Environment news

• Oil drillers dig for the bottom for rig counts

  06-05-2016 21:57
  By Jessica Resnick-Ault NEW YORK (Reuters) - For the past year and a half, a chart of the number of U.S. oil rigs in operation has resembled a death-defying ski slope - but soon it may be time to get back on the chair lift. The U.S. rig count may finally be bottoming out as U.S. oil companies look for oil prices to rally just a bit more, a signal that the time has come to deploy more capital and get production moving again, analysts say. U.S. crude prices hit a year-to-date high of $46.78 last w
  
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• Oil up on Canada wildfire, dollar; big weekly loss for Brent

  06-05-2016 21:26
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices edged up on Friday, supported by an early dip in the dollar and a wildfire that has shrunk Canadian oil sands crude output by a third, but Brent still ended with its sharpest weekly drop in four months as investors cashed out of April's big rally. The dollar dipped after the U.S. government reported that the economy added the fewest number of jobs in seven months in April, raising doubts about whether the Federal Reserve will raise interest rate
  
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• London set for 'clean energy revolution' as Sadiq Khan wins mayoral election

  06-05-2016 20:50
  
  Labour's London Mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan - the contender proposing to become the "greenest Mayor ever" - is poised to be swept into City Hall after defeating the Conservative Party's Zac Goldsmith by a clear majority.
  
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• Convoy leads Canada fire evacuees through burning city to safety

  06-05-2016 20:30
  By Rod Nickel and Liz Hampton CONKLIN/LAC LA BICHE, Alberta (Reuters) - A convoy of evacuees from the Canadian oil town of Fort McMurray drove through the heart of a massive wildfire on Friday guided by police and military helicopters as they sought to reach safety to the south of the burning city. "It reminded us of a war zone," said Marisa Heath, who spent 36 hours in her truck on the side of the highway with her husband, two dogs, a cat and seven kittens. All you could see was cement foundati
  
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• Torn apart by Canadian wildfire, families face anxious future

  06-05-2016 19:28
  By Rod Nickel and Liz Hampton LAC LA BICHE/CONKLIN, Alberta (Reuters) - After she and her husband fled in different directions as a wildfire burnt mercilessly through Canada's Fort McMurray, Erin Naughton faces another difficult task: how to keep her family going until they can return to the city they call home. While some families are sticking together, many others are being forced to consider a fresh start elsewhere - or separate from loved ones - after their homes were destroyed in a city whe
  
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• Helicopters lead convoy through fire-ravaged Canadian city

  06-05-2016 17:21
  By Rod Nickel and Liz Hampton CONKLIN/LAC LA BICHE (Reuters) - A convoy of stranded residents drove back through the Canadian oil town of Fort McMurray, escaping the fire-ravaged region under police escort on Friday, taking the only route out as the massive wildfire spread. Fire enveloped Fort McMurray, burning some 210,000 acres (85,000 hectares) in the area, forcing 88,000 people to flee on Tuesday and Wednesday, and threatening two oil sands sites south of the city. With helicopters overhead
  
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• Factbox - Canada wildfire evacuations curb oilfield, pipeline flow

  06-05-2016 17:06
  (Reuters) - As exhausted evacuees stranded north of the fire-ravaged Canadian oil town of Fort McMurray sped through the only route out on Friday, about one-third of Canada's daily oil sands crude capacity was knocked out and some pipelines were closed. While oil sands facilities are not in the fire's path, several production companies and two pipeline operators have curbed activities and moved workers and others. Following is a list of what oil producers and pipeline companies have said about n
  
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• How forest management helps lay the conditions for wildfires | Karl Mathiesen

  06-05-2016 17:02
  
  As flames rip through Alberta, we look at how putting out small fires can help to fuel increasingly catastrophic events as our climate gets hotter and drierBy dousing small, regular fires, forest managers are creating the conditions for cataclysmic events, scientists have said.Fires in temperate forests are generally increasing in size and area. This is partly because of climate change. Fire seasons in many parts of the world are getting longer and drier.Continue reading...
  
