Environment | The Guardian

Review of research finds particularly clear evidence that LEZs in cities reduce heart and circulatory problemsAn increasing number of research studies are showing that low emission zones (LEZs) improve health.More than 320 zones are operating across the UK, Europe and notably in Tokyo, Japan. These reduce air pollution across an area by curbing the number of highly polluting vehicles, normally older diesels. Schemes, including London's ultra-low emission zone, can improve air quality. This should lead to improved health, but does this actually happen? Continue reading...

The colossal flood defence has been in use since 1982 - but as sea levels rise, it will need upgrading much sooner than expectedThe last time the Thames broke its banks and flooded central London was on 7 January 1928, when a storm sent record water levels up the tidal river, from Greenwich and Woolwich in the east as far as Hammersmith in the west. Built on flood plains, the capital was defended only by embankments. The flood waters burst over them into Whitehall and Westminster, and rushed through crowded slums. Fourteen died and thousands were left homeless.After another catastrophic North Sea storm surge in 1953 caused floods along the east coast of England that were even more deadly - killing 307 people, including 59 at Canvey Island on the Thames estuary - discussion began about how to protect London. Continue reading...

Firm refuses to say when it will publish annual report; pressure builds on regulator OfwatThames Water has refused to say when it will publish its annual report and accounts, which had been expected by investors next week, as concerns mount over the company's financial viability.The risk of delay will add to the turmoil engulfing England's 11 privatised water companies, after a day in which board directors, ministers and regulators scrambled to restore calm as discussions continued over a potential temporary nationalisation of Thames Water.The Environment Agency (EA) announced it was sending specialist investigators into water companies across England to secure evidence in the biggest criminal investigation into illegal sewage dumping since privatisation.The experienced City troubleshooter Sir Adrian Montague was parachuted in to take over as chairman of Thames, a role he will take up on 10 July.The prime minister's spokesperson said it was for Ofwat in the first instance" to monitor the financial resilience of water companies, adding to pressure on the regulator. Continue reading...

Climate change has made high temperatures more common in the country, which has already surpassed peak energy demand of 2022

Greens and environmentalists say legislation introduced to parliament by Tanya Plibersek could facilitate new fossil fuel projects

Backlash against proposal has united communities, campaigners and parts of fishing industry

Exclusive: Other summer hotspots such as Devon and Cornwall also likely to face problems, leaked minutes showCumbria and the Lake District are likely to be plunged into drought, minutes from the government's National Drought Group reveal, with reservoir levels in the regions having dropped significantly.Other popular summer holiday destinations including Devon and Cornwall are also likely to be hit by water supply problems, the group heard, and holidaymakers may be be told to curb their use. Continue reading...

Lesions found on 99% of southern resident orcas studied on Pacific north-west coastScientists studying an endangered population of orcas resident off the Pacific north-west coast of Canada and the US have recorded a strong increase" in skin lesions on the animals' bodies, which they believe is owing to the decreasing ability of their immune systems to deal with disease.The lesions appear on the whales as grey patches or targets, or black pin points. Some resemble tattooed skin. Their presence on the animals' graphically black and white bodies is increasing dramatically", according to Dr Joseph K Gaydos of the SeaDoc Society at the school of veterinary medicine at the University of California, lead author of the scientific paper. Continue reading...

Campaigner says firm should be brought under public control using powers in original privatisation legislationCrisis-ridden Thames Water must not receive a penny of public money in a bailout as it faces rising costs on 14bn of debt, the water campaigner Feargal Sharkey has said.Sharkey, who has been crucial in raising public consciousness about the way privatised water companies are run, said he did not believe anyone in the UK would support using taxpayers' money to prop up the company. Continue reading...

Rosebank expected to be approved despite government climate advisers saying it is utterly unacceptable'

Photographs showing the 12-tonne pile of tangled snares and metal traps reveal ongoing battle against poachersOver the past 10 years, we've removed about 47 tonnes of snares and bear traps," says Michael Keigwin, the founder of Uganda Conservation Foundation (UCF), a charity that works with the country's wildlife authorities.Speaking from the Ugandan capital, Kampala, Keigwin is referring to a set of photographs showing a 12-tonne pile of tangled snares and metal traps. The images, showing Ugandan government rangers posing with the traps, illustrate an African success story and a world of pain, say those who helped create it. Continue reading...

