Environment news

• A rich variety of wildlife to be found in the dunes: Country diary 100 years ago

  10-07-2016 23:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 11 July 1916Close to the sands – indeed, washed by the highest tides – is a small marsh where, amidst a forest of sea club-rush and sea-plantain, both now in flower, young natterjacks, each with its yellow back-stripe, well earn their name of running toad: here a few sea asters, wild Michaelmas daisies, are already out, long before their scheduled date. A few sturdy ragworts grow on the seaward sides of the dunes which back the marsh
  
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• Calls for a new clean air act in the UK

  10-07-2016 22:30 via theguardian.com
  
  We are still a long way from being able to breathe air that does not harm our healthLast week Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, joined campaigners to call for a new clean air act.This July marks the 60th anniversary of the original legislation that transformed the air in our cities and saved many lives. The Act followed the deaths of nearly 13,000 Londoners in the 1952 and 1956 smogs. Government finally accepted that regulating factory chimneys was not enough. We had to tackle home fires, too. Th
  
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• Researchers make 'first discovery' of Philistine cemetery

  10-07-2016 18:09 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Archaeologists in Israel say they hope the discovery of a Philistine cemetery will shed new light on the mysterious migrant people.
  
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• Horrible algae bloom in Florida blamed on the government

  10-07-2016 16:12 via feedproxy.google.com
  About a hundred miles north of Miami on the Atlantic Coast, the town of Stuart is a picturesque waterfront community — with homes, restaurants and parks overlooking the St. Lucie Estuary. But in many areas now, when you approach the water, the first thing you notice is the smell."There's no way to describe it," says John Skinner, a boat salesman in Stuart.But he still tries. "I would say hundreds of dead animals that have been baking in the sun for weeks." 
  
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• Philistines were more sophisticated than given credit for, say archaeologists

  10-07-2016 12:53
  By Ari Rabinovitch ASHKELON, Israel (Reuters) - Philistines were no "philistines", say archaeologists who unearthed a 3,000-year-old cemetery in which members of the biblical nation were buried along with jewellery and perfumed oil. Little was known about the Philistines prior to the recent excavation in the Israeli port city of Ashkelon. The famed arch enemies of the ancient Israelites -- Goliath was a Philistine -- flourished in this area of the Mediterranean, starting in the 12th century BC,
  
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• How sea otters help save the planet

  10-07-2016 10:15 via theguardian.com
  
  New research into the complex links of the food chain suggest that the lovable mammals play a key role in managing carbon dioxide levelsCharles Darwin once mused on the impacts that predators could have on the landscapes around them. In particular, he wondered – in On the Origin of Species – how neighbourhood cats might affect the abundance of flowers in the fields near his house at Downe in Kent. He concluded the animals’ potential to change local flora was considerable.A robu
  
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• 'There is no escape': Nairobi's air pollution sparks Africa health warning

  10-07-2016 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Pollution in the Kenyan capital is ‘beyond imagination’. With Africa’s predicted rise in population – and a constant stream of dirty secondhand cars from Europe and Japan – this urban health crisis could kill 1.5 million within a generationA minibus belches black smoke; the lorry behind it in the traffic jam billows white fumes. Eyes smart in the smog as diesel gases from thousands of 10 and 15-year-old vehicles fill Nairobi’s hazy evening air, adding to pollu
  
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• The eco guide to home baking

  10-07-2016 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Baking your own bread sounds like the pinnacle of green cooking, but we still need to be aware of road miles and heat useFor a non-baker (like me), a zero-energy cake used to mean one someone else made. But I’ve forced myself to recognise the footprint of shop-bought croissants and cream puffs. It’s no joke. First, there are obviously the giant ovens devouring energy, then there’s industrial baking’s reliance on palm oil, too. A new report highlights the devastating impac
  
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• Neocons linked to Tea Party paid for Andrea Leadsom’s flights to US

  10-07-2016 00:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Rightwing lobby group that attacks climate science and backs gun owners is courting politicians around the worldA controversial rightwing American lobbying group that denies climate change science and promotes gun ownership paid for the Tory prime ministerial hopeful Andrea Leadsom to fly to the United States to attend its conferences.The American Legislative Exchange Council – Alec – is a neoconservative organisation with close links to members of the Tea Party movement. Championed
  
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