Environment news

• Ocean warming primary cause of Antarctic Peninsula glacier retreat

  14-07-2016 22:37 via feedproxy.google.com
  A new study has found for the first time that ocean warming is the primary cause of retreat of glaciers on the western Antarctic Peninsula. The Peninsula is one of the largest current contributors to sea-level rise and this new finding will enable researchers to make better predictions of ice loss from this region.The research, by scientists at Swansea University and British Antarctic Survey, is published in the journal Science today (Friday, July 15). The study reports that glaciers f
  
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• BP puts 2010 Gulf of Mexico penalties at $62 billion

  14-07-2016 21:40
  By Ron Bousso LONDON (Reuters) - BP on Thursday estimated costs from its deadly 2010 Gulf of Mexico spill will total $61.6 billion after it agreed to a new $5.2 billion charge it said largely drew claims to a close. This comes more than a year after the British oil and gas company agreed to pay up to $18.7 billion in penalties to the U.S. government and five states to resolve most claims from the spill in the largest corporate settlement in U.S. history. The company said in a statement on Thursd
  
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• Oil climbs a day after big losses but glut fears linger

  14-07-2016 21:26
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose 2 percent on Thursday as traders covered short positions a day after crude futures were hammered by data showing weak U.S. fuel demand in a busy summer driving season that heightened fears about a global oil glut. Oil was also supported by the dollar's drop against the pound after the Bank of England's surprise decision not to cut rates. The UK central bank was widely expected to ease after Britain's vote last month to leave the European Un
  
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• Andrea Leadsom's pledge to repeal foxhunting ban causes alarm

  14-07-2016 20:51 via theguardian.com
  
  New environment secretary has also previously admitted being confused about whether climate change is a realityAndrea Leadsom, the new environment secretary, supports foxhunting and once said she wanted to end farming subsidies.The pro-Brexit cabinet minister, who was Theresa May’s leadership rival before pulling out on Monday, was a surprise appointment to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Continue reading...
  
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• BP estimates liabilities of $61.6 billion related to 2010 oil spill

  14-07-2016 20:13
  (Reuters) - BP Plc estimated its total pretax liabilities stemming from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill at $61.6 billion, higher than it expected last year. The company said on Thursday any further claims related to the oil spill would not have a material impact, drawing the Deepwater Horizon incident near a close. The company said its current estimates included a $5.2 billion charge related to the oil spill.
  
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• BP fined further $2.5bn over Deepwater Horizon spill

  14-07-2016 19:54 via theguardian.com
  
  Oil company has paid more than $60bn in fines over environmental disaster that still threatens wildlife and ecology around Gulf of MexicoBP is to take a further $2.5bn (£1.87bn) hit as a result of the Deepwater Horizon accident, bringing the total cost of the environmental disaster to almost $62bn.The latest after-tax non-operating charge will be taken in the company’s second quarter financial results to be formally announced on 26 July. Continue reading...
  
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• BP faces further $2.5bn charge over Deepwater Horizon spill

  14-07-2016 19:54 via theguardian.com
  
  Oil company has paid more than $60bn in fines over environmental disaster that still threatens wildlife and ecology around Gulf of MexicoBP is to take a further $2.5bn (£1.87bn) hit as a result of the Deepwater Horizon accident, bringing the total cost of the environmental disaster to almost $62bn.The latest after-tax non-operating charge will be taken in the company’s second quarter financial results to be formally announced on 26 July. Continue reading...
  
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• A climate report that we ignore at our peril | Letters

  14-07-2016 19:37 via theguardian.com
  
  Though it does not actually say so, the report of the Committee on Climate Change (Report, 12 July) is a salutary reminder that a capitalist economy based on infinite economic growth, as expressed in terms of consumption-led GDP, is unsustainable and, if allowed to continue in its present form, will ultimately devastate the entire planet. Moreover, unless we cease using fossil fuels for energy and replace them with renewables at the earliest possible opportunity, the voluntary agreement reached
  
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• Biodiversity is below safe levels across more than half of world's land – study

