Environment news

• Sea reptile fossil gives clues to life in ancient oceans

  13-12-2017 22:19 via bbc.co.uk
  A new fossil is shedding light on the marine reptiles that swam at the time of the dinosaurs.
  
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• North Sea Water and Recycled Metal Combined to Help Reduce Global Warming

  13-12-2017 21:51 via feedproxy.google.com
  Scientists at the University of York have used sea water collected from Whitby in North Yorkshire, and scrap metal to develop a technology that could help capture more than 850 million tonnes of unwanted carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
  
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• East Antarctic Ice Sheet Has History of Instability

  13-12-2017 21:41 via feedproxy.google.com
  The East Antarctic Ice Sheet locks away enough water to raise sea level an estimated 53 meters (174 feet), more than any other ice sheet on the planet. It’s also thought to be among the most stable, not gaining or losing mass even as ice sheets in West Antarctica and Greenland shrink.
  
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• NASA Sees Developing System 96W Affecting Central Philippines

  13-12-2017 21:30 via feedproxy.google.com
  A developing area of tropical low pressure designated System 96W was affecting the central Philippines when NASA-NOAA’s Suomi NPP satellite passed overhead.
  
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• High-Resolution Climate Models Present Alarming New Projections For U.S.

  13-12-2017 21:25 via feedproxy.google.com
  Approaching the second half of the century, the United States is likely to experience increases in the number of days with extreme heat, the frequency and duration of heat waves, and the length of the growing season. In response, it is anticipated that societal, agricultural and ecological needs will increase the demand on already-strained natural resources like water and energy. University of Illinois researchers have developed new, high-resolution climate models that may help policymakers miti
  
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• Air pollution project harnesses the power of backyard science

  13-12-2017 21:25 via feedproxy.google.com
  Right now, a handful of motivated Fort Collins citizens are doing something a little out of the ordinary. They’re collecting cutting-edge scientific data from their backyards that may soon help NASA create maps of global air pollution.The volunteers are part of a network of citizen scientists for a Colorado State University-led project called CEAMS: Citizen-Enabled Aerosol Measurements for Satellites.The goal of CEAMS is to improve understanding of local air quality through dispersed,
  
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• How to feed the world while curbing our appetite for destruction | Letters

  13-12-2017 20:15
  There is enough food for everyone, says Chrissie Hynde – if everyone takes only their fair share and stops eating animals. Others suggest improving farming production methods, tackling population growth and taxing meatAlthough I strongly agree with and appreciate George Monbiot’s efforts to shed light on the destructive nature of industrialised farming and its effects on animals and environment (We can’t go on eating like this, 11 December), I do not see the wisdom of tarring t
  
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• Researchers capture oldest ice core ever drilled outside the polar regions

  13-12-2017 17:42 via feedproxy.google.com
  The oldest ice core ever drilled outside the polar regions may contain ice that formed during the Stone Age—more than 600,000 years ago, long before modern humans appeared.Researchers from the United States and China are now studying the core—nearly as long as the Empire State Building is tall—to assemble one of the longest-ever records of Earth’s climate history.What they’ve found so far provides dramatic evidence of a recent and rapid temperature rise at some of t
  
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• Human-Caused Warming Likely Intensified Hurricane Harvey's Rains

  13-12-2017 17:37 via feedproxy.google.com
  New research shows human-induced climate change increased the amount and intensity of Hurricane Harvey’s unprecedented rainfall. The new findings are being published in two separate studies and being presented in a press conference today at the 2017 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, along with additional new findings about recent Atlantic Ocean hurricanes.
  
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• Sea-Level Rise Projections Made Hazy by Antarctic Instability

  13-12-2017 16:03 via feedproxy.google.com
  It may take until the 2060s to know how much the sea level will rise by the end of this century, according to a new Rutgers University–New Brunswick-led analysis. The study is the first to link global and local sea-level rise projections with simulations of two major mechanisms by which climate change can affect the vast Antarctic ice sheet.
  
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• Global e-waste climbs 8% in two years, but disposal discrepancies remain

  13-12-2017 16:00
  More than 44 million metric tonnes of electronic waste were generated in 2016, but only 20% has been documented as being collected and recycled, a new report launched today (13 December) has found.
  
