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tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:/xml/europe1 europe news from mongabay.com 2015-06-23T15:03:34Z tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/15019 2015-06-23T14:50:00Z 2015-06-23T15:03:34Z Cat update: lion and African golden cat down, Iberian lynx up A new update of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has categorized the West African population of lions—which is considered genetically distinct and separate from East and Central African lions—as Critically Endangered. Based largely on a paper in 2014, the researchers estimate that there are only 121-375 mature lions in West Africa today. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/14944 2015-06-11T17:03:00Z 2015-06-11T17:04:29Z Experts question White House claim that new free trade agreements have strong environmental protections

A report released by the Obama administration last month claims that new international trade deals now being negotiated have stronger environmental protections than past trade agreements, but many experts are not convinced. Rebecca Kessler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/14925 2015-06-08T20:01:00Z 2015-06-09T12:50:59Z Passenger pigeon redo? Superabundant bird collapses across Eurasia

In 1914 the world's last passenger pigeon died. Nicknamed, Martha, she was not killed by hunters, but simply old age. With her passing, the passenger pigeon fell into extinction. A hundred years before Martha's death, however, the passenger pigeon may have been the most populous bird in the world with a population often estimated in the billions. Now, conservationists warn history may be repeating itself. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/14790 2015-05-12T19:03:00Z 2015-05-14T15:27:57Z The triumph of the bison: Europe's biggest animal bounces back a century after vanishing

On a path flanked by thick woods, I first spied our quarry. When she appeared, far away between the long verticals of bare trees, I could hardly believe she was there. She was a ghost, a specter haunting this winter forest. Her horns were prettily curved, her face slender, her whole 400 kilogram (880 pound) mass framed by the trees. Jeremy Hance 52.706366 24.010810 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/14744 2015-05-05T16:55:00Z 2015-05-06T14:58:36Z Scientists identify frog through DNA without leaving forest

Yesterday, a team of Italian scientists caught a frog in a montane forest in Tanzania. And then they made history: using a small blood sample the team were able to extract, purify, and amplify the amphibian's DNA—all in the forest—through a new, battery-powered device called the Expedition Genomics Lab. Jeremy Hance -9.121768 33.633140 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/14732 2015-05-04T15:26:00Z 2015-05-04T15:31:22Z World on course to lose 1 in 6 species to climate change – South America, Australia, New Zealand face even more extinctions

Renowned biologist E.O Wilson, assessing Earth's sixth great extinction now underway, described the future as a shrinking keyhole through which all species must pass as humanity responds to, and hopefully averts catastrophe. A new study published in the journal Science shows that this keyhole could drastically narrow with each degree increase in global temperature due to climate change. Tiffany Roufs tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/14704 2015-04-28T21:22:00Z 2015-04-28T21:22:55Z EU votes to scale back on biofuels linked to deforestation The European Parliament voted overwhelmingly today on a new cap on biofuels derived from edible crops, which critics say not only compete with feeding a growing global population but also contribute to deforestation and release unacceptably high levels of greenhouse gas emissions. The new legislation sets the cap on edible food crop biofuels—such as palm oil, corn, rapeseed, and soy—at seven percent. Jeremy Hance 50.860068 4.391183 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/14573 2015-04-01T23:24:00Z 2015-04-07T01:33:54Z Illegal deforestation driven by EU appetite for beef, palm oil, soy, say new reports

A new report finds that the European Union is driving international trade in commodities grown on land cleared outside of the law. In 2012 alone, the report says, the EU imported $6.5 billion worth of illegally sourced beef, leather, palm oil and soy, which amounts to nearly one-fourth of all global trade and some 2.4 million hectares (59.3 million acres) of forest illegally cleared. Morgan Erickson-Davis -12.212795 -53.643841 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/14473 2015-03-10T20:06:00Z 2015-04-20T15:38:01Z Endangered forests shrink as demand for soy rises

As battles over labeling genetically modified foods or displaying calorific breakdowns per serving rage on, it appears that a possibly more significant battle is in its infancy - where do all the ingredients on the package actually come from? Morgan Erickson-Davis -12.095052 -41.642175 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/14248 2015-01-12T15:13:00Z 2015-01-12T15:29:35Z Malta approves public referendum of bird hunt that kills over 15,000 Malta's Constitutional Court has upheld a public referendum to decide the fate of the country's controversial spring bird hunt, which kills over ten thousand migrating birds every year. The Constitutional Court threw out objections by Malta's powerful hunting lobby, and instead sided with the 11 conservation groups who organized the referendum, known as the Coalition for the Abolition of Spring Hunting—gathering 40,000 signatures from Maltese voters. Jeremy Hance 35.923168 14.400124 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/14149 2014-12-12T20:19:00Z 2014-12-12T20:51:24Z EU adopts law mandating palm oil labeling on food products Tomorrow the European Union will begin enforcing legislation that mandates labeling of specific vegetable oils on food products. The move means consumers will soon know whether the products they consume contain palm oil, canola, or one of many other sources of plant-based fat. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/14071 2014-11-25T20:16:00Z 2014-11-25T20:20:11Z Progress being made in curbing illegal timber imports Five major timber importers are making progress in cutting contraband wood from their markets, argues a series of reports published by Chatham House. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/14027 2014-11-16T23:45:00Z 2014-11-17T20:10:55Z Greenpeace investigation prompts Belgian authorities to seize timber shipment Authorities in Belgium seized two containers of Brazilian timber in Antwerp following a demonstration by Greenpeace, which alleged that the Ipe timber had been cut illegally and therefore violated the EU's trade laws. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/13981 2014-11-05T19:43:00Z 2014-11-05T21:20:57Z Perched on the precipice: India's vultures threatened by E.U. sale of killer drug

Poisoned by cattle carcasses treated with Diclofenac, India's vultures died by the millions in the 1990s. A captive breeding program is helping to save the once-ubiquitous birds, but the very drug that drove India's vultures to the precipice of extinction has been given a green light in Italy and Spain. Morgan Erickson-Davis 12.777961 77.255844 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/13964 2014-10-30T19:23:00Z 2014-12-30T22:30:10Z Pet trade likely responsible for killer salamander fungus

As if amphibians weren't facing enough—a killer fungal disease, habitat destruction, pollution, and global warming—now scientists say that a second fungal disease could spell disaster for dozens, perhaps hundreds, of species. A new paper finds that this disease has the potential to wipe out salamanders and newts across Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and the Americas. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/13941 2014-10-23T20:23:00Z 2014-10-23T21:35:02Z Beef, palm oil, soy, and wood products from 8 countries responsible for 1/3 of forest destruction Four commodities produced in just eight countries are responsible for a third of the world's forest loss, according to a new report. Those familiar with the long-standing effort to stop deforestation won't be surprised by the commodities named: beef, palm oil, soy, and wood products (including timber and paper). Nor will they be very surprised by most of the countries: Brazil, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Jeremy Hance 5.505705 101.755097 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/13922 2014-10-20T14:08:00Z 2014-10-21T15:05:26Z Walking the walk: zoo kicks off campaign for orangutans and sustainable palm oil

If you see people wearing orange this October, it might not be for Halloween, but for orangutans. Chester Zoo's conservation campaign, Go Orange for Orangutans, kicks off this month for its second year. The campaign aims to raise money, and awareness, for orangutans in Borneo, which have become hugely impacted by deforestation often linked to palm oil plantations. Jeremy Hance 53.224664 -2.884033 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/13891 2014-10-08T21:01:00Z 2014-10-08T21:02:33Z INTERPOL launches African environmental crime unit To help fight illegal poaching and trafficking, INTERPOL, the world's largest international police organization, has launched an environmental crimes unit in Africa. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/13887 2014-10-08T14:49:00Z 2015-04-20T15:40:02Z The only solution for polar bears: 'stop the rise in CO2 and other greenhouse gases'

Steven Amstrup, Chief Scientist for Polar Bears International, has worked diligently on polar bears for over 30 years. He radio-collared some of the first bears and discovered that annual activity areas for 75 tracked females averaged at a stunning 149,000 square kilometers. His recent work highlighted the cost of global warming to these incredible animals and the sea ice they so closely depend on. Jeremy Hance 72.875466 -132.455211 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/13875 2014-10-06T12:27:00Z 2015-02-20T15:20:40Z Photos: Czech Republic publicly burns confiscated rhino horns

Late last month, armed guards escorted officials marching 60 kilograms (132 pounds) of rhino horns to a pyre for burning. The event, at the Dvůr Králové Zoo in the Czech Republic, was the first public burning of rhino horns in Europe. The Czech Republic burned the horns, which came from a government stockpile as well as from past rhinos held at the zoo, in a bid to help conserve rhinos. Jeremy Hance 50.432178 15.796715 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/13832 2014-09-24T20:56:00Z 2014-11-06T17:52:52Z Turning point for Peru's forests? Norway and Germany put muscle and money behind ambitious agreement

From the Andes to the Amazon, Peru houses some of the world's most spectacular forests. Proud and culturally-diverse indigenous tribes inhabit the interiors of the Peruvian Amazon, including some that have chosen little contact with the outside world. And even as scientists have identified tens-of-thousands of species that make their homes from the leaf litter to the canopy. Jeremy Hance -13.256860 -68.993973 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/13815 2014-09-22T20:32:00Z 2014-09-22T20:47:08Z Chinese now emit more carbon per capita than Europeans Last year, the people of China emitted more carbon per person than those in the EU, according this year's Global Carbon Budget. The report, updated annually, also found that global emissions jumped 2.5 percent last year and are set to hit a record high of 40 billion tonnes this year. The findings highlight how little global society has done to stem emissions, despite numerous pledges and past global agreements. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/13753 2014-09-08T20:34:00Z 2014-09-08T20:41:22Z Norway slaughters over 700 whales this season As of late August, Norway has killed 729 northern minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) during its annual whaling season, the highest number taken since 1993. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/13676 2014-08-15T18:00:00Z 2014-11-06T17:45:25Z Nothing else left to log: are eco-certified timber companies stripping Russia of its last old growth forests?

