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Extreme weather is our new reality. We must accept it and begin planning | Gaia Vince

4 hours 26 min ago

As wildfires, floods, droughts and record-breaking temperatures have shown, the post-climate change era has arrived. Now we need honesty and action from our leaders

Not yet a quarter of the way into this century and global average temperatures are already 1.75C above the preindustrial average. January 2025 was the hottest on record and has also set a record for the highest yearly minimum global surface temperature, and likely the highest minimum in the past 120,000 years. It is part of a clear pattern. Last year’s global average was 1.6C above the preindustrial – a sobering reality check, given that, only three months ago at the UN Cop29 summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, leaders were still declaring that limiting global temperature rises to 1.5C was within reach.

We are firmly in the post-climate change world now, and the serious implications of this demand honest acknowledgment. The reality is that we are living now in a time of continual disasters that are unfolding alongside our slower, planetary scale disaster. In this riskier time, we need to prepare.

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Extreme weather expected to cause food price volatility in 2025 after cost of cocoa and coffee doubles

Sat, 2025-02-15 18:39

Trend towards more extreme-weather events will continue to hit crop yields and create price spikes, Inverto says

Extreme weather events are expected to lead to volatile food prices throughout 2025, supply chain analysts have said, after cocoa and coffee prices more than doubled over the past year.

In an apparent confirmation of warnings that climate breakdown could lead to food shortages, research by the consultancy Inverto found steep rises in the prices of a number of food commodities in the year to January that correlated with unexpected weather.

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‘I closed my eyes to brace for impact’: the man who escaped a whale’s mouth

Sat, 2025-02-15 17:00

Adrián Simancas encountered a humpback off Chile’s coast – but scientists say he was never at risk of being swallowed

Adrián Simancas had been paddling for two hours in the calm but icy seas of the Strait of Magellan, off the coast of Chilean Patagonia, when something massive emerged from the water and dragged him under.

“I saw dark blue and white colours before feeling a slimy texture brush against my face,” the 24-year-old told the Guardian. “I closed my eyes to brace for impact, but it was soft, like being hit by a wave.”

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WWF helping facilitate trade in polar bear fur, investigation reveals

Sat, 2025-02-15 16:00

Wildlife charity backs policy of exploitation of small number of some endangered species for economic purposes – such as trophy hunting

The wildlife charity WWF has been working to support the trade in polar bear fur at the same time as using images of the bears to raise money, it can be revealed.

Polar bears are severely affected by the loss of Arctic sea ice, which makes seeking prey harder and forces the bears to use more energy. In some regions, polar bears are showing signs of declining physical condition, having fewer cubs, and dying younger.

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Listen to Stewart Copeland of the Police's new track mixing animal sounds and music – audio

Sat, 2025-02-15 01:38

The former Police drummer Stewart Copeland, with the help of the British naturalist Martyn Stewart, has produced Wild Concerto, a ‘collaboration between nature and music’. The album fuses sounds of nature, such as the call of Arctic terns and the howling of wolves, with traditional instruments. Stewart hailed the environmental theme of the work, explaining that most of the species represented were endangered

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Habitat banks: how law to boost wildlife in England is faring one year in

Sat, 2025-02-15 00:22

Developers must now offset damage to nature by achieving a 10% biodiversity net gain – but is buying up pockets of land and rewilding them the answer?

To most people driving through the waterlogged fields of West Sussex, a patch of muddy land dotted with scrubby trees would not warrant a second glance. But this former farmland is being given a new lease of life as part of a government scheme to boost wildlife.

Ardingly habitat bank is one of the pilot sites for the biodiversity net gain (BNG) scheme. Under legislation that came into force in February 2024, new roads, houses and other building projects must achieve a 10% net gain in biodiversity if nature is damaged on a site. So if a forest is bulldozed to make way for a block of flats, the developer must recreate a similar habitat, plus 10%.

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Industry influence over UN aviation body ‘extremely concerning’

Fri, 2025-02-14 21:04

Exclusive: Firms outnumber green groups at environmental talks, with related events sponsored by fossil fuel companies

Aviation industry delegates outnumbered those from green groups by 10 to one at the previous conference of the UN’s committee on aviation environmental protection (CAEP), an analysis has found.

Other recent meetings held by CAEP’s parent body, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), were sponsored by large fossil fuel companies and airlines, including Saudi Aramco and Etihad. Critics accuse the ICAO of having been captured by the industry, resulting in slow efforts to tackle the climate crisis by reducing the carbon emissions from aircraft.

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That new land use policy that the Tories call ‘national suicide’? It’s urgent, essential – and their idea | Henry Dimbleby

Fri, 2025-02-14 20:00

No, it isn’t a leftwing plot, it’s a proposal I authored for the Conservatives in 2021. And it could be brilliantly transformative for England

Last week saw the launch of what could be – if done right – the most important political policy in a generation. You may not have heard about the new land use framework, but if you did hear something, chances are it wasn’t good. “National suicide!” declared the shadow farming minister, Robbie Moore, who described the policy for good measure as “food lunacy”.

I should confess that I am the original author of this lunacy. It was one of the key recommendations of the 2021 National Food Strategy – an independent review I was commissioned to write by the then Tory government. The purpose of the land use framework was – is – sane enough. It is intended to inform and streamline planning decisions and steer other government incentives, to ensure that areas of land are used in ways they are naturally well suited to.

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Week in wildlife in pictures: battling eagles, dancing swans and a fox in the box

Fri, 2025-02-14 18:00

The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world

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Brake pad dust can be more toxic than exhaust emissions, study says

Fri, 2025-02-14 16:00

Research shows move to electric vehicles may not be enough to enable pollution from cars to be eradicated

Microscopic particles emitted from brake pads can be more toxic than those emitted in diesel vehicle exhaust, a study has found.

