Environment news

• Signal detected from 'cosmic dawn'

  28-02-2018 23:23 via bbc.co.uk
  Scientists observe a signature on the sky from the very first stars to shine in the Universe.
  
  Read more

• Pesticides put bees at risk, European watchdog confirms

  28-02-2018 22:28 via bbc.co.uk
  Most uses of insecticides known as neonicotinoids represent a risk to wild bees and honeybees, say European experts.
  
  Read more

• Politicised students are a nightmare for the government – any ​attempt to neutralise them is doomed | Zoe Williams

  28-02-2018 18:35 via theguardian.com
  Tuition fees were meant to pit teachers and learners against each other. Instead, they have bound them together in solidarity
  The most interesting thing in a damning report often doesn’t end up as its talking point. Damnation is so fun, it’s hard to prioritise. So when the Commissioner for Public Appointments looked into the selection criteria for the board of the Office for Students, all the fireworks focused on Toby Young. Pugnacious in the noughties but curiously sensitive this de
  
  Read more

• Catastrophe looms if we fail to tackle diabetes | Letters

  28-02-2018 18:09 via theguardian.com
  Readers, including Keith Vaz MP, respond to the report that diabetes cases in the UK are set to doubleThe crisis in diabetes (Health alert as diabetes cases double to 3.7m, 27 February) is only going to get worse. The system desperately needs a robust and uncompromising attack on the causes of type 2 diabetes and resolute support for those with type 1. We need to actively seek out the half a million Britons who have type 2 diabetes and are unaware of it. For them early diagnoses is vital. T
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Grey squirrels are unfairly maligned | Letters

  28-02-2018 18:08 via theguardian.com
  Red squirrels, for whose troubles the greys are blamed, became virtually extinct in the UK before greys were even introduced, writes Natalia DoranYour article (The faddy eater: Could I stomach southern-fried squirrel?, 22 February) should be admired for its honesty in showing appropriate discomfort with the idea of eating a creature that should have been living, breathing, playing, instead of suffering an early violent death. However, it also propagates a couple of myths regarding the
  
  Read more

• Adani asked Coalition to help secure funding from China, FOI shows

  28-02-2018 18:00 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: Despite official denials, emails reveal discussions about the Indian company’s requests before ministers wrote to a Chinese agency vouching for the $16bn project Adani asked the Australian government to help secure funding for its controversial Carmichael coalmine, documents obtained under Freedom of information reveal. Two government ministers subsequently wrote to a Chinese government agency vouching for the proposed coalmine.Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Peru moves to create huge new indigenous reserves in Amazon

  28-02-2018 17:52 via theguardian.com
  Major step taken by government Multi-Sector Commission following 15 year processTwo “naked” people spotted hunting armadillo. One “naked” family on a river-bank. About five other “naked” people - plus houses, settlements and crops - seen from small planes. Fresh footprints on a path, on a tree trunk, and along a Canadian oil company’s seismic lines. Noises in the night. Whistling and birdsong imitation. A loosed arrow. Fishing utensils, abandoned fires,
  
  Read more

• Q&A: What does all this snow mean for climate change?

  28-02-2018 17:39 via theguardian.com
  Why are scientists worried about freezing temperatures in winter, is the beast from the east a freak event – and what is the polar vortex?Q: Snow in winter. That feels reassuringly normal. Does this mean the climate has fixed itself?A: Unfortunately not. In fact, many scientists are concerned this is a prelude to more extreme and less predictable weather. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• England sees funding fall for energy-efficient homes

  28-02-2018 15:52 via bbc.co.uk
  In the last five years, there has been an average of 32,000 excess winter deaths in the UK.
  
  Read more

• How a small town reclaimed its grid and sparked a community revolution | Aditya Chakrabortty

  28-02-2018 14:17 via theguardian.com
  The latest article in our new economics series looks at what happened when a German utilities contract expired, and one man thought his neighbours could take over
  • Listen to Aditya Chakrabortty talking about game-changing economic models on The Alternatives podcastMartin Rühl never imagined this fight would define the rest of his life. Not for a moment did he reckon it would become so epic in length, in scale, in consequences. He just thought his speck of a town should run its own ele
  
  Read more

• Public-sector sustainability professionals braced for negative impacts of Brexit

  28-02-2018 14:03
  Almost three-quarters of sustainability professionals working within public sector organisations believe the UK's impending departure from the European Union (EU) will hinder the delivery of their strategies and projects, according to a new report launched by edie today (28 February).
  
  Read more

• EXCLUSIVE: Public-sector sustainability professionals braced for negative impacts of Brexit

  28-02-2018 14:03
  Almost three-quarters of sustainability professionals working within public sector organisations believe the UK's impending departure from the European Union (EU) will hinder the delivery of their strategies and projects, according to a new report launched by edie today (28 February).
  
