Environment news

• New Method to Detect Ultrasound with Light

  13-02-2017 22:50 via feedproxy.google.com
  A tiny, transparent device that can fit into a contact lens has a bright future, potentially helping a range of scientific endeavors from biomedicine to geology.
  
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• Desert Songbirds May Face Expanding Threat of Lethal Dehydration

  13-02-2017 22:13 via feedproxy.google.com
  AMHERST, Mass – A new study of songbird dehydration and survival risk during heat waves in the United States desert Southwest suggests that some birds are at risk of lethal dehydration and mass die-offs when water is scarce, and the risk is expected to increase as climate change advances.  
  
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• One day in the life of a suffocating planet – as it happened

  13-02-2017 19:04 via theguardian.com
  
  To kick off a Guardian Cities week investigating air pollution, our reporters followed the sun from Sydney to Lagos to Los Angeles – taking readings, talking to locals and giving a snapshot of our choking citiesThe war against air pollution has begun – and it will be fought in cities 6.04pm GMTWe’ve reached the Pacific Ocean, where air pollution blissfully drops away to near zero.Thanks for joining us for a snapshot of air pollution on this otherwise unremarkable Monday in Febr
  
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• One day in the life of a suffocating planet: air pollution around the world

  13-02-2017 19:04 via theguardian.com
  
  To kick off a Guardian Cities week investigating air pollution, our reporters followed the sun from Sydney to Lagos to Los Angeles – taking readings, talking to locals and giving a snapshot of our choking citiesThe war against air pollution has begun – and it will be fought in cities 6.04pm GMTWe’ve reached the Pacific Ocean, where air pollution blissfully drops away to zero.Thanks for joining us for a snapshot of air pollution on this otherwise unremarkable Monday in February
  
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• Physicists Teach AI to Identify Exotic States of Matter

  13-02-2017 18:35 via feedproxy.google.com
  Put a tray of water in the freezer. For a while, it’s liquid. And then—boom—the molecules stack into little hexagons, and you’ve got ice. Pour supercold liquid nitrogen onto a wafer of yttrium barium copper oxide, and suddenly electricity flows through the compound with less resistance than beer down a college student’s throat. You’ve got a superconductor.
  
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• Banned chemicals from the 70s found in deepest reaches of the ocean

  13-02-2017 18:29 via feedproxy.google.com
  A study, led by Newcastle University’s Dr Alan Jamieson has uncovered the first evidence that man-made pollutants have now reached the farthest corners of our earth.
  
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• Plant-made Hemophilia Therapy Shows Promise, Penn Study Finds

  13-02-2017 18:21 via feedproxy.google.com
  People with hemophilia require regular infusions of clotting factor to prevent them from experiencing uncontrolled bleeding. But a significant fraction develop antibodies against the clotting factor, essentially experiencing an allergic reaction to the very treatment that can prolong their lives.
  
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• Robo-Telescopes Capture the Last Gasp of a Dying Star

  13-02-2017 18:16 via feedproxy.google.com
  A very long time ago in a faraway galaxy, a star blew up. When the flash of light finally reached Earth on October 6, 2013, nobody noticed. Not at first. Three hours of supernova photons streamed by before an old telescope perched on a mountain north of San Diego started snapping pics.
  
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• Banned chemicals persist in deep ocean

  13-02-2017 18:08 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Chemicals banned in the 1970s have been found in the deepest reaches of the ocean, according to a new study.
  
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• Canada reintroduces bison to Banff national park after more than a century

  13-02-2017 18:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Helicopters transport 16 of the large mammals to site in AlbertaScheme restores once-dominant grazers to ecosystemCanada has reintroduced a herd of plains bison to the country’s oldest national park in Banff, Alberta, officials said on Monday, more than 130 years after the North American animal last grazed the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies. The conservation team moved 16 bison from a protected herd in central Alberta into an enclosed pasture in Banff national park in the west of t
  
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• Cocaine galore? Well, no. That’s not how we do things in Norfolk | Patrick Barkham

  13-02-2017 17:37 via theguardian.com
  
  When £50m of stimulants were found on a beach, what got up locals’ noses was the fake news that we treated it like our very own Compton Mackenzie taleVisit Norfolk, where the beaches are made of cocaine. There’s only one subject of discussion in my neighbourhood: the £50m worth of cocaine washed on to the shores of Hopton, previously best-known as the home of the World Indoor Bowls Championship. Related: Cocaine worth £50m is washed up on No
  
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• You can now buy ink made from air pollution

  13-02-2017 17:33
  
  Air-Ink is the first ink to be made from pollution.
  
