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☆ Past decade was the hottest on record as climate change ‘surged alarmingly,’ WMO reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Laura Paddison | Brandon Miller | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —The decade between 2011 and 2020 was the hottest on record for the planet’s land and oceans as the rate of climate change “surged alarmingly,” according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization. This year is also expected to be the hottest year, after six straight months of record global temperatures. Scientists have said this year’s exceptional warmth is the result of the combined effects of El Niño and human-caused climate change, which is driven by planet-warming fossil fuel pollution. A separate analysis released Monday by the Global Carbon Project found that carbon pollution from fossil fuels is on track to set a new record in 2023 – 1.1% higher than 2022 levels. The WMO report comes partway through the UN-backed COP28 climate summit, on the day focused on energy and industry.

Persons: El, Petteri Taalas, ” Elena Manaenkova, Anupam Nath, –, ” Taalas, ”, Pierre Friedlingstein, Amy Cassidy Organizations: CNN, World Meteorological Organization, Global, Project, WMO, UN, EU, Copernicus, DG DEFIS, Reuters, El Niño, University of Exeter’s Global Systems Institute Locations: Dubai, India, China, US, EU, Mayong, Gauhati, Assam, Greater London, Antarctica, Paris, El, COP28

LONDON (AP) — Britain's polar research ship has crossed paths with the largest iceberg in the world — a “lucky” encounter that enabled scientists to collect seawater samples around the colossal berg as it drifts out of Antarctic waters, the British Antarctic Survey said Monday. It began drifting in recent months, and has now moved into the Southern Ocean, helped by wind and ocean currents. Scientists say it is now likely to be swept along into “iceberg alley” — a common route for icebergs to float toward the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia. What we don’t know is what difference particular icebergs, their scale, and their origins can make to that process," she said. The British Antarctic Survey said its findings will help improve understanding of how climate change is affecting the Southern Ocean and the organisms that live there.

Persons: Sir David Attenborough, London —, ”, Andrew Meijers, “, A23a hasn’t, berg, Laura Taylor Organizations: British Antarctic Survey Locations: Antarctica, New York City, London, Weddell, South Georgia, British

☆ World’s biggest iceberg is on the move
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( Amy Woodyatt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

London CNN —The world’s biggest iceberg – more than twice the size of Britain’s capital city - is on the move after decades of being grounded on the seafloor in Antarctica. The huge mass of ice broke away from the Filchner-Ronne ice shelf in 1986, calved and grounded on the Antarctic’s Weddell Sea floor almost immediately. The iceberg, named A23a, is about 400 meters (1,312 feet) thick, and almost 4,000 square kilometers (1,544 square miles) in area. Greater London, by way of comparison, is 1,572 square kilometers (607 square miles). The iceberg, carried by ocean currents, will likely head eastward, and at its current rate is traveling five kilometers (three miles) a day.

Persons: Ella Gilbert, Oliver Marsh, A23a, Gilbert, Marsh Organizations: London CNN, Ronne, British Antarctic Survey, CNN Locations: Antarctica, Weddell, Greater London

☆ Birmingham City Council: How an equal pay claim took down Britain's second-biggest city
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

London CNN —Birmingham — the biggest British city after London — is in dire financial straits. “Local government is facing a perfect storm,” Sharon Thompson, Birmingham City Council’s deputy leader, said in remarks broadcast Tuesday. How Birmingham went bustThompson blamed Birmingham’s financial troubles partly on an outstanding £760 million ($950 million) legal bill pertaining to the equal pay claims, which resulted from a Supreme Court ruling in 2012. The original case was brought by 174 former council employees, all except four of whom were women. They argued that this breached the equality clauses of their employment contracts under the Equal Pay Act of 1970 — and the court agreed.

Persons: London —, ” Sharon Thompson, Thompson, —, Shaun Davies, Rishi Sunak, England —, ” Organizations: London CNN — Birmingham, Birmingham City Council’s, Birmingham City, National Audit Office, Local Government Association, UK, Special, Municipal Authorities Locations: London, United Kingdom, “, Birmingham, England, —, West Midlands, Yorkshire, Croydon, Woking

☆ Return to Office, Ending Work From Home May Make Climate Crisis Worse
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

Whether mandatory return-to-office policies will make the climate crisis worse is an important question, especially as scientists predict that 2023 will be the hottest year on record. But determining whether working from an office is worse for the planet isn't that simple. Failing to find a balance between boosting productivity at the office and protecting the planet risks making the crisis worse. Even though the study only covered the early part of the pandemic, it illustrated how a shift away from office work can have some positive effects for the planet. "There was no clear answer to whether work from home was better or worse for the environment in general terms."

Persons: Rachel, it's, JPMorgan Chase, James Elfer, Elfer, It's, Ty Colman, Colman, Ralf Martin, Martin, teleworking, Megan Litke, We've, Litke, Efler, Operta's Colman, JPMorgan Chase —, Apple, Tony Johnson, Schneider, Johnson, That's, she's, Catherine Boudreau Organizations: Amazon, Google, JPMorgan, Fortune, Employees, Greenhouse, International Energy Agency, IEA, Imperial College Business School, American University, Energy, Target, Dell, Apple, Schneider Locations: , Maryland, Greater London, London, Washington , DC, Williams, Sonoma, North America

