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Ditch brightly coloured plastic, anti-waste researchers tell firms

The Guardian - Mon, 2024-05-27 16:00

Studies find red, blue and green plastic decomposes into microplastic particles faster than plainer colours

Retailers are being urged to stop making everyday products such as drinks bottles, outdoor furniture and toys out of brightly coloured plastic after researchers found it degrades into microplastics faster than plainer colours.

Red, blue and green plastic became “very brittle and fragmented”, while black, white and silver samples were “largely unaffected” over a three-year period, according to the findings of the University of Leicester-led project.

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Climate change takes backseat role as G7 finance ministers have focus elsewhere

Carbon Pulse - Mon, 2024-05-27 15:20
G7 finance ministers and central banks met in Italy over the weekend, but with focus on issues like artificial intelligence and Ukraine there was little room for earnest talks on climate issues.
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Lemur pups Nova and Evie born at Scottish safari park

The Guardian - Mon, 2024-05-27 15:00

Female pair are third litter born at Blair Drummond under endangered species breeding programme

A Scottish safari park has announced the birth of two female lemur pups native to Madagascar.

Nova and Evie, who are living at Blair Drummond safari and adventure park, near Stirling, were born on 14 April, and the park has now publicly announced their birth.

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Curious Kids: why can some plastics be recycled but others can’t?

The Conversation - Mon, 2024-05-27 12:38
Whether we can recycle plastic or not depends on what it’s made of (because there are many different types of plastic), if it’s sufficiently clean and if enough people will buy recycled products. Sukhbir Sandhu, Associate Professor in Sustainability, University of South Australia Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
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New Zealand utility to shut carbon, gas trading platform due to lack of interest

Carbon Pulse - Mon, 2024-05-27 11:03
A New Zealand electricity company has announced it will close its gas and trading platform later this year after consulting with staff and being unable to find an interested party to acquire them.
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NZ Climate Change Commission chair to retire

Carbon Pulse - Mon, 2024-05-27 10:12
The chair of New Zealand’s Climate Change Commission (CCC), Rod Carr, has confirmed he will retire from his role at the end of his term later this year, the government has announced.
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Brazil names managing partners to oversee Amazon forest restoration programme

Carbon Pulse - Mon, 2024-05-27 02:19
Brazil’s National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) and the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MMA) last week revealed the entities chosen to spearhead its BRL 450-million ($87.5-mln) Amazon forest restoration programme.
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We tested landscaping supplies on sale in Sydney stores for asbestos – it came back positive

The Guardian - Mon, 2024-05-27 01:00

Exclusive: Independent testing of recycled soil fill for sale finds two of four samples would not meet legislated thresholds, and one contained asbestos

Asbestos has been found in recycled soil fill for sale in New South Wales landscape and garden stores, more than a decade after investigators first raised concerns about contamination.

Guardian Australia bought four products at Sydney landscape supply shops and had samples analysed by accredited private laboratories.

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Overcoming the overcast: Climate data firm details how persistent cloud cover hampers tropical forest carbon mapping

Carbon Pulse - Mon, 2024-05-27 00:12
Persistent cloud cover poses a substantial challenge for remote sensing technologies that require clear skies to accurately map land covers and measure forest biomass, according to a climate data analytics firm.
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Licence to probe: the liberating beauty of fiction after journalism | Michael Brissenden

The Guardian - Sun, 2024-05-26 10:00

Cut free from the constraints of reporting, a story can take its own shape, can lead you down rabbit holes you’d never expected

During my nearly 40 years as a journalist, the climate crisis has been a constant, creeping refrain – from the first greenhouse conference in the late 1980s and the first IPCC report in the early 90s. There was the Hawke governments’ plan to cut emissions by 20% below 1988 levels by 2005, and the subsequent walking back of that plan.

Then on through the decades of bitter political division and debate and policy failures; the proposal for an Emissions Trading Scheme under John Howard; Kevin Rudd’s “great moral challenge of our generation”; the ill-fated Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, the Gillard ETS, the relentless campaign against it by Tony Abbott and the wasted decade of what’s become known as the “Climate Wars” that followed.

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‘It’s honest beauty’: the net-zero homes paving the way for the future

The Guardian - Sun, 2024-05-26 06:00

As demand for sustainable housing grows, architects go back to basics to future-proof homes for a changing climate

“Energy efficient”, “carbon neutral” and “net zero” are buzzwords we hear more and more as we face the impact of climate change. But do we think about them enough in building?

Globally, a move towards sustainable housing is growing. In Europe, efforts to move to greener homes hope to combat rising energy costs and be better for the planet. But 40% of global carbon dioxide emissions still come from the real estate sector.

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‘A catastrophe’: Greenpeace blocks planting of ‘lifesaving’ golden rice

The Guardian - Sat, 2024-05-25 23:00

Thousands of children could die after court backs campaign group over GM crop in Philippines, scientists warn

Scientists have warned that a court decision to block the growing of the genetically modified (GM) crop golden rice in the Philippines could have catastrophic consequences. Tens of thousands of children could die in the wake of the ruling, they argue.

The Philippines had become the first country – in 2021 – to approve the commercial cultivation of golden rice, which was developed to combat vitamin-A deficiency, a major cause of disability and death among children in many parts of the world.

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