Japan to resume research whaling by end of year at earliest

Yesterday the Japan Times said that The whalers expect to receive a permit from the Japanese government to kill whales once again in the Southern Ocean.

Will the Japanese government issue a permit to kill whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary in defiance of the International Whaling Commission's (IWC) order to cease and desist from the slaughter of whales under the guise of "scientific research" whaling?

What is the purpose of international laws and regulations if a nation ignores the rule of law and does what it pleases in defiance and contempt of science, conservation and the laws?

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/11/26/national/japan-to-resume-research-whaling-by-end-of-year-at-earliest/#.Vli4W-LMzyT

“Biodegradable” Plastics Don’t Actually Disintegrate in the Ocean

Plastics are horrible for the environment, primarily because they take forever to decompose. To address this situation, scientists developed a biodegradable version of plastic. It’s an invention that sounds too good to be true – and now researchers are discovering that it is in fact too good to be true.

http://www.care2.com/causes/biodegradable-plastics-dont-actually-disintegrate-in-the-ocean.html#ixzz3sekyqgFt

Cash big voice in US climate debate

Climate change has long been a highly polarising topic in the United States, with Americans lining up on opposite sides depending on their politics and worldview. Now a scientific study sheds new light on the role played by corporate money in creating that divide.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11550673

Danger to Earth lungs

About half the 15,000 tree species in the Amazon - the world's most diverse forest - are threatened by deforestation, an international study says.

The report lays bare the destruction of an ecosystem often referred to as the lungs of the Earth.

"At least 36 per cent and up to 57 per cent of all Amazonian tree species are likely to qualify as globally threatened," said the study in the journal Science Advances, which used criteria from the respected International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/environment/news/article.cfm?c_id=39&objectid=11549372

Japanese Whalers Who Think It’s OK to Keep Killing Whales Just Got Slapped With a HUGE Fine

Despite widespread public opposition to the brutal business of whaling – which kills 16,000 whales every year, and has driven the Blue Whale to the brink of extinction – countries such as Japan, Norway, and Iceland have continued to engage in it. Japanese whalers carry out their hunts under the guise of “scientific research,” despite the fact that no scientific papers have ever been published as a result of their expeditions. In 2014, the International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled that Japan was banned from hunting whales in Antarctic waters … but a number of Japanese whaling companies have chosen to continue their operations in this area regardless.

Australian groups have been leading the charge against Japanese whaling ships’ misconduct for a long time. Sea Shepherd Australia successfully prevented their efforts to hunt whales in an Antarctic whale sanctuary on multiple occasions, saving almost 750 whales from slaughter in 2014 alone. And now, in a case brought forward by Humane Society International (HSI) Australia, an Australian federal court has found whaling company Kyodo Senpaku guilty of “wilful contempt of court” for failing to adhere to a court order to stop killing whales in the Antarctic sanctuary. The company now faces a fine of AUS $1million ($721,800).

http://www.onegreenplanet.org/news/japanese-whalers-million-dollar-fine/

Up to 9000 coastal homes in danger from rising sea levels

New Zealand needs to completely overhaul the way it is preparing for rising sea levels, the Government's environmental watchdog says, as up to 9000 coastal homes sit precariously close to the high water mark.

A newly released report by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Jan Wright also says the Government needs to start preparing for the huge potential cost of rising oceans driven by climate change, which could lead to the "managed retreat" of coastal communities to higher ground.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11547974&ref=NZH_FBpage

New System, New Hope for Thousands of Fishermen in Belize

What an awesome idea TURF is!

Territorial Rights Use for Fishing, or TURF – a system that gives a fisherman or group of fishermen a dedicated area in which to practice their trade. 

In return for the secure fishing area, these fishermen also have a responsibility to conserve fish and marine ecosystems. Their reward is a stable and healthy fish population which, in turn, means their conservation efforts pay off economically.

What’s more, TURF areas are now being paired in Belize and other parts of the world with so-called no-take reserves, areas in which no fishing is permitted. These rapidly growing hybrid fishery management programs – “TURF-reserves” – also support local fishermen when fish spill over into their fishing areas.

Today, there are at least 27 such TURF-reserves in 10 countries that span the globe. Environmental Defense Fund is working with partner organizations to scale up such programs in the Philippines, Belize, Indonesia, Mozambique, Brazil, Mexico and Spain.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/new-system-new-hope-for-thousands-of-fishermen-in-belize.html#ixzz3riQYXdBW

Stay strong Paris

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynsq5ms9lvI

The collapsing glaciers that could raise sea levels 1.1 metres

As the world prepares for the most important global climate summit yet in Paris later this month, news from Greenland could add urgency to the negotiations. For another major glacier appears to have begun a rapid retreat into a deep underwater basin, a troubling sign previously noticed at Greenland's Jakobshavn Glacier and also in the Amundsen Sea region of West Antarctica.
And in all of these cases, warm ocean waters reaching the deep bases of marine glaciers appears to be a major cause.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11544826

Whale strandings a tragic mystery

Illness and peer support among theories but truth is unclear

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11543134

Algal Blooms Linked to Largest Die-Off of Great Whales Ever Recorded

In Argentina baby whales have been dying off the coast in increasingly high numbers for the past decade and no one has known exactly why.

 http://www.care2.com/causes/algal-blooms-linked-to-largest-die-off-of-great-whales-ever-recorded.html#ixzz3qxJpSy2d

Common Dolphin Spotted on Norfolk Coast for the First Time in 20 Years

This is a special moment when a common dolphin is sighted of the English coast after 20 years absence! Wonderful.

 

 http://www.care2.com/causes/common-dolphin-spotted-on-norfolk-coast-for-the-first-time-in-20-years.html

New warning over Antarctic ice

Melting ice in West Antarctica is a major concern for global sea levels, and a key area may already be unstable enough to unleash 3m of ocean rise, scientists say.

The study follows research out last year, led by Nasa glaciologist Eric Rignot, warning that ice in the Antarctic had gone into a state of irreversible retreat, that the melting was considered "unstoppable" and could raise sea level by 1.2m.

This time, researchers at Germany's Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research pointed to the long-term impacts of the crucial Amundsen Sea sector of West Antarctica, which they said "has most likely been destabilised".

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11539503

NZ marine conservation pioneer dies

Vry sad news..  He lllleaves behind an amazing legacy; the Goat Island Marine Reserve.

The scientist who drove the establishment of New Zealand's first marine reserve has died.

Dr Bill Ballantine was a key player in the founding of the country's original "no take" marine reserve, created at Leigh, north of Auckland, in 1977.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11539368

Ladies and gentlemen, your Rugby World Cup 2015 Champions