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All about conservation, ecology, the environment, climate change, global warming, earth- watch, and new technologies etc.

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

New Zealand's Tasman Glacier has lost a 30 million tonne section of ice...

English: The view across Tasman Lake to the ro...
Image via Wikipedia
English: Aerial view of the upper half of the ...
Image via Wikipedia
The terminal face of the Tasman Glacier at Lak...
Image via Wikipedia
Tasman Glacier
DENIS CALLESEN/Supplied
IN PERSPECTIVE: Tourists get an up-close look at a 40-metre-high iceberg which calved from the Tasman Glacier.
A huge section of ice, estimated to weigh about 30 million tonnes, has broken off the Tasman Glacier.
Denis Callesen, general manager tourism for Aoraki Mount Cook Alpine Village, said the event about daybreak yesterday would have been "absolutely magnificent".
"A huge chunk of ice has literally broken away from the terminal face, and then fractured into dozens of icebergs. This is the first time that a calving has occurred across the whole 650-metre wide terminal face."
Photographers had several hours to capture images of the crystal-clear so-called blue ice on the base of an iceberg, which had been hidden beneath the surface for more than 300 years.
While the blue ice oxidized on exposure to air and turned white, it was expected visitors would be able to see some for several months, with one or two of the dozens of new icebergs rolling over every day. They did that as they maintained their equilibrium of 10 per cent above and 90 per cent below the water surface.
The section of ice that calved into the terminal lake was about 40 metres high above the water and went down below the surface by between 230 and 250 metres. An underwater tongue that was up to 120m high above the bottom of the glacier, and up to 400 metres out from the face also broke away.
Callesen said the 30 million tonnes of ice that moved was similar to the amount that moved in a calving triggered by last February's Christchurch earthquake.
The latest calving was "much prettier". It had left two large icebergs on the lake, one measuring about 150 metres by 75 metres, and the other about 100 metres by 50 metres. Both were about 40 metres above the lake surface at their highest point.
The glacier had been retreating by 100 to 300 metres each year, with about 120 metres lost yesterday.  
- Acknowledgements:  © Fairfax NZ News

http://www.changeofaddress.org/blog/2012/10-ways-to-learn-how-to-type/
















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Monday, January 30, 2012

The flightless New Zealand pukeko have attacked two people recently...

Pukeko
Image by Scoro via Flickr
Pukekos
Image by cheetah100 via Flickr
Porphyrio porphyrio melanotus English: Pukeko,...
Image via Wikipedia
Pukeko
Image by cheetah100 via Flickr
Pukeko
Image by cheetah100 via Flickr

MANDY HAGUE/Whakatane Beacon

BIRD OF WARNING: Pukeko living at the pond beside the entrance at the top of the Bird Walk, like this one, have attacked at least two people this week.


Agressive pukeko
SAMANTHA MOTION/Whakatane Beacon
BIRD OF WARNING: Pukeko living at the pond beside the entrance at the top of the Bird Walk, like this one, have attacked at least two people this week

Pukeko attacks have left at least two users of Whakatane's popular Bird Walk bleeding this week.

Whakatane man Peter Walker was attacked by three pukeko about 2pm on Monday.

He was just beginning his walk through Mokoroa Bush Scenic Reserve from the top of the Bird Walk at Whitehorse Drive, when some fluffy black pukeko chicks crossed his path.

"Next minute the mother was attacking me, she was calling out and then two other birds came flying and kicked me in the back and down my arm."

He threw the birds off and took off down the path, bleeding from shallow cuts to his arms from the birds' claws.

"That's the fastest I've ever done that track."

He arrived home, "looking like I'd been through a meat cleaver", and told his family he had been attacked.

"They all laughed when I told them it was by pukekos."



Such attacks can be laughed off later on - but at the time they created some painful wounds. You take your  life in your hands along the Bird Walk. More on this story below:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/6251572/Pukeko-attack-bird-walkers

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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

A car's glass roof by day and heating by night - Ole Oleds...



The photos above are a bit of Rorschach test, in part because many of us have never seen anything quite like it. Depending on your view, it might appear to be a futuristic dentist’s chair, or perhaps even a new millennium toilet (we’ve been known here at SmartPlanet to provide such visual treats).
Or mabye you’re seeing it for what it is. According to German chemical giant BASF, the image shows what the inside of your car might look like one day.

