The Guardian
Cyclists 'exposed to less air pollution than drivers' on busy routes
Study shows people in cars and buses spend longer in toxic air, as do walkers on main roads
Cyclists are the least exposed to air pollution on daily commutes into a congested city centre, research has shown. People in cars and buses spent longer in toxic air, as did walkers unless they made detours to avoid main roads.
The work, conducted in Leeds, supports the investment in cycle lanes to both reduce air pollution by cutting vehicle journeys and improve citizens’ health. It also found that air pollution reached relatively high levels inside cars, echoing a recent warning that cars are “boxes collecting toxic gases”.
Continue reading...'Global heating' more accurate to describe risks to planet, says key scientist
Rising temperatures have passed comfort zone for humanity, says lead expert
“Global heating” is a more accurate term than “global warming” to describe the changes currently taking place to the world’s climate, according to a key scientist at the UK Met Office.
Prof Richard Betts, who leads the climate research arm of Britain’s meteorological monitoring organisation, made the comments amid growing evidence that rising temperatures have passed the comfort zone and are now bringing increased threats to humanity.
Continue reading...'Death sentence': butterfly sanctuary to be bulldozed for Trump's border wall
More than 200 species make their homes at America’s most diverse sanctuary, but construction through the reserve could begin in February
On any given day at the National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas, visitors can to see more than 60 varieties of butterflies. In the spring and fall, monarchs and other species can blanket the center’s 100 acres of subtropical bushlands that extend from the visitor center to to the banks of the Rio Grande river, where their property, and US sovereignty, end.
“It’s like something from Fantasia,” said the center’s director, Marianna Wright. “When you walk you have to cover your mouth so you don’t suck in a butterfly.”
Continue reading...Labor won't rule out using 'accounting tricks' to meet emissions reduction targets
Mark Butler says party will make decision on using carryover credits from the Kyoto protocol after Paris ‘rule book’ established
The shadow climate minister Mark Butler has not ruled out using carryover carbon credits from the Kyoto protocol to help Labor meet its more ambitious emissions reduction targets in the event it wins the next election.
Butler expressed reluctance about using accounting tricks as part of Labor’s climate policy arsenal, but told the ABC he would not make a decision about whether carryover credits were in or out until after the Paris rule book was established.
Continue reading...Australia turns back on allies as it refuses to cut emissions above Paris pledge
EU and 27 countries vow to toughen commitments as environment minister’s address at COP24 UN climate change summit accused of flying in face of reality
Australia will not commit to larger carbon emissions reductions above its Paris agreement target, despite a coalition of former allies and Pacific neighbours urging greater cuts.
In Paris in 2015 Australia was a part of a bloc of countries called the “High Ambition Coalition”, which includes the UK, the EU, New Zealand, the Marshall Islands and Fiji. Australia is outside that bloc now.
Continue reading...We need a non-proliferation treaty for fossil fuels | Letter
In the face of the emerging climate emergency (Letters, 10 December) and projected unconstrained growth in global fossil fuel use, this is a plea for people with relevant expertise and influence to take forward the idea for a “non-proliferation treaty” (NPT) for fossil fuels, floated by Andrew Simms and Peter Newell (theguardian.com, 23 October) and supported by Bill McKibben, Naomi Klein and others (Letters, 30 October).
The analogy between fossil fuels and fissile nuclear materials is imperfect, but it should not be overlooked that the nuclear NPT promotes cooperation in and equal access to “peaceful use” of nuclear technology. “Peaceful use” of fossil fuels could mean their continued but decreasing extraction, within enforceable limits constrained by the Paris agreement goals, and an offsetting role for carbon capture and geo-sequestration (funded by fossil fuel producers). Safeguards and oversight could be provided by a new United Nations monitoring agency, akin to the International Atomic Energy Agency, which could also administer a global fossil carbon budget.
Continue reading...Coalition signals it will provide taxpayer support for new and existing coal plants
Morrison government specifies generation projects will need to be coal, gas, batteries or pumped hydro to be eligible for underwriting
The Morrison government has sent a clear signal that it is prepared to provide taxpayer support for both new and existing coal plants, opening registrations of interest in its controversial new power generation underwriting program.
With the government accelerating to cover off major announcements before the Christmas break, the energy minister, Angus Taylor, will on Thursday use an event at a hydro power station in Tasmania to outline the terms of the new program and urge proponents to get their bids in over the summer break – before 23 January.
Continue reading...UN chief attempts to revive flagging climate change talks
António Guterres returns to Katowice to urge China to intervene as world is ‘running out of time’
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, has made a dramatic intervention to revive flagging climate talks in Katowice, Poland, by flying back to the conference and preparing a personal call to the Chinese president, Xi Jinping.
Related: US accused of obstructing talks at UN climate change summit
Continue reading...Australia likely to use controversial Kyoto loophole to meet Paris agreement
New Zealand urges others not to meet emissions pledge with ‘dodgy accounting’, but UN rules unlikely to prohibit using carryover credits
Australia appears likely be allowed to exploit a controversial climate loophole, using carryover carbon credits from the Kyoto protocol to meet its Paris agreement targets.
New Zealand has already ruled out using the carryover credits, saying it would discourage other countries from the practice.
