New Hope Group has received key approval for its New Acland Stage III coal mine project in Queensland, Australia. Queensland Minister for Resources Scott Stewart said that the government…Continue readingNew Hope’s New Acland Stage III coal project receives key approval
Category: The Anthropocene
Avian flu is a highly pathogenic strain of the H5N1 virus. Since its early detections in poultry and wild birds in the spring of 2021, this new strain has…Continue readingA new strain of avian flu is decimating wild birds. Humans should worry
Flash floods, which have intensified in recent days, have swept away villages, roads, bridges, people, livestock and crops across all four provinces. Pakistan has appealed for international help as…Continue readingPakistan declares floods a ‘climate catastrophe’ as death toll tops 1,000
One argument against deep seabed mining is the existence of previously unknown species in the deep sea, including the recently discovered pom-pom-like Biremis spaghetti worm and the delightfully weird…Continue readingTwo-year countdown for deep seabed mining
State-owned oil and gas company Indian Oil has unveiled a $25 billion investment plan to achieve net-zero operational emissions by 2046. Indian Oil chairman S M Vaidya said: “IndianOil…Continue readingIndian Oil unveils $25 billion investment plan to achieve net zero by 2046
The number of forest fires in the Brazilian Amazon hit a nearly 15-year high this week, according to official figures that provided the latest warning on the advancing destruction…Continue readingBrazil records worst day for Amazon fires in 15 years
Unless Australia reduces its energy consumption, a recent study finds it’ll be almost impossible for renewable energy to replace fossil fuels by 2050. This is what’s required to reach our net-zero…Continue readingCutting energy consumption key to replacing fossil fuels with renewables
Australian petroleum exploration and production company Woodside Energy and US-based engineering company Bechtel have started construction at the Pluto Train 2 project. Pluto Train 2 is the expansion of…Continue readingWoodside, Bechtel start construction at Pluto Train 2 project in Australia
Iraq is known in Arabic as the Land of the Two Rivers, but it has seen water levels on the once mighty Tigris and Euphrates plummet. The Euphrates, which…Continue readingBoiling heat and no water: taps run dry in southern Iraq
A giant, gentle sea creature that belongs to the manatee family is now “functionally extinct” in China with no sightings recorded since 2008, a new study said. The dugong,…Continue reading‘Charismatic’ dugong sea mammal declared functionally extinct in China
Researchers found that a typical forest fire season now burns 3 million more hectares (7.4 million more acres) than in 2001. Forest fires accounted for a quarter of global…Continue readingForest fires burn twice as many trees as two decades ago
An international team of researchers looked specifically at 25,000 species, including fish, bacteria, plants and protozoans living in the top 100 meters of the world’s oceans. They found that…Continue reading90% of marine species at risk of extinction by 2100 if greenhouse gas emissions are not curbed
47% of Europe is undergoing warning conditions, as moisture in the soil dries out and 17% of the region is on a state of alert as vegetation is affected.…Continue readingEurope facing its worst drought for 500 years
Bumblebee populations have dropped throughout the United States and Europe as Earth has heated up. Research from 2020 found that the number of areas populated by the insects had…Continue readingBumblebee species stressed by climate change
People in large parts of China have been experiencing two months of extreme heat. Hundreds of places have reported temperatures of more than 40°C (104°F), and many records have…Continue readingHeatwave in China is the most severe ever recorded in the world
The spot price of Australian thermal coal is higher than that of coking coal, an unprecedented situation that highlights just how the global market for the polluting fuel has…Continue readingSpot Australian thermal coal has surged
Forest fires supercharged by climate change are burning twice as much global tree cover as 20 years ago. The equivalent of 16 football pitches are now lost every minute.…Continue readingClimate change driving unprecedented forest fire loss
Despite enviable earnings, shares of Three Gorges Renewables are down 15% this year and trade at 20 times forward earnings, half the level of a year ago. Strict policy…Continue readingDroughts push China towards coal power
Australian oil and gas company Santos has decided to proceed with the $2.6 billion oil project in Alaska in a bid to further diversify its production portfolio. As the…Continue readingAustralia’s Santos takes Final Investment Decision on $2.6 billion oil project in Alaska
Australian oil and gas company Santos reported a half-year net profit after tax of $A1.66 billion ($US1.167 billion), up 230%. Its underlying profit was $A1.8 billion ($US1.267 billion), up…Continue readingSantos profit rises three-fold
A Washington Post analysis has found that today’s climate conditions have caused an estimated 46% of Americans to endure at least 3 consecutive days with a heat index of…Continue readingBy mid-century, nearly two-thirds of Americans will experience perilous heat waves
Saudi Aramco posted the biggest quarterly adjusted profit of any listed company globally driven by high crude prices and production. Revenue climbed 80% to $150 billion and free cash…Continue readingSaudi Aramco posts biggest quarterly profit of any listed company
