Environment news

• One million premature deaths linked to ozone air pollution

  31-08-2017 23:03 via feedproxy.google.com
  Scientists at the University of York’s Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) have released new figures showing long-term exposure to ozone air pollution is linked to one million premature deaths per year due to respiratory diseases - more than double previous estimates.In 2010, long-term outdoor exposure to ozone air pollution contributed to about one million premature respiratory deaths globally – approximately one in five of all respiratory deaths.
  
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• Elephants needing a room: hawkmoths on the march for a pupal pad

  31-08-2017 22:30 via theguardian.com
  A herd of elephant hawkmoth caterpillars is trooping across my garden to pupateCaterpillars are on the march. In the past week I’ve found several elephant hawkmoth caterpillars trooping across my garden. These are arguably the most subtly beautiful of the charismatic hawkmoth grubs. They are deep brown and charcoal grey with four arresting “eyes” of black, brown and silver – part of an armoury of deterrents against voracious birds, which includes the sudden switching into
  
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• MU Study Reveals Ways in which Collegiate Sports Venues can Move Beyond 'Zero Waste'

  31-08-2017 22:06 via feedproxy.google.com
  Officials at collegiate sporting venues have been leading efforts toward zero-waste events with many professional and collegiate leagues adopting energy and water conservation efforts as well as increased recycling and composting. Researchers at the University of Missouri recently published a study analyzing waste and recyclables during Mizzou’s 2014 home football season. By implementing several recommendations the team developed, such as offering better recycling receptacles and
  
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• Houston's Trucking Lifeline Rumbles Back in Harvey's Aftermath

  31-08-2017 22:03 via feedproxy.google.com
  As Houstonians watch the waters recede, they are looking ahead to the next phase of the disaster: recovery. The unusually prolonged assault by Hurricane Harvey flooded nearly a third of Harris County, killed at least 38 people, and left thousands more homeless. The storm also effectively throttled commerce coming into and leaving Houston, the county seat. Both of its major airports closed, its rail yards and nearby ports were majorly disrupted, and the city's extensive highway sys
  
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• PolyU discovers a newly emerged superbug

  31-08-2017 22:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  The Partner State Key Laboratory of Chirosciences at the Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology (ABCT) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) discovered a newly emerged superbug, hyper-resistant and hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae, which may cause untreatable and fatal infections in relatively healthy individuals and will pose enormous threat to human health.
  
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• Antidepressants found in fish brains in Great Lakes region

  31-08-2017 21:51 via feedproxy.google.com
  Human antidepressants are building up in the brains of bass, walleye and several other fish common to the Great Lakes region, scientists say.
  
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• Antarctic marine life may grow faster in a warming world

  31-08-2017 21:24 via feedproxy.google.com
  A team of scientists has discovered that a 1°C rise in local sea temperature has massive impacts on an Antarctic marine community. These new results are published this week (31 August) in the journal Current Biology, and enable researchers to better understand the biological implications of the future ocean warming predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
  
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• New research reveals why is yawning so contagious

  31-08-2017 20:25 via bbc.co.uk
  New research sheds light on why yawns are so contagious.
  
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• Clues to why leaves come in many sizes

  31-08-2017 20:14 via bbc.co.uk
  Scientists are closer to solving one of the big puzzles of the plant world - why leaf size matters.
  
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• Global warming doubles growth rates of Antarctic seabed's marine fauna – study

  31-08-2017 19:53 via theguardian.com
  Experiment in the Bellingshuan Sea reveals temperature rise has more alarming implications for biodiversity in polar waters than previously thought Marine life on the Antarctic seabed is likely to be far more affected by global warming than previously thought, say scientists who have conducted the most sophisticated study to date of heating impacts in the species-rich environment.Growth rates of some fauna doubled – including colonising moss animals and undersea worms – following a 1
  
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• The US cities at risk of flooding; and how they're dealing with the threat

  31-08-2017 19:36 via theguardian.com
  Rising sea levels pose a serious threat to cites like Boston, New York and Miami Beach. So what are they doing to protect themselves?Tropical storm Harvey may have bared its teeth at Houston, but other cities in the US have felt the pangs of nervousness. Several cities are vulnerable to the fiercer storms and sea level rise that are being fueled by climate change.Cities, by their very nature, struggle during flood situations. Water that would have been soaked up by grass and other vegetation was
  
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• Profit margins at big six energy firms hit highest level on record

  31-08-2017 19:21 via theguardian.com
  Average pre-tax margin rose to 4.48% in 2016 despite falling wholesale and environmental costs, says OfgemProfit margins at the big six energy providers have hit the highest level on record, according to the regulator, Ofgem, in data that comes just weeks after British Gas raised some prices by 12.5%.The Ofgem data reveals that the average pre-tax margin among the major power companies rose to 4.48% in 2016, up from 4.15% the year before and just 0.89% in 2009, when the regulator began collectin
  
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• Otter 'social learning' observed in Anglia Ruskin University study

  31-08-2017 16:52 via bbc.co.uk
  Researchers observe smooth-coated otters watching and learning from each other.
  
