Environment news

• The carbon bubble: why investors can no longer ignore climate risks

  27-10-2016 22:52 via theguardian.com
  
  The financial risks posed by climate change and bad investments could make an ugly dent in your retirement savings, a new report warnsWhen Sandy Emerson sat down in her portfolio manager’s office two years ago and announced she wanted to divest from fossil fuels, the latter furrowed her brow and said: “Why would you want to do that?” Emerson, a 68-year-old Berkeley, California resident, explained her unease about owning shares in companies that contribute to climate change and
  
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• Worst of times for the butterfly

  27-10-2016 22:30 via theguardian.com
  
  The scientific numbers are not yet in from the UK Butterfly Monitoring scheme, but the Big Butterfly Count recorded its worst figures since it beganAt first glance, it has been a bafflingly bad summer for butterflies. After a decent spring in the north-west and a dazzling late summer in the south-east, garden buddleias remained bereft. The only butterfly I’ve seen in good number is the red admiral, which thrived during the second-warmest September on record.The scientific numbers are not y
  
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• North Dakota pipeline standoff: police move in on protesters – in pictures

  27-10-2016 22:27 via theguardian.com
  
  Officials moved in on demonstrators in North Dakota as increasingly tense protests continued over a disputed oil pipeline that tribal leaders have argued threatens the local water supplyLive updates: police prepare to remove protesters from pipeline siteContinue reading...
  
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• Oil ends up, OPEC cut commitments assuage lingering doubts

  27-10-2016 22:26
  By Ethan Lou NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil settled higher on Thursday, as commitments from Gulf OPEC members to cut production assuaged some lingering doubts in the market about cooperation from other producers. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 54 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $49.72. "Another day, another market being pushed and prodded around by OPEC rhetoric," said Matt Smith, director of commodity research at energy data provider ClipperData.
  
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• Fears for isolated Bolivian tribe met by Chinese oil firm in Amazon

  27-10-2016 22:14 via theguardian.com
  
  Company operating near the border with Peru has reportedly had near encounters with indigenous people living in “isolation”Teams from a Chinese oil and gas company exploring in the remote Bolivian Amazon have reportedly had near encounters with a group of indigenous people living in what the United Nations calls “isolation”, raising major concern for the group’s welfare. The company doing the exploring, BGP Bolivia, is ultimately a subsidiary of the state-owned Chin
  
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• The Future of Rockets: Q&A With Air Force Rocket Lab's Shawn Phillips

  27-10-2016 21:00
  
  NEW YORK — The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Rocket Lab plays a direct and extensive role in advancing rocket propulsion technology — but you'd never see its sticker on the finished engines. Rather, the lab does fundamental research into solid, liquid and in-space propulsion, and tests out the futuristic technology on the small and extremely large scale at the Edwards Air Force Base in California before passing the results on to aerospace companies. Space.com talked
  
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• Climate change rate to turn southern Spain to desert by 2100, report warns

  27-10-2016 20:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Mediterranean ecosystems will change to a state unprecedented in the past 10,000 years unless temperature rises are held to within 1.5C, say scientistsSouthern Spain will be reduced to desert by the end of the century if the current rate of greenhouse gas emissions continue unchecked, researchers have warned.
  Anything less than extremely ambitious and politically unlikely carbon emissions cuts will see ecosystems in the Mediterranean change to a state unprecedented in the past 10 millennia, they
  
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• Exxon eyes setting up a trading division - FT

  27-10-2016 19:22
  (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp is weighing building a full-scale trading division as it looks to counter a more than two-year rout in oil prices, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. The downturn in oil prices is prompting some Exxon executives to consider the case for establishing a trading division that buys and sells other producers' crude and refined products, as well as its own, the FT reported. Exxon, the world's largest publicly traded oil produc
  
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• Public support for renewables rises as nuclear and fracking falls

  27-10-2016 18:51
  
  Public backing for nuclear energy and fracking has fallen in recent months while support for clean energy continues to surge, according to the latest opinion tracker from the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
  
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• Images reveal crashed Mars lander

  27-10-2016 18:21 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The site where Europe's Mars lander crashed this month is revealed in new images.
  
