Environment | The Guardian

Jeff Goodell, author of The Heat Will Kill You First, found engine of planetary chaos' in travels from Antarctica to CaliforniaRacism is at the heart of the American government's failure to tackle the growing threat of deadly heatwaves, according to the author of an authoritative new book on the heating planet.Jeff Goodell, an award winning climate journalist, told the Guardian that people of color - including millions of migrant workers who are bearing the brunt of record-breaking temperatures as farmhands, builders and delivery workers - are not guaranteed lifesaving measures like water and shade breaks because they are considered expendable. Continue reading...

Human-caused climate disruption and El Nino push temperature in mountains to 37CExceptional winter heat in the Andean mountains of South America has surged to 37C, prompting local scientists to warn the worst may be yet to come as human-caused climate disruption and El Nino cause havoc across the region.The heatwave in the central Chilean Andes is melting the snow below 3,000 metres (9,840ft), which will have knock-on effects for people living in downstream valleys who depend on meltwater during the spring and summer. Continue reading...

Lowering pollution produced by houses, offices and factories is just as crucial as tackling vehicle emissionsImposing strict controls on car exhausts will only partially improve the quality of air people breathe in the UK, scientists have said. New measures to counter emissions of nitrogen oxides and other air pollutants will also be needed for buildings, heating plants and many other domestic and industrial sources in future.The warning follows the controversy that has surrounded London's ultra low emission zone (Ulez) in which drivers are charged for their vehicles' polluting impact. This month the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, will expand the zone from inner London so it covers all boroughs in the city. The decision has provoked opposition from some drivers and was blamed by various Labour party figures for the Conservatives surprise byelection win in Uxbridge and South Ruislip last month. Continue reading...

Athletes competing on stretch of UK coastline where reduced water quality at centre of dispute over sewage dischargesAt least 57 people fell ill with sickness and diarrhoea after competing in sea swimming events at the World Triathlon Championship Series in Sunderland, health officials confirmed this weekend.About 2,000 people participated in the events last weekend, which included a swim off Sunderland's blue flag Roker beach. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said it would be testing samples from those who were ill to establish the cause of the illness and any common pathogens. Continue reading...

Hotter summers are making it increasingly difficult to keep cool in what are basically like little ovens' as staff battle discomfortAs tortillas warm on the grill at Los Pookies - an Albuquerque, New Mexico-based food truck best known for its birria tacos - a swamp cooler blasts cool air and extractor fans try their best to suck the heat out of the metal trailer.But when temperatures in New Mexico hit the 100s in early July, owner Luis Dominguez says, the fans didn't feel like enough: so he completely removed the food truck's front window. Unlike air conditioning, swamp coolers, which use fans and water to create chilly air, actually perform better with increased circulation. Dominguez hoped taking out the window and opening the trailer's back door would let in more fresh air and improve ventilation for his staff. Continue reading...

Industry figures warn climate crisis goals cannot be met unless government pumps more money into renewablesBritain faces being left with no hope of meeting its crucial climate crisis goals and losing its status as a world leader in offshore wind energy without an urgent overhaul of government support, ministers are being warned.The sudden halting of one of the country's biggest offshore windfarm projects last month could signal a tipping point" in the construction of new sites unless ministers intervene, a number of senior energy industry figures told the Observer. Continue reading...

Plans to construct accommodation for students near wildlife oasis have sparked a row between conservationists and the collegeDusk is falling over Paradise nature reserve on the banks of the river Cam. Half a dozen bats burst out from their hiding places in the rare wet woodland, dipping and diving merrily through the darkening evening sky.With impeccable timing, a punt full of tourists on a bat safari" glides into view. The tiny 2.2 hectare reserve protects the river corridor between Cambridge city centre and Grantchester Meadows and boasts eight species of bat, including the rare and endangered barbastelle, along with voles, herons, kingfishers and otters. Renowned locally for its muddy paths past canopies of mature willow and alder trees, rich marshland and unique riparian habitats, it has been popular with Cambridge students, college dons and the town's nature-lovers for centuries. Continue reading...

Bureau of Meterology says most of the country is likely to be warmer than average, but El Nino pattern is hard to predict with certainty

Jody Freeman was a board member at the fossil fuel firm for over 10 years and received more than $350,000 a year in salary and stocksJody Freeman, a renowned environmental lawyer at Harvard University, has stepped down from a highly-paid role at the oil and gas giant ConocoPhillips, following months of public scrutiny and pressure from climate activists.I've stepped off the ConocoPhillips board to focus on my research at Harvard and make space for some new opportunities," she wrote on her website on Thursday. Continue reading...