Among Russia's forested lands lie intact forest landscapes (or IFLs). These IFLs are large swaths of unbroken, old growth forests that encompass at least 50,000 hectares, harbor high biodiversity, and have remained mostly undisturbed by development. However, less than 10 percent of the world's IFLs are currently protected. Now, a new report reveals Russia's IFLs may be threatened by certified sustainable logging companies. Morgan Erickson-Davis 63.712223 40.854324 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/13563 2014-07-21T15:48:00Z 2014-07-21T16:02:55Z Germany tops energy efficiency rating while U.S. remains stuck near the bottom Two years after the first energy efficiency ranking report put out by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), and the U.S. still lags widely behind most of the world's other large economies. In the second report, the U.S. came in at number 13 out of 16 nations—even beaten by new-comer to the report, India—while Germany took the top spot. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/13540 2014-07-15T14:28:00Z 2014-12-30T22:38:06Z 'Stop using the bloody things': pesticides linked to bee collapse now blamed for bird declines

In recent years the evidence has piled up that neonicotinoids—a hugely popular group of pesticide—may be at least partly responsible for ongoing bee and pollinator collapse. But new research in the journal Nature find that these pesticides could also be taking a heavy toll on other species, in this case common birds. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/13512 2014-07-09T12:59:00Z 2015-05-07T14:20:34Z Stuff of fairy tales: stepping into Europe's last old-growth forest

There is almost nothing left of Europe's famed forests, those that provided for human communities for millennia and gave life to the world's most famous fairytales. But straddling the border between Poland and Belarus, the Bialowieza Forest is Europe's last lowland old-growth forest, parts of which have never been cut by man. Jeremy Hance 52.776516 23.876829 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/13498 2014-07-07T17:47:00Z 2014-11-25T22:14:26Z They think, therefore they spread: plants can make complex conditional decisions

Strong memory, being able to predict the future, and acting based on one's surroundings are traits typically associated only with the most advanced types of animals. However, a team of German and Dutch scientists from the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research (UFZ) and the University of Göttingen found ecological evidence that plants also have these abilities. Morgan Erickson-Davis 53.165255 13.398455 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/13433 2014-06-24T12:50:00Z 2014-06-26T17:21:07Z Shot Egyptian vulture leads conservationists to bizarre black-market for bird parts

Around 11 AM on Thursday, 27 February 2014, Angoulou Enika was lying hidden in the tall grass on the side of a large water hole in the Sahel region of Niger. He was staying as quiet as he could while aiming his custom-made rifle at an Egyptian vulture which had landed nearby to drink from the water. He took a breath, held it and fired. The large bird fell to its side. Jeremy Hance 13.718000 10.483320 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/13343 2014-06-04T17:19:00Z 2014-11-25T23:22:44Z Ignoring boreal forests could speed up global warming

Greenhouse gas emissions from human activity have caused global air and sea surface temperatures to rise approximately 0.8 Celsius (1.4 degrees Fahrenheit) since the beginning of the 20th century, contributing to a plethora of problems worldwide from rising sea levels to desertification. A new study finds that global temperatures may start to increase even faster if more is not done to protect Earth's boreal forests. Morgan Erickson-Davis 59.413386 76.224136 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/13318 2014-05-29T22:33:00Z 2014-11-25T23:19:30Z Acoustic surveying: new monitoring technique beats bats at their own game

Species monitoring can be a very invasive form of research. However, the use of non-invasive techniques made possible through advancements in technology has been on the rise. A new study published in Ecological Informatics examined one such technique: an innovative and inexpensive non-invasive monitoring tool, known as acoustic surveying. Morgan Erickson-Davis 55.368002 10.424015 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/13265 2014-05-22T06:55:00Z 2014-05-22T12:42:11Z Olinguito, tinkerbell, and a dragon: meet the top 10 new species of 2013

Out of around 18,000 new species described and named last year, scientists have highlighted ten in an effort to raise awareness about the imperiled biodiversity around us. Each species—from a teddy-bear-like carnivore in the Andes to a microbe that survives clean rooms where spaceships are built—stands out from the crowd for one reason or another. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/13248 2014-05-19T12:51:00Z 2015-05-20T13:12:30Z The quiet zoo revolution

A quiet zoo revolution has also been occurring over the past twenty-five years. Rather than just stand by the sidelines as species vanish in the wild, many zoos have begun funding on-the-ground conservation efforts. This revolution signals a widening realization by zoos of the positive—and wholly unique—role they could play in combating global mass extinction. But are zoos doing enough? Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/13225 2014-05-14T13:04:00Z 2014-12-30T22:46:03Z Scientists uncover new marine mammal genus, represented by single endangered species

This is the story of three seals: the Caribbean, the Hawaiian, and the Mediterranean monk seals. Once numbering in the hundreds of thousands, the Caribbean monk seal was a hugely abundant marine mammal found across the Caribbean, and even recorded by Christopher Columbus during his second voyage, whose men killed several for food. Jeremy Hance 21.725869 -160.086787 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/13164 2014-05-01T19:40:00Z 2014-05-01T19:57:59Z 31 activists arrested attempting to stop Arctic oil from docking in Europe Dutch police arrested 31 Greenpeace activists today, who were attempting to block the Russian oil tanker, Mikhail Ulyanov, from delivering the first shipment of offshore Arctic oil to the European market. Jeremy Hance 69.155260 57.380491 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/13160 2014-05-01T14:48:00Z 2014-05-01T15:07:17Z Bambi in the 21st Century: roe deer not adapting to climate change

Once almost extinct in parts of Europe in the late 17th century, the roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) eventually bounced back, and how: today, it is one of the most widespread deer in Europe. But will its luck dry out in the future? A new study published in PLoSBiology suggests that while roe deer populations are still increasing, it may not be adapting to climate change. Jeremy Hance 48.026433 0.339682 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/13147 2014-04-29T12:52:00Z 2014-05-06T16:37:46Z 3M linked to deforestation in Brazil, Canada, Europe, and U.S., says NGO

A new report from activist group, ForestEthics, alleges that U.S. company, 3M, supplies many of its products from endangered forests around the world. The NGO links 3M's masking tape and sandpaper to caribou habitat in the boreal forests of Canada, Scotch-Brite sponges to a controversial paper mill in Brazil, and those ubiquitous Post-it Notes to allegedly poor logging practices in the U.S. Jeremy Hance 44.950737 -92.996032 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/13139 2014-04-28T14:45:00Z 2014-12-30T22:49:21Z The remarkable story of how a bat scientist took on Russia's most powerful...and won

In a country increasingly known for its authoritarian-style crackdown on activists and dissidents, a bat scientist has won a number of impressive victories to protect the dwindling forests of the Western Caucasus. For his efforts, Gazaryan was awarded today with the Goldman Environmental Prize, often called the Nobel Prize for the environment, along with five other winners around the world. Jeremy Hance 43.585309 39.730085 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/12982 2014-03-25T19:43:00Z 2014-03-25T20:42:19Z Europe approves vet drug that killed off almost all of Asia's vultures

When Europeans first arrived in North America, they exterminated three to five billion passenger pigeons (Ectopistes migratorius) in the short span of a century through a combination of habitat destruction and hunting. In 1914, the last living passenger pigeon perished at the Cincinnati Zoo. Despite the staggering scale of this extinction event, three species of vulture from Southeastern Asia retain the dubious distinction of having had the most rapid population crash of any avian fauna. They might not have begun with numbers as large as the passenger pigeon, but within the space of a single decade, their populations were reduced by 96 to 99 percent. Jeremy Hance 25.365863 78.632792 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/12924 2014-03-13T15:56:00Z 2014-03-13T16:05:18Z Europe votes for an Arctic Sanctuary Yesterday, the European Parliament passed a resolution supporting the creation of an Arctic Sanctuary covering the vast high Arctic around the North Pole, giving official status to an idea that has been pushed by activists for years. Still, the sanctuary has a long road to go before becoming a reality: as Arctic sea ice rapidly declines due to climate change, there has been rising interest from governments and industries to exploit the once inaccessible wilderness for fish and fossil fuels. Jeremy Hance 82.452125 -173.416326 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/12872 2014-03-04T15:10:00Z 2014-03-04T15:28:57Z Europe not doing enough to stop illegal logging imports says Greenpeace Europe is failing to fully enforce its one-year-old EU Timber Regulation (EUTR), alleges Greenpeace, with illegally-logged wood still slipping into the continent, especially from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Jeremy Hance -6.970049 23.732758 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/12761 2014-02-11T16:29:00Z 2014-12-30T22:54:11Z Incredible encounter: whales devour European eels in the darkness of the ocean depths

The Critically Endangered European eel makes one of the most astounding migrations in the wild kingdom. After spending most of its life in Europe's freshwater rivers, the eel embarks on an undersea odyssey, traveling 6,000 kilometers (3,720 miles) to the Sargasso Sea where it will spawn and die. The long-journeying eels larva than make their way back to Europe over nearly a year. Yet by tracking adult European eels (Anguilla anguilla) with electronic data loggers, scientists have discovered that some eels never make it to their spawning ground, but instead are swallowed-up in the depths by leviathans. Jeremy Hance 48.341646 -34.643556 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/12719 2014-02-04T14:30:00Z 2014-02-06T09:46:55Z How hunters have become key to saving Bulgaria's capercaillie

Surprising clatter cuts through the silence in the snowy forest shortly before sunrise. The powerful clicking sounds like a dropping Ping-Pong ball before culminating in a loud pop resembling the opening of a champagne bottle. This sound is heard clearly and far. Propped on a thick pine tree branch, with a peacock-fanned tale, relaxed wings and head pointing skyward, a western capercaillie is singing. The song terminates with a low-frequency sound similar to scraping a fork to the bottom of a frying pan. It's exactly during those last few moments of singing that something unusual happens: the male bird goes temporarily deaf. Hence the species' common name in Bulgarian—deaf bird. Jeremy Hance 41.491607 24.710598 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/12680 2014-01-23T17:14:00Z 2014-01-23T17:25:33Z The next best thing: how well do secondary forests preserve biodiversity?