  14-07-2016 19:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Habitat destruction has reduced the variety of plants and animals to the point that ecological systems could become unable to function properly, with risks for agriculture and human health, say scientistsThe variety of animals and plants has fallen to dangerous levels across more than half of the world’s landmass due to humanity destroying habitats to use as farmland, scientists have estimated.The unchecked loss of biodiversity is akin to playing ecological roulette and will set back effor
  
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• Attackers blow up gas pipeline in southwest Nigeria - police

  14-07-2016 18:42
  A gas pipeline operated by Nigeria's state energy company in southwestern Ogun state has been attacked by men disguised as maintenance staff, local police said on Thursday. Attacks by militants on oil and gas facilities in the Niger Delta region - in the south and southeast - over the last few months briefly pushed crude production in the OPEC member to 30-year lows in the spring. Militant groups have called for a greater share of Nigeria's oil and gas wealth to go to the Delta, which is the cou
  
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• Oil climbs after big losses on Wednesday; glut fears linger

  14-07-2016 18:31
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose as much as 2 percent on Thursday, extending early gains as traders covered short positions a day after crude futures were hammered by weak U.S. demand for fuel during the traditionally busy summer driving season. Key crude benchmarks Brent and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) lost about 4 percent on Wednesday as a raft of bearish U.S. inventory data heightened concerns about a global glut. The UK central bank was widely expected to ease a
  
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• DECC abolished as part of major ministerial overhaul

  14-07-2016 18:07
  
  DECC has been abolished by new Prime Minister Theresa May, with UK energy policy set to be merged into a new ministry called the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
  
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• DECC abolished as part of ministerial overhaul

  14-07-2016 17:54
  
  DECC has been abolished by new Prime Minister Theresa May, with UK energy policy set to be merged into a new ministry called the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
  
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• Government axes climate department

  14-07-2016 17:54 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The government has axed the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) in a major departmental shake-up.
  
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• Black bear links real objects to computer images

  14-07-2016 17:43 via feedproxy.google.com
  American black bears may be able to recognize things they know in real life, such as pieces of food or humans, when looking at a photograph of the same thing. This is one of the findings of a study led by Zoe Johnson-Ulrich and Jennifer Vonk of Oakland University in the US, which involved a black bear called Migwan and a computer screen. The findings are published in Springer's journal Animal Cognition.The study forms part of a broader research project into the welfare of bears in captivity
  
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• China irked by 'wrong' Australia remarks, Philippine leader eyes talks

  14-07-2016 17:26
  By Ben Blanchard BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Thursday it had issued a formal protest after Australia announced it would continue to exercise its right to freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea following a court ruling against China's claims. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled on Tuesday that China had no historic claim to the waters and it had violated the Philippines' economic and sovereign rights. China rejected the ruling, having declined to parti
  
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• Scientists call for better plastics design to protect marine life

  14-07-2016 16:25 via theguardian.com
  
  Improved materials would encourage recycling and prevent single-use containers from entering the oceans and breaking into small piecesPlastics should be better designed to encourage recycling and prevent wasteful single-use containers finding their way into our oceans, where they break up into small pieces and are swallowed by marine animals, scientists said on Thursday.This could be as effective as a ban on microbeads, proposed by green campaigners as a way of dealing with the rising levels of
  
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• India: The Burning City

  14-07-2016 16:23 via feedproxy.google.com
  Underground fires have been burning for more than a century beneath India's largest coalfield, but in recent decades open-cast mining has brought the flames to the surface with devastating consequences for the local population.As communities are destroyed and thousands suffer from toxic fumes, what lies behind this human and environmental disaster?  Filmmakers Gautam Singh and Dom Rotheroe went to find out.The devastating impact of coal mining After the US and China, India is currently
  
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• Rising sea levels will change the ecology of the Everglades

  14-07-2016 16:19 via feedproxy.google.com
  The Florida Everglades is a swampy wilderness the size of Delaware. In some places along the road in southern Florida, it looks like tall saw grass to the horizon, a prairie punctuated with a few twisted cypress trees. The sky is the palest blue.But beneath the surface a different story is unfolding. Because of climate change and sea level rise, the ocean is starting to seep into the swampland. If the invasion grows worse, it could drastically change the Everglades, and a way of life f
  
