Environment news

• Brazil tourism minister resigns as Temer link to graft scandal

  16-06-2016 23:32
  By Lisandra Paraguassu BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil's tourism minister resigned on Thursday, less than two months before the country hosts the Olympics, as the government of interim President Michel Temer lost its third minister in a month to a sweeping graft probe of state oil company Petrobras. Tourism Minister Henrique Alves was one of two dozen officials named in plea bargain testimony by a former Petrobras executive linking Temer and several of his closest allies to Brazil's biggest corrupti
  
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• Tree planting at 'an all time low'

  16-06-2016 22:59 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Official figures released today by the Forestry Commission show that the government is falling far short of its own tree-planting targets
  
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• Oil slides 4 percent on worry of market turmoil if UK leaves EU

  16-06-2016 22:02
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices slumped about 4 percent and hit one-month lows on Thursday, settling down for a sixth straight day, on fears of global economic turmoil if Britain exits the European Union. This time around, a resurgent dollar is hammering crude futures and other commodities on speculation that Britain could vote to end its EU membership. The dollar hit two-week highs, then eased back on the sterling's strength as Britain suspended campaigning over its EU member
  
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• Primordial Galaxy Has Farthest Oxygen Ever Detected in the Universe

  16-06-2016 20:54
  
  Astronomers have discovered signs of oxygen in one of the universe's first galaxies, which was born shortly after the cosmic "Dark Ages" that existed before the universe had stars, a new study finds. The discovery — which centers on the truly ancient galaxy SXDF-NB1006-2, located about 13.1 billion light-years from Earth — could help solve the mystery of how much the first stars helped to clear the murky fog that once filled the universe, the researchers said. Previous research sugge
  
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• Oil slides three percent, hits one-month low as dollar jumps

  16-06-2016 19:41
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices slumped about 3 percent to hit one-month lows on Thursday, down a sixth straight day, as the dollar's rally on fears of Britain's exit from the European Union hammered commodities priced in the currency. Crude futures bounced slightly off session lows as sterling briefly turned positive against the dollar after campaigning was suspended for next week's EU membership referendum following a deadly attack on a lawmaker for Britain's opposition Labo
  
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• MPs call for a fragmented National Grid

  16-06-2016 19:01
  
  MPs have called for a complete overhaul of the UK's energy network operation, recommending that operating systems should be transferred from National Grid to independent operators in order to mitigate the potential for "conflicts of interest".
  
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• What would a global warming increase of 1.5C be like?

  16-06-2016 18:08 via theguardian.com
  
  The Paris climate conference set the ambitious goal of finding ways to limit global warming to 1.5C, rather than the previous threshold of 2C. But what would be the difference? And how realistic is such a target? Environment 360 reportsHow ambitious is the world? The Paris climate conference last December astounded many by pledging not just to keep warming “well below two degrees celsius,” but also to “pursue efforts” to limit warming to 1.5C. That raised a hugely importa
  
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• Marks & Spencer crowdfunds solar panels for its stores

  16-06-2016 17:56 via theguardian.com
  
  Retailer joins forces with community-focused energy group to raise £1.2m for panel installation on nine large outletsMarks & Spencer is using crowdfunding to back the installation of solar panels on its stores. The retailer is partnering with Energy4All, a not-for-profit group that helps community groups set up energy co-ops, with the aim of raising £1.23m to put panels on nine large stores including Torbay in Devon, Truro in Cornwall and Cheshunt in Hertfordshire. Continue readi
  
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• Volcano generators and algae jet fuel: the best green innovations of the week

  16-06-2016 17:43
  
  In a week that warned of a lifetime of high atmospheric carbon concentrations, edie has rounded up the latest low-carbon technologies and innovations that could mitigate carbon effects and create a sustainable, if slightly altered, future.
  
