Environment news

• NASA Sees Tropical Storm Pakhar After Landfall

  28-08-2017 23:27 via feedproxy.google.com
  Just after Tropical Storm Pakhar made landfall in southeastern China and NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite captured an image of the storm.
  
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• Oil and gas wells as a strong source of greenhouse gases

  28-08-2017 23:22 via feedproxy.google.com
  The pictures went around the world. In April 2010, huge amounts of methane gas escaped from a well below the Deepwater Horizon platform in the Gulf of Mexico. This "blow-out" caused an explosion, in which eleven people died. For several weeks, oil spilled from the damaged well into the ocean. Fortunately, such catastrophic "blow-outs" are rather rare. Continuous discharges of smaller amounts of gas from active or old and abandoned wells occur more frequently.
  
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• Strength of global stratospheric circulation measured for first time

  28-08-2017 23:17 via feedproxy.google.com
  When commercial airplanes break through the clouds to reach cruising altitude, they have typically arrived in the stratosphere, the second layer of Earth’s atmosphere. The air up there is dry and clear, and much calmer than the turbulent atmosphere we experience on the ground.And yet, for all its seeming tranquility, the stratosphere can be a powerful conveyor belt, pulling air up from the Earth’s equatorial region and pushing it back down toward the poles in a continuously circulati
  
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• WPI Researchers Demonstrate New Membrane Technology That May Help Make Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles Viable

  28-08-2017 22:37 via feedproxy.google.com
  While cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells offer clear advantages over the electric vehicles that are growing in popularity (including their longer range, their lower overall environmental impact, and the fact that they can be refueled in minutes, versus hours of charging time), they have yet to take off with consumers. One reason is the high cost and complexity of producing, distributing, and storing the pure hydrogen needed to power them, which has hindered the roll-out of hydrogen refueling st
  
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• Climate May Drive Forest-Eating Beetles North, Says Study

  28-08-2017 22:34 via feedproxy.google.com
  Pines in Canada and Much of U.S. at Risk.
  
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• Dispersants Improved Air Quality for Responders at Deepwater Horizon

  28-08-2017 22:32 via feedproxy.google.com
  A study published Aug. 28, 2017, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciencesadds a new dimension to the controversial decision to inject large amounts of chemical dispersants immediately above the crippled oil well at the seafloor during the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010. The dispersants likely reduced the amount of harmful gases in the air at the sea surface—diminishing health risks for emergency responders and allowing them to keep working to stop the uncontrolled sp
  
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• Electricity demand in southern Europe to soar with air con – scientists

  28-08-2017 21:00 via theguardian.com
  Study predicts power consumption to rise with hotter temperatures, increasing need for renewable sources, while northern Europe’s demand may fall
  Demand for electricity is set to soar in southern Europe as climate change takes hold, research has revealed, with the effect likely to be down to a boom in the use of air conditioning. By contrast, electricity demand is expected to drop in northern countries, leading to an increasingly polarised pattern across the continent – a situation,
  
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• Electricity demand in southern Europe to soar with air con, say climate scientists

  28-08-2017 21:00 via theguardian.com
  Study predicts power consumption to rise with hotter temperatures, increasing need for renewable sources, while northern Europe’s demand may fall
  Demand for electricity is set to soar in southern Europe as climate change takes hold, research has revealed, with the effect likely to be down to a boom in the use of air conditioning. By contrast, electricity demand is expected to drop in northern countries, leading to an increasingly polarised pattern across the continent – a situation,
  
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• Country's largest estuary facing increasing acidification risk

  28-08-2017 20:07 via feedproxy.google.com
  Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the United States and one of the largest in the world, is facing new risks from a layer of highly acidified water some 10 to 15 meters below the surface, a new study has found.This “pH minimum zone” is 10 times more acidic than the bay’s surface waters and may pose a risk to a variety of economically and ecologically important marine species, including oysters, crabs and fish, the researchers say. A decline in the number of calcium carbona
  
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• Use of ethanol in vehicles reduces pollution by nanoparticles, study shows

  28-08-2017 19:49 via feedproxy.google.com
  When ethanol prices at the pump rise for whatever reason, it becomes economically advantageous for drivers of dual-fuel vehicles to fill up with gasoline. However, the health of the entire population pays a high price: substitution of gasoline for ethanol leads to a 30% increase in the atmospheric concentration of ultrafine particulate matter, which consists of particles with a diameter of less than 50 nanometers (nm).
  