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• Labour condemns 'waste of money' energy scheme

  06-05-2016 16:40
  
  Capacity market scheme to keep power stations on standby for peak demand could add £38 a year to each household billThe government has been accused of burying bad news during an election period after publishing a report (pdf) that says an emergency scheme to keep the lights on could add £38 a year to each household bill.The cash is going towards the cost of a “capacity market” scheme under which energy companies have been paid to keep their power stations on standby for t
  
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• Clues found In Crater Left By Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid

  06-05-2016 16:38 via feedproxy.google.com
  Scientists have had a literal breakthrough off the coast of Mexico.After weeks of drilling from an offshore platform in the Gulf of Mexico, they have reached rocks left over from the day the Earth was hit by a killer asteroid.The cataclysm is believed to have wiped out the dinosaurs. "This was probably the most important event in the last 100 million years," says Joanna Morgan, a geophysicist at Imperial College in London and a leader of the expedition.Since the 1980s, researchers have
  
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• VIDEO: 'Boaty' ship takes Attenborough's name

  06-05-2016 16:37 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The UK's new state-of-the-art polar research ship will be named after Sir David Attenborough, despite the title "Boaty McBoatface" previously topping a public vote.
  
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• First fracked gas could hit UK market in 2017 – Cuadrilla

  06-05-2016 16:34
  By Susanna Twidale and Karolin Schaps LONDON (Reuters) - First supplies of shale gas, extracted using the unconventional fracking process, could enter the British gas market as early as mid-2017, the head of shale gas firm Cuadrilla Resources told Reuters on Friday. Britain is estimated to have substantial amounts of shale gas trapped in underground rocks and Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged to go all out to extract those reserves to help offset declining North Sea oil and gas output. Cu
  
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• QUIZ: How well do you know ESOS?

  06-05-2016 16:17
  
  With the three-month grace period for compliance with the Government's Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) now over, its clear that a number of businesses and energy managers are still yet to get to grips with the scheme and its potential benefits - are you one of them?
  
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• Great Barrier Reef: tourism operators urge Australian government to tackle climate change

  06-05-2016 16:01
  
  Letter calls for rapid shift to renewable energy after natural wonder affected by worst coral bleaching event yet seenTourism operators have broken their silence about the worst crisis ever faced by the Great Barrier Reef, with more than 170 businesses and individuals pleading with the Australian government to take urgent action to tackle climate change and ensure the reef survives. Related: Money trumpeted in budget for Great Barrier Reef previously announcedContinue reading...
  
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• Re-using graves means UK cemetery will never run out of space

  06-05-2016 15:55
  
  Re-use of spaces is the sustainable solution to overflowing graveyards, if done sensitively, says one of Britain’s biggest cemeteriesOne of Britain’s biggest cemeteries is leading the way on a solution to the nationwide shortage of grave spaces that’s reaching crisis levels.Experts say finding ways to stop cemeteries overflowing is vital, but the most effective way of doing so – re-using graves – challenges some people’s deeply held beliefs about burial. Conti
  
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• Burning the ivory is just the beginning

  06-05-2016 15:51
  
  Jonathan and Angela Scott: After the ivory burn, it’s up to all of us to make sure the pledges made there are honoured People have always been smitten by the beauty of elephant ivory, as I discovered for myself while travelling overland from London to Johannesburg in 1974. I am not exactly sure where I bought the small ivory carving that would haunt me in years to come. I think it was Kisangani (formerly Stanleyville), 2000 km upstream from the mouth of the mighty Congo River, home during
  
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• Sainsbury's set to expand AD scheme to power more stores from food waste

  06-05-2016 14:00
  
  A scheme which sees a number of Sainsbury's supermarkets powered by renewable energy generated from food waste is to be rolled out to a further six stores, after a successful first year saw green gas produce 10% of the retailer's entire national energy consumption.
  
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• Coalition for Urban Transitions launched to accelerate global climate commitments

  06-05-2016 13:47
  
  A new coalition consisting of 83 affiliated cities, a global economic commission and the Word Resources Institute (WRI) was launched on Thursday (5 May), with the aim of using metropolitan areas as an "evidence base" to highlight the sustainable climate solutions available to policy makers.
  
