Environment news

• Pollutionwatch: ice resurfacing machines can cause poisoning

  15-02-2018 22:30 via theguardian.com
  The machines that ensure smooth ice for athletes can be responsible for air pollutionWatch the live streams from the Winter Olympics and you will see the ice rink resurfacing machines that ensure smooth ice for the athletes. Running any engine indoors is a bad idea, especially in a room full of thousands of spectators and heavily breathing ice-hockey players or skaters. The first case of air pollution problems from ice resurfacers was reported in 1975 when 15 children became ill from carbon mono
  
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• Probe provides rapid lung investigation

  15-02-2018 20:02 via bbc.co.uk
  Scientists develop technology that goes inside the lung to make fast diagnoses of infection.
  
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• Cleaning products a big source of urban air pollution, say scientists

  15-02-2018 20:00 via theguardian.com
  Research shows paints, perfumes, sprays and other synthetic items contribute to high levels of ‘volatile organic compounds’ in airHousehold cleaners, paints and perfumes have become substantial sources of urban air pollution as strict controls on vehicles have reduced road traffic emissions, scientists say.Researchers in the US looked at levels of synthetic “volatile organic compounds”, or VOCs, in roadside air in Los Angeles and found that as much came from industrial an
  
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• Woburn Safari Park: Elephant Tarli survives deadly virus

  15-02-2018 19:17 via bbc.co.uk
  Tarli, an endangered Asian elephant, has beaten the odds to overcome an Ebola-like virus.
  
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• Scientists have developed a lung probe that finds infections

  15-02-2018 19:09 via bbc.co.uk
  The probe provides access deep inside a patient’s lung, which means doctors will be able to diagnose lung conditions much quicker and more accurately.
  
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• South Korea's Ahn Hee-Jung on coal trade: after Paris 'everything should change'

  15-02-2018 18:00 via theguardian.com
  Australia sells South Korea $6bn of coal a year, so Canberra unease over the governor’s anti-coal message is unsurprisingFor a South Korean presidential hopeful, Ahn Hee-Jung is not what you would expect. Continue reading...
  
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• Dramatic decline in Borneo's orangutan population as 150,000 lost in 16 years

  15-02-2018 18:00 via theguardian.com
  Fresh efforts needed to protect critically endangered animals from hunters and habitat loss as population more than halvesHunting and killing have driven a dramatic decline in the orangutan population on Borneo where nearly 150,000 animals have been lost from the island’s forests in 16 years, conservationists warn. Related: Borneo orangutan found riddled with gunshots in latest attackContinue reading...
  
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• London Assembly: Energy-from-Waste a 'last resort' option

  15-02-2018 17:14
  A report which claims that London should seek to limit the amount of materials it sends to Energy-from-Waste (EfW) has been met by a mixed response from members of the sustainability community.
  
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• US tribe fights use of treated sewage to make snow on holy peaks

  15-02-2018 14:00 via theguardian.com
  The Hopi tribe is taking on an Arizona ski resort over its use of artificial snow: ‘People compare it to baptizing a baby with reclaimed water’As threat to America’s public land increases, so does our coverageTo the Hopi tribe, the San Francisco Peaks are sacred. The cluster of mountains rise dramatically from grasslands and ponderosa forests in northern Arizona, and the Hopi say they are home to spiritual beings called kachinas, believed to bring the rain and snow to their res
  
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• Best-practice guide for business action on SDGs launched by WWF and Gold Standard

  15-02-2018 13:34
  Businesses have been urged to capitalise on the benefits of delivering against ambitious goals on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in a report which provides a host of best-practices for business leaders to inform their strategies going forward.
  
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• Ammonia emissions rise in UK, as other air pollutant levels fall

  15-02-2018 13:18 via theguardian.com
  Levels of powerful air pollutant rose by 3.2% from 2015 to 2016 according to government statisticsEmissions of ammonia have been on the rise in the UK, new statistics from the government show, even while the amount of other pollutants entering the atmosphere has fallen.Levels of the powerful air pollutant rose by 3.2% from 2015 to 2016, the latest year for which statistics are available, according to a report published by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on Thursday mor
  
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• UK air pollutants continue decline

  15-02-2018 13:11 via bbc.co.uk
  Nitrogen pollutants from motor vehicles fell 12% from 2012 to 2016, according to official statistics.
  
