Environment news

• Support our new series that shines the spotlight on Australia’s neglected environmental issues

  29-01-2018 23:55 via theguardian.com
  Help us to move these issues up the public agenda and challenge governments to do more
  Australia’s fragile environment is under attack. Environmental protections have been dramatically eroded and funding slashed. The threat to climate change so dominates debate that other pressing and immediate environmental dangers struggle for attention. Few Australians know that our country has one of the worst records for species loss, with even the koala threatened; that microplastic pollution is so p
  
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• Weatherwatch: tiny particles in the air can trigger massive storms

  29-01-2018 22:30 via theguardian.com
  US scientists taking measurements above the Amazon rainforest have recorded the effects of smoke and aerosols on the weatherMankind has made the world warmer, but we’ve also made it stormier. In a study conducted over the Amazon rainforest, scientists have shown that tiny particles – smaller than one-thousandth of the width of a human hair – cause storms to intensify, and potentially have knock-on effects for weather around the world.Jiwen Fan, from the US Department of Energy&
  
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• Energy storage research gets £42m Government funding

  29-01-2018 20:52
  Developing a new generation of lighter and safer electric vehicle (EV) batteries is one of the first four projects be awarded funding from the government backed Faraday Institution.
  
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• Our wide brown land: 'We've hit rock bottom' – video

  29-01-2018 20:06 via theguardian.com
  There has never been a more serious time to pay attention to Australia's environment, yet Bob Brown, Peter Garrett and other activists say protections have been slashed, funding cut and charities silenced.  Continue reading...
  
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• Chile creates five national parks over 10m acres in historic act of conservation

  29-01-2018 20:06 via theguardian.com
  Founder of Patagonia firm donates 1m acres of private land
  President Bachelet signs ‘unprecedented’ measure into law
  Chile has created five sprawling national parks to preserve vast tracts of Patagonia – the culmination of more than two decades of land acquisition by the US philanthropists Doug Tompkins and Kristine McDivitt Tompkins and the largest donation of private land to government in South America.The five parks, spanning 10.3m acres, were signed into law on Monday by Ch
  
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• Away from the public gaze, serious threats to the environment keep rising | Lenore Taylor

  29-01-2018 20:05 via theguardian.com
  Our new in-depth series focuses on the less-scrutinised threats to Australia’s natural places, and you can get involvedThreats to the Australian environment get reported in bursts – a contested development decision or a particular conservation campaign can thrust an issue into the headlines and on to the nightly news bulletins for weeks before a deal is crunched and a “solution” heralded. Related: 'The Franklin would be dammed today': Australia's shrinking environmental p
  
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• 'The Franklin would be dammed today': Australia's shrinking environmental protections

  29-01-2018 20:02 via theguardian.com
  The nation is losing the political will to protect our pristine places – and biodiversity is sufferingWhat if the Franklin river hadn’t been saved?Stopping the Gordon-below-Franklin dam was one of the Australian environment movement’s great victories: in the late 1970s, the state-owned Hydro-Electric Commission wanted to flood one of three last temperate rainforests in the southern hemisphere to create a power station. Continue reading...
  
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• Simple steps to save the planet from plastic | Letters

  29-01-2018 18:55 via theguardian.com
  Maggie Sutton calls on all sellers of loose fruit and veg to supply only paper bags, and Kate Lammin says Waitrose and Prince Charles’s Duchy brand aren’t helping, while Melanie Wood looks to the Guardian to set an exampleI do so agree with Joleah Lamb (‘It’s like gangrene’: disease soars as plastic fouls reef, 26 January) about the need for people to take direct action against plastic. I would love to do so and so would thousands like me, but the question is how wh
  
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• Handheld device sequences human genome

  29-01-2018 17:40 via bbc.co.uk
  Reading human DNA used to take laboratories, a pile of cash and a long time.
  
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• Lost history of African dinosaurs revealed

  29-01-2018 17:01 via bbc.co.uk
  A new species of dinosaur unearthed in the Egyptian desert sheds light on Africa's Age of the Dinosaurs.
  
