Environment news

• Australians should be angry about another year of climate inaction. But don’t let your anger turn into despair | Greg Jericho

  15-01-2025 23:54 via theguardian.com
  
  I’ve been writing about climate change for years. I know my graphs won’t change minds, but facts matter2025 has not started well, and you should be bloody angry.We are less than five months from the federal election and both major parties’ climate change policies are an amalgam of indolence and lies. Continue reading...
  
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• What do the Los Angeles fires tell us about the coming water wars? | Judith Levine

  15-01-2025 19:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Will water soon be a marketable commodity or a priceless public good?There’s a scene in the film Mad Max: Fury Road where the evil ruler Immortan Joe, gazing down from a cliff upon his parched, emaciated subjects, turns two turbines, and water gushes from three gigantic sluices. The wretched masses surge forward to catch the deluge in their pots and bowls. And as imperiously as he opened the gates, Joe shuts them. “Do not become addicted to water,” he roars. “It will take
  
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• ‘Criminally reckless’: why LA’s urban sprawl made wildfires inevitable – and how it should rebuild

  15-01-2025 17:49 via theguardian.com
  
  A century of foolhardy development, including public subsidies for rebuilding in the firebelt, hugely contributed to this tragedy, writes our architecture critic. LA must rethink – and build upwards not outwards‘Crime don’t climb” is one of the glib mottoes long used by Los Angeles real estate agents to help sell the multimillion dollar homes in the hills that surround the sprawling metropolis. Residents of the lush ridges and winding canyons can rest assured, in their el
  
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• Women held keys to land and wealth in Celtic Britain

  15-01-2025 17:00 via bbc.com
  
  DNA analysis suggests Iron Age societies in Britain were built around women rather than men.
  
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• ‘Running to danger and saving lives’: 1,100 incarcerated firefighters are on the LA frontlines

  15-01-2025 16:00 via theguardian.com
  The jobs are highly coveted, offering training and reduced sentences, but face criticism over low wagesAs firefighters are battling multiple huge blazes tearing through Los Angeles, California’s prisons have deployed more than 1,000 incarcerated people to battle on the frontlines.The California department of corrections and rehabilitation (CDCR) said that, as of Wednesday morning, 1,116 incarcerated people were embedded with the state’s other firefighters to help slow the spread of t
  
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• ‘Running to danger and saving lives’: 1,000 incarcerated firefighters are on the LA frontlines

  15-01-2025 16:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The jobs are highly coveted, offering training and reduced sentences, but face criticism over low wagesAs firefighters are battling multiple huge blazes tearing through Los Angeles, California’s prisons have deployed more than 1,000 incarcerated people to battle on the frontlines.The California department of corrections and rehabilitation (CDCR) said that, as of Tuesday morning, 1,015 incarcerated people were embedded with the state’s other firefighters to help slow the spread of the
  
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• Climate ‘whiplash’ events increasing exponentially around world

  15-01-2025 16:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Global heating means atmosphere can drive both extreme droughts and floods with rapid switchesClimate “whiplash” between extremely wet and dry conditions, which spurred catastrophic fires in Los Angeles, is increasing exponentially around the world because of global heating, analysis has found.Climate whiplash is a rapid swing between very wet or dry conditions and can cause far more harm to people than individual extreme events alone. In recent years, whiplash events have been linke
  
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• ‘What joy! What damn joy!’: vanilla boom transforms fortunes of Colombia’s farmers

  15-01-2025 15:00 via theguardian.com
  
  In El Valle, the world’s second-most expensive spice is not just providing an economic lifeline but also helping to preserve rich biodiversityAs he wanders around a corner of his land, inspecting his crops, Luilly Murillo González stops and leans down to examine a twisting green vine. He spots four budding flowers, early indications that he will soon harvest his prized product: vanilla.“What joy! What damn joy!” he says, shaking his fists in the air, a smile spreading ac
  
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• ‘I applaud the EPA’: agency launches formal review of five toxic chemicals

  15-01-2025 14:00 via theguardian.com
  Review could lead to bans on plastic chemicals including vinyl chloride, compound at center of 2023 Ohio train wreckThe Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is launching a formal review of five highly toxic plastic chemicals, including vinyl chloride, the notorious compound at the center of the East Palestine, Ohio, train wreck fire. The move could lead to strong limits or bans on the substances.Vinyl chloride is most commonly used in PVC pipe and packaging production, but is also cancerous and
  
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• 3M knew firefighting foams containing PFAS were toxic, documents show

  15-01-2025 14:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: Newly uncovered documents reveal chemicals giant was aware ‘environmentally neutral’ products did not biodegradeThe multibillion-dollar chemicals company 3M told customers its firefighting foams were harmless and biodegradable when it knew they contained toxic substances so persistent they are now known as “forever chemicals” and banned in many countries including the UK, newly uncovered documents show.From the 1960s until 2003, 3M made foams containing PFOS an
  
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• Scouts embrace rewilding to connect UK teenagers with nature

  15-01-2025 13:57 via theguardian.com
  
  Adventure centre projects will promote interest in natural world, boosting young people’s wellbeingA £150,000 initiative to tackle the “teenage dip” in nature connectedness will involve the Scout Association introducing rewilding to its adventure centres across the UK.The funding, announced on Wednesday by the environmental charity Rewilding Britain, will support 11 projects aimed at putting young people at the heart of nature restoration. Several focus explicitly on reve
  
