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Updated 2024-03-29 09:15
Woolworths, Coles and Aldi to roll out soft plastics collection bins in 12 Melbourne stores
Supermarkets will ask customers to recycle scrunchable plastic food packaging for first time since REDcycle ended
Starmer to scale back home insulation scheme as part of green policy U-turn
Exclusive: Labour insiders say scheme singled out for attack by Tories this week will be major victim of U-turn over 28bn plans
‘I photographed the world’: the art of Sebastião Salgado – in pictures
As the photographer turns 80, we look back as some of his most striking images from around the world. A selection of his work can be seen at Flowers Gallery, Cork Street, London, 16 March to 15 April
Iceland: aerial footage shows volcano near Grindavík erupting for second time this year – video
A volcano in south-western Iceland has erupted for the second time this year, the country's meteorological office has said. Live images captured lava gushing out of a fissure, sending plumes of smoke and ash into the air. It the sixth outbreak on the Reykjanes peninsula since 2021, before when the volcano had been inactive for about 800 years. 'Reykjanes is fed by five volcanic systems, many of which come to life every 800 to 1,000 years,' said Dave McGarvie, a volcanologist at Lancaster University
Australia’s climate has warmed by 1.5C since 1910, BoM temperature records show
Warming of the land surface increased from 1.48C after another year of data was added, annual climate statement reveals
Who’s the smallest of them all? Meet the world’s amazing tiniest creatures
Often overlooked in favour of larger, more charismatic cousins, we asked scientists to tell us about the smallest-known species, from a nano-chameleon to a miniature frogIn the 19th century, the German zoologist Christian Bergmann pondered a simple question: why are some animals so small? His answer, that a warm-blooded animal's size increases as its habitat cools, remains a rule in biology to this day.Bergmann pointed out that smaller species tend to live in warmer climes. This pattern is to do with surface area and volume: smaller animals lose heat faster and struggle to maintain their body temperature when it is very cold," says Dr Simon Loader, the principal curator of vertebrates at the Natural History Museum. Whatever the reasons, these small species are fascinating," he says. Continue reading...
Monarch butterfly numbers dip to second lowest level in Mexico wintering grounds
Experts say the endangered insect numbers fell by 59% this year, blaming pesticide use and climate change for the reductionThe number of endangered monarch butterflies at their wintering areas in Mexico has dropped by 59% this year to the second lowest level since record keeping began, experts said, blaming pesticide use and climate change.The annual butterfly count doesn't calculate the individual number of butterflies, but rather the number of hectares they cover when they clump together on tree branches in the mountain pine and fir forests west of Mexico City. Monarchs from east of the Rocky Mountains in the US and Canada overwinter there. Continue reading...
Starmer to announce scaling back of £28bn green investment plan
Labour leader to say move is down to economic uncertainty caused by Tory government, sources revealKeir Starmer will announce on Thursday that he is scaling back Labour's 28bn green investment programme, in his biggest policy U-turn since becoming party leader.Senior Labour sources have told the Guardian that Starmer will finally confirm the party is no longer planning to spend 28bn a year on environmental schemes, given the economic uncertainty caused by the Conservative government. Continue reading...
Killer whales trapped in drift ice off Japan’s Hokkaido coast escape
Pod of orcas in north Japan freed themselves as gaps between the ice grew, officials sayA pod of killer whales trapped by drift ice off the coast of Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost main island, have apparently safely escaped, officials have said.The orcas were initially spotted by a fisher who reported them to officials in the town of Rausu, on the north-east coast of Hokkaido, on Tuesday morning. Continue reading...
US court bans three weedkillers and finds EPA broke law in approval process
Ruling, specific to three dicamba-based weedkillers, is major blow to Bayer, BASF and SyngentaDealing a blow to three of the world's biggest agrochemical companies, a US court this week banned three weedkillers widely used in American agriculture, finding that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) broke the law in allowing them to be on the market.The ruling is specific to three dicamba-based weedkillers manufactured by Bayer, BASF and Syngenta, which have been blamed for millions of acres of crop damage and harm to endangered species and natural areas across the midwest and south. Continue reading...
