Environment news

• 2016 climate trends continue to break records

  19-07-2016 23:44 via feedproxy.google.com
  Two key climate change indicators -- global surface temperatures and Arctic sea ice extent -- have broken numerous records through the first half of 2016, according to NASA analyses of ground-based observations and satellite data.Each of the first six months of 2016 set a record as the warmest respective month globally in the modern temperature record, which dates to 1880, according to scientists at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York. The six-month period from January
  
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• Oil down, glut eyed as markets await U.S. government inventory report

  19-07-2016 23:20
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell as much 1 percent for a second day in a row on Tuesday as a rallying dollar and a global fuel glut offset forecasts for lower U.S. crude stockpiles that typically would have been bullish for the market. U.S. crude stockpiles fell by 2.3 million barrels last week, trade group American Petroleum Institute (API) reported. The U.S. government's Energy Information Administration (EIA) will issue inventory data on Wednesday.
  
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• Oil down before U.S. stockpile data; attention on product builds

  19-07-2016 21:47
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell as much 1 percent for a second day in a row on Tuesday as a rallying dollar and global fuel glut offset forecasts for lower U.S. crude stockpiles that would have been typically bullish for the market. A Reuters poll showed U.S. crude stockpiles likely fell 2.2 million barrels last week, declining for a ninth week in a row. The American Petroleum Institute (API), a trade group, will be issuing its inventory report at 4:30 p.m. EDT, before th
  
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• Using urban pigeons to monitor lead pollution

  19-07-2016 21:02 via feedproxy.google.com
  Tom Lehrer sang about poisoning them, but those pigeons in the park might be a good way to detect lead and other toxic compounds in cities. A new study of pigeons in New York City shows that levels of lead in the birds track with neighborhoods where children show high levels of lead exposure."Pigeons breathe the same air, walk the same sidewalks, and often eat the same food as we do. What if we could use them to monitor possible dangers to our health in the environment, like lead pollution?" sai
  
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• Hottest June ever recorded worldwide - NOAA

  19-07-2016 20:55 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Last month was the hottest ever June worldwide, and the 14th straight month that global heat records have been broken, scientists say.
  
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• Brexit 'damaging science', UK academies warn

  19-07-2016 20:33 via bbc.co.uk
  
  An open letter to the government from UK academies representing science, medicine and engineering warns that Brexit is already harming science.
  
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• Andrea Leadsom winging it on the environment | Brief letters

  19-07-2016 19:59 via theguardian.com
  
  Butterflies | AE Housman | Melania Trump | Beards | Wendy SlyIt looks like Andrea Leadsom is unconcerned that her children’s children may never see a butterfly unless they climb a mountain (Leadsom’s views make her surprise choice for new role, 15 July), which she sees as a sensible approach to environment planning. Could Patrick Barkham (Wet summer is last straw in disastrous year for butterflies, 15 July) perhaps persuade the family to take part in the big butterfly count?
  Helen Es
  
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• American farmers are struggling to feed the country's appetite for organic food

  19-07-2016 18:54 via theguardian.com
  
  Consumer appetite for organic foods reached $13.4bn in the US last year – so why is only 1% of the country’s cropland dedicated to organic farming?Marc Garibaldi, a farmer in California’s Central Valley, no longer uses conventional pesticides and fertilizers because he doesn’t want to work with toxic chemicals at his 40-acre cherry orchard. His farm was officially certified as organic a few weeks ago, but the path to securing that designation was long and costly: he spent
  
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• Invasive lionfish have reached the Mediterranean. Luckily they're tasty ...

