Toxic pesticides used to eradicate grain-eating quelea may harm the country’s endangered raptors, say conservationistsA drive by the Kenyan government to kill up to 6 million red-billed quelea birds that have invaded farms will have unintended consequences for raptors and other wild species, experts have warned.The continuing drought in the Horn of Africa has reduced the amount of native grass, whose seeds are queleas’ main food source, causing the birds to increasingly invade grain fields, putting 2,000 acres (800 hectares) of rice under threat. About 300 acres of rice fields have been destroyed by the birds. Continue reading...

Financial institutions signed up to GFANZ initiative accused of acting as ‘climate arsonists’Banks and finance institutions that have signed up to net zero pledges are still investing heavily in fossil fuels, research has shown, leading to accusations they are acting as “climate arsonists”.The Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) initiative was launched by the former Bank of England governor Mark Carney, as one of the main UK achievements in hosting the Cop26 UN climate summit at Glasgow in 2021. Continue reading...

‘Cease and desist’ letter signed by over 650,000 people sent to oil and gas CEOs follows removal of Greta Thunberg from coal protestHundreds of thousands of young climate activists have said they will continue “protesting in the streets in huge numbers” against fossil fuels, a day after Greta Thunberg was removed by German police from a condemned village atop a massive coal deposit.In a cease-and-desist letter to the CEOs of fossil fuel companies, youth campaigners accuse them of a “direct violation of our human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, your duties of care, as well as the rights of Indigenous people”. Continue reading...

US climate envoy says pick is a ‘terrific choice’ but activists equate pick to asking ‘arms dealers to lead peace talks’US climate envoy John Kerry backs the United Arab Emirates’ decision to appoint the CEO of a state-run oil company to preside over the upcoming UN climate negotiations in Dubai, citing his work on renewable energy projects.In an interview Sunday with the Associated Press, the former US secretary of state acknowledged that the Emirates and other countries relying on fossil fuels to fund their state coffers face finding “some balance” ahead. Continue reading...

A pair of the semi-aquatic mammals will be released on to Ewhurst Park estateBeavers are set to be reintroduced into an enclosure in Hampshire, marking the first time in 400 years that they have lived in the county in southern England.A pair of the semi-aquatic mammals will be released on to Ewhurst Park estate, which is being restored for nature and sustainable food production. Continue reading...

Nothing is produced at Sellafield any more. But making safe what is left behind is an almost unimaginably expensive and complex task that requires us to think not on a human timescale, but a planetary one Continue reading...

Plans aimed at preventing tactics such as ‘slow marching’ part of Rishi Sunak’s public order crackdownPolice in England and Wales are to be given powers to shut down protests before any disruption begins under Rishi Sunak’s plans for a public order crackdown, which aim to prevent tactics such as “slow marching”.Sparking outrage from civil liberties campaigners, the government said it would be laying an amendment to the public order bill to toughen its crackdown on “guerilla” tactics used mainly by environmental protesters. Continue reading...

Readers respond to a Pass Notes column on the four-minute showerYour article (Pass notes, 9 January) presented the idea of four-minute showers. In September 2021, at a time of water shortages, I wrote to Yorkshire Water suggesting that they adopt a measure that I saw several years ago while working in Australia – the water supplier had given each householder a three-minute hourglass egg timer to stick to the wall of the bathroom shower. The Aussies then practised “beat the egg timer” while showering. I suggested that this would save both water and energy in these difficult times. Of course, as a follically challenged older man, I might have to donate some of my minutes to my wife to deal with her more luxurious tresses. I received a “that’s interesting” acknowledgment from Yorkshire Water.

Investors paid almost £9bn in dividends and share buyback schemes over last five years, report has revealedNational Grid, which maintains the backbone of Britain’s electricity network, should be taken under government control to ensure the rapid transition to net zero, campaigners said, after a report revealed that the business paid investors almost £9bn in dividends and share buyback schemes over the last five years.The stock-market-listed firm, which counts the fund managers BlackRock, Vanguard and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority among its top five shareholders, has a 19% operating margin on its electricity business, allowing the board to fund an average £1bn a year in dividends. Continue reading...

