Environment news

• Air pollution is driving us all down a road to ruin | Letters

  10-11-2016 20:08 via theguardian.com
  
  That the government is now at last being forced to do more to reduce the dangerous levels of nitrogen dioxide air pollution is welcome news (Court defeat for government on air pollution, 3 November). More than a year on from the “dieselgate” revelations, ministers should have been in no doubt about the dishonest and illegal methods used by some manufacturers to cheat emissions tests. Not only has the government failed to update its pollution modelling based on realistic emissions fig
  
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• Leprosy revealed in red squirrels across British Isles

  10-11-2016 20:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Scientists believe the animals have been infected with the disfiguring disease for centuries and pose little risk to humans todayLeprosy has been found in red squirrels across the British Isles and scientists believe they have been infected with the disfiguring disease for centuries.The endangered animals carry the same bacteria that cause the human disease, research has revealed. This results in lesions on their muzzles, ears and paws, adding to the sharp decline in their numbers caused by inva
  
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• Corporate winners from Donald Trump’s election

  10-11-2016 19:13 via theguardian.com
  
  From private prisons to pharamceuticals, several industries stand to gain from the president-elect’s policy agendaOperators of private prisons are soaring on the stock market because analysts expect Donald Trump to row back on the Department of Justice’s ruling this summer to phase out privately run institutions’ housing of federal inmates.Continue reading...
  
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• Government call for evidence seeks business views on smarter energy system

  10-11-2016 17:38
  
  The UK Government has today (10 November) confirmed its commitment to the creation of a smarter, flexible energy system with a new report which outlines the opportunity for businesses to actively balance their energy needs.
  
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• From snorting smallpox scabs to...

  10-11-2016 17:36 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Jake Yapp condenses the history of everything we ever thought we knew about vaccination into four minutes.
  
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• What Trump win means for US science

  10-11-2016 17:22 via bbc.co.uk
  
  President-elect Donald Trump did not express many views about science and innovation on the campaign trail. But there are some clues to his positions on key issues.
  
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• Oil slips as focus moves from Trump to OPEC plans

  10-11-2016 17:12
  By Ethan Lou NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices slipped on Thursday as markets recovered from shock at U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's surprise victory and focused on global oversupply as well whether OPEC will decide to cut production later this month. The market was dampened by a 2.4-million-barrel rise in U.S. crude inventories to 485 million barrels last week, reported by the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday.
  
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• Morphing plane wings and glowing tadpoles: the best green innovations of the week

  10-11-2016 16:44
  
  In a week that saw the US vote for a climate denier as its president-elect, edie rounds up some of the latest and greatest green innovations that could help drive climate action during Trump's reign.
  
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• Oil slips as focus moves from Trump to oversupply

  10-11-2016 16:09
  By Christopher Johnson LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices slipped on Thursday as markets recovered from their shock at U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's surprise victory and focussed on global oversupply as well as a key OPEC meeting this month that could decide to cut production. "If no agreement is reached and some individual members continue to expand their production, then the market will remain in surplus throughout the year, with little prospect of oil prices rising significantly," the Intern
  
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• Dartmoor livestock 'at risk from fun seekers'

  10-11-2016 16:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Farming in Devon national park, and sheep and cattle welfare, jeopardised by climbers, cyclists and campers, says livestock societyAdventure seekers who visit one of Britain’s great wild places are making life more difficult for farmers and putting cattle and sheep in danger, a livestock welfare charity claims. The chair of the Dartmoor Livestock Protection Society, which was formed in 1963, says the “idle amusement” of millions of visitors is threatening to squeeze out hill fa
  
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• Climate, human influence conspired in Lake Urmia's decline

  10-11-2016 16:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  The dramatic decline of Iran’s Lake Urmia—once the second-largest hypersaline lake in the world—has both direct human and climatic causes, according to a new study published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research.   The study was the first to compare the relative impact of climate and water management on the water flowing into the lake.
  