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• America's national parks celebrated on postage stamps – in pictures

  06-05-2016 13:00
  
  Ahead of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the national parks, the US Postal Service has issued 16 stamps that depict the beauty and diversity of these protected areas. The stamps collectively tell the story of the parks, from the glaciers of Alaska to the Everglades of Florida Continue reading...
  
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• Amazon and eBay hosted ads for banned invasive species

  06-05-2016 12:53
  
  Unregulated traders are using the sites to sell some of the world’s most invasive plants, with potentially devastating impacts on ecosystemsAmazon and eBay appear to have openly broken the law by hosting listings to ship banned invasive species to the UK, the Guardian can reveal.Both eBay and Amazon have previously been criticised for hosting ivory traders, but the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) rates invasive species as a more significant threat to biodiversity than poaching
  
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• VIDEO: Celebrating Attenborough at 90

  06-05-2016 12:32 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A quick look at some of the best moments of the beloved broadcaster and naturalist.
  
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• 'Boaty' ship named after Attenborough

  06-05-2016 12:32 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The UK's new polar research ship is to be named RRS Sir David Attenborough, despite Boaty McBoatface previously topping a public vote.
  
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• UK polar ship named after Attenborough but Boaty McBoatface lives on

  06-05-2016 12:25
  A new 200 million pound polar research ship is to be named after veteran BBC naturalist David Attenborough but the government promised on Friday that "Boaty McBoatface", the name which topped a public poll, would not be ignored. The naming of the Royal Research Ship (RRS) attracted huge interest after the Natural Environment Research Council encouraged Britons to come up with suggestions, leading to a stream of light-hearted ideas such as RRS Usain Boat, RRS I Like Big Boats&I Cannot Lie and
  
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• M&S Energy re-launches £350,000 community energy fund

  06-05-2016 12:25
  
  Marks and Spencer (M&S) Energy has launched the second edition of its Community Energy Fund to offer local energy projects across the UK up to £350,000 in funding.
  
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• UK polar ship named after BBC naturalist but Boaty McBoatface lives on

  06-05-2016 12:09
  LONDON (Reuters) - A new 200 million pound polar research ship is to be named after veteran BBC naturalist David Attenborough but the government promised on Friday that "Boaty McBoatface", the name which topped a public poll, would not be ignored. The naming of the Royal Research Ship (RRS) attracted huge interest after the Natural Environment Research Council encouraged Britons to come up with suggestions, leading to a stream of light-hearted ideas such as RRS Usain Boat, RRS I Like Big Boats&a
  
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• Deep sea microbes may be key to oceans’ climate change feedback | Howard Lee

  06-05-2016 12:00
  
  Microbe populations make up 11-31% of living matter in the ocean seabed, but decline significantly as oceans warm
  Microbes are hardly the poster-children of climate change, but they have far more impact than polar bears on Earth’s carbon cycle – and therefore on our climate. A new study published Friday in Science Advances finds that seabed bacteria and archaea (which look like bacteria but have very different genetics and biochemistry) are sensitive to climate. Because their habitat
  
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• Green news roundup: Leopard decline, air pollution and coal protests

  06-05-2016 11:44
  
  The week’s top environment news stories and green events. If you are not already receiving this roundup, sign up here to get the briefing delivered to your inbox Continue reading...
  
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• 'Boaty McBoatface' ship to be called RRS Sir David Attenborough

  06-05-2016 11:08
  
  Polar research ship is named after naturalist and broadcaster, despite public vote for Boaty McBoatfaceBritain’s new polar research ship is to be named RRS Sir David Attenborough, despite Boaty McBoatface topping a public vote.The decision to name the £200m state-of-the-art vessel after the naturalist comes days before his 90th birthday, and is in recognition of his legacy in British broadcasting. Continue reading...
  