Sweden to drop inquiry into Nord Stream pipeline explosions
Investigators previously found blasts that damaged undersea pipelines in 2022 were an act of sabotageSwedish prosecutors have said they will end their investigation into the sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in 2022, dodging the question of who destroyed the then new energy link between Russia and Europe shortly after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.After a 16-month inquiry, the investigators concluded they did not have jurisdiction in the case because Sweden's citizens and interests had not been harmed. The conclusion of the investigation is that Swedish jurisdiction does not apply and that the investigation therefore should be closed," the Swedish prosecution authority said on Wednesday. Continue reading...
Live Aid promoter announces global concerts to tackle climate crisis
Harvey Goldsmith's Earth Aid Live set to last 10 years and take place across multiple cities and continents, with lineups still to be announcedHarvey Goldsmith, the concert promoter who backed the London leg of Live Aid as well as numerous other charity events and major gigs, has announced a new multi-year project to benefit action on the climate crisis.Earth Aid Live will take place in six countries across five continents over one weekend in August 2025, including London, Los Angeles and Rio de Janeiro, with lineups still to be announced. Goldsmith is planning similar events in 2030 and 2035, and will feature concerts in the metaverse as well as real life. Continue reading...
Danish windfarm firm Ørsted to axe up to 800 jobs and pause dividend
Company developing world's largest offshore windfarm in North Sea attempts to recover from turbulent year
Better water quality the key to more Sydney Harbour swimming spots, council says
City of Sydney promises to install more shark nets across city but says pollution remains the biggest obstacle'
‘Life-saving’: EPA tightens US pollution controls on soot
Environmental Protection Agency sets lower limits on fine particle pollution, estimated to cause 85,000 to 225,000 deaths annuallyThe Environmental Protection Agency has finalized long-awaited new limits on soot, the tiny air pollution particles emitted by sources as varied as power plants, factories, car exhaust and wildfires.Today's action is a critical step forward that will better protect workers, families and communities from the dangerous and costly impacts of fine particle pollution," the EPA administrator, Michael Regan, told reporters on Tuesday. Continue reading...
Joe Biden just did the rarest thing in US politics: he stood up to the oil industry | Bill McKibben
The Biden administration suspended new permits for natural gas terminals. Can we see more of this kind of backbone?Ten days ago Joe Biden did something remarkable, and almost without precedent - he actually said no to big oil.His administration halted the granting of new permits for building liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals, something Washington had been handing out like M&Ms on Halloween for nearly a decade. It's a provisional no" - Department of Energy experts will spend the coming months figuring out a new formula for granting the licenses that takes the latest science and economics into account - but you can tell what a big deal it is because of the howls of rage coming from the petroleum industry and its gaggle of politicians.Bill McKibben is the founder of Third Act, which organizes Americans over 60 for progressive action and which worked this fall to persuade the administration to stop granting the LNG permits Continue reading...
Environment Agency failed to protect River Wye from chicken waste, court to hear
Campaigners argue in legal challenge that loophole has allowed poultry farmers to pollute riveroThe Environment Agency and the UK government failed to protect the River Wye from catastrophic decline by allowing pollution from industrial chicken farming to saturate the land and devastate the protected river, a legal challenge is to argue. Continue reading...
Flights of fancy: starling murmurations – in pictures
The Danish photographer Soren Solkaer first saw starling murmurations as a child near Wadden Sea in the south of the country. After photographing the phenomenon for three years in the marshlands of Denmark, Solkaer's new work, Starling, published by Edition Circle, expands his scope to trace the birds along their migration routes to the Netherlands and Italy Continue reading...
Senators reject Greens bill to insert climate trigger into environmental laws
Committee says safeguard mechanism will help cut emissions and ban on projects emitting more than 100,000 tonnes of CO2 not needed
Environment charities lag behind other UK sectors in racial diversity, study finds
Huge disconnect' between employers' public ambitions on diversity and their actions, say workersWorkers at environmental charities have said bold words on inclusion are not being matched with action, as research shows the sector still lags far behind others in racial diversity.Only about one in 20 workers in the environmental charity sector identified as an ethnic minority last year, according to a survey of organisations, compared with one in eight in the wider UK workforce. Continue reading...
