Environment news

• Heavy Oils and Petroleum Coke Raising Vanadium Emissions

  15-12-2017 20:36 via feedproxy.google.com
  Human emissions of the potentially harmful trace metal vanadium into Earth’s atmosphere have spiked sharply since the start of the 21st century due in large part to industry’s growing use of heavy oils, tar sands, bitumen and petroleum coke for energy, a new Duke University study finds.“Human emissions of vanadium to the atmosphere now exceed those from all natural sources combined -- by a factor of 1.7,” said William H. Schlesinger, James B. Duke Professor Emeritus of Bi
  
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• How investing in solar energy can create a brighter future for Africa

  15-12-2017 20:11 via theguardian.com
  A new scheme aims to lighten the lives of millions who live without electricity, with the promise of a possible 6% returnHow would you like to earn a return of up to 6% on your cash while at the same time providing families in countries such as Kenya with “life-changing” access to clean, affordable solar energy?Energise Africa is a new ethical investment scheme which aims to raise £20m to provide a brighter future for more than 110,000 families and small businesses in sub-Sahar
  
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• Complex, Old-Growth Forests May Protect Some Bird Species in a Warming Climate

  15-12-2017 19:32 via feedproxy.google.com
  Old forests that contain large trees and a diversity of tree sizes and species may offer refuge to some types of birds facing threats in a warming climate, scientists have found.
  
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• Tourists Must Now Sign an Environmental Pledge to Enter Palau

  15-12-2017 18:58 via feedproxy.google.com
  Visitors to the tiny island nation of Palau in the Pacific Ocean are now being required to sign a pledge that they will not damage the environment during their stay, The Guardian reports. It is the first such immigration policy in the world.
  
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• How Much Soil Goes Down The Drain – New Data On Soil Lost Due To Water

  15-12-2017 18:51 via feedproxy.google.com
  According to a new study, almost 36 billion tons of soil is lost every year due to water, and deforestation and other changes in land use make the problem worse. The study also offers ideas on how agriculture can change to become a part of the solution from being part of the problem.
  
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• Northeast Farmers Weigh Warming Climate, Drenched Fields

  15-12-2017 17:57 via feedproxy.google.com
  Farmers in the Northeast are adapting to longer growing seasons and warming climate conditions – but they may face spring-planting whiplash as they confront fields increasingly saturated with rain, according to a research paper published in the journal Climatic Change.
  
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• NASA Sees Tropical Storm Kai-Tak Moving Over the Philippines

  15-12-2017 17:55 via feedproxy.google.com
  NASA's Aqua satellite provided infrared imagery of Tropical Storm Kai-Tak that revealed the western side of storm had moved into the southern and central Philippines. Infrared data revealed very cold cloud top temperatures with the potential for heavy rainfall.
  
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• Lost species of bee-mimicking moth rediscovered after 130 years

  15-12-2017 16:59 via theguardian.com
  The rare oriental blue clearwing, that disguises itself as a bee, was spotted in the Malaysian rainforest A moth that disguises itself as a bee and was previously only identified by a single damaged specimen collected in 1887 has been rediscovered in the Malaysian rainforest by a lepidopterist from Poland.The oriental blue clearwing (Heterosphecia tawonoides) was seen “mud-puddling” – collecting salts and minerals from damp areas with its tongue-like proboscis – on the ba
  
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• More frequent fires reduce soil carbon and fertility, slowing the regrowth of plants

  15-12-2017 15:53 via feedproxy.google.com
  Frequent burning over decades reduces the amount of carbon and nitrogen stored in soils of savanna grasslands and broadleaf forests, in part because reduced plant growth means less carbon being drawn out of the atmosphere and stored in plant matter. These findings by a Stanford-led team are important for worldwide understanding of fire impacts on the carbon cycle and for modeling the future of global carbon and climate change.
  
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• Exposure to Larger Air Particles Linked to Increased Risk of Asthma in Children

  15-12-2017 15:31 via feedproxy.google.com
  Researchers at The Johns Hopkins University report statistical evidence that children exposed to airborne coarse particulate matter — a mix of dust, sand and non-exhaust tailpipe emissions, such as tire rubber — are more likely to develop asthma and need emergency room or hospital treatment for it than unexposed children.
  
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• What's hiding in my dust?

  15-12-2017 15:16 via bbc.co.uk
  Scientists have found thousands of new species living in household dust.
  
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• China waste clampdown could create UK cardboard recycling chaos, say industry experts

  15-12-2017 14:52 via theguardian.com
  New Chinese restrictions on imported waste could see millions of tonnes of cardboard being sent back, as the UK struggles to prepare for rapid rule changesImminent restrictions by the Chinese on importing millions of tonnes of waste from the rest of the world are likely to cause chaos in the UK in the coming weeks, according to a leading recycling expert.From 1 January, China is banning the importation of all plastic waste and mixed paper rubbish from all over the world. The Chinese will accept
  
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• Saving Salamanders: Vital to Ecosystem Health

  15-12-2017 14:11 via feedproxy.google.com
  Amphibians—the big-eyed, swimming-crawling-jumping-climbing group of water and land animals that includes frogs, toads, salamanders and worm-like caecilians—are the world’s most endangered vertebrates. One-third of the planet’s amphibian species are threatened with extinction. Now, these vulnerable creatures are facing a new foe: the Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal) fungus, which is the source of an emerging amphibian disease that caused the die-off of wild E
  
