Environment news

• U.S. closer to testing engineered mosquitoes that could fight Zika

  05-08-2016 23:53
  By Julie Steenhuysen CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. health regulators have cleared the way for a trial of genetically modified mosquitoes in Florida that can reduce mosquito populations, potentially offering a new tool to fight the local spread of Zika and other viruses. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday that a field trial testing Intrexon Corp's genetically engineered mosquitoes would not have a significant impact on the environment. The announcement came as Florida officials grapp
  
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• NASA Satellite Reveals How Much Saharan Dust Feeds Amazon's Plants

  05-08-2016 23:40 via feedproxy.google.com
  What connects Earth's largest, hottest desert to its largest tropical rain forest?The Sahara Desert is a near-uninterrupted brown band of sand and scrub across the northern third of Africa. The Amazon rain forest is a dense green mass of humid jungle that covers northeast South America. But after strong winds sweep across the Sahara, a tan cloud rises in the air, stretches between the continents, and ties together the desert and the jungle. It’s dust. And lots of it.For the first time, a N
  
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• Cornell scientists convert carbon dioxide, create electricity

  05-08-2016 22:08 via feedproxy.google.com
  While the human race will always leave its carbon footprint on the Earth, it must continue to find ways to lessen the impact of its fossil fuel consumption."Carbon capture" technologies - chemically trapping carbon dioxide before it is released into the atmosphere - is one approach. In a recent study, Cornell University researchers disclose a novel method for capturing the greenhouse gas and converting it to a useful product - while producing electrical energy.Lynden Archer, the James A. Friend
  
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• Oil down modestly; late short-covering limits dollar impact

  05-08-2016 21:46
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Crude oil prices ended little changed on Friday as short-covering returned in late trading, after some weakness earlier in the session as the U.S. dollar rose on robust U.S. jobs data. Rebalancing the oil market has proved a long and frustrating process as oil-exporting countries hit hardest by the 2014-15 price slump were themselves some of the fastest-growing oil consumers.
  
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• U.S. closer to using genetically modified mosquitoes that could fight Zika

  05-08-2016 21:43
  By Julie Steenhuysen CHICAGO (Reuters) - The United States has taken another step toward clearing the way for a trial of genetically modified mosquitoes in Florida as a way of reducing populations of mosquitoes that carry Zika. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday that a field trial testing Intrexon Corp's genetically engineered mosquitoes would not have a significant impact on the environment. The announcement comes as Florida officials ramp up aerial pesticide spraying of a nei
  
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• Florida cleared to release genetically modified mosquitoes in Zika fight

  05-08-2016 21:35 via theguardian.com
  
  US Food and Drug Administration finds ‘no significant’ environmental impact of experimental release of insects after 15 Zika infections were reported in MiamiA release of mosquitoes genetically engineered to produce dead offspring and thus combat the spread of the Zika virus has been approved in Florida by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Related: Florida mobilizes to control mosquitos causing 'unprecedented' Zika outbreakContinue reading...
  
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• Our collective amnesia on climate change | Letters

  05-08-2016 18:55 via theguardian.com
  
  George Monbiot’s article (The climate crisis is already here – but no one’s telling us, 3 August) reinforced something I’ve been aware of since the Paris climate talks – a dearth of information and emphasis in the media regarding action worldwide aiming to ensure that the world’s average temperature doesn’t rise by more than 1.5C above the pre-industrial level.Why am I hearing about small community efforts to install solar panels in emails from organisat
  
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• Brexit and the future of farming in the UK | Letters

  05-08-2016 18:55 via theguardian.com
  
  Your editorial “The future of food and the farming revolution” (4 August) discusses a speech by the director of the National Trust, whose main role is protecting British heritage. That Brexit provides an opportunity to reform agricultural policy is reasonable, but many of the problems outlined were not solely due to failures of the common agricultural policy (CAP). For example, the lack of improved productivity from British farms is largely due to low farm-gate prices that make it ha
  
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• Lancastrians will never surrender their territory | Letters

  05-08-2016 18:54 via theguardian.com
  
  For the Yorkshire Dales to acquire some real class and distinction (Lancashire loses turf to Yorkshire for Dales expansion, 2 August) it has clearly been necessary for the national park to encompass some of Lancashire’s treasured acres. Although the park now embraces the high moors of Leck Fell, let it never be forgotten that all these lands, along with the administrative jiggery-pokery that redefined the Furness district and “Lancashire across the sands” as Cumbria, remain irr
  
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• Abu Dhabi project uses sand to store solar power

