Environment news

• Nepal busts chimp smugglers after BBC investigation

  10-10-2018 21:52 via bbc.co.uk
  Police in Kathmandu rescue two trafficked chimps after the BBC revealed the smugglers' methods.
  
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• Arctic Oil review – should you put your family first or the planet?

  10-10-2018 20:45 via theguardian.com
  Traverse, Edinburgh
  Clare Duffy’s play skirts the big issues as an ecowarrior and her mother clash in a locked bathroom Opening in the week the UN has made dire warnings about climate change, Clare Duffy’s two-hander about an ecowarrior and her conservative mother could hardly be more timely. It pits Neshla Caplan, as a young activist preparing to join a Greenpeace-style protest at an Arctic Circle oil rig, against Jennifer Black as her head-in-the-sand mother, who would sooner her d
  
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• We label fridges to show their environmental impact – why not food?

  10-10-2018 19:04 via theguardian.com
  Mandatory environmental labels would change how we produce and consume in three far-reaching ways. Huge reduction in meat-eating ‘essential’ to avoid climate breakdownIf you buy a washing machine, a fridge or a television in Europe, it comes with a sticker. Thanks to a 1992 EU directive, all appliances must be labelled with their energy efficiency. So why has our food system – which threatens 10,000 species with extinction, emits about 30% of greenhouse gases, and drives 80% of
  
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• Huge reduction in meat-eating ‘essential’ to avoid climate breakdown

  10-10-2018 19:00 via theguardian.com
  Major study also finds huge changes to farming are needed to avoid destroying Earth’s ability to feed its populationWe label fridges to show their environmental impact – why not food?Huge reductions in meat-eating are essential to avoid dangerous climate change, according to the most comprehensive analysis yet of the food system’s impact on the environment. In western countries, beef consumption needs to fall by 90% and be replaced by five times more beans and pulses.The resear
  
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• P&G joins Circular Economy 100 to accelerate closed-loop transition

  10-10-2018 18:50
  Procter & Gamble (P&G) is among four new corporate members of the Circular Economy 100 (CE100), the innovation platform launched by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation to accelerate circular economy ambitions.
  
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• A forestry boom is turning Ireland into an ecological dead zone | Mary Colwell

  10-10-2018 18:08 via theguardian.com
  Susbsidised spruce plantations cover vast tracts of the Irish countryside. They don’t offset carbon emissions and are driving bird species to extinctionWe all love trees. We think of woods and forests as green lungs, peaceful spaces, brimming with wildlife. So when Europe’s least forested country, Ireland, sets a target to increase tree cover from 11% to 18% by 2046, we should all applaud, shouldn’t we? Unfortunately the new woodland rising across Ireland is an ecological dead
  
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• German satellites sense Earth's lumps and bumps

  10-10-2018 17:45 via bbc.co.uk
  The German space agency releases a spectacular 3D map of the Earth's land surfaces.
  
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• 'Disappointed' EU capitals agree on 35% car CO2 cuts

  10-10-2018 16:48
  EU environment ministers took until nearly midnight on Tuesday (9 October) to agree on a common position for car and van CO2 emission cuts for 2030 but several member states were left "disappointed" with the final agreement.
  
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• UK 'will have to intervene in market to meet climate obligations'

  10-10-2018 15:39 via theguardian.com
  Top climate adviser says UN warnings will force the government to act in ways that will be controversial and politically fraughtThe UK’s obligations in response to this week’s warnings from the UN over global warming will be controversial and politically fraught, taking the country into “uncharted territory” and testing the political consensus on climate change, the its top climate adviser has warned.The government will have to regulate industry and intervene in the marke
  
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• Course details confirmed for edie 2019 Sustainability Leadership Programme

  10-10-2018 14:01
  Applications are now open for the first intake of applicants for a brand new education programme launched by edie and Cranfield University which will equip sustainability professionals with ideas and new abilities to embed sustainability into their core business strategy.
  
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• Course details confirmed for 2019 Sustainability Leadership Programme

  10-10-2018 14:01
  Applications are now open for sustainability professionals to take part in a brand new education programme launched by edie and Cranfield University which will equip you with concrete ideas and new abilities to effectively embed sustainability into your core business strategy.
  
