Environment news

• Pollutionwatch: city sparrows' decline linked to car exhausts

  02-08-2018 22:30 via theguardian.com
  RSPB found urban sparrow colonies waning at fastest rate where traffic-borne nitrogen dioxide was worstThe cheeky house sparrow is the archetypal city bird. You can find them around the world, but they are in serious decline in cities in Italy, Canada, India and the UK. London’s house sparrow population fell by 60% between 1994 and 2006. Scientists from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds fed London sparrows in 33 colonies and compared them with birds at 33 other places where no
  
  Read more

• Small height evolved twice on 'Hobbit' island of Flores

  02-08-2018 21:19 via bbc.co.uk
  A new study has shown that small height evolved twice in humans on the Indonesian island of Flores.
  
  Read more

• Work on Caribbean island airport halted by court ruling

  02-08-2018 21:09 via theguardian.com
  Critics say airport and resort would do more ecological harm to Barbuda than Hurricane IrmaA high court has suspended all construction work on a controversial airport development on the unspoilt Caribbean island of Barbuda that residents say will devastate its fragile ecosystem.Antigua and Barbuda high court of justice granted an interim injunction to prevent building work on the airport from continuing during a legal challenge against the territory’s government over the international airp
  
  Read more

• The Guardian view on butterflies: elegant ambassadors for insects | Editorial

  02-08-2018 19:44 via theguardian.com
  The 59 species that live in the UK are the most observed group of insects in the world. Now they need some supportIt is almost four decades since Blue Peter editor Biddy Baxter found out about a new survey being run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). The idea was that junior birdwatchers would count the birds in their gardens, to find out which were the 10 most common species. After Ms Baxter featured it on the programme, 34,000 children joined in, and the Great&n
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Shark taken because it 'needed help'

  02-08-2018 18:52 via bbc.co.uk
  The man who took a shark from an aquarium in Texas, US said he did it because 'it needed help'.
  
  Read more

• A bird's eye view: Songbirds perceive colour like humans

  02-08-2018 18:41 via bbc.co.uk
  Faced with a glorious spectrum of colour, songbirds, just like humans, look for the big picture.
  
  Read more

• Buried UK government report finds fracking increases air pollution

  02-08-2018 18:00 via theguardian.com
  Report was with ministers in 2015 but only published three years later, days after a key fracking permit was awardedA UK government report concluding that shale gas extraction increases air pollution was left unpublished for three years and only released four days after ministers approved fracking in Lancashire, it has emerged.The report, written by the government’s Air Quality Expert Group (AQEG), was given to ministers in 2015, but was published quietly on 27 July. Fracking firm Cuadrill
  
  Read more

• A sunrise from space

  02-08-2018 17:51 via bbc.co.uk
  This photo time-lapse was taken from the International Space Station of a single orbital sunrise over Earth.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• EPA moves to scrap Obama-era clean car rules and sets up fight with California

  02-08-2018 17:00 via theguardian.com
  Critics say plan will worsen climate change and hike gas pricesAdministration to weaken California’s emissions standardsThe Trump administration has moved to weaken US vehicle emissions standards and has set up a major confrontation with California by scrapping its ability to enact stricter pollution standards and mandate the sale of electric cars. Related: Elon Musk: the volatile visionary at risk of steering Tesla off the roadContinue reading...
  
  Read more

• Life’s a breeze: a sailing trip in Scotland’s Hebrides

  02-08-2018 16:31 via theguardian.com
  The newly announced Wainwright prizewinner finds whales, dolphins and the ‘most beautiful sound on earth’ as he sails the waters of western Scotland on a historic boatIt had been raining overnight but the sky had cleared and we were going. Early light on the wet decks. Big engine rumbling somewhere deep in the stern. The anchor chain wound up into its locker in the bow.Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• North-west England's hosepipe ban rained off

  02-08-2018 15:26 via theguardian.com
  United Utilities announces U-turn on controversial ban due to rainfall and cooler weatherA controversial hosepipe ban affecting millions of people in the north-west of England has been called off three days before it was to start because of the “recent deluge and a drop in temperatures”.United Utilities had said on Tuesday that there would be no U-turn on the decision to start the ban on Sunday, but it has now announced that the demand for water has eased.Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Plans for airport on Caribbean island of Barbuda face legal challenge

  02-08-2018 15:05 via theguardian.com
  Critics say plans for airport and luxury tourist resort will be greater ecological disaster than Hurricane IrmaThe government of the unspoilt Caribbean island of Barbuda is facing a legal challenge over an airport development that residents say will devastate its fragile ecosystem.The school principal and social worker who have brought the case before the Antigua and Barbuda high court of justice on Thursday are asking for an injunction to stop the development after internal documents emerged sh
  
  Read more

• The 10 best movie shark performances – ranked!

  02-08-2018 15:00 via theguardian.com
  Jason Statham may be about to battle a prehistoric example in The Meg but these creatures have evolved to the point that they’re attacking space shuttlesMaking your acting debut opposite the debonair Adam West while being suspended from the Batcopter’s rope ladder sounds scary. Yet this plucky (and clearly rubber) shark clamps on to West’s leg and boings around with such gusto you almost resent the shark-repellent bat spray.Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Stonehenge: First residents from west Wales

  02-08-2018 15:00 via bbc.co.uk
  The first long-term residents of Stonehenge came from west Wales, a study suggests.
  
  Read more

• UK's largest EV charging firm to install chargepoints at 4,000 hotels

  02-08-2018 14:37
  The UK's largest electric vehicle (EV) charging company, Chargemaster, has announced it will host a new network of 4,000 EV chargepoints at British hotels and B&Bs as part of a partnership with motoring organisation the AA.
  
