Environment | The Guardian

A bill passed the state legislature that will require state-funded institutions to provide halal and kosher meals on requestAs a student at Sullivan high school in Chicago, Ridwan Rashid frequently skipped lunch and was distracted by hunger, even though his school offered free meals to all students. Rashid is Muslim, as are a growing number of students at Sullivan. But until recently, none of the meals served at the Sullivan cafeteria were halal, which meant they were off limits for most of the school’s Muslim students.“We go to school and it’s like, OK, some of the kids can eat and none of the Muslim kids can eat,” Rashid said. “It’s not fair.” Continue reading...

Gelje Sherpa was guiding Chinese client to summit when he saw Malaysian climber clinging to ropeA Malaysian climber narrowly survived after a Nepali sherpa guide hauled him down from below the summit of Mount Everest in a very rare high-altitude rescue, a government official has said.Gelje Sherpa, 30, was guiding a Chinese client to the 8,849-metre (29,032ft) Everest summit on 18 May when he saw the Malaysian climber clinging to a rope and shivering from extreme cold in the area known as the death zone, where temperatures can dip to -30C or lower. Continue reading...

Green groups criticise Jemena for offering incentive to switch from electricity amid policies in Victoria and NSW aimed at winding back gas use

Scientists compared catch data from four years before and after a permanent ban and found minimal impact on commercial fishingBanning fishing in a Mexican marine park did not reduce the fishing catch, according to a new study that says it has dispelled the “myth” spread by fishing companies that protecting marine areas leaves less fish available for people to eat.The before-and-after study looked at whether banning commercial fishing from the Revillagigedo national park, which covers 147,000 sq km (57,000 sq miles) of Pacific Ocean west of Mexico, would reduce the country’s catch volumes.

Exclusive: Report claims Australia’s shareholdings in development banks has made it responsible for investing $828m in fossil fuel projects over five years

DoJ files lawsuit against companies linked to Jim Justice, also a Republican Senate candidate, seeking unpaid penalties of $7.6mThe Republican governor of West Virginia, Jim Justice, who is running for a US Senate seat next year, implied on Wednesday that a justice department lawsuit over more than $7.5m in unpaid penalties related to mining operations by his family companies was a politically motivated attack.“I’ve announced as a Republican that I’m running for the US Senate,” Justice told reporters. “The Biden administration is aware of the fact that with a win for the US Senate and everything, we could very well flip the Senate. There’s a lot at stake right now.” Continue reading...

Climate protesters call provision in US debt ceiling bill to expedite controversial project in Virginia and West Virginia a ‘betrayal’Climate activists have stepped up protests over the inclusion of a provision to speed up a controversial gas pipeline’s completion in the deal to raise the debt ceiling as Congress prepares to vote on Wednesday, aiming criticism at Democrats Chuck Schumer and Joe Manchin.The pipeline project has long been championed by Manchin, the West Virginia senator who was the top recipient of fossil fuel industry contributions during the 2022 election cycle. Continue reading...

Coastline, which runs from Lough Foyle to the Glens of Antrim, described as a place of outstanding natural beautyNamed after its geology and best known for the dramatic sweep of its scenery, Northern Ireland’s Causeway coast has now earned a new accolade, as the UK’s favourite place for wildlife.The coastline, which runs along the north-east of Ireland from Lough Foyle to the Glens of Antrim, was voted the nation’s favourite in a poll by BBC Wildlife magazine, beating the Isles of Scilly in fourth place, Scaur Glen in Dumfries and Galloway in third and, in an unexpected second place, Wimbledon Common in London. Continue reading...

More than 18,000 people remain under evacuation order outside Halifax as Canadian PM Justin Trudeau pledges federal assistanceOfficials in the province of Nova Scotia say unprecedented wildfires that have forced thousands from their homes will keep growing despite the “water, raw muscle power and air power” deployed by fire crews.As of Wednesday, more than 20,000 hectares of the Maritime province were burning from 13 wildfires, including three fires that considered out of control. More than 18,000 people remain under evacuation order outside Halifax, the region’s largest city. More than 200 structures, the majority of which are homes, have been destroyed by the fire. No fatalities have been recorded. Continue reading...

