Environment news

• Humans Really Are Made of Stardust, and a New Study Proves It

  10-01-2017 23:10
  
  The crucial elements for life on Earth, often called the building blocks of life, can be abbreviated as CHNOPS: carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur. The researchers used stellar measurements from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey's (SDSS) Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) spectrograph in New Mexico. APOGEE can peer through the dust in the Milky Way because it uses infrared wavelengths, which pass through dust.
  
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• Oil slides 2 percent on strong dollar, doubts of OPEC output cuts

  10-01-2017 22:54
  By Devika Krishna Kumar NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell 2 percent on Tuesday to the lowest in nearly a month, extending the previous session's sell-off as the U.S. dollar strengthened and doubts mounted over whether producing countries would implement a deal to cut output. Saudi Arabia and other members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) appear to be reducing production, but it was unclear whether other big producers will follow suit. Iraq, OPEC's No. 2 producer
  
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• World Bank sees higher 2017 global growth, uncertainty over U.S. policy

  10-01-2017 22:06
  By David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The World Bank on Tuesday said global growth would accelerate slightly as recovering oil and commodity prices ease pressures on emerging-market commodity exporters and painful recessions in Brazil and Russia come to an end. In its latest Global Economic Prospects report, the multilateral lender said it expected 2017 real gross domestic product growth to rebound to 2.7 percent from a post-financial crisis low of 2.3 percent last year. Growth in advanced econ
  
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• 'Clean coal' project is a personal endeavour not linked to lobby groups, founder says

  10-01-2017 20:37
  
  Australian Power Project launched by former AGL spokesman, with assistance from former Malcolm Turnbull advisor, aims to give a voice to businesses ‘crippled’ by high energy costsA ‘clean coal’ advocacy organisation which is opposed to higher renewable energy targets and seeks to give a voice for businesses “being crippled by massive gas and electricity bills” has been launched by a former spokesman for AGL, with apparent assistance from a former advisor to Ma
  
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• 'Clean coal' advocacy group says businesses crippled by power bills

  10-01-2017 20:37
  
  Australian Power Project launched by former AGL spokesman, with assistance from former Malcolm Turnbull advisor A ‘clean coal’ advocacy organisation which is opposed to higher renewable energy targets and seeks to give a voice for businesses “being crippled by massive gas and electricity bills” has been launched by a former spokesman for AGL, with apparent assistance from a former advisor to Malcolm Turnbull.The Australian Power Project, which appears to have launched in
  
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• Warmer West Coast ocean conditions linked to increased risk of toxic shellfish

  10-01-2017 20:26 via feedproxy.google.com
  Hazardous levels of domoic acid, a natural toxin that accumulates in shellfish, have been linked to warmer ocean conditions in waters off Oregon and Washington for the first time by a NOAA-supported research team, led by Oregon State University scientists.Domoic acid, produced by certain types of marine algae, can accumulate in shellfish, fish and other marine animals. Consuming enough of the toxin can be harmful or even fatal. Public health agencies and seafood managers closely monitor toxin le
  
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• Ghana president names former investment banker as finance minister

  10-01-2017 19:59
  Ghana's new President Nana Akufo-Addo named the co-founder of investment bank Databank, Ken Ofori-Atta, as finance minister on Tuesday as he seeks to revitalise an economy that is heavily reliant on commodities. Akufo-Addo promises to create jobs, fight poverty, promote development and boost free market growth through cutting taxes and red tape. The new president has also pledged double-digit growth after a sharp slowdown since 2014 - largely due to the fall in prices of Ghana's cocoa, gold and
  
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• Snow monkey attempts sex with deer in rare example of interspecies mating

  10-01-2017 19:32
  
  Monkey’s unusual behaviour is only the second recorded observation of sexual interaction between distantly related wild animalsA male snow monkey has been observed attempting to have sex with female sika deer on Japan’s Yakushima Island, in an unusual example of interspecies mating behaviour. Related: Sandpipers go the extra 8,000 miles to have as much sex as possibleContinue reading...
  
