Environment news

• After everything this year, what we hear when we listen to birdsong has changed

  10-10-2020 21:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Amid the lockdowns, the sounds and sights of birds reminded me, most of all, of the extent of our connections to one anotherThis is part of a series of essays by Australian writers responding to the challenges of 2020London midwinter, and I dream of black cockatoos. Dreams lacking vision, sonic dreams of startling intensity. At dawn the rusted-hinge sound of the cockatoos swerves away, revoked by the thin daylight.I have been based out of the UK for several months. Having passed through a blue s
  
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• Investors and graduates flock to UK's burgeoning windfarms

  10-10-2020 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The government’s high-profile commitment to renewable energy could bring a decade of opportunities for young peopleThe Hywind offshore windfarm stands 15 miles off the coast of Peterhead, and firmly on the cusp of Britain’s most dramatic energy revolution since the discovery of North Sea oil.The world’s first floating windfarm was one of the first low-carbon energy projects developed by Norway’s state oil giant Equinor, and today is one of the best performing windfarms ev
  
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• 'Real and imminent' extinction risk to whales

  10-10-2020 13:11 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A letter signed by hundreds of scientists calls for global action to protect whales, dolphins and porpoises.
  
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• Trump's public lands chief refuses to leave his post despite judge's order

  10-10-2020 11:30 via theguardian.com
  
  William Perry Pendley says ‘I have the support of the president’ despite court ruling he is serving illegally as head of the Bureau of Land ManagementA controversial environment chief in the Trump administration has said he has no intention of leaving his post after a US district court judge deemed his tenure and ongoing occupation of the position illegal.William Perry Pendley, head of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), said this week that the judge’s ruling “has no imp
  
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• Why the hidden world of fungi is essential to life on Earth | Merlin Sheldrake

  10-10-2020 10:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Fungi have long supported and enriched life on our planet. They must be protected as fiercely as animals and plants As you read these words, fungi are changing the way that life happens, as they have done for more than a billion years. They are eating rock, making soil, digesting pollutants, nourishing and killing plants, surviving in space, inducing visions, producing food, making medicines, manipulating animal behaviour, and influencing the composition of the Earth’s atmosphere.Fungi mak
  
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• ‘Unacceptable’ bacteria levels found on US meat may fuel fears over UK trade deal

  10-10-2020 09:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Samples of pork and poultry showed high levels of salmonella and E coli in new studyPork and poultry with “unacceptable” levels of salmonella and E coliare reaching supermarket shelves in the US, according to the preliminary findings of a study that may confirm the fears of campaigners currently fighting to ensure the UK’s agriculture bill will protect domestic food standards and consumers.The agriculture bill 2019–21 will return to the House of Commons on Monday, and wil
  
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• Trump has made fracking an election issue. Has he misjudged Pennsylvania?

  10-10-2020 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The president’s energy stance may not play well in a swing state threatened by pipeline projects and supportive of climate actionIn early August, Ginny Kerslake’s lush green yard in a middle-class Pennsylvania suburb turned into a muddy river, thanks to another spill at the pipeline drilling site opposite her house. A couple of days later, 10,000 gallons of drilling mud, or bentonite clay, contaminated a popular recreational lake that also provides drinking water for residents of Che
  
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• Campaign seeks 1bn people to save climate – one small step at a time

  10-10-2020 08:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Count Us In urges actions such as eating local, making clothes last or buying an electric car If a billion people around the world were to take a few small steps and make them into permanent lifestyle changes, global greenhouse gas emissions could be significantly reduced, a new campaign argues. These actions can be as simple as eating local food, forgoing meat at some meals, and wearing clothes to last instead of throwing them away after a few outings. Continue reading...
  
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• From little acorns: into the woods in search of Britain’s ancient oak trees

  10-10-2020 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Seeking out the guardians of Britain’s ancient forests is a magical experience. Here’s where to find them, starting in WiltshireI walk along a deer path barely visible between the bracken. The late-morning sunshine is dappled, leaf-filtered. “There!” says Claire.
  She is my companion for the day. We are tree hunters, seeking out aged oaks in this Eden of ancient woodland. She has just spotted one and leads the way through the fronds. We are in the wild expanses of Wiltshir
  
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• Glass ceilings and black holes: How history was made in the 2020 science Nobels

  10-10-2020 01:04 via bbc.co.uk
  
  What this year's science Nobel Prizes showed us about the darkest mysteries of the Universe.
  
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