Environment news

• CEO Says Mexico Oil Find Is 'Multiples Of What We Thought'

  13-07-2017 23:28 via feedproxy.google.com
  It’s been a few years of soul-searching for Tim Duncan, the CEO of Talos Energy. The Houston-based oil company has long specialized in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana and Texas. Yet the oil bust that began in 2014 has made the region deeply unpopular. Facing dwindling prospects for big new finds offshore, companies have instead flocked to the Permian basin of west Texas, where layer upon layer of oil-saturated rock promises decent returns even at stubbornly low oil p
  
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• US approves oil drilling in Alaska waters, prompting fears for marine life

  13-07-2017 23:07 via theguardian.com
  
  Italian company plans to drill four exploration wells in the Arctic, which some say will endanger polar bears, bowhead whales and other marine mammalsAn Italian multinational oil and gas company has received permission to move ahead with drilling plans in federal waters off Alaska which environmental campaigners say will endanger polar bears, bowhead whales and other marine mammals.Late on Wednesday, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced conditional approval of an exploratory d
  
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• Evermore: ravens can plan for the future, scientists say

  13-07-2017 23:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Swedish experiment shows the notoriously brilliant bird has capacity to think ahead, an ability previously documented only in humans and great apes
  Scientists from Sweden say ravens are able to think about the future, showing a general planning ability previously documented only in people and great apes.Researchers Can Kabadayi and Mathias Osvath, of Lund University, tested five captive ravens in two tasks they do not do in the wild: using tools and bartering with humans. The results were publis
  
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• Donald Trump offers hand of friendship to Emmanuel Macron on Paris visit

  13-07-2017 21:58 via theguardian.com
  
  US and French presidents appear to want to put aside differences on climate change and cooperate on Syria and terrorismDonald Trump has made a gushing show of friendship to the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, saying the two countries had an “unbreakable bond” , pledging to draw up a road map for post-conflict Syria, and asserting that the two leaders could work together despite clear differences on climate change.But when he appeared alongside Macron under the golden chandeliers of t
  
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• Scientists Design Solar Cell That Captures Nearly All Solar Spectrum Energy

  13-07-2017 21:38 via feedproxy.google.com
  A SEAS researcher helped develop technology that could become the most efficient solar cell in the world.
  
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• Global warming could result in losses for the European wine industry

  13-07-2017 21:17 via feedproxy.google.com
  Slight increases in temperature in Mediterranean regions from global warming could potentially result in labour, productivity and economic losses for the European wine industry, an article in the journal Temperature suggests.
  
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• Getting to the roots of Sahara mustard invasion in the American Southwest

  13-07-2017 21:13 via feedproxy.google.com
  In 2015, a rural community in southeastern California approached Daniel Winkler and his doctoral advisor, Travis Huxman, for help with an invader that was hurting their local economy. An Old World annual plant called Sahara mustard (Brassica tournefortii) was spreading rapidly through the deserts of the southwestern U.S., carpeting the local Anza-Borrego Desert in spring, and smothering the native wildflowers that draw tourists to the region. Loss of native plants put the animals that
  
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• Climate change could mean more weight restrictions and higher costs for airlines

  13-07-2017 21:09 via feedproxy.google.com
  As air temperatures rise at constant pressure, the density of air declines and this makes it harder for an airplane to take off. Increased air temperatures due to climate change could therefore present a new challenge for the aviation industry. This is according to Ethan Coffel of Columbia University in the US, lead author of a study in Climatic Change Letters which is a section in Springer’s journal Climatic Change. 
  
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• Study suggests route to improving rechargeable lithium batteries

  13-07-2017 21:04 via feedproxy.google.com
  Most of today’s lithium-ion batteries, which power everything from cars to phones, use a liquid as the electrolyte between two electrodes. Using a solid electrolyte instead could offer major advantages for both safety and energy storage capacity, but attempts to do this have faced unexpected challenges.
  
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• The hills are alive… with anguished wails about the Lake District | Letters

  13-07-2017 19:33 via theguardian.com
  
  George Monbiot should set his sights against the 4x4s ravaging Little Langdale, not Lakeland sheep, says Jinty Nelson; Scotland is forging a middle way between sheep and trees, says Paul Brannen MEPTwo months ago you published an article by George Monbiot (The Lake District as a world heritage site – what a disaster that would be, 10 May). I responded in a letter the Guardian published online (12 May). I wrote that George had not set his sights well, had failed to say which Lake District f
  
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• Loving Luxembourg as the new measure | Brief letters

  13-07-2017 19:33 via theguardian.com
  
  Student loans | Antarctic iceberg | Photographic memory | Dog-ends | Don’t be a tosserNeil Gammack (Letters, 11 July) asks what a graduate earning £21,001, with a debt of £50,000 a year, would have to pay every month to offset the interest on the loan. He thought it would be a huge sum, I suppose, and was angry that the Guardian refers to the student loan as a “so-called debt”. Repayments are not based on the size of the loan but on the graduate’s salary. You
  
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• 5,665 gates, 4,862 stiles, 1,054 bridges: but who maintains the Yorkshire dales?

