A summary of today’s top climate and clean energy stories.
Email the team on [email protected] or get in touch via Twitter.
Vivienne Westwood opened show with Lily Cole dancing for climate change (Pic: Flickr / UK in France)
UK: Vivienne Westwood opened her fashion show at the London Fashion Week with an eerie modern dance and an appeal for the audience to fill in a postcard to the UN. She said that the opening dance, performed by Lily Cole, expressed both their concerns about climate change. (Al Arabiya)
UK: Sir David King, former chief scientific adviser to the government, has warned of the “enormous environmental consequences” of attempting to fulfil the UK’s gas needs by fracking and has played down the idea that it would have a major impact on the UK’s energy market. (Guardian)
Research: Drilling for shale gas through hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, appears to cause smaller leaks of the greenhouse gas methane than the federal government had estimated, and considerably smaller than some critics of shale gas had feared, according to a peer-reviewed study released on Monday. (NYT)
Research: New research highlights the world’s most (and least) vulnerable ecosystems to climate change. The study, published in Nature Climate Change, is the first to combine anticipated climatic impacts with how degraded the ecosystem is due to human impacts, creating what scientists hope is a more accurate list of vulnerable regions. (Monga Bay)
UK: Protesters camping at a potential fracking site in Sussex have been told they can stay in place until early October, following a high court ruling on Monday. The Balcombe protesters were challenging an eviction notice from the local council, and gained a partial victory as the court ruled that the notice from the council was flawed, and adjourned proceedings. (Guardian)
US: Anglo American withdrew on Monday from plans to develop vast open-pitgold and copper mines in one of the last big wild salmon runs in Alaska’s Bristol Bay. (Guardian)
Scotland: The Scottish government has given permission for work to begin on the largest tidal energy project in Europe. Six demonstration turbines will be built in the Pentland Firth, between Orkney and the Scottish mainland, generating 9MW of power. (RTCC)
China: China and California have signed up to two years of official cooperation on climate change issues. The agreement was signed on Friday by California Governor Jerry Brown, and China’s National Development and Reform Commission Vice Chairman, Xie Zhenhua. (RTCC)
UK: Sir David King, former chief scientific adviser to the government, has warned of the “enormous environmental consequences” of attempting to fulfil the UK’s gas needs by fracking and has played down the idea that it would have a major impact on the UK’s energy market. (Guardian)
Research: When natural forests are threatened by deforestation or climate change, the best hope for the survival of certain at risk tree species may be to include them in agroforestry plots managed by small farmers, according to new research. (CIFOR)