Feed aggregator

Warming temperatures caused perilous ice up to eight metres thick to drift south from the Arctic to clog the coasts of Newfoundland, Labrador and Quebec. It trapped boats and ferries as late as June, with Canadian scientists blaming climate change. These dramatic photos capture the rare event.

All photographs by Louis Helbig unless otherwise credited

Continue reading...

Oil companies planning to drill near mouth of the river have calculated that the unique ecosystem has a 30% chance of being affected in the event of a spill

Oil companies planning to drill near a vast coral reef at the mouth of the Amazon river have calculated that the unique ecosystem has a 30% chance of being affected in the event of an oil spill.

Related: 'We are rewriting the textbooks': first dives to Amazon coral reef stun scientists

Continue reading...

The new head of UK research has said that he won't centrally direct scientific research.

Opposition parties increase pressure for deposit return initiative to boost recycling and keep litter off streets and beaches

The UK government is under growing pressure to introduce a money-back return scheme for plastic bottles, in order to tackle huge volumes of waste in a country where 400 bottles are sold every second.

Opposition parties have called on ministers to introduce a deposit return scheme that experts say would drastically reduce the number of plastic bottles littering streets and seas around the UK. Similar schemes have been successfully introduced in at least a dozen countries.

Continue reading...

Buxton, Derbyshire One summer we dammed the brook by the bridge where the dippers bred and swam with the tiddler trout

Hogshaw Brook, which runs below my late mother’s house, is part of the very first landscape in my story as a naturalist. Every night when I went to bed, I’d hear its ceaseless journey to join the river Wye. I remember one year how we dammed it by the bridge where the dippers bred, and its four-inch flow rose eventually up to the heaving chest of my nine-year-old self. We swam in it that summer, along with its tiddler brown trout and the caddis fly larvae that we loved to uncover beneath the cold stones.

Continue reading...

The ability of wind power to deliver significant price falls in South Australia has been eroded by new rules that require more expensive gas generators to operate at times of high wind output. The days of "negative pricing" may be over.

Don Harwin tells Committee for Economic Development of Australia the ‘self-indulgent climate culture war’ should end

The Liberal New South Wales energy minister has delivered a speech marking a sharp departure from his federal colleagues saying the coal-fired power industry should accept the clean energy target that will see the industry close in the coming decades as “the best deal that coal will get”.

He also ridiculed claims that expanding gas exploration in NSW was the key to fixing Australia’s gas crisis, saying such an idea was “curious”, and pointedly called for an end to the “self-indulgent climate culture war”.

Continue reading...

Netherlands-based solar developer reveals plans to build largest solar farm in NSW – and one of biggest in Australia – a 316MW project near Gunning.

Garth Heron, who is now the head of Wind Power Development at Neon Australia, shares his blunt assessment of what incumbents will do next in their war against renewables in Adelaide.

The South Korean solar developer will install a 2.67 MW floating solar farm on the Deoku Reservoir that will rotate to track the sun’s rays throughout the day, delivering a 22% increase in harvest, the company claims.

The Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder today announced a renewed commitment to local engagement with a decision to appoint six permanent local engagement officers across the Basin.

After a lengthy industry consultation period, the GBCA has released new versions of the Green Star Interiors rating tools which promise to drive the uptake of low-carbon buildings, incentivise new industries and challenge the market leaders to innovate.

The market for renewable energy certificates steadied in June as traders absorbed the implications of the Finkel Review for the current RET.

BBC Springwatch host urges gardeners to manage molluscs without killing them or risk losing hedgehogs and song thrushes

The naturalist and broadcaster Chris Packham has advised the nation to encourage the ecosystem of their gardens by ceasing to kill slugs.

Extolling the virtues of tolerance, Packham said “draconian choices” like “I don’t want slugs and snails to eat my plants” puts the gardener at risk of losing other wildlife such as hedgehogs, slowworms and song thrushes.

Continue reading...

Despite massive growth in reserve lands, more than one quarter of Australia's ecosystems and biodiversity remain unprotected, according to a new report.

Mark Butler argues Australia remains disconnected from the dawning gravity of the social, economic and environmental threats of climate change.

The huge diversity of frogs we see today is mainly a consequence of the asteroid strike that killed off the dinosaurs, a study suggests.

Environmental Protection Agency had announced stay in rule that would require oil and gas companies to fix methane leaks in equipment

The Environmental Protection Agency cannot freeze the implementation of a rule requiring oil and gas companies to fix methane leaks in their equipment, a federal appeals court ruled on Monday in a setback for Donald Trump’s push to cut environmental regulations.

Related: Trump's planned EPA cuts will hit America's most vulnerable | Mustafa Santiago Ali

Continue reading...

The brain's wiring as never seen before.

Lord Alan West says vessels involved in fisheries enforcement are ‘very, very few’, with one recently diverted on long Caribbean tour

Britain’s plan to enforce its new control of fishing waters is “amazingly complacent”, according to a former first sea lord and Royal Navy admiral, who said the three vessels used were far too few.

The government announced on Sunday that it was “taking back control” of the waters between six and 12 nautical miles from the British coast, by leaving a treaty called the London Convention. But Admiral Lord Alan West said on Monday that Britain would be a “laughing stock” if it was unable to enforce the new rules.

Continue reading...