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Michael Bloomberg pledges $4.5m to cover US Paris climate commitment
- Former NYC mayor criticises Trump for pulling out of deal
- EPA chief Pruitt did meet lobbyist linked to condo, despite denials
The former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg has said he will write a $4.5m cheque to cover this year’s US commitment to the Paris climate agreement.
Related: Macron begins Trump charm offensive with Fox News interview
Continue reading...Killer whales seen in river Clyde
Pod of orcas spotted between Dunoon and Gourock, thought to be hunting seals or porpoises
A pod of killer whales has been spotted in the river Clyde apparently hunting seals or porpoises.
Images and videos have been posted on social media over the weekend of about half a dozen killer whales, or orcas, between Dunoon and Gourock.
Continue reading...EPA chief Scott Pruitt did meet lobbyist linked to condo lease, despite denials
- Pruitt and Steven Hart both denied any recent business
- Two men met at EPA HQ in July 2017 to discuss Chesapeake Bay
Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt met in his office last year with a veteran Washington lobbyist tied to the bargain-priced condo where Pruitt was living.
Both Pruitt and lobbyist Steven Hart had previously denied Hart had conducted any recent business with EPA.
Continue reading...How to avoid clothes moths: live in the east Midlands
Survey suggests pest problem is worst in south-east England, and in flats and pre-1950s housing
Got a lovely collection of cashmere sweaters you don’t want devoured by moths? Then maybe you should move to a new-build house in the east Midlands. That, you see, is the type of dwelling and region least likely to be tormented by the pesky insects, according to a new study by English Heritage at least.
English Heritage conservators have been monitoring the remorseless rise in moth numbers, blamed on a string of exceptionally mild winters – although the survey ended before the spectacularly bitter weather of last winter – and last year invited visitors to their properties to help by collecting free moth traps and reporting their haul.
Continue reading...Meet the anti-plastic warriors: the pioneers with bold solutions to waste
The environmental scourge of plastic has shot to the top of the political agenda. We talk to the creatives and campaigners behind five imaginative new ventures
Among retailers and manufacturers, they talk of “the Blue Planet effect”. The BBC series, screened late last year, was the moment that many of us realised the catastrophic impact our use of plastics was having on the world’s oceans. Scenes such as a hawksbill turtle snagged in a plastic sack, the albatrosses feeding their chicks plastic or the mother pilot whale grieving for her dead calf, which may have been poisoned by her contaminated milk, are impossible to unsee.
It’s a crisis that affects us all, and the facts make for dispiriting reading. If nothing changes, one study suggests that by 2050 our oceans will have more plastic swimming around, by weight, than fish. It’s already estimated that one third of fish caught in the Channel contain plastic; another piece of research found that “top European shellfish consumers” could potentially consume up to 11,000 pieces of microplastic a year.
Continue reading...Mission to untangle female right whale highlights species' precarious plight
Removing a thick fishing rope from a highly fertile whale’s jaw was a priority for scientists who fear the species may be in terminal decline
A mission to disentangle a particularly important North Atlantic right whale from a thick rope wrapped around its jaw has proved a partial success, amid growing fears that the endangered species is approaching a terminal decline.
The individual female whale, known as Kleenex, is considered one of the most productive North Atlantic right whales left in existence, having given birth to eight calves. Its condition has deteriorated, however, since it was spotted off the coast of Delaware in 2014 with a thick fishing rope wrapped around its head and upper jaw.
Continue reading...Nasa engineer: Three facts about landing on Mars
Mozambique prays for rain as water shortages hit country’s poor
Taps in capital city of Maputo being turned off every other day as climate change exacerbates southern African drought
In the township of Chamanculo, in Maputo, Mozambique, a network of household taps made the community water pump obsolete years ago, freeing residents from the daily burden of lugging massive jerrycans of water long distances.
But a water crisis, partly caused by an ongoing drought affecting much of southern Africa, is already reversing progress in this coastal city. An emergency “orange alert”, declared last February by the country’s disaster management council after failed rains, has triggered such strict water rationing across the capital city that the taps are turned off every other day and irrigation is banned.
Continue reading...Frydenberg stalls on woodlands protection after pressure from states and farmers
Decision on Tasmanian, NSW and Queensland woodlands’ on hold despite advice from expert committee
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Farmers’ associations, the Tasmanian deputy premier and a Tasmanian Liberal senator lobbied the environment and energy minister, Josh Frydenberg, not to grant critically endangered status to woodlands eligible for protection under Australia’s national environment laws.
In 2017 the independent threatened species scientific committee, which provides scientific advice to the government about conserving threatened species, recommended two new woodlands be listed as critically endangered ecological communities under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
Continue reading...Rare brown bear dies in Italy capture operation
The best and worst space films, according to Nasa
Country diary: a dead newt marks the end of the line
Marshwood Vale, Dorset: ‘Askers’, great crested newts, used to be common here but the number of suitable breeding pools has more than halved
It’s the yellow that catches my eye. Bright egg-yolk splotched with black warts, glistening against wet asphalt. Long, striped toes. A forearm flung out, fingers drooping, thumb hanging down, elegant as a lady offering her hand for a kiss. A great crested newt, Triturus cristatus, squashed.
The pattern of pulping suggests a big, ridged tyre, probably a tractor. The driver would never have seen it in the dark, perched up high on his plastic seat, roaring up the lane to feed the heifers, one last job before turning in.
Continue reading...Things that go grunt in the night
Camels dominate and destroy desert water holes
Denial a coping mechanism for climate change
People using fly-tipping firms face crackdown
Measures would demand ‘all reasonable measures’ are taken to ensure handlers are licensed
People who have their rubbish dumped illegally could face fines of up to £400, even if they do not personally engage in fly-tipping, under proposals being considered by ministers.
The measures are aimed at tackling people who charge householders to take away their rubbish and then dump it illegally. They build on existing powers to issue on-the-spot fines to save the hefty court costs often involved in pursuing offenders.
Continue reading...A Big Country 21 April 2018
CP Daily: Friday April 20, 2018
EU Market: EUAs falter on weaker auction for a 6.4% weekly loss
EU member states near 90% completion rate for 2018 free allowance allocations
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