Category Archives: Climate crisis

Largest wildfire in US grows to cover area bigger than Los Angeles

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Park fire scorches 386,000 acres as firefighters battle blazes across US west, including historic mining town of Havilah

The largest wildfire in the US swelled to more than 380,000 acres (154,000 hectares) on Tuesday morning, an area bigger than the city of Los Angeles and three times the surface area of Lake Tahoe, as thousands of firefighters battled the blaze in a remote wilderness area in northern California.

Meanwhile, the destruction caused by wildfires raging across the US west came into sharp focus as photographers documented the destruction left by the Borel fire in southern California. The fast-growing fire tore through the historic mining town of Havilah, leaving burnt buildings, cars and forests.

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‘Apocalyptic’ floods in Vermont destroy homes as two dozen rescued by boat

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Storms result in caved-in roads and crushed cars nearly three weeks after flooding from Hurricane Beryl

Thunderstorms and torrential rain brought another wave of violent floods Tuesday that caved in roads, crushed vehicles, pushed homes off their foundations and led to dramatic boat rescues in north-eastern Vermont, nearly three weeks after flooding from Hurricane Beryl.

Flash flood warnings remained in effect through Tuesday afternoon hours after some areas got 6 to more than 8in (15 to more than 20cm) starting late the night before.

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Trade row won’t hurt US and China’s emissions talks, says US climate chief

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John Podesta says negotiations ‘to find a path forward’ continue with urgent discussions planned for Cop29

Trade frictions and increasing tension between the US and China won’t affect climate negotiations between the two superpowers if he can help it, the US climate chief has pledged.

John Podesta, a senior adviser to Joe Biden on international climate policy, said the relationship between the world’s two biggest emitters and largest economies was critical to climate action, despite what appears to be a deepening gulf over trade policy.

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Second Trump term could boost toxic ‘forever chemicals’, experts warn

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Ex-president’s allies and Project 2025 propose restrictions to EPA’s ability to protect public from toxins like PFAS

A second Donald Trump presidency would represent a serious threat to dealing with the toxic impact of PFAS “forever chemicals”, as well as other toxins, and could be a danger to the health of millions of Americans, experts and environmental campaigners warn.

For example, over the last year, the Environmental Protection Agency developed groundbreaking drinking water limits for highly toxic PFAS compounds, and designated several of the “forever chemicals” as hazardous substances, a move that will force industry to clean up its pollution. The steps represent a major win for the water quality and taxpayers, but a new Trump administration would likely shred the rules.

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‘The PTSD is horrible’: for Californians who survived tragedy, new blazes stir trauma

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As the Park fire rages near Chico, residents who were evacuated from the deadly Camp fire in 2018 are evacuated again

As the biggest fire of the season raged through northern California on Saturday, Stephen Murray wasn’t taking any chances.

The Paradise resident loaded up his vehicle and prepared to flee with his wife and children. Almost six years after the Camp fire destroyed his hometown and killed 85 people, the community was under an evacuation warning due to the Park fire, which had scorched nearly 350,000 acres.

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Extreme heat poses ‘real risk’ to Spain’s mass tourism industry

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Public health adviser says higher temperatures caused by climate crisis pose danger for visitors not used to them

The climate emergency poses a “real risk” to Spain’s traditional mass tourist model as rising temperatures and more frequent heatwaves hit the country’s most popular coastal destinations, a senior public health adviser has warned.

Héctor Tejero, the head of health and climate change at Spain’s health ministry, said the increasingly apparent physical impacts of the climate emergency had already led the ministry to begin talks with the British embassy on how best to educate “vulnerable” tourists about coping with the heat.

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Alberta premier fights tears over Canada wildfires despite climate crisis denial

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Danielle Smith and her government’s refusal to combat global heating is said to have made blazes more intense

When Danielle Smith, premier of Alberta, began her grim update about the wildfire damage to Jasper, the famed mountain resort in the Canadian Rockies, her voice slipped and she held back tears.

