Environment news

• Surrey meadow slowly comes to life: Country diary 100 years ago

  23-07-2017 23:30 via theguardian.com
  Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 28 July 1917SURREY, JULY 26
  At daybreak this morning a white mist was so thick as to dim out the sight of the cattle in the meadow. They came lowing to the gate, waiting to be milked, and, passing through when it was open, were lost in the lane just as birds began to rustle in the hedge. Then the light spread and made the tall ragwort glisten – yellow colour seemed to shine everywhere. The stems of goatsbeard straightened, the fringes of n
  
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• On the tail of the uncommon lizard

  23-07-2017 22:30 via theguardian.com
  They are widespread in the British Isles and could be found almost anywhere, but often aren’t, which is a bit of a mysteryThe common lizard, Zootoca vivipara, is at its most numerous and active at this time of year. In late July it is giving birth to between three and 11 young at a time. They emerge from an egg sack that breaks during birth or immediately afterwards. That is why it is sometimes called viviparous lizard, meaning bearing live young, an unusual trait in reptiles.Viviparous mi
  
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• Linear parks and the drive to ease congestion

  23-07-2017 22:30 via theguardian.com
  If building new roads and fast traffic lanes does not cut traffic, can it work the other way round?You would think that ending a traffic restriction would improve journey times, but the sudden termination of Jakarta’s high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes had the opposite effect. To use these lanes drivers required two passengers, but a trade in hiring people bought the lanes to an abrupt end last year. The traffic could spread across all lanes, but journey times and congestion increased. In
  
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• World's first floating wind farm emerges off coast of Scotland

  23-07-2017 21:31 via bbc.co.uk
  The revolutionary technology allows wind power to be harvested in waters too deep for current turbines.
  
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• Drop in wind energy costs adds pressure for government rethink

  23-07-2017 19:03 via theguardian.com
  Tories urged to look at onshore windfarms which can be built as cheaply as gas plants and deliver the same power for half the cost of Hinkley Point, says ArupOnshore windfarms could be built in the UK for the same cost as new gas power stations and would be nearly half as expensive as the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant, according to a leading engineering consultant.Arup found that the technology has become so cheap that developers could deliver turbines for a guaranteed price of power so low that
  
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• The lynx effect: are sheep farmers right to fear for their flocks?

  23-07-2017 15:00 via theguardian.com
  Plans to bring the wild cats back to Northumberland have prompted concerns from farmers, but – from beavers to red kites – rewilding in the UK has generally been a success
  More than a millennia has passed since lynx roamed Britain, and now the Lynx UK Trust – a community interest company formed in 2014 by conservationists and scientists – wants to reintroduce them into Kielder Forest in Northumberland. The trust’s plans have received opposition from the National She
  
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• Robot shows suspected melted nuclear fuel at Fukushima reactor – video

  23-07-2017 12:16 via theguardian.com
  An underwater robot has captured images of what is believed to be suspected debris of melted nuclear fuel inside one of the reactors at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan. Locating and analysing the fuel debris is crucial for decommissioning the plant, which was destroyed in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami Fukushima: robot images show massive deposits thought to be melted nuclear fuel
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• Fukushima disaster: Robot finds possible melted nuclear fuel

  23-07-2017 10:07 via bbc.co.uk
  An underwater robot spotted the lava-like rocks inside a reactor of Japan's destroyed nuclear plant.
  
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• The rather rude sounds of an elephant seal

  23-07-2017 08:40 via bbc.co.uk
  Male elephant seals recognise the rhythm of one another's voices, researchers say.
  
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• Fukushima: robot images show massive deposits thought to be melted nuclear fuel

  23-07-2017 03:02 via theguardian.com
  Robot spots suspected debris of melted fuel for first time since 2011 earthquake and tsunami destroyed the plantImages captured by an underwater robot on Saturday showed massive deposits believed to be melted nuclear fuel covering the floor of a damaged reactor at Japan’s destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant.
  The robot found large amounts of solidified lava-like rocks and lumps in layers as thick as 1m on the bottom inside a main structure called the pedestal that sits underneath the core ins
  
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• Hanoi is choking on the fumes of 5m motorbikes, but can ban break its habit?

  23-07-2017 01:05 via theguardian.com
  The roads of Vietnam’s capital have been taken over by the two-wheeled horde, but bringing in a ban by 2030 will be a tough askIt is easy to spot a foreigner in Hanoi. Cowering at intersections, staring in awe as the traffic hurtles past, tourists wait for a break in the flow of motorcycles, bicycles, carts, cars and buses – or for a kind driver to stop and bestow them the right of way – so that they may finally cross the road.That break never comes, of course, which is why the
  
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• Enjoy cod’s revival, but the extent of our ruination of the sea remains unknown | Mark Kurlansky

  23-07-2017 01:01 via theguardian.com
  Yes, stocks may have recovered in the North Sea, but overfishing is not the problem in sustaining marine healthI received the exciting news with a sense of dread. According to the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), which rates the sustainability of fish all over the world, North Sea cod is “back”. It says that the current stocks are such that it can now be fished without fear and purchased without guilt by eco-friendly consumers.Since North Sea cod has been teetering on the verge of e
  
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