Environment news

• Oil spill off coast of Greece 'environmental disaster'

  12-09-2017 23:30 via bbc.co.uk
  Emergency crews have begun an oil spill clean-up after an oil tanker sank close to the island of Salamis.
  
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• Campaigners challenge injunction against anti-fracking protesters

  12-09-2017 19:50 via theguardian.com
  Lawyers for two anti-fracking campaigners argue in high court that injuction obtained by Ineos curtail’s protester rightsThe legality of a wide-ranging injunction obtained against anti-fracking protesters by a multinational firm is to be examined in a three-day court hearing.Two campaigners have launched a legal challenge against the injunction obtained by Ineos, the petrochemicals giant. Joe Corré, the son of the fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, and Joe Boyd, say it is draconian
  
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• NASA Finds Some Strength in New Eastern Pacific Tropical Depression

  12-09-2017 19:42 via feedproxy.google.com
  NASA's Aqua satellite measured cloud top temperatures in newly formed Tropical Depression 15E in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and found some strong storms. 
  
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• Irma's Heavy Rainfall Measured by NASA's IMERG

  12-09-2017 19:40 via feedproxy.google.com
  NASA calculated the rainfall left in the wake of now post-tropical cyclone Irma as it moved through the Caribbean Sea to landfall in Florida and then captured a night-time look at the storm as it moved over Georgia.
  
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• Third of Earth's soil is acutely degraded due to agriculture

  12-09-2017 19:18 via theguardian.com
  Fertile soil is being lost at rate of 24bn tonnes a year through intensive farming as demand for food increases, says UN-backed studyA third of the planet’s land is severely degraded and fertile soil is being lost at the rate of 24bn tonnes a year, according to a new United Nations-backed study that calls for a shift away from destructively intensive agriculture. The alarming decline, which is forecast to continue as demand for food and productive land increases, will add to the risks of c
  
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• Portuguese men o' war wash up on Cornish coast in large numbers

  12-09-2017 19:07 via theguardian.com
  Creatures, which can deliver a painful and occasionally fatal sting, have been blown in from the open ocean by strong windsAn “unprecedented” number of Portuguese men o’ war have washed up on the Cornish coastline in recent days, causing lifeguards to close a beach on Monday and issue safety advice. More than 140 of the floating tentacled organisms, which can deliver a painful sting that can be fatal in rare circumstances, have been spotted off the Cornish coast in the last thr
  
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• Vast fatberg blocks London sewage system – video

  12-09-2017 18:07 via theguardian.com
  CCTV footage from under Whitechapel in east London shows a fatberg that weighs as much as 11 double decker buses and is the length of two football pitches blocking the sewer. It is mostly made up of fat, wet wipes and nappies, and is expected to take three weeks to clear‘Total monster’: fatberg blocks London sewage system
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• Do Australians have the stomach to eat their beloved kangaroos?

  12-09-2017 17:54 via theguardian.com
  There’s now two kangaroos for every human in Australia – so ecologists are proposing the country gets a taste for its favourite animal. Is it a leap too far?Back when I was a kid, I used to race home from my Canberra primary school in time to catch my favourite TV show, Skippy the Bush Kangaroo. Skippy was an eastern grey roo who lived with the Hammond family in the fictional Waratah national park near Sydney. But Skippy was no ordinary roo. He was smart. Really smart. In short, he w
  
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• Stanford researchers study the relationship between nectar microbiomes and pollination

  12-09-2017 17:47 via feedproxy.google.com
  Dipping its beak into the sweet nectar of a flower, a hummingbird is doing more than getting a meal – it’s contributing to a microbial community that could potentially determine the fate of that flower. Recognizing that this fleeting interaction could have major implications on crop success and the health of pollinator species, the research group led by Tadashi Fukami, an associate professor of biology at Stanford, has studied the relationships between pollinators, microbes and
  
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• NASA Satellites Find Wind Shear Affecting Hurricane Jose

  12-09-2017 17:36 via feedproxy.google.com
  Vertical wind shear is weakening Hurricane Jose as it makes a cyclonic loop in the western Atlantic Ocean. NASA's Aqua satellite provided an image of Jose that shows the hurricane had become asymmetrical because winds were pushing the clouds away from the center of circulation and the GPM Satellite saw the strongest rainfall in Jose southeast of the center.
  
