Environment | The Guardian

Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah opens claim against environment, health and transport departments in pursuit of right to clean air'The mother of a nine-year-old girl who became the first person in the UK to have air pollution cited on their death certificate has launched a high court claim against the government.Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah is suing three government departments for compensation for personal injury arising from the illness and premature death of her daughter Ella. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department for Transport and the Department of Health and Social Care have all been named as defendants in the claim. Continue reading...

New report shows babies born in notorious industrial corridor experience low birth weight at three times the national averageNewborns living in the worst-polluted areas of Louisiana, including an 85-mile industrial corridor known as Cancer Alley", experience low birth weights at more than three times the national average, according to data cited in a report released Thursday. The rate of preterm births there is also twice the national average, researchers found.In parts of Louisiana near fossil fuel and petrochemical plants, low birth weight rates reached 27% and preterm births rates 25%, according to research from Tulane University that was published in a Human Rights Watch report on Thursday. The full paper linking pollution and reproductive health is currently under peer review for publication in the journal Environmental Research: Health. Continue reading...

Outrage across Denmark as 2m tonnes of garbage' moves towards Olst resident's homes and a riverPeople in a Danish village are living in fear of their homes being overrun by a landslide of contaminated soil in one of the worst environmental disasters in the country's history.The landslide is slowly moving towards Olst, a village of 400 inhabitants south of Randers in Jutland, after the soil started moving at a nearby plant, run by Nordic Waste, where it has already demolished buildings. Continue reading...

Lobbying group spent nearly $30m on ads touting the clean energy' potential of propane - and downplaying its full climate impacts

Large companies are claiming intellectual property over new seed varieties, inhibiting small-scale breeders and diversityFor nearly 40 years, Frank Morton has been breeding plants. Particularly drawn to lettuce, he began breeding specialty salad greens, once a rarity in the produce market. Using an organic farm system, 68-year-old Morton developed entirely novel lettuce varieties and eventually started the Philomath, Oregon-based Wild Garden Seed company with his wife, Karen.Though he loves the work, being a small-scale plant breeder doesn't come without challenges. Over the years, Morton has watched large corporations take over the seed industry, using utility patents to claim seeds as an invention. Continue reading...

Research finds 14 different types of PFAS chemicals commonly used in ski wax on slopes in Austrian ski resortsSkiers are leaving forever chemicals" in the snow on ski slopes, a study has found.Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) - a group of 10,000 or so human-made chemicals widely used in industrial processes, firefighting foams and consumer products - are colloquially known as forever chemicals" due to their persistence in the environment; they do not easily break down. Continue reading...

The Hklea's oceanic voyages, navigated by the stars, have led other Indigenous people to revive their own ancient traditions - and serve as a call to action on the climateA double-hulled Polynesian sailing canoe glides up to a busy dock in San Diego, California. Hklea's two short wooden masts are dwarfed by the historic schooner that escorted the boat into the harbour. Dozens of small outrigger canoes trail in its wake, honouring the crew's arrival.Once the docklines are secure, Hklea's 13 crew members put on ceremonial leis - floral garlands - and request permission from the local Indigenous tribe to come ashore. In response, 30 members of the Kumeyaay Nation sing and dance to welcome them to their native lands. Hundreds of onlookers snap photos before joining the festivities at a nearby park. Continue reading...

Everyone told me there is no water on top of this Brazilian mountain, there won't be any frogs. Now I've dedicated my life to preserving this incredible speciesI remember the park rangers saying: Why are you going up there? There is no water on the top, and you're not going to find any frogs." I said: Well I'm going to check it out."The Espinhaco mountain range in the east of Brazil is a very special place, and it's mostly unknown. My house looks on to the mountain in Pico do Itambe state park, so I have my breakfast looking at it each morning. You're surrounded by thunderstorms and strong winds, and the humidity is high. I waited for heavy rains and went to climb to the top. Continue reading...

