Feed aggregator

Estimated 20bn barrels of oil found in Texas’s Permian Basin, three times larger than the Bakken oilfields of North Dakota, could be worth as much as $900bn

A huge deposit of untapped oil, possibly the largest ever discovered in the US, has been identified by the US Geological Survey (USGS) in west Texas.

The USGS estimated that 20bn barrels of oil was contained within layers of shale in the Permian Basin, a vast geological formation that stretches across western Texas and an area of New Mexico. The discovery is three times larger than the Bakken oilfields of North Dakota and is worth around $900bn.

Continue reading...

A genetic technique makes plants produce more food from sunlight - a key step in feeding the growing global population, scientists say.

A genetic technique makes plants produce more food from sunlight - a key step in feeding the growing global population, scientists say.

A coalition of bivalve enthusiasts is trying to revive oyster farming in water that is beset by trash and raw sewage

The oysters in the Hudson River around the Statue of Liberty are some of the plumpest and fastest growing Crassostrea virginica in the whole of New York harbor. Fitting it should be that way, at least in contrast to the East River, between Manhattan and Brooklyn, where untreated effluent is allowed to flow out during storms in what New York authorities describe as a “rain event”.

Related: Lives in the balance: climate change and the Marshall Islands

Continue reading...

Thousands of dead fish were seen on the surface of the Shinnecock Canal in Southampton, New York, on Monday, after becoming trapped inside overnight. Tom Jones, a marine adviser at Hampton Watercraft, shot drone footage of the bizarre occurrence. It is believed the fish were chased into the canal by larger predatory fish and then became trapped inside when the canal shut early Monday morning. The fish eventually dispersed back into the bay when the canal opened later on Monday

Continue reading...

The asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs moved rock huge distances as it dug out a crater in what is now the Gulf of Mexico, scientists say.

Scientific analysis of one of the world's oldest cobs of corn shows how maize became one of our most popular cereals.

Foreign minister, Boris Johnson, signs global pact to cut carbon emissions in London

The UK has become the 111th country to ratify the Paris climate agreement, which aims to avoid the most devastating effects of climate change by cutting carbon emissions.

The foreign minister, Boris Johnson, who has flirted with climate scepticism, signed the pact in London on Thursday after a parliamentary deadline passed on Wednesday night, with no objections raised.

Continue reading...

Government changes to rules on claimants’ costs could make it harder for anyone to challenge public projects, warn campaigners, lawyers and politicians

Environmental legal challenges face being hit by the “chilling effect” of new government rules that remove a cap on claimants’ costs, according to campaigners, lawyers and politicians.

They warn that the changes could deter organisations and individuals challenging projects such as fracking wells, HS2 and the Heathrow third runway for fear of racking up huge court costs.

Continue reading...

We’d like to find out about air pollution around the world. How does it affect your daily life? Share your views and experiences

Air pollution has risen by 8% in in five years with fast-growing cities in the developing world worst affected, according to the WHO. We want to explore its impact on the daily lives of people around the world. If you live in a city that is affected by toxic air or you work in air quality control, we’d like to hear from you.

Two weeks ago, India’s capital city, New Delhi, was effectively shut down because of air pollution. The threat to citizens from smog in Delhi was judged so great that traffic was rationed, coal-fired power stations closed and diesel generators suspended. This week schools were closed in Iran’s capital, Tehran after a blanket of smog was blamed for a string of deaths and in Beijing, students have been told to stay indoors. Air quality in London is among the worst in Europe, and is illegally in breach of EU limits.

Continue reading...

Award-winning wildlife photographer, Sue Flood, is one of the world’s only women to specialise in polar photography. Her images capture wildlife, people and landscapes in the Arctic and Antarctica

• Cold Places: Pictures from the Poles exhibition opens in Chester on 19 November

Continue reading...

Astronomers claim to have discovered the roundest object ever measured in nature.

Private rocket firm SpaceX applies for US government approval for a large network of internet satellites.

A cohort of US delivery services want to change the way we view, cook and eat ‘imperfect’ produce that grocery stores regularly banish

King-sized kiwis, curvy squash and smaller-than-usual apples and limes. That was the “ugly” produce count in boxes of fruits and vegetables Deborah Levine recently received at her home in the San Francisco Bay Area. While most of the produce she gets in her biweekly deliveries is “very normal”, she recalls one particular veggie. It was like a siamese carrot, but with part of it broken off, it looked like it “didn’t have its leg”.

Related: Half of all US food produce is thrown away, new research suggests

Continue reading...

Climate change and deforestation mean people who once lived among trees now go to bed not knowing if their homes will be lost to the desert by morning. Villagers are learning how to adapt and stop the sand

Standing next to a thin belt of rattling trees that represents the only line of green in vast stretches of orange desert, 70-year-old Hamud El-Nour Hamdallah recalls a time when this area in Sudan’s River Nile state was dense forest. If you had not found Goz El Halg village by nightfall, you would have to wait until morning to find your way out.

But decades of drought and deforestation have allowed sand to roll through the desert and swallow homes and farmland. Hamdallah and his community now go to bed not knowing if they will make it out of their homes the next day.

Continue reading...

A lump of faeces stored in the back of a Danish museum is traced back to a 17th-Century bishop.

The UK is poised to ratify the world's first comprehensive agreement on tackling climate change.

Trump’s plans to roll back environmental protections seem worse than many feared

Come on, you can admit it. I admit it. I admit that after Trump’s election victory, I secretly hoped and even though that his rhetoric was worse than its bite. He only said those crazy things during the campaign to get elected. He wouldn’t really follow through on his plans to completely gut the US commitment to keeping the Earth habitable. Oh how naive we were. Trump’s planned staff to fill positions in his administration show things are worse than we could have ever feared.

According to recent reports, Trump has picked long time climate denier and spokesperson for the fossil fuel industry (Myron Ebell) to head the Environmental Protection Agency transition. This basically means the EPA will either cease to function or cease to exist. It also appears that the US will pull out of any agreements to limit greenhouse emissions.

Continue reading...

With an initial service soon to go live, Europe is extending its Galileo satellite-navigation system by putting up another four spacecraft.

Animals are still being killed in horrifying numbers despite global efforts to stop the poaching crisis, says prince at Hanoi summit

Poachers killing Africa’s rhinos and elephants are still one step ahead of efforts to stop the multibillion wildlife trade, Prince William has warned.

Traffickers have become more sophisticated and increasingly brutal, and animals are dying in “horrifying numbers”, the Duke of Cambridge told an international wildlife summit in Hanoi, Vietnam on Thursday.

Continue reading...