  Read more

• I won’t go on the BBC if it supplies climate change deniers as ‘balance’ | Rupert Read

  02-08-2018 14:16 via theguardian.com
  The science is not in doubt, so the corporation no longer needs to give them a platformLike most Greens, I typically jump at opportunities to go on air. Pretty much any opportunity: BBC national radio, BBC TV, Channel 4, Sky – I’ve done them all over the years, for good or ill. Even when, as is not infrequently the case, the deck is somewhat stacked against me, or the timing inadequate for anything more than a soundbite, or the question up for debate less than ideal.But this Wednesda
  
  Read more

• Kraft Heinz unveils new circular packaging strategy in plastic reduction drive

  02-08-2018 14:10
  After surpassing its 2020 packaging reduction aims two years early, consumer goods giant Kraft Heinz has committed to ensuring all its packaging is either recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025 as it strives to become more circular.
  
  Read more

• Plastic pollution: How one woman found a new source of warming gases hidden in waste

  02-08-2018 14:04 via bbc.co.uk
  Researchers uncover a little known source of climate warming gases coming from plastic waste.
  
  Read more

• The heist of Helen the shark is testament to humankind's hubris | Elle Hunt

  02-08-2018 13:49 via theguardian.com
  Behind the aquarium theft is a craze for shark tanks that speaks to a total loss of perspective about our place in the food chain
  Shark abducted in pram from Texas aquarium is returnedNews that thieves had stolen a shark from a Texas aquarium by disguising it as a baby in a pram prompted many questions, chief among them: “Who calls a shark Miss Helen?” But the second – “Why?” – had already been answered in the Wall Street Journal days earlier, one assumes by h
  
  Read more

• Temperatures in south-west Europe could break 48C record this weekend

  02-08-2018 13:41 via theguardian.com
  Holidaymakers warned of extreme heat as forecasters say European record could be beaten in Iberian peninsulaLarge parts of southern and western Europe are expected to experience high temperatures this weekend with forecasters warning that thermometers could reach up to 48C in Spain.Holidaymakers bound for the Iberian peninsula have been warned to expect extreme heat, with the chance of the hottest temperatures ever recorded in continental Europe.Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Wildfire smoke: experts warn of 'serious health effects' across western US

  02-08-2018 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Smoke from fires has been linked to asthma attacks and heart problems and has contributed to a decline in air quality As climate change helps push up the number of wildfires in the western US, communities face losing lives and properties to the flames. But another threat also looms large – dangerous exposure to wildfire smoke. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Wildfire events affect air quality and trigger health issues across western US

  02-08-2018 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Smoke from fires has been linked to asthma attacks, heart problems and the development of cancer, and has contributed to a regional decline in air quality As climate change helps push up the number of wildfires in the western US, communities face losing lives and properties to the flames. But another threat also looms large – dangerous exposure to wildfire smoke. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• How do sustainability professionals' salaries compare to the national average?

  02-08-2018 11:25
  The average salary for UK-based sustainability professionals has fallen over the past two years after a period of overall low wage growth for the nation, a new survey has found. But, how do the industry's levels of pay, job satisfaction and gender equality compare to the national average?
  
  Read more

• Chemicals giant to slash emissions following ISO 50001 certification

  02-08-2018 10:00
  Chemical production and innovation giant Borealis has announced a new aim of reducing its carbon footprint by 360,000 tonnes of CO2e each year, after achieving the latest internationally recognised standard for energy management systems.
  
  Read more

• Is compassion fatigue inevitable in an age of 24-hour news?

  02-08-2018 07:00 via theguardian.com
  We have never been more aware of the appalling events that occur around the world every day. But in the face of so much horror, is there a danger that we become numb to the headlines – and does it matter if we do? By Elisa GabbertIn April this year, a woman calling herself Apathetic Idealist wrote to an advice columnist at the New York Times, asking for help in overcoming a sense of political paralysis. This condition, which was keeping her from engaging in “real action”, began
  
  Read more

• Country diary: lovely lavender works its charm

  02-08-2018 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Crook, County Durham: A dozen green-veined and small white butterflies flit restlessly between flower heads, pausing just long enough to uncoil their tongues and probe a floretTwo o’clock in the afternoon, the hottest, drowsiest time of day, and the air is saturated with fragrance from a gnarled old lavender bush that sprawls over the garden wall. It carries more than 200 flower spikes, and every bumblebee and butterfly in the garden seems to have fallen for their charms. Constant movement
  
  Read more

• Heathrow high

  02-08-2018 04:08 via bbc.co.uk
  It's Europe's busiest airport but why is Heathrow also a magnet for hot weather?
  
  Read more

• Lemur extinction: Vast majority of species under threat

  02-08-2018 02:43 via bbc.co.uk
  The vast majority of lemur species, unique primates found only in Madagascar, are on the brink of extinction, say scientists.
  
  Read more

• Tracking Scotland's wildfires from space

  02-08-2018 01:14 via bbc.co.uk
  Breakthroughs in satellite imaging are helping scientists in Scotland better understand wildfires in real time.
  
  Read more

• Greens pressure Victoria to block national energy guarantee

  02-08-2018 00:00 via theguardian.com
  Campaign by Greens joins efforts by GetUp and Greenpeace to scuttle Turnbull government energy policyThe Greens are intensifying pressure on the Andrews government in Victoria to block the national energy guarantee, leafleting inner city seats ahead of a make or break meeting on the policy in just over a week.The activity on the ground by the Greens joins a campaign already under way from GetUp and Greenpeace to persuade both the Victorian and Queensland governments to torpedo the policy in the
  
  Read more

Follow @UK_Environment on Twitter!