Seabed fees lift annual profit to 443m amid talks over what proportion of windfall should be shared with King Charles

Peabody yet to restore park after finishing construction work in 2020, leaving children with no green spaceFamilies in south London are demanding that an award-winning developer reopens a park that was boarded up in 2018 for the construction of new homes.Hatcham Gardens sits in a densely built part of Lewisham next to a school and surrounded by flats. Peabody was given permission by Lewisham council to close the park temporarily for use during construction.This article was corrected on 29 June 2023. The original piece said that the park was boarded up in 2016; in fact it was boarded up in 2018. Continue reading...

As waves and storms erode the Okun Alfa shoreline, the locals fight on - and hope a Yoruba deity can help where politicians have failedThis beach used to be full of life," says Henry Franc, the owner of Space Tavern, as he walks along Alpha Beach in Lagos on a rainy morning, indicating dozens of collapsed homes and shops. All these stores belonged to people." He gestures to a ruined structure - the entirety of the second half of the building is destroyed but you can still see the roof and what were once the window panes sticking out of the sand. That was a church."When Franc, 33, first set up the simple wooden beach hut that is Space Tavern five years ago, the shore was a good distance away. Today, Space Tavern is just a few feet from the lapping waves. Soon his tavern might be gone, too. Continue reading...

Beijing bolstering position as global renewables leader with solar capacity more than rest of world combinedChina is shoring up its position as the world leader in renewable power and potentially outpacing its own ambitious energy targets, a report has found.China is set to double its capacity and produce 1,200 gigawatts of energy through wind and solar power by 2025, reaching its 2030 goal five years ahead of time, according to the report by Global Energy Monitor, a San Francisco-based NGO that tracks operating utility-scale wind and solar farms as well as future projects in the country. Continue reading...

Detroit extends air quality alert through Thursday while evacuation orders in effect in Arizona as crews fight Diamond firePresident Joe Biden arrived in Chicago earlier this morning, touching down at O'Hare International Airport under hazy skies caused by smoke from Canadian wildfires.Biden is expected to deliver a major speech at 1pm EST in Chicago.Concentrations of smoke will likely be high throughout the day in western Pennsylvania and increasing throughout the day in eastern Pennsylvania. Continue reading...

The bill, to be signed by the California governor, requires drawing up a conservation plan and creates a fund to protect the speciesCalifornia lawmakers have voted to permanently protect the iconic western joshua tree, delivering a hard-won victory for environmentalists who have warned that the climate crisis has imperilled these fixtures of the high desert.The Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act was passed Tuesday, as part of the state's budget agreement. It prohibits the unpermitted killing or removal of the trees, requires the development of a conservation plan and creates a fund to protect the species. It appears to be the first California legislation focused on protecting a climate-threatened species. Continue reading...

There were shouts of Shame on you!' at the meeting in St Ives, as critics say decision is disastrous' for farmersA plan to turn moorland in the far south-west of England into a heavily protected nature conservation area has been approved despite warnings that it will wreck farming in the region.There were calls of Shame on you!" and Resign!" as members of the Natural England board voted to designate 59 blocks of land in Penwith Moors in Cornwall as a site of special scientific interest (SSSI), arguing that this will preserve precious flora and fauna. Continue reading...

Study finds extreme rainfall at higher elevations increases by 8.3% for every degree Fahrenheit world warmsA warming world is transforming some major snowfalls over mountains into extreme rain, worsening both dangerous flooding like the type that devastated Pakistan last year as well as long-term water shortages, a new study has found.Using rain and snow measurements since 1950 and computer simulations for future climate, scientists calculated that for every degree Fahrenheit the world warms, extreme rainfall at higher elevation increases by 8.3% (15% for every degree Celsius), according to a study in Wednesday's journal Nature. Continue reading...

