Environment news

• Replicating Peregrine Falcon Attack Strategies Could Help Down Rogue Drones

  04-12-2017 22:02 via feedproxy.google.com
  Researchers at Oxford University have discovered that peregrine falcons steer their attacks using the same control strategies as guided missiles.
  
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• Trump confirms he'll shrink Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante monuments

  04-12-2017 20:51 via theguardian.com
  President signs two proclamations slashing protections for Utah monuments, representing a triumph for fossil fuel industries, ranchers and RepublicansDonald Trump reversed another Barack Obama action on Monday by significantly shrinking two national monuments in Utah. Related: 'We'll see the battle lines': Trump faced by Native American alliance over Bears EarsContinue reading...
  
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• Hunter dies in Germany after wild boar he was trying to shoot attacked him

  04-12-2017 20:20 via theguardian.com
  Man, 50, was on boar hunt near north-eastern town of GreifswaldHe encountered animal in reeds after firing shot, witnesses sayPolice in Germany say a hunter has died after being attacked by a wild boar he was trying to shoot.The 50-year-old man was on a boar hunt with a dozen others near the north-eastern town of Greifswald on Sunday when he was attacked by the male boar. Continue reading...
  
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• ISO 50001: edie launches new-look guide to implementation for energy managers

  04-12-2017 19:56
  Organisations and energy managers with an interest in the ISO 50001 energy management standard now have access to an updated 'edie explains' guide which breaks down all of the key information required to gain certification.
  
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• Clean, green New Zealand is a lie – and a warning for our post-Brexit countryside | Patrick Barkham

  04-12-2017 19:06 via theguardian.com
  Michael Gove plans to cut farmers’ subsidies while enhancing the environment post-Brexit. New Zealand’s cattle-wrecked land shows the folly of his thinkingThere can’t be a more successful tourism marketing campaign than “100% Pure New Zealand”. And New Zealand is seen as a world leader in another respect: how its farmers sell their food globally without government subsidies. But the tension between these two successes has been exposed by Sir Tim Smit, the co-founder
  
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• Poor bear brunt of Beijing coal cleanup with no heating at -6C

  04-12-2017 17:48 via theguardian.com
  Switch from coal to gas has left residents of towns around Beijing without heating after gas supply falters, reports Climate Home NewsWhile middle class Beijingers breathe the cleanest air in recent winters, in Zhuozhou, a small city 20 minutes by train from Beijing’s downtown, residents are shivering through cold nights without heating. The reason: a five-year anti-pollution drive has forced rural areas in northern China to switch from dirty coal to the cleaner alternative. The massive re
  
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• NASA Sees a Mix of Tropical Cyclone Ockhi and Dust Storms

  04-12-2017 17:37 via feedproxy.google.com
  NASA's Terra satellite passed over the Arabian Sea on Dec. 4 and found Tropical Cyclone Ockhi moving north as desert dust pushed into the region north of the storm.
  
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• Understanding the impact of natural atmospheric particles

  04-12-2017 17:30 via feedproxy.google.com
  An international team of scientists, led by the University of Leeds, has quantified the relationship between natural sources of particles in the atmosphere and climate change.Their study, published today in Nature Geoscience, shows that the cooling effect of natural atmospheric particles is greater during warmer years and could therefore slightly reduce the amount that temperatures rise as a result of climate change.  
  
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• Flying Laboratory Reveals Crucial Tropical Forest Conservation Targets in Borneo

  04-12-2017 17:20 via feedproxy.google.com
  About 40 percent of northern Malaysian Borneo’s carbon stocks exist in forests that are not designated for maximum protections, according to new remote sensing and satellite mapping from Carnegie’s Greg Asner and his colleagues.
  
