Environment news

• U.S. had 15th warmest summer and 3rd warmest year to date on record

  07-09-2017 23:20 via feedproxy.google.com
  From record heat, fires and floods to hurricanes, tropical storms and even an eclipse, August brought a dramatic and — for those along the Gulf Coast — devastating end to summer as Mother Nature demonstrated her power and ability to awe. 
  
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• Team gathers unprecedented data on atmosphere's organic chemistry

  07-09-2017 23:09 via feedproxy.google.com
  For a few weeks over the summer in 2011, teams of scientists from around the world converged on a small patch of ponderosa pine forest in Colorado to carry out one of the most detailed, extended survey of atmospheric chemistry ever attempted in one place, in many cases using new measurement devices created especially for this project. Now, after years of analysis, their comprehensive synthesis of the findings have been released this week.
  
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• Hurricane Irma: Eye of the storm passes Hispaniola

  07-09-2017 23:04 via bbc.co.uk
  The International Space Station and an advanced weather satellite capture the deadly hurricane over Earth.
  
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• As Hurricane Irma Hits the Caribbean, Two More Storms Take Shape in the Atlantic Basin

  07-09-2017 22:28 via feedproxy.google.com
  While Hurricane Irma moves through the Caribbean islands toward South Florida with sustained winds of 185 miles per hour, forecasters are warning that two other major named storms have formed in the Atlantic Basin — Hurricanes Katia and Jose. It is the first time since 2010 that three hurricanes have been active in the region at the same time.
  
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• Monarch butterflies disappearing from western North America

  07-09-2017 22:15 via feedproxy.google.com
  Monarch butterfly populations from western North America have declined far more dramatically than was previously known and face a greater risk of extinction than eastern monarchs, according to a new study in the journal Biological Conservation.“Western monarchs are faring worse than their eastern counterparts,” said Cheryl Schultz, an associate professor at Washington State University Vancouver and lead author of the study. “In the 1980s, 10 million monarchs spent the wint
  
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• Satellites Show Different Sides of Hurricane Irma

  07-09-2017 22:02 via feedproxy.google.com
  Satellite imagery from NASA's Aqua satellite and NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite have provided different data on the still Category 5 Hurricane Irma as it headed for the Turks and Caicos Islands.  
  
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• IBM and MIT to pursue joint research in artificial intelligence, establish new MIT–IBM Watson AI Lab

  07-09-2017 21:45 via feedproxy.google.com
  IBM and MIT today announced that IBM plans to make a 10-year, $240 million investment to create the MIT–IBM Watson AI Lab in partnership with MIT. The lab will carry out fundamental artificial intelligence (AI) research and seek to propel scientific breakthroughs that unlock the potential of AI. The collaboration aims to advance AI hardware, software, and algorithms related to deep learning and other areas; increase AI’s impact on industries, such as health care and cybersecurity; an
  
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• Hurricane Irma: 180mph winds batter Caribbean as death roll rises – latest news

  07-09-2017 20:54 via theguardian.com
  Number of people killed in Caribbean climbs in the wake of the stormCategory five hurricane rakes towards Dominican Republic and HaitiWhere is Irma heading? Mapping the path of destruction‘Cars flew over our heads’: survivors recount the havoc 7.54pm BSTAs hurricane Irma barrels through the Caribbean on its course toward the mainland United States, people who have survived its passage or are still preparing for it have captured stunning, surreal images of the storm: boats stacked ato
  
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• Satellites Show Hurricane Katia Not Moving Much

  07-09-2017 20:48 via feedproxy.google.com
  Satellite imagery from NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites showed that Hurricane Katia had not moved much, just about 30 miles in 16 hours.
  
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• Ship Exhaust Makes Oceanic Thunderstorms More Intense

  07-09-2017 20:46 via feedproxy.google.com
  Thunderstorms directly above two of the world’s busiest shipping lanes are significantly more powerful than storms in areas of the ocean where ships don’t travel, according to new research.
  
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• Record drop in electricity emissions cancelled out by rises in other sectors

  07-09-2017 20:00 via theguardian.com
  Australia’s overall greenhouse gas emissions last financial year were the highest since 2011, despite the closure of the Hazelwood coal-fired power plantEmissions from the electricity sector in the three months to June dropped by the biggest amount on record, as the effect of the Hazelwood coal-fired power station closure is seen for the first time in quarterly projections produced exclusively for the Guardian.But even that drop wasn’t enough to stop Australia’s overall greenho
  
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• Mismanagement alleged against only company interested in Liddell power station

  07-09-2017 20:00 via theguardian.com
  Environmental law group has accused Delta Electricity of underreporting emissions at its Vales Point power station and breaching licence conditionsThe only Australian company with a stated potential interest in buying and keeping AGL’s ageing Liddell coal-fired power station open beyond 2022 is facing a number of allegations of environmental mismanagement.AGL’s chief executive, Andy Vesey, has told government ministers AGL would consider selling Australia’s oldest coal-fired po
  
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• UCI, JPL Investigators Find Direct Evidence of Sea Level 'Fingerprints'

  07-09-2017 19:52 via feedproxy.google.com
  Researchers from the University of California, Irvine and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have reported the first observation of sea level “fingerprints,” tell-tale differences in sea level rise around the world in response to changes in continental water and ice sheet mass. The team’s findings were published today in the American Geophysical Union journal Geophysical Research Letters.
  