Groundbreaking analysis of safety and justice hopes to inform next generation of sustainability policyHuman activity has pushed the world into the danger zone in seven out of eight newly demarcated indicators of planetary safety and justice, according to a groundbreaking analysis of the Earth’s wellbeing.Going beyond climate disruption, the report by the Earth Commission group of scientists presents disturbing evidence that our planet faces growing crises of water availability, nutrient loading, ecosystem maintenance and aerosol pollution. These pose threats to the stability of life-support systems and worsen social equality. Continue reading...

Dale Vince pledges to double amount given by public over next 48 hours after Tories target his Labour linksOne of Labour’s biggest donors has pledged to match any public donations to Just Stop Oil in the next 48 hours, as Keir Starmer faced mounting Conservative pressure to return funds from the businessman over his backing for the environmental group.Dale Vince, the founder of the green energy firm Ecotricity, has given at least £1.5m to Labour over the last 10 years, according to the Electoral Commission. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Labor facing calls from 15 crossbenchers, as well as party insiders, to transition to plantation timber as part of reform to environmental laws

Regulator expected to examine whether sustainability reports on sourcing of wood pellets meet renewables subsidy criteriaDrax is facing an investigation by the energy regulator into the sustainability of the biomass it uses at its wood-burning power plant amid growing scepticism over its green credentials.The energy regulator, Ofgem, said it would investigate whether the owner of Britain’s biggest power plant, in North Yorkshire, was in breach of the reporting rules required for its renewable energy subsidy scheme. Continue reading...

With 100 tonnes of clothing from the west discarded every day in Accra, ‘fast fashion’ brands must be forced to help pay for the choking textile waste they create, environmentalists sayA group of secondhand clothes dealers from Ghana have visited Brussels to lobby for Europe-wide legislation to compel the fashion industry to help address the “environmental catastrophe” of dumping vast amounts of textiles in the west African country.The traders from Kantamanto in Accra, one of the world’s largest secondhand clothing markets, met Alice Bah Kuhnke, an MEP with Sweden’s Green party, environmental organisations and representatives from the European Commission and the European Environment Bureau to argue that proposed extended producer responsibility (EPR) regulation should ensure Ghana receives funds towards managing the 100 tonnes of clothing discarded at the market every day. Continue reading...

In Arizona’s Pinal county water cuts have become a reality even before this month’s historic deal by states to use 13% less water from stricken riverNancy Caywood worries about water constantly. Water – or the uncertainty of it – has kept the 69-year-old Arizona farmer awake at night since supplies began dwindling about two decades ago due to chronic overuse and drought in the American west.During one particularly low point in late 2021, every field on the 255-acre family farm was either fallow, shrivelled or dormant. “The canal was dry, the reservoir was empty, it was raining at the wrong times … the farm was 100% unproductive and we were using savings to pay bills,” said Caywood, a third-generation farmer in Pinal county who grows mostly alfalfa and cotton – two of the most marketable and water-guzzling commodity crops. Continue reading...

Inventory shows Australia has burned through 27% of emissions budget under Paris climate accord in 25% of allotted time

The proposed legislation would require changes to farming methods in Europe to tackle the climate crisis and restore nature, ensuring affordable food for allFor 10,000 years, human civilisation has grown and thrived because of Earth’s remarkable regenerative capacity that sustains climate stability and rich biological diversity. Now human activity has severely undermined this resilience.Our patterns of economic growth, development, production and consumption are pushing the planet’s life-support systems beyond their natural boundaries. Last week, members of the European parliament’s agriculture and fisheries committees voted to continue this destruction, rejecting European Commission proposals for a nature restoration law. The vote flies in the face of science, and the claims by some MEPs to be defending farmers and food security are flawed. Continue reading...

SNP government preparing to accept UK ministers’ demand to exclude glass from deposit return schemeScottish ministers are poised to accept a UK government ultimatum over a controversial can and bottle recycling scheme after ministers in London said it had to be watered down significantly.Lorna Slater, the minister overseeing a Scottish scheme to charge a 20p deposit for bottles and cans, accused her UK counterparts of “deliberate sabotage” after they demanded that Scotland drop plans to include glass bottles. Continue reading...

