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Iceberg 'doodles' trace climate history
Why does this rhino have 24-hour security?
High court orders UK government to explain clean air plan delay
Critics say air pollution issue is public health and not political issue and ministers must defend delay in high court
The government has been ordered back to the high court to explain its last-minute bid to delay publication of the UK’s clean air plan.
Politicians and environmental groups had complained that ministers were “hiding behind the election” after they said they could not publish the proposals because of election purdah.
Continue reading...Fuzzy thinking won't save the planet
March against madness - denial has pushed scientists out to the streets | Dana Nuccitelli
America’s leaders are playing Russian roulette with our future
This past weekend, hundreds of thousands of people in the US and around the world marched in support of science. Next weekend, the People’s Climate March will follow.
Redglass Pictures and StarTalk Radio created a short film in which the brilliant scientist and communicator Neil deGrasse Tyson – though not specifically talking about the science marches – perfectly articulated the motivations behind them.
Continue reading...Two wildlife rangers killed by poachers in DRC
Joël Meriko Ari and Gerome Bolimola Afokao discovered a group of men with a freshly slaughtered elephant carcass. The rangers leave behind 11 children
Elephant poachers have killed two wildlife rangers in a shootout in Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), reports African Parks, a not-for-profit conservation group that manages 10 protected areas across Africa in partnership with governments and local communities.
While out patrolling on 11 April, ranger Joël Meriko Ari and Sgt Gerome Bolimola Afokao of the DRC armed forces heard gunshots, African Parks reported. The patrol unit followed signs and tracks until they discovered a group of six poachers who were chopping up a freshly slaughtered elephant carcass.
Continue reading...'World's oldest fungus' raises evolution questions
10 emperor penguin facts for World Penguin Day – in pictures
Emperor penguins are perfectly adapted to survive harsh Antarctic conditions but their habitat is threatened due to climate change. To celebrate World Penguin Day, the WWF has chosen its top 10 emperor penguin facts
Continue reading...Ruffled feathers at the windswept tarn
Tindale Tarn, Cumbria A flock of sand martins skim the choppy water and tufted duck bob on the dark grey water
Buffeted sideways by the gale, we descend to Tindale Tarn, a small lake in the RSPB reserve of Geltsdale. Skylarks spring up from rough pasture around the stony track to sing shrill and sweet as piccolos in a stormy sky. This land, once mined for coal and lead, is an important breeding area for upland birds; curlew, redshank and lapwing call as we huddle in the open-sided hide by the tarn.
A flock of sand martins skim the choppy water, having come here to feed from their nests in a nearby sand quarry. A cormorant is fishing, and tufted duck bob on the dark grey water. Wind catches the surface and runs with it, making flurries of waves. The back of a mute swan, neck submerged, resembles a plump meringue. The female sits on a nest close to the hide, dragging reedy stems around her body with her orange beak, primping and perfecting the huge mound.
Tory windfarm policy threatens cheap energy in UK, commission finds
Wind is ‘increasingly the cheapest form of electricity’, says industry group, urging Tories to reassess ban on subsidised onshore windfarms
Conservative opposition to windfarms risks the UK missing out on one of the cheapest sources of electricity, according to the head of a Shell-funded industry group.
Adair Turner, chair of the Energy Transitions Commission, said wind and solar power costs had fallen dramatically globally and urged the government to rethink its ban on subsidised onshore windfarms.
Continue reading...Can plastic roads help save the planet?
Brexit university ‘brain drain’ warning
Machine learning
Conservationists call for moratorium on logging to save endangered Leadbeater’s possum
Victorian government asked to ‘completely prohibit logging’ on more than 100,000 hectares of the state’s mountain ash forest
Conservationists have called for a moratorium on logging more than 100,000 hectares of Victoria’s remaining native forest estate to protect the critically endangered Leadbeater’s possum.
Environmental Justice Australia, acting on behalf of volunteer organisation Friends of the Leadbeater’s Possum, wrote to the Victorian environment minister, Lily D’Ambrosio, on Monday requesting she implement an interim conservation order to “completely prohibit logging within the critical habitat of the Leadbeater’s possum” in order to ensure the survival of the species, which is at risk of dying out within the next 40 years.
Continue reading...Plastic-eating caterpillar could munch waste, scientists say
Trump calls record-breaking astronaut Peggy Whitson
2017 Goldman environmental prize recipients – in pictures
The Goldman prize honours the achievements of grassroots environmental activists in six continents, recognising their sustained efforts to protect natural habitats often at great personal risk
Continue reading...Munch inspired by 'screaming clouds'
Adani coalmine at heightened risk of becoming a stranded asset, report says
Carmichael project likely to be ‘cash flow negative’ for the majority its operating life, according to Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis
The risk of the controversial Adani Carmichael coalmine becoming a stranded asset has increased in the last 12 months, according to a new report.
The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), says the Carmichael project is likely to be “cash flow negative” for the majority its operating life, even with concessional loans.
Continue reading...'Life improved when I left London': readers on tackling air pollution
We asked readers to tell us what action they are taking against air pollution. Here’s what some of them said
About 40 million people in the UK are living with illegal air pollution levels, according to analysis commissioned by the Labour party.
Earlier this month the Guardian reported thousands of children across England and Wales are exposed to illegal levels of air pollution from diesel traffic, putting the health of young children at risk in the long term.
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