Continue reading...Dracula ant's killer jaws are nature's fastest mover at 200mph
Tropical insect uses lethal speed of its spring-loaded mandibles to stun or kill prey
Move aside cheetah and peregrine falcon, there is a new contender for the title of fastest animal on Earth: the Dracula ant. Scientists have discovered that the small tropical insect can snap its mandibles at up to 90 metres a second (more than 200mph), the fastest animal movement on record.
The ants use the explosive motion to attack, stun and kill prey, which is then fed to their larvae.
Continue reading...US accused of obstructing talks at UN climate change summit
Vanuatu’s foreign minister says worst offenders on global warming are blocking progress
The United States and other high carbon dioxide-emitting developed countries are deliberately frustrating the UN climate summit in Katowice, Poland, Vanuatu’s foreign minister has said. His warning came as Pacific and Indian ocean states warned they faced annihilation if a global climate “rule book” could not brokered.
In a bruising speech before ministers and heads of state, Vanuatu’s foreign minister, Ralph Regenvanu, singled out the US as he excoriated major CO2-emitting developed countries for deliberately hindering negotiations.
Continue reading...Trump administration to strip pollution protections, harming vital wildlife
List of waterways land users must obtain permits to pollute to be scaled back, which could also allow pollution in drinking water
The Trump administration is planning to strip Obama-era pollution protections from thousands of US streams and millions of acres of wetlands, in a move environmentalists warn will harm vital wildlife and could allow pollution into drinking water.
Related: Ex-EPA chief Scott Pruitt used personal email for government work
Continue reading...Trump administration sued by wildlife groups over offshore drilling tests
- Seismic air guns could harm dolphins and whales
- ‘This action is unlawful and we’re going to stop it’
Environmental groups have sued the Trump administration over offshore drilling tests, which could harm hundreds of thousands of marine mammals such as dolphins and whales.
The lawsuit filed in federal court in Charleston, South Carolina, claims the National Marine Fisheries Service violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act when it issued five permits for the use of seismic air guns.
Continue reading...Fracking paused in Blackpool after biggest tremor to date
Minor quake near Cuadrilla site is on par with one in 2011 that led to moratorium
Residents of Blackpool have reported feeling tremors from a minor earthquake from nearby fracking operations that restarted two months ago.
The 1.5-magnitude earthquake occurred 1km underground at around 11.20am on Tuesday, after shale gas company Cuadrilla resumed fracking after a month-long hiatus. The site is about one mile south-east of Blackpool.
Continue reading...'Window is narrowing': scientists urge action at UN climate talks
Gilet jaunes protests cast shadow as concerns raised over backlash against rapid change
Scientists have laid down the gauntlet for political leaders as the UN climate summit in Katowice, Poland, wrestles with the challenge of cutting emissions without sparking social tensions like those seen recently in France.
The UN climate talks – known as COP24 and the most important since the Paris agreement was signed in 2015 – aim to set a new rulebook for governments to reduce greenhouse gases and to raise ambitions, after warnings of dire consequences if global warming rises more than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.
Continue reading...Cornwall cliff collapse caught on camera – video
A woman walking near the coast on Lynstone Road in Bude, Cornwall, captures the moment part of a cliff collapses on to the beach
Continue reading...Use of fish discard exemptions by EU trawlers soars before ban
WWF says exemptions undermine landing obligation taking full effect next month
The use of exemptions to EU restrictions on fish discards by EU trawlers has risen by 300% in the last year, according to research released three weeks before a ban is due to take full effect.
The dispensation allowing fishing fleets to discard up to 7% of their catches will continue after January 1 2019, undermining the “landing obligation” on boats to retain and bring to port all seafood catches, according to a report by WWF Europe.
Continue reading...'We could smell the boat approaching': the grim truth on animal exports
Broken bones and other injuries are common for sheep and cattle held on ships for weeks in cramped pens. Photojournalist Jo-Anne McArthur tracked the 22,000 arrivals on one boat in Israel’s Haifa port
Hundreds of thousands of live animals are transported each year on ships from Australia and Europe to the Middle East. The route from Australia to Israel is particularly long – the journey is three weeks at sea, where cattle and sheep are often kept in cramped pens for the duration.
It’s estimated this year Israel will import 114,040 animals (cattle and sheep) from Australia, and 409,123 sheep and 169,991 cattle from Europe. Though these figures are lower than the previous year, in general live imports have been on the rise. Israel is expected to import 700,000 live animals this year – up from 200,000 in 2012.
Continue reading...Adani met with environment department 40 times in six months
Coalition ‘holding Adani’s hand’ through mine approvals, Greens senator says
The federal environment department had 40 meetings in six months with Adani representatives to discuss the Carmichael coalmine project, according to responses to a Senate estimates committee.
The department met Adani executives in person at the company’s Brisbane offices, as well as conducting teleconferences, on matters including Adani’s groundwater management plans, the mine’s progress and proposals for the management of the threatened black-throated finch.
Continue reading...Big on batteries: government finally seizes on lithium-ion potential
Investment minister touts ‘once-in-a-generation opportunity’ but until now government criticised for lack of engagement
The federal government wants to seize a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to position Australia as a world leader in the rapidly developing lithium-ion battery manufacturing sector.
Releasing a new strategy document from Austrade on Tuesday, the investment minister, Simon Birmingham, said the time was right to capitalise on growing global demand.
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