Feed aggregator

Hotter and wetter weather has led to populations of the region’s most famous bird species to be halved in the last 30 years

Some of Scotland’s most famous bird species, including grouse and kestrels, are among those declining as a result of climate change, a new report has found.

The study, by public body NatureScot, charted the populations of Scotland’s terrestrial breeding birds between 1994 and 2022. It found significant changes to the numbers and species of birds living in the country’s urban, woodland, upland and farmland habitats, in large part due to ­hotter and wetter weather related to the climate crisis.

Continue reading...

New paper claims unless demand for resources is reduced, many other innovations are just a sticking plaster

Record heat, record emissions, record fossil fuel consumption. One month out from Cop28, the world is further than ever from reaching its collective climate goals. At the root of all these problems, according to recent research, is the human “behavioural crisis”, a term coined by an interdisciplinary team of scientists.

“We’ve socially engineered ourselves the way we geoengineered the planet,” says Joseph Merz, lead author of a new paper which proposes that climate breakdown is a symptom of ecological overshoot, which in turn is caused by the deliberate exploitation of human behaviour.

Continue reading...

Charity says new evidence shows how poultry farms are draining excrement into river system

The Environment Agency faces new allegations of neglect of the River Wye after a project by a conservation group found effluent and contaminated waters at free-range egg farms flowing directly into watercourses in the catchment.

Out of 47 sites visited in England and Wales in the Wye catchment, 19 had drains running from the poultry units to a nearby watercourse. Many of the farms had drains excavated within a few metres of the sheds.

Continue reading...

Conservationists call for end to subsidies that make up 15% to 18% of industry’s income and threaten to ‘empty the ocean of fish’

The government needs to urgently end polluting tax breaks for the UK fishing fleet that threaten to “empty the ocean of fish”, say conservationists, after a first-of-its kind study reveals diesel subsidies to be worth up to £1.8bn a decade.

Without the tax subsidies, largely provided to the most fuel-intensive section of the fleet, many sectors would be unprofitable, according to the analysis by government environmental advisers.

Continue reading...

Bone strength is set in childhood so better park access could prevent fractures in older people, study finds

Children with more green space near their homes have significantly stronger bones, a study has found, potentially leading to lifelong health benefits.

The scientists found that the children living in places with 20-25% more natural areas had increased bone strength that was equivalent to half a year’s natural growth.

Continue reading...

A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.

Investors are “flying blind”, ignoring significant financial risks of climate litigation for polluting companies, academics have warned, while urging an overhaul in how these risks are assessed.

Regulated entities dropped their holdings of California Carbon Allowances (CCAs) as speculators recorded the largest net increase in holdings since last February, while no reporting of Washington Carbon Allowances (WCAs) took place for the third consecutive week.

A Washington Senate Committee heard feedback on legislation facilitating linkage of the state’s cap-and-invest programme with the California-Quebec carbon market on Friday, with pushback from stakeholders on electricity importer amendments, allowance purchase limit changes, and stricter rules on offsets.

Entities regulated under Canada's Clean Fuel Regulation (CFR) are well positioned to comply with the 2023 annual carbon intensity (CI) reduction requirements for the first compliance period, considering a likely excess supply of credits, a government executive told conference participants on Friday.

Farmers in a region of southeastern Brazil achieved the harvest of coffee that results in the sequestration of more CO2 than it produces via the employment of organic farming techniques, according to a study from a Brazilian NGO.

Argentina's new president Javier Milei promised free-market economic reforms but now looks to implement a national ETS while expanding the nation's voluntary carbon market, also proposing administrative restructuring that could impact the direction of national climate policy despite retaining core civil servants.

The so-far tiny blue carbon sector has one of the highest integrity scores in the voluntary carbon market but the market is struggling to expand because of barriers to entry, finds a rating agency.

Oil major Shell has retired more than a million credits this week that were generated from a discredited UN rice farming methodology deactivated by certifier Verra last March amid integrity concerns.

Conservation South Africa is seeking a motivated and technically savvy individual to fill the role of Climate and Land Use Data Scientist supporting the implementation of the Climate Positive Land Use Strategy in its Umzimvubu Demonstration Landscape. The successful candidate will mine, develop, analyse, and distribute detailed high-quality spatial planning and technical conservation information.

Conservation South Africa is seeking a dynamic and motivated individual to fill the role of Climate Positive Land Use Planning (CPLUS) Manager. The successful candidate will lead the implementation of CPLUS, a systematic approach to plan conservation activities at a scale that facilitates transformational landscape-level change.

UK-headquartered conservation company Environment Bank has engaged with numerous managers of sites globally that could become its next biodiversity credit venture, an executive has said.

A developer of nature-based carbon removal credits is taking a strategic approach to selling its credits by approaching “industry influencers” willing to support the development of high-quality carbon projects, in a bid to generate momentum around removals and lay the seeds for mass-market adoption.

A team of scientists in South Dakota found naturally occurring microbes that consume and convert CO2 into solid rock, the research lab announced earlier this week.

After French President Emmanuel Macron nominated his thirty-four-year-old disciple and enfant prodige Gabriel Attal as the nation's new prime minister this week, the new cabinet announced on Friday featured no dedicated minister in charge of energy and appeared to be a marked shift to the political right.