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Activists say stinking sludge is linked to nitrates in fertilisers from intensive farming

André Ollivro stepped carefully down the grassy banks of an estuary in the bay of Saint-Brieuc, Brittany, not far from his beachfront cabin. The pungent smell of rotting eggs wafting from decomposing seaweed made him stop and put on his gas mask. It was a strange sight in what is usually a tourist hotspot.

“You can’t be too careful,” said the 74-year-old former gas technician, who is leading the fight against what has come to be known as France’s coastal “killer slime”.

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Canada's Catherine McKenna says she has been the target of increasing abuse and threats.

Phenomenon could be as damaging as ‘the blob’ that caused algae blooms and killed sea lions several years ago

The ocean off the western coast of North America is five degrees Fahrenheit hotter than usual after warming at an unusually rapid rate, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa).

It has been dubbed the “north-east Pacific marine heatwave of 2019”.

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Energy minister Angus Taylor says investment in renewable energy is not slowing down. This bold claim flies in the face of the evidence.

The post Australia has met its renewable energy target. But don’t pop the champagne appeared first on RenewEconomy.

After the showboating, how does the Tesla Model 3 stack up as the regular form of transport, sharing the roads with mere mortals and the diesel and petrol mob?

The post appeared first on RenewEconomy.

If you were one of the millions watching BBC Parliament this week, here are some stories you may have missed.

Evidence suggests there may now be more of a future in enjoying whales in the wild than eating them.

Baroness Brown warns country’s world-class resources must be better used to cope with global heating

Britain has one of the world’s best capabilities for dealing with the climate crisis but is failing to make use of it. That is the stark view of leading expert Baroness Brown, a member of the UK Committee on Climate Change. “We have the ingredients to do good things in response to climate change but are not making use of them,” she warned last week.

Brown, who chairs the CCC’s adaptation sub-committee, said little progress had been made in planning to protect farmland and wildlife from intense storms and changing weather systems, or tackle health threats from rising heat – with grim short-term political consequences.

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Extermination gathers pace, even though new evidence suggests it fails to tackle rise in cases of bovine TB

Up to 50,000 badgers could be killed this year under the government’s controversial culling scheme – nearly double the number of last year and three-quarters of the total killed since the cull began six years ago, campaigners claim.

The increase is caused by a predicted expansion in licensed culling zones – areas where farmers can exterminate badgers, which are blamed for spreading TB in cattle.

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Naturalist Stephen Moss was 13 when he first saw the RSPB reserve in Minsmere, Suffolk. Now he fears plans for Sizewell C could wipe it out

Minsmere and I go back a long way. I can still remember the thrill of my first visit, in 1973, when I was just 13 years old. Later, I made my very first wildlife programme there, with Bill Oddie. And most recently, I presented live programmes from the reserve on the BBC’s red button for Springwatch.

So naturally I am worried that this unique place could be ruined by the proposed building of Sizewell C nuclear power station, a few hundred metres down the coast. And I’m not the only one. My colleague Chris Packham, who like me first went there as a teenager, has called on EDF Energy to ensure that it safeguards Minsmere and its wildlife, now and in the future.

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Consumer awareness of electric vehicles in Australia has reached a tipping point, with the number of people currently researching to buy EVs now tripling.

The post Number of Australians ready to buy electric vehicles has tripled appeared first on RenewEconomy.

No deal would drastically curtail access to EU while entry to Africa would come at price

Farmers across the UK are scrambling to finish their harvests and ship their surpluses abroad before the Brexit deadline of 31 October, when a no-deal departure would force them to abandon European markets in favour of Africa.

There has been a relatively good harvest of wheat and barley this year after the rollercoaster weather of 2018, when a freezing spring followed by a record-breaking heatwave wrought havoc. “Exports have continued at a strong pace since the first weeks of August,” said David Eudall, the head of arable market specialists at the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board.

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Males have begun their walkabout seeking a mate (and hoping not to get eaten) – and this year has seen a big turnout

Gaggles of tarantulas are emerging from their burrows across the western US on a quest to mate, hunting for love in prairies, foothills and a garage belonging to Kim Kardashian West.

From August to October, the eight-legged crawlers go on a walkabout for a once-in-a-lifetime foray to find a partner. The phenomenon is now occurring on a unusually large scale from northern California to Colorado and Texas, shining a light on the arachnids’ remarkable mating behavior, which can involve dancing and cannibalism.

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Tesla unveils deal that cuts around $2,000 off price of Powerwall 2 home battery – but only for members of the company’s VPP program.

The post Tesla slashes price of Powerwall 2 battery by $2,000 for VPP customers appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The Policy Officer Climate Change will be responsible for research and analysis and the provision of advice to executive management and Ministers on policy, regulatory and legislative issues, particularly around climate change, facing Victoria's agricultural industries.

As the Senior Associate, you will lead the Finance Center’s work on climate finance in the UN system, including the United National Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement.

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

The UK volcanologist John Murray has painstakingly measured Mt Etna for half a century.

Chandrayaan-2 was about to land near the Moon's unexplored south pole when the link went down.

This week we hear some straight-shooting from the Murray-Darling Basin's top cop; and meat without the moo - the future of food, and the role of meat and plant-based alternatives.