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UK may not need new policies upon EU ETS exit, emitters suggest

Carbon Pulse - Tue, 2018-06-19 03:30
UK emitters and other stakeholders may automatically face replacement climate obligations once they exit the EU ETS under Brexit, an industry group has suggested.
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'Dumpling-shaped' space rock comes into view

BBC - Mon, 2018-06-18 22:27
A Japanese space probe has been sending back images as it approaches its target, the asteroid Ryugu.
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EU Market: EUAs prices rally from fresh 1-month low after auction

Carbon Pulse - Mon, 2018-06-18 21:01
EU carbon prices rose more than 2% on Monday, climbing back towards €15 after bearish sentiment from a fresh one-month low plumbed earlier in the day was erased by a bullish auction result.
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Should we be worried about surging Antarctic ice melt and sea level rise? | Dana Nuccitelli

The Guardian - Mon, 2018-06-18 20:00

Short answer: maybe

There’s recently been a spate of sea level rise denial in the conservative media, but in reality, sea level rise is accelerating and melting ice is playing an increasingly large role. In the first half of the 20th Century, average global sea level rose by about 1.4 millimeters per year (mm/yr). Since 1993, that rate has more than doubled to 3.2 mm/yr. And since 2012, it’s jumped to 4.5 mm/yr.

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Bees get stressed at work too (and it might be causing colony collapse)

The Conversation - Mon, 2018-06-18 16:00
The work honey bees do is critical for our ecosystems, but it comes at a high personal cost. Amélie Cabirol, Postdoctoral fellow, University of Trento Andrew Barron, Associate Professor, Macquarie University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
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Australia starts slow on EVs, but could overtake global market

RenewEconomy - Mon, 2018-06-18 15:28
BNEF says EV sales in Australia have started slowly but will finish quick and will beat the global average by 2040, after passing tipping points on affordability in 2025. More intriguingly, the EV fleet will create a "behind the motor" storage market as big as Snowy 2.0.
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A 228MW Victorian wind farm to go ahead as big business snaps up cheap green power

RenewEconomy - Mon, 2018-06-18 15:28
Macquarie Capital sells two 40% stakes in Lal Lal Wind Farm, which is reported to have off-take deal with “two Australian industrials.”
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ESB leaves some unexpected booby traps in latest NEG update

RenewEconomy - Mon, 2018-06-18 15:21
Latest version of National Energy Guarantee raises concerns it could put a de-facto cap on efforts by states, retailers and even corporate buyers, while the creation of a closed registry raises issues about transparency.
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Deciding the viper's fate: country diary archive, 21 June 1918

The Guardian - Mon, 2018-06-18 15:00

21 June 1918 No doubt the viper is useful to the farmer, but it is also a danger to his children, his dogs, and even his sheep

Amongst the heather stems and grass I found the cast skins or sloughs of two harmless ring snakes. They were not lying on the grass, but were firmly jammed between the stiff bents; indeed, it was not possible to release them without injury, though as they lay there each transparent scale showed distinctly; except at the head, the skin was perfect. “Cast” skin sounds as if the reptile, weary of its old and dingy garment, had thrown it off as we throw off our clothes. Really it had struggled through the tightest squeezes it could find, emerging finally in bright and gleaming mail, leaving behind the discarded slough, like a long, empty glove-finger.

Related: An adder stirs, a brawny cable charged by the sun

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Flooding from sea level rise threatens over 300,000 US coastal homes – study

The Guardian - Mon, 2018-06-18 15:00

Climate change study predicts ‘staggering impact’ of swelling oceans on coastal communities within next 30 years

Sea level rise driven by climate change is set to pose an existential crisis to many US coastal communities, with new research finding that as many as 311,000 homes face being flooded every two weeks within the next 30 years.

The swelling oceans are forecast repeatedly to soak coastal residences collectively worth $120bn by 2045 if greenhouse gas emissions aren’t severely curtailed, experts warn. This will potentially inflict a huge financial and emotional toll on the half million Americans who live in the properties at risk of having their basements, backyards, garages or living rooms inundated every other week.

