Environment news

• Yellow furze on the heath: Country diary 100 years ago

  04-12-2016 23:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 9 December 1916Surrey, December 7
  Cattle coming back slowly to the homestead in the mist of early afternoon pause to browse among the clumps of furze which stud the heath all over the top of the down. These furze bushes are well out in yellow bloom; it makes almost the only charm of colour left us here. The younger cows, nosing about, tear off the budding shoots, taking little account of the prickly stems, which are not very stiff as yet. Cattle
  
  Read more

• Pakistan, Russia to sell warplanes to Nigeria, air force chief says

  04-12-2016 23:29
  Nigeria is expecting the arrival of warplanes and helicopters it ordered from Pakistan and Russia, its latest effort to counter terrorist and militant activities, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar said on Sunday. Nigeria is battling jihadist group Boko Haram, which has waged a seven-year insurgency in the northern part of the country aimed at creating an Islamic state. The subsequent loss of crude oil output has hurt government revenues.
  
  Read more

• Climate change likely cause of freak avalanches

  04-12-2016 22:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Two vast ice avalanches that instantly changed the shape of a region in Tibet are being blamed on rising temperaturesFor thousands of years the ice-capped Aru mountain range in western Tibet has been a steady presence, but this year, two vast ice avalanches changed the shape of the region in an instant. The first, which occurred without warning on 17 July, sent 60m cubic metres (24,000 olympic swimming pools) of ice and rock tearing down a narrow valley in Rutog county, killing nine herders and
  
  Read more

• Inspired by Stephen Hawking’s call to work together | Letters

  04-12-2016 20:07 via theguardian.com
  
  Stephen Hawking (This is the most dangerous moment for our planet, 2 December) brought tears to my eyes; of all the articles published since the Brexit and Trump votes, this one, with his insight and suggestions as to how we should act now, is the most compelling. Whatever way people voted, whatever religion or nationality, we need to work together if our world is to survive for our grandchildren and future generations. As a retired GP, despairing about our NHS and wondering how best to act now,
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Electric cars as part of the surveillance state | Letters

  04-12-2016 20:06 via theguardian.com
  
  In response to Dr Robin Shipp’s letter about the unfair requirements for charging electric cars (3 December), I’d like to point out one more: that you can’t pay cash for a charge. Whether you pay with a smartphone (that tracks you whenever it is operating), or with a proposed swipecard (that would track you whenever you use it), it does you wrong by tracking your movements. You can fill your car with gasoline anonymously, paying cash; electric cars should offer the same. Relate
  
  Read more

• Climate countdown: is Australia on track to avoid catastrophe?

  04-12-2016 20:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Guardian Australia has partnered with NDEVR Environmental to produce a quarterly report calculating progress towards keeping global warming below 2Cby Nick Evershed and Michael Slezak Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Australia is blowing its carbon budget, projections reveal

  04-12-2016 20:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: In less than four years the country has ‘spent’ almost 20% of its greenhouse gas allowance to 2050, analysis showsAustralia’s greenhouse gas emissions are rising despite global reduction efforts, according to detailed projections made by the consultants NDEVR Environmental.Australia’s emissions jumped by 2.56m tonnes in the three months to September, putting them 1.55m tonnes off-track compared with commitments made in Paris, and 4.06m tonnes over levels demand
  
  Read more

• Direct Action review: Coalition leaves carbon trading option open

  04-12-2016 18:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Climate policy review will look at possible changes to safeguard mechanism, which could convert to baseline and credit scheme The Turnbull government has left open the option of reinstating a form of carbon trading in the electricity sector, allowing its looming review of the Direct Action climate policy to consider policy mechanisms to reduce emissions on a “sector-by-sector basis”.
  The government has also put the emissions reduction fund and its safeguard mechanism on the table for
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Saudi, Kuwait expect to restart Neutral Zone oilfields soon - sources

  04-12-2016 17:52
  Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are expected to agree this month to resume oil production from the jointly operated oilfields in the Neutral Zone that lies between both countries, industry sources told Reuters on Sunday. The closure of the Neutral Zone's fields, mainly Khafji and Wafra, has become a political sticking point between the two Gulf OPEC allies and senior officials have been trying to resolve the issue for months. Khafji was shut in October 2014 for environmental reasons and Wafra has been s
  
  Read more

• Colombia's ELN says peace talks will begin once rebels freed

  04-12-2016 17:21
  By Luis Jaime Acosta BOGOTA (Reuters) - Peace talks between the Colombian government and Marxist insurgent group the National Liberation Army (ELN) will begin only after a simultaneous release of a politician held by the guerrillas and two imprisoned rebels, an ELN leader said. Colombia's second-largest leftist rebel group and the government of President Juan Manuel Santos have agreed to begin peace negotiations in Ecuador, part of Santos' efforts to end a 52-year conflict that has killed more t
  
  Read more

• Saudi, Kuwait to restart Neutral Zone oilfields this month - sources

  04-12-2016 11:44
  DUBAI (Reuters) - Oil production is expected to resume this month at the jointly operated oilfields in the Neutral Zone that lies between the borders of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, industry sources told Reuters on Sunday. The Khafji field, which had been producing 280,000 to 300,000 barrels per day (bpd), was shut in October 2014 for environmental reasons. It is operated by Al-Khafji Joint Operations Co, a joint venture between Kuwait Gulf Oil Company and AGOC, a subsidiary of state oil firm Saudi
  
  Read more

• Gore says U.S. climate curbs on track, hopes Trump will surprise

  04-12-2016 11:06
  By Environment Correspondent Alister Doyle OSLO (Reuters) - U.S. greenhouse gas emissions are likely to fall irrespective of the pro-coal policies of President-elect Donald Trump, who may still surprise the world by embracing global action to limit climate change, former vice president Al Gore said. Gore, a climate activist who will lead a 24-hour televised marathon on Dec. 5-6 about global efforts to limit rising temperatures, told Reuters that companies and U.S. states would cut emissions desp
  
  Read more

• New app proves a nourishing idea for wasted food | Killian Fox

  04-12-2016 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The distribution of surplus food in Ireland is being transformed by FoodCloud. Killian Fox meets the duo behind the venture
  “Within one community, there can be a business that’s throwing away perfectly good food and just around the corner there’s a charity that’s struggling to feed people in need,” says Iseult Ward of FoodCloud, a remarkable social enterprise which she co-founded with Aoibheann O’Brien in 2012. “We wanted to connect the two.”Ward,
  
  Read more

• The trolling of Elon Musk: how US conservatives are attacking green tech

  04-12-2016 01:05 via theguardian.com
  
  Electric-car evangelist is the target of concerted negative online campaign linked to influential rightwing networkHe is the charismatic Silicon Valley entrepreneur who believes his many companies - including the electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors, solar power firm Solar City, and SpaceX, which makes reusable space rockets – can help resist man-made climate change.South African-born Elon Musk is a billionaire green evangelist, a bete noire of the fossil fuels industry who talks about c
  
  Read more

• The crunch of frost, starlings at dusk, a solitary robin: winter is a time of true wonder

  04-12-2016 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  The official start of winter was heralded by days of sharp sunshine. Country Life’s editor at large celebrates the season’s natural beautyWindscreens frozen, ground like iron, a vichyssoise of fog in the valleys – we’ve had the first intimations of a proper winter, and my friend’s blood is coursing. “Isn’t it the most exciting time of year?” he mumbled, from the depths of many layers of warm clothing. “I love the sharpness of the air, the cru
  
  Read more

Follow @UK_Environment on Twitter!