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PM will have to respond to Climate Change Committee’s recommendations on future emissions cuts with drastic changes in many sectors of economy

Keir Starmer will face a key test of his claims to leadership on the climate early next year, when the UK’s statutory advisers issue their latest advice on future cuts to greenhouse gas emissions.

The independent Climate Change Committee will set out recommendations on the UK’s seventh carbon budget on 26 February. At the core of the budget will be an overall cap on emissions for the years 2038 to 2042, needed to meet the legal obligation of reaching net zero emissions in 2050.

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Co-locating renewable generation, load and storage offers substantial benefits, particularly for manufacturing facilities and data centres.

The post What comes after microgrids? Energy parks based around wind, solar and storage appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Advances in technology raise questions about the need to send people to space - and the risks and cost

Advances in technology raise questions about the need to send people to space - and the risks and cost

The rocket, which took off from a site north of Chennai, places two satellites in orbit.

Amidst habitat destruction and ecological grief, let’s make a New Year’s resolution for nature — to care for beetles and butterflies, rainforests and reefs, ourselves, and future generations. Darcy Watchorn, Threatened Species Biologist, Wildlife Conservation & Science Department, Zoos Victoria, and Visiting Scholar, School of Life & Environmental Science, Deakin University Marissa Parrott, Senior Conservation Biologist, Wildlife Conservation & Science, Zoos Victoria, and Honorary Research Associate, BioSciences, The University of Melbourne Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Seven local authorities in England have waste figures highlighted as government launches circular economy measures

New government data published on Monday showed that 95% of non-recycled waste in Essex is sent to landfill, as ministers launched their plans for a circular economy.

The data revealed that seven local authorities in England reported sending more than 40% of their residual waste to landfill in 2022 to 2023, with Essex county council at the top of the list.

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Part of their body is hollow, this amplifies the sound. The longer you listen to their sound, the more they seem to sync up

Of all the languages’ words for cicada, Croatian’s might be the best: cvrčak, pronounced: tvr-chak. The sound it makes is tvr-chi tvr-chi. I have a Croatian friend who taught me part of a poem – Cicada – when we were in high school. It is by Vladimir Nazor, who was Croatia’s first head of state. The first stanza includes the satisfyingly low on vowels and onomatopoeic phrase: “cvrči, cvrči cvrčak” (pronounced “tvrchi, tvrchi tvrchak”) – which translates as “chirp, chirp cicada”.

And the cricket chirps, chirps on the knot of the black spruce
Its deafening trochee, its sonorous, heavy iambic …
It is noon. – Like water, it spills out in silence.
A solar dithyramb.

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Competition named after champion surfer Eddie Aikau is held only when waves in Waimea Bay top 30ft

A rare surfing event, the Eddie, took place in Hawaii last week, thanks to some giant waves.

Formed about a week ago in the north Pacific Ocean, the waves emerged as a low-pressure system produced an exceptionally large swell. They went on to hit Hawaii, enabling the Eddie to take place for just the 11th time in its 40-year history.

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UN secretary general, António Guterres, says ‘we must exit this road to ruin’ in annual new year message

The world has endured a “decade of deadly heat”, with 2024 capping 10 years of unprecedented temperatures, the UN has said.

Delivering his annual new year message, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, said the 10 hottest years on record had happened in the past decade, including 2024.

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Wildlife Victoria expects ‘catastrophic and long-term impacts’ for wildlife, including substantial loss of life, burns, blindness and starvation

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As fires headed toward her Grampians property in the Australian state of Victoria on Boxing Day, wildlife carer Pam Turner sheltered 20 joeys in her living room.

The animals gathered inside – standing alert from the noise of the sprinklers – are all hand-reared by her after being orphaned through car accidents, fence hangings and shootings.

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Astronomers are poised to see a star system about 3,000 light years away explode into brightness.

Part of an international initiative to combat organised wildlife crime, similar seizures in Australia and Norway have recovered more than 50,000 eggs

More than 6,000 eggs have been seized in the biggest haul of its kind in UK history, after police carried out raids in Scotland, South Yorkshire, Essex, Wales and Gloucester. Thousands of eggs were found secreted in attics, offices and drawers.

The UK raids took place in November as part of Operation Pulka, an international effort to tackle organised wildlife crime – specifically the taking, possessing and trading of wild birds’ eggs. The raids began in June 2023 in Norway, and resulted in 16 arrests and the seizure of 50,000 eggs. In Australia, an estimated 3,500 eggs have been seized, worth up to A$500,000 (£250,000).

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Analysis of insurance payouts by Christian Aid reveals three-quarters of financial destruction occurred in US

The world’s 10 most costly climate disasters of 2024 caused $229bn in damages and killed 2,000 people, the latest annual analysis of insurance payouts has revealed.

Three-quarters of the financial destruction occurred in the world’s biggest economy, the US, where climate denier Donald Trump will become president next month.

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Australia’s economic future would be at risk if we stop wind and solar to build nuclear: Big industries would have to close and the risk of blackouts would be significant.

The post This talk of nuclear is a waste of time: Wind, solar and firming can clearly do the job appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Slightly more Australians drown in rivers and creeks than at the beach. As more of us flock to waterfalls, hidden dangers at these idyllic spots are claiming lives Richard Franklin, Professor of Public Health, James Cook University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Exclusive: Report finds poorer areas particularly affected by varying availability and cost of charging electric cars

The UK is at risk of a drastic slowdown in its transition to electric cars because of big disparities in the availability and cost of charging points, especially in poorer areas, a report says.

The study, by the consultancy Stonehaven, argues that given rapid advances in batteries and car range, persuading more people to move to electric vehicles is now less an issue of technology than one of “urban management and social equity”.

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Climate change caused 41 additional days of dangerous heat and extreme weather, say scientists.

Climate change caused 41 additional days of dangerous heat and extreme weather, say scientists.

Moments to celebrate included a solar eclipse seen by millions and a lost city discovered by accident.