CrowdFarming network provides a one-stop shop to bring fresh produce to the customer’s doorGiving up police work to grow passion fruit might be considered an unconventional career move, but that is what Sergio Quijada Domínguez did when a hereditary heart condition forced him to retire at the age of 32 after 14 years in Spain’s Guardia Civil.Quijada, who has about 1,500 plants on his farm near Vélez-Málaga in southern Spain, found he was good at growing passion fruit – what he lacked was the knowhow to sell them. Continue reading...
Commitment to ‘civil resistance’ comes after Extinction Rebellion said it would prioritise ‘relationships over roadblocks’Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil have doubled down on their commitment to disruptive climate “civil resistance” after Extinction Rebellion announced new tactics prioritising “relationships over roadblocks”.“It’s 2023 and XR has quit,” Just Stop Oil said in a statement. “But it’s 2023, and we are barrelling down the highway to the loss of ordered civil society, as extreme weather impacts tens of millions, as our country becomes unrecognisable … there is now a need to face reality. Continue reading...
by Helena Horton and Beata Furstenberg in Sandviken on (#67D3E)
Hunters allowed to kill 75 wolves from an already endangered population of 460 amid ‘political pressure’ from hunting lobbyThe biggest wolf cull in modern times has begun in Sweden as nature organisations warn it could drastically harm the population.On Monday, the Guardian accompanied 200 hunters as they went to kill wolves in the frost-covered forests between Gävleborg and Dalarna, hunting from midnight until the sun set at 3pm. Groups will be going out across Sweden all month as they attempt to take down the large predators. Continue reading...
We need more honesty about the problems of the proposed Sizewell C plant, writes Rae StreetIn his letter (22 December), Tom Smith describes the problems of storing the radioactive waste that is being produced by the UK nuclear reactors, and says that we need more honesty about these issues. The latter is also true of other problems with “new nuclear build”. Take, for example, the proposed Sizewell C reactor on the east coast.The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has estimated that extreme “sea level events” could occur “at least once per year at many locations by 2050”. Sizewell C will be built near the sea on marshland. One engineer has estimated that the land where the reactor would be built will turn into a promontory encircled by the sea. Clearly the reactor site could be flooded. Continue reading...
The declaration provides funds and federal assistance for emergency and permanent infrastructureThe White House has made a federal disaster declaration for the Havasupai Native American tribe that mainly lives deep inside the Grand Canyon in Arizona, as the community prepares to reopen tourist access to its famous turquoise waterfalls next month.Last October, the village experienced drastic flooding which damaged extensive parts of the reservation. Continue reading...
Britain seeks to convert recycled uranium, a capability not currently available outside RussiaA £50m nuclear fuel fund to bolster production in the UK and support development of alternatives to Russian supply opens for applications on Monday, the business department has announced.The fund forms part of a nuclear fuel investment package of up to £75m, of which up to £13m has already been awarded to the nuclear fuel fabricators Westinghouse in Preston, helping the company develop conversion capability for reprocessed uranium and freshly mined uranium. Continue reading...
Sacramento area residents were warned of ‘imminent levee failure’ as snow in the Sierra Nevada made driving hazardousFlash flood warnings were issued on Sunday in parts of northern California after a powerful storm brought drenching rain and heavy snowfall overnight, snarling traffic and closing highways as the state ushered in the new year.Residents in the area of Wilton in Sacramento county were urged to seek higher ground by emergency officials amid the threat of “imminent levee failure” on a portion of the local Cosumnes River, the Sacramento Bee reported. Continue reading...