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• Panda cub growls and jumps at France’s first lady, Brigitte Macron – video

  04-12-2017 16:57 via theguardian.com
  France’s first baby panda has been named Yuan Meng (‘accomplishment of a dream’) at a ceremony attended by Chinese dignitaries and the French first lady, Brigitte Macron. The ceremony at Beauval zoo, south of Paris, was considered a diplomatic event, but the four-month-old male cub decided otherwise, making a growling sound and jumping towards Macron when she put her hand over a glass wall to pet the animal. The baby panda’s mother, Huan Huan, was artificially inseminated
  
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• Top Credit Agency to Cities and States: Prepare for Climate Change or Face Lower Credit Rating

  04-12-2017 16:49 via feedproxy.google.com
  Moody’s Investors Service, one of the top credit rating agencies in the world, warned cities and states in the U.S. that unless they prepare for climate change, the agency could lower their credit ratings, making it harder for them to obtain low-interest bonds.
  
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• Brexit could lead to 'backsliding' on product design, recycling and chemicals safety

  04-12-2017 15:32
  A business coalition which includes Boot and Kingfisher has warned that Brexit could result in a downgrade in domestic eco-design standards, an increase in the use of dangerous chemicals, and "backsliding" on recycling.
  
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• From Alaska to Amazonia: first global maps of traits that drive vegetation growth

  04-12-2017 15:17 via feedproxy.google.com
  Detailed global maps of key traits in higher plants have been made available for the first time, thanks to work led by researchers from the University of Minnesota’s (UMN) College of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resource Sciences (CFANS).
  
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• Autonomous network project to facilitate UK electric vehicle demand

  04-12-2017 14:57
  As a survey reveals that almost half of British companies are currently unwilling to invest in electric vehicles (EVs), UK Power Networks has unveiled a new initiative that could save parts of the UK £270m by 2030 by channeling spare capacity towards charging use.
  
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• Study of Darwin's finches reveals that new species can develop in as little as two generations

  04-12-2017 14:31 via feedproxy.google.com
  The arrival 36 years ago of a strange bird to a remote island in the Galápagos archipelago has provided direct genetic evidence of a novel way in which new species arise.On Nov. 23 in the journal Science, researchers from Princeton University and Uppsala University in Sweden report that the newcomer belonging to one species mated with a member of another species resident on the island, giving rise to a new species that today consists of roughly 30 individuals.
  
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• Researcher develops app to identify poisonous mushrooms

  04-12-2017 14:31 via feedproxy.google.com
  Foraging is a centuries-old practice, but many of the mushrooms in British Columbia are just now being identified through DNA sequencing and the enthusiasm of amateur collectors.
  
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• Animal agriculture is choking the ​Earth and making us sick. We must act now | James Cameron and Suzy Amis Cameron

  04-12-2017 14:26 via theguardian.com
  If we want the US’s majestic national parks, clean air and water for future generations we must press leaders to address food’s environmental impactOur collective minds are stuck on this idea that talking about food’s environmental impact risks taking something very intimate away from us. In fact it’s just the opposite. Reconsidering how we eat offers us hope, and empowers us with choice over what our future planet will look like. And we can ask our local leaders –
  
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• Renault's electric van to lower operational costs for London food redistribution charity

  04-12-2017 13:37
  Efforts to reduce food waste across London will now also combat the city's rising air pollution levels, after Renault UK agreed to provide an electric van to a charity food redistribution scheme.
  
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• 'We'll see the battle lines': Trump faced by Native American alliance over Bears Ears

  04-12-2017 13:27 via theguardian.com
  The president is expected to announce the shrinking of two national monuments on a visit to Utah but native tribes are uniting to oppose a ‘monumental mistake’On Monday, Donald Trump will visit Salt Lake City. He is expected to formally announce plans to substantially shrink two Utah national monuments: Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears.Related: 'As close as the US gets to Egypt’s pyramids': how Chaco Canyon is endangered by drillingContinue reading...
  
