Environment news

• Why Japan's carmaking heavyweights could be facing an electric shock

  17-03-2021 20:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Analysis: The rapid development of battery-only cars is eclipsing petrol vehicles and even hybrids, leaving Japan’s big producers racing to catch upJapan’s traditional carmaking giants need to raise their game in the race to develop pure, battery-driven electric vehicles or risk being left behind by Chinese, American and European producers, analysts have warned.Despite dominating car production in Asia for decades, Japan’s big players have been slow to fully develop the battery
  
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• Bottom trawling releases as much carbon as air travel, landmark study finds

  17-03-2021 19:44 via theguardian.com
  
  Dragging heavy nets across seabed disturbs marine sediments, world’s largest carbon sink, scientists report
  Fishing boats that trawl the ocean floor release as much carbon dioxide as the entire aviation industry, according to a groundbreaking study.Bottom trawling, a widespread practice in which heavy nets are dragged along the seabed, pumps out 1 gigaton of carbon every year, says the study written by 26 marine biologists, climate experts and economists and published in Nature on Wednesda
  
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• Morgan Sindall outlines fresh carbon accounting and engagement moves on road to net-zero

  17-03-2021 17:31
  
  After announcing a 2030 net-zero target last month, Morgan Sindall Group has outlined new measures to track and reduce carbon across its construction business - and to engage the communities where its construction projects are located.
  
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• Protect our ocean 'to solve challenges of century'

  17-03-2021 17:02 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Protecting the ocean has a triple whammy effect, safeguarding climate, food and biodiversity.
  
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• Sir David Attenborough answers dinosaur query from Otis, 4

  17-03-2021 16:22 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Four-year-old Otis's mum was stumped, so they wrote to Sir David Attenborough... and he replied.
  
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• Air pollution breaking WHO limits surrounds 25% of UK homes, study finds

  17-03-2021 15:31 via theguardian.com
  
  Nearly 8m addresses affected by high levels of toxic particulates and nitrogen dioxideOne in four UK homes are surrounded by air pollution exceeding safety limits set by the World Health Organization, a study has shown following research revealing that road pollution affects virtually every part of Britain.Nearly 8m UK addresses are affected by high levels of particulate matter or nitrogen dioxide, the study commissioned by campaigning group the Central Office of Public Interest (Copi) showed. C
  
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• Air pollution breaking WHO limits surrounds 25% of UK homes, analysis finds

  17-03-2021 15:31 via theguardian.com
  
  Nearly 8m addresses affected by high levels of toxic particulates and nitrogen dioxideOne in four UK homes are surrounded by air pollution exceeding safety limits set by the World Health Organization, an analysis has shown following research revealing that road pollution affects virtually every part of Britain.Nearly 8m UK addresses are affected by high levels of particulate matter or nitrogen dioxide, the data analysis commissioned by campaigning group the Central Office of Public Interest (COP
  
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• Lights off: France parkour collectives fight pollution one store sign at a time

  17-03-2021 15:26 via theguardian.com
  
  Lights Off movement want to raise awareness about light pollution and energy consumptionThe Champs-Élysées may be empty, with a strict pandemic curfew in place across France, but the shops have been leaving their signs on all the same.And so a few months ago a parkour collective decided to take matters into their own hands. Using their gymnastic abilities to climb walls and scaffolding to turn off the illuminated signs, the On The Spot collective are just one of a number of parkour
  
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• Local traffic changes 'more divisive than Brexit'

  17-03-2021 14:59 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The schemes were introduced to tackle increasing traffic on minor roads but some face fierce opposition.
  
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• ECJ orders France to ban glue-trap hunting of songbirds outright

  17-03-2021 14:41 via theguardian.com
  
  Campaigners welcome ruling that ‘tradition is no excuse’ and practice is not selective and breaks EU rulesEuropean judges have ordered France to outlaw the hunting of songbirds using glue sticks, a practice described by campaigners as barbaric and a threat to endangered species.French hunters argued the method was traditional and justified exemption from an EU ban introduced in 1979. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘Compelling reasons’ not to open Cumbrian coal mine, says Kwasi Kwarteng

  17-03-2021 13:58 via theguardian.com
  
  Statement by energy secretary is the clearest indication yet of opposition within the governmentThere are “very compelling reasons” not to open a controversial planned coalmine in Cumbria, the business and energy secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, said on Wednesday.The statement is the clearest indication to date of opposition to the project within the government, which has been heavily criticised for allowing the mine as the UK prepares to host a vital UN climate change summit, Cop26. Conti
  
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• Cummings wanted science funding doubled

  17-03-2021 13:34 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The prime minister's former aide criticises the department over PPE and procurement at start of the pandemic.
  