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• Increasing Effective Decision-Making for Coastal Marine Ecosystems

  07-09-2017 19:25 via feedproxy.google.com
  Marine restoration, rather than protection, might be the most cost-effective solution for coastal marine ecosystems suffering from human activities, a new study has found.
  
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• Hidden Inca Treasure: Remarkable New Tree Genus Discovered in the Andes

  07-09-2017 19:19 via feedproxy.google.com
  Hidden in plain sight – that’s how researchers describe their discovery of a new genus of large forest tree commonly found, yet previously scientifically unknown, in the tropical Andes.
  
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• Vivienne Westwood's son challenges Ineos injunction on fracking protest

  07-09-2017 17:50 via theguardian.com
  Joe Corré accuses multinational petrochemical company of ‘bully boy tactics’ to prevent legitimate protest against its fracking activities in the UK An environmental campaigner is challenging the legality of a wide-ranging injunction obtained against protesters by a multinational firm that he criticised as being “draconian, anti-democratic and oppressive”.Joe Corré accused petrochemical giant Ineos of using “disgusting bully boy tactics” against
  
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• Unprecedented levels of nitrogen could pose risks to Earth's environment

  07-09-2017 16:43 via feedproxy.google.com
  Human production of fixed nitrogen, used mostly to fertilize crops, now accounts for about half of the total fixed nitrogen added to the Earth both on land and in the oceans.
  
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• A very 21st-century hurricane warning: don’t take selfies with alligators | Emma Brockes

  07-09-2017 16:33 via theguardian.com
  Thanks to Hurricane Harvey, there have been some unexpected domestic encounters between humans and some pretty dangerous animalsA strange consequence of all the recent natural disasters in the US has been, for a very brief period, Donald Trump seeming if not adequate, then at least a calamity that falls below the level of a category five hurricane. That hiatus ended this week with his decision to rescind Daca, removing the limited protection previously offered to illegal child immigrants. But fo
  
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• First measurements of iodine in the Arctic reveal questions about air pollution

  07-09-2017 16:23 via feedproxy.google.com
  New measurements of molecular iodine in the Arctic show that even a tiny amount of the element can deplete ozone in the lower atmosphere.
  
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• Hurricane Irma: massive damage across Caribbean as death toll rises to 10 – live

  07-09-2017 15:29 via theguardian.com
  At least 10 people killed in Caribbean in the wake of the stormCategory five hurricane rakes towards Dominican Republic and HaitiWhere is Irma heading? Mapping the path of destruction‘Cars flew over our heads’: survivors recount the havoc 2.26pm BSTHello and welcome to Thursday’s coverage of Hurricane Irma. Here’s a round-up of the latest news: Continue reading...
  
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• Wildfire and Invasive Species Drives Increasing Size and Cost of Public Land Restoration Efforts

  07-09-2017 15:02 via feedproxy.google.com
  An examination of long-term data for lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management finds that land treatments in the southwestern United States are increasingly large, expensive and related to fire and invasive species control.The study, recently published in Restoration Ecology, reveals an extensive legacy of land management decisions and provides new insight on strategies to increase future treatment efficacy in an extremely water-limited region.
  
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• Lake Trout adjust their behaviour in the face of a changing climate

  07-09-2017 15:02 via feedproxy.google.com
  Canadian scientists have discovered that certain lake predators are altering their behaviour due to climate change, revealing what the future may hold for these fish and their food.For years scientists told tales of fish such as Lake Trout adapting their feeding behaviour as temperatures change, but no empirical evidence existed. Now, a recently completed 11-year study at IISD Experimental Lakes Area (IISD-ELA) in northwestern Ontario reveals that Lake Trout have a remarkable ability to adjust t
  
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• UK coast haven for 200,000 seabirds becomes marine special protected area

  07-09-2017 14:58 via theguardian.com
  Northumberland coastline famed for Arctic terns and Atlantic puffins granted greater protection by Natural England A stretch of coastline which is one of the most important sites in the UK for seabirds such as Arctic terns and Atlantic puffins has been given greater protection. The newly-designated Northumberland marine special protected area (SPA) stretches 12 miles from the coast into the North Sea, covering an area larger than 120,000 football pitches, government conservation body Natural Eng
  
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• 'No fire risk' with new lithium batteries

  07-09-2017 14:18 via bbc.co.uk
  Lithium-ion batteries that are resistant to exploding or igniting have been developed by scientists in the US.
  
