Air pollution 'damaging Europe's wildlife havens'

Air pollution is damaging 60% of Europe's prime wildlife sites in meadows, forests and heaths, according to a new report. A team of EU scientists said nitrogen emissions from cars, factories and farming was threatening biodiversity. It's the second report this week warning of the on-going risks and threats linked to nitrogen pollution.

The Nitrogen Deposition and Natura 2000 report was published at a key scientific conference in Edinburgh. Earlier this week, the European Nitrogen Assessment - the first of its kind - estimated nitrogen damage to health and the environment at between £55bn and £280bn a year in Europe, even though nitrogen pollution from vehicles and industry had dropped 30% over recent decades. Nitrogen in the atmosphere is harmless in its inert state, but the report says reactive forms of nitrogen, largely produced by human activity, can be a menace to the natural world.

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By Roger Harrabin Environment analyst, BBC News

Oceans divide over 1970s warming

The surfaces of the oceans went through a short period of rapid temperature change 40 years ago, scientists have found - but the cause is unknown

Top layers of Northern hemisphere water cooled by about 0.3C; the south saw roughly the same degree of warming.
Writing in the journal Nature, the team suggests that air pollution cannot be responsible for the changes, as has been suggested for mid-century cooling.
They do not suggest a cause, and it not clear what could link all the oceans.
However, events called Great Salinity Anomalies have been recorded in the last few decades in the North Atlantic ocean - including one around 1970.
The 1970s global temperature record shows a period where the Earth's surface cooled in the Northern hemisphere, while the Southern hemisphere saw warming.

BBC News

By Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News

GM potato cleared for EU farming

The European Commission has cleared the way for a genetically modified potato to be grown in the EU - only the second GM product it has allowed.

The starch of the Amflora potato can be utilised for industrial uses like making paper, and for animal feed - but not for human consumption.

Environmental groups have strongly opposed the introduction of GM crops.

But the Commission insisted its decision was based on "a considerable volume of sound science".

Planting this spring

The Amflora variety, developed by German chemical and biotechnology firm BASF, has been a political hot potato for seven years.

BASF applied to grow it in Sweden in 2003. Sweden agreed but was obliged to seek EU permission.

The Council of ministers - the committee of national governments - has been unable to agree a decision, passing the issue back into the hands of the Commission. 

Even though it has now been cleared, individual countries still have the right to decide whether it should be grown on their territory.

The potato is expected to be planted in the Czech Republic and Germany this spring, and Sweden and the Netherlands in following years.

The only other GM product currently grown commercially in the EU is Monsanto's MON 810 maize, which was cleared back in 1998.

It is grown in five countries - Spain, the Czech Republic, Romania, Portugal and Slovakia.

On Tuesday, the EU Commission also allowed three GM maize products to be placed on the European market, though not grown in Europe.

'Bad day'

Some countries remain firmly opposed to the cultivation of GM crops, arguing that they could eventually reduce biodiversity and natural resistance to pests and disease, and that it is very hard to stop them cross-pollinating with non-GM crops.

Italy said it objected to the Commission's decision.

German Green MEP Martin Hausling said it "flies in the face of the 70% of consumers who are against GM food".

"This is a bad day for European citizens and the environment," Friends of the Earth told the AFP news agency.

It said the Amflora potato "carries a controversial antibiotic resistant gene which it cannot be guaranteed will not enter the food chain".

The Commission said it was imposing strict conditions on the cultivation of Amflora to address some of the environmental concerns.

For instance, the potato "will be cultivated and harvested before it produces seeds".

It said growing this form of potato "helps to optimise the production process and to save raw materials, energy, water and oil based chemicals". 

BBC News 

Ravens 'not behind' wader decline

A large crow considered one of the most intelligent native British birds has been ruled out as the cause for a decline in the number of wading birds.

Raven numbers in upland areas of the UK have increased over the past 20 years, while waders such as lapwing and curlew have fallen by 50%.
Raven feed on the eggs of other birds, but a new study has suggested its links to the decline were weak.
It is thought changes to habitat and vegetation and foxes could be to blame.
The RSPB and University of Aberdeen's Centre for Environmental Sustainability (ACES) carried out the research.
Government agency Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) helped to fund the project.
The new study, published in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Applied Ecology, will help SNH when considering applications to legally kill ravens to protect other species.

Ravens have also been blamed by farmers for preying on livestock in the Highlands, Islands and Argyll.
Last January, farmers were allowed to shoot more of the crows than previously permitted in an effort to protect newborn lambs and calves.
Dr Arjun Amar, a senior conservation scientist with RSPB who led the study, said ravens had undergone a "welcome" recovery over the past 20 years.
The scientist said: "While many organisations view these changes as positive, increases in raven numbers have raised legitimate concerns among other groups, because of their perceived impact on prey species, and this can lead to conflict between land managers and conservation organisations.
"We hope that this new research will help the licensing authorities balance the need to safeguard populations of vulnerable, recovering predators, whilst at the same time acknowledging and addressing concerns over increasing predator populations."

Prof Steve Redpath, director of ACES, said the reasons for upland wader populations suffering so badly had still to be clearly understood.
He said: "It is often the case that predators are assumed to be responsible, but this is not always the case.
"This research found no strong evidence to suggest that ravens were responsible for changes in wader numbers, implying that we need to look elsewhere to discover the cause for these large-scale declines."
Page last updated at 07:57 GMT, Wednesday, 17 February 2010-BBCNEWS