Environment news

• Omega-3 oils in farmed salmon 'halve in five years'

  06-10-2016 23:08 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Levels of beneficial omega-3 oils in farmed salmon have fallen significantly in the past five years.
  
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• NASA Sees Hurricane Matthew Regain Category 4 Status

  06-10-2016 22:56 via feedproxy.google.com
  A visible image showing powerful Hurricane Matthew and Nicole on Oct. 6 at 1 p.m. EDT was captured by NOAA's GOES-East satellite. The image shows large Hurricane Matthew's clouds stretching from eastern Cuba and Hispaniola, over the Bahamas and extending to Florida. Matthew is west of the much smaller Tropical Storm Nicole. The image was created at the NASA/NOAA GOES Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. 
  
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• Oil hits four-month highs as OPEC keeps talks of cuts in focus

  06-10-2016 22:21
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil rose more than 1 percent to four-month highs on Thursday, spurred by another informal OPEC meeting on output cuts and plunging U.S. crude inventories, with some saying the market has overshot itself with a near 15-percent gain in seven sessions. Saudi, Iranian and Iraqi energy ministers will be among key OPEC representatives to meet non-OPEC member Russia on the sidelines of an energy conference next week in Istanbul, OPEC sources said. Oil has gained
  
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• Aviation industry agrees deal to cut CO2 emissions

  06-10-2016 21:17 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A landmark deal has been struck by the aviation industry to limit greenhouse gases, but environmentalists are unimpressed.
  
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• ABC viewers go dark on Chris Uhlmann after South Australian blackout 'heresy'

  06-10-2016 21:08 via theguardian.com
  
  ABC journalist stands by wind claim, Sonia Kruger praised by Cosmopolitan and Chris Mitchell’s print ads dry upThe ABC’s political editor, Chris Uhlmann, has doubled down on his controversial claim last week that South Australia’s heavy reliance on wind generation is linked to the blackout. The former AM and 7.30 host also openly taunted his critics by tweeting his latest analysis with the comment that it “should keep the pitchfork crowd busy for days”.This should k
  
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• US wants to strengthen agreement to ban Arctic Ocean fishing

  06-10-2016 21:07
  PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The United States is trying to broker an agreement between a host of nations to prohibit unregulated fishing in the international waters of the Arctic Ocean.
  
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• Oil hits 4-month highs as OPEC keeps talks of cuts in focus

  06-10-2016 20:54
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil rose more than 1 percent to four-month highs on Thursday, spurred by another informal OPEC meeting on output cuts and plunging U.S. crude inventories, with some saying the market has overshot itself with a near 15-percent gain in seven sessions. Saudi, Iranian and Iraqi energy ministers will be among key OPEC representatives to meet non-OPEC member Russia on the sidelines of an energy conference next week in Istanbul, OPEC sources said. Oil has gained
  
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• First deal to curb aviation emissions agreed in landmark UN accord

  06-10-2016 20:18 via theguardian.com
  
  Global scheme, agreed to by 191 nations, applies to passenger and cargo flights that generate more than 1,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases annuallyThe world’s first agreement to curb aviation’s greenhouse gas pollution has been struck by 191 nations in a landmark United Nations accord, although environmental groups have warned the deal doesn’t go far enough.A meeting of 2,000 delegates at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a UN agency, in Montreal has settled u
  
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• Exxon disagrees with court's $75 billion fine for its Chad consortium

  06-10-2016 20:06
  N'DJAMENA (Reuters) - ExxonMobil said on Thursday it disagreed with a court decision in Chad that fined a consortium led by the U.S. oil major over 44 trillion CFA francs ($75 billion) - nearly four times BP's record Deepwater Horizon settlement - over unpaid royalties. The decision would see the central African nation awarded the equivalent of nearly seven times its annual gross domestic product. "We disagree with the Chadian court's ruling and are evaluating next steps," Exxon media advisor To
  
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• Intensive farming v the environment | Letters

  06-10-2016 20:04 via theguardian.com
  
  If we were to redesign the farm financial support system so that, instead of encouraging agro-industrial approaches, it required recipients to practise the sort of agro-ecological methods advocated by Felicity Lawrence (Hyperintensive farming will never feed the world, 3 October), we would be able to re-conceptualise it as not a “subsidy” or “welfare payment” (Letters, same day) but a management fee for essential ecological services. After Brexit, we will in principle hav
  
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• The Sustainable Business Covered podcast: Episode 12 - From green apprentice to sustainability leader

  06-10-2016 19:37
  
  As The Apprentice returns to our TV screens for its 12th series, edie speaks exclusively to a former candidate who has big renewable energy ambitions, and a sustainability leader who has developed a unique solution to the complex challenge of behaviour change.
  
