Environment news

• Genome pioneer John Sulston enters elite club

  16-06-2017 23:30 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Sir John Sulston is elevated to the Companion of Honour in the Queen’s birthday list.
  
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• Ecuadorians denounce foreign loggers in Yasuni national park

  16-06-2017 23:17 via theguardian.com
  
  Interview with anthropologist José Proaño on dangers to indigenous peoples in “isolation” posed by timber tradeThree NGOs in Ecuador marked the UN’s World Environment Day last week by releasing a report alleging that illegal loggers are operating in the famous Yasuní National Park in the Amazon, one of the most biodiverse places in the world. The loggers are crossing the border from Peru and mainly extracting cedar from territories used by indigenous people
  
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• EU moves to restrict hormone-disrupting chemical found in plastics

  16-06-2017 18:10 via theguardian.com
  
  Green groups welcome ‘historic’ ruling recognising that bisphenol A (BPA), found in TVs, plastic water bottles and kettles, poses a threat to human heathA chemical found in CDs, DVDs, kettles and water bottles could soon be restricted after the EU authorities ruled that it posed a threat to human health because of its effects on hormones.The European chemicals agency (Echa) voted unanimously that bisphenol A (BPA) was an ‘endocrine disruptor’, linking it to a range of hor
  
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• Don’t blame green targets for Grenfell – insulation saves lives | Alice Bell

  16-06-2017 17:49 via theguardian.com
  
  Rightwing papers have implicated energy-efficiency measures in the tragedy. But cold homes are dangerous and disproportionately affect poorer people’s healthAs the London Fire Brigade’s dogs and drones searched the ruins of Grenfell Tower in west London, Friday’s Daily Mail chose to lead its coverage with the question: “Were green targets to blame?” Reading out headlines on Radio 4’s Today Programme this morning, you could hear the scorn in John Humphrys&rsquo
  
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• Michael Gove returns, plastic pollution and city cycling – green news roundup

  16-06-2017 16:57 via theguardian.com
  
  The week’s top environment news stories and green events. If you are not already receiving this roundup, sign up here to get the briefing delivered to your inbox Continue reading...
  
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• Tesco fined £8m for fuel leak at petrol station in Lancashire

  16-06-2017 15:17 via theguardian.com
  
  Supermarket handed record fine for single incident of pollution after 23,500 litres of fuel escaped in HaslingdenTesco has been fined £8m fine after a massive fuel leak at one its petrol stations polluted a Lancashire river, killing fish and forcing those living nearby to leave their homes.It is the largest fine for a single incident of pollution and is second only to the £20m in fines and costs Thames Water was ordered to pay in March which related to multiple offences. Continue rea
  
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• Plastic polluted Arctic islands are dumping ground for Gulf stream

  16-06-2017 14:15 via theguardian.com
  
  Beaches in the remote Arctic islands were found to be more polluted than European ones due to plastic carried from much further southBeaches on remote Arctic islands are heavily polluted with plastic, a new expedition has found, demonstrating that the region is the dumping ground for waste carried northwards on the Gulf Stream.The shorelines of islands in the Svalbard archipelago and of Jan Mayen island were found to be littered with much more plastic waste than on European beaches, despite tiny
  
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• ‘Kill them, kill them, kill them’: the volunteer army plotting to wipe out Britain’s grey squirrels – podcast

  16-06-2017 13:25 via theguardian.com
  
  The red squirrel is under threat of extinction across Britain. Their supporters believe the only way to save them is to exterminate their enemy: the greys. But are they just prejudiced against non-native species?• Read the text version hereSubscribe via Audioboom, iTunes, Soundcloud, Mixcloud, Acast & Sticher and join the discussion on Facebook and Twitter Continue reading...
  
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• Houston fears climate change will cause catastrophic flooding: 'It's not if, it's when'

  16-06-2017 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Human activity is worsening the problem in an already rainy area, and there could be damage worthy of a disaster movie if a storm hits the industrial section
  Sam Brody is not a real estate agent, but when his friends want to move home they get in touch to ask for advice. He is a flood impact expert in Houston – and he has plenty of work to keep him busy.The Texas metropolis has more casualties and property loss from floods than any other locality in the US, according to data stretching bac
  
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• Gods of garbage – in pictures

  16-06-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Fabrice Monteiro travelled to the most polluted places in Africa and created terrifying characters who roamed their midst dressed in eerie debris. They are spirits, he says, on a mission to make humans change their waysContinue reading...
  
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• Gas grab and global warming could wipe out Wadden Sea heritage site

  16-06-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The world’s largest unbroken intertidal system and a haven for migratory birds on the Dutch coastline is at risk of sinking out of existenceThe world’s largest unbroken intertidal system of sand and mud flats could sink beneath the waves by the end of the century due to sea level rise and subsidence caused by gas drills funded by Barclays and other international banks. The Unesco world heritage site at the Wadden Sea on the Dutch coast stretches over 10,000 sq km. Its saltmarshes, sa
  
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• Does our political system still work? Finkel test will provide the answer | Katharine Murphy

  16-06-2017 06:47 via theguardian.com
  
  Neither the Coalition nor Labor has the perfect solution for a pressing energy problem that is affecting everyone in the countryThe most interesting thing about Malcolm Turnbull’s now globally shared speech to the mid-winter ball was not the Trump parody, fun as it was, but its tone. It revealed something of the prime minister’s current mood.
  Delivered in the middle of a difficult week, when Turnbull was once again being publicly defied by the man he replaced and by a bunch of mouthy
  
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• Plovers pose on the dark peat hags

  16-06-2017 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Bleaklow, Derbyshire So sleek, quick and nimble, with butter-gold speckles on its back, this bird is a shy jewel of the moorsThe sombre northern flank of Bleaklow has three Black Cloughs, differentiated with admirable directness as Near, Middle and Far. Clough is a northern word, likely Old Norse in origin, for a cleft in a hill. The overall effect is familiar enough – bleak, desolate, country. But look more closely and the contrasts are spectacular.Continue reading...
  
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• 'Little sunfish' robot to swim in to Fukushima reactor

  16-06-2017 06:21 via bbc.co.uk
  
  It'll be a tough journey - previous robots sent in to the ruined nuclear reactor didn't make it back.
  
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• Our energy policy: stupidity, economic illiteracy, or sponsored obfuscation? | Tim Buckley

  16-06-2017 03:17 via theguardian.com
  
  The scale and pace of change in energy markets globally is staggering. So why isn’t Australia catching up with the rest of the world?As we dissect the Finkel review’s failure to give serious credence to Australia’s commitment to the Paris agreement, what is yet again missing from the debate is a discussion of the economic and technological transition that is rapidly unfolding. President Donald Trump attempts to revive failed rust belt industries in the states with hollow and ec
  
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• 13 ways Frydenberg sold 'climate policy' to coal-loving MPs

  16-06-2017 02:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Michael Slezak examines how the environment minister tried to sell the Finkel review to hostile colleaguesHow do you sell a plan that is ostensibly about reducing emissions from electricity generation, to a room sprinkled with vocal pro-coal climate sceptics? Well, that was the task the environment and energy minister, Josh Frydenberg, was faced with when he stood before the Coalition joint party room earlier this week. And Fairfax Media obtained and published a copy of the presentation Frydenbe
  
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