  19-07-2016 18:37 via theguardian.com
  
  Lionfish are venomous, highly opportunistic predators which spread rapidly and uncontrollably. The only solution found so far is the frying pan “Poisonous lionfish may invade Med” ran headlines in June this year, while marine biologists mumbled: “they’re venomous, not poisonous”. Irrespective of their palatability (they’re actually delicious), lionfish have reached the Mediterranean, and the fears of conservationists and fishermen alike are set to come true. T
  
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• Oil slips ahead of U.S. stockpile data; Libya limits loss

  19-07-2016 18:25
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices slipped on Tuesday as a rallying dollar and a global fuel glut offset forecasts for a ninth straight weekly drop in U.S. crude stockpiles. A protest over wages that shut the eastern Libyan oil terminal of Hariga and forced a suspension of 100,000 barrels per day of crude production helped the market limit losses though, traders said. Brent crude futures were down 20 cents at $46.76 barrel by 12:07 p.m. EDT (1702 London time), after trading as hi
  
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• Ship engine emissions adversely affect macrophages

  19-07-2016 18:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  In cooperation with colleagues of the University of Rostock, the University of Luxembourg, the Max Delbrueck Center for Molecular Medicine, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the University of Eastern Finland, the Munich Scientists have now published the results in the journal PLOS ONE. In 2015 they already showed that exposure to particle emissions from heavy fuel oil (HFO) and diesel fuel (DF) adversely affects human lung cells and is responsible for strong biological responses of
  
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• VW's Audi plans electric car push to put heat on Tesla

  19-07-2016 17:33
  By Andreas Cremer and Edward Taylor BERLIN (Reuters) - Audi will aim for electric cars to account for a quarter of its sales by 2025 as part of a strategic overhaul following the emissions scandal at parent Volkswagen, company sources said, in a move that could step up the challenge to U.S. group Tesla. Audi, which has been slow to embrace battery-powered vehicles, will now invest about a third of its research and development (R&D) budget into electric cars, digital services, and autonomous
  
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• Oil steady ahead of U.S. stocks data; Libya limits loss

  19-07-2016 17:23
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices were steady on Tuesday as forecasts for a ninth straight weekly drop in U.S. crude stockpiles offset a rallying dollar and a global fuel glut. U.S. crude's West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures slid by 24 cents to $45 a barrel after a session high at $45.67. "Today's action is much of the same we have seen over the last few weeks, which is consolidating recent gains within a narrow trading range," said Chris Jarvis, analyst at Caprock Risk Manag
  
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• Cuckoo decline finally mapped

  19-07-2016 17:14 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Forty-two tiny tracking devices fitted to cuckoos in the UK may have solved the mystery of the birds' decline.
  
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• Cuckoos count cost of shortcut home, say scientists

  19-07-2016 17:10 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The cuckoo is in decline in the UK, and its migratory habits may be to blame, according to a study of tagged birds.
  
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• Asda becomes first supermarket to show customer food waste savings

  19-07-2016 17:10
  
  Asda customers have saved £57 a year on average after the supermarket chain launched a campaign to tackle domestic food waste.
  
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• Offshore wind powers ahead as prices drop 30% below nuclear

  19-07-2016 16:30 via feedproxy.google.com
  The cost of offshore wind power in the North Sea is 30% lower than that of new nuclear, writes Kieran Cooke - helped along by low oil and steel prices, reduced maintenance and mass production. By 2030 the sector is expected to supply 7% of Europe's electricity. Output from the Dogger Bank project will be 1.2 GW (gigawatts) - enough to power more than a million homes. Next year, a 150-turbine wind farm off the coast of the Netherlands is due to start operating, and other schemes al
  
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• PAS 2080: Construction industry welcomes new guidance on carbon reduction in infrastructure

  19-07-2016 15:51
  
  UK construction firms have praised the release of a new common framework for reducing carbon emissions when delivering infrastructure projects, which could mark a "key step-change" in supply chain sustainability.
  
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• UK scientists speak about Brexit pain

  19-07-2016 15:18 via bbc.co.uk
  
  BBC News speaks to UK researchers already feeling the effects of Brexit on their research.
  
