Environment | The Guardian

Severe storms may have filled reservoirs but in the Golden State, a dry spell is ‘always lurking in the background’Just a few months ago, millions in California were living under mandatory water conservation rules. The driest three years on record had transformed the state, depleted reservoirs and desiccated landscapes.Then came a deluge. A dozen atmospheric river storms and several “bomb cyclones” have broken levees and buried mountain communities in snow, but they have also delivered a boon. Reservoirs are refilling. Brown hills are blooming once again. Continue reading...

Rangers work to avoid repeat of last year’s devastating losses in breeding seabird colonies on the islands off the Northumberland coastThe Farne Islands will not open to visitors this spring in anticipation of bird flu once again ravaging breeding seabird colonies, after an “unprecedented” spate of deaths last year.The rocky outcrop of islands off the coast of Northumberland has been looked after by the National Trust since 1925 and there are no previous records of so many endangered seabirds dying at once. More than 6,000 carcasses were picked up last year, which is believed to be the tip of the iceberg compared with how many birds would have died in total. Continue reading...

An Alabama company wants to mine near the 440,000-acre Georgia swamp, but locals and scientists fear it could be irreparably harmedHumans, as a general rule, are rather unkind to swamps. They are disparaged as rotten places that must be drained, either literally, to make way for farmland and houses, or metaphorically, to make way for demagogues. It’s to this backdrop that one of the last remaining intact large swamps in the US, a pristine wetland almost unrivaled anywhere in the world, finds itself under threat from a planned mining project.The Okefenokee swamp, found in the deep southern reaches of Georgia, may lack the fame of the fabled national parks of the US, but it is no less remarkable. Untouched by development, the 440,000-acre (180,000-hectare) swamp is a sort of time machine, offering an idea of what this mosaic of pine islands, with its riot of wildlife, would have looked shortly after its formation about 7,000 years ago. Continue reading...

Scientists responsible for monitoring the health of New Zealand's glaciers have revealed a trend of declining snow and ice. The 2023 survey was the 46th undertaken in a collaboration between the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa), Victoria University of Wellington, and the Department of Conservation. The longstanding project captures an aerial portrait of more than 50 Southern Alps glaciers at a similar time each year to track how they change. The team spent nearly eight hours travelling back and forth over the alps, taking thousands of aerial photographs of glaciers of differing sizes and orientations to use in various national and international research projects, including one that builds 3D models used to compare snow and ice year-to-year

Lib Dems call for Thérèse Coffey to resign after raw discharges sent into English rivers 825 times a day last yearKeir Starmer has accused the government of “turning Britain’s waterways into an open sewer”, as data showed raw discharges were sent into English rivers 825 times a day last year.Private water companies have been consistently accused of failing to take action, and the Environment Agency admitted there were more than 300,000 spillages into rivers and coastal areas in 2022, lasting for more than 1.75m hours. Continue reading...

Men staged protest in City of London in October 2021, which included one gluing head to road to block trafficFour climate protesters, including a man who glued his head to the road in order to block traffic in central London, have escaped jail terms.Matthew Tulley, 44, Ben Taylor, 38, George Burrow, 68 and Anthony Hill, 72, staged a protest between Bishopsgate and Wormwood Street in the City of London on 25 October 2021. They were convicted of causing a public nuisance by a jury at Inner London crown court. All four represented themselves. Continue reading...

Julie Mecoli, 68, Stefania Morosi, 45, Louise Lancaster, 57, and Nicholas Till, 67, took part in London street blockade in 2021Four climate protesters who stopped traffic on a central London road during rush hour have been convicted of causing a public nuisance.Julie Mecoli, 68, Stefania Morosi, 45, Louise Lancaster, 57 and Nicholas Till, 67, were among a group of Insulate Britain supporters who walked into Upper Thames Street on 25 October 2021 while a separate group also blocked nearby roads on Bishopsgate, in the City of London financial district. All four denied the charges. Continue reading...

Tests show recycled concrete could safely be used in new buildings in war- and quake-stricken countryConcrete rubble from destroyed buildings in Syria can be safely recycled into new concrete, scientists have shown, which will make the rebuilding of the war-hit country faster, cheaper and greener.Syria, which was also hit by a huge earthquake in February, has a vast amount of concrete rubble, estimated at 40m tonnes. The key barrier to recycling this waste is ensuring that the new concrete is as strong and safe as conventional concrete. Continue reading...

