Environment news

• 'Science for the people': researchers challenge Trump outside US conference

  19-02-2017 23:37
  
  Scientists rally in Boston amid alarm over president’s views and fears for the future of the EPA, as ecologist likens current struggle to Galileo’sHundreds of scientists rallied in Boston on Sunday to protest what they call the “direct attack” of Donald Trump and Republicans on research, scientific institutions and facts themselves, as a community reckons, and argues, with a new era of American politics.Gathering in Boston’s Copley Square, outside the annual meeting
  
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• Thaw livens up the hedge-frequenters: Country diary 100 years ago

  19-02-2017 23:30
  
  Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 20 February 1917On Saturday a grey crow was perched on the topmost rotten branch of an oak beside the river, and was as communicative as usual. Perhaps it enjoyed watching the ice sheets floating past and hearing them scrunch as they piled together at the bend. Yesterday there were three paddling on the sloppy ice of the mere, still talking as they cleaned up the various bird remains. I thought the note was always repeated three times in quick s
  
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• Monet's obsession with London fog

  19-02-2017 22:30
  
  “Without fog London would not be beautiful” said the great French impressionist Claude Monet London smog in winter seems an unlikely inspiration for a painter but the impressionist Claude Monet came three times to the capital for extended visits to see the fog change the light patterns over the Thames.He had three obsessions, Waterloo Bridge, Charing Cross Railway Bridge and the Houses of Parliament. The first two he painted from fifth- and sixth-floor windows of the Savoy Hotel. On
  
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• In search of Tanzania's bee-eaters

  19-02-2017 22:30
  
  In the Selous Game Reserve you can see seven different bee-eaters. Each one sports impossibly beautiful coloursBee-eaters are the supermodels of the bird world: slim, glamorous – and hopelessly out of reach for us mere mortals. But in the Selous Game Reserve, in southern Tanzania, you can see seven different species of bee-eater hawking for insects under sun-filled skies. Each one sports impossibly beautiful colours, outcompeting even the half-a-dozen species of kingfisher we saw here. On
  
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• Images of new bleaching on Great Barrier Reef heighten fears of coral death

  19-02-2017 20:00
  
  Exclusive: Coral bleaching found near Palm Island as unusually warm waters are expected off eastern Australia, with areas hit in last year’s event in mortal dangerThe embattled Great Barrier Reef could face yet more severe coral bleaching in the coming month, with areas badly hit by last year’s event at risk of death.Images taken by local divers last week and shared exclusively with the Guardian by the Australian Marine Conservation Society show newly bleached corals discovered near
  
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• How to win the war on air pollution | Letters

  19-02-2017 19:31
  
  Damian Carrington is half right (The war against air pollution has begun – and it will be fought in cities, 13 February) in that cities bear a terrible burden from air pollution and municipal action is critical to address it. However, city governments cannot succeed alone. Much of urban pollution stems from outside city limits and significant progress will only be achieved with policies that also require national, regional and even international commitment.A significant part of city air po
  
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• SpaceX successfully launches rocket after Saturday setback

  19-02-2017 17:51 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The US rocket company sends a cargo ship to resupply the International Space Station.
  
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• Eco road trip: Los Angeles to Las Vegas by Tesla

  19-02-2017 11:00
  
  A teenager has launched a green car service between LA and Vegas, using Tesla electric vehicles. Stephanie Theobald gets a lift and finds the conversation as fascinating as the technologyStephanie has a wicked grin on her face as she flips open the boot of the car. We’re about to embark on a road trip from Los Angeles to Las Vegas but I suspect this is going to be very different from the one chronicled by Hunter S Thompson. In 1971’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, the trunk of his G
  
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• Organic food sales soar as shoppers put quality before price

  19-02-2017 08:00
  
  Retailers say demand is at its highest for a decade with popularity spreading from fruit and vegetables to other groceriesDemand for organic food is at its highest for more than a decade, according to major retailers.That’s good news for an industry that was hit hard by the economic downturn but now seems to be returning to rude health as more shoppers say organic food is worth paying the premium for. This week the Soil Association will release its annual report on the state of the organic
  
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• Coalition says it may change Clean Energy Finance Corporation rules to fund coal plants

  19-02-2017 02:48
  
  Josh Frydenberg says rules could allow CEFC to invest in projects that do not reduce emissions by 50% or moreThe Coalition is considering changing the Clean Energy Finance Corporation rules to fund new coal-powered plants.One week after the CEFC chief executive, Oliver Yates, told a Senate committee that investment in new coal plants were a very risky proposition for taxpayers, the energy and environment minister, Josh Frydenberg, said the change was an option because “it’s called th
  
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• Australia’s new normal … as city temperatures hit 47C people shelter from the deadly heat

  19-02-2017 01:04
  
  In Sydney’s baking suburbs, fans have sold out – and fears about the effects of climate change are mountingNahid is resting on a bench outside a Target clothing store, her groceries beside her. A cheery, middle-aged woman with a soft Egyptian accent, she is eating a cone of bubblegum ice-cream as though it contains the secret of life. When I ask her if she’s enjoying her ice-cream, it takes her 30 seconds to stop laughing.“On the weekend I was sick! Sick from the heat! It
  
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