Environment news

• Finally, a Labour manifesto to really get behind | Letters

  11-05-2017 19:11
  
  Nationalising rail and energy, protecting the NHS and education and tighter regulation of big business are exactly what Labour should be focusing on, say readersThe leaked release of the Labour party election manifesto (Report, 11 May) has prompted predicable claims from the right that Jeremy Corbyn wants to take the country back to the 1970s, forgetting to mention that this was a time when corporations and high earners contributed a fairer share to the public purse and we had a functioning welf
  
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• Finland voices concern over US and Russian climate change doubters

  11-05-2017 17:52
  
  New chair of Arctic council calls for Paris treaty on global warming to be respected amid fears of commitment downgradeFinland, the new chair of the Arctic council, has appealed to climate change scientists to fight the threat of the US and Russia tearing up commitments to combat global warming.
  The Nordic country takes up the two-year chairmanship of the body, increasingly a forum where arguments about climate change play out, at a ministerial meeting on Thursday in Fairbanks, Alaska, where the
  
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• Lions face same threats as extinct Ice Age cats - study

  11-05-2017 17:17 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Two big cats including the African lion are most at risk from extinction due to loss of prey, say scientists.
  
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• Lions face same extinct threats as Ice Age cats - study

  11-05-2017 17:17 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Two big cats including the African lion are most at risk from extinction due to loss of prey, say scientists.
  
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• The leaked Labour manifesto: our writers on how the policies stack up | Aditya Chakrabortty and others

  11-05-2017 14:34
  
  Are the proposals set out by the party ahead of the vital clause V meeting too radical – or do they not go far enough? Continue reading...
  
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• Water companies losing vast amounts through leakage, as drought fears rise

  11-05-2017 14:32
  
  Customers are being asked to save water, but more than 20% of water is lost before it reaches homes and leakage levels are not declining, Guardian analysis showsFears of a drought are rising after an exceptionally dry spell and water companies are asking customers to save water, but the vast amount of water that leaks from company pipes every day has not fallen for at least four years, according to a Guardian analysis.Furthermore, many companies in the parched south and east of England have been
  
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• Why has Labour included bees in its manifesto?

  11-05-2017 13:43
  
  Leaked draft says Labour will protect bees by banning all neonicotinoid pesticides, which have been linked to species declineIf you were wondering why bees popped up in the Labour party’s leaked manifesto this week, then here’s the answer.Since 1900 about 20 bee species have become extinct in the UK and 35 more are now at risk.Continue reading...
  
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• Labor split over Great Australian Bight oil drilling

  11-05-2017 12:21
  
  Senate committee fails to make official recommendations after South Australia Labor senator, Alex Gallacher, votes with LiberalsA Labor senator has broken ranks with his party to vote with Liberals in support of oil and gas drilling in the Great Australian Bight, deadlocking a Senate committee investigating the proposal.The Greens have accused the Labor party of being directly influenced by donations from oil giant Chevron. A long-awaited Senate report into the consequences of opening up the Gre
  
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• More errors identified in contrarian climate scientists' temperature estimates | John Abraham

  11-05-2017 12:00
  
  A new study suggests there are remaining biases in the oft-corrected University of Alabama at Huntsville atmospheric temperature estimates
  Human emission of heat-trapping gases is causing the Earth to warm. We’ve known that for many decades. In fact, there are no reputable scientists that dispute this fact. There are, however, a few scientists who don’t think the warming will be very much or that we should worry about it. These contrarians have been shown to be wrong over and over ag
  
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• US Glacier national park losing its glaciers with just 26 of 150 left

  11-05-2017 11:09
  
  Warming climate makes it ‘inevitable’ that contiguous US will lose all of its glaciers within decades, according to scientistsIt’s now “inevitable” that the contiguous United States will lose all of its glaciers within a matter of decades, according to scientists who have revealed the precipitous shrinkage of dozens of glaciers in Montana. Related: Worried world urges Trump not to pull out of Paris climate agreementContinue reading...
  
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• US Glacier national park is losing its glaciers with just 26 of 150 left

  11-05-2017 11:09
  
  Warming climate makes it ‘inevitable’ that contiguous US will lose all of its glaciers within decades, according to scientistsIt’s now “inevitable” that the contiguous United States will lose all of its glaciers within a matter of decades, according to scientists who have revealed the precipitous shrinkage of dozens of glaciers in Montana.Warming temperatures have rapidly reduced the size of 39 named glaciers in Montana since 1966, according to comparisons released
  
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• Life as a whale: a humpback's view of the Antarctic – in pictures

  11-05-2017 08:00
  
  ‘Whale cams’ and digital tags attached to minkes and humpbacks allow scientists to go below the surface of the Antarctic ocean and experience a day in a life of these ocean giants. The data will help them to understand the animals’ behaviour and the impacts of climate change• ‘Whale cams’ reveal humpbacks’ habitats – videoContinue reading...
  
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• Mine rehabilitation security bonds inadequate, NSW auditor general finds

  11-05-2017 07:34
  
  Greens MP responds to damning report, warning taxpayers are left exposed to footing the bill ‘for the huge damage the mining industry is doing to the environment’ Mining companies should be forced to set aside more money for the rehabilitation of mine sites, according to a damning report by the New South Wales auditor general.While security deposits provided by mining companies have increased from $500m in 2005 to around $2.2bn in 2016 for about 450 mine sites in NSW, the report foun
  
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• British embarrassment over asking for tap water in bars fuels plastic bottle waste – survey

  11-05-2017 07:31
  
  Consumers are needlessly buying bottled water in restaurants and pubs because they feel awkward asking for free tap water, says environmental charityUK consumers who are too embarrassed to ask a pub or restaurant for a glass of tap water or a refill of their empty bottle are helping to fuel the rising tide of discarded single-use plastic drinks bottles, according to a new survey.Only a quarter of people admitted to knowing their legal rights when it comes to asking for a glass of tap water, whil
  
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• Smaller, lighter, greener: are micro EVs the future of city transport?

  11-05-2017 07:30
  
  A Siemens-backed micro electric car could help reduce urban air pollution and congestion, but it’ll have to win over buyers firstImagine a city street filled with two-seater electric vehicles (EVs) zipping around. A Swedish startup claims these smaller, lighter EVs could help cut congestion and toxic levels of air pollution.
  Uniti, which crowdfunded €1.2m (£1m) to develop the prototype of its EV, has already managed to capture the attention of Siemens. The two companies recently
  
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• Newt sandwich for a baby bird

  11-05-2017 06:30
  
  Sandy Bedfordshire In a dry, wormless spring our resident male blackbird has become a fisher of newtsThrough french windows framed by flowering clematis, I saw a blackbird touch down on the lawn. Leaning even as it landed, its beak led it in a pitter-patter metre-dash for the pond. At the water’s edge its head dipped then jerked back, and it tossed something very large over its shoulder on to the turf.In this droughty, wormless spring, our resident male blackbird had switched to becoming a
  
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• Chomsky: Republicans 'dangerous' on climate

  11-05-2017 02:01 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Noam Chomsky argues the Republican Party is the most dangerous organisation in human history.
  
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• Extreme weather is hurting Australian farmers – it's time to demand action

  11-05-2017 01:42
  
  Heat, drought and floods are affecting Australia’s food security but shoppers can support farmers by learning about the origins of their groceriesIt’s easy to switch off during the weekly grocery shop. Everything we need is conveniently at our fingertips, so why bother thinking about where it comes from? If we pick up a banana in the supermarket and see a brown spot, we can exchange it for another. If avocados are $5 this week, there’s always a cheaper alternative in the next a
  
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