Environment news

• Pollutionwatch: wood burning worsening UK air quality

  01-02-2018 22:30
  Global studies show that when wood stoves are replaced, particle pollution falls sharplyA new study shows how home wood burning is worsening air quality in UK towns and cities. Wood burning is adding between 24% and 31% to the particle pollution emitted in Birmingham and London. Many people think that this is a harmless form of heating, but it is often hard to see the impact of a pollutant until it is taken away.Related: Toxic air pollution particles found in human brainsContinue reading...
  
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• Batman byelection: Greens pressure Labor to reverse electricity privatisation

  01-02-2018 21:52
  Party urges $2.8bn commonwealth acquisition of privately owned interconnectorsThe Greens will on Friday call for electricity assets to be returned to public ownership, starting with a commonwealth acquisition of privately owned interconnectors, costing $2.8bn.The new energy policy from the Greens, to be released as the party gears up to contest the Batman byelection in Melbourne’s northern suburbs after the resignation of Labor’s David Feeney on Thursday, would seek to transition pri
  
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• Polar bears captured on collar cams

  01-02-2018 21:33 via bbc.co.uk
  High-tech tracking collars on polar bears reveal a growing Arctic struggle, say scientists.
  
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• Slavery risk warning over UK's scallop fisheries

  01-02-2018 20:42
  Register singles out industry with retailers told to check suppliers are clear of any link to bonded labourMarine conservation campaigners have warned there is a critical risk that slaves are being used on British scallop fishing boats, and urged retailers to be on their guard.A new slavery risk register published in the US on Thursday has singled out the UK’s queen and giant scallops fisheries as the most at risk of modern slavery after a Guardian investigation found allegations of bonded
  
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• Polar bears 'running out of food'

  01-02-2018 20:21 via bbc.co.uk
  Tracking collars on female polar bears measure the animals' struggle to find food on diminishing Arctic ice.
  
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• Polar bears could become extinct faster than was feared, study says

  01-02-2018 20:00
  The animals facing an increasing struggle to find enough food to survive as climate change steadily transforms their environmentPolar bears could be sliding towards extinction faster than previously feared, with the animals facing an increasing struggle to find enough food to survive as climate change steadily transforms their environment. New research has unearthed fresh insights into polar bear habits, revealing that the Arctic predators have far higher metabolisms than previously thought. Thi
  
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• Suspicions Adani altered lab report while appealing fine for Abbot Point coal spill

  01-02-2018 18:00
  Original report said to have showed more pollution flowed into sensitive Caley valley wetlands than company had allegedAdani submitted an altered laboratory report while appealing a fine for contamination of sensitive wetlands on the Queensland coast near the Great Barrier Reef, the Guardian understands.While appealing a $12,000 fine for spilling coal-laden water on to the Caley valley wetlands at Abbot Point after Cyclone Debbie, Adani submitted a report detailing the nature of the spill.Contin
  
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• Miners receive twice as much in tax credits as Australia spends on environment

  01-02-2018 18:00
  Exclusive: Analysis shows federal and state environment spending cut while industry awarded $2.5bn in fuel tax creditsMining companies will receive more than twice as much in fuel tax credits as the Turnbull government will spend on environment and biodiversity programs this financial year, an analysis has found.Coalmining companies alone are expected to get more back than the diminishing funding allocated to the federal environment department. Continue reading...
  
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• Energy guarantee protects coal sector from renewable competition – analysis

  01-02-2018 18:00
  Report says Neg will also undermine efficiency of renewable investmentThe Turnbull government’s proposed national energy guarantee will protect coal generators from competition provided by renewables and batteries and undermine the efficiency of investment in renewable generation capacity, according to a new analysis.The analysis of the government’s policy by Carbon and Energy Markets for the Australian Conservation Foundation also floats the idea that the Neg – which imposes n
  
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• Scottish SMEs offered 'cashback' loan for energy-efficiency projects

  01-02-2018 14:18
  Small businesses in Scotland have been encouraged to take advantage of a new "cashback" scheme that could enable them to cut annual energy usage by a quarter and save up to £10,000 in the process.
  
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• So killer whales can talk. Welcome to a brave new world of cross-species chat | Jules Howard

  01-02-2018 13:19
  Wikie the orca is more mimic than raconteur, but the potential is awesome. Imagine dolphins tackling politicians on pollutionA bridge in cultures has occurred. A cognitive chasm between intelligent creatures has been crossed. Of all the spectacular times for you to be alive, you happen to have been born in an age when killer whales started talking to the damn dirty apes who were willing to listen. Though this sounds like some sort of sci-fi dream/nightmare, I am here to assure you that this is r
  
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• It's not okay how clueless Donald Trump is about climate change | Dana Nuccitelli

  01-02-2018 12:00
  We’ve come to accept Trump’s ignorance, but it’s often dangerousDonald Trump has decimated all presidential norms to such a degree that it’s now difficult to feel alarmed or outraged when he inevitably breaks another. It was difficult to raise an eyebrow when the story broke that Trump paid off a porn star to remain silent about their affair, which happened just after his third wife had given birth to his fifth child, because it’s Donald Trump – of course he d
  
