Around The Web

• Satellites record 61% rise in hotspots over September 2019
• Scientist warns: ‘It could get worse if the drought continues’

Fires in Brazil’s Amazon increased 13% in the first nine months of the year compared with a year ago, as the rainforest region experiences its worst rash of blazes in a decade, data from space research agency Inpe has shown.

Satellites in September recorded 32,017 hotspots in the world’s largest rainforest, a 61% rise from the same month in 2019.

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The UK government has once again fined oil and gas companies BP and Repsol Sinopec for regulation breaches relating to the EU ETS.

The university says it is responding to the "urgent existential threat" of climate change.

How precariously balanced rocks will inform the earthquake hazards faced by critical infrastructure.

The German Presidency of the Council of EU member states will seek by year-end to reach unanimous backing for an EU-wide 55% emissions reduction target by 2030, although solidarity among the 27 nations will be crucial in reaching a deal, Germany’s environment minister said on Thursday.

Investors say the Morrison government's Technology Roadmap is not a replacement 'for a coherent national climate policy', or a lack of 2050 target.

The post Technology roadmap not a credible policy to tackle climate, investors say appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Leading scientists call for realism about what a vaccine against Covid can achieve next year.

EUAs dipped back towards €26 early on Thursday amid a poor auction result, worsening prospects for a UK-EU trade pact, and weaker energy prices.

Freedom of information request shows dramatic fall in number of inspectors and 30% rise in whistleblower complaints

The safety of US meat plant workers is at risk, workers and campaigners believe, because of a triple whammy of increased line speeds, higher turnover and fewer workers due to coronavirus.

Authorities, meanwhile, are failing to keep up with the problem. A freedom of information request to the US government shows a dramatic decrease in the number of plant inspectors, while the number of whistleblower complaints has increased by 30% over the past year.

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Documents show BP, Shell and Equinor had several meetings with government officials

Fossil fuel firms have held a series of private meetings with UK government officials in an attempt to be part of next year’s crucial global climate talks, which are to be held in Scotland.

Documents show that some of the world’s biggest polluting corporations have been lobbying the government, offering money in return for exposure at Cop26 and in one case saying they could act as an intermediary between UK officials and other governments around the world.

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This position works closely with the First Vice President and MDs across the organisation.  It involves frequent direct interaction: (i) internally with the Board and Directors and (ii) externally at ministerial and CEO levels principally on international and national climate policy and financing matters.

Uncontrolled release of birds for shooting threatens UK’s only venomous snake, expert warns

The adder, Britain’s only venomous snake, could become extinct across much of Britain within 12 years because of the uncontrolled release of millions of game birds, according to an expert.

The warning comes at the start of the pheasant shooting season, during which 47 million non-native pheasants and 10 million partridges will be released into the countryside by estates and shoots across Britain.

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Big is beautiful in the public vote for the brown bear piling on the most pounds before hibernation in Alaska’s Katmai national park

Deep into a tumultuous and often harrowing year, it will be a relief to many that America has now finally arrived at a cherished annual highlight: fat bear week.

Related: US government issues bear advice: friends don't let friends get eaten

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Scientists look forward to data from tags tracking captive-bred white storks at a West Sussex farm

Marge, a white stork released onto a rewilded farm in West Sussex, is shedding light on the birds’ unpredictable migratory habits by flying to Morocco for her first winter and spending the summer in Spain.

Scientists are using satellite tags to track white storks released onto the Knepp estate to learn what migratory habits the captive-bred birds will develop.

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Half of all confirmed persecution reports in the past seven years occurred in protected nature areas

There were 85 confirmed incidents of the illegal shooting, trapping and poisoning of birds of prey in Britain in 2019, according to the RSPB’s annual Birdcrime report.

Half of all confirmed persecution incidents in the past seven years have occurred in landscapes supposedly already “protected” for nature, such as national parks.

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Products will have to prove they break down into harmless wax containing no microplastics

A new British standard for biodegradable plastic is being published which scientists say will cut through a jungle of classifications that leave consumers confused.

Plastic claiming to be biodegradable will have to pass a test to prove it breaks down into a harmless wax which contains no microplastics or nanoplastics in order to make the grade, published by the British Standards Institute.

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Achieving a radically different tomorrow will require more than a purely technocratic approach. So now, imagine you are in the year 2050 ... Michelle Lim, Senior Lecturer, Macquarie Law School, Macquarie University Carina Wyborn, Fellow, Australian National University Federico Davila, Research Principal (Food Systems), University of Technology Sydney Laura Pereira, Researcher/Lecturer at the Centre for Complex Systems in Transition, Stellenbosch University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Renewables reach 30% of main grid in September - the first time for a whole month above this level - and 66% in South Australia as coal and gas hit new lows.

The post September delivers record high renewable share on NEM, new low for coal appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Morrison says more gas needed because battery technologies can't firm renewables at scale. Energy experts disagree.

The post Morrison claims gas needed because batteries can’t yet firm wind and solar appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Committed wind and solar projects will take renewables share to about 42% by 2025, and add enough new capacity to force closure of up to three coal generators.

The post Enough new wind and solar locked in to kill three coal generators by 2025 appeared first on RenewEconomy.