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Updated: 2 hours 26 min ago

Firefly species may blink out as US seeks to list it as endangered for first time

Tue, 2024-10-01 07:14

Bethany Beach firefly, found in Delaware, Maryland and Virginia, faces dangers to habitat because of climate change

The US government is seeking to consider a firefly species as endangered for the first time, according to a proposal from the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

The Bethany Beach firefly, found in coastal Delaware, Maryland and Virginia, is facing increasing dangers to its natural habitat because of climate change-related events. They include sea level rise, which is predicted to affect all sites within the known distribution by the end of the century, and the lowering of groundwater aquifers.

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A butterfly: ‘elbowing each other with the joints on their legs, pushing and shoving to get at the liquid’

Tue, 2024-10-01 01:00

We learn about butterflies when we are small because it is foreshadowing: you too will change. But they are an imperfect metaphor for what it feels like to live

The very funny naturalist and writer Redmond O’Hanlon was on a sandbank on the edge of a river in Borneo when hundreds of butterflies started to fly towards him and his travel companion and landed on their boots, trousers, and shirts, and “sucked the sweat from our arms.”

He watched them for a while – “there were Whites, Yellows and Blues, Swallow-tails, black, banded, or spotted with blue-greens” – and then stood up and brushed them off gently.

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Australia’s ‘immoral’ coalmine decision akin to drowning its Pacific neighbours, Tuvalu’s climate minister declares

Tue, 2024-10-01 01:00

Labor government has undermined case to co-host 2026 UN climate summit with island nations, Dr Maina Talia declares

Tuvalu’s climate minister says Australia’s decision to approve three coalmine expansions calls into question its claim to be a “member of the Pacific family”, and undermines the Australian case to co-host the 2026 UN climate summit with island nations.

Dr Maina Talia said last week’s mine approvals that analysts say could generate more than 1.3bn tonnes of carbon dioxide across their lifetime once the coal is shipped and burned overseas was “a direct threat to our collective future”.

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Senior Tories may push for party to become pro-fracking

Mon, 2024-09-30 23:08

Calls grow for lifting of moratorium on onshore drilling in England to become policy under new leader

Senior Conservatives are considering pushing for a lifting of the moratorium on fracking in England to become party policy.

At the Conservative party conference in Birmingham, MPs are reflecting on the crushing blow they were dealt at this year’s general election and coming up with policies and ideas to rebuild the party so it can win in 2029. A leadership election is taking place and candidates are laying out their ideas to MPs.

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EPA will withdraw approval of Chevron plastic-based fuels likely to cause cancer

Mon, 2024-09-30 20:00

The decision comes after a ProPublica and Guardian investigation revealed that the EPA had found that one of the fuels had a huge cancer risk

The US Environmental Protection Agency is planning to withdraw and reconsider its approval for Chevron to produce 18 plastic-based fuels, including some that an internal agency assessment found are highly likely to cause cancer.

In a recent court filing, the federal agency said it “has substantial concerns” that the approval order “may have been made in error”. The EPA gave a Chevron refinery in Mississippi the green light to make the chemicals in 2022 under a “climate-friendly” initiative intended to boost alternatives to petroleum, as ProPublica and the Guardian reported last year.

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Calls for flood compensation scheme in England and Wales to be overhauled

Mon, 2024-09-30 16:00

New figures show nearly 80% of businesses in some parts of England have been denied support

Ministers are being urged to overhaul the “nightmare” compensation scheme for flood victims after it emerged that nearly 80% of businesses in some parts of England had been denied support.

After heavy downpours caused chaos across much of England and Wales this week, new figures laid bare the “opaque” and inconsistent level of help available to those whose properties lay in ruin.

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Scientists criticise UN agency’s failure to withdraw livestock emissions report

Mon, 2024-09-30 15:00

Academics say there has been no serious response from FAO to their complaints of ‘serious distortions’ in report

More than 20 scientific experts have written to the UN’s food agency expressing shock at its failure to revise or withdraw a livestock emissions report that two of its cited academics have said contained “multiple and egregious errors”.

