Environment news

• Butterflywatch: here come the skippers in the May parade

  29-05-2018 22:30 via theguardian.com
  Newly reintroduced chequered skippers are fluttering about Rockingham forest as other butterflies emerge in the sunlightButterfly lovers’ emotions tend to boom and bust like butterfly populations. Two weeks of sunshine in my part of the world and my heart’s lifted by plentiful orange tips, small whites and brimstones, while last summer’s peacocks gamely fly on. Alongside a decent abundance of common species there’s the exciting addition of 41 chequered skippers from the c
  
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• Endangered hawksbill turtles tracked in marine park to be opened to fishing

  29-05-2018 20:00 via theguardian.com
  Data confirms that reptiles use Coral Sea as a highway between their nesting beaches and feeding groundsCritically endangered hawksbill turtles that nest on islands east of Papua New Guinea have been tracked moving across parts of the Coral Sea marine park where the Australian government wants to allow commercial fishing, conservationists have found.Nine of the turtles were tagged at the privately owned Conflict Islands in early January, with seven swimming across the Coral Sea to the Great Barr
  
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• Ceasefire urged in Coalition's climate and energy wars

  29-05-2018 20:00 via theguardian.com
  2017 was a standout year for renewables, the Clean Energy Council says as it calls for ‘policy certainty’ in 2018 • Sign up to receive the latest news in Australian politics every weekdayThe emissions reduction target in the national energy guarantee is too low to encourage the development of renewable energy projects on a scale sufficient to drive down power prices as Australia’s ageing coal plants retire, according to the Clean Energy Council.A new report from the counci
  
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• Pat Callaghan obituary

  29-05-2018 19:24 via theguardian.com
  My mother, Pat Callaghan, was a champion of urban wildlife who was dedicated to making sure people in towns and cities had access to green spaces. With the help of many others she ran “urban safaris” to demonstrate that the environment is not just a matter for rural areas. As chair of Staffordshire Wildlife Trust (1995-2007) she also helped to promote and shape new ideas about conservation.Pat, who has died aged 86, had a background in radio broadcasting – she worked on the Cou
  
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• Kinder Morgan pipeline: Canadian government to buy project for $4.5bn

  29-05-2018 18:21 via theguardian.com
  Finance minister says ‘this is an investment in Canada’s future’ and says pipeline will and must be builtCanada’s federal government has announced it will buy a controversial pipeline from the Alberta oil sands to the Pacific coast to ensure it gets built.Finance minister Bill Moreneau said on Tuesday that Justin Trudeau’s government will spend C$4.5bn (US$3.45bn) to purchase Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline.Continue reading...
  
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• Revealed: industrial-scale beef farming comes to the UK

  29-05-2018 16:00 via theguardian.com
  Investigation uncovers about a dozen intensive beef units, despite assurances that US-style practices would not happen hereThousands of British cattle reared for supermarket beef are being fattened in industrial-scale units where livestock have little or no access to pasture.
  Research by the Guardian and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has established that the UK is now home to a number of industrial-scale fattening units with herds of up to 3,000 cattle at a time being held in grassless
  
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• Canadian government to buy pipeline project from Kinder Morgan for $4.5bn

  29-05-2018 15:35 via theguardian.com
  Finance minister says ‘when faced with an exceptional situation that puts jobs at risk … the government is prepared to take action’The Canadian government has announced it will buy Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline project for C$4.5bn ($3.5bn US) – but does not intend to be the long-term owner of the project, which has faced fierce environmental opposition. Canada will also offer federal loan guarantees to ensure construction continues through the 2018 season
  
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• Diesel is not dead: BMW sees 'clean' diesel in its vehicle portfolio

  29-05-2018 14:02
  EXCLUSIVE: BMW Group UK's i and iPerformance national corporate sales manager, Hannah Bishop, has claimed that the car manufacturer continues to see clean diesel as an important part of its vehicle mix, despite the Government's commitment to phasing out the sale of new diesel and petrol vehicles by 2040.
  
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• Cricket is natural choice to be a world leader on climate change | The Spin

  29-05-2018 13:55 via theguardian.com
  The sport has an bond with the land that few other field sports do and Thursday’s game at Lord’s can put the environment centre stageSign up for The Spin or re-subscribe hereIn September 2017 Roosevelt Skerrit, the prime minister of Dominica, stood up in front of the UN general assembly. “Eden is broken,” he said.Skerrit had travelled to New York from his devastated island nation, battered to bare-root nakedness by Hurricane Maria, which spat out homes and lives, leaving
  
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• Why now is the time for corporates to set long-term targets for renewables

  29-05-2018 12:55
  A new report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) found that corporates have actively sourced renewable energy equivalent to the overall demand of France, but renewables demand could soar if companies turned voluntary agreements into active goals.
  
