Feed aggregator

It’s not like energy comes free from the sky – ahaha imagine that

• 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...

The spider in my office is constantly web-building, fly-wrapping, fly-eating and darting around. Her industry is highly motivating

Before I left X (Twitter’s branding change achieved what years of time-wasting couldn’t), there was a phase when people posted their most cancellable opinions. As September cools, I am realising that mine might be that I love spider season. Social media is full of hysterical teens with great makeup threatening to set fire to stuff, leave the country or never sleep again as their homes become “the spider-verse”, but that first faceful of web in the garden in autumn is my pumpkin spice latte moment. Webs glistening with dew in the dawn sun, industrious architects crouched at their heart, are as Instagrammable for me as russet and golden leaves. Mmm #autumnvibes.

It is not just webs; I think spiders are really great guys. I love that moment, as we are watching TV in the early autumn, when the first gerbil-sized specimen scuttles across the rug in front of me, chunky and heavy enough to startle the dog. I love the way there is always one squatting in the shower in the mornings, delivering a wake-up more effective than a ristretto. I love how they are suddenly absolutely everywhere: my son found one in his noodle salad this week. I hurt my neck recently, so have spent lots of time lying on the floor watching scuttlefest 2023, and the spectacle is even more majestic down at pedipalp (that’s the feely bit on the front of the spider) level.

Emma Beddington is a Guardian columnist

Continue reading...

Fluence will build its second big battery in Victorian coal country, with construction set to begin on Tilt Renewables 100MW two hour battery in the Latrobe Valley.

The post Tilt taps Fluence to build big two hour battery in heart of Victoria coal country appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Rooftop solar effectively eliminated grid demand in South Australia on Saturday as it accounted for all but a few megawatts of demand in the world's most renewable grid.

The post Rooftop solar eats up all demand in South Australia, world’s most renewable grid appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Declaration signed by more than 20 Indigenous groups says dingoes are a ‘cultural icon’ and killing them is ‘killing family’

• Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast

First Nations people around the country have called for the immediate end of lethal dingo control, following an inaugural national dingo forum held in Cairns on Friday and Saturday.

A national dingo declaration signed by representatives from more than 20 First Nations groups says “lethal control should never be an option”.

Continue reading...

The northern summer was marked by intense fires and heat. Now it’s our turn to face the heat. Celeste Young, Collaborative Research Fellow, Sustainable Industries and Liveable Cities (ISILC), Victoria University Nima Izadyar, Lecturer, Victoria University Roger Jones, Professorial Research Fellow, Victoria University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

If successful, the prototype solar and zinc bromine flow battery microgrid could be rolled out to US Department of Defense facilities around the world.

The post Redflow batteries tapped to power US air force base, in military microgrid trial appeared first on RenewEconomy.

New research finds evidence that exposure to PFAS and phenols increases odds of certain ‘hormonally driven’ cancers for women

Women exposed to several widely used chemicals appear to face increased odds for ovarian and other certain types of cancers, including a doubling of odds for melanoma, according to new research funded by the US government.

Using data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a team of academic researchers found evidence that women diagnosed with some “hormonally driven” cancers had exposures to certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are used in thousands of household and industrial products, including in stain- and heat-resistant items.

Continue reading...

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said the crowd must become ‘too big and too radical to ignore’ as Biden came under fire for oil projects

Tens of thousands of climate activists took to the streets of New York City on Sunday in a “march to end fossil fuels”, with Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez telling the crowd that the movement must become “too big and too radical to ignore”.

To cheers from the crowd, the progressive Democrat criticized the US continuing to approve fossil fuel projects, something which the Biden administration did earlier this year with the controversial Willow project in Alaska.

Continue reading...

Bowen releases costings of the Coalition's nuclear push, saying that it flies in the face of economics and reason, and climate science.

The post “Lies and fantasies:” Bowen puts $387 billion price tag on Dutton’s nuclear plans appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Demonstration falls days before the United Nations Climate Ambition Summit, at which Joe Biden is expected to be a no-show

Actor and climate activist Susan Sarandon opened her speech by congratulating the students of New York University on the news of their university divesting from fossil fuels after years of pressure, as the Guardian first reported last week.

