Environment news

• Superannuation funds encouraging greater fossil fuel exploration, report says

  28-09-2016 22:45 via theguardian.com
  
  Seven of Australia’s large energy companies refer to exploration targets in executive bonus payments, approved by shareholders including super funds Superannuation funds are voting in favour of large bonuses awarded to executives for expanding fossil-fuel exploration, a new report says.According to the report by finance campaigners Market Forces, seven of Australia’s large energy companies explicitly refer to exploration targets in their executives’ bonus payments. Continue rea
  
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• Superannuation fund bonuses encouraging greater fossil fuel exploration, report says

  28-09-2016 22:45 via theguardian.com
  
  Seven of Australia’s large energy companies explicitly refer to exploration targets in their executives’ bonus payments Superannuation funds are voting in favour of large bonuses awarded to executives for expanding fossil-fuel exploration, a new report says.According to the report by finance campaigners Market Forces, seven of Australia’s large energy companies explicitly refer to exploration targets in their executives’ bonus payments. Continue reading...
  
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• OPEC agrees modest oil output curbs in first deal since 2008

  28-09-2016 22:38
  By Rania El Gamal, Alex Lawler and Vladimir Soldatkin ALGIERS (Reuters) - OPEC agreed on Wednesday modest oil output cuts in the first such deal since 2008, with the group's leader Saudi Arabia softening its stance on arch-rival Iran amid mounting pressure from low oil prices. "OPEC made an exceptional decision today ... After two and a half years, OPEC reached consensus to manage the market," said Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh, who had repeatedly clashed with Saudi Arabia during previous
  
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• Current affairs: the mystery of Langmuir circulation

  28-09-2016 22:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Steady winds produce a pattern on the sea’s surface like parallel furrows in a fieldResearchers are still trying to unravel the complex interactions between wind, waves and currents. One of the most visible results of these interactions is Langmuir circulation, which produces a pattern on the water surface like parallel furrows in a field. These lines are known as wind streaks or windrows, and occur only in steady winds of more than 7mph. Related: The oceans are heating up. That's a big pr
  
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• Oil soars 6 percent as OPEC reaches deal to limit output in Nov

  28-09-2016 22:18
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices settled up nearly 6 percent on Wednesday after OPEC sources said the group has struck a deal to limit crude output at its policy meeting in November, its first agreement to cut production since the market crashed two years ago on oversupply. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries reached agreement to limit its production by nearly a million barrels per day to 32.5 million bpd in talks held on the sidelines of the Sept. 26-28 Inter
  
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• OPEC reaches first deal to cut oil output since 2008 - sources

  28-09-2016 22:15
  By Rania El Gamal and Alex Lawler ALGIERS (Reuters) - OPEC agreed on Wednesday to cut its oil output for the first time since 2008, with the group's leader Saudi Arabia softening its stance on arch-rival Iran amid mounting pressure from low oil prices. "OPEC made an exceptional decision today ... After two and a half years, OPEC reached consensus to manage the market," Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh was quoted by Iran's SHANA news agency as saying, without giving details. OPEC's informal me
  
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• Environmentalists 'expected better' of Trudeau as Canada backs gas project

  28-09-2016 22:04 via theguardian.com
  
  The Pacific NorthWest LNG project would ship 19m tons a year of frozen, liquefied natural gas to markets in Asia – and create jobs, says the governmentCanada’s commitment to fighting climate change has been questioned after the Liberal government, led by Justin Trudeau, announced conditional approval for a C$36bn liquefied natural gas project in northern British Columbia.
  The decision – the Trudeau government’s first on a major energy project – was announced late on
  
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• Iran says OPEC reached consensus to manage market - SHANA