Forty-five-year-old and her partner were hiking with a mountain guide when accident happenedA British woman has died after getting caught in an avalanche as she was hiking with two other people on the Mont Blanc massif in the French Alps, rescue services have said.The accident happened on Saturday on the Argentière Glacier, one of the Mont Blanc mountain range’s biggest glaciers. Continue reading...

One sample taken close to the plant contained 80,000 times the safe level of banned substance TBTA large marine paint-making company has been fined £650,000 after a highly toxic banned chemical was washed out from a holding tank into a “pristine” river in south-west England.International Paint Ltd “utterly failed” to control a substance called TBT that it had stored at its mothballed plant on the banks of the Yealm in Devon, a judge concluded. Continue reading...

Erchana Murray-Bartlett reaches end of epic journey from ‘tip to toe’ of Australia – smashing women’s record for consecutive daily marathons

This year’s figure of 3,796 pup births is almost double the count during the winter of 2019-20A record number of baby seals have been spotted on a five-mile stretch of coast in Norfolk.A total of 3,796 seal pups have been born so far this winter, while 1,169 adults have been spotted by volunteers. Continue reading...

Tale told on Joe Rogan podcast leads fossil hunters to murky depths off Manhattan even as museum pours cold water on storySeveral groups of treasure hunters have been seen on the East River in New York City after a guest on the Joe Rogan podcast claimed a boxcar of valuable prehistoric mammoth bones was dumped in the river in the 1940s.Despite a lack of evidence, treasure seekers have used boats, diving gear and remote-operated cameras to search. Continue reading...

New studies show just how harmful to health they can be, but there are good alternatives to the open flameGas stoves are a hot topic. A new study linked them to one in eight childhood asthma cases, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission said it would look into banning them, and Republicans expressed anger at the mere suggestion.At the same time, federal and state policies are aiming to give gas stoves’ main competition – regular electric stoves and the ballyhooed induction stove – a boost. Continue reading...

Marine farmers point finger at jellyfish swarms but campaigners call for boycott to curb ‘ever-worsening problem’ of overcrowdingSalmon deaths on fish farms in Scotland nearly doubled last year, official figures show, owing to growing levels of disease, parasites and jellyfish blooms. Campaigners have blamed overcrowding and called for a boycott.Fish Health Inspectorate (FHI) data shows that nearly 15m salmon mortalities were reported by farms in Scotland from January to November 2022, the latest data available, compared with 8.58m in all of 2021 and 5.81m in 2020. Continue reading...

A review panel on the 2021 Teesside eco-disaster is due to send its findings to ministers this week, but evidence from academics may not be given full weightScientists who led research into the mystery deaths of thousands of crabs and lobsters along England’s north-east coast say they have been asked no questions by the panel investigating the disaster.The expert review panel has also been excluded from examining government processes as part of its inquiry, despite widespread scrutiny of the official explanation for the deaths, the Observer understands. Continue reading...

A judge’s decision making it unlawful to pitch a tent on the moors without the landowner’s permission is set to spark a wave of right-to-roam protestsStanding at the summit of Hound Tor, wind whistling, ponies grazing nearby and the greens and browns of Dartmoor visible through the filter of the wet mist, the imposing facade of the high court could not feel more distant.But on Saturday morning, carrying his backpack containing his tent, a rubbish bin, trowel and cooking equipment, Mark Hayhurst, 43, came here to mourn a ruling by the court on Friday that made it unlawful to wild camp on the land without permission. Continue reading...

Edelman, which will publish the latest edition of its ‘trust barometer’ at Davos, says trust is its legacy – but critics say its reluctant to follow its own adviceAt the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this week, the public relations juggernaut Edelman will publish the latest edition of its “trust barometer”, an annual survey that purports to measure whether people around the world trust businesses, governments, NGOs and the media.There’s just one problem: even as Edelman promotes its brand and pursues clients with stern warnings about the importance of trust, critics charge the company appears reluctant to follow its own advice. The firm’s clients have ranged from ExxonMobil to the Saudi government and members of the Sackler family, the former owners of the opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma. Continue reading...

December 2022 was third-busiest month on record for solar panel installation partly driven by spiking electricity prices

The government wrote to the then Prince of Wales in 2019, seeking approval for legislation that had implications for his estatesThe government asked King Charles for permission to pass its post-Brexit “world-leading” Environment Act because laws requiring landowners to enhance conservation could affect his business interests.Environment minister Rebecca Pow wrote to the then Prince of Wales in 2019 to ask if he would accept section seven of the environment bill, which became law in November 2021. Continue reading...

