The Guardian
Rajendra Pachauri, former IPCC head accused of sexual harassment, dies aged 79
Environmentalist was in charge when UN climate change panel shared 2007 Nobel peace prize but career was marred by harassment claims
The Indian environmentalist Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, under whose leadership a UN climate change panel shared the 2007 Nobel peace prize, has died after recent heart surgery. He was 79.
Pachauri’s death was announced late on Thursday by the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), a research group he headed until 2016 in New Delhi.
Continue reading...Rubbish mixtape: fan reunited with cassette 25 years after losing it
Stella Wedell astounded to spot tape in exhibition of art made out of plastic marine debris
A music fan has been reunited with a cassette tape she lost while on holiday 25 years ago after it washed up on a beach hundreds of miles away.
Stella Wedell was 12 when she took the tape on a Spanish holiday to listen to songs by the likes of Pet Shop Boys, Shaggy and Bob Marley on her Walkman.
Continue reading...Hot on the trail of cold fusion as a solution to the climate crisis | Letter
Tim Flannery (The age of the megafire is here, and it’s a call to action, Journal, 7 February) writes: “As far as swift climate action is concerned, all good choices have gone up in smoke”.
That may not be the case, however. There has been abundant support by now for the claim made by Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons in 1989 to have observed nuclear fusion at ordinary temperatures, but the hope that such a fossil-fuel-free process might contribute usefully to energy production has not been fulfilled because it is very unpredictable, and we do not as yet know the conditions needed to produce large amounts of energy. Suitably funded research on a large scale might lead to a resolution of this issue.
Prof Brian Josephson
Emeritus professor of physics, University of Cambridge
Earth just had hottest January since records began, data shows
- Average global temperature 2.5F above 20th-century average
- Antarctic has begun February with several temperature spikes
Last month was the hottest January on record over the world’s land and ocean surfaces, with average temperatures exceeding anything in the 141 years of data held by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Related: Antarctic temperature rises above 20C for first time on record
Continue reading...Deepwater Horizon disaster had much worse impact than believed, study finds
- Effects of 2010 BP oil spill were 30% larger than calculated
- Satellite images unable to detect full extent of pollution in Gulf
The environmental impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico a decade ago was much worse than previously believed, according to a new study.
Related: Deepwater Horizon disaster altered building blocks of ocean life
Continue reading...What are the tasks facing Alok Sharma as new Cop26 president?
As governments dither and emissions rise, pressure will be on UK at UN climate summit
Alok Sharma, the new president of the Cop26 climate conference to be held in Glasgow in November, has experience of working closely with developing countries on the climate crisis in his former role as secretary for international development.
This may be valuable in helping him forge the “grand coalition” that experts say is needed to break the deadlock on international climate action.
Continue reading...Alok Sharma appointed president of Cop26 climate conference
Surprise choice has poor record on Commons votes affecting the environment
Alok Sharma, the former international development secretary, is the surprise choice to take on the role of president of the crunch UN climate talks to be hosted by the UK this November.
He has also been made business secretary as part of Boris Johnson’s cabinet reshuffle.
Continue reading...'I've lost friends': the young climate strikers forced to go it alone
Activism can be lonely in rural areas, but social media lets lone children’s voices be amplified
In a remote village in north Norfolk, nine-year-old Amelia Bradbury has been standing alone outside her school gates every Friday for months. Like hundreds of thousands of young people across the world, she is following Greta Thunberg’s lead and campaigning for action on the climate crisis – but, far from any of the big city demonstrations, she’s having to go it alone.
“I was quite scared the first time because no one was doing it with me,” says Amelia. “But I’m doing this because I care about something. I really want people to listen to me and to make a difference.”
Continue reading...UK to lead global fight against illegal logging and deforestation
Plan to form coalition of developing countries at COP 26 to help support efforts
The UK is to spearhead a major global crackdown on illegal timber and deforestation, with plans to form a coalition of developing countries against the trade as part of its hosting of crunch UN climate talks this year.
Deforestation is a leading factor in rising global greenhouse gas emissions, but many developing nations lack the means and institutions to combat illegal logging and regulate forest industries. The Department for International Development (DfID) will shortly lay out plans to help countries strengthen the rule of law, support the trade in responsible forestry and provide on-the-ground assistance to stamp out illegal logging.
Continue reading...Car ‘splatometer’ tests reveal huge decline in number of insects
Research shows abundance at sites in Europe has plunged by up to 80% in two decades
Two scientific studies of the number of insects splattered by cars have revealed a huge decline in abundance at European sites in two decades.
The research adds to growing evidence of what some scientists have called an “insect apocalypse”, which is threatening a collapse in the natural world that sustains humans and all life on Earth. A third study shows plummeting numbers of aquatic insects in streams.
