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Experts worried that extreme heatwaves in Europe happening quicker than expected, suggesting climate crisis worse than feared

• UK extreme weather: latest updates

Climate scientists have expressed shock at the UK’s smashed temperature record, with the heat soaring above 40C for the first time ever on Tuesday.

Researchers are also increasingly concerned that extreme heatwaves in Europe are occurring more rapidly than models had suggested, indicating that the climate crisis on the European continent may be even worse than feared.

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Spain, Germany and China all have maximum working temperatures. It’s time the UK followed suit

• Mika Minio-Paluello is policy officer for climate and industry at the TUC

We love the summer sun, but it can be deadly. The UK’s former chief scientist, David King, has warned this intense heatwave could cause up to 10,000 excess deaths. Despite decades of warnings from scientists that climate breakdown would bring severe heatwaves to the UK, we are still unprepared. Our buildings, public spaces, rules and laws were made for a different climate in a different century. Extreme heat and stormier winters are becoming the norm in Britain, and we’re struggling to cope.

As record temperatures pass 40C (104F) in the UK, working people deserve to be safe. Builders, postal workers and street cleaners who spend long periods outside in high temperatures are at serious risk of sunstroke, heat stress and skin cancer. Other workers doing physical labour in indoor heat, like packing in a hot warehouse, can also suffer heat stress, respiratory problems and even heart failure. Working under pressure in these temperatures can reduce people’s capacity to concentrate and lead to deadly accidents. This can be especially dangerous in industries such as transport and construction, and in manufacturing plants.

Mika Minio-Paluello is policy officer for climate and industry at the Trades Union Congress and an energy economist with Transition Economics

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Its ‘jet zero’ strategy relies on the invention of pie in the sky technologies to tackle dangerous airline emissions

It’s here. The climate crisis has landed in the UK. We’re in a dangerous heatwave that’s forcing schools to close, hospital appointments to be cancelled, trains to reduce service, and flights to stop as the runway melts. Extreme weather is not only a threat to our infrastructure, but a threat to our lives. There’s only one answer: urgent action to tackle the climate crisis.

And yet, on a day that has broken a temperature record set just three years ago, the government has done the opposite. While the tarmac sizzles beneath our feet, the skies above us are still full of planes spewing out greenhouse gases. What will it take for the government to get serious about cutting emissions from flights?

Leo Murray is co-founder and director of innovation at the climate charity Possible

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Activists target London HQ of Rupert Murdoch’s media company after UK weather treated as upbeat story

Extinction Rebellion protesters have smashed windows at the London headquarters of Rupert Murdoch’s media company, in protest at his outlets’ coverage of the climate crisis.

Activists targeted the News UK building next to London Bridge station early on Tuesday morning, destroying glass panels and putting up posters reading “tell the truth” and “40 degrees = death” next to the entrance used by journalists at the Sun and the Times.

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As a climate scientist, I’m tired of hearing about that summer. The extreme heat we’re experiencing globally has no precedent

I’m too young to remember the 1976 heatwave. But as a climate scientist, I’m tired of hearing about why it means we shouldn’t take the climate crisis seriously. 1976 was undeniably a hot summer. A really hot summer, in fact. Temperatures topped 32C (89.6F)somewhere in the UK for 15 days on the trot, climbing to a maximum of 35.9C on 3 July. But in many ways it was nothing like the heatwave we’re enduring right now.

In 1976, the UK was an anomalous red blob of unusual heat on a map of distinctly normal summer temperatures. Contrast that to July 2022, and there are few places on Earth where temperatures are not considerably above average. What makes 2022 a lot worse than 1976 is not just the temperature itself – which will be 4-5C higher than in 1976 if the forecasts are accurate – but how large an area is currently feeling the heat. Parts of Spain, Portugal, France and Italy have been baking in 40C-plus heat for days on end. Combined with extremely dry conditions, the heat has triggered wildfires and forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes.