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• Philippines says it rejected China offer of talks on South China Sea

  19-07-2016 14:49
  By Karen Lema and Martin Petty MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines has turned down a Chinese proposal to start bilateral talks on their South China Sea dispute, its foreign minister said on Tuesday, because of Beijing's pre-condition of not discussing a court ruling that nullified most of its claims. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have rival claims. Perfecto Yasay said he had met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of a meeting of Asian and European leaders in
  
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• Saudi conglomerate Binladin pulls back from financial precipice

  19-07-2016 14:44
  By Katie Paul RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Binladin Group, the kingdom's biggest construction conglomerate, appears to have pulled back from the brink of a financial crisis that risked damaging the wider economy. SBG was hard hit last year as low oil prices forced the government - its chief customer - to cancel or suspend projects and delay payments.
  
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• Oil steady above $47, latest Libya hitch supports

  19-07-2016 14:40
  By Dmitry Zhdannikov LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices steadied above $47 a barrel on Tuesday helped by a new Libyan supply disruption but concerns over a global glut of crude and refined fuel capped gains. A protest over wages that shut the eastern Libyan oil terminal of Hariga forced the operator of the Sarir field to suspend production of 100,000 barrels per day. Libyan news and a rebound in stocks on the back of better than expected results by Wall Street Bank Goldman Sachs helped push oil price
  
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• MillerCoors raises a glass to water stewardship efforts

  19-07-2016 14:28
  
  The second-largest brewing company in the US has reduced water consumption in its breweries, including those in water-stressed California, by 128m gallons last year, while greenhouse gas emissions and waste produced also tumbled.
  
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• Oil prices steady near $47 as oversupply concerns weigh

  19-07-2016 13:36
  By Dmitry Zhdannikov LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices steadied near $47 a barrel on Tuesday as concerns over a glut of crude and refined fuel outweighed an expected cut in U.S. shale production and a probable further drawdown in U.S. crude inventories. Crude prices fell more than 1 percent in the previous session after worries about potential supply disruptions stemming from an attempted coup in Turkey proved unfounded. "We are about to enter a period where the crude oil markets could start to feel
  
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• Navy sonar broke whale protection laws, says US court

  19-07-2016 13:24 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A US appeals court has ruled that sonar approved for use by the US Navy broke marine laws.
  
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• Philippines won't honour UN climate deal, says president

  19-07-2016 13:22 via theguardian.com
  
  Duterte says Paris climate pact seeks to dictate to developing countries and limit economic growth, reports Climate HomeThe Philippines will not honour commitments it made under the Paris climate change deal, president Rodrigo Duterte has said in a speech.“You are trying to stifle us,” Duterte said on Monday in widely reported comments. “That’s stupid, I will not honour that. You signed … That was not my signature.” Continue reading...
  
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• Ford turns to tequila to explore new bio-materials

  19-07-2016 13:02
  
  Automotive giant Ford Motor Company has announced a new collaborative research approach with the world's biggest tequila producer Jose Cuervo, that will explore the potential of bio-materials made from the by-products of tequila production.
  
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• New York's remodelled Governors Island has built-in climate change defense

  19-07-2016 12:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Amid rising seas, a park on the island uses Dutch ingenuity to protect itself while maintaining its beauty – with barely a seawall to be seenThe Netherlands may have surrendered what is now New York to the English 352 years ago, but if America’s largest city is to withstand the inexorable rise of the seas in the years to come, Dutch ingenuity may well prove crucial. Related: Statue of Liberty and Venice among sites at risk from climate change, says UNContinue reading...
  
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• Movers and shakers: Meet the ministers tasked with driving Britain's green economy

  19-07-2016 12:30
  
  With the ministerial merry-go-round of the new Prime Minister's cabinet reshuffle now complete, a degree of confusion remains over who exactly holds the keys to the Government's green agenda. Here, edie lists the energy and environment ministers that have traded places in the recent overhaul.
  
