Without action on climate crisis, far greater numbers will also experience floods, wildfires and droughts, according to report
Eight times as many children around the world will be exposed to extreme heatwaves in the 2050s, and three times as many will face river floods compared with the 2000s if current trends continue, according to the UN.
Nearly twice as many children are also expected to face wildfires, with many more living through droughts and tropical cyclones, according to the annual state of the world’s children report.
Continue reading...
Breaking Waves: Ocean News
11/19/2024 - 19:01
11/19/2024 - 14:46
Endangered whale measuring 47ft washes up in Anchorage as scientists seek explanation for animal’s death
An endangered fin whale that washed up near a coastal trail in Alaska’s largest city has attracted curious onlookers while biologists seek answers as to what caused the animal’s death.
The carcass found over the weekend near Anchorage was 47ft (14.3 meters) long – comparable to the width of a college basketball court – and is believed to be that of a female. Barbara Mahoney, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration biologist examining the whale, told the Anchorage Daily News the whale was probaby one to three years old.
Continue reading...
11/19/2024 - 13:47
Years long fight by local tribes has paid off after four dams, which had blocked passage for fish for decades, came down
A giant female Chinook salmon flips on her side in the shallow water and wriggles wildly, using her tail to carve out a nest in the riverbed as her body glistens in the sunlight. In another moment, males butt into each other as they jockey for a good position to fertilize eggs.
These are scenes local tribes have dreamed of seeing for decades as they fought to bring down four hydroelectric dams blocking passage for struggling salmon along more than 400 miles (644km) of the Klamath River and its tributaries along the Oregon-California border.
Continue reading...
11/19/2024 - 13:29
A new study measuring access to nature for eight major global cities found most still have inadequate canopy cover, despite access to an abundance of trees.
11/19/2024 - 12:02
Delegates from poorer nations say classifications that date back to 1992 are obsolete and two countries ‘should be contributing’
China and India should no longer be treated as developing countries in the same way as some of the poorest African nations are, according to a growing number of delegates from poorer country at the Cop29 UN climate talks.
China should take on some additional responsibility for providing financial help to the poorest and most vulnerable, several delegates told the Guardian. India should not be eligible for receiving financial help as it has no trouble attracting investment, some said.
Continue reading...
11/19/2024 - 10:00
Exclusive: Leaders warn cost savings will lead to mass redundancies and that spaces could become ‘paper parks’
England’s national parks face a 12% real-terms cut to their budget which would lead to mass redundancies of wardens and the closure of visitor centres and other facilities, park leaders have warned.
The chief executives told the Guardian that soon the spaces would become “paper parks” designated by a “brown sign on the motorway” and they will have to “turn the lights off, close the doors and put up closed signs” if the cuts go ahead.
Continue reading...
11/19/2024 - 09:04
Chris Bowen also pledges A$50m to a fund to help the world’s most vulnerable people to repair the damage from climate breakdown
Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast
The Australian climate change minister, Chris Bowen, has declared the landmark Paris agreement “is working” as it had brought the world back from “the brink of catastrophic 4C warming”, but argued countries must set the most ambitious emissions targets possible for 2035 to limit worsening global heating.
Giving Australia’s national statement on the conference floor at the Cop29 summit in Azerbaijan, he also pledged A$50m (US$32.5m) towards a global loss and damage fund to help the world’s most vulnerable people to repair the damage from climate breakdown. The funding was welcomed by climate campaigners, who said it was “the right thing to do”.
Continue reading...
11/19/2024 - 07:00
An update on our progress from the Guardian’s head of sustainability
The Guardian environment pledge 2024
Support urgent, independent climate journalism today
Five years ago the Guardian made a pledge that we would “play a part, both in our journalism and in our own organisation, to address the climate emergency” with our first annual environment pledge. That commitment reflected our long history of environment reporting and our view that individual companies had to take greater responsibility for their impact on the natural world. We wanted to demonstrate to readers that we were taking the action that our journalism showed was so necessary, and to be transparent about our progress. Today we publish the 2024 pledge.
Since then we have worked hard to measure and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, to understand our impact on nature and to share our results openly with readers. In our latest sustainability report, published last month, we show that our emissions have fallen by 43% since 2020, putting us well on track to achieve our goal of a 67% cut by 2030.
Continue reading...
11/19/2024 - 05:40
Nearly 40% of food sector lobbyists have travelled to Baku as part of countries’ delegations
Cop29 climate summit – live updates
Hundreds of lobbyists for industrial agriculture are attending the Cop29 climate summit in Baku, analysis shows.
They include representatives from some of the world’s largest agribusiness companies including the Brazilian meatpacker JBS, the animal pharmaceuticals company Elanco, and the food giant PepsiCo, as well as trade groups representing the food sector.
Continue reading...
11/19/2024 - 05:00
Refurbishing an old building is subject to full VAT, but it isn’t if you build a polluting new one. The government’s priorities are all wrong
You can damn oil companies, abuse cars, insult nimbys, kill cows, befoul art galleries. But you must never, ever criticise the worst offender of all. The construction industry is sacred to both the left and the right. It may be the world’s greatest polluter, but it is not to be criticised. It is the elephant in the global-heating room.
It’s hard not to feel as though we have a blind spot when it comes to cement, steel and concrete. A year has now passed since the UN’s environment programme stated baldly that “the building and construction sector is by far the largest emitter of greenhouse gases”. The industry accounts for “a staggering 37% of global emissions”, more than any other single source. Yet it rarely gets the same attention as oil or car companies.
Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist
Continue reading...
