Environment news

• Republican congressman explains sea-level rise: it's rocks falling into the sea

  17-05-2018 22:33 via theguardian.com
  Mo Brooks rejects notion that global warming is causing sea levels to increase, and says: ‘What about the White Cliffs of Dover?’A member of Congress has suggested that the White Cliffs of Dover tumbling into the English Channel was causing rising sea levels. Related: Everglades under threat as Florida's mangroves face death by rising sea levelContinue reading...
  
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• Co-op to stop 'last-minute' fresh produce sales to tackle food waste

  17-05-2018 22:04
  Co-op will stop'last-minute' sales of fresh produce in a bid to reduce the volume of edible food going to waste in its stores every day.
  
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• Combat dolphins and navy sea lions: meet the military sea mammals – video report

  17-05-2018 20:58 via theguardian.com
  Some militaries around the world use dolphins and sea lions  to carry out tasks such as detecting mines and locating equipment lost at sea. According to Paul Nachtigall, the head of the marine mammal research programme at the University of Hawaii, bottlenose dolphins are 'better than any machine' at detecting minesUkraine claims dolphin army captured by Russia went on hunger strikeContinue reading...
  
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• Bright ideas: edie explores 10 of the best green innovations in latest insight report

  17-05-2018 20:48
  From perovskite solar cells to waste-sucking rubbish bins, edie's latest report profiles 10 potentially game-changing green innovations, which will also be showcased in the Mission Possible Innovation Centre at edie Live next week (22-23 May)
  
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• 'Shocking' human impact reported on world's protected areas

  17-05-2018 20:12 via bbc.co.uk
  One third of the world's protected lands are being degraded by human activities, says a new study.
  
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• Climate change on track to cause major insect wipeout, scientists warn

  17-05-2018 20:00 via theguardian.com
  Insects are vital to ecosystems but will lose almost half their habitat under current climate projectionsGlobal warming is on track to cause a major wipeout of insects, compounding already severe losses, according to a new analysis.
  Insects are vital to most ecosystems and a widespread collapse would cause extremely far-reaching disruption to life on Earth, the scientists warn. Their research shows that, even with all the carbon cuts already pledged by nations so far, climate change would make a
  
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• Climate change an 'existential security risk' to Australia, Senate inquiry says

  17-05-2018 20:00 via theguardian.com
  Threat is not a possible future one but one endangering Australia now, parliament toldSign up to receive the top stories in Australia every day at noon Climate change is a “current and existential national security risk” to Australia, a Senate inquiry has told parliament, one that could inflame regional conflicts over food, water and land, and even imperil life on Earth.The Senate committee inquiry into the implications of climate change for Australia’s national security recomm
  
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• A third of world's nature reserves severely degraded by human activity

  17-05-2018 20:00 via theguardian.com
  New study’s author says failure to protect biodiversity in places identified for that purpose is ‘staggering’•Sign up to receive the top stories from Guardian Australia every morningA third of global protected areas such as national parks have been severely degraded by human activities in what researchers say is a stunning reality check of efforts by nations to stall biodiversity loss.A University of Queensland-led study, published on Friday in the prestigious academic jou
  
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• Raising the baa: Keswick May Ram Fair – in pictures

  17-05-2018 19:46 via theguardian.com
  Guardian photographer Christopher Thomond attends the annual Keswick May Ram Fair, where shepherds show off their best Herdwick rams Continue reading...
  
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• RHI fails to provide value for money, PAC concludes

  17-05-2018 19:39
  The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) has failed to provide value for money for the £23 billion that it is set to cost taxpayers, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has concluded.
  
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• Madagascar emerges as whale shark hotspot

  17-05-2018 18:42 via bbc.co.uk
  The endangered whale shark has been hiding in plain sight off Madagascar, say scientists.
  
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• Fracking planning laws should be relaxed say ministers

  17-05-2018 18:11 via bbc.co.uk
  Critics say it will be as easy to get the go-ahead to do a test drill as it is for a home conservatory.
  
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• Photo highlights: lion kings and princely preparations – in pictures

  17-05-2018 17:21 via theguardian.com
  The Guardian’s picture editors round up their favourite photos of the past 24 hours Continue reading...
  
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• Hawaii's Volcano Kilauea spews out 'ballistic blocks'

  17-05-2018 16:29 via bbc.co.uk
  But projectile boulders are not the only hazard facing islanders near the erupting Mount Kilauea.
  
