Environment news

• Flying ants cause chaos during Wimbledon invasion

  04-07-2018 20:09
  No 2 seed Caroline Wozniacki visibly struggled with swarm during her shock defeat
  Flying ants made an unwelcome return to Wimbledon on Wednesday, prompting complaints from the reigning Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki.The bugs, which swarm in warm weather, caused problems for players last year when the British No 1 Johanna Konta said she had swallowed some. Continue reading...
  
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• New green watchdog must be well-funded and independent | Letters

  04-07-2018 19:12
  Ruth Chalmers of Greener UK supports George Monbiot’s call for better environmental protectionGeorge Monbiot is right to argue that much of our wildlife is in peril and that independent environmental bodies need enough money to do their job (As the state is dismantled, who will save Britain’s wildlife?, 4 July). Declines in wildlife have coincided with significant funding cuts to organisations such as Natural England. The government has recently pledged to set up a new environmental
  
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• First test tube rhino embryos could bring extinct species back from dead

  04-07-2018 19:00
  The northern white rhino is essentially extinct – just two females remain – but new research paves the way for its resurrectionThe first rhino embryos have been created in a test tube and could help save the northern white rhino, which is essentially extinct.There are just two northern white rhino (NWR) females left alive. The last male, called Sudan, died in March in Kenya, meaning the subspecies is doomed to die out unless the new IVF techniques bear fruit.Continue reading...
  
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• Embryo breakthrough 'can save northern white rhino'

  04-07-2018 19:00 via bbc.co.uk
  The loss of the endangered northern white rhino could be reversed by IVF, say scientists.
  
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• Science Museum under pressure to shun big oil sponsorship

  04-07-2018 17:24
  Chris Packham and James Hansen join other scientists in complaint about ethicsThe broadcaster Chris Packham and a a former Nasa expert who led early warnings on climate change are among scientists urging London’s Science Museum to terminate its partnerships with the oil giants BP, Shell and Equinor.Packham and James Hansen are among 30 signatories of a complaint to the museum, arguing it is undermining its scientific credibility by taking money from fossil fuel companies. Continue reading.
  
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• Child's asthma death linked to illegal levels of air pollution

  04-07-2018 17:18
  ‘Striking association’ found between nine-year-old’s hospital admissions and local spikes in air pollutionThe repeated hospital admissions of a girl who died in an asthma attack at the age of nine show a “striking association” with spikes in illegal levels of air pollution around her home in London, legal documents have revealed.Ella Kissi-Debrah, from Hither Green, near the capital’s busy South Circular Road, experienced seizures for three years prior to her
  
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• Revolution in quake detection technology

  04-07-2018 16:06 via bbc.co.uk
  A new method using existing communications cables could make earthquakes easier to detect.
  
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• Asian hornet scientists in 'breakthrough' to stop spread

  04-07-2018 13:37 via bbc.co.uk
  Scientists used radio tags to track Asian hornets, allowing their nests to be detected quickly.
  
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• Nestlé to power energy needs through new Scottish windfarm

  04-07-2018 13:21
  Food and drink giant Nestlé will generate half of its UK and Ireland energy needs from a new wind farm in Scotland that it has funded.
  
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• British retailers call for progress on 'weak' corporate anti-slavery commitments

  04-07-2018 12:46
  Several big-name British retailers, including Marks and Spencer (M&S), Tesco and the Co-op, are among the 35 organisations to have signed a joint statement calling on the UK Government to set up a central registry for companies' modern slavery statements.
  
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• edie's latest report explores 8 key sustainability challenges, and how to solve them

  04-07-2018 12:45
  edie has today (4 July) published a new insight report which reveals the results of a recent series of Mission Possible Workshop discussions, where sustainability and energy professionals convened to solve challenges and co-create a sustainable future.
  
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• Co-creating a sustainable future: edie report explores findings of Mission Possible workshops

  04-07-2018 12:45
  edie has today (4 July) published a new insight report which examines the findings of its recent Mission Possible workshop discussions, which allowed sustainability and energy professionals to co-create a sustainable future.
  
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• Most of Europe's rivers and lakes fail water quality tests - report

  04-07-2018 12:10
  The vast majority of Europe's rivers, lakes and estuaries have failed to meet minimum ecological standards for habitat degradation and pollution, according to a damning new report.
  
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• Tesco commits to new zero deforestation soy policy

  04-07-2018 12:06
  Supermarket giant Tesco has made a fresh sustainability pledge to ensure that the soy it sources for its own-brand products and animal feed is verified as "zero deforestation" by 2025.
  
