Environment news

• Oil up as Kuwait backs freeze plan; API boosts post-settlement trade

  05-04-2016 23:31
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Tuesday after Kuwait insisted major producers will agree to freeze output later this month even as key player Iran continued to balk at the plan. The market extended gains in post-settlement trade after preliminary data on U.S. crude supply-demand for last week from industry group American Petroleum Institute (API) showed a surprise draw of 4.3 million barrels. The U.S. government's Energy Information Administration (EIA) will release of
  
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• Project to drill into 'dinosaur crater'

  05-04-2016 19:42 via bbc.co.uk
  
  An expedition gets under way to drill into the Chicxulub Crater, the deep scar made in the Earth's surface by the asteroid that hastened the end of the dinosaurs.
  
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• Pig heart kept beating in baboon

  05-04-2016 19:39 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists say they have kept a pig heart alive in a baboon for more than two years.
  
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• U.S., Volkswagen may not reach emissions deal by April 21 - government official

  05-04-2016 19:05
  By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. environmental official expressed uncertainty on Tuesday about whether the Obama administration and Volkswagen AG will meet an April 21 court deadline to come up with a plan to address excess emissions from 580,000 diesel vehicles sold in the country. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy told reporters that the two sides were in "really robust" ongoing talks but said she did not know if they would agree to a deal by April 21. VW, Europe's biggest
  
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• Illegal gold mining in Brazil exposing indigenous peoples to high levels of mercury

  05-04-2016 18:52 via feedproxy.google.com
  Illegal gold mining in the Amazon has a devastating effect on indigenous peoples, writes Sarina Kidd. First the miners bring disease, deforestation and even murder. Then long after they have gone, communities are left to suffer deadly mercury poisoning. Now the UN has been called on to intervene.In Brazil, new statistics reveal alarming rates of mercury poisoning amongst the Yanomami and Yekuana. 90% of Indians in one community are severely affected, with levels far above that recommended by the
  
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• Why you LOVE your job: Sustainability professionals report record levels of career satisfaction

  05-04-2016 18:27
  
  Environment and sustainability professionals are among the happiest workers in the UK, according to the latest annual Practitioner Survey from the Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment (IEMA).
  
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• Brexit would leave UK farmers up to €34,000 worse off, study finds

  05-04-2016 18:26
  
  Research for NFU suggests the sector would have a mixed future outside the EU, with some farmers doing better than othersFarmers will lose out by as much as €34,000 (£27,400) a year if the UK votes to leave the EU, unless new national taxpayer subsidies are put in place to bolster farm incomes, a new study has found.The agricultural sector will face a mixed picture, according to the report, which projects its post-Brexit future. Some farmers, such as those specialising in cereals and
  
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• UK supermarkets begin seasonal homegrown asparagus race

  05-04-2016 17:08
  
  Tesco and Sainsbury’s are battling to become the first supermarket to sell British asparagus this yearUK supermarkets are battling to be the first to sell British-grown asparagus this year, a full two weeks before the start of the traditional but notoriously short season.Tesco and Sainsbury’s areworking to get the stocks on shelves this week, after the recent spell of cold and rainy weather delayed arrival in stores. Continue reading...
  
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• Gunmen kidnap Lebanese, kill soldier in Nigeria's Delta - police

  05-04-2016 17:07
  YENAGOA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Gunmen killed a Nigerian soldier and kidnapped a Lebanese construction worker on Tuesday in the southern oil-producing Niger Delta, police said. "One Lebanese, Ramzi Bau Hadir, aged 53 years, was kidnapped by the armed bandits," said Butswat Asinim, a police spokesman in Bayselsa state. A resident said a second foreigner had been kidnapped but Asinim did not confirm this. (Reporting by Tife Owolabi; Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Catherine Evans)
  
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• Grauer’s gorilla: world's largest great ape being wiped out by war

  05-04-2016 17:05
  
  Report reveals dramatic decline in numbers of Grauer’s gorilla in in war-torn eastern Democratic Republic of CongoNumbers of the world’s largest great ape have dropped dramatically from a population of 17,000 in 1995 to 3,800 today, according to new research.
  The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Fauna and Flora International believe their findings in a report published this week justify raising the status of the Grauer’s gorilla (G. b. graueri) to “critically endan
  
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• Government offers flooding insurance to high-risk households

  05-04-2016 16:06
  
  The UK Government has teamed up with the insurance industry to help lower the costs of insurance premiums for up to 350,000 homes in flood-hit areas across country.
  
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• Could climate change destroy $24trn in financial assets?

  05-04-2016 15:18
  
  A 'worst case scenario' climate change impact could see $24trn wiped-out from assets, placing 17% of the world's economy at severe risk, new research from the London School of Economics (LSE) has warned.
  
