Environment news

• Why reignite Tasmania's forest wars – to produce logs no one will buy? | Lenore Taylor

  24-03-2017 23:37 via theguardian.com
  
  The state government’s determination to open up protected land for logging is a saga that moves from ridiculous to absurd I thought I’d seen the turbid depths of policy driven by ideology and perceived political self-interest, but then I turned my attention back to the Tasmanian forest “wars”.I first started reporting on this issue in 1988 when Bob Hawke and his environment minister Graham Richardson appointed a former judge, the late Michael Helsham, to investigate wheth
  
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• Inspectors find safety irregularities at Creusot nuclear forge in France

  24-03-2017 22:57 via theguardian.com
  
  Evidence of doctored paperwork found at Areva-owned forge, which has made parts for Hinkley PointAn international team of inspectors has found evidence of doctored paperwork and other failings at a forge in France that makes parts for nuclear power stations around the world.The UK nuclear regulator said the safety culture at the site, which has produced forgings for British plants including Sizewell B and the planned new reactors at Hinkley Point, fell short of expectations. Continue reading...
  
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• Anti-Adani activists vow 'direct action' against mine contractor Downer

  24-03-2017 22:07 via theguardian.com
  
  Campaigners will occupy work sites, chain themselves to machinery and clog phone lines, Galilee Blockade saysA group of activists say the mining contractor Downer Group is the “prime target” of a civil disruption campaign to force it to walk away from a $2bn deal to build and run Adani’s proposed Queensland coalmine. Galilee Blockade organisers warn members of their network will occupy work sites, chain themselves to machinery and clog phone lines, among other actions that will
  
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• NASA Examines Peru's Deadly Rainfall

  24-03-2017 21:09 via feedproxy.google.com
  The Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM constellation of satellites provide data on precipitation rates and totals. Recently the GPM core observatory measured the heavy rainfall that caused extensive flooding and loss of life in Peru.Extreme flooding and frequent landslides that occurred in March have forced many from their homes. An El Niño-like condition with warm ocean waters developed near Peru's coast. This extremely warm water off Peru's western coast has been blamed for
  
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• WPI, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, and the U.S. Coast Guard Successfully Test a Novel Oil Spill Cleanup Technology

  24-03-2017 20:22 via feedproxy.google.com
  Tests conducted this week of a novel technology that can greatly accelerate the combustion of crude oil floating on water demonstrated its potential to become an effective tool for minimizing the environmental impact of future oil spills. Called the Flame Refluxer, the technology, developed by fire protection engineering researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) with funding from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), could make it possible to burn off spilled oil
  
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• Extreme space weather: protecting our critical infrastructure

  24-03-2017 20:05 via feedproxy.google.com
  Extreme space weather has a global footprint and the potential to damage critical infrastructure on the ground and in space. A new JRC report calls for bridging knowledge gaps and for better coordination at EU level to reduce the potential impact of space weather events.The sun shapes the space environment around the Earth. This so-called space weather can affect space assets but also critical infrastructure on the ground, potentially causing service disruptions or infrastructure failures. Numer
  
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• NASA Sees System 91P Coming Together East of Queensland

  24-03-2017 19:55 via feedproxy.google.com
  The area of tropical low pressure designated System 91P appears to be organizing in NASA satellite imagery on March 24. Visible imagery from NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite revealed that the tropical low is consolidating and strengthening in the Coral Sea, South Pacific Ocean.On March 24, 2017, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard the NASA-NOAA Suomi NPP satellite captured a visible image of developing System 91P. The image showed bands of thunderstor
  
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• The EU is right to put bees before business | Letters

  24-03-2017 19:20 via theguardian.com
  
  Sarah Mukherjee accuses the EU proposal to ban neonicotinoids from fields of being “political” (Europe poised for total ban on bee-harming pesticides, March 24). Damn right. If she means supporting the long-term interests of people over the short-term blinkered interests of a few businesses, I can hardly think of a better definition of the word.From DDT to lead in petrol, businesses have fought tooth and nail against legal restrictions, until they came and the predicted disaster
  
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• Are waste management jobs at threat from automation?

