Environment | The Guardian

Researchers found that the Victorians brought so many seeds and saplings to Britain that experts say the giant redwoods now outnumber those in their US homelandThree giant redwoods tower over Wakehurst's Elizabethan mansion like skyscrapers. Yet at 40 metres (131ft) high, these are almost saplings - not even 150 years old and already almost twice as high as Cleopatra's Needle.At the moment they're some of the tallest trees in the UK and they are starting to poke above the forest canopy. But if they grow to their full potential, they're going to be three times taller than most trees," says Dr Phil Wilkes, part of the research team at Wakehurst, in West Sussex, an outpost of Kew Gardens. One or two of these California imports would be curiosities, such as the 100-metre high redwood that was stripped of its bark in 1854 and exhibited to Victorian crowds at the Crystal Palace in south-east London, until it was destroyed by fire in 1866. Continue reading...

GPs with convictions over protests face tribunals to determine whether they can keep licence to practiseDr Sarah Benn has long been concerned about the climate crisis, diligently recycling until she was blue in the face". But the rise of the climate activist group Extinction Rebellion in 2019 inspired her and her husband to go further. We thought: well, if we don't do it then who else is going to?"While working as a GP near Birmingham, Benn became increasingly involved in direct action over the next few years, and once glued her hand to the door of the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy in protest at the government's inaction on the climate. Continue reading...

Fipronil is banned for use on crops in the EU, China, Vietnam and California

Certification awarded for 2.5m acres offering pristine views of night sky, with hopes for expansion to 11m acresWith clear skies and sparse trees, the Oregon outback has long been regarded as a stargazers' paradise. Now the region is home to the world's largest dark sky sanctuary, offering pristine views of the night sky across 2.5m acres.The Oregon outback international dark sky sanctuary received the certification this week, becoming the largest of 19 sites around the world with the same designation. The sanctuary covers Lake county in south-eastern Oregon, a remote area roughly half the size of New Jersey, and could eventually expand to include more than 11m acres. Continue reading...

Researchers from Mississippi State University say aggressive ocean predator appears to benefit from climate emergencyNumbers of bull sharks, one of the largest and most aggressive ocean-dwelling predators, are thriving even as rising sea temperatures kill off other marine species, a study says.Researchers at Mississippi State University (MSU) found that the number of individual sharks, all juveniles, recorded per hour in Mobile Bay was five times higher in 2020 than at the start of the study period in 2003. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Department for Transport has already cut funding but now seeks to block councils' ability to fine driversThe Department for Transport (DfT) is set to intensify its battle with local councils over low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) and other active travel measures, with imminent new guidance seeking to limit their use.However, a promised plan to try to force local authorities into abandoning the schemes by cutting them off from the central database needed to issue fines for infractions is understood to be legally complicated and not yet ready to proceed. Continue reading...

Party calls for firm to be wound up as it seeks shareholder bailout, higher bills and lower finesThames Water should be put into special administration by the government and reformed as a public benefit company, the Liberal Democrats have said.Sarah Olney, the Lib Dems' Treasury spokesperson, has called in a parliamentary debate for the biggest privatised English water company to be wound up under legislation that has recently been updated by ministers. Continue reading...

Legal experts say directors could face personal claims for failing to consider how businesses affect natureCompany directors in the UK could be held personally liable for failing to properly account for nature and climate-related risks, according to a group of lawyers.A legal opinion published this week found that board directors had duties to consider how their business affected and depended on nature. These included climate-related risks as well as wider risks to biodiversity, soils and water. Continue reading...

Discovery was made after First Nations tipped off ecologists about groups of fish gathering in a fjord off British ColumbiaDeep in the hostile waters off Canada's west coast, in a narrow channel surrounded by fjords, lies a coral reef that scientists believe shouldn't exist". The reef is the northernmost ever discovered in the Pacific Ocean and offers researchers a new glimpse into the resilience - and unpredictability - of the deep-sea ecosystems.For generations, members of the Kitasoo Xai'xais and Heiltsuk First Nations, two communities off the Central Coast region of British Columbia, had noticed large groups of rockfish congregating in a fjord system. Continue reading...

Research raises more questions over safety of material that health advocates say is made with dangerous levels of forever chemicals'Athletes who play on artificial turf are likely to be coated with higher levels of toxic PFAS forever chemicals" than before playing on the field, new research suggests, raising more questions about the controversial material's safety.All artificial turf is made with what public health advocates say is dangerous levels of PFAS. When the highly mobile chemicals break off from plastic grass blades, they can be absorbed through the skin, inhaled, ingested or get in open wounds. Continue reading...

