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Falcon, built for agility and rapid response, can pursue insects in flight

Sometimes, a bird doesn’t just appear in your field of view, but forces itself instantly into your consciousness. So, as soon as I noticed a movement in the skies outside my office window, I instantly knew that it was something special. And it was: a hobby, scything through the warm spring air like a swift on steroids.

The hobby is to a kestrel what a Ferrari is to a Ford: the same basic blueprint, but honed into a high-speed version, built for agility and rapid response. Hobbies don’t pursue earthbound mice and voles, but aerial insects such as dragonflies, which are pretty fast flyers themselves. Indeed, the name of this slender falcon comes from a medieval French verb meaning “to dart about”.

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You can reduce your fuel consumption by 15-20% with improved driving habits alone – reducing emissions and saving money at the same time. Ralph Sims, Professor, School of Engineering and Advanced Technology, Massey University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Kylie Tennant's hut is fondly remembered by locals, tourists and aspiring writers who have visited since the 1980s. Brigid Magner, Senior Lecturer in Literary Studies, RMIT University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

California’s ETS linkage with Quebec represents a direct conflict with the US Constitution’s Foreign Affairs Doctrine and subverts the Trump administration’s ability to negotiate an equitable international climate agreement, the Department of Justice (DOJ) argued in a new brief.

There is a risk that tonnes of diesel oil could drift from the lake to the Arctic Ocean.

The pandemic is an opportunity to tackle the climate emergency by creating productive green jobs for those made redundant by the crisis

Britain needs a green job-filled recovery from the coronavirus crisis. Unlike Germany and South Korea, it is far from clear that we will get one. While Berlin and Seoul are retooling their fossil fuel-reliant economies to be greener and cleaner, the UK has yet to announce a policy that deals with the environmental emergency and the spectre of mass unemployment.

Unless a vaccine for coronavirus is found soon, Britain faces a surge in joblessness at the end of October, when all forms of wage support stop. The size of this spike in unemployment will determine how long it is before we may return to normal. Currently, 12 million people are covered by the job retention scheme for furloughed workers and its equivalent for the self-employed. There are few takers for the idea that there will be a sharp bounce-back to business as usual.

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Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is aiming to send a completed RGGI regulation for final approval next month, a department spokesperson told Carbon Pulse.

The cement and steel industries need a mix of transition policies and a revision of free allocation of EUAs to reach the EU’s 2050 net zero emission objective, researchers and consultants stated at a webinar on Tuesday, noting that the bloc's carbon market is not enough to get there. 

EUAs ended near €22.50 on Tuesday, continuing to ease back from Monday's three-month high as previously bullish technical signals grew more mixed.

Business, charity and trade body leaders urge Johnson to tackle inequality and climate crisis

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The bosses of Unilever, HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland are among 150 business, charity and trade body leaders urging Boris Johnson to put UN sustainable development goals (SDGs) at the centre of the UK’s Covid-19 recovery plans.

In a letter addressed to the prime minister, they called on the UK government to view the crisis as an “opportunity” to tackle looming problems including inequality and the climate crisis.

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China has removed pangolins from its official list of traditional Chinese medicine treatments, reports say.

China’s Tianjin has set the price floor at the market’s annual CO2 allowance auction on Wednesday, offering emitters and investors a shot at securing permits as much as 25% below current secondary market value.

Some locations on Earth, such as the UK, will be pictured at high resolution up to 12 times a day.

Campaigners hope the move will help end global trade in the scaly anteater, identified as a possible host for Covid-19

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Pangolin scales have been removed from an official 2020 listing of ingredients approved for use in traditional Chinese medicine in a move lauded by animal protection groups as a key step in stamping out trade in the scaly anteater, the world’s most trafficked mammal.

As many as 200,000 pangolins are consumed each year in Asia for their scales and meat and more than 130 tonnes of scales, live and dead animals were seized in cross-border trafficking busts last year, a figure estimated to represent up to 400,000 animals, according to conservation group WildAid.

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EU nations on Tuesday decided to back a plan to modify the emissions baseline for the UN’s CORSIA international flight offsetting mechanism, teeing up a global decision this month that is expected to eliminate airlines’ carbon credit demand until the mid-2020s.

A surge in hospital traffic may indicate the virus hit China earlier than reported, a study suggests.

New Zealand carbon allowances traded up to an all-time high of NZ$30.75 ($20.13) on Tuesday, smashing the previous record as the market continued to move north on the back of last week’s government announcement on adjusting the fixed price option level.

We could create a virtuous circle of investment and cost savings, alongside warmer, healthier homes

Right now, we are choosing the course of our economic recovery. We can choose to stimulate the economy in the short term, make huge progress on climate and take care of vulnerable people.

Last week’s homebuilder policy was a blunder, leaving too many benefits on the table, and handing out budget treats to the wrong people and projects.

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Newly formed company says it has secured land for a potential 3.6GW solar plus battery hydrogen project in Queensland.

The post Huge 3.6GW solar plus battery hydrogen project proposed for Queensland appeared first on RenewEconomy.

UPC/AC Energy consortium says Infigen Energy has "underperformed", in attempt to convince shareholders to back takeover bid.

The post Infigen predator argues wind farm operator has “significantly underperformed” appeared first on RenewEconomy.