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2016 set to be world's hottest year on record, says UN

The Guardian - Fri, 2016-07-22 00:11

June marked 14th month of record heat for land and oceans with average global temperature reaching 1.3C

The world is on track for its hottest year on record and levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have reached new highs, further fuelling global warming, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has said.

June marked the 14th consecutive month of record heat for land and oceans, the United Nations agency said on Thursday. It called for the speedy implementation of a pact reached last December to limit climate change by shifting from fossil fuels to green energy by 2100.

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Brain map carves cortex into twice as many areas

BBC - Thu, 2016-07-21 23:01
A brain map built up from scans of more than 400 individuals has carved the "cortex" into 180 different compartments, including 97 new ones.
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How to survive a bear encounter (and what to do if it all goes wrong)

The Guardian - Thu, 2016-07-21 22:00

You’re more likely to die from a tick bite or a bee sting than to you are to be killed by a grizzly bear in Yellowstone park, but here are a few tips just in case

Peak camping season is upon us, and this July and August millions Americans will be loading the minivan, heading into our national parks and forests, and inevitably meeting some bears.

Fortunately, most of these encounters will be uneventful. In almost every case, the bear will turn its tail and run. Take Yellowstone national park for example, a perfect grizzly bear habitat. In its 145-year history, with over 120 million visitors, only eight people have been killed by bears. You are far more likely to die of a tick bite or a bee sting. Indeed, you are more likely to be murdered in your own bed in America than you are to be killed by a grizzly while camping in Yellowstone.

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Sweden's Vattenfall commits to UK offshore windfarm despite Brexit

The Guardian - Thu, 2016-07-21 21:38

£300m Aberdeen Bay windfarm near Donald Trump golf course will be key testing ground for reducing cost

The Swedish energy company Vattenfall is pushing ahead with a £300m windfarm off the coast of Aberdeen despite last month’s EU referendum vote.

The offshore windfarm has been dogged by years of legal battles between Donald Trump and the Scottish government over its impact on his golf course, which the tycoon ultimately lost in the courts last year.

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The RET Review: Rendering a Carbon-Intensive Utopia for Climate Deniers

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2016-07-21 21:05
The panel charged with reviewing Australia's renewable energy target concluded, simply, that we ought to increase greenhouse gas emissions and protect fossil fuels. The conclusions exist to render a perfect energy system - coated with carbon.
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The best strategies to keep bodies cool in a heatwave, according to researchers | John Abraham

The Guardian - Thu, 2016-07-21 20:00

Full body immersion or cooling the extremities will help maintain healthy body temperatures

As we hit high-heat season in the Northern Hemisphere, it is useful to clarify tactics that can be used to help maintain healthy body temperatures. These tips are not commonly known and can be adopted by anyone, anywhere. While I am a climate scientist, my funded work is in the area of heat transfer, particularly in the human body. I work with medical companies to maintain healthy body temperatures during surgeries or other situations. I also deal with scald burns and I often serve in burn injury litigation.

Here are some key tips. First, avoid hyperthermia in the first place – drink plenty of fluids, avoiding direct sunlight, trying to get a respite from heat each day, avoiding physical exertion during the hottest parts of the day are all great suggestions. But, if you need to lower a body temperature, Dr. Robert Huggins, VP of Research and Athlete Performance at the Korey Stringer Institute suggests:

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Australia ranks 20th on progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals

The Conversation - Thu, 2016-07-21 16:27
Australia still rates poorly on clean energy and climate action. CSIRO/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY

Australia may be home to some of the world’s most liveable cities, but we have a long way to go to meet the world’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Australia ranks 20th in the world – well behind Canada and many European countries but ahead of the United States – according to a new index that compares different nations' performance on the SDGs, which were adopted last September.

Launched at this week’s United Nations SDG talks in New York, the index marks each country’s performance towards the 17 goals. These aim to put the world on a more sustainable economic, social and environmental path, and feature 169 targets to be met over the next 15 years in areas such as health, economic growth and climate action.

The ranking, called the SDG Index and Dashboard and prepared by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and the German think tank Bertelsmann Stiftung, ranks countries' performance using a set of 77 indicators.

Australia: good water, bad energy

Australia, with some of the world’s highest carbon emissions per person, rates poorly on the clean energy and climate change goals. It also falls down on the environmental goals, with high levels of solid waste and land clearing as well as loss of biodiversity.

Despite the long life expectancy and general good health of Australians, the index highlights that Australia has one of the highest rates of obesity in the world.

As shown in the performance chart below, Australia rates relatively highly on lack of poverty, education and water quality. Inequality, while increasing, is not as bad as it is in the United States or the United Kingdom.

Australia’s performance on each of the Sustainable Development Goals. SDG Index and Dashboards report

The best-performing countries on the list are mainly the northern European countries. Sweden, Denmark and Norway are at the top of the pile. Yet even these nations have significant challenges to achieve the climate change and environmental goals.

The top of the rankings… SDG Index and Dashboards report …and the lowest-ranked nations. SDG Index and Dashboards report

At the bottom of the rankings are sub-Saharan African countries: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia and the Central African Republic, which face extreme poverty, hunger and major health problems.

In Asia, Japan and Singapore both rate above Australia, in 18th and 19th places respectively. Thailand (61st), Malaysia (63rd) and China (76th) are in the middle of the pack.

Priorities for action

The purpose of the report is to help countries identify the gaps that must be closed in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 and to identify priorities for early action.