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NAB to play middle man with investors and large-scale wind, solar

RenewEconomy - Mon, 2018-06-18 14:59
NAB launches $200m Low Carbon Shared Portfolio, backed by senior loans to seven wind and large-scale solar farms, and with a $90m cornerstone investment from the CEFC.
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Country diary: bottlenose dolphin attack shatters Flipper illusions

The Guardian - Mon, 2018-06-18 14:30

Chanonry Point, Moray Firth: These cetaceans kill their porpoise cousins. Do they see them as competition for food? Or are they just killing for sport?

There are occasions when nature shatters our cosy assumptions. Last week we were watching the bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) on the Moray Firth, much loved by tourists because they come so close to shore. They flip and leap, roll and dive, singly or in pods of a dozen or more, only a few yards from camera-clicking visitors thronging the shingle spit.

The dolphins gather in the Chanonry narrows to feast on salmon migrating upstream to spawn. We often see salmon being flung high in the air and swallowed whole. A feeding spectacle. We know dolphins eat fish and we are comfortable with it. But what we witnessed in front of our lenses that day spun us into shock. Forget film-star Flipper, forget frolicking Fungie in Dingle Bay, forget chummy Sebastian in Disney’s Shark Tale – these Moray Firth dolphins are killers.

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Demand response is disrupting Australia’s ancillary services markets

RenewEconomy - Mon, 2018-06-18 13:08
Demand response is so hot right now. But how does it work? And what sort of impact are these new resources having on the NEM's frequency and ancillary services markets?
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Messing about on the river and waltzing back to Winton

ABC Environment - Mon, 2018-06-18 11:30
We go messing about on a river boat; tackle the thorny problem of picking finger limes; brussels sprouts get a new lease on life; and a Matilda collection waltzes back to Winton.
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Hong Kong's fish are eating plastic - and people could be too

BBC - Mon, 2018-06-18 10:15
A lot of Hong Kong's fish contains tiny bits of plastic that could end up on your plate.
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China and India’s border dispute is a slow-moving environmental disaster

The Conversation - Mon, 2018-06-18 04:53
For decades, China and India have clashed over their disputed Himalayan border. This clash is also playing out via a development boom that threatens the health of one of the world's biggest river catchments. Ruth Gamble, David Myers Research Fellow, La Trobe University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
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Australian firms told to catch up on climate change risk checks

The Guardian - Mon, 2018-06-18 04:00

New report says Australian companies lag behind international organisations

Australian companies are not doing enough work to model the risks of climate change and how it will affect their profitability, a new report by a thinktank says.

Progressive thinktank the Centre for Policy Development says that while most companies have committed to considering what climate change and the Paris climate agreement means for their business strategy, too few have begun using scenario analysis techniques to model what its impacts could be and how to respond to it.

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'Not safe, not wanted': is the end of NT fracking ban a taste of things to come?

The Guardian - Mon, 2018-06-18 04:00

The NT government has lifted its fracking moratorium despite fierce opposition, reflecting the war of attrition being waged by gas companies

When the Northern Territory government announced a moratorium on fracking in 2016, it was a victory for those fighting the expansion of the unconventional gas industry.

That elation was replaced with shock and disappointment in April, when the chief minister, Michael Gunner, said the practice could resume following a 15-month scientific inquiry.

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An unconventional gas boom: the rise of CSG in Australia

The Guardian - Mon, 2018-06-18 04:00

In two decades coal seam gas has come to account for 30% of gas production. Here’s how the picture varies state to state

Australia’s production of coal seam gas has risen exponentially since 1995, going from zero to 30% of the country’s overall gas production in 2015-16.

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Surfers Against Sewage ride the wave of the 'Harry and Meghan effect'

The Guardian - Sun, 2018-06-17 22:14

In nearly 30 years, a bunch of surfers concerned about pollution have become a serious marine conservation force. An unexpected royal patronage has given them more funding and greater reach than ever to fight plastic pollution

Despite its eye-catching name, Surfers Against Sewage probably owes its existence to plastic. “The advent of panty-liners meant you could really see sewage slicks. Condoms, panty-liners and other plastic refuse made for a visceral, and visual, reminder of pollution,” Chris Hines, surfer and co-founder of this small charity in Cornwall, recalled in Alex Wade’s book, Surf Nation.

Sick of ear, throat and gastric infections, he and others called a meeting in St Agnes village hall. A who’s who of the most committed, passionate surfers in Cornwall – and just about the whole village – turned out. It was 1990 and Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) was born.

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