Environment news

• Indian teen celebrates as Nasa sends satellite to space

  22-06-2017 22:59 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The tiny satellite was designed by Rifath Sharrook, 18, and manufactured using a 3-D printer.
  
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• First flush of summer as swallows close loos | Letters

  22-06-2017 20:16 via theguardian.com
  
  DUP and Brexit talks | Brian Cant | Blackpool body shapes | Butterflies | SwallowsIn light of the negotiating skills shown by the DUP in securing a very favourable outcome for Northern Ireland in the ongoing “confidence and supply” talks (Report, 22 May), should the Tories not send the DUP to Europe for the Brexit talks instead of their current team. They might fare a lot better.
  Fiona Doherty
  Bray, Co Wicklow, Ireland• Thanks to Lucy Mangan for revealing that not only did
  
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• Drew Hutton, how he galvanised the Greens and his unlikely alliance with Alan Jones

  22-06-2017 20:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Hutton cited health issues when he announced his decision to quit as president of the anti-mining group Lock the GateDrew Hutton, a giant of the Australian environmental movement, has announced his retirement as a leading activist in his 70th year.Hutton, described by Australian Greens co-founder Bob Brown as the “driving force” for the party’s formation in 1992, cited health issues for his decision to quit last week as president of the anti-mining group Lock the Gate. Continue
  
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• Noruega ameaça corte de US$1 bilhão devido a aumento de destruição na Amazônia

  22-06-2017 18:59 via theguardian.com
  
  O desmatamento na Amazônia vem aumentando em meio a cortes à proteção do meio ambiente, e colocando o apoio financeiro vindo da Noruega em risco, diz ministroRead this article in EnglishA Noruega fez uma clara ameaça ao Brasil de que caso o crescente índice de desmatamento na Amazônia não seja revertido, a ajuda financeira de um bilhão de dólares vai ser reduzida a zero. Os líderes de ambos países se encontram em O
  
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• Farms hit by labour shortage as migrant workers shun 'racist' UK

  22-06-2017 18:30 via theguardian.com
  
  A 20% shortfall in migrant workers relied on to pick fruit and vegetables is blamed on Brexit making the UK seem ‘xenophobic’ Farms have been hit with a shortage of the migrant workers that Britain relies on to bring in the fruit and vegetable harvests, according to a series of new reports.There was a 17% shortfall in May, leaving some farms critically short of pickers, according to a new National Farmers Union (NFU) survey. The decline is blamed on Brexit, with the vote to depart th
  
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• Whale body size warning for species collapses

  22-06-2017 18:29 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The shrinking size of whales over the 20th Century could help scientists detect when wildlife populations are in trouble, a study suggests.
  
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• Norway issues $1bn threat to Brazil over rising Amazon destruction

  22-06-2017 16:23 via theguardian.com
  
  Deforestation in the Amazon is increasing amid cuts to protection, putting Norway’s financial aid in jeopardy, says minister Norway has issued a blunt threat to Brazil that if rising deforestation in the Amazon rainforest is not reversed, its billion-dollar financial assistance will fall to zero. The leaders of the two nations meet in Oslo on Friday.The oil-rich Scandinavian nation has provided $1.1bn to Brazil’s Amazon fund since 2008, tied to reductions in the rate of deforestation
  
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• German-UK team maintains Galileo success

  22-06-2017 16:21 via bbc.co.uk
  
  OHB and SSTL will make the next eight, possibly even the next 14, satellites for Europe's GPS.
  
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• David Hoyle obituary

  22-06-2017 14:42 via theguardian.com
  
  My friend David Hoyle, who has died in a car accident aged 48, was a social scientist who devoted his life to protecting African forests and natural ecosystems for the biodiversity they harbour, for the local people who depend on them, and to secure their vital role in mitigating dangerous climate change. He worked for numerous NGOs, including VSO, WWF, and WCS, which took him to many African countries as a teacher, field project manager and national director.The second of three children born to
  
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• Great British Bee Count 2017 – in pictures

  22-06-2017 14:23 via theguardian.com
  
  So far, 15,696 people have taken part in the 2017 Great British Bee Count, recording 288,341 bees, some of which are pictured here. You have eight days left to join this year’s count which will run until 30 June 2017Download the free app to monitor and learn about our endangered bee population and get tips for bee-friendly plantingContinue reading...
  
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• Primeval forest must lose Unesco protection, says Poland

  22-06-2017 13:34 via theguardian.com
  
  Environment minister Jan Szyszko has called for Białowieża to lose its heritage status, saying it was granted ‘illegally’ Poland’s environment minister, Jan Szyszko, whom green activists have criticised for allowing large-scale logging in the ancient Białowieża forest, has called for the woodland to be stripped of Unesco’s natural heritage status, banning human intervention.Białowieża, straddling Poland’s eastern border with Belarus, in
  
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• Koalas 'facing extinction' in some Australian states

  22-06-2017 12:20 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The conservation group WWF is warning that koalas could be wiped out in some Australian states amid deforestation and increasing attacks by livestock.
  
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• The world needs wildlife tourism. But that won't work without wildlife

  22-06-2017 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Habitat loss, pollution, climate change, over-exploitation and poaching are all threatening a lifeline for local communities Wildlife-based tourism is growing rapidly worldwide as the number of tourists continues to grow and as we, as travellers, seek out new and more enriching personal experiences with local cultures and wildlife. This is what inspired me to take six months unpaid leave from the grind of legal practice many years ago and backpack around South America with my little sister. Expe
  
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• Flutter bye: where did all the city butterflies go?

