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Yellow flower that only grows in York went extinct in 1991 brought back to life by Natural England experts

York groundsel was a cheerful yellow flower that slipped into global extinction in 1991, thanks to overzealous application of weedkiller in the city of its name.

But now the urban plant has been bought back to life in the first ever de-extinction in Britain, and is flowering again in York.

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Scheme that began to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s diamond jubilee in 2012 has thrived, project audit finds

Wildflower meadows planted a decade ago to celebrate 60 years of the late queen’s reign have thrived, with 101 new fields of flowers created since the scheme was launched.

King Charles, then the Prince of Wales, worked with Plantlife and the Wildlife Trusts to launch ”coronation meadows”, identifying 60 species-rich meadows from which to take donor seeds – one meadow for each year of the queen’s reign at the time.

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Exclusive: Researchers analysed works run by nine water and sewerage companies in England and Wales

Eleven billion litres of raw sewage were discharged from a sample of 30 water company treatment works in one year, new research suggests.

The study aimed to reveal the volume of discharged effluent released from storm overflows by water firms. Companies are not forced to reveal the volume of raw sewage released during discharges. They are only required by regulators to provide data on the number of discharges and the length of time they lasted.

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

Financial players closed out short positions in RGGI Allowances (RGAs) while compliance entities continued to bolster net holdings across North American carbon markets, as WCI prices inched higher following last week’s auction of California Carbon Allowances (CCAs), data from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) showed Friday.

New research led by Australia's Southern Cross University reveals that while coastal ecosystems worldwide play a pivotal role in absorbing CO2, they also emit methane and nitrous oxide, offsetting their overall greenhouse gas sequestering effects.

EU member states barely handed out any free 2023 carbon allowances to heavy industry this month, according to data released late Friday.

It gives a whole new meaning to ‘going with the flow’

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A summary of legislative, regulatory, and policy action on carbon, clean fuel standard, and clean energy markets at the US federal and subnational levels this week, including Minnesota budget language to study a clean transportation fuel standard.

Two more companies have agreed to drop their climate neutrality claims on certain products they sell this week, opting to settle rather than face rulings by German courts in cases brought by an NGO alleging that the carbon credits backing the claims lack sufficient credibility.

The first futures contract for California Carbon Offsets (CCOs) with direct environmental benefits to the state (DEBs) and no invalidation risk changed hands on Nodal Exchange Friday morning, according to a press release from product developer IncubEx, coming in at the steepest price point yet for WCI-eligible credits.

As drought beacomes the norm, creative solutions must be found to deal with a new, parched reality

In April, Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, suggested that severe drought would become “one of the central political and territorial debates of our country in the coming years”. That stark warning surely applies to southern Europe as a whole, as the prospect of another summer crisis looms, following a disastrously dry winter.

An absence of melting snow from the Alps has left Italy’s Po River as shallow as during last year’s searingly hot summer. In January and February, France recorded the highest number of rain-free days since records began, and water restrictions are in place in the Pyrénées-Orientales region. About 90% of mainland Portugal is suffering from drought, judged to be severe in one-fifth of the country. In Spain, from Catalonia to Andalucía, unseasonable heat has contributed to reservoirs drying up and a disastrous drop in olive oil production. By the middle of this month, southern Spain had received barely 30% of expected rainfall. As temperatures continue to rise, and Europe warms faster than the global average, drought across vast swathes of territory is simply becoming the norm.

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Pressure is mounting on Nigeria to start its carbon credit scheme with the nation's lawmakers this week calling for the federal government to act immediately following a motion of urgent public concern. 

Signs of recovery for EU steel are likely to remain restricted to the short-term, analysts told Carbon Pulse, with macroeconomic headwinds and energy cost risk, as well as long-term decarbonisation policy, seen keeping sectoral demand and therefore emissions limited.

Producers accuse government of failing to tackle pollution after ‘very high’ levels of bacteria found

“Very high” levels of E coli found in oysters and mussels have led to the closure of 11 shellfish production zones in Cornwall.

In an email seen by the Guardian and Watershed Investigations, the Cornwall Port Health Authority (CPHA) told food business operators they “must not collect the affected animals from this area by any method. It is unsuitable for their production for health reasons and has been temporarily closed.”

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Findings from soil samples in New Hampshire ‘pretty disturbing’, expert says, and raise questions on food and water contamination

Background levels of toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” in the ground and air may be much higher than previously thought, federal testing of spatially random soil samples from across New Hampshire suggests.

The analysis found high levels of PFAS in all 100 shallow soil samples, which were taken from undisturbed land not close to known polluters. The chemicals are thought to largely have gotten there through the air, and the study, along with recent EU research, suggests similar levels of soil and air contamination throughout the world.

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European carbon prices stabilised on Friday morning as selling pressure eased after a week that has seen prices drop by more than 8%, while energy prices extended their losses for a fifth day amid sustained selling with demand still lower than expected.

Ten of broadcaster’s 31 hosts made on-air statements in 2022 rejecting or challenging scientific consensus

Almost a third of presenters on GB News have used their platform to cast doubt on the scientific consensus on climate breakdown, according to an analysis.

Ten of the broadcaster’s 31 presenters made statements on air in 2022 rejecting or challenging widely accepted scientific findings about how humans are affecting the climate, and the role the climate crisis plays in extreme weather events.

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Danish renewable energy firm Orsted and UK-based marine consultants Bluedot Associates have teamed up to develop a biodiversity framework to apply to the planned offshore floating wind power leasing round the UK is planning in the Celtic Sea.

Forrest says he made no final offer for Sun Cable and intends to focus instead on his own 20GW renewable pipeline.

The post Forrest says he did not bid for Sun Cable, has his own 20GW to build appeared first on RenewEconomy.