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• Oil extends losses as dollar recovers, OPEC cut doubts weigh

  10-01-2017 19:18
  By Devika Krishna Kumar NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell about 1 percent on Tuesday, extending the previous session's sharp sell-off, as the U.S. dollar strengthened and doubts over implementation of a global deal to cut output loomed. Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), such as Saudi Arabia, appear to be reducing production under a global deal to rein in oversupply but it is unclear whether other big producers like Iraq will follow suit. Iraq, OPEC's sec
  
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• China: the secret lives of urban waste pickers

  10-01-2017 18:49
  
  Chinadialogue interviews two sociologists who have documented the hidden lives of waste pickers in recycling communities on the outskirts of BeijingRarely do we stop and question where our waste goes and who collects and sorts it. Waste pickers work at the margins of our lives, removing things we don’t want to see. In a new book, The Life of Waste, sociologists Wu Ka Ming and Zhang Jieying describe these unknown lives that play out on the outskirts of Beijing. They visit the village of Len
  
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• Japanese monkey tries to mate with deer

  10-01-2017 18:46 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A male Japanese monkey has been filmed trying to mount and mate with a Sika deer.
  
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• In a first, Bumble Bee is listed as endangered in continental U.S.

  10-01-2017 17:59 via feedproxy.google.com
  The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has placed the rusty patched bumble bee, once common in 28 states and two Canadian provinces, on the endangered species list, the first bee to receive such protection in the contiguous 48 states. 
  
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• Rapid Arctic warming has in the past shifted Southern Ocean winds

  10-01-2017 17:28 via feedproxy.google.com
  The global climate is a complex machine in which some pieces are separate yet others are connected. Scientists try to discover the connections to predict what will happen to our climate, especially in a future with more heat-trapping gases.
  
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• Press paws: point-of-view camera reveals polar bears in action – video

  10-01-2017 17:26
  
  Scientists from the US Geological Survey (USGS) attached a camera to a female polar’s neck to study behaviour, hunting and feeding rates. The camera was intended to capture polar bears’ daily activities and help researchers better understand how they respond to declining levels in sea ice. The footage was uploaded to the USGS Facebook page on Monday but was filmed in April 2016Thawing Arctic is turning oceans into graveyards
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• Bristol man in court accused of capturing protected butterflies

  10-01-2017 17:22
  
  Phillip Cullen denies six charges relating to large blues allegedly taken from sites in Somerset and GloucestershireA man has appeared in court accused of capturing and killing specimens of the UK’s rarest butterfly, the large blue. Phillip Cullen, 57, from Cadbury Heath, near Bristol, denies six charges relating to large blues that were allegedly taken from sites in Somerset and Gloucestershire.Continue reading...
  
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• NASA Study Finds a Connection Between Wildfires and Drought

  10-01-2017 17:03 via feedproxy.google.com
  For centuries drought has come and gone across northern sub-Saharan Africa. In recent years, water shortages have been most severe in the Sahel—a band of semi-arid land situated just south of the Sahara Desert and stretching coast-to-coast across the continent, from Senegal and Mauritania in the west to Sudan and Eritrea in the east. Drought struck the Sahel most recently in 2012, triggering food shortages for millions of people due to crop failure and soaring food prices.
  
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• Businesses and investors renew plea to Trump: don't ignore climate change

  10-01-2017 16:17
  
  A letter released today contains signatures from 530 companies including Campbell Soup and Johnson & Johnson, urging the president-elect to take actionMore than 600 businesses and investors signed and released a letter on Tuesday urging president-elect Donald Trump to fight climate change – a move that coincides with the start of the Senate hearings to confirm his cabinet nominees, who are poised to gut existing climate policies.The letter contains signatures from roughly 200 more comp
  
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• Insects feel the heat: scientists reveal rise in temperature affects ability to reproduce

  10-01-2017 15:59 via feedproxy.google.com
  Even a mild rise in temperature damages insect’s ability to reproduceInsect populations in high latitude countries are worst affectedIdentifying genes linked to increased and decreased reproduction may help understand how insects cope with climate change and controlling insect pestsWith 2016 reportedly the warmest year on record, scientists have discovered insects are already feeling the effects of climate change, as a rise in temperature is shown to damage their ability to reproduce.
  
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• Oil steady after recent fall as weaker dollar boosts prices

  10-01-2017 15:53
  By Christopher Johnson LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices steadied on Tuesday after a sharp sell-off as a fall in the dollar triggered a bout of short-covering, but analysts said the market looked vulnerable to further declines. Rising oil prices through December encouraged investors to buy large volumes of crude futures contracts and many of these "long" positions are likely to be unwound unless the market stays strong, analysts and brokers say. "I see this as a dead-cat bounce," said Ole Hansen, he
  
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• Donald Trump win 'won't sway world on climate'

  10-01-2017 15:22 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Targets on CO2 will continue despite a climate change sceptic becoming president, a UK minister says.
  
