Environment news

• Harley-Davidson to pay $12 million fine over motorcycle emissions

  18-08-2016 23:41
  By David Shepardson and Meredith Davis WASHINGTON/CHICAGO (Reuters) - Harley-Davidson Inc agreed to pay a $12 million (9.12 million pounds) civil fine and stop selling illegal after-market devices that cause its motorcycles to emit too much pollution, the U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday. The settlement resolves government allegations that Harley sold roughly 340,000 "super tuners" enabling motorcycles since 2008 to pollute the air at levels greater than what the Milwaukee-based company
  
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• Climate Change Is Altering Our National Parks Forever

  18-08-2016 22:23 via feedproxy.google.com
  If you’ve ever taken a camping trip, hiked up a forested mountain trail or simply gone bird watching in an American national park, I have bad news: climate change is increasingly putting our nation’s wilderness in danger. And with July 2016 officially declared the hottest month on the planet since recordkeeping began, matters are only poised to get worse.Rising global temperatures and changing weather patterns are already having wide-reaching effects on these wild
  
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• Oil rises; Brent over $50 per barrel on OPEC freeze talk, weaker dollar

  18-08-2016 21:14
  By Devika Krishna Kumar NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Thursday for a sixth straight day, with Brent crude rising above $50 for the first time in six weeks as the world's biggest producers prepared to discuss a possible freeze in production levels. Brent ended the session up 2.09 percent at $50.89. Both benchmarks have risen more than 20 percent from a low in early August on news the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other key exporters will probably revive ta
  
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• Satellite images used to predict poverty

  18-08-2016 20:59 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Researchers have combined satellite imagery with AI to predict areas of poverty across the world.
  
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• Blue Cut Fire in California spreads quickly

  18-08-2016 20:43 via feedproxy.google.com
  The Blue Cut Fire, just outside of Los Angeles, is a quickly growing fire that is currently an imminent threat to public safety, rail traffic and structures in the Cajon Pass, Lytle Creek, Wrightwood, Oak Hills, and surrounding areas. An estimated 34,500 homes and 82,640 people are being affected by the evacuation warnings that have been issued. 
  
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• Behaviour, not appearance, make a dog dangerous | Brief letters

  18-08-2016 20:11 via theguardian.com
  
  Tax avoidance | Dangerous Dogs Act | French infrastructure planning | Pithy lettersThe news that “firms giving advice on aggressive tax avoidance could face large fines” (17 August) is welcome. However, fines will be borne by the companies and the worry is that they will be treated, as they are now, as part of the cost of doing business. Not until “respected members of the community” working for the big four accountancy firms are jailed will this moral injustice be ended.
  
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• Oil up 2 percent, Brent over $50/bbl on OPEC freeze talk

  18-08-2016 18:57
  By Devika Krishna Kumar NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Thursday for a sixth straight day, with Brent crude rising above $50 for the first time in six weeks as the world's biggest producers prepared to discuss a possible freeze in production levels. Brent traded at $50.77 a barrel, a 1.9 percent gain, by 12:32 p.m. ET (1632 GMT). Both benchmarks have risen more than 20 percent from a low in early August on news the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other key ex
  
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• Tourists flock to Kilauea Volcano lava streams

  18-08-2016 18:39 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Tourists flock to Hawaii's Kilauea volcano after lava reached the sea for the first time in three years. Aerials - Lava Ocean Tours.
  
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• Virtual power plants: 10 of the best demand response projects in the UK

  18-08-2016 18:36
  
  As demand response continues to gain traction among sustainability professionals and energy managers alike, edie rounds up some of the biggest and best projects across the UK that are demonstrating the vast economic and environmental potential that this burgeoning technology has to offer.
  
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• Urbanization affects diets of butterflies

  18-08-2016 18:34 via feedproxy.google.com
  A study led by researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) revealed that most tropical butterflies feed on a variety of flower types, but those that are 'picky' about their flower diets tend to prefer native plants and are more dependent on forests. These 'picky' butterflies also have wings that are more conspicuous and shorter proboscis. The reduction in native plants due to urbanisation affects the diet of such butterflies, and researchers suggest that intervention may be neede
  
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• Alaskan village threatened by rising sea levels votes for costly relocation

  18-08-2016 18:18 via theguardian.com
  
  Shishmaref residents decided to leave island rather than add more defenses against coastal erosion but community may not be able to afford $180m moveThe residents of a small coastal Alaskan village have voted to move to the mainland because of rising sea levels, but they may not have the funds to do it. The 600-person village of Shishmaref, located on an island just north of the Bering Strait, has for decades been ravaged by erosion tied to climate change, leading residents to seek a more sustai
  
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• Biologists remove dead conjoined twin from endangered turtle

  18-08-2016 17:51
  ROME (AP) — Marine biologists in southern Italy have separated conjoined twin loggerhead turtles and released the surviving newborn into the Mediterranean Sea.
  
