Environment news

• Arctic crossing planned for ‘Boaty’ sub

  17-10-2016 23:15 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The UK’s favourite new yellow submarine, Boaty McBoatface, will likely take on the grand challenge of trying to cross the entire Arctic Ocean under the ice.
  
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• Family of rare white squirrels living in Edinburgh

  17-10-2016 22:43 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A family of rare white squirrels are living in a suburb of Edinburgh.
  
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• Ontario seeks to put a cap on water bottle industry with two-year ban

  17-10-2016 22:31 via theguardian.com
  
  Officials say moratorium would give province time to better understand state of groundwater supplies amid climate change threat and increasing population
  The Ontario government has proposed a two-year moratorium on the creation or expansion of bottled water operations fed by groundwater in the Canadian province, in a bid to strike a balance between a burgeoning bottled water industry, a growing population and the effects of climate change.
  The province vowed to take action earlier this year afte
  
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• Ontario proposes two-year ban on bottled water operations

  17-10-2016 22:31 via theguardian.com
  
  Officials say moratorium would give province time to better understand state of groundwater supplies amid climate change threat and increasing populationThe Ontario government has proposed a two-year moratorium on the creation or expansion of bottled water operations fed by groundwater in the Canadian province, in a bid to strike a balance between a burgeoning bottled water industry, a growing population and the effects of climate change.
  The province vowed to take action earlier this year after
  
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• Oil ends lower on U.S. trade spike; shale decline limits losses

  17-10-2016 22:00
  By Ethan Lou NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices settled down on Monday, weighed by oversupply concerns, with a spike in trade volume driving U.S prices below $50, but losses were limited amid a projected drop in American shale output. Prices rose slightly in the afternoon, as U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed shale oil production was expected to fall by 30,000 barrels per day (bdp) in November. International benchmark Brent crude fell 43 cents, or 0.8 percent, from the last settle
  
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• Diesel farms set to win lucrative contracts to back up National Grid

  17-10-2016 20:39 via theguardian.com
  
  Deals worth millions of pounds to help keep UK’s lights on over 15-year period spark anger among environmental groups Dozens of diesel farms stand to win millions of pounds in lucrative contracts to keep the UK’s lights on, sparking anger from environmental groups.National Grid, which operates the UK’s electricity network, said small power generators had bid for 15-year contracts starting in 2020-21, as part of the government’s capacity market reforms. Continue reading...
  
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• Humpback whale caught in shark nets

  17-10-2016 19:45 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A Humpback whale calf got stuck in shark nets off the Gold Coast in Australia.
  
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• Oil slides; U.S. trade spikes, hope for OPEC cut limits losses

  17-10-2016 19:02
  By Ethan Lou NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices dropped on Monday, weighed by oversupply concerns, with U.S. crude dropping below $50 as trade volumes spiked ahead of the Oct. 20 expiry date for American futures contracts. The Iranian vice-president's comments on Monday that his country needs to regain its market share added to bearish sentiments, but expectations of an upcoming OPEC production cut limited losses, analysts and traders said. International benchmark Brent crude fell 62 cents to $51.3
  
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• Deadly cat poop causes rift among animal defenders in Hawaii

  17-10-2016 18:53
  
  HONOLULU (AP) — Two wildlife issues have collided in Hawaii, pitting one group of animal defenders against another in an impassioned debate. The point of contention? Deadly cat poop and the feral felines that produce it.
  
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• edie launches free ISO 50001 guide for energy managers

  17-10-2016 18:39
  Organisations and energy managers with an interest in the ISO 50001 energy management system now have access to a free comprehensive 'edie explains' guide which breaks down all of the key information required to gain certification.
  
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• Work begins on £200m Attenborough polar ship

  17-10-2016 18:28 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The construction of the UK's £200m polar research ship, the RRS Sir David Attenborough has formally begun at the Cammel Laird Shipyard in Birkenhead.
  
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• MIT nuclear fusion record marks latest step towards unlimited clean energy

  17-10-2016 17:38 via theguardian.com
  
  Scientists create the highest plasma pressure ever recorded with the Alcator C-Mod reactor in a breakthrough for clean energy technologyA nuclear fusion world record has been set in the US, marking another step on the long road towards the unlocking of limitless clean energy. A team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) created the highest plasma pressure ever recorded, using its Alcator C-Mod tokamak reactor. High pressures and extreme temperatures are vital in forcing atoms togeth
  
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• PepsiCo lifts lid on fresh green business goals

  17-10-2016 17:17
  
  Global food and beverage company PepsiCo has unveiled a revamped list of climate commitments, incorporating plans to decouple emissions from business growth, have a positive water impact, and achieve zero waste to landfill.
  
