According to analysis of seabed ecology undertaken after drilling tests in 2020 in Japan – the country’s first successful extraction of cobalt crusts from deep-sea mountains – there was a decrease…Continue readingDeep-sea mining causes huge decreases in sealife across wide region, says study
Author: Shane White
Tourists collapse in Greece and Italy and worker killed near Milan amid heatwave worsened by carbon pollution.Continue readingHealth alerts issued as blistering heat scorches southern Europe
Arizona’s capital city is nicknamed “Valley of the Sun”, and residents are used to scorching heat. But by day 12 of a vicious heatwave that’s sent temperatures soaring into triple digits,…Continue reading‘Hell on earth’: Phoenix’s extreme heatwave tests the limits of survival
Global warming and drastic deforestation could dry out the Amazon rainforest faster and enforce the risk of keeping it downright fire-trapped. A new study published in Communications Earth & Environment shows…Continue readingAmazon in the firetrap: Deforestation and warming lock rainforest in dry and damaged grassland state
Published in Science of The Total Environment, the researchers collected and filtered samples of air from seven indoor environments on the Gold Coast where people spend most of their time, including…Continue readingResearchers evaluate levels of indoor microplastics in Australia
In what is considered to be the nation’s first large-scale analysis of PFAS in tap water from private wells and public water supplies, researchers estimated that at least 45% of drinking…Continue readingRisk of tap water exposure to toxic PFAS chemicals higher in Southern California
PFAS is used in almost all industries and is found in many products such as textiles, carpets, shoes, food packaging, cosmetics, fire foam and pesticides. The hunting community in Ittoqqotoormiit (Scoresby…Continue readingAlarmingly high PFAS levels found in the populations of Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Denmark and the UK
The beginning of July marked the planet’s hottest week in recorded history. Last month was the warmest-ever June. The arrival of a strong El Niño is likely to push global temperatures…Continue readingScientists are freaking out about surging temperatures. Why aren’t politicians?
The water off South Florida is over 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius) in mid-July, and scientists are already seeing signs of coral bleaching off Central and South America. Particularly concerning is…Continue readingCorals are starting to bleach as global ocean temperatures hit record highs
Phoenix will record its 15th straight day above 109 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius) on Friday, according to the National Weather Services (NWS). In Texas, the city of El Paso is…Continue readingSouthwest US roasts in devastating heat wave
Not far from Latin America’s biggest city, Sao Paulo, a river is covered in a white layer that resembles fresh snow but is in fact a smelly, toxic foam. The Tiete…Continue readingToxic foam blights river crucial to Brazil’s biggest city
The marshlands have shrunk from 20,000 square kilometers (7,700 square miles) in the early 1990s to 4,000 (1,500 square miles) by latest estimates—choked by dams on the great rivers upstream in…Continue readingIraq’s marshes are dying, and a civilization with them
Around 14 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean every year. But that is not the only water source where plastic represents a significant intrusion. “We found microplastics in…Continue readingGlobal study details microplastics contamination in lakes and reservoirs
Carbon emissions from China are growing faster now than before COVID-19 struck, data show, dashing hopes the pandemic may have put the world’s most polluting nation on a new emissions trajectory.…Continue readingChina is pumping out carbon emissions as if COVID never happened. That’s bad news for the climate crisis
Approximately 40% [25%] of the global ocean is currently experiencing MHWs, which ranks 1st [14th] among all months since 1991. Values include the effects of long-term warming. Values with the long-term…Continue readingCurrent marine heatwave (MHW) conditions
TotalEnergies has commenced production from the phase 1 development of the Absheron gas and condensate field in the Caspian Sea, off the coast of Azerbaijan. The French company is partnered with…Continue readingTotalEnergies begins production from Absheron gas and condensate field
Mud engulfs houses and cars as island of Kyushu bears brunt of annual rainy season that is worsening with climate change. Six people died and three others were missing after the…Continue reading‘Heaviest rain ever’ causes deadly floods and landslides in Japan
