Environment news

• Weatherwatch: Mauvoisin disaster triggered scientific interest in glaciers

  13-06-2018 22:30 via theguardian.com
  A ‘glacial lake outburst flood’ killed 44 people and many animals in 1818 in SwitzerlandIn June 1818, ice falling from the tongue of the Giétro glacier had in effect blocked the valley of Mauvoisin in Switzerland. Water was building up behind this ice dam to dangerous levels, and engineers were called in to release it gradually. They drilled a hole through the ice, but it did not relieve the water pressure quickly enough. On 16 June at 4.30pm the ice dam burst, disintegrating
  
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• Antarctica loses three trillion tonnes of ice in 25 years

  13-06-2018 19:01 via bbc.co.uk
  Satellites observing the White Continent detect a jump in the rate of ice being lost to the ocean.
  
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• Antarctic ice melting faster than ever, studies show

  13-06-2018 19:00 via theguardian.com
  Rate of melt has accelerated threefold in last five years and could contribute 25cm to sea-level rises without urgent actionIce in the Antarctic is melting at a record-breaking rate and the subsequent sea rises could have catastrophic consequences for cities around the world, according to two new studies.A report led by scientists in the UK and US found the rate of melting from the Antarctic ice sheet has accelerated threefold in the last five years and is now vanishing faster than at any previo
  
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• Let’s go with the grain of tidal power | Brief letters

  13-06-2018 18:43 via theguardian.com
  Fictional Leros | Tidal power in the 18th century | Feast | AA salute | Interpreters v translatorsFurther to your travel feature on the Greek island of Leros (9 June), may I recommend to your readers Four’s Destiny: A Wartime Greek Tragedy by Michael Powell, a fictionalised account centring on Leros. Powell weaves a clever, powerful story around some fascinating wartime history. We follow four young men, one each from England, Germany, Italy and Greece, as the second world w
  
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• UK rebuffed over Galileo sat-nav procurement

  13-06-2018 18:36 via bbc.co.uk
  Delegations to the European Space Agency vote to procure another batch of spacecraft, despite British calls to delay.
  
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• Fishermen warn against carve-up of UK waters in Brexit deal

  13-06-2018 18:34 via theguardian.com
  Industry members urge MPs to take back control and rectify ‘travesty’ of 1973 EEC dealFishermen from across the UK have visited Westminster to warn against a repeat of the “travesty” of 1973 when they claim British waters were carved up to the advantage of foreign fishing interests upon joining the European Economic Community.Barrie Deas, the chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations, said the fishing industry might be small but it was
  
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• Doug Ford’s disastrous agenda can be derailed by a massive grassroots movement | Martin Lukacs

  13-06-2018 17:45 via theguardian.com
  The right-wing triumph in Ontario shows the left needs a new populism – backed by street protest and a bold NDPThe guardians of respectable opinion forecast that Doug Ford would never become Ontario’s Premier. Now that he has, they are suggesting his reign might be orderly and painless.
  While agreeing with his basic agenda, the Globe & Mail is crossing its fingers that Ford “moves slowly on the public-service layoffs and program cuts…to avoid strikes and social disco
  
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• Daredevil raccoon's Minnesota skyscraper climb

  13-06-2018 17:17 via bbc.co.uk
  The internet is transfixed as the animal scales a 23-floor Minnesota building for nearly a day.
  
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• My daughter and I paddled 22 miles, picking up plastic. Here’s what we found

  13-06-2018 16:49 via theguardian.com
  In a weekend scouring the Salcombe estuary, we found everything from bottles to a toy dolphin. The pollution in our waters is ubiquitous – and devastatingOne My Little Pony, two crabbing buckets, five balloons, six balls, seven straws, nine shoes, a dozen coffee cups, 20 carrier bags, 205 plastic bottles and lids, polystyrene and a huge amount of rope. That is just a fraction of what my six-year-old daughter, Ella, and I collected over the course of two days last weekend, as we paddleboard
  
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• Rise in global carbon emissions a 'big step backwards', says BP

  13-06-2018 15:30 via theguardian.com
  Coal rebound and slowing efficiency gains in 2017 suggest Paris goals may be missed, says oil firmThe renewed upward march of global carbon emissions is worrying and a big step backwards in the fight against climate change, according to BP.Emissions rose 1.6% in 2017 after flatlining for the previous three years, which the British oil firm said was a reminder the world was not on track to hit the goals of the Paris climate deal. Continue reading...
  
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• Legal and General divests from climate change 'laggards'

  13-06-2018 14:27
  Insurance giant Legal and General Investment Management (LGIM) has committed to divest from a host of companies it believes are showing "persistent inaction" on addressing climate risks, removing the firms from its Future World Fund.
  
