Environment news

• Millions may face protein deficiency as a result of human-caused carbon dioxide emissions

  03-08-2017 23:55 via feedproxy.google.com
  Boston, MA – If CO2 levels continue to rise as projected, the populations of 18 countries may lose more than 5% of their dietary protein by 2050 due to a decline in the nutritional value of rice, wheat, and other staple crops, according to new findings from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Researchers estimate that roughly an additional 150 million people may be placed at risk of protein deficiency because of elevated levels of CO2 in the atmosp
  
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• Colonies expand for the treetop emperor

  03-08-2017 22:30 via theguardian.com
  Dedicated searches have revealed a rare butterfly back in its former Kent stronghold and gaining other territoriesBritain’s most charismatic and elusive butterfly, the purple emperor, has a habit of turning up unannounced. This powerful, treetop, butterfly lives at low densities in the landscape but has been spotted in many new places thanks to the combination of a fine mid-summer and some astonishingly thorough searches by devotees. Related: Interesting times for lepidopteristsContinue re
  
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• New dust sources resulting from a shrinking Salton Sea have negative ecological and health impacts

  03-08-2017 21:51 via feedproxy.google.com
  Scientists at the University of California, Riverside investigating the composition of particulate matter(PM) and its sources at the Salton Sea have found that this shrinking lake in Southern California is exposing large areas of dry lakebed, called playa, that are acting as new dust sources with the potential to impact human health.“Playas have a high potential to act as dust sources because playa surfaces often lack vegetation,” said Roya Bahreini, an associate
  
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• Lizard blizzard survivors tell story of natural selection

  03-08-2017 21:51 via feedproxy.google.com
  An unusually cold winter in the U.S. in 2014 took a toll on the green anole lizard, a tree-dwelling creature common to the southeastern United States. A new study offers a rare view of natural selection in this species, showing how the lizard survivors at the southernmost part of their range in Texas came to be more like their cold-adapted counterparts further north.
  
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• Animal coloration research: On the threshold of a new era

  03-08-2017 21:46 via feedproxy.google.com
  In the last 20 years, the field of animal coloration research has experienced explosive growth thanks to numerous technological advances, and it now stands on the threshold of a new era.
  
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• Study reveals exactly how low-cost fuel cell catalysts work

  03-08-2017 21:40 via feedproxy.google.com
  In order to reduce the cost of next-generation polymer electrolyte fuel cells for vehicles, researchers have been developing alternatives to the prohibitively expensive platinum and platinum-group metal (PGM) catalysts currently used in fuel cell electrodes. New work at Los Alamos and Oak Ridge national laboratories is resolving difficult fuel-cell performance questions, both in determining efficient new materials and understanding how they work at an atomic level. The research is described this
  
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• The Amazing Dinosaur Found (Accidentally) by Miners in Canada

  03-08-2017 19:05 via feedproxy.google.com
  Known as a nodosaur, this 110 million-year-old, armored plant-eater is the best preserved fossil of its kind ever found.
  
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• Light pollution as a new threat to pollination

  03-08-2017 18:58 via feedproxy.google.com
  Artificial light disrupts nocturnal pollination and leads to a reduced number of fruits produced by the plant.
  
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• EU fishing boats can still operate in UK waters after Brexit, says Gove

  03-08-2017 18:09 via theguardian.com
  Environment secretary’s remarks to Danish industry leaders contradict his insistence that Britain ‘take back control’ after quitting EU common fisheries policyMichael Gove has told the Danish fishing industry that boats from EU countries will still be able to operate in UK waters after Brexit, as the UK does not have enough capacity to catch and process all its fish alone.The comments from Gove, recounted by Danish fishing leaders after they met the environment secretary, promp
  
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• Public support for fracking in the UK at record low, official survey reveals

  03-08-2017 17:41 via theguardian.com
  Government research finds drastic drop in people backing drilling for shale gas since the study was launched in 2012Public support for fracking has reached a record low, according to the latest government research. A survey by the Business and Energy Department showed just 16% supported the controversial process of shale gas extraction, down from 21% last year and the lowest since the study was launched five years ago.Continue reading...
  
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• Armoured tank-like dino used camouflage to hide

  03-08-2017 17:30 via bbc.co.uk
  A new species of mega-herbivore dinosaur discovered in Alberta, Canada preserves incredible details of its skin, scales and spines.
  
