The president of the Spanish province of Valencia, Carlos Mazón, rejected calls for his resignation amid growing public anger over his management of the recent devastating floods that killed more than 210 people in the area. He conceded mistakes were made but claimed the unprecedented and 'apocalyptic' scale of the disaster overwhelmed the system
Valencia’s president admits mistakes in flood response but will not resign
Almost half of Valencia’s flood victims were aged over 70, figures show
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
11/15/2024 - 13:03
11/15/2024 - 12:48
Animals and plants also live and thrive on public squares. This creates opportunities for greater biodiversity and well-being for the human population. Researchers have studied at 103 locations in Munich how various factors affect flora and fauna. They advocate a close examination of local conditions and a more nature-focused approach to the design of public spaces.
11/15/2024 - 12:47
Rainforest protection is not only good for biodiversity and the climate -- it also noticeably improves the health of humans who live in the corresponding regions. Researchers show that measures to combat slash-and-burn techniques significantly reduce the concentration of particulate matter in the air. The number of hospital stays and deaths due to respiratory diseases thus also decreases.
11/15/2024 - 12:47
Hunted nearly to extinction during 20th century whaling, the Antarctic blue whale, the world's largest animal, went from a population size of roughly 200,000 to little more than 300. The most recent estimate in 2004 put Antarctic blue whales at less than 1% of their pre-whaling levels. A new study shows that, though these whales feed in different ocean basins, they appear to be a single population, information that will help conservation efforts moving forward.
11/15/2024 - 12:45
Researchers are calling for a 'resilience index' to be used as an indicator of policy success instead of the current focus on GDP. They say that GDP ignores the wider implications of development and provides no information on our ability to live within our planet's 'safe operating space'.
11/15/2024 - 12:33
Several groups say North Dakota governor will sacrifice public lands on the ‘altar of the fossil fuel industry’s profits’
Donald Trump’s nomination of North Dakota’s Republican governor, Doug Burgum, as the interior secretary has prompted swift backlash from environmental advocacy groups alarmed at the incoming administration’s plans to use federal lands for oil and gas drilling.
Trump also announced in a statement on Friday his intention to make Burgum chair of a National Energy Council he intends to form to “oversee the path to U.S. ENERGY DOMINANCE” and to focus on “the battle for AI superiority”.
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11/15/2024 - 12:32
At Cop29 the global south needs to unite for sustainable growth, leveraging resources and negotiating transformative climate finance pacts
More than a century of burning coal, oil and gas has fuelled intense heatwaves, prolonged droughts, heavier rains and devastating floods. To prevent even more severe impacts, the UN global climate summit, Cop29, must deliver tangible results to keep global temperature rises below 2C – the limit defined in the 2015 Paris agreement. Achieving this goal means human societies can only emit a finite amount of additional carbon dioxide, known as the world’s “carbon budget”.
Developed nations have exceeded their carbon budgets, while developing countries remain within theirs. Carbon dioxide lingers in the atmosphere for centuries, turning past unchecked fossil fuel use into a costly planetary bill. Between 1870 and 2019, the US, EU, Russia, UK, Japan, Canada and Australia – home to just 15% of the global population – accounted for over 60% of atmospheric carbon dioxide, according to the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment.
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11/15/2024 - 12:24
Far-right president may announce country’s departure from agreement after meeting Donald Trump
There is growing concern that Argentina’s far-right president, Javier Milei, is set to announce his country’s departure from the Paris climate accord.
Earlier this week, negotiators from Milei’s government were ordered to leave the Cop29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, after just three days. Now, the Guardian understands that Milei is considering announcing a formal withdrawal from the agreement, and that a decision could be made after a formal meeting with Donald Trump.
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11/15/2024 - 11:08
Exclusive: UK energy secretary says at Cop29 that people see the economic advantages of making the transition
Cop29 climate summit – live updates
Renewable energy is now “unstoppable”, and no government can prevent the shift to a global low-carbon economy, UK energy secretary Ed Miliband has said.
He said the UK was acting out of national self-interest by taking a global lead on cutting greenhouse gas emissions and boosting financial help available to poor countries at crunch UN climate talks this week.
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11/15/2024 - 09:38
Ending $7,500 consumer tax credit could have grave implications for already stalling EV transition in US
Donald Trump’s transition team is planning to kill the $7,500 consumer tax credit for electric-vehicle purchases as part of broader tax-reform legislation, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
Ending the tax credit could have grave implications for an already stalling US EV transition. And yet representatives of Tesla – by far the nation’s biggest EV maker – have told a Trump-transition committee they support ending the subsidy, said the two sources, speaking on condition of anonymity.
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