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Anglican church in Carmichael mine heartland to divest from fossil fuels
Diocese of Rockhampton, which covers Queensland gas and mining towns, votes to sell coal seam gas and thermal coal assets
The Anglican church in Australia’s largest coalmining region, including the site of Adani’s proposed Carmichael mine, has vowed to renounce interests in fossil fuels.
The Anglican diocese of Rockhampton, which includes central Queensland mining and gas towns across 20 parishes – the largest of which is bigger than Victoria – voted to divest from the likes of thermal coal and coal seam gas at a synod meeting on 20 May.
Continue reading...The Paris deal pullout is more damaging to the US than the climate
The US abandoning the global climate deal brings risks, but the unity of the rest of the world and plummeting green energy costs are reasons for hope
Will Donald Trump’s decision to pull the US out of the Paris climate change agreement tip the world into fiery catastrophe? The extraordinary unity of the rest of the world’s nations in tackling global warming, allied with the booming green economy, driven by plummeting renewable energy costs, are strong reasons to think not.
Related: Donald Trump confirms US will quit Paris climate deal
Continue reading...Trump just cemented his legacy as America’s worst-ever president | Dana Nuccitelli
Trump is doing his best to ruin the world for our children and grandchildren
In an inexplicable abdication of any semblance of responsibility or leadership, Donald Trump has announced that he will begin the process to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate treaty, joining Nicaragua and Syria as the only world countries rejecting the agreement. It now seems inevitable that the history books will view Trump as America’s worst-ever president.
If I and my advisors had never learned what Science is or how & why it works, then I’d consider pulling out of the Paris Climate Accord too.
Continue reading...Donald Trump confirms US will quit Paris climate agreement
World’s second largest greenhouse gas emitter will remove itself from global treaty as Trump claims accord ‘will harm’ American jobs
Donald Trump has confirmed that he will withdraw the US from the Paris climate agreement, in effect ensuring the world’s second largest emitter of greenhouse gases will quit the international effort to address dangerous global warming.
The US will remove itself from the deal, joining Syria and Nicaragua as the only countries not party to the Paris agreement. There will be no penalty for leaving, with the Paris deal based upon the premise of voluntary emissions reductions by participating countries.
Continue reading...Paris climate agreement: Trump said to be pulling US out of global pact – live
Reports say US president will ditch the agreement on carbon emissions curbs as world leaders vow to remain committed regardless of Trump’s decision
- Big oil darlings: the 22 Republican senators who urged Trump to withdraw
- The world prepares: China and EU strengthen promise to Paris deal
- And then there were three?: US would join Syria and Nicaragua on ‘no’ list
8.10pm BST
WH chief of staff Reince Priebus is wearing a green tie. Oh the irony. pic.twitter.com/JEPw9gFmz9
Priebus in green. What can it mean? Only one thing. Covfefe.
8.08pm BST
Today is a win for chief strategist Steve Bannon, who with Environmental Protection Administrator Scott Pruitt urged the president to jettison the Paris deal.
Continue reading...Trump 'to announce Paris climate deal pullout'
The US tried to derail climate action before – and it ended in humiliating defeat | Fiona Harvey
George W Bush failed in his attempt to block global action on climate change. His mistake – about to be repeated by Trump – was to imagine the UN process was weak
A smell of burning coal fills the chilly air as delegates pile into the conference chamber. Outside, protestors shiver in polar bear suits under threatening skies and forbidding grey concrete; inside, smiles, colourful costumes and a warm glow. Negotiators, politicians, activists who have spent their lives fighting climate change are jubilant. The US has stalled global action on climate change for two full presidential terms, but no longer. In the chamber, at last, the White House meltdown is in full flow.
This is no vision of a future under Donald Trump: it was the disaster and backtracking that marked the end of climate negotiations for his Republican predecessor, George W Bush, in 2008. Then, as now, a US president in thrall to oil interests tried to block international agreement on emissions. Then, as now, doomsayers foresaw a deathblow to the UN climate negotiations. Then, as now, the US economy was drunk on cheap fossil fuels.