  13-07-2017 19:19 via theguardian.com
  
  ‘I’ll still be doing this on a mobility scooter,’ says one of 100 volunteers who survey national park’s 1,628 miles of pathsOne of the many reasons Sally Williams loves the Yorkshire dales national park is because its dramatic landscape has been marked by centuries of human activity. “It’s not like you get in America – a huge area of undiscovered land that nobody has ever trodden on,” she says, standing near the entrance to an old limestone quarry.
  
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• Study Finds Toxic Mercury is Accumulating in the Arctic Tundra

  13-07-2017 17:58 via feedproxy.google.com
  Vast amounts of toxic mercury are accumulating in the Arctic tundra, threatening the health and well-being of people, wildlife and waterways, according to a UMass Lowell scientist investigating the source of the pollution. A research team led by Prof. Daniel Obrist, chairman of UMass Lowell’s Department of Environmental, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, found that airborne mercury is gathering in the Arctic tundra, where it gets deposited in the soil and ultimately runs off into waters
  
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• New biofuel technology cuts production time significantly

  13-07-2017 17:43 via feedproxy.google.com
  New research from a professor of engineering at UBC’s Okanagan Campus might hold the key to biofuels that are cheaper, safer and much faster to produce.“Methane is a biofuel commonly used in electricity generation and is produced by fermenting organic material,” says Cigdem Eskicioglu, an associate professor with UBC Okanagan’s School of Engineering. “The process can traditionally take anywhere from weeks to months to complete, but with my collaborators fr
  
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• Bialowieza Forest: Poland sued over ancient woods logging

  13-07-2017 17:01 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Polish logging in one of Europe's last remaining primeval forests is to go to the EU's top court.
  
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• Scientist Chris D Thomas: 'We can take a much more optimistic view of conservation'

  13-07-2017 15:30 via theguardian.com
  
  African rhinos in the Mediterreanean, French butterflies in southern England... the biologist on how dynamic ecology offers hope in a changing worldAfter a lifetime out in the field, measuring the egg-laying preferences of Californian butterflies or counting plant species living in and around Birmingham, ecologist Chris D Thomas is no typical debut author. But like so many writers, his first book, Inheritors of the Earth, has been germinating for some time.The seeds were sown in the early 2000s:
  
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• EU calls for immediate ban on logging in Poland's Białowieża forest

  13-07-2017 14:36 via theguardian.com
  
  EU asks court to protect one of Europe’s last primeval woodlands after the Polish government tripled logging operations at the Unesco world heritage site last yearEurope’s last major parcel of primeval woodland could be set for a reprieve after the EU asked the European court to authorise an immediate ban on logging in Poland’s Białowieża forest.Around 80,000 cubic metres of forest have been cleared since the Polish government tripled logging operations around the Une
  
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• If you care so much, Coke, why aren't your bottles 100% recycled?

  13-07-2017 14:31 via theguardian.com
  
  Coca-Cola sells more than 100bn single-use plastic bottles a year. Its plans to increase recycled plastic in its bottles to 50% are startlingly unambitiousCoca-Cola’s grand announcement on plastic packaging is a lot of PR fizz. But when you look at the detail, it’s all a bit flat.The news that the company is to increase the amount of recycled plastic in its bottles to 50% shows a startling lack of ambition from the soft-drinks giant to tackle one of the greatest environmental challen
  
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• Electric cars to account for all new vehicle sales in Europe by 2035

  13-07-2017 13:33 via theguardian.com
  
  Falling battery costs to drive sales but European carmakers will lose out to rivals in the US and Asia, forecasts Dutch bankAll new cars sold in Europe will be electric within less than two decades, driven by government support, falling battery costs and economies of scale, a Dutch bank has predicted. However, ING warned that with battery-powered vehicles accounting for 100% of registrations in 2035 across the continent, European carmakers would lose out to their rivals in the US and Asia who al
  
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• Record number of environmental activists killed around the world

  13-07-2017 13:18 via bbc.co.uk
  
  At least 200 campaigners in 24 countries were killed in 2016, according to a new report from Global Witness.
  
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• Brexit department lays out nuclear and justice stance for negotiations

  13-07-2017 13:17 via theguardian.com
  
  Department for Exiting the EU publishes position papers on Euratom treaty and European court of justiceThe Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) has published position papers on the UK’s stance in the Brexit negotiations on the European atomic energy community (Euratom) and the role of the European court of justice (ECJ).Continue reading...
  
