Environment news

• The mighty ibis did not win Australian bird of the year but it's still a winner | John Martin

  10-12-2017 23:50
  It fell short of victory by a few hundred votes. For a bin chicken, that’s something to celebrateWhat happened? Am I missing something, do people actually “like” ibis? I know they didn’t win, but hell, they came second – that’s a win for the bin chicken, surely?!I like ibis, and I’ve occasionally met people who admit to liking ibis, but overwhelmingly I hear and read comments from people expressing that they do not like ibis. Despite this, the Australian
  
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• Pollutionwatch: not much cheer from online Christmas shopping

  10-12-2017 22:30
  As more of us shop online, more vans make more deliveries, with competing delivery companies duplicating journeys and causing even more pollutionVans, up by 71% since 1996, are the fastest growing vehicle type in UK. They are nearly all diesel-powered and share the same nitrogen dioxide exhaust problems as diesel cars.In 2015, 73% of UK adults did Christmas shopping online and 88% of these used home deliveries, causing concerns about traffic pollution.Continue reading...
  
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• Australian Bird of the Year 2017: the top 10 – video

  10-12-2017 22:11
  So how did your feathered favourite fare? Meet the winners of the 2017 Guardian Australia/BirdLife Australia Bird of the Year poll. After weeks of controversy, argument over the voting system and at least one hack, the results are in. There's been plenty of colour but here's the result in black and white … Continue reading...
  
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• Magpie wins Australian bird of the year poll – live

  10-12-2017 22:01
  Australian magpie pips the ibis and laughing kookaburra after weeks of controversy, a powerful owl voting hack and a strong #teambinchicken social media push in the Guardian Australia/BirdLife Australia poll9.01pm GMTOpinion is divided. [Piping Shrike swoops in, carries off with #BirdOfTheYear trophy from under the unsuspecting beaks of the lesser Australian magpies]what did they do to win it??? they ain't nothin but a hazard if you ask me! the bin chicken was much more deserving! #BirdOfTheYear
  
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• Delays causing needless exposure to dangerous toxins in Australia, advocates say

  10-12-2017 18:01
  A process to review air pollution standards for two toxins began two years ago but consultations are only just startingAustralians are being placed at risk by stalled government action on two dangerous pollutants mainly emitted by coal-fired power stations, environmental experts have warned. Air pollution places a significant burden on the health of Australians, causing 3,000 deaths each year and a mortality cost of between $11bn and $24bn, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Wel
  
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• Australia's greenhouse gas emissions highest on record

  10-12-2017 18:00
  Exclusive: Renewable energy and proper climate policy are key to dropping emissions, carbon consultancy chief saysAustralia’s emissions over the past year were the highest on record, when relatively unreliable emissions from land use are excluded, according to estimates by the carbon consultancy NDEVR Environmental.Greenhouse gas emissions continued to rise in recent quarters, with the most recent the second highest for any quarter since 2011, despite electricity emissions being driven dow
  
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• EIB accused of marring EU climate goals with €1.5bn gas pipeline loan

  10-12-2017 14:56
  European Investment Bank expected to approve loan on day of summit to mark second anniversary of Paris dealThe EU’s bank has come under fire for moves towards approving a €1.5bn (£1.3bn) loan for a gas pipeline from Azerbaijan to western Europe as the French president, Emmanuel Macron, prepared to hosted a climate change summit in Paris.Campaigners said the European Investment Bank, which is expected to support the transadriatic pipeline (TAP) with one of its largest ever loans
  
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• North Atlantic right whales could become extinct, US officials say

  10-12-2017 14:49
  Noaa scientist: ‘You do have to use the extinction word’Study suggests whales leave protected areas to feedUS federal officials say it is time to consider the possibility that North Atlantic right whales could become extinct, unless new steps are taken to protect them.Related: North Atlantic’s greatest survivors are hunted once moreContinue reading...
  
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• Australian town driven batty by flying foxes

  10-12-2017 12:55 via bbc.co.uk
  Residents of an Australian town are being overwhelmed by thousands of flying foxes.
  
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• Blue Planet II: from octopus v shark to fish that crawl, the series’s biggest discoveries

  10-12-2017 12:25
  The documentary’s marvels are not just new to television – many are new to science as well. From hyper-intelligent fish to the origin of life itself, we round up the series’s breakthrough momentsIt is testament to the number of spectacles packed into Blue Planet II that a giant wrasse’s strategetic change of gender is – scientifically speaking, at least – one of the least remarkable. Changing gender, or sequential hermaphroditism, is a fact of life for more th
  
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• The eco guide to Christmas trees

  10-12-2017 07:00
  Do you keep it real or try and fake it? When it comes to Christmas trees try and find an organic one and, if possible, a living one so you can dust off the tinsel and keep it going for next yearThis year I’m going real. Given the plastic pandemic, my goodwill doesn’t extend to manufacturers of oil-based fake trees shipped across the globe.From an ecological point of view, all cut trees are imperfect. Three-quarters of the trees put up this Christmas in the UK will be grown here (this
  
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• Collecting in the clouds

  10-12-2017 01:37 via bbc.co.uk
  Collecting in the clouds: Remembering the British plant-hunters who diced with death to discover plants
  
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• Botanical exploits: How British plant hunters served science

  10-12-2017 01:37 via bbc.co.uk
  Collecting in the clouds: Remembering the British plant-hunters who diced with death to discover plants
  
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• Plastic planet

  10-12-2017 01:09 via bbc.co.uk
  More and more waste plastic is ending up in our oceans. How big is the problem and why is plastic such a threat?
  
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• As Britain’s birdlife takes flight, skies of my youth are changing for ever

  10-12-2017 01:05
  Birds that were once rare visitors to Britain are becoming a regular sight in England, but in Scotland, Arctic species are likely to vanishEven though almost half a century has passed, I can still recall in vivid detail the events of a hot, sunny afternoon in August 1970. My mother and I were visiting Brownsea Island, off the Dorset coast. We entered a dark hide, opened the window and looked out across the lagoon. And there – shining like a beacon – was a Persil-white apparition: my
  
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