Environment news

• Lobster found with Pepsi logo 'tattoo' fuels fears over ocean litter

  29-11-2017 22:20 via theguardian.com
  Blue-and-red image appears on claw of lobster found off New Brunswick
  How the logo got there remains a topic of debateConcerns over debris littering the world’s oceans are back in the spotlight after a Canadian fishing crew found a lobster with the blue and red Pepsi logo imprinted on its claw.Trapped in the waters off Grand Manan, New Brunswick, the lobster had been loaded onto a crate to have its claws banded when Karissa Lindstrand came across it. Continue reading...
  
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• Mynas v miners: they might be swooping menaces but they're not all bad

  29-11-2017 22:01 via theguardian.com
  Know your miner from your myner. Both are aggressive in different ways – discover why we’re killing one but never the other• Vote for Australia’s bird of the yearA kookaburra nestles on my balcony and belts its deliciously rambunctious laugh, like an ape in a zoo. But, mid-cackle, it is interrupted by a series of urgent, high-pitched screams like sirens.Three miner birds flutter in its face, screaming hysterically at it. At first, the kookaburra just gives the unrelenting
  
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• Caesar's invasion site 'found': Is this where the Romans landed?

  29-11-2017 20:53 via bbc.co.uk
  Archaeologists believe they may have uncovered the first evidence of Julius Caesar's invasion of Britain.
  
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• Hidden history of prehistoric women's work revealed

  29-11-2017 20:33 via bbc.co.uk
  Prehistoric women's manual work was tougher than rowing in today's elite boat crews, say scientists.
  
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• Study Discovers Why Global Warming Will Accelerate As CO2 Levels Rise

  29-11-2017 20:06 via feedproxy.google.com
  Global warming is likely to speed up as the Earth becomes increasingly more sensitive to atmospheric CO? concentrations, scientists from the University of Reading have warned.In a new study, published this week in the prestigious journal PNAS, the scientists explain that the influence of increasing levels of atmospheric CO2 on global warming will become more severe over time because the patterns of warming of the Earth’s surface will lead to reduced cloud cover in some sensitive
  
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• 'Buried in marshes': sea-level rise could destroy historic sites on US east coast

  29-11-2017 20:00 via theguardian.com
  New research shows by the end of the century an increase in sea level will threaten the White House, early colonial settlements and other historic placesLarge tracts of America’s east coast heritage are at risk from being wiped out by sea level rise, with the rising oceans set to threaten more than 13,000 archaeological and historic sites, according to new research.Even a modest increase in sea level will imperil much of the south-eastern US’s heritage by the end of the century, rese
  
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• Eruption Clues: UNH Researchers Create Snapshot of Volcano Plumbing

  29-11-2017 18:19 via feedproxy.google.com
  Much like a forensic team recreates a scene to determine how a crime was committed, researchers at the University of New Hampshire are using scientific sleuthing to better understand the journey of magma, or molten rock, in one of Europe’s largest and most active volcanos, Mount Etna. Researchers applied several techniques, in a new way, to create a more accurate picture of the volcano’s plumbing system and how quickly the magma rises to the top to cause an eruption. Their findi
  
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• New study uncovers the 'keystone domino' strategy of climate denial | Dana Nuccitelli

  29-11-2017 18:17 via theguardian.com
  How climate denial blogs misinform so many people with such poor scientific arguments.
  The body of evidence supporting human-caused global warming is vast – too vast for climate denial blogs to attack it all. Instead they focus on what a new study published in the journal Bioscience calls “keystone dominoes.” These are individual pieces of evidence that capture peoples’ attention, like polar bears. The authors write:These topics are used as “proxies” for AGW [
  
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• Apples should be kept in the fridge now – but what about oranges and bananas?

  29-11-2017 17:36 via theguardian.com
  New labelling guidelines suggest we should keep more of our fruit in the fridge. But not everything is suitable for cold storage – here’s a fruit-by-fruit guideIs there anything more disappointing than biting into an apple, only to find it has gone all fluffy and soft? It happens all the time – and now we know why. According to a government initiative on food labelling, it is because we are not storing our Pink Lady apples in the fridge.As part of a drive to reduce annual house
  
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• Action Plan To Boost Women's Input On Climate Change

  29-11-2017 17:31 via feedproxy.google.com
  The 23rd UN Conference of the Parties on climate change (COP23) that took place in Bonn this month (November 6—17) took a step forward on emphasising the role of women in the global fight against climate change by adopting a gender action plan (GAP). 
  
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• Higher Plant Species Richness May Not Be Enough To Protect Ecosystems From The Worst Impacts Of Climate Extremes

  29-11-2017 17:24 via feedproxy.google.com
  Studies on mild fluctuations in weather have provided support for the idea that higher biodiversity results in more stable functioning of ecosystems, but critical appraisal of the evidence from extreme event studies is lacking. 
  
