Environment news

• 'An alarmingly familiar picture': UK on course to miss most biodiversity targets

  15-10-2020 19:56 via theguardian.com
  
  Out of 24 indicators of ecological health, 14 show long-term decline, according to new reportThe UK is failing on its long-term biodiversity targets and seeing “relentless” declines in wildlife, according to government data that shows public sector investment in conservation falling in real terms by 33% in five years.Out of 24 biodiversity indicators, 14 showed long-term decline, including continued deterioration of UK habitats and species of European importance, as well as a decline
  
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• Boy, 12, discovers rare dinosaur skeleton

  15-10-2020 18:00 via bbc.co.uk
  
  He was hiking with his father in Alberta, Canada, when he stumbled upon the Hadrosaur remains.
  
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• Conservation: Bridge of hope for world's rarest primate

  15-10-2020 17:00 via bbc.co.uk
  
  An artificial rope bridge across a divided forest could help save the ape, a type of gibbon, from extinction.
  
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• It's a shoe-in: Adidas unveils recyclable trainers as UGG reveals new climate and materials commitments

  15-10-2020 16:02
  
  Adidas has started fresh pilots for a recyclable mono-material shoe made using recycled plastic, in the same week that UGG launched new social and environmental sustainability commitments.
  
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• Rio F1 racetrack plans add fuel to Brazil deforestation row

  15-10-2020 15:07 via theguardian.com
  
  Most of city’s last flatland area along with 180,000 trees would be destroyed if project goes aheadLocals say anteaters, caimans, capybaras, and a 4-metre jibóia snake have all been seen near Rio de Janeiro’s Camboatá Forest recently. The 200-hectare (494-acre) forest is an island of wildlife in a city of 6.7 million people, home to 21 endangered species including black-backed tanager birds and the cloud-fish, a tiny orange creature whose eggs survive in dried-out water
  
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• Unlocking the secrets of 'six-headed chief' burial

  15-10-2020 14:25 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Archaeologists have used DNA analysis to help explain who was buried in the ancient Highlands grave.
  
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• Governments urged to reform food systems as part of Covid-19 green recovery efforts

  15-10-2020 13:44
  
  World leaders "know" they must help reform food systems to protect the environment and improve public health and should use their Covid-19 recovery plans to raise ambitions and accelerate action in this area.
  
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• UK Export Finance could support 42,000 green jobs by reallocating funds from oil and gas

  15-10-2020 13:11
  
  The UK Government's direct lending facility could support more than 40,000 jobs in the renewables sector annually by 2035, if it were to assume liabilities for renewable exports like it currently does for oil and gas, new research has found.
  
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• UK supermarket salad suppliers investigated over pesticides in rivers

  15-10-2020 12:59 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: Environment Agency takes action against one site and looks into more than 50 othersThe UK environment watchdog is examining whether more than 50 sites that supply salad and vegetables to supermarkets and other businesses are discharging chemical pollution into rivers and streams.The action follows revelations that a salad producer supplying retailers including Waitrose was washing pesticides into a protected chalk stream in Hampshire. Continue reading...
  
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• Electrolux debuts vacuum cleaner made from 100% recycled plastics

  15-10-2020 12:28
  
  Electrolux has unveiled the first product range as part of a new "circular initiative" with Stena Recycling, a new vacuum cleaner made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastics and reused materials.
  
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• Stuck at home, I discovered the joy of identifying trees

  15-10-2020 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  My mother never quite got round to learning the names of the trees she loved. I’m trying to fulfil the commitment she could never keepEvery few years my mother would buy a different version of the same book, only to abandon it after several weeks: How to Identify the Trees of Northeastern America. With the regularity of a trans-hemispheric weather cycle she’d come home, drop what appeared to be a travel brochure to the Republic of Trees on the table, and proclaim: “This time I&
  
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• Superconductors: Material raises hope of energy revolution

  15-10-2020 11:47 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists find a material that displays a much sought-after property at room temperature.
  