  24-03-2017 17:36
  
  As a new report warns that that waste, water and sewage management teams could be replaced by automated technology by 2030, a UK-based company has agreed to supply fuel cells for drones used for supply chain inventory tracking in the logistics sector.
  
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• The Foehn feeling

  24-03-2017 17:09 via bbc.co.uk
  
  For centuries, people in the Alps have attributed health issues, headaches in particular, to the mountain wind known as the Foehn.
  
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• Trump administration approves Keystone XL pipeline

  24-03-2017 16:13 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The State Department says the project, blocked by Barack Obama, is in the national interest.
  
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• Spread of ages is key to impact of disease

  24-03-2017 16:09 via feedproxy.google.com
  How a disease outbreak affects a group of animals depends on the breakdown of ages in the population, an animal study has shown.
  
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• Murder in Malaysia: how protecting native forests cost an activist his life

  24-03-2017 16:08 via theguardian.com
  
  Malaysian activist Bill Kayong fought to save forest lands from logging and oil palm development. Like a troubling number of environmental campaigners around the world, he paid the highest price, reports Yale Environment 360
  Environmentalists at risk: read part one in this seriesIt was 8.20am on 21 June 2016. Bill Kayong, an up-and-coming political activist in Miri, a coastal oil town in the Malaysian state of Sarawak, was 15 minutes into his morning commute, waiting in his pickup truck at a tra
  
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• Surprising culprit in nerve cell damage identified

  24-03-2017 16:04 via feedproxy.google.com
  Findings suggest ways to block nerve cell damage in neurodegenerative diseases.
  
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• Bitten by the same bug: Octogenarian couple donate insect collection to university – video

  24-03-2017 16:02 via theguardian.com
  
  Octogenarian couple Charles and Lois O’Brien have this week announced they would donate their home collection of more than a million insects to Arizona State University. The collection was gathered over almost six decades and is worth an estimated $10m (£8m). It will help be a resource for scientists who study natural controls on the environmentCouple donates bug collection worth $10m, a goldmine for researchers
  Continue reading...
  
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• Chance find has big implications for water treatment's costs and carbon footprint

  24-03-2017 15:57 via feedproxy.google.com
  A type of bacteria accidentally discovered during research supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) could fundamentally re-shape efforts to cut the huge amount of electricity consumed during wastewater clean-up.
  
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• In a sample of blood, researchers probe for cancer clues

  24-03-2017 15:46 via feedproxy.google.com
  One day, patients may be able to monitor their body’s response to cancer therapy just by having their blood drawn. A new study, led by bioengineers at UC Berkeley, has taken an important step in that direction by measuring a panel of cancer proteins in rare, individual tumor cells that float in the blood.
  
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• The Body Shop outlines commitment to Modern Slavery Act

  24-03-2017 15:39
  
  The Body Shop has developed a statement to comply with the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015, building on the beauty product retailer's ambition to be the world's "most ethical and truly sustainable business".
  
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• First Bumble Bee Finally Gets the Endangered Species Protection it Desperately Needs

  24-03-2017 15:39 via feedproxy.google.com
  A bumble bee that is quickly disappearing will finally get the protection it needs under the Endangered Species Act.
  
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• How Keystone XL, the pipeline rejected by Obama, went ahead under Trump

  24-03-2017 15:03 via theguardian.com
  
  The expansion, which was originally proposed in 2008 and faced strong protest from environmental advocates, secures permit to start building from TrumpKeystone XL pipeline: Trump issues permit to begin construction2008TransCanada proposes expanding an existing pipeline to transport oil from Hardisty, Alberta to Port Arthur, Texas, to transfer Canadian tar sands oil to US refineries. It was scheduled to be completed by 2013. Continue reading...
  
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• Winter Sets Up Bird Breeding Success

  24-03-2017 14:49 via feedproxy.google.com
  For migratory birds, breeding grounds are where the action is. But a new study by University of Guelph biologists is among the first to suggest that the number of songbirds breeding during spring and summer depends mostly on what happens at their wintering grounds.
  
