Environment news

• The rise of the robots brings threats and opportunities | Letters

  26-11-2017 20:00 via theguardian.com
  Readers respond to the advance in robotics, and what it means for our economy, social fabric and the planetThe difference between the robots of today and all previous forms of automation is that they are so flexible (Editorial, 25 November). Intelligent robots will be utilised in any new enterprise rather than people now because the financial returns are likely to be so much greater, given that there will be no recruitment difficulties, wage demands, overtime claims, strikes, sickness absence, p
  
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• Boom in renewables weakens fracking's case in UK, says Tory MP

  26-11-2017 15:47 via theguardian.com
  Chair of party policy committee also points to action to extract more North Sea gas and oil, suggesting support for shale gas coolingThe case for fracking in Britain has weakened because of government action to extract more oil and gas from the North Sea and meteoric growth in renewable power, according to a Tory MP tasked with developing the party’s energy policy.James Heappey said the new rules on tax relief for offshore oil and gas fields announced in the budget last week could change t
  
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• Why climate change is creating a new generation of child brides

  26-11-2017 09:00 via theguardian.com
  As global warming exacerbates drought and floods, farmers’ incomes plunge – and girls as young as 13 are given away to stave off povertyIt was the flood that ensured that Ntonya Sande’s first year as a teenager would also be the first year of her married life. Up to the moment the water swept away her parents’ field in Kachaso in the Nsanje district of Malawi, they had been scraping a living. Afterwards they were reduced to scavenging for bits of firewood to sell.So when
  
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• The trouble with big data is the huge energy bill | John Naughton

  26-11-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  The power consumed by the internet giants’ massive server farms and the mining of the cryptocurrency are growing into a giant environmental headacheOnce upon a time, a very long time ago – 2009 in fact – there was a brief but interesting controversy about the carbon footprint of a Google search. It was kicked off by a newspaper story reporting a “calculation” of mysterious origin that suggested a single Google search generated 7 grams of CO2, which is about half of
  
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• The eco guide to yoga

  26-11-2017 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Mindfulness helps us deal with the stress of climate trauma, and seek solutions. Make sure your kit’s sustainably sourced and exercise outsideDaily yoga sessions were the unexpected hit at the recent Cop23 climate talks in Bonn. Delegate demand was so high that the organisers (the Indian delegation) ran out of mats.Yoga is an accessible route to mindfulness, and a crucial tool for exposing environmental emergency Continue reading...
  
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• Great Barrier Reef coral-breeding program offers 'glimmer of hope'

  26-11-2017 03:02 via theguardian.com
  Project, which could help restore damaged coral populations, has seen success in the PhilippinesScientists have stepped in as environmental matchmakers by breeding baby coral on the Great Barrier Reef in a move that could have worldwide significance.
  Coral eggs and sperm were collected from Heron Island’s reef during last November’s coral spawning to produce more than a million larvae.Continue reading...
  
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• Sadiq Khan to tell London councils they should ban fracking

  26-11-2017 01:01 via theguardian.com
  Health dangers and high water use of shale gas extraction make it unacceptable, says mayor’s draft plan for the capitalSadiq Khan will in effect ban fracking in London – and warns that extracting shale gas represents a toxic health risk.In a controversial move, the London mayor will set out in plans to be published this week that councils across the capital should block the exploration, appraisal or production of shale gas via hydraulic fracturing, which sees rocks blasted with water
  
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