  Read more

• Three-quarters of public sector sustainability workers braced for post-Brexit 'race to the bottom'

  28-02-2018 14:01
  Almost three quarters of sustainability professionals working within public sector organisations believe that the UK's impending departure from the European Union (EU) will hinder delivery of strategies and projects, according to exclusive new research from edie's Sector Insight report.
  
  Read more

• Latin America poised to agree world's first legal pact for nature defenders

  28-02-2018 13:04 via theguardian.com
  After lengthy negotiations and record deaths of defenders on the continent, sources say a deal is very likely to be reached Latin American countries are poised to agree the world’s first legally binding convention to protect environmental defenders at a conference in Costa Rica. Land activists and indigenous people were killed in record numbers on the continent last year, with more than two nature protectors murdered every week. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• British retailers linked to polluting supplier factories

  28-02-2018 12:48
  Marks & Spencer, H&M and ASOS are among the global companies that have agreed to incorporate new measures into sourcing policies for textile fibres, after a new report linked Tesco, Asda and Next to Asian viscose factories that are polluting the environment and contributing to premature deaths.
  
  Read more

• Rome to ban diesel cars from city centre by 2024

  28-02-2018 12:33 via theguardian.com
  Mayor announces ‘strong measures’ to tackle pollution in Italy’s traffic-clogged capitalRome, one of Europe’s most traffic-clogged cities and home to thousands of ancient outdoor monuments threatened by pollution, plans to ban diesel cars from the centre by 2024, its mayor has said.Virginia Raggi announced the decision on her Facebook page on Tuesday, saying: “If we want to intervene seriously, we have to have the courage to adopt strong measures”.Continue rea
  
  Read more

• Total ban on bee-harming pesticides likely after major new EU analysis

  28-02-2018 12:17 via theguardian.com
  Analysis from EU’s scientific risk assessors finds neonicotinoids pose a serious danger to all bees, making total field ban highly likelyThe world’s most widely used insecticides pose a serious danger to both honeybees and wild bees, according to a major new assessment from the European Union’s scientific risk assessors.The conclusion, based on analysis of more than 1,500 studies, makes it highly likely that the neonicotinoid pesticides will be banned from all fields across the
  
  Read more

• Top 10 sustainability stories of February 2018

  28-02-2018 11:05
  It was a month of big plastic pledges, electric vehicle (EV) excitement and the launch of Mission Possible. Take a look back at February's biggest sustainability stories in this brand-new round-up.
  
  Read more

• Is the UK winning the graphene race?

  28-02-2018 11:03 via bbc.co.uk
  The scientist who won the Nobel Prize for his work with graphene worries about research funding.
  
  Read more

• Public-sector sustainability: edie launches latest sector insight report

  28-02-2018 10:03
  The key drivers, challenges and opportunities facing sustainable business in the UK public sector are revealed in edie's latest sector insight report, published today (28 February).
  
  Read more

• Shorten is selling out miners to get Green votes on Adani, says Turnbull

  28-02-2018 09:42 via theguardian.com
  The prime minister’s attack focuses on Labor’s policy shift on Carmichael mine and renews attempts to paint Labor leader as ‘not fair dinkum’Malcolm Turnbull has blasted Bill Shorten for going “snorkelling” on the Great Barrier Reef courtesy of the Australian Conservation Foundation, and for selling blue-collar jobs down the river “to get Green votes” in the Batman byelection.
  The prime minister went on the political offensive against Shorten after
  
  Read more

• PG tips announces switch to plastic-free fully biodegradable teabags

  28-02-2018 07:30 via theguardian.com
  Pyramid teabags made from a plant-based material will go on sale next week, with company’s other teabags set to follow suit by end of 2018The UK’s biggest tea brand is switching to fully biodegradable tea bags free from synthetic materials to cut down on plastic pollution caused by the nation’s favourite hot drink.The first of the new eco-friendly pyramid teabags from PG tips – made from a plant-based material that is 100% renewable and biodegradable – will go on sa
  
  Read more

• Fishing for plastic: the Amsterdam canal tour with a difference

  28-02-2018 07:30 via theguardian.com
  A trip with Plastic Whale isn’t about sightseeing. Inspired by the plastics crisis, it offers the chance to help clean the city’s waterways, in a boat made from recycled materialWe push off from the quay by Amsterdam’s Westerkerk, leaving the tourist bustle and long, fidgety queue for the Anne Frank House behind us. Our little electric boat heads quietly south down the Keizersgracht canal for a tour of the city. Our guide, Erik, points out the sights: a famous hotel, a secret c
  
