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100 million Americans are enduring searing temperatures as Biden declines to announce a climate emergency

The National Weather Service has warned that extreme heat will affect more than 100 million people in the US this week, with triple-digit temperatures in some states and broken temperature records in many areas across the country.

“Above-normal temperatures will continue to prevail across much of the US through the end of the week, with a significant portion of the population remaining under heat-related advisories and warnings,” the agency said.

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Nature-based voluntary carbon market prices slipped to around $8 Thursday morning UK time to compound a sharp fall Wednesday, likely triggered by a US fund selling positions, sources said.

European Commission’s Frans Timmermans says biodiversity situation is ‘really very, very scary’

The human-made crisis engulfing the natural world is “just as threatening, perhaps even more so” than the climate crisis, one of the EU’s most senior officials has warned.

Speaking to the Guardian, Frans Timmermans, the vice-president of the European Commission, said he hoped “we can heighten the sense of urgency” about the destruction of the natural environment, where the situation is “really very, very scary”.

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‘Nature’s engineers’ who create wetlands with their dams are recognised as native wildlife

Beavers are to be given legal protection in England, meaning it will be illegal to kill or harm them as they are formally recognised as native wildlife.

This is a step forward for the charismatic rodents, which were hunted to extinction in the country 400 years ago but have reappeared owing to illegal releases around the country.

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EUA prices fell for a fourth day on Thursday to test technical supports despite rallying briefly after a strong auction, while energy markets weakened as Russia's Gazprom resumed deliveries of natural gas to Europe through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline after completing a maintenance turnaround.

Scientists develop a telescope to detect violent collisions of dead suns known as neutron stars.

Japan and Singapore have both approached Papua New Guinea seeking a framework under which they would be able to buy carbon credits aligned with Article 6 under the Paris Agreement, according to the PNG Climate Change and Development Authority (CCDA).

Vast sums provide power to ‘buy every politician’ and delay action on climate crisis, says expert

The oil and gas industry has delivered $2.8bn (£2.3bn) a day in pure profit for the last 50 years, a new analysis has revealed.

The vast total captured by petrostates and fossil fuel companies since 1970 is $52tn, providing the power to “buy every politician, every system” and delay action on the climate crisis, says Prof Aviel Verbruggen, the author of the analysis. The huge profits were inflated by cartels of countries artificially restricting supply.

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The international Green Climate Fund (GCF) has begun the formal process for its second replenishment, following its latest meeting, along with commitments to fund four new projects valued at $380 million.

Kylie Jenner is far from the only celebrity to make short hops using private jets despite mounting concerns over the climate crisis

Kylie Jenner has faced a torrent of criticism for her decision to take her private jet on a flight that lasted just 17 minutes. But the practice of taking brief journeys on luxury aircraft appears to be common among the rich and famous despite mounting concerns over the climate crisis.

Jenner, the 24-year-old socialite and businesswoman, has faced online opprobrium after she posted an Instagram picture of herself and her partner, rapper Travis Scott, on the runway of an airport between two private jets with the caption “you wanna take mine or yours?”

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The Northern Territory (NT) government in Australia and Japanese oil and gas firm Inpex have signed a “statement of commitment” to achieve a “net zero emissions future” as part of an agreement that also involves the expansion of a key gas and LNG project, it was announced on Thursday.

There is an increasing likelihood of above-average rainfall for much of Australia in the coming months, the Bom says, with another La Niña likely

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Severe storms and widespread flooding across eastern Australia and elevated fire risks in the Northern Territory are predicted for the coming months, with a third successive La Niña weather pattern also likely.

The Bureau of Meteorology’s outlook for August to October has forecast above-average rainfall from Queensland down to the south coast of New South Wales, with parts of the Northern Territory also slated to get above-average rain during that time.

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AER instigates 'retailer of last resort' protections for a fifth time in three months, as another retailer falls victim to the energy market crisis.

The post Fifth small energy retailer fails in wake of ongoing market struggles appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Report says global south has been ‘used as place to dump waste’ and that people of colour are suffering disproportionately

The climate and ecological crises are a legacy of systemic racism and people of colour suffer disproportionately from their harms, a Greenpeace UK report says. Globally, the report says, it is people of colour who, despite having contributed the least to the climate emergency, are now “disproportionately losing their lives and livelihoods” by the millions because of it.

“The environmental emergency is the legacy of colonialism,” the report says. This was because colonialism had “established a model through which the air and lands of the global south have been … used as places to dump waste the global north does not want”, the report says.

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Australian downstream oil company Ampol will expand its “carbon neutral” fuels programme which aims to offset emissions from the sourcing, refining, distribution, retailing, and consumption of its petrol and diesel products, the company has announced.

Australia’s big cities have grown rapidly and strains are showing. Yet the state of the urban environment has been rated good and stable due to local and state responses to these challenges. Gabriela Quintana Vigiola, Senior Lecturer in Planning, University of Technology Sydney Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

One of UK’s biggest funders of scientific research will no longer profit from businesses such as BP and Shell

One of the UK’s biggest philanthropic investors has quietly sold its stakes in large oil and mining companies such BP and Shell.

The Wellcome Trust is one of the biggest funders of scientific research in the UK with a £38bn investment fund. For almost a decade it has resisted pressure from organisations, including the Guardian, who argued that profiting from fossil fuel companies was incompatible with the Trust’s objective of improving public health and wellbeing.

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Heatwaves and fires in the northern hemisphere are a frightening portent of what’s in store for Australia.

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The unprecedented heatwave and fires engulfing Europe might seem a long way away, but they are a frightening portent of what’s in store for Australia.

Britain has just experienced its highest temperature on record, extreme conditions and fires are sweeping Spain, Portugal, France and Greece. But this is just the latest in a string of extreme events globally. In March, scientists were shocked by record temperatures at both poles, including temperatures up to 40C above normal in the Antarctic and 30C above normal in the Arctic. In May, devastating heatwaves across India, Pakistan and surrounding countries led to weeks where temperatures in some regions repeatedly hit almost 50C. This year has also seen extreme heatwaves in south Asia, China and the US.

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Royal Horticultural Society launches survey to examine damage from this week’s heatwave

The traditional British garden is under threat from extreme heat, the Royal Horticultural Society has said, as it launches a survey to examine the damage from this week’s heatwave.

It is likely that in the future delicate flowers including roses and poppies will have to be swapped for plants such as salvias and dahlias, which are more resistant to heat.

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A leading carbon market analyst predicts a strong future for Australia's carbon offset markets, if integrity questions can be resolved.

The post Carbon price slumps, but strong future predicted if offset integrity restored appeared first on RenewEconomy.