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• Venus-like exoplanet might have oxygen atmosphere, but not life

  18-08-2016 17:36 via feedproxy.google.com
  The distant planet GJ 1132b intrigued astronomers when it was discovered last year. Located just 39 light-years from Earth, it might have an atmosphere despite being baked to a temperature of around 450 degrees Fahrenheit. But would that atmosphere be thick and soupy or thin and wispy? New research suggests the latter is much more likely.Harvard astronomer Laura Schaefer (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, or CfA) and her colleagues examined the question of what would happen to GJ 1132
  
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• A global audience joins Prof Michael Sandel to discuss the world's response to climate change.

  18-08-2016 17:30 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A global audience joins Prof Michael Sandel to discuss the world's response to climate change.
  
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• California's Blue Cut fire: climate change dismissed as 'excuse' on the ground

  18-08-2016 17:20 via theguardian.com
  
  The fire has ripped through communities with alarming velocity but many caught up in the flames have shrugged off claims that global warming is to blameJames Webb huddled on the hill with his dog and watched the fire advance, the flames licking through the cherry trees, the oak trees, the peach trees, then swaying just short of his home, the last home left in this part of the valley. Related: Share your photos and experiences of California's Blue Cut wildfireContinue reading...
  
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• Snail 'Swat teams'

  18-08-2016 17:06 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Australian researchers are investigating if the scent of giant sea snails could help repel millions of coral-eating starfish from the Great Barrier Reef.
  
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• Oil up, Brent over $50 at six-week high on OPEC freeze talk

  18-08-2016 17:03
  By Devika Krishna Kumar NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose for a sixth straight day, with Brent crude touching a six-week high above $50 a barrel on Thursday as the world's biggest producers prepared to discuss a possible freeze in production levels. Brent traded at 50.46 a barrel, a 1.2 percent gain, by 10:56 a.m. ET (1456 GMT) after touching its highest since July 4 at $50.50. Both benchmarks have risen more than 20 percent from a low in early August on news the Organization of the Petroleum
  
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• DNA traces origins of Iceman's ragtag wardrobe

  18-08-2016 15:07 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A new analysis shows that Oetzi the Iceman's clothes came from at least five species of animal, including a hat of brown bear fur.
  
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• India air pollution death rate to outpace China - researcher

  18-08-2016 14:52
  The increase in people dying in India from air pollution will outpace the rate of such deaths in China, as India drags its heels over environmental rules while opening more coal mines, the head of a U.S. research group said on Thursday. "India's situation is getting worse at a much faster speed than China," Dan Greenbaum, president of Boston-based Health Effects Institute (HEI), told Reuters in Beijing. "It is definitely the case because India has not taken as much action on air pollution." HEI
  
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• Nottinghamshire AD plant receives Green Investment Bank backing

  18-08-2016 14:40
  
  A new anaerobic digestion (AD) plant in Nottinghamshire has received more than £13m funding from clean energy investors to supply 16,300MWh per year of renewable electricity and heat to local businesses.
  
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• Mars-Like Environment Lies Deep Beneath Earth's Surface

  18-08-2016 13:43
  
  For the last four years, astrobiologists with Mars Analogues for Space Exploration (MASE), a program that is funded by the European Science Foundation, have been studying the underground environment of England's Boulby Mine — a place that appears to bear some similarities to Mars. The new work, which includes analyzing salty features on the walls of the mine, will help scientists understand where to look for life on the Red Planet and how to explore the Martian environment when humans even
  
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• Nuclear developers have big plans for pint-sized power plants in UK

  18-08-2016 13:10
  By Susanna Twidale LONDON (Reuters) - A range of mini-nuclear power plants could help solve Britain's looming power crunch, rather than the $24 billion (18 billion pounds) Hinkley project snarled up in delays, companies developing the technology say. There are already more than 100 nuclear plants using PWR technology in operation across the globe.
  
