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Meet Chonkus: the CO2-chomping alga that could help tackle the climate crisis
Synechococcus elongatusis soaks up carbon dioxide for its photosynthesis and stores more than other strains
Chonkus may sound like a champion Sumo wrestler but it is the nickname for a superpower strain of microbe that absorbs lots of CO2 relative to its size and stores it in its large cells.
Chonkus’s real name is Synechococcus elongatus, and it is a large and heavy strain of blue-green alga that soaks up CO2 for its photosynthesis, grows fast in dense colonies and stores more carbon than other strains of this microbe.
Continue reading...‘Day of Reckoning’: Trial Over Greenpeace’s Role in Pipeline Protest Begins
The Coalition’s attack on the climate authority is a cynical attempt to put ideology over facts – it must be called out | Kylea Tink
Attempts to discredit the Climate Change Authority risk undermining public trust in both politicians and our government
Taking a wrecking ball to science and public institutions might sound distinctly Trumpian, but as the Climate Change Authority announced their latest findings into the impact of delaying our energy transition to accommodate nuclear earlier this week, we all found ourselves with a front-row seat to see how this may play right here at home.
“Political appointments” to peak statutory bodies, or plum diplomatic postings, are frequently a topic of discussion within both the media and general population. But what happens when this conversation is flipped on its head and a senior bureaucrat is threatened with being terminated because they are seemingly actually allowing the independent institution they oversee to do its job?
Continue reading...Trump Says E.P.A. Layoffs Will Cut Staff by 65 Percent
Sussex to launch UK’s first climate justice undergraduate degree
University announces new BA, after survey found most 14- to 18-year-olds want more rigorous climate change education
The University of Sussex will introduce what it says is the UK’s first undergraduate degree focused on climate justice.
The BA course, called “climate justice, sustainability and development”, will begin in 2026. The university says it will equip students with a blend of expertise in climate politics, activism and environmental human rights.
Continue reading...Trump’s Plan to Repeal Climate Policy Could Upend Shift to Electric Cars
Europe Relaxes Rules on Company Climate Reports
Extreme Heat May Cause Older People to Age Faster, New Study Finds
Total collapse of vital Atlantic currents unlikely this century, study finds
Climate scientists caution, however, that even weakened currents would cause profound harm to humanity
Vital Atlantic Ocean currents are unlikely to completely collapse this century, according to a study, but scientists say a severe weakening remains probable and would still have disastrous impacts on billions of people.
The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (Amoc) is a system of currents that plays a crucial role in the global climate. The climate crisis is weakening the complex system, but determining if and when it will collapse is difficult.
Continue reading...Heathrow CEO seeks guarantees on ‘gateway to growth’ third runway
Thomas Woldbye says ministers must commit to plans, with decision on second Gatwick runway due this week
The boss of Heathrow has said there is room for both of London’s biggest airports to expand significantly if the government can guarantee steps to a third runway, with ministers expected to approve Gatwick’s second runway this week.
Thomas Woldbye said Heathrow would be seeking government commitments on the airport’s funding model and changes to airspace before construction of a new runway could start.
Continue reading...Floods in the midwest, hurricanes in Appalachia: there were never any climate havens
Analysts and investors have long trumpeted ‘climate-proof’ US communities, but recent disasters show the need for a different way of thinking
A few years ago, while visiting a tiny village, I toured a grand old community hall scheduled to be demolished after a historic flood. Across the street, a phantom row of eight buildings had already come down. Next to go was this beloved structure, built with local lumber by the craftsman grandfathers of the people who still lived there. One of the two local officials escorting me had been married here, she told me. There was a plan to repurpose the six soaring arches, the other official said, gazing towards the ceiling. “The other part of it, knocking the rest of it down … ,” he trailed off, emotionally. “I won’t be in town to see that.”
This village isn’t located on the rapidly eroding Gulf coast, or any coast. It isn’t on the edge of a drought-stricken wildland. It isn’t anywhere typically named as existentially threatened due to the impacts of climate change. Forever altered by floods, the village of Rock Springs, in my home state of Wisconsin, is instead located smack in the middle of what’s often been called a “climate haven”.
Continue reading...US climate research agency braces for ‘efficiency’ cuts: ‘They will gut the work’
Workers at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fear crackdown will have global fallout
The Trump administration has set its sights on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), the US’s pre-eminent climate research agency, with significant cuts and a political crackdown on climate science. As Trump takes aim at the agency, the impact is likely to be felt across the US and around the world.