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• Mystery remains over chemical haze that hit East Sussex coast

  28-08-2017 18:04 via theguardian.com
  Theories include toxins from algal blooms and accidental discharge from a water plant though true cause still unclearThe chemical cloud that left beachgoers on the East Sussex coastline with stinging eyes, sore throats and even vomiting on Sunday remains a mystery, with officials saying it is unclear what caused the haze or what it was composed of.Experts have put forward a number of possibilities, ranging from accidental discharges of chemicals at water treatment plants to toxins from algal blo
  
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• UK basks in bank holiday sunshine – in pictures

  28-08-2017 16:35 via theguardian.com
  Most of the UK is enjoying above average temperatures – with the hottest August bank holiday Monday on record a possibility – after a wet and cool month Continue reading...
  
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• Kenya brings in world's toughest plastic bag ban: four years jail or $40,000 fine

  28-08-2017 16:27 via theguardian.com
  Producing, selling and using plastic bags becomes illegal as officials say they want to target manufacturers and sellers first
  Kenyans producing, selling or even using plastic bags will risk imprisonment of up to four years or fines of $40,000 (£31,000) from Monday, as the world’s toughest law aimed at reducing plastic pollution came into effect.The east African nation joins more than 40 other countries that have banned, partly banned or taxed single use plastic bags, including China
  
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• It's a fact: climate change made Hurricane Harvey more deadly | Michael E Mann

  28-08-2017 16:07 via theguardian.com
  We can’t say that Hurricane Harvey was caused by climate change. But it was certainly worsened by itTropical storm Harvey – live updatesWhat can we say about the role of climate change in the unprecedented disaster that is unfolding in Houston with Hurricane Harvey? There are certain climate change-related factors that we can, with great confidence, say worsened the flooding. Related: What we know so far about tropical storm HarveyContinue reading...
  
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• 30,000 people to be housed in shelters after Houston flooding – video

  28-08-2017 15:45 via theguardian.com
  30,000 people are expected to need emergency shelter after tropical storm Harvey caused ‘landmark’ flooding in Houston, Texas. Brock Long, administrator of the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), held a press conference on Monday alongside the acting secretary of homeland security and the director of the National Weather Service, who said the city would experience more heavy rainfall in the coming daysTropical storm Harvey – live updatesContinue reading...
  
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• Maasai cricketers and lion cubs with piñatas: today's unmissable photos

  28-08-2017 14:08 via theguardian.com
  A selection of the day’s best images, including kite-flying in Moscow, a sea of red umbrellas in China and Valentine’s Day mass nuptials in China Continue reading...
  
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• Chemical ‘haze’ prompts evacuation on East Sussex coastline – video report

  28-08-2017 13:46 via theguardian.com
  Birling Gap, a popular tourist spot close to Eastbourne, was evacuated on Sunday after a ‘chemical haze’ descended on the area. People complained of breathing difficulties and irritation in their eyes and throats, and over 100 people were treated at the local hospital overnight. The cause of the incident is still unknownSussex chemical cloud unlikely to have come from France, say policeContinue reading...
  
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• 'Sea dragon' fossil is 'largest on record'

  28-08-2017 12:06 via bbc.co.uk
  A 200-million-year-old fossil 're-discovered' in a museum is something special, say scientists.
  
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• Study: Katharine Hayhoe is successfully convincing doubtful evangelicals about climate change | Dana Nuccitelli

  28-08-2017 12:00 via theguardian.com
  A new study finds that a lecture from evangelical climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe successfully educates evangelical college students, validating the “trusted sources” approach
  Approximately one-quarter of Americans identify as evangelical Christians, and that group also tends to be more resistant to the reality of human-caused global warming. As a new paper by Brian Webb and Doug Hayhoe notes:a 2008 study found that just 44% of evangelicals believed global warming to be caused mos
  
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• Bike helmets by Grayson Perry, Stephen Jones and more – in pictures

  28-08-2017 09:00 via theguardian.com
  An exhibition of cycling helmets designed by artists will be on show at London bike shop and cafe Look Mum No Hands! from 1 September. Helmets will be auctioned online to raise money for the brain injury charity Headway Continue reading...
  
