Environment news

• 'Sapphire rush' threatens rainforests of Madagascar

  02-04-2017 17:47 via theguardian.com
  
  The influx of thousands of gem hunters is disfiguring a protected environment and prompting calls for military interventionA “sapphire rush” has brought tens of thousands of people into the remote rainforests of eastern Madagascar, disfiguring a protected environmental area and prompting calls for military intervention.More high-quality sapphires have been found in the biodiverse area known as Corridor Ankeniheny-Zahamena in the past six months than were found in the entire country o
  
  Read more

• The eco guide to virtual reality

  02-04-2017 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Fancy looking a polar bear right in the eye, then swinging across the canopy of the Brazilian rainforest? VR is for you
  I worry that humanity isn’t getting enough direct contact with the wild and we’ll all end up with Nature Deficit Disorder. Plus, how can you protect what you don’t love and haven’t experienced?Greenpeace has been encouraging us to bear witness for more than 40 years. In the past this meant telexes sent from the ship Rainbow Warrior; now it means virtual
  
  Read more

• Doctors reject AMA chief’s stance on Hazelwood closure and health

  02-04-2017 05:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Australian Medical Association accused of supporting politics over science after Dr Michael Gannon said impact of job losses may outweigh health benefits Members of the Australian Medical Association have threatened to quit over comments by the national president, Dr Michael Gannon, that the impact of job losses from Victoria’s Hazelwood power plant closure should be considered as well as the health benefits.Gannon has been accused of contradicting clear AMA policy on clean air and going b
  
  Read more

• Congested, polluted and with car jobs at risk, Stuttgart reaches a crossroads

  02-04-2017 01:05 via theguardian.com
  
  The city where the automobile was born has the dirtiest air in Germany – and a global drive to electric vehicles threatens its futureFor the three young Porsche technicians joshing around in their tea break outside one of the carmaker’s assembly lines in Stuttgart, life seemed good last week. Like all the company’s 20,000 employees, they had just been given a bonus of €9,100 (£7,735); sales and profits were soaring; Porsche was investing €1bn in new models; and,
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

Follow @UK_Environment on Twitter!