Environment news

• Ribbiting stuff

  03-07-2017 22:48 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The huge diversity of frogs we see today is mainly a consequence of the asteroid strike that killed off the dinosaurs, a study suggests.
  
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• Frog evolution linked to dinosaur asteroid strike

  03-07-2017 22:48 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The huge diversity of frogs we see today is mainly a consequence of the asteroid strike that killed off the dinosaurs, a study suggests.
  
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• Court rejects EPA's attempt to halt Obama-era methane rule

  03-07-2017 21:51 via theguardian.com
  
  Environmental Protection Agency had announced stay in rule that would require oil and gas companies to fix methane leaks in equipmentThe Environmental Protection Agency cannot freeze the implementation of a rule requiring oil and gas companies to fix methane leaks in their equipment, a federal appeals court ruled on Monday in a setback for Donald Trump’s push to cut environmental regulations.Related: Trump's planned EPA cuts will hit America's most vulnerable | Mustafa Santiago AliContinue
  
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• Hinkley Point C: the government should start planning alternatives | Nils Pratley

  03-07-2017 21:07 via theguardian.com
  
  EDF has admitted the nuclear project is £1.5bn over budget – we shouldn’t be bullied into paying moreHinkley Point C in Somerset will cost £1.5bn more than planned, says developer EDF, and completion could be delayed by 15 months beyond the 2025 target date. In one sense, this news lacks any element of surprise. EDF only seems to build nuclear reactors that are late and over-budget, as witnessed in Finland and on its own patch at Flamanville in Normandy.Yet the timing of
  
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• The most detailed scan of the wiring of the human brain

  03-07-2017 21:04 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The brain's wiring as never seen before.
  
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• Admiral calls Britain's plan to control fishing waters ‘amazingly complacent’

  03-07-2017 19:07 via theguardian.com
  
  Lord Alan West says vessels involved in fisheries enforcement are ‘very, very few’, with one recently diverted on long Caribbean tourBritain’s plan to enforce its new control of fishing waters is “amazingly complacent”, according to a former first sea lord and Royal Navy admiral, who said the three vessels used were far too few.The government announced on Sunday that it was “taking back control” of the waters between six and 12 nautical miles from the Br
  
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• Ofgem energy price cap shows May's 'help for millions' is off the boil | Nils Pratley

  03-07-2017 18:55 via theguardian.com
  
  Tepid government response to limited cap for yet-to-be-defined ‘vulnerable’ people shows universal cap is virtually dead This is how political U-turns are performed in the energy sector – not with a visible yank on the steering wheel but with some vague words from the secretary of state designed to disguise the manoeuvre in hand.As Ofgem announced a limited price cap that will apply only to yet-to-be-defined “vulnerable” customers, the business and energy secretary,
  
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• The evidence is clear: insecticides kill bees. The industry denials look absurd | Patrick Barkham

  03-07-2017 18:39 via theguardian.com
  
  The largest field trials to date offer irrefutable proof. We need a total ban, now, to halt the sabotaging of our own best interestsThe extermination of 15,000 honey bees in Anglesey by council pest control officers who mistook the rare black bees for wasps is an unhappy accident. The fact it has made the news shows a society slowly coming to its senses.Most of us get the idea that without bees and other pollinating insects, human life would rapidly collapse. Those of us who have
  
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• Air on board cruise ships 'is twice as bad as at Piccadilly Circus'

  03-07-2017 18:08 via theguardian.com
  
  A C4 Dispatches investigation reveals tonight how ultra-fine particles emitted by cruise liners’ engines are worrying both medical scientists and environmentalistsPassengers on cruise ships could be exposing themselves to dangerous levels of pollution, according to an investigation by Channel 4’s Dispatches team that found some public areas on the ships’ decks were more polluted than the world’s worst-affected cities.The undercover investigation, which will be broadcast t
  
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• Hamming it up? Supermarket label changes colour to help cure food waste

  03-07-2017 17:16 via theguardian.com
  
  Sainsbury’s launches packaging that shows how long its own-brand ham has been open to stop slices being thrown away A major UK supermarket is launching a new “smart” label on packets of its own-brand ham in a bid to reduce waste by telling consumers how fresh it is.Ham is Sainsbury’s top-selling cooked meat product, but many buyers find it difficult to remember how long it has been open. Figures from Wrap, the government’s waste advisory body, reveal that British ho
  
