Environment news

• Heat Record: How NASA Knows 2016 Was the Hottest Year

  18-01-2017 23:33
  
  The year 2016 was the warmest year in the modern record, NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) officials said today (Jan. 18). In a news conference today, NASA and NOAA released independent analyses of global temperatures that each came to the same conclusion: 2016 is very likely the hottest year on record, followed by 2015 and then 2014. "You're seeing warmth throughout the world: higher on land than in the ocean, higher in the Northern Hemisphere than the Southern Hem
  
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• Church of England groups tentatively back fracking

  18-01-2017 23:13 via theguardian.com
  
  The stance is at odds with some Christian environmentalists, but the church says there are caveats to its supportThe fracking industry has praised the Church of England (CoE) after two groups at the church tentatively backed the controversial technology as a way to help the UK cut carbon emissions.Shale gas was a “potentially useful element” in switching to a low-carbon economy as it was cleaner than coal, so long as it did not harm renewable energy’s expansion, a church briefi
  
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• Church of England groups praise fracking as a way to cut carbon emissions

  18-01-2017 23:13 via theguardian.com
  
  The stance is outraging Christian environmentalists, but the church says there are caveats to its supportThe fracking industry has praised the Church of England (CoE) after two groups at the church tentatively backed the controversial technology as a way to help the UK cut carbon emissions.Shale gas was a “potentially useful element” in switching to a low-carbon economy as it was cleaner than coal, so long as it did not harm renewable energy’s expansion, a church briefing paper
  
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• Trump's EPA nominee Scott Pruitt grilled on oil company ties

  18-01-2017 23:06 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Donald Trump's choice to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, has faced some tough questioning at his confirmation hearing.
  
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• Oil prices fall on strong dollar, U.S. output rise expectations

  18-01-2017 22:47
  By Scott DiSavino NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Wednesday to their lowest in a week, on a strong dollar and expectations that U.S. producers would boost output even as OPEC's output fell from a record high. U.S. shale production is set to snap a three-month decline in February, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Tuesday, as energy firms boost drilling activity. Brent crude ended the session at $53.92 per barrel, down $1.55 or 2.79 percent, while U.S. crude settled at $5
  
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• Heat from Earth's core could be underlying force in plate tectonics

  18-01-2017 21:46 via feedproxy.google.com
  For decades, scientists have theorized that the movement of Earth’s tectonic plates is driven largely by negative buoyancy created as they cool. New research, however, shows plate dynamics are driven significantly by the additional force of heat drawn from the Earth’s core.The new findings also challenge the theory that underwater mountain ranges known as mid-ocean ridges are passive boundaries between moving plates. The findings show the East Pacific Rise, the Earth’s dominant
  
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• Research shows driving factors behind changes between local and global carbon cycles

  18-01-2017 21:24 via feedproxy.google.com
  Pioneering new research has provided a fascinating new insight in the quest to determine whether temperature or water availability is the most influential factor in determining the success of global, land-based carbon sinks.The research, carried out by an international team of climate scientists including Professors Pierre Friedlingstein and Stephen Sitch from the University of Exeter, has revealed new clues on how land carbon sinks are regulated on both local and global scal
  
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• The Guardian view on Trump and global warming: the right fight | Editorial

  18-01-2017 21:10 via theguardian.com
  
  The president-elect should understand that America needs to shoulder global responsibilities, and that in doing so America will benefit by owning the technologies of the futureOn climate change, like so many other things, the world is going one way and Donald Trump is going the other. On Twitter the president-elect has claimed manmade global warming was a hoax invented by China to increase its trade surplus with the US. However, for most Americans, like most other people on the globe, daily life
  
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• Make America great again by embracing green tech, Trump urged

  18-01-2017 21:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Fulfilling pledge to boost fossil fuels will mean US misses out on huge market for clean energy, experts sayLeading climate change experts have urged Donald Trump not to turn his back on the biggest global challenge facing mankind, arguing that he can make America great again – and the world safer – by standing up to global warming and embracing the trillion-dollar green tech revolution. As new data showed that 2016 was the hottest year on record, scientists, government advisers and
  
