Environment news

• Oil dives 2 percent, strong dollar knocks crude off 18-month high

  03-01-2017 21:42
  By Scott DiSavino NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices slid more than 2 percent on the first trading day of 2017, knocked off 18-month highs hit in early trade as the U.S. dollar rallied to its highest level since 2002 and traders took profits. Brent futures fell $1.35, or 2.4 percent, to settle at $55.47 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude lost $1.39, or 2.6 percent, to settle at $52.33, its lowest close in two weeks. Before the slide began, both contracts hit their highest leve
  
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• Do David Attenborough’s programmes help or hinder the natural world? | Letters

  03-01-2017 19:33 via theguardian.com
  
  It takes a brave man to take a shot at a national treasure, and they don’t come any more treasured than David Attenborough, so hats off to Martin Hughes-Games for bravery (Why Planet Earth II should have been taxed, 2 January). But I fear he’s wrong. He says programmes like Planet Earth II lull us “into a false sense of security” as wildlife species are decimated across the globe. That is almost certainly correct, but one thing we’ve learned from last year’s E
  
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• Science to look out for in 2017

  03-01-2017 19:08 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Rebecca Morelle looks ahead to some of the big events in science expected in 2017.
  
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• Will 2017 be the year we get serious about sustainable food?

  03-01-2017 19:03 via theguardian.com
  
  The next few years could be pivotal for sustainable food in the realms of organic farming, sustainable fishing and plant based meat alternativesAmericans love to eat. Each person devours, on average, 1,996 lbs – or nearly a ton – of food per year. The enormous effort to satisfy that big appetite creates significant environmental impacts, from fertilizers leaching into our water supplies and overfishing to massive die-offs of bees from pesticides and habitat loss. Our eating habits co
  
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• Oil turns negative on strong dollar after hitting 18-month highs

  03-01-2017 18:14
  By Scott DiSavino NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices turned negative after earlier hitting 18-month highs on Tuesday, the first trading day of 2017, as the U.S. dollar rallied to its highest since 2002. Traders said crude prices were buoyed earlier in the day by hopes that a deal between OPEC and other big oil exporters to cut production, which kicked in on Sunday, will drain a global supply glut. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 95 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $52.77 per barrel.
  
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• The cave of wonders that is Travel in London report number nine

  03-01-2017 17:48 via theguardian.com
  
  Transport for London’s latest annual orgy of statistical delights tells of ongoing successes and growing challenges with keeping the capital moving Don’t get too excited by recent “news” that Sadiq Khan is buying no more New Routemaster buses for London’s fleet. After all, he first informed the world that he has dumped the “Boris Bus” near the end of May last year, confirming a manifesto promise he had made loud and often during the mayoral election camp
  
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• 'Klingon Newt' and 'Ziggy Stardust' Snake: New Species Found in Asia

  03-01-2017 17:33
  A newt that resembles a Klingon from "Star Trek" and a snake with iridescent rainbow scales that calls to mind David Bowie's colorful extraterrestrial alter ego Ziggy Stardust are two of 163 new species recently discovered in Southeast Asia. Amphibians, reptiles, plants and mammals that were previously unknown to science were found during expeditions to some of the most remote areas in the Greater Mekong — a region that encompasses Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar — wher
  
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• New beginning for illegally traded endangered species

  03-01-2017 17:31 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Illegally traded endangered species that escape to form secondary populations offer opportunities for their long-term survival, a study suggests.
  
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• Oil touches 18-month highs before paring gains on strong dollar

  03-01-2017 17:16
  By Scott DiSavino NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices pared gains after earlier hitting 18-month highs on Tuesday, the first trading day of 2017, as the U.S. dollar rallied to its highest since 2002. Crude prices were buoyed earlier in the day by hopes that a deal between OPEC and other big oil exporters to cut production, which kicked in on Sunday, will drain a global supply glut. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up 46 cents, or 0.9 percent, at $54.18 per barrel.
  
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• Lavish Carpet Fragments Recovered from 17th-Century Dutch Shipwreck

  03-01-2017 17:14
  
  Fragments of a carpet that had been buried at the bottom of the sea for nearly 400 years are now on display in the Netherlands. Based on the patterns, colors and weaving techniques, art historians concluded that the fabric was likely manufactured in Lahore, in present-day Pakistan, during the second quarter of the 17th century, according to the Kaap Skil museum on Texel Island, which started exhibiting the rare textile this week. During the Dutch Golden Age, ships traveling to and from Amsterdam
  
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• Colorful Hawaiian Fish Named in Honor of President Obama

  03-01-2017 17:12
  
  Next time he's vacationing in Hawaii, President Barack Obama might just bump into his new namesake: a pink, yellow and blue coral-reef fish that researchers have named in the president's honor. Researchers discovered the previously unknown fish species, now dubbed Tosanoides obama, during a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) expedition to Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the remote Northwestern Hawaiian Islands in June 2016. "We decided to name this fis
  
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• Magnetic Supersense Could Inspire Ultrasensitive Prosthetic Limbs

  03-01-2017 16:30
  
  Robots that are capable of "feeling" their way around the world, thanks to hairy electronic skin, could be one step closer to reality, according to a new study. Teensy electronic hairs, which sense minute vibrations through changes in their magnetic field, not only give robots a supersense of touch, but could also give people with prosthetic limbs a better feel for their surroundings, the researchers said. "We are interested in integrating the sensor into robotic arms for people with disabilitie
  
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• UK manufacturers could invest £2.5bn in clean energy by 2025, Barclays claims

  03-01-2017 15:28
  
  British manufacturers could inject £2.56bn into the UK economy and cut energy consumption by nearly a third over the next decade by investing in clean technologies and efficiency measures, according to research from British multinational bank Barclays.
  
