Environment news

• Fiji told it must spend billions to adapt to climate change

  09-11-2017 22:37 via theguardian.com
  At COP 23 talks in Bonn, Fiji has called on developed nations to help the world’s most vulnerable build resilience to climate changeTo prepare for the rising temperatures, strengthening storms and higher sea levels in the coming decades, Fiji must spend an amount equivalent to its entire yearly gross domestic product over the next 10 years, according to the first comprehensive assessment of the small island nation’s vulnerability to climate change, compiled by its government with the
  
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• Changing climate to bring more landslides on logged land WSU research shows

  09-11-2017 21:06 via feedproxy.google.com
  Washington State University researchers say landslides on logged forests will be more widespread as the Northwest climate changes.
  
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• The Guardian view on pesticides: give bees a chance | Editorial

  09-11-2017 20:25 via theguardian.com
  It may be hard to tie the neonicotinoid group of chemicals directly to the global bee decline but they do cause widespread harm. A ban is the right callMichael Gove, the leading Brexiter who’s now in charge of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, is a natural iconoclast, sometimes a valuable characteristic in government. His education revolution left a damaging legacy of unaccountability and underfunding. But in his year as justice secretary, he won fans across the priso
  
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• Pollution problem is just being pushed around | Letters

  09-11-2017 20:17 via theguardian.com
  London’s proposed ultra-low emissions zone will do nothing to address the capital’s problem with polluting vehicles, writes Felix LeachThe mayor of London’s proposed ultra-low emission zone, to come into effect from 8 April 2019 (Report, 24 October), risks perpetuating the problem. The discourse currently focuses on NOx emissions, specifically those from diesel engines, but this is hardly the only pollutant. By insisting on Euro 4 (2005) standards for petrol cars and the signif
  
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• Freedoms of the forest, ancient and modern | Letters

  09-11-2017 20:17 via theguardian.com
  David Carpenter and Ralph Hanna point out that the 1217 Charter of the Forest wasn’t a great emancipation for ordinary people, while Kevin May sings the praises of modern-day Kielder Forest in NorthumberlandFelicity Lawrence (For a fairer share of our resources, turn to the 13th century, 8 November) states that the 1217 Charter of the Forest “asserted the rights of ordinary people to access from ‘the commons’ the means for a livelihood and shelter”. It thus “r
  
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• Hurricane Maria devastation prompts Ocean XPRIZE rethink

  09-11-2017 19:37 via bbc.co.uk
  September's Maria storm disrupts the international competition to find innovative ways to map the seafloor.
  
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• Breeding highly productive corn has reduced its ability to adapt

  09-11-2017 19:25 via feedproxy.google.com
  Stuck where they are, plants have to adapt to their environments, responding to stresses like drought or pests by changing how they grow.On a broader scale, crop breeders need to be able to develop new varieties that are adapted to a new location or changing growing conditions in the same area.
  
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• NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP Sees Tropical Depression Haikui Form

  09-11-2017 18:37 via feedproxy.google.com
  NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite passed over the Philippines and saw the thirtieth tropical cyclone of the northwestern Pacific Ocean typhoon season form.
  
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• Extinct wolf-sized otter had powerful bite

  09-11-2017 18:24 via bbc.co.uk
  A giant otter that roamed China six million years ago had a surprisingly strong bite, say scientists.
  
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• China's Sulfur Dioxide Emissions Declined Significantly While India's Grew Over Last Decade

  09-11-2017 18:09 via feedproxy.google.com
  Sulfur dioxide is an air pollutant that causes acid rain, haze and many health-related problems. It is produced predominantly when coal is burned to generate electricity.
  
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• Buzzing for Gove: your photos of bees

  09-11-2017 17:17 via theguardian.com
  The nation’s bees welcomed the news that Britain backing a Europe-wide ban on insect-harming pesticidesContinue reading...
  
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• Rina Now a Large Post-Tropical Storm in North Central Atlantic

  09-11-2017 17:14 via feedproxy.google.com
  Tropical Storm Rina has lost its tropical characteristics and has become post-tropical as it continues to move through the Central North Atlantic Ocean. NOAA's GOES East satellite provided a visible image of the storm. 
  
