Environment | The Guardian

Marcus Decker, who is serving long sentence for non-violent action last year, reprimanded by officialsThe environmental activist Marcus Decker has been warned he will lose all privileges if he talks to the media from prison, where he is serving one of the longest sentences ever passed for a non-violent protest in British history.Four days into his jail term, Decker was visited by prison officials and told to remain silent, according to his partner. The warning came as lawyers for Decker consider an appeal against his sentence of two years and seven months for causing a public nuisance with his direct-action protest. Continue reading...

Farmers express concern for their livelihoods after series of deadly attacks on farm animalsGerman farmers, conservationists and politicians have met at a wolf summit to discuss the animal’s future amid concerns that its population is out of control.The farmers’ union is calling for a relaxation of rules over when wolves, strictly protected under EU law, can be shot, after a series of highly publicised deadly attacks on farm animals. Continue reading...

Suella Braverman flags statutory instrument to public order bill as climate protesters renew campaignSuella Braverman is to give police the power to ban slow walking in traffic by protesters, as Just Stop Oil enters the fifth consecutive day of using the tactic in the latest phase of its climate protest campaign.The home secretary said a statutory instrument to the public order bill, which passed its final stages in parliament on Wednesday, would stop what she described as the “selfish disruptive protesters [who] are wreaking havoc in people’s everyday lives across the country”. Continue reading...

Chemical manufacturer Chemours accused of violating human rights by releasing ‘forever chemicals’ into Cape Fear River basinA citizens group in North Carolina has formally requested the United Nations to investigate multiple alleged human rights violations stemming from chemical manufacturer Chemours’ toxic PFAS pollution in the region.About a half million residents live in the Cape Fear River basin between Fayetteville and Wilmington, where Chemours has produced PFAS and polluted the region for over 40 years. The residents face “an environmental human rights crisis … involving pervasive human exposure to toxic chemicals”, according to a communication filed with the UN by Clean Cape Fear and the University of California at Berkeley Environmental Law Clinic. Continue reading...

Maximum temperature at Córdoba of 38.7C is highest April temperature ever recorded in EuropeSpain has experienced a record-breaking spring heatwave over the past couple of days. A plume of hot, dry air originated over northern Africa, where it has already produced record April temperatures, and spread northwards across Iberia. This resulted in a maximum temperature of 38.7C at Córdoba airport on Thursday, the highest April temperature recorded in Europe. Portugal also beat its April temperature record on Thursday. The heat is expected to subside slightly into the weekend.In Australia, parts of New South Wales are braced for heavy rain over the weekend. A low pressure system is forecast to affect the region through Saturday and Sunday, with 30-60mm of rainfall expected quite widely, and well over 100mm possible for some coastal areas. The focus of the heaviest rain is likely to be to the south of Sydney. Strong winds are also expected near the coast, especially on Sunday. Continue reading...

As environment secretary visits water treatment works on Deben, Anglian Water data reveals E coli levels exceed bathing water statusE coli levels from treated sewage discharges into the River Deben in Thérèse Coffey’s constituency are far above legal limits for bathing water status, campaigners say.As the environment secretary was due to visit Martlesham water treatment works in her constituency on the Deben in Suffolk on Friday, previously unpublished data given to campaigners by Anglian Water reveals extremely high levels of E coli in the river. Continue reading...

The best of this week’s wildlife photographs, including newborn turtles, a rescued leopard and white rhinos Continue reading...

Campaign against re-election of director Ian Macfarlane falls short as CEO Meg O’Neill insists gas has ‘very important role’

As the cliffside habitats of the gull come under increasing pressure, artificial nest sites are being built to help the gulls adaptConstructed from galvanised steel and plywood, the latest hotel to open in Lowestoft, Suffolk, boasts a sea view and promises plenty of privacy. Which should suit the guests that flock to the prime seaside spot: black-legged kittiwakes looking for a place to nest.The kittiwake hotel opened in March, offering artificial nesting sites for the seabirds. Like albatrosses, kittiwakes spend most of their lives at sea, but traditionally nest on cliff ledges between March and July. Continue reading...

A sea anemone found off Japan does not just live on a species of crab, but actually grows its host’s shell like a home extensionDeep in the Kumano Sea off the south-eastern coast of Japan, hermit crabs crawl around sporting what look like pearly pink flowers on their shells. But these are not floral arrangements – they are members of a newly discovered species of sea anemone, Stylobates calcifer, which live on the hermit crabs’ shells.This kind of sea anemone and hermit crab cohabitation is not unique: dozens of anemone species live exclusively with hermit crabs. It’s a win-win situation – the anemones’ petal-like stinging tentacles protect the crabs from predators, while they hitch rides to new feeding grounds and get leftover scraps of the crab’s food. Continue reading...

