Environment | The Guardian

After stepping down as Soviet leader he devoted himself to ‘the most urgent task facing humanity today’When Mikhail Gorbachev introduced reforms permitting greater freedom of speech in the 1980s, one of the first things Soviet citizens begin to speak out about was their anger over the pollution spewed out by the country’s biggest and oldest factories.It prompted his administration to shut down 1,300 of the most polluting factories, he said in an interview with US National Public Radio in 2000, but it also helped crystallise a commitment to environmental causes that put him well ahead of his time and made him an outlier among other former global leaders. Continue reading...

Mary Peltola, the first Alaska Native elected to Congress, having defeated former vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin, is a relentless coalition builderAhead of her astonishing victory this week in a special election to fill Alaska’s sole congressional seat, Mary Peltola was delighted to get recognized at Costco. “I was approached by some people to do a selfie,” she laughed.It seemed like months of traversing the state for meet-and greets was paying off. “I am getting recognized more.” Continue reading...

Almost 8,000 people have so far signed a petition against the proposal which has been described as a ‘silent cull’

Unprecedented flooding in the country during monsoon season has left at least 1,265 people deadPakistan has appealed to the international community for an “immense humanitarian response” to unprecedented flooding that has left at least 1,265 people dead.According to initial government estimates, the rain and flooding have caused $10bn (£8.7bn) in damage. Continue reading...

Ascent to power took in spat with the Turnip Taliban, a late conversion to Brexit and a gallery of photos mimicking ThatcherFrom the stage of the Liberal Democrat conference to the Tory leadership - via viral fame over cheese imports - Liz Truss has been on quite a political journey in her quest for the keys to Downing St. Here we cover the key moments of success, strife and good fortune that have made her favourite to replace Boris Johnson. Continue reading...

Question mark over freeport in Tees Valley after ecological disaster puts communities in the north east of England at loggerheads with the governmentStan Rennie has indelicate hands that aren’t good for typing. He’s not the kind of person who cares much for technology at all.But over the last year, the fisherman has found himself spending less time outdoors and more time glued to his computer, tapping out stern emails to politicians and researching niche areas of environmental law. “It’s taken over his life,” his daughter Sarah, 36, says. Continue reading...

Met Office warns torrential downpours could cause flooding and disruption to power supplies and transportA yellow weather warning has been announced for Northern Ireland and parts of Scotland amid forecasts of heavy rain and possible thunderstorms.The Met Office extended its warning on Saturday morning to include parts of central and western Scotland. Continue reading...

New research reveals the breeding patterns of the species could not keep pace with a more demanding environment

From solar panels to biomass burners, boom in green initiatives seen as vital to achieving EU climate targetsEurope’s swift transition to a sustainable, low-carbon future will not happen without the engagement and involvement of citizens producing and consuming energy locally, experts say – and across the continent, there are signs it is happening.A summer of wildfires, drought and record heatwaves fuelled by climate breakdown has combined with soaring gas and electricity prices, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, to inject a new urgency into the switch to alternative, renewable sources. Continue reading...

Seven firefighters hospitalized, with extreme temperatures expected to last through Labor DayFirefighters were battling blazes across California in grueling heat on Friday, as fast-moving flames erupted near the Oregon border and prompted evacuation orders for at least 5,000 people.Residents of the towns of Weed, Lake Shasta and Edgewood in Siskiyou county were told to evacuate after a blaze, dubbed the Mill fire, began spreading in hot and windy conditions and grew to 500 acres in about an hour, the Siskiyou sheriff’s office said in a statement. Continue reading...

A skilled hunter can shoot 100 of the invasive marsupials in a night. But with millions of hectares infested, some fear control efforts are too latePete Peeti flicks off the headlights, cuts the ignition and lets his truck roll quietly down a bush track, deep in the heart of New Zealand’s North Island. Twilight is slipping into night and rain is falling in thick drapes.

Police find Reena James, 42, ‘solely responsible’ for 4 July ‘inferno’ that injured three other residentsA woman who was killed in an explosion that caused a fire in a block of flats, injuring three other people, deliberately started the blaze, detectives have concluded.Resident Reena James died, and three others were taken to hospital, in what was described as an “inferno” in the three-storey block in Bedford’s Redwood Grove on 4 July. Continue reading...

Experts warn drop from 100,000 samples in 2012 to 41,519 last year means huge risk to water qualityTesting of rivers in England has fallen dramatically in the past 10 years, with experts warning it leaves a vacuum of knowledge about the effects of pollution.Environment Agency data shows its river testing has fallen from nearly 100,000 samples a year in 2012 to 41,519 in 2021 – the lowest level of sampling in 20 years apart from the drop-off during Covid in 2020. Continue reading...

