Environment news

• New Peruvian Bird Species Discovered By Its Song

  23-10-2017 23:03 via feedproxy.google.com
  A new species of bird from the heart of Peru remained undetected for years until researchers identified it by its unique song.
  
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• NBN blame game continues as Kevin Rudd weighs in – politics live

  23-10-2017 23:01 via theguardian.com
  The Turnbull government defends broadband changes, blaming Labor for ‘train wreck’, while estimates hearings continue. Follow all the day’s events 10.01pm BSTAs we said, it’s the prime minister’s birthday (63rd we believed). I predict there will be some FM radio interviews on the horizon. It’s one way to guarantee a softer landing.He started the day with a walk. 9.55pm BSTIt’s day two of estimates and the house of representatives second sitting week.It&r
  
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• Novel Technique Explains Herbicide's Link to Parkinson's Disease

  23-10-2017 22:52 via feedproxy.google.com
  Northwestern Medicine scientists have used an innovative gene editing technique to identify the genes that may lead to Parkinson’s disease after exposure to paraquat, a commonly-used herbicide.
  
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• Air Pollution Cuts Solar Energy Potential in China

  23-10-2017 22:38 via feedproxy.google.com
  China is rapidly expanding its solar power supply, hoping to meet 10 percent of the nation’s electricity needs with solar energy by 2030. But there’s a problem: Severe air pollution is blocking light from the sun, significantly reducing China’s output of solar energy, particularly in the northern and eastern parts of the country.
  
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• Electricity from shale gas vs. coal: Lifetime toxic releases from coal much higher

  23-10-2017 21:19 via feedproxy.google.com
  Despite widespread concern about potential human health impacts from hydraulic fracturing, the lifetime toxic chemical releases associated with coal-generated electricity are 10 to 100 times greater than those from electricity generated with natural gas obtained via fracking, according to a new University of Michigan study.
  
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• Canada geese give hunters the slip by hiding out in Chicago

  23-10-2017 21:19 via feedproxy.google.com
   It’s open season for Canada geese in Illinois from mid-October to mid-January. Unfortunately for hunters, Canada geese are finding a new way to stay out of the line of fire. Rather than being “sitting ducks” in a rural pond, they’re setting up residence in the city.
  
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• Saline Lakes in Dire Situation Worldwide, Including Utah's Great Salt Lake

  23-10-2017 21:12 via feedproxy.google.com
  Saline lakes around the world are shrinking in size at alarming rates. But what—or who—is to blame?
  
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• Sea-level rise, not stronger storm surge, will cause future NYC flooding

  23-10-2017 21:03 via feedproxy.google.com
  Rising sea levels caused by a warming climate threaten greater future storm damage to New York City, but the paths of stronger future storms may shift offshore, changing the coastal risk for the city, according to a team of climate scientists.
  
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• NASA Follows Extra-Tropical Cyclone Lan Speeding Through Northern Japan

  23-10-2017 20:18 via feedproxy.google.com
  Now an extra-tropical cyclone over northern Japan, Lan was a typhoon when it made landfall just south of Tokyo over the weekend of Oct. 21 and 22. NASA's Aqua satellite and NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite provided imagery of the extra-tropical cyclone.
  
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• Nobel’s furniture design was dynamite | Letters

  23-10-2017 19:39 via theguardian.com
  One-legged stools | Mercia mudstone | Death by fish | Lancia cars | Naming your coldAll this discussion about the relative design and merits of three-legged stools (Letters passim) is as nothing compared with the so-called suicide stool, a one-legged stool designed by Alfred Nobel to prevent operators of the nitroglycerin reaction vats – part of the production process of his dynamite – falling asleep and allowing an exothermic runaway to occur, with the consequent explosion ruining e
  
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• Sixty per cent of postal survey voters have said yes to marriage equality – Guardian Essential poll

  23-10-2017 19:00 via theguardian.com
  Three-quarters of those surveyed report that they have voted in the ballot, with a further 8% saying they definitely willMore than half of people who have returned their ballot in the same-sex marriage postal survey say they have voted in favour of marriage equality, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll.
  The new survey of 1,859 voters records 60% saying they have voted yes, which is down 4% from the last time the question was asked three weeks ago, and 34% saying they have voted no, w
  
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• Tim Flach's endangered species – in pictures

  23-10-2017 18:58 via theguardian.com
  Photographer Tim Flach’s latest book Endangered, with text by zoologist Jonathan Baillie, offers a powerful visual record of threatened animals and ecosystems facing the harshest of challengesTim Flach sees his Hasselblad H4D-60 camera as a means to its end: capturing the character and emotions of an animal. Until now his interest has been in the way humans shape animals, but in his new book, Endangered, he poses the question of what these animals, and their potential disappearance, mean t
  
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• Mountain glaciers shrinking across the West

  23-10-2017 18:48 via feedproxy.google.com
  Until recently, glaciers in the United States have been measured in two ways: placing stakes in the snow, as federal scientists have done each year since 1957 at South Cascade Glacier in Washington state; or tracking glacier area using photographs from airplanes and satellites.
  
