Environment news

• John Howard 2000 cabinet papers: climate wars and the conservative re-engineering of Australia

  31-12-2020 20:43
  
  Newly released documents reveal a government preoccupied with GST, carbon emissions and returning the country to the prime minister’s idealJohn Howard had come to office as prime minister in 1996 promising that by 2000 he would return Australia to being “comfortable and relaxed” about its history, the present and its future.The 2000 cabinet papers, released by the National Archives of Australia on Friday, reveal that he was well advanced in his mission to turn Australia into th
  
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• How should I treat insect bites? Do home remedies work? | Cameron Webb

  31-12-2020 17:30
  
  There is surprisingly little formal research into how best to deal with bug bites and stings but there are some things that might helpIt’s the holidays and we’re spending more time outdoors. This means we’re exposed to the more annoying and painful aspects of summer – insect bites and stings.There are plenty of products at the local pharmacy to treat these. Some treat the initial bite or sting, others the itchy aftermath. Continue reading...
  
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• Butterflies, bushfires and bears: Age of Extinction's year in photography

  31-12-2020 16:00
  
  In a year like no other, our photographers – and readers – captured images reflecting the beauty and diversity that could all too easily be lost in our fragile world Read more in our series Biodiversity: what happened next? Continue reading...
  
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• Is the UK about to have liftoff in the global space industry?

  31-12-2020 15:51
  
  With plans for satellite launches and investment in space-based solar, can the UK become a space super power?In 1969, a British engineer was invited to the White House to meet President Nixon. His name was Francis Thomas Bacon and he had developed the fuel cells used on Apollo 11. Known now as Bacon fuel cells, these power sources consume hydrogen and oxygen to produce water, heat and, in theory, a continuous supply of electricity.His invention was considered so integral to the success of the Ap
  
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• Calls from the deep: do we need to Save the Whales all over again?

  31-12-2020 14:40
  
  Fifty years ago, a hit album proved whales “sing” – and led to one of the great environmental success stories. But soon it could all be for nothingIn June 1975, a small group of activists set off from the coast of California in an 85ft boat. They were headed for the Dalniy Vostok factory ship, which was at sea conducting business as usual: harpooning sperm whales.The activists were members of Greenpeace, an organisation that had only recently been founded, in Vancouver in 1971,
  
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• 'It's awakened me': UK climate assembly participants hail a life-changing event

  31-12-2020 10:35
  
  From buying an electric car to starting a secondhand clothes business, attendees talk of the unexpected delights of the first UK citizens’ assemblyAt the start of 2020, Sue Peachey could never have predicted how her life would change over the next 12 months. She was one of 108 people to take part in the UK’s first climate assembly earlier in the year, spending four weekends learning about a range of environmental issues before producing a final report of recommendations.“The fi
  
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• Amid 2020's gloom, there are reasons to be hopeful about the climate in 2021 | John Sauven

  31-12-2020 10:00
  
  The concerted global response to the pandemic could be replicated for the fight against the climate crisisIn a world rife with disputes and divisions, there will be one emotion likely to unite most people at the stroke of midnight on 31 December: sheer relief that 2020 is finally over.There’s no risk of overstating it: this past year has pushed our world right to the edge. A single virus leaping from animals to humans was enough to kill 1.6 million people, bring major economies to their kn
  
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• One photograph a day, whatever the weather – in pictures

  31-12-2020 08:00
  
  Blipfoto members, or ‘blippers’, record a single photo from their day. Between them they have built up a fascinating archive of dramatic weather images taken during the daily recording of their lives.
  Here we look back at a selection of photos and snippets of day-to-day reflections from some of their 2020 journals. The gallery was put together at Blipfoto by Rebecca Cole and Richard Hunt-Smith Continue reading...
  
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• Country diary: defiant flowers raise a stink on woodland floor

  31-12-2020 06:30
  
  Wenlock Edge, Shropshire: Clusters of stinking hellebore are attracting a flurry of aphids and small flies – a reminder of the microcosms that make a wood At the far end of the quarry, workers in spindleberry hi-vis use a pile-driving rig to hammer a yellow-headed nail into the ground, then conceal it under a traffic cone. The surrounding woods mind their own business. Trees turn inwards from what sunlight is left, but other greens are alive on the woodland floor and strange flowers mind s
  
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• How Covid has plunged Asia's captive elephants into fresh crisis

  31-12-2020 04:00
  
  Stripped of tourism money, keepers in India and Thailand are struggling to keep their elephants alive Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageIt has been a tough year for many, and for the elephants at Elefanjoy sanctuary in Jaipur, India, it has been no exception. As the pandemic hit in March, the country imposed a strict nationwide lockdown, and the sanctuary’s dozens of elephants could no longer take their 30-mile daily walks, vital for stretching their legs an
  
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• Partying dolphins and rare sea slug among 2020 highlights in UK seas

  31-12-2020 01:01
  
  The Wildlife Trusts and Sir David Attenborough call on public to help protect marine lifeSir David Attenborough has called for a halt to activities that damage the UK’s seas, as the Wildlife Trusts revealed the highs and lows of marine life around the British Isles during 2020.Highlights included thousands of Atlantic bluefin tuna in a rare run up the Channel from Cornwall to Kent, at some points accompanied by porpoises, minke whale and dolphins in a feeding frenzy, the trusts’ livi
  
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• Lookahead 2021: What's happening in the world of science?

  31-12-2020 01:00 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The BBC's global science correspondent Rebecca Morelle looks at what's coming up in the next year.
  
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