Former James Bond actor, 70, who pleaded guilty to walking off trail at national park, says he made an impulsive mistake'Actor Pierce Brosnan has said he deeply regrets walking off trail in Yellowstone national park in the western US after he was fined by a court in Wyoming for getting too close to one of the delicate thermal areasBrosnan, 70, pleaded guilty to foot travel in a thermal area and was fined $500 and required to pay a $1,000 community service payment to the Yellowstone Forever Geological Fund, the US attorney's office, district of Wyoming, said on Thursday. Continue reading...

Right to Roam finds areas of outstanding natural beauty have on average poorer footpath access than rest of EnglandEngland's most stunning national landscapes" are largely out of bounds, and 22 of the 34 have less than 10% of their area open to the public, research has found.The government last year renamed areas of outstanding natural beauty to national landscapes, and said part of their aim was to widen access to nature. Ministers said at the time the new name reflected a recognition that they are not just beautiful but important for many reasons including improving wellbeing. Continue reading...

The best of this week's wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...

Carbon schemes are touted as a way to transfer billions in climate finance to the developing world - but people at the Kariba project in Zimbabwe say most of the profits never arriveIn the districts surrounding Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe, most people have little idea their villages were at the centre of a multimillion-dollar carbon boom. Punctuated by straw-thatched mud houses, the Miombo woodlands on the edge of the enormous artificial lake are mostly home to smallholder farmers. The gravel roads are full of potholes; cars are infrequent, as are medical facilities and internet connections. Data on the region is patchy, but Hurungwe district, that covers a number of the villages has an average poverty rate of 88%.These communities fall within the vast, lucrative Kariba conservation project, encompassing an area almost the size of Puerto Rico. It is among the largest in a portfolio of forest offsetting schemes approved by Verra, the world's largest certifier. Since 2011, this project alone has generated revenue of more than 100m (85m) from selling carbon credits equivalent to Kenya's 2022 national emissions to western companies, according to now-deleted figures published by the project developer. Proponents say these schemes are a quick way of transferring billions of dollars of climate and biodiversity finance to the developing world through company net zero pledges. Continue reading...

The winners of the annual British Wildlife Photography awards have been announced, with the winner - an image of invasive goose barnacles hitching a lift across the ocean on a discarded football - chosen from more than 14,000 submissions Continue reading...

Party to call for measures to stop companies prioritising profit over environment at spring conferenceWater companies in England and Wales have almost doubled their profits since 2019.During this parliament, which started in 2019, pre-tax profits at water companies have climbed by 82%, according to a Liberal Democrat analysis of Companies House data. Continue reading...

Study of global heating finds snowfall in Victoria and New South Wales could decline much faster than in other alpine areas around the world

Measure is part of package aimed at limiting pollution associated with cheap, imported clothesFrance's lower house of parliament has backed a string of measures to make low-cost fast fashion, especially items from Chinese mass producers, less attractive to buyers.Thursday's vote makes France the first country in the world legislating to limit the excesses of ultra fast fashion", said Christophe Bechu, minister for the ecological transition. The measures still require a vote in the Senate. Continue reading...

Mechanism is vital to boost the only viable option' to decarbonise emissions from heating homes, says green charityThe government has delayed by a year its scheme for spurring the take-up of heat pumps, under pressure from the gas boiler industry.The clean heat market mechanism is intended to force heating installers to fit more low-carbon heat pumps, to meet the UK's net zero greenhouse gas emissions target and save energy. Continue reading...

Number of heat-related deaths in Phoenix, Arizona was more than 50% higher than 2022, which officials say can be prevented'Public health officials in Arizona's most populous county on Wednesday reported they confirmed a staggering 645 heat-associated deaths last year - more than 50% higher than 2022 and another consecutive annual record in arid metro Phoenix.The numbers in the preliminary report by the Maricopa county department of public health alarmed officials in America's hottest big metro, raising concerns about how to better protect vulnerable groups such as homeless people and older adults from the blistering summer heat. Continue reading...

Fancy a plate of fangers and mash? Some researchers say python farms on a commercial scale could provide sustainable alternative protein

Sunak now wants all the badgers dead,' says ecological consultant Tom LangtonThe government has U-turned on its plans to phase out the badger cull, with proposals to exterminate the vast majority of some local populations across much of south-west and central England.Ministers plan to introduce controversial targeted culling, also known as epidemiological culling" or epi-culling", whereby populations of badgers can be reduced to almost zero in some areas where cattle are deemed to be at high risk of contracting bovine TB (bTB). Continue reading...

Impact on ecosystems must be predicted before technology is used, US atmospheric science agency chief saysScientists must work urgently on predicting the effects of climate geoengineering, the chief of the US atmospheric science agency has said, as the technology is likely to be needed, at least in part.Richard Spinrad, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), said the government-backed body was estimating the effects of some of the likely techniques for geoengineering, including those involving the oceans. Continue reading...

