Environment news

• President jokes while signing space agency funding bill

  21-03-2017 23:58 via bbc.co.uk
  
  President jokes while signing space agency funding bill
  
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• A bright sun today? It's down to the atmosphere

  21-03-2017 22:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Solar brightening and dimming effects around the globe are likely to be related to airborne pollutant levels say scientistsFor some of us the future really is bright. Researchers have been tracking changes in the apparent brightness of the sun for decades. Globally there was a gradual dimming from the 1940s to the 1980s, but since then the sunlight has been increasing in some areas.Related: Global warming is not due to the sun, confirms leaked IPCC reportContinue reading...
  
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• The foundation of aquatic life can rapidly adapt to global warming, new research suggests

  21-03-2017 22:11 via feedproxy.google.com
  Important microscopic creatures which produce half of the oxygen in the atmosphere can rapidly adapt to global warming, new research suggests.Phytoplankton, which also act as an essential food supply for fish, can increase the rate at which they take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen while in warmer water temperatures, a long-running experiment shows.Monitoring of one species, a green algae, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, after ten years of them being in waters of a higher temperature shows they
  
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• 2017 U.S. Wildfire Season Off to an Intense Start

  21-03-2017 21:59 via feedproxy.google.com
  Wildfires have consumed more than 2 million acres of U.S. land so far this year, nearly 10 times the long-term average and a punishing start to this year’s wildfire season, according to data from the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC).
  
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• Futuristic Clock Prepared for Space

  21-03-2017 21:47 via feedproxy.google.com
  No one keeps time quite like NASA.Last month, the space agency's next-generation atomic clock was joined to the spacecraft that will take it into orbit in late 2017.That instrument, the Deep Space Atomic Clock was developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. On Feb. 17, JPL engineers monitored integration of the clock on to the Surrey Orbital Test Bed spacecraft at Surrey Satellite Technology in Englewood, Colorado.
  
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• A new, gel-like coating beefs up the performance of lithium-sulfur batteries

  21-03-2017 21:35 via feedproxy.google.com
  Yale scientists have developed an ultra-thin coating material that has the potential to extend the life and improve the efficiency of lithium-sulfur batteries, one of the most promising areas of energy research today.In a study published online March 20 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers describe the new material — a dendrimer-graphene oxide composite film — which can be applied to any sulfur cathode. A cathode is the positive terminal on a battery.
  
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• Carnegie Mellon University Launches Carbon Emissions Index

  21-03-2017 21:06 via feedproxy.google.com
  Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) today announced the creation of a new index that will measure carbon dioxide emissions from the U.S. electrical power generation sector. The Carnegie Mellon Power Sector Carbon Index will track the environmental performance of U.S. power producers and compare current emissions to historical data collected nationwide for more than two decades. A quarterly press release will inform interested parties of power sector
  
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• Why a Czech zoo is dehorning its white rhinos

  21-03-2017 20:37 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Dvur Kralove Zoo in the Czech Republic, has taken the decision to remove the horns from its white rhinos for their safety.
  
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• The snow bunting’s drift takes them much further than Somerset | Letters

  21-03-2017 19:38 via theguardian.com
  
  Anent the admirable Stephen Moss’s remark (Birdwatch, 20 March) that his snow bunting on the Somerset coast was “probably the furthest south they ever get”, I have been spotting snow buntings all across the Alps for more than 40 years. In winter they are common, often seen in flocks around picnic spots, in all the high ski resorts.My last sighting was in January. While photographing Alpine choughs on the summit of the Marmolada, the Queen of the Dolomites at just unde
  
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• Boulder scientist teams on study probing implications of ice sheet's demise

  21-03-2017 19:25 via feedproxy.google.com
  Flying over the remote during research at the Barnes Ice Cap on Baffin Island in 2009, a Boulder scientist saw dark where there should have been white.Closer inspection revealed that what Gifford Miller spotted was the remnants of a 1963 geological camp that had been buried for decades by snow and ice. Long-abandoned tents and snowmobiles were being unveiled by melting of the ice cap, and that helped inspire a study that suggests a disturbing climate change signal.
  
