Environment news

• Reed bunting's insignificant stutter is another sign of spring: Country diary 100 years ago

  20-03-2016 23:30
  
  Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 21 March 1916Clinging to a swaying osier wand, now thickly studded with silver catkins, the reed bunting, black-capped and white-collared, stammers his uncertain metallic notes. Even in the height of the season his efforts are feeble; he never sounds as if he had reached beyond the learning stage: the reed bunting, though like others of his family performing persistently, is at the best a poor singer. In the wood beyond the blackbirds flute fine
  
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• A jack snipe plays hide and seek in the Somerset reedbeds

  20-03-2016 22:30
  
  Some birds perform right in front of you, as if they are auditioning for the X-Factor. Others give themselves up grudgingly, momentarily, and all too fleetingly. The jack snipe is just such a bird: an avian Greta Garbo, legendarily elusive. The epithet “jack”, incidentally, means “small”; another name for the species is “half snipe”.In half a century of birding, I can count the number of prolonged views of this little known species on the fingers of one hand.
  
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• Protest, tear gas in Congo as Sassou Nguesso seeks to extend rule

  20-03-2016 21:50
  By Aaron Ross BRAZZAVILLE (Reuters) - Police fired tear gas at opposition supporters in Congo Republic on Sunday, witnesses said, after voting ended in a poll expected to see long-time leader Denis Sassou Nguesso extend his three-decade rule. The government ordered mobile phone and internet services cut for the day across the oil-producing Central African country "for reasons of security and public tranquillity", a government official said. Despite protests in which at least 18 demonstrators die
  
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• By rejecting $1bn for a pipeline, a First Nation has put Trudeau's climate plan on trial

  20-03-2016 19:20
  
  Canada’s Lax Kw’alaams show us how we can be saved: by loving the natural world and local living economies more than mere money and profit
  Everything has a price. Everyone can be bought. We assume this principle is endemic to modern life — and that accepting it is most obvious to the impoverished. Except all over the world, people are defying it for a greater cause. That courage may be even more contagious.It has been in full supply in north-west Canada, where an oil giant is a
  
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• Row over 'secret' Hinkley Point documents set to reach tribunal

  20-03-2016 17:09
  
  Information commissioner, under pressure from FOI requests, agrees to oral hearing on documents on the nuclear power plant projectAn 18-month battle to discover the true cost to consumers of building the Hinkley Point C nuclear reactors is to come to a climax in London.
  The information commissioner has been blocking freedom of information requests to publish subsidy documents held by the Department of Energy and Climate Change. However, it has finally agreed to hold an oral hearing on the issue.
  
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• RRS Boaty McBoatface leads in poll to name polar research vessel

  20-03-2016 16:37
  
  Eccentric choices dominate in quest to name royal research ship, outpacing more inspirational suggestionsThe good news for the Natural Environment Research Council’s decision to crowd-search a name for its latest polar research vessel is unprecedented public engagement in a sometimes niche area of scientific study. The bad news? Sailing due south in a vessel that sounds like it was christened by a five-year-old who has drunk three cartons of Capri-Sun. Just a day after the NERC launched it
  
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• Past its best-before date: what are you prepared to eat?

  20-03-2016 15:00
  
  Are you a stickler for the numbers printed on the pack, or do you take a more liberal approach to waste and food safety?‘There’s nothing wrong with a bit of mould’: chefs on food waste and leftovers Do we really need a use-by or best-before date on the food we buy?That is the question being asked by analysts who are concerned too much gets thrown away before really necessary – and while there are reasons for consumer advice on many products, not everyone’s sure the
  
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• Congo votes in presidential poll under communications blackout

  20-03-2016 13:26
  By Aaron Ross BRAZZAVILLE (Reuters) - Voters went to the polls in Congo Republic on Sunday under a government-imposed communications blackout as long-time leader Denis Sassou Nguesso sought to extend his rule over the Central African oil producer. Sassou Nguesso is heavily favoured to win the polls. The government also banned the use of motor vehicles nationwide during the vote, and police checkpoints were erected across the capital Brazzaville to verify that those circulating had obtained speci
  
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• Algerian army kills militants behind Krechba gas plant attack - source

  20-03-2016 13:12
  Algeria's army has killed four militants authorities believe were responsible for Friday's attack on the Krechba gas facility operated by state oil company Sonatrach with BP and Statoil, a security source said on Sunday. Al Qaeda's North Africa branch claimed responsibility for the rocket attack on the gas plant in central Algeria that caused no casualties or damage. "Output in Krechba's site was not affected, and Sonatrach's CEO visited the gas facility to support workers and encourage them to
  
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• Pictures of the day: 20 March 2016

  20-03-2016 12:22
  
  Migrants on Greek-Macedonian border, lightning and a rocket launch
  
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• Congo presidential election opens under communications blackout

