Environment news

• Tiny air pollution rise linked to 11% more Covid-19 deaths – study

  04-11-2020 19:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Evidence is now strong enough that preventive action should be taken, scientists sayCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageA small rise in people’s long-term exposure to air pollution is associated with an 11% increase in deaths from Covid-19, research has found. Another recent study suggests that 15% of all Covid-19 deaths around the world are attributable to dirty air.The available data only allows correlations to be established and further work is needed to co
  
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• Denmark announces cull of 15 million mink over Covid mutation fears

  04-11-2020 18:49 via theguardian.com
  
  Mutated virus infects 12 humans, sparking concerns that effectiveness of future vaccine could be affectedCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe world’s largest mink producer, Denmark, says it plans to cull more than 15 million of the animals, due to fears that a Covid-19 mutation moving from mink to humans could jeopardise future vaccines.At a press conference on Wednesday, the Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, said 12 people are already infected with
  
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• Enigmatic fast radio burst pinned on magnetised dead star

  04-11-2020 17:04 via bbc.co.uk
  
  For the first time, astronomers have managed to trace a so-called fast radio burst to a specific source.
  
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• Leaked report shows Scotland missed target for marine wildlife protection

  04-11-2020 15:29 via theguardian.com
  
  Government document reveals decline in seabed habitats with protected status due to the climate crisis and overfishingThe Scottish government has failed to meet its target for preventing damage to important marine life, according to a leaked report by scientists from Scotland’s nature agency that shows losses of vital underwater habitats.The draft report, seen by the Guardian, found that seabed habitats awarded “priority” status by the government to protect them have shrunk in
  
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• Spore's the pity: how Fantastic Fungi flags up man's abuse of nature

  04-11-2020 13:33 via theguardian.com
  
  The team behind a new documentary full of incredible footage of the secret life of mushrooms explain how fungi could help us stave off future pandemicsWatching the anemone stinkhorn sprout from the soil is a wondrous – and terrifying – thing. Emerging from a pod that looks like a truffle, the mushroom unfurls half a dozen arms, all a throbbing scarlet, like a collection of tongues. Each of these is forked and, across their stems, a series of black sticky lumps pop up like rotting bar
  
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• BEIS announces £183m funding round for electric vehicles and cleantech start-ups

  04-11-2020 13:04
  
  The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has allocated new multi-million-pound funding pots to cleantech innovators, including companies developing AI for wind turbines and high-power batteries for electric cars.
  
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• BEIS announces £183 funding round for electric vehicles and cleantech start-ups

  04-11-2020 13:04
  
  The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has allocated new multi-million-pound funding pots to cleantech innovators, including companies developing AI for wind turbines and high-power batteries for electric cars.
  
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• First polar bear born in UK in 25 years moved from Scotland to Yorkshire

  04-11-2020 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Hamish leaves his mother in the Highlands to start new life with other males in reserveAs parts of northern England were covered in frost, Hamish – the first polar bear to be born in the UK in 25 years – embarked on a 400-mile journey to his new home.The cub, who has shared an enclosure with his mother, Victoria, in the Scottish Highlands for the past two and a half years, was transported to Yorkshire on Wednesday. Continue reading...
  
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• BT powered by 100% renewable electricity globally

  04-11-2020 12:41
  
  BT has confirmed that all of its offices and shops globally are powered by 100% renewable electricity, as the technology giant builds towards its net-zero target.
  
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• Oatly slashes emissions with all-electric truck fleet

  04-11-2020 11:42
  
  Vegan food brand Oatly has reduced transport-related emissions across key delivery routes in Sweden by almost 90%, after switching to an all-electric fleet of trucks provided by technology company Einride.
  
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• Emissions from energy sector likely to rebound from Covid-19, Capgemini warns

  04-11-2020 10:57
  
  Emissions from the global energy sector will be 7-8% lower in 2020 than in 2019, but most nations are still failing to align their energy generation and consumption patterns with long-term climate targets, Capgemini is warning.
  
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• Climate change: US formally withdraws from Paris agreement

  04-11-2020 09:39 via bbc.co.uk
  
  After a three year wait, the US becomes the first nation to leave the Paris climate pact.
  
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• UK health professions call for climate tax on meat

  04-11-2020 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Food with heavy environmental impact should be taxed by 2025 unless food industry acts voluntarily, says allianceA powerful coalition of the UK’s health professions has called for a climate tax to be imposed on food with a heavy environmental impact by 2025, unless the industry takes voluntary action on the impact of their products.The group says the climate crisis cannot be solved without action to cut the consumption of food that causes high emissions, such as red meat and dairy products
  
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• Country diary: abiding beauty amid the bareness

  04-11-2020 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Hamsterley Forest, County Durham: It’s tempting to think of evolutionary success stories as inexorable advances in complexity, driven by competition. But what about resilience?A dense conifer plantation beside this steep road into the forest, which hid a magnificent vista across the valley for half a human lifetime, has been felled. The bare hillside will be reforested but, before the next timber crop blocks the view again, the decaying stumps of its predecessor will become a niche for pla
  
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• Wombat's deadly bums: how they use their 'skull-crushing' rumps to fight, play and flirt

  04-11-2020 04:35 via theguardian.com
  
  Research offers insights into marsupial’s rearguard defences and ‘brutal’ mating rituals Australia is known for its strange and deadly wildlife, with plenty of attention given to venomous snakes and bird-eating spiders. But it seems one terrifying aspect of outback fauna has been thoroughly ignored: the wombat’s deadly bum.The rump of the wombat is hard as rock, used for defence, burrowing, bonding, mating and possibly violently crushing the skulls of its enemies against
  
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• A68 iceberg on collision path with South Georgia

  04-11-2020 01:10 via bbc.co.uk
  
  If the world's biggest iceberg grounds at South Georgia island, it could devastate local wildlife.
  
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• The Somali man who has a scorpion named after him

  04-11-2020 01:04 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Somali environmentalist Ahmed Ibrahim Awale hopes it will inspire African researchers.
  
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