Environment news

• Image of tiger hugging tree wins 2020 wildlife photographer award

  13-10-2020 23:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Sergey Gorshkov left a hidden camera in a Russian forest for 11 months to capture the big catAn image of a clearly ecstatic tigress hugging an ancient Manchurian fir tree in a remote Siberian forest has won one of the world’s most prestigious photography prizes.It took Russian photographer Sergey Gorshkov 11 months to capture the moment using hidden cameras. His patience led to him being named 2020 wildlife photographer of the year by the Duchess of Cambridge at a ceremony at London’
  
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• Hidden camera's hugging tiger wins wildlife photo award

  13-10-2020 22:55 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A camera-trap image of an Amur tiger takes the grand prize at Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2020.
  
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• Birdwatch: the curlew sandpiper – a visit from a restless global traveller

  13-10-2020 22:30 via theguardian.com
  
  It was a treat to see this busy bird in Somerset, but then they do venture far from their Siberian breeding groundsOf the thousand-plus waders at the high tide roost, all but a handful were either asleep or standing still, patiently waiting for the waters to recede. But one bird was feeding as if its life depended on it: methodically making its way across the muddy banks of the River Brue, picking up morsels of food with its long, decurved bill.The bird’s frantic activity and elegant appea
  
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• Project Artemis: UK signs up to Nasa's Moon exploration principles

  13-10-2020 18:32 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The UK backs the accords that will guide the American-led return to the Moon this decade.
  
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• Farmers hope Lords will strengthen UK food safety standards

  13-10-2020 18:05 via theguardian.com
  
  Peers will reconsider legislation after amendments were rejected in House of CommonsFarmers and green campaigners are pinning their hopes on the House of Lords to make last-minute changes to the government’s agriculture bill to strengthen safeguards on food safety and animal welfare.Amendments to the bill that would have secured clear legal status for the UK’s existing food and farming standards, which campaigners fear will be at risk in post-Brexit trade deals, were rejected in the
  
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• Airborne radioactivity increases downwind of fracking, study finds

  13-10-2020 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Particles released by drilling could damage the health of nearby residents, say scientistsThe radioactivity of airborne particles increases significantly downwind of fracking sites in the US, a study has found.The Harvard scientists said this could damage the health of people living in nearby communities and that further research was needed to understand how to stop the release of the radioactive elements from under the ground. Continue reading...
  
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• Businesses and green groups call for Government to set out 'negative emissions' policy framework

  13-10-2020 13:20
  
  The National Farmers Union (NFU), Heathrow Airport and the Renewable Energy Association (REA) are amongst the organisations that have formed the Coalition for Negative Emissions, which is this week calling on the UK Government to set an "unambiguous commitment" to carbon capture and negative emissions.
  
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• 'Jet fighter' godwit breaks world record for non-stop bird flight

  13-10-2020 13:12 via theguardian.com
  
  Bar-tailed godwit flies more than 12,000km from Alaska to New Zealand in 11 days
  A bird said to have the aerodynamic build of a “jet fighter” has been tracked flying more than 12,000km (7,500 miles) from Alaska to New Zealand, setting a new world record for avian non-stop flight.The bar-tailed godwit set off from south-west Alaska on 16 September and arrived in a bay near Auckland 11 days later, having flown at speeds of up to 55mph. Continue reading...
  
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• Tesco links £2.5bn loan to key emissions, energy and food waste targets

  13-10-2020 12:31
  
  Tesco has established a £2.5bn revolving credit facility whereby rates and interest are tied to progress against the company's key environmental targets.
  
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• World Energy Outlook: IEA forecasts boom for solar in wake of Covid-19

  13-10-2020 11:39
  
  Even if nations do not bolster their climate targets, renewables will meet 80% of the global growth in electricity demand by 2030, with solar leading the way, according to the International Energy Agency's (IEA) new World Energy Outlook.
  
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• Global investors kickstart 1.5C decarbonisation process for portfolios

  13-10-2020 11:39
  
  Some of the world's largest investors accounting for $5trn in assets under management have agreed to set time-bound decarbonisation targets that will see the organisations work with companies in their portfolios to align to climate action.
  
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• The Arctic is in a death spiral. How much longer will it exist?

  13-10-2020 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The region is unravelling faster than anyone could once have predicted. But there may still be time to act The great thaw: global heating upends life on Arctic permafrost – photo essayAt the end of July, 40% of the 4,000-year-old Milne Ice Shelf, located on the north-western edge of Ellesmere Island, calved into the sea. Canada’s last fully intact ice shelf was no more.On the other side of the island, the most northerly in Canada, the St Patrick’s Bay ice caps completely disapp
  
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• Agriculture Bill: Outrage as bid to protect environmental and food safety standards rejected

  13-10-2020 10:54
  
  Groups and individuals across the green economy have expressed anger and disappointment after an amendment to the Agriculture Bill, designed to require imported food to meet domestic standards, was thrown out by the Government.
  
