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Exclusive: Economic harm of CO2 pollution from Rosebank and Jackdaw forecast to far outweigh any boost to UK
The climate damage caused by developing the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields under consideration by the UK government would destroy their economic benefits many times over, according to an analysis.
It estimates the economic damage caused by the carbon pollution from the oil and gas produced would be between £119bn and £336bn in the coming decades, compared with the £28.7bn in value to the UK estimated by Adura, the fossil fuel company promoting the new fields.
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True figure likely to be much higher as it only covers about half of continent and does not include August totals
At least 35,000 more people died during Europe’s four record-breaking, back-to-back heatwaves this summer than would normally be expected, according to incomplete figures from barely half the continent.
Excess mortality in three of the EU’s larger countries – Germany, France and Spain – alone has already exceeded 25,000, according to the provisional national figures, and experts say the toll will rise significantly once August totals are consolidated.
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Henry Astor looked back to his grandfather’s time for the inspiration to find older varieties that could help nature on his Cotswold farm
It is the earliest harvest Henry Astor can remember. But walking through the scorched wheatfields of his Cotswolds farm, signs of life are everywhere – swarms of insects, kaleidoscopic wildflower meadows, bushy hedgerows several metres wide. A yellowhammer perches on a nearby tree.
There are 18 other red-listed birds on the farm, says Astor, who this year ringed 23 barn owls, three kestrels, two little owls as well as goshawk chicks. “Last winter we had clouds of goldfinch, chaffinch and greenfinch,” he says. Britain has lost 73 million birds since 1970; but at Bruern Farms, a small but welcome reversal is taking shape.
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Ynys Môn (Anglesey): The rosy footman is a relative newcomer to this part of Wales, bringing with it nectarine tones and markings like hieroglyphs
I have a routine in the summer months that I like to keep to as often as I can. That is, to start my day in the company of moths.
This morning, after a gentle night – too cloudy to see the flight of Perseid meteors but mild enough to encourage the flight of moths – I head out to my Robinson light trap. It’s 40 years old and somewhat shabby, and sits between the meadow plots in our wildlife garden like a tiny flying saucer. With cuppa to hand, and joined by our familiar robin, who knows this routine well, I examine the live catch.
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Rise in claims linked to heat-related deaths and illness, especially among older people, could drive up premiums
Europe’s intense heatwaves could hit insurers’ earnings as companies face a rise in claims linked to heat-related deaths and worsening health conditions, the rating agency S&P has said.
While a long summer of extreme heat will have increased drought and wildfire-related claims, the rating agency said there would also be fallout for life and health insurers, and for the reinsurers who provide financial protection to insurance companies.
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Hélène Duguy is taking on companies accused of failing to stop Pfas pollution in the area of France she calls home
The factories were just part of the landscape for Hélène Duguy growing up in the heart of an area known as France’s “Chemical Valley”.
“Those factories are visible from my mother’s apartment,” says Duguy, 34, whose mother still lives in St-Genis-Laval, south of Lyon.
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Poll also finds sizeable majorities who believe it should be easier to install air con in homes
Given the choice, more people across six major European nations including the UK favour encouraging the adoption of air conditioning over keeping carbon emissions down, a survey has found.
After four extreme heatwaves that have caused thousands of excess deaths across the continent, the survey showed between 30% and 52% of people in six countries had feared for their household’s health in temperatures close to or above 40C (104F).
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The Democratic and the Republican candidate each blame the other for the bungled recovery effort after storm struck region
Two years after North Carolina suffered the worst natural disaster in its history when Hurricane Helene struck the state’s western half, life in the hardest-hit areas appears back to normal. Downtowns are lively, blocked roads have been reopened and rivers are flowing below their banks.
But the telltale evidence of the disaster’s expensive impacts can still be seen – from “for rent” signs in storefronts whose businesses never came back to debris from the storm still lurking in some waterways. And in the race for North Carolina’s US Senate seat, it’s almost as if the hurricane never left.
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With limited electricity and poor ventilation, many families in Nasirabad have little to shield them from temperatures of up to 50C
As the first light reaches Nasirabad, a queue of men, women and children has already formed outside the town’s ice factory, with their buckets, sacks and plastic containers. Among those hoping to buy some ice to help their families endure another scorching day is 12-year-old Taimoor, in his school uniform. He says it is his most important task of the day.
“If I do not bring the ice, how will we endure the heat at home?” he says. “And how will we drink water that feels as though it is boiling?”
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Farmer Derek Sayer let a boggy field run wild and just one annual hay-cut has led to remarkable biodiversity
Tucked away on a country lane, a small field bursts with yellow and pink flowers. Quail and whitethroats call from the thick hedges and the plants, including common centaury, yellow rattle and marsh and common spotted orchids, bounce with hoverflies and butterflies.
More than 150 plant species have been recorded on Sayer’s Old Meadow, in north Norfolk, England, which is remarkable when there was just one – oilseed rape – growing there 21 years ago.
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