Environment news

• Swansea uni studies Wales' waves and tides with 30m tank

  15-05-2017 21:04 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Swansea University researchers are using the models to understand how best to use tidal power.
  
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• 38 million pieces of plastic waste found on uninhabited South Pacific island

  15-05-2017 21:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Henderson Island, part of the Pitcairn group, is covered by 18 tonnes of plastic – the highest density of anthropogenic debris recorded anywhere in the worldOne of the world’s most remote places, an uninhabited coral atoll, is also one of its most polluted.Henderson Island, a tiny landmass in the eastern South Pacific, has been found by marine scientists to have the highest density of anthropogenic debris recorded anywhere in the world, with 99.8% of the pollution plastic. Continue r
  
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• The sad demise of trees in our streets | Letters

  15-05-2017 19:12 via theguardian.com
  
  The privatisation of public space through redevelopment is the main culprit, writes Michael Ball. Plus additional letters from Marie Paterson, Professor Steven Rose and Beryl WilkinsRe Ian Jack (We hardly notice them. But street trees are monuments to city life, 13 May), part of the Victorian heritage of the public realm were 8 million trees, greening public streets which had formerly been private roads on great land-owning estates. Ian Jack sets out the threat to this heritage, from disease and
  
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• The Lake District is indeed a sheepwrecked landscape | Letters

  15-05-2017 19:11 via theguardian.com
  
  Readers question farmers’ claims that they are proud and environmentally sound custodians of the countrysideRobin Milton, chairman of the NFU Uplands forum, and sheep farmer Louise MacArthur (Letters, 13 May) completely misunderstand the point George Monbiot is making (The Lake District as a world heritage site – what a disaster that would be, 10 May) in resisting the designation of the Lake District as a world heritage site. This landscape is totally artificial and manmade: it is a
  
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• Diesel emissions scandal causes 38,000 early deaths a year, study finds

  15-05-2017 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Global inventory of nitrogen oxide emissions shows highly polluting diesel cars are ‘urgent public health issue’The global human health impact of the diesel emissions scandal has been revealed by new research showing a minimum of 38,000 people a year die early due to the failure of diesel vehicles to meet official limits in real driving conditions.Researchers have created the first global inventory of the emissions pumped out by cars and trucks on the road, over and above the legal l
  
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• 38,000 people a year die early because of diesel emissions testing failures

  15-05-2017 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Global inventory of nitrogen oxide emissions shows highly polluting diesel cars are ‘urgent public health issue’The global human health impact of the diesel emissions scandal has been revealed by new research showing a minimum of 38,000 people a year die early due to the failure of diesel vehicles to meet official limits in real driving conditions.Researchers have created the first global inventory of the emissions pumped out by cars and trucks on the road, over and above the legal l
  
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• UK faces sharp rise in destructive wind storms due to global warming

  15-05-2017 16:02 via theguardian.com
  
  If climate change heats world by more than 1.5C, damaged buildings are likely to increase by over 50% across Midlands, Yorkshire and Northern IrelandThe UK is set to reap the whirlwind of climate change with the huge damage caused by wind storms expected to increase sharply, according to new analysis.
  Even the minimum global warming now expected – just 1.5C – is projected to raise the cost of windstorm destruction by more than a third in parts of the country. If climate change heats
  
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• BP shareholders urged to reject chief's £9m pay package

  15-05-2017 14:38 via theguardian.com
  
  Campaigners claim strategy appears ‘misaligned’ with climate change threat but another successful revolt deemed unlikelyBP shareholders are being urged to vote against executive pay packages this week on the grounds they are too high and not taking climate change seriously.The UK-based firm suffered a rare and humiliating shareholder rebellion last year when chief executive Bob Dudley’s £14m pay package was voted down, against the backdrop of record company losses. Contin
  
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• Iguana chase wins Bafta for Planet Earth II

  15-05-2017 13:41 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The iguana chase won Planet Earth II the Bafta for Must-See Moment.
  
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• Dinosaur asteroid hit 'worst possible place'

  15-05-2017 13:10 via bbc.co.uk
  
  How different Earth's history might have been if the space rock had struck a different location.
  
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• Killer whales swim past Orkney fishing boat

  15-05-2017 12:28 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A pod of orcas make several close passes of a fishing boat off the coast of Orkney.
  
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• The Cajun Army: how a community fought the Louisiana floods – video

  15-05-2017 11:31 via theguardian.com
  
  Torrential downpours in Louisiana led to catastrophic flooding in August 2016, submerging entire communities and displacing thousands of residents. Volunteers did whatever they could to help – rescuing stranded people, organising food and shelter and providing security. In their own words, members of the self-styled ‘Cajun army’ tell the inspirational story of how a natural disaster made their community strongerContinue reading...
  