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• Scotland proposes 90% emissions reduction target

  29-05-2018 12:55
  Scotland has published its draft climate change strategy, which has a headline target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions 90% by 2050 and achieving a 100% reduction "as soon as possible".
  
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• Trump administration refuses to consider that 97% of climate scientists could be right | Dana Nuccitelli

  29-05-2018 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Even though smart climate policies could save tens of trillions of dollarsLast week, the Washington Post obtained a White House internal memo that debated how the Trump administration should handle federal climate science reports. The memo presented three options without endorsing any of them: conducting a “red team/blue team” exercise to “highlight uncertainties in climate science”; more formally reviewing the science under the Administrative Procedure Act; or deciding t
  
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• Taking place TOMORROW: edie's webinar on the leaders in onsite generation

  29-05-2018 10:36
  Taking place on Thursday 31 May at 11am (BST), the hour-long webinar will explore how the National Trust and Carlsberg are using onsite technology to drive renewables use and lower energy consumption.
  
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• Taking place THURSDAY: edie's webinar on the leaders in onsite generation

  29-05-2018 10:36
  Taking place on Thursday 31 May at 11am (BST), the hour-long webinar will explore how the National Trust and Carlsberg are using onsite technology to drive renewables use and lower energy consumption.
  
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• Rescuers help 'distressed' 10m humpback whale entangled in nets at Bondi – video

  29-05-2018 10:09 via theguardian.com
  The whale was found entangled in netting off the Sydney beach on Tuesday afternoon. Passengers on a whale-watching cruise  spent several hours trying to help, and succeeded in cutting some of the netting before the operation had to be abandoned at nightfall Continue reading...
  
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• Waterspout emerges from Florida storm

  29-05-2018 10:08 via bbc.co.uk
  Strong winds from Storm Alberto have caused a small waterspout in a swimming pool in Panama City Beach, Florida.
  
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• Humpback whale trapped in netting off Bondi beach

  29-05-2018 10:01 via theguardian.com
  Whale watchers attempt to disentangle mammal but darkness stops rescue efforts• Sign up to receive the top stories in Australia every day at noon A 10-metre humpback whale trapped off in netting off Bondi beach in Sydney may have to wait until Wednesday morning to be freed after darkness hampered rescue efforts. Whale watchers were able to free the mammal of some of the netting but a rescue team from National Parks New South Wales was unable to fully release the whale before night fell. Con
  
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• European Commission plots ban on single-use plastics

  29-05-2018 09:31
  The European Commission presented its long-awaited marine-litter-busting proposal on single-use plastics on Monday (28 May). The first legislative proposal from the Plastics Strategy aims to help the EU clean up the continent's beaches and waterways.
  
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• Frydenberg and Abbott bump heads over energy policy

  29-05-2018 08:12 via theguardian.com
  Minister rebuffs former PM’s call to bring plan back to Coalition party roomJosh Frydenberg has declined to bring his national energy guarantee back to the Coalition party room for a full discussion before a make-or-break meeting of energy ministers.
  Frydenberg rebuffed a push by the former prime minister Tony Abbott during Tuesday’s Coalition party room meeting for another round of internal consultations about the government’s policy, saying he would bring enabling legislation
  
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• ‘I pee in the undergrowth. I enjoy being an animal’: Amy Liptrot on her wild, pregnant summer

  29-05-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  The writer recalls the lonely early days of her pregnancy, where the natural world became the place she could let it all outWhat I most remember of the summer of my pregnancy is lying in bed watching the swallows. I was nauseous, suffering weeks of morning sickness, with lethargic afternoons napping while the summer happened outside. But there were swallows nesting in the eaves above my bedroom window, and I watched them circle the treetops, then approach the house at high speed, at the last mom
  
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• Country diary: the hedgerows are full of fairytale gifts

  29-05-2018 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Barton-le-Willows, North Yorkshire: Just weeks ago we were sledging on these hills. Now the branches are laden again, this time with floral snowThe wedding invitation says no gifts. After so long together they wish for nothing but our company. But in 17 years of friendship with this couple, we’ve shared adventures and foolery, elation and loss; we’ve laughed, we’ve cried, we’ve raised children. So the occasion merits a token, at least. I decide to forage for something.Our
  
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• New Zealand 'marine heatwave' brings tropical fish from 3,000km away

  29-05-2018 02:53 via theguardian.com
  Out-of-place Queensland groper seen off New Zealand coast after water temperatures soaredRare tropical fish from Australia have been spotted in New Zealand waters after a record-breaking hot summer and warm ocean temperatures lured the creatures across the Tasman sea.The Queensland groper, also known as the giant grouper, is the aquatic emblem of the state and was spotted swimming around the wreck of the HMNZ Canterbury in the Bay of Islands on Sunday, more than 3,000 kilometres away from its us
  
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• 'Antarctica is my office'

  29-05-2018 01:33 via bbc.co.uk
  Jon Tyler is an Antarctic guide, showing scientists how to survive the extreme environment.
  
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