Severe weather to affect coastal areas from Coffs Harbour to Bega; Queensland estimates ‘rain bomb’ will cost state more than $4bn; two NSW residents among Japanese encephalitis patients in Victoria; ADF defends NSW flood response; PM speaks on east coast floods, Ukraine crisis; nation records at least 32 Covid deaths with 23 in South Australia. This blog is now closed

Research shows that governments and individuals making small changes can have a huge impact in reducing emissions

Bidders expected to walk away after offer of $8.25 a share rejected by board of Australia’s largest energy company

An investigation appears to show company employees discussing how to smear local opponents of the Central American nickel operationA decision to restart operations at one of Central America’s largest nickel mines is being questioned by campaigners, after an investigation appeared to show the company co-opted indigenous leaders and smeared potential opponents.

Organisation urges all political parties to outline concrete steps on how to prepare for inevitable climate-fuelled disasters

Steven Fuller has been the ‘winterkeeper’ at Yellowstone for 49 years. In that time, he has captured the breathtaking natural phenomena and the wildlife that exist there through all the seasons Continue reading...

Severe rainfall that may lead to flash flooding ‘likely’ in Queensland, while Hawkesbury-Nepean River in NSW set to surpass last week’s flood level

The crisis must not become a reason to drop our commitment to net zero targetThe report last week by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on the need to adapt to global warming made stark, unpleasant reading. Described by the UN secretary general, António Guterres, as “an atlas of human suffering”, it revealed that billions of people now live in parts of the world where they are highly vulnerable to climate change.Death tolls from droughts, floods and storms are destined to increase in these regions as extreme heat events and inundations become more frequent. Only urgent action today can halt the worst impacts and prevent a global calamity, argued the IPCC. Continue reading...

The Yawuru people have finally had 530,000 hectares of their traditional country returned to them. We also hear suburban tales of electrifying our homes and discovering treasure on council cleanup daysYou can read the original articles here:‘The good fight’: Roebuck Plains Station and its return to Indigenous owners – photo essay Continue reading...

£600m project is one of 900 in planning pipeline to provide green energyA proposed new £600m solar farm in eastern England – covering an area eight times bigger than Hyde Park in central London – faces opposition over claims it would be a “blight” on the countryside.The scheme, which would provide power for up to 100,000 homes, will cover nearly 2,800 acres near Newmarket, more than 10 times bigger than any scheme built to date in Britain. It is one of more than 900 solar farms in the planning pipeline to help provide green energy. Continue reading...

Urban farms play a vital role in feeding communities but are hampered by precarious leases and gentrificationFor the last 10 years, residents in the south Baltimore neighborhood of Cherry Hill who struggled to access affordable food had a reliable place to go.Visitors to the Cherry Hill Urban Community Garden, a 1.5-acre urban farm, would find cheap, fresh vegetables and a strong sense of community. Continue reading...

Cultivating the shellfish creates a healthy habitat for everything from big fish to molluscs and could offer a sustainable alternative to meat or fishThe water beneath our boat is teeming with life. It is a fine Sunday morning on Loch Slapin on the Isle of Skye and Dr Judith Brown and Andrew Airnes are pointing below the surface to where they are hoping to grow more than 100 tonnes of high-quality animal protein suspended from four ropes.“You probably wouldn’t be able to grow one sheep on that land-wise,” says Airnes. Due in part to its tremendous efficiency, mussel farming is seen by a new generation of food producers as having exciting potential for feeding a growing population while restoring native biodiversity, which has been damaged or destroyed by pollution and harmful fishing practices. Continue reading...

Report by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said half of the world’s people are ‘highly vulnerable’On Monday, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that the dangerous impacts of climate breakdown are already being felt and are accelerating rapidly. Has that message been heard?The second of four parts of the IPCC’s sixth assessment report, the latest comprehensive review of our knowledge of the climate crisis, was termed by some scientists “the bleakest warning yet”. Half of the world’s people are “highly vulnerable” to serious impacts from the climate crisis, a billion people in coastal areas face inundation, mass die-offs of species including trees and coral have already begun, and close to a tenth of the world’s farmland is set to become unsuitable for agriculture. Continue reading...

Surge of estate sales to big firms has driven up prices and increased elitism of land ownership, says report

Firm has pledged to plant huge forest in Scotland, but some of its environmental claims have raised eyebrows

Premier vows not ‘to spare a dollar’ in recovery but residents increasingly frustrated by slow rollout of support

‘One day this place will be uninhabitable. The question I pose when people say that is, “Who gets to leave?”’ asks a biologistAway from the lights and fountains of the Las Vegas Strip, bulldozers are working overtime as the suburbs of Sin City are bursting out of their seams.Las Vegas is growing at a staggering rate. Clark county, where the city is located, is home to roughly 2.3 million people, but forecasts predict the population could go beyond 4 million by 2055. Continue reading...

