EarthWire/UK

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The latest environmental news from the UK, brought to you by UNEP/GRID-Arendal.
Updated: 41 min 29 sec ago

HPA Launches Study on Lead Poisoning in Children

26 July, 2010 - 00:00
HPA investigating incidence and causes of lead poisoning in children.
Categories: Climate Change

Country diary: Claxton, Norfolk

25 July, 2010 - 00:00
Love, toil, comedy, betrayal, beauty and death - and they are all just in my garden along the hedgerow. Actually that element of affection is the part I bring to the bargain as I stand among the bumblebees trafficking constantly from our bramble flowers. If there is a more wonderful and joyous
Categories: Climate Change

British mange tout goes on sale for the first time

25 July, 2010 - 00:00
The vegetable, typically grown in Kenya, is expected to attract shoppers keen to avoid produce that has racked up air milesBritish-grown mange tout will go on sale on the UK high street for the first time this week in a boost for shoppers keen to avoid produce that has racked up air miles.The vegeta
Categories: Climate Change

Why mini cows could save the planet

25 July, 2010 - 00:00
Farmers in the US are getting excited about miniature cattle that are less than a metre tall - and may be the future of sustainable beef farmingWhen you hear the words "mini cows" they sound as if they are the result of someone's daft hobby. But miniature cattle could be the future of environmentall
Categories: Climate Change

Bob Dudley: Profile of the new BP chief executive

25 July, 2010 - 00:00
A southerner with a steely core, Dudley was drafted in as a safe pair of hands to deal with the aftermath of the BP oil spill in AprilThe American chosen to replace Tony Hayward as chief executive of BP is a soft-spoken southerner with a steely core who battled it out with Vladimir Putin in Russia b
Categories: Climate Change

BAE to assist green energy project

25 July, 2010 - 00:00
Britain's biggest arms manufacturer will contribute its marine engineering expertise to a wave-power project off OrkneyMarine engineering for an innovative wave-power project off Orkney is to be provided by Britain's biggest arms manufacturer, BAE Systems. The defence firm, which builds Type 45 dest
Categories: Climate Change

Trafigura founder Graham Sharp's £3m gift to Oxford university causes anger

24 July, 2010 - 00:00
Donation linked to scandal-hit oil trading company should be rejected, say Oxford students and teaching staffStudents and academics at Oxford are angry that their university has accepted more than £3m from a foundation established by a founder of the controversial oil trading company Trafigura.Graha
Categories: Climate Change

Why RBS should be turned into the Royal Bank of Sustainability

24 July, 2010 - 00:00
New research suggests ministers could give a welcome boost to its environmental goals by reinventing RBS as a green investment bankThe coalition has promised to reform the banks, and it also wants to be the greenest government ever. Laudable goals - and research published tomorrow by former Pricewat
Categories: Climate Change

Modern cargo ships slow to the speed of the sailing clippers

24 July, 2010 - 00:00
Container ships are taking longer to cross the oceans than the Cutty Sark did as owners adopt 'super-slow steaming' to cut back on fuel consumptionThe world's largest cargo ships are travelling at lower speeds today than sailing clippers such as the Cutty Sark did more than 130 years ago.A combinati
Categories: Climate Change

Indian miner Vedanta faces Avatar-style protest at its London AGM

24 July, 2010 - 00:00
Make-up artists will paint protesters as Na'vi rebels to symbolise the plight of the Dongria Kondh tribe in OrissaControversial mining company Vedanta faces more protests at its annual shareholder meeting this week from campaigners who liken it to the evil multinational in the film Avatar.Campaign g
Categories: Climate Change

Green tax could add £850 to cost of buying a home

24 July, 2010 - 00:00
Property industry slates plan, being considered by Coalition, to increase stamp duty for homes with poor energy ratingA new green tax being considered by the government could add £850 to the cost of buying a typical home - and it would require the new owner to spend at least £15,000 on improvements
Categories: Climate Change

Environmental Protection UK Questions 'Right to Build' Proposals

24 July, 2010 - 00:00
We question proposals to allow villages to build without planning permission.
Categories: Climate Change

The week in wildlife

23 July, 2010 - 00:00
The 'living fossil' mountain tapir, the rare horton plains slender loris, and an octopus with anti-freeze venom - the pick of this week's images from the natural world
Categories: Climate Change

Amazon destruction in 'dramatic decline'

23 July, 2010 - 00:00
Increased use of satellite data and new tactics to deter loggers have led to drop, says Brazilian environment agencyLarge-scale deforestation in the Amazon rainforest fell dramatically last year, according to official figures released yesterday.Data from satellite sensors making fortnightly detectio
Categories: Climate Change

Unwritten rules of the Tour de France

23 July, 2010 - 00:00
Scheduled loo breaks, family visits and not attacking when your opponent's chain comes off - all some of the Tour de France's unwritten rules? Win a Tour de France jersey? Win a Tour de France bookOn the face of it, it might seem curious, even perverse, that a sport where the lowest form of cheating
Categories: Climate Change

Axeing the SDC is brazenly cynical

23 July, 2010 - 00:00
Axing the Sustainable Development Commission makes no sense - economically or environmentally. It's dogma-driven and brazenly cynicalAs the former chair of the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC), I'm clearly going to be a bit biased about the government's decision yesterday to get rid of the c
Categories: Climate Change

China's search for greener values

23 July, 2010 - 00:00
In his new book, When a Billion Chinese Jump, Jonathan Watts tells the story of an unfolding ecological crisis as seen from the ground. Here, he talks to Sam Geall about its economic and cultural implicationsAs the Beijing-based Asia environment correspondent for the Guardian, Jonathan Watts has rep
Categories: Climate Change

BP oil spill: Transocean in spotlight

23 July, 2010 - 00:00
US rig owner could be in the spotlight after damning testimony told of safety breachesThe damning testimony yesterday from rig technicians working on the stricken Deepwater Horizon about safety alarms being routinely switched off on the Transocean rig could be a pivotal moment in the political blam
Categories: Climate Change