  28-09-2016 22:01
  DUBAI (Reuters) - The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries reached consensus on Wednesday to freeze oil production to support prices, the Iranian oil minister said after an informal meeting of the OPEC members in Algeria. "OPEC made an exceptional decision today ... After two and a half years, OPEC reached consensus to manage the market," Bijan Zanganeh was quoted by Iran's SHANA news agency as saying (Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin. Editing by Jane Merriman)
  
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• Fracking is a lousy way to create jobs | Letters

  28-09-2016 20:29 via theguardian.com
  
  Gary Smith of the GMB says that Labour’s fracking ban is “an abdication of our environmental and moral responsibilities” (Report, 27 September). Clearly he hasn’t been reading the Guardian: otherwise he’d know that climate change is so serious that we need to leave most fossil fuel reserves in the ground. He also seems unaware of the Committee on Climate Change’s technical advice that fuels used by 2030 should produce an average of no more than 50g of CO2 per
  
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• Actor Mark Wahlberg hopes 'Deepwater Horizon' movie honors victims

  28-09-2016 20:27
  (Corrects paragraph 2 attribution to Mike Williams instead of Mark Wahlberg, corrects paragraph 6 to other cast members did not attend London premiere instead of they attended) (Reuters) - Actor Mark Wahlberg said "the biggest responsibility" for himself and the makers of the new movie, "Deepwater Horizon," was to honor the real-life victims of the 2010 oil rig disaster. "The oil can ultimately be cleaned up, (but) those 11 men can't be replaced," Mike Williams, oil rig engineer and survivor of
  
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• Oil jumps on talk OPEC may have deal to limit output in Nov

  28-09-2016 20:24
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose more than 2 percent in volatile trade on Wednesday on speculation that OPEC members gathered in Algeria could lay the foundation for a production-limiting deal in November. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose by $1, or 2.2 percent, to $45.67. Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries may announce an output freeze deal later on Wednesday at informal talks held on the sidelines of the International Energy Foru
  
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• Obama's climate change legacy at stake as Clean Power Plan has its day in court

  28-09-2016 19:51 via theguardian.com
  
  Seven hours of legal argument on states’ right to allow carbon pollution may determine the fate of the centerpiece of US efforts to limit climate changeThe future of the US’s centerpiece plan to tackle climate change hangs in the balance following nearly seven hours of legal argument over whether it tramples upon the right of states to allow carbon pollution.Power utilities and business groups have joined 27 states in challenging the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan, whi
  
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• King's College London diverts fossil fuel endowments to clean energy

  28-09-2016 19:35 via theguardian.com
  
  New investment policy will end the endowment fund’s exposure to fossil fuels and channel 15% of its £175m into low-carbon alternatives King’s College London has endorsed a plan that would sink millions of its £179m endowment into clean energy, and drop investments in the most polluting fossil fuels.Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a King’s alumni, has previously intervened in the university’s refusal to divest from fossil fuels after a campaign by students.Continue re
  
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• Britain, France to sign Hinkley Point nuclear deal on Thursday - sources

  28-09-2016 19:07
  LONDON/PARIS (Reuters) - The British government and France's EDF will officially sign a contract to build Britain's first new nuclear power plant in a generation on Thursday, after months of wrangling over the involvement of EDF's Chinese partner, sources said. British, French and Chinese government officials will be among those attending the signing ceremony in London on Thursday afternoon, which will formalise the deal for French state-controlled utility EDF to build the Hinkley Point C plant
  
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• Oil prices up 2 percent on OPEC speculation

  28-09-2016 18:43
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose by more than 2 percent in volatile trade on Wednesday on speculation OPEC members gathered in Algeria could lay the foundation for a production-limiting deal in November. Crude futures had gyrated earlier after a surprise drop in U.S. crude stockpiles for a fourth straight week was offset by a large build in gasoline. Brent crude was up $1.24, or 2.7 percent, to $47.31 a barrel by 12:25 p.m. EDT (1625 GMT). It fell to a session low of $45.7
  
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• Tattoo ink contains cancer-causing chemicals – so why isn't it regulated?