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• 'We saved your kebab': MEPs vote against ban on doner meat additive

  13-12-2017 15:55
  Doner kebab industry says it needs to use phosphates to keep meat juicy but others argue they increase risk of heart problemsThe European parliament has narrowly defeated plans to ban an additive considered key in industrial meats for the doner kebab.Needing an absolute majority of at least 376 votes for a ban on phosphates, the chamber was three short, voting 373 to 272, with 30 abstentions. Continue reading...
  
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• Last chance to save the 'panda of the sea' from extinction

  13-12-2017 15:23 via bbc.co.uk
  A last-ditch effort to save the world's rarest marine mammal from extinction has been launched.
  
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• Brittle Starfish Make Tough Ceramics

  13-12-2017 14:22 via feedproxy.google.com
  An international research team led by the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology has discovered how a beautiful, brainless brittle star can create material similar to tempered glass underwater at ambient conditions. The findings, published in the December 8 issue of Science, may open new bio-inspired routes for toughening brittle ceramics in various applications.
  
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• Arctic saw 2nd warmest year, smallest winter sea ice coverage on record in 2017

  13-12-2017 14:22 via feedproxy.google.com
  A NOAA-sponsored report shows that the warming trend transforming the Arctic persisted in 2017, resulting in the second warmest air temperatures, above average ocean temperatures, loss of sea ice, and a range of human, ocean and ecosystem effects.Now in its 12th year, the Arctic Report Card, released today at the annual American Geophysical Union fall meeting in New Orleans, is a peer-reviewed report that brings together the work of 85 scientists from 12 nations.
  
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• Global warming made Hurricane Harvey deadly rains three times more likely, research reveals

  13-12-2017 14:00
  The unprecedented downpour and severe flooding was also 15% more intense due to climate change, which is making weather more violent around the worldHurricane Harvey’s unprecedented deluge, which caused catastrophic flooding in Houston in August, was made three times more likely by climate change, new research has found.
  Such a downpour was a very rare event, scientists said, but global warming meant it was 15% more intense. The storm left 80 people dead and 800,000 in need of assistance.
  
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• Tesco faces legal threat over marketing its food with' fake farm' names

  13-12-2017 12:41
  Charity accuses UK supermarkets of misleading customers with fake farm branding and claims Tesco is damaging the reputation of a real farm with the same nameMajor UK supermarkets including Tesco, Aldi, Asda and Lidl are being urged to stop using controversial “fake farm” branding on own-brand meat products, with a food charity claiming they are misleading shoppers.The Feedback charity is backing the owner of a genuine farm called Woodside Farm – a name Tesco has also used on it
  
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• Scottish fishermen say EU is taking 'hardline' quotas stance pre-Brexit

  13-12-2017 12:36
  As annual fisheries negotiations conclude, fishermen’s federation says ‘entrenched views’ in EU could affect future talks Scottish fishermen have raised concerns that the EU is adopting a hardline stance over quotas as a prelude to Brexit negotiations.Annual negotiations over fishing quotas – expected to be the penultimate talks the UK participates in before leaving the EU – were concluded in Brussels early on Wednesday. Continue reading...
  
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• The US is penny wise and pound foolish on the climate | John Abraham

  13-12-2017 12:00
  As America is battered by climate-intensified weather disasters, Republican politicians are trying to slash climate research funding
  The United States is great in many respects. But we certainly aren’t perfect; we’ve made some pretty silly choices. One of the dumb choices politicians in the United States want to make is to defund climate science so we wont be able to prepare for increased disasters in the future. We can see how shortsighted this in when compared alongside with the co
  
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• Transparency focus helps Kraft Heinz accelerate towards supply chain goals

  13-12-2017 10:00
  EXCLUSIVE: Food processing company Kraft Heinz has enrolled in a journey of transparency to help deliver its CSR strategy, with the company's first ever sustainability report highlighting achievements with palm oil sourcing and challenges related to water consumption.
  
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• Starbucks targets a plastics circular economy to drive waste management

  13-12-2017 09:15
  EXCLUSIVE: There is no "competitive leverage" to be gained by failing to work with rival brands to tackle ongoing waste issues regarding paper coffee cups and the wider use of plastics, Starbuck's vice president of corporate affairs Simon Redfern has claimed.
  
