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Currents act as conveyor belts that concentrate microplastics in hotspots, study suggests

Scientists have discovered microplastics in greater quantities than ever before on the seabed, and gathered clues as to how ocean currents and deep-sea circulation have carried them there.

Microplastics – tiny pieces of plastic less than 5mm in size – are likely to accumulate most densely on the ocean floor in areas that are also biodiversity hotspots, intensifying the damage they may do to marine ecosystems, according to the research.

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More than half of Woodside’s investors support shareholder motion to set targets in line with Paris climate agreement

The increasing pressure on the Australian gas industry to do more to deal with the climate crisis has been underlined by more than 50% of Woodside Petroleum shareholders calling on the company to set science-based greenhouse gas targets.

Slightly more than half of Woodside investors who gave a view supported a motion that it set targets in line with the goals of the Paris climate agreement to cut both its own emissions and the “scope 3” emissions released by consumers of its products, many of them in Asia.

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Lawmakers from the European Parliament’s environment committee will on Monday debate its position on the bloc’s Just Transition Fund (JTF), though the draft opinion submitted by the eurosceptic Czech MEP directing the effort has considerably softened the proposal’s tone.

Planned sale of land to fossil fuel, mining and and timber concerns mirrors rollback of Obama-era pollution regulations

The Trump administration has ratcheted up its efforts amid the coronavirus pandemic to overhaul and overturn Obama-era environmental regulations and increase industry access to public lands.

The secretary of the interior, David Bernhardt, has sped efforts to drill, mine and cut timber on fragile western landscapes. Meanwhile, the EPA, headed by the former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler, has weakened critical environmental laws and announced in March that it would cease oversight of the nation’s polluters during the Covid-19 crisis.

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Countermeasures to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic such as complete lockdowns in a number of countries are causing unprecedented drops in global energy demand and will likely drive an 8% fall in worldwide greenhouse gas emissions this year, the International Energy Agency said Thursday.

Solar buy-back scheme from Smart Commercial Solar and Clear Sky Solar Investments offers an economic leg-up to companies struggling through the Covid-19 crisis.

The post Australia’s great solar buy-back: Business offered 6-month break from power bills appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Australian researcher and reef guide Jacinta Shackleton is now one of the few people to have ever seen the rare and endangered ornate eagle ray. Shackleton was conducting research near Lady Elliot Island on the Great Barrier Reef when she saw the ray, something she said was an 'unforgettable and emotional experience'. With little more than 50 sightings recorded worldwide, divers have dubbed the ray ’the unicorn of the sea’

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Guardian investigation finds workers stranded on ships without pay, as port closures and travel bans in the Covid-19 pandemic block repatriation

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While most cruise ship passengers have now made it back to land, another crisis has been growing – with no safe haven in sight.

Around the world, more than 100,000 crew workers are still trapped on cruise ships, at least 50 of which have Covid-19 infections, a Guardian investigation has found. They are shut out of ports and banned from air travel that would allow them to return to their homes.

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Australian bats are getting unfairly targeted. Here’s why we should be giving them a fair go instead. Pia Lentini, Research Fellow, School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne Alison Peel, Senior Research Fellow in Wildlife Disease Ecology, Griffith University Hume Field, Science and Policy Advisor for China & Southeast Asia, EcoHealth Alliance | Honorary Professor, School of Veterinary Science, The University of Queensland Justin Welbergen, President of the Australasian Bat Society | Associate Professor of Animal Ecology, Western Sydney University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Tesla has quietly announced a milestone on the home battery storage front, with the installation of its 100,000th Powerwall notched up in Q1 of 2020.

The post Tesla installs 100,000th Powerwall home battery, sees “inflection” in storage market appeared first on RenewEconomy.

AEMO wants new inverters to enable rooftop solar to be visible, and switched off if necessary, as PV penetration heads to 50% of grid demand.

The post AEMO wants better inverters, and ability to shut down rooftop solar, as penetration grows to 50% appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Study into effects of coronavirus curbs also finds less asthma and preterm births

The improvement in air quality over the past month of the coronavirus lockdown has led to 11,000 fewer deaths from pollution in the UK and elsewhere in Europe, a study has revealed.

Sharp falls in road traffic and industrial emissions have also resulted in 1.3m fewer days of work absence, 6,000 fewer children developing asthma, 1,900 avoided emergency room visits and 600 fewer preterm births, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.

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UK’s cities are surprisingly green, with London and Birmingham having more trees per person than Paris or Berlin. But trying to learn the names of each species has left me puzzled

I left London this week for the first time in more than a month to make a short film for the BBC. For such purposes, believe it or not, I am an essential worker. It felt weird, and not just because of the lack of traffic on the motorways. You get used to what lockdown looks like in your own locale; seeing it elsewhere makes it new and strange all over again.

During many fine days at home this past month, I have yearned for the countryside. But now I was in the sticks, the weather had changed from glorious to horrendous. The view cleared for me by the windscreen wipers was monochrome. Monochrome, that is, apart from the trees. Even through clouds of grey spray, they burned so bright and green that I fancied my eyes were starting to hurt.

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Wind overtakes gas in first quarter to become leading source of electricity in Ireland, which aims for 70 pct renewables by 2030.

The post Wind energy overtakes gas to be leading source of electricity in Ireland appeared first on RenewEconomy.

UK scientists provide a new estimate for the amount of space rock falling to Earth each year.

New IEA report provides almost real-time picture of impact of Covid-19 crisis in 2020 across all major fuels, including coal, oil, gas, renewables and electricity – as well as carbon emissions.

The post Global energy demand to plunge this year as a result of the biggest shock since the Second World War appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Major global bank HSBC finds that climate friendly investments have singificantly outperformed global markets amid Covid-19 disruptions.

The post Climate friendly investments performing better amid Covid-19 disruption appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Origin Energy sees retail electricity sales slashed by 11 pct in first three months of 2020, as working-from-home uses more rooftop solar.

The post Origin electricity sales plunge as working-from-home soaks up rooftop solar appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The McGowan Government has opened applications for the first round of funding as part of its Clean Energy Future Fund.

The post Fund to help develop clean energy projects in Western Australia appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Environment department’s three-year inquiry found Jam Land illegally used herbicide on critically endangered grasslands in 2016

Jam Land, the company part-owned by the energy minister Angus Taylor and his brother Richard, illegally poisoned critically endangered grasslands in the New South Wales Monaro region, the federal environment department has concluded.

The department has ordered the company to restore 103 hectares of native grassland but Jam Land has avoided a fine and criminal finding.

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