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Farmers across UK braced for heavy rain and thunderstorms
Sudden weather change after weeks of drought could cause flooding and crop damage
Farmers across many parts of the UK are bracing themselves for thunderstorms and outbursts of heavy rain after weeks of drought and high temperatures.
The sudden change in the weather, expected to affect eastern areas hardest but spreading to the north and Midlands over Friday, is likely to cause problems of flooding and potential crop damage.
Continue reading...Why is it so hot? – video explainer
As the northern hemisphere endures record breaking temperatures, scientists and meteorologists are looking at the possible causes.
Climate change is partly responsible, but the summer has also featured unusual jet stream activity, which is bringing the subtropical heat north
• UK ‘woefully unprepared’ for deadly heatwaves, warn MPs
China's long game to dominate nuclear power relies on the UK
Approval of Chinese nuclear technology in the UK would act as a springboard to the rest of the world
China wants to become a global leader in nuclear power and the UK is crucial to realising its ambitions.
While other countries have scaled back on atomic energy in the wake of the Fukushima disaster, state-backed Chinese companies benefit from the fact that China is still relying on nuclear energy to reach the country’s low-carbon goals.
Just 13% of global oceans undamaged by humanity, research reveals
The remaining wilderness areas, mostly in the remote Pacific and at the poles, need urgent protection from fishing and pollution, scientists say
Just 13% of the world’s oceans remain untouched by the damaging impacts of humanity, the first systematic analysis has revealed. Outside the remotest areas of the Pacific and the poles, virtually no ocean is left harbouring naturally high levels of marine wildlife.
Huge fishing fleets, global shipping and pollution running off the land are combining with climate change to degrade the oceans, the researchers found. Furthermore, just 5% of the remaining ocean wilderness is within existing marine protection areas.
Continue reading...Ocean wilderness 'disappearing' globally
Heatwave, GM and Earth overshoot – green news roundup
The week’s top environment news stories and green events. If you are not already receiving this roundup, sign up here to get the briefing delivered to your inbox
Continue reading...Germany’s EnBW advances hedging over Q2 but still lags previous levels
Einstein theory passes black hole test
China’s Guangdong keeps ETS emission cap level amid national market limbo
Laos villages submerged after dam collapse – video
The devastation continues after a hydropower dam collapsed in Laos, where 26 people have reportedly died and more than 100 are missing. The flood waters have also poured into neighbouring Cambodia, forcing thousands of people to evacuate
Continue reading...BRIEFING: Australia’s emerging electricity sector carbon pricing market
These six species are about to be sacrificed for the oil and gas industry
Republican-led changes to the Endangered Species Act put plants and animals across America at risk. Here are the ones you should be most concerned about
Republicans in the western United States have been trying to whittle away the Endangered Species Act (ESA) since Donald Trump took office, and their efforts reached a crescendo last week with help from the White House. The Trump administration has proposed significant changes to its enforcement of the bedrock environmental law. Under the new rules, wildlife managers would limit protections for species designated as “threatened” (a level below endangered), consider the economic costs prior to defending a species and de-emphasize long-term threats such as climate change.
The administration’s action follows bills and budget riders from congressional Republicans that would, among other things, in effect remove protections for gray wolves in the lower 48 states, exempt the controversial greater sage-grouse from an ESA listing for 10 years, and increase state involvement in conservation decisions. The flurry of measures is an attempt to change the law, long seen as oppressive to oil and gas interests, while the GOP controls Congress and the White House.
Continue reading...Concern for children affected by Laos dam collapse
EV policy lag will cost Australian drivers, economy – inquiry told
It's a savage summer in the Northern Hemisphere – and climate change is slashing the odds of more heatwaves
NEG worse than thought – penalising rooftop solar and large scale projects
Win for Tesla, batteries, EVs and smart tech in Australian grid
Graph of the Day: What really causes the biggest price spikes?
Country diary: horseflies are a biting scourge throughout the land
Sandy, Bedfordshire: As with mosquitoes, the female is deadlier than the male, seeking a meal of animal blood so that she can grow her eggs
Many a fly has landed on my bare limbs this long summer, stretching out its minesweeper mouthparts to dab at my skin for something edible. Not thinking too hard about where those dirty feet have been, I tolerate them pattering about, sucking up, until the tickling sensation gets too much, and I shake them off.
What I worry about is the flies that don’t walk.
Continue reading...