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• New Model of Climate-Change Effects on Coffee Availability and Bee Pollinators

  12-09-2017 17:21 via feedproxy.google.com
  Areas in Latin America suitable for growing coffee face predicted declines of 73-88 percent by 2050. However, diversity in bee species may save the day, even if many species in cool highland regions are lost as the climate warms. The research, co-authored by David Roubik, senior scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, will be published in an early online Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences edition between Sept. 11-15.
  
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• Man-of-war spotted along coast in Cornwall and Wales

  12-09-2017 17:05 via bbc.co.uk
  The RNLI closed Perranporth beach to swimmers because of large numbers of jellyfish-like creatures.
  
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• Taking the Long View: The 'Forever Legacy' of Climate Change

  12-09-2017 16:36 via feedproxy.google.com
  A century or two from now, people may look back at our current era — with its record-breaking high temperatures year after year, rapid disappearance of Arctic sea ice, and gradually rising sea levels — as part of a much cooler and far more desirable past. The spate of extreme weather events in the past month — which have devastated America’s fourth-largest city, Houston; spawned a massive hurricane that tore through the Caribbean and Florida; and swamped large swaths of I
  
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• 'Total monster': fatberg blocks London sewage system

  12-09-2017 16:06 via theguardian.com
  Thames Water must break up congealed mass of fat, wet wipes and nappies in Whitechapel sewer to prevent raw sewage flooding streetsA fatberg weighing the same as 11 double decker buses and stretching the length of two football pitches is blocking a section of London’s ageing sewage network.The congealed mass of fat, wet wipes and nappies is one of the biggest ever found and would have risked raw sewage flooding on to the streets in Whitechapel, east London, had it not been discovered durin
  
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• A crammed tram and a baby sloth: today's best photographs

  12-09-2017 14:46 via theguardian.com
  A selection of images from around the world including striking steelworkers, a streetcar in Kiev and the Irma aftermath Continue reading...
  
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• Trump promised to hire the best people. He keeps hiring the worst. NASA is next | Dana Nuccitelli

  12-09-2017 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Trump’s NASA nominee Jim Bridenstine is a climate denier who wants to end the agency’s climate researchAccording to 2016 election exit polls, only 38% of voters considered Donald Trump qualified to be president. 17% of those who thought him unqualified voted for Trump anyway, perhaps because he promised that as a wealthy businessman, he would be able to hire the best people to advise him. That was a claim his daughter Ivanka explicitly made in her speech at the Republican National Co
  
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• Brazil investigates reports of massacre among Amazonian tribe by gold miners

  12-09-2017 11:41 via theguardian.com
  Eight to 10 members of a remote indigenous group were allegedly killed by men working for illegal prospectors in Javari ValleyBrazilian authorities are investigating reports of a massacre of up to 10 people from an isolated tribe in the Amazon by illegal gold miners.The killings, alleged to have taken place in Javari Valley, are claimed to have been carried out by men working for gold prospectors who dredge illegally in the region’s rivers. Continue reading...
  
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• Brazil investigates alleged slaughter of Amazonian tribespeople by gold miners

  12-09-2017 11:41 via theguardian.com
  Eight to 10 members of a remote indigenous group were allegedly killed by men working for illegal prospectors in Javari ValleyBrazilian authorities are investigating reports of a massacre of up to 10 people from an isolated tribe in the Amazon by illegal gold miners.The killings, alleged to have taken place in Javari Valley, are claimed to have been carried out by men working for gold prospectors who dredge illegally in the region’s rivers. Continue reading...
  
