Around The Web

Analysis: glaciers are on average 8 metres thinner and many have vanished completely because of global heating

The rate at which glaciers have been thinning has accelerated in recent years. Since the 1960s, when the effects of global heating started to become clear, the pace of melting has grown faster and faster.

In the 1960s, glaciers were losing just a few centimetres of thickness a year, and in some years even adding mass. However, by the 1990s, it was normal to see 40-60cm a year of average ice loss. The only exception was in the year after the enormous volcanic eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991, which had a dramatic cooling effect on the Earth, resulting in a slight gain in mass.

Continue reading...

Commercial beekeepers in the US say counterfeit honey from Asia is forcing down prices and pushing them to financial collapse

Imports of cheap, fake honey from Asia are pushing American beekeepers to financial collapse, according to a lawsuit.

Thousands of commercial beekeepers in the US have taken legal action against the country’s largest honey importers and packers for allegedly flooding the market with hundreds of thousands of tonnes of counterfeit honey.

Continue reading...

A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.

How a study designated the rare, odd-looking frogmouth the most instagrammable of avian species.

Owners of wood burners and open fires will need to burn cleaner alternatives as new rules come into force.

The Ocean Cleanup suggests plastic pollution comes from more rivers in the world than previously thought.

CO2 output under the US Northeast and Mid-Atlantic RGGI cap-and-trade programme rose by 17% during the first quarter of 2021 even when excluding new member Virginia, as the return of several coal plants to the grid boosted emissions, according to data updated Friday.

International team of researchers also found that deforestation rose nearly four-fold in 2019

The Brazilian Amazon released nearly 20% more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere over the past decade than it absorbed, according to a startling report that shows humanity can no longer depend on the world’s largest tropical forest to help absorb manmade carbon pollution.

From 2010 through 2019, Brazil’s Amazon basin gave off 16.6bn tonnes of CO2, while drawing down only 13.9bn tonnes, researchers reported Thursday in the journal Nature Climate Change.

Continue reading...

With our Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) project, we are targeting becoming the world’s first carbon negative power station from 2027. We’ll be producing negative emissions which will help decarbonise the UK economy and we’ll also be in a position to help other corporations meet their net zero ambitions too. That’s where you come in.

Regulated entities came closer to holding a cumulative California Carbon Allowance (CCA) short position this week for the first time in over a year, while financial entities continued their months-long permit accumulation, according to US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data published Friday.

Credit generation under the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) grew by nearly 5% during the fourth quarter of 2020, with record volumes from biofuels and electric vehicles propped up by a fall in deficit generation from petroleum-based options.

NSW mine’s owner Whitehaven Coal allowed to buy extra properties for offsets in what’s being called a ‘lukewarm’ victory

Environmental activists have dropped a legal challenge to Whitehaven Coal’s Maules Creek coalmine in New South Wales after a new agreement on environmental offsets was approved in what has been described as a “lukewarm victory”.

South East Forest Alliance and its legal representative, the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO), say the decision vindicates community members who accused Whitehaven of not acquiring enough critically endangered land to compensate for destroying habitat. .

Continue reading...

Nasa is so pleased with the success of the Ingenuity helicopter, it is extending its mission.

Germany and Russia have signed a €2 billion memorandum of understanding (MoU) to leverage the controversial gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 for the eventual distribution of hydrogen, even as the European Parliament called for the project to be halted due to rising tensions with Moscow.

*PREMIUM LISTING (viewable by non-subscribers until May 31) – The purpose of this role is to lead South Pole’s Nature Based solutions (NBS) practice within the Sourcing Function. Reporting directly to the Director of Global Sourcing, in this leadership role, you are accountable for overseeing all NBS operations and activities.

Exclusive: Frans Timmermans says older people need to make sacrifices to protect the future

Older people will have to make sacrifices in the fight against climate change or today’s children will face a future of fighting wars for water and food, the EU’s deputy chief has warned.

Frans Timmermans, vice-president of the EU commission, said that if social policy and climate policy are not combined, to share fairly the costs and benefits of creating a low-carbon economy, the world will face a backlash from people who fear losing jobs or income, stoked by populist politicians and fossil fuel interests.

Continue reading...

A summary of legislative and regulatory action on carbon pricing, clean fuel standards, and clean energy at the US subnational and federal level this week, including developments in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.

EUAs briefly dropped below €48 on Friday after a weak auction and as traders adopt a more cautious outlook for the coming month following the passing of the end-April ETS compliance deadline.

*PREMIUM LISTING (viewable by non-subscribers until May 31) – Our Climate Strategies Consultancy team partners with global corporate leaders in sustainability. Wherever our clients are on their climate journey, we provide them with unique and unparalleled technical expertise. Our success relies on deep knowledge, trust and accountability - we inspire climate action every step of the way, every single day!

Study finds more relatively warm water is reaching Thwaites glacier than was previously understood

An Antarctic glacier larger than the UK is at risk of breaking up after scientists discovered more warm water flowing underneath it than previously thought.

The fate of Thwaites – nicknamed the doomsday glacier – and the massive west Antarctic ice sheet it supports are the biggest unknown factors in future global sea level rise.

Continue reading...