This research shows that even with a move to electric vehicles, pollution from cars may not be able to be eradicated.

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Weather tracker: extreme cold and heavy rainfall batters US

Fri, 2025-02-14 16:00

Parts of the Midwest have seen temperatures 15-30C below the climate average, while Australia temperatures hit almost 50C

Disruptive weather has continued to affect the US this week, with a mixture of winter hazards, heavy rainfall and extreme temperatures across the country. Extreme cold warnings have affected more than 90 million people, with parts of the midwest seeing temperatures about 15-30C below the climate average.

Temperatures fell to about -35C earlier this week across states including Montana and North Dakota, with maximum daytime temperatures reaching -15C.

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Richest nations ‘exporting extinction’ with demand for beef, palm oil and timber

Fri, 2025-02-14 15:00

Consumption in wealthy countries including US and UK is responsible for 13% of global forest loss beyond their borders, study finds

The world’s wealthiest nations are “exporting extinction” by destroying 15 times more biodiversity internationally than within their own borders, research shows.

Most wildlife habitats are being destroyed in countries with tropical forest, according to the study which looked at how wealthy countries’ demand for products such as beef, palm oil, timber and soya beans is destroying biodiversity hotspots elsewhere.

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'I thought it had eaten me': humpback whale briefly swallows kayaker off the coast of Chile – video

Fri, 2025-02-14 05:32

Adrián Simancas was kayaking in Bahía El Águila in the strait of Magellan when the whale engulfed him and his yellow kayak for a few seconds before letting him go. He was unharmed. Simancas's father, Dell, who was kayaking with him, recorded the incident

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Climate crisis contributing to chocolate market meltdown, research finds

Thu, 2025-02-13 23:47

Scientists say more-frequent hotter temperatures in west African region are part of reason for reduced harvests and price rises

The climate crisis drove weeks of high temperatures in the west African region responsible for about 70% of global cacao production, hitting harvests and probably causing further record chocolate prices, researchers have said.

Farmers in the region have struggled with heat, disease and unusual rainfall in recent years, which have contributed to falling production.

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Solar panels could cut fuel-poor UK families’ energy bills by 24%, says study

Thu, 2025-02-13 16:00

Call for means-tested grants or loans to cover upfront costs that prevent poorer households from benefiting

Poorer households could cut their energy bills by a quarter if solar panels were installed on their rooftops, a report has found.

However, the upfront costs mean that those who stand to benefit most from decreased energy bills are prevented from getting panels installed, according to the Resolution Foundation thinktank.

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World’s largely unprotected peatlands are ticking ‘carbon bomb’, warns study

Thu, 2025-02-13 16:00

Bogs and swamps are a colossal carbon store but their continued destruction would blow climate change targets

The world’s peatlands are “dangerously underprotected” despite the colossal amount of climate-heating carbon dioxide already being emitted due to their destruction, a study has warned.

Peatlands occupy just 3% of all land, but contain more carbon than all of the world’s forests. However, farmers and miners are draining the peatlands, releasing so much CO2 that if they were a country, they would be the fourth biggest polluter in the world after China, the US and India.

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‘A house battery you can drive around’: how some Australians are selling power from their cars back to the grid | Scott Dwyer, Jaime Comber and Kriti Nagrath for the Conversation

Thu, 2025-02-13 15:04

The technology is new, chargers are expensive and regulations hard to navigate – but all that could soon change

Our cars sit unused most of the time. If you have an electric vehicle, you might leave it charging at home or work after driving it. But there’s another step you could take. If you have a bidirectional charger, you can set it to sell power back to the grid when demand is high.

Fewer than 10 people across Australia actually do this, because the technology – known as vehicle-to-grid (V2G) – is very new. To date, it only works with a single car model (Nissan Leaf) and a single charger (Wallbox Quasar 1). We’ve estimated the number of users based on sales of this charger. The chargers are expensive and there’s a thicket of regulations to navigate.

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You originally think of it as a car you can also use to power your house. [But actually] it’s a house battery you can drive around.

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Australia’s investment in large-scale wind and solar hits six-year peak

Thu, 2025-02-13 12:41

Experts say latest results show clean energy investment is getting back on track, with $9bn committed in 2024

Investment in large-scale wind and solar in Australia has reached its highest level in six years, with $9bn in capital committed to projects in 2024, new industry data shows.

According to the Clean Energy Council, financial commitments were made for 4,346MW of new renewable capacity last year. This was the highest level of investment the sector had seen since 2018, when industry was delivering on the bipartisan Renewable Energy Target.

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‘Like finding gold’: plains-wanderers spotted in Melbourne’s west for first time in 30 years with help of AI

Thu, 2025-02-13 00:05

Critically endangered bird detected after analysis of tens of thousands of hours of song meter recordings

Critically endangered plains-wanderers have been found living in Melbourne’s west for the first time in more than 30 years.

Notoriously elusive and difficult to spot, the rare birds were detected on two pockets of remnant grassland by Zoos Victoria, with the help of AI.

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Philippines storm survivors join climate protest outside Shell HQ in London

Wed, 2025-02-12 22:49

Greenpeace protest draws attention to worsening typhoons and demands accountability from major polluters

For two days and two nights, Ronalyn Carbonel and her four children clung to the roof of their home as a huge storm raged around them. With the wind battering her village of Rizal, about 10 miles east of Manila in the Philippines, and water swirling through the rooms below them, they had no choice but to wait, hoping that someone would come to rescue them and hundreds of their neighbours.

“We did not have shelter, we did not have food … we just had to wait for the government for two days,” Carbonel said. “It is not easy, no electricity, no light, we just wait for the sun to rise. The children were scared, we had never experienced anything like this.”

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