  28-09-2016 18:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The US is a major global supplier of tattoo inks, and yet little data exists about their impact on our health. That’s worrying regulators in EuropeAmericans love tattoos. Nearly a quarter of them have gotten inked, compared with 12% in Europe. The personal expression that is skin deep is particularly popular with young people: 40% of American teenagers sport tattoos. Women are also more likely than men to get one.Yet very little is known about the effects of modern day tattoo ink on the hu
  
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• Pangolins thrown a lifeline at global wildlife summit with total trade ban

  28-09-2016 17:10 via theguardian.com
  
  World’s most illegally trafficked mammal wins total ban on international trade in all species under the strictest Cites protection possiblePangolins, the world’s most illegally trafficked mammal, were thrown a lifeline at a global wildlife summit on Wednesday with a total trade ban in all species. More than a million wild pangolins have been killed in the last decade, to feed the huge and rising appetite in China and Vietnam for its meat and its scales, a supposed medicine. The uniqu
  
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• Longest record of continuous carbon flux data is now publicly available

  28-09-2016 17:04 via feedproxy.google.com
  Around the world -- from tundra to tropical forests, and a variety of ecosystems in between -- environmental researchers have set up micrometeorological towers to monitor carbon, water, and energy fluxes, which are measurements of how carbon dioxide (CO2), water vapor and energy (heat) circulate between the soil, plants and atmosphere. Most of these sites have been continuously collecting data, some for nearly 25 years, monitoring ecosystem-level changes through periods of extreme droughts and r
  
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• New safeguards agreed for world's most trafficked mammal

  28-09-2016 16:53 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A little known species driven to the edge of extinction by poaching, has gained extra protection at the Cites meeting in South Africa.
  
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• EDF and UK government set to sign deal on Hinkley Point C

  28-09-2016 16:51 via theguardian.com
  
  Signing of contract agreeing price EDF will earn for energy produced by £18bn nuclear reactor means project is all but guaranteedThe contract giving Hinkley Point C the formal go-ahead is to be signed this week, with the UK government and its commercial partner, EDF, putting pen to paper on the £18bn nuclear power project.EDF will sign a “contract for difference” on Thursday, an agreement governing the amount of money that the French state-owned energy company will receiv
  
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• Total trade ban for Gibraltar's monkeys agreed

  28-09-2016 16:16 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Europe's only non-human primate, the Barbary Macaque, has gained the highest level of protection at the Cites meeting in South Africa.
  
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• Oil up on hope of November output deal, chance of another U.S. crude draw

  28-09-2016 16:09
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose nearly 2 percent on speculation OPEC members gathered in Algeria could lay the foundation on Wednesday for a production-limiting deal in November, and on the possibility of another draw in U.S. crude stockpiles. On Tuesday, crude futures settled down about 3 percent after Saudi Arabia and Iran dashed market hopes that the two major OPEC producers would find a compromise at their Algiers meeting this week to help ease a global oil glut. "Wit
  
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• Islamic State loses control of last oil wells in Iraq - oil ministry

  28-09-2016 15:58
  Islamic State militants no longer control any oil wells in Iraq after being ousted by government forces last week from an area near Kirkuk, the oil ministry said on Wednesday. The ultra-hardline Sunni Muslim group were driven out of Shirqat on Thursday by U.S-backed Iraqi forces. Last month it lost the Qayyara oilfield, south of Mosul, to government forces thrusting northwards in an offensive to retake the largest city under IS control.
  
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• Satellite Eye on Earth: August 2016 - in pictures

  28-09-2016 15:43 via theguardian.com
  
  Ocean storms, California fires and an ice-free North-west Passage were among the images captured by European Space Agency and Nasa satellites last monthComposite image of an active Pacific and Atlantic storm season on 30 August 2016, with three hurricanes, two tropical depressions and a former typhoon visible from the ring of geostationary satellites in orbit high above above the Earth. Continue reading...
  