Fast-growing monocultures are less able to withstand extreme weather events than varied woodlands, researchers findAs 90mph winds whip across the UK and Europe this week, new research shows forests containing diverse tree species are more likely to stay standing than monocultures when hit by extreme weather.Forests with two or three tree species are on average 35% more resilient to storms than forests with only one species, simulations created by researchers found. The type of trees also matters - forestry plantations are typically made up of fast-growing tall trees such as conifers, but they are more vulnerable to high winds than slower-growing hardwood species such as oak. Continue reading...

Emperor penguins are the largest but least prevalent Antarctic penguin species, with scientists estimating a total population of about 600,000Four new emperor penguin colonies have been discovered in Antarctica after their guano was spotted from space, giving what a leading scientist believes is a near-full picture of the species' population as it comes under threat due to disappearing sea ice.A peer-reviewed study last year found a record drop in the amount of floating sea ice in the Bellingshausen Sea in late 2022 could have caused a catastrophic breeding failure" that killed thousands of emperor penguin chicks across four breeding colonies. Continue reading...

Calcasieu Pass 2, positioned near the rapidly eroding Louisiana shoreline, would be the biggest such export terminal in the USThe Biden administration will reportedly pause a decision on approving what would be one of the world's largest gas export hubs, amid concern from climate experts that greenlighting the project would create a carbon mega bomb".The project, Calcasieu Pass 2, or CP2, would be positioned near the rapidly eroding Louisiana shoreline and be the biggest such export terminal in the US and part of a huge expansion of new gas infrastructure along the Gulf of Mexico. Continue reading...

US Fish and Wildlife Service completes review of petitions and finds 10 new species that may be added to Endangered Species ActFederal wildlife officials announced on Wednesday they will consider adding 10 new species to the Endangered Species Act, including a big bumblebee that serves as an important pollinator across the United States.US Fish and Wildlife Service officials said they had completed 90-day reviews of petitions to add the species to the list and determined that listing may be warranted. The finding triggers reviews of the species' status. Continue reading...

Environment secretary, Steve Barclay, tells firms he will toughen regulatory approach but gives no timescaleThe environment secretary has told water companies in England that they will no longer be able to monitor and report on pollution from their own treatment works.Steve Barclay told the privatised industry he would put an end to operator self-monitoring in a toughening of the regulatory approach. Continue reading...

Extreme weather threatens world's biggest carbon store as the rainforest is already close to tipping pointThe climate crisis turned the drought that struck the Amazon rainforest in 2023 into a devastating event, a study has found.The drought was the worst recorded in many places and hit the maximum exceptional" level on the scientific scale. Without planet-warming emissions from the burning of oil, gas and coal, the drought would have been far less extreme, the analysis found. Continue reading...

Terms such as green', sustainable' and environmentally friendly' understood only by minority, says studyThe British public has a worryingly low understanding of language around the climate crisis and environmental policies to reduce waste, according to the findings of a survey.Only a quarter of people questioned clearly understood the term green" and about the same number could accurately describe what sustainable" - making something in a way that causes little or no damage to the environment - meant. Continue reading...

Victoria and NSW set records for the wholesale electricity prices at zero or negative levels

Increasingly fearless predators found to be serious threat to safety in national parksDutch authorities can shoot deviant" wolves that could pose a danger to the public with paintball guns, a court has ruled, as debate rages in Europe over protecting the animals.After a lengthy legal battle, the court in Utrecht, central Netherlands, decided on Wednesday that the behaviour of some of the wolves in a national park was a serious threat to public safety". Continue reading...

Spending watchdog calls for biomass subsidy scheme to have tougher environmental requirements

Hazardous material found in mulch at railway substations in Dulwich Hill, Canterbury and Campsie and alongside Prospect Highway, authorities say