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• Oil theft 'provides billions for terrorists and drug cartels'

  21-03-2017 19:12 via theguardian.com
  
  $1bn of oil is stolen in Mexico each year, while EU loses massive revenues, says the Atlantic Council thinktankOil theft is fuelling terrorist groups and drug cartels around the world, according to a new analysis.Mexican drug gangs can earn $90,000 (£72,000) in seven minutes from tapping a pipeline of refined oil, while insurgents in Nigeria financially benefit from a share of the third of the country’s refined oil exports that is lost to theft, said the Atlantic Council. Continue re
  
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• Former Greens leader Bob Brown to launch alliance to oppose Adani coalmine

  21-03-2017 18:30 via theguardian.com
  
  The Stop Adani Alliance says north Queensland coalmine would ‘fuel catastrophic climate change’ The former Greens leader Bob Brown will launch a new alliance of 13 environmental groups opposed to Adani’s Carmichael coalmine on Wednesday in Canberra.The Stop Adani Alliance will lobby against the coalmine in northern Queensland, citing new polling that shows three-quarters of Australians oppose subsidies for the mine when told the government plans to loan its owners $1bn. Continu
  
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• The big bike helmet debate: 'You don’t make it safe by forcing cyclists to dress for urban warfare'

  21-03-2017 18:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The question of whether cyclists should wear helmets provokes fury – often from those on four wheels. But which has the bigger benefit: increased physical safety, or creating a better environment for people to cycle helmet-free?As I cyclist, I don’t object to helmets or to high-visibility clothing. Like the majority of people I know in London, I wear a helmet most of the time when on a bike. I do, however, have serious worries about efforts to make the use of hi-vis clothes or helmet
  
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• Tiny genetic change lets bird flu leap to humans

  21-03-2017 17:57 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A change in just a single 'letter' of the flu virus allows bird flu to pass to humans, according to scientists.
  
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• Hospitality sector profiting from swift energy efficiency paybacks

  21-03-2017 17:47
  
  A benchmarking tool which measures the energy performances of major hospitality businesses including McDonalds, Costa Coffee and Caffe Nero has revealed that energy efficiency schemes deliver much quicker profitability than opening new sites.
  
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• Can the UK become a world-leader for decentralised energy post-Brexit?

  21-03-2017 16:07
  Britain's imminent departure from the European Union (EU) offers an opportunity to push the nation towards the forefront of an interconnected, decentralised energy system - but only if the Government delivers constructive regulatory support mechanisms.
  
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• Should your school serve local food?

  21-03-2017 16:03 via theguardian.com
  
  Seasonal menus, bake-offs and an army of ‘Jamie Olivers’ are helping more UK schools offer locally sourced lunches. But what’s the secret to making the switch?At a state school in Harrogate, Steve Ashburn is busy serving 950 lunches to hungry children – using ingredients sourced from local suppliers. The menu is impressive. Options include Easingword pork escalopes, stuffed with leek and Wensleydale cheese, followed by Wakefield rhubarb possett for dessert.As a foodie and
  
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• Should schools serve local food?

  21-03-2017 16:03 via theguardian.com
  
  Seasonal menus, bake-offs and an army of ‘Jamie Olivers’ are helping more UK schools offer locally sourced lunches. But what’s the secret to making the switch?At a state school in Harrogate, Steve Ashburn is busy serving 950 lunches to hungry children – using ingredients sourced from local suppliers. The menu is impressive. Options include Easingwold pork escalopes, stuffed with leek and Wensleydale cheese, followed by Wakefield rhubarb possett for dessert.As a foodie and
  
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• Heathrow's confidence in air quality compliance unlikely to silence the doubters

  21-03-2017 15:31
  
  Heathrow Airport remains "confident" of the plans it has put in place to build a third runway without causing any extra air pollution in the surrounding areas, but concerns from green groups and MPs have raised questions whether Heathrow should merely comply with legislation or push beyond it.
  
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• Heathrow's confidence in air quality compliance unlikely to silence expansion doubts

  21-03-2017 15:31
  
  Heathrow Airport remains "confident" of the plans it has put in place to build a third runway without causing any extra air pollution in the surrounding areas, but concerns from green groups and MPs have raised questions whether Heathrow should merely comply with legislation or push beyond it.
  
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• Rosetta saw cliffs collapse on comet

  21-03-2017 15:30 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The comet visited by the Rosetta spacecraft is constantly being re-shaped, sometimes in dramatic fashion, a study suggests.
  