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• Wildlife on your doorstep: share your July photos

  03-07-2017 17:06 via theguardian.com
  
  Whether basking in sunshine in the northern hemisphere or fighting cooler temperatures in the south, we’d like to see the wildlife you discoverAfter the June heatwaves in the northern hemisphere, July has got off to a slightly more uneven start, but there will still be plenty of sun rays around. As winter takes hold of the southern hemisphere, the temperatures will get even cooler. So what sort of wildlife will we all discover on our doorsteps? We’d love to see your photos of the Jul
  
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• Hinkley Point C is £1.5bn over budget and a year behind schedule, EDF admits

  03-07-2017 16:25 via theguardian.com
  
  Cost of controversial nuclear power plant in Somerset has risen to £20.3bn and is now 15 months behind schedule, says French energy firmThe UK’s first nuclear power station for more than two decades is at least £1.5bn over budget and could be completed 15 months behind schedule, its developer has admitted. French state-owned EDF said the cost overrun for two new reactors at Hinkley in Somerset could hit £2.2bn - taking the total spend to £20.3bn, up from £18bn
  
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• Elephant 2.0. - nature's invisible information architecture

  03-07-2017 16:13 via theguardian.com
  
  What do you see when you look at an elephant? The world’s biggest land mammal – or a giant data store, sharing information in a living, breathing network?Elephants have such sad expressive faces that is hard to imagine how anyone could harm them. They have drawn lips and sagging shoulders; a long, drooping demeanour; sad, knowing eyes capable of laying on the guilt. Yet, it would appear that guilt is not enough to save them. Eighty years ago there were perhaps 6 to 9 million African
  
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• White House says Donald Trump will not make snap visit to UK

  03-07-2017 15:06 via theguardian.com
  
  US president will not travel to UK in next two weeks, spokesperson says, after speculation led to threat of protestsDonald Trump will not be making a surprise visit to his Scottish golf course in the next two weeks, the White House has said, as the threat of short-notice protests mounted in Britain.A spokeswoman for the US president said on Monday that no trip was imminent, amid mounting speculation that Trump was planning to make an unofficial visit to the UK on his way to or from the G20 summi
  
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• Protesters vow to take to streets as UK braces for snap Trump visit

  03-07-2017 15:06 via theguardian.com
  
  Downing Street has been warned US president may visit his Turnberry Scottish golf course – and LondonAnti-Donald Trump protesters are preparing to spring into action at short notice after it emerged that Downing Street is braced for a snap visit from the US president in the next two weeks.A formal state visit, which was expected to take place over the summer after Theresa May extended an invitation personally when she visited the White House late last year, was postponed last month amid fe
  
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• Local councillors and protesters blockade Lancashire fracking site

  03-07-2017 13:28 via theguardian.com
  
  Group of 13 people lock themselves to objects to stop vehicles entering Cuadrilla site at Fylde, as part of month of action Protesters have blockaded the entrance to a fracking site as part of a month of action to resist the controversial drilling process. The group of 13 protesters, including three local councillors, arrived at the site on Preston New Road in Fylde, Lancashire, in the early hours of Monday morning and locked themselves to objects in an attempt to prevent vehicles entering the s
  
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• The Arctic Melt: a disappearing landscape – in pictures

  03-07-2017 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The fine art photographer Diane Tuft travelled to the Arctic Circle to document the fragility of the snowbound landscape as it melts away. The photographs produced on her journey are on show at Marlborough Gallery NYC until 20 July, and an accompanying book, The Arctic Melt: Images of a Disappearing Landscape, is published by Assouline Continue reading...
  
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• Natural world heritage sites under threat – in pictures

  03-07-2017 12:43 via theguardian.com
  
  Illegal fishing, logging and poaching are damaging two thirds of the 57 natural world heritage sites monitored by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which is drawing attention to their plight. The 41st session of the Unesco World Heritage Committee in Kraków runs until 12 July Continue reading...
  