Continue reading...Trump urged to retain Paris climate deal by UN chief
Gravitational waves: Third detection of deep space warping
New species discovered behind a pub – then saved from extinction
In 2007, conservationists discovered a new species inhabiting a beach just behind a pub in Granity, New Zealand. But could they save it before erosion and rising waters wiped it off the face of the planet?
Who says village life has to be boring? Granity, New Zealand may be home to less than 300 people, but this lovely seaside village on the western coast of South Island was also – until last year – home to a species found no-where else on Earth. And today, the town has quite the tale to tell.
In 2007 reptile expert Tony Jewell noticed there was something very different about the little lizards that skittered beneath the cobble stones on the beach behind Miners on Sea pub and hotel in Granity. Built in 1892, the pub has a long history of serving nearby mining communities.
Continue reading...Wildlife on your doorstep: share your June photos
The summer months are officially here for the northern hemisphere, while winter beckons for the south. We’d like to see your wildlife photos
The temperature is up and the sun is out (for now) as June introduces the summer months to the northern hemisphere. For the southern hemisphere all the preparations for winter will now come in handy for the months ahead. So what sort of wildlife will we all discover on our doorsteps? We’d love to see your photos of the June wildlife near you.
You can share your June wildlife photos, videos and stories with us by clicking on the blue ‘Contribute’ buttons. Or if you’re out and about you can look for our assignments in the new Guardian app.
Continue reading...Paris climate deal: what was agreed and does it matter if US withdraws?
If it pulls out, the US would be the only country to argue that the accord demands too much of signatory nations
The Paris climate pact agreed at the end of 2015 was a historic achievement after more than two decades of failed efforts to reach a global consensus on climate change. It became legally binding about a year later, after countries responsible for 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions had ratified it.
Only two countries have not joined: Syria, which was crippled by war at the time of negotiations, and Nicaragua, which refused to sign up because it considered the deal too weak. Therefore, if the US pulls out on Thursday – as is expected – it would be the only country in the world to argue that the Paris accord demands too much of signatory nations.
Continue reading...World urges Donald Trump not to dump Paris climate agreement
World leaders, businesses, scientists and charities join in urging the US president not to abandon the global accord
World leaders, businesses, investors, scientists and development charities have joined in urging Donald Trump not to withdraw the US from the Paris climate change agreement.
The US president is due to announce his decision at 3pm ET on Thursday and is expected to pull the world’s largest economy, and second greatest polluter, from the global accord agreed unanimously by almost 200 nations in 2015.
Continue reading...US would join only Syria and Nicaragua on climate accord 'no' list
Only other UN members not party to Paris agreement never signed up, but for reasons of war and principle, not disbelief
Assuming the US does, as expected, pull out of the historic Paris agreement on climate change, it will join a very small list of countries with which it has little else in common in terms of emissions.
The only other UN members not signed up are Nicaragua and Syria, which both chose not to enter into the climate accord in the first place.
Continue reading...'Faceless' fish, last seen in 1873, found off Australia
The Last Animals - fighting to save animals from extinction
Will the US pull out of the Paris climate agreement?
Lobbying Act 'stifling environment debate' in election campaign
Law restricting NGOs in run up to polling day have pushed climate and pollution issues off the election agenda, say opposition parties and green groups
Debate on environmental issues has been stifled in the run-up the general election leaving voters in the dark , opposition parties have claimed, as a result of the Lobbying Act and government determination to avoid criticism over problems such as air pollution.
Green groups have privately raised concern, along with other charities, over the impact of the law, and now have the support of all major parties apart from the Conservatives.
How our research is helping clean up coal-mining pollution in a World Heritage-listed river
The Wollangambe River's canyons are loved by adventurers. Ben GreenThe Wollangambe River in New South Wales is a unique gift of nature, flowing through the stunning Wollemi National Park, wilderness areas and the World Heritage-listed Blue Mountains. It’s an adventure tourism hotspot, with thousands of people clambering through the river’s majestic canyons each year.