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• Signs point to deal on oil output - Kuwait OPEC official, sources

  05-04-2016 15:14
  By Ahmed Hagagy KUWAIT (Reuters) - All signs suggest a meeting of oil-producing countries on April 17 will deliver an agreement to freeze output, Kuwait's OPEC governor and two sources said, suggesting Iran's aim to raise supply will not scupper a deal aimed at supporting prices. The Kuwaiti governor, Nawal Al-Fuzaia, also said in a speech at the country's oil ministry that she expected the oil market to achieve a balance between supply and demand in the second half of this year, leading to high
  
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• Polar bears losing weight as Arctic sea ice melts, Canadian study finds

  05-04-2016 15:05
  
  Between 1984 and 2009 the weight of female bears in Ontario fell by over 10% while climate change meant they had 30 fewer days a year to hunt seal on iceThree decades of melting sea ice has led to significant weight loss among the world’s southernmost population of polar bears, new data from Canadian researchers suggests.
  “It’s a red flag,” said Martyn Obbard, a scientist with the Ontario provincial government and co-author of a recently published study in the journal Arc
  
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• Lead EU carbon policymaker calls for end to UK price floor to help steel

  05-04-2016 14:57
  By Alissa de Carbonnel BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Britain should abolish its carbon floor price to help the hard-hit steel industry, the lawmaker shepherding a reform of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) through parliament said on Tuesday. With the British government looking for ways to save jobs threatened by the sale of Indian firm Tata Steel's British plants, Scottish Conservative Ian Duncan said repealing the carbon floor was one of the few tools available to it. "The carbon floor price must g
  
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• Oil near one-month low on unexpected U.S. demand drop

  05-04-2016 14:42
  U.S. gasoline demand, one of the strongest pillars supporting oil consumption, fell in January for the first time in 14 months, U.S. Energy Information Administration data showed. Brent crude, the global oil price benchmark, was down 27 cents at $37.42 (26 pounds) a barrel at 1238 GMT, close to a one-month low. "As long as most speculative money is long-positioned, there is more room for closing positions and falling prices." Analysts at BNP Paribas agreed that oil prices could slide further, sa
  
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• Total says costs still unacceptably high in oil and gas

  05-04-2016 14:33
  By Bate Felix PAU, France (Reuters) - Oil and gas companies must make further serious cost cuts and should work together to generate further savings to weather the current difficult downturn, Total's executive Arnaud Breuillac said on Tuesday. Costs are still unacceptably high and cost reduction was necessary to sustain businesses, Breuillac, President for Exploration & Production at the French oil and gas major, told an industry event in Pau, southwest France. Oil prices have plunged since
  
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• Green policies are not responsible for the Tata steel crisis

  05-04-2016 14:32
  
  Analysis of the figures show Port Talbot may actually have been profiting from efforts to reduce carbon emissionsThere was a slew of comment over the weekend regarding the role that Britain’s carbon reduction efforts played in Tata Steel’s decision to sell off its UK operations.A Daily Mail editorial called “the crippling green taxes imposed by Ed Miliband’s Climate Change Act in 2008” a “monstrous handicap” that had driven the steelworks and its 5,000 w
  
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• Save the bees – they’re the key to being beautiful, says Gwyneth Paltrow

  05-04-2016 14:29
  
  The actress-turned-lifestyle-guru is no stranger to bizarre beauty regimes – and her latest, which involves being stung by bees, is no exceptionName: Bees.Age: Their earliest known ancestor was fossilised in the Cretaceous period. Continue reading...
  
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• Dung clue to Hannibal's Alpine crossing

  05-04-2016 13:48 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists may be closer to revealing the route taken by Hannibal as he crossed to Alps to attack ancient Rome.
  
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• Oxfam tackles fashion waste through redistribution scheme

  05-04-2016 13:11
  
  Oxfam have joined forces with the UK's largest independent parcel delivery service CollectPlus to offer a convenient way for people to return unwanted clothing from the nation's wardrobes, after research showed that a total of 350 million items are unused in the UK.
  
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• Bid to trap raccoon loose in Highlands

  05-04-2016 13:01 via bbc.co.uk
  
  An animal welfare charity attempts to trap a raccoon that was spotted several miles from where one was filmed in the Scottish Highlands.
  
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• Scrapping Hinkley for renewable alternatives will save 'tens of billions'

  05-04-2016 12:57
  
  Scrapping plans for new nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point in Somerset and building huge amounts of renewable power instead would save the UK tens of billions of pounds, according to an analysis that compares likely future costs.
  
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• Iran eyes $55 billion petrochemical investment - deputy minister

  05-04-2016 12:51
  Iran needs $55 billion (39 billion pounds) of investment in the petrochemicals sector in the next 10 years, Deputy Oil Minister Marzieh Shahdaei said in the German capital on Tuesday. "Iran needs $55 billion for 60 projects in the petrochemicals sector over a period of 10 years," she said at a conference. Iran has said it will not join fellow OPEC and non-OPEC members in a plan to be discussed in Doha to freeze oil production to boost prices.
  
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• Inside the abandoned city of Pripyat, 30 years after Chernobyl – in pictures

  05-04-2016 12:30
  
  Tens of thousands were evacuated from the neighbouring city of Pripyat following the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986. Lynn Hilton visits the deserted city – and finds homes, schools and a fairground left to decayContinue reading...
  