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• Decline in EU workers hits UK agriculture, Lords inquiry told

  18-01-2017 20:57 via theguardian.com
  
  National Farmers Union labour survey highlights sharp decline in availability of seasonal EU workers following Brexit voteBritish agriculture has already been hit by a sharp decline in EU migrants willing to undertake seasonal work since the Brexit vote, a House of Lords inquiry has been told.The evidence of “a dramatic change in the availability of EU labour” in the last six months comes as the government’s chief adviser on migration warned that post-Brexit curbs on low-skille
  
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• Prehistoric mega-lake sediment offers key insight into how inland regions responded to "super-greenhouse" event

  18-01-2017 20:56 via feedproxy.google.com
  Sediment found at the site of one of the largest lakes in Earth’s history could provide a fascinating new insight into how inland regions responded to global climate change millions of years ago.A pioneering new study, carried out by a team of British-based researchers, has analysed sediments from the site of the vast lake which formed in the Sichuan Basin, in China, around 183 million years ago in the Jurassic period.
  
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• Green Sahara's Ancient Rainfall Regime Revealed by Scientists

  18-01-2017 20:43 via feedproxy.google.com
  Rainfall patterns in the Sahara during the 6,000-year "Green Sahara" period have been pinpointed by analyzing marine sediments, according to new research led by a UA geoscientist.What is now the Sahara Desert was the home to hunter-gatherers who made their living off the animals and plants that lived in the region's savannahs and wooded grasslands 5,000 to 11,000 years ago.
  
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• Primates facing 'extinction crisis'

  18-01-2017 20:20 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Primates are facing an extinction crisis, according to researchers who have found that 60% of species are under threat.
  
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• Over half of world's wild primate species face extinction, report reveals

  18-01-2017 20:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Researchers warn of approaching ‘major extinction event’ if action is not taken to protect around 300 species, including gorillas, chimps, lemurs and lorisesMore than half of the world’s apes, monkeys, lemurs and lorises are now threatened with extinction as agriculture and industrial activities destroy forest habitats and the animals’ populations are hit by hunting and trade.In the most bleak assessment of primates to date, conservationists found that 60% of the wild spe
  
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• Dakota Access pipeline activists say police have used 'excessive' force

  18-01-2017 19:57 via theguardian.com
  
  Firsthand accounts from Native Americans along with live footage suggest that police deployed ‘less than lethal’ weapons against unarmed peopleNorth Dakota law enforcement and the national guard have responded to the latest Standing Rock demonstrations with an aggressive show of force, according to indigenous activists who fear that police violence will escalate after Donald Trump’s inauguration. Related: Standing Rock activists eye pipeline finances to cement Dakota Access win
  
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• Standing Rock activists clash with police – video

  18-01-2017 19:55 via theguardian.com
  
  Amateur footage shot on Monday shows Standing Rock activists clashing with police and the National Guard, as demonstrations continue over the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline in Cannon Ball, North Dakota. Activists live streamed some of their encounters with police, which at times turned violent Continue reading...
  
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• Shell bolsters offshore wind interests with bid in U.S. tender

  18-01-2017 18:54
  Royal Dutch Shell has been shortlisted by the U.S. government to make a bid for an offshore wind project licence in the waters off North Carolina, as it comes under pressure from shareholders to diversify into green energy. Shell, as well as Norway's Statoil , qualified to participate in the upcoming leasing round offshore Kitty Hawk, the U.S. interior ministry said on Tuesday. Shell's core business of producing oil and gas is reeling after more than two years of weak prices.
  
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• Defra outlines five-year climate action plan in national risk assessment

  18-01-2017 18:31
  
  On the same day that the Met Office confirmed that 2016 was the hottest year since records began, the UK Government has today (18 January) highlighted the need to ramp up national efforts on climate change over the next five years in a new report of its own.
  
