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Guardian analysis shows human-caused global heating is driving more frequent and deadly disasters across the planet, in most comprehensive compilation to date

The devastating intensification of extreme weather is laid bare today in a Guardian analysis that shows how people across the world are losing their lives and livelihoods due to more deadly and more frequent heatwaves, floods, wildfires and droughts brought by the climate crisis.

The analysis of hundreds of scientific studies – the most comprehensive compilation to date – demonstrates beyond any doubt how humanity’s vast carbon emissions are forcing the climate to disastrous new extremes. At least a dozen of the most serious events, from killer heatwaves to broiling seas, would have been all but impossible without human-caused global heating, the analysis found.

The 12 events deemed virtually impossible without humanity’s destabilisation of the climate span the globe, including intense heatwaves in North America, Europe and Japan, soaring temperatures in Siberia and sweltering seas off Australia.

Seventy-one per cent of the 500 extreme weather events and trends in the database were found to have been made more likely or more severe by human-caused climate change, including 93% of heatwaves, 68% of droughts and 56% of floods or heavy rain. Only 9% of the events were less likely, mostly cold snaps and snowstorms.

One in three deaths caused by summer heat over the last three decades was the direct result of human-caused global heating, implying a toll of millions.

Huge financial costs are also now attributable to human influence on the climate, such as $67bn of damages when Hurricane Harvey smashed into Texas and Louisiana in 2017, which was 75% of the total damages from the storm.

Global heating has been hurting us for far longer than commonly assumed, with traces of its influence as far back as the heatwaves and droughts that triggered the infamous Dust Bowl in the US in the mid-1930s.

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Wildlife with little data faces double the risk of dying out – which may mean many more species are endangered than previously thought

Plants and animals that do not have enough data to be properly assessed appear to be at twice the risk of extinction as those that have been evaluated, meaning more species may face being wiped off the planet than previously thought, a study has warned.

Researchers looked at the extinction risk of species assessed on the red list of endangered species and found that 56% of species in the data deficient (DD) category were threatened, compared with 28% of those that had been assessed.

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A venture capital-backed Estonian start-up is launching a combined carbon and biodiversity token for blockchain buyers, saying traditional carbon credits might help the climate but not the biosphere.

Some of the crypto community are planning to save at least one oil block put up for sale in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by turning their conservation efforts into a voluntary carbon market (VCM) project.

The Babakina anadoni – less than half the size of a little finger – was sighted off the Isles of Scilly

An extremely rare multi-coloured sea slug has been spotted in British waters for the first time.

The multi-coloured sea slug, Babakina anadoni, measures just 2cm in length and was confirmed as a first sighting by the Cornwall Wildlife Trust and the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust.

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The problems we face today with gas prices and supply are a result of decisions made almost 30 years ago that have been systematically ignored by governments.

The post How Australia created its own gas price mess appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A huge 1000MWh battery proposed for site of former coal fired power station near Lithgow gets NSW planning approval.

The post Huge 1,000MWh battery at site of closed coal plant gets NSW planning approval appeared first on RenewEconomy.

EUAs were little changed in the morning session on Thursday after a weak auction result dragged prices back from a 12-day high, while energy markets relaxed slightly on news that a major US Gulf LNG export terminal would restart faster than expected after repairs.

A new analysis published by a coalition of environmental groups in the UK has argued that the country's demand for wood pellets to generate biomass energy is harming Estonia’s forests and ecosystems, including protected nature reserves.

A bill to establish a national framework for carbon market trading and mandate low carbon energy use that was introduced to India’s parliament on Tuesday has been met with cautious optimism by analysts, with specific details over how it will operate to further the government’s emissions reduction agenda still to be developed.

Rising temperatures have made beach sand so warm that eggs incubate above 31C and are overwhelmingly born female – experts

Nearly every sea turtle born on the beaches of Florida in the past four years has been female, according to scientists.

The spike in female baby turtles comes as a result of intense heatwaves triggered by a growing climate crisis that is significantly warming up the sands on some beaches, as CNN reported this week.

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China's coking industry has pledged to peak greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 through technological breakthroughs, echoing a similar commitment made by the country's steel sector.

BioLite seeks a candidate with well-developed quantitative skills, proficient English writing skills and preferably, experience with developing carbon finance projects.

Thames Water’s £250m desalination facility out of action amid supply capacity doubts

A £250m desalination plant launched 12 years ago to increase drinking supplies during long dry spells has been put on hold, as water companies in England and Wales face growing political pressure over their management of the supply crisis.

The Thames Water plant at Beckton, east London, opened in 2010 with plans to supply up to 1 million people during emergencies, but that ambition has been scaled back amid doubts as to when the facility can begin operating.

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Crypto carbon group KlimaDAO has teamed up with a start-up Web3 company to work out how the blockchain carbon market can address know-your-customer (KYC) requirements from offset standards such as Verra.

An Australian gas producer has entered into a three-year partnership with a Victorian university to restore critical coastal wetlands, as private-sector interest in blue carbon continues to grow.

Spot prices for NZUs have drifted sideways in the week following its dramatic price rise in reaction to the ETS reform recommendations, holding firm around the highest levels seen in the market since early March.

Veteran diver struck by ‘intricate detail’ sent footage to be uploaded to Jellyfish app

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A diver has captured footage of an unusual-looking jellyfish off the coast of Papua New Guinea, sparking interest among researchers.

The video was captured by Dorian Borcherds, who owns Scuba Ventures in Kavieng, in the New Ireland province of PNG.

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Australia’s environment minister says billionaire Palmer’s Central Queensland Coal proposal would likely have ‘unacceptable impacts’ on reef

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The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, has said she intends to block a coalmine project backed by mining billionaire Clive Palmer that would have dug for the fossil fuel just 10km from Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef coastline.

Palmer’s Central Queensland Coal project would have mined up to 18m tonnes a year from two open-cut pits near Rockhampton.

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Passage of the climate bill is important but largely symbolic. Now it's time to go in hard and make sure it matches the science.

The post Climate target will soon be law, the task now is to go hard to catch up with science appeared first on RenewEconomy.