Environment news

• The disaster movie playing in Australia's wild places – and solutions that could help hit pause

  05-03-2021 20:00
  
  Across the country, catastrophes are unfolding as ecosystems collapse. But in a landmark study, scientists are pointing to green shoots of hopeThey read like scenes from a disaster movie, vignettes of a natural world slipping into decay.In the tropical wet rainforests of far north Queensland, outside Cairns, an estimated 23,000 spectacled flying foxes – one-third of Australia’s total population – drop dead from the trees over just two days. Continue reading...
  
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• Reef revival: Fiji's corals bouncing back after ruinous cyclone

  05-03-2021 20:00
  
  Cyclone Winston devastated vital coral colonies off Fiji, but four years on, the reefs are alive again, teeming with fish and colourIn the immediate aftermath of the strongest cyclone to ever make landfall in the southern hemisphere, reefs across the Namena reserve and Vatu-i-Ra conservation park off Fiji were reduced to rubble.Tropical Cyclone Winston struck Fiji on 20 February 2016, causing devastation on land and underwater. Winds of up to 280km/h claimed 44 lives, leaving more than 40,000 ho
  
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• Juukan Gorge 'cop-out': talk about protecting Aboriginal sites goes curiously quiet in WA

  05-03-2021 20:00
  
  In the lead-up to the state election, Indigenous heritage has barely been mentioned, despite concerns about new draft lawsIt’s a West Australian story, but most of the action took place in London. In May last year, Rio Tinto blew up a 46,000-year-old rockshelter in the Pilbara in order to access an additional $135m worth or iron ore. This week the company’s chairman, Simon Thompson, announced he was standing down, joining four other senior figures, including the former chief executiv
  
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• World's oldest known wild bird has another chick at age of 70

  05-03-2021 18:24 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Wisdom is believed to have had more than 30 chicks in her life so far, and several partners.
  
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• Sustainable Business Covered podcast: Choosing to challenge for International Women's Day 2021

  05-03-2021 17:30
  
  The new edie podcast episode is streaming now, featuring three exclusive interviews to mark International Women's Day 2021.
  
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• Goldman Sachs pledges net-zero supply chain by 2030, financed emissions by 2050

  05-03-2021 17:08
  
  Goldman Sachs' chairman and chief executive David Solomon has updated the firm's sustainable finance commitments to target net-zero financed emissions by 2050.
  
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• Great apes given Covid vaccines after outbreak at San Diego zoo

  05-03-2021 13:07
  
  Eight infected gorillas had symptoms including runny noses, coughing and lethargyCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageNine great apes have been given an experimental Covid-19 vaccine at San Diego zoo after an outbreak in a troop of gorillas there in January.Five bonobos and four orangutans became the first great apes at an American zoo to receive jabs against the disease in January and February. Continue reading...
  
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• HS2 to create 127-hectare biodiversity hotspot to assist carbon reduction efforts

  05-03-2021 12:30
  
  The HS2 project team has announced plans to create more than 120 hectares of new carbon-sequestering grassland, woodland and wetland habitats that will reuse soil and chalk from tunnel excavations.
  
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• ‘The river was stolen from us’: a tribe's battle to retake the Skagit River

  05-03-2021 12:00
  
  The Upper Skagit Indian tribe are fighting Seattle to remove the Gorge Dam, and return the river to the section the city de-watered
  Scott Schuyler doesn’t need to see the Skagit River to know something is wrong. As he walks down the river’s steep embankment, wet rock and moss under each step, he can hear the problem. “The river should be singing to us right now, it should be free flowing,” Schuyler says as cold February rain drops silently disappear into his quilted blue
  
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• Boohoo could lose right to export to US over forced labour claims

  05-03-2021 11:32
  
  US authorities have reportedly launched an investigation into online fast-fashion giant Boohoo Group's supply chain practices, following allegations of worker exploitation at supplier factories in Leicester.
  
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• Molson Coors unveils bottles with 90% lower carbon footprint

  05-03-2021 09:54
  
  The Molson Coors Beverage Company is rolling out new glass beer bottles that have reduced the carbon emissions associated with production by up to 90%.
  
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• Henkel targets climate positivity as Nokia unveils 1.5C science-based targets

  05-03-2021 09:32
  
  Persil and Schwarzkopf owner Henkel has committed to delivering a positive climate impact by 2040, in the same week that Nokia unveiled new science-based emissions targets.
  
