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Prime ministers of Australia and Iceland discuss effects on their countries even as some shy away in face of war and inflation
World political leaders are descending on New York for the UN general assembly and some of them are putting the climate crisis on the agenda as they spoke on Monday at the start of the city’s annual Climate Week.
This year’s Climate Week – which runs alongside UNGA – comes after months of extreme heat in large parts of the world including Europe and the US, wildfires in Africa, flash flooding in Asia and a record-breaking El Niño.
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Scientists found unequal impact of the climate crisis would not be reversed even if implicit goal of the 2015 Paris agreement is achieved
The unequal impact of the climate crisis on the world’s poorest people, including those in tropical areas, has been highlighted by new research that finds they will be among the last to feel the benefits if global greenhouse gas emissions are cut to net zero.
Temperatures have risen more significantly in tropical areas relative to their historic range than at higher latitudes, including in wealthier countries in Europe and North America.
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EVs with 90,000 to 120,000 miles on the clock are more likely to pass MOTs than petrol models of the same age
Motorists buying a secondhand car with a lot of miles on the clock are likely to find an electric vehicle (EV) ultimately more reliable than a petrol vehicle, according to a study.
An analysis of 47.4m MOT tests found that after cars were driven 90,000 to 120,000 miles, EVs were about 25% less likely to fail than petrol models of the same age (based on a failure rate of 16.5% versus 22.1%).
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Photographers from all over the world entered more than 24,000 images into the world’s largest bird photography competition, with an image of a northern gannet bursting through the ocean’s surface taking the grand prize
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A teenager struggling with climate anxiety searches for hope in an unexpected place – writing letters to imprisoned activists. Max, 14, is on a quest to understand the human stories behind direct action and why so many climate protesters have spent time in prison. As replies begin to arrive, a dialogue bridging generations unfolds and connection transforms despair into purpose. When Max writes to the judge presiding over a high-profile trial, he is surprised to hear the letter referred to in the judge’s closing remarks
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The Argiope bruennichi, spotted in Cheshire for first time, part of worrying trend that could threaten native species
She is an unlikely harbinger of the climate emergency: a venomous black and yellow spider who spins mysterious patterns in her webs and eats her mates for breakfast.
Native to mainland Europe, north Africa and Asia, the Argiope bruennichi – commonly known as a wasp spider – is rarely seen in the north and west of Britain. But a fully grown female has been spotted in Cheshire for the first time by conservationists from Chester zoo, who stumbled across the large, brightly striped arachnid in a rewilded field.
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New report shows key indicators of Earth’s health are ‘outside the safe operating space’ as climate disaster looms
The planetary life support systems relied upon by humans have deteriorated to their worst levels ever recorded amid ongoing pollution and habitat destruction, according to a key yet grim annual update by scientists.
Of the nine “planetary boundaries” that help determine whether life can flourish on Earth, seven are being breached at their highest ever levels of transgression, according to the latest planetary health check, a process that was established in 2009.
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The risk to El Chaltén in Argentina has been known for years but recent findings and the Nepal disaster have brought planning for the worst-case scenario into sharp focus
The images from Nepal stopped Daniela Schmidt in her tracks. A geologist at the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina, she watched the deadly flash floods on 26 August tear through everything in their path, people running for their lives as the water and debris swept over the landscape.
“I had never seen anything like it,” she says. “This was one of the most catastrophic events on a global scale related to these glacial floods.”
The aftermath of the Nepal floods in Nuwakot district, 26 August. Photograph: Xinhua/Shutterstock
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Before his final general assembly, António Guterres speaks about why he put climate at the centre of his UN tenure
António Guterres, who will finish his second term as UN secretary general on 31 December, has spoken out more strongly on the climate crisis than any of his predecessors. He has criticised “immoral” fossil fuel companies for their “grotesque greed”, warned that we have “opened the gates of hell” and hailed the new “clean energy age”.
Before his last UN general assembly, we asked him about making the climate crisis one of the top priorities of his tenure.
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A good, sturdy chopping board will last you many years. I tested the best non-plastic, non-toxic ones, including some made out of wood and synthetic rubber
A cutting board is literally the foundation of most things you cook. It’s a must-have for any recipe that needs chopping, smashing, mincing, carving or sometimes even serving. And, let’s be honest, it’s also where we pile up other kitchen items while we make a mess.
Plastic cutting boards are affordable and convenient, but research shows they shed significant amounts of microplastics into food. And though the health damage caused by microplastics is still being studied, we don’t need microplastics in our minestrone.
All our cutting board picks, in detail
How we tested (and our mission at The Filter US)
How to clean and maintain a wooden cutting board
How to choose the right cutting board material
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