Environment news

• France says time to act on Libya, will push for EU sanctions

  10-03-2016 23:41
  France's foreign minister on Thursday said there was no time to waste in forming a Libyan government that would pave the way for action against Islamic State and he would push for sanctions against individuals at a European meeting next week. Efforts to establish a U.N. backed unity government in the oil producing nation have been stalled by resistance from hardliners. "We have to fight Daesh where it is trying to develop in Libya, but the precondition is the constitution of a new national unity
  
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• Ruling party faction to challenge Gabon's Bongo at polls

  10-03-2016 23:12
  The leaders of a breakaway faction of Gabon President Ali Bongo's ruling party said on Thursday they would challenge him as he seeks to extend his rule over the oil-producing nation in elections later this year. Bongo won a disputed election in 2009 following the death of his father, longtime leader Omar Bongo, and is now nearing the end of his first seven-year term in office. The open dissent from some PDG members, who plan to put forward their own candidate, underscores the internal divisions
  
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• Obama, Trudeau mark better Canada ties with climate, trade accords

  10-03-2016 22:56
  By David Ljunggren and Timothy Gardner WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and new Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday ended a frosty period in bilateral ties by agreeing to tackle climate change and strive to settle a long-lasting trade dispute over Canadian softwood lumber exports. The neighbouring countries are traditionally close but relations had soured under former prime minister Stephen Harper, who hectored the White House in a failed bid to push through U.S. appr
  
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• Oil slides on U.S. refinery maintenance, OPEC meeting doubts

  10-03-2016 22:12
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Thursday, with U.S. crude retreating from three-month highs as refinery maintenance looked set to boost record domestic crude stockpiles, while an OPEC meeting aimed at freezing output appeared unlikely without Iran's participation. Crude prices drew support as the dollar weakened versus the euro. U.S. crude fell 45 cents to finish at $37.84, having recovered from an intraday low of $37.21.
  
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• Iran calls for full access to international banking, sees UK role

  10-03-2016 21:27
  By William James LONDON (Reuters) - Iran needs full access to the international banking system, the chief of staff to President Hassan Rouhani said on Thursday, adding that London has an important role to play following the lifting of sanctions. Mohammad Nahavandian also said Iran must regain its share of the global oil market before it would participate in any agreement among oil producing countries to restrict supply. International sanctions against Iran, including banking restrictions, ended
  
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• Big six's hearts warmed by watchdog as standard tariff payers left out in cold

  10-03-2016 20:50 via theguardian.com
  
  Those hoping for radical revamp of household energy market to stop £1.7bn ‘rip-off’ disappointed by regulator’s triumph of hope over experienceIt feels a very long time since Ed Miliband (remember him?) was talking about freezing energy bills, an idea that proved so politically dangerous that it led indirectly to an inquiry by the Competition and Markets Authority. At the time, even the big energy companies, feeling battered by “rip off” headlines, reluctantly
  
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• VIDEO: Leaving EU 'a disaster for UK science'

  10-03-2016 20:45 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Some of Britain's leading scientists including Professor Stephen Hawking have called for a vote to remain in the European Union at the coming referendum.
  
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• Could a new plastic-eating bacteria help combat this pollution scourge?

  10-03-2016 20:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Scientists have discovered a species of bacteria capable of breaking down commonly used PET plastic but remain unsure of its potential applicationsNature has begun to fight back against the vast piles of filth dumped into its soils, rivers and oceans by evolving a plastic-eating bacteria – the first known to science.In a report published in the journal Science, a team of Japanese researchers described a species of bacteria that can break the molecular bonds of one of the world’s most
  
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• CO2 'wake-up call' for climate deal

  10-03-2016 19:56 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere increased more in past 12 months than at any time in the past 56 years.
  
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• Lack of seeds limits African yields

  10-03-2016 19:52 via bbc.co.uk
  
  An assessment of smallholder farmers' access to seeds says greater engagement from global seed companies would help boost yields and food security.
  
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• VIDEO: Footage captures glacier collapse

  10-03-2016 19:41 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Part of one of Argentina's biggest attractions, the Perito Moreno Glacier known as the White Giant, has collapsed, crashing into the water.
  
