Environment news

• The Great Barrier Reef is under severe stress – but not dead yet

  14-10-2016 23:55 via theguardian.com
  
  Reports the famed 1,400-mile network of reefs ‘passed away in 2016 after a long illness’ are greatly exaggerated despite mass bleaching, scientists sayReports of the death of the Great Barrier Reef have been greatly exaggerated, scientists have said, after the publication of an “obituary” for the vast coral ecosystem.
  The famed 1,400-mile network of reefs “passed away in 2016 after a long illness”, wrote food and travel writer Rowan Jacobsen in an article for
  
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• Heathrow third runway: what does the Tory cabinet think?

  14-10-2016 22:06 via theguardian.com
  
  Where Theresa May’s team stands on the proposed expansion of the west London airportAs MPs opposed to a third runway at Heathrow are plotting to undermine its anticipated government approval, we look at where Theresa May’s cabinet stands on the proposed expansion of the west London airport. Related: Anti-Heathrow MPs plan to thwart government over third runwayContinue reading...
  
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• Oil dips on dollar, rig count rise; focus still on OPEC

  14-10-2016 21:22
  By Ethan Lou NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell slightly on Friday as traders balanced a stronger dollar and another increase in the U.S. oil rig count against expectations that more OPEC talk of output cuts will keep crude above $50 per barrel. The dollar posted its best weekly performance in more than seven months against a basket of currencies, weighing on prices of greenback-denominated commodities, including crude oil. It was the 16th week in a row that oil drillers had gone without makin
  
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• Sting in the tail for UK importers as prawn prices hit record high

  14-10-2016 20:36 via theguardian.com
  
  Cocktail of factors including more demand, droughts in Bangladesh and Vietnam, and poor harvests in China, push prices up 15%The prawn sandwich brigade lambasted by Roy Keane is set to suffer another blow after the price paid by UK importers for prawns reached a record high.The increase of 15% in the past three months, reported by UK purcashing company Beacon, is due to a number of factors, including rising demand, droughts in Bangladesh and Vietnam, and poor harvests in China, which have left E
  
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• Twin giant panda cubs enjoy first birthday at Toronto Zoo

  14-10-2016 20:27 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Video of twin giant panda cubs celebrating their first birthday is released by a zoo.
  
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• Before the Flood: Leonardo DiCaprio hopes his new film will inspire climate action

  14-10-2016 18:36 via theguardian.com
  
  Documentary that sees the actor touring the world to see global warming’s impact first-hand has its UK premier in London on Friday“Try to have a conversation with anyone about climate change and people just tune out,” says Leonardo DiCaprio in his new film. “If the UN really knew how I feel, how pessimistic I am about our future, I mean to be honest they may have picked the wrong guy,” he says in Before the Flood, which shows him urging world leaders at the UN to ac
  
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• Oil down as dollar rallies, rise in U.S. rig count seen

  14-10-2016 18:08
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Crude oil prices fell on Friday as a stronger dollar weighed on the market and as traders awaited an industry report that would determine if U.S. oil drillers were ramping up activity with prices holding above $50 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude shed 34 cents to $50.14, after peaking at $51.14 earlier. The U.S. benchmark saw better support than Brent due to an extended outage on a pipeline capable of delivering 450,000 barrels per day of
  
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• New bee arrives for first time in the UK

  14-10-2016 17:57 via theguardian.com
  
  Viper’s bugloss mason bee, common in Europe, was spotted for the first time in Britain in a London park Brexit may have caused an anti-immigration buzz but a traveller from the continent has made the UK its new home: the viper’s bugloss mason bee.The bee is common in the UK’s European neighbours but has been discovered for the first time in this country, in a small park in Greenwich, London.Continue reading...
  
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• Deal expected on phasing out 'disastrous' greenhouse gases

  14-10-2016 17:51 via bbc.co.uk
  
  US Secretary of State John Kerry tells delegates meeting in Rwanda that hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) gases were "disastrous for our climate" and should be rapidly phased out.
  
