Environment | The Guardian

An old farming technique called silvopasture, which allows cows to graze on a variety of plants in forests and tree-filled pastureland, is seeing a resurgence across the worldBrett Chedzoy and his wife, Maria, live on a 300-acre farm in Watkins Glen, a small town along the Finger Lakes in New York, with 100 cows – primarily Black Angus, with a few White Galloways scattered throughout the herd.The farm, Angus Glen, has lush green pastures and wooded areas, where black walnut and black locust trees stretch skyward out of rolling seas of tall grasses, shrubs and clovers. When Chedzoy, 54, walks through the pasture at sunset, the cows pop their heads up, follow him and wait patiently at the gate. As he pulls it aside, the cows rush forward into the wooded area to nibble on tree branches and shrubs, before turning their attention to the emerald grass around the trees. Continue reading...

Locals have strolled on The Stray for centuries but now two bodies have very different ideas on how to preserve itUsually disputes about land are between developers building the future and campaigners preserving our heritage. But the Harrogate Stray has always been unusual.Instead, it is the focus of a conflict between two organisations that both have the greening of the country at their heart. In one corner is the Stray Defence Association (SDA), set up in 1933 to ensure that these 80 hectares (200 acres) of green space in the heart of Harrogate remain untouched, and in the other is the Open Spaces Society (OSS), which has been campaigning to defend footpaths, village greens and commons since 1865. Continue reading...

Red flags are going up on beaches from Scarborough to Whitstable as pollution levels soar and businesses are forced to close due to sewage dischargesThe sun has been shining on Scarborough’s South Bay all week, but Steve Crawford isn’t opening up the surf shop he’s so proud of – “mahogany door, views over to the castle” – because the water isn’t safe to swim in.“My business has vanished overnight,” he says. “On coronation weekend, the red flags went up warning people not to go in the water because of poor water quality, and now there are signs at every access point to the beach saying ‘No swimming’.” Continue reading...

Suppliers may be forced to cut large-scale usage by businesses amid fears of a repeat of last year’s heatwaveIf water industry bosses think they are having a stinking time of it, they should cast their minds back to when Trevor Newton was head of Yorkshire Water. Urging customers to reduce consumption in balmy 1995, he confessed he had “not had a bath or shower in three months”.As a bout of sweltering weather grips Britain, with forecasts of a baking summer, there are concerns that a widespread drought and a repeat of last year’s heatwave could force water suppliers to ban certain companies from using large quantities. It promises to be a fresh headache for an industry already under fire over sewage dumping, leakage rates, large dividends, a £10bn customer-funded investment plan and “flimsy” pledges to give up bonuses. Continue reading...

Some communities may be cut off by flooding as warm, humid air causes storms to develop, says Met OfficeThunderstorms set to sweep across the UK this weekend could cause flash flooding, forecasters have warned.Parts of the UK could face train and bus delays and some communities may be cut off by flooding as warm, humid air causes storms to develop, the Met Office said. Continue reading...

Youth plaintiffs accuse state officials of violating their right to a healthy environment in landmark case in HelenaGrace Gibson-Snyder, 19, loves her home state of Montana. Thinking about its future fills her with fear.She’s seen the lands she loves change since she was a child, she told the first judicial district court of Montana this week. The rivers she grew up rafting are getting lower amid frequent dry spells. The air she breathes in during soccer practice more frequently fills with wildfire smoke. And in Glacier national park in Montana’s Rocky Mountains, the glaciers are melting. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Ecologists say there are early signs that the population is recovering in remote forestsIt is a discotheque for Britain’s biggest type of grouse. Before dawn, male capercaillie will begin their courtship rituals, their black tail feathers erect and fanning out, chests puffed out, their heads thrust high into the cold spring air.Their dancefloors are forest clearings in the Highlands which echo the males’ wheezing, popping and clattering mating calls. Often perched in surrounding pine trees, hens will carefully watch as their potential mates compete to win their affection. Continue reading...

Millions of crickets – or rather shield-backed katydids – migrating across state, after hatching was delayed in springMillions of flightless insects known as Mormon crickets have descended across Nevada, alarming residents, blanketing roadways and buildings, and fueling nightmares.Footage shared on social media and by local news outlets captures six Nevada counties under siege, with thick carpets of bugs moving slowly and efficiently across the state. A local hospital had to deploy brooms and leafblowers to clear the way for patients to get into the building, a spokesperson for the Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital, told local news outlet KSL. Continue reading...