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• The defenders: recording the deaths of environmental defenders around the world

  13-07-2017 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  This year, in collaboration with Global Witness, the Guardian aims to record the deaths of all people killed while protecting land or natural resources. At the current rate, about four defenders will die this week somewhere on the planet Continue reading...
  
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• The Canadian company mining hills of silver – and the people dying to stop it

  13-07-2017 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  In Guatemala, one of the world’s largest silver deposits reaps millions for its Canadian owners but for local farmers the price is their land and even their livesDeep underground, buried in the lush hills of southern Guatemala, lies a veritable treasure trove: silver, tonnes of it, one of the largest deposits in the world.But it’s above ground where the really dangerous activity goes on. On a dusty highway, about 50 peasant farmers stand praying in a circle, a makeshift roadblock int
  
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• Environmental defenders: who are they and how do we decide if they have died in defence of their environment?

  13-07-2017 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Global Witness uses an extensive network of local contacts and other techniques to gather evidence every time a defender is reported as killed. Because so few killings happen in populous places, very few make the official list• Read more from the environmental defenders project here. You can see the names of those who have died so far this year here
  Who are land and environmental defenders? Continue reading...
  
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• Environmental defenders being killed in record numbers globally, new research reveals

  13-07-2017 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive Activists, wildlife rangers and indigenous leaders are dying violently at the rate of about four a week, with a growing sense around the world that ‘anyone can kill environmental defenders without repercussions’• See the names of all defenders who have died so far this year here. Read more from the project here.Last year was the most perilous ever for people defending their community’s land, natural resources or wildlife, with new research showing that environmen
  
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• Environmental and land defenders killed in 2016: the full list

  13-07-2017 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  200 people were killed while defending the environment or land in 2016, with Brazil, Colombia and the Philippines among the countries with most deaths• Read more from the environmental defenders project here. You can see the names of those who have died so far this year hereAnowarul Islam (Angur)Continue reading...
  
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• Environmental and land defenders killed in 2015: the full list

  13-07-2017 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  185 people were killed while defending the environment or land in 2015, with Brazil, Nicaragua and the Philippines among the countries with most deaths Read more from the environmental defenders project here. You can see the names of those who have died so far this year here
  José Antônio Dória dos Santos (Zé Minhenga) Continue reading...
  
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• Behold Jupiter's Great Red Spot

  13-07-2017 12:18 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A Nasa probe returns the most detailed pictures ever of one of the Solar System's biggest storms.
  
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• Electric cars will fuel huge demand for power, says National Grid

  13-07-2017 11:50 via theguardian.com
  
  Increase in peak electricity demand could be more than capacity of planned Hinkley Point C nuclear power station by 2030A dramatic growth in electric vehicles on Britain’s roads could see peak electricity demand jump by more than the capacity of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station by 2030, according to National Grid.The number of plug-in cars and vans could reach 9m by 2030, up from around 90,000 today, said the company, which runs the UK’s national transmission networks for el
  
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• UK animal experiments fall by 5% - annual figures

  13-07-2017 11:14 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Home Office annual figures show that animal experiments in the UK fell by 5% in 2016.
  
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• Sri Lankan navy saves wild elephant found in ocean – video

  13-07-2017 10:33 via theguardian.com
  
  A wild elephant struggling at sea is found by the Sri Lankan navy, off the country’s northeast coast near Kokkilai. Divers were sent to tie ropes around the animal before it was safely pulled to shore. Elephants use their trunks as a natural snorkel but cannot stay too long in the water because they use up too much energySwimming trunk: elephant rescued from ocean 10 miles off Sri Lanka coastContinue reading...
  
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• Blue whale skeleton replaces dinosaur at Natural History Museum - timelapse video

  13-07-2017 10:25 via theguardian.com
  
  The Natural History Museum has replaced its much-loved dinosaur skeleton in the Hintze Hall, affectionately known as Dippy, with a huge blue whale skeleton. The whale was first displayed in 1939 in the museum and now proudly stands in the museum’s central spaceWatch the full clip on the Natural History Museum’s social mediaSo long, Dippy: museum’s blue whale seeks to inspire love of living world
  Continue reading...
  
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• US 'will become one of the world's top gas exporters by 2020'

  13-07-2017 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  IEA says growth in production, as fracking opens up shale oil and gas deposits, will see US rival Russia and Norway
  The American shale gas revolution will enjoy a second wind as rapid growth in domestic production sees the US join the world’s club of top gas exporters, a leading energy authority has predicted.Fracking has already opened up US shale oil and gas deposits, leading to a fall in gas prices and greenhouse gas emissions as power generation switches from coal to gas, as well as re
  
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• Have-a-go heroes: the women saving elephants in their free time

  13-07-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  With one elephant killed every 25 minutes, the poaching crisis continues. But with the commitment and activism of a growing global network – dominated by women – laws and attitudes around the world are changingIf dedication and hard work were all it took, Maria Mossman would have saved every last elephant by now. Despite having two children, aged five and seven, and a part-time job for a large corporation, she also spends 35 to 40 hours a week as an unpaid activist. It was even more
  
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• Timelapse of museum's new star attraction

  13-07-2017 07:33 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Which creature is taking the place of Dippy the dinosaur?
  