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• 80 Years Later, Polar Explorer's Sunken Ship Floats Again

  14-10-2016 17:40
  
  For the first time in more than 80 years, the Maud is floating above the sea surface. The sturdy oak ship, made to withstand Arctic winters stuck in pack ice, was originally built for the Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen, the first human to arrive at the South Pole. The Maud is "ready for the next step, which is to sail home," project manager Jan Wanggaard told Live Science.
  
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• Electric cars, an escaped gorilla and fracking – green news roundup

  14-10-2016 17:12 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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• Winter electricity blackouts now 'exceedingly unlikely'

  14-10-2016 17:07
  
  The risk of power cuts this winter are now "exceedingly unlikely" thanks largely to £122m of contingency balancing reserve services helping to balance the electricity system, the National Grid has confirmed in its latest Winter Outlook report.
  
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• Global sea levels are rising fast, so where does that leave the cities most at risk?

  14-10-2016 15:19 via theguardian.com
  
  The severe risk of climate change and rising sea levels on urban areas has not been addressed in the UN’s proposed New Urban Agenda, so flood-risk cities will have to learn from each another and share solutionsCurrent projections of global average sea level rise are now expected to double by 2100, which would be severely damaging – if not disastrous – for many of the world’s coastal cities, from Ho Chi Minh City and Mumbai to New Orleans and Miami. Continue reading...
  
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• Cave art: Etchings hailed as 'Iberia's most spectacular'

  14-10-2016 15:14 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Unusual cave art as much as 14,500 years old is found in northern Spain - and pronounced the "most spectacular" in the Iberian peninsula.
  
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• Majority of potential UK fracking sites are rich in important wildlife

  14-10-2016 14:58 via theguardian.com
  
  Almost two-thirds of licensed sites have above-average biodiversity, that is valuable for functions such as pollination and pest control, analysis showsMany of the areas that have been recently licensed for fracking are rich in wildlife that perform crucial functions from pollination to decomposition, researchers have found.Scientists say that almost two-thirds of the areas that have been labelled as suitable for shale gas extraction have levels of biodiversity above the national average, accord
  
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• World Food Day: Five fascinating projects to feed the plenty with surplus food

  14-10-2016 14:11
  
  To mark World Food Day on Sunday (16 October), edie rounds up some of the latest green innovations and campaigns aimed at reducing the mountains of food waste that continue to cast a dark shadow on global food systems.
  
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• Oil extends gains above $52 on tighter U.S. fuel stocks

  14-10-2016 13:58
  By Alex Lawler LONDON (Reuters) - Oil climbed further above $52 a barrel on Friday, supported by a drop in U.S. fuel inventories, though gains were kept in check by ample crude supplies even as OPEC plans to cut output. Brent crude reached a 2016 high near $54 on Monday, underpinned by OPEC's Sept. 28 deal to reduce oil production, before weakening on rising U.S. crude stocks and as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' own numbers showed output is still rising. U.S. crude gaine
  
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• Government provides £35m funding boost for ultra-low emission vehicles

  14-10-2016 13:36
  
  A £35m funding package to increase the uptake of ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEVs) has been announced by Transport Minister John Hayes.
  
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• Traders chase dwindling oil refining profits

  14-10-2016 13:23
  By Ahmad Ghaddar and Libby George LONDON (Reuters) - Trade firms that profited from the renaissance in global refining over the past two years are bracing for tougher times as ample stocks, dwindling volatility and newly powerful refineries in China squeeze opportunities, the chiefs of major trade houses told the Reuters Commodities Summit. The oil price crash was a windfall for traders, who cashed in by helping the world manage the imbalance in supply and demand it created – for example,
  
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• ChemChina, Sinochem in talks on possible $100 bln merger -sources

  14-10-2016 13:19
  By Chen Aizhu BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese state-owned chemical companies Sinochem Group and ChemChina are in discussions about a possible merger to create a chemicals, fertiliser and oil giant with almost $100 billion (81.89 billion pounds) in annual revenue, three sources familiar with the matter said. The deal has been proposed by China's central government as part of its efforts to slash the number of state-owned companies and create larger, more competitive global industry players, said the
  
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• Exclusive - Carmakers forced back to bigger engines in new emissions era

