Environment news

• How did the 20th century fur and skin trade impact Brazil's Amazon?

  03-03-2017 20:59 via theguardian.com
  
  Scientists find that commercial hunting caused “basin-wide collapse” among aquatic speciesScientists have conducted what they call the first systematic, historical account of the impacts on the Amazon basin of the 20th century international trade in furs and skins. The conclusion: “basin-wide population collapse” for aquatic species, but much greater resilience shown by terrestrial species.The study focuses on four states in Brazil - Acre, Amazonas, Rondonia and Roraima -
  
  Read more

• 'Just racist': EPA cuts will hit black and Hispanic communities the hardest

  03-03-2017 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Proposal would remove environmental justice office, tasked with bridging gap in pollution in black, Hispanic and low-income areas and wealthier white onesPlanned cuts at the Environmental Protection Agency are set to fall heaviest upon communities of color across the US that already suffer disproportionately from toxic pollution, green groups have warned.Related: New EPA head Scott Pruitt's emails reveal close ties with fossil fuel interestsContinue reading...
  
  Read more

• ESOS: 30% of businesses non-compliant just under a year on from final deadline

  03-03-2017 16:59
  
  EXCLUSIVE: Compliance rates for the Government's Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) are below expected levels, with thousands of qualifying organisations still unaccounted almost a year after the ultimate deadline.
  
  Read more

• Shell's climate film, air pollution and hedgehogs – green news roundup

  03-03-2017 16:47 via theguardian.com
  
  The week’s top environment news stories and green events. If you are not already receiving this roundup, sign up here to get the briefing delivered to your inbox Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• What Global Climate Change May Mean for Leaf Litter in Streams and Rivers

  03-03-2017 16:43 via feedproxy.google.com
  Rate of leaf litter decay — and release of carbon to the atmosphere — may not accelerate as much as previously predicted as temperatures riseCarbon emissions to the atmosphere from streams and rivers are expected to increase as warmer water temperatures stimulate faster rates of organic matter breakdown.
  
  Read more

• Study: Volkswagen's excess emissions will lead to 1,200 premature deaths in Europe

  03-03-2017 16:31 via feedproxy.google.com
  In September 2015, the German Volkswagen Group, the world’s largest car producer, admitted to having installed “defeat devices” in 11 million diesel cars sold worldwide between 2008 and 2015. The devices were designed to detect and adapt to laboratory tests, making the cars appear to comply with environmental standards when, in fact, they emitted pollutants called nitric oxides, or NOx, at levels that were on average four times the applicable European test-stand limit.
  
  Read more

• Brake Dust May Cause More Problems Than Blackened Wheel Covers

  03-03-2017 16:23 via feedproxy.google.com
  Though tailpipe emissions could fall in the years ahead as more zero-emission vehicles hit the streets, one major source of highway air pollution shows no signs of abating: brake and tire dust.Metals from brakes and other automotive systems are emitted into the air as fine particles, lingering over busy roadways. Now, researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology have shown how that cloud of tiny metal particles could wreak havoc on respiratory health.
  
  Read more

• Creating a buzz: how UK schools are embracing beekeeping

  03-03-2017 16:20 via theguardian.com
  
  Teachers are discovering that beehives can provide exciting opportunities to learn outside the classroom We know that things are bad with bees right now. In the past decade, they have been disappearing at an alarming rate – a combination of pests, pesticides and the destruction of habitats has seen the UK population decrease by about a third over that period. In September, the US added seven types of bees to its list of endangered species for the first time. The consequences of losing them
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• 'We need development': Maldives switches focus from climate threat to mass tourism

  03-03-2017 15:27 via theguardian.com
  
  The new government plans to relocate residents to larger atolls – leaving small islands ripe for development. It says these super resorts, not solar power, will create the money needed to adapt to climate changeWhen Mohamed Nasheed, the young, first democratically elected president of the Maldives, said in 2008 that he was seeking to buy a new homeland to save his people from being inundated by rising sea levels, it made the country of 1,200 coral islands the moral leader in the UN climate
  
  Read more

• Maldives plan to embrace mass tourism sparks criticism and outrage

  03-03-2017 15:27 via theguardian.com
  
  The new government plans to relocate residents to larger atolls – leaving small islands ripe for development. It says these super resorts, not solar power, will create the money needed to adapt to climate changeWhen Mohamed Nasheed, the young, first democratically elected president of the Maldives, said in 2008 that he was seeking to buy a new homeland to save his people from being inundated by rising sea levels, it made the country of 1,200 coral islands the moral leader in the UN climate
  
  Read more

• Late winter 'heatwave' hits the U.S. in February

  03-03-2017 14:44 via feedproxy.google.com
  It has been warm this winter for much of the country. But even with that said, temperatures recorded during a four-day period in late February 2017 across the central and eastern United States were extraordinary for the end of meteorological winter—December through February.
  