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• Helicopters, boats and human chains: Harvey rescue effort in full force – video report

  31-08-2017 16:46 via theguardian.com
  Rescue operations continue to save people across Texas stranded by tropical storm Harvey. Though rainfall is slowing and wind speeds have dropped, officials say the flooding will take longer to subside. Harvey weakened as it moved inland over Louisiana on Thursday, leaving behind record floodingHouston flooding: two explosions take place at Texas chemical plant
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• Harvey rescues continue as Texas copes with record flooding – video report

  31-08-2017 16:46 via theguardian.com
  Rescue operations continue to save people across Texas stranded by tropical storm Harvey. Though rainfall is slowing and wind speeds have dropped, officials say the flooding will take longer to subside. Harvey weakened as it moved inland over Louisiana on Thursday, leaving behind record floodingHouston flooding: two explosions take place at Texas chemical plant
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• Romanian Unesco site proposal may be halted to allow gold mining

  31-08-2017 16:42 via theguardian.com
  Protests planned after prime minister says Roșia Montană’s Unesco application may be withdrawn, allowing mine to go ahead Romania’s prime minister has suggested his government will withdraw an application to have the Roman gold-mining area of Roșia Montană declared a Unesco world heritage site, potentially reviving controversial plans to resume mining. Continue reading...
  
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• Teachers tackle ocean acidification with the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary

  31-08-2017 15:11 via feedproxy.google.com
  Ocean acidification can be a daunting topic to cover in the classroom, but for Washington state’s coastal communities, the issue is often personal.Ocean acidification can be a daunting topic to cover in the classroom, but for Washington state’s coastal communities, the issue is often personal. In 2005, billions of oysters died along the Northwest coast, and NOAA scientist Richard Feeley and other North American scientists have linked this and other shellfish die-offs deaths to fallin
  
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• Flood capital

  31-08-2017 14:02 via bbc.co.uk
  The reasons why the fourth-largest city in the US has become its flood capital.
  
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• Hyperloop pod breaks own high-speed record

  31-08-2017 13:58 via bbc.co.uk
  More tests next month might mean the pods for the science-fictional transport system hit 500 km/h
  
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• Saving olive ridleys of the Indian Ocean

  31-08-2017 13:11 via theguardian.com
  Richard Aspinall talks to Martin Stelfox from the Olive Ridley project about protecting one of the world’s smallest turtles from ‘ghost fishing’ in the Maldives
  One of the world’s smallest turtle (some sources claim smallest is Kemp’s ridley) is also the most abundant, yet to me, it seems to be the hardest to find! I’ve dived on reefs across the tropics, with camera in hand, and have yet to encounter a single olive ridley. I’ve seen scores of hawksbills
  
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• Amazon study discovers 381 new species in two-year period

  31-08-2017 12:56 via bbc.co.uk
  Conservation charity WWF warns that the species were found in areas at risk from human activity.
  
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• The scientists watching stars being born

  31-08-2017 12:53 via bbc.co.uk
  This is the largest radio telescope on Earth, 5,000m up in the Atacama Desert. It can see stars and planets being born millions of light-years away.
  
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• Romania may seek to pull gold mine from Unesco protected list

  31-08-2017 12:48 via theguardian.com
  Protests planned after president suggests Roșia Montană Unesco application could be withdrawn, potentially enabling the return of a controversial mining project Romania’s prime minister has suggested his government will seek to withdraw an application to have the former gold mining area of Roșia Montană declared a Unesco world heritage site, potentially paving the way for the return of a controversial mining project. Continue reading...
  
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• The Trump administration wants to bail out failed contrarian climate scientists | John Abraham

  31-08-2017 12:00 via theguardian.com
  A climate “red team” is just a polite way to describe bailing out scientific losers
  Climate contrarians, like Trump’s EPA administrator Scott Pruitt and Energy Secretary Rick Perry, don’t understand how scientific research works. They are basically asking for a government handout to scientists to do what scientists are should already be doing. They are also requesting handouts for scientists who have been less successful in research and publications – a move antithe
  
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• Science funding: Will 'picking winners' work?

  31-08-2017 11:09 via bbc.co.uk
  Why has the government returned to an industrial strategy abandoned in the 1980s?
  
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• Bird Photographer of the Year 2017 – in pictures

  31-08-2017 11:04 via theguardian.com
  Winning and shortlisted images from this year’s competition, from awe-inspiring action shots to charming portraits, featured in a new book celebrating some of the best bird photography of the year Continue reading...
  
