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The climate emergency and state neglect caused this disaster

After the second world war, Greece’s countryside experienced two debilitating human surges – an exodus of villagers, then a most peculiar human invasion of its fringes. These two surges, aided by a weak state and abetted by the climate crisis, have turned the low-level drama of naturally redemptive forest fires into this summer’s heart-wrenching catastrophe.

After heatwaves of unprecedented longevity, wildfires across the summer months have so far destroyed more than 100,000 hectares (250,000 acres) of ancient pine forests. They have blackened swathes of Attica, scorched parts of ancient Olympia and obliterated north Evia’s magnificent forests – whose rural communities lost their homes, not to mention their livelihoods and landscapes.

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Course would aim to instil love of wildlife in teens and inspire them to protect it. Plus: test your knowledge with our quiz

What is the difference between a weasel and a stoat? Can you name five native UK woodland flowers? What birds are considered lowland heathland specialists? Teenagers could be challenged on these questions as part of a natural history GCSE, which could be announced in the coming weeks.

If plans go ahead, it would be the first GCSE to be introduced since a reformed computer science qualification in 2014. The 21st century is creating a lot of work for technology geeks and nature enthusiasts alike, and schools need to create a generation of youngsters who will be up to the challenge, argues producer and nature writer Mary Colwell.

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There may be merits to mining the seabed, but investing in alternative green technologies on land should be the priority

Deep-sea mining has become one of our planet’s most divisive problems. By stripping the ocean floor of its vast mineral wealth, proponents say we can obtain the cobalt, manganese, nickel and copper we urgently need for the green technologies – the electric vehicles, batteries and wind turbines – that must replace our carbon-emitting cars, power plants and factories. The only alternative to these deep-sea sources lies on land, where a huge expansion of mines would trigger environmental havoc: more sinkholes, devastated wildlife and polluted soil and groundwater. It is therefore time to plunder the riches of the deep to save our planet’s smouldering landscapes, it is argued.

These proposals are rejected outright by many scientists and green activists who say the colossal deep-sea dredging that would be involved in raising these minerals would trash swaths of ocean floor and wipe out precious, slow-growing animals and plants, while clouds of toxic sediments would be sent spiralling up from the deep, destroying marine food chains in the process. Deep-sea mining will only worsen our ecological woes, they maintain.

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Generation from most polluting technology in Australia's grid - brown coal - hits record low on Saturday as renewables grabbed major share.

The post Brown coal output hit record low in Victoria, as renewables reach 72% of demand appeared first on RenewEconomy.

If you eat, you have an interest in farming. If you care about the environment, you have an interest in farming. Yet Australia has no national agriculture strategy

Strip away modernity. Unlearn everything you know about the complexity of your average day. The ordinary interaction, the workaday worries, the pinging of your phone, the relentless roll of the inbox. You are left with the human condition. Our most basic needs, as the American psychologist Abraham Maslow noted, are the physiological needs: food and water, sufficient rest, clothing, shelter, health and reproduction.

In Australia and much of the developed world, we often forget that food and water are central to the human story. Food is so plentiful, so present, it is not even secondary.

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The energy payback time for solar PV can be less than a year, meaning it will produce 20 times the energy needed to produce it over a 20 year lifespan.

The post Solar keeps on getting better: Cheaper, more efficient and bigger returns on energy appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Renewables offer cheaper and smarter options than fossil fuels across the energy spectrum. The answers are with us already.

The post We’re smart enough to solve climate challenge with technologies we already have appeared first on RenewEconomy.

How bird feeding could disrupt an ecological balance just beyond our windowsills and gardens.

Polystyrene cups will also be banned but campaigners say action to cut plastic waste is ‘snail-paced’

Single-use plastic plates and cutlery, and polystyrene cups will be banned in England under government plans, as it seeks to reduce the plastic polluting the environment.

A public consultation will launch in the autumn and the ban could be in place in a couple of years. The move was welcomed by campaigners, but they said overall progress on cutting plastic waste was “snail-paced”, with the EU having banned these items and others in July.

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

*PREMIUM LISTING – Reporting to the GHG Program Director and under supervision of the Vice President of GHG Operations, the GHG Project Manager’s primary role is to help manage the processes required for the timely and successful generation of Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) and Renewable Fuel Standard RIN credits across CalBio’s portfolio of projects.

The office that oversees US spy agencies could not establish how the coronavirus pandemic began.

California and Quebec regulated entities sold futures and options positions last week ahead of the Q3 WCI auction results publication that far exceeded traders' expectations, with financial firms adding to their length over that period, according to US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data published Friday.

They say a tiny island off Greenland's coast was discovered by luck during a recent expedition.

California Carbon Allowance (CCA) prices continued to set new all-time highs on the secondary market on Friday morning after the Q3 auction exceeded expectations this week, with more than 20 million call options now in the money.

Activists tour financial institutions to highlight firms they believe to be culpable in climate crisis

Extinction Rebellion protesters poured red paint over the entrances of City institutions as they marched through London’s financial district in a protest against the ‘“blood money” on which they say the UK economy is built.

In what appeared to be the biggest mobilisation so far this week by the environmental protest group, several thousand demonstrators took a tour of the City, stopping off at the banks and law firms they saw as most culpable in the climate crisis.

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A summary of legislative and regulatory action on carbon pricing, clean fuel standards, and clean energy at the US subnational and federal level this week, including developments in California and Pennsylvania.

Agency scientists say management silences and harasses them to appease chemical industry

Whistleblowers say the US Environmental Protection Agency has been falsifying dangerous new chemicals’ risk assessments in an effort to make the compounds appear safe and quickly approve them for commercial use.

Over the past five years, the EPA has not rejected any new chemicals submitted by industry despite agency scientists flagging dozens of compounds for high toxicity. Four EPA whistleblowers and industry watchdogs say a revolving door between the agency and chemical companies is to blame, and that the program’s management has been “captured by industry”. The charges are supported by emails, documents and additional records that were provided to the Guardian.

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The Guardian’s new nature series Young Country Diary has been a hit since its launch in June – now we need more writers

Do you know any 8-14s who would like to write the natural world, whether its bird or bee or nettle or tree? Or are you a teacher who wants to encourage their class into taking notice of wildlife?

We are looking for new submissions to the Guardian’s new nature series Young Country Diary, which launched in June. YCD is an offshoot of the Country Diary – the oldest newspaper column in the world – which runs every day and is written by our team of “diarists” all over the UK.

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Signs of mid-September are already here, which experts predict could create spectacular autumnal colours

The season of mists and mellow fruitfulness is rolling in earlier than usual across parts of the south and south-east of England due to the soggy and sunny summer, according to forestry experts.

Ripening blackberries, sweetening chestnuts and burgeoning forest fruits – typically seasonal hallmarks of autumn normally seen from mid-September – are all evident, said Forestry England, which manages publicly owned forests.

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