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• Inside Brazil's battle to save the Amazon with satellites and strike forces

  28-09-2016 15:02
  By Chris Arsenault BRASILIA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - When George Porto joined Brazil's environment agency 13 years ago, the country didn't have access to satellite data on illegal logging -- let alone heat maps tracking deforestation patterns or gun-toting agents dedicated to stopping ecological crimes. Today, IBAMA, as the agency is known, has access to four satellite feeds monitoring illegal activities in the Amazon, the world's biggest rainforest. "When I joined there was no GPS or sate
  
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• The numbers behind Brazil's fight on Amazon deforestation

  28-09-2016 15:01
  By Chris Arsenault BRASILIA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Home to the vast Amazon, Brazil has reduced its deforestation rate by more than 70 percent since 2003, but Latin America's largest country is still losing the equivalent of two football fields of rainforest every minute. The country aims to reduce net new deforestation to zero by 2030. Key tools in the fight are new satellite monitoring technologies, rural titling schemes to encourage small-scale farmers to stop cutting down trees and ac
  
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• Oil climbs on hopes of output-limiting deal in November

  28-09-2016 14:58
  By Ahmad Ghaddar and Swetha Gopinath LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Wednesday, after sharp losses in the previous session, as the focus shifts to a potential output-curbing deal from OPEC later this year and a surprise drawdown in U.S. crude stocks. Brent crude was up 59 cents to $46.56 a barrel at 1335 British time after settling down $1.38 on Tuesday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up 53 cents at $45.20 a barrel after closing $1.26 a barrel lower the previous day.
  
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• Grass food crops facing climate change challenge

  28-09-2016 14:28 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Projected climate change is set to happen too quickly for grass species, including major food crops, to adapt to the new conditions, a study suggests.
  
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• US drives rainforest destruction by importing Amazon oil, study finds

  28-09-2016 14:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The report found that California, despite its green reputation, is refining the majority of crude oil – with one facility accounting for 24% of the US total US imports of crude oil from the Amazon are driving the destruction of some of the rainforest ecosystem’s most pristine areas and releasing copious amounts of greenhouse gases, according to a new report.The study, conducted by environmental group Amazon Watch, found that American refineries processed 230,293 barrels of Amazon cru
  
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• Research predicts European wind rush despite unstable regulatory frameworks

  28-09-2016 13:40
  
  New research has anticipated that more than 140GW of new wind power capacity will be deployed in Europe by 2025 despite deep regulatory reform, in the same week that Wind Europe called on the European Union (EU) to ramp up political commitments to make the continent the best choice for renewables investment.
  
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• Research predicts European wind rush by 2025

  28-09-2016 13:40
  
  New research has anticipated that more than 140GW of new wind power capacity will be deployed in Europe by 2025 despite deep regulatory reform, in the same week that Wind Europe called on the European Union (EU) to ramp up political commitments to make the continent the best choice for renewables investment.
  
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• French policy shift leaves Gabon's Bongo out in the cold

  28-09-2016 13:28
  By Tim Cocks DAKAR (Reuters) - In the heyday of former President Omar Bongo, Gabon and its oil wealth were a central pillar of "La Francafrique", a shadowy network that enabled France's troops to defend African autocrats in exchange for juicy contracts for French companies. France's energy firms, meanwhile, had undisputed claims to some of the continent's richest oil fields. France's position has been clear since the Aug. 27 poll: it has "doubts" about its credibility, so it won't endorse Bongo
  
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• Ecosurety adopts 'network creator' mantle to launch Circularety waste investment platform

  28-09-2016 13:05
  
  Resource efficiency specialist Ecosurety has today (28 September) introduced a new "revolutionary" platform that uses money generated from issuing waste recycling compliance documents to fund transparent projects that aid the waste and recycling industry.
  