Feedback argues ministers’ failure to include measures to reduce production of meat and dairy products was unlawfulMinisters broke the law by failing to make plans to cut consumption of meat and dairy in England, activists will argue in a legal challenge after they were granted permission for a full judicial review of the government’s food strategy.Overturning two previous decisions, the court of appeal ruled that the food systems campaigners Feedback could challenge the national food strategy on the basis that it failed to take into account ministers’ duties to cut carbon emissions. Continue reading...

Some areas left with little or no water, forcing schools to shut and residents to fetch drinking water from bottle stationsA hosepipe ban is scheduled to come into effect across Kent and Sussex as a result of record demand for drinking water, South East Water bosses have said.Parts of the region have been left with little or no water this week during the hot weather, forcing schools to shut and residents to fetch drinking water from bottled water stations. Continue reading...

Pett Level on England’s south coast was once full of oak, elm and ash trees. Today, it offers clues as to how climate breakdown can affect landscapesOn a broad expanse of beach overlooked by towering cliffs on the UK’s south coast, a ghost forest can be glimpsed at low tide. Easily missed among the boulders and rock pools, a landscape of gnarled black stumps and enormous fallen tree trunks is revealed and submerged twice a day in a bay between Hastings and Rye.Twisted and smoothed by the tides, the soggy wood is strewn with barnacles and peppered with thousands of holes made by piddocks – burrowing shellfish which have made the logs their home. Continue reading...

Warning comes as 12 areas of UK put on red alert for ‘very high’ pollen levelsVery high pollen levels and hot weather are conspiring to bring discomfort to hay fever sufferers across the country, with the Met Office saying climate change could make pollen seasons longer and more extreme.Weekly visitors to the site’s hay fever advice pages have tripled in the past five weeks, according to NHS England, with 27,834 visits in 24 hours on Sunday – one every three seconds. On Friday, the Met Office put 12 areas of the UK, covering England, Wales and most of Scotland, on red alert for “very high” pollen levels. Continue reading...

Environment minister says redesign would ‘avoid most adverse impacts’ on Gouldian finch, while critics point to Australia’s ‘terrible record on extinctions’

The best of this week’s wildlife photographs, including hot monkeys, baby flamingos and a hitchhiking cygnet Continue reading...

WWF showcases work saving endangered species in Fiji, home to five of the world’s seven species of marine turtles Continue reading...

Paul Nowak says workers need a seat at the table to ensure a quick and fair transition to a net zero economyThe UK is in danger of being left behind in the global race to decarbonise the economy with potentially disastrous consequences for jobs and communities, according to the TUC’s general secretary.In an interview, Paul Nowak said the UK was “limping towards a green future” and he called for a “national collective effort” involving employers, workers and the government to ensure a quick and fair transition to a net zero economy. Continue reading...

In 1967, Roger Payne, who has died at 88, noticed that the mammals’ calls were organised in repeating patterns, spurring the discovery of whale songThe idea that whales “sing”, commonly accepted today, is relatively recent. Until the late 1960s it was thought that whale noises were nothing more than expressive sounds or calls. But in 1967, a discovery by the marine biologist Roger Payne, who died last Saturday, changed our understanding – ushering in a new way of looking at the world’s largest mammals.As the young Payne listened on repeat for days to recordings made of humpback sounds captured underwater off the coast of Bermuda, he noticed the calls were organised in repeating patterns. Speaking to Guardian Seascape in 2020, he described it as his “wow” moment, spurring on the discovery – made alongside other researchers – that all whale species “sing” in some rhythmic form, even in the “clicks” of toothed whales, such as sperm whales. Continue reading...

Three activists use glitter cannons and air horns during performance of Poulenc’s Dialogues des CarmélitesJust Stop Oil protesters have interrupted a performance during the Glyndebourne opera festival in East Sussex by letting off glitter cannons and blowing air horns.The disruption took place during a performance on Thursday of Francis Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites at the festival near Lewes. Continue reading...

