Environment news

• Just like Australia, disinformation is thriving during the US fire crisis | Jason Wilson

  18-09-2020 22:00
  
  In both countries, fake news about arson proliferated while the role of climate change was obscuredDisinformation successfully obscured the real causes of Australia’s catastrophic bushfire season. Now the same thing is happening around me, as I report on a disastrous wildfire season in the American west.In both countries, the response to a pandemic is also being complicated by disinformation, as conspiracy theorists refuse isolation, refuse masks, and ready themselves to refuse vaccines. C
  
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• Koalagate was all about the Nationals trying to regain their faded political support | Quentin Dempster

  18-09-2020 21:59
  
  The pressure seems to have taken a personal toll on John Barilaro. But whether or not he remains leader, the problems of the party aren’t going awayKoalagate was a stunt. John Barilaro’s NSW Nationals attempted to breach the party’s 2019 Coalition agreement with the Liberals because they are struggling to retain constituent support in its remaining electorates.The blanket publicity generated by the “madness”, as Barilaro played brinkmanship with premier Gladys Berej
  
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• 'Shocking': wilderness the size of Mexico lost worldwide in just 13 years, study finds

  18-09-2020 17:00
  
  Researchers say loss of 1.9m square kilometres of intact ecosystems will have ‘profound implications’ for biodiversityWilderness across the planet is disappearing on a huge scale, according to a new study that found human activities had converted an area the size of Mexico from virtually intact natural landscapes to heavily modified ones in just 13 years.The loss of 1.9m square kilometres (735,000 sq miles) of intact ecosystems would have “profound implications” for the p
  
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• Activists sue ministers over release of game birds for shooting

  18-09-2020 13:57
  
  Wild Justice accuses UK government of breaching duty to protect conservation sites Conservationists are suing the UK government over the release of millions of game birds on to land that is home to rare and threatened species.The campaign group Wild Justice has accused ministers of breaching their legal duties to protect sites of high conservation value in England by failing to control the use of large areas of countryside to shoot pheasant and red-legged partridge for sport. Continue reading...
  
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• Don't look away now: are viewers finally ready for the truth about nature?

  18-09-2020 13:30
  
  For decades David Attenborough delighted millions with tales of life on Earth. But now the broadcaster wants us to face up to the state of the planetSir David Attenborough’s soothing, matter-of-fact narrations have brought the natural world to our living rooms for nearly seven decades and counting. From Australia’s Great Barrier Reef to the jungles of central Africa, the 94-year-old broadcaster has dazzled and delighted millions with tales of life on Earth – mostly pristine and
  
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• Sustainable Business Covered podcast: Talking net-zero for World Green Building Week 2020

  18-09-2020 12:48
  
  Episode 91 of the Sustainable Business Covered podcast delivers three exclusive interviews with experts across the built environment sector to mark World Green Building Week 2020. With buildings accounting for around 40% of global energy consumption and 33% of emissions, this sector is a key focus in the transition to net-zero.
  
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• Tate & Lyle has carbon goals approve by Science Based Targets initiative

  18-09-2020 12:28
  
  Food and drink ingredient supplier Tate & Lyle has had goals to reduce operational and value chain emissions approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
  
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• #SustyTalk: Lloyds Banking Group's James Wilde on financing the green recovery

  18-09-2020 11:38
  
  edie's #SustyTalk interview series continues with Lloyds Banking Group's head of sustainability James Wilde taking part in a virtual discussion on financing the green recovery, as well as providing an update on the bank's efforts to halve its emissions.
  
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• Carbon capture and EVs: Amazon unveils first beneficiaries of $2bn climate fund

  18-09-2020 09:49
  
  Amazon has announced the first beneficiaries of its $2bn Climate Pledge Fund, with organisations developing carbon removal technologies, nature-based carbon markets and electric vehicle (EV) innovations set to benefit.
  
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• A 12-storey pig farm: has China found the way to tackle animal disease?

