Environment news

• 'Shrew'-d advice: Study of Arctic shrews, parasites indicates how climate change may affect ecosystems and communities

  12-01-2017 22:43 via feedproxy.google.com
  MANHATTAN — The shrew and its parasites — even 40-year-old preserved ones — are the new indicators of environmental change, according to a Kansas State University researcher. 
  
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• Nanoscience expert receives 2016 Dickson Prize in Science

  12-01-2017 22:17 via feedproxy.google.com
  EVANSTON - Chad A. Mirkin, the George B. Rathmann Professor of Chemistry in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and director of the International Institute for Nanotechnology at Northwestern University, has been awarded the 2016 Dickson Prize in Science.
  
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• Oil rises on supply cuts, record China demand forecast

  12-01-2017 21:47
  By David Gaffen NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose more than 1 percent on Thursday on news that key crude exporters, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, were cutting production to reduce a global crude glut, and on forecasts of record demand in China. U.S. crude futures settled up 76 cents to $53.01 a barrel, a gain of 1.5 percent. Brent crude oil settled up 91 cents, or 1.7 percent, at $56.01, off the session high of $56.43 a barrel.
  
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• Jane Fonda slams Justin Trudeau over climate efforts – video

  12-01-2017 21:43 via theguardian.com
  
  Actor Jane Fonda criticises Justin Trudeau while speaking in Edmonton on Wednesday, saying the Canadian prime minister ‘betrayed’ what he committed to in the Paris climate talks. Fonda says people should not be fooled by ‘good-looking liberals’ such as Trudeau, who disappointed her by approving pipelines from the Alberta oil sandsJane Fonda: don’t fall for ‘good-looking liberals’ like Trudeau on environment
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• Jane Fonda warns environmentalists about 'good-looking liberals' like Trudeau

  12-01-2017 20:48 via theguardian.com
  
  Canadian prime minister ‘betrayed’ what he committed to in Paris climate talks and ‘disappointed’ her by approving oil pipelines, political activist and actor saidActor Jane Fonda has said that people should not be fooled by “good-looking liberals” such as the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, who “disappointed” her by approving pipelines from the Alberta oil sands.Fonda said after touring the oil sands area that environmentalists everywhere
  
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• Jane Fonda: don't fall for 'good-looking liberals' like Trudeau on environment

  12-01-2017 20:48 via theguardian.com
  
  Canadian prime minister ‘betrayed’ what he committed to in Paris climate talks and ‘disappointed’ her by approving oil pipelines, political activist and actor saidActor Jane Fonda has said that people should not be fooled by “good-looking liberals” such as the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, who “disappointed” her by approving pipelines from the Alberta oil sands.Fonda said after touring the oil sands area that environmentalists everywhere
  
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• The case for farming subsidies after Brexit | Letters

  12-01-2017 20:24 via theguardian.com
  
  George Monbiot makes many good points (Farmers fear life outside the EU, but it could mean a rebirth for rural Britain, 11 January), including free markets’ impact on small farmers whose incomes fall in times of plenty. He could have said more on food security. Climate change, including gas escapes from frozen deposits, is a growing threat but pests, diseases, routine weather and even large volcanic eruptions (eg Tambora, 1815) can create havoc. So who is actually responsible for food
  
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• Gas companies have manufactured shortage myth, economist says

  12-01-2017 20:17 via theguardian.com
  
  But Shell Australia’s Andrew Smith says onshore gas production ban will lead to price hikes for Victorian manufacturersAustralia’s gas companies have manufactured a myth that there is a gas shortage, an economist with the Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis, Bruce Robertson, said.The idea that onshore coal seam gas exploration would ease pain for manufacturers by bringing down high local gas prices in a low-price global environment “goes against basic econom
  
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• Astronauts Explore Underground in Otherworldly 'CAVES' Video

  12-01-2017 20:15
  
  An immersive new video from the European Space Agency follows a crew exploring a cave network in Sardinia, Italy. The astronauts were taking part in the Cooperative Adventure for Valuing and Exercising human behaviour and performance Skills (CAVES) astronaut training program in July 2016. "The team explored further than any other CAVES course, mapping their progress and taking samples of the environment and life they found," ESA officials said in a statement.
  
