Environment news

• Rick Perry under fire for suggestion fossil fuels can reduce sexual assault

  02-11-2017 23:20 via theguardian.com
  US energy secretary faces criticism from Sierra Club after describing girl who told him about the importance of electricity in African villageThe US energy secretary, Rick Perry, has said he thinks using fossil fuels can help prevent sexual assault, sparking criticism from the Sierra Club, which accused Perry of exploiting the struggle of those most affected by climate change. Perry, who was at an energy conference in Africa last week, said on Thursday that fossil fuels used to power electricity
  
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• New orangutan species discovered in Indonesia

  02-11-2017 18:59 via bbc.co.uk
  Scientists have just identified a new great ape species - and it's already in danger.
  
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• How Air Pollution Clouds Mental Health

  02-11-2017 18:15 via feedproxy.google.com
  There is little debate over the link between air pollution and the human respiratory system: Research shows that dirty air can impair breathing and aggravate various lung diseases. Other potential effects are being investigated, too, as scientists examine connections between toxic air and obesity, diabetes and dementia.Now add to that list psychological distress, which University of Washington researchers have found is also associated with air pollution. The higher
  
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• The UK's race to get its own nuclear inspectors

  02-11-2017 18:04 via bbc.co.uk
  Highly-specialised staff are needed to take over from European nuclear regulators after Brexit.
  
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• New great ape species identified in Indonesia

  02-11-2017 17:19 via bbc.co.uk
  The apes in question were only reported to exist after an expedition into Sumatra mountains in 1997.
  
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• New species of orangutan discovered in Sumatra – and is already endangered

  02-11-2017 17:00 via theguardian.com
  Scientists identify new species of great ape, Pongo tapanuliensis or Tapanuli orangutan, but fear its survival is already in doubt as habitat under threatA new species of great ape has been discovered, according to scientists studying a small population of orangutans in northern Sumatra.Among the great apes – a group that also includes humans, gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos – orangutans are our most distant relative. Since 2001, two distinct species have been recognised: the Borne
  
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• 50-years of Data From a 'Living Oxygen Minimum' Lab Could Help Predict the Oceans' Future

  02-11-2017 16:36 via feedproxy.google.com
  Canadian and US Department of Energy researchers have released 50 years’ worth of data chronicling the deoxygenating cycles of a fjord off Canada’s west coast, and detailing the response of the microbial communities inhabiting the fjord.
  
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• Australian Tourism Policies Fail to Address Climate Change

  02-11-2017 15:48 via feedproxy.google.com
  Australia’s Federal and State governments are failing to produce effective long-term tourism policy to address climate change, according to the findings of new QUT-led research.
  
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• 'Big void' identified in Khufu's Great Pyramid at Giza

  02-11-2017 13:01 via bbc.co.uk
  Scanning technology suggests there is a large, previously unknown cavity in the ancient monument.
  
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• Domino effect: Businesses urged to promote renewables into supply chains

  02-11-2017 12:52
  Corporates that leverage their purchasing power for renewable energy could create a "domino effect" that improves the energy efficiency of supply chains to create more clean generation capacity, a new report from SmartestEnergy has found.
  
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• Have psychologists found a better way to persuade people to save the planet?

  02-11-2017 11:03 via theguardian.com
  Recent studies linking people’s views on social inequality to how they think and act on environmental issues could prove crucial to changing their behaviourIn the 1990s, psychologists at the University of California, Los Angeles, developed a scientific theory to account for all the prejudice and violence in the world. Social dominance theory, which attributes sexism and racism (among other isms) to the way humanity organises its social structures, can be used to explain everything from opp
  
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• Nature@work photo competition winners - in pictures

  02-11-2017 11:00 via theguardian.com
  The European Environment Agency invited European citizens to capture how nature benefits them in a competition called Nature@work. Here are the winning images, announced this weekContinue reading...
  
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• Michael Gove outlines plans to address environmental 'governance gap'

  02-11-2017 10:57
  Defra Secretary Michael Gove has vowed to consult on the creation of an environmental body to ensure the UK avoids a "governance gap" after the country leaves the EU.
  
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• Six things we learnt at cycling's Six Day London

  02-11-2017 09:30 via theguardian.com
  As the cycling event returns to the capital for the third year we get the trackside word on the races, the music and which riders like to party hardestThe lights are low and the music is loud. The beer is flowing and some of the world’s best riders are whipping round the wooden boards of Lee Valley velodrome in one of the many furious and fast paced races of the Six Day London event, now in its third year. Night after night, thousands of people crowded to the velodrome to watch elite rider
  
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• Six things we learned at cycling's Six Day London

  02-11-2017 09:30 via theguardian.com
  As the cycling event returned to the capital for the third year, we got the trackside word on the races, the music and which riders like to party hardestThe lights are low and the music is loud. The beer is flowing and some of the world’s best riders are whipping round the wooden boards of Lee Valley velodrome in one of the many furious and fast paced races of the Six Day London event, now in its third year. Night after night, thousands of people crowded to the velodrome to watch elite rid
  
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• Oil refining capacity set to shrink by a quarter during low-carbon transition

  02-11-2017 09:15
  A quarter of global refining capacity will leave the market or be forced to close by 2035, sparking calls for investors to be aware of the risk of "wasting capital" on new investments into the oil sector.
  
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• Climate change 'will create world's biggest refugee crisis'

  02-11-2017 07:01 via theguardian.com
  Experts warn refugees could number tens of millions in the next decade, and call for a new legal framework to protect the most vulnerable Tens of millions of people will be forced from their homes by climate change in the next decade, creating the biggest refugee crisis the world has ever seen, according to a new report.Senior US military and security experts have told the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) study that the number of climate refugees will dwarf those that have fled the Syrian
  
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• Huge private sector investment puts Paris climate target in reach, says report

  02-11-2017 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Global investment could hold the key to fighting climate change, with one trillion dollars already invested in solutions such as renewables and energy efficiency, says International Finance Corporation
  At least one trillion dollars are being invested globally in ways to reduce the threat of climate change, including renewable power, energy efficiency, and public transport around the world. Continue reading...
  
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• Country diary: mighty oaks and many, many, doomed acorns

  02-11-2017 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Hollingside wood, Durham city Acorns’ chances of survival make lottery odds look attractive as most will be eaten by insects, birds and small mammalsThis wood was last clear-felled in 1799, then replanted with beech and oak. Silver birch, horse chestnut, sycamore and holly have since found their own way in. On the southern slopes the oldest trees, straight-trunked with lofty crowns, tower above the understorey like the pillars and vaulted roof of a cathedral, inspiring a sense of reverence
  
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• Pregnant sharks and rays likely to abort their young if captured

  02-11-2017 02:57 via theguardian.com
  New research has found a quarter of pregnant sharks and rays lose their pups when caught, threatening some speciesAustralian researchers have found a quarter of pregnant sharks and rays abort their pups when captured, revealing a little-known risk to the survival of the slow-growing animals.An analysis of recorded instances of sharks and rays either aborting their pups or undergoing a premature birth once captured found 24% of pregnant females across 88 species lost their young. In some species,
  
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