Environment news

• Canada approves sale of genetically modified salmon

  19-05-2016 23:59
  
  Agencies: modified fish as safe and nutritious as conventional salmon
  Growth hormone genes from two fish allow it to grow twice as fastHealth authorities in Canada have approved a fast-growing, genetically altered salmon as safe for consumption, paving the way for it to become the first genetically modified animal to be allowed on Canadian dinner plates.
  After four years of testing, Health Canada and the Canadian food inspection agency said on Thursday they had found the salmon developed by Mass
  
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• Incoming U.N. climate chief seeks swift action - at odds with Trump

  19-05-2016 22:08
  By Alister Doyle OSLO (Reuters) - The United Nations's incoming climate chief said on Thursday she will push for rapid action under a U.N. accord to slow global warming and expressed hopes that U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will drop calls for a renegotiation if elected. Mexico's Patricia Espinosa, a former foreign minister appointed on Wednesday to head the Bonn-based U.N. Climate Change Secretariat from July, urged all governments swiftly to ratify the 195-nation accord h
  
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• Oil steadies; Canadian, Nigerian supply issues offset strong dollar

  19-05-2016 21:54
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices settled largely unchanged on Thursday as worries about Canadian and Nigerian supply outages offset the impact of a stronger dollar, which has rallied on growing expectations the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next month. The prospect of a U.S. rate increase in June prompted investors earlier on Thursday to cash out of long positions in Brent and U.S. crude's West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures. Suncor extended a force majeure that w
  
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• VIDEO: When eagle owl chick met a human

  19-05-2016 21:21 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Footage has captured an eagle owl chick in Croatia meeting a human for the first time.
  
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• Canadian firefighters make progress against fire in oil sands region

  19-05-2016 21:20
  By Nia Williams and Eric M. Johnson CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Firefighters made progress against a wildfire in the Fort McMurray region of Alberta on Thursday as a shift in winds pushed it away from communities and oil sands facilities. On Thursday, it moved across the border to the neighbouring province of Saskatchewan, but Alberta wildfire officer Chad Morrison said cooler weather and rain would aid efforts to get it under control. Morrison said the burned area equals the total consumed in
  
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• Oil down as dollar surges; Nigeria oil terminal issue trims loss

  19-05-2016 21:12
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices tumbled on Thursday as U.S. rate hike expectations lifted the dollar, though some of those losses were pared on worries about more supply outages from Nigeria's main crude oil terminal. An extension of a force majeure by Canada's Suncor Energy that will prevent any more shipping of oil this month from its Syncrude facility also helped crude prices retrace losses. Growing expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve may raise rates next month had e
  
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• Technip, FMC target oil services 'big league' with merger deal

  19-05-2016 20:57
  By James Regan and Michel Rose PARIS (Reuters) - France's Technip on Thursday announced an all-stock merger with U.S. rival FMC Technologies , as it seeks to offset weaker spending on exploration and production by cash-strapped oil companies. The new group, to be domiciled in London, would have combined revenue of $20 billion (£14 billion) and the merger is expected to deliver annual pretax savings of at least $400 million by 2019, as well as boost earnings per share significantly, the com
  
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• The Bank of England’s governor should be feeling hot | Brief letters

  19-05-2016 20:05
  
  Baby death statistics | House prices surge | Spending a penny | How to greet a hareDividing a small rate of deaths in the worst area by the even smaller rate in the best areas makes the worst look twice as bad (UK baby deaths ‘still influenced by where you live’, 17 May). But 99.21% of babies survive in the worst areas and 99.59% in the best areas. (Infant mortality is expressed as per 1,000 births precisely because it is so low, so a difference of less than 10 per thousand equates t
  
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• Humans damaging the environment faster than it can recover, UN finds

  19-05-2016 18:56
  
  Radical action is needed to combat increasing rate of environmental damage to water sources, land, biodiversity and marine life, report showsDegradation of the world’s natural resources by humans is rapidly outpacing the planet’s ability to absorb the damage, meaning the rate of deterioration is increasing globally, the most comprehensive environmental study ever undertaken by the UN has found.The study, which involved 1,203 scientists, hundreds of scientific institutions and more th
  