Volume of debris in the unexplored twilight zone is an ‘emerging threat’ to reefs already stressed by climate crisis, say scientists. The researchers noted that plastic can spread coral disease, and…Continue readingPlastic pollution on coral reefs gets worse the deeper you go, study finds
Agricultural pesticides leach far from their original sources into the world’s waterways, according to new research which finds pesticides exceed safe levels in 13,000km of rivers globally. Analysing 92 of the…Continue readingPesticides from farming leach into world’s waterways at rate of 710 tonnes a year, UN research shows
Research shows 176 bird species have been found to build nests with human litter, including items that hurt them and their offspring. The scientists highlighted ways birds are at risk from…Continue readingSafety concerns for chicks grow as birds build nests with rubbish, study shows
Seabirds are one of the world’s most threatened animal groups. They already contend with multiple issues, including climate change, accidental capture in fishing gear and being eaten by invasive species like…Continue readingPlastic pollution threatens birds far out at sea, according to new research
Drinking water from nearly half of U.S. faucets likely contains “forever chemicals” that may cause cancer and other health problems, according to a government study released Wednesday. The synthetic compounds known…Continue readingStudy says drinking water from nearly half of US faucets contains potentially harmful chemicals
The sea is becoming greener due to changes in plankton populations, analysis of Nasa images finds. When comparing these changes in colour with those hypothesised from a computer model simulating what…Continue readingWorld’s oceans changing colour due to climate breakdown, study suggests
Soaring greenhouse gases, ubiquitous microplastics, pervasive “forever chemicals”, the global upheaval of animals, even old mobile phones and chicken bones—all have been put forward as evidence that the world entered the…Continue readingSigns of the human era, from nuclear fallout to microplastics
“The world just had the hottest week on record, according to preliminary data,” the WMO said in a statement, after climate change and the early stages of the El Nino weather…Continue readingLast week the hottest worldwide on record: UN
Farmers Insurance became the latest property insurer to pull out of Florida on Tuesday despite repeated efforts by the state’s legislature and its Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, to try to calm…Continue reading‘Cascading impacts’ warning as Farmers becomes latest insurer to quit Florida
Scientists say human activity has so fundamentally altered the geology, atmosphere and biology of the earth that it has entered a new geologic epoch known as the Anthropocene. On Tuesday, members…Continue readingEvidence in Canada lake indicates start of new Anthropocene epoch
At least 50 people, including eight children, have been killed by floods and landslides triggered by monsoon rains that have lashed Pakistan since last month, officials said Friday. The summer monsoon…Continue readingAt least 50 dead in Pakistan monsoon floods
With nine million hectares (22.2 million acres) already gone up in smoke—11 times the average for the last decade—the absolute annual record set in 1989 has been surpassed. Authorities tallied 677…Continue readingWildfires ‘off the charts’ in Canada as temperatures climb
Whitehaven in its statement said: “High-quality thermal coal has an important role to play in providing energy security during the decarbonisation transition.”Continue readingWhitehaven coal wins legal battle for extension of Narrabri underground mine
A team of civil engineers, climate scientists and bioresource engineers has found that the number of people in the U.S. exposed to wildfires has doubled over the past 20 years. They…Continue readingStudy shows number of people in US exposed to wildfires over past 20 years has doubled
Seven out of eight US kale samples recently tested for toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” contained high levels of the compounds. The testing looked at conventional and organic kale bought at grocery…Continue readingNew report finds most US kale samples contain ‘disturbing’ levels of ‘forever chemicals’
Extreme heat is fast becoming a public health crisis in India, with more than 150 people dying during the latest brutal heat wave in June. Prolonged heat waves, sometimes classified as…Continue readingIn rural India, summer’s heat can be deadly. Ambulance crews see the toll up close.
