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Lost area of Welsh rainforest to be returned to ancient glory
Site in Pembrokeshire currently grazed by sheep will be planted with a range of species and reconnect to Celtic past
A lost piece of Celtic rainforest in the far south-west of Wales is to be restored to its ancient glory, weaving around standing stones and an abandoned, tumbling-down farmhouse with a waterwheel.
The 59-hectare (146-acre) site in Pembrokeshire will be planted with species such as oak, small-leaf lime and wild service (Sorbus torminalis) and should support an abundance of mosses, liverworts, lichens and ferns as well as providing a home for animals and other plant life.
Continue reading...WestWind unveils plan for massive 1.5GW wind farm in Sunshine State
The post WestWind unveils plan for massive 1.5GW wind farm in Sunshine State appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Huge finance deal and off-take landed for one of Australia’s biggest four-hour battery projects
The post Huge finance deal and off-take landed for one of Australia’s biggest four-hour battery projects appeared first on RenewEconomy.
No room for nuclear power, unless the Coalition switches off your solar
The post No room for nuclear power, unless the Coalition switches off your solar appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Idiotfruit and tree kangaroos: here’s why the ancient rainforests of Queensland’s Wet Tropics are so distinctive
Floating hydrogen export hub project wins “significant” new funding
The post Floating hydrogen export hub project wins “significant” new funding appeared first on RenewEconomy.
No room for nuclear power, unless the Coalition switches off your solar
Outfoxed: the ‘smart’ ferals are adapting to Australian cities, and wreaking havoc in the bush
It’s not entirely clear if fox numbers are on the rise in urban areas, but research shows they are learning to avoid hazards such as dogs and poisonous baits
Alex Abbey’s security camera captured something moving through an alley behind his home in Sydney’s eastern suburbs a few weeks ago. When he watched the 2am footage the next day, he was surprised to see a red fox on the screen.
“It’s unusual. It’s the first time I have seen one in Potts Point,” he says.
Continue reading...Record-breaking heatwave shifts east as millions of Americans under heat alert
Over 245 million Americans are expected to experience 90F temperatures early this week, with some as high as 105F
A heatwave that impacted the US west coast over the past week is now moving east into the midwest and south-east, as millions of Americans have been under a heat alert at some point in the past week.
“Numerous near record-tying/breaking high temperatures are possible over the central High Plains and Southeast Sunday, and along much of the East Coast by Monday,” reported the National Weather Service.
Continue reading...Return to service of damaged coal unit delayed yet again
The post Return to service of damaged coal unit delayed yet again appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Chicken industry must halt expansion to stop ‘environmental scandal’ in River Severn
Campaigners warn of same ‘tragic events’ as in River Wye if planners ignore pollution risks of intensive production
The chicken industry is facing calls to halt the expansion of intensive production in the River Severn catchment, with campaigners warning that the river is at risk from the same pollution that has blighted the River Wye.
An outcry over the ecological plight of the Wye has effectively halted the proliferation of intensive poultry units across the catchment. Campaigners say that the pollution threat is being transported “from one catchment to the other”.
Continue reading...Adani’s Queensland coalmine a threat to important wetland, Indigenous groups and scientists say
Letter urges environment minister to investigate alleged breaches at Doongmabulla Springs
There is growing concern that a culturally significant and nationally important wetland is under threat from Adani’s controversial coalmine in Queensland, with an Indigenous group demanding the government investigate alleged breaches of the conditions that protect the site.
Scientists say drops in water levels in bores around the Doongmabulla Springs have been detected hundreds of times since mining started, and allege hydrocarbons associated with coal have been found in bores and the springs themselves.
Continue reading...Labour’s ‘rooftop revolution’ to deliver solar power to millions of UK homes
Ed Miliband sets new rules on solar panels and approves three giant solar farms as Labour seeks to end years of Tory inaction
Keir Starmer’s new Labour government today unveils plans for a “rooftop revolution” that will see millions more homes fitted with solar panels in order to bring down domestic energy bills and tackle the climate crisis.
