Further appointments to the Committee on Climate Change have been announced. Leading ecologist Lord Robert May has been named as a member of the Committee, chaired by Lord Adair Turner. Also on the Committee are climatologist Sir Brian Hoskins, Director of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change at Imperial College London, economists Dr Sam Fankhauser and Professor Michael Grubb and technologist Professor Jim Skea.

The number of Committee members is set to increase once the Climate Change Bill receives Royal Assent, expected later in 2008. Appointments are for five years.

Find out more about the members of the Committee on Climate Change.

Today’s Guardian reports that climate change, over-fishing and land management practices are contributing to a rapid rise in the number of jellyfish in the sea, manifesting themselves as ‘plagues’ in summer waters in the Mediterranean and as far afield as Namibia, Alaska and Australia. A study by scientists at the Spanish Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM) has revealed that, unlike previously thought, jellyfish proliferate throughout the year, not just in summer. They have discovered numerous jellyfish ‘blooms’ along the Catalan coast which are likely to wash inland from deeper waters on the summer tides, plaguing the coastline.

Global warming has created the perfect conditions for jellyfish to breed, with mild temperatures and reduced winter rainstorms. Over-fishing has led to the removal of the jellyfish’s predators, whilst agricultural run-off into coastal waters also contributes to the proliferation of jellyfish populations, through the promotion of algal blooms. The use of beaches in tourism has also contributed to a growth in jellyfish numbers, due to a reduction in the number of nesting sites for leatherback turtles and so a drop in the population of one of the jellyfish’s principle predators.

The EFRA Select Committee has announced a new inquiry; into the science capability of DEFRA and its agencies.

The EFRA Select Committee has today published the final report of its inquiry into badgers and cattle TB.  The Committee find that current measures to control the spread of TB are not working and recommends that the Governments’ future policy include more frequent testing of cattle, deployment of vaccines when available and greater communication with farmers over the benefits of biosecurity.

Tomorrow (Wednesday 27 February) sees the start of ‘E-Day’, or Energy Saving Day, a 24 hour event encouraging the British public to turn off non-essential household items, and aiming to show how even small energy saving measures can play a part in tackling climate change.

The 2008/09 Defra budget was yesterday made public, with a modest increase in funds (1.4%, or almost £4 billion over three years) on 2007/08 levels. Significant new investment was announced in the following areas:

Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for Defra, has announced an expanded role for the Committee on Climate Change, one of a number of amenments made to the Climate Change Bill as it moves through the Committee Stage in the House of Lords. The Committee will be consulted by the Government in a wider range of situations than previously proposed, including whether international aviation and shipping emissions should be included in the Government’s targets and budgets.

A review of the target for a 60% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050 has also been made a statutory duty of the Committee. The Government announced a review of the target in 2007, with the Committee to consider, in light of scientific developments, whether this should in fact be 80%. The Committee has been asked to provide its judgement on the 80% target and on the first of the three five-year carbon budgets, by 1 December 2008.

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee has today announced that it is to publish the report of its inquiry into Badgers and cattle TB on 27 February at 00.01am. Advance copies will be available under embargo from 9.30am on 26 February. The report will be available on the Committee’s homepage on the day of its launch.

A Government response is expected within two months of the publication of the Committee’s report.

A huge study which has mapped the total human impact on the seas for the first time has revealed that the picture is far worse than the scientists imagined. 40% of the world’s oceans have been heavily affected by human activities, including fishing, coastal development and pollution from shipping. The most severely affected areas are the North Sea, South and East China Seas, Carribean, Mediterranean, Red Sea, the Gulf, the Bering Sea, the East Coast of North America and the Western Pacific.

Scientists compiled data on the impact of 17 human activities across 20 ecosystems to compile a map of impacts at a global scale. The results were presented last week at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

One of the scientists behind the study commented that; “the message for policy-makers is clear… Conservation action that cuts across the whole set of human impacts is needed right now in many places around the globe”.

See the Map of Human Impacts on the Oceans