  14-10-2016 13:17
  By Laurence Frost and Agnieszka Flak PARIS (Reuters) - Tougher European car emissions tests being introduced in the wake of the Volkswagen scandal are about to bring surprising consequences: bigger engines. Carmakers that have spent a decade shrinking engine capacities to meet emissions goals are now being forced into a costly U-turn, industry sources said, as more realistic on-the-road testing exposes deep flaws in their smallest motors. Renault , General Motors and VW are preparing to enlarge
  
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• Winter electricity blackouts risk recedes, says National Grid

  14-10-2016 12:47 via theguardian.com
  
  Extra power will mean lights will not go out this winter, says firm that operates UK’s electricity transmission networkThe risk of electricity blackouts in Britain this winter has diminished, after the National Grid and the government spent more than £140m on tools designed to guarantee the lights stay on.The Grid’s capacity margin, the cushion between electricity demand and supply, has risen to 6.6%, beating its summer prediction of 5.5%. The buffer zone is also well ahead of
  
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• Dirty, isolated and freezing: life in Arctic circle city – in pictures

  14-10-2016 12:26 via theguardian.com
  
  Photographer Elena Chernyshova spent a year documenting the people and landscape of Norilsk, which was built by prisoners during the Soviet era Continue reading...
  
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• Oil rises further above $52 on tighter U.S. fuel stocks

  14-10-2016 12:09
  By Alex Lawler LONDON (Reuters) - Oil climbed further above $52 a barrel on Friday, supported by a drop in U.S. fuel inventories, though gains were kept in check by ample crude supplies even as OPEC plans to cut output. Brent crude reached a 2016 high near $54 on Monday, underpinned by OPEC's Sept. 28 deal to reduce oil production, before weakening on rising U.S. crude stocks and as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' own numbers showed output is still rising. U.S. crude gaine
  
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• The lies Trump told this week: from murder rates to climate change

  14-10-2016 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The Republican nominee claimed to be an environmentalist and a crime expert all in the same week, but the numbers didn’t add up“I’m proud of the fact that I’ve always treated the working people of this country with dignity and respect, especially our military and law enforcement personnel.”– 11 October, interview with Fox News Continue reading...
  
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• Climate scientists published a paper debunking Ted Cruz | John Abraham

  14-10-2016 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Earth’s atmosphere is warming faster and more in line with models than Ted Cruz and his witnesses argued
  A new study has just appeared in the Journal of Climate which deals with an issue commonly raised by those who deny that human-caused climate change is a serious risk. As I have written many times, we know humans are causing the Earth’s climate to change. We know this for many reasons.First, we know that certain gases trap heat; this fact is indisputable. Second, we know that huma
  
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• London zoo denies gorilla escaped by smashing window

  14-10-2016 11:39 via theguardian.com
  
  Zoo curator says Kumbuka is not aggressive but a ‘gentle giant’ as Born Free Foundation calls for inquiryLondon zoo has denied rumours that the gorilla that escaped from its enclosure on Thursday evening did so by smashing a window.
  Malcolm Fitzpatrick, senior curator of mammals for the zoo, said “categorically … that our male silverback gorilla Kumbuka did not break through any glass”. Continue reading...
  
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• Food manufactures unveil 2025 targets to deliver 'sustainable food system of the future'

  14-10-2016 11:30
  
  McCain Foods, Cadbury, Coca-Cola GB and McVitie's are among a host of British food and drink manufacturers that have developed a series of ambitious new sustainability commitments this week.
  
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• Food manufacturers unveil 2025 targets to deliver 'sustainable food system of the future'

  14-10-2016 11:30
  
  McCain Foods, Cadbury, Coca-Cola GB and McVitie's are among a host of British food and drink manufacturers that have developed a series of ambitious new sustainability commitments this week.
  
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• Funding boost for UK citizen science project

  14-10-2016 11:24 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A UK-wide citizen science project that has attracted almost one million participants is awarded a further £1.2m of lottery funding.
  
