Charity says stocking countryside for shooting season would be catastrophic with disease still a major threat to wild birdsThe RSPB is calling for a moratorium on the release of game birds this summer to keep avian flu levels down.The charity says it will be catastrophic for tens of millions of game birds such as pheasants and partridges to be released in late June and July for shooting in the summer and autumn with avian flu still a huge threat to wild birds. Continue reading...
Italian authorities are continuing rescue operations across the flood-hit northern Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Footage recorded by the Italian coastguard showed helicopters rescuing people from their roofs, including a pregnant woman and an elderly couple. At least nine people have been killed by the floods and close to 5,000 evacuated from their homes
Viewed by the Chumash people as their ancestral home, the Native American tribe is behind the first Indigenous-led initiative to protect the ocean and repair its damaged ecosystemThe Chumash people viewed the Pacific Ocean as their first home. Their territory once spanned 7,000 sq miles, from the rolling hills of Paso Robles to the white sand beaches of Malibu. Now, the region is one of the most expensive in the US, home to resort hotels, vineyards and multimillion-dollar mansions.The average house price in Avila Beach, California, where Violet Sage Walker grew up hunting for grunion in the midnight hours, is $1.9m (£1.5m). Continue reading...
Founded by Paul Nicklen, Cristina Mittermeier and Chase Teron, 100 for the Ocean unites 100 world-class photographers selected for their talents and contributions to conservation. Until 31 May 2023, photographs are on sale with profits going to under-funded and under-recognised ocean-focused NGOs voted for by photographers. The top-voted NGOs so far include: Whale Guardians, Coast First Nations, and Por el Mar“The UN is telling us that in order to fulfil the promise of protecting the ocean under Sustainable Development Goal 14, Life Underwater, we need about $170 billion. We hope to shine a spotlight on the ocean and why we need to protect the largest ecosystem on our planet, the one ecosystem that allows life on earth to exist.” Cristina Mittermeier Continue reading...
Ballooning cost of cleaning up toxic PFAS contamination at military sites places service members and civilians at riskThe cost of cleaning up toxic PFAS “forever chemical” contamination around hundreds of US military installations is ballooning, but Congress and the Pentagon are failing to keep pace, a development that is leaving service members and civilians indefinitely at risk, a new analysis finds.The estimated total cost for remediating about 50 contaminated military sites has soared to $31bn, up by $3.7bn from 2016 to 2021, the last year the Department of Defense provided estimates. But its requested cleanup budget increased just $400m over the same period, according to the new report by Environmental Working Group (EWG), a non-profit that tracks the military’s PFAS pollution. Continue reading...
Report finds farming community has lower levels of mental wellbeing than population at largeLack of transport to mental health services is causing a crisis in England’s rural communities, MPs have said.Farmers and vets in particular have faced high levels of mental distress, MPs on the cross-party environment, food and rural affairs committee say. Continue reading...
Under-fire bosses announce ‘unprecedented plan’ to reduce last year’s 300,000 incidents of sewage pollutionWater companies have apologised for repeated sewage spills and pledged to invest £10bn this decade in an attempt to quell public anger over pollution in seas and rivers.The companies will triple their existing investment plans to plough funds into the biggest modernisation of sewers “since the Victorian era” to reduce spills of overflowing sewage into England’s waterways. Continue reading...
Vaccine gets emergency approval as ‘highly contagious’ virus sweeps through flocks of species on the brink of extinctionA new vaccine has been granted emergency approval to protect California condors from a deadly strain of avian influenza, federal officials said this week, amid attempts to pull the endangered species back from the brink of extinction.The emergency action underscores an outbreak that has alarmed the conservation community, which fears that condors, a vulnerable species that has spent decades in recovery, could be dealt a devastating blow. After first being detected in a deceased condor in late March, the illness has swept through the small flock of wild birds, which are closely monitored by agencies in the south-west. So far 21 condors have died, impacting eight breeding pairs, according to a statement issued by the US Fish and Wildlife service. Continue reading...
Twenty-one rivers burst their banks after heavy storms across country cause landslides and submerge villagesNine people have died and thousands have been evacuated from their homes after heavy storms wreaked havoc in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, causing severe flooding and landslides.People sought refuge on the rooftops of their homes after 21 rivers broke their banks, submerging entire towns. Continue reading...
