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Experts agree that global heating of 4C by 2100 is a real possibility. The effects of such a rise will be extreme and require a drastic shift in the way we live

Drowned cities; stagnant seas; intolerable heatwaves; entire nations uninhabitable… and more than 11 billion humans. A four-degree-warmer world is the stuff of nightmares and yet that’s where we’re heading in just decades.

While governments mull various carbon targets aimed at keeping human-induced global heating within safe levels – including new ambitions to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 – it’s worth looking ahead pragmatically at what happens if we fail. After all, many scientists think it’s highly unlikely that we will stay below 2C (above pre-industrial levels) by the end of the century, let alone 1.5C. Most countries are not making anywhere near enough progress to meet these internationally agreed targets.

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Election result hangs in the balance. The career of Tony Abbott has ended, while the Coalition cling to hopes of retaining power.

The post Election Night Update: Abbott booted out, climate and energy policy sits on a knife-edge appeared first on RenewEconomy.

If data is the new oil, are data centres the new oil rigs?

Project hopes to identify best habitats for extraordinary creature more endangered than giant panda – and shed light on mysterious breeding location

“That one is definitely over five years old, it could be eight to 10 years old,” shouts Dr Peter Walker, as a writhing 50cm long eel is scooped out of the River Tone near Taunton in Somerset. “This year or next I would expect this one to be on its merry way.”

The European eel makes an extraordinary 6,000km (3,728-mile) journey to the Sargasso Sea in the north Atlantic to spawn, from where its larvae travel all the way back. Now scientists hope a new project may shed light on this still mysterious part of eels’ lifecycle, which could provide crucial help in protecting the species.

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There are 55 nuclear power plants being built today. Some countries are embracing nuclear. Others are shutting down their nuclear facilities. We assess the future of nuclear power.

The idea that you cannot kill any animal is "fatally flawed" as a conservation concept, scientists argue.

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

Oregon’s Joint Committee on Carbon Reduction approved a WCI-modelled carbon market bill on Friday on a party-line vote after more than three months of debate, moving the legislation one step closer to a full floor vote in the Democrat-controlled state.

The blood-sucking parasites have been around for at least 115 million years, according to a recent study.

The Government of Manitoba is seeking a qualified candidate to fill the position of Director, Stakeholder Relations and Reporting within the new Climate and Green Plan Office. The Climate and Green Plan vision is to become Canada’s greenest, cleanest and most climate resilient province.

Governments of the world need to act. It’s time to speak to our planet with kindness before it’s too late

All the raspy-voice myna birds have come here, to this old swamp, where the ghost swans now dance the yellow dust song cycles of drought. Around and around the dry swamp they go with their webbed feet stomping up the earth in a cloud of dust, and all the bits and pieces of the past unravelled from parched soil. The Swan Book, by Alexis Wright.

A dense haze of smoke crawled over Melbourne and embraced us for a day in its lonely pilgrimage, inviting us to contemplate its mourning rite, its long prayer.

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Governments held up work this week on near-term emission reductions measures for international shipping until later in the year while tightening standards for new vessels that are largely being met anyway.

This week how climate is shifting what and where we grow our food; and farmers in Tasmania argue burning off could have prevented the extent of the devastating summer fires.

A US appeals court turned down a biofuel trade group’s motion on Friday to temporarily halt 2018 compliance waivers under the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), but the organisation's related lawsuit against the EPA’s accelerated use of these exemptions will continue.

All around us and within, water is an intimate, essential part of our lives. What would we do if water lost her way?

EUAs sank for the second straight day on Friday as lower gas prices spurred another late downward move to secure a weekly loss as carbon consolidated further away from its recent 11-year high.

Campaigners say pharmacy chain should uphold promise to reduce plastic packaging

The pharmacy chain Boots has come under fire for using plastic bags, rather than paper ones, to package some of its prescriptions.

Environmental campaigners and customers criticised the firm, which signed up to a high-profile scheme to cut plastic packaging last year.

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A summary of legislative and regulatory action on carbon pricing and clean energy at the US subnational and federal level taken this week, including the New Hampshire legislature passing a bill to divert RGGI funding to energy efficiency projects and remove an exit clause, the US House of Representatives discussing carbon taxes in the chamber’s tax-writing committee, and California officials floating the idea of banning internal combustion engines to counter federal vehicle fuel standard rollbacks.

Europe prepares to send technology to Mars to look for evidence that there is life on the planet.

A California Independent Emissions Market Advisory Committee (IEMAC) member is considering whether to remain with the ETS monitor after taking a new position at the state's Independent System Operator (CAISO), a spokesperson for the grid operator said.