Environment news

• Venezuela says sending new proposals to OPEC, non-OPEC producers

  19-02-2016 23:23
  Venezuela is sending new proposals to leaders of OPEC and non-OPEC countries to stabilize the oil market, President Nicolas Maduro said in a televised broadcast on Friday afternoon, without providing details. The latest move by price-hawk Venezuela comes days after leading OPEC member Saudi Arabia, non-OPEC member Russia, Qatar and the South American country agreed to freeze output at January levels if others joined in. The four countries have agreed to monitor the oil market through June and co
  
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• Oil down 4 percent as U.S. glut overshadows producer talks

  19-02-2016 22:36
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell 4 percent on Friday, with Brent down a third straight week, as record high U.S. crude stockpiles intensified worries that a plan to freeze world output will do little or nothing to reduce massive oil supplies already in the market. A slide in the U.S. equity markets, which have for weeks been trading in tandem with oil, also weighed on crude, traders said.
  
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• Climate change will lead to deformed and virus-hit coral reefs

  19-02-2016 20:00
  
  Bleaching events triggered by CO2 emissions will make oceans acidic and hostile for coral growth, new studies say Coral will become deformed and increasingly fall victim to outbreaks of herpes-like viruses as humans continue to pump carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, according to two new studies.Combined, the two effects suggest coral reefs will have trouble recovering from bleaching events, like the the world is currently experiencing. Continue reading...
  
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• U.S. strikes Islamic State in Libya, killing 40 people

  19-02-2016 19:35
  By Ahmed Elumami and Aidan Lewis TRIPOLI (Reuters) - U.S. warplanes carried out air strikes against Islamic State-linked militants in western Libya on Friday, killing as many as 40 people in an operation targeting a suspect linked to two deadly attacks last year in neighbouring Tunisia. It was the second U.S. air strike in three months against Islamic State in Libya, where the hardline Islamist militants have exploited years of chaos following Muammar Gaddafi's 2011 overthrow to build up a prese
  
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• Badger cull linked to rise in bovine TB cases

  19-02-2016 19:25
  
  Stop the Cull finds number of herds with TB outbreak, in Dorset cull zone and at its edge, increased after badger killing beganThe government’s controversial badger cull has led to a rise in the number of cases of tuberculosis found in cattle in one of the programme’s key geographical areas, say animal rights activists.Rather than the number of cases of bovine TB falling among herds in and on the edge of the badger killing area in Dorset, they have been increasing, it was claimed. Th
  
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• El Niño peaks but La Niña possible

  19-02-2016 18:41 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The El Niño weather phenomenon is set to decline over the next few months but scientists say that a La Niña event could start later this year.
  
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• Russia could cut defence procurement spending - sources

  19-02-2016 18:36
  By Margarita Papchenkova, Lidia Kelly and Darya Korsunskaya MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian government is considering a 5 percent cut in defence procurement spending this year, sources say, showing not even Vladimir Putin's plan to restore Moscow's military might is immune to the pain of a slowing economy. The president has made beefing up the military a national priority, and the fact it is up for discussion is a sign that no area is safe from budget cuts as Russia begins a second year of recess
  
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• Organs to Order: 3D 'Bioprinter' Makes Replacement Bones, Ears

  19-02-2016 18:16
  
  The tissue and organ structures produced by the printer could one day be used to replace injured or diseased tissues in human patients, the researchers said. "This novel tissue and organ printer is an important advance in our quest to make replacement tissue for patients," senior study author Dr. Anthony Atala, director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, said in a statement.
  
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• Green news roundup: El Niño, dolphin death, and bird boxes

  19-02-2016 18:01
  
  The week’s top environment news stories and green events. If you are not already receiving this roundup, sign up here to get the briefing delivered to your inbox Continue reading...
  
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• Animal pictures of the week: 19 February 2016

  19-02-2016 18:01
  
  All creatures great and small in our ever popular animal gallery
  
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• Oil prices fall as glut overshadows talk of production cap

  19-02-2016 17:53
  By Ahmad Ghaddar LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices fell by over $1 a barrel on Friday as talk of a plan by some producers to freeze output levels was tempered by continued concerns of an oversupplied market after a record build in U.S. crude inventories. Oil prices rose by more than 14 percent earlier in the week on Saudi Arabia and Russia's agreement to freeze output at January levels. Saudi Arabia repeated that it had no plans to cut output and would continue to protect its market share.
  
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• UN climate chief to step down

  19-02-2016 17:35 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The UN's top climate diplomat, Christiana Figueres, will leave her post in July, having played a key role in the successful Paris climate negotiations.
  
