Environment news

• Blocking highs and jet stream kinks

  02-05-2016 22:30
  
  New studies suggest that the weather in far off Greenland, one of the fastest warming parts of the Earth, is affecting the rainfall patterns in Britain. This is linked to the extremely wet summers of 2007 and 2012.Sheffield University, checking data back to 1851, found that since the 1980s there has been an increase in the number of summer high pressure blocking systems that become anchored over this vast island ice sheet. The result has been to drag warm air over Greenland causing melting on a
  
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• Military tests unmanned ship designed to cross oceans

  02-05-2016 21:41
  SAN DIEGO (AP) — The military is launching tests on the world's largest unmanned surface vessel — a self-driving, 132-foot ship designed to travel thousands of miles out at sea without a single crew member on board.
  
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• Airbus Helicopters lifts ban on some Super Puma flights

  02-05-2016 20:47
  By Stine Jacobsen and Tim Hepher OSLO/PARIS (Reuters) - Airbus Helicopters is no longer recommending a blanket ban on commercial flights of its H225 Super Puma helicopter, saying initial evidence suggested there was no link between Friday's crash in Norway and two North Sea accidents in 2012. Airbus , which had initially urged a halt to all public flights, said on Monday commercial operations could resume outside UK and Norway where regulators have imposed bans. Safety experts cautioned it was t
  
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• Feast of cat shown on eagle cam scares feline owners: 'Nature isn't pretty'

  02-05-2016 20:06
  
  Footage from a live web camera nest shows bald eagles serving up a cat to eaglets – but the Audubon Society determines dead cat was not preyed uponCat owners have been warned of the dangers their feline companions face when venturing outdoors after video emerged of bald eagles feasting on the body of a dead cat near Pittsburgh.
  Footage from a live web camera mounted at the Hays bald eagle nest, located a few miles from the center of Pittsburgh, showed the eagles serving up the cat to hungr
  
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• White House says it's not concerned about leaks of EU-U.S. trade papers

  02-05-2016 19:23
  The White House said on Monday it was not particularly concerned about reported leaks on the details of a U.S.-European Union trade deal currently being negotiated between the two sides. The European Commission has said the documents, published by Greenpeace Netherlands, reflected negotiating positions and not final outcomes of the talks, which have been going on for nearly three years. The U.S. Trade Representative's office said the interpretations given to the text were "misleading at best and
  
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• Oil down 3 percent on OPEC output hike, speculative ramp-up in Brent

  02-05-2016 19:20
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell about 3 percent on Monday as production from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries neared all-time peaks and record speculative buying in global benchmark Brent sparked profit-taking on last month's outsized rally. Speculator bets on higher Brent prices reached all-time peaks last week, while bullish bets on WTI futures and options rose to 10-month highs, feeding investor views prices may have risen too far, too fast. Brent'
  
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• Love that fresh smell after a rain?

  02-05-2016 18:21 via feedproxy.google.com
  Most of us think of that sweet smell after a storm as the aftereffect of rain that has rinsed the air of pollutants and dust. But it turns out that rain also triggers the release of a mist of particles from wet soils into the air, a finding with consequences of its own for how scientists model our planet's climate and future.The evidence comes in the form of tiny glassy spheres, less than one-hundredth the width of a human hair, discovered at the Great Plains of Oklahoma after a rainstorm and pu
  
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• Breast cancer genetic discovery hailed

  02-05-2016 17:59 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists say they now have a near-perfect picture of the genetic events that cause breast cancer, which they hope will unlock new ways of treating the disease.
  
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• Mars rover project slips to 2020

  02-05-2016 17:30 via bbc.co.uk
  
  As expected, the European and Russian space agencies have delayed the launch of their ExoMars robot rover by two years to 2020.
  
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• DNA secrets of Ice Age Europe unlocked

  02-05-2016 17:14 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Genetic analysis unlocks the secrets of Europe's Ice Age inhabitants.
  
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• Greenpeace publishes confidential U.S.-EU trade deal documents

  02-05-2016 16:15
  By Caroline Copley BERLIN (Reuters) - A sweeping free trade deal being negotiated between the European Union and the United States would lower food safety and environmental standards, Greenpeace said on Monday, citing confidential documents from the talks. While it would not comment on the "validity of alleged leaks," a spokesman said "the interpretations being given to these texts appear to be misleading at best and flat-out wrong at worst." Greenpeace opposes the proposed Transatlantic Trade a
  
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• EU vote too important to be dominated by Tory politics, says minister

  02-05-2016 16:00
  
  Environment secretary Liz Truss appeals to supporters of other parties to vote for UK to remain in the European UnionA Conservative cabinet minister has made a direct plea to supporters of other political parties to vote in favour of Britain’s membership of the EU by warning that Brexit would be a “hugely retrograde step” for the environment. In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, the environment secretary, Liz Truss, said the referendum was too important to be dominated
  
