Two demonstrators removed almost immediately after sounding air horns and throwing confetti on the stage
Two Just Stop Oil protesters disrupted the opening night of the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall after running on to the stage, setting off confetti cannon and sounding air horns.
The pair were taken off stage at the west London venue within moments of unfurling their orange banners on Friday evening, according to footage on social media.
Continue reading...Devyn Gale killed while tackling British Columbia blaze as wildfires continue to rage across country with little reprieve
Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has paid tribute to a young firefighter who was killed while battling a forest blaze in British Columbia, as wildfires continue to rage across the country and the western province requested an extra 1,000 international firefighters.
Devyn Gale, 19, was part of a team that was tackling a fire outside the town of Revelstoke, about 310 miles (500km) north-east of Vancouver. Revelstoke Royal Canadian Mounted Police said she had been clearing brush in a remote area where a small fire had started. She lost contact with her team and was discovered caught under a fallen tree.
Continue reading...The Bureau of Meteorology’s long-range forecast expects more warm weather for the east coast, with Sydney hitting a top of 23C on Saturday
Sydney is expected to hit 23C on Saturday, with the unseasonably warm weather forecast to continue for the rest of the winter.
Hugh McDowell, a meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology, said the bureau’s long-range forecast showed Sydney could expect more unseasonable temperatures.
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Continue reading...Over a third of Americans under extreme heat warnings as Vermont, still recovering from historic flooding, prepares for more storms
The US is bracing for more extreme weather from coast to coast, with a heatwave hitting California, tornados in the midwest and the east expecting more rain as it continues to reel from historic flooding.
Residents of Vermont, still suffering from an onslaught of dangerous weather in recent days, are preparing for another round of severe storms in the area beginning as early as Thursday night.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed
Cabinet meeting to decide Lowe’s successor today
Philip Lowe will be replaced as the Reserve Bank governor, with today’s cabinet meeting to decide his successor, Guardian Australia has confirmed.
If I was asked to continue in the role, I would be honoured to do that and I would continue.
If I am not asked to continue in the role, I will do my best to support my successor, and the treasurer has said he will make an announcement before the end of this month.
Continue reading...Latest storm warning comes just days after areas of Vermont and New York were hit with flash flooding, raising concerns over more damage
Meterologist Ben Frechette from NBC5 reported that a tornado risk is going up slightly in north-eastern NewYork state:
As some parts of the US are sweltering, Vermont was bracing for more rain on Thursday.
Continue reading...California governor launches campaign aimed at protecting residents from extreme heat; US president says extreme heat and floods linked to climate
The National Weather Service in New Orleans has warned of scattered storms that are expected to deliver flash flooding in the area later today.
Rainfall is expected to reach 2 to 5 inches per hour (or more at times), with the potential flash floods likely to take place mainly from late morning through the evening hours.
Continue reading...Animals make first return to the county in 400 years as National Trust introduces family of four to Wallington estate
It was a genuinely tense tale of the riverbank as a family of four beavers were released into the Northumberland countryside on Wednesday, the first time in more than 400 years that the animals are making the county their home.
Would they even come out of their cages? Would they be as feisty coming out as they apparently were going in? Would they be happy with their new surroundings?
Continue reading...Phil Scott says damage is ‘historic and catastrophic’; parts of the US south and southwest are suffering extreme heat
Vermont’s governor Phil Scott gave a press conference earlier, saying that while the sun was expected to come out in Montpelier, the flooding was “nowhere near over”.
He was speaking as his state was dealing with up to two months’ worth of rain in two days. The rain had left “countless” roads washed out.
…What is heat stress and what causes it?
It occurs when the body experiences a buildup of heat, at a level that is more than what it can release. “The human body has this fantastic ability to cool through sweat evaporation,” said Uwe Reischl, professor in the school of public and population health at Boise State University. But even when the body is producing sweat, the evaporation can be limited due to humidity in the air.
Continue reading...Plans would only supply Britain with fossil fuels for an additional three weeks a year, analysis finds
New oil and gas fields in the North Sea would produce only enough gas to satisfy the UK’s needs for a few weeks a year, with a minimal impact on energy security, analysis has found.
Fields now under consideration would supply at most an additional three weeks of gas a year to the UK, from 2024 to 2050, even if none of the gas was exported.
Continue reading...Mud engulfs houses and cars as island of Kyushu bears brunt of annual rainy season that is worsening with climate change
Six people died and three others were missing after the “heaviest rain ever” triggered floods and landslides in south-west Japan.