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• National Trust maps out climate threats to historic places

  05-03-2021 08:02 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The map will help to plan interventions such as tree planting and peat bog restoration.
  
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• Eight teenagers and a literal nun are taking on environment minister Sussan Ley | First Dog on the Moon

  05-03-2021 07:32
  
  They are trying to establish the federal government has a ‘duty of care’ in protecting future generations from the climateaggedonSign up here to get an email whenever First Dog cartoons are publishedGet all your needs met at the First Dog shop if what you need is First Dog merchandise and prints Continue reading...
  
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• Wisdom the albatross, the world's oldest known wild bird, has another chick at age 70

  05-03-2021 07:27
  
  The remarkable bird has outlived mating partners, and even the biologist who first placed a band on her in 1956At 70 years of age, Wisdom the Laysan albatross has hatched another chick.Regarded as “oldest known wild bird in history”, Wisdom has outlived previous mating partners as well as the biologist Chandler Robbins, who first banded her in 1956. Continue reading...
  
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• Covid and bird flu: The other lockdown putting livelihoods at risk

  05-03-2021 07:09 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Dealing with a Covid lockdown is tough - now poultry farmers face a second viral challenge.
  
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• Spacewatch: Venus terrain revealed by Nasa solar probe

  05-03-2021 07:00
  
  Image unexpectedly shows light and dark features, including Aphrodite Terra, a highland area near planet’s equatorA newly released image from Nasa’s Parker Solar Probe unexpectedly shows surface features on Venus. It is a surprising result because Venus is permanently covered in clouds that should block out any view of the surface at optical wavelengths.Previous spacecraft have resorted to radar or infrared cameras to map out the terrain. The image was taken in July 2020 when the spa
  
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• EU accused of ‘neocolonial’ plundering of tuna in Indian Ocean

  05-03-2021 07:00
  
  Indian Ocean states say EU pushing weakest conservation efforts for yellowfin tuna while EU ‘distant fleet’ hoovers up the most fishThe EU has been accused of “hypocrisy and neocolonialism” for proposing insufficient measures to tackle overfishing of yellowfin tuna, while being the largest fisher of the prized species in the Indian Ocean.Smaller than its Atlantic and Pacific bluefin cousins, the yellowfin tuna is one of the ocean’s fastest and strongest predators. A
  
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• Boris Johnson failing on UK plan to reach net zero, say MPs

  05-03-2021 07:00
  
  Public accounts committee report says despite green rhetoric, government policy is falling shortBoris Johnson has failed to set out a plan for the UK to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions despite the government’s green rhetoric, a committee of MPs has found.Ministers are failing to instruct their departments to take the net zero goal into account when setting policy, there has been little coordination between central and local government on achieving emissions reductions, and the publ
  
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• Country diary: our evening walk is serenaded by the curlew's vibrato cry

  05-03-2021 06:30
  
  Langstone, Hampshire: Many species of wader feed at night, and although we can’t see them, we know we are surroundedPrior to the construction of a wooden bridge in 1825, the precursor to the present-day concrete structure, the only land link from Langstone to Hayling Island was via a causeway exposed at low tide. One evening, we decided to follow in the footsteps of our ancestors, and struck out along this route, which is three-quarters of a mile long and known locally as the Wadeway.Archa
  
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• International Women's Day: Illustrating the Covid-19 pandemic

  05-03-2021 03:15 via bbc.co.uk
  
  These three artists turn complex research into easy to digest information to help fight coronavirus.
  
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• Government has no climate change plan - MPs

  05-03-2021 02:09 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Two reports from MPs cast doubt on the government's approach to meeting its climate change goals.
  
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• The Himalayan hazards nobody is monitoring

  05-03-2021 01:59 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Retreating Himalayan glaciers can become hazardous but such dangers are not being monitored, experts say.
  
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• UK Government has 'no plan' for reaching net-zero, MPs warn

  05-03-2021 01:02
  
  Almost two years after enshrining the 2050 net-zero target in UK law, cross-party MPs have heard evidence that the Government still lacks a credible plan for delivery.
  
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• Facebook rainforest ads: Inquiry ordered into Amazon land sales

  05-03-2021 01:01 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A Supreme Court judge in Brazil orders an investigation following the BBC's report into the trade.
  
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