Environment news

• Hopes fade of finding survivors from Ecuador quake as death toll nears 500

  19-04-2016 22:53
  By Julia Symmes Cobb and Ana Isabel Martinez PEDERNALES, Ecuador (Reuters) - Rescuers in Ecuador were losing hope on Tuesday of finding more survivors from an earthquake that killed nearly 500 people and dealt a shattering blow to the South American OPEC country's already fragile economy. The 7.8 magnitude quake, which struck late Saturday, also left 107 people missing, and injured more than 4,000, according to the latest government tallies. Supervising rescue work in the disaster zone, Ecuador'
  
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• Great Barrier Reef: 93% of reefs hit by coral bleaching

  19-04-2016 22:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Comprehensive aerial survey reveals full extent of the devastation caused by abnormally warm ocean temperaturesAlmost 93% of reefs on the Great Barrier Reef have been hit by coral bleaching, according to a comprehensive survey revealing the full extent of the devastation caused by abnormally warm ocean temperatures sweeping the globe.There have only been three mass bleaching events recorded on the reef , and all of them have happened since 1998. Scientists say this episode is the worst they&rsqu
  
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• Ministers back down on rule 'gagging' scientists

  19-04-2016 21:20 via theguardian.com
  
  Ban threatened to silence academics and exclude them from public debates on subjects including energy and climate changeMinisters have exempted thousands of scientists from a controversial “gagging clause” that would have prevented the academics from trying to influence government on public policy matters.The move follows intense pressure from the scientific community to amend proposals drawn up by the Cabinet Office to stop organisations, mostly charities, from using taxpayer funded
  
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• François Hollande to gather ministers for Hinkley Point talks

  19-04-2016 19:21 via theguardian.com
  
  French president and ministers expected to consider financing options for project to build two nuclear reactorsThe French president, François Hollande, is expected to hold a meeting of government ministers at the Elysée palace on Wednesday to discuss whether or not the construction of the £18bn Hinkley Point nuclear power plant in Britain will go ahead.The French government is not yet expected to reach a final decision on the controversial plans for France’s state-contr
  
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• Exclusive - Iran struggles to find enough ships for oil exports

  19-04-2016 19:12
  By Jonathan Saul and Parisa Hafezi LONDON (Reuters) - Iran faces a struggle to increase oil exports because many of its tankers are tied up storing crude, some are not seaworthy, and foreign shipowners remain reluctant to carry its cargoes. Tehran is seeking to make up for lost trade to Europe following the lifting of EU sanctions imposed in 2011 and 2012, which deprived it of a market that accounted for over a third of its exports and left it relying completely on Asian buyers. Iran has 55-60 o
  
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• Aviva on the road to 100% renewables with rooftop solar investment

  19-04-2016 18:10
  
  Aviva has invested in rooftop solar PV systems across three of its UK sites as part of the investment providor's commitment to use 100% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2025.
  
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• MIT finds tectonic collisions had major impact on climatic shifts

  19-04-2016 17:44 via feedproxy.google.com
  For hundreds of millions of years, Earth's climate has remained on a fairly even keel, with some dramatic exceptions: Around 80 million years ago, the planet's temperature plummeted, along with carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. The Earth eventually recovered, only to swing back into the present-day ice age 50 million years ago. Now geologists at MIT have identified the likely cause of both ice ages, as well as a natural mechanism for carbon sequestration. Just prior to both periods,
  
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• Minister admits lights would stay on even if Hinkley nuclear plant is delayed

  19-04-2016 17:15 via theguardian.com
  
  UK energy secretary admits for the first time that any delays or cancellations to new nuclear reactors would not compromise national energy supply The UK’s energy secretary has admitted for the first time that the lights would stay on if new nuclear reactors at Hinkley were cancelled or delayed. Amber Rudd has previously said that “energy security has to be the number one priority” and that new gas and nuclear power would be “central to our energy-secure future”. Co
  
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• Earth Day checklist: five simple things you can do to make a difference

