The met service has reported that we had the warmest August ever since records began with about 1.5 degrees above average, which does not seem a much on those odd cold days, but for a lot of insect pests it means an early arrival. A good hard, cold winter takes its toll on insect populations […]
Auckland, New Zealand, 31 August 2009 – The National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research (NIWA) and IBM (NYSE:IBM) today announced a multi-million dollar partnership where NIWA will purchase one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers for use in environmental forecasting.
Sunlight brightens the paved streets and historic buildings of Havana, Cuba, bouncing off the tents of vendors and the tin drums of a street band. Once stricken by poverty and inequality, the city has slowly blossomed as a result of the bustling enterprise of urban agriculture. Between buildings and behind street walls, in every green […]
Click image to find Rhododendron nurseries Just 50 of the 200 seats remain on a steam train package out of Wellington to this year’s Taranaki Rhododendron & Garden Festival – with most passengers coming from anywhere but Wellington! Passengers are driving or flying in to Wellington from as far away as Whangarei, the Hawkes Bay, […]
Denmark is truckloads of waste ahead of New Zealand when it comes to recycling. When you visit a typical recycling depot in Denmark it can be difficult to know where to back in the trailer. After all there’s the not just the sections for paper or glass, but rows of options like for gib-board, electronic […]
Increasing the amount of timber used in large-scale commercial buildings can decrease some environmental impacts of the building, according to a Ministry of Agricultural and Forestry study. The research project, Environmental Impacts of Multi-Story Buildings Using Different Construction Materials, modelled the life cycle energy use and carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent emissions of four similar office […]
It may be midwinter, but the Monarch Butterfly New Zealand Trust is urging all butterfly gardeners to think about spring, and the most royal of butterflies, the Monarch. “Earlier this year many gardeners were upset that their caterpillars were dying,” said Jacqui Knight, Secretary of the Trust. “People run out of milkweed (swan plant), and […]
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry’s (MAF) Hill Country Erosion (HCE) Fund has granted $1.1 million to Taranaki Regional Council for its South Taranaki and Regional Erosion Support Scheme (STRESS). The HCE Fund contribution will be used for the on-ground treatment of erosion-prone land, mainly in the Waitotara catchment and isolated hot spots in the […]