Oil spills and fading glaciers: a beautiful world in peril – in pictures
A huge retrospective of Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky's work showcases the terrifying, but oddly beautiful marks we can leave on the planet Continue reading...
Prehistoric peatland plants and bugs found in UK ‘time capsule’
Frozen snapshot could help revive ancient Exmoor woodland and protect against ravages of climate changeArchaeologists have uncovered a prehistoric woodland time capsule" buried in Exmoor's ancient peatlands. The finding, filled with beetles and plant fragments, gives a time-frozen snapshot of the creatures that lived there - and could help restore the area to the richly boggy, carbon-sequestering, tree-filled landscape it once was.The discovery was made during a peatland restoration project at the Holnicote Estate in England's West Somerset. Continue reading...
UK minister for building pylons loses role after campaigning against them
Andrew Bowie wrote last year that concerns among his constituents about new pylons were a priority'The UK minister responsible for the building of new pylons has been quietly reshuffled after it emerged he had campaigned against the structures in his own constituency.The energy minister Andrew Bowie had been in charge of energy networks, including building pylons, since he took up his post in February 2023. Continue reading...
Woodside and Santos end talks on $80bn merger to create oil and gas giant
Santos shares fall 5% and Woodside rises 2% after collapse of talks, with two sides reportedly unable to agree on valuation
Yes, the Los Angeles River is dramatically full. But it’s just ‘doing its job’
Media images of rising waters may seem alarming - but that's pretty much what the channel is supposed to look like in heavy rainWhen newspapers across the world wanted to visualize this week's torrential California storms, they chose the same image: a shot of the brown, choppy waters of the Los Angeles River, seemingly about to fully swallow the trunks of local trees.Photos and video of the river dominated the homepages of the New York Times, the Washington Post and even the Guardian. On Monday, LA River" was trending on X.com (formerly Twitter), with more dramatic videos of rising waters. Continue reading...
‘I was thrilled and shocked’: images raise hopes of return of wild jaguars to the US
A series of sightings suggests the big cats are, against the odds, growing in numbers in New Mexico and Arizona. But Trump's border wall could yet halt their progressThe young, muscular male approached from the east at about 4am. He paused briefly in front of the motion-sensor camera, seemingly posing for the photo. It was overall a moment of euphoria," says Emily Burns, programme director at the Sky Island Alliance conservation group in Arizona, as she walks along a rutted forest service road towards a canyon framed by lichen-covered cliffs.I was equal parts thrilled and shocked that there was a jaguar here." Continue reading...
Ugandan climate activists face charges after a month in maximum security jail
The 11 university students could be imprisoned for a year for protesting against the East Africa Crude Oil PipelineEleven Ugandan climate activists who were allegedly beaten and held arbitrarily in a notorious maximum security prison will appear in court on Wednesday charged with a colonial era anti-dissident offense, as reprisals continue against opponents of an internationally bankrolled oil pipeline.If convicted, the 11 activists, all university students, face up to a year in jail. Four of them - Nicholas Lutabi, Jacob Lubega, Shafik Kalyango and Abdul Aziz Bwete - were allegedly arrested and beaten by police armed with guns, teargas and batons as they marched peacefully towards parliament in the capital city, Kampala, on 15 December. Continue reading...
BP CEO calls for pragmatism on green aims as profits halve
Murray Auchincloss says BP's aim' to reduce oil and gas emissions by 20-30% was not confirmed as a target'
UK’s emissions fell slightly in 2022 but transport and homes still biggest emitters
Emissions fall 3.5% from 2021 but experts say government not doing enough to reach net zeroGreenhouse gas emissions fell slightly in 2022, new government figures reveal, with homes and transport remaining the highest emitting sectors.The emissions for the territorial UK were equivalent to 406.2m tonnes of CO, down 3.5% from 2021 and 50% from 1990. Continue reading...
‘In a word, horrific’: Trump’s extreme anti-environment blueprint
Allies and advisers have hinted at a more methodical second term: driving forward fossil fuel production, sidelining scientists and overturning rulesThe United States's first major climate legislation dismantled, a crackdown on government scientists, a frenzy of oil and gas drilling, the Paris climate deal not only dead but buried.A blueprint is emerging for a second Donald Trump term that is even more extreme for the environment than his first, according to interviews with multiple Trump allies and advisers. Continue reading...