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• Climate Model Suggests Collapse of Atlantic Circulation Is Possible

  12-01-2017 19:39 via feedproxy.google.com
  The idea of climate change causing a major ocean circulation pattern in the Atlantic Ocean to collapse with catastrophic effects has been the subject of doomsday thrillers in the movies, but in climate forecasts, it is mostly regarded as an extreme longshot.Now a new paper based on analysis done at a group of research centers including Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego shows that climate models may be drastically underestimating that possibility. A bia
  
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• Oil rises about 2 percent on supply cuts, record China demand forecast

  12-01-2017 19:09
  By Christopher Johnson and David Gaffen LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose nearly 2 percent on Thursday on news that key crude exporters, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, were cutting production as promised in a deal to reduce a global glut and on forecasts of record demand in China. Brent crude oil hit a high of $56.43 a barrel before easing slightly, and it was up 95 cents at $56.05 by 1:00 p.m. ET (1800 GMT). Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said the kingdom had cut production
  
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• Tidal lagoon: £1.3bn Swansea Bay project backed by review

  12-01-2017 18:43 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Plans for a £1.3bn tidal lagoon off Swansea are backed in a government-commissioned review.
  
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• Fiat Chrysler used software to cheat diesel emissions testing, EPA alleges

  12-01-2017 18:16 via theguardian.com
  
  The car company installed software in multiple models that ‘increases air pollution’ for three years, in violation of the Clean Air Act, EPA claimsThe US Environmental Protection Agency has accused a second major car company, Fiat Chrysler, of cheating on its diesel emissions testing by using secret software applications in multiple models.Related: Six Volkswagen executives charged with fraud over emissions cheatingContinue reading...
  
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• Whale menopause mystery solved

  12-01-2017 18:04 via bbc.co.uk
  
  By studying the long lives of killer whale families, researchers say they have solved the evolutionary mystery of the menopause.
  
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• Orcas reveal the origin of menopause

  12-01-2017 18:04 via bbc.co.uk
  
  By studying the long lives of killer whale families, researchers say they have solved the evolutionary mystery of the menopause.
  
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• Portugal to complain to EU over Spain's planned nuclear dump site

  12-01-2017 17:51
  Portugal will appeal to the European Commission over the planned construction by Spain of a nuclear waste storage facility at the Almaraz power plant because it fears cross-border environmental risks, Environment Minister Joao Matos Fernandes said on Thursday. Matos Fernandes spoke after talks with representatives of the Spanish government, whose announcement on Dec. 29 of the decision to build the storage facility took the Portuguese side by surprise. "Portugal will request the intervention of
  
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• Why It's Impossible to Predict When That Giant Antarctic Ice Sheet Will Split

  12-01-2017 17:26 via feedproxy.google.com
  OVER THE PAST several months, scientists working in Antarctica have been watching—with a mixture of professional fascination and personal horror—a fissure growing in the continent’s fourth-largest ice shelf. Since last November, the crack has lengthened by some 90 miles. It has 13 miles more before it rends completely, and a chunk of ice the size of Delaware goes bobbing into the Weddell Sea. The calving chunk could be a sign that the entire Larsen C ice shelf—nearly
  
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• Canada's Vast Source of Climate Pollution May Go Bust

  12-01-2017 16:42 via feedproxy.google.com
  The Canadian oil sands are one of the world’s largest sources of climate pollution and America’s biggest source of imported oil. And they may be about to go bust.Canada’s oil sands, also known as tar sands, are the world’s fourth-largest reserve of crude oil. Mining them unleashes massive volumes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, easing the way for global warming to blow past 2°C (3.6°F) — levels considered “dangerous” under t
  
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• Study describes new method to remove nickel from contaminated seawater

  12-01-2017 16:11 via feedproxy.google.com
  The same deposit that builds up in many tea kettles or water pipes in areas where calcium-rich water is the norm might be just the (cheap) ticket to rid contaminated seawater of toxic metals. This is according to a study by a research group led by Charlotte Carré of the University of New Caledonia in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia and published today in Springer’s journal Environmental Chemistry Letters. The researchers dipped electrodes made from galva
  
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• Europe should expand bee-harming pesticide ban, say campaigners

  12-01-2017 15:55 via theguardian.com
  
  The threat posed to bees by neonicotinoid pesticides is greater than perceived in 2013 when the EU adopted a partial ban, new report concludesEurope should expand a ban on bee-harming pesticides in light of a new report warning of widespread risks to agriculture and the environment, Greenpeace has said.
  The report by biologists at the University of Sussex and commissioned by Greenpeace, concluded that the threat posed to bees by neonicotinoid pesticides was greater than perceived in 2013 when th
  
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• Rusty Patched Bumblebee Declared Endangered

  12-01-2017 15:49
  
  The rusty patched bumblebee (Bombus affinis) is now the first bumblebee species to receive protections under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation first petitioned for the listing in 2013 and, in 2014, joined with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) to sue the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) for failing to act on the petition. The FWS subsequently issued a decision to list the bee as endangered in September 2016.
  
