The Guardian

Before climate change gets them we can have fun going bonkers at the extremely weird shit that lives under the ocean

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Particular concern raised for southern areas of the reef that have not been badly bleached since 2016 with ‘high risk’ of significant coral death

• Lord Howe island faces ‘major’ coral bleaching as ocean temperatures continue to break records

The Great Barrier Reef is in the grip of a mass coral bleaching event driven by global heating – the fifth in only eight years – the marine park’s government authority has confirmed.

The authority, together with scientists from the Australian Institute of Marine Science, have completed aerial surveys across 300 reefs over two thirds of the reef, with more to come.

Exclusive: firm points to risk of asbestos contamination from other sources as it seeks to have prevention order thrown out

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The landscaping materials company at the centre of the New South Wales asbestos crisis will point to the risks of contamination outside its facilities and the “unjustified impact” on its business when it argues to have an order preventing it making mulch products quashed.

Greenlife and the NSW Environment Protection Authority are expected to appear before the state’s land and environment court for a directions hearing on Friday.

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Bangkok customs officers arrest six after finding 87 animals, including lizards, birds, a monkey and snakes

Thai customs officials have arrested six Indian nationals for attempting to smuggle dozens of wild animals, including a red panda and cotton-top tamarin monkey, out of the country.

Officers found 87 animals, including monitor lizards, birds and snakes, packaged inside the suspects’ checked luggage at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport. They were trying to fly to Mumbai.

Logging stopped as Australian Agribusiness Group says its teams have resolved to increase efforts ‘on the protection of the local animal population’ and that they ‘are operating well beyond what is considered best practice for wildlife management’

WARNING: contains images some viewers may find distressing

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Government and RSPCA inspectors are investigating the logging of blue gum plantations on Kangaroo Island after the release of what the South Australian deputy premier described as “horrific” images of koalas allegedly being killed and injured.

Logging has been stopped while the investigation takes place.. It follows Guardian Australia publishing photos of seriously injured and dead koalas, and the Seven Network airing footage of koalas clinging to and being thrown from falling blue gums.

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Green economists dismayed by failure to recognise one of the fastest-expanding areas of business

Opportunities to revive the UK’s flagging economy by boosting green industry were missed in one of the least green budgets of recent years, experts have said.

Several said this failure to recognise one of the fastest-expanding areas of business – the net zero economy grew by 9% in key areas last year, while the rest of the economy was stagnant, according to CBI estimates – would drag down the UK in the short and long term.

Global average temperature for past 12 months highest on record at 1.56C above pre-industrial levels, data shows

Last month was the warmest February on record globally, making it the ninth month in a row with record temperatures for the time of year, scientists have said.

Global sea surface temperatures are also at their highest ever recorded, data from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service shows.

Scientists link tiny particles in blood vessels with substantially higher risk of death

Doctors have warned of potentially life-threatening effects from plastic pollution after finding a substantially raised risk of stroke, heart attack and earlier death in people whose blood vessels were contaminated with microscopic plastics.

Researchers in Naples examined fatty plaques removed from the blood vessels of patients with arterial disease and found that more than half had deposits contaminated with tiny particles of polyethylene or polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

Scientists confirm cetacean’s presence but cite impact of climate change which has made North-west Passage ice-free in summer

Scientists have confirmed the presence of a whale off New England that went extinct in the Atlantic Ocean two centuries ago – an exciting discovery, but one they said that illustrates the impact of climate change on sea life.

Researchers with the New England Aquarium in Boston found the gray whale while flying 30 miles south of Nantucket, Massachusetts, on 1 March. The whale, which can weigh 60,000 pounds (27,215kg), typically lives in the northern Pacific Ocean.

Focus turns to criminal investigation after NSW Environment Protection Authority completes its trawl through the supply chain

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Mulch contaminated with asbestos has been found at 75 sites across greater Sydney, with the New South Wales environmental watchdog turning focus to its criminal investigation after the completion of contact tracing.

The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) will on Thursday announce it has finished tracking mulch through the complex supply chain after asbestos was first discovered by a parent in mulch at a park in the inner west more than two months ago.

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The Long Table in Gloucestershire is a not-for-profit that rescues food waste, sources local produce and pays the real living wage

A Gloucestershire restaurant is rethinking relationships with customers, suppliers and the entire food economy to fuel an ambitious “pay as you can” model that feeds allcomers, regardless of ability to pay.

