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Allow nuclear waste disposal in national parks, say MPs
Safest site should be chosen regardless of location, committee says – but opponents call idea ‘outrageous’
Highly radioactive nuclear waste could be permanently buried under national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty (AONBs), under government plans backed by a committee of MPs.
Deep geological burial is seen as the only permanent solution for nuclear waste that will remain radioactive for many thousands of years and is currently stored at surface sites across the UK. Ministers’ attempts to choose a site in Cumbria for the £12bn facility were foiled in 2013 when the county council rejected the proposal.
Continue reading...2017 UK's fifth warmest year on record, says Met Office
Average temperature in past decade is 0.8C hotter and ‘notably wetter’ than the 30 years leading up to 1990
Last year was the fifth warmest on record for the UK, showing a clear warming trend above the long-term average, despite a wet summer last year and cold winter.
The average temperature over the past decade, since 2008, was 0.8C above the 30 year average to 1990. Summers over that period have also been “notably wetter”, the Met Office said, in its fourth annual State of the UK Climate report on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Shhh: Harley-Davidson confirms ‘twist and go’ electric motorcycle for 2019
Country diary: wildflowers struggle in the heartless heat
Folly Farm, Somerset: Even sun-loving insects have been suffering as their food plants wither and nectar sources dry up
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Open letter to energy ministers: Release NEG modelling in full
Timor Leste a Mecca for whales but they face threats
One third of all cetacean species are found in the waters off Timor Leste, but measures are needed to protect them
Olive Andrews believes Timor Leste could be one of the best destinations in the world for whale watching. Andrews - a research scientist with a particular interest in cetaceans - drew this conclusion when she joined a survey team assessing the coastal waters north of Timor Leste in October 2016. “I’ve never seen such a biomass of cetaceans in such a small geography,” she says. “We encountered 2287 cetaceans from 11 species, including superpods of up to 600 individuals.”
There are 90 distinct species of cetacean - and at least 30 of them occur in Timor Leste. These include both local populations like melon headed whales and spinner dolphins, and migratory species like humpbacks and pygmy blue whales. Managed properly, whale tourism could generate significant income for Timor Leste, one of the world’s youngest - and poorest - nations.
AEMO’s Zibelman admits “hiccup” in new solar and wind connections
Australia renewables boom rolls on, but NEG shadow looms
The Black-Allan Line
US wind continues record growth despite Trump’s coal fetish
Spanish solar thermal group models 85% renewable energy plan
Butler lambasts “pathetic” emissions target, “silly” pursuit of coal
Spider mower blitzes vegetation underneath PV panels
Manitoba releases draft framework for regulating large emitters under carbon tax
Livestock treatment may offer solution to antibiotics crisis, say scientists
Dosing animals with antibodies from their own immune systems could prevent illness and reduce the need for antibiotics
Using animals’ own immune systems may provide a way to reduce the overuse of antibiotics in farming, replacing the drugs with cheap farm byproducts and cutting the growing risk of resistance to common medicines, new research has suggested.
Natural antibodies, produced by the immune system without previous infection, in animals and humans, can protect the body against harmful bacteria. They are present in some usually unconsidered farm byproducts, such as the whey left over from milk production, and they could be administered to animals easily in feed.
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