Environment news

• Head of EPA denies carbon dioxide causes global warming – video

  09-03-2017 21:31 via theguardian.com
  
  Scott Pruitt, the new head of the US Environmental Protection Agency, gave an interview on CNBC on Thursday during which he denied carbon dioxide was a primary contributor to global warming. Pruitt also said that there is ‘tremendous disagreement’ over the extent to which human activity such as CO2 emissions are affecting the earth, despite widespread agreement in the scientific communityEPA head Scott Pruitt denies that carbon dioxide causes global warmingContinue reading...
  
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• EPA head Scott Pruitt denies that carbon dioxide causes global warming

  09-03-2017 20:12 via theguardian.com
  
  Trump adviser shocks scientists and environmental advocates with statement that negates EPA policy and ‘overwhelmingly clear’ evidence on climate changeScott Pruitt, Donald Trump’s head of the US Environmental Protection Agency, has dismissed a basic scientific understanding of climate change by denying that carbon dioxide emissions are a primary cause of global warming.Pruitt said on Thursday that he did not believe that the release of CO2, a heat-trapping gas, was pushing glo
  
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• Great Barrier Reef coral bleaching worsens as scientists fear heatwave's impact

  09-03-2017 20:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Images released by Greenpeace show newly bleached coral at reef between Port Douglas and CairnsMore evidence of coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef has emerged ahead of surveys that will confirm whether an underwater heatwave has caused widespread damage for an unprecedented second year in a row.Photos and footage taken by marine biologist Brett Monroe Garner at a reef between Port Douglas and Cairns – south of the hardest-hit northern section of the reef last year – indicate s
  
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• Robber fly: Hunting secrets of a tiny predator

  09-03-2017 19:15 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The mid-air hunting strategy of a tiny fly the size of a grain of rice has been revealed by an international team of scientists.
  
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• Baby chimp thriving after rescue from traffickers

  09-03-2017 19:08 via bbc.co.uk
  
  We revisit Nemley Junior who was freed from wildlife traffickers in Ivory Coast after a BBC News investigation.
  
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• Robber fly: Hunting secrets of a tiny predator revealed

  09-03-2017 18:32 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A tiny robber fly the size of a grain of rice has an advanced hunting strategy, researchers discover.
  
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• Green light for first UK hydro storage project in 30 years

  09-03-2017 17:26
  
  The first grid-scale electricity storage facility to be built in Britain for more than 30 years has been approved by Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Secretary Greg Clark.
  
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• Here comes the pollution pram

  09-03-2017 16:47 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The scheme hoping to help parents steer their little ones away from exhaust fumes.
  
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• Researchers develop equation that helps to explain plant growth

  09-03-2017 16:16 via feedproxy.google.com
  It is rare in biology that a single trait can answer questions spanning several fields of research. One such trait is plant biology’s “leaf mass per area,” a simple measurement calculated by weighing a dried leaf and dividing by its original fresh area. Leaf mass per area, or LMA, which has been measured in thousands of studies, is used in nearly every field of plant biology to make predictions of many processes and properties such as leaf photosynthetic rates, nitrogen content
  
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• New research finds infants are more exposed to harmful pollution on the way to school than on the way home

  09-03-2017 16:07 via feedproxy.google.com
  Babies in prams accompanying older siblings on the school run are twice as likely to be exposed to harmful air pollution in the morning than in the afternoon, a new study has found.
  
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• Investment key in adapting to climate change in West Africa

  09-03-2017 16:06 via feedproxy.google.com
  Climate projections for West Africa show that crop yields and grass for livestock grazing are likely to decline in the future. But a new study in the journal Global Environmental Change shows that when ineffective institutions and political instability limit investment in agriculture climate change would have greater impacts on regional food security.West Africa is a major producer of crops such as cassava, millet, and sorghum but in the future, regional production may not be
  
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• Iran and Middle East could adopt fully renewable electricity systems

  09-03-2017 15:59 via feedproxy.google.com
  Iran can transition to a fully renewable electricity system and financially benefit from it by 2030. Researchers at Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) show that major oil-producing countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region could turn their abundant renewable energy resources into lucrative business opportunities in less than two decades.
  
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• Oldest croc eggs discovered in dinosaur nest

  09-03-2017 15:58 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The oldest crocodilian eggs known to science have been discovered in the cliffs of western Portugal.
  
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• Unseasonable Warm Spells Endanger Fruit Crops Nationwide

  09-03-2017 15:43 via feedproxy.google.com
  Plants are blooming early across the country as a result of this winter’s ongoing record warmth, which many connect to climate change. And some fear that an impending freeze could destroy countless fruit flowers and wreak havoc on the industry.
  
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• Research break-through: Producing gasoline in yeast cell factories

  09-03-2017 15:33 via feedproxy.google.com
  There have been many attempts to modify this stubborn little enzyme. But none have succeeded, until now. With new findings from Chalmers the enzyme FAS has started to produce sustainable chemicals for biofuels.We are in great need of sustainable and clean alternatives to oil-derived products. One of the choices at hand is to produce chemicals and biofuels from sustainable biomass.
  
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• Use buggy covers to combat air pollution danger, parents warned

  09-03-2017 15:28 via theguardian.com
  
  Parents should protect their infants by using covers on prams during the school run, particularly in the morning, according to expertsParents should use covers on their prams during the school run to protect their infants from air pollution, experts have warned.Scientists tested the pollution levels inside prams to assess the exposure of infants taken on the school run with older siblings. The researchers found that the fine particle pollution from vehicle exhausts, which is particularly harmful
  
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• Watching the scratching bear is good for you

  09-03-2017 15:00 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Research from the University of California has found that watching nature programmes, such as Planet Earth II, is good for you.
  
