Environment news

• Scientists have found a way of growing human tissue on apples

  27-02-2017 22:47 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists at the University of Ottawa have developed a way of growing human cells and tissue on apples.
  
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• Invasive and Native Marsh Grasses May Provide Similar Benefits to Protected Wetlands

  27-02-2017 21:21 via feedproxy.google.com
  An invasive species of marsh grass that spreads, kudzu-like, throughout North American wetlands, may provide similar benefits to protected wetlands as native marsh grasses. According to new research from North Carolina State University, the invasive marsh grass’s effects on carbon storage, erosion prevention and plant diversity in protected wetlands are neutral. The findings could impact management strategies aimed at eradicating the invasive grass.
  
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• Archeologists at the vanguard of environmental and climate research

  27-02-2017 21:20 via feedproxy.google.com
  We tend to think of the overuse of natural resources, climatic instability, and large-scale human land use as quintessentially modern day problems. Yet a group of researchers led by archaeologists and calling themselves historical ecologists have recently come together to determine what we need to know about past human-environmental relationships to build a more sustainable future. These historical ecologists crowd-sourced hundreds of research questions from scholars around the world that, when
  
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• New use for paper industry's sludge and fly ash in plastics

  27-02-2017 21:11 via feedproxy.google.com
  VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland examined, as part of the EU's Reffibre project, whether new industrial applications could be developed for various types of sludge and fly ash generated by the paper and board industry.  Laboratory tests showed that these side streams can replace up to 50% of oil-based polypropylene. They can be used as a raw material in plastic composites made using injection moulding and extrusion.
  
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• High energy bills here to stay but jobs heading overseas, industry group warns

  27-02-2017 20:37
  
  Ai Group report warns steep price rises will become ‘the new normal’ based on declining coal-fired generation and gas production shortagesThe “staggering” increase in energy costs faced by households and businesses will continue thanks to rising gas prices, putting jobs in jeopardy, according to the Australian Industry Group.Warning that last year’s steep price rises are set to become “the new normal”, the Ai Group says in a report on Tuesday that the co
  
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• What's The Leading Cause Of Wildfires In The U.S.? Humans

  27-02-2017 19:51 via feedproxy.google.com
  Wildfires can start when lightning strikes or when someone fails to put out a campfire. New research shows that people start a lot more fires than lightning does — so much so that people are drastically altering wildfire in America.
  
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• Bread's environmental costs are counted

  27-02-2017 18:26 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The environmental impact of producing a loaf of bread has been analysed in depth - from the farm to the supermarket shelf.
  
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• Nobel winner: Attack on experts 'undermines science'

  27-02-2017 18:19 via bbc.co.uk
  
  One of UK's top scientists, Sir Paul Nurse, says experts are being "derided and pushed back".
  
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• Thought the Newbury bypass devastated wildlife? These M4 plans are far worse | Patrick Barkham

  27-02-2017 17:58
  
  The days of ripping up reserves for motorways were supposed to be over. But the Newport scheme would create a ‘Berlin wall’ for natureThe most destructive new road in a generation begins a five-month public inquiry tomorrow. The six-lane M4 through Newport is a little twisty and vulnerable to traffic jams, so the Welsh government wants to flex new borrowing powers to fund a £1bn-plus “relief” road.This 14-mile motorway will carve through the Gwent Levels, dividing a
  
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• Forests to play major role in meeting Paris climate targets

  27-02-2017 17:46 via feedproxy.google.com
  Forests are set to play a major role in meeting the objectives of the Paris Climate Agreement - however, accurately monitoring progress toward the 'below 2°C' target requires a consistent approach to measuring the impact of forests on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.In a paper published in the journal, Nature Climate Change: Key role of forests in meeting climate targets but science needed for credible mitigation, scientists are calling for robust, transparent and credible data to t
  
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• Five rangers die in grim month for wildlife protectors

  27-02-2017 17:45
  
  Rangers lost their lives in Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and IndiaFive wildlife rangers and three other men working in wildlife protection have lost their lives in four separate countries in the past month, highlighting the numerous hazards rangers and their colleagues face in protecting the world’s wild lands and species. “It’s a tough week when we lose eight of our ranger family; some to poachers’ bullets and some to the other dangers that come with the t
  
