Feed aggregator

It isn’t just our planet’s future that’s at risk: soon the artefacts buried deep in our soil may be lost for ever

A remarkable discovery was made 50 years ago at Vindolanda, the Roman fort below Hadrian’s Wall. Four metres down, the archaeologist Robin Birley and his team came upon a mass of black, damp and stinky organic material. Miraculously preserved in this anaerobic time capsule were pieces of leather, including Roman shoes, some fragments of textile and numerous pieces of wood. These included a couple of thin, postcard-like, wooden leaf-tablets, less than 2mm thick, with strange marks on the surface that turned out to be cursive Latin written in ink.

The very first tablet discovered was a fragment of a letter, telling an unnamed soldier that socks and underpants had been dispatched, presumably in response to a plea for additional protection against the very damp and cold that would later preserve the note deep below ground. Now, the climate crisis is irreversibly altering these conditions, destroying Vindolanda’s buried treasures faster than archaeologists can get to them.

Continue reading...

It's Day 5 of COP28, and climate finance is the catchphrase of the day – although tensions on 1.5C and the fossil fuel phaseout are bubbling. In our daily running blog, Carbon Pulse will report relevant or useful updates throughout the day. Timestamps are in local time (Gulf Standard Time, GMT+4).

Consumers left angry and dismayed when they found out the truth about these terms, says Advertising Standards Authority study

Plastic bottles, takeaway cups and food packaging that could take an unlimited amount of time to break down are being advertised as “biodegradable”, with the advertising regulator calling for more clarity on such claims from businesses.

British consumers believe they are making green choices while disposing of waste when they are often not, according to a new report. The study, from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), based on extensive interviews with consumers, found widespread misunderstandings around common terms such as “biodegradable”, “compostable” and “recyclable”, leaving participants angry when they discovered what they meant.

Continue reading...

The focus on individual choices has left us frustrated. Now an EU-led ‘climate club’ is our best hope of systemic action

Something flipped last summer in both the visibility of the climate crisis and in the space the media devotes to it. Apparently, all it took was for the air to turn orange and unbreathable above Wall Street and for smoke to smother holidaymakers in Greece.

And yet, despite the fact that the conversation finally feels like it is approaching the level of ubiquitousness that the crisis merits, the solutions being proposed leave me deflated. And that’s not merely because of the lunatic hypocrisy of holding the Cop28 in Dubai, where it will be presided over by the CEO of the world’s 12th-largest fossil-fuel company.

Alexander Hurst is a Guardian columnist. He is a France-based writer and an adjunct lecturer at Sciences Po, the Paris Institute of Political Studies

Continue reading...

Dakar’s nine-mile-long Hann Bay used to be known as one of West Africa’s most beautiful, lined with traditional fishing villages, villas and tourist attractions. But for the last 20 years it has been at the centre of the city’s industrialisation, with 80% of the city’s industry nearby. Today it is one of Dakar’s most polluted areas, with canals spilling raw sewage and chemicals on to the beach and into the sea

Continue reading...

I’m still recovering from the glittering spectacle of Cop27

• Sign up here to get an email whenever First Dog cartoons are published
• Get all your needs met at the First Dog shop if what you need is First Dog merchandise and prints

Continue reading...

Six of the major independent carbon crediting standards have announced on Monday at COP28 their intent to work together on common principles for the quantification and accounting of removals and emissions reductions, as they each seek assessment under the ICVCM's Core Carbon Principles (CCPs).

Campaigner claims ministers do not have legal right to alter timeline of carbon budget pledges at will

Chris Packham has filed a high court legal challenge to the UK government over its decision to weaken key climate policies.

The broadcaster and environmental campaigner has applied for a judicial review of the government’s decision to ditch the timetable for phasing out petrol and diesel powered cars and vans, gas boilers, off-grid fossil fuel domestic heating and minimum energy ratings for homes.

Continue reading...

El Niño usually brings hot, dry weather to Australia. But the rains that have drenched eastern Australia are normal too. Andrew King, Senior Lecturer in Climate Science, The University of Melbourne Andrew Dowdy, Principal Research Scientist, The University of Melbourne Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Leaked papers suggest United Utilities logged dozens of incidents as less serious than they had been.

Exclusive: former US vice-president and climate activist says phase-out can be only measure of success for Cop28

An agreement by countries to phase out fossil fuels would be “one of the most significant events in the history of humanity”, according to Al Gore, amid wrangling by governments at Cop28.

It would be a “welcome surprise” if world leaders agreed at the climate talks to call for an end to fossil fuels, but such a declaration would have “enormous impact” upon the world, Gore told the Guardian at the gathering in the United Arab Emirates.

Continue reading...

The federal Australian government has announced an advisory group to encourage business to invest in nature repair, it announced Monday, as it looks to pass its Nature Repair Market (NRM) legislation in parliament this week.

Australia’s latest climate change statement shows we have little hope of reaching net zero emissions by 2050. There’s good news on the 2030 target, but then what? John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Transgrid names winners of nearly $3 billion worth of contracts for HumeLink, where work is going ahead in the face of community criticism and ahead of final project approvals.

The post Transgrid hands out multi-billion dollar contracts for controversial HumeLink build appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Brookfield's bold bid for Origin Energy and its plans to spend $30 billion on new wind, solar and storage voted down by shareholders more interested in dividends than climate changes and green energy.

The post Greed trumps climate as Origin bid voted down by dividend hungry shareholders appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A 12 MW solar and 8.8 MW/2.1 MWh battery will power Rio Tinto's new mine near Weipa and reduce diesel energy consumption by a third.

The post Rio Tinto plans new solar, battery project for its newest Weipa bauxite mine appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Rooftop solar installs smash monthly records in November, as system sizes reach nearly 10kW and the coal industry faces another big bite out of its midday market lunch.

The post Rooftop solar installs smash record as households turn to bigger systems, put pressure on coal appeared first on RenewEconomy.

COP host says abandoning fossil fuels will send us back to caves, Exxon flies in to boost CCS, NZ does a back flip on oil and gas exploration, and Forrest's green ammonia push blocked at the port.

The post Fossil fuel giants play home ground advantage as climate COP despairs about 1.5°C appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A record number of female students have started an agriculture course at Borders College.

Forecasters are continuing to offer more real-time updates and personalised recommendations.