Starmer ‘unwavering’ over Labour green pledge despite claims party dropping it
Labour leader says 28bn green investment desperately needed' after sources said last week Labour were planning to ditch policy
Pep-11 to be killed off under NSW government’s plan to stop offshore gas exploration
Environment minister says overwhelming majority' oppose offshore mining and proposed reforms reflect these concerns
Littleproud says planned renewables rollout ‘pure insanity’; RBA governor quizzed – as it happened
Former PM Scott Morrison, whose government legislated original stage-three plan, spoke in favour of Coalition backing tax plan. This blog is now closed
Rain to worsen in LA as hundreds of thousands remain without power in California – as it happened
This blog is now closedCalifornia is grappling with another round of strong storms this week and the dangerous potential for flash flooding, landslides, and furious winds expected to come with them.Much like last year, when record rainfall lashed the state, the storms are attributed to atmospheric rivers (ARs), systems that have long played a role in California's precipitation levels - both for good and for bad. Continue reading...
Make used electric cars cheaper and tackle battery fears, peers tell ministers
Grants needed towards buying EVs as well as a battery health testing standard to reassure consumers
UK electric vehicle maker Arrival enters administration with 170 jobs at risk
New York-listed company, once valued at $15bn, failed to launch its debut electric vanThe British electric vehicle maker Arrival has collapsed into administration - putting 170 jobs at risk - just three years after it was valued at more than $15bn.The company, which had two manufacturing sites in Oxfordshire, has appointed consultancy firm EY as administrator, after failing to launch its debut electric van. Continue reading...
Minister consulted BP over incentives to maximise oil production, FoI reveals
Exclusive: Meeting took place days after BP reported record profits while households were squeezed by high energy billsThe energy and climate minister Graham Stuart asked BP about the incentives required to maximise" extraction of oil and gas from the North Sea, documents released under freedom of information rules have revealed.Stuart's meeting with the corporation's UK boss, Louise Kingham, last year came days after BP had announced a record profit of $28bn (23bn) for 2022, raised its dividend to shareholders, and rowed back on its aim to cut its carbon emissions by 2030. Households were also enduring very high energy bills. BP will report its profits for 2023 on Tuesday. Continue reading...
Millionth pure battery electric car sold in UK after 20 years
Industry lobby group says 2m could be reached within two years in rapid shift away from polluting fossil fuelsThe number of pure battery electric cars sold in the UK has passed 1m, a milestone that reflects the rapid shift away from polluting fossil fuels that is crucial to Britain's target to produce net zero carbon emissions.Between 2002 and the end of January buyers registered 1,001,677 of the vehicles in the UK, according to data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), the lobby group for the British industry. Continue reading...
Labor’s fuel efficiency standards mean all new cars could be EVs by 2035, industry group says
Experts say Albanese government plan should provide a greater choice of electric cars but Coalition calls savings claims a lie'
Kosciuszko park rangers involved in feral horse cull are being harassed, inquiry hears
Brumby numbers in the alpine area exploded under Coalition's no-cull policy and now aerial shooting is being used to bring numbers back downPark rangers culling brumbies are being harassed and threatened as union leaders call on politicians to take the heat out of the debate over controlling the feral animals.The New South Wales government in October announced the state would return to aerial shooting of brumbies in Kosciuszko national park to control burgeoning numbers.Sign up for Guardian Australia's free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...
‘Life-threatening’ storm system batters California, with flooding and high winds
First-ever hurricane-force wind warning along coast, with millions of people under flood watches and power out for close to a millionAn enormous atmospheric river-fueled storm unleashed rain and furious winds across California on Sunday, leaving destruction and hazards in its wake.Howling winds tore down power lines and trees, and scattered debris in communities across the state, prompting officials to issue the first-ever hurricane-force wind warning along the coast. By late afternoon, streets in both northern and southern regions of California were left submerged, with far more rain on the way. Continue reading...
