Environment news

• The grey parrot and the race against Africa’s wildlife extinction

  24-09-2016 22:44 via theguardian.com
  
  The number of African greys has plunged to 1% of past levels, conservationists warn. But it is just one of a host of animals and plants on the continent whose future will be debated by more than 180 nations in Johannesburg this weekPerry, a five-year-old African grey parrot, is for sale on a well-known pet trade website for £750. She looks in good condition with her large black bill, red tail and white mask and her owner says she can whistle the tune of Flower of Scotland, does a passable
  
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• Niger Delta Avengers claim first attack in energy hub since ceasefire

  24-09-2016 22:17
  Nigerian militant group the Niger Delta Avengers said on Saturday it had carried out its first oil pipeline attack in the country's southern energy hub since declaring a break in hostilities in August to pursue talks with the government. The Avengers have previously launched attacks that have reduced the OPEC member's crude oil production by around a third from the 2.1 million barrels per day average at the start of the year. The group said in a statement on its website that it had "brought down
  
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• Ecuador hopes OPEC will reach agreement in Algeria, warns of risks

  24-09-2016 21:35
  Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said on Saturday he hopes OPEC countries will reach an agreement to stabilize the oil market at the upcoming meeting in Algeria, warning of "serious risks" for the group if they do reach a deal. Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) hold an informal meeting in Algeria from Sept 26 to 28. "It is a meeting being held for other reasons, but all the OPEC members will be there, so we hope to have other informal meetings and reach ag
  
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• Pemex reports fire on tanker in Gulf of Mexico, says crew safe

  24-09-2016 20:54
  Mexican state oil company Pemex said on Saturday a fire broke out on one of its tankers in the Gulf of Mexico and that all the crew had been evacuated and were safe. The fire on the tanker "Burgos" occurred off Boca del Rio in Veracruz state, Pemex said on in a tweet.
  
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• Gabon opposition leader rejects court ruling upholding Bongo poll win

  24-09-2016 19:58
  By Edward McAllister LIBREVILLE (Reuters) - Gabon opposition leader Jean Ping on Saturday rejected what he said was an "unjust" ruling by the Constitutional Court which upheld the victory of President Ali Bongo in the Aug. 27 poll that he says was tarnished by fraud. The refusal by Ping, who says he won the presidential poll, to accept the court ruling raises the prospect of a potentially violent political crisis in the central African oil producer. The court had agreed to Ping's petition to re-
  
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• Back from the dead: extinct wildlife as vintage posters – in pictures

  24-09-2016 18:00 via theguardian.com
  
  When travelling in New Zealand, Matt Lindley, a London-based marketeer, started thinking about the flightless moa bird, which was endemic there until it became extinct around 1300AD. This gave him the idea for the series Unknown Tourism, which commemorates lost wildlife with vintage-style posters inspired by 30s to 50s air travel ads. The project, commissioned by the travel site Expedia UK and illustrated by Jon Barmby, includes the dodo as well as bringing to light the unfamiliar galliwasp. &ld
  
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• Lobsters in hot water as rising ocean temperatures affect larvae

  24-09-2016 17:48 via theguardian.com
  
  A new study by scientists in Maine found that if global warming trends continue, lobsters will struggle to survive by the year 2100Baby lobsters might not be able to survive in the ocean’s waters if the ocean continues to warm at the expected rate.That is the key finding of a study performed by scientists in Maine, the state most closely associated with lobster. The scientists, who are affiliated with the University of Maine Darling Marine Center and Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences,
  
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• Baby lobsters in hot water as ocean temperatures rise

  24-09-2016 17:48 via theguardian.com
  
  A new study by scientists in Maine found that if global warming trends continue, lobsters will struggle to survive by the year 2100Baby lobsters might not be able to survive in the ocean’s waters if the ocean continues to warm at the expected rate.That is the key finding of a study performed by scientists in Maine, the state most closely associated with lobster. The scientists, who are affiliated with the University of Maine Darling Marine Center and Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences,
  
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• Could ants be the solution to antibiotic crisis?

  24-09-2016 13:17 via theguardian.com
  
  Bacterial defences of fungus-farming ants could help in medical battle against superbugsScientists have pinpointed a promising new source of antibiotics: ants. They have found that some species – including leaf-cutter ants from the Amazon – use bacteria to defend their nests against invading fungi and microbes.Chemicals excreted by the bacteria as part of this fight have been shown to have particularly powerful antibiotic effects and researchers are now preparing to test them in anim
  
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• Deep divisions over elephants to dominate key species meeting

  24-09-2016 12:34 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The world's biggest conference on species protection has opened in South Africa amid differing views on the survival of elephants.
  
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• Red squirrels with a taste for antlers

  24-09-2016 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Strathnairn, Highlands A squirrel at one of the wooden boxes suddenly darted along the branch and started gnawing away at the antlerFor our first 29 years in this house we didn’t see a single red squirrel in the garden, but since May this year they have become daily visitors. The wooden feeder boxes on the apple trees have been a big attraction, and watching the squirrels push up the lids with their heads and reach in to get the peanuts can often be amusing. However, some of them persist i
  
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• Giant 'corpse flower' begins to bloom for first time in five years

  24-09-2016 04:07 via theguardian.com
  
  Endangered plant named ‘morphy’ starts to smell like a burning cigar at Ivy League college but far worse whiffs lie in store at the weekendA giant endangered “corpse flower” that got its nickname from its putrid smell started to bloom on Friday for the first time since 2011. Related: 'Worse than one thousand pukes': fetid corpse flower overwhelms New YorkContinue reading...
  
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• Gabon court upholds Bongo poll victory, rejects opposition challenge

  24-09-2016 03:19
  By Edward McAllister LIBREVILLE (Reuters) - Gabon's Constitutional Court upheld on Friday the election victory of President Ali Bongo, whose family has ruled the central African oil producer for nearly a half century, rejecting a challenge by his main opponent. The decision, read late at night in an almost empty court chamber, raised the prospect of a repeat of the violence that erupted with the announcement earlier this month of Bongo's narrow victory over Jean Ping in the Aug. 27 poll. Six die
  
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• Gabon court rejects opposition challenge to presidential poll result

  24-09-2016 02:06
  Gabon's Constitutional Court rejected on Friday an opposition challenge to the results of an Aug. 27 election won by incumbent President Ali Bongo, whose family has ruled the central African oil producer for nearly a half century. The decision raises the prospect of a repeat of the violence that followed the announcement earlier this month of narrow victory for Bongo over opposition leader Jean Ping. In his petition to the court, Ping, who has claimed he won the poll, alleged fraud in Haut-Ogoou
  
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• Horses can communicate with us - scientists

  24-09-2016 01:13 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Horses have joined a select club of animals that can communicate by pointing to symbols, say scientists.
  
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• Bjørn Lomborg centre got $640,000 for report saying limiting warming rise to 2C not worth it

  24-09-2016 00:03 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: Revealed under freedom of information, cost came before Copenhagen Consensus Centre’s controversial $4m Australian program droppedAustralia’s education department paid Bjørn Lomborg’s Copenhagen Consensus Centre $640,000 to help produce a report that claimed limiting world temperature increases to 2C was a “poor” use of money.The $640,000 cost, incurred before the CCC’s controversial $4m Australian program was junked, is revealed in the 2016
  
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