Environment news

• Al Gore: 'I tried my best' but Trump can't be educated on climate change

  10-11-2017 20:18 via theguardian.com
  At UN climate talks in Bonn, Gore is heading an unofficial group trying to stop climate change – in the face of scepticism from Trump administration officialsAl Gore has accused Donald Trump of surrounding himself “with the absolute worst of climate deniers” and said he has given up attempting to persuade the president to reverse his dismantling of policies combatting global warming.However, both Gore, the former US vice-president, and Jerry Brown, governor of California, told
  
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• Bad Break: Osteoporosis-Related Bone Fractures Linked to Air Pollution

  10-11-2017 20:06 via feedproxy.google.com
  Exposure to air pollution is associated with osteoporosis-related loss of bone mineral density and risk of bone fractures, according to a new study by researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. Their findings are published in The Lancet Planetary Health.
  
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• Melting ice sheets will have global impact on ocean tides

  10-11-2017 20:02 via feedproxy.google.com
  Whilst it is widely accepted that sea level is rising because of the melting of the massive sheets covering Greenland and Antarctica, a new paper in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, by scientists at Bangor University in collaboration with Harvard and Oregon State Universities in the US, and McGill University in Canada, shows that the impact of the melting of these ice sheets will go far beyond just changing water levels. It could have further reaching impacts on global climate.
  
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• Trump environment nominee struggles to answer basic climate questions – video

  10-11-2017 20:01 via theguardian.com
  Kathleen Hartnett White struggles to answer basic questions posed by the Senate committee on environment and public works on Thursday. Hartnett White, Trump’s nominee for the environmental quality council chair, had difficulty answering questions from Senators Ben Cardin and Sheldon Whitehouse on green house emissions and climate science  Continue reading...
  
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• Emissions trading and refrigerated truck engines under scrutiny | Letters

  10-11-2017 19:05 via theguardian.com
  Emissions trading benefits big polluters, say Maxime Combes et al. And the UK Treasury continues to subsidise certain highly polluting diesel engines, say Matthew Farrow et alWhile the EU is extolling its “climate leadership” at the UN climate talks in Bonn, in Brussels it has just agreed to prolong its emissions trading system – providing big polluters with billions of euros in subsidies.Some EU member states could use a sizable chunk of these funds to carry on burni
  
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• US switches focus of its Bonn event from clean energy to fossil fuels

  10-11-2017 17:41 via theguardian.com
  One of US’s only public events, originally billed as promoting clean energy, has since been changed to favour coal and nuclear powerThe US has changed the focus of one of its few public events at the Bonn climate talks to emphasise coal and nuclear power, in a sign of the Trump administration’s goals at the talks.An event next Monday, opening the second week of the ongoing UN negotiations, was originally billed as promoting clean energy. However, it has since been changed to emphasis
  
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• A Strange Stellar Explosion with Enduring Brightness

  10-11-2017 17:37 via feedproxy.google.com
  Sitting in a dwarf galaxy about 500 million light years away, supernova iPTF14hls initially seemed like the ordinary explosion of a red giant star when it was discovered by the intermediate Palomar Transient Factory (iPTF) survey in September 2014. Then the brightness of this event lasted more than four times longer than a normal supernova.
  
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• Nanoshells could deliver more chemo with fewer side effects

  10-11-2017 17:36 via feedproxy.google.com
  Researchers investigating ways to deliver high doses of cancer-killing drugs inside tumors have shown they can use a laser and light-activated gold nanoparticles to remotely trigger the release of approved cancer drugs inside cancer cells in laboratory cultures.
  
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• Some Coal Ash from China Too Radioactive for Reuse

  10-11-2017 17:21 via feedproxy.google.com
  Manufacturers are increasingly using encapsulated coal ash from power plants as a low-cost binding agent in concrete, wallboard, bricks, roofing and other building materials. But a new study by U.S. and Chinese scientists cautions that coal ash from high-uranium deposits in China may be too radioactive for this use.
  
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• What went on in Bonn: COP23 week one round-up

  10-11-2017 17:18
  An action-packed first week of international climate talks in Germany has come to an end, with a plethora of strong declarations and corporate commitments signifying a resolute collective intent to stick the path of the Paris Agreement.
  
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• Research shows ice sheets as large as Greenland's melted fast in a warming climate

  10-11-2017 17:07 via feedproxy.google.com
  New research published in Science shows that climate warming reduced the mass of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet by half in as little as 500 years, indicating the Greenland Ice Sheet could have a similar fate.
  
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• New techniques for removing carbon from the atmosphere

  10-11-2017 17:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  Of the approximately two dozen medical CT scanners scattered throughout Stanford’s main campus and medical centers, two can be found nestled in basement labs of the Green Earth Sciences Buildings.
  