Charity Trees for Streets says dry weather has put pressure on saplings, which need about 50 litres a weekAs young street trees struggle and wilt in the summer heat, people are being urged to step into action with their watering cans to help.Hundreds of people are already looking after their local trees as part of the Watering Wednesday campaign launched by Trees for Streets, and some residents have set up rotas and allocated particular saplings to specific families. Continue reading...

Increase of 1C in average annual temperature connected to more than 6% rise in physical and sexual domestic violenceAs deadly heatwaves sweep through cities in India, China, the US and Europe amid the climate crisis, new research has found that rising temperatures are associated with a substantial rise in domestic violence against women.A study published in JAMA Psychiatry on Wednesday found a 1C increase in average annual temperature was connected to a rise of more than 6.3% in incidents of physical and sexual domestic violence across three south Asian countries. Continue reading...

The unprecedented outbreak has scientists concerned as record number of animals turn up lifeless on beachesOn a recent morning on Leadbetter state beach in Santa Barbara, a California Sea Lion puppy, weighing about 30 or 40lbs, lay dead in the sand.It's the latest victim in what scientists and rescue organizations have described as an unprecedented event along the California coastline. Continue reading...

Campaigners condemn pollution and shortages as government and regulator discuss possible bailoutThames Water customers have called for an urgent inquiry into the company's finances after children became seriously unwell from swimming in the river and homes were left without water during a drought.Campaigners have expressed astonishment that the company may be bailed out by the taxpayer after it failed to invest appropriately in infrastructure to stop sewage spills and leaks. Continue reading...

The half-moon hairstreak butterfly is among the endangered species fighting the heat and smoke of a record wildfire seasonIn late August 2017, a bolt of lightning struck Kenow Mountain in eastern British Columbia. In less than two weeks, the smouldering that ensued had transformed into a large forest fire, tearing through the rugged landscape and quickly spreading into Waterton Lakes national park.The blaze consumed 19,303 hectares (48,000 acres) and while many of the park's animals fled the flames and smoke, the endangered half-moon hairstreak butterflies could not. A large portion of the diminutive grassland species was lost after nearly half its habitat was destroyed, putting immense pressure on an already threatened population. Continue reading...

Frank and Monica Woll bought two beautiful islands in the Florida Keys only to see storms and rising waters wash much of it away. Then they got seriousWhen Frank and Monica Woll bought two tiny islands in the Florida Keys in 2016 for their semi-retirement, they considered themselves privileged caretakers rather than owners. The day they arrived on Molasses Keys, twin islands encircled by the turquoise-blue waters of the Florida Straits, a dolphin swam beside their boat. Already resident were scores of pelicans, cormorants, egrets, herons and numerous other species of birds in a plethora of mangrove trees.Then came the hurricanes: Irma in 2017, and Ian last year. Today the trees, and the birds, are mostly gone. The storms, combined with rising sea levels, have stripped about one-fifth of the islands' land mass.Frank and Monica Woll sit on a branch that used to be over firm ground Continue reading...

Plans drawn up to pay for cost of dealing with sewage crisis and climate emergency

State has managed to avoid rolling blackouts amid three-digit temperatures thanks to its supply of solar power, experts sayAs a deadly, record-breaking heatwave puts Texas's grid to the test, renewable power sources are helping the state maintain energy reliability, contrary to some of the state's lawmakers claims that clean energy is less reliable.Texas has for more than two weeks been blanketed by an oppressive heat dome, and federal forecasters say there is no end in sight". The sweltering temperatures have forced people to stay in their homes with their air conditioners cranked, causing energy demand to soar to record levels. Continue reading...

Brazilian government warning comes as UN report says that flourishing organized crime groups are driving a boom in environmental devastationThe Brazilian government's drug policy chief has admitted that the rapid advance of drug factions into the Amazon rainforest has produced a a very difficult situation" in the region, as a UN report warned that flourishing organized crime groups were driving a boom in environmental devastation.Marta Machado, the national secretary for drug affairs, said the previous administration's intentional dismantling of Brazil's environmental and Indigenous protection agencies had created a dangerous vacuum in the Amazon which had been occupied by powerful crime syndicates from Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. Continue reading...