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• In an era of dire climate records the US and South Asia floods won't be the last

  31-08-2017 10:47 via theguardian.com
  From the US to India and China, human impact on the climate is likely to have made droughts and storms more severe – and the trend is only set to continueThe 17tn US gallons of rain (roughly 26m Olympic swimming pools) dumped on Texas by Hurricane Harvey has set a new high for a tropical system in the US, but it is unlikely to last long as rising man-made emissions push the global climate deeper into uncharted territory.Images of flooded streets in Texas are mirrored by scenes of inundated
  
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• Search for victims among the rubble in Mumbai – video report

  31-08-2017 09:47 via theguardian.com
  Rescue workers in Mumbai are searching for people feared trapped beneath a collapsed building following two days of torrential rain in India’s commercial hub. At least 1,200 people have died across south-east Asia as a result of flooding caused by heavy monsoon rains, and millions of people are estimated to have been affectedMumbai building collapses in monsoon rains as South Asia floods wreak havoc
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• Search for victims after Mumbai building collapses amid floods – video report

  31-08-2017 09:47 via theguardian.com
  Rescue workers in Mumbai are searching for people feared trapped beneath a collapsed building following two days of torrential rain in India’s commercial hub. At least 1,200 people have died across south-east Asia as a result of flooding caused by heavy monsoon rains, and millions of people are estimated to have been affectedMumbai building collapses in monsoon rains as South Asia floods wreak havoc
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• A nice bit of squirrel: should we chow down a diet of invasive species?

  31-08-2017 09:00 via theguardian.com
  Last year, the Shambala festival made headlines by going meat-free. This year, it relaxed the rules for a feast of grey squirrel skewers and crayfish. Should the rest of us follow suit?At Shambala festival, during the hottest bank holiday on record, peace and love is about to turn sour. I am standing next to author Louise Gray, who is here to talk about wild alternatives to mass-produced meat. The cricket brownies are baked; we have been skinning squirrels and marinating them in satay, then deci
  
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• Consumers 'betrayed' over sustainability of world’s biggest tuna fishery

  31-08-2017 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Skipjack tuna from the western Pacific is common on supermarket shelves, but a new coalition argues its certification as sustainable is illusoryConsumers of tuna from the world’s biggest fishery are are being “betrayed” over its sustainability, according to a coalition of scientists, retailers, politicians and campaigners, including Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.The vast Western and Central Pacific fishery provides about half of the world’s skipjack tuna, the type most comm
  
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• Bulk buy: why zero-waste supermarkets are the new, old way to shop

  31-08-2017 07:00 via theguardian.com
  A bring-your-own containers store in east London is the latest shop to ditch packaging. But the principle of leaving nothing to waste dates back to an earlier timeThere is a decidedly retro feel to London’s latest attempt at a zero-waste supermarket. The produce comes stacked in glass cylinders. Arborio rice is 62p per 100g. Pumpkin seeds are 86p for the same measure, with chocolate buttons at £1.16. On the far wall: four flavours of dry dog food, stored in the same way. Adjacent to
  
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• Where the swallows skitter – a bypass and space travel?

  31-08-2017 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Llanbedr, Gwynedd With sadness I realised a proposed road, improving access to the planned spaceport, would cut across the floodplain I had just explored The train along the Cambrian coast route stops at Llanbedr only by request, and on this occasion I was the only passenger to alight. To the west fields of wet grassland, divided by drainage channels brimming with rushes, spread towards the sea.Related: Snowdonia fears impact of UK spaceport decisionContinue reading...
  
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• Great Barrier Reef: plan to improve water quality ignores scientific advice

  31-08-2017 06:00 via theguardian.com
  Australian government’s draft Reef 2050 Water Quality Improvement Plan provides new water quality targets, but has very few other concrete changesAustralia’s draft plan to improve water quality on the Great Barrier Reef has ignored official government scientific advice, which was published by the Queensland and federal governments alongside the new plan this week.The draft Reef 2050 Water Quality Improvement Plan is an update to the plan released in 2013, and provides new water quali
  
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• South Asia floods kill 1,200 and shut 1.8 million children out of school

  31-08-2017 03:45 via theguardian.com
  Hundreds dead in India, Nepal and Bangladesh, while millions have been forced from their homes and 18,000 schools shut down across the regionHeavy monsoon rains have brought Mumbai to a halt for a second day as the worst floods to strike south Asia in years continued to exact a deadly toll. More than 1,200 people have died across India, Bangladesh and Nepal as a result of flooding, with 40 million affected by the devastation. At least six people, including two toddlers, were among the victims in
  
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• The animals rescued from war zones

  31-08-2017 03:40 via bbc.co.uk
  Vet Amir Khalil goes into conflict areas to save the zoo animals left behind.
  
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• Coalition watering down Finkel review climate ambitions, leaked document reveals

  31-08-2017 01:39 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: Draft implementation plan lacks electricity emissions trajectory, Paris agreement alignment and low-income subsidiesThe climate ambitions of the Finkel review appear to be being watered down by the government as it is implemented, according to a draft Coag Energy Council implementation strategy obtained by the Guardian. The draft implementation plan removes a key recommendation for an agreed emissions trajectory for the electricity system, alignment with the Paris agreement and subsid
  
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• Scientists Warn of Toxins in Texas Floodwaters from Superfund Sites

  31-08-2017 00:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  Houston has been a hub of the petroleum and chemical industries for decades, leaving behind a landscape pocked with Superfund sites and other highly contaminated areas. Now, scientists are warning that these sites are likely leaking toxins into Tropical Storm Harvey’s floodwaters, exposing people in Harris County, where 30 percent of the land is now submerged, to dangerous contaminants, The Washington Post reported.
  
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