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• Oil up 1 percent after big losses; glut fears linger

  14-07-2016 16:10
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose about 1 percent on Thursday as shortcovering lifted crude futures hammered a day ago by unusually weak U.S. demand for motor fuel during the traditionally busy summer driving season. Key crude benchmarks Brent and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) lost about 4 percent on Wednesday as a raft of bearish U.S. inventory data heightened concerns about a global glut. In the latest session, oil rose as the dollar weakened on the pound's rally aft
  
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• Leadsom announced as new DEFRA Secretary as rumours mount over DECC merger

  14-07-2016 15:29
  
  Andrea Leadsom has been announced as the new Environment Secretary at DEFRA amidst speculation that the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) is to be abolished and merged into the Department for Business, Energy and Industry (BEI).
  
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• Andrea Leadsom announced as new Defra Secretary

  14-07-2016 15:29
  
  Andrea Leadsom has been announced as the new Environment Secretary at Defra amid speculation that the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) is to be abolished and merged into the Department for Business, Energy and Industry (BEI).
  
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• Europe backs lunar drilling technology

  14-07-2016 15:03 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The European Space Agency has signed a contract to build a prototype drill and chemistry lab that will be flown on a Russian mission to the Moon in 2021.
  
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• Kyrgyzstan seeks EU agreement as Russian money flows dwindle

  14-07-2016 14:33
  Kyrgyzstan wants to sign a partnership agreement with the European Union, President Almazbek Atambayev told German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday, a sign Russia's ally seeks closer ties with the West. The move follows a decision by Moscow late last year to cancel planned investments of billions of dollars in Kyrgyz hydroelectric power projects as Russia's economy took a hit from the plunge in oil prices. Speaking alongside Merkel, who visited Bishkek on Thursday, Atambayev said Kyrgyzstan
  
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• Mobile app for rain forecasts raises farmers' yields

  14-07-2016 14:12 via feedproxy.google.com
  A mobile phone-based innovation that can predict rain is helping farmers in six Sub-Saharan Africa countries sow, fertilise and harvest crops at the optimum time.The innovation is being used in Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Senegal to improve crop yields and optimise food production through information and communication technology (ICT) weather forecasting model that produces Global Positioning System (GPS)-specific forecasts.
  
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• EU's silence on South China Sea ruling highlights inner discord

  14-07-2016 14:08
  By Robin Emmott BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European governments are torn over how to respond to China's defeat in a legal battle over the South China Sea, fearful of alienating their second-largest trading partner and hampered by a maritime dispute among their own members. China angrily vowed to ignore the ruling by a court in The Hague dismissing its claim to much of the South China Sea. Its envoy to Washington said the verdict would "intensify conflict and even confrontation", though he also said Be
  
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• The Keartons: inventing nature photography – in pictures

  14-07-2016 13:48 via theguardian.com
  
  Richard and Cherry Kearton, working in the 1890s, were possibly the world’s first professional wildlife photographers. The brothers’ pioneering photos include the first shot of a bird’s nest with eggs and the first Masai lion hunt. These images are taken from a new book published by Uniformbooks about their lives and work
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• Predatory dinosaur had tiny arms like Tyrannosaurus rex

  14-07-2016 13:26 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A new meat-eating dinosaur has been discovered in Argentina that possessed stubby arms like Tyrannosaurus rex.
  
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• Scotland the 'prime candidate' to implement energy storage systems

  14-07-2016 12:16
  
  The UK should look to Scotland to implement new revenue streams that account for a "modernised" grid system, which should have energy storage at its heart, in order to unlock £2.4bn in savings.
  