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• Major banks are abandoning their climate alliance en masse. So much for ‘woke capital’ | Adrienne Buller

  15-01-2025 13:07 via theguardian.com
  
  The scope of the Cop26 net zero banking alliance may have been limited, but the exodus of six US banks signifies a seismic political shiftLast week, as flames began tearing through greater Los Angeles, claiming multiple lives and forcing more than 100,000 people to evacuate, JP Morgan became the sixth major US bank to quit the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) since the start of December. A smaller story, certainly, but the departure of top US banks from the NZBA in the weeks since Donald Trump&r
  
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• I’m a climate scientist and my house in LA burned down. My work has never been more real | Benjamin Hamlington

  15-01-2025 12:07 via theguardian.com
  
  I feel like I am safe in saying that we are not thriving on our changing planet – and we will not in the coming decadesMy house in Altadena burned down in the wildfires on Wednesday. It all happened quickly. On Tuesday around 7pm, my wife and daughters went to a hotel as a precaution. I left the house with the dogs when the mandatory evacuation order came in around 3am. As best as I can put the timeline together, our home burned down around the same time that the sun came up, and I was abl
  
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• I’m a climate scientist and my house in LA burned down. My work has never been more real

  15-01-2025 12:07 via theguardian.com
  
  I feel like I am safe in saying that we are not thriving on our changing planet – and we will not in the coming decadesMy house in Altadena burned down in the wildfires on Wednesday. It all happened quickly. On Tuesday around 7pm, my wife and daughters went to a hotel as a precaution. I left the house with the dogs when the mandatory evacuation order came in around 3am. As best as I can put the timeline together, our home burned down around the same time that the sun came up, and I was abl
  
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• Big oil pushed to kill bill that would have made them pay for wildfire disasters

  15-01-2025 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Legislation has new life in wake of Los Angeles catastrophe but US fossil-fuel industry is already mobilizing against itIn the year preceding the devastating Los Angeles county wildfires, big oil fiercely lobbied to kill a “polluter pay” bill that moved through the California senate and would have forced major fossil fuel companies to help cover the costs of climate disasters.Fossil-fuel industry lobbying in California spiked to record levels during the 2023-24 legislative session, a
  
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• Age of the panzootic: scientists warn of more devastating diseases jumping between species

  15-01-2025 10:00 via theguardian.com
  Experts believe H5N1 bird flu belongs in a growing category of infectious diseases that can cause pandemics across many species. But there are ways to reduce the risksBird flu poses a threat that is “unique and new in our lifetime” because it has become a “‘panzootic” that can kill huge numbers across multiple species, experts warn. For months, highly pathogenic bird flu, or H5N1, has been circulating in dairy farms, with dozens of human infections reported among fa
  
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• RAF bases are hotspots of ‘forever chemical’ groundwater pollution, MoD documents show

  15-01-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: Sampling results show ‘extremely concerning’ concentrations of PFOS and PFOA at sites across UKWhere are the UK’s ‘forever chemical’ hotspots?RAF bases are hotspots of toxic “forever chemical” pollution in water, analysis of Ministry of Defence documents has revealed.Moreover, some of the highest concentrations of these chemicals in British drinking water sources are near RAF bases, official sampling results obtained by the Guardian and Waters
  
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• ‘High-risk sites’: where are the UK’s ‘forever chemical’ hotspots?

  15-01-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  An Environment Agency report has identified more than 10,000 ‘high-risk sites’ contaminated with PFASRAF bases are hotspots of ‘forever chemical’ groundwater pollution, MoD documents show Continue reading...
  
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• Farage and Truss attend UK launch of US climate denial group

  15-01-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  British arm of Heartland, which has taken oil and Republican funding, to be led by ex-Ukip head Lois PerryClimate science deniers are lining up a political offensive in Britain after a US lobby group opened a UK branch which is already working with Nigel Farage.The Reform UK leader was the guest of honour at the launch of Heartland UK/Europe, which is to be headed by a former leader of Ukip and climate denier. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘Solar Mamas empower our people by giving them electricity’: the women lighting up Zanzibar

  15-01-2025 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Women with little formal education trained to become solar technicians, transforming villages and tackling patriarchal norms In a dimly lit corridor of a mud-walled house nestled among coconut trees, Sharifa Hussein stripped red and black cables, a screwdriver voltage tester balanced between her lips and rolls of cable lying by her feet.Then, with the help of three other women, she attached the two wires to an electronic device nailed on the wall. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘A viable business’: Rolls-Royce banking on success of small modular reactors

  15-01-2025 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  British firm in the vanguard of companies arguing SMRs are a quicker and cheaper option than large Hinkley-sized plants The Hinkley Point C power plant in Somerset is gargantuan. The 176-hectare (435-acre) plant will provide 3.2 gigawatts of power, enough for 6m homes. It is not just the project that is huge: the cost is as well. With a price tag that has ballooned to a reported £48bn, and delayed by at least five years, it has become a symbol of the pitfalls of nuclear power.But a clutch
  
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• 'We sing to them': LA stables turn Noah's Ark for fire rescue animals

  15-01-2025 05:34 via bbc.com
  
  Pigs, donkeys and even a mini cow named Cuddles found a temporary home after the LA fires.
  
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• Fatbergs turned into perfume - inside Britain's bizarre new industrial revolution

  15-01-2025 03:08 via bbc.com
  
  The UK led the way in this field of science until recently - but now other countries have overtaken. So, how can that lead be recovered?
  
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