The Guardian
Banks court buyers for 49% stake in UK nuclear power stations
EDF Energy thought to have piggybacked on plans by Centrica to sell off some of nuclear power stake
Three international banks have begun courting buyers for a 49% stake in Britain’s eight nuclear power stations, starting the process of a major shakeup of the sector’s ownership.
UK-listed Centrica said in February it was looking to sell its 20% stake in the nuclear plants, which UBS and Goldman Sachs are understood to be handling.
Continue reading...Stunning coral forests discovered around Sicily's deep sea volcanoes – in pictures
Scientists find a spectacular forest of bamboo coral, rare carnivorous sponges, and species never before seen in the region
Continue reading...There are genuine climate alarmists, but they're not in the same league as deniers | Dana Nuccitelli
Deniers have conservative media outlets and control the Republican Party; climate alarmists are largely ignored
Those who debunk climate change misinformation often face a dilemma. We’re flooded with such a constant deluge of climate myths, where should we focus our efforts? Climate misinformation is propagated via congressional climate hearings, conservative media outlets, denial blogs, and even from some genuine climate alarmists.
Specifically, there has recently been a debate as to whether Skeptical Science – a website with a database of climate myths and scientific debunkings, to which I’m a primary contributor – would be more useful and effective if it called out misinformation from ‘alarmists,’ and if it eliminated or revised its Climate Misinformers page.
Continue reading...One in three fish caught never makes it to the plate – UN report
Global fish production is at record levels thanks to fish farming, says the UN FAO, but much is wasted and many species are worryingly overfished
One in three fish caught around the world never makes it to the plate, either being thrown back overboard or rotting before it can be eaten, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
Its biannual report on the state of the world’s fisheries, released on Monday, also shows that total fish production has reached a record high thanks to more fish farming, particularly in China, with over half the fish eaten in the world now coming from aquaculture.
Continue reading...Country diary 1918: summer life in Surrey
13 July 1918 Teasel is coming into bloom, the enchanters nightshade is plentiful, while foliage is full enough
Surrey
Frogs made a quite audible croaking in the evening and a few hours earlier, while the sun was strong, toads came from the edge of the great pond, leapt about, and lay on the short, sere grass. Swifts and swallows flew very low, circling round the cattle assembled in the shade of oaks, skimming just above a few wagtails which were about the hoofs. A peacock in the distance hardly ceased screaming. Then, as the light faded, clouds rolled in from the west, folding everything, but suddenly disappeared as if lifted into the sky to let the stars shine. But a long, grey streak followed, and spread, and in the morning there was rain. Thrushes sang for an hour, but after that we had no song.
Teasel is coming into bloom; there was purple to-day above the big leaf-cups, which held water almost enough to drink from. The enchanters nightshade is plentiful, and a stray gentian blooms on the heath. But a wild cherry which was great in flower has little or no fruit, and acorns, abundant last season, are scarce this. Foliage is full enough; you hear the doves call, but cannot distinguish them. Bees are busy among the scented blossom of the limes, now beginning to drop and to dust over a surface which shines with oil dripping from sycamore leaves.
Continue reading...Country diary: wilding calls to the turtle dove
Knepp, West Sussex: A 3,500-acre estate has been transformed from intensively farmed land to a rich natural environment, luring back a bird we are close to losing
It’s 4.30am and the sky is already light above Knepp, the Sussex estate whose 3,500 acres have been transformed from intensively farmed agricultural land to one of the richest natural environments in the country. I’m with Penny Green, the estate’s resident ecologist, and here to see turtle doves, birds whose mellifluous purring once played a starring role in the soundscape of British summers, but whose numbers have fallen by 93% since 1994.
Continue reading...Mysterious source of illegal ozone-killing emissions revealed, say investigators
On-the-ground investigation finds use of banned CFC-11 is rife in China’s plastic foam industry
A mysterious surge in emissions of an illegal ozone-destroying chemical has been tracked down to plastic foam manufacturers in China, according to an on-the-ground investigation published on Monday.
The chemical, trichlorofluoromethane or CFC-11, has been banned around the world since 2010 and is a potent destroyer of ozone, which protects life on Earth from UV radiation, and strong greenhouse gas. A shock rise in the gas in recent years was revealed by atmospheric scientists in May, but they could only narrow the source to somewhere in East Asia.
Continue reading...Electric avenues: UK streets to get more car charging points
Chris Grayling to unveil plans to increase take-up of ultra-low emission vehicles
Plans to install hundreds of thousands of additional charging points for electric vehicles are to be announced by the transport secretary.
Chris Grayling will unveil proposals aimed at making it easier to recharge electric vehicles than refuel those running on petrol or diesel, in an attempt to increase the take-up of ultra-low emission vehicles.
Continue reading...Leadbeater's possum: conservations say draft report proves endangered status
Forestry industry and Barnaby Joyce have been pushing to downgrade species’ status
Conservation groups say the Leadbeater’s possum should retain its conservation status as a critically endangered Australian species, based on new advice from the government’s scientific advisory body.
In a draft consultation document, the threatened species scientific committee says the Victorian possum meets at least one of the criteria to make it eligible for listing as critically endangered.
Continue reading...China looking to buy stake in UK nuclear plants, say reports
Chinese state-run firm eyeing up multibillion-pound deal for majority share in eight sites
The Chinese government has emerged as a potential buyer of a multibillion-pound stake in Britain’s nuclear power plants.