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• Give support to Swansea Bay tidal lagoon project, government told

  10-03-2016 19:05 via theguardian.com
  
  Ministers urged to give go ahead to tidal energy scheme as doubts grow over Hinkley Point nuclear power station Ministers have been urged to commit to plans for a huge tidal energy lagoon to keep the lights on in the UK, amid mounting concerns about whether the Hinkley Point nuclear power station will ever get built.MPs and peers are applying pressure for the government to get behind the tidal power project, saying it is an essential “plan B” to ensure energy security. Continue readi
  
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• Obama: US and Canada 'fully united' in combating climate change – video

  10-03-2016 19:01 via theguardian.com
  
  US president Barack Obama has appeared alongside Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau to vow to work together in the fight against climate change, saying that both countries are threatened by ‘rising seas, melting permafrosts and disappearing glaciers and sea ice’. Trudeau, who is on an official state visit to the US along with his wife and children, said he and Obama ‘share the same goal’ when it comes to climate policy Continue reading...
  
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• MPs launch fresh enquiry into UK's renewable heat and transport targets

  10-03-2016 18:39
  
  The Energy and Climate Change Committee (ECC) of MPs has launched a new enquiry into the UK Government's progress - or apparent lack of it - on its self-imposed targets for meeting heat and transport demands from renewable energy sources.
  
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• Louisiana black bear removed from endangered species list

  10-03-2016 18:38 via theguardian.com
  
  The US Department of the Interior said the ‘conservation success’ meant the subspecies no longer required protection but will continue to be monitoredThe Louisiana black bear, the animal credited with spawning the phrase “teddy bear”, is to be removed from the federal list of endangered wildlife following a two-decade conservation effort.The US Department of the Interior said the “conservation success” of the bear meant it no longer required the protection of
  
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• CO2 levels make largest recorded annual leap, Noaa data shows

  10-03-2016 17:34 via theguardian.com
  
  The last time the Earth saw such a sustained increase was over 11 millennia ago, says US science agency. Climate Home reportsAtmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide last year rose by the biggest margin since records began, according to a US federal science agency.Fossil fuel burning and a strong El Niño weather pattern pushed CO2 levels 3.05 parts per million (ppm) on a year earlier to 402.6 ppm, as measured at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
  
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• EDF and China's CGN win EU okay for Hinkley Point project

  10-03-2016 16:58
  French power company EDF and Chinese nuclear firm CGN won regulatory approval from the EU's competition authority on Thursday to build and operate nuclear power plants at Hinkley Point in Britain. Britain said the Hinkley Point project, one of the world's costliest, is needed to replace ageing reactors and polluting coal plants. The European Commission said it did not see any serious competition issues.
  
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• Insight - In Houston, oil workers may face the axe but employment still grows

  10-03-2016 16:27
  By Howard Schneider BAYTOWN, Texas (Reuters) - Plunging energy prices robbed the Texas economy of an estimated 60,000 jobs last year, as oil and gas companies put the brakes on production and slashed investment, throwing engineers and geologists out of work. Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Phillips Chemical Co, a joint venture of Chevron Corp and Phillips 66, are building mammoth chemical crackers to process polyethylene from natural gas, and logistics firms have created millions of new square feet
  
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• Oil under threat from stealthily building gasoline stocks

  10-03-2016 16:21
  By Ahmad Ghaddar and Libby George LONDON (Reuters) - Gasoline stocks building on both sides of the Atlantic could undercut a sustained recovery in oil prices, as crude's 30 percent rise in the last month is partly based on hopes that drivers will gobble up most global inventories of the fuel. Strong margins on gasoline have helped European refiners such as BP, Shell and Total weather an 18-month slide in oil prices and they expect gasoline demand, mostly in the United States and China, to boost
  
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• Oil meeting on output freeze unlikely without Iran progress - sources

  10-03-2016 16:09
  By Rania El Gamal and Alex Lawler DUBAI/LONDON (Reuters) - A meeting between oil producers to discuss a global pact on freezing production is unlikely to take place in Russia on March 20, sources familiar with the matter say, as OPEC member Iran is yet to say whether it would participate in such a deal. OPEC officials including Nigeria's oil minister have said a meeting would take place in Moscow on that date, potentially as the next step in widening an agreement to freeze output at January leve
  
