THE GREEN PLANET BLOG - Our World and Environment...

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

Sunday, December 29, 2013

More than honey: Watch the movie:

Saturday, December 28, 2013

The Adelie penguins of Cape Denison are short of food and dwindling in numbers...




 Adelie penguins nesting at Cape Denison in East Antarctica, near the site of Douglas Mawson's huts
Adelie penguins nesting at Cape Denison in East Antarctica, near the site of Douglas Mawson's huts Photograph: Alok Jha/Guardian
Every coast or sea we have visited in Antarctica, we have seen penguins. They come to the shoreline to investigate our ship as we sail past, they hop on and off ice floes, flocks of them fly in formation through the water. Night or day, there are always a dozen penguins, at least, within sight of the ship.
At Cape Denison, where Douglas Mawson built his base camp, the colony of Adelie penguins consists of several rookeries, each one spread across the rocks in the valleys around his huts. “Weddell seals and Adelie penguins in thousands rested upon the rocks,” wrote Mawson about ariving at Cape Denison in January 1911. “The latter chiefly congregated upon a long, low, bare islet situated in the centre. This was the largest of the group, measuring about half a mile in length.”
He often wrote about the birds in his accounts, and one of the rocky outcrops near the huts was even nicknamed Penguin Hill. The plentiful numbers meant there was always a potential source of fresh meat, his expedition-members noted, but no one at the time made any scientific counts of the birds.

http://www.theguardian.com/science/antarctica-live/2013/dec/24/the-penguins-of-cape-denison





Enhanced by Zemanta

Sunday, December 22, 2013

A very Merry Green Christmas and a Happy New Year from Lower Hutt, Wellington,NZ...


A Green Planet

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Beyond the HuttRiver - New Zealand today..: Melbourne Storm Young Gun - Pride Petterson Roba...

Beyond the HuttRiver - New Zealand today..: Melbourne Storm Young Gun - Pride Petterson Roba...: I have just had a read of the latest issue of Rugby League Week which came out on Thursday, 2014 Preview. Each of the NRL clubs have...

Friday, December 20, 2013

Akaroa Harbour in Banks Peninsula to become a marine reserve...

Hectors dolphins at Akaroa Harbour.
Hectors dolphins at Akaroa Harbour.
Canterbury's popular tourist spot Akaroa Harbour is set to become a marine reserve to recognise the marine environment as the "new frontier for conservation".
Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith announced today the new marine reserve will come into effect on World Oceans Day next June 8.
"This new reserve will ensure better conservation of its marine life and add value to Akaroa as a tourism destination," he said.
The 475-hectare reserve covers the south east corner of Akaroa Harbour and includes the area surrounding the spectacular Dan Rogers Bluff.
An application was first lodged in 1996, and Dr Smith gave his approval in April.
"Akaroa is just one of a number of marine reserves I want to advance next year. Eighty per cent of the species unique to New Zealand are in the sea, yet we have far less of our ocean protected compared to land."
Acknowledgements:  APNZ

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/environment/news/article.cfm?c_id=39&objectid=11175948
Enhanced by Zemanta

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Scientists 'incredibly concerned' for the fate of bananas

The future of bananas may be in doubt...


Warning comes as Costa Rica declares 'national emergency' over state of crop. Photo / Thinkstock
Warning comes as Costa Rica declares 'national emergency' over state of crop. Photo / Thinkstock
The world's supply of bananas is under threat from plagues of bugs and fungal infections which could be disastrous if they continue to spread, researchers say.
The government in Costa Rica, one of the biggest suppliers of the fruit, has already declared a "national emergency" over the state of its crop.
The country's half-a-billion-dollar banana export industry has been hit by two separate plagues of mealybugs and scale insects, with up to 20 per cent of its produce written off.
Magda Gonzalez, the director of the agriculture ministry's State Phytosanitary Services (SFE), told The Tico Times last week that climate change had boosted insect populations in recent years, making plagues increasingly likely across the world.
"I can tell you with near certainty that climate change is behind these pests," she said. The insects weaken plants and cause blemishes on fruit, leading to vast batches being rejected.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11173756
Enhanced by Zemanta

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Tasman Glacier is melting. Climate change?

TasmanGlacier-4
During the depths of the cold period before Europeans arrived in New Zealand – the Little Ice Age – it has been estimated that there were 170 cubic kilometres of glacial ice on New Zealand mountains and filling the Alpine valleys. By 1977, climate warming had melted all but 54 km3 of that ice, and by 2012 another 30% had melted, leaving a rapidly diminishing rump of 37.6 km3 of ice. Warming of about 1.5ºC has been enough to decimate our ice fields, and the warming we expect in the coming century is likely to commit us to losing the lot. A few small glaciers may still cling to the highest of the Southern Alps, but the ice that so impressed the first European explorers of the South Island will be irretrievably lost
.
- See more http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2013/12/11/tomorrow-is-being-written-in-new-zealands-mountains/#sthash.8uagXZg5.dpuf
Enhanced by Zemanta

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Experts claim the Maui dolphin is doomed because of inaction by the NZ Government - extinction is now inevitable...


English:
English: (Photo credit: Wikipedia)


Picture
Maui’s dolphins are the smallest and rarest marine dolphins on earth and New Zealand’s only native dolphin species. They live in coastal waters up to a depth of 100m, where fishing pressure is intense. Gillnets and trawl nets have decimated them almost to the point of extinction. There are now just around 50 individuals left.  Maui‘s are dying many times faster than they can breed because less than 20% of their home is protected against fishing nets. They can only cope with one death every 10-23 years due to all human activities combined, but five Maui’s dolphins die in fishing nets each year. That is 75 times more than the sustainable limit. Maui dolphins are not doomed to extinction. If human induced mortality is removed, they can still bounce back but they need help now because saving them is a race against time! Mission Blue, which is an ocean conservation organization I am involved with, has set up the Maui Dolphin Legal Defense Fund. All donations will go directly to help save the dolphin. If you are interested in making a donation just go to Mission Blue on facebook. These dolphin are particularly dear to my heart since I spent time in New Zealand. I am donating 50% of my sales for the month of December to this fund, so you can help support a shell artist and save the Maui dolphin!

It is not just the fishing industry that is the problem, it is actually the inaction by the John Key National Government. History will show they were responsible for the extinction of the world's smallest dolphin - the Maui, and the dwindling numbers of the hectors in years to come too.

http://www.contemporaryshellartist.com/4/post/2013/11/new-zealands-maui-dolphins-facing-extinction.html

http://www.hectorsdolphins.com/uploads/9/5/9/0/9590633/maui_leaflet_2013.pdf

https://www.facebook.com/groups/hectorsandmauissos/

http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/too-late-save-maui-s-dolphin-experts-5778889

Ecospree


Enhanced by Zemanta