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Labor's reset on climate and jobs is a political mirage
Alberta to pursue C$30/t carbon charge, alter benchmarks in large emitter programme
Energy Insiders Podcast: Cleanco pumps up for Queensland duck curve
Cleanco chair Jacqui Walters discusses plans and strategies as Queensland’s newest generation company prepares to enter the market this week.
The post Energy Insiders Podcast: Cleanco pumps up for Queensland duck curve appeared first on RenewEconomy.
'The climate doesn't need awards': Greta Thunberg declines environmental prize
The teen activist implored politicians and people in power to ‘listen to the best available science’ in an Instagram post
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has refused to accept an environmental award, saying the climate movement needed people in power to start to “listen” to “science” and not awards.
The young climate activist, who has rallied millions to her “Fridays for Future” movement, was honoured at a Stockholm ceremony held by the Nordic Council, a regional body for inter-parliamentary cooperation.
Continue reading...Butterflywatch: how climate change is clipping UK wings
Lack of suitable habitat is just one reason many butterfly species are not moving north as expected
It seems miraculous that any butterflies can survive a month of rain, but as soon as the autumn sun emerges so do red admirals and the occasional painted lady, en route for the sunnier south.
The 59 British species are perfectly adapted for our weather but adjusting to rapid climate change is more challenging, as two new studies led by scientists from the University of York show.
Continue reading...AGL signs huge battery storage deal, hails “dawn of battery age”
AGL signs deal for four big batteries in NSW totalling 200MW/400MWh with Maoneng
The post AGL signs huge battery storage deal, hails “dawn of battery age” appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Vattenfall’s ETS-covered output eases as hydro output ramps back up
ANALYSIS: California offset spreads tightening as competition grows, views on invalidation shift
Emissions panel convenes to examine new ways to meet targets
Protecting the places we love: here are 7 ways our nature laws must be fixed
Technical Specialist, Forest Carbon, Fauna & Flora International – Cambridge, UK
Food for thought on our carbon footprint | Letters
The close correlation between diet and environment that has been demonstrated by Michael Clark at the University of Oxford (Healthy food choices best for people and planet, study shows, 29 October) is interesting and potentially important. I hope the researchers will extend their studies into the environmental impact of what is variously known as cultured, in vitro or lab-grown meat. These products are now reaching consumers and prices will fall. Ostensibly, they appear environmentally beneficial.
The “meat” is grown from cell samples painlessly extracted from a small number of animals, so killing and long-distance freighting is eliminated. Methane from domestic ruminants will be drastically reduced. Forests need not be supplanted by grazing or soy production for animal feed. Land can be released for growing more plant-based food or to be returned to nature. If it can also be shown that environmental harm is curbed, the role these products can play will be crucial in reducing greenhouse gasses. More research is required as soon as possible.
Patrick Cosgrove
Chapel Lawn, Shropshire
Quadruple rainbow photographed in Orkney
Do you know an owl from an albatross? Test your bird knowledge in this quiz
What Australian bird has a sharp, five-inch toe that is capable of disembowelling you? Take this quiz to find out if you’re a fully fledged bird nerd or someone who needs to look up in the trees a bit more often
Which of the following is not a real Australian bird?
Howard’s duck
Latham’s snipe
Bourke’s parrot
Abbott’s booby
What Australian bird has a sharp, five-inch toe that is capable of disembowelling you?
Emu
Bustard
Cassowary
Ibis
What has been the most commonly seen bird every year of BirdLife Australia’s Aussie Backyard Bird Count since 2014?
Australian Magpie
Rainbow Lorikeet
Noisy Miner
Common Myna
In what country does Australia’s Welcome Swallow spend the winter?
Papua New Guinea
Philippines
England
Australia
Which ‘Australian’ bird is not endemic to Australia?
Australian Brush-turkey
Australian Raven
Australian Bustard
Australian Logrunner
Which migratory Australian seabird washed up in their thousands on the Alaskan coast earlier this year?
Short-tailed Shearwater
Little Penguin
Providence Petrel
White-faced Storm-Petrel
What is the smallest Australian bird?
Silvereye
Weebill
White-winged Fairy-wren
Zebra Finch
What species was “Karak”, the mascot of the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games?