Dr Ella Gilbert is a climate scientist at the British Antarctic Survey

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EUAs gave up ground for a second day on Tuesday but remained firmly entrenched within their recent range as activity continued to dwindle, while energy markets were generally slightly firmer after the European Commission said it did not expect the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to resume flows after maintenance ends later this week.

Following a legal challenges from environmental groups, a court has ordered the UK government to outline how it plans to meet emissions reduction targets as part of its net zero strategy with the current level of detail unlawful.

Tory leadership hopeful says she could set target back, despite backing the 2019 pledge on Monday

Kemi Badenoch has U-turned a second time on her support for the government target of net zero emissions by 2050.

After telling a room of MPs at the Tory leadership climate hustings on Monday that she supported the 2019 manifesto pledge, later that evening she declared on TalkTV that she would delay it.

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Replacing 20% of our meat with microbial protein could dramatically reduce carbon emissions and the rate of deforestation, a new study has found

Replacing just one fifth of the red meat we eat with microbial proteins derived from fungi or algae could reduce annual deforestation by a massive 56% come 2050, according to a study published this spring.

Climate scientists at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research simulated four future scenarios in which humans replace either 0%, 20%, 50% or 80% of the red meat in our diets with microbial protein, which is a low-calorie, high-protein and high-fiber fermented product that’s already an ingredient in some commercial alt-meats, including Quorn and Nature’s Fynd. The researchers then looked at how this dietary change might affect global forests by 2050.

Adrienne Matei is a freelance journalist

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Australia’s environment minister has emphasised the expanding role carbon credits will play in protecting and restoring marine and land-based ecosystems, while ACCU delivery to the government fell slightly in the last financial year, according to regulator data.

India’s Modi government will shortly introduce legislation to the country’s lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha, that will facilitate a national framework for carbon trading and boost clean energy use, according to local media reports.

Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek acknowledges “it’s time to change” after the State of the Environment report revealed a bleak picture of Australia’s natural places. In a speech on Tuesday… Laura Schuijers, Deputy Director, Australian Centre for Climate and Environmental Law and Lecturer in Law, University of Sydney Thomas Newsome, Academic Fellow, University of Sydney Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

A single wind turbine at a 114-turbine wind farm in Sweden has collapsed only days after the wind farm was inaugurated.

The post Swedish wind turbine collapses days after wind farm inauguration appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Some utilities in the EU ETS behave more like financial institutions, according to analysis of historical trading data, suggesting that participant segmentation practices may need to be reviewed as lawmakers consider restricting the market access of some non-compliance players.

Hydrogen could possibly be the next big thing in energy but do you know what it actually is? And why have the discussions around a colourless gas involved so many colours? In this episode of News glossary, Matilda Boseley gives us a rundown of what hydrogen energy is and what the difference between all the colours are. And before you ask, yes, there really is pink hydrogen and turquoise hydrogen. Pink hydrogen is generated through electrolysis powered by nuclear energy, and turquoise hydrogen is made using a process called methane pyrolysis

• Hydrogen fuel stations to be built between Sydney and Melbourne under $20m plan
  
• Queensland airline Skytrans unveils plans for Australia’s first hydrogen-fuelled plane
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Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) has appointed a head of carbon and ESG products and markets, underpinning its ambition to establish itself as an emissions trading hub.

Environment groups are pushing the Greens to accept Labor’s emissions target. What do these tensions mean for climate action? Rebecca Pearse, Lecturer, Australian National University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Could a revival of the federal Renewable Energy Target be the ideal complement to a capacity mechanism to accelerate the transition to clean energy?

The post Why a capacity mechanism will require revived Renewable Energy Target appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Technological solutions to remove carbon from the atmosphere, like CCS, CCUS, and Direct Air Capture (DAC) are gaining traction in Australia with support from the federal government, however the technologies’ ability to work as intended and the way it is being used by the fossil fuel industry remain deeply questionable, according to its critics.

Tesla chair says Australia should focus more on global need to scale battery storage “at sprinting pace,” and less on propping up ageing coal plants.

The post Tesla says world desperately needs more batteries – and not “hedged bet” on coal appeared first on RenewEconomy.