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• China protests Australia's South China Sea freedom of navigation comment

  14-07-2016 11:28
  By Ben Blanchard BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Thursday it had issued a formal protest after Australia announced it would continue to exercise its right to freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea following a court ruling against China's claims. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague concluded this week that China had no historic claim to the waters and it had violated the Philippines' economic and sovereign rights. China rejected the ruling, having declined to pa
  
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• Hinkley Point: new UK chancellor determined to start building

  14-07-2016 10:50 via theguardian.com
  
  Philip Hammond says nuclear power project must go ahead but admits elements of uncertainty over spiralling cost and ministerial reshuffleThe new chancellor of the exchequer has expressed his determination to see construction begin on the controversial Hinkley Point C nuclear plant, amid mounting concerns over the cost of the project.“We have to make sure the project goes ahead,” Philip Hammond told BBC’s Today programme. However, he admitted there was “obviously an atmosp
  
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• Oil bounces after big losses but glut persists

  14-07-2016 10:10
  By Christopher Johnson LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices rallied from sharp losses on Thursday but brokers said the downtrend could resume soon as record-high stocks and worries over slowing economic growth dampened sentiment. Brent crude oil was up 50 cents at $46.76 a barrel by 0745 GMT. "The oil market is oversupplied, OPEC production is on the rise and we had a rather bearish weekly U.S. oil stats report," said Tamas Varga at London brokerage PVM Oil Associates.
  
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• Oil firm Det norske looking for more deals in "very interesting" market -CEO

  14-07-2016 10:07
  OSLO (Reuters) - Norwegian oil firm Det norske sees scope for further transactions after its planned merger with BP's Norwegian business, its chief executive told Reuters on Thursday. "There is definitely a very interesting market with both majors, but also independents and utility companies, that are currently in some sort of process trying to assess the strategy, particularly related to upstream," chief executive Karl Johnny Hersvik told Reuters. When asked what kind of transaction the firm's
  
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• Tech innovations that could reduce food waste

  14-07-2016 10:00 via theguardian.com
  
  From smart fridges to food-sharing apps and intelligent labelling, new products are set to transform they way we consume Cutting-edge technology – from intelligent food labelling to mobile phone-controlled apps and even smart fridges – is set to transform the way consumers shop and control their domestic food waste.On sale for the first time in the UK this autumn is a highly anticipated smart fridge from Samsung. Costing £4,499, the Family Hubrefrigerator is connected to the in
  
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• Brexit will force EU countries 'to make deeper, costlier carbon cuts'

  14-07-2016 10:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Bloc will have to draw up new plan with higher cuts for remaining 27 states in order to meet its carbon reduction target, which could cost billions of EurosBrexit will force the European Union’s remaining 27 countries to spend billions of Euros on cutting carbon emissions deeper to compensate for the UK leaving, according to experts. The UK will be included in a Brussels communique on 20 July, setting out individual targets for EU signatory states to meet a bloc goal of a 40% emissions cut
  
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• London's Oxford Street to be pedestrianised by 2020

  14-07-2016 09:39 via theguardian.com
  
  Mayor of London announces plan to ban vehicles from major shopping street as part of his commitment to tackle air pollutionOxford Street will be pedestrianised by 2020, the mayor of London’s office has announced.The central London shopping hub is one of the busiest in the capital and is visited by more than 4 million people each week.Continue reading...
  
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• Streamlining energy schemes would boost economy and incentivise businesses, says KPMG

  14-07-2016 09:30
  
  The UK Government could achieve savings of £100m and improve private sector growth over the next 20 years if efforts are made to streamline administrative mechanics of energy schemes such as feed-in tariffs (FiT) and capacity markets, a new report has found.
  
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• Pacific ​​islands nations consider world's first treaty to ban fossil fuels

  14-07-2016 09:03 via theguardian.com
  
  Treaty under consideration by 14 countries would ban new coalmines and embraces 1.5C target set at Paris climate talks The world’s first international treaty that bans or phases out fossil fuels is being considered by leaders of developing Pacific islands nations after a summit in the Solomon Islands this week.The leaders of 14 countries agreed to consider a proposed Pacific climate treaty, which would bind signatories to targets for renewable energy and ban new or the expansion of coalmin
  
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• China's legal setback could spur more South China Sea claims

