Environment news

• Stonehenge: Sarsen stones origin mystery solved

  29-07-2020 20:03 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Archaeologists have pinpointed the source of the stones to an area 15 miles north of the site.
  
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• The Green Recovery: how to put more electric vehicles on Australia's roads – video

  29-07-2020 19:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Electric cars are quieter, cheaper to run, more reliable and better for the environment than petrol cars. So why aren’t we all driving them? Well, they’re expensive for starters. Most Australians also worry electric vehicles won’t get them where they need to go. What happens if you run out of charge on a busy highway, or halfway to work? The government could easily address these problems. Here's how
  Find all our coverage of the Green Recovery here Continue reading...
  
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• Electric cars have few downsides except price. One company is looking to change that

  29-07-2020 19:30 via theguardian.com
  
  ‘They’re so damn reliable’, says veteran mechanic Craig Salmon. In the second Green Recovery feature, we look at what’s stopping Australia from embracing EVsCraig Salmon rattles off the benefits of electric cars with the swagger of a veteran car mechanic and the zeal of someone who is watching a profound historic change play out on his workshop floor. Related: This builder used to be sceptical about green homes. Now he’s a convertContinue reading...
  
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• London unveils £1.5bn green infrastructure package to kick-start economy post-lockdown

  29-07-2020 18:08
  
  London Mayor Sadiq Khan and the London Recovery Board have jointly launched a £1.5bn infrastructure investment package, designed to reduce the city's emissions and water footprint while kick-starting the local economy as lockdown eases.
  
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• Covid-19: Infectious coronaviruses 'circulating in bats for decades'

  29-07-2020 17:51 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Research suggests a close ancestor of the coronavirus emerged in bats between 40 and 70 years ago.
  
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• Peter Hope Jones obituary

  29-07-2020 17:09 via theguardian.com
  
  Ornithologist who monitored the effects of the North Sea oil industry on seabird populationsPeter Hope Jones, who has died aged 85, was a much-loved figure in Welsh ornithology, but his most important contributions to seabird conservation were made while working in Scotland.In Orkney between 1976 and 1978 he lived on the edge of Scapa Flow, established trial cliff sites for annual monitoring of guillemots, razorbills and other seabirds, and set up year-round beached seabird counts. This was part
  
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• Report: Governments collectively failing to deliver net-zero-aligned coal phase-out

  29-07-2020 15:58
  
  Coal accounted for 40% of carbon emissions from energy use last year and this trend is unlikely to be stopped by existing commitments from national governments - including so-called 'green' Covid-19 recovery strategies.
  
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• John Lewis and Waitrose ramp up electric van ambitions as online orders boom

  29-07-2020 12:57
  
  Retail giant John Lewis Partnership has built on a pledge to phase-out petrol and diesel vehicles from the entirety of its fleet within a decade with a sizeable electric van order.
  
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• BMW unveils new 10-year climate plan, vows to slash emissions per vehicle by one-third

  29-07-2020 12:57
  
  The BMW Group has pledged to reduce its emissions footprint by one-third by 2030, on a per-vehicle basis, as part of a new climate plan underpinned by science-based targets and electric vehicle (EV) development.
  
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• BMW's unveils new 10-year climate plan, vows to slash emissions per vehicle by one-third

  29-07-2020 12:18
  
  The BMW Group has pledged to reduce its emissions footprint by one-third by 2030, on a per-vehicle basis, as part of a new climate plan underpinned by science-based targets and electric vehicle (EV) development.
  
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• It's time for the US to reassert climate leadership. It starts with voting | Michael Mann

  29-07-2020 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Individual efforts are important, but we need collective action and systemic change. And we can only get that at the ballotIn a world with so many problems, it’s easy to feel helpless. And particularly right now in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, quite alone. But even as we practice social distancing, we have an opportunity to work together to solve the greatest problem that humanity faces. No, I’m not talking about coronavirus. I’m talking about climate change. Related: I&
  
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• It's time for America to reassert climate leadership. It starts with voting | Michael Mann

  29-07-2020 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Individual efforts are important, but we need collective action and systemic change. And we can only get that at the ballotIn a world with so many problems, it’s easy to feel helpless. And particularly right now in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, quite alone. But even as we practice social distancing, we have an opportunity to work together to solve the greatest problem that humanity faces. No, I’m not talking about coronavirus. I’m talking about climate change. Related: I&
  
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• UK's largest pension scheme charts pathway to net-zero

  29-07-2020 11:20
  
  The Government-backed National Employment Savings Trust (Nest) scheme is set to begin divesting from fossil fuel projects immediately, as part of a new roadmap designed to ensure its operations are aligned with the UK's net-zero target.
  