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• Climate change, sparse policies endanger right whale population

  10-11-2017 16:55 via feedproxy.google.com
  North Atlantic right whales – a highly endangered species making modest population gains in the past decade – may be imperiled by warming waters and insufficient international protection, according to a new Cornell analysis published online in Global Change Biology, Oct. 30.
  
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• China Experiences Sharp Drop in Coal-Related Emissions, Study Says

  10-11-2017 16:48 via feedproxy.google.com
  Emissions of sulfur dioxide, an air pollutant produced primarily by burning coal, have fallen by 75 percent in China since 2007, while SO2 emissions in India have jumped 50 percent, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Maryland.
  
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• Air pollution exposure inequality persists in Massachusetts

  10-11-2017 16:36 via feedproxy.google.com
  Despite overall reductions in ambient air pollution in Massachusetts, exposure continues to fall unequally along racial/ethnic, income, and education lines, according to a new study led by a School of Public Health researcher.The study, published in Environmental Research, found concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) decreased across the state between 2003 and 2010, but exposure remained higher in predominantly Hispanic and non-Hispanic black
  
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• Baltic Clams and Worms Release as Much Greenhouse Gas as 20 000 Dairy Cows

  10-11-2017 15:54 via feedproxy.google.com
  Worms and clams enhance the release of methane up to eight times more compared to sea bottoms without animals, shows a study by scientists at Stockholm University and Cardiff University.
  
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• New Routes to Renewables: Sandia Speeds Transformation of Biofuel Waste Into Wealth

  10-11-2017 15:48 via feedproxy.google.com
  A Sandia National Laboratories-led team has demonstrated faster, more efficient ways to turn discarded plant matter into chemicals worth billions. The team’s findings could help transform the economics of making fuels and other products from domestically grown renewable sources.
  
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• Yes, the dinosaurs were incredibly ‘unlucky’. Just as well for us | Brian Switek

  10-11-2017 15:41 via theguardian.com
  If the Yucatán asteroid hadn’t struck, dinosaurs would have continued ruling Earth – and our primate forebears taken a very different evolutionary routeSixty-six million years ago, dinosaurs had an exceptionally bad day. A chunk of space rock nine kilometres across smacked into what’s now Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula, instantaneously triggering an extinction event that for ever changed the nature of life on Earth. This is one of the rare moments when we can lo
  
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• Yes, the dinosaurs were certainly incredibly ‘unlucky’. Just as well for us | Brian Switek

  10-11-2017 15:41 via theguardian.com
  If the Yucatán asteroid hadn’t struck, dinosaurs would have continued ruling Earth – and our primate forebears taken a very different evolutionary routeSixty-six million years ago, dinosaurs had an exceptionally bad day. A chunk of space rock nine kilometres across smacked into what’s now Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula, instantaneously triggering an extinction event that for ever changed the nature of life on Earth. This is one of the rare moments when we can lo
  
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• Scale of 'nitrate timebomb' revealed

  10-11-2017 15:17 via bbc.co.uk
  Big quantities of nitrate chemicals from farm fertilisers are polluting the rocks beneath our feet.
  
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• A green tree frog and an erupting volcano: Friday's best photos

  10-11-2017 14:25 via theguardian.com
  The Guardian’s picture editors bring you a selection of photo highlights, including a baby elephant and Melania Trump on the Great Wall Continue reading...
  
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• Antarctic base comes out of deep freeze

  10-11-2017 14:14 via bbc.co.uk
  The advance party sent in to open up Britain’s mothballed Antarctic base say it is in good shape.
  
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• Man jailed after rhino horns and elephant tusks are found in attic

  10-11-2017 13:39 via theguardian.com
  Abbas Allawi is sentenced to 14 months for trying to sell on Instagram endangered animal parts worth up to £2mA would-be trader in endangered animal parts has been jailed after rhino horns, elephant tusks and hippo teeth worth up to £2m were discovered by specially trained search dogs in a police raid.Abbas Allawi, 52, was arrested when officers from the Metropolitan police’s wildlife crime unit searched his home in Gisburne Way, Watford, on 19 October last year. Continue readi
  
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• Reports: Chancellor to raise diesel taxes in Autumn Statement

  10-11-2017 12:24
  Chancellor Philip Hammond will raise taxes for diesel vehicles in the upcoming Autumn Budget in an attempt to boost the uptake of low-carbon alternatives, according to media reports.
  
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• Reports: Chancellor to raise diesel taxes in Autumn Budget

  10-11-2017 12:24
  Chancellor Philip Hammond will raise taxes for diesel vehicles in the upcoming Autumn Budget in an attempt to boost the uptake of low-carbon alternatives, according to media reports.
  
