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Nurseries ban glitter in pre-Christmas drive for cleaner seas
Tops Day Nurseries group cracks down amid fears children’s favourite could be as harmful to environment as microbeads
Glitter, as anyone who has ever worn it knows, has a habit of turning up in unexpected places days later, even after a good scrub. However, a new peril has emerged from the sparkly substance: it is adding to the plastic pollution in our seas.
A group of nurseries in southern England has banned the use of glitter among its 2,500 children to reduce the amount of microplastics entering the seas.
Continue reading...Country diary: a feast for birdwatchers – and some of the best views in the Peak District
Bretton, Derbyshire Finches, fieldfares, tits, siskins and bramblings line up for the feeders at this remote cottage
The road between Abney and Bretton had been closed for much of the summer as a landslip was repaired. The ground hereabouts is wormed through with faults and weaknesses, a legacy of shale rocks and local lead mining. It’s a boundary of sorts, between limestone country to the south and dark gritstone moors to the north, a place of geomantic charm and mystery, hidden corners and unexpected angles.
Now the road was open again, offering some of the best views in the Peak District. I stopped at a remote cottage where a rough footpath led down into the head of Bretton Clough.
Continue reading...'Maybe the smog can bring us together': toxic air chokes Pakistan and India
With Lahore suffering from air pollution almost equal to that enveloping Delhi, joint action to tackle the problem is urgently needed, say environmentalists
Parts of Pakistan have been enveloped by deadly smog in recent weeks, with the city of Lahore suffering almost as badly as the Indian capital Delhi.
Pictures and video that show Lahore looking like an apocalyptic landscape have left people in shock. Some residents have said they can’t see beyond their outstretched arm.
Continue reading...Elon Musk finally unveils the Tesla Semi electric truck
‘Modern air is a little too clean’: the rise of air pollution denial
What Frydenberg was told about why NEG was bad policy
Kidston solar + pumped hydro project wins another $5m from ARENA
Queensland’s new coal generator would burn more money than coal
Solar industry launches campaign against LNP in Queensland poll
Networks push to take regional consumers, communities off grid
GE Renewable Energy appoints Steve Oswald to lead its Wind business in Australia & New Zealand
Science Friction Season 3 starts November 18
Trump reverses ban on elephant importation
UN climate negotiations wind up in Germany
Regulate land-clearing in Great Barrier Reef catchments - Queensland Labor
Australia is a global top-ten deforester – and Queensland is leading the way
Lions next in line of fire as US rolls back curbs on African hunting trophies
The Trump administration’s lifting of restrictions on importing elephant body parts from Zimbabwe and Zambia is not the last gift to hunting interests
Hunting interests have scored a major victory with the Trump administration’s decision to allow Americans to bring home body parts of elephants shot for sport in Africa. Another totemic species now looks set to follow suit – lions.
As the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) was announcing it was lifting a ban on the import of elephant “trophies” from Zimbabwe and Zambia, it also quietly published new guidelines that showed lions shot in the two African countries will also be eligible to adorn American homes.
Continue reading...Fears for Great Barrier Reef as deforestation surges in catchments
Calls grow for the federal government to step in as erosion from intensified land clearing in Queensland threatens coral
A deforestation surge in Queensland, which the latest government data suggests is about to accelerate dramatically, is heavily concentrated in catchments for the Great Barrier Reef, further undermining plans to improve reef water quality.
The finding has renewed calls for the federal government to use its powers to assess the impact of clearing there until the Queensland government is able to pass legislation to halt it itself.
Continue reading...UK government '10 years late' on air quality targets
Report from the National Audit Office finds overall improvement in air quality but does not expect to meet EU targets until 2021
The government will be more than a decade late in meeting EU targets on air quality, a report from the National Audit Office (NAO) has revealed.
The cost of health impacts from air pollution, including fine particulate matter and nitrogen oxides, is estimated at £20bn. Nearly 30,000 deaths were thought to be caused in 2008 by fine particulate matter pollution, some of it caused by diesel cars, according to the report. About 13% of fine particulate matter pollution is thought to come from diesel engines. This is in spite of improving air quality overall.
Continue reading...'Modern air is too clean': the rise of air pollution denial
US sceptics are questioning the science behind air pollution and mortality, a trend that is starting to appear in countries where the air is much more toxic
Despite report after report linking air pollution to deterioration of the lungs, heart and brain, Prof Robert Phalen believes the air is “too clean” for children.
After all, everybody needs a bit of immune-system-boosting dirt in their lungs.
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