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• Louisiana floods: how a displaced community fought back - video

  15-05-2017 11:31 via theguardian.com
  
  Torrential downpours in Louisiana led to catastrophic flooding in August 2016, submerging entire communities and displacing thousands of residents. Volunteers did whatever they could to help – rescuing stranded people, organising food and shelter and providing security. In their own words, members of the self-styled ‘Cajun army’ tell the inspirational story of how a natural disaster made their community stronger Continue reading...
  
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• BP shareholders urged to reject executive pay package

  15-05-2017 11:12 via theguardian.com
  
  ShareAction campaigners claim strategy appears ‘misaligned’ with climate change threat but another successful revolt deemed unlikelyBP shareholders are being urged to vote against executive pay packages this week on the grounds they are too high and not taking climate change seriously.The UK-based firm suffered a rare and humiliating shareholder rebellion last year when chief executive Bob Dudley’s £14m pay package was voted down, against the backdrop of record company lo
  
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• Adani may be forced to revamp Carmichael coalmine clean-up plans

  15-05-2017 09:45 via theguardian.com
  
  Reforms touted by Queensland government would mandate targets and ratios for progressive rehabilitation of landAdani may be forced into an expensive revamp of its Queensland coal plans if mining rehabilitation reforms touted by the Palaszczuk government prevail after the next state election.The environmental group Lock The Gate says Adani now plans a “lowest cost” program to rehabilitate its Carmichael mine, including waiting 39 years to start on rehabilitation of huge open-cut pits
  
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• Could these mini reactors replicate the power of the Sun?

  15-05-2017 09:09 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Tokamak Energy thinks its mini fusion generators will allow the company to test ideas faster than their competitors.
  
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• Where there’s a wall there’s a way: artists take aim at Sumatra’s palm oil industry

  15-05-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  When smoke from Indonesia’s palm oil industry reached the studio of artist Ernest Zacharevic in Malaysia, a unique project was born. Intent on making the world reconsider the environment, Zacharevic sold one of his prints to raise funds for Splash and Burn, a public art campaign. The title is a play on the ‘slash and burn’ practices used by palm oil producers to clear land for farmingOn a swampy patch of degraded forest land on the Indonesian island of Sumatra stands a hooded b
  
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• Top UK fund manager divests from fossil fuels

  15-05-2017 07:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Archbishop of Canterbury plays crucial role in BMO Global Asset Management’s decision to dump £20m of shares in firms such as BHP BillitonOne of Britain’s biggest managers of ethical funds is to dump £20m of shares in fossil fuel companies in one of the biggest divestments so far because of climate change.
  Shares in BHP Billiton, the Anglo-Australian mining giant, will be among those sold by BMO Global Asset Management’s range of “responsible” funds, whi
  
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• Coralroot, a rare beauty among the old graves

  15-05-2017 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  North Wessex Downs, Hampshire Cow parsley and common vetch crowd around the carved words of grief and remembranceMy right hand, flushed with warmth after a day’s walking, is refreshed at the touch of the stone gate post. Standing at the entrance of an abandoned church, I can see it has been worn marble-smooth by the hands of the long-vanished faithful. Centuries of their feet, too, have passed this way and carved a dip into the threshold of one of its ancient doorways. Although they are fa
  
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• Ikea’s solution to peak stuff? Invest in plastics recycling plant

  15-05-2017 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Furniture giant commits to reducing use of virgin raw materials but experts raise concerns about supply chain dominationAre companies ready to rethink the way they do business? – open thread
  Ikea has bought forest in Romania and the Baltics, wind farms in Poland and now it is investing in a plastic recycling plant in the Netherlands.For the Swedish furniture giant, extending control across its supply chain in this way could help it become more sustainable by avoiding environmentally damagi
  
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• Blackout parties: how solar and storage made WA farmers the most popular in town

  15-05-2017 01:19 via theguardian.com
  
  Once considered an eco-warrior’s pipe dream, Western Australia is rapidly switching to renewable energy Along the remote southern coastline of Western Australia, the locals have cottoned on to a new, surefire way to keep their beer cold.The energy grid around Esperance and Ravensthorpe is unreliable at the best of times, but after a bushfire took out the poles and wires around these far-flung outback towns last year, the power company asked residents if they might be interested in trying o
  
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• Business leaders want next government to build two more runways

  15-05-2017 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  ‘Years of dawdling’ on airport capacity have left us lagging behind rest of Europe, say Institute of DirectorsBusiness leaders have called for the next government to build two more runways, demanding that a follow-up Airports Commission be established only months after Heathrow’s third runway was approved. Related: Government 'watering down' pollution limits to meet Heathrow pledgeContinue reading...
  
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• Britons throw away 1.4m edible bananas each day, figures show

  15-05-2017 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Government study says £80m worth is discarded every year – sometimes simply because of a minor bruise or black markBritons routinely bin 1.4m edible bananas every day at a cost of £80m a year, figures reveal. A third of consumers (30%) admit to discarding a banana if it has even a minor bruise or black mark on the skin. More than one in 10 (13%) also throw the fruit away if it shows any green on the skin. Continue reading...
  
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