Climate crisis a key factor in flash flooding of Beledweyne as rains end drought and Shabelle River breaks its banksFloods have caused almost a quarter of a million people to flee their homes after the Shabelle River in central Somalia broke its banks and submerged the town of Beledweyne, even as the country faces its most severe drought in four decades, according to the government.Aid agencies and scientists have warned that the climate crisis is among the most significant factors accelerating humanitarian emergencies, while those affected are some of the least responsible for CO emissions. Continue reading...
Temperatures up to 45C recorded in April in parts of India, Bangladesh, Thailand and LaosA searing heatwave in parts of southern Asia in April was made at least 30 times more likely by climate breakdown, according to a study by international scientists.Unusually high temperatures of up to 45C (113F) were recorded last month in monitoring stations in parts of India, Bangladesh, Thailand and Laos. Continue reading...
Ruling requiring ‘unlimited guarantee’ from oil firms to cover costs of spills could change offshore drilling throughout regionA ruling from Guyana’s high court could change the face of offshore oil drilling throughout the Caribbean, according to financial and legal analysts.The ruling ordered the country’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to require an independent liability insurance policy from Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) and an “unlimited guarantee” from its parent company, ExxonMobil, in the case of any damage caused by the company’s oil and gas development in the country. Continue reading...
UN agency says El Niño and human-induced climate breakdown could combine to push temperatures into ‘uncharted territory’The world is almost certain to experience new record temperatures in the next five years, and temperatures are likely to rise by more than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, scientists have warned.The breaching of the crucial 1.5C threshold, which scientists have warned could have dire consequences, should be only temporary, according to research from the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). Continue reading...
Campaigners say development of huge Rosebank field in North Sea would drive climate breakdownThe Norwegian government is facing growing pressure to scale back its huge global fossil fuel expansion plans – including the development of a controversial new oilfield in the North Sea.Climate activists from around the world descended on Stavanger in Norway last week to attend the AGM of the state-owned oil and gas giant Equinor. They warned that its plans to develop the huge Rosebank field in the North Sea, as well as other mega-projects in Canada, Brazil and Suriname, would drive climate breakdown with devastating consequences for humanity. Continue reading...
There are now around 800 food pantries on US college campuses, and demand is growing as pandemic-era resources endFor Anthony Meng, a senior at Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota, food insecurity can take on many different forms. On some days, it means skipping meals as he’s rushing to work or to class. On others, “it’s like, I don’t think I can afford groceries,” he said. “Which is difficult to say at times, but it’s the reality of the situation.”Meng, 22, rolls out of bed every morning around 9 or 10am. His schedule is typically packed with back-to-back lectures and extracurriculars. More often than not, Meng finds himself heading out for the day with just a granola bar in hand, if anything at all. Continue reading...
by Damian Carrington Environment editor on (#6BRF9)
Changes needed are major but also practical and affordable, report says, and would bring trillions of dollars in benefitsGlobal plastic pollution could be slashed by 80% by 2040, according to a report from the UN Environment Programme (Unep). The changes needed are major, but are also practical and affordable, the agency said.The first step is to eliminate unnecessary plastics, such as excessive packaging, the report said. Then next steps are to increase the reuse of plastics, such as refillable bottles, boosting recycling and replace plastics with greener alternatives. Continue reading...
by Richard Sprenger, Kyri Evangelou Alex Healey and T on (#6BRFA)
Poland has a deep and historic relationship with coal, importing huge amounts despite producing yet more locally. With the energy crisis biting, fuelled by the war in Ukraine, the country’s government withdrew restrictions on burning materials and subsidised coal, creating huge air quality issues, particularly in the industrial south – reversing 10 years of hard work by air pollution campaigners in the process.The Guardian visits southern Poland to witness first hand the impact of this decision on affected communities, meeting the ostracised miners at the front of the culture wars, and joining climate activists visiting towns in the region that are fighting back against fossil fuels and air pollution Continue reading...