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• Oil prices slip off multi-month highs

  10-03-2016 15:51
  By Sarah McFarlane LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Thursday, after hitting three-month highs this week, with analysts warning that larger gains would be unwarranted as refineries enter seasonal maintenance and a global glut weighs. "Fundamentally you would expect prices to weaken from here because we're about to head into peak refinery turnaround season," said Virendra Chauhan, an analyst at Energy Aspects. "We expect weakness in the physical market as demand from refineries comes off." Gl
  
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• Climate change off the table at next week's EU summit

  10-03-2016 15:23
  
  European Union leaders are unlikely to discuss how the bloc will build on the Paris agreement to cap global warming at their summit next week, it has emerged.
  
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• US and Canada promise to lead world to low carbon economy

  10-03-2016 15:06 via theguardian.com
  
  Countries previously seen as climate change villains present shared vision on cutting emissions as Justin Trudeau meets Barack Obama at White HouseThe US and Canada declared they would help lead the transition to a low carbon global economy on Thursday, in a dramatic role reversal for two countries once derided as climate change villains.
  The shared vision unveiled by Barack Obama and Justin Trudeau ahead of a meeting at the White House commits the two countries to a range of actions to shore up
  
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• Food surpluses are inevitable in our consumer-led society. Food waste isn’t | Jane Marren

  10-03-2016 15:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Beer made from old bread; chutney from windfalls; shops that sell excess stock at cut prices – there are many ways to tackle the scourge of squandered foodIf they think about it at all, most people think of food waste, or surplus, as the “reduced to clear” section in the supermarket. But that is just a tiny fraction of what exists. The truth is that most food surpluses in the supply chain never even reach our supermarket shelves.Let me take you back to the Queen’s diamond
  
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• China firms push for multi-billion dollar Iran rail and ship deals

  10-03-2016 14:45
  By Chen Aizhu and Bozorgmehr Sharafedin BEIJING/DUBAI (Reuters) - Two Chinese firms are pushing for multi-billion dollar deals with Iran to build a high-speed railway and modernise its shipping fleet following the lifting of most sanctions against Tehran, sources with knowledge of the negotiations said. State-run China National Transportation Equipment & Engineering Co Ltd (CTC) is close to finalising an agreement on the $3 billion (£2.1 billion) rail project to connect Tehran with the
  
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• Chile's salmon farms lose $800m as algal bloom kills millions of fish

  10-03-2016 14:01 via theguardian.com
  
  High ocean temperatures helped cause toxic bloom that has wiped out up to 20% of Chile’s total production for the year A deadly algal bloom has hit the world’s second biggest salmon exporter, Chile, where nearly 23m fish have already died and the economic impact from lost production has soared to $800m (£565m), industry and government sources told Reuters. The dead fish could easily fill 14 olympic-size swimming pools, said Jose Miguel Burgos, the head of the government’s
  
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• Google AI wins second Go game

  10-03-2016 13:56 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Google's DeepMind artificial intelligence project beats a top Go player for the second match in a row.
  
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• Rattlesnake roundup draws big crowds, and critics, to small Texas town

  10-03-2016 13:53 via theguardian.com
  
  More than 20,000 people are expected to turn out for four days of wrangling, milking and even eating. But opposition from animal welfare groups is mountingIf you are thrilled by the idea of gawping at a giant vat of writhing rattlesnakes, taking part in a rattlesnake-eating competition or witnessing a beauty queen decapitate a rattlesnake, then west Texas is the place to be this weekend.The world’s largest rattlesnake “roundup” kicks off in the remote town of Sweetwater on Thur
  
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• Record year for rhino poaching in Africa

  10-03-2016 13:19 via feedproxy.google.com
  The number of African rhinos poached in 2015 is higher than previously thought with new figures from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) showing that a record 1,338 were killed across the continent last year – 33 higher than earlier estimates. This is the highest level since the current poaching crisis began in 2008 and takes the number of African rhinos killed since then to at least 5,940.
  