The alleged inaccuracies are understood to have downplayed the potential of dietary change to reduce agricultural greenhouse gases, which make up about a quarter of total anthropogenic emissions and mostly derive from livestock.

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Our leaders are collaborators with fossil fuel colonialists. This is the source of our communal dread | Tim Winton

Mon, 2024-09-30 01:00

The lassitude that distinguishes our moment is born of sorrow and buried rage. We act like colonial subjects because, in effect, that’s what we are

“Kids these days are such snowflakes! So flaccid and self-involved, so doomy and anxious. If it’s not the drugs, it’s the screen time, right? I mean, what’s their problem?”

I try to sidestep conversations like these. Engaging saps so much time and energy. But avoiding them leaves me feeling dirty. Not because I’ve foregone an opportunity to win an argument, but because I know I’ve failed to defend those who need and deserve my solidarity.

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Melting glaciers force Switzerland and Italy to redraw part of Alpine border

Mon, 2024-09-30 00:28

Two countries agree to modifications beneath Matterhorn peak, one of Europe’s highest summits

Switzerland and Italy have redrawn a border that traverses an Alpine peak as melting glaciers shift the historically defined frontier.

The two countries agreed to the modifications beneath the Matterhorn, one of the highest mountains in Europe, which straddles Switzerland’s Zermatt region and Italy’s Aosta valley.

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Force companies to report their food waste, say leading UK retailers

Sun, 2024-09-29 18:00

More than 30 businesses have written to the environment secretary calling for mandatory reporting of wasted food

Food companies should have to report how much they throw away as a first step towards reducing the vast amounts of edible food squandered in the UK, a group of prominent businesses have said.

About a third of the food produced globally every year is binned, much of it before it reaches the consumer at a cost of almost £22bn annually to the UK economy.

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Flood warning as heavy rain expected in southern England and Wales

Sun, 2024-09-29 17:26

Two weather warnings for wind and rain, with river levels already high and ground saturated in some places

England and Wales are braced for heavy rain and strong winds just days after homes and businesses were flooded.

Two fresh weather warnings come into force on Sunday for wind and rain which will hit areas already saturated by downpours earlier in the week.

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‘Wicked problem’: Coalition doesn’t rule out EV road user tax as fuel excise falls with uptake of greener vehicles

Sun, 2024-09-29 15:04

Bridget McKenzie tells Insiders she is working on the opposition’s transport policy ahead of the next federal election – including EV plans

Liberal senator Bridget McKenzie has again left the door open for a Coalition government to level a road user charge against owners of electric vehicles, indicating concern about decreasing fuel excise and the impact on budgets for road repairs.

But the shadow transport minister also said the Coalition wouldn’t follow the US in banning Chinese-made EVs, which put her at odds with comments on Sunday from Nationals colleague, Barnaby Joyce. He invoked last week’s Hezbollah members’ pager explosions in raising his concern about technology he claimed could be made with a “malevolent purpose” by a “totalitarian state”.

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Australia’s magpie swooping season is here – but they aren’t the only birds to watch out for

Sun, 2024-09-29 10:00

Noisy miners, butcherbirds and masked lapwings will also go on the offensive to protect their eggs and young

Australia’s infamous magpies have started to attack – but they’re not the only birds you might fall victim to this swooping season.

Lesser known suspects including noisy miners, butcherbirds and masked lapwings also swoop to protect their eggs and young, typically between August and October.

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The world is shifting away from using animals in research. Will Australia get left behind?

Sun, 2024-09-29 06:00

Australia’s lack of transparency and funding leave it on the outer as researchers worldwide explore alternatives for training, study and testing

A global shift in scientific and medical research is under way as countries hope to phase out experimentation on animals – but Australia risks being left behind.

