Environment news

• Change of weather brings out the wildlife: Country diary 100 years ago

  07-02-2016 23:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 12 February 1916The hoar frosts which came with the new moon do not appear to have been too unkind to the young corn on the chalk uplands of our southern border, where many acres of wheat are green. If the early-sown crops are forward, the frost, on the other hand, has not been exceptionally severe; when the rime has been drawn up by the Sun you see beads on the little spears, and there is no sign of withering at their sharp ends. They stand a c
  
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• The deadly toll of city smog

  07-02-2016 22:30 via theguardian.com
  
  In mid-January 2016 a three-day smog covered London, Nottingham, Leicester and Birmingham. January used to be a peak month for pea-souper smogs. Between 1952 and 1962 these killed nearly 15,000 Londoners and many people in other cities including Glasgow and Manchester. These days our winter smogs are full of nitrogen dioxide and particles from diesel exhaust rather than smoke from coal.Madrid is the latest European capital to introduce emergency measures to control pollution episodes. If Madrid&
  
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• Fire on Mexico Pemex platform kills two workers, now under control

  07-02-2016 16:39
  Two workers were killed and eight were injured when a fire broke out on a Pemex oil processing platform in the Gulf of Mexico, but the latest in a string of incidents is now under control, the Mexican oil giant said via Twitter on Sunday. A spokesman for Pemex said oil continued to be pumped but that the company was still evaluating any impact on production. The fire occurred on the offshore Abkatun A Permanente processing platform in Mexico's oil-rich Bay of Campeche where a fire claimed seven
  
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• The uneven impacts of climate change

  07-02-2016 15:14 via feedproxy.google.com
  A new study by University of Queensland and WCS shows a dramatic global mismatch between nations producing the most greenhouse gases and the ones most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.The study shows that the highest emitting countries are ironically the least vulnerable to climate change effects such as increased frequency of natural disasters, changing habitats, human health impacts, and industry stress.Those countries emitting the least amount of greenhouse gases are most vulnerabl
  
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• Fire on Mexico Pemex platform injures nine, now under control - Pemex

  07-02-2016 14:58
  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Nine workers were injured when a fire broke out on a Pemex oil processing platform in the Gulf of Mexico, but the incident is now under control, the Mexican oil giant said in a tweet on Sunday without saying whether output was affected. The fire occurred on the offshore Abkatun A Permanente processing platform in Mexico's oil-rich Bay of Campeche where a fire claimed seven lives in April of last year. (Reporting By Alexandra Alper; Editing by Simon Gardner)
  
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• Pictures of the day: February 7 2016

  07-02-2016 10:23
  
  In pics: Sauna Marathon, Kandelhexen and Carnival around the world
  
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• As Big Oil shrinks, boards plot different paths out of crisis

  07-02-2016 09:02
  By Ron Bousso and Terry Wade LONDON/HOUSTON (Reuters) - As oil and gas companies cut ever-deeper into the bone to weather their worst downturn in decades, boards have adopted contrasting strategies to lead them out of the crisis. Crude prices have tumbled around 70 percent over the past 18 months to around $35 a barrel, leading to five of the world's top oil companies reporting sharp declines in profits in recent days. American firms Chevron ConocoPhillips and Hess Corp are withdrawing from more
  
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• North Korean rocket separated into pieces after launch - NHK

  07-02-2016 04:05
  A North Korean rocket launched on Sunday separated into pieces soon after its launch, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported. Pieces of the rocket landed 150 km (93 miles) west of the Korean Peninsula in the Yellow Sea, 250 km (155 miles) southwest of the Korean Peninsula in the East China Sea and 200 km (124 miles) south of Japan in the Pacific, according to the Japanese cabinet's home page. North Korea launched a long-range rocket on Sunday carrying what it has said is a satellite, South Kor
  
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• North Korean rocket may have failed - Yonhap

  07-02-2016 02:31
  SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea's long-range rocket launched on Sunday may have failed, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said. Earlier, South Korean media had reported that the rocket appeared to have successfully separated the first and second stage boosters with the first stage falling into the sea off the west coast of the Korean peninsula. North Korea, which claims its rocket programme is aimed at launching satellites, launched the rocket from its missile base on the west coast on Sunday in de
  
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• Bitter battle to save King Lear’s green valley from the developers

  07-02-2016 01:04 via theguardian.com
  
  A court ruling has backed Dover council’s decision to allow builders into an area of outstanding natural beautyConservationists and historians are digging in for a last-ditch defence of a sliver of “sacrosanct” ancient Kentish meadow and woods, protected in law but set to be the location for a large housing and leisure development.The fight for the Farthingloe valley, a long, narrow green strip that extends to the western outskirts of Dover, has been especially bitter. The vall
  
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• New York investigates radioactive leak in groundwater near city

  07-02-2016 00:24 via theguardian.com
  
  Governor Andrew Cuomo orders review following detection of ‘alarming levels of radioactivity’ at nuclear power plant 40 miles north of ManhattanRadioactive material has leaked into the groundwater below a nuclear power plant north of New York City, prompting a state investigation on Saturday and condemnation from governor Andrew Cuomo.Cuomo ordered an investigation into “alarming levels of radioactivity” found at three monitoring wells at the Indian Point energy center in
  
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• New York investigates groundwater radioactivity detected near city

  07-02-2016 00:24 via theguardian.com
  
  Governor Andrew Cuomo orders review following detection of ‘alarming levels of radioactivity’ at nuclear power plant 40 miles north of ManhattanRadioactive material has been detected in the groundwater below a nuclear power plant north of New York City, prompting a state investigation on Saturday.Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered a review after saying that “alarming levels of radioactivity” were found at monitoring wells at the Indian Point energy center in Buchanan, 40 miles
  
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