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• Drought worsens deadly battle between Fulani herdsmen and farmers in Nigeria

  03-01-2017 15:06 via theguardian.com
  
  Mass killings continue across Nigeria, part of a long-running conflict between herders and farmers, with the state seemingly powerless to stop the violenceRachel Amida*, a 52-year-old farmer in Adamawa state, north-eastern Nigeria, points to a small heap of maize laid on the ground just outside her home. “If it wasn’t for the herdsmen we would have had much more,” she says. “It is making it harder to survive when we are harvesting only a portion of what we sowed.”On
  
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• UK takes action to uphold sustainable fishing amid toxic chemical concerns

  03-01-2017 14:13
  
  As the UK launches the latest phase of its proposals to help achieve sustainable fishing levels by 2020, new research has exposed a 10-fold rise in the use of toxic chemicals on Scottish salmon farms over the past 10 years.
  
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• 'World first': Indian firm succeeds with subsidy-free carbon capture and utilisation project

  03-01-2017 13:32
  
  An Indian chemicals company has introduced a world first to the carbon capture market, by utilising subsidy-free technology to turn CO2 from its own boilers into make base chemicals with a wide range of uses.
  
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• Oil business seen in strong position as Trump tackles tax reform

  03-01-2017 13:19
  By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Big Oil could be in a unique position to protect its interests against a Republican proposal to tax imports, given that President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet is studded with oil champions sensitive to the risk of higher gasoline prices. Trump's emerging leadership includes Exxon Mobil Corp Chief Executive Officer Rex Tillerson as secretary of state, former Texas Governor Rick Perry as energy secretary and Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt as Environme
  
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• SpaceX Completes Rocket Explosion Investigation, Aims for Jan. 8 Launch

  03-01-2017 13:18
  
  In a statement posted on the SpaceX website Jan. 2, the company said the explosion was caused by the failure of one of three helium tanks, known as composite overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs), inside the liquid oxygen tank in the rocket’s second stage. Other COPVs recovered from the Falcon 9 showed buckling of their liners, although what caused the buckling isn't stated. SpaceX said that the buckling, in and of itself, did not cause the tanks to fail.
  
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• Germany 'pollution spike' follows New Year's Eve fireworks

  03-01-2017 13:08 via bbc.co.uk
  
  New Year fireworks contributed to high pollution levels in German cities, official figures suggest.
  
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• Conservationists get their talons out for Japan's owl cafes

  03-01-2017 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  ‘Lucky’ owls are the latest animal to join Japan’s growing list of themed pet cafes but welfare groups are calling for the practice to stopSeveral owl species sit tied to a makeshift wooden perch as a TV plays a loud animated owl-themed film behind them in the dimly lit room.This is Tokyo’s Akiba Fukurou owl cafe, filled with locals and snap-happy tourists even on a weekday morning and as the countdown to 2017 begins, its resident owls will be petted and photographed by m
  
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• World's oldest known killer whale Granny dies

  03-01-2017 12:51 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The world's oldest known killer whale, estimated to be 105 years old, is missing and presumed dead, researchers say.
  
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• World's smallest elephants killed for ivory in Borneo

  03-01-2017 12:42 via theguardian.com
  
  Asian elephants have faced less poaching than their African cousins but the latest grisly finds have led conservationists to worry for their survivalEven the planet’s smallest elephants, tucked away on the island of Borneo, are no longer immune to the global poaching crisis for ivory. On New Year’s Eve, wildlife officials in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, found the bones of a beloved male elephant, nicknamed Sabre for his unusual tusks that slanted downwards like the extinct sabre-toothed
  
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• 'Better estimate' of volcanic ash cloud return

  03-01-2017 12:40 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Potentially disruptive volcanic ash clouds cross Northern Europe more frequently than previously thought, according to a new study.
  
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• France becomes second country to issue green bonds

  03-01-2017 12:39
  
  France today (3 January) launched its first green bonds, becoming only the second country to do so, after Poland. But the absence of international standards has raised questions at the European Commission.
  