Australian officials attempted to water down language around health of world’s largest coral reef in latest climate change report

Ukraine and US embassy denounce attack on huge Zaporizhzhia power station as war crime

Experts assess the risks after fire burned for several hours at Zaporizhzhia nuclear facility

Victoria Prentis says Britons need to be more willing to buy premium food and suggests boycott of Russian white fish

Fossil-fuel firms want to turn violence and bloodshed into an oil and gas propaganda-generating scheme. The goal: a drilling bonanzaLast week, we all watched in horror as Vladimir Putin launched a deadly, catastrophic attack on Ukraine, violating international treaties across the board. Most of us swiftly condemned his actions and pledged support for the Ukrainian people whose country, homes and lives are under attack.But the fossil-fuel industry had a different take. They saw an opportunity – and a shameless one at that – to turn violence and bloodshed into an oil and gas propaganda-generating scheme. Within hours, industry-led talking points were oozing into press releases, social media and opinion pieces, telling us the key to ending this crisis is to immediately hand US public lands and waters over to fossil-fuel companies and quickly loosen the regulatory strings. Continue reading...

Sadiq Khan’s plan would cut number of most polluting cars on London’s roads by further 20,000-40,000 a dayLondon’s ultra-low emission zone will be extended to the whole of Greater London by the end of next year under plans set out by the mayor, Sadiq Khan.City Hall said “bold measures are required” to reduce toxic air pollution and cut congestion in the capital, as well as tackling the wider climate emergency. Continue reading...

Royal Horticultural Society says the gastropods ‘play an important role’ in maintaining a healthy ecosystem

Donald Lee claimed he killed a Fannin bighorn sheep in Alaska but an online sleuth and Yukon conservation officers proved he didn’tWhen an Alaskan hunter ventured out into the rugged mountains and dropped his target with a single rifle shot, it seemed like the perfect crime.The only witness lay dead on the rocky landscape. Continue reading...

Sewage works, airports and seaports among key infrastructure at risk, says intergovernmental reportThe UK “is very much not adapted to climate change and not prepared”, according to a lead author of a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.The study, published this week and approved by 195 countries, says the worldwide impacts of the climate crisis are more severe than predicted and there is only a narrow chance of securing “a liveable future for all”. Continue reading...

Body of man in 40s found south of Murwillumbah; death of man, 53, takes Queensland’s flood toll to 10 as premier mourns ‘unprecedented’ disaster; Japanese encephalitis case in Qld; at least 37 Covid deaths; Alan Tudge opts not to return to frontbench. This blog is now closed

Queensland and NSW bear the brunt of catastrophic weather conditions that have claimed 16 livesWhen Jenni Metcalfe returned to her Brisbane home to survey the damage as the nearby river peaked, water had already risen a metre up the back wall. There was nothing she could do. “I sat in the gutter and watched it and cried,” she said.The east coast of Australia has been battered by more than a week of torrential rain, as communities begin to survey the wreckage of fatal flash flooding that has left townships looking like war zones. Continue reading...

Firms sought to weaken draft EU law banning food imports linked to deforestation eight days after vowing to accelerate actionFive of the world’s biggest agribusiness firms sought to weaken a draft EU law banning food imports linked to deforestation, eight days after pledging to accelerate their forest protection efforts at Cop26, documents seen by the Guardian show.Forest protection hopes had been raised when the CEOs of 10 food companies with a combined revenue of nearly $500bn (£373bn) vowed to “accelerate sector-wide action” towards eliminating commodity-driven deforestation as the climate summit began on 2 November. Continue reading...

Analysis: Russian invasion could speed up renewables transition – or lead to disastrous return to coalVladimir Putin is using Russia’s hold over fossil fuel supplies to Europe as “a political and economic weapon” in the war in Ukraine, the world’s foremost energy adviser has said, presenting western governments with crucial questions over how they face down the threat to democracy while also heading off climate disaster.Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency, said: “Nobody is under any illusions any more. Russia’s use of its natural gas resources as an economic and political weapon shows Europe needs to act quickly to be ready to face considerable uncertainty over Russian gas supplies next winter.” Continue reading...

High-resolution images shot from a camera system mounted on planes focus in on the devastation

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including rescued pangolins, a foraging fiddler crab and a silver orb spider Continue reading...

Authorities are urging people to stay alert and check warnings with another east coast low predicted for coast early next week

Science and technology are tools that can be used for both good and bad ends, writes Rob DriverLaurence Kenney (Letters, 1 March) points the finger at “engineers and scientists” for enabling both the climate emergency and armed conflicts across the globe. This is an unhelpful framing of the issue.Science and technology are tools that can be used for both good and bad ends. How we choose to use them is a matter for all of society, not just for scientists. Let’s remember that it was climate science that revealed to us (nearly 40 years ago) that our desire for plentiful energy and transportation based on fossil fuels would lead to catastrophe. And that it is low-carbon technologies that now offer us a pathway out of our climate predicament. Continue reading...

