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‘Net zero’ global alliance of financial institutions, begun at Cop26, can still invest in coal and other fossil fuels

Banks that have signed up to a global climate pledge, led by Mark Carney, a former governor of the Bank of England, can still invest unlimited amounts in coal mining and coal power, despite promises to tighten the rules on their lending.

Green campaigners have slammed the loopholes, uncovered by the Guardian, as “greenwashing”, after updated criteria for banks involved in the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) were unveiled on Wednesday.

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More than 125 million people under heat alerts as record high temperatures set throughout US, particularly in the south-west

More than 100 million Americans have been advised to stay indoors amid record-breaking heat, with experts warning that such temperatures could become the norm amid the climate crisis.

By Wednesday as many as 107.5 million people, more than a third of the US population, had been warned to stay inside, as a potentially lethal combination of extreme heat and humidity settled over much of the country.

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Move affecting Piedmont and Lombardy regions comes amid worst drought to affect Italy’s longest river in 70 years

More than 100 towns in the Po valley have been asked to ration water amid the worst drought to affect Italy’s longest river in 70 years.

Northern Italy has been deprived of significant rainfall for months, with the effects of drought along the 400-mile (650km) Po River, which stretches from the Alps in the north-west and flows through the Po delta before spilling out into the Adriatic, becoming visible early in the year.

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Scientists observed fewer cases of avian bronchitis and superior meat after chickens given cannabis

It all began when Ong-ard Panyachatiraksa, a farm owner in the north of Thailand who is licensed to grow medicinal cannabis, was wondering what to do with the many excess leaves he had amassed. He asked: could his brood of chickens benefit from the leftovers?

Academics at Chiang Mai University were also curious. Since last January they have studied 1,000 chickens at Ong-ard’s Pethlanna organic farm, in Lampang, to see how the animals responded when cannabis was mixed into their feed or water.

The results are promising and suggest that cannabis could help reduce farmers’ dependence on antibiotics, according to Chompunut Lumsangkul, an assistant professor at Chiang Mai University’s department of animal and aquatic sciences, who led the study.

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We’d like to hear from people in the US living in areas affected by extreme temperatures – share your stories

More than 100 million Americans have been advised to stay indoors if possible due to extreme temperatures and humidity in swathes of the country stretching from the Gulf coast to the Great Lakes and the Carolinas.

About 107.5 million people will be affected by heat advisories and excessive heat warnings and watches on Wednesday, the National Weather Service prediction center warned on Monday. It follows a record-setting heatwave in the west and south-west over the weekend.

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How the Ukraine war, ageing coal, Covid restrictions and winter combined to create the ‘perfect storm’ in the power market

• National electricity market suspended as NSW residents told to conserve power
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An energy crisis in Australia has seen prices spike and supply issues plague much of the country’s east. The federal energy minister, Chris Bowen, claims the previous Coalition government left behind a “bin fire” that meant Australia was “ill-prepared … for the challenges we are facing today”.

But the Coalition has tried to blame the new and “inexperienced” Labor government. What’s actually causing the crisis and what can governments do about it?

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Report shows Policy Exchange, which called for criminalisation of climate group, previously received money from oil firm

A thinktank that received money from an oil company later published a report that advised the government to criminalise Extinction Rebellion in its tough new crime laws.

Several Conservative MPs and peers cited the 2019 report by Policy Exchange in parliament and the home secretary, Priti Patel, repeated its claims about the climate campaigners being “extremists”.

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Australian Energy Market Operator suspends spot market after it became ‘impossible to operate’ amid projected energy shortfalls

• Australia’s energy crisis explained
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Australia’s main wholesale electricity market has been suspended by regulators in the latest sign that the crisis threatening the stability of energy supplies is deepening.

The Australian Energy Market Operator (Aemo) took the drastic step of suspending the entire national electricity market for the first time in its history on Wednesday.