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• U.S. Supreme Court rejects appeal in shareholder suit against BP

  02-05-2016 15:47
  By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined a request from shareholders seeking to revive their class action lawsuit against BP claiming the British oil company misrepresented its safety procedures prior to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The court left in place a September 2015 ruling by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that refused to certify the lawsuit filed by investors who bought shares in the 2-1/2 years before the spill. T
  
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• Oil prices slip from 2016 highs on OPEC output boost

  02-05-2016 13:56
  By Libby George LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices edged back from 2016 highs on Monday as rising production in the Middle East outweighed a decline in U.S. output and a sliding dollar. Crude production by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries rose in April to 32.64 million barrels per day (bpd), close to the highest level in recent history. Iraq's April exports from southern fields increased, as did seaborne exports from Russia, the biggest exporter outside OPEC. Brent was trading at
  
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• Appendages Help Microbes Survive Harsh Conditions

  02-05-2016 13:48
  
  The most ancient kinds of microbes on Earth often have special filaments lining their surfaces. Scientists are discovering that these structures can play a variety of roles in helping microorganisms survive the most hostile environments on Earth, findings that could shed light on how alien life might withstand extreme conditions on distant worlds. There are two kinds of prokaryotes — the familiar bacteria, and the archaea, many of which thrive in harsh environments such as hot springs, sal
  
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• Jellyfish from Outer Space? Amazing Glowing Creature Spotted

  02-05-2016 13:43
  
  With red and yellow lights seeming to glow inside its bulbous body, a newfound jellyfish looks more alien spaceship than deep-sea cnidarian. Video captured of the jellyfish reveals a stunning sight: The organism sports two sets of tentacles, long and short, that extend from its pulsating bell. When the long tentacles are extended outward, the jellyfish's bell remains still.
  
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• People love Chris Packham because he isn’t afraid to ruffle feathers | Nicholas Milton

  02-05-2016 12:30
  
  As his #wheredovesdie trip to Malta shows, Packham uses his celebrity status to promote good causes, even if it means making a few enemiesLove him or loathe him Chris Packham is a hard man to ignore. Recently returned from Malta, where he has been for a second time to highlight the massacre of thousands of birds on migration by Maltese hunters, he came up with the hash tag #wheredovesdie in tribute to the late singer Prince. The idea was to draw attention to the plight of the declining turtle do
  
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• Peabody coal's contrarian scientist witnesses lose their court case | John Abraham

  02-05-2016 12:00
  
  Peabody Energy brought contrarians Spencer, Happer, and Lindzen to testify on their behalf, but the judge wasn’t convinced by their case
  In Minnesota, an administrative hearing resulted in a judicial recommendation that will have impacts across the country. It was a case argued mainly between environmental groups (such as Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, and their clients Fresh Energy and the Sierra Club) and energy producers (such as the now-bankrupt coal company Peabody Energ
  
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• Labor policy could increase power prices by 8% to 25%, economist says

  02-05-2016 11:44
  
  Danny Price, who helped devise the Coalition’s climate policy, says Labor scheme to shut brown-coal generators would lead to higher pricesA little-noticed part of Labor’s climate policy could push up retail power prices by between 8% and 25%, economist Danny Price has claimed, with price hikes in Victoria exceeding the impact of the former Labor government’s carbon tax.
  Price, who helped devise the Coalition’s climate policy, told Guardian Australia last week the main pla
  
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• Oil prices retreat from 2016 highs on OPEC output boost

  02-05-2016 11:12
  By Libby George LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices retreated from 2016 highs on Monday as rising production in the Middle East outweighed a decline in U.S. output and a sliding dollar. Crude production by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries rose in April to 32.64 million barrels per day (bpd), close to the highest level in recent history. Russia, the biggest exporter outside OPEC, also increased monthly crude for seaborne exports by more than 7 percent to 3.117 million bpd in April.
  
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• Halliburton/Baker Hughes merger raised large EU competition concerns

  02-05-2016 09:08
  The aborted merger of oilfield services provider Halliburton and smaller rival Baker Hughes had raised significant competition concerns in Europe, EU Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said on Monday. The Commission said it took note of the companies' announcement that they had abandoned their proposed merger, adding this followed concerns by competition agencies around the world, including the Commission. "In this case, based on the Commission's in-depth analysis, the transaction raised 
  
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• Kuwait freedoms make austerity drive tricky for government

  02-05-2016 08:16
  By Sylvia Westall and Ahmed Hagagy KUWAIT (Reuters) - A three-day strike by oil workers in Kuwait last month over pay reforms shows the government faces considerable opposition as it prepares to push through painful and controversial cuts to longstanding welfare benefits. Oil-exporting states around the Gulf are reducing subsidies for fuel, public utilities and food, and freezing or slowing the growth of public sector wages, as they try to curb big budget deficits caused by low oil prices. One r
  
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• Overfishing puts $42bn tuna industry at risk of collapse

