Category Archives: Climate change

BHP to shift oil and gas assets into Woodside Petroleum as part of major overhaul

Posted on by

Global miner declares a bumper profit due to high iron ore prices but slashes value of NSW coalmine to become a $200m liability

Global miner BHP is planning a major overhaul, simplifying its company structure and dumping its oil and gas assets into Woodside Petroleum, creating one of the biggest energy producers in the world.

BHP on Tuesday declared a bumper profit due to high iron ore prices, as it announced it will bring together its Australian and UK arms into one company and leave the London Stock Exchange, which could have ramifications for investors.

Continue reading...

Exxon’s oil drilling gamble off Guyana coast ‘poses major environmental risk’

Posted on by

Experts warn of potential for disaster as Exxon pursues 9bn barrels in sensitive marine ecosystem

ExxonMobil’s huge new Guyana project faces charges of a disregard for safety from experts who claim the company has failed to adequately prepare for possible disaster, the Guardian and Floodlight have found.

Exxon has been extracting oil from Liza 1, an ultra-deepwater drilling operation, since 2019 – part of an expansive project spanning more than 6m acres off the coast of Guyana that includes 17 additional prospects in the exploration and preparatory phases.

Continue reading...

Humans ‘pushing Earth close to tipping point’, say most in G20

Posted on by

Global survey finds 74% also want climate crises and protecting nature prioritised over jobs and profit

Three-quarters of people in the world’s wealthiest nations believe humanity is pushing the planet towards a dangerous tipping point and support a shift of priorities away from economic profit, according to a global survey.

The Ipsos Mori survey for the Global Commons Alliance (GCA) also found a majority (58%) were very concerned or extremely concerned about the state of the planet.

Continue reading...

Cooling consumerism could save the climate | Letters

Posted on by

Bill Kingdom says the battle against Covid provides lessons in how to cut consumption to ease global warming. Plus letters from Sue Dalley, David Hughes and Dave Hunter

In Adam Tooze’s article (By pushing for more oil production, the US is killing its climate pledges, 13 August), he surmised that economic activity and fossil fuel consumption are hardwired together. It may be more that economic activity and energy consumption are hardwired together – and thus the need to move to renewables or low-carbon energy sources. That must be part of the strategy, along with as yet unavailable technical solutions such as carbon capture.

However, we seem to tiptoe around the consumption part of any strategy. Lower consumption results in lower carbon emissions. The government has managed to exert strong influence over personal actions during the Covid pandemic using a myriad of three-word slogans. We need a similar push linked to consumption and climate change.
Bill Kingdom
Oxford

Continue reading...

‘You follow the government’s agenda’: China’s climate activists walk a tightrope

Posted on by

The IPCC’s alarming report has Chinese environmentalists wondering how to push a government that brooks no criticism into taking more action

In the wake of the IPCC’s alarming warning last week that human induced climate change is affecting every corner of the planet, China’s environmental activists were left wondering what they could do to push their government into taking more action.

Having prioritised rapid economic development for decades, China is responsible for a long list of environmental disasters and concerns, and produces around a third of the world’s carbon emissions. It has made ambitious pledges to hit peak emissions by 2030 and be carbon neutral by 2060, but still drawn warnings that it may not be possible under their current trajectory.

Continue reading...

Germany ‘set for biggest rise in greenhouse gases for 30 years’

Posted on by

Increase means country will slip back from goal of cutting emissions by 40% from 1990 levels

Germany is forecast to record its biggest rise in greenhouse gas emissions since 1990 this year as the economy rebounds from the pandemic-related downturn, according to a report by an environmental thinktank.

Berlin-based Agora Energiewende said the country’s emissions would probably rise by the equivalent of 47m tons of carbon dioxide.

Continue reading...

‘Ten years ago this was science fiction’: the rise of weedkilling robots

Posted on by

The makers of robot weeders say the machines can reduce pesticide use and be part of a more sustainable food system

In the corner of an Ohio field, a laser-armed robot inches through a sea of onions, zapping weeds as it goes.

This field doesn’t belong to a dystopian future but to Shay Myers, a third-generation farmer whose TikTok posts about farming life often go viral.

Continue reading...

At the frontier of the climate crisis, one scientist’s quest to record the ‘invisible world’ of the Arctic

Posted on by

Lighter nights, orange sunsets, straying killer whales: Wayne Davidson has observed the subtle signs of a tragically warming Arctic for four decades

Wayne Davidson has been taking atmospheric readings from the Arctic Weather Station at Resolute Bay on Cornwallis Island, Nunavut, for 40 years.

The climate of the high Arctic, he believes, is a guide in many respects to our past and is also the place from which our climate future can be previewed, as this week’s IPCC climate change report laid out in stark terms.

Continue reading...

When Covid came to the anti-vax capital of Australia

Posted on by

A noisy minority in NSW’s northern rivers are pushing back against Covid-19 restrictions

Benny Zable has lived in Nimbin on and off since 1973, when he arrived in town for the Aquarius festival – the event that seeded counterculture and escapist lifestyles into the northern rivers of New South Wales.

The 75-year-old artist and activist is a storied figure in this part of Australia, now a heartland for alternative health and wellness advocates, and notorious for low immunisation rates. He was also the first person from Nimbin to show up for a Covid-19 vaccine.

Continue reading...

Well-preserved 28,000-year-old lion cub found in Siberian permafrost

Posted on by

Female cave lion cub named Sparta in Russia’s Yakutia region may even have traces of mother’s milk in it

Scientists have said that an astonishingly well-preserved cave lion cub found in Siberia’s permafrost lived 28,000 years ago and may even have traces of its mother’s milk in it.