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• EU to investigate Poland over logging in ancient forest

  16-06-2016 17:38 via theguardian.com
  
  European Union launches infringement procedure against Poland over tree-clearing in the Białowieża forest, a protected Unesco World Heritage site The European Union on Thursday launched an investigation into Polish logging in its ancient Białowieża forest, a protected Unesco World Heritage site which includes some of Europe’s last primeval woodland.“The commission has launched an infringement procedure against Poland ... the commission is in contact with the Polis
  
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• BP unlikely to invest in Saudi Aramco IPO - CEO

  16-06-2016 17:22
  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Oil major BP Plc is unlikely to invest in Saudi Aramco's IPO, Chief Executive Bob Dudley told reporters at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum on Thursday. "It's unlikely we would be a financial investor in Saudi Aramco," he said. Dudley also said the global oil industry needed to readjust its costs based on an oil price of around $50 per barrel. (Reporting by Katya Golubkova and Dmitri Zhdannikov; Editing by Jack Stubbs)
  
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• What Would a Global Warming Increase of 1.5 Degrees Be Like?

  16-06-2016 17:02 via feedproxy.google.com
  How ambitious is the world? The Paris climate conference last December astounded many by pledging not just to keep warming “well below two degrees Celsius,” but also to "pursue efforts" to limit warming to 1.5 degrees C. That raised a hugely important question: What's the difference between a two-degree world and a 1.5-degree world?
  
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• Brexit voters almost twice as likely to disbelieve in manmade climate change

  16-06-2016 16:19 via theguardian.com
  
  Poll shows Brexiters are also more likely to think media exaggerates agreement on climate science, distrust scientists and oppose windfarms British people backing a leave vote in the EU referendum are almost twice as likely to believe that climate change does not have a human cause, according to a new poll. Continue reading...
  
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• Judge rules: no right to know hazardous pesticide ingredients

  16-06-2016 14:45 via feedproxy.google.com
  A federal judge has ruled that the US Environmental Protection Agency is under no obligation to force pesticide makers to disclose supposedly 'inert' ingredients in their products - even where those ingredients are seriously hazardous to health or environment.
  
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• Can air pollution impact childhood mental health?

  16-06-2016 14:36 via feedproxy.google.com
  Air pollution is a known risk factor for certain mental health problems in adults, but a new study also links high rates of air pollution to poorer psychiatric health in children and adolescents.To investigate this link, researchers from Umeå University in Sweden examined what is known as “register-based” data.
  
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• Toddler Snatched by Alligator: How Dangerous Are Florida's Reptiles?

  16-06-2016 14:26
  A Nebraska family staying at a Disney resort in Florida was struck by tragedy yesterday (June 14) when an alligator snatched the family's 2-year-old son and dragged him underwater, news sources reported. A dive team found the toddler's body today (June 15), Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said at a news conference, according to CNN. But attacks like this are relatively rare, said James Perran Ross, a retired associate scientist of wildlife ecology and conservation at the University of Florid
  
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• Tesco's food waste climbed by 4% last year

  16-06-2016 14:02
  
  As Tesco's chief executive used a keynote speech in Cape Town to implore companies to do more to tackle food waste, the UK supermarket revealed that its own food waste had increased by 4% to 59,400 tonnes last year.
  
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• Fossil record shows seas around Britain were once tropical

  16-06-2016 13:51 via feedproxy.google.com
  Some 210 million years ago, Britain consisted of many islands, surrounded by warm seas. Europe at the time lay farther south, at latitudes equivalent to North Africa today. Much of Europe was hot desert, and at this point was flooded by a great sea – the Rhaetian Transgression.Published in Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, the Bristol team's work is the most extensive study yet, based on more than 26,000 identified fossils, of the Rhaetian shallow sea sharks, bony fishes, marine
  
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• Human-eating lions condemned to life in captivity in India

  16-06-2016 13:33
  
  NEW DELHI (AP) — Three lions identified as having eaten villagers in western India have been caged and will never be released back into the wild, forest officials said Thursday.
  
