In today’s newsletter: Japan’s decision to release radioactive water from the tsunami-hit power plant has divided groups – is it entirely safe or staggeringly stupid?
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Good morning.
Today’s newsletter comes to you from Manchester, original home of the Guardian (est 1821), and me, Helen Pidd, your friendly north of England editor. I’ll be writing the daily briefing alongside Nimo for the next few weeks.
Continue reading...IPPR wants government to take a stake in green technology firms to help Britain keep up with EU and US
The UK risks losing out to the US and EU in the global race to a net zero economy unless the government increases green investment by taking a stake in the companies of the future, a thinktank has said.
The left-leaning Institute for Public Policy Research said Britain needed a “national investment fund” (NIF) that would back new firms and secure a share of any future profits for the public as it called for the state to adopt a “Dragons’ Den” type approach to supporting enterprises.
Continue reading...Burning of fossil fuels made fires at least twice as likely, and the fire-prone weather at least 20% more intense, study shows
The conditions that caused Canada’s extreme spate of wildfires this year, which resulted in parts of the US and Canada to be blanketed in toxic smoke, were made at least twice as likely due to the human-caused climate crisis, scientists have found.
The 2023 Canadian wildfire season has been the largest, and most devastating, on record, with nearly 14m hectares (34m acres) burned, an area larger than Greece. The extent of these fires, more than double the size of the previous record, caused more than a dozen fatalities and thousands of evacuations, and sent a plume of smoke that unfurled as far as Norway and, for a time in June, turned the sky above New York City orange.
Continue reading...First half of year had slowest pace of final approvals in Clean Energy Council’s six years of tracking, but backing for power storage was more promising
Investment in new wind and solar farms has all but stalled with developers facing a “raft of barriers” despite strong political support, the Clean Energy Council said in its latest quarterly report.
The first half of 2023 produced the slowest pace of final investment approvals in the council’s six years of data tracking. Just four generation projects accounting for 348 megawatts – or roughly the size of a single coal-fired power station unit – secured financial commitment in the June quarter.
Continue reading...Release plans approved by UN nuclear authority have caused outcry in China and concern for the reputation of Japan’s seafood
Japan is to begin releasing wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant from Thursday, in defiance of opposition from fishing communities, China and some scientists.
The prime minister, Fumio Kishida, said on Tuesday he had asked the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), “to swiftly prepare for the water discharge” in accordance with plans approved by nuclear regulators, adding that the release would begin on Thursday, “weather and ocean conditions permitting”.
Continue reading...Storm downgraded to post-tropical cyclone as of Monday morning but mudslides still possible
First responders rescued over a dozen unhoused people who were trapped in knee-deep water in Southern California, AP reported.
Fire officials saved 13 people who were caught in a flooded homeless encampment near the San Diego River.
Continue reading...Referendum result protecting Yasuní reserve will benefit huge range of species as well as ‘uncontacted’ Indigenous peoples
Ecuadorians have voted in a historic referendum to halt the development of all new oilwells in the Yasuní national park in the Amazon, one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet.
Voters opted to safeguard the unique biosphere by a margin of nearly 20% with more than 90% of the ballot counted – with more than 58% in favour and 41% against, according to Ecuador’s National Electoral Comission. Voting took place in the first round of presidential elections on Sunday.
Continue reading...Weather ballon climbs to 5,300 metres before temperature falls to 0C amid late summer heatwave
A Swiss weather balloon had to climb to an unprecedented 5,300 metres (17,400ft) before the temperature fell to 0C (32F), meteorologists have said, as a late summer heatwave and wildfires continue to pummel swathes of continental Europe.
A man was found dead in a blaze raging north of Athens on Monday as the Greek government warned of an “extreme” risk of fire across the country, while more than half of mainland France was placed under an amber heat alert.
Continue reading...Storm Hilary expected to cause severe flooding, as other parts of US and Mexico put under extreme heat warnings
For the first time in 84 years, a tropical storm has made landfall in California. Tropical Storm Hilary, with maximum sustained wind gusts of 130mph (210km/h) and a central air pressure of 943mb, advanced towards the Baja California peninsula this weekend as a category 4 hurricane, before arriving as a tropical storm in southern California late on Sunday. The last time a tropical storm made landfall in southern California was in 1939, when it flooded Los Angeles and killed nearly 100 people.
Hilary triggered California’s first ever tropical storm warning, extending from the Mexican border to just north of Los Angeles amid rainfall totals estimated to have reached 70-150mm (3-6in) across southern California. This amount of rainfall is expected to cause life-threatening flooding, and would amount to more than a year’s worth of rain across parts of California and Nevada.
Continue reading...After seeing off a bid to explore near the Bodhinyana monastery, the forest monks are encouraging others to ‘keep the pressure on’
Buddhist monks who have sought enlightenment in a globally unique forest in Western Australia are standing defiant after fighting off an attempt to explore their area for minerals.