  05-08-2016 18:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  Researchers in Abu Dhabi are testing a pilot device that can store solar energy in sand to improve the efficiency of power plants and provide energy at night.The technology, developed at the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, uses gravity to drain sand from a higher basin into a lower one, heating up the sand grains with solar power during the transition. In the lower basin, the energy can be stored and withdrawn at low cost to provide extra energy if needed, for example durin
  
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• Oil down over 1 percent as dollar jumps on U.S. jobs data

  05-08-2016 17:50
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell 1 percent on Friday as the dollar surged on robust U.S. jobs data, reasserting its influence over commodities as two days of short-covering and bargain-hunting in crude fizzled, bringing attention back to oversupplies. The dollar had its biggest daily advance in six weeks, rising 0.7 percent, after U.S. employment growth exceeded expectations in July amid a wages rise raising the chance for a Federal Reserve rate hike before the year-end. I
  
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• Oil traders prepare fond farewells to Yahoo Messenger

  05-08-2016 17:24
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil traders on Friday were lamenting the imminent demise of their main communication tool, Yahoo Messenger, which has been an industry standard since the late 1990s. To some traders' surprise, the software was still operating and in use during New York trading hours, even though Yahoo Inc had set Aug. 5 as the date for shutting down the legacy version of its chat that many were reluctant to give up. Because Yahoo was free, it democratized access across
  
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• Farm subsidies, oil spills and the fetid corpse flower – green news roundup

  05-08-2016 17:21 via theguardian.com
  
  The week’s top environment news stories and green events. If you are not already receiving this roundup, sign up here to get the briefing delivered to your inbox Continue reading...
  
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• EPA On Board to Develop Emission Rules for Aircraft

  05-08-2016 17:11 via feedproxy.google.com
  The end of last month brought big news in the battle to rein in climate change. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from airplanes pose a threat to human health and the environment and therefore are subject to regulation under the Clean Air Act.The Act was originally passed in 1970 to combat air pollution in the form of airborne lead and mercury, sulfur and nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, particulates, and ground-level ozone &md
  
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• Disappointment for LHC physicists

  05-08-2016 17:04 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A physicist speaks to BBC2's Horizon programme as a tantalising discovery recedes into the background of data from the Large Hadron Collider.
  
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• New particle hopes fade as LHC data 'bump' disappears

  05-08-2016 17:01 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Results from the Large Hadron Collider show that a "bump" in the machine's data, previously rumoured to represent a new particle, has gone away.
  
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• Oil down 1 percent as dollar jumps on U.S. jobs data

  05-08-2016 16:17
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell 1 percent on Friday as the dollar surged on robust U.S. jobs data, reasserting its influence over commodities as two days of short-covering and bargain-hunting in crude fizzled, bringing attention back to oversupplies. Brent crude was down 53 cents, or 1.2 percent, at $43.76 per barrel by 9:54 a.m. EDT (1354 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures dropped 60 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $41.33 per barrel, after a session low at
  
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• Oil traders prepare to bid fond farewell to Yahoo Messenger

  05-08-2016 15:53
  The software was still operating and in use during London trading hours, even though Yahoo Inc had set Aug. 5 as the date for shutting down the standalone version of Messenger which many oil industry users are reluctant to give up. Now that it's gone, I could cry." With Messenger's end, the oil industry has to deal with a fragmented communication market, which some say will force players back to the telephone. "Yahoo was great as an aggregator for all commodity participants so I think any cross-
  
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• JLL battles with "frustrating" green policy and rapid business growth to 'build a better tomorrow'

  05-08-2016 15:32
  
  EXCLUSIVE: Sustainability must remain a business imperative regardless of the "frustrating" green policy changes that are "stifling innovation and pausing investment", the UK head of sustainability at property services firm JLL has said.
  
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• US Military's Robotic Submarine Hunter Completes First Tests at Sea

  05-08-2016 15:29
  
  Called the "Sea Hunter," the 132-foot (40 meters) unmanned vessel is still getting its figurative sea legs, but the performance tests off the coast of San Diego have steered the project on a course to enter the U.S. Navy's fleet by 2018, according to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the branch of the U.S. Department of Defense responsible for developing new technologies for the military. The Sea Hunter "surpassed all performance objectives for speed, maneuverability, stabil
  
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• For Otter Moms, Nursing Burnout Is Sometimes Deadly

  05-08-2016 15:28
  
  What scene could be more tranquil than that of a sea otter mother cradling her nursing pup? Scientists knew that mortality rates are unusually high in female southern sea otters that have just finished lactating, but researchers had yet to pinpoint the cause. "This had been a big question within the marine mammal scientific community for many years," said study co-author Nicole Thometz, a postdoctoral researcher with the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Califor
  