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• Oil prices edge lower with U.S. production expected to rise

  18-01-2017 18:24
  By Scott DiSavino NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell to their lowest level in a week on Wednesday on expectations U.S. producers would boost output, while OPEC signalled a drop in the global oil supply surplus this year as the producer group's output fell from a record high. Brent futures were down 33 cents, or 0.6 percent, at $55.14 a barrel by 11:49 a.m. EST (1649 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 40 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $52.08. Both contracts were down over $1 e
  
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• Al Gore's Inconvenient Sequel to open Sundance in acutely political year

  18-01-2017 18:24 via theguardian.com
  
  Politics looks set to overshadow Utah film festival’s 2017 edition, with a march by women film-makers, a documentary on Donald Trump’s presidential victory, and a slew of films on climate change. Then there’s Jack Black’s skit on polkaThe first film on the screening schedule for the 2017 edition of the Sundance film festival is Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, a follow-up to his 2006 Oscar winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth. Truth to Power is
  
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• World temperatures hit new high in 2016 for third year in a row

  18-01-2017 17:34
  By Alister Doyle OSLO (Reuters) - World temperatures hit a record high for the third year in a row in 2016, creeping closer to a ceiling set for global warming with extremes including unprecedented heat in India and ice melt in the Arctic, U.S. government agencies said on Wednesday. The data, supported by findings from other organizations, was issued two days before the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who questions whether climate change has a human cause. Average surface temp
  
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• Climate change: Data shows 2016 likely to be warmest year yet

  18-01-2017 16:39 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Temperature data for 2016 shows it is likely to have edged ahead of 2015 as the world's warmest year.
  
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• 2016 hottest year ever recorded – and scientists say human activity to blame

  18-01-2017 16:30 via theguardian.com
  
  • Final data confirms record-breaking temperatures for third year in a row• Earth has not been this warm for 115,000 years2016 was the hottest year on record, setting a new high for the third year in a row, with scientists firmly putting the blame on human activities that drive climate change. The final data for 2016 was released on Wednesday by the three key agencies – the UK Met Office and Nasa and Noaa in the US – and showed 16 of the 17 hottest years on record have been
  
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• Iran, China to sign $3 billion contract to upgrade Iranian refining capacity - Mehr news agency

  18-01-2017 16:25
  Iran and China will sign a $3 billion contract next month to upgrade Iran's oil refining capacity, according to Iran's Mehr News agency. Iran’s deputy oil minister Abbas Kazemi said in Tehran on Tuesday that the deal will focus on upgrading the Abadan oil refinery, Mehr said.
  
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• DNA-testing smartphone aims to tackle drugs resistance

  18-01-2017 16:22 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A smartphone attachment that analyses DNA could help improve cancer and tuberculosis treatments.
  
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• Extreme Space Weather-Induced Electricity Blackouts Could Cost U.S. More Than $40 Billion Daily

  18-01-2017 16:12 via feedproxy.google.com
  New study finds more than half the loss occurs outside the blackout zone.The daily U.S. economic cost from solar storm-induced electricity blackouts could be in the tens of billions of dollars, with more than half the loss from indirect costs outside the blackout zone, according to a new study.
  
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• Rosneft says sanctions prompted it to ditch Italian refiner stake

  18-01-2017 15:44
  By Stephen Jewkes and Katya Golubkova MILAN/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian state oil producer Rosneft said Western sanctions had stopped it building up its stake in Italian refiner Saras, forcing it to sell the stake two years after buying it. Russia's biggest oil producer agreed in 2013 to buy a 21 percent stake in Saras, which is 50-percent owned by Italy's Moratti family, in a move that was set to strengthen Rosneft's commitment to the Mediterranean area. Rosneft, which had already sold 9 percent
  
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• How Far Can Technology Go To Stave Off Climate Change?