Readers respond to George Monbiot’s article on wood-burning stoves and the damage they do to the environment and healthI read with some dismay that I have committed the eco-crime of owning a wood-burning stove (My burning shame: I fitted my house with three wood-burning stoves, 27 December). When I moved into my small cob-and-thatch cottage 10 years ago, there were storage heaters (which I removed) and an open fire that filled the place with smoke due to a jackdaw nest in the chimney. I installed an air-source heat pump, and a small wood-burning stove for extra warmth in winter.This is affordable, as the heat pump is cheap and efficient, and my supply of dry logs will last all winter for a few hundred pounds. Thick walls and low ceilings make it easy to heat the cottage. I find this solution economical and in keeping with my quaint dwelling and an old-fashioned lifestyle, which I had thought was ecological. I do have asthma, which is under control, but the stove may not help. Burning wood is not ideal. But I see no alternative here other than an electric stove, which would be much more expensive to run. My stove also gives a companionable glow on a winter night, which I would be sorry to lose.
More than 8,700 chargers installed, bringing total to 37,000 in a 30% increaseBritish companies installed a record number of public electric car chargers during 2022 as they raced to dominate a fast-growing and potentially lucrative market.There were more than 8,700 public chargers installed in the UK during the year to 22 December, bringing the total available to more than 37,000, according to Zap-Map, a data company. That represented a 30% year-on-year increase, slower than the 38% annual growth in sales of battery electric cars during the year to November. Continue reading...
Herd struck by semi-truck on Montana highway, with some of the bison needing to be euthanized ‘due to severe injuries’Thirteen bison have died as a result of a road crash in the dark on a Montana highway near Yellowstone national park, authorities have announced.In a statement released on Facebook, the West Yellowstone police department announced that around 6.30pm on Wednesday “multiple bison were struck by a semi-truck near mile marker 4 on Highway 191”, referring to a highway north of the town of West Yellowstone. Continue reading...
by Robert Booth Social affairs correspondent on (#67CC3)
Climate protest group says temporary shift will ‘prioritise relationships over roadblocks’The climate protest group Extinction Rebellion is shifting tactics from disruptions such as smashing windows and glueing themselves to public places in 2023, it has announced.A new year resolution to “prioritise attendance over arrest and relationships over roadblocks”, was spelled out in a 1 January statement titled “We quit”, which said “constantly evolving tactics is a necessary approach”. Continue reading...
Research in England and Wales shows that conservatories, extensions and changing behaviour cancelled out any savingsConservatories and house extensions could be helping to wipe out the reductions in gas use secured by insulating homes, according to a study that found insulation only provides a short-term fall in energy consumption.In a surprise finding, the study into the long-term effect of loft and cavity wall insulation in England and Wales showed that the fall in gas consumption for each household was small, with all energy savings disappearing by the fourth year after it had been fitted. Continue reading...
Russia’s war in Ukraine has earned Norway billions – and caused controversyAs the sun plunges into the Oslofjord on a December evening, passersby stop outside Norway’s new €620m national art gallery, the new €300m Munch Museum, the new €240m public library and the €550m opera house to take in the dying light.Thanks to oil and gas reserves in the waters off its coast, Norway is not only extremely rich but getting richer still. Already the World Bank’s seventh wealthiest country by GDP per capita at the start of this year, the resource-rich Scandinavian country’s profits have ballooned to record levels over the last 12 months, as prices on the energy markets tripled due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Norway replaced bellicose Moscow as Europe’s largest supplier of gas. Continue reading...
As war drives up fossil fuel prices and profits, new technologies show a way forward for the generators in 2023A tall white rig punctures the Cornish skyline, offering a hint of a new industrial era at a site near Redruth, once a copper mining capital. This year, the first power produced by a geothermal plant in the UK is expected from a project three decades in the making.The United Downs project aims to produce constant low-carbon electricity for the grid, and heat for homes, from hot rocks. Geothermal energy is an established power source in volcanically active areas of the globe near to tectonic plates. However, it can also be used in other areas if the rock temperature is high enough, and the rocks are permeable enough for water to circulate. Continue reading...
Council postpones fireworks display while local wildlife experts urge public not to disturb Arctic mammal ‘taking a break’A wandering walrus has delighted locals and tourists after appearing in a North Yorkshire seaside town.The marine mammal arrived in Scarborough on Friday night and has drawn huge crowds to the harbour on New Year’s Eve. Continue reading...
