Environment news

• New technique allows rapid screening for new types of solar cells

  22-12-2017 21:29 via feedproxy.google.com
  The worldwide quest by researchers to find better, more efficient materials for tomorrow’s solar panels is usually slow and painstaking. Researchers typically must produce lab samples — which are often composed of multiple layers of different materials bonded together — for extensive testing.
  
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• Humidity May Prove Breaking Point for Some Areas as Temperatures Rise, Says Study

  22-12-2017 17:27 via feedproxy.google.com
  Climate scientists say that killer heat waves will become increasingly prevalent in many regions as climate warms. However, most projections leave out a major factor that could worsen things: humidity, which can greatly magnify the effects of heat alone. Now, a new global study projects that in coming decades the effects of high humidity in many areas will dramatically increase. At times, they may surpass humans’ ability to work or, in some cases, even survive. Health and economi
  
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• Failing our forests: we’ve lost enough trees to cover Spain in 2 years

  22-12-2017 14:16 via theguardian.com
  Fire. Oil palm. Cattle. Soy. Rubber. Wood. New data from Global Forest Watch shows that forest destruction is on the rise globally, in spite of a slate of pledges and commitments.
  Two years ago the world signed the Paris Agreement to combat climate change. It included specific pledges to “conserve and enhance” the world’s forests in order to combat rising temperatures. But in the last two years – 2015 and 2016 – we’ve lost enough trees to cover 493,716 square
  
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• Failing our forests: in two years we’ve lost enough trees to cover Spain

  22-12-2017 14:16 via theguardian.com
  Fire. Oil palm. Cattle. Soy. Rubber. Wood. New data from Global Forest Watch shows that forest destruction is on the rise globally, in spite of a slate of pledges and commitments.
  Two years ago the world signed the Paris Agreement to combat climate change. It included specific pledges to “conserve and enhance” the world’s forests in order to combat rising temperatures. But in the last two years – 2015 and 2016 – we’ve lost enough trees to cover 493,716 square
  
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• New highways in remote Amazon risk ‘ethnocide’, say Peruvians

  22-12-2017 14:13 via theguardian.com
  Indigenous federations, state entities and congresspeople speak out against proposed law promoting road constructionIndigenous federations and other Peruvians have responded fiercely to a proposed law promoting the construction of highways in some of the remotest parts of the Peruvian Amazon near the border with Brazil. A series of “protected natural areas”, including four national parks, and five reserves for indigenous peoples living in “isolation” could ultimately be i
  
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• Reindeer hunted by wolverines get safety app

  22-12-2017 13:53 via bbc.co.uk
  It is designed to protect the animals, which have a special role in Christmas tradition, from predators.
  
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• Higher temperatures linked to EU asylum figures

  22-12-2017 13:33 via bbc.co.uk
  Asylum seekers to the EU could almost double because of rising temperatures in farming areas around the world.
  
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• 'Milestone' reached in fighting deadly wheat disease

  22-12-2017 11:18 via bbc.co.uk
  Scientists say they have made a step forward in the fight against a wheat disease that threatens food security.
  
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• UN poised to move ahead with landmark treaty to protect high seas

  22-12-2017 10:30 via theguardian.com
  Waters outside national boundaries are currently unregulated, devastated by overfishing and pollution. 140 countries back the motion to establish a treatyThe world’s oceans are set for a long overdue boost in the coming days as the United Nations votes for the first time on a planned treaty to protect and regulate the high seas.The waters outside national maritime boundaries – which cover half of the planet’s surface – are currently a free-for-all that has led to devastat
  
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• Curbs on plastic bottle and packaging waste sought by MPs

  22-12-2017 09:04 via bbc.co.uk
  MPs want deposits on plastic bottles and a higher levy on packaging to protect the seas from pollution.
  
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• Why this pig could make you go vegan

  22-12-2017 08:27 via bbc.co.uk
  This Christmas, Hope the pig will be the star of the first vegan advert to be screened across UK cinemas.
  
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• Make supermarkets and drinks firms pay for plastic recycling, say MPs

  22-12-2017 07:30 via theguardian.com
  Environmental audit committee recommends adoption of ‘polluter pays’ principle, as well as backing deposit return scheme and public water fountainsSupermarkets, retailers and drinks companies should be forced to pay significantly more towards the recycling of the plastic packaging they sell, an influential committee of MPs has said.Members of the environmental audit committee called for a societal change in the UK to reduce the 7.7bn plastic water bottles used each year, and embed a
  
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• Australian WW1-era submarine found after 13th search mission

  22-12-2017 07:05 via bbc.co.uk
  The discovery of the first Allied submarine lost in World War One solves Australia's oldest naval mystery.
  
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• Country diary: in Richard I's day this field was a hi-tech hub

  22-12-2017 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Rockingham Forest, Northamptonshire Grass-covered earthworks are all that remain of an abbey that built one of England’s first windmillsPatches of snow persist in the most sheltered spots alongside Harpers Brook, the pasture dense with a complexity of mounds and earthworks that hints at a significant history. The sloping field by the grey limestone edifices of Pipewell Hall is crowned with a variety of trees, some fairly ancient, and a medley of a dozen horses and ponies come over to say h
  
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• A lump of coal - metaphor for a wretched year for Malcolm Turnbull | Peter Lewis

  22-12-2017 05:45 via theguardian.com
  A prime minister captive to his conservative base has proved incapable of leading the nation forward. 2018 will show how this will play out politicallyThe moment that summed up the political year 2017 for me came in the first sitting week when treasurer Scott Morrison marched into parliament brandishing a lump of coal.“This is coal – don’t be afraid, don’t be scared”, the treasurer cried out maniacally, before passing it along his front bench where Barnaby Joyce pro
  
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• MPs back plastic bottle deposit return scheme

  22-12-2017 01:02
  The Environment Audit Committee (EAC) has today (22 December) urged the Government to launch a nationwide plastic bottle deposit return scheme and improve producer responsibility obligations.
  
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