October’s summery temperatures are ‘confusing’ plants and throwing off fragile ecosystems
Britain’s rare chalk grasslands and dormice are under threat from the mild weather this autumn, and some plants are “confused” and have flowered multiple times, experts have said.
This October, the UK has experienced temperatures more normal for spring or summer, with highs of 19.5C recorded this week, and more warm weather forecast for coming days.
Continue reading...Wonnarua people want Ravensworth Homestead added to the state heritage register and to become a site of reconciliation
The New South Wales independent planning commission has for the first time ruled against a coalmine extension in Singleton.
Scott Franks and Robert Lester, representatives of the Plains Clans of the Wonnarua People (PCWP), learned this week that priceless Wonnarua cultural heritage in the Upper Hunter region – centred on the Ravensworth Homestead – would be protected because the planning commission had denied Glencore’s Glendell coalmine expansion.
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Sophie Nicholls is a freelance writer based in the Hunter Valley
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Continue reading...AAPA seeks leave to appeal against NT supreme court decision that found director is exempt from prosecution under state’s laws
A fight to hold Parks Australia to account over a walking track built through a sacred site in the Kakadu national park could be heading to the high court after a lower court found a Northern Territory law did not apply to the federal organisation.
The Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority (AAPA) has sought leave to appeal against a decision by the NT supreme court in September which found the director of Parks Australia was exempt from prosecution under the NT Aboriginal Sacred Sites Act.
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Continue reading...Group’s earliest primogenitor was probably a diminutive creature with a long snout, researchers suggest
The last common ancestor of today’s placental mammals – a group that includes humans, whales and armadillos – was probably a shrew-like creature with a long snout, researchers have revealed.
The forerunners of mammals are believed to have split from what eventually became reptiles around 320m years ago, but it was not until some time between 70 and 80m years ago that placental mammals arose.
Continue reading...Temperatures expected to hit 20C in UK, Germany and France this weekend
Three months ago, Britain experienced its hottest day on record. Records were similarly broken in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands as an extreme heatwave swept across much of Europe.
Now, with much of western Europe experiencing unusually mild autumnal temperatures caused by the jet stream – strong winds blowing from west to east – figures are expected to reach 20C this weekend in parts of Britain, Germany, France and elsewhere, according to national weather services.
Continue reading...MPs and peers say Alaa Abd El-Fattah’s life is seriously at risk and his sister is being ignored
The foreign secretary, James Cleverly, has been accused by MPs and peers of ignoring the case of jailed British-Egyptian hunger striker Alaa Abd El-Fattah.
He has also been accused of failing to engage with the activist’s sister, Sanaa Seif, who has camped outside the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office for 10 days in an effort to force the British government to act.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Organiser says income from gas company was tied to deal and ‘we are now searching for a new sponsor’
Organisers of a nationwide schools science roadshow say they have dropped gas company Santos as its main sponsor after a senior climate scientist said the fossil fuel funding was inappropriate.
The Science Schools Foundation, which runs the Santos Science Experience, told Guardian Australia its board had decided not to renew the gas company as its naming rights sponsor for next year.
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Continue reading...With famine in Somalia almost inevitable, Martin Griffiths criticises opaque handling of $100bn a year promised to poorer countries
The UN’s humanitarian chief has questioned why billions of dollars pledged to tackle the climate crisis have not been used to fight famine in Somalia.
Martin Griffiths said he did not know where the promised $100bn (£87bn) a year to fight the impact of global heating in poorer countries had gone, and called for greater transparency around climate finance.
Continue reading...Experts say crude oil pipeline from Uganda to Tanzania will produce 25 times host nations’ combined annual emissions
An oil pipeline under construction in east Africa will produce vast amounts of carbon dioxide, according to new analysis. The project will result in 379m tonnes of climate-heating pollution, according to an expert assessment, more than 25 times the combined annual emissions of Uganda and Tanzania, the host nations.
The East African crude oil pipeline (EACOP) will transport oil drilled in a biodiverse national park in Uganda more than 870 miles to a port in Tanzania for export. The main backers of the multibillion dollar project are the French oil company TotalEnergies and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC).
Continue reading...Video shows captive Madagascan primates using elongated finger to pick nose and eat the mucus
With its big eyes, bushy tail and sensitive ears, the aye-aye may appear a cute, if quirky, creature. But now researchers have discovered it has a less endearing trait: it uses its long middle finger to pick its nose – and eat the mucus.
Aye-ayes are – like humans – primates, but they are nocturnal, endangered and only found in Madagascar. An object of superstition, they have a number of unusual features, including rodent-like teeth and a skinny, elongated finger with a ball-and-socket joint.
Continue reading...Owners mourn ‘modern-day classic’ as last factory in Germany switches to new electric models
“I don’t know what I’d go for if I didn’t have the Fiesta,” said Karen Fox, a civil servant in Edinburgh. She is due to pick up her fourth version of the model on Saturday, but it is likely to be her last: Ford on Wednesday confirmed it will end production of the UK’s all-time bestselling car next June.