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• Our kids learn their ABCs in school. But why not climate change? | Mike Honda and Edward J Markey

  28-09-2016 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The classroom is the right place to start educating our citizens about the greatest challenge they will face The reality of climate change is here, and the science behind our warming planet is clear. July and August 2016 were the hottest months in recorded history. And last year was the hottest on record. Wildfires have scorched California. Thousand-year floods have devastated Louisiana. Temperatures are soaring. Sea levels are rising. Weather is more extreme. Greenhouse gases have been steadily
  
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• Iran says OPEC talks in Algeria pave way for a deal - SHANA

  28-09-2016 12:58
  DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's oil minister said on Wednesday an informal meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in Algeria could pave the way for a deal to stabilise the oil market. "Agreement among all OPEC members and some non-OPEC oil producers is essential to resolve the problems," Bijan Zanganeh was quoted as saying by the oil ministry's news service SHANA. (Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin; Editing by Dale Hudson)
  
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• Saudis soften oil stance on Iran but OPEC deal still elusive

  28-09-2016 12:48
  By Rania El Gamal and Alex Lawler ALGIERS (Reuters) - OPEC might still agree an oil output-limiting deal later this year after failing to do so in Algeria this week as the economic problems of its de-facto leader Saudi Arabia force Riyadh to cede more ground to arch-rival Iran. Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Tuesday Iran, Nigeria and Libya would be allowed to produce "at maximum levels that make sense" as part of any output limits which could be set as early as the next OPEC meeti
  
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• Let's put endangered plants in the spotlight | Robbie Blackhall-Miles

  28-09-2016 12:43 via theguardian.com
  
  It’s time we started shouting about illegal sales of endangered plants: it’s just as barbaric as the ivory tradeWhen you think of the illegal trade in endangered species what do you envisage? Rhino horn? Elephant tusks? Coral maybe? The world’s media feeds us images of tiger skins, turtle shells, mounds of ivory being burned and rhinos shot and bloodied with their horns removed - it’s no wonder you think of these things.Continue reading...
  
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• Wildlife butchers of Belén: the town that serves up rare species for a few dollars

  28-09-2016 12:42 via theguardian.com
  
  In this Peruvian shanty town endangered wildlife is sold daily at market, live or freshly cooked in gory detail by traders flouting lax enforcement. Stopping this growing illegal trade will be key to discussions at Cites this weekWhere a confluence of rivers meet the Peruvian city of Iquitos, the world’s largest city to be inaccessible by road, lies Belén, a partially floating shanty town and market where endangered monkeys change hands for a few dollars and wildlife traffickers tak
  
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• Lidl pledges to remove single-use plastic carrier bags

  28-09-2016 12:30
  
  German discount supermarket chain Lidl UK has today (28 September) pledged to remove single-use plastic carrier bags from sale across all stores in England, Scotland and Wales.
  
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• Lidl pledges to remove all single-use plastic carrier bags

  28-09-2016 12:30
  
  German discount supermarket chain Lidl UK has today (28 September) pledged to remove single-use plastic carrier bags from sale across all stores in England, Scotland and Wales.
  
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• South Australia storms: entire state left without power after wild weather – as it happened

  28-09-2016 12:26 via theguardian.com
  
  Severe weather has cut power to all of South Australia, causing widespread traffic disruptions, especially in Adelaide, and the premier says it could continue for ‘an extended period. Follow our coverage, live 11.26am BSTThe brunt of the thunderstorms have moved through Adelaide (for now) so we’ll switch off our live coverage of the South Australian storms here. Another bought of severe weather, that “intense and deep low pressure system” is due to hit Kangaroo Island in
  
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• New MIT app: check if your car meets climate targets | Dana Nuccitelli

  28-09-2016 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  In the US today, the most affordable and climate-friendly cars are electricIn a new study published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, with an accompanying app for the public, scientists at MIT compare the carbon pollution from today’s cars to the international 2°C climate target. In order to meet that target, overall emissions need to decline dramatically over the coming decades. The MIT team compared emissions from 125 electric, hybrid, and gasoline cars to the le
  
