Environment news

• Weatherwatch: rural areas feel the heat from urbanisation

  27-11-2020 22:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Impact of replacing vegetation with asphalt extends far beyond city boundaries, study revealsMore concrete equals more heat. We’ve heard about the urban heat island effect, where replacing vegetation with asphalt leads to greater localised warming, but what impact do urban heat islands have on the countryside around them? A new study, published in Environmental Research Letters, shows that the warming impact of urbanisation extends far beyond the city boundaries.In Great Britain 5.8% of la
  
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• The Frant: Australia still doesn't have a real climate policy. Why are we like this? – video

  27-11-2020 20:00 via theguardian.com
  
  More than 70 countries have signed up to net-zero emissions by 2050. But not us! In the latest episode of The Frant for Guardian Australia, Jan Fran explains how we're still playing politics with climate change Continue reading...
  
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• Invasive quagga mussel found at Rutland Water and River Trent

  27-11-2020 16:56 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Non-native quagga mussels, which can block pipes, have been discovered in the East Midlands.
  
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• Escaped infected Danish mink could spread Covid in wild

  27-11-2020 14:33 via theguardian.com
  
  Scientists fear fur farm animals in wild could create ‘lasting’ Covid reservoir that could then spread back to humansEscaped mink carrying the virus that causes Covid-19 could potentially infect Denmark’s wild animals, raising fears of a permanent Sars-CoV-2 reservoir from which new virus variants could be reintroduced to humans.Denmark, the world’s largest exporter of mink fur, announced in early November that it would cull the country’s farmed mink after discoveri
  
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• Shopping on Black Friday? Remember the stranded seafarers who make it possible | Nusrat Ghani and Guy Platten

  27-11-2020 14:23 via theguardian.com
  
  With nearly 400,000 crew members trapped at sea by Covid restrictions, it’s time for retailers like Amazon to help press for key worker statusCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThis weekend is one of the planet’s busiest shopping sprees, with an estimated £66bn to be spent in the UK alone over Black Friday and Cyber Monday, much of it online. Yet as shoppers click and wait to collect, there is a crisis at sea among the people whose work brings us
  
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• AI 'doctor's assistant' among projects given £20m

  27-11-2020 12:03 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The UK government awards £20m to 15 artificial intelligence research projects.
  
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• Climate ‘apocalypse’ fears stopping people having children – study

  27-11-2020 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Survey of 600 people finds some parents regret having offspring for same reason
  People worried about the climate crisis are deciding not to have children because of fears that their offspring would have to struggle through a climate apocalypse, according to the first academic study of the issue.The researchers surveyed 600 people aged 27 to 45 who were already factoring climate concerns into their reproductive choices and found 96% were very or extremely concerned about the wellbeing of their po
  
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• World's largest offshore windfarm reaches £6bn financial close

  27-11-2020 11:56
  
  Financial close has been confirmed on two phases of the world's largest offshore windfarm, Dogger Bank, with capital expenditure reaching around £6bn, which is the largest offshore wind project financing globally.
  
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• Renewable or 'low-carbon'? EU countries face off over hydrogen

  27-11-2020 11:37
  
  EU member states are fighting over which type of hydrogen to support, with two opposing camps facing off: those backing green hydrogen produced exclusively from renewable electricity, and those in favour of a broader "low-carbon" definition, which also includes nuclear power and decarbonised gases.
  
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• Sustainability leaders craft 10-point plan to revamp corporate purpose

  27-11-2020 10:46
  
  Businesses in the vanguard of sustainability, including Unilever, Interface, Ikea and DSM, have come together to craft a new set of recommendations as to how the wider corporate community can embed a purpose aimed at tackling the climate crisis and social inequalities across the business.
  
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• Net-Zero Navigators Podcast: Meet Iberostar's Dr Megan Morikawa

  27-11-2020 10:11
  
  To mark Net-Zero November, edie is publishing a mini series of podcasts interviewing the trendsetters and trailblazers in the net-zero movement. Up next: Iberostar's head of sustainability Dr Megan Morikawa.
  
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• Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid vaccine 'dose error' explained

  27-11-2020 10:05 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Some trial volunteers were given shots half the planned strength, so how does that affect the results?
  
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• Lost species day: celebrities to champion threatened wildlife

  27-11-2020 09:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Amitav Ghosh, Margaret Atwood and Emma Thompson are among 20 activists and cultural figures to speak at Writers Rebel eventWriters and activists including Emma Thompson, Margaret Atwood and Amitav Ghosh are to speak about their favourite endangered animals as part of a remembrance day for lost species.The snow leopard, pangolin and vaquita porpoise are among the endangered animals that will be championed by participants at the free online event, On the Brink, organised by Writers Rebel, which is
  
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• Report: Can the retail sector deliver a green recovery?

  27-11-2020 08:27
  
  edie has published a new report detailing how retailers can build back better from the coronavirus pandemic by aligning long-term strategies with the need to combat the climate crisis, foster new innovations and ultimately spur a green recovery.
  
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• UK’s nuclear sites costing taxpayers ‘astronomical sums’, say MPs

  27-11-2020 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Public accounts committee says ignorance, incompetence and weak oversight to blameThe Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has a perpetual lack of knowledge about the state and location of waste on the 17 sites it is responsible for making safe, a powerful committee of MPs has found.This results from decades of poor record keeping and weak government oversight, the MPs said. Combined with a “sorry saga” of incompetence and failure, this has left taxpayers footing the bill for &ldq
  
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• The British Ecological Society photography competition – in pictures

  27-11-2020 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The winning images of the 2020 British Ecological Society photography competition, taken by international ecologists and students, celebrate the diversity of the planet’s flora and fauna Continue reading...
  
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• Romania accused of 'silence' over ship that capsized killing 14,000 sheep

  27-11-2020 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  An investigation into the Queen Hind sinking a year ago is yet to be published and the live export trade continues to boomRomania has been accused of “complete silence” over its investigation into the sinking of the Queen Hind last November, which resulted in the deaths of more than 14,000 sheep.
  Rescuers who rushed to the sinking Queen Hind vessel, which left Romania’s Black Sea port of Midia a year ago, managed to save just 228 sheep out of a total 14,600, but only 180 ultima
  
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• Rein in advertising to help tackle climate crisis, report urges

  27-11-2020 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Industry promotes materialism and lifts sales of climate-harming products, study saysAdvertising needs to be controlled and changed to reduce its impact on the climate, according to a report released as consumers prepare to spend billions on Black Friday.The report by the New Weather Institute thinktank and the charity We are Possible examines how advertising indirectly contributes to climate change and the ecological emergency. Continue reading...
  
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• Thailand: Rare whale skeleton discovered

  27-11-2020 06:51 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Archaeologists believe the bones are as old as 5,000 years and remarkably well preserved.
  
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• Country diary: cabin fever on the moors

  27-11-2020 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Oyster Clough, Derbyshire: A decade ago, I wouldn’t have mentioned it in print, but now the number of visitors has soaredThe true start of winter is often debated, but none of the definitions I know include mid-November. That didn’t stop a razor-edged northerly blowing off the moors from knifing me in the ribs. I stopped to put on my spare jacket, but it seemed hopelessly unequal to the job. “Is that all you brought?” my companion asked. Luckily for me, by the time we eme
  
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