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• Nuclear accident sends 'harmless' radioactive cloud over Europe

  10-11-2017 12:07 via theguardian.com
  French institute says pollution suggests release of nuclear material in Russia or Kazakhstan in SeptemberA cloud of radioactive pollution over Europe in recent weeks indicates that an accident happened in a nuclear facility in Russia or Kazakhstan in the last week of September, French nuclear safety institute IRSN has said. The IRSN on Thursday ruled out an accident in a nuclear reactor, saying it was likely to be in a nuclear fuel treatment site or centre for radioactive medicine. There has bee
  
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• Seahorses found living in River Thames in London

  10-11-2017 11:21 via bbc.co.uk
  Two species of seahorses are among the unexpected creatures found living in London.
  
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• Experience: A cockroach got stuck in my ear

  10-11-2017 11:00 via theguardian.com
  It clawed further in, burrowing deeper with its mouth. It was excruciatingly painfulIt was January 2014, and I was living in Darwin, Australia, with a couple of friends. It had been an uneventful Tuesday evening and I went to sleep as normal, around midnight. I was living in an older-style house, which, for ventilation, had a gap of about 45cm between the internal walls and the roof.I woke up at about 2am and realised I couldn’t hear in one ear. I was sleepy and perplexed, but I knew
  
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• Viking fishing on the river Lune - in pictures

  10-11-2017 10:55 via theguardian.com
  Margaret Owen is hoping to keep the Viking tradition of haaf netting alive on the Lancastrian coast Continue reading...
  
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• Donald Trump cannot halt US climate progress, former Obama adviser says

  10-11-2017 10:12 via theguardian.com
  Paul Bodnar believes US president has ability to hamper progress towards a lower carbon economy – but that market forces will ultimately stop himDonald Trump could slow down US progress towards a lower carbon economy, but he will be unable to halt it because businesses and local governments have committed to a low-carbon path, a former climate negotiator for the US has said.Through measures such as slapping import tariffs on solar products, scrapping incentives to renewable energy and prom
  
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• Michael Gove is backing a ban on bee-killing pesticides. But it’s only a start | Hannah Lownsbrough

  10-11-2017 10:00 via theguardian.com
  At last, the environment secretary has stated his opposition to neonicotinoids. Now he needs to be brave, and confront the use of other poisonous pesticidesThere was good news this morning for the hundreds of thousands of people who have been calling on the government to endorse a ban on neonicotinoids, the main culprit for the precipitous decline in the world’s bee population. Michael Gove, the responsible government minister, has finally confirmed that the UK will support an extended ban
  
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• UK Government backs 'virtual power plant' platform and robotics research

  10-11-2017 09:51
  Battery developers Moixa has secured government funding to expand its flexible energy platform that transforms third-party batteries and electric vehicles (EVs) into "virtual power plants", while the UK Government has also unveiled an £84m fund for robotics and energy innovation.
  
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• New Philips wireless connected lighting system could deliver 'huge' energy savings

  10-11-2017 08:30
  Philips Lighting has launched a new wireless connected lighting system which could help workplaces cut energy usage on lighting by up to 70%.
  
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• Direct democracy can offer a third way in the climate fight | John Gibbons

  10-11-2017 08:30 via theguardian.com
  With political agreement making slow progress and direct action becoming more dangerous, we must find alternativesIn the medieval legend made famous by the brothers Grimm, the German town of Hamelin is besieged by a plague of rats, until the mysterious pied piper appears and agrees, for a fee, to rid them of the infestation. The mayor then reneges on payment and the piper exacts a savage revenge on the town’s ingrates by luring away their children, who are never seen again.The tale could a
  
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• The stereo cycles of Sicily: Palermo teens pump up the velo – in pictures

  10-11-2017 08:26 via theguardian.com
  Bici Palermo Tuning – a group of teenagers from the Sicilian capital – spend anything up to €1,300 customising their bikes with car batteries and multiple speakers to develop thunderous sound systems. The police are not impressed Continue reading...
  
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• How cargo bikes can help unclog London's congested roads

  10-11-2017 08:20 via theguardian.com
  Waltham Forest’s new zero-emissions delivery service aims to replace polluting trucks for local deliveries of food, online purchases and moreEach morning Oscar Godoy unlocks a door in a railway arch in north London, organises the day’s deliveries, and assigns jobs to his cargo bike riders. They manoeuvre the hefty bikes from the narrow lane out on to the road, past assorted vehicles from the MOT garage, the car wash and vehicle repair outfits at either end.In the afternoons Godoy doe
  
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• The North Face designs carbon 'net-negative' wool beanie

  10-11-2017 08:15
  The North Face has addressed climate change with the launch of its new wool beanie which the global apparel brand claims was produced with a "net-negative" carbon impact.
  