  19-04-2016 16:29 via theguardian.com
  
  Celebrating Earth Day on 22 April is nice, but is one day truly enough? Madeleine Somerville describes five small lifestyle shifts that will make a big impactOne of the questions I receive most frequently from readers is whether our individual actions truly make a difference. If you choose to recycle, compost, carpool, reduce consumption and refuse plastic bags, does it have an effect? Does it matter at all? Will it do anything to eliminate the Great Pacific garbage patch? The answer is yes. Con
  
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• Carbon Trust launches energy saving Green Business Fund

  19-04-2016 15:53
  
  Small and medium-enterprises (SMEs) will be the benefactors of a £7m windfall that offers expert advice and increased opportunities to improve energy efficiency, after energy consultants the Carbon Trust launched a new Green Business Fund.
  
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• Oil rises as Kuwaiti strike cuts output for third day

  19-04-2016 15:38
  By Karolin Schaps LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Tuesday as a strike by oil workers in Kuwait nearly halved crude production from the OPEC member, overshadowing bearish sentiment following Sunday's failure by producers to agree to freeze output levels. Thousands of Kuwaiti oil workers downed tools for a third day on Tuesday to protest against planned public sector pay reform, cutting crude output to 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd), according to an oil spokesman cited by news agency KUNA
  
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• Goldman prize winner: 'I will never be defeated by the mining companies'

  19-04-2016 15:23 via theguardian.com
  
  Maxima Acuña de Chaupe has won a major environmental prize for defending her land from the biggest gold-mining project in South AmericaEnvironmental activism may not have been what Maxima Acuña de Chaupe had in mind when in 2011 she refused to sell her 60-acre plot of land to the biggest gold-mining project in South America.
  She did not belong to any movement or organisation but she doggedly held on to her land in spite of her claims of beatings, death threats, intimidation and cou
  
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• Which trees face death in drought?

  19-04-2016 14:19 via feedproxy.google.com
  Two hundred-twenty-five million trees dead in the southwest in a 2002 drought. Three hundred million trees in Texas in 2011. Twelve million this past year in California.  Throughout the world, large numbers of trees are dying in extreme heat and drought events. Because mass die-offs can have critical consequences for the future of forests and the future of Earth’s climate, scientists are trying to understand how a warming climate could affect how often tree mortality events occur &nda
  
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• M&S becomes first retailer to make Responsible Fishing pledge

  19-04-2016 13:57
  
  Marks & Spencer (M&S) has made an industry-leading commitment to support and improve the environmental sustainability of the fishing sector by signing up to the UK's Responsible Fishing Scheme (RFS).
  
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• Heathrow environmental activists fined for blocking airport tunnel

  19-04-2016 13:33 via theguardian.com
  
  Three members of Plane Stupid fined £200 each for wilful obstruction of a public highway during protest against a third runway last NovemberThree environmental activists who blocked a tunnel at Heathrow airport last year have been issued fines of £200 each by a court on Tuesday.The protest by Plane Stupid activists last November was part of a series of actions by the group against the expansion of the airport, including the so-called Heathrow 13 who in February were spared prison sen
  
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• Scientists set eyes on ice moon Europa

  19-04-2016 13:32 via bbc.co.uk
  
  European scientists are meeting in Paris to consider their best option for exploring Europa, the moon of Jupiter widely regarded as the most likely place beyond Earth to support microbial life.
  
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• Oil industry services group Aker to cut 280 jobs in Britain

  19-04-2016 13:21
  Norwegian oil industry engineering group Aker Solutions is to cut around 280 jobs, 11 percent of its UK workforce, in its Aberdeen and London offices, the company said on Tuesday, blaming poor market conditions. Aker suspended dividend payments in February and warned market conditions would remain challenging as the slump in oil prices has led to reduced spending by oil companies. "Aker Solutions (has begun) a consultation with employee representatives on reducing its UK Subsea workforce capacit
  
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• Oil rises as Kuwaiti oil workers strike cuts output for third day

