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Floodwaters pulsing into the sea normally clear within six days. But the 2022 floods in eastern Australia were different. Neil Malan, Research associate, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney Moninya Roughan, Professor in Oceanography, UNSW Sydney Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

As they get bigger, the environmental harm caused by motor vehicles also grows. Setting some limits is the way forward

Bigger cars take up more room, and in cities where space is at a premium this is recognised as a problem. Polling last year showed 40% of people in the UK had a negative view of 4x4-type vehicles, while just 21% had a positive one. Negative views are even more pronounced in London, while the Midlands – historic heart of the UK motor industry – has a more positive attitude to big vehicles than anywhere else. Since 2001, new cars in the UK and Europe have grown 1cm wider every two years. Last year the average width passed 180cm, too big to fit comfortably in some parking spaces. Campaigners warn that unless regulators step in, cars could keep growing to match trucks and buses.

Taking space away from other road users is not the only problem with these supersized vehicles. Because they are bigger, heavier and higher off the ground, SUVs pose greater risks than other cars to anyone unlucky enough to collide with them. One study found that children are eight times more likely to die after being struck by one.

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A Colombia-based carbon standard expects to soon be granted approval from Singapore to issue Article 6-aligned credits that would help emitters in the country to meet their obligations under the national carbon tax.

Some aspects of the EU ETS are responsible for the scarce success of steel production that uses low-carbon technologies, according to a report published on Monday.

New recommendations on how to enhance cooperation between biodiversity-related conventions are expected at the Bern III Conference, which will take place over Jan. 23-25, in a bid to boost the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).

Retirement of carbon credits continued at a healthy pace last week to underline ongoing demand, although a large chunk of the units were pre-2016 vintage, and some were from before 2010.

H2 Green Steel has raised €4.75 billion in new funding to build the world’s first large-scale green steel project in the northern Swedish town of Boden, the company announced on Monday.

Using two-sided or bifacial solar modules could lift the output from rooftop solar systems by more than 22 per cent. But they need a light coloured roof.

The post Households could boost solar output with two-sided panels, a tilt, and a light colour roof appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A group of carbon removal stakeholders is calling on EU institutions to ensure technology neutrality in the EU’s carbon removal bill, as it approaches the final crunch time of the EU legislative process, ahead of Tuesday's talks between the European Parliament, European Commission, and Council of EU states.

The voluntary carbon market faced strong headwinds in 2023 – a reckoning due to carbon credit quality problems. The silver lining that could arrive in 2024: A market correction that can support a new VCM 2.0, rebuilding a market that is good for the planet and for people, writes Donna Lee of Calyx Global.

Legislators in the European Commission, European Parliament, and the Council of member states will need more time to discuss a bill designed to strengthen net zero technologies in EU manufacturing, a spokesperson said after they concluded a halfway meeting on Monday.

They don’t chew: they bite, the meat goes straight into their stomach, and they bite again

Imagine a bulldog flattened with a meat tenderiser, shaved and sprinkled with glitter. Imagine more, and everywhere, or else: when I was a child, as sure as all cartoon sand would turn into quicksand, in every fictional body of fresh water swam very real fish with very real, sharp, tiny little teeth.

In The Simpsons, Millhouse is more worried about piranhas than that his mother will stop loving him. Bart is reduced to a skeleton by piranhas from a hosepipe.

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European carbon prices fell away on Monday morning, setting a new 17-month low in the process, as buyers were little in evidence and hedging demand was said to be almost non-existent and clean spreads remained negative, while energy markets also fell away amid steady selling.

A Ghana-based diversified holdings company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a carbon credit developer for technical assistance in the mobilisation of $1 billion in carbon credit financing.

The UK government must take immediate action to support and steer companies in adopting the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) recommendations, a membership organisation comprised of some major corporates and NGOs in the country has said.

Mercury reaches 48.3C on western coast on Sunday, while Northern Territory hit by rainfall far beyond norm

A severe heatwave in Australia led to daily temperatures exceeding 40C (104F) for vast swathes of the country over the weekend, with the Pilbara region in Western Australia particularly badly affected.

After peaking at 47.9C on Saturday, in the remote town of Paraburdoo, Sunday’s highest confirmed temperature at the time of writing was 48.3C, at Onslow airport on the western coast. Onslow is also the joint record holder for Australia’s highest-ever recorded temperature, having reached 50.7C in January 2022. This record could be under threat as the heatwave continues into Monday and Tuesday, with daily maximums of 50-51C possible in the same region.

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The Slim spacecraft was switched off after failing to generate power - but the Sun may now revive it.

Global industry is set on a course of decarbonisation – but Rishi Sunak is fatally in thrall to the Tory anti-environment right

Of all Rishi Sunak’s blunders and policy decisions in 2023, perhaps the most consequential was his move to delay key milestones on the way to net zero. Sunak postponed the banning of sales of petrol and diesel cars and domestic boilers two months after the government authorised more carbon extraction from the North Sea. Cue outrage from the capitalists to the greens, from greens to even some Tories. What on earth was he doing?

There is perhaps some sense in his decision to slow down. If net zero by 2050 is the final target, then the means of getting there must be realistic. But as our climate becomes more inhospitable, affecting food imports, infrastructure and ultimately living standards, the goal must instead be to reduce global emissions as quickly as possible, not meet a distant date for net zero. Yes, realistic means to decarbonise the British economy are needed, but he has not provided them. On the contrary, he is willing away the means, as he admits they are lacking.

David Edgerton is Hans Rausing Professor of the history of science and technology and professor of modern British history at King’s College London

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A Californian ocean carbon startup has announced a significant expansion of its Series A funding round securing an additional $21.5 million, earmarked for the commercialisation of its nascent carbon capture technology.

Wild freshwater eels are at risk of extinction due to overfishing but their meat can now be cultivated from cells

The first lab-grown freshwater eel meat has been produced, potentially solving a diner’s dilemma. Rampant overfishing has caused eel populations to plummet and prices to soar, but the cultivated eel could provide the delicacy guilt-free.

The eel meat was produced by Forsea Foods in Israel from embryonic cells of the Japanese unagi eel. The company collaborated with a Japanese chef to create unagi kabayaki, marinated grilled eel over rice, and unagi nigiri, a type of sushi.

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