Study measures Atlantic plastic accumulation

A study has measured the amount of plastic debris found in a region of the Atlantic Ocean over a 22-year period.

US researchers, writing in Science, suggest the volume of plastic appeared to have peaked in recent years.

One reason could be tighter marine pollution rules that prevent vessels dumping their waste at sea.

The team said monitoring the free-floating plastic also provided an insight into the behaviour of ocean surface currents.

They found plastic, most pieces measuring no more than a few millimetres, in more than 60% of 6,136 samples collected by dragging fine-meshed nets along the ocean's surface.

The researchers - from the US-based Sea Education Association (Sea), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the University of Hawaii - described plastic as a "major contaminant".

"Their chemically engineered durability and slow rate of biodegradation allow these synthetic polymers to withstand the ocean environment for years to decades or longer."

The impacts caused by the debris include:

• sea animals becoming entangled
• seabirds and other marine creatures eating the plastic
• the debris being used as a "life raft" by some species to reach areas outside their normal distribution range

"While high concentrations of floating plastic debris have been found in the Pacific Ocean, only limited data exist to quantify and explain the geographical range," they said.

"In the Atlantic Ocean, the subject has been all but ignored."

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Rice yields falling under global warming

Global warming is cutting rice yields in many parts of Asia, according to research, with more declines to come.

Yields have fallen by 10-20% over the last 25 years in some locations.

The group of mainly US-based scientists studied records from 227 farms in six important rice-producing countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, India and China.

This is the latest in a line of studies to suggest that climate change will make it harder to feed the world's growing population by cutting yields.

Climate Change is such an obvious phenomenon now, with so much evidence clearly showing that the climate is changing and that we will have to adapt accordingly, that you have to wonder why people still want to argue.

On the one hand it is all us, we are the ones changing the climate and we should do everything in our power to slow the process down giving us more time to develop solutions that will ensure that ourselves and/or as many species as possible don't become extinct as a direct result of our actions.

Or; if it isn't us and the climate change is instead a direct result of natural changes, ice age cycles, volcanic dust clouds, etc. then surely it makes even more sense for us to start making the necessary changes to our technologies and resource use to ensure that we don't exacerbate these changes with our own man-made causes. Ultimately giving us more time to develop solutions that will ensure that ourselves and/or as many species as possible don't become extinct as a result of our actions.

Sigh.

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Plankton decline across oceans as waters warm

The amount of phytoplankton - tiny marine plants - in the top layers of the oceans has declined markedly over the last century, research suggests.

Writing in the journal Nature, scientists say the decline appears to be linked to rising water temperatures.

They made their finding by looking at records of the transparency of sea water, which is affected by the plants.

The decline - about 1% per year - could be ecologically significant as plankton sit at the base of marine food chains.

This is the first study to attempt a comprehensive global look at plankton changes over such a long time scale.

"What we think is happening is that the oceans are becoming more stratified as the water warms," said research leader Daniel Boyce from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

"The plants need sunlight from above and nutrients from below; and as it becomes more stratified, that limits the availability of nutrients," he told BBC News.

Phytoplankton are typically eaten by zooplankton - tiny marine animals - which themselves are prey for small fish and other animals.

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Church denounces gay priests after magazine revelations

An Italian Catholic diocese has denounced homosexual priests for their "double life" and said they should not be in the priesthood.

The Diocese of Rome was responding to a magazine article on three homosexual priests that gave details of alleged sexual encounters and trips to clubs.

The diocese said "the honour of all the others" was sullied by their behaviour.

The Church holds that all sexual activity outside marriage is sinful and regards homosexual acts as unnatural.

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UK government axes its sustainability watchdog

The UK government is to stop funding the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC), its independent environmental watchdog and advisory body.

Set up by the Labour government in 2000, the SDC is among a number of green bodies to be abolished.

The news comes on the day the SDC, with a budget of £3m, published a report saying Whitehall had saved £60-70m as a result of introducing green measures.

Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman announced the details in a statement.

"This government is committed to being the greenest government ever, and the Structural Reform Plan published last week sets out how Defra (the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) will play its part in achieving this," she said.

