Environment news

• Cuttlefish number sense better than a one-year-old human, research shows

  09-09-2016 22:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Findings suggest that the cephalopods – which have the most complex brains of any invertebrate – also prefer quality over quantity when it comes to foodNew research suggests cuttlefish can not only count better than a one-year-old human, but they also prefer quality over quantity when it comes to food.A study of 54 one-month-old cuttlefish hatched in captivity was carried out by Tsang-I Yang and Chuan-Chin Chiao, researchers at the National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan. Continue re
  
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• Scientists expect to calculate amount of fuel inside Earth by 2025

  09-09-2016 21:48 via feedproxy.google.com
  Earth requires fuel to drive plate tectonics, volcanoes and its magnetic field. Like a hybrid car, Earth taps two sources of energy to run its engine: primordial energy from assembling the planet and nuclear energy from the heat produced during natural radioactive decay. Scientists have developed numerous models to predict how much fuel remains inside Earth to drive its engines -- and estimates vary widely -- but the true amount remains unknown.
  
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• Judge denies tribe's request to stop North Dakota oil pipeline construction

  09-09-2016 21:44 via theguardian.com
  
  The $3.8bn project has been opposed by Native Americans and supporters who say pipeline threatens water supply and risks destroying cultural heritageA federal judge has denied an attempt to halt construction of a controversial $3.8bn oil pipeline that has been fiercely opposed by a Native American tribe that claims the project threatens its water supply and risks destroying cultural heritage.
  Judge James Boasberg of the US district court ruled that the US Army Corp of Engineers “likely com
  
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• Oil falls 4 percent; U.S. crude draw seen as glitch

  09-09-2016 21:33
  By Scott DiSavino NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell 4 percent on Friday, paring most of the previous session's rise as traders noted that a tropical storm was behind this week's unexpected slump in U.S. crude inventories. U.S. crude was down $1.74 at $45.88. Oil prices shot up on Thursday after U.S. government data showed the biggest weekly drop in stockpiles last week since January 1999 as Gulf Coast imports slumped to the lowest on record.
  
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• Heathrow airport expansion plan may be put to free cabinet vote

  09-09-2016 21:07 via theguardian.com
  
  Cabinet Office paper, revealed accidentally, suggests collective responsibility may be waived by Theresa MayA leaked Whitehall document suggests Theresa May could hold a free vote on expanding airport capacity, potentially allowing some cabinet ministers to oppose a third runway at Heathrow.The Cabinet Office paper, photographed on the tube and passed to Channel 4 News, examines the possibility of waiving collective responsibility for any vote on the highly controversial issue of expanding an ai
  
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• Oil falls more than 3 percent; U.S. crude draw seen as glitch

  09-09-2016 20:01
  By Catherine Ngai NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell more than 3 percent on Friday, paring the previous session's rise as traders noted that a tropical storm was behind this week's unexpected slump in U.S. crude inventories. Traders cited hopes for a global deal on stabilizing crude output after Saudi Arabia, the leading oil producer inside OPEC, and Russia, the biggest producer outside the group, agreed on Monday to cooperate in oversupplied markets. Brent crude was down $1.73 at $48.26 a bar
  
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• Mass chimpanzee transfer begins in effort to protect endangered species

  09-09-2016 19:21 via theguardian.com
  
  Project Chimps sanctuary in Georgia will house 200-plus chimpanzees after they were declared endangered, effectively ending experimentation on the animals More than 200 chimpanzees are being transferred to a new sanctuary in Georgia, as the US winds down the controversial practice of using chimps for scientific research.Related: Eastern gorilla now critically endangered while giant panda situation improvesContinue reading...
  
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• Enabling policies needed to accelerate Northern green economy, says Aldersgate Group

  09-09-2016 18:25
  
  A comprehensive emission reduction plan and policy frameworks that enable the uptake of low-carbon projects are necessary to "champion investment" in the North, a new report from environmental coalition The Aldersgate Group has claimed.
  
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• Locals oppose plans for East Sussex's first caviar farm

  09-09-2016 18:22 via theguardian.com
  
  Britain’s only caviar farmer plans to expand with a second site in rural East Sussex but locals say the site will impact the landscape and put pressure on a river where sea trout spawnPlans by Britain’s only caviar farmer to expand his operations to a tiny rural community in East Sussex have sparked a backlash from locals concerned over its environmental impact.
  Ken Benning opened the country’s first caviar farm in Devon two years ago and supplies Michelin-starred restaurants i
  
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• History of flooding

  09-09-2016 18:15 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Written in the sediments of north-west England's lakes is a record of extreme flood events - information that can inform future flood preparedness.
  
