Nearly 400 international scientists called on Barack Obama to rule out further expansion of oil and gas exploration in Arctic waters under US control. The letter, signed by prominent Arctic, marine and climate specialists – including a former member of Obama’s administration, urges the president to rule out any future hunting for oil in the waters of the Chukchi and Beaufort seas.
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Climate diplomats wrapped up technical talks Thursday (26 May) saying they were on the right track but still far from delivering on the promise of the historic pact forged in December. Negotiators from 196 countries worked along three parallel tracks to put flesh on the bone of the Paris Agreement, the fruit of two decades of often contentious wrangling between wealthy and developing nations.
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Scientists in California are testing sponges made with the key ingredient of baking soda as a way of capturing carbon emissions. The researchers say that soda is more effective than current methods and less damaging to the environment. The team have already successfully trialled microcapsules filled with the substance.
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A draft UN report on climate change, which was scrubbed of all reference to Australia over fears it could deter visitors to the Great Barrier Reef, also outlined possible threats to the Tasmania wilderness and Kakadu. The draft report contained a chapter on the Great Barrier Reef, which described climate change as “the biggest long-term threat to the [reef] today, and to its ecosystems services, biodiversity, heritage values and tourism economy”.
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Construction work has begun on the Trans Adriatic Pipeline, which is expected to bring natural gas from the Caspian Sea to Europe and ease reliance on Russian gas imports. The €5 billion ($5.67 billion) project is expected to supply around 10 billion cubic meters of Azeri gas a year to European countries, enough to cover the energy needs of some seven million European households.
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Food producer Mars has agreed to buy its electricity from a company that generates its power at a 20-turbine wind farm in the Highlands. Eneco UK’s Moy Wind Farm near Tomatin, south of Inverness, should generate the equivalent amount of electricity used by Mars’ 12 UK sites.
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