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• Your best pictures of newly recognised cloud formations

  24-03-2017 13:45 via theguardian.com
  
  Meteorologists have consulted the International Cloud Atlas since the 19th century – now, updated with crowd-sourced images and newly categorised formations such as wave-like asperitas, it’s going online. Readers have been sharing their images via GuardianWitnessContinue reading...
  
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• US scientists launch world's biggest solar geoengineering study

  24-03-2017 13:39 via theguardian.com
  
  Research programme will send aerosol injections into the earth’s upper atmosphere to study the risks and benefits of a future solar tech-fix for climate changeUS scientists are set to send aerosol injections 20km up into the earth’s stratosphere in the world’s biggest solar geoengineering programme to date, to study the potential of a future tech-fix for global warming. Continue reading...
  
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• Keystone XL: Trump issues permit to begin construction of pipeline

  24-03-2017 13:31 via theguardian.com
  
  President ushers in ‘new era of American energy policy’ Friday as environmental activists denounce revived oil pipeline as a ‘disaster for the planet’Timeline: how the pipeline rejected by Obama got second life with TrumpDonald Trump announced a “new era of American energy policy” as he signed the presidential permit allowing TransCanada to build the Keystone XL pipeline.“It’s going to be an incredible pipeline. Greatest technology known to man. Or
  
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• Keystone XL pipeline: Trump issues permit to begin construction

  24-03-2017 13:31 via theguardian.com
  
  President to officially announce plans Friday to allow TransCanada to start controversial project that state department claims serves national interestsThe Trump administration has issued a presidential permit to pipeline builder TransCanada to build the Keystone XL pipeline.White House press secretary Sean Spicer tweeted that Donald Trump would discuss the pipeline later Friday morning. Continue reading...
  
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• NHS Trust to save £9m with energy efficiency upgrade

  24-03-2017 13:29
  
  Scarborough Hospital's new low-carbon energy centre, which includes a combined heat and power (CHP) unit, is set to deliver savings of more than £9m and almost 32,000 tonnes of carbon reduction.
  
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• 'Devastating' coral loss in South China Sea - scientists

  24-03-2017 13:13 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Researchers are warning of a "devastating" loss of coral at the Dongsha Atoll in the South China Sea.
  
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• Pigs' teeth and hippo poo: behind the scenes at London zoo

  24-03-2017 12:30 via theguardian.com
  
  The Zoological Society of London zoo is home to more than 650 animal species. Photographer Linda Nylind was given exclusive access to spend time with the keepers and find out more about their daily routinesLondon zoo was established in 1828 and is the world’s oldest scientific zoo. Created as a collection for the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), the animals from the Tower of London’s menagerie were transferred there in 1832 and it opened to the public in 1847. Today it houses more
  
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• Britvic develops sustainable wood fibre bottle

  24-03-2017 12:30
  
  Major soft drinks firm Britvic has made major strides in its bid to develop a viable bottle from sustainable wood fibres, the company's latest sustainability report has claimed.
  
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• Bloodhound supersonic car record bid slips again

  24-03-2017 11:04 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The British-led effort to break the World Land Speed Record is delayed by cash-flow problems to 2018.
  
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• Couple donates bug collection worth $10m, a goldmine for researchers

  24-03-2017 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Collection will help scientists piece together a large branch of insects’ family tree and be a resource for scientists who study natural controls on the environmentIn two rooms of Charles and Lois O’Briens’ modest home in Tucson, Arizona, more than a million insects – a collection worth an estimated $10m – rest in tombs of glass and homemade shelving. They come from every continent and corner of the world, gathered over almost six decades; a bug story that began as
  
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• Businesses will defy Trump in low-carbon transition, say climate experts

  24-03-2017 10:10
  
  A backward-looking Donald Trump administration will fail to deter corporations seeking to shift to low-carbon, sustainable business models, a panel of US climate and green policy experts has concluded.
  
