Environment news

• Nigeria's Buhari needs to address grievances in Delta after militant attacks - mUK

  14-05-2016 22:57
  By Ulf Laessing ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari needs to address grievances in the Delta region where militants have been blowing up oil pipelines in a conflict that has become a "major concern", a senior British official said on Saturday. The swamps of the southern Delta have been hit by a series of attacks on pipelines and other oil and gas facilities that have reduced Nigeria's output by 300,000 barrels a day, closed a major export port and two refineries. Nigeria has m
  
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• Former UN climate change chief to face trial for sexual harassment of employees

  14-05-2016 18:07
  
  Two more women file claims against Rajendra Pachauri after 29-year-old colleague from Energy and Resources Institute speaks outA court in Delhi has ruled that Rajendra Pachauri, the former chairman of a Nobel prize-winning UN panel on climate change, will stand trial on charges of stalking and sexual harassment of a former employee.A 29-year-old former employee of The Energy and Resources Institute (Teri), based in the Indian capital, filed a police report against Pachauri last year. She said Pa
  
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• Former UN climate change chief to face trial for sexual harassment of an employee

  14-05-2016 18:07
  
  Two more women file claims against Rajendra Pachauri after 29-year-old colleague from Energy and Resources Institute speaks outA court in Delhi has ruled that Rajendra Pachauri, the former chairman of a Nobel prize-winning UN panel on climate change, will stand trial on charges of stalking and sexual harassment of a former employee.A 29-year-old former employee of The Energy and Resources Institute (Teri), based in the Indian capital, filed a police report against Pachauri last year. She said Pa
  
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• Retreat of ice sheets followed millennia of methane release

  14-05-2016 14:54 via feedproxy.google.com
  Scientists have calculated that the present day ice sheets keep vast amounts of climate gas methane in check. Ice sheets are heavy and cold, providing pressure and temperatures that contain methane in form of ice-like substance called gas hydrate. If the ice sheets retreat the weight of the ice will be lifted from the ocean floor, the gas hydrates will be destabilised and the methane will be released.Studies conducted at CAGE have previously shown that ice sheets and methane hydrates are closely
  
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• UK accused of trying to undermine EU air pollution targets

  14-05-2016 14:00
  
  Leaked papers reveal that Tory MEPs were told to support a ‘get-out clause’ in proposed new Europe-wide lawsThe British government has been accused of trying to secretly undermine new EU air pollution targets in favour of big business, as leaked papers reveal that Tory MEPs were told to support a “get-out clause” in proposed laws.Legislation designed to force member states to strictly limit the emission of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and ammonia by 2030 is currently
  
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• 'Smog is our best advertising': pollution has an upside for some | Oliver Milman

  14-05-2016 13:00
  
  For companies who bottle pure mountain air, like one in Canada, plummeting air quality is a business opportunity. For the rest of us, it’s a killerFor one company, at least, the world’s escalating air pollution crisis has an upside. While billions of people live amid a fog of harmful airborne particles each day, Vitality Air, which sells bottled Canadian mountain air, is reporting a brisk trade.“Our Chinese website keeps crashing. We are getting orders from all over the country
  
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• RSPCA to become 'less adversarial'

  14-05-2016 12:14 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The new chief executive of the RSPCA, Jeremy Cooper, says the charity has made mistakes in the past and in future will be "less political".
  
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• Gardens: what to do this week

  14-05-2016 12:00
  
  Sow your veg patch with pollinator-friendly flowers, thin out waterlilies, plant diasciasA few rows of annual flowers criss-crossing your veg patch doesn’t just look pretty – it lures in beneficial insects such as lacewings and hoverflies (whose larvae hoover up aphids), and bees and butterflies to pollinate crops. Sow pot marigolds, nigella, poached egg plant and cosmos in situ now: they will self-seed for a repeat performance in future years. Continue reading...
  