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• Timberland continues collaborative circular economy drive

  27-10-2016 18:10
  
  Outdoor clothing company Timberland is ramping up its circular economy efforts as a number of innovative closed-loop models for footwear now approach the next stages of development.
  
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• Swifts spend ten months a year entirely airborne, study reveals

  27-10-2016 18:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Research using miniature tracking devices suggests that swifts eat and sleep in the sky, as some birds did not land at all during their migratory periodSwifts already hold the title of the fastest fliers on Earth and now the small soot-brown birds have been revealed as one of nature’s greatest endurance athletes, after scientists discovered they spend ten months of the year entirely airborne.Using miniature trackers, scientists observed that some birds did not land once during their migrat
  
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• Spinning solar panels and water-harvesting sails: The best green innovations of the week

  27-10-2016 18:00
  
  In a week where climate mitigation subsided in favour of economic growth, edie rounds up some of the latest and greatest green innovations that could strengthen and already solid business case for low-carbon technology.
  
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• Oil rises on OPEC cut comments, draw of U.S. crude at Cushing

  27-10-2016 17:52
  By Ethan Lou NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil edged higher on Thursday, lifted by a reported drop in U.S. crude inventories stored at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub, and as commitments from Gulf OPEC members assuaged lingering doubts in the market about cooperation from other producers. Brent crude was up 65 cents at $50.66 a barrel as of 11.06 a.m. EDT (1506 GMT). U.S. crude gained 64 cents to $49.82.
  
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• EU proposes total commercial fishing ban on Atlantic sea bass

  27-10-2016 17:41 via theguardian.com
  
  Move would also cut Scottish whiting catches to zero, while Celtic cod and Irish sole face hefty reductions to prevent stocks collapsingThe European commission has proposed closures on commercial fishing for sea bass in the Atlantic and whiting in the waters west of Scotland from next year, in order to prevent a collapse in fish stocks. The total allowable catch (TAC) for cod in the Celtic Sea will also be cut by 68% under the plan, while sole quotas in the Irish Sea will be trimmed by a hefty 8
  
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• We must protect the Grand Canyon before time runs out

  27-10-2016 16:52 via theguardian.com
  
  Americans must prevail on President Obama to establish a national monument around Grand Canyon National Park before we lose this historic chanceIn 1967, my father took me and eight of my brothers and sisters on a whitewater trip down the Colorado River through Grand Canyon National Park. We camped on its massive sandbars, swam in its silty waters and explored the ancient geology of this iconic American landscape. He wanted us to experience the river and to understand the benefits that stem from
  
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• Whaling watchdog shrinks loophole allowing Japan's 'scientific' hunts

  27-10-2016 16:34 via theguardian.com
  
  Resolution imposes stricter reviews of whales killed under the scientific programme which Japan’s critics say it abuses to hunt for meat The world’s whaling watchdog has voted to conduct stricter reviews of whales killed under an exemption to a 30-year-old moratorium which Japan’s critics say it abuses to hunt for meat. The resolution on Thursday, opposed by Japan and fellow whalers Norway and Iceland, was adopted by 34 yes votes to 17 against, at the 66th meeting of the Intern
  
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• On College Campuses, Signs of Progress on Renewable Energy

  27-10-2016 16:32 via feedproxy.google.com
  U.S. colleges and universities are increasingly deploying solar arrays and other forms of renewable energy. Yet most institutions have a long way to go if they are to meet their goal of being carbon neutral in the coming decades.The soul of Arizona State University is Memorial Union, a hulking brick-and-glass community center that opens onto a sprawling pedestrian mall. Although the building sits at the heart of campus, its outdoor plaza was once virtually uninhabitable for four months each year
  
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• Toxins from freshwater algae found in San Francisco Bay shellfish

  27-10-2016 16:20 via feedproxy.google.com
  Scientists have detected high levels of a toxin produced by freshwater algae in mussels from San Francisco Bay. Although shellfish harvested from California's coastal waters are monitored for toxins produced by marine algae, they are not routinely tested for this freshwater toxin, called microcystin.The toxin, which causes liver damage, is produced by a type of cyanobacteria (also known as blue-green algae) that thrives in warm, nutrient-rich water conditions. It has been found in many lakes and
  