Secondary forests, which are areas that were previously cleared of old-growth cover, now comprise the majority of the forested areas in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere. A heavily debated issue is to what extent secondary forests are able to contribute to the preservation of biodiversity. In an article published in PLOS ONE, a group of researchers from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute led by Michiel van Breugel evaluated the biodiversity preservation potential of secondary forests. Tiffany Roufs 9.145486 -79.839478 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/12677 2014-01-22T20:57:00Z 2014-01-23T19:02:54Z EU proposes 40% emissions reduction target for 2030 The European Commission has proposed setting a binding greenhouse gas emissions reduction target of 40 percent below 1990 levels for 2030, reports Thomson Reuters Point Carbon. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/12595 2014-01-06T11:16:00Z 2014-12-27T05:24:54Z Rewilding Chile's savanna with guanacos could increase biodiversity and livestock

Local extinctions have occurred across a variety of habitats on every continent, affecting a gamut of species from large predators such as the wolves of North America, to tiny amphibians like the Kihansi spray toad of Tanzania. The long trek toward reversing such extinctions has begun, but it is not without its challenges, both ethical and logistical. Tiffany Roufs -35.966059 -72.283199 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/12568 2013-12-23T18:05:00Z 2015-02-12T00:03:12Z Bee-harming pesticides may impact human nervous system Neonicotinoid pesticides, which have been increasingly blamed for the collapse of bee populations, may also impact human's developing nervous system, according to a review of research by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). The EFSA says that current safety guidelines for two pesticides—acetamiprid and imidacloprid—may be too lax to protect humans, especially the developing brains of unborn children Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/12540 2013-12-19T15:01:00Z 2014-12-28T19:57:07Z Top 10 HAPPY environmental stories of 2013

China begins to tackle pollution, carbon emissions: As China's environmental crisis worsens, the government has begun to unveil a series of new initiatives to curb record pollution and cut greenhouse emissions. The world's largest consumer of coal, China's growth in emissions is finally slowing and some experts believe the nation's emissions could peak within the decade. If China's emissions begin to fall, so too could the world's. Jeremy Hance 39.906576 116.413665 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/12514 2013-12-12T19:51:00Z 2013-12-13T14:44:28Z Featured video: U.S. forests decimated for 'green' bio-energy in Europe Wetland forests in the southern U.S. are becoming the victims of a drive for so-called green energy in Europe, according to activist group Dogwood Alliance, which has produced a new video highlighting the issue. The activists contend that bio-energy that depends on chopping down forests not only devastates vital ecosystems, but actually emits more greenhouse gases than traditional fossil fuels. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/12496 2013-12-10T14:09:00Z 2014-12-28T19:57:48Z Top 10 Environmental Stories of 2013

1. Carbon concentrations hit 400ppm while the IPCC sets global carbon budget: For the first time since our appearance on Earth, carbon concentrations in the atmosphere hit 400 parts per million. The last time concentrations were this high for a sustained period was 4-5 million years ago when temperatures were 10 degrees Celsius higher. Meanwhile, in the slow-moving effort to curb carbon emissions, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) crafted a global carbon budget showing that most of the world's fossil fuel reserves must be left untouched if we are to avoid catastrophic climate change. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/12468 2013-12-02T16:51:00Z 2015-02-11T23:58:34Z Reversing local extinction: scientists bring the northern bald ibis back to Europe after 300 years

The northern bald ibis (Geronticus eremita), also called the hermit ibis or waldrapp, is a migratory bird. Once, the bald ibis lived in the Middle East, northern Africa and southern and central Europe, but due to hunting, loss of habitat and pesticide-use, the birds disappeared from most of these areas and is currently considered Critically Endangered. It became extinct in Europe 300 years ago; the bird is almost gone in Syria, with only a single individual recorded at the country's lone breeding site in 2013; and the only stronghold left is a small population of around 500 birds in Morocco. But now, a team of scientists from Austria is working to reestablish a self-sustaining, migratory population of bald ibis in Europe. Jeremy Hance 42.433593 11.225853 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/12472 2013-12-02T14:22:00Z 2013-12-02T15:59:07Z Little dude takes the prize: rare dormouse wins BBC camera trap contest (photos)

The image of a rare dormouse has won the fourth annual BBC Wildlife Camera-Trap Photo of the Year award. Photographed in Turkey, the Roach's mouse-tailed dormouse (Myomimus roachi) is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN Red List with its habitat rapidly disappearing for agriculture. The photo took the grand prize out of 850 entries from around world in a contest that takes into account the scientific importance of submitted photos. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/12429 2013-11-21T17:05:00Z 2013-11-21T17:53:55Z Citizen groups walk out of UN Climate Summit to protest lack of ambition Thirteen citizen groups—including Oxfam, Greenpeace, and WWF—have walked out of ongoing climate talks in Warsaw to protest what they view as a lack of ambition and long-stalled progress on combating global climate change. Nearly 200 governments are currently meeting in Warsaw, Poland at the the 19th Conference of the Parties (COP) for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which is meant to prepare the way for a new agreement in 2015. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/12412 2013-11-19T19:41:00Z 2013-11-19T20:04:02Z UN talks tough to global coal industry

Yesterday, at the International Coal and Climate Summit—just a couple miles from the ongoing UN Climate Summit—Christiana Figueres delivered a speech unlike anything ever heard at a coal industry meeting before. Figueres, the Executive Director of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), took time off from wrangling world leaders and officials toward a climate agreement to talk tough to an industry currently worth around $3 trillion. Jeremy Hance 52.266319 21.066184 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/12374 2013-11-13T18:14:00Z 2013-11-13T18:50:16Z Richest countries spent $74 billion on fossil fuel subsidies in 2011, eclipsing climate finance by seven times In 2011, the top 11 richest carbon emitters spent an estimated $74 billion on fossil fuel subsidies, or seven times the amount spent on fast-track climate financing to developing nations, according to a recent report by the Overseas Development Institute. Worldwide, nations spent over half a trillion dollars on fossil fuel subsidies in 2011 according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/12293 2013-10-31T15:23:00Z 2013-10-31T15:46:23Z 'Remarkable year': could 2012 mark the beginning of a carbon emissions slowdown? Global carbon dioxide emissions hit another new record of 34.5 billion tons last year, according to a new report by the Netherlands Environment Assessment Agency and the European Commission's Joint Research Centre, but there may be a silver lining. Dubbing 2012 a "remarkable year," the report found that the rate of carbon emission's rise slowed considerably even as economic growth continued upward. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/12278 2013-10-29T20:50:00Z 2015-02-11T23:47:20Z Scientists identify individual lizards by their irises

Institutions and governments have been scanning human irises for years to verify one's identity—Google has been using this method since 2011—but could iris-scanning be employed on other species as well? According to a new study in Amphibia-Reptila, the answer is 'yes.' Scientists have recently employed iris scanning to visually distinguish individuals of an imperiled gecko subspecies (Tarentola boettgeri bischoffi) found on Portugal's Savage Islands off the coast of Western Sahara. Jeremy Hance 30.145944 -15.864179 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/12204 2013-10-16T14:12:00Z 2013-10-16T14:30:58Z David Attenborough: someone who believes in infinite growth is 'either a madman or an economist' Sir David Attenborough has said that people living in poorer countries are just as concerned about the environment as those in the developed world, and "exporting environmentalism" isn't necessarily an "uphill struggle". The veteran broadcaster said ideas about protecting the natural world were not unwelcome in less developed nations—but added that wealthier countries should work to improve women's rights around the world to bring down birth rates and avoid overpopulation. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/12198 2013-10-15T16:07:00Z 2013-10-15T20:09:23Z Key European species make 'refreshing' comebacks Beaver, bison and eagles are among the species that have made a successful comeback in Europe in the past 50 years, according to a major survey published by a coalition of conservation groups on Thursday. The report selected 37 species that have showed signs of recovery, studied changes in their numbers and range since 1960, and examined the reasons driving their comeback. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/12197 2013-10-14T21:26:00Z 2013-10-14T21:39:28Z France upholds nationwide ban on fracking France's landmark ban on fracking has survived constitutional challenges lobbed by U.S.-company, Schuepbach Energy. On Friday, the nation's Constitutional Council decided that the ban did not violate France's constitution. Passed in 2011 under then President Nicolas Sarkozy, the ban has since been upheld by current President Francios Hollande. Jeremy Hance 48.854099 2.337971 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/12171 2013-10-07T13:39:00Z 2013-10-07T13:52:43Z Russia charges non-violent activists with 'piracy' for protesting Arctic oil drilling In what is being described by Greenpeace as an 'imaginary offense,' Russia has charged 30 people with piracy after activists protested against oil exploitation in the Arctic. The 30 charged included not only protestors, but a British journalist and Russian videographer who were on board Greenpeace's ship, the Arctic Sunrise, when it was stormed by the Russian military late last month. Jeremy Hance 68.94458 33.074112 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/12155 2013-10-01T19:35:00Z 2014-02-20T19:24:05Z Indonesia, EU sign historic deal to end the illegal timber trade Indonesia and the European Union signed a deal on Monday that aims to curb illegal logging by ending all trade in illegal wood products between Asia's largest exporter of timber to Europe and each of the EU's 28 member states. Rhett Butler -6.208821 106.846054 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/12111 2013-09-23T15:39:00Z 2015-02-11T23:38:43Z Not far from Rome, Italy's distinct bear faces down extinction

