Environment news

• India has enough coal without Adani mine, yet must keep importing, minister says

  12-06-2017 23:19 via theguardian.com
  
  India’s energy minister, Piyush Goyal, says the country would be self-sufficient in coal, except that power plants had been designed to run only on importsIndia now has “sufficient coal capacity” to power itself without Queensland’s Carmichael mine project, thanks to the increased productivity of domestic mines, cheaper renewables and lower than expected energy demand, the country’s energy minister has said.But Piyush Goyal said India would be forced to keep importi
  
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• Mass death of fish in US river

  12-06-2017 23:11 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Thousands of dying and dead fish were found in a river leading to the Gulf of Mexico.
  
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• Q&A: Alan Finkel says clean energy target designed for deeper emissions cuts

  12-06-2017 22:58 via theguardian.com
  
  Josh Frydenberg distances himself from former prime minister Tony Abbott and says target is ‘not a tax on coal’The clean energy target recommended by the chief scientist, Alan Finkel, was designed so future governments could ratchet up the ambition of the emissions cuts, Finkel has said on the ABC’s Q&A program.Labor’s climate and energy spokesman, Mark Butler, indicated that Labor would do exactly that, if the mechanism was instituted and they then won government. Co
  
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• Trump urged to cut Bears Ears monument to 'smallest area' possible

  12-06-2017 22:22 via theguardian.com
  
  Interior secretary Ryan Zinke urges president to shrink 1.3m-acre national monument as administration continues push against federal public landsRyan Zinke, the US interior secretary, has recommended to Donald Trump that Bears Ears national monument in Utah be reduced in size to the “smallest area compatible” with its conservation. Continue reading...
  
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• Bosses are right: political uncertainty will damage the economy | Nils Pratley

  12-06-2017 20:50 via theguardian.com
  
  Predictions of gloom after the Brexit vote didn’t materialise – but this time we face an income squeeze and an EU ticking clock“It is hard to overstate what a dramatic impact the current political uncertainty has on business leaders, and the consequences could – if not addressed immediately – be disastrous for the UK economy,” says Stephen Martin, director general of the Institute of Directors, pointing to a poll of members that showed 57% were quite or very p
  
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• Malcolm Turnbull calls on Labor to back Coalition's citizenship regime

  12-06-2017 20:00 via theguardian.com
  
  New arrivals need to ‘join us as Australian patriots’, PM to tell parliament in national security updateMalcolm Turnbull will use a national security update to parliament to urge Labor to support the government’s proposed overhaul of citizenship requirements, arguing new arrivals need to “join us as Australian patriots”.The government intends to press ahead with its new citizenship regime once parliament resumes on Tuesday for the last sitting fortnight before the w
  
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• Bloodhound supersonic car set for October trials

  12-06-2017 19:07 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Bloodhound 1,000mph car will conduct some "slow speed" runs at Newquay airport in Cornwall.
  
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• Justin Trudeau deploys the politics of hype. Jeremy Corbyn offers politics of hope | Martin Lukacs

  12-06-2017 18:56 via theguardian.com
  
  Canada’s PM is a counterfeit progressive who champions war-planes, pipelines and privatization - look across the pond for economic and environmental justiceTheir depiction in the international media couldn’t be more different.You know Justin Trudeau from the Buzzfeed photo-spread or the BBC viral video: the feminist Prime Minister of Canada who hugs refugees, pandas, and his yoga-mat. He looks like he canoed straight from the lake to the stage of the nearest TED Talk — an inclu
  
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• Michael Gove as environment secretary is 'fox in charge of hen house'

  12-06-2017 18:34 via theguardian.com
  
  Appointment greeted with anger by environmental campaigners who lament his record on green issuesMichael Gove’s appointment as environment secretary is like “putting the fox in charge of the hen house”, according to a colleague who worked alongside him in the coalition government.Theresa May announced Gove’s return to politics as part of her reshuffle on Sunday. The news was greeted with anger and frustration by environmental campaigners, who lamented his record on green
  
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• Global hotspots for alien invasions revealed

  12-06-2017 17:25 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Great Britain is in the top 10% of areas for harbouring alien species, according to a study.
  
