Rescuers search for missing after huge volumes of rain fall in area around Jablanica and Konjic, causing sudden flooding
Rescue teams are searching for survivors after flash floods and landslides hit parts of Bosnia, killing at least 16 people and injuring dozens more.
Construction machines worked to remove piles of rocks and debris covering the central town of Jablanica after the rainstorm early on Friday.
Continue reading...Decision opposed by five countries including Germany, where car firms say it could be ‘fatal’ blow for industry
EU leaders have given the green light to extra tariffs on electric vehicles from China despite opposition from five countries including Germany, where car manufacturers condemned the decision as a potential “fatal” blow for the auto industry.
The European Commission – which provisionally approved the step in June after an inquiry found that Beijing’s state aid to auto manufacturers was unfair – now has free rein to impose steep tariffs for five years from the end of this month.
Continue reading...New vehicle efficiency standards (NVES) will not apply to at least four large vehicles, source says
New fuel efficiency standards due to come into force from January will not apply to at least four large vehicle models because of a gap within the legislation, the motor industry has been told.
The Albanese government said earlier this year its new vehicle efficiency standards (NVES) would save motorists about $1,000 a year while cutting fuel use and carbon emissions.
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Continue reading...Investment will fund two CCS clusters – but environmental campaigners have criticised plans
Rachel Reeves is paving the way for a multibillion-pound increase in public-sector investment at the budget after the government announced plans to commit almost £22bn over 25 years to fund carbon capture and storage projects.
In what is expected to be one of the biggest green spending promises of the parliament, the chancellor, prime minister and the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, will unveil the details on a visit to the Liverpool city region on Friday declaring a “new era” for clean energy jobs.
Continue reading...Study uncovers vivid and poignant accounts of reefs as high as houses off countries including UK, France and Ireland
Only a handful of natural oyster reefs measuring at most a few square metres cling on precariously along European coasts after being wiped out by overfishing, dredging and pollution.
A study led by British scientists has discovered how extensive they once were, with reefs as high as a house covering at least 1.7m hectares (4.2m acres) from Norway to the Mediterranean, an area larger than Northern Ireland.
Continue reading...Social media stars of 367 Collins Street welcome baby birds to the nest
Joy can be hatched in the most unexpected places. On Thursday, it was nestled into the ledge of a skyscraper in Melbourne’s CBD, where two peregrine falcon chicks entered the world for the first time.
The newest members of Melbourne’s favourite family hatched in the morning on top of 367 Collins Street, witnessed by more than 1,000 viewers on the building’s rolling live feed.
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Continue reading...Customer disputes over sewage spills, billing mistakes and water meters soar in past year
The number of customer complaints that were unable to be resolved by water companies in England and Wales has risen by almost a third to the highest level in nearly a decade.
There was a 29% increase in 2023-24 in cases escalated to the Consumer Council for Water (CCW) by households that failed to achieve a resolution from their supplier, the watchdog said.
Continue reading...Credibility ‘damaged’ by proposed 12-month delay, which followed lobbying from governments and firms around the world
A former top environment official has said the EU’s credibility on its climate commitments has been damaged by plans for a one-year delay to a law to combat deforestation that followed intense lobbying from companies and governments around the world.
Virginijus Sinkevičius, a Lithuanian MEP who was the environment commissioner until mid-July, said postponing the deforestation regulation would be “a step backward in the fight against climate change”.
Continue reading...Damage to sewage systems and pipes means widespread boil water notices and conservation orders could last weeks
Hurricane Helene left a path of devastation behind, with storm-ravaged areas struggling to access safe water for days because flooding damaged sewage systems, wastewater treatment plants and pipes that deliver drinking water to residents in the affected areas.
Boiling water advisories and water conservation orders are in place in counties in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia.
Continue reading...Nuclear waste dump in Cumbria pleaded guilty to leaving data that could threaten national security exposed for four years, says regulator
Sellafield will have to pay almost £400,000 after it pleaded guilty to criminal charges over years of cybersecurity failings at Britain’s most hazardous nuclear site.
The vast nuclear waste dump in Cumbria left information that could threaten national security exposed for four years, according to the industry regulator, which brought the charges. It was also found that 75% of its computer servers were vulnerable to cyber-attack.
Continue reading...Proponents say using hallucinogens can spark ‘consciousness shifts’ to inspire climate-friendly behaviors
Thousands gathered for New York City’s annual Climate Week last week to promote climate solutions, from the phaseout of fossil-fuel subsidies to nuclear energy to corporate-led schemes like carbon credits. Others touted a more offbeat potential salve to the crisis: psychedelics.