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• Eight rangers killed in grim week for wildlife protectors

  27-02-2017 17:45
  
  Rangers lost their lives in Kenya, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and IndiaEight wildlife rangers have lost their lives in four separate countries, in a week that highlighted the numerous hazards rangers face in protecting the world’s wild lands and species.
  “It’s a tough week when we lose eight of our ranger family; some to poachers’ bullets and some to the other dangers that come with the territory,” said Sean Willmore, founder and
  
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• Drones and autonomous vehicles: Can Ford's delivery vision take flight?

  27-02-2017 17:32
  
  As online shopping becomes the norm, retailers are casting eyes to the emissions of the fleets that transport goods around the country, but could electric and autonomous driving and drones act as a viable method to transport deliveries? Ford seems to think so.
  
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• New polymer additive could revolutionize plastics recycling

  27-02-2017 17:09 via feedproxy.google.com
  When Geoffrey Coates, a professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Cornell University, gives a talk about plastics and recycling, he usually opens with this question: What percentage of the 78 million tons of plastic used for packaging – for example, a 2-liter bottle or a take-out food container – actually gets recycled and re-used in a similar way?The answer, just 2 percent. Sadly, nearly a third is leaked into the environment, around 14 percent is used in incineration and/or en
  
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• Getting Rid of the Last Bits of Sulfur in Fuel

  27-02-2017 16:47 via feedproxy.google.com
  Scientists led by a team at Caltech have developed a new method for potentially removing nearly all sulfur compounds from gas and diesel fuel.Sulfur compounds in fuels such as gasoline and diesel create air pollution when the fuel is burned. To address that challenge, large-scale oil refinery processes remove the majority of sulfur from fuel down to a government-mandated level. The new technique, however, has the potential to reduce sulfur down to a fraction of that amount, which would further r
  
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• New standards for better water quality in Europe

  27-02-2017 16:35 via feedproxy.google.com
  Researchers present recommendations for revision of the EU Water Framework Directive
  
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• Check if your London nursery, school or college is exposed to toxic air

  27-02-2017 16:07
  
  How worrying are the nitrogen dioxide levels at your child’s school? Tens of thousands of children at more than 800 schools, nurseries and colleges in London are being exposed to illegal levels of air pollution that risk causing lifelong health problems.
  The Guardian revealed on Friday that there are 802 educational institutions in the capital where pupils as young as three are being exposed to levels of nitrogen dioxide that are within 150 metres of nitrogen dioxide pollution levels that
  
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• International research team reports ocean acidification spreading rapidly in Arctic Ocean in area and depth

  27-02-2017 15:17 via feedproxy.google.com
  Ocean acidification (OA) is spreading rapidly in the western Arctic Ocean in both area and depth, according to new interdisciplinary research reported in Nature Climate Change by a team of international collaborators, including University of Delaware professor Wei-Jun Cai.
  
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• Solar-Powered Water Wheels Prevented 1 Million Pounds of Trash From Entering Baltimore Harbor

  27-02-2017 15:06 via feedproxy.google.com
  Meet Mr. Trash Wheel and Professor Trash Wheel—a pair of floating, solar and hydro-powered trash interceptors keeping Baltimore’s waters clean. These frankly adorable trash wheels can collect as much as 38,000 pounds of debris in a single day.
  
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• Report: Business backing for clean technology could deliver a zero-carbon UK

  27-02-2017 14:59
  
  The UK can become entirely self-sufficient for its energy needs if businesses and policymakers can together demonstrate a strengthened support for existing low-carbon technologies, a new report from research organisation Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) has claimed.
  
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• Food production in 'jeopardy' unless new agri-practices are introduced, says FAO

  27-02-2017 14:46
  
  The global population's ability to feed itself could be "in jeopardy" unless new technologies and sustainable agriculture policies and practices are introduced, a new report from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned.
  
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• Co-op becomes first UK retailer to source 100% Fairtrade cocoa

  27-02-2017 12:31
  
  Co-op has become the first UK retailer to only sell and use 100% Fairtrade cocoa in its products, and has called on other retailers to increase their commitments to the Fairtrade initiative.
  