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• Chilean villagers claim British appetite for avocados is draining region dry

  17-05-2018 15:50 via theguardian.com
  UK demand for fruit increased by 27% last year alone, prompting accusations that growers are illegally diverting rivers and leaving locals without waterBritish supermarkets are selling thousands of tonnes of avocados produced in a Chilean region where villagers claim vast amounts of water are being diverted, resulting in a drought.
  Major UK supermarkets including Tesco, Morrisons, Waitrose, Aldi and Lidl source avocados from Chile’s largest avocado-producing province, Petorca, where water
  
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• Rome authorities consider using sheep to tackle overgrown parks

  17-05-2018 14:49 via theguardian.com
  Cash-strapped Five Star Movement-led authority is struggling to maintain cityAuthorities in Rome are considering using sheep and other animals to tackle overgrown grass in the city’s parks.In a video posted on Facebook, a city environment official, Pinuccia Montanari, said Rome’s Five Star Movement mayor, Virginia Raggi, backed the idea.Continue reading...
  
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• Going a stray: Goa's beach dogs – in pictures

  17-05-2018 14:18 via theguardian.com
  Photographer Dougie Wallace turns his lens away from the pampered dogs of the world to its antithesis: the beach dogs of Goa. In doing so, Wallace has produced a wildlife project from a street photographer’s perspective, shot from a dog’s eye viewGoan to the Dogs will be on display at his Well Heeled exhibition at the Hospital Club, Covent Garden, as part of Photo London, 17-20 MaySigned copies of Well Heeled available at Dewi Lewis 4pm on 18 MayContinue reading...
  
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• Wallace’s enigma: how the island of Sulawesi continues to captivate biologists

  17-05-2018 13:30 via theguardian.com
  After 150 years, biologists are untangling the history of the Indonesian island’s unusual fauna“We now come to the Island of Celebes, in many respects the most remarkable and interesting in the whole region, or perhaps on the globe, since no other island seems to present so many curious problems for solution.” (Wallace 1876)Wedged in between the continental landmasses of south-east Asia and Australia lies the vast island realm of Wallacea. Named after Alfred Russel Wallace, the
  
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• Fast-track fracking plan by UK government prompts criticism

  17-05-2018 13:30 via theguardian.com
  ‘Exploratory drilling will be as easy as building a garden wall or conservatory’ – GreenpeaceFracking opponents have reacted with anger after ministers unveiled measures to help projects through the planning system, which campaigners said would make drilling a shale well as easy as building a conservatory.Shale gas explorers will be able to drill test sites without applying for planning permission and fracking sites could be classed as nationally significant infrastructure, mea
  
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• Fast-track fracking plan by the government prompts criticism

  17-05-2018 13:30 via theguardian.com
  ‘Exploratory drilling will be as easy as building a garden wall or conservatory’ – GreenpeaceFracking opponents have reacted with anger after ministers unveiled measures to help projects through the planning system in England, which campaigners said would make drilling a shale well as easy as building a conservatory.Shale gas explorers will be able to drill test sites in England without applying for planning permission and fracking sites could be classed as nationally significa
  
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• UK taken to Europe's highest court over air pollution

  17-05-2018 13:17 via theguardian.com
  European court of justice can impose multimillion euro fines if the UK and five other countries do not address the problemThe UK and five other nations have been referred to Europe’s highest court for failing to tackle illegal levels of air pollution. The European court of justice (ECJ) has the power to impose multimillion euro fines if the countries do not address the problem swiftly. The nations - the UK, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy and Romania - had been given a final warning by the
  
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• UK referred to Europe's top court over air pollution

  17-05-2018 13:14 via bbc.co.uk
  Britain is being taken to the European Court of Justice over persistent breaches of pollution limits.
  
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• Wales cleans up with 47 Blue Flag beaches

  17-05-2018 13:12 via theguardian.com
  In annual awards reflecting high-quality beaches, Wales has received 47 Blue Flags and 83 Seaside AwardsThe Welsh coastline continues to shine when it comes to clean beaches, boasting more Blue Flags than any other stretch of UK coast.Forty-seven Welsh beaches were awarded Blue Flag status in this year’s awards, which are given to beaches that comply with a number of criteria, including water quality, environmental management, safety and services. Wales has also received 83 Seaside Awards,
  
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• Scientists detect oxygen legacy of first stars

  17-05-2018 11:58 via bbc.co.uk
  The very first stars to shine in the Universe left a tell-tale trace in a far-distant galaxy.
  
