Researchers in Australia have reached a major milestone in resurrecting a unique species of frog that gives birth through its mouth, and vanished into extinction 30 years ago.
Category: Environment
Taskforce to woo support for sustainable energy
A taskforce might be formed at the national level comprising representatives from public and private sectors, NGOs and donor agencies to move forward the `United Nations Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) Programme’.
World Water Day today for water cooperation
Speakers at a national seminar on Thursday emphasised the need for taking specific water planning and allocation by the Government for the people living at hard-to-reach zone in the country.
12pc people still not getting safe water: DPHE
The Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) officials on Thursday said about 12 percent of the country’s population are still living beyond the coverage of safe drinking water.
Solar power close to cost parity with other sources
They said it couldn’t be done. They tried to tell us that renewable energy could only survive if it were propped up with government subsidies.
Celebrate World Water Day by reducing water use
The United States is one of the world’s biggest users of water—many Americans use as much water as approximately 900 Kenyans. As a result, water resources in the U.S. are shrinking.
Sustainable air travel takes off
Last Thursday, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Flight 642 completed the seven hour and 17 minute flight from New York’s JFK Airport to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol using sustainable biofuels. Flight KL642, operated by a Boeing 777-200, will fly every Thursday fueled…
EU pesticides ban likely to save bees
EU governments failed to agree a ban on three widely used pesticides linked to the decline of honeybees on Friday, but the European Commission could force one through by the summer unless member states agree a compromise.
Salt marshes are great carbon sinks
Allowing farmland that’s been reclaimed from the sea to flood and turn back into salt marsh could make it absorb lots of carbon from the atmosphere, a new study suggests, though the transformation will take many years to complete.
JICA support sought for eco-friendly energy efficient autos
Commerce Minister GM Quader on Friday sought the support of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for young Bangladeshi engineers to invent and manufacture echo-friendly energy efficient motor vehicles.
Endangered Sharks
Well-known species of sharks such as the great white shark, tiger shark, blue shark, mako shark, and the hammerhead shark are apex predators—organisms at the top of their underwater food chain.
Victory for freshwater turtles, tortoises at CITES
Several freshwater turtle and tortoise species are to be afforded greater protection as a result of successful conservation talks at the CITES meeting in Bangkok, Thailand.
Global warming impacts on tropical forests
Tropical forests may be less sensitive to global warming than previously thought, argues a new study published in Nature Geoscience.
The wasted electronic waste
The old, dilapidated mobile phone you replaced with a snazzy, up-to-date version was disposed of properly at the company’s collection centre. You think it has been discarded in an environment friendly way.
Comet Pan-STARRS at its brightest this weekend
Miriam Kramer A comet that just made its way into the Northern Hemisphere evening sky should be at its brightest this weekend, but it may be tricky for stargazers to see.
Bee venom destroys HIV, spares other cells
Nanoparticles containing bee venom toxin melittin can destroy human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) while at the same time leaving surrounding cells unharmed, scientists from Washington University School of Medicine reported in the March 2013 issue of Antiviral Therapy.
Unidentified life under ice!
Russian scientists believe they have discovered new life forms sealed off for millions of years in a subglacial lake deep under the Antarctic ice, the RIA news agency reported on Thursday.
Combined water, sanitation for improved hygiene
A study by icddr,b researchers has demonstrated how combined water and sanitation interventions can significantly improve basic hygiene practices in rural communities. This and other encouraging findings were shared during a seminar organised by icddr,b on Thursday, 24th January 2013…
How warm it was once upon a time
From: Andy Soos, ENN How warm or cold is on Earth as compared to earlier times? Of course, going back far enough and one can find all sorts of extremes.
Muhith for open-pit coal mining
Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Wednesday advocated for open-pit coal mining, saying it would be the most effective way to extract maximum coal.
Global warming to open arctic shipping routes
Who said the effects of global warming are all negative? According to new research conducted by UCLA, melting sea ice during the late summer will make Arctic shipping channels much more accessible.
Cropland expansion blamed for biodiversity loss
[JAKARTA] Rapid cropland expansion is the main cause of biodiversity loss in tropical countries, a study by UNEP’s (the UN Environment Programme) World Conservation Monitoring Centre and the Cambridge Conservation Initiative has found.
Thailand announces end to ivory trade
Bangkok, Thailand – Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra today pledged to end ivory trade in Thailand, seizing a key opportunity to stem global wildlife trafficking. Her statement came after the call of nearly 1.5 million WWF and Avaaz supporters.
Volcanic eruptions slowed recent Earth warming
A team led by the University of Colorado Boulder looking for clues about why Earth did not warm as much as scientists expected between 2000 and 2010 now thinks the culprits are hiding in plain sight — dozens of volcanoes…
‘Solar sponge’ soaks up CO₂ emissions
CSIRO scientists have created a ‘solar sponge’ which captures and then releases carbon dioxide using the power of natural sunlight – as published today in scientific journal Angewandte Chemie.
Endangered shallow corals
Coral reefs in shallow ocean waters are far more vulnerable to sea temperature rises blamed on global warming than previously thought, with some areas of the Great Barrier Reef likely to pass critical damage thresholds in roughly 30 years.
Everest scaled twice in a week
A young Nepali sherpa climber has become the world’s first woman to scale Mount Everest twice in a week, Guinness World Records has confirmed.
Indo-Bangladesh Teesta diplomacy – Analysis
By Roomana Hukil Recent talks of optimism over the Teesta accord by Indian Foreign Secretary, Ranjan Mathai and Minister of External Affairs, Salman Khurshid have defused a striking political assertion of bringing a cut to the impending decade-long water deal…
UN deputy chief urges action on water rights
Most of the world’s urgent problems boil down to water and sanitation, and global leaders must act to reduce child mortality and urban poverty, the UN’s deputy chief said Friday.
Protecting Arctic in the near-term
Washington, DC. – Arctic Environment Ministers are calling for “urgent action” to reduce black carbon, methane, and HFCs in order to help protect the Arctic and reduce the risk of setting off self-amplifying feedback mechanisms that accelerate warming and lead…