Environment news

• Fire and flood: 'Whole areas of Australia will be uninsurable'

  01-04-2021 21:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Extreme weather events caused by the climate emergency are an existential threat to homeowners and industry alikeIt was the Monday after the Warragamba Dam overflowed that Dr Kim Loo began to understand the scale of what was happening. A patient had called into her clinic in Riverston in Sydney’s west to cancel an appointment to pick up a prescription as the bridge into town was out.Loo, chair of the New South Wales chapter of Doctors for the Environment, has lived and worked in Riverston
  
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• Toxic impact of pesticides on bees has doubled, study shows

  01-04-2021 20:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Analysis contradicts claims that the environmental impact of pesticides is falling, say scientistsThe toxic impact of pesticides on bees and other pollinators has doubled in a decade, new research shows, despite a fall in the amount of pesticide used.Modern pesticides have much lower toxicity to people, wild mammals and birds and are applied in lower amounts, but they are even more toxic to invertebrates. The study shows the higher toxicity outweighs the lower volumes, leading to a more deadly o
  
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• Rapid global heating is hurting farm productivity, study finds

  01-04-2021 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Research shows rising temperatures since 1960s have acted as handbrake to agricultural yield of crops and livestockThe climate crisis is already eating into the output of the world’s agricultural systems, with productivity much lower than it would have been if humans hadn’t rapidly heated the planet, new research has found. Related: G7 should double help for poorer countries to cut CO2 emissions, says UNContinue reading...
  
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• ‘It's helped lessen the feeling of doom’: readers' photos of their local wildlife

  01-04-2021 14:35 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 of us can’t travel far, with one benefit being more time to take notice of the natural world closer to home. From shield bugs in Stroud to larch flowers in Oxfordshire, UK and European readers have been sharing pictures and stories of their local flora and fauna.
  
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• Fracking ban should continue for UK to meet net-zero, CCC warns

  01-04-2021 14:04
  
  The Climate Change Committee (CCC) has told the UK Government that restrictions on onshore fracking for shale gas must be continued until scientists have a better understanding of its full environmental impact.
  
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• Report: 6 in 10 plastic packaging companies have no environmental policies

  01-04-2021 13:22
  
  An analysis of 83 of the world's biggest publicly traded plastic packaging firms has found that almost two-thirds report no policies on sustainability-related topics like waste or carbon.
  
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• UK's largest used books business targets carbon neutrality by 2022

  01-04-2021 12:44
  
  World of Books Group, the UK's largest retailer for used books, has committed to becoming a carbon-neutral business by 2022.
  
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• Consumer goods giants plot course to deforestation-free supply chains

  01-04-2021 11:55
  
  A coalition of 30 multinational consumer goods firms have developed a roadmap to eliminate commodity-driven deforestation, after pledging last year to deliver a 'forest-positive' impact.
  
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• Bio-recycling and water bottle refills: Waitrose invests £1m to tackle plastic waste

  01-04-2021 11:29
  
  Two years ago, Waitrose & Partners pledged £1m from the sale of carrier bags to innovators working to solve the plastic pollution crisis. Now, it has revealed the successes of the projects it has supported.
  
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• Whale watching in Mexico – in pictures

  01-04-2021 10:19 via theguardian.com
  
  The annual arrival of migratory grey whales at El Vizcaíno sanctuary in Mexico has aided the region’s tourism industry. The whales travel about 5,600 miles from their summer feeding grounds in Alaska to mate and give birth in the warmer waters off north-western Mexico Continue reading...
  
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• Net gains: how India trawlers’ plastic catch is helping to rebuild roads

  01-04-2021 07:30 via theguardian.com
  
  The waste caught by fishing boats used to be thrown back into the sea but in Kerala it is now turned into black goldFor years, plastic caught by fishing communities on the Kollam coast in India’s southern state of Kerala was thrown back into the water, damaging aquatic ecosystems and killing fish. But fishers are spearheading an innovative initiative to clean up the ocean – along with their daily hauls of fish, they pull in and collect the waste that gets enmeshed in their nets. Cont
  
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• Country diary: the annual deer count has us on the hills before dawn

  01-04-2021 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Quantock Hills, Somerset: Looking primarily for red deer, I was so focused on scanning the distance that I almost missed three hinds just metres awayThe skylarks rose with the sun over the Quantocks, pouring their song into the north wind sweeping in from the Bristol Channel. I was there just before dawn for the annual spring deer count. Volunteers spent two hours recording the number, species, location and type of deer seen across the area.We were primarily looking for red deer (Cervus elaphus)
  
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• Should we determine species through DNA? (part two) – podcast

  01-04-2021 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  In part two of The Age of Extinction takeover of Science Weekly, Patrick Greenfield and Phoebe Weston explore a relatively new and controversial technology called DNA barcoding that is helping scientists to differentiate between species – including fungi, which we heard about in part one. As the catastrophic loss of biodiversity around the world continues, could DNA barcoding at least allow us to accurately record the species that are perishing? Continue reading...
  
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• Morrison government guilty of 'absolute failure' in electric vehicles policy

  01-04-2021 05:07 via theguardian.com
  
  Independent senator Rex Patrick says the prime minister broke a 2019 promise to support the rollout of EVsIndependent senator Rex Patrick has taken a swipe at the federal government for its “absolute failure” on electric vehicles and says the prime minister, Scott Morrison, has broken a promise to make progress on their adoption.Patrick, who was a member of the Senate inquiry investigating how best to support the rollout of EVs in Australia, said when the committee had made its recom
  
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• Should airports be allowed to expand?

  01-04-2021 02:25 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Climate change: Should aviation be allowed to expand?
  
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• How satellite images are helping one country hand out cash

  01-04-2021 01:41 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Togo has found a new way to send emergency cash to people struggling in the pandemic.
  
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• Climate change: Net zero targets are 'pie in the sky'

  01-04-2021 01:31 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Indian minister lashes out at plans to cut emissions dramatically over the next three decades.
  
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