Feed aggregator

A glass-bottomed walkway on Tianmen Mountain in China’s Hunan province has been opened to visitors. The Coiling Dragon Cliff walkway measures 100m and towers 300m above the scenery below. It is the third glass skywalk on the Tianmen Mountain in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park

Continue reading...

Untreated sewage and viruses in Guanabara Bay have led UN to advise athletes to spend as little time in the water as possible

There can be few more beautiful city sights in the world than that from the Marina da Gloria, where the Rio 2016 Olympic sailing events will be launched this weekend.

Look out from the quayside across Guanabara Bay and the panorama takes in Sugarloaf mountain, the Niteroi bridge and the distant hills of the Serra dos Orgãos national park, while behind you are the palm trees of Flamengo Park and the state of Christ the Redeemer.

Continue reading...

The Brexit campaign pivoted around migration but its politicians are sceptical of action on global warming that is a key driver of displacement

What happens as large-scale migration becomes inevitable due to a combination of environmental, economic and humanitarian reasons? Do we tackle the drivers and help the displaced, or worsen conditions causing the displacement and reject responsibility for those affected?

Continue reading...

BusinessGreen: New study concludes there is ‘no overall relationship’ between tourism employment in an area and the deployment of onshore windfarms

“Repels tourists” can now be added to the long list of criticism levelled at onshore windfarms that has been shown to be unfounded.

A new report by consultancy BiGGAR Economics, which analysed the impact of Scottish windfarms on tourism-related employment in an area, this week concluded there was no evidence to suggest windfarms had an adverse effect on tourism in an area.

Continue reading...

You may have a game plan for your ideal Premier League team, but every player comes at a price. Using real market value, create your dream team from the European leagues’ top 50 and see how your squad plays out

Continue reading...

Professor Brian Cox talks to the BBC about how why science can give us hope in a turbulent world.

BNEF report says poorly functioning gas market main cause of SA power price spike, blaming renewables "erroneous and simplistic."

Aberaeron, Ceredigion The route was almost deserted, so the sensation of being watched was unexpected

Even on the open slopes above the cliff, the air was hot and humid, making the steeper sections of the coast path seem more of a trudge than usual. South of Aberaeron, in west Wales, the route was almost deserted – so the sensation of being watched was unexpected.

As I struggled past a tangled mass of gorse, I realised that I was being observed by a stonechat perched on a bracken frond. My plodding approach hadn’t alarmed him enough to make him retreat and as I returned his gaze I realised that at least three others, perhaps a family, were nearby. They began to exchange the sharply characteristic calls that sound uncannily like two pebbles being tapped together, and which give the species its name.

Continue reading...

SA Power Networks proposal to charge rooftop solar customers up to $100 a year more for grid access has again been rejected by the Australian Energy Regulator.

Origin Energy bets that the solar market will be dominated by business demand in coming years, while households wait for battery storage costs to come down.

China's wind power capacity has reached 140GW, while total solar capacity has jumped by nearly half to 65GW.

Ross Garnaut says grid-scale battery storage ready to apply as "immediate answer" to Australia's energy network problems.

The New York Public Service Commission has approved the state’s Clean Energy Standard, which requires that utilities procure 50% of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2030.

Emily Voigt devoted three years of her life and visited fifteen countries in search of the rare Asian arowana.

Two Amur snow leopards - believed to be the world's rarest big cat - are born at Twycross Zoo.

COOK'S CHOOKS: The first domestic chickens in New Zealand were likely set loose there by Captain James Cook and his crew.

Price rise in LGC market halted in July - less a result of the renewed anti-renewables campaign and more reflection of fact that spot market sitting within $7 of the scheme’s cap.

The estimated 1,273 GWh of power generated by solar during July was two-thirds higher than the 778 GWh output from coal in May 2016, highlighting the major changes going on in the UK electricity system.

JinkoSolar signs three PPAs with CFE for the three projects totaling 188MWac that was awarded in April 2016 under Mexico’s first long term electricity auction.

US study overturns perceptions about poorer homes by showing higher income houses host up to 200 different species of flies, spiders, beetles and ants

Homes in wealthier areas harbour more bugs, containing up to 200 different species of flies, spiders, beetles and ants, according to new research. The vast majority are not pests although dust mites and book lice were also common.

The finding is the latest demonstration of the “luxury effect” which has shown that richer neighbourhoods are more biologically diverse in plants, birds, bats and lizards, largely thanks to the greater number and variety of plants in gardens and parks. But it is the first time the effect has been shown for arthropods, either inside or outside homes.

Continue reading...