The transition from using animals to alternatives based on human cells, tissue and data is driving multibillion-dollar growth in new technologies and methods. However, industry leaders and insiders warn Australia will miss those opportunities due to a lack of funding, opaque record keeping and national inconsistencies.

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Burning rubbish to create energy could end landfills. But some worry where Australia’s new path is leading

Sun, 2024-09-29 06:00

Some conservationists believe the ‘incineration industry’ is trying to gain a foothold in Australia and say the trend will end up damaging the environment

Australia’s first major waste-to-energy power plant has begun accepting rubbish, marking the start of a contentious nationwide shift towards burning household refuse to generate electricity.

At least 10 developments are under way across the country, sparking concern from some conservationists who argue the trend will be environmentally damaging and at odds with plans to develop a circular economy.

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Cows help farms capture more carbon in soil, study shows

Sat, 2024-09-28 23:07

Research also reveals that a mixture of arable crops and cattle helps improve the biodiversity of the land

Cows may belch methane into the atmosphere at alarming rates, but new data shows they may play an important role in renewing farm soil.

Research by the Soil Association Exchange shows that farms with a mixture of arable crops and livestock have about a third more carbon stored within their soil than those with only arable crops, thanks to the animals’ manure.

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‘It’s hugely moving’: record numbers of sea turtle nests recorded in Greece

Sat, 2024-09-28 17:00

Conservationists celebrate as efforts to save the Caretta caretta sea turtle, which has existed for 100m years, pay off

After nearly a quarter of a century observing one of the world’s most famous sea turtle nesting grounds, Charikleia Minotou is convinced of one thing: nature, she says, has a way of “sending messages”.

Along the sandy shores of Sekania, on the Ionian island of Zakynthos, what she has seen both this year and last, has been beyond her wildest dreams. The beach, long described as the Mediterranean’s greatest “maternity ward” for the Caretta caretta loggerhead sea turtle, has not only record numbers of nests, but record numbers of surviving hatchlings as the species makes an extraordinary resurgence.

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UK climate envoy to keep role at charity whose founders invest in fossil fuels

Sat, 2024-09-28 16:00

Supporters rally to Rachel Kyte after criticism of appointment over link to investment firm Quadrature Capital

The UK’s new climate envoy will retain her role on the board of a charity whose founders made a multimillion-pound donation to the Labour party and have investments in fossil fuels, the Guardian has learned.

Rachel Kyte, the former World Bank climate chief who was announced as the UK’s special representative on climate this week, is on the climate advisory board of Quadrature Climate Foundation, a charity set up by the founders of the Quadrature Capital investment company.

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Grim new death records amid brutal heat plaguing south-west US

Sat, 2024-09-28 06:02

More than 16 million people under heat alerts on Friday, with Las Vegas on 102nd day of temperatures above 100F

Brutal heat continues to plague the south-west US, with excessive heat alerts lingering long into September as parts of the region set grim new records for deaths connected to the sweltering temperatures.

Autumn has offered little reprieve for cities that have already spent months mired in triple-digit temperatures. This week, Las Vegas, Nevada; Phoenix, Arizona; and Palm Springs, California, are all grappling with severe weather, with highs that have pushed over 100F (38C). More than 16 million people in the US were under heat alerts on Friday, according to the National Weather Service, mostly clustered in the southern tips of Nevada, Arizona and California.

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Bottom-breathing turtle among Queensland endangered species under threat from invasive fish

Sat, 2024-09-28 01:00

Record floods propel aggressive Mozambique tilapia throughout Mary River, compromising efforts to save ancient fish and endangered turtles

Record floods have propelled an aggressive invasive fish species across a south-east Queensland river catchment, compromising efforts to save endangered and ancient fishes and turtles.

The Moonaboola (Mary) river catchment is home to several threatened species, including the Mary River turtle, the white-throated snapping turtle (known for breathing through its bottom), the Mary River cod and the Australian lungfish, which has survived for 150m years and is considered a living fossil.

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