Parisians vote in favour of tripling parking costs for SUVs
The referendum comes as the city aims to reduce emissions by targeting wealthy drivers in large, polluting carsParisians have voted to triple parking costs for sports utility vehicles (SUVs), as the city aims to tackle air pollution and climate breakdown by targeting rich drivers in heavy, large and polluting cars.In a referendum on Sunday, which was closely watched by other capital cities, including London, 54.6% voted in favour of special parking fees for SUVs, according to provisional results. However, the turnout - at about 5.7% of Paris's registered voters - was lower than green campaigners had hoped for. Continue reading...
Bye-bye, bean burrito: New York City schools cut popular meal options
Parents have feelings about a lack of variety in their kids' lunches - critically, fewer choices may mean fewer kids eatingWhen LaToya Jordan first heard the news, she couldn't believe it. Due to budget cuts, a number of popular school lunch options - chicken dumplings, bean-and-cheese burritos, cookies - would disappear from New York City public schools in February.Jordan, a writer whose two children attend public school in Brooklyn, knew that both of her kids were fans of the burritos and her son loves the cookies, too. She immediately texted her mom-friends with the news. Continue reading...
UK to scrap ‘boiler tax’ after makers raise prices to cover any fines
Penalties drafted as part of clean-heat plan' to hasten takeup of eco-friendly heat pumps replaced by quota systemThe UK government is poised to scrap the so-called boiler tax" after manufacturers hiked the price of new gas boilers to cover the fines they have to pay if new targets to fit eco-friendly heat pumps in homes are missed.The move, which will disappoint environmentalists, comes several months after Rishi Sunak announced a watering-down of the UK's net-zero policies, a climbdown that included pushing back the deadline for banning new petrol and diesel cars. Continue reading...
‘It’s going to finish the village’: how Morecambe Bay’s tragedy changed cocklepickers’ lives for ever
After 23 migrants died while searching for cockles in 2004, access to the lucrative fishery became more regulated. But local fishers claim the new rules mean their families have been left behindOn the outskirts of the fishing village of Flookburgh, Cumbria, a prohibition notice is stapled to a large metal gate across the entrance to the sands: Beach closed to cockle fishing." It is an offence to remove cockles until April 2024 and any person caught doing so risks a fine of up to 10,000.Michael Wilson jumps out of his white van to unhook the gate and then drives past a handful of shrimping trailers to the edge of Morecambe Bay, the largest expanse of intertidal mudflats and sands in the country, at 120 sq miles. Continue reading...
Climate groups welcome fuel efficiency standards – as it happened
This blog is now closed
Fuel efficiency standards: Labor unveils proposal, highlighting petrol savings of $1,000 a year for motorists
Coalition-led scare campaign predicted for plan to place yearly cap on emissions for new cars sold in Australia
No more chocolate, coffee or wine? ‘Last supper’ shows stakes of climate crisis
Former White House chef Sam Kass hosts a four-course dinner featuring dishes that could drastically change - or disappearThe premise sounded like a rich person's ethically suspect fever dream: a dinner structured around endangered foods, dubbed the last supper".But it wasn't a scene out of The Menu, the movie where detestable foodies seek a once-in-a-lifetime experience steeped in privilege and exploitation. Instead of dining on obscure food on the brink of extinction, the last supper" featured recognizable dishes - salmon, oysters, coffee, wine - that could drastically change or disappear in the coming years as the climate warms and brings more volatile weather. Continue reading...
Residents’ lives still in limbo a year after East Palestine toxic derailment
Despite assurances many living near the site of the train accident do not believe their homes are free of pollutants and feel officials are not listening
‘Incredibly rare’ discovery reveals bedbugs came to Britain with the Romans
Archaeologists find remains of insects that hitchhiked' here nearly 2,000 years agoFrom plumbing to public baths, the Romans left their mark on Britain's health. But it may not have all been positive. Archaeologists working at Vindolanda, a Roman garrison site south of Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland, have unearthed fresh evidence that the Romans also brought us ... bedbugs.Dr Andrew Birley, who heads the Vindolanda archaeological team, said: It is incredibly rare to find them in any ancient context." Continue reading...
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