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• Humans damaging the environment faster than it can recover, report finds

  19-05-2016 18:56
  
  Radical action is needed to combat increasing rate of environmental damage to water sources, land, biodiversity and marine life, a UN report showsDegradation of the world’s natural resources by humans is rapidly outpacing the planet’s ability to absorb the damage, meaning that the rate of deterioration is increasing globally, the most comprehensive environmental study ever undertaken by the UN has found.The study, which involved 1,203 scientists, hundreds of scientific institutions a
  
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• Finding Nemo sequel Finding Dory 'could damage exotic fish populations'

  19-05-2016 18:52
  
  Australian conservationists warn that Pixar sequel could increase pressure on marine populations, after the first film led to surge in popularity of pet clownfishAustralian conservationists have warned that the release of new Pixar film Finding Dory could increase pressure on wild populations of exotic fish on the Great Barrier Reef and elsewhere.Researchers from the University of Queensland and Flinders University teamed up a decade ago for the Saving Nemo Conservation Fund, named after the Dis
  
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• Hounslow installs UK's first solar array with battery storage

  19-05-2016 18:41
  
  The London Borough of Hounslow has installed a £2 million solar array which is the first in the UK to adopt battery storage.
  
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• Don’t be eco-friendly just to do a good deed – do it to make your mark

  19-05-2016 18:29
  
  Researchers have found people will act in a more environmentally helpful way when they consider what kind of legacy they hope to leave behindIn the face of an overwhelming amount of data suggesting that climate change poses an immediate and catastrophic threat to our very existence, we remain largely inert. The stakes truly could not get any higher, yet many of us steadfastedly refuse to change our behaviour. What’s it going to take? Continue reading...
  
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• Global antibiotics 'revolution' needed

  19-05-2016 18:19 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A global revolution in the use of antimicrobials is needed, according to a government backed report.
  
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• Bayer makes takeover offer for Monsanto

  19-05-2016 18:02 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Bayer is offering to buy agricultural giant Monsanto in a deal that could create the world's biggest supplier of seeds and pesticides.
  
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• IMF agrees $5.4 billion standby loan for Iraq

  19-05-2016 17:56
  By Suleiman Al-Khalidi AMMAN (Reuters) - Iraq has reached a $5.4 billion (4 billion pounds) standby agreement with the International Monetary Fund that could unlock $15 billion more in international assistance over the next three years, Finance Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said on Thursday. Iraq's economy has been hit by the plunge in oil prices since mid-2014 and the country is expected to have a financing gap of $17 billion this year unless it can secure more funding, an IMF document obtained by R
  
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• Ford aims to implement carbon-based foam products by 2021

  19-05-2016 17:35
  
  American car giant Ford has set itself a five year window to introduce new foam and plastic components made from carbon dioxide feedstock, as the carmaker becomes the first in its industry to test the viability of CO2-based materials.
  
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• Grocery supply chains worth £300m in food waste war, says WRAP

  19-05-2016 17:32
  
  Grocery retailers and supply chain operators are missing out on a £300m windfall, and the chance to increase supply-chain redistribution streams four-fold, by failing to tackle food waste issues, new analysis from WRAP has revealed.
  
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• ECB's Lane says will consider oil recovery for inflation outlook

  19-05-2016 15:49
  By John Geddie and Padraic Halpin DUBLIN (Reuters) - The European Central Bank will be taking the recent rise in oil prices into close consideration when it meets next month to consider its inflation forecasts, ECB governing council member Philip Lane said on Thursday. The ECB slashed its outlook for consumer price growth in March based on estimates for Brent crude averaging around $35 a barrel this year. Since then, the price of oil has risen over 20 percent and was trading at $48 a barrel on T
  
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• Fracking investors losing patience with planning delays, says industry boss