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• Finland's TVO says gets favourable decision in nuclear power plant dispute

  10-11-2016 15:58
  Finland's Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) said on Thursday it had received a favourable partial decision from the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in its long-running dispute with French nuclear power engineering company Areva . The two companies are claiming billions of euros from each other at the ICC's arbitration court due to delays and cost overruns on the Olkiluoto 3 reactor project. TVO said the partial award did not take a position on monetary claims but said it resolved many issues in i
  
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• The dinosaur almost blown to oblivion

  10-11-2016 15:55 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Palaeontologist Stephen Brusatte explains the significance of the newly discovered dinosaur fossil that was almost destroyed by dynamite.
  
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• Unknown dinosaur almost blown to oblivion

  10-11-2016 15:54 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A newly discovered species of dinosaur is identified from an extraordinarily complete fossil almost destroyed by dynamite.
  
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• Solar Cells Get Boost with Integration of Water-Splitting Catalyst onto Semiconductor

  10-11-2016 15:50 via feedproxy.google.com
  Scientists have found a way to engineer the atomic-scale chemical properties of a water-splitting catalyst for integration with a solar cell, and the result is a big boost to the stability and efficiency of artificial photosynthesis.Led by researchers at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), the project is described in a paper published this week in the journal Nature Materials.
  
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• A Major Ocean Current is Widening as Climate Warms

  10-11-2016 15:37 via feedproxy.google.com
  A new study by University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science researchers found that the Indian Ocean’s Agulhas Current is getting wider rather than strengthening. The findings, which have important implications for global climate change, suggest that intensifying winds in the region may be increasing the turbulence of the current, rather than increasing its flow rate.
  
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• Dairy in distress: the milk revolution draining Punjab dry #India

  10-11-2016 14:17 via theguardian.com
  
  Nestlé, GlaxoSmithKline and Danone support the drought-stricken farmers their supply chains rely on. But is it enough?
  The children in the villages around the Indian city of Nabha in Punjab state all know what Horlicks is, although few have tasted it. The malted milk drink, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), is produced at the Horlicks plant in Nabha, which sources from around 1,500 dairy farmers in the surrounding area. Continue reading...
  
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• The water crisis facing California – in pictures

  10-11-2016 14:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Mustafah Abdulaziz has spent years documenting humanity’s relationship to a precious natural resource – water. His latest work focuses on the challenges facing California, a highly populated state and a major agricultural center. Water: California was the first prize winner in the Syngenta photography award professional commission category for 2014–15, and will be on display at the National Geographic Museum in Washington DC from 12 November to 30 January 2017 Continue reading.
  
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• Otters, geese and grebes: your photos as the Wetland Trust turns 70

  10-11-2016 14:00 via theguardian.com
  
  To celebrate the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust’s 70th anniversary, we asked you to share pictures of wetlands around the UK. From incoming flocks to frolicking otters, here are some of our favouritesSee more contributions and add yours here
  Continue reading...
  
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• Satellite Eye on Earth: October 2016 - in pictures

  10-11-2016 13:23 via theguardian.com
  
  Changing autumn colours in the US, New Delhi’s architecture and Hurricane Matthew were among the images captured by European Space Agency and Nasa satellites last monthThe snowy landscape of the Putoransky state nature reserve, a Unesco world heritage site in the central area of the Putorana Plateau in northern central Siberia. The site, about 100km north of the Arctic Circle, serves as a major reindeer migration route – an increasingly rare natural phenomenon – and is one of t
  
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• Renault faces French criminal probe over diesel emissions

  10-11-2016 13:15
  By Laurence Frost PARIS (Reuters) - Renault faces a criminal probe in France after the country's consumer fraud agency passed a file to prosecutors detailing suspicions its engines had broken emissions laws, the government said, sending the carmaker's shares lower on Thursday. The industry ministry said late on Wednesday the DGCCRF consumer fraud agency had sent prosecutors the findings of its inquiry into possible emissions test manipulations by Renault, opened in the wake of Volkswagen's diese
  
