London mayor expected to criticise Susan Hall in speech launching panels on school roofs
Sadiq Khan will accuse his Conservative rival in the race to be London’s next mayor of being “Trumpian” over the climate crisis, as he announces plans for solar panels on schools.
Khan is expected to acknowledge resistance to his expansion of the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) in a speech on Friday but insist that he still intends to “go further”.
Continue reading...Biden administration hopes funding will spur enduring cuts to planet-heating emissions no matter who is in White House
Amid rising global temperatures and a looming election against an opponent who has indicated he will gut his climate policies, Joe Biden’s administration is shoveling billions of dollars into efforts it hopes will spur enduring cuts to planet-heating emissions, no matter the occupant of the White House.
In recent weeks, large tracts of funding has been announced by the administration to help overcome some of the thorniest and esoteric challenges the world faces in driving down carbon pollution, seeding the promise of everything from the advent of zero-emissions concrete to low-pollution food production, including mac and cheese and ice-cream, to driving the uptake of solar panels and electric stoves in low-income households.
Continue reading...Worst-ever fire season in 2023 saw 15m hectare burned, eight firefighters killed and 230,000 people evacuated
Canada risks another “catastrophic” wildfire season, the federal government has warned, forecasting higher-than-normal spring and summer temperatures across much of the country, boosted by El Niño weather conditions.
Last year, Canada endured its worst-ever fire season, with more than 6,600 blazes burning 15m hectares (37m acres), an area roughly seven times the annual average. Eight firefighters died and 230,000 people were evacuated from their homes.
Continue reading...Switch could also cut prevalence of disability linked to diet-related disease and help tackle the climate crisis, researchers found
Swapping red meat for forage fish such as herring, sardines and anchovies could save 750,000 lives a year and help tackle the climate crisis, a study suggests.
Mounting evidence links red meat consumption with a higher risk of disease in humans as well as significant harm to the environment. In contrast, forage fish are highly nutritious, environmentally friendly and the most abundant fish species in the world’s oceans.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed
A search will resume this morning for a woman who went missing while bushwalking at Belmore Falls in New South Wales.
Just after 1pm on Sunday, emergency services were called to Belmore Falls near Robertson after reports a woman had slipped and fallen down a cliff. An extensive search was initiated, but the 20-year-old was not located and the search was suspended at dusk.
We’ve got large multinationals in the supermarket ring who aren’t captured. So I’d like to see this expanded over time.
Woolworths, I think, makes a good point, and that is the code to be extended should be expanded to cover rivals Amazon, Costco and even Chemist Warehouse.
We’ll have more to say on that in coming weeks and months.
Continue reading...Environmental and animal welfare groups call on lender to phase out support for ‘industrial’ livestock operations
The private sector arm of the World Bank is facing claims that it contributes to global heating and the undermining of animal welfare by providing financial support for factory farming, including the building of pig farming tower blocks in China.
A coalition of environmental and animal welfare groups is calling on the World Bank to phase out financial support for large-scale “industrial” livestock operations. More than $1.6bn was provided for industrial farming projects between 2017 and 2023, according to an analysis by campaigners.
Continue reading...Global concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide climbed to unseen levels in 2023, underlining climate crisis
The levels of the three most important heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere reached new record highs again last year, US scientists have confirmed, underlining the escalating challenge posed by the climate crisis.
The global concentration of carbon dioxide, the most important and prevalent of the greenhouse gases emitted by human activity, rose to an average of 419 parts per million in the atmosphere in 2023 while methane, a powerful if shorter-lasting greenhouse gas, rose to an average of 1922 parts per billion. Levels of nitrous oxide, the third most significant human-caused warming emission, climbed slightly to 336 parts per billion.
Continue reading...Despite major progress in Brazil and Colombia, deforestation led by farming still cleared an area nearly equal to Switzerland
The destruction of the world’s most pristine rainforests continued at a relentless rate in 2023, despite dramatic falls in forest loss in the Brazilian and Colombian Amazon, new figures show.
An area nearly the size of Switzerland was cleared from previously undisturbed rainforests last year, totalling 37,000 sq km (14,200 sq miles), according to figures compiled by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the University of Maryland. This is a rate of 10 football pitches a minute, often driven by more land being brought under agricultural cultivation around the world.
Continue reading...Recent $74m investment made alongside assessment that 10% of electricity could be generated by geothermal by 2050
A limitless supply of heat exists beneath our feet within the Earth’s crust, but harnessing it at scale has proved challenging. Now, a combination of new techniques, government support and the pressing need to secure continuous clean power in an era of climate crisis means that geothermal energy is finally having its moment in the US.
Until recently, geothermal has only been viable where the Earth’s inner heat simmers near the surface, such as at hot springs or geysers where hot water or steam can be easily drawn to drive turbines and generate electricity.
