Environment news

• Limiting catch of one type of fish could help save coral reefs, research finds

  04-04-2016 23:59
  
  Study finds protecting a single type of herbivorous fish could be crucial to the recovery of reefs from damage related to climate change Limiting the take of just one type of fish could protect coral reefs around the world from the most serious immediate impacts of climate change, researchers have found.Studying Caribbean coral reefs, Peter Mumby and colleagues from the University of Queensland found that enforcing a rule limiting the fishing of a single type of herbivorous fish – parrotfi
  
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• Cost of stopping new coal and gas projects in freefall, costings reveal

  04-04-2016 23:15
  
  Exclusive: The revenue the federal government would lose if it stopped all new or expanded thermal coal and gas projects has dropped by 80% in 2.5 yearsAs the fossil fuel industry appears increasingly shaky, the cost to the federal budget of stopping all new coal and gas projects in Australia has plummeted – costing less than 20% of what it was estimated to just 2.5 years ago, according to official parliamentary costings seen by Guardian Australia.The Greens have a policy of approving no n
  
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• Oil down over 2 percent; more doubt producer output freeze

  04-04-2016 22:00
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell more than 2 percent on Monday, with Brent touching one-month lows, as investors doubted that producing countries will freeze output to rein in a worldwide glut. U.S. crude futures got only brief support from an outage on a pipeline that helps deliver oil to the U.S. storage hub. "It appears that the speculative longs that were enticed towards the buyside of the energy complex through most of the first quarter by the upcoming production free
  
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• BP oil spill: judge grants final approval for $20bn settlement

  04-04-2016 21:56
  
  The settlement, first announced in July, will cover environmental damage and other claims by the five Gulf states and local governments, paid out over 16 yearsA federal judge in New Orleans has granted final approval to an estimated $20bn settlement, resolving years of litigation over the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.US district judge Carl Barbier’s final order on the settlement was released on Monday. Continue reading...
  
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• Bizarre fossil 'kept babies on strings'

  04-04-2016 21:39 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A newly discovered 430 million-year-old creature appears to have dragged its offspring around on strings, like underwater kites.
  
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• Piracy, pollution and climate change: Bangladeshi fishermen on the brink – in pictures

  04-04-2016 20:34
  
  Last month, a coal ship capsized in southern Bangladesh – the third environmental catastrophe in the fragile mangrove ecosystem in three years. Commercial shipping has brought devastation to a culture dependent on fish for survival Continue reading...
  
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• Climate change threat to public health worse than polio, White House warns

  04-04-2016 19:53
  
  Obama administration report details the diversity of risks and claims global warming is a far more challenging danger than polio virus in some casesClimate change poses a serious danger to public health – worse than polio in some respects – and will strike especially hard at pregnant women, children, low-income people and communities of color, an authoritative US government report warned on Monday.
  The report, The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: A Scie
  
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• Europe faces €253bn nuclear waste bill

  04-04-2016 19:05
  
  Disposal and decommissioning of plants in EU’s 16 nuclear nations outstrips available funds by €120bn, European commission study revealsEurope is facing a €253bn bill for nuclear waste management and plant decommissioning which outstrips available funds by €120bn, according to a major stock-take of the industry by the European commission.The sum breaks down into €123bn for the decommissioning of old reactors and €130bn for the management of spent fuel, radioactive
  
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• Ecuador drills for oil on edge of pristine rainforest in Yasuni

  04-04-2016 18:40
  
  First of 200 wells drilled close to controversial block of forest known to have two of the last tribes living in isolation Ecuador has started drilling for oil on the edge of a controversial block of pristine rainforest inhabited by two of the last tribes in the world living in voluntary isolation.
  The well platform known as Tiputini C, which is now operational a few kilometres from the Peruvian border in the Yasuni national park, is expected to be the first of nearly 200 wells needed to extract
  
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• VIDEO: Footage shows 'passenger' rocket test

  04-04-2016 18:32 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Space transportation company Blue Origin say they have successfully launched and landed a suborbital rocket, which is capable of carrying six passengers, for the third time.
  