Conservationists say the northern Jarrah forest in the state’s south-west, already under pressure from climate change, is the target of several mining companies looking to explore for minerals needed for the clean energy transition.
Continue reading...Referendum alongside presidential election will decide whether to halt extraction in Amazon national park
As Ecuadorians go to the polls on Sunday they must not only decide between eight presidential candidates but also vote on an unprecedented referendum question that could set a new course for the oil-reliant nation.
The poll will decide whether to halt drilling at the Yasuní Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputini (ITT) oilfield, also known as oil block 43, which lies in an Amazon national park and one of the world’s richest pockets of biodiversity. Ecuador’s largest protected area is also home to the Waorani people and the country’s last Indigenous communities in voluntary isolation, the Tagaeri and Taromenane.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Assessment that used to happen annually will now take six years despite rising concerns
Continue reading...The beloved orca, born into the L-pod of resident killer whales in the Pacific north-west, was awaiting release into her home waters
The whale who began her life in the cold waters of the Pacific north-west only to end up in a small enclosure at the Miami Seaquarium has died. On Friday afternoon, a social media post announced that Toki – who was also known by her performing name Lolita, and the name the Lummi tribe gave her, Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut – had died. She was believed to be 57.
A Facebook post from the Miami Seaquarium reported she died from what was believed to be a renal condition. “Toki was an inspiration to all who had the fortune to hear her story and especially to the Lummi nation that considered her family,” the Seaquarium post said. “Those of us who have had the honor and privilege to spend time with her will forever remember her beautiful spirit.”
Continue reading...Traditional owner alleges company failed to adequately consult on effect of Scarborough project blasting on sea country
A traditional owner has filed a legal challenge to the approval of seismic blasting for Woodside’s Scarborough offshore gas project in Western Australia.
Mardudhunera woman Raelene Cooper is seeking a judicial review of the offshore petroleum regulator Nopsema’s decision to grant the approval despite concerns consultation with traditional owners had been inadequate.
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Continue reading...Global temperature was warmest on record last month as Britain faced cloudy and wet conditions
At the start of this week Nasa announced that July 2023 had the highest global temperature recorded for that month since 1880. It was also the warmest month on record.
Readers in the UK may find this hard to believe, given the wet and generally miserable conditions in the country that month. Britain received 19% less sunshine and 170% more rain compared with the 1991-2020 average.
Continue reading...In 2020, Honolulu officials had sued eight oil and gas companies over the steep costs of abating damages from extreme weather
Hawaii’s supreme court on Thursday heard attempts by fossil fuel companies to dismiss a climate accountability lawsuit. The hearing came as the deadly fires in Maui capture global headlines.
“This is the first time the court has been in session since the fires in Maui last week,” the Hawaii supreme court chief justice said as the hearing began, before calling for a moment of silence for those who lost their lives in the blazes.
Continue reading...Water of about 26 million is contaminated as new data offers the most robust look into exactly which communities are polluted
Drinking water consumed by millions of Americans from hundreds of communities spread across the United States is contaminated with dangerous levels of toxic chemicals, according to testing data released on Thursday by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The data shows that drinking water systems serving small towns to large cities – from tiny Collegeville, Pennsylvania, to Fresno, California – contain measurable levels of so-called “forever chemicals”, a family of durable compounds long used in a variety of commercial products but that are now known to be harmful.
Continue reading...Worst wildfires in the Canary Islands in at least 40 years drawing closer to the capital Santa Cruz
More than 7,500 people have been evacuated or ordered to stay indoors as the worst wildfire in at least four decades ravages the Canary island of Tenerife, burning through 2,600 hectares (6,425 acres) of land and drawing closer to the capital, Santa Cruz.
Fernando Clavijo, the regional president of the Canaries, said more than 250 firefighters – backed by military emergency crews and 17 aircraft – were working to tackle the fire, which broke out in the north-east of the island on Tuesday and which currently has a 32km (20-mile) perimeter.
Continue reading...If cutting continues along its current pace, most of the Moskitia forest – and the way of life it sustains – could be lost by 2050, much sooner for many parts
Several hours down a clandestine road that slithers through the rotting remains of what was once protected rainforest in north-eastern Honduras, a rusted bulldozer overgrown with vines and a locked gate appeared ahead.
A vinyl banner hanging from a wooden fence advertised the sale of cattle for breeding. Behind, a palm tree stood above an empty corral like a watchtower. The driver got out to retrieve a key, a pistol tucked inside his belt.
Continue reading...National conference outlines plans for energy transition, making early childhood education universal and closing gender pay gap
The Albanese government has rejected an internal push to ban native forest logging, instead committing to rewrite the three-decades old national forest policy statement this term.
Labor Environment Action Network spokesperson, Felicity Wade, praised the commitment but labelled native forest logging a “travesty” in a speech to Labor’s national conference on Thursday.
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