The Marsican brown bear is on the brink of extinction. Despite authorities spending millions of Euros on its conservation, high human-caused mortality is menacing the survival of this distinct subspecies. The Marsican brown bear (Ursus arctos marsicanus) is only found in the Italy's Central Apennines, less than 200 kilometers from Rome. The last reliable research carried out in 2011 by the University La Sapienza in Rome estimated a population of around 49 bears. Not surprisingly, the Marsican bear is at extremely high risk of extinction and is considered Critically Endangered on the Red List of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). Jeremy Hance 41.823014 13.769588 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/12104 2013-09-19T18:39:00Z 2013-09-30T16:25:13Z Newly discovered chytrid fungus devastates salamander populations

A frightening disease has been ravaging amphibians across the planet. At least 350 species have been infected, two hundred of which have suffered massive population reductions or extinctions, some even occurring within the space of weeks. In 1999, a single fungal species called Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), commonly known as the chytrid fungus, was identified as the causative agent for these rapid die-offs. Tiffany Roufs tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/12038 2013-09-09T20:04:00Z 2013-09-09T23:13:06Z Europe importing more palm oil for biofuels, raising risks for rainforests

Palm oil imports into Europe for use as car fuel increased by more than three-fold since 2006, raising concerns than renewable fuels targets may be contributing to deforestation, displacing marginalized communities, and driving greenhouse gas emissions in Southeast Asia, finds a new study published by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). Rhett Butler 50.845839 4.36693 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/12033 2013-09-09T14:05:00Z 2015-02-11T23:40:05Z The brown bears of Bulgaria – life after dancing

A rehabilitation center for retired dancing bears sounds like a typo. Yet this is exactly what the animal rights NGOs Four Paws and Foundation Brigitte Bardot created 13 years ago in Belitsa, Bulgaria. For many Bulgarians the first childhood contact with a forest animal is seeing a 'dancing bear' on the street in their city. These chained brown bears (Ursus arctos) would stand on their back feet waving their front paws on hearing their gypsy master play the gadulka (a local musical string instrument). Children used to admire the dancing bears; little did they know of the tragic fate of these animals. Jeremy Hance 41.949916 23.559315 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/11938 2013-08-19T15:04:00Z 2015-02-11T23:16:22Z Illegally captured parrots finally free to fly

In 2010, Bulgarian airport authorities confiscated 108 African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) from a smuggler. Last month, the 28 parrots who survived the stress of being stuffed into dog kennels, constantly handled by humans, and the absence of their native habitat, completed their three-year journey to freedom. Jeremy Hance -0.104198 32.653077 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/11861 2013-07-31T18:14:00Z 2013-07-31T18:31:51Z Balkan lynx conservation unifies neighboring countries

They still call the Balkans "the Powder Keg of Europe." For good reason too: bloody ethnic and religious conflicts in the past decades have left hundreds of thousands dead and millions displaced. As recently as 2001, the army in Macedonia was fighting with ethnic Albanians, many of them from Kosovo. However, in the past seven years a rare and charismatic wild cat – the Balkan lynx (Lynx lynx balcanicus)– is serving to unify countries with troubled historical and political relations. Albania, Macedonia, Kosovo and Montenegro are collaborating on a joint conservation strategy for the Critically Endangered animal. Rhett Butler 41.622116 20.665176 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/11860 2013-07-31T13:32:00Z 2013-07-31T13:35:02Z Habitat loss and pesticides causing decline in Europe's butterflies Europe's grassland butterfly population has plummeted in the past two decades, new research published on Tuesday shows, with a near halving in the numbers of key species since 1990. Jeremy Hance 45.828799 0.849606 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/11777 2013-07-16T17:27:00Z 2013-07-16T23:37:00Z Plan to preserve the world's 'last ocean' killed by Russia As the most pristine marine ecosystem on the planet, Antarctica's Ross Sea has become dubbed the world's "last ocean." Home to an abundance of penguins, whales, orcas, seals, and massive fish, the Ross Sea has so far largely avoided the degradation that has impacted much of the world's other marine waters. However, a landmark proposal to protect the Ross Sea, as well as the coastline of East Antarctica, has failed today due to opposition by Russia. Jeremy Hance -74.590108 -167.753913 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/11747 2013-07-07T18:01:00Z 2013-07-07T18:12:43Z Featured video: could we rewild Britain with wolves and lions? Environmentalist and journalist, George Mobiot, makes a passionate new plea for the controversial idea of rewilding parts of Europe in his new book Feral: Searching for Enchantment on the Frontiers of Rewilding. Rewildling—a relatively recent idea—entails bringing back some of the animals (especially large ones) lost in parts of the world in order to restore ecosystems and, in Mobiot's view, retrieve a deeper connection between humans and the wild again. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/11707 2013-07-02T18:00:00Z 2013-07-05T17:08:55Z The Egyptian Vulture on the Balkans – a hopeful but perilous conservation story

"They look like humans: have bare skin, wrinkles, hairdos… Maybe that's why many people don't like them," says Dr. Stoyan Nikolov from the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds about Egyptian vultures. Poisoned, electrocuted, shot, these rare and magnificent birds are the fastest disappearing raptors in Europe. The globally endangered species has become extinct in nine European countries in the past half a century. Dr Nikolov, the manager of an EU-funded conservation project along with more than 100 people on his team are working hard to make sure that the Egyptian vulture does not disappear from Bulgaria and Greece. Rhett Butler 41.939063 24.811706 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/11648 2013-06-26T12:41:00Z 2013-07-05T17:05:34Z Greenpeace launches series of case studies critiquing forest certification standard Activist group Greenpeace says it will publish a series of case studies highlighting examples of good and bad practice among operations certified under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), an eco-standard for forest products. Greenpeace, an FSC member since the body was found in 1993, says that as the standard has expanded, the risk to its credibility has also increased. Rhett Butler 60.283408 25.079956 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/11614 2013-06-18T15:07:00Z 2013-06-18T15:21:49Z EU labels another pesticide as bad for bees A widely used insect nerve agent has been labelled a "high acute risk" to honeybees by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). A similar assessment by the EFSA on three other insecticides preceded the suspension of their use in the European Union. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/11603 2013-06-13T14:30:00Z 2013-06-13T14:33:45Z Burning coal responsible for over 20,000 deaths a year in Europe

Air pollution from Europe's 300 largest coal power stations causes 22,300 premature deaths a year and costs companies and governments billions of pounds in disease treatment and lost working days, says a major study of the health impacts of burning coal to generate electricity. The research, from Stuttgart University's Institute for energy economics and commissioned by Greenpeace International, suggests that a further 2,700 people can be expected to die prematurely each year if a new generation of 50 planned coal plants are built in Europe. "The coal-fired power plants in Europe cause a considerable amount of health impacts," the researchers concluded. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/11578 2013-06-11T15:40:00Z 2013-06-11T15:55:33Z Poisonous jellyfish on the rise in the Mediterranean Scientists across the Mediterranean say a surge in the number of jellyfish this year threatens not just the biodiversity of one of the world's most overfished seas but also the health of tens of thousands of summer tourists. Jeremy Hance 35.746512 17.563475 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/11555 2013-06-06T18:12:00Z 2013-07-04T13:57:48Z Southern U.S. logging soars to meet foreign biofuel demand

In order to meet the European Union's goal of 20% renewables by 2020, some European utility companies are moving away from coal and replacing it with wood pellet fuel. The idea is simple: trees will regrow and recapture the carbon released in the burning of wood pellets, making the process supposedly carbon-neutral. But just like other simple ideas, it misses out important details that can turn it on its head. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/11505 2013-05-30T15:18:00Z 2013-06-04T05:20:26Z Connecting kids through elephants: innovative zoo program links children in the UK and India

