[News] from [guardian.co.uk]
[Environment > Wildlife]
Wildlife survey shows cuckoo and cranefly declines
National Trust says mixed weather this year has been a saviour to many species but a blow to others
Steven Morris
guardian.co.uk, Monday 28 December 2009 Article history
It was a terrible year for the cuckoo, another dreadful autumn for the daddy-long-legs, and pity the beetles and caterpillars that suffered in this winter's floods in Cumbria.
The National Trust's annual survey of how the weather has affected flora and fauna at its properties and reserves, published today, reveals some worrying absences.
Frogs and choughs in Cornwall were badly hit by the harsh opening to the year and it was a difficult time for oak trees after they were attacked by insects and then by a mildew.
Colonies of glow worms, arctic terns and bats were also put at risk by unseasonal weather such as summer storms. Populations of bats in some places were down by 90%.
This time last year the National Trust's conservation team was warning of disaster in some parts of Britain if there was a third consecutive damp summer. There has been something of a comeback this year but sharply contrasting weather has put many species under pressure.
Matthew Oates, a nature conservation adviser, said: "After two washout summers we've in many ways had a more traditional year, with an old-fashioned cold winter and some hot and dry periods during the spring and summer. For many insects, and insect-feeding birds and mammals, this year has been a saviour as they were being severely tested."
Still, the disappearance of the cuckoo from some areas is worrying. Oates admitted the absence of the iconic bird was a puzzle. "They've been in general decline since the early 1990s but suffered a big collapse this year."
Oates said the problem for the cuckoo might lie abroad, where it spends the winters, but could also be down to a lack of its favourite foods in Britain, such as hairy caterpillars, which may be being affected by bad weather at crucial times in their life cycle.
While ornithologists are busy trying to find out what has happened to the cuckoo, entomologists are trying to pinpoint why the common autumn cranefly – the daddy-long-legs – has gone missing. What is clear is that its absence will have a knock-on effect for bats, which rely on it as a good autumn food source.
Oates said the floods in the Lake District and heavy rain elsewhere will have badly hit insect life. "Try being a very small insect, a tiny beetle or caterpillar with 12ins of rain coming down on top of you. How much biodiversity has been swept out to sea in those floods? It wasn't just bad for the people there. A lot of wildlife will have been adversely affected."
There is some good news. There was a mass migration of painted lady butterflies into the UK during a spell of good weather in May. It was also a tremendous year for the purple emperor butterfly, and thousands of seven-spot ladybirds were seen in arable fields in East Anglia and Somerset.
Tree bumblebees did well in urban areas in the south of England, and a humpback whale was spotted near the Farne Islands in Northumberland – a rare sighting.
And, after largely vanishing last year (2008), the wasp made a return – a problem for lovers of picnics but welcome to naturalists who know it does have a role to serve in the ecosystem.
Oates said: "With the coldest winter for over twenty years in the south of England and one of the top five warmest years on record the weather continues to challenge our wildlife."
[Environment > Copenhagen climate change conference 2009]
John Prescott defends China's role at Copenhagen climate summit
> Former deputy PM attacks US envoy's stance at talks
> Negotiator at Kyoto rejects Obama's view of 1997 deal
Patrick Wintour and Jonathan Watts
The Guardian, Monday 28 December 2009 Article history
John Prescott has defended China's role in the climate change summit, saying the blame for its flawed outcome must lie with the United States and Barack Obama.
The former deputy prime minister helped negotiate the Kyoto protocol in 1997, and was in Copenhagen acting as an informal bridge between the Chinese delegation and others.
As a frequent visitor to China, who knows many of its officials personally, Prescott fears privately that the Chinese will walk away from the talks if they continue to be singled out for blame.
In a letter to the Guardian, Prescott criticises the US climate change special envoy, Todd Stern, who "said at Copenhagen emissions weren't about 'morality or politics', they were 'just maths', with China projected to emit 60% more CO2 than the US by 2030".
