Environment news

• Moon's Been Getting Oxygen from Earth's Plants for Billions of Years

  30-01-2017 22:17
  
  The moon may carry material produced by life from Earth dating back to when plants first filled the planet's air with oxygen, according to study of data from a Japanese lunar orbiter. 
  
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• How the World Passed a Carbon Threshold and Why It Matters

  30-01-2017 22:11 via feedproxy.google.com
  Last year will go down in history as the year when the planet’s atmosphere broke a startling record: 400 parts per million of carbon dioxide. The last time the planet’s air was so rich in CO2 was millions of years ago, back before early predecessors to humans were likely wielding stone tools; the world was a few degrees hotter back then, and melted ice put sea levels tens of meters higher.“We’re in a new era,” says Ralph Keeling, director of the Scripps Institution
  
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• Oil slips as more U.S. drilling revives glut concerns

  30-01-2017 21:54
  By Jessica Resnick-Ault NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Monday as news of another weekly increase in U.S. drilling activity had oil forecasters concerned that production cuts from other producing nations may not reduce the global supply glut as much as had been hoped. Global benchmark Brent crude oil prices settled down 29 cents at $55.23 a barrel, while U.S. crude futures settled down 54 cents at $52.63. The number of active U.S. oil rigs rose last week to the highest level since Novemb
  
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• Fruit flies yield clues on cancerous tumor hotspots

  30-01-2017 21:38 via feedproxy.google.com
  Florida State University researchers have found that the epithelial tissues that line the surfaces of organs throughout the body intrinsically have hot spots for cancerous tumors.
  
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• Possible nuclear fuel find raises hopes of Fukushima plant breakthrough

  30-01-2017 21:19
  
  Operator says it has seen what may be fuel debris beneath badly damaged No 2 reactor, destroyed six years ago in triple meltdownHopes have been raised for a breakthrough in the decommissioning of the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant after its operator said it may have discovered melted fuel beneath a reactor, almost six years after the plant suffered a triple meltdown.
  Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) said on Monday that a remote camera appeared to have found the debris beneath the badly dama
  
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• Honda, GM to jointly produce fuel cell power systems in U.S. from 2020

  30-01-2017 19:31
  By Naomi Tajitsu and Paul Lienert TOKYO/DETROIT (Reuters) - Honda Motor Co Ltd and General Motors Co (GM) will jointly produce pollution-free hydrogen fuel cell power systems in the United States from around 2020, the companies said Monday, despite President Donald Trump's promises to dismantle U.S. environmental regulations intended to spur green car demand. At a briefing in Detroit, GM executive Mark Reuss said the fuel cells could be used in autonomous vehicles, as well by ride-sharing compan
  
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• On the hunt in Finland for a better life – or better hunting? | Patrick Barkham

  30-01-2017 18:57
  
  We can’t all flee to the south Pacific like the tech billionaires. Luckily Finland seems an island of sanity – and cheaperProperty in New Zealand may be getting snapped up by American tech billionaires fleeing the Trumpocalypse but I have a suggestion for anxious Guardian readers of more modest means: Finland.This nation of snowy winters has air so clean Chinese tourists take trips to Lapland to breathe it, a feted education system, and is currently trialling an unconditional basic i
  
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• Green movement 'greatest threat to freedom', says Trump adviser

  30-01-2017 18:52
  
  Climate-change denier Myron Ebell says he expects Trump to withdraw the US from the global climate change agreement The environmental movement is “the greatest threat to freedom and prosperity in the modern world”, according to an adviser to the US president Donald Trump’s administration.Myron Ebell, who has denied the dangers of climate change for many years and led Trump’s transition team for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) until the president’s recent i
  
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• Kenya bans export of snakes to zoos and pet shops

  30-01-2017 18:14
  
  Trafficking of endangered snakes as pets or for their skins is having a negative impact on breeding patterns and size of speciesKenya has banned the export of various snake species, including the African rock python, to zoos and pet shops around the world after reports of animal abuse and snakes being sold on the black market for their meat and skins. The trafficking of the endangered snakes by cartels is also having a negative impact on the environment, said authorities. Continue reading...
  
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• The Sustainable Business Covered podcast: Episode 19 - Inside The Body Shop's innovation lab

  30-01-2017 17:56
  
  As edie's innovation content month draws to a close, we take the Sustainable Business Covered podcast to Croydon to bring you an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of The Body Shop's new innovation lab.
  
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• Lidl aims to donate two million meals through Neighbourly partnership

  30-01-2017 17:50
  
  Lidl has become the latest supermarket chain to commit to surplus food donation in the UK through social media platform Neighbourly.
  
