Environment news

• World Bank to spend 28% of investments on climate change projects

  07-04-2016 23:35
  
  The world’s biggest provider of public finance to developing countries will refocus its financing efforts towards tackling climate change, group said The World Bank has made a “fundamental shift” in its role of alleviating global poverty, by refocusing its financing efforts towards tackling climate change, the group said on Thursday.The world’s biggest provider of public finance to developing countries said it would spend 28% of its investments directly on climate change
  
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• Scientists find fracking contaminated Wyoming water after EPA halted study

  07-04-2016 22:55
  
  Dangerous levels of chemicals found in underground water, while waste was dumped in unlined pits and barriers to protect groundwater were inadequateTwo scientists have highlighted dangerous water contamination from a fracking operation in Wyoming, three years after the US Environmental Protection Agency decided to abandon its investigation into the matter.The report found there were dangerous levels of chemicals in the underground water supply used by the 230 residents of Pavillion, a small town
  
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• U.S. military christens self-driving 'Sea Hunter' warship

  07-04-2016 22:46
  The U.S. military on Thursday christened an experimental self-driving warship designed to hunt for enemy submarines, a major advance in robotic warfare at the core of America's strategy to counter Chinese and Russian naval investments. The 132-foot-long (40-metre-long) unarmed prototype, dubbed Sea Hunter, is the naval equivalent of Google's self-driving car, designed to cruise on the ocean’s surface for two or three months at a time - without a crew or anyone controlling it remotely. "Thi
  
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• Oil slips on modest Keystone impact; more volatility seen

  07-04-2016 22:10
  "The energy trade remains choppy amidst fundamental and macroeconomic cross-currents that are shifting daily," Jim Ritterbusch of Chicago-based oil markets consultancy Ritterbusch & Associates said in a note. U.S. crude futures finished down 49 cents at $37.26, after tumbling as low as $36.69. Prices fell after market intelligence firm Genscape reported a build of 255,804 barrels at the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery hub for U.S. crude futures in the week to Tuesday.
  
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• Ministers abandon plan to scrap farm animal welfare codes

  07-04-2016 20:43
  
  Defra confirms U-turn after outcry over move to repeal legislation and put industry in charge of guidance on chicken farmingMinisters have backed down on plans to repeal farm animal welfare codes, abandoning their move to put the poultry industry in charge of the guidance on chickens that was scheduled to come into force this month.The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs released a statement confirming the U-turn, saying the decision was taken “in light of views raised&rdquo
  
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• Global warming may be far worse than thought, cloud analysis suggests

  07-04-2016 20:00
  
  Researchers find clouds contain more liquid – as opposed to ice – than was previously believed, threatening greater increase in temperaturesClimate change projections have vastly underestimated the role that clouds play, meaning future warming could be far worse than is currently projected, according to new research.Researchers said that a doubling of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere compared with pre-industrial times could result in a global temperature increase of up
  
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• Exclusive - Nigeria targets sale of 40 percent of new state oil firm: draft bill

  07-04-2016 19:48
  By Julia Payne and Camillus Eboh ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria plans to split state oil company NNPC into two to help ease a planned stake sale and wants to sell at least 40 percent of a newly created National Petroleum Co (NPC) in coming years, according to a draft of a long-awaited oil bill seen by Reuters. The bill envisages the sale of at least 10 percent of NPC over five years and is targeting 40 percent or more over 10 years, as Africa's top oil exporter seeks to fix a cash shortage that is ha
  
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• Venezuela's plan to save energy during the drought: three-day weekends

  07-04-2016 19:40
  
  Fridays in April and May will be non-working holidays in the latest attempt to curb energy use as a drought dries up reservoirs used to generate electricityVenezuela has declared two months of three-day weekends in the latest attempt to curb energy use as a months-long drought dries up reservoirs used to generate electricity. President Nicolás Maduro announced that Fridays in April and May would be non-working holidays as part of an effort to stave off electricity rationing.Continue readi
  
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• Drought-stricken California looks to Australia for tips on recycling water

  07-04-2016 19:36
  
  Australia battled a 14-year drought with recycled toilet water, rooftop tanks and shared showers – and now California is hoping to do the sameAs hopes that a much-hyped “Godzilla” El Niño event will banish California’s record drought fade, the state is starting to look for clues from overseas on how to conserve each increasingly precious drop that does fall on its parched land.The water capture efforts of Australia, itself plagued by a lengthy recent drought, are i
  