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• General Frost to the rescue: cold helps Russia comply with OPEC deal

  10-01-2017 15:17
  By Vladimir Soldatkin and Olesya Astakhova MOSCOW (Reuters) - It has defeated armies trying to invade Russia in the past, and now the fabled Russian winter has come to Moscow's rescue again, this time helping it comply with a deal among world oil exporters on cutting output. Russia, which has in the past been accused of dragging its feet in implementing oil production and exports deals, reduced production by 100,000 barrels a day in the first few days of January, industry sources told Reuters. L
  
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• Retroviruses 'almost half a billion years old'

  10-01-2017 14:55 via feedproxy.google.com
  Retroviruses – the family of viruses that includes HIV – are almost half a billion years old, according to new research by scientists at Oxford University. That's several hundred million years older than previously thought and suggests retroviruses have ancient marine origins, having been with their animal hosts through the evolutionary transition from sea to land.
  
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• Louisiana Faces Faster Levels of Sea-Level Rise Than Any Other Land on Earth

  10-01-2017 14:49 via feedproxy.google.com
  Louisiana—which faces faster levels of sea-level rise than any other land on Earth—could lose as many as 2,800 square miles of its coast over the next 40 years and about 27,000 buildings will need to be flood-proofed, elevated or bought out, the New Orleans Advocate reported.
  
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• Selling off the bank I founded could be the final nail for green Conservatism | Vince Cable

  10-01-2017 14:48
  
  The green investment bank was a true coalition success story. It must not be allowed to drift into obsolescence after its sale to MacquarieOne of the enduring achievements of the coalition government – an achievement that had and has strong all-party support – is the green investment bank. Since its creation in 2012 it has built a reputation for financially sound investments in green projects, and is recognised, inside and outside government, to be a success story that’s being
  
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• Apple named world's greenest tech firm in latest Greenpeace report

  10-01-2017 14:08
  
  Apple has been named the world's greenest major tech company for the third consecutive year in a new report released today (10 January) by Greenpeace.
  
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• Displacement fears fuel South Asia protests over infrastructure projects

  10-01-2017 14:01
  By Rina Chandran and Ruma Paul MUMBAI/DHAKA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Protests against a power plant in Bangladesh and an industrial zone in southern Sri Lanka highlight growing anger across South Asia at big development projects which displace villagers, analysts and activists said. Hundreds of villagers protested in the Bangladeshi capital at the weekend against the 1,320-megawatt Rampal power plant being built on 742 hectares (1,834 acres) of land at the edge of the World Heritage Sundar
  
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• Nick Hurd: Brexit offers the flexibility to strengthen Britain's decarbonisation commitments

  10-01-2017 13:22
  
  Climate Change Minister Nick Hurd has insisted that Brexit will give the UK the opportunity to look at the low-carbon transition through a "prism of national interests" that could lead to significant economic growth, but only if the Government can overcome multiple "difficult challenges".
  
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• UK to start approval process for Chinese nuclear reactor at Bradwell

  10-01-2017 13:07
  By Nina Chestney LONDON (Reuters) - The British government has asked nuclear regulators to start the process for approving a Chinese-designed reactor for a proposed plant in Britain, expected to be one of the first new plants in decades. General Nuclear Services (GNS), an industrial partnership between French utility EDF and China General Nuclear Power Corporation(CGN), hopes to use the design at a new nuclear station planned to be built in Bradwell, Essex. CGN intends to make a number of invest
  
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• Oil prices steady after recent falls on weaker dollar

  10-01-2017 12:19
  By Christopher Johnson LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices stabilised on Tuesday after a sharp sell-off as a fall in the dollar triggered a bout of short-covering, but analysts said the market remained vulnerable to further falls. Rising oil prices through December encouraged investors to buy large volumes of crude oil futures contracts and many of these "long" positions are likely to be unwound unless the market stays strong, analysts and brokers say. "I see this as a dead cat bounce," said Ole Hanse
  
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• Solar panel researchers investigate powering trains by bypassing grid

  10-01-2017 12:17
  
  Imperial College and climate change charity 10:10 to focus on connecting solar panels directly to train lines, reports BusinessGreenImperial College London has partnered with the climate change charity 10:10 to investigate the use of track-side solar panels to power trains, the two organisations announced yesterday.The renewable traction power project will see university researchers look at connecting solar panels directly to the lines that provide power to trains, a move that would bypass the e
  