The reputed home of the biblical Garden of Eden, Iraq’s swamplands have been battered by 3 years of drought and low rainfall, as well as reduced water flows along…Continue readingIraq’s Garden of Eden now ‘like a desert’
The world’s biggest ice sheet could cause “several meters” of sea-level rise over centuries if the global temperature rises more than 2°C, according to a British study. Researchers at…Continue readingWorld’s biggest ice sheet could cause massive sea rise without action
Blazes that have torched tens of thousands of hectares of forest in France, Spain and Portugal have made 2022 a record year for wildfire activity in southwestern Europe. France…Continue reading2022 sets record fire activity in southwest Europe
No longer having access to potable running water, the villagers of Ouled Essi Masseoud rely solely on sporadic supplies in public fountains and from private wells. “The fountains work…Continue readingDrought tightens its grip on Morocco
As Antarctica’s slow rivers of ice hit the sea, they float, forming ice shelves. These shelves extend the glaciers into the ocean until they calve into icebergs. But they…Continue readingIce shelves hold back Antarctica’s glaciers from adding to sea levels, but they’re crumbling
The Albanese government will continue to support new fossil fuel projects so long as they “stack up” from an economic and environmental perspective, the federal resources minister says. Madeleine…Continue readingAustralian Federal Government to back new fossil fuel projects that ‘stack up’ economically and environmentally
Forests from the Arctic to the Amazon are transforming at a “shocking” rate due to the climate crisis, with trees advancing into previously barren tundra in the north while…Continue readingGlobal heating has caused ‘shocking’ changes in forests across the Americas
Europe’s most severe drought in decades is hitting homes, factories, farmers and freight across the continent, as experts warn drier winters and searing summers fuelled by global heating mean…Continue reading‘The new normal’: how Europe is being hit by a climate-driven drought crisis
In recent years, Wall Street firms have tried to talk up their commitment to the environment and social justice. Now they are singing a different tune. Large US banks…Continue readingUS banks tout fossil fuel credentials
Temperatures have soared up to nearly 50˚C (122˚F) in Baghdad almost daily, and in the southern city of Basra, temperatures have come close to 53˚C (127˚F) – dangerously high…Continue readingHeatwaves scorch Iraq as protracted political crisis grinds on
Wildfires have depleted almost all of the carbon credits set aside in reserve by forestry projects in the US to protect against the risk of trees being damaged over…Continue readingWildfires destroy almost all forest carbon offsets in 100-year reserve
Nearly every sea turtle born on the beaches of Florida in the past four years has been female. The spike in female baby turtles comes as a result of…Continue readingGlobal heating means almost every sea turtle in Florida now born female
The eastern two thirds of Antarctica is covered by an ice sheet so large that if it melted the sea would rise by 52 meters (170 feet). An estimated…Continue readingTroubling new research about East Antarctica
Rainwater everywhere on the planet is unsafe to drink due to levels of toxic chemicals known as PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances). PFAS were initially found in packaging, shampoo…Continue readingRainwater unsafe to drink due to chemicals
To understand why it is proving so hard to break up with coal, we worked with an international team of around 35 researchers to investigate the political economy drivers…Continue readingMany countries continue to invest in coal
The hippopotamus is one of the world’s heaviest land animals; males can weigh as much as 1,800kg, and they are often found in large groups. The animals are especially…Continue readingCall for hippos to join list of world’s most endangered animals
Portugal recorded its hottest July on record. The average temperature was 25.1˚C (77.3 ˚F), it said. That was almost 3˚C higher than the expected July average. The heat worsened…Continue readingPortugal sets new July heat record, worsening severe drought
Coal – France, Italy, Austria and the Netherlands have all announced plans to reactivate old coal power plants. But nowhere are the plans as extensive as in Germany, which…Continue readingGermany increases reliance on coal and oil
Global heating could become “catastrophic” for humanity if temperature rises are worse than many predict or cause cascades of events we have yet to consider, or indeed both. The…Continue readingClimate change: Potential to end humanity is ‘dangerously underexplored’ say experts
Extreme weather events linked to climate change caused about $65 billion in total losses in the first half of 2022, roughly half of which hit uninsured assets, according to…Continue readingExtreme weather caused $65 billion in losses in first half of 2022
At least nine people have died and seven were missing in and around the South Korean capital, Seoul, after the city was lashed by the heaviest rains in more…Continue readingSevere flood damage in South Korea’s Seoul after record rains
Trends – At one weather station in Fairbanks, Alaska, each hour of rainfall is about 50% more intense, on average, than it was a half-century ago. The Wichita area,…Continue readingExtreme Rainfall in the U.S.