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• World needs $90tn infrastructure overhaul to avoid climate disaster, study finds

  06-10-2016 19:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Report by Global Commission on the Economy and Climate says world needs ‘urgent’ shift away from carbon-heavy infrastructure over the next 15 yearsA gigantic overhaul of the world’s buildings, public transport and energy infrastructure costing trillions of dollars is required if dangerous climate change is to be avoided, according to a major new report.
  The study by the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, which is co-chaired by prominent climate economist Lord Nichola
  
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• Oil rises to four-month highs as OPEC keeps output cuts in focus

  06-10-2016 18:52
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil rose about 1 percent, hitting four-month highs on Thursday, underpinned by news of another informal OPEC meeting on output cuts and surprise drop in U.S. crude stocks, though trading was choppy after a price gain of 15 percent in seven sessions. Saudi, Iranian and Iraqi energy ministers will be among key OPEC representatives to meet non-OPEC member Russia on the sidelines of an energy conference next week in Istanbul, OPEC sources said. Oil has gained
  
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• Livestock simulators and typhoon turbines: the best green innovations of the week

  06-10-2016 18:31
  
  In a week where the Paris Agreement became official, edie rounds up the latest low-carbon, resource efficient technologies and innovations that could thrive in a post-Paris world.
  
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• OPEC and Russian officials plan informal talks in Istanbul

  06-10-2016 18:05
  By Rania El Gamal DUBAI (Reuters) - Energy ministers from Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq will be among representatives of key OPEC producers meeting Russian officials for informal talks on oil output in Istanbul next week, OPEC sources and the Russian energy minister said on Thursday. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Thursday that he planned to meet OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo in Istanbul, RIA news agency reported, adding that the minister said he planned to discuss OPEC
  
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• Hydrogen-powered passenger ferry in San Francisco Bay is possible

  06-10-2016 17:56 via feedproxy.google.com
  Nearly two years ago, Sandia National Laboratories researchers Joe Pratt and Lennie Klebanoff set out to answer one not-so-simple question: Is it feasible to build and operate a high-speed passenger ferry solely powered by hydrogen fuel cells? The answer is yes.The details behind that answer are in a recent report, “Feasibility of the SF-BREEZE: a Zero Emission, Hydrogen Fuel Cell High Speed Passenger Ferry.” SF-BREEZE stands for San Francisco Bay Renewable Energy Electric Vessel wit
  
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• Fracking in Lancashire given go-ahead by government

  06-10-2016 17:52 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Fracking can go ahead in Lancashire, says the government, in a landmark ruling for the UK shale gas industry.
  
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• Scotland bans controversial gas extraction technique

  06-10-2016 17:44 via theguardian.com
  
  Ministers heed expert advice warning that underground coal gasification poses ‘numerous and serious’ risks to the environment and climateScottish ministers have banned the use of a technique to extract methane by burning underground coal beds, after expert advice said it posed too many risks to the climate and environment.Paul Wheelhouse, the Scottish environment minister, said he was asking ministers in London to revoke six licences to find test sites for the technique, known as und
  
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• Efficient organic solar cells with very low driving force

  06-10-2016 17:39 via feedproxy.google.com
  It was believed that efficient operation of organic solar cells requires a large driving force, which limits the efficiency of organic solar cells. Now, a large group of researchers led by Feng Gao, lecturer at IFM at LiU, He Yan at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Kenan Gundogdu at the North Carolina State University have developed efficient organic solar cells with very low driving force.This implies that the intrinsic limitations of organic solar cells are no great
  
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• Copter cars and other visions of Africa’s future

  06-10-2016 17:36 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Young African scientists show off their inventions, including a prototype of flying car, at an expo in the South African city of Johannesburg.
  