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• Cumbrian lakes hold a centuries-long flood record

  09-09-2016 18:15 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Written in the sediments of north-west England's lakes is a record of extreme flood events - information that can inform future flood preparedness.
  
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• Oil falls more than 2 percent but set for weekly gain on deal hopes

  09-09-2016 18:02
  By Catherine Ngai NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell more than 2 percent on Friday, paring the previous session's spike as the market discounted an unexpected slump in U.S. crude inventories as a storm glitch. Brent crude was down $1.35 at $48.64 a barrel by 11:52 a.m. ET (1552 GMT) after rising above $50 for the first time in two weeks on Thursday. Oil prices shot up on Thursday after U.S. government data showed the biggest weekly drop in stockpiles last week since January 1999 as Gulf Coast
  
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• Correction: California Coast-Development story

  09-09-2016 17:38
  
  NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (AP) — In a story Sept. 7 about a vote against a new development on the Southern California coast, The Associated Press reported erroneously the employer of Jonna Engel. She works for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. She is an ecologist for the California Coastal Commission, not the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
  
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• Volkswagen engineer pleads guilty in U.S. diesel emissions probe

  09-09-2016 17:17
  A Volkswagen AG engineer on Friday pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate in the Justice Department's probe into the German automaker's diesel emissions scandal - the first person charged by U.S. authorities in the environmental probe. James Liang, who has worked for VW since 1983 and was part of a team of engineers who developed a diesel engine, was charged in an indictment made public on Friday with conspiring to commit wire fraud and violating U.S. clean air laws. The 62-year-old engineer fro
  
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• Lost wilderness, pandas bounce back and giraffes – green news roundup

  09-09-2016 16:32 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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• EU regulators poised to seek deeper cut in energy use - draft

  09-09-2016 16:32
  By Barbara Lewis LONDON (Reuters) - EU regulators are poised to propose a binding target to cut energy use by 30 percent by 2030, a more ambitious goal than previously discussed, according to a draft document seen by Reuters. The draft law, which the European Commission is expected to publish next month, is part of a set of proposals to implement 2030 goals on cutting emissions, increasing renewable energy use and preventing energy waste. Following Britain's vote in June to leave the European Un
  
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• Oil falls below $49 but set for weekly rise on OPEC hopes, U.S. stocks

  09-09-2016 14:57
  By Dmitry Zhdannikov LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices edged lower on Friday but were still set for their first weekly gain in three weeks after Russia and Saudi Arabia agreed to work together to help rebalance the markets and after a surprisingly large drawdown in U.S. crude stocks. Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude futures were on course to gain about 5 percent this week following two consecutive weeks of declines. The International Energy Agency has said it expects oil demand to finally exc
  
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• Study Discovers Air Pollution Particles in the Human Brain

  09-09-2016 14:21 via feedproxy.google.com
  A new study from Lancaster University has discovered toxic nanoparticles from air pollution in large quantities in human brains. The researchers examined brain tissue from 37 people aged between 3 and 92 years old in the U.K. and Mexico. Magnetite, a type of iron oxide, was found in massive quantities in the samples – millions of particles per gram of brain tissue.
  
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• First dolphins killed in Japan's annual Taiji hunt

  09-09-2016 14:13 via theguardian.com
  
  Fishermen catch 20 of the mammals on the first day of the controversial six-month hunting season featured in anti-dolphin killing film The CoveJapanese fishermen on Friday killed the first dolphins of the season in a controversial annual hunt that attracted global attention after it was featured in the Oscar-winning 2009 documentary The Cove.
  Fishermen at the western town of Taiji caught 20 dolphins, according to the local Kii Mimpo newspaper. Continue reading...
  
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• How Star Trek inspired 'two generations' of scientists

  09-09-2016 14:09 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Star Trek has had an “inspirational relationship” with the space programme, says Robert Picardo, who played the medical hologram in Star Trek Voyager.
  
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• Familiar faces: World's most sustainable companies revealed

  09-09-2016 13:54
  
  Unilever, LG and Sodexo have retained positions as industry leaders of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI), while the likes of Nestlé and Philips have climbed to the top of the rankings.
  
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• Familiar faces: Dow Jones reveals world's most sustainable companies

  09-09-2016 13:54
  
  Unilever, LG and Sodexo have retained positions as industry leaders of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI), while the likes of Nestlé and Philips have climbed to the top of the rankings.
  
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• Urine luck, San Francisco: subway to spray stench from elevators

  09-09-2016 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Bay Area Rapid Transit authorities plan to use enzyme mists and open underground restrooms in an attempt to reduce odor-causing bacteria in subwaySo far, the elevator shaft at the Civic Center subway station in San Francisco still smells.That won’t surprise many a subway passenger around the world who knows the signs of an elevator to be avoided: stale air, the tang of ammonia, rancid hints that someone felt they had no choice but to relieve themselves. Continue reading...
  