Public asked to put away lawnmowers next month to deliver big gains for nature and the climateA top 10 of the most common plants in British lawns has been revealed as conservationists urge gardeners to let their grass grow for the month of May.Scientists at the charity Plantlife are asking the public to look out for wildflowers and other plants in their lawns as they put their lawnmowers away for a campaign labelled “No Mow May”. Continue reading...

The most powerful rocket ever built destroyed its launchpad and sent a plume of concrete dust and rubble into the airWhile the spectacle of SpaceX’s new Starship rocket blowing up over the Gulf of Mexico riveted the public’s attention, it was the explosive nature of the launch at ground level that was drawing heightened scrutiny from the government this week.The shattering force of last Thursday’s launch in south Texas sent a cloud of pulverized concrete raining over a small town nearby, federal regulators said, raising fresh questions about the environmental impact of ramped-up launch operations at the site. Continue reading...

State to implement most ambitious US regulations on railways, including phasing out locomotive engines over 23 years oldCalifornia has passed stringent new rules to limit emissions from diesel-fueled locomotive engines, putting the state on track to implement the most ambitious regulations on high-polluting railways in the country.The landmark step taken by the California Air Resources Board (Carb), which regulates California’s air quality, requires the phase-out of inefficient locomotive engines more than 23 years old by 2030, increase the use of zero-emissions technology to transport freight from ports and throughout rail yards, and bans diesel-spewing engines from idling for longer than 30 minutes. Continue reading...

The 30th edition of the ‘Green Oscars’ was held at the Royal Geographical Society in London this week, celebrating seven grassroots conservationists identified after a worldwide search for locally led solutions to the global biodiversity and climate crises Continue reading...

Record figures for month recorded in Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, China and South AsiaAsia is experiencing weeks of “endless record heat”, with sweltering temperatures causing school closures and surges in energy use.Record April temperatures have been recorded at monitoring stations across Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam, as well as in China and South Asia. Continue reading...

Energy dynamics report finds clean energy is displacing fossil fuels and sending carbon emissions from the sector to new lows

Government warns people to take precautions amid drought and heat 7C-11C above average for time of yearThe Spanish government has advised people to take extra care as the drought-stricken country experiences record-breaking temperatures that could result in an unprecedented April temperature of 39C (102F) in parts of Andalucía on Friday.This week’s abnormally high spring temperatures – caused as a mass of very hot air from north Africa travels across the Iberian peninsula and the Balearic islands – have already led the regional government of Madrid to approve a plan to help hospitals, health centres and schools cope, and to order the opening of public swimming pools a month earlier than usual. Continue reading...

Union leader wants more preventive detention of activists across country to stop disruptionPolice representatives, members of the judiciary and politicians in Germany are calling for harsher penalties for climate activists, including preventive detention and longer prison terms, in an effort to halt their disruptive protests.This week has seen the most intense protests yet by the campaign group Letzte Generation (Last Generation), with hundreds of its members blocking scores of roads during rush hour in Berlin. Continue reading...

Artwork exhibited at Kensington Palace among nearly 2,000 artefacts in royal collectionFor more than a decade, Prince William has spoken out vehemently against the use of ivory, calling it “a symbol of destruction, not of luxury”. The royal patron of the anti-ivory charity Tusk has lobbied leaders in China, the US and countries across Africa.He has even said that he wants to destroy all the ivory owned by the royals. In 2019, a spokesperson for William clarified that while destroying all the ivory in the royal collection was beyond the prince’s control, he had “ensured there is no ivory from the collection at Kensington Palace”, his place of residence. Continue reading...

Judge says pollution ‘will no longer be tolerated’ after investigation found significant environmental harmSouth West Water has been fined £2.15m for illegally dumping sewage into rivers and the sea in Devon and Cornwall, causing significant environmental harm.Failures by the company between July 2016 and August 2020 led to harmful sewage discharges being dumped by treatment works at Lostwithiel, Kilmington, Crediton and Torpoint, as well as the Watergate Bay sewage pumping station. Continue reading...

Droughts, fires, floods, heatwaves – they’re all contributing to our supply-chain problems and brutal inflationFamilies around the world are struggling with higher grocery costs and electricity and heating bills. What they may not realize is that rising inflation is increasingly driven by another global crisis: climate change.Last year, the United States incurred over $2bn in costs due to 20 climate-related extreme weather events, from Hurricane Ian to heatwaves and drought. Lumber, cotton, tomatoes, wheat and energy – and the products they generate, from denim jeans to your Italian takeout dinner – were all affected by these events and are now more expensive than this time last year. Climate-driven extreme weather and disasters are now more frequently responsible for production shortages, supply chain disruptions, and labor issues that lead to higher costs of living.Suzi Kerr is the chief economist of the Environmental Defense Fund Continue reading...