  19-04-2016 12:47
  By Karolin Schaps LONDON (Reuters) - Oil rose around two percent on Tuesday as a strike by oil workers in Kuwait nearly halved crude production from the OPEC member, overshadowing bearish sentiment following Sunday's failure by producers to agree to freeze output levels. Thousands of Kuwaiti oil workers downed tools for a third day on Tuesday to protest against planned public sector pay reform, cutting crude output to 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd), according to an oil spokesman cited by news
  
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• Justin Trudeau to lobby for quick approval of Paris climate deal

  19-04-2016 12:33 via theguardian.com
  
  Canadian prime minister seeks to bring global agreement into force as soon as possible in bid to reverse reputation as ‘carbon bully’Justin Trudeau will lobby governments to approve the Paris climate agreement and bring it into force as soon as possible, reversing Canada’s past reputation as a “carbon bully”.The Canadian prime minister will join 155 other countries at the United Nations on Friday for a symbolic signing ceremony.Continue reading...
  
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• Behind the Brands: Unilever tops Oxfam's 'Big 10' supply chain rankings

  19-04-2016 12:19
  
  Global consumer goods firm Unilever has overtaken nutrition business Nestlé to claim the top spot in Oxfam's 'Behind the Brands' campaign, which measures and ranks the social sustainability of the 'Big 10' global food and drinks companies.
  
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• Tesco changes rules on Kenya green beans to cut food waste

  19-04-2016 12:17 via theguardian.com
  
  Relaxing of specifications on fine green beans is expected to save more than 135 tonnes of edible crops being wasted each year, supermarket saysTesco is to relax rules on fine green beans imported from Kenya in a move expected to save more than 135 tonnes of edible crops from going to waste every year.The UK’s largest retailer said shoppers’ preoccupation with pre-prepared vegetables had meant that until recently growers were required to supply fine beans within a strictly specified
  
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• EU membership has boosted UK green policy and accelerated climate action, MPs say

  19-04-2016 12:10
  
  UK environmental policy has benefited from multilateral negotiations with other EU Member States in areas such as biodiversity, air quality and water pollution, according to a major new report from the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC).
  
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• Study: humans have caused all the global warming since 1950 | Dana Nuccitelli

  19-04-2016 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Global warming attribution studies consistently find humans are responsible for all global warming over the past six decades.
  A new study published in Climate Dynamics has found that humans are responsible for virtually all of the observed global warming since the mid-20th century. It’s not a novel result – in fact, most global warming attribution studies have arrived at the same general result – but this study uses a new approach. Continue reading...
  
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• Microplastics: which beauty brands are safe to use?

  19-04-2016 11:43 via theguardian.com
  
  The tiny beads used in exfoliant scrubs and toothpastes are at various stages of being phased out by the industry. Until a blanket ban comes into force, here’s a handy list of popular brands to help you choose which to use and which to avoidLast week a Greenpeace poll found that two-thirds of the British public think plastic microbeads used in exfoliant toiletries should be banned.The tiny beads - found in face and body scrubs and some toothpastes - are too small to be captured through exi
  
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• Europe bans two endocrine-disrupting weedkillers

  19-04-2016 11:24 via theguardian.com
  
  Use of Amitrole and Isoproturon, herbicides that have been linked to cancer, infertility and birth defects, is prohibited from 30 September The European commission has ordered a ground-breaking moratorium on two endocrine-disrupting weedkillers that have been linked to thyroid cancer, infertility, reproductive problems and foetal malformations.Use of Amitrole and Isoproturon will now be banned from 30 September across Europe, after an EU committee voted unanimously for the first ever ban on endo
  
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• Iran's crude output to reach pre-sanctions level by June, official says

  19-04-2016 11:18
  Iran's crude oil production will reach pre-sanctions levels within two months, a deputy oil minister was quoted as saying on Tuesday, reaffirming Tehran's commitment to boosting production. State news agency IRNA quoted Rokneddin Javadi as saying that the pre-sanctions level would be attained by the end of the Iranian month of Khordad, which falls on June 20. Iran's oil production was slightly below 4 million barrels a day before sanctions were imposed on the oil industry in 2011 and 2012.
  
