Feed aggregator
Electric car sales have slumped. Misinformation is one of the reasons
‘I felt like a bird god’: why comedian Geraldine Hickey is excited for this year’s Aussie Bird Count
The keen birdwatcher encourages others to take 20 minutes out of their day, describing the experience as ‘meditative’
- Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast
In early October the comedian Geraldine Hickey went looking for tawny frogmouths, a charismatic bird with a frog-like beak and mottled feathers.
“They’re a good-looking bird,” Hickey says, though it hasn’t yet appeared in her annual bird calendar, a project she started as a “lockdown thing” that has gained its own dedicated audience.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email
Continue reading...Europe trailing behind China, US in global net-zero industrial race -report
Top-rated UK water firms ‘dumped 1,374 illegal spills into rivers’
United Utilities and Severn Trent had four-star environment ranking but discharges breached permits, campaign group says
• ‘Ankle deep in sewage’: English spring water village suffers supected unlawful spills
Two of England’s biggest water firms dumped raw sewage into rivers across the country in suspected illegal breaches of their permits, despite being given the highest possible rating by the regulator for their environmental performance, the Observer can reveal.
Severn Trent Water and United Utilities were responsible for 1,374 raw sewage spills from sewage treatment works in apparent breaches of permits over a two-year period in more than 80 watercourses, according to an analysis of previously unpublished operational data. It is alleged the suspected illegal discharges were during dry weather or at times when the plants were not at operating capacity.
Continue reading...Branching out: Overlooked tree data skews global forest carbon estimates, study finds
‘Ankle deep in sewage’: English spring water village suffers supected unlawful spills
Water firm Severn Trent accused of being in breach of environmental permits over pollution near Malvern Hills
• Top-rated UK water firms ‘dumped 1,374 illegal spills into rivers’
Colwall, a village of less than 3,000 people on the border between Herefordshire and Worcestershire, is renowned for its spring water, which comes from the nearby Malvern Hills. An area of outstanding natural beauty, it has been favoured by the royal family for centuries, including Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria.
But the water at Colwall is now in the spotlight for very different reasons. The most recent data from Severn Trent Water, the company that covers the area, reveals that a sewage treatment works on Cradley Brook, near the village, spilled sewage for 1,756 hours in 2021 and 1,361 hours in 2022.
Continue reading...The Observer view on climate change: Hurricane Milton is a portent – but it’s not too late | Observer editorial
We are losing in the fight against global warming, it is time to put effort into controlling what we pump into the atmosphere
The havoc unleashed by Hurricane Milton provided unambiguous evidence that we are entering a critical and alarming new phase in the planet’s climate crisis. Rising fossil fuel emissions have triggered increases in ocean temperatures and sea levels to such an extent they are generating some of the most destructive storms ever experienced in Florida. Together with Hurricane Helene earlier, the lives of about 250 people have been claimed and thousands of homes destroyed. Florida has been left reeling and forecasters have warned there is more to come – a lot more.
It is a grim prognosis that should be galvanising Florida’s political leaders into taking urgent action to protect the state. Extraordinarily, this has not been the case. Despite the intensification of hurricanes and worsening flooding over the past decade, governor Ron DeSantis has consistently rejected the idea that global warming poses a threat to Florida or that the phenomenon exists at all. A few weeks ago, he signed a law erasing the words “climate change” from state statutes and effectively pledged the state’s future to burning fossil fuels. Such behaviour is disturbing.
Continue reading...Rooftop solar supplies more than 50 per cent of main grid’s power demand for first time
The post Rooftop solar supplies more than 50 per cent of main grid’s power demand for first time appeared first on RenewEconomy.
What's next for Elon Musk's SpaceX Starship rocket?
How to spot 'comet of the century' in UK skies
Babies and boomers: Changes to China’s fertility, retirement policies threaten emissions goals
Stop pushing heat pumps or face major backlash, green energy magnate tells Labour
Party donor Dale Vince warns that urging homeowners to switch to clean-power technology risks political storm bigger than Ulez
The government risks a huge political backlash if it keeps pushing the public to install heat pumps to replace their boilers, one of Britain’s leading green entrepreneurs has warned.
Dale Vince, a major Labour donor and renewable energy advocate, called on Keir Starmer to rethink national programmes, championed by Boris Johnson, pushing the technology. Vince argued that Whitehall should explore alternatives to the devices, which he said were expensive, caused serious disruption and could end up increasing energy bills for some people.
Continue reading...