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• Fracking given UK go-ahead as Lancashire council rejection overturned

  06-10-2016 16:18 via theguardian.com
  
  Communities secretary, Sajid Javid, has accepted an appeal from Cuadrilla against an earlier decision to turn down their plans to frack on the FyldeSajid Javid has overturned Lancashire council’s rejection of a fracking site, paving the way for shale company Cuadrilla to drill in the county next year and provoking outrage from local groups, environmentalists and politicians.The council cited visual impact and noise when it turned down the company’s two planning applications to frack
  
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• BP Plc to get permission to set up fuel stations in India

  06-10-2016 16:12
  India has decided to permit European oil major BP Plc to set up 3,500 fuel stations in the country, an oil ministry spokesman told Reuters on Thursday. The company earlier on Thursday said it had received a licence to sell jet fuel in India.
  
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• Heathrow runway 'within EU pollution laws'

  06-10-2016 14:53 via bbc.co.uk
  
  New, independent research seen by the BBC suggests Heathrow airport could build a new runway without breaking European pollution laws.
  
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• 'He’s rewriting the rules': locals furious at minister's fracking intervention

  06-10-2016 14:52 via theguardian.com
  
  Campaigners in Lancashire say Sajid Javid’s decision to overrule council is an affront to local democracyIn Heather Speak’s immaculate back garden in the Lancashire village of Roseacre, the only sound is the tranquil rustling of trees and the singing of the budgerigar, finches and miniature Chinese quail in her aviary.But a gloomy atmosphere hung over the picturesque village on Thursday after Sajid Javid, the communities secretary, overturned Lancashire county council’s rejecti
  
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• British 'sea dragon' fossils are 'new to science'

  06-10-2016 14:51 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientific detective work on fossils collected in Victorian times has identified two new species of ichthyosaurs - the giant sea reptiles that swam at the time of the dinosaurs.
  
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• Volcano insight: Fifty years of eruptions revealed

  06-10-2016 14:47 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Half a century of the planet's volcanic eruptions and earthquakes go online in a unique animated app.
  
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• 50 years of volcanic eruptions in under under one minute

  06-10-2016 14:47 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Half a century of the planet's volcanic eruptions and earthquakes go online in a unique animated app.
  
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• Urban Warming Slows Tree Growth, Photosynthesis

  06-10-2016 14:07 via feedproxy.google.com
  New research from North Carolina State University finds that urban warming reduces growth and photosynthesis in city trees. The researchers found that insect pests are part of the problem, but that heat itself plays a more significant role.
  
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• Made from bamboo, pig hair and yogurt pots: can eco-toothbrushes take off?

  06-10-2016 13:56 via theguardian.com
  
  There are greener alternatives to the billions of plastic toothbrushes discarded annually – but consumers may not be ready to biteIt’s one of the first things we do in the morning and one of the last we do at night. Yet brushing our teeth sees billions of plastic toothbrushes bound for the world’s rubbish dumps and oceans every year. As important as good oral health is, must it be a source of pollution? Two decades ago, that question set Massachusetts-based Eric Hudson on a que
  
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• Oil holds near 2016 highs after U.S. inventory drop

  06-10-2016 13:47
  By Amanda Cooper LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices held steady on Thursday, underpinned by a surprisingly large drop in U.S. inventory levels the previous day to stay within sight of this year's highs hit in June. Brent crude futures were virtually unchanged at $51.85 per barrel at 1120 GMT, after hitting a high of $52.09 the previous day. U.S. futures were down 9 cents at $49.74 a barrel Both contracts hit their highest in nearly four months on Wednesday after U.S. data showed crude oil stockpiles
  
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• 'Turning point for our planet': Green economy reacts to Paris Agreement ratification

  06-10-2016 13:37
  
  The Paris Agreement, which will enter into force on 4 November, has been hailed by global businesses and political leaders as a "truly historic moment" in the fight against climate change, which could eventually go down in history as "the most impactful multilateral treaty of all time".
  
