Environment news

• Childhood obesity linked to air pollution from vehicles

  04-11-2018 23:00 via theguardian.com
  Research suggests first year ‘critical window’ in which toxic air can increase weight gainEarly exposure to air pollution from vehicles increases the risk of children becoming obese, new research has found.High levels of nitrogen dioxide, which is emitted by diesel engines, in the first year of life led to significantly faster weight gain later, the scientists found. Other pollutants produced by road traffic have also been linked to obesity in children by recent studies. Continue rea
  
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• Air Force's falcon mascot kidnapped and injured in pre-game prank

  04-11-2018 22:14 via theguardian.com
  Aurora reportedly stolen by West Point cadets before gameAir Force and Army played college football game this weekendAir Force’s mascot, a 22-year-old white gyrfalcon name Aurora, was injured after she was kidnapped in a prank by West Point cadets in the run-up to a college football game this weekend.Troy Garnhart, the associate athletic director for communications at the Air Force academy, told the Colorado Springs Gazette that Aurora had been taken from a colonel’s house before the
  
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• The Guardian view on environmental activism: new energy is welcome | Editorial

  04-11-2018 19:39 via theguardian.com
  Protesters promising a new wave of civil disobedience linked to the extinction crisis are right to be infuriated by government inactionHow to push green issues up the political agenda is a question that has exercised environmentalists for decades. Do dark warnings about the world that awaits us if we do not curtail carbon emissions and protect forests and oceans motivate people to act, or scare them off? Are apocalyptic visions such as that in Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Road what we need
  
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• Joseph Stiglitz: 'America should be a warning to other countries'

  04-11-2018 18:00 via theguardian.com
  Ahead of his Australian visit, renowned economist warns of the triple threat of rising inequality, the undermining of democracy and climate changeIt was a stark message from a Nobel-prize winning economist.“We were a very different country 40 years ago,” he said. “The downhill slide has been pretty fast. America, I think, should be an important warning to other countries not to take for granted their institutions. I worry that things in the United States could get much worse.&r
  
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• Government faces new legal challenge over plans to speed up fracking

  04-11-2018 17:45 via theguardian.com
  Opponents say revised definition of fracking will allow energy firms to bypass planning rulesThe government is facing a fresh legal challenge to its proposals to fast-track new fracking sites by loosening planning regulations.Ministers said this summer they would drop the requirement for shale gas wells to obtain planning permission by designating fracking sites as national infrastructure projects. Continue reading...
  
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• Who would want to kill a lion? Inside the minds of trophy hunters

  04-11-2018 15:00 via theguardian.com
  From the dentist who felled Cecil the lion to the woman who shot a goat on Islay, keen hunters are happy to fork out small fortunes to kill wildlife. But why do they do it – and what is the true cost of their obsession?The most elephants that Ron Thomson has ever killed by himself, in one go, is 32. It took him about 15 minutes. Growing up in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, Thomson began hunting as a teenager and quickly became expert. From 1959, he worked as a national parks ranger and was regula
  
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• Air Force's falcon mascot reportedly kidnapped and injured in pre-game prank

  04-11-2018 14:27 via theguardian.com
  Aurora reportedly stolen by West Point cadets before gameAir Force and Army played college football game this weekendAir Force’s mascot, a 22-year-old white gyrfalcon name Aurora, may have to be euthanized after she was kidnapped in a prank by West Point cadets in the run-up to a college football game this weekend. Troy Garnhart, the associate athletic director for communications at the Air Force academy, told the Colorado Springs Gazette that Aurora had been taken from a colonel’s h
  
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• Vegan jokes are in bad taste, but hardly a reason to be pilloried | Barbara Ellen

  04-11-2018 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Non-meat eaters should be self-aware enough to rise above ill-considered jibesEveryone has been feasting on the carcass of the William Sitwell vegan debacle to the point where it’s started to feel like a MasterChef cannibal special.For those who missed it, Waitrose Food magazine editor Sitwell replied to freelancer Selene Nelson’s suggested article on vegan food with an email saying he’d like to print a feature on “killing vegans, one by one”. After an outcry, he ap
  
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• David Attenborough: too much alarmism on environment a turn-off

  04-11-2018 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Veteran broadcaster says Dynasties, his new BBC wildlife series, will be gripping, truthful and entertaining but not overtly campaigningSir David Attenborough, the world’s most famous wildlife storyteller, believes repeated warnings about human destruction of the natural world can be a “turn-off” for viewers – a comment that is likely to reignite the debate about whether the veteran broadcaster’s primary duty is to entertain or educate.Ahead of the launch of Dynasti
  
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• UPS's e-bike fleet and Nike's circular footwear drive: The sustainability success stories of the week

  04-11-2018 01:08
  As part of our Mission Possible campaign, edie brings you this weekly round-up of five of the best sustainability success stories of the week from across the globe.
  
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