UK government and Ofwat holding discussions amid fears firm cannot survive because of huge debt pile

Report by RSPB, ELF and Friends of the Earth say even cases with good prospects of success are being abandonedProhibitively high costs are pricing individuals and community groups out of bringing legal challenges in England and Wales to protect the environment, major NGOs say.A joint report by the RSPB, the Environmental Law Foundation (ELF) and Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland, says cases raising concerns about loss of green space, wildlife habitat and the climate crisis have been abandoned because of fears about costs, even when they have good prospects of success. It suggests the number of environmental judicial review applications may have halved in a decade. Continue reading...

Drugmaker's $4oom offsetting scheme aims to combat climate change and biodiversity loss caused by deforestationThe boss of Britain's biggest drugmaker, Pascal Soriot, has warned that the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss are damaging the planet and human health, as it announced a $400m (310m) plan to plant 200m trees by 2030.The offsetting scheme is one of the biggest tree-planting programmes globally. In 2020, AstraZeneca pledged to plant and maintain more than 50m trees by the end of 2025, with 10.5m trees of 300 different species planted so far across Australia (in collaboration with Aboriginal people), Indonesia, Ghana, the UK, the US and France. Continue reading...

UK urged to use trade deals as bargaining tool to protect marine mammalsDolphins and other marine mammals are being failed by the UK government, MPs have said, as they call for ministers not to sign trade deals without considering cetacean welfare.The UK has poorer protections for dolphins, whales and seals than other countries, a report by the environment, food and rural affairs (Efra) committee has found. Continue reading...

Campaigns made misleading claims about charging times and rapid-charging points in UK and Ireland, ASA saysThe UK advertising watchdog has banned campaigns by Toyota and Hyundai for exaggerating the speed at which electric cars can be charged and misleading consumers about the availability of rapid-charging points across the UK and Ireland.The Japanese car firm Toyota ran a marketing campaign on its website for its bZ4X model with the text making electric easy". The site claimed the vehicle could be charged to 80% in about 30 minutes using a 150kW fast-charging system. Continue reading...

This year's wildfire season is already worst on record as nearly 600m tonnes of carbon dioxide has been released since early MayWildfires raging across Canada, made more intense by global warming, have released more planet-warming carbon dioxide in the first six months of 2023 than in any full year on record, according to the EU's Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service.This year's wildfire season is the worst on record in Canada, with some 76,000sq km (29,000sq miles) burning across eastern and western Canada. That is already greater than the combined area burned in 2016, 2019, 2020 and 2022, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. Continue reading...

Mixed early results from administration initiative as federal land managers skip at-risk communities for less threatened areasUsing chainsaws, heavy machinery and controlled burns, the Biden administration is trying to turn the tide on worsening wildfires in the US west through a multibillion-dollar cleanup of forests choked with dead trees and undergrowth.Yet one year into what is envisioned as a decade-long effort, federal land managers are scrambling to catch up after falling behind on several of their priority forests for thinning even as they exceeded goals elsewhere. And they have skipped over some highly at-risk communities to work in less threatened areas, according to data obtained by the Associated Press, public records and congressional testimony. Continue reading...

Sarah Bentley had revealed she would forgo her bonus after criticism of utility's discharge of raw sewageThames Water's boss Sarah Bentley has stepped down with immediate effect, a few days after it emerged that the leakage rate from the company's pipes was at a five-year high and she gave up her annual bonuses over its environmental track record.The UK's largest water company, which has 15 million customers in London and the Thames Valley, announced that Bentley would be replaced by Alastair Cochran, the finance chief, and Cathryn Ross, the former boss of the water watchdog Ofwat, as joint interim chief executives. Continue reading...