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• Hot hairstreaks drop to earth for a lime lolly

  13-07-2017 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Chicksands Wood, Bedfordshire The butterflies were scuttling quickly on crooked legs, like crabs, between lime fixes These are the dog days of the birdwatcher’s year, the muted lull when most things of interest melt into the undergrowth to moult. Avid birders look for substitutes with wings, and often turn to butterflies. Woods such as Chicksands offer an opportunity to see one of the rarest – given binoculars, sun, stillness, a cricked neck and an ocean of luck.Even before Dutch elm
  
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• Electric car boom will fuel demand for power, says National Grid

  13-07-2017 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Increase in peak electricity demand could be more than capacity of planned Hinkley Point C nuclear power station by 2030A dramatic growth in electric vehicles on Britain’s roads could see peak electricity demand jump by more than the capacity of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station by 2030, according to National Grid.The number of plug-in cars and vans could reach 9m by 2030, up from around 90,000 today, said the company, which runs the UK’s national transmission networks for el
  
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• Blue whale takes centre-stage at Natural History Museum

  13-07-2017 06:01 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Move over Dippy - Earth's biggest animal is now the star attraction at the Natural History Museum.
  
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• Barnaby Joyce: I'll support a clean energy target – if coal can be included

  13-07-2017 04:09 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: Deputy PM tells Guardian the Nationals are waiting on cabinet: ‘You tell me where the line is, and I’ll tell you what our position is’The deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce says he’s prepared to support a clean energy target such as the one recommended by the chief scientist, Alan Finkel, if the Liberals agree to set a threshold allowing high-efficiency coal in the mix.Joyce told Guardian Australia on Thursday he was prepared to take a positive recommendation
  
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• Turning the climate crisis into a TV love child of Jerry Springer and Judge Judy | Planet Oz

  13-07-2017 02:49 via theguardian.com
  
  As a Trump appointee pushes for televised slanging match, a New York magazine cover story sparks a different debate – should we talk about how bad global warming could actually get?In the United States, people who refuse to accept even some of the basic tenets of climate science are calling for a heated debate.“Who better to do that than a group of scientists … getting together and having a robust discussion for all the world to see,” the boss of the Environmental Protec
  
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• Monkey selfie photographer says he's broke: 'I'm thinking of dog walking'

  13-07-2017 02:22 via theguardian.com
  
  David Slater has been fighting for years over who has the copyright to photos taken by monkeys using his camera, and says he’s struggling as a resultA US appeals court has debated whether or not a monkey can own the copyright to a “selfie” while the photographer whose camera captured the famous image watched a livestream of the proceedings from his home in the UK.David Slater could not afford the airfare to San Francisco to attend the hearing on Wednesday. Nor can he afford to
  
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• Gif and image written into the DNA of bacteria

  13-07-2017 01:31 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Images and a short film are inserted into bacteria DNA and recovered with 90% accuracy.
  
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• Could a blockchain-based electricity network change the energy market?

  13-07-2017 01:24 via theguardian.com
  
  Blockchain-enabled energy trading could help lower carbon emissions but efficiency and privacy issues must first be overcomeThe blockchain. It is the much-hyped, virtually foolproof digital ledger that allows cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin to flourish without the need for banks and governments, and promises to enable everything from the creation of ethical supply chains, to the ensuring of instantaneous payment on delivery of goods and services agreed to in immutable smart contracts.
  The techn
  
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• Liberal MP says people will die of cold because renewable energy drives up fuel prices

  13-07-2017 00:21 via theguardian.com
  
  Labor criticises ‘appalling intervention’ by Craig Kelly, who is chair of backbench energy committeeRenewable energy will kill people this winter, Craig Kelly, the chair of the Coalition’s backbench environment and energy committee has claimed.
  Kelly, a Liberal backbencher, said the deaths would be caused by people not being able to afford to heat their homes in winter. He blamed rising fuel costs on the government’s renewable energy target.Continue reading...
  
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• Hundreds of species of fungi in deep coral ecosystems discovered by University of Hawaii at Manoa botanists

  13-07-2017 00:04 via feedproxy.google.com
  Researchers from the University of Hawai?i at M?noa Department of Botany have discovered hundreds of potentially new species of fungi in the deep coral ecosystem in the ?Au?au channel off Maui, Hawai?i. Mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCE) are generally found at depths between 130–500 feet and possess abundant plant (algal) life as well as new fish species. The mysteries of these reefs are only recently being revealed through technological advances
  
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