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• Newfound Ancient 'Sea Monster' Is Largest Yet from Antarctica

  10-11-2016 12:44
  
  About 66 million years ago, an ancient sea monster the height of a five-story office building once gnashed its sharp teeth as it swam around the dark waters of Antarctica, a new study finds. The newfound beast, known as a mosasaur — a Cretaceous-age aquatic reptile that sped through the ancient seas using its paddle-like limbs and long tail — is only the second fossilized mosasaur skull ever found in Antarctica. Scientists with the Chilean Paleontological Expedition discovered the mo
  
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• Brazil police carry out two detention orders in corruption probe

  10-11-2016 12:34
  Brazilian federal police said they had served two detention orders and executed 16 search and seizure orders on Thursday as part of a new phase of a corruption probe into the state oil company Petrobras. Prosecutors said the targets were businessman Adir Assad and lawyer Rodrigo Tacla Duran, who were accused of helping to launder money for the homebuilders involved in the scheme. The prosecutors they suspected Duran of laundering "tens of millions" of reais for the firms UTC Engenharia and Mende
  
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• VIDEO: 60-second sustainability skill - The Influencer

  10-11-2016 12:00
  
  In the first of a brand new series of short videos produced as part of edie's 'sustainability skills' month, green business leader-turned advisor Richard Gillies explains the influencing skills that sustainability professionals can use to drive positive change within their organisation and beyond.
  
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• Russia - global oil output could be frozen at November level

  10-11-2016 12:00
  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Thursday global crude oil output could be frozen at November levels if the world's leading oil producers reach an agreement on November 30. Novak said he saw higher chances of reaching the agreement than before. Russia will take part in any meeting between OPEC and non-OPEC countries if such a meeting takes place. Novak reiterated that it was highly important to reach the agreement on output on November 30. He said Russia would p
  
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• edie's 60-second sustainability skill: The Influencer

  10-11-2016 12:00
  
  In the first of a brand new series of short videos produced as part of edie's 'sustainability skills' month, green business leader-turned advisor Richard Gillies explains the influencing skills that sustainability professionals can use to drive positive change within their organisation and beyond.
  
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• Conservatives elected Trump; now they own climate change | John Abraham

  10-11-2016 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Anyone who voted for Trump shares the responsibility for the climate damages resulting from his presidency
  Many of us in the United States are in deep shock and despair. The election of Donald Trump speaks of a country and a world that represents so many things that go against our deepest grains. However, as I told my children this morning, the Earth will still turn, the sun will still rise. In fact, a Trump presidency will not have the dire consequences that many of us fear – especially f
  
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• Conservatives elected Trump; now they own climate change

  10-11-2016 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Anyone who voted for Trump shares the responsibility for the climate damages resulting from his presidency
  Many of us in the United States are in deep shock and despair. The election of Donald Trump speaks of a country and a world that represents so many things that go against our deepest grains. However, as I told my children this morning, the Earth will still turn, the sun will still rise. In fact, a Trump presidency will not have the dire consequences that many of us fear – especially f
  
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• Industry experts call for streamlined environmental standards post-Brexit

  10-11-2016 11:55
  
  UK trade would benefit from efficient environmental standards post-Brexit, such as the removal of staid aid requirements and an overlap of energy efficiency standards, according to experts from the chemical and manufacturing sectors.
  
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• How to see biggest supermoon in almost 70 years

  10-11-2016 11:55 via bbc.co.uk
  A supermoon is due on 14 November and meaning the moon will be the biggest and brightest since 1948 - but what is a supermoon?
  