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• Houston floods - in pictures

  19-04-2016 11:17 via theguardian.com
  
  Storms have dumped more than a foot of rain in the Houston area, flooding dozens of neighbourhoods and forcing the closure of city offices and the suspension of public transport. Massive flooding has become nearly an annual rite of passage in the city, which is experiencing deaths and devastation for the third year running Continue reading...
  
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• Power plan maps out route to follow for 100% renewable energy future

  19-04-2016 10:35 via theguardian.com
  
  GetUp! and SolarCitizens say its ‘homegrown power plan’ means it would be technically feasible and cheaper for Australia to switch from fossil fuels A plan to transform Australia’s energy use to 100% renewables was published by GetUp! and SolarCitizens on Tuesday after a modelling studycommissioned by the groups suggested such a transition was technically feasible and would be cheaper than the status quo. The “homegrown power plan” spells out dozens of policy ideas
  
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• George Brandis says climate science not settled, but CSIRO should act as if it is

  19-04-2016 10:27 via theguardian.com
  
  Attorney general attacks ‘illogic’ of Labor’s opposition to cuts and says taxpayers’ money would be better spent elsewhereThe attorney general, George Brandis, has mounted a bizarre defence of the Turnbull government’s funding cuts to the CSIRO, saying there is no need to keep funding climate science if the science of climate change is settled – but adding that he personally doesn’t believe it is settled.Brandis said the science body’s decision to
  
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• Solar Impulse 2 to return to the skies

  19-04-2016 10:15
  
  The longest non-stop solo aeroplane flight in aviation history is set to resume flying after entering "Mission Mode" for the next leg of its adventure from Hawaii to North America.
  
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• Why Limits to Growth's forecasts are still relevant today | James Dyke

  19-04-2016 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The 1970s study which predicted civilisation would collapse some time this century was wrong on resources, but right on pollution Forty-four years ago, the size of the global economy was £20tn in today’s prices. In 2014 it was £55.18tn. It’s certainly been a rocky road at times, but the trend of economic growth has been robust. Only four years over this period have shown a contraction of economic output.Consequently, one should feel foolish for suggesting that there are n
  
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• Oil prices rise as Kuwait oil strike diminishes supply

  19-04-2016 08:57
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Tuesday as a strike in Kuwait cut huge amounts of crude out of the supply chain, but analysts said the disruption would be short-lived and that markets would soon refocus on a global supply glut. Kuwait's crude output fell to 1.1 million barrels per day (bpd) on Sunday, from 2.8 million bpd in March as thousands of workers went on strike. Brent crude was at $43.25 (30 pounds) a barrel at 0651 GMT, 34 cents above their previous close.
  
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• China's toxic school: officials struggle to contain uproar over sick students

  19-04-2016 08:20 via theguardian.com
  
  Illnesses ranging from nosebleeds to leukaemia among pupils at Changzhou Foreign Languages School, with highly toxic illegal waste dumping blamed Environmental activists in China are calling for new laws and an independent investigation into how hundreds of Chinese students fell ill – in some cases severely – after attending a school built on a toxic waste dump.In a case that is being compared to one of the worst environmental catastrophes in US history, about 500 students at a schoo
  
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• Cycling up 100 Pyrenees climbs in 10 days: how can I do it? | Oliver Duggan

  19-04-2016 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  With a combined ascent of more than 49,000m, the Cent Cols challenge is a daunting experience. And I’ve signed up to ride it From early May to the start of September, the three grand tours of cycling – the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a España – see the world’s best riders tackle countless punishing climbs amid three weeks of racing.And then, just as this rolling spectacle packs away for another year, 30 amateur riders will attempt an arguably equ
  
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• The effects of Queensland's land clearing are devastating. NSW must not follow | Martin Taylor

  19-04-2016 06:46 via theguardian.com
  
  Eastern Australia is now considered a ‘global deforestation front’. Is this massive loss of wildlife and increased pollution really what Australians want?Somewhere today in Queensland, bulldozers are tearing down native bushland that was once protected.After the weakening of tree clearing controls by the previous state government, more than 200,000 hectares of threatened species habitat was destroyed in the two years from July 2012 to July 2014. Continue reading...
  