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• Why Does Green California Pump the Dirtiest Oil in the U.S.?

  23-10-2017 18:32 via feedproxy.google.com
  On New Year’s Day, 1909, a grocer named Julius Fried and his novice drilling crew, the Lakeview Oil Company, spudded a well in the desert valley scrub in the Midway-Sunset oil field, 110 miles north of Los Angeles. For the first 1,655 feet, the well yielded only dust, and then Lakeview ran out of money.
  
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• Tracing toxins around the world

  23-10-2017 18:27 via feedproxy.google.com
  In 1995, the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Program called for a united, global effort to reduce persistent organic pollutants (POPs) — synthetic chemicals such as PCBs, DDT, and dioxins. The compounds were known to persist and accumulate far from their sources, polluting the environment and causing adverse health effects in humans.
  
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• EPA kept scientists from speaking about climate change at Rhode Island event

  23-10-2017 18:10 via theguardian.com
  Scientists were expected to report that climate change is affecting air and water temperatures, precipitation, sea level and fish in New England’s largest estuaryThe Environmental Protection Agency kept three scientists from speaking at a Rhode Island event about a report that deals in part with climate change.The scientists were expected to discuss in Providence on Monday a report on the health of Narragansett Bay, New England’s largest estuary. The EPA did not explain exactly why t
  
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• Stephen Hawking PhD readers crash Cambridge University website

  23-10-2017 17:21 via bbc.co.uk
  Stephen Hawking's PhD thesis, written as a 24-year-old, was made available to the public on Monday.
  
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• Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a giant trevally, Blue Planet’s next box-office monster

  23-10-2017 15:32 via theguardian.com
  David Attenborough’s ocean wildlife series returns to our screen next week – and a gravity-defying, bird-munching superfish could be its biggest starName: Giant trevally.Appearance: Like a bluefin trevally, but larger and without blue fins. Continue reading...
  
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• U.S. Winter Outlook: NOAA forecasters predict cooler, wetter North and warmer, drier South

  23-10-2017 15:14 via feedproxy.google.com
  Forecasters at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center released the U.S. Winter Outlook today, with La Nina potentially emerging for the second year in a row as the biggest wildcard in how this year’s winter will shape up. La Nina has a 55- to 65-percent chance of developing before winter sets in.NOAA produces seasonal outlooks to help communities prepare for what's likely to come in the next few months and minimize weather's impacts on lives and livelihoods. Empowering people with actionab
  
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• Ocean acidification is deadly threat to marine life, finds eight-year study

  23-10-2017 14:54 via theguardian.com
  Plastic pollution, overfishing, global warming and increased acidification from burning fossil fuels means oceans are increasingly hostile to marine lifeIf the outlook for marine life was already looking bleak – torrents of plastic that can suffocate and starve fish, overfishing, diverse forms of human pollution that create dead zones, the effects of global warming which is bleaching coral reefs and threatening coldwater species – another threat is quietly adding to the toxic soup.Oc
  
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• Report: Green gas could help fuel 15 million homes by 2050

  23-10-2017 14:53
  Biogas made from domestic waste could help to heat 15 million homes every year by 2050, enough to meet the annual gas demand for households across south east England, London and East Anglia.
  
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• Best photos of the day: Day of the Dead and world record bridge jumping

  23-10-2017 14:41 via theguardian.com
  The Guardian’s picture editors bring you a selection of photo highlights from around the world, including meerkats with pumpkins in Bristol, harvest season in China and surfing competitions in South Africa Continue reading...
  
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• Revealed: government spent £370,000 losing air pollution legal battles

  23-10-2017 13:39 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: Freedom of information request reveals ‘disgraceful’ amount of taxpayers’ money used to battle ClientEarth over illegally poor air pollution plansThe government spent £370,000 of taxpayers’ money unsuccessfully fighting court claims that its plans to tackle air pollution were illegally poor, a freedom of information request has revealed.
  The money was spent battling two actions brought by environmental lawyers ClientEarth and included more than £90,
  
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• T-Charge: World's 'toughest' emission standard launched in London

  23-10-2017 13:20
  The world's "toughest" emission standard has entered into force today (October 23), with older polluting cars now required to pay £10 to drive through the centre of London.
  