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• Barnaby Joyce pulls back from repeating claim AGL is 'shorting' market

  12-09-2017 11:35 via theguardian.com
  Deputy PM tells Coalition party room AGL’s refusal to sell Liddell power station is about market behaviour but declines to repeat allegation on Sky NewsThe deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce, has pulled back from a comment he made to the Coalition party room on Tuesday that AGL was “shorting” the market by refusing to sell the ageing Liddell coal-fired power plant to a competitor.
  Joyce would not repeat the accusation during an interview on Sky News late on Tuesday – bu
  
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• Hurricanes wreak the havoc of climate change – but is a green energy solution in sight? | Jonathan Watts

  12-09-2017 11:07 via theguardian.com
  In the wake of hurricanes Irma and Harvey, the market has finally bought into the business case for renewable energy. The price of change is getting cheaperLike the debate over gun control, the public discussion in the US about whether to take action on the climate has often been characterised as a struggle between powerful lobbies and violent reality.After each campus shooting or hurricane disaster, there is a brief uptick of concern followed by a gradual return to entrenched positions as the N
  
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• Pool shark: rescued great white nicknamed 'Fluffy' released into ocean

  12-09-2017 10:29 via theguardian.com
  Experts optimistic about chances of survival for 1.8m shark, which was rescued from Manly beach and transferred into nearby rockpoolA juvenile great white shark found washed up on Sydney’s popular Manly beach has returned to the ocean, with experts optimistic about his survival.The 1.8-metre-long shark, nicknamed “Fluffy”, was found thrashing around on the shore on Monday and taken to a nearby ocean pool to rest, before spending the night at Manly Sea Life Sanctuary aquarium. C
  
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• Indigenous groups decry Tasmania off-road vehicle plan: 'this is destruction'

  12-09-2017 10:10 via theguardian.com
  Tasmanian government plans to cover midden sites in Tarkine with rubber mats to protect from damage caused by reopening off-road tracksIndigenous groups have criticised a Tasmanian government proposal to cover ancient midden sites with rubber mats to protect them from damage caused by reopening off-road vehicle tracks in the Tarkine, saying it is disrespectful and will cause further damage.The Hodgman government referred the proposal to federal environment minister Josh Frydenberg on Friday as p
  
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• Shorten asks Turnbull when he will act on clean energy target – politics live

  12-09-2017 09:51 via theguardian.com
  Bill Shorten takes government to task for high power prices in NSW and Malcolm Turnbull calls on China to do more on North Korea 8.09am BSTMalcolm Turnbull is hitting the airwaves again, with a nice little swipe at earlier comments he is a Johnny-come-lately to the FM band.He's now becoming a regular on the @HughesyAndKate show! We're chatting to Prime Minister @TurnbullMalcolm on air just after 5pm. @thepmo pic.twitter.com/FoQ0NtJiMs 8.03am BSTBarnaby Joyce is a lot more comfortable talking abo
  
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• Monkey selfie: warring parties reach settlement over court case

  12-09-2017 09:44 via theguardian.com
  Peta sued on behalf of the macaque monkey in 2015, seeking financial control of the photographs for the animal’s benefitA settlement has been reached in a lawsuit over who owns the copyright of selfie photographs taken by a monkey. Under the deal, the photographer whose camera was used agreed to donate 25% of any future revenue from the images to charities dedicated to protecting crested macaques in Indonesia, lawyers for an animal rights group said. Continue reading...
  
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• 300 tonnes of diseased pig carcasses – the latest example of China's pollution crisis

  12-09-2017 09:20 via theguardian.com
  Villagers near illegal burial site in Zhejiang had complained for years of a terrible stench around their homesStomach-churning symbols of the environmental calamity facing China have never been in short supply: exploding watermelons, toxic running tracks, rivers that flow the colour of blood.Continue reading...
  
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• Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2017 finalists – in pictures

  12-09-2017 08:01 via theguardian.com
  A hungry arctic fox, mating sea angels and playful brown bears are among the creatures captured by photographers for this year’s competition. The exhibition opens on 20 October at the Natural History Museum Continue reading...
  