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• Massive carbon capture investment 'needed to slow global warming'

  04-04-2016 17:26
  
  Carbon disposal technologies are needed because incremental emissions cuts are not enough to fight climate change, says Oxford University climate scientistCombating climate change successfully will require massive investments in technologies to capture and store carbon dioxide, new research has found.
  Myles Allen, professor of climate dynamics at Oxford University, said carbon disposal technologies would be needed as “backstop” options because they would be the only way to reduce net
  
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• Climate change will wipe $2.5tn off global financial assets: study

  04-04-2016 17:00
  
  Losses could soar to $24tn and wreck the global economy in worst case scenario, first economic modelling estimate suggestsClimate change could cut the value of the world’s financial assets by $2.5tn (£1.7tn), according to the first estimate from economic modelling. In the worst case scenarios, often used by regulators to check the financial health of companies and economies, the losses could soar to $24tn, or 17% of the world’s assets, and wreck the global economy. Continue rea
  
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• Climate change will blow a $2.5tn hole in global financial assets, study warns

  04-04-2016 17:00
  
  Losses could soar to $24tn and wreck the global economy in a worst case scenario, the first economic modelling estimate suggestsClimate change could cut the value of the world’s financial assets by $2.5tn (£1.7tn), according to the first estimate from economic modelling. In the worst case scenarios, often used by regulators to check the financial health of companies and economies, the losses could soar to $24tn, or 17% of the world’s entire assets, and wreck the global economy.
  
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• The man who culls wallabies by the thousand

  04-04-2016 16:44 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Meet the man who shoots 30,000 wallabies a year
  
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• World's largest tidal project receives £100m investment boost

  04-04-2016 16:28
  
  Infrastructure investor Equitix will allocate more than £100m to Scottish tidal power, after entering into a partnership agreement with leading developer Atlantis to aid the development of the world's largest tidal stream project.
  
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• Denmark says aims to solve North Sea gas problems with Maersk

  04-04-2016 15:49
  By Teis Jensen and Erik Matzen COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - The Danish government said it would try to find an economically viable solution for gas production in Denmark's part of the North Sea, after A.P. Moller-Maersk threatened on Monday to shut down the country's main gas field. Maersk's oil subsidiary said it will shut the Tyra gas field in October 2018 if it cannot find a solution by the end of this year to make the ageing site profitable in the long term. Its threat added pressure on the govern
  
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• Massive Robotic Sub Can Carry Out Months-Long Underwater Missions

  04-04-2016 15:42
  
  A new unmanned robotic submersible designed by aerospace giant Boeing can operate autonomously underwater for months at a time, according to company representatives. The 51-foot-long (15.5 meters), bullet-shaped Echo Voyager was unveiled earlier this month, and is Boeing's latest unmanned undersea vehicle. The Echo Voyager is designed to explore the deep sea, and the vehicle's new hybrid rechargeable power system allows it to operate for months underwater without needing to stop for fuel.
  
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• Google and Apple among tech giants backing Clean Power Plan

  04-04-2016 15:32
  
  The four largest tech giants Google, Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft have collectively warned that any attempts to block a low-carbon transition in the US would prove 'costly' to both the global economy and human wellbeing.
  
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• Eat your walnuts today!

  04-04-2016 15:22 via feedproxy.google.com
  Initial findings from the Walnuts and Healthy Aging (WAHA) study presented at Experimental Biology 2016 (EB) indicate that daily walnut consumption positively impacts blood cholesterol levels without adverse effects on body weight among older adults. The WAHA study is a dual site two-year clinical trial conducted by researchers from the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona and Loma Linda University and is aimed at determining the effect of walnuts on age-related health issues. "Given walnuts a
  
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• Bloomberg climate taskforce targets financial filings

  04-04-2016 14:48
  
  Lead analyst recommends companies to disclose their climate risk exposure to avoid legal issues faced by Peabody and Exxon, Climate Home reportsClimate risk information should form part of companies’ routine financial filings, a taskforce led by Michael Bloomberg is recommending.As companies like Peabody Energy and Exxon Mobil face legal probes over allegedly lying about their exposure, it reinforces moves for greater transparency. Continue reading...
  
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• RB exceeds waste reductions targets as emissions lag

  04-04-2016 14:13
  
  Health and hygiene company RB, which owns brands including Durex, Calgon and Gaviscon, has revealed it has reached its waste management goals five years early, although improvement on carbon reductions is still needed.
  