  Read more

• World's first plastic-free aisle opens in Netherlands supermarket

  28-02-2018 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Campaigners hail progress as Amsterdam store offers dedicated aisle of more than 700 products, with plans for a national roll-out Letter: Plastic-free aisle is an example for others to followShoppers in the Netherlands will get the chance to visit Europe’s first plastic-free supermarket aisle on Wednesday in what campaigners claim is an turning point in the war on plastic pollution.The store in Amsterdam will open its doors at 11am when shoppers will be able to choose from more than 700 pl
  
  Read more

• The small town that started a community revolution across Europe | Aditya Chakrabortty

  28-02-2018 07:00 via theguardian.com
  The latest article in our new economics series looks at what happened when a German utilities contract expired, and one man thought his neighbours could take over
  • Listen to Aditya Chakrabortty talking about game-changing economic models on The Alternatives podcastMartin Rühl never imagined this fight would define the rest of his life. Not for a moment did he reckon it would become so epic in length, in scale, in consequences. He just thought his speck of a town should run its own ele
  
  Read more

• Satellite Eye on Earth: January 2018 - in pictures

  28-02-2018 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Sahara snow and volcanic colours are among the images captured by Nasa and the ESA last monthRare snowfall in north-west Algeria, on the edge of the Sahara desert. Despite the desert at times being one of the hottest places on Earth, the snow was reported to be up to 40cm thick in some places. Although temperatures plummet during the night, snowfall is very unusual in the Sahara because the air is so dry. It is only the third time in nearly 40 years that this part of the desert has seen snow.Con
  
  Read more

• First plastic-free aisle is an example for other supermarkets to follow | Letters

  28-02-2018 07:00 via theguardian.com
  There is no logic in wrapping perishable food in indestructible plastic, say campaigners hailing today’s launch in AmsterdamToday the world’s first plastic-free aisle was launched in Amsterdam by environmental campaign group A Plastic Planet and Dutch supermarket Ekoplaza. The aisle enables shoppers to choose from 700 everyday products that are free from plastic packaging. Before the end of the year, Ekoplaza plans to roll the plastic-free aisle out across each of its 74 stores.Plast
  
  Read more

• Britain’s national parks are a farce: they’re being run for a tiny minority | George Monbiot

  28-02-2018 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Dismal, empty and burnt to a crisp – these spaces are not for the benefit of the nation. We need to reclaim and rewild themVisit any national park in Britain and ask yourself what you are seeing. Is it the “wild”, “unspoilt” landscape the brochures and display boards promised? Or is it eerily bereft of wildlife and rich ecosystems? Is it managed in the interests of the nation or for a tiny, privileged minority? I suspect that if we saw such places called national pa
  
  Read more

• Britain’s last lion tamer: ‘It’s not the archaic Victorian practice people imagine’

  28-02-2018 07:00 via theguardian.com
  As the government commits to banning wild animals in English circuses, Thomas Chipperfield faces losing his livelihood and lifelong passion – but, he says, his job is not cruelThe last lion tamer in Britain is waiting to meet me outside a pub called the Showman in the West Midlands town of Bloxwich. If I’m expecting a mustachioed impresario – charismatic, bullwhip-wielding and perhaps a little shifty – I’m confounded. With neat, slicked-back hair and a healthy glow,
  
  Read more

• After the 'sunrush': what comes next for solar power?

  28-02-2018 07:00 via theguardian.com
  The fall in costs that has driven solar’s rapid growth is slowing - but scientists are exploring the next generation of materials that can harness more energy from the sunSome people call it the “sunrush”: a 25-year period in which solar power has grown exponentially, transforming the technology from rarefied oddity to the world’s fastest-growing energy source.This surge, which saw 100MW of capacity in 1992 rocket to more than 300GW in 2016, has been largely driven by fal
  
  Read more

• Geoff Cousins reveals how Bill Shorten wavered on Adani mine

  28-02-2018 03:15 via theguardian.com
  Opposition leader assured environmentalist he would commit Labor to revoking the licence for the controversial coal project, but then faltered The businessman and environmentalist Geoff Cousins is absolutely unequivocal.
  He said the federal Labor leader Bill Shorten called him, just before Christmas last year, looking for help in how Labor might strengthen its policy on the controversial Adani coalmine – and then Shorten followed up several times since, asking to be given more time to conv
  
  Read more

• New clues to decline of bees and other pollinators

  28-02-2018 02:13 via bbc.co.uk
  Bee viruses have been found in hoverflies for the first time, raising new concerns about disease threats.
  
  Read more

• How humans echolocate 'like bats'

  28-02-2018 02:12 via bbc.co.uk
  Blind people who use sound to navigate their environment adjust their clicks very similarly to bats, research reveals.
  
  Read more

Follow @UK_Environment on Twitter!