The sisters and a group of women from a local Indigenous tribe started a kelp farm in the hopes of cleaning up the pollution in their shared backyardEarly on a January morning, a dozen nuns hopped on a Zoom call and waited patiently for their turn to speak softly, sweetly to plants.One of the sisters sang a song; another played the flute; several recited poetry and prayers. The intended audience of their kind words were dozens of kelp seedlings, which had a big task: grow big and healthy enough to be planted in the waters off the shores of Long Island, New York. Continue reading...

Rob Blakers says he was surprised then furious' that trees in foraging and feeding habitat for birds, whose numbers are down to just 750, were being destroyed

Report cited by environment minister in support of offset bill criticised for inflated figures

Although a gruesome sight, experts say taking on prey that size is a mark of the bird's bravery and skillIt is a jaw-dropping scene worthy of a Hitchcock film. In a video that has gone viral a huge gull stands brazenly in the middle of a street and attempts to swallow a black squirrel whole, the creature's back legs and fluffy tail hanging out of the bird's beak as it gulps.While well known as scavengers, large gulls such as herring gulls and lesser black-backed gulls - two of the species colloquially called seagulls - are perhaps best known for pinching chips and ice-creams from unwary seaside day-trippers. Continue reading...

Head of SMMT raises concerns over tightening of trade rules from January on vehicles exported from UK to EUThe growth of electric car production in Britain is under threat from a Brexit cliff edge" in January unless the EU agrees to delay new trade rules until 2027, industry leaders have warned.Electric cars exported from the UK to the EU will have to meet tighter rules of origin" in the new year, which mean batteries must be sourced from within the two trade partners or face 10% tariffs. Continue reading...

Small island countries press for guarantees as rising sea levels risk leaving their citizens stateless

Latest heat dome' event over Texas and Louisiana, plus much of Mexico, driven by human-cause climate change, scientists findThe record heatwave roiling parts of Texas, Louisiana and Mexico was made at least five times more likely due to human-caused climate change, scientists have found, marking the latest in a series of recent extreme heat dome" events that have scorched various parts of the world.A stubborn ridge of high pressure has settled over Mexico and a broad swath of the southern US over the past three weeks, pushing the heat index, a combination of temperature and humidity, to above 48C (120F) in some places. Continue reading...

The whale was the fifth to die of natural causes in Wide Bay waters this week, with locals warned to steer clear

An area of primary rainforest the size of Switzerland was felled last year suggesting world leaders' commitment to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030 is failingAn area the size of Switzerland was cleared from Earth's most pristine rainforests in 2022, despite promises by world leaders to halt their destruction, new figures show.From the Bolivian Amazon to Ghana, the equivalent of 11 football pitches of primary rainforest were destroyed every minute last year as the planet's most carbon-dense and biodiverse ecosystems were cleared for cattle ranching, agriculture and mining, with Indigenous forest communities forced from their land by extractive industries in some countries. Continue reading...

As the climate emergency threatens its existence, the tiny Pacific nation is not only trying to reclaim physical land but create a twin' to survive in future

Music and laughter mix with the sound of waves crashing, a rhythm to life on a small atoll in the grip of the climate emergencyAs the sun sets in Tuvalu, children climb and play on mountains of sand that have been dredged from the seafloor. Women walk in the ocean shallows searching for shells that have travelled up with the sands, to make necklaces and other decorative pieces.Little by little Tuvalu, a tiny atoll in the Pacific Ocean, is being swallowed up as the ocean rises from under the once solid ground. This is the reality facing its 12,000 inhabitants who live in the shadow of possible climate change extinction, mostly as a result of rising sea levels.A child's teddy bear is part of the debris washed up along Tuvalu's coastline Continue reading...

Modelling along planned flight paths suggest zones will be subject to noise pollution in excess of 70db, or washing machine-level

More than two-thirds of voters think Labor isn't doing enough to ensure affordable and secure rentals'

Research finds tropical mammals suffer impact of deforestation even if they live in protected areasWildlife sanctuaries fail to fully protect tropical animals from harmful human activities, a major study has found.Mammals including the jaguar, the mountain gorilla, and the Sunda pangolin were all found to be affected by human activities, even when they resided in the depths of a nature reserve. Continue reading...