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Eco Environment News feeds
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Rishi Sunak urged to end hostility to green spending or miss net zero target
Treasury review will help determine whether UK meets climate goals, and experts say radical change is required
The UK chancellor, Rishi Sunak, must radically overhaul the Treasury’s response to the climate crisis, reforming the department’s longstanding hostility to green spending and resetting its priorities, experts said.
The Treasury is poised to introduce its long-awaited review of the government’s net zero strategy, and its recommendations will help determine whether the UK meets stringent targets on greenhouse gas emissions in the next 15 years.
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‘A surge of hope’: public helps create poem celebrating coming of spring
Writer Elizabeth-Jane Burnett brings together 400 voices for optimistic riposte to events of past year
Some described chance encounters with birds and animals beginning to chirrup and scurry as the days lengthened and warmed; others focused on feelings of relief, hope and lingering melancholy after a long and challenging winter.
The observations, thoughts and sentiments of members of the public who were invited to contribute to a crowdsourced poem celebrating the coming of spring 2021 have been weaved together into a new poem by the nature writer Elizabeth-Jane Burnett.
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Country diary: blackthorn winter has begun to loosen its grip
Wolsingham, County Durham:Pearly buds have opened, smothering blackthorn twigs in a froth of blossom. Spring’s brief intermission is over
In The Generation Game, a popular 1970s TV show, winning contestants watched desirable prizes pass by on a conveyor belt, but afterwards only took home those they could remember in 45 seconds. Recalling the pageant of spring flora – a prize for getting through a long winter – sometimes feels like a similar challenge, especially since the floral conveyor belt accelerates as temperatures rise and days lengthen.
The earliest flowers soon fade from memory. When I walked this footpath two weeks ago, yellow star of Bethlehem that bloomed in March was already hidden under an aniseed-scented canopy of sweet cicely foliage. Lesser celandines and violets were reaching their peak, toothwort and butterbur had just shouldered aside last autumn’s decayed leaves, and drifts of wood anemones and ramsons were about to grace the woodland.
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Genetic diversity in salmon has declined since fish farming introduced – study
Researchers say loss of diversity in Sweden’s Atlantic salmon population could compromise ability of fish to adapt to climate change
Fish farming may have been devised as a remedy to reinvigorate dwindling fish stocks but this human solution has spawned another problem: lower genetic diversity.
Now, a study shows that the genetic makeup of Atlantic salmon populations from a century ago compared with the current stock across 13 Swedish rivers is more genetically similar than distinct, which researchers say could compromise the ability of the fish to adapt to climate change.
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Melting ice in Arctic linked to bowhead whales holding off annual migration
Researchers in Canada find that population did not make the 6,000km roundtrip in 2018-2019
As the ice melts at pace in the Arctic, the mining and shipping industry has carved itself an opportunity out of the crisis. Meanwhile, the marine ecosystem is left to coping with the heat, noise, pollution and the cascade of other changes that come with the upheaval of the environment.
Now researchers have found a whale species that typically migrates away from solid sea ice each autumn and returns every summer to feast on tiny crustaceans did not make the 6,000km (3,700-mile) roundtrip in 2018-2019.
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Tonight I do want to address the elephant in the ballroom – climate change | First Dog on the Moon
It will be dealt with by salt of the earth scientists and farmers - the sort of Australians people like you only ever have to think about when you fire them
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Joe Biden faces major test building US credibility at climate summit
President will unveil new emissions reduction target while much will hinge upon cooperation between China and US
Joe Biden’s desire to re-establish US leadership on the climate crisis will face a severe test this week at a summit the president hopes will rebuild American credibility and kickstart a spluttering international effort to stave off the effects of global heating.
Biden has invited 40 world leaders to a two-day virtual gathering starting on Earth Day, Thursday, as the opening salvo in negotiations leading to crunch United Nations talks in Scotland later this year. Scientists say the world is severely lagging in tackling the climate crisis and its heatwaves, storms and floods, with planet-heating emissions set to roar back following a dip due to coronavirus shutdowns.
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The Guardian view on new climate goals: a destination is not enough | Editorial
Bad decisions are harming the UK’s green credentials. Boris Johnson must get beyond targets if he wants be taken seriously
The starting gun has been fired. With a pledge to cut the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions by 78% by 2035 compared with 1990 levels, Boris Johnson’s government has begun the bidding process that will set the scene for the Cop26 climate talks. As Mr Johnson knows, November’s meeting in Glasgow is a chance for the host country and its leaders to shine. And so his government has taken the cue and announced a toughening of existing targets – in line with UK law and following advice from its advisers on the Committee on Climate Change – ahead of a virtual climate summit of 40 world leaders to be hosted by Joe Biden.
In the coming days, countries including the US and Japan are expected to present their nationally determined contributions, or NDCs, as plans to cut emissions over the next decade are known. The world will soon know a good deal more about our prospects of avoiding catastrophic warming of over 1.5C. But distracting as the geopolitical scenario may be, in particular the extraordinary transformation of American climate policy since Donald Trump’s defeat, this is not the time to ease the pressure on Mr Johnson. Instead, it must be drastically ramped up.
