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Beak sizes increase, and body sizes decrease - but why? How we are slowly unravelling the mystery behind changing body shapes in Australian birds. Sara Ryding, Postdoctoral research fellow, Deakin University Alexandra McQueen, PhD Candidate in Behavioural Ecology, Monash University Matthew Symonds, Associate professor in Evolutionary Ecology, Deakin University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Ministers should be bold and radical in taking measures to boost demand in a key sector of the green transition

The resignation of the high-profile CEO of Stellantis, Carlos Tavares, was the latest sign of the ongoing crisis afflicting some of the world’s most famous carmakers, as they negotiate the historic transition to electric vehicles. Last month, Stellantis – the maker of Fiat, Vauxhall, Jeep and Peugeot cars – announced the closure of its Vauxhall van factory in Luton, in part blaming the impact of electric vehicles sales targets mandated by Westminster. Ford has announced it intends to cut 4,000 jobs across Europe, including 800 in Britain, citing sluggish growth in EV sales as a contributory factor.

For Labour, and for a sector crucial to the green transition, this is a crucial moment. The government has restored a 2030 cutoff point – kicked back to 2035 by Rishi Sunak – after which the sale of pure internal combustion engines will be banned. But car manufacturers are lobbying for a watering down of the terms of the zero‑emissions vehicles mandate (ZEV), which requires manufacturers to sell a rising proportion of EVs between now and then. Meanwhile, on the right, Kemi Badenoch’s Conservatives and Nigel Farage’s Reform UK seek to caricature the country’s net zero obligations as a virtue-signalling threat to prosperity and growth.

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Despite a clever comms strategy, there are significant credibility issues around the assumptions on which the cost estimates are based

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The Coalition has moved a considerable way on climate and energy since Scott Morrisson brought a lump of coal into the parliament and told us not to be afraid. On Friday, the Coalition finally released the long-awaited details of the nuclear plan it will take to the election and, once again, asks us not to be afraid – of the price tag, the higher climate pollution and a range of other variables.

However, despite a clever comms strategy, there are significant credibility issues around the assumptions on which the cost estimates are based, and there are other critical issues that have been left unanswered. Australians have a right to consider all the issues they are being asked to vote on, with facts rather than political rhetoric. These issues can be broadly listed under three headings: the economics, the environment and the law.

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Nicki Hutley is an independent economist and councillor with the Climate Council

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I’ve seen full bags tied to low-hanging branches and kids’ play equipment. It’s all deeply weird

This is about dog shit.

Dog shit and antisocial behaviour.

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The world's biggest iceberg is drifting towards the Atlantic Ocean after being stuck near Antarctica.

Disproportionate placement of devices leaves communities of color less protected from dangerous pollutants

The Environmental Protection Agency’s air quality monitors are disproportionately positioned in whiter neighborhoods in the US, leaving communities of color less protected from dangerous pollutants like particulate matter, ozone, nitrous dioxide and lead, among others, new research finds.

Policy and actions the EPA takes to reduce pollution are developed from the monitors’ readings, and communities of color are broadly more likely to be near major polluters. The findings raise questions about whether the agency has enough monitors installed, is properly placing them, and whether conclusions about the safety of the air in some areas are sound.

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Forestry and Land Scotland has applied for a licence to release the animals on a loch.

Read the winning essay from the Young Science Writer of the Year 2024 award

From a futuristic home in London to a barn conversion in the heart of the country

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Temperatures in areas such as Wilcannia and Ivanhoe in NSW unlikely to drop below 30C overnight, BoM warns

Melbourne could experience its warmest day since January 2023 on Monday, as large swathes of the country brace for a hot few days.

Miriam Bradbury, a senior meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology, said if Melbourne hit 40C as forecast, it would be the warmest Melbourne day since January last year and the warmest December day since 2019.

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Allowing permit banking in emissions trading systems is crucial to their success, and neglecting this feature could lead to an underestimation of carbon prices and economic impacts, according to a central bank working paper.

Traders close out V24 open interest (OI) in favour of V25 California Carbon Allowance (CCA) and RGGI Allowance (RGA) holdings, while reducing Washington Carbon Allowance (WCA) OI ahead of results from a stunning Q4 permit sale, according to data released Friday from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in the US requires deliberate policy efforts to unlock broad-based adoption, including both reform of current programmes and introduction of new carbon pricing measures, a think tank wrote in a December report.

Expanding coastal ecosystems to fight climate change – so-called ‘blue carbon’ initiatives – could unintentionally increase global mercury pollution, posing a risk to human health and the environment, scientists warn.

Introducing carbon taxes in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) could prove both ineffective in curbing emissions and detrimental to the region’s poor, economists warn in a new study

Coalition's nuclear power plan would be a disaster for the climate, for energy bills, and large scale renewables, but the biggest losers would be Australia's four million-and-counting solar households.

The post Biggest losers from Coalition’s nuclear plan will be Australia’s 4 million solar households, industry says appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Global Environmental Markets' (GEM) sale of its fully integrated carbon registry business to Qatar-based offset standards body Global Carbon Council (GCC), which was announced at COP28 in Dubai last year, has been cancelled, the parties told Carbon Pulse.

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) Board of Directors unanimously elected a new slate of officers to serve on the programmes three committees on Friday, including the selection of a new board chair.

Lithuania-based HeavyFinance has announced a partnership with Multitude Bank, a subsidiary of the Nordic-born FinTech Multitude Group, to support sustainable farming practices across Europe.

Canadian cleantech firm CarbiCrete announced on Thursday a carbon financing partnership with Meta Platforms to advance its cement-free concrete production technology, aiming to cut emissions in the construction sector.