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• Conservative media can't stop denying there was no global warming 'pause' | Dana Nuccitelli

  10-01-2017 12:00
  
  In the Spectator, the GWPF keeps denying facts and reality
  Scientists have proven time and time again that global warming continues unabated. Most recently, a study published last week showed that over the past two decades, the oceans have warmed faster than prior estimates. This study affirmed the findings of a 2015 NOAA paper – not surprisingly attacked by deniers – that removed a cool bias in the data, finding there never was a global warming “pause.”This particular my
  
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• Californians swap cars for canoes in latest flooding – video

  10-01-2017 11:58
  
  Residents in the state of California have been affected by high flood waters over past few days. As a result, many cars and properties are now submerged. Taking a chance between the deluge, many have ventured out in boats and canoes to assess the damage, as residents talk about their experiences
  California storms destroy drive-through tree as east coast thawsContinue reading...
  
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• Ford extends ride-sharing scheme as part of 'City of Tomorrow' vision

  10-01-2017 10:39
  
  Motor giant Ford has outlined its vision for the 'City of Tomorrow', which utilises technologies such as drones and the Internet of Things (IoT) to enhance urban driving to lower air pollution, with the firm also extending its Chariot ride-sharing services to eight cities.
  
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• Ford extends Chariot ride share scheme as part of 'City of Tomorrow' vision

  10-01-2017 10:39
  
  Motor giant Ford has outlined its vision for the 'City of Tomorrow', which utilises technologies such as drones and the Internet of Things (IoT) to enhance urban driving to lower air pollution, with the firm also extending its Chariot ride-sharing services to eight cities.
  
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• Africa's first grid-connected biogas plant powers up

  10-01-2017 10:31
  By Geoffrey Kamadi NAIVASHA, Kenya (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A commercial farm in Kenya has become Africa’s first electricity producer powered by biogas to sell surplus electricity to the national grid, cutting the carbon emissions associated with oil-powered generation. The Gorge Farm Energy Park in Naivasha produces 2 megawatts (MW) of electricity – more than enough to cultivate its 706 hectares (1,740 acres) of vegetables and flowers, and with sufficient surplus to meet the p
  
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• Once a trophy hunting concession, now a snow leopard sanctuary

  10-01-2017 10:07
  
  Snow leopards are showing up on camera traps in places they’d never been seen before – thanks to an innovative programme in Kyrgyzstan.Sometimes wildlife champions come as high as heads of state. Since taking office in 2011 the current president of Kyrgyzstan, Almazbek Atambayev, has turned the former Soviet Republic into a centre point for snow leopard conservation and research. Perhaps the best symbol of Atambayev’s commitment to snow leopards are recent camera trap photos sh
  
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• Courtald Commitment saves major UK brands £100m of food waste

  10-01-2017 10:00
  
  UK retailers and manufacturers have generated an estimated £100m in food waste savings over a three-year period as part of WRAP's Courtauld Commitment Phase 3, new figures released today (10 January) reveal.
  
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• Rosneft signs oil supply deal with firm linked to Qatar and Glencore

  10-01-2017 09:23
  Russian oil major Rosneft has concluded a deal with a company linked to Qatar and commodities trader Glencore to supply up to 55 million tonnes of crude in total over a 5-year period, Rosneft said in a statement on Tuesday. The agreement follows the acquisition of a 19.5 percent stake in Rosneft by Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) fund and Glencore last month for around 710 billion roubles ($11.8 billion). Under the terms of the acquisition, Glencore had said it would conclude a five-year supply
  
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• Brazil: Clash of cultures over Amazon dams

  10-01-2017 07:50 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Indigenous groups and river dwellers are battling the government and big corporations over the huge dams being built to meet Brazil's energy needs.
  
