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Sam Gyimah is new science minister

BBC - Wed, 2018-01-10 03:32
Who is the new man in charge of higher education in England?
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Great Barrier Reef: Warmer seas 'turning turtles female'

BBC - Wed, 2018-01-10 01:30
Green sea turtles' gender is temperature dependent and there are now too many females.
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Pollution hotspots revealed: Check your area

BBC - Wed, 2018-01-10 00:01
Enter your postcode to see what the air quality is like where you are.
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Brexit bill may have broken international environment law, says UN

The Guardian - Tue, 2018-01-09 23:56

Exclusive: compliance committee considers complaint alleging government breached Aarhus convention by not consulting public over withdrawal bill

The British government may have breached a major “environmental democracy” law by failing to consult the public when drawing up Brexit legislation.

A UN-backed committee has confirmed it is considering a complaint from Friends of the Earth that the government’s EU withdrawal bill breached the Aarhus convention, which requires public consultation on any new environmental law.

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End signalled for European Ariane 5 rocket

BBC - Tue, 2018-01-09 22:57
A final batch order is raised for the Ariane 5 - the workhorse European rocket of the last 20 years.
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Paraguay lagoon sees giant lily pads return

BBC - Tue, 2018-01-09 22:37
Tourists are flocking to see the giant water lilies, which locals had thought were extinct.
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ISS: Japanese astronaut Norishige Kanai worried by growth spurt

BBC - Tue, 2018-01-09 22:22
Norishige Kanai says he is worried he will not be able fit in his Soyuz seat for the return to Earth.
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Heat-stressed koalas hosed down in Australia – video

The Guardian - Tue, 2018-01-09 21:40

Volunteers from the Help Save the Wildlife and Bushlands in Campbelltown organisation hose down heat stressed koala bears in the searing Australian heat. Temperatures have reached 47C causing exhaustion and dehydration

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The 'imminent mini ice age' myth is back, and it's still wrong | Dana Nuccitelli

The Guardian - Tue, 2018-01-09 21:00

We can’t accurately predict solar activity, and a quiet solar cycle would have a small impact on Earth’s climate anyway

Roughly every two years we’re treated to headlines repeating the myth that Earth is headed for an imminent “mini ice age.” It happened in 2013, 2015, and again just recently at the tail end of 2017.

This time around, the myth appears to have been sparked by a Sky News interview with Northumbria University mathematics professor Valentina Zharkova. The story was quickly echoed by the Daily Mail, International Business Times, Sputnik News, Metro, Tru News, and others. Zharkova was also behind the ‘mini ice age’ stories in 2015, based on her research predicting that the sun will soon enter a quiet phase.

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Marine wildlife charities' worries over management plan

BBC - Tue, 2018-01-09 16:56
Almost a decade in the making, it sets out how seas should be used and protected in the next 20 years.
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Wildlife photographer of the year people's choice award - in pictures

The Guardian - Tue, 2018-01-09 16:01

The Natural History Museum has chosen 24 of the best images from its Wildlife photographer of the year competition shortlist. Members of the public can vote for their favourite by 5 February 2018.

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Country diary: self-sufficient ponies open up the wetlands for wildlife

The Guardian - Tue, 2018-01-09 15:30

Waltham Brooks, West Sussex A burst of loud, profane whistles announce the presence of a Cetti’s warbler, darting through the rushes in search of food

The early morning rain has lifted but there is still damp in the air. Konik ponies watch me between their mouthfuls of grass as I make my slow way through the dark, water-logged mud. The small, brown horses – descendants of the wild Tarpans that once roamed Europe – are a hardy, self-sufficient breed, perfectly adapted to grazing wetlands. They are used increasingly by conservation bodies in the UK, as here by the Sussex Wildlife Trust, to control young trees, shrubs and plants that would otherwise grow and dominate habitat like this. The ponies’ grazing clears channels and pools, opens up patches of grass, and creates new opportunities for diverse species of plants, insects, birds and animals to thrive.

Related: Hoof hardy in the snow

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Plastic microbeads ban enters force in UK

The Guardian - Tue, 2018-01-09 15:01

Manufacturing ban means the tiny beads which harm marine life can no longer be used in cosmetics and personal care products

Plastic microbeads can no longer be used in cosmetics and personal care products in the UK, after a long-promised ban came into effect on Tuesday. The ban initially bars the manufacture of such products and a ban on sales will follow in July.

Thousands of tonnes of plastic microbeads from products such as exfoliating face scrubs and toothpastes wash into the sea every year, where they harm wildlife and can ultimately be eaten by people. The UK government first pledged to ban plastic microbeads in September 2016, following a US ban in 2015.

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BBC's Antiques Roadshow to review ivory objects policy

BBC - Tue, 2018-01-09 14:57
BBC to review policy of allowing ivory items on the show amid criticism from a wildlife campaigner.
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Higher electricity bills if Snowy 2.0 hydro not built, says Frydenberg

The Guardian - Tue, 2018-01-09 12:25

Despite costing up to $4.5bn, the feasibility study for ‘Australia’s biggest battery’ finds it would still be economically viable

Australians would pay more for electricity and have more volatile supply if the Snowy 2.0 pumped hydropower project is not built, Josh Frydenberg has said.

The energy and environment minister has strongly argued for the necessity of the scheme in an opinion piece for the Australian Financial Review, despite the feasibility study revealing that its estimated cost had blown out by more than $2bn to between $3.8bn and $4.5bn.

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Energy agency rejects Trump plan to prop up coal and nuclear power plants

The Guardian - Tue, 2018-01-09 11:18

The unexpected decision by the Republican-controlled body is a blow to the president’s high-profile mission to revive the struggling US coal industry

An independent energy agency on Monday rejected a Trump administration plan to bolster coal-fired and nuclear power plants with subsidies, dealing a blow to the president’s high-profile mission to revive the struggling coal industry.

The decision by the Republican-controlled Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) was unexpected and comes amid repeated promises by Trump to rejuvenate coal as the nation’s top power source. The industry has been besieged by multiple bankruptcies and a steady loss of market share as natural gas and renewable energy have flourished.

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Olam signs long term Renewable Corporate PPA with Flow Power

RenewEconomy - Tue, 2018-01-09 09:39
Flow Power, has announced that it has entered into a large - scale Renewable Corporate Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Olam Orchards Australia Pty Ltd.
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El Nino's long reach to Antarctic ice

BBC - Tue, 2018-01-09 06:19
Scientists show how the floating fronts of Antarctic glaciers respond to events in the tropical Pacific.
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Most expensive year on record for US natural disasters

BBC - Tue, 2018-01-09 04:05
Fires, hurricanes and other weather and climate disasters last year cost the US around $306bn in losses.
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