The talks will reignite debate about China’s involvement in the UK nuclear power industry. Two years ago, the government paused approval for the £18bn Hinkley Point C project because of security concerns over China’s stake.
Continue reading...The case for and against Natural England | Letters
George Monbiot (4 July) should be assured that Natural England retains its strong voice for nature, along with its statutory role and driving mission to protect and enhance the country’s wildlife, geology, habitats and landscapes. Our independence from government is firmly set out in the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006, which gives Natural England the powers to ensure that the natural environment is conserved, enhanced and managed for the benefit of present and future generations.
Like all public bodies we have met the challenge of reduced budgets by reducing our reliance on public funding and instead increasingly working in partnership with organisations and individuals that share our commitment to the natural world – such as the Back from the Brink partnership that has helped save 20 species from the threat of extinction. Furthermore, in recent years we have made great progress in creating the world’s longest continuous coastal footpath and helped establish a “blue belt” of 50 marine conservation zones around England, with more in the pipeline. With the publication of the government’s 25-year plan for the environment, Natural England has a key role to play in delivering this ambitious agenda to leave the environment in a better state.
James Cross
Chief executive, Natural England
Meet the creatures that thrive in the dark
The pale-throated sloth, from the northern Amazon forests, has evolved in an unusual way to survive the dangers of swinging through trees in total darkness. The nocturnal bear-like creature has developed a sense of smell so sensitive it can tell whether branches nearby are emitting whiffs of sap or not.
“That allows them to swing only on to branches that are healthy,” said Professor Geoff Boxshall of the Natural History Museum in London. “They can avoid grabbing one that is sapless and dead, which might break, causing them to fall out of a tree and injure themselves. Thus they can swing safely through forests in complete darkness.”
Continue reading...Waste crisis: spot the excessive plastic packaging – in pictures
Australia is drowning in a tsunami of plastic pollution and excessive packaging is one of the culprits. Boomerang Alliance asked supporters to send in pictures of the worst examples
Continue reading...Plastic packaging pictures – send us your best worst examples
Reducing and recycling our plastic waste will help the plastic crisis, but it won’t solve the problem. Corporations must take responsibility for the problems they are creating
Australia’s oceans, beaches and nature reserves are drowning in plastic pollution and excessive packaging is one of the culprits. While reducing our plastic consumption and recycling the waste will help, it won’t solve the problem. Corporations must take responsibility for the problem they are creating.
So this weekend we want to invite readers to snap and send us pictures of excessive plastic packaging. Apples in tubes, bananas in bags, and plastic in plastic in plastic. Send it through and we’ll publish the worst examples next week.
Continue reading...National Trust buys two wildflower sites to protect wildlife
The £2.15m deal will protect 460 acres of nature-rich farmland in the Peak District
Hundreds of acres of flower-rich farmland have been bought by the National Trust to throw a lifeline to declining wildlife.
The £2.15 million deal to buy 186 hectares (460 acres) of land in the Peak District – an area equivalent to 260 football pitches – is the biggest farmland acquisition by the Trust since it bought Trevose Head in Cornwall in 2016.
Continue reading...'In the days around Ella's death, there were big spikes in air pollution'
Rosamund Kissi-Debrah believes poor air quality in London contributed to her daughter’s death
The evening before she died, Ella Kissi-Debrah picked the outfit she wanted to wear to her primary school disco the following day: new jeans and a checked top. Her mother laid them out next to her school uniform, but a few hours later the nine-year-old suffered an acute asthma attack. She never made it to the party.
“We ended up burying her in the clothes instead,” said her mother, Rosamund. “I didn’t know whether it was the right thing to do, but it felt right at the time.”
Country diary: wiggling wonder of the common woodlouse
Caistor St Edmund, Norfolk: We relish the new vocabulary that comes with these terrestrial isopods – and how to tell the difference between males and females
It’s not every day a woodlouse expert comes to tea. My children made a mad dash to hunt under logs in the garden to supply Beth, a soil scientist who studied woodlice at university, with specimens so she could show us how to tell males from females.
Adani says it could start works at Abbot Point without traditional owners' input
Exclusive: new construction work at coal terminal scheduled to begin as Juru group of traditional owners seeks stop order
Adani says it will proceed with new construction work at its Abbot Point coal terminal with or without the involvement of Juru local traditional owners, amid an escalating dispute about the protection of sacred sites.
On Thursday a group of traditional owners, Juru Enterprises Ltd, lodged an application for a stop order that could force Adani to cease work in the vicinity of Abbot Point and along part of the proposed rail link to the Carmichael mine.
Continue reading...Is it a panther? Is it a puma? No, just a cat and a huge claws of frustration
Rangers are sick of mistaken panther sightings, which detract from the fight against feral cats
A large cat in Western Australia that was mistaken for a panther is the latest in a long line of mythical big cat sightings that wildlife rangers say are unhelpful.
The large black feline – estimated to be 50% larger than a house cat – was spotted in the town of Coorow, 275km north of Perth, in late June, and reported to wildlife authorities as a potential panther or big cat.
Continue reading...Gulls in Devon and Dorset 'showing signs of drunkenness'
RSPCA has collected a large number of gulls exhibiting signs of disorientation, confusion and loss of balance
Gulls in Devon and areas of Dorset have been portraying signs of drunkenness, the RSPCA has said.
The animal welfare charity has collected a large number of gulls exhibiting signs of disorientation, confusion and loss of balance. The first incidents were reported on 21 June.
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