Environment news

• A harbinger of spring in the high places

  16-04-2017 22:30 via theguardian.com
  
  On a cold day on Cairn Gorm there was little to occupy the attention – until the appearance of a ring ouzel signalled the return of springGo-back, go-back, go-back! A red grouse was calling just above the car park, at the bottom of the path to the summit of Cairn Gorm. For a moment I was tempted to heed his advice and retreat to the nearby café.But my children were uncharacteristically enthusiastic about the idea of walking up the mountainside; buoyed, no doubt, by the prospect of p
  
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• Great Barrier Reef tourism: caught between commerce and conservation alarm

  16-04-2017 22:14 via theguardian.com
  
  More people than ever are coming to see the reef and those who make a living showing it off want the world to know it’s still a natural wonder. But they worry about its future, and that of their 64,000-strong industryIn the dark clouds gathering over the future of the Great Barrier Reef, there has been a small silver lining for the people who make their living showcasing the natural wonder.When the reef was rocked by an unprecedented second mass bleaching event in the space of a year, the
  
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• Theresa May urged to honour climate and wildlife commitments

  16-04-2017 18:40 via theguardian.com
  
  Celebrities and pressure groups warn UK prime minister against entering into ‘environmental race to the bottom’ to secure post-Brexit trade dealsLeading environmental campaigners have warned the government against scaling back on commitments to tackle climate change and end the illegal market in wildlife in order to secure post-Brexit trade deals.Greenpeace, WWF, Friends of the Earth and high-profile figures including Andy Murray and Will Young are among those who have signed a joint
  
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• Urban foxes number one for every 300 residents, study suggests

  16-04-2017 18:26 via theguardian.com
  
  Researchers estimate there are 150,000 urban foxes in England, with Bournemouth having the highest concentrationThe number of urban foxes in England has quadrupled in the past 20 years, according to a study that estimates there are nearly 150,000 in England, or about one for every 300 urban residents.While the number of foxes is declining overall in the UK, the study by Brighton and Reading universities has found that Bournemouth tops the charts with the highest concentration of urban foxes in t
  
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• Foxes surge into England's towns and cities

  16-04-2017 18:26 via theguardian.com
  
  Researchers estimate there are 150,000 urban foxes in England, with Bournemouth having the highest concentrationThe number of urban foxes in England has quadrupled in the past 20 years, according to a study that estimates there are nearly 150,000 in England, or about one for every 300 urban residents.While the number of foxes is declining overall in the UK, the study by Brighton and Reading universities has found that Bournemouth tops the charts with the highest concentration of urban foxes in t
  
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• 22,000 years of history evaporates after freezer failure melts Arctic ice cores

  16-04-2017 17:03 via theguardian.com
  
  Around 13% of cache of ice cylinders extracted from glaciers in Canadian Arctic exposed to high heat in new storage facility at University of AlbertaWithin them sits some 80,000 years of history, offering researchers tantalising clues about climate change and the Earth’s past. At least that was the case – until the precious cache of Arctic ice cores was hit by warming temperatures.A freezer malfunction at the University of Alberta in Edmonton has melted part of the world’s larg
  
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• Is Boston the next urban farming paradise?

  16-04-2017 16:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The city’s healthy startup culture is contributing to Boston’s rapidly growing reputation as a haven for organic food and urban farming initiativesFor those seeking mild, year-round temperatures and affordable plots of land, Boston, with its long winters and dense population, isn’t the first city that comes to mind.But graduates of the city’s nearly 35 colleges and universities are contributing to the area’s growing reputation as a haven for startups challenging and
  
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• Diesel car owners may be paid to trade in under new UK air quality plans

  16-04-2017 12:48 via theguardian.com
  
  Environment committee chair Neil Parish MP is to raise proposals for a scrappage scheme for pollution hotspots this weekCash payments to persuade drivers who live in pollution hotspots to give up their diesel cars may be part of a new scrappage scheme under the government’s air quality plans, due to be published this week.Downing Street has been mulling the idea after being forced to produce a new air quality plan after a court ruling, which said existing proposals to meet EU-mandated air
  
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• Green groups warn of 'race to the bottom'

  16-04-2017 10:36 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Environmentalists urge the UK not to water down laws on climate change and wildlife after Brexit.
  
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• The eco guide to bike-sharing

  16-04-2017 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Cycling has the power to transform urban transport. But access to bikes is key to getting more of us on to two wheelsImagine the huge improvement in air quality if we shifted to pedal power. In Groningen, in the Netherlands, almost two-thirds of trips are made by bike, making it one of the most cycle-friendly cities in the world. It’s no accident that the Dutch city also has great air quality. The UK manages a meagre 2% cycling rate overall. And we all know about the air quality here.If, b
  
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• Why scientists are fighting back. We’ve had enough of Trump’s war on facts | Kenneth Kimmell

  16-04-2017 01:05 via theguardian.com
  
  The president’s savaging of environmental safeguards is a direct attack on reason and researchNext Saturday, in Washington, DC, and in hundreds of rallies around the world, scientists and their supporters will stage what is likely to be the largest gathering of its kind in history. The March for Science, an idea hatched by a few enthusiastic people on Reddit, has mobilised scientists and their supporters as never before.As a colleague observed: “You know you’re in trouble when
  
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• Great moments from the ‘most exciting time in nature’s calendar’

  16-04-2017 01:05 via theguardian.com
  
  It has been a good spring for wildlife loversPerched on the telegraph wires in my Somerset village, is a swallow – all the way back from its winter quarters in Africa. In my back garden, orange-tip and small tortoiseshell butterflies are searching for nectar. And everywhere I look, spring foliage is filling the countryside with green.This has been a vintage spring for wildlife watchers. Thanks to a spell of fine, settled weather at the end of March and the beginning of April, bluebells car
  
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