Environment news

• How a storm-stricken Scottish village was swallowed by sand

  19-10-2020 22:30
  
  Like many ‘natural’ disasters, much of the destruction that engulfed Culbin in 1694 was manmadeAn unlikely feature of the Scottish landscape, a desert of shifting sand, was created by a north-westerly storm of great ferocity that began blowing on 19 October 1694. It took several days for towering dunes to engulf all the fields of Culbin on the banks of the River Findhorn. The sand covered 16 farmhouses, the village and finally the laird’s mansion, by which time the entire popul
  
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• French dairy giant accused of polluting country's famous rivers for years

  19-10-2020 21:15
  
  Investigation alleges Lactalis breached environmental regulations at several plants and released milk derivatives that killed fishFrance’s largest dairy company has repeatedly polluted the country’s rivers over the past decade, according to a new report by French media organisation Disclose.During a year-long investigation into dairy giant Lactalis, Disclose found that 38 of the company’s production sites in France had breached environmental regulations. In many cases, accordin
  
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• Uber pledges £5m toward electric vehicle charging points in London

  19-10-2020 19:28
  
  Firm will install public chargers in poorer boroughs to persuade its drivers to switch to electric carsUber has pledged to invest more than £5m in public electric vehicle charging infrastructure in some of the poorest boroughs in London, to help persuade its reluctant drivers to switch to electric cars.The global ride-hailing firm will announce the investment, which it admits is only a fraction of the money needed, as it seeks to highlight the imbalance across the capital in the installati
  
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• Bottle-fed babies swallow millions of microplastics a day, study finds

  19-10-2020 17:00
  
  Exposure is far higher than previously thought and also affects plastic food containersBottle-fed babies are swallowing millions of microplastic particles a day, according to research described as a “milestone” in the understanding of human exposure to tiny plastics.Scientists found that the recommended high-temperature process for sterilising plastic bottles and preparing formula milk caused bottles to shed millions of microplastics and trillions of even smaller nanoplastics. Contin
  
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• #SustyTalk: Cranswick's Jim Brisby on food waste prevention during Covid-19

  19-10-2020 15:20
  
  edie's #SustyTalk interview series continues with Cranswick's commercial director Jim Brisby discussing how the company was able to exceed its food waste reduction targets - even faced with the challenges of lockdown.
  
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• Report: Green recovery would cut global emissions by 7% and create millions of jobs

  19-10-2020 12:57
  
  If all major nations developed strong plans for a green recovery from Covid-19, global annual emissions would be 7% lower in 2030 than in 2019 and millions of new jobs would be created in sectors including energy, transport and materials.
  
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• Vast majority of Europe's key habitats in poor or bad condition – report

  19-10-2020 12:00
  
  State of Nature in the EU survey finds only a quarter of species have good conservation statusThe vast majority of protected landscapes across Europe are rated as in poor or bad condition and vital species and their habitats continue to decline despite targets aimed at protecting them, according to a report.Only a quarter of Europe’s species are rated as having a good conservation status, while 80% of key habitats are rated as being in poor or bad condition across the continent, in the Sta
  
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• Unilever and UK Government back chemical plastic recycling innovation

  19-10-2020 11:05
  
  A joint project hoping to scale-up chemical recycling for hard-to-recycle plastics waste, involving Unilever and synthetic fuel giant Neste, has received a £3.1m grant from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
  
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• John Lewis Partnership brings net-zero target forward to 2035

  19-10-2020 10:10
  
  Waitrose and John Lewis' parent company has committed to becoming a net-zero business by 2035 - 15 years sooner than originally planned - as part of a sweeping new business strategy.
  
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• Big Oil's answer to melting Arctic: cooling the ground so it can keep drilling

  19-10-2020 09:00
  
  Technology is keeping patches of Alaska permafrost frozen to preserve energy infrastructure even as indigenous residents’ world is transformed by the climate crisisThe oil company ConocoPhillips had a problem. Continue reading...
  
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• Make climate risk reports mandatory for 480 FTSE firms, say investors

  19-10-2020 08:12
  
  Group urges UK regulators to impose measure on premium-listed companiesAn influential group of investors is urging UK regulators to make climate risk reporting mandatory for nearly 500 FTSE-listed firms.The Investment Association (IA), which represents 250 members with £8.5tn in assets, has thrown its weight behind calls for compulsory environmental disclosures, amid concerns that listed companies are not being transparent about how climate risks are influencing the way they invest and spe
  
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• Tree of the week: the beloved tree that could fall victim to its own success

  19-10-2020 08:00
  
  In the water of Llyn Padarn in Snowdonia stands a birch tree that has captured the hearts of many visitors. But should they be swimming out to pose with it?
  Dave Jones first heard about the striking birch that stands in Llyn Padarn, a lake in Snowdonia, from his classmates on a local photography course. As lockdown restrictions eased, he decided to visit the tree to get some shots of it. “Everybody kept going on about it,” he said. “So we went and found it. Sure enough, there w
  
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• Tree of the week: the beloved Scots Pine that could fall victim to its own success

  19-10-2020 08:00
  
  In the water of Llyn Padarn in Snowdonia stands a pine tree that has captured the hearts of many visitors. But should they be swimming out to pose with it?
  Dave Jones first heard about the striking Scots pine that stands in Llyn Padarn, a lake in Snowdonia, from his classmates on a local photography course. As lockdown restrictions eased, he decided to visit the tree to get some shots of it. “Everybody kept going on about it,” he said. “So we went and found it. Sure enough, the
  
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• Tree of the week: the beloved birch that could fall victim to its own success

  19-10-2020 08:00
  
  In the water of Llyn Padarn in Snowdonia stands a birch tree that has captured the hearts of many visitors. But should they be swimming out to pose with it?
  Dave Jones first heard about the striking birch that stands in Llyn Padarn, a lake in Snowdonia, from his classmates on a local photography course. As lockdown restrictions eased, he decided to visit the tree to get some shots of it. “Everybody kept going on about it,” he said. “So we went and found it. Sure enough, there w
  
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• Rising tide: why the crocodile-like gharial is returning to India's rivers

  19-10-2020 07:30
  
  The bulbous-nosed reptiles were in critical decline until conservationists stepped in
  As the sunlight pierces the fog, a fisherman on a boat floating along the Gandak River in Bihar, India, spots a magnificent reptile basking on a sandbar in the middle of the river. Most people would mistake it for a crocodile but its distinctive snout tipped with a bulbous mass and elongated jaw tell him it is a gharial.Gharials (Gavialis gangeticus) are often mistaken for crocodiles or alligators. They are the
  
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• Leaded petrol, acid rain, CFCs: why the green movement can overcome the climate crisis

  19-10-2020 04:00
  
  Guardian environment correspondent Fiona Harvey discusses why the last 50 years of environmental action have shown how civil society can force governments and business to change and why that should give campaigners optimism for the future Faced with multiplying and interlinked environmental crises in the 2020s – the climate emergency, the sixth extinction stalking the natural world, the plastic scourge in our oceans – it is easy to feel overwhelmed, Guardian environment correspondent
  
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• Could cold water hold a clue to a dementia cure?

  19-10-2020 02:13 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Swimmers at a London lido aid understanding of what cold does to the body.
  
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• Fighting food waste and engaging one billion people on climate change: The sustainability success stories of the week

  19-10-2020 00:29
  
  As part of our Mission Possible campaign, edie brings you this weekly round-up of five of the best sustainability success stories of the week from across the globe.
  
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