Environment news

• ‘Dark oxygen’ in depths of Pacific Ocean could force rethink about origins of life

  22-07-2024 19:49
  
  Charged metallic lumps found to produce oxygen in total darkness in process akin to how plants use photosynthesisIn the total darkness of the depths of the Pacific Ocean, scientists have discovered oxygen being produced not by living organisms but by strange potato-shaped metallic lumps that give off almost as much electricity as AA batteries.The surprise finding has many potential implications and could even require rethinking how life first began on Earth, the researchers behind a study said o
  
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• Oxygen discovery defies knowledge of the deep ocean

  22-07-2024 17:37 via bbc.com
  
  The discovery that lumps of metal on the seafloor produce oxygen raises questions over plans to mine the deep ocean.
  
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• Scottish government selects Galloway as preferred site for new national park

  22-07-2024 17:36
  
  If approved, the region would become Scotland’s third national park and first to be made official in UK since South Downs in 2010Galloway has been selected by the Scottish government as the preferred site for Scotland’s third national park.The region, which came out top from a shortlist of five, will now be the subject of a consultation and an investigation into its suitability before potentially being made official by 2026. The unsuccessful candidate areas were Lochaber, Loch Awe, S
  
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• Solar and wind ‘will miss 2030 clean energy target without £48bn funding’

  22-07-2024 13:14
  
  Hitting target for zero-carbon electricity system will require ‘step-change’, says analyst Cornwall InsightBusiness live – latest updatesSolar and wind power generation will fall well below the target needed to decarbonise Great Britain’s electricity grid by 2030 without an injection of £48bn, according to a forecast from one of the UK’s leading energy analysis companies.The government has promised to deliver a zero-carbon electricity system by 2030, requiring
  
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• It’s ‘almost impossible’ to eliminate toxic PFAS from your diet. Here’s what you can do

  22-07-2024 13:00
  Found in products such as eggs and rice, ‘forever chemicals’ have been linked to cancer, kidney disease and moreIn recent years, research has found or pointed to the presence of toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” in a range of staples, products and beverages across the food system.Among them are kale, eggs, butter, protein powder, milk, ketchup, coffee, canola oil, smoothies, tea, beef, juice drinks and rice. Evidence suggests they’re most widely contaminating carryout
  
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• I’m obsessed with ocean sounds: ‘I can’t see but I can hear the whole reef, like an orchestra’

  22-07-2024 12:00
  
  Padi’s first South African blind scuba diver describes how her other sensesenhance her experience underwater I went on my first dive in Mozambique and as I was descending, I could hear this weird chirruping noise. As we got closer to the reef, it got louder and louder. It was so weird and different from any other sound I’ve heard. Other scuba divers call it the “crackling” of the coral reef. That’s what I was hearing: the actual coral. I could hear the whole reef, b
  
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• Weather tracker: Summer storms end hot spell in Slovenia

  22-07-2024 11:57
  Strong winds and heavy rain trigger 230 weather-related events across the country, while Tropical Storm Gaemi nears TaiwanSlovenia was hit by heavy rain and strong winds on Friday as a series of storms brought an abrupt end to a prolonged hot and dry spell.More than 230 weather-related events including flooding and landslides have been reported across the country. The worst-hit regions were in the Gorenjska municipality of Preddvor, and in Koroška in the north, which experienced similarly
  
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• ‘Massacred for TikTok likes’: is social media feeding the slaughter of 2.6m birds in Lebanon?

  22-07-2024 08:00
  Hunting migratory birds is illegal in the country, but a series of crises means enforcement is derisory and many birds are being shot ‘just for fun’Shell casings litter a meadow on Mount Terbol in northern Lebanon. The valley below falls along one of the world’s busiest routes for migratory birds. The mountain peak, buffeted by harsh winds, creates a natural corridor that encourages birds fatigued from long journeys between Africa and Eurasia to fly at low altitudes.Those low-f
  
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• Country diary: Two of us face down the Atlantic drizzle | Amy-Jane Beer

  22-07-2024 06:30
  
  Pen Pyrod, Gower: Hunched in front of me is a female kestrel, watching the water, feathers red as the topsoil around usAt the very tip of the Gower peninsula, a beast rears west. Its English name, Worm’s Head, derives from wyrm, a monstrous serpentine beast – a Welsh dragon of sorts. To me, the lumpy sometimes-island, connected to the mainland by a jagged causeway at low tide, looks like a turtle, with a long narrow carapace peering into the Atlantic drizzle.There&rsqu
  
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• Labour told it will need to defeat ‘net-zero nimbys’ to decarbonise Britain

  22-07-2024 01:01
  
  Opposition in wealthier areas is likely and overcoming it is essential, says Resolution Foundation The government will need to “take on net-zero nimbys” and ramp up public investment to decarbonise Britain’s homes, transport and electricity system, a leading thinktank has said.With Keir Starmer promising a rapid transition to decarbonise the power system by 2030, a report by the Resolution Foundation said achieving the target would require more government spending and private i
  
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