Continue reading...COP 26 must be 'value for money', Johnson warns Scotland
Nicola Sturgeon criticises PM as officials look at London back-up for Glasgow summit
The government has warned that staging the COP 26 climate summit must represent “value for taxpayers’ money”, amid friction with the Scottish government over the policing costs of holding the event in Glasgow.
It emerged on Wednesday that government officials have been scoping out the ExCeL Centre in London’s Docklands for the high-profile international summit, which the UK is due to host in November.
Continue reading...Living in the climate emergency: Australia's new fire zone
Areas of Australia have burnt during the recent bushfire season that used to be too wet to burn. In this first episode of The Frontline, a new series that shows how everyday Australians are already experiencing the climate crisis, we go inside the new fire zone
Continue reading...Call for new committee to get COP26 talks back on track
Acting Lib Dem leader Ed Davey calls for action as he lambasts ‘shambolic’ approach to talks
A cross-party committee of MPs, green campaigning groups, business leaders and climate experts is needed to advise the government on crunch UN climate talks later this year to put the UK’s hosting of the COP26 talks back on track, the Liberal Democrat acting leader, Sir Ed Davey, is expected to say.
His call, which will form part of a speech on climate delivered at Birkbeck College in London on Thursday, comes after the energy minister, Kwasi Kwarteng, told a meeting of ambassadors that the UK could not afford to allow the talks to fail because of the additional pressures of Brexit.
Continue reading...Voters can help bring an end to climate anxiety | Letters
As a parent of two children, aged nine and 12, I read with deep concern, though not surprise, your article on the rise of climate anxiety among young people (Take action to reduce anxiety, psychologists advise, 10 February).
I remember vividly the Guardian’s coverage of the Earth Summit in 1992 and the prof ound impact that had on me at the age of 26. Many climate marches and lifestyle changes later, I find myself also at a point of near despair when I look around at the abundance of poorly equipped, scientifically and socially illiterate leaders we have around the globe. They are not fit for the enormous task of beginning to fix our world – they are certainly not looking out for the next generation – and yet people my age seem to be voting for them in ever greater numbers.
Continue reading...EU accused of climate crisis hypocrisy after backing 32 gas projects
MEPs support €29bn schemes, ‘locking Europe into burning fossil fuels for generations’
The EU has given its formal backing to 32 major gas infrastructure projects in a move critics say will lock Europe into burning fossil fuels for generations.
MEPs voted to support the European commission’s proposal by 443 votes to 169 on Wednesday, with 36 abstentions, provoking environmental groups to lament Brussels’ “hypocrisy” over the climate emergency.
Continue reading...Giant dams enclosing North Sea could protect millions from rising waters
Dams between Scotland, Norway, France and England ‘a possible solution’ to problem
A Dutch government scientist has proposed building two mammoth dams to completely enclose the North Sea and protect an estimated 25 million Europeans from the consequences of rising sea levels as a result of global heating.
Sjoerd Groeskamp, an oceanographer at the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, said a 475km dam between north Scotland and west Norway and another 160km one between west France and south-west England was “a possible solution”.
Continue reading...BP's statement on reaching net zero by 2050 – what it says and what it means
Jonathan Watts breaks down the oil company’s statements on its plans to cut carbon emissions in the coming decades
BP’s new chief executive, Bernard Looney, has announced plans to make it a net zero company by 2050, and outlined its strategy in a document. The Guardian’s global environment editor, Jonathan Watts, examines what it says – and what it means:
BP today set a new ambition to become a net zero company by 2050 or sooner, and to help the world get to net zero.
The ambition is supported by 10 aims.
'£1bn pledged' for cycling and walking routes across England
Johnson told MPs figure was £350m but sources say he made error in ‘car crash of an announcement’
The government has earmarked £1bn for safe cycling and walking routes in the next five years – not £350m, as Boris Johnson mistakenly told parliament in what one expert called “a car crash of an announcement”, the Guardian has learned.
But £1bn is still not enough to even build Greater Manchester’s 1,800-mile Bee Network of safe paths, according to its architect, Chris Boardman, a former Olympic cycling champion who is the region’s walking and cycling commissioner. He has asked Johnson for £1.2bn and says he will continue to do so.
Continue reading...UK could ban sale of petrol and diesel cars in 12 years, says Shapps
Transport secretary’s disclosure of earlier target likely to rattle carmakers
The government could ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars in 2032, three years earlier than previously suggested, the transport secretary has said.
A consultation launched last week suggested all cars with internal combustion engines could be banned from 2035 but Grant Shapps told BBC radio on Wednesday the ban could come within 12 years.
Continue reading...Investing in cycling pays off, but ministers are ignoring the evidence
A report shows that when bike lanes are built, people cycle more and drive less
If you took a time machine back to John Dobson Street in central Newcastle in 2013, you’d be struck by its transformation in the years since.
An inhospitable dual carriageway has been replaced by a single carriageway with wider pavements and a 400m bike lane. The result: a fourfold increase in people cycling along the route.
Continue reading...