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• Oil falls as investors cash in on month-long gains

  06-05-2016 11:01
  By Karolin Schaps LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Friday as investors cashed in on a 20-percent rise over the past month, outweighing the impact of crude production cuts in Canada where a huge wildfire has disrupted oil sands operations. Oil prices were down around one percent in early European trading, with global benchmark Brent prices set for their first weekly loss in five weeks. "Currently prices are falling even with only few bearish fundamentals," said Frank Klumpp, oil analyst at S
  
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• Green transport target will be scrapped post-2020, EU confirms

  06-05-2016 10:56
  
  EU laws requiring member states to use "at least 10%" renewable energy in transport will be scrapped after 2020, the European Commission confirmed, hoping to set aside a protracted controversy surrounding the environmental damage caused by biofuels.
  
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• Why the new world of sustainability leadership lies in products

  06-05-2016 09:30
  
  EXCLUSIVE: Companies that are tackling key environmental and societal issues through they way they design, make and sell products will become the leaders of the low-carbon economy, as customer-facing begin to diversify their services in favour of sustainable business.
  
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• The hunt for natural antibacterials

  06-05-2016 09:20 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Welsh scientists are on the hunt for alternative antibacterials
  
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• SpaceX rocket launches satellite, then lands on ship at sea

  06-05-2016 09:17
  By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - An unmanned SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Florida on Friday to put a communications satellite into orbit, then made a swift return landing on an ocean platform, a live webcast showed. It was the second successful landing at sea for entrepreneur Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, which intends to offer cut-rate launch services by re-using its rockets. "Woohoo!!" Musk wrote on social media website Twitter after the
  
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• SpaceX records another rocket landing

  06-05-2016 09:16 via bbc.co.uk
  
  US company SpaceX makes another successful landing of a rocket booster after launching a satellite to orbit.
  
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• Wow! SpaceX Nails Rocket Landing At Sea Again

  06-05-2016 08:25
  
  For the second time in less than a month, SpaceX has landed the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket on a ship at sea. The booster settled softly onto the deck of SpaceX's robotic "Of Course I Still Love You" droneship at 1:30 a.m. EDT (0530 GMT) on Friday (May 6), nine minutes after launching from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on a successful mission to carry the Japanese communications satellite JCSAT-14 to orbit. Chants of "USA! USA! USA!" erupted at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthor
  
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• Greg Hunt: no definite link between coal from Adani mine and climate change

  06-05-2016 08:15
  
  Australia’s environment minister denies he failed to consider impact of a coal mine on the Great Barrier Reef, court documents show The federal environment minister has argued in court that coal from Australia’s largest coalmine would have no “substantial” impact on climate change and as a result he did not need to consider whether it would affect the Great Barrier Reef.The Australian Conservation Foundation challenged Greg Hunt’s approval of Adani’s Carmichae
  
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• Canadian wildfire edges south, leaves thousands stranded

  06-05-2016 08:10
  By Rod Nickel and Liz Hampton CONKLIN/LAC LA BICHE, Alberta (Reuters) - The 88,000 residents who fled a wildfire that has ravaged the Canadian oil town of Fort McMurray in Alberta will not be able to return home anytime soon, officials warned on Thursday, even as the inferno edged slowly south. The out-of-control blaze has consumed entire neighbourhoods of Fort McMurray in Canada's energy heartland and officials warn its spread now threatens two oil sands sites south of the city. "The damage to
  
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• A barn owl's rusty lair

  06-05-2016 06:30
  
  Litchfield Down, Hampshire Just here the downs are a rolling sea of earth and flint – and the contraption sits atop the ridge like a ship run agroundEmerging from a stand of Scots pine at the crest of the down, I stumble across a silent monolith of steel and timber. On a base of low concrete walls there sits what was once a piece of clanking, many-chambered machinery. Much taller than I and metres long, it had riddled and sorted and spat under the power of the rusting engine embedded in a
  
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• Jane Goodall's bid to save grizzly bears threatened by $50 hunting licenses

  06-05-2016 06:00
  
  Goodall leads coalition calling for Yellowstone’s grizzlies to stay on endangered species list, as Montana hunters set to be offered $50 licenses to shoot them A coalition of scientists headed by renowned conservationist Jane Goodall has implored the federal government to re-think its decision to strip protection from Yellowstone’s grizzly bears, as hunters in Montana are set to be offered $50 licenses to shoot the hulking predators. Continue reading...
  
