Around The Web

Exclusive: Co-author of study expresses shock at ‘complete ineptitude’ of government’s intervention

• Sign up to receive the top stories in Australia every day at noon

The federal government has successfully put pressure on the United Nations to delete all criticism of Australia’s $13bn effort to restore the ailing Murray-Darling river system from a published study, according to the author of an expert report.

The so-called “Australia chapter” has been removed from the UN report “Does Improved Irrigation Technology Save Water?” published online by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

Continue reading...

Forestry Commission reports invasion of oak processionary moths in south-east England

An infestation of caterpillars that can trigger asthma attacks, vomiting and skin rashes has appeared in south-east England.

Oak processionary moths, in their larval stage now, have been spotted in areas that include Croydon, Twickenham, Epping Forest, Watford, Ealing and several London suburbs. Other infestations have been spotted in Bracknell Forest, Slough and Guildford.

Continue reading...

The female bird of prey was given a traditional Native American farewell in Canada.

Hairs on the caterpillars can cause fevers and eye and throat irritations, officials say.

Beldoo Moss, Cumbrian Pennines: Brontë, bog-body, Baskerville, Brady – it’s as if we are impelled to fill all that bare, bleak, vacant space

Think of this place and most people see the road: the high crossing road that climbs one side of England’s back and descends the other. A second thought might be of the Roman road that once ran this way, itself over the course of an already ancient bronze age pass.

Continue reading...

Despite all the noise of planes coming and going, the echidnas at Hobart airport are digging in to hibernate.

A waste management worker at the US Antarctic base at McMurdo sound revealed a stifling bureaucracy. The termination of his contract led to a tragic result. Now news to the base has been blocked.

As more heat is being trapped on Earth, much of this heat is being stored in ocean water and the effects are now being seen in an accelerated thinning of the edges of ice shelves in western Antarctica.

Simon Linke plays some of his recordings and explains what they reveal about environmental health.

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

Data released by California regulator ARB for Q4 2017 this week shows that the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) recorded a yearly deficit for the first time in the programme’s history, with the publication coming alongside the agency handing out several fines and conducting the first board meeting on a series of possible amendments.

A couple of weeks later than usual, the first species to emerge from the chrysalis, is on the wing

Most of us have a favourite first that signifies the true beginning of spring. For me, it’s the first orange tip. While butterflies that hibernate as adults have been flying for a while, the orange tip is usually the first species to emerge from a chrysalis.

Last spring I complained that I didn’t see my first in Norfolk until 2 April. This year it was 19 April. Other spring butterflies, from the holly blue to the increasingly scarce dingy skipper, are at least a week later than average.

Continue reading...

Saving a vulnerable species that's not cute and cuddly; go bush with landcare volunteers; meet the 'apple island wife' blogger; and join Roly Lennox on his last delivery run.

European carbon prices rose Friday to post a 3.9% weekly gain as the annual compliance season drew near its close and despite another weak auction result.

The allocation of free carbon allowances to power generators in EU member states eligible under the bloc’s Article 10c ‘derogation’ programme again came down to the wire this year, with most handing out their 2017 quotas some two weeks or less before the ETS compliance deadline.

Scientists raise ethical concerns as the brain cells of decapitated pigs are kept alive for 36 hours.

Planning on attending COP24 in Poland this December? Then prepare for inflated accommodation prices and daily commutes to the venue of potentially two hours or more each way.

The EU's new satellite pollution-tracker will be a powerful tool to monitor vessels' emissions.

The week’s top environment news stories and green events. If you are not already receiving this roundup, sign up here to get the briefing delivered to your inbox

Continue reading...

Below is a table of the closing prices, ranges and volumes for China's regional pilot carbon markets this week. All prices are in RMB, and volumes in tonnes of CO2e. Data sourced from local exchanges.