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Cold blast brings springtime snow to alpine regions as temperatures plummet across Australia’s south-east
Thredbo, Perisher and Mount Hotham all recorded falls, along with Kunanyi/Mount Wellington in Tasmania
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Snow blanketed parts of New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania across the weekend as an unseasonal cold blast whipped through Australia’s south-east, but forecasters say warm temperatures and thunderstorms are on the way.
Thredbo, Perisher and Mount Hotham all recorded falls on Saturday and Sunday, while snow also fell on Kunanyi/Mount Wellington in Hobart.
Continue reading...Heavy rain floods displaced families’ tents in Gaza – in pictures
The first winter storm began affecting the people of Gaza this weekend with heavy rain hitting on Saturday. Reports that about 70,000 tents were flooded within 12 hours prompted warnings of a worsening humanitarian situation for hundreds of thousands of displaced people living in temporary camps lacking adequate protection from rain and cold
Continue reading...Labour expected to cut EV targets for UK’s car industry despite MPs’ protests
Exclusive: Louise Haigh likely to weaken mandate for sales that forms key part of emission reduction plan
Ministers are expected to make steep cuts to the government’s electric vehicle (EV) targets this week, in a move that will relieve carmakers but alarm many Labour MPs who are worried about the government’s commitment to the green agenda.
Louise Haigh, the de facto deputy prime minister, will finalise the plan after a crunch meeting in Downing Street on Wednesday to settle a long-running dispute between the transport, energy and business departments.
Continue reading...Beef industry quietly squashes part of its own science curriculum after ranchers protest
Lesson for teenagers included how cattle’s methane emissions contribute to climate crisis, but it was then scrapped
A beef industry-funded effort to teach teenagers about cattle’s climate impact was quietly scrapped following backlash from some ranchers, who disputed the premise that cows contribute to global heating.
The episode is the latest example of the livestock industry’s decades-long battle to determine what US children learn about cows and the climate.
Continue reading...The tiny world of Australian fairywrens – in pictures
Howard Loosemore, alongside a few talented photographer friends, spent 15 years capturing every Australian fairywren species and plumage in vivid detail that’s been published in a new book about the small and colourful lives of fairywrens
Continue reading...SS United States, a historic ship will be sunk to create an artificial reef
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks to Alex Fogg, Natural Resources Chief of Okaloosa County, Florida, about efforts to deliberately sink the SS United States and create an artificial reef in its wreckage.
Cop31 must deliver climate progress that people can see is real, host says
High-stakes talks involving 190 countries begin on Monday as world grapples with El Niño supercharged by fossil fuels
The Cop31 summit must produce progress, “a tangible outcome ... that people can see is real”, its host has said as scores of world leaders and representatives of close to 190 countries gather in Turkey for the UN climate talks.
The high-stakes meeting begins on Monday, as countries around the world grapple with the strongest El Niño weather system on record, supercharged by fossil fuels, which is set to take hundreds of thousands of lives and cause damage costing trillions of dollars.
Continue reading...Trump administration moves to lift ban on roadbuilding and logging in national forests
The Trump administration is working to rescind the "Roadless Rule," which blocks road construction in some national forests. This could affect Alaska's Tongass National Forest.
US datacenter demand spurs increased fossil fuel pipeline projects as rules are discarded
Trump administration has gutted regulations that protect lives and natural resources as pipeline build-out continues
Datacenters are spurring a boom in fossil fuel pipeline projects at a time when the Trump administration is gutting rules that protect from disasters along the lines, a new review of federal records shows.
The report, compiled by the Environmental Integrity Project, also found pipelines are being built to meet demand for natural gas exports fueled by wars in Ukraine and Iran. Federal records identified almost 200 pipeline projects that are proposed or in the works, and would collectively span 17,000 miles (27,000km).
Continue reading...Who’s who at Cop31: key players at the climate talks
What are the relationships and dominant interests in play, as the summit kicks off after a bitter row over its hosting?
