Large parts of east and south under alerts as schools are shut and riverside neighbourhoods evacuated in Andalucía
Authorities in eastern and southern Spain have closed schools and begun evacuating some residents as the country is pounded by further torrential rains two weeks after the catastrophic floods that killed at least 215 people and unleashed a bitter political blame game.
On Wednesday morning, the state meteorological agency, Aemet, put large parts of eastern and southern Spain on amber alert and issued the highest level of warning for the provinces Tarragona in Catalonia and Málaga in Andalucía.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
11/13/2024 - 09:39
11/13/2024 - 07:00
Of 140 million people in the US who draw water from US aquifers via private or public wells, 70% at risk
PFAS may be contaminating drinking water for up to 70% of about 140 million people in the US who draw water from the nation’s aquifers via private or public wells, a new federal government study estimates. The findings show a potential impact on about 95 million people, or 27% of the nation’s population.
The US Geological Survey sampling and modeling of groundwater contamination found readings up to 37,000 times higher than the EPA’s new drinking water limits. In some regions virtually all of those using public systems that draw from groundwater may be drinking contaminated water.
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11/13/2024 - 07:00
From olive oil to butter, extreme weather is pushing up the cost of living and having a dramatic political impact. Economists need a solution
In the US, where Donald Trump swept the board last week, it was the experience of sharply increasing essentials prices, from food to energy, that glued together the Republicans’ new electoral coalition. About 75% of those voting Republican reported that they had faced “hardship” or “severe hardship” as a result of price rises; only 25% of Democrats said the same. When Trump asked if Americans felt better now than they did four years ago, the answer for most was a clear no.
Price surges are having political impacts. In elections this year in three of the world’s largest economies, incumbent parties were hammered by voters angry about their helplessness in the face of the steeply rising cost of essentials.
James Meadway is the host of the podcast Macrodose
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11/13/2024 - 01:11
France’s ecology minister cancels after Azerbaijan’s president attacks French actions in overseas territories
Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan, has joined a chorus of leaders using their speeches to call for more money to reach their climate goals - and specifying that they need grants rather than loans that saddle them with more debt.
“Without climate justice, there can be no real resilience,” he said. “I wouldn’t want other countries to face the fight Pakistan faced in 2022.”
Pakistan was devastated by floods two years ago, shortly before Cop27. The disaster added a sense of urgency to that year’s negotiations that helped pressure rich countries to set up a fund to pay for the losses and damages borne by poor countries. (You can read more on that from my colleague Nina Lakhani here.)
“Two years, I warned at the top of my voice that the future would never forgive our inaction,” said Sharif. “Today, I echo the same warning with greater urgency and fullest energy at my command.”
25 countries have announced a commitment to swift and ambitious climate action.
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11/13/2024 - 00:39
Federal inquiry hears support for a nuclear industry in central Queensland even though local councillors say they were not consulted
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Queensland regional councils and utility companies were not consulted about plans to build a nuclear power plant in their area before it was publicly announced, an inquiry has been told.
But the controversial energy technology could be welcomed by many central Queensland residents regardless, with business people and farmers telling MPs they preferred nuclear and coal to renewable energy sources.
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11/13/2024 - 00:13
Conservationists demand action from Minns government after ‘alarming’ rise in deaths of female koalas and joeys
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Koala road deaths have nearly doubled in a development hotspot in south-western Sydney, according to conservationists who are demanding the Minns government improve protection for the endangered species in new housing areas.
In a letter – signed by more than 20 community and national environment groups – to the New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, and senior ministers, the Sydney Basin Koala Network accused the government of a “development first, koalas later” mindset that was accelerating the species’ decline.
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11/13/2024 - 00:00
Questions raised over influence after 1,261 business and industry delegates registered for biodiversity summit in Colombia
Record numbers of business representatives and lobbyists had access to the UN’s latest biodiversity talks, analysis shows.
In total 1,261 business and industry delegates registered for Cop16 in Cali, Colombia, which ended in disarray and without significant progress on a number of key issues including nature funding, monitoring biodiversity loss and work on reducing environmentally harmful business subsidies.
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11/13/2024 - 00:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 13 November 2024; doi:10.1038/s44183-024-00093-3
The Dubai Ocean Declaration is the latest international call to expand ocean observation worldwide. We argue that there needs to be a committed effort to establish governance systems to guide data collection designed around equity, to ensure ocean data collection contributes to sustainable development. Ocean science has historically been led by the Global North, neglecting the priorities and leadership of the Global South, and limiting the relevance of ocean science for global sustainability.
11/12/2024 - 19:01
Despite nations’ pledges at Cop28 a year ago, the burning of coal, oil and gas continued to rise in 2024
There is “no sign” of the transition away from burning fossil fuels that was pledged by the world’s nations a year ago, with 2024 on track to set another new record for global carbon emissions.
The new data, released at the UN’s Cop29 climate conference in Azerbaijan, indicates that the planet-heating emissions from coal, oil and gas will rise by 0.8% in 2024. In stark contrast, emissions have to fall by 43% by 2030 for the world to have any chance of keeping to the 1.5C temperature target and limiting “increasingly dramatic” climate impacts on people around the globe.
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11/12/2024 - 18:56
During the US time out, Australia and its allies must remain steady and seek to deepen cooperation among themselves
The idea of open international exchange that framed the Australian reforms of the late 20th century and its subsequent economic success are being challenged in the 21st century. The challenge is intensified by the restoration of Donald Trump as president of the United States. He is committed to higher protection, tax cuts that will set record highs for budget deficits, a trade war with Australia’s largest trading partner with a risk of worse, and separation of the United States from the rules-based international trading system. He is also committed to withdrawal from international cooperation and domestic action to reduce climate-changing emissions of greenhouse gases. Global financial crisis is not out of the question.
These developments will damage Australian interests. Global long-term interest rates set a base against which Australian rates settle, and will be higher than they would otherwise have been. International inflation will be higher, increasing Australia’s own inflation challenge. Australia is the developed country that has most to lose from a failure to stop global heating. Australia has more to gain economically than any other country from success in the world achieving net zero carbon emissions, as an exporter of zero-carbon goods to countries which lack rich renewable energy and biomass resources of their own.
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