The Guardian
The soup kitchen putting London's air quality on the menu
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...Giant swimming, venomous centipede discovered by accident in world-first
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...Nest raids by feral mink take their toll
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...Dead dugong raises concerns over fishing practices in Great Barrier Reef
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...All hail the purple emperor
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...Ozone layer hole appears to be healing, scientists say
Research by US and UK scientists shows the size of the hole has shrunk, and the layer will eventally recover, albeit slowly
The vast hole in the ozone layer above Antarctica appears to be healing, scientists say, putting the world on track to eventually remedy one of the biggest environmental concerns of the 1980s and 90s.
Research by US and UK scientists shows that the size of the ozone void has shrunk, on average, by around 4m sq km since 2000. The measurements were taken from the month of September in each year, when the ozone hole starts to open up each year.
Continue reading...Don't panic, Brexit doesn't have to spell gloom for the environment | Michael Jacobs
The UK government has just set an ambitious new carbon target. Now we need to mobilise support to protect our many other environmental laws
Amid all the other news happening right now, you might have missed a vital story: the government has accepted the Climate Change Committee’s recommendation for the ‘fifth carbon budget’. This is the total amount of greenhouse gases which the UK economy will be allowed to emit in the 2028-30 period, which will now be cut by 57% on 1990 levels.
This would be important for the UK’s contribution to tackling climate change at any time. In the aftermath of the EU referendum campaign it takes on special significance, for it nails the myth that Brexit will tear up all of the UK’s environmental policies and commitments.
Nobel winners slam Greenpeace for anti GM campaign
About a third of living Nobel laureates sign an open letter saying Greenpeace has misrepresented the risks and benefits of genetically modified crops
About a third of living Nobel laureates – 108 at last count – have signed an open letter which attacks Greenpeace for campaigning against genetically modified crops, especially one called Golden Rice.
Addressed to the global environmental group, the United Nations and governments, the letter on Thursday says Greenpeace has “misrepresented the risks, benefits and impacts” of genetically altered food plants.
Continue reading...Floating solar is a win-win energy solution for drought-stricken US lakes
Sunbaked southwest US is a prime spot for floatovoltaic projects, where they could produce clean energy and prevent evaporation in major man-made reservoirs, reports Environment 360
The Colorado River’s two great reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, are in retreat. Multi-year droughts and chronic overuse have taken their toll, to be sure, but vast quantities of water are also lost to evaporation. What if the same scorching sun that causes so much of this water loss were harnessed for electric power?
Installing floating solar photovoltaic arrays, sometimes called “floatovoltaics,” on a portion of these two reservoirs in the southwestern United States could produce clean, renewable energy while shielding significant expanses of water from the hot desert sun.
Continue reading...Tax new diesel cars up to £5,000 to cut pollution, says report
Money raised should be spent on improving public transport, cycling and walking, advise researchers
The purchase of highly polluting diesel cars in the UK should be discouraged with a tax of up to £5,000 to help tackle the public health emergency of air pollution, according to a new report.
The policy could be particularly important following the UK’s vote to leave the European Union, which until now has set most pollution rules.
Continue reading...UK lacks policies to meet more than half its carbon emissions cuts – report
Climate Change Committee warns of rising transport pollution, failed action on buildings emissions and says leaving the EU throws some policies into doubt
The UK has no policies in place to meet more than half of the carbon emission cuts required by law by 2030, the government’s official advisers warned on Thursday, the same day ministers committed to the target.
The advisers also warned that the UK’s Brexit vote had thrown some EU-linked climate policies into doubt.
Continue reading...Airport expansion decision to be left to new British PM
Trade group condemns failure to show UK is open for business after Brexit as government defers decision on whether to expand Heathrow or Gatwick
The government has been accused of indulging in “internal party politics” at the expense of the national interest, after David Cameron delayed a decision on whether to expand Heathrow or Gatwick airport.
Continue reading...UK sets ambitious new 2030s carbon target
Amber Rudd allays fears that target would be casualty of EU referendum and adopts fifth carbon budget to reduce emissions 57% by 2030 on 1990 levels
The UK has announced an ambitious new carbon target for the early 2030s, allaying fears that the climate goal would be a casualty of the EU referendum.
