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Farmland bird decline prompts renewed calls for agriculture overhaul

The Guardian - Fri, 2017-11-24 02:39

Official figures show a 9% decline between 2010-15 in birds living and breeding on the UK’s farmland

Birds living and breeding on the UK’s farmland have seen numbers decline by almost a tenth in five years, official figures show.

Farmland bird populations have declined by 56% since 1970, largely due to agricultural changes including the loss of mixed farming, a switch to autumn sowing of crops, a reduction in hay meadows and the stripping out of hedgerows.

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Dolly the sheep health fears 'unfounded'

BBC - Fri, 2017-11-24 01:17
Concerns that Dolly the cloned sheep had early-onset arthritis were unfounded, scientists say.
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London cannot bid for national clean air funding, mayor says

The Guardian - Fri, 2017-11-24 01:11

Sadiq Khan says capital will not be included in the chancellor’s £220m clean air fund despite having 40% of the most polluting roads in England and Wales

London cannot bid for a £220m clean air fund announced in the budget – despite being home to 40% of the most polluting roads in England and Wales, Sadiq Khan revealed on Thursday.

Giving evidence to the Commons joint inquiry into air quality, the mayor of London revealed he was lobbying the government to support a £515m London-based two-year diesel scrappage scheme.

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Fracking firm wins extension to 'draconian' protest injunction

The Guardian - Thu, 2017-11-23 23:39

UK high court extends wide-ranging injunction sought by Ineos which prohibits campaigners from interfering unlawfully with their operations

A multinational firm has secured a long-term, sweeping injunction against anti-fracking protesters in a decision that has been condemned as “draconian and anti-democratic”.

On Thursday, a high court judge extended the wide-ranging injunction sought by petrochemicals giant Ineos, which covers all anti-fracking campaigners.

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Images from a Warming Planet - the UK in pictures

The Guardian - Thu, 2017-11-23 21:54

The 2016 book by photojournalist Ashley Cooper documented the effects of climate change over 13 years and in more than 30 countries. Earlier this month, Cooper won the Green Apple award for environmental best practice at a ceremony at the UK House of Commons.

Cooper is planning to set up a website, I Commit, which aims to get citizens of the world to lower their carbon footprint and upload their own images of climate impacts. Here are his images of how extreme weather has affected the UK in recent years

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Deep fat fryers may help form cooling clouds

BBC - Thu, 2017-11-23 20:25
The fatty acids released in cooking may help form clouds that limit global warming, say scientists.
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Global firms accused of importing timber linked to Amazon massacre

The Guardian - Thu, 2017-11-23 17:40

Greenpeace alleges 12 companies continued to trade with Madeireira Cedro Arana after its founder was accused of ordering torture and murder

More than a dozen US and European companies have been importing timber from a Brazilian logging firm whose owner is implicated in one of the most brutal Amazonian massacres in recent memory, according to a Greenpeace investigation.

The first-world buyers allegedly continued trading with Madeireira Cedro Arana after police accused its founder, Valdelir João de Souza, of ordering the torture and murder of nine people in Colniza, Mato Grosso, on 19 April, claims the report by the NGO’s Unearthed investigative team.

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Country diary: a couple of calls announce a whole flock of redwings

The Guardian - Thu, 2017-11-23 15:30

Sandy, Bedfordshire The migration of these winter thrushes may be less of a trickle and more of a flood than our ears tell us

A flock of redwings were playing sky rounders in the park, flying from tree to tree, first base to second, second to third, not landing but pressing on, as if going for a home run. They came near enough that I heard their calls. But only two or three called out of a flock of 50 or more.

These winter thrushes seep into our consciousness all through the autumn. However, their migration may be less of a trickle and more of a flood than our senses tell us. My mind flashed back to windless evenings over the previous few weeks, punctuated by the “seep” of a redwing, a voice from above that was so high, so clear and so bright that it might have been a star crying out. An answering note would ping out from another bird, a link between travellers in the blackness. And then, perhaps, another. It was thrilling to think that these few sounds in the dark were contact calls for a whole mute squadron.

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With a few smart moves we can largely dissipate the gas crisis

The Conversation - Thu, 2017-11-23 14:37
We can make up 70% of Australia's projected gas shortfall simply by improving energy efficiency and sensible use of gas alternatives. Amandine Denis, Head of Research, ClimateWorks Australia, Monash University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
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How tech nerds can reinvent electricity before it’s too late

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2017-11-23 13:58
There's a growing mob that thinks it can reinvent electricity, from old to new, and from a supply-dominated industry-based model to consumers-in-control.
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Here are 4 essential fixes for the National Energy Guarantee

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2017-11-23 13:53
A policy that doesn’t encourage additional generation capacity won’t reduce high power prices. Here are four essential fixes for the NEG.
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Australia corporate solar market ready to boom, says New Energy Solar

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2017-11-23 13:53
The head of what will be Australia’s largest listed specialist solar investment fund is looking to tap the booming corporate solar sector.
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BNEF: Turnbull’s NEG akin to joining gym and not lifting weights

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2017-11-23 13:47
BNEF says NEG under current targets would achieve little, and be akin to finally signing up to a gym, and then refusing to lift any weights.
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CEFC targets energy hungry shopping centres, with $200m finance deal

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2017-11-23 13:45
CEFC tips $200m debt finance into QIC’s Global Real Estate flagship Shopping Centre Fund, in deal expected to deliver energy savings of between 30-40% using solar and energy efficiency.
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Alinta dives back into coal with purchase of Loy Yang B

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2017-11-23 13:33
Alinta dives back into coal, paying top dollar for Loy Yang B generator, suggesting it expects high prices and limp climate policies to continue.
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Australia facing climate disaster on its doorstep, government's white paper warns

The Guardian - Thu, 2017-11-23 12:44

Foreign policy paper says climate-related conflict and migration could put Australia’s economic interests under pressure

Climate change is creating a disaster on Australia’s doorstep, with environmental degradation and the demand for sustainable sources of food undermining stability in some countries, especially “fragile states”, according to the Australian government’s first foreign policy white paper in more than a decade.

The new white paper, released on Thursday, contains warnings over the disruptive effects of climate change in Australia’s immediate region, noting that many small island states will be “severely affected in the long term”, and the coming decade will see increased need for disaster relief.

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First Australian corporate bulk-buy to deliver new 80MW wind farm

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2017-11-23 12:32
An 80MW wind farm to be built near Ararat after first-of-kind contract with powerful consortium of 14 universities, corporations and Councils.
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Why the nights are getting brighter – but not in a good way

The Guardian - Thu, 2017-11-23 12:16

Spread of light pollution is bad for the environment, animal life and humans, five-year study concludes

The world’s nights are getting alarmingly brighter – bad news for all sorts of creatures, humans included – as light pollution encroaches on darkness almost everywhere.

Satellite observations made by researchers during five consecutive Octobers show Earth’s artificially lit outdoor area grew by 2% a year from 2012 to 2016. So did nighttime brightness.

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Is NEG just an elaborate plan to fund Turnbull’s vanity project?

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2017-11-23 11:00
Latest advice from Energy Security board makes it clear that on current policy settings the NEG will not reduce emissions, cut costs or invite new wind and solar investment. But there may be something else afoot - Malcolm Turnbull's vanity project.
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Three cups of coffee a day 'may have health benefits'

BBC - Thu, 2017-11-23 10:32
But there is no reason to start drinking coffee for health reasons, the BMJ study found.
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