A decade on from its beginnings, the BigPicture Natural World photography competition attracts thousands of entries from around the world. Its aim is to highlight the extraordinary and often fleeting moments of wonder and beauty in nature while bringing attention to ecosystems in need of protection and conservation. Open to professionals and amateurs, contestants enter for the chance to win cash as well as the opportunity to be exhibited at the California Academy of Sciences

European birds nest in Norfolk much to the delight of twitchers – but environmentalists warn it’s a clear sign of climate changeWith plumage cherry red, ultramarine, turquoise and yellow, usually found streaking like multicoloured darts across the skies of Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Spain, they present as an epitome of tropical glamour.British birdwatchers are aflutter to have found European bee-eaters swooping and burrowing in a disused quarry in Norfolk for the second summer in a row. Continue reading...

Campaigners have heralded the move as a victory for transparency, making polluting industries more accountableFossil fuel lobbyists will have to identify themselves as such in registering for the UN Cop28 climate summit, making polluting and carbon-intensive industries more accountable at the annual talks.The move by the UN to require anyone registering for the summit to declare their affiliation was heralded as a victory for transparency by campaigners who have been increasingly concerned at the growing presence of oil and gas lobbyists at climate talks. Continue reading...

Animals to be introduced during next three years but ecologists say they still face survival challengesAbout 20 specially bred wildcats are being released at secret locations in the Scottish Highlands by conservationists hoping to save the species from extinction in the UK.The animals were raised in captivity at a wildlife park in the Cairngorms as part of a breeding programme run by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, which is expected to release up to 60 cats into the wild over the next three years. Continue reading...

Air quality alerts issued in Minnesota and Wisconsin with winds expected to blow airborne pollution from Ontario blazes southThe smoke-filled skies seen across US cities last week are set to make another appearance, as Canadian wildfires rage on and winds are bringing the airborne pollution south and again triggered fears over risks to health.Air quality alerts were issued on Wednesday for the entire state of Minnesota and large parts of Wisconsin. This time, the culprit is a series of wildfires from the Canadian province of Ontario. Continue reading...

Company gives up 10 of its 11 leases in the area, amid concern about the impact that fracking might have

Current standards do not take into account particulates given off by blazes such as seen lately in Canada that affected the east coastUS cities like New York may need the sort of wildfire smoke hazard plans that cities in California and elsewhere have adopted, experts have warned, in an era of boundless pollution driven by the climate crisis that is impervious to decades-old clean air laws.A week after a pall of wildfire smoke turned New York City’s skies into a shade of apocalyptic orange, leaders in the US government and east coast states are wrestling with how to keep residents safe from the significant health risks. Continue reading...

Hundreds of pilot whales targeted in two most recent ‘grinds’, with animals beached and then slaughteredThe Faroe Islands has killed more than 500 dolphins since its hunt resumed in May, according to local authorities in the autonomous Danish territory in the north Atlantic.In the Faroese tradition known as grindadráp, or grind for short, hunters surround pilot whales and dolphins with a wide semi-circle of fishing boats and drive them into a shallow bay where they are beached. Fishers on the shore slaughter them with knives. Continue reading...

Criticism of South East Water mounts as local people accuse it of failing to invest in infrastructureFour schools in East Sussex have been closed because of water shortages across the area as criticism of South East Water mounts.The company was communicating with customers in the affected areas by text message, according to some residents in Wadhurst. Three primary schools and one secondary school that had been forced to shut earlier in the week remained closed, East Sussex county council said. Continue reading...

World Bank says subsidies costing as much as $23m a minute must be repurposed to fight climate crisisTrillions of dollars of subsidies for fossil fuels, farming and fishing are causing “environmental havoc”, according to the World Bank, severely harming people and the planet.Many countries spend more on the harmful subsidies than they do on health, education or poverty reduction, the bank says, and the subsidies are entrenched and hard to reform as the greatest beneficiaries tend to be rich and powerful. Continue reading...

Plans for North Yorkshire plant discussed as return of scheme to pay customers to reduce electricity during peak times confirmedNational Grid has held talks with Drax over bringing two coal-fired units at its vast power plant in North Yorkshire out of retirement to prevent power cuts and confirmed it will again run its scheme to help avert blackouts this winter.While the grid’s electricity system operator (ESO) said that power plants and windfarms were expected to be able to generate more than enough to meet Great Britain’s needs, it will once again run its “demand flexibility service” that pays customers to reduce electricity use during peak times. Continue reading...

Donations have helped utilities increase electricity prices, hinder solar schemes and helped elect sympathetic legislatorsUS power companies have made political donations of at least $215m to dark money groups in recent years, according to a new analysis of 25 for-profit utilities, amid growing concerns around how they wield influence.Such secretive donations to barely regulated non-profit groups have helped utilities increase electricity prices, hinder solar schemes and helped elect sympathetic legislators in recent years. Continue reading...