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• Jane Goodall's bid to save grizzly bears as Montana plans for $150 hunting licenses

  06-05-2016 06:00
  
  Goodall leads coalition calling for Yellowstone’s grizzlies to stay on endangered species list, as Montana hunters set to be offered $150 licenses to shoot them A coalition of scientists headed by renowned conservationist Jane Goodall has implored the federal government to re-think its decision to strip protection from Yellowstone’s grizzly bears, as hunters in Montana are set to be offered $150 licenses to shoot the hulking predators. Continue reading...
  
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• Mariana trench live feed: engrossing viewing from deepest place on Earth

  06-05-2016 05:41
  
  Rare footage from 11km underwater streams on Youtube from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration vesselA live video feed of the Mariana trench – the deepest place on Earth – is proving engrossing viewing for those above sea level. Related: James Cameron dives into the Mariana Trench – in picturesContinue reading...
  
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• Americas, Asia do what OPEC wouldn't: cut oil production

  06-05-2016 05:27
  Drops in oil output are happening so fast that it looks as if the Americas alone could resolve global oversupply. "Unplanned oil supply disruptions have been a key element so far this year that have contributed to a tighter oil market than was otherwise expected," said analyst Guy Baber of Simmons & Co. Baber even cautioned that if the disruptions were to linger, there would be limited excess capacity to feed a tight market.
  
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• Oil stable as production outages offset impact of stronger dollar

  06-05-2016 04:24
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices were steady on Friday after a run up on supply disruptions, especially in the Americas, where wildfires continue to rage near Canada's huge oil sand fields, tightening a market suffering global oversupply. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $44.17, down 15 cents but over 1 percent above this week's first close. A massive fire around the Canadian oil city of Fort McMurray has forced the evacuation of all its residents and
  
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• Canadian wildfire grows tenfold, forces more evacuations

  06-05-2016 04:11
  By Rod Nickel and Liz Hampton CONKLIN/LAC LA BICHE, Alberta (Reuters) - A catastrophic wildfire that has forced all 88,000 residents to flee Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada exploded tenfold in size on Thursday, cutting off evacuees in camps north of the city and putting communities to the south in extreme danger. The out-of-control blaze has burned down whole neighbourhoods of Fort McMurray in Canada's energy heartland and forced a precautionary shutdown of some oil production, driving up globa
  
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• Shame on you: six new things to feel guilty about | Brigid Delaney

  06-05-2016 03:06
  
  There’s probably a German word for enjoying an autumn swim thanks to global warming, but since I am Catholic the only word I can think of is ‘guilt’Yippee! I’ve said every day I’ve woken up this week, looked out the window and seen that today is yet another beach day.“How great is this? The backpackers have gone home, the sun is shining, the water is still warm, and it’s May!” I say to a fellow swimmer on Bondi Beach. Continue reading...
  
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• Coffee bean roads and the Green Wall of Africa: the best green innovations of the week

  06-05-2016 02:10
  
  In a week that will define the future of London as a sustainable city, edie rounds up the latest low-carbon technologies and innovations that could turn the capital from a polluting mega-city to a bastion of the green revolution.
  
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• Air pollution warnings issued as UK temperatures set to soar

  06-05-2016 01:04
  
  Hot weekend means people with lung or heart problems should avoid outdoor strenuous activity, warns DefraAir pollution warnings have been issued with temperatures forecast to climb towards 27C (80F) in south-east England and the Midlands this weekend.Some parts of Britain will be hotter than areas of the Mediterranean, but the warm weather will be accompanied by moderate levels of air pollution, which can cause breathing difficulties in vulnerable people. Areas of south-west England and western
  
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• Canadian wildfire explodes in size, forces more evacuations

  06-05-2016 00:30
  By Rod Nickel LAC LA BICHE, Alberta (Reuters) - A catastrophic wildfire that has forced all 88,000 residents to flee Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada exploded tenfold in size on Thursday, cutting off evacuees in camps and shelters north of the city. The out-of-control blaze has burned down entire neighborhoods of Fort McMurray in Canada's energy heartland and forced a precautionary shutdown of some oil production, driving up global oil prices. Three days after the residents were ordered to leave
  
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