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• Role of terrestrial biosphere in counteracting climate change may have been underestimated

  30-01-2017 17:41 via feedproxy.google.com
  New research suggests that the capacity of the terrestrial biosphere to absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) may have been underestimated in past calculations due to certain land-use changes not being fully taken into account.
  
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• Scientists explain how meltwater reaches ocean depths

  30-01-2017 17:27 via feedproxy.google.com
  An international team of researchers has discovered why fresh water, melted from Antarctic ice sheets, is often detected below the surface of the ocean, rather than rising to the top above denser seawater. The team found that the Earth’s rotation influences the way meltwater behaves – keeping it at depths of several hundred metres. The research is published this week in the journal Nature in association with colleagues at University of Southampton, National Oceanograph
  
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• Ban coal from backup power subsidy scheme, says Scottish Power

  30-01-2017 17:16
  
  Energy company and RenewableUK argue it is ‘counterproductive’ to spend bill-payers’ money on dirty technologyMinisters should ban coal power stations from a scheme paying their owners subsidies to provide backup power, a leading energy company and green energy group have urged.Scottish Power and RenewableUK said it was an “obvious paradox” and “counterproductive” that the government had committed to closing all coal power stations by 2025 while continui
  
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• Restoring native plants 'boosts pollination'

  30-01-2017 17:04 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Removing invasive exotic plants from natural areas can act as a boost for wildlife, a study suggests.
  
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• Scientists find 'oldest human ancestor'

  30-01-2017 17:01 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Researchers have discovered the earliest known ancestor of humans - along with a vast range of other species.
  
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• Unexpected result: Ocean acidification can promote shell formation

  30-01-2017 16:59 via feedproxy.google.com
  Fact: More carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air also acidifies the oceans. It seemed to be the logical conclusion that shellfish and corals will suffer, because chalk formation becomes more difficult in more acidic seawater. But now a group of Dutch and Japanese scientists discovered to their own surprise that some tiny unicellular shellfish make better shells in an acidic environment. This is a completely new insight.Researchers from the NIOZ (Royal Dutch Institute for Sea Research) and JAMSTEC (Jap
  
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• DNA analysis of seawater detects 80% of fish species in just one day

  30-01-2017 16:32 via feedproxy.google.com
  A Japanese research group has used a new technology that identifies multiple fish species populating local areas by analyzing DNA samples from seawater, and proved that this method is accurate and more effective than visual observation.This research was carried out as part of the Japan Science and Technology Strategic Basic Research Programs by a group including Academic Researcher YAMAMOTO Satoshi (Kobe University Graduate School of Human Development and Environment), Associate Professor MASUDA
  
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• Getting the Measure of Sustainable Economic Growth

  30-01-2017 16:20 via feedproxy.google.com
  The new Index of Sustainable Economic Growth shows there is a shift to strike a healthier balance between support for the economy, and care for essential social and environmental systems. But can it ever replace GDP as a measure of progress? 
  
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• Gin lovers relax as declining juniper saved in national seed project

  30-01-2017 16:12
  
  Juniper threatened by fungus-like disease is first species to be fully collected in Kew’s Royal Botanic Gardens tree seed projectThe future of gin is safe, according to horticultural experts who have collected juniper seeds from across the country to help conserve the declining tree species. Juniper berries, which take two years to mature slowly on the plant, help give gin its distinctive flavour, but the native UK species is in decline.Continue reading...
  
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• Oil slips as U.S. drilling recovery weakens deal to cut output

  30-01-2017 15:52
  By Karolin Schaps LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Monday as news of another weekly increase in U.S. drilling activity spread concern over rising output just as many of the world's oil producers are trying to comply with a deal to pump less to try to prop up prices. The number of active U.S. oil rigs rose to the highest since November 2015 last week, according to Baker Hughes data, showing drillers are taking advantage of oil prices above $50 a barrel. Global benchmark Brent crude oil price
  
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• Study: How Climate Change Threatens Mountaintops (and Clean Water)

  30-01-2017 15:42 via feedproxy.google.com
  Mountains are far more than rocks. They also confer various natural benefits—for example, about half of the world’s drinking water filters through their high-elevation forests, plants, and soils.Now, a new, first-of-its kind study, in the journal Nature, shows how these mountain ecosystems around the globe may be threatened by climate change.Rising temperatures over the next decades appear likely to “decouple” key nutrient cycles in mountain soils and plants, an inte
  
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• Climate models may underestimate future warming on tropical mountains

  30-01-2017 15:28 via feedproxy.google.com
  In few places are the effects of climate change more pronounced than on tropical peaks like Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya, where centuries-old glaciers have all but melted completely away. Now, new research suggests that future warming on these peaks could be even greater than climate models currently predict.Researchers led by a Brown University geologist reconstructed temperatures over the past 25,000 years on Mount Kenya, Africa’s second-highest peak after Kilimanjaro. The work show
  
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• Vehicle manufacturers lack incentive to promote efficiency, says Riversimple

  30-01-2017 14:44
  
  The decarbonisation of the transport sector hinges on the ability to "make efficiency profitable" rather than overcoming technological barriers, the founder of Welsh hydrogen car manufacturer Riversimple has claimed.
  
