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Human-caused sea level rise, storm surges and high tides will put trillions of dollars of assets at risk around the world by the end of the century

The combined impacts of human-caused sea level rise, storm surges and high tides could expose an extra 23 million people to coastal flooding within the next 30 years, even with relatively ambitious cuts to greenhouse gas emissions, a new global study has found.

In a worst-case scenario where emissions continue to rise and no efforts are made to adapt to the rising sea levels, coastal assets worth US$14.2tn – about 20% of global GDP – could be at risk by the end of the century.

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French government risks paying huge fines if it bows to pressure from hunting lobby

France is to outlaw trapping birds using sticks covered in glue after the European commission threatened legal action and fines.

The move was welcomed by campaigners who have described the practice as “barbaric” and who urged the French government not to bow to pressure from the powerful hunting lobby.

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After last summer’s deadly bushfires, Guardian readers have found tentative signs of renewal in the charred landscape

• Read more stories from our After the Bushfires series

From the eerie absence of birdsong to green shoots sprouting from burnt-out trees, Guardian readers in Australia have shared their stories and pictures of nature in the aftermath of the country’s devastating bushfires.

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EUAs fell below €26 on Thursday, giving back the previous day's gains as markets sank on worse-than-expected GDP and corporate data, hitting home how badly the pandemic has struck the wider economy.

Carrier bag sales have dropped by 95% since introduction of 5p charge in supermarkets in 2015

Shoppers’ use of plastic carrier bags in England has continued to fall – by 59% in the last year alone – since the introduction of the 5p charge, according to recent figures.

Overall, plastic carrier bag sales have dropped by more than 95% in Engand’s main supermarkets since the 5p charge was introduced in October 2015, government data reveals.

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EUAs hit a 14-year high in July before immediately nosediving as the market suffered altitude sickness. Now we're back in the €25-26s, roughly where we were before the Great Covid Sell-Off, and it feels like prices aren’t sure where to go next. According to Alessandro Vitelli, August looks pretty finely balanced in terms of price outlook: a supply cut may mitigate some potential weakness, but there are darker clouds on the horizon.

Coal-fired power generators participating in China’s pilot carbon markets are set to find life easier in the national emissions trading scheme due to more generous allocation, said a report released Thursday.

The shill, the grifter, the egomaniac and the ideological fool: each distorts the urgent global debate in their own way

A new book, described as “deeply and fatally flawed” by an expert reviewer, recently reached the top of Amazon’s bestseller list for environmental science and made it into a weekly top 10 list for all nonfiction titles.

How did this happen? Because, as Brendan Behan put it, “there’s no such thing as bad publicity”. In an article promoting his book, Michael Shellenberger – with jaw-dropping hubris – apologises on behalf of all environmentalists for the “climate scare we created over the last 30 years”.

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Shark and seal populations are increasing in New England waters, and sharks follow seals, experts say

A fatal shark attack in Maine may be linked to efforts to restore seal and shark populations along the New England coast, according to experts.

Related: Maine tells swimmers to stay in shallow water after fatal shark attack

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A new "super hybrid" facility will combine offshore wind with a floating solar park, short-term battery storage, and a green hydrogen electrolyser for additional storage.

The post Super hybrids: Shell combines offshore wind, with floating solar, batteries, and hydrogen appeared first on RenewEconomy.

‘Completely unexpected’ finding is significant as harmful effects of plastic might increase as particle size decreases

Small crustaceans can fragment microplastics into pieces smaller than a cell within 96 hours, a study has shown.

Until now, plastic fragmentation has been largely attributed to slow physical processes such as sunlight and wave action, which can take years and even decades.

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Getting to the Red Planet is challenging, and so it working out how many have failed.

The Ugandan hunter said that he had killed the animal in self defence when he was attacked.

Morgan Stanley ups its bull case valuation for Tesla to more than $A700 billion. And if Musk is only half right about value of Tesla Energy, that makes a trillion-dollar company.

The post Tesla heads towards trillion-dollar valuation as Big Auto stalls on EVs appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Canberra couple documents the journey in buying long range Nissan Leaf - a variant of popular electric car not offered in Australia by the car manufacturer.

The post Grey imports: How a Canberra couple obtained first long-range Nissan Leaf appeared first on RenewEconomy.

NZUs have gained almost a dollar over the past two days to climb past NZ$34.00 ($22.53) for the first time amid steady demand and limited supply as sellers eye even higher levels.

Fast food giant praised for owning up to extent of footpad dermatitis, which can prevent birds from walking

Fast food giant KFC has laid bare the realities of chicken production after admitting to poor welfare conditions among its suppliers.

More than a third of the birds on its supplier farms in the UK and Ireland suffer from a painful inflammation known as footpad dermatitis that in severe cases can prevent birds from walking normally.

Footpad dermatitis is characterised by lesions on the feet, usually because of poor ventilation and litter management. KFC said the number of birds affected had fallen from more than half to 35% in just four years, and that its top suppliers were achieving levels of 15% or below.

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Someone needs to clean up Britain’s overgrown footpaths – and it might as well be me

The bane of walkers’ lives is overgrown, impassable paths. We are blessed with many public footpaths in this country, as well as Ordnance Survey and its brilliant maps. Its smartphone app is particularly brilliant; the little red pointer will always tell you where you are and which way you are, well, pointing. This is wonderful for getting you on to unfamiliar paths wending their way through all sorts of new, captivating scenery. But just because the path is marked on the map doesn’t mean it has not turned into a thorny, stingy, dank jungle that you cannot hack your way through. And, disappointingly, OS has not seen fit to offer a helpline or panic button to facilitate instant extraction.

Last week, I was in just such an entanglement on the Gower Peninsula. I was 10 minutes into a day’s walk and already bitten, scratched, wet and greatly annoyed. Why the bloody hell, I demanded of the sheep in the neighbouring field, can’t somebody keep these paths clear? I swear at that precise moment I heard the unmistakable revving of strimmers. Encouraged, I smashed my way through the brambles, over a rotting stile, and stumbled before two strapping, uniformed, begoggled, strimmer-wielding young men. Professional path-clearers! I was beside myself with admiration and considered bunging them a few quid to walk 10 metres ahead of me all day clearing my way.

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New Zealand's electricity generation is already more than 80% renewable, but experts warn a 100% target would require significant over-building of renewable generation that would rarely be used. Janet Stephenson, Associate Professor and Director, Centre for Sustainability, University of Otago Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Aboriginal people once used native grasses to produce bread. So let's resurrect Australia's ancient breadmaking tradition. Angela Pattison, Research scientist at Plant Breeding Institute, University of Sydney, University of Sydney Rebecca Cross, Lecturer in Human Geography, University of Sydney Tina Bell, Associate Professor, University of Sydney Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.