Continue reading...Former UN climate chief warns of global impact of a possible regression in US green policies
Victory for Donald Trump in the US presidential election this year could put the world’s climate goals at risk, a former UN climate chief has warned.
The chances of limiting global heating to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels are already slim, but Trump’s antipathy to climate action would have a major impact on the US, the world’s second biggest emitter of greenhouse gases and biggest oil and gas exporter, according to Patricia Espinosa, who served as the UN’s top official on the climate from 2016 to 2022.
Continue reading...Experts say the global shortage of the main ingredient of chocolate is linked to poor conditions for farmers supplying large companies
Every Easter, UK consumers collectively spend more than £1bn on food, drink, gifts, entertainment and about 80m chocolate eggs, racking up an average bill exceeding £50 each. But shoppers this year are paying more than usual: since last Easter, chocolate prices have increased by more than 12.6%, more than double the rise in supermarket food and drink prices.
The cost of cocoa, chocolate’s main ingredient, has been increasing all year, hitting a record high just before Valentine’s Day and again this week, when it was priced at more than $10,000 a tonne – meaning it is currently more valuable than several precious metals, and growing in value more quickly than bitcoin.
Continue reading...French president tells Brazil forum both parties need to be ‘much stronger’ on biodiversity and climate
Emmanuel Macron has called a proposed trade agreement between the EU and South America’s Mercosur bloc a “very bad deal” that lacks proper climate considerations.
“As it is negotiated today, it is a very bad deal, for you and for us,” the French president told Brazilian businessmen in São Paulo on Wednesday while on a three-day trip to Brazil, Latin America’s largest economy.
Continue reading...Deal had been thrown into doubt during election campaign in Tuvalu over sovereignty concerns
Australia and Tuvalu will go ahead with a security and climate migration pact, after the latter’s new government agreed not to change the deal, Australia’s Pacific minister, Pat Conroy, has told parliament.
The two countries had announced the deal in November, but it was thrown into doubt during an election campaign in the remote Pacific atoll of 11,000 people that is threatened by rising sea levels.
Continue reading...Brussels vote cancelled after it became clear law would not pass final stage with majority vote
The EU’s nature restoration laws appear on the verge of collapse after eight member states, including Hungary and Italy, withdrew support for the legislation.
The laws, which have been two years in the making and are designed to reverse decades of damage to wildlife on land and in waterways, were supposed to be rubber-stamped in a vote on Monday.
Continue reading...Heritage orchard at RHS Rosemoor to be sampled this spring as part of search for previously unrecorded ‘survivor’ cultivars
Gardeners are searching for lost apple varieties by sequencing the genetics of trees in ancient orchards, in the hope they hold traits that can help the fruit survive climate breakdown.
Heritage apple trees at the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) garden Rosemoor will be sampled this spring with the aim of finding species of apple enjoyed by people hundreds of years ago.
Continue reading...States including Texas, Louisiana and Florida say federal government lacks authority to broadly deny permits
Sixteen US states, including Texas, Louisiana and Florida, have filed a lawsuit to challenge the US federal government’s ban on approving applications to export liquefied natural gas, the office of Texas attorney general Ken Paxton said on Thursday.
The lawsuit argues the federal government lacks the authority to broadly deny those permits.
Continue reading...High temperatures in February affected millions of people and put further pressure on chocolate prices
A searing heatwave that struck west Africa in February was made 4C hotter and 10 times more likely by human-caused global heating, a study has found.
The heat affected millions of people but the number of early deaths or cases of illness are unknown, due to a lack of reporting.
Continue reading...Authorities advise parents to keep children indoors during extreme heatwave, expected to last two weeks
South Sudan is closing all schools from Monday in preparation for an extreme heatwave expected to last two weeks.
The health and education ministries have advised parents to keep all children indoors as temperatures are expected to soar to 45C (113F).
Continue reading...A $500,000 sand dune collapsed in days after being erected, and residents are looking for help to protect their homes
On the border with New Hampshire and Massachusetts – about 35 miles north of Boston – is Salisbury, a coastal town and popular summer destination for tourists. But for those who live in the town year round, especially those who live on the coastline, life’s not a beach.
Last month, after a series of storms battered the area, local citizens came together to take the necessary steps to protect their homes. Volunteer organization Salisbury Beach Citizens for Change raised more than $500,000 to erect a 15,000-ton sand dune – a formidable barrier that would hopefully protect at least 15 beach houses from destruction.
Continue reading...Feleti Teo tells the Guardian Tuvaluans fear last year’s treaty may give Australia too much say over the Pacific nation’s security
Tuvalu’s new prime minister, Feleti Teo, wants “guarantees” from Canberra that a landmark treaty with Australia will not undermine his country’s sovereignty.
Teo, who was appointed leader last month, told the Guardian a controversial security clause in the Falepili Union treaty has led to fears among Tuvaluans that Australia “might encroach on Tuvalu’s sovereignty”.
Continue reading...