Environment news

• Oregon becomes first state to pass law to completely eliminate coal-fired power

  03-03-2016 23:43 via theguardian.com
  
  Coal currently provides a third of the state’s electricity supplyState also aims to double amount of renewable energy produced by 2050Oregon has become the first US state to pass laws to rid itself of coal, committing to eliminate the use of coal-fired power by 2035 and to double the amount of renewable energy in the state by 2040.Legislation passed by the state’s assembly, which will need to be signed into law by Governor Kate Brown, will transition Oregon away from coal, which curr
  
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• Yellowstone grizzly bears face end of endangered species protection

  03-03-2016 23:25 via theguardian.com
  
  US federal government says recovery of national park population to more than 700 is a ‘historic success’ but conservationists say move is prematureThe federal government is proposing to strip endangered species protections from Yellowstone’s famed grizzly bears, with officials claiming a “historic success” in the recovery of the bear population. Related: Rangers catch grizzly bear suspected in Yellowstone hiker deathContinue reading...
  
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• VIDEO: Rare albino whale and calf filmed

  03-03-2016 23:18 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A rare albino whale has been filmed off Mexico's Pacific coast - apparently gliding through the waters with its calf.
  
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• Milestones in the recovery of Yellowstone grizzly bears

  03-03-2016 22:27
  BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. wildlife officials are proposing to remove federal protections for grizzly bears in and around Yellowstone National Park. Here's a look at some significant events leading to Thursday's proposal:
  
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• Hubble sets new cosmic distance record

  03-03-2016 22:06 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Hubble Space Telescope spies a galaxy that existed more than 13 billion years ago, very close to the dawn of star formation.
  
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• Obama says that urgent action is needed to save elephants from going extinct

  03-03-2016 21:36 via theguardian.com
  
  Administration has put resources into finding and prosecuting poachers and agreed with China to place mutual restrictions on the import of ivoryBarack Obama has said that urgent action is needed to save elephants from becoming extinct in the wild, adding that failure to do so would be an “unpardonable loss for humanity and the natural world”.The president said that the US has made “unprecedented progress” in protecting wildlife domestically and helping combat the poaching
  
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• Oil rally loses steam after three days; gains seen defying fundamentals

  03-03-2016 21:27
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil's rally lost steam on Thursday after three straight days of gains as growing record U.S. stockpiles countered OPEC plans for a production freeze, with some analysts saying the market has risen too much, too fast from 12-year lows. U.S. crude futures settled slightly lower and Brent a touch higher after data from market intelligence provider Genscape suggested inventories at the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery hub rose 1.1 million barrels to 68.7 million dur
  
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• Canada gets down to climate business

  03-03-2016 21:03
  
  Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faced antagonistic provincial leaders at climate talks Thursday over his plans to set a national carbon price in order to meet an international commitment to slash CO2 emissions.
  
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• Greenland's ice melt accelerating as surface darkens, raising sea levels

  03-03-2016 19:35 via theguardian.com
  
  Winnowing away of the ice, exacerbated by soot blown on to the ice from wildfires, means Greenland’s ice sheet is stuck in a ‘feedback loop’Greenland’s vast ice sheet is in the grip of a dramatic “feedback loop” where the surface has been getting darker and less reflective of the sun, helping accelerate the melting of ice and fuelling sea level rises, new research has found.
  The snowy surface of Greenland started becoming significantly less reflective of solar
  
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• Proposed Polish law would 'shackle' wind power, says industry

  03-03-2016 18:02 via theguardian.com
  
  Coal-reliant country may be trying to slow the rise of renewable energy with a clampdown on turbine construction and maintenance, say analystsA draft Polish law that would impose a raft of exacting demands on windfarm developers is nothing less than a bid to sabotage the country’s renewable energy prospects, according to Europe’s wind industry.Developers would need to apply for a license to operate a wind turbine every two years under the proposal, which the Guardian has seen. Contin
  