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• Beijing Creates Anti-Smog Police to Fight Air Pollution

  12-01-2017 15:26 via feedproxy.google.com
  Authorities in Beijing are taking new actions to resolve the city’s ongoing and harmful air pollution problem with the creation of an anti-smog police force — but will it help?Beijing’s acting mayor Cai Qi reportedly announced the initiative on Saturday, January 7. The dedicated branch of regulation enforcement will patrol the streets looking specifically for violations that could harm air quality, including open air barbecues, unlicensed burn
  
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• Oil up $1 on OPEC output cuts, China demand forecast

  12-01-2017 14:53
  By Christopher Johnson LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices rose more than $1 a barrel on Thursday on reports key OPEC members were starting to cut production as promised and on forecasts of strong demand growth in China. Brent crude rose $1.20 a barrel to a high of $56.30 before easing slightly to trade around $56.20 by 1330 GMT. Several OPEC members appear to be implementing the deal.
  
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• Lost British birdsong discovered in New Zealand birds

  12-01-2017 14:26 via theguardian.com
  
  Recordings of New Zealand yellowhammer accents enable scientists to hear how their British relatives might have sounded 150 years agoA new study reveals that a type of native birdsong, now lost in Britain, can still be heard in New Zealand where the birds were introduced in the 19th century.By comparing recordings of yellowhammer accents in both countries scientists were able to hear how the birds’ song might have sounded in the UK 150 years ago. Continue reading...
  
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• Swansea Bay tidal lagoon backed by government review

  12-01-2017 13:48 via theguardian.com
  
  Ex-energy minister Charles Hendry urges ministers to approve plans, which could provide UK with reliable and clean electricity A new generation of tidal lagoons that could provide the UK with reliable and clean electricity has been enthusiastically backed by a government-commissioned review.The report by a former energy minister urged the government to move to the final stages of negotiations with Tidal Lagoon Power, the company that wants to build a small trial lagoon in Swansea Bay and five la
  
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• Solar power to rise from Chernobyl's nuclear ashes

  12-01-2017 13:33 via theguardian.com
  
  Chinese companies plan to spend $1bn building a giant solar farm on land contaminated by the nuclear disaster in Ukraine, reports Climate News NetworkIt was the worst nuclear accident in history, directly causing the deaths of 50 people, with at least an additional 4,000 fatalities believed to be caused by exposure to radiation.
  The 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl power plant in Ukraine also resulted in vast areas of land being contaminated by nuclear fallout, with a 30-kilometre exclusion zone,
  
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• Swansea Bay: £1.3bn tidal lagoon project earns much-needed backing from Hendry Review

  12-01-2017 13:15
  
  Plans to build the world's first tidal lagoon-based renewable energy system in Swansea Bay have today (12 January) received support from a long-awaited, Government-commissioned review assessing the viability of the project.
  
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• On Wings of Waste: Plane fuelled by plastic waste completes trailblazing flight

  12-01-2017 12:39
  
  British-born pilot and environmentalist Jeremy Rowsell has made history this week by flying a light aircraft across Australia using a conventional fuel blended with fuel derived from plastic waste.
  
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• UK should go ahead with world's first tidal lagoon project - review

  12-01-2017 12:35
  By Susanna Twidale LONDON (Reuters) - Britain should go ahead with plans to build what would be the world's first tidal lagoon renewable power project, a government commissioned review said on Thursday. Britain needs to invest in major new infrastructure to replace aging coal and nuclear plants set to close in the 2020s, and also needs to reduce is greenhouse gas emissions to meet its climate targets. "The evidence is clear that tidal lagoons can play a cost effective role in the UK's energy mix
  
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• Global collaboration critical in averting climate hardship, says World Economic Forum

  12-01-2017 11:47
  
  The World Economic Forum (WEF) has called on global leaders to collaborate to avert "hardship and volatility" over the next 10 years - much of which will be intensified by extreme environmental dangers.
  
