Last week's news in brief
Home » Blog » Sophie Barclay » Last week's news in briefThis week's news rounds up cars, reptiles, whales, Gareth Morgan's new book and a whopping great fine for a polluting farmer.
Watch for Southern Right Whales!
The Department of Conservation is asking the public to report any movement of southern right whales along the Aotearoa/New Zealand coastline. The whale migration season has begun, and there have already been sightings of the magnificent whales around the south coast. DoC needs to be notified of sightings so they can take DNA samples and undertake research on these endangered whales, using the information to learn about them and how best to protect them. If you sight a whale get in touch with DoC immediately: 0800 DOCHOT (0800 36 24 68). Click for more information about how to tell a southern right whale from its other mammalian counterparts...
Poles Apart: Sceptics vs Alarmists
This week saw the release of economist Gareth Morgan’s book on climate change, Poles Apart: Beyond the Shouting, Who’s Right about Climate Change? The book, co-written by journalist John McCrystal, is the result of 18 months of research from a group of climate change sceptics and a group of climate change “alarmists”. The book concludes that the weight of current evidence favours human-made climate change.
In the last pages of his book, Morgan and McCrystal acknowledge the victory of the alarmists, saying, "The alarmists were right and we shouldn't call them alarmists any more—or at least not all of them! And further, it has to be said that only a few of the sceptics are actually sceptics. Too many are gadflies and deniers."
Morgan’s book was designed to move Aotearoa/New Zealand past the climate of misinformation inherent in politics and business, and supported by politicians such as Rodney Hide. "When I get a non-scientist belching emotion like that, I just think that that's gutter of politics. I was trying to clear the room of the Rodney’s of this world, and whoever his equivalent is on the other [environmental alarmist] side," says Gareth. Read more...
Record Fine for Dumping Dirty Water
Manawatu businessman Kenneth Thurston has been walloped with a record fine of $180,000 for discharging effluent and milky-white liquid into the Manawatu River from 2006 through until 2008. Thurston, and his company Tawera Land Co Ltd, were given what is thought to be the largest fine ever handed down under the Resource Management Act. Read more ...
Humans Threaten one-fifth of Amphibians and Reptiles in Europe
An ever-increasing human population, coupled with agricultural intensification, urban spread and pollution is severely threatening reptiles and amphibians in Europe. One-fifth of these creatures are threatened by changes to their habitat, including the tortoise family, vipers, pond turtles and the Tenerife speckled lizard. Read more ...
The End of the American Dream?
US President Obama has set in motion policy that will force car makers in the US to produce cars with lower exhaust emissions by 2016. The policy will see huge American gas-guzzlers being replaced to more carbon-conscious vehicles that will emit an average of 35.5mpg by 2016, reducing America’s carbon dioxide emissions by 30 percent. This move will hopefully spur the automobile industry into more climate friendly actions, as well as removing the equivalent of 58 million cars off the roads for one year. Read more ...
