Environment news

• Stranded orca refloated in New Zealand

  14-11-2017 18:57 via bbc.co.uk
  Volunteers and military personnel worked together to help return the killer whale to the ocean.
  
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• Into the woods: The Japanese way to beat stress

  14-11-2017 18:49 via bbc.co.uk
  One army veteran suffering from PTSD says Forest Bathing is helping him sleep.
  
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• Pesticides May Cause Bumblebees to Lose Their Buzz, Study Finds

  14-11-2017 18:41 via feedproxy.google.com
  Pesticides significantly reduce the number of pollen grains a bumblebee is able to collect, a new University of Stirling study has found.
  
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• Robert Hutchison obituary

  14-11-2017 18:35 via theguardian.com
  My friend Robert Hutchison, who has died aged 76, was a promoter of culture and the arts with exceptional versatility and range. The Winchester poetry festival, Wilfred Owen Association and Winchester Action on Climate Change are three of the recent successful ventures he led.The youngest of three children of Terence Hutchison, and his German-born wife, Loretta (nee Hack), Robert was born in Baghdad, where his father, later an eminent economic historian, was teaching English. The family fled to
  
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• Switching to organic farming could cut greenhouse gas emissions, study shows

  14-11-2017 18:17 via theguardian.com
  Study also finds that converting conventionally farmed land would not overly harm crop yields or require huge amounts of additional land to feed rising populationsConverting land from conventional agriculture to organic production could reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the run-off of excess nitrogen from fertilisers, and cut pesticide use. It would also, according to a new report, be feasible to convert large amounts of currently conventionally farmed land without catastrophic harm to crop yield
  
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• Global insurance plan aims to defuse potential climate damage 'bombshell'

  14-11-2017 18:07 via theguardian.com
  A scheme unveiled at the UN climate summit aims to help protect 400 million poor people from extreme weather by 2020 - but not everyone is convinced“I was wondering if it was a dream,” said Walter Edwin, who sells honey from more than 50 beehives in Dennery on the Caribbean island of St Lucia. He had just received a phone call telling him to go to the bank for an automatic insurance payout following the major hurricane that struck in 2014. Continue reading...
  
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• Britain wants cycle-friendly cities. Here’s how we get them | Andrew Gilligan

  14-11-2017 15:55 via theguardian.com
  Cycle lanes reduce pollution, improve health and are incredibly popular. But forget common sense: getting the go-ahead on new schemes is all about politicsAlmost four-fifths of people in some of Britain’s largest cities want road space taken away from cars and given to bikes, according to a new poll from Sustrans. I’m not at all surprised. Whenever we proposed the same thing in London, where I was cycling commissioner until last year, we got the same response. Related: What woul
  
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• Synthetic circuits can harvest light energy

  14-11-2017 14:43 via feedproxy.google.com
  By organizing pigments on a DNA scaffold, an MIT-led team of researchers has designed a light-harvesting material that closely mimics the structure of naturally occurring photosynthetic structures.
  
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• UK Government provides £62m to combat deforestation in Latin America

  14-11-2017 14:29
  The UK Government has announced two new projects worth £62m will help tackle deforestation across Latin America by promoting sustainable new business models and sourcing practices.
  
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• Balancing act: Storage and flexible energy vital to UK's renewables tipping point

  14-11-2017 11:21
  The cost of generating energy from wind and solar in the UK is expected to halve by 2040, but the expected future power system volatility will lead to more economic opportunities for flexible energy sources and storage capacity.
  
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• Kellogg's commits to 100% renewable electricity

  14-11-2017 11:12
  Food giant Kellogg's has become the latest multinational to pledge to source all of its electricity needs from renewable sources.
  
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• Will post-Brexit Britain choose political sovereignty over close EU climate and energy ties?

  14-11-2017 09:55
  The UK will need to sacrifice some of its political sovereignty if it wants to maintain a close post-Brexit relationship with the EU over climate and energy-related affairs, according to a top former EU Commission figure.
  
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• Lunching ranger discovers species lost for 40 years

  14-11-2017 09:52 via theguardian.com
  In 1975 two conservationists discovered a gorgeous salamander in the rainforests of Guatemala. No one ever saw it again – and Jackson’s climbing salamander was feared extinct – until last month when local forest guard, Ramos León-Tomás, sat down in the forest for lunch. The last time anyone saw Jackson’s climbing salamander – I didn’t yet exist. It was 1975: Margaret Thatcher took over leadership of the Tories, Saigon fell to Communist forces, th
  
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• Miniature robots could cut pesticide use on farms in future

  14-11-2017 09:30 via theguardian.com
  Robots could also reduce food waste and help harvest crops, but they may not be commercially available for some years to come, say expertsMiniature robot farmers may be the answer to concerns over chemical use on farms and cutting down on food waste, as well as easing labour shortages, academic farming experts have said.The drawback is that the machines in question, while developed in laboratories to an advanced stage, are not yet commercially available in the UK. In an optimistic scenario, they
  
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• Ikea UK's resource-efficiency drive blossoms as revenues surge

  14-11-2017 09:15
  Ikea UK has made strides to become a "truly circular retailer", with the company's annual report highlighting resource-efficiency progress and a second consecutive year of zero waste sent to landfill during a period of economic growth.
  
