Environment news

• Cornwall village hit by flash flooding – video

  18-07-2017 23:27 via theguardian.com
  
  Water pours through a sea wall in the Cornish village of Coverack on Tuesday after the area was hit by flash flooding. Emergency workers attempt to clear debris to allow water to flow back down to the ocean. Six people were trapped in a house in the village due to the flood waters but no injuries have been reportedHomes evacuated as Cornwall hit by flash floodsContinue reading...
  
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• LISA Pathfinder: Time called on Europe's gravity probe

  18-07-2017 21:22 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The European Space Agency turns off one of its most successful ever missions - LISA Pathfinder.
  
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• Record-breaking marine heatwave cooks Tasmania's fisheries

  18-07-2017 20:51 via feedproxy.google.com
  Climate change was almost certainly responsible for a marine heatwave off Tasmania’s east coast in 2015/16 that lasted 251 days and at its greatest extent was seven times the size of Tasmania, according to a new study published today in Nature Communications.
  
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• NASA Looks at Compact Tropical Storm Don in Infrared Light

  18-07-2017 20:38 via feedproxy.google.com
  NASA's Aqua satellite passed over newly formed Tropical Storm Don gathering temperature data from the compact storm's clouds.
  
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• 3-D Models Help Scientists Gauge Flood Impact

  18-07-2017 20:21 via feedproxy.google.com
  Heavy rainfall can cause rivers and drainage systems to overflow or dams to break, leading to flood events that bring damage to property and road systems as well potential loss of human life.One such event in 2008 cost $10 billion in damages for the entire state of Iowa. After the flood, the Iowa Flood Center (IFC) at the University of Iowa (UI) was established as the first center in the United States for advanced flood-related research and education.
  
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• Man-Made Aerosols Identified as Driver in Shifting Global Rainfall Patterns

  18-07-2017 20:12 via feedproxy.google.com
  In a new study, scientists found that aerosol particles released into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels are a primary driver of changes in rainfall patterns across the globe.The results of the climate system-model simulations conducted by researchers Brian Soden and Eui-Seok Chung from the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science revealed that changes in clouds, as a result of their interaction with these man-made aerosols in the atmosphere, are
  
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• Removing CO2 from the air required to safeguard children's future

  18-07-2017 19:55 via feedproxy.google.com
  Reducing greenhouse-gas emissions is not enough to limit global warming to a level that wouldn’t risk young people’s future, according to a new study by a team of scientists who say we need negative emissions. Measures such as reforestation could accomplish much of the needed CO2 removal from the atmosphere, but continued high fossil fuel emissions would demand expensive technological solutions to extract CO2 and prevent dangerous warming. The study is published today
  
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• Illegal trade in rhino horn thriving in China, NGO investigation reveals

  18-07-2017 18:46 via theguardian.com
  
  Elephant Action League’s sting operation shows how horns are trafficked from Africa and enter into China via Vietnam, alleging official complicityRhinoceros horn can be easily bought in China despite it being illegal since 1993. The rhino horn products in antiques shop are far from antique. They are new and most likely been illegally trafficked from Africa to Vietnam and then into China. A new report from Elephant Action League (EAL), Grinding Rhino: An Undercover Investigation on Rhino Ho
  
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• Ecuador risks Opec split by increasing oil output

  18-07-2017 18:44 via theguardian.com
  
  Move represents a tiny proportion of world production, but could embolden others to rethink their commitment to cutsEcuador has become the first country to publicly admit it will not meet Opec’s production curbs, saying it needs to pump more oil to address its fiscal deficit.The South American country’s promised cut of 26,000 barrels of oil a day is a tiny drop in the 1.8m b/d that the cartel recently agreed to curb until early 2018, but the decision is still the first crack in the d
  
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• California lawmakers extend program to cut emissions in bipartisan vote

  18-07-2017 18:26 via theguardian.com
  
  Cap-and-trade system, which aims to help state cut greenhouse gases 40% by 2030, stands against Trump policies: ‘That’s what good government looks like’California legislators have voted to extend a centrepiece program to cut greenhouse gas emissions, burnishing the state’s reputation as a bulwark against Donald Trump’s demolition of climate change measures.Related: 'Grow food on Mars': LA startups tackle climate change with inventive solutionsContinue reading...
  