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• Saudi Arabia, SoftBank aim to be world's No. 1 tech investor with $100 billion fund

  14-10-2016 10:47
  DUBAI/TOKYO (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia and Japan's SoftBank Group will create a technology investment fund that could grow as large as $100 billion, making it one of the world's largest private equity investors and a potential kingpin in the industry. The move is part of a series of dramatic business initiatives launched by Riyadh this year as Saudi Arabia, its economy hurt by low oil prices, deploys huge financial reserves in an effort to move into non-oil industries. Earlier this year, it invest
  
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• Dinosaur-era 'swordfish' discovered in outback Australia

  14-10-2016 09:18 via bbc.co.uk
  
  "Extremely rare" fossils from a swordfish-like predator which lived 100 million years ago have been discovered on Australia's "Dinosaur Trail".
  
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• Great white smashes through shark cage during diving trip – video

  14-10-2016 09:06 via theguardian.com
  
  Footage uploaded to YouTube shows the moment a great white shark breaches the side of a cage during a diving trip to Guadalupe Island, off the west coast of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula. According to YouTuber Gabe and Garrett, ‘this shark lunged at the bait, accidentally hit the side of the cage, was most likely confused and not able to swim backwards’ Continue reading...
  
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• Oil edges up on tighter U.S. fuel market; doubts over OPEC cuts weigh

  14-10-2016 08:56
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices edged up on Friday, pushed by a tighter U.S. fuel market and as technical indicators attracted buying from financial players, but doubts over the feasibility of a planned production cut still weighed on markets. After falling below $50 a barrel on Thursday, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was trading at $50.78 per barrel, up 34 cents or 0.67 percent from its last close. Traders said the U.S. price rise was due to a tightening fuel ma
  
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• Slow-motion wrecks: how thawing permafrost is destroying Arctic cities

  14-10-2016 08:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Cracking and collapsing homes are a growing problem in cities such as Norilsk in northern Russia. As climate change accelerates the problem, what can be done to maintain the resource-rich hubs the country relies on?At first, Yury Scherbakov thought the cracks appearing in a wall he had installed in his two-room flat were caused by shoddy workmanship. But then other walls started cracking, and then the floor started to incline. “We sat on the couch and could feel it tilt,” says his wi
  
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• London zoo gorilla escape: wildlife group calls for urgent inquiry

  14-10-2016 08:14 via theguardian.com
  
  Born Free Foundation says Kumbuka incident is ‘startling reminder’ of risks of keeping wild animals in captivity
  The escape of a large silverback gorilla from its enclosure at London zoo “could have ended very differently”, a leading wildlife group has said, calling for an urgent inquiry. The Born Free Foundation said the incident was a “startling reminder” of the risks of keeping dangerous wild animals in captivity. Continue reading...
  
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• ChemChina, Sinochem in talks on possible $100 billion merger - sources

  14-10-2016 07:05
  By Chen Aizhu BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese state-owned chemical companies Sinochem Group and ChemChina are in discussions about a possible merger to create a chemicals, fertiliser and oil giant with almost $100 billion (82 billion pounds) annual revenue, three sources familiar with the matter said. The deal has been proposed by China's central government as part of its efforts to slash the number of state-owned companies and create larger, more competitive global industry players, said the source
  
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• Coal price rally raises Australian hopes – but it won't last, say economists

  14-10-2016 07:03 via theguardian.com
  
  High prices for exports such as coking coal will boost the country’s terms of trade but global coal production has peaked and prices are unlikely to stay high​The rally in the price of key exports such as coal and iron ore that has promised a multibillion-dollar windfall for Australia’s treasurer, Scott Morrison, could be shortlived, economists have warned.Hopes have risen that the federal budget could benefit from as much as $23bn in additional tax revenues from exports, thank
  
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• Heritage apples – taking your pick of history

  14-10-2016 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  West Dean, West Sussex I munched on wedges of spicy Sussex Mother, fragrant Tinsley Quince and nutty russets“Welcome to paradise,” exclaimed our guide as he led us through the gate. Derived from the ancient Persian pardes, meaning “orchard” or “enclosure”, “paradise” is an apt description for this beautifully restored Victorian walled garden nestled at the foot of the South Downs, which boasts more than 100 varieties of apple, many of Sussex origin
  
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• Saudi Arabia, SoftBank plan $100 billion tech fund - one of the world's biggest