EVs represent about 1% of light vehicles in Australia - but Electric Vehicle Council warns there is more work to be done' to reach 2050 emissions targets

City's first pocket forest, aimed at increasing biodiversity, will spring up in April on 2,700 sq ft of Manhattan's Roosevelt IslandA tiny forest filled with more than 1,000 native plants will spring up in New York City come April on a 2,700 sq ft plot of land on the southern tip of Manhattan's Roosevelt Island.It will be the city's first pocket forest, and supporters say it will bring both the beauty of increased biodiversity and tangible benefits to residents navigating increasingly extreme weather. Continue reading...

Analysis of secretive renewable energy contracts finds the harmful outcomes generally outweigh the limited gains'Agreements between Sami reindeer herders and commercial developers in Sweden are having an overall detrimental impact on such Indigenous communities, research has found.According to the analysis, the first of its kind into such agreements, renewable energy companies - promoted as part of the Nordic country's green transition" - are among the worst offenders. Continue reading...

Defra says contract with Australian firm CTM is for staff accommodation and travel, but offers no further detailThe company that manages the Bibby Stockholm barge used to house asylum seekers has been granted a 100m contract with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.It is the latest large government contract given to the Australian company Corporate Travel Management (CTM). The government was heavily criticised by the National Audit Office for its 385m contract with CTM to manage quarantine hotels during the pandemic, which cost the taxpayer 400m including 100m in unpaid room bills and fraud. Continue reading...

Analysis shows how jets and tanks are being kept fueled despite interim ICJ ruling warning Israel to prevent genocidal actsIsraeli jets and tanks bombarding Palestinians are being fueled by some of the world's most profitable fossil fuel companies - and US tax-payers, according to research.Israel relies on crude oil and refined products from overseas to run its large fleet of fighter jets, tanks and other military vehicles. Continue reading...

Energy company now says it aims for 15-20% reduction by 2030, rather than previous target of 20%The energy company Shell has watered down a key climate target as it prepares to defy climate experts by growing its liquified natural gas business and holding its oil production steady until 2030.The company signalled that it may slow the pace of its emissions reductions for this decade by setting a new plan to reduce the carbon emissions intensity of the energy it sells by 15-20% by the end of the decade, compared with its previous target of 20%. Continue reading...

Independent senator shares Tiwi Islanders' concern over changes they argue would allow companies to ignore' their views

Exclusive: The H5N1 virus reached the region late last year and is killing wildlife, with witnesses spotting numerous seal corpses on South Georgia islandThe grave of the explorer Ernest Shackleton on South Georgia island has become inaccessible to visitors due to bodies of dead seals blocking the way", as increasing numbers of animals are killed by bird flu's spread through the Antarctic.The H5N1 virus has spread to 10 species of birds and mammals since it arrived in the region last October, with five king penguins and five gentoo penguins the latest to test positive on the sub-Antarctic islands. Those confirmations follow reports of mass die-offs of elephant seals at the end of last year. Continue reading...

Property owners dumped 15,000 tons of sand in a Massachusetts town to fend off dangerous tides, but it was swept away in 72 hoursA sand dune that cost homeowners on a Massachusetts beach more than half a million dollars to construct has washed away after just three days.An affluent group of beachfront property owners in Salisbury, Massachusetts - a coastal town 35 miles north of Boston - are mourning the loss of their investment after a safety measure they took to protect their homes failed. Continue reading...

Green MP Caroline Lucas says call for investment in gas-fired power plants is election ploy that will jeopardise UK's net zero targetGreen MP Caroline Lucas has accused the government of stoking a culture war on climate issues by calling for more investment in new gas-fired power plants before a general election.Lucas used an urgent question in the House of Commons to challenge the energy minister, Graham Stuart, on the plans set out on Wednesday, which could see a string of new plants built in the coming years despite the government's commitment to phase out fossil fuels. Continue reading...

Planned overhaul of Environment Protection Authority's powers to be biggest since it began in 1991, government says

Leaks of heat-trapping methane - about 3% of gas produced in US - cost $9.3bn yearly in climate damage, but the problem is fixableUS oil and natural gas wells, pipelines and compressors are spewing three times the amount of the potent heat-trapping gas methane as the government has determined, causing $9.3bn in yearly climate damage, a new comprehensive study calculates.But because more than half of these methane emissions are coming from a tiny number of oil and gas sites, 1% or less, this means the problem is both worse than the government has determined but also fairly fixable, said the lead author of a study in the journal Nature. Continue reading...

Negligence, physical and verbal abuse are common in unregulated industry. Now labor groups and government officials are trying to crack downLabor groups and government officials are pushing to rein in rampant abuses of workers in the fishing industry, where migrant laborers are frequently subjected to slavery and violence from employers.One out of every five fish is caught through illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in conditions where abuses of workers are common, according to a United Nations estimate. About 128,000 workers are thought to be currently trapped in forced labor on remote fishing vessels around the world, according to the International Labour Organization. Continue reading...

