Around The Web

Is help finally at hand for suicide crisis on America’s farms?

The Guardian - Wed, 2018-05-23 20:00

Farmers take their lives at a rate higher than any other occupation, and at twice the rate of military veterans. Two bills to help farmers were included in the federal farm bill

In early May, Kansas farmer John Blaske is waiting for the rain to stop so he can begin planting. From the front door of his farmhouse, a green yard decorated with bird feeders slopes down to a series of fields where the corn will be planted. Beyond the fields, there’s a tree line and a small bridge with a creek running below. It’s peaceful here, and mostly quiet, except for the sound of the occasional car or tractor, or the cows calling from the paddock.

The waiting makes him restless, he tells me. And it’s not just the rain. He’s also waiting desperately for the opportunity to talk to fellow agrarians or to legislators about the stress, depression and suicidal ideation he experiences as a farmer.

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Global warming made Hurricane Harvey more destructive | John Abraham

The Guardian - Wed, 2018-05-23 20:00

Hot oceans fueled Hurricane Harvey, generating more intense rainfall

Last summer, the United states was pummeled with three severe hurricanes in rapid succession. It was a truly awesome display of the power of weather and the country is still reeling from the effects. In the climate community, there has been years of research into the effect that human-caused global warming has on these storms – both their frequency and their power.

The prevailing view is that in a warming world, there will likely be fewer such storms, but the storms that form will be more severe. Some research, however, concludes that there will be both more storms and more severe ones. More generally, because there is more heat, there is more activity, which can be manifested in several ways.

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Shenzhen council pays ETS companies for saved CO2 permits

Carbon Pulse - Wed, 2018-05-23 18:46
The council in Shenzhen’s richest city district has extended a funding scheme for local emitters based on how many CO2 permits remain unused when complying with the Chinese city's pilot emissions trading scheme.
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SK Market: KAUs rise to 5.5-mth highs on strong demand

Carbon Pulse - Wed, 2018-05-23 18:39
South Korean carbon permits rose to their highest level of 2018 on Wednesday as many traders remain concerned whether supply will be sufficient for everyone to comply by the annual June 30 deadline.
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England at risk of water shortages due to overuse and leaks, report warns

The Guardian - Wed, 2018-05-23 15:01

Wasted water from leaking pipes and overuse in homes is causing damage to rivers and wildlife and putting increasing pressure on overstretched supplies, warns the Environment Agency

People need to use less water and companies must curb leaks to prevent future water shortages and damage to rivers and wildlife, the Environment Agency (EA) has warned.

Many sources of water supplies are already overstretched and, with climate change and a growing population, much of England could see significant supply shortages by the 2050s – particularly in the south-east.

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SA Liberals vow to continue energy transition, go big in batteries

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2018-05-23 14:39
SA Liberal energy minister Dan van Holst Pellekaan vows to continue state's dramatic energy transition, and flags support for programs that could deliver 100,000 household batteries.
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NTCRS co-regulatory arrangements annual reports for 2016-17

Department of the Environment - Wed, 2018-05-23 14:30
The day-to-day operation of the National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme is managed by four co-regulatory arrangements, Australian and New Zealand Recycling Platform (ANZRP), Ecycle Solutions (Ecycle), Electronics Product Stewardship...
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NTCRS co-regulatory arrangements annual reports for 2016-17

Department of the Environment - Wed, 2018-05-23 14:30
The day-to-day operation of the National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme is managed by four co-regulatory arrangements, Australian and New Zealand Recycling Platform (ANZRP), Ecycle Solutions (Ecycle), Electronics Product Stewardship...
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Country diary: a Welsh garden at its psychedelic best

The Guardian - Wed, 2018-05-23 14:30

Bodnant Garden, Gwynedd: Rhododendrons and azaleas flash white, pink, red, orange and blue as the oaks awaken from a long winter dream


These oak leaves open like bloody beef. Not the “rich brown-umber hue the oaks unfold/ When Spring’s young sunshine bathes their trunks in gold” that John Clare described in his poem Wood Pictures in Spring. These are the emerging leaves of a Quercus robur “Atropurpurea” (they will mature to a deep red-purple), a form of English or common oak, growing in a Welsh wood on the ravine of a stream flowing into the Vale of Conwy.

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For $6 extra, AEMO keeps lights on and defies renewable skeptics

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2018-05-23 14:29
AEMO says reserve mechanism that ensured lights stayed on last summer cost just $6 per customer, and praises role of newly deployed technologies such as batteries and demand response.
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Yarranlea Solar Farm under construction in Queensland

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2018-05-23 14:29
Work begins on Risen Energy's 121MW Yarranlea Solar Farm, west of Toowoomba, which is going ahead without a PPA.
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Illegal online sales of endangered wildlife rife in Europe

The Guardian - Wed, 2018-05-23 14:01

Exclusive: Study finds 12,000 items worth $4m, including ivory, live orangutans and a huge number of reptiles and birds for the pet trade

The online sale of endangered and threatened wildlife is rife across Europe, a new investigation has revealed, ranging from live cheetahs, orangutans and bears to ivory, polar bear skins and many live reptiles and birds.

Researchers from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw) spent six weeks tracking adverts on 100 online marketplaces in four countries, the UK, Germany, France and Russia. They found more than 5,000 adverts offering to sell almost 12,000 items, worth $4m (£3m) in total. All the specimens were species in which trade is restricted or banned by the global Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species.

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500 BMW i3 batteries connected to UK wind farm

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2018-05-23 12:45
Sweden's Vattenfall connects 500 BMW i3 batteries to 228MW wind farm in South Wales, in "UK’s largest" co-located onshore wind and battery project.
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How renewables can provide the same grid services as new gas plants

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2018-05-23 12:36
US report demonstrates how renewable and distributed energy resources can provide the same grid services as gas generators – and avoid $1 trillion of new plant costs.
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A 100% renewable grid isn’t just feasible, it’s already happening

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2018-05-23 12:31
Debate over whether we can run electric grids on 100% renewables in coming decades misses a key point: many countries and regions are already there.
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Progress toward the voluntary industry phase-out of microbeads

Department of the Environment - Wed, 2018-05-23 12:27
The Department is working to ensure that microbeads in personal care and cosmetic products are phased out by July 2018 and has published assessments on the sale of microbead-containing products in Australia and industry progress toward the phase...
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Progress toward the voluntary industry phase-out of microbeads

Department of the Environment - Wed, 2018-05-23 12:27
The Department is working to ensure that microbeads in personal care and cosmetic products are phased out by July 2018 and has published assessments on the sale of microbead-containing products in Australia and industry progress toward the phase...
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Progress toward the voluntary industry phase-out of microbeads

Department of the Environment - Wed, 2018-05-23 12:27
The Department is working to ensure that microbeads in personal care and cosmetic products are phased out by July 2018 and has published assessments on the sale of microbead-containing products in Australia and industry progress toward the phase...
Categories: Around The Web

Progress toward the voluntary industry phase-out of microbeads

Department of the Environment - Wed, 2018-05-23 12:27
The Department is working to ensure that microbeads in personal care and cosmetic products are phased out by July 2018 and has published assessments on the sale of microbead-containing products in Australia and industry progress toward the phase...
Categories: Around The Web

The farmer wants a hive: inside the world of renting bees

The Conversation - Wed, 2018-05-23 12:18
Many fruits, nuts and other crops rely on bees to pollinate their flowers at just the right time of year. Many farmers rent bees to get the job done at pollination time. Manu Saunders, Research fellow, University of New England Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
Categories: Around The Web

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