Trump’s EPA strips itself of regulation ability, gutting Clean Air Act in what experts say is a gift to planet polluters On the heels of the hottest summer ever recorded in the US, the Trump administration has said it will erase any limits on emissions from coal and gas plants that are dangerously heating up our planet. The US Environmental Protection Agency said it will strip itself of its ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions coming from power plants under the Clean Air Act, removing a key tool to address the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Cal Fire official says Sunday was ‘big turning point’ to reduce blaze in Lake county, now 30% contained Firefighters made progress toward containing northern California ’s Lucas fire, state officials said on Sunday. Fire officials are still investigating the cause of the fire, which has burned more than 4,120 acres across Lake and Mendocino counties. The fire was 30% contained by Monday morning, according to the California department of forestry and fire protection, or Cal Fire. Continue reading...

Teen was swimming at a popular spot at the time of the attack, the latest in a string that have occurred in the state A 13-year-old Maryland boy is reported to be recovering from multiple surgeries and nerve damage after being attacked by a rabid beaver. The teen, Dominick Cebula, was swimming at a popular spot in Cunningham Falls state park in Thurmont, Maryland, on 26 July when a beaver attacked his chest underwater, a relatively rare kind of encounter that more recently has been recurring, according to reporting from local news outlets. Continue reading...

Batteries now meet almost half of the grid’s dispatchable power needs during hours of highest demand Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Australia’s dependence on gas for power during the evening, when the grid is under the most pressure, has fallen by almost nearly 70% over the past year as batteries surged in, replacing the fossil fuel . Gas generation during the busy early evening, between 5pm and 8pm, fell by 67% in the year to August, as large-scale batteries continued to come online and 500,000 home batteries were installed under the government’s subsidy program, analysis by consultancy EnergyEdge found. Continue reading...

Pauline Hanson’s gas policy and the party’s relationship with Rinehart is examined in a new Guardian podcast series, The Populist Listen: The Populist: Aeroplanes and bulldozers | Episode 1 – podcast Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast One Nation has come under fire for quietly shelving support for a new domestic gas reservation policy in preference for a policy that favours the party’s billionaire patron, Gina Rinehart. The Albanese government has announced it will establish a new reservation policy for Australia’s east coast, requiring gas exporters to supply a portion of the gas they produce to the domestic market. The policy is aimed at “modestly” supplying the domestic market to put downward pressure on prices for consumers. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s Politics, really newsletter here Continue reading...

But their habitat is threatened by bottom trawling in the region and Trump’s plan to expand seafloor mining Scientists have discovered nine new deep-sea sponge species off Alaska, offering new insights into the region’s largely unexplored marine biodiversity. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) announced the discovery on Thursday, saying the species were found in the Gulf of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. The findings bring the total number of known sponge species in Alaska to 232. Continue reading...

Flooding in West Bengal has led to three deaths, while severe beach erosion has been witnessed in Orange county Flooding around the city of Malda in the Indian state of West Bengal since Thursday has had a devastating effect. So far, three deaths have been recorded and many areas are still flooded, with numerous villages affected, along with the region of Bhutni. Erosion from the flooding, reported from Khaskol, led to a disruption in river flow which led to a more severe impact in Bhutni. More than 100 boats have been sent out for evacuation. At East Basudevpur, a 20ft (6-metre) embankment collapsed, reducing the channel from 550ft to under 150ft, which could lead to further flooding unless repaired. This flooding resulted after the Ganges River rose about 75cm above its “extreme danger” level owing to heavy rainfall. Continue reading...

Big manufacturers planning to produce more of the forever chemicals to meet demand from datacentres Pfas companies are launching a “tidal wave” of forever chemicals production to meet demand from the AI industry, a campaign organisation has warned. Despite alarm over the chemicals, which have been linked to cancer, a survey of the 10 biggest manufacturers found most had plans to increase production. Continue reading...

Foreign minister Shisir Khanal tells the Guardian the world’s biggest economies need to help Nepal, which contributes less than 0.1% of global greenhouse gas emissions Nepal is demanding $20m in climate compensation for the recent devastating floods, as a senior minister called on the world’s most polluting countries to “wake up” and accept shared responsibility for a disaster that led to the death or disappearance of more than 6,000 people. Scientists believe the climate crisis had a role to play in the floods , which were triggered when a melting glacier partially collapsed and set off a deadly landslide and flash flooding through Chinese-controlled Tibet and Nepal in late August. So far, more than 1,300 are confirmed dead and more than 5,500 still missing, with hopes of their survival diminished after 12 days of rescue operations . Continue reading...