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• For a clean, secure energy future the UK must stay part of Europe's vision | Michael Grubb

  16-06-2016 13:31 via theguardian.com
  
  The UK could play a great role in the creation of Europe’s integrated single energy market – and reap its share of the significant benefitsEnergy is the lifeblood of society. It heats our homes, powers our industry and entertainment, and fuels our transport. It has become yet another punchbag in the UK referendum campaign, with claims and counterclaims about costs. But there is a simple and very positive story to be told.
  Some 65 years ago, after the devastation of world war two, the
  
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• Court orders Bulgaria to pay Russia over cancelled nuclear project: minister

  16-06-2016 13:24
  An arbitration court has ruled that Bulgarian state energy firm NEK should pay nearly 550 million euros (437.70 million pound) in compensation to Russia's Atomstroyexport for a cancelled nuclear power project, Bulgaria's energy minister said on Thursday. "NEK received the court's decision late last night. In the next days, NEK will approach Atomstroyexport over the decision," Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova told reporters.
  
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• Unilever unveils sustainable start-up finalists for Foundry 50 competition

  16-06-2016 12:55
  
  Consumer goods giant Unilever's innovation platform has included businesses that incorporate emerging sustainable business models as finalists of the Foundry 50 competition which searches for the world's top 50 marketing technology start-ups.
  
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• Report: Digital technology uptake needed to reach Sustainable Development Goals

  16-06-2016 12:40
  
  A host of technology frontrunners including Microsoft, BT and Verizon have urged countries to accelerate the uptake of digital technology, claiming that smart solutions and the Internet of Things (IoT) would be "indispensable" to achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
  
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• Sea eagles on the Isle of Mull - photo essay

  16-06-2016 12:30 via theguardian.com
  
  The sea eagle, also known as the white-tailed eagle, was driven to extinction in Britain earlier this century. Now, thanks to a reintroduction programme started on the Isle of Rum, by Scottish Natural Heritage and the RSPB, it has returned one of its former haunts, the Inner Hebrides island of Mull in Scotland Continue reading...
  
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• Sea eagle reintroduced to Isle of Mull - photo essay

  16-06-2016 12:30 via theguardian.com
  
  The sea eagle, also known as the white-tailed eagle, was driven to extinction in Britain earlier this century. Now, thanks to a reintroduction programme by Scottish Natural Heritage and the RSPB, it has returned one of its former haunts, the Inner Hebrides island of Mull in Scotland Continue reading...
  
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• Eight pilot whales dead in mass stranding in Indonesia

  16-06-2016 12:02 via theguardian.com
  
  Hundreds of fishermen and officials rescued 24 of the whales after their pod swam ashore in Probolinggo, East JavaEight pilot whales have died after a mass stranding on the coast of Indonesia’s main island of Java that sparked a major rescue operation, an official said Thursday.
  Thirty-two of the short-finned pilot whales came ashore during high tide early Wednesday in Probolinggo, East Java province.Continue reading...
  
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• Antarctic CO2 hits 400ppm for first time in 4m years

  16-06-2016 11:47 via theguardian.com
  
  Climate Central: The last monitoring station in the world without a 400 parts per million reading has now reached it, NOAA confirmsWe’re officially living in a new world.Carbon dioxide has been steadily rising since the start of the Industrial Revolution, setting a new high year after year. There’s a notable new entry to the record books. The last station on Earth without a 400 parts per million (ppm) reading has reached it. Continue reading...
  
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• New rules to regulate Europe's hormone-disrupting chemicals

  16-06-2016 11:33 via theguardian.com
  
  European commission launches world’s first system for classifying and banning endocrine disruptors against a barrage of criticismThe European commission has launched the world’s first system for classifying and banning endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), against a barrage of criticism from scientists, NGOs, industry and consumer groups.Endocrines are hormone-altering chemicals common in everyday substances from paint to pesticides that have been linked to an array of illnesses inc
  
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• Bloomberg Taskforce and European Commission form new climate change alliance

  16-06-2016 11:28
  
  Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York, will be in the driving seat of a new global alliance of cities to tackle climate change, despite the EU having pioneered the idea of coordinating mayors to fight global warming.
  