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• Urine be gone: Bart officials aim to spray stench from elevator shafts

  09-09-2016 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Bay Area Rapid Transit authorities plan to use enzyme mists and open underground restrooms in an attempt to reduce odor-causing bacteria in subwaySo far, the elevator shaft at the Civic Center subway station in San Francisco still smells.That won’t surprise many a subway passenger around the world who knows the signs of an elevator to be avoided: stale air, the tang of ammonia, rancid hints that someone felt they had no choice but to relieve themselves. Continue reading...
  
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• Meteorite whizzes past Cyprus and explodes, lighting up night sky

  09-09-2016 12:29
  A suspected meteorite did a close fly-by over Cyprus early on Friday, sending people into consternation over a blitz of bright lights which appeared in the night sky coupled with large bangs. "It had a 45 degree tilt and a bang was heard as it passed over Cyprus," said Ioannis Fakas, the honorary chairman of the Cyprus astronomical society. Parts of the meteorite were thought to have fallen into the sea north of Cyprus, Fakas told state TV.
  
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• Oil heading for first rise in three weeks on OPEC hopes, U.S. stocks

  09-09-2016 12:24
  By Osamu Tsukimori and Dmitry Zhdannikov TOKYO/LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices edged lower on Friday but were set for the first weekly gain in three weeks after jumping 4 percent a day earlier due to a surprisingly large drawdown in U.S. crude stocks. Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude futures have gained nearly 6 percent this week and are on course for their biggest weekly gain in three weeks following two consecutive weeks of declines, after major producers Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed on
  
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• Musk: SpaceX fireball probe uncovering 'complex failure'

  09-09-2016 12:21 via bbc.co.uk
  
  An investigation into how a SpaceX rocket exploded on the launchpad is uncovering 'the most difficult and complex failure we have ever had in 14 years' says founder Elon Musk.
  
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• Total sees bargain buy in Chesapeke's Barnett Shale assets

  09-09-2016 12:14
  By Bate Felix PARIS (Reuters) - French oil and gas company Total will increase its exposure to U.S. shale gas by buying 75 percent of Barnett Shale assets from Chesapeake , taking advantage of a far lower price than it paid for its original 25 percent holding. Total joins other European oil majors including Royal Dutch Shell , BP and Statoil which have increased their presence in U.S. shale oil and gas production in recent years, hoping to mimic smaller, independent companies. Shale's low costs
  
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• Flight test for Virgin's replacement rocket plane

  09-09-2016 12:14 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Virgin Galactic has flown its new rocket plane for the first time in a “captive-carry test” above California.
  
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• China's sinking coal mining towns and villages – in pictures

  09-09-2016 11:45 via theguardian.com
  
  Thousands of residents in China’s Shanxi province have been evacuated as villages next to mines have started sinking, after decades of reckless coal mining Continue reading...
  
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• Opencast coal mine application 'called in' over climate change concerns

  09-09-2016 11:29 via theguardian.com
  
  Application for a mine in Northumberland will now be subject to a planning enquiry to determine if it is compatible with government climate change policyAn application for an opencast coal mine in Northumberland has been “called in” by the Government on climate grounds.
  The proposals by Banks Mining for a surface mine for coal, sandstone and fire clay at Highthorn, between Widdrington Village and Druridge Bay, were given the green light by Northumberland county council in July. Conti
  
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• Nasa launches probe to study asteroid Bennu

  09-09-2016 11:08 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A probe called Osiris-Rex will sample the asteroid, which is on Nasa's list of Potentially Hazardous Asteroids.
  
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• World's wilderness reduced by a tenth since 1990s

  09-09-2016 10:51 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The world's wilderness is vanishing at an "alarming" rate, say conservationists.
  
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• Yorkshire Water eyes 15% emissions reduction with giant AD plant

  09-09-2016 10:25
  
  Water service provider Yorkshire Water has been given the go-ahead to build a £72m state-of-the-art anaerobic digestion (AD) plant at its Knostrop works in the centre of Leeds.
  
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• Is this the most sustainable ship in the world?

  09-09-2016 10:25
  
  As the International Maritime Organisation struggles to stay afloat amidst a barrage of calls to establish a global shipping initiative, a new 10-mast cruise liner that harnesses solar and wind power may just have set the benchmark for the sector.
  
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• Co-op calls on retailers to "move with us" on plastics recycling action plan

  09-09-2016 10:25
  
  The Co-op has become the first retailer to sign up to the 'Plastic Industry Recycling Action Plan (PIRAP), and is calling on other retailers to follow suit.
  
