– After a study to determine how to spot them, rainbow hunters capture the first-ever images of “tertiary” and “quaternary” rainbows – a full quartet of colours.
Ultraviolet link to cold winters
– Larger than expected variations in the Sun’s ultraviolet output can explain weather patterns in recent northern hemisphere winters, including the UK’s cold spells, scientists conclude.
Sun storms 'could get stronger'
New research suggests solar storms could become more disruptive within decades.
Very large protected areas preserve wilderness but ignore rare species, analysis finds
– A new study analyzes the contribution to conservation of the 63 largest protected areas. These areas preserve wilderness and are important to the conservation of some ecoregions, but they do not overlap greatly with areas of highest conservation concern.
Japan offers hope to biodiversity summit with $2bn conservation fund
– Progress of conference boosted by rapid improvement in negotiations, with 15 of 20 targets agreed upon.
Amazon Conservation Cost Pegged at $150 Million a Year
– The cost of conserving the Amazon ecosystem has been estimated at US$150 million a year, according to the first joint report by the directors of protected areas in the eight Amazonian countries.
US navy completes successful test on boat powered by algae
– American navy sails towards sustainability with biofuel-powered gunboat.
Shambolic history of the carbon capture contest
– E.ON is the latest contestant to withdraw from a competition which now has just one bidder remaining.
Pricing the Value of Nature
– Assigning economic value to the benefits the world gets for free from nature is not easy, so today’s release of the report, “Mainstreaming the Economics of Nature,” by a banker who works with the UN Environment Programme has attracted a lot of attention at the Convention on Biodiversity’s Conference of Parties meeting in Nagoya.
Wasps wage war on behalf of wiliwili trees
– A black, 2-millimeter-long wasp from East Africa is helping wage war on one of its own kind — the Erythrina gall wasp, an invasive species that’s decimated Hawaii’s endemic wiliwili and introduced coral bean trees.