Warren Entsch says northern Australia scheme aimed at cyclone-prone Queensland should be extended to other parts of the country

IEA says reducing temperature could help wean consumers off fuel that Russia is using as a weapon in Ukraine war

Why charging customers more for non-dairy milk in coffee at Starbucks and other cafes is more of a problem than you might thinkIf you are vegan, lactose intolerant, or simply don’t consume dairy, chances are your coffee run comes with an additional fee. Starbucks charges its US customers roughly 70¢ extra for oat, soy, almond, and coconut milk, and such additional costs are common at other cafes across the country.But not every coffee shop does the same. And the reasons they cite are not only customer taste preferences – they say that dairy milk is far worse for the climate, and that because rates of lactose intolerance are higher among people of color, the alternative milk surcharge also perpetuates unfairness. There are calls for more coffee shops, and Starbucks, to follow suit. Continue reading...

The 22-step plan includes preventing and intercepting plastic from entering waterways and educating about its hazardsMicroplastics can be found everywhere, from waterways to fish to inside the human body’s soft tissues. And it’s only getting worse – 11m metric tons of plastic enter the planet’s oceans each year, an amount that is expected to triple by 2040.California is trying to get ahead of the problem, becoming the first US state to put in place a comprehensive plan for tackling microplastics. The roadmap of 22 actions is focused on preventing plastic particles from getting into the environment, intercepting plastics pollution and educating the public about the problem. Continue reading...

Wildlife hospitals are preparing for an influx of sick animals trapped in their habitat or swept into other environments

Andrew Tierney is part of a new breed of cycling activists tackling a rise in online abuse head-on“If someone deletes their comment, that’s success for me,” says Andrew Tierney. “Hopefully, that person will think about what they’re saying in the future.”Tierney, who goes by the name @cybergibbons online, is part of a new breed of cycling activists. After noticing an increase in the amount of abuse and violent threats on social media directed at people who ride bikes, Tierney decided to take action. He started calling out the posters online, with the result that many deleted their comments or even their accounts. Continue reading...

Newcastle and Hunter region now in firing line and subject to severe weather warnings as clean-up begins further north

Nuclear watchdog chief pleads with invading troops to allow workers to carry on ‘providing safety and monotoring radiation’ at ZaporizhzhiaThe UN nuclear watchdog has voiced concern after Russian forces claimed to have surrounded Ukraine’s biggest atomic plant, and called for its workers to be left alone to do their jobs.Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said the Russian government had informed the agency that its troops had taken control of the area around the Zaporizhzhia plant in south-eastern Ukraine, the second biggest in Europe, housing six of the country’s 15 reactors. Continue reading...

Weather pattern slashes rainfall in Australia’s southernmost state while temperatures soar

If you follow the Institute of Public Affairs’s logic on job losses, a net zero target is bad for everyone working in renewables too

Wealthy nations accused of depriving poorer ones of nutrient-rich food and wasting mackerel, sardine and anchovy stocksShoppers’ appetite for salmon is causing millions of tonnes of nutritious mackerel, sardines and anchovies to be wasted as fish feed, according to new research.Its authors say farming salmon is an inefficient way to produce nutritious seafood, calculating that half to 99% of minerals, vitamins and fatty acids in the wild-caught fish are not retained when fed to farmed Atlantic salmon. Continue reading...

Politicians, academics and campaigners criticise Nationals MP Paul Toole after he says ‘stop using the excuse of a moth’ to oppose dams

Republican Greg Gianforte confirmed he shot the cat after chasing it up a tree with dogs in his latest controversial hunting incidentThe governor of Montana, Greg Gianforte, shot and killed a mountain lion that was being monitored by national park staff, after hunting the animal with hounds and chasing it up a tree.The Republican governor hunted the lion on 28 December, according to details first reported by the Washington Post that were confirmed on Monday by Gianforte’s press secretary, Brooke Stroyke. Stroyke said the governor had a valid hunting license, drove the lion up the tree, and shot it. Continue reading...

UN environment assembly resolution is being hailed as biggest climate deal since 2015 Paris accordWorld leaders, environment ministers and other representatives from 173 countries have agreed to develop a legally binding treaty on plastics, in what many described a truly historic moment.The resolution, agreed at the UN environment assembly in Nairobi, Kenya, calls for a treaty covering the “full lifecycle” of plastics from production to disposal, to be negotiated over the next two years. It has been described by the head of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) as the most important multilateral environmental deal since the Paris climate accord in 2015. Continue reading...

Waitrose, Morrisons and M&S among firms to install refill stations in attempt to reduce plastic waste“Every shopper in the UK” will have access to refillable groceries in a large supermarket or with a delivery service under plans by some of the country’s biggest grocers.Waitrose, Ocado, Morrisons, Marks & Spencer and the supply-chain company CHEP have joined a refillable grocery partnership and plan to both roll out unpackaged options in-store as well as letting people fill containers with essentials during home deliveries. Continue reading...

With Warragamba Dam spilling and water levels rising fast in Sydney’s north-west, thousands of people prepare to evacuate