So it was with a sense of irony that bushwalkers noticed unnatural flow and discolouration in the river and suspected it was pollution. In 2012 they contacted Western Sydney University, which has since conducted ongoing investigations.
The pollution was traced back to the Clarence Colliery, owned by Centennial Coal. Our recent research confirms that this is one of the worst cases of coal mine pollution in Australia, and indeed the world.
For four years I and other researchers have been investigating the pollution and its impacts on the river. The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has verified our findings. In exciting news, the mine was in March issued a revised environmental licence, which we believe is the most stringent ever issued to an Australian coal mine.
This is appropriate given the conservation significance of the river and the current scale of the pollution. We are now hopeful that the pollution of the Wollangambe River may soon be stopped.
Water pollution damages the river and its ecologyThe Clarence Colliery is an underground mine constructed in 1980. It is just a few kilometres from the boundary of the Blue Mountains National Park.
Clarence Colliery and Wollangambe River.
Ian Wright
Our research revealed that waste discharges from the mine cause a plume of water pollution at least 22km long, deep within the conservation area. The mine constantly discharges groundwater, which accumulates in underground mines. The water is contaminated through the mining process. The mine wastes contributed more than 90% of the flow in the upper reaches of the river.
The EPA regulates all aspects of the mining operation relating to pollution. This includes permission to discharge waste water to the Wollangambe River, provided that it is of a specified water quality.
Our research found that the wastes totally modified the water chemistry of the river. Salinity increased by more than ten times below the mine. Nickel and zinc were detected at levels that are dangerous to aquatic species.
We surveyed aquatic invertebrates, mostly insects, along the river and confirmed that the mine waste was devastating the river’s ecology. The abundance of invertebrates dropped by 90% and the number of species was 65% lower below the mine waste outfall than upstream and in tributary streams. Major ecological impacts were still detected 22km downstream.
We shared our early research findings with the NSW EPA in 2014. The authority called for public submissions and launched an investigation using government scientists from the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage. Their study confirmed our findings.
Progress was interrupted when tonnes of sediment from the mine were dislodged in 2015 after heavy rainfall and the miner and the EPA focused on cleaning the sediment from the river. This incident has resulted in the EPA launching a prosecution in the NSW Land and Environment Court.
We recently compared the nature and scale of pollution from this mine with other coal mine pollution studies. The comparison confirms that this is one of the most damaging cases of coal mine water pollution in Australia, or internationally.
Even 22km below the waste outfall, the Wollangambe is still heavily polluted and its ecosystems are still degraded. One of the unique factors is that this mine is located in an otherwise near-pristine area of very high conservation value.
New licence to cut pollutionThe new EPA licence was issued March 1, 2017. It imposes very tight limits on an extensive suite of pollutant concentrations that the mine is permitted to discharge to the Wollangambe River.
The licence covers two of the most dangerous pollutants in the river: nickel and zinc. Nickel was not included in the former licence.
The new licence now includes a sampling point on the river where it flows into the World Heritage area, about 1km downstream from the mine. The licence specifies vastly lower concentrations of pollutants at this new sampling point.
For example, the permitted concentration of zinc has been reduced from 1,500 micrograms per litre in the waste discharge, in the old licence, to 8 micrograms per litre.
It can be demoralising to witness growing pollution that is damaging the ecosystems with which we share our planet. This case study promises something different.
The actions of the EPA in issuing a new licence to the mine provide hope that the river might have a happy ending to this sad case study. The new licence comes into effect on June 5, 2017.
Our current data suggest that water quality in the river is already improving. We dream that improved water quality, following this licence, will trigger a profoundly important ecological recovery. Now we just have to wait and see whether the mine can improve its waste treatment to meet the new standards.
Ian Wright received funding from Western Sydney University, the Colong Foundation for Wilderness and the Blue Mountains Conservation Society..
South Australia seeks battery storage proposals from short-list
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