Environment news

• Millions spent on Great Barrier Reef projects against expert advice

  20-01-2018 20:00 via theguardian.com
  One $2.2m experiment involves giant fans to cool water down, despite government’s own advisers highlighting risksMillions of dollars of commonwealth money is being handed to tourism-linked groups for Great Barrier Reef protection, despite official advice recommending against the projects, or repeatedly finding them to be failing.The contracts include millions of dollars for tourism operators to cull out-of-control coral-eating crown of thorns starfish. Funds continue to be distributed, des
  
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• Climate change, AI and harassment – the hottest topics at this year’s Davos

  20-01-2018 16:59 via theguardian.com
  The World Economic Forum focuses on the ‘fractured world’ this year: but the biggest star at the gala will be Donald TrumpDonald Trump will loom large at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos this week, as the self-styled anti-globalist joins the annual gathering of billionaires, business executives and politicians.The meeting at the luxury ski resort in the Swiss Alps at the start of each year is set to be dominated by the US president, who is due to give a special address to
  
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• 'It's a no-brainer': are hydrogen cars the future?

  20-01-2018 11:00 via theguardian.com
  Inventor Hugo Spowers has a dream: to replace today’s cars with his own hydrogen prototype. Is the world ready?In the mid-1990s, Hugo Spowers ran a Formula Three racing team. At the time, motorsport was in the pocket of big tobacco. Every weekend, Formula One cars emblazoned with cigarette brands – Marlboro, Camel, Silk Cut – raced on TV in front of millions. “It was pretty clear it was killing people,” Spowers says. “Meanwhile, the industry was portraying a l
  
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• Vancouver aquarium won't keep whales or dolphins captive after public outcry

  20-01-2018 10:00 via theguardian.com
  Canada aquarium has announced it will end the practice of keeping cetaceans in captivity, after pressure from the publicFor years the Vancouver aquarium fended off pressure from animal right activists, local government and residents, arguing instead that whales and dolphins were central to its mission. But this week the tourist attraction gave in to public pressure, and announced that it would end the practice of keeping cetaceans in captivity.“It had become a local hot topic, to the point
  
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• Why do supermarkets sell organic products wrapped in non-cyclable plastic?

  20-01-2018 07:59 via theguardian.com
  We find organic mushrooms in non-recyclable trays next to plain veg in compostable wrappingMy environmentally conscious wife Clare is the keenest recycler possible. She even collects and recycles the silver milk bottle tops that I tend to chuck out. But when it comes to organic food she’s furious. Why? Because she finds it is the worst culprit for wrapping almost everything in plastic and polywrap that cannot be recycled. How, she asks, did we reach the situation where the most environment
  
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• Thai police arrest notorious wildlife trafficking suspect

  20-01-2018 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: Boonchai Bach allegedly ran tusk and horn smuggling route from AfricaPolice in Thailand have arrested one of the world’s most notorious wildlife traffickers, allegedly involved in the smuggling thousands of tonnes of elephant tusks and rhino horns from Africa to Asia, the Guardian has learned. Boonchai Bach, who goes by multiple aliases including Bach Mai Limh, was arrested at his operational base in the north-eastern province of Nakhon Phanom, next to the Mekong River on Thursd
  
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• Country diary: the marshes are teeming with waders

  20-01-2018 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Keyhaven, Hampshire: The brent geese feeding on the grassland are restless, but not because of the people walking along the skyline above themThe mudflats are still, but first impressions are deceptive. On a grey, raw day, we stop on the bridge across the Avon Water as it enters the Keyhaven Marshes. The tide is out, gulls mill in the air, but below us the glutinous foreground seems devoid of life. As our eyes settle to what we are seeing, we realise how misleading those first impressions are. T
  
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