Noaa provides essential resources to the public and has helped make the US a scientific leader internationally. Operating 18 satellites and 15 research and survey ships, the agency’s scientists, engineers and policy experts issue forecasts relied on by aviation, agriculture and fishing industries; ocean floor mapping depended upon for shipping; advises on species protection, and increasingly precise and accurate modeling on what to expect as climate crisis unfolds.
Continue reading...The US is destroying climate progress. Here’s a strategy to win over the right | Erin Burns
It’s time to rethink how climate action succeeds. The key is to acknowledge that it’s never the sole force driving political decisions
We are witnessing the most devastating climate disasters on record: wildfires ravaging Los Angeles, deadly floods in North Carolina, and global temperature records shattered month after month. We have officially surpassed 1.5C of warming, a critical threshold scientists have long warned against. At the same time, the US is scaling back policies, freezing critical programs and shifting priorities away from climate action.
But now isn’t the time to give up on climate action. Instead, it is high time to rethink how it succeeds.
Continue reading...‘Human activity on a massive scale’: a photo exhibition tackles the climate crisis
Photographs from across the globe capture the impact of people on the climate – and of the climate on people
The word anthropocene has been proposed to denote an ongoing epoch in which human activity is a primary driving force of geological change. Although the word has caught on like wildfire in a colloquial sense, it was ultimately rejected as a descriptive scientific term, not so much because it was inaccurate but because of disagreements over when exactly it would have started – 1945, marking the unlocking of nuclear power; 1610, which may be the first time human activity affected the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere; 1964, when the so-called Great Acceleration may have begun – or some other date altogether?
These questions point to deeper challenges in understanding just what the Anthropocene is: do we think of it in terms of nuclear fallout, the composition of the atmosphere, the size of the human population, or so many other worthy metrics? Hoping to help us better understand this substantial concept, the Cantor Arts Center’s new exhibition Second Nature: Photography in the Age of the Anthropocene brings together 44 photographic artists from across six continents, offering breathtaking and provocative looks at what humanity has wrought on this earth.
Continue reading...‘The forests are going up in flames – so is the rule of law’: Argentina’s climate of fear
Wildfires are devastating Patagonia. In response, Argentinian authorities are removing environmental protections and raiding Indigenous communities
Soraya Maicoñio lives in Mallín Ahogado, a rural area in the Comarca Andina,a region of sparkling rivers, mountains, lakes and lush forests in Argentinian Patagonia. It is an area well-known for its small-scale agriculture, forestry and tourism.
In recent weeks, however, the region, which spans the provinces of Rio Negro and Chubut, has been in the news for its large-scale wildfires – and the authorities’ crackdown on the local population.
Continue reading...Coalition spokesninnies have lashed out at the nice man at the Climate Change Authority | First Dog on the Moon
He said Peter Dutton was trying to kill everyone on Earth with his energy policy
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Nauru sells citizenship to help fund relocations as sea levels rise
A new ‘golden passport’ scheme aims to raise funds to relocate people inland as climate change raises sea levels
The Pacific island nation of Nauru is selling citizenship to fund its retreat from rising seas, the country’s president, David Adeang, announced on Tuesday, opening a contentious “golden passport” scheme as climate financing runs dry.
The low-lying island nation of 13,000 residents is planning a mass inland relocation as the human-caused climate crisis raises global sea levels, eating away at the country’s fertile coastal fringe.
Continue reading...UK urged to act now on net zero – and skip two kebabs’ worth of meat a week
Climate Change Committee issues advice to government on meeting carbon emissions target by 2050
Giving up two doner kebabs’ worth of meat a week will be enough to keep the UK within safe climate limits by the end of the next decade, as more drastic changes in behaviour can be avoided if the government takes action on greenhouse gases from energy, transport and industry, the UK’s climate advisers have said.
People would need to change their behaviour in some ways, such as by eating about 260g less meat each week, but this was likely to happen gradually and in line with health trends. “We are absolutely not saying everyone needs to be vegan. But we do expect to see a shift in dietary habits,” said Emily Nurse, head of net zero at the Climate Change Committee, which on Wednesday published its official advice to the government on meeting the UK’s target of reaching net zero emissions by 2050.
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