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• Balearics launch pioneering plan to phase out emissions

  15-02-2018 12:30 via theguardian.com
  Green manifesto for 2050 includes measures for transport and clean energy but could put islands on a path to confrontation with MadridThe Balearic islands’ government has launched a pioneering plan to phase out greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, potentially setting itself on a collision course with the Spanish government.
  Under the green manifesto, new diesel cars will be taken off the car market in Ibiza, Majorca, Menorca and Formentera from 2025 – the same year that all street and r
  
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• News network climate reporting soared in 2017 thanks to Trump | Dana Nuccitelli

  15-02-2018 12:00 via theguardian.com
  But the networks need to improve reporting on climate events unrelated to TrumpIn 2016, US TV network news coverage of climate change plummeted. News coverage was focused on the presidential election, but the corporate broadcast networks didn’t air a single segment informing viewers how a win by Trump or Hillary Clinton could affect climate change or climate policy. That followed a slight drop in news coverage of climate change in 2015, despite that year being full of critical events like
  
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• Banking sector's 'skin deep' commitment to green finance threatens 2C future

  15-02-2018 10:32
  The shortcomings of global banks on climate action could undermine efforts to achieve a 2C future, according to a damning report backed by more than 100 investors worth almost $2trn in assets.
  
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• Offended by Koreans eating dog? I trust you’ve never had a bacon butty | Chas Newkey-Burden

  15-02-2018 10:00 via theguardian.com
  Frightened animals being caged, killed and turned into food – we’d never dream of such evils in the west … would we?Would you eat rabbit? Even those who regularly consume meat from chickens, sheep and pigs will often balk at the thought of eating a cuddly little bunny rabbit. But what’s the difference? Why do we see some animals as furry friends and others as fair game to chop up and eat? With the Winter Olympics turning attention towards South Korea, dog meat has been p
  
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• Sustainable Business Covered podcast: Thames tours with Tideway

  15-02-2018 08:57
  edie visits London Bridge for a boat tour with the Tideway team, the company behind London's massive development project to improve pollution and plastic levels in the city by enhancing the sewage system.
  
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• Rare butterfly found breeding in Scotland for first time in 130 years

  15-02-2018 08:01 via theguardian.com
  Eggs laid by white-letter hairstreak found on elm trees in BerwickshireThe microscopic eggs of an endangered butterfly have been found in Scotland, suggesting the insect has returned to breed in the country for the first time in more than 130 years.Lepidopterists discovered white-letter hairstreak eggs on wych elm trees at Lennel, Berwickshire, this month after an adult butterfly was spotted last summer 10 miles away – the first sighting in Scotland since 1884.Continue reading...
  
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• Iran urged by UN to respect environment activists after wildlife campaigner death

  15-02-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Officials say Kavous Seyed Emami used endangered Asiatic cheetah surveys as pretext for spying, but no evidence has been citedUN officials have urged the Iranian government to respect the work of environmental activists following the death in custody last week of wildlife campaigner, Kavous Seyed Emami.Emami was buried on Monday, but several members of the organisation he founded, the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation, remain in jail and the deputy head of the Environmental Protection Organis
  
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• Country diary: bullfinches and their passion for cherry buds

  15-02-2018 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Crook, County Durham: A steady rain of shredded petals settles daily on the flagstone path
  A family of bullfinches, Pyrrhula pyrrhula, started to visit our winter-flowering cherry in early December, soon after it began to bloom, and they have returned almost every day. I planted the tree about two decades ago and now its crown is level with the bedroom windows, offering opportunities to watch these shy birds at close quarters. They come to feed on its seemingly inexhaustible supply of flower bud
  
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• Four Australian mammals deemed under greater threat of extinction

  15-02-2018 06:24 via theguardian.com
  Status of northern hairy-nosed wombat, central rock-rat, numbat and Christmas Island shrew upgraded in latest threatened species listFour mammals – including the northern hairy-nosed wombat and the numbat – have been upgraded to endangered or critically endangered on the updated Australian threatened species list published on Thursday.The northern hairy-nosed wombat (Lasiorhinus krefftii) has been steadily contracting its range to a single area within Queensland’s Epping Forest
  
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• Electricity retailers could defer emissions reductions under Coalition plan

  15-02-2018 05:25 via theguardian.com
  Discussion paper proposes national energy guarantee ‘flexibility’ by deferring proportion of obligations
  Electricity retailers could be allowed to defer a proportion of their emissions reductions obligations under the Turnbull government’s national energy guarantee to give the energy sector time to adjust to the new regime.The deferral idea is floated in a new discussion paper about the guarantee prepared by the Energy Security Board to kick off consultations about how the Turn
  
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• What lies beneath

  15-02-2018 02:07 via bbc.co.uk
  Winning photos from the Underwater Photographer of the Year competition
  
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• Great White demystified

  15-02-2018 01:36 via bbc.co.uk
  Shark diving is helping tourists improve their perception about the largest predatory fish in the world.
  
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• Musk's Tesla to stay in space for millions of years

  15-02-2018 01:17 via bbc.co.uk
  A car launched by Elon Musk could stay in space for millions of years before hitting Earth or Venus.
  
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