Hosting Cop was a key pledge from Australia’s prime minister, Anthony Albanese in 2021, while in opposition, before his successful election campaign. But arcane rules meant the country had to wait its turn to bid and was then embroiled in an angry row with Turkey over the hosting. The final compromise put Australia in charge of the negotiations which will take place in the Turkish city of Antalya. The bitter taste left by the row lingers and Australia has seemed to some a rather half-hearted host. The country’s media has been much quieter on Cop than previous host countries, and although Albanese will speak at the opening of the leaders’ segment, he is unlikely to stay long.
Continue reading...Climate change is altering the colors we see in the world: an illustrated journey
From Arctic landscapes to insect bodies, climate change is shifting the familiar colors of nature.
How do you broker UN climate talks when your own country is a big coal and gas exporter? Chris Bowen is about to find out
Ahead of Cop31, climate change minister dismisses concerns about whether Australia as a major producer can keep the world moving away from fossil fuels
Listen to the podcast: Chris Bowen on how he’ll reach consensus at Cop31
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Australia has been urged to set aside support for its near US$100bn fossil fuel export industries and fight for a global agreement to move away from coal, gas and oil as its climate change minister, Chris Bowen, leads negotiations between nearly 200 countries at UN talks this week.
Delegates will gather in the Turkish Mediterranean resort city of Antalya on Monday for Cop31, two weeks of climate talks held amid geopolitical turmoil, with conflict in the Middle East driving an oil price crisis that has raised living costs across the globe.
Continue reading...Let a thousand blossoms bloom: Sydney’s jacarandas put on their spring show – in pictures
The city enters its purple patch with jacaranda trees blazing into flower in the warmer weather. Every October and November the fast-growing trees are festooned with trumpet-shaped blossoms that soon carpet the ground below them, drawing sightseers, photographers – and people taking photos of people taking photos
Continue reading...New ‘high safety’ chemicals in plastic food packaging linked to lower birth weight, study finds
Dinch, an allegedly ‘safe’ alternative, used in the EU and US also found to cause fetal development complications
Exposure to a new generation of allegedly “safe” plasticizers is linked to lower birth weight and fetal development complications, which could cause serious health problems later in life, a new peer-reviewed study found.
As the health risks in exposure to common phthalate plasticizers became clear over the last few decades, industry began switching to a new type of chemical, called Dinch, that it claimed was a “high safety”, nontoxic alternative. It is widely used in soft plastic food packaging in the United States and European Union, and is found in children’s toys, medical devices, some textiles, flooring and other consumer goods.
Continue reading...Autumn colours around the world – in pictures
The seasonal transformation offers the chance to enjoy warm, golden colours before winter
Continue reading...Famous New Mexico rock formation destroyed after torrential El Niño rains
Officials expected to investigate whether super El Niño storms in US south-west damaged the Alien Throne spires
Undulating, gravity-defying rock spires are one of the most magical parts of the landscape of the US south-west.
But after torrential rainstorms linked to the super El Niño season, at least one famous rock formation in north-west New Mexico has been found in pieces.
Continue reading...In Alaska’s capital, food comes by water, air or, most often, community sharing
Juneau has little arable land, a short growing season and few farmers – and deep traditions of residents and the land feeding each other
Forty miles north-west of Alaska’s capital, the highway just ends.
At Glacier Highway’s most northern point, the pavement turns to gravel, the gravel widens into a turnaround and the tire tracks curve back the way they came. At the far end, the woods begin, a narrow hiking trail slipping toward the southern end of Berners Bay.
Continue reading...Australia’s coal and gas approvals are starting to stink ahead of Cop31 | Jess Harwood
What happened to climate injustice?
Continue reading...Most Europeans want action to tackle climate crisis but not at any cost, poll shows
YouGov survey finds support for tree planting and emissions taxes but opposition to air travel and fuel levies
Europeans believe human-made climate change is real, a survey has shown, with most feeling action must be taken soon – as long as they do not have to sacrifice too much to achieve it.
The YouGov poll of six European countries showed between 69% (Germany) and 80% (France) of respondents believed the climate was changing, with few (1%-4%) denying it and 14-20% believing it was changing, but not as a result of human activity.
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