  18-09-2020 09:30
  
  Biosecure farms complete with staff quarantine and chutes for dead pigs are seen as progress, but may carry their own risks
  The buildings do not even look like farms. They are huge grey concrete blocks, many storeys high, which stand side by side in the middle of what might look like a quarry, a “hole” of red earth dug in the heart of a mountain.We are on the Yaji mountain, which in Chinese means “sacred”, a few kilometres south of the city of Guigang in southern China. W
  
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• A 12-storey pig farm: has China found a way to stop future pandemics?

  18-09-2020 09:30
  
  Biosecure farms complete with staff quarantine and chutes for dead pigs are seen as progress, but may carry their own risks
  The buildings do not even look like farms. They are huge grey concrete blocks, many storeys high, which stand side by side in the middle of what might look like a quarry, a “hole” of red earth dug in the heart of a mountain.We are on the Yaji mountain, which in Chinese means “sacred”, a few kilometres south of the city of Guigang in southern China. W
  
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• edie's next masterclass to focus on energy data on the road to net-zero

  18-09-2020 09:23
  
  edie's next masterclass will take place on Tuesday 6 October and will explore how businesses can improve energy data monitoring and measurement and how this can assist with the wider net-zero transition.
  
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• Australia's stinging trees: if the snakes and spiders don't get you, the plants might | Irina Vetter, Edward Kalani Gilding and Thomas Durek

  18-09-2020 08:58
  
  Noxious nettles with venom similar to that of scorpions are helping scientists understand pain and how to control itAustralia is home to some of the world’s most dangerous wildlife. Anyone who spends time outdoors in eastern Australia is wise to keep an eye out for snakes, spiders, swooping birds, crocodiles, deadly cone snails and tiny toxic jellyfish.But what not everybody knows is that even some of the trees will get you. Continue reading...
  
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• Cleaning volunteers asked to record plastic PPE found on UK beaches

  18-09-2020 08:00
  
  Beach clean organiser wants to assess amount of masks and gloves discarded during coronavirus crisisCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageVolunteers in this year’s Great British Beach Clean are being asked to record the personal protective equipment (PPE) they find, to get a clearer picture of the volume of plastic masks and gloves discarded during the coronavirus pandemic and their impact on the environment.The Marine Conservation Society (MCS), which organises
  
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• Country diary: mighty oaks from acorns grow, but most are foiled by feet

  18-09-2020 06:30
  
  Castle Bytham, Rutland: These symbols of might from mite line the plough furrows where they fall to become food, or mulch Just outside this ancient village is a little hill. There aren’t many hills here, so you tend to notice them. Back in the day, this one had a Norman castle on it. Like many, that met a torturous end. And now, like others, it has become that weird rural symbol: a scratch of ornate type on the map, and a ghost in a place name – Castle Bytham.The broadleaf wood on to
  
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• Siberia landscape scarred by climate change

  18-09-2020 01:14 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists are warning about the consequences of vast swathes of ground thawing in Siberia.
  
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• California and Oregon 2020 wildfires in maps, graphics and images

  18-09-2020 01:06 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A visual guide to the wildfires ravaging California, Oregon and other western states.
  
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• What maths is involved in stirring a cup of tea?

  18-09-2020 01:05 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A professor has won £2.3m for applying complex maths to simple situations - like stirring tea.
  
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• 'Total failure' on English river water quality

  18-09-2020 00:07 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Pollutants still blight all of England's rivers, lakes and streams, the Environment Agency says.
  
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• Spider-like toxins found in Australia's stinging trees

  18-09-2020 00:06 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A team of scientists say this explains why those stung feel intense pain lasting for days or even weeks.
  
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• Alligator on gas snaps up Ig Nobel prize

  18-09-2020 00:02 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The 2020 Ig Nobel prizes honour crocodilian vocalisations, narcissistic eyebrows and vibrating worms.
  
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