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UK consumers told to keep apples in fridge as part of wider labelling shake-up

The Guardian - Wed, 2017-11-29 17:01

Supermarket packaging will carry new logos advising which items can be kept in the fridge, ensuring they last longer and reduce food waste

Bags of supermarket apples will carry a new logo advising consumers to keep them in the fridge to make them last longer as part of a shake-up of food labelling aimed aimed at cutting about 350,000 tonnes of domestic food waste – worth £1bn – by 2025.

The confusing and sometimes misleading “display by”, “best by” and “use by” dates on packaging is being simplified to encourage shoppers to get the most out of their larder, fridge and freezer.

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Remembering women killed fighting for human rights in 2017

The Guardian - Wed, 2017-11-29 17:00

To mark International Women Human Rights Defenders’ Day, we pay tribute to some of the women killed this year because of their activism

In 2017, 44 female activists died, more than half of them murdered for defending their rights. Among the women killed are those who fought to protect their land from the state and multinational companies, or called out injustices or corruption, or stood up for the rights of lesbian, gay and transexual people.

While thousands of men defend human rights, women face particular challenges for their activism. They are targeted for who they are, as women, not just because they are protesting. In countries that view a woman’s role as being in the home, female human rights defenders are more prone to attack than men because they are seen as breaking social norms.

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Artists reveal their 2017 bird of the year vote on Arias red carpet – video

The Guardian - Wed, 2017-11-29 14:45

Musicians and other stars arriving at the annual music awards at Sydney’s Star casino weigh into the Australian bird of the year debate. There are some firm opinions for and against the ibis. AB Original may contend that the term ‘bin chicken’ is profiling, but David Le’auppe from Gang of Youths maintains that no one can love a bird that defecates on ‘every single picnic table in the inner west’

• Vote in the 2017 Australian bird of the year poll

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How we found 112 'recovery reefs' dotted through the Great Barrier Reef

The Conversation - Wed, 2017-11-29 14:37
A new study identifies dozens of individual reefs on the Great Barrier Reef that are especially important for coral larvae dispersal and which could help the entire ecosystem bounce back. Peter J Mumby, Chair professor, The University of Queensland Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
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Why South Australia must, and will, lead world on renewables

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2017-11-29 13:37
Opening of Tesla big battery this week illustrates how South Australia's system black actually accelerated the shift to a clean energy future. The state is likely to double its renewable capacity, and lead the world on storage. It's an inspiring story.
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Green light for new energy project in South Australia

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2017-11-29 12:19
Schneider Electric and Planet Ark Power awarded $1.95m South Australia State Government grant towards a $13.8m solar photovoltaic and battery microgrid project, a first project of its kind in Australia.
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EnerNOC enters frequency control market in Australia

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2017-11-29 12:11
EnerNOC is providing Australia’s National Electricity Market with Frequency Control Ancillary Services to support power system security and ensure uninterrupted power for consumers, a first in Australia.
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Seven million Australians now represented by climate action councils

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2017-11-29 12:03
Sydney, Brisbane and Darwin councils join 55 Australian local governments who have signed up to the Climate Council’s Cities Power Partnership, a network of councils driving uptake of clean energy around the country.
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Food waste: Clearer label plan in bid to cut

BBC - Wed, 2017-11-29 11:57
Confusion over food labels is prompting people to throw away usable produce, waste agency claims.
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Large iceberg breaks off from Grey glacier in southern Chile

The Guardian - Wed, 2017-11-29 10:59

Officials at Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park, home to the glacier, said such ruptures were rare and had not occurred since the early 1990s

A large iceberg broke off the Grey glacier in southern Chile, authorities said on Tuesday, adding that the cause of the rupture was unclear.

Chile’s Conaf forestry service shared photos on social media of the enormous block of blue-white ice, which measured 350m (1,148ft) long by 380m (1,247ft) wide, as it floated free in waters of a glacial lagoon near the southern tip of the South American continent.

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Invitation to comment on listing assessment for Philotheca sporadica (Kogan waxflower)

Department of the Environment - Wed, 2017-11-29 10:58
The public consultation period will be open until 24 January 2018.
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S.A. provides funds for four “next wave” energy storage projects

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2017-11-29 10:36
South Australia chooses battery storage, hydrogen and thermal storage for demonstration projects at remote mines, distribution centres and waste plants.
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Breakthrough in coral restoration, say researchers

BBC - Wed, 2017-11-29 10:21
Coral is growing on the Great Barrier Reef after first being grown in tanks, say researchers.
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Nationals push for new coal generator in NSW is a preposterous idea

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2017-11-29 10:04
Proposal by NSW Nationals to build new coal fired power station is a preposterous idea pushed by a panicked and desperate politician.
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Little left in RET kitty, but rooftop solar set for record year

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2017-11-29 09:58
Regulator says renewable energy target nearly met, and confirms that rooftop solar is heading for a record year of more than 1 gigawatt of new capacity.
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Footage of Earth from the International Space Station

BBC - Wed, 2017-11-29 09:50
Astronaut Randy Bresnik shares footage of a maintenance mission outside the International Space Station.
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Busting more myths about South Australia’s wind and solar

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2017-11-29 09:44
The recent performance of wind and solar in South Australia - 63 per cent of consumption - dispels a few myths around renewables and makes a nonsense of the proposed National Energy Guarantee.
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Three beavers released into the wild

BBC - Wed, 2017-11-29 09:12
The latest trio has been introduced to Knapdale Forest in Argyll, Scotland.
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How little brown birds get overlooked in the protection pecking order

The Guardian - Wed, 2017-11-29 09:00

Ever heard of the King Island brown thornbill? What about the orange-bellied parrot? Can you guess which is more endangered?

In January 2016, a keen birdwatcher named Dion Hobcroft walked into the Pegarah state forest on Tasmania’s King Island with a recorded birdcall and took the first blurry photographs of the King Island brown thornbill.

The brown thornbill, Acanthiza pusilla archibaldi, is a subspecies of the Tasmanian thornbill, distinguished from its cousins on the big island by a slightly longer beak.

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Weatherwatch: climate change means lots of birdsong, even in November

The Guardian - Wed, 2017-11-29 07:30

Unlike other birds, robins have always sung throughout the season, but now other species are joining them due to their warming environment


The Victorian humorist and poet Thomas Hood took a dim view of the penultimate month of the year: “No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds! – November!”

If he meant no bird song, then, when he was writing, during the cooler climatic interlude known as the Little Ice Age, he would have been spot-on.

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