Environment news

• My first butterfly of the year

  06-04-2017 22:30 via theguardian.com
  
  This year is unlikely to be a brilliant butterfly summer because 2016 was so poor. But insects can rapidly bounce backSpring is an unquenchably optimistic time, and two weeks of plentiful sunshine – in the south, at least – has brought out the first butterflies of the year. My first, like last year, was a male brimstone, bobbing beside the old ivy-covered hedge beyond my garden.
  On the next sunny March day came the small tortoiseshells and peacocks, which also hibernate as adult butt
  
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• Plan to pump cold water on to Barrier Reef to stop bleaching labelled 'band-aid'

  06-04-2017 22:22 via theguardian.com
  
  Former Barrier Reef authority director Jon Day says the idea such an approach would save the reef from bleaching is ‘ridiculous’A proposal to use $9m to pump cold water on to the Great Barrier Reef’s tourist hotspots to stave off coral bleaching has been described as a “band-aid” solution, which does little to address the fundamental threats to the world’s largest living structure.The plan, proposed by the tourism industry and the Reef and Rainforest Research
  
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• Atmosphere found around Earth-sized planet GJ 1132b

  06-04-2017 21:16 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Astronomers make the first detection of an atmosphere surrounding a "super-Earth" planet.
  
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• Atmosphere found around Earth-like planet GJ 1132b

  06-04-2017 21:16 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Astronomers make the first detection of an atmosphere surrounding a "super-Earth" planet.
  
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• UK businesses set to spark smart tech revolution, PwC survey shows

  06-04-2017 18:27
  
  The UK business community is showing a growing interest in smart technology, according to a new survey, which shows that a third of industrial firms intend to invest more than £1m in distributed energy solutions by 2022.
  
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• Farms could slash pesticide use without losses, research reveals

  06-04-2017 17:04 via theguardian.com
  
  Study shows almost all farms could significantly cut chemical use while producing as much food, in a major challenge to the billion-dollar pesticide industryVirtually all farms could significantly cut their pesticide use while still producing as much food, according to a major new study. The research also shows chemical treatments could be cut without affecting farm profits on over three-quarters of farms.The scientists said that many farmers wanted to reduce pesticide use, partly due to concern
  
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• When peaceful coexistence turns into concurrence

  06-04-2017 16:02 via feedproxy.google.com
  To find out how rising temperatures could affect species diversity, biologists from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) and the Leipzig University have developed a simple experiment: they covered the bottom of different Petri dishes with litter material, then put in two species of springtails, that is, arthropods only a few millimetres in size, and then added mites feeding on springtails. Subsequently, for some of the Petri dishes they increased the ambient temperature
  
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• Hybridization between Native and Invasive Trout is Increasing in the West

  06-04-2017 15:25 via feedproxy.google.com
  Hybridization, or the interbreeding of species, is increasing between native and invasive trout across the northern Rocky Mountains, according to a study released Tuesday by the U.S. Geological Survey and partners.
  
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• UN report: Clean power is up, costs are down

  06-04-2017 15:07 via bbc.co.uk
  
  UN celebrates fall in renewables costs but warns that investment is slipping.
  
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• Philippe Joubert: Executives must realise business purpose in Trump era

  06-04-2017 14:01
  
  EXCLUSIVE: Boardroom bosses need to consider the fundamental "purpose of the business" to ensure long-term sustainability, especially in an uncertain international political climate, according to sustainable business expert Philippe Joubert.
  
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• Philippe Joubert: Boards must realise business purpose in Trump era

  06-04-2017 14:01
  
  EXCLUSIVE: Boardroom bosses need to consider the fundamental "purpose of the business" to ensure long-term sustainability, especially in an uncertain international political climate, according to sustainable business expert Philippe Joubert.
  
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• Private sector funding for smart cities hindered by regulatory constraints, say experts

  06-04-2017 13:35
  
  The private sector will have to mobilise "enormous" amounts of capital to help with the global smart cities transition, but nations must first address regulatory and institutional barriers to incentivise the movement.
  
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• Secret footage obtained of the wild elephants sold into captivity in Chinese zoos

  06-04-2017 13:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Animal welfare advocates have filmed some of the wild elephants captured in Zimbabwe last year and shipped to China
  Last year more than 30 young elephants were captured from the wild in Zimbabwe and flown by plane to China. The elephants – some reported to be as young as three – were dispersed to a number of zoos throughout the country, including the Shanghai Exhibition Park, the Beijing Wildlife Park and the Hangzhou Safari Park, according to conservationists.But what are their live
  
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• Changing the world: How are these megatrends shaping the future of sustainable business?

