Environment news

• Oil up 2 percent after two-day drop, API boosts crude draw hopes

  06-07-2016 23:53
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices settled up nearly 2 percent on Wednesday as robust U.S. economic data lifted crude futures from two days of declines, with the market extending gains in post-settlement trade on bets for a sharp drop in U.S. crude stockpiles. The American Petroleum Institute trade group said its data showed U.S. crude stockpiles fell by 6.7 million barrels last week, declining for a seventh week in a row. The U.S. Energy Information Administration will issue off
  
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• Nigerian militant group denies NNPC attack, says suspends social network accounts

  06-07-2016 23:47
  (Reuters) - Nigerian militant group the Niger Delta Avengers denied responsibility for blowing up the NNPC pipeline in Eleme on Tuesday, adding it was closing all its social network accounts. The group issued a statement on its website on Wednesday saying that a fraudulent social media account had claimed the attack on its behalf, adding that it would use its website to circulate its messages in the future. It was reported on Tuesday that the Avengers had blown up a pipeline operated by the stat
  
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• Researchers improve performance of cathode material by controlling oxygen activity

  06-07-2016 23:35 via feedproxy.google.com
  An international team of researchers has demonstrated a new way to increase the robustness and energy storage capability of a particular class of "lithium-rich" cathode materials -- by using a carbon dioxide-based gas mixture to create oxygen vacancies at the material's surface. Researchers said the treatment improved the energy density -- the amount of energy stored per unit mass -- of the cathode material by up to 30 to 40 percent.The discovery sheds light on how changing the oxygen compositio
  
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• As Oceans Become More Acidic, Mussels Could Lose Ability to Hang On

  06-07-2016 22:34 via feedproxy.google.com
  Rising carbon dioxide emissions have caused the world’s oceans to become 30 percent more acidic since the Industrial Revolution, affecting everything from marine life’s ability to build shells to the pH level of fishes’ blood. Now, scientists have discovered that more acidic water also prevents mussels from attaching to rocks and other surfaces, which could have ramifications on the global food chain, the economy, and ecosystem health.
  
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• Bees' ability to forage decreases as air pollution increases

  06-07-2016 21:03 via feedproxy.google.com
  Air pollutants interact with and break down plant-emitted scent molecules, which insect pollinators use to locate needed food, according to a team of researchers led by Penn State. The pollution-modified plant odors can confuse bees and, as a result, bees' foraging time increases and pollination efficiency decreases. This happens because the chemical interactions decrease both the scent molecules' life spans and the distances they travel.While foraging for food, insects detect floral scent molec
  
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• CFTC fines Barclays $560,000 for inaccurate swaps position reports

  06-07-2016 20:16
  (Reuters) - The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission ordered Barclays Plc to pay $560,000 (£433,433) on Wednesday, saying the bank failed to submit accurate reports on large traders' positions for physical commodities swaps. The CFTC found that between July 2012 and March 2013, Barclays submitted reports with incorrect position information for certain transactions, it said in a statement. The bank did the same in 2014 for positions related to crude oil, natural gas, gasoline, heating
  
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• Weaker energy and property stocks hurt FTSE

  06-07-2016 18:39
  By Atul Prakash LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's top share index was led lower on Wednesday by retail and property-related stocks, which extended losses made after Britons voted to leave the European Union, and by a decline in energy stocks as oil prices slipped. The FTSE 100 closed down 1.3 percent, a decline limited by a rally in precious metal miners shares as safe-haven gold hit a two-year peak. The more domestically focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index finished 0.4 percent lower.
  
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• Has Pablo Escobar come back as a hippo? | Peter Bradshaw

  06-07-2016 18:27
  
  The Colombian drug lord’s legacy is paralleled by the environmental catastrophe unleashed by his escaped petsThere are times when journalists are unqualified to document events in the world, and we all just have to step back and let the Latin American novelists get on with it. Colombia is facing a potentially deadly infestation of hippos, the descendants of the 24 hippos that were the personal property of the infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar. Related: Ex-Pablo Escobar enforcer who killed 3
  
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• Report: US is now world’s largest oil reserve but global supply still small

  06-07-2016 18:19
  
  America has surpassed Saudi Arabia and Russia in oil reserves, a new report says, but current rate of production oil supplies will only last 70 more yearsThe United States has surpassed Saudi Arabia and Russia as the global leader in oil reserves, according to a report by a Norwegian consultancy firm.“We have done this benchmarking every year, and this is the first year we’ve seen that the US is above Saudi Arabia and Russia,” Per Magnus Nysveen, head of analysis at Rystad Ener
  
