few surfers lose out, so be it.

Diplomats in Illegal Wildlife trade

A worrying story from New Scientist about those involved in illegal wildlife trading under cover of diplomatic immunity. The man in question was a UN peacekeeper smuggling a chimp out of Sierra Leone, and had to be let go - with the chimp.

Clearly, diplomatic immunity is not (or should not be) absolute.

Climate change: for the birds? Well, some of them

Long-distance migratory birds are adjusting their migration patterns to accommodate climate change. But it's not all good news, as changes in temperature are negatively affecting the food supplies of many species, especially sea birds.

Humans have long had an affinity for birds - perhaps it's their ability to fly that captures our imagination and therefore our hearts. Hopefully when we take note of the effects of climate change on their populations it will spur us into further action, but will that be too late?

Meanwhile, a reversal of fortune for the song thrush, as reported by the Times.

A near miss

A near armageddon moment at 04h44 GMT today when asteroid 2004 XP14 missed earth by a paltry 432,709 km. Okay, well it was close in celestial terms - around 1.1 times the distance between the earth and the moon.

The asteroid was first noticed by the LINEAR (Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research) project, a research group funded by the US Air Force and NASA.

Could it be the first time Hollywood tells the scientists "I told you so"?

Meanwhile, the Discovery Shuttle is delayed again by bad weather.