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• Prescription drugs in treated wastewater are making fish more vulnerable to predators

  15-12-2017 14:11 via feedproxy.google.com
  A team of researchers from Environment Canada and Climate Change Canada and McMaster University have found that fish living downstream from a wastewater treatment plant showed changes to their normal behaviour—ones that made them vulnerable to predators—when exposed to elevated levels of antidepressant drugs in the water.The findings, published as a series of three papers in the journal Scientific Reports, point to the ongoing problem of prescription medications, personal care produc
  
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• Invest in solar for a brighter future for Africa

  15-12-2017 13:52 via theguardian.com
  A new scheme aims to lighten the lives of millions who live without electricity, with the promise of a possible 6% returnHow would you like to earn a return of up to 6% on your cash while at the same time providing families in countries such as Kenya with “life-changing” access to clean, affordable solar energy?Energise Africa is a new ethical investment scheme which aims to raise £20m to provide a brighter future for more than 110,000 families and small businesses in sub-Sahar
  
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• BP returns to solar power with $200m stake in Lightsource

  15-12-2017 12:04 via theguardian.com
  Tie-up with Europe’s biggest solar developer will focus on alternative energy projects in US, India and Middle EastBP has paid $200m (£149m) for a 43% stake in Europe’s biggest solar developer, marking its return to the sector from which it withdrew six years ago.The investment in the London-based Lightsource marks a turnaround for the British oil firm, which rebranded as Beyond Petroleum in 2000 but shut its alternative energy headquarters nine years later. Continue reading...
  
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• I wrote about farmers' suicides – and the reaction has been overwhelming

  15-12-2017 12:00 via theguardian.com
  After the Guardian and EHRP published a piece about the record number of farmers who are killing themselves, there were hundreds of responsesWhy are America’s farmers killing themselves in record numbers?On 6 December, The Guardian and EHRP published our piece Why are America’s farmers killing themselves in record numbers? We hoped for a reaction, but the feedback we received was beyond any expectations we might have had. Today when I spoke with farm psychologist Dr Mike Rosmann, who
  
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• Corporate giants urge EU to back 35% renewables target

  15-12-2017 10:21
  A coalition comprising some of the world's biggest companies has urged EU energy ministers to back a 35% target for renewable energy when they meet in Brussels next Monday (18 December).
  
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• New initiative to prove marine energy's potential

  15-12-2017 10:13
  The Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult and RenewableUK have launched a new project to show how wave and tidal technologies can meet new technology tests.
  
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• Sumatran rhino 'hanging on by a thread'

  15-12-2017 09:33 via bbc.co.uk
  A genetic study shows the decline of one of the rarest mammals on Earth began during the last Ice Age.
  
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• M&S and Landsec exploring energy storage to increase resilience

  15-12-2017 09:00
  Energy managers from British retailer M&S and property developer Landsec revealed they are exploring the potential of rolling out battery storage technologies on their estates during a recent edie webinar about energy resilience.
  
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• Corporates set to miss zero-deforestation targets for 2020

  15-12-2017 08:15
  A new report has found that no sector is on track to achieve a deforestation-free supply chain by 2020, with individual companies adopting a "piecemeal approach" by largely ignoring big contribution areas to deforestation, such as cattle production.
  
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• Boris Johnson swigs can of peach juice from Fukushima

  15-12-2017 07:19 via theguardian.com
  Foreign secretary drinks down gift from Japan’s foreign minister in attempt to show food and drink from region is safe after triple nuclear meltdown“Yum.” That was foreign secretary Boris Johnson’s verdict on a can of peach juice from Fukushima – a gift from his Japanese counterpart, Taro Kono – during their meeting in London this week.
  The moment, captured by Kono on his smartphone, was intended to prove that food and drink from Fukushima is safe, almost seve
  
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• Country diary: Silence, a mine with a vein of secrets and rowdy tales

  15-12-2017 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Great Hucklow, Derbyshire At the derelict mine all is not quiet as the sound of birds cuts through the muffling snow and the ruins speak of a riotous noisy past The broad track down to Silence Mine was muffled with snow, the more slender boughs of its modest avenue bowed under inches of it, sporadic puffs of wind pushing drifts into the air. Perched halfway up Hucklow Edge, among the ruined mine structures, I could look across the broad, walled pastures above Foolow, dazzling in the bright sunsh
  
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• 'Explore lightly': Palau makes all visitors sign pledge to respect environment

  15-12-2017 03:29 via theguardian.com
  International arrivals must sign promise to children of Pacific nation that they will ‘tread lightly, act kindly’ during their stayThe tiny Pacific island nation of Palau has introduced a new law requiring visitors to sign a pledge not to harm the environment before entering the country.The pledge will be stamped into the passports of international arrivals from this month.Continue reading...
  
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• Delhi high court takes up lawsuit into Adani Group fraud allegations

  15-12-2017 01:51 via theguardian.com
  Indian government ordered to respond to claims energy firms conspired to siphon money from state and defraud consumersDelhi’s high court has taken up a lawsuit calling for an investigation into allegations that Adani Group and other energy companies engaged in fraud that raised power prices for Indian consumers.The court has ordered the Indian government and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) to respond before 7 February to the lawsuit, which claims that several mining groups inflat
  
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• Whiskey fuel and desert crops: the best green innovations of the week

  15-12-2017 01:01
  In a week of monumental announcements at the One Planet summit in Paris, edie rounds up the low-carbon and resource-efficient innovations that could shape the future.
  
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