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• Drought-sticken California looks to Australia for tips on recycling water

  07-04-2016 19:36
  
  Australia battled a 14-year drought with recycled toilet water, rooftop tanks and shared showers – and now California is hoping to do the sameAs hopes that a much-hyped “Godzilla” El Niño event will banish California’s record drought fade, the state is starting to look for clues from overseas on how to conserve each increasingly precious drop that does fall on its parched land.The water capture efforts of Australia, itself plagued by a lengthy recent drought, are i
  
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• New York nuclear plant's future further divides Sanders and Clinton

  07-04-2016 19:20
  
  Sanders says Indian Point facility is ‘a catastrophe waiting to happen’, but former New York senator says he’s late to the issue and site simply needs more oversightThe Indian Point Energy Center, a controversial and ageing nuclear plant near New York City, has split the Democratic presidential candidates . Related: Indian Point nuclear plant reeks of troubled historyContinue reading...
  
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• Solar smartphones screens and edible packaging: the best green innovations of the week

  07-04-2016 19:11
  In a week that saw the steel industry reach crisis point, edie rounds up the latest low-carbon technologies and innovations that show that the potential death of a bastion of the industrial revolution, may create some linchpins of the green revolution.
  
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• Solar smartphone screens and edible packaging: the best green innovations of the week

  07-04-2016 19:11
  
  After a week that saw the steel industry reach crisis point, edie rounds up the latest low-carbon technologies and innovations that show that, in spite of the potential death of a bastion of the industrial revolution, entrepreneurs from across the globe are accelerating the green revolution.
  
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• Record-Setting Mars Odyssey Orbiter Launched 15 Years Ago Today

  07-04-2016 18:04
  
  A long-lived NASA Mars spacecraft began its record-setting Red Planet mission 15 years ago today. On April 7, 2001, the Mars Odyssey orbiter blasted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, kicking off a mission designed to hunt for water ice and study the Red Planet's geology and radiation environment. In December 2010, Odyssey became the longest-serving Mars spacecraft in history, and it's still going strong today.
  
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• 'Key piece of ageing puzzle' identified

  07-04-2016 18:01 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A common drug, lithium, could hold the key to long life, in flies at least, according to research.
  
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• Lord Barker: No reason for UK to appoint another climate envoy

  07-04-2016 17:50
  
  Lord Barker of Battle sees "no reason" for David Cameron to find a successor for him as the Government's climate change envoy, after the Prime Minister confirmed that no one is being lined up for Barker's now vacated post.
  
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• Gibraltar ends annual balloon release on environmental grounds

  07-04-2016 16:57
  
  British overseas territory stops 24-year national day tradition because of threat to marine life
  Gibraltar has ended a 24-year tradition of releasing thousands of white and red balloons on its national day after campaigners warned of the impact on marine life.The British overseas territory’s balloon release each September was one of the biggest of its kind in the world.Continue reading...
  
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• Let's use Tata Steel to build the UK's wind turbines and green economy

  07-04-2016 15:51
  
  Thousands of Tata steel workers may soon be in need of employment. The vast majority of the infrastructure for a decarbonised energy sector is still to be built. Is it really that hard to put two and two together?Following the announcement by Tata Steel that its Port Talbot plant is haemorrhaging money and will be sold, thousands of employees (and their families) are facing a frantic fight for their livelihoods. Campaigners celebrate the closure of coal-fired power plants, but have less to say a
  
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• Supernova explosion impacted Earth within the last 9 million years

  07-04-2016 15:47 via feedproxy.google.com
   Two new papers appearing in the journal Nature this week are "slam-dunk" evidence that energies from supernovae have buffeted our planet, according to astrophysicist Adrian Melott of the University of Kansas.Melott offers his judgment of these studies in an associated letter, entitled "Supernovae in the neighborhood," also appearing this week in Nature.One paper, authored by Anton Wallner and colleagues, proves the existence of ancient seabed deposits of iron-60 isotopes, tr
  
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• Food waste key in emissions cuts

  07-04-2016 15:46 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Reducing food waste and changing the way people consume calories will help deliver a sustainable food system and reduce emissions, a study suggests.
  