  18-01-2017 15:26 via feedproxy.google.com
  The U.S. now has two coal-burning power plants that avoid dumping carbon dioxide into the air. Petra Nova in Texas and Kemper in Mississippi use technology to stop CO2 in the smokestack and before combustion, respectively. Unfortunately, that makes two out of more than 400 coal-fired power plants in the U.S., the rest of which collectively pour 1.4 billion metric tons of the colorless, odorless greenhouse gas into the atmosphere each year. Even Kemper and Petra Nova do n
  
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• Changing atmospheric conditions may contribute to stronger ocean wave activity on the Antarctic Peninsula

  18-01-2017 15:15 via feedproxy.google.com
  Over the past few years, a large fracture has grown across a large floating ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula. The world is watching the ice shelf, now poised to break off an iceberg the size of Delaware into the ocean.It’s not a new phenomenon; this “thumb” of Antarctica, which juts out into the stormy Southern Ocean, has lost more than 28,000 square kilometers of floating ice — almost as large as Massachusetts — over the past half-century. This has included the
  
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• Birds of a feather flock together to confuse potential predators

  18-01-2017 15:03 via feedproxy.google.com
  Scientists from the Universities of Bristol and Groningen, in The Netherlands, have created a computer game style experiment which sheds new light on the reasons why starlings flock in massive swirling groups over wintering grounds.A mumeration can hold many thousands of starlings but the reasons why they put on these amazing displays are not well understood.
  
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• Periods of Greater Atlantic Hurricane Activity Linked to Weaker U.S. Landfalls

  18-01-2017 14:46 via feedproxy.google.com
  During periods of greater Atlantic hurricane activity, a protective barrier of vertical wind shear and cooler ocean temperatures forms along the U.S. East Coast, weakening storms as they approach land, according to a new study by NCEI scientist, Jim Kossin. In his paper, “Hurricane Intensification along United States Coast Suppressed during Active Hurricane Periods (link is external),” published in Nature, Kossin identifies this “buffer zone” and describes its relationshi
  
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• OPEC sees smaller oil glut in 2017 but flags U.S. shale recovery

  18-01-2017 14:41
  By Alex Lawler LONDON (Reuters) - OPEC signalled a falling oil supply surplus in 2017 on Wednesday as the exporter group's output slips from a record high ahead of a deal to cut supply and outside producers show positive initial signs of complying with the accord. OPEC and several independent producers agreed last year to cut supply, the first such deal in 15 years, as of Jan. 1, 2017 to remove a glut. "A continued normalisation of monetary policies, indicating improving economic conditions, tog
  
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• edie publishes free ISO 14001 guide for environmental professionals

  18-01-2017 14:09
  
  Organisations and professionals with an interest in the ISO 14001 environmental management system standard now have access to a free, comprehensive 'edie explains' guide which breaks down all of the key information required to gain certification.
  
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• edie launches free ISO 14001 guide for environmental professionals

  18-01-2017 14:09
  
  Organisations and professionals with an interest in the ISO 14001 environmental management system standard now have access to a free, comprehensive 'edie explains' guide which breaks down all of the key information required to gain certification.
  
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• How a design competition changed the US approach to disaster response

  18-01-2017 14:03 via theguardian.com
  
  Nate Berg tells the story of Rebuild By Design, a competition – and now its own organisation – based on taking a more proactive approach to disaster response in cities; but how far can you prepare for the effects of climate change?Ten years ago, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg released a plan to create what he called “the first environmentally sustainable 21st-century city”. The blueprint, known as PlaNYC and released on Earth Day, outlined more than 100 projects an
  
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• Scott Pruitt confirmation hearing for Environmental Protection Agency: the key points

  18-01-2017 14:00 via theguardian.com
  
  A climate change sceptic who has sued the agency, Pruitt faces opposition from Democrats and environmentalist who say he’s too cozy with fossil fuel industryEnvironmental Protection Agency administratorContinue reading...
  
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• Yes we did: A complete timeline of Barack Obama's climate legacy

  18-01-2017 13:29
  
  As Barack Obama waves goodbye to eight years in the White House, edie takes a stroll down memory lane to round-up all of the landmark pledges and announcements made by the outgoing US President who strove to leave a safer environment for future generations.
  
