Around The Web

Peru’s Health Ministry found shocking contamination among the Nahua, but hasn’t published its full report

An indigenous people living in one of the remotest parts of the Peruvian Amazon has been struck by a mystery mercury epidemic, according to an unpublished Health Ministry report dated 2015 and 2017 seen by the Guardian.

The Nahua only entered into sustained contact with “outsiders” in the mid-1980s, which led to almost 50% of the population dying mainly from respiratory and infectious diseases. Today, numbering less than 500 people, the vast majority live in a village in the Kugapakori, Nahua, Nanti and Others Reserve established for indigenous peoples in “voluntary isolation” and “initial contact” in south-east Peru.

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Team of divers spent two days searching a reef, and hope more red handfish will be found

Divers in Tasmania have discovered a new population of red handfish, doubling the known population of the elusive and extremely rare fish and raising hopes that more may be found.

Until last week the remaining population of red handfish, Thymichthys politus, was believed to be confined to one 50m long reef in Frederick Henry Bay near Hobart in south-east Tasmania.

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Exclusive: government accused of hypocrisy as documents show opposition to urban waste plan

The UK government is opposing strong new recycling targets across the EU despite its recent pledge to develop “ambitious new future targets and milestones”, confidential documents have revealed.

A 25-year environment plan was launched earlier in January by the prime minister, Theresa May, who particularly focused on cutting plastic pollution. The plan, aimed partly at wooing younger voters, says “recycling plastics is critical”.

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The federal government's new funding aims to spread the net wide in investigating possible ways to protect the Great Barrier Reef's corals. Winning this battle will require a wide range of weapons. David Suggett, Associate Professor in Marine Biology, University of Technology Sydney Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Neoen says 150MW solar project shows 2000MW of solar and storage could be brought into production faster and cheaper than Snowy 2.0.

SolarReserve has opened its Australian headquarters and a field office near where it will build a 150MW solar thermal power plant.

Construction begins on state's newest wind project near Port Augusta, one that will also include battery storage.

Carnegie Clean Energy is pleased to advise that it has received a $1.63 million grant milestone progress payment from ARENA for the Garden Island Microgrid Project.

Reducing the impacts of human-caused climate change through use of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage could have major consequences for wildlife, forests and water resources.

White House wanted to use solar tariffs to punish China, but it will end up punishing the states that voted for him the most.

No longer must we wonder whether renewable energy resources can power our future economy, but rather, “how quickly".

A new wind farm in Western Victoria will power more than 20,000 households as part of a jobs boom in Western Victoria with six projects underway or proposed in the area.

Scientists have called for special status to protect coral, penguins and other wildlife in Antarctica.

Deniers have found a platform in emerging publications that publish without rigorous review

There’s a new scientific journal you might not have heard of called the International Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences. It says it “supports scientist who sweats for the real innovation & discovery”.

If that’s a little too sweaty for you, then how about another new journal, also called the International Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences?

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Heddon Valley in Devon to be haven for high brown fritillary, supported by lottery funding

A beautiful wooded valley on the Devon coast is to be the focus of a project to save the UK’s most endangered butterfly – the high brown fritillary.

Conservationists believe changes to woodland management, such as the abandonment of coppicing, and climate change have contributed to the steep decline of the large, powerful, fast-flying butterfly over the last 50 years.

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Tesla unveils 10-year plan to reach $A800 billion in market value by becoming the world's first vertically integrated sustainable energy company. That means going big in solar, EVs and battery storage, and would make Elon Musk the world's richest person.

The tall grass is perfect habitat for vulnerable aquatic species

As a child living deep in the country, the greater tussock sedge, Carex paniculata, provided me with both an adventure playground and a guarantee of getting muddy. This ancient grass, which grows in shallow bogs in pillars up to 1.5 metres high (4ft 11in) and about a metre (3ft 3in) across, often has colonies of 20 or 30 plants close together. The childhood game was to climb on top of one without getting your feet wet and jump from one to the next without falling off into the swamp. An added hazard was (and is) that the leaves are narrow and rough – sharp enough if they slip through your fingers to cut through the skin. So most adventures ended with getting muddy and bloody at the same time.

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Imagine being one of the last few people alive. Would that make it ok to destroy the natural world? This thought experiment reveals the true value of nature, beyond the benefits to humans. Janna Thompson, Professor of Philosophy, La Trobe University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Public and private sector funds must increasingly pool resources to finance larger global sustainability and climate change projects, a new study shows

Tackling climate change and achieving the world’s sustainable development goals will require publicly funded and private sector banks and institutions to be far more willing to join forces to provide “blended” finance to projects, according to a new study.

Blended finance is the term given to the use of public or philanthropic capital to spur private sector investment in projects aimed at achieving the sustainable development goals. Already, this market is worth about $50bn globally, but experts said on Tuesday this sum could double within the next three to four years.

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Scientists dive into Antarctic waters to build the case for a vast new marine protected area.