In his letter Prescott claims that Stern's arguments "ignored the more transparent measure of pollution per capita, which shows the US emits 20 tonnes per person every year, compared to China's six tonnes, whilst America's GDP per person is almost eight times greater than the Chinese". He also attacks President Barack Obama for suggesting there had been a period of "two decades of talking and no action. That might have been true in America, which refused to sign up to Kyoto, but not in the case of China or Europe, who followed a lot of that protocol's policies. Indeed Obama's offer of a 17% cut is wholly dependent on Congressional approval and will still be less than Kyoto targets." Prescott is climate change convenor for the Council of Europe, with the role of exploring how to keep the talks on the road.
China itself defended its "crucial role" in saving the Copenhagen conference from failure, according to the state media's first blow-by-blow rebuttal of European claims that China wrecked a climate deal.
In a florid account of prime minister Wen Jiabao's 60 hours in Copenhagen, the Xinhua news agency said the premier staved off the "unrealistic and unfair demands" of Britain, Germany and Japan.
There is no direct criticism of the US, but Obama is described as "awkward" in the presence of the Chinese premier.
According to the lengthy defence of China's actions, European nations repeatedly tried to impose secret drafts, unscheduled meetings and a hidden agenda on China and other developing nations.
The article, likely to have been approved at the highest level of government, notes that Wen walked out of a state dinner after hearing that an unscheduled meeting of leaders was being arranged soon afterwards to discuss a new draft text.
"It was really absurd that the country who called for the meeting never informed China," the report says. "Premier Wen concluded that this was no small matter.
"Since the start of the conference, there had been cases where individual or small group of countries put forward new texts in disregard of the principle of openness and transparency, arousing strong complaints from other participants."
Such accusations infuriate senior European negotiators, who claim China was fully informed ahead of Copenhagen of the plan for a new document, though it never agreed to the content.
Xinhua avoids mention of how and why China killed attempts to impose 2050 targets for reducing emissions. Beijing has consistently rejected such long-term goals, which it sees as a threat to itseconomic growth.It also fails to address claims that China torpedoed the inclusion of a 1.5C maximum global temperature rise, requested by small island states and African nations. Instead, it says, Wen showed sincerity by accepting a rise of no more than 2C by 2050.
[Environment > Wildlife]
Wildlife survey shows cuckoo and cranefly declines
National Trust says mixed weather this year has been a saviour to many species but a blow to others
Steven Morris
guardian.co.uk, Monday 28 December 2009 Article history
It was a terrible year for the cuckoo, another dreadful autumn for the daddy-long-legs, and pity the beetles and caterpillars that suffered in this winter's floods in Cumbria.
The National Trust's annual survey of how the weather has affected flora and fauna at its properties and reserves, published today, reveals some worrying absences.
Frogs and choughs in Cornwall were badly hit by the harsh opening to the year and it was a difficult time for oak trees after they were attacked by insects and then by a mildew.
Colonies of glow worms, arctic terns and bats were also put at risk by unseasonal weather such as summer storms. Populations of bats in some places were down by 90%.
This time last year the National Trust's conservation team was warning of disaster in some parts of Britain if there was a third consecutive damp summer. There has been something of a comeback this year but sharply contrasting weather has put many species under pressure.
Matthew Oates, a nature conservation adviser, said: "After two washout summers we've in many ways had a more traditional year, with an old-fashioned cold winter and some hot and dry periods during the spring and summer. For many insects, and insect-feeding birds and mammals, this year has been a saviour as they were being severely tested."
Still, the disappearance of the cuckoo from some areas is worrying. Oates admitted the absence of the iconic bird was a puzzle. "They've been in general decline since the early 1990s but suffered a big collapse this year."
Oates said the problem for the cuckoo might lie abroad, where it spends the winters, but could also be down to a lack of its favourite foods in Britain, such as hairy caterpillars, which may be being affected by bad weather at crucial times in their life cycle.
While ornithologists are busy trying to find out what has happened to the cuckoo, entomologists are trying to pinpoint why the common autumn cranefly – the daddy-long-legs – has gone missing. What is clear is that its absence will have a knock-on effect for bats, which rely on it as a good autumn food source.