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• London's black cab drivers are ready to go green

  09-09-2016 10:00
  
  London's taxi drivers are seemingly ready and willing to help tackle London's air quality crisis as a new survey reveals that 80% of them are interested in switching to new ultra-low emission vehicles for their work.
  
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• Defra and BEIS planning delays increase fears over Brexit impact on green policy

  09-09-2016 09:25
  
  Resource Minister Theresa Coffey has confirmed the postponement of Defra's 25-year environment plan until 2017, in the same week that Energy Minister Nick Hurd revealed that the Government may also delay the release of a plan on the UK's carbon reduction targets until next year.
  
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• Heat and transport: UK will miss low-carbon targets 'without major improvements'

  09-09-2016 09:20
  
  The UK will miss crucial 2020 renewable heat and transport targets and significantly damage its global reputation as a climate leader unless "major policy improvements" are rapidly enforced, a major new report from the Energy and Climate Change Committee (ECC) has concluded.
  
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• A new type of politics could help prevent climate disaster | Andrew Simms

  09-09-2016 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  A UK cross-party initiative addresses the appetite and mechanics for the cooperation needed to help us live within Earth’s limits China and the US’s announcement that they will join the Paris climate accord comes at a time when the UK’s own climate and energy policies appear at best in disarray, and worst at odds.Continue reading...
  
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• Giant cruise ship makes historic voyage in melting Arctic

  09-09-2016 08:32
  
  NOME, Alaska (AP) — The giant luxury cruise liner was anchored just off Nome, too hulking to use the Bering Sea community's docks on its inaugural visit.
  
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• Exclusive - Iranian oil output stagnates for third month amid OPEC bargaining

  09-09-2016 07:20
  By Alex Lawler and Rania El Gamal LONDON (Reuters) - Iran's steep oil output growth has stalled in the past three months, new data showed, suggesting Tehran might be struggling to fulfil its plans to raise production to new highs while demanding to be excluded from any OPEC deals on supply curbs. Iran's oil output soared to 3.64 million barrels per day in June from an average of 2.84 million bpd in 2015 following the easing of Western sanctions on Tehran in January, adding to a global crude glut
  
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• Britain's dormice have declined by a third since 2000, report shows

  09-09-2016 07:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Effects of habitat loss and climate change mean the future of the tiny native mammal is uncertainNumbers of Britain’s native dormouse have declined by more than a third since 2000, according to the first definitive report on the state of the species.The tiny, golden-brown animals were once widespread throughout England and Wales, but have become one of Britain’s most threatened mammals due to loss and fragmentation of their woodland habitat, changes in land management and a warmer cl
  
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• Refuelling at the avian departure lounge

  09-09-2016 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Langstone Harbour, Hampshire For the osprey the fish-rich waters are a welcome place to rest before continuing the 3,000-mile trip to the wintering grounds in AfricaAs summer fades into autumn the harbour begins to feel like a departure lounge. Migration is in full swing, with birds flying in to wait for a window in the weather before they risk crossing the Channel.Related: Britain's migrating birds are drastically declining, RSPB saysContinue reading...
  
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• UK will miss its 2020 renewable energy targets, warn MPs

  09-09-2016 06:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Urgent action is needed if UK is to meet its targets, particularly for heating and transportThe UK will fail to meet its targets on renewable energy generation, with take-up of clean fuels for heating and transport falling badly behind aims, MPs have warned.The findings of the influential energy and climate change committee (ECC) show that ministers have little clear plan for meeting the 2020 target to meet 15% of energy needs from renewable sources.Continue reading...
  
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• Oil pulls back after big jump on U.S. crude stock draw

  09-09-2016 02:36
  TOKYO (Reuters) - Oil prices pulled back on profit-taking on Friday after settling more than 4 percent higher a day earlier after government data confirmed a surprisingly huge drawdown in U.S. crude inventories. London Brent crude for November delivery was down 36 cents at $49.63 a barrel by 0023 GMT. It settled up $2.01, or 4.2 percent, at $49.99 on Thursday after touching a near two-week high of $50.14 earlier. NYMEX crude for October delivery was down 35 cents at $47.27, after settling up $2.
  
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• Zoo burns $1M in rhino items in 1st US bonfire of its kind

  09-09-2016 02:25
  SAN DIEGO (AP) — The San Diego Zoo burned items containing rhinoceros horn with an estimated black market value of $1 million in a symbolic gesture Thursday to show the U.S. is committed to ending illegal wildlife trafficking.
  
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• Pioneering 'diaries' reveal the secret lives of animals

  09-09-2016 02:15 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Specially designed tags that act as 'daily diaries' are revealing previously unknown animal behaviours.
  
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• Animal secrets

  09-09-2016 02:15 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Specially designed tags that act as 'daily diaries' are revealing previously unknown animal behaviours.
  
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