Environment news

• Weatherwatch: heatwave brings death and civil unrest

  20-07-2018 22:30 via theguardian.com
  The dry and hot summer of 1911 drove Londoners to paddle in the Serpentine while, in the north, mills closed for lack of powerThe long hot summer of 1911 is credited with changing fashions, with women shedding whalebone corsets and brassieres becoming the rage. Edwardian aristocrats are said to have taken up nude tennis at their country estates, although at the ever more crowded seaside resorts men and women still used bathing machines towed into the sea. The sexes were kept segregated in case a
  
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• The cost of Trump's Endangered Species Act proposal

  20-07-2018 22:18 via bbc.co.uk
  The Trump administration wants to weaken the landmark protection law. What species are under threat?
  
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• Seagull rage: why humans and birds are at war in Britain

  20-07-2018 19:06 via theguardian.com
  There have been a number of bird attacks reported, including one man persecuted by seagulls each morning and another man who reacted violently to having his chips stolenName: Seagull rage.Prevalence: High in coastal areas. Continue reading...
  
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• Climate campaigners lose high court battle over carbon target

  20-07-2018 18:10 via theguardian.com
  Charity had argued the government was in breach of international obligations under the Paris agreementEnvironmental campaigners have lost their high court challenge against the government over its policy for tackling climate change.The charity Plan B Earth brought legal action against the government’s stance on the 2050 carbon target, set out under the Climate Change Act 2008. Continue reading...
  
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• Taking place on THURSDAY: edie's Power Hour SDG webinar

  20-07-2018 17:24
  Sustainability experts from BT, the British Retail Consortium (BRC), the UK Stakeholders for Sustainable Development (UKSSD) and DNV GL are all set to feature in a live edie webinar focused on business engagement with the SDGs, taking place next Thursday on 26 July.
  
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• Ibis that was extinct in wild taught to migrate by following aircraft

  20-07-2018 17:00 via theguardian.com
  Birds bred in captivity led on three-week migration south from Germany by human ‘foster parents’Leaning out of an ultralight aircraft, Corinna Esterer turns toward a flock of peculiar black birds soaring just a few metres away. “Come, come ibis,” she yells through her megaphone. Drawn by Esterer’s voice, the birds dart to the aircraft, and follow it to a field overlooking Lake Constance in southern Germany. Once on the ground, the ibis flock to Esterer. To the birds
  
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• Arctic wild goose chase threatens chicks as temperatures rise

  20-07-2018 16:37 via bbc.co.uk
  Migrating geese race to warmer Arctic but are too worn out to lay their eggs early when they get there.
  
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• Share your pictures of the Big Butterfly Count

  20-07-2018 16:25 via theguardian.com
  As the world’s biggest butterfly count gets underway we’d like to see pictures of what you’ve seen where you are
  Butterflies can provide a fleeting moment of beauty as they flutter by in the garden, or even as you go about life in the city, but they are also a key indicator of the way our climate is changing.Related: Sir David Attenborough urges British public to join butterfly countContinue reading...
  
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• Crop failure and bankruptcy threaten farmers as drought grips Europe

  20-07-2018 14:11 via theguardian.com
  Abnormally hot temperatures continue to wreak devastation across northern and central parts of the continentFarmers across northern and central Europe are facing crop failure and bankruptcy as one of the most intense regional droughts in recent memory strengthens its grip.States of emergency have been declared in Latvia and Lithuania, while the sun continues to bake Swedish fields that have received only 12% of their normal rainfall.Continue reading...
  
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• Whale killing: DNA shows Iceland whale was rare hybrid

  20-07-2018 13:19 via bbc.co.uk
  Genetic material proves that the animal killed off the coast of Iceland was not a blue whale but a rare hybrid.
  
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• McDonald's joins Starbucks to fund new coffee cup innovations

  20-07-2018 12:25
  McDonald's has committed £3.8m ($5m) to help research, develop and commercialise recyclable and compostable coffee cups, joining Starbucks as a founding member of the NextGen Cup Consortium and Challenge.
  
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• No replacement for Feed-in Tariff 'major blow' for renewables

  20-07-2018 12:00
  The Government has axed subsidies for new small-scale low-carbon electricity generation, sparking dismay from renewable energy bodies.
  
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• 97% of House Republicans foolishly reject carbon taxes | Dana Nuccitelli

  20-07-2018 12:00 via theguardian.com
  It’s an improvement from 100% two years ago, but GOP climate denial is cracking too slowly
  Yesterday, the House of Representatives voted on an anti-carbon tax Resolution. The Resolution was introduced by Steve Scalise (R-LA) with essentially the same language as he introduced in 2013 and 2016.On those past versions, every Republican House member voted against carbon taxes. This time, six Republicans rejected the Resolution and one abstained, voting ‘Present.’ However, 97% of th
  
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• Wanted: Any name other than 'Spacey McSpaceFace'

  20-07-2018 11:07 via bbc.co.uk
  What should we call a six-wheeled robot going to the Red Planet to look for signs of life?
  
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• Counting crows: Vancouver college maps thousands of attacks

  20-07-2018 10:32 via theguardian.com
  Tool launched in response to dive-bombing birds documents 2,500 attacks since 2016It was a crow fiercely protecting its nest – and repeated complaints of it dive-bombing and swooping – that prompted the idea. “Just about every day someone would come in and say: ‘I got smacked in the back of the head,’ or ‘Mary got smacked in the back of the head,’” said Jim O’Leary, a teacher at Langara College in Vancouver, Canada.Continue reading...
  
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• Zipcar unveils 2025 London EV car sharing vision

  20-07-2018 10:25
  Zipcar UK has outlined its target to get 800,000 Londoners actively using 9,000 zero-emissions, shared cars in the capital by 2025.
  
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• Is UK barbecue charcoal fuelling global deforestation?

  20-07-2018 08:42 via bbc.co.uk
  A growing taste for al fresco dining is driving record charcoal sales in the UK but is it also fuelling global deforestation and climate change?
  
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• Charcoal grilling

  20-07-2018 08:42 via bbc.co.uk
  A growing taste for al fresco dining is driving record charcoal sales in the UK but is it also fuelling global deforestation and climate change?
  
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• Sir David Attenborough urges British public to join butterfly count

  20-07-2018 07:01 via theguardian.com
  Veteran broadcaster encourages people to take part in Big Butterfly Count and highlights mental health benefits of wildlifeWatching nature provides “precious breathing space” from the stress of modern life, Sir David Attenborough has said, as he urges people to take part in the world’s biggest butterfly count. While the UK’s butterflies are basking in the best summer conditions in more than a decade, if the hot weather becomes a drought it could be catastrophic for the in
  
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• Country diary: when a crab spider executes plan bee

  20-07-2018 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Langstone, Hampshire: Crab spiders are ambush predators rather than web-spinners, and bees can often be their unsuspecting victimsI was cutting a bunch of antirrhinums when I noticed a dark shadow inside one of the nose-like flower capsules. When I pinched open the lobed petals, I was surprised to discover an entombed common carder bee. Honeybees often struggle to enter and exit these snap-jawed blooms, as they don’t have enough heft to cause the flower lip to open, but portly bumblebees h
  
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• Low-carbon rockets and seed-shooting drones: the best green innovations of the week

  20-07-2018 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 five of the best.
  
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• Nairobi National Park railway 'threatens Kenyan wildlife'

  20-07-2018 01:15 via bbc.co.uk
  Conservationists are crying foul over a high-speed railway being built through Nairobi National Park.
  
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