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• Pictures of the day: 3rd March 2016

  03-03-2016 18:00
  
  A colourful sunset, a spring-cleaning oxpecker and a Jumbo restaurant
  
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• Nigeria says producers to meet in Moscow, sees dramatic impact

  03-03-2016 17:36
  By Camillus Eboh ABUJA (Reuters) - Some members of OPEC plan to meet other oil producers in Russia around March 20 for new talks on an oil output freeze, Nigeria's petroleum minister said on Thursday, forecasting the meeting would spark a dramatic reaction in crude prices. Nigeria has been pushing for action by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries because the slump in oil revenue has undercut its public finances and currency, leaving the government struggling to pay civil servan
  
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• How Much Ice Can Antarctica Afford to Lose?

  03-03-2016 17:20
  Over the past 20 years, ice shelves in Antarctica that normally support the rest of the continent's glaciers have been shrinking, and some have disappeared entirely. A recent study led by researchers at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität, in Germany, has mapped out which Antarctic ice shelves are buttressing the most ice and which are more "passive" and thus can stand to lose a large area without any immediate effect on the rest of the ice shelf. Ice shelves are slabs of ice several hundre
  
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• Woodland community facing eviction from Dartmoor national park

  03-03-2016 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Authorities tell families in green-minded co-operative they must leave, claiming they have harmful impact on Devon parkA community of green-minded co-operative workers are facing eviction from their hillside home after planners on the Dartmoor national park authority decided they were not welcome. Continue reading...
  
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• GIB delivers boost to Scottish district heating scheme as it goes up for sale

  03-03-2016 15:41
  
  The Green Investment Bank (GIB) has announced plans to upgrade a district heating scheme in the north of Scotland, providing a major renewables boost to the region of Caithness.
  
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• Big cats pose with 'lion whisperer' for photoshoot in South Africa

  03-03-2016 15:24
  
  Big cats pose with "lion whisperer" for photoshoot in South Africa
  
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• Less poaching but elephants decline

  03-03-2016 15:08 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The number of elephants being killed for their tusks has stabilised but overall species numbers have continued to decline.
  
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• WWF accused of facilitating human rights abuses of tribal people in Cameroon

  03-03-2016 15:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Conservation organisation funds and logistically aids anti-poaching eco-guards who are victimising pygmy groups, claims tribal defence groupWWF, the world’s largest conservation organisation, has been accused by leading tribal defence group Survival International of inadvertently facilitating serious human rights abuses against pygmy groups living in Cameroonian rainforests.In a 228-page formal complaint to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, (OECD), Survival allege
  
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• 'Alarming' rise in S. Sudan wildlife slaughter: conservationists

  03-03-2016 14:39
  
  All sides in South Sudan's civil war have slaughtered wildlife including elephant, giraffe and antelope, conservationists said Thursday, warning huge efforts must be made to protect the surviving animal population.
  
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• Whales dine with their friends of the same species

  03-03-2016 14:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  For a few weeks in early fall, Georges Bank — a vast North Atlantic fishery off the coast of Cape Cod — teems with billions of herring that take over the region to spawn. The seasonal arrival of the herring also attracts predators to the shallow banks, including many species of whales.Now researchers from MIT, Northeastern University, the Institute of Marine Research in Norway, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, have found that as multiple species of whales feas
  
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• US agency says it has beaten Elon Musk and Gates to holy grail of battery storage

  03-03-2016 14:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Breakthrough in next generation of storage batteries could transform the US electrical grid within five to 10 years, says research agency, Arpa-EA US government agency says it has attained the “holy grail” of energy – the next-generation system of battery storage, that has has been hotly pursued by the likes of Bill Gates and Elon Musk.Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (Arpa-E) – a branch of the Department of Energy – says it achieved its breakthrough technol
  
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• US agency reaches 'holy grail' of battery storage sought by Elon Musk and Gates