Hours earlier, a fast-moving wildfire tore through the community, incinerating homes, businesses and historic buildings. She praised the “true heroism” of fire crews who had rushed in to save Jasper, only to be pulled back when confronted by a 400ft wall of flames. She spoke about the profound meaning and “magic” of the national park.

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Wildlife enthusiasts called on to help record dolphins and whales on UK coast

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National Whale and Dolphin Watch organisers say data collected will help with research into marine mammals

Hundreds of wildlife enthusiasts are expected to gather along UK coastlines over the next 10 days to count and record whales and dolphins.

The National Whale and Dolphin Watch, taking place from 26 July to 4 August, is hosted by the Sea Watch Foundation and aims to get volunteers to observe and record sightings of the UK’s most impressive marine mammals.

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Brazilian rancher ordered to pay $50m for damage to Amazon

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Brazil court freezes assets of Dirceu Kruger to pay climate compensation for illegal deforestation

A Brazilian cattle rancher has been ordered to pay more than $50m (£39m) for destroying part of the Amazon rainforest and ordered to restore the precious carbon sink.

Last week, a federal court in Brazil froze the assets of Dirceu Kruger to pay compensation for the damage he had caused to the climate through illegal deforestation. The case was brought by Brazil’s attorney general’s office, representing the Brazilian institute of environment and renewable natural resources (Ibama). It is the largest civil case brought for climate crimes in Brazil to date and the start of a legal push to repair and deter damage to the rainforest.

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‘Inexcusable’: should climate hypocrites get the petrostates label?

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Suggestions definition of petrostate is too narrow as many rich countries that could phase out fossil fuels double down

“Drill, baby, drill!” Donald Trump’s ominous avowal to pump up the oil and gas production of the US has horrified many people around the world about the intentions of the Republican candidate, who has also declared he wants to be “dictator for a day”. Rather than the prospective leader of the free world, the election frontrunner sounds more like the tyrant of a petrostate.

That should not be entirely surprising given the country’s recent record: it has ramped up fossil fuel production to become the world’s biggest producer. As a Guardian investigation reveals, the total number of projected licences by the US for 2024 could lead to an estimated 397m tonnes of planet-heating emissions.

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German punks launch ‘invasion’ of holiday island favoured by elite

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Leftwingers set up protest camp on Sylt to demonstrate against far right, economic exclusion and climate crisis

Punks from across Germany have set up a summer-long protest camp on the North Sea holiday island of Sylt to demonstrate against economic exclusion, environmental degradation and the presence of the far right in one of the country’s most exclusive areas.

For the third consecutive year, the young leftwingers with mohawks, torn T-shirts and facial piercings began descending on Sylt at the weekend, mainly by train, to disrupt the seasonal repose of the elites.

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Luxury ute tax loophole costs Australians $250m a year, researchers say

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The Australia Institute says tax exemption on ‘commercial vehicles’ with no testing requirement is incentivising people to buy utes instead of EVs

A loophole in Australia’s tax law is in effect subsidising the price of luxury utes such as Ram and Chevrolet SUVs, costing taxpayers more than $250m a year in forgone revenue, an analysis has found.

The research from the Australia Institute centres on the Luxury Car Tax (LCT) – introduced in 2000 for imported cars partly to protect the domestic industry that existed at the time – and an exemption that applies to certain utes.

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Cop29 host Azerbaijan seeks $1bn from fossil fuel producers for climate fund

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Countries and companies involved in oil and gas extraction to be asked to join scheme aimed at tackling global heating

Fossil-fuel producing countries and companies are being asked to pay into a new international fund to help poor countries cope with the effects of the climate crisis.

The climate investment fund is being set up by the Azerbaijan government, host country of the Cop29 UN climate summit in November.

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CrowdStrike has ‘issued a fix’ to Windows outage – as it happened

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This blog is now closed. Follow the latest developments on the global Microsoft outage live blog

Shorten says last CFMEU Labor donation was over two years ago

Earlier on the Today Show, the NDIS minister, Bill Shorten, was asked about the CFMEU and said that the last donation received by the Labor party from them was more than two years ago.

We’ve said that we’re suspending all donations from the CFMEU. In fact, we’ve suspended the CFMEU from the Labor party … The last donations were over two years ago. We’ve taken the action to stop any financial relations with the CFMEU.