  14-07-2016 08:56
  By Anthony Deutsch and Toby Sterling AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - China's resounding defeat in a legal battle with the Philippines over territorial claims in the South China Sea could embolden other states to file lawsuits if Beijing refuses to compromise on access to the resource-rich region. The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague concluded that China had violated the Philippines' economic and sovereign rights. Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have unresolved, overla
  
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• From field to fork: the six stages of wasting food

  14-07-2016 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Americans chuck out two tonnes of food a second – be it at the farm for being ‘ugly’ or at the table because we’re too finickyEvery second, an amount of food equal to the weight of a sedan car is thrown away in the US - about 60m tonnes a year. It starts at the farm. The potato that grew to the size of a brick. The watermelon with the brown slasher marks on the rind. The cauliflower stained yellow in the sun. The peach that lost its blush before harvest. Any of those mino
  
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• Post-Brexit farming subsidies must protect nature, 84 groups say

  14-07-2016 07:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Protection for birds, wildlife and waterways should come top of the list when any new payments for farmers are considered, NGOs tell new governmentNew subsidies paid to farmers under a post-Brexit government must be linked closely to environmental responsibilities, a large group of political and civil society organisations has urged.Protection for birds, wildlife, waterways and other natural goods should come top of the list when any new payments are considered, wrote 84 food, farming and conser
  
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• GPS tags reveal the secret life of urban seagulls

  14-07-2016 07:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Pioneering study of four herring gulls nesting in St Ives, Cornwall, found they spent most of their time foraging for food outside of townThe summer holidays are nigh and with them, no doubt, will come stories of seagulls on the rampage, stealing ice cream and chips and launching attacks on people and pets.
  But a ground-breaking study that tracked the movement of herring gulls nesting in the Cornish resort of St Ives suggested they spent little time scavenging for goodies or scraps on the street
  
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• From nightfall to dawn, the garden is the snail's domain

  14-07-2016 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Sandy, Bedfordshire What language did its tentacles speak? They appeared to be directionless conductors, randomly sampling the airAt nightfall, garden snails began to come out of the woodpile. I found one spiralling up a twig, stretching out its wet elephant skin. Another swung its body to the side, as if it was having a touch of slug envy, and was trying to dislodge its bulky encumbrance of a shell. One was sliding up the patio window and I went indoors to view it from beneath.Pressed smooth ag
  
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• Oil rises after big losses, glut concerns likely to persist

  14-07-2016 05:14
  By Aaron Sheldrick TOKYO (Reuters) - Crude prices rose on Thursday to recoup some of their big losses from the previous session, but gains are likely to be limited by mounting concerns the global glut in oil is not going away soon after two major agencies issued bearish reports. Brent crude was up 44 cents at $46.70 a barrel at 0250 GMT. A bearish assessment on the oil market from the International Energy Agency (IEA) on Wednesday sent both benchmarks down more than 4 percent by the close of tra
  
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• 'Britain's Pompeii' was 'Bronze Age new build' site

  14-07-2016 04:15 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A Bronze Age village dubbed "Britain's Pompeii" which yielded an "extraordinary window" on the period burnt down after just months, it emerges.
  
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• Crude oil futures up in early Asian trade after big losses

  14-07-2016 02:41
  Crude prices rose on Thursday in early Asian trading after big losses in the previous session spurred by mounting concerns that the global glut in oil is not going away soon after the latest bearish data out of the United States. Brent crude was up 37 cents at $46.63 a barrel at 0032 GMT. The data portrayed a traditionally busy summer driving season beset with unusually weak demand, when many had expected record driving trips amid lower oil prices.
  
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• Euro 2016 moths take wing from Paris and head to Britain

  14-07-2016 00:55 via theguardian.com
  
  Thousands of Silver Y moths, like those that pestered Ronaldo during the Euro 2016 final, headed for UK shores Last seen swarming the Stade de France in Paris, the moths that flapped around the injured Cristiano Ronaldo during the Euro 2016 final are on their way to Britain. Thousands of the Silver Y moths – Autographa gamma – are winging their way from the continent to Britain, and while they will not match the many millions that swarmed as far north as Shetland in 1996, experts are
  
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