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Dark matter hunt eyes deeper home

Scientists are looking to relocate an underground experiment searching for dark matter to an even deeper site.

Cosmic rays striking the Earth could completely mask the rare dark matter events sought by the experiment.

Team members want to cut out as much of this cosmic ray interference as possible, even if it means moving the experiment 2km below ground.

This could help them positively identify the particles thought to make up dark matter.

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BBC: EU boosts hi-tech research budget

The EU has announced 6.4bn euros (£5.4bn) of funding for scientific research and innovation next year - a 12% increase on this year's allocation.

The programme is aimed at creating more than 165,000 jobs and developing "a more competitive and greener Europe", the European Commission says.

The focus is on tackling climate change, energy projects, food security, health and Europe's ageing population.

Grants will be awarded to about 16,000 research bodies and businesses.

"Research and innovation are the only smart and lasting route out of crisis and towards sustainable and socially equitable growth," said the EU Commissioner for Research and Innovation, Maire Geoghegan-Quinn.

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Fossil links humans and monkeys

Researchers have discovered the skull of a 29 million-year-old animal that could be a common ancestor of Old World monkeys and apes, including humans.

It indicates that apes and Old World monkeys diverged millions of years later than previously thought, say the scientists.

The discovery was made in Saudi Arabia by researchers from the University of Michigan.

They described the primate, Saadanius hijazensis, in the journal Nature.

Dr William Sanders from the University of Michigan, who led the research, said this was "an extraordinary find".

The skull of this previously unknown species had some features that are shared by Old World monkeys and apes, including humans, today.

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BBC: Science aids economy

UK Science Minister David Willetts is to say that there is an economic case for Britain to have a strong research base.

In his first major speech on science at the Royal Institution, Mr Willetts is to argue the case for scientific research in an age of austerity.

Under the previous government spending on science doubled in real terms.

This made the UK second only to the US in terms of the quality of its research, according to some measures.

This is a factor which draws many hi-tech companies to base themselves in the UK.

Mr Willetts is to say that he values the research base - and understands its importance to the economy.

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BBC: Humans' early arrival in Britain

Researchers have discovered stone tools in Norfolk, UK, that suggest that early humans arrived in Britain nearly a million years ago - or even earlier.

The find, published in the journal Nature, pushes back the arrival of the first humans in what is now the UK by several hundred thousand years.

Environmental data suggests that temperatures were relatively cool.

This raises the possibility that these early Britons may have been among the first humans to use fire to keep warm.

They may also have been some of the earliest humans to wear fur clothing.

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Genes predict living beyond 100

Scientists have developed way of predicting how likely a person is to live beyond the age of 100.

The breakthrough, described in the journal Science, is based on 150 genetic "signposts" found in exceptionally long-lived people.

The researchers created a mathematical model, which takes information from these signposts to work out a person's chance of reaching 100.

It is based on the largest study of centenarians in the world.

This is a rare trait - only one in 6,000 people in industrialised countries reaches such a ripe old age. And 90% them are still disability free by the age of 93.

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BBC: Finless porpoises in China on brink of extinction

Finless porpoises, a rare type of toothed whale, may be even more endangered than previously thought.

A survey of finless porpoises in Asia has revealed there are two species, not one, and that they rarely intermingle.

"Most conservation biologists have a strong feeling that the Yangtze finless porpoise has a very high risk of extinction"

- Prof Guang Yang

More worrying, finless porpoises living in the freshwater of China's Yangtze river are genetically unique, say scientists, who warn that greater efforts must be made to prevent these animals, numbering fewer than 1000, from following another Yangtze cetacean, the Baiji, to extinction.

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BBC: 'Sex' drove fossil animal traits

Several prehistoric creatures developed elaborate body traits in order to attract members of the opposite sex, according to new research.

The purpose of the exaggerated crests and sails found in many fossil animals has long been controversial.

Some scientists said sails helped to regulate body temperature and that head crests helped flying reptiles steer during flight.

Now a study say these traits became so big because of sexual competition.

The findings, by an international team of researchers, is published in the journal American Naturalist.

One of the prehistoric animals looked at by the researchers were pterosaurs - flying reptiles which became extinct at the time of the dinosaurs.

