Environment news

• Alberta wildfire near Enbridge crude oil tank farm - officials

  16-05-2016 23:53
  By Nia Williams CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - A massive wildfire burning around the oil sands hub of Fort McMurray, Alberta, is about 1 km (1,094 yards) away from Enbridge Inc's Cheecham crude oil tank farm, but is under control for now, emergency officials said on Monday. The blaze near the tank farm was stable because the wind was cooperating as Enbridge's industrial firefighters tackled the blaze, the officials said at a news conference.
  
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• New Brazil minister says will not commit to restart Samarco mine

  16-05-2016 23:51
  Brazil's Environment Minister, José Sarney Filho said on Monday he will not allow Samarco Mineração SA [SAMNE.UL] to reopen its iron ore mine without assurances that the causes and damages of a deadly tailings dam collapse were fixed. Sarney Filho, appointed last week, made the comments during an official visit to Mariana, Brazil, the township most affected by the November tragedy that is considered the worst environmental disaster in the country's history. After flying over
  
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• Bison calf put down after car boot trip

  16-05-2016 23:34 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Officials at Yellowstone National Park reveal that they had to put down a newborn bison after some tourists put it in the boot of their car.
  
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• Yellowstone tourists put bison calf in car, spurring warning

  16-05-2016 23:33
  HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A bison calf that tourists loaded into their vehicle at Yellowstone National Park because they were concerned for its welfare could not be reunited with its herd and had to be euthanized, park officials said Monday as they reasserted the importance of avoiding wildlife.
  
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• It's time for the environment roundup with Ian the Climate Denialist Potato | First Dog on the Moon

  16-05-2016 23:30
  
  Today we are looking at some of the environmental issues facing the nation and how lucky we are to have Greg Hunt as our environment minister Sign up here to get an email whenever First Dog cartoons are published
  Get all your needs met at the First Dog shop if what you need is First Dog merchandise and printsContinue reading...
  
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• 'Space's Deepest Secrets': Could a Sub Explore the Seas of Saturn Moon Titan? (Exclusive Clip)

  16-05-2016 22:38
  
  The exclusive clip comes from the show's fourth episode, which airs Tuesday (May 17) at 10 p.m. EDT (9 p.m. CDT) on Science Channel. The episode explores water in the solar system and the ways researchers can learn about it — understanding the warm, wet environment of early Mars, probing the moonwide, ice-encrusted sea on Jupiter's moon Europa and more. In the clip, exclusively released to Space.com today (May 16), researchers talk about designing a submarine to explore Titan: a moon of Sa
  
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• Aircraft contrails bring warmer nights and conspiracy theories

  16-05-2016 22:30
  
  Scientists agree that aircraft pollution affects surface temperatures, but some people believe they have a darker side A sky crisscrossed with contrails from high-flying aircraft is a familiar sight in Britain and North America. Depending on the weather conditions these can merge into a blanket of high cloud that at times can be dense enough to blot out the sun.Understanding exactly what this does to the climate is still work in progress, but it’s generally agreed that in these areas where
  
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• UK-built Qashqais 'cheated emissions'

  16-05-2016 22:19 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Nissan Qashqai cars built at the firm's Sunderland plant in the UK were fitted with so-called emissions defeat devices, South Korean officials allege.
  
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• 'Break Free' fossil fuel protests deemed 'largest ever' global disobedience

  16-05-2016 20:22
  
  Coalition of environmental groups call for oil, coal and gas to be kept in the ground during mass protests around the world over the past two weeks Thousands of people have taken part in what organizers have called the largest ever global civil disobedience against fossil fuels, with dozens of activists arrested during protests that shut down coalmines, rail infrastructure and a port.
  The protests, held over the past two weeks in countries including the US, UK, Australia, South Africa and Indone
  
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• Oil hits six-month highs on supply outages, Goldman forecast

  16-05-2016 20:07
  By Barani Krishnan and Dmitry Zhdannikov NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices hit six-month highs on Monday on worries about global supply outages and as long-time bear Goldman Sachs sounded more positive on the market, although a stockpile build at the U.S. storage hub for crude futures pared gains. Expectations of resumption in oil exports from a Libyan port, a ramp up in Nigerian crude production by Exxon Mobil Corp and an improved oil-for-loans deal reached by Venezuela with China furthere
  