  06-04-2017 12:55
  
  Sustainability professionals are invited to take part in a short survey as part of edie's ongoing series of thought-leadership articles on sustainability megatrends, which will be compiled into an exclusive report and presented at the edie Live exhibition in May.
  
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• The race to fly passengers into space

  06-04-2017 12:36 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Amazon's founder and CEO Jeff Bezos is investing $1bn (£801m) a year to fund his Blue Origin company.
  
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• Don't fund coal mine, activists plead with Australian export credit agency

  06-04-2017 11:53 via theguardian.com
  
  Green groups say the Resgen Boikarabelo project in South Africa will lead to worker exploitation and hinder Paris commitmentsEnvironmental action groups including Greenpeace, Oxfam and GetUp have signed an open letter to Australia’s export credit agency asking it not to fund a controversial new coal mine.
  The groups say a loan to the proposed Resgen Boikarabelo mine in South Africa will lead to human rights abuses and hinder Australia’s Paris commitment to keep global warming below 2
  
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• Art of diesel: Air-Ink, the artists' supplies made from vehicle pollution

  06-04-2017 11:53 via theguardian.com
  
  Inventor Anirudh Sharma is capturing carbon from car exhausts to turn it into ink. And he’s got his eye on London’s black cabs nextIn 2014, the World Health Organisation dubbed air pollution the “single largest environment and human health threat”. With particulate matter and toxic pollutants accounting for 6.5 million deaths annually, many cities around the globe are gasping for solutions. Engineer Anirudh Sharma has come up with a creative approach. While walking in Mum
  
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• H&M eyes 'climate positive' status by 2040

  06-04-2017 11:51
  
  International fashion brand H&M has unveiled a new sustainability strategy to become climate positive by 2040 through ambitious closed-loop and renewable targets.
  
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• H&M eyes 'carbon positive' status by 2040

  06-04-2017 11:51
  
  International fashion brand H&M has unveiled a new sustainability strategy to become carbon positive by 2040 through ambitious closed-loop and renewable targets.
  
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• South Africa lifts ban on domestic rhino horn sales

  06-04-2017 11:13 via theguardian.com
  
  Ruling by South Africa’s highest court means rhino horns can be sold locally by traders holding permitsSouth Africa’s highest court has rejected a bid by the government to keep a ban on domestic trade in rhino horn, a court document shows. The ruling by the constitutional court effectively means rhino horns may be traded locally.Continue reading...
  
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• Carillion joins UK Green Building Council Innovation Lab

  06-04-2017 11:00
  
  UK construction giant Carillion has become the latest partner of the UK Green Building Council's (UK-GBC) Innovation Lab, which aims to solve systemic challenges in the built environment through collaborative and sustainable innovation.
  
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• Air pollution made Beijing unbearable. Britain should watch and learn | Tania Branigan

  06-04-2017 10:57 via theguardian.com
  
  I lived in the Chinese capital for five years and the smog made my life hell. Of course it’s better here – but we must never be complacentOn a good morning, from my Beijing tower block, I could gaze across the city to the hills far to the west. On the worst days, when pollution levels soared off the scale, I could barely make out the buildings across the road. The air purifiers in each room were turned up to 11. The filters inside were supposed to last for six months – but afte
  
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• New Zealand town evacuated in wake of ex-cyclone Debbie – aerial video

  06-04-2017 10:18 via theguardian.com
  
  Aerial footage shows severe flooding in the New Zealand town of Edgecumbe in the North Island on Thursday, after the tail-end of ex-cyclone Debbie brought two days of heavy rain and burst river banks. Thousands of people have been evacuated and states of emergency have been declared in numerous regions of the North IslandNew Zealand towns hit by ‘once in 500-year flood’ as storm system sweeps in
  Continue reading...
  
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• Tech firms urged to expand gaze to account for 'myriad' of conflict mineral risks

  06-04-2017 09:15
  
  Tech companies may be exposed to human rights violations in supply chains by failing to examine the "myriad of risks" that can be found outside of the traditional homes of conflict minerals, a new report has found.
  
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• Dive into the twilight zone off Easter Island reveals new species

  06-04-2017 08:45 via theguardian.com
  
  A diving expedition off Easter Island (or Rapa Nui) in the Pacific pushes the boundaries of both technology and the human body to reveal a world of unique species just waiting to be discovered Continue reading...
  
