Environment news

• From earplugs to bedroom swaps: how to protect against noise pollution

  11-02-2018 18:00 via theguardian.com
  Everyday hubbub can increase your chance of cardiovascular problems, new research claims. Here are four ways to mitigate the effects of background soundsIf you find it vexing that a loud bang can trigger a heart attack, bad news: it turns out a low rumble can, too. Several studies have identified links between noise pollution from railways, airports or roads and cardiovascular conditions such as high blood pressure, stroke and heart failure. According to new research published in the Journal of
  
  Read more

• Australia's solar power boom could almost double capacity in a year, analysts say

  11-02-2018 18:00 via theguardian.com
  Solar farm approvals and record rooftop installations expected to ‘turbo-boost’ productionA record-breaking month of rooftop installations and a flood of large-scale solar farms could almost double Australia’s solar power capacity in a single year, industry analysts say.A massive solar energy boom is being predicted for 2018, after an unprecedented number of industrial solar farms were approved by the New South Wales and Queensland governments last year.Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• How do you build a healthy city? Copenhagen reveals its secrets

  11-02-2018 17:10 via theguardian.com
  The Danish capital ranks high on the list of the world’s healthiest and happiest cities. With obesity and depression on the rise worldwide, here are its lessons for how to combat them culturallyMaybe it’s the Viking heritage. There is an icy open-air pool in the waters of Copenhagen’s harbour, and although it is mid-winter Danes still jump in every day. On the front cover of the city’s health plan, a lean older man is pictured climbing out, dripping, his mouth open in a s
  
  Read more

• The energy industry's power problem? Too few women

  11-02-2018 13:01 via theguardian.com
  Lack of diversity at energy firms is holding back the fight against climate change, claims expertThe lack of women in energy companies is holding back the sector’s efforts to tackle climate change, a leading industry watcher has warned.Catherine Mitchell, professor of energy policy at the University of Exeter, said poor gender diversity meant the industry was less open to new ideas, in particular the move to a lower carbon energy system. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Lack of women in energy ‘holding back fight against climate change’

  11-02-2018 13:01 via theguardian.com
  Gender imbalance at energy firms and industry events is slowing transition to greener power, claims expertThe lack of women in energy companies is holding back the sector’s efforts to tackle climate change, a leading industry watcher has warned.Catherine Mitchell, a professor of energy policy at the University of Exeter, said poor gender diversity meant the industry was less open to new ideas, in particular the move to a lower-carbon energy system. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Poison pass: the man who became immune to snake venom

  11-02-2018 09:00 via theguardian.com
  Rock singer Steve Ludwin has been injecting himself with snake venom for 30 years. In a strange twist, his bizarre habit could now save thousands of lives. His former partner Britt Collins tells his outlandish storySometime in 2006, when my ex-boyfriend failed to show up for dinner, I assumed something was wrong or perhaps he’d forgotten. About a week later, calling to apologise, he told me he’d had an overdose, accidentally injecting a lethal cocktail of venom from three snakes. A l
  
  Read more

• Brazil carnival revellers warned that all that glitters is not good for the planet

  11-02-2018 09:00 via theguardian.com
  Rio’s vast annual street celebration features copious amounts of sparkling microplastics that find their way into the marine food chainWith Rio’s enormous carnival in full swing, the streets are full of revellers in colourful fancy dress, thronging the city’s many samba street parties. And among the looks, there is one carnival constant: multicoloured glitter smeared over bare skin.
  But now worries over glitter’s damaging environmental impact are dampening the mood at the
  
  Read more

• 'Oumuamua: 'space cigar's' tumble hints at violent past

  11-02-2018 08:53 via bbc.co.uk
  The 'Oumuamua asteroid from outside our Solar System was involved in a collision, a study finds.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Labor fires back at Adani Australia CEO over foreign investment claims

  11-02-2018 02:24 via theguardian.com
  Tanya Plibersek rejects Jeyakumar Janakaraj’s claim Bill Shorten casting doubt on future foreign investmentLabor has rejected claims it is destabilising Australia’s ability to attract investment through its growing scepticism of the controversial Adani Queensland coalmine.Following moves by Labor to distance itself from Adani’s proposed Carmichael coalmine, the Adani Australia chief executive, Jeyakumar Janakaraj, told the Weekend Australian that Labor’s attacks on the pr
  
  Read more

• Nigeria's soil-free salad farm

  11-02-2018 01:32 via bbc.co.uk
  The entrepreneur growing greens in shipping containers.
  
  Read more

• We’ve trashed the oceans; now we are turning space into a junkyard for billionaires | Kevin McKenna

  11-02-2018 01:05 via theguardian.com
  Experts say rocket emissions affect our climate and cause ozone loss, yet too few people seem to careDavid Attenborough’s Blue Planet series raised our awareness of rubbish tips traversing our oceans and choking some of our most beloved marine species.This has led to a global debate about how we manufacture and dispose of plastics. The Scottish government announced that it is to host an international conference in 2019 to discuss action on marine litter. It’s ideal territory for any
  
  Read more

Follow @UK_Environment on Twitter!