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• Does Donald Trump represent a step forward for climate change action? | Kate Aronoff

  16-05-2016 19:57
  
  His advisers admit that populism demands addressing climate change. But don’t expect him to do enough to protect the planet Donald Trump will have a climate plan and it will be ugly. For now, the Republican frontrunner is pedaling the kind of denialism his party loves, having called global warming everything from a “hoax” to a “con job” to a Chinese plot. But an interview with his energy adviser late last week hinted that – before too long – Trump might
  
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• Glyphosate unlikely to pose risk to humans, UN/WHO study says

  16-05-2016 19:53
  
  Chemical used in Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller ‘unlikely to pose carcinogenic risk from exposure through diet’Glyphosate, the key ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller brand, has been given a clean bill of health by the UN’s joint meeting on pesticides residues (JMPR), two days before a crunch EU vote on whether to relicense it.The co-analysis by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and World Health Organisation found that the chemical was &l
  
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• 'You can feel it in your throat': going to school in a pollution blackspot

  16-05-2016 19:22
  
  Parents at the gates of one London school are not surprised that NO2 levels in the area are well above recommended levelsCopenhagen primary school in north London does not immediately stand out as a pollution hotspot. The school gates open on to a quiet cul-de-sac, while along one side runs the Regent’s canal, where birds swoop in the afternoon sunshine. The large Victorian building is topped by an “edible roof garden”, designed to allow the children to grow fruit and vegetable
  
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• Boris Johnson accused of burying study linking pollution and deprived schools

  16-05-2016 19:22
  
  Unpublished report found four-fifths of the 433 London primary schools in areas breaching EU limits for NO2 were deprivedAn air quality report that was not published by Boris Johnson while he was mayor of London demonstrates that 433 schools in the capital are located in areas that exceed EU limits for nitrogen dioxide pollution – and that four-fifths of those are in deprived areas.
  Called Analysing Air Pollution Exposure in London the report found that in 2010, 433 of the city’s 1,7
  
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• Spectacular bearded vulture spotted for first time in UK

  16-05-2016 19:09
  
  Ornithologists hope for glimpse of species reported to have been seen in Wales and west countryA spectacular bearded vulture, believed to be the first recorded in the UK, has been spotted soaring over the Severn estuary and moorland in Devon.If it is confirmed that the vulture, also known as the lammergeier or ossifrage, is a wild bird, it will be the first of its species to be found in Britain and the sightings have already caused ornithologists to rush to the west country hoping for a glimpse.
  
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• Shell working to repair leak that spilled 2,000 barrels of oil into Gulf of Mexico

  16-05-2016 19:09
  
  Thursday leak created a 13 mile-wide slick on the surface of the water, from group of underwater oil wells 97 miles south of Port Fourchon, Louisiana Shell has said it has begun work to repair a fault in a flowline that has resulted in around 2,000 barrels worth of oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico.More than 88,000 gallons of oily-water mixture has been released from the Glider Field, a group of four underwater oil wells located around 97 miles south of Port Fourchon in Louisiana. The company
  
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• Bearded vulture spotted soaring above west country

  16-05-2016 19:09
  
  If confirmed as wild it will be first time species, also known as the lammergeier or ossifrage, has been found in UKA spectacular bearded vulture, believed to be the first recorded in the UK, has been spotted soaring over the Severn estuary and moorland in Devon. Continue reading...
  
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• Libya to resume oil shipments from Hariga after talks - sources

  16-05-2016 18:33
  NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Libya will resume oil shipments from the port of Marsa El Hariga after an agreement was reached at talks in Vienna between rival oil officials representing the east and west of the country, Libyan oil sources told Reuters. Exports from the port have been blocked since early this month due to a standoff between the rival eastern and western National Oil Corporations (NOC). Early signs of rapprochement between the two could help Libya quickly increase its oil production
  
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• 'Smart leg' makes engineering prize list

  16-05-2016 15:35 via bbc.co.uk
  
  An "intelligent" prosthetic limb, improved MRI scanners and green engines are the three finalists for a major UK engineering prize.
  