Organisers of Stranraer oyster festival say shell of every eaten mollusc will be returned to bed in Loch RyanOrganisers of next month's Stranraer oyster festival have promised to recycle the shell of every mollusc consumed at the three-day event to help grow the last remaining wild, native oyster bed in Scotland.With about 12,000 oysters consumed last year, the circular collection scheme will ensure that this year's shells are returned to the protected bed on the shores of Loch Ryan, a few miles north of Stranraer. This reduces waste from the festival and also creates valuable shell habitat for young oysters. The native variety, Ostrea edulis, has been almost wiped out in UK waters by overfishing and seabed trawling. Continue reading...

Outdoor adventurers return to national park after ruling in appeal that restored right to wild campOutdoor adventurers have laced up their hiking boots and headed back on to Dartmoor to celebrate the restoration of the right to wild camp in the only national park in England where such a freedom exists.Adrian Partridge was among those spending a night under the stars to commemorate the court ruling on Monday. Partridge, 63, camped on Dartmoor on Thursday night with his son Oli, 22, who suggested the trip after the judgment. Continue reading...

Chevron component approved even though it could cause cancer in virtually every person exposed over a lifetime

City leaders say UK capital's scheme to improve air quality is inspiring and explain their own measuresMayors from cities around the globe have urged Sadiq Khan to stay strong in the face of harsh criticism of his clean air policies.The Conservative party narrowly held the constituency of Uxbridge in a recent byelection, with its victory attributed partly to opposition to the London mayor's upcoming extension of the capital's ultra-low emissions zone (Ulez). A culture war over the role of cars in cities has erupted which has included arch comments from Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, who suggested his party was doing something very wrong". Continue reading...

Climate activist pulls out of event, saying sponsor Baillie Gifford invests heavily in fossil fuel industryThe climate activist Greta Thunberg has pulled out of an appearance at the Edinburgh book festival, accusing its lead sponsor of greenwashing".Thunberg was scheduled to speak at the 3,000-seat Playhouse theatre to discuss her appeal for climate action, It's Not Too Late to Change the World, as part of a series of climate positive" events at this year's festival. Continue reading...

Average daily surface temperature of 20.96C breaks 2016 record, with experts saying warmest month for oceans to comeThe surface temperature of the world's oceans has hit its highest ever level as climate breakdown from burning fossil fuels causes the oceans to heat.Global average daily sea surface temperatures (SST) hit 20.96C this week, breaking the record of 20.95C reached in 2016, according to the Copernicus climate modelling service. Continue reading...

Move comes as campaigners call for wider access to land after court of appeal ruling on Dartmoor case says activity is lawful

Noaa and marine rescue groups work together in effort to preserve Florida's reefs as rising water temperatures cause concernA race is under way in Florida to rescue corals that are being bleached at alarming rates as a result of this summer's historic heatwaves and rising water temperatures.In recent months, marine rescue organizations and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) have partnered to save coral and preserve Florida's reefs amid record-high ocean temperatures and an earlier-than-usual mass bleaching event. Continue reading...

Energy networks commissioner calls for action to ease backlog of renewables projectsHomeowners in Britain should be paid generous" compensation if they agree to have power lines built nearby in order to help speed the transmission of electricity from new generation projects, a government-commissioned report has urged.The document from the government's first energy networks commissioner, Nick Winser, calls for new power linesto be built twice as fast to ease the decade-long backlog of renewable energy projects waiting to connect to the grid. Continue reading...

The best of this week's wildlife photographs, including wildfires, kangaroos and a bear in a jacuzzi Continue reading...

Transparency would help MPs weigh up predicted wars, water shortages and supply chain collapses against every new coal and gas approval'

Families worry about where their children will go during the summer as crumbling playgrounds are left in disrepair

West African country is enduring hard times - and critics say plan to import liquefied natural gas will only make things worseJohn Gakpo has milled corn to make kenkey - a cornmeal dumpling and Ghana's staple food - in a dimly lit wooden shack in a suburb of the capital, Accra, for 15 years.In the past, his earnings have been sufficient to provide for his family - but not any more. Continue reading...

Exclusive: hundreds of consultants, GPs and others write to Keir Starmer and Sadiq Khan over Labour's position on UlezHundreds of doctors have urged politicians to stand firm on initiatives to tackle air pollution, warning that they see its devastating health consequences" in patients on a daily basis.Air pollution is the single largest environmental risk to public health, linked to between 28,000 and 36,000 UK deaths a year. The estimated cost to the NHS and social care of air pollutants is estimated to be 1.6bn between 2017 and 2025.