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• Reducing food waste would mitigate climate change, study shows

  07-04-2016 15:14
  
  Scientists estimate up to 14% of emissions from agriculture in 2050 could be avoided by managing food use and distribution betterReducing food waste around the world would help curb emissions of planet-warming gases, lessening some of the impacts of climate change such as more extreme weather and rising seas, scientists said on Thursday.Up to 14% of emissions from agriculture in 2050 could be avoided by managing food use and distribution better, according to a new study from the Potsdam Institut
  
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• Why is Honduras the world's deadliest country for environmentalists?

  07-04-2016 15:12
  
  The environment is the new battleground for human rights, and activists are getting caught in the crossfire – particularly in Honduras, where two were killed last monthSince her mother’s murder a month ago, Bertha Isabel Zuniga Cáceres has scarcely had time to grieve. The 25-year-old student is adamant that her mother, Berta Cáceres Flores, will not become just one more Honduran environmental activist whose work was cut short by their assassination.“Development in
  
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• Energy for London: Thinktank calls for city energy company

  07-04-2016 14:42
  
  The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has called on the next London Mayor to set up a publicly-run energy company for London.
  
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• How a sharing economy could catapult hydrogen vehicles into the mainstream

  07-04-2016 14:21
  
  EXCLUSIVE: Embracing a sharing economy could allow hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles to carve out a niche route to accelerate into the mainstream vehicle mix, but only if efforts to boost infrastructure productions are increased.
  
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• Public asked to aid Antarctic research

  07-04-2016 14:17 via bbc.co.uk
  
  British scientists who have set up a network of penguin-monitoring cameras in Antarctica are asking the public to help them carry out their research.
  
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• VIDEO: UK's youngest Antarctic researchers

  07-04-2016 14:14 via bbc.co.uk
  
  How a newly launched Antarctic citizen science project allows young amateur explorers to adopt and monitor their own penguin colony.
  
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• Earth's soils could play key role in locking away greenhouse gases

  07-04-2016 13:51 via feedproxy.google.com
  The world's soils could store an extra 8 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases, helping to limit the impacts of climate change, research suggests.Adopting the latest technologies and sustainable land use practices on a global scale could allow more emissions to be stored in farmland and natural wild spaces, the study shows. 
  
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• Is spirulina the new kale? A Thai startup is bringing back the tiny green algae

  07-04-2016 13:30
  
  EnerGaia is using the rooftop of a Bangkok Novotel to harvest spirulina, an algae some are calling the spinach of the futureThe hot Thai sun is beating down on the rooftop of the Hotel Novotel Bangkok on Siam Square, in downtown Bangkok. There, a few dozen white barrels line the edges of the rooftop; inside, a bright green jam is bubbling in the heat. There’s no smell – just the captivating sight of an urban farm harvesting spirulina, an edible green algae sometimes referred to as th
  
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• We are making the wrong energy choices for future generations | Andrew Simms

  07-04-2016 13:23
  
  Our children’s children will not thank us for investing so heavily in technologies like nuclear at the expense of safer, low-carbon options Which energy technologies will future generations thank us for?Continue reading...
  
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• Shipping industry urged not to 'miss the boat' on emissions reductions

  07-04-2016 13:21
  Calls for the global shipping industry to reduce its carbon emissions intensified this week as a coalition of companies from across the sector have demanded climateaction from the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) ahead of aforthcoming committee meeting.
  
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• Iran says determined to regain oil market share - Tasnim news agency

  07-04-2016 13:08
  Iran's foreign minister said on Thursday that Tehran was determined to regain its share of the oil market after sanctions imposed on the country were lifted under a deal reached with six major powers, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported. "Iran wants to regain its place on the oil market ... in cooperation with other oil producing countries," Mohammad Javad Zarif said after a meeting in Baku with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Azerbaijan Foreign Minister Elmar
  
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• Shell's top Brent trader leaving company - sources

  07-04-2016 12:47
  The head of European oil trading at oil major Royal Dutch Shell , Stany Schrans, will leave the company later this year, two industry sources told Reuters. Shell declined to comment. The sources said Schrans, who has worked for Shell for more than 15 years, was leaving due to personal reasons.
  
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• Scotland turns to carbon capture to alleviate industrial pressure

  07-04-2016 12:41
  
  Researchers from Scotland have been awarded £2.8m to investigate how Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) can support the UK's efforts to reduce emissions in the manufacturing sector, after scientists claimed that a massive CCS drive will be necessary to combat climate change.
  