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• Bee crisis: EU court backs near-total neonicotinoids ban

  17-05-2018 11:52 via bbc.co.uk
  Three insecticides blamed for bee colony collapses will be restricted to greenhouses.
  
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• Iceland among first adopters of new plastic-free labelling

  17-05-2018 09:25
  Frozen giant Iceland will adopt a new "plastic free" mark designed to help consumers make informed choices on plastic packaging.
  
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• Yangon's two-week landfill fire raises burning questions for authorities

  17-05-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Attempts to put out a huge blaze in Htein Bin rubbish dump have left experts asking why basic safeguards and control measures were not employedA pale haze still lingers over Yangon’s Hlaingthaya Township, where the sprawling Htein Bin landfill burned for 14 days. For many residents of the township – one of Myanmar’s poorest and most populous – life continues as usual: mothers feed their babies in small huts on the fringes of the dump; packs of dogs roam the plastic wastel
  
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• Australian magpies can understand other bird calls, study finds

  17-05-2018 07:54 via theguardian.com
  Magpies know meanings of different noisy miner calls and are able to eavesdrop to find out if predators are nearby • Sign up to receive the top stories in Australia every day at noonAustralian magpies can understand what other birds are saying to each other, a new study has found.The research, published in the journal Animal Behaviour, says the wily magpie has learned the meanings of different noisy miner calls and essentially eavesdrops to find out which predators are near.Continue reading
  
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• Magpies know what other birds are saying – video

  17-05-2018 07:53 via theguardian.com
  A new study has found that the Australian magpie has learned to understand what noisy miner birds are saying to each other. The research, published in the journal Animal Behaviour, says the wily magpie can tell the difference between different calls and essentially eavesdrops to learn which predators are near Continue reading...
  
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• They didn't flip: Ukraine claims dolphin army captured by Russia went on hunger strike

  17-05-2018 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Russia captured the dolphins in 2014 and says the trained mammals refused both to interact with their coaches, and to eatUkraine is home to some of the more adventurous military blue-sky thinking, mostly hangovers from the Soviet era. As well as a 160-metre high, 500-metre long radar that was supposed to be able to warn of nuclear attack, it also has a secret programme that trains sea mammals to carry out military tasks. Ukraine has a dolphin army at the Crimean military dolphin centre, trained
  
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• 'Swimming into the unknown:' Mexico's unmapped underwater caves - in pictures

  17-05-2018 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Photographer Klaus Thymann has been exploring the underwater cave system of the Yucatán peninsula, diving 1km underwater to where salt and freshwater meet. By mapping areas that have been untouched by modern civilisation, he hopes to raise awareness of the natural and human heritage of this unique ecosystem that will hopefully result in greater protection. He talks to Eric Hilaire about making his journey into a film, Flows, featuring music by Radiohead’s Thom YorkeI am about to cli
  
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• Country diary: willow warblers soundtrack a stoat sighting

  17-05-2018 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Romaldkirk, Teesdale: Lithe and lethal, the stoat emerged into a patch of bare ground, sniffed the air, then vanished into a dense patch of wild garlicThe warm weather arrived, and with it willow warblers. Soon their song would merge into the background sounds of summer but this was the first of the year, so we stopped to listen. The warbler was delivering its liquid cadences, exultant, then dying away to a subdued ending, from a hawthorn on the embankment of the disused railway line that now fo
  
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• My daughter is right: our generation is wrecking the world for hers | Paul Daley

  17-05-2018 04:22 via theguardian.com
  I inherited a better world than my parents did. Our kids can’t say the same in an era of Trump, terrorism and climate deniersThe car is where I’ve discovered most about my parenting.There was that time when I, a very young father, oh-so-briefly and absentmindedly left Number One Daughter in her baby capsule on the roof of the clapped-out Morris. It all turned out fine. So much so that she is now about to have her own child.Continue reading...
  
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• How physics gender gap starts in the classroom

  17-05-2018 02:28 via bbc.co.uk
  Some progress has been made in encouraging girls to study A-level physics, but not enough, says report.
  
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• Co-op to fight food waste with pre-closing time donation scheme

  17-05-2018 01:01 via theguardian.com
  Retailer will give fresh produce to community groups two hours before stores closeThe Co-op is to end “last-minute” sales of fresh produce to reduce the volume of edible food going to waste in its stores every day.Two hours before closing time, the national supermarket chain will remove items with a use by or best before date for that day, so they can be donated to thousands of charities and small community groups in time for them to be frozen or turned into meals. Continue reading..
  
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