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• Air pollution is killing us. As a GP I welcome this new charge on drivers | Chris Griffiths

  23-10-2017 13:19 via theguardian.com
  From today the most polluting vehicles on London roads will face a ‘toxicity’ fee. It’s a vital first step towards cleaning up the UK’s dangerously dirty airA report released last week by international experts shows pollution to have caused more deaths in the UK than in many other countries in western Europe. Air pollution is largely invisible, so it is hard to grasp how much damage it is doing to our health. But studies like the Lancet commission on pollution make it cle
  
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• Stella McCartney backs first Life Cycle Assessment for man made cellulosic fibers

  23-10-2017 12:56
  Luxury fashion brand Stella McCartney will be able to better map the environmental impacts of its raw materials, after commissioning the first ever Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for man-made cellulose fiber (MMCF) used in production.
  
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• 'Steady decline' in honey crop raises concern for honeybees' future

  23-10-2017 12:55 via theguardian.com
  British Beekeepers Association survey reveals worrying drop in honey yield, with 62% of beekeepers saying neonicotinoids are to blameBeekeepers have raised concerns over the future of honeybees as an annual survey showed a “steady decline” in the honey crop. The survey by the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) revealed beekeepers in England produced an average of 11.8kg (26 lb) of honey per hive this year, down 1kg on last year.Continue reading...
  
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• Americans want a tax on carbon pollution, but how to get one? | Dana Nuccitelli

  23-10-2017 12:00 via theguardian.com
  A new study finds that Americans are willing to pay an extra $15 per month on energy bills to tackle climate change.
  According to a new study published by Yale scientists in Environmental Research Letters, Americans are willing to pay a carbon tax that would increase their household energy bills by $15 per month, or about 15%, on average. This result is consistent with a survey from last year that also found Americans are willing to pay an average of $15 to $20 per month to combat climate change
  
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• Innovative trucks help Smurfit Kappa slash supply chain emissions

  23-10-2017 09:16
  Global packaging firm Smurfit Kappa has pioneered innovative new trucks which are claimed to have slashed emissions by 20% and reduced the number of annual trips by almost one-third.
  
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• London's £10 T-charge comes into effect in fight against toxic car fumes

  23-10-2017 09:10 via theguardian.com
  Drivers of older, more polluting petrol and diesel cars in centre of capital now liable for fee on top of congestion chargeDrivers of the most polluting vehicles must from now on pay a daily charge of up to £21.50 to drive in to central London.From Monday, people driving older, more polluting petrol and diesel vehicles will be liable for the £10 T-charge, on top of the congestion charge of £11.50, which has been in place since 2003. Continue reading...
  
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• Labor lays into Turnbull over 'second-rate' NBN – as it happened

  23-10-2017 09:07 via theguardian.com
  Shorten says network is creating a ‘digital divide’ as officials interrogated in Senate estimates over lost 1,000-page security manual. Follow all today’s developments in Canberra 8.07am BSTOn that note, Mike Bowers and I shall leave you for the night.We’ll be back early tomorrow morning to update you on what happened overnight. Including the fall out from the Four Corners report into the NBN which has had the government in a right tizz all day. 7.42am BSTIn Senate estima
  
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• Blue Planet 2: Attenborough defends shots filmed in studio

  23-10-2017 08:19 via theguardian.com
  Most filming done in the wild – including armoured octopuses and hypnotic cuttlefish – but some crucial behaviour had to be captured in lab conditionsFootage of captive wildlife inserted into the BBC’s Blue Planet 2 series remains “totally true to nature”, according to the makers of the flagship show that reveals new insights into life in the oceans.An octopus that armours itself with shells and rocks, fish that use sign language and tools and dazzling cuttlefish th
  
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• UK energy firms call on chancellor to boost carbon tax

  23-10-2017 07:01 via theguardian.com
  SSE and Drax tell Philip Hammond they need longer-term clarity on price floor if they are to replace coal power plantsTwo of Britain’s biggest energy companies have called on Philip Hammond to strengthen a carbon tax that has driven a dramatic collapse in coal power generation, arguing it is essential for the shift to cleaner energy.SSE, the UK’s second largest energy supplier, and Drax, which runs the country’s biggest power station in North Yorkshire, urged the chancellor to
  
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• Owning a car will soon be a thing of the past | John Harris