Richmond Wildlife Center posts video demonstrating how they are preventing the female baby fox from imprinting on humansA Virginia wildlife center has figured out how to prevent abandoned newborn animals - specifically foxes - from imprinting on humans, doing so by wearing a giant fox mask while feeding the babies.At a first glance, a video of the development looks like just another uncanny clip found on the internet. A person wearing a fox mask with beady eyes and a moveable mouth towers over a palm-sized, squirming creature, what looks like a newborn kitten, while feeding it with a teat-like tube. Continue reading...

Coalition's claim of cheap power and quickly built reactors is at odds with real world experience of other countries

Thousands of farmers have been persuaded by TREES scheme to replace barren monocultures with biodiverse forest gardensIn a world of monoculture cash crops, an innovative African project is persuading farmers to plant biodiverse forest gardens that feed the family, protect the soil and expand tree cover.Could Trees for the Future (TREES) be a rare example of a mass reforestation campaign that actually works? The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) certainly thinks so and last month awarded it the status of World Restoration Flagship. Continue reading...

But 98% of Europeans live in areas WHO says have unhealthy levels of PM2.5Air pollution levels have improved in Europe over the past 20 years, research has found.However, despite these improvements, most of the European population lives in areas exceeding the World Health Organization's recommended levels. About 98% of Europeans live in areas the WHO says have unhealthy levels of small particles known as PM2.5, 80% for larger ones known as PM10, and 86% for nitrogen dioxide.See how polluted your part of Europe is Continue reading...

Analysis finds 58 people have died due to cold homes every winter day since 2013 Tory pledge to cut the green crap'The government's failure to insulate the UK's cold and leaky homes is costing thousands of lives a year, according to analysis.The report from Greenpeace reveals 58 people have died due to cold homes every day on average during the winter since David Cameron's Conservative government decided to cut the green crap" in 2013 - drastically slashing support for home insulation. Continue reading...

Ocean temperatures are off the charts', say experts who blame the tide of hot weather on global heating

Soon it will head back north to the demilitarised zone between North and South Korea where it can breed undisturbedI opened the windows to the hide and was greeted by a mass of birds. Hundreds of cormorants, gulls, herons, egrets, ducks and waders, all feeding frantically as the rising tide covered up the fertile mud. Overhead, black kites patrolled half-heartedly, occasionally provoking the other birds to take to the wing in short-lived panic, before settling back down to feed or rest.I witnessed this spectacle at the World Wide Fund for Nature's Mai Po nature reserve in Hong Kong, justly celebrated as one of the most important wetlands in the world. Either side of high tide, birds gather here in vast numbers against the backdrop of Shenzhen, one of the fastest-growing cities in the world, just across the border in mainland China. Continue reading...

Government has no credible plan for effects of extreme weather, says Committee on Climate ChangeThe UK's plans for adapting to the effects of the climate crisis fall far short" of what is required, the government's statutory adviser has said.The Climate Change Committee (CCC) has examined the national adaptation programme published by ministers last July, intended to set out how people, buildings and vital national infrastructure such as water, transport, energy and telecommunications networks could be protected from the increasing severity of storms, floods, heatwaves and droughts that are afflicting the UK as a result of global heating. Continue reading...

Playing sounds fromhealthy coral reefs at degraded ones encourages coral larvae to settle, a study has found.Scientists recorded audio from thriving reefs and then played it back at reefs in decline. Their work suggests that coral larvae respond to soundsin the ocean to work out where best to settle and grow Continue reading...

Record Western Australian rainfall has closed the Eyre Highway that links Perth to the eastern states and flooded outback stations, including Australia's largest operating sheep station Rawlinna. Parts of WA experienced more than half a year's rain in 24 hours over the weekend, with more than 155mm of rain recorded at Rawlinna

The sewage treatment works at Horley seem to be crumbling, much like owner Thames Water itself

Exclusive: Sarah Olney to press in parliament for details of scheme being drawn up in event of supplier's collapse

Thunberg and other activists dragged away from doorway they were obstructing in climate protestSwedish police have forcibly removed Greta Thunberg and other climate activists after they blocked the entrance to the Swedish parliament for a second day.Two officers lifted Thunberg and dragged her away before putting her down on the ground about 20 metres away from the door she had been obstructing. Continue reading...

Swedish police have forcibly removed Greta Thunberg and other climate activists after they blocked the entrance to the Swedish parliament for a second day. Two officers lifted Thunberg and dragged her away before putting her down on the ground about 20 metres away from the door she had been obstructing. Thunberg and dozens of other environmental campaigners started blocking the main entrances to Sweden's parliament on Monday in a sit-down protest against the effects of the climate crisis and what they said was political inaction