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• US opts out of G7 pledge stating Paris climate accord is 'irreversible'

  12-06-2017 17:13 via theguardian.com
  
  US says it will not join other six nations in reaffirming 2015 Paris pact but will take its own action to reduce carbon footprint
  The US has refused to sign up to a G7 pledge that calls the Paris climate accord the “irreversible” global tool to address climate change. The G7 environment ministers issued a final reportafter their two-day meeting in Bologna, the first since the US announced it was withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement.Continue reading...
  
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• Maestros canadienses factor decisivo el futuro del agua de Chile | Meera Karunananthan

  12-06-2017 14:43 via theguardian.com
  
  Chile ofrece una lección sobre las desventajas de la privatización del agua y saneamiento, pero un grupo de maestros de Ontario podría ayudarRead this article in English Actualmente sumido en una crisis de agua potable, Chile enfrenta las consecuencias de las políticas de la dictadura del Gral. Augusto Pinochet que pusieron casi todos los suministros de agua dulce y los servicios relacionados con el agua del país en manos de las corporaciones multinacionales. P
  
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• Michael Gove 'entirely unfit' to be environment secretary, say Greens

  12-06-2017 14:24 via theguardian.com
  
  Appointment greeted with anger by environmental campaigners, who lament his record on green issuesGreen activists and politicians have reacted with dismay to Theresa May’s decision to bring Michael Gove back to frontline politics as environment secretary.May, who banished Gove to the backbenches when she became Tory leader last year, announced his new post as part of her reshuffle on Sunday. Continue reading...
  
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• Oil giants need to invest heavily in renewables by 2035, says analysis

  12-06-2017 14:14 via theguardian.com
  
  Slowing demand for oil and forecasts of rapid growth in green power pose risk to core business, says analyst More than a fifth of investment by the largest oil and gas companies could be in wind and solar power in just over a decade, according to analysis of how global changes in energy will reshape the sector.Slowing demand for oil and forecasts of rapid growth in renewables posed both a threat and and opportunity BP, Shell and Total among others cannot ignore, said research group Wood Mackenzi
  
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• Oil giants need to invest heavily in renewables by 2035, analysis finds

  12-06-2017 13:58 via theguardian.com
  
  Slowing demand for oil and forecasts of rapid growth in green power pose risk to core business, says analyst More than a fifth of investment by the largest oil and gas companies could be in wind and solar power in just over a decade, according to analysis of how global changes in energy will reshape the sector.Slowing demand for oil and forecasts of rapid growth in renewables posed both a threat and and opportunity BP, Shell and Total among others cannot ignore, said research group Wood Mackenzi
  
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• Rare water vole colony filmed by a Tesco supermarket

  12-06-2017 13:21 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A wildlife blogger captures unique footage of the endangered mammals living in a Shropshire brook.
  
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• One community garden at a time: how New Yorkers are fighting for food justice

  12-06-2017 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Tanya Fields’ Libertad Urban Farm joins a city-wide movement to redistribute resources to poor communities that are systemically deprived of healthy food For the past three summers, Tanya Fields produced a veritable cornucopia of fruits and vegetables at the Libertad Urban Farm in the South Bronx. But then disaster struck: “We got burglarized three times by a crackhead. He took everything. The pears, the grill – anything he thought had value. He knocked down the shed, destroyed
  
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• New threats to public lands endanger America's unique wildlife corridors

  12-06-2017 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Mule deer, pronghorn and other animals rely on unbroken migration routes for food and survival, a necessity now in jeopardy as Trump pushes for developmentThe life of a Wyoming mule deer is a tough one. In order to survive, thousands of the deer undertake an arduous 150-mile migration twice a year to find food. Manmade and natural hazards abound on this two-month trek.
  “It’s not just about getting from point A to B, they have to forage all along the way,” said Matt Kauffman, a
  
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• The Larsen C ice shelf collapse hammers home the reality of climate change | John Abraham

  12-06-2017 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Collapsing ice shelves will further accelerate global sea level rise
  Very soon, a large portion of an ice shelf in Antarctica will break off and collapse into the ocean. The name of the ice shelf is Larsen C; it is a major extension from of the West Antarctic ice sheet, and its health has implications for other ice in the region, and sea levels globally. How do we know a portion is going to collapse? Well, scientists have been watching a major rift (crack) that has grown in the past few years, c
  
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• The Larsen C ice shelf collapse hammers home reality of climate change | John Abraham