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• One week left to register for edie's science-based targets webinar

  10-10-2018 12:30
  Individuals looking to adopt and implement science-based targets for their business are encouraged to tune into a free webinar next week, featuring expert insight from the likes of BT, Capgemini and The Prince of Wales's Corporate Leaders Group.
  
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• What does climate change really cost society? This lab is trying to find out

  10-10-2018 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Studies by the Climate Impact Lab have found that higher temperatures increase suicide ratesOne of the biggest hubs of real-time climate research is a lab hundreds of miles from the rising seas and melting ice caps. There are no test tubes or beakers. Instead young scientists and economists hunch over computers analyzing the newest data.A group of them are currently reviewing a study that considers whether crime levels are connected to monsoon seasons. The findings are a tiny part of a big quest
  
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• University of Texas: eco-conscious campus and major fracking landlord

  10-10-2018 11:00 via theguardian.com
  While the Austin campus has a sustainability plan and promotes recycling, the university is also a major fracking landlord that leases millions of acres to oil and gas companiesThe dusty oilfields of west Texas can feel a world away from the bustling heart of Austin, the state’s eco-conscious capital.A common thread is the University of Texas: one of America’s biggest academic institutions and one of its largest landowners. University land managers control 2.1m acres in Texas, much o
  
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• While my island nation sinks, Australia is doing nothing to solve climate change | Anote Tong

  10-10-2018 09:00 via theguardian.com
  The inaction and recalcitrance of Australia’s federal politicians is making Kiribati despairA new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change paints a picture of what the world will look like if it gets 1.5°C, and 2°C, hotter than pre-industrial levels.Half a degree of warming may seem trifling but, for my country, Kiribati, these fractional figures are a matter of life and death. Continue reading...
  
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• Hellfire: this is what our future looks like under climate change

  10-10-2018 09:00 via theguardian.com
  Forest fires and air that seems to combust: thanks to climate change, more parts of the world will soon be ablaze. California shows us what will happen when it does Continue reading...
  
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• The one good thing about Brexit? Leaving the EU’s disgraceful farming system | George Monbiot

  10-10-2018 07:00 via theguardian.com
  The government’s plans are an improvement, but still fatally flawed. We need a proper agriculture debateI’m a remainer, but there’s one result of Brexit I can’t wait to see: leaving the EU’s common agricultural policy. This is the farm subsidy system that spends €50bn (£44bn) a year on achieving none of its objectives. It is among the most powerful drivers of environmental destruction in the northern hemisphere. Because payments are made only for land tha
  
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• High chance of El Niño in Australia, worsening heat, bushfires and drought

  10-10-2018 04:48 via theguardian.com
  ‘This is not good news,’ Bureau of Meteorology says, warning drought conditions could get worseHeatwaves and bushfires are predicted in southern Australia thanks to a 70% chance of El Niño weather conditions, the Bureau of Meteorology has warned. Although cyclones may ease up in the north by the end of the year, the outlook for drought-hit areas is not good, according to the bureau.“Between the [above average] temperature and the lack of rainfall, this is not good news,&
  
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• Follow the money

  10-10-2018 02:05 via bbc.co.uk
  Could targeting profits linked to the illegal wildlife trade help protect threatened species?
  
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• Darling and Howard back call for post-Brexit carbon tax

  10-10-2018 01:01 via theguardian.com
  Policy Exchange report calls for steadily rising levy to help tackle climate changeCompanies selling fossil fuels in Britain should face a steadily rising carbon tax to tackle climate change after Brexit, according to the former Labour chancellor Alistair Darling and the Conservative party grandee Michael Howard.In a cross-party campaign to ensure the government sticks to its commitment to cut carbon emissions after Britain leaves the EU, the two politicians said a tax should be introduced as so
  
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• Recycling Antarctica

  10-10-2018 01:00 via bbc.co.uk
  How do scientists in the Antarctic minimise the waste generated by their research stations?
  
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• Air pollution linked to greater risk of mouth cancer, finds study

  10-10-2018 00:30 via theguardian.com
  Research in Taiwan has show a link between very high levels of air pollution and oral cancerHigh levels of air pollution are linked to an increased risk of mouth cancer, new research has revealed.Scientists have previously linked high air pollution to a host of health problems, from an increased risk of dementia to asthma and even changes in the structure of the heart, with recent research suggesting there is no “safe level” of air pollution. Continue reading...
  
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