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• Tampons aren't for toilets: biodegradable bag hopes to fight the flushers

  16-05-2016 14:20
  
  Around 9.3 million women use tampons in the UK, but we don’t often speak about how we dispose of them“Everyone knows that horror story of wrapping a tampon up in toilet roll and trying to smuggle it out your friend’s bathroom,” says Martha Silcott, inventor of Fab Little Bag, a biodegradable bag designed to make it easier for women to bin their tampons. Silcott, a former City worker turned entrepreneur, surveyed hundreds of women and girls before launching her product on
  
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• Happy 'Love a Tree Day'!

  16-05-2016 14:19 via feedproxy.google.com
  What’s not to love about trees? May 16 marks National Love a Tree Day, which gives everyone a chance to get out and appreciate theYou probably know about the largest living tree: situated in the Giant Forest in California’s Sequoia National Park, the General Sherman tree, a giant sequoia, is the largest living organism, by volume, on our planet. It is 2,100 years old, weighs an estimated 2.7 million pounds, stands 275 feet tall and is 100 feet wide at its trunk. Pretty
  
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• April breaks global temperature record

  16-05-2016 14:08 via bbc.co.uk
  
  April was the seventh month in a row to have broken global temperature records, Nasa figures show.
  
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• Trump's foreign policy tirade turns to David Cameron | The daily briefing

  16-05-2016 14:07
  
  April becomes the seventh month in a row to break temperature records; China suppresses Cultural Revolution events; Justin Trudeau’s wife asks for more staffThe presumptive Republican candidate is fighting back after a weekend taking heat over his attitude toward women. In doing so, he picked a fight with the British prime minister, David Cameron, and new London mayor Sadiq Khan. The Guardian takes a look at the Trump universe. Trump also told British interviewer Piers Morgan that immigrat
  
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• World's largest floating windfarm to be built off Scottish coast

  16-05-2016 13:29
  
  Statoil granted seabed lease to develop floating windfarm 15 miles off the coast of Peterhead that is expected to be operational by the end of 2017 The world’s largest floating windfarm is set to be built off the coast of Scotland after its developers were granted a seabed lease on Monday.Statoil, the Norwegian energy company, expects to have five 6MW turbines bobbing in the North Sea and generating electricity by the end of 2017. The company has already operated a single turbine off Norwa
  
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• Oil prices rise on Nigeria outages, Goldman forecast

  16-05-2016 13:28
  By Dmitry Zhdannikov LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices jumped over 2 percent on Monday to their highest since November 2015 on growing Nigerian oil output disruptions and after long-time bear Goldman Sachs said the market had ended almost two years of oversupply and flipped to a deficit. Brent crude futures were trading at $48.83 per barrel at 1118 GMT, up $1 or 2.05 percent. Supply disruptions around the world of as much as 3.75 million barrels per day (bpd) have wiped out a glut that pulled down o
  
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• Where are the world's most fire-prone cities?

  16-05-2016 13:26
  
  Images of the devastated Canadian city show just how destructive fire can be to urban populations. But the risk is greatest in informal settlements, where high population density and low-grade construction can be a deadly combinationWith patches of lawn on fire in the front yards of his neighbourhood’s suburban homes and flames rising up the trees at the back, Jared Sabovitch frantically got into his car and began driving away from his home in Fort McMurray, Alberta, the Canadian city rece
  
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• Unaoil denies media link to corruption, says it is a victim of extortion

  16-05-2016 13:10
  Monaco-based oil services company Unaoil denied on Monday a media report linking it to corrupt practices involving big oil companies said it has been the victim of an extortion attempt by unidentified criminals. The Australian newspaper group Fairfax Media and the Huffington Post said in a joint report in April that the U.S. Department of Justice and anti-corruption police in Britain and Australia had launched a joint investigation into the activities of Unaoil. It said its advisers believed the
  
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• Bloodhound Diary: Riding four 'gyroscopes'

  16-05-2016 12:57 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The effects from riding four 'gyroscopes'
  
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• Government gets its wish as zero-carbon homes policy is 'sent to the scrap heap'

  16-05-2016 12:23
  
  After several political twists and turns, plans to introduce greener homes into the housing mix through the zero-carbon homes policy have been ditched, with the Government eventually defeating proposed amendments to the Housing and Planning Bill by four votes.
  