Focus on the roof. The glass-effect, hexagonal openings allow a clear view upwards by day. Open the car door or push a button come night time, and they provide interior illumination - having been charged up by solar cells, nonetheless. BASF developed the dimples in partnership with Holland’s Philips Lighting, using OLED, or organic light emitting diode, technology. Read more about this real 'green technology' here:
http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/intelligent-energy/cars-8216glass-roof-by-day-becomes-interior-light-at-night-oh-oleds/12253?tag=nl.e660


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Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Agapanthus - flowering lily plant from South Africa or a NZ weed...

English: An Agapanthus flower arrangement befo...
Image via Wikipedia
Agapanthus
Image by Jonathan Gill via Flickr
Is Agapanthus a flowering lily plant from South Africa, or a New Zealand weed? Opinions differ it seems. http://www.botany.com/agapanthus.html

Weedbusters in New Zealand is calling for Agapanthus to be added to the National Plant register(NPAA). Agapanthus is allegedly a prolific seeder and can crowd out native plants.
http://news.msn.co.nz/nationalnews/8401404/call-to-ban-popular-agapanthus-plant

Gardening experts and bio-diversity advocates are at odds over one of New Zealand's most popular plants.

The Agapanthus is loved by Kiwi gardeners because it is a low maintenance, hardy, fast growing plant.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/capital-life/home-garden/6239495/Battle-lines-on-agapanthus

The Green Planet will keep a watching brief over future developments and will post again if any official action is to be taken against this beautiful South African introduced plant.

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Sunday, January 1, 2012

Today's Working Woman: GBE2: Week #33 - Work#links

Today's Working Woman: GBE2: Week #33 - Work#links

Rare white Kiwi chick born in NZ wildlife centre in time for Christmas...

colon English: North Island Brown Kiwi (Aptery...
Image via Wikipedia

      


White kiwi bird
CUTE: A rare white kiwi bird was born at Pukaha Mount Bruce Wildlife Centre in New Zealand. Picture: Tourism New ZealandSource: Supplied
White kiwi bird
RARE: Staff at the centre were "gobsmacked'' when the second chick was born. Picture: Tourism New ZealandSource: Supplied
White kiwi bird


A NEW ZEALAND wildlife centre has received a white Christmas present of a different kind, with the birth of a rare white kiwi chick
.   
The chick hatched at Pukaha Mount Bruce National Wildlife Centre last Sunday - the second born at the sanctuary this year.

Manukura - the world's first white kiwi hatched in captivity - created global headlines when she arrived in May.

Staff at the centre were "gobsmacked'' when the second chick was born last weekend.

A local Maori tribe has named the chick Mauriora, meaning sustained life.

"While every kiwi is precious, to have a second white chick is a delightful gift, especially at this time of year,'' centre manager Kathy Houkamau said.

"We thought Christmas had come early in May when Manukura arrived but now its come twice."

The centre is located in the Wairarapa district, about a 90-minute drive north from Wellington on New Zealand's North Island.

Tourists will be able to see the new chick being hand-reared in the nursery from Boxing Day.

The parents of the two white chicks were among 30 kiwi transferred from Hauturu/Little Barrier Island last year to boost the adult kiwi population at Pukaha.

The white gene is thought to have found its way into the kiwi population on Little Barrier Island after a white kiwi was put on the island early last century.

A small number of North Island brown kiwi carry a recessive white gene which both the male and female must have to produce a white chick.

Department of Conservation captive breeding ranger Darren Page said it was remarkable that two birds with the rare white gene had paired up in 940ha Pukaha forest to produce two white chicks over two seasons.

There is a one-in-four chance of such a pair producing a white chick.

"Both white birds have the same father, who we have identified through his transmitter," he said.

"The probability that the pair will breed again is quite high but we have no influence over the pairing and no way of knowing if they have produced more chicks together unless they're white.''




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http://news.discovery.com/animals/kiwi-chick-big-pic-110524.html


http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/rare-white-kiwi-chick-born-at-new-zealand-wildlife-centre-in-time-for-christmas/story-e6frg12c-1226228720659










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