Environment news

• SLS: Successful test for world's most powerful rocket

  18-03-2021 21:40 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Engineers have carried out a major engine test of Nasa's Space Launch System.
  
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• What is the role between business and biodiversity? Access edie's new Explains guide

  18-03-2021 16:07
  
  edie has this week published a new downloadable guide outlining all the key considerations for businesses that are looking to incorporate biodiversity into a holistic sustainability strategy.
  
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• Time is running short – but we can get a grip on the climate crisis | Alok Sharma

  18-03-2021 15:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Today’s targets are nowhere near enough, we must speed up change and halve global emissions in the next decade
  Alok Sharma is president designate of Cop26 and the Conservative MP for Reading WestReport: UK’s Cop26 president calls for world to get on track to hit net zero by 2050The climate crisis represents a clear and present danger to people and our planet. Its real-world consequences are now all too visible.In Nepal last month, I met communities displaced by melting glaciers. In E
  
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• Plastic particles pass from mothers into foetuses, rat study shows

  18-03-2021 15:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Nanoparticles found in foetal brains and hearts, but impact on human health is as yet unknownTiny plastic particles in the lungs of pregnant rats pass rapidly into the hearts, brains and other organs of their foetuses, research shows. It is the first study in a live mammal to show that the placenta does not block such particles.The experiments also showed that the rat foetuses exposed to the particles put on significantly less weight towards the end of gestation. The research follows the revelat
  
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• Reddit investors use GameStop proceeds to help protect gorillas

  18-03-2021 14:34 via theguardian.com
  
  WallStreetBets members spend gains on donations for endangered animals also including elephants and turtlesGorillas, elephants, pangolins and sea turtles have been handed a lifeline by amateur investors who played the stock market at its own game.Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent helping endangered animals by users of a Reddit trading tips community, giving conservation organisations across the world a much-needed financial boost during a difficult year. Continue reading...
  
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• 'It's helped lessen the feeling of doom': readers' photos of their local wildlife

  18-03-2021 13:53 via theguardian.com
  
  UK and European readers share their sightings of local wildlife from recent weeksYou can send in your recent wildlife photos hereYou can see our previous selection of photos hereLiving with the coronavirus pandemic has meant many can’t travel far, with one benefit being more time to take notice of the natural world closer to home. From seals to bees, UK and European readers have been sharing pictures and stories of their local animals, flora and fauna. Continue reading...
  
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• 'An orchestra of animals waking us up from winter': readers' photos of their local wildlife

  18-03-2021 13:53 via theguardian.com
  
  UK and European readers share their sightings of local wildlife from recent weeksYou can send in your recent wildlife photos hereYou can see our previous selection of photos hereLiving with the coronavirus pandemic has meant many can’t travel far, with one benefit being more time to take notice of the natural world closer to home. From seals to bees, UK and European readers have been sharing pictures and stories of their local animals, flora and fauna. Continue reading...
  
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• Birds Eye owner Nomad Foods launches nature-positive partnership with WWF

  18-03-2021 13:23
  
  Nomad Foods, which owns brands such as Birds Eye, Findus and Green Cuisine, has unveiled a new strategic partnership with WWF that will deliver "nature-positive" farming practices to protect and promote biodiversity while tackling the climate crisis.
  
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• Climate and waste: HelloFresh and Superdrug make new sustainability commitments

  18-03-2021 12:57
  
  Meal-kit giant HelloFresh has pledged to halve food waste by 2022, in the same week that Superdrug's parent company, A.S. Watson Group, committed to eliminate unnecessary packaging.
  
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• Stranded cattle ship ordered to dock in Spain after 'hellish' three months at sea

  18-03-2021 12:34 via theguardian.com
  
  Almost 180 bulls believed to be already dead as campaigners call for surviving animals to be humanely slaughtered on arrival in portAfter three months stranded in the Mediterranean, a livestock ship carrying almost 1,800 young bulls has been ordered to dock at the Spanish port of Cartagena.The Elbeik is expected to arrive in Cartagena this evening, having left the Spanish port of Tarragona in mid-December. Continue reading...
  
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• Reddit investors use GameStop proceeds to adopt thousands of gorillas

  18-03-2021 12:06 via theguardian.com
  
  WallStreetBets members spend gains on helping endangered animals also including elephants and turtlesElephants, pangolins and sea turtles – as well as thousands of gorillas – have been handed a lifeline by amateur investors who played the stock market at its own game.Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent adopting endangered animals by users of a Reddit trading tips community, giving conservation organisations across the world a much-needed financial boost during a difficul
  
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• Report: 45% of UK businesses linking executive pay to ESG targets

  18-03-2021 12:01
  
  Almost half of FTSE100 firms are now linking executive pay packages to at least one of their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) targets, new analysis from PwC has found.
  
