Feed aggregator

Westminster, Tower Hamlets and Southwark have highest number of secondaries in breach of legal limits of NO2, new research for the mayor reveals

Children at nearly 90 secondary schools in London breathe illegal and dangerous levels of air pollution, a report for the mayor reveals.

Former mayor Boris Johnson was accused in May of burying a report that showed hundreds of primary schools were in areas that breached EU pollution limits in 2010, prompting calls for greater action to clean up the capital’s air.

Continue reading...

Three orangutans rescued from forest fires in Indonesia are returned to the wild by International Animal Rescue workers.

Shawn Otto’s new book is a must-read

Every so often a book comes along that changes the way you view the world. The War on Science: Who’s Waging It, Why It Matters, What We Can Do About It by Shawn Otto is one of those rare books. If you care about attacks on climate science and the rise of authoritarianism, if you care about biased media coverage or shake-your-head political tomfoolery, this book is for you.

Continue reading...

Taiwanese firm Formosa Plastics that owns the plant says it will pay $500m towards clean up and compensation

Vietnam’s government has said toxic discharges from a Taiwanese-owned steel plant were responsible for massive fish deaths that have decimated tourism and fishing in four provinces and highlighted the risks of rapid growth in foreign investment.

An estimated 70 tonnes of dead fish washed ashore along more than 200 km (125 miles) of Vietnam’s central coastline in early April, sparking rare protests across the country after the Taiwanese company denied any wrongdoing.

Continue reading...

From exposing environmental crimes to a campaign to save a wildlife reserve, the awards, created by chinadialogue and the Guardian in 2010, recognise journalists making outstanding contributions to the field in China

Continue reading...

Before you head to the polls, here’s one last quick attempt to clear some of the haze of half-truths and complete rubbish surrounding the parties’ reef policies

If the Great Barrier Reef is an election issue for you, then before you head to the polls this weekend, here are a few things worth noting about the major parties’ policies.

Firstly, by way of background, remember that almost a quarter of the reef was killed by warm waters this year, in the worst bleaching event on record. And those water temperatures are expected to be average temperatures within 20 years. To give the reef a fighting chance of surviving that, scientists estimate $10bn needs to be spent to reduce water pollution over the next 10 years.

Continue reading...

Free colour-coded menu is changed daily according to air pollution levels at pop-up scheme that aims to raise awareness of problem

“I see the air is good today,” says the security guard, as he sips his cup of bright green pea soup. “I can tell by the flavour.”

Staff and visitors here at the central London headquarters of the Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba) have been treated to daily free soup from the Pea Soup House, a pop-up installation in the lobby that serves colour-coded soup which matches the government’s Daily Air Quality Index (DAQI).

Continue reading...

Scientist on honeymoon in Thailand stumbles on ‘horrific-looking’ creature that is the first one known to swim

Scientists have discovered the world’s first known amphibious centipede, which grows up to 20cm (nearly 8in) long and has an excruciating bite.

Scolopendra cataracta, from the Latin for “waterfall”, has been found in Laos, Thailand and Vietnam and was seen scurrying into the water by entomologist George Beccaloni, during his honeymoon to Thailand in 2001.

Continue reading...

Airedale, West Yorkshire I try not to overreact to invasive species. Sometimes, though, it’s difficult to see the bigger picture

The moorhen had tried again. My passing-by startled her out of her nest – a cup at the foot of a stand of fading yellow flag irises, not two metres from the lakeshore. Before I made an apologetic retreat, I took note of a single soft-spotted pale egg resting in the hollow. All being well, another five or six would follow.

All, however, was not well. This clutch, like the four before it, was raided by mink. The next time I came by, the nest contained only a fragment of shell. The moorhen was pottering alone along by the far reedbed. It’s doubtful that she’ll try again this year.

Continue reading...

Although statistically expected, the first auto-pilot fatality will bring into question the safety of the new technology.

Regulator report shows most big price spikes coincided with sudden withdrawal of coal and gas capacity, including when one big generator ran out of coal!

A long and uninspiring election campaign comes to an end. The latest polls suggest that the best renewable energy and the climate can hope for is a hung parliament, given that the Coalition has given no indication it has moved beyond the Abbott era.

Lacerations and scratches on animal found north of Townsville suggest entanglement with fishing net or line, say researchers

A dead dugong, with injuries researchers say are consistent with entanglement in a fishing net or line, has been found near Townsville, raising concerns about lack of oversight over fishing practices in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

Found on Wednesday last week near Saunders beach, just north of Townsville, the dugong had scratches on its back and belly, and a deep laceration around its tail.

Continue reading...

Phoenix Energy has nominated local company BGC Contracting as the preferred contractor for its $400 million Kwinana Waste to Energy project.

We all know we need to shut down our brown coal power stations, especially the really old ones, as soon as possible...But how?

The electric road will test the use of electric power as an aid to heavy transport on public roadways.

Prof Sir Tom Kibble is posthumously awarded the highest UK honour for physics.

GOOD NEWS: The ozone hole over Antarctica is finally healing almost 30 years after the world banned the chemicals responsible for its creation, say researchers.

Futurologist Alvin Toffler predicted everything from the rise of the Internet to the decline of the nuclear family, but he wasn't always right

With its flashing, iridescent purple wings, our second largest butterfly is midsummer incarnate

This Monday, a week later than normal, His Imperial Majesty awoke in the woods of Sussex and Surrey. The purple emperor is midsummer incarnate – its flashing, iridescent purple wings the perfect accompaniment to both sunshine and, this year, violent lightning.

When Victorian collectors nicknamed our second-largest butterfly HIM, they were not being sexist but simply referring to the male. The female is even larger but does not flash purple and is a secretive presence, laying eggs in sallow thickets.

Continue reading...