Around The Web

A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.

Development has long been given priority over the endangered bird’s welfare – and is set to again with the Carmichael coalmine

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The black-throated finch is a refugee. For decades, progress has forced the small, rotund, patchwork finch to retreat to a few pockets of grassland in central and north Queensland. Now the largest colony will be forcibly moved from the best remaining habitat to make way for Adani’s Carmichael coalmine.

Since it was listed as endangered and protected under Australian law, 775 development applications have proposed removing or damaging potential finch habitat. One has been rejected.

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Vaping caused a catastrophic reaction in Ewan Fisher's lungs that meant he could not breathe.

Negative pricing events hit record highs in September quarter that saw record levels of wind and solar and a record low for coal generation.

The post Negative pricing events hit record levels as solar takes big bite out of coal appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The US-China over artificial intelligence is heating up, but some warn the US could be over-reacting.

Windlab faces another four to five months before commissioning of world-first wind, solar and battery project, as dispute with EPC contractors deepens.

The post Windlab dispute with contractors depends over delays to Kennedy energy hub appeared first on RenewEconomy.

US Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) biofuel credits rose over the past few days from a recent low as buyers scooped up credits at bargain prices.

Response follows Jeremy Corbyn urging PM to ‘take personal charge’ as locals tell of ruined homes

Boris Johnson has agreed to chair a meeting of the government’s emergency committee on Tuesday to discuss the response to the recent severe floods, after he was urged by Jeremy Corbyn to “take personal charge” of the situation.

The announcement by Downing Street came as residents began a clean-up operation, and warned that further damage was likely unless existing water was pumped away.

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The most damaging tropical cyclones are three times more frequent now than they were 100 years ago.

British Columbia’s yet-to-be-finalised carbon pricing system for large industry is the only proposed scheme among Canada’s provinces that meets the environmental stringency requirements of the federal government’s ‘backstop’ mandate, a report released on Saturday found.

A loss of snow and ice cover are the main reasons for the reduction of the Arctic's albedo effect, not soot as had been previously thought.

While residents in bushfire-affected areas in Qld and NSW count their losses, politicians have exchanged fire on the role climate change is playing in this crisis.

ABC panel manages civil debate on climate change after shadow climate minister’s intervention

Shadow climate change minister Mark Butler issued a plea last night to set aside public debates about climate change while communities were fighting for their lives and homes in the face of unprecedented bushfires.

Speaking at the beginning of ABC TV’s Q&A program last night, Butler said his political colleagues on all sides should stick to an unwritten protocol of “putting political disputes aside” while people were in harm’s way during emergencies.

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Pressure is mounting on Australia's dairy farmers, from farm gate prices to animal welfare concerns, and technology that could produce milk without cows. Andrew Fisher, Professor of Cattle & Sheep Production Medicine, University of Melbourne Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) is expected to include cap scenarios and additional modelling in its December draft memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the proposed fuel sector ETS in the US Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, two regulatory sources said.

Wood's Environmental Policy and Economics team has an exciting opportunity for an excellent candidate to lead our work in air quality and climate change mitigation. You will be an experienced consultant and policy analysis, joining the team to play a central role in winning and delivering projects and driving growth in the team.

Airline IAG launched a review of its CO2-boosting fuel strategy on Monday, following an investigation that revealed the limited role of carbon pricing in curbing the sector’s rising emissions.

Silver-backed chevrotain caught on camera after it was feared lost to science

A distinctly two-tone mouse deer that was feared lost to science has been captured on film foraging for food by camera traps set up in a Vietnamese forest.

The pictures of the rabbit-sized animal, also known as the silver-backed chevrotain, are the first to be taken in the wild and come nearly 30 years after the last confirmed sighting.

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Long-running survey finds 1976 heatwave boom has been followed by dropping numbers

Moths are declining in abundance by 10% each decade in Britain but the average weight of moths caught in traps is still double what it was in 1967, according to a new study.

Researchers studying the biomass of moths caught in the world’s longest-running insect survey said their findings suggested that if there had been an “insect armageddon” in Britain, it had occurred before scientific recording began in 1967.

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Astronomers are observing a rare event, a transit of the planet Mercury.