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• Brazil's Temer denies shielding ally from corruption case

  13-02-2017 17:32
  Brazilian President Michel Temer on Monday dismissed criticism that he promoted a close aide to shield him from prosecution and vowed to dismiss any minister indicted for corruption. Although he did not mention the aide by name, the statement by Temer follows an uproar in Brazil that was triggered by the president promoting Wellington Moreira Franco on Feb. 2 to a full-fledged cabinet post, where he would be partially protected from prosecution in Brazil's biggest-ever corruption probe. Until th
  
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• Discovery may revolutionize new drug discoveries, disease research

  13-02-2017 17:29 via feedproxy.google.com
  Research from York University’s Lassonde School of Engineering, has found a new set of algorithms that can help determine the 3D structure of proteins to one day find new treatments for a range of diseases including Alzheimer’s, HIV and cancer. The research, published in the current edition of the journal Nature Methods, shows that these new algorithms rapidly generate 3-D structures of viruses, which could revolutionize the development of new drug therapies.
  
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• January was wetter and warmer than average for the U.S.

  13-02-2017 17:22 via feedproxy.google.com
  By many accounts, winter seemed to stay mostly offstage in January. Rain was the star event, with warmer temperatures in the East having played a supporting role. Except for California: Parts of the Golden State saw more than 15 feet of snow, while mountain areas of the interior West, such as Colorado, Nevada and Utah, experienced higher-than-normal snowfall overall.
  
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• Tesla targets Middle East drive with Dubai debut

  13-02-2017 17:04
  By Shane McGinley and Alexander Cornwell DUBAI (Reuters) - Tesla Inc has started selling its luxury electric cars in Dubai, marking its first foray into the Middle East. Sales of luxury cars in the Gulf states are among the highest in the world per capita, although some brands have suffered as lower oil prices have dampened consumer demand. California-based Tesla is accepting online orders from customers in the United Arab Emirates, a pop-up store in the Dubai Mall and a Tesla service centre bei
  
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• 'Extraordinary' levels of toxic pollution found in 10km deep Mariana trench

  13-02-2017 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Presence of manmade chemicals in most remote place on planet shows nowhere is safe from human impact, say scientistsScientists have discovered “extraordinary” levels of toxic pollution in the most remote and inaccessible place on the planet – the 10km-deep Mariana trench in the Pacific ocean.Small crustaceans that live in the pitch-black waters of the trench, captured by a robotic submarine, were contaminated with 50 times more toxic chemicals than crabs that survive in heavily
  
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• Act now before entire species are lost to global warming, say scientists

  13-02-2017 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Climate change is threatening about 700 endangered species and policymakers must act urgently to lessen impactThe impact of climate change on threatened and endangered wildlife has been dramatically underreported, with scientists calling on policymakers to act urgently to slow its effects before entire species are lost for good.New analysis has found that nearly half (47%) of the mammals and nearly a quarter (24.4%) of the birds on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) re
  
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• Oil falls as OPEC compliance report underwhelms

  13-02-2017 16:47
  By Karolin Schaps LONDON (Reuters) - Oil fell more than 1 percent on Monday after an OPEC report showing high compliance with last year's landmark production- cut deal underwhelmed investors while signs of rising U.S. crude output continued to weigh on prices. Global benchmark Brent crude futures were down 96 cents at $55.74 a barrel at 1518 GMT and touched a session low of $55.65. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 82 cents at $53.04 a barrel and traded as low as $53.01 earli
  
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• Sponges Ruled the World After Second-Largest Mass Extinction

  13-02-2017 16:15
  
  Sponges may be simple creatures, but they basically ruled the world some 445 million years ago, after the Ordovician mass extinction, a new study finds. Roughly 85 percent of all species died in the Ordovician mass extinction, the first of the world's five known mass extinctions. "We think the sponges thrived because they can tolerate changes in temperature and low oxygen levels, while their food source (organic particles in the water) would have been increased enormously by the death and destru
  
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• Brazil's Temer denies shielding minister from corruption case

  13-02-2017 15:41
  BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian President Michel Temer said on Monday that he would not interfere in the country's biggest corruption investigation and denied that he had made a close aide a cabinet minister to shield him against prosecution. Temer did not mention by name Wellington Moreira Franco, his point man for infrastructure investment who became a minister despite being named in plea bargain testimony by a defendant in the sweeping graft investigation, known as "Car Wash," which centres on
  
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• Green Alliance announces new chief executive

  13-02-2017 15:27
  
  Former head of the Campaign to Protect Rural England Shaun Spiers has been confirmed as the new chief executive of environmental think tank Green Alliance.
  
