Environment news

• Warmer winters linked to higher crime rates, study finds

  13-11-2018 22:23 via theguardian.com
  Trend in US regions where once-brutal winters are now mild raises new concerns over climate changeWarmer winters are linked to increased crime rates in parts of the United States, a new study has found.Researchers found that violent crime is almost always more prevalent when temperatures are warmer in the winter months. The trend was especially strong when winters were mild in regions that usually have fierce winters, like the north-east and midwest. Continue reading...
  
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• Trump administration to cut air pollution from heavy-duty trucks

  13-11-2018 21:00 via theguardian.com
  EPA to start writing rule requiring new trucks produce less nitrogen oxide, one of its first moves to regulate industryDonald Trump’s administration plans to cut air pollution from heavy-duty trucks, marking one of its first moves to regulate US industry rather than roll back environmental standards.The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will start writing a rule to require new trucks produce less nitrogen oxide, which contributes to smog and particulate matter pollution that causes bre
  
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• More than 800,000 people sign petition to release Iceland's banned Christmas advert

  13-11-2018 20:37
  More than 800,000 people have signed a petition calling for an overturn on the decision to ban Iceland's palm oil-focused Christmas advert from being aired on television during the festive period.
  
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• What Trump gets wrong about wildfires, by a fire scientist

  13-11-2018 20:09 via theguardian.com
  The president blamed ‘poor forest management’ for the state’s crisis. But much of the area burning isn’t forestYou cannot possibly understand what it means to live with the risk of wildfire until you have to do so.I’m a fire scientist and have spent most of my adult life in the flammable south-west. At the start of the fire season, you pack up the things in your house you cannot replace and stage them so they are ready to be thrown into the car. You make a plan for
  
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• Polar bear numbers in Canadian Arctic pose threat to Inuit, controversial report says

  13-11-2018 18:22 via theguardian.com
  Report bitterly contested by scientists who say threat comes from climate change, which has pushed bears closer to humans – not because the population is growing
  Too many polar bears are roaming the Canadian Arctic, and the growing population is posing an increasing threat to Inuit communities, according to a controversial new government report which has been bitterly contested by environmental scientists.The draft report was prepared by the Nunavut government, and consists of submissions
  
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• Energy minister declares Snowy Hydro expansion 'fundamental' to Australia

  13-11-2018 18:00 via theguardian.com
  Angus Taylor speech leads into crucial board decision on whether or not to proceedThe energy minister Angus Taylor has backed Malcolm Turnbull’s pet project, the expansion of the Snowy Hydro scheme, ahead of critical deliberations on the project due next month.Taylor will use a speech on Wednesday to express confidence that Snowy “will be a fundamental part of our future energy needs for many generations”. The board is due to decide in mid-December whether to proceed with addit
  
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• Spain plans switch to 100% renewable electricity by 2050

  13-11-2018 16:13 via theguardian.com
  Ambitious scheme also aims to fully decarbonise country’s economy shortly afterSpain has launched an ambitious plan to switch its electricity system entirely to renewable sources by 2050 and completely decarbonise its economy soon after.By mid-century greenhouse gas emissions would be slashed by 90% from 1990 levels under Spain’s draft climate change and energy transition law. Continue reading...
  
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• From BMW to Harley-Davidson: The EV market accelerates again

  13-11-2018 16:08
  It's been a hectic week for the electric vehicle (EV) market, as some of the major players in the automotive sectors unveil new low-emission models. Here, edie looks at some of the most exciting announcements over the past few days.
  
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• Climate change: Heatwaves 'halve' male insect fertility

  13-11-2018 16:00 via bbc.co.uk
  A study of beetles could explain global decline in insects - and how heat can damage male fertility.
  
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• No 'flushable' wet wipes tested so far pass water industry tests

  13-11-2018 13:06 via bbc.co.uk
  They say wet wipes don't break down and so cause sewage blockages which cost millions to put right.
  
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• Former Ikea CSO Steve Howard: Why 'change is the new normal' for business

  13-11-2018 12:42
  Ikea's former chief sustainability officer Steve Howard has urged business leaders to take bold actions to champion decarbonisation, resource efficiency and social equality in order to adapt to global megatrends such as digitisation, urbanisation and population growth.
  
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• Former Ikea boss Steve Howard: Big businesses must go all-in on sustainability

  13-11-2018 12:42
  Ikea's former chief sustainability officer Steve Howard has urged today's business leaders to be bold and set 100% targets to achieve a sustainable future in the face of rising global megatrends.
  
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• UK fashion retailers and law enforcement agencies to partner on tackling modern slavery

  13-11-2018 12:35
  Some of the UK's largest fashion retailers, including John Lewis and Marks & Spencer (M&S), have committed to work with law enforcement bodies to help identify and act on cases of modern slavery in the textiles industry.
  
