Category Archives: Environment

Cop28: Australia to bring evidence it can meet 2030 climate target but pressure builds over fossil fuels

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Chris Bowen says country ‘reaping the economic opportunities’ of clean energy as emissions projection improves

The Albanese government will head to a major UN climate summit in Dubai furnishing new evidence that Australia is all but on track to meet its 2030 emissions target, but facing calls that it must do more to limit the country’s fossil fuel exports.

A snapshot of an upcoming emissions projections report released by the climate change minister, Chris Bowen, suggests Australia will likely cut its CO2 pollution to 42% below 2005 levels by 2030 – nearly in line with the government’s 43% reduction target.

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‘We have to work urgently’: Mexican ecologists start campaign to save axolotl

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Pollution has tamped population density by 99.5%, but scientists think cultural icon could aid in tissue repair and cancer recovery

Ecologists from Mexico’s National Autonomous University on Friday relaunched a fundraising campaign to bolster conservation efforts for axolotls, a native, endangered fish-like type of salamander.

The campaign, called Adoptaxolotl, asks people for as little as 600 pesos (about $35) to virtually adopt one of the tiny “water monsters”. Virtual adoption comes with live updates on your axolotl’s health. For less money, donors can buy a virtual dinner for one of the creatures, which are relatively popular pets in the US.

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Exposure to widely used insecticides decreases sperm concentration, study finds

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Study’s author says ‘we need to reduce exposure in order to ensure men who want to conceive are able to without interference’

Exposure to several widely used insecticides probably decreases sperm concentration and may have profound effects on male fertility, new US research finds.

The George Mason University paper analyzed five decades of peer-reviewed studies to determine if organophosphates and carbamate-based pesticides exposure correlated with decreased sperm concentration.

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Weather tracker: Ethiopia hit by severe drought amid east Africa floods

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More than 50 people dead in Tigray and Amhara regions while UN warns of ‘crisis-level hunger or worse’ in Somalia

The regions of Tigray and Amhara in northern Ethiopia have continued to experience severe drought conditions with more than 50 people dead, as well as 4,000 cattle.

While northern Ethiopia suffers from droughts, the southern and eastern parts of the country, along with Kenya and Somalia, have been hit by flooding. Somalia suffered the worst of the flooding, with 50 people reported dead. According to the Somali disaster management agency almost 700,000 people have been forced to leave their homes.

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Toxic air killed more than 500,000 people in EU in 2021, data shows

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European Environment Agency says half of deaths could have been avoided by cutting pollution to recommended limits

Dirty air killed more than half a million people in the EU in 2021, estimates show, and about half of the deaths could have been avoided by cutting pollution to the limits recommended by doctors.

The researchers from the European Environment Agency attributed 253,000 early deaths to concentrations of fine particulates known as PM2.5 that breached the World Health Organization’s maximum guideline limits of 5µg/m3. A further 52,000 deaths came from excessive levels of nitrogen dioxide and 22,000 deaths from short-term exposure to excessive levels of ozone.

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Illegal bird of prey killings fall to lowest level in decade, but ‘true figure may be far higher’

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RSPB says figures distorted by failure to examine raptors caught in avian flu outbreak for signs of shooting or poisoning

Confirmed incidents of the illegal persecution of birds of prey have fallen to their lowest levels for more than a decade, according to the latest RSPB Birdcrime report.

But the conservation charity warned that the reduction in incidents to 61 in 2022 is distorted by a failure to examine dead raptors caught in the avian flu outbreak for signs of illegal killing.

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US coal power plants killed at least 460,000 people in past 20 years – report

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Pollution caused twice as many premature deaths as previously thought, with updated understanding of dangers of PM2.5

Coal-fired power plants killed at least 460,000 Americans during the past two decades, causing twice as many premature deaths as previously thought, new research has found.

Cars, factories, fire smoke and electricity plants emit tiny toxic air pollutants known as fine particulate matter or PM2.5, which elevate the risk of an array of life-shortening medical conditions including asthma, heart disease, low birth weight and some cancers.

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Shell to face human rights claims in UK over chronic oil pollution in Niger delta

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More than 13,000 Nigerian villagers can bring legal claims against oil firm, rules high court

Thousands of Nigerian villagers can bring human rights claims against the fossil fuel company Shell over the chronic oil pollution of their water sources and destruction of their way of life, the high court in London has ruled.

Mrs Justice May ruled this week that more than 13,000 farmers and fishers from the Ogale and Bille communities in the Niger delta were entitled to bring legal claims against Shell for alleged breaches to their right to a clean environment.

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‘Alive with rats’: north Queensland town of Karumba overrun by plague of swimming rodents

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A sea of rats has been washing up dead on the beach, with others scurrying across boat ramps into garden sheds and homes

The north Queensland town of Karumba is home to saltwater crocs, brolgas and black swans – and, more recently – hundreds of swimming rats.

A sea of rodents has been washing up dead on the beach in recent days, with others scurrying across the boat ramps into garden sheds and homes.

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Man found dead after statewide search – as it happened

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Hostage release essential if truce to last, Paterson says

Rewinding to Liberal MP James Paterson’s appearance on RN Breakfast this morning, wheN he said more needs to be done to free the hostages Hamas is holding in Gaza.

We don’t know how many of them are still alive, and their continued release would be essential for any continuing ceasefire because otherwise Israel continues to have a legitimate military objective.

