Open letter to Labour energy secretary from 41 groups says wood-burning biomass plants are putting forests and biodiversity at risk
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More than 40 green groups have called on Ed Miliband to scrap plans to pay billions in subsidies to the Drax power plant in North Yorkshire for it to keep burning wood pellets imported from overseas forests.
In an open letter to the energy secretary, 41 groups from across Europe and the US say they are “deeply concerned” about the UK government’s plans to foot the cost of extending the subsidy scheme, which supports the UK’s most polluting power plant from 2027 until the end of the decade.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
08/27/2024 - 06:00
Michael Dourson receives funds from chemical makers and plans to develop and publish studies that benefit firms
Scientists with financial ties to industry and histories of producing controversial research to derail chemical regulations are mobilizing to attack strict new federal drinking water limits for toxic PFAS, or “forever chemicals”, documents reviewed by the Guardian reveal.
In July, Michael Dourson, a contentious toxicologist who receives some funding from chemical makers, sent an email to scientists, consultants and lawyers detailing a plan to develop and publish peer-reviewed science for chemical companies to wield as evidence against PFAS limits. It went out just after industry groups mounted a legal challenge to the restrictions.
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08/27/2024 - 05:55
Location of recently found sample of Britain’s rarest plant kept secret to protect it from enthusiasts and poachers
Britain’s rarest plant, a “holy grail” orchid, has been rediscovered for the first time since 2009, and scientists are now working to protect it from slugs, deer – and poachers.
The ghost orchid was discovered earlier this month by Richard Bate, a dental surgeon, orchid lover and member of the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI).
Herefordshire and Shropshire: Found flowering in only five years between 1854 and 1910, followed by a 72-year gap until 1982, and then a 27-year gap until the last sighting in 2009.
Oxfordshire: Discovered by a schoolgirl in 1924, the ghost orchid was found flowering in about a dozen years between 1924 and 1979.
Buckinghamshire: First found in 1953, the ghost orchid was recorded in bloom in 25 of the years between 1953 and 1987.
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08/27/2024 - 04:38
It’s paper straws and compostable cups for the masses, space travel and $600m weddings for their overlords. No wonder everyone who can afford it wants a doomsday bunker
Jesus, if I remember correctly, usually travelled by donkey or by foot. Today’s corporate saviours, however, have more elevated tastes. Last week Starbucks made headlines after it was revealed its new CEO, Brian Niccol – who has been described as the “messiah” the ailing coffee company had been searching for – will be commuting to the office via private jet. Niccol, you see, is generously going to abide by the company’s policy of being in the office three days a week. But since he lives in California and the Starbucks HQ is more than 1,000 miles away in Seattle, a corporate jet is really the only way to go.
Did anyone at Starbucks sit down with a cup of coffee and ponder the optics of this before sealing the deal? Because the optics are terrible. Back in 2018 the company made a lot of noise about how it was getting rid of plastic straws and working towards a recyclable and compostable “cup solution”. What’s the point of that posturing if you’re then going to stick your CEO on an emission-spewing private jet a couple of times a week? As environmental groups and plenty of angry people on the internet have pointed out, this supercommute makes a mockery of Starbucks’ supposed “green agenda”.
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08/27/2024 - 01:45
Millions of sharks are killed every year, but a population in the island paradise could hold clues to where they breed and give birth, enabling better protections
Within minutes the sharks, with their characteristic stripes and sharp, jagged teeth, appear from the depths of the Indian Ocean. They follow the scent of fish blood and oil coming from tuna heads a research team has hidden under a pile of rocks in a shallow sandy area.
The tiger sharks, perhaps eight or nine and up to four metres long, circle the divers, at times only an arm’s length away. All are females, two with bite marks on their flanks and fins, indicating recent mating. Some have remarkably fat bellies.
Tiger sharks circle at the Tiger Zoo dive site
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08/26/2024 - 23:01
Australian study of guppies shows that pharmaceutical pollution could threaten species’ long-term survival
Contamination of waterways with the antidepressant Prozac is disrupting fish bodies and behaviours in ways that could threaten their long-term survival, new research has found.
As global consumption of pharmaceuticals has increased, residues have entered rivers and streams via wastewater raising concerns about the effects on ecosystems and wildlife.
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08/26/2024 - 22:58
Speaking during the Pacific Islands Forum in Tonga, the United Nations secretary general, Antonio Guterres, said fossil fuels must be phased out and all G20 countries must pursue a 'drastic reduction of emissions'. Asked whether he believes it is acceptable for a country like Australia to be continuing to approve new coal and gas projects, Guterres said the 'situation of different countries is different' but there should be no 'illusion'. 'Without a phase-out of fossil fuels in a fair and just way, there is no way we can keep the 1.5 degrees alive,' Guterres said in a reference to the Paris climate agreement goal of holding temperature rise to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels
Albanese government accused of trying to ‘bury bad news’ about health of Great Barrier Reef
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Crocodile culling an ineffective and expensive way to reduce attacks, Northern Territory study finds
08/26/2024 - 21:46
Education campaigns to change human behaviour and relocation of problem reptiles are better ways of managing risk, researchers say
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Culling crocodiles is an ineffective and expensive way to reduce attacks on humans, new research has found.
Research published in the journal People and Nature found 91% of crocodile attack victims in the Northern Territory were locals, with human complacency and water-based activities contributing factors.
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08/26/2024 - 18:01
António Guterres calls for a ‘massive’ increase in finance and support for the countries most vulnerable to rising sea levels
Pacific island nations are in “grave danger” from rising sea levels and the world must “answer the SOS before it is too late”, the UN chief has warned during a visit to Tonga.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, urged the world to “look to the Pacific and listen to the science” as he released two new reports on the sidelines of the Pacific Islands Forum, the region’s most important annual political gathering.
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08/26/2024 - 16:41
One report says 150-200 people missing after heavy rain led to Arbaat dam giving way in area already hit by civil war
Surging waters have burst through a dam in eastern Sudan, wiping out at least 20 villages and leaving at least 30 people dead but probably many more, the UN has said, devastating a region already reeling from months of civil war.
Torrential rains caused floods that on Sunday overwhelmed the Arbaat dam, which is 25 miles (40km) north of Port Sudan, the de facto national capital and base for the government, diplomats, aid agencies and hundreds of thousands of displaced people.
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