Feed aggregator

The first known interstellar asteroid may hold water from another star system in its interior, according to a study.

It's the regulator's first investigation since taking over responsibility for BBC standards.

Reports of a tourist flight over Antarctica highlight China's growing interest in the poles.

A four-point plan for tackling plastic waste has been outlined by the Environment Secretary Michael Gove.

Clouds don’t act as a climate thermostat, and they’re not going to save us from global warming

Climate deniers have come up with a lot of arguments about why we shouldn’t worry about global warming – about 200 of them – but most are quite poor, contradictory, and easily debunked by consulting the peer-reviewed scientific literature. The cleverest climate contrarians settle on the least implausible argument – that equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS – how much a doubling of the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will increase Earth’s surface temperature) is low, meaning that the planet will warm relatively slowly in response to human carbon pollution.

But they have to explain how that can be the case, because there are a lot of factors that amplify global warming. For example, a warmer atmosphere holds more water vapor, which is itself a greenhouse gas, adding further warming. Warming also melts ice, leaving Earth’s surface less reflective, absorbing more sunlight. There are a number of these amplifying ‘feedbacks,’ but few that would act to significantly slow global warming.

Continue reading...

Exclusive: pension schemes will be free to dump fossil fuel investments after government drops ‘best returns’ legal rules

The government is to allow Britain’s £2tn workplace pension schemes to dump their shares in oil, gas and coal companies more easily, empowering them to take investment decisions to fight climate change.

Until now, pension schemes have been hamstrung by “fiduciary duties” that effectively require schemes to seek the best returns irrespective of the threat of climate change. Many have rebuffed calls by members for fossil fuel divestment, citing legal obligations.

Continue reading...

Newby Head, Yorkshire Dales When heavy snow blocks the roads, farmer Rodney Beresford goes out to clear the way

Tiny snow devil vortices dance across the scene outside Newby Head Farm, 1,400ft high in Yorkshire’s Three Peaks region. But the snow that tinsels the windbreak of Douglas firs does not stir. Neither does the mound of pink rock salt by the roadside; it is already half-frozen. Sheep farmer Rodney Beresford has to dig hard as he fills the hopper behind his 150hp Deutz tractor.

Continue reading...

Report says Australia’s current gas network could – and should – be decarbonised by 2050, through combination of renewables generated hydrogen fuel, biogas, and CCS.

A Senate committee has recommended an end to sharks culls and nets. According to surveys, the public is on board with the idea of ending policies that are lethal to sharks. Christopher Neff, Lecturer in Public Policy, University of Sydney Thomas Wynter, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Electoral Integrity Project, University of Sydney Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

AEMC admits rises in consumer bills this year should be reversed in the next couple of years. ... thanks to solar and wind. But it still seeks to paint "intermittent" renewables in their worst possible light.

Grid reliability and flexibility in the NEM would be much of an issue for the next few years except for the fact that the coal generation fleet is getting very old.

Nominations are invited for species, ecological communities or key threatening processes to be considered for listing under national environment law during the assessment period starting 1 October 2018. ...

Timorese seasonal workers are picking mangoes in the territory; we visit a daylily farm; go on a wildlife boat tour; and Ivan McNally hangs up his butcher's apron aged 86.

Decision to end Downer EDI agreement follows Palaszczuk government’s blocking of federal loan for the Queensland project

Adani has scrapped a $2bn agreement to outsource the operation of its controversial Queensland coalmine after the state government killed off a taxpayer-funded loan.

The Indian miner says it will now develop and operate the Carmichael project on an owner-operator basis after reaching an agreement with contractor Downer EDI to abandon their deal, which was reportedly worth about $2bn.

Continue reading...

The new appointments bring experience and skills in finance and investment, energy markets and corporate governance skills and add to the geographical diversity to the Board.

The 110MW Wemen Solar Farm in Victoria and the 89MW Clermont Solar Farm in Queensland reached financial close yesterday, and will commence construction in January 2018.

18 December 1917 Their greens may be dark or even dingy, but when the rains sweep over or the snow melts upon them they shine as if polished

The sombre firs standing black against the leaden sky and the snow-sprinkled ground, the ivy clinging to the ancient bole, the big-leaved laurels and rhododendrons, and the hardy wayside hollies save the country from the monotony of leafless winter. Their greens may be dark or even dingy compared with those of spring, but they are really greens; when the rains sweep over, as they did yesterday, or the snow melts upon them they shine as if polished. The red berries are all the redder for the wet, and even the withered grass is invigorated by the showers which make us shiver.

Related: Holly: the festive berry

Continue reading...

The new chair of Newcastle Ports in Australia says there’s an urgent need to diversify the regional economy and the port’s business

Newcastle, the world’s largest coal export port, must “urgently” diversify its traffic, the port’s incoming chairman has said, warning that the “long-term outlook for coal is a threat to the port”.

The move has been received as a significant sign of the transition away from fossil fuels.

Continue reading...

Unclean air and run-off from agricultural fertilisers alter habitats while competitors threaten to overwhelm sensitive species

Nitrogen pollution in the air is devastating for many sensitive wild plants, which is why so much of the countryside is becoming a vast carpet of nettles, hogweed, hemlock and other rampant vegetation that feasts on nitrogen. In many places, these are running out of control.

Much has been written about the damage to human health from nitrogen oxides given off by traffic, but the damage to sensitive plants has gone largely unnoticed. Excessive nitrogen also comes from ammonia from fertilisers and manures, with much of the countryside awash with nitrates running off farmland.

Continue reading...

Australian government environmental funding has decreased by a third since 2013. At the same time, Australia is experiencing massive species loss as funding for the sector dries up. Don Driscoll, Professor in Terrestrial Ecology, Deakin University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.