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With no land mammals to eat and disperse them, New Zealand’s truffle-like fungi mimic fallen fruit to attract birds. But with so many of those birds now extinct, can ecosystems adapt? Jamie Wood, Senior Lecturer in Ecology and Evolution, University of Adelaide Amy Martin, Post-Doctoral Researcher in Evolutionary Ecology, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Anne Gaskett, Associate Professor of Biology, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The Australian government has appointed the country’s chief scientist to lead an expert panel to advise on greenhouse gas measurement approaches that could potentially improve its fossil methane estimations, it announced Monday.

Solar tracker manufacturer PVH has announced a landmark collaboration with developerGPG Australia

The post PVH announces collaboration with GPG Australia to deliver Glenellen and Bundaberg solar projects appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Between them, the Queensland and ACT trials of almost free and free public transport could change how fares are set in Australia. David Levinson, Professor of Transport, University of Sydney Andres Fielbaum, Lecturer in Transport, University of Sydney Emily Moylan, Senior Lecturer in Transport, University of Sydney Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Record-breaking winter warmth has been felt across large parts of Australia, with more to come in coming days. A climate scientist explains what’s going on. Andrew King, Senior Lecturer in Climate Science, The University of Melbourne Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Greenpeace among 150 groups expressing outrage after preemptive arrests led to cancellation of protest camp

Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth have accused police of acting as “private security” for the UK’s biggest carbon emitter after dozens of preemptive arrests forced the cancellation of a climate protest camp near Drax power station.

In a statement signed by almost 150 groups, they called the operation against activists who had spent months planning the camp near the wood-burning power station “an unreasonable restriction of free speech”.

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Dion George says avoiding extinction of African penguin is his objective, and settling case aimed at stopping fishing around major colonies will help

South Africa’s new environment minister has said he wants to stop African penguins from going extinct by taking measures including settling a case brought by two environmental charities to stop fishing around the birds’ major colonies.

BirdLife South Africa and the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCOB) said they want an extension of no-fishing zones around six beaches and islands where the penguins breed, after failing to reach an agreement with fishing industry groups demanded by the previous minister.

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Countries hope big emitters will take more financial responsibility for emergency relief and damage claims

The outcome of an international court case on climate change obligations could strengthen the legal position of Caribbean islands claiming damages from developed countries after natural disasters, lawyers say.

Brought to the international court of justice (ICJ) by the UN general assembly, the case seeks clarification on what states can be held liable for in relation to climate change.

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Team at University of Edinburgh using microbes to recycle lithium, cobalt and other expensive minerals

Scientists have formed an unusual new alliance in their fight against climate change. They are using bacteria to help them extract rare metals vital in the development of green technology. Without the help of these microbes, we could run out of raw materials to build turbines, electric cars and solar panels, they say.

The work is being spearheaded by scientists at the University of Edinburgh and aims to use bacteria that can extract lithium, cobalt, manganese and other minerals from old batteries and discarded electronic equipment. These scarce and expensive metals are vital for making electric cars and other devices upon which green technology devices depend, a point stressed by Professor Louise Horsfall, chair of sustainable biotechnology at Edinburgh.

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Australia must urgently halt new fossil fuel projects and scale up investment in renewable energies such as solar and wind

My first visit to the Pacific Islands was in 1981 and, for two decades, I spent several months each year carrying out biodiversity surveys and conservation work there. Even in the 1980s, Pacific communities were acutely aware of climate change, experiencing it first-hand through rising seas and intensifying storms. Over time, their understanding of the role that climate pollution plays in worsening these impacts has deepened, leading to a highly organised movement to limit pollution from big coal and gas exporters such as Australia.

As the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) approaches, Australia must urgently align with the position of its Pacific neighbours and take decisive action to reduce climate pollution further and faster.

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The Chips and Science Act has led to a production boom but experts say it could generate huge amounts of toxic waste

Producers of PFAS chemicals and semiconductors, a key part of most electronics, have formed a group that develops industry-friendly science aimed at heading off regulation as the facilities release high levels of toxic waste, documents seen by the Guardian show.

The group, called the PFAS Consortium, was formed during a boom in domestic semiconductor production spurred by the Chips and Science Act that has led to $825bn in investment aimed at shoring up the industry.