  19-05-2016 15:46
  
  Head of Cuadrilla’s warning to UK energy minister over ‘unnecessary delays’ comes ahead of Yorkshire shale gas planning decisionThe backers of fracking in the UK do not have “limitless patience” for planning delays, according to a leading industry boss.Francis Egan, chief executive of Cuadrilla, warned that despite the government’s promise to fast track fracking, the planning process remains a slow lane. The comments come just ahead of a planning decision in Y
  
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• Oil drops below $48 on stronger U.S. dollar as support from outages fades

  19-05-2016 15:37
  By Alex Lawler LONDON (Reuters) - Oil fell below $48 a barrel on Thursday, pressured by a stronger dollar and a surprise increase in U.S. crude inventories which served as a reminder that supplies are plentiful despite output problems. Supply losses in Canada and Nigeria have supported the market. Brent crude was down $1.11 cents at $47.82 by 1330 GMT.
  
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• New York parks using goats as chemical-free weed control alternative

  19-05-2016 15:30
  
  Goats, which naturally like weeds such as poison ivy and can eat up to 25 pounds a day, are cleaning up Prospect Park with no negative environmental impactOverexcited children and reporters mill around the fence enclosing part of the Prospect Park woodlands. “Daddy, daddy, look!” one eager little boy yells. Everyone is craning their necks, raising their cameras to get a shot. The latest celebrities to grace Brooklyn are a group of eight weed-eating goats, and they are taking up resid
  
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• Evidence of ancient tsunamis on Mars

  19-05-2016 14:52 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists suggest that at least two huge tsunamis once swept across the Red Planet, triggered by large impacts.
  
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• Increased vegetation in the Arctic region may counteract global warming

  19-05-2016 14:19 via feedproxy.google.com
  Climate change creates more shrub vegetation in barren, arctic ecosystems. A study at Lund University in Sweden shows that organisms, such as bacteria and fungi, are triggered to break down particularly nutritious dead parts of shrubbery. Meanwhile, the total amount of decomposition is reducing. This could have an inhibiting effect on global warming.
  
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• Why air pollution in schools is such a big deal – and what to do about it | Ian Colbeck

  19-05-2016 14:14
  
  About 3,000 British schools are in areas where air quality is poor, with those in poorer communities suffering more
  Former London mayor Boris Johnson has been accused of holding back negative findings from a 2013 report on the city’s air pollution.The report stated that 433 of London’s 1,777 primary schools were in areas where nitrogen dioxide concentrations breached EU limits. Nitrogen dioxide, or NO2, is an air pollutant that when inhaled can aggravate respiratory diseases such as
  
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• Global Action Plan launches new platform to motivate sustainable champions

  19-05-2016 13:54
  
  EXCLUSIVE: Independent charity Global Action Plan (GAP) announced on Wednesday (18 May) at edie Live that it is launching a new Catalyst initiative aimed at creating a network of sustainability champions that can motivate one another to mobilise the workforce.
  
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• How much do you know about bees? - quiz

  19-05-2016 13:43
  
  Despite our professed concern for bees, a YouGov poll for Friends of the Earth found that most of us can’t recognise a honey bee. Take the green group’s quiz to see how much you know• The Great British Bee Count take place from 19 May-30 JuneHow many different species of bees are in the UK?13100250-plusWhich of these foods is not pollinated by bees?Strawberries RiceApplesAlmondsBees pollinate what percentage of the world's main crops? 25%33%75%90%How many of the UK’s bee s
  
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• Remanufacturing no longer a 'niche' business model, says Innovate UK

  19-05-2016 13:26
  
  EXCLUSIVE: Remanufacturing has a "crucial role" to play in every large-scale heavy industry business approach, the lead technologist resource efficiency at Innovate UK told an audience of sustainability professionals at edie Live.
  