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• Death from air pollution would be cut if UK hits walking and cycling targets

  04-12-2017 13:10 via theguardian.com
  Meeting government walking and cycling targets would save 13,000 lives and almost £10bn, finds Sustrans studyIf the UK hits government targets for walking and cycling more than 13,000 lives and almost £10bn would be saved over the next decade, according to a new report.The study from the transport charity Sustrans has found that meeting government plans in England and Scotland for an increase in walking or cycling would reduce deaths from air pollution by more than 13,000 in the next
  
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• The moral and intellectual bankruptcy of the Republican Party | Dana Nuccitelli

  04-12-2017 12:00 via theguardian.com
  The GOP strategy on taxes and climate: reject evidence and expert opinion, lie, and wage culture wars
  The parallels between the Republican Party positions on taxes and climate change are striking. Both are morally appalling and reject the available evidence and expert opinion.The Initiative on Global Markets’ panel of economic experts was recently asked about the Republican tax plan. Among the experts who took a position either way, there was a 96% consensus that the plan would not substan
  
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• Co-op to sell food past its 'best before' date in bid to cut waste

  04-12-2017 11:55 via theguardian.com
  Goods such as pasta, crisps and rice will be cut to 10p and sold for a further month at East of England Co-opA major retailer has become the first to start selling food that is past its “best before” date in a drive to reduce food waste.From this week, the East of England Co-op – the biggest independent retailer in East Anglia – will sell tinned goods and dried food such as pasta, crisps and rice for a nominal 10p once they reach their best-before date. The offer will not
  
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• The 'supermoon' celestial wonder seen across the UK

  04-12-2017 11:54 via bbc.co.uk
  Skywatchers have enjoyed spectacular views of the Moon appearing larger and brighter in the sky.
  
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• Retailer to sell food past its 'best before' date in bid to cut waste

  04-12-2017 11:18 via theguardian.com
  Goods such as pasta, crisps and rice will be cut to 10p and sold for a further month at East of England Co-opA major retailer has become the first to start selling food that is past its “best before” date in a drive to reduce food waste.From this week the East of England Co-op – the biggest independent retailer in East Anglia – will sell tinned goods and dried food such as pasta, crisps and rice for a nominal 10p once they reach their best-before date. The offer will not
  
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• Co-op sells food past best-before date to kerb waste

  04-12-2017 11:14
  East of England Co-op will this week instigate a food waste clampdown with a scheme that allows shoppers to purchase food items past their best-before date.
  
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• Co-op sells food past best-before date to curb waste

  04-12-2017 11:14
  East of England Co-op will this week instigate a food waste clampdown with a scheme that allows shoppers to purchase food items past their best-before date.
  
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• Malmaison and Hotel du Vin to stop serving plastic straws

  04-12-2017 08:22
  Malmaison and Hotel du Vin, the collection of boutique hotels, has announced it will stop serving plastic straws as a way to reduce waste across its 33 hotels.
  
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• Sadiq Khan plans network of London water fountains to reduce plastic waste

  04-12-2017 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Proposals include new fountains and bottle-refill stations across the capital in parks and public squaresLondon’s mayor Sadiq Khan wants to roll out a new network of water fountains and bottle-refill stations across the capital to help reduce the use of single-use packaging, such as plastic water bottles, the Guardian has learned. The mayor also wants to experiment with getting businesses to make their tap water available to the public, building on a scheme launched two years ago in Bristo
  
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• Country diary: a village history told in maps

  04-12-2017 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Comins Coch, Ceredigion A collection of old large-scale maps reveals how much the village has changed over the years – and how much remains unchangedThe package leaning against the front door was unexpected, and tightly wrapped against the pervasive drizzle. As the card inside explained, a friend clearing out an office had come across a set of long-unused maps and wondered if I had any use for them.Tired and frayed at the edges, these were Ordnance Survey maps of the village and the surrou
  
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• US military agency invests $100m in genetic extinction technologies

  04-12-2017 06:00 via theguardian.com
  Technology could be used to wipe out malaria carrying mosquitos or other pests but UN experts say fears over possible military uses and unintended consequences strengthen case for a banA US military agency is investing $100m in genetic extinction technologies which could wipe out malarial mosquitoes, invasive rodents or other species, emails released under freedom of information rules show.The documents suggest that the US’s secretive Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), has
  
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• What is a 'supermoon'?

  04-12-2017 03:25 via bbc.co.uk
  Tom Kerrs from the Royal Observatory explains the phenomenon that causes the moon to look larger and brighter.
  
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• Schoolgirl invents low-cost lead detecting device

  04-12-2017 01:16 via bbc.co.uk
  Gitanjali Rao's device uses carbon nanotubes to detect the presence of lead in water.
  
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