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• French CGT union extends strike at Fos-Lavera oil port terminal

  16-06-2016 10:59
  France's hardline CGT union workers have extended a strike at the Fos-Lavera oil terminal in the southern port of Marseille until Friday June 17, a union official said. The strike, now in its fourth week, part of a nationwide rolling protest against a planned labour reform has delayed the loading and unloading of about 70 oil, LNG and chemical tankers at the port, a CGT union official in Marseille said. "Workers will meet again tomorrow to decide whether to continue the strike," Pascal Galeote s
  
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• Oil hits three-week low on weak U.S. stock draw, Brexit fear

  16-06-2016 10:30
  By Karolin Schaps LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices hit their lowest in more than three weeks on Thursday, the sixth straight day of losses and longest bearish run since early 2016, as U.S. crude stocks fell less than expected and concerns over Britain's future in the EU weighed. "It is mainly risk aversion ahead of the Brexit vote next week so we see some profit-taking on recent long positions ahead of this event," said Hans van Cleef, senior energy economist at ABN Amro in Amsterdam.
  
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• Kerry tours Arctic Circle to see climate change impact

  16-06-2016 09:25
  
  SVALBARD, Norway (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is visiting Norway's extreme north to view areas impacted by climate change with melting ice and the opening of new sea lanes.
  
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• Ford focuses on innovation as energy use and emissions tumble

  16-06-2016 09:00
  
  US car manufacturer Ford has unveiled the results of its ongoing sustainability push, with reductions in water and energy use and carbon emissions highlighted in its 17th annual Sustainability Report, which was largely focused on a renewed innovation drive.
  
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• Russia significantly under-reporting wildfires, figures show

  16-06-2016 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Greenpeace analysis of satellite data reveals 3.5m hectares have burned this year, while government statistics claim only 669,000 hectaresForest wildfires rampaging across Russia are being significantly under-reported by authorities, according to analysis of satellite data.Climate change is making wildfires much more likely in Russia, but regional officials have been reluctant to report the true extent of the problem, and campaigners are warning that the harm to forests, property and human lives
  
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• It's an agile predator, but a gruesome fate often awaits the dung fly

  16-06-2016 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Wolsingham, Weardale Adult dung flies chew hoverflies like hotdogs, but many fall victim to an insect-eating fungusCattle had been sheltering in the lee of the hedge and had spattered the footpath with fresh cowpats. We had to be careful where we put our feet, but the male dung flies, Scathophaga stercoraria, sitting in the centre of these discs of ordure, had no such reservations; these were their courtship arenas. Each suitor, resplendent in golden hairs that glowed in the early morning sunlig
  
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• Unless investors see light on solar, women will still give birth in the dark

  16-06-2016 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  A US and Tanzania-based solar finance company is aiming to lower investment risks and bring energy to some of the 1.2 billion people still off-gridHigh in the Usambara Mountains of northern Tanzania, a woman prepares to give birth in the pitch black. Her family clusters around her. With no electricity at the birthing clinic, someone shines a mobile phone above the midwife’s head.The baby is the last to be born in near darkness at the Zahanati ya Tema clinic. The next day, a local solar com
  
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• Oil futures down on U.S. stockpile report, Brexit concern

  16-06-2016 03:09
  Oil prices fell in early Asian trade on Thursday, heading for a sixth day of declines, following a lower than expected draw on U.S. stockpiles and amid worries Britain might leave the European Union. Front-month U.S. crude futures were down 56 cents, or 1.2 percent, at $47.45 a barrel at 0043 GMT. U.S. crude stocks fell last week, the government said on Wednesday, but the decline was much smaller than anticipated, while gasoline stocks decreased sharply.
  
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• European Space Agency still backing Mars rover project

  16-06-2016 02:04 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Member states of the European Space Agency have reaffirmed their commitment to launch a rover to Mars in 2020.
  
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• Saudi prince seeks to repair ties, promote business on U.S. visit

  16-06-2016 01:15
  By Warren Strobel and Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's powerful deputy crown prince held a full day of meetings with U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday, part of a visit aimed at restoring frayed ties with Washington and promoting his plan to wean the kingdom away from oil revenue. Mohammed bin Salman, son of Saudi Arabia's King Salman, is expected to meet U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday. Lawmakers said his discussions on Wednesday, including meetings with the Senate Foreign
  
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