Defence plan to build housing at Lee Point/Binybara put on hold after calls for habitat of Gouldian finches and black-footed tree rat to be protected

New analysis of Environment Agency data by Lib Dems shows more than 100 systems are faultyAn increasing number of sewage monitors in England's swimming spots are broken, new analysis has shown, meaning unknown quantities of raw sewage may be present in bathing waters.New analysis of 2022 Environment Agency data by the Liberal Democrats has shown that more than 100 sewage monitors in bathing waters were faulty. This is an increase on 2021, when 88 of the monitors were broken. Continue reading...

Capital's mayor moves to reduce political fallout over scheme's extension after Tory byelection win in UxbridgeSadiq Khan has expanded the grant scheme for London's ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) to cover any household with a heavily polluting car or motorbike, spending an extra 50m after intense pressure over the political fallout of the plan.The revised proposals, announced on Thursday, also notably increase the scrappage payments available for non-compliant vans owned by sole traders and small firms, as well as for minibuses and wheelchair-accessible vehicles. Continue reading...

Cactuses are commonly assumed to be made to endure scorching heat, but even they have their limits, as has been shown recentlyAfter recording the warmest monthly average temperature for any American city ever in July, Phoenix climbed back up to dangerously high temperatures on Wednesday. That could mean trouble not just for people but for some of the region's plants, too.Residents across the sprawling metro are finding the extended extreme heat has led to fried flora. Nurseries and landscapers are inundated with requests for help with saguaros or fruit trees that are losing leaves. Continue reading...

Heavy rain has hit China after Typhoon Doksuri, which has caused flooding that has destroyed roads, uprooted trees and knocked out power. Torrential rain in areas around Beijing has killed at least 20 people and left 27 missing. Thousands of people were evacuated to shelters in schools and other public buildings in suburban Beijing and in the nearby cities of Tianjin and Zhuozhou

Black fabric draped on Yorkshire home in response to PM's pledge to max out' UK oil and gas reserves

Energy firm SSE hopes first turbines at Dogger Bank windfarm off Yorkshire coast will be installed by weekendWork to install the first wind turbines for the world's largest offshore windfarm off the coast of north-east England has begun as the government tries to shore up confidence in Britain's green economy.The energy company SSE expects to install the first of the turbines, which stand at almost twice the height of the London Eye, about 80 miles off the coast by the weekend. Continue reading...

UN appeals for another country to step in for biodiversity summit - due to take place in 2024 - as Ankara cites force majeure' for moveTurkey has withdrawn from hosting the United Nations' Cop16 biodiversity summit in 2024, citing three large earthquakes in February that devastated parts of the country.The nature summit, which will be the first since governments agreed this decade's biodiversity targets at Cop15 in Montreal last December, had been scheduled to take place in Turkey in October next year to discuss progress on the agreement. Continue reading...

3M, DuPont, Chemours and Corteva have agreed settlement in the billions for polluting drinking water with forever chemicals'When the chemical giant 3M agreed in early June to pay up to $12.5bn to settle a lawsuit over PFAS contamination in water systems across the nation, it was hailed by attorneys as the largest drinking water settlement in American history", and viewed as a significant win for the public in the battle against toxic forever chemicals".A second June settlement with the PFAS manufacturers DuPont, Chemours and Corteva tallied a hefty $1.1bn. But while the sums are impressive on their face, they represent just a fraction of the estimated $400bn some estimate will be needed to clean and protect the nation's drinking water. Orange county, California, alone put the cost of cleaning its system at $1bn. Continue reading...

By 2026, a rewetted peatland site in Greater Manchester will be harvesting bulrushes in a trial that aims to boost UK biodiversity, cut carbon emissions and provide eco-friendly stuffing for clothesThe humble bulrush does not look like the next big thing in fashion. Growing in marshes and peatland, its brown sausage-shaped heads and fluffy seeds are a common sight across the UK. Yet a project near Salford in north-west England is aiming to help transform the plant into an environmentally friendly alternative to the goosedown and synthetic fibres that line jackets, boosting the climate and the productivity of rewetted peatland in the process.BioPuff, a new plant-based material manufactured by the startup Saltyco using reedmace - better known as bulrush - has a similar structure to feathers, providing warm, lightweight and water-resistant insulation, according to the firm. Continue reading...

Greenpeace protesters climbed on to the roof of the prime minister's mansion in North Yorkshire and draped it in oil-black fabric to 'drive home the dangerous consequences of a new drilling frenzy'. The climbers managed to get on top of Sunak's constituency home in Kirby Sigston as the PM flew to California on holiday. After reaching the top of the building using ladders and climbing ropes, they unfolded 200 sq metres of fabric to cover one side of the property. Last week, Sunak pledged to 'max out' the UK's oil and gas reserves as he announced 100 new licences for North Sea drilling, which experts say could be catastrophic for the climate

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At least 400 attendees require treatment for heat-related symptoms on first day of the World Scout Jamboree in South Korea. The event, which started earlier this week, has drawn 43,000 young Scouts from 158 countries this year

Group chaired by former chief scientist Ian Chubb writes to Tanya Plibersek, saying business as usual' on the reef is not an option

Sightings rise to 170,000 so far this year as climate breakdown changes behaviour of speciesRed admiral butterflies are enjoying a 400% boom in British gardens this year, data reveals, as the migrant insect favours the warmer climes brought by climate breakdown.Butterfly Conservation has reported 170,000 sightings of the majestic red and black insect so far this year in its annual Big Butterfly Count. Continue reading...