The energy secretary, Ed Miliband, also took the hugely controversial decision this weekend to approve three massive solar farms in the east of England that had been blocked by Tory ministers.
Continue reading...Artist punches holes in UN climate report six hours a day for Dutch installation
Johannes-Harm Hovinga has to take painkillers to complete 20-day artistic protest at Museum Arnhem
Every day for the last two weeks, Johannes-Harm Hovinga has sat at a raised table in Museum Arnhem, using a two-hole page puncher to systematically perforate the 7,705-page sixth assessment report produced by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
He has printed it out on coloured paper and the result is a vibrant heap piling up at the artist’s feet.
Continue reading...After Hurricane Beryl’s destruction, climate scientists fear for what’s next
Experts say devastating hurricane so early in season is ‘big wake-up call’ – and predict even more powerful storms
The poignancy was unmistakable: prognosticators at Colorado State University amended their already miserable seasonal tropical cyclone forecast on Monday precisely as Hurricane Beryl was filling Houston’s streets with floodwater and knocking out power to more than 2m homes and businesses.
“A likely harbinger of a hyperactive season” was how CSU researchers characterized Beryl, which set numerous records on the way to its Texas landfall, including the earliest category 5 hurricane, strongest ever June storm, and most powerful to strike the southern Windward Islands.
Continue reading...London’s Science Museum forced to cut ties with oil giant – and faces pressure over other sponsors
Campaigners welcome ‘seismic shift’ and urge museum bosses to review links with other fossil fuel sponsors
The Science Museum has been forced to cut ties with oil giant Equinor over its sponsor’s environmental record, the Observer can reveal.
Equinor has sponsored the museum’s interactive “WonderLab” since 2016, but the relationship is now coming to close, a move that will be seen as a major victory for climate change campaigners.
Continue reading...Where are all the butterflies this summer? Their absence is telling us something important | Tony Juniper
This isn’t down to one wet, cold British spring but a disturbing longer-term decline in insects. Thankfully, we can help
Anyone with even a passing interest in the natural world will have noticed a dramatic phenomenon this year: a lack of insects. Perhaps most noticeable is the near-absence of butterflies. Species that are usually common, such as large and small whites, small tortoiseshells, gatekeepers, ringlets, peacocks and meadow browns, are in many places down to the point of having almost disappeared. This is certainly the case where I live, in Cambridge.
Bee populations seem to be down here, too, with flowery margins that would at this time of year normally be alive with pollinators now eerily quiet. Hoverflies are depleted, moths scarce and aphids have either appeared very late or not at all. Buddleia bushes, with their fragrant mauve flowers that are usually festooned with butterflies, moths and many other insects, sit naked of their normal visitors.
Continue reading...£1.2bn plan to turn sewage waste into drinking water branded a ‘white elephant’
Southern Water says it wants to protect rare chalk streams, but campaigners say it could pollute the Solent
A proposed £1.2bn scheme to recycle effluent from the sewage system and turn it in to drinking water has been criticised as a threat to the environment and a potential costly “white elephant”.
Southern Water wants to treat effluent – wastewater from the sewage system – at a plant at Havant in Hampshire and pipe it into a nearby spring-fed reservoir to boost water supplies during droughts. The scheme would ensure less water is extracted from two rare chalk streams: the Rivers Test and Itchen.
Continue reading...Climate crisis has impact on insects’ colours and sex lives, study finds
Scientists fear adaptations to global heating may leave some species struggling to mate successfully
An ambush bug with a darker-coloured body is better at snagging a sexual partner than its brighter counterpart when it is chilly. Darker males can warm up more easily in the early mornings, and therefore get busy while everybody else is still warming up.
This is one of the many examples of how temperature affects colouring in insects, and in turn can affect their ability to mate, according to a new review article published in the journal Ecology and Evolution.
Continue reading...FortisBC implements automatic RNG blend for British Columbia customers
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