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• The North Face design wool beanie with carbon 'net-negative' production

  10-11-2017 08:15
  The North Face has addressed climate change with the launch of its new wool beanie, with the production said to be carbon "net-negative".
  
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• Country diary: millions of birds arrive on their autumn migration

  10-11-2017 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Many birds migrate at night, using the stars to orient themselves. For some, Britain is the last stop – for others, a staging postWaking in the small hours, I find my bedroom bisected by a ribbon of light. The waxing gibbous moon hangs like a beaten silver pendant, backlighting wisps of cloud that cling to the inky sky like cobwebs. As I raise my binoculars to view the moon’s craters, I notice a tiny silhouette flutter across the lunar disc.Nocturnal migration allows birds to spend t
  
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• 'Half my lung cancer patients have been non-smokers': choking over Delhi toxic air crisis

  10-11-2017 06:00 via theguardian.com
  Pollution not just affecting peoples’ health but also India’s political leadership, with Modi appearing reluctant to head responseAs the air quality fell, first to severe, then to emergency levels this week, doctors at Sir Ganga Ram hospital knew they needed to start fast-tracking patients.“They come in, they get a nebuliser, and they go,” says Arvind Kumar, a lung surgeon at the medical facility in north Delhi.Continue reading...
  
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• 'Half my lung cancer patients are non-smokers': toxic air crisis chokes Delhi

  10-11-2017 06:00 via theguardian.com
  Pollution not just affecting peoples’ health but also India’s political leadership, with Modi appearing reluctant to head responseAs the air quality fell, first to severe, then to emergency levels this week, doctors at Sir Ganga Ram hospital knew they needed to start fast-tracking patients.“They come in, they get a nebuliser, and they go,” says Arvind Kumar, a lung surgeon at the medical facility in north Delhi.Continue reading...
  
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• Ribbiting stuff: museum app gives people chance to help in frog research

  10-11-2017 04:59 via theguardian.com
  Australian Museum teams up with IBM to monitor the country’s native frog population by having their calls recordedThe Australian Museum has teamed up with IBM to count the country’s native frog population via a world-first app that records their calls and sends them to experts for identification.App FrogID will give the public the chance to carry out Australia’s first such national count, which begins on Friday and is intended to support researchers’ efforts to save endan
  
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• Koala found dead with ears cut off in case of 'disgusting' animal cruelty

  10-11-2017 04:40 via theguardian.com
  Marsupial’s body found on Hopkins Point Road at Warrnambool in Victoria’s south-west on MondayA koala has been found dead with its ears cut off in Victoria’s south-west as police investigate a spate of animal mutilations in the area. The koala’s body was found about two kilometres east of Hopkins bridge on Hopkins Point Road at Warrnambool on Monday by an SES worker. Continue reading...
  
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• New Zealand's winter shorter by a month over 100 years

  10-11-2017 02:49 via theguardian.com
  Studies by National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research show season has contracted equally at its beginning and endNew Zealand’s winter has gotten shorter by a month over the last 100 years, meaning “true winter” weather with very low temperatures, frosts and snow starts significantly later in the year and ends earlier.Brett Mullan, from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa), crunched the temperature records from two 30-year-periods over the la
  
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• Ice ceiling

  10-11-2017 02:22 via bbc.co.uk
  For decades, there was a ceiling not of glass but of ice, holding women back from doing research in Antarctica.
  
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• Government urged to act over computer science GCSEs

  10-11-2017 02:13 via bbc.co.uk
  More than half of England's secondary schools did not offer the subject in 2015-16, a report has found.
  
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• Nuclear accident in Russia or Kazakhstan sends 'harmless' radioactive cloud over Europe

  10-11-2017 01:41 via theguardian.com
  French institute says pollution suggests release of nuclear material south of the Ural mountains in September has no consequence for human healthA cloud of radioactive pollution over Europe in recent weeks indicates that an accident has happened in a nuclear facility in Russia or Kazakhstan in the last week of September, French nuclear safety institute IRSN has said.The IRSN on Thursday ruled out an accident in a nuclear reactor, saying it was likely to be in a nuclear fuel treatment site or cen
  
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• Uber's flying taxis and offshore robot repairs: the best green innovations of the week

  10-11-2017 01:01
  In a week of climate negotiations at Bonn, edie rounds up the low-carbon and resource-efficient innovations that could shape the future.
  
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• Trump emissions threat to US car industry

  10-11-2017 00:39 via bbc.co.uk
  US car makers will suffer if President Trump eases emissions standards, California's governor says.
  
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