You may think children in urban, northern UK have little in common with those in rural Assam, India, but educational connections are possible you just have to know where to look. In this case, an innovative education initiative at Chester Zoo has employed its five ton stars—the Asian elephants—to teach British children about life in faraway India. Jeremy Hance 53.226533 -2.88887 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/11506 2013-05-30T00:31:00Z 2013-05-30T00:46:24Z Bulk of Ghana timber exports may be illegal The bulk of timber produced from logging operations in Ghana fails to meet criteria set for import into the E.U. claims a new report from Global Witness. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/11402 2013-05-09T23:34:00Z 2013-05-10T01:39:50Z New endangered list for ecosystems modeled after 'Red list' for species The IUCN has unveiled the first iteration of its new Red List of Ecosystems, a ranking of habitats worldwide. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/11397 2013-05-09T15:38:00Z 2015-02-09T22:57:06Z Common moth can hear higher frequencies than any other animal on Earth A common little moth turns out to have the best ears in the animal kingdom. According to a new study in Biology Letters, the greater wax moth (Galleria mellonella) is capable of hearing frequencies up to 300,000 hertz (300kHz), which is 15 times the frequency humans can hear at their prime, around 20 kHz. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/11395 2013-05-09T12:53:00Z 2013-05-09T13:03:20Z U.S. loses nearly a third of its honey bees this season

Nearly a third of managed honeybee colonies in America died out or disappeared over the winter, an annual survey found on Wednesday. The decline—which was far worse than the winter before—threatens the survival of some bee colonies. The heavy losses of pollinators also threatens the country's food supply, researchers said. The US Department of Agriculture has estimated that honeybees contribute some $20bn to the economy every year. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/11391 2013-05-08T15:48:00Z 2013-05-08T19:11:13Z Featured video: How climate change is messing with the jetstream Weather patterns around the globe are getting weirder and weirder: heat waves and record snow storms in Spring, blasts of Arctic air followed by sudden summer, record deluges and then drought. Jeremy Hance 80.118564 -172.324226 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/11383 2013-05-07T14:28:00Z 2015-02-09T22:56:43Z Munching on marine plastic kills sperm whale

What do children's toys, balloons, mattresses and plastic bags have in common? They can, along with more non-biodegradable pollutants, be found in the belly of a sperm whale, the topic of a new study in the Marine Pollution Bulletin. The same whale that swallowed Jonah from the Bible, Geppetto from Collodi's Pinocchio, and the crew of the Pequod from Melville's Moby-Dick is now swallowing trash from the Spanish-Mediterranean coast, and in the Strait of Gibraltar. Jeremy Hance 36.721222 -3.357872 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/11350 2013-05-03T16:36:00Z 2013-05-03T16:44:35Z Widely used insecticide contaminating water supplies, triggering wildlife die-off in Europe The world's most widely used insecticide is devastating dragonflies, snails and other water-based species, a groundbreaking Dutch study has revealed. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/11316 2013-04-29T16:55:00Z 2013-04-29T17:08:18Z Europe bans pesticides linked to bee collapse The EU has banned three neonicotinoid pesticides (imidacloprid, clothianidin and thiamethoxam) linked to the decline of bees for two years. The ban will apply to all flowering crops, such as corn, rape seed, and sunflowers. The move follows a flood of recent studies, some high-profile, that have linked neonicotinoid pesticides, which employ nicotine-like chemicals, to the widespread decline of bees seen both in Europe and North America. Jeremy Hance 46.83765 3.799438 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/11311 2013-04-26T17:46:00Z 2015-03-16T02:49:50Z Great tits unaffected by warmer springs The population of a widely dispersed bird species is relatively unaffected by warmer springs, indicating that some species may be adapting to shifts caused by climate change, reports a study published in the journal Science. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/11276 2013-04-22T12:34:00Z 2013-05-08T15:33:01Z Despite unseasonable cold in EU and U.S., March was tenth warmest on record While the month of March saw colder-than-average temperatures across a wide-swath of the northern hemisphere—including the U.S., southern Canada, Europe, and northern Asia—globally, it was the tenth warmest March on record in the last 134 years, putting it in the top 7 percent. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/11277 2013-04-21T23:11:00Z 2013-04-22T13:07:26Z Last 30 years were the warmest in the last 1,400 years From 1971 to 2000, the world's land areas were the warmest they have been in at least 1,400 years, according to a new study in Nature Geoscience. The massive new study, involving 80 researchers from around the world with the Past Global Changes (PAGES) group, is the first to look at continental temperature changes over two thousand years, providing insights into regional climatic changes from the Roman Empire to the modern day. According to the data, Earth's land masses were generally cooling until anthropogenic climate change reversed the long-term pattern in the late-19th Century. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/11271 2013-04-18T18:05:00Z 2015-02-09T22:49:11Z Bison return to Germany after 300 year absence Earlier this month, officials took down a fence allowing the first herd of European bison (Bison bonasus) to enter the forests freely in Germany in over 300 years, reports Wildlife Extra. The small herd, consisting of just eight animals (one male, five females and two calves) will now be allowed to roam unhindered in the Rothaar Mountains as their ancestors did long ago. Jeremy Hance 51.050675 8.43112 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/11237 2013-04-15T18:58:00Z 2015-02-09T22:49:44Z Future generations to pay for our mistakes: biodiversity loss doesn't appear for decades The biodiversity of Europe today is largely linked to environmental conditions decades ago, according to a new large-scale study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Looking at various social and economic conditions from the last hundred years, scientists found that today's European species were closely aligned to environmental impacts on the continent from 1900 and 1950 instead of more recent times. The findings imply that scientists may be underestimating the total decline in global biodiversity, while future generations will inherit a natural world of our making. Jeremy Hance 49.496675 15.43945 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/11179 2013-04-08T16:04:00Z 2015-02-09T22:45:55Z Norwegian Pinot Noir?: global warming to drastically shift wine regions In less than 40 years, drinking wine could have a major toll on the environment and wildlife, according to a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The study finds that climate change will likely force many vineyards to move either north or to higher altitudes, leading to habitat loss, biodiversity declines, and increased pressure for freshwater. Some famous wine-growing areas could be lost, including in the Mediterranean, while development of new wine areas—such as those in the Rocky Mountains and northern Europe—could lead to what the the scientists describe as "conservation conflicts." Jeremy Hance 44.719417 -0.621643 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/11136 2013-03-29T02:38:00Z 2015-03-05T04:24:48Z Fungi drives carbon uptake by boreal forests Mycorrhizal mycelium, a common fungi that helps plants uptake nutrients from soils, plays a fundamental role in carbon sequestration by boreal forests, reports a study published in this week's issue of the journal Science. Rhett Butler 65.962419 17.80941 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/11131 2013-03-28T12:26:00Z 2015-02-09T22:44:52Z Is it the end for Britain's hedgehogs?

As hedgehogs all over the United Kingdom wake up from their winter hibernation, activists will be carefully counting their hogs. Every year, the hedgehog population in Britain's rural towns declines by an estimated 5 percent. But between 2011 and 2012, a survey conducted by the People's Trust for Endangered Species (PTES), a UK-based animal activism group, saw the country's European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) population fall a dismal 32 percent. Jeremy Hance 52.382764 -2.607091 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/11126 2013-03-27T16:47:00Z 2015-02-09T22:44:34Z Common pesticides disrupt brain functioning in bees Exposure to commonly used pesticides directly disrupts brain functioning in bees, according to new research in Nature. While the study is the first to record that popular pesticides directly injure bee brain physiology, it adds to a slew of recent studies showing that pesticides, especially neonicotinoids, are capable of devastating bee hives and may be, at least, partly responsible for on-going Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Jeremy Hance 56.458222 -2.982019 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/11011 2013-03-07T22:52:00Z 2013-03-07T22:59:57Z Gucci launches 'zero-deforestation' handbag

Gucci has rolled out a collection of 'zero-deforestation' leather handbags. Each handbag comes with a 'passport' that provides the history of the product's supply chain going back to the ranch that produced the leather. The line emerged out of concerns that leather in the fashion industry is contributing to deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, where roughly two-thirds of forest destruction is for cattle production. Rhett Butler 43.770304 11.251309 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/10974 2013-03-04T20:15:00Z 2013-03-04T22:35:32Z New illegal logging ban in EU could sever all ties with companies working in DRC

Yesterday, the EU joined the U.S. and Australia in banning all timber that was illegally harvested abroad. The new regulation could have a major impact on where the EU sources its timber, and no where more so than the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). According to a new report by Greenpeace, the DRC's current moratorium on industrial logging is being systematically circumvented making all timber from the country suspect. Jeremy Hance -4.784469 18.960571 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/10898 2013-02-20T18:09:00Z 2013-02-23T23:10:27Z First strike: nearly 200 illegal loggers arrested in massive sting across 12 countries One-hundred-and-ninety-seven illegal loggers across a dozen Central and South American countries have been arrested during INTERPOL's first strike against widespread forestry crime. INTERPOL, or The International Criminal Police Organization, worked with local police forces to take a first crack at illegal logging. In all the effort, known as Operation Lead, resulted in the seizure of 50,000 cubic meters of wood worth around $8 million. Jeremy Hance 45.782669 4.848661 tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/10811 2013-02-05T19:49:00Z 2013-02-05T20:03:30Z EU pushes ban on pesticides linked to bee downfall

Following a flood of damning research on the longterm impact of neonicotinoid pesticides on bee colonies, the EU is proposing a two year ban on the popular pesticides for crops that attract bees, such as corn, sunflower, oil seed rape, cotton. The proposal comes shortly after European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) released a report that found neonicotinoid pesticides posed a "number of risks" to bees. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/10807 2013-02-04T16:46:00Z 2015-02-09T22:28:16Z Scientist: releasing invasive birds in Turkey to eat ticks will backfire