  22-06-2017 08:15 via theguardian.com
  
  Butterflies are vanishing from cities even faster than in the countryside – from paving, pesticides or just plain heat. But some cities are luring them backThe purple plumes of railway-side buddleias are emptied of insects. A single white butterfly is dancing, alone, in a grassy park. Suburban gardens are unvisited by red admirals or small tortoiseshells.
  The disappearance of butterflies from the British countryside over the past half-century is well documented, but a new study warns that
  
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• Flutter bye: the strange case of the disappearing urban butterfly

  22-06-2017 08:15 via theguardian.com
  
  Butterflies are vanishing from cities even faster than in the countryside – from paving, pesticides or just plain heat. But some cities are luring them backThe purple plumes of railway-side buddleias are emptied of insects. A single white butterfly is dancing, alone, in a grassy park. Suburban gardens are unvisited by red admirals or small tortoiseshells.
  The disappearance of butterflies from our countryside over the past half-century is well documented, but a new study warns that they are
  
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• TfL cycling data analysis: revolutionary or displacement activity?

  22-06-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  A data map of 25 London cycling corridors could be crucial for future superhighways, but critics say it’s a distraction from getting the job doneMike Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York, once said “in God we trust; everyone else bring data”. London has moved towards the mantra of one man who transformed a city for cycling by using a major data analysis to show where cycling routes could be built to get the greatest number of people on to two wheels.Transport for London (TfL
  
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• Is TfL's new cycling plan revolutionary or a waste of time?

  22-06-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  A data map of 25 London cycling corridors could be crucial for future superhighways, but critics say it’s a distraction from getting the job doneMike Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York, once said “in God we trust; everyone else bring data”. London has moved towards the mantra of one man who transformed a city for cycling by using a major data analysis to show where cycling routes could be built to get the greatest number of people on to two wheels.Transport for London (TfL
  
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• Tories aim to block full EU ban on bee-harming pesticides

  22-06-2017 07:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Move to block EU ban comes despite environment secretary Michael Gove saying, ‘I don’t want to water down’ EU protectionsConservative politicians are trying to stop a complete EU ban on bee-harming pesticides, despite the new environment secretary Michael Gove’s statement earlier this week, in which he said “I absolutely don’t want to water down” EU environmental protections.Neonicotinoids are the world’s most widely used insecticides but have been
  
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• Why the coal lobby's reverse auction push might be an attempt to 'blow up' the debate

  22-06-2017 06:54 via theguardian.com
  
  Craig Kelly’s argument that a reverse auction would allow coal power plants to compete doesn’t stack up The latest push by pro-coal lobbyists and some Coalition MPs – for the clean energy target proposal to be dropped in favour of a reverse auction that could be used to fund a new coal power station – has left analysts wondering if they are actually trying to “blow up” the debate.
  The idea was raised, after the Minerals Council of Australia – the coal lo
  
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• Misadventure trims a red admiral's sails

  22-06-2017 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Sandy, Bedfordshire The butterfly rested in the tractor tramline, cryptic wings held erect over its backThe open fields are no place for hot dogs in high summer. At other times dogs scamper along the straight tracks between wheat and barley, sometimes stopping to sniff, squat, or cock a leg, engrossed in a kind of Twitter wee. But when the sun burns overhead, it toasts cereals and thick coats alike. The dog walkers therefore come early here, and I run earlier still. Continue reading...
  
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• Millions of mysterious 'sea pickles' swamp US west coast

  22-06-2017 03:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Huge and unexplained bloom has fishers racing to save their nets, and scientists hurrying to study the rare animal A rare, tiny marine creature known as the “unicorn of the sea” has swarmed in its millions on the west coast of America, ruining fishermen’s nets and baffling scientists who are scrambling to find out more about them.Fishers along the west coast have told researchers that in some places they are unable to catch anything because the pyrosome clusters are so dense an
  
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• Turnbull just needs to look back into his own past to address high power prices | Tristan Edis

  22-06-2017 02:57 via theguardian.com
  
  A new coal power station is useless for solving current problems. Instead we should focus on cutting out energy wasteAustralia’s electricity and gas prices have reached historic heights that are squeezing household budgets while threatening the very survival of some Australian manufacturers.
  This is not a problem facing us some time in the future, is it problem right now that requires urgent action. Continue reading...
  
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• Australian health groups urge coal phase-out and strong emissions reduction

  22-06-2017 02:10 via theguardian.com
  
  World-first climate and health framework from 30 health and medical groups calls for recognition of citizens’ ‘right to health’To save hundreds of lives and billions of dollars, Australia should rapidly phase out coal power stations and establish strong emissions reduction targets, according to a coalition of 30 major health and medical groups. Related: Australia warned it has radically underestimated climate change security threatContinue reading...
  
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• The power of a billion: India's genomics revolution

  22-06-2017 01:53 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Could an effort to gather genetic data from its population of one billion people help India take the lead in advanced healthcare?
  
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• India genome plan could boost healthcare

  22-06-2017 01:53 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Could an effort to gather genetic data from its population of one billion people help India take the lead in advanced healthcare?
  
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• DNA data

  22-06-2017 01:53 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Could an effort to gather genetic data from its population of one billion people help India take the lead in advanced healthcare?
  
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• Race to the bottom

  22-06-2017 00:00 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The obscure and difficult to reach tracts of the seabed being claimed in the hope they contain mineral riches.
  
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