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• Treasury to underwrite Horizon 2020 projects beyond EU membership

  18-08-2016 12:18
  
  The UK's innovation agency has vowed to ensure that science and research plays a "central role in a progressive industrial strategy", after Chancellor Philip Hammond revealed that the Treasury will underwrite business and academic funding for approved Horizon 2020 projects.
  
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• Uncertainty is 'built into' the Levy Control Framework, warns expert

  18-08-2016 12:07
  
  Uncertainty is "built into" the Levy Control Framework because the factors which determine the cost of renewable subsidies are themselves "variable and uncertain", an expert from the University of Exeter has warned.
  
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• New online trawler tracking tool aims to help end overfishing

  18-08-2016 11:55 via theguardian.com
  
  Developers hope the tool, that enables anyone with internet access to track fishing vessels worldwide, will create greater transparency in the oceansAnyone with internet access and a passion for seafood will soon be able to track commercial fishing trawlers all over the world, with a new tool that its developers hope will help end the overfishing that has decimated the world’s fish stocks. Millions of people depend on fish to survive, and fish will be vital to feeding the world’s gro
  
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• Premier Oil reaps $250 million Brexit windfall from weak pound

  18-08-2016 11:34
  By Karolin Schaps LONDON (Reuters) - Premier Oil has saved about $250 million (191.13 million pounds) thanks to the depreciation of the British pound following the country's vote to leave the European Union, its chief executive said. Premier Oil, which on Thursday announced a return to profit in the first half of the year despite weak oil prices, earned the windfall from investments denominated in sterling, lower decommissioning fees, also in sterling, and a higher value for its $120 million acq
  
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• Oil steady near six-week highs on talk of supply freeze

  18-08-2016 11:26
  By Christopher Johnson LONDON (Reuters) - Brent crude oil traded above $50 a barrel for the first time in six weeks on Thursday as the world's biggest producers prepared to discuss a possible freeze in output levels. Brent hit a high of $50.05 a barrel, up 20 cents on the day, before easing back to around $49.70, down 15 cents, by 0850 GMT. U.S. light crude oil was up 20 cents at $46.99. ...
  
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• Time to listen to the ice scientists about the Arctic death spiral

  18-08-2016 10:38 via theguardian.com
  The Arctic’s ice is disappearing. We must reduce emissions, fast, or the human castastrophe predicted by ocean scientist Peter Wadhams will become realityIce scientists are mostly cheerful and pragmatic. Like many other researchers coolly observing the rapid warming of the world, they share a gallows humour and are cautious about entering the political fray.Not Peter Wadhams. The former director of the Scott Polar Research Institute and professor of ocean physics at Cambridge has spent his
  
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• Oil prices rise as potential supply cuts remain in focus

  18-08-2016 09:58
  By Mark Tay SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Thursday, with Brent topping $50 a barrel for the first time in six weeks, as traders continued to talk up the potential for an output cut agreement at a meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC producers next month. Brent crude oil futures were trading at $49.93 per barrel at 0750 GMT, up 8 cents, after earlier rising as high as $50.05 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were trading at $47.10 a barrel, up 31 cents.
  
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• Premier Oil returns to profit, raises production target

  18-08-2016 08:29
  Oil producer Premier Oil returned to profit in the first half of the year thanks to higher production that also allowed it to raise its full-year output target by four percent. After reaching record-high production levels in recent weeks, Premier Oil said it now aimed for full-year output of 68,000-73,000 barrels per day, up from 65,000-70,000 bpd previously set. Premier Oil said debt levels stood at $2.6 billion at the end of June, higher than a year ago but down from the end of the first quart
  
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• Russian oil firm sale delay seen reflecting Kremlin pre-election unease

  18-08-2016 08:06
  By Katya Golubkova, Olesya Astakhova and Dmitry Zhdannikov MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian government's shock move to delay the sale of a stake in the Bashneft oil firm reflects Kremlin unease before the elections and gives Vladimir Putin's energy Tsar more time to raise money for a bid by state company Rosneft. The sale, which the government hoped would net it around half of Bashneft's $10 billion (7.65 billion pounds) market value, was part of a privatisation drive meant to raise cash to plug b
  
