Feed aggregator

Troubling new research shows warm waters rushing towards the world's biggest ice sheet in Antarctica

The Conversation - Wed, 2022-08-03 06:14
The findings underscore the urgency of limiting global warming to below 1.5℃, to avert the most catastrophic climate harms. Laura Herraiz Borreguero, Physical oceanographer, CSIRO Alberto Naveira Garabato, Professor, National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton Jess Melbourne-Thomas, Transdisciplinary Researcher & Knowledge Broker, CSIRO Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
Categories: Around The Web

Poorer children warned off playing in shared spaces in London development

The Guardian - Wed, 2022-08-03 03:03

Families in social housing flats in multimillion pound One Tower Bridge site told games in corridors ‘breached tenancy agreements’


Children living in social housing flats in a multimillion pound riverside development in London have been warned off playing in shared spaces on the site by their landlords.

Parents received letters from City of London council telling them that children playing in the corridors had been recorded on a “noise nuisance app” by a neighbour, and that the games were “a breach of tenancy agreements”.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Southern Water challenged over request to take more water from River Test

The Guardian - Wed, 2022-08-03 02:14

Fish populations in the Hampshire chalk stream would be harmed if EA gives drought permit, says Fish Legal

Southern Water is being challenged on Wednesday over its attempts to resort to a drought permit to take more water for its customers from a chalk stream as the dry conditions continue, even as the company leaks approximately 88m litres of water a day from its pipes.

The water company is asking for permission to remove more water from the River Test because of drought conditions in the south of England. But Fish Legal has asked for a formal hearing to challenge the attempt to abstract more water. The campaigning legal group says the company has not done enough to reduce water usage by customers or come up with a way to protect fish populations in the river before resorting to a drought permit.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

ANALYSIS: Significant work remains following first Article 6.4 Supervisory Body meeting

Carbon Pulse - Wed, 2022-08-03 02:00
The appointed body overseeing the UN's new carbon crediting mechanism met for the first time last week to hammer out an agreement on several procedural elements crucial to advance Article 6.4, but left much to be done ahead of a targeted end-2023 timeline for trading to begin.
Categories: Around The Web

New carbon offset protocol on bio-oil sequestration promises durable removals

Carbon Pulse - Tue, 2022-08-02 23:30
A US-based firm on Tuesday released the first in a series of “science-led” standards for carbon removals in the voluntary carbon market (VCM), with the new protocol for bio-oil sequestration promising permanent emissions sequestration in contrast to some nature-based solutions. 
Categories: Around The Web

Pollution: 'Forever chemicals' in rainwater exceed safe levels

BBC - Tue, 2022-08-02 22:28
From Antarctica to Tibet, long-lasting chemicals in rainwater are well above US safety guidelines.
Categories: Around The Web

Satellite images reveal shrinkage of Utah’s Great Salt Lake

The Guardian - Tue, 2022-08-02 22:22

Striking new images show lake has lost nearly half of its surface area from the historical average

New satellite images from the European Space Agency have illustrated the extent of dwindling water levels in the Great Salt Lake in Utah, a month after it reached its lowest water level ever recorded.

Highlighting falling water levels and the decreasing size of the lake, the report compares satellite images from 1985 and 2022. At its peak in the 1980s, it covered about 3,300 sq miles; in recent measurements, it has lost nearly half of its surface area from the historical average. The new record, registered last month, was the second historical low reached in less than a year.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Peter Dutton has reached into the weeds of the climate wars and pulled out nuclear energy. It’s beyond ludicrous | Katharine Murphy

The Guardian - Tue, 2022-08-02 21:31

The Coalition could’ve progressed a domestic industry in its nine years in power, but it didn’t

I understand patience is a virtue, but it’s not an inexhaustible commodity – particularly when a party of government continues to have a lend of the Australian public in such extravagant fashion over such a long period of time.

Peter Dutton has made his captain’s call to oppose Labor’s 43% emissions reduction target for two reasons: to force Anthony Albanese to do a parliamentary deal with the Greens, a situation he senses is risky for Labor politically; and to reserve the right to engage in more weaponised bollocks by blaming rising consumer prices on Labor’s new 2030 target.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Euro Markets: Midday Update

Carbon Pulse - Tue, 2022-08-02 21:24
EUAs rose for a second day as the annual cut in auction volumes continued to inspire buying interest amid low screen-based trading volumes, while German year-ahead electricity prices set a new record and natural gas prices continued to advance amid continuing uncertainty over Russian supplies.
Categories: Around The Web

NZ govt, companies partner on seagrass restoration project

Carbon Pulse - Tue, 2022-08-02 21:18
A New Zealand marine science research organisation is spearheading a cutting-edge seagrass restoration project, backed by the country’s government and several high-profile companies, hoping it can be applied to larger-scale projects across the country.
Categories: Around The Web