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• UK fracking given go-ahead as Lancashire council rejection overturned

  06-10-2016 13:25 via theguardian.com
  
  Communities secretary, Sajid Javid, has accepted an appeal from Cuadrilla against an earlier decision to turn down their plans to frack on the FyldeSajid Javid has overturned Lancashire county council’s rejection of a fracking site, paving the way for shale company Cuadrilla to drill in the county next year and drawing outrage from local groups, environmentalists and politicians.The council cited visual impact and noise when it turned down the company’s two planning applications to f
  
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• Clock starts ticking to implement Paris climate deal

  06-10-2016 13:19
  By Megan Rowling BARCELONA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A new global agreement to tackle climate change will take effect on Nov. 4 after the accord crossed an important threshold for support late on Wednesday. European nations, Canada, Bolivia and Nepal boosted official backing for the 2015 Paris Agreement to countries representing more than 55 percent of world greenhouse gas emissions, as needed for implementation. By Thursday, 74 countries or parties to the U.N. climate change convention had
  
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• UK fracking decision is nothing short of hypocrisy | Damian Carrington

  06-10-2016 13:14 via theguardian.com
  
  The UK government supports unproven, climate-polluting and unpopular fracking, while undermining proven, clean and popular renewablesSpot the difference. Fracking, which is climate-polluting and unproven in the UK, gets “all-out” government backing, with ministers steamrolling over local opposition. Onshore windfarms, proven to be low-cost and low-carbon, get undermined by the government, with local opposition given power to block applications.The decision by the communities secretar
  
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• Exclusive - PDVSA eyes $4.7 billion debt issue to pay service companies

  06-10-2016 13:04
  By Corina Pons and Brian Ellsworth CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA is seeking to issue up to $4.7 billion (3.7 billion pounds) in debt securities to settle unpaid bills to contractors, according to a document seen by Reuters, as the cash-strapped firm scrambles to cope with low oil prices. The proposal signals PDVSA's increasing reliance on complex financial engineering to make ends meet after a slump in crude output and a severely depressed economy left it struggling to t
  
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• Wildscreen’s Witness the Wild open-air exhibition - in pictures

  06-10-2016 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The Wildscreen festival is the world’s biggest celebration of screen-based natural history storytelling which takes place every two years in Bristol. Among the highlights is the Witness the Wild open-air photography exhibition, which runs on College Green from 7-28 October and features large-scale images by several of the world’s top wildlife and conservation photographers Continue reading...
  
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• Pew survey: Republicans are rejecting reality on climate change | Dana Nuccitelli

  06-10-2016 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Only 48% of Americans – and 15% of conservative Republicans – realize that humans are causing global warming
  Climate scientists have 95% confidence that humans are the main cause of global warming over the past six decades. Their best estimate attributes 100% of global warming since 1950 to human activities. 90 to 100% of climate scientists and their research agree on this. Human-caused global warming is as settled as science gets.Yet most Americans don’t realize it. Moreover,
  
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• Cuadrilla boss says fracking for gas better than importing it

  06-10-2016 11:48 via theguardian.com
  
  Francis Egan says process is best solution for fuel shortage as his company awaits government ruling on sites in Lancashire A fracking boss has insisted drilling for gas is better than importing it as the government prepares to rule on two sites in Lancashire.Francis Egan, the chief executive of Cuadrilla, the company behind the plans in Fylde, said the controversial process was the best solution for the UK’s fuel shortage. Continue reading...
  
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• Oil steady near 2016 highs after U.S. inventory drop

  06-10-2016 11:25
  By Amanda Cooper LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices were steady on Thursday, underpinned by a surprisingly large drop in U.S. inventory levels the previous day to stay within sight of this year's highs hit in June. Brent crude futures were unchanged at $51.86 per barrel at 0913 GMT, after hitting a high of $52.09 the previous day. U.S. futures were down 5 cents at $49.78 a barrel Both contracts hit their highest in nearly four months on Wednesday after U.S. data showed crude oil stockpiles fell 3 mil
  
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• The Body Shop creates 'powerful global change' through partnership with renowned street artist

  06-10-2016 11:18
  
  Beauty products retailer The Body Shop has raised more than £325,000 to fund innovative social and environmental projects through a collaboration with one of the world's most renowned street artists.
  
