Around The Web

US researchers call for more regulation around the sale of sex robots with artificial intelligence.

A summary of legislative and regulatory action on carbon pricing and clean energy at the US subnational and federal level this week, including developments in Pennsylvania, California, and Montana.

Quebec intends to finalise its forestry offset protocol for its WCI-linked cap-and-trade programme this summer and open the proposal up for public consultation, a government spokesperson told Carbon Pulse.

Ash, along with other detritus, from Australia's fierce bushfire season is being washed into rivers by heavy rainfall, depriving the rivers of oxygen, killing fish and turning the waters an inky, silty black

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IEA welcomes appointment of Alok Sharma but others worry about nature of his dual role

Boris Johnson must put the climate crisis at the top of his government’s agenda if crunch UN talks this year are to be a success, leading international figures have told the Guardian.

Alok Sharma was appointed on Thursday as the business secretary and president of Cop26, the UN talks on the climate crisis to be held this November in Glasgow. Some climate experts are concerned that he won’t be able to stand up to governments reluctant to make strong commitments to cut greenhouse gases, while at the same time supporting British businesses struggling in the turmoil of Brexit.

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Smoke from wildfires may have long-term health effects, according to US research on juvenile monkeys.

Scientists say it’s the poppies’ fat and protein, not their narcotic alkaloids, that keep the birds coming back for more

Tasmanian farmers have reported their poppy crops are being ravaged by cockatoos, but experts say it is likely that it is a taste for the fatty seeds, and not an addiction to opiates, that is attracting the birds.

Tasmanian farmer Bernard Brain told the ABC on Tuesday that flocks of about 300 white cockatoos had decimated his harvest by ripping capsules from his poppy flowers and eating them, leading him to believe that the native birds were addicted to the alkaloid found in the seed.

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If you were a political scientist, you might wonder if some of these internal differences within the major parties are irreconcilable

I’ll get to the divisions on coal and climate afflicting both of the major parties shortly, but before we arrive there I want to ask a bigger question about disunity, one I’ve been carrying around with me since election night last year. Forgive this indulgence, I need to get this off my chest.

Politics watchers will know that prime ministers and opposition leaders intone with all the sobriety of an undertaker that “disunity is death”. People in my line of work tend to amplify that line dutifully, not because we are ciphers, but because it appeared to be true – one of those truisms so true it required no rebuttal.

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Fisheries managers arrived too late to save more of the endangered species as heavy rain washes ash into NSW rivers, robbing fish of oxygen

Luke Pearce had arrived at Mannus Creek for a three-day mission to rescue the Murray-Darling Basin’s last population of Macquarie perch.

For 10 years Pearce had visited this spot on the edge of the Snowy Mountains that, just weeks earlier, was ravaged by fire. There had been rain and the creek was flowing fast.

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To coordinate British Embassy Jakarta work to combat climate change and catalyse low carbon development, including diplomatic action to support delivery of the 26th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) in December 2020 (80%). To support the UK Mission to ASEAN in working with ASEAN on climate change issues (20%).

This role is fast-paced and incredibly diverse. You will have the opportunity to work on a wide portfolio of climate change mitigation programmes across a number sectors and/or geographies. You will provide programme management overview, an oversight of administrative and research support, with the opportunity to manage and lead your own grants and partnerships.

EU ETS auction revenues are almost certain to form part of the next EU budget after European Council President Charles Michel included them in preparations for next week’s testing talks among the bloc’s leaders.

Mysterious archaic hominins may have interbred with early humans in West Africa, scientists say.

US-based Delta Air Lines announced Friday that it will achieve carbon neutrality from its global business starting in March, but the company said it would limit its reliance on offsets in the long-run.

Communities on the coast face "serious questions" against the background of climate change.

As sea levels rise, difficult decisions are being made about which communities to save.

Delhi-based sustainability advisory firm cKinetics has acquired carbon market news and data platform CaliforniaCarbon.info, Carbon Pulse has learned.

In UK, students march on first anniversary of nationwide protests by young people

• Greta Thunberg hails school climate strikes

Striking students have joined Valentine’s Day rallies across the world as the protest movement attempts to ratchet up pressure on governments and companies before crunch UN climate talks in Glasgow later this year.

In London, the young demonstrators held banners proclaiming “Roses are red, violets are blue, our Earth is burning and soon we will too” and “Climate change is worse than homework” as they marched through Parliament Square on Friday to mark the first anniversary of nationwide climate strikes in the UK.

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Oregon Democrats approved the state’s controversial ETS bill out of committee on Thursday evening after making amendments to the fuel sector phase-in and other areas to appease critics.

Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic rocket plane transfers to New Mexico for final testing.