Category Archives: Environment

Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria hit by fatal flash floods

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At least 12 people die across three countries as torrential rainstorms cause severe damage to buildings, roads and bridges

At least 12 people have died in Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria as flash floods from torrential rainstorms turned rivers into torrents, swept away bridges and inundated streets, homes and public buildings.

Greece’s climate crisis and civil protection minister, Vassilis Kikilias, said after an emergency cabinet meeting: “This is the most extreme phenomenon in terms of the maximum amount of rain in a 24-hour period since records began in the country.”

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Brazil launches biggest ever operation against illegal cattle farms in Amazon

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Taskforce deployed to remove thousands of cows owned by land grabbers from indigenous territory

The Brazilian government has launched its biggest ever operation to remove thousands of cows owned by illegal land grabbers from indigenous territory in the Amazon rainforest.

Three helicopters, a dozen vehicles and a heavily armed corps of police and environment rangers are carrying out the cattle drive, which criminal gangs attempted to block by setting fires on the route, destroying bridges and intimidating drivers.

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NSW to enter talks to extend life of Eraring, Australia’s largest coal-fired power station

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Opponents call on Minns government to use the funds it would pay Origin to instead hasten rollout of rooftop solar and batteries

The Minns government will “engage” with the owner of Australia’s biggest coal-fired power station for a “temporary” extension of its operating life, prioritising short-term energy security over emissions reductions.

A final cost and length of extending operations of the 2,880-megawatt Eraring power plant near Newcastle would hinge on negotiations with owner Origin Energy, the government said on Tuesday.

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Australia has highest per capita CO2 emissions from coal in G20, analysis finds

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Australia used twice as much electricity as China on a per capita basis and 48% of it came from coal plants, thinktank says

Australia still emits more greenhouse gas from burning coal on a per capita basis than other G20 countries despite a significant rise in solar and wind energy.

While Australia and South Korea have cut per person emissions from coal-fired electricity since 2015 – by 26% and 10% respectively – they continue to release more CO2 than other major economies, according to an analysis by the energy thinktank Ember.

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African leaders at odds over climate plans as crucial Nairobi summit opens

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Oil-producing African nations argue they should be able to use fossil fuel resources for economic growth

African leaders and campaigners are at odds over the way forward for the continent as a critical climate summit begins in Nairobi.

Some countries, such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Egypt and South Africa, have been expanding their renewable energy access and leading transition efforts on the continent, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.

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Lords to debate mandating swift bricks in new UK homes

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Hollow bricks are ‘easy win’ to help several endangered species, say experts and Zac Goldsmith who is tabling amendment

An amendment to make swift bricks mandatory in new housing will be debated in the House of Lords this week in what campaigners call a “golden opportunity” for the government to halt wildlife decline.

The change to the controversial levelling up bill is being tabled by the Conservative peer Zac Goldsmith, who resigned from government over Rishi Sunak’s “apathy” towards environmental issues.

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How will the US cope next summer when it could be even hotter?

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This year’s heatwaves have been a huge challenge – and scientists predict 2024 will likely break records again

It’s been a record-breaking summer of heatwaves across large parts of the US and the world, and trying to stay cool and safe has been an unprecedented challenge.

There has been a rise in heat-related fatalities; companies and organizations have been under greater pressures to protect workers; and officials from small towns to the White House have been scrambling to respond.

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Weather tracker: looking back as summer ends in northern hemisphere

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The season was a mixed bag in Britain, but Japan has had its hottest summer on record

Entering September brings the arrival of meteorological autumn in the northern hemisphere, officially drawing the summer of 2023 to a close.

In the UK, the summer was a mixed bag. We started with a fairly pleasant June before entering into a wet and windy July caused by multiple consecutive weekend low pressure synoptic situations. A relatively unusual August followed in which we had two named storms, Antoni and Betty, before a pleasant warm spell.

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Fracking projects in NT risk exposing people to cancer and birth defects, report finds

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Recent studies from the US have seen evidence for health harms from oil and gas projects grow ‘substantially stronger’, experts say

Fracking projects fast-tracked by the Australian government risk exposing people to cancer, birth defects, asthma, cardiovascular disease and other harms, a new report published on Monday has found.

The report, led by the University of Sydney, was written in response to paediatricians in the Northern Territory who are deeply concerned about a full-scale fracking industry in the Beetaloo Basin. Guardian Australia’s exclusive investigation revealed the proposed Middle Arm industrial development on Darwin harbour would enable the export of gas from the basin, despite the project being labelled a “sustainable development precinct”.

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Climate crisis poses greatest risk to people with respiratory illnesses, experts warn

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Call for EU to match WHO’s air pollution regulatory limits as impact of climate emergency interlinks with human health

The climate crisis may pose the greatest risks to people with respiratory illnesses, with high temperatures and changing weather patterns exacerbating lung health problems, experts have said.

Respiratory experts have called on the EU to lower its regulatory limits for air pollution in line with the World Health Organization (WHO). In a European Respiratory Journal editorial, they said: “We need to do all we can to help alleviate patients’ suffering.”

