Environment news

• Montana supreme court upholds right to ‘stable climate system’ for youngsters

  18-12-2024 21:57
  
  Court rules in favor of 16 young people who said their health and prospects were being imperiled by climate crisisMontana’s top court on Wednesday held that the state’s constitution guaranteed a right to a stable climate system and invalidated a law barring regulators from considering the effects of greenhouse gas emissions when permitting new fossil fuel projects.The Montana supreme court upheld a landmark trial court decision last August in favor of 16 young people who said their h
  
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• ‘If 1.5m Germans have them there must be something in it’: how balcony solar is taking off

  18-12-2024 16:14
  
  Balcony solar panels can save 30% on a typical household’s electricity bill and, with vertical surface area in cities larger than roof space, the appeal is clearThey are easy to install, and knock chunks off electricity bills. It may not be Romeo and Juliet, but Spain’s balcony scene is heating up as the country embraces what has hitherto been a mainly German love affair with DIY plug-in solar panels.Panels have already been installed on about 1.5m German balconies, where they are so
  
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• Can everyone eat for the planet? I shopped at Dollar Store for a week to find out

  18-12-2024 16:00
  
  In 2019, scientists published a climate-friendly food plan. I’ve long wondered: could it work for most Americans?People in the US: how do you eat climate friendly on a budget?As a fossil fuels and climate reporter, most of my journalism focuses on the need to radically overhaul the energy system. But the food sector also needs a makeover, as it creates between a quarter and a third of all greenhouse gas emissions.When scientists came up with a new climate-friendly food plan in 2019 and pub
  
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• Dear Santa, please bring back the plastic lids on yoghurt pots | Adrian Chiles

  18-12-2024 14:54
  
  Gone are the pleasures of licking the foil cover on yoghurts and soft cheese. Plus no one consulted me about this dismal change to my home routinesAll I want for Christmas is the return of yoghurt pot lids. And not just for me, for everyone. In this season of goodwill, I want everyone to get a share of the joy. The lids disappeared very suddenly, without so much as a goodbye. It didn’t seem right. And it wasn’t just yoghurt pots, either. Creams, buttermilk, cottage cheese, you name i
  
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• Pakistan and Bahamas join push for global pact to phase out fossil fuels

  18-12-2024 13:53
  
  Climate-vulnerable pair add weight to proposed treaty seeking transition from coal, oil and gas in equitable wayPakistan and the Bahamas have joined a growing bloc of climate-vulnerable countries seeking to broker a global pact to phase out fossil fuels in an equitable way, the Guardian can reveal.The Bahamas is the 15th nation to fully endorse the proposed fossil-fuel non-proliferation treaty, which would provide a binding global roadmap to explicitly halt expansion of coal, oil and gas in a fa
  
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• Nasa astronauts Butch and Suni's homecoming delayed again

  18-12-2024 12:28 via bbc.com
  
  Nasa says that the astronauts stuck on the space station will have to wait even longer to get home.
  
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• ‘Ridiculous’ ban on exotic animal skins at London fashion week criticised by experts

  18-12-2024 09:00
  
  Trade can help protect species – and real skins are often more sustainable than synthetic alternatives, say conservationistsConservation experts have criticised a decision by London fashion week to ban exotic animal skins from its 2025 shows as “ridiculous”, warning that it is ill-informed and could harm the protection of many snakes, crocodiles and reptile species.Last month, the British Fashion Council’s deputy director for policy and engagement, David Leigh-Pemberton,
  
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• Coal use to reach new peak – and remain at near-record levels for years

  18-12-2024 07:00
  
  Spike in fossil fuel use a result of global gas crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of UkraineThe world’s coal use is expected to reach a fresh high of 8.7bn tonnes this year, and remain at near-record levels for years as a result of a global gas crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.There has been record production and trade of coal and power generation from coal since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine inflated global gas market prices, according to th
  
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• Country diary: A handful of summer on a frosty day | Nic Wilson

  18-12-2024 06:30
  
  Southill, Bedfordshire: On a ringing session of seed-eating farmland birds, I see up close the subtle beauty of the yellowhammerWe’ve just released a second blitz of tits, when we notice that the mist net along the field edge has caught a sunbeam. The cold orange light that spilt over the horizon at dawn and pooled above the fields is long gone; the teasel, knapweed and bristly oxtongue seedheads are no longer haloed with hoarfrost. Instead, they’re drawing ground-feeding birds down
  
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• ‘Dark day for New Zealand’: outcry as bill to fast-track controversial mining projects is approved

  18-12-2024 04:56
  
  Critics and opposition parties vow to oppose major projects they fear could damage the environmentA new law that could see controversial mining and infrastructure projects fast-tracked for approval across New Zealand has sparked protests in parliament and vows from critics and opposition parties to stop proposals that they fear will wreak havoc on the environment.The coalition government’s Fast-Track Approvals legislation passed into law on Tuesday, despite thousands of public submissions
  
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• Trouble in Arctic town as polar bears and people face warming world

  18-12-2024 01:36 via bbc.com
  
  Climate change makes it trickier for Churchill's residents to co-exist with increasingly hungry predators
  
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• Could this be what our home on Moon or Mars might look like?

  18-12-2024 00:42 via bbc.com
  
  India tested its first analog space mission in the Himalayan mountains of Ladakh.
  
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• Pollution exposure linked to mental health hospital admissions, says study

  18-12-2024 00:30
  
  Researchers from St Andrews found rise in nitrogen dioxide exposure associated with higher admissionsExposure to air pollution is linked to an increased risk of hospital admission for mental illness, according to the most comprehensive study of its kind.The research, involving more than 200,000 people in Scotland, found an increase in exposure to nitrogen dioxide in particular was associated with a higher number of people being admitted to hospital for behaviour disorders and mental illnesses. C
  
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