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• Carbon emissions from Indonesia forest fires hit new high

  06-07-2016 17:40 via feedproxy.google.com
  Forest fires in Indonesia last year released 11.3 million tonnes of carbon per day, researchers have found. This figure exceeds the daily rate of 8.9 million tonnes of carbon emissions from the whole of the European Union, the study says.The 2015 fires were the worst since 1997, when a strong El Niño also fanned widespread fires, says the study, published in the journal Scientific Reports.Fire is widely used in South-East Asia to clear vegetation and maintain
  
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• African wildlife officials appalled as EU opposes a total ban on ivory trade

  06-07-2016 16:13
  
  European commissions’ opposition to a continued global ban will spell the beginning of a mass extinction of African elephants, warn officials from 29 African statesWildlife officials in nearly 30 African states say they are appalled by an EU decision to oppose a comprehensive global ban on the ivory trade.In a position paper released on 1 July, the European commission said that rather than an all-encompassing ban it would be better to encourage countries with growing elephant numbers to &l
  
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• Oil prices edge lower on demand worries

  06-07-2016 16:04
  By Karolin Schaps LONDON (Reuters) - Oil edged lower for a third day on Wednesday, in response to uncertainty over the outlook for consumption due to weaker refinery demand and also a potential slowdown in economic growth after Britain's decision to leave the European Union. In the United States, record demand from car drivers has not made much impact on a worldwide surplus of gasoline, which has weighed on refineries' profitability, leading some to cut runs and throwing their demand for crude o
  
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• Antony Gormley: Humans are building a vast termites' nest of greed

  06-07-2016 15:52
  
  Sculptor explains how new show, featuring 600 cast-iron human skyscrapers, expresses his anger about London’s testosterone-fuelled corporate expansionAntony Gormley says his first White Cube exhibition in four years, which opens in September, is driven by “more of a sense of urgency” than any other show he has done. From the warming of our climate and the acidification of our seas to cities dominated by skyscrapers – “nothing more than expressions of virile corporat
  
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• Communication a necessity for post-Brexit green business prosperity

  06-07-2016 14:54
  
  The fear and uncertainty surrounding the vote to leave the European Union (EU) will put the UK Government under increased pressure to create a strong political framework, as "environmentalists go on the march" and communicate to create legislative prosperity.
  
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• Green groups slam 'short-sighted' approval of Northumberland opencast coal mine

  06-07-2016 14:46
  
  Council grants planning permission to controversial Druridge Bay coal mine, as campaigners vow to fight on, reports BusinessGreenGreen groups have responded with outrage to the decision yesterday by Northumberland County Council to approve controversial plans for a new opencast coal mine near the Northumberland coast.The council voted in support of plans from developer Banks Group, which would see 3m tonnes of coal, sandstone and fireclay extracted from a surface mine at Highthorn, near the vill
  
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• Penguin colonies at risk from erupting volcano

  06-07-2016 14:06 via feedproxy.google.com
  A volcano erupting on a small island in the Sub Antarctic is depositing ash over one of the world’s largest penguin colonies.Zavodovski Island is a small island in the South Sandwich archipelago and its volcano Mt Curry has been erupting since March 2016. The island is home to over one million chinstrap penguins – the largest colony for this species in the world.
  
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• Oil prices edge lower on concerns about demand

  06-07-2016 13:57
  By Karolin Schaps LONDON (Reuters) - Oil edged lower on Wednesday, extending losses to a third straight session, as investors grew concerned over consumption due to weaker demand from refineries and potentially slower economic growth after Britain's decision to leave the EU. Despite record demand from drivers across the United States, an excess of gasoline worldwide has weighed on refineries' profitability, leading some to cut runs and throwing the demand for crude oil in doubt. "Oil once again
  
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• Mexico City chokes on its congestion problem

  06-07-2016 13:30
  
  Authorities are trying to reduce pollution in the capital but confused policy-making and rising car ownership are reducing the city to poisonous gridlockEvery morning, Adriana Carlos leaves her home on the southern fringes of Mexico City at 7am for what should be a manageable journey to her office job. Instead, her commute from the southern borough of Xochimilco takes two hours and involves three separate transfers before she reaches her office on the south-west edge of the city.“You spend
  
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• FTSE slides, energy stocks weigh