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• If the government was wrong on the badger cull, can it reverse ferret? | Gaby Hinsliff

  13-11-2018 12:33 via theguardian.com
  Badgers are not the main culprits for the spread of bovine TB, a new scientific report shows. Ministers mustn’t ignore thisPoor old badgers. Not since the hunting ban has a wild animal evoked such fierce passions, both in farmers convinced they spread TB to cattle and wildlife lovers implacably opposed to a government-backed cull which will mean the deaths of more than 42,000 badgers this year. Only now it seems we may have been barking up the wrong tree all along. Related: Farming industr
  
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• Heatwaves can 'wipe out' male insect fertility

  13-11-2018 11:00 via theguardian.com
  Study of beetles could explain global decline – and also be a warning to humankindHeatwaves severely damage the fertility of male beetles and consecutive hot spells leave them virtually sterilised, according to research.Global warming is making heatwaves more common and wildlife is being annihilated, and the study may reveal a way in which these two trends are linked. The scientists behind the findings said there could also be some relevance for humans: the sperm counts of western men have
  
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• District heat networks could reduce cost of UK's low-carbon transition by £3bn

  13-11-2018 10:42
  The installation of district heat networks could reduce the capital cost of the UK's heat networks by up to 40%, new research from the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) has concluded.
  
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• What would a smog-free city look like?

  13-11-2018 08:30 via theguardian.com
  Forget ‘solutions’ such as smog towers, air-filtering buses and pollution-eating paints. We need to prevent the air pollution in the first placeThe persistent haze over many of our cities is a reminder of the polluted air that we breathe. Over 80% of the world’s urban population is breathing air that fails to meet World Health Organisation guidelines, and an estimated 4.5 million people died prematurely from outdoor air pollution in 2015.Globally, urban populations are expected
  
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• Flushable wet wipes 'causing sewer blockages'

  13-11-2018 07:01 via bbc.co.uk
  Wet wipes sold as "flushable" are failing the water industry's disintegration test, the BBC finds.
  
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• Farming industry to blame for TB crisis, not just badgers – report

  13-11-2018 07:01 via theguardian.com
  Movement of cattle and poor fencing hamper control efforts, says government reviewFrequent trading of cattle and poor biosecurity on farms is “severely hampering” efforts to tackle the crisis of bovine tuberculosis (TB) in England, according to an independent review commissioned by the environment secretary, Michael Gove.It was wrong to blame badgers as the main cause of the outbreaks, the scientists said, although Gove had told them not to assess whether the current badger culls wer
  
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• The plastic backlash: what's behind our sudden rage – and will it make a difference?

  13-11-2018 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Decades after it became part of the fabric of our lives, a worldwide revolt against plastic is underway. By Stephen BuranyiPlastic is everywhere, and suddenly we have decided that is a very bad thing. Until recently, plastic enjoyed a sort of anonymity in ubiquity: we were so thoroughly surrounded that we hardly noticed it. You might be surprised to learn, for instance, that today’s cars and planes are, by volume, about 50% plastic. More clothing is made out of polyester and nylon, both pl
  
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• Global report highlights Australia’s renewables potential amid mixed signals for coal

  13-11-2018 06:55 via theguardian.com
  Australia singled out for possible hydrogen boom, but also forecast to increase coal productionAustralia is singled out as a country with strong potential for new hydrogen production facilities in the latest World Energy Outlook, which paints an uncertain future for coal exports and strong projected growth for solar power.The new stocktake from the International Energy Agency (IEA) says in resource-rich countries such as Australia, hydrogen facilities could be built to sit alongside solar photov
  
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• Country diary: a glowing orange band shimmers above the South Downs

  13-11-2018 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Pulborough Brooks, West Sussex: I can just make out the small brown bird of prey in pursuit of a flock of starlings. The merlin dashes low in one direction and then anotherThe afternoon sun breaks through the cloud, and lights up the green and yellow leaves of the birch saplings on the heathland. The sound of circular saws echoes from the woods. Conservation work is under way on the reserve to clear some of the older trees, to allow younger ones to mature and to improve the heath and woodland ha
  
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• Kiwis to be reintroduced to New Zealand capital for first time in a century

  13-11-2018 03:01 via theguardian.com
  Ancient, flightless, nocturnal birds have been absent from Wellington for more than a centuryWellington could soon have kiwis nesting beside Parliament House thanks to an ambitious conservation project that aims to reintroduce the country’s iconic national bird to the capital city within the next decade.There are 68,000 kiwi left in New Zealand but the number of birds are declining at a rate of 2% per year. A century ago, there were millions but attacks by by dogs, cats, possums, stoats an
  
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• Badger culling has 'modest' effect in cutting cattle TB

  13-11-2018 02:12 via bbc.co.uk
  An independent scientific review says badger culling can have a modest effect in reducing cattle TB.
  
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• Interior department whistleblower: Ryan Zinke hollowed out the agency

  13-11-2018 01:28 via theguardian.com
  At first I kept an open mind about Trump’s interior secretary. But it soon became clear he put the oil, gas and mining industry above our missionBack in 2017, the staff at the interior department was not hoping for the best, we were hoping for the competent. A presidential transition can bring dramatic change to the leadership of a federal agency – particularly the agency that manages the conservation and use of one fifth of America’s land area and the seabed of our continental
  
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• World has no capacity to absorb new fossil fuel plants, warns IEA

  13-11-2018 01:01 via theguardian.com
  Watchdog says new projects must be low carbon or existing plants must be cleaned upThe world has so many existing fossil fuel projects that it cannot afford to build any more polluting infrastructure without busting international climate change goals, the global energy watchdog has warned.The International Energy Agency said almost all of the world’s carbon budget up to 2040 – the amount that can be emitted without causing dangerous warming – would be eaten up by today’s
  
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