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• UBC Okanagan Researchers Discover Neurotoxin in Lake Winnipeg

  29-11-2017 16:21 via feedproxy.google.com
  A new study from UBC’s Okanagan campus has found that BMAA—a toxin linked to several neurodegenerative diseases—is present in high concentrations during cyanobacteria blooms in Lake Winnipeg.
  
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• Polecats sightings reported in Essex

  29-11-2017 15:57 via bbc.co.uk
  A wildlife trust has asked people to get in touch if they spot the creatures.
  
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• Trophy hunting removes 'good genes' and raises extinction risk

  29-11-2017 15:32 via bbc.co.uk
  Hunting animals with the biggest horns, tusks or manes could lead to extinction, according to a study.
  
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• Cranberry Growers Tart on Phosphorus

  29-11-2017 15:29 via feedproxy.google.com
  At Thanksgiving, many Americans look forward to eating roast turkey, pumpkin pie, and tangy red cranberries. To feed that appetite, cranberry farming is big business. In Massachusetts, cranberries are the most valuable food crop. The commonwealth’s growers provide one-fourth of the U.S. cranberry supply.
  
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• Fisheries Scientists to Reap Benefits from New NOAA Satellite

  29-11-2017 14:17 via feedproxy.google.com
  Environmental satellites are a forecaster’s best friend. Orbiting high above the planet, these “eyes in the sky” watch for extreme weather and climate conditions that threaten lives and property.
  
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• Wrap launches new industry guidelines for food date labels

  29-11-2017 13:37
  Waste agency Wrap has today (29 November) unveiled a new date label guidance for food manufacturers and retailers to help tackle the amount of edible food discarded in UK homes.
  
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• The best nature books of 2017

  29-11-2017 13:00 via theguardian.com
  We celebrate a trio of debut authors, a dramatic account of bird breeding and an evocative memoir of free-range childhoodIn some ways, 2017 has been a quiet year for fans of the publishing phenomenon known as new nature writing. Some of the big hitters – notably Mark Cocker, Robert Macfarlane and Helen Macdonald – have not published new books, although Macfarlane did produce The Lost Words (Hamish Hamilton), a large-format children’s book with stunning illustrations by Jac
  
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• Julius Caesar's Britain invasion site 'found by archaeologists'

  29-11-2017 12:36 via bbc.co.uk
  Archaeologists say evidence indicates Caesar's invasion in 54BC began in Kent.
  
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• Jocelyn Bell Burnell doesn't mind Nobel overlook

  29-11-2017 12:14 via bbc.co.uk
  The astrophysicist says at the time students weren't awarded Nobel Prizes.
  
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• Ikea begins work on 'most sustainable' UK store

  29-11-2017 11:48
  Global furniture retailer IKEA has started construction on a £100m new store in London which will be designed with an array of sustainable features.
  
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• UK firms urged to decarbonise to stay competitive

  29-11-2017 10:59
  Key British business sectors will need to step up the pace of decarbonisation or risk losing their grip on the low-carbon market to foreign competition, a report has today (29 November) warned.
  
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• Northern Powergrid to create 'virtual' local energy market

  29-11-2017 10:15
  Northern Powergrid has unveiled plans to use computer modelling and laboratory demos to create a "virtual" local energy market as part of a new innovation scheme.
  
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• Banks warned of 'regulatory action' as climate change bites global economy

  29-11-2017 10:00 via theguardian.com
  Australian Prudential Regulation Authority says it is quizzing companies about their actions to assess climate risksAustralia’s financial regulator has stepped-up its warning to banks, lenders and insurers, saying climate change is already impacting the global economy, and flagged the possibility of “regulatory action”.Geoff Summerhayes from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (Apra) revealed it had begun quizzing companies about their actions to assess climate risks
  
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• Common pesticide can make migrating birds lose their way, research shows

  29-11-2017 08:30 via theguardian.com
  The experimental study is the first to directly show harm to songbirds, extending the known impacts of neonicotinoids beyond insectsThe world’s most widely used insecticide may cause migrating songbirds to lose their sense of direction and suffer drastic weight loss, according to new research.
  The work is significant because it is the first direct evidence that neonicotinoids can harm songbirds and their migration, and it adds to small but growing research suggesting the pesticides may dam
  
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• UK consumers told to keep apples in fridge as part of wider labelling shake-up

  29-11-2017 08:01 via theguardian.com
  Supermarket packaging will carry new logos advising which items can be kept in the fridge, ensuring they last longer and reduce food wasteBags of supermarket apples will carry a new logo advising consumers to keep them in the fridge to make them last longer as part of a shake-up of food labelling aimed aimed at cutting about 350,000 tonnes of domestic food waste – worth £1bn – by 2025.The confusing and sometimes misleading “display by”, “best by” and &ld
  
