Environment news

• Coronavirus: Fear over rise in animal-to-human diseases

  06-07-2020 21:48 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A report says a rise in animal-to-human diseases will continue without urgent action.
  
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• Coronavirus: world treating symptoms, not cause of pandemics, says UN

  06-07-2020 18:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Ongoing destruction of nature will result in stream of animal diseases jumping to humans, says report Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe world is treating the health and economic symptoms of the coronavirus pandemic but not the environmental cause, according to the authors of a UN report. As a result, a steady stream of diseases can be expected to jump from animals to humans in coming years, they say.The number of such “zoonotic” epidemics is rising
  
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• Fast fashion giants face mounting pressure to protect supply chain workers through Covid-19

  06-07-2020 14:40
  
  Extinction Rebellion (XR) activists are gathering on London's Oxford Street this week to urge fast fashion brands to financially support suppliers overseas throughout the pandemic, as media exposés drawing links between Leicester's Covid-19 spike and its garment manufacturing industry emerge.
  
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• IEA: Most technologies needed to achieve net-zero aren't yet mature

  06-07-2020 13:36
  
  Some 75% of the emissions reductions necessary to meet net-zero are dependent on technologies which have not yet reached commercial maturity, new analysis from the International Energy Agency (IEA) has found.
  
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• Why we need sharks: the true nature of the ocean's 'monstrous villains'

  06-07-2020 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Why did dolphins get Flipper while sharks got Jaws? These majestic, diverse animals bring balance to the ocean ecosystem – and they’re in grave dangerEach day, as the sun sets over the coral-fringed Raja Ampat Islands in Indonesia, an underwater predator stirs. As predators go, it’s not especially big or ferocious – an arm’s length from head to tail, with a snuffling, moustachioed snout.What’s unique is that it doesn’t so much swim along the seabed as wa
  
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• What is bubonic plague?

  06-07-2020 12:25 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Authorities in China have stepped up precautions after a reports of a suspected case.
  
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• Just 1 in 10 UK businesses assessing climate risk as a priority, survey reveals

  06-07-2020 11:51
  
  A survey of more than 500 businesses has revealed that while three-quarters are concerned about climate-related risks, just one in ten consider measuring and disclosing their climate-related risks a priority.
  
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• MEPs set to navigate shipping into the EU's carbon market

  06-07-2020 11:30
  
  Members of the European Parliament's environment committee (ENVI) will vote on Tuesday (7 July) on a package of measures intended to clean up the maritime sector and to include shipping in the EU's Emissions Trading System (ETS).
  
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• China bubonic plague: Inner Mongolia takes precautions after case

  06-07-2020 10:36 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A rural herdsman tested positive for the infection, which can be treated with antibiotics.
  
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• Trump wants to put a rightwing zealot in charge of public land. Here's why it matters | Cas Mudde

  06-07-2020 10:30 via theguardian.com
  
  William Perry Pendley, Trump’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Land Management, has ties to anti-environment and anti-government forces
  On 26 June, Donald Trump announced that he plans to nominate William Perry Pendley to lead the Bureau of Land Management. That may not sound like big news, but it is. First of all, the office manages one-tenth of the United States’ land mass and, therefore, massive amounts of fossil fuels. Second, Pendley is linked to two little-known but very dangerou
  
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• Robotic scientists will 'speed up discovery'

  06-07-2020 08:36 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Robotic scientists could speed up scientific discovery, while human scientists work from home, developers say.
  
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• Britain beyond lockdown: what we learned from two weeks on the road

  06-07-2020 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  People do not want to go back to the way things were, but the good intentions could fade without the right leadershipBritain is crying out for a better normal. Communities across the country are emerging from lockdown with a new sense of what is possible and what is necessary – and the answers to both go a lot further than Westminster’s efforts to drive the country back to business as usual.That was the overriding impression from a two-week reporting trip around Britain, asking peopl
  
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• Shark finning: why the ocean's most barbaric practice continues to boom

  06-07-2020 07:30 via theguardian.com
  
  The recent seizure of the biggest shipment of illegal fins in Hong Kong history shows the taste for shark is still going strongIn the narrow streets of Sai Ying Pun neighbourhood, the centre of Hong Kong’s dried seafood trade, most window displays give pride of place to a particular item: shark fins. Perched on shelves, stuffed in jars and stacked in bags, shark fins are offered in all shapes and sizes. Several shops even include “shark fin” in their name.Fins are lucrative, fe
  
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• From dusted-off bikes to electric dreams: UK green economy booms on back of Covid-19

  06-07-2020 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Pandemic accelerates developments in sustainability from businesses and consumersThe queues were “absolutely crazy”, says Gavin Hudson, the owner of the cycle repair startup Butternut Bikes. As lockdown descended he began fixing old bikes in the parking lot of a Methodist church in north London, before moving his services to a furloughed pub in Crouch End. However, the surge in demand for cycle repairs meant the pop-up was soon able to afford a permanent address.“Some people co
  
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• Country diary: gripped by a grayling's disappearing act

  06-07-2020 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Dartmoor, Devon: I pinpoint the butterfly’s position and approach carefully, but somehow can’t locate itThe path ahead runs like a threadbare strip of carpet between low-lying vegetation. Scuffed by walkers, eroded by the elements and frayed by sheep, its worn matting of coarse grass scarcely covers the stony ground.As I follow it up the slope of this west Dartmoor hill I can hear on all sides the pistol-crack of gorse pods popping in the heat, firing their seeds around them, and sun
  
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• Algae turns Italian Alps pink, prompting concerns over melting

  06-07-2020 01:57 via theguardian.com
  
  Pink snow observed on parts of the Presena glacier believed to be caused by plant that makes the ice darker, causing it to melt fasterScientists in Italy are investigating the mysterious appearance of pink glacial ice in the Alps, caused by algae that accelerate the effects of climate change.There is debate about where the algae come from, but Biagio Di Mauro of Italy’s National Research Council said the pink snow observed on parts of the Presena glacier is likely caused by the same plant
  
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• Algae turn Italian Alps pink, prompting concerns over melting

  06-07-2020 01:57 via theguardian.com
  
  Pink snow observed on parts of the Presena glacier believed to be caused by plant that makes the ice darker, causing it to melt fasterScientists in Italy are investigating the mysterious appearance of pink glacial ice in the Alps, caused by algae that accelerate the effects of climate change.There is debate about where the algae come from, but Biagio Di Mauro of Italy’s National Research Council said the pink snow observed on parts of the Presena glacier is likely caused by the same plant
  
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• Spain's coal phase-out and Danone's carbon-neutral factory: The sustainability success stories of the week

  06-07-2020 00:23
  
  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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