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In 1973, scientist concluded that controlling UK air pollution needed Europe-wide cooperation

July’s record-breaking temperatures brought summertime smog to most of the UK. Worst affected was eastern England, from Kent to Yorkshire, where air pollution reached seven on the government’s10-point scale.

The heatwave occurred just before the 100th birthday of the scientist James Lovelock. Best known for his Gaia theory, which hypothesises that life on Earth acts as a self-regulating system, Lovelock was also an atmospheric scientist. In 1973 he was part of a team investigating summertime smog in the UK and Ireland. Up until then the idea that the UK, with its damp grey summers, could experience smog like Los Angeles was thought so improbable that no one had made measurements to check. Lovelock and team set up a line of measurement sites from a water tower in Sibton, Suffolk, to Adrigole, near Cork. Not only was there enough smog in the UK to breach US health limits but it was taking days to form in the air, sometimes from sources up to 620 miles (1,000km) away in continental Europe.

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New research shows our galaxy, the Milky Way, is twisted and warped - not flat as previously thought.

Hitting the Paris targets will go a long way to securing Melbourne's water supply against future pressure. Ben Henley, Research Fellow in Climate and Water Resources, University of Melbourne Andrew King, ARC DECRA fellow, University of Melbourne Anna Ukkola, Research Associate, Climate Change Research Centre, Australian National University Murray Peel, Senior lecturer, University of Melbourne Rory Nathan, Associate Professor Hydrology and Water Resources, University of Melbourne Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Government spends less than $1m for cut equivalent to only 0.01% of Australia’s annual greenhouse gas pollution

The Morrison government’s main climate change policy, the emissions reduction fund, has been labelled “a joke” after its latest auction bought cuts equivalent to only 0.01% of Australia’s annual greenhouse gas pollution.

While the prime minister, Scott Morrison, announced prior to the election that the policy would get an additional $2bn funding, the first post-election auction from the fund dedicated less than $1m to just three emissions reduction projects.

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Residents of Whaley Bridge, Derbyshire, have been evacuated and told to make arrangements to stay elsewhere 'for a number of days' after heavy rain damaged the dam holding back the Toddbrook reservoir, leaving it at risk of collapse.

• Peak District town evacuated as dam threatens to burst

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Once hunted to near extinction, North Atlantic right whales are now facing new human threats.

US RGGI cap-and-trade emissions plunged during the second quarter of 2019, as Maryland and New York-based power generators significantly curtailed their CO2 output amid mild weather in the northeast region.

The big talking point at Clean Energy Summit was the absence of the Coalition government and the lack of network planning. Meanwhile, Lily D’Ambrosio defends solar rebate.

The post Energy Insiders Podcast: Coalition’s revenge on RET, Labor’s solar stumble appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Two patent filings seek to set a precedent by naming an AI as their inventor.

You have successfully completed a university degree or comparable education and have at least 2 years of professional experience with a focus on renewable energy, climate change and environmental science either in the CSR sector or at a consultancy firm.

You have at least 5 years of transactional experience in the compliance or voluntary carbon markets and are well versed in the policy framework governing these markets. You have strong business acumen and a proven track record in business development in an international setting.

Germany’s RWE on Thursday announced it would close its 1.56GW Aberthaw B coal-fired power station next year due to “challenging” market conditions – a move that will leave just four such plants operating in the UK.

European carbon prices on Thursday resoundingly bounced back from yesterday's two-week low, with buyers racing to pick up allowances as a month of slashed sale volumes began.

New Zealand’s announcement this week that it will cancel all privately held Kyoto units in its registry without compensation will invalidate more than 16 million credits, according to a Cabinet paper.

Dishwater and bathwater can be used to give vital support that councils often cannot afford to young trees

Instead of letting your dirty dishwater go down the drain, consider using it to water the trees on your street. That is the message from tree experts, who say survival rates for urban trees could be boosted significantly by volunteers.

Russell Miller, a London-based arboricultural consultant, said: “If you plant trees from good stock, at the right time, and provide enough water, you’d lose almost none prematurely. But get that wrong, and more than half can die.”

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Last week’s Emissions Reduction Fund auction contracted just 59,000 carbon credits from three projects, Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator said Thursday, by far the lowest volume of any of the nine auctions held so far.

Redirecting small portion of subsidies would unleash clean energy revolution, says report

Switching just some of the huge subsidies supporting fossil fuels to renewables would unleash a runaway clean energy revolution, according to a new report, significantly cutting the carbon emissions that are driving the climate crisis.

Coal, oil and gas get more than $370bn (£305bn) a year in support, compared with just $100bn for renewables, the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) report found. Just 10-30% of the fossil fuel subsidies would pay for a global transition to clean energy, the IISD said.

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All-Energy Australia, the nation’s most comprehensive clean and renewable energy event, has today announced the launch of visitor registration for the free-to-attend event.

The post Australia’s leading clean energy event launches registration appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Thinktank says country must focus on building abundance to avoid 2008-style financial crisis

Britain needs an overarching new sustainability law to bolster natural life-support systems and prevent economic and social collapse, according to proposals from one of the country’s most influential leftwing thinktanks.

The paper says policymakers have made a “catastrophic mistake” by underestimating the risks posed by environmental breakdown and the potential benefits of switching to a different economic approach that focuses on building abundance rather than running down resources.

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Downer to suffer big loss on construction of Murra Warra wind farm, showing it's not just solar projects causing problems for contractors.

The post Downer takes $45m hit on troubled Murra Warra Wind Farm appeared first on RenewEconomy.