☆ Expansion to London clean-air zone to go ahead after court rejects challenge
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Sam Tobin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Five affected Conservative-led local authorities argued the decision to expand ULEZ was unlawful, but their legal challenge was rejected on Friday. "This landmark decision is good news as it means we can proceed with cleaning up the air in outer London," Khan said in a statement following the ruling. Britain's green agenda has been in focus over the past week after the governing Conservative Party won an election in former Prime Minister Boris Johnson's old seat just outside central London, in part by attacking the ULEZ expansion. Judge Jonathan Swift rejected all three grounds of challenge to the expansion of ULEZ, including that the public consultation on the proposed expansion was unlawful. ($1 = 0.7809 pounds)Reporting by Sam Tobin, Editing by Kylie MacLellan and Tomasz JanowskiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Sadiq Khan, Khan, Boris Johnson's, Keir Starmer, Conservative – Johnson, Jonathan Swift, Sam Tobin, Kylie MacLellan, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: London's Labour, Conservative, Transport, Conservative Party, Labour Party's, London, Thomson Locations: British, Greater London, leafier, London

☆ London fights legal challenge over expanding clean-air zone
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( Sam Tobin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Signage indicates the boundary of London's Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) zone along the North Circular Road ahead of proposed upcoming expansion, in London, Britain, June 26, 2023. The British capital's Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) levies a 12.50 pound ($16) daily charge on drivers of non-compliant vehicles, in order to tackle pollution and improve air quality. London's transport authority - Transport for London (TfL) - had launched a public consultation on the plan, which said 91% of vehicles driven in outer London would not be affected. However, the local authorities' lawyers argue that TfL provided no detail on how it calculated the 91% figure, which they say was fundamental to justifying the expansion. The local authorities are also challenging Khan's decision to not extend a 110 million pound scrappage scheme to those living just outside the expanded ULEZ.

Persons: Toby Melville LONDON, Sadiq Khan, Khan, Sam Tobin, Devika Organizations: REUTERS, London, London's, Transport, TfL, Thomson Locations: London, Britain, British, Greater London, leafier, Europe, Khan

☆ Chilean wildfires destroy hundreds of homes, endanger world's smallest deer
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Ivan Alvarado | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"We call on everyone who can to take care of the forests which are currently on fire, and also of our animals, specimens of vital importance," said Valentina Aravena, the manager at a wildlife rehabilitation center in Chillan. Late on Wednesday, Interior Minister Carolina Toha said the government would declare a curfew in some provinces starting on Thursday. In the rehabilitation center in Chillan, the capital of the Ñuble region, veterinarians treated burns on animals native to the woodlands, such as monito del monte, a small nocturnal marsupial, and pudus, the world's smallest deer. [1/7] A Pudu, the world's smallest deer, rescued from a wildfire, receives care from vets at a wildlife rehabilitation center of Concepcion University, as wildfires continue in the central-southern zone of Chile, in Chillan, Chile, February 8, 2023. A day earlier, a Chilean minister warned that high temperatures forecast for this week could further complicate the situation.

☆ Fact Check-Video of person hit with a traffic cone is unrelated to Britain’s 2022 climate protests
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A video of a person being hit with a traffic cone while holding up cars has been falsely linked to climate protests blocking a major motorway in Britain. The 15-second clip, captured at night, shows stationary vehicles sounding their horns at an individual stood in the middle of a road. At 0.13, a traffic cone is launched across the screen, hitting the person in the head and knocking them over. But the video is unrelated to the November protest. The video can be traced back to at least 2019.

☆ London transport gets 500 mln stg funding facility
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterMayor of London Sadiq Khan (centre) travelling with passengers on a northbound Victoria line tube train during the launch of London's Night Tube August 20, 2016. REUTERS/Yui Mok/PA Wire/Pool/LONDON, Sept 21 (Reuters) - London city authorities will make 500 million pounds ($567 million) available for the British capital's transport network to cover gaps left by a government support package, Mayor Sadiq Khan's office said on Wednesday. The 500-million-pound facility will be financed by the taxpayer-funded Greater London Authority, with TfL having the option to tap funds until March 2024. Britain's government has stepped in with a number of funding packages for TfL since the start of the pandemic, when lockdowns caused a fall in passenger numbers, pressuring the transport network's finances. ($1 = 0.8821 pounds)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Muvija M; editing by Sachin Ravikumar and Catherine EvansOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Cinemas will screen the Queen's funeral. Here's what else is open on Monday
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-18 | by ( Anna Cooban | Cnn Business | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

London (CNN Business) Much of Britain will come to a standstill on Monday for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II . A company spokesperson told CNN Business that its venues would open on Monday "for communities to gather to mourn and reflect together on the life of the Queen." Travelodge, which has 78 budget hotels in London, said its staff were working "around the clock" in preparation for the Queen's funeral. Most major supermarkets — which normally remain open on public holidays for a reduced number of hours — are planning to close for the funeral. Apple AAPL confirmed to CNN Business that it would close all of its 39 stores in the country on Monday.

☆ Cinemas are screening the Queen's funeral. Here's what else is open on Monday
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-18 | by ( Anna Cooban | Cnn Business | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

London (CNN Business) Much of Britain came to a standstill on Monday for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II . A company spokesperson told CNN Business that its venues would open on Monday "for communities to gather to mourn and reflect together on the life of the Queen." Travelodge, which has 78 budget hotels in London, said its staff were working "around the clock" in preparation for the Queen's funeral. Most major supermarkets — which normally remain open on public holidays for a reduced number of hours — are planning to close for the funeral. Apple AAPL confirmed to CNN Business that it would close all of its 39 stores in the country on Monday.

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