  23-10-2017 07:00 via theguardian.com
  The idea that we will surrender our prized motors can look far-fetched. But as cities clamp down on vehicle use, technology is putting a utopian vision in reachIf ours is an age in which no end of institutions and conventions are being disrupted, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that one of the most basic features of everyday life seems under serious threat. If you are fortunate enough to live in a house with a drive, look outside and you will probably see it: that four-wheeled metal box, w
  
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• Labor lays into Turnbull over 'second-rate' NBN – politics live

  23-10-2017 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Shorten says network is creating a ‘digital divide’ as officials interrogated in Senate estimates over lost 1,000-page security manual. Follow all today’s developments in Canberra 5.28am BSTMichaelia Cash’s office has released another statement on the outcome of a court case involving a union and its delegate. Here is is in full:Today the militant CFMEU incurred yet another penalty in the Federal Court for breaking Australia’s industrial laws at a Victorian building
  
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• Country diary: Henry III’s charter helped this tree survive to a ripe old age

  23-10-2017 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Epping Forest For centuries commoners were allowed to lop the beeches here for firewood. Now this ancient pollard is big enough to create its own microclimatesCenturies of sunlight have solidified into this beech’s massive presence, which creates its own woodland world. I stand beneath the grandeur of its shaded columns in veneration. But it was not always this way. This great beast was made to bend to the will of generations of commoners, lopped for the humblest of produce, a 10-yearly cr
  
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• 'Spine-chilling' screams as father saves teenage daughter from 4.5m great white

  23-10-2017 05:27 via theguardian.com
  Shark knocks teen and kayak into air before father and son drag daughter into boat with ‘seconds to spare’ south of Adelaide
  A South Australian man says he will never forget the screams of his teenage daughter as she was thrown into the air by a 4.5m great white shark in an attack the family says could have been straight out of the movie, Jaws.Sarah Williams, 15, was kayaking with her family off the South Australian coast near Normanville, south of Adelaide, on Sunday when the shark
  
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• Questions over lost 1,000-page security manual – politics live

  23-10-2017 03:45 via theguardian.com
  Officials have been interrogated in Senate estimates on a security manual lost by contractors last November. Follow all today’s developments in Canberra 2.45am BSTDean Smith notes a Bishop media release from 2015 stating the Australian Government invested $47.2m to attract Thor: Ragnarok and a new Ridley Scott film to Australia.
  Attorney general George Brandis has defended Bishop: 2.41am BSTKimberly Kitching is asking about ministerial standards and whether Julie Bishop met them with some
  
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• Sir David Attenborough: 'The wonder and beauty'

  23-10-2017 02:03 via bbc.co.uk
  The great naturalist tells our science editor David Shukman why he'll never tire of his work.
  
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• Blue Planet II: Why Sir David will never tire of his work

  23-10-2017 02:03 via bbc.co.uk
  The great naturalist tells our science editor David Shukman why he'll never tire of his work.
  
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• Malcolm Turnbull defends NBN rollout – politics live

  23-10-2017 01:32 via theguardian.com
  NBN a hot topic as the government defends technology mix, while GetUp is asked to prove it is not an associated entity of Labor. Government faces Senate estimates and still waiting on the high court decision. Follow it all here … 12.32am BSTSenate president Stephen Parry is suggesting a (private) briefing regarding the issue, which DPS is trying very hard to keep out of the public arena.He says there has been “no compromise” of security. 12.28am BSTIn Finance and Public Admini
  
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• Waiting for the tide to turn: Kiribati's fight for survival

  23-10-2017 01:18 via theguardian.com
  The 33 islands of Kiribati, a remote and shallow nation in the Pacific Ocean, are under threat from climate change. But the islanders have not given up hopeKiribati is one of the most isolated countries in the world. As you fly in to the main island of South Tarawa, located less than 100 kms from the equator, a precariously thin strip of sand and green materialises out of the ocean. On one side, a narrow reef offers some protection to the inhabitants and their land – at low tide, at least.
  
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• More acidic oceans 'will affect all sea life'

  23-10-2017 01:01 via bbc.co.uk
  The eight-year study finds infant sea creatures will be especially harmed by more acidic oceans.
  
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• Coalition braced for estimates budget grilling – politics live

  23-10-2017 00:12 via theguardian.com
  NBN a hot topic as the government seeks to defend technology mix, while GetUp is asked to prove it is not an associated entity of Labor. Government faces Senate estimates and still waiting on the high court decision. Follow it all here … 11.02pm BSTQuestion time is at 2pm, but the main show before that is the estimate hearings, with environment and communications catching a lot of attention – mostly because it is being seen as (potentially) Malcolm Roberts last chance to question th
  
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