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• Ophir signs deal with Schlumberger JV for Equatorial Guinea project

  10-11-2016 11:02
  (Reuters) - British oil and gas explorer Ophir Energy Plc said it had signed an agreement with OneLNGSM, a joint venture between units of Golar LNG Ltd and Schlumberger , to develop the Fortuna project in Equatorial Guinea. Shares in the company rose as much as 13.8 percent, before trading at 77.75 pence at 0956 GMT on the London Stock Exchange on Thursday. Ophir said earlier this month that it could go forward without new partners for the Fortuna floating liquefied natural gas project as the co
  
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• Underworld: an exploration of London's sewers – video trailer

  10-11-2016 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Underworld is an immersive exploration of London’s Victorian sewers and is the Guardian’s latest virtual reality offering. Step into the shoes of an urban explorer and experience the labyrinth of subterranean tunnels and hidden waterways that run beneath the city
  Find out how to experience UnderworldContinue reading...
  
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• Hidden city: London’s sewer men at work – in pictures

  10-11-2016 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Thames Water sewer technicians look after over 70,000 miles of subterranean tunnels in London. David Levene photographs them on duty in Farringdon and ClerkenwellFind out how to experience Underworld, the Guardian’s virtual reality exploration of the sewersContinue reading...
  
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• Brazil police carries out two detention orders in corruption probe

  10-11-2016 10:58
  SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilian federal police said they carried out on Thursday two detention orders and 16 search and raid orders as part of a new phase of the so-called "Car Wash" corruption probe. It did not disclose any specific targets of the judicial orders. The new phase of the investigation concerns the relation between builders and executives at state-controlled oil company Petróleo Brasileiro SA , according to a police statement. Federal police and prosecutors will offer more d
  
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• Action to combat UK air pollution crisis delayed again

  10-11-2016 10:38 via theguardian.com
  
  Ministers reject court proposal to deliver an effective plan within eight months following their legal defeat against NGO ClientEarth last weekAction to combat the UK’s air pollution crisis has been delayed again after the government rejected a proposal to deliver an effective action plan within eight months.Environmental lawyers ClientEarth inflicted a humiliating legal defeat on ministers last week – its second in 18 months – when the high court ruled that ministers’ pl
  
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• Oil prices steady as markets recover from Trump shock

  10-11-2016 10:34
  By Christopher Johnson LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices steadied on Thursday as markets recovered from their initial shock at U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's surprise victory, but investors were cautious ahead of a key OPEC meeting to decide on production. "If no agreement is reached and some individual members continue to expand their production then the market will remain in surplus throughout the year, with little prospect of oil prices rising significantly higher," the International Energy
  
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• IEA sees global market awash with oil in 2017 if no OPEC cut

  10-11-2016 10:06
  In its monthly oil market report, the group said global supply rose by 800,000 barrels per day in October to 97.8 million bpd, led by record OPEC output and rising production from non-OPEC members such as Russia, Brazil, Canada and Kazakhstan. The Paris-based IEA kept its demand growth forecast for 2016 at 1.2 million bpd and expects consumption to increase at the same pace next year, having gradually slowed from a five-year peak of 1.8 million bpd in 2015. The Organization of the Petroleum Expo
  
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• Oil prices rise as markets recover from Trump shock

  10-11-2016 10:04
  By Christopher Johnson LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices reversed early losses to push higher on Thursday as markets recovered from their initial shock at U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's surprise victory, although traders said that crude fundamentals remained weak. Trump's election initially stunned markets and led Ian Bremmer, president of U.S. risk consultancy Eurasia Group, to warn that "the world is heading into a profound geopolitical recession". "It all depends on the upcoming OPEC meeting
  
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• Finland's TVO says gets favourable partial award in Olkiluoto arbitration

  10-11-2016 09:54
  HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finnish utility Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) said on Thursday it had received a favourable partial award in its arbitration proceeding with Areva-Siemens consortium related to delays and costs at its Olkiluoto 3 nuclear power project. TVO said the award from International Chamber of Commerce takes no position on monetary claims but added that it resolves majority of disputes in the favour of the Finnish company. TVO and plant supplier Areva-Siemens claim billions of euros from e
  
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• Russia's Rosneft says third-quarter oil output up 1.3 percent year-on-year to 4.15 million bpd

  10-11-2016 09:26
  Russia's Rosneft , the world's top listed oil producer, said on Thursday its oil production rose in the third quarter by 1.3 percent year-on-year to 4.15 million barrels per day. Oil production at Suzun is seen at 4.5 million tonnes (90,000 barrels per day) in 2017, Rosneft said in a statement.
  