Oates said the floods in the Lake District and heavy rain elsewhere will have badly hit insect life. "Try being a very small insect, a tiny beetle or caterpillar with 12ins of rain coming down on top of you. How much biodiversity has been swept out to sea in those floods? It wasn't just bad for the people there. A lot of wildlife will have been adversely affected."
There is some good news. There was a mass migration of painted lady butterflies into the UK during a spell of good weather in May. It was also a tremendous year for the purple emperor butterfly, and thousands of seven-spot ladybirds were seen in arable fields in East Anglia and Somerset.
Tree bumblebees did well in urban areas in the south of England, and a humpback whale was spotted near the Farne Islands in Northumberland – a rare sighting.
And, after largely vanishing last year (2008), the wasp made a return – a problem for lovers of picnics but welcome to naturalists who know it does have a role to serve in the ecosystem.
Oates said: "With the coldest winter for over twenty years in the south of England and one of the top five warmest years on record the weather continues to challenge our wildlife."
[Environment > Copenhagen climate change conference 2009]
John Prescott defends China's role at Copenhagen climate summit
> Former deputy PM attacks US envoy's stance at talks
> Negotiator at Kyoto rejects Obama's view of 1997 deal
Patrick Wintour and Jonathan Watts
The Guardian, Monday 28 December 2009 Article history
John Prescott has defended China's role in the climate change summit, saying the blame for its flawed outcome must lie with the United States and Barack Obama.
The former deputy prime minister helped negotiate the Kyoto protocol in 1997, and was in Copenhagen acting as an informal bridge between the Chinese delegation and others.
As a frequent visitor to China, who knows many of its officials personally, Prescott fears privately that the Chinese will walk away from the talks if they continue to be singled out for blame.
In a letter to the Guardian, Prescott criticises the US climate change special envoy, Todd Stern, who "said at Copenhagen emissions weren't about 'morality or politics', they were 'just maths', with China projected to emit 60% more CO2 than the US by 2030".
In his letter Prescott claims that Stern's arguments "ignored the more transparent measure of pollution per capita, which shows the US emits 20 tonnes per person every year, compared to China's six tonnes, whilst America's GDP per person is almost eight times greater than the Chinese". He also attacks President Barack Obama for suggesting there had been a period of "two decades of talking and no action. That might have been true in America, which refused to sign up to Kyoto, but not in the case of China or Europe, who followed a lot of that protocol's policies. Indeed Obama's offer of a 17% cut is wholly dependent on Congressional approval and will still be less than Kyoto targets." Prescott is climate change convenor for the Council of Europe, with the role of exploring how to keep the talks on the road.
China itself defended its "crucial role" in saving the Copenhagen conference from failure, according to the state media's first blow-by-blow rebuttal of European claims that China wrecked a climate deal.
In a florid account of prime minister Wen Jiabao's 60 hours in Copenhagen, the Xinhua news agency said the premier staved off the "unrealistic and unfair demands" of Britain, Germany and Japan.
There is no direct criticism of the US, but Obama is described as "awkward" in the presence of the Chinese premier.
According to the lengthy defence of China's actions, European nations repeatedly tried to impose secret drafts, unscheduled meetings and a hidden agenda on China and other developing nations.
The article, likely to have been approved at the highest level of government, notes that Wen walked out of a state dinner after hearing that an unscheduled meeting of leaders was being arranged soon afterwards to discuss a new draft text.
"It was really absurd that the country who called for the meeting never informed China," the report says. "Premier Wen concluded that this was no small matter.
"Since the start of the conference, there had been cases where individual or small group of countries put forward new texts in disregard of the principle of openness and transparency, arousing strong complaints from other participants."
Such accusations infuriate senior European negotiators, who claim China was fully informed ahead of Copenhagen of the plan for a new document, though it never agreed to the content.
Xinhua avoids mention of how and why China killed attempts to impose 2050 targets for reducing emissions. Beijing has consistently rejected such long-term goals, which it sees as a threat to itseconomic growth.It also fails to address claims that China torpedoed the inclusion of a 1.5C maximum global temperature rise, requested by small island states and African nations. Instead, it says, Wen showed sincerity by accepting a rise of no more than 2C by 2050.
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