Environment news

• Big cat spat

  11-06-2018 23:58 via bbc.co.uk
  The US has more captive tigers than the rest of the world has wild ones. Why?
  
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• Weatherwatch: sunbathing carp grow faster and fitter than their timid cousins

  11-06-2018 22:30
  Carp that soak up the sun are fitter, and bold fish benefit more by sunbathing for longerOne magic late afternoon in summer, sitting on the bank of a clear, still lake in Hertfordshire, it was possible to see lines of motionless carp on the surface that appeared to be sunbathing. The idea that fish, like snakes and other ectotherms (“cold-blooded” creatures), might enjoy or benefit from sunbathing was dismissed as a childish fancy at the time, but many decades later has been vindicat
  
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• Australia's emissions reduction target 'unambitious, irresponsible'

  11-06-2018 20:00
  New Australia Institute paper finds neither Coalition nor Labor’s pollution reduction targets would see us doing our fair sharePollution reduction targets for 2030 proposed by the Coalition and Labor will not see Australia contributing its fair share to cut greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris climate agreement, according to new research.A paper from the progressive thinktank the Australia Institute finds the Turnbull government’s target of a 26-28% reduction on 2005 levels is &l
  
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• Scientists shocked by mysterious deaths of ancient trees

  11-06-2018 19:10 via bbc.co.uk
  Many of the oldest and largest specimens of Africa's baobab tree have died over the past 12 years.
  
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• Let’s replace the HS2 project with local transport investment | Letters

  11-06-2018 19:01
  Scrapping HS2 could mean £500m each for 112 towns and cities, writes Bill Dodds, while David Biggs explains why Network Rail is selling off its commercial property armJohn Harris (Opinion, 11 June) highlights the need for greater emphasis on local transport services, which are being starved of investment to fund large-scale vanity projects such as HS2 (estimated to cost over £56bn). Just imagine what could be done with this money.A more effective way to improve transport throughout t
  
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• Ofgem could make it harder for new firms to enter energy market

  11-06-2018 18:28
  Watchdog cites concerns over customer service and financial resilience of some companiesOfgem is considering making it harder for new challenger companies to enter the energy market, citing concerns over poor customer service and lack of financial resilience.The energy regulator has launched a review that is likely to result in a reversal of the last major shake-up of rules 15 years ago, which was designed to encourage competitors to take on the big six companies that dominate the UK market.Cont
  
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• Dow generates £90m from natural capital projects

  11-06-2018 17:42
  The Dow Chemical Company (Dow) has continued to prove the business case for measuring impacts on nature, generating almost £90m ($120m) from putting an economic value on natural resources in 2017.
  
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• George Barker obituary

  11-06-2018 16:25
  Champion of wildlife conservation in towns and citiesGeorge Barker, who has died aged 77, was a champion of wildlife conservation in towns and cities. During his long service in the government wildlife service, the Nature Conservancy Council (NCC), and its successor bodies, he became the acknowledged expert on urban nature conservation, a field that had been largely neglected. His openness to new ideas, unusual in a public servant, and gentle advocacy over four decades, helped to make a success
  
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• Brexit is a red herring when it comes to the plight of UK fishermen | John Lichfield

  11-06-2018 15:51
  Small fishing companies are harmed not by the EU, but by government rules that allow big interests to corner the quotasPericles, Prince of Tyre, Act 2, scene 1:Third Fisherman: Master, I marvel how the fishes live in the sea. Continue reading...
  
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• Tesco sells green lemons as Spanish supply sours

  11-06-2018 15:17
  Supermarket says South African lemons are mature but need longer to turn yellow
  Tesco has started selling green lemons after relaxing its quality specifications in an attempt to avoid shortages in its UK stores and reduce food waste.
  Although the skins are slightly green, the fruit is as zesty and robust as lemons that have turned completely yellow, while the flesh inside is ripe and edible. Continue reading...
  
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• Paris Agreement 'G6' formed as Trump skips climate meetings

  11-06-2018 14:46
  As the G7 summit in Canada came to a close, leaders of the so-called "G6" nations reaffirmed their commitment to the Paris Agreement, while President Trump asserted that the US would instead prioritise energy security and economic growth over carbon reductions.
  
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• Hanson UK hits waste and water reduction goals three years early

  11-06-2018 13:04
  Building materials supplier Hanson UK has surpassed its 2020 waste goal of reducing the amount of non-process waste sent to landfill by 85% compared to 2010, while also reducing water usage by a third.
  