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• Rise of mega farms: how the US model of intensive farming is invading the world

  18-07-2017 17:06 via theguardian.com
  
  Demand for cheaper food and lower production costs is turning green fields into industrial sheds to process vast amounts of meat and poultry
  UK has nearly 800 livestock mega farms, investigation reveals
  Since the days of the wild west frontier, the popular image of American farming has been of cowboys rounding up steers on wide open ranches, to whoops, whips and hollers. Today, the cowboys on their ranches under wide open skies have been replaced by vast sheds, hulking over the plains, housing t
  
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• New rules urgently needed to protect our oceans, Oxford scientists warn

  18-07-2017 15:36 via feedproxy.google.com
  Marine scientists from Oxford’s, Department of Zoology, have presented a United Nations (UN) panel with an overview of the risks facing our oceans.The UN members were meeting for the latest round of negotiations towards a possible high seas treaty.The Oxford report reveals the severe risk to the open ocean from climate change, over-fishing, deep-sea mining, farm and plastics pollution. The paper calls for immediate legal protection of the high seas.
  
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• Heavy rainfall floods Istanbul Metro – video

  18-07-2017 15:29 via theguardian.com
  
  Heavy rain in Turkey’s biggest city have caused substantial flooding on its roads and Metro network. Commuters attempting to get to work captured the scenes as rainwater invaded the city’s underground transport system, submerging rail tracks and rushing down flights of stairs. Rainfall is expected to decrease in the next 18 hours Continue reading...
  
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• Finding leaks while they're easy to fix

  18-07-2017 15:24 via feedproxy.google.com
  Access to clean, safe water is one of the world’s pressing needs, yet today’s water distribution systems lose an average of 20 percent of their supply because of leaks. These leaks not only make shortages worse but also can cause serious structural damage to buildings and roads by undermining foundations.Unfortunately, leak detection systems are expensive and slow to operate — and they don’t work well in systems that use wood, clay, or plastic pipes, which account for the
  
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• State hackers 'probably compromised' energy sector, says leaked GCHQ memo

  18-07-2017 15:20 via theguardian.com
  
  UK’s National Cybersecurity Centre warned of connections ‘from multiple UK IP addresses to state-sponsored threats’, according to reportsThe UK energy sector is likely to have been targeted and probably compromised by nation-state hackers, according to a memo from Britain’s National Cybersecurity Centre.The NCSC, a subsidiary of GCHQ, warned that it had spotted connections “from multiple UK IP addresses to infrastructure associated with advanced state-sponsored host
  
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• Early Squirrel Gets the Real Estate, University of Guelph Study Finds

  18-07-2017 15:14 via feedproxy.google.com
  Those young squirrels now scampering around your neighbourhood were born in this year’s earliest litters and are more likely to survive than squirrels born later and still curled up in their nests, according to a new University of Guelph study.That’s because when it comes to survival in the squirrel world, the first out of the nest is best, said David Fisher, a post-doctoral researcher and lead author of the study conducted on squirrels in Yukon.
  
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• Mighty T. rex 'walked rather than sprinted'

  18-07-2017 13:00 via bbc.co.uk
  
  New research suggests the dinosaur could go no faster than a very brisk walking pace.
  
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• 'Grow food on Mars': LA startups tackle climate change with inventive solutions

  18-07-2017 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Dozens of startups are inventing ways to keep LA cool with products and services that aim to avert environmental disaster – and yield profitsDrought, floods, wildfires and heat waves – climate change and extreme weather events are wreaking havoc in California, especially in Los Angeles. The city has recently baked in record temperatures with a long, hot summer still stretching ahead.
  It is the new normal: climate models predict the number of extreme heat days, defined as more than 95
  
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• California votes to extend cap-and-trade climate law to 2030

  18-07-2017 12:50 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Legislators vote to extend a programme that charges firms for releasing pollutants to the year 2030.
  
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• Scottish osprey chicks moved to Spain

  18-07-2017 12:06 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The birds were collected under licence for translocation to a part of Spain where they have not bred for years.
  
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• Let buyers borrow more on greener homes, urges report

  18-07-2017 10:42 via theguardian.com
  
  Making energy ratings a factor in mortgage offers could let people borrow up to £11,500 more, says Lenders groupHomebuyers could take out bigger mortgages if the energy ratings of properties were factored into the lending criteria of banks and building societies, government-funded research has found.Although estate agents are legally bound to display energy performance certificates (EPCs) in property listings, few buying decisions hinge on energy bill costs and the efficiency of a home is
  
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• Barnaby Joyce calls for energy compromise but says Labor must shift on coal

  18-07-2017 08:46 via theguardian.com
  
  Deputy prime minister says Australia has a ‘moral responsibility’ to provide the world with energy from exported fossil fuelsBarnaby Joyce has told a clean energy summit that coal is crucial to Australia’s energy policy, saying the government has “a moral responsibility” to provide the world with the energy from exported fossil fuels. Speaking in Sydney on Tuesday, the Nationals leader met Bill Shorten’s offer of bipartisanship around a clean energy target wit
  
