Environment news

• No record of some threatened species in area government says it's protecting them

  16-02-2018 22:10 via theguardian.com
  Experts say growling grass frog and southern brown bandicoot not likely to be found at Endeavour Fern Gully
  Experts have cast doubt on government claims the Coalition is funding a conservation project in Victoria’s Endeavour Fern Gully to benefit threatened species – because the listed species are unlikely to occur in the area. Endeavour Fern Gully is a 27-hectare (65 acre) rainforest property on the Mornington Peninsula. The environment and energy minister, Josh Frydenberg, says the
  
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• Want to monitor air pollution? Test a pigeon

  16-02-2018 22:00 via theguardian.com
  Feral pigeons are exposed to the same environmental factors as humans, so help explore the affect of contaminants, say researchersPigeons might be seen as the scourge of cities, but researchers say they could help us explore both the levels and impacts of a host of toxins in the air, from lead to pesticides.Scientists say feral pigeons are a valuable way of probing contaminants in environment, since they are exposed to the same air, water, food and other factors as humans, and don’t ventur
  
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• Pollution blights UK seagrass meadows

  16-02-2018 21:48 via bbc.co.uk
  Excessive nitrogen from sewage and livestock waste is damaging the health of marine flowering plants.
  
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• The Bornean orangutans clinging on to survival

  16-02-2018 18:01 via bbc.co.uk
  More than 100,000 of the animals have been killed since 1999.
  
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• For and against students getting the crops in | Letters

  16-02-2018 17:25 via theguardian.com
  Readers respond to an earlier letter suggesting that students should replace migrant farm workers after BrexitIn the agricultural sector there is a shortfall of 4,300 jobs with a tiny proportion of the population working on farms. Yet Aileen Hammond (Letters, 15 February) demands that 2.28 million students in higher education descend on to the farms of this country every summer and winter. I’m afraid a few second homes she wants to be made available isn’t going to be quite enough to
  
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• Agro-forestry as a huge opportunity for UK | Letters

  16-02-2018 17:25 via theguardian.com
  Paul Brannen says Britain needs more trees not least because wood is a raw material that can be used by the emerging bioeconomy; while Peter Price defends Sheffield city council’s tree-planting policyJohn Vidal is absolutely correct in identifying the multiple benefits of agro-forestry (A eureka moment – we’re finally planting trees again, 13 February) but these benefits need to also be unleashed in the developed world, not only in Africa, Asia and South America.Curre
  
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• EDF UK profits hit by fall in sterling and nuclear prices

  16-02-2018 14:08 via theguardian.com
  Pound’s decline against euro costs French firm €608m as home energy usage also dropsFrench state-owned energy firm EDF reported falling profits, including a downturn in the UK due to falling prices for nuclear power, improved energy efficiency among its household customers and the slide in the value of sterling since the Brexit vote. Profits in the UK division, which includes EDF Energy, slumped by a third to €1.035 (£920m) as sales dwindled by €579m to €8.68bn, p
  
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• Church of England and ClientEarth give up plastics for Lent

  16-02-2018 13:10
  The Church of England has provided worshippers with a calendar of tips to avoid using single-use plastic during Lent, with MPs and environmental law firm ClientEarth also agreeing to the pledge.
  
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• One-fifth of commercial energy efficiency standards drop ahead of MEES deadline

  16-02-2018 12:36
  Energy efficiency standards have fallen in almost one-fifth of commercial properties ahead of major new legislation arriving in April.
  
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• Golden eagle suspected of being killed and dumped at sea near Edinburgh

  16-02-2018 12:12 via theguardian.com
  GPS data from the endangered young eagle, that was tagged by environmentalist Chris Packham, stopped transmitting before randomly restarting out at seaA young golden eagle may have been illegally killed near Edinburgh and dumped at sea after its satellite tag inexplicably stopped transmitting and then restarted in the North Sea.The golden eagle was tagged by broadcaster and environmentalist Chris Packham and the campaign group Raptor Persecution UK at a nest in the Scottish Borders last summer,
  
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• Report: Green businesses double performance of fossil fuel peers

  16-02-2018 11:22
  Clean energy investments have almost doubled the performance of fossil fuel energy stocks over the past year and a half, new figures have revealed.
  
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• Consumer products' air quality impact 'underestimated'

  16-02-2018 10:39 via bbc.co.uk
  Chemicals from household products rival vehicles as a key source of urban air pollution.
  
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• OECD urges countries to tax dirty energy

  16-02-2018 10:30
  The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has encouraged governments to start taxing CO2 emissions more aggressively, in a new report which warns that current taxation levels are not enough to fight climate change effectively.
  
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• Does cycling really damage men's sexual organs? | Jessica Brown

  16-02-2018 08:30 via theguardian.com
  New research refutes the theory that pressure from saddles can cause erectile dysfunction, and says cycling could actually improve performance in older menFew doubt that cycling helps you get healthy. One study last year found cyclists are less likely to develop heart disease or cancer, and a 2011 review showed it improves fitness and leads to longer lives. But there’s an area of men’s health that has been the subject of a persistent question: does time spent in the saddle lead to pr
  
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• Brenda the Civil Disobedience Penguin presents Australia's extinction crisis! | First Dog on the Moon

  16-02-2018 08:05 via theguardian.com
  If the government is spending $255m to save our endangered species, why have four been upgraded to even more endangered?Sign up here to get an email whenever First Dog cartoons are publishedGet all your needs met at the First Dog shop if what you need is First Dog merchandise and prints Continue reading...
  
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• Dutch cow poo overload causes an environmental stink

  16-02-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Dairy farms in the Netherlands are producing so much dung they can’t get rid of it safely. Now the WWF is calling for a 40% cut in herd numbers to protect the environment
  There is a dirty stench emanating from the Dutch dairy sector. The industry is, by most measures, hugely successful: despite the small size of the country, it is the fifth largest exporter of dairy and has a much-touted reputation as the tiny country that feeds the world.But there’s a catch: the nation’s 1.8 m
  
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• Country diary: the biggest hare I’ve ever seen sat boldly on its arse

  16-02-2018 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Bleaklow, Derbyshire: They hunker down, escaping the wind and wary of predators, waiting for the hour after dark to feedBrilliant sunshine and a covering of snow had transformed Bleaklow into the Arctic, the sky azure overhead with hints of turquoise on the horizon, bruising to mauve as the day wore on. Approaching Barrow Stones, the moors a glittering sweep of blue-white, nothing stirred but the bitter wind that curled around my neck. The wind had sculpted extravagant shapes from the snow: tran
  
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• '100,000 orangutans' killed in 16 years

  16-02-2018 05:54 via bbc.co.uk
  Borneo has lost a "shocking" number of its great apes, according to a new survey of the island.
  
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• It'd be wonderful if the claims made about carbon capture were true | Simon Holmes à Court

  16-02-2018 02:39 via theguardian.com
  Josh Frydenberg talks up carbon capture and storage not because it’s effective but because it’s a point of political differenceThe International Energy Agency warned this week that, under current energy policies, Australia is unlikely to meet its 2030 climate commitments.While the agency had lots to say about the plunging costs of renewables and the need for strong market signals to encourage the retirement of old and inefficient coal generation, Josh Frydenberg, the federal environm
  
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• Mine shaft energy storage and post-consumer packaging: the best green innovations of the week

  16-02-2018 01:01
  In a week of business breakthroughs for sustainability, edie rounds up the low-carbon and resource-efficient innovations that could shape the future.
  
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