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• Top asset owners commit to big carbon emissions cuts

  13-10-2020 10:24 via theguardian.com
  
  Group with total portfolio of $5tn seek cuts of 29% from companies they invest in
  Thirty of the world’s largest asset owners, with portfolios worth a combined $5tn (£3.8tn), have committed to cutting the carbon emissions linked to companies they invest in by up to 29% within the next four years.Members of the UN-backed Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance – which includes Aviva, the Church of England and the $400bn US fund CalPERS – will each set decarbonisation targets for 2025
  
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• Bridge over troubled forests: how Java's slow lorises are creeping back

  13-10-2020 09:30 via theguardian.com
  
  A pioneering project uses water pipes suspended in the trees to allow the endangered primates to gather food in safetyPhotographs by Andrew WalmsleyLargely solitary, nocturnal, venomous and pint-sized, slow lorises are strong contenders for the primates that least resemble humans. Which may be why they are among the least studied, least protected and most poorly understood primates, according to Anna Nekaris, professor of primate conservation and biological anthropology at Oxford Brookes Univers
  
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• Climate change: Better warning systems needed for extreme weather - UN

  13-10-2020 09:06 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The UN calls for a rapid rise in investment in early warning systems for extreme weather events.
  
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• The great thaw: global heating upends life on Arctic permafrost – photo essay

  13-10-2020 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Arctic permafrost is melting at an increasing rate, impacting lives and jeopardizing the planet’s future. Photographer Katie Orlinsky has documented this drastic shift in Siberia and Alaska
  Read more of our reporting on the Arctic’s rapid demise Continue reading...
  
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• Households could save £858 a year by cutting food waste, trial suggests

  13-10-2020 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Participants reduced waste by 76% by meal planning, using up leftovers and freezing moreHouseholders reduced their food waste by 76% in a recent trial in which they took steps such as making better use of leftovers and using their freezers more.Two-thirds of the participants said they slashed their weekly food bill by an average of £16.50 per week – equivalent to £858 over a year. The findings from the six-week experiment mean that each of the households could stop more than 76
  
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• Isabella Rossellini: ‘Ageing brings a lot of happiness. You get fatter – but there is freedom’

  13-10-2020 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The actor’s latest project is about the joy of sex, as well as its capacity to exploit, control and kill. She discusses the pleasure of life after being written off by Hollywood and the beauty businessIsabella Rossellini is a busy woman. It is hard to know how the model, actor, writer, animal behaviourist and farmer finds so much time to talk about sex. But she does. In recent years, she has made numerous tiny films about the sex lives of animals under the umbrella titles Green Porno and S
  
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• How maverick rewilders are trying to turn back the tide of extinction

  13-10-2020 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  A handful of radical nature lovers are secretly breeding endangered species and releasing them into the wild. Many are prepared to break the law and risk the fury of the scientific establishment to save the animals they love
  In a beautiful meadow filled with wildflowers and birdsong, a man of late middle age wearing a faded camouflage sun hat knelt beside a clump of clover and prepared to break the law. Martin White removed a carrier bag from his battered rucksack and began quickly opening the l
  
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• Country diary: the kingfisher highway is deserted

  13-10-2020 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Spetisbury, Dorset: As the river at the bottom of our garden swells during heavy rainfall, an otter appears and the kingfishers vanishThe river at the bottom of our garden is like a gigantic rain gauge. Normally it is a humble tributary, lurching past the garden almost grudgingly, with its head down, with barely the current to stir the duckweed. But after the deluges of the past few days, it has morphed into a confident swirl.Two things always happen when it gets into its macho flow. The first i
  
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• From Tesla to Rio Tinto: Investors call on thousands of businesses to set science-based targets

  13-10-2020 02:01
  
  Tesla, Nest, TIU, Roche Holding AG and Rio Tinto are amongst the 1,800 companies that have been urged to set science-based targets by a group of investors and financial institutions representing more than $20trn in assets under management.
  
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• Covid reinfection: Man gets Covid twice and second hit 'more severe'

  13-10-2020 01:35 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The report raises questions about how much immunity can be built up to the virus and how long it may last.
  
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• Covid: Why bats are not to blame, say scientists

  13-10-2020 01:24 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Bats have been scapegoated by humans for centuries, with Covid only the latest example, say scientists.
  
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• Coronavirus: WHO head calls herd immunity approach 'immoral'

  13-10-2020 00:23 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Dr Ghebreyesus said allowing coronavirus to spread unchecked would cause unnecessary suffering and death.
  
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