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• VW condemned for testing diesel fumes on humans and monkeys

  29-01-2018 16:21 via theguardian.com
  Experiments involved monkeys and humans breathing in exhaust fumes for hours at a timeVolkswagen, the world’s biggest carmaker, is under fire globally from politicians and environmentalists following revelations it commissioned experiments in which monkeys and humans breathed in car fumes for hours at a time.Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, said there was an urgent need for the company to reveal the true extent of the experiments. “These tests on monkeys or even on humans are no
  
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• America's public lands belong to all of us. We owe it to ourselves to save them | Theodore Roosevelt IV

  29-01-2018 15:40 via theguardian.com
  We Americans can do better in the fight to protect our threatened heritage, writes Theodore Roosevelt IV, a descendant of the ‘conservation president’A truly noble idea – one deeply democratic in its inspiration and one that honors the human need to be in relationship to awe and majesty.America’s public lands. Continue reading...
  
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• Plastic in the Oceans Increasing Risk of Disease in Coral Reefs

  29-01-2018 14:39 via feedproxy.google.com
  More than 11 billion pieces of plastic are lodged within coral reefs in the Asia-Pacific region. According to a new study published in the journal Science, as this plastic gets tangled, it often cuts the coral, increasing the risk of infection and disease outbreaks by as much 89 percent.
  
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• University of British Columbia wearable technology could change the way athletes train

  29-01-2018 14:27 via feedproxy.google.com
  Going for the gold is what the Olympics is all about and three UBC entrepreneurs are working to help athletes get closer to the podium.Kevin Reilly and Behnam Molavi—both PhD engineering graduates from UBC—and sports physician Babak Shadgan have designed a smart garment capable of monitoring vital performance metrics through sensors and software embedded in the fabric. The technology uses near-infrared spectroscopy to measure the local metabolism of an athlete’s muscles.
  
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• NOAA research holds promise of predicting snowpack before snow falls

  29-01-2018 14:27 via feedproxy.google.com
  As farmers in the American West decide what, when and where to plant, and urban water managers plan for water needs in the next year, they want to know how much water their community will get from melting snow in the mountains.This melting snow comes from snowpack, the high elevation reservoir of snow which melts in the spring and summer. Agriculture depends on snowpack for a majority of its water. Meltwater also contributes to municipal water supply; feeds rivers and streams, boosting fisheries
  
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• Gas-fired plants to reap huge subsidies despite uncertain future

  29-01-2018 13:59 via theguardian.com
  Fossil fuel faces stiff competition from nuclear, renewables and European importsGas power plant operators will scoop millions of pounds in state subsidies in coming days to go on standby next winter, but the owner of the UK’s largest gas fleet has warned the fossil fuel faces an uncertain future as a cornerstone of UK energy.Auctions starting on Tuesday for contracts in the capacity market, the government’s insurance policy for ensuring reliable electricity supplies, are crucial to
  
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• Government could 'save NHS millions' through sustainability backing

  29-01-2018 13:16
  The NHS could free up significant funds for front-line services if the Government lends its support to Trusts to develop low-carbon measures.
  
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• The threat to America's public lands is increasing – and so is our coverage

  29-01-2018 12:00 via theguardian.com
  This Land Is Your Land is our series on an American birthright at risk amid privatization, energy extraction and climate changeRotting cabins, closed trails: shining a light on national parksPublic lands are an American birthright like no other. Managed by the government and held in trust for the people, they range from celebrated national parks such as Yosemite, Yellowstone and the Everglades to vast western forests and deserts, Pacific coral reefs and Atlantic seamounts. Yet now their future h
  
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• Rotting cabins, closed trails: why we're shining a light on US national parks

  29-01-2018 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Amid dangers from the Trump administration and climate change, sites including the Grand Canyon and Zion national park are facing yet another threat: ‘massive disrepair’As threat to America’s public land increases so does our coverageAt Zion national park, a popular trail has been closed since 2010. At the Grand Canyon, a rusting pipeline that supplies drinking water to the busiest part of the park breaks at least a half-dozen times a year. At Voyageurs, a historic cabin collap
  
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• Natural gas killed coal – now renewables and batteries are taking over | Dana Nuccitelli

  29-01-2018 12:00 via theguardian.com
  To avoid dangerous climate change, we can’t rely on natural gas replacing coal
  Over the past decade, coal has been increasingly replaced by cheaper, cleaner energy sources. US coal power production has dropped by 44% (866 terawatt-hours [TWh]). It’s been replaced by natural gas (up 45%, or 400 TWh), renewables (up 260%, or 200 TWh), and increased efficiency (the US uses 9%, or 371 TWh less electricity than a decade ago). Continue reading...
  
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• Apple and Sky among swelling list of green procurement leaders

  29-01-2018 11:54
  The number of top companies leading the way on tackling emissions on the supplier chain has doubled in the past year, but many corporates are still missing out on the business opportunities of supplier engagement.
  