A slew of anti-pollution, from toxic water to planet-heating emissions has been issued by an agency belatedly flexing its musclesThe sleeping giant of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has stirred.In the past month, an avalanche of anti-pollution rules, targeting everything from toxic drinking water to planet-heating gases in the atmosphere, have been issued by the agency. Belatedly, the sizable weight of the US federal government is being thrown at longstanding environmental crises, including the climate emergency. Continue reading...
by Kaveh Waddell from Consumer Reports, Aliya Uteuova on (#6BREC)
Residents hope traffic, emissions and noise data they are analyzing with the Guardian will help rein in the spread of e-commerce facilitiesOn a drizzly Friday night, Rosana Zapata was mapping out a changing neighborhood.Using Sharpie and pencil, the 18-year-old sketched her world on printer paper: a street intersection, a small parking lot, a lit-up sign for fried chicken. “I have a lot of memories there,” Zapata told a small group of young artists seated at school desks, who had each drawn their own favorite neighborhood spots. Continue reading...
Invasive Burmese pythons are devastating wildlife but one firm believes turning snake leather into accessories could be a win-winThe fight to eradicate Burmese pythons from the Florida Everglades has intertwined with New York’s haute fashion scene in a project launched by a group of environmental activists who have already experienced success working with the skins of other invasive species.The Tampa-based team, founded by a group of former college friends with a passion for scuba diving, cut their teeth transforming the skins of non-native lionfish off the US south-east coast and Caribbean Sea into high-end sneakers in partnership with the Italian shoemaker P448. Continue reading...
These beautiful black and white images of the shallowest Great Lake remind us of what we have done to the environment – and each other Continue reading...
Rejection of key legislation on pesticides and restoration of wildlife ‘would send a dangerous, negative signal to the world’A flagship law to restore nature across Europe must be agreed by member states or risk sending “a dangerous, negative signal to the world”, the EU’s environment commissioner has warned, amid growing opposition to the legislation.Last June, the European Commission revealed proposals for legally binding targets for all member states to restore wildlife on land, rivers and the sea. The nature restoration law was announced alongside a separate law proposing a crackdown on chemical pesticides, and both were welcomed as a milestone by environmentalists ahead of the Cop15 biodiversity summit in Montreal. Continue reading...
The harvesting of the luxury wood contributes to deforestation and profits from its sale support the country’s military regimeThousands of tons of timber from Myanmar have continued to be imported into the US, despite government sanctions against the country’s state-run timber company, a new report from a watchdog environmental advocacy group has revealed.According to the UK-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), over 3,000 tons of timber from Myanmar have been imported into the US over the lpst two years. Continue reading...
Watchdog’s chief writes to energy bosses as Grid sets out plan to cut waits by up to a decadeThe energy watchdog for Great Britainwill label the decade-long wait to connect low-carbon projects to the electricity grid as “unacceptable”, amid tensions over a “blame game” for a mounting backlog of green power projects.Jonathan Brearley, the chief executive of Ofgem, has written to energy bosses to warn that the current system, whereby energy projects queue for their connection, could be replaced by new methods to match power generation with demand. Continue reading...
Temperatures pushed past 90F (32C) with forecasters warning they would remain 20-30 degrees higher than average this weekA punishing heatwave will continue to cook the Pacific north-west this week, after millions of people endured a weekend of temperatures that pushed past 90F (32C) and broke early spring records in several cities.The hot, dry weather is fuelling dozens of wildfires across western Canada, where thousands have been evacuated and more than a million acres have already burned. Continue reading...
Use of pesticides and fertilisers identified as most significant factor behind loss of 550 million birds from skiesThe use of pesticides and fertilisers in intensive agriculture is the biggest cause of the dwindling number of birds in the UK and the rest of Europe, scientists have said.Compared with a generation ago, 550 million fewer birds fly over the continent, with their decline well documented. But until now the relative importance of various pressures on bird populations was not known. Continue reading...
Sighting of rare animal – more often found in Spain, Portugal and France – in rock pool believed to be first in UKVicky Barlow was hoping to find a spider crab when she began poking around a rock pool on a beach in Falmouth.But when she turned over a promising-looking stone, she was astonished to find something much rarer and much more colourful – a rainbow sea slug. Continue reading...
by Robert Booth Social affairs correspondent on (#6BR2S)
South Cambridgeshire council will test 32-hour week on principle that staff will work ‘more intensely and productively’Bin crews could soon be putting their feet up on a Monday as the wave of four-day-week trials spreading across the UK finally reaches frontline public services.South Cambridgeshire district council has agreed to test a 32-hour working week for 150 refuse loaders and drivers this summer after successful experiments with reduced working hours with office- and laptop-based staff. Workers who investigate fly-tipping, undertake dredging and are council caretakers will also try the new working pattern. Continue reading...
