Environment news

• Birdwatch: beguiling song of the serin

  13-03-2018 22:30
  The liquid tinkling of this tiny finch adds to the springtime chorus in Spain but can we expect to see the bird in Britain?Under a fiercely blue sky, the sun shines down on groves of oranges and almond blossom. I am in the mountain village of Sella, in Spain’s Alicante province, enjoying a sneak preview of spring – a month or more before it arrives in Britain.The migrant birds are not yet back, but half a dozen different butterflies are on the wing and birdsong fills the air. The scr
  
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• Archaeopteryx flew like a pheasant, say scientists

  13-03-2018 18:34 via bbc.co.uk
  The famous winged dinosaur Archaeopteryx, once thought of as the first bird, could fly, research shows.
  
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• UK farmers to be given first ever targets on soil health

  13-03-2018 17:52
  New bill will be first step by ministers to protect and restore soil as fears grow over a future soil fertility crisisA new bill will be brought before parliament this year mandating, for the first time, measures and targets to preserve and improve the health of the UK’s soils, amid growing concern that we are sleepwalking into a crisis of soil fertility that could destroy our ability to feed ourselves.The UN has warned that the world’s soils face exhaustion and depletion, with an es
  
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• Extreme winter weather becoming more common as Arctic warms, study finds

  13-03-2018 17:00
  Scientists found a strong link between high temperatures near the pole and unusually heavy snowfall and frigid weather farther south.The sort of severe winter weather that has rattled parts of the US and UK is becoming more common as the Arctic warms, with scientists finding a strong link between high temperatures near the pole and unusually heavy snowfall and frigid weather further south.A sharp increase in temperatures across the Arctic since the early 1990s has coincided with an uptick in abn
  
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• Plastic tax: coffee cups and food packaging could face levy

  13-03-2018 16:58
  Phllip Hammond accused of delaying action after he announces consultationEveryday single-use plastic items such as disposable coffee cups, takeaway boxes and polystyrene packaging could be hit with charges akin to the 5p levy on plastic bags, the government has warned.The Treasury said it was looking at changes to taxation and new levies to tackle plastic waste, but campaigners and politicians accused the government of delaying action.Continue reading...
  
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• True cost of Heathrow third runway must be revealed, say MPs

  13-03-2018 16:30
  Justine Greening and Vince Cable among those saying plan would jeopardise spending elsewhereThe true cost to the public of building a third runway at Heathrow has not been spelled out to taxpayers, according to a cross-party group of MPs, who warn that domestic flight connections and other transport spending will be jeopardised.Justine Greening, who quit Theresa May’s cabinet in January, is among the MPs calling on the government to clarify what backing expansion at the London hub airport
  
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• Third Heathrow runway would be bad for the whole UK | Letters

  13-03-2018 16:30
  Taxpayers everywhere – including those living hundreds of miles away from the south-east – will all pay for the expansion, write local MPs, lords and council leadersWe are writing to you regarding Heathrow and the hidden costs that we believe need to be explored.Lots of promises have been made to lots of people in different parts of the country about the extra domestic routes they can expect if a third Heathrow runway is built. It’s all part of a divide-and-rule strategy which
  
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• UK retail giants sign up to collaborative SDG commitment

  13-03-2018 15:20
  A group of major retailers, including Ikea, Debenhams and Sainsbury's, have signed up to a series of commitments to collaboratively tackle pressing societal issues by using the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a framework.
  
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• Rain or shine: new solar cell captures energy from raindrops

  13-03-2018 14:15
  New device is designed to prevent power output plummeting when the sun isn’t shining – but practical application is still some years offA solar panel that can generate electricity from falling raindrops has been invented, enabling power to flow even when skies cloud over or the sun has set.
  Solar power installation is soaring globally thanks to costs plunging 90% in the past decade, making it the cheapest electricity in many parts of the world. But the power output can plummet under
  
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• Spring Statement: Chancellor unveils consultation on plastic tax

  13-03-2018 13:55
  Phillip Hammond will launch a public consultation on a tax system for single-use plastics, vowing to tackle the "threat to our oceans" in his inaugural Spring Statement.
  
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• Hotelier coalition calls on industry to make modern slavery top priority

  13-03-2018 13:36
  A coalition of hospitality firms with a collective annual turnover of more than £14bn is calling on the industry to drive change in supply chains by treating modern slavery as a critical corporate responsibility.
  
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• Edinburgh zoo halts giant panda breeding programme

  13-03-2018 12:09
  Keepers to suspend efforts for at least a year and reassess strategy after five failed attemptsEdinburgh zoo has suspended its giant panda breeding programme for at least a year after failing five times to produce cubs through artificial insemination.The zoo, run by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), said it needed to reassess its strategies before making a final decision on whether to again put its female Tian Tian through artificial insemination.Continue reading...
  
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• Humans 'thrived' after historic Mount Toba eruption

  13-03-2018 12:00 via bbc.co.uk
  Early humans may have flourished after the largest volcanic eruption in history, according to new research.
  
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• UK and Saudi Arabia sign clean energy pact

  13-03-2018 10:47
  The UK has agreed to create closer ties with Saudi Arabia on developing low-carbon technologies that can help foster economic growth in both countries.
  
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• Krill fishing poses serious threat to Antarctic ecosystem, report warns

  13-03-2018 09:01
  Greenpeace finds industrial fishing taking place in the feeding grounds of whales and penguins, with vessels involved in oil spills and accidents Industrial fishing for krill in the pristine waters around Antarctica is threatening the future of one of the world’s last great wildernesses, according to a new report.The study by Greenpeace analysed the movements of krill fishing vessels in the region and found they were increasingly operating “in the immediate vicinity of penguin coloni
  
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• Fishing for krill is an eco-disaster: we must protect the Antarctic | Chris Packham

  13-03-2018 09:00
  These crustaceans are tiny but play a crucial role in limiting climate change. An ocean sanctuary would safeguard themWhat’s small, pink, and can be seen from space? The answer depends on your perspective.To the whales, seals and penguins of the Antarctic: it’s dinner. To you and me: it’s a small creature called krill, which forms the bedrock of the Antarctic food web. But unfortunately, and as a new report by Greenpeace lays bare, for an expanding multimillion dollar fishing i
  
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• Country diary: a woodland walk to the dawn chorus

  13-03-2018 06:30
  Wiggonholt Common, West Sussex: The nuthatch hops around, searching the ground, before launching high into a tree above me, where it starts to singDawn passes barely perceptibly in the damp darkness of the wood. Rain is falling, dripping through the canopy, forming thin, cold cascades of droplets pattering on the mud below. I turn a corner and stop – a nuthatch is drinking from a pool on the track, raising its pointed bill to gulp down the water. With its black eye-stripe, blue-grey back a
  
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• 'Boaty McBoatface' sub survives ice mission

  13-03-2018 02:54 via bbc.co.uk
  The nation's favourite yellow submarine returns safely after a dangerous dive in the Antarctic.
  
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• Why sharks like it hot - but not too hot

  13-03-2018 01:17 via bbc.co.uk
  Scientists have calculated the water temperature at which tiger sharks are most active and abundant.
  
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