The Japan meteorological agency warned residents in Kyushu – one of the country’s four main islands – to stay alert for more landslides, a common hazard in mountainous areas after heavy rainfall.
Continue reading...While the north-east was inundated by heavy rains, southern states are gripped by record heat levels predicted to intensify
Deadly flooding in the north-east on Monday coupled with alerts over longer, hotter heatwaves set to boil much of the southern and western US kicked off a week of dangerous weather, as July warnings about the climate crisis intensify.
Rescue teams raced into Vermont after relentless, torrential rain drenched parts of New England and north-east overnight, washing out roads, forcing evacuations and halting some airline travel.
Continue reading...High pressure forecast to raise temperatures to 48C as hot weather sweeps Spain, France, Germany and Poland
Temperatures in Italy could get close to breaking a European record this week as a fierce heatwave grips much of the continent.
An anticyclone – an area of high pressure – named Cerberus will cause temperatures to exceed 40C (104F) across much of the country by Wednesday, with the islands of Sicily and Sardinia predicted to bear the brunt at 47-48C.
Continue reading...US Treasury secretary says Beijing could have greater global impact if it worked with global climate institutions
US Treasury secretary Janet Yellen has pressed China to do more to support international climate institutions that are helping finance green initiatives around the world, urging deeper cooperation in addressing the “existential threat” of global heating.
“Climate finance should be targeted efficiently and effectively,” Yellen said on Saturday in Beijing during a meeting with Chinese and international sustainable finance experts. “I believe that if China were to support existing multilateral climate institutions like the Green Climate Fund and the Climate Investment Funds alongside us and other donor governments, we could have a greater impact than we do today.”
Continue reading...Most of the deaths were in Punjab province and mainly caused by electrocution and building collapses
At least 50 people, including eight children, have been killed by floods and landslides triggered by monsoon rains that have lashed Pakistan since last month, officials have said.
The summer monsoon between June and September brings 70-80% of south Asia’s annual rainfall every year. It is vital for the livelihoods of millions of farmers and food security in a region of about 2 billion people – but it also triggers landslides and floods.
Continue reading...Proposal to improve soil health throughout continent by 2050 criticised for lack of legally binding targets
The European Commission has proposed the continent’s first soil law, intended to undo some of the damage done by intensive farming and mitigate global heating.
Amid intense opposition to proposed laws on nature restoration and curbs on pesticides, the European Commission put forward proposals in Brussels on Wednesday to revive degraded soils. Research indicates that this could help absorb carbon from the atmosphere and ensure sustainable food production.
Continue reading...World Meteorological Organization says weather pattern is in place, which for Australia increases risk of drought, heatwaves, bushfires and coral bleaching
Ocean temperatures around Australia last month were 0.5C above average, as the UN’s weather agency declared the world was now in an El Niño.
El Niño events influence weather extremes around the globe and for Australia increase the risk of drought, heatwaves, bushfires and coral bleaching.
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Continue reading...Australian government stands by safeguard mechanism’s design and indicates it will not change in response to lobbying
The Albanese government is resisting a push by Japan for a major new Northern Territory gas export development to be given special treatment under Australia’s revamped emissions reduction policy.
The Kishida government has lobbied the Albanese government over its concerns about Australia’s safeguard mechanism, a climate policy that requires major industrial polluters to either cut greenhouse gas emissions intensity – how much they emit per unit of production – or pay for carbon offsets.
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Continue reading...Heat dome of high pressure hovers over Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma as thousands remain without power in Chicago with heavy rains knocking down trees and power lines
The heating of the earth’s atmosphere and oceans by the burning of fossil fuels made the current extreme heatwave across the us at least five times more likely, according to a recent analysis by Climate Central, a climate science non-profit.
The rolling heatwave marks the latest in a series of recent extreme “heat dome” events that have scorched various parts of the world.
If you have this sort of high-pressure system sitting stationary over a region, you can have these really impressive heatwaves.
Continue reading...Rising temperatures in north Atlantic and drop in Antarctic sea ice prompt fears of widespread damage from extreme weather
“Very unusual”, “worrying”, “terrifying”, and “bonkers”; the reactions of veteran scientists to the sharp increase in north Atlantic surface temperatures over the past three months raises the question of whether the world’s climate has entered a more erratic and dangerous phase with the onset of an El Niño event on top of human-made global heating.
Since April, the warming appears to have entered a new trajectory. Meanwhile the area of global sea ice has dropped by more than 1 million sq km below the previous low.
Continue reading...