Environment news

• New data will help Colorado study health effects of fracking

  14-06-2016 23:59
  
  DENVER (AP) — New data on air pollution from fracking wells in Colorado will be a big help in assessing whether the emissions are harmful to human health, state officials say.
  
  Read more

• Oil falls on U.S. crude build, Brexit risk

  14-06-2016 23:49
  By Devika Krishna Kumar NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell about 2 percent in extended trading on Tuesday as data showed a surprise build in U.S. crude inventories last week, adding to the market's nervousness around Britain's vote next week on whether to leave the European Union. Data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) showed U.S. crude inventories rose by 1.2 million barrels in the week to June 10 to 536.7 million, compared with analysts' expectations for a decrease of 2.3 million b
  
  Read more

• California 'street tree' benefits valued at $1 billion

  14-06-2016 23:21 via feedproxy.google.com
  Streets lined with gold? Not exactly, but a new report from the U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Southwest Research Station estimates trees lining Californian streets and boulevards provide benefits to municipalities and residents worth $1 billion.
  
  Read more

• Philippines may lose 167,000 hectares to global warming

  14-06-2016 22:22 via feedproxy.google.com
  More than 167,000 hectares of coastland -- about 0.6% of the country's total area -- are projected to go underwater in the Philippines, especially in low-lying island communities, according to research by the University of the Philippines.Low-lying countries with an abundance of coastlines are at significant risk from rising sea levels resulting from global warming. According to data by the World Meteorological Organisation, the water levels around the Philippines are rising at a rate almost thr
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Tim Peake: Watch key moments from UK astronaut's mission

  14-06-2016 20:06 via bbc.co.uk
  
  As UK astronaut Tim Peake comes back to Earth, BBC News has compiled some of the best Esa videos from his six-month mission.
  
  Read more

• Tim Peake: The UK astronaut's best photos and comments

  14-06-2016 20:06 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Has Tim Peake got the best photo album on (and off) Earth? As his space mission comes to an end, we compile some of his best shots along with his comments.
  
  Read more

• Tim Peake: A look at Sokol spacesuit used for re-entry

  14-06-2016 20:05 via bbc.co.uk
  
  As British astronaut Tim Peake ends his mission, BBC News takes a look at the spacesuit used for launch and re-entry.
  
  Read more

• Oil slides as rising chance of Brexit spooks investors

  14-06-2016 19:22
  By Devika Krishna Kumar NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell more than 1 percent on Tuesday, down for a fourth straight day, pressured by investor nervousness over Britain's vote next week on whether to leave the European Union, which overshadowed signs of a return to health for crude after a two-year glut. Safe-haven German Bund yields fell below zero for the first time, while industrial commodities and equity markets, seen as more vulnerable to economic risk, dropped after polls showed Britain
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• The moth that could devastate UK crops

  14-06-2016 18:03 via bbc.co.uk
  
  UK crops could potentially be "devastated" by an infestation of a species of moth arriving from continental Europe, scientists say.
  
  Read more

• Operation Puerto: Blood bags in Spanish cycling doping case to be handed over

  14-06-2016 17:48 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Blood bags used as evidence in a major Spanish cycling doping scandal must be handed over to authorities for investigation, a court rules.
  
  Read more

• 'Fossil' meteorite was from asteroid smash-up

  14-06-2016 17:46 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists identify a completely new type of meteorite that likely originated in a huge asteroid collision some 470 million years ago.
  
  Read more

• Can incineration and landfills save us from the recycling crisis?

  14-06-2016 17:35 via theguardian.com
  
  In many parts of the US, it now costs more to recycle old plastic than to make new products. So what are the alternatives for getting rid of our waste?It’s been a tough year for plastic recycling, and the culprit is oil.Over the past two years, petroleum prices have plummeted, at one point dropping to 70% below June 2014 levels. As prices have fallen, they’ve dragged down the cost of virgin plastic, which is made from oil. In many areas, it now costs more to recycle old plastic than
  
  Read more

• Gas Stations Close as Fire Rages Near Alberta Oil Sands

  14-06-2016 17:34 via feedproxy.google.com
  The wildfire that roared through Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, last May has been called the worst fire in Canadian history. Its devastation is staggering: More than 100,000 residents and nearby workers were evacuated at different stages of the fire, and more than 2,200 square miles of land and 2,400 structures burned in two provinces: Alberta and its eastern neighbor, Saskatchewan. With the fire only 70 percent contained to date, its economic impact is yet to be tallied.
  