The model’s end will become only the latest symbol of the shift from internal combustion engines to batteries: the factory in Cologne, Germany, where the last Fiestas are being made will switch to producing two new electric models.
Continue reading...PM said he stood by Tories’ 2019 manifesto policy when asked in Commons, in rebuff to Liz Truss
Fracking will in effect remain banned under Rishi Sunak’s government, his spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday, saying the new prime minister was committed to the policy in the 2019 manifesto.
The confirmation came after the prime minister told the Commons that he “stands by” the manifesto, which put a moratorium on shale gas extraction.
Continue reading...Stricter standards will tackle fine particulates and PFAS and require polluters to pay for cleanups
The EU executive has proposed tighter controls on pollutants and chemicals that harm air quality and foul lakes, rivers and seas, but health campaigners said the plans lacked urgency.
As part of a major reform of the EU’s anti-pollution legislation, the European Commission said it planned to tighten air quality standards, including on one of the most dangerous pollutants, fine particulate matter. Water standards are also going to be stricter, with 25 substances added to a control list, such as the category of PFAS (also known as “forever chemicals”), the substance Bisphenol A, pesticides including glyphosate, and antibiotics.
Continue reading...Experts call for tighter regulations as tests find ethoxyquin exceeds maximum limits in Tassal and Petuna salmon
A fish feed additive banned in the European Union out of concerns for health impacts in animals and humans has been found in Tasmanian salmon at concerning levels, say experts who are calling for tighter regulations.
Dr Christian Narkowicz, an organic chemist, last year commissioned the National Measurement Institute to test salmon for residues of ethoxyquin.
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Continue reading...ACCC to review gas industry as Labor’s budget forecasts point to a 56% rise in power prices over the next two years
The Albanese government has asked the competition watchdog to review the code of conduct covering the gas industry and recommend options to toughen the current regime in the hope of delivering energy price relief to households and businesses.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission confirmed it had new riding instructions from the government after the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, on Wednesday flagged fresh government intervention in the energy market.
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Continue reading...Maricopa county’s 359 heat-associated fatalities this year outpace 339 deaths confirmed in 2021, figures show
This summer was the deadliest on record for heat-related deathsin Arizona’s largest county, with public health statistics this week confirming 359 such deaths just days before the end of the six-month heat season.
The jump comes amid a growing homelessness crisis in the area and raises questions about how to better protect vulnerable people in the desert south-west as temperatures soar.
Continue reading...Hydrologist says flood levels similar to last year but this time the water has nowhere to go, prolonging the disaster
About 1,500 residents in Narrabri, in the north-west slopes of New South Wales, have been told to evacuate as the flooding crisis continues across swathes of eastern Australia.
There were 121 current emergency warnings in place across NSW on Tuesday, including 22 directing people to evacuate or move to higher ground, as swollen rivers threatened homes.
Continue reading...Estimates growth will lose about quarter of a percentage point during the current quarter, or about $5bn in economic activity, because of flooding
The increasing frequency of weather disasters will take its toll on the economy in the near term and force the government to fork out hundreds of millions of dollars to build resilience for more to come.
As Australia endures its third La Niña event in as many years, the budget estimates growth will lose about quarter of a percentage point during the current quarter, or about $5bn in economic activity, because of the flooding across the country’s south-east.
Continue reading...We will be breaking into the political coverage today to keep you updated on the floods as well:
Overnight, residents of the north west NSW town of Narrabri have been ordered to evacuate due to flooding, with the SES issuing the warnings for the town’s industrial and residential areas.
The rivers are very, very full and, of course, our dams are mostly at full capacity at present. So, even the smallest rainfall can cause an elevated risk of flash flooding and riverine flooding. We will see rivers decline, but the risk is real.
We are bracing for another wet weather system into the state on the weekend.
He is a friend of Australia as the UK is a friend of Australia. We congratulate him on his elevation to the Prime Ministership. The UK, like Australia, has no shortage of challenges and no shortage of economic challenges.
So, we wish Rishi Sunak well. Some of us had the opportunity to work with him briefly when we first came to government. I was able to exchange messages with him when he was unsuccessful in the last leadership ballot. I think it says something about his commitment and his persistence, the way that he conducted himself in the interim. I don’t think it’s insignificant that a country like the United Kingdom has its first Prime Minister of colour.
Continue reading...US assistant secretary of state says two countries have stopped creation of new protected areas in Antarctica ‘for too long’
The US has urged China and Russia to “get on side with conservation” and stop blocking nearly 4m sq km in new marine protected areas around Antarctica.
Speaking at a major international meeting on Antarctic conservation in Hobart, the US assistant secretary of state, Monica Medina, said the two countries had prevented the creation of three new protected areas in Antarctic waters “for too long” and it was time to “shake up the system”.
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