Environment news

• 'Exciting' Stone Age discoveries in the Cairngorms

  07-04-2021 23:47 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Rare clues to Mesolithic life in Scotland's mountains add to evidence previously found in Perthshire and Dumfries.
  
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• The Guardian view on dark skies: we need them

  07-04-2021 19:38
  
  Light pollution is killing insects and birds – and an ancient human connection with the heavenly bodiesSevere light pollution in Britain appears to have fallen, according to the CPRE, the countryside charity. Across a week in February, the charity asked volunteers to look up and count the stars they could see. The results suggest that 51% of participants were experiencing severe light pollution, compared to 61% the previous year – an effect, the charity concluded, of darker town and
  
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• Marine species increasingly can’t live at equator due to global heating

  07-04-2021 19:30
  
  Study suggests it is already too warm in tropics for some species to survive Global heating has made the ocean around the equator less rich in wildlife, with conditions likely already too hot for some species to survive, according to a new study.Analysis of the changing locations of almost 50,000 marine species between 1955 and 2015 found a predicted impact of global heating – species moving away from the equator – can now be observed at a global scale. Continue reading...
  
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• Carbon dioxide levels in atmosphere reach record high

  07-04-2021 18:42
  
  Concentrations are 50% above pre-industrial levels despite dip in emissions during Covid pandemicConcentrations of climate-warming carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have hit record highs, despite a dip in emissions during the Covid pandemic, scientists have said.The latest measurements from the long-running recording station at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii, show global levels of carbon dioxide are 50% above what they were when the Industrial Revolution began in Britain. Continue reading...
  
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• Extinction fears drive The Wildlife Trusts' re-wilding campaign

  07-04-2021 17:27 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Wildlife Trusts says it wants 30% of UK land and sea to be set aside for nature by 2030.
  
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• Muons: 'Strong' evidence found for a new force of nature

  07-04-2021 17:15 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Physicists may have just made a major breakthrough in our understanding of the Universe.
  
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• The coronavirus 'white swan': Companies and investors ramping up sustainability commitments

  07-04-2021 16:51
  
  The coronavirus pandemic is acting as a "white swan" moment that is accelerating corporate focus on long-term sustainability strategies, but better disclosure and communication is needed for investors to unlock new finance to spur the green transition.
  
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• edie launches new business guide on net-zero carbon heating

  07-04-2021 15:51
  
  edie has today (7 April) launched a new guide detailing everything businesses need to know and consider when looking to decarbonise heating in line with the net-zero movement.
  
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• Britain's electricity system 'greenest ever' over Easter

  07-04-2021 15:24 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Sunny and windy weather led to a surge in renewable sources of energy, the operator says.
  
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• Rates of Parkinson’s disease are exploding. A common chemical may be to blame | Adrienne Matei

  07-04-2021 15:04
  
  Researchers believe a factor is a chemical used in drycleaning and household products such as shoe polishes and carpet cleanersAsked about the future of Parkinson’s disease in the US, Dr Ray Dorsey says, “We’re on the tip of a very, very large iceberg.”Dorsey, a neurologist at the University of Rochester Medical Center and author of Ending Parkinson’s Disease, believes a Parkinson’s epidemic is on the horizon. Parkinson’s is already the fastest growing n
  
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• Warning over dolphins at risk of disturbance as people head to UK coast

  07-04-2021 13:34
  
  Wildlife charities call for people spending time at sea to give space to marine mammalsDolphins face an increasing risk of disturbance from people taking to the sea on boats, jetskis, paddleboards and kayaks as lockdown eases, campaigners have warned.Many people were not aware of the laws against disturbing dolphins, whales and porpoises – or that they risked fines for breaking them, said Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) and the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU). Continue reading...
  
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• Hospitals try to curb astronomical emissions as pandemic brings new challenges

  07-04-2021 12:00
  
  The healthcare climate footprint is equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions from 514 coal-fired plants but health workers are finding ways to cut wasteLois Wessel used to work as a labor and delivery nurse in community clinics in Maryland. She remembers that every time a baby was born, she would see a beautiful little creature – and then she’d see a whole big bag full of garbage, of sheets, supplies packaging and tubing.Shanda Demorest, also a nurse, used to work on the cardiac un
  
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• Threatened species thrive in protected Australian reef – video

  07-04-2021 11:40
  
  A new long-term study of the Rowley Shoals, an isolated archipelago of reefs 260 kilometres off Australia’s northwest coast shows what a healthy coral reef with minimal human impact could look like. Continue reading...
  