  Read more

• Kids' Mental Health Risks Rise with Poor Air Quality

  14-06-2016 17:11
  Higher levels of air pollution may correspond to higher rates of mental health disorders in kids and teens, according to a new study conducted in Sweden. Researchers found that, in areas with higher levels of pollution, there were more medications dispensed for psychiatric conditions in children and teens, compared with areas with lower levels of pollution. "The results can mean that a decreased concentration of air pollution — first and foremost, traffic-related air pollution — may
  
  Read more

• Endangered sandpipers lay eggs in captivity for the first time

  14-06-2016 16:53 via theguardian.com
  
  Wildlife experts say the seven eggs laid by two spoon-billed sandpipers at WWT Slimbridge gives new hope for the species’ tiny wild populationOne of the world’s rarest birds has laid eggs in captivity for the first time, in what wildlife experts say provides new hope for the species’ tiny wild population.Only around 200 breeding pairs of critically endangered spoon-billed sandpipers remain in the wild, where they make an annual 10,000 mile round-trip between their Russian Arcti
  
  Read more

• Lessons from London's failing 'quietways' cycle scheme

  14-06-2016 16:33 via theguardian.com
  
  The troubled trajectory of the capital’s backstreet bike routes has repercussions for cycling policy across the countryIt has arrived with less fuss than the segregated superhighways, but as of this week London has the first in its new generation of officially designated cycling “quietways”.Quietway 1 runs for just over five miles from Greenwich to Waterloo in south-east London, eschewing main roads for a combination of back streets, traffic-free paths and cyclist-only contrafl
  
  Read more

• For the Kermit Sutra? New mating position reported for frogs

  14-06-2016 16:06
  
  This just in from the Department of Amphibian Philandering: For years, scientists have thought frogs and toads used only six positions to mate. It turns out they may be wrong. In a forest in India, researchers ...
  
  Read more

• Party’s over: the end of helium balloons

  14-06-2016 15:49 via theguardian.com
  
  Worcester city council is about to become the latest authority to ban the release of helium balloons – but what are the alternatives? Potentially deflating news from Worcester city council – it is about to ban the release of helium balloons, and will fine anyone letting one go for littering. The ban will only cover council-owned land, such as parks and open spaces. “In your back garden or private land, we’re not looking to introduce a ban on that – it would be compl
  
  Read more

• Scotland exceeds 'world-leading' emissions target six years early

  14-06-2016 15:21
  
  Scotland has exceeded its 2020 target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 42% six years early and confirmed plans to establish a "new and more testing" objective, new Government figures have revealed.
  
  Read more

• May marks one more record hot month for the world

  14-06-2016 15:15 via theguardian.com
  
  May was the fifth record warm month this year, upping the odds that 2016 will be the hottest year on record, reports Climate CentralThe streak continues: May was record warm for the globe, according to NASA data released Monday.It’s now even more likely that 2016 will be the hottest year ever recorded, despite the demise of one of the strongest El Niños on record. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Green Bond market in urgent need of 'vigorous' industry standards, says WWF

  14-06-2016 15:02
  
  Industry standards in the Green Bond market are needed in order to overcome the "complexity and confusion" that is currently hampering investor confidence in financing green projects, new research from WWF has suggested.
  
  Read more

• California Condor Population Reaches New Heights

  14-06-2016 14:17 via feedproxy.google.com
  After years of intense — and often controversial — restoration efforts, biologists are finally reporting some good news for the beleaguered California condor: More chicks are surviving in the wild, and the birds are becoming increasingly independent and expanding their range.Earlier this year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced what it called a milestone for the California condor: More chicks had hatched and fledged in the wild during 2015 than the number of condo
  
  Read more

• CDC publishes new map showing US locations of potential Zika-carrying mosquitoes

  14-06-2016 14:10 via feedproxy.google.com
  A few months ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a startling map that showed the parts of the U.S. that could harbor mosquitoes capable of carrying Zika. The map made it look like a vast swath of the country was at risk for Zika, including New England and the Upper Midwest. Well, not quite. On Thursday, CDC scientists published another mosquito map for the U.S. And it paints a very different picture.
  
  Read more

• Millions of animal 'trophies' exported across borders, figures show

  14-06-2016 14:00 via theguardian.com
  
  At least 200,000 of the nearly 2m trophies collected from animal hunts were endangered species, according to report revealing the scale of the industry Around 1.7m animal “trophies” have been exported across borders by hunters in the last decade, with at least 200,000 of them endangered species, according to a new report.US hunters are by far the largest killers of trophy animals, including half of all the 11,000 lions shot in the last decade, the report found. The issue came to glob
  
  Read more

• 'Biblical' moth influx threatens to devastate crops

  14-06-2016 14:00 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists have learned that cabbage and cauliflower crops could potentially be "devastated" by an infestation of moths from continental Europe.
  