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• Access to nature reduces depression and obesity, finds European study

  21-03-2017 15:08 via theguardian.com
  
  Trees and green spaces are unrecognised healers offering benefits from increases in mental wellbeing to allergy reductions, says reportPeople living close to trees and green spaces are less likely to be obese, inactive, or dependent on anti-depressants, according to a new report.Middle-aged Scottish men with homes in deprived but verdant areas were found to have a death rate 16% lower than their more urban counterparts. Pregnant women also received a health boost from a greener environment, reco
  
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• Spring Outlook: Risk of major flooding in North Dakota, moderate flooding in Idaho

  21-03-2017 14:37 via feedproxy.google.com
  Northern North Dakota – the Souris River, Devils Lake and the northernmost reaches of the Red River – has the greatest risk of major flooding this spring, while moderate flooding is possible over southern Idaho in the Snake River basin, according to NOAA’s Spring Outlook released today.
  
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• Climate change is happening now – here’s eight things we can do to adapt to it | Missy Stults

  21-03-2017 14:23 via theguardian.com
  
  Donald Trump has rejected global leadership on the issue, so now it’s down to us as individuals to plan, and push through new policies change where we canA little girl sits outside on her front stoop, watching the cars go by and the people trot to work in the early hours of the morning. She wears a long-sleeved shirt, pants, and sneakers. Nothing is particularly shocking about this image, except the fact that it’s December in New York City (or Detroit, or London). In a “traditi
  
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• Secret aid worker: when your crisis isn't cool enough to attract the right people

  21-03-2017 13:42 via theguardian.com
  
  The humanitarian community is showing lacklustre interest in the Lake Chad crisis, despite 15 million people needing help
  I have started to think that a lack of attention to a crisis correlates with the kind of aid workers it attracts. The greater the media buzz, the more in-demand a deployment is, and the broader the choice of candidates to pick from. I have worked in a lot of places, from active war zones to countries affected by natural disasters, and have seen the different people they attra
  
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• The man who planted a tree and grew a whole family of forests

  21-03-2017 12:44 via theguardian.com
  
  As Brazil’s deforestation begins to climb again, one man has spent over 40 years planting a forest of his own
  When Antonio Vicente bought a patch of land in São Paulo state and said he wanted to use it to plant a forest, people called him crazy. It was 1973 and forests were seen by many as an obstacle to progress and profit.Brazil’s then military government encouraged wealthy landowners to expand by offering them generously subsidised credit to invest in modern farming techniq
  
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• Ganges and Yamuna rivers granted same legal rights as human beings

  21-03-2017 12:44 via theguardian.com
  
  Indian court cites the Whanganui in New Zealand as example for according status to two rivers considered sacredThe Ganges river, considered sacred by more than 1 billion Indians, has become the first non-human entity in India to be granted the same legal rights as people.A court in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand ordered on Monday that the Ganges and its main tributary, the Yamuna, be accorded the status of living human entities. Continue reading...
  
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• BlackRock headlines green bonds push, but is investor action ambitious enough?

  21-03-2017 12:38
  
  As a new briefing paper highlights that up to $6.9trn in controlled assets are covered by investors with little to no environmental, social and governance (ESG) responsibility, the world's largest investor has headlined a stream of new green bond announcements.
  
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• Space view of Earth's magnetic rocks

  21-03-2017 12:32 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Earth's history is recorded in the magnetisation of its hard, outer shell.
  
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• Crustal attraction

  21-03-2017 12:32 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Earth's history is recorded in the magnetisation of its hard, outer shell.
  
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• Satellite eye on Earth: February 2017 – in pictures

  21-03-2017 12:09 via theguardian.com
  
  Vibrant vegetation in a Venezuelan lake, Saharan dust in snowy Sierra Nevada, cloud vortices in South Korea, a vast solar farm in China, and a lone ship in the Atlantic are among our satellite images this monthEvery so often, a vibrant green colour infuses the waters of Lake Maracaibo. Floating vegetation – likely duckweed – was swirling in the Venezuelan lake when Nasa’s Aqua satellite flew over in February 2017. Most of the time, Maracaibo’s waters are stratified into l
  
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• China goes west: a ghost city in the sand comes to life

  21-03-2017 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Mountains have been flattened and villages bulldozed to build Lanzhou New Area in China’s wild west. Four years ago Tom Phillips met empty streets and an eerie hush, but now he finds this improbable desert mirage finally filling up点击这里，阅读本文中文版It was a scheme as bold and eccentric as any to emerge from China’s 21st-century sprint towards urbanisation: to build and populate a dazzling metropolis of one
  
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• Spaceport protest delays rocket launch in French Guiana

  21-03-2017 11:49 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Striking workers block the roll-out of the booster at the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana.
  