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Freshwater Habitats Trust is asking citizen scientists to help find ponds that support declining species

More than one in five ponds in the UK could be designated as “priority habitats” but only about 2% have been identified so far, experts say.

Priority ponds are recognised as being the highest-quality water spaces for freshwater wildlife, often providing a last refuge for plants and animals that have been lost from surrounding areas. The designation can help preserve ponds threatened by proposed construction and other landscape changes.

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I see looming political and environmental threats – and too few willing to address them. Where is the urgency?

The world is on fire. At no time since the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 has the world looked so dangerous, nor has an end to its 56 conflicts – the highest number since the second world war – seemed so distant and so difficult to achieve.

Distracted by domestic election campaigns, preoccupied by internal divisions and blindsided by the seismic geopolitical shifts happening beneath our feet, the world is sleepwalking into a “one world, two systems”, “China v America” future. And the cooperation needed to firefight is proving so elusive that even now, an international agreement to prepare for and prevent global pandemics remains beyond our grasp. Nor, even up against the existential problem of climate change (the planet is on course for a temperature increase of 2.7C above pre-industrial levels), can many hold out hopes that Cop29 in Azerbaijan will be equal to the challenge. At a time when global problems urgently need global solutions, the gap between what we need to do and our capacity – or, more accurately, our willingness – to do so is widening by the minute.

We are at a global turning point, not just because crises are multiplying far beyond the very public tragedies of the Ukraine and Israel-Gaza wars, but because in a year when nearly half the world has gone to the polls, few political candidates have been prepared to acknowledge the altered geopolitical landscape. For three seismic shifts that are bringing to an end the unipolar, neoliberal hyperglobalised world of the last 30 years make a total rethink essential.

Gordon Brown is a former UK prime minister; he will give a keynote lecture at the Edinburgh international festival on Sunday 25 August

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Forecasts suggest June-to-August output will exceed the high recorded in 2022 despite relatively poor weather

Great Britain is on track to generate record levels of solar power this summer, according to expert forecasts, as the government pushes forward plans to triple the country’s solar energy capacity by the end of the decade.

Solar power output between June and August is likely to climb by almost a quarter compared with the same period last year.

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Stings needing medical attention surge by 41% as rising sea temperatures due to the climate crisis boost reproduction

Costa Brava resorts in Spain’s north-east are struggling to cope with an influx of jellyfish as rising sea temperatures facilitate reproduction and drive species farther north.

Between May and August almost 7,500 people on the Catalan coast sought medical attention for jellyfish stings – a 41% increase on last year. The stings are painful and can have unpleasant consequences for anyone with compromised immunity.

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US specialist on invasive species says the densities of the destructive pest are approaching what he has seen in Texas

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Parts of Queensland have as many fire ants as Texas – a hotbed of the uncontrolled infestation that costs the US billions of dollars each year, an expert has warned

Dr Robert Puckett is an American specialist on invasive ant species and he’s followed Australia’s efforts to eradicate fire ants since they were discovered in Brisbane 23 years ago.

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Humanity risks losing the beautiful, complex reefs that have existed on Earth for millennia. Governments and officials have now acknowledged this devastating fact. Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Professor, School of the Environment, The University of Queensland Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

South Dakota’s highest court reversed prior rulings made by two lower circuit courts in support of a major CO2 pipeline construction, jeopardising the project's development in the state.

A US-led carbon crediting programme published a brief last week detailing how its credits can be used in corporate climate strategies.

The mining magnate does away with the constraints of arithmetic, simultaneously demanding lower taxes and more public spending

A striking feature of the age of billionaires in which we now live is that billionaires are more and more inclined to give us the benefit of their opinions. In the past year alone, we’ve had Marc Andreessen’s retro-futurist “Techno-optimist manifesto”, Mark Zuckerberg’s pronouncements on the future of media, and, most recently, a cosy chat between Elon Musk and Donald Trump (whose billionaire status is often touted but remains questionable). In most cases, the main effect has been to demonstrate that, however good they are at making money, billionaires are no smarter than the rest of us when it comes to politics or the ordinary business of life.

Australia’s richest billionaire by far is Gina Rinehart, who has massively multiplied the already substantial fortune she inherited from her father, the late Lang Hancock (Rinehart claims she inherited more debts than assets). Like Hancock, who spent decades on the rightwing fringe of Australian politics, Rinehart has never been shy about expressing her opinions.

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