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• Britons expected to send 235m items of clothing to landfill this spring

  06-04-2017 07:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Study finds three-quarters of consumers throw away rather than recycle or donate unwanted garmentsA predicted 235m items of Britons’ unwanted clothing are expected to end up in landfill unnecessarily this spring, according to new research.Three-quarters of consumers admit to binning their discarded garments, usually because they do not realise that worn-out or dirty clothes can be recycled or accepted by charities, a survey of 2,000 people commissioned by the supermarket Sainsbury’s
  
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• Herald of spring and the timely townhall clock

  06-04-2017 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Wolsingham, Weardale Whitlow grass marks the spring flora advent as moschatel unfurls its luminous green clustersThree warm days in a row and the longed-for spring had arrived. In a week there would be drifts of wood anemones and primroses everywhere, but on this day I went in search of two of the supporting cast in the annual floral pageant.I saw the white flowers of whitlow grass (Erophila verna) as I climbed over the stile in the wall. Here it grows on meadow ant nests on a south-facing slope
  
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• Renewables roadshow: transforming waste into a cleaner Cowra

  06-04-2017 06:16 via theguardian.com
  
  An innovative bioenergy project in New South Wales could produce enough electricity to supply 5,000 homes and produce fertiliserEd Fagan’s family has been farming the same 1,600-hectare block of land in Cowra, about 240km west of Sydney, since 1886.These days Cowra is a shire of nearly 13,000 people and straddles the Lachlan river. It’s a diverse agricultural town with a strong industrial sector. And if a keen group of locals get their way, it could soon be home to an innovative bioe
  
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• Renewables roadshow – Cowra: 'It goes from being waste to a resource' – video

  06-04-2017 06:15 via theguardian.com
  
  A bioenergy project could take the waste streams of a group of farms in New South Wales and turn them into electricity and heat for local residents, and make fertiliser from the leftovers• Renewable roadshow: transforming waste into a cleaner CowraContinue reading...
  
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• Baby siamang gibbon born at National zoo in Canberra – video

  06-04-2017 05:07 via theguardian.com
  
  The National zoo and aquarium in Canberra is celebrating its first birth of a siamang gibbon. The species is classified as endangered and it is estimated that the wild population has decreased by 50% over the past 40 years. Zookeepers do not know the sex of the gibbon yet and may not for a few months Continue reading...
  
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• Scientists sniff out way to lure reef-killing crown-of-thorns starfish to their death

  06-04-2017 04:50 via theguardian.com
  
  Researchers trying to protect the Great Barrier Reef fabricate environmentally safe bait by harnessing the pheromones the marine pests use to communicateMarine biologists may have devised a new way to protect the Great Barrier Reef after decoding the pheromones of the coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish.Researchers say the discovery can be used to create pheromone lures that attract the marine pest in large numbers and make them easier to remove.Continue reading...
  
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• Huge fleet of icebergs hits North Atlantic shipping lanes

  06-04-2017 04:08 via theguardian.com
  
  About 450 icebergs – up from 37 a week earlier – have drifted into waters where Titanic sank, forcing vessels to divert and raising global warming fearsMore than 400 icebergs have drifted into the North Atlantic shipping lanes over the past week in an unusually large swarm for this early in the season, forcing vessels to slow to a crawl or take detours of hundreds of kilometres. Related: Greenland: the country set to cash in on climate changeContinue reading...
  
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• Coalition of 17 states challenges Trump over climate change policy

  06-04-2017 03:38 via theguardian.com
  
  A coalition led by New York state insists Trump administration has a legal obligation to regulate the emission of carbon pollution: ‘The law is clear’A coalition of 17 US states filed a legal challenge on Wednesday against efforts by Donald Trump’s administration to roll back climate change regulations, deepening a political rift over his emerging energy policies. Led by New York state, the coalition said the administration has a legal duty to regulate emissions of the gases sc
  
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• Rapid rise of clothes moths threatens historic fabrics

  06-04-2017 02:11 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Rare furnishings in England's historic houses are under threat from a new species of the insect.
  
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• Salt, silicon or graphite: energy storage goes beyond lithium ion batteries

  06-04-2017 01:47 via theguardian.com
  
  Technologies that use gels, liquids, and molten silicon or salt could all claim a slice of the growing renewable energy storage market
  Between the political bickering following a spate of blackouts in South Australia and the billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk tweeting that he had a fix, and then the South Australian government announcing that it will build a grid-connected battery storage facility, interest in renewable energy storage has never been higher.While lithium ion batteries sold by Tes
  
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