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• Diesel cars may be worse than petrol for CO2 emissions, report claims

  19-02-2016 16:56
  
  Tailpipe emissions of black carbon from diesel engines may be up to 50% higher than previously thought, according to new researchDiesel engines may be doing nothing to slow global warming despite being the backbone of Europe’s policy to reduce car emissions, a new report claims.Tailpipe emissions of sooty ‘black carbon’ could be as much as 25-50% higher than the EU estimates for cars made before 2005, says the paper by Professor Erckard Helmers of Triers University.Continue rea
  
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• Diesel cars may be worse than petrol for carbon emissions, report claims

  19-02-2016 16:56
  
  Carbon emissions linked to diesel cars may be up to 50% higher than previously thought, according to new researchDiesel engines may be doing nothing to slow global warming despite being the backbone of Europe’s policy to reduce car emissions, a new report claims.Tailpipe emissions of sooty ‘black carbon’ could be as much as 25-50% higher than the EU estimates for cars made before 2005, says the paper by Professor Eckard Helmers of Triers University.Continue reading...
  
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• Diesel cars may be be worse than petrol for CO2 emissions, report claims

  19-02-2016 16:56
  
  Tailpipe emissions of black carbon from diesel engines may be up to 50% higher than previously thought, according to new researchDiesel engines may be doing nothing to slow global warming despite being the backbone of Europe’s policy to reduce car emissions, a new report claims.Tailpipe emissions of sooty ‘black carbon’ could be as much as 25-50% higher than the EU estimates for cars made before 2005, says the paper by Professor Erckard Helmers of Triers University.Continue rea
  
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• UN climate change chief steps down after historic Paris deal

  19-02-2016 16:47
  
  Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the UNFCCC, announces she will step down in July after successful Paris climate agreement to cut emissionsThe UN’s climate chief said on Friday she will step down in July, at the end of a six-year term, and praised governments for reaching a 195-nation deal in Paris in December to shift the world economy from fossil fuels to cleaner energies.Christiana Figueres, a 59-year-old Costa Rican, said she would not accept any extension of her term as hea
  
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• "Hard act to follow": Christiana Figueres to step down from UN climate post

  19-02-2016 16:46
  
  Christiana Figueres has been hailed as "one of the great leaders of our time" as the Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change announced today (19 February) that she would be stepping down from her post.
  
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• 'See' What You Breathe with New Air-Quality Monitor

  19-02-2016 16:00
  
  People typically think about clean or dirty air only when they're outside, but air quality can be a significant problem even indoors. AirVisual — a global team of scientists, engineers and others — is producing the gadget, called the AirVisual Node. The Node's bright and colorful screen can illuminate pollution, temperature, humidity and stuffiness, both indoors and outdoors.
  
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• Deadly Orangutan Attack: 2 Apes Team Up to Kill Another

  19-02-2016 16:00
  A loud rumble, a scuffle and 33 long minutes of coordinated attacks by a female orangutan and her male partner led to the death of an older female orangutan in a Borneo forest, in what scientists say is the first incident of lethal aggression among orangutans ever observed by researchers. Immediately, Ekko also joined the fight, taking turns attacking the older female, the researchers reported.
  
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• Stolen Radioactive Material: What Is Iridium-192?

  19-02-2016 15:59
  Some security experts are worried that a cache of radioactive material reportedly stolen from an oil field in Iraq could be used by organizations such as the Islamic State group to produce a dirty bomb. A laptop-size case with about 0.35 ounces (10 grams) of the material, called iridium-192, allegedly went missing from an oil field storage facility in Basra that is run by the American company Weatherford, Reuters reported. "We are afraid the radioactive element will fall into the hands of Daesh,
  
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• Republicans' favorite climate chart has some serious problems | Dana Nuccitelli

  19-02-2016 15:28
  
  As usual, cherry picking and misrepresentations are used to oppose climate policies
  There’s a chart that’s become the favorite, go-to among those who distort climate science in order to justify opposition to climate policies. It’s shown up in many conservative media outlets like The Wall Street Journal and The Australian. It’s been presented by congressional Republicans’ favorite climate witness, John Christy, in recent hearings called by Ted Cruz and Lamar Smith.Th
  
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• New phase in polar bear breeding plan

  19-02-2016 15:07 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A polar bear breeding project in Scotland takes a step forward with the arrival of a crate for moving a male bear to a female's enclosure.
  
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• Security, political tensions cloud Niger's presidential vote

  19-02-2016 14:18
  By Abdoulaye Massalaki and Makini Brice NIAMEY (Reuters) - Niger will hold an election on Sunday in which President Mahamadou Issoufou is running for a new term with a vow to crush an Islamist militant threat, but the opposition accuses him of another type of crackdown - against them. Issoufou has pledged to modernize security and defence forces in the West African state if voters grant him a second term, and develop gold and phosphate sites in a bid to improve living standards in one of the wor
  
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• Goats gut fungi could boost biofuels

  19-02-2016 14:12 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The legendary abilities of goats and sheep to digest a wide range of inedible materials could help scientists produce cheaper biofuels.
  