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• Oil prices slip as supply strains storage

  05-08-2016 14:27
  By Libby George LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices dipped on Friday, ending a two-day rally, as a glut of crude and refined products weighed on markets and investors eyed a possible stutter in China's imports. Brent crude futures were trading at $44.15 per barrel, down 14 cents but set for a weekly gain of more than 3.5 percent. Downward pressure returned as overproduction in crude and refined products has left onshore storage tanks brimming and triggered the chartering of tankers to store unsold fue
  
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• Ford's Dagenham facilities expected to halve energy and water consumption

  05-08-2016 13:04
  
  Ford's new diesel engine production line is expected to cut energy and water use by 50% for each engine built at the company's Dagenham diesel centre in the UK.
  
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• Nissan unveils world's first bio-ethanol electric vehicle and zero-emission sports car

  05-08-2016 13:03
  
  Low-emission vehicle specialist Nissan has unveiled the world's first fuel-cell powered vehicle that runs on bio-ethanol power, which also has an unprecedented cruising range of more than 600km, as well as a new sports car model.
  
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• Manila's traffic crisis - in pictures

  05-08-2016 12:59 via theguardian.com
  
  Decades of neglect have left Manila’s transport system unable to cope with its citizens’ daily travel, putting its commuters through exhausting, stressful and lengthy journeys. Filipino-American photographer Lawrence Sumulong captures the smoggy claustrophobia in a fisheye view of the city Continue reading...
  
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• Is this the world's worst commute? - in pictures

  05-08-2016 12:59 via theguardian.com
  
  Decades of neglect have left Manila’s transport system unable to cope with its citizens’ daily travel, putting its commuters through exhausting, stressful and lengthy journeys. Filipino-American photographer Lawrence Sumulong captures the smoggy claustrophobia in a fisheye view of the city Continue reading...
  
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• Oil prices slip as short-covering rally fizzles

  05-08-2016 11:58
  By Libby George LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices dipped on Friday, ending a two-day rally, as a glut of crude and refined products weighed on markets and investors eyed a possible stutter in China's imports. Downward pressure returned as overproduction in crude and refined products has left onshore storage tanks brimming and triggered the chartering of tankers to store unsold fuel. There are also growing worries that China's imports are weakening from records set in 2015 and this year.
  
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• Major Amazon dam opposed by tribes fails to get environmental license

  05-08-2016 11:02 via theguardian.com
  
  Brazil’s environmental regulator rules the dam’s backers had failed to supply information to show its social and environmental impactBrazil’s environmental regulator Ibama decided on Thursday to shelve the environmental license request for a hydroelectric dam on the Tapajós river in the Amazon, a project that had been opposed by indigenous tribes and conservation groups. Ibama’s licensing office ruled the dam’s backers had not presented information in time to
  
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• Major Amazon dam opposed by tribes fails to get environmental licence

  05-08-2016 11:02 via theguardian.com
  
  Brazil’s environmental regulator rules the dam’s backers had failed to supply information to show its social and environmental impactPlans to build a giant hydroelectric dam in the heart of the Amazon rainforest have been halted by Brazil’s environmental protection agency because of mounting concerns about the fate of indigenous communities and wildlife living in the area.
  The 8,000-megawatt São Luiz do Tapajós (SLT) dam would have been the sixth-largest hydroelec
  
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• Malcolm Turnbull takes delicate steps as he dances towards centre stage

  05-08-2016 10:09 via theguardian.com
  
  The prime minister is trying hard to take the lead, and despite a few missteps some in the wings are hoping he’s back on the front footWay back when – when Malcolm Turnbull led the opposition in 2009 – he sought a bipartisan agreement with Labor on carbon pricing for two reasons. Fundamentally Turnbull supported the policy, and he was worried if the Coalition rejected that approach Kevin Rudd would respond by dragging the country to a double-dissolution election, where the oppo
  
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• As Yahoo Messenger shuts down, oil traders bid a fond farewell

  05-08-2016 09:56
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - As European and American markets open on Friday, oil traders face a new era with Yahoo Messenger, the main tool used by traders to communicate since the late 1990s, shutting down. A raft of alternatives exist, but many oil industry users say they will dearly miss Yahoo Messenger, with even the odd tear being shed in memory of what became a much loved tool in an otherwise unsentimental industry. "You have no idea how much I'll miss Yahoo Messenger.
  
