Environment news

• The country needs more ploughmen and gardeners: Country diary 100 years ago

  06-11-2016 23:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 8 November 1916From Cumberland I hear that the rainfall for October has been heavy, but the corn on the lower lands has been at last got in, and only on the high mountain farms is there any grain still out. This, I am sorry to say, is no new experience for the hill farmers. Here we have had wind and rainstorms, with very little sunshine, and in a journey through the Midlands and into Surrey last week I gathered that this had been the general exp
  
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• The weather in October

  06-11-2016 22:30 via theguardian.com
  
  A remarkably fine and dry month, with Shetland recording more than twice the average hours of sunshine, and rainfall less than half the average through most of the UKOctober was a remarkably fine and dry month over the whole of the UK. As a result it seemed mild, but temperatures were actually close to average. The settled conditions were caused by a blocked pattern in the atmosphere in which the “normal” westerly winds were held at bay by a blocking high pressure system that lingere
  
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• Egypt's oil minister makes rare trip to Iran for oil talks after Saudi suspension

  06-11-2016 22:23
  Egyptian Petroleum Minister Tarek El Molla was on his way to Iran on Sunday to try to strike new oil deals, sources close to his delegation said at Cairo airport, after Saudi Arabia suspended its oil agreement last month. After that suspension, Egypt voted in favour of a Russian-backed U.N. resolution on Syria in October that excluded calls to stop bombing Aleppo, which Saudi Arabia strongly opposed. Saudi Arabia has showered Egypt with billions of dollars in aid since 2013, when President Abdel
  
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• Giant snowballs on Russian beach

  06-11-2016 20:58 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A beach in Siberia has been transformed by naturally occurring giant snowballs.
  
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• Citizens' jury rejects push for South Australian nuclear waste dump

  06-11-2016 20:53 via theguardian.com
  
  Majority report from 350 residents questions safety, cost and the ability of the government to deliver, run and regulate a nuclear waste storage facilityPressure is growing on the South Australian government to scrap the idea of building a high-level nuclear waste dump in the state’s north after a citizens’ jury rejected the concept.After investigating the issue over six sitting days, the jury of 350 South Australian residents refused to back the proposal, with 70% unwilling to suppo
  
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• Marrakech climate talks: giving the fossil fuel lobby a seat at the table

  06-11-2016 20:28 via theguardian.com
  
  Is it a conflict of interest to have representatives of coal and oil companies at the climate change discussions?As the world gathers in Morocco for the historic first meeting under the Paris agreement – called “COP22” but now also “CMA1” – it does so with the unprecedented involvement of corporate interests who have fought climate action around the world, funded climate change denial and whose fundamental interest is in extracting and burning as much fossil f
  
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• Koalas 'under siege' from policy changes set to destroy habitat, report finds

  06-11-2016 20:15 via theguardian.com
  
  New South Wales government is failing to protect koalas by allowing further land clearing, logging and habitat destruction, National Parks Association saysKoalas are “under siege” across NSW, with three separate policies poised to be implemented set to destroy their remaining habitats, according to a briefing paper written by the National Parks Association of NSW.In light of the increasing threats, the paper calls on the NSW EPA to protect koala habitats. Continue reading...
  
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• Morocco sees 'no turning back' for climate pact, despite Trump

  06-11-2016 18:53
  By Alister Doyle MARRAKESH, Morocco (Reuters) - There is "no turning back" from a global accord to combat climate change, Morocco's foreign minister said on the eve of U.N. talks in Marrakesh amid fears that Donald Trump will try to pull out if he wins the U.S. presidency. The number of countries that have ratified the 2015 Paris Agreement to slow global warming by shifting from fossil fuels has risen to 100 nations in recent days, including OPEC's top oil producer Saudi Arabia, the United Natio
  
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• The hydropower paradox: is this energy as clean as it seems?

  06-11-2016 16:00 via theguardian.com
  
  New research finds that the world’s hydroelectric dams generate a surprising amount of greenhouse gas emissionsIn July, UN Secretary Ban Ki-Moon highlighted the role of hydropower in boosting the use of renewable energy globally, when he visited a nonprofit institute in China that helps emerging nations develop and build hydropower plants. Many countries consider hydroelectricity a clean source of power because it doesn’t involve burning dirty fossil fuels. But that’s far from
  
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• Notes from Mars 160: Making Field Sketches During an EVA

  06-11-2016 15:00
  
  The Mars Society is conducting the ambitious two-phase Mars 160 Twin Desert-Arctic Analog mission to study how seven crewmembers could live, work and perform science on a true mission to Mars. Mars 160 crewmember Annalea Beattie is chronicling the mission, which will spend 80 days at the Mars Desert Research Station in southern Utah desert before venturing far north to Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station on Devon Island, Canada in summer 2017.
  