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• Asked about aid, China says Venezuela crisis is domestic matter

  16-05-2016 11:54
  An economic crisis in Venezuela is a domestic matter, a spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry said on Monday, when asked if the country planned to give aid to the Latin American nation. The OPEC country, which has received about $50 billion in Chinese financing since 2007, is also struggling with a contracting economy and runaway inflation, following a collapse in oil prices. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has imposed a 60-day state of emergency due to what he called plots by the United St
  
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• The Great British Bee Count – in pictures

  16-05-2016 11:49
  
  These beautiful images were captured by participants of last year’s event, when thousands recorded more than 100,000 bees to help raise awareness of the threat to Britain’s 250 species of bee. Those taking part in this week’s count can send their photos using a free app Continue reading...
  
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• Oil prices rise on Nigerian outages, Goldman forecast

  16-05-2016 10:52
  By Henning Gloystein and Dmitry Zhdannikov SINGAPORE/LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices jumped over 2 percent on Monday to their highest since October 2015 on growing Nigerian oil output disruptions and after long-time bear Goldman Sachs said the market had ended almost two years of oversupply and flipped to a deficit. Brent crude futures were trading at $48.71 per barrel at 0836 GMT, up 88 cents, or 1.8 percent, having risen earlier by as much as 2 percent. Supply disruptions around the world of as
  
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• Nigerian army says arrests suspected "Avengers" militants in Delta

  16-05-2016 10:38
  By Felix Onuah ABUJA, Nigeria (Reuters) - The Nigerian army said on Monday it had arrested members of a militant group which has claimed responsibility for a wave of attacks on pipelines in the restive Delta region. The detainees were thought to be part of the Niger Delta Avengers, it said, a movement blamed for assaults on oil infrastructure that have helped cut Nigeria's output to 1.65 million barrels a day from 2.2 million at the start of the year. "This is to confirm the arrest of some suspe
  
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• Goldman raises short-term oil price outlook citing market rebalance

  16-05-2016 10:27
  (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs , one of the most bearish forecasters on oil for about a year, on Monday raised its short-term price outlook for U.S. crude projecting steeper near-term cuts in global output. "Pulling forward" its forecast, the bank now sees West Texas Intermediate (WTI) prices averaging $45 per barrel in the second quarter and $50 per barrel in the second half of 2016. Oil prices jumped by more than 1 percent on Monday after Goldman said the market had ended almost two years of oversu
  
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• Miner Lonmin reports core profit after cost savings

  16-05-2016 10:16
  By Barbara Lewis and Mamidipudi Soumithri LONDON/BENGALURU (Reuters) - South Africa-focused platinum producer Lonmin reported a core profit on Monday after cost savings, and said it expected firm chemical and car industry demand for the rest of the year despite the Volkswagen diesel emissions scandal. Lonmin's shares have lost around 90 percent of their value over the last year, hit by a strike, rising costs and plunging platinum prices. In its first-half results statement, Lonmin said it had cu
  
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• British CCS 'could service many parts of mainland Europe'

  16-05-2016 10:15
  
  Carbon and capture storage (CCS) sites face no technical difficulties to permanently and safely store industrial-scale CO2 off the coast of the UK, and the hubs could potentially be developed to service mainland Europe, according to a new report produced for the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI).
  
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• India to 'divert rivers' to tackle drought

  16-05-2016 10:01 via bbc.co.uk
  
  India is to divert water from major rivers like the Brahmaputra and the Ganges to deal with severe drought, a senior minister tells the BBC.
  
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• Sadiq Khan strives to exceed "hopelessly inactive" Boris Johnson with fresh air quality proposals

  16-05-2016 09:25
  
  In the first week of his tenure as the new Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has stayed true to his word to build a cleaner, greener city, having unveiled a raft of new green proposals - including a plan to develop the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) earlier than planned in an effort to improve air quality.
  