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• Remembering women killed fighting for human rights in 2017

  29-11-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  To mark International Women Human Rights Defenders’ Day, we pay tribute to some of the women killed this year because of their activismIn 2017, 44 female activists died, more than half of them murdered for defending their rights. Among the women killed are those who fought to protect their land from the state and multinational companies, or called out injustices or corruption, or stood up for the rights of lesbian, gay and transexual people.While thousands of men defend human rights, women
  
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• Dirty air is killing our children. Why does the government let this happen? | George Monbiot

  29-11-2017 06:59 via theguardian.com
  What an extraordinary dereliction of duty that our politicians leave headteachers to fix a public health crisisDeregulation, the government and many newspapers assure us, saves money and time and reduces frustration. That’s the theory. But, as I see every day, it doesn’t quite work like this.My youngest daughter’s school has been trying to protect its children from the toxic cloud in which they work and play. The teachers know how much damage traffic pollution does to their lun
  
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• Many birds feature in our art and songlines. But I’m #TeamWedgeTail | Karen Wyld

  29-11-2017 05:48 via theguardian.com
  Indigenous people have a strong relationship with birds dating back 60,000 years. The bird poll is an opportunity to share our cultureVote now in the Australian bird of the year 2017 pollTwitter, territory of the little blue bird, has been inundated with other birds over the past week. A partnership between the Guardian and Bird Life Australia, the Australian bird of the year 2017 poll has everyone twittering.For many First Peoples, stories and cultural knowledge of birds is still vibrant so, fo
  
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• Wiggles, Preatures, Gang of Youths and others vote at the Arias for their bird of the year – video

  29-11-2017 05:45 via theguardian.com
  Musicians and other stars arriving at the annual music awards at Sydney's Star casino weigh into the Australian bird of the year debate. There are some firm opinions for and against the ibis. AB Original may contend that the term 'bin chicken' is profiling, but David Le'auppe from Gang of Youths maintains that no one can love a bird that defecates on 'every single picnic table in the inner west'• Vote in the 2017 Australian bird of the year poll Continue reading...
  
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• Food waste: Clearer label plan in bid to cut

  29-11-2017 02:57 via bbc.co.uk
  Confusion over food labels is prompting people to throw away usable produce, waste agency claims.
  
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• Clearer label plan in bid to reduce food waste

  29-11-2017 02:57 via bbc.co.uk
  Confusion over food labels is prompting people to throw away usable produce, waste agency claims.
  
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• Large iceberg breaks off from Grey glacier in southern Chile

  29-11-2017 01:59 via theguardian.com
  Officials at Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park, home to the glacier, said such ruptures were rare and had not occurred since the early 1990sA large iceberg broke off the Grey glacier in southern Chile, authorities said on Tuesday, adding that the cause of the rupture was unclear.Chile’s Conaf forestry service shared photos on social media of the enormous block of blue-white ice, which measured 350m (1,148ft) long by 380m (1,247ft) wide, as it floated free in waters of a glacial
  
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• Breakthrough in coral restoration, say researchers

  29-11-2017 01:21 via bbc.co.uk
  Coral is growing on the Great Barrier Reef after first being grown in tanks, say researchers.
  
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• How to catch 'wind turbine syndrome': by hearing about it and then worrying | Simon Chapman

  29-11-2017 01:13 via theguardian.com
  Social anxiety over new technology have a long history. This panic has caused major delays in driving renewables in AustraliaRenewable energy is front and centre of global hopes of avoiding existential threats from climate change. Yet Australia has no commissioner for climate change, but we do have a windfarm commissioner. Related: Dr Onthemoon's self diagnosis windfarm syndrome check list! | First Dog on the MoonContinue reading...
  
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• Footage of Earth from the International Space Station

  29-11-2017 00:50 via bbc.co.uk
  Astronaut Randy Bresnik shares footage of a maintenance mission outside the International Space Station.
  
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• Three beavers released into the wild

  29-11-2017 00:12 via bbc.co.uk
  The latest trio has been introduced to Knapdale Forest in Argyll, Scotland.
  
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• How little brown birds get overlooked in the protection pecking order

  29-11-2017 00:00 via theguardian.com
  Ever heard of the King Island brown thornbill? What about the orange-bellied parrot? Can you guess which is more endangered? In January 2016, a keen birdwatcher named Dion Hobcroft walked into the Pegarah state forest on Tasmania’s King Island with a recorded birdcall and took the first blurry photographs of the King Island brown thornbill.The brown thornbill, Acanthiza pusilla archibaldi, is a subspecies of the Tasmanian thornbill, distinguished from its cousins on the big island by a sli
  
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