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• Factbox: Timeline, key players in Russia's Bashneft modern privatisation

  18-08-2016 08:06
  MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian government has taken a surprise decision to postpone the privatisation of oil company Bashneft. The jewel in the crown of Russia’s Bashkortostan region, it produces around 400,000 barrels of oil per day.   Russia’s State Property Management Agency owns a 50.08 pct stake, the Republic of Bashkortostan a 25 percent stake, treasury shares account for a 4.4 percent stake, and the rest is free-float. Below is a timeline of recent Bashneft privatisation
  
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• Petrobras may fund Paralympics as government aid ban lifted

  18-08-2016 06:32
  By Jeb Blount and Rodrigo Viga Gaier RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazil's state-led oil company, Petrobras, may buy marketing rights for the cash-strapped Paralympic Games set for September, a source involved in the negotiations told Reuters on Wednesday. The support, if approved, could help bridge the Games' budget shortfall, now that a judge has overturned an injunction blocking the use of new public funds for the 40-billion-real (9.56 billion pounds) Olympics and Paralympics. Petroleo Brasilei
  
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• Honeysuckle climbs for sunlight in the wood's deep shadow

  18-08-2016 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Backstone Bank, Weardale Spring has given way to stillness – the gentle descent into autumn will soon beginIt had been more than four months since we last walked through this woodland. Gone were the songs of wood warblers and blackcaps. Gone too the carpet of spring flowers, of woodruff, sanicle, primroses, wood sorrel and bugle, now hidden under arching fern fronds below a closed canopy of leathery oak leaves. Related: Icy gales shake the trees above spring’s first new growthContinu
  
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• Africa droughts prompt calls to start pumping untapped groundwater

  18-08-2016 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  As drought sweeps many countries in Africa, an initiative led by water NGOs supports the use of underground aquifers. But the idea is controversialDespite recent heavy rains, Ethiopia is still reeling from the worst drought to hit the country for half a century, particularly in the livestock-dependent regions of Oromia and Somali. Yet studies (pdf) suggest the country could have billions of cubic metres of untapped groundwater.The story is the same across many parts of Africa, where farmers rely
  
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• Donations to restore Great Barrier Reef could dry up if land-clearing continues, says donor

  18-08-2016 05:35 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: Australia’s biggest environmental philanthropist says private investment to clean up reef ‘doesn’t make sense’ with current land-clearing Private investment in work to restore the Great Barrier Reef is likely dry up if the Queensland government fails to pass tighter land-clearing laws, warns Australia’s biggest environmental philanthropist.David Thomas, who has donated $30m and bequeathed another $30m to environmental causes in Australia, told Guardian Au
  
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• Queensland shuts down 'inhumane' goat cull using poisoned dingoes

  18-08-2016 05:02 via theguardian.com
  
  Environment minister orders all dingoes to be removed from Pelorus Island, where they had been introduced to kill goatsAn “inhumane” program that used surgically sterilised dingoes as a form of pest control for goats on a far north Queensland island has been shut down by the state government.The Hinchinbrook shire council had decided to release dogs implanted with time-delayed poison pellets on Pelorus Island, north of Townsville, to kill baby goats as a form of pest control. Continu
  
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• Brent crude oil prices dip on prospect of record Saudi output

  18-08-2016 03:03
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices dipped in early trading on Thursday as the prospect of record Saudi output weighed on markets and as traders cashed in on profits following an almost uninterrupted price rally this month of nearly 20 percent. International Brent crude oil futures were trading at $49.67 per barrel at 0050 GMT, down 18 cents from their last close. Traders said the price dip was due to profit taking following a strong rally this month, and as traders priced in t
  
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• Satellite tagged Aberdeenshire raptor missing in Highlands

  18-08-2016 01:33 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A satellite tag fitted to a hen harrier has stopped transmitting in the same mountains where eight tagged eagles "vanished", says RSPB Scotland.
  
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• Researchers discover a special power in wheat

  18-08-2016 00:15 via feedproxy.google.com
  A new photosynthesis discovery at The University of Queensland may help breed faster-growing wheat crops that are better adapted to hotter, drier climates.A research team led by Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation researcher Professor Robert Henry has today published a paper in Scientific Reports, showing that photosynthesis occurs in wheat seeds as well as in plant leaves."This discovery turns half a century of plant biology on its head," Professor H
  
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