Environment news

• BHP Billiton facing £5bn lawsuit from Brazilian victims of dam disaster

  06-11-2018 19:50
  Action launched in Liverpool against Anglo-Australian mining company after 2015 tragedy that killed 19 peopleThe worst environmental disaster in Brazil’s history has triggered one of the biggest legal claims ever filed in a British court.The Anglo-Australian mining company BHP Billiton is being sued for about £5bn by Brazilian victims of the Samarco dam collapse in Mariana three years ago. Continue reading...
  
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• Will we ever be able to get rid of paper receipts?

  06-11-2018 19:11
  Paper accounts of your spending might seem harmless, but they pose an environmental hazard. What should we do?You diligently recycle, you carry a reusable coffee cup and you have sworn off plastic straws. Yet your wallet is stuffed with crumpled scraps of paper recording all manner of recent (and ancient) transactions: the couple of quid at Tesco, the £50 from a cash machine last week, that pricey pair of shoes from a year ago.Every year the UK pumps out 11.2bn paper receipts. What many of
  
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• Taxing red meat would save many lives, research shows

  06-11-2018 19:00
  The cost of bacon and sausages would double if the harm they cause to people’s health was taken into accountTaxing red meat would save many lives and raise billions to pay for healthcare, according to new research. It found the cost of processed meat such as bacon and sausages would double if the harm they cause to people’s health was taken into account.Governments already tax harmful products to reduce their consumption, such as sugar, alcohol and tobacco. With growing evidence of t
  
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• Is the wind turbine really a 'new apex predator'?

  06-11-2018 18:44
  The presence of wind turbines can reduce the number of birds and lizards in an area, a new study has found. Should we start tearing the farms down?Name: wind turbines.Age: Early examples date to the 7th century. Continue reading...
  
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• Platypus eating a normal insect diet could ingest at least 69 drugs, research reveals

  06-11-2018 18:00
  Insects near waste water could give a platypus or trout half a human dose of antidepressantsA platypus living in a creek or stream with waste water could be exposed to 50% of a human daily dose of antidepressants just by eating its normal diet of insects, according to new research.A team of scientists, led by researchers at Monash University, has analysed insects and riparian spiders found in six Melbourne streams for traces of 98 different types of pharmaceuticals. Continue reading...
  
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• Metop weather satellite prepares for lift-off

  06-11-2018 16:10 via bbc.co.uk
  Europe is sending up a front-line weather satellite containing components made over a decade ago.
  
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• Oxford-Cambridge expressway would be illegal, warn MEPs

  06-11-2018 14:58
  Plans for a road through wildlife-rich areas break EU laws and send a worrying message ahead of Brexit, say MEPsGovernment plans to build an Oxford-Cambridge motorway over some of the UK’s most biodiverse nature reserves break EU laws and should be put on hold, according to a cross-party group of MEPs.Up to a million homes could be built in the planned conurbation link-up which would carve across some of the UK’s richest floodplain habitats such as the Otmoor Basin and Bernwood fores
  
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• UK renewable energy capacity surpasses fossil fuels for first time

  06-11-2018 13:28
  Renewable capacity has tripled in past five years, even faster growth than the ‘dash for gas’ of the 1990sThe capacity of renewable energy has overtaken that of fossil fuels in the UK for the first time, in a milestone that experts said would have been unthinkable a few years ago.In the past five years, the amount of renewable capacity has tripled while fossil fuels’ has fallen by one-third, as power stations reached the end of their life or became uneconomic. Continue reading.
  
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• UK's energy storage revolution happening faster than expected, study finds

  06-11-2018 12:50
  Planning permission applications to install energy storage facilities in the UK have quadrupled since 2016, with a massive increase in capacity expected in the next few years.
  
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• Global economic growth threatening climate change progress, report warns

  06-11-2018 12:27
  The expansion in the global economy is undermining the world's efforts to achieve the objectives set out in the Paris Agreement, a new report from global consultancy Capgemini has warned.
  
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• Report: Just 5% of UK pension funds possess a climate change policy

  06-11-2018 12:01
  Just 5% of the UK's largest pension fund managers have a specific policy on climate change in place, despite almost three-quarters (74%) claiming to acknowledge the risks that climate challenges pose to the finance sector.
  
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• Ozone: The Earth's protective shield is repairing

  06-11-2018 11:37 via bbc.co.uk
  The ozone layer is finally healing from damage humans have caused, according to the United Nations.
  
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• Thomas Cook unveils plastic phase-out for its airlines and hotels

  06-11-2018 11:19
  Holiday giant Thomas Cook has pledged to remove more than 70 million single-use plastic items such as straws, stirrers and cutlery from its operations every year.
  
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• Princes stops using export packaging recovery notes in bid to improve UK recycling infrastructure

  06-11-2018 10:16
  Food and drinks giant Princes has funnelled around £750,000 into projects improving the UK's recycling infrastructure since the start of 2018, after refusing to use export packaging recovery notes (PRNs).
  
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• Princes stops using export packaging recovery notes

  06-11-2018 10:16
  Food and drinks giant Princes has funnelled around £750,000 into projects improving the UK's recycling infrastructure since the start of 2018, after refusing to use export packaging recovery notes (PRNs).
  
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• 'Our god is stronger' - can biodiverse Bijagós fend off evangelical threat?

  06-11-2018 06:00
  For centuries, traditional religious practices have preserved the sacred forests of this archipelago off the coast of Guinea-Bissau. Now missionaries are muscling inThe 12 traditional priestesses of Orango island gathered in their wide hut in a deserted clearing of ankle-deep vegetation, passing a bowl of orange palm nuts between them.Like their grandmothers before them, the baloberas, as the priestesses are known, were using their spiritual powers to protect the forests in their part of the Bij
  
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• Helpline to tackle bullying in chemistry

  06-11-2018 01:03 via bbc.co.uk
  Bullying and harassment helpline could help people working in the sciences.
  
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• MPs call for 'watchdog with teeth' to oversee environmental standards post-Brexit

  06-11-2018 01:01
  MPs have called on the Government to strengthen the commitments made in its 25-year Environment Plan in order to prepare for the event of a no-deal Brexit scenario, claiming that the UK is currently at risk of losing one-third of green legislation if no agreement with the EU is agreed.
  
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• Ron Howard: Creating vision of a Mars colony

  06-11-2018 01:00 via bbc.co.uk
  Hollywood director Ron Howard talked to the BBC about creating a realistic depiction of the first human colonies on Mars.
  
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• Red Planet

  06-11-2018 01:00 via bbc.co.uk
  Hollywood director Ron Howard talked to the BBC about creating a realistic depiction of the first human colonies on Mars.
  
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