Climate activist also denounced ‘police violence’ against campaigners at the abandoned village of LützerathGreta Thunberg joined thousands of demonstrators to march in a large-scale protest in Germany against the demolition of a village to make way for an opencast coalmine extension.Crowds of activists marched on the hamlet of Lützerath in western Germany, waving banners, chanting and accompanied by a brass band, but there were also violent clashes with police. Continue reading...

Activists worry the arrests are a move by the cash-strapped government to open the country to now banned metals miningFive prominent environmental defenders who played a crucial role in securing a historic mining ban in El Salvador have been detained accused of civil war era and gang-related crimes, in what rights groups fear is a ruse to restart mining.Miguel Ángel Gámez, Alejandro Laínez García, Pedro Antonio Rivas Laínez, Antonio Pacheco and Saúl Agustín Rivas Ortega were detained on Wednesday in Cabañas in northern El Salvador, accused of killing an alleged army informant more than 33 years ago during the brutal civil war that claimed 75,000 lives. Continue reading...

Bill payers stand to collectively save billions if minimum standard raised to a C rating, research suggestsRaising the minimum standard of energy efficiency to a C rating for privately rented homes would save bill payers about £570 a year, research has found.This would amount to annual savings totalling £1.75bn across the UK, according to the thinktank E3G in a report called Cutting Energy Bills and Raising Standards for Private Renters. Continue reading...

Sale by retailers and food outlets in England of single-use plastic tableware to be banned but not ‘shelf-ready pre-packaged food’ containersSingle-use plastic plates, cutlery and a range of other items will be banned in England from October, to curb their “devastating” impact on the environment, the government has confirmed.The Department for the Environment said the ban will also cover single-use plastic bowls, trays and certain types of polystyrene cups and food containers. Continue reading...

Officials urge residents to remain on guard for further damage, with 6,000 under evacuation ordersWith rain-soaked California expected to see several more rounds of stormy weather over the weekend and into next week, state and federal officials pleaded with residents on Friday to stay alert to the possibility of more flooding and damage.A series of storms has walloped the state since late December, leaving at least 19 people dead. On Friday, 6,000 people were under evacuation orders and another 20,000 households were without power, said Nancy Ward, the director of the California governor’s office of emergency services. Continue reading...

Lawsuit argues move to allow energy-intensive cryptocurrency miner to take over power plant violates state’s 2019 climate lawEnvironmental activists filed a lawsuit against a New York state agency on Friday for approving a cryptocurrency mining company’s takeover of an upstate power plant.The group said the move violates the state’s landmark climate law that was passed in 2019 and the lawsuit is the first to test how energy-intensive crypto mining legally holds up against the state’s climate goals. Continue reading...

Wealthy landowner Alexander Darwall wins case against national park after arguing right to pitch tent on moors did not exist

Some operators weigh up weekend-only opening as soaring energy prices remain stubbornly highThe bright illuminations and chaotic sounds of amusement arcades are an essential part of the British seaside experience, but the lights could soon start going out as owners warn of eye-watering energy bill increases of up to 1,000%.The jump in costs driven by soaring wholesale gas prices has had a severe impact on a sector that has barely recovered from Covid restrictions, leaving many operators looking at slashing their opening hours or closing completely. Continue reading...

Carbon credits are about to play a central role in Australia’s climate responseThere are three issues that will determine whether the major climate announcement the Albanese government made this week can deliver the transformational change Australia needs.The details can be mind-numbing, but a quick summary for those still enjoying a summer break: on Monday the climate change minister, Chris Bowen, released a review into Australia’s carbon credit system. It followed expert allegations the scheme is “largely a sham” as it has failed to deliver real cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. Continue reading...

A luxury cruise has been hailed as the start of a new age of Indian tourism. But conservationists fear the impact of increased river traffic and pollutionThe Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, has officially launched the “world’s longest river cruise” from the city of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. The luxury voyage will last 51 days, travelling 3,200km via Dhaka in Bangladesh to Dibrugarh in Assam, crossing 27 river systems.The three-deck MV Ganga Vilas, with 18 suites, is the latest venture in a trend for cruise tourism in India being promoted by the government. Modi hailed the cruise industry on the Ganges as a “landmark moment”, which will herald a new age of tourism in India. Continue reading...

