Articles by Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor

We found 11 results.


Decline of Honey Bees Now a Global Phenomenon, Says United Nations
Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor – The Independent, 14 Mar 2011

The mysterious collapse of honey-bee colonies is becoming a global phenomenon, scientists working for the United Nations have revealed.

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Pesticide Linked to Bee Deaths Should Be Suspended, MPs Told
Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor and Josephine Forster – The Independent, 31 Jan 2011

A new generation of pesticides is implicated in the widespread deaths of bees and other pollinators and should be suspended in Britain while the Government reviews new scientific evidence about their effects, MPs were told yesterday [26 Jan 2011]. Neonicotinoid pesticides are linked by “a growing weight of science” to insect losses, and the assessment regimes for them are inadequate, the Labour MP Martin Caton told the House of Commons.

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Deep-Sea Mining Adds to Fears of Marine Pollution
Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor – The Independent, 5 Jul 2010

Concerns about large-scale marine pollution, fuelled by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, are set to be heightened by a new development in exploitation of the oceans: deep-sea mining. The Chinese government has just lodged the first application to mine for minerals under the seabed in international waters, in this case on a ridge in the Indian Ocean 1,700 metres (more than 5,000ft) below the surface.

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Victory for Anti-Whaling Campaigners
Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor – The Independent, 28 Jun 2010

The controversial attempt to scrap the 24-year-old international moratorium on commercial whaling collapsed yesterday, to the delight of anti-whaling campaigners and the frustration of Japan, Norway and Iceland, the three countries which continue to hunt whales in defiance of world opinion.

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End of Moratorium on Whaling Threatens More Blood in the Seas
Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor – The Independent, 7 Jun 2010

The moratorium on commercial whaling, one of the world’s major environmental achievements, is in danger of being abandoned after 24 years at a meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) which begins this week in Morocco.

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WHALING: THE GREAT BETRAYAL
Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor – The Independent, 23 Mar 2010

Outrage as Secret Deal Set to Sweep Away International MoratoriumThe moratorium on commercial whaling, one of the environmental movement’s greatest achievements, looks likely to be swept away this summer by a new international deal being negotiated behind closed doors. The new arrangement would legitimise the whaling activities of the three countries which have continued to […]

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SAVE THE ELEPHANT: IVORY TRADING IS SET TO RESUME
Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor – The Independent, 26 Jan 2010

Britain urged to oppose demands from Tanzania and Zambia to lift ban on tusk sales / Conservationists fear the move would intensify slaughter of elephantsTwo African countries are trying to open a new breach in the worldwide ivory trade ban, which conservationists fear could lead to more African elephants being slaughtered by poachers. Environmental campaigners […]

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RAINFOREST TREATY ‘FATALLY FLAWED’
Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor, 28 Oct 2009

Climate Summit Loophole Lets Palm Oil Producers Cull Vital Wilderness A vital safeguard to protect the world’s rainforests from being cut down has been dropped from a global deforestation treaty due to be signed at the climate summit in Copenhagen in December. Under proposals due to be ratified at the summit, countries which cut down […]

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FATE OF THE RAINFOREST IS ‘IRREVERSIBLE’
Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor, 12 Mar 2009

A third of the Amazonian ‘carbon sink’ is doomed whether or not emissions are cut, Copenhagen conference is told The impact of climate change on the Amazon rainforest could be much worse than previously predicted, new research suggests. Even if emissions were reduced and governments managed to limit temperature rises to 2C – the current […]

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RAINFOREST RAZED SO CATTLE CAN GRAZE
Michael McCarthy, Environment editor, 2 Feb 2009

Brazil’s attempt to double its share of the global market for beef will carry a heavy environmental cost, report warns. Scenes like this, with vast tracts of Amazonian rainforest razed to make way for cattle, are to become more common in Brazil as it continues its drive to expand its beef export industry, according to […]

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WAR AGAINST IVORY TRADE TAKES TO THE SEA
Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor, 25 Jan 2009

Auction House Agrees to Stop Sale of Whale Tusks After Pressure from Campaigners It’s the "other" ivory. And this week, conservationists in London stepped in to stop its sale. It might not be as well known as the stuff that comes from elephants, but the ivory from the narwhal, the tusked whale of the northern […]

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