Environment news

• Annual Value of Trees? $500 Million Per Megacity, Study Says

  22-08-2017 22:49 via feedproxy.google.com
  In the megacities that are home to nearly 10 percent of the world's 7.5 billion people, trees provide each city with more than $500 million each year in services that make urban environments cleaner, more affordable and more pleasant places to live.In a recent study published in the online journal Ecological Modelling, an international team of researchers reported that in the 10 megacities they studied, tree-based ecosystem benefits had a median annual value of $505 million, which is equivalent
  
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• Arena to provide $12m for new battery at Dalrymple electricity substation

  22-08-2017 22:36 via theguardian.com
  Josh Frydenberg says ElectraNet will build and own the battery and lease out the commercial operation to AGL Energy The Australian Renewable Energy Agency will provide funding of up to $12m for a new battery at the Dalrymple electricity substation on the Yorke Peninsula.The federal environment and energy minister, Josh Frydenberg, is expected to confirm the funding for the 30MW battery on Wednesday during a visit to South Australia. Continue reading...
  
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• Plants Under Heat Stress Must Act Surprisingly Quickly to Survive

  22-08-2017 21:53 via feedproxy.google.com
  In new results reported in The Plant Cell, molecular biologist Elizabeth Vierling at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and colleagues in India and China report finding a crucial mechanism that plants need to recover from heat stress.
  
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• Are old cars really worse polluters than new ones? | Letters

  22-08-2017 19:31 via theguardian.com
  If so, Ford should prove there’s merit to its new scrapping scheme, writes Dr Kevin BannonAs the motor car industry is at the forefront of environmental degradation both globally and locally, it is only right that manufacturers take a lead in tackling the problem (Ford launches £2,000 scrappage scheme, 22 August). Instead, they offer only a scheme to sell more cars based on an unproven theory. This appears to posit that the pollution created by running an “old” car is so
  
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• The raccoon dog: cute, wild and a terrible idea for a pet

  22-08-2017 17:31 via theguardian.com
  The cuddly-looking feral creature has been increasingly seen in the UK but they could cause havoc with native wildlife – and naive pet ownersAre you an insomniac show-off, who has dense undergrowth and a pond in your garden? Are you keen to wipe out all the local toads and frogs, and fairly relaxed about having hookworm, flatworm or fatal fox tapeworm? If so, then the raccoon dog is the pet for you. And you may be able to buy one at an animal market in Clitheroe, Lancashire, for £60.
  
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• Why Tiger Snakes Are on a Winner

  22-08-2017 17:12 via feedproxy.google.com
  Australian tiger snakes have “hit the jackpot” because prey cannot evolve resistance to their venom.
  
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• Methane Hydrate is not a Smoking Gun in the Arctic Ocean

  22-08-2017 17:03 via feedproxy.google.com
  Clathrate (hydrate) gun hypothesis stirred quite the controversy when it was posed in 2003. It stated that methane hydrates – frozen water cages containing methane gas found below the ocean floor – can melt due to increasing ocean temperatures.
  
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• 'Hero' of Paris climate agreement dies

  22-08-2017 16:59 via bbc.co.uk
  Former Marshall Islands minister Tony De Brum, who played a key role in securing the Paris pact passes away aged 72.
  
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• UK charity helps rescue two orangutans in Borneo from illegal sale

  22-08-2017 16:05 via theguardian.com
  Two baby apes were discovered in tiny cages in Ketapang, Borneo. A man has been arrested for trafficking wildlife via social mediaA UK charity has helped rescue two baby orangutans who were found by police in West Borneo caged and ready to be sold through social media to illegal buyers.The two apes, a one-year-old male and an eight-month-old female, who were discovered in tiny cages are now in the care of International Animal Rescue (IAR) at its centre in Ketapang, Borneo.Continue reading...
  
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• Floods claim more than 800 lives across India, Nepal and Bangladesh

  22-08-2017 14:25 via theguardian.com
  Millions affected by severe flooding in south Asia, as aid agencies struggling to cope with disaster warn of food shortages and risk of diseaseMore than 800 people have been killed and 24 million affected following widespread floods across south Asia.
  Severe flooding has devastated communities and destroyed crops in India, Nepal and Bangladesh, with NGOs warning of food shortages and the risk of disease.Continue reading...
  
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• Australia Zoo asks public to name white koala joey

  22-08-2017 13:35 via bbc.co.uk
  Australia Zoo has asked the public to name a white koala joey.
  
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• 'Cyborg' bacteria deliver green fuel source from sunlight

  22-08-2017 11:20 via bbc.co.uk
  Scientists create bacteria covered in tiny solar panels that generate a potential new fuel from the Sun.
  