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• VW aims to double EV sales in 2021

  17-03-2021 12:10
  
  Volkswagen (VW) has committed to selling more than 450,000 electric vehicles (EV) globally in 2021 - more than double the amount it sold in 2020 - as part of its Covid-19 recovery efforts.
  
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• Can businesses achieve SDG13 - Climate Action? Find out in edie's new report

  17-03-2021 11:41
  
  edie has launched its latest SDG Spotlight report, looking at how businesses can transform to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) post-lockdown, with the latest focusing on Goal 13: Climate Action.
  
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• Can businesses achieve SDG 13 - Climate Action? Find out in edie's new report

  17-03-2021 11:41
  
  edie has launched its latest SDG Spotlight report, looking at how businesses can transform to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) post-lockdown, with the latest focusing on Goal 13: Climate Action.
  
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• Ocado and KP Snacks detail progress on plastic phase-outs

  17-03-2021 11:31
  
  Online retailer Ocado had launched a refresh of its own-range products that will remove more than nine million pieces of packaging while also removing the amount of plastic used, while KP Snacks has also announced packaging reductions.
  
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• Why mushrooms are the new houseplant everybody's growing

  17-03-2021 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Easy to grow, visually beautiful and oodles of fabulous fungi for breakfast, what’s not to love?Selling home grown mushrooms – through bags small enough to sit on your kitchen countertop, filled with organic matter like grain or coffee grounds and inoculated with spores – has been Michael Crowe’s business since 2017.He enjoys hearing from happy customers, who sometimes send him updates on their progress. “It’s just so cool because it can bring together people
  
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• Why growing mushrooms at home is everyone's new pandemic hobby

  17-03-2021 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Easy to grow, visually beautiful and oodles of fabulous fungi for breakfast, what’s not to love?Selling home grown mushrooms – through bags small enough to sit on your kitchen countertop, filled with organic matter like grain or coffee grounds and inoculated with spores – has been Michael Crowe’s business since 2017.He enjoys hearing from happy customers, who sometimes send him updates on their progress. “It’s just so cool because it can bring together people
  
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• 'Systematic climate approach': Swiss Re plots global coal phase-out by 2040

  17-03-2021 10:52
  
  Insurance and reinsurance giant Swiss Re has announced new climate targets for financed emissions and pledged to stop serving the global coal sector by 2040.
  
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• Sperm whales in 19th century shared ship attack information

  17-03-2021 08:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Whalers’ logbooks show rapid drop in strike rate in north Pacific due to changes in cetacean behaviourA remarkable new study on how whales behaved when attacked by humans in the 19th century has implications for the way they react to changes wreaked by humans in the 21st century.The paper, published by the Royal Society on Wednesday, is authored by Hal Whitehead and Luke Rendell, pre-eminent scientists working with cetaceans, and Tim D Smith, a data scientist, and their research addresses
  
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• Iceland shaken by more than 50,000 earthquakes in three weeks

  17-03-2021 07:37 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Geologist Helga Torfadottir takes a BBC team to an active volcano area.
  
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• UK urged to ban fur imports from China over animal abuse claims

  17-03-2021 07:20 via theguardian.com
  
  Investigation appears to show unnecessary cruelty, suffering and disregard for Covid health precautions at more than a dozen farmsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageCampaigners are urging the UK government to ban fur imports after an investigation appeared to show widespread animal abuse and disregard for Covid-19 health protocols at more than a dozen fur farms in China.Videos and photos from 19 farms visited in northern and north-eastern China last November and De
  
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• Sapria: the stinking parasitic plant reveals another odd feature

  17-03-2021 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Sapria himalayana has lost about 44% of genes normally found in flowering plants Sapria is an extraordinary plant. It has no leaves, stem or root, can’t make food by photosynthesis, and exists almost its entire life as threads of cells sucking out all its nourishment from vines growing in the rainforests of Borneo. The only time the parasite reveals itself in the open is when it bursts out as a huge flower the size of a dinner plate, coloured red with pale speckles, and stinking of rotting
  
