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Worth the wait: Yellowstone’s Giantess Geyser erupts for first time in six years
Giantess is one of the biggest geysers in the national park, and typically explodes between twice and six times a year
In these troubled times there comes a point where we all need to let off steam.
For this huge geyser in Yellowstone park, the moment was now and the eruption was spectacular, after a six-year wait.
Continue reading...Yellowstone's Giantess Geyser erupts for first time in six years – video
One of the largest geysers at the Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming has erupted for the first time in more than six years. The Giantess Geyser shot a column of steam up to 60m in the air on 25 August as it ‘roared back into life’, the National Park Service said. The six-year gap was the longest since at least the 1980s
Continue reading...Birds are keeping me sane in lockdown. When this is over, we must do more to protect them | Suzy Freeman-Greene
Seeing a wild, swooping kestrel hunt its prey near my Melbourne home was exhilarating. I could taste its freedom
The nankeen kestrel hovered over a patch of saltmarsh, eyes down, wings slowly flapping. After a minute or so, it flew off, displaying gorgeous black and brown plumage, before returning to hover and watch. It dropped suddenly, like a stone flung by a god, then took its prize – a cricket or grasshopper – to a fence post to be eaten in seconds.
The sight of this bird of prey, late in my second week of Melbourne’s hard lockdown, opened something inside me. Like millions of others, I was stuck in the city under curfew, unable to venture more than five kilometres from my home. I yearned for the bush, to be in a place free of cars or houses, where I didn’t have to hear other people’s conversations as we marched up and down the same few paths on our measly hour of daily allotted exercise. That wild, swooping kestrel was exhilarating. I could taste its freedom.
Continue reading...Australian Industry Group urges Coalition to spend 'at least' $3.3bn on renewable energy over coming decade
Peak employer body warns Australia faces ‘costly increase in climate-related impacts and risks’ even in best-case scenario
The Morrison government should spend $3.3bn over 10 years on renewable energy and $500m over two years on capital grants to improve energy efficiency and management, according to the Australian Industry Group.
The peak employer body made the calls in its pre-budget submission, released on Monday, which also proposes it bring forward income tax cuts, cut business tax, extend the coronavirus supplement on jobseeker and make a further round of $750 payments to households.
Continue reading...Australian greenhouse gas emissions fall to lowest level since 1998 under Covid restrictions
Energy minister Angus Taylor says emissions have reduced as expected but restrictions are unsustainable
Coronavirus restrictions have caused Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions to fall to their lowest level since 1998, the latest official data shows.
National emissions in the June quarter 2020 were estimated to be 8% – or about 10m tonnes of carbon dioxide – lower than a year earlier.
Continue reading...If democracy looks doomed, Extinction Rebellion may have an answer | John Harris
At the heart of a new climate emergency bill lies a simple idea to cut through Westminster groupthink: a citizens’ assembly
The timing is impeccable. In the midst of political ferment across the world, and with anxiety about the coming winter hardening into dread, Extinction Rebellion is back. Over the weekend it has made its presence felt in towns and cities around the country; now, in the wake of several of its organisers being arrested, its activists and supporters are preparing to arrive on Tuesday at Parliament Square, outside the Welsh parliament in Cardiff, and in the centre of Manchester.
As usual, those involved will presumably be portrayed as eccentric and dangerous merchants of despair. But whatever the sense of millenarian doom that sometimes hangs over its actions, plenty of the people at the heart of the movement are admirably practical, and focused on overcoming the daunting political challenges that climate change still presents. And in among the protests, there will be an example of what this means in practice: the climate and ecological emergency bill, partly conceived by people with close links to XR, and due to be formally launched on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Wind and solar farms face more cutbacks due to new network constraints
Wind and solar farms face more constraints due to new network problems, while low demand and grid bottlenecks cut more than 2,000MW of output on Saturday.
The post Wind and solar farms face more cutbacks due to new network constraints appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Biggest wind and solar investors fear connection risk and market rule changes
Thirty of the biggest debt and equity investors in Australia's wind and solar industry cite growing risks around grid connections and changes to market rules as biggest threats.
The post Biggest wind and solar investors fear connection risk and market rule changes appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Toads, spiders, daddy long legs, even mice: let them all share our homes
Species decline is being reversed in UK forests, highlands and rivers. But rewilding should start in our houses and gardens
This summer beavers have been granted “permanent right to remain” in their river home in east Devon, the first legalised reintroduction of an extinct British mammal. White storks reintroduced on the Knepp estate in West Sussex as part of another rewilding initiative have raised chicks and taken to the skies. Meanwhile, a major grant will bring European bison to woodland in Kent.
All this is exciting news for rewilding. But if we stand any chance of saving nature, maybe we also need to reverse species decline on our own doorsteps as much as we do in the countryside. Charity begins at home, they say. And perhaps rewilding does too. Ecocide isn’t just being committed in the countryside but also in our own homes, the result of our irrational hostility towards nature in domestic spaces.
Continue reading...Rampant destruction of forests ‘will unleash more pandemics’
Researchers to tell UN that loss of biodiversity enables rapid spread of new diseases from animals to humans
Scientists are to warn world leaders that increasing numbers of deadly new pandemics will afflict the planet if levels of deforestation and biodiversity loss continue at their current catastrophic rates.
A UN summit on biodiversity, scheduled to be held in New York next month, will be told by conservationists and biologists there is now clear evidence of a strong link between environmental destruction and the increased emergence of deadly new diseases such as Covid-19.
Continue reading...‘Don’t go near it’: Covid-19 lockdown leads to deadly snake boom in Melbourne
As sunny weather brings snakes out of hibernation, Melbourne snake-catcher warns, ‘If you see a snake, don’t go near it’
While the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted the national economy and plunged many into unemployment, there’s one little industry expecting to boom – snake catching.
Melbourne’s Raymond Hoser has been catching snakes professionally since the 1970s and says he’s about to be busier than ever.
Continue reading...California’s remarkable solar revolution unpacked
If the problem in California has been the mere presence of solar power, why isn't Australia suffering constant rolling blackouts, as grids collapse under the pressure of solar power?
The post California’s remarkable solar revolution unpacked appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Searching for the lost dogs of the Beirut blast
Mauritius oil spill: Thousands march in Port Louis
Neuralink: Elon Musk unveils pig with chip in its brain
Extinction Rebellion plans bank holiday weekend 'uprising'
Climate protests including ‘funeral march’ due to take place across UK, with focus on airports
Climate demonstrations are due to take place across the UK this weekend, as the environmental campaign group Extinction Rebellion launches its latest “uprising”.
This weekend’s events will include a “funeral march” in Lewes, East Sussex, to “mark the death and destruction wrought by humans on our natural world”. The march, described as a Procession for the Planet, will include mourners dressed in black and a jazz band.
Continue reading...Cloud gaming: Are game streaming services bad for the planet?
Amazon fires: Are they worse this year than before?
Australian electric bike start-up Zoomo lands $16 million in capital, led by CEFC
Electric bike start-up Bolt Bikes rebrands as Zoomo and raises $16 million as it seeks to capture growing last-mile delivery market.
The post Australian electric bike start-up Zoomo lands $16 million in capital, led by CEFC appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Construction begins at Australia’s largest community-owned solar farm
Construction starts at SolarShare's 1MW Majura solar farm, set to be one of Australia's largest community owned solar projects.
The post Construction begins at Australia’s largest community-owned solar farm appeared first on RenewEconomy.
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