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• VAT reductions could boost repair and reuse in ICT sector, says techUK

  13-06-2018 12:38
  The Government should look to introduce VAT reductions to encourage repair, reuse and remanufacture activities in the ICT industry, according to a new report from techUK.
  
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• Climate change is wiping out the baobab, Africa’s ‘tree of life’ | Ameenah Gurib-Fakim

  13-06-2018 12:23 via theguardian.com
  The trees are a scientific wonder, once capable of living for thousands of years, but now becoming endangered species• Giant African baobab trees die suddenly after thousands of yearsMorondava in Madagascar, the skyline in Senegal and Kruger national park all have something in common. These places are home to some of the largest trees in the world – baobabs, known to live for thousands of years. These amazing trees have trunks that can reach 30m in circumference or more. In Togo, ther
  
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• Stella McCartney opens London store with 'purest air in the capital'

  13-06-2018 12:12
  Luxury fashion brand Stella McCartney has fitted its new London store with cutting-edge filter technology in a bid to create the capital's cleanest pocket of air.
  
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• Michael Gove appoints UK 'tree champion'

  13-06-2018 11:50 via theguardian.com
  Sir William Worsley is tasked with stopping the unnecessary felling of trees and support plans to plant 11 million treesThe environment secretary, Michael Gove, has appointed a “tree champion” to stop the unnecessary felling of trees and boost planting rates.Sir William Worsley, chairman of the National Forest Company which oversees the National Forest, has been appointed to support government promises to plant 11 million trees, plus a further 1 million in towns and cities. The move,
  
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• Chepstow celebrates plastic-free status with plastic banner

  13-06-2018 11:50 via theguardian.com
  Councillor calls for sign to be removed from battlements saying it is ‘beyond irony’A historic town has been criticised for celebrating becoming a plastic-free community by hanging a banner made of plastic from a 13th-century gateway.The Welsh town of Chepstow fixed the large banner to the battlements of its town gate after being granted plastic-free status by the green charity Surfers Against Sewage.Continue reading...
  
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• City of London to expand onsite arrays in drive to source 100% renewable electricity

  13-06-2018 10:00
  The City of London Corporation will install more solar panels on its buildings and up its investments in wind and solar farms as part of its new commitment to source 100% renewable energy by October 2018.
  
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• WWF: Agriculture can deliver 30% of climate solutions by 2030

  13-06-2018 09:46
  The agricultural sector can provide up to 30% of the solutions needed by 2030 to tackle the global climate crisis, a new WWF-led initiative has claimed.
  
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• Landsec achieves zero-waste-to-landfill goal

  13-06-2018 09:12
  Property developer Landsec has achieved its zero-waste-to-landfill ambition and is within touching distance of its 2020 target of recycling three-quarters of its waste, having sent 74.9% to be recycled in 2017.
  
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• Bumblebees use perfume patterns to tell flowers apart

  13-06-2018 07:30 via theguardian.com
  Study also suggests they can spot similarities between patterns of scent and those made with colourPollinators don’t just wing it when it comes to finding a sweet treat: the shape, colour, perfume and even electrical charge of flowers are all known to offer clues.But now researchers say bumblebees also use another floral feature to guide them: how the concentration of a scent varies across the flower’s surface. Continue reading...
  
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• Fifth of Britain’s wild mammals ‘at high risk of extinction’

  13-06-2018 07:01 via theguardian.com
  Species including the wildcat and black rat may be lost within a decade while others such as deer are thriving, analysis showsThe wildcat and mouse-eared bat are on the brink, but deer are spreading and otters bouncing back, according to a comprehensive analysis.At least one in five wild mammals in Britain faces a high risk of extinction within a decade and overall populations are falling, according to the most comprehensive analysis to date. Continue reading...
  
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• Country diary: gatecrashing an extraordinary party of orchids

  13-06-2018 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Wenlock Edge, Shropshire: There were masses of southern marsh orchids, many of which were in the early stages of flower opening like a slow-motion firework display
  The southern marsh orchids, Dactylorhiza praetermissa, are almost knee high, with apple-green leaves, thick hollow stems and a spearhead of extraordinary purple-pink, cryptically lined flowers. They have suddenly and ceremoniously materialised in the abandoned field like ambassadors from another planet. Despite their indolence, everyt
  
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• Speaker line-up confirmed for edie's electric vehicle webinar

  13-06-2018 02:01
  Sustainability and energy representatives from UPS, the Cross River Partnership and UK Power Network Services are all set to feature in a live edie webinar focused on greening your business fleet, taking place on 4 July.
  
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• One in five UK mammals at risk of extinction

  13-06-2018 01:09 via bbc.co.uk
  The red squirrel, the wildcat, and the grey long-eared bat face severe threats, a study says.
  
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• One in five British mammals at risk of extinction

  13-06-2018 01:09 via bbc.co.uk
  The red squirrel, the wildcat, and the grey long-eared bat face severe threats, a study says.
  
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