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• RB passes waste reductions targets as emissions lag

  04-04-2016 13:57
  
  Health and hygiene company RB, which owns brands including Durex, Calgon and Gaviscon, has revealed it has reached its waste management goals five years early, although improvement on carbon reductions is still needed.
  
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• Brexit could put Britain's environment at risk, says Stanley Johnson

  04-04-2016 13:48
  
  Father of leading leave campaigner, Boris Johnson, warns absence of EU laws will embolden traditional Tory approach and weaken environmental standardsA move out of the EU would leave Britain’s environment open to the legislative whims of a Conservative government that has shown little inclination for good stewardship, according to a leading ‘green’ Tory.If Britons vote to leave in the June referendum, many British environmental laws currently transposed from EU regulations woul
  
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• Manufacturers seek security as Government launches consultation on energy cost relief

  04-04-2016 13:31
  
  Manufacturers have warned that permanent exemption from energy policy costs is the 'only long-term solution' that can secure the future of energy intensive sectors such as the steel industry, after the Government opened a consultation which could save these industries £390m a year.
  
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• Russian energy minister says may meet Saudi counterpart before Doha event

  04-04-2016 13:25
  Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Monday that he may meet his Saudi Arabian counterpart before a planned oil producers' meeting in Doha on April 17. Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, will agree to freeze crude oil production levels only if Iran and other major producers do so, the kingdom's deputy crown prince said in an interview with Bloomberg last week. "If there is such an opportunity, surely we will talk to our colleagues," he said about a possible meeting with his S
  
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• VIDEO: Test flight success for 'passenger' rocket

  04-04-2016 13:23 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Space transportation company Blue Origin say they have successfully launched and landed a suborbital rocket, which is capable of carrying six passengers, for the third time.
  
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• Russia says Iran confirms participation in Doha meeting, not to freeze oil output so far

  04-04-2016 13:18
  NOVOKUZNETSK, Russia (Reuters) - Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Monday that Iran has confirmed its participation in a Doha meeting on April 17, however, it planned to join the oil output freeze agreement only after its output rises to 4 million barrels per day. (Reporting by Anastasia Lyrchikova; writing by Katya Golubkova)
  
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• Planned gas pipeline alongside Indian Point nuclear plant stirs meltdown fears

  04-04-2016 13:00
  
  Leak in pipeline being built by energy giant Spectra could lead to shutdown – or worse – at the New York state power station, experts sayAcross a narrow swath cut by bulldozers and chainsaws through the woods of Westchester County, New York, triangular yellow flags are clotheslined between pairs of trees. The flags trace the eventual path of the gas pipeline that the energy giant Spectra is building through the area, escorted at times by police and harried by local residents worried
  
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• World Bank may cut growth forecast for Azerbaijan

  04-04-2016 12:57
  By Margarita Antidze TBILISI (Reuters) - The World Bank is likely to cut its economic growth forecast for Azerbaijan and recommend to the government that it reduce reliance on oil revenues and press ahead with structural reforms, the bank's local manager said on Monday. A crash in oil prices last year sent the Azeri economy into crisis, forcing the central bank to adopt a floating manat rate and take measures to try to prevent a collapse of the banking sector. "Current growth forecast for 2016 i
  
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• Oil falls as investors turn cool on production freeze deal

  04-04-2016 12:42
  By Amanda Cooper LONDON (Reuters) - Oil hovered around one-month lows on Monday as investors ditched some of their bullish bets on another price rise and the chances that top exporters will agree to rein in overproduction appeared to fade. Iran will continue increasing oil production and exports until it reaches the market position it enjoyed before the imposition of sanctions, Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh was quoted by the semi-official Mehr news agency as saying. Saudi Arabia, which spearheaded
  
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• Sahara dust only 'partly responsible' for UK's worst pollution event in 10 years

  04-04-2016 12:41
  
  Thin film of red dust enveloping parts of country for two weeks in 2014 came mostly from farms in mainland Europe and local emissions, study saysBritain’s most serious air pollution event in the past 10 years was only partly caused by “natural” dust blowing in from the Sahara desert and mostly came from farmers fertilising their fields and industrial emissions from mainland Europe, a scientific paper has concluded.The event, which lasted nearly two weeks in March and April in 2
  
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• Unilever cancels palm oil sourcing contracts over deforestation concerns

  04-04-2016 12:30
  
  Global consumer goods firm Unilever has cancelled its contracts with a Malaysian-based palm oil producer and trader which has been suspended over deforestation and community conflict issues.
  