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• Endangered whales won't reach half of pre-hunting numbers by 2100, study says

  22-08-2017 10:32 via theguardian.com
  Research finds endangered Antarctic blue, fin and southern right whales struggling to recover despite hunting bansPopulations of the endangered blue and fin whales, which were hunted nearly to extinction in the 20th century, will not have recovered to even half of their pre-whaling numbers by 2100, according to a new Australian study.The research, published in the Fish and Fisheries journal next month, analysed 122 years of whaling data from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and current
  
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• When is the next solar eclipse near you?

  22-08-2017 10:26 via bbc.co.uk
  Find out when you can next witness a solar eclipse in your country with our eclipse calculator.
  
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• Blue dogs roam the streets of Mumbai – video

  22-08-2017 09:31 via theguardian.com
  Industrial waste has been blamed for the unusual colour of 11 stray dogs in Mumbai. Authorities in the Indian city have shut down a manufacturing company after it was accused of dumping untreated industrial waste and dyes into a river Continue reading...
  
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• The blue dogs of Mumbai: industrial waste blamed for colourful canines

  22-08-2017 07:50 via theguardian.com
  The group of strangely coloured canines was first spotted on 11 August prompting locals to complain to the local pollution control board Authorities in Mumbai have shut down a manufacturing company after it was accused of dumping untreated industrial waste and dyes into a local river that resulted in 11 dogs turning blue. Related: Murder most foul: polluted Indian river reported dead despite 'living entity' statusContinue reading...
  
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• Spectacular rebirth of Belize's coral reefs threatened by tourism and development

  22-08-2017 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Report reveals improvement but also details danger posed by tourist-generated pollution, oil extraction and climate changeJust below the surface of the turquoise sea, coral flutters majestically amid schools of puffed up porcupinefish and fluorescent blue and yellow angelfish.The gangly staghorn and fanning elkhorn corals are thriving in swimming distance of Laughing Bird Caye, a tiny Caribbean sandy islet in southern Belize, thanks to a restoration project that is yielding striking results. Con
  
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• Green grows the roof of the Sill by Hadrian's Wall

  22-08-2017 06:30 via theguardian.com
  The Sill, Once Brewed, Northumberland Planting at the National Landscape Discovery Centre aims to recreate the area’s rare whin grasslandsStanding on the roof of the Sill with the wind in my hair, I have a new view of familiar countryside. For years I’ve driven along Hadrian’s Wall, enjoying the way the land forms a series of waves like a frozen sea. Now, from the highest point of this building, I watch a buzzard circling above the Roman quarry at Barcombe Hill, see walkers lab
  
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• Baby giraffe takes first steps after being born at Taronga Western Plains zoo – video

  22-08-2017 04:41 via theguardian.com
  Taronga Western Plains zoo in Dubbo, New South Wales, has welcomed two brand new additions to the giraffe herd, born within one week of each other. This video was shot within minutes of the first calf’s birth and shows it taking its first steps and bonding with adult members of the giraffe herd. The first calf is named Zuberi, which means strong in Swahili, and the second calf is Kibo, which means the highest. The zoo says that in just 30 years the global giraffe population has fallen by u
  
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• Jay Weatherill renews warning Labor states could go it alone on energy policy

  22-08-2017 02:35 via theguardian.com
  South Australian premier signals possible collaboration on alternative to clean energy target, and urges Turnbull to face down rightwing pressure The South Australian premier, Jay Weatherill, has renewed his warning that Labor-led state governments could go it alone on energy policy if the Turnbull government can’t resolve its internal battle over the clean energy target.If we are going to do it ourselves we might as well design the best system Continue reading...
  
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• High view

  22-08-2017 02:10 via bbc.co.uk
  BBC correspondent James Cook views the total eclipse from 40,000ft above the Pacific Ocean.
  
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• Chile rejects iron mine to protect penguins

  22-08-2017 01:13 via bbc.co.uk
  Ministers said plans to extract iron near a penguin reserve lacked sufficient environmental guarantees.
  
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• Ford launches scrappage scheme offering at least £2,000 for any brand

  22-08-2017 01:01 via theguardian.com
  Company joins other manufacturers, including Vauxhall and BMW, in seeking to get dirtier vehicles off UK roadsFord has announced a car and van scrappage scheme in a bid to get dirtier vehicles off the roads and boost its sales in the UK’s flagging car market.While other manufacturers, including Vauxhall and BMW, have launched scrappage schemes this year, Ford’s is unusual in allowing customers to trade in and scrap any brand of older vehicle for at least £2,000.Continue reading
  
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• Hidden river once flowed beneath Antarctic ice

  22-08-2017 00:46 via feedproxy.google.com
  Antarctic researchers from Rice University have discovered one of nature’s supreme ironies: On Earth’s driest, coldest continent, where surface water rarely exists, flowing liquid water below the ice appears to play a pivotal role in determining the fate of Antarctic ice streams.The finding, which appears online this week in Nature Geoscience, follows a two-year analysis of sediment cores and precise seafloor maps covering 2,700 square miles of the western Ross Sea. As recently as 15
  
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