As Turkey raises and releases thousands of non-native helmeted guineafowl (Numida meleagris) to eat ticks that carry the deadly Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus, new research suggests guineafowl actually eat few ticks, carry the parasites on their feathers, and further spread the disease. Jeremy Hance


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Representative Honours: Australian Under-20s 2009, Australian Barbarians 2010, Australian Wallabies 2010-
Senior Tours: Hong Kong & Europe 2010, RWC (New Zealand) 2011, England & Wales 2011, Europe 2012; UK/Europe 2013
Queensland Reds prop JAMES SLIPPER is only one game shy of becoming just the fifth prop in Australian Rugby history to reach the historic 50-game milestone for the Qantas Wallabies.
Should he reach the mark in 2014 he would join an elite group of props to achieve the honour, including Al Baxter (69 games), Benn Robinson (66 games), Ben Alexander (62 games) and Ewen McKenzie (51games).
It would be a deserving reward for the talented 25-year-old, who under new coach Ewen McKenzie became the Qantas Wallabies first-choice loosehead prop in 2013.
After coming on as a replacement in the three-Test series against The British & Irish Lions, Slipper would go on to start all remaining matches during the Castrol EDGE Rugby Championship and Spring Tour in his preferred number one jersey.
His running game, scrum work and unique ability with the ball were recognised by Slipper being just one of six players to feature in all 15 matches played by the Qantas Wallabies in 2013.
This included one Man of Gold performance in Australia's loss to South Africa in Brisbane.
His efforts in 2013 came after Slipper had already proven himself a key member of the Qantas Wallabies match squad despite making over three-quarters of his Test appearances as a run on substitute.
He has played 29 of his 37 Tests as a replacement. In fact, Slipper holds a world Rugby record in that his first 13 Tests were as a substitute. His maiden start came in his 14th Test, when Australia beat Italy at Florence at the end of his first season in 2010.
A former Australian Under-20 Player of the Year, Slipper was the 'feel good' story of his maiden Test season, coming from the Queensland Reds Academy to feature in all but one of the Qantas Wallabies' Tests in his debut season.
Slipper's ability to function as both a tight and a loose-head prop positioned him in the right place at the right time to take advantage of fellow multipurpose front-rower Ben Alexander's medial ligament injury at the start of the 2010 Test season.
Although primarily a loose-head at that point of his career, Slipper acquitted himself well in what was a grueling Test introduction alongside a greenhorn Wallaby front-row. He has since largely specialized on the tight-head side for the Queensland Reds in Super Rugby, while providing back up on both sides of the Wallaby front row.
For all of the warm fuzzy of his opening year, Slipper then endured disappointment two years later, being forced to miss out on both Queensland's run to its maiden Super Rugby title, and then Australia's first Tri Nations title for a decade; due to a syndesmosis (ankle) strain. He made it back in time to feature in all seven matches played by Australia at his maiden Rugby World Cup, starting in three of those, before then featuring in the two matches on Australia's brief Spring Tour that closed out 2011.
Significantly, as a pointer to his future in the Test arena, Slipper was employed as Australia's starting loose-head during the wins over the Barbarians and Wales on the 2011 Spring Tour, and then again in the appalling conditions that marred last year's opening Test of the season against Scotland at Newcastle. That Test was one of just three where Slipper started, in all instances being placed on the loose-head side of the scrum for his run on performances.
A product of the Gold Coast, where his family still lives; Slipper was Australia's Under-20 Player of the Year in 2009, but had played just three matches for Queensland, and started just one, when he was selected for the Australian Barbarians to play in the midweek series against England in 2010. He was included largely for development purposes, but seized his chance in a big way once Alexander was ruled out.
Slipper made his Test debut off the bench against England in Perth on a difficult night for the Wallaby scrum where the squad's five front rower's between them boasted just three previous Test caps. That experience was the start of a steep learning curve which also included a first ever visit to South Africa where he featured in the final 59 minutes of Australia's dramatic 41-39 win over the Springboks at Bloemfontein, the Wallabies' first win on the high veldt in the Republic for 47 years. Slipper ended his maiden Test season as Australia's starting loose-head prop in the remarkable 59-16 demolition of the then Six Nations champions France in Paris. That game was his 13th of the 14 Tests played by the Wallabies in his freshman year as a Test player.
Such was the youth in the Wallabies and Australian Barbarians squads for the 2010 program, Slipper was one of three players to celebrate his 21st birthday within a week of the 40-man group being named. The others were hooker Damien Fitzpatrick and lock Kane Douglas. All three appeared during the Barbarians' 28-28 draw with England at Perth.

subset: commoncrawl


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Becoming a Freedom Trail Player
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I'm on Boston's Freedom Trail walking tour only out of loyalty to a history-buff pal, not my personal interest. I whisper to my friend, "History … boring …" when a man dressed in a tricornered hat and knickers announces, "Let's go see how America was born." He says his name is James Otis Jr., the pro-bono legal firebrand from the 1700s who stated, "Taxation without representation is tyranny!"
"Hey, how come I didn't know about you?" I ask tourmaster Otis.
"Because I ended up insane, in a very hush-hush sort of way," he replies, channeling the disgraced colonial lawyer.
As we meander on, the dish gets dirtier. Turns out, after the midnight ride, Paul Revere remained a no-big-deal local silversmith until 86 years later, when poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow urged, "Listen, my children, and you shall hear / Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere …" John Hancock was probably a bootlegger. Benjamin Franklin left Massachusetts in disgrace. Samuel Adams–the tax collector, not the ale–was seriously delinquent on his own debts after driving the malt business he inherited from his father into the ground …
My office window peers down onto Tremont Street, epicenter of the Freedom Trail. After the tour, my attitude is different. I smile when I pass by my old friend James Otis Jr., a little disturbed by how he coolly ignores me to stay in character while telling his story to an enraptured circle of strangers. When I see a tour happening, I slow to catch a bit of the performance. "Eavestrailing" is so easy that I cross the street and quicken my step to catch up with the tour. My
history-buff friend asks, "What are you, a Freedom Trail stalker?"
In full skirt-and-bonnet costume, an actress playing Paul Revere's first wife, Sarah Orne Revere, is heading back to Boston Common after wrapping up a tour at Faneuil Hall. I swoop in beside her. "What's it like?" I ask.
She turns to me with a polite, maternal gaze. "What's it like wearing a costume from the 1700s in the middle of 21st-century downtown Boston? Being Paul Revere's wife? Or being a Freedom Trail player?"
"A player?" I ask.
"That's what we're called, instead of 'guides,'" she explains, with a slight trace of tour fatigue. "We take on characters who lived here around the time of the Revolutionary War. Sarah died before the war, but had a strong influence on Paul's revolutionary spirit."
Please Note: This information was accurate at the time of publication. When planning a trip, please confirm details by directly contacting any company or establishment you intend to visit.


