Around The Web

Up close: The moment a cheetah joined a safari

BBC - Thu, 2018-03-29 21:50
Britton Hayes was on safari with his step uncle in Tanzania when a cheetah entered the vehicle.
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Climate scientists debate a flaw in the Paris climate agreement | Dana Nuccitelli

The Guardian - Thu, 2018-03-29 20:00

Ultimately the only thing that matters: we need to cut carbon pollution as much as possible, as fast as possible

In September 2017, a team led by the University of Exeter’s Richard Millar published a paper in Nature Geoscience, which was widely reported as suggesting that the Paris climate agreement’s aspirational goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial temperatures is still technically within our reach. Many other climate scientists were skeptical of this result, and the journal recently published a critique from a team led by the University of Edinburgh’s Andrew Schurer.

The debate lies in exactly how the Paris climate target is defined and measured, which has not been precisely established. Millar’s team used the UK Met Office and Hadley Centre global surface temperature dataset called HadCRUT4, which begins in 1850 and estimates global surface temperatures have warmed about 0.9°C since that time. The team thus calculated the remaining carbon budget that will lead to an additional 0.6°C warming.

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What the tourists did to paradise – in pictures

The Guardian - Thu, 2018-03-29 18:56

Thomas Egli’s parents honeymooned on Gili Trawangan, a beautiful island in the Indonesian archipelago. Three decades later, the Swiss photographer went to see it for himself – and found it buckling under the weight of tourism

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Targeted review to find ways to better support farmers under national environment law

Department of the Environment - Thu, 2018-03-29 16:02
The Environment and Energy and Agriculture Ministers jointly announced a short-term, non-statutory Independent review to help unpack the issues farmers are facing and find practical ways to help them more easily understand and interact with the...
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Targeted review to find ways to better support farmers under national environment law

Department of the Environment - Thu, 2018-03-29 16:02
The Environment and Energy and Agriculture Ministers jointly announced a short-term, non-statutory Independent review to help unpack the issues farmers are facing and find practical ways to help them more easily understand and interact with the...
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UK reverses opposition to tough EU recycling targets

The Guardian - Thu, 2018-03-29 15:30

Exclusive: Ministers will now back a target of 65% by 2035, meaning ambitious rhetoric is being supported by firm action, say experts

The UK has reversed its opposition to tough EU recycling targets and will now back a goal of recycling two-thirds of urban waste by 2035, the Guardian has learned. The nation’s recycling rate has stalled and it is set to miss its current target of 50% by 2020.

The prime minister, Theresa May, and environment secretary, Michael Gove, have both made high-profile pledges to act on the plastic pollution that is devastating the oceans and littering the land, which May called “one of the great environmental scourges of our time”.

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The Joy of Frogs: a 360 film about the mating season – video

The Guardian - Thu, 2018-03-29 14:00

Every spring, ponds around the UK start stirring and frogs come out of their winter slumber to mate. Here's a unique perspective on an event that’s been happening since the age of the dinosaurs

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Basslink cable damaged during maintenance, out until mid-April

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2018-03-29 13:42
The under-sea cable linking Tasmania's electricity market to that of the Australian mainland has been accidentally damaged during maintenance work, taking it out of action until mid-April.
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Who is Turnbull trying to fool with the National Energy Guarantee?

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2018-03-29 13:25
Turnbull's plan for the National Energy Guarantee depends on fooling three key constituents: his own party, as a leaked email reveals; the mainstream media; and the industry itself. The evidence suggests he is half way there.
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Spectacular falls for solar, wind and battery costs squeeze fossil fuels

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2018-03-29 13:24
BNEF report highlights highlights falling costs of solar, wind and battery storage, which together are mounting an unprecedented challenge to fossil fuel power.
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EVs could account for over half Australia new car sales by 2030

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2018-03-29 13:18
Industry-backed report finds doubling Australia's projected EV uptake to 2030 would deliver a $2.9bn boost to GDP, 13,400 new jobs, and save drivers an average of $800 a year.
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Industrial power is expensive in Australia, isn’t it? No, not really

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2018-03-29 13:13
Business customers pay about half what households and small businesses pay in Australia, and their costs are about middle of the road compared to other major economies.
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Australia's emissions rise again in 2017, putting Paris targets in doubt

The Guardian - Thu, 2018-03-29 13:05

Excluding unreliable land-use data, 2017 greenhouse emissions were again highest on record

Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2017 were again the highest on record when unreliable data from sectors including land clearing and forestry are excluded, according to consultants NDEVR Environmental.

Even including land clearing, overall emissions show a continued rising trend, which began in about 2011, putting Australia’s commitment under the Paris agreement further out of reach.

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All-new Nissan LEAF named ‘2018 world green car of the year’

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2018-03-29 12:28
The All-New Nissan LEAF, the world's best-selling electric vehicle, was named the "2018 World Green Car" at the 2018 New York International Auto Show.
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Poll shows Australians want stronger emissions reduction targets and 60% want phase out of coal

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2018-03-29 12:22
Emissions have increased now for three years in a row, since the repeal of the carbon price. Energy emissions are now at record highs, as revealed by the National Energy Emissions Audit.
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Uber launches ride-share service in Australia

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2018-03-29 12:13
uberPOOL app launches in Sydney, giving customers opportunity to cut costs by 50%, and offering "credible alternative to car ownership."
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National Pollutant Inventory (NPI) data for 2016–17 now available

Department of the Environment - Thu, 2018-03-29 12:13
Each year, more than 4000 industrial facilities estimate their emissions and waste transfers of toxic substances and report them to the NPI. This data helps communities, governments and researchers understand and monitor the sources of industrial...
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Climate science deniers and conservative media have a new hero

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2018-03-29 12:09
Climate science deniers and conservative media have found a new “free speech” hero — an academic who is suing his own university and thinks the multiple human threats to the Great Barrier Reef are overblown.
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Hazelwood, 12 months on, and the fear-mongers have been proved wrong

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2018-03-29 12:00
New analysis shows that Victoria's electricity supply held up without Hazelwood through a hot summer and avoided over four million tonnes of CO2.
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Labor vows 'full scientific assessment' of logging agreements

The Guardian - Thu, 2018-03-29 10:26

Assessment to include climate science and threatened species impacts, ministers say

Federal Labor is promising to revisit and fix any logging agreements with state governments that are not based on “proper, independent and full scientific assessments”.

In a pledge that could have implications for the rollover of nine agreements due to expire in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia over the next three years, the shadow minister for agriculture, Joel Fitzgibbon, and shadow minister for environment and water, Tony Burke said; “Labor will always support proper, independent and full scientific assessments of RFA [regional forestry agreement] outcomes as part of the agreed framework.

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