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Madagascan heatwave ‘virtually impossible’ without human-caused global heating

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Study finds impact of heat on millions of people went unrecorded, highlighting limitations many African countries face

A record-breaking heatwave in Madagascar in October would have been “virtually impossible” without human-caused global heating, a study has shown.

The extreme temperatures affected millions of very poor people but the damage to their lives was not recorded by officials or the media. Many governments in Africa lack the capabilities to record climate impacts. The scientists behind the report said this lack of information made implementing measures to avoid deaths very difficult.

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Companies still investing too much in fossil fuels, global energy watchdog says

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Head of International Energy Agency says the industry faces a ‘moment of truth’ as Cop28 talks approach

Fossil fuel companies are investing twice as much in oil and gas as they should if the world hopes to limit rising global temperatures to avert a climate catastrophe, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The world’s energy watchdog said that the sector still had “minimal” engagement with the global clean energy transition, and continued to contribute just 1% of clean energy investment globally.

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Toowoomba council votes for moratorium on coal seam gas projects

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Council becomes sixth in Queensland to oppose development of new wells after farmer concerns about sinking soil and water contamination

The largest council in Queensland’s Darling Downs region has called on the state government to put a moratorium on new coal seam gas projects, after local farmers raised concerns about subsidence.

The Toowoomba regional council on Tuesday unanimously passed the motion that requested a temporary prohibition, after discussing a submission to the state government’s proposed amendments to the Regional Planning Interests Act.

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US Coast Guard looking for source of pipeline leak in Gulf of Mexico

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A 67-mile long line was closed last Thursday after after an estimated 1m gallons of crude oil was released

The US Coast Guard said on Tuesday it is still seeking the source of a leak from a pipeline linked to a Houston-based firm, off the Louisiana coast in the Gulf of Mexico which it estimated has released more than 1m gallons of crude oil.

The 67-mile long undersea pipeline was closed by Main Pass Oil Gathering Co (MPOG) last Thursday after crude oil was spotted around 19 miles offshore of the Mississippi River Delta, near Plaquemines Parish, south-east of New Orleans.

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‘Breakthrough battery’ from Sweden may cut dependency on China

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Northvolt says new lithium-free sodium-ion battery is cheaper, more sustainable and doesn’t rely on scarce raw materials

Europe’s energy and electric vehicle industries could reduce their dependency on scarce raw materials from China after the launch of a “breakthrough” sodium-ion battery, according to its Swedish developer.

Northvolt, Europe’s only large homegrown electric battery maker, has said it has made a lower cost, more sustainable battery designed to store electricity which does not use lithium, nickel, graphite and cobalt.

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In climate-vulnerable New Orleans, residents face battle to lower carbon emissions

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Amid the heat and humidity, energy bills in New Orleans are surging – but the options for low-income residents are severely limited

Darlene Jones spends most of her time holed up in the bedroom to minimize the amount of electricity she uses to cool and light her home in downtown New Orleans.

Air seeps out from the doors and windows of the 1890 one-bedroom shotgun house – and through the bashed-up floorboards and ceiling that Jones cannot afford to repair. She has wrapped foam around the leaky air-conditioning pipes, and taped handwritten signs on the front door above the metal letterbox that read “Please close the slot”.

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‘Vulnerable’ Pacific countries must get maximum benefit from ‘loss and damage’ fund, Australian climate minister says

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Chris Bowen also says climate disaster fund will need to be bankrolled by broader-than-expected range of countries in speech ahead of Cop28

Australia’s climate minister, Chris Bowen, says Pacific nations and other countries vulnerable to climate catastrophe should be the major beneficiaries of “loss and damage” funding, and a broader range of countries should bankroll the international effort along with the private sector.

Bowen used a speech to a foreign policy thinktank on Tuesday night to signal Australia’s position ahead of Cop28, the looming United Nations-led climate talks, which get under way in the United Arab Emirates later this month.

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BoM provides El Niño update – as it happened

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Birmingham says China ‘doesn’t appear to be acknowledging the facts’

Shadow foreign minister Simon Birmingham is speaking with ABC RN and is asked about sonar pulses from a Chinese warship that left one Australian naval diver injured.

The Australian navy and Australian defence force operates always with professionalism, and I’m confident that Australia’s version of events is a credible.

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Zimbabwean ranger brings unloved painted dogs back from brink

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Jealous Mpofu wins Tusk’s ranger of the year award for his work with a maligned and misunderstood species

When Jealous Mpofu was a boy, he overheard his father’s bosses talking negatively about painted dogs, wild African canines with distinct marble coats that are among the world’s most endangered species.

“They said they didn’t kill an animal, they grabbed the flesh. They said they were rough animals,” Mpofu said.

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Restaurants, pets and holidays: how UK’s well-off have outsize carbon footprints

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Data shows baby boomers have highest emissions and London has lower footprint than rest of UK

• The great carbon divide: charting a climate chasm

Restaurants, pets and foreign holidays are among the reasons why the UK’s most well-off people rack up carbon footprints far greater than those on low incomes, according to data shared with the Guardian.

The biggest carbon divide is in aviation, with the richest 10% in the UK – the 6.7 million people paid more than £59,000 a year – causing more than six times more climate-heating emissions from flights than the poorest 10%. Spending on electrical items, homeware and furniture also contributes to the outsize impact of the wealthy, who splash out four times more on these goods.

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