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Tally of culled animals 2.5 million and rising, as confusion mounts over bid to stamp out Covid variant among animals

Denmark’s prime minister has admitted the massive mink cull she authorised last week was illegal, as opposition parties called for the resignation of the agriculture minister who has been overseeing the policy.

Mette Frederiksen announced last week that all the country’s mink would have to be culled due to fears that a Covid-19 mutation moving from mink to humans could jeopardise future vaccines.

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California electricity sector CO2 output rose year-on-year for the second consecutive month as a September heatwave broke weather records across the Golden State, California Independent System Operator (CAISO) data showed.

The post will lead on the Scottish Government's policy for industrial climate regulation – developing and implementing new regulations post-EU Exit that cover several areas that originated from EU law - carbon pricing / emissions trading, and regulation of Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases (F-gas) and Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS).

German utility Uniper reported an 11% year-on-year drop in EU-based CO2 output for the first nine months, though the opening of the Datteln coal plant slowed its decarbonisation efforts, according to quarterly results published on Tuesday.

New IEA report says renewables immune to impact of Covid-19, but not to policy failures - but will still overtake coal within five years as number one source of generation.

The post Renewable energy generation will overtake coal within 5 years, says IEA appeared first on RenewEconomy.

CEFC injects nearly $A10 million into Zhengrong Shi's Sunman, which is rolling out lightweight and flexible solar technology.

The post CEFC invests $10 million in Sunman’s “solar skin” technology appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Theta is the 29th Atlantic storm this hurricane season and another system is forming in the Caribbean.

Sars, Mers, now this: we must think hard about how we farm animals that are known hosts of human coronaviruses

Two decades ago, a seminal study from the University of Edinburgh compiled a list of all known human infectious diseases. It found a total of 1,415 different human pathogens, and claimed that 61% were capable of spreading between humans and animals. Today, with the world put on hold by a deadly disease that seems likely to have spread first from bats to humans, we know the dangerous effects of such pathogens all too well.

The group of diseases that spread from animals to humans are collectively known as zoonoses. The term encompasses diseases such as measles, which first spread from cattle to humans thousands of years ago but now transmits exclusively between people, and Ebola, which periodically passes from bats to humans, where it then spreads from person to person. It can also refer to food-borne diseases caused by bacterias such as salmonella and campylobacter that we only get from the consumption of animal products and almost never pass from person to person.

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The voluntary carbon market should be standardised to allow credits to list on exchanges to help massively scale up and meet Paris Agreement climate goals, according to a consultation launched Tuesday by private sector taskforce steered by UN climate finance envoy Mark Carney.

Three tourists boiled dinner in national park, leading to fines, a ban and some apt puns

When it comes to unthinking human behavior in America’s premier nature preserve, the retired Yellowstone historian Lee Whittlesey can reel off the examples.

There is the tourist who took a selfie in front of a bison only to be tossed in the air by it. There is the drone that crashed into bubbling park waters. And then there’s the latest story, which has driven him both to vexation and to punning.

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Exclusive: report warns of ‘yawning gap’ between government rhetoric on environment and reality of years of underfunding

The government’s conservation watchdog has been “cut to the bone”, with staff underpaid, undervalued and overworked and feeling unable to protect England’s most valuable wildlife sites, according to a new report and testimony from workers.

Natural England, which is sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), has a range of responsibilities, including monitoring and protecting the country’s most valuable habitats such as sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) and national nature reserves (NNRs). It also works with farmers to protect biodiversity and advises the government on environmental policy, planning and licensing.

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Grants are now available for projects that strengthen our national heritage. All places on the National Heritage List are eligible to apply until 7 January 2021. To find out more, visit the Business Grants Hub.

Exclusive: Gap between actions and beliefs threatens green recovery from pandemic

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People are planning to drive and fly more in future than they did before the coronavirus pandemic, a survey suggests, even though the overwhelming majority accept human responsibility for the climate crisis.

The apparent disconnect between beliefs and actions raises fears that without strong political intervention, these actions could undermine efforts to meet the targets set in the Paris agreement and hopes of a green recovery from the coronavirus crisis.

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Frustrated by postponement of UN talks, young people have organised their own virtual conference

Like many young climate activists around the world, 14-year-old Lavinia Iovino was exasperated when Cop26, the annual UN climate summit due to take place in Glasgow in November, was postponed for a year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I was very disappointed because it showed that political leaders think we can give ourselves a year more, when we just can’t do that; the climate crisis is happening right now,” she said.

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International Energy Agency expects green electricity to end coal’s 50-year reign by 2025

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Global renewable electricity installation will hit a record level in 2020, according to the International Energy Agency, in sharp contrast with the declines caused by the coronavirus pandemic in the fossil fuel sectors.

The IEA report published on Tuesday says almost 90% of new electricity generation in 2020 will be renewable, with just 10% powered by gas and coal. The trend puts green electricity on track to become the largest power source in 2025, displacing coal, which has dominated for the past 50 years.

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If all, or even most, offspring of the survivors are shy, we could be facing an introduced pest population that is incredibly difficult to remove. Kyla Johnstone, PhD candidate, University of Sydney Clare McArthur, Professor, University of Sydney Peter Banks, Professor of Conservation Biology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Pilot Energy enters JV deal with fellow Perth resources outfit Triangle Energy to further plans for a 1,100MW offshore wind farm, plus onshore wind and solar.

The post Oil companies join forces on 1.1GW offshore wind farm plan for W.A. appeared first on RenewEconomy.

People tend to interpret things through a lens of their pre-existing beliefs. But they are not immune to changing their view, if you treat them with respect and understanding. Peter Ellerton, Senior Lecturer in Critical Thinking; Curriculum Director, UQ Critical Thinking Project, The University of Queensland Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

New research involving CRISPR technology has furthered our understanding of corals' gene functions. Specifically, it has revealed a mechanism underpinning how corals withstand heat stress. Dimitri Perrin, Senior Lecturer, Queensland University of Technology Jacob Bradford, Queensland University of Technology Line K Bay, Principal Research Scientist and Team Leader, Australian Institute of Marine Science Phillip Cleves, Principal Investigator, Carnegie Institution for Science Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The fossil from a large-toothed species helps shed more light on how humans evolved, researchers say.