Amber Rudd accepted the advice of the government’s statutory climate advisers, setting a target on Thursday of reducing carbon emissions 57% by 2030 on 1990 levels.
Continue reading...Frozen planet: digital landscapes on the edge of disaster – in pictures
By mapping glaciers and mountains in ultra-fine detail, Dan Holdsworth’s digital images remind us of the majesty – and fragility – of a thawing Earth
Continue reading...Strawberry moon is solstice first for Rutland Water
Egleton, Rutland The lightest night of the year couldn’t be any lighter, the tree-line stark against a fading stripe in the sky
The weather report said clear skies and a 9.30 sunset, so I drove to the lake. The western sky was wild, the sun brilliantly diffuse behind flings of cloud and fat vapour trails.
If the lake were calm the water might mirror the light and make the solstice’s half-night brighter still. In December, I was in north Scotland near the opposite pitch of this seasonal tilt: 17 hours of black night, no moon. Tonight, reversed. But this night wasn’t really about seasonal parallels. The last time there was a full moon on the summer solstice, in 1967, this lake wasn’t here.
Continue reading...UN committee may again consider listing Great Barrier Reef as 'in danger'
Exclusive: Lawyers, scientists and NGOs urge the UN to force Australia to do more to protect the world heritage site
The Great Barrier Reef could be considered again for an “in danger” listing by the United Nations World Heritage Committee following the devastating bleaching this year, the Guardian can reveal.
The news came as a group of prominent lawyers, scientists and NGOs wrote to the committee, urging it to ask Australia to do more to protect the reef.
Continue reading...Climate change is disrupting seasonal behaviour of Britain's wildlife
Global warming is causing breeding and migration cycles of related plants and animals to fall out of sync with potential impacts on entire ecosystems, research shows
Climate change is disrupting the seasonal behaviour of Britain’s plants and animals, with rising temperatures having an impact on species at different levels of the food chain, new research shows.
The result could be widespread “desynchronisation” between species and their phenological events – seasonal biological cycles such as breeding and migration – that could affect the functioning of entire ecosystems, according to the large-scale study published this week in the journal Nature.
Brian Moss obituary
Lakes are the jewels in the landscape of Britain, yet have also been the dumping grounds for wastes and pollutants. The environmental scientist Brian Moss, who has died aged 72, knew this well and spent his life achieving the ecological understanding that has underpinned the management and restoration of freshwater environments in the UK and around the world. But it was his passionate and successful communication of this science to land managers and policymakers that made him stand out. Most notable was his work with the Broads Authority to return the Norfolk Broads, a much-valued system of inter-connected lakes and rivers, to a cleaner, more naturally functioning landscape for future generations to enjoy.
When Brian started working at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in Norwich in 1972, he was deeply disappointed with the Broads’ murky greenish-brown water, lack of plants, and their eroded, featureless banks. He realised that, rather than the mecca for wildlife he had thought the Broads would be, they had borne the brunt of what he called “environmental abuse”. Over the following 17 years at UEA he built a solid understanding of the functioning of these shallow lakes and, through careful experimentation, he proposed innovative solutions for their restoration.
Continue reading...UK coal power station in breach of EU air pollution law
Defra and the Welsh government are likely to have to pay European commission’s legal costs for breaching air pollution rules at Aberthaw power station, reports ENDS
The UK breached EU law by allowing a coal-fired power station to emit too much air pollution, the court of justice (CJEU) has said.
In a reasoned opinion, published on 28 June, the CJEU said the UK’s defence of how it regulated Aberthaw power station did not stack up and it should be forced to pay legal costs.
Continue reading...Fill Good Inc – are we close to a refill revolution?
While Boris Johnson is busy reducing the size of Europe, his father, Stanley, is appealing to Europe to help us reduce the amount of rubbish we create.
This month, Environmentalists for Europe, the cross-party group co-chaired by Johnson senior, called on the EU to ban non-returnable bottles. Instead, the group said, consumers should be charged a 20p deposit, refundable when they take back the bottle. Or we should make all plastic bottles refillable.
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