Exclusive: conservationists hail government-backed projects led by farmers and landowners to revive biodiversityAmbitious schemes by farmers and landowners to restore nature and reduce flooding while still producing food will be supported by the government in 22 locations across England.The landscape recovery scheme is being hailed by land managers and conservationists as the most “exciting and important” step in a generation to restore lost biodiversity. Continue reading...

Aid projects in DRC and Zimbabwe encourage rural inhabitants to eat insects rich in vitamins and mineralsUK aid spending is encouraging hunger-stricken Africans to eat insects, with projects aiming to develop the practice in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zimbabwe.Edible insects have long been touted as a resource-efficient source of protein, requiring less land and water than conventional livestock. However, taste and cultural resistance have proved to be stumbling blocks in extending the practice in many parts of the world. Continue reading...

Vegan protesters aim to block supermarkets this month and stop millions of people from buying milkVegan activists have vowed to cause massive disruption to the UK’s milk supplies this month, as they demand the government supports a transition to a “plant-based food system” and rewild land used for animal pasture.Animal Rebellion, an offshoot of Extinction Rebellion that focuses on the environmental harms of animal agriculture, claims it has hundreds of supporters willing to be arrested and go to prison for taking direct action. Continue reading...

Planes bring food, medicine and tents to disaster zone, with officials blaming floods on climate crisisPlanes carrying fresh supplies are forming a humanitarian air bridge to flood-ravaged Pakistan as the death toll passed 1,200, officials have said, with families and children especially at risk of disease and homelessness.The ninth flight from the United Arab Emirates and the first from Uzbekistan were the latest to land in Islamabad overnight as a military-backed rescue operation elsewhere in the country reached more of the 3 million people affected by the disaster. Continue reading...

Tory leadership hopefuls ‘taking countryside voters for granted’ and neglecting pressing issues, says CLA business groupNeither of the candidates for leadership of the Conservative party has made a convincing pitch to rural voters, despite that demographic being one of the biggest sources of Tory power, the head of the UK’s biggest rural business organisation said.Mark Tufnell, president of the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), which represents about 30,000 landowners and rural businesses, said Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak had done too little to show how they would boost the countryside economy and deal with pressing concerns such as planning, rural broadband, and farm support. Continue reading...

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including preening flamingos, a jackal cub and a kelp forest Continue reading...

Pennings required to compile information he has about Carmichael coalmine and various campaigns

While France and Germany have introduced bans, Britain continues to slaughter 29 million unwanted chicks every yearUK retailers are blocking moves to end the killing of millions of day-old male chicks each year, farmers and breeding companies have said.The industrial-scale culling of unwanted chicks is common practice around the world, with 330 million males slaughtered by crushing or gassing each year in Europe, according to campaigners, 29 million of those in the UK. Continue reading...

After an increase in the number of days when the mercury rose to at least 35C, 9,000 yellow fibreglass umbrellas will be handed out to children in KumagayaChildren living in Japan’s hottest city will be given specially designed umbrellas to protect them from the heat, after a summer that saw record-breaking temperatures in many parts of the country.Local authorities in Kumagaya in Saitama prefecture have devised an umbrella that keeps out the rain and doubles as a parasol, the Mainichi Shimbun reported. Continue reading...

Jackson, Mississippi, lost access to safe running water after flooding – but it’s the capstone to years of problems with race a possible factorThirty-year-old Kendrick Hart remembers the warning his father gave about Jackson, the capital of Mississippi, where they both still live: “They need to do something about that water before it gets bad.”Now that moment has come. Continue reading...

Environment groups call on federal minister to reject NSW government’s ‘deeply flawed’ Cumberland Plain conservation plan

We must push the government to facilitate renewable energy schemes in appropriate places, not criticise local communities for resisting them, writes Barbara ChillmanThe analysis by the planning and development consultancy Turley revealing that an increased number of planning applications for solar farms have been refused in recent years is widely interpreted as evidence of nimbyism, inflicting higher bills on customers and environmental damage (Solar farm plans refused at highest rate for five years in Great Britain, 25 August).But did Turley identify why those applications have been refused? Perhaps there has been an increased number of inappropriate applications trying to jump on the sustainability bandwagon for purely commercial reasons? Continue reading...

Idea would separate the cost of electricity produced by nuclear and renewable sources from generation by gasThe energy industry has thrown its weight behind a plan it says could save homes and businesses up to £18bn a year, by reducing the prices charged for electricity generated from sources other than gas.Energy UK, the trade body for the sector, said its proposals could cut £18bn a year from energy bills, including £11bn for businesses. Continue reading...

Idea would separate the cost of electricity produced by nuclear and renewable sources from generation by gasThe energy industry has thrown its weight behind a plan it says could save homes and businesses up to £29bn a year, by reducing the prices charged for electricity generated from sources other than gas.Energy UK, the trade body for the sector, said its proposals could cut between £10.8bn and £18bn a year from household bills, and £6.7bn to £11.1bn for businesses. Continue reading...