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• England's first stretch of south-eastern national coastal path opens

  19-07-2016 12:30 via theguardian.com
  
  The 66-mile route takes in Dover’s White Cliffs and Dungeness and is latest section of national coastal route to be completedThe first south-eastern stretch of a national trail that will eventually allow people to walk the whole way around England’s coastline has opened. The 66-mile route, which starts in Camber in East Sussex and finishes in Ramsgate, Kent, is the latest section to become part of the England Coast Path. When completed in 2020, it will be one of the world’s lon
  
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• Monster shark fishing tournaments face growing pressure to reform

  19-07-2016 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Competitions to catch monster sharks have been held on the US Atlantic coast for decades, but now critics are stepping up their fight and calling for a ban It’s 4am at the dock on Block Island, a teardrop-shaped New England vacation spot situated off Rhode Island, and tempers are fraying among fishermen competing in one of the region’s growing number of big money “monster” shark fishing tournaments.At the previous night’s pre-competition gathering, one fisherman tor
  
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• Original Bramley apple tree in Southwell is dying

  19-07-2016 11:44 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The original Bramley apple tree - planted more than 200 years ago and the "mother" of all modern Bramley apples - is dying from a fungal infection.
  
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• Matthew Canavan says there is 'uncertainty' around cause of climate change

  19-07-2016 11:28 via theguardian.com
  
  New resources minister describes Adani Carmichael coalmine as ‘incredibly exciting’ for AustraliaThe new resources minister, Matthew Canavan, has warned there is still a level of uncertainty about the impact of carbon emissions on global warming and described the Adani Carmichael coalmine as an “incredibly exciting project” for Australia.Canavan, who has previously called for funding for climate change sceptic scientists, is also responsible for the Northern Australia Inf
  
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• Academies warn Brexit 'damaging science'

  19-07-2016 11:12 via bbc.co.uk
  
  An open letter to the government from UK academies representing science, medicine and engineering warns that Brexit is already harming science.
  
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• Shipping air pollution causing 24,000 deaths a year in East Asia – study

  19-07-2016 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Often overlooked compared to cars and factories that are far bigger causes of smog, ship traffic has more than doubled off East Asia since 2005A boom in shipping is aggravating air pollution in China and other nations in East Asia, causing thousands of deaths a year in a region with eight of the world’s 10 biggest container ports, scientists said on Monday.Often overlooked compared to cars and factories that are far bigger causes of smog, ship traffic has more than doubled off East Asia si
  
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• Shipping air pollution causes 24,000 deaths a year in east Asia – study

  19-07-2016 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Ship traffic is often overlooked compared to smog-producing cars and factories, but it has more than doubled off east Asia since 2005A boom in shipping is aggravating air pollution in China and other nations in east Asia, causing thousands of deaths a year in a region with eight of the world’s 10 biggest container ports, scientists have said.
  Ship traffic, often overlooked compared to cars and factories that are far bigger causes of smog, has more than doubled off east Asia since 2005 and
  
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• Kimberly-Clark sets 'aggressive' new sustainability targets

  19-07-2016 09:00
  
  Personal care consumer product manufacturer Kimberly-Clark has established a new six-year sustainability strategy to build on the success of the "aggressive goals" the company has just surpassed, as revealed in its latest sustainability report.
  
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• What's the etiquette of the Dunwich Dynamo? | Maeve Shearlaw

  19-07-2016 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  From the mundane to the more serious, it’s in everyone’s interest to preserve the spirit of the century-old, overnight London-Suffolk bike rideThe Dunwich Dynamo is a roughly 120-mile bike ride to the Suffolk coast, on a date sometime near the fullest moon between the end of June and mid-July, setting off from Hackney’s London Fields park around 8pm and arriving at the beach sometime after dawn.
  If the description seems a little hazy that’s because the ride is technically
  
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• Tarpaulin mishap delays Japan's first military satellite by two years - sources

  19-07-2016 07:19
  By Nobuhiro Kubo TOKYO (Reuters) - The launch of Japan's first dedicated military communications satellite will be delayed by two years after a mishap with a blue tarpaulin damaged sensitive antennas during transportation to Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana, two government sources told Reuters. The mishap has set back plans by Japan's military to unify its fractured and overburdened communications network, and could hinder efforts to reinforce defences in the East China Sea as Chinese militar
  
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• Dolly's sisters

  19-07-2016 07:03 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists are studying Dolly the sheep's "siblings" in order to study the health of cloned animals.
  