  06-07-2016 13:27
  LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's top share index extended losses in the afternoon trading session, with energy stocks falling further after crude oil prices fell more than 1 percent on a firmer dollar and economic growth concerns. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index was down 1.6 percent by 1118 GMT, while the mid-cap index fell 1.2 percent. The UK oil and gas index declined nearly 3 percent, dragged down by a 2.2 percent fall in BP and a 2.6 percent drop in Royal Dutch Shell . Mid-cap oil company Tullow Oi
  
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• This election year, we can't lose sight of the perils of climate change | Ralph Nader

  06-07-2016 13:15
  
  Candidates running for Congress and the presidency aren’t offering real solutions, despite growing scientific alarm. That is not acceptableEvery election year, candidates for office engage in a perverse form of theater. Some flatter voters or try to scare them, others offer promises of a better future. Unfortunately few candidates feel an obligation to follow through on campaign promises or to grapple with serious problems confronting our country and planet.Continue reading...
  
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• Water world: rising tides close in on Trump, the climate change denier

  06-07-2016 13:00
  
  Climate change has barely registered as a 2016 campaign issue, but in Florida, the state which usually decides the presidential election, the waters are lapping at the doors of Donald Trump’s real estate empireOn a hot and lazy afternoon in Palm Beach, the only sign of movement is the water gently lapping at the grounds of Mar-a-Lago, the private club that is the prize of Donald Trump’s real estate acquisitions in Florida.
  Trump currently dismisses climate change as a hoax invented b
  
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• Andrea Leadsom: However we choose to leave the EU, we remain committed to dealing with climate change

  06-07-2016 12:31
  
  Conservative Party leadership candidate Andrea Leadsom took to the plinth in her capacity as Energy Minister at the Utility Week Energy Summit, insisting that the UK "remains committed to dealing with climate change", no matter the outcome of Brexit.
  
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• Huge penguin colony at risk from erupting volcano

  06-07-2016 12:20
  
  Volcanic ash threatens world’s largest colony of chinstrap penguins that are currently trapped on a small island in the sub Antarctic, say scientistsOne of the world’s biggest colonies of penguins is at risk from a volcano that has erupted on their small sub-Antarctic island in a British overseas territory. British scientists fear that Mt Curry’s eruption could have a serious impact on the 1.2m chinstrap penguins and nearly 200,000 macaroni penguins based on Zavodovski, one of
  
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• Oil edges lower as strong dollar, economic concerns weigh

  06-07-2016 11:36
  By Karolin Schaps LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices edged lower on Wednesday, extending losses to a third straight session, as a stronger dollar weighed and economic concerns rose following Britain's vote to leave the European Union. Investors also awaited data on U.S. crude inventories, delayed due to Monday's Independence Day holiday. Global benchmark Brent futures were down 30 cents at $47.66 a barrel at 0852 GMT after a 4.1 percent drop on Tuesday.
  
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• One in four Brits would sign up to a driverless car membership scheme, survey finds

  06-07-2016 11:15
  
  With the phenomenon of the semi-autonomous vehicle steadily growing in popularity, a new survey has found that a quarter of UK citizens would sell their vehicle in favour of signing up to a driverless car subscription.
  
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• Efforts to breed rare spoon-billed sandpipers fail after chicks die

  06-07-2016 11:15
  
  Conservationists are devastated after the first two chicks born in captivity to one of the world’s rarest birds die at a wildfowl centre in GloucestershireAn attempt to breed one of the world’s rarest birds in captivity has failed after the only two chicks which hatched died, conservationists said. Efforts to breed critically endangered spoon-billed sandpipers, named after their unusual beak, from the world’s only captive population seemed to have yielded results, with seven eg
  
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• General Motors turns to resource efficiency to alleviate regulatory 'perfect storm'

  06-07-2016 10:00
  
  EXCLUSIVE: Amidst all of the political uncertainty surrounding the UK's pending departure from the European Union, General Motors' (GM) regulatory affairs and CSR manager has said that embedding closed-loop processes is enabling the company to thrive amidst an ongoing "regulatory storm".
  
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• Post-Brexit Britain must embrace circular economy to trade with EU, says Green Alliance

  06-07-2016 09:20
  
  EXCLUSIVE: The legislation established as part of the European Union's nascent Circular Economy Package will still shape how a post-Brexit Britain develops new resource-efficient products and closed-loop business models, regardless of whether we stay in the single market or not.
  