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• OPEC reports big Saudi oil cut, boosting compliance with deal

  13-02-2017 15:13
  By Alex Lawler LONDON (Reuters) - Top OPEC oil producer Saudi Arabia made a large cut in its crude output in January to support prices and lessen a glut, helping boost compliance with the group's supply-reduction deal to a record high of more than 90 percent. Supply from the 11 OPEC members with production targets under the deal fell to 29.888 million bpd last month, according to figures from secondary sources that OPEC uses to monitor its output. OPEC published the data in its monthly report on
  
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• Oil falls on rise in U.S. drilling, OPEC compliance caps losses

  13-02-2017 14:42
  By Karolin Schaps LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Monday in response to growing evidence that U.S. production is rising, but losses were capped by official OPEC production figures showing initial compliance with its landmark production reduction deal was as high as 93 percent. Global benchmark Brent crude futures were down 46 cents at $56.24 a barrel at 1302 GMT and touched a session low of $56.04 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 41 cents at $53.45 a barrel a
  
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• Suffocating planet: air pollution around the world today – live

  13-02-2017 14:32 via theguardian.com
  
  As Guardian Cities kicks off a week investigating air pollution, join our reporters as we follow the sun from Sydney to Lagos to Los Angeles, taking readings, talking to locals and giving a ‘snapshot’ of one day in the life of our choking citiesThe war against air pollution has begun – and it will be fought in cities 1.29pm GMTAt the very busy scrap market at Ladipo, Mushin, I meet Ayelumosi packing waste from the road side. Mrs Ayelumosi packs waste for a living. She says she
  
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• 'What can I do to help elephants?'

  13-02-2017 14:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Climate change, poaching, competition for food and water … elephants have never faced such threats. Here are more than 50 ways to give them a helping hand. Can you add to the list?There is so much being done to help stop elephants being wiped out in the wild. We’ve identified more than 50 campaigns and organisations around the world, from well-known charities like the World Wide Fund for Nature to grassroots groups like Elephanatics in Canada and Laos-based ElefantAsia. If you think
  
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• Caffé Nero reports coffee-waste-to-biofuel success, plans expansion

  13-02-2017 13:44
  
  Italian-style coffee shop chain Caffé Nero is looking to extend an innovative coffee-to-biofuel recycling scheme beyond greater London after a successful partnership with recycling company First Mile and technology firm Bio-Bean.
  
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• OPEC reports drop in January oil output, big Saudi cut

  13-02-2017 13:43
  OPEC delivered more than 90 percent of pledged oil output curbs in January, based on figures the exporter group published on Monday, implying a supply glut that has weighed on prices could fall to zero this year. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has agreed to cut its crude output by about 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) from Jan. 1. Supply from the 11 OPEC members with production targets under the deal fell to 29.888 million bpd in January, according to figures from second
  
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• What do you love about your local park? Share your pictures

  13-02-2017 13:09 via theguardian.com
  
  A park manager recently shared their fears for Britain’s underfunded green spaces. Tell us via GuardianWitness what local parks mean to youIt is estimated that well over half the UK population make a total of more than 2.6bn visits to green spaces each year, with research linking access to parks and open spaces with health benefits and greater social inclusion [pdf]. And that’s not to mention the environmental value: more wildlife habitats, increased biodiversity, pollution reduction
  
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• 'We had to sue': the five lawyers taking on China's authorities over smog

  13-02-2017 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  In an unprecedented legal case, a group of Chinese lawyers have charged the governments of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei with failing to protect their citizens from air pollution, which is linked to a third of all deaths in the countryWho is responsible for China’s chronic and deadly air pollution? That depends on who you ask. Officials blame the weather or outdoor barbecues, activists blame steel companies and coal-fired power plants. But Yu Wensheng blames only one actor: the government.
  Th
  
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• Sadiq Khan calls on Government to incentivise diesel scrappage scheme

  13-02-2017 12:23
  
  London Mayor Sadiq Khan has called on the UK Government to incentivise a diesel scrappage scheme for the public, by offering up to £3,500 to businesses and low-income families to support the uptake of low-emission vehicles.
  