Pickled veg, herb tea, vinegar, even flavoured gin … an organic tree has many uses once the baubles are banishedOver the next week, millions of trees will be ejected from homes across the UK as Christmas festivities draw to a close.But instead of sending their pine, fir and spruce trees for recycling or replanting, growing numbers of eco-conscious households are trying to make the most of them by eating various parts before throwing them out. Fir trees can be used in ice-cream, to pickle vegetables and even to flavour gin. Continue reading...
Former special forces personnel are being deployed to ‘hide in the undergrowth’ and catch criminal gangs dumping dangerous wasteSpecial forces war veterans are being deployed undercover to help tackle the increasingly violent criminal networks moving into fly-tipping and the dumping of dangerous waste.Former SAS and special reconnaissance regiment (SRR) service personnel, who specialise in surveillance and “close-target” reconnaissance and who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, are being drafted in to collect evidence against organised crime groups that use collusion, corruption and the threat of violence to profit from environmental offences. Continue reading...
The remains have caused a public stir, but authorities say the falling water level due to the climate crisis is the real scandalThe first sets of human remains that surfaced at Lake Mead appeared in quick succession, one after another.The environmental disaster unfolding at the largest reservoir in the US was already hard to ignore – there was the giant “bathtub ring” that served as a reminder of the punishing drought in the west and diminishing recreation opportunities. But the bodies were a grim new sign of the crisis. Continue reading...
From Ukraine developments and China’s Covid surge to renewable energy and hope for the AmazonA near-inevitable global recession sparked by a lengthening war in Europe’s frozen east; an energy crisis coupled with soaring inflation; Covid-19 finally running rampant in China – predictions for 2023 are grim. Still, there are reasons to be hopeful. That same energy crisis has spurred an unprecedented demand for renewables, which are expected to boom, while in Brazil, a new president has sworn to protect the Amazon. Repressive regimes, meanwhile, will be nervously looking at Iran, where hardline clerics are locked in a struggle with a formidable pro-democracy uprising that threatens to overwhelm them next year.Guardian correspondents across the globe have provided their take on what to watch out for in 2023: Continue reading...
Federal courts had thrown out Trump-era rule governing Clean Water Act lifting regulations imposed by Obama administrationThe Biden administration on Friday finalized regulations to protect hundreds of thousands of streams, wetlands and other waterways, repealing a Trump-era rule federal courts threw out and environmentalists said left waterways vulnerable to pollution.The rule defines which “waters of the United States” are protected by the Clean Water Act. For decades, the term has been a flashpoint between environmental groups that want to broaden limits on pollution and farmers, builders and industry groups that say extending regulations too far is onerous for business. Continue reading...
Greenpeace calls designer a ‘true radical’ and Hynde says ‘the world is already a less interesting place’Tributes have been paid to Dame Vivienne Westwood from across the worlds of fashion and design, and by others including figures from the environmental and political causes she supported.The pioneering British fashion designer, who played a key role in the punk movement, died “peacefully, surrounded by her family” in Clapham, south London, on Thursday, her representatives said. She was 81. Continue reading...
The agency is evaluating if the state is properly scrutinizing polluters and assessing if minority communities face harmThe US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is investigating whether industrial pollution in Colorado disproportionately affects Hispanic and other minority communities.According to federal officials, the investigation centers on state oversight of its most prolific polluters. Continue reading...
Guardian photographers travelled across the globe to capture the work of nature lovers and conservationists. Here are some of their best shots Continue reading...