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• Calls for electricity rationing in Tasmania as dam levels fall to 13.6%

  04-04-2016 12:16
  
  Tasmanian government ships in diesel generators as record low rainfall combined with a broken Basslink cable cause energy shortages across stateCalls for electricity rationing are being renewed in Tasmania as hydro dam levels fall further and with repairs to the broken Bass Strait cable still some time away.In the seven days to Monday dams across the state’s hydro scheme lost 0.3% capacity and stand at 13.6%, with further drops forecast. Continue reading...
  
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• The similarities between Trump support and climate denial | Dana Nuccitelli

  04-04-2016 12:00
  
  Old, white, conservative males support Trump and oppose free market climate solutions for similar reasons
  It’s long puzzled climate realists: why do free market supporters oppose free market solutions to climate change? The answer may be related to another puzzling question: why does Donald Trump have such unwavering support among a certain segment of American conservatives? A recent paper by Jeremiah Bohr published in the journal Environmental Politics sought to answer the climate questio
  
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• Eyewitness: Lekedi Park, Gabon

  04-04-2016 11:36
  
  Photographs from the Eyewitness series Continue reading...
  
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• Tetra Pak joins Circular Economy 100 to accelerate closed-loop transition

  04-04-2016 09:30
  
  Food processing and packaging company Tetra Pak has announced that it has become a corporate member of the Circular Economy 100 (CE100), the innovation platform launched by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation to accelerate circular economy ambitions.
  
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• Maersk to shut Tyra field if no viable solution found by year end

  04-04-2016 09:16
  By Teis Jensen COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - A.P. Moller-Maersk will shut Denmark's largest gas field in October 2018 if it is not able to find an economically viable solution for the field by the end of this year. More than 90 percent of Denmark's gas is processed through the Tyra field, but some of that is produced at other Danish North Sea fields and could be exported in other ways, a spokeswoman for Maersk said. Tyra East and Tyra West form a hub for a number of smaller facilities in the Tyra field
  
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• Story of cities #14: London's Great Stink heralds a wonder of the industrial world

  04-04-2016 08:30
  
  By the mid-1800s, the River Thames had been used as a dumping ground for human excrement for centuries. At last, fear of its ‘evil odour’ led to one of the greatest advancements in urban planning: Joseph Bazalgette’s sewage system Read more articles in the series hereIn the steaming hot summer of 1858, the hideous stench of human excrement rising from the River Thames and seeping through the hallowed halls of the Houses of Parliament finally got too much for Britain’s pol
  
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• Iran oil minister says will keep raising production - Mehr news agency

  04-04-2016 07:51
  Iran will continue increasing its oil production and exports until it reaches the market position it enjoyed before the imposition of sanctions, Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh was quoted by the semi-official Mehr news agency as saying. Zanganeh was speaking at the weekend ahead of an April 17 meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers in Doha to discuss a possible output freeze to prop up prices, and his comment appeared to further threaten the prospect of an effective agreement at the meeting. On
  
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• A Lakeland spring

  04-04-2016 06:30
  
  The Southern Fells, Lake District Looking at the clear tops above, I feel like a kid waiting to get at his presentsI am just about to duck instinctively when whatever is heading straight at our heads banks sharply and misses us by metres, its yellow-rimmed eyes fixed upon us as it flies. Its chest is the colour of snow and stone and unmistakable.There almost seems to be a moment of mutual surprise between us and the peregrine. After shooting over a rocky brow, it drifts easily through the wide e
  
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• Adani's Carmichael mine approval labelled 'economic stupidity'

  04-04-2016 04:54
  
  Demonstrators outside Queensland’s Parliament House chant ‘reef not coal’ after Adani clears regulatory hurdleThe Queensland government’s approval of leases for Adani’s Carmichael mine, Australia’s largest proposed coal project, was “economic stupidity and environmental insanity”, a protest rally heard on Monday.The Queensland Greens Senate candidate and former Australian Democrats leader Andrew Bartlett told the demonstration outside Queensland&rs
  
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