Early data shows June temperatures hitting record highs ahead of El Niño that experts say will have significant heating effectGlobal temperatures have accelerated to record-setting levels this month, an ominous sign in the climate crisis ahead of a gathering El Niño that could potentially propel 2023 to become the hottest year ever recorded.Preliminary global average temperatures taken so far in June are nearly 1C (1.8F) above levels previously recorded for the same month, going back to 1979. While the month is not yet complete and may not set a new June record, climate scientists say it follows a pattern of strengthening global heating that could see this year named the hottest ever recorded, topping 2016. Continue reading...

Ruby and Lilian Doyle are among 16 youth challengers alleging Montana violated right to a ‘clean and healthful environment’Every year, Shane Doyle looks forward to picking chokecherries. The tiny fruits with shiny, dark skin and astringent flesh are abundant near his family’s Bozeman, Montana, home. His daughters Ruby, 15, and Lilian, 12, take the lead on crushing the berries into sticky, sweet syrup, which they pour on to pancakes and other foods all year.Usually, the chokecherries are ready to pick in late summer, just before school begins. But in recent years, the fruits haven’t ripened on that schedule, Doyle testified on behalf of Ruby and Lilian at a seminal climate trial on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Payne is credited for helping save whales from extinction by recording their songs and galvanizing a global movementRoger Payne, the US scientist who spurred a worldwide environmental conservation movement with his discovery that whales could sing, has died. He was 88.Payne made the discovery in 1967 during a research trip to Bermuda when a navy engineer provided him with a recording of curious underwater sounds documented while listening for Russian submarines. Payne identified the haunting tones as songs whales sing to one another. Continue reading...

Environmental activists sued EPA to update regulations, after thousands of people sickened from Deepwater Horizon cleanupThe Environmental Protection Agency has announced more stringent rules governing offshore oil spill response, amid continuing concerns about the effects on public health and wildlife from chemical disasters, including BP’s Deepwater Horizon explosion in 2010.The federal agency, which announced the update on Monday, had not updated its rule regulating the chemicals used to break up offshore oil slicks since 1994. Continue reading...

Fallout from Covid crisis has left event struggling financially after last year’s ‘traumatic’ fall in salesThe Edinburgh International book festival hopes a swathe of Booker prize winners, political leaders and a guest appearance by Greta Thunberg will help restore its finances after a “traumatic” fall in sales last year.The world’s largest book festival celebrates its 40th anniversary in August with events featuring Katrín Jakobsdóttir, the Icelandic prime minister, the former Booker prize winners Ben Okri and Anne Enright, and the International Booker winners Georgi Gospodinov and David Diop. Continue reading...

Bernie Krause has been recording sounds from the natural world for 55 years. A new San Francisco exhibition of his work offers a moving plea for the environmentIn a small black box theater at San Francisco’s Exploratorium, the arid plains of Zimbabwe come to life in the thrum of chattering baboons and honking geese, and the shores of California materialize in the squawks of gulls and lapping waves. The haunting song of humpback whales conjures the stillness of the deep sea, drowning out the noise of the science museum – and the world – outside.This is The Great Animal Orchestra, a sonic voyage through seven ecosystems composed by the pioneering soundscape ecologist Bernie Krause. After its 2016 premiere at the Fondation Cartier museum in Paris and subsequent tour through Europe and Asia, the immersive exhibit arrives on the west coast for the first time. Continue reading...

Information commissioner had demanded that the water company publish 53 documents last yearSouthern Water is refusing demands by the information watchdog to publish internal communications between board members relating to discussions about raw sewage discharges.The company, which was fined £90m in 2021 for discharging billions of litres of raw sewage into protected coastal waters, was ordered to publish 53 documents by the information commissioner at the end of last year because of the “substantial and weighty public interest”. Continue reading...

Experts are warning of disastrous conditions for wildlife at upper River Derwent in BorrowdaleThe upper River Derwent in Borrowdale in the Lake District – famous for its reputation as the wettest place in England – is almost completely dry, leading experts to warn of “disastrous conditions for wildlife”.This was the third year in a row where prolonged serious drought had dried out large parts of the river, said Ruth Mackay, a fisheries project officer from West Cumbria Rivers Trust. “Already our nature is under stress,” she said. “If a drought impacts a river, there is usually chance to recover in the succeeding years, but when it happens year after year, it becomes catastrophic for the wildlife that depend on it.” Continue reading...

