Secretary general said wealthiest countries are ‘signing away our future’ with more production and called for phase-out of fossil fuels
The world’s wealthiest countries are “signing away our future” by leading a “flood” of expansion in fossil fuel activity that threatens worsening heatwaves and other climate impacts that imperil billions of people, the head of the United Nations has warned.
António Guterres, secretary general of the UN, on Thursday called on countries to “fight the disease” of the world’s “addiction” to coal, oil and gas, warning that tumbling heat records this week must spur rich nations to lead the way in phasing out fossil fuels.
Continue reading...
Breaking Waves: Ocean News
07/25/2024 - 11:43
07/25/2024 - 09:32
More than 25,000 residents and tourists evacuated from national park region as firefighters forced into a retreat
A fast-moving wildfire has destroyed parts of Jasper, the old mountain town in the Canadian Rockies, with the mayor warning the damage was “beyond description and comprehension”. The blaze had forced more than 25,000 thousand people to flee earlier this week.
Jasper national park officials said the fire entered the southern edge of the town on Wednesday evening. But, given the speed and intensity of the blaze, fire crews working to protect key infrastructure were ordered to retreat.
Continue reading...
07/25/2024 - 07:48
At formal launch of state-run GB Energy, PM sets out plan to build enough offshore wind facilities to power 20m homes
UK politics live – latest updates
Keir Starmer has pledged to take on Labour MPs and councils that try to block pylon networks delivering a planned new generation of clean electricity, as he promised the government’s plans would lower people’s bills in this parliament.
Formally launching GB Energy, the state-run green energy generation company, one of his flagship policies, the prime minister said there was a need to move rapidly on new onshore and offshore wind because of what he called the last government’s inaction and short-termism.
Continue reading...
07/25/2024 - 07:00
At a wildlife centre in Mozambique, trafficked animals are fed, nursed, taken for walks and eventually released back to the wild. Vet Mércia Ângela describes what it’s like to bond with these rare and charismatic mammals
I had never seen a pangolin before I started working with them in Mozambique’s Gorongosa national park. They are the only mammal in the world covered with scales. I think they are so handsome – just seeing them makes me fall in love.
If you have never seen a pangolin, they have a cone-shaped head and snout, four short legs, small eyes and a brilliant sense of smell. Their front claws are long to help them dig for food in the ground. They have a long sticky tongue but no teeth. When they feel threatened, they curl up in a ball to protect the parts of their bodies that do not have scales.
Continue reading...
07/25/2024 - 06:00
Record heat is killing hundreds in Clark county. But one of America’s fastest-growing metro areas just keeps getting bigger
Hot air wafted through the heavy, gold-lined doors of a Las Vegas casino as they opened, offering a reminder of a disaster quietly unfolding outside. Even though the sun had just set on an evening in mid-July, temperatures were yet to dip below 100F (37C).
Spawned from a paved-over oasis in the Mojave, this desert metropolis has always been hot. But a string of brutal heatwaves this summer has pushed Sin City to a deadly simmer.
Continue reading...
07/25/2024 - 05:48
Service at Germany’s busiest airport gradually resuming as ‘oil kills’ protests spread from Europe to North America
Climate activists have disrupted flights at Frankfurt and Oslo airports on the second day of coordinated “oil kills” protests across Europe and North America.
Demanding an end to fossil fuels by 2030, supporters of Letzte Generation (Last Generation) briefly suspended flights at Frankfurt airport on Thursday morning. The activists said they had cut a wire fence, entered on bicycles and skateboards and glued themselves to the tarmac.
Continue reading...
07/25/2024 - 05:01
The storm has made landfall in Taiwan, unleashing torrential rain and strong gusts that have claimed at least three lives. Typhoon Gaemi also exacerbated rains in the Philippines, flooding the capital, Manila, and nearby cities, forcing authorities to shut schools, offices and declare a state of calamity
Typhoon Gaemi: oil tanker and cargo ship sink amid stormy seas
In pictures: monsoon rains strike Philippines
Continue reading...
07/25/2024 - 04:48
Brazil court freezes assets of Dirceu Kruger to pay climate compensation for illegal deforestation
A Brazilian cattle rancher has been ordered to pay more than $50m (£39m) for destroying part of the Amazon rainforest and ordered to restore the precious carbon sink.
Last week, a federal court in Brazil froze the assets of Dirceu Kruger to pay compensation for the damage he had caused to the climate through illegal deforestation. The case was brought by Brazil’s attorney general’s office, representing the Brazilian institute of environment and renewable natural resources (Ibama). It is the largest civil case brought for climate crimes in Brazil to date and the start of a legal push to repair and deter damage to the rainforest.
Continue reading...
07/25/2024 - 04:00
People living next to Santiago Bernabéu venue say gigs – including those by Taylor Swift – are ruining their lives and are taking action
When Delphine de Pontevès opens the window of her first-floor flat in Madrid a little before 10pm on a Tuesday night, more spills into the living room than the unforgivingly hot night air.
The voices and shouts of the crowds below give way to cheers, then to bass-heavy beats and music that will last until midnight and further stretch the patience of those who, like De Pontevès, live next door to the Santiago Bernabéu stadium.
Continue reading...
07/25/2024 - 03:48
Prime minister says energy plans will bring down bills and help planet as he accuses Tories of shortsightedness
The former Lib Dem leader Vince Cable is testifying at the inquiry into the Post Office Horizon scandal today. My colleague Mark Sweney will be sharing updates on that in the live blog here:
“The days of government ministers waging culture wars against civil servants are over,” chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, Pat McFadden, has said.
Yesterday I met the civil service unions together with my colleague, the new minister [Georgia Gould]. We had a very positive discussion covering a whole range of issues.
I made it clear that the days of government ministers waging culture wars against civil servants are over. Instead, we want a civil service that’s motivated, valued and helps the government deliver its priorities. And on this specific issue of pay, the government will have more to say on civil service pay before the summer recess.”
We do value civil servants, and of course we want all public servants to be properly and fairly rewarded, and, like any public expenditure, what’s spent on pay has to be balanced against other priorities and fair to taxpayers as a whole.”
Departments do have flexibility on pay, they can direct pay towards the needs of their own workforces.”
Continue reading...