Dr Ian Wright, who advises the NSW EPA, says failure of licence conditions to explicitly state discharge limits for heavy metals in air pollution is inadequate

The independent member for Kooyong Monique Ryan has accused the federal government of encouraging more gas projects by introducing legislation that would allow carbon dioxide to be pumped into international waters. 'The bill will be a key enabler of gas expansion, granting social licence for new and highly polluting greenwashed fossil fuel projects,' she says. The government says the bill is intended to bring Australia's laws into line with changes to an international treaty on the prevention of marine pollution, known as the London Protocol

Temperature records only go back to the 19th century, but they tell a very clear story: it's getting hotter - and we're causing it

The York fire has burned pinyon pines, junipers and the region's famous Joshua trees, which are particularly vulnerable to wildfiresThe hundreds of firefighters battling California's largest wildfire this year in the Mojave national preserve have to work strategically to avoid disrupting a fragile ecosystem.The York fire, which erupted last Friday, has burned through more than 125 sq miles (323.7 sq km) across the California desert toward the Nevada border. Continue reading...

Chiefs say UK's troubled economy and political uncertainty is dampening enthusiasm for clean energy rolloutThe bosses behind Britain's multibillion-pound clean energy rollout have warned the government that the UK's difficult economic circumstances and political uncertainty have taken a toll on investor confidence.About 20 industry bosses representing companies from across the sector attended a summit at No 10 to discuss their plans to invest more than 100bn in the UK economy. Continue reading...

The south-western Japanese islands of Okinawa were hit by Typhoon Khanun on Wednesday, grounding flights and forcing local authorities to issue evacuation orders across the area. Khanun is the third typhoon to hit the east Asia region in recent weeks, following Talim and Doksuri, and registered wind speeds above 110mph, according to Japan's meteorological agency. A third of homes in Okinawa are believed to have had their power cut off because of the storm Continue reading...

Covid-19 restrictions ushered in worldwide avian enthusiasm, with potential wellbeing benefitsInterest in wild bird feeding surged over the pandemic, a study has found.Researchers used data from Google Trends to assess the weekly frequency of searches for terms including bird feeder", bird food" and bird bath" from January 2019 to May 2020. After two weeks of lockdown, there was a dramatic increase in bird-related searches. Continue reading...

Marina Silva welcomes progress but says climate crisis means upcoming regional summit needs to produce real actionDeforestation in the Brazilian Amazon fell by at least 60% in July compared to the same month last year, the environment minister, Marina Silva, has told the Guardian.The good news comes ahead of a regional summit that aims to prevent South America's largest biome from hitting a calamitous tipping point. Continue reading...

Extreme weather comes as China's foreign ministry denies reports that it obstructed discussions on climate crisis at G20 meetingsChina's government awarded martyr status to a firefighter who died as he tried to rescue people trapped by heavy flooding that has pummelled Beijing and surrounding areas in the heaviest rain in at least 140 years.Feng Zhen, a firefighter in Beijing's Haidian district, was washed away by flood waters as he tried to rescue three people from a school building on Monday. The people escaped the area safely, but after receiving medical treatment Feng died a heroic death", according to state media. Continue reading...

Rising ocean temperatures caused by climate crisis are also said to be causing China's extreme weatherSummers in China are often wet, sometimes very wet, but nothing like the drenching that has engulfed Beijing and its neighbouring provinces this week.As Beijing authorities lifted the flood alert on Wednesday morning, after the city's heaviest rainfall for 140 years, 21 people across the region were confirmed dead. Dozens more were missing. Continue reading...

Kyriakos Mitsotakis acknowledges inconvenience for visitors' after 20,000 people were evacuatedTourists whose holidays on the Greek island of Rhodes were cut short due to intense wildfires are being offered a one-week free stay next year, the Greek prime minister said.Holidaymakers and local people were forced to flee homes and hotels as the fires burned for days in July, with about 20,000 tourists rescued from danger in the largest evacuation ever undertaken by the country. Continue reading...

Bloomberg alleges Drax idled an electricity generating unit and resold its biomass pellets rather than return money to bill payers