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• BP doubles stake in North Sea gas field

  16-05-2016 09:19
  (Reuters) - Oil major BP Plc said it doubled its stake in the Culzean gas field in the UK's North Sea after buying an additional 16 percent interest from partner JX Nippon. Culzean, operated by Denmark's A.P. Moeller-Maersk , is one of the largest gas fields discovered in the North Sea in more than a decade. Production at the field is expected to start in 2019, BP said. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. (Reporting by Mamidipudi Soumithri in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)
  
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• Confidence in UK offshore industry illustrated by new £1.3bn project

  16-05-2016 09:16
  
  One of the world's largest offshore windfarms, set to be located off the coast of East England, has secured a £1.3bn long-term financing fund, just six months after it began a fundraising process.
  
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• Not a drop to waste: how expanding Australian cities can tackle water shortages

  16-05-2016 08:53
  
  Smart leak detection and reusing stormwater to reduce urban heat are discussed at this year’s OzWater as cities prepare for climate change For the international water industry delegates descending upon Melbourne last week, in the leadup to OzWater 16, it must have seemed they had arrived in the wrong place. The torrential rain and flash floods inundating the city appeared at odds with Australia’s billing as the driest inhabited continent in the world, and certainly made for an unlike
  
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• The brutal economics of Zambia's illegal wildlife trade - in pictures

  16-05-2016 08:00
  
  Frustrated by simplistic portrayals of poaching, photographer Benjamin Rutherford has documented the complex and violent trade in his new project, Nyama Continue reading...
  
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• The Welsh valleys road with some of the UK's worst air pollution

  16-05-2016 07:30
  
  Heavy traffic sees A472 at Crumlin record highest nitrogen dioxide outside London – and residents fear for children’s healthThe rush hour is not a good time to be out and about on the A472 as lorry after lorry climbs out of the south Wales valley town of Crumlin and heads up and over towards Pontypool.“It’s pretty terrible,” said Deanna Harwick, a mother of two young children, who lives in a terrace lining one side of the heaving road. “We can’t have the
  
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• Oil prices jump as Goldman Sachs says market flips into deficit

  16-05-2016 07:23
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices jumped over 1 percent on Monday after long-time bear Goldman Sachs said the market had ended almost two years of oversupply following global oil disruptions and flipped to a deficit. International Brent crude futures were trading at $48.50 per barrel at 0255 GMT, up 67 cents, or 1.4 percent, from their last settlement. Supply disruptions from Nigeria, Venezuela, the United States and China triggered a U-turn in the oil outlook of Goldman Sach
  
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• Deutsche sees Rousseff ouster boosting Petrobras, Brazil bank debt

  16-05-2016 07:13
  By Guillermo Parra-Bernal SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Bonds in Brazilian state-controlled oil producer Petróleo Brasileiro SA and those of banks, steelmakers and commercial property companies are expected to benefit from President Dilma Rousseff's removal, which could usher in more business-friendly policies, Deutsche Bank Securities said in a report. Brazil's Senate voted last week to impeach Rousseff and she faces trial on charges of breaking budgetary rules. Vice President Michel Temer, who
  
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• Largest plane draws crowds in Australia

  16-05-2016 06:56 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Thousands of Australian aircraft enthusiasts have watched the world's largest plane, the Antonov An-225 Mriya, arrive in Perth.
  
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• Direct Action funds 'spent on projects that would have happened anyway'

  16-05-2016 06:32
  
  Payments to greenhouse gas emitters more likely to go to reduction schemes that would have taken place without government funding, says economistThe government’s $2.55bn emissions reduction fund, which pays greenhouse gas emitters to pollute less, will inevitably pay for reductions that would have happened anyway, for the same reason that secondhand car markets are full of lemons, an economic analysis has concluded.The centrepiece of the government’s Direct Action climate policy is a
  
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• Herdwick ewes come home for lambing

  16-05-2016 06:30
  
  Borrowdale, Lake District Ever the good shepherd, he recognises the snow-white faces of many of his Herdwicks like he does peopleJostling each other, bleating the while, 400 pregnant Herdwick ewes make their way along the bottle-neck road from Stonethwaite in Borrowdale. Their destination? Nook Farm, hidden behind the huddle of slate-roofed cottages in Rosthwaite, the next village towards Keswick. Here they will give birth to the year’s lambs, soon to be seen skipping in the dale’s t
  
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