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• Electrolux debuts vacuum clean made from 100% recycled plastics

  15-10-2020 11:38
  
  Electrolux has unveiled the first product range as part of a new "circular initiative" with Stena Recycling, a new vacuum cleaner made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastics and reused materials.
  
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• Morrisons, Waitrose and John Lewis remove glitter from Christmas items

  15-10-2020 10:49
  
  Three retailers, Morrisons, Waitrose and John Lewis, have met commitments to phase-out glitter from Christmas products due to the damage the microplastics can cause to the natural environment.
  
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• UK brands act to cut catch of 'near-threatened' yellowfin tuna

  15-10-2020 10:18 via theguardian.com
  
  Voluntary action of companies including Tesco and Princes aims to put pressure on regulatory body to tackle overfishingBritish supermarkets and brands, including Tesco, the Co-op and Princes, are stepping up action to cut yellowfin tuna catches in the Indian Ocean, amid warnings the stock is in a “critical” state.The effort, by companies reliant on healthy fish stocks, represents a counterintuitive effort to force regulators to act, rather than the other way around. Continue reading.
  
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• Alleged animal abuse in US dairy sector under investigation

  15-10-2020 10:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Claims of violent treatment and cows being passed off as organic have been presented to the Department of AgricultureEvidence of what appears to be aggressive animal abuse, practices leading to heightened disease risk and cows being passed off as organic at a Texan auctioneers has been presented to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) by undercover welfare investigators. A second, separate abuse investigation at a dairy farm is on its way to court in California.The allegations come at a time
  
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• 'Solastalgia': Arctic inhabitants overwhelmed by new form of climate grief

  15-10-2020 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Solastalgia means a feeling of homesickness without ever leaving home - and for Inuit in Canada’s north it describes the psychological impact of the climate crisisWith snow just beginning to dust the hills surrounding the city of Iqaluit, the hunters scramble off in boats. They’re hunting Canada geese, as they have always done, only now using rifles and motorboats instead of the spears and kayaks of their ancestors.Across Baffin Island, Inuit are harvesting before autumn begins to tr
  
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• I've been forced to become a hoarder – by an acute case of landfill panic | Adrian Chiles

  15-10-2020 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  I am haunted by the thought of our children, and their children, living in and around towering mountains of rubbish. If I can’t give it away or be sure it’s recycled, then I must hold on to it
  I have never bought much from Ikea, which is a shame as, if I had, it turns out, I could now take it back, and even get vouchers in return. I yearn to be able to get rid of things without worrying about them having to go into a hole in the ground. I have a chronic case of landfill fear. If I th
  
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• Country diary: the orchard is fragrant with fallen fruit

  15-10-2020 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  St Dominic, Tamar valley: The best keepers among the apple varieties have been carefully gathered and stored in the mouse-proofed shedThe steep way up to James and my sister Mary’s documented orchard of local varieties is littered with shoals of trampled apples – too small to have been much temptation for the youngsters who dared to scrump in our grandparents’ day. Clusters of berries cover a 50ft holly beside an outgrown Norway spruce, while hazels in the sheltering hedge bank
  
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• Idris Elba: We can all help solve climate change

  15-10-2020 04:38 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Idris Elba and his wife Sabrina tell BBC podcast there is "hope" for beating climate change.
  
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• Net-zero must be embedded in school curriculums, Aldersgate Group urges

  15-10-2020 02:01
  
  The Aldersgate Group has warned that a skills deficit is hampering the growth of the UK's low-carbon economies and called for environmental sustainability to be embedded in national school curriculums and higher and further education offerings.
  
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• I Am Greta: The coming of age movie wrapped up in a super-hero flick

  15-10-2020 01:01 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A documentary about the teenage climate change activist is compelling because it's so unlikely.
  
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• Glitter litter 'could be damaging rivers'

  15-10-2020 00:35 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Glitter contains microplastics, which can get into rivers and seas, taking years to degrade.
  
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