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• Swim Like a Butterfly? Sea Snail 'Flies' Through Water

  19-02-2016 13:41
  
  But the sea butterfly, a tiny marine snail, has more in common with flying insects than you might expect, according to a new study. Also known as Limacina helicina, the sea butterfly navigates cold ocean waters in the northern Atlantic and Pacific. Many types of zooplankton, tiny ocean animals, have structures like the sea butterfly's, which they use as paddles to propel themselves through the water.
  
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• London streets set for green transformation with TfL trials

  19-02-2016 13:26
  
  An intelligent solar-powered street,a noise-absorbing green wall and an electric vehicle delivery service are among the innovative sustainability schemes that have been awarded Future Streets Incubator funding by Transport for London (TfL).
  
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• Wacky and ornamental nest boxes dangerous for young birds, warns RSPB

  19-02-2016 13:05
  
  People unwittingly picking up non-wooden and brightly-coloured boxes that could make baby birds more conspicuous to predators, says charity A trend for brightly-coloured and inappropriate nest boxes endangers young birds, the RSPB warned on Friday.The charity said it had received a rise in reports from the public over the past five years of wacky and ornamental boxes that put style over substance, such as ones in the shape of windmills and caravans. Continue reading...
  
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• Warming climate is bad news for western US aquifers

  19-02-2016 12:39 via feedproxy.google.com
  By 2050 climate change will increase the groundwater deficit even more for four economically important aquifers in the western U.S., reports a University of Arizona-led team of scientists.The new report is the first to integrate scientists' knowledge about groundwater in the U.S. West with scientific models that show how climate change will affect the region.
  
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• Government urged to steer green housing policy 'away from future misery'

  19-02-2016 12:38
  
  The Government will create 'future misery' for homeowners if it doesn't reverse its decision to scrap the zero-carbon homes requirement and Code for Sustainable Homes, the National Policy for the Built Environment Committee has said.
  
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• Government approves plans to improve water quality of rivers in England

  19-02-2016 12:33
  
  Eight river basin management plans will be inadequate to meet EU water pollution targets by 2021, says the ENDS ReportThe Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affaris (Defra) has approved eight river basin management plans (RBMPs) setting out strategies to improve water quality in England.The final plans, published on Thursday, show that most rivers, lakes and coastal and groundwaters will not meet legally binding EU water pollution targets by 2021 – six years after the initial deadl
  
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• Gulf Keystone says Iraqi Kurdistan authorises oil export payment

  19-02-2016 12:29
  Gulf Keystone Petroleum said on Friday the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) had authorised a net payment of $12 million to the company for crude exports. The transaction, which is yet to complete, is part of the KRG's strategy announced this month to start paying oil companies according to the terms of their contracts, instead of ad hoc payments it had been making since last September. GKP said the expected gross $15 million payment included $5.8 million the company was entitled to for crude
  
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• Oil prices set to end week higher on output freeze, but glut looms

  19-02-2016 12:09
  By Ahmad Ghaddar LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices slid on Friday but are set for their first weekly increase this month as talk of a coordinated plan by producers to freeze output levels was tempered by a record build in U.S. crude inventories. Oil prices had risen by more than 14 percent earlier in the week on Saudi Arabia and Russia's agreement to freeze output at January levels. While Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh welcomed the plan, he fell short of committing to it and Iranian sources tol
  
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• Monitoring any oil output freeze would be easy - Russian energy official

  19-02-2016 12:09
  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian First Deputy Energy Minister Alexey Texler said it would be easy to monitor any oil production freeze deal because the market is transparent. "The market is easy to understand and transparent for all participants. It would be easy to uncover any deception", he told reporters on the sidelines of an economic forum in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia. (Reporting by Olesya Astakhova; Writing by Denis Pinchuk; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
  
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• Can ecotourism save threatened species?

  19-02-2016 12:09 via feedproxy.google.com
  Ecotourism can provide the critical difference between survival and extinction for endangered animals, according to new research from Griffith University.Using population viability modelling, the Griffith team of Professor Ralf Buckley, Dr Guy Castley and Dr Clare Morrison has developed a method that for the first time quantifies the impact of ecotourism on threatened species.
  
