Environment news

• Coronavirus: Will lockdown easing see more of us using rivers?

  23-07-2020 23:18 via bbc.co.uk
  
  There has been a surge in people visiting waterways after the lockdown was eased, outdoor groups say.
  
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• Plastic pollution to weigh 1.3 billion tonnes by 2040

  23-07-2020 22:31 via bbc.co.uk
  
  An estimated 1.3 billion tonnes of plastic is destined for the environment by 2040 unless global action is taken, scientists say.
  
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• UK and US say Russia fired a satellite weapon in space

  23-07-2020 22:22 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The UK says the Russian satellite launched "a projectile with the characteristics of a weapon".
  
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• Plastic waste entering oceans expected to triple in 20 years

  23-07-2020 20:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Efforts to cut waste will reduce volume only by about 7%, say researchersPlastic waste flowing into the oceans is expected to nearly triple in volume in the next 20 years, while efforts to stem the tide have so far made barely a dent in the tsunami of waste, research shows. Governments could make drastic cuts to the flow of plastic reaching the oceans through measures such as restricting the sale and use of plastic materials, and mandating alternatives, but even if all the most likely measures a
  
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• Cost of preventing next pandemic 'equal to just 2% of Covid-19 economic damage'

  23-07-2020 20:00 via theguardian.com
  
  World must act now to protect wildlife in order to stop future virus crises, say scientists
  Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe cost of preventing further pandemics over the next decade by protecting wildlife and forests would equate to just 2% of the estimated financial damage caused by Covid-19, according to a new analysis.Two new viruses a year had spilled from their wildlife hosts into humans over the last century, the researchers said, with the growing dest
  
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• MPs question whether the UK's Industrial Strategy is fit-for-purpose

  23-07-2020 14:30
  
  MPs on the BEIS Committee are launching an inquiry into the UK's Industrial Strategy, questioning whether major updates to the policy package are needed in light of the 2050 net-zero target and the Covid-19 crisis.
  
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• Conservation: Reef sharks are in major decline worldwide

  23-07-2020 14:28 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The crash in shark numbers, caused largely by over-fishing, could have dire consequences for corals.
  
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• Vivobarefoot launches resale platform for repaired shoes

  23-07-2020 13:20
  
  Shoe brand VivoBarefoot has launched an online resale platform for repaired and returned shoes, in what it claims is a world first.
  
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• Mastercard unveils biodegradable, ocean-bound and recyclable plastics card drive

  23-07-2020 13:20
  
  Mastercard has launched a new initiative to get its customers to switch to cards made from recycled, biodegradable and ocean plastics, in a bid to reduce the amount of excess plastic that is landfilled each year.
  
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• Microsoft targeting one million tonnes of carbon removal by October

  23-07-2020 12:14
  
  Microsoft has unveiled plans to capture one million metric tonnes of carbon from the environment by the end of the fiscal year, as part of its commitment to become carbon-negative by 2030.
  
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• CBI: UK wont' reach net-zero without 2025 ban on non-hydrogen-ready boilers

  23-07-2020 11:17
  
  The CBI has warned that the UK is unlikely to meet its 2050 net-zero target without sweeping policy changes on heat, including the creation of a National Delivery Body and a requirement for all boilers to be hydrogen-ready by 2025.
  
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• 'We have no market, but lots of lobsters': a Maine lobsterwoman fights for her livelihood

  23-07-2020 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The fishery is buffeted by the climate crisis and other problems but the coronavirus pandemic has opened a new front“If I’m not fishing, I’m working on gear or my boat. Or meetings involving fishing. It’s what I eat, sleep and breathe,” lobsterwoman Julie Eaton tells me.Eaton lives on Deer Isle, and fishes Penobscot Bay – a deep blue inlet of the Gulf of Maine, dotted by working waterfronts, rocky islands, wooden schooners and lobster buoys. I ask her what it&
  
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• How can sustainability professionals rise to the challenge of the climate emergency and Covid-19?

  23-07-2020 10:18
  
  Sustainability leaders must be willing to reject the status quo and brave enough to lead transformational change if organisations are to craft meaningful responses to current and future crises, a new report has concluded.
  
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• 2020 BIAZA photography competition: winning images from zoos and aquariums – in pictures

  23-07-2020 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) has announced the stunning winning images in its annual photography competition.The 2020 winners show the important work of zoos and aquariums at an immensely challenging time. After months of closures, these conservation organisations are reeling from the financial impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.The competition, only open to zoo or aquarium staff and volunteers, received hundreds of entries capturing amazing moments from pensi
  
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• China's Tianwen-1 Mars rover rockets away from Earth

  23-07-2020 06:54 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The six-wheeled robot will arrive in orbit around the Red Planet in February.
  
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• Country diary: the cackling, chip-stealing lords of misrule

  23-07-2020 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Brighton, East Sussex: No sandwich or ice-cream is safe on this beachfront, as herring gulls mob visitors for all they can getGulls, like the people promenading or sitting on the beach here in Brighton, appear more relaxed under an evening sky than at high noon. Earlier today, small factions of herring gulls were in a mugging mood, mobbing a woman and her child so brutally that they dropped their food and fled, stealing a sandwich bite from out of a man’s mouth.The anarchy of gulls is impr
  
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• How long does it take to get to Mars - and why is it so difficult?

  23-07-2020 01:07 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Summer 2020 is a popular time for missions to Mars because of the way the planets align - but how long does it take to get there?
  
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