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More than a quarter of UK birds face extinction risk or steep decline – study

The Guardian - Tue, 2017-04-11 15:30

Red list entries swell to 67 species as conservationists call for urgent action to save birds of Britain including warblers, curlews and puffins

More than a quarter of UK birds, including the puffin, nightingale and curlew, require urgent conservation efforts to ensure their survival, according to a new report on the state of the UK’s birds.

Since the last review in 2009, an additional 15 species of bird have been placed on the “red list”, a category that indicates a species is in danger of extinction or that has experienced significant decline in population or habitat in recent years. The total number of species on the red list is now 67 out of a total of 247.

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Categories: Around The Web

Sunshine releases all the sounds of spring

The Guardian - Tue, 2017-04-11 14:30

Ebernoe Common, West Sussex Swedes call it ‘early cuckoo morning’ – the act of getting up just to enjoy the first birdsong

The sun is rising above the trees. I cross the meadow, passing gorse bushes bursting with yellow flowers, and enter the wood by the small gate. I walk up the narrow, winding footpath, and a couple of woodcock fly up from the ground, scattering the leaves where they were hiding. The two striped brown birds dart away through the trees in their panic, as if they’d been fired from a gun. I wait for the air to settle after the commotion, look up to the canopy and listen.

Birdsong is everywhere – a wall of sound pulsing through the wood. I pick out the birds, one by one, selectively listening to each song in turn: greenfinch, chaffinch, robin, blackbird, song thrush, nuthatch, great tit, blue tit, and so on.

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Categories: Around The Web

Turnbull slammed for “sucking up” to Adani, as business pushes 50-year life for coal plants

RenewEconomy - Tue, 2017-04-11 13:57
PM lambasted for "sucking up" to Adani during India visit, and putting coal exports ahead of the Great Barrier Reef.
Categories: Around The Web

Ramp rate: Australia’s slow moving gas plants

RenewEconomy - Tue, 2017-04-11 13:37
Australia's gas plants are too slow to react to 5-minute rule from standing start, so why stand in the way of fast-response technology such as battery storage?
Categories: Around The Web

Solar sets new UK record in March

RenewEconomy - Tue, 2017-04-11 13:14
For first time in UK, demand for electricity for homes and businesses was lower last Saturday afternoon that it was that night - thanks to solar.
Categories: Around The Web

Tesla blows past GM to become most valuable car company in US

RenewEconomy - Tue, 2017-04-11 13:11
Tesla on Monday overtook General Motors to become the most valuable car company in the US, with a market worth of $US51.5 billion.
Categories: Around The Web

Dutch dig deeper into coal stranded-asset mistake

RenewEconomy - Tue, 2017-04-11 12:31
Uniper, Engie make further write-downs in the Netherlands; plans proceed nonetheless in Germany for an equally outmoded project.
Categories: Around The Web

ERM Power signs PPA for 212MW wind farm in Port Augusta

RenewEconomy - Tue, 2017-04-11 12:19
Lincoln Gap wind farm in Port Augusta SA one step closer to financial close after securing PPA with ERM Power, on same day that big solar farm begins construction.
Categories: Around The Web

Coalition says wind turbines increase emissions, more coal needed

RenewEconomy - Tue, 2017-04-11 12:09
Senate committee produces 5 different conclusions, highlighting impossible nature of Australia's energy politics. The most absurd conclusions came from the Coalition, and One Nation.
Categories: Around The Web

Climate change scientists' bid to drill Everest glacier

BBC - Tue, 2017-04-11 11:59
Scientists will use a "car wash-adapted" drill in a world-first bid to cut through the world's highest glacier.
Categories: Around The Web

Scientists to use 'car wash drill' on Khumbu glacier

BBC - Tue, 2017-04-11 11:58
Climate change scientists aim to become the first team to drill into the world's highest glacier.
Categories: Around The Web

England nature plan 'lacking policies'

BBC - Tue, 2017-04-11 11:50
A 25-year government plan sets out a bold vision for nature in England, but campaigners say it lacks specific policies.
Categories: Around The Web

NEOEN chooses QOS Energy’s innovative O&M software to track performance at 315 MW Australian wind farm

RenewEconomy - Tue, 2017-04-11 11:04
Neoen has chosen QOS Energy’s innovative O&M management platform to monitor the performance of the 315 MW Hornsdale wind project.
Categories: Around The Web

Australian Tritium expands its award-winning Veefil range of fast chargers for EVs into UK and appoints EwE as its first UK distributor

RenewEconomy - Tue, 2017-04-11 10:49
Tritium is expanding into the UK market with its award-winning range of Veefil fast chargers, and has signed its first UK distributor, Electric World Enterprises Ltd (EwE).
Categories: Around The Web

BuildingIQ’s 5i platform brings intelligent energy management to greater Springfield, Australia’s fastest emerging city

RenewEconomy - Tue, 2017-04-11 10:44
State-of-the-art building housing GE’s Queensland Headquarters utilizing cloud-based platform for operational improvements and improved energy efficiency
Categories: Around The Web

Huge 300MW solar farm begins construction near Port Augusta

RenewEconomy - Tue, 2017-04-11 10:05
First two stages of 300MW solar farm near Port Augusta will provide grid stability services - even at night - and be "battery storage ready". CEO Tony Concannon says combination of solar and storage will soon fall "well below" $100/MWh, meaning major changes for the grid.
Categories: Around The Web

Electricity’s carbon footprint in U.S. post record falls over two years

RenewEconomy - Tue, 2017-04-11 09:52
Carbon emissions from energy use by Americans fell 1.7 percent last year, part of a decade-long slide in the carbon footprint of energy in the U.S.
Categories: Around The Web

Astronomers detect ultra-faint galaxy from the very early Universe

ABC Science - Tue, 2017-04-11 09:17
DISTANT PAST: Astronomers discover the faintest galaxy ever glimpsed in the early universe, shedding light on a critical period of time just 700 million years after the Big Bang.
Categories: Around The Web

Dreaming 'hot zone' found at the back of the brain

ABC Science - Tue, 2017-04-11 09:15
DREAM ZONE: Scientists have found a "hot zone" in the back of the brain that is active during dreaming at all times, challenging long-held beliefs about what happens in our brains while we sleep.
Categories: Around The Web

Ocean tech: Robot sea snakes and shoal-swimming subs

BBC - Tue, 2017-04-11 09:12
A robot sea snake that could one day "explore the Titanic" makes its debut at an ocean expo.
Categories: Around The Web

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