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Galah
Gang-gang Cockatoo
Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo
What bird has been observed starting fires in order to flush out its prey?
Black Kite
Straw-necked Ibis
Black-breasted Buzzard
Galah
“Custard Head” is the unfortunate colonial name for which species?
Australian White Ibis
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Brown-headed Honeyeater
Pale-headed Rosella
As of 2019, what is the only species of bird to known to have gone extinct on the Australian mainland?
Night Parrot
Paradise Parrot
Orange-bellied Parrot
Golden-shouldered Parrot
Which Australian bird is known to ‘kidnap’ the young of other members of its species?
White-winged Chough
Bell Miner
Wedge-tailed Eagle
Great Bowerbird
After the supply ship Sirius was wrecked off Norfolk Island in 1790, Australia’s second British settlement would have starved to death if it wasn’t for which hapless species of breeding seabird?
Masked Booby
Sooty Tern
Australian Pelican
Providence Petrel
What percentage of magpies swoop?
10%
20%
30%
50%
Which of these birds does not build a mound to incubate its eggs?
Malleefowl
Brolga
Brush-turkey
Orange-footed Scrubfowl
Which of the following is not a native Australian bird?
Eurasian Coot
Eurasian Magpie
European Goldfinch
European Greenfinch
Riflebirds are part of which more famous bird family?
Birds-of-paradise
Bowerbirds
Hummingbirds
Lyrebirds
The Glossy Black-Cockatoo exclusively eats the seeds of which type of tree?
Eucalypts
Banskias
She-oaks
Wattles
The booming call of which bird is thought to have inspired the bunyip myth?
Brolga
Australasian Bittern
Australian Bustard
Emu
The word ‘cockatoo’ is thought to have originated from which language?
English
Dutch
Malay
Noongar
18 and above.
Uber twitcher. Be prepared for people to avoid you at parties.
13 and above.
Impressive. On the verge of being a true bird-nerd.
7 and above.
Not too bad. Keep looking up!
0 and above.
Hmm, looks like you don't know your owls from your albatross.
Continue reading...Coalition anger as dam water flows out to sea in drought-hit Queensland
Decision taken to reduce Paradise dam to 42% capacity amid concerns over its structural integrity in the event of a flood
Four hundred million litres of fresh water is flowing out to sea from storage in drought-afflicted Queensland every day, sparking a fresh rift between Coalition MPs and the state’s Labor government.
As the federal government considers a fresh round of drought measures to respond to the record dry spell, the Queensland government has angered federal MPs by releasing more than 100,000 megalitres of water from the Paradise dam over a 10-week period.
Continue reading...LCFS Market: California prices extend highs ahead of data release
Rising sea levels pose threat to homes of 300m people – study
Figure based on new analysis of coastlines is more than three times previous estimate
More than three times more people are at risk from rising sea levels than previously believed, research suggests.
Land that is currently home to 300 million people will flood at least once a year by 2050 unless carbon emissions are cut and coastal defences strengthened, says the study, published in Nature Communications. This is far above the previous estimate of 80 million.
Continue reading...Global climate emergency: Which issues should we focus on next?
We’d like you to tell us what you’ve liked about the Guardian’s reporting on the climate crisis and what you’d like us to explore in more depth
At the Guardian, we believe the climate emergency is the defining and most urgent issue of our time, and we know it’s the issue our readers feel most passionately about.
Covering the climate crisis is a priority for all our editors and in the last month, we have published the Polluters project – an in-depth investigation into the fossil fuel industry, and the structures behind it – which has gained much attention from readers and news organisations around the world. We also launched our landmark Climate Pledge, which laid out the Guardian’s short and long-term commitments to the environment.
Continue reading...Bus-sized fatberg weighing 40 tonnes cleared from London sewer
Blockage in Greenwich prompts Thames Water to reissue warning about waste disposal
A 40-tonne fatberg the size of a double-decker bus has been cleared from a London sewer by Thames Water engineers who pulled out some of it by hand.
The mass of fat, grease and other materials that weighed the same as three red buses, was discovered earlier this year clogging up a sewer in Greenwich, the water company said.
Continue reading...