Environment news

• Specieswatch: violet carpenter bee – an exotic, heavyweight arrival to UK

  25-08-2020 22:30 via theguardian.com
  
  This southern European native, first spotted breeding in 2007, is still rare due to a lack of suitable sitesIf you see a violet carpenter bee, xylocopa violacea, in Britain, it seems too exotic for our shores, and too big. It is up to 3cm long, the size of our largest bumble bee, and it looks even larger when flying with an impressive buzz.In late August, the adults emerge from a dead tree trunk or other old wood where they have spent the larval stage. After mating in late April or May, female b
  
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• Storm Francis hits the UK and Ireland – in pictures

  25-08-2020 20:12 via theguardian.com
  
  Met Office issues yellow weather warning for rain and 70mph gusts as Storm Francis batters Britain Continue reading...
  
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• From war to 'witch marks': graffiti carved into New Forest trees reveals past lives

  25-08-2020 18:32 via theguardian.com
  
  Project includes inscriptions dating back hundreds of years spotted by members of the public
  Some are fading records of passionate woodland trysts, while others tell vividly of the fear of the supernatural that some still feel in the forest: they are the more than 100 pieces of graffiti carved into trees in the New Forest in the south of England that have been spotted by members of the public and collected by the national park authority.There are, not surprisingly, plenty of lovers’ initia
  
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• Businesses including Glencore launch joint bid to improve conditions in cobalt supply chains

  25-08-2020 17:20
  
  A coalition of businesses including Signify, Glencore and Fairphone have launched a joint initiative to improve the economic, working and social conditions of those working in the cobalt supply chain.
  
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• Africa declared free of wild polio in 'milestone'

  25-08-2020 17:07 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Nigeria is now rid of wild polio having had more than half of global cases less than 10 years ago.
  
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• How can businesses accelerate circular economy progress beyond Covid-19?

  25-08-2020 14:57
  
  Earth Overshoot Day - the date at which humanity has used all available natural resources for the year - came almost a month later in 2020, largely as a result of Covid-19. But how can companies innovate and actuate to deliver lasting, holistic reductions in their environmental impact going forward?
  
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• Legal challenge over UK's exclusion of incinerators from emissions target

  25-08-2020 13:08 via theguardian.com
  
  Campaigner says decision at odds with Paris agreement to achieve net zero by 2050An environmental campaigner is mounting a legal challenge to the government’s decision to exclude waste incinerators from its post-Brexit carbon emissions trading scheme designed to bring the UK to net zero emissions by 2050.Georgia Elliott-Smith, a sustainability consultant who is fighting the expansion of the Edmonton incinerator, is seeking a judicial review of the omission of what legal papers say are &ldq
  
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• Kingfisher pledges to become 'forest positive' by 2025

  25-08-2020 12:28
  
  B&Q and Screwfix owner Kingfisher has built on its overarching vision of becoming a 'net-positive' business with a 2025 commitment to create more forests than it uses.
  
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• Defra plans crackdown on deforestation in UK corporates' supply chains

  25-08-2020 10:55
  
  Large companies in the UK could soon be mandated to prove that their supply chains are free from illegal deforestation or face hefty fines, under new due diligence legislation being developed by the Department for Food, the Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra).
  
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• 'The aliens to watch': how the humble earthworm is altering the Arctic

  25-08-2020 08:45 via theguardian.com
  
  After hitching a ride with humans, the species has colonised entire areas and may be making the soil too fertile, say scientistsThey are a gardener’s best friend, good for the soil and a treat for birds. But the humble earthworm may not always be good news, according to a study that suggests invasive earthworms could be making Arctic soils too fertile.The earthworm is not typically thought of as an invasive species. “Most parts of Europe have earthworms so we never really saw them as
  
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• Over 60 million chickens in England and Wales rejected over disease and defects

  25-08-2020 08:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Slaughterhouse figures from a three-year period highlight poor conditions in Britain’s poultry sector, say campaignersMore than 61 million chickens were rejected because of diseases and defects at slaughterhouses in England and Wales over a three-year period, according to figures analysed by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the Guardian.Broilers, chickens raised for meat, were the worst affected with almost 59 million defects recorded. More than 39 million broilers arrived and we
  
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• Special branches: the nominations to be England's tree of the year – in pictures

  25-08-2020 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  A sycamore laced with the shoes of jubilant students, a haunted oak bound in chains and a Hackney plane facing the chop are among the 10 contenders to become England’s tree of the year. The Woodland Trust’s annual competition throws the spotlight on the country’s best-loved trees to drive interest in their value and protection Continue reading...
  
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• 'It's terrifying': can anyone stop China's vast armada of fishing boats?

  25-08-2020 07:45 via theguardian.com
  
  Ecuador stood up for the Galápagos, but other countries don’t stand a chance against the 17,000-strong distant-water fleet
  The recent discovery by the Ecuadorean navy of a vast fishing armada of 340 Chinese vessels just off the biodiverse Galápagos Islands stirred outrage both in Ecuador and overseas.Under pressure after Ecuador’s strident response, China has given mixed signals that it could begin to reel in its vast international fishing fleet. Its embassy in Ecuador
  
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• UK sets out law to curb illegal deforestation and protect rainforests

  25-08-2020 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Critics say government’s proposals for prohibitions and fines are seriously flawedThe government has announced plans to introduce a new law to clamp down on illegal deforestation and protect rainforests by cleaning up the UK’s supply chains.The proposals, published on Tuesday, suggest the introduction of legislation to prohibit larger businesses operating in the UK from using products grown on land that was deforested illegally. Continue reading...
  
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• Country diary: oilseed rape is a mixed blessing for bumblebees

  25-08-2020 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Empingham, Rutland: The effects of mass-flowering crops are complex and there is often a twist in the tail for pollinatorsMost of our 24 British bumblebee species follow the familiar stripy, mousy or red-tailed formats, but a few beautiful and rare ones are more distinctive. Darting between the honeysuckle flowers in an Empingham garden is a big bumblebee, sooty black from frons to tail. Bombus ruderatus subsp. perniger is a special form of the large garden bumblebee, its blackness never seen ou
  
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• Coronavirus: Dr Anthony Fauci warns against rushing out vaccine

  25-08-2020 06:04 via bbc.co.uk
  
  US President Donald Trump reportedly is considering skipping regulatory steps to get out a vaccine.
  
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• Climate change: New UK law to curb deforestation in supply chains

  25-08-2020 04:32 via bbc.co.uk
  
  UK businesses will have to show that products and supply lines are free from illegal deforestation.
  
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• Warrington Borough Council launches resident-funded green bond in bid to reach net-zero

  25-08-2020 02:09
  
  Warrington Borough Council has launched a green bond that will see residents invest in the region's renewable energy and energy storage sectors, as it works to deliver a carbon-neutral town by 2030.
  
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• Infants exposed to air pollution have less lung power as adolescents – study

  25-08-2020 00:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Researchers find that even exposure to levels below EU limits has an impactInfants exposed to even low levels of air pollution experience reduced lung function as children and teenagers, researchers have found.Their study found that exposure to air pollution in the first year of life reduced lung function development from the ages of six to 15, even at pollution levels below EU standards. Continue reading...
  
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