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• Oil drops below $48 on Fed hike speculation, fading support from outages

  19-05-2016 12:12
  By Alex Lawler LONDON (Reuters) - Oil fell below $48 (32 pounds) a barrel on Thursday, pressured by a stronger dollar and as a surprise increase in U.S. crude inventories served as a reminder that supply remains ample despite output problems. Supply losses in Canada and Nigeria have lent support, but cooler weather was expected to help firefighters battling Canadian wildfires. Traders said Exxon Mobil is boosting output at Nigeria's largest crude stream.
  
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• Climate scientists, mourning Earth's losses, should make their voices heard | Sarah Myhre

  19-05-2016 12:00
  Climate scientists are feeling the need to engage in social leadership before it’s too late
  It’s easy to find a news hook to begin an opinion piece on climate change. Coral bleaching, record-setting heat waves, and expensive, deadly wildfires are a weekly occurrence in the news cycle. But, as climate warming advances, extreme events won’t be newsworthy – they’ll be expected. We scientists are the gatekeepers of the basic information that fuels decision making by nat
  
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• Greenpeace activists scale British Museum to protest BP sponsorship

  19-05-2016 11:54
  
  Museum temporarily closes as activists hang huge banners renaming the new BP-sponsored Sunken Cities Egypt exhibition as ‘Sinking Cities’Greenpeace activists have climbed the British Museum and are hanging banners off its columns in protest at BP’s sponsorship of its new ancient Egypt exhibition.The museum has temporarily closed because of the protest. “The museum is closed temporarily for visitor safety reasons. We hope we will be able to reopen shortly,” a spokesw
  
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• BP sells part of its stake in Castrol India

  19-05-2016 11:19
  (Reuters) - Oil major BP Plc sold part of the stake its unit Castrol Ltd holds in Castrol India Ltd , but said it would remain a majority shareholder in the company. The company said it sold an 11.5 percent stake in the Indian lubricants maker to a range of domestic and international investors. It held a 71 percent stake in the company before the sale.
  
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• Cooler weather expected to help firefighters battle Canada blaze

  19-05-2016 11:04
  By Nia Williams and Eric M. Johnson CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Firefighters battling a wildfire that has threatened oil sands facilities north of Fort McMurray, Alberta looked to cooler weather and the promise of rain on Thursday, as the city's evacuated residents were buoyed by long-awaited re-entry plans. The fire, spread over 422,000 hectares (1.04 million acres), surged north of Fort McMurray this week, forcing the evacuation of 8,000 oil sand workers and prolonging a shutdown that has cut
  
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• UK farmers to cut antibiotic use to combat drug resistance

  19-05-2016 10:49
  
  Taskforce will work with farming leaders and government to replace and reduce antibiotic use for livestockA new taskforce to reduce the use of antibiotics in farming in the UK is being set up in response to government concerns on the growing resistance of diseases to antibiotic medicines.The alliance for the Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture (RUMA) said it would work with organisations including farming leaders, food companies and government to find ways to replace antibiotic use where
  
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• 'Cover-up' row over McDonald's fish

  19-05-2016 10:03 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A leaked New Zealand government memo casts serious doubts on the sustainability of fish that are widely used in McDonald's restaurants.
  
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• Technip, FMC Technologies to merge in all-stock deal

  19-05-2016 09:10
  France's Technip announced an all-stock merger with U.S. rival FMC Technologies to create an oil services group with combined revenue of $20 billion (13.7 billion pounds). "We have complementary skills, technologies and capabilities," Technip Chairman and Chief Executive Thierry Pilenko said. Reuters reported in December that Technip had held talks with FMC.
  
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• London borough installs 6,000 solar panels over marketplace

  19-05-2016 07:01
  
  £2m scheme by Hounslow council on Western International Market will be biggest solar scheme by any local authority, and use batteries to store energyA London council is unveiling a vast installation of 6,000 solar panels on a wholesale market rooftop, which it says is the largest such array put up by a local authority. The London Borough of Hounslow says its £2m investment in solar, which has been installed on the roof of Western International Market, is also the first by a council t
  
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• Weevil wheeze: staying alive by feigning death