Lib Dems criticise ‘shocking waste of taxpayers’ money’ as Cabinet Office document reveals PM’s flight costs

Scientists find that using oysters as water filters helps the bivalve and other species thrive – and could treble the amount of carbon going into the seabedGood whisky needs pure clean water, which partly explains why distilleries in Scotland always seem to have such scenic, loch-side backdrops. And one of the best ways to filter that water is oysters. Indeed, the European native oyster was so plentiful in Scotland that 30 million a year were harvested from oyster beds outside Edinburgh in the 1800s.But today the species is almost extinct: populations have dropped by 85% over the past century, most likely because of overfishing from bottom trawling. Continue reading...

The best of this week’s wildlife photographs, including a baby egret, a newborn shark and a zebra on the loose Continue reading...

Ten-year project by English Heritage will see landscapes at sites including Stonehenge return to how they would have once lookedMeadows across 100 historic sites in England, from the panoramic ruins of Scarborough Castle to the chalk down landscape of Stonehenge, are to be created or enhanced in a 10-year project celebrating the king’s coronation.English Heritage on Friday announced its ambition to return landscapes at 100 of its sites to how they once would have looked. Continue reading...

Peter and Jane Harris were fined $60,000 and ordered to pay $448,260 in legal costs after two unsuccessful appeal attempts

Miami Seaquarium, where the whale performed, announced a ‘binding’ agreement to relocate her to her home – Puget SoundMore than five decades after being captured in the waters off the Pacific north-west, Tokitae the orca has a plan to return home, delivering a victory to animal rights advocates and Indigenous leaders who have long fought for her release.On Thursday, the owners of the Miami Seaquarium where Tokitae lives announced a “formal and binding agreement” with a group called the Friends of Lolita to begin the process of returning Tokitae to Puget Sound. A news release indicates that the joint effort is “working toward and hope the relocation will be possible in the next 18 to 24 months”. Continue reading...

Environmentalists question high grade given to JBS and accuse it of deforestation in the Amazon and under-reporting emissionsThe award of an A-minus sustainability grade to the world’s biggest meat company has raised eyebrows and kicked off a debate about the rating system for environmental and social governance.Brazilian meat company JBS has previously been linked to deforestation in the Amazon, where its slaughterhouses process beef from ranches carved out of the Amazon, Cerrado and other biomes. But in the latest Climate Change Report by the influential rating organisation CDP, the multinational got a grade of A- for its efforts to tackle climate change – up from B in the previous assessment – and was given a “leadership” status award. Continue reading...

Government admits its policies will achieve only 92% of cuts and experts think that is a ‘generous reading’The UK government has said it is still on track to meet its international climate commitments under the Paris agreement, as analysis of its energy plans suggested more drastic policies would be needed to make the required carbon cuts.Ministers announced the UK’s revamped net zero strategy on Thursday, with a raft of documents exceeding 1,000 pages, setting out policies on sectors from biomass to solar power, and from electric vehicles to nuclear reactors. It came as Rishi Sunak headed to Oxfordshire to visit a development facility for nuclear fusion, accompanied by Grant Shapps, the energy and net zero secretary. Continue reading...

Therésè Coffey may bring Food Standards Agency, now overseen by health department, under remit of DefraThe UK government is considering tightening control over the Food Standards Agency (FSA) after news that allegedly fraudulent pork products found their way on to supermarket shelves.Therésè Coffey, the secretary of state for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), told the House of Commons on Thursday that she would look at bringing the FSA under her department’s control.This article was amended on 30 March 2022. An earlier version said that Robert Goodwill was Defra minister of state; in fact he is chair of the EFRA committee. Continue reading...

Scottish first minister's questions was disrupted five times on Thursday as Yousaf took questions from MSPs. When FMQs eventually got going, Douglas Ross, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, queried Yousaf's appointment of an independence minister, asking if it was a fair use of taxpayers' money. Yousaf hit back, telling MSPs that independence was a priority for the Scottish people. Yousaf said: 'I make no apology whatsoever for having a minister for independence because, my goodness, we need it more than ever before'

Australia’s environment movement needs to ‘collectively get its shit together’, senator says

Millions given to party and MPs last year came from entities linked to fossil fuels, high-polluting industries and climate denial

Creating more green areas could also save up to £40m a year in costs linked to mental health issues, say researchersAn ambitious push to create more green spaces in Barcelona – a city with one of the highest population and traffic densities in Europe – could improve the health of more than 30,000 people, reduce the use of antidepressants and save up to €45m (£40m) annually in costs associated with mental health issues, research suggests.It builds on a growing body of evidence that has linked urban green spaces to better mental wellbeing as well as the prevention of depression, anxiety and insomnia. Continue reading...

