Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions are the main driving force of climate change, and all economic sectors need to internalize their costs. Food systems (including land use, production, refrigeration, food processing) account for a quarter of global GHG emissions. Agricultural exports in Asia-Pacific account for 18% of total exports, twice as …
New Zealand agriculture faces a "moment of truth" this year as concerns mount about rising trade barriers and changes to local environmental regulations, rural lending specialist Rabobank said. In its latest Agricultural Outlook, Rabobank said New Zealand had been a key beneficiary of the decades-long shift towards freer trade, but …
Kids and teens in a Kiwi study on the health risks associated with obesity in young people were less physically active and spent more time watching screens than nationally recommended guidelines. The 239 children in the study were assessed when they enrolled in a Taranaki community-based 12 month intervention programme …
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.3 struck central New Zealand on Tuesday, little more than a week after a powerful tremor centered in the upper South Island rocked the country and killed two people. Tuesday's quake was centered off the coast of the North Island, 138 km (86 …
The world’s only alpine parrot is at threat of extinction in New Zealand as numbers plummet in the face of threats from non-native predators and human development. The kea is the world’s only mountain-dwelling parrot and also one of the most intelligent species of bird known for their playfulness and …
Harvest strategies, also known as management procedures (MPs), are pre-agreed frameworks for making fisheries management decisions, such as setting quotas. Although different management bodies name and define them slightly differently, all harvest strategies include the same basic elements: a monitoring program; indicators of the fishery’s status and health, with associated …
People living in coastal areas of New Zealand closest to a huge earthquake that struck offshore early on Friday were temporarily ordered to evacuate due to fears of a tsunami. The magnitude 7.1 quake struck at 4:37 a.m. (1637 GMT) at a depth of 55 km (34 miles), 130 km …
An earthquake of magnitude 6.0 struck 188 km (116 miles)in the ocean northeast of Gisborne, New Zealand on Thursday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS )reported. There was no immediate warning of any tsunami triggered by the quake. There were no reports of any damage or casualties.
The world population will reach 9.9 billion in 2050, up 33 percent from an estimated 7.4 billion now, according to projections included in the latest World Population Data Sheet from the Population Reference Bureau (PRB). The world population would hit the 10 billion mark in 2053 if the assumptions underlying …
Scientists have identified two new species of fish off New Zealand that belong to the family Opisthoproctidae, also known as spook fish or “barreleyes”. Barreleyes, with their large transparent heads, are one of the rarest and "most peculiar and unknown fish groups in the deep-sea pelagic realm", researchers say. Some …
The New Zealand government launched an inquiry on Thursday into the contamination of a regional water supply that has left thousands of people sick with vomiting and diarrhoea. The outbreak of campylobacter bacteria, a form of gastroenteritis, has affected around 3,000 people, officials said. About half of those are in …
Thousands of litres of hazardous waste spilled at a Fonterra plant in Southland early this morning. Emergency services were called to the Edendale factory just after 2am when staff reported 5000-litre tanks of nitric acid and caustic alkali were overflowing. Fire Service assistant area commander Dean Chalmers said the tanks …
TAINTED tap water has sickened hundreds of people in a small town on New Zealand’s North Island and forced schools to close. Health officials said yesterday that two patients were in a critical condition and 19 others remained in a local hospital after testing positive for campylobacter bacteria. Anna Kirk, …
According to the government, introduced species kill 25m native New Zealand birds a year including the iconic ground-dwelling, flightless Kiwi, which die at a rate of 20 a week, and now number fewer than 70,000. The government estimates the cost of introduced species to the New Zealand economy and primary …
New research published by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy shows how metropolitan regions can rebuild for greater resilience during the reconstruction process after major disasters, whether earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, or terrorists attacks. After Great Disasters: How Six Countries Managed Community Recovery, by Laurie Johnson and Robert Olshansky, draws on …
New research published by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy shows how metropolitan regions can rebuild for greater resilience during the reconstruction process after major disasters, whether earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, or terrorists attacks. After Great Disasters: How Six Countries Managed Community Recovery, by Laurie Johnson and Robert Olshansky, draws on …
Leaf fall and reproductive phenology of Avicennia marina assessed during 1982-83 using litter fall collections from twenty-five sites in Australia, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand revealed major trends with latitude. Flowering shifted from NovemberDecember in northern tropical sites, to May-June in southern temperate sites. Periods between flowering and fruiting …
Despite a proliferation of legal instruments related to the environment, environmental challenges such as ecosystem degradation, climate change and species loss continue to accelerate. At local, national and global scales, environmental legal systems are not consistently achieving the goals for which they were designed. A publication by the IUCN Environmental …
Forest & Bird has released two dramatic videos showing how Northland's forests, which are undergoing a masting event this year, are collapsing due to chronic underfunding of the Department of Conservation and lack of pest control. With a $20 million emergency response to southern beech forest masting confirmed for this …
WELLINGTON, June 7 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand will help Pacific island peoples adapt their homelands to climate change and rising sea-levels as many are unwilling to leave their homes, Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett said Tuesday. Bennett said she had visited Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Kiribati and Tuvalu last week …
HONG KONG, June 6 (Xinhua) -- A 6.0-magnitude earthquake jolted 143 km south-southeast of Raoul Island, New Zealand at 0235 GMT on Monday (10:35 Beijing time), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said. The epicenter, with a depth of 10.0 km, was initially determined to be at 30.3964 degrees south latitude …