  03-03-2016 14:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Breakthrough in next generation of storage batteries could transform the US electrical grid within five to 10 years, says research agency, Arpa-EA US government agency says it has attained the “holy grail” of energy – the next-generation system of battery storage, that has has been hotly pursued by the likes of Bill Gates and Elon Musk.Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (Arpa-E) – a branch of the Department of Energy – says it achieved its breakthrough technol
  
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• The owl man: saving the incredible bird you've probably never heard of

  03-03-2016 13:43 via theguardian.com
  
  Jonathan Slaght has dedicated his professional life to safeguarding the rare Blakiston’s fish owl, the world’s biggest owl. But he wouldn’t have it any other way
  It’s not easy studying an endangered species few people have ever heard of: it’s difficult to raise money, build awareness, or quite simply get people to care. But still, Jonathan Slaght – one of the world’s only experts on the massive, salmon-eating, frog-devouring Blakiston’s fish owl &n
  
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• Can you guess the world's longest distance flyer?

  03-03-2016 13:18 via feedproxy.google.com
  A dragonfly barely an inch and a half long appears to be animal world's most prolific long distance traveler – flying thousands of miles over oceans as it migrates from continent to continent – according to newly published research.
  
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• Oil prices ease as glut gloom overcomes budding bulls

  03-03-2016 13:17
  By Amanda Cooper LONDON (Reuters) - Brent oil prices eased on Thursday after ballooning U.S. crude inventories and a lack of any fresh action from the world's largest producer to temper supply snuffed out some of the bullish sentiment that has built this week. International benchmark Brent futures lost 6 cents to $36.87 a barrel by 1200 GMT, while U.S. crude futures edged up 6 cents to $34.72. "That is the only true way of really turning around prices sustainably and for good ... once that happe
  
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• Oil and gas industry has pumped millions into Republican campaigns

  03-03-2016 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Fossil fuel barons have invested more than $100m in Republican presidential Super Pacs – raising concerns over special interests if GOP takes White HouseFossil fuel millionaires collectively pumped more than $100m into Republican presidential contenders’ efforts last year – in an unprecedented investment by the oil and gas industry in the party’s future.About one in three dollars donated to Republican hopefuls from mega-rich individuals came from people who owe their fort
  
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• Banksy lawyers delayed profiling study

  03-03-2016 13:00 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A study that tests the method of geographical profiling on the artist Banksy is published after a delay caused by legal discussions.
  
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• University of East Anglia abandons ambitious biomass scheme

  03-03-2016 12:55 via theguardian.com
  
  Sources say £10.5m plant intended to burn woodchip to power much of the university has never workedOne of the UK’s largest and most ambitious biomass schemes, built with a £1m government grant, has been quietly abandoned.The £10.5m plant was intended burn woodchip to power much of the University of East Anglia (UEA), which has been hailed for its environmental credentials. Continue reading...
  
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• Bloodhound Diary: Forewarned is forearmed

  03-03-2016 12:27 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Keeping a space eye on the world's fastest race track
  
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• Two Italian hostages probably killed in Libya attack - Italy

  03-03-2016 12:17
  Two Italian civilians held hostages in Libya were probably killed in fighting in the western Libyan city of Sabratha, the Italian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. Libyan security forces said they had killed seven suspected Islamic State fighters in a raid on a militant hideout in Sabratha on Wednesday, and later released photographs of two Western men who had also apparently been killed in the attack. Italy's Foreign Ministry said the men might be two of the four employees of the Italian const
  
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• Ted Cruz's favorite temperature data just got a lot hotter | Dana Nuccitelli

  03-03-2016 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  A new paper makes Ted Cruz’s favorite chart obsolete, as atmospheric temperatures set a new record
  In a new paper, Carl Mears and Frank Wentz at Remote Sensing Systems (RSS) have revised their data set estimating the temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere. At his recent congressional hearing, Ted Cruz presented the RSS data to incorrectly claim that there’s been no global warming in over 18 years.Continue reading...
  