The female cub, named Sparta, was found at the Semyuelyakh River in Russia’s Yakutia region in 2018 and a second lion cub called Boris was found the year before, according to a study published in the Quaternary journal.

Continue reading...

‘All that’s left are ashes’: Italian communities count cost of wildfires

Posted on by

Blazes raging in southern regions have ravaged mountain area of Calabria that is home to Unesco world heritage site

As with most farmers living in the remote towns of the Aspromonte mountain range in Calabria, southern Italy, Nicola Fortugno’s land was his life. The 79-year-old refused to be evacuated when flames engulfed Piraino, a hamlet surrounded by pine forest above the town of Cardeto, on Wednesday. Instead, he stayed at home to try to save his animals and crops. His burnt, lifeless body was found by firefighters.

“I used to see Nicola whenever he came to town to go to the chemist or see the doctor,” said Francesca Crea, owner of the newspaper shop in Cardeto. “His death is very painful as we’re a community of mostly farmers, people who make great sacrifices for a small patch of land – the animals are their treasures.”

Continue reading...

New Zealand’s biggest contribution to the climate struggle is its positive example | Philip McKibbin

Posted on by

Suggesting that cutting New Zealand’s emissions won’t make any difference on a global scale is an argument that misses the point

Should New Zealand hold itself to its greenhouse gas emissions targets?

“Of course!” you may be thinking – and you wouldn’t be the only one. There is widespread support for climate action in Aotearoa. It led to record demonstrations in 2019, which saw 170,000 people striking, and the government is currently working on a plan in response to a recent report from the Climate Change Commission. Still, some New Zealanders seem to think otherwise, arguing that we are already doing enough.

Continue reading...

Woolly mammoth walked far enough to circle Earth twice, study finds

Posted on by

Research into life of Kik adds weight to theory that climate change could have contributed to species’ demise

He was huge, hairy and boasted two enormous tusks: researchers say they have discovered a woolly mammoth called Kik who traipsed almost far enough in his life to circle the Earth twice.

Experts say the work not only sheds light on the movements of the giant proboscideans, but adds weight to ideas that climate change or human activity may have contributed to the demise of most of the creatures about 12,000 years ago.

Continue reading...

Drone footage shows devastation following floods in Turkey – video

Posted on by

Heavy rains have triggered severe floods and mudslides in northern Turkey, killing at least one person and leaving others missing or injured. Turkey has been grappling with drought and a rapid succession of natural disasters that scientists believe are becoming more frequent and violent because of the climate crisis. The floods hit the Black Sea coastal provinces of Bartin, Kastamonu, Sinop and Samsun

Continue reading...

UK plan to replace fossil gas with blue hydrogen ‘may backfire’

Posted on by

Academics warn ‘fugitive’ emissions from producing hydrogen could be 20% worse for climate than using gas

The government’s plan to replace fossil gas with “blue” hydrogen to help meet its climate targets could backfire after US academics found that it may lead to more emissions than using gas.

In some cases blue hydrogen, which is made from fossil gas, could be up to 20% worse for the climate than using gas in homes and heavy industry, owing to the emissions that escape when gas is extracted from the ground and split to produce hydrogen.

Continue reading...

Algeria declares three days of mourning as wildfire death toll reaches 69

Posted on by

Scores of fires blaze across 17 provinces as calls made for aid convoys and Morocco and France offer help

Algeria’s president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, has declared three days of national mourning amid the death toll from raging wildfires in the north of the country rising to 69.

The state-run news agency APS said the rash of more than 50 fires which broke out on Tuesday had claimed four more lives, bringing the total to 69, including 28 soldiers deployed to help the emergency services.

Continue reading...

Firefighters battle flames for 12 hours in worst night of southern Italy wildfires – video

Posted on by

Firefighters battled 300 different blazes across the southern regions of Italy, Calabria and Sicily in the night between Tuesday and Wednesday.

Seven Canadair planes flew over the area, which has had 70% more wildfires than in the previous year, the majority breaking out in Sicily, Puglia, Calabria and Sardinia

Continue reading...

Wildfires in Algeria leave more than 40 dead including soldiers – video

Posted on by

More than 40 people have died as wildfires sweep through parts of Algeria. Dozens of fires have hit the Kabyle region 60 miles (100km) east of Algiers with remote villages and limited access to water complicating  efforts to contain the blazes. The death toll includes 25 soldiers who were killed as they worked to rescue people in Bejaiea and Tizi Ouzou

Continue reading...

Wildfires in Algeria: dozens of civilians and soldiers reported dead

Posted on by

Prime minister says request made for help internationally as forest blazes erupt in Kabyle region and elsewhere

More than 40 people, including 25 soldiers, have died in wildfires that erupted east of the Algerian capital, the country’s prime minister, Ayman Benabderrahmane, said.

Benabderrahmane also told state television that the government had asked for help from the international community and was in talks with partners to hire planes to extinguish fires. So far, 42 deaths have been reported.

Continue reading...

Global food supplies will suffer as temperatures rise – climate crisis report

Posted on by

Politicians around world continue to respond to report from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Food production around the world will suffer as global heating reaches 1.5C, with serious effects on the food supply in the next two decades, scientists have warned, following the biggest scientific report yet on the climate crisis.

Rising temperatures will mean there will be more times of year when temperatures exceed what crops can stand, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in its sixth assessment report published on Monday.

Continue reading...