  Read more

• Human, Cattle Viruses Detected in Some Great Lakes Tributaries

  03-03-2017 14:35 via feedproxy.google.com
  Human and bovine, or cattle, viruses were detected in a small percentage of some Great Lakes Basin streams, with human viruses more prevalent in urban streams and bovine viruses more common in streams in agricultural areas, according to a recent U.S. Geological Survey-led study.
  
  Read more

• Traffic pollution must be fixed: our children’s lungs demand it | Penny Woods

  03-03-2017 13:48 via theguardian.com
  
  The chancellor must take bold action to reduce the number of diesel vehicles on UK roads. We also need a new Clean Air Act, with fair targets to work towardsFew things are as precious as our children’s health. That’s why the research commissioned by the mayor of London on the amount of schools in areas with illegal levels of toxic air is so troubling. The findings expose the severe problems with air pollution in London.But it’s not just a problem for Londoners. Safe air polluti
  
  Read more

• What drives the demand for rhino horns? | Nicky Reeves

  03-03-2017 13:34 via theguardian.com
  
  Should we accept that Vietnamese medicinal demand for rhino horns is traditional, and inevitable? Those who stockpile horns think soReports in February that the South African government was considering lifting the 2009 domestic moratorium on trade in rhino horns brought into focus something that is not necessarily obvious to those outside of that country: there currently exist in South Africa numerous large stockpiles of rhino horns, nearly all legal, all potentially extremely valuable.Related:
  
  Read more

• Survey shows shoppers will purchase wonky fruit and veg, but only at a discount

  03-03-2017 13:16
  
  The majority of supermarket customers are willing to buy imperfect fruit and vegetables, according to research, but only if the retailers deliver a significant discount on the misshapen products.
  
  Read more

• Amazon expands renewables ambition with new solar rooftop pledge

  03-03-2017 13:13
  
  Online retailer Amazon Web Services has pledged to deploy large-scale solar systems across 50 fulfillment and sortation centres globally by 2020, with deployments this year set to generate 41MW of renewable energy for the company.
  
  Read more

• Ancient skulls give clues to China human history

  03-03-2017 13:06 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Two skulls found in China shed light on the ancient humans who inhabited the region before the arrival of our own species.
  
  Read more

• Can trees give us cleaner air?

  03-03-2017 12:54 via bbc.co.uk
  
  US study reveals how much trees help tackle urban air pollution
  
  Read more

• Can trees cut air pollution?

  03-03-2017 12:54 via bbc.co.uk
  
  US study reveals how much trees help tackle urban air pollution
  
  Read more

• What's secretly in the swimming pool water?

  03-03-2017 12:47 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists have found something - but no one will admit to causing it.
  
  Read more

• Omega-3 oils could tackle damage caused by air pollution, research shows

  03-03-2017 11:57 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive New research indicates the benefits of eating omega-3 fatty acids, but also that pollution particles can penetrate the lungs into many organs, including testicles Supplements of healthy fats could be an immediate way of cutting the harm caused to billions around the world by air pollution, according to emerging research.However, the research also shows air pollution particles can penetrate through the lungs of lab animals into many major organs, including the brain and testicles. This
  
  Read more

• Oil supplements could tackle harmful health effects of air pollution

  03-03-2017 11:57 via theguardian.com
  
  Emerging research indicates the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids, but also that particles can penetrate the lungs into many organs, including testicles Supplements of healthy fats could be an immediate way of cutting the harm caused to billions around the world by air pollution, according to emerging research.However, the research also shows air pollution particles can penetrate through the lungs of lab animals into many major organs, including the brain and testicles. This raises the possibility
  
  Read more

• MPs 'deeply worried' about gaps between UK climate targets and policy delivery

  03-03-2017 11:54
  
  The Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee has expressed its concern over the gaps between the UK's decarbonisation ambition and current policymaking, on the same day that the Treasury faced criticism from MPs for failing to improve its approach to environmental sustainability.
  
  Read more

• UK litter set for Spring clean as fly-tipping woes emerge

  03-03-2017 11:30
  
  Ahead of Keep Britain Tidy's annual Spring Clean event, the charity has called for action to be taken to combat "disturbing" levels of fly-tipping across the UK.
  
