Feed aggregator

Human activity, along with a strong El Nino, drove 2016 greenhouse gas levels to new heights with an unprecedented jump in annual emissions.

The UK cities with atmospheres considered harmful to health by the WHO are revealed in a new report.

Scientists are now clearer on the freezing climate conditions that forced dinosaurs from the Earth.

Peruvian lawsuit in London claims Xstrata should be liable for alleged police violence against demonstrators near Tintaya mine

A UK-registered mining company, which is now part of Glencore, is facing claims in a London court that it hired security forces to mistreat environmental activists protesting about a copper mine in Peru.

Two demonstrators died and others were left with serious injuries following the confrontations which lasted for several days during May 2012 on a remote hillside in the Andes, the court has been told.

Continue reading...

Without "much stronger pledges" in 2020, the world is heading for at least three degrees of warming by 2100, according to the 2017 UN Emissions Gap report.

The fourth Aussie Backyard Bird Count, which has just finished, has some potentially worrying news about one of our best-loved species. Kerryn Herman, Research Ecologist, Deakin University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Caritas says thousands face threats to their wellbeing, livelihoods and ‘their very existence’ due to rising sea levels

Pacific Islanders whose homes face eradication by rising sea levels have called on Australia to not fund the Adani Carmichael coalmine, as a new report reveals the worsening impact of climate change across Oceania.

Residents of the endangered islands have described their forced displacement as like “having your heart ripped out of your chest” as they called on the Australian government to do more to combat climate change.

Continue reading...

Algal blooms, hurricanes and volcano fields are among the images captured by Nasa and the ESA last month

A potentially harmful algal bloom covered more than 700 square miles in the western basin of Lake Erie in late September, turning the lake bright green and alarming residents and local officials. Blooms tend to thrive in Lake Erie during summer, sustained by warm water temperatures and nutrients from farm runoff. This year, the bloom had been ongoing since mid-July.

Continue reading...

Green MP Caroline Lucas criticises attempts by chemicals multinational Ineos to impose a sweeping injunction against anti-fracking campaigners

The chemicals multinational Ineos is facing criticism for seeking to curb democratic protests against fracking in a move described by Green MP Caroline Lucas as “extremely worrying”.

On Tuesday Ineos began its latest legal move to impose a sweeping injunction against all campaigners protesting over its fracking operations.

Continue reading...

The UK's Halley station will be mothballed again this year because of uncertainty over ice cracks.

Herring and haddock could also disappear by the turn of the century due to global warming, warn scientists.

Carbon cuts planned under the Paris accord still fall well short of what's needed, says the UN.

Report reveals large gap between government pledges and the reductions needed to prevent dangerous global warming

There is still a large gap between the pledges by governments to cut greenhouse gas emissions and the reductions scientists say are needed to avoid dangerous levels of climate change, the UN has said.

Current plans from national governments, and pledges made by private sector companies and local authorities across the world, would lead to temperature rises of as much as 3C or more by the end of this century, far outstripping the goal set under the 2015 Paris agreement to hold warming to 2C or less, which scientists say is the limit of safety.

Continue reading...

Global greenhouse gas levels have hit their highest point in at least 3 million years, according to new figures from the World Meteorological Organisation. Paul Fraser, Honorary Fellow, CSIRO Paul Krummel, Research Group Leader, CSIRO Zoe Loh, Research Scientist, CSIRO Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Río Almonte, Extremadura, Spain Camel-haired legs, gleaming black eyes and the largest pair of spider jaws you’ve seen in your life – a tarantula

There were all sorts of exciting birds overhead, including vultures in elegant spirals and clusters of crag martins spooked up by a hunting sparrowhawk. Yet the group’s attention had been called to an insignificant hole in the bare ground by the picnic table.

The hole was 4cm across and had an untidy circlet of dead grasses arranged in a silk-knotted perimeter. By sheer chance I had just read about the occupant and how it could be lured into view with a grass stem drooped into the burrow entrance like a fishing line. Sure enough, within seconds, book learning was turned into startling experience.

Continue reading...

Giles was awarded the Deni Greene prize, for environmental leadership in a professional capacity, by the Bob Brown Foundation.

Gupta says bigger steel plants in Sydney and Melbourne will go 100% renewable, and there is no reason why an aluminium smelter could not follow.

Climate Council report on the state of renewables in Queensland is a timely reminder that building new coal plant in north Queensland is a terrible idea.

The 100MW/100MWh battery storage project proposed for Whyalla is one of three big projects that will make South Australia the leader in battery storage, as well as wind and solar.

It remains unclear how the NEG will ensure the investor confidence required to deliver a strong pipeline of new clean energy projects.