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• Declare energy independence with carbon dividends | Joseph Robertson

  04-07-2018 12:00
  A carbon tax and dividend system could usher in an era of clean energy independence
  Taking action on climate is about a lot more than our energy economy. Climate disruption is the leading threat to our built environment, an accelerant of armed conflict, and a leading cause of mass migration. Its effects intensify and prolong storms, droughts, wildfires, and floods — resulting in the US spending as much on disaster management in 2017 as in the three decades from 1980 to 2010. Continue readi
  
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• Developing nations faced with huge climate-mitigation bill

  04-07-2018 11:57
  Infrastructure investments totalling £470bn are needed across 10 African countries in order to enable national commitments to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), while up to £127bn may be required for developing countries to adapt to the impacts of climate change.
  
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• UK car buyers face ‘lottery’ with both ultra-clean and ultra-dirty diesels on sale

  04-07-2018 11:36
  New data suggests worst cars are now 32 times more polluting than the best – risking all diesels being banned from cities, say expertsUltra-dirty new diesel engines are being sold alongside ultra-clean models in the UK, according to new data, leaving car buyers facing what experts call a “nightmare”.On-the-road tests by testing firm Emissions Analytics found that new models of Mercedes-Benz CLS, Seat Arona and Citroen DS 7 produced tiny amounts of pollution, up to 75% below the
  
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• Lost history of brown bears in Britain revealed

  04-07-2018 11:00 via bbc.co.uk
  From fearsome predator to teddy bear: tracing the hidden history of brown bears in Britain.
  
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• Frydenberg tells Western Australia to pay for baited shark drumlines

  04-07-2018 09:49
  Conservationists criticise environment minister for pushing strategy that affects threatened speciesJosh Frydenberg has challenged Western Australia over its management of sharks, proposing the state pay for a network of satellite-linked baited drumlines to protect high-traffic beaches.Frydenberg said 176 of the Smart (shark management alert in real time) drumlines could be deployed along 260km of WA’s 12,000km coastline, covering both Perth beaches and popular surf beaches in the southwes
  
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• Ipswich coffee shop uses takeaway mugs to ditch plastic

  04-07-2018 07:41 via bbc.co.uk
  A cafe is trying to cut its plastic waste by using donated mugs and cups to serve takeaway hot drinks.
  
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• Does the moon hold the key to the earth’s energy needs?

  04-07-2018 07:00
  Tidal power is the only renewable source derived from the moon. Now an extraordinary array of devices promise to unlock this vital energy potentialUsing giant kites, blades and paddles, and mimicking pogo sticks, blowholes and even the human heart, groups around the world are on the cusp of harnessing the colossal power of the oceans.
  The challenge is huge - seas have been battering coasts and sweeping sailors to their doom for millennia - but so is the prize: huge amounts of clean, reliable and
  
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• Country diary: last outpost of the silver-studded blue butterfly

  04-07-2018 06:30
  Prees Heath, Shropshire: Because of callous exploitation by collectors, this location was long kept secret but conservation work has helped the butterflies. Now there are clouds of them“Silver-studded,” said the man hunched over his phone, pointing at a patch of red fescue grass. “Clouds of ’em.” Without looking up, he waved his arm over the common of Prees Heath. A stiff breeze ruffled the grass and carried the drone from surrounding trunk roads as sunlight flashed
  
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• Discovering King Tutankhamun's tomb: Harry Burton's photographs

  04-07-2018 03:04 via bbc.co.uk
  A new exhibition reappraises the work of Harry Burton, who photographed the decade-long Tutankhamun excavation.
  
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• Curious camera

  04-07-2018 03:04 via bbc.co.uk
  A new exhibition reappraises the work of Harry Burton, who photographed the decade-long Tutankhamun excavation.
  
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• edie's Sustainability Leaders Awards are back with a bang as entries officially open for 2019

  04-07-2018 01:59
  They're back, bigger and bolder than ever. Entries for edie's 2019 Sustainability Leaders Awards are now officially open - and the scheme has undergone an exciting revamp to match the incredible progress of the UK's green business community.
  
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• Reality Check: Fishing after Brexit - sink or swim?

  04-07-2018 01:11 via bbc.co.uk
  BBC Reality Check looks at the government's promise of taking back control of UK fishing waters.
  
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• UK to 'take charge' of its fishing waters under post-Brexit plan

  04-07-2018 01:01
  Bill promises fairer share for British fishermen – but they face annual battle for EU rightsBritish fishermen will face annual negotiations to secure their fishing rights in shared waters from 2020, while other EU countries may lose many of their current rights to fish in British waters, according to a government white paper on fishing after Brexit. Sustainable Fisheries for Future Generations, published on Wednesday, provided the first glimpse into how the UK’s fishing industry will
  
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