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Flurry of Drone Strikes Sets Stage for US Escalation in Pakistan in 2013
Posted By Jason Ditz On January 10, 2013 @ 6:09 pm In News | Comments Disabled
10 days into 2013, the US has made it clear that the minor decline in the number of drone strikes in 2012 was a fluke, launching its seventh distinct strike of the new year, killing six more unnamed "suspects."
Today's attack saw missiles fired into a house and at a nearby motorcycle, killing the two on the bike and four others in the house. None of the victims were named, and officials said the bodies were all badly mutilated, making identification virtually impossible.
Officials say that the administration is planning a dramatic escalation into 2013 and 2014, citing a "sense of urgency" about the planned drawdown of troops from occupied Afghanistan, apparently believing that they can make up for troop cuts by launching more drone strikes into Pakistan.
Of over 40 victims in 2013 drone strikes so far, only one, Maulvi Nazir, has been formally named. Officials also hinted that another of the slain may have been a relative of Hakimullah Mehsud, though since the Mehsud tribe is about 100,000 people, this doesn't necessarily narrow things down much.
This hit-and-miss identification is roughly on par with how things have gone in the past several years of US attacks, and with CIA officials predicting a drawdown in Afghanistan even as the attacks in Pakistan escalate, the reliability of the already dicey intelligence behind such attacks appears set to get much, much worse.
Article printed from News From Antiwar.com: http://news.antiwar.com
URL to article: http://news.antiwar.com/2013/01/10/flurry-of-drone-strikes-sets-stage-for-us-escalation-in-pakistan-in-2013/
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Limited edition of 500 split LPs complete with unique individually hand-painted/silk-screened sleeves and glossy full-colour insert. Cousins Of Reggae follow-up their killer Our Mouth CD with a side of post Harry Pussy avant garage scorch that's listed as "History And Prehistory Of Hudson's Bay In Five Parts" and reads like a massively updated rundown of variously torched scum/noise strategies as applied to skateboarding-carrying avant gardists with a penchant for the slackest aleatoric metal. Unbelievable. Mouthus side is just phenomenally dozed, two huge sqouching roars of marshmallow-heavy damage that work hiccupping hillbilly rhythms into the kind of ferocious wall-of-mong previously erected by committed actionists like Hijokaidan, Hasil Adkins and Royal Trux. Too much. Highest possible recommendation.
Much anticipated hook-up between these three trans-Atlantic monsters. One-side each and then a third monster inter-band jam. Leopards side is a classic haunt, with wraiths of hovering drone peaking in eye-rolling vocal confusion, while the Mouthus track is a fabulous punk trouncing of fuzz-impacted guitar and clattering electrified skin. Sunroof! jams are the real highlight though, especially the doofily-named "Cortez Tha Killa" that features Matthew Bower on repeat-riff nirvana while Mick Flower of Vibracathedral Orchestra lets his wrist fly with some of the most insane and righteously piloted post-Young acid delirium of anyone's career. Too fucking much. Final big-band side presents a beautiful void of spooked eternity, with shadow forms moving in and out of earshot like so much hallucinatory cumulus. Comes in a full-colour gatefold sleeve, already sold-out at source, so move it.
LP from Mouthus that might be their most devolved circumnavigation of rock from to date. The guitars are impossibly impacted, muffled sandpaper huffs that move in tectonic slugs while the drums shrug between boings of tone-pad squelch, electrified steel-band ceremonials and primitively executed power stomps. This kinda profound retro-futurist refusal lines em up with a buncha modernists like Chrome, TG and even live Mars but there's something in the distant, hiccupping vocals and the generally manhandled atmosphere that sounds like a more drug-degraded take on the kinda hillbilly scorch that Alpo-era Cheater Slicks occasionally delivered on. If you like yr rock gasoline-damaged to the point of almost-intelligible, stick out your cans. Limited edition of 500 copies in art sleeves released on the group's own private press imprint.
Major new Mouthus album peaks at a whole new level of barbarous sludge with what sounds like a fleet of electric razors burying steel raptors in six feet of concrete while the Angus MacLise Orkestra play pre-Lapsarian Morse codes on a handbuilt steel drum containers and whole choirs of ghosts sing madrigals somewhere just over the horizon. There's a beautifully lapsed, primitive rock feel to much of the atmosphere - the way guitar lines appear like silvery hallucinations fading in and out of corporeal reality from track to track - that reminds me of the weird non-hierarchical instrumental mix of early NZ bombs like Trash, Dead C or Dadamah. Either way, this is another supremely devolved rock set from these crudest of cousins.
New self-released solo album from Brian of Mouthus featuring some acoustic led thunder ballads that sound as if they are played with the last stumps of his fingers through to hurricane force post-Industrial blues jams that cross the malevolent occult power of mid-period Swans with laminal arrangements of fuzz and drone.
Great fuzz-encrusted monolith guitar duel from these two solo basement/psych units, Brian Sullivan of Mouthus's Eskimo King and Zac Davis of Lambsbread's Sky Juice persona. This is heavy gravity guitar oblivion the whole way, with what sounds like the first power chord from The Stooges' "Little Doll" obliterated with a combination of slowly imploding wah-wah gnosis and malformed power-chord epics. Second track sounds like a fleet of motorbikes fitted with tremolo arms. Classic stoned guitar.
Chaw Mank is Brian Sullivan, guitarist and vocalist with Mouthus in the company of the Sightings duo. Volume 1 presents a muscular spin on established Mouthus stop-motion murk strategies with spools of rusty repeat blown to flesh by some devastating rock damage. Highly recommended.
Limited edition tour collage/mash-up from the duo of Brian Sullivan and Nate Nelson. This one is even more out of focus and malformed than the corpus of their back catalogue, with vague thunder clouds and fucked-up electro percussion floating the ghost of Alan Vega through sheet metal memories of the TG 24 cassette box.
Privately-released LP on the Mouthus imprint by the new duo of Brian Sullivan (Mouthus) and Pete Swanson (Yellow Swans et al): Beer Damage has some of the all-devouring bull-dozing ferocity of Mouthus proper but it's all wrapped up in a grid-locked, endlessly accruing drone style that sounds like a particularly wheezy Alastair Galbraith power-bowing a series of barbed wire sculptures while Martin Rev triggers pugilistic beats in the background. Or imagine Cyborg-era Klaus Schulze re-visioning his music to take in broken hi-fi equipment, domestic appliances and warped backwards tape F/X in the Prick Decay basement. This is dense, hypnotic, primitively-rendered drone music with an obsessive tape-juddering aspect that is uniquely brain-mangling and that touches on a bunch of confusing totems, from the delicate/spectral miniatures of Go Hirano to the twonked loop work of Deux Filles and the Industrial gravity of Henry & Hazel Slaughter.
New Religious Knives album from the trio line-up of Mike and Maya Bernstein and Nate Nelson. This set reconciles a bunch of currents that have been fluxing through their back catalogue, with the opening "In Brooklyn After Dark" combining the two chord guitar/organ punch of The Music Machine with a glaze of 3 am F/X and punked vocals from Bernstein. The night-time mood is extended across the whole LP, most effectively on "The Streets", where they channel the devotional Krautrock energies of Popol Vuh into an otherworldly mass of vocal confusion. Also features a zoned, primitive take on their signature track "The Sun". Comes in a gatefold sleeve with art from Maya. Recommended.
"Maya Miller and Michael Bernstein met in New York a decade ago, and began making music together as half of sturm und drone quartet Double Leopards a few years after that. Religious Knives came later still, away from the road and the rehearsal space, borne and nurtured in cramped apartments throughout Kings County. Beginning in 2005, the pair released a string of CD-Rs and cassettes, both on their own Heavy Tapes imprint and through the labels of kindred spirits. Steadily moving away from the psychedelic tone baths and modern industrial scrape for which the Leopards had become known, Religious Knives coursed through minimal synth oscillations and spare Kraut repetition. Mouthus' Nate Nelson joined the pair in 2006, lending a powerful presence behind the drums that shaped Religious Knives' rudimentary jams into rough-hewn, long-form paeans to tar-blackened bummer psych. Soon after that, old friend Todd Cavallo completed the quartet on bass, adding a sturdy low end and dubwise groove that lifted Religious Knives from cellar murk to black cloud puffs of bone deep alarm. An active four-piece for a little more than a year now, Religious Knives have presided over a pair of twelve-inches, a couple of collections of out of print singles and long gone burns, and one full-length. All throughout, these four have traced a path away from the clamour they once knew, bathing slight guitars, interlocking vocals, and solemn basslines in reedy organs and recalcitrant modular synths. The seemingly tin eared would call it noise, but in these eight hands such a set plays as anything but, instead a (cough) syrupy stroll in search of the ghosts of rock's classicist past. With The Door, Religious Knives have not only found those bygone days, but broken them apart. There are bookmarks to be found here, pages creased in well-worn chapters. But make no mistake - theirs is a sound tied to the here and now, a summer record for those dread days when the heat holds low and skin sticks to cheap car seats and old patio furniture. These six songs are brighter, sharper than anything that has come before, locking in tight on jugular rhythms. It's the score for disappearing neighborhoods and crumbling buildings, a hope of holding onto the past as those around us move fast to forget it. It is scent as sound, the stench of smog and sickly smoke spiraling towards the sky. It is Brooklyn, July of 2008. The sun has left us in the East, disappearing somewhere behind Jersey, leaving our borough to find the pulse of another night deep with the city's streets." – EP.
Limited edition of 150 copies, the first instalment in a series of releases documenting off-the-map live actions from Religious Knives. This one compiles action from four shows across 2008, with jams taken from WHOM, Hemlock, Death By Audio and Wierd. Anyone left unfazed with the production and pop stylings of the group's Ecstatic Peace releases oughta find solace here, with some great lo-fi garage downs usurped by primitive delay and drugged keyboards. The Death By Audio set features a guest appearance from Pete Nolan of Magik Markers et al while the Wierd material matches that imprints ethos with some ginchy minimal synth/new wave settings of classic RK material including a take on "Basement Watch" that could almost be a reformed 1980s post-apocalyptic Music Machine. Or would that make em SPK? Either way, this is great.
Limited edition of 150 copies, the second instalment in a series of releases documenting off-the-map live actions from Religious Knives. This one compiles action from two shows across 2008, with a killer full band set live from 66 Hope and a weird RK2 style duo performance recorded at Big Jar Books in Philadelphia. Recommended.
Special, very limited archival re-release of a beautifully weird-ass solo session from Double Leopards member Mike Bernstein with plenty of chirping electronics and close contact miked cymbals revealing whole new microtonal worlds of sick. Fuck yeah. Comes packaged in a long yellow envelope with paste-ons, on the DL's own label.