In the past year, The Long Table has fed about 20,000 people at below-cost price – many for no charge at all, no questions asked – while rescuing 3.4 tonnes of food destined for the bin and paying local suppliers fair prices for the rest.

Report links rise in birds trapped for human consumption to cuts in anti-poaching resources in area of British military base

More than 400,000 songbirds were trapped and killed in Cyprus last autumn as part of a recent increase in wildlife crime, according to a new report.

Organised crime networks use decoys and speakers playing birdsong to lure these small birds – including garden favourites such as robins and sparrows – to nest in bushes or orchards, where they catch them with “mist” nets or branches covered in glue. They are then sold via the hidden market to restaurants to be eaten as a local dish called “ambelopoulia”, which consists of pickled or boiled songbirds.

We are buying more electric and plug-in hybrid cars – 8.5% of all new sales last year – and no one’s weekend has ended. But that’s barely half of the global sales proportion

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The number of electric vehicles sold in Australia is increasing, but let’s be blunt: battery power cars are still unattainable for most people. Most models are expensive, and there are often long waiting lists.

Nearly 100,000 EVs and plug-in hybrid cars were sold across the country last year – 8.5% of all new sales. The good news is it was more than double the figure the previous year, and no one’s weekend ended as a result. But it was still barely half of the global sales proportion of 15.8%. In climate terms, we’re not pulling our weight.

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Mass dieoff in Klamath River caused by extreme changes in water pressure amid largest dam removal project in US history

As many as hundreds of thousands of newly hatched Chinook salmon released into the Klamath River have died due to “gas bubble disease” caused by extreme changes in water pressure.

The young salmon fry were released amid the largest dam removal project in US history along the 257-mile-long river, which flows across Oregon and California. Four hydropower dams are being removed, reconnecting the lower and upper portions of the Klamath River for the first time in a century and allowing fish free passage along the river.

Finding comes as public consultation for the proposed fuel efficiency standard closes, with advocates warning of a loophole for SUVs

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Cars sold in Australia by just five companies emitted as much carbon dioxide in 2023 as 156 standard coalmines, analysis shows, as advocates eager for the government’s proposed fuel efficiency standard warn of a loophole for SUVs.

However as the Albanese government considers the views of industry players on its proposed fuel efficiency standard, tensions are firming between auto manufacturers and environmental groups about how strict the new rules should be.

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Exclusive: Electric car company says Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries is running a ‘concerted public campaign’ by suggesting plan would push up price of popular cars

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Tesla has launched a scathing attack on Australia’s main auto industry lobby group, accusing it of attempting to delay climate action by repeatedly making “plainly false” claims to the public about an Albanese government clean car policy.

In a submission to the government about the design of a vehicle efficiency standard, Tesla sharply criticised the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), an organisation in which it holds a board seat and is an active member.

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Exclusive: Wildlife groups welcome promise to ban pesticides approved by government against scientists’ advice

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Labour will end exemptions for bee-killing pesticides that have already been outlawed in the EU but which the UK government has approved for four years in a row, the shadow environment minister has said.

This week, the government authorised the use of thiamethoxam, also known as Cruiser SB, on sugar beet crops – against the advice of its scientists, who said it would pose a threat to bees.

Rural households led by women lose about 8% more income to heat stress than male-led families, data shows

Women in rural areas suffer substantially greater economic losses from the impacts of climate breakdown than men in developing countries, research has shown, and the gap is likely to widen further.

Households headed by women in rural areas lost about 8% more of their income to heat stress than male-headed households, and their reduction in income when floods struck was about 3% greater than the loss to men, according to data released by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Tuesday.

Britain spent about £26bn in three years on low-carbon measures, less than Italy, Germany, France and Spain, Greenpeace finds

The UK spends less on low-carbon energy policy than any other major European economy, analysis has shown, despite evidence that such spending could lower household bills and increase economic growth more than the tax cuts the government has planned.

Spending on low-carbon measures for the three years from April 2020 to the end of April 2023 was about $33.3bn (£26.2bn) in total for the UK, the lowest out of the top five European economies, according to an analysis by Greenpeace of data from the International Energy Agency.

BBC presenter defends climate activists’ right to target MPs’ homes amid debate over politicians’ safety

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Downing Street has accused the BBC presenter Chris Packham of being “irresponsible” after he said Just Stop Oil had a right to protest outside the homes of MPs despite fears over politicians’ safety.

Rishi Sunak’s official spokesperson said the police would consider such demonstrations “intimidatory” and use their powers to move on protesters under a policing protocol agreed last week.