Feed aggregator
I got 'doored' while undertaking on my bike. Was it my fault?
Helen Pidd was cycling through stationary traffic when a passenger opened his door into her path
As soon as the car door hit me I thought: finally. After cycling regularly for 15 years it always seemed something of a miracle that I had never been knocked off.
My second instinct was to feel sheepish. Was it my fault?
Continue reading...Ozone layer not recovering over populated areas, scientists warn
While the hole over Antarctica has been closing, the protective ozone is thinning at the lower latitudes, where the sunlight is stronger and billions of people live
The ozone layer that protects people from the sun’s ultraviolet radiation is not recovering over most highly populated regions, scientists warned on Tuesday.
The greatest losses in ozone occurred over Antarctica but the hole there has been closing since the chemicals causing the problem were banned by the Montreal protocol. But the ozone layer wraps the entire Earth and new research has revealed it is thinning in the lower stratosphere over the non-polar areas.
Continue reading...UK built half of Europe's offshore wind power in 2017
Capacity is growing fast and turbines getting bigger – some almost as large as the Shard
Britain accounted for more than half of the new offshore wind power capacity built in Europe last year, as the sector broke installation records across the continent.
Continue reading...Meet the latest organisation to achieve carbon neutral certification
New batteries for Hawaiian wind farm: Younicos upgrades 10 MW energy storage system
Horizon Power partnering with leading academic institution to trial distributed energy systems in regional Western Australia
Rooftop solar most reliable source of new generation on NEM, says report
Turnbull’s power play: Snowy 2.0 vs battery storage
A Snow(y) job: He who pays the piper calls the tune
New Nissan LEAF EV confirmed for Australia delivery
Australian wave energy hopeful wins grant to test technology at UK hub
Renewable Energy Market Report: A cat among the pigeons
The long and winding road to tariff reform
Dinosaurs ‘too successful for their own good’
Elon Musk's huge Falcon Heavy rocket set for launch
Pesticide bans might give us a buzz, but they won't necessarily save the bees
'Everything is made into a political issue': rethinking Australia's environmental laws
Public should be given a greater say on development plans, experts say
Environmental lawyers and academics have called for a comprehensive rethink on how Australia’s natural landscapes are protected, warning that short-term politics is infecting decision-making and suggesting that the public be given a greater say on development plans.
The Australian Panel of Experts on Environmental Law has launched a blueprint for a new generation of environment laws and the creation of independent agencies with the power and authority to ensure they are enforced. The panel of 14 senior legal figures says this is motivated by the need to systematically address ecological challenges including falling biodiversity, the degradation of productive rural land, the intensification of coastal and city development and the threat of climate change.
Continue reading...Asda joins wave of supermarkets pledging to cut plastic waste
Series of measures includes reducing plastic in its own-brand packaging by 10% – but does not go as far as cutting it out altogether
Asda has become the latest supermarket to join the war against plastic by pledging to reduce it “wherever” it can, including slashing the amount in its own-brand packaging by 10% in the next 12 months.
In a series of measures, Asda promised to scrap 5p carrier bags in all stores by the end of the year, switch 2.4m plastic straws used in its cafes to paper and introduce reusable drinks cups in its shops and cafes by the end of 2019.
Continue reading...'Extraordinary' fossil sheds light on origins of spiders
What the saviour of London’s pigeons taught me about the problem with plastic
Decades ago, the late writer and critic Naomi Lewis spent hours on the streets rescuing birds tangled in nylon thread. She should have been a warning sign of the horrors to come
Not knowing what to do with myself and my bad temper in my 30s, I went to a creative writing class at City Lit, a London-based adult-education college. The teacher looked odd – about 70, she was always dressed in black, her hair was grey and a little wild and she seemed to have dusted her face in flour, some of which speckled her black clothes.
But there was something magical about Naomi Lewis. She was full of enthusiasm, thrilled by the efforts of her class. She would sit at the end of our square of tables, always cheery, and call out excitedly: “So good! So much of interest!”
Continue reading...