Temperature ties with 2018 on data going back to 1884, while UK as whole has had fourth hottestEngland has had its joint hottest summer on record, tying with 2018 in data stretching back to 1884, the Met Office has said.Provisional figures show the summer of 2022, covering June, July and August, had an average temperature of 17.1C, tying with 2018 to be the warmest on record. Continue reading...

Humanitarian workers expect conditions to worsen as monsoon rains continue and say millions face a terrible winterAid workers have appealed for urgent donations to fight the “absolutely devastating” impact of flooding in Pakistan, as new satellite images appeared to confirm that a third of the country is now underwater.As the UK’s Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) launched an appeal to raise funds for the 33 million people affected, the European Space Agency released stark images based on data captured by its Copernicus satellite. Continue reading...

The vote was one of several major decisions on the state’s climate future and will delay the facility’s closure by five yearsCalifornia’s last nuclear plant – scheduled to fully shut down by 2025 – has been given renewed life.California lawmakers voted on Wednesday to delay the closure of the Diablo Canyon facility by five years, after the governor warned the state could face rolling blackouts if its twin reactors were retired too soon. Continue reading...

Scheme will be tried in certain areas for three years, and environmental groups hope it will be rolled out across countryFrance is cracking down on the tonnes of unsolicited junk mail and advertising brochures put through letterboxes each year, warning of unnecessary waste and damage to the environment.For more than a decade, households in France that do not want to receive piles of unaddressed advertising leaflets have been able to put a sticker on their letterbox saying “no to advertising”. But the government acknowledged this approach had failed and has changed tack. Continue reading...

Judgment is huge victory for campaigners concerned about effect of seismic waves on marine lifeA South African court has upheld a ban imposed on the energy giant Shell from using seismic waves to explore for oil and gas off the Indian Ocean coast.The judgment delivered in Makhanda on Thursday marks a monumental victory for environmentalists concerned about the impact the exploration would have on whales and other marine life. Continue reading...

Outgoing leader hails £700m funding for Sizewell C nuclear plant in penultimate speech

Amid mounting energy and climate crises, the would-be prime minister is burying her head in an eternal culture warHow best to describe wilfully vandalising the planet and threatening human life to satisfy ideological bloodlust? Liz Truss – already a plausible contender for the “worst prime minister ever” gong before she even assumes office – apparently intends to issue up to 130 drilling licences for oil and gas firms. If the purpose of this is to confront the looming social catastrophe of energy bills, to describe it as an exercise in futility would be generous: it takes the best part of three decades to pump fossil fuels out of the ground and put them onstream.As Russia switches off Europe’s flow of gas via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline – it implausibly cites maintenance work as the reason – the need for drastic, swift action could not be more obvious, yet our soon-to-be prime minister has nothing meaningful to offer.Owen Jones is a Guardian columnistGuardian Newsroom: Who will be our new prime minister?

Experts, concerned about the algae bloom that is turning the water to brown muck, say the die-off is ‘like losing giant redwoods’Thousands of fish carcasses have been floating up to the edges of the San Francisco Bay, and the scummy top of Oakland’s Lake Merritt – stewing under the sun and wafting a putrid stench into nearby neighborhoods.The dead bat rays, striped bass, sturgeon, anchovies and clams, are likely mass victims of an algal bloom that scientists are racing to understand. In the meantime citizen scientists, local photographers, joggers and naturalists have been capturing dramatic photos of the die off. Continue reading...

The technology, put forward as part of the UK’s net zero strategy, could extend the life of fossil fuel infrastructureCarbon capture and storage schemes, a key plank of many governments’ net zero plans, “is not a climate solution”, the author of a major new report on the technology has said.Researchers for the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) found underperforming carbon capture projects considerably outnumbered successful ones by large margins. Continue reading...

The deputy Liberal leader has been taken to task over the ‘totally wrong, wholly incorrect’ claim that no one is making electric utesOnce upon a time in the former Morrison government, policies to promote electric cars were going to “end the weekend”, while the vehicles themselves wouldn’t be able to tow your boat or trailer.Now in opposition and with Scott Morrison consigned to the backbench, the Liberal party’s deputy leader, Sussan Ley, has continued the EV bashing. Continue reading...

Push for moratorium on offsets comes as NSW’s scheme found to have no strategy for ensuring protection of environment

Lawmakers approved legislation in 2020 banning coal for electricity production by the end of this yearHawaii will close its only coal-fired power plant on Thursday, an aggressive step forward in the state’s effort to transition entirely to renewable energy by 2045.The AES power plant has been in use since 1992 on Oahu – the state’s third largest island and home to its capital Honolulu – and is responsible for as much as 20% of the island’s electricity. Continue reading...