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• Guatemalan women take on Canada's mining giants over 'horrific human rights abuses'

  13-12-2017 09:00
  A group of indigenous Maya Q’eqchi’ women has launched a precedent-setting legal challenge that could cast a chill over Canada’s vast mining interests
  On the 20th floor of an office tower in the heart of Toronto’s financial district, Irma Yolanda Choc Cac’s bright pink embroidered blouse and handwoven skirt contrasted with the suits of the lawyers around her as she detailed the hardest day of her life.It was the first time Choc Cac had ever left Guatemala. But the s
  
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• English rivers polluted by powerful insecticides, first tests reveal

  13-12-2017 08:20
  Neonicotinoids, banned on flowering crops, were found in nearly all rivers tested, increasing concerns over their impact on fish and birdsRivers in England are contaminated with powerful insecticides, new testing has revealed, increasing concerns over the impact of the toxic chemicals on fish and birds.Neonicotinoids were banned from use on flowering crops in the European Union in 2013 due to the harm they cause to bees and other vital pollinators. Following even more evidence of harm, an EU vot
  
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• Sainsbury's and Unilever sign up to blockchain trials for supply chain practices

  13-12-2017 08:15
  Global brands Unilever and Sainsbury's have partnered with leading investors to trial how blockchain technology can financially reward sustainable farming practices for Malawian tea makers.
  
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• 'Last year I gave the kids briquettes and everyone yelled at me!' Christmas with Ian | First Dog on the Moon

  13-12-2017 08:14
  Ian the Climate Denialist Potato surprises his loved ones with a festive report on climate emissions. Or would they rather get an inflatable Greg Hunt doll? Sign up here to get an email whenever First Dog cartoons are publishedChristmas is coming! Get your fabulous First Dog on the Moon Chrismerchandise. Tea Towels! Books! Brenda plush toys!Continue reading...
  
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• Nicholas Hughes's ethereal landscapes – in pictures

  13-12-2017 08:00
  Nowhere Far, the first monograph by Nicholas Hughes, has been 15 years in the making and spans six separate series of abstract and ethereal landscapes. Hughes’s work is concerned with man’s relationship to the environment, examining the space between the world people inhabit and that which nature claims as its ownNowhere Far by Nicholas Hughes is published by GOST Books
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• Quarter of Christmas jumpers were worn once and discarded last year

  13-12-2017 07:30
  Charity urges people to rewear last year’s jumper to reduce the waste impact of the throwaway festive fashionOne in four Christmas jumpers bought last year was thrown away or is unlikely to be worn again, according to new research which reveals that most novelty sweaters will only ever be worn once. Emblazoned with flashing lights or more tasteful alpine motifs, the festive apparel is so popular that about £220m will be spent on them in the run up to Christmas this year.Continue read
  
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• Country diary: snow changes everything the other side of the doorstep

  13-12-2017 06:30
  Wenlock Edge, Shropshire Suddenly the familiar had been enchanted, even the bull and the blackbird in the blizzardBlack-white-black-white: the bull watches the bird through the snow. This is the first flurry for years, long enough to have forgotten how snow changes everything the other side of the doorstep. It began with the supermoon, a silver florin in a halo of limelight. Then came Storm Caroline – “good times never seemed so good,” sang Neil Diamond – and although not
  
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• Northern Territory to decide about fracking ban only after inquiry's final report

  13-12-2017 03:54
  Draft report from hydraulic fracking inquiry has found the practice can be safe if risks are better mitigatedThe Northern Territory government will wait until next year to make a decision on lifting its moratorium on fracking, despite federal calls for it to “get on with the job” after a long-running inquiry found it could be safe if risks were better mitigated.The inquiry into hydraulic fracturing in the NT released its draft final report on Tuesday with 120 recommendations, which i
  
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• Shark nets create false sense of safety and should be phased out, inquiry finds

  13-12-2017 03:12
  Upper house committee says nets damage other marine wildlife and recommends replacement of lethal drum lines Shark nets in place across Australia to protect beachgoers should be phased out as they cause more harm than good, a Senate inquiry has found.An upper house committee examined shark mitigation and deterrent measures in Australia, and specifically the use of mesh nets in New South Wales and Queensland. Continue reading...
  
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• Warmer Arctic is the 'new normal'

  13-12-2017 02:50 via bbc.co.uk
  The reliably frozen Arctic is history, say scientists who warn of an unprecedented rate of warming.
  
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• Nasa's New Horizons probe strikes distant gold

  13-12-2017 00:10 via bbc.co.uk
  New observations suggest America's Pluto probe will see more than one object on its next flyby.
  
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