Environment news

• Picky eaters: Bumble bees prefer plants with nutrient-rich pollen

  27-06-2016 23:39 via feedproxy.google.com
  Bumble bees have discriminating palettes when it comes to their pollen meals, according to researchers at Penn State. The researchers found that bumble bees can detect the nutritional quality of pollen, and that this ability helps them selectively forage among plant species to optimize their diets."Populations of many bee species are in decline across the world, and poor nutrition is thought to be a major factor causing these declines," said Christina Grozinger, director of the Center for Pollin
  
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• Volkswagen's U.S. diesel emissions settlement to cost nearly $15 billion - source

  27-06-2016 22:51
  Volkswagen AG's settlement with nearly 500,000 U.S. diesel owners and government regulators over polluting vehicles is valued at nearly $15 billion (11.39 billion pounds), a source briefed on the matter said on Monday. The settlement, to be announced on Tuesday, includes just over $10 billion to offer buy backs to owners of polluting vehicles and nearly $5 billion in funds to offset excess diesel emissions and boost zero emission vehicles, the source said.
  
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• Household fuels exceed power plants and cars as source of smog in Beijing

  27-06-2016 22:40 via feedproxy.google.com
  Beijing and surrounding areas of China often suffer from choking smog. The Chinese government has made commitments to improving air quality and has achieved notable results in reducing emissions from the power and transportation sectors. However, new research indicates that the government could achieve dramatic air quality improvements with more attention on an overlooked source of outdoor pollution -- residential cooking and heating."Coal and other dirty solid fuels are frequently used in homes
  
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• Norway-England power link to go ahead despite Brexit -Statnett

  27-06-2016 19:18
  By Nerijus Adomaitis OSLO (Reuters) - Britain's decision to leave the European Union will not affect plans to build a subsea power link between Norway and England, Norwegian transmission grid operator Statnett [STASF.UL] said on Monday. Statnett and Britain's National Grid agreed last year to build a 1,400-megawatt North Sea Link interconnector by 2021, which would allow Britain to tap into Nordic hydropower resources. "The outcome of the referendum does not affect the construction of the North
  
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• The flight of the painted lady butterfly shows migration in all its beauty | Patrick Barkham

  27-06-2016 18:58 via theguardian.com
  
  Every year the north African species arrives in Britain in its thousands. As with many other visitors to our shores we would be poorer off without themEvery summer, a wave of intrepid migrants travel from north Africa to Europe, seeking a better life for their offspring. Many thousands, occasionally millions, reach Britain.The painted lady, a beautiful and powerful insect that is probably the most successful butterfly in the world, will star in a 90-minute BBC4 documentary in July in which Marth
  
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• Wind-blown Antarctic sea ice helps drive ocean circulation

  27-06-2016 18:34 via feedproxy.google.com
  Antarctic sea ice is constantly on the move as powerful winds blow it away from the coast and out toward the open ocean. A new study shows how that ice migration may be more important for the global ocean circulation than anyone realized.A team of scientists used a computer model to synthesize millions of ocean and ice observations collected over six years near Antarctica, and estimated, for the first time, the influence of sea ice, glacier ice, precipitation and heating on ocean overturning cir
  
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• Recycled Plastic Lumber Invented by Pioneering Rutgers Professor

  27-06-2016 17:08 via feedproxy.google.com
  Imagine a material lighter than steel, longer-lasting than lumber and strong enough to support 120-ton locomotives.Now imagine that material is made from milk containers, coffee cups and other plastics that we recycle.It’s called structural plastic lumber, and the ingenious, nontoxic material was invented by Thomas Nosker, an assistant research professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and principal investigator in the Center for Advanced Materials via
  
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• Oil down 2 percent as dollar strength, Brexit uncertainty continue

  27-06-2016 16:58
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell about 2 percent on Monday, weighed by a rallying dollar and continued market uncertainty over Britain's shock vote to exit the European Union. Oil prices rose slightly early on Monday on some of that sentiment, before slipping again. Brent crude was down $1 at $47.36 a barrel around 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT), while U.S. crude slipped $1.07 to $46.57.
  
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• Iran oil chief shakes up oil firm in bid to strike pre-election deals

  27-06-2016 16:51
  By Rania El Gamal and Dmitry Zhdannikov DUBAI/LONDON (Reuters) - Oil minister Bijan Zanganeh has handed the running of Iran's national oil company to a trusted ally in a push to agree long-awaited deals with global oil majors, which could be derailed by next year's presidential polls. Iran has pledged to open up its lucrative oil reserves, the world's fourth largest, although hardline rivals of reformist President Hassan Rouhani have opposed the new contracts, saying Iranian natural resource res
  
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• Scotland 'will lead England' on energy policy post-Brexit

  27-06-2016 16:08
  
  Scotland will be the decision-maker in terms of energy policy once the British exit from the European Union is confirmed, according to the Energy and Climate Change select committee (ECCC).
  