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• India's farmed chickens dosed with world's strongest antibiotics, study finds

  01-02-2018 11:50
  Warning over wider global health impacts after findings reveal thousands of tonnes of colostin - the ‘antibiotic of last resort’ - are being shipped to India’s farmsChickens raised in India for food have been dosed with some of the strongest antibiotics known to medicine, in practices that could have repercussions throughout the world.
  Thousands of tonnes of an “antibiotic of last resort” – only used in the most extreme cases of sickness - are shipped to India
  
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• Has spring come early where you live? Share your pictures

  01-02-2018 11:00
  Get involved in our project mapping the change in UK seasons: tell us if you’re seeing an early spring near youHas spring sprung early where you are? Are you already noticing changes to the appearance or behaviour of flora and fauna in gardens, window boxes or local wild spaces? If so, we’d like to hear about it for a project mapping what appears to be a trend of shorter winters in the northern hemisphere. Related: Spring flowers in autumn, birdsong in winter: what a freak year for n
  
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• Expert group recommends setting up European standards for 'green bonds'

  01-02-2018 10:25
  An EU sustainability taxonomy, a definition of priority investment areas, the clarification of investor duties and development of "official" European sustainability standards for green bonds are some of the recommendations experts made to the European Commission on Wednesday (31 January).
  
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• Aldi pledges to halve food waste by 2030

  01-02-2018 10:05
  The UK's fastest growing supermarket Aldi has pledged to reduce its operational food waste by 50% by 2030, after joining the Champions 12.3 coalition.
  
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• Schools across the US exposed to air pollution: 'children are facing risks'

  01-02-2018 10:00
  Study covering 90,000 schools across the country shows black, Hispanic and low-income students most likely to be exposed to harmful toxinsSchool children across the US are plagued by air pollution that’s linked to multiple brain-related problems, with black, Hispanic and low-income students most likely to be exposed to a fug of harmful toxins at school, scientists and educators have warned. Continue reading...
  
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• Air pollution: black, Hispanic and poor students most at risk from toxins – study

  01-02-2018 10:00
  ‘Children are facing risks that will affect their ability to learn’Study covered 90,000 schools across the US
  Schoolchildren across the US are plagued by air pollution that’s linked to multiple brain-related problems, with black, Hispanic and low-income students most likely to be exposed to a fug of harmful toxins at school, scientists and educators have warned. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘Silver bullet’ to suck CO2 from air and halt climate change ruled out

  01-02-2018 07:00
  Scientists say climate targets cannot be met using the technologies, which either risk huge damage to the environment or are very costlyWays of sucking carbon dioxide from the air will not work on the vast scales needed to beat climate change, Europe’s science academies warned on Thursday.
  From simply planting trees to filtering CO2 out of the air, the technologies that some hope could be a “silver bullet” in halting global warming either risk huge damage to the environment the
  
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• Country diary: this is the season for fern sex

  01-02-2018 06:30
  Durham city: Minute male capsules on the prothallus burst open, releasing sperm with whiplash tails that swim frantically towards the egg cells
  Since humans first began to pile stone upon stone to build walls, and later learned to stabilise them with mortar, plants have taken root in the crevices. They are often ephemeral opportunists, growing from seeds distributed by birds, but for some spleenwort ferns that naturally colonised bare limestone cliffs the crumbly alkaline cement of the manmade a
  
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• EU measure demands rise in public fountains to cut bottle waste

  01-02-2018 06:00
  Directive seeks better access to safe drinking water to reduce use of throw-away containersThe EU is to oblige national governments to provide greater access to drinking fountains, encourage restaurants to offer free tap water, and raise the standards required of suppliers, as part of a move to clamp down on plastic waste and improve the health of Europeans.Related: Bottled water is a nonsense. Just ban it and fill our towns with drinking fountains | Sonia SodhaContinue reading...
  
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• Genetic secret of English salmon

  01-02-2018 03:46 via bbc.co.uk
  Researchers have discovered that salmon from the chalk streams of southern England are genetically unique.
  
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• Dying in agony

  01-02-2018 01:26 via bbc.co.uk
  While the US suffers an overdose epidemic, most of the world misses out on painkillers.
  
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• Space shuttle Columbia crew, who never came back

  01-02-2018 01:17 via bbc.co.uk
  It's 15 years since disaster struck as the Columbia returned to Earth following a research mission.
  
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• Surfers Against Sewage urge MPs to make parliament plastic-free

  01-02-2018 01:01
  Campaigners ask Westminster to ‘drive war on plastic waste’ and Prince Charles calls for actionCampaigners are demanding that the UK parliament cuts its use of throwaway plastics, as new figures show the Westminster estate purchased more than 2m plastic straws, bottled drinks, plastic-lined coffee cups, food sachets and cutlery items last year.Freedom of information requests submitted by Surfers Against Sewage show that hundreds of thousands of items of plastic cutlery, more than a m
  
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