Around The Web

The instrument takes images of dust storms, frost deposits and minerals on the Red Planet's surface.

The mathematicians who worked behind the scenes on the American space programme.

A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.

Financial entities continued to ramp up their California Carbon Allowance (CCA) holdings ahead of next week’s WCI auction, as regulated entities cut their holdings amid rising secondary market prices, according to US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data published Friday.

Organization: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Position: Intern (m/f/d) for Climate Finance and Carbon Pricing/Markets in East Africa Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda Deadline for Application: 24 February 2021

A methane inhibitor given to cattle can reduce methane emissions by up to 80% and increase the supply of carbon offsets from related protocols, according to a new study released Friday.

Two California environmental agency officials and a pair from an independent market watchdog group will discuss improvements to the state’s WCI-modelled cap-and-trade programme at a Senate oversight hearing next week, but some advocates are seeking to delay the meeting, regulatory sources said.

A summary of legislative and regulatory action on carbon pricing, clean fuel standards, and clean energy at the US subnational and federal level this week, including developments in Oregon and Massachusetts.

The best of the week’s wildlife pictures, from the swans that cancelled their flight to the Arctic due to Storm Darcy to the bears liberated from captivity to walk free in the wild

Continue reading...

EUAs rebounded to hit a new record above €40 on Friday, clawing back ground lost late yesterday and this morning as traders dismissed the prospects of regulators curbing speculative trade anytime soon.

Australian Antarctic Division will drill 3,000 metres deep in bid to improve ancient climate records and future models

Antarctic scientists are close to finalising a drilling location deep in the frozen continent’s interior that could reveal a continuous record of the Earth’s climate going back 1.5 million years.

After almost a decade of work, scientists at the Australian Antarctic Division are close to pinpointing a place to drill an ice core almost 3,000-metres deep.

Continue reading...

Goats have a well-deserved reputation for eating anything. Now you can rent them to deal with your weed problems

La Niña has been good to the backyards and farmlands of much of eastern Australia. Cooler, wetter conditions have led to a flourishing of lush grass, trees and – unfortunately – weeds.

With so many more people working from home, the joy of gazing out of the home office window has turned to dread as the eye alights on knee-high greenery, terrifying tangles of blackberry, pink heads of scotch thistle, and possibly the occasional triffid.

Continue reading...

Introducing carbon pricing across the six Western Balkan nations will support a coal power phaseout “within a reasonable timeframe”, despite lingering coal subsidies and expansion plans, a report showed on Friday.

It is possible, as well as desirable, that some trips could be possible in the coming months. But ministers have created another muddle

The confusion dates back almost a month, to a press conference at which the health secretary, Matt Hancock, revealed that he has booked a summer holiday in Cornwall. In the following weeks other ministers made more cautious statements. But the seed was sown, and this week the contradiction at the heart of the government’s message to the public about summer 2021 burst into the open. On Wednesday, the same evening that Boris Johnson agreed with his more prudent colleagues that it was “just too early” to plot getaways, Mr Hancock was joking with colleagues on a Zoom call about why he had picked Cornwall over Devon.

The tension is natural enough, at a human level. Politicians, like other people who can afford it, are keen to travel again. Many of us are sick of our flats and houses and look forward to a change of scene. Christmas and other festivals have been sad occasions for some people, particularly those who live alone or far from loved ones. It feels almost too much to bear that another six months could pass before the pressure to stay indoors, and away from our friends and families, is eased. As we reported this week, plenty of people have taken the plunge and booked breaks in Britain, while recognising that foreign travel is off limits and cancellation a possibility.

Continue reading...

The European Central Bank is looking for a Head of the Climate Change Centre to will lead the mainstreaming of climate action in all aspects of the ECB’s work.

It follows a legal challenge from campaigners, who argue the policy does not fit with climate targets.

Short-term thinking in politics and business is laying waste to the planet. But the fightback – led by young campaigners – is on

It’s hard to see history being made when you’re right in the middle of it – especially when life has our attention spans locked into minutes, days and weeks. But in the midst of a pandemic that understandably focuses our attention on the here and now, a new global movement is rising in the name of long-term thinking and intergenerational justice.

Their target is the tyranny of the now. The politicians who see only as far as the next election. The businesses fixated on their quarterly report. The nations bickering away in international negotiations while the planet burns and species disappear.

Continue reading...

The test is first step towards all-paper bottle that can withstand pressure from fizzy drinks.

The £150m scheme to redevelop the airport has come under fire from climate change campaigners.

WCI, Inc. is seeking a qualified Data Architect to provide leadership on all things data and database in a modern, scalable, serverless application. The role shall work with a great deal of independence to recommend data management strategies, high performance solutions, best practices, data analytics and much more to increase value of data to the business stakeholders.