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• Elon Musk Predicts Mid-December Return to Flight for SpaceX's Falcon 9

  06-11-2016 14:43
  
  SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk said Nov. 4 he expects the Falcon 9 rocket to return to flight in the middle of December after overcoming a problem he claimed was unprecedented in the history of spaceflight. Musk, briefly discussing the status of SpaceX during a half-hour interview on the cable news network CNBC Nov. 4, said that investigators had determined what caused the Sept. 1 pad explosion that destroyed a Falcon 9 and its satellite payload during fueling for a static-fire test.
  
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• Katharine Hayhoe, climate evangelist, takes to the web to convert nonbelievers

  06-11-2016 14:00 via theguardian.com
  
  As a Texas-based climate scientist and an evangelical Christian, Hayhoe is well placed to reach a sceptical audience – even if that means braving hate mail“Speaking of shills, if she teaches in Texas she probably gets grants from the oil industry.”This is one of the more polite social media missiles Katharine Hayhoe has had fired at her this week. But it’s hopelessly misguided. Continue reading...
  
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• Canada oil spill program hit by cheap crude, lacks applicants

  06-11-2016 13:14
  The two-year oil price crash has hurt a Canadian government program that funds research on oil spill cleanups, resulting in fewer applicants than expected, a senior federal official said. As a result, the government will expand the scope of its Oil Spill Response Science Program and open a second call for applications this month, Marc Wickham, Natural Resources Canada's director of energy science and technology programs, said in an interview late last week. The program funds research that improv
  
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• Delhi imposes 'emergency' measures to combat hazardous smog

  06-11-2016 12:29
  The Delhi government on Sunday put all construction projects on hold, shut down schools and advised residents of the Indian capital to stay indoors as part of an "emergency" plan to deal with dangerous levels of air pollution. Hundreds of people, including children, on Sunday staged a protest in New Delhi over the worsening air quality, demanding immediate and effective steps from authorities. New Delhi's chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, who has called the city a "gas chamber", said all construc
  
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• Indian government declares Delhi air pollution an emergency

  06-11-2016 12:02 via theguardian.com
  
  Capital’s schools closed for three days and building work halted as harmful pollutants reach a level 15 times the safe limitThe Indian government has declared lingering, severe levels of toxic air over its capital city an “emergency situation” as Delhi administrators announced a plan to temporarily shut construction sites and a coal-fired power station to bring pollution levels under control.Schools in the city will be closed for three days and traffic may be rationed after six
  
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• On the line on election day: eight key issues decided by next US president

  06-11-2016 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  A panel of eight experts considers the challenges facing either a President Donald Trump or a President Hillary Clinton in major policy areasInequality, healthcare and corruption: the issues that matter to you in 2016Cato Institute executive vice-president and author of The Libertarian Mind: A Manifesto for Freedom Continue reading...
  
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• Delhi air pollution closes schools for three days

  06-11-2016 11:07 via theguardian.com
  
  As smog envelops Indian capital, chief minister advises people to stay indoors and warns of possibility of renewed driving ban Schools in Delhi will be closed for the next three days, the state government said on Sunday, as the city struggles with one of the worst spells of air pollution in recent years.
  “Emergency measures are needed to solve this problem together,” the state chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, said. “All construction and demolition in the city will be banned for
  
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• Could 3D printing help tackle poverty and plastic waste?

  06-11-2016 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Startups are turning plastic waste in developing countries into filament for 3D printers while employing local waste pickersWhen Sidhant Pai visited a local rubbish dump in his home city of Pune, India, he was struck by the size and intensity of the operation. Large black crows swooping overhead, roaming pigs, overwhelming odours and groups of waste pickers collecting plastic bottles in large white sacks. There are an estimated 15 million people globally who currently make their living from wast
  
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• Can 3D printing solve problems of poverty and plastic waste in slums?

  06-11-2016 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Startups are turning plastic waste in developing countries into filament for 3D printers while employing local waste pickersWhen Sidhant Pai visited a local rubbish dump in his home city of Pune, India, he was struck by the size and intensity of the operation. Large black crows swooping overhead, roaming pigs, overwhelming odours and groups of waste pickers collecting plastic bottles in large white sacks. There are an estimated 15 million people globally who currently make their living from wast
  
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• The eco guide to house plants

  06-11-2016 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Plants help to purify the air and process out pollutantsBreathing is given remarkably little air time. But a comprehensive report on outdoor air quality worldwide emerged from the World Health Organisation recently, linking 3 million deaths a year to air pollution.It’s enough to keep you indoors. Unfortunately there’s declining air quality inside, too, particularly from concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). This chemical class includes formaldehyde and toluene and lead
  
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• Nicholas Stern: cost of global warming ‘is worse than I feared’

  06-11-2016 01:04 via theguardian.com
  
  Ten years ago the leading economist warned about climate change in a landmark report – he says while there is cause for optimism, the picture is still grimA lot has happened since Nicholas Stern, then a permanent secretary at the Treasury, produced his landmark review of the impact of climate change 10 years ago. His work was quickly recognised as the definitive account of the economic dangers posed to the planet by global warming.Since then, global temperatures have risen to record levels
  
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