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• 'A moonshot goal': Polestar aims to develop offset-free, climate-neutral car

  07-04-2021 11:34
  
  Swedish electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Polestar has unveiled an ambitious new intention to create the first "truly" carbon-neutral car by 2030, by reducing emissions across the value chain and without relying on offsetting.
  
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• More than 100 Apple suppliers to switch to 100% renewables

  07-04-2021 11:12
  
  Apple has revealed that more than 100 of its manufacturing partners across the supply chain have agreed to source 100% renewable electricity for the production of Apple products, a move that looks set to avoid more than 15 million tonnes of carbon emissions annually.
  
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• G7 ponders increasing climate finance in build-up to COP26

  07-04-2021 09:57
  
  Chancellor Rishi Sunak met with G7 finance ministers and central bank governors to discuss the role of finance in supporting the net-zero transition and implored developed nations to raise efforts to generate $100bn in annual revenue to support developing nations combat the climate crisis.
  
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• Wildlife charities raise £8m to boost nature schemes across England and Wales

  07-04-2021 07:00
  
  Efforts to reverse decline include transforming an ex-golf course and rewilding a village
  Projects to transform a former golf course for nature, rewild a village and restore ice age “ghost” ponds are among schemes being launched to boost wildlife across England and Wales.The Wildlife Trusts coalition has over the past year unveiled 10 new projects, which also include restoring arable fields to heathland, improving wildflower meadows and quadrupling the size of a nature reserve to hel
  
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• The horror safari: why was Francis Bacon so triggered by dead elephants?

  07-04-2021 07:00
  
  When the great painter died, 200 macabre photographs of elephant carcasses were found in his studio. They were by Peter Beard – and they propelled the artist into the heart of darknessIf you look into the eyes of a portrait, especially a self-portrait, by Rembrandt, you seem to see a “soul”. Such religious ideas and readings have shaped the story of art from its very beginnings and continue to seduce us today. But Francis Bacon was the first artist to paint people as animals. H
  
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• Terrawatch: cities that change the shape of the planet

  07-04-2021 07:00
  
  The weight of buildings in dense urban areas can lead to subsidence, with effects particularly marked by the coastIt’s well known that ice sheets are heavy enough to bend the underlying rocks, but what about cities? Are some cities capable of reshaping the bit of planet they sit on?By 2050 around 70% of Earth’s population are projected to live in cities. This set Tom Parsons, a geophysicist with the United States Geological Survey, to wondering if the associated redistribution of mas
  
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• Seaspiracy shows why we must treat fish not as seafood, but as wildlife | George Monbiot

  07-04-2021 07:00
  
  The film gets some things wrong, but it exposes the grim ecological destruction of the Earth’s oceansWhen the BBC made a film about the crisis in our oceans, it somehow managed to avoid naming the greatest cause of their ecological destruction: the fishing industry. The only significant sequence on fishing in 2017’s Blue Planet II was a heartwarming story about how kind Norwegian herring boats are to orcas. It presented industrial fishing not as the greatest threat to sealife, but as
  
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• Country diary: the buck stops with me – momentarily

  07-04-2021 06:30
  
  Bishop Auckland, County Durham: There was time enough for me to take in every detail: new antlers clothed in frayed velvet, eyes like polished jet, twitching ears and a rough coatAnyone following me along this pavement near the marketplace might have thought I’d vanished into thin air. In fact, it was a narrow passage in the wall. I turned sharply into it and climbed the steep steps. As I rose, it felt like I was entering a portal into another world.I emerged to find that I was being watch
  
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• Banks pledge to fight climate crisis – but their boards have deep links with fossil fuels

  07-04-2021 06:01
  
  Analysis finds 77% of directors on boards of seven US banks have ties to ‘climate-conflicted’ groups, as banks continue to finance projects like the Line 3 oil pipelineUS banks are pledging to help fight the climate crisis alongside the Biden administration, but their boards are dominated by people with climate-related conflicts of interest, and they continue to invest deeply in fossil fuel projects.Three out of every four board members at seven major US banks (77%) have current or p
  
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• Bank boards have conflicts of interest over climate – and it shows in the fossil fuels they back

  07-04-2021 06:01
  
  Analysis finds 77% of directors on boards of seven US banks have ties to ‘climate-conflicted’ groups, as banks continue to finance projects like the Line 3 oil pipelineUS banks are pledging to help fight the climate crisis alongside the Biden administration, but their boards are dominated by people with climate-related conflicts of interest, and they continue to invest deeply in fossil fuel projects.Three out of every four board members at seven major US banks (77%) have current or p
  
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• City drivers 'should think twice' before buying SUVs

  07-04-2021 01:01 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The boss of the RAC Foundation says drivers in urban areas should consider which car is most appropriate.
  
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