Several California cities broke heat records, rising as high as 112F, and blazes erupted as residents were forced to fleeA record-breaking heatwave has scorched the US west, the latest in a string of extreme temperature events putting communities on high alert for heat-related illness and death as temperatures are expected to spike higher through the holiday weekend.More than 50 million Americans live in areas now under excessive heat watches, warnings and advisories. Temperatures are expected to hit 115F (46C) in the coming days across parts of southern California, Sacramento and the San Joaquin Valley, according to the National Weather Service. In Death Valley, temperatures were forecast to reach more than 120F (49C) – and perhaps match the highest temperature observed globally in the month of September. Continue reading...

Climate bill inquiry says government should consider establishing a transition authority for coal and gas workers

Diarrhoea and malaria cases spread, with risk of dysentery and cholera, as millions of displaced people forced to drink flood waterHealth officials have warned of large-scale outbreaks of disease in Pakistan after severe flooding displaced millions of people.A rise in cases of diarrhoea and malaria has been reported after months of heavy rains left people stranded and without access to clean water. Continue reading...

Boris Johnson is expected to confirm government funding for Suffolk projectBoris Johnson is poised to sign off as prime minister by giving the green light for a new nuclear reactor costing up to £30bn.The decision to offer funding for the Sizewell C in Suffolk, in his final week in Downing Street, is expected to unlock significant private funding for the project after years bogged down in planning approvals. However, it would come after Johnson promised not to make any major spending decisions before leaving office. Here is the state of play. Continue reading...

Support amid huge industry profits is a ‘roadblock’ to tackling climate crisis, says International Energy AgencyGlobal public subsidies for fossil fuels almost doubled to $700bn in 2021, analysis has shown, representing a “roadblock” to tackling the climate crisis.Despite the huge profits of fossil fuel companies, the subsidies soared as governments sought to shield citizens from surging energy prices as the global economy rebounded from the Covid-19 pandemic. Continue reading...

Children in Mississippi capital to return to virtual learning: ‘We have no idea when our kids will go back in person’As the flooding in Jackson, Mississippi, continues to upend the lives of tens of thousands of residents, the city’s youngest are struggling to continue their schooling.Erica Jones, an educator for the last 21 years and president of the Mississippi Association of Educators, said the 20,000 students in the predominantly Black and impoverished school district are dealing with yet another disruption after the pandemic. Continue reading...

IAEA experts wait to inspect frontline facility while Russia says they must join a queue

White House offers help to 150,000 residents of Jackson, which has been under boil-water notice for a monthThe governor of Mississippi declared a state of emergency and called in the national guard after the main water treatment facility in the state capital, Jackson, started to fail, threatening the water supply of up to 250,000 people and leaving many without running water.Tate Reeves delivered the news a critical water treatment plant in Jackson had begun to fail on Monday evening. The announcement made official what thousands of the city’s 160,000 residents already knew – that water pressure is so low it is impossible to carry out vital daily functions such as flushing toilets or taking showers. Continue reading...

Group of 40 organisations says deregulation risks irreparable damage to environment, people’s health and workers’ rightsDitching the UK’s green and social regulations in the bonfire of red tape that both Tory leadership candidates have promised would risk irreparable damage to the natural environment, to people’s health and workers’ rights, a group of 40 organisations has warned.Health and safety in the workplace could also be threatened if current regulations are abandoned, according to the group. Both Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, one of whom will be the next prime minister after a poll of Conservative party members, have indicated they would lead a deregulation drive in government. Continue reading...

Energy bills are set to top £3,500 a year for the average household, while voices on the right of the Tory party want to bury the ‘green agenda’The fourth Conservative prime minister in six years will take office next week, facing a set of inflationary economic and social crises not seen since the 1970s.Energy bills set to top £3,500 a year for the average household are forecast to push two-thirds into fuel poverty by January, while food prices have leapt at the fastest rate for more than a decade, adding nearly £500 and rising to the average annual grocery bill. Key workers are striking or mulling stoppages, and services from health to the courts are on the brink of collapse. Meanwhile, sewage is pouring into our rivers and beaches, a grim metaphor for the state of the nation taking tangible form. Continue reading...

Sharif’s climate change minister called the flooding a ‘climate catastrophe’ and said the south Asian nation was ‘paying the price’ for western use of fossil fuelsPakistan is not to blame for a climate crisis-fuelled disaster that has flooded much of the country, the prime minister has said, as he made a desperate plea for international help in what he said was the “toughest moment” in the nation’s history.“We are suffering from it but it is not our fault at all,” Shehbaz Sharif told journalists on Tuesday afternoon at a press conference where his climate change minister referred to the flooding as a “climate catastrophe”. Continue reading...