I want to make clear there is zero tolerance for anyone who tried to subvert the demerit and penalty system. This taskforce will help ensure the penalties apply to all road users.

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Australia news live: Tony Burke announces independent administrator of CFMEU

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Fair Work Commission’s Murray Furlong appointed as administrator of construction union. Follow the day’s news live

Tim Ayres flags ‘proportionate’ federal response to CFMEU

A Labor senator says that federal intervention into alleged criminal behaviour within the CFMEU will be effective and proportionate, AAP reports.

Tony and the team in there are doing the careful work of making sure that the government’s response is effective, well-weighted and effective.

While I don’t forecast the debates in terms of the national executive, we have received these requests from the premiers, we will act upon them, and we’ll act in accordance with the requests from the premiers.

We’re very blessed in this country. We don’t have a gun culture, we don’t have a history of political violence, we don’t at this point in time – thank God – have the fragmentation and polarisation that sadly exists in America to quite the same extent.

So look, can you rule these things out? Of course not. Do I expect it? Well, maybe some time in the next 100 or 200 years, sure. Almost anything could happen in that period of time. But is is imminent? I doubt it very much.

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Band’s gig postponed amid deportation call – as it happened

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Weather update for Victoria and New South Wales: rain, floods, gusts and snow

Angus Hines, a senior meteorologist from the Bureau of Meteorology, spoke with ABC News Breakfast earlier to provide an update on the rainfall across Victoria.

That has given us minor to moderate flood warnings including in parts of the Yarra River this morning, as all of the rain from last night and yesterday evening drains out through the river network and out towards the ocean.

Take actions to protect your life and property against potential hazards caused by flooding.

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China’s emissions of two potent greenhouse gases rise 78% in decade

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Figure represents 64-66% of global output of tetrafluoromethane and hexafluoroethane, MIT study finds

Emissions of two of the most potent greenhouse gases have substantially increased in China over the last decade, a study has found.

Perfluorocarbons are used in the manufacturing processes for flat-panel TVs and semiconductors, or as by-products from aluminium smelting. They are far more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere than CO2, and can persist in the Earth’s atmosphere for thousands of years, unlike CO2 which can persist for up to 200 years.

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Australia’s big banks lent $3.6bn to fossil fuel expansion projects in 2023, report shows

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Lending puts banks in ‘complete violation’ of commitments to Paris agreement, climate group says, even as overall funding to sector ebbs

Australia’s big four banks are in “complete violation” of commitments to the Paris climate accord by funding fossil fuel expansion even as their overall lending to the sector continues to ebb, according to a new report.

The climate activist group Market Forces said in the report that the banks lent the industry $3.6bn in 2023, bringing their total loans to more than $61bn since 2015. Last year, though, was first year in the past eight that banks avoided explicitly backing a new or expanded fossil fuel project.

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Labour’s ‘rooftop revolution’ to deliver solar power to millions of UK homes

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Ed Miliband sets new rules on solar panels and approves three giant solar farms as Labour seeks to end years of Tory inaction

Keir Starmer’s new Labour government today unveils plans for a “rooftop revolution” that will see millions more homes fitted with solar panels in order to bring down domestic energy bills and tackle the climate crisis.

The energy secretary, Ed Miliband, also took the hugely controversial decision this weekend to approve three massive solar farms in the east of England that had been blocked by Tory ministers.

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After Hurricane Beryl’s destruction, climate scientists fear for what’s next

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Experts say devastating hurricane so early in season is ‘big wake-up call’ – and predict even more powerful storms

The poignancy was unmistakable: prognosticators at Colorado State University amended their already miserable seasonal tropical cyclone forecast on Monday precisely as Hurricane Beryl was filling Houston’s streets with floodwater and knocking out power to more than 2m homes and businesses.

“A likely harbinger of a hyperactive season” was how CSU researchers characterized Beryl, which set numerous records on the way to its Texas landfall, including the earliest category 5 hurricane, strongest ever June storm, and most powerful to strike the southern Windward Islands.

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