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• New Zealand: fight for 'sacred mountain' after discovery of significant gold seam

  18-07-2017 07:04 via theguardian.com
  
  Fears for Karangahake Gorge after mining company find 8,500kg of high quality gold in the North Island conservation areaA bitter stand-off between a local community and miners has emerged after a significant seam of gold was found on protected conservation land in New Zealand’s North Island.Last week New Talisman Gold Mines reported they had found a large vein of gold in the Karangahake Gorge in the North Island; 8,500kg of highest quality gold which put it in the top five percent of depos
  
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• Polluted air 'poisoning thousands' across north of England, warns report

  18-07-2017 07:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Air pollution is ‘the tobacco of the 21st century’ says report, which calls on government to introduce radical measures to improve air qualityDangerous levels of air pollution in towns and cities across the north of England are threatening the health of hundreds of thousands of people and stifling economic growth, according to a new report.
  The analysis by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) North describes air pollution as “the tobacco of the 21st century” an
  
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• M&S slashes plastic use in food packaging to cut waste

  18-07-2017 07:01 via theguardian.com
  
  More than 140 products including crisps and popcorn put in smaller, redesigned packets with reduced air pocket, but same amount of foodA major UK supermarket has slashed the amount of packaging used for its popular snacks such as crisps and popcorn by reducing the pocket of air at the top of the bag.As a result of so-called ‘Project Thin Air’, more than 140 of Marks & Spencer’s best-selling products have been redesigned and repackaged in smaller, less bulky packets containi
  
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• Meet the thistle propagator-in-chief

  18-07-2017 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Blackwater, Norfolk Pollinated flowers means more plants next year – and more thistles means more beesAfter explaining to a visitor the lengths to which I go to encourage marsh and spear thistles on my fen, I was amused to hear her describe the troubles she takes to keep them from her garden. I know they’re prickly customers, but why do people dislike them?What I cherish most is the sheer architectural grandeur of the summer plant. Each fully open flowerhead has a kind of declarative
  
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• Sprouting wings

  18-07-2017 03:23 via bbc.co.uk
  We're all used to ants sprouting wings and taking to the air during summer, but is there really such a thing as a "flying ant day"?
  
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• Is there such a thing as 'flying ant day'?

  18-07-2017 03:23 via bbc.co.uk
  
  We're all used to ants sprouting wings and taking to the air during summer, but is there really such a thing as a "flying ant day"?
  
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• Telescopes to reach nine billion light years away

  18-07-2017 02:10 via bbc.co.uk
  
  New radio telescopes far more powerful than any used before aim to shed light on extra terrestrial activity.
  
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• Flying squad: start of annual roll call of Queen's swans

  18-07-2017 00:45 via theguardian.com
  
  Swan upping, a five-day event to count the swans on the river Thames, began as a ritual to check supplies for feasts but is now more about conservationThe annual count of swans belonging to Queen Elizabeth II has begun on the river Thames. Related: Royal swan upping – in picturesContinue reading...
  
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• Key to Speeding Up Carbon Sequestration Discovered

  18-07-2017 00:39 via feedproxy.google.com
  Scientists at Caltech and USC have discovered a way to speed up the slow part of the chemical reaction that ultimately helps the earth to safely lock away, or sequester, carbon dioxide into the ocean. Simply adding a common enzyme to the mix, the researchers have found, can make that rate-limiting part of the process go 500 times faster. A paper about the work appears online the week of July 17 ahead of publication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
  
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• New assessment identifies global hotspots for water conflict

  18-07-2017 00:32 via feedproxy.google.com
  More than 1,400 new dams or water diversion projects are planned or already under construction and many of them are on rivers flowing through multiple nations, fueling the potential for increased water conflict between some countries.A new analysis commissioned by the United Nations uses a comprehensive combination of social, economic, political and environmental factors to identify areas around the world most at-risk for “hydro-political” strife. This river basins study was part of
  
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• Matt Canavan on Q&A: exporting Adani coal does not affect Australia's emissions

  18-07-2017 00:16 via theguardian.com
  
  Resources minister tells Q&A audience Adani’s Queensland mine would not stop Australia meeting its Paris climate change commitments because the coal is burned overseasThe federal minister Matthew Canavan has defended government support for Adani’s Carmichael mine by saying coal burned overseas will not stop Australia meeting its Paris climate commitments.Canavan also denied the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, had politicised the defence force by using a backdrop of masked soldi
  
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