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• Iraq-Turkey oil pipeline to restart within days - Genel CEO

  03-03-2016 11:19
  An oil pipeline linking northern Iraq to Turkey which has been out of service since Feb. 17 is expected to resume operations "within a couple of days", the chief executive of Genel , one of the main oil producers in Iraqi Kurdistan, said. The Turkish government was reinforcing security measures on the pipeline and these changes should limit downtime of the pipeline over the course of this year, he said on Thursday. "We are expecting within a couple of days the pipeline will be up and running," M
  
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• Major British seafood brands linked to fishing in fragile Arctic area

  03-03-2016 11:17 via theguardian.com
  
  Greenpeace finds suppliers of cod to Birds Eye, Findus and Young’s are using controversial bottom trawlers in the northern Barents SeaMajor British food brands and supermarkets buying cod from Arctic waters risk having their supply chain “tainted” because of links with fishing further north in the Arctic, Greenpeace has warned.
  An investigation by the group has revealed that suppliers of cod to Birds Eye, Findus and Young’s are using controversial giant bottom trawlers in
  
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• Russia's Rosneft reports large oil spill on Sakhalin island

  03-03-2016 10:35
  Top Russian oil producer Rosneft said on Thursday that around 15 tonnes (110 barrels) of oil spilled off from an idled pipeline on the Pacific island of Sakhalin, while local ecologists say the scale of disaster is far larger. Rosneft said the spill occurred on Wednesday at the Ekhabi oilfield in northern Sakhalin. The company decided to burn the spilled oil to "minimise ecological damage".
  
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• Factory farming divestment: what you need to know

  03-03-2016 10:31 via theguardian.com
  
  After the success of campaigns to get investors to divest from fossil fuel companies, factory farming is the next targetThe fast food chain Subway is latest to join the backlash against antibiotic use in the farm sector. It has launched a new chicken sandwich in the US made with meat from animals raised without antibiotics.The move is a sign of the growing consumer and business interest in the welfare and environmental impact of animals reared for meat, dairy and eggs, with most of the blame dir
  
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• Energy pioneer McClendon dies in Oklahoma car crash a day after indictment

  03-03-2016 10:02
  By Heidi Brandes OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - Aubrey McClendon, a brash risk-taker who led Chesapeake Energy Corp to become one of the world's biggest natural gas producers, died in a single-car crash on Wednesday, a day after being charged with breaking federal antitrust laws, police said. The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday announced that McClendon had been indicted for allegedly colluding to rig bids for oil and gas acreage while he was at Chesapeake, a central player in the U.S. fracking
  
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• India's largest car manufacturer joins drive for 100% renewable power

  03-03-2016 09:35
  
  India's largest carmaker has become the second company from the country to join The Climate Group's RE100 initiative - a move that will see the firm source 100% of its energy use from renewable generation.
  
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• African elephants 'killed faster than they are being born'

  03-03-2016 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Data released on UN world wildlife day shows overall population is still falling despite a recent reduction in levels of poaching for ivoryMore African elephants are being killed for ivory than are being born, despite poaching levels falling for the fourth year in a row in 2015.The new data, released on UN world wildlife day on Thursday, shows about 60% of elephant deaths are at the hands of poachers, meaning the overall population is most likely to be falling. Continue reading...
  
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• Coalmines could wipe out threatened black-throated finch habitat – study

  03-03-2016 08:58 via theguardian.com
  
  Proposed mines in Queensland, including Adani’s huge Carmichael project, will destroy so much habitat the damage cannot be ‘offset’, researchers sayProposed coalmines in Queensland, including the huge Adani Carmichael project, would destroy the majority of the remaining habitat of the threatened black-throated finch, according to research. Related: Australia on the spot over Adani mine and funding of Attenborough reef seriesContinue reading...
  