Nepal’s head of tourism says variable weather on the mountain has led to one of the deadliest years on recordExperts say this is likely to be one of the deadliest years on record on Mount Everest, with variable weather caused by climate change being blamed as one of the main reasons for the deaths of up to 17 people.A total of 12 people have now been confirmed dead during Everest expeditions this season and another five are missing, presumed dead, as no contact has been made for at least five days in all cases, according to the Himalayan Database, which tracks mountain fatalities. Continue reading...

The agreement will fast-track the Mountain Valley pipeline, and limit the scope of environmental reviews for future developmentsThe deal to raise the US debt ceiling will have significant ramifications for the climate and nature, by fast-tracking a controversial gas pipeline in West Virginia and limiting the scope of environmental reviews for future developments, environmentalists have warned.The agreement struck between Joe Biden and Republicans who control the House of Representatives states the Mountain Valley pipeline is “required in the national interest” and should be issued its necessary permits within 21 days and be shielded from legal challenge by those who object to it. Continue reading...

Government curbs transfer of trees to and from affected areas to limit spread of rash-causing oak processionary mothsThe government has introduced new legislation controlling the movement of oak trees in south-east England due to a rise in the numbers of a toxic, invasive moth species.The oak processionary moth was first spotted in Kew Gardens, in south-west London, in 2006 after the eggs were imported on an oak from Europe. The insects, whose caterpillars produce tiny hairs that can cause allergic reactions in humans, feed on the leaves of oak trees. Continue reading...

US airline pledged to go carbon neutral but plaintiffs say it is relying on offsets that do almost nothing to mitigate global heatingDelta Air Lines is facing a lawsuit over its $1bn carbon neutrality claim which plaintiffs say is “false and misleading” as it relies on offsets that do little to mitigate global heating.In February 2020, the US airline announced plans to go carbon neutral, pledging $1bn to mitigate all greenhouse gas emissions from its business worldwide over the next decade. It included plans to purchase carbon credits generated from conserving rainforest, wetlands and grasslands along with decreasing the use of jet fuel and increasing plane efficiency. Continue reading...

Darryl Kelbrick shows Christopher Thomond the painstaking process behind artisan charcoal burning, a practice he has spent the past decade learning in an ancient coppiced woodland where he lives with his partner off-grid Continue reading...

Under an ambitious conservation plan, 60 Mesola red deer are being moved from northern Italy to Calabria, where it is hoped they will thrive and multiplyIn a meadow in northern Italy, the fog engulfs a forklift truck putting long, narrow boxes inside a green mounted police transporter. Small openings in the crates reveal the fearful looks of stocky deer, their antlers sawn off to prevent injury during transport. It will be a long trip, more than 1,000km (620 miles) and almost 20 hours of driving to Calabria in southern Italy, where they will be released.The 20 animals in the crates are some of the 300 remaining Italian or Mesola red deer (Cervus elaphus italicus), a unique and endangered subspecies.Time to move: an Italian red deer in the Bosco della Mesola nature reserve in northern Italy Continue reading...

Marcus McGowan was attacked 40km off the Cape York coast on Saturday with an expert stating the croc likely ‘realised it grabbed something too big to handle’A Queensland man who survived a crocodile attack by prising the reptile’s jaws off his head says he was “simply in the wrong place, at the wrong time”.Marcus McGowan, 51, was snorkelling near the Charles Hardy Islands, 40km off the Cape York coast, with his wife and friends when he was attacked on Saturday. Continue reading...

Lava flow from Big Ben on Heard Island about 4,100km south-west of Perth part of eruption first noted more than a decade ago

Exclusive: England, Scotland and Wales survey reports similar response to people with gas boilersMore than 80% of households that have replaced their gas boilers with an electric heat pump are satisfied with their new heating system, according to the first major survey of heat pump users.Those who use heat pumps to warm their homes reported broadly similar levels of satisfaction to those with gas boilers, the survey commissioned by the innovation charity Nesta found. Continue reading...