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• UK government 'must deliver' on 25-year environmental pledge

  19-07-2016 07:01 via theguardian.com
  
  WWT urges ministers to uphold promise to boost nature and cut the costs of environmental damage after the Brexit vote Ministers must deliver on a manifesto pledge for a 25-year plan to boost nature and cut the costs of environmental damage, it has been urged.
  Harm caused by floods, air pollution, water pollution and chemicals in the atmosphere are adding billions of pounds a year to bills, insurance premiums and costs for businesses, farms and households, environmentalists warn. Continue reading
  
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• Renewable energy: Victoria approves state's largest windfarm project

  19-07-2016 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  The $650m, 96-turnbine Dundonnell project is expected to save 700,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a yearVictoria has approved a $650m, 96-turbine windfarm that will be the largest in the state as it bids to become the nation’s renewable energy leader.The approval of the Dundonnell project means 300 direct and indirect jobs will be created during construction and the turbines will generate 1000 gigawatt hours of clean energy each year. It is enough to power 140,000 homes. Continue re
  
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• Only thrushes and blackbirds are awake at 'sparrow's-fart'

  19-07-2016 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Claxton, Norfolk I reached the river Yare when the sun’s first effect was a band of exquisite apricot that shaded incrementally colder overheadAccording to the veteran chronicler of English slang Jonathon Green, the expression “sparrow’s-fart” is a late 19th-century coinage, when country folk knew a thing or two about dawns. All I can say is that while Claxton sparrows were busy and loud when I got back to the house, as I left it at 3.55am they were silent. The early bird
  
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• Oil prices fall on oversupply concerns despite output cuts

  19-07-2016 05:59
  By Keith Wallis SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices eased on Tuesday as concerns over a crude and refined fuel glut outweighed an expected cut in U.S. shale production and a probable further draw in U.S. crude inventories. Crude prices fell more than 1 percent in the previous session after worries about potential supply disruptions stemming from an attempted coup in Turkey proved unfounded. It's a knife edge between optimism and pessimism," said Ben Le Brun, market analyst at Sydney's OptionsExpres
  
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• Are seawalls the best answer to rising sea levels – or is retreat a better option?

  19-07-2016 04:09 via theguardian.com
  
  While barriers are the most widely used methd of protecting coastal homes and infrastructure in Australia, landscape architects must consider other options The extraordinary pictures of subsumed gardens and a swimming pool wrenched from the ground by the giant waves that battered Sydney’s northern beaches last month have revived debate about seawalls and the impact of human attempts to keep the rising ocean from our doors.Given their spectacular locations, the homes in the frontline of rag
  
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• F1 tech behind 'flying' boat's cup bid

  19-07-2016 02:31 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Could F1 and aeronautical tech help Sir Ben Ainslie's 'flying' catamaran win the America's Cup?
  
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• Oil prices fall on oversupply concerns despite shale cuts

  19-07-2016 02:30
  By Keith Wallis SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices eased in early Asian trade on Tuesday as concerns over a crude and fuel oil glut outweighed an expected cut in U.S. shale production and a likely further draw in U.S. crude stocks. Crude prices fell more than 1 percent in the previous session after concerns about potential supply disruptions eased in the wake of Friday's attempted coup in Turkey. U.S. crude, known as West Texas Intermediate (WTI), slipped 13 cents to $45.11 a barrel as of 0021 GMT
  
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• Mercury 13

  19-07-2016 02:22 via bbc.co.uk
  
  In the early 60s, 13 women undertook secret tests at Nasa to see if they could become astronauts.
  
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