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• Foreign banks aren't involved in leading Russian privatisation, may get secondary roles

  05-04-2016 11:50
  By Oksana Kobzeva MOSCOW (Reuters) - Foreign banks are not involved in leading the privatisation of oil firm Bashneft and diamond miner Alrosa , a Sberbank executive said on Tuesday, but banking sources said they may get secondary roles when the final decision is taken. Maxim Poletayev, first deputy chairman of Sberbank's board, said he hoped Sberbank CIB would be the global coordinator for the Bashneft privatisation. Last night the economy ministry said it had chosen VTB Capital to arrange the
  
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• Saudi Arabia to sign $21.5 billion energy, development deals with Egypt - sources

  05-04-2016 11:19
  Saudi Arabia is expected to sign a $20 billion deal to finance Egypt's petroleum needs for the next five years and a $1.5 billion deal to develop its Sinai region, two Egyptian government sources told Reuters on Tuesday. The agreements are tabled to be signed on Thursday during a visit to Cairo by Saudi Arabia's King Salman, a rare foreign trip. Saudi Arabia, along with other Gulf oil producers, has pumped billions of dollars into Egypt's flagging economy since the army toppled President Mohamed
  
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• Vietnam warns of dire impact from planned Mekong dams

  05-04-2016 11:06
  
  Study indicates ‘very high adverse effects’ on the environment and economy if 11 proposed dams are built on the lower mainstream Mekong riverVietnam has predicted “very high adverse effects” on the Mekong river environment and economy if 11 proposed dams are built on its lower mainstream.The warning is the result of a 2 1/2 year study submitted by Vietnam to the Mekong River Commission comprising Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.Continue reading...
  
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• Ikea aims to become number one residential solar retailer

  05-04-2016 09:30
  
  Swedish furniture giant Ikea plans to start offering residential solar arrays from its stores across nine countries including the UK and the Netherlands in 2016/17, in a bid to provide households with an opportunity to reduce energy costs.
  
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• Dust to dust: animals lost in an African apocalypse – in pictures

  05-04-2016 08:00
  
  Nick Brandt built lifesized panels depicting Africa’s great creatures and placed them in scenes where they used to roam. The resulting photographs serve as a potent reminder of what poaching, habitat loss and climate change put at stake Continue reading...
  
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• Scrapping Hinkley for renewable alternatives would save 'tens of billions'

  05-04-2016 07:01
  
  Solar and wind would generate the equivalent power to Hinkley over the plant’s planned lifetime for £40bn less, says analysis comparing future costsScrapping plans for new nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point in Somerset and building huge amounts of renewable power instead would save the UK tens of billions of pounds, according to an analysis that compares likely future costs.
  The Intergenerational Foundation thinktank calculated that Britain would pay up to £40bn less for renewab
  
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• The world's most stunning environment photos – in pictures

  05-04-2016 06:47
  
  The Environmental Photographer of the Year competition presents the best of environmentally and socially conscious photography from all over the world. Ahead of the 18 April deadline for submission, we take a look at previous years’ winners Continue reading...
  
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• Ash – a life-enhancing tree that won't give up easily

  05-04-2016 06:30
  
  Wayland Wood, Norfolk One of the things I love about ash is its reluctance to give up lifeThe proximity of a busy road to such a glorious fragment of Domesday England is one of my only regrets about Wayland. I also wish this t1000-year-old wood were five times bigger. There is at least consolation in its ownership by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust and in its regime of wonderfully restrained untidiness. At times it feels as if there’s as much dead wood on the ground as there is canopy overhead.
  
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• U.S. judge approves BP settlement for 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill

  05-04-2016 05:49
  U.S. Judge Carl Barbier granted final approval on Monday to BP Plc's civil settlement over its 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill after it reached a deal in July 2015 to pay up to $18.7 billion in penalties to the U.S. government and five states. "Today's action holds BP accountable with the largest environmental penalty of all time while launching one of the most extensive environmental restoration efforts ever undertaken," U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a statement. The company at the
  
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• Pollution alert in Mexico City on eve of new driving rule

  05-04-2016 04:01
  MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico City authorities have declared a pollution alert after smog rose to 1½ times acceptable limits on the eve of an unpopular new program to reduce the number of cars on the road in hopes of improving the capital's dirty air.
  
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• NASA examines El Nino's impact on ocean's food source

  05-04-2016 02:46 via feedproxy.google.com
  El Niño years can have a big impact on the littlest plants in the ocean, and NASA scientists are studying the relationship between the two. In El Niño years, huge masses of warm water – equivalent to about half of the volume of the Mediterranean Sea – slosh east across the Pacific Ocean towards South America. While this warm water changes storm systems in the atmosphere, it also has an impact below the ocean’s surface. These impacts, which researchers can vis
  
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• Species rule change considered

  05-04-2016 01:16 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A government consultation on whether to change the rules governing how contractors deal with protected species when developing sites ends this week.
  
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• Vitamin D 'heals damaged hearts'

  05-04-2016 00:51 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Vitamin D supplements may help people with a failing heart, a study suggests.
  
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