  20-03-2016 11:35
  By Aaron Ross BRAZZAVILLE (Reuters) - Voting in a presidential election in Congo Republic opened on Sunday under a government-imposed communications blackout as long-time leader Denis Sassou Nguesso sought to extend his rule over the Central African oil producer. Sassou Nguesso is heavily favoured to win the polls. The government also banned the use of motor vehicles nationwide during the vote, and police checkpoints were erected across the capital Brazzaville to verify that those circulating ha
  
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• Hinkley Point: six questions for EDF's chief executive

  20-03-2016 11:33
  
  Nuclear power project on the agenda as energy and climate change committee quizzes Vincent de Rivaz this weekThe furore surrounding the planned Hinkley Point nuclear power station in Somerset is likely to go, er, nuclear on Wednesday when MPs question the UK chief executive of EDF, the debt-laden, state-controlled French utility that is meant to be building the plant. Here are some questions for the energy and climate change committee to ask Vincent de Rivaz: Continue reading...
  
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• Tasmania forest logging bid dropped

  20-03-2016 10:57 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Australian and Tasmanian authorities abandon their campaign to allow logging in the Tasmanian Wilderness, a World Heritage site.
  
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• World Sparrow Day: readers share their photographs

  20-03-2016 10:00
  
  Sunday 20 March is World Sparrow Day, a day dedicated to raising awareness of the house sparrow and the threats facing urban birds’ environments Continue reading...
  
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• Spring Equinox Google Doodle: When does the season of rebirth really start?

  20-03-2016 09:59
  
  Google has celebrated the astronomical start of the season – the spring equinox – but in reality spring has been arriving weeks early for yearsGoogle has marked the first day of spring with one of its famous doodles – in this case, a charming little blobman watering a handful of lovely flowers. Google’s chap obviously doesn’t live in England, which has suffered its wettest winter in 250 years and where the daffodils definitely don’t need watering.But there&rsq
  
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• Are these the seven most sustainable cities? - in pictures

  20-03-2016 09:43
  
  Landmarks around the world went dark for Earth Hour this weekend but many cities are making longer term moves towards sustainability. From Hamburg’s coffee pod ban to São Paulo’s ad-free streets – seven cities taking radical steps Continue reading...
  
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• World Water Day 2016: 40 photos to make you think twice about wasting this precious resource

  20-03-2016 09:00
  Access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation services is vital to human health. Dirty water and poor sanitation can cause severe diseases in children, killing 900 under-fives every day across the world, according to United Nations estimates – or one child every two minutes. Among newborn babies, the World Health Organisation says infections caused by a lack of safe water and an unclean environment cause one death every minute somewhere in the world.
  
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• Oman not yet invited to Doha oil producers meeting - minister

  20-03-2016 08:48
  Oman has not yet been invited to a meeting in Qatar on April 17 at which oil producers plan to discuss a global pact to freeze production to support prices, the Omani oil minister said on Sunday. OPEC and non-OPEC producers will meet in the Qatari capital Doha next month, following an initial deal in February between Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Venezuela and non-OPEC member Russia. It remains unclear whether all 13 OPEC members will attend the Doha meeting, and which non-OPEC producers will do so.
  
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• Can Apple's $1.5bn green bond inspire more environmental investments?

  20-03-2016 05:19
  
  Apple’s willingness to borrow billions to address the economic impact of climate change could pave the way for other businesses to do the same On the surface, green bonds seem counter intuitive: why would a company willingly take on debt to finance environmental efforts? But Apple’s recent decision to issue its first green bond suggests that this type of investment could play a key role in reigning in global warming.Like a typical bond, a green bond is simply a way to borrow money. H
  
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• Australian Climate Council calls for urgent action as records tumble

  20-03-2016 02:51
  
  Autumn brings no relief following a record-breaking summer driven by rapid global warming, the Climate Council report saysRecord hot spells in Australia this month blurred the line between summer and autumn in another sign of rapidly advancing global warming, a Climate Council report says.The first four days of March saw maximum temperatures in much of the country 4C above average – and 8C to 12C above average in most of southeastern Australia – the report said. Continue reading...
  
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• Let there be light! Futuristic street lamps tap into the oldest energy source: the sun

  20-03-2016 01:05
  
  Solar-powered civic lighting could play a key role in tackling Britain’s energy crisisNot far from the House of Commons, a stone’s throw from Westminster bridge, two streetlamps will soon be erected.Paid for by Transport for London, these are no ordinary lights. According to their manufacturer, they could play a major role in tackling Britain’s energy crisis. Continue reading...
  
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• February was the warmest month in recorded history, climate experts say

  20-03-2016 01:05
  
  From Alaska to Australia, an unprecedented heating of planet Earth is underway with rising temperatures across huge swathes of land mass and oceansOur planet went through a dramatic change last month. Climate experts revealed that February was the warmest month in recorded history, surpassing the previous global monthly record – set in December. An unprecedented heating of our world is now under way.With the current El Niño weather event only now beginning to tail off, meteorologist
  
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