Wildlife presenter fears ‘extreme violence’, and has previously been the victim of arson, as well as having dead crows left outside his homeChris Packham has raised more than £80,000 in donations for a legal fight against a publisher he accuses of a campaign of online abuse against him. The wildlife presenter claims that Fieldsports Channel – which specialises in hunting-related content – has created articles alleging that he faked a death threat to himself, and has generated such hatred towards him that he fears for his family’s safety.“I sometimes leave or return to my home wondering if someone will be there waiting – someone who is so excited by these accusations that they feel motivated to extreme violence,” said Packham in an online video to launch the crowdfunding site. Continue reading...

Backlash prompts companies to give residents option of keeping natural gas rather than joining pilot projectEnergy firms will no longer force people in a village in Cheshire to stop heating and cooking with natural gas and swap to lower-carbon hydrogen after a local backlash to a planned government-backed pilot.British Gas and Cadent had been prepared to cut off gas supplies to nearly 2,000 homes in the village of Whitby, just outside Ellesmere Port on the south bank of the Mersey, as part of proposals to create the UK’s first hydrogen-fuelled village. Continue reading...

UK’s 1,000-page plan criticised as doing ‘little to boost energy security, lower bills or meet climate goals’

Deal between Labor government and Greens requires total emissions from big industrial sites to come down, not just be offsetAustralia’s parliament has passed the country’s most significant emissions reduction legislation in more than a decade after the government won backing from Greens and independent MPs for a plan to deal with pollution from major industrial sites.After weeks of closed-door negotiation, a deal was brokered between the Labor government and Greens, a minor party with 15 parliamentarians, that included legislating an explicit requirement that total emissions from major industrial facilities must come down, not just be offset. Continue reading...

At the Primal Gathering retreat, attendees seek new – and sometimes surreal – ways to connect with nature and take meaningful action on environmental destructionThe explorer and documentary maker Bruce Parry pushed his penis inside his body on his 2005 BBC show Tribe in an effort to be accepted by the Kombai people in New Guinea, before turning white and having to lie down. He would do whatever it took to assimilate, including taking hallucinogenic drugs, drinking blood and running naked across the backs of a row of cattle.Now he is focusing his energies closer to home. He is using the knowledge he gained from Indigenous societies around the world to encourage people in the UK to form stronger communities that can take meaningful action to halt ecological destruction. Continue reading...

UK tops all league tables for highly polluting form of travel, with a flight taking off every six minutes last yearThe UK is the private jet capital of Europe, with more flights than anywhere else on the continent, analysis has found.Last year, a private jet set off from the UK once every six minutes, putting the country ahead of the rest of Europe when it comes to the extremely polluting form of travel. Many of these journeys have been called “polluting and pointless” by Greenpeace, as they are so short they could have easily been taken by train – and in one case, cycled in 30 minutes. Continue reading...

Resolution asks ICJ to clarify countries’ obligations to fight climate change and the consequences they should face for inactionA group of Pacific Island students who were instrumental in pushing a UN resolution that should make it easier to hold polluting countries legally accountable for failure to act on the climate crisis have greeted its adoption as historic.“Young people across the world will recall the day when we were able to get the world’s highest court, the international court of justice, to bring its voice to the climate justice fight,” said Solomon Yeo, campaign director of Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC), who is from Solomon Islands. Continue reading...

Changes to the safeguard mechanism take us a step closer to net zero by 2050 – the goal consecutive governments have signed up to

Evidence that drought cut late-summer hatchings raises fears that delayed effect of caterpillar die-off will be seen this yearThe heat and drought of last summer caused British butterfly populations to crash later in the year, according to a new study.Common butterfly species including the brimstone, small tortoiseshell, peacock, green-veined white and small white appeared in good or average numbers during the spring and early summer of 2022 but numbers in subsequent late-summer generations were greatly reduced. Continue reading...

New guidelines for $2bn carbon offsetting industry aim to guide buyers towards high-quality creditsNew quality standards for the $2bn carbon offsetting industry have been published to help guide buyers to high-quality credits following widespread concern that many are just hot air.On Thursday, new guidelines for a “good” carbon credit programme were announced by the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM), an initiative that aims to reassure buyers about the quality of offsets they are buying for climate commitments and help them avoid credits that do nothing to mitigate climate change or might be linked to human rights violations. Continue reading...