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• Mating madness when the toads come home

  19-04-2016 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Lightwood, Derbyshire The females act like magnets for all that testosterone. A toad ball could number about a dozen
  Compare the old and new maps of this area north of Buxton and you’ll notice how the valley’s wedge-shaped bloc of blue has morphed into a line threaded through several blue specks. Those cartographic changes reflect a heart-warming story of how toads can alter whole landscapes. Continue reading...
  
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• Fracking: former Northern Territory opposition leader calls for referendum

  19-04-2016 05:34 via theguardian.com
  
  Delia Lawrie says Labor’s policy of a moratorium is insufficient and voters should be given a clear say on the issueA referendum on fracking should be held at one of the two elections scheduled in the Northern Territory for this year, the former NT opposition leader and outgoing member of the parliament Delia Lawrie has said.On Tuesday, Helen Bender from Queensland’s Darling Downs and the US cattle rancher and anti-fracking activist John Fenton warned Territorians that “if you
  
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• Crude prices dip as global glut outweighs Kuwait oil strike

  19-04-2016 05:21
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Crude futures slipped on Tuesday on a persistent global glut and the failure of a producer meeting at the weekend to rein in the ballooning oversupply, although a sharp drop in output in Kuwait due to an oil worker strike underpinned prices briefly. Kuwait's output has dropped to 1.1 million barrels per day (bpd) from 2.8 million bpd due to the worker strike. The benchmarks had climbed to $43.20 and $40.13, respectively, earlier in the session on Kuwait
  
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• Beyond Tesla: solar-powered battery could challenge Australia's soaring electricity prices

  19-04-2016 04:27 via theguardian.com
  
  ZCell developer says its battery for homes is more efficient and recyclable Australia is at the dawn of a battery storage revolution. A recent report from US-based IHS Technology states that Australia’s energy storage market will grow from less than 500 battery installations in 2015 to 30,000 installations by 2018, while Morgan Stanley has found that half of all households in Australia are interested in installing solar panels with battery storage, with the market potential estimated to be
  
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• Being in EU 'good for UK environment'

  19-04-2016 02:46 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Being in the European Union benefits environmental protection in the UK, a committee of MPs says although a leading Conservative member says its arguments are flawed.
  
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• Ecuador to receive $2 billion from China Development Bank for investment

  19-04-2016 02:13
  QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuador signed off on Monday on a credit line for $2 billion (1.4 billion pounds) from the China Development Bank (CDB) to finance public investment, the Finance Ministry in the quake-hit Andean country said in a statement. The first tranche, of up to $1.5 billion, will be disbursed in the coming weeks. In parallel, state-run oil company Petroecuador reached a future oil sales deal with Petrochina "at market price," the ministry added. (Reporting by Alexandra Valencia)
  
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• Petrobras, Brazil oil sector could get lift from impeachment

  19-04-2016 01:06
  By Jeb Blount RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazil's corruption-battered state oil company Petrobras could be a big beneficiary if the country's opposition parties impeach President Dilma Rousseff, investors and analysts said on Monday. Vice President Michel Temer, who would take power if Rousseff were impeached, is considered open to industry calls for changes to oil rules brought in by her Workers' Party over the past decade. Rousseff's critics have said the policies, aimed at boosting state cont
  
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• MPs warn vote to leave EU would threaten UK environmental policy

  19-04-2016 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Air and water quality, biodiversity and countryside would be at risk, Commons environment select committee report saysLeaving the EU would threaten the UK’s air and water quality, biodiversity and the countryside, a committee of MPs has warned.The UK has benefited from an EU-wide environmental cleanup in the past four decades, and giving up membership would lead to a damaging policy vacuum and an end to influence over green regulations, the commons environmental audit select committee has
  
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