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Transition to renewables, not new gas developments, will help avoid future power crises, environment groups say

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Climate and environment groups have criticised comments by the new resources minister, Madeleine King, in support of new gas development, saying it is inconsistent with what climate science says is required to limit global heating.

In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, King said new gas fields such as Santos’ Narrabri development in northern New South Wales would help avoid a future power crisis.

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Barngarla traditional owners vie to overturn federal government’s decision to develop site near Kimba in South Australia

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Traditional owners attempting to block the construction of a nuclear waste dump in South Australia have told a court the federal government has already approved plans to begin earthworks, despite an active legal challenge.

The Barngarla Determination Aboriginal Corporation applied for a judicial review of the project in December, and a directions hearing was held in the federal court in Adelaide on Wednesday.

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The city of Odessa has not yet released the exact details regarding the cause of the break.

(Image credit: City of Odessa)

The Recovering America's Wildlife Act would create a permanent fund of more than $1.3 billion, given to states, territories, and tribal nations for wildlife conservation on the ground.

(Image credit: Matt Slocum/AP)

Crews battled the gusty winds as the Pipeline fire exploded to more than 24,000 acres by Tuesday morning

Fueled by gusty winds through drought-stricken remote terrain, wildfires burning north of Flagstaff, Arizona, exploded in size on Monday, with officials estimating more than 24,000 acres (9,700 hectares) had been blackened by Tuesday morning.

Fire crews battling the blaze have faced intense conditions that have caused extreme fire behavior and sent enormous smoke plumes swirling into the sky.

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About 90 tonnes of methane an hour were released from the Raspadskaya coalmine in January, data shows

Possibly the world’s biggest leak of methane has been discovered coming from a coalmine in Russia, which has been pouring out the carbon dioxide equivalent of five coal-fired power stations.

About 90 tonnes an hour of methane were being released from the mine in January, when the gas was first traced to its source, according to data from GHGSat, a commercial satellite monitoring company based in Canada. Sustained over the course of a year, this would produce enough natural gas to power 2.4m homes.

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Due to the climate crisis, within 30 years these coastal properties will not be salvageable, researchers say

Sea level rise will force the abandonment of about 200,000 coastal properties in England within 30 years, new data suggests, as the climate crisis takes hold.

These are the homes that cannot be saved, or which it would be too expensive to try to save, by measures such as seawalls and other coastal defences. Some of the areas most at risk include North Somerset, Sedgemoor, Wyre, North East Lincolnshire and Swale.

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Nice visit today with Luther Krueger who came out to include The Field Lab in his solar cooking series on YouTube.  My solar oven heated up nicely today.  Clouds rolled in just before it got to 400°.  76,105,77, .81",W

National park entrances could be closed up to a week and some may not reopen all summer after record rains caused flooding

More than 10,000 visitors were ordered out of Yellowstone as unprecedented flooding tore through the nation’s oldest national park, washing out road and bridges, officials said on Tuesday.

The only visitors left in the massive park that straddles three states were a dozen campers still making their way out of the backcountry.

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Mark McGowan says state’s two remaining coal-fired power stations are becoming less viable due to rise of renewable energy

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The Western Australian government will shut its last coal-fired power unit before the end of the decade and spend an extra half a billion dollars to foster new jobs for displayed workers, the state government said.

Later this year, the first of the state-owned 854-megawatt Muja power station’s units near Collie, south of Perth, will close, with the entire plant to be shut by 2029. The nearby 340MW Collie plant will exit the market by the end of 2027, the premier, Mark McGowan, said in a statement on Tuesday.

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"Unprecedented" floods wash out bridges, basements, and roads, close hospital

(Image credit: National Park Service)

£100m move could ease China’s state nuclear company out of project

The government has bought an option to take a 20% stake in the Sizewell C nuclear power plant in a move that could ease China’s state nuclear company out of the project.

Ministers took a £100m option to invest in Sizewell C’s holding company in January and said on Tuesday it would convert that into equity if the project reaches a final investment decision.

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