As of Wednesday, more than eight million hectares (20 million acres) of forests and grasslands had burned across Canada, breaking an annual record of 7.3 million hectares set in 1989. And…Continue readingCanada wildfire smoke chokes millions in North America
At least 13 people have died from the extreme heat wave that has been tormenting the southern United States for two weeks. In recent days, temperatures in some southern US cities…Continue readingAt least 13 die in extreme heat wave in US
More than 2,000 people suffered heat stress during the hajj pilgrimage, Saudi officials said on Thursday, after temperatures soared to 48˚C (118˚F). Over 1.8 million Muslim worshippers performed the days-long hajj,…Continue readingThousands suffer heat stress on hajj pilgrimage as temperatures reach 48˚C
Experts say the drought in the central U.S. is the worst since at least 2012, and in some areas, is drawing comparisons to the 1988 drought that devastated corn, wheat and…Continue readingCentral US is now getting worst of the drought. Corn crops are stressed, rivers are running low
France is being badly hit by climate change, is not prepared for its effects and is failing to sufficiently reduce its emissions, an independent climate body warned. The record heat and…Continue readingFrance badly hit by climate change and ill-prepared
Norway’s government gave the green light to 19 oil and gas projects worth more than 200 billion kroner ($18.6 billion). The 19 projects involve the opening of new fields, the extension…Continue readingNorway approves fossil fuel projects
Britain’s rivers are under the spotlight because of an untreated sewage crisis, and the pendulum of floods and droughts that are the hallmark of a warming world. But hidden within these…Continue readingOpinion: We have forgotten what a ‘natural’ river even looks like
Rob Blakers says he was ‘surprised then furious’ that trees in foraging and feeding habitat for birds, whose numbers are down to just 750, were being destroyed.Continue readingWildlife photographer arrested in Tasmanian forest where swift parrot habitat is being logged
Earth lost an area of carbon-absorbing rainforest larger than Switzerland or the Netherlands in 2022, most of it destroyed to make way for cattle and commodity crops. That is nearly a…Continue readingFootball pitch of tropical forest lost every 5 seconds
After an estimated 20 elephant deaths and countless other wild animals perishing due to single-use plastics in the past decade, officials say a law banning many such items is expected to…Continue readingJumbo problem: Sri Lanka’s battle with plastic pollution
Much of the ice lost in 2022 had been present since 2000, when high-quality records began. If this trend persists, the consequences for the climate and for Southern Ocean ecosystems could…Continue readingFractured foundations: How Antarctica’s ‘landfast’ ice is dwindling and why that’s bad news
Antarctic sea ice reached a record low for the month of June, increasing calls from scientists to intensify research and monitoring of the Earth’s polar ice caps. Since 2016, Antarctic sea…Continue readingRecord low Antarctic sea ice levels worry scientists
China issued its highest-level heat alert for northern parts of the country on Friday as the capital baked in temperatures hovering around 40˚C (104˚F). A day earlier Beijing logged its hottest…Continue readingBeijing issues highest heat alert as north China swelters
Shares in Siemens Energy, one of the world’s largest wind turbine makers, plunged 30 per cent on Friday after the company warned it may have to spend more than €1bn fixing…Continue readingSiemens Energy shares plunge after wind turbine problems deepen
Shenhai-1 marks China’s first independently developed ultra-deepwater energy station, which has become operational in June 2021. The second phase of Shenhai-1 will boost peak annual output of the gas field from…Continue readingChina expands Shenhai-1 gas field in South China Sea with eye on Greater Bay Area energy transition
Qatar has secured a second huge gas supply deal with a Chinese state-controlled company in less than a year, in a sign of the energy-hungry Asia power rushing to secure long-term…Continue readingQatar strikes second big LNG supply deal with China
The French government is to shut down a climate protest group over a series of recent demonstrations citing risks to public safety, as the environmental activists called the decision “political and…Continue readingFrance to shut down climate protest group citing public safety risks
This year’s spring wildfire season has been the worst on record in Canada, with more than 5m hectares of land burned – a figure higher than the entire 2016, 2019, 2020…Continue readingCanada’s fires are getting fiercer – and rebuilding is becoming a challenge
From the start of the Middle Arm project and its associated gas developments, there have been concerns about the potential for actual or perceived conflicts of interest by decision makers. An…Continue readingRevealed: documents detail key players behind vast Australian fossil fuel expansion