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• Leaked European commission plan would open gates to overfishing

  10-03-2016 13:19 via theguardian.com
  
  Baltic Sea proposal would allow catches well above current sustainable levels needed to restore healthy fish stocks, putting some species at risk, conservationists warnFishermen could soon be given carte blanche to overfish without needing to worry about restoring fish populations to a healthy state under a leaked European commission proposal seen by the Guardian.If it is approved, the blueprint for the Baltic Sea could soon be applied to the North Sea too, potentially threatening the future of
  
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• Record fines for UK property developer who destroyed bat roost

  10-03-2016 13:12 via theguardian.com
  
  Compensation of £10,730 ordered under a law normally deployed against drug dealers and hailed as ‘most significant conviction for bat crime ever recorded’A property developer who destroyed a bat roost has been ordered to pay record compensation under a law usually deployed against drug dealers.
  Isar Enterprises was told to pay £10,730 in fines, costs and a confiscation of profits order after it failed to obtain the legally required licence to remove a roost of brown long-
  
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• World Bank backs $1.15bn movement to future-proof developing cities

  10-03-2016 13:11
  
  A new $1.15bn global platform aimed at boosting investment and implementing sustainable practices across an array of developing cities around the world has been launched, after receiving financial backing from the World Bank and Global Environment Facility (GEF).
  
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• Hawking - Brexit 'disaster' for science

  10-03-2016 13:10 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Prof Stephen Hawking has called for Britain to stay in the EU, saying that a Brexit would be a "disaster for UK science".
  
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• Emirates sees lower oil industry demand, still backs A380neo

  10-03-2016 12:47
  Emirates airline will show "significantly higher" 2015/16 annual profits, but some business has evaporated due to the recent slump in oil prices, its president Tim Clark said on Thursday. The Dubai carrier is considering downgrading A380 services to Houston because of falling demand from the oil industry, which overall represents its biggest corporate customer, Clark told reporters during the ITB tourism exhibition in Berlin. "On balance, the airline community is doing better as a result of the
  
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• Unilever forges new crowdsourcing partnership to deliver 'consumer-championed products'

  10-03-2016 12:32
  
  Consumer goods giant Unilever has becomes one of the first global corporations to tap into the potential of crowdfunding for sustainability projects after it established a new partnership to accelerate green innovation and create 'consumer-championed products'.
  
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• 'Vital' UK flood research funding slashed by nearly two-thirds

  10-03-2016 11:59 via theguardian.com
  
  Figures show 62% cut to R&D budget to improve forecasting and defences over seven years, despite calls for such evidence in the wake of winter floodingFunding for “vital” research to improve flood forecasts, warnings and defences has been slashed by almost two-thirds since 2009, figures obtained by the Guardian show.
  The annual funding for flood research and development, which the government has not published, has fallen from £4.89, in 2008-09 to £1.85m in 2015-16, a
  
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• Oil price could fall by $10 if output freeze fails - DNB Markets

  10-03-2016 11:48
  Crude oil prices could fall by $10 per barrel, erasing recent gains, if OPEC and non-OPEC countries fail to finalise a plan to freeze output levels, Norwegian brokerage DNB Markets predicted on Thursday. North Sea crude currently trades at just over $40 (£28) per barrel, a rise of almost 50 percent from a 12-year-low seen in January but still far below a mid-2014 peak of around $115. If they fail, I think the oil price will drop $10 per barrel again," DNB Markets analyst Torbjoern Kjus tol
  
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• Pictures of the day: 10th March 2016

  10-03-2016 11:11
  
  Inside an Austrian glacier, a pink elephant and a Gucci gangster
  
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• Fossil of oldest pine tree discovered

  10-03-2016 10:48 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists have discovered the oldest-known fossil of a pine tree, dating back 140 million years to a time when wildfires raged across the land.
  
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• Indian guru refuses to pay fine for festival that threatens ecosystem

  10-03-2016 10:31 via theguardian.com
  
  Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who pledges to clean Yamuna riverbank after World Culture event, vows to challenge penaltyIndia’s environmental watchdog has fined a group led by a Hindu guru 50m rupees (£520,000) for constructing features that altered the topography and flow of a Delhi river before a cultural festival this weekend.The National Green Tribunal ruled it would allow the Art of Living Foundation to hold the World Culture festival on payment of the fine, which the group’s lead
  
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• OPEC cuts unlikely before U.S., Russia, Iraq reduce output - FGE