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• Labor renews attack on energy policy in question time – question time live

  12-09-2017 07:05 via theguardian.com
  Bill Shorten takes government to task for high power prices in NSW as trench warfare continues over the energy mix6.03am BSTBut being in accord in that chamber is quite rare 6.02am BSTForeign Minister Julie Bishop takes advantage of a dixer to update the House on the North Korea situation: The new additional sanctions target very important parts of the North Korean economy. There will be a complete ban on the export of all North Korean textiles - that’s worth about $950 million a year to t
  
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• As the sun rises, another V-shaped skein of geese approaches

  12-09-2017 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Pulborough Brooks, West Sussex One by one, the birds tip dramatically to one side, lowering one wing while raising the other, to lose heightThe sharp honking sounds of geese echo across the Brooks. The air is clearing, but the rain still hangs over the low-lying hills in the distance, spreading down the sky like dark ink on wetted paper. As I walk out onto the marshes and towards the river Arun, the sun is rising behind me, spearing through the grey cloud. Continue reading...
  
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• Tim Wilson defends colouring-in book after News Corp criticism – politics live

  12-09-2017 03:25 via theguardian.com
  Liberal MP reportedly funded book, which includes cartoon of him walking pugs with his partner, through parliamentary communications budget 2.13am BSTIt may not seem like it, but the parliament is dealing with more than just the government’s hunt for an energy policy this week.The media reform legislation, which was shunted off the agenda yesterday, should make a reappearance. Communications minister Mitch Fifield has been working behind the scenes trying to shore up a deal with the crossb
  
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• Cassini: Saturn probe turns towards its death plunge

  12-09-2017 02:50 via bbc.co.uk
  The veteran space probe puts itself on a path to destruction in Saturn's atmosphere on Friday.
  
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• Airline industry could fly thousands of miles on biofuel from a new promising feedstock

  12-09-2017 00:44 via feedproxy.google.com
  A Boeing 747 burns one gallon of jet fuel each second. A recent analysis from researchers at the University of Illinois estimate that this aircraft could fly for 10 hours on bio-jet fuel produced on 54 acres of specially engineered sugarcane.
  
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• Rising CO2 Leading to Changes in Land Plant Photosynthesis

  12-09-2017 00:41 via feedproxy.google.com
  Researchers led by Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego have determined that major changes in plant behavior have occurred over the past 40 years, using measurements of subtle changes in the carbon dioxide (CO2) currently found in the atmosphere.The two main isotopes, or atomic forms, of carbon are carbon-12 (12C) and carbon-13 (13C). As CO2 has risen since the late 19th century, the ratio of 13C to 12C in atmospheric CO2 has
  
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• AGL wants to have its cake and eat it too, says Josh Frydenberg – politics live

  12-09-2017 00:39 via theguardian.com
  Ministers continue to push coal as the future, despite AGL boss Andy Vesey tempering their enthusiasm, as energy continues to dominate the political agenda. Follow all today’s developments 11.26pm BSTThe marriage equality postal survey forms will begin popping up in letter boxes soon, with the mail out due to begin today. The ABS has kept the form simple – it’s a mark the box system, which should stop any arguments over whether a tick is a cross or just a squiggle. Michael Kozi
  
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• Photographer wins 'monkey selfie' legal fight

  12-09-2017 00:33 via bbc.co.uk
  A photographer wins a legal fight against an animal rights group over a "monkey selfie" photograph.
  
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• Photographer settles 'monkey selfie' legal fight

  12-09-2017 00:33 via bbc.co.uk
  A photographer settles a legal fight against an animal rights group over a "monkey selfie" photograph.
  
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• Pool shark: rescued great white nicknamed 'Fluffy' to be released into ocean

  12-09-2017 00:08 via theguardian.com
  Shark found on beach spent night at Manly Sea Life Sanctuary, which is waiting for all-clear from NSW Fisheries An injured juvenile great white shark found washed up on a Sydney beach is expected to be returned to the ocean after spending the night in an aquarium.
  The 1.5m-long shark, nicknamed “Fluffy”, was found thrashing around on the shore of Manly beach about midday on Monday, prompting some onlookers to unsuccessfully drag it back out to sea. Continue reading...
  
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