  02-05-2016 08:00
  
  Experts make first estimate of the value of tuna fisheries and warn Pacific Islanders have most to lose from declining stocksOverfishing is jeopardising a global tuna industry worth more than $42bn (£29bn), according to the first assessment of its kind. A report produced by the Pew Charitable Trusts has highlighted the significant revenues that fishermen, processors and retailers are generating from severely depleted species of tuna.Taken together, the seven most commercially important tun
  
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• Google and eBay refuse to ban ads offering to remove car pollution filters

  02-05-2016 08:00
  
  Internet giants say removing diesel particulate filters which reduce toxic emissions is not illegal, although driving without them isGoogle, Gumtree and eBay have refused to ban adverts for a service which removes crucial pollution filters from the exhausts of diesel cars, sending toxic emissions soaring. Over a thousand diesel car owners have already been caught after removing the filter, though experts warn the problem may be far more widespread.Continue reading...
  
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• Pipe dreams still alive for selected few in U.S. energy rout

  02-05-2016 07:09
  U.S. pipeline billionaire Kelcy Warren, for example, has pocketed over $300 million (205.4 million pounds) in cash payouts from his company Energy Transfer Equity since the price of oil started to crater in mid-2014, according to a Reuters analysis based on filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Warren is on course to receive over $200 million this year, should the company not cut its distributions. The meteoric rise of what at its peak was a $700 billion industry, attracted both i
  
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• U.S. shale firm's bankruptcy exit shows new chapter just as tough

  02-05-2016 07:07
  Magnum Hunter Resources Corp and its founder Gary Evans are emblematic for the U.S. shale revolution: it started small, borrowed heavily to snap up land and rivals and then crumbled under the weight of debt when prices crashed. Now, the oil and gas company is among the first casualties of the energy slump to exit bankruptcy and Evans has a message for its peers: even once you are debt-free you cannot take survival for granted if energy prices do not recover soon. With little chance of seeing hun
  
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• Oil prices fall on rising OPEC crude production

  02-05-2016 07:00
  By Henning Gloystein and Osamu Tsukimori SINGAPORE/KITAKYUSHU (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Monday as rising production in the Middle East outweighed a decline in U.S. output and a recent slide in the dollar, which has been supporting crude. Analysts said rising output from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was outweighing supportive factors such as a decline in U.S. output and a sliding dollar, which makes it cheaper for countries using other currencies to import dol
  
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• A landscape worked down to its bones

  02-05-2016 06:30
  
  Ribblesdale, Yorkshire Dales Sheep graze around giant boulders dropped by glaciers, picking the land as clean as the ice once did
  In unflattering Ordnance Survey contours, you could mistake Warrendale Knotts and Attermire Scar for lumpy outcrops of dubious interest, but you’d be wrong. Under today’s restless skies, they look almost Dolomitic in drama, though perhaps not in size.Ribblesdale has been worked right down to its limestone bones, which shine like new teeth in the sun’
  
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• As oil plows through $45 a barrel, U.S. producers rush to lock in prices

  02-05-2016 06:02
  The flurry of dealing kicked off when prices pierced $45 (31 pounds) per barrel earlier in April. While it was not clear if oil prices will remain at current levels, it may also be a sign producers are preparing to add rigs and ramp up output. This week, Pioneer Natural Resources Co, a major producer in the Permian shale basin of West Texas, said it would add rigs with oil prices above $50 per barrel.
  
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• Venezuelans lose sleep in bid to curb electricity shortage

  02-05-2016 01:05
  
  Clocks moved forward by half an hour to restrict use of lighting and power as country grapples with economic crisisVenezuelans lost half an hour of sleep on Sunday as their clocks were moved forward to save power at the order of President Nicolás Maduro.At 2:30 am local time, the oil-dependent South American nation shifted its clocks forward by 30 minutes, to four hours behind Greenwich Mean Time. The move, announced in mid-April, was part of a package of measures the Organisation of the
  
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• EU is central to tackling climate change, says Ed Miliband

  02-05-2016 01:01
  
  Former Labour leader joins environment secretary Liz Truss and Green MP Caroline Lucas in supporting remain campaignEd Miliband has joined a cross-party attempt to persuade voters that leaving the EU would damage the environment.The former Labour leader has signed a joint declaration with environment secretary Liz Truss, former energy secretary Ed Davey and Green Party MP Caroline Lucas in what pro-EU campaigners called an unprecedented partnership. Continue reading...
  
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• U.S. threatens to block easing of EU car exports in TTIP talks, media report

  02-05-2016 00:09
  The United States is threatening to prevent the easing of export controls on European cars in order to force Europe to buy more U.S. agricultural products, Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper and ARD public broadcaster reported on Sunday. In talks on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a sweeping U.S.-European free trade deal, the United States has also blocked a European call to replace private arbitration tribunals, responsible for corporative lawsuits, with a publi
  
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