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• Andrea Leadsom is 'sick and tired' of green policy critics

  03-03-2016 08:45
  
  Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom is "sick and tired" of the barrage of complaints being fired at the Department for Energy & Climate Change (DECC) over its punitive cuts to renewable energy subsidies.
  
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• Bike review: Focus Izalco Max Disc Red

  03-03-2016 08:30 via theguardian.com
  
  It’s the lightest disc bike in the shops, but is it the future of road cycling?£4699; 6.8kg; focus-bikes.comAt first glance it might not clear why this bike is priced at roughly the average cost of a new bathroom. The Izalco Max Disc Red’s black carbon finish frame, the lack of flashy aero tube shapes and the exposed cabling don’t shout “years of expensive research and development”. Yet a closer look reveals this machine could be the shape of road bikes to com
  
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• Genel losses deepen as reserves write-off, weak oil price bite

  03-03-2016 08:25
  LONDON (Reuters) - Genel Energy , one of the main oil producers in Iraqi Kurdistan, has slipped further into the red as it wrote off $1 billion (£710.28 million) relating to its Taq Taq oilfield that has lower recoverable reserves than previously estimated. London-listed Genel reported a full-year pre-tax loss of $1.16 billion on Thursday, deepening its $312.8 million loss in 2014. The weak oil price also ate into revenue which fell 34 percent to $344 million. ...
  
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• MPs warn of 'dented' investor confidence over UK energy policy

  03-03-2016 08:15
  
  The Government is risking higher energy prices and stalling new investment through 'sudden and numerous' energy policy changes that are denting investor confidence in the UK energy market, MPs have warned today (2 March).
  
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• Topaz, BP sign up to $541 million Caspian support vessel contract

  03-03-2016 08:08
  Topaz Energy and Marine secured a contract with a unit of BP to supply 14 offshore support vessels in the Caspian Sea for up to seven years, the Dubai-based oilfield services firm said in a statement on Thursday. The contract with BP Exploration (Caspian Sea) Limited runs for five years, with two one-year extensions at current market terms, and will primarily support the ACG and Shah Deniz II fields offshore Azerbaijan, it said. No value for the contract was given in the statement.
  
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• More than half a million could die as climate change impacts diet – report

  03-03-2016 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  New research shows global warming’s effect on the quality of food available could kill more than 500,000 people a year around the world by 2050
  Climate change could kill more than 500,000 people a year globally by 2050 by making their diets less healthy, according to new research published in the Lancet.The research is the first to assess how the impacts of global warming could affect the quality of the diets available to people and found fewer fruit and vegetables would be available as a
  
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• Human-elephant conflict in Sri Lanka – in pictures

  03-03-2016 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Habitat loss is forcing Sri Lanka’s endangered elephants into increased opposition with humans. New work from photographer Sean Gallagher shows how the animals, long revered in the country’s culture and religion, are now becoming a symbol of conflict Continue reading...
  
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• Oil prices edge up as confidence rises that market has bottomed

  03-03-2016 06:46
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices edged higher on Thursday as sentiment spread that a 20-month-long market rout is coming to an end as production slows amid strong demand. U.S. crude futures were trading at $34.76 per barrel at 0540 GMT, up 10 cents from their last settlement. This has created huge inflows, buying from hedge funds," said Oystein Berentsen, managing director of crude at Strong Petroleum in Singapore.
  
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• Time-tested rites of ancient plants

  03-03-2016 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Wolsingham, Weardale The sexual success of thalloid liverworts has ensured their survival for millions of yearsPeering down at the emerald lobes of Pellia epiphylla liverwort covering the sides of the ditch, I could see this had recently been the site of intense sexual activity.On mild, wet days, tiny pockets embedded in the plant’s surface release swarms of swimming male sex cells, each only a few thousandths of a millimetre long. Powered by two lashing flagellae, they gyrate in the surfa
  
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