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Climate change, invasive species and military expansion have formed an unholy trinity that threatens our small but ancient civilization

• Before it is lost is series of essays from the Pacific islands

For about as long as I’ve been alive, there have been no sihek on the island of Guam.

The sihek, or the Guam kingfisher, is a beautiful blue-gold songbird that’s been extirpated in the wild since the 1980s. Like most of Guam’s native birds – 10 out of 12 native species – the sihek rapidly declined after the introduction of the invasive brown tree snake brought to the island after the second world war as a stowaway on military ships.

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The government new rules to contain the country's largest ever bird flu outbreak.

They are weather balloons and they look like hundreds of miniature moons

If there were no moon, our days would be short – between half and a quarter of the length they are now – and our nights would be dark. The Earth’s tilt would change, which would change the seasons. The seas, the oceans, the lakes would not fall flat, but they would be flatter, milder: lower high tides, higher low tides.

This makes me think of the Jorie Graham lines: “And the black ocean shows itself in infinite detail because of the moon. / No matter that all is not lit. Much remains because much remains hidden.” Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s moon is, “suffused o’er all the sapphire Heaven, / Trees, herbage, snake-like stream, unwrinkled Lake, / Whose very murmur does of it partake.”

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Assam, Nagaland and Manipur officials also confiscate catapults and nets to ensure birds can recuperate

Officials in north-east India have banned the use of guns and airguns and confiscated catapults and nets in an effort to safeguard the small Amur falcons that make an autumn pit stop on their way to sunny South Africa.

Forest officers were patrolling areas of Assam, Nagaland and Manipur states to make sure no one disturbs the long-distance travelling raptors who stop briefly in India.

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EUAs were lower early on Monday as the market appeared to be consolidating last week's major gains, as prices moved largely between two important technical levels while traders waited for a directional signal.

Resort offers sparkling new buses and a shiny new shopping mall – and a single, designated protest area

Across Sharm el-Sheikh, a slim strip of manicured resorts, asphalt and concrete near the southern tip of the Sinai peninsula, teams of workers are putting the finishing touches to preparations for the UN’s Cop27 climate conference.

Sparkling new buses are ready to drive down the enlarged highways that cut across desert landscape, flanked by smooth shiny new walkways adorned with angular sculptural arches. A field of glittering solar panels run by a company with ties to the Egyptian military will be online in time for the conference, as well as a new shopping mall.

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Sixteenth tropical cyclone to affect the Philippines this season caused deadly floods and landslides

Tropical Storm Nalgae swept through the Philippines on Saturday with sustained winds of 60mph.

Heavy rain caused the most damage, with significant flooding and landslides. Dozens of people have died and 170,000 sought shelter in evacuation centres.

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A global carbon finance firm has inked a deal for the offtake of soil carbon certificates from a large farm owner in the UK, as landowners look for new revenue streams now that the country has left the EU.

Vestas produces its longest ever wind turbine blade, but as turbines get bigger the number of orders for wind energy in Europe is shrinking.

The post Vestas unveils mammoth 15MW turbine blade as European wind sector struggles towards 2030 appeared first on RenewEconomy.

China should include sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in the country's carbon emissions trading scheme and set mandatory targets that bring aviation emissions down as part of its policy support to decarbonise the sector, a report has called for.

The NZU price and traded volumes have risen in recent weeks off the back of higher trading interest, analysts told Carbon Pulse, as the market waits on the government to decide on ETS price settings.

Birds showing most self-control score higher in cognitive tests, suggesting they are more intelligent

The old saying states a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush but it appears Eurasian jays may beg to differ: researchers have found the corvids shun an immediate reward for a tastier, but delayed, treat.

What’s more, the team found the birds that showed the most self-control scored higher on a variety of cognitive tests, suggesting they were more intelligent.

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From a close up crocodile to a crab fishing in a cave, and a lizard navigating plastic waste, here is a look at the winning images, runners up and some commended entries in the Mangrove Photographer of the Year Awards

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Global steel giant ArcelorMittal will collaborate with Mitsubishi and leading resources company BHP on a trial to develop carbon capture technology at two of its steel plants following the signing of a funding agreement between the companies, it was announced.

Swedish climate activist says the UN’s climate conference will be ‘used as an opportunity for leaders and people in power to get attention’

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has said she will skip next month’s Cop27 talks in Egypt, criticising the global summit as a forum for “greenwashing”.

“I’m not going to Cop27 for many reasons, but the space for civil society this year is extremely limited,” she said during a question and answer at the launch of her latest book at London’s Southbank Centre.

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The 1982 Franklin Dam protests were a defining moment in the history of Australia’s social movements. But such campaigns may well be impossible today. Piero Moraro, Lecturer in Criminology, Edith Cowan University Deborah Williams, PhD Candidate, Murdoch University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Rooftop solar takes more volume away from retail markets, but Origin gains from big business wind and LPG windfall.

The post Rooftop solar take another significant bite out of Origin customer volumes appeared first on RenewEconomy.

State government commissions a full feasibility study to find out what it will take to start building wind turbines in WA.

The post WA takes next big step towards Made-in-WA turbine industry ahead of wind energy boom appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Emissions are still rising, pledges to 2030 put the world on track for 2.5C of warming but fossil fuel demand is nearing its peak.

The post World is heading for 2.4°C to 2.8°C warming: State of the climate ahead of Cop27 appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Rare alpine species captures narrow win over kororā penguin after campaign marked by controversy

The pīwauwau rock wren, a diminutive mountain-dwelling underdog, has come out on top in New Zealand’s annual bird of the year competition after a hard-fought campaign again marked by controversy.

The rare alpine species – which weighs less than 20g, about as much as a MallowPuff biscuit – beat out a number of higher-profile and charismatic competitors.

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