Experts say world is past peak fossil power' but warn against uneven development of energy projectsNuclear power generation is likely to break records in 2025 as more countries invest in reactors to fuel the shift to a low-carbon global economy, while renewable energy is likely to overtake coal as a power source early next year, data has shown.China, India, Korea and Europe are likely to have new reactors come on stream, while several in Japan are also forecast to return to generation, and French output should increase, according to a report on the state of global electricity markets published by the International Energy Agency (IEA) on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Torrential rain swept through a large part of the US on Monday, days after a cold spellA furious rainstorm unleashed record levels of rain on communities across San Diego county on Monday, inundating homes and overturning cars. Hundreds of people had to be rescued from flooded areas as the San Diego River surged over its banks, fueled by downpours that left the city grappling with the fourth wettest day in history.States of emergencies have been declared across the county by local officials, and hundreds of unhoused people were displaced when water rushed into homeless shelters. Residents described harrowing escapes from Alpha Project's Bridge Shelter that was quickly overtaken by waist-deep water, which had also previously flooded in 2018, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. Continue reading...

Decision helps clear path for Formosa Plastics to build US's largest petrochemical complex of its timeA Louisiana appellate court has upheld air permits for a giant proposed petrochemical complex in a region known as Cancer Alley, enraging local advocates.The decision, issued on Friday, will help clear a path for Formosa Plastics to build the nation's largest petrochemical complex of its kind. The project has long faced staunch opposition from local and national environmental justice groups. Continue reading...

Scientists say billions of lives' under threat as symbolic clock stays at closest point to midnight since it was established in 1947The Doomsday Clock, a symbolic countdown to human extinction, has stayed at 90 seconds to midnight, the closest it had been since it was established in 1947, a panel of international scientists has said.The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists cited the continuing threat of a nuclear escalation in Ukraine, the horrors of modern war" in Israel and Gaza and the lack of action on the climate crisis, which threatens billions of lives". Continue reading...

Thames Water struggled to rebuild pressure to homes after an incident at Pangbourne treatment worksHouseholds across Reading, the UK's biggest town, have been without water for three days after water mains burst in the cold weather.An incident at the Pangbourne water treatment works meant that water pressure dropped across the town on Saturday. Thames Water, which has its headquarters in Reading, said that subsequent pipe bursts then made it impossible to increase water pressure to homes, meaning some people have been without water for days. Emergency bottled water stations have been set up in the affected areas. On Monday, some schools and offices were forced to close as the low water pressure meant it was unsafe to stay open. Continue reading...

Exclusive: consultancy firm supported oil and gas industry lobbying while being paid for independent advice on Albanese's signature climate policy

As UN expert says UK's actions are chilling and regressive, we look at some of the cases

UN special rapporteur on environmental defenders says he is seriously concerned about regressive new laws'A severe crackdown on environmental protest in Britain with draconian" new laws, excessive restrictions on courtroom evidence and the use of civil injunctions is having a chilling impact on fundamental freedoms, the United Nations special rapporteur has said.As the world faces a triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, environmental protesters were acting for the benefit of us all" and must be protected, Michel Forst, the UN special rapporteur on environmental defenders, said on Tuesday. Continue reading...

The Bureau of Land Management proposed using 22m acres of public land for solar projects - roughly the size of Maine, or an area larger than ScotlandIf the US is to rid itself of fossil fuels then one of its primary replacements, solar energy, is going to need land. A lot of land.The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which oversees more of the public realm than any other federal government agency, has outlined exactly how much of western America should be made available for solar panels and their associated cables and transformers - 22m acres. That is roughly the size of Maine, or an area larger than Scotland. Continue reading...

Pinyon Plain's start comes amid US's push to boost production, but tribes fear contamination of water and cultural sitesA uranium mine in Arizona located just 7 miles south of the Grand Canyon national park has begun operations, one of the first in the US to open in eight years.The opening of the Pinyon Plain mine comes as the US seeks to boost domestic production of the mineral needed for nuclear energy and accelerate divesting from fossil fuels. Continue reading...

Cookstove projects are one of the fastest-growing carbon offset schemes but research finds carbon benefits are vastly overstatedClean cookstove projects, one of the most popular types of carbon-offset schemes, are probably overstating their beneficial impact on the climate by an average of 1,000%, according to a new study.Every year, an estimated 3.2 million people die prematurely from household air pollution caused by cooking with smoky fuels such as wood, paraffin or kerosene, which produce about 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions.Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield on X for all the latest news and features Continue reading...