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• Liz Goodwin: Britain at risk of losing global food waste leadership

  30-01-2017 14:10
  
  Britain's global leadership on food waste has "plateaued" and requires the combined effort of consumers, retailers, and policymakers to keep the nation on track with reduction commitments, the World Resources Institute's (WRI) director of food loss and waste Liz Goodwin has said. former WRAP chief executive Liz Goodwin.
  
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• Oil steady but U.S. drilling weakens deal to cut output

  30-01-2017 13:50
  By Karolin Schaps LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices were steady on Monday, but news of another increase in U.S. drilling activity spread concern over rising output just as many of the world's oil producers are trying to comply with a deal to pump less in an attempt to prop up prices. The number of active U.S. oil rigs rose to the highest since November 2015 last week, according to Baker Hughes data, showing drillers are taking advantage of oil prices above $50 a barrel. Global benchmark Brent crude
  
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• Renewable power in cities: send us your photos

  30-01-2017 13:30
  
  Offices, gyms, supermarkets – even your local bus shelter. We want to find out about the renewables projects in your citiesRenewable power is spreading across cities around the world. Whether motivated by energy security, cost or climate change, the result is a surge of projects from Rio de Janeiro to Melbourne.Now we want to see what your city is doing on renewables. Continue reading...
  
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• First images of unique Brazilian coral reef at mouth of Amazon

  30-01-2017 13:30
  
  The discovery of the 600 mile-long reef in 2016 stunned scientists but oil companies are planning to drill in the areaThe first images have been released of a unique coral reef that stunned scientists when discovered in 2016 at the mouth of the Amazon.
  The 600 mile-long reef is expected to reveal new species as scientists explore it further, but oil companies are planning to drill in the area. The photographs were captured from a submarine launched to a depth of 220 metres from the Greenpeace sh
  
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• Beauty and destruction: the Amazon rainforest – in pictures

  30-01-2017 13:30
  
  The Amazon rainforest is the world’s largest, but in the last 40 years at least 20% of it has been destroyed. The Amazon basin covers nine countries in South America, with 60% of it in Brazil, and for a decade local photographer Rodrigo Baleia has documented the beauty and destruction of the region from above Continue reading...
  
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• edie Live 2017 opens for registration

  30-01-2017 12:56
  
  Registration is now open for the UK's leading event for sustainability, energy and resource efficiency professionals, offering visitors a host of new show features, networking events and advice clinics across two days.
  
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• Partial shutdown at gas platform, storage site outage drive prices higher

  30-01-2017 12:49
  (Reuters) - British wholesale gas prices rose on Monday as a partial shutdown of the Elgin-Franklin platform in the North Sea and an extended outage at a gas storage facility tightened supplies, traders said. The day-ahead contract rose by 1.65 pence to 53.00 pence per therm by 1137 GMT, lifted by concerns over gas supplies filtering through into contracts across the near and forward curve. Early on Monday, Total E&P reported that offshore reduction had tripped at its Elgin-Franklin gas
  
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• #OceanRescue: Sky drives engagement on ocean plastic waste through new social campaign

  30-01-2017 12:49
  
  Broadcasting company Sky has turned to social media to increase awareness of the "major challenge" of plastic waste in the oceans, using celebrities and behaviour change tips as levers to inspire and educate consumers.
  
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• Here’s how we know Trump’s cabinet picks are wrong on human-caused global warming | Dana Nuccitelli

  30-01-2017 12:00
  
  The research is clear – humans are responsible for all the global warming since 1950The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report – which summarizes the latest and greatest climate science research – was quite clear that humans are responsible for global warming:It is extremely likely [95 percent confidence] more than half of the observed increase in global average surface temperature from 1951 to 2010 was caused by the anthropogenic increase in greenhouse
  
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• Brewer becomes first to seek to supply its own water retail services

  30-01-2017 11:24
  
  Pub retailer and brewer Greene King has become the first non-household water customer to apply to provide its own retail services when the market opens in April.
  