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• Britain's biomass generation carries big emissions risk, report claims

  17-10-2016 16:54
  
  The UK's renewable energy industry has hit back at new economic analysis which finds that biomass power could be causing more carbon pollution than burning coal or natural gas, claiming it is "distorting the facts".
  
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• Oil prices slide, OPEC action expectation limits losses

  17-10-2016 16:11
  By Ahmad Ghaddar LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Monday, weighed by oversupply concerns, while expectations of an OPEC intervention next month to curb production limited losses. International benchmark Brent crude oil futures fell 57 cents to $51.38 per barrel at 1348 GMT, after hitting a session high of $52.29 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were trading at $49.65 per barrel, down 70 cents from their last settlement, after hitting a session high of $50.58.
  
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• Mattress makers urged to solve circular economy conundrum

  17-10-2016 15:56
  
  Britain's mattress manufacturers must become advocates of the circular economy by taking the lead on producer responsibility schemes which could significantly reduce the sector's vast waste-to-landfill rates.
  
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• Furniture manufacturers urged to solve circular economy conundrum

  17-10-2016 15:56
  
  Britain's mattress manufacturers must become advocates of the circular economy by taking the lead on producer responsibility schemes which could significantly reduce the sector's vast waste-to-landfill rates.
  
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• Heathrow third runway close to getting government green light

  17-10-2016 14:16 via theguardian.com
  
  Whitehall study into air quality expected to give all-clear as Greenpeace and local councils prepare to launch legal challenge
  Heathrow is edging closer to securing government approval for a third runway after the airport indicated that a last-minute Whitehall study into air quality will give the all-clear.The airport’s chief executive, John Holland-Kaye, said he had “no reason to believe” that any issues had been raised in research conducted this year by the Department for Tra
  
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• Oil prices firm, rise in U.S. drilling weighs

  17-10-2016 14:13
  By Ahmad Ghaddar LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices reversed losses on Monday on expectations of an OPEC intervention next month to curb production, but a rising rig count in the United States capped gains. International benchmark Brent crude oil futures rose 23 cents to $52.18 per barrel at 1151 GMT, after falling to as low as $51.56 a barrel earlier. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were trading at $50.46 per barrel, up 11 cents from their last settlement, after hitting a sessio
  
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• Modeling Floods That Formed Canyons on Earth and Mars

  17-10-2016 14:05 via feedproxy.google.com
  Geomorphologists who study Earth’s surface features and the processes that formed them have long been interested in how floods, in particular catastrophic outbursts that occur when a glacial lake ice dam bursts, for example, can change a planet’s surface, not only on Earth but on Mars. Now geoscience researchers Isaac Larsen at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Michael Lamb at the California Institute of Technology have proposed and tested a new model of canyon-forming
  
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• Panasonic embraces the power of partnerships to drive green innovation

  17-10-2016 14:01
  
  Japanese electronics firm Panasonic has ramped up its involvement in the low-carbon agenda, forming two new collaborative partnerships with automaker Tesla and energy management solutions provider Schneider electric to develop new solar PV cells and smart building technology.
  
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• Morally and legally, the UK government has failed us on air pollution | James Thornton

  17-10-2016 13:59 via theguardian.com
  
  A lack of urgency and failure to tackle illegal levels of nitrogen dioxide is why ClientEarth is taking the UK government back to court this week No less than 17 years have passed since new rules were approved in the UK to save thousands of lives by limiting deadly air pollution in our towns and cities.
  Pollution is the “invisible killer” because, for the most part, it goes unseen. Its impact on human health and the planet is why those laws were necessary.Continue reading...
  
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• Climate change could drive 122m more people into extreme poverty by 2030

  17-10-2016 13:32 via theguardian.com
  
  UN report warns that without measures to halt and reverse climate change, food production could become impossible in large areas of the world
  Up to 122 million more people worldwide could be living in extreme poverty by 2030 as a result of climate change and its impacts on small-scale farmers’ incomes, a major UN report warned on Monday.Climate change is “a major and growing threat to global food security”, said the report, warning that it could increase the global population l
  
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• Global warming experiment turns up the heat in Puerto Rican forest

  17-10-2016 13:31 via theguardian.com
  
  A pioneering research project is aiming to determine how forests in the Amazon, the Congo and elsewhere in the tropics will reacting to rising temperaturesMid-morning in the Luquillo experimental forest in north-west Puerto Rico, and the thermometer already reads 26C. Tana Wood, an ecologist employed by the US Forest Service, pulls on a pair of heavy gloves for insulating against electrical shock. Over two years, her team here has laid out hexagonal plots four metres across, each about the size
  
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• Ceremony marks start of Attenborough polar ship construction

  17-10-2016 12:54 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Construction of the UK's new £200m polar research ship, the RRS Sir David Attenborough, formally begins at the Cammell Laird yard on Merseyside.
  