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• New map of Universe's dark matter

  03-08-2017 17:17 via bbc.co.uk
  Researchers have released the most accurate map ever produced of the dark matter in our Universe.
  
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• Amnesty condemns 'campaign of harassment' against Nicaragua canal critics

  03-08-2017 17:00 via theguardian.com
  The interoceanic canal and its ‘murky legal framework’ was also criticized by former model Bianca Jagger, who called the canal ‘an insane project’Nicaragua’s former revolutionary leaders have led a campaign of harassment and persecution against communities opposing the construction of a controversial canal that threatens the homes and livelihoods of tens of thousands of people, according to Amnesty International.Plans to construct a $50bn shipping canal 175 miles lo
  
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• Carmakers accused of 'clutching at straws' over retrofitting polluting diesels

  03-08-2017 16:23 via theguardian.com
  VW, BMW, Opel and Daimler’s promise to fix 5 million cars not enough to undo the damage done by emissions scandal, say campaigners Major car makers are being accused of clutching at straws after they agreed to fit software to 5m diesel vehicles in Germany to reduce harmful emissions by up to 30%.VW, Daimler, BMW and Opel made the decision at a summit with leading politicians in Berlin. They have been under pressure since the diesel emissions scandal two years ago exposed how VW and –
  
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• EPA backs off delay for smog-causing emissions reduction after being sued

  03-08-2017 16:12 via theguardian.com
  Scott Pruitt claims change is testament to responsiveness but makes no mention of legal challenge over Obama-era rules to lessen ground-level ozoneOne day after getting sued by 15 states, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief, Scott Pruitt, reversed his decision to delay implementation of Obama-era rules reducing emissions of smog-causing air pollutants. Pruitt presented the change as his agency being more responsive than past administrations to the needs of state environmental regulat
  
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• Deadly Fungus Affecting Hibernating Bats Could Spread During Summer

  03-08-2017 15:26 via feedproxy.google.com
  The cold-loving fungus (Pseudogymnoascus destructans, or Pd) that causes white-nose syndrome, a disease that has killed millions of North American bats during hibernation, could also spread in summer months. Bats and humans visiting contaminated caves and mines can inadvertently contribute to the spread of the fungus, according to a recently published study by the U.S. Geological Survey.USGS scientists tested samples collected from bats, the environment and equipment at eight bat hibernation sit
  
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• A clean future

  03-08-2017 15:26 via feedproxy.google.com
  A Métis student in the University of Saskatchewan School of Public Health, Adams is one of 16 young leaders from across Canada appointed to the Your Energy Future program.Participants in the year-long program, delivered in partnership by the Public Policy Forum and leadership development fellowship Action Canada, will become change-makers in Canada’s energy agenda.  They develop strategies to prepare Canadian people, communities and governments to successfully transition to a l
  
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• $1bn to clean up the oil in Peru’s northern Amazon

  03-08-2017 12:12 via theguardian.com
  Over four decades of exploration and extraction have caused an environmental and health crisis in indigenous communitiesWho is going to clean up Peru’s northern Amazon after decades of companies spilling oil and dumping billions of barrels of toxic production waters? Certainly not US company Occidental which ran the biggest concession, Lot 1-AB, until 2000, nor, it would seem, Petroperu, which ran the other major concession, Lot 8, until 1996 and operates the rusty, leaking North Peruvian
  
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• $1 billion to clean up the oil in Peru’s northern Amazon

  03-08-2017 12:12 via theguardian.com
  Over four decades of exploration and extraction have caused an environmental and health crisis in indigenous communitiesWho is going to clean up Peru’s northern Amazon after decades of companies spilling oil and dumping billions of barrels of toxic production waters? Certainly not US company Occidental which ran the biggest concession, Lot 1-AB, until 2000, nor, it would seem, Petroperu, which ran the other major concession, Lot 8, until 1996 and operates the rusty, leaking North Peruvian
  
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• Study finds human influence in the Amazon's third 1-in-100 year drought since 2005 | John Abraham

  03-08-2017 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Deforestation and climate change appear to be amplifying droughts in the Amazon
  If you are like me, you picture the Amazon region as an ever lush, wet, tropical region filled with numerous plant and animal species. Who would imagine the Amazon experiencing drought? I mean sure, if we think of drought as “less water than usual,” then any place could have a drought. But what I tend to envision with respect to drought is truly dry. People who work in this field have a more advanced unde
  
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• Why do endangered right whales keep dying off the coast of Canada?