Environmental groups criticise revision of law that would have banned installation of gas and oil systemsThe German government has staved off a power battle that threatened to cause the ruling coalition to implode after finally agreeing an 11th-hour amendment to a controversial new heating law.Negotiations over the legislation have dominated the headlines for weeks, with the economy minister, Robert Habeck, of the Greens clashing with the pro-liberal Free Democratic party (FDP) over how much consumers should be burdened with the costs of replacing fossil fuel heating systems with cleaner, climate-neutral energy. Continue reading...

About 2,000 crew members withdrew labour over pay and conditions, as well as citing serious breaches of overfishing rules by Spanish and French companiesThe waters of west Africa and the Indian Ocean boast some of the world’s largest, healthiest populations of tropical tuna, and that makes them havens for industrial tuna fishing fleets, owned by countries vastly richer than the nations whose borders form these coastlines.In order to protect the fish populations of poorer African nations from rapacious overfishing by richer countries, EU tuna vessels are bound by agreements centred on the sustainability and “social empowerment” of third countries. Continue reading...

Two male platypuses engaged in a ferocious battle for dominance, which expert says is normal in the build up to breeding season

Energy giant proposes monitoring wells for five years, as government says seepage volumes are factored into emissions reduction targets

Two male platypuses have been caught on camera fighting for territory in Tasmania, Australia Continue reading...

Marine biologists were surprised at the display of playful behavior ‘like kids in the park’, which lasted more than eight hoursA crowd of 30 killer whales met for a party in California’s Monterey Bay on Sunday.They did belly flops into the water, slapped the waves with their flukes and spewed water from their blowholes, surprising marine biologists who had never seen the animals engage in such playful behavior for so long. Continue reading...

Montana teen Mica is one of 16 plaintiffs in historic trial, alleging state has violated residents’ right to healthy environmentMica, aged 15, learned about climate change at the young age of four, when his parents showed him the documentary Chasing Ice.“I understood it more than my parents thought I would,” he testified in a groundbreaking trial on Tuesday. “I just knew something bad was happening, but I didn’t know exactly what it was.” Continue reading...

French government says massive floating bar ‘not compatible with marine environmental protections’Plans for a floating party “island” anchored off the French Riviera have been dropped amid a row over environmental concerns.Canua Island – a 1,750 sq metre platform on a motorised trimaran designed to look like a giant floating bar – was set to open this summer 600 metres off France’s Mediterranean coast. Instead, it remains moored at the port of La Seyne-sur-Mer while awaiting permits amid a growing row among local politicians in the south of France and environmental groups. Continue reading...

Climate activist says only ‘rapid and equitable’ phaseout will keep temperatures within 1.5C limitRich countries are signing a “death sentence” for millions of poor people around the world by failing to phase out fossil fuels, the climate activist Greta Thunberg has told governments.She warned on Tuesday that with annual greenhouse gas emissions at an all-time high, only a “rapid and equitable” phaseout of fossil fuels would keep global temperatures within the scientifically advised limit of 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. Continue reading...

NRRC chief executive David Witherdin says 300 offers already made to flood-affected homeowners

Geologists blame melting snow and thawing permafrost for incident on Fluchthorn mountain near Swiss borderThousands of tonnes of rock have broken off the summit of a mountain popular with climbers and tumbled into a valley in Austria, in an incident blamed by geologists on melting snow and thawing permafrost.The incident on the Fluchthorn massif, part of the Silvretta Alps in the state of Tirol close to the Swiss border, led to a huge volume of black and grey rocks cascading down the mountain, and created clouds of thick dust visible for miles around, before much of the debris was carried away by a river, authorities said. Continue reading...

ASA pulls advert making positive environmental claims because it omitted firm’s history of sewage spillsAn ad campaign by Anglian Water extolling how it cleans water by creating wildlife-friendly wetlands has been banned for not telling consumers about its history of releasing sewage into the environment.The ban on the TV and video-on-demand ad, which claims “everything we do today is for tomorrow”, comes less than a month after water companies in England apologised for repeated sewage spills and pledged to invest £10bn this decade in an attempt to quell public anger over pollution in seas and rivers. Continue reading...