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• Escaped lions tracked by armed rangers in Kenyan capital

  19-02-2016 12:06
  
  Nairobi residents warned not to confront two lionesses that strayed from national park into highly populated areasWildlife rangers are searching for two lions which escaped from Nairobi’s national park and wandered into highly populated areas of the Kenyan capital.Kenya Wildlife Service issued an appeal “for help to get two lionesses that strayed from the Nairobi national park”. Armed rangers and KWS vets carrying dart guns scoured bush and agricultural land near Kibera, one of
  
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• Escaped lions safely returned to Nairobi national park

  19-02-2016 12:06
  
  Kenya Wildlife Service sent in rangers after lions were seen roaming in residential area in middle of nightSeveral lions which strayed from the Nairobi national park, on the edge of Kenya’s capital, and wandered into a residential area, have returned, an official has said.Kenya’s Standard newspaper said the lions were spotted roaming the Langata area in the middle of the night, prompting the Kenya Wildlife Service to send in rangers.Continue reading...
  
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• Supply chain ethics and traceability among biggest business human rights issues, report finds

  19-02-2016 11:39
  
  Increasing supply chain traceability and integrating human rights into the adaptation and mitigation of climate change impacts are among the most significant human rights issues effecting sustainability and CSR professionals.
  
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• Wood Group cuts wages of UK oil contractors

  19-02-2016 11:36
  Oil services provider Wood Group said on Friday it would cut the wages of around 200 British contractors by nine percent, the company's third reduction of contractor pay in nearly two years as weak oil prices have weighed on revenue. The pay cut applies to a third of around 600 UK-based contractors employed by Wood Group PSN, a subsidiary which specialises in oil field commissioning, maintenance and construction work, the company said. "We believe it is the right (decision) to proactively meet t
  
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• Vietnam protests at 'serious violation' of sovereignty by China

  19-02-2016 11:15
  Vietnam lodged a formal protest with China and the United Nations chief on Friday, saying it was "deeply concerned" over Beijing's apparent deployment of an advanced surface-to-air missile system on a disputed island in the South China Sea. "These are serious infringements of Vietnam's sovereignty over the Paracels, threatening peace and stability in the region as well as security, safety and freedom of navigation and flight," Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh said in a statement. The state
  
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• Bronze Age wheel at 'British Pompeii'

  19-02-2016 11:11 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A Bronze Age wheel described as an "unprecedented" find is unearthed at a site dubbed "Britain's Pompeii".
  
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• Mercedes owner files US suit over diesel emissions

  19-02-2016 11:02
  
  Maker Daimler says allegations unfounded, as Hagens Berman files suit claiming Mercedes Clean Diesel vehicles emit illegal levels of pollutionAn owner of a Mercedes BlueTEC diesel car filed a class-action lawsuit in the United States, accusing the carmaker of knowingly programming its Clean Diesel vehicles to emit illegally high levels of nitrogen oxide (NOx), according to law firm Hagens Berman. Shares in Mercedes maker Daimler were down 3% at €62.82 at the bottom of Germany’s blue-c
  
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• VIDEO: Timelapse shows Virgin Galactic space ship

  19-02-2016 10:04 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Sir Richard Branson is preparing to unveil a new version of his Virgin Galactic space ship after months of preparation in the Mojave desert in California.
  
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• Pictures of the day: 19 February 2016

  19-02-2016 09:44
  
  Lounge lizards, wheels of Parmesan cheese and Kate and William
  
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• Dolphin was 'already dead' when crowd in Argentina handled it – tourist

  19-02-2016 08:13
  
  Hernan Coria says endangered dolphin was one of many which had washed up dead on Santa Teresita beach before crowd started taking selfies with itOne of the tourists who handed around a dolphin on an Argentinian beach claims it had died before people started taking selfies with it.Footage appeared to show the small dolphin being scooped up and taken to land where it was surrounded by a gawking crowd. Reports said it quickly overheated and died when it was paraded along the beach so holidaymakers
  
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• Watching for a bird of kings

  19-02-2016 06:29
  
  South Uist: Everything white catches my eye – distant gulls, the flash of a wader’s belly – but there’s no sign of the gyrfalconThere have been several reports of a gyrfalcon on the island. A resident of the far north and the largest of the falcons, it’s a rare winter vagrant to the UK with only a few being recorded each year … and a bird I’d dearly like to see. It’s a couple of days now since there has been word of it, but this morning is the fir
  
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• Oil prices fall on oversupply concerns after U.S. crude stocks hit record

  19-02-2016 06:16
  By Keith Wallis SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil futures fell in Asian trade on Friday as a record build in U.S. crude stocks stoked concerns about global oversupply, outweighing moves by oil producers including Saudi Arabia and Russia to cap oil output. U.S. crude inventories rose by 2.1 million barrels last week, to a peak of 504.1 million barrels, the third week of record highs in the past month, data from the U.S. government's Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed on Thursday. "The market
  
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