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• Oil rises above $50 on OPEC cut comments

  27-10-2016 16:01
  By Alex Lawler LONDON (Reuters) - Oil edged above $50 a barrel on Thursday, drawing support from sources' comments that OPEC's Gulf members are willing to cut their output by 4 percent and from a further drop in U.S. crude inventories. Saudi Arabia and its Gulf OPEC allies are willing to make that reduction from their peak oil output, energy ministers from the Gulf countries told their Russian counterpart this week, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. "That seems to be the reason behi
  
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• Autumn colours around the world – in pictures

  27-10-2016 15:57 via theguardian.com
  
  Trees across the northern hemisphere are putting on their annual dazzling display Continue reading...
  
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• The Magnificent Seven: Food and beverage giants commit to water stewardship challenge

  27-10-2016 15:13
  
  Sustainability advocacy group Ceres has tasked seven global food and beverage companies, including Diageo, General Mills, Kellogg and PepsiCo, to participate in a collaborative challenge aimed at strengthening sourcing and water stewardship action plans.
  
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• Green groups call for clarity and certainty on Defra's 25-year plan

  27-10-2016 15:13
  
  The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) must build a robust framework of domestic legislation in order to ensure adequate protection of Britain's natural environment post-Brexit.
  
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• Saudi Arabia, Gulf OPEC ready to cut oil output by 4 percent - sources

  27-10-2016 15:03
  Saudi Arabia and its Gulf OPEC allies are willing to cut 4 percent from their peak oil output, energy ministers from the Gulf countries told their Russian counterpart this week, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The 4 percent offer is likely to be made at a meeting of OPEC experts and officials from other oil producers such as Russia on Oct. 28-29 in Vienna, to nail down the details of last month's OPEC production-cap agreement in Algeria. Iraq, OPEC's No. 2 producer, said this week
  
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• The buzz about edible bugs: Can they replace beef?

  27-10-2016 14:16 via feedproxy.google.com
  The idea of eating bugs has created a buzz lately in both foodie and international development circles as a more sustainable alternative to consuming meat and fish. Now a report appearing in ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry examines how the nutrients — particularly iron — provided by grasshoppers, crickets and other insects really measures up to beef. It finds that insects could indeed fill that dietary need.
  
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• Natural world faces collapse as wildlife population plummets | The daily briefing

  27-10-2016 14:12 via theguardian.com
  
  Number of wild animals living on Earth set to fall by two-thirds; Trump hits back at Khizr Khan again; Afghanistan war ignored in US presidential campaignThe number of wild animals living on Earth is set to fall by two-thirds by 2020, according to a new report, part of a mass extinction that is destroying the natural world upon which humanity depends. The Living Planet Index, compiled by researchers from WWF and the Zoological Society of London, shows that vertebrate populations are set to decli
  
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• Gut instinct drives battery boost

  27-10-2016 14:02 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists have designed a new prototype battery that mimics the structure of the human intestines.
  
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• Could giving wild animals property rights help stop their decline? | John Hadley

  27-10-2016 13:59 via theguardian.com
  
  Two-thirds of wild animals could be lost by 2020 and the biggest driver is destruction of their homes. A radical idea to give animals a ‘voice’ could encourage land managers to think about wild areas in a new wayResearchers report that the future for the Earth’s wild animals is very bleak. Two-thirds will be wiped out by 2020. While poaching is partially responsible, the biggest threat to wild animals is our impact on their homes – we kill them when we destroy forests and
  
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• Flying squirrel numbers soar in Helsinki

  27-10-2016 13:52 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The furry rodents are thriving in the city's forests, researchers say.
  
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• Oil up over $50, U.S. inventory drop balances OPEC doubts

  27-10-2016 13:36
  By Alex Lawler LONDON (Reuters) - Oil edged above $50 a barrel on Thursday as a further drop in U.S. crude inventories countered investor doubts that OPEC will be able to implement a production cut. Crude inventories posted an unexpected drop of 553,000 barrels last week, and stocks of gasoline and distillates fell more than expected, raising hopes that a long-awaited market rebalancing is finally under way. Whilst such reduction is largely in the hand of OPEC, the re-balancing is already taking
  
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• UK public support for fracking falls to lowest level

  27-10-2016 13:21 via theguardian.com
  
  Just 17% of people surveyed back the process, the lowest level since the government survey started tracking public attitudes about shale gasPublic support for fracking has fallen to new lows, a government survey has revealed.Just 17% of people backed the process of extracting shale gas, compared with a third who opposed it, and just under half (48%) who had no opinion, the latest figures from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy show. Continue reading...
  