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• Ancient Insects Carried Corpses of Prey for Camouflage

  27-06-2016 15:34
  
  In a quieter moment, though, you might notice a smaller wonder: tiny insects on the forest floor wearing camo. New fossils reveal that prehistoric insects cloaked themselves in specks of dirt, plant matter and even the exoskeletons of their prey in order to more effectively hunt and hide from predators. "Debris-carrying camouflage behaviors of extant insects are commonly closely related to angiospermous plants (flowering plants)," study researcher Bo Wang, a researcher in paleobiology at the Nan
  
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• Norway trade unions say 755 oil workers could go on strike

  27-06-2016 15:18
  About 755 Norwegian oil workers could go on strike from Saturday if employers and unions fail to agree a new wage deal before a Friday deadline that would limit output from Western Europe's top producer, trade unions said on Monday. In 2012, a 16-day strike among some of Norway's oil workers cut the country's output of crude by about 13 percent and its natural gas production by about 4 percent.
  
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• Oil prices fall again after Brexit vote

  27-06-2016 14:39
  By Ahmad Ghaddar LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices slid on Monday as market participants absorbed the shock of Britain's vote to leave the European Union though some analysts said Brexit would have a limited impact on global fuel demand. Both crude benchmarks slumped about 5 percent on Friday amid plunging global financial markets after the British referendum results gave an unexpected 52 percent to 48 percent victory to the campaign to take Britain out of the EU. Oil prices rose slightly early on M
  
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• Lisa Nandy resigns from Jeremy Corbyn's shadow cabinet

  27-06-2016 14:00
  
  BREAKING: Labour Shadow Energy Secretary Lisa Nandy has today (27 June) led a string of shadow ministers to resign from the Party's cabinet in the wake of Britain's decision to leave the European Union (EU).
  
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• Oil prices ease again after Brexit vote

  27-06-2016 13:34
  By Ahmad Ghaddar LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices slipped on Monday as market participants absorbed the shock of Britain's vote to leave the European Union though some analysts said Brexit would have a limited impact on global fuel demand. Both crude benchmarks slumped about 5 percent on Friday amid plunging global financial markets after the British referendum results gave an unexpected 52 percent to 48 percent victory to the campaign to take Britain out of the EU. Oil prices rose slightly early o
  
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• Brexit could 'weaken' business standards for recycling and air quality

  27-06-2016 13:34
  
  The UK's impending decision to leave the European Union (EU) could lead to a "weakening of domestic standards" that fails to incentivise businesses to improve recycling rates and tackle air quality issues, a new report has found.
  
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• Schuh steps into big savings with water supplier switch

  27-06-2016 13:23
  
  High street footwear giant schuh is set to reduce overheads by £62,000 thanks to a change in water supplier in addition to the identification of a watercourse that was absorbing run-off drainage from one of the retailer's distribution centres.
  
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• Voters approve controversial French airport relocation

  27-06-2016 12:50 via theguardian.com
  
  Majority in the local referendum on the Nantes Atlantique airport ends long battle between environmental activists and the government Voters in western France gave the go-ahead Sunday to a controversial airport development that has been at the centre of a years-long battle between environmental activists and the government.
  The local referendum on the new Nantes Atlantique airport passed with a 55% majority, ending a 50-year argument that saw the government’s environment advisers resign in
  
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• A pint of the unusual? The search for a zero-waste beer

  27-06-2016 12:42 via theguardian.com
  
  Making beer carries a fairly formidable environmental footprint, but craft brewers are taking up the challenge, using food waste and grey water to make sustainable alesHave you ever pondered how sustainable your favourite beer is? No, I hadn’t either – until I started brewing. In truth – and it pains me to say it – the act of transforming barley into fermented beer carries an environmental footprint of pretty epic proportions.To put it into perspective: average energy con
  
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• The inter-generational theft of Brexit and climate change | Dana Nuccitelli

  27-06-2016 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Youth will bear the brunt of the poor decisions being made by today’s older generations
  In last week’s Brexit vote results, there was a tremendous divide between age groups. 73% of voters under the age of 25 voted to remain in the EU, while about 58% over the age of 45 voted to leave.How does Thursday's referendum vote break down? #Brexit #EURefResults https://t.co/ArbedCgHDr pic.twitter.com/XPIdg0s8HP Continue reading...
  
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• Brexit calls EU climate action into question as top MEP quits

  27-06-2016 11:34
  
  The European Union's plans to reform its broken carbon market have been thrown into turmoil after the British lead MEP on the bill to revise the Emissions Trading System resigned after the UK voted to leave the bloc.
  