  10-03-2016 10:23
  By Florence Tan SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is unlikely to cut production to support oil prices until it sees output declines in the United States, Russia and Iraq, an energy consultant said Thursday. Oil has risen about 50 percent from 12-year lows hit less than two months ago after Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Venezuela, along with non-OPEC exporter Russia, pledged to freeze supply at January's levels if others cooperated. The U.S., Russia and Iraq
  
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• Oil prices dip as global oversupply outweighs strong demand

  10-03-2016 09:15
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices dipped on Thursday after U.S. crude hit 2016 highs the day before and Brent shot back over $40 per barrel, with analysts warning that larger gains would be unwarranted as a global glut continues to outweigh strong demand. Expectations of more stimulus from the European Central Bank (ECB) this week, which would strengthen the dollar against the euro and potentially hamper dollar-traded oil imports, also weighed on markets. "The ECB will cut de
  
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• Amec Foster Wheeler to sell GPG unit, halve net debt in 15 months

  10-03-2016 09:11
  (Reuters) - British oil and gas services company Amec Foster Wheeler Plc said it would sell its Global Power Group unit as it exits some of its non-core assets and halve its net debt in the next 15 months. The move comes amid the collapse in oil prices pressures balance sheets, with companies shedding assets and cutting dividends for survival. Interim Chief Executive Ian McHoul declined to specify how much disposals could fetch, but said on a call that he expected the disposals to fund the major
  
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• Businesses fear tourist drop-off as blue-green algae clogs Murray river

  10-03-2016 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Health warning issued for 350km of the river to not swim or drink the water, but fishing is not affected Businesses along the Murray river that rely on the tourist dollar brought in by the Easter long weekend hope for cool weather to ease a blue-green algae outbreak that has prompted a health warning for 350km of the waterway.The microscopic Cyanobacteria have bloomed in the warm, stagnant river, helped by a heatwave that brought above-average March temperatures to south-eastern Australia.Contin
  
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• After Fukushima: faces from Japan's tsunami tragedy, five years on

  10-03-2016 07:40 via theguardian.com
  
  On the anniversary of the 2011 disaster that killed 19,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands more, life and hope continue a steady resurgence, writes Justin McCurry On 11 March 2011 a powerful earthquake and tsunami struck the north-east coast of Japan and triggered a triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Related: Five years after Japan's tsunami, orphan victims lament their lost parentsContinue reading...
  
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• In Houston, oil workers may face the axe but employment still grows

  10-03-2016 07:30
  By Howard Schneider BAYTOWN, Texas (Reuters) - Plunging energy prices robbed the Texas economy of an estimated 60,000 jobs last year, as oil and gas companies put the brakes on production and slashed investment, throwing engineers and geologists out of work. Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp are building mammoth chemical crackers to process polyethylene from natural gas, and logistics firms have created millions of new square feet of warehouse space as they plan to ship the output to the global
  
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• Sri Lanka arrests two men for torturing sea eagle

  10-03-2016 07:22
  
  Sri Lankan police Thursday arrested two men for torturing a sea eagle after pictures on social media showed the endangered bird being skinned alive and its legs cut off.
  
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• Western Australia rejects adopting South African shark-spotting program

  10-03-2016 07:20 via theguardian.com
  
  Shark Spotters representatives, brought in through crowdfunding campaign, say their ‘site-specific’ technique could be trialled on WA beaches immediatelyA South African shark-spotting program’s representatives say their technique could be effectively trialled on Western Australian beaches immediately, despite the state government dismissing the initiative. Related: Shark attacks hit record high in 2015, global tally showsContinue reading...
  
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• Sweet, murderous robins

  10-03-2016 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Sandy, Bedfordshire My focus was on the stylised gestures that would have been clearly read by the bird on the next branchA fevered burst of birdsong drew more than one pair of eyes to the branch of a hedgerow tree. Fraught with seasonal urgency, the robin’s song was a liquid stream; not a gentle brook, but a gushing beck, some notes thrown high and uncontrollably as if dashed against a rock, others pitched down a waterfall, and all poured out in a tumbling, erratic, attention-seeking rush
  
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• Fukushima exclusion worse than radiation?

  10-03-2016 06:21 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Is the exclusion zone worse than the radiation itself?
  
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