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• Caribou Appear to Keep up with Warming Arctic

  09-03-2017 14:19 via feedproxy.google.com
  Despite recent changes to the growing season for plants in the Arctic, Alaska, caribou appear to have remained in sync with these changes over the last 30 years. 
  
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• EU sees 'strategic advantage' of biofuels in aviation

  09-03-2017 13:29
  
  In sectors like aviation where decarbonisation options are limited, there is a strategic advantage in encouraging the use of biofuels, a European Commission official has said.
  
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• Warnings over children's health as recycled e-waste comes back as plastic toys

  09-03-2017 13:08 via theguardian.com
  
  A trend towards using plastic parts in electrical and electronic goods is causing a headache for the recycling industryFlame retardants used in plastics in a wide range of electronic products is putting the health of children exposed to them at risk, according to a new report (pdf). Brominated flame-retarding chemicals have been associated with lower mental, psychomotor and IQ development, poorer attention spans and decreases in memory and processing speed, according to the peer-reviewed study b
  
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• Circular economy could save 11% of annual global water demand, research finds

  09-03-2017 13:03
  
  The adaptation of circular economy methods in water-stressed regions could save 412 billion cubic metres of water each year, the equivalent to 11% of annual global water demand, according to new research from multinational banking group ING.
  
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• Sainsbury's denies it has dropped consumer food waste target

  09-03-2017 11:07
  
  Sainsbury's has refuted claims made in the Guardian that the retailer has dropped its ambitious target to halve its UK consumers' household food waste in five years.
  
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• 'Difficult to see' UK remaining in EU ETS

  09-03-2017 10:28
  
  The UK is unlikely to remain part of the EU emissions trading system (ETS) following Brexit, an academic from the Institute for European Environmental Policy has told edie's sister title Utility Week.
  
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• Too close for comfort: campaign aims to give cyclists safe space

  09-03-2017 09:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Cycling UK is raising funds to replicate nationwide a West Midlands police initiative that teaches drivers how to overtake cyclists safely More than 2 million Britons cycle every day, and about 6.6 million ride at least once a month. For most of these people, the cycling infrastructure will be poor and they will be on the road mixing with traffic in all its forms where close passes will sadly be the norm.According to findings from Dr Rachel Aldred’s Near Miss project, drivers overtaking cy
  
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• Innovation must be at heart of food waste fight, industry experts agree

  09-03-2017 08:20
  
  EXCLUSIVE: Open-source innovation will be a central tool to help businesses meet the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.3 objective of halving global food waste by 2030, a group of industry experts including the heads of Tesco and WRAP have told edie.
  
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• DNA provides window into early Aboriginal history

  09-03-2017 06:43 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists use hair to locate where distinct groups lived in Australia up to 50,000 years ago.
  
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• Drone fly stirs for the first feed of spring

  09-03-2017 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  The insect’s abdomen pulsed – with a sudden flexing of its armour-like plates it was readying itself to fly, feed and pollinate Winter winds had worked their way into the sills and splits in a wooden gate. Silver birch seeds and seed cases had been blown and wedged into every gap. Many more had been whisked through the bars into the lee of the west wind only to snag in spiders’ webs, and there they hung, in the grubby threads that had become necklaces of detritus. Related: When
  
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• Cruise holidays: who is leading the fleet for sustainable sea travel?

  09-03-2017 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Environmental standards for shipping are so low, cruise companies have a huge opportunity to improve their policiesNot many of the 25 million people enjoying the sea breeze on a cruise ship this year are likely to think about the air pollutants being emitted from the vessel. Mostly running on heavy fuel oil, a medium-sized cruise ship produces around the same volume of air pollutants – including greenhouse gases, sulphur, nitric oxides and particulate matter – as 5m cars going the sa
  
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• The closure of the Climate Institute comes just as we're building consensus on action | John Connor

  09-03-2017 05:18 via theguardian.com
  
  My 10 years as CEO of the Climate Institute has allowed me to reflect on the rollercoaster ride though the bumpy minefield of Australian climate politicsOn 30 June, after almost 12 years – seven more than originally planned – the Climate Institute will close its doors.As its CEO for the last decade, this has given me pause to reflect on this rollercoaster ride through the bumpy minefield that is Australian climate and energy politics. Where have we been as a nation? What has the Clim
  
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• Australia's energy policy is a world-class failure and Abbott wears the gold medal of blame | Katharine Murphy

  09-03-2017 02:41 via theguardian.com
  
  Malcolm Turnbull says he wants to take ideology out of energy but he shows every sign of another manufactured political fightIf you’ve watched the inglorious spectacle of the failure of Australian politics on climate and energy policy over the last 10 years, it’s a bit hard to look out on the wreckage without feeling sick to the stomach.
  But look we must and, if we look now, we are able to chart the consequences of abject failure in highly specific ways. Continue reading...
  
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• Renewable energy spike led to sharp drop in emissions in Australia, study shows

  09-03-2017 02:12 via theguardian.com
  
  Surge in October last year helped greenhouse gas emissions fall by 3.57m tonnes in December quarterA sharp drop in Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions at the end of last year came courtesy of a spike in renewable energy generation in a single month, according to a new study.Australia’s emissions fell by 3.57m tonnes in the three months to December, putting them back on track to meet quarterly commitments made in Paris after a blowout the previous quarter. Continue reading...
  
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