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Kids Prefer Cheese
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Credibly promising to be irresponsible...since 2004!
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Get It Together!
posted to Kids Prefer Cheese on Tue 8th Oct 13
An open letter. From all you folks who believe that some elaborate, efficient secretive conspiracy "runs" the government... Nod to MAG
Monday's Child
posted to Kids Prefer Cheese on Mon 7th Oct 13
1. Not very subtle: Russian tampon commercial. 2. Investing out in the weeds? Why not pot-focused equity management? 3. Dude, I can't find my text. Quarter-pounder with side of cops. 4. I don't always agree with Andrew
I said, "more cowbell" NOT "more tambourine"
posted to Kids Prefer Cheese on Sat 5th Oct 13
Don't Tase me, Rev! In Edmund OK last summer, a parishioner was tased for playing the tambourine like Will Ferrell played the cowbell on SNL. As usual, I am not making this up. We take our religion very seriously here, so fair warning: conform or be tased.
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#4 with a bullet!
posted to Kids Prefer Cheese on Tue 8th Apr 08
According to this morning's WSJ, Economics is the 4th most remunerative undergrad major (based on starting salaries), beating accounting, finance, and marketing. Bad news for philosophy majors though: they come in dead last, behind even elementary ed majors.
Mankiw's leap
posted to Kids Prefer Cheese on Sun 20th Feb 11
In last Sunday's NY Times economics column, NGM quite reasonably points out that voluntary exchanges benefit both parties in the exchange.However, he then makes an unsupportable leap to the following:Listening to the president, you might think that competition
If you read this post, you're a bad person
posted to Kids Prefer Cheese on Fri 30th Aug 13
Amazing piece on Slate , titled, "If you send your child to private school, you're a bad person" Here's the thesis:it seems to me that if every single parent sent every single child to public school, public schools would improve. This would not happen
Latest posts linking here
Assorted links
posted to Marginal Revolution on Thu 12th Sep 13
1. Is there a fiscal cliff in Japan? And what macro do we teach at the Principles level?2. What is, was, and will be popular?3. Is having a lot of children now a sign of status?4. In the S&P 500, the average company lifespan is getting shorter. And the
"If You Send Your Kid to Private School, You Are a Bad Person"
posted to Newmark's Door on Tue 3rd Sep 13
This is a small gem of the dopey Liberal worldview.You are a bad person if you send your children to private school. Not bad like murderer badbut bad like ruining-one-of-our-nations-most-essential-institutions-in-order-to-get-whats-best-for-your-kid bad.
School and Student Rank for Economics Ph.D.s
posted to voluntaryXchange on Sun 1st Sep 13
Theres a new paper out by John Conley and Ali Sina Onder detailing the publication record of graduates of top Ph.D. programs:The main conclusions are that class rank matters a great deal and quickly outweighs the ranking of the department from which a job candidate


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The Mathiston 10-year-old All-Stars remained alive at the Dizzy Dean State Tournament on Saturday, but it wasn't easy at Starkville's McKee Park.
After defeating county rival Eupora 13-7 in the first game of the day, Mathiston came back to out-slug Hamilton 16-15 later in the day.
Coach Bo McKee's Mathiston All-Stars were led at the plate by Preston Hill with a pair of doubles, while Parker Reed added double and a single. Ross Cochran had a double, and Conner Shurden chipped in two singles.
With the victory, Mathiston plays Clinton at 10 a.m. today.
Mathiston 13, Eupora 7
Mathiston was able to make a big lead stand in a matchup of Webster County teams.
After Eupora jumped out to a 1-0 advantage, Mathiston scored six runs in the first inning and five more in the second to go on top 11-1.
Eupora chipped its way back into the game with three runs in the third, two in the fourth and one in the fifth to close the gap to 11-7, but Mathiston added to insurance runs in the fifth.
Conner Shurden had three singles to lead Mathiston, while Preston Hill and Ross Cochran had two singles each. Cohen Clark, Parker Reed, Cameron Woods and Samuel Turner had one single each.
For Eupora, Jacob Collum, James Fletcher, Jarren Holmes, Ryan Cooper and Josh Power had one hit each.
Calhoun City 15, Eupora 12
Calhoun City won in a slugfest and eliminated Eupora from the tournament.
After Calhoun City jumped out to a 4-0 advantage in the first inning, Eupora cut the margin to 4-3 in the second before Calhoun City extended the lead to 9-3 with five runs in the second.
Eupora tied the game with six runs scored in the third and took a 11-9 with a pair of runs in the fourth.
The two teams traded one run in the bottom of the fourth and top of the fifth, then Calhoun City got the runs needed and held Eupora scoreless in the sixth to secure the victory.
Holmes and Tanner Brown had a pair of singles to pace the Eupora seven-hit outing, while Garrett Crim was credited with a triple and Cooper added a double. Fletcher had the only other hit for the Webster County squad.
Ackerman 13, Winona 2
Ackerman won its second-straight victory via the 10-run rule.
After taking control of the game by scoring two runs in the first inning, three in the second and five in the third, Winona got its only two runs of the game in the third.
Ackerman collected its final three runs in the fourth inning.
Getting one hit each for Ackerman were Donavan Turner, Logan Stirewalt, Quez McNeal, Trace Beard and Dawson Jones.
Caledonia 6, Ackerman 2
Caledonia shut down the Ackerman bats and eliminated the Choctaw County team from the State Tournament.
Ackerman scored one run in second inning and the other in the third, but it was not enough.
Devean Turner had a double for Ackerman, while McNeal and Donavan Turner had one single each.View more articles in:


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BELLE PLAINE, Iowa - One woman is dead following a house fire in Belle Plaine. It happened Saturday night at about 11:30 on 11th street. Belle Plaine firefighters say they tried to save the victim and her two dogs but it was too late. The flames and smoke were too powerful.
"I heard on the scanner there was a fire reported," said the victim's neighbor Sheila Richter. So Belle Plaine's Sheila Richter casually looked out her patio door at about 11:30 Saturday night. But her mood soon changed when she saw the fire was in her own neighborhood. "It was devastating and too close to home," said Richter.
The home of Richter's friend of 15 years was fully engulfed in flames. Richter watched as 25 volunteer Belle Plaine firefighters tried to save her friend and two dogs.
"We started in the front because we got good information that she was in front," said Belle Plaine Fire Chief Russ Spading. "We got the fire under control got her removed and then basically into a defensive mode."
But it was too late for the victim and her canine companions. "No one could live in those conditions the fire was too big too much smoke," said Spading.
The following morning Richter looked on as fire investigators try to figure out what happened. Regardless of the cause, Richter says she and the whole community are now without someone she truly loved. "A nice lady with a good heart. She's going to be missed," said Richter.
Firefighters say the woman and two dogs likely died from smoke inhalation as there were no visible burns. They've yet to release the victim's name. Fire marshals are still investigating the cause of the fire.
Cedar Rapids, Iowa News, Sports, and Weather
One Person Killed in Belle Plaine House Fire
By Nadia Crow, Anchor/Reporter
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The Coastal Conservation Association Texas recently announced a $500,000 matching grant to initiate a new push in generating the funding to open Aransas County's Cedar Bayou and Vincent Slough. After decades of negative impacts from siltation and low water flows, an estimated $6.5 million effort will be required to open the vital connection from Mesquite and Aransas Bays to the Gulf of Mexico.
"It is not often that there is an opportunity to reopen a vital and iconic pass," said Robby Byers, CCA Texas executive director. "There is still a lot of money to be raised and a lot of work to do, but CCA Texas kicked off a critical next step with this financial support."
Cedar Bayou is a natural pass that separates St. Joseph's Island from Matagorda Island. Dredging efforts date back to the 1930s, but partial efforts, siltation and misplacement of spoil materials have eventually led to the pass and adjacent Vincent Slough being sealed.
Along with the kick-off funding, CCA Texas will partner with Aransas County in providing funds to secure a professional fundraiser to pursue the needed dollars to complete the dredging project. To date, Aransas County has already secured $500,000 in Coastal Impact Assistance Program funds for the project.
"This is a tremendous opportunity for the economic and environmental future of Aransas County and the State of Texas," said Judge C.H. Mills. "Our partnership with CCA in this important effort is a much-needed boost to push this initiative forward."
After a protracted application and approval process, Judge Mills signed the dredging permit for Cedar Bayou and Vincent Slough on August 3, 2011. Although the pass has been dredged numerous times through history, this is the largest and most comprehensive effort slated to date.
"Anytime you can open a pass between the Gulf and bay, you are creating a tremendous benefit for the bay and the anglers who enjoy it," said Mark Ray, CCA Texas Chairman. "CCA Texas has supported this important effort for decades and this new support will hopefully reopen this vital pass for generations to come."
Ted Venker is the Conservation Director for the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA), a nonprofit organization comprised of 17 coastal state chapters spanning the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic seaboard and the Pacific Northwest. The objective of CCA is to conserve, promote and enhance the present and future availability of coastal marine resources. Ted is a lifelong angler and also the editor of TIDE magazine. For more information on CCA, visit www.joincca.org.


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At MicroAssist, we know that sending members of your organization to formal training is a big decision. Your workforce is your most expensive resource, and taking them away from their daily responsibilities can be a costly investment. However, the right training can pay for itself in spades, leading to a more productive and self-sufficient organization, not to mention higher morale and retention.
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Here Come the Other States
While all national attention is focused — indeed riveted — on the seven to nine swing or battleground states, a major shift is taking place in the rest of the country: Voters are turning from President Obama and to Mitt Romney.
In the forty states where the Obama campaign has not spread toxic negative ads against Romney, the Republican is gaining by leaps and bounds and will likely carry a bunch of non-swing, normally blue states. Specifically, Romney is now three points ahead in Pennsylvania, one point behind in Michigan, and only two points behind in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Together, these four states have a cache of 56 electoral votes and are the tail that may wag the dog on Nov. 6th.
While Romney looks to be solidly ahead in Florida, Virginia, Iowa and Colorado, the race in Nevada, Ohio and New Hampshire continues to be nip and tuck with the two candidates tied or within a point of one another.
Enter the Romney flank attack, circling around these battleground states to attack the soft underbelly of undefended Democratic states.
Indeed, the situation is so fluid in the Democratic states that there is increasing evidence that several blue bastions states are borderline in play with Obama under 50 percent of the vote. In New Jersey, Neighborhood Research has Obama up by only 48-41. In Oregon, Survey USA has the president leading by only 49-42.
With the undecided vote likely to go overwhelmingly against the president, we may see some strange states turning red on election day.
While I still believe, Romney will carry Ohio, New Hampshire and Nevada, he may do even better in Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Won't that be a kick.
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