  14-10-2016 05:40
  By Andrew Torchia and Thomas Wilson DUBAI/TOKYO (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia and Japan's SoftBank Group said they will create a technology investment fund that could grow as large as $100 billion, aiming to create one of the world's largest private equity funds. The plan is part of a series of dramatic business initiatives launched by Riyadh this year as Saudi Arabia, its economy hurt by low oil prices, deploys huge financial reserves in an effort to move into non-oil industries. SoftBank's founder
  
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• China's ChemChina, Sinochem in talks on possible merger - sources

  14-10-2016 05:21
  By Chen Aizhu BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese state-owned chemical companies Sinochem Group and ChemChina are in discussions about a possible merger to create a chemicals, fertiliser and oil giant with almost $100 billion (81.68 billion pounds) annual revenue, three sources familiar with the matter said. The deal has been proposed by China's central government as part of its efforts to slash the number of state-owned companies and create larger, globally more competitive industry players, said the s
  
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• We should be putting the brake on the Carmichael coalmine, not hitting the accelerator | Graham Readfearn

  14-10-2016 05:17 via theguardian.com
  
  The Paris climate deal should be a signal to cut fossil fuel use, rather than an excuse to mine more coalThe Queensland government is now slamming its foot down on the accelerator to help a private company build the biggest coalmine Australia has ever seen.“We can see the end of the tunnel and now we are accelerating towards it,” the state’s mining minister, Anthony Lynham, said. Continue reading...
  
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• Oil prices edge up on tighter U.S. fuel market

  14-10-2016 04:05
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices edged up on Friday, pushed by a tighter U.S. fuel market and as technical indicators attracted buying from financial players. After falling below $50 a barrel on Thursday, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was trading at $50.63 per barrel, up 19 cents from the last close. Traders said the U.S. price rise was due to a tightening fuel market.
  
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• International oil prices dip on production cut doubts

  14-10-2016 03:12
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - International oil prices dipped on Friday over doubts that a planned cut in crude production could be achieved on a scale sufficient to rebalance a market that has been oversupplied for two years. International Brent crude oil futures were trading at $51.85 per barrel at 0050 GMT, down 18 cents, or 0.35 percent, from their previous close. Traders said the dip was a result of scepticism that a planned oil output cut by the Organization of the Petroleum E
  
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• Comet impact 'linked' to rise of mammals

  14-10-2016 03:07 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A comet impact 55 million years ago may have helped mammals dominate the Earth.
  
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• Salty snow could affect air pollution in the Arctic

  14-10-2016 03:03 via feedproxy.google.com
  In pictures, the Arctic appears pristine and timeless with its barren lands and icy landscape. In reality, the area is rapidly changing.  Scientists are working to understand the chemistry behind these changes to better predict what could happen to the region in the future. One team reports in ACS’ Journal of Physical Chemistry A that sea salt could play a larger role in the formation of local atmospheric pollutants than previously thought.
  
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• Key figures

  14-10-2016 02:38 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Tom Feilden explains why maths and computing may now hold the key to a career in medicine and biology
  
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• Saudi Arabia says plans $100 billion tech fund with Japan's Softbank

  14-10-2016 01:48
  By Andrew Torchia DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia, seeking to develop its economy beyond oil exports, plans to create a global technology investment fund with Japan's SoftBank group that could grow as large as $100 billion, Saudi state media reported on Friday. The plan is one of a series of dramatic business initiatives launched by Riyadh this year as Saudi Arabia, its economy hurt by low oil prices, deploys its huge financial reserves in an effort to move into non-oil industries. SoftBank will
  
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• Shark nets don't enclose swimmers – they catch and kill sharks | Leah Gibbs

  14-10-2016 00:42 via theguardian.com
  
  The suggestion that nets prevent bites is an oversimplification of a complex story, a misrepresentation of technology and dataMike Baird has this week announced a plan for a six-month trial of shark nets off the beaches of northern New South Wales. This would extend the state’s shark net program from the 51 beaches now netted between Wollongong and Newcastle.The premier’s announcement was triggered by a surfer receiving minor injuries on Wednesday after he was bitten by a shark at Sh
  
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