Addressing the crowd, she said, “You guys give me hope,” adding: “What we have to do is take responsibility and press those that are at the top to finally step up.”

Continue reading...

Covering Climate Now cites Damian Carrington for investigating ‘carbon bombs’ and super-emitting methane leaks

Covering Climate Now, the global journalism collaboration, is announcing its media awards this week at a time when audiences need to know how and why “the planet is on fire” and what can be done, judges said.

CCN’s climate journalists of the year for 2023 are Damian Carrington of the Guardian, Manka Behl of the Times of India and Amy Westervelt, the founder of the Critical Frequency podcast network.

Behl of the Times of India was praised by judges for reports “from the frontlines of the crisis in one of the world’s most climate-important countries” and for her interviews with leaders.

Carrington of the Guardian was credited for science-based reporting that “explains that politics and corporate power, not a lack of green technologies, are what block climate progress”, and cited for leading a reporting team on investigating “carbon bombs” and super-emitting methane leaks.

Westervelt was described as a prolific, multiplatform reporter for Critical Frequency whose work exposes how fossil fuel companies continue to mislead the public and policymakers alike.

Continue reading...

Rooftop solar continues to have major impact on the grid, meeting nearly half of all demand and sending black coal output and operational demand to record lows.

The post Rooftop solar sends coal to record low, and peaks at nearly half of all grid demand appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Missing winter sea-ice signals changes in Antarctica that could be "absolute disaster for the world", scientists say.

The tech giant has bowed to European legislation with a USB-C connector on its new iPhone but the UK government has failed to make messaging services toe the line on encryption

Sometimes, when Apple launches a new device (or even an upgrade of an existing one), it’s tempting to think that the accompanying blurb is a satirical spoof. On Tuesday, the day the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus were launched in California, for example, it burbled that both phones featured “industry-first colour-infused back glass with a stunning, textured matt finish and a new contoured edge on the aluminium enclosure. Both models feature the dynamic island [which displays outputs and alerts] and an advanced camera system designed to help users take fantastic photos of everyday moments in their lives. A powerful 48MP [megapixel] main camera enables super-high-resolution photos and a new 2x telephoto option to give users a total of three optical zoom levels – like having a third camera. The iPhone 15 lineup also introduces the next generation of portraits, making it easier to capture portraits with great detail and low-light performance.”

Oh, and by the way, it also has a USB-C charging port. This information, which comes towards the end of the blurb, is both interesting and symbolic: interesting because it signals that Apple is finally bowing to the EU’s requirement that all electronic devices should use the USB-C standard by 2024; and symbolic because it demonstrates that regulators can clip the wings of even the most powerful companies if they are resolute and clear about the consequences of noncompliance.

Continue reading...

Three years after unprecedented inquest ruling, absence of other cases has left a gap for pollution sceptics to exploit

• Drivers ‘likely to benefit from London Ulez’

Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah reserves a withering eye roll for people who question the impact that air pollution has on the health of children living in London. It helps her to shrug off the increasingly politicised debate over what needs to be done to improve the capital’s air quality.

Adoo-Kissi-Debrah fought a calm and determined campaign for seven years to make sure air pollution was included on her daughter Ella’s death certificate, and in December 2020 a second inquest ruled that air pollution contributed to Ella’s death from asthma in 2013.

Continue reading...

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

Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), which oversees Norway’s NOK15.3 trillion ($1.4 trillion) sovereign wealth fund, on Friday published stricter climate action guidelines for companies in which it invests, highlighting that climate risk equates to financial risk but also offers opportunities.

Car users can be exposed to more damaging pollution than cyclists, bus passengers or pedestrians, research claims

Drivers in London are likely to be among the biggest beneficiaries of moves to penalise highly polluting vehicles in the capital, London’s mayor is to say, because at present many drivers are likely to experience more pollution than other road users.

Though they may have the illusion of being insulated in their vehicles from the effects of exhaust fumes, drivers can be more exposed to pollutants including the highly dangerous small particles known as PM2.5, which can damage lungs and lodge deep within the body.

Continue reading...

China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) on Friday evening announced it had approved, in principle, a set of administrative measures that will underpin the relaunch of its national carbon offset programme, which has been suspended for more than six years.