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• Politics, not providence, caused Ethiopia’s deadly rubbish dump landslide | William Davison

  24-03-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Fadila Bargicho believes divine intervention saved the life of one of his two sons when a landfill site collapsed near Addis Ababa. The reality is more prosaicIt was only a misplaced shoe that prevented Fadila Bargicho from losing a second child when an avalanche of rubbish crushed makeshift houses, killing at least 113 people in Addis Ababa earlier this month.
  An impatient Ayider Habesha, nine, had left his older brother searching for his footwear. He headed to religious lessons in a hut next t
  
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• Ethiopia’s deadly rubbish dump landslide was down to politics, not providence | William Davison

  24-03-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Fadila Bargicho believes divine intervention saved the life of one of her two sons when a landfill site collapsed near Addis Ababa. The reality is more prosaicIt was only a misplaced shoe that prevented Fadila Bargicho from losing a second child when an avalanche of rubbish crushed makeshift houses, killing at least 113 people in Addis Ababa earlier this month.
  An impatient Ayider Habesha, nine, had left his older brother searching for his footwear. He headed to religious lessons in a hut next t
  
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• Lives on the limestone: catkins and bugs in boles

  24-03-2017 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Stoke Wood, Northamptonshire Hazel, as boles, can provide a rich hunting ground and my first unusual find is a pill millipedeThe rolling limestone landscape exhibits the first signs of spring. Hawthorn buds burst with fresh green leaves and huge queen bumblebees career between blossoming sallow shrubs. Rockingham Forest once spanned these valleys and hills, and Stoke Wood is a salvaged fragment of that vast forest.The wood has a rich ground flora; bluebell leaves push through in many areas, whil
  
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• Turnbull leaves open idea of carbon credits to meet emissions target

  24-03-2017 05:04 via theguardian.com
  
  ‘High quality units’ could lower cost of obligations, discussion paper says, despite previous opposition from Tony AbbottThe Turnbull government has left open the prospect of using international carbon credits to help meet Australia’s emissions reduction targets at lowest cost, a practice Tony Abbott ruled out when he was prime minister.
  While Abbott used to characterise the trade of international credits as “money that shouldn’t be going offshore into dodgy carbon
  
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• Breitbart's James Delingpole says reef bleaching is 'fake news', hits peak denial | Graham Readfearn

  24-03-2017 02:50 via theguardian.com
  
  A claim like this takes lashings of chutzpah, blinkers the size of Trump’s hairspray bill and more hubris than you can shake a branch of dead coral atIt takes a very special person to label the photographed, documented, filmed and studied phenomenon of mass coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef “fake news”. You need lashings of chutzpah, blinkers the size of Donald Trump’s hairspray bill and more hubris than you can shake a branch of dead coral at.Continue reading...
  
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• The CommBank contradiction: support for cricket and fossil fuels | David Ritter

  24-03-2017 02:20 via theguardian.com
  
  Extreme heat endangers cricketers yet the bank is Australia’s most significant private investor in climate-change-inducing fossil fuelsContrary to most expectations, the Australia-India Test series is proving to be an absolute cracker, with the teams locked together 1-1 going into the decider that begins on Saturday in Dharamsala. Australian commercial sponsors of sport must always be delighted when the results are close, wherever they are played. Excitement means more viewers, leading to
  
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• Europa: Our best shot at finding alien life?

  24-03-2017 01:54 via bbc.co.uk
  
  After years of planning, scientists are set now to send missions to explore the ocean world of Europa.
  
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• Exmoor gardens raided by 'wily old stag'

  24-03-2017 01:15 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A mature stag has learnt how to use its antlers to lift bird feeders off garden trees.
  
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• British scientists claim major advance in TB treatment

  24-03-2017 01:11 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Researchers are using genome sequencing to make sure patients get the right drugs more quickly.
  
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• These handsome elephant seals are helping us track climate change | Esther Tarszisz

  24-03-2017 00:38 via theguardian.com
  
  Sedating a one-tonne elephant seal in Antarctica in no easy feat but the vital information the seals are providing about the Southern Ocean makes it worth itOne question I’m asked a lot about my job is: how do you “vet” a one-tonne elephant seal? Well firstly, it makes the 300kg seals seem really titchy and easy. But why, you ask? Why have I travelled to Antarctica to immobilise elephant seals that can weigh from 250kg up to 1,000kg and more? My immediate answer is: who wouldn&
  
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