  03-08-2017 10:00 via theguardian.com
  Researchers are racing for answers after at least 10 deaths of north Atlantic right whales, marking the deadliest year since tracking beganResearchers are scrambling to figure out why one of the world’s most endangered whale species is dying in “unprecedented” numbers, after at least 10 north Atlantic right whales have been found floating lifelessly off the coast of Canada.The first whale carcass was reported in early June. Within a month, another six reports came in, leaving r
  
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• Hilly Lisbon launches electric bike share system in bid to solve congestion

  03-08-2017 08:30 via theguardian.com
  Madrid has its scheme, while Muswell Hill’s never happened. Hilly cities from Rome to Rio will be watching as Lisbon starts e-bike hireWander around Lisbon’s city centre with its vertiginous cobbled streets, treacherous enough on foot in the rain, it’s hard to imagine cycling ever taking off. Some streets are so steep there are funiculars to help you scale them, and Lisboetas on bikes are a rare sight outside of summer.
  Like many hilly cities around the world, Lisbon has a seri
  
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• Inscrutable all-seeing dragonfly overhead

  03-08-2017 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Hamsterley Forest, Weardale Their visual sensitivity challenges us and their ability to track small fast objects is unparalleled
  Much of Hamsterley forest lay in deep shadow and the scent of conifer resin hung in the still air between the spruces. No one had passed this way this morning; there were intact spiders’ webs stretched across the path high above Spurleswood beck.And there we found a female golden-ringed dragonfly, Cordulegaster boltonii, clinging to rushes, still grounded by the
  
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• Scott Morrison says partisan politics has driven up power prices

  03-08-2017 06:00 via theguardian.com
  Treasurer appears to have moved on from position which saw him brandish a lump of coal in parliament last FebruaryTreasurer Scott Morrison has flagged further support from the Turnbull frontbench for bipartisan energy policy, acknowledging that politics as usual has driven up power prices, and calling for both parties to “meet in the middle”.
  The remarks, reported in Rockhampton’s Morning Bulletin, follow a speech Morrison delivered in Adelaide last week where he admitted build
  
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• Government loan to Adani could be tainted by interference, economists say

  03-08-2017 03:54 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: Senate inquiry told the Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund is ‘sorely wanting’ on transparencyA group of prominent economists have told a Senate inquiry the Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund (Naif) is “sorely wanting” on transparency, accountability and its track record for public disclosure, and called on it to make major changes to the way it operates.In a submission to the Senate inquiry into the governance and operation of Naif, the group discusses
  
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• Countryside faces 'damaging uncertainty'

  03-08-2017 03:54 via bbc.co.uk
  The National Trust weighs into the campaign to keep subsidies for Britain's farmers at the current level.
  
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• DNA clue to origins of early Greek civilization

  03-08-2017 03:52 via bbc.co.uk
  DNA is shedding light on the people who built Greece's earliest civilizations.
  
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• Roads could be covered with 'tunnels' to absorb pollution

  03-08-2017 02:07 via theguardian.com
  Highways Agency studies Dutch scheme using ‘cantilevered canopies’ covered with pollution-absorbing material in effort to improve air qualityMajor roads could be turned into tunnels covered with pollution-absorbing material in an effort to cut emission fumes and improve air quality.Highways Agency officials are studying a Dutch scheme in which cantilevered canopies are constructed over the most polluted sections of road to prevent local residents breathing in noxious car fumes. Conti
  
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• Ministers must support farmers to save wildlife from 'damaging uncertainty'

  03-08-2017 01:01 via theguardian.com
  National Trust chief says seamless transition in funding is vital post-Brexit to protect countryside from short-termismBritish farmers are returning to intensive measures that deplete wildlife and damage the environment as a vacuum in government policy leaves them facing an uncertain future after the Brexit vote, the director general of the National Trust is warning.In an outspoken message to ministers, Dame Helen Ghosh says action is needed now to create a seamless transition of subsidies and g
  
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