In latest blow to Joe Biden’s reputation as the ‘climate president’, 73.3m acres of the gulf will be offered for fossil fuel extractionAn enormous swathe of the Gulf of Mexico, spanning an area the size of Italy, was put up for auction on Wednesday for oil and gas drilling, in the latest blow to Joe Biden’s increasingly frayed reputation on dealing with the climate crisis.The president’s Department of the Interior offered up a vast area of the central and western Gulf, including plunging deep water reaches, for drilling projects that will stretch out over decades, despite scientists’ urgent warnings that fossil fuels must be rapidly phased out if the world is to avoid disastrous global heating. The auctions also come despite Biden’s own pre-election promise to halt all drilling on federal lands and waters. Continue reading...

Incident at Saltburn-by-the-Sea occurs in same area as number of die-offs reported in 2021 and 2022Thousands more dead or dying shellfish have washed up on a beach on the same stretch of coast that saw a number of crustacean die-offs in autumn 2021 and last year.Visitors to Saltburn-by-the-Sea, a few miles south-east of the River Tees, were met by the sight of hundreds of thousands of dead mussels on the shoreline, as well as starfish, crabs and razor clams. Continue reading...

Resolution hailed as ‘win for climate justice of epic proportions’ should make it easier to hold countries accountable for failuresA UN resolution was adopted on Wednesday that should make it easier to hold polluting countries legally accountable for failing to tackle the climate emergency, in a vote which was hailed as a historic victory for climate justice.The UN general assembly adopted by consensus the resolution spearheaded by Vanuatu, a tiny Pacific island nation vulnerable to extreme climate effects, and youth activists to secure a legal opinion from the international court of justice (ICJ) to clarify states’ obligations to tackle the climate crisis – and specify any consequences countries should face for inaction. Continue reading...

New research by Australian scientists suggests 40% slowdown in just three decades could alter world’s climate for centuriesMelting ice around Antarctica will cause a rapid slowdown of a major global deep ocean current by 2050 that could alter the world’s climate for centuries and accelerate sea level rise, according to scientists behind new research.The research suggests if greenhouse gas emissions continue at today’s levels, the current in the deepest parts of the ocean could slow down by 40% in only three decades. Continue reading...

Group of Swiss women and French ex-mayor suing their governments in first such cases heard by rights courtThe governments of Switzerland and France have been accused of breaching the human rights of their citizens by not acting decisively enough on climate change, at a landmark legal hearing in Strasbourg.A panel of judges at the European court of human rights heard petitions from a group of Swiss women and a French former mayor seeking to bolster climate action in their countries. Although climate litigation has spread quickly around the world, these are the first such cases to be heard by the ECHR. Continue reading...

Comedians and comedy programs have started to find ways to speak to the climate crisis in their work but how can something so heavy create laughter?When David Perdue applied to be part of a climate comedy program, he felt a little out of his element: “I couldn’t recall one time I’d ever had a conversation with my friends about climate change,” said the Atlanta-based comic. Perdue, who is Black, added, “But I knew it was an issue that was going to affect people who look like me, so I wanted to use comedy to address that.”Perdue was one of nine comedians who took part in a nine-month fellowship where they learned about climate science and solutions and collaborated on new, climate-related material. The Climate Comedy Cohort produced shorts, toured together, and pitched ideas to television networks. Their work is part of a broader effort to bring some levity to a topic that is increasingly present in everyday life. Continue reading...

Minister says aim is to ‘safeguard our nation’s heritage’ but campaigners say artificial meat holds promiseThe Italian government has approved a draft law that would ban food grown in laboratories, including artificial meat, as it seeks to “safeguard our nation’s heritage”.Under the ban, which needs to be passed in both houses of parliament, those who produce, export or import food grown from animal cells would face fines of up to €60,000 and risk having their manufacturing plants closed. Continue reading...

EPA’s response to the derailment has drawn intense criticism from East Palestine residents and public health expertsThe US Environmental Protection Agency’s internal watchdog division is opening an investigation into the handling of the East Palestine train wreck which caused a toxic disaster in the small Ohio town.An agency spokesperson declined to comment on why it is launching the investigation, but a public memo from the EPA office of inspector general states that it will “conduct interviews, gather data, and analyze a variety of issues, including hazardous waste disposal, air and water monitoring, soil and sediment sampling, and risk communication”. Continue reading...

