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The death of “alternative energy”
Alphabet (Google) turns to molten salt to store clean energy
Energy Unlimited – 4 steps to 100% renewables
Device could make washing machines lighter and greener
Phase in new carbon pollution standards for cars two years early: ClimateWorks
Colonies expand for the treetop emperor
Dedicated searches have revealed a rare butterfly back in its former Kent stronghold and gaining other territories
Britain’s most charismatic and elusive butterfly, the purple emperor, has a habit of turning up unannounced. This powerful, treetop, butterfly lives at low densities in the landscape but has been spotted in many new places thanks to the combination of a fine mid-summer and some astonishingly thorough searches by devotees.
Related: Interesting times for lepidopterists
Continue reading...Public support for fracking in the UK at record low, official survey reveals
Government research finds drastic drop in people backing drilling for shale gas since the study was launched in 2012
Public support for fracking has reached a record low, according to the latest government research.
A survey by the Business and Energy Department showed just 16% supported the controversial process of shale gas extraction, down from 21% last year and the lowest since the study was launched five years ago.
Continue reading...Armoured tank-like dino used camouflage to hide
New map of Universe's dark matter
Amnesty condemns 'campaign of harassment' against Nicaragua canal critics
The interoceanic canal and its ‘murky legal framework’ was also criticized by former model Bianca Jagger, who called the canal ‘an insane project’
Nicaragua’s former revolutionary leaders have led a campaign of harassment and persecution against communities opposing the construction of a controversial canal that threatens the homes and livelihoods of tens of thousands of people, according to Amnesty International.
Plans to construct a $50bn shipping canal 175 miles long and 500 yards wide have provoked a mix of anger, fear and defiance not witnessed since the civil war between the Sandinista government and US-backed Contra rebels ended in 1988.
Continue reading...Carmakers accused of 'clutching at straws' over retrofitting polluting diesels
VW, BMW, Opel and Daimler’s promise to fix 5 million cars not enough to undo the damage done by emissions scandal, say campaigners
Major car makers are being accused of clutching at straws after they agreed to fit software to 5m diesel vehicles in Germany to reduce harmful emissions by up to 30%.
VW, Daimler, BMW and Opel made the decision at a summit with leading politicians in Berlin. They have been under pressure since the diesel emissions scandal two years ago exposed how VW and – it is suspected – other manufacturers have been cheating the testing regime.
Continue reading...EPA backs off delay for smog-causing emissions reduction after being sued
Scott Pruitt claims change is testament to responsiveness but makes no mention of legal challenge over Obama-era rules to lessen ground-level ozone
One day after getting sued by 15 states, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief, Scott Pruitt, reversed his decision to delay implementation of Obama-era rules reducing emissions of smog-causing air pollutants.
Pruitt presented the change as his agency being more responsive than past administrations to the needs of state environmental regulators. He made no mention of the legal challenge filed against his prior position in a federal appeals court.
Continue reading...$1 billion to clean up the oil in Peru’s northern Amazon
Over four decades of exploration and extraction have caused an environmental and health crisis in indigenous communities
Who is going to clean up Peru’s northern Amazon after decades of companies spilling oil and dumping billions of barrels of toxic production waters? Certainly not US company Occidental which ran the biggest concession, Lot 1-AB, until 2000, nor, it would seem, Petroperu, which ran the other major concession, Lot 8, until 1996 and operates the rusty, leaking North Peruvian Pipeline to this day.
Nor Pluspetrol, a company founded in Argentina and now registered in the Netherlands which took over both Lot 1-AB and Lot 8, if its actions to date are anything to go by. Nor the China National Petroleum Corporation, which bought 45% stakes in both concessions in 2003. Nor the subsidiary of a Canadian company now called Frontera Energy which, in 2015, when Lot 1-AB’s name was effectively changed to Lot 192, bought 100% of operations in a two year temporary contract.
Continue reading...Study finds human influence in the Amazon's third 1-in-100 year drought since 2005 | John Abraham
Deforestation and climate change appear to be amplifying droughts in the Amazon
If you are like me, you picture the Amazon region as an ever lush, wet, tropical region filled with numerous plant and animal species. Who would imagine the Amazon experiencing drought? I mean sure, if we think of drought as “less water than usual,” then any place could have a drought. But what I tend to envision with respect to drought is truly dry.
People who work in this field have a more advanced understanding than I do about drought, how and why it occurs, its frequency and severity, and the impact on natural and human worlds. This recognition brings us to a very interesting paper recently published in Scientific Reports, entitled Unprecedented drought over tropical South America in 2016: significantly under-predicted by tropical SST [sea surface temperature]. So, what did this paper show?
Rising temperatures in parts of Asia could make going outside impossible in future
Why do endangered right whales keep dying off the coast of Canada?
Researchers are racing for answers after at least 10 deaths of north Atlantic right whales, marking the deadliest year since tracking began
Researchers are scrambling to figure out why one of the world’s most endangered whale species is dying in “unprecedented” numbers, after at least 10 north Atlantic right whales have been found floating lifelessly off the coast of Canada.
The first whale carcass was reported in early June. Within a month, another six reports came in, leaving researchers reeling. This week, after several carcasses washed up on the shores of western Newfoundland, Canadian officials confirmed that the number of whale deaths had risen to at least 10, making 2017 the deadliest year for the marine mammal since researchers began tracking them in the 1980s.
Continue reading...Invitation to comment on draft revised referral guideline for the three Western Australian black cockatoos
Inscrutable all-seeing dragonfly overhead
Hamsterley Forest, Weardale Their visual sensitivity challenges us and their ability to track small fast objects is unparalleled
Much of Hamsterley forest lay in deep shadow and the scent of conifer resin hung in the still air between the spruces. No one had passed this way this morning; there were intact spiders’ webs stretched across the path high above Spurleswood beck.
And there we found a female golden-ringed dragonfly, Cordulegaster boltonii, clinging to rushes, still grounded by the lingering chill of the night. It’s the largest and, with its jet-black and yellow markings, the most startling, dragonfly species in the north Pennines.
Continue reading...World has already used nature’s budget for year, and Australia is worst offender
10% Model 3 orders cancelled, but numbers jump since launch
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