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• UK slashes grants for electric car buyers while retaining petrol vehicle support

  18-03-2021 11:51 via theguardian.com
  
  Car industry dismayed as green car subsidy cap also lowered with immediate effectThe UK government has cut grants for electric car buyers, to the horror of the automotive industry as it tries to rapidly shift away from fossil fuels.The maximum grant for electric cars has been reduced to £2,500 with immediate effect on Thursday, from £3,000. The government has also lowered the price cap for cars eligible for the subsidy from £50,000 to £35,000. Continue reading...
  
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• Boris Johnson: Climate and biodiversity will be 'UK's top international priority'

  18-03-2021 11:28
  
  Prime Minister Boris Johnson has stated that the UK Government will develop more ambitious climate and nature targets and initiatives as it completes an Integrated review of international policy.
  
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• Plummeting sperm counts, shrinking penises: toxic chemicals threaten humanity | Erin Brockovich

  18-03-2021 11:23 via theguardian.com
  
  The chemicals to blame for our reproductive crisis are found everywhere and in everythingThe end of humankind? It may be coming sooner than we think, thanks to hormone-disrupting chemicals that are decimating fertility at an alarming rate around the globe. A new book called Countdown, by Shanna Swan, an environmental and reproductive epidemiologist at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, finds that sperm counts have dropped almost 60% since 1973. Following the trajectory we are o
  
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• 'Asleep at the wheel': European carmakers risking fines over vehicle emissions

  18-03-2021 11:14
  
  Europe's five largest carmakers are at risk of being "displaced by competitors" by failing to align phase-outs of traditional petrol and diesel vehicles with accelerating regulation emerging on the continent.
  
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• UK cities leading the way on net-zero and renewable energy, report finds

  18-03-2021 10:29
  
  Almost three-quarters (73%) of the UK's urban population live in towns and cities with net-zero targets and/or strong local policies on renewable energy, compared to a global average of just 25%.
  
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• Oil firms knew decades ago fossil fuels posed grave health risks, files reveal

  18-03-2021 10:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: documents seen by Guardian show companies fought clean-air rules despite being aware of harm caused by air pollutionThe oil industry knew at least 50 years ago that air pollution from burning fossil fuels posed serious risks to human health, only to spend decades aggressively lobbying against clean air regulations, a trove of internal documents seen by the Guardian reveal.The documents, which include internal memos and reports, show the industry was long aware that it created large am
  
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• Will a British bioelectric hybrid plane really take off?

  18-03-2021 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Boris Johnson set the goal, but the developers of the Beha had to get private investment for their unique craftIn the shadows of the old Spitfires and Hurricanes that helped win the Battle of Britain, Faradair, a UK startup operating from the historic Duxford airfield, is hoping to help Britain fight the new war against climate change by developing a revolutionary 18-seat bioelectric hybrid plane which will eventually, hopes its designer, be carbon neutral.The plane, currently in development, wi
  
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• Storm system triggers severe weather and tornadoes in US

  18-03-2021 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Numerous tornadoes reported south of Amarillo, while heavy snow falls in Colorado and Wyoming A storm system crossing the central US has caused an array of severe weather across several states in recent days. It instigated an early start to the tornado season in the Texas Panhandle, with numerous tornadoes reported south of Amarillo on 13 March. Two tornadoes on the ground from the same camping site at the Palo Duro Canyon state park resulted in several camper vans being overturned, but no injur
  
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• BlossomWatch returns to celebrate 'blissful' colours of UK spring

  18-03-2021 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  National Trust aims to build on success of last year’s campaign and help lift lockdown gloomThe valley garden of Glendurgan on the banks of the Helford River in Cornwall is already bright with spring blossom – vivid pinks, deep purples, the purest of whites. “It’s an extraordinary sight after the tough winter we’ve had,” said the head gardener, John Lanyon. “It feels inspiring, blissful.”The blossom comes early in this sheltered spot in the far sou
  
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• Country diary: strawberry fields, gone for ever

  18-03-2021 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  St Dominic, Tamar valley: Land that once produced highly prized outdoor strawberries is now home to mature conifers and neglected daffodilsSpring advances fastest on the southern edge of this parish, in sight of the tidal river at Halton Quay. The 1840 tithe map shows Brentswood and Halton Wood as oak coppice, but from 1880 until 1914 trees were “ripped” (often with dynamite) to grow some of the earliest outdoor strawberries in the country, commanding high prices at Covent Garden in
  
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• Feeding cows seaweed could cut their methane emissions by 82%, scientists say

  18-03-2021 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Researchers found cows belched out 82% less methane after putting small amount of seaweed in their feed for five monthsFeeding seaweed to cows is a viable long-term method to reduce the emission of planet-heating gases from their burps and flatulence, scientists have found.Researchers who put a small amount of seaweed into the feed of cattle over the course of five months found that the new diet caused the bovines to belch out 82% less methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. Conti
  
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• Fashion brands set to cover recycling costs under new UK Government plans

  18-03-2021 01:01
  
  The UK Government has today (18 March) begun consulting on measures to reduce waste from sectors including fashion, furniture, electricals and electronics - including new charges that would see businesses contribute to recycling costs.
  
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