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• Climate change to shift global pattern of mild weather

  18-01-2017 13:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  As scientists work to predict how climate change may affect hurricanes, droughts, floods, blizzards and other severe weather, there's one area that's been overlooked: mild weather. But no more.NOAA and Princeton University scientists have produced the first global analysis of how climate change may affect the frequency and location of mild weather - days that are perfect for an outdoor wedding, baseball, fishing, boating, hiking or a picnic. Scientists defined "mild" weather as temperatures betw
  
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• Galileo satellites experiencing multiple clock failures

  18-01-2017 12:43 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The onboard atomic clocks that drive the satellite-navigation signals on Europe's Galileo network have been failing at an alarming rate.
  
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• Moth with 'golden flake hairstyle' named after Donald Trump

  18-01-2017 12:42 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The moth, which has a wingspan of just over a centimetre, was discovered in California.
  
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• Obama injects $500m into Green Climate Fund

  18-01-2017 12:21
  
  Just three days before he leaves office, outgoing president Barack Obama has moved to protect the momentum of the Paris Agreement through a new $500m instalment into the Green Climate Fund.
  
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• Brexit poses uncertainty, opportunity for Britain's environmental consultants: report

  18-01-2017 12:21
  
  The UK's Brexit vote is expected to have a significant impact on the nation's environmental consultancy sector, with market growth in 2016 estimated to be almost half what it was in 2015 due to the uncertainties looming over client investment decisions.
  
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• Oil price slides on prospect of rising U.S. production

  18-01-2017 11:36
  By Ahmad Ghaddar LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Wednesday on expectations that U.S. producers would boost output. Brent crude futures , the international benchmark for oil prices, were down 82 cents $54.65 a barrel at 1008 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were trading down 80 cents at $51.68 per barrel.
  
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• Obama administration gives $500m to UN climate change fund

  18-01-2017 11:26 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The payment to the UN Green Climate Fund was announced three days before Donald Trump takes office.
  
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• De el bosque directo a la mesa: la comida fina con un toque indígena – en imágenes

  18-01-2017 11:24 via theguardian.com
  
  Ingredientes nativos como frutas de la región y pulpo pescado localmente se encuentran en los menus de PanamáRead this article in EnglishContinue reading...
  
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• Higher oil prices to aid Gulf external balances but growth outlook still low - Reuters poll

  18-01-2017 10:23
  By Andrew Torchia DUBAI (Reuters) - A rebound in oil prices over the past few months looks set to improve the external balances of rich Gulf Arab countries but economic growth will stay low, a quarterly Reuters poll of analysts found. If current prices hold, that will boost Gulf states' export revenues and ease pressure on their currency pegs to the U.S. dollar. The poll of 17 private sector analysts expect the current account balances - which capture trade in goods and services - of Saudi Arabi
  
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• Halve European food waste by 2030, green groups urge MEPs ahead of crucial vote

  18-01-2017 10:18
  
  Ahead of the European Parliament's (EP) landmark vote on key food waste regulations next week, a union of organisations have today (18 January) backed calls for a 50% food waste reduction across the continent by 2030.
  
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• States argue in court for more say over endangered species

  18-01-2017 10:00
  
  DENVER (AP) — A battle over how to save endangered wolves in the Southwest moves to a federal appeals court Wednesday as judges hear arguments on whether states can block the federal government from reintroducing wildlife within their borders.
  
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• Indigenous Canadians face a crisis as climate change eats away island home

  18-01-2017 10:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Rising sea levels mean that Lennox Island has lost more than 400 acres in just a few generations. Now its First Nations community wonders if it has a futureHis hands tucked tightly in the pockets of his jeans, Gilbert Sark nodded at the ice-covered bay stretched out before him.
  Decades ago, his grandfather – at the time one of the few in this First Nations community to own a truck – would spend winters ferrying people across the frozen bay to Prince Edward Island. One wintry day, the
  
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