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Ghost rodents: get ready to fall in love with Australia's albino rats and mice

The Conversation - Tue, 2023-03-28 05:00
A chance discovery of an albino bush rat in Victoria’s Otway Ranges inspired a search for more fair beauties. Here’s what the survey of Aussie ecologists, museums and newspaper clippings revealed. Darcy Watchorn, PhD Candidate, Deakin University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
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Developer lines up reforestation project deal with Ghana

Carbon Pulse - Tue, 2023-03-28 04:34
A nature-based project developer has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Ghana to develop a reforestation project in the country.
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The Guardian view on Plymouth’s lost trees: an act of vandalism | Editorial

The Guardian - Tue, 2023-03-28 03:55

The protesters are right. Felling more than 100 trees at night was disrespectful to both local people and nature

The decision taken by Plymouth’s Tory council leader, Richard Bingley, to chop down more than 100 mature trees under cover of darkness earlier this month was damaging to the city as well as the horse chestnut, silver birch, pear, apple and other specimens that were removed. Armada Way, the pedestrianised boulevard that runs south through the city centre to the sea, is a rare postwar conservation area and ought to be a national showpiece. Instead, ugly images of debris strewn among the modern architecture have upset and angered local people and conservationists. They may also set back efforts to boost the city by attracting tourists.

The upset and anger are more than justified by events. A consultation regarding the proposed regeneration of the city centre showed that a majority of locals do not support it. A campaign group, Save the Trees of Armada Way (Straw), gathered a petition of more than 16,000 names. Yet the council ploughed on until it was served with a court injunction by campaigners. On Monday, Mr Bingley resigned, ahead of a council meeting.

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European Commission to start auctions of REPowerEU permits in July

Carbon Pulse - Tue, 2023-03-28 03:22
The European Commission said it plans to begin the sale of EUAs under the REPowerEU initiative in July, the market’s administrator said after the market closed on Monday, confirming earlier reports that the EU was eyeing a summer start to the process.
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VCM Report: Prices slide as jitters spread from Credit Suisse debacle

Carbon Pulse - Tue, 2023-03-28 03:04
Avoidance carbon credit prices slid lower over the past week, led by sharp losses in nature-based credits as the corporate world’s attention focussed on the unfolding global banking crisis following the near collapse of Credit Suisse, although removal offsets continued to tick higher to extend a trend.
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'Environmental disaster': sailor shows oily sludge polluting water in Poole harbour – video

The Guardian - Tue, 2023-03-28 01:43

A sailor in Poole in Dorset posted a video on social media on Sunday showing an oily substance he had noticed leaking into the water in the harbour. He collected some of the 'horrible, oil kind of sludge' in a plastic bottle. The public is being urged to avoid using the water and beaches within Poole after the harbour regulator said a leak occurred at a pipeline operated by gas company Perenco. The incident, which took place at Wytch Farm oilfield, resulted in approximately 200 barrels of 'reservoir fluid' being released from the UK’s largest onshore field

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Five planets to line up in night sky

BBC - Tue, 2023-03-28 00:24
To spot all five, timing and a clear view of the western horizon will be key.
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Older people like me need to start protesting for our planet | Bill McKibben

The Guardian - Mon, 2023-03-27 23:38

I’m proud to be part of Third Act, a climate activist organization for people over the age of 60

The brutal truth is that last week’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report didn’t have the effect it should have had, or that its authors clearly intended. Produced by thousands of scientists who synthesized the work of tens of thousands of their peers over the last decade, and meticulously drafted by teams of careful communicators, it landed in the world with a gentle plop, not the resounding thud that’s required.

In China, the world’s biggest emitter, official attention was focused instead on Moscow, where Xi Jinping was off to do a little male bonding with fellow autocrat Vladimir Putin, incidentally the world’s second largest producer of hydrocarbons. In America, the historical emissions champ, we were riveted by the possibility that would-be autocrat Donald Trump might be indicted. In the New York Times, our planet’s closest thing to a paper of record, the IPCC report was the fourth story on the website.

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Climate change: trees grow for extra month as planet warms - study

BBC - Mon, 2023-03-27 23:13
Scientists compared recent tree growth with detailed notes from a 19th Century Ohio farmer
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Buyer pays $52/tonne for first electric clean cooking offsets amidst over-crediting claims

Carbon Pulse - Mon, 2023-03-27 23:11
A buyer has paid an average $52/tonne for the first issued electric clean cooking credits as well as future units, a project developer confirmed to Carbon Pulse, despite cookstoves coming under heightened scrutiny in recent weeks amid claims of historical over-crediting.
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UPDATE – EnBW posts marginal drop in 2022 ETS-covered fossil burn, brings forward coal phaseout

Carbon Pulse - Mon, 2023-03-27 22:17
German utility EnBW reported a 1% fall in its ETS-covered thermal generation in 2022, according to results published Monday, but a double-digit rise in brown coal burn that will keep support for its compliance demand. 
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Brookfield seals deal for Origin buyout and $20 billion renewables splurge

RenewEconomy - Mon, 2023-03-27 22:15

 Goldwind).Brookfield-led consortium seals deal for $18.7 billion purchase of Australia's biggest energy utility, paving way for a $20 billion splurge on renewables and storage.