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• Samsung's rapid charge EV battery aims to remedy 'range anxiety'

  12-01-2017 10:53
  
  Korean technology company Samsung's lithium ion and renewables division wants to bring fast charging battery cell technology into mass production for electric vehicles (EVs), with the company offering 600km driving ranges and 20-minute charge times.
  
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• Oil rises on OPEC output cuts, China demand forecast

  12-01-2017 10:52
  By Christopher Johnson LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Thursday, supported by reports OPEC was starting to cut output and expectations of strong demand growth in China, but rising U.S. crude inventories reinforced concerns over plentiful global supplies. Brent crude oil was up 25 cents at $55.35 a barrel by 0930 GMT. Several OPEC members appear to be implementing the deal.
  
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• Premier Oil expects weak pound to help bottom line

  12-01-2017 10:36
  By Karolin Schaps LONDON (Reuters) - Premier Oil expects to continue reaping benefits from weak sterling this year, it said on Thursday, as the depreciating currency has brought down the cost of investments in Britain at a time when low oil prices have squeezed profits. The oil company said 2016 operating costs were 11 percent below expectations, mainly thanks to the weaker currency, at $15.7 a barrel and it expected to maintain this level in 2017 as it has hedged foreign-exchange exposure for t
  
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• Tidal lagoons 'could ensure UK power supplies'

  12-01-2017 09:51 via theguardian.com
  
  Former energy minister’s words will boost efforts to get Swansea Bay lagoon project off the groundTidal lagoons could play an important role in ensuring secure power supplies, according to a former energy minister who has led a review into the technology.
  Charles Hendry was speaking before the publication of his independent review, commissioned by the government, into the potential for tidal lagoon energy in the UK. Continue reading...
  
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• Oil rises on China demand forecast, but ample supplies hold prices back

  12-01-2017 09:03
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Thursday, supported by expectations of strong demand growth in China and signs that OPEC members are starting to cut output, but markets were still held back by rising U.S. crude inventories and plentiful global supplies. Prices for Brent crude futures , the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $55.29 a barrel at 0754 GMT, up 19 cents from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were trading a
  
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• Premier Oil sees 2016 revenue slip 10 percent despite record production

  12-01-2017 08:49
  North Sea-focused oil producer Premier Oil said full-year revenue slipped 10 percent year-on-year in preliminary results, despite production levels hitting an improved target. Premier Oil's 2016 production reached a record high of 71,400 barrels per day (bpd) and is expected to climb to 75,000 bpd this year without contribution from its new Catcher field, set to come on stream later this year.
  
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• P&G steps up circular economy commitment with bold zero-waste pledge

  12-01-2017 08:30
  
  Multinational consumer goods firm P&G has announced a major environmental New Year's Resolution: to effectively eliminate all manufacturing waste from its global network of more than 100 production sites by 2020.
  
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• Unilever achieves carbon-neutrality at 5 UK sites following green gas deal

  12-01-2017 08:15
  
  Just over a year on from announcing its pioneering pledge to become a carbon-positive business by 2030, Unilever has signed a contract to use biomethane to power five of its sites across the UK and Ireland.
  
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• Is the justice system failing British cyclists? Help us find out

  12-01-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The co-chair of parliament’s all-party cycling committee introduces its inquiry into how cyclists are treated by the police and courtsWhat stops more people from cycling? The answer is clear: too many people feel unsafe using Britain’s roads.Almost two-thirds of people agree with the statement, “It is too dangerous for me to cycle on the roads.” Yet roads are too often all that people have available to them.Continue reading...
  