The Carlyle Group’s 2011-22 greenhouse gas footprint was roughly equivalent to Alaska’s ‘carbon bomb’ Willow drilling projectA leading private equity firm that claims to be an industry climate leader in fact almost doubled its average annual greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel investments over the past decade, according to new research.The Carlyle Group’s portfolio of fossil fuel companies emitted an estimated 277m metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (COe) – a measure that includes methane and other potent global-heating gases – from 2011 to 2021, according to an investigation into the company’s energy portfolio. Continue reading...

Research shows Britain lagging behind at crucial time as US and EU pursue green growth hastened by Ukraine invasionInvestment in clean energy and the low-carbon economy fell sharply in the UK last year, even as rival nations were increasing their firepower in the global green race, data shows.The UK’s investment in the energy transition fell by 10%, from $31bn to $28bn, from 2021 to 2022, while similar investment in the US rose by about 24% to $141bn, and in Germany by 17% to $55bn. Continue reading...

Less food is falling to dimly lit waters, home to specially adapted marine life – but emissions cuts would stem declineLife in the ocean’s twilight zone is expected to face dramatic declines and even extinction as seas warm and less food reaches the dimly lit waters, a study has found.The twilight zone lies between 200 metres and 1,000 metres below the surface and is home to a variety of organisms and animals, including specially adapted fish such as lantern sharks and kite fin sharks, which have huge eyes and glowing, bio-luminescent skin. Continue reading...

Climate models are indicating Australia may be hit by a 'super El Niño' before the end of the year. After three years of La Niña and above-average rainfall, Australia is now looking at a hot, dry El Niño period. The last extreme El Niño in 2016 helped push global temperatures to the highest on record, underpinned by human-caused global heating that sparked floods, droughts and disease outbreaks. But what exactly is an El Niño and how do they work? Matilda Boseley explains

Region is suffering its worst drought in 40 years after five consecutive years of below-average rainfallThe devastating drought in the Horn of Africa would not have happened without the human-made impact of the climate crisis, new science has shown.The drought has affected about 50 million people in the Horn of Africa directly and another 100 million in the wider area. About 20 million people are at risk of acute food insecurity and potentially famine. Continue reading...

Company says it will continue to engage with shareholders on climate strategy but advocacy group says board has not met expectations

Climate commission draft guidance says country must take more action to directly cut pollution instead of relying on treesNew Zealand’s heavy reliance on planting trees to offset carbon pollution threatens to torpedo the country’s ambitious plans to reach net zero emissions by 2050, according to warnings from the body advising the government on its climate policy direction.The independent Climate Commission published draft guidance on Wednesday that – when finalised later this year – must be considered by New Zealand’s leaders as they draw up their next suite of plans to meet the country’s greenhouse gas reduction targets. Continue reading...

The former Fox News host liked to dredge up a laundry list of alleged errors by scientists in an effort to erode public trust

Three-year-old named Frosty, which has rare genetic condition, captured by whale-watching group sailing from Newport BeachA rare white orca calf has been spotted off the coast of southern California.In a video captured on Monday by a whale-watching tour company, Newport Coastal Adventures, the white calf was seen swimming with six other orcas near Newport Harbour. Continue reading...

Arrays installed by more than 50,700 households in first quarter of 2023 as people seek to reduce energy billsThe number of households installing rooftop solar panels reached its highest level in more than seven years in the first months of 2023 as energy-bill payers turned to renewable energy to guard against spiralling costs.Industry figures show that more than 50,700 households installed arrays between January and March, more than double the number in the same months last year and the highest figure since late 2015. Continue reading...

New results from the Darling-Baaka show system is ‘supercharged with nutrients’, expert says

Group pauses investment in carbon capture project as it waits for details on possible government subsidyThe owner of the Drax power plant will give its shareholders a £150m windfall after reporting its highest-ever annual profits, thanks in part to record electricity prices.The FTSE 250 company also said it was pausing investment in its controversial carbon capture project while it waited for more details from the government on a possible subsidy. Continue reading...

Cryptocurrency mining uses huge amounts of energy, but activists are urging for a change in its code to reduce its environmental impactOn the corner of New York’s Park Avenue and 52nd Street, curious onlookers recently stopped in front of a giant green skull sitting in the bed of a truck parked outside the office of Fidelity Investments, the global financial management company.The “Skull of Satoshi”, named after the pseudonymous bitcoin developer Satoshi Nakamoto, is composed almost entirely of computer circuit boards and fitted with tall smokestacks usually found atop coal power plants. Continue reading...

While minor spring floods aren’t unusual, this season could be inundated from the melting of the historic snowpackMost of Yosemite Valley – the tourist center of the famed national park – will close this weekend as rising temperatures threaten the region with a surge in snowmelt that’s expected to push the Merced River beyond its banks. Forecasters have warned that runoff from California’s historic snowpack, set high along the peaks of the Sierra Nevada range, could cause widespread flooding.“Downslope there will be problems,” said the National Weather Service meteorologist David Spector, adding that the area around the Pohono Bridge just east of the park’s central entrance would reach flood stage by Friday. “Only parts of the valley are expected to be impacted for now,” he said. “But it may become worse by Sunday or Monday.” Continue reading...

