Environment news

• Aberdeen physicist behind first full-body MRI scanner dies

  26-02-2021 21:10 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Prof John Mallard, formerly of Aberdeen University, was known for his pioneering work in medical imaging.
  
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• Changes in Atlantic currents may have dire climate implications for the next century | Andrew Meijers

  26-02-2021 17:51 via theguardian.com
  
  Without modifying human behaviour we run the risk of violent weather swings and a drastic effect on crops and ocean lifeThe ocean circulation that keeps our relatively northern corner of Europe warm(ish) is often likened to a gigantic conveyor belt bringing warm equatorial water northwards at the surface, balanced by cold southward flow at great depth. The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC for short, brings heat energy northward at the equivalent rate of 10 Hiroshima bombs eve
  
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• CO2 emissions: nations' pledges 'far away' from Paris target, says UN

  26-02-2021 17:22 via theguardian.com
  
  Secretary general António Guterres says first assessment of promises amounts to ‘red alert for our planet’The first assessment of countries’ pledges to cut their greenhouse gas emissions in the next decade, a vital component of the Paris climate agreement, has found they are only a fraction of the effort needed to avoid climate breakdown.If all of the national pledges submitted so far were fulfilled, global emissions would be reduced by only 1% by 2030, compared with 201
  
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• Brunt Ice Shelf: Big iceberg calves near UK Antarctic base

  26-02-2021 15:22 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The berg covers 1,270 sq km - nearly 490 square miles - but its break-off was expected.
  
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• Anti-HS2 tunnel protest at Euston ends as final activist leaves

  26-02-2021 15:17 via theguardian.com
  
  Subterranean protest against high-speed rail line lasted 31 days in tunnel near London stationThe anti-HS2 tunnel protest close to Euston station in central London has finally ended after the ninth climate activist emerged from underground.The subterranean environmental protest has lasted for 31 days, one of the longest in UK protest history, although not quite breaking the record of the 40-day tunnel protest in Essex in 2000. Continue reading...
  
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• Borealis to cut emissions at Finnish facility through £15m energy efficiency upgrade

  26-02-2021 15:16
  
  Chemicals giant Borealis has unveiled a new 17.6m (£15.1m) investment into regenerative thermal technology that will reduce facility emissions from heating while also saving around 60GWh of energy annually.
  
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• Borealis cuts emissions at Finnish facility through £15m energy efficiency upgrade

  26-02-2021 15:16
  
  Chemicals giant Borealis has unveiled a new 17.6m (£15.1m) investment into regenerative thermal technology that will reduce facility emissions from heating while also saving around 60GWh of energy annually.
  
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• The Net Zero Business Podcast: Inside Ella's Kitchen's climate action plans

  26-02-2021 14:44
  
  In response to the accelerated pace at which businesses are examining and setting net-zero targets to help alleviate the climate crisis, edie has launched a spin-off of the Sustainable Business Covered podcast. Up next, we speak to Ella's Kitchen chief executive Mark Cuddigan.
  
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• Climate change: Carbon emission promises 'put Earth on red alert'

  26-02-2021 14:22 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Nations' current carbon-cutting plans will not keep global temperature rise below 1.5C, the UN says.
  
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• UN: Global climate pledges will only reduce emissions by 1% this decade

  26-02-2021 13:59
  
  The world is falling "far short" of alignment with the Paris Agreement, despite the fact that many nations have updated their climate targets.
  
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• The Republicans criticizing Haaland's nomination – and their ties to fossil fuels

  26-02-2021 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The congresswoman has faced hostile questioning from senators during her confirmation for interior secretary. Some of them are personally invested in fossil fuelsRepublicans appear eager to derail the cabinet nomination of Deb Haaland, a Native American congresswoman who wants to conserve federal lands and slow climate change as secretary of the interior to Joe Biden. Continue reading...
  
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• Republicans criticizing Haaland's nomination have ties to fossil fuels

  26-02-2021 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The congresswoman has faced hostile questioning from senators during her confirmation for interior secretary. Some of them are personally invested in fossil fuelsRepublicans appear eager to derail the cabinet nomination of Deb Haaland, a Native American congresswoman who wants to conserve federal lands and slow climate change as secretary of the interior to Joe Biden. Continue reading...
  
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• Government urged to block Leeds Bradford Airport expansion on climate grounds

  26-02-2021 12:15
  
  Environmental groups are urging the UK Government to halt a proposed expansion of Leeds Bradford Airport, on the grounds that it is incompatible with the 2050 net-zero target.
  