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• One nation, two tribes: opposing visions of US climate role on show in Bonn

  09-11-2017 17:10 via theguardian.com
  Donald Trump has pulled the US out of the Paris accord – but other Americans are standing with the world to help fight the ‘existential crisis’ of global warmingDeep schisms in the US over climate change are on show at the UN climate talks in Bonn – where two sharply different visions of America’s role in addressing dangerous global warming have been put forward to the world.Donald Trump’s decision to pull the US out of the Paris climate agreement has created
  
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• Atmospheric rivers could increase flood risk by 80 per cent

  09-11-2017 17:03 via feedproxy.google.com
  The global effect and impact of atmospheric rivers on rainfall, flooding and droughts has been estimated for the first time – revealing that in some regions the risks can be enhanced by up to 80 percent. The work, of which Oxford University is a key partner, also considers the number of people affected by these atmospheric phenomena across the globe.
  
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• UK's biggest solar farm planned for Kent coast

  09-11-2017 16:55 via theguardian.com
  Subsidy-free plant would cover 900 acres of farmland near Great Expectations marshes at Faversham, dwarfing output of UK’s current largest solar siteAn enormous solar power station is planned for the north Kent coast that would be the UK’s biggest and dwarf existing solar farms, providing a significant boost to an industry that has stalled since ministers halted subsidies 18 months ago.Cleve Hill, a mile from the historic town of Faversham, would have five times the capacity of the U
  
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• Climate-influenced changes in flowering, fruiting also affect bird abundance, activities

  09-11-2017 16:52 via feedproxy.google.com
  "You are what you eat" might give way to "you are when you eat," based on a new study tracking shifts in Hawaiian bird abundance, breeding and molting based on climate-related changes to native vegetation. 
  
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• Mushrooms Are Full of Antioxidants That May Have Antiaging Potential

  09-11-2017 16:43 via feedproxy.google.com
  Mushrooms may contain unusually high amounts of two antioxidants that some scientists suggest could help fight aging and bolster health, according to a team of Penn State researchers.
  
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• Indian Air Pollution Reaches Dangerous Levels, Doctors Warn

  09-11-2017 16:25 via feedproxy.google.com
  Air pollution in the Indian capital of Delhi has reached extraordinarily high levels, equivalent to smoking two packs of cigarettes a day, the nation’s doctors and public health experts warned this week.
  
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• Ghana's Pineapple Farmers Need More Intensive Training

  09-11-2017 15:52 via feedproxy.google.com
  Simple technologies can be learned effectively through imitation, while complex methods require professional training. If Ghanaian pineapple farmers are to achieve higher yields through more sustainable agriculture, they will need to be trained in exactly these types of complex applications. This was the conclusion reached by a team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (ifW), who provide evidence for this assertion in the form of a new study
  
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• Urban Refuge: How Cities Can Help Rebuild Declining Bee Populations

  09-11-2017 15:36 via feedproxy.google.com
  The billowing stainless steel forms of Frank Gehry’s Pritzker bandshell seem to float up from behind the 3.5-acre Lurie Garden in Millennium Park, backed by Chicago’s celebrated skyline. Another landmark in a city long a laboratory for innovation in architecture and landscaping, the garden has been called a “model of responsible horticulture.” Masses of flowering perennials and grasses are a striking counterpoint to the surrounding walls of concrete and glass. P
  
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• Identify the Best Drought Index to Study Global Drylands

  09-11-2017 15:32 via feedproxy.google.com
  Drought is the world’s costliest natural disaster. To monitor, detect and quantify drought, many drought indices have been developed. Previous studies have shown that different indices can yield diverse results for a specific drought event, and a drought index can also give different results depending on the method used for the calculation of potential evapotranspiration (PET).
  
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• UK 'will support' neonicotinoid pesticide ban

  09-11-2017 15:21 via bbc.co.uk
  An extended ban on controversial neonicotinoid pesticides will be supported by the UK, Michael Gove says.
  
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• EU split over use of major weedkiller glyphosate

  09-11-2017 15:05 via bbc.co.uk
  Critics say widely-used glyphosate is harmful, as the EU postpones a decision on it.
  
