Around The Web

European spacecraft track in fine detail the thinning that's occurred at the continent's edge.

• Seed-coating chemicals harm birds’ development, study finds
• US and Canada have lost 29% of birds since 1970

Popular pesticides are causing bird species to decline at an alarming rate in the US, adding fuel to a 50-year downward trend in bird biodiversity, a new report has found.

Related: Chirp to arms: musicians record album to help conserve endangered birds

Continue reading...

Stranded oil tanker is breaking up, threatening even greater ecological devastation

People living in Mauritius have described the devastation caused by an oil spill from a stranded tanker and called for urgent international help to stop the ecological and economic damage overwhelming the island nation.

More than 1,000 tonnes of fuel has already seeped from the bulk carrier MV Wakashio into the sea off south-east Mauritius, polluting the coral reefs, white-sand beaches and pristine lagoons that attract tourists from around the world.

Continue reading...

EUA prices jumped more than 3% to top €27 early on Monday, but slipped back after the day's auction despite a firm clearance and positive macroeconomic signals.

The northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang will launch its own emissions trading system with an ambition to become a regional carbon trading hub for facilities not covered in the national market, the municipal government has announced.

In this week's episode of A New Normal, Iman Amrani asks viewers what their thoughts are around travel and the environment post-Covid. With international travel increasingly more difficult to do during a pandemic, and persisting questions around the impact is has on the environment, she goes to speak to people who are taking a summer break closer to home

• A new normal: work, life and balancing it all during coronavirus - video
• Who do you trust on coronavirus? From Trudeau to Piers Morgan | A new normal - video

Continue reading...

The number of fires burning in Brazil’s Amazon in July was up 28% on the same month last year, according to data from Brazil’s space research agency INPE, and early numbers for August show a 7% increase this month. There is international concern over growing deforestation in the Amazon under Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro

Continue reading...

Growing oil spill from MV Wakashio threatens ecological and economic disaster

A ship that ran aground off Mauritius leaking tonnes of oil into the ocean is cracking up, the country’s prime minister has said, threatening an even greater ecological and economic disaster for the island nation.

More than 1,000 tonnes of fuel has seeped from the bulk carrier MV Wakashio into the sea off south-east Mauritius, polluting the coral reefs, white-sand beaches and pristine lagoons that lure tourists from around the globe.

Continue reading...

I was trying to make a point about the lack of democratic process in some council plans to make walking and cycling safer. But I ended up looking weirdly contrarian

“Build back better” is not my favourite phrase (meaning always gets sacrificed for alliteration; alliteration sucks), but it is the only way to think anything constructive about this grim time, so I am prepared to let it go. What if Covid changed the way we lived so profoundly and made us totally reevaluate what we care about, so that the planet, against all the odds, was saved? Well, my south London council has made a start, blocking all the traffic at one end of a toast rack of fancy roads, which will apparently make cycling and walking conditions much safer. It has called this the Oval Triangle.

Look, I have no skin in this game: I don’t have a car, I have not been frightened of cycling in London since 2001 and, anyway, I am moving. I don’t know if this will reduce traffic, or just increase it on the other roads and boost emissions by making journeys longer. But I somehow busked into the WhatsApp group of the most important fancy road – let’s call it Fancy Road – when, in fact, I live in the definitively not-fancy road just off it. So I know that there was a democratic deficit in the planning, which is that none of the not-fancy roads were consulted. No leaflets, no meetings, no “consultative process”, just a bunch of giant planters suddenly where the thoroughfare used to be.

Continue reading...

A NSW government assessment of the Narrabri gas project has been slammed as being filled with errors, as project faces community opposition.

The post Narrabri gas planning assessment slammed for being ‘riddled with errors’ appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Yes, transitioning Australia to a zero-carbon economy is essential, but the federal government must remedy this imbalance. Lily O'Neill, Research Fellow, Australian National University Brad Riley, Research Fellow, Australian National University Ganur Maynard, Visiting Indigenous Fellow, Australian National University Janet Hunt, Associate Professor, CAEPR, Australian National University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

A dozen big solar farms in south-western NSW, including the state's three biggest that are yet to connect, face "material" constraints on their output.

The post Biggest solar farms in NSW face major output cuts in latest network shock appeared first on RenewEconomy.

RBA plans 1MW solar plant on its note printing facilities, but a new tender for RBA's energy supply seeks only 10% green power, despite its repeated warnings on climate change.

The post RBA ignores own climate warnings, seeks only 10pct green energy appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The use of grid-forming inverters and the creation of "virtual inertia" at the Dalrymple battery in South Australia has been a critical step towards a decarbonised grid.

The post Virtual inertia in practice: How South Australia’s second big battery made its mark appeared first on RenewEconomy.

New 100MW Bomen solar farm near Wagga Wagga has been given the all-clear by AEMO and grid owner to operate at full capacity.

The post Bomen solar farm near Wagga Wagga now operating at full capacity appeared first on RenewEconomy.

CSIRO’s Parkes radio telescope added to the National Heritage List for outstanding technical achievement and demonstration of the importance of astronomy in Australia’s history.

CSIRO’s Parkes radio telescope added to the National Heritage List for outstanding technical achievement and demonstration of the importance of astronomy in Australia’s history.

Genex to fast track development of the Como big battery in Queeensland, after raising $28.3m in a new share offering.

The post Genex raises $28.3 million to fast-track Queensland big battery appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A metal detectorist discovers a rare hoard of Bronze Age artefacts during an expedition near Peebles.

Covid-19 has changed the world - are we winning or is the virus still taking hold, and when will it end?