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Carbon emissions to soar in 2021 by second highest rate in history
Global economies forecast to pour stimulus money into fossil fuels as part of Covid recovery
Carbon dioxide emissions are forecast to jump this year by the second biggest annual rise in history, as global economies pour stimulus cash into fossil fuels in the recovery from the Covid-19 recession.
The leap will be second only to the massive rebound 10 years ago after the financial crisis, and will put climate hopes out of reach unless governments act quickly, the International Energy Agency has warned.
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UK to toughen targets on greenhouse gas emissions for next 15 years
Carbon dioxide to be cut by 78% by 2035 compared with 1990 levels, the prime minister is to say later this week
The UK is to toughen its targets on greenhouse gas emissions for the next 15 years, the first major developed economy to do so, the Guardian understands.
Following recommendations of the government’s statutory climate advisors, carbon dioxide is to be cut by 78% by 2035 compared with 1990 levels, the prime minister will say later this week – an increase from the current target of a 68% reduction by 2030.
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Eco Health News feeds
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Covid-19: India red list add 'may be too late', Prof Mark Walport says
There are "good reasons" for keeping the new variant out of the UK, scientist Prof Mark Walport says.
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Covid-19: Suicide rate 'did not rise during first lockdown'
More people were seeking mental health support, but data shows no increase in suicides in England.
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Johnson & Johnson vaccine: EU regulator says blood clot very rare side effect
The EU's drugs regulator says the benefits of the Covid-19 vaccine still outweigh the risks.
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Covid: More than 10m people fully vaccinated in UK
The health secretary hails the "terrific milestone", urging those eligible to come forward for the jab.
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Covid contracts: PPE fixer who was Tory donor named in admin error
Samir Jassal, who has campaigned with the PM, was a contact in a £100m deal for Covid safety gear.
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Young people to be reinfected with Covid for study
Scientists will see how the immune system copes second time round, by deliberately infecting volunteers.
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Covid in Scotland: Hospitality, gyms and shops to open from Monday
The first minister confirms that the most significant stage in lockdown easing will go ahead as planned.
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Harry Richford: East Kent NHS Trust pleads guilty over baby death
East Kent Hospitals Trust admits failings that came to light after family's campaign for "justice".
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Covid: Indian variant being investigated in UK
Some cases of the Indian variant have been found that are not linked to travel, a scientist says.
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NI Covid-19 vaccine bookings to open for 35-39 group
Vaccines for a limited number of people aged between 35 and 39 are being made available from Monday.
Eco Nature News feeds
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New coalition aims to help protect oceans on global scale
A new alliance is on a mission to advance the conservation of 18 million square kilometers (7 million square miles) of ocean — an area twice the size of the continental United States — over the next five years.
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As digital currencies surge, so do their carbon footprints: 3 stories you may have missed
In case you missed it: The recent boom in digital currencies is raising awareness of their environmental toll, the pandemic offers lessons for fighting climate change and more affordable clean energy means emissions are dropping as some economies grow.
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When COVID flattened tourism, carbon credits kept these African hills ‘green’
The pandemic cratered ecotourism in Africa last year, depriving local communities of life-sustaining revenues. However, the people of Chyulu Hills in southeast Kenya were able to tell a different story — and make a number of investments toward their futures. Here's how.
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As pandemic pounded Peru, one region thrived on coffee, carbon
Across Peru, the COVID-19 pandemic has left millions without jobs. But in the Alto Mayo Protected Forest, where the Amazon meets the Andes, coffee farmers were spared much of the economic devastation that gripped Peru’s cities and towns.
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To prevent pandemics, new plan must invest in nature: 3 stories you may have missed
In case you missed it: Protecting nature is key to preventing future pandemics, underwater odors could provide hints to healthier coral reefs, and lightning storms may fuel climate change in the Arctic.
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Notes from the field: From fighting fires to cleaning seas, communities stand up for nature
Here are three recent conservation success stories you should know about.
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The problem with white climate anxiety: 3 stories you may have missed
In case you missed it: A professor of environmental studies shares why “climate anxiety” is a largely white phenomenon, a new report suggests that securing the land rights of Indigenous communities across Latin America and the Caribbean could reap major climate benefits at low costs, and the world lost a Dutch-sized plot of forests in 2020.
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Study: Aerial drones capture manta ray behaviors in thriving population
Conservation News spoke to a manta ray expert at Conservation International about the findings of his new research — from promising pregnancies to drone discoveries to acrobatic feeding behaviors.
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For farmed fish, a ‘vegetarian’ diet is good for the planet: 3 stories you may have missed
In case you missed it: Fish farming is becoming more sustainable, a new study found that summer could last nearly half the year by 2100, and poaching and habitat degradation are pushing Africa’s elephants to the brink.
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In Bolivian Andes, new protected area offers ‘a breath of fresh air’
With support from Conservation International, the municipality of Guanay in Bolivia established a law to protect one-third of its land.