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• Norway sued over Arctic oil exploration plans

  14-11-2017 09:00 via theguardian.com
  The case, led by Greenpeace, claims Norwegian government has violated constitutional right to a healthy environment and contravenes Paris agreementThe Norwegian government is being sued by climate activists over a decision to open up areas of the Arctic Ocean for oil exploration, a move they say endangers the lives of existing and future generations. The plaintiffs, led by environmental organisations Greenpeace and Youth and Nature, will on Tuesday claim that the Norwegian government has violate
  
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• The public want more funds for UK cycling – what are politicians waiting for?

  14-11-2017 08:15 via theguardian.com
  A new assessment of cycling in UK cities shows people are far more supportive of bold plans than political decision makers often thinkIt may not be clear from the persistent bikelash in many sections of the media, but in fact there is huge public support for increased government investment in cycling and especially for building segregated bike routes.
  Of 7,700 people surveyed in seven major UK cities for a new study published on Tuesday, 78% of people support the creation of more protected bike
  
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• New university tops green table as Oxbridge lags behind

  14-11-2017 08:15 via theguardian.com
  Campuses have come a long way in the 10 years of the student-led People & Planet rankings – but there are surprising failsAny ranking that puts Oxford and Cambridge near the bottom is bound to be controversial, and the student-led People & Planet network faced a barrage of criticism over its first “green” university league tables.A decade on, the ranking has stood the test of time and is credited with helping bring about more eco-friendly practices on campus. On its 10t
  
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• Dutch zero-emission trains to combine biofuel with battery storage

  14-11-2017 08:12
  A batch of zero-emission trains that combine regenerative electrification technology with renewable diesel have been scheduled for commercialisation for 2025, after a pan-European passenger transport firm signed a €170m contract to manufacture the vehicles in the Netherlands.
  
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• Canada's most shameful environmental secret must not remain hidden | Tzeporah Berman

  14-11-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Tar sands have been dubbed the largest – and most destructive – industrial project in human history. And Canada is on the forefront of their exploitationThis week, the Canadian government will be in Bonn touting Canada’s climate plan. It will be joined by Canadian oil companies working to put a green hue on Canadian tarsands – but the world shouldn’t be fooled.
  The truth is, Canada cannot yet meet its own arguably weak climate targets. The country plans to expand oi
  
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• Oxbridge must end dirty investments – both offshore and oil | Elana Sulakshana, Eleanor Salter and Julia Peck

  14-11-2017 07:45 via theguardian.com
  The Paradise Papers have exposed the hypocrisy of universities that teach sustainability while financing climate destruction offshore. We’re calling on them to come cleanStudents at Oxford and Cambridge are taught about the dangers of economic inequality, climate change, and the limits of burnable carbon. But the Paradise Papers have revealed that behind the scenes, the universities are investing tens of millions in projects that systematically exacerbate inequality and climate disaster. T
  
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• Delhi's smog-fighting helicopters can't fly – because of smog

  14-11-2017 07:41 via theguardian.com
  City administrators were told the choppers would be unable to help dissipate the smog until the smog itself clearedAn ambitious plan to use helicopters to fight Delhi’s air pollution has been grounded – because the aircraft cannot operate in such thick smog.
  The Delhi government had engaged a state-owned helicopter company to formulate a plan to use the aircraft to sprinkle water over the city.Continue reading...
  
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• Country diary: peregrine is on the chase, but I can't make out the prey

  14-11-2017 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Most hunts happen in the early morning or just before dusk – except in winter during the short days
  Skylarks are chasing each other over the fields, their sharp calls piercing the air. Two of the birds climb overhead. The second, having seen off the first, circles back, and begins to hover, singing snatches of its bright, vigorous territorial song. The brown, falling leaves are a reminder that it’s November.Shadows drift across the hillside. The evening sun, reaching between the brea
  
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• Singing protest at pro-coal UN event

  14-11-2017 02:27 via bbc.co.uk
  US officials were arguing for the continued use of coal at a UN meeting in Bonn, Germany.
  
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• Why do people still think the Earth is flat?

  14-11-2017 01:56 via bbc.co.uk
  This social media community has come together for the first time in North Carolina to discuss their shared belief.
  
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• US will become a net oil exporter within 10 years, says IEA

  14-11-2017 01:01 via theguardian.com
  International Energy Agency says US oil production between 2010 and 2025 will grow at a rate unparalleled in historyThe shale revolution in north America means the US is destined to become a net oil exporter within 10 years, for the first time since the 1950s.The International Energy Agency said it expected that American oil production between 2010 and 2025 would grow at a rate unparalleled by any country in history, with far-reaching consequences for the US and the world. Continue reading...
  
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