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The week in wildlife – in pictures

The Guardian - Sat, 2017-09-09 01:32

Stag deers in London’s Richmond Park, elks in east China, and Bactrian deer in central Asia are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world

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Q&A: our plastic addiction is out of control. How can we consume less?

The Guardian - Sat, 2017-09-09 00:10

Our air, water and salt are contaminated by plastic and the impact on our health is unknown. While we wait for the findings, here are ways to reduce plastic use

Tap water around the world is contaminated with tiny plastic fibres, the Guardian revealed this week, and other pilot studies have revealed microplastics in beer, sugar, salt and honey, as well as in seafood, in the air in cities and in homes. The impact on health of this apparently pervasive pollution is unknown, though microplastics do harm some marine life and scientists are calling for urgent research.

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Unknown species may thrive in Antarctic caves

BBC - Fri, 2017-09-08 22:14
Animals and plants may be living in warm caves under Antarctica's ice, according to a study.
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Solar industry says EU tariffs on Chinese imports will raise panel prices

The Guardian - Fri, 2017-09-08 21:16

EU duties on Chinese solar modules are set to rise 30% above market levels signalling ‘huge negative effects’ for businesses

Europe’s solar industry has condemned an EU vote to impose another round of duties on Chinese imports, just weeks before a US trade panel is due to rule on similar tariffs.

A Brussels committee yesterday agreed to set minimum import duties for Chinese solar modules and cells that could price them up to 30% above market levels with “huge negative effects” for the industry, according to trade groups.

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Study: mild floods are declining, but intense floods are on the rise | John Abraham

The Guardian - Fri, 2017-09-08 20:00

Milder floods that refill reservoirs are decreasing as severe floods become more common

It is well known that humans are causing the Earth to warm. We also know that a warmer atmosphere has more water vapor. Just like the air is more humid when it is warm, and less humid when cold. The more humid air leads to more intense precipitation and potentially more flooding. But how much change we will see is an open scientific question.

This question is made complex by the fact that flooding isn’t just about rain. It reflects a dependence on evaporation, rain, the ability of land and water management to handle water surges, and other factors. Fortunately, a very recent study out of Science Advances has helped advance our understanding of the confluence of global warming, intense rain and flooding.

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Is it time for the arts to start saying no to oil money?

The Guardian - Fri, 2017-09-08 20:00

An artist has given away part of his winnings to protest against BP’s role in climate change. The company’s money has helped an unfashionable artform, but what’s at stake is far more important

We can’t stop looking at human faces. Can’t stop being interested in ourselves, our species. The BP Portrait Award, whose annual exhibition of winners and strong contenders can be seen at the National Portrait Gallery until 24 September, is full of humanity. It is, perhaps, the most humanist art prize in the world, an art award that specifically celebrates the painted human image and looks for modern heirs to the profoundly compassionate tradition of portraiture that includes Rembrandt, Velázquez and Lucian Freud.

Yet it may be time to get over ourselves. Has the moment come to put nature before portraiture, and abolish this oil-tainted oil painting prize?

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Artist donates part of BP prize money to Greenpeace in oil sponsorship protest

The Guardian - Fri, 2017-09-08 20:00

Exclusive: Winner of the BP young artist award at UK’s National Portrait Gallery says donation is a protest against his art being used to promote the oil company

A painter who won a prestigious British portrait award sponsored by BP has donated part of his winnings to Greenpeace in protest at his art being used to promote the image of the multinational oil company.

Henry Christian-Slane, an artist from New Zealand, won the BP young artist award at the National Portrait Gallery for a painting of his partner Gabi. The high profile prize, which was chosen out of 2,580 entries, came with £7,000 prize money, which was presented by BP’s chief executive Bob Dudley.

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Kazakhstan to reintroduce wild tigers after 70-year absence

The Guardian - Fri, 2017-09-08 17:52

Project supported by WWF is likely to take many years and involves creation of nature reserve and restoration of forest

Wild tigers are to be reintroduced to Kazakhstan 70 years after they became extinct in the country.

The animals will be reintroduced in the Ili-Balkhash region in a project that involves the creation of a nature reserve and the restoration of a forest that is part of the animal’s historical range.

