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The regent honeyeater’s plight has blocked previous Hunter Valley development plans in the Hunter economic zone

The site flagged for a 2,000 megawatt coal-fired power plant in the New South Wales Hunter region is the only known breeding site in the state for the regent honeyeater, a critically endangered bird whose plight has blocked previous development plans.

Guardian Australia revealed yesterday that an agreement had been struck between the China Energy Engineering Corporation, Hong Kong-based Kaisun Holdings and a tiny Australian company, Cavcorp, to build a new coal plant.

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A deal between the UK and the wind industry will ensure 30% of electricity comes from offshore wind by 2030.

Deal with wind sector aims to produce one third of UK’s electricity needs by 2030

The government will throw its weight behind an expansion in the use of offshore wind power in the hope the renewable energy source will provide a third of the UK’s electricity by 2030.

In a deal between the government and the offshore wind sector, industry players have agreed to invest £250m over the next 11 years in exchange for participation in £557m of state subsidies for renewable energy.

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Contamination found across UK lakes and rivers, in US groundwater, along the Yantze river and Spanish coast, and harbouring dangerous bacteria in Singapore

Microplastic pollution spans the world, according to new studies showing contamination in the UK’s lake and rivers, in groundwater in the US and along the Yangtze river in China and the coast of Spain.

Related: Rivers of waste: Pakistan's recyclers go out on patrol – in pictures

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

UN aviation body ICAO announced Wednesday that it had enacted an advisory body to review emissions credits under its CORSIA global offsetting mechanism, but it was unclear whether it had reached further decisions on the panel’s membership and transparency.

European carbon prices fell for a second straight day, unwinding more of the rally recorded over the past week and a half.

More losses at solar micro-grid business blow another hole in wave energy developer Carnegie, forcing it to take another $40m in write-downs.

The post Carnegie hit by more solar micro-grid losses, wave energy write downs appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Author Kate Legge uncovers the love story that opened Cradle Mountain to tourism.

Connecticut regulators have sent on regulations to install the northeast US RGGI carbon market's post-2020 Model Rule and still anticipate it being finalised by April, a government official said.

Witness says cormorant survived the plunge into a 200-foot-deep vortex in a California reservoir

What happens when a small bird is swallowed by a gaping glory hole?

The fate of the unassuming-looking waterfowl was the subject of anguished debate Wednesday as video surfaced of the animal disappearing into a 200ft-deep vortex in a dammed reservoir in northern California.

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This burrow-dwelling, blue-legged tarantula is turning heads – and there are plenty of other charismatic eight-legged friends out there

In case you missed the news in the latest journal of the British Tarantula Society, a rather lovely new spider with iridescent, electric-blue legs has been discovered. The burrow-dwelling spider [Birupes simoroxigorum] has reportedly been “feted by experts as one of the most beautiful spiders ever documented”, prompting the question: what are the other most beautiful spiders ever documented?

We asked Matthew Robertson, senior keeper of invertebrates at ZSL London Zoo, who gave the caveat: “The beauty isn’t the side that we tend to come at it from here, although it’s always an advantage if an animal is highly charismatic.”

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The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority will spend $35 million dollars over the next few years to remediate the 40 hectare damage zone caused when the Chinese-owned coal carrier ran aground.

Everything you need to know about pumped hydro. Roger Dargaville, Senior lecturer, Monash University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

One surprising potential benefit of sea-level rise is it helps coastal wetlands store more carbon. Kerrylee Rogers, Associate Professor, University of Wollongong Jeffrey Kelleway, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Environmental Sciences, Macquarie University Neil Saintilan, Head, Department of Environmental Science, Macquarie University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Power plants linked to industrial sites across the EU could see their annual free carbon allowance allocations slashed from next year if the EU court upholds an expert opinion, though it is unclear whether regulators will be able to oversee the move without further changes to auditing rules.

Muddy, coastal marshes could store more carbon as sea levels rise, scientists reveal.

Droughts, heat waves, bushfires and rising temperatures are driving ecosystems towards collapse

Australia’s forests are being reshaped by climate change as droughts, heat waves, rising temperatures and bushfires drive ecosystems towards collapse, ecologists have told Guardian Australia. Trees are dying, canopies are getting thinner and the rate that plants produce seeds is falling. Ecologists have long predicted that climate change would have major consequences for Australia’s forests.Now they believe those impacts are unfolding.

“The whole thing is unravelling,” says Prof David Bowman, who studies the impacts of climate change and fire on trees at the University of Tasmania. “Most people have no idea that it’s even happening. The system is trying to tell you that if you don’t pay attention then the whole thing will implode. We have to get a grip on climate change.”

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A judge ruled that the government had failed to take into account the latest scientific evidence.

Court finds scientific evidence against fracking not taken into account by government

The UK’s high court has found the government’s new planning guidance on fracking to be unlawful.

The environmental campaign group Talk Fracking took legal action, arguing that the updated guidance failed to take account of scientific and technical developments on the environmental impact of fracking.

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