As climate change worsens wildfires, smokejumpers fight blazes from the sky
Drier winters, warmer springs and hotter summers make wildfires even wilder. These elite firefighters extinguish small fires before they grow into monsters The alarm sounded and in a blink the base thrummed with activity. Smokejumpers grabbed helmets, donned kevlar suits, tested radios and strapped on parachutes. A speaker blasted Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries. “Final […]
Coal India accused of bulldozing human rights amid production boom
People evicted without compensation as India expands mining operations, says Amnesty International report The bulldozer came to Barkuta village at 10am one February morning. Nirupabai was working in the fields when her neighbours called, telling her to rush home. By the time she reached her house it had been reduced to rubble. “I cried, I […]
TTIP proposal casts doubt on G20 climate pledge, leaked EU draft shows
Draft proposal reveals new loopholes on a pledge to phase out fossil fuel subsidies within a decade Trade negotiators in Brussels are proposing new loopholes on a G20 pledge to phase out fossil fuel subsidies within a decade, in the latest leaked TTIP proposals seen by the Guardian. The EU’s draft text for a trade […]
Global warming implicated in dinosaur extinction | Howard Lee
New technique for measuring ancient temperatures finds two pulses of climate warming at the end of the Cretaceous In a paper published on Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, scientists from the University of Michigan and the University of Florida show that there were big jumps in climate warming when the dinosaurs went extinct at […]
Solar Impulse 2 lands in Egypt in penultimate stop of its world tour
Solar-powered plane will next make a final flight to Abu Dhabi where its round-the-world journey will end The Solar Impulse 2 landed in Cairo on Wednesday for its penultimate stop as the solar-powered plane nears the end of its marathon tour around the world. After the two-day flight from Spain, just one final leg lies […]
India to meet climate goals earlier than promised, says outgoing climate chief
Prakash Javadekar says India is now a world leader in tackling climate change and other countries need to follow its example, reports Climate Home India could meet its carbon reduction goals earlier than expected, the country’s outgoing climate minister told a meeting in Delhi on Tuesday. By 2030, the world’s fourth largest greenhouse gas emitter […]
WWF buys shark fishing licence on Great Barrier Reef to scrap it
Conservation group seeks help to pay for the $100,000 licence which lets owner drag 1.2km nets along length of the reef A conservation group has taken the unusual step of buying a commercial shark fishing licence on the Great Barrier Reef, and will retire it, saving the sharks that it would otherwise be used to […]
Badger cull expansion 'flies in face of scientific evidence'
Experts call on new prime minister Theresa May to halt ‘failed’ policy, calling it ‘risky, costly, and inhumane’ The imminent expansion of England’s controversial badger cull “flies in the face of scientific evidence”, according to the nation’s foremost experts, who have called on new prime minister, Theresa May, to halt the “failed” policy. The scientists […]
Kayaker captures video of humpback whales feasting in San Francisco Bay
The feeding frenzy lasted roughly half an hour before the mammals swam back to the Pacific Ocean under the Golden Gate Bridge A kayaker captured video of humpback whales feasting on fish in a bay with the San Francisco skyline as a backdrop. Lyrinda Snyderman of Berkeley, California, says she was out with three other […]
Donald Trump would be world's only national leader to reject climate science
Sierra Club report finds science of climate change accepted by leaders of every country recognized by US – including Bashar al-Assad and Kim Jong-un Donald Trump would be the only national leader in the world to dismiss the science of climate change should he become president, putting him out of step even with Syrian president […]