The post Brookfield seals deal for Origin buyout and $20 billion renewables splurge appeared first on RenewEconomy.

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EU states to address stalled CO2 cars deal after Germany signals breakthrough

Carbon Pulse - Mon, 2023-03-27 22:03
EU transport ministers are poised to consider approving the bloc’s stalled CO2 car standard this week after Germany signalled a breakthrough, though sources suggested that the compromise might not be smoothly adopted as other states seek more time to consider changes.
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Euro Markets: Midday Update

Carbon Pulse - Mon, 2023-03-27 21:39
European carbon made modest gains on Monday morning, shrugging off a weak auction amid thin screen trading volume as the March futures contract entered its final trading day.
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I live near the East Palestine chemical spill. Officials who say we’re safe are lying | Greg Mascher

The Guardian - Mon, 2023-03-27 20:05

My granddaughters got red blotches and their eyes burned. I’ve been having headaches and coughing fits

On the evening of 3 February I was at home in East Palestine, Ohio, watching a movie with my granddaughters, when my daughter Adyson called and asked, “Dad, what’s going on downtown?” I looked out the window and there was an orange glow in the sky. I turned the movie down to talk to my daughter but she’d hung up. Ten minutes later she called back and said, “We’re coming to get you.”

We went to try to figure out what had happened and it was like driving into a cloud – smoke was billowing overhead. A Norfolk Southern freight train had derailed. You could see the flames over the tops of nearby houses and feel the heat from several hundred feet away. Huge clouds of smoke were spreading from the crash site over our town.

Greg Mascher is a grandfather and concerned resident of East Palestine, Ohio

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China’s Hainan approves mangrove methodology, enhancing local blue carbon scheme

Carbon Pulse - Mon, 2023-03-27 18:43
The government of the Chinese island province of Hainan has passed the technical review of a methodology for mangrove afforestation and reforestation projects, which could further strengthen the operation of the region's offset programme and the country's emerging blue carbon sector.
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Around 80% of key biodiversity sites have human infrastructure with share set to rise, study finds

Carbon Pulse - Mon, 2023-03-27 18:32
The vast majority of the of the world’s key biodiversity sites already contain human-made infrastructure, with the share of these areas likely to be impacted by further development only expected to increase, a global assessment by scientific researchers has found.
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ETS & Carbon Land Use Advisor, Forever Forests – Christchurch

Carbon Pulse - Mon, 2023-03-27 16:59
Forever Forests is looking for a full-time ETS and carbon land-use advisor.
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Greens will back Labor's safeguard mechanism without a ban on new coal and gas. That's a good outcome

The Conversation - Mon, 2023-03-27 16:19
The Greens wanted Australia to rule out new coal and gas projects. Instead, we have a hard cap on emissions – and that should make many fossil fuel projects unviable Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
Categories: Around The Web

Living on a boat is hard – but it’s worth it to escape the toxic rental market | Faye Keegan

The Guardian - Mon, 2023-03-27 16:00

The challenges are myriad, including raising a child and, yes, using the toilet. But we’ve gained so much more than we lost

When people find out that I live on a narrowboat, their eyes light up. They say things like “Gosh, I’d love to do that,” and “That’s so bohemian of you!,” and “It must be so peaceful”. It is peaceful, sometimes, but it’s easy to forget that when you’re struggling to push open a heavy lock gate in the pouring rain with a screaming baby strapped to your chest. Still, I love the way I live: I love being close to the water, and feeling more connected to nature and in sync with the changing seasons than I did living on land.

That isn’t to say boat life was always the plan. I used to imagine I’d end up in some rambling old farmhouse, with Farrow & Ball wallpaper, period features and an open fire. I still get pangs when I visit friends’ seemingly enormous and lavishly equipped houses – upstairs and downstairs! A freezer! Hot taps! But for my husband, Nigel, and I, with our ill-paid, bookish jobs (I’m a writer, he’s a librarian. OK fine, my ill-paid job) along with, you know, The Economy, buying a house just isn’t feasible, especially where we live in Oxford. But owning his own home has always been important to Nige, who grew up in council housing, so we began to explore alternative options. Once we let go of the impossible goal of a house and focused instead on what we could afford, everything changed.

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Categories: Around The Web

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