Aesthetics and social inequity are cause for concern as locals grapple with proposals to protect cities from climate changeThere were more than a few issues with a recent federal plan to wall Miami off from the dangers of climate change.The $5bn proposal involved building a massive concrete seawall in the fragile marine ecosystem of Biscayne Bay. It included using taxpayer money to elevate private waterfront mansions, while constructing a wall through the middle of downtown and sometimes low-income neighborhoods. Continue reading...

It’s been very wet in San Francisco and parts of New Zealand, while extreme cold has swept across RussiaOver the past couple of weeks, California has seen the effects of a persistent atmospheric river bringing in constant spells of rain from the Pacific across the state. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and National Weather Service (NWS) have released rainfall totals for some areas of California over the course of 16 days from 26 December 2022 through to 11 January 2023. Over the 16-day period downtown San Francisco received 345mm and in nearby Oakland totals reached 327.7mm, breaking their 16-day rainfall record. The significance of the flooding is only increased by having had extremely dry soils through the summer and autumn with severe droughts, therefore preventing soils from easily soaking up the intense rainfall that has occurred over recent weeks.Tropical Cyclone Hale affected the North Island of New Zealand on 9-12 January. Severe thunderstorms brought 156.5mm to Hikuwai in Gisborne in the space of 12 hours, and more than 100mm to other places around Gisborne in the same period. Over the course of 18 hours, 219mm was recorded at Pinnacles in the Coromandel ranges and in Whitianga aerodrome on 10 January, making it the fifth wettest January day on record. Continue reading...

Lobbying industry flexed muscle to ensure bills that aimed to set stricter standards on PFAS compounds went nowhereAll legislation aimed at regulating toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” died in the Democratic-controlled US Congress last session as companies flexed their lobbying muscle and bills did not gain enough Republican support to overcome a Senate filibuster.The failure comes after public health advocates and Democratic lawmakers expressed optimism at the legislative session’s outset that bills that would protect the public from dangerous exposure to the chemicals could gain sufficient bipartisan support. Continue reading...

Campaigners warn ‘breathtaking conflict of interest’ could jeopardise climate negotiating processSultan Al Jaber, the government minister for United Arab Emirates who will preside over this year’s crucial UN climate talks, will retain his roles as head of the country’s oil company and sustainable energy businesses, UAE has confirmed.Campaigners have been angered by the decision, revealed by the Guardian on Wednesday and confirmed on Thursday by the UAE government, which they see as a clear conflict of interest, with some likening it to putting a tobacco company head in charge of an anti-smoking treaty, and warning it could jeopardise the negotiating process and hasten climate breakdown. Continue reading...

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including grazing goats, a recovering vulture and relaxing monkeys Continue reading...

Climate campaigners accuse leaders of hypocrisy as flights emit as much CO in a week as 350,000 carsPrivate jet emissions quadrupled as 1,040 planes flew in and out of airports serving Davos during the 2022 World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting.Climate campaigners accused the rich and powerful of hypocrisy in flying in on private jets to a conference discussing climate breakdown. Continue reading...

Rising numbers of people are taking air pollution measurements to push authorities to take actionMore and more people are making their own air pollution measurements and using these to press for action from national and local governments.Last year Mark Tebbutt installed Chorley’s seventh air pollution monitor. Since 2013 Tebbutt, his family and friends have been buying and operating their own air pollution instruments. These are mounted on garden fences and on the sides of houses across the Lancashire town. You can find their data online alongside those from more than 30,000 citizen scientists around the world. Continue reading...

Authorities to begin release of a million tonnes of water from stricken nuclear plant after treatment to remove most radioactive materialThe controversial release of more than a million tonnes of water from the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant will begin in the northern spring or summer, Japan’s government has said – a move that has sparked anger among local fishing communities and countries in the region.The decision comes more than two years after the government approved the release of the water, which will be treated to remove most radioactive materials but will still contain tritium, a naturally occurring radioactive form of hydrogen that is technically difficult to separate from water. Continue reading...