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• Under the thrum of the A1: sunbeams, hoofprints and pearly ice spears

  12-01-2017 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Sandy, Bedfordshire In the concrete underpass, chemicals leach and stain, yet here the sun can pierce blight with beautyTwo bridges cross the river, 300 metres and an aesthetic mile apart. A little downstream, 18th-century builders had carried the old Great North Road over the Ivel in the only way they knew, fashioning pretty arches from local stone and a humpbacked road wide enough for two carriages to pass. Here, their 20th-century counterparts twinned it with something bigger. Committed to a
  
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• Victoria's plans for hydrogen exports to Japan are 'way of making brown coal look green'

  12-01-2017 06:03 via theguardian.com
  
  Proposed plant would would be run by Kawasaki Heavy Industries and produce liquid hydrogen for use in vehiclesVictorian government plans to work with a Japanese company to produce hydrogen from brown coal in the Latrobe Valley are “a way of making brown coal look green”, according to one expert.The proposed plant, which would be run by Kawasaki Heavy Industries as part of their Kawasaki Hydrogen Road project, would produce liquid hydrogen that would then be exported to Japan to be us
  
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• Almost 75% of Japan's biggest coral reef has died from bleaching, says report

  12-01-2017 05:22 via theguardian.com
  
  Coral in the Sekisei lagoon in Okinawa has turned brown and is covered with algae, according to a government studyAlmost three-quarters of Japan’s biggest coral reef has died, according to a report that blames its demise on rising sea temperatures caused by global warming.
  The Japanese environment ministry said that 70% of the Sekisei lagoon in Okinawa had been killed by a phenomenon known as bleaching. Continue reading...
  
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• Quokka escapes Rottnest Island on garbage barge, sparking fears for survival

  12-01-2017 04:11 via theguardian.com
  
  Search under way after marsupial startles recycling centre worker who thought it was a large ratAuthorities in Western Australia are searching for a quokka that apparently escaped Rottnest Island in a rubbish bin and reemerged on the mainland, startling a recycling centre worker who thought it was a “large rat”.Native to WA and famous for smiling happily in selfies, quokkas were largely eradicated on the mainland and survived thanks to a large, isolated population on Rottnest Island,
  
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• AGL fined $124,000 for failing to declare political donations

  12-01-2017 03:42 via theguardian.com
  
  Energy giant failed to declare donations it made to NSW major parties at a time when it was seeking development approvals for projects on state’s mid-north coastEnergy giant AGL has been fined $124,000 for failing to declare political donations it made to the New South Wales Labor, Liberal and National parties.The penalty, handed down in the NSW Land and Environment Court on Thursday, comes after AGL last year pleaded guilty to 11 counts of breaking political disclosure laws between Januar
  
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• China detains 720, imposes $21.8 million of fines in pollution crackdown - media

  12-01-2017 03:24
  China detained 720 people and Beijing imposed $21.8 million (17.9 million pounds) of fines for violating environmental protection laws in 2016, according to domestic media on Thursday. China is in the third year of a "war on pollution" aimed at containing the damage done to its air, soil and water after decades of rapid economic growth. Just last week, Beijing faced severe pollution alerts, which forced people to stay indoors.
  
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• Oil dips on rising U.S. crude inventories, plentiful global supplies

  12-01-2017 02:51
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices dipped on Thursday on the back of rising U.S. crude inventories and plentiful supplies, despite emerging output cuts from OPEC and other producers. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were trading at $52.18 a barrel at 0141 GMT, down 7 cents from their last settlement. Prices for Brent crude futures , the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $55.06 a barrel, down 4 cents.
  
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• Oil steady after U.S. storage data sends mixed signals

  12-01-2017 01:53
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices were steady early on Thursday after U.S. crude and refined product stocks sent mixed messages to the market, with ongoing uncertainty over OPEC compliance with planned output reductions also in focus. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were trading at $52.24 a barrel at 0040 GMT, virtually unchanged from their last settlement. Prices for Brent crude futures , the international benchmark for oil prices, were yet to trade.
  
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• Arizona city sees success keeping its night sky dark

  12-01-2017 00:58
  FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — A decadeslong commitment to preserving a dark sky for stargazers and wildlife is paying off for a small Arizona city, with satellite images showing far less excess artificial light than cities of comparable size, the National Park Service said.
  
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• Mexico's Pemex says new procurement rules aimed at combating graft

  12-01-2017 00:10
  Mexico's state oil company Pemex [PEMX.UL] said on Wednesday that updated procurement policies, such as renegotiating service contracts and fewer no-bid purchases, have led to more than 24 billion pesos ($1.10 billion) in savings for the cash-strapped firm. Miguel Angel Servin, the company's top procurement executive, said in a phone interview that beyond the savings, which occurred over the past year, the bigger goal is to minimize acts of corruption in its purchases. For me, that's what's behi
  
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