Heavy rains in Iran have set off flash floods and landslides in 21 of the country’s 31 provinces, killing at least 53 people, heavily damaging hundreds of villages, cutting…Continue readingHeavy Rain Causes Deadly Flooding Across Iran
Moscow-based integrated energy company Rosneft has started production drilling at the Payakhskoye field on the Taimyr Peninsula in Russia. The field is part of Rosneft’s Vostok Oil strategic project,…Continue readingRosneft starts production drilling at Payakhskoye field in Russia
Wintershall Dea and its partners Sval Energi and Pandion Energy Norge have started production from the Nova oil field (previously Skarfjell) located in the Norwegian North Sea. The development…Continue readingWintershall Dea begins production from Nova oil field, offshore Norway
A team of researchers have found that the global forest area has declined by 81.7 million hectares from 1960 to 2019, equivalent to an area of more than 10%…Continue readingNew study finds global forest area has declined by 81 million hectares from 1960 to 2019
Mangroves are enormously valuable coastal ecosystems. Healthy mangrove ecosystems not only buffer shorelines against rising sea levels, but they also provide valuable protection against erosion, abundant carbon sinks, shelter…Continue readingClimate change killed 40 million Australian mangroves in 2015. Here’s why they’ll probably never grow back
In the last two years, fires have consumed nearly 20% of them, according to the Forest Service. In Kings Canyon, hundreds of giant sequoias have burned to death —…Continue readingGiant Sequoias Are Built to Withstand Fire, But Not These Fires
The 127-gram hatchling was found lying on its back in a rockpool near Sydney’s Tamarama beach. It was missing one of its four flippers, had a chip in another,…Continue readingTurtle pooed ‘pure plastic’ for six days after rescue from Sydney beach
Illegal ivory poaching once posed a significant threat to Kenya’s elephants. But now the giants of the animal kingdom are facing an even bigger risk: climate change. As Kenya…Continue readingClimate change is killing more elephants than poaching
BP reported a profit of $8.5 billion for its second quarter on Tuesday, its biggest windfall in 14 years. Just days earlier, the two largest U.S. oil companies —…Continue readingBP profits highest in 14 years, raking in $8.5 billion
The nation’s biggest oil companies — ExxonMobil and Chevron — saw their profits roughly triple in the second-quarter. On Friday, Exxon reported net income of $17.9 billion for the…Continue readingExxon, Chevron post blockbuster profits on oil price boom
The UK-headquartered group, Europe’s largest oil company, reported adjusted earnings of $11.5 billion in the second three months of the year, breaking the record $9.1 billion posted in the…Continue readingShell reports record profits on surging oil and gas prices
The Ghasha gas project is located on the north-western shore of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) is developing the project. ADNOC expects…Continue readingADNOC Drilling wins $2 billion worth of contracts for Ghasha mega-project
The more than 4,000km (2,485 mile) long onshore gas pipeline is planned to start in Warri in Nigeria, travel through Niger, and end in Hassi R’Mel in Algeria, from…Continue readingAlgeria, Nigeria, and Niger sign MoU for $13 billion Trans Saharan gas pipeline
Supporters of Australia’s coal export industry have been arguing for the past decade that global greenhouse gas emissions would go up if overseas customers had to source coal from…Continue readingAustralian Prime Minister parrots a pro-coal talking point as Ampol offers ‘carbon neutral’ petrol
Japan has begun restarting nuclear plants that have been idle since the 2011 Fukushima disaster, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledging to get at least nine reactors up and…Continue readingAsia goes nuclear
The $2.17 billion Hunutlu coal fired power plant is the largest foreign direct investment in Turkey by China. Despite the efforts of campaigners, and several pending legal challenges, the…Continue readingTurkey’s new power plant exposes ‘huge contradictions’ of net zero pledge