From the furnace of federal politics to bushfires, droughts and floods, Guardian Australia’s photographer-at-large captures 10 years of tumult and triumph

Big four have pledged to align business practices with Paris agreement but loophole allows them to fund sector, activist group says

Rich nations should pay for biodiversity loss, which disproportionately affects poor countries, say scientistsWealthy countries should pay for the loss and damage they cause to nature in poorer countries in the same way as for climate impacts, researchers have argued.At the Cop27 climate talks in November, world leaders agreed to a dedicated “loss and damage” fund providing financial assistance to poor nations stricken by climate disaster. More developed countries, which are largely responsible for driving climate breakdown, are to pay compensation to poorer nations, which are typically more vulnerable to its impacts. Continue reading...

Finding has implications for the ways that Australia’s native canid – including the extent to which they are culled – are managed

‘He knew the anguish of the marrow’When I was eight, my mother made me a costume for a Halloween party. Even at eight, this seemed like an important party. The costume was beautiful, as the things my mother made often were: more beautiful than a child’s thing ought to be, more beautiful than what a mother ought to be able to make after work.It was a skeleton costume: a unitard made from stocking fabric, painted with fluorescent paint; I remember the care she took to make the bones accurate, to make them just my size, matching femur to femur. Continue reading...

No one has yet been able to sail an autonomous boat across the Atlantic, but a young couple in Wales hope their craft will revolutionise ocean monitoring of temperatures, wildlife and moreWhen Anahita Laverack and Ciaran Dowds tested their robot boat for the first time off the coast of Wales, it was not smooth sailing. The 23-year-olds, both engineering graduates from Imperial College London, launched their autonomous craft – a 4ft, unmanned vessel – from a sailboat off the coast of Aberystwyth last July.Although the seas were rough, the robot boat “performed beautifully”, says Dowds – but he did not. Continue reading...

Gas company has argued ‘we pay our way’, noting that it contributes billions in tax and royalties

Confectionary with environmentally friendlier packaging will be available at 500 Tesco storesConsumers buying Mars bars at Tesco in the coming days will notice a change: the chocolate bar’s usual plastic wrapper has been swapped for a more environmentally friendly paper one.The confectionery maker Mars Incorporated is trialling recyclable paper packaging for a limited time, with the bars available at 500 Tesco stores from Monday. Continue reading...

A study is under way in the water-scarce region to see if commodity farmers can use the regenerative technique of cover cropping as a way to adapt to rapidly changing weather conditionsIn one of the toughest growing regions in the US, commercial farmers like Frank Machac are experimenting with a style of ancient agriculture more known for soil health than profit.They are perhaps unlikely budding agroecologists. “My number one concern is yield, I’m not worrying about climate change,” said Machac, 60, a ruddy-faced straight talker with 30 years’ farming experience in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV). Continue reading...

Low demand combined with sunny conditions and meltwater lifts hydro and solar productionOver the last week, several European countries had power prices in the wholesale energy market dip into negative values during daylight hours. The decline in prices was mostly driven by the abundance of available energy generated by renewable sources, combined with the relatively low demand for energy for heating or cooling, caused by normal springtime temperatures.Negative prices often occur when there is an excess supply of electricity in the market. This can happen when renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, or hydro produce a large quantity of electricity which exceeds demand and cannot be stored for later use. In such cases, producers may offer negative prices to incentivise wholesale consumers to take the surplus electricity off the grid and avoid overloading the system. This situation occurred due to an area of high pressure dominating across much of central and north-west Europe, providing lots of solar power generation across the area. Meanwhile, Finland experienced an oversupply of hydroelectric power resulting from excessive springtime meltwater which in turn led to negative prices here as well. Continue reading...

Monday’s election is going to be a political nail-biter but neither candidate has discussed a post oil and gas worldRecord-breaking wildfires have charred more than a million hectares of land in Alberta, pushing tens of thousands from their homes and choking the skies in a thick haze of smoke.But on the zigzagging campaign trail of the province’s general election, neither party leader has confronted the realities of climate change and how it will likely dramatically reshape life in the Canadian prairies. Continue reading...

Party says details of how UK can become ‘world leader’ in green energy transition will be announced soonLabour has confirmed it will block all new domestic oil and gas developments if it wins power, proposing instead to invest heavily in renewable sources such as wind and also in nuclear power.The shadow work and pensions secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, said details would be announced soon. Continue reading...