At two wildlife centres in the Madre de Dios region, the victims of illegal mining activities embark on a long journey of rehabilitation“She used to fight every time I tried to feed her, but she recognises it’s me now,” says Cinthia Pariguana-Garriazo, a veterinary nurse at Taricaya eco reserve. It is 6am, and she is coaxing a squealing baby spider monkey called Rain into accepting breakfast – a syringe filled with liquefied fruit and medicine.Rain is fed every four hours and requires regular physical contact with Pariguana-Garriazo, her primary carer. Over the next few months, she will be gradually introduced to solid food and to other spider monkeys and her contact with humans will dwindle. From there, it’s a long process of rehabilitation before her release back into the wild. Juveniles can expect to stay at Taricaya for at least three years. Continue reading...

Call comes on eve of revised net zero strategy that allows drilling in North Sea and boosts ‘unproven’ carbon captureHundreds of the UK’s leading scientists have urged the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, to halt the licensing of new oil and gas developments in the UK, ahead of his anticipated launch of a revised net zero and energy security strategy on Thursday.The scientists, who include Chris Rapley, former head of the Science Museum and professor at UCL and Mark Maslin, professor of earth system science at UCL, warn that there must be no new developments of oil and gas, for the world to limit global heating to 1.5C above preindustrial levels. Continue reading...

Government’s official advisers point to ‘lost decade’ in efforts to protect lives and livelihoodsThe UK is “strikingly unprepared” for the impacts of the climate crisis, according to the Climate Change Committee (CCC), which said there had been a “lost decade” in efforts to adapt for the impacts of global heating.The CCC, the government’s official climate adviser, said climate damages will inevitably intensify for decades to come. It has warned repeatedly of poor preparation in the past and said government action was now urgently needed to protect people and their homes and livelihoods. Continue reading...

Exclusive: National Trust concerned at danger to rich mix of ecosystems including lagoon, woodland, salt marsh and reedbedOil from the Perenco pipeline leak in Poole harbour has washed up on the shores of Brownsea Island, an internationally important wetland and marine conservation zone.Nearly 200 barrels of reservoir fluid – a brine mixture that is about 15% oil – leaked into the waters of Ower Bay on Sunday from the pipeline sparking a major incident and urgent clean-up operation. Continue reading...

Bembidion brownorum, named for Jerry Brown, was last seen in 1966, but hadn’t been named until one was collected on his ranchScientists are naming a rare species of beetle in honor of the former California governor Jerry Brown after finding one at his ranch.Bembidion brownorum was last seen in 1966, but it hadn’t been named or described until one was collected near a creek on Brown’s ranch in Colusa county, about an hour’s drive north-west of Sacramento, the University of California, Berkeley announced on Monday. Continue reading...

Cheaper rates could be applied to those who install water butts under plans unveiled by regulatorWater bill discounts could be given to people who do not pave over their front gardens and install water butts, under plans unveiled by the regulator.Customers could also be charged dynamically based on how much water they use, with people who reduce their usage paying less than heavy users, Ofwat announced on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Jacob Rees-Mogg and Chris Grayling express concern at system under which Drax made £617m in 2022The UK government should rethink its subsidies for burning wood for fuel, former Conservative ministers and the net zero tsar have said.The energy company Drax, which burns forest biomass, made £893m in direct government subsidies in 2021. The level of support fell to £617m in 2022 as electricity prices exceeded an agreed “strike price” agreed to encourage renewable investment. Continue reading...

A lack of swimming skills among young people, especially girls, stops them working in local industries and getting involved in conservationAzha Abdul Azeez lives in Malé, the capital of the Maldives archipelago, surrounded by the idyllic Indian Ocean. But she “grew up in the house” and the water that makes up so much of Abdul Azeez’s home – a rich habitat including coral reefs, turtles, manta rays and exotic fish – terrifies her because she never learned to swim.“[My parents] were worried that something might happen to me. I think that’s why they didn’t send me [swimming] when I was little,” she says. Continue reading...

Australia Institute analysis tracks 28 proposed developments referred to Tanya Plibersek for approval

More than 100,000 hectares burned in MacDonnell Ranges area, which has been declared a federal priority for threatened species conservation

First analysis of plastics’ hazards over life cycle – from extraction to disposal – also shows ‘deep societal injustices’ of impact