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• Creature comfort: why TV nature shows are good for mental health

  26-02-2021 11:30 via theguardian.com
  
  From Planet Earth to Springwatch and beyond, programmes about animals in the natural world can soothe the nervous system and raise the spiritsFew of us would anticipate feeling an emotional connection with a swarm of ants. But in episode three of A Perfect Planet, when a colony of fire ants build a raft using their bodies to survive flooding in the Amazon, only the concrete-hearted would fail to be moved by their resilience. As the raft sailed across the water, I sobbed.Emotion is often close to
  
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• BlackRock Investment Institute: Tackling climate change will provide a financial boost, not a net cost

  26-02-2021 11:28
  
  BlackRock's insights arm is forecasting that the net-zero transition could create a cumulative output gain of almost 25% by 2040, if delivered in an "orderly" fashion.
  
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• If the UK government won't stop industrial fishing from destroying our oceans, activists will | Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

  26-02-2021 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  By dropping boulders on the bottom of the seabed, Greenpeace is preventing trawlers from ploughing up vital habitatOur oceans are in crisis. I saw it for myself while I was making my television series Hugh’s Fish Fight for Channel 4 over a decade ago. I saw the most destructive fishing practices first-hand, as I dived over the sea floor within minutes of fishing boats dragging their metal-toothed gear along the bottom and scraping everything in their path. And I witnessed the desert they c
  
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• Sainsbury's confirmed as principal partner for COP26

  26-02-2021 10:57
  
  Supermarket Sainsbury's has signed for the highest tier of sponsorship for COP26, ahead of the event in Glasgow this November.
  
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• Morgan Sindall targets net-zero emissions by 2030

  26-02-2021 10:27
  
  The Morgan Sindall Group is the latest construction company to commit to reaching net-zero emissions, aiming to reach that milestone by 2030 at the latest.
  
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• New report: What role can the public sector play in delivering a green recovery?

  26-02-2021 09:30
  
  edie has this week published the latest in a new series of reports looking at how businesses from key sectors can respond to the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic by focusing on a green recovery. This time, the focus is on the public sector.
  
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• Kerbside scheme to cut electronic waste could be launched in UK

  26-02-2021 08:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Government consulting on scheme that would increase obligation on retailers to take back broken items The UK government is considering nationwide kerbside collection of used electrical appliances and gadgets to help improve the recycling of electronic waste.Local councils in some areas already collect broken washing machines and toasters in schemes funded by waste collection fees that all retailers selling electrical goods must pay. The government is consulting on the best way to implement such
  
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• 'Blossom circles' to bloom across England, Wales and Northern Ireland

  26-02-2021 08:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Project aims to inspire UK equivalent of hanami – the Japanese custom of relishing fleeting sight and scent of blossomThe joyful sight of trees bursting into blossom during the first Covid lockdown last spring gave comfort and hope to countless people confined indoors or only allowed to roam very briefly outside.Almost 12 months on a conservation charity is leading a major project to create “blossom circles” in cities across England, Wales and Northern Ireland to provide spaces
  
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• It's not just oceans: scientists find plastic is also polluting the air

  26-02-2021 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  New research links Delhi’s thick smogs to burning of plasticsPlastic waste in our oceans is now a well-known issue but new data shows that plastic is adding to air pollution in Indian cities too.For several years scientists were puzzled why Delhi was more susceptible to thick smogs than other polluted cities such as Beijing. New research links this to tiny chloride particles in the air that help water droplets to form. Globally, chloride particles are mainly found close to coasts, due to s
  
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• ‘Dying like flies’: A million chickens die on way from farm to abattoir each year

  26-02-2021 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Whistleblower says birds are dying ‘in a pretty rough way’ from heat stress and lack of water on journeys in England and WalesChickens are “dying like flies” in their millions while being transported from farms to abattoirs because of poorly ventilated lorries, a whistleblower has told the Guardian.Around one million chickens are dead on arrival at slaughterhouses in England and Wales every year, according to data collected by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and analysed
  
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• Why Greenpeace is dropping huge boulders into the sea

  26-02-2021 01:47 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Fishing community leaders say Greenpeace's action is dangerous and illegal.
  
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• National Trust to plant blossom trees in cities

  26-02-2021 01:15 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The National Trust is planning to plant dozens of blossoming trees to create new green spaces.
  
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• Amazon rainforest plots sold via Facebook Marketplace ads

  26-02-2021 01:04 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Protected land reserved for Brazil's indigenous communities is being traded on the social network.
  
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