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• Bull shark charges Queensland diver, impales itself on spear – video

  10-01-2017 07:38
  
  Danny Henricks was spear fishing off the north Queensland coast when a bull shark shot out of the depths towards him. Luckily, he had the presence of mind to thrust the spear towards the charging shark, which became impaled. Henricks said of the terrifying encounter, which occurred in December: ‘I lunged forward with the gun a little bit just before he got there but most of it was his force.’ Henricks told the ABC he held on to the spear – which was driven through the shark&rsq
  
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• Government review likely to back Swansea Bay tidal lagoon

  10-01-2017 07:00
  
  £1.3bn plan is seen as ‘pathfinder’ for six bigger plants, which could generate more than 10% of UK’s electricity Plans for a pioneering tidal power lagoon in Swansea Bay are expected to be supported by a government-commissioned report this week, potentially unlocking a multibillion-pound series of projects harnessing electricity from the rise and fall of the tide around the UK.When ministers last year ordered a review to see if the technology could affordably provide gre
  
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• Inside Britain's deepest dry valley

  10-01-2017 06:30
  
  Devil’s Dyke, West Sussex I carefully descend the muddy paths down to the bottom, where it is strangely quietThe small car parks and lay-bys are full, and cars are already beginning to line the sides of the road. The morning sunshine has drawn the crowds to this beauty spot on the top of the South Downs, with its panoramic views of Brighton and the Channel to the south, and the Sussex Weald to the north. A crow calls from the black skeleton of a tree, making itself heard above the noise of
  
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• Parks Victoria staff used work credit cards for KFC to lure feral cats

  10-01-2017 06:20
  
  Credit card bill was $2.2m last year, and was also used to spend $347 at a jewellery store, $898 at a bike shop and $5,000 at JB Hi-Fi
  Parks Victoria staff have justified the use of their taxpayer-funded credit cards on hundreds of dollars worth of KFC because it is an effective bait for luring feral cats.On Monday Victoria’s environment minister, Lily D’Ambrosio, announced an external auditor would undertake an independent review of Parks Victoria’s credit card transactions ov
  
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• 'This is our future' – Kenya's croton tree touted as new biofuels crop

  10-01-2017 06:00
  
  Will the legacy of biofuel’s failure in Kenya prevent croton oil from transforming the industry? Tall, spindly and grey, croton trees grow everywhere in Kenya. Although they tend to be used for little more than firewood or shade, their nuts turn out to be an excellent source of biofuel. This overlooked plant could be the answer to Africa’s growing demand for cheap, low-carbon energy. At least that is what Eco Fuels Kenya hopes. Founded in 2012, this small company based in Nanyuki, in
  
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• Oil recovers some previous losses, but doubts over supply cuts linger

  10-01-2017 05:31
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil markets edged higher on Tuesday on expectations that at least some planned production cuts would be implemented, making a slight recovery from big losses the previous day over doubts the agreed reductions would rebalance an oversupplied market. Brent crude futures , the international benchmark for oil prices, were trading at $55.14 per barrel at 0426 GMT, up 20 cents from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were tr
  
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• Queensland community action prevents Santos from freely dumping coal seam gas waste

  10-01-2017 04:19
  
  Challenge by Western Downs Alliance prompts environment minister Josh Frydenberg to revamp approval of developmentLegal action by a Queensland community group has forced the federal government to stop Santos freely dumping coal seam gas waste water in Surat Basin rivers and streams.A federal court challenge by the Western Downs Alliance has prompted the minister for environment and energy, Josh Frydenberg, to revamp his approval of the Santos gasfield development, in what has been hailed as a vi
  
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• Warming world harming insects' reproduction, says study

  10-01-2017 03:12 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A warming world is harming insects ability to reproduce, which could have long-term consequences, scientists warn.
  
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• Primate tool-use: Chimpanzees make drinking sticks

  10-01-2017 03:10 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Critically endangered chimpanzees in Ivory Coast craft extra-absorbent drinking sticks, researchers observe.
  
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• Sydney air pollution alert issued as temperatures climb to 38C

  10-01-2017 03:02
  
  As city swelters, air quality in metropolitan area is deemed ‘poor’ and health department warns asthmas sufferers to be prepared and limit exposure An air pollution alert has been issued for Sydney residents due to a high level of ozone in the atmosphere, already exceeding government standards for the year.The NSW Office of Environment and Heritage put the air-quality forecast for Sydney’s metropolitan area on Tuesday as “poor”, denoting a score of 100-149 on the Ai
  
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• Sydney air pollution alert issued as temperature heads to 38C

  10-01-2017 03:02
  
  High ozone levels trigger air quality alert with health department warning asthma sufferers to be prepared and limit exposure An air pollution alert has been issued for Sydney residents due to a high level of ozone, already exceeding government standards for the entire year.The NSW Office of Environment and Heritage put the air-quality forecast for Sydney’s metropolitan area on Tuesday as “poor”, denoting a score of 100-149 on the Air Quality Index (AQI). “Hazardous&rdquo
  
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