Feed aggregator
‘Heat dome’ probably killed 1bn marine animals on Canada coast, experts say
British Columbia scientist says heat essentially cooked mussels: ‘The shore doesn’t usually crunch when you walk’
More than 1 billion marine animals along Canada’s Pacific coast are likely to have died from last week’s record heatwave, experts warn, highlighting the vulnerability of ecosystems unaccustomed to extreme temperatures.
The “heat dome” that settled over western Canada and the north-western US for five days pushed temperatures in communities along the coast to 40C (104F) – shattering longstanding records and offering little respite for days.
Continue reading...Why declining birth rates are good news for life on Earth | Laura Spinney
In the midst of a climate crisis with 8 billion humans on the globe, it’s absurd to say that what’s lacking is babies
Fertility rates are falling across the globe – even in places, such as sub-Saharan Africa, where they remain high. This is good for women, families, societies and the environment. So why do we keep hearing that the world needs babies, with angst in the media about maternity wards closing in Italy and ghost cities in China?
The short-range answer is that, even though this slowdown was predicted as part of the now 250-year-old demographic transition – whose signature is the tumbling of both fertility and mortality rates – occasional happenings, such as the publication of US census data or China’s decision to relax its two-child policy, force it back into our consciousness, arousing fears about family lines rubbed out and diminishing superpowers being uninvited from the top table.
Continue reading...How the BBC let climate deniers walk all over it | George Monbiot
The fossil-fuel multinationals fund ‘thinktanks’ and ‘research institutes’. But it’s gullible public service broadcasters that give them credibility
Yes, we should rake over the coals. And the oil, and the gas. Democratic accountability means remembering who helped to stoke the climate crisis. We should hold the fossil fuel companies to account.
In 1979, an internal study by Exxon concluded that burning carbon fuels “will cause dramatic environmental effects before the year 2050”. In 1982, as the Guardian’s Climate Crimes series recalls, an Exxon memo concluded that the science of climate change was “unanimous”. Then it poured millions of dollars into lobby groups casting doubt on it.
Continue reading...‘High-impact’ wildlife projects aim to restore habitats across England
Funding for offshore kelp forest, butterflies, beavers and wetlands among other schemes will help address climate crisis
Restoring a kelp forest off the Sussex coast, creating new habitat for heat-sensitive butterflies and connecting fractured wetlands for the reintroduction of beavers are among 12 new projects receiving funding to help the UK tackle climate change, the Wildlife Trusts has announced.
Planting new seagrass pastures in the Solent, expanding salt marshes on the Essex coast and restoring peatlands in Cumbria, Durham, Yorkshire, Northumberland and Somerset are some of the “high-impact” schemes that the nature charity said will help mitigate the impact of global heating on land and at sea.
Continue reading...Wind and solar farms to be allowed to share connection points to grid
Rule changes will make it easier for big wind and solar projects to be built in stages, and for projects to share connection points to the grid.
The post Wind and solar farms to be allowed to share connection points to grid appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Tesla Megapacks lifted into place at Australia’s biggest battery project
Neoen confirms that Australia's biggest battery project is midway through construction near Geelong as Tesla Megapacks are lifted into place.
The post Tesla Megapacks lifted into place at Australia’s biggest battery project appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Video: The new electric SUV from Mercedes
We test drive the second electric offering from Mercedes in Australia - the EQA 250.
The post Video: The new electric SUV from Mercedes appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Federal Court says minister owes duty of care to young people over carbon emissions
Federal Court orders federal environment minister must consider the risks posed to Australia's young people when granting approvals to coal projects.
The post Federal Court says minister owes duty of care to young people over carbon emissions appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Australia’s de-facto carbon price at record high, may reach $50 per tonne
Australian carbon credits tipped to jump to $50 per tonne, riding surge in corporate demand even as federal government sits idle on climate policy.
The post Australia’s de-facto carbon price at record high, may reach $50 per tonne appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Australian government must protect young people from climate crisis harm, court declares
Environment minister has 28 days to appeal historic ruling that carbon emissions from coalmine should not cause young people ‘personal injury or death’
• Download the free Guardian app; get our morning email briefing
Australia’s federal court has formally declared the nation’s environment minister has a “duty to take reasonable care” that young people won’t be harmed or killed by carbon dioxide emissions if she approves a coalmine expansion, in a judgment that could have wider implications for fossil fuel projects.
In the federal court case, brought by eight schoolchildren and an octogenarian nun, Justice Mordecai Bromberg on Thursday also ordered the minister pay all costs.
Continue reading...Solar Insiders Podcast: Why the solar coaster never stops
Rooftop solar systems are getting bigger, thanks to business interest, but the market still remains tough, and complicated.
The post Solar Insiders Podcast: Why the solar coaster never stops appeared first on RenewEconomy.
New Zealand proposes rules to limit overallocation to industrials in ETS
Coalition granted $21m to Liberal party donor to frack Beetaloo Basin
Environmental groups criticise grant to Empire Energy, which had lobbied ministers for information on funding, as a ‘brazen misuse of taxpayer funds’
The Coalition handed three grants for fracking in the Beetaloo Basin to a political donor and Liberal-linked company, which had earlier lobbied federal ministers for information on the funding scheme.
On Wednesday, resources minister Keith Pitt announced that Imperial Oil and Gas, a subsidiary of Empire Energy, would receive $21m in grants through the $50m Beetaloo Cooperative Drilling Program.
Continue reading...Four ways rooftop solar and household batteries can help the grid
Regulator spells out four ways that rooftop solar and distributed energy benefit the grid.
The post Four ways rooftop solar and household batteries can help the grid appeared first on RenewEconomy.
“New chapter:” Construction begins on first subsidy-free offshore wind farm
Construction begins for a 1.5GW project off the coast of the Netherlands, the first offshore wind farm to be built without subsidies.
The post “New chapter:” Construction begins on first subsidy-free offshore wind farm appeared first on RenewEconomy.
“World first” wind, solar and battery project finally starts production after 3-year wait
Nearly three years after it was built, the world first solar, wind and battery hub at Kennedy is finally sending power to the grid.
The post “World first” wind, solar and battery project finally starts production after 3-year wait appeared first on RenewEconomy.