Labour says appointment of David Frost shows wacky' climate views no longer confined to Tory party fringes

It's easy to forget about single-use cups the moment they leave our hands, but their slow decomposition can release microplastics and pollutantsNo matter how good your office's coffee is, if you're like millions of others, you're probably popping out to a cafe at least once a week to treat yourself to a cup brewed by somebody else. Whether that's a latte from Starbucks, a cold brew from Dunkin' or a chai from the mom-and-pop shop around the corner, it's probably coming served in a disposable cup - made out of paper, plastic or polystyrene foam (which many people refer to by the brand name Styrofoam), that you can toss in the sidewalk trash on your walk back to the office. It's easy to forget about those single-use cups as soon as they leave our hands, but that's not to say their environmental impacts stop there too.Fortunately, more and more people are starting to pack a reusable insulated cup or mug alongside their water bottle - and more coffee shops are offering to pour beverages into the cups customers bring from home. This month, Starbucks announced that it was going full BYOC: bring your own cup. Although the company has allowed customers to bring their own cup for in-person orders since the 1980s, its move expanding BYOC to drive-through and app orders signaled companies' and customers' growing wariness of single-use, disposable coffee cups. Continue reading...

Florida officials hail rare native wildlife success story and people have more chance of being killed by a golf ball than a coyoteFrom dwindling numbers of manatees, to Everglades critters decimated by invasive Burmese pythons, Florida has become more familiar in recent years with losing its native wildlife than gaining it.But a surge in the number of coyote sightings around the state is raising eyebrows, and in some places concern, as the species known as barking dogs spreads further into the state. Continue reading...

They don't chew: they bite, the meat goes straight into their stomach, and they bite againImagine a bulldog flattened with a meat tenderiser, shaved and sprinkled with glitter. Imagine more, and everywhere, or else: when I was a child, as sure as all cartoon sand would turn into quicksand, in every fictional body of fresh water swam very real fish with very real, sharp, tiny little teeth.In The Simpsons, Millhouse is more worried about piranhas than that his mother will stop loving him. Bart is reduced to a skeleton by piranhas from a hosepipe. Continue reading...

Advocates predict activists and local governments will look to the courts to bring about accountability for climate damageAmid record domestic oil and gas production in the US and broken promises from fossil fuel companies, climate champions are increasingly looking to the courts to bring about accountability for climate damage.More than two dozen local and state governments are challenging oil companies on these grounds, while youth plaintiffs have seven pending lawsuits targeting state and federal lawmakers. Continue reading...

Motion by Follow This called on energy firm to accelerate attempts to cut greenhouse gas emissionsThe US oil company ExxonMobil has filed a lawsuit to block a vote on a climate resolution brought by a green activist, in move that will be watched closely by fossil fuel companies worldwide.The company hopes to stop investors voting on a motion put forward by Follow This, a Dutch green activist investor group, which called for Exxon to accelerate its attempts to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Continue reading...

Jonathan Reynolds calls for version of US Inflation Reduction Act amid row over future of Labour policy

Wild freshwater eels are at risk of extinction due to overfishing but their meat can now be cultivated from cellsThe first lab-grown freshwater eel meat has been produced, potentially solving a diner's dilemma. Rampant overfishing has caused eel populations to plummet and prices to soar, but the cultivated eel could provide the delicacy guilt-free.The eel meat was produced by Forsea Foods in Israel from embryonic cells of a freshwater eel. The company collaborated with a Japanese chef to create unagi kabayaki, marinated grilled eel over rice, and unagi nigiri, a type of sushi.This article was corrected on 22 January 2024. A previous version said the eel meat was produced from embryonic cells of the Japanese unagi eel: in fact they were from a freshwater eel. Continue reading...

Anna McMorrin says Labour absolutely determined' on net zero after visiting Antarctica and finding report by her father, a polar researcherWhen Anna McMorrin MP visited the Antarctic as part of a government inquiry, she stumbled upon a report in the Rothera Research Station library that her father, a polar researcher, had written in 1962.It described the Larsen ice shelf, a beautiful stretch of thousands of miles of thick, white, crystalline snow - which has now almost completely melted away. Continue reading...