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• Oil prices steady after Brexit vote, but refined products glut looms

  27-06-2016 11:11
  By Ahmad Ghaddar LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices steadied on Monday as market participants better absorbed the shock of last week's vote in Great Britain to leave the European Union and as analysts said Brexit would have a limited impact on global fuel demand. Both crude benchmarks closed down around 5 percent on Friday amid plunging global financial markets as results from a referendum defied bookmakers' odds to show a 52 percent to 48 percent victory for the campaign to take Britain out of the E
  
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• Oil prices stabilise after Brexit vote, but refined products glut looms

  27-06-2016 09:13
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices stabilized on Monday as market participants better absorbed the shock of last week's vote in Great Britain to leave the European Union and recognised the referendum would have little effect on global fuel demand. In shipping, Panama opened the long-delayed $5.2 billion expansion of its shipping canal connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans on Sunday, but the facilities are still too small to handle oil super-tankers like Very Large Cru
  
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• I'll be damned! Beavers are Devon’s latest visitor attraction

  27-06-2016 07:30 via theguardian.com
  
  After an absence from England of at least 500 years, beavers have been found living in the wild in east Devon. But the rodents aren’t keen on the spotlightThe farmer knelt down by one of the dead sheep and pointed to the tell-tale signs of a lynx kill. “Damn rewilding experts!” he growled. “These beasts are natural born killers. My kids don’t go outside any more.” As if on cue, the howling started: not lynxes, but the Devon wolfpack, in the shadows and hungry.
  
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• Unfettered heathlands of the New Forest

  27-06-2016 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Country diary: Dibden Purlieu Dusty paths of sun-baked sand provide firm routes into the heathland, widened by walkers seeking peace in the green lung of the forest
  West of Dibden Purlieu, isolated from the invasive residential tendrils of the Waterside communities by the teeming bypass, the heathland of the New Forest spreads away almost unfettered. If you choose, as I often have, you can roam for a dozen miles without encountering more than a few minor roads.A few hundred metres from the villa
  
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• Oil prices fall as Brexit lingers, refined products glut looms

  27-06-2016 05:02
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices dropped on Monday, extending sharp declines after Britain's vote to leave the European Union sparked a sharp selloff in global markets on Friday. Global financial markets plunged on Friday as results from a referendum defied bookmakers' odds to show a 52 percent to 48 percent victory for the campaign to leave a bloc Britain joined more than 40 years ago. Oil prices were under pressure as the British pound fell anew on Monday, with investors s
  
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• Oil extends decline as Brexit concerns linger

  27-06-2016 01:16
  Oil prices dropped around half a percent on Monday, extending sharp declines after Britain's vote to leave the European Union sparked a sharp selloff in global markets on Friday amid concerns over risk aversion. Global financial markets plunged on Friday as results from a referendum defied bookmakers' odds to show a 52-48 percent victory for the campaign to leave a bloc Britain joined more than 40 years ago. Oil prices were also under pressure as the British pound fell anew in early Asian tradin
  
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• Air pollution to kill millions more without change of energy policy - IEA

  27-06-2016 01:07
  By Nina Chestney LONDON (Reuters) - Premature deaths from air pollution will continue to rise to 2040 unless changes are made to the way the world uses and produces energy, the International Energy Agency said on Monday. Around 6.5 million deaths globally are attributed each year to poor air quality inside and outside, making it the world's fourth-largest threat to human health, behind high blood pressure, dietary risks and smoking. Harmful pollutants such as particulate matter - which can conta
  
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• Spring spread more slowly across UK in 2016 – Woodland Trust

  27-06-2016 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Spawning frogs, arrival of swallows and first oak leaves took four weeks rather than three to spread from south to northSigns of a British spring including spawning frogs, the arrival of migrating swallows and the first leaves on oak trees took a week longer to spread across the UK this year than in the last two decades, according to nature watchers.A mild winter saw spring flowers out earlier than usual, and signs of spring such as hawthorn leafing and red admiral butterflies on the wing on Chr
  
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• Global air pollution crisis 'must not be left to private sector'

  27-06-2016 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Energy authority says governments must take responsibility, and investment would pay for itself in health benefitsThe global air pollution crisis killing more than 6 million people a year must be tackled by governments as a matter of urgency and not just left to the private sector, a report from the world’s leading energy authority says.An increase of investment in energy of about 7% a year could tackle the problem, and would pay for itself through health benefits and better social conditi
  
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• Brexit may delay third runway, warns Heathrow chief

  27-06-2016 00:43 via theguardian.com
  
  Airport chief exec John Holland-Kaye voices concerns that post-Brexit government may halt the developmentThe boss of Heathrow has urged the government to back a third runway, as the fallout from the EU referendum threatens to halt the project.David Cameron was expected to approve the £17.6bn expansion next month, with the announcement followed swiftly by a Commons vote. However, that timetable is in doubt because of the prime minister’s resignation and the possibility his replacement
  
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