The study suggests the relative size of the head crest compared to the body of the pterosaur was too large for it to have been dedicated to controlling the animal's body temperature or its flight.

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Study examines scientists' 'climate credibility'

Some 98% of climate scientists that publish research on the subject support the view that human activities are warming the planet, a study suggests.

It added there was little disagreement among the most experienced scientists.

But climate sceptics questioned the findings, saying that publication in scientific journals was not a fair test of expertise.

The findings have been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The study's authors said they found "immense" differences in both the expertise and scientific prominence of those who supported the "primary tenets" of latest assessments made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and those who were sceptical of the IPCC's findings.

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Whaling deal splits countries and conservationists

A deal that could regulate whaling for the next 10 years is up for debate at the International Whaling Commission's meeting opening in Agadir, Morocco.

The proposal would see Iceland, Japan and Norway given annual quotas with hunts more tightly scrutinised, while international trade could be banned.

Some anti-whaling countries and some conservation groups support the idea, while others are implacably opposed.

Few observers are prepared to predict whether the deal will be approved.

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Illegal bushmeat 'rife in Europe'

About 270 tonnes of illegal bushmeat could be passing through one of Europe's busiest airports each year, the first study of its kind estimates.

A team of researchers says the illicit trade could pose a risk to human or animal health and increase the demand for meat from threatened species.

The figure is based on seizures from searches carried out over 17 days at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.

The findings appear in the journal Conservation Letters.

A team of researchers from France, Cambodia and the UK said it was the "first systematic study of the scale and nature of this international trade".

"We estimate that about five tonnes of bushmeat per week is smuggled in personal baggage through Paris Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport," they wrote.

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Water CO2 calculator for UK homes goes online

A website that helps people to work out how much CO2 is being emitted to heat water in their homes has gone online.

Produced by the Energy Saving Trust (EST), it also suggests ways that users can save water and energy, as well as cutting their carbon footprint.

The Trust says CO2 from energy used to heat water in UK homes accounts for 5% of the nation's total carbon emissions.

Yet, it adds, water use is the "forgotten energy saving opportunity" by homes, businesses and policymakers.

The EST produced the calculator as an interactive, "easy to understand" tool for people to make the link between water efficiency and energy efficiency, explained Andrew Tucker, EST's water strategy manager.

Energy used in the UK water sector accounts for about 6% of the nation's total CO2 emissions, 89% of which is a result of homes and businesses heating the water.

Figures from the Trust estimate that heating water accounts for about 30% of the average household's energy bills.

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Sperm whale faeces offset CO2 emissions

In a somewhat unusual research project, scientists have found that sperm whale faeces may help oceans absorb carbon dioxide from the air.

Australian researchers calculate that Southern Ocean sperm whales release about 50 tonnes of iron each year.

This stimulates the growth of tiny marine plants - phytoplankton - which absorb CO2 during photosynthesis.

They note in the Royal Society journal Proceedings B that in the end, this also provides more food for the whales.

Phytoplankton are the basis of the marine food web in this part of the world, and the growth of these tiny plants is limited by the amount of nutrients available, including iron.

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BBC Life

Being in Australia I couldn't watch BBC's Life series when it was aired in 2009, but I've made up for that over Australia's long weekend.

It is incredible, almost as good as Planet Earth, and goes to show that if you want a to understand more about our planet and the great number of organisms fighting for their place on it, you need look no further the BBC.

Supposedly, in the US they had to cut each episode down by 15 minutes and get Oprah Winfrey to narrate instead of David Attenborough. Is it any wonder they allow Creationism Science to be taught in the classroom.

View their webpage

View their interactive Tree of Life

Rich countries accused of carbon 'cheating'

Some rich countries are seeking new rules under the UN climate convention that campaigners say would allow them to gain credit for "business as usual".

Russia, Australia, Canada and some EU countries are among the accused.

The rules relate to land-use change, which can either release or absorb carbon, depending mainly on whether forests are planted or chopped down.

Rich countries, apart from the US, could account for about 5% of their annual emissions through this loophole.

The US is not involved in these negotiations because the proposals fall under the Kyoto Protocol, of which it - alone among developed countries - is not a part.

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