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• Smog returns, but Beijing says skies are getting cleaner

  03-01-2017 11:54
  The Chinese capital was on the second-highest orange smog alert in the depth of winter on Tuesday but city officials said the air quality was improving overall, citing data for last year. Hundreds of flights were cancelled and highways closed across northern China over the new year holiday as average concentrations of small breathable particles known as PM2.5 soared above 500 micrograms per cubic metre in Beijing and surrounding regions. Pollution alerts are common in northern China, especially
  
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• Prices plunge as 2017 coal, carbon and power turn bearish

  03-01-2017 11:44
  (Reuters) - UK prompt gas prices plunged on Tuesday, the first full trading day of 2017, as weak demand and ramped-up North Sea supply wiped out more of last month's gains, matched by sell-offs on European coal, carbon and power markets. Trading in 2017 got off to a bearish start with the exception of Brent crude oil, rising to $58 a barrel amid hopes for production cuts, even as power plant fuels faced sharp selling pressure. [O/R] The price of gas for instant delivery fell by 3.15 pence or 5.9
  
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• Oil hits 18-month highs as markets eye output cuts

  03-01-2017 11:01
  By Christopher Johnson LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices hit 18-month highs on Tuesday, the first trading day of 2017, buoyed by hopes that a deal between OPEC and non-OPEC members to cut production, which kicked in on Sunday, will drain a global supply glut. Elsewhere, non-OPEC Middle Eastern oil producer Oman told customers last week that it would cut its crude oil term allocation volumes by 5 percent in March.
  
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• Wildlife on your doorstep: share your January photos

  03-01-2017 10:52 via theguardian.com
  
  What sort of wildlife will you discover in the early days of the new year?2017 is upon us and wintry conditions will be dominating the northern hemisphere in the weeks ahead. Meanwhile the southern hemisphere will be basking in summer sunshine and the heat that goes with it. So what sort of wildlife will we all discover on our doorsteps? We’d love to see your photos of the January wildlife near you.Share your photos and videos with us and we’ll feature our favourites on the Guardian
  
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• Cornish village marks 25 years of UK wind power

  03-01-2017 10:45 via theguardian.com
  
  The UK’s first commercial windfarm in Delabole has produced enough energy to boil 3.4bn kettles since it began in 1991, when people dismissed the idea. Now it’s one of more than 1,000 onshore projects across the country From Pam the lollipop lady to the repairs for a storm-battered church roof, the fruits of wind power are not hard to find in Delabole. The residents of this Cornish village have lived alongside the UK’s first commercial windfarm since it was built in the year th
  
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• India's double first in climate battle

  03-01-2017 08:41 via bbc.co.uk
  
  India opens two world-leading clean energy projects - the world's biggest solar farm and a chemicals plant using CO2 to make baking powder.
  
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• China says some factories have violated anti-smog measures

  03-01-2017 08:05
  
  China's environmental ministry said Tuesday that an unspecified number of companies had violated measures meant to reduce smog during a period of particularly noxious pollution in the country. The Ministry ...
  
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• Indian firm makes carbon capture breakthrough

  03-01-2017 07:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Carbonclean is turning planet-heating emissions into profit by converting CO2 into baking powder – and could lock up 60,000 tonnes of CO2 a yearA breakthrough in the race to make useful products out of planet-heating CO2 emissions has been made in southern India.
  A plant at the industrial port of Tuticorin is capturing CO2 from its own coal-powered boiler and using it to make soda ash – aka baking powder.Continue reading...
  
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• Beyond the penumbra of fear

  03-01-2017 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Thursford, Norfolk Occasionally one blackbird would position herself so close to the glass that you felt sure she was looking at youA friend and fellow wood-owner has built a hide in his patch that’s sunk into the ground so that windows, which are fitted with one-way glass, look out at eye-level over a nearby pond. From its interior you have the most intimate ringside views of the wildlife – which, meanwhile, hasn’t any inkling of human presence. Related: Here for the dawnConti
  
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• Beijing skyline swallowed by smog cloud in timelapse footage – video

  03-01-2017 05:05 via theguardian.com
  
  Timelapse video shot from a Beijing bank on Monday shows a thick cloud of yellow smog swallowing buildings as it rolls into the city. The footage was taken by Chas Pope, a British engineering consultant, and was shot over just 20 minutes. Many cities in China have been placed on ‘red alert’ due to soaring air pollution levels in the first days of 2017. Clouds of smog have forced flights to be cancelled and roads to be closed and have effectively left some people trapped in their home
  
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• Oil prices rise as markets eye OPEC, non-OPEC production cuts

  03-01-2017 01:33
  By Jane Chung SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. oil prices rose in the first trading hours of 2017 on Tuesday, buoyed by a deal for OPEC and non-OPEC production cuts which kicked off on Sunday. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices were up 35 cents, or 0.7 percent, at $54.07 at 0010 GMT, not far from last year's high of $54.51 reached on Dec. 12. International Brent crude oil was yet to trade after closing up 68 cents at $56.82 per barrel on Friday.
  
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• Woodland Trust sees worst year for flytipping on record

  03-01-2017 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Charity reports 196 incidents of waste dumped in its woods and lands, bringing annual bill for dealing with rubbish in woodlands to £354,000The Woodland Trust has suffered its worst year on record for flytipping, with almost 200 incidents of rubbish dumped in its woods and land.The charity has spent £42,596 on clearing up 196 incidents of flytipped waste this year, bringing the overall bill for dealing with litter in its woodlands to around £354,000 in 2016. Costs are up substa
  
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