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• SDGs underpin 'positive progress' of corporate sustainability reporting

  06-10-2016 11:18
  
  Nearly a third (30%) of world-leading companies are now implementing the framework into their sustainability and integrated reports, as the push to mainstream non-financial reporting continues to gain momentum.
  
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• Fracking in UK given go-ahead as Lancashire council rejection overturned

  06-10-2016 11:17 via theguardian.com
  
  Communities secretary, Sajid Javid, has accepted an appeal from Cuadrilla against an earlier decision to turn down their plans to frack on the FyldeSajid Javid has overturned Lancashire county council’s rejection of a fracking site, paving the way for shale company Cuadrilla to drill in the county next year and drawing outrage from local groups, environmentalists and politicians.The council cited visual impact and noise when it turned down the company’s two planning applications to f
  
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• Hawaii's Kilauea volcano close-up

  06-10-2016 09:53 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Footage released by the US Geological Survey has been released of the lava lake on top of Hawaii's Kilauea volcano.
  
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• Great Britain’s most remote inhabited island - in pictures

  06-10-2016 09:33 via theguardian.com
  
  Foula in the Shetland Islands has a population of just 30, and is designated as a special protection area for birds, a national scenic area and a site of special scientific interest for its plants, birds and geology Continue reading...
  
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• Fracking for gas in UK is better than importing it, Cuadrilla boss says

  06-10-2016 09:14 via theguardian.com
  
  Francis Egan says process is best solution for fuel shortage as his company awaits government ruling on sites in Lancashire A fracking boss has insisted drilling for gas is better than importing it as the government prepares to rule on two sites in Lancashire.Francis Egan, the chief executive of Cuadrilla, the company behind the plans in Fylde, said the controversial process was the best solution for the UK’s fuel shortage. Continue reading...
  
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• UK common toad numbers down two-thirds in 30 years

  06-10-2016 08:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Study reveals ‘worrying’ 68% decline in all regions since 1985, with multiple factors to blameToad numbers have fallen by more than two-thirds in 30 years, according to a study using data from volunteer patrols set up to help the amphibians cross roads.While the reckless but loveable Mr Toad in Wind In The Willows is a fan of motor cars, in real life common toads are vulnerable when crossing busy roads as they migrate to their breeding ponds.Continue reading...
  
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• Cycle lanes don’t cause traffic jams: they’re part of the solution

  06-10-2016 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The theory that bike routes clog motor traffic has moved from the internet to the newspapers. It’s time to counter the myth The headline on the front page of the Daily Mail definitely made me sit up and take notice. “Cycle lane lunacy!” it boomed, next to a photo of a cyclist on a bike lane, kept safe from a line of cars by a kerb.My first thought was: ah, good, the Mail finally agrees it’s lunacy we have so few decent bike lanes. It seemed gratifying, if unlikely. But th
  
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• Oil prices ease from June highs on weaker physical market

  06-10-2016 07:49
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil futures dipped on Thursday after Saudi Arabia trimmed the price of its flagship crude to Asia, but were still near more than three-month highs following a drop in U.S. crude inventories. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were trading at $49.55 per barrel at 0544 GMT, down 28 cents or 0.6 percent from their last settlement. International Brent futures were down 28 cents, or 0.5 percent, at $51.58 per barrel.
  
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• Councils failing to monitor most British schools for dangerous air pollution

  06-10-2016 07:01 via theguardian.com
  
  FoI requests reveal ‘alarming discrepancies’ in the monitoring of particulate pollution outside schools by local authorities - despite government adviceCouncils are failing to monitor most schools in Britain for dangerous air pollution despite government advice, freedom of information requests have revealed.All Britain’s 433 local councils were asked by the British Lung Foundation (BLF) whether they placed pollution monitors within 10 metres of school grounds. Of the 322 which
  
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• Plum drunk: the red admirals all on board for a last boozy feast

  06-10-2016 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Crook, Durham The butterflies became stupefied drinking liquid seeping from the plums, completely losing their inhibitionsFor well over a week now the air under the plum tree has reeked like the dregs of a half-drunk bottle of red wine left opened for a fortnight – alcoholic and vinegary. I can not remember such a good plum crop, ever. After the pies and the jam and the ones that were frozen or given away, the fallen plums could only be left to rot, but I piled some on the bird table in th
  
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