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• 27 Ways Heatwaves Can Kill

  09-11-2017 15:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  A new systematic synthesis by researchers at the University of Hawai?i at M?noa shows that there are at least 27 different physiological pathways in which a heatwave can kill a human being, and everyone is at risk.
  
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• No more blackouts?

  09-11-2017 14:09 via feedproxy.google.com
  Today, more than 1.3 billion people are living without regular access to power, including more than 300 million in India and 600 million in sub-Saharan Africa. In these and other developing countries, access to a main power grid, particularly in rural regions, is remote and often unreliable.Increasingly, many rural and some urban communities are turning to microgrids as an alternative source of electricity. Microgrids are small-scale power systems that supply local energy, typically in the form
  
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• Tackling the toxic danger inside our cars

  09-11-2017 14:05 via bbc.co.uk
  Pollution in a car can be worse than outside, as it traps nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and soot-like particles.
  
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• Defra throws weight behind total ban on bee-harming pesticides

  09-11-2017 13:46
  The UK Government has given its support to a proposed European-wide ban on toxic pesticides that have a damaging effect on the dwindling honeybee population.
  
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• America City by Chris Beckett review – dark vision of our future

  09-11-2017 13:00 via theguardian.com
  The Arthur C Clarke winner’s dystopia is set in a future US ravaged by climate change and warThe signposts have been around for decades, and the territory is increasingly well mapped. So while the past may be a foreign country, the future is an increasingly familiar one – in which we continue to be alarmingly ourselves.In this vivid and disturbing climate-change novel, Chris Beckett, winner of the Arthur C Clarke award, compellingly illustrates the consequences of our species&rs
  
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• Share your photos of bees

  09-11-2017 12:59 via theguardian.com
  Michael Gove, the environment secretary, has said the UK will ban insect-harming pesticides, so we want to see your photos of bees
  It’s been a terrible time to be an bee. But there may be cause for optimism, with the announcement that the UK will back a total ban on insect-harming pesticides in fields across Europe. Related: UK will back total ban on bee-harming pesticides, Michael Gove revealsContinue reading...
  
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• Sustainable Business Covered podcast: Ikea house parties and SDG gamification

  09-11-2017 12:00
  Gaming for good company Playmob discuss how it is raising awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), while Ikea throws a house party celebrating 30 years of operating in the UK.
  
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• New EU proposals 'gifting' car industry with weak emission cuts goal

  09-11-2017 11:27
  As evidence shows that one-third of VW cars with 'defeat devices' remain unfixed, EU policymakers have come under criticism for "gifting" the car industry with ineffective new regulation over low-emission vehicle uptake.
  
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• EU accused of 'gifting' car industry with weak emission cuts goal

  09-11-2017 11:27
  As evidence shows that one-third of VW cars with 'defeat devices' remain unfixed, EU policymakers have come under criticism for "gifting" the car industry with ineffective new regulation over low-emission vehicle uptake.
  
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• Marston's brewer receives water self-supply licence

  09-11-2017 10:29
  Brewery and pub retailer Marston's, which operates more than 1,600 pubs, bars and lodges has been granted a self-supply licence to supply its own water and wastewater services.
  
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• Trump accused of breaking promises and ruining Scottish dunes

  09-11-2017 09:39 via theguardian.com
  Ecologists expect Aberdeenshire sand dunes to lose conservation protection because of president’s golf courseThe spectacular dunes habitat in Aberdeenshire used by Donald Trump for his £1bn golf resort is likely to lose its legal protection because his golf course has ruined the site, conservationists say.Expert ecologists, including one who backed the US president’s original plans for the course of 10 years ago, believe the sand dunes will be stripped of their status as a site
  
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• Smurfit Kappa hits water goal three years early

  09-11-2017 08:31
  Packaging giant Smurfit Kappa has hit its 2020 environmental target to reduce the chemical oxygen demand (COD) in water discharge thanks to a £50m investment in sustainable technology.
  
