Sir David Attenborough has issued a stark warning about climate change to business figures gathered in Davos, telling them that "what we do now...will profoundly affect the next few thousand years". As conditions for coffee farming become tougher, scientists predict the industry will need to rely on wild varieties to develop more resilient strains, The Antarctic ice sheet is losing six times as much ice each year as it was in the 1980s and the pace is accelerating, one of the most comprehensive studies of climate change effects on the continent has shown. These “glass eels” – so-called due to their transparent bodies – were placed in different conditions to see how they would respond to a temperature increase of 4C and more acidic water, mimicking the environments expected under climate change by the end of the century. The wild strain of arabica, the most widely consumed coffee on the planet, is among those now recognised as endangered, raising concerns about its long-term survival. The voice of Johnson and Trump on Spitting Image. “They’re basically using those reservoirs as aquaculture. Daniels suggests an easier solution might be discouraging eels from the area completely, and restoring turbine-free wetland habitat. This is a big problem for Europe, as the eel has socio-economic importance and has historically sustained many small-scale fisheries. Dead eels, some chunks of the bigger eels. Trap and transfer is one and is a method funded by some electricity generators. “If they understand turbines and hydroelectric dams are killing all migrating female longfin eels and they know longfins eels are endangered, they need to be taking a step in the right direction to stop these eels from getting minced up and killed on their way down.” Longfin eels’ life cycle depends on migration. Sir David Attenborough at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Katowice: Climate change 'our greatest threat', Eels in Europe are threatened by overfishing, dam construction and pollution, Climate change pushing eels in Europe towards extinction, study shows, Eels are getting high on cocaine in Britain’s drug-polluted rivers, You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please respond to them respectfully, Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable, Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about third parties, We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban offending users without notification. A critically endangered species of eel has been found at a ferry port. Want an ad-free experience?Subscribe to Independent Premium. Dr Helmer said the eels had a "complex lifecycle". Two tonnes were caught last year alone. The rest were distributed in six other lakes. Ribbon eels come in three colors: jet black, electric blue or lemon yellow. But ministers support the industry and last year unveiled plans to accelerate the development of new drilling sites, Japan will resume commercial whaling next year for the first time in more than three decades, in a move that has provoked strong criticism from campaigners and the international community. If you’re sending particles through, almost none of them are going to go through the straw because none of them are going to find it.”. Reader donations are critical to what we do. Half eels, still alive wriggling around. Mercury’s submission to the bill's select committee states it is impractical to retrofit fish passage. Since 1992 the Eel Enhancement Company, an organisation representing North Island’s commercial eel industry, estimates it has caught and transferred 37 million elvers from the base of Karāpiro dam during their attempted upstream migration. Campaigners said the move was the latest sign that the tide was turning against fracking, which has been the subject of multiple legal battles across the country. “If greenhouse gases emissions to the atmosphere continue unabated and further conservation management policies are not considered in the near future, these stressors may, indeed, cause stocks disruption and push eels towards extinction,” said Dr Tiago Grilo, one of the scientists at the Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre behind the study. He thinks Mercury should fund trap and transfer programmes like some other electricity companies do and move mature eels below the turbines. The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who do not subscribe to Independent Premium. No, the green moray eels are not endangered as of 2014. The largest portion (38 percent) were transferred above the dam in Lake Karāpiro. The COP24 deal, which is aimed at providing firm guidelines for countries on how to transparently report their greenhouse gas emissions and their efforts to reduce them, was confirmed on 15 December, after talks overran, Greenhouse gas emissions must be cut almost in half by 2030 to avert global environmental catastrophe, including the total loss of every coral reef, the disappearance of Arctic ice and the destruction of island communities, a landmark UN report has concluded. The downside to that is a lot of the adults, the ones you don’t catch, are going to die,” said Daniels. Video, The voice of Johnson and Trump on Spitting Image, Avoiding war in the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. “If you travel that far… you are at risk in many circumstances, and that is why it is the sum of these impacts that probably caused this decline,” he said. A seafood trader has been convicted of smuggling 5.3 million endangered baby eels from Europe to Asia in the first prosecution of its kind in Britain. Not only did IBEX see the ribbon, but we have seen it evolve over time. If the bill passes and hydro electricity dams get an exemption, he thinks longfin eels deserve some help. To attract an eel to the passage, or straw in Daniels’ analogy, enough flow directed to the straw to attract the eels to it is needed. For many years, marine biologists thought that individuals of different colors were different species. This has added 3.6mm per decade to sea levels, or around 14mm since 1979, the study shows, Greater Manchester is to effectively ban fracking, raising the prospect of fresh confrontation with the government over the controversial industry. Marama Davidson, David Seymour and John Tamihere made good cases for why they should help steer NZ’s destiny; Winston Peters showed why he already had, writes Jonathan Milne. VideoCan you trust US polls? Barriers to the turbines would also be needed. Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community Guidelines. Led by Dr Samuel Wasser from the University of Washington, they traced a number of these shipments to three cartels operating out of Kenya, Uganda and Togo. “Imagine you have a bathtub, and a drain at the bottom. He worries the dams are another nail in the coffin for at-risk longfin eels which are already subject to commercial fishing. Numbers of the vulnerable fish have plummeted by over 90 per cent in recent decades. It’s estimated all are killed by the blades. has declared it critically endangered. This year only one eel was caught in a holding pen it feeds into. US election 2020 polls: Who is ahead - Trump or Biden? .css-8h1dth-Link{font-family:ReithSans,Helvetica,Arial,freesans,sans-serif;font-weight:700;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;color:#FFFFFF;}.css-8h1dth-Link:hover,.css-8h1dth-Link:focus{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;}Read about our approach to external linking. Brexit: EU calls for trade talks to 'intensify' ahead of call with UK, Asda bought by billionaire Issa brothers in £6.8bn deal, Trump condemns all white supremacists after Proud Boys row, Chinese vlogger dies after 'set on fire by ex during live stream', Margaret Ferrier: Commons speaker angry at 'reckless' Covid trip MP, Information about BBC links to other news sites. "The challenge of getting eels downstream through hydro dams is a global one and to our knowledge has not been fully solved for any large dams worldwide. “We are already seeing impacts of climate change on marine species and far more needs to be done to account for this in fisheries management,” he said. Due to the sheer scale of this comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open debate. For spilling water, and hopefully fish attempting to migrate with it, he gave the Columbia River as an example. Are you sure you want to delete this comment? Other options include: turning the turbines off, spilling water and fish, using larger turbines, adding physical barriers or deterrents and, installing bypasses. Trump on positive test: 'We will get through this', Armenia 'ready' for Nagorno-Karabakh truce talks, 2019 vs 2020: Images from a Hong Kong gone quiet.