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• Attenborough hails construction of ship nearly called Boaty McBoatface

  17-10-2016 12:12 via theguardian.com
  
  Naturalist to attend Merseyside ceremony marking the start of work on the RSS Sir David Attenborough, but public’s choice will be given to attached submersibleSir David Attenborough has hailed the start of construction of a polar research ship, which shot to fame amid calls to name it Boaty McBoatface, as a “marvellous occasion”.It was eventually decided to name the ship after the naturalist and TV presenter, and he will lay the first block of the keel on Monday. Continue readi
  
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• Oil prices slip on rise in U.S. drilling, strong dollar

  17-10-2016 12:07
  By Ahmad Ghaddar LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices edged lower on Monday, pulled down by a rising rig count in the United States and a strong dollar but expectations of an OPEC intervention next month to curb production gave them a floor. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were trading at $50.18 per barrel at 0958 GMT, down 17 cents from their last settlement, and after hitting a session low of $49.94 a barrel. International benchmark Brent crude oil futures eased 7 cents to $51.88
  
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• Finance for deep-rooted prosperity is coming | Joseph Robertson

  17-10-2016 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  We’re entering a new age for the Earth’s climate and for the way we conceive of finance
  “Macrocritical resilience” may be the most mystifying two-word phrase you need to know. Though you may never have heard these two words before, what they describe affects everything you live and strive for. Wonky as it sounds, it is a common sense idea: what generates value is more valuable than what we count in dollars. And yet, it is only in the last few years that we are truly begin
  
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• China to help Cambodia modernise its armed forces - government

  17-10-2016 11:11
  By Prak Chan Thul PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - China has agreed to help modernise Cambodia's military, Cambodia's defence minister said on Monday, after the two countries signed new agreements to boost military aid. Cambodia is China's loyal ally in Asia, routinely backing Beijing's position at international forums in a region where China and United States vie for influence. Cambodia has shielded China from criticism by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) over the South China Sea.
  
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• Election of anti-nuclear novice in Japan another setback for Abe energy policy

  17-10-2016 10:56
  By Kentaro Hamada TOKYO (Reuters) - The election of an anti-nuclear governor in a region north of Tokyo further challenges Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's energy policy and could mean Japan continues to rely on coal-fired electricity, undermining its efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Ryuichi Yoneyama, a political outsider, became governor of Niigata prefecture on Sunday on the basis of his vow to keep a nuclear power plant located there shut. The plant, the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power station
  
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• University of Northampton goes green with new Waterside campus

  17-10-2016 10:00
  
  Students at the University of Northampton will soon have their heating and hot water generated by a CO2-saving on-site energy centre, incorporating woodchip biomass boilers and a combined heat and power (CHP) system.
  
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• The gap between ambition and action in tackling global warming

  17-10-2016 10:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Sabine Fuss and Jan Minx: The world’s governments have agreed to ambitious climate goals. But if we are to hit our new targets, scientists and innovators need to move quickly to close the gap between hope and reality. The Paris Agreement on Climate Change has been a big surprise to many. All countries agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, keeping the world “well below” 2°C or even at 1.5°C of warming. By including the 1.5°C target, the Agreement has become more
  
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• Xenophon shoots down Abbott's proposal on 18C with 'no, no and no' – as it happened

  17-10-2016 09:06 via theguardian.com
  
  The Coalition prepares to bring registered organisations bill to crack down on unions while the windfarm commissioner will appear before Senate estimates. As it happened 8.05am BSTEstimates will continue into the evening, until 11pm. So let’s wrap for today: 8.00am BSTThe lively day in Canberra is powering right through to close of business. As we speak the Labor left is having a specially convened caucus meeting to deal with tensions that have boiled over since Bill Shorten last Friday ni
  
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• China's Shenzhou 11 blasts off on space station mission

  17-10-2016 08:40 via bbc.co.uk
  
  China launches a rocket carrying two astronauts to its orbiting space station in a mission designed to develop the country's ability to explore space.
  
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• Much ado about poo: Feces fuels Hawaii feral feline debate

  17-10-2016 08:14
  
  HONOLULU (AP) — Two wildlife issues have collided in Hawaii, pitting one group of animal defenders against another in an impassioned debate. The point of contention? Deadly cat poop and the feral felines that produce it.
  
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• Construction of research ship Sir David Attenborough to officially begin

  17-10-2016 07:01 via theguardian.com
  
  BBC broadcaster to attend Merseyside keel-laying ceremony for ship that was named after him following Boaty McBoatface controversyConstruction of the polar research ship Sir David Attenborough, which will explore the deepest waters of the Antarctic, is due to start on Monday with the laying of the vessel’s keel in Merseyside.A competition to name the ship caused controversy earlier this year when voters overwhelmingly backed Boaty McBoatface, only for officials to override the outcome of t
  
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• Bob Day's chief of staff to nominate to fill Family First Senate seat – politics live

  17-10-2016 06:48 via theguardian.com
  
  The Coalition prepares to bring registered organisations bill to crack down on unions while the windfarm commissioner will appear before Senate estimates. Follow the day’s news live … 5.48am BST 5.46am BSTMarathon men Continue reading...
  