Revelation about war-torn country is ‘terrible indictment’ of UK government, says Ed MilibandUkraine has completed more onshore wind turbines than England since it was occupied by Russian soldiers – despite the UK government’s promise to relax restrictions on onshore windfarms.Only two onshore wind turbines have been installed in England since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year, generating 1 megawatt (MW) of electricity in the Staffordshire village of Keele. Continue reading...

Republican ‘trying to out-Trump Trump’ on climate, expert says, as governor says he rejects the ‘politicization of the weather’Ron DeSantis has been accused of a “catastrophic” approach to the climate crisis after he launched his campaign for US president by saying he rejects the “politicization of the weather” and questioning whether hurricanes hitting his home state of Florida have been worsened by climate change.DeSantis, the Republican Florida governor who announced his bid for the White House via a glitch-heavy Twitter stream on Wednesday, has previously dismissed concerns about global heating as “leftwing stuff” and he expanded upon this theme during a Fox News interview following his campaign launch. Continue reading...

Several Dutch celebrities among protesters, including Game of Thrones actor Carice van HoutenMore than 1,500 people were arrested during a protest by the Extinction Rebellion climate group in The Hague on Saturday, Dutch police said.Activists blocked a section of a motorway during the afternoon in protest against Dutch fossil fuel subsidies. Continue reading...

Analysis shows area includes 9,000 hectares where there was already active logging as pressure grows on government to end practice

Gallagher Premiership match between Saracens and Sale delayed after two men throw orange powder during matchJust Stop Oil protesters disrupted the Gallagher Premiership rugby union final at Twickenham on Saturday, two days after a similar protest at the Chelsea flower show.Two men invaded the pitch midway through the first half of the match in south-west London between Saracens and Sale, throwing orange paint powder on to the field resulting in a stoppage in play. Continue reading...

A planned drive-through Starbucks in the Gorbals area is at centre of a storm over the proliferation of outlets encouraging car useAmong the data available on the city of Glasgow is one particularly incongruous pair of findings: it has some of the lowest levels of car ownership in the UK, but the greatest number of drive-through restaurants – almost 50 at the last count.The latter has caused increasing frustration for residents, with at least 10 new applications lodged since 2019 and the vast majority granted. Campaigners have emphasised the apparent contradiction with Scotland’s view of itself as an ambitious climate leader, particularly following its hosting of Cop26 in 2021. Continue reading...

Conservative ministers say Scotland will have to remove glass bottles from its environmental initiativeThe UK government has been accused of trying to “sabotage” Scotland’s deposit return scheme (DRS) after it ruled the environmental initiative could only go ahead if glass bottles were removed from its remit.Lorna Slater, the Scottish government minister responsible for implementing DRS, said ministers at Holyrood would have to “look very seriously at where this leaves the viability of the Scottish scheme”. Continue reading...

A new study uses satellites to predict what California’s famous coastline could look like by 2100California is known for golden sands and endless waves, but much of the state’s famous shoreline could vanish in the future. That’s according to a new study, which found that between 25% and 70% of California beaches might be washed away by the end of the century, leaving only cliffs or coastal infrastructure in their wake.The study used satellite data collected over the past two decades to examine California’s 1,100-mile-long coast. Researchers from the US Geological Survey (USGS) used those satellite images, combined with models of climate crisis-driven sea level rise ranging from 1.6 to 10ft, to estimate the shape and position of the state’s coastline by 2100. The amount of sea level rise will depend on how much carbon is pumped into the atmosphere now and in the future. Continue reading...

Dr Joseph Dituri plans to spend 100 days in his subaquatic compound, as he attempts to document the long-term effects of increased pressure on the bodyMore than 20ft below the surface of a Florida lagoon, one man is on a mission.Having already broken the record for the longest time living underwater, Dr Joseph Dituri is planning to spend 100 days in his subaquatic compound, to research the effects of hyperbaric pressure on the body. Continue reading...

Yellow flower that only grows in York went extinct in 1991 brought back to life by Natural England expertsYork groundsel was a cheerful yellow flower that slipped into global extinction in 1991, thanks to overzealous application of weedkiller in the city of its name.But now the urban plant has been bought back to life in the first ever de-extinction in Britain, and is flowering again in York. Continue reading...