  19-05-2016 06:30
  
  Thorsgill wood, Teesdale At the first touch of my fingers the vine weevil fell to the ground and pretended to be deadThe vine weevil must have crawled on to my sleeve when I sat down among the fading primroses to re-tie my bootlace. At the first touch of my fingers it fell to the ground and pretended to be dead.There’s a name for this stress-induced immobility in animals: thanatosis, after Thanatos, the ancient Greek deity of death. Its most famous exponents are opossums, whose behaviour g
  
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• Totten Glacier may face 'rapid retreat'

  19-05-2016 06:29 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A study finds unchecked climate change could destabilise Antarctica's huge Totten Glacier in the coming centuries, pushing up global oceans by 2m, or more.
  
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• Nick Xenophon, the 'anti-politician' poised to cause headaches – whoever wins election

  19-05-2016 04:43
  
  The senator who started out as an anti-pokies campaigner is likely to be leading a new, significant political force after the pollIf Malcolm Turnbull wins the election, Nick Xenophon could help him introduce emissions trading, stop some of his company tax cuts, frustrate his attempts to cut Gonski schools funding and stall some of his sweeping changes to superannuation. If Bill Shorten wins, Xenophon could force big changes to Labor’s centrepiece policy on negative gearing.And those nation
  
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• Arctic oil drilling: outcry as Norway opens new areas to exploration

  19-05-2016 04:08
  
  Norway issues licences for fresh areas of exploration for the first time in 20 years as part of what minister calls ‘a new chapter’ for petroleum industryNorway awarded Arctic drilling licences to 13 oil companies on Wednesday, including in a hitherto unexplored part of the Barents Sea, drawing condemnation from environmental groups. Related: Licence to drill: Centrica awarded rights to explore Barents SeaContinue reading...
  
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• Oil drops on surging dollar, rising U.S. crude stocks, jump in Iran exports

  19-05-2016 04:06
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Thursday, pulled down by rising U.S. crude inventories, a stronger dollar and surging output from Iran to Europe and Asia. U.S. crude futures were down 74 cents, or 1.5 percent, at $47.45 a barrel.
  
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• Great Barrier Reef needs $10bn for chance of survival, scientists say

  19-05-2016 03:25
  
  This election is Australia’s last chance to save the reef, which requires $1bn a year for 10 years to reduce water pollution to give it a chance to survive climate change, report warnsThe 2016 Australian election is the last opportunity to save the Great Barrier Reef, the authors of a new scientific paper have warned. The government needs to commit to $1bn a year for 10 years to reduce water pollution, which would give the reef a chance to survive the impacts of climate change, according t
  
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• As Alberta wildfire rages, thousands who fled must wait weeks to go home

  19-05-2016 01:39
  
  The more than 88,000 Fort McMurray residents evacuated during the wildfire must wait until June to begin a phased re-entry plan, says Alberta premierThe wildfire in northern Alberta continues to rage out of control, growing to more than 423,000 hectares , as officials said it would be at least another two weeks before the tens of thousands of evacuated Fort McMurray residents would be allowed to return to the city.
  Relief – in the form of cooler weather and slight precipitation – may
  
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• The bank account that gives you a shock

  19-05-2016 01:01 via bbc.co.uk
  
  One British firm is seeking to put the buzz back into budgeting by giving bank customers an electric shock if they overspend.
  
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• Database launched to gather, study DNA from Midwestern twins

  19-05-2016 00:24
  SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Researchers who study how genes and the environment influence people's health are hoping that twins who live in the Midwest will contribute DNA to a new database that might provide insight about traits and diseases specific to the region.
  
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• Latest evacuations plunge oil sands restarts into uncertainty

  19-05-2016 00:04
  By Nia Williams CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - The sudden surge north of the massive wildfire burning in Canada's oil sands region has dealt a new setback to producers, triggering a second round of evacuations and threatening work camps north of Fort McMurray. With the city of Fort McMurray off limits and fewer places to house workers needed to restart operations, production may be shut down for longer than companies and market analysts had anticipated. A shift in winds and hot temperatures sent t
  
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