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• Jet and lorry fuels made from rubbish to receive UK funding

  28-08-2017 08:18 via theguardian.com
  Department for Transport offers £22m to projects developing waste-based fuels for vehicles too heavy to use electric powerAirline passengers could fly to their destinations on jets fuelled by industrial waste or the contents of people’s dustbins if a government scheme succeeds in creating a new green energy source. The Department for Transport (DfT) is offering £22m of funding for projects to develop low-carbon, waste-based fuels for planes and lorries. About 70 groups want to
  
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• Tropical storm Harvey: 'There's water up to your shoulder'– video

  28-08-2017 07:43 via theguardian.com
  The storm has hurled record rainfall at Houston, forcing thousands to flee their homes and testing flood-control systems to their limits. Parts of the city area saw more than 22in (55cm) of rain in a 24-hour period to Sunday evening; too much for the bayous to handle, too much for roads to remain passable and threatening to overwhelm emergency teams Continue reading...
  
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• 'There's water up to your shoulder': Harvey hurls record rainfall – video

  28-08-2017 07:43 via theguardian.com
  The storm has hurled record rainfall at Houston, forcing thousands to flee their homes and testing flood-control systems to their limits. Parts of the city area saw more than 22in (55cm) of rain in a 24-hour period to Sunday evening; too much for the bayous to handle, too much for roads to remain passable and threatening to overwhelm emergency teamsTropical storm Harvey – live updatesContinue reading...
  
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• Malcolm Turnbull pledges more funds for Snowy Hydro 2.0 as Labor attacks 'gas crisis'

  28-08-2017 07:19 via theguardian.com
  PM says he will put more pressure on electricity retailers to reduce prices as Bill Shorten says scheme will ‘take years’Malcolm Turnbull has announced a further $8m in federal funds for the Snowy 2.0 pumped hydro energy storage scheme and promised to put further pressure on electricity retailers to reduce prices.At a press conference in Cooma on Monday, Turnbull revealed the Australian Renewable Energy Agency would contribute the funding towards the scheme’s $29m feasibility s
  
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• How climate change is a 'death sentence' in Afghanistan's highlands

  28-08-2017 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Global warming should be taken as seriously as fighting insurgents, say those witnessing the savage impact first-handThe central highlands of Afghanistan are a world away from the congested chaos of the country’s cities. Hills roll across colossal, uninhabited spaces fringed by snow-flecked mountains, set against blistering blue skies. In this spectacular, harsh landscape, one can pinpoint more or less where human settlement becomes impossible: at an altitude of 3,000 metres (9,840ft).Cont
  
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• An idyllic spot under siege by the A1

  28-08-2017 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Wothorpe-on-the-Hill, Cambridgeshire The air is awash with noise, a roar that wavers only slightly, and never below uncomfortableThe road climbs and thins with each turn. Where it reaches a little fist of cottages it doesn’t stop but instead, strangely, has its way blocked from waist height up by low branches. A dead road, leading to the old reservoir. I walk a footpath bordered by stone walls, then over a stile and here it is, a sweep of miniature country. A rumpled slope, trees fat with
  
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• Tropical storm Harvey: catastrophic floods in Houston as city braces for days of rain

  28-08-2017 03:52 via theguardian.com
  Fourth-largest city in the US could see 50in of rain as rescue workers struggle to keep up with calls for help and flood defences are tested to the limitEx-hurricane Harvey: Houston flooded as catastrophe unfolds in Texas – latest updates Tropical Storm Harvey has continued to batter Texas, hurling record rainfall at the nation’s fourth-largest city, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes and testing flood control systems to their limits.Related: Ex-hurricane Harvey: Houston
  
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• Gill Owen essay prize launched, linking energy efficiency and social justice

  28-08-2017 03:25 via theguardian.com
  Award named after campaigner is backed by UTS and Guardian Australia and worth $3,000 to winner and $1,000 to runners-upA new essay prize has been set up in the name of Dr Gill Owen, the energy efficiency expert and social equity campaigner who died last year.Supported by the Guardian Australia and University of Technology Sydney’s Institute of Sustainable Futures, the essay prize will address the future of energy efficiency and social justice. The winning essay will receive $3,000, while
  
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• Poisonous progress

  28-08-2017 01:16 via bbc.co.uk
  The arguments nearly a century ago over the use of leaded petrol.
  
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