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• Just who are these 300 'scientists' telling Trump to burn the climate? | John Abraham

  27-02-2017 12:00
  
  As with all such lists, the 300 ‘scientists’ badly lack climate expertise
  If you read my articles regularly, you may have noticed multiple times I have stated that the scientific argument is over; there are no longer any reputable scientists that deny the overwhelming human influence in our climate. An open letter published last week by the anti-environmentalists proves my point.If you read the headlines, it might have seemed impressive: “300 Scientists Tell Trump to Leave UN C
  
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• Parks and recreation. Your favourite local green spaces - in pictures

  27-02-2017 11:08
  
  Council budgets for parks may have been cut, but you still love your local parks. We asked readers to share their pictures via Guardian Witness and here are some of our favourites. Continue reading...
  
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• Sand mining: the global environmental crisis you’ve never heard of

  27-02-2017 08:15
  
  From Cambodia to California, industrial-scale sand mining is causing wildlife to die, local trade to wither and bridges to collapse. And booming urbanisation means the demand for this increasingly valuable resource is unlikely to let upTimes are good for Fey Wei Dong. A genial, middle-aged businessman based near Shanghai, China, Fey says he is raking in the equivalent of £180,000 a year from trading in the humblest of commodities: sand.
  Fey often works in a fishing village on Poyang Lake,
  
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• Biomass 'carbon neutrality' debate continues to divide opinions

  27-02-2017 08:15
  
  Using biomass, specifically energy derived from burning wood, as a crux in the UK's effort to transition towards a low-carbon economy has come under scrutiny again, after the former secretary for energy and climate change and his ex-special advisor clashed over its use.
  
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• Biomass 'carbon neutrality' debate continues to divide opinion

  27-02-2017 08:15
  
  Using biomass, specifically energy derived from burning wood, as a crux in the UK's effort to transition towards a low-carbon economy has come under scrutiny again, after the former secretary for energy and climate change and his ex-special advisor clashed over its use.
  
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• UK falls in love again with Fairtrade bananas and coffee

  27-02-2017 08:01
  
  British public support for ethical label lifts sales of Fairtrade goods for the first time since 2013Sales of Fairtrade goods have risen for the first time since 2013 as the increasing popularity of bananas and coffee sold under the ethical label offset falling sales of cocoa and sugar.Revenues from produce overseen by the Fairtrade Foundation body, which guarantees a minimum price to farmers and additional payments for use on social projects such as schools or clean water provision, rose 2% to
  
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• Locals accuse Pakistan of doing the dirty by turning to coal to meet energy needs

  27-02-2017 08:00
  
  As Pakistan seeks to address its power crisis by mining coal, villagers in the Thar desert are fighting to prevent state acquisition of their ancestral land
  Amid the din of the excavating machines and the rumble of dumpers removing and hauling tonnes of earth, the voice of indigenous communities in Pakistan’s Sindh province has been drowned out.Nabi Bux, a resident of Sehnri Dars in the province’s Thar desert, can attest as much. His village, roughly 400km from the port city of Karac
  
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• End of the world on the edge of Skye

  27-02-2017 06:30
  
  Fiskavaig, Skye This huge island is a complication of landscapes, and on its west coast you walk the divide between them allThe lady had drawn a map to direct me to the beach: there it was, easy enough, but where a road continued off the edge she’d inscribed an arrow, and the words “end of the world”. Curious, I follow the road off her map, past ancient rusting crofts on to a ribbon of singletrack, to where it stops. A knoll stands beyond a sheep gate and I climb it.
  What I see
  
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• How talking to air conditioners could help prevent blackouts

  27-02-2017 03:56
  
  An integrated energy grid could monitor power shortfalls, predict demand and respond accordingly, according to experts, although data will need to be sharedFor South Australia, it was a cruelly ironic one-two punch – a burst of the extreme heat conditions that are so much more likely because of climate change, and a power cut linked to a simultaneous drop in wind that hobbled the renewable energy systems introduced to minimise global warming in the first place.
  On 8 February, South Austral
  
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