Environment news

• 'We have to change Queensland': the environmental issues at stake in the election

  17-10-2020 21:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Can Queensland break away from fossil fuel extraction and develop jobs and growth in a way that protects the state’s landscapes and ocean wonders?When David Springett executed a perfect underwater marriage proposal to his girlfriend three years ago, her response in the affirmative gave him another reason to love the Great Barrier Reef.Springett, 45, from Cairns, sells diving gear to shops and training centres the length of the Queensland coast. He talks to lots of tourists and tourism oper
  
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• Meet the bee brokers: 'You never stop learning about bees, they're just incredible'

  17-10-2020 21:00 via theguardian.com
  
  While Covid confines humans to their homes, insects are chauffeured around the country in Australia’s largest livestock movement It’s 5am on a frigid August morning and Trevor Monson is at the wheel of his 16-wheeler truck on the road out of the Riverina town of Griffith, New South Wales. It’s still pitch black, his headlights searching down long kilometres of straight roads.Trevor and his son Jonathan have been on the road since 11pm the night before, when they set off from th
  
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• Sorry, but bangers and burgers belong to vegans and vegetarians too | Barbara Ellen

  17-10-2020 19:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The EU should thwart the meat industry trying to ban certain labels on veggie productsThe meat lobby may be powerful, but is it entitled to cultural ownership of the burger? The European parliament is to vote on whether to ban terms such as veggie burger and veggie sausage, as well as “cheese-like” and “yoghurt-style” for plant-based alternatives to dairy products. The meat industry complains of “cultural hijacking” by vegetarian/vegan products leading to cons
  
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• Why there is hope that the world's coral reefs can be saved

  17-10-2020 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  From coral farming to 3D printing, scientists are using novel methods to save a vital part of our ecosystemFor most of us, the colourful, otherworldly marinescapes of coral reefs are as remote as the alien landscapes of the moon. We rarely, if ever, experience these underwater wonderlands for ourselves – we are, after all, air-breathing, terrestrial creatures mostly cocooned in cities. It is easy, therefore, not to notice the perilous state they’re in: we’ve lost 50% of coral r
  
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• Prickly business: the hedgehog highway that knits a village together

  17-10-2020 09:30 via theguardian.com
  
  With their miniature ramps, stairs and holes cut into fences and stone walls, the gardens of Kirtlington in Oxfordshire are a haven for wildlifeHedgehogs are lactose intolerant. This was the first lesson from my village safari around Kirtlington in Oxfordshire, home to the UK’s longest volunteer-run hedgehog highway. “Leaving out bread and milk is the worst thing you can do,” says resident Chris Powles, who created the highway. It passes through 60 properties in the village, al
  
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• The tardigrade in the ice hole: how extreme life finds a way in the Arctic

  17-10-2020 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Tiny organisms nicknamed water bears offer clues about possible alien life but the changing climate means their habitat faces an uncertain futureAs we make our way across Greenland’s ice sheets, I look around. We’re surrounded by numerous tiny black holes, some only a few centimeters in diameter, others up to 4-8in (10-20cm) wide. As we advance, we notice that more and more holes are magically appearing, and their edges are increasingly distinct. They’re called cryoconite holes
  
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• Rowan Williams urges UK universities to divest from fossil fuels

  17-10-2020 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Former archbishop says oil firm holdings not compatible with duty to next generationThe former archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has called on UK universities to follow the example of Cambridge and end their multimillion-pound investments in fossil fuels.Williams, the master of Magdalene college, Cambridge, said all universities had a duty to their students to create a “safer world”, and investing tens of millions of pounds in fossil fuel corporations was incompatible with this
  
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• Household recycling surge raises costs for councils in England

  17-10-2020 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  A third of councils have collected up to 50% more recycling since coronavirus lockdownThe amount of household recycling collected has nearly doubled in some areas during the pandemic, pushing up the costs of keeping services running, local councils have said.Eight in 10 English councils reported a rise in the volume of paper, cardboard, plastic and glass being collected since the national lockdown began, according to data from the Local Government Association (LGA). Continue reading...
  
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• Country diary: wildfowlers threaten marsh and its wildlife

  17-10-2020 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Tywyn, Gwynedd: Farmers and landowners are fighting to protect this river idyll Geographers know about the Afon Dysynni. A classic example of river capture, it’s the outflow from lovely Llyn Mwyngil. It heads south-west along the shortest route to the sea, suddenly breaks north into Dyffryn Dysynni, absorbs the Cader into its flow and, thus augmented, turns south-west again along a wide strath below Craig yr Aderyn (where cormorants nest inland, three miles from the sea). Finally it reache
  
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• Survey: One in five British investors turning to impact investment amid Covid-19

  17-10-2020 02:01
  
  More than one-fifth (22%) of UK-based investors are planning to invest in dedicated ethical funds in the near future, with the proportion rising to more than one-third (35%) among those aged 35 and under.
  
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• Ammonite: Who was the real Mary Anning?

  17-10-2020 01:23 via bbc.co.uk
  
  In a romantic Victorian-era drama, Kate Winslet plays the role of fossilist Mary Anning. Who was she?
  
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