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Study finds breakdown in annual spawning synchrony in Red Sea, threatening some species with extinction

It has been described by scientists as “the greatest orgy in the world”; an annual gamete-fest, where entire colonies of coral reefs release their sperm and eggs simultaneously in a slick on the ocean surface that has been seen from space. But now scientists fear the climate crisis may be disrupting the ability of corals to synchronise this marine phenomenon, threatening them with extinction.

A Tel Aviv university study, published in Science, has found the release of eggs and sperm in certain reef-building corals in the Gulf of Eilat in the Red Sea have changed over time and have lost their synchronicity. For a coral, reliant on a chance encounter, timing is everything. But researchers have found some are spawning “out of tune” with normal patterns, with the result that fewer baby corals are forming.

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Climate change makes every risk factor for major bushfires worse, which means massive, intense fires will only become more likely. Dale Dominey-Howes, Professor of Hazards and Disaster Risk Sciences, University of Sydney Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

More than a million tons of contaminated water lies in storage but power company says it will run out of space by 2022

Tokyo Electric Power will have to dump radioactive water from its destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant directly into the Pacific ocean, Japan’s environment minister said on Tuesday.

After the plant was crippled by an earthquake and tsunami in 2011, Tokyo Electric, or Tepco, collected more than 1m tons of contaminated water from the cooling pipes used to keep fuel cores from melting. The utility says it will run out of tank space by 2022.

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Queensland's negative prices, and the failure to switch on the country's biggest "battery", brings back memories of a very fat man in a restaurant in Monty Python's Meaning of Life.

The post Why Australia’s biggest battery said no to an offer too good to refuse appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Victoria’s Gippsland region earmarked for massive $1.2 billion “renewable energy park,” that would combine up to 550MW of solar and 550MWh of battery storage.

The post Plans floated for $1.2bn, 550MW Gippsland solar and battery “energy park” appeared first on RenewEconomy.

NFU says growing fuel for power stations and capturing CO2 can slash emissions

Farming can become climate neutral by 2040 without cutting beef production or converting substantial areas of farmland into forest, according to a plan published by the National Farmers’ Union.

Instead, the NFU says three-quarters of the UK’s agricultural emissions can be offset by growing fuel for power stations and then capturing and burying the carbon dioxide, which could lead to energy plants becoming the nation’s biggest crop after wheat. Increasing the carbon stored in soils and using technology to reduce the emissions caused by cattle and fertiliser use are also needed, the NFU says.

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Australian thermal energy storage company reaches in principle agreements to pilot thermal batteries in telecommunication and eco-housing industries.

The post Thermal battery producer heats up storage market appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Alex Shoolman’s article The future of legacy car manufacturers makes a lot of sense. I certainly wouldn’t want to have shares in most of the existing car manufacturers. But my view of the transport transformation goes beyond his vision. First, I see many factors reducing demand for cars. These include e-bikes, e-scooters, e-skateboards and lots...

The post Future of electric cars: One common chassis, many range extenders appeared first on RenewEconomy.

California utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) plans to set aside nearly $18 billion to settle wildfire claims from residents and government entities as it seeks to exit bankruptcy by June 2020, according to a plan filed late Monday.

Despite Coalition's climate-lite – and climate denying – approach to policy, more than 80% of Australians side with science on global warming, and believe we're feeling the impacts already.

The post Australians fear extinction and drought, food, water problems from climate change appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Trillions of dollars needed to avoid ‘climate apartheid’ but this is less than cost of inaction

The world’s readiness for the inevitable effects of the climate crisis is “gravely insufficient”, according to a report from global leaders.

This lack of preparedness will result in poverty, water shortages and levels of migration soaring, with an “irrefutable toll on human life”, the report warns.

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Global Commission calls for trillions of dollars to help the world adapt to climate change.

The Global Commission on Adaptation - a group of 34 leaders in politics, business and science say the world urgently needs to be made more "climate change resilient".

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International communities could struggle to meet the criteria set by California’s proposed Tropical Forest Standard (TFS), but the adoption of the policy may incentivise them to begin addressing deforestation, according to experts.

The Morrison Government has asked the ACCC to investigate allegations investors are hoarding water rights at the expense of farmers, as the east coast drought continues to ravage farming communities.

Hundreds of firefighters have worked through the night battling bushfires in NSW and Qld, as experts warn Australia must brace for more severe weather events.

The surrendering of Colombian offsets to comply with the country’s carbon tax has slowed this year due to an extreme supply squeeze and administrative delays.

This position will lead the firm's investment team and act as the portfolio manager for the first and prospectively subsequent funds.

New research is showing the overwhelming majority of Australians believe that global man-made warming is resulting in more extreme weather events, such as bushfires, droughts and flooding.