Around The Web

The last one was built 50 years ago – so what is driving a resurgence in interest in our much loved ocean baths?

Australia’s ocean pools inspire a kind of fervour that borders on the fanatical. Writer Benjamin Law described taking a swim in Sydney’s ocean pools as a “spiritual experience”. Plenty of others agree, frequenting sea baths daily, their dedication etched on to their skin over decades by the sun’s rays. The pools are a must-see for tourists and source of contention for locals, who spar over their favourites.

Yet 50 years have passed since the last one was built – councils have been preferring chlorinated pool complexes instead. But now it appears there may be a shift back. The towns of Ballina and Port Macquarie on New South Wales’ north coast are looking at constructing tidal pools, as is Hallett Cove in South Australia. Mosman Park in Perth is also conducting a feasibility study after progress stalled on a pool at nearby Cottesloe.

Continue reading...

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

A lack of access to adequate, safe, and clean water has been a longstanding problem for Palestinians living in the Palestinian Territories.

The EU’s new Innovation Fund aims to hold its first funding call in the second half of 2020 and give extended support to projects aiming to cut emissions among heavy industries, a conference heard this week.

This week the final report on the Menindee fish kills; vegans protest over livestock farming, and one of the last dairy farms in the southern Riverina shuts up shop.

The tiny Yarra pygmy perch, with golden sheen and teardrop eye, has been pushed to extinction in the Murray Darling Basin. Now, all hopes for its return are focussed on a couple of farm dams.

European carbon prices fell on Friday after hitting a fresh 11-year high earlier in the day, pausing a rally that had added as much as 30% to EUAs since the end of March.

Washington's proposed low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) programme hit a snag this week as state legislators failed to advance the bill out of a Senate committee, but officials could use other avenues to advance the programme forward.

A handful of EU member states doled out another 61.7 million free carbon allowances in the past two weeks, with laggards Italy and Spain making big steps towards completing their 2019 allocations.

The best banners and placards from Friday’s student climate change protests across the world

Continue reading...

The UK government has aligned the country’s 2018 EU ETS compliance deadline with that of the rest of the bloc after the Brexit deadline was pushed back by six months.

A summary of legislative and regulatory action on carbon pricing and clean energy at the US state level taken this week, including Washington state’s 100% clean electricity bill, Hawaii carbon tax proposals, New Hampshire legislation to codify the post-2020 RGGI Model Rule, the Maine Public Utilities Commission's decision on a hydroelectric transmission line, and a Maryland Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) proposal.

Preliminary data suggests a technical glitch caused the Beresheet spacecraft to shut down its main engine at the wrong time.

Frogs’ legs, a bee on cowslips and a brown bear with its cub

Continue reading...

Scientists say stream dubbed ‘most polluted in Europe’ is reminder of effects of intensive farming

Winding between green meadows in the west Flanders countryside, the Wulfdambeek stream is fondly remembered as a place local boys would fill up their water bottles before football games.

But research from the University of Exeter has offered a sharp reminder of how intensive farming methods are changing the face of the northern European countryside in ways scientists claim are not being properly understood.

Continue reading...

Young people demand action from politicians at synchronised rallies across Britain

Thousands of students and activists have taken to the streets of more than 50 British towns and cities demanding urgent action on climate change for the third time in as many months.

The organisers of the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement said “sizeable events” took place in London, Sheffield, Manchester and Brighton, among other towns and cities. They mirrored events around the world, as protesters from cities as far apart as Helsinki and Delhi took to the streets.

Continue reading...

Restoration of unnamed tributary of River Chew offers new habitat for rare wildlife

A lost river has returned to the Somerset countryside for the first time in 70 years, and with it a new habitat for several species of rare and threatened wildlife.

The unnamed tributary of the River Chew from the Mendip Hills down to the River Avon was severed by a dam in 1956, when the valley was flooded to form the Chew Valley Lake reservoir that supplies Bristol and Bath.

Continue reading...

Scientists work on the challenging task of tracking pollution from orbit with encouraging results.

Air quality assessment advises that occupants of Lewisham development should shut windows

A south London housing development has been approved in an area where air pollution is so high that residents will be advised to keep their windows closed.

Nitrogen dioxide exceeds legal limits on the busy road where the development is planned, next to the A2 in Lewisham. An air quality assessment carried out on behalf of the developers found levels of 56.3 micrograms per cubic metre in the area – far above the legal limit of 40µg/m3.

Continue reading...

Closing prices, ranges and volumes for China's regional pilot carbon markets this week.