Fertilised, it can hold things shaped as differently as: a snake, an auk, a platypus; an emu, a tortoise, a peacockThings I have learned reading about eggs: that chickens have earlobes, and the colour of the earlobes correlates with the colour of the egg: white ear lobe, white egg; red ear lobe, brown egg. What can lay an egg? An orange-peel doris can lay an egg in a tidal pool; a bee hummingbird can lay an egg the size of an aspirin; an auk on a cliff lays a conical egg, which will roll around in a circle instead of forwards and off the edge; a spider wraps her egg in silk, places it on a stalk, then lays another.To Linda Pastan, an egg was “a moon / glowing faintly / in the galaxy of the barn”. Approach it, and Louise Glück will tell you: “The thing is hatching. Look.” One egg looks – apart from its size, the sharpness of its point, or its colour – much like another: they are all pleasing in the same way, hard-shelled and soft-shaped. “An egg is the most beautiful of all / beautiful forms, a box without corners / in which anything can be contained,” wrote Elizabeth Spires. This one structure, variations on round, can hold things shaped as differently as: a snake, an auk, a platypus; an emu, a tortoise, a peacock. Continue reading...
by Patrick Greenfield, Jillian Ambrose and Ellen Orme on (#6BR2D)
Exclusive: Advertising watchdog to begin stricter enforcement on use of terms such as ‘carbon neutral’ amid concerns over offsetsAdverts that claim products are carbon neutral using offsets are to be banned by the UK’s advertising watchdog unless companies can prove they really work, the Guardian can reveal, as Gucci becomes the latest company to struggle with a high-profile environmental commitment based on offsetting.Amid growing concern that firms are misleading consumers about the environmental impact of their products, the Advertising Standards Authority’s (ASA) is to begin stricter enforcement around the use of terms such as “carbon neutral”, “net zero” and “nature positive” as part of a greenwashing crackdown later this year after a six-month review. Continue reading...
Minor tremors on Bornholm caused by acoustic pressure waves originated from ‘unknown source’, seismologists sayA series of minor tremors recorded on the Danish Baltic island of Bornholm has puzzled scientists, who now say they were caused by “acoustic pressure waves from an unknown source”.At first the tremors on Saturday were thought to have been caused by earthquakes. Then, seismologists theorised they originated from controlled explosions in Poland, more than 90 miles (140km) to the south. Continue reading...
Social Democrats emerge on top in projected results from Sunday’s pollThe German Green party has endured another disappointing election night in the country’s smallest state, Bremen, as voters voice concerns about the social consequences of green transformation projects.The northern city state’s incumbent Social Democratic party mayor, Andreas Bovenschulte, emerged top in projected results from Sunday’s poll published by the local statistics office, with about 29.5% of the vote. This gives the centre-left the option to either continue governing with the Greens and the left-wing Die Linke, or form a “grand coalition” with the second-placed conservatives. Continue reading...
by Nicholas Lee and Jodie Woodcock for MetDesk on (#6BQYC)
Refugee camps bear brunt of deadly category-5 storm, while temperature divide is expected in North AmericaCyclone Mocha brought strong winds and torrential rain to parts of Bangladesh and Myanmar on Sunday, with refugee camps bearing the brunt of the category-5 storm, leaving at least five dead and causing half a million people to be evacuated.The region was rocked by sustained winds of more than 160mph as Mocha made landfall, whipping up gusts closer to 200mph and a storm surge of up to 4 metres. The world’s largest refugee camp, Cox’s Bazar, was badly hit and more than 1,300 shelters were destroyed. Heavy rain triggered landslides and floods. Continue reading...
In ‘a major breakthrough’, scientists are using algorithms to identify the clicks, calls and bleeps of marine life, as part of a 10-year project mapping noise under the seaOn Goa’s coral reef in India, the marine scientists lowered their underwater microphones beneath the waves and recorded a complex cacophony of swirling currents, fish and plantlife.But rather than spend months deciphering it using human ears, arguing over which click was a snapping shrimp and which snort a type of grunter fish, they plugged the sounds into an algorithm that correctly identified four species in a matter of minutes. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Sunak urged to take urgent action to solve food crisis at meeting with Defra and farmersImmigration and food prices must increase to solve the food crisis, ministers are to say at a summit.Rishi Sunak will be joined by ministers from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) as well as farmers and industry leaders at the meeting at No 10 on Tuesday. Continue reading...