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• Oil prices edge up amid Brexit concerns, supply risks

  06-07-2016 08:46
  By Aaron Sheldrick TOKYO (Reuters) - Oil prices were slightly higher after falling earlier in Asian trading on Wednesday amid the wider market turmoil set off by mounting concerns over the economic impact of Britain's vote to leave the European Union. The contract fell 5 percent to end at $46.60 on Tuesday as U.S. investors digested news of an OPEC increase in production after the July 4 holiday on Monday closed trading. Oil prices are up almost 80 percent from 12-year lows of around $27 for Bre
  
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• Meet the US farmers turning their tobacco into airplane fuel

  06-07-2016 07:00
  
  As the demand for tobacco declines in the US, farmers in Virginia are experimenting with turning the crop into viable biofuel
  Most of the tobacco growing across 80-acres at Briar View Farms in Callands, Virginia is chosen for its flavour and high nicotine content. The leaves are hand-harvested, flue-cured or dark-fired and sold as smoking or chewing tobacco at premium prices.One two-acre plot stands apart from the rest, its flavour and nicotine content are irrelevant. The June and October harves
  
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• Orchids paint the hill a sadder shade of pink

  06-07-2016 06:30
  
  Wenlock Edge Each flower on the spike is a little pink cutout of a figure, perhaps an effigy of a person our news never mentionsUp on the Windmill there are more pyramidal orchids than I’ve ever shaken a stick at. Singly or in stands of up to 50 in a stride, they scatter across the hill meadow. Their name suggests the sacred geometry of the Egyptians or Incas, but they appear as blobs of absurd colour. From lilac purple, through cerise to baby pink Anacamptis pyramidalis flowers are domed
  
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• Oil prices fall amid Brexit concerns, supply risks

  06-07-2016 04:15
  By Aaron Sheldrick TOKYO (Reuters) - Oil prices fell in Asian trading amid wider market turmoil set off by mounting concerns over the economic impact of Britain's vote to leave the European Union. The contract fell 5 percent to end at $46.60 on Tuesday as U.S. investors digested news of an OPEC increase in production after the July 4 holiday on Monday closed trading. Oil prices are up almost 80 percent from 12-year lows of around $27 for Brent and $26 for U.S. crude in the first quarter and they
  
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• Oil prices steady after slump on Brexit, supply risks

  06-07-2016 02:35
  Oil prices were up slightly in early Asian trading on Wednesday after sharp falls in the prior session, but gains were limited by ongoing concerns about the economic impact of Britain's vote to leave the European Union and a glut of crude. Oil prices are up almost 80 percent from 12-year lows of around $27 for Brent and $26 for U.S. crude in the first quarter and they are ripe for supply shocks just as the so-called Brexit vote came as a body blow to global growth hopes. The rebound in crude was
  
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• Climate change: how Victoria trumped New South Wales in the great renewable energy race

  06-07-2016 02:16
  
  Wind and solar energy projects are set to be the big winners of the state’s ambitious renewable energy targetsTwo years ago Rob Stokes, the then environment minister for New South Wales, promised that his state could become Australia’s answer to California in the clean energy industry. “We are making NSW No 1 in energy and environmental policy,” Stokes, a Liberal, told the Clean Energy Week gathering in Sydney in July 2014.“When it comes to clean energy, we can be A
  
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• Threatened species face extinction owing to ‘God clause’, scientists say

  06-07-2016 02:02
  
  Western Australia’s government is seeking the power to approve activities that could ‘take or disturb’ an endangered speciesWestern Australia’s government could have the power to approve activities that could make a threatened species extinct, under biodiversity laws now before state parliament.The provision has been dubbed “the God clause” by scientists and conservationists, who say giving the environment minister discretion to effectively authorise the extin
  
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• UN calls for post-Brexit UK to link with EU on environment policy

  06-07-2016 01:00
  
  Global or regional agreements are vital for cross-border problems such as pollution and wildlife crime, says new environment chief, Erik Solheim The UN’s new environment chief has called for a post-Brexit Britain to link up with the EU on environment policy, adopting key bloc climate laws and maintaining its nature directives.In his first interview since taking office, Erik Solheim told the Guardian it was vital that supranational decisions continued for problems such as pollution and wild
  
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• Ewe win again

  06-07-2016 00:53 via bbc.co.uk
  
  In July 1996, scientists in Scotland created the world’s first animal cloned from an adult cell
  
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• Characteristics improving bean resistance to drought identified

  06-07-2016 00:06 via feedproxy.google.com
  The common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is the most important food legume in the tropics. It is an inexpensive source of proteins and minerals for almost 400 million people, mainly from Africa and Latin America. It is generally cultivated by small farmers and subject to conditions limiting their productivity. Drought affects 60% of bean crops around the world and can cause from 10% in productivity losses to a total of 100% in some cases.Researchers from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelo
  
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