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• Bovine TB not passed on through direct contact with badgers, research shows

  05-08-2016 08:05 via theguardian.com
  
  Contact comes through contaminated pasture and dung, with significant implications for farming practices Badgers and cattle never came into close contact during a new field study examining how tuberculosis (TB) is transmitted between the animals.Most TB in cattle is contracted from other cattle but some infections come from badgers. The new research indicates that the disease is not passed on by direct contact, but through contaminated pasture and dung, with potentially significant implications
  
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• Adelaide charges ahead with world’s largest 'virtual power plant'

  05-08-2016 07:41 via theguardian.com
  
  AGL project to roll out 1,000 battery systems to homes and businesses will operate like a 5MW plant, and optimise energy produced from solar panelsAdelaide will be home to the world’s largest “virtual power plant” – AGL is rolling out 1,000 battery systems to homes and businesses, with backing from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Arena). AGL and Arena say the project will improve network security and dampen a volatile wholesale electricity price in South Australia
  
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• The town that reveals how Russia spills two Deepwater Horizons of oil each year

  05-08-2016 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Oil spills in the Komi Republic caused by old pipelines are relatively small and rarely garner widespread attention - but added up they threaten fish stocks and pasture for cattleThe Komi Republic in northern Russia is renowned for its many lakes, but sites contaminated by oil are almost just as easy to find in the Usinsk oilfields. From pumps dripping oil and huge ponds of black sludge to dying trees and undergrowth — a likely sign of an underground pipeline leak — these spills are
  
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• Cockchafer flies in with chainsaw hum

  05-08-2016 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Watership Down, Hampshire Disturbingly large and menacing in flight, the billy witch is a beetle of otherworldly workmanship The day has been hot and heavy and full of the drones of insects sounding up at their own unique frequencies. In the cool of the evening my muscle memory is still swaying, an artefact from the repeated left and right arc of cutting hay on the meadow bank. All day as I worked I’d watched the bees hum and fumble at the flower heads as I cut down through the cornflowers
  
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• Oil prices fall as short-covering rally fizzles, oversupply weighs

  05-08-2016 05:54
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Friday as a crude and refined product glut weighed on markets and investors eyed a possible stutter in China's imports, ending a two-day short-covering rally. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were trading at $41.59 per barrel at 0340 GMT, down 34 cents, or 0.81 percent, from their last close. International Brent crude futures were trading at $43.89 per barrel, down 40 cents, or 0.90 percent. ...
  
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• Oil prices dip as short covering rally fizzles out

  05-08-2016 02:56
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices eased in early trading on Friday, but remained well above this week's lows as traders covered short positions after profiting from sharp declines since June. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were trading at $41.81 per barrel at 1.29 a.m. BST, down 12 cents from their last close but still up over 6 percent from their low fo the week on Tuesday. International Brent crude futures were trading at $44.16 per barrel, down 13 cents,
  
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• Linking Adani coalmine to social uplift in India ridiculous, says conservationist

  05-08-2016 02:33 via theguardian.com
  
  Activist Debi Goenka says Indian coal market, which has swung dramatically against the viability of imported coal for power, will seal Carmichael mine’s fateContinued attempts by Australian politicians to link Adani’s Carmichael coalmine to the social uplift of the poor in India are “completely ridiculous”, a veteran Indian conservationist says.Debi Goenka, the Mumbai activist who challenged Adani’s environmental licence for its mine in the Queensland land court in
  
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• From Chernobyl to Antarctica: 7 wonders of the world's renewable energy revolution

  05-08-2016 02:27
  
  As well as seamlessly integrating into national energy mixes to the point where it is beginning to outshine fossil fuels, renewable energy is in the midst of a revolution that is now providing Antarctica, Chernobyl, mThe Outback and the Amazon basin with clean, reliable sources of energy.
  
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• Badgers may not spread TB to cattle through direct contact

  05-08-2016 01:11 via bbc.co.uk
  
  New research suggests that badgers do not transmit TB to cattle by direct contact.
  
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• Pollution may shorten lung cancer patients' lives, research shows

  05-08-2016 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  US study of people with early-stage disease adds to evicence about the health impact of airborne toxinsAir pollution may shorten the life of people who are suffering from lung cancer, researchers have found.
  The findings, which add to growing evidence about the health impact of airborne toxins, show that those diagnosed with early-stage lung cancer are most at risk of an early death. That applies in particular to people with adenocarcinoma, the commonest form on non-small cell lung cancer, which
  
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• Flight of the bumblebee: survey finds individual personalities

  05-08-2016 00:31 via theguardian.com
  
  Queen Mary University of London tracked four bumblebees for whole life, and found disparities in how they found food A study has revealed that bumblebees have distinct personalities. Some bees play it safe by returning to the same flowers again and again while others search for new sources of nectar, scientists found.Continue reading...
  
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