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• Dusty with a Chance of Radiation: Mars Weather Forecasting Will Be Critical

  27-10-2016 13:00
  
  As NASA plans to send humans to Mars in the 2030s, work is underway to study how the space weather environment will impact their journey. Part of NASA's plan for a trip to the Red Planet will have to include space weather forecasting, monitoring and safety measures. Forecasting space weather is also beneficial to people on Earth, especially as humans become more and more dependent on satellites for things like GPS and telecommunications.
  
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• Which is the world’s most wasteful city?

  27-10-2016 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Mumbai produces 11,000 tonnes of trash per day, Cairo feeds garbage to pigs and China’s waste is growing twice as fast as its population – but it’s the wealthiest cities that throw the most awayNew York City endured another brutal summer this year, and you know what that means: a severe urban heat island effect and the omnipresent stench of rotting garbage. Summer in New York makes one acutely aware of the near-constant presence of waste piling up on pavements waiting to be col
  
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• Report: Wildlife populations halved on average since '70s

  27-10-2016 11:54
  LONDON (AP) — Environmentalists say that global wildlife populations have fallen an average of 58 percent when compared to the 1970s, with human activity having an impact on African elephants in Tanzania, maned wolves in Brazil, salamanders in the United States and orcas in the waters of Europe.
  
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• Scheme to reopen river Severn to fish wins almost £20m in funding

  27-10-2016 11:51 via theguardian.com
  
  Project to open up miles of the river to enable fish to reach spawning grounds will help to restore threatened and declining speciesA scheme to open up miles of the river Severn and its major tributary to help threatened fish has won almost £20m in funding.The £19.4m project will reopen the UK’s longest river to fish species, many of which vanished from its upper reaches after weirs were installed in the 1800s to help river transport during the industrial revolution. Continue r
  
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• Amec Foster unnerves investors as it postpones capital markets day

  27-10-2016 11:22
  (Reuters) - Oilfield services firm Amec Foster Wheeler postponed its capital markets day until next year and forecast a further decline in oil and gas revenue in 2017, sending its shares tumbling 20 percent on Thursday. Amec has responded by taking aggressive measures to slash debt, including cutting its dividend and promising to deliver 500 million pounds from asset sales by June 2017. The London-based provider of engineering and construction services to oilfields said that ordinary dividends i
  
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• Oil rises above $50 as U.S. inventory drop balances OPEC doubts

  27-10-2016 11:13
  By Alex Lawler LONDON (Reuters) - Oil edged above $50 a barrel on Thursday as a further drop in U.S. crude inventories countered investor doubts that OPEC will be able to implement a production cut. Crude inventories posted an unexpected drop of 553,000 barrels last week, and stocks of gasoline and distillates fell more than expected, raising hopes that a long-awaited market rebalancing is finally under way. Whilst such reduction is largely in the hand of OPEC, the re-balancing is already taking
  
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• AkzoNobel issues shipping industry's record number of carbon credits

  27-10-2016 11:04
  
  Italian Shipping company Grimaldi Group has received the largest ever issuance from AkzoNobel's carbon credits scheme, which has seen 14 vessels presented with 109,617 carbon credits.
  
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• Frog goes extinct, media yawns

  27-10-2016 09:23 via theguardian.com
  
  Is the loss of a unique life form on Earth big news? Not according to most media outlets.On September 26th, staff with the Atlanta Botanical Garden found a frog dead in his enclosure. The frog had big brown eyes, massive feet with thick webs between the toes, and brownish skin speckled with little yellow dots. His name was Toughie. He was big for a frog and he didn’t like it when humans handled him. He’d lived a long time: 12 years. And he was the last of his kind.Continue reading...
  