Deal aimed at keeping energy bills affordable will see 260 petajoules supplied to gas-fired power stations in Australia's south-east coast until 2033

Exclusive: Prof Matt King says accelerated melting could transform country and affect viability of some agricultural industries

Australian Conservation Foundation says 144 animals, plants and ecological communities included in the list last year, double the previous record

Events in more than 30 cities mark Day of the Forest Defender', recognizing enduring impact of Manuel Paez TeranAt a gathering Thursday, the mother of an activist killed by police had a clear message on the first anniversary of their death: I have news for you. Manuel is alive. Tortuguita vive!"It was a message of celebration for the life of Manuel Paez Teran, also known as Tortuguita", that was being made in Atlanta and more than 30 cities across the US, a sign of the slain activist's enduring impact on several movements, observers said. Continue reading...

NSW authorities are working to determine how long the pest has been in the area and how they arrived

Reef, which extends for 310 miles from Florida to South Carolina and at some points is 68 miles wide, called breathtaking in scale'Scientists have mapped the largest known deep-sea coral reef, stretching hundreds of miles off the US Atlantic coast.While researchers have known since the 1960s that coral is present off the Atlantic, the reef's size remained a mystery until new underwater mapping technology made it possible to construct 3D images of the ocean floor. Continue reading...

Sources say no decisions taken but Keir Starmer could abandon plan if it is deemed damaging to election chancesSenior Labour officials are to hold crunch meetings on the future of the party's pledge to spend 28bn a year on green investment, amid reports Keir Starmer is preparing to ditch the entire plan.Party sources said on Friday that officials would meet in the coming days to discuss the green prosperity plan, which would see a Labour government spend 28bn on environmental schemes each year by the second half of the next parliament. Continue reading...

Shoes are notoriously hard to recycle and the vast majority are sent to landfill. Can a new design help reduce the environmental impact of our footwear?The shoes may not immediately strike you as the future of mainstream fashion. Pale and porous, they resemble a cross between a beige Croc and the long-net stinkhorn fungus found on forest floors. Their creators, however, hope this will be the next huge breakthrough in sustainable footwear: the world's first 3D printed, made-to-measure, compostable shoe, which can be broken down at the end of its life, in an attempt to stem the flow of millions of shoes into landfill each year.Fashion is among the world's top polluting industries. It is responsible for about 10% of global carbon emissions and consumes huge amounts of water and land for production. Modern shoes are among the hardest items to produce sustainably because of their complexity, say industry experts, and there are few reliable statistics about the number manufactured every year for the world's 8 billion humans. There is an almost total dearth of statistics about their environmental impact. Continue reading...

Panel was originally composed of 28 men, a move condemned as regressive' and shocking'The president of Azerbaijan has added 12 women to the previously all-male organising committee for the Cop29 global climate summit, which the country will host in December.The move follows a backlash after the Guardian reported the initial 28-man composition of the committee, which was called regressive" by the She Changes Climate campaign group. Climate change affects the whole world, not half of it," the group said. Continue reading...

The four inhabitants of Morillo de Sampietro, an abandoned village in the Pyrenees, live a simple lifeThe tiny hamlet of Morillo de Sampietro stands high above a steep, wooded valley in the Spanish Pyrenees. Below is the glint of the Rio Yesa, beyond are the snow-capped peaks of Monte Perdido.In 1860 Morillo had 76 inhabitants; by 1995 only two remained. Now there are four. Continue reading...

G77 president Pedro Pedroso warns deal risks failing if polluters like UK, US and Canada don't rethink plans to expand oil and gasThe credibility of the Cop28 agreement to transition away" from fossil fuels rides on the world's biggest historical polluters like the US, UK and Canada rethinking current plans to expand oil and gas production, according to the climate negotiator representing 135 developing countries.In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, Pedro Pedroso, the outgoing president of the G77 plus China bloc of developing countries, warned that the landmark deal made at last year's climate talks in Dubai risked failing. Continue reading...