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Ignoring call to halt new airports would be ‘electoral carnage’, Sunak warned

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Campaigners speak out amid suggestion government could reject Climate Change Committee’s advice

Rishi Sunak faces “electoral carnage” if the government rejects its climate advisers’ recommendations on halting airport expansion, a coalition of community groups have warned.

The prospect of a renewed political battle around airport growth in various parts of England has been reignited amid concern from campaigners at suggestions the government could reject the Climate Change Committee’s (CCC) advice that all such expansions must be halted.

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US clean energy drive fuels shortage of engineers in Australia

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Australia has to make the case it is an attractive place to live with a solid commitment to renewable energy to counter America’s Inflation Reduction Act, experts say

Australia’s rush to build renewable energy fast enough to replace ageing coal-fired power stations is being fettered by the US’s own clean energy push that is luring key talent, particularly engineers, industry officials say.

America’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), passed just over a year ago, will pour at least US$370bn (A$570bn) into clean energy programs. Groups such as the Clean Energy Council warn the program “has the potential to permanently tilt the scales toward the US and hamper our progress in Australia”.

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US pipeline protester has ‘no regrets’ after conviction for felony obstruction

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Mylene Vialard, 54, found guilty after Minnesota trial beset by legal irregularities after effort to block fossil fuel pumping station

A non-violent environmental activist has been found guilty of felony obstruction for her role in trying to halt construction of a fossil fuel pipeline through Indigenous territory in Minnesota, in a trial beset by legal irregularities which ended with the prosecutor demanding jail time.

Mylene Vialard, 54, was arrested in August 2021 after attaching herself to a 25ft bamboo tower erected to block a pumping station in Aitkin county, northern Minnesota.

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Artist captures the impact of climate crisis over 150 years on Mont Blanc

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Paintings from a climb that retraced an 1800s route on western Europe’s highest mountain reveals the extent of the peak’s melting ice

A British landscape artist who recreated a climb made 150 years ago to document the impact of the climate crisis on western Europe’s highest mountain says what he found was so grim it reminded him of the “dark paintings” of Francisco de Goya.

James Hart Dyke ascended Mont Blanc’s ancien passage north face, the route taken in 1786 by the first climbers to reach the summit. It was also the same one taken in August 1873 by French painter Gabriel Loppé, whose climb inspired Hart Dyke’s own.

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More decapitated crocodiles found in Queensland amid reports of body part black market

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Local Aboriginal land council says at least six crocodiles have been found shot dead in the past two months

Queensland wildlife officers are investigating the deaths and beheadings of several large crocodiles near the remote town of Normanton, in what appears to be a growing problem in the state.

Rangers from the Carpentaria Land Council Aboriginal Corporation (CLAC) have reported six crocodiles shot in the past two months, with some of the dead carcasses missing their heads.

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‘Incomprehensible’ killing of popular brown bear in central Italy sparks outrage

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Search under way for two cubs after man shoots rare bear dead, reportedly telling police he fired out of fear

Italian politicians and wildlife experts have condemned the fatal shooting of an endangered brown bear, as a search was under way for her two cubs.

Amarena was one of the most popular of the Marsican brown bears in the Abruzzo national park in central Italy, often pictured in and around the area with her offspring.

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Himalayan avalanches are increasing risk for climbers in warming climate

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Experts warn that global heating is exacerbating inherent dangers of high altitude mountaineering

Avalanches in the Himalayas are causing an increasing number of deaths and threatening the safety of climbers, research suggests.

While high-altitude mountaineering comes with an inherent avalanche risk, global heating is exacerbating the danger during the climbing season in the Himalayan mountain range, experts warn.

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Weather tracker: Hurricane Idalia leaves trail of damage in Florida

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Category 3 storm causes extensive flooding in south-east US, while heavy rain and winds also hit France and Italy

Hurricane Idalia struck northern Florida on Wednesday, bringing damaging winds and torrential rain. It made landfall near Keaton Beach on Florida’s Big Bend during the morning as a high-end category 3 hurricane, bringing sustained winds speeds near 125mph (200km/h) and a storm surge of 16ft along Florida’s north-west coastline.

Due to very warm sea surface temperatures, the storm strengthened rapidly over the Gulf of Mexico to category 4 status, before weakening to category 3 as it made landfall. It brought extensive flooding as it passed through and damaged power lines, leaving thousands without electricity.

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Appeal for information after body of grizzly bear found in Canadian river

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Conservation officers believe animal was shot and dragged into Squamish River in British Columbia

Conservation officers in Canada are asking the public for help after the body of a grizzly bear was discovered floating in a British Columbia river.

This week, the province’s conservation service said it was investigating the illegal killing of the bear, after remains were discovered near the town of Squamish.

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Geelong Football Club chasing tens of thousands in unpaid debt from Britishvolt buyer

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Money owed by Recharge Industries to the Geelong Cats include unpaid hospitality packages that typically involve premium match-day seating

The Geelong Football Club is chasing Recharge Industries, the company that pledged to resurrect UK’s battery-making ambitions through the purchase of Britishvolt, for tens of thousands of dollars worth of unpaid corporate membership fees.

The unpaid debt adds to the mounting financial stress on the Australian-born firm that received high praise from the deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, and the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, just months ago, but now owes employees significant wages in the US, UK and Australia.

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