All articles sourced from the Adelaide Advertiser, dated May 19, 2023.Continue readingNews Corp endorses the Australian gas industry
Ecowende is going to build a wind farm that will be in harmony with nature, with minimal impact on birds, bats and marine mammals, and with a thriving underwater world. Ecowende’s…Continue readingWind farms currently degrading nature
Female delegates at UN climate talks allege they were bullied, abused and sexually harassed by male negotiators, casting a deeper shadow over this year’s COP28 summit. One female negotiator from a…Continue readingUN climate talks hit by bullying and harassment allegations
“Given that Assad’s forces have used chemical weapons and flattened entire towns and cities in a murderous scorched-earth military campaign, it’s a sick joke to imagine that he’ll take the slightest…Continue readingAmnesty brands COP28 invitation to Bashar al-Assad as ‘sick joke’
Twenty-three deaths were reported on Thursday and another 11 died on Friday, Ballia’s Chief Medical Officer Jayant Kumar said. “All the individuals were suffering from some ailments and their conditions worsened…Continue readingDozens die as northern India swelters under heatwave
After a series of heatwaves, including a record high in May, and an unprecedented drought, rivers and reservoirs in northern Vietnam are running dry, pulling locals who survive off the water…Continue reading‘There is nothing for me’: Vietnam drought dries up income
Temperatures in Beijing hit a record for mid-June of 39.4 degrees Celsius (103 Fahrenheit) on Friday, China’s meteorological authority said, warning the public to stay indoors. More than two million square…Continue readingBeijing roasts in record mid-June temperatures
The Australian federal environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, has approved habitat clearing for a defence housing development in Darwin despite acknowledging there is a significant risk for what has been described as…Continue readingTanya Plibersek approves habitat clearing in Darwin despite risk to endangered bird
UN secretary-general António Guterres attacked oil and gas industry attempts to justify fossil fuel expansion with carbon capture technology as “proposals to become more efficient planet wreckers”, in a speech that…Continue readingUN chief attacks oil and gas industry ‘planet wreckers’ over fossil fuel expansion
Trillions of dollars of subsidies for fossil fuels, farming and fishing are causing “environmental havoc”, according to the World Bank, severely harming people and the planet. The “toxic” subsidies total at…Continue readingVast fossil fuel and farming subsidies causing ‘environmental havoc’
Already, the Beijing office of Greenpeace is sounding the alarm. In the first three months of 2023, provincial governments in China approved more new coal-fired electricity generation than they did in…Continue readingChina ramps up coal power while pushing for renewables
The slow-down of the Southern Ocean circulation, a dramatic drop in the extent of sea ice and unprecedented heatwaves are all raising concerns that Antarctica may be approaching tipping points. The…Continue readingAntarctic tipping points: The irreversible changes to come if we fail to keep warming below 2˚C
Shell has abandoned plans to cut oil production each year for the rest of the decade, in a shift in approach to firmly target fossil fuels and increase payouts to shareholders…Continue readingShell drops target to cut oil production as CEO aims for higher profits
The Arctic Ocean could be ice-free in summer by the 2030s, even if we do a good job of reducing emissions between now and then. That’s the worrying conclusion of a…Continue readingArctic Ocean could be ice-free in summer by 2030s, with global, damaging and dangerous consequences
Environmental groups are suing the US Environmental Protection Agency over pesticide-coated seeds they say have “devastating environmental impacts” and are spread largely without regulatory oversight. The suit alleges the neonicotinoid seeds…Continue readingEPA sued over pesticide-coated seeds’ ‘devastating impacts’ on US wildlife
Norway’s government is readying plans to open an area of ocean nearly the size of Germany to deep-sea mining as it seeks to become the first country to extract battery metals…Continue readingNorway seeks to open vast ocean area to deep-sea mining
/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/VFHHDLGJVZPEVM24E2JZI4HZFA.jpg "Canada’s wildfires are part of our new climate reality, experts and officials say")
The country has already seen 1,400% of the normal amount of land burned for this time of year. More than 400 blazes were burning across Canada on Wednesday, following an unprecedentedly…Continue readingCanada’s wildfires are part of our new climate reality, experts and officials say
Temperatures in the South Asian nation’s capital of Dhaka have surged to around 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), with the poor bearing the brunt of the blazing sun. A study…Continue readingBangladesh shuts schools, cuts power in longest heatwave in decades