ICE to launch 10 nature-based futures, extending hedging to vintage 2030

Carbon Pulse - Tue, 2022-08-02 21:18
Ten new nature-based offset futures will be introduced by the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) in mid-August as it looks to snatch market share from rival Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) by adopting a longer timeframe for companies looking to hedge their carbon emission exposure
Categories: Around The Web

Greenwashing is driving our descent into climate catastrophe. But we can stop it | Emma Thompson

The Guardian - Tue, 2022-08-02 21:00

Activism works. If we could ban tobacco advertising and sponsorship, we can ban fossil fuel propaganda

  • Emma Thompson is an actor and activist

Gondola trips are a traditional part of visiting Venice for those who can afford the steep tourist prices, but I went a little off-script on a recent visit and chose a different, but equally iconic, vessel. We Are Here Venice, an NGO that promotes the safeguarding of a city deeply affected by climate breakdown and countless human-made activities, invited me on board the Greenpeace ship the Rainbow Warrior, the purpose of whose visit was anything but touristic.

I have taken part in two Arctic tours with Greenpeace: one on the Esperanza (now defunct, not my fault!) and another on the Arctic Sunrise. I had previously sailed with two of the crew who are now on the Rainbow Warrior, and there they still were, fighting for climate justice around the world.

Emma Thompson is an actor and activist

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 300 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at guardian.letters@theguardian.com

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Global renewables investment hits record high, boosted by solar and offshore wind

RenewEconomy - Tue, 2022-08-02 20:43

Global renewable energy investment reached $US226 billion in the first half of 2022, a record that defied supply chain challenges and cost inflation.

The post Global renewables investment hits record high, boosted by solar and offshore wind appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Categories: Around The Web

The world is ablaze and the oil industry just posted record profits. It’s us or them | Hamilton Nolan

The Guardian - Tue, 2022-08-02 20:25

No single crisis, no matter how existential, will be enough to shut this machine down naturally. We must break it or it will break us

It is useful to think of capitalism as a robotic savant, spectacularly gifted at doing one thing and cripplingly blind to everything else. Global capitalism is an incredible machine for extracting fossil fuels from our planet, refining them, shipping them to every corner of the Earth and making staggering amounts of money doing so. The humming of this machine, the fuel and the money that it spits out, has powered a century of unprecedented production and consumption by the Earth’s first-world nations. Unfortunately the machine is also poisoning us all. But one of its exquisitely evolved functions is to make it almost impossible to turn it off.

Oil and gas profits in the most recent quarter were astounding. Exxon Mobil made $18bn in profits in the past three months. Shell and Chevron each made nearly $12bn. Those are all record numbers. More major companies will announce their figures this week, and they are all expected to be bountiful. The war in Ukraine, which has devastated a region of the world and displaced millions, has helped energy companies by driving oil and gas prices higher. In this, we see another key characteristic of the machine: the fortunes of nations may rise and fall, but the oil companies will always survive and thrive, floating above the chaos of the world like passengers on a private jet, shaking their heads performatively at all the problems below.

Hamilton Nolan is a writer based in New York

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Chinese developers take plunge on grassland projects

Carbon Pulse - Tue, 2022-08-02 20:05
Despite the lack of policy direction for the national government, some Chinese project developers are moving to develop grassland-based carbon sequestration schemes, initially targeting foreign buyers.
Categories: Around The Web

UN, BIS to develop prototype for Paris-linked carbon units from green bonds

Carbon Pulse - Tue, 2022-08-02 18:41
The UN Climate Change Global Innovation Hub and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) have joined up with a group of financials, tech firms, and industrials to produce proof of concept for a blockchain-based carbon unit derived from green bonds that are linked with country NDCs under the Paris Agreement.
Categories: Around The Web

'Brink of collapse': David Pocock delivers climate warning in first Senate speech – video

The Guardian - Tue, 2022-08-02 18:33

Independent ACT senator David Pocock has given his first speech in the  Senate, warning a sixth mass extinction event is under way. 'Today the systems that sustain life on earth are on the brink of collapse,' Pocock said. 'The climate as we know it is breaking down and the impacts are now being felt with distressing regularity.' 

A request made by Pocock for an Auslan interpreter to translate his speech was denied by the major parties, who were worried about the 'precedent' it would set. The government offered to have screens on the floor of the Senate displaying an interpreter as a compromise

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

CP Daily: Monday August 1, 2022

Carbon Pulse - Tue, 2022-08-02 18:07
A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.
Categories: Around The Web

Should Premier League football clubs travel so far for pre-season?

BBC - Tue, 2022-08-02 18:05
BBC Sport examines the climate impact of the Premier League's globe-trotting pre-season tours.
Categories: Around The Web

Pages

Subscribe to Sustainable Engineering Society aggregator