Europe accused of ‘neocolonialism’ for using vassal small island states to sway policy and continue ‘disgraceful plundering’ of distant watersMore than half of the EU’s delegation to a crucial body of tuna stock regulators is made up of fishing industry lobbyists, the Guardian’s Seascape project can reveal, as Europe is accused of “neocolonial” overfishing in the Indian Ocean.The numbers could shed some light on why the EU recently objected to an agreement by African and Asian coastal nations to restrict harmful fish aggregating devices (FADs) that disproportionately harvest juvenile tuna. Stocks of yellowfin tuna are overfished in the Indian Ocean. Continue reading...

Producers may be allowed to breach limit if they give enforceable promise to deliver minimum level of domestic supply

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Offices of Citibank in New York and Wells Fargo in San Francisco targeted by activists urging shareholders to actAs they exited their office in Tribeca on Monday afternoon, Citibank employees were confronted with a boisterous crowd chanting and dancing along to the music of a mariachi band.It was a funny sight: New York banking professionals in black and gray business attire coming face to face with a loud, colorful group on a mission to engage in a conversation about the climate crisis. Continue reading...

MP Chris Skidmore says approval would undermine UK’s efforts to tackle climate crisis and its claims to leadership on world stage

National Trust rangers brace for second year of mass deaths on islands off Northumberland coastA group of islands that make up one of the UK’s most important bird sanctuaries are to remain closed after new cases of avian flu were detected.The disease devastated the seabird population of the Farne Islands, off the coast of Northumberland, last year and National Trust rangers expect thousands more deaths this year. Continue reading...

Exclusive: US climate envoy says existing measures, such as shift to renewable energy, must be deployed faster to stop global warming

Agreement between grouse moor managers and conservationists had also aimed to restore populationsIllegal killings of birds of prey have led the Peak District national park to end an agreement between grouse moor managers and bird conservationists aimed at protecting raptors.The partnership was set up in 2011 and sought to restore bird of prey populations in the park. The rare birds have historically been killed by gamekeepers and others because they predate on grouse populations, which are maintained for shooting. Continue reading...

Four of 12 show gardens will contain weeds such as brambles and thistles to highlight benefits to wildlifeA third of show gardens at the Chelsea flower show will feature weeds, as horticulturalists move to rebrand them as “resilient plants”.Four of the 12 show gardens this year will feature plants traditionally regarded as weeds, including brambles, thistles and knapweed, the Times reports. Continue reading...

Cities bringing climate litigation against oil majors welcome US supreme court’s decision to rebuff appeal to move cases to federal courtsThe decision, climate experts and advocates said, felt “like a dam breaking” after years of legal delays to the growing wave of climate lawsuits facing major oil companies.Without weighing in on the merits of the cases, the supreme court on Monday rebuffed an appeal by major oil companies that want to face the litigation in federal courts, rather than in state courts, which are seen as more favorable to plaintiffs. Continue reading...

Ny-Ålesund in Svalbard, Norway, sits deep within the Arctic Circle, about 700 miles from the north pole. It has about 35 year-round residents, but in summer the population swells to more than 100 as scientists fly in from around the world. Life in the town centres around saunas, sled dogs, and a weekly evening gathering called Strikk og Drikk, or Knit and Sip Continue reading...

More than 300 barriers were taken down last year, boosting the health of waterways and the wildlife they support, say expertsA record number of river barriers, including dams and weirs, were removed across Europe in 2022, with at least 325 taken down in 16 countries, allowing rivers to flow freely and migratory fish to reach breeding areas.In its annual report, Dam Removal Europe said Spain led the way for the second year with 133 removals, followed by Sweden and France. The UK completed 29 removals, including Bowston Weir, which was built on the River Kent nearly 150 years ago for a paper mill. Its removal will help restore the health of the river, which is home to white-clawed crayfish, freshwater pearl mussels, and water crowfoot (an oxygenating aquatic plant). Continue reading...

The southern lights surge over Christchurch's Port Hills, a place that would not usually get to enjoy them. Unusually high levels of solar storm activity meant the Aurora Australis could be viewed much farther north than the lights are typically seen, and in cities where light pollution would normally render them invisible

Court to decide if judicial review of Liz Truss move to allow new oil and gas drilling should be permittedGreenpeace has attacked the government’s “disastrous” decision to award new licences for oil and gas drilling in the North Sea as it prepares to challenge the move in the high court.A court hearing on Tuesday will determine whether the environmental group will be permitted a judicial review of the decision, made during Liz Truss’s short-lived time as prime minister. Continue reading...