The global warming effect of leaked hydrogen is almost 12 times stronger than CO2, shows a new study by CICERO, a climate research center, published in Communications Earth & Environment.Continue readingNew study estimates global warming potential of hydrogen
DuPont scientists found PFAS enlarged lab rats’ livers and likely caused birth defects in workers. Still, the company told its employees the cancer-linked compounds are “about as toxic as table salt”.…Continue readingChemical industry used big tobacco’s tactics to conceal evidence of PFAS risks
Countries didn’t get around to talking about plastic until the third day out of five, stuck in a prolonged debate over voting rules and points of procedure — led by oil-rich…Continue readingGlobal plastic treaty talks limp on despite blockade by oil-rich countries
The United Arab Emirates’ state oil company has been able to read emails to and from the COP28 climate summit office and was consulted on how to respond to a media…Continue reading‘Absolute scandal’: UAE state oil firm able to read COP28 climate summit emails
After receiving the £430m loan, Wood grew its upstream oil and gas business by 17% so that it accounted for more than $3bn (£2.4bn) in revenue in 2022, up from $2.6bn…Continue readingUK firm given £430m green transition loan then expanded oil and gas business
The UK government is under attack for investing taxpayers’ money in fossil fuel companies, a hospital in Kenya accused of imprisoning patients who couldn’t pay for treatment, and a business in…Continue readingUK government under fire for investing overseas aid in fossil fuel firms
United Nations climate chief says while the rapid end of burning coal, oil, and natural gas is urgently needed, the topic may not even reach crucial COP28 negotiations.Continue readingWill fossil fuel phase-out make it onto the UN’s climate agenda?
It is now too late to save summer Arctic sea ice. The study also shows that if emissions decline slowly or continue to rise, the first ice-free summer could be in…Continue readingToo late now to save Arctic summer ice, climate scientists find
“CO2 now is higher than any time in the last 4 to 4.5 million years when the atmosphere was about 7 degrees Fahrenheit (3.9 degrees Celsius) warmer and sea levels were…Continue readingAmount of warming triggering carbon dioxide in air hits new peak, growing at near-record fast rate
Concentrations of plastics in round-the-world race through remote ocean environments found to be up to 18 times higher than during previous event in 2017-18.Continue readingMicroplastics found in every sample of water taken during Ocean Race
To help extract oil, companies pump large quantities of water into the ground. For each barrel of oil, many of which are later exported to Europe, up to three barrels of…Continue readingIraq’s oil boom blamed for worsening water crisis in drought-hit south
Approximately 10,000 people have been ordered to leave a coastal city in the Canadian province of Quebec, marking the latest evacuation amid weeks of wildfires across the country. Bill Blair, the…Continue readingCanada wildfires spread to new areas, prompting more evacuations
More than 800m trees have been cut down in the Amazon rainforest in just six years to feed the world’s appetite for Brazilian beef, according to a new investigation, despite dire…Continue readingMore than 800m Amazon trees felled in six years to meet beef demand
With a daily production capacity of up to 150,000 barrels of oil and six million m3 of gas, FPSO (Floating Production Storage and Offloading) Almirante Barroso is located 180km off the…Continue readingPetrobras starts production of FPSO Almirante Barroso in Búzios field
Japan experienced its warmest spring on record this year, the national weather agency said Thursday, as greenhouse gasses and El Nino send temperatures soaring worldwide. Temperatures across March, April and May…Continue readingJapan reports warmest spring on record
Despite projections that the ozone layer would fully recover by mid-century, researchers found rising UV radiation levels in the tropics and northern mid-latitudes after 2010, posing risks to human health and…Continue readingOzone layer recovery delayed, surface UV radiation continues to rise, finds study
About USD 2.8 trillion is set to be invested in energy globally in 2023, USD 1.7 trillion of which will go to clean technologies. The remaining roughly USD 1 trillion is…Continue readingHumanity still investing in fossil fuels
Parks in the city of eight million people are now plunged into total darkness after 11 pm, while two-thirds of street lights are also switched off at the same hour. In…Continue readingHeatwave prompts Hanoi to reduce street lights as power cuts loom
French oil and gas major TotalEnergies has announced a 20-year renewal of the production license of the offshore Nigerian block OML130 in the Gulf of Guinea. In December 2018, TotalEnergies, then…Continue readingTotalEnergies renews offshore Nigerian block OML130 for 20 years