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• Wolves once hunted these Helsfell slopes

  17-10-2016 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Kendal, Lake District A skeleton unearthed by a Victorian archaeologist should give us clues as to when wolves last roamed the Lakeland fellsFrom my study window I watch jackdaws making their chattering sorties above the rooftops and over Kendal Fell. Across the road a footpath leads up the fell, less well known now as Helsfell, and on through two small areas of woodland. What I can’t see, and hadn’t known until recently, though I walk the area most days, is that deep in the far wood
  
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• Labor and Greens ask if Ian Macfarlane's mining job breaches ministers' code – politics live

  17-10-2016 05:25 via theguardian.com
  
  The Coalition prepares to bring registered organisations bill to crack down on unions while the windfarm commissioner will appear before Senate estimates. Follow the day’s news live … 4.20am BSTPaul Karp will be providing some reports out of question time in a minute as we press on with the estimates on DPMC.4.19am BSTSenator Wong asks Paterson about the return of questions on notice, given how late the last ones came back.Wong to chair James Paterson: Did you roll your eyes at me?
  
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• Antarctic marine reserves deal within reach as Russia thaws environmental stance

  17-10-2016 05:10 via theguardian.com
  
  After five years of failed negotiations, conservations are hopeful Russia is prepared to make a deal to protect the Ross Sea and East Antarctica An international agreement to protect some of Antarctica’s unique and pristine marine ecosystems could be reached within a fortnight, with scientists and conversationists hopeful of a breakthrough after five years of failed negotiations.Delegates from 24 nations and the European Union gathered in Hobart on Monday to commence two weeks of talks at
  
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• U.S. companies brace for climate-friendly alternatives in cooling systems

  17-10-2016 05:05
  By Malathi Nayak NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. chemical companies including Honeywell and Chemours Co are ramping up efforts to produce alternative coolants used in air-conditioners and refrigerators, following a global pact to reduce planet-warming greenhouse house gas emissions. On Saturday, some 150 nations struck a global agreement in Kigali, Rwanda, on ways to phase down hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) gases, which are currently used in air-cooling systems and refrigerators, and help curb the release o
  
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• Australian fisherman fends off great white shark with a broom – video

  17-10-2016 04:51 via theguardian.com
  
  Dan Hoey, an angler from Port Fairy, a coastal town in Victoria, Australia, was out fishing with his brother and a client when he noticed a great white shark circling his boat. Video captured by Hoey’s chartered fishing business, Salty Dog Charters, shows him fending off the shark with a household broomContinue reading...
  
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• Family First senator Bob Day to resign, say reports – politics live

  17-10-2016 03:52 via theguardian.com
  
  The Coalition prepares to bring registered organisations bill to crack down on unions while the windfarm commissioner will appear before Senate estimates. Follow the day’s news live … 2.52am BSTBob Day has confirmed he is quitting the Senate. 2.48am BSTAs the finance and public administration committee goes off to check their Whatsapp messages and find a bite, here is a lunchtime summary of what we know.Continue reading...
  
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• Oil prices fall on rise in U.S. drilling, strong dollar

  17-10-2016 03:30
  U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were trading at $50.16 per barrel at 0115, down 19 cents from their last settlement. Traders said that a seven-month high of the dollar against a basket of other leading currencies , which was due to an expected hike in U.S. interest rates later this year, was also weighing on crude prices.
  
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• Oil prices fall on latest rise in U.S. drilling

  17-10-2016 02:39
  U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were trading at $50.03 per barrel at 0030, down 32 cents from their last settlement. It was the 16th week in a row that oil drillers had gone without making cuts, indicating more production to come. Traders said Brent was being weighed by fresh production records from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which pumped out a record 33.6 million barrels of crude oil per day in September .
  
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• Ceremony to mark start of Attenborough polar ship construction

  17-10-2016 01:04 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Construction of the UK's new £200m polar research ship, the RRS Sir David Attenborough, formally begins on Monday at the Cammell Laird yard on Merseyside.
  
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• Use of strongest antibiotics rises to record levels on European farms

  17-10-2016 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Medicines classified as ‘critically important in human medicine’ appear to be in frequent use, says European Medicines AgencyUse of some of the strongest antibiotics available to treat life-threatening infections has risen to record levels on European farms, new data shows.The report reinforces concerns about the overuse of antibiotics on farms, following revelations from the Guardian of the presence of the superbug MRSA in UK-produced meat, in imported meat for sale in UK supermarke
  
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