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• Government to announce £1bn fund to help reduce emissions

  17-03-2021 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Funding given to industrial decarbonisation and reducing impact of schools and hospitalsThe government will spend more than £1bn helping schools, hospitals and industry to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and encourage the growth of new low-carbon technologies in the UK, under plans set out on Wednesday.Kwasi Kwarteng, secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy said: “We were the first major economy to put into law our target to end our contribution to climate cha
  
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• The regent honeyeater is forgetting how to sing | First Dog on the Moon

  17-03-2021 06:57 via theguardian.com
  
  Their habitat is getting chopped down a lot - not really a surprise. While sad, it has become the cause du jour for men’s rights activistsSign 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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• We must do more to drive the uptake of electric vehicles in Australia | Trent Zimmerman

  17-03-2021 06:50 via theguardian.com
  
  Changes to taxes and planning laws, and a national approach, should be priorities to make Australia a leader in the rollout of low-emissions vehiclesTechnological advances aimed at responding to climate change are happening at a dazzling pace around the world. We are seeing this most dramatically in the energy sector, with renewable sources having so quickly become the most cost-effective solutions to so much of our future energy needs, including in Australia.One area of technological potential
  
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• Country diary: the creature I'm after lurks at the very bottom of the pond

  17-03-2021 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Crook, County Durham: The Victorians recommended water slaters for children to keep and study, and I need photographs to send to the grandchildrenAlmost 70, on my knees, and staring at life below the surface of our garden pond – it’s a childhood pleasure that you never really outgrow. Perhaps, too, a subconscious urge to eavesdrop on the lives of ancestral life forms from our evolutionary past, still thriving in an environment that we left behind aeons ago.I wish I could be pond-watc
  
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• World nature photography awards – in pictures

  17-03-2021 04:38 via theguardian.com
  
  From a glacial river to a lion fight, 2020’s winning shots in 13 categories reflect the natural world’s splendour Continue reading...
  
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• Regent honeyeater: Endangered bird 'has forgotten its song'

  17-03-2021 02:19 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The natural song of the regent honeyeater has essentially "disappeared" in 12% of the population.
  
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• Sea-cucumber divers off Liberia risk danger to feed a hunger in China

  17-03-2021 01:52 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The starfish could represent a lucrative trade but they also play a key role on the coastal ecology.
  
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• How Australia's regent honeyeaters are learning the wrong songs – video

  17-03-2021 01:31 via theguardian.com
  
  New research has found that a loss of song culture could be a big problem for one of Australia’s rarest songbirds. A lack of adult males passing on mating calls to younger birds may have forced some to pick up the tunes of other species. Females are less likely to pair and nest with those singing unusual songs, causing further problems for dwindling populations. Conservationists are trying a new technique to arrest this decline, playing songs captured in the wild to birds bred in captivity
  
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• PPE use in England generated 'colossal' amount of carbon

  17-03-2021 01:05 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: during the first six months of pandemic health and social care’s carbon impact rose by 1%The considerable use of personal protective equipment (PPE) in health and social care services in England during the first six months of the pandemic added an additional 1% to the carbon burden, a new analysis suggests.Between February and August 2020, about 3 billion items of PPE were utilised – generating over 106,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalents. This equates to 591 tons a day
  
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• Government unveils new Industrial Strategy to spur decarbonisation and create green jobs

  17-03-2021 01:02
  
  The UK Government has today (17 March) revamped the Industrial Strategy to align manufacturing and construction efforts to the national net-zero target, with more than £1bn to funnelled into industry, schools and hospitals.
  
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• 'Another vital step to net-zero': Green economy reacts to the Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy

  17-03-2021 01:01
  
  The UK Government has unveiled a new Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy that will spur rapid decarbonisation across industry, the public sector, construction and manufacturing. But do green groups believe the strategy will put the nation on course for net-zero by 2050?
  
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• How an endangered Australian songbird is forgetting its love songs

  17-03-2021 00:08 via theguardian.com
  
  New study suggests young regent honeyeaters are not getting the chance to learn mating callsWhat happens to a species if the music starts to die, or when their songs become corrupted or their singers have never heard the original tunes?A new study has found that a loss of melody and song could be a bad sign for one of Australia’s rarest songbirds – the regent honeyeater. Continue reading...
  
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