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'It has no protections': scientists fight for wildfire-burned land amid logging threat

The Guardian - Wed, 2017-11-15 22:00

The US cashes in on timber from ‘devastated’ areas – but the land is actually ‘the rarest and most biodiverse habitat in the Sierra Nevadas’, says an expert

Less than a mile from Yosemite national park, Chad Hanson is wading through a sea of knee-high conifers that have burst from the ashes of the vast 2013 Rim fire. The US Forest Service essentially says the baby trees don’t exist.

The agency says that “catastrophic” fires have “devastated” parts of the forest, painting an eerie picture of swaths of blackened tree trunks like something out of a Tim Burton film.

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Nearby planet is prime target in search for life

BBC - Wed, 2017-11-15 21:00
Astronomers have found a cool, Earth-sized planet that's relatively close to our Solar System.
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An Inconvenient Sequel – the science, history, and politics of climate change | John Abraham

The Guardian - Wed, 2017-11-15 21:00

Al Gore’s new film is worth watching

Al Gore’s new movie ‘An Inconvenient Sequel’ is, in some ways, similar to his groundbreaking Inconvenient Truth project, but different in other ways. Those key differences are why I recommend you watch it.

This movie successfully accomplishes a number of interweaving tasks. First, it gives some of the science of climate change. Gore gets his science right. I remember his first movie, which I thought was more steeped in science and data than this one, so based on my recollection this new picture is somewhat abbreviated. That’s a good thing because the science is settled on climate change. That is, the science is settled that humans are causing current climatic changes and the science is settled that we are observing these changes throughout the natural world.

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Global climate action must be gender equal | Hilda Heine

The Guardian - Wed, 2017-11-15 19:00

Women bear the heaviest brunt of global warming, and are less empowered to contribute to solutions. A new action plan agreed at the Bonn climate talks aims to reverse this inequality, writes Hilda Heine, Marshall Islands president

The women of the Marshall Islands and the Pacific have been fighting colonialism and injustice for a long time. They bore the brunt of the long term effects of nuclear testing, and women leaders like Lijon Eknilang and Darlene Keju-Johnson brought these issues to the international stage.

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Growing number of global insurance firms divesting from fossil fuels

The Guardian - Wed, 2017-11-15 18:01

Report shows around £15bn of assets worldwide have been shifted away from coal companies in the past two years as concern over climate risk rises

A growing number of insurance companies increasingly affected by the consequences of climate change are selling holdings in coal companies and refusing to underwrite their operations.

About £15bn has been divested in the past two years, according to a new report that rates the world’s leading insurers’ efforts to distance themselves from the fossil fuel industry that is most responsible for carbon emissions.

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Explainer: mass coral spawning, a wonder of the natural world

The Conversation - Wed, 2017-11-15 15:39
Every year buoyant bundles rise from a spawning coral, giving the impression of an upside-down snowstorm. Line K Bay, Senior Research Scientist and Team Leader, Australian Institute of Marine Science Andrew Heyward, Principal Research Scientist, Exploring Marine Biodiversity, Australian Institute of Marine Science Andrew Negri, Principal Research Scientist, Australian Institute of Marine Science Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
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Country diary: drizzle only makes the bracken more vivid

The Guardian - Wed, 2017-11-15 15:30

North Devon and beyond Roaring deer and singing wrens, mossy scree and ferny oaks, the swish of the sea and other snapshots of a 100-mile walk

The sight and sound of sea accompanies half our 100-mile walk from Braunton Great Field almost to Taunton, south of the Quantocks. From the coastal path, distant views of Lundy give way to those of south Wales, sometimes catching light from the lowering sun, but more often masked in cloud. Low tide reveals shining sand at Saunton; a swimmer heads for flat water off Croyde to “bob around” on his afternoon off.

Next morning at Woolacombe, surfers ride big waves before dawn. That day, drizzle enhances the vividness of green grass and orange bracken between the slippery jagged slate of Morte and Bull Points, above vertiginous cliffs and tiny coves scattered with lumps of quartz. The zigzag descent to Ilfracombe was engineered for Victorian tourists, as were the resort’s tunnels, bored through cliffs towards tidal bathing pools.

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CBA challenged for “weakest climate policy,” dirtiest investments

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2017-11-15 13:56
Greenpeace calls out CBA for "weakest climate policy" of Big Four, and billions invested in new fossil fuels, despite Paris commitment.
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BHP sees 500MW solar and storage potential in disused mines

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2017-11-15 13:37
BHP has been told its legacy mines in north America could support more than 500MW of solar, wind and storage, turning liabilities into potential assets.
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Horizon gets ARENA funding for micro-grid trials in W.A.

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2017-11-15 12:58
Horizon gets ARENA funding for renewable-based micro-grid trials that will reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
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Insurance industry must act on the coal sector

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2017-11-15 11:29
European insurers are limiting their exposure to the coal sector, while American and Australian insurers continue to support business as usual.
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Minerals deal needed to fuel the clean energy transition

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2017-11-15 11:24
As international talks focus on need for rapid deployment of renewables, little attention is paid to the minerals that needed to build these technologies.
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Climate's magic rabbit: Pulling CO2 out of thin air

BBC - Wed, 2017-11-15 11:02
Can technology to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere really help prevent dangerous climate change?
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Trump team looks for alternative approaches to Paris pact

BBC - Wed, 2017-11-15 10:32
President Trump's climate adviser says that the US is looking to revive Bush-era climate forum.
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'Climate change is bad...it affects everything'

BBC - Wed, 2017-11-15 10:11
People in Vunidogoloa had to move 2km (1.24m) inland, and say climate change is to blame.
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Green planet

BBC - Wed, 2017-11-15 10:07
The United Arab Emirates' space research is turning to growing food on Mars.
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Press print

BBC - Wed, 2017-11-15 10:02
The Swedish hi-tech firm at the forefront of using 3D printing to create human ears, noses and other body parts.
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Cattle Hill wind farm connection agreement finalised

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2017-11-15 08:47
The Connection Agreement sets out the terms and conditions through which the wind farm is able to successfully connect to TasNetworks’ transmission network and is another key step in paving the way for the construction of the 144MW wind farm.
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Meet the latest organisations to achieve carbon neutral certification

Department of the Environment - Wed, 2017-11-15 08:36
WWF-Australia becomes Australia’s first not-for-profit conservation organisation to be certified as carbon neutral.
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Victoria presses go on Australia’s biggest renewables auction

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2017-11-15 08:06
Victoria presses go on auction of 650MW of wind and solar capacity, the largest renewable energy tender in Australia to date. It's a critical move as the RET nears completion and Canberra stalls on future policy settings.
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