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Data from 123 sites across all continents, including Antarctica, show mosses affect all major soil functions critical for sustaining life on Earth. David John Eldridge, Professor of Dryland Ecology, UNSW Sydney Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo, Ecosystem ecologist, Spanish National Research Council, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

New Zealand MetService issues gale warnings for upper-North Island’s coastline as winds reached 55mph late this weekend

Low pressure from the subtropics will bring heavy rain and strong winds across northern and western New Zealand throughout this week.

The New Zealand MetService has issued gale warnings for the upper-North Island’s coastline as winds reached 55mph late this weekend with more than 1,000 households already without power. Ferry services have been suspended and highways have been closed due to landslips.

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A Canadian-based carbon marketing and project development company announced on Monday that it had entered into an agreement to purchase 50,000 carbon offsets from low carbon commodity brokerage firm SCB Group, while also introducing a new funding model to expand popular projects.

Watching sea snakes swim through water is soothing – until you remember they are real

Sea snakes are, in animal form, the feeling the deep end of the pool gives you when you are a child, when suddenly you feel you are swimming at night, or when you are in bed but not totally sure the floor beneath hasn’t turned into water and sharks. And because sea snakes aren’t where they’re meant to be, the more you learn about them, the more you encounter all that you don’t know: the words are weird, you know their meaning but can’t read their letters, they are words in a dream – or was it a nightmare?

Black-banded sea kraits, a type of sea snake, hunt with yellow goatfish; in New Caledonia, they are called “stripy sweaters”. Kraits are “elapid”, which means their fangs are always erect. Sea snake lungs are almost as long as their bodies; they can breathe through their skin. Their tongues are shorter than those of land snakes: only the forked part pokes out.

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*PREMIUM LISTING - The Registry Architect is a technical role within the ACR Registry Operations unit, responsible for leading technical projects, serving as a primary point of contact to our contracted registry technology service provider(s), and contributing to all aspects of registry function and service to ensure that projects move through the process efficiently, while ensuring regulatory compliance, technical rigor, quality, and transparency.

One of Brazil’s most forested states has resumed plans to auction millions of hectares of public land to generate voluntary carbon credits and help avoid deforestation.

Greenpeace Belgium working to release 14 protesters who sailed inflatables into the Fluxys LGN terminal in Zeebrugge

Fourteen Greenpeace activists have been held for more than 48 hours after trespassing into and occupying a liquid natural gas (LNG) terminal in Zeebrugge, Belgium

Greenpeace Belgium said it was working for their release. Valerie Del Re, director of Greenpeace Belgium, said: “It’s not our activists, but gas companies like Fluxys who are the criminals in this story.

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The particles could be linked to cognitive impairment and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s

Researchers at the University of Vienna have discovered particles of plastic in mice’s brains just two hours after the mice ingested drinking water containing plastic.

Once in the brain, “Plastic particles could increase the risk of inflammation, neurological disorders or even neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s,” Lukas Kenner, one of the researchers, said in a statement, although more research is needed to determine the relationship between plastics and these brain disorders. In addition to potentially severe degenerative consequences, the researchers also believe that microplastic contamination in our brains can cause short-term health effects such as cognitive impairment, neurotoxicity and altered neurotransmitter levels, which can contribute to behavioral changes.

Adrienne Matei is a freelance journalist

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Germany energy giant RWE says the landmark battery storage win in Australia with its proposed eight hour storage configuration is part of a global ambition to build 3GW of battery storage capacity by 2030. RWE Renewables is to build a 50MW, eight hour battery (400MWh) next to its 249MW Limondale solar farm in south-west NSW […]

The post RWE says Australian eight hour battery win puts it on path to 3GW of storage appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The president is trying to appeal to climate-conscious young voters and appease the fossil fuel industry. It won’t work

Just before announcing that he would again run for president, Joe Biden signed off on what on the surface looks like a great move to help address the climate crisis: an executive order that creates an office of environmental justice in the White House. “Environmental justice,” the president said from the Rose Garden, “will be the mission of the entire government, woven directly into how we work with state, local, tribal and territorial governments.”

That is a beautiful sentiment. And sentiment, when coupled with substantive policy positions, can lead the country forward. The idea of a White House office that can help mobilize an all-of-government response to the climate crisis could be a force multiplier in the fight to save the planet. But to be effective it needs real presidential leadership that involves the creation of a bold and realistic plan to phase out fossil fuels along a strict timeline.

Steven Donziger is a human rights and environmental lawyer, a Guardian US columnist, and the creator of the Substack newsletter Donziger on Justice

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Australia and Papua New Guinea have signed an outcome statement that focusses on climate finance and carbon market participation and an action plan for the Indo-Pacific Carbon Offset Scheme (IPCOS), as a corruption investigation has led to arrests of PNG climate officials.

Discharge of raw sewage is mainstream concern in first local elections since Guardian revealed scale of problem

River pollution has become a leading issue on doorsteps during the countdown to the local elections on Thursday.

Thousands of seats are being contested across England, the largest number since 2019 when the Conservatives lost control of several councils. These are the first local elections since the Guardian revealed the hidden scandal of the scale of raw sewage pollution in rivers, pushing the issue into the mainstream political debate.

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Energy poverty puts people’s health and wellbeing at risk, but many vulnerable households go undetected. Trusted intermediaries, such as doctors and community workers, can help solve this problem. Nicola Willand, Senior Lecturer, School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University Nooshin Torabi, Lecturer, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University Ralph Horne, Associate Deputy Vice Chancellor, Research & Innovation, College of Design & Social Context, RMIT University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

New federal government policy incentive offers tax deductions to businesses that invest in energy saving electrical appliances and get off gas.

The post Businesses urged to electrify everything as budget energy tax incentive announced appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Last of 66 concrete foundations poured at what will be the biggest wind farm in NSW, supplying power to a gold mine.

The post Last of 66 concrete foundations laid for biggest wind farm in NSW appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Study of 200,000 Chinese hospital admissions finds acute exposure to air pollution raises risk of heart arrhythmias

Spikes in air pollution increase the risk of cardiac arrhythmias, a large study has found.

The research, based on nearly 200,000 hospital admissions in China, found a significant increase in risk of arrhythmias in the first few hours after an increase in air pollution levels. Heart arrhythmias can increase the risk of heart disease and sudden cardiac death.

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Origin says price cap and lower cost coal to boost its earnings as it confirms it has joined rush to offshore wind in Australia.

The post Lower cost coal to boost Origin earnings as it joins rush to offshore wind appeared first on RenewEconomy.

First big battery with eight hours storage beats pumped hydro projects to win Australia's first long duration storage tender.

The post Eight hour big battery trumps pumped hydro in NSW long duration storage tender appeared first on RenewEconomy.

NSW announced results of first renewable auction, with solar prices below $35/MWh and wind below $50/MWh.

The post NSW gets stunning low price for wind and solar in biggest renewables auction appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Fascination with shiny technological gadgets may divert scarce resources from the on-the-ground approaches we need to restore degraded ecosystems around the world. Simone Pedrini, Lecturer in ecological restoration, Curtin University Jorge Castro Gutiérrez, Catedrático de Ecología, Universidad de Granada Kingsley Dixon, John Curtin Distinguished Professor, Curtin University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.