Traditional lawn has been under fire for years because of its lack of biodiversity and voracious appetite for fertiliser, herbicides and mowingDig up your “imperial” lawn and replant it with trees to combat the climate crisis, researchers have urged, after the latest study to lay bare the emissions cost of maintaining that pleasant, green patch.If a third of the world’s city lawns were planted with trees, more than a gigatonne of carbon could be removed from the atmosphere over two decades, researchers from Auckland University of Technology found. The problem is not the grass itself, but the mowing, fertilisation and irrigation required. Continue reading...

Roughly 46% of state remains categorized in ‘severe drought’, a sharp shift from more than 71% just last weekA weeks-long onslaught of heavy rain has made a notable dent in California’s extreme drought, new data shows, even as the state braces for another round of punishing storms with no reprieve in sight until next week.The storms have killed at least 18 people so far, with more fatalities likely to be confirmed in the coming days. The dramatic increase in precipitation has raised sunken reservoirs and boosted the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada range, putting the state in a much better position to weather warm and dry days that probably lie ahead. Continue reading...

Oil company drove some of the leading science of the era only to publicly dismiss global heatingThe oil giant Exxon privately “predicted global warming correctly and skilfully” only to then spend decades publicly rubbishing such science in order to protect its core business, new research has found.A trove of internal documents and research papers has previously established that Exxon knew of the dangers of global heating from at least the 1970s, with other oil industry bodies knowing of the risk even earlier, from around the 1950s. They forcefully and successfully mobilized against the science to stymie any action to reduce fossil fuel use. Continue reading...

World Meteorological Organization data shows last year’s average temperature was 1.15C more than pre-industrial levelsThe relentless challenge of global heating has again been underscored by the tally of a passing year, with 2022 ranking as one of the warmest years ever recorded and the past eight years now collectively the hottest documented by modern science.Last year’s average temperature was about 1.15C warmer globally than levels seen in the pre-industrial era, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), with searing, record heat enveloping much of Europe and Asia, which both experienced their second hottest years on record. Europe had its warmest ever summer. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Lack of confidence in ‘inconsistent’ government is huge barrier to investors, finds Chris Skidmore• Why the review is a damning indictment of Tory governmentRishi Sunak has been criticised by his own net zero tsar, who says the UK risks missing its green targets due to inconsistent policies and lack of commitment to pledges.In his net zero review, seen by the Guardian, Chris Skidmore said a large barrier to renewable energy was a lack of confidence in the government, which has inconsistent policy support for green energy, with measures such as Sunak’s new electricity tax. Continue reading...

Female killer whale died after grounding itself north of Daytona Beach in first recorded instance in south-eastern USWildlife officials in Florida will conduct a necropsy to determine the cause of death of a 21ft (6.4-metre) orca, the first recorded instance of a killer whale beaching itself in the south-eastern US.The female orca was still alive when it came ashore in Flagler county, about 30 miles north of Daytona Beach, early on Wednesday, but died before rescuers arrived. Continue reading...

The row between Mike Cannon-Brookes and Andrew Forrest reveals the technical, economic and even geopolitical hurdles to completion

Piles of rubbish fill the space normally taken by summer visitors, with businesses facing the loss of a season’s earnings

Experts say while boom in invasive species is not good news for some native fish, there will be winners – including water birds

No one knows how many of these elusive and mysterious creatures are left but time is thought to be running out as artificial barriers fragment their habitatWildlife photographer Yukihiro Fukuda first began diving in the cool waters of the Hino River in south-western Japan 15 years ago. But it was not until six years later that he was able to capture the extraordinary image of a male Japanese giant salamander guarding hundreds of eggs, which gained him a place in the finals of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, staged by London’s Natural History Museum. The salamander was named Fukuda-kun in his honour.It was the first time the nesting behaviour of these mysterious amphibians, which it is thought could live up to 100 years and whose biology has changed little over the last 23m years, had been caught on camera. Continue reading...

Julien Féral also receives life hunting ban over death of Morgan Keane, as government tightens rules for sportA hunter who shot dead a French-British man he mistook for a wild boar has received a two-year suspended sentence and has been banned from hunting for life, days after the government outlined tighter rules for the sport.Julien Féral, 35, who had only possessed a French hunting licence for four months before the incident, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. He had told the court he mistook 25-year-old Morgan Keane for a wild boar when he shot him dead in south-west France in December 2020. Continue reading...