Environment news

• Black hairstreaks found miles from their heartland

  29-06-2018 22:30 via theguardian.com
  This rare species was only discovered in 1828. Now the population is enjoying a boomThe black hairstreak is a dark, elusive and rather plain little butterfly. And yet it inspires great passion, and not just because of its rarity.There’s something deeply restful and lovely about this midsummer insect, especially when it lets you creep close and admire it sunning itself on blackthorn. Continue reading...
  
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• First great white shark in decades spotted near Spain's Balearic Islands

  29-06-2018 20:16 via theguardian.com
  Five-metre shark seen in area’s first confirmed sighting since fisherman caught one in 1976A great white shark has been spotted near Spain’s Balearic Islands for the first time in at least 30 years. Conservation workers saw the five-metre predator as it swam across Cabrera archipelago national park on Thursday morning.Continue reading...
  
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• Intermittent approach to renewable energy | Letters

  29-06-2018 17:44 via theguardian.com
  We need an energy storage infrastructure, says Jim Waterton, the Swansea lagoon decision should be reviewed, argues Robert Hinton, while Dr Tim Lunel wants solar subsidies restoredIntermittency – in one word, the main problem facing many (not all) forms of renewable energy; in the UK, principally wind and solar, and now tidal (Hinkley Point C got the go-ahead despite its cost. So why not Swansea Bay? 27 June). So far, electricity from these renewable sources has been in modest amounts, and
  
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• Tackling bad driving will encourage cyclists – but more money is needed

  29-06-2018 17:14 via theguardian.com
  It’s time for the Treasury to allocate significant funding so the nation can reap the huge benefits of more people cyclingThe government has announced £1m of funding to help police forces across the UK crack down on close passing of cyclists by drivers, and to improve driving instructor training around cycling safety.Although the sum is small beer indeed in transport terms, split between two projects, poor driver behaviour is a key reason people are discouraged from cycling in the UK
  
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• More Saddleworth-style fires likely as climate changes, scientists warn

  29-06-2018 16:35 via theguardian.com
  Saddleworth fires will also exacerbate problems as the UK’s peatlands store huge amounts of carbon that they will releaseNorthern Europe should brace itself for more upland fires like the one on Saddleworth Moor this week as the climate changes and extreme weather events become more common, scientists have warned.As the army joined firefighters to tackle the blaze near Manchester and a second fire was reported on nearby upland, scientists said similar events are increasingly likely in futu
  
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• Climate change has turned Peru's glacial lake into a deadly flood timebomb

  29-06-2018 13:55 via theguardian.com
  Lake Palcacocha is swollen with water from melting ice caps in the Cordillera Blanca mountains. Below, 50,000 people live directly in the flood pathNestled beneath the imposing white peaks of two glaciers in Peru’s Cordillera Blanca, the aquamarine Lake Palcacocha is as calm as a millpond. But despite its placid appearance it has become a deadly threat to tens of thousands people living beneath it as a result of global warming. A handful of residents of Huaraz, the city below the lake, can
  
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• Britain's biggest butterfly threatened by rising seas

  29-06-2018 13:27 via theguardian.com
  New charity warns Britain’s largest butterfly could be lost within four decades as rising seas turn its habitat into saltmarsh
  Britain’s biggest butterfly, the swallowtail, could become extinct within four decades because of rising sea levels, a new charity has warned.New inland habitat needs to be created for the swallowtail because rising seas are predicted to turn much of its current home, the Norfolk Broads, into saltmarshes later this century. Continue reading...
  
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• US meatpacking workers face new hazard: threat of deportation by Ice

  29-06-2018 12:00 via theguardian.com
  In industry where one-third of workers are immigrants, Ice’s largest raid at an Ohio plant strikes fear in local communities
  Meatpacking has never been the safest, or the most pleasant, job. Now, under the Trump administration, workers are facing another hazard – the threat of deportation.“We were working in the plant and the agents showed up with machine guns and started taking everyone outside,” 20-year-old “Carlos”, a meatpacker at the Fresh Mark meatpackin
  
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• Cargill launches innovation competition to cut shipping sector emissions

  29-06-2018 11:42
  Food and agricultural company Cargill has called on businesses to innovate, develop and scale new technologies with the potential to reduce the shipping sector's gross CO2 emissions by 10%.
  
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• BP takes over UK's largest public EV charging network

  29-06-2018 11:04
  BP has announced that it has purchased the UK's largest electric vehicle (EV) charging company, Chargemaster, in the latest sign of an oil giant adapting to the growth of battery-powered cars.
  
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• BP takes over UK's largest public EV charging company

  29-06-2018 11:04
  BP has announced that it has purchased the UK's largest electric vehicle (EV) charging company, Chargemaster, in the latest sign of an oil giant adapting to the growth of battery-powered cars.
  
