Environment news

• US plan to genetically alter crops via insects feared to be biological war plan

  04-10-2018 20:00 via theguardian.com
  $27m program says it will use virus-carrying insects to engineer crops, but some worry it’s a way to develop biological agents
  Government-backed researchers in America are aiming to use virus-carrying insects to genetically engineer crops – raising fears the technology could be used for biological weapons.A new article in the journal Science explores the shadowy program funded by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa). Continue reading...
  
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• Vietnam's children and the fear of climate change

  04-10-2018 18:46 via bbc.co.uk
  Children's drawings of nightmarish scenarios illustrate climate change's impact in the Mekong Delta.
  
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• UK Government to invest £26m in tackling modern slavery in Asia

  04-10-2018 16:31
  The Government has announced that it will invest £26m into a string of initiatives aimed at combatting modern slavery and child labour across six Asian countries.
  
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• Scientists say halting deforestation 'just as urgent' as reducing emissions

  04-10-2018 15:00 via theguardian.com
  Protecting and restoring forests would reduce 18% of emissions by 2030 and help to avoid global temperature rise beyond 1.5CThe role of forests in combating climate change risks being overlooked by the world’s governments, according to a group of scientists that has warned halting deforestation is “just as urgent” as eliminating the use of fossil fuels.Razing the world’s forests would release more than 3 trillion tons of carbon dioxide, more than the amount locked in iden
  
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• No more 'Greenhush': Sir Ian Cheshire urges business to get vocal on sustainability

  04-10-2018 14:32
  The chairman of Barclays UK and Debenhams had suggested that the business community has a "moral imperative" to deliver and communicate real change that brings in new business models to alleviate key climate concerns.
  
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• European Parliament revs up CO2 car limits

  04-10-2018 12:09
  MEPs voted in Strasbourg on Wednesday (3 October) in favour of a 40% CO2 reduction target for light vehicles by 2030. The target is higher than what the Commission has proposed and tough talks with national capitals now loom large on the horizon.
  
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• Hilton makes first investment to drive sustainable travel in Africa

  04-10-2018 12:06
  Hotel giant Hilton has made its first investment into improving the sustainability of travel in Africa, as it strives to meet a target of halving its environmental footprint by 2030.
  
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• 'Crowds, congestion, no parking': should Canada limit visitors to its majestic parks?

  04-10-2018 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Conservationists say the soaring popularity of Canada’s national parks is becoming an overwhelming burdenAs an increasing number of people descend on Canada’s national parks each year, conservationists are warning that the love of majestic scenery – and the foot traffic that follows – is overwhelming delicate ecosystems and ruining the experience of visiting.Now, groups like the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society are calling for measures to limit the number of people w
  
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• False widow spider infestations close four east London schools

  04-10-2018 11:34 via theguardian.com
  Schools could be closed for up to three weeks while non-deadly spiders are dealt withFour schools in east London have been closed because of infestations of false widow spiders.The creatures, which have a body length of between 8.5mm and 11mm and resemble the far more dangerous black widow, have been found at two primary and two secondary schools in Newham. Continue reading...
  
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• While Nestlé extracts millions of litres from their land, residents have no drinking water

  04-10-2018 11:00 via theguardian.com
  Just 90 minutes from Toronto, residents of a First Nations community try to improve the water situation as the beverage company extracts from their landThe mysterious rash on the arm of six-year-old Theron wouldn’t heal. For almost a year, his mother, Iokarenhtha Thomas, who lives in the Six Nations of the Grand River indigenous reserve in Ontario, went to the local doctor for lotions for the boy. It worked, for a time. But the itchy red rash always returned. Thomas came to suspect the cul
  
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• UK Power Networks introduces first electric vans to its London fleet

  04-10-2018 10:56
  UK Power Networks (UKPN) has today (October 4) added its first fully-electric vans to its London-based fleet, in a bid to combat air pollution in the capital while reducing its carbon footprint.
  
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• Eat more pollock and less squid to save fish stocks, urges charity

  04-10-2018 08:01 via theguardian.com
  MSC’s Good Fish Guide also says unclear labelling on seafood products means shoppers should ask if their choice is sustainableConsumers are being urged by a UK marine conservation charity to eat more pollock and less squid in a fresh attempt to alleviate pressure on threatened stocks.The Marine Conservation Society on Thursday published updates to its 2018 Good Fish Guide, detailing which are the best fishes to eat in terms of sustainability. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘Terror being waged on wildlife', leaders warn

  04-10-2018 07:00 via theguardian.com
  National and conservation leaders say the annihilation of nature is a dangerous ‘blight on humanity’, ahead of major summitHumanity is waging a war of terror on wildlife across the globe, according to the head of a world-leading research institute who was previously a counter-terrorism expert for the UK government.Dominic Jermey, director general of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), also spent years in Afghanistan supporting the fight against terror, until leaving his post of U
  
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• Country diary: a butterfly boom out of the barren land

  04-10-2018 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Crook, County Durham: Fast-forward half a century and few casual visitors would suspect that this was once a scene of industrial derelictionLocal people with a long memory can recall the time when this small woodland was Roddymoor colliery waste heap. In 1968 the mountain of rock was regraded to blend with the gently undulating farmland. Grass was sown and Newcastle University ecologists began an experimental project to test the feasibility of reforesting it, planting 45 species of trees and shr
  
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• Sir David Attenborough: 'Population growth has to come to an end'

  04-10-2018 04:30 via bbc.co.uk
  Sir David Attenborough on Love Island, Global Warming, population growth and meat eating.
  
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• Report: UK leading G20 in low-carbon transition

  04-10-2018 03:01
  The UK is leading the rest of the G20 nations in transitioning towards a low-carbon future by decoupling emissions from economic growth, although global decarbonisation rates aren't currently strong enough to meet the ambitions of the Paris Agreement.
  
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• Report: UK leading G20 countries in global low-carbon transition

  04-10-2018 03:01
  The UK is leading the rest of the G20 nations in transitioning towards a low-carbon future by decoupling emissions from economic growth, although global decarbonisation rates aren't currently strong enough to meet the ambitions of the Paris Agreement.
  
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• First 'exomoon' may have been found

  04-10-2018 02:31 via bbc.co.uk
  Astronomers have announced the possible discovery of the first known moon outside our Solar System.
  
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• Viewpoint: Joel Sartore, the wildlife photographer who is all for zoos

  04-10-2018 01:49 via bbc.co.uk
  Zoos can help save animals not just cage them, says veteran wildlife photographer Joel Sartore.
  
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• Labor says Australia can remain energy 'superpower' – but only if climate wars end

  04-10-2018 00:45 via theguardian.com
  Pat Conroy says Australia can replace thermal coal exports with renewable energy and also develop hydrogen economyAustralia is in a position to replace thermal coal exports with the export of renewable energy technologies if the parliament can settle an energy policy and end a decade of policy chaos, the Labor frontbencher Pat Conroy says.The shadow assistant minister for climate change and energy will use an appearance at a renewable energy conference on Thursday to argue that Australia can rem
  
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