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• Palm oil sector agrees on unified 'no deforestation' approach

  10-11-2016 09:00
  
  A host of multinational organisations including Unilever, Cargill and Golden Agri-Resources (GAR) have agreed upon a single, unified definition of "no deforestation" for the palm oil industry.
  
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• Nuclear waste to remain at old UK plants rather than moved off-site

  10-11-2016 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Leaving more contaminated soil and rubble on-site instead of moving it to dedicated dumps is cheaper and allows for quicker clean-ups, say officialsMore contaminated soil and rubble will remain at the sites of Britain’s old nuclear power plants rather than going to a dedicated dump, under government-backed proposals.
  But officials said that the sites would not be left in a hazardous state because international radiological standards would still be upheld. Continue reading...
  
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• Climate finance dispute prompts Bangladesh to return £13m of UK aid

  10-11-2016 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Delivery of money through multi-donor fund coordinated by World Bank seen as slight on innate expertise of country well versed in handling climate issues
  Millions of pounds of climate change aid to Bangladesh has been returned unspent to the British government following a long-running dispute over its delivery.Academics and climate change experts claim the return of £13m to the Department for International Development (DfID) over the past year, through the World Bank, represents a failure
  
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• Carlsberg obtains circular economy certification for Kronenbourg glass bottles

  10-11-2016 08:00
  
  Global beverage company Carlsberg has become the first company in the world to be accredited with a Cradle-to-Cradle (C2C) bronze certification for a glass beverage packaging.
  
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• Oil edges higher as markets recover from Trump's shock victory

  10-11-2016 07:49
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices reversed some early losses to push higher on Thursday as markets recovered from their initial shock at U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's surprise victory, although traders said that crude fundamentals remained weak. Trump's election win initially stunned markets and led Ian Bremmer, president of U.S. risk consultancy Eurasia Group, to warn that "the world is heading into a profound geopolitical recession." However, markets shook off deep po
  
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• Brandis rescinded direction 'to give new solicitor general a clean slate' – as it happened

  10-11-2016 07:15 via theguardian.com
  
  George Brandis repeals Justin Gleeson direction; Australia ratifies Paris climate agreement; and following Trump’s election win, conservatives warn political realignment will happen here. As it happened 6.15am GMTWell that is it for this blog for what has been a very long and fascinating week. It stretched from the Senate referrals of One Nation senator Rod Culleton and former senator Bob Day on Monday to the election of Donald Trump. The times are a-changing.This is what happened today: 5
  
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• UK golden eagle population soars to new heights

  10-11-2016 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Numbers pass the level deemed viable for the raptor’s long-term survival but it remains missing from a third of its traditional territoriesBritain’s golden eagle population has soared to new heights, according to a new survey released on Wednesday.There are now more than 500 breeding pairs in the UK, up 15% and passing the threshold at which bird’s long-term future is thought viable. Continue reading...
  
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• 'We need a moratorium on all coalmines': Naomi Klein in conversation – Behind the Lines podcast

  10-11-2016 06:40 via theguardian.com
  
  On a panel moderated by Guardian Australia editor Lenore Taylor, the author Naomi Klein, anti-Carmichael coalmine campaigner Murrawah Johnson, climate action leader Maria Tiimon Chi- Fang, Community and Public Sector Union national secretary Nadine Flood and GetUp! human rights campaigner Shen Narayanasamy discuss the need to transition to a post-carbon Australia. Naomi Klein at the Great Barrier Reef: what have we left for our children? – videoContinue reading...
  
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