Feed aggregator

Astronomers have discovered an object that could be the first known moon located beyond the Solar System.

Cuadrilla faces action for breaching planning permission after delivery to site near Blackpool

A company preparing to be the first to start large-scale UK fracking has breached its planning permission by delivering a drilling rig overnight, prompting the local authority to warn it is considering action against it.

Cuadrilla said that around 30 trucks had made deliveries to its Preston New Road site near Blackpool at 4.45am on Thursday. It has permission to frack at the site later this year.

Continue reading...

Modern trophy hunters can shoot animals via the internet - but they argue that it is all conservation. The killing of Xanda - Cecil the Lion’s son - has sparked debate about what hunting really means

They’re known as canned hunts; captive mammal hunting ranches in the US which offer the chance to shoot a zebra or antelope or even a lion for several thousand dollars. The animals are fenced in and often unafraid of humans so the kills are easy, to the extent that some venues even provide the option of shooting them via the internet, with the use of a camera and a gun on a mount.

It’s estimated that there are more than 1,000 of them - completely legal. But many US hunters consider them a betrayal of every belief they hold dear. “I don’t consider that hunting,” said John Rogalo, a New Jersey hunter who has been stalking bears, deer and turkeys for nearly 50 years. “It’s a weird culture that has developed in this country in the past few years. I joke that you may as well ask the farmer if you could shoot his black Angus because at least you’d get more meat for it.”

Continue reading...

Patagonia’s icefields, Australia’s changing tides, and volcanic activity in Alaska are among the images captured by Nasa and the ESA last month

Alaska’s remote Bogoslof Island volcano erupted in a series of explosions starting in December 2016, triggering the highest aviation alert as it shot ash plumes at least 35,000ft into the atmosphere. By monitoring the volcano via satellite and seismologic data, scientists can provide a warning of when further eruptions could pose a risk to aircraft. This image shows just a small puff of smoke rising from the volcano, while a sediment plume drifts towards the top left of the image, turning the Bering Sea a bright blue-green.

Continue reading...

Met Office figures for 2016 also show long-term decrease in amount of frost, while last winter was the second wettest on record across the country

The winter of 2016 was the warmest for England and Wales in records that stretch back to 1910, the Met Office’s annual State of the UK Climate report revealed on Thursday.

The average temperature from December 2015 to February 2016 was more than 2C above the long-term average across the southern half of the UK. The report also found that, over the last decade, the number of air frosts has dropped by 7% and the number of ground frosts by 9%, compared with the average between 1981-2010.

Continue reading...

Kevin Trenberth - recent award winner - is one of the world’s foremost climate scientists

The American Geophysical Union - the pre-eminent organization of Earth scientists - presents annual awards to celebrate the achievements of scientists. The awards, which are often named after famous historical scientists, reflect the contributions to science in the area of the award namesake. With the 2017 award winners just announced, it’s appropriate to showcase one of the winners here.

The 2017 winner of the Roger Revelle medal is Dr. Kevin E. Trenberth. One of the most well-known scientists in the world, he is certainly the person most knowledgeable about climate change that I know.

Continue reading...

Christmas has come early for Lapland zoo polar bears with snow in July.

Here’s how to prepare for the 100-mile cycling event ...

Shortly before 6am on Sunday, the first of about 25,000 intrepid cyclists will set off from the Olympic Park in east London on a 100-mile trip through the capital and into the hills of Surrey, finishing on the Mall.

It is the fifth year of an event which has so far lived up to its billing of a London marathon for two wheels, part of a wider and much-enjoyed weekend of cycling activities in the capital, which has now spawned similar events elsewhere in Britain.

Continue reading...

For 10 years, Nasa has been flying over the ice caps to chart their retreat. This data is an invaluable record of climate change. But does anyone care? By Avi Steinberg

From the window of a Nasa aircraft flying over the Arctic, looking down on the ice sheet that covers most of Greenland, it’s easy to see why it is so hard to describe climate change. The scale of polar ice, so dramatic and so clear from a plane flying at 450 metres (1,500ft) – high enough to appreciate the scope of the ice and low enough to sense its mass – is nearly impossible to fathom when you aren’t sitting at that particular vantage point.

But it’s different when you are there, cruising over the ice for hours, with Nasa’s monitors all over the cabin streaming data output, documenting in real time – dramatising, in a sense – the depth of the ice beneath. You get it, because you can see it all there in front of you, in three dimensions.

Continue reading...

Targeting a limit of 1.5-2°C of warning far from safe, and will spur feedbacks with potential to run out of humanity’s control.

Sandy, Bedfordshire The Airlander 10 is a 92-metre hybrid airship-plane, full of helium and personality

Half an hour after appearing high over our washing line a giant followed us down to the pub. The church bells next door rang eight, the air was mosquito-still and then an all-consuming bass rumble filled the sky.

A puffed up grey cloud three times the length of a blue whale came overhead. People sitting at the neighbouring table glanced up, then went back to their drinks.

Continue reading...

EnergyAustralia says coal is not cheap and idea that new coal plants could reduce electricity costs is a "myth". This comes as the ACCC vows to focus on bidding practices in wholesale markets, an issue completely ignored by AEMC, the market rule maker.

Early results suggest that lithium-ion out-performs both the advanced and traditional lead-acid battery packs in terms of round-trip efficiency.

TAI report says electricity sector gold-plating costing households $400-$500 a year. Cost of carbon price: "barely noticeable."

AGL invests $13 million in smart lock and smart home controls start-up in US, expanding its push into new technologies.

Queensland govt launches Electric Super Highway, names first 18 locations for "green-powered" EV fast charging stations.

An unprecedented drop in renewable energy prices, the high energy intensity of mining, and the volatility of fossil fuel pricing have combined to create a groundbreaking opportunity for decarbonizing the mining industry.

Electric cars will soon be as cheap as gas ones, “signaling economic turmoil for oil-exporting countries.”

Solar had the largest share in Spain’s renewable energy auction, leaving wind power, which won all the allocated capacity in the previous auction, with just 720 MW.

Perth-based business WBHO Infrastructure, in Joint Venture with Singapore based Phoenix Solar, has secured the EPC (Engineering, Procurement & Construction) contract to deliver WA’s largest solar project, Byford Solar Farm.