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• Oil prices rise on Venezuela protests, strong Asian demand

  27-10-2016 09:00
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Thursday, lifted by concerns over Venezuela's stability as well as by firm demand in Asia, although doubts over OPEC's ability to organise a coordinated production cut still weighed on markets. International Brent crude oil futures were trading at $50.18 per barrel at 0655 GMT on Thursday, up 20 cents, or 0.4 percent, from their last close. Traders said concerns over political stability in Venezuela, a major oil producer, had lifted m
  
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• Italy earthquakes: Strong tremors shake central region

  27-10-2016 08:31 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Two strong earthquakes hit central Italy, damaging buildings and sending people into the streets.
  
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• 10 years on from the Stern report: a low-carbon future is the 'only one available'

  27-10-2016 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Economist says green development is the only route to global economic growth and points to China leading the world on climate change actionClean, green development is the sole route to future global economic growth, according to British economist Lord Nicholas Stern, with a continuation of polluting, high-carbon growth only leading to self-destruction.There is a strong argument that China is now leading the world in action on climate change, Stern said, making the country both a competitor and i
  
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• Oil lingers around $50 over doubts OPEC can coordinate output cut

  27-10-2016 07:49
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices were stable on Thursday, lingering around $50 a barrel, as doubts over OPEC's ability to organise a coordinated production cut weighed on markets, while firm demand and concerns over Venezuela's stability offered support. International Brent crude oil futures were trading at $50.09 per barrel at 0540 GMT on Thursday, up 11 cents from their last close. Traders said Brent was struggling on doubts that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
  
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• King's favourite fish to make comeback in River Severn project

  27-10-2016 07:16 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A scheme that aims to re-establish one of King Henry III's favourite fish in the River Severn is given nearly £20m in funding.
  
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• King's favourite fish to make come-back in River Severn project

  27-10-2016 07:16 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A scheme which aims to re-establish one of King Henry III's favourite fish in the River Severn is given nearly £20m in funding.
  
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• World's wildlife being pushed to the edge by humans - in pictures

  27-10-2016 07:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Global wildlife populations will decline by 67% by 2020 unless urgent action is taken to reduce human impact on species and ecosystems, warns the biennial Living Planet Index report from WWF and ZSL. From elephants to eels, here are some of the wildlife populations most affected by human activityContinue reading...
  
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• Tour England's countryside in one London garden

  27-10-2016 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Natural History Museum, London A short walk takes you on a wildlife journey that would otherwise take days of travelWhat would it look like if you tried to compress the English countryside into a 6,000 sq m metropolitan plot? Well, the wildlife garden at the Natural History Museum is as close to achieving the experience as is possible. A short perambulation takes you on a wildlife journey that would otherwise take days of travelling.Related: An exuberance of life on the undrained fenContinue rea
  
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• A big day in Manchester for bird fanciers – archive, 27 October 1906

  27-10-2016 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  27 October 1906: Billed as the ‘most important exhibition of cage birds in the kingdom,’ Hulme Town Hall allows breeders to show 1,500 birdsJust now the Hulme Town Hall is filled with the twittering of many canaries. It is the show of the Manchester and Northern Counties Ornithological Society, the most important exhibition of cage birds in the kingdom. To the amateur it is astonishing to find to what an extent the breeding of canaries is carried. There are some dozens of distinct va
  
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• Oil lingers below $50 over doubts OPEC can coordinate output cut

  27-10-2016 04:10
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices were stable on Thursday, but remained below $50 a barrel, as doubts over OPEC's ability to organise a coordinated production cut weighed on markets, while firm demand and concerns over Venezuela's stability offered support. International Brent crude oil futures briefly pushed above the psychological $50 a barrel mark, but had dipped back to $49.95 by 0153 GMT, 3 cents below their last closing price. Traders said Brent was struggling to break
  
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• Brent crude oil dips below $50 on doubts OPEC can coordinate output cut

  27-10-2016 02:48
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices were below $50 per barrel on Thursday on doubts OPEC will be able to bring together its members and Russia to organise a coordinated crude production cut. International Brent crude oil futures made a push above $50 per barrel early on Thursday, but had dipped back to $49.91 by 0034 GMT, 7 cents below their last closing price. Traders said Brent was struggling to break above $50 over doubts that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Coun
  
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