  Read more

• Send us your tips for reducing food packaging waste

  03-03-2017 09:46 via theguardian.com
  
  Guardian Cook is looking to source tips on keeping food packaging waste to a minimum. Share yours via GuardianWitness
  For Cook’s green issue next week, we’re asking: how do you keep your use of food packaging to a minimum? Related: Modern life is rubbish: we don't need all this packagingContinue reading...
  
  Read more

• Fire hits Torrens power station as South Australia warned of further blackouts

  03-03-2017 09:25 via theguardian.com
  
  No power loss after blaze cuts three units from network but planned maintenance work may cause blackouts on weekendA fire at a power station in Adelaide knocked out part of South Australia’s electricity generation capacity on Friday as the state faced the prospect of weekend blackouts because of planned maintenance work.Three units at the Torrens Island power station were cut from the network at 3.35pm on Friday because of the blaze. The nearby Pelican Point power station also tripped at t
  
  Read more

• Scientists create 'artificial embryos'

  03-03-2017 08:48 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists have created a functioning mouse embryo in the lab
  
  Read more

• Laxton kites claw back their heritage

  03-03-2017 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Laxton, Northamptonshire The red kite thrives, and surely there’s no other prodigal English species that brings such pleasureKites soar and circle above the small limestone village mentioned in the Domesday book but rebuilt a little over 200 years ago to a design by Humphry Repton. There is a substantial red kite roost near the village, and 40 of them bring the sky to life with their twists and turns, tails contorting and long wings clawing the air. Related: Red kites exported after succes
  
  Read more

• Just as it gathers steam on coal, the Coalition is derailed by penalty rates | Katharine Murphy

  03-03-2017 04:47 via theguardian.com
  
  A decision the government had months to prepare for wrong-foots Malcolm Turnbull as he was finally lifting his party’s post-election gloomMalcolm Turnbull lost more than his voice this week, he washed up on the losing side of a critical political battle.
  The Coalition came back from the summer with a simple political strategy: strand Labor uncomfortably on energy policy between its inner city progressive supporters and its traditional working base. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• 'Clean coal', CCS and CSG will not save fossil fuels – their game is up | Ian Dunlop

  03-03-2017 03:32 via theguardian.com
  
  As the Finkel review submission deadline arrives it’s time to accept the inevitable and fix the shambles that is our energy policyEvery few years the fossil fuel industry pressures politicians to force “clean coal”, carbon capture and storage (CCS) and more recently coal seam gas (CSG) on an increasingly sceptical community to justify its continued expansion.
  This cycle started with the promotion of Adani’s massive Carmichael coalmine in Queensland, for coal export to Ind
  
  Read more

• Amazon forest 'shaped by pre-Columbian indigenous peoples'

  03-03-2017 02:33 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Ancient Amazon peoples planted a vast number of trees for food or building materials, a study argues.
  
  Read more

• DNA clues to why woolly mammoth died out

  03-03-2017 01:27 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The last woolly mammoths were wracked with genetic disease and had a strange shiny coat, say scientists.
  
  Read more

• Weather supercomputing ‘heads to Italy’

  03-03-2017 01:26 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Europe's medium-range weather forecasts will cease to be constructed in the UK from 2020.
  
  Read more

• Public-owned Australian power grid could solve energy issues, paper argues

  03-03-2017 01:18 via theguardian.com
  
  Economist says national electricity market has been crippled by design flaws and a failure to take climate change into accountAustralia’s electricity woes could be solved through a unified and publicly owned national power grid, a discussion paper has said.
  The paper authored by University of Queensland economist Prof John Quiggin says the creation of the national electricity market in the 1990s has failed to lower power prices and improve system reliability or environmental sustainability
  
  Read more

• World Wildlife Day photography competition finalists

  03-03-2017 01:05 via theguardian.com
  
  Ten finalists capture the theme of ‘through young eyes’ in this young photographers’ competition that aims to engage youth around the world in wildlife conservation. The winner will be announced at noon EST in New YorkContinue reading...
  
  Read more

• Air pollution leads to more drug resistant bacteria, study finds

  03-03-2017 01:03 via theguardian.com
  
  Research shows how black carbon affects the nose, throat and lungs of humans, possible beating the immune systemBlack carbon found in air pollution can increase the resistance of bacteria that cause respiratory disease, research has found.
  The discover could lead to a greater understanding of the effects of air pollution on human health, according to the lead scientist of the University of Leicester study. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

Follow @UK_Environment on Twitter!