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• China's CGN says won't go it alone on British nuclear plants

  14-05-2016 11:59
  China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGNPC) on Saturday said it has no plans to build reactors at the Hinkley Point C site in Britain, denying reports it would be willing to take over from EDF should the French firm pull out. EDF has delayed its investment decision on the construction of two "third-generation" European Pressurised Reactors (EPRs) at Hinkley Point until September, amid escalating costs and financial problems brought about in part by delays to similar projects in France and Fi
  
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• China April crude oil output down 5.6 percent on year - stats bureau

  14-05-2016 07:51
  BEIJING (Reuters) - China's April domestic crude oil production fell 5.6 percent on year to 16.59 million tonnes, according to data released by the National Statistical Bureau on Saturday. National crude oil throughput rose 2.4 percent in April over the same year-ago level to 44.75 million tonnes. (Reporting by Chen Aizhu; Editing by Stephen Coates)
  
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• World's smallest porpoise 'at edge of extinction' as illegal gillnets take toll

  14-05-2016 06:48
  
  Now only 60 of Mexico’s vaquita marina left despite the navy enforcing a ban on the fishing net, latest study showsEnvironmentalists warned on Friday that Mexico’s vaquita marina, the world’s smallest porpoise, was close to extinction as the government reported that only 60 were now left.Related: Mexico to employ drones in tracking endangered porpoise speciesContinue reading...
  
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• Where land meets sea, an otter has left its mark

  14-05-2016 06:30
  
  Eriskay We don’t have to get much nearer to confirm our suspicions that what we’ve found is an otter spraint siteIt’s the patch of colour, a green much brighter than that of the sheep-nibbled turf covering the rest of the slope, that first suggests there might be something worth investigating. A little lower down from where we were wandering along, it’s just a few feet above where the carpet of grass meets the rocks that dip down to the sea. We don’t have to get muc
  
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• Horns of a dilemma: retiree to fly 80 South African rhinos to Australia

  14-05-2016 04:26
  
  Former sales executive who emigrated to Australia 30 years ago is hatching a daring plan in an attempt to save the species from poachersA retired South African sales executive who emigrated to Australia 30 years ago is hatching a daring plan to airlift 80 rhinos to his adopted country in an attempt to save the species from poachers.
  Flying each animal on the 11,000-kilometre journey will cost about $A60,500, but Ray Dearlove believes the expense and risk is essential as poaching deaths have soar
  
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• Mastodon scraps revise US prehistory

  14-05-2016 04:09 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Bones and stone tools from deep beneath a river in Florida betray the presence of humans 14,500 years ago.
  
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• Canada PM tours Alberta oil town ravaged by fire, vows major aid

  14-05-2016 01:39
  By Ernest Scheyder BONNYVILLE, Alberta (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau praised firefighters on Friday for defending the energy hub of Fort McMurray and promised the federal government would pour money in to its recovery. The inferno closed the extensive oil sands operations near the town and the effort to restart them is progressing slowly. The wildfire knocked out nearly half, or 1.07 million barrels per day (bpd), of Alberta's oil sands capacity.
  
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• U.S. concern grows over possible Venezuela meltdown - officials

  14-05-2016 00:54
  By Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is increasingly concerned about the potential for an economic and political meltdown in Venezuela, spurred by fears of a debt default, growing street protests and deterioration of its vital oil sector, U.S. intelligence officials said on Friday. In a bleak assessment of Venezuela's worsening crisis, the senior officials expressed doubt that unpopular leftist President Nicolas Maduro would allow a recall referendum this year, despit
  
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• Trump taps climate change sceptic as energy adviser, pushes back on taxes

  14-05-2016 00:09
  By Valerie Volcovici and Emily Flitter WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Donald Trump on Friday picked a prominent climate change sceptic to help him craft his energy policy and pushed back against renewed calls that he release his income tax returns - saying his tax rate is "none of your business." The presumptive Republican presidential nominee is seeking to build out his policy proposals as he pivots from campaigning for his party's nomination to a likely general election matchup with Democrati
  
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