  Read more

• Scotland beats climate emissions reductions target six years early

  14-06-2016 13:40 via theguardian.com
  
  2020 target of 42% cut reached earlier than expected, but climate campaigners sceptical about government’s roleScotland’s climate emissions have broken through a landmark reductions target six years early after a warm winter helped drive down energy use. The Scottish climate change secretary, Roseanna Cunningham, said she was delighted that the country’s emissions had fallen by nearly 46% between 1990 and 2014, surpassing the government’s 2020 target of a 42% cut far earl
  
  Read more

• IEA sees oil market balance in 2016, surplus to re-emerge next year

  14-06-2016 13:34
  By Amanda Cooper LONDON (Reuters) - The oil market is now in balance thanks to unplanned outages and robust demand, particularly from emerging economies, but this equilibrium will tilt into surplus again early next year, the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday. The agency said in its monthly report that demand growth in 2017 is likely to reach 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd), the same level at which it estimates growth for this year, having revised up its May 2016 forecast of 1.2 milli
  
  Read more

• Nissan turns to bio-ethanol to accelerate 'carbon-neutral' transport ambition

  14-06-2016 13:30
  
  Japanese car manufacturer Nissan has unveiled the results a ground-breaking research and development (R&D) drive, which will establish a Solid Oxide Fuel-Cell (SOFC)-powered engine system that runs on bio-ethanol electric power.
  
  Read more

• Minister says UK government 'fully backs' microbeads ban

  14-06-2016 13:29 via theguardian.com
  
  Environment minister George Eustice tells MPs’ committee that the government supports a ban on polluting plastic microbeads in cosmetics The UK government now fully backs a legal ban on polluting plastic microbeads in cosmetics and toiletries, environment minister George Eustice said on Tuesday. A ban across the EU could be passed as early as 2017, he said, to stop the tiny particles entering the seas and harming wildlife. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Oil falls as Brexit threat rattles markets

  14-06-2016 13:16
  By Amanda Cooper LONDON (Reuters) - Oil fell on Tuesday, as investor nervousness over next week's vote on Britain's possible European Union exit swept financial markets, eclipsing signs of a return to health for crude prices. Perceived safe-haven assets such as the Swiss franc and German Bunds rallied, while industrial commodities and equity markets, seen as more vulnerable to economic risk, fell after polls showed Britain's "Leave" campaign leading before a referendum on EU membership.. This ov
  
  Read more

• Froggy style: unique mating position of Bombay night frogs finally revealed

  14-06-2016 12:58 via theguardian.com
  
  The frogs are secretive, breed only at night, and always at the peak of monsoon season, but researchers have finally identified their remarkable mating habitsThey mostly come at night. Moments after sunset, and calling as they move, the Bombay night frogs climb high into the trees that overhang rivers swollen by the warm monsoon rains in the forests of Western Ghats in India.And then the action begins. On rain-soaked leaves, branches and tree trunks, the amphibians pair up. The female sends a wi
  
  Read more

• Apple quietly forms new energy company to sell excess renewable electricity

  14-06-2016 12:50
  
  In a bid to stabilise its ongoing commitment to sourcing renewable energy, tech giant Apple has quietly formed its own energy subsidiary which could see the company sell excess electricity to end-users across the US.
  
  Read more

• Apple forms new energy company to sell excess renewable electricity

  14-06-2016 12:50
  
  In a bid to stabilise its ongoing commitment to sourcing renewable energy, tech giant Apple has quietly formed its own energy subsidiary which could see the company sell excess electricity to end-users across the US.
  
  Read more

• British shale gas firm IGas Energy seeks investors

  14-06-2016 11:10
  Britain's largest shale gas developer IGas said on Tuesday it is in talks with a number of potential investors to strengthen its balance sheet. IGas has been cutting its debt over the last 14 months amid oil price volatility through bond buybacks and the amortisation of secured bonds, it said in a company update. "In relation to these financing requirements, the company is in discussions with a number of potential investors and continues to evaluate options for cash and earnings accretive transa
  
  Read more

• It's the economy that needs to be integrated into the environment - not the other way around | Andrew Simms

  14-06-2016 10:55 via theguardian.com
  
  BP’s call for a ‘meaningful carbon price’ is the latest example of wrongly trying to apply economic theories and tools to the environmentBP’s Statistical Review of World Energy is a standard industry reference document. It’s a useful indicator of trends, if occasionally the victim of politics.Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Marcus Gover to replace Liz Goodwin as WRAP chief executive

  14-06-2016 10:18
  
  Marcus Gover will replace Liz Goodwin as the new chief executive of the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), the charity has announced today (13 June).
  