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• The unprecedented drought that's crippling Montana and North Dakota

  07-09-2017 14:00 via theguardian.com
  It came without warning, and without equivalent. Now a flash drought is fueling fires and hurting the lives of those who work the landWhen Rick Kirn planted his 1,000 acres of spring wheat in May, there were no signs of a weather calamity on the horizon. Three months later, when he should have been harvesting and getting ready to sell his wheat, Kirn was staring out across vast cracked, gray, empty fields dotted with weeds and little patches of stunted wheat.
  “It’s a total loss for m
  
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• Tesco criticised for deducting £3.4m from plastic bag tax charity donations

  07-09-2017 11:31 via theguardian.com
  Government data reveals Tesco deducted administration costs from plastic bag sales, unlike other major supermarkets, angering senior MPsMillions of pounds in administration costs were deducted from the charitable donations made by Tesco using funds generated from the plastic bag tax, government data has revealed. No other major supermarket made any such deductions, leading senior MPs to urge Tesco to follow their lead.
  The 5p charge for plastic bags was introduced in England in October 2015 and
  
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• Jaguar Land Rover to make only electric or hybrid cars from 2020

  07-09-2017 08:46 via theguardian.com
  Carmaker follows Volvo in spelling an end for petrol or diesel-only cars, despite not making any electric vehicles at presentJaguar Land Rover has become the latest large carmaker to say it will stop launching new cars solely powered by internal combustion engines, two months after Volvo pledged to do so.The UK-based manufacturer promised that all new models from 2020 will be fully electric or hybrid, a year later than Volvo’s target, but a big step beyond its unveiling last November of a
  
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• Use your power wisely: advice to university leaders from the experts

  07-09-2017 08:30 via theguardian.com
  Four professionals from outside the higher education sector tell university leaders how to dress, deal with press, invest wisely and nurture innovationUniversities have faced an onslaught of criticism this summer, from outrage over the “greed” of vice-chancellors to claims that tuition fees are “blighting young people’s futures”. The fallout saw Labour MP Darren Jones resign from an advisory board at the University of Bath over revelations about its vice-chancellor&
  
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• What if zoo animals roam free in Dubai? – in pictures

  07-09-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  What would the world be like if we weren’t dependent on oil? Photographer Richard Allenby-Pratt imagines a deserted Dubai in which the wealthy have fled, leaving giraffes and zebras to wander the alien landscapes Continue reading...
  
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• Irma hits the Caribbean – in pictures

  07-09-2017 07:55 via theguardian.com
  The most powerful storm ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean has caused widespread devastation across the island nations of the Caribbean. In Puerto Rico, 600,000 people are without power and nearly 50,000 are without water. The hurricane is expected to hit Florida this weekend Continue reading...
  
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• Origami-inspired clothing range that grows with your child wins Dyson award

  07-09-2017 07:01 via theguardian.com
  London-based designer Ryan Yasin used his background in aeronautical engineering to develop sustainable clothing to fit babies through to toddlersAn origami-inspired range of children’s clothing made from a durable pleated fabric that expands to fit growing babies and toddlers has won its 24-year-old designer a prestigious James Dyson award.Ryan Yasin devised the material using scientific principles he studied for his aeronautical engineering degree, after noting the lack of sustainability
  
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• Threatened species: pollies welcome blighted animals to Canberra

  07-09-2017 06:00 via theguardian.com
  Australia’s politicians marked the country’s annual Threatened Species Day by welcoming a range of animals to Canberra – some of whom were more happy to be there than others. The day marks the death of the last Tasmanian thylacine in 1936 Continue reading...
  
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• Ten electorates contain 600 threatened species – but will MPs fight to save them?

  07-09-2017 02:54 via theguardian.com
  Federal funding for biodiversity conservation has dropped by 37% since 2013 and all MPs need to take greater actionAustralia is rapidly losing its world-famous biodiversity. More than 90 species have gone extinct since European colonisation (including three in just the past decade) and more than 1,700 species are now formally recognised as being in danger of extinction.Despite the pride many Australians feel in our unique natural heritage (and the billions of dollars made from nature-based touri
  
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• Down on the body farm

  07-09-2017 02:51 via bbc.co.uk
  Would British forensic science benefit from having its own outdoor laboratory to study human decomposition?
  
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• Does the UK need a human 'body farm'?

  07-09-2017 02:51 via bbc.co.uk
  Would British forensic science benefit from having its own outdoor laboratory to study human decomposition?
  
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• Research grants 'boost jobs and growth'

  07-09-2017 02:15 via bbc.co.uk
  A national study shows that R&D grants to firms significantly boosts growth and creates jobs.
  
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• Chablis wine crop hit by changes to French climate

  07-09-2017 01:59 via bbc.co.uk
  A wine producer in the Burgundy region of France blames climate change for this year's low yield.
  
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