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The urban forests bringing life to our streets – in pictures

The Guardian - Fri, 2017-09-08 16:00

As more urban trees face the prospect of being felled – now at a rate of almost 60 a day – we asked Guardian readers to share their pictures of trees in their neighbourhoods. These are a few of our favourites

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Inside Siberia's remote nuclear science hub – in pictures

The Guardian - Fri, 2017-09-08 16:00

Akademgorodok is a science centre situated in a remote Siberian forest. Photographer Pablo Ortíz Monasterio gained access to marvel at its brightly coloured chemistry labs and nuclear particle accelerators

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Extreme weather makes homelessness even worse. Here's how we can help

The Conversation - Fri, 2017-09-08 14:46
When this is home, bad weather can make a bad situation much worse. Karen McIntyre, Author provided

The images of Hurricane Harvey in Texas have shown how extreme weather can rob people of their homes. But what about those who have no home to begin with, or whose living situation is already precarious?

Almost one-third of people who have been homeless have suffered extra trauma because of extreme weather, according to our research involving 163 homeless services in Australia and New Zealand.

What’s more, 19% of people in our study cited extreme weather as a factor in their clients becoming homeless in the first place.

Read more: Staying safe in a hotter Australia might depend on your income.

Our study, carried out on behalf of the Australian Attorney-General’s Department and published by the Australian Red Cross, featured surveys, interviews and focus groups involving people with experience of homelessness. We also talked to workers with homeless services and members of the emergency services.

We found that 39% of people who have experienced homelessness lose their home during severe weather.

Vulnerable situations

In media coverage of weather disasters, both overseas and in Australia, we often hear about how many homes have been damaged. But for those vulnerable to homelessness, the definition of “home” is much broader than this.

Our research focused on people who are already homeless or at risk of homelessness. This broad group includes rough sleepers, people who are couch-surfing or living in vulnerable situations such as temporary caravans, and those escaping domestic violence.

Compared with those who own or officially rent their home, and have access to financial security in the form of income or insurance, these people are especially susceptible to extreme weather. The problem is compounded by the fact that people in vulnerable living situations are also more likely to be suffering problems such as social isolation, mental illness, substance abuse or unemployment.

People in our study said they had lost tents, caravans, temporary structures such as shipping containers and cardboard shelters, and blankets and sleeping bags in open-air areas such as parks. This “loss of shelter” for the homeless community also includes losing a previously safe sleeping area to mud and water – until the area dries out it can’t be used for sleeping.

Less obvious, but critically important for people’s well-being, are the impacts of losing your shelter. During extreme weather, people are more likely to seek shelter in the lee of buildings like churches or public toilets to stay dry. This provides temporary shelter, but increases the risk that they will be moved on, or that they will face aggression and violence.

No match for a storm. Joao, Author provided

For 19% of people in our survey, experiencing a natural disaster was a factor that helped to tip them over into homelessness. One example is this man’s experience after a bushfire, as related to us by a homelessness service provider:

We had one fellow who was living as a caretaker on a farm. This was [230km away] … [He lost his accommodation because of the bushfires] and because there wasn’t the capability of providing homelessness services for him [there] he walked down to Adelaide and stayed down at the park for a few days until the police here connected him with us.

Besides losing shelter, extreme weather can also trigger mental health issues or worsen existing conditions. Community services working with people experiencing homelessness report that 30% of their clients had experienced mental trauma from an extreme weather event.

These impacts on shelter and mental health illustrate the hardship that extreme weather can bring to people who lack the money or resources to find shelter in a storm.

How communities can help

Providing suitable shelter is crucial. A lack of affordable long-term accommodation, and of short-term options such as drop-in centres with laundries and showers, was the biggest risk factor for people experiencing homelessness during severe weather. In 25% of the extreme weather events we studied, there was no publicly available shelter for people who are homeless.

Access to weather information and warnings is important too. Our research showed that 50% of people experiencing homelessness did not receive any warning of the coming events, and 45% had no access to information about what to do in the event of extreme weather. For those who did receive information and warnings, this was most often through the outreach services provided by community homelessness agencies.

This vital capability can be expanded, for example by providing staff with equipment such as four-wheel drive vehicles in rural and remote areas. This would help not only with disseminating emergency warnings, but also with distributing items such as bottled water, and helping people without transport to reach shelters and hospitals.

Read more: Cyclone Debbie: we can design cities to withstand these natural disasters.