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• This is why conservative media outlets like the Daily Mail are 'unreliable' | Dana Nuccitelli

  13-02-2017 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Journalists try to get facts right. Tabloid propagandists try to advance an agendaWikipedia editors recently voted to ban the Daily Mail tabloid as a source for their website after deeming it “generally unreliable.” To put the severity of this decision in context, Wikipedia still allows references to Russia Today and Fox News, both of which display a clear bias toward the ruling parties of their respective countries. It thus may seem like a remarkable decision for Wikipedia to ban th
  
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• Eyewitness: Padang, Indonesia

  13-02-2017 11:25 via theguardian.com
  
  Photographs from the Eyewitness series Continue reading...
  
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• How bad is Delhi's air? We strapped a monitor to a rickshaw to find out

  13-02-2017 11:09 via theguardian.com
  
  Suresh Kumar Sharma is an auto-rickshaw driver in Delhi, a city with some of the world’s dirtiest air – and where many locals don’t know how unhealthy it is. We monitored the dangerous PM2.5 particles surrounding Suresh’s rickshaw for 12 hours, then had his lungs tested: ‘I was shocked’ Continue reading...
  
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• Oil falls on rise in U.S. drilling, selling ahead of OPEC report

  13-02-2017 11:08
  By Karolin Schaps LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices fell nearly one percent on Monday in response to growing evidence that U.S. production is rising and as some investors unwound positions ahead of OPEC's first report on compliance with its deal to cut production. Global benchmark Brent crude futures were down 45 cents at $56.25 a barrel at 0947 GMT and touched a session low of $56.04 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 41 cents at $53.45 a barrel and traded as low as $53
  
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• A cocktail of risks: Brexit a 'danger' to environmental legislation, says Caroline Lucas

  13-02-2017 11:06
  
  Just five days after the House of Commons voted to trigger Article 50 and take formal steps to leave the European Union (EU), a new report from Green Party MP Caroline Lucas has warned that Brexit forms a "cocktail of risks" for the UK's environmental protection.
  
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• Could these five innovations help solve the global water crisis?

  13-02-2017 10:51 via theguardian.com
  
  A number of creative approaches aim to increase access to clean water in developing countries. We asked two experts to assess some of themThe global water crisis has many causes, requiring many different solutions. As 1.2 billion people live in areas of water scarcity, these solutions must span policy, technology, and behaviour change to make a real difference.
  A number of technological innovations address the crisis in novel ways. We asked two water experts – Vincent Casey, senior water a
  
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• Suffocating planet: urban air pollution around the world today – live

  13-02-2017 10:40 via theguardian.com
  
  As Guardian Cities kicks off a week investigating air pollution, join our reporters as we follow the sun from Sydney to Lagos to Los Angeles, taking readings, talking to locals and giving a ‘snapshot’ of one day in the life of our choking citiesThe war against air pollution has begun – and it will be fought in cities 9.40am GMTFun fact: according to one reader in China, smog is now referred to as “the weather” (!)The pollution has been so bad in Chengdu this year: a
  
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• Food waste is a scandal, but to blame it on millennials is nonsense | Nell Frizzell

  13-02-2017 10:39 via theguardian.com
  
  Instagram snaps of dinner aren’t the cause: for that, look to an intensive farming and supermarket culture that has divorced people from how food is producedWhen I die, I would like to be buried in a large, biodegradable, click-n-lock Tupperware coffin, my hair glistening beneath a rubber-seal lid, my feet resting against the firm clear sides like a pair of carrot batons. I want to be remembered in death precisely as I was when I lived: absolutely up to my armpits in leftovers.Because, des
  
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• Exclusive - China's Sinochem in early talks to buy stake in Noble Group: sources

  13-02-2017 10:33
  By Anshuman Daga and Sumeet Chatterjee SINGAPORE/HONG KONG (Reuters) - China's state-owned Sinochem is in early talks with Noble Group to buy an equity stake in the embattled trader, three sources familiar with the matter said, in a move that would help it gain access to the commodity trader's global supply chain. Taking a stake in an internationally active trading house like Noble would help Sinochem, a big oil, gas and petrochemical company, in its ambitions to become a more globally active en
  
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• Lundin Petroleum to spin off assets from beyond Norway

  13-02-2017 10:10
  By Nerijus Adomaitis and Terje Solsvik OSLO (Reuters) - Swedish oil firm Lundin Petroleum plans to spin off its assets from outside of Norway into a separately listed company and will distribute shares in the new firm to existing investors, it said on Monday. Separately the company's main Norwegian business announced an oil discovery in the Arctic Barents Sea, while Lundin also set an output target for 2017 that was below forecasts in a Reuters poll of analysts. The assets that will be hived off
  