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• Brussels criticised for delays in banning toxic chemicals

  11-06-2018 12:44
  European commission’s inaction is putting people’s health at risk, law firm saysPeople’s health is being put at risk by Brussels’ slow response to the use of dangerous chemicals, according to a report.A study by ClientEarth, an environmental law organisation, found that in nine out of 10 cases the European commission’s decision to ban a toxic chemical after it had been identified was “excessively delayed”, sometimes for up to four years. Continue reading
  
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• The Wall Street Journal keeps peddling Big Oil propaganda | Dana Nuccitelli

  11-06-2018 12:00
  The WSJ disguises climate misinformation as “opinion” The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) Opinion page has long had a conservative skew, and unfortunately that has extended to politicizing climate change with biased and factually inaccurate editorials.Over the past several weeks, the WSJ’s attacks on climate science have gone into overdrive. On May 15th, the Opinion page published a self-contradictory editorial from the lifelong contrarian and fossil fuel-funded Fred Singer that so b
  
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• Copenhagenize your city: the case for urban cycling in 12 graphs

  11-06-2018 12:00
  Danish-Canadian urban designer Mikael Colville-Andersen busts some common myths and shows how the bicycle has the potential to transform cities around the worldCopenhagenize is published by Island Press Continue reading...
  
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• Activists channel Martin Luther King with new national climate campaign

  11-06-2018 12:00
  The Poor People’s Campaign, which revived King’s anti-poverty efforts, is taking a modern focus on the environment after the Flint crisisThe Poor People’s Campaign’s attempt to stage a “moral revival” across dozens of US states echoes much of its 1968 antecedent – a guttural cry to shake America from a miasma of racism, poverty and militarism. But the modern version has also opened up a new battleground – the environment.Last week, as several hundr
  
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• Burger King unveils plan to phase-out plastic straws

  11-06-2018 11:56
  Burger King has announced that it will roll out compostable straws in its UK restaurants this year as it works to make all its packaging recyclable, biodegradable or compostable by 2025.
  
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• Mondelez to use 100% sustainably-sourced wheat in EU

  11-06-2018 11:41
  Confectionary giant Mondelēz International has committed to making 100% of the biscuits it manufactures in the European Union with sustainably-sourced wheat, a 40% increase from the company's biscuit production last year.
  
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• Cycle touring with children: it can be done

  11-06-2018 08:00
  Don’t think bringing children along for the ride means you have to miss out on one of cycling’s true pleasures. You just need to do a bit of extra planningOne of the great joys of riding a bike is touring – pedalling from place to place, without a fixed timetable, ideally with camping gear and everything else you need strapped to your bike. So that poses a question: can you do it with children?The answer is a qualified yes – qualified in the sense you just need to do a bi
  
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• Meadow alive with colour and the sound of birdsong - country diary archive, 15 June 1918

  11-06-2018 07:00
  15 June 1918: Colour shimmered in the sun and seemed to pervade everythingSurrey
  The morning air was so light that it hardly touched the tops of the tall poplars, yet it was strong enough to sway poppies in the wheat and make yellow charlock tremble slightly in a farther outfield. Colour shimmered in the sun and seemed to pervade everything; a sense of it came with the rich scent of hay, raked, cocked, waggoned, and pronged by young women, who did everything but shape the stack which now stands
  
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• Chris Packham warns of 'ecological apocalypse' in Britain

  11-06-2018 07:00
  Springwatch presenter says Britain is increasingly ‘a green and unpleasant land’ He’s currently enjoying a great bounty of nature, from tree-climbing slugs to blackbird-gobbling little owls on this year’s Springwatch, but Chris Packham warns that we are presiding over “an ecological apocalypse” and Britain is increasingly “a green and unpleasant land”.The naturalist and broadcaster is urging people to join him next month on a 10-day “bioblitz
  
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• Country diary: 'Bilbo' Bagness maps the terrain for cunning runners

  11-06-2018 06:30
  Bigland Hall, Lake District: Lost in the fog with a recalcitrant compass, I’m glad to encounter the former coach of the British orienteering teamA sea fret creeping in from Morecambe Bay has me baffled. The ancient ride I’ve been following through a corner of the Bigland Hall estate is covered in fog. Normally my compass’s needle points to magnetic north no matter which way I turn. Today? Useless. The needle spins around like a roulette wheel. With visibility down to a few metr
  
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• How Australia's traffic signals favour drivers and discourage walking | David Levinson for the Conversation

  11-06-2018 05:16
  Road agencies should reprioritise traffic signals to redistribute delays at intersections from pedestrians to carsTraffic signals give priority to motor vehicles over pedestrians. This inequality undermines many of the stated goals of transport, health and environment policy.State and city governments say they want to encourage walking and biking for many reasons: Continue reading...
  
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• Feral horses are incompatible with a world heritage area. It's one or the other | David M Watson

  11-06-2018 04:49
  After the NSW government gave them heritage protection with the brumby bill, I had no choice but to quit the NSW threatened species scientific committeeLast year, I drove up to the New South Wales high country with my oldest son. We arrived at Geehi, found a camp site, rigged up our rods and waded into the crystal clear water, hoping to snag a trout. Between casts, my attention was drawn to a pair of black cockatoos, sailing overhead. Looking up, I noticed the main range of Kosciuszko. Ancient a
  
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• How many animals are born in the world every day?

  11-06-2018 02:27 via bbc.co.uk
  Calculating the number of daily births takes in the very largest and smallest creatures.
  
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