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• Airbus to build 'first interplanetary cargo ship'

  29-07-2020 10:38 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The European aerospace company will make a huge satellite to bring Mars rocks back to Earth.
  
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• How bad can deep sea mining be? Coronavirus is going to look like a picnic compared with what's coming | First Dog on the Moon

  29-07-2020 09:46 via theguardian.com
  
  We continue to trash the oceans and it is not going to end wellSign up here to get an email whenever First Dog cartoons are publishedGet all your needs met at the First Dog shop if what you need is First Dog merchandise and prints Continue reading...
  
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• How bad can deep sea mining be? Coronavirus is going to look like a picnic compared to what's coming | First Dog on the Moon

  29-07-2020 09:46 via theguardian.com
  
  We continue to trash the oceans and it is not going to end wellSign up here to get an email whenever First Dog cartoons are publishedGet all your needs met at the First Dog shop if what you need is First Dog merchandise and prints Continue reading...
  
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• Food waste increases in UK as coronavirus restrictions ease

  29-07-2020 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Levels are still below those recorded before lockdown, says government advisory bodyCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageHousehold food waste in the UK has increased by nearly a third as coronavirus lockdown restrictions have been eased and could spiral further, new research has warned.The government’s waste advisory body, Wrap, said self-reported food waste was up by 30%, reversing progress made at the start of the pandemic as consumers threw away less food wh
  
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• UK's biggest pension fund begins fossil fuels divestment

  29-07-2020 07:01 via theguardian.com
  
  National Employment Savings Trust to shun firms involved in coal, tar sands or arctic drilling The UK’s biggest pension fund, the government-backed National Employment Savings Trust (Nest) scheme with nine million members, is to begin divesting from fossil fuels in what climate campaigners have hailed as a landmark move for the industry.The fund will ban investments in any companies involved in coal mining, oil from tar sands and arctic drilling. But the move puts Nest – a public cor
  
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• Loss of bees causes shortage of key food crops, study finds

  29-07-2020 06:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Apple and cherry production hampered by lack of wild beesBees affected by loss of habitat, pesticides and climate crisisA lack of bees in agricultural areas is limiting the supply of some food crops, a new US-based study has found, suggesting that declines in the pollinators may have serious ramifications for global food security. Related: ‘Murder hornets’: race to protect North America's honeybees from giant invaderContinue reading...
  
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• Australia's Covid-19 response shows we can confront major crises. Threats to our planet should be next | Ian Chubb

  29-07-2020 04:55 via theguardian.com
  
  During the pandemic, we saw ideological nonsense and prejudice mostly put aside – and we saw what we could accomplish when it wasCarl Sagan – one of my heroes and a scientist with a gift for communicating complex ideas in accessible ways – wrote back in 1994: “If we continue to accumulate only power and not wisdom, we will surely destroy ourselves … If we become even slightly more violent, shortsighted, ignorant, and selfish than we are now, almost certainly we wil
  
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• Climate change: Coastal erosion 'to threaten more Australian homes'

  29-07-2020 04:11 via bbc.co.uk
  
  See the damage done by waves – and the problem will only get worse with climate change, experts say.
  
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• Australia after the bushfires

  29-07-2020 04:00 via theguardian.com
  
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• 'Once-in-a-lifetime' opportunity for more sustainable food

  29-07-2020 02:10 via bbc.co.uk
  
  An independent review of the UK's food policy calls for a new green revolution.
  
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• Record 212 land and environment activists killed last year

  29-07-2020 02:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Global Witness campaigners warn of risk of further killings during Covid-19 lockdownsA record number of people were killed last year for defending their land and environment, according to research that highlights the routine murder of activists who oppose extractive industries driving the climate crisis and the destruction of nature.More than four defenders were killed every week in 2019, according to an annual death toll compiled by the independent watchdog Global Witness, amid growing evidence
  
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• Bringing Mars back to Earth

  29-07-2020 01:46 via bbc.co.uk
  
  An audacious mission to bring rock samples from Mars back to Earth is about to begin - find out more with our illustrated guide
  
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