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• Breakthroughs for biofuel in aviation and transport sectors

  21-03-2017 11:36
  
  Car manufacturer SEAT has provided insight into its innovative project that turns wastewater into a biomethane fuel capable of reducing CO2 emissions by 80% compared to traditional vehicles, while NASA has released data on the viability on using biofuels in jet engines.
  
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• ADBA: UK risks missing carbon budgets unless AD is given Government backing

  21-03-2017 10:43
  
  EXCLUSIVE: The UK Government must revise its policy approach to help companies realise the significant economic and environmental benefits of sending food waste to anaerobic digestion (AD), the industry's trade association has insisted.
  
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• 'Step change' needed to create more woodland

  21-03-2017 10:19 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Too little new woodland is being created in England, say MPs, amid warnings of a "tree planting crisis".
  
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• 'Extreme and unusual' climate trends continue after record 2016

  21-03-2017 10:19 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The world continues to experience extreme climate trends after a record breaking 2016, says WMO.
  
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• Spider venom may offer stroke therapy

  21-03-2017 10:12 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Protein extracted from funnel webs may help minimise the effects of brain damage after a stroke.
  
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• Plight of child workers facing cocktail of toxic chemicals exposed by report

  21-03-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  In Bangladesh’s tanneries, workers as young as eight are exposed to potentially life-shortening chemicals including formaldehyde and sulphuric acidChildren as young as eight, working in the tanneries of Bangladesh producing leather that is in demand across Europe and the USA, are exposed to toxic chemical cocktails that are likely to shorten their lives, according to a new report.Approximately 90% of those who live and work in the overcrowded urban slums of Hazaribagh and Kamrangirchar, wh
  
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• Perfect touch: man-made works that dovetail with nature – in pictures

  21-03-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  From a red bridge emerging from mist in rural Japan to a tiered stream stepping down a hillside, Toshio Shibata’s photographs – gathered for a new exhibition in New York – take a positive view of our impact on the landscape Continue reading...
  
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• Child workers producing 'Bengali black' leather exposed to cocktail of toxic chemicals

  21-03-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  In Bangladesh’s tanneries, workers as young as eight are exposed to potentially life-shortening chemicals as they work on products destined for western marketsChildren as young as eight, working in the tanneries of Bangladesh producing leather that is in demand across Europe and the USA, are exposed to toxic chemical cocktails that are likely to shorten their lives, according to a new report.Approximately 90% of those who live and work in the overcrowded urban slums of Hazaribagh and Kamra
  
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• Child labourers exposed to toxic chemicals dying before 50, WHO says

  21-03-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Bangladesh tannery workers exposed to formaldehype, sulphuric acid and more while making products for westernersChildren as young as eight, working in the tanneries of Bangladesh producing leather that is in demand across Europe and the USA, are exposed to toxic chemical cocktails that are likely to shorten their lives, according to a new report.Approximately 90% of those who live and work in the overcrowded urban slums of Hazaribagh and Kamrangirchar, where hazardous chemicals are discharged in
  
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• Recycling robots: AI could reverse the UK's decline

  21-03-2017 07:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Robotic waste sorting is gaining ground as an idea, but experts say the economics don’t yet stack up for household wasteA team of robots scans objects on a recycling line, sorting wood from concrete at a rate of 4,000 pieces an hour.The footage is part of a promotional video for Helsinki-based firm ZenRobotics, which believes its technology can help boost recycling rates and divert valuable resources away from landfill. Continue reading...
  
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• Let the lapwing's joyful call not fade into silence

  21-03-2017 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Claxton, Norfolk Lapwing song was the omnipresent soundtrack of all my childhood springs. Now it has gone from behind our family homePart of the charm of lapwings is that they look silly, a friend says, and I can surmise what she means. It’s the ridiculous crest, the unnecessary breadth of wing, which gives them so much more aerial lift and loop than they require, and then there’s the zaniness of their spring display. Nor should we leave out the high-pitched notes that pass for song
  
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• Record-breaking climate change pushes world into ‘uncharted territory’

  21-03-2017 01:39 via theguardian.com
  
  Earth is a planet in upheaval, say scientists, as the World Meteorological Organisation publishes analysis of recent heat highs and ice lowsThe record-breaking heat that made 2016 the hottest year ever recorded has continued into 2017, pushing the world into “truly uncharted territory”, according to the World Meteorological Organisation.The WMO’s assessment of the climate in 2016, published on Tuesday, reports unprecedented heat across the globe, exceptionally low ice at both p
  
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