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• Oil slides as strong U.S. drilling activity weakens deal to cut output

  30-01-2017 11:13
  By Karolin Schaps LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Monday as news of another increase in U.S. drilling activity spread concern over rising oil output just as many of the world's oil producers are trying to comply with a deal to pump less in an attempt to prop up prices. The number of active U.S. oil rigs rose to the highest since November 2015 last week, according to Baker Hughes data, showing that drillers are taking advantage of oil prices above $50 a barrel. Global benchmark Brent crude
  
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• Free range is a con. There’s no such thing as an ethical egg | Chas Newkey-Burden

  30-01-2017 10:00
  
  Slapping ‘free range’ on a box of eggs simply hides the catalogue of routine horrors that are allowed under this reassuring bannerMeat eaters may think vegans look down on them – but actually no one is more scornful of carnivores than the meat industry that feeds them. While frontline workers slaughter 22 million animals each day in the UK alone, teams in the back office rebrand those carcasses, packaging them up and using inventive words to hide the truth from the consumer.Of
  
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• IEA does not foresee oil demand peaking soon, Birol says

  30-01-2017 09:37
  The International Energy Agency (IEA) does not expect oil demand to peak any time soon due to rising consumption in developing economies, Director Fatih Birol said on Monday. Birol also warned that oil markets could enter a period of high volatility unless companies develop new projects after two years of sharp drops in investments sparked by low oil prices. "We do not see in the near and medium terms oil products can be substituted by other fuels.
  
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• Family of Briton killed by elephant poachers launch £1m ivory appeal

  30-01-2017 08:00
  
  Roger Gower’s brother says he wants something good to come from tragedy after pilot was shot dead in TanzaniaThe family of a British pilot who was shot dead by elephant poachers in Tanzania have said they want to “make some good come from tragedy” as they spearhead an appeal to raise £1m to help tackle the African ivory trade.
  Roger Gower, 37, was tracking criminals who had killed three elephants near the Serengeti national park when a poacher opened fire with an AK-47 ri
  
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• An island of wild and ancient woodland in an urban sprawl

  30-01-2017 06:30
  
  Thorpe Wood, Peterborough This wood was here long before the city grew up around it. If it were lost its space would be instantly absorbedHere’s a strange little peace in a tightened noose of noise. If you stumbled on it by footbridge, housing estate passage or nondescript pull-in, it would be a surprising find: an ancient worked wood caught in an outer eddy of the city. Thorpe Wood was here long before Peterborough grew up around it, before the city began to squeeze, before what little wa
  
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• Shark-inspired drug may help treat fibrosis, researchers say

  30-01-2017 05:48 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Australian researchers hope an antibody found in sharks may help treat an incurable lung disease.
  
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• Oil extends declines on rising U.S. output

  30-01-2017 05:27
  By Aaron Sheldrick TOKYO (Reuters) - Oil prices extended declines on Monday, dragged down by signs of growing output in the United States that could partly offset output cuts by OPEC and other producers. Uncertainty over the outlook for U.S policy also broadly weighed on financial markets after President Donald Trump introduced immigration curbs that sparked criticism at home and abroad.
  
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• Finding Dory, a movie about travellers, is Trump's first White House screening

  30-01-2017 03:14
  
  The Pixar animation screened at the White House on Sunday is a tale of environmental alarm and family reunion across continentsAs the chaos and protests at airports around the US gathered steam on Sunday after President Donald Trump’s startling travel ban on people coming to America from seven majority-Muslim countries, the White House had a lighter listing on its official schedule: a screening of Finding Dory at the White House family theater from 3pm.
  As the film’s co-star Albert B
  
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• Amid travel ban protests, Finding Dory is Trump's first White House movie screening

  30-01-2017 03:14
  
  The Pixar animation screened at the White House on Sunday is a tale of environmental alarm and family reunion across continentsAs the chaos and protests at airports around the US gathered steam on Sunday after President Donald Trump’s startling travel ban on people coming to America from seven majority-Muslim countries, the White House had a lighter listing on its official schedule: a screening of Finding Dory at the White House family theater from 3pm.As the film’s co-star Albert Br
  
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• Tony Abbott rebuffed after attacking Turnbull government on renewable energy target

  30-01-2017 02:44
  
  RET was settled 18 months ago under former prime minister’s leadership, says Simon BirminghamThe Liberal frontbencher Simon Birmingham has dismissed Tony Abbott’s latest criticism of the Coalition’s renewable energy target, reminding Abbott that the target was settled under his leadership just 18 months ago.Abbott warned at a Young Liberals conference at the weekend that power was getting more expensive and less reliable because the Turnbull government was making it “hard
  
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• UK 'need not fear electricity blackouts' says ex-National Grid boss

  30-01-2017 02:04 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The man who ran National Grid for a decade says news stories raising blackout fears should stop.
  
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• Oil extends decline as rising U.S. output weighs

  30-01-2017 01:37
  Oil prices extended declines on Monday, dragged down by signs of growing output in the United States that would partly offset production cuts by OPEC and other producers. London Brent crude for March delivery was down 26 cents at $55.26 a barrel by 0005 GMT (1.05 a.m. BST) after settling down 72 cents on Friday.
  
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