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Dying for sex: endangered male quolls may be mating themselves to death instead of sleeping, scientists say
Data suggests male northern quolls rest less than females and spend much more time on the move, leading to their death after a single breeding season
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Male northern quolls seem to sacrifice sleep in favour of having sex, behaviour that might be responsible for their early deaths, suggests new research into the endangered marsupials.
Australian scientists have investigated why male northern quolls usually mate themselves to death after one season, while females of the species reproduce once but live up to four years.
Continue reading...‘This is living to me’: the women swapping city life for shepherding in the Pyrenees – in pictures
Photographer Paroma Basu followed three young Spanish women who have left urban careers and retrained through the Escola de Pastors i Pastores de Catalunya, one of a number of ́herding schools opening around the region
Continue reading...'Let them eat lentils' won't save us from animal farming – we must embrace meat substitutes | George Monbiot
Our insatiable appetite for meat is laying waste to the planet. But the alternative is looking (and tasting) better by the day
Do you hate the idea of animal-free meat? Many people do. Unsurprisingly, livestock farmers are often furiously opposed. More surprisingly, so are some vegans: “Why can’t people eat tofu and lentils, like me?” Well, the new products – plant-based, microbial and cell-cultured meat and dairy – are not aimed at vegans, but at the far greater number who like the taste and texture of animals. Many others instinctively recoil from the idea of food that seems familiar, but isn’t.
So here’s a question for all the sceptics. What do you intend to do about the soaring global demand for animal products, and its devastating impacts?
George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist
Continue reading...Planting more trees in cities could cut deaths from summer heat, says study
European research finds that increasing urban tree coverage to 30% can lower temperatures by 0.4C
Planting more trees could mean fewer people die from increasingly high summer temperatures in cities, a study suggests.
Increasing the level of tree cover from the European average of 14.9% to 30% can lower the temperature in cities by 0.4C, which could reduce heat-related deaths by 39.5%, according to first-of-its-kind modelling of 93 European cities by an international team of researchers.
The lead author, Tamara Iungman, from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, said: “This is becoming increasingly urgent as Europe experiences more extreme temperature fluctuations caused by climate change.
“We already know that high temperatures in urban environments are associated with negative health outcomes, such as cardiorespiratory failure, hospital admission, and premature death.”
Her team wants to influence policymakers to make cities greener, “more sustainable, resilient and healthy” as well as mitigating climate breakdown, she added, since heat-related illness and death are expected to present an even bigger burden to health services over the next decade than cold temperatures.
Australia Market Roundup: Business groups call for calm on Safeguard Mechanism bill, issuance flat
Hybrid future? Interbreeding can make heat-averse species more resilient to climate change
Sex and no sleep may be killing endangered quolls
Indonesia turns focus to floating solar with new 100MW tender
Indonesia utility launches tender for another 100MW of floating solar as the archipelago seeks to grow its renewables supply.
The post Indonesia turns focus to floating solar with new 100MW tender appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Fossil giants tipped funds into major parties, but then the climate movement fought back
While data shows the fossil fuel industry yet again pouring money into Australia's major parties, the 2022 federal election changed the political donations game.
The post Fossil giants tipped funds into major parties, but then the climate movement fought back appeared first on RenewEconomy.
I study how radiation interacts with the environment – and the capsule lost in WA is a whole new ballgame
Very big solar sets record year of growth in 2022, as developers focus on size
Australia notched up the largest annual volume of 200MW-plus solar PV projects commissioned to date in 2022, new data shows.
The post Very big solar sets record year of growth in 2022, as developers focus on size appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Record solar and wind output is crushing coal in EU – and already beating gas
Coal generation has been falling since mid 2022, and as the renewables transition heats up, a decrease in fossil fuels – especially gas – will be the story of 2023.
The post Record solar and wind output is crushing coal in EU – and already beating gas appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Energy retailer signs deal to take quarter of output from biggest solar farm in NSW
Energy retailer specialising in business market signs long term deal to take one quarter of the output of Darlington Point solar farm.
The post Energy retailer signs deal to take quarter of output from biggest solar farm in NSW appeared first on RenewEconomy.
CP Daily: Tuesday January 31, 2023
Newly discovered green comet comes close to Earth
Land use: Government has overpromised says Royal Society
One of Australia’s oldest and most richly rewarded solar farms sold after debt dispute
One of Australia's first solar farms - and one of the most richly rewarded - has been sold by administrators.
The post One of Australia’s oldest and most richly rewarded solar farms sold after debt dispute appeared first on RenewEconomy.