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• Co-op goes plastic free for own-brand teabags

  29-01-2018 11:33
  In the latest example of business attempting to combat plastic pollution, the Co-op has become the first retailer to develop a fully-biodegradable paper tea bag - removing all uses of polypropylene plastic as a result.
  
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• First database of burial grounds in England and Wales to be created

  29-01-2018 11:17 via theguardian.com
  Heritage Lottery grant will help document inscriptions and wildlife found in graveyardsThe first national database to record all the natural and manmade treasures of burial grounds, from the giant Victorian urban cemeteries to little country churchyards, is to be created with a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
  The grant will be announced on Monday to help record and preserve rare plants and animals in danger of extinction across most of Britain, threatened by development and modern agricult
  
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• Heathrow launches Sustainable Innovation Prize to assist expansion aims

  29-01-2018 10:55
  UK businesses have been urged to support Heathrow Airport's expansion efforts by applying for a Sustainable Innovation Prize that addresses certain environmental challenges and uses the airport as a "live laboratory".
  
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• We’ve despoiled the Earth … now artificial stars are ruining space | Philip Hoare

  29-01-2018 10:00 via theguardian.com
  The launch of the Humanity Star is proof that the human urge to dominate wild places is as untamed as everNews that Rocket Lab, a New Zealand space company, has somewhat surreptitiously sent a 3ft-wide geodesic sphere into space – looking somewhat like an oversized Christmas tree bauble, has not met with unalloyed joy. Dubbed the Humanity Star, it is due to shine there for nine months (until it burns up in the atmosphere) – a “reminder to all on Earth about our fragile place in
  
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• Orange cave crocodiles may be mutating into new species

  29-01-2018 09:50 via theguardian.com
  In 2008 an archaeologist discovered crocodiles living in remote caves in Gabon. Now, genetics hint that these weird cave crocodilians may be in the process of evolving into a new species.It sounds like something out of a children’s book: it’s orange, it dwells in a cave and it lives on bats and crickets. But this isn’t some fairy story about a lonely troll – it’s the much weirder tale of a group of African dwarf crocodiles that are adapting to life in pitch-darkness
  
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• Why cyclists should keep their cool in the face of dangerous driving

  29-01-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Anger is often the first response to a near miss on the road but there are better ways to hold drivers to accountNot long ago, while riding down Archway Road in north London, I confronted a truck driver who pulled out without warning. The road is a long steep hill where bikes and cars gather decent speed if traffic is minimal. I was riding at just over 20mph, but flowing with traffic in my lane and within the speed limit. When the truck pulled out only metres ahead, I only just had time to brake
  
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• Sign up for This Land is Your Land, our monthly email on public lands

  29-01-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Get monthly email updates from our series covering the threat to America’s public landsAmerica’s public lands are under threat. Sign up for monthly updates from our two-year series, This Land is Your Land, as we cover the challenges facing national parks, forests, deserts, coral reefs and seamounts. We’ll send you the latest stories from the Guardian and our partner publications. Continue reading...
  
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• Brexit risks energy shortages and bigger bills, peers warn

  29-01-2018 07:01 via theguardian.com
  Committee says it could cut investment, complicate energy trading and affect cost of supplyBrexit could leave the UK more vulnerable to energy supply shortages and drive up electricity and gas bills by making energy trading less efficient, a House of Lords committee has warned.Leaving the EU will diminish Britain’s influence on energy rules and cast uncertainty over future European investment in UK energy infrastructure, the peers said in a report. Lord Teverson, the chair of the EU, energ
  
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• Country diary: the Afon Leri reflects the reeds on a clear winter's day

  29-01-2018 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Borth, Ceredigion: Arrow-straight as a result of canalisation in the early 19th century, the river once had a meandering path into the open seaAs soon as I reached the top of the sea wall, I realised that I had badly misjudged the state of the tide. Instead of miles of firm sand, recently exposed by the retreating sea, I was faced with a jumble of storm waves breaking against the bank of stone cobbles at the back of the beach. My objective, the dunes of Ynyslas a couple of miles to the north, wa
  
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• Swollen Seine peaks in Paris

  29-01-2018 04:09 via theguardian.com
  City faces lengthy cleanup as water reaches 5.84 metres, just shy of levels seen in 2016The swollen Seine has peaked at more than four metres above its normal level, leaving a lengthy mop-up job for Parisians after days of rising waters.The river rose to 5.84 metres (19.2ft) early on Monday morning, causing problems for commuters as well as people living near its overflowing banks. Continue reading...
  
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