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The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world

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We should be celebrating the revival of the bluefin tuna – but a ravenous fishing industry, backed by government and ‘science’, is already licking its lips

Over the past three weeks, I’ve been watching one of the greatest natural spectacles on Earth, here in south Devon. At a certain station of the tide, within a few metres of the coast, the sea erupts with monsters. They can travel at 45mph. They grow to 2.5 metres (8ft 2in) in length and 600kg in weight. They herd smaller fish – saury and garfish in this case – against the surface, then accelerate into the shoal so fast that they overshoot sometimes 2 or 3 metres into the air. Bluefin tuna. They are here, on our southern coasts, right now.

When I’ve mentioned this on social media, some people refuse to believe me: you must be seeing dolphins, they say. Yes, I often see dolphins too, and it’s not hard to spot the difference. They don’t believe it because we have forgotten that our coastal waters were once among the richest on Earth. Bluefin and longfin tuna were common here. So were several species of whale, including sperm, fin, humpback and Atlantic grey, and a wide range of large sharks. Halibut the size of barn doors hunted the coastal shallows. Cod reached almost 2 metres in length, haddock nearly a metre, turbot were the size of tabletops, oysters as big as dinner plates, shoals of herring and mackerel were miles long.

George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist

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Why are so many settler Australians haunted by this almost mythical bird? Why?

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Signs of this potential La Niña are emerging fairly late. But new research may help make predictions earlier. Mandy Freund, Lecturer, Climate Science Geography, The University of Melbourne Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Carl Hutchinson, the country manager of Enel X, on the difficulties of getting demand response on Australia’s main grid, despite its obvious benefits. Plus: News of the week.

The post Energy Insiders Podcast: How to get demand response out of the grid appeared first on RenewEconomy.

AEMO issues a first of its kind "minimum load" warning for Victoria as the state heads into the AFL grand final. Will rooftop PV have to be switched off?

The post As Victorians prepare to watch the AFL grand final on TV, their rooftop solar may have to be switched off appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A Canadian advisory body released a pair of reports Thursday with recommendations for the country to reach its 2030 climate targets and encouraged the government to adopt 2035 interim goals.

Recent developments toward high efficiency perovskite-silicon tandem cells indicate a bright future for solar power, ensuring it continues to play a prominent role in the global transition to renewable energy

The post New solar cells break efficiency record – and could supercharge how we get energy from the Sun appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The Washington Department of Ecology (ECY) wants to prioritise new methane reductions through the forthcoming Clean Fuel Standard (CFS) rulemaking, according to staff at an environmental justice webinar on Thursday.

Tasmanian government will back local green hydrogen production through a funding agreement signed with Melbourne headquartered hydrogen hopeful Countrywide.

The post Tasmania provides funds for local green hydrogen production appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The National Trust is encouraging people to apply for 'Tree of Hope' descendants of the famous sycamore.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Thursday announced nearly $1 billion in funding to boost the adoption of lower carbon technologies for school buses across the country, amid recommendations from an agency watchdog to address programme eligibility issues.

California Carbon Allowance (CCA) prices in the secondary market traded within a narrow range awaiting regulatory certainty over the week, while Washington Carbon Allowances (WCAs) jumped nearly $5, once again running ahead of WCI allowances this year.

Spanish wind giant is proposing a 3 gigawatt wind project in the south-west corner of Western Australia to help replace the state's last coal generators when they close at the end of the decade.

The post Australia’s biggest wind farm proposed to fill gap as last coal generators exit grid appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Aula Energy, a newly launched offshoot of finance giant Macquarie, is to build its first wind farm after reaching financial close with the joint owner of the $740 million project.

The post Macquarie offshoot to build its first wind farm after $740 million project reaches financial close appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A group of scientists have launched an effort to adjust estimates of the social cost of greenhouse gasses (SC-GHG) to society by incorporating climate change’s impacts on ocean systems, according to a report released Tuesday.

A co-chair of the influential International Advisory Panel on Biodiversity Credits (IAPB) has ruled out the possibility of using biodiversity credits as an international offsetting mechanism during an event at the Climate Week NYC, in a bid to quell persistent concerns.

There is a growing gap between prices in voluntary carbon's primary and secondary markets, while liquidity is also moving to the former, a panel heard at Climate Week NYC.

Carbon removal credit suppliers’ increased ambition was met with tempered buying expectations at Climate Week NYC this week, as the market looks forward to a “second wave” of credit purchases.

Faster deployment of batteries and interconnectors, needed to keep pace with expected wind and solar capacity growth, would save countries €9 billion in gas costs annually from 2030, according to analysis from a clean energy think tank.