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• UK households urged to conserve water as heatwave continues

  29-06-2018 10:29 via theguardian.com
  Northern Ireland Water to introduce hosepipe ban this weekend after rise in demandWater companies have urged UK households to conserve supplies as the country continues to bask in a near record-breaking June heatwave. The hot weather is likely to remain, with the sun expected to shine throughout the weekend and temperatures in the high 20s across much of Britain. Continue reading...
  
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• Scientists create 'promiscuous' enzyme that turns plant waste into sustainable products

  29-06-2018 10:15
  Scientists have created a new family of enzymes which break down plant waste into high-grade, high-value materials that can be converted into nylon, plastics and biofuels.
  
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• On the Mission Possible sofa with Riversimple's Hugo Spowers and LowCVP's Jonathan Murray

  29-06-2018 10:01
  The sixth episode of our new sustainable business chat show sees the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership's (LowCVP) policy and operations director Jonathan Murray joined by Riversimple's founder Hugo Spowers to discuss the transition to low-carbon vehicles.
  
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• UK businesses must make tackling modern slavery business-critical, experts warn

  29-06-2018 09:15
  EXCLUSIVE: UK businesses must move beyond viewing modern slavery as a "tick box" exercise and do more to combat cases at every level of their supply chains, according to representatives from the likes of Marks and Spencer (M&S), Innocent Drinks and PwC.
  
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• Crow vending machine skills 'redefine intelligence'

  29-06-2018 08:17 via bbc.co.uk
  An experiment with a "vending machine for crows" is revealing insights into how intelligence evolves, scientists say.
  
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• Norway pledges £12m to global fight against forest crime

  29-06-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Money will be spent on expanding an Interpol taskforce dedicated to investigating the gangs driving illegal deforestation The Norwegian government has announced a pledge of 145m kroner (£12m) to help fight forest crime such as illegal tree clearances.The money will be shared by Interpol, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and the Rhipto Norwegian Centre for Global Analyses, which collects data on illegal logging. The funds will allow Interpol to expand its dedicated taskforce from six to 15
  
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• Our natural world is disappearing before our eyes. We have to save it | George Monbiot

  29-06-2018 07:00 via theguardian.com
  The creatures we feared our grandchildren wouldn’t see have vanished: it’s happened faster than even pessimists predictedIt felt as disorienting as forgetting my pin number. I stared at the caterpillar, unable to attach a name to it. I don’t think my mental powers are fading: I still possess an eerie capacity to recall facts and figures and memorise long screeds of text. This is a specific loss. As a child and young adult, I delighted in being able to identify almost any wild p
  
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• Country diary: my moth trap nets the usual suspects and a rare newcomer

  29-06-2018 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Lower Benefield, Northamptonshire: The stubby little white specimen turns out to be my first concolorous mothNational Moth Night has inspired me to dust off my moth trap and indulge in a summer pageant of colourful insects. With some disappointment I clock the dropping temperatures and cleared sky with twinkling stars. Not a positive development. Clear, cold nights deter moths from taking to the wing. I consider hanging the trap back up, but decide a small haul of moths would be suitably charmin
  
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• Birdbrainy: New Caledonian crows make tools using mental images

  29-06-2018 02:38 via theguardian.com
  Study finds birds have design templates in their minds and may pass them on to future generationsNew Caledonian crows use mental pictures to twist twigs into hooks and make other tools, according to a provocative study that suggests the notoriously clever birds pass on successful designs to future generations, a hallmark of culture.“We find evidence for a specific type of emulation we call mental template matching,” co-author Alex Taylor, director of the Language, Cognition and Cultu
  
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• Why scientists are counting seal pups in the Thames Estuary

  29-06-2018 02:01 via bbc.co.uk
  From biologically dead to a haven for wildlife. How the Thames Estuary has become a sanctuary for seals.
  
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• Seal baby boom hope for Thames

  29-06-2018 02:01 via bbc.co.uk
  From biologically dead to a haven for wildlife. How the Thames Estuary has become a sanctuary for seals.
  
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• 'Promiscuous' enzymes and fjord-cooled data centres: The best green innovations of the week

  29-06-2018 02:01
  A number of eye-catching and potentially transformational innovations have emerged that could help businesses and nations deliver on resource efficiency, low-carbon transitions and combat climate change. Here, edie rounds-up six of the best.
  
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• Thames seals being surveyed

  29-06-2018 01:39 via bbc.co.uk
  The Thames was once heavily polluted but seals are back and population surveys are helping guard against threats from disease and dredging.
  
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• First seal pup survey in Thames

  29-06-2018 01:39 via bbc.co.uk
  The mammals have made a comeback and scientists are counting them to help guard them against threats.
  
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