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Seal pups rescued in winter storms released back to wild
Moon to get 4G mobile network
Atacama's lessons about life on Mars
Arctic warming: scientists alarmed by 'crazy' temperature rises
Record warmth in the Arctic this month could yet prove to be a freak occurrence, but experts warn the warming event is unprecedented
An alarming heatwave in the sunless winter Arctic is causing blizzards in Europe and forcing scientists to reconsider even their most pessimistic forecasts of climate change.
Although it could yet prove to be a freak event, the primary concern is that global warming is eroding the polar vortex, the powerful winds that once insulated the frozen north.
Continue reading...Lack of models, not charging points, 'holding back electric car market'
Analysis shows just 20 battery models on sale in Europe against more than 400 conventional ones
The rise of electric cars in Europe is being hampered by a lack of models for consumers to choose from rather than a lack of public recharging points, according to energy companies and carmakers.
Some motoring groups and insurers have warned over the past year that the number of chargers is putting the switch to electric transport at risk. But an analysis by the Platform for Electromobility – whose 31 members include Tesla, Renault-Nissan, Brussels-based campaign group T&E and industrial groups Siemens and Alstom – found there are already enough points in Europe.
Continue reading...German court rules cities can ban diesel cars to tackle pollution
Landmark ruling could cause traffic chaos and dramatically hit the value of diesel vehicles
One of Germany’s top courts has ruled that heavily polluting vehicles can be banned from the urban centres of Stuttgart and Düsseldorf, a landmark ruling that could cause traffic chaos on the country’s roads and dramatically hit the value of diesel cars.
Environmental campaigners had sued dozens of German cities, arguing they have a duty to cut air pollution to protect people’s health.
Scientists have detected an acceleration in sea level rise | John Abraham
Faster melting of ice sheets is speeding up sea level rise
As humans emit heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide, the planet warms, and over time consequences become more apparent. Some of the consequences we are familiar with – for instance, rising temperatures, melting ice, and rising sea levels. Scientists certainly want to know how much the Earth has changed, but we also want to know how fast the changes will be in the future to know what the next generations will experience.
One of the classic projections into the future is for sea level rise. It is expected that by the year 2100, the ocean levels will rise a few feet by the end of the century. This matters a lot because globally, 150 million people live within three feet of current ocean levels. We have built our modern infrastructure based on current ocean levels. What happens to peoples’ homes and infrastructure when the waters rise?
Continue reading...The defenders: recording the deaths of environmental defenders around the world
This year, in collaboration with Global Witness, the Guardian aims to record the deaths of all people killed while protecting land or natural resources. At the current rate, about four defenders will die this week somewhere on the planet
Continue reading...Radical histories for uncanny times
Australia's growing rate of electronic waste
Why New Zealand should not explore for more natural gas reserves
It's time to find out if Australia's threatened species projects are actually effective
A Senate estimates hearing has been told how little auditing takes place on such projects. But no big deal, it’s just the environment, right?
Imagine spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a project and not being able to demonstrate whether or not you’ve achieved what you set out to.
Such is the case for programs aimed at helping Australia’s threatened plants and animals, which the government has boasted it is funding to the tune of $255m.
Continue reading...Xenophon’s SA BEST unveils community electricity co-op plan
Country diary: the stoat's winter coat is no camouflage now
Allendale, Northumberland: One of their main predators is the domestic cat; an ermine will be particularly vulnerable once the snow has gone
I’m eating my breakfast when I see a flash of white hurtling down the garden path. Reaching for the binoculars that are always on the kitchen table, I see it’s a stoat, part ermined, starkly revealed now the snow has gone. Its fur is a rich red-brown with white patches, the brilliant winter coat contrasting with the jet black tip to its tail. Flowing lightly over dormant flower beds, it streaks over a wall and disappears into the field.
Minutes later, I see the stoat again, a limp vole in its mouth. It runs around the square of the garden keeping to the inside of the boundary before slipping between the stones of one of the drystone walls. It emerges without the vole, which it has cached, storing the surplus food for later. For the next half hour I watch it hunting, undulating along coping stones, its neat little face popping out from under the topiary, as the sun comes up, a mistle thrush sings and backlit winter gnats take to the air.
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