Branded ‘farmland pests’ and a risk to humans, boar are breathing life back into the countrysideRead the coverage about the wild boar that have made their home in Scotland and you’d be forgiven for thinking the country had become overrun with mutant, dangerous, sheep-eating feral pigs.According to the Telegraph, they “eat anything” and “attack humans”, and local press in Scotland refers to them as a “farmland pest” that “fights back”. Farming unions have told the BBC that the animals are frequently seen killing and eating sheep, though there has been little evidence of this. Continue reading...
by Terry L Jones and Pam Radtke for Floodlight on (#67ASA)
The government wants to lease offshore wind in the Gulf of Mexico – but the oil industry wants it for its own needsOffshore wind farms in the Gulf of Mexico proposed by the Biden administration could generate enough electricity for 3.1m homes in Texas and Louisiana. But industry is eyeing the potential for offshore wind farms to instead power oil refining, steel and fertilizer manufacturing and other industrial processes.The administration has committed to building 30 gigawatts of offshore wind to power 10m homes nationally by 2030 to help boost renewable energy in the country. But multiple companies interested in leasing offshore parcels in the Gulf of Mexico want to use that energy to make renewable hydrogen to power industrial processes to reduce their carbon footprint. The so-called “green” hydrogen could be sent to shore via the gulf’s existing extensive oil and gas pipeline network and replace traditional hydrogen made from fossil fuels. Green hydrogen could reduce the state’s carbon emissions by as much as 68% and spark an industrial revolution, according to proponents. Continue reading...
Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act is one step to confront the crisis, but a divided Congress will hamper additional measuresThe climate crisis inflicted painful wounds to the US in 2022, but the year also brought hope that the country is finally prepared to confront disastrous global heating while also facing a tentative reckoning over its outsized role in causing it.Historic climate legislation passed by Congress in the summer, coupled with an acknowledgment at the UN Cop27 talks in Egypt that developing countries suffering the worst climate impacts deserve new financial support from rich nations such as the US, offered some optimism during a year otherwise punctuated by disasters that point to an ominous climatic future for the world. Continue reading...
Project has been planting grass to help restore vital peatland but found some of it was not takingGreen sludge pours out of thick hosepipes wielded by two Welshmen in a bog in the north of England. It is not many people’s vision of cutting-edge technology.But although the goop splattering messily on to bare patches of moorland may not look much, it is the first of its kind – a special type of glue designed to help restore vital peatland, which has been disappearing at rapid rates. Continue reading...
More than 800 fires recorded on hottest day of year, 19 July, as mercury rose above 40C for first timeEngland faced four times more wildfires this summer than in same period in 2021, figures show.Fire chiefs said their staff were being increasingly challenged by the extreme weather caused by climate breakdown after an extremely hot and dry June, July and August meant some forces tackled more than 50 wildfires a day during the heatwaves. Continue reading...
Ministry for Indigenous peoples is created but new government faces huge challenges from Bolsonaro eraTwo internationally celebrated Amazon defenders, Marina Silva and Sônia Guajajara, have been named as ministers in Brazil’s new government in an attempt to contain the intensifying assault on Indigenous territories and the environment.The announcement was made by incoming president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who will take office on Sunday after the country’s four years of rainforest-wrecking under his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro. Continue reading...
The longnose harlequin frog, not seen since the 1980s, was found again in 2016 and has since become a symbol of defiance against mining plans in the Intag Valley“At first, it’s hard to believe – you need to convince yourself it’s not a dream,” says the Ecuadorian biologist Elicio Tapia. “When you find a species thought to be extinct, after searching for so many years, it’s unbelievable to see it again.”Tapia was part of the team that in 2016 “rediscovered” the rare longnose harlequin frog (Atelopus longirostris) – a striking little yellow-spotted frog with a pointed snout that hadn’t been seen since 1989 and was presumed extinct. Continue reading...
Milder winter, alternative imports and energy reduction cuts demand after Russian invasion pushed up pricesEuropean gas prices have dipped to a level last seen before Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February, after warmer weather across the continent eased concerns over shortages.The month-ahead European gas future contract dropped as low as €76.78 per megawatt hour on Wednesday, the lowest level in 10 months, before closing higher at €83.70, according to Refinitiv, a data company. Continue reading...