Under the banner of Psychedelic Climate Week, a group of academics, marketers and advocates gathered for a film on pairing magic mushrooms with music, a discussion on funding ketamine-assisted therapy and a panel on “Balancing Investing & Impact with Climate & Psychedelic Capital”.
Continue reading...Camera installed inside a tree hollow in NSW forest to raise awareness of the plight of the endangered possum
Conservationists call them “ridiculously cute” and “captivating” – and now a live stream offers a global audience the chance to view life inside the hollow for a family of eastern Australia’s largest gliding possums.
The hollow-cam broadcasting live from a tree in south-east NSW offered unlimited greater glider viewing for animal lovers and reality TV tragics.
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Continue reading...Excessive heat warnings bring elevated wildfire risk, potential for power outages and rising death toll
San Francisco recorded its hottest day of the year on Tuesday, and Phoenix set a record for the hottest 1 October on record, as the National Weather Service predicted record-high fall temperatures across the south-western US.
With temperatures hitting 100F (38C) or higher in many places, officials and local media outlets issued warnings that the heat posed “a significant threat to property or life”. Excessive heat warnings were in place across the region, bringing with it warnings about elevated wildfire risk, the potential for sweeping power outages in California and a rising toll of heat-related deaths, a particularly deadly risk for unhoused people and the elderly.
Continue reading...At least 468 shot by government controllers last year out of an estimated population of as few as 2,640 in the state’s east, advocates say
Traditional owners and dingo advocates say a Victorian government decision extending the right to kill dingoes on private and public land until 2028 could threaten local populations with extinction.
A government order, which took effect on Tuesday, declared dingoes were “unprotected wildlife” under the state’s Wildlife Act. The ruling means dingoes can be killed by trapping, poisoning or shooting across large parts of eastern Victoria, despite being listed as threatened under the state’s Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act.
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Continue reading...RMIT-led study recommends a national recycling scheme to reduce the 200,000 tonnes of textiles sent to landfill each year
Most Australians are confused about what to do with their unwanted clothes, leading about a third to throw their closet clutter in the rubbish, according to the first national survey of clothing use and disposal habits.
The RMIT-led survey of 3,080 Australians found 84% of people owned garments they hadn’t worn in the past year, including a third who hadn’t touched more than half of their wardrobe.
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National weather forecasts
Sticking with the weather, here’s a look at the forecasts across Australia’s capital cities today:
Continue reading...Bethany Beach firefly, found in Delaware, Maryland and Virginia, faces dangers to habitat because of climate change
The US government is seeking to consider a firefly species as endangered for the first time, according to a proposal from the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
The Bethany Beach firefly, found in coastal Delaware, Maryland and Virginia, is facing increasing dangers to its natural habitat because of climate change-related events. They include sea level rise, which is predicted to affect all sites within the known distribution by the end of the century, and the lowering of groundwater aquifers.
Continue reading...Birds outnumber residents in Hilario Ascasubi, after deforestation leads them to seek food, shelter and water
The town of Hilario Ascasubi near Argentina’s eastern Atlantic coast has a parrot problem.
Thousands of the green, yellow and red birds have invaded, driven by deforestation in the surrounding hills, according to biologists. They bite on the town’s electric cables, causing outages, and are driving residents around the bend with their incessant screeching and deposits everywhere of parrot poo.
Continue reading...Labor government has undermined case to co-host 2026 UN climate summit with island nations, Dr Maina Talia declares
Tuvalu’s climate minister says Australia’s decision to approve three coalmine expansions calls into question the country’s claim to be a “member of the Pacific family” and undermines the Australian case to co-host the 2026 UN climate summit with island nations.
Dr Maina Talia said last week’s mine approvals, which analysts say could generate more than 1.3bn tonnes of carbon dioxide across their lifetime once the coal is shipped and burned overseas, was “a direct threat to our collective future”.
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Continue reading...River erosion has pushed the mountain upwards and added an extra 15 to 50 metres over the past 89,000 years
Climbing Mount Everest has always been a feat, but it seems the task might be getting harder: researchers say Everest is having something of a growth spurt.
The Himalayas formed about 50m years ago, when the Indian subcontinent smashed into the Eurasian tectonic plate – although recent research has suggested the edges of these plates were already very high before the collision.
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