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• Monsanto ally Novozymes sees opportunity, risk in Bayer merger

  28-09-2016 11:26
  By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - Novozymes, already grappling with the consequences of low oil and crop prices, is watching anxiously to see what Bayer's purchase of Monsanto will mean for the Danish group's ties with its key agricultural partner. Chief Executive Peder Holk Nielsen said in an interview that a merged Bayer-Monsanto could extend the market for the company's smart microbial crop-boosting products, known as inoculants, but added the union also brings uncertainties. "But we think
  
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• Richell prize: Susie Greenhill wins literary award for 'ecological love story'

  28-09-2016 11:08 via theguardian.com
  
  Tasmanian author, whose novel The Clinking explores themes of extinction, snaps up award for Australian writers who have not yet published a book An “ecological love story” is not a common genre, but this is how Susie Greenhill, winner of this year’s Richell prize, sees her novel The Clinking. Greenhill, who was also longlisted for last year’s Richell prize, stood out among 428 entries in the second year of the award, which is offered to Australian writers who have not ye
  
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• The world passes 400ppm carbon dioxide threshold. Permanently

  28-09-2016 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  We are now living in a 400ppm world with levels unlikely to drop below the symbolic milestone in our lifetimes, say scientists. Climate Central reportsIn the centuries to come, history books will likely look back on September 2016 as a major milestone for the world’s climate. At a time when atmospheric carbon dioxide is usually at its minimum, the monthly value failed to drop below 400 parts per million (ppm).That all but ensures that 2016 will be the year that carbon dioxide officially pa
  
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• South Australia storms: entire state left without power after wild weather – live

  28-09-2016 10:12 via theguardian.com
  
  Severe weather has cut power to all of South Australia, causing widespread traffic disruptions, especially in Adelaide, and the premier says it could continue for ‘an extended period. Follow our coverage, live 9.10am BSTSevere thunderstorms in the southern half of South Australia have caused the entire state - that’s the entire 984,377km sq area, plus connected islands - to lose power. SA Power Networks, which manages electricity distribution in the state, said it would be “som
  
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• Canary Wharf Group slashes emissions through technology and ISO frameworks

  28-09-2016 10:00
  
  Canary Wharf Group (CWG) has boosted its energy efficiency credentials during the past year through improved building energy performance and the implementation of an energy management system to help measure, monitor and improve efficiency across the business.
  
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• Rare bird being driven to extinction by poaching for its 'red ivory' bill

  28-09-2016 09:48 via theguardian.com
  
  Helmeted hornbills’ solid red beak sells for several times the price of elephant ivory due to soaring demand on the Chinese black marketA virtually unknown ivory poaching crisis is rapidly driving one of the world’s most spectacular birds to extinction, a global wildlife summit has heard.The helmeted hornbill, found mainly in Indonesia, Borneo and Thailand, has a solid red beak which sells as a “red ivory” on the black market, for several times the price of elephant ivory
  
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• Engineer Smiths Group posts fall in underlying FY revenue

  28-09-2016 08:41
  (Reuters) - British engineering conglomerate Smiths Group Plc said underlying full-year revenue fell nearly 2 percent on a decline in sales at one of its biggest units. Full-year revenue at its John Crane unit, which makes mechanical seals and other products for customers such as BP Plc, Shell and Chevron Corp, has been lagging as oil producers and explorers cut expenses to combat oil prices. The John Crane unit, which contributed about 28 percent of the group's total revenue for the full year,
  
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• New research outlines economic windfall opportunity for post-Brexit farming

  28-09-2016 08:20
  
  A new sustainable land management model that could direct millions of pounds towards farming methods that reduce flooding, restore wildlife and enhance clean water has been proposed by the National Trust and the Green Alliance.
  
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