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• Killer and cure: Venom at London's Natural History Museum – in pictures

  09-11-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  From snakes to spiders, wasps to scorpions, the Natural History Museum’s new Venom exhibition promises to unnerve and entice, as it explores one of nature’s deadliest forces and its power to both kill and cure Continue reading...
  
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• Michael Bloomberg’s ‘war on coal’ goes global with $50m fund

  09-11-2017 07:45 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: Billionaire’s campaign has seen half of US coal plants close in six years. Now he is targeting Europe and beyond to fight climate change and air pollutionThe battle to end coal-burning, backed by billionaire Michael Bloomberg, is expanding out of the US and around the world in its bid to reduce the global warming threat posed by the most polluting fossil fuel.Bloomberg, a UN special envoy on climate change and former mayor of New York city, has funded a $164m campaign in the US
  
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• Don’t be complacent: climate change will ravage rich and poor alike | Patricia Scotland

  09-11-2017 07:00 via theguardian.com
  My trip to islands that bore the brunt of Hurricanes Irma and Maria proved one thing: we must think again about how to help those most at riskIn Pointe Michel, on the Caribbean island of Dominica, I met a woman sitting in the middle of a pile of rubble. On her right there was a fridge and on her left a ruined mattress – the only recognisable possessions among the jumble of concrete, wood, metal, glass, galvanised iron and everything else that just a few weeks ago used to be her home. She a
  
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• UK will back total ban on bee-harming pesticides, Michael Gove reveals

  09-11-2017 06:45 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: The latest research leads the environment secretary to overturn the government’s previous opposition, making a total EU ban much more likelyA total ban on insect-harming pesticides in fields across Europe will be backed by the UK, environment secretary Michael Gove has revealed.
  The decision reverses the government’s previous position and is justified by recent new evidence showing neonicotinoids have contaminated the whole landscape and cause damage to colonies of bees. I
  
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• The evidence points in one direction – we must ban neonicotinoids | Michael Gove

  09-11-2017 06:45 via theguardian.com
  With more and more evidence emerging that these pesticides harm bees and other insects, it would be irresponsible not to restrict their useTwo principles guide this government’s approach to the natural world. We want not just to protect but to enhance the environment. And we want our decisions to be informed at all times by rigorous scientific evidence.Which is why when the science shows that our environment is in increasing danger we have to act. Like many others, I was deeply concerned b
  
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• Country diary: The frogs disappear to the bottom of the pond for winter

  09-11-2017 06:30 via theguardian.com
  As the pond gets a clearout and settles into winter rest, the male frogs prepare to hibernate in their bachelor basementFor six months an iceberg of a frog in our pond gave us a regular heads-up. Two eyes and a plimsoll-line mouth popped out from under the duckweed blanket. The size of the animal beneath was a matter of conjecture until a fortnight ago, when I cleared out the pond and the frog – or rather frogs – were exposed in clear, open water.All four frogs hung around for the re
  
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• Great Barrier Reef ad campaign is LNP 'greenwashing' – Labor

  09-11-2017 05:25 via theguardian.com
  LNP leader Tim Nicholls says the advertising plan is to ‘overcome misleading green activist scare campaigns’A Liberal National party plan to spend $4m on a Great Barrier Reef marketing campaign if it takes power in Queensland has drawn fire as an attempt at “greenwashing” in a void of climate policy.The LNP leader, Tim Nicholls, said the advertising was to “overcome the misleading green activist scare campaigns which have talked down our greatest natural wonder&rdqu
  
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• Ben Nevis gets automatic weather station

  09-11-2017 03:42 via bbc.co.uk
  For the first time in 113 years, live data is streaming from the top of the UK's tallest mountain.
  
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• Bittern numbers in UK at record high, says RSPB

  09-11-2017 01:01 via theguardian.com
  Booming of male bitterns reveals presence of at least 164 of the heron-like waders living in British wetlands, says charityPopulations of the bittern, a wetland bird that was facing extinction in the UK in the late 1990s, are at a record high, conservationists report.Resident numbers of “Britain’s loudest bird” increased in 2017, and experts – using the foghorn-like booming call of the males to survey the species – have counted at least 164 birds at 71 sites. Contin
  
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