  Read more

• IEA sees global oil market returning to surplus in early 2017

  14-06-2016 10:05
  By Amanda Cooper LONDON (Reuters) - Oil supply and demand will balance in the second half of 2016 after a series of unplanned production outages, but the market is expected to tilt into surplus in the first half of next year, the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday. The agency said demand growth in 2017 is likely to be flat at around 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd), the same level at which it estimates growth for this year, having revised up its May 2016 forecast of 1.2 million bpd. "A
  
  Read more

• Pressure mounts over 'suppression' of UK fracking impacts report

  14-06-2016 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Campaigners accuse the government of sitting on a potentially explosive report from its official advisers on the impact of fracking for shale gas Pressure is growing on the UK government to release a report into the impacts of shale gas fracking, which campaigners have accused ministers of suppressing.The Committee on Climate Change, which advises parliament on meeting the UK’s carbon targets, submitted the report in March. It covers the expected impact of exploiting the UK’s onshore
  
  Read more

• Up close with the Titanic's sunken sister

  14-06-2016 08:55 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The BBC dives more than 100 metres underwater in a submarine to see the wreck of the Britannic in the Aegean, where it sank in 1916.
  
  Read more

• How nature turned a failed communist plan into Bucharest's unique urban park

  14-06-2016 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The wild wetland of Văcărești is a symbol of nature’s resilience. Without human interference, wildlife has reconquered this abandoned lake and transformed it into a green oasis in the middle of one of Europe’s densest citiesThere are rarely ever more than a handful of people present when you visit Văcărești, Bucharest’s wild wetland just a 30-minute stroll from the city centre. Almost no one dares go down into the park itself; the perimeter wall &n
  
  Read more

• Birds and beasts of the heathland barrows

  14-06-2016 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Iping Common, West Sussex Perhaps the round platforms were used for rituals performed by the early farmers who were the first to clear the treesThe ridge of the South Downs to the south is gleaming in the early morning sunshine. The heath and surrounding woods are quieter than they were a few weeks ago. There’s much less birdsong now – just a lonely tree pipit still whistling its territorial song from the top of a tall birch. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Hedgehogs continue to disappear from British gardens, wildlife survey shows

  14-06-2016 06:01 via theguardian.com
  
  RSPB campaign urges gardeners to do one thing to help wildlife this summer after survey reveals rise and fall of familiar species Gardeners are being urged to do more to help hedgehogs this summer after new figures showed that fewer people than ever are seeing the once-familiar species. Results from the from the RSPB’s citizen science survey showed that only 25% of people see hedgehogs in their garden at least once a month, around three percentage points less than last year and than in 201
  
  Read more

• Revealed: first mammal species wiped out by human-induced climate change

  14-06-2016 05:44 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: scientists find no trace of the Bramble Cay melomys, a small rodent that was the only mammal endemic to Great Barrier ReefHuman-caused climate change appears to have driven the Great Barrier Reef’s only endemic mammal species into the history books, with the Bramble Cay melomys, a small rodent that lives on a tiny island in the eastern Torres Strait, being completely wiped-out from its only known location.It is also the first recorded extinction of a mammal anywhere in the world
  
  Read more

• Oil futures fall as global growth, Brexit concerns weigh

  14-06-2016 04:41
  By Aaron Sheldrick and Henning Gloystein TOKYO (Reuters) - Crude oil futures fell in Asian trade on Tuesday, as investors ignored signs of market tightness to focus on concerns over global growth and overnight declines in stocks on the impending vote on Britain's possible European Union exit. A stronger dollar overnight spilled into the oil market, while markets eyed recent polls showing Britain's "Leave" campaign in the lead ahead of a referendum on membership of the European Union.
  
  Read more

• Corruption probe into Brazil's Lula returned to crusading judge

  14-06-2016 04:08
  The Supreme Court decided on Monday to return a corruption investigation into former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to a crusading anti-corruption judge who is presiding over cases in the sprawling Petrobras graft scandal. Lula, Brazil's most influential politician, who has not ruled out running again in 2018, is under investigation for allegedly benefiting, in the form of payments and a luxury apartment, from the corruption scheme uncovered at the state-run oil company. The Supre
  
  Read more

• Smart buildings monitor energy efficiency, but what are they really tracking?

  14-06-2016 03:28 via theguardian.com
  
  Space utilisation technology aims to make offices more efficient and people friendly but there are concerns around privacy Imagine walking into your office, being welcomed by name as you walk through security, handed a coffee exactly as you like it and directed to a free quiet space that has the ideal comfort setting for the report you have to write that morning. Sound too good to be true? Maybe not, according to Preeti Bajaj, vice-president of strategy and transformation at the French multinati
  
  Read more

• Baboons return to Tbilisi zoo after floods

  14-06-2016 01:29 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The zoo in Georgia's capital Tbilisi has been slowly re-populating with animals, after flooding last year killed nearly half of its former residents.
  
  Read more

Follow @UK_Environment on Twitter!