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• Bad news for climate contrarians – 'the best data we have' just got hotter | John Abraham

  03-07-2017 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The favorite satellite data of contrarians like Ted Cruz corrected for some errors and ended up hotter
  A new paper just published in the Journal of Climate is a stunning setback for the darling of cherry-picking for contrarian scientists and elected officials. Let’s walk though this so we appreciate the impact.The vast majority of scientists know that the climate is changing, humans are the main reason, and there are going to be severe consequences. We have decades of measurements that pro
  
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• 'It is strange to see the British struggling with the beaver': why is rewilding so controversial?

  03-07-2017 11:13 via theguardian.com
  
  In barely a decade, nature has reconquered a West Sussex estate – but conservationists, farmers and even broadcasters are divided over the R word Just down the road from Gatwick, the neatly hedged English countryside gives way to an exuberant, utterly alien-looking landscape. Arable fields are obliterated by dense thickets of sallow. Eight metre-wide blackthorn hedges spill into flowery meadows. Wild pigs and red deer run rampant through ragwort, thistles and other weeds. The air is alive
  
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• Vintage images of public lands in the US in color – in pictures

  03-07-2017 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The late 1800s showcased the beauty of America’s public lands in color for the first time. A photographic technique called photochrom was developed, which allowed color to be introduced on to black and white negatives. The process was used extensively by William Henry Jackson, whose early pictures of Yellowstone helped convince Congress to make it the first national park in 1872. Here is a selection of the collection held by the Library of Congress Continue reading...
  
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• Hinkley Point C is £2.2bn over budget and a year behind schedule, EDF admits

  03-07-2017 10:55 via theguardian.com
  
  Cost of controversial nuclear power plant in Somerset has risen to £20.3bn and is now 15 months behind schedule, says French energy firmThe UK’s first nuclear power station for more than two decades is running billions of pounds over budget and more than a year behind schedule, EDF has admitted.The French state-owned company said that costs for two new reactors at Hinkley Point C in Somerset had climbed £2.2bn to a total of £20.3bn. Continue reading...
  
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• Tell Donald Trump: the Paris climate deal is very good for America | Joseph Stiglitz

  03-07-2017 10:37 via theguardian.com
  
  Trump argues the treaty is unfair to the US but it is America that continues to impose an unfair burden on othersUnder President Donald Trump’s leadership, the United States took another major step toward establishing itself as a rogue state on 1 June, when it withdrew from the Paris climate agreement. For years, Trump has indulged the strange conspiracy theory that, as he put it in 2012: “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make US manufactur
  
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• Lawyers plan to stop UK dropping EU rules on environment after Brexit

  03-07-2017 08:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Taskforce head says complexity, scale and political resistance mean key protections could be lost during rollover into lawA taskforce of environmental lawyers is drawing up plans to stop thousands of EU rules protecting rivers, wildlife, coastlines and air quality from being dropped by the government after Brexit.The EU is the source of most environmental protection in Britain and for 40 years has acted as a monitoring body and enforcer, with powers to fine member states for breaches in the law.
  
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• Male river fish show feminised traits due to chemicals flushed away

  03-07-2017 08:28 via bbc.co.uk
  
  About 20 per cent of male fish in UK rivers are now showing female characteristics.
  
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• Signal crayfish – invader, cannibal, survivor

  03-07-2017 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Appletreewick, Yorkshire DalesIts body is as dark as the river at its deepest, where the peat-stained water turns as black as molassesThe heatwave hits its stride before breakfast, building to a dog day intensity that will relent only with the last red moments of the sunset. For the long hours between, an endless afternoon, the light ceases to move, training its intensity on the elderflower, oxeye daisies and buttercups of Wharfedale until their colours take on the bleach-brightness that signals
  
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• Could climate risk disclosure be the new bottom line for Australian companies?

  03-07-2017 03:50 via theguardian.com
  
  A new global report is putting pressure on publicly listed companies to disclose their risk to climate change Some of Australia’s largest listed companies, including Woodside, Rio Tinto and Santos, are likely to face sweeping changes to the way in which they model, plan for and disclose risk from climate change to investors. How they respond will affect their ability to attract funding from lenders, insurers and superannuation funds who are under pressure to stress-test investments for a c
  
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