Greenpeace Blog

4 lessons from the US for countries about to be fracked

Posted by Jesse Coleman G... - 19 August 2013 at 12:00am - Comments

$Thou shalt not frack$

The United States has blessed the world with many wondrous things: atomic bombs and peanut butter; assembly lines and CocaCola. And now there is another American invention posed to spread past our borders and possibly into your water supply: fracking. Fracking is a technique that blasts apart underground shale rock layers using water and chemicals at high pressure.

Article tagged as: fracking, methane, US, water contamination

In pictures: the chimps' threatened home in Cameroon

Posted by Angela Glienicke - 14 August 2013 at 4:53pm - Comments

An adult chimpanzee at the Pandrillus Drill Sanctuary, Nigeria.

I am fascinated by chimpanzees, these most human-like mammals that nurse their babies until they are three years old, use simple tools like twigs to poke into ant nests and noisily communicate with the rest of their troop.

Article tagged as: cameroon, deforestation, palm oil, photo essays, photos

Fracking company ignores request for open debate on Twitter

Posted by jamie - 14 August 2013 at 11:17am - Comments

Yesterday, we asked fracking company Cuadrilla - currently being surrounded by protesters in the Sussex village of Balcombe - for an open, transparent debate on Twitter about, well, fracking. Sadly, we were rebuffed.

Article tagged as: Balcombe, climate change, cuadrilla, energy, fracking, gas, social media

Tackling overfishing from the Pacific to the Atlantic

Posted by Nina Schrank - 13 August 2013 at 12:34pm - Comments

Senegalese fishermen in a traditional 'Pirogue' boat

Fishermen in Senegal in a traditional pirogue boat

You may have been lucky enough to see the superb National Geographic programme Mission To Save The Ocean last Saturday. If not, don’t worry, I’ll give you the rundown here.

The programme went across the globe to West Africa, East Asia and the Pacific, following Greenpeace campaigners tackling the root causes of overfishing.

Article tagged as: esperanza, oceans, overfishing, senegal, taiwan, tuna

4 reasons why we could all be fracked by fracking

Posted by leila - 12 August 2013 at 12:00am - Comments

Cuadrilla's drilling rig in Balcombe, Sussex

Drill, baby, drill: Cuadrilla's rig in Balcombe, Sussex

As David Cameron warns the nation to like fracking or lump it, we examine why shale gas extraction is a bonkers idea for Britain.

Article tagged as: climate change, cuadrilla, energy, fracking, gas, oil

Is the tide turning in favour of sharks?

Posted by Willie - 9 August 2013 at 3:25pm - Comments

Sharks often hit the news for the wrong reason, here's some better news.

Down with scare stories - how about some positive shark news for a change?

At the end of Shark Week, it’s time for some good news on sharks. Despite all the earlier blogs this week, this is not me trying to convince you sharks are huggable and loveable (though, they are, obviously), rather a round-up of some good conservation news for the world’s often-underappreciated shark species.

Article tagged as: CITES, conservation, oceans, shark finning, sharks

Of Shell, spill plans and sea ice

Posted by ben - 8 August 2013 at 7:12pm - Comments

Leading polar bear expert Dr. Ian Stirling said this bear, found in Svalbard, died of starvation due to a lack of sea ice from which to hunt. In the last 30 years, 75% of Arctic sea ice has disappeared.

It's pretty safe to say that the Arctic is under pressure like never before. Climate change is warming it faster than any other part of our planet. Sea ice is shrinking. The way of life of Indigenous Peoples is seriously threatened and animal habitats are vanishing. Oil companies eye a polar bonanza while hulking fishing fleets are edging ever northwards.

Article tagged as: arctic, bear, ben, climate, court, oil, plan, polar, Save the Arctic, shell, spill, USA

Never-ending teeth, ninjas, and cannibalistic nurseries – 10 amazing facts for Shark Week

Posted by Willie - 8 August 2013 at 4:02pm - Comments

Sharks have a never-ending supply of teeth. They regenerate replacement dentition on an inexhaustible toothy conveyor belt ... which explains why you see so few shark dentists.

But sharks are not all about teeth, despite the bad press. Filter feeders like the megamouth shark, are mostly big (but harmless) mouths; the winghead shark has a head half the length of its body, and; the thresher sharks have a huge tai (ideal for stunning fish before eating them) that can be the same length as its body.

Article tagged as: oceans, Shark Week, sharks

The birds have gone silent: how a fracking company is changing my village

Posted by Kathryn McWhirter - 8 August 2013 at 1:08pm - Comments

$Anti-fracking protester at Balcombe drilling site$

Balcombe is surrounded by woodland which could be affected by drilling and fracking

I’m just back from the local anti-fracking camp outside Balcombe in Sussex, where Cuadrilla workers are noisily drilling their oil well despite not having the necessary permits and huge local opposition. Many hugs from the campers and villagers down there, and frankly too many Balcombe courgettes: I’ve brought mine back home due to lack of demand.

Article tagged as: Balcombe, climate change, cuadrilla, energy, fracking

Shark Week: naming and shaming the world’s most ridiculous sharks

Posted by Willie - 7 August 2013 at 2:07pm - Comments

Less scary, more ridiculous - some names we give sharks seem pretty unflattering

Sharks don't half get called some silly names

Lots of people are frightened of sharks. That makes some sense if you think all sharks are relentless man-eating teeth-machines, but in reality the vast majority of them are much more scared of us, or they should be. There are over 350 species of sharks around the world, but they don’t all get to grab the headlines or star in feature film franchises. So in honour of Shark Week, and to show you how daft it is to be irrationally fearful of some of these critters, here’s a quick guide to the silliest-named sharks in our oceans.

Article tagged as: oceans, Shark Week, sharks

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