  12-06-2017 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Breaking up of ice shelves will further accelerate sea level rise
  Very soon, a large portion of an ice shelf in Antarctica will break off and collapse into the ocean. The name of the ice shelf is Larsen C; it is a major extension of the West Antarctic ice sheet, and its health has implications for other ice in the region, and sea levels globally.How do we know a portion is going to collapse? Well, scientists have been watching a major rift (crack) that has grown in the past few years, carving ou
  
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• The fight against climate change: four cities leading the way in the Trump era

  12-06-2017 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  New York City, Houston, Miami and San Francisco have all taken steps to mitigate the risks associated with rising sea levels and global temperatures. Are their successes a blueprint for action at the state and local level?Wholly unintentionally, Donald Trump may have sparked unprecedented determination within the US to confront the danger of climate change.Continue reading...
  
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• The oldest living thing on Earth

  12-06-2017 11:34 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Mayflies live for a day, humans live a century - if we’re lucky - but what is the oldest living organism on the planet?
  
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• 3D printed bionic hands trial begins in Bristol

  12-06-2017 10:38 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The hands could become available on the NHS bringing life-changing improvements for patients.
  
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• Alan Finkel: 'it would be surprising' if ministers encouraged new coal stations

  12-06-2017 10:23 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: as the Coalition prepares for criticism by conservative MPs, chief scientist says a scheme to incentivise the use of coal-fired energy is unlikelyThe chief scientist, Alan Finkel, says he doesn’t know if Australia can meet its Paris commitments under the 28% emissions reduction target he has floated for electricity.He also says it would be “surprising” if governments ultimately implemented a new clean energy target which “incentivised” building new coal-f
  
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• Guardian Cities cycle week: what it is and how you can get involved

  12-06-2017 06:57 via theguardian.com
  
  Cycling is at a tipping point: while some cities build bike lanes and ban cars, others are experiencing a backlash. Will the future of cities be two-wheeled? Join us all this week and speak your mindIn the battle against air pollution and gridlock caused by cars, cities around the world are increasingly turning to a low-tech, two-wheeled solution.Urban cycling, however, appears to be at a tipping point. While London and even Los Angeles look to build better bike lanes, and Oslo or Madrid make ef
  
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• Air pollution more harmful to children in cars than outside, warns top scientist

  12-06-2017 06:52 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: Walking or cycling to school is better for children’s health as cars are ‘boxes collecting toxic gases’ says David KingOpinion: Smoking in cars is banned. But children still inhale toxic fumes in backseatsChildren are at risk of dangerous levels of air pollution in cars because exposure to toxic air is often far higher inside than outside vehicles, a former government chief scientific adviser has warned.Prof Sir David King, writing for the Guardian, says walking or c
  
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• Daylight robbery in the grasslands

  12-06-2017 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Epping Forest Yellow rattle steals nutrients from grasses, releasing butterfly-friendly plants from the oppression of shadeThe poet John Clare crossed here 180 years ago seeking the “furze and clouds” of Buckhurst Hill, but I’m happy to linger on Whitehall Plain amid its dazzling drifts of buttercups. Natural grasslands are now rare in southern England – 98% of them were destroyed in the 50 years after 1945 – and too often seen as easily replicated green space. Not
  
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• It's Hug a Climate Scientist Day. Just remember: no surprise hugs! | First Dog on the Moon

  12-06-2017 05:17 via theguardian.com
  
  Every 12 June a grateful planet pauses to give thanks to those brave souls who bear the burden of knowing what the rest of us can’t stand to think about Sign up here to get an email whenever First Dog cartoons are published
  Get all your needs met at the First Dog shop if what you need is First Dog merchandise and printsContinue reading...
  
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• Tony Abbott fears Finkel's clean energy target could be 'a magic pudding'

  12-06-2017 03:21 via theguardian.com
  
  Former prime minister says Bill Shorten the favourite to win election and Coalition must not adopt a new tax on coalTony Abbott has declared the new clean energy target proposed by the chief scientist, Alan Finkel, sounds like a “magic pudding” and he says the Coalition must not adopt a new tax on coal.
  Ahead of a discussion of the Finkel recommendations by the Coalition party room on Tuesday, the former prime minister used his regular radio interview on 2GB to sound a warning about
  
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• Rehydrating the bodies

  12-06-2017 02:56 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Dr Alejandro Hernández Cárdenas has developed a new technique to help identify corpses.
  
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• Trading tool

  12-06-2017 01:26 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The earliest known script was a tool developed to help run the economy.
  
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