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Red deer on the Isle of Rum – in pictures
A team of six scientists has descended on Rum, a small island in the Inner Hebrides on the west coast of Scotland, to catch red deer calves. During the month-long initiative, overseen by the Isle of Rum Red Deer Project, newborns will be tagged so data can be gathered on them over the course of their lifetimes. The island is home to hundreds of deer and about only 30 people, all of whom live in Kinloch village on the east coast
Continue reading...Bird family tree shaken by discovery of feathered fossil
Flying cameras to spot lethal disease sweeping through world's olive groves
Fast-spreading Xylella fastidiosa is devastating species from citrus to oak trees, but can now be detected from the air
A devastating and fast-spreading infection killing olive trees and grapevines around the world can now be detected from the air, long before symptoms are visible to the human eye.
The new technique offers hope in the battle against one of the world’s most dangerous plant pathogens, which can infect 350 different species, including citrus and almond trees, as well as oaks, elms and sycamores. Special “hyperspectral” cameras provide an early warning system by detecting subtle changes in leaf colour.
Continue reading...Global Representative, Energy, Practical Action – Rugby, UK
Climate Change Consultant, ISS – Stockholm/London
Analyst, Science Based Targets, CDP Europe – Berlin
Johnson criticised over decision to miss crunch Heathrow vote
Fellow Tory MPs say foreign secretary should resign over opposition to third runway
Boris Johnson is facing growing criticism from fellow Conservative MPs over his decision to miss Monday night’s crunch vote on Heathrow despite his claim that resigning over his opposition to a third runway would achieve “absolutely nothing”.
The foreign secretary, who is on a visit to Afghanistan, said he would continue to oppose the £14bn third runway with his ministerial colleagues behind closed doors.
Continue reading...Heathrow airport: how MPs are likely to vote on the third runway
The positions of parties and key players before the Commons vote on expansion
On Monday evening MPs will vote on whether or not Heathrow airport should have a third runway. It is a deeply factious issue and, not unexpectedly, the divisions are complex.
Continue reading...China’s cabinet reaffirms ETS plans, tightens grip on polluters
SK Market: KAUs rise to 3-week high as compliance demand remains
30 years later, deniers are still lying about Hansen’s amazing global warming prediction | Dana Nuccitelli
Koch paychecks seem to be strong motivators to lie
30 years ago, James Hansen testified to Congress about the dangers of human-caused climate change. In his testimony, Hansen showed the results of his 1988 study using a climate model to project future global warming under three possible scenarios, ranging from ‘business as usual’ heavy pollution in his Scenario A to ‘draconian emissions cuts’ in Scenario C, with a moderate Scenario B in between.
Changes in the human effects that influence Earth’s global energy imbalance (a.k.a. ‘anthropogenic radiative forcings’) have in reality been closest to Hansen’s Scenario B, but about 20–30% weaker thanks to the success of the Montreal Protocol in phasing out chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). Hansen’s climate model projected that under Scenario B, global surface air temperatures would warm about 0.84°C between 1988 and 2017. But with a global energy imbalance 20–30% lower, it would have predicted a global surface warming closer to 0.6–0.7°C by this year.
Continue reading...Government cautiously optimistic on Heathrow vote, says Grayling
Transport secretary claims strong support across political spectrum for third runway
The government is “cautiously optimistic” about winning a key parliamentary vote on the expansion of Heathrow airport, the transport secretary, Chris Grayling, has said, defending the controversial idea as being good for the whole of the UK.
The Conservatives, who have a three-line whip in place for their MPs, are likely to get significant Labour support in the vote on Monday after Unite called for Labour MPs to back the third runway.
Continue reading...Plastic pollution
Record emissions keep Australia on path to missing Paris target
Annual carbon emissions, excluding unreliable data, higher than ever, report says
Australia’s emissions over the past year were again the highest on record when unreliable data from land use and forestry sectors are excluded, according to new data from NDEVR Environmental.
If the country’s greenhouse gas emissions continue on their current trajectory, Australia will miss its Paris target by a billion tonnes of CO2, which is equal to about two years of Australia’s entire national emissions.
New Energy Solar buys Manildra solar farm, its first Australia asset
Big business flies in to sell “hideously complex” NEG to Abbott & Co
Baffled by the flight of the dragonfly - Country diary archive, 25 June 1918
25 June 1918 Without apparent effort they dash with incredible speed to one side or the other, or even backwards or forwards
Slim-bodied, brilliantly blue dragonflies dart above the waterside vegetation, then suddenly stop themselves and cling to an upright stem, wings extended wide, long legs clasping with angled “elbows.” They do not dash themselves against the plant they aim for. Poised in the air as if suspended are the buzzing hover-flies, their wings moving so rapidly that we only see a blur. Without apparent effort they dash with incredible speed to one side or the other, or even backwards or forwards; we see a line flash across our field of vision, and there the insect is, hovering again five yards away, or maybe back in the same spot from which it suddenly vanished.
Related: Photographing dragonflies is easier than you think | Mike Averill
Continue reading...Insects that look like sticks, behave like fruit, and move like seeds
Electricity from concrete? Australian company claims breakthrough
Solar pushes mid-day electricity prices below zero in Queensland
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