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• A ‘green guarantee’ could stop Brexit ruining our environment | Caroline Lucas

  13-02-2017 09:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Membership of the EU has been essential for environmental protection law – safeguards are vital when it is transferred to domestic statute booksIt is finally happening. After 40 years of membership of the European Union, the UK is now on course for an extreme Brexit that will have serious implications for all of our lives. Many aspects of the UK’s departure from the EU have been pored over. But one of the most profoundly impacted areas, our environmental policy, has barely been discu
  
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• Kuwait says oil prices to rise with higher level of output deal compliance

  13-02-2017 09:13
  Kuwaiti Oil Minister Essam al-Marzouq said on Monday current oil prices were good and are expected to rise with higher compliance to an output reduction deal agreed to by OPEC and non-OPEC producers. Marzouq added the compliance of OPEC member countries was 92 percent while that of non-OPEC producers was 50 percent. Eleven of the 13 members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries are cutting crude output by about 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) from January 1 while Russia lead
  
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• Lundin Petroleum to spin off non-Norwegian assets

  13-02-2017 09:02
  Swedish oil firm Lundin Petroleum plans to spin off its assets outside of Norway in a separately listed company and will hand out shares in the new firm to its owners, it said in a statement on Monday. Separately the company's Norwegian unit announced an oil discovery in the Arctic Barents Sea, while Lundin also set an output target for 2017 that was below forecasts in a Reuters poll of analysts. The assets that will be hived off, located in Malaysia, France and the Netherlands, will become part
  
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• Oil stable as OPEC's cuts bite, although bloated market still weighs

  13-02-2017 09:01
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices were stable on Monday on signs that OPEC-led production cuts were reducing global overproduction, although bloated inventories and rising output elsewhere were weighing on markets. Brent crude futures were trading at $56.72 per barrel at 0752 GMT, up 2 cents from their previous close. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 2 cents at $53.84 a barrel.
  
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• Oil prices dip as markets stay bloated despite OPEC cuts

  13-02-2017 08:21
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices dipped on Monday on signs that global fuel markets remained bloated despite OPEC-led crude production cuts that have been more successful than most initially expected. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 13 cents at $53.73 a barrel. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producers including Russia have agreed to cut output by almost 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) during the first half of 20
  
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• Welcome to Onitsha: the city with the world’s worst air

  13-02-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The Nigerian city has recorded the world’s worst levels of PM10 air pollution. But although the results are lethal, the problem is not taken seriously hereSuffocating planet: air pollution around the world today – liveApproaching Okpoko market through thick smog on the back of an okada (motorcycle taxi), the natural reaction is to cover your nose to protect yourself from the dust storm – but the effort is futile.When a lorry zooms past, kicking up yet another red cloud of dirt,
  
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• Tipping point: revealing the cities where exercise does more harm than good

  13-02-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  In at least 15 cities, air pollution has now become so bad that the danger to health of just 30 minutes of cycling each way outweighs the benefits of exercise altogether, according to new researchSuffocating planet: air pollution around the world today – liveTips: what to do when there’s a smog alertWho says exercise is always good for you? Cycling to work in certain highly polluted cities could be more dangerous to your health than not doing it at all, according to researchers.
  In c
  
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• Commute earlier and pray for rain: what to do when there's a pollution warning

  13-02-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  From eating vegetables to walking one street back from main roads, experts share their tips on how to protect yourself when there’s a peak pollution alertIn the UK, the department for environment, food and rural affairs issues daily alerts measuring air pollution levels. But when it comes to tips on how to respond, Defra confines itself to the slightly gnomic “reduce activity”. So we asked a team of air pollution experts on the best ways to protect yourself when there’s a
  
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• Arab coalition declares Yemen's Hodeidah a military zone

  13-02-2017 07:53
  A Saudi-led coalition has declared Yemen’s Hodeidah city a military zone, urging civilians in the Houthi-held Red Sea port to stay in their homes, days after the United Nations warned that air strikes could trap civilians and hamper aid efforts. The military coalition of mainly Gulf Arab states said in a statement late on Sunday civilians in Hodeidah should "remain in their homes and avoid clashes" and that the city would be declared a military zone from 10 a.m. (0700 GMT) on Monday until
  
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