Campaigners are finding courts increasingly open to considering cases – and finding in their favourBetween 2004 and 2007, the villages of Oruma, Goi and Ikot Ada Udo in Nigeria were polluted with oil from infrastructure built by Royal Dutch Shell. More than 15 years later, in late December, the company finally agreed to pay four farmers and their communities €15m in compensation and install a leak detection system after a court in the Netherlands ruled that Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary was liable and the parent company had a duty of care.The legal battle has been so long that all the original claimants have died and Shell admits no liability under the settlement. But Milieudefensie, the Dutch arm of Friends of the Earth that fought the case, says it shows “large-scale polluters all over the world that they can no longer get away with destructive practices”. Continue reading...
In all, 1,544 bats were rescued around Houston, Texas, many having suffered ‘hypothermic shock’More than 700 wild bats were released in the Houston, Texas area on Wednesday night after undergoing about one week of rehabilitation from exposure to frigid temperatures.The Houston Humane Society and Texas Wildlife Rehabilitation Coalition announced the Mexican free-tailed bats were released back to their colony under the city’s Waugh Drive bridge. “Hundreds” more were returned to another colony at the Pearland Fite Road Bridge in nearby Pearland, Texas late Wednesday, the organization said on its Facebook page. Continue reading...
Kirsten Lynch says the Tasmanian devil – who was gently shooed outside – likely followed their golden retriever puppy into the houseHobart woman Kirsten Lynch got the fright of her life on Wednesday night when she went to pick up her golden retriever’s Tasmanian devil plush toy and it ran away.“I went to reach for it, the devil shot underneath the couch,” she said.Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads Continue reading...
McDonald’s and other chains race to replace throwaway wrappers with reusable cutlery and plates before dining deadlineFast-food chains in France are preparing for one of the biggest changes to their restaurants in decades as the government bans disposable plates, cups and tableware for anyone eating or drinking on-site.Chains such as McDonald’s, Burger King, Starbucks and Subway are facing what environmentalists have called a “revolution” on 1 January as pioneering new measures come into force in France to combat waste. Continue reading...
Wetland protection, ailing amphibians and rising sea levels among issues likely to have global impactWhat should people who care about conservation be paying attention to? Every year since 2009, scientists and conservationists from around the world have come together under the direction of researchers from the University of Cambridge to answer that question. Their goal is to “provide novel information that society and decision-makers may wish to consider in legislation, planning and actions that contribute to environmental sustainability and mitigating threats”.This year’s group came up with 15 top issues that fall into four main categories: resource use, disturbance of organisms and habitats, technological innovations, and policy and law. Nearly half of the topics that bubbled to the top have a connection to the climate crisis. Continue reading...
The big cats once roamed North America but have been pushed near to extinction. Could they make a comeback?Somewhere among the rocky pinnacles of southern Arizona’s Chiricahua mountains roams the last known jaguar in the US.The dark-spotted big cat, a male known as “Sombra” to wildlife researchers, wanders between three mountain ranges, hunting for deer and piglike javelinas and, perhaps, searching for a mate. Continue reading...
National Trust’s annual audit reveals a dire year for animals from toads and bats to birds and butterfliesThis year’s tumultuous weather – including fierce storms, searing heat and deep cold snaps – has devastated some of the UK’s most precious flora and fauna, a leading conservation charity has said.The extreme conditions have made survival very difficult for animals from toads and bats to birds and butterflies, and from great trees to meadowland flowers. Continue reading...
Outgoing CEO looks back on his seven years at helm and how sustainable aviation fuel can power the journey to net zeroWarren East says it has been a “privilege” to lead Rolls-Royce for seven years, as he prepares to retire on New Year’s Eve. But it has also involved considerable pain.East’s battles have ranged from a £671m settlement for a giant bribery and corruption scandal from before his time, to the discovery of costly cracks in its jet engines. Then Covid-19 struck, grounding the aeroplanes whose engines Rolls-Royce builds and services. Continue reading...