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Record absence of ice after freak warm spells denies pregnant bears birthing dens and triggers ‘extirpation event’ warning

A record slow freeze of many regions of the Arctic this winter is making it harder for pregnant polar bears to find birthing dens.

The delayed formation of sea ice during autumn has worried biologists, who fear a first “extirpation event” – the local extinction of a species – may be approaching faster than forecast for the most affected populations.

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Closing prices, ranges and volumes for China's regional pilot carbon markets this week.

New Zealand carbon allowances this week halted their slide below the market's de facto price ceiling as compliance buyers emerged to provide support.

Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator this week issued just shy of 20,000 carbon credits, only a tenth of the recent weekly average, highlighting concerns over the market’s ability to meet potential increasing demand under a strengthened Safeguard Mechanism.

Extreme weather meteorologist Dean Narramore explains the weather systems causing chaos across parts of the country.

Sydney Harbour and the Egyptian pyramids feature in debut images from the first all-UK radar spacecraft.

Urgent planting of wildflowers will attract pollinators and boost farmers’ food crops, expert to tell UN

The collapse in bee populations can be reversed if countries adopt a new farmer-friendly strategy, the architect of a new masterplan for pollinators will tell the UN biodiversity conference this week.

Stefanie Christmann of the International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas will present the results of a new study that shows substantial gains in income and biodiversity from devoting a quarter of cropland to flowering economic crops such as spices, oil seeds, medicinal and forage plants.

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Some compare it to snooker, others to figure skating. But for those who have given their lives to competitive ploughing, it’s more than a sport, it’s a way of life. By Sophie Elmhirst

On 31 August, the night before the first day of the World Ploughing Championship, the bar of the Hotel Fortuna in the small German town of Reutlingen was crammed with the global ploughing elite. The scene resembled a low-key United Nations afterparty – Swiss, Kenyans, Australians, Latvians, Canadians and French, all slugging back long glasses of German beer. The top flight of international ploughing is a limited pool, the same faces recurring every year, and so the atmosphere was jovial, like a school reunion, 50-odd ploughmen and two ploughwomen (the sport has historically been dominated by men) hailing each other affectionately across the room. Much of the talk concerned the wild boar who had apparently dug up the field where the following day’s competition would take place. But there was something else in the air too, a bonhomie edged with rivalry. They were here to win.

The two English competitors, Mick Chappell and Ashley Boyles, stood to one side with their families. Chappell is 57, Boyles 35, but it was the younger man who bid everyone goodnight and went up to bed early. Boyles takes his ploughing very seriously. Chappell, a man more inclined to Freddie Flintoff-style bouts of prolonged revelry, leaned against a wall, finished a pint and readily accepted the offer of another. Earlier in the summer, he had told me he would prepare for the world championship by drinking five pints the night before. When asked if any other international athlete adopted a similar strategy ahead of a major competition, he disputed the terms: “I wouldn’t say athlete.”

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Innovation should mean solutions that work for everyone, not just economists. Professor Lars Coenen, City of Melbourne Chair in Resilient Cities, University of Melbourne Cathy Alexander, Research Fellow, Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, University of Melbourne Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Western Downs Regional Council, west of Brisbane, has approved its 15th large-scale solar farm – a 148MW project at Cameby, west of Chinchilla.

The post Queensland’s “solar capital” approves 15th large-scale PV project appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Neoen's 150MW Coleambally solar farm in NSW is setting new records – not just in size and output, but also speed of installation and connection.

The post Australia’s biggest solar farm at Coleambally sets new production records appeared first on RenewEconomy.

CDP is seeking a highly motivated individual to join the Technical Reporting team which develops the CDP questionnaires and the reporting guidance.

BNEF analysis for Australia shows wind and solar are killing coal and gas on cost, and that the Coalition is barking up the wrong tree trying to shovel new investments into coal.

The post The stunning wind, solar and battery costs the Coalition refuses to accept appeared first on RenewEconomy.

MIT scientists create the first plane to fly without moving parts.

Two replicas, based on gold and silver fragments found in the Staffordshire hoard, go on show.

Spreading particles in stratosphere to fight climate change may cost $2bn a year

Cooling the Earth by injecting sun-blocking particles into the stratosphere could be “remarkably inexpensive”, according to the most detailed engineering analysis to date.

The fear of a rogue nation or military force unilaterally taking control of the global climate is unfounded, the researchers added, as the many thousands of high-altitude flights needed to affect global temperatures could not escape detection.

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National Audit Office says that with 39m meters still to be replaced, government has no chance of hitting 2020 deadline

Consumers face paying half a billion pounds more than expected for the rollout of smart meters and the programme has no chance of hitting its deadline, the UK’s spending watchdog has warned.

The National Audit Office said that with 39m old-fashioned meters yet to be replaced, there is “no realistic prospect” of meeting a goal of all homes and businesses being offered one by the end of 2020 as planned.

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South Australia is shifting its focus from renewable energy production to energy storage to address intermittency issues across its electricity system.

The post South Australia launches $50m grid-scale storage fund appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A new unit at a Serbian coal-fired power station focuses concerns on China's role in global warming.

70 years ago a six-day fog enveloped London, but its message did not hit home

Air pollution history is littered with early warnings that were not heeded. November 2018 marks the 70th anniversary of one of these. On Friday 26 November 1948, a dense fog developed in London. It lasted six days. Football matches were cancelled and transport disrupted. Traffic convoys were formed to follow trams, each guided by a conductor with a torch. Initially, conductors walked alongside buses but this became impossible as they ran into lamp-posts. There were train accidents too, but the greatest death toll came from breathing the smog. Five weeks later the medical statistician William Logan reported an estimated 300 extra deaths.

The warning was ignored. Four years and one week later 12,000 Londoners died in the so-called great smog of 1952. The pattern of ignoring warnings continues. In 2000, researchers at London’s King’s and Imperial Colleges warned of difficulties in controlling nitrogen dioxide from traffic. The UK is still failing to meet legal limits for this pollutant. This month, 21 researchers published a nine-year study. It concluded that air pollution in London was stunting children’s lung growth and this may be storing up problems for their long-term health.

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