The SDG Index notes that Australia performs much better in the UN’s Human Development Index (on which it ranks second), which focuses on social and economic development but not environmental sustainability. This clearly demonstrates that Australia needs to act urgently to address the climate and environmental goals. It is in Australia’s interest to do so as we are more vulnerable to climate change than most comparable countries.

The report also highlights some other specific challenges for Australia, including fisheries management and sustainable use of nitrogen-based fertiliser. While Australia is not the worst performer on gender equality, many countries have a higher proportion of women in national parliaments than our 26.7% and we have a significantly larger gender wage gap than New Zealand.

The SDG Index will be updated regularly to improve its quality and coverage and allow people around the world to measure progress against the goals. Australia’s plan for implementing the SDGs within Australia is not yet clear and this will be an important item on the agenda for the re-elected Turnbull government.

The Conversation

John Thwaites receives funding from the Harold Mitchell Foundation. He is chair of Monash Sustainability Institute at Monash University.

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Starbucks trials recyclable cups in move to tackle landfill waste

The Guardian - Thu, 2016-07-21 15:01

Inventor of eco-friendly Frugalpac cup in talks with other coffee chains and supermarkets about using it as standard

Starbucks will trial a fully recyclable coffee cup in its UK shops, which could eventually divert huge numbers of cups away from landfill.

The cup, invented by entrepreneur and engineer Martin Myerscough, aims to reduce the environmental impact of the 2.5bn paper coffee cups used in the UK each year. Earlier this year it emerged that only one in 400 were recycled and the rest sent to landfill or incineration. This led to calls for a ban, an idea the government rejected.

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Regulator opens up new battleground over Australia’s dirty, dumb grid

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2016-07-21 14:45
Australian Energy Markets Commission to review grid "system security" in light of increasing penetration of wind and solar, opening up a new battlefront between the powerful incumbent energy industry and the new technologies challenging their business models.
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Nature's floral tapestry sown into fabric of Tyneside industry

The Guardian - Thu, 2016-07-21 14:30

Ouseburn, Newcastle I hoped the chance juxtaposition of folk art and wild flowers at a once derelict site did not give way to a municipal shrub scheme cum litter trap

The lower Ouseburn valley, a cradle of the industrial revolution, not far from Newcastle, has been transformed. New apartments built on the banks of this tributary of the Tyne stand on what was, until recently, a site of dereliction.

Every summer the place used to be covered in colourful wild plants. This morning I stopped to admire the remnants of this floral tapestry making their last stand in a neatly asphalted and paved landscape. A smattering of scarlet corn poppies were blooming among grasses on a steep bank, alongside some especially fine specimens of weld, Reseda luteola, or dyer’s rocket. The plant’s inflorescences, thrumming with bumblebees, which were nesting among the brick rubble, towered above the steps that led up the slope beside this patch of wildness.

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Tesla’s new master plan revealed, and it’s Uber ambitious

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2016-07-21 14:18
Elon Musk reveals part 2 of Tesla master plan, including ambition to dominate car sharing space with a fleet of customer-owned, autonomous-driving Tesla EVs.
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Sections of Great Barrier Reef suffering from 'complete ecosystem collapse'

The Guardian - Thu, 2016-07-21 14:08

Coral Watch investigator reports ‘shocking’ lack of fish and says the surviving corals are continuing to bleach, even during winter

“Complete ecosystem collapse” is being seen on parts of the Great Barrier Reef, as fish numbers tumble and surviving corals continue to bleach into winter, according to a scientist returning from one of the worst-hit areas.

“The lack of fish was the most shocking thing,” said Justin Marshall, of the University of Queensland and the chief investigator of citizen science program Coral Watch. “In broad terms, I was seeing a lot less than 50% of what was there [before the bleaching]. Some species I wasn’t seeing at all.”

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ScienceTalk: Mothballs for quantum computing, and global biodiversity reaches unsafe levels

ABC Environment - Thu, 2016-07-21 14:06
ABC Science journalist Bernie Hobbs takes us through the latest stories - in this case how naphthalene (from mothballs) can aid in the dream of quantum computing, and a new data mine of global diversity shows many biomes are desperately unsafe.
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Graph of the Day: Link between gas prices and electricity prices

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2016-07-21 13:35
The rise in electricity prices has followed the rise in gas prices. It could not be any clearer.
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Australia large scale renewable investment rebounds, rooftop solar drifts

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2016-07-21 13:30
Wind investment in Australia rebounds to highest level since Coalition government elected, but solar investment falls to lowest levels since 2009.
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The duck is safely afloat in California

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2016-07-21 13:28
"The duck has landed.” But what Californians call a technical limit is, in reality, a political one, as a comparison with Germany reveals.
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Victoria becomes first Australia government to tap green bond market

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2016-07-21 13:27
Victorian state government becomes Australia's first to join green bond market with $300m issuance to finance low-carbon investment.
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Australia in reverse on energy efficiency, says new global report

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2016-07-21 13:25
Report finds Australia going backwards in energy efficiency, due to particularly poor performance in transport and industry.
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The environment-energy superportfolio can deliver real action – here’s how

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2016-07-21 12:16
We need policies that will push harder to help large-scale clean energy technologies reach the necessary level of commercialisation and integration.
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Twycross Zoo begins great ape heart disease study

BBC - Thu, 2016-07-21 09:18
Twycross Zoo and the University of Nottingham are to look into why great apes are susceptible to heart disease.
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