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• Why are so few British bike-frame builders women?

  07-04-2016 12:00
  
  Sam Haddad talks to female custom handmade bicycle-frame builders about changing the huge gender imbalance in the industry The clouds of doom and gloom may be shrouding British manufacturing right now, yet one particular sector - custom handmade bicycle frames - is thriving. But there’s a giant gender imbalance. Out of 80 builders exhibiting at next week’s Bespoked, the UK handmade bicycle show, just two are women.
  Why is this? Are men biologically designed to wield a lathe better? A
  
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• Russia's ForMin - Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan to take part in Doha oil meeting

  07-04-2016 11:21
  BAKU (Reuters) - Energy ministers from Russia, Iran and Azerbaijan will attend talks in Doha on April 17 on a deal to freeze oil output, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said this week that Iran had confirmed its participation in the meeting, however, it planned to join the deal only after its output rises to 4 million barrels per day. (reporting by Nailia Bagirova; writing by Denis Pinchuk; editing by Maria Kiselyova)
  
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• CSIRO chief executive ‘evasive’ before Senate committee, say Greens

  07-04-2016 10:23
  
  Greens senators say Larry Marshall has not adequately explained why CSIRO cut jobs of climate scientistsGreens senators have labelled the CSIRO chief executive’s performance before a Senate committee as “evasive”, claiming he has not adequately explained why the agency cut the jobs of climate scientists.The CSIRO chief executive, Dr Larry Marshall, told a senate committee hearing he would handle the restructure announcement differently, but attributed stress to staff to “
  
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• 'Painful learning process' for Verizon as it downgrades carbon reduction projections

  07-04-2016 09:30
  
  America's largest wireless telecoms provider has drastically reduced estimations of the environmental impact of the products and services it offers after previously using 'over-optimistic' assumptions to inform its sustainability report.
  
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• European diplomats criticise UN plan to curb airline emissions

  07-04-2016 09:00
  
  ICAO blueprint criticised for having too many exemptions to be credible, too little detail to be trustworthy and for contradicting Paris climate deal A draft UN plan to offset the air industry’s surging growth in emissions contains too many exemptions to be credible and too little detail to be trustworthy, European diplomats say.Aviation is one of only two sectors not covered by the Paris climate agreement and many diplomats are optimistic that the UN International Civil Aviation Organisat
  
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• Edward Thomas's In Pursuit of Spring - historic photo locations revisited

  07-04-2016 07:00
  
  In 1913, poet Edward Thomas cycled from London to Somerset to “meet the spring”. The vivid account of his journey, In Pursuit of Spring, was published the following year. Thomas died on the western front in 1917.More than 100 years later, his nature classic is being republished by Little Toller, with previously unseen photographs of his journey offering us a glimpse of England before the first world war. Adrian Sheratt travelled to the locations of these pictures to photograph what t
  
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• David Cameron decides to do without a climate change envoy

  07-04-2016 07:00
  
  Labour says PM has ‘given up pretence of leadership’ on climate change after he says he has no plans to replace Lord BarkerDavid Cameron has no plans to appoint a new climate change envoy, a role he created in the run-up to the landmark Paris climate summit. Opposition politicians said it showed Cameron had given up any pretence of leadership on climate change and that he was sending out the wrong signals by not filling the role. Continue reading...
  
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• Cricket field day in a wobbly watery world

  07-04-2016 06:30
  
  Hamsterley Forest, Weardale A life supported by surface tension gives water crickets a sensory outlook that can only be imaginedAll winter the ditches beside the forest track flowed with water draining from the hillside. Today, after a fortnight of drier weather, they were reduced to small pools as smooth as mirrors; perfect for the water crickets that had come to skate on their surface.I knelt down, intent on catching one of these insects in the plastic specimen tube I always carry in my pocket
  
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• US and Canada continue climate alliance with move to curb methane emissions

  07-04-2016 02:57
  
  Meeting represents one of the last chances to grow on climate partnership agreed on by Justin Trudeau and Barack Obama before US president leaves officeThe US and Canada will take their newfound climate alliance to the next level on Thursday, advancing efforts to curb emissions of methane, a powerful warming agent produced at fracking sites and tar sands, aging oil installations and pipelines.Thursday’s meeting in Ottawa represents one of the last chances to grow on the climate partnership
  
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