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Climate change: global reshuffle of wildlife will have huge impacts on humanity

The Guardian - Fri, 2017-03-31 04:00

Mass migration of species to cooler climes has profound implications for society, pushing disease-carrying insects, crop pests and crucial pollinators into new areas, says international team of scientists

Global warming is reshuffling the ranges of animals and plants around the world with profound consequences for humanity, according to a major new analysis.

Rising temperatures on land and sea are increasingly forcing species to migrate to cooler climes, pushing disease-carrying insects into new areas, moving the pests that attack crops and shifting the pollinators that fertilise many of them, an international team of scientists has said.

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James Webb telescope: Hubble successor set for yet more tests

BBC - Fri, 2017-03-31 02:26
The spectacular James Webb Space Telescope is bound next for the giant Apollo testing chamber.
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West Mersea mammoth tusk found on beach

BBC - Fri, 2017-03-31 00:08
Research will be carried out into the age and rarity of the tusk.
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The curious disappearance of climate change, from Brexit to Berlin | Andrew Simms

The Guardian - Thu, 2017-03-30 21:00

The word climate does not appear once in the letter triggering the UK’s departure from Europe. But it’s not just in London that the issue seems to be slipping from the political stage


The word climate does not appear once in the letter triggering the UK’s departure from Europe. Despite the world experiencing a second, successive, record annual rise in carbon dioxide concentrations, on one level the omission is hardly surprising.

When the environment minister, George Eustice, revealed that the government had commissioned no research at all on the likely impact of Brexit on environmental policy it reflected how low green issues had fallen on the political agenda. Just how far is revealed by the fact that more than 1,100 EU environmental safeguards will need translating into UK law.

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Good news for elephants: China's legal ivory trade is 'dying' as prices fall

The Guardian - Thu, 2017-03-30 20:41

Elephant conservationists hopeful that demand for ivory in China is falling amid government clampdown on ivory sellers, but experts remain wary of poaching

The wholesale price of raw legal ivory has dropped by almost two thirds since China, the world’s largest ivory importer and trader, announced plans to close down its domestic market, according to new research.

Researchers working for the conservation organisation Save the Elephants visited Beijing and Shanghai, as well as six cities whose markets had never been surveyed before: Changzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Shenyang, Suzhou and Tianjin. The researchers, Lucy Vigne and Esmond Martin, concluded that the legal trade in ivory is dying.

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Do something

ABC Environment - Thu, 2017-03-30 19:20
Social change starts with individuals who decide to do things differently.
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Preparing for climate change

ABC Environment - Thu, 2017-03-30 19:05
How life will change with the climate.
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On the run from climate change

ABC Environment - Thu, 2017-03-30 19:05
Who will protect climate change refugees?
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Call to extend funding for Indigenous rangers program

ABC Environment - Thu, 2017-03-30 17:43
Indigenous rangers are on the frontline of the battle to protect Australia's natural environment from noxious weeds, feral animals and dangerous wildfires.
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South Australia to get $1bn solar farm and world's biggest battery

The Guardian - Thu, 2017-03-30 17:41

System will include 3.4m solar panels and 1.1m batteries, with operations set to begin by end of 2017

A huge $1bn solar farm and battery project will be built and ready to operate in South Australia’s Riverland region by the end of the year.

Related: Elon Musk, meet Port Augusta: four renewable energy projects ready to go

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Reusable incentives could slash disposable coffee cup waste

The Guardian - Thu, 2017-03-30 16:39

Free reusables, 25p charge on disposables and green slogans in cafes could cut some of 2.5bn cups thrown away each year, finds study

Incentives such as a tax on disposable coffee cups or free reuseable replacements could help cut the number thrown away in the UK every year by between 50m and 300m, according to new research.

An estimated 2.5bn throwaway coffee cups are used in the UK every year by consumers buying coffee from chains and cafes, creating approximately 25,000 tonnes of waste.

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Cedar cuts a bold dash among the grey ranks

The Guardian - Thu, 2017-03-30 14:30

Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire Spring hasn’t ignited its neighbours but this red-barked giant is vibrant in the sunlight

A banner of red falls amid ranks of anaemic grey: if sentient, this tree would have to be either mortified or cocksure, cutting such a bold dash in demure company. I shamble through ankle-snagging greenery and brownery as if through stubborn snow. My steps are crisp and disturb a sweet smell.

I get to the tree. It’s magnificent: 40 metres at least. It seems all trunk, until odd, brief branches pop from its bark, lichen-greened serpents from a mythical head. Higher, and finally, the serpent branches thicken and burst with evergreen.

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Wildlife activists discover pit full of native waterbirds 'dumped' by hunters – video

The Guardian - Thu, 2017-03-30 14:28

Video provided by Coalition Against Duck Shooting shows muddy pits full of dead birds they allege were shot and dumped by hunters who exceeded their bag limit on the opening weekend of Victoria’s duck hunting season

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Hazelwood power station: from modernist icon to greenhouse pariah

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2017-03-30 14:28
The roar of the furnaces, the rattle of the conveyors, and the occasional whoop of a siren marked out both day and night at Hazelwood. The distant hum has settled to a whisper.
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Hazelwood exits, taking with it myth of cheap fossil fuels

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2017-03-30 14:20
Hazelwood closure is most potent symbol of an energy market that has failed consumers. The future is localised generation, and faster, cleaner, cheaper power. The incumbents need to learn to adapt, and so do the politicians.
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Anheuser-Busch commits to 100% renewable energy

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2017-03-30 13:23
Anheuser-Busch may be the largest company to date to take a 100% renewable energy pledge.
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Nuvation Engineering Launches Nuvation Energy

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2017-03-30 13:00
Nuvation launches new brand providing electronic hardware and software solutions for large-scale battery energy storage.
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World’s biggest solar + battery storage plant ready to build in SA

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2017-03-30 12:57
Lyon Group says ready to go on $1bn solar PV and battery storage plant in South Australia, along with another $400m project near Roxby Downs.
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Statement by Clean Energy Regulator Chair Chloe Munro

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2017-03-30 12:56
Statement by Clean Energy Regulator Chair Chloe Munro.
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NEXTracker and Array Technologies Reign Supreme in Global PV Tracker Market, IHS Markit Says

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2017-03-30 12:49
NEXTracker and Array Technologies remain far and away the leading suppliers of PV tracker systems globally.
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