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Seawater temperature is rising faster than predicted, which is likely to worsen extreme weather events around the world

The world’s oceans are warming at a faster rate than previously estimated, new research has found, raising fresh concerns over the rapid progress of climate change.

Warming oceans take up more space, a process known as thermal expansion, which the study says is likely to raise sea levels by about 30cm by the end of the century, on top of the rise in sea levels from melting ice and glaciers. Warmer oceans are also a major factor in increasing the severity of storms, hurricanes and extreme rainfall.

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Proposal is intended to protect African elephants from being poached for their tusks

The long-extinct woolly mammoth could gain protected status in an unprecedented attempt to save the African elephant from the global ivory trade.

If approved, the protection of the mammoth under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) could prove vital in saving its modern relatives. The proposal by Israel would close a loophole that enables the trafficking of illegal elephant ivory under the guise of legal mammoth ivory, which is almost identical in appearance.

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The haul, worth more than $1.3m (£1m), is one of the largest seized in South Africa in recent years.

Prof Tim Lang and Prof Mike Rayner suggest that a select committee should explore Caroline Lucas’s idea for a meat tax, while the Green MP herself defends it from a claim that it would only hurt the less well-off

The academic evidence is quite clear on a number of fronts that meat production and consumption worldwide need to change (MPs should ‘seriously consider’ meat tax, says Lucas, 4 January). Health gains from reducing red and processed meat consumption are well documented. Study after study has shown unnecessary risks and costs associated with raised meat consumption. Meat adds to the burden of non-communicable disease. Its production is a key driver of antimicrobial resistance. Somehow the scale of meat consumption must be reversed.

We do not underestimate the political complexity. Swathes of the UK are rough land where sheep and cattle are raised. UK farmers operate on tight margins and receive too low a proportion of the money made from food. The much-reviled common agricultural policy actually keeps many afloat. But the hard facts are clear: the UK, like all rich countries, needs a transition to more sustainable diets from sustainable food systems. Low meat and dairy consumption, and more plant-based diets, are the future. This implies significant land use changes that could be beneficial: lower greenhouse gas emissions and water and biodiversity stress.

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Mysterious cosmic signals have been picked up. What are they and where do they come from?

UK engineers complete the build of a novel software-defined telecoms satellite called Quantum.

The innovative ICEYE radar spacecraft views the changing shape of the collapsed volcano.

Reversal of disciplinary process condemned as campaigners claim Thailand has failed to address labour abuses

The EU has been accused of sending out the wrong message after removing Thailand from a list of countries failing to tackle illegal fishing.

Campaigners claim that the European commission’s decision this week to lift Thailand’s “yellow card”, in place since April 2015, gives consumers an “illusion that violations of fishers’ rights are not still occurring”.

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My client is a is a very successful innovative start-up company (funding in place) based in Oxfordshire, UK. Their aim is to restore the world’s ecosystem by scaling up tree planting using data, drone technology and science.

Reporting to the Chief Economist, the Research Associate or Research Assistant will support research on the economics of tropical deforestation and climate change.

Algae is the new ‘green gold'. On Big Ideas, an expert panel describes the potential of algae as a game-changing sustainable resource for numerous industries.

Druridge Bay project makes mockery of UK’s goal to phase out coal by 2025, say critics

A wild stretch of Northumberland beach has become the ultimate testing ground of the government’s much-vaunted commitment to phase out coal by 2025, according to campaigners.

On Friday, James Brokenshire, the minister for communities and local government, will start examining whether to allow a local coal mining company, Banks Group, to extract three million tonnes of coal from 250 hectares of land behind the sand dunes of Druridge Bay, in a project that will extend beyond the government’s own deadline for the end of coal.

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Globally pets consume 20% of meat and fish, a figure insect pet food could help to reduce

The UK’s first dog food made from insects goes on sale this week, which its manufacturers say could help reduce the environmental damage caused by the massive volumes of meat routinely fed to dogs and cats.

Globally, pets consume about 20% of the world’s meat and fish, a number set to rise with the trend for consumers to feed them human-grade meat. Pet food is also estimated to be responsible for a quarter of the environmental impacts of meat production in terms of use of land, water, fossil fuels, phosphates and pesticides.

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Algae blooms have killed hundreds of thousands of fish in the last two weeks, but what exactly are they and how do we get them under control? Michele Burford, Professor - Australian Rivers Institute, and Dean - Research Infrastructure, Griffith University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

A pet food manufacturer says switching to a dog food made of soldier flies will protect the environment.

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

Switzerland will take a conservative approach to procuring international credits that is unlikely to run afoul of international guidance in the future, an official said Wednesday.

California regulator ARB minted 365,845 California Carbon Offsets (CCOs) during its first issuance of 2019, with a bulk of the credits coming from a single ozone-depleting substance (ODS) developer.

Anger at state and federal authorities over the death of up to one million fish in the Murray-Darling river system continues to boil over.

Bureau of Meteorology says average temperature was 1.14C above average for 1961-1990, making 2018 slightly warmer than 2017

Last year was Australia’s third-warmest year on record, with every state and territory recording above average temperatures in 2018.

According to the Bureau of Meteorology’s annual climate statement, the nation’s average temperature last year was 1.14C above the average for 1961-1990, making 2018 slightly warmer than 2017.

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