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Finnish scientists say the food could be grown with near-zero greenhouse gas emissions.

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

Surplus compliance instruments in the WCI cap-and-trade programme inched above the 275-million mark after accounting for California and Quebec emissions in 2018, according to the carbon market’s Q4 Compliance Instrument Tracking System Service (CITSS) report published Tuesday.

The Midwest should aim for harmonisation in the design of low-carbon fuel standards (LCFS) and potential credit fungibility across state lines, as well as incorporate a variety of regional factors to benefit agricultural communities in America’s heartland, according to a white paper released Tuesday.

Even on a dull December day my local patch yields snatches of song and glimpses of egrets

A spare hour at dusk, on the last day of work before Christmas, and after a wet month I took the chance for a walk around my local patch. As often happens here, I saw virtually nothing for the first half of the walk: a few blackbirds chinking along the wooded drive, the rooks in the rookery by the car park.

And then, after dusk had fallen, when it was almost too dark to see, it all kicked off. First, two marsh harriers, floating low over the reedbed; then, no fewer than half a dozen great white egrets, each heading purposefully south to roost on the main Avalon Marshes. These elegant birds arrived here from France just a few years ago, enabled by the warming climate to extend their range northwards. Cetti’s warbler, another relatively recent arrival from continental Europe, wren and robin – the three birds that do sing during the winter – all uttered snatches of song. And as darkness fell, the jink and twist and turn of a male sparrowhawk, shooting across the path in front of me before disappearing into the trees.

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Speculators' carbon allowance holdings in the WCI-linked ETS dipped to a three-month low at the end of the year, but the group still holds significant length in the California-Quebec cap-and-trade market, according to US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data.

Astronomers find a vast structure in our galaxy, made up of many interconnected "star nurseries".

Wildlife can smell and hear a fire coming, and have developed novel ways to evade it. But they must watch out for cunning predators rushing in for a feed. Dale Nimmo, Associate professor/ARC DECRA fellow, Charles Sturt University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Australia has an outsized ability to influence others. Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

German power sector emissions fell 18.1% in 2019 as higher EU carbon prices helped make hard coal- and lignite-based generation unprofitable, though slowing renewables investment risks slowing the pace of decarbonisation, according to a report released Tuesday.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT OF DEAD ANIMALS
The once pristine environment of Kangaroo Island, including the Flinders Chase national park, is now a barren burned land after the weekend’s fires. Ecologists have grave fears for the future of many species, and for some the island is their only known habitat

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US emissions reversed course in 2019 on a record plunge in coal-fired generation, but flat or rising discharges from other sources leave the country far off track from meeting its UN Paris Agreement goals, according to preliminary estimates published Tuesday.

Maps of Australia's fire crisis are spreading on social media but many are misleading.

Veganism might help and it’s always good to avoid flying. But the answer to Earth’s emergency must involve political, collective action – and there are countless ways to get active

The impact of the climate crisis is all too visible. Bushfires have killed more than 20 people in south-eastern Australia and forced thousands more to flee their homes. Floods and storms have left hundreds dead and many more destitute in Argentina, Uruguay, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi. And in the UK, record temperatures were seen last summer and this winter.

Last year, people across the world took to the streets to demand goverments act to slash greenhouse gas emissions. Did you watch and wonder what you could do to help the global climate movement?

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European carbon prices were steady by midday Tuesday, after sliding to a three-week low early in the session amid the resumption of EUA auctions.

China’s Guangdong province will auction off 400,000 carbon allowances under its emissions trading scheme on Feb. 12, the China Carbon Exchange in Guangzhou said Tuesday.

Laser labs pick up a signal emanating from the collision of two dense, dead stars.

Australia’s catastrophic bushfires have burned over 8 million hectares of land but so far have not had a major impact on the nation’s mostly land-based carbon offset industry, according to market participants.

Australian firm RegenCo is lobbying the environment ministry to issue carbon credits for culling feral camels as part of a strategy to manage the country’s large population, which experts say is responsible for significant greenhouse gas emissions.

We pulled four before-and-after NASA satellite images and asked bushfire researcher Grant Williamson to reflect on the story they tell. Sunanda Creagh, Head of Digital Storytelling Molly Glassey, Digital Editor, The Conversation Wes Mountain, Multimedia Editor Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.