However, homeless services themselves are also highly vulnerable to the impacts of natural disasters. Recent research in Australia found that 25% of community organisations could not recover if their infrastructure was damaged by extreme weather. Extreme weather can damage crucial infrastructure such as shelters and computer networks; it forces staff to work harder to meet the demand for shelter, bedding, food and emergency supplies; and it makes reaching people more difficult in cases where roads are cut off or mobile phone towers have been damaged. As one agency put it: “extreme weather stretches our already disproportionate response to need”.

Without access to housing, to weather information and warnings, to protective items or homeless services, extreme weather deepens the cycle of homelessness, as this service provider in Southeast Queensland described:

The largest event to hit was the flood event of January 2013 which impacted over 30 tenancies we managed as well as hundreds elsewhere in the town. Hundreds of homeless people were also affected as common areas for sleeping outside were near the river or in low-lying areas affected by the flood. This event immediately impacted the customers and continued to have impact over 18 months later with countless numbers still couchsurfing or living in overcrowded situations as a result of loss of housing or camping areas.

Homeless services can prepare by stockpiling items such as weatherproof swags, protective clothing and shoes, mobile phone chargers, cash cards, food and water. Homeless services can also use online emergency planning and preparedness tools like ACOSS’s Resilient Community Organisations Six Steps to Resilience.

But unless the situation improves, those least fortunate can find that they are living with the aftermath of events such as cyclones long after most people have cleaned up and moved on.

This article was coauthored by John Richardson, National Resilience Adviser at Australian Red Cross.

The Conversation

Danielle Every has received funding from the Attorney General's National Emergency Management Program, the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, the Victorian SES, and SAFECOM.

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Results Announced for 2017 Dow Jones Sustainability Indices Review

RenewEconomy - Fri, 2017-09-08 14:36
The results of the annual Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) review.
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Slovenly humans bring out the worst in the resident wildlife

The Guardian - Fri, 2017-09-08 14:30

Petersfield, Hampshire Bags of picnic rubbish littered the lakeside, and rats were helping themselves to bread left for the ducks


After enduring weeks of overcast skies and squally showers, hordes of visitors had evidently spent the day at the heath, making the most of the long-awaited sunshine.

A confetti of carelessly discarded sweet and ice lolly wrappers littered the path to the 22-acre Heath Pond. The bins were overflowing with bottles, cans and fast food packaging, but rather than taking their rubbish home people had resorted to dumping bags of picnic detritus beside them.

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Australia installs 98MW rooftop solar in August – soaring above 6GW total

RenewEconomy - Fri, 2017-09-08 14:27
Solar party continues. Latest data show 98MW of rooftop solar PV was installed on Australian homes and businesses in August.
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Telstra, Macquarie looking to build new wind and solar farms

RenewEconomy - Fri, 2017-09-08 14:18
Telstra and Macquarie Group looking to build new solar and wind farms in Australia in further signs of strong corporate investment.
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South Australia launches tender for hydrogen plant, buses

RenewEconomy - Fri, 2017-09-08 14:12
SA govt seeks proposals to build hydrogen production facility and refuelling station, and supply at least six hydrogen cell buses.
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Blockchain energy trader Power Ledger raises $17m in “coin offering”

RenewEconomy - Fri, 2017-09-08 14:11
Perth blockchain-based renewables trading start-up, Power Ledger, raising tens of millions of dollars in Australia's first "initial coin offering" in energy space.
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AEMO explains caution on S.A. wind: We’re first in the world

RenewEconomy - Fri, 2017-09-08 14:01
AEMO explains caution of grid operations in South Australia, saying it is way out front of rest of the world and in virgin territory. But there is debate on grid weakness is due to wind farms or ageing gas units with the wrong settings.
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Fast forward on action to preserve the Reef

Department of the Environment - Fri, 2017-09-08 13:22
The Australian and Queensland Governments remain firmly committed to preserving and managing the Great Barrier Reef.
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Turnbull’s rooftop PV and storage may be more useful to grid than Liddell

RenewEconomy - Fri, 2017-09-08 13:15
PM is chuffed about his rooftop PV and storage, and so he should be. Installations like that will be of greater value to the grid than Liddell, which is a similar age and condition to the Hazelwood generator Turnbull admitted was "very old" and no longer viable.
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