Environment | The Guardian

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...

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including sharks swimming with a kayaker and a rainbow lorikeet Continue reading...

Meganne Christian is training for the ‘coolest job in the world’. It’s a long way from Wollongong for the 35-year-old scientist

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...

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...

The animals were released into Aussie Ark’s 400-hectare Barrington Wildlife Sanctuary

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...

They can be challenging, expensive and dangerous, but 2022 was a busy year for translocations and more are planned in the months ahead

Federal and state governments have agreed to pay producers compensation for pre-existing supply contracts exceeding the cap

Materials Recovery Facility near Canberra had processed 60,000 tonnes of waste a year which will be moved to other capital cities

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...

Exclusive: The Queensland government will announce a $10m fund to develop ‘micro grids’ in Aboriginal and storm-prone communities

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...

Queensland and the federal government will split compensation costs for the Gladstone plant, under the agreement struck at national cabinet

Liberally spritz your face and neck, let the morning air in and choose a fan over ACWith energy prices and temperatures both rising, keeping cool in summer is an increasingly costly challenge for many Australians. Energy bills are predicted to increase by 50% over the next two years, adding to the cost-of-living crisis. For some, this creates stark choices between paying energy bills or putting food on the table.Many households will have to contend with high temperatures this summer, and it’s getting hotter by the year. Last summer, Onslow in Western Australia endured the highest temperature ever recorded in Australia at 50.7C. Research suggests climate change will lead to summer temperatures as high as 50℃ becoming common in Sydney and Melbourne. Continue reading...

Suit alleges Inhance failed to follow EPA rules involving dangerous PFAS chemicals and asks a judge to halt productionA new lawsuit says many plastic containers used in the US to hold food, cleaning supplies, personal care items and other consumer products are likely to be contaminated with toxic PFAS. It is now asking federal courts to halt their production.The suit references soon-to-be-published research that found PFAS (polyfluoroalkyl substances) from HDPE (high-density polyethylene) plastic containers leach at extremely high levels into ketchup, mayonnaise, olive oil and everyday products. Continue reading...

Information on environmental impact can persuade consumers against carbon-heavy food choices, says studyClimate impact labels on foods such as red meat are an effective way to get people to stop choosing options that negatively affect the planet, a study has found.Policymakers have been debating how to get people to make less carbon-heavy food choices. In April, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report urged world leaders, especially those in developed countries, to support a transition to sustainable, healthy, low-emissions diets. Continue reading...

Wood burners are incredibly bad for the environment – and flood our homes with toxins, too. I wish I’d known that in 2008It’s shame that has stopped me writing about it before. The shame of failing to think for myself and see the bigger picture, which is more or less my job description. Instead, I followed the crowd.In 2008 I was refitting my house. It was a century old and poorly built. Insulating it and installing efficient appliances was expensive but straightforward, and the decisions I made were generally good ones. But the toughest issue was heating. The technology that had seemed to show most promise a few years before – domestic fuel cells – hadn’t materialised. Domestic heat pumps (which are now more accessible) were extremely expensive and scarcely deployed in the UK. That left only two options: gas or wood. I wanted to unhook myself from fossil fuels. So I went with wood.George Monbiot is a Guardian columnistDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

Most expensive storm cost $100bn while deadliest floods killed 1,700 and displaced 7 million, report findsThe 10 most expensive storms, floods and droughts in 2022 each cost at least $3bn (£2.5bn) in a “devastating” year on the frontline of the climate crisis, a report shows.Christian Aid has highlighted the worst climate-related disasters of the year asmore intense storms, heavy downpours and droughts are driven by rising global temperatures as a result of human activity. Continue reading...

Company’s oil and gas investments for 2023 will be as much as double those on renewablesBP has been accused of prioritising fossil fuels over green energy as it plans to spend as much as double the amount on oil and gas projects than on renewable investments next year.The FTSE 100 company has earmarked up to $7.5bn (£6.2bn) for oil and gas projects, compared with a range of $3bn to $5bn for green energy. Continue reading...

The 10-year-old male Cuban crocodile at the Smithsonian zoo in Washington probably bit on electrical equipment in its enclosureAn endangered crocodile in a Smithsonian zoo in the US died after apparently biting into a live electrical cord in its shelter.The Cuban crocodile, a 10-year-old male reptile, was discovered on 17 December inside its enclosure by staff at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (NZCBI)’s Reptile Discovery Center in Washington DC. Continue reading...

Christmas Day outages add to an alarming string of incidents with similar power grid vandalism in Oregon and North CarolinaMore than 14,000 people suffered power outages in Washington state on Christmas Day following burglaries and a series of vandalisms at different power stations.The Pierce county sheriff said in two statements that no suspects had yet been identified for the incidents. Continue reading...

Woodside Energy, Santos and BHP among companies who have sponsorship deals with Australian arts, sport, education and community organisations

Cities are loosening rules on building parking spots with new buildings: ‘It’s about the climate, it’s about walkability’They are grey, rectangular and if you lumped their population of up to 2bn together they would cover roughly the same area as Connecticut, about 5,500 sq miles. Car parking spaces have a monotonous ubiquity in US life, but a growing band of cities and states are now refusing to force more upon people, arguing they harm communities and inflame the climate crisis.These measures, along with expansive highways that cut through largely minority neighborhoods and endless suburban sprawl, have cemented cars as the default option for transportation for most Americans. Continue reading...

Cop15’s long-awaited agreement will be closely watched, says the Guardian’s biodiversity editor, but it was by no means the only positive nature news, despite the heartbreaking ravages of avian fluAfter 12 years, two years of Covid-related delays and two weeks of intense negotiation in Montreal, the world finally got it its once-in-a-decade deal to halt the destruction of nature. Many lauded this month’s agreement at Cop15 in Montreal as “historic”; many are hopeful that its ambition can be achieved; and many are concerned about whether action will meet words: not one of the last set of targets, set in Japan in 2010, was met in full.But the fact that nearly 200 countries were able to sign off on an international agreement to halt the loss of biodiversity is something to applaud. Few thought it would happen. Now it is all about the implementation. With an estimated 1 million species at risk of extinction and a 69% average plunge in wildlife populations between 1970 and 2018, we must not “pause for a second”, warned the UN’s environment chief, Inger Andersen. Continue reading...

Increased plant growth due to warmer climate appears to be prompting change in eating habitsAs the Arctic warms, concern for the plight of Santa’s favourite sleigh pullers is mounting. But in one small corner of the far flung north – Svalbard – Rudolph and his friends are thriving.Warmer temperatures are boosting plant growth and giving Svalbard reindeer more time to build up fat reserves; they also appear to be shifting their diets towards “popsicle-like” grasses that poke up through the ice and snow, data suggests. Continue reading...

Frodsham golf course joins growing number of sites being put to new, more community friendly useIt was once an immaculate golf course where footballers such as Michael Owen and Dietmar Hamann teed off.These days, the only holes are those made by badgers and woodpeckers. Instead of golfers, self-sown silver birch saplings march over the greens. Continue reading...

Guardian photographers travelled across the country to capture the work of nature lovers and conservationists. They came back with heritage oats, urban oases and the sadness of storm-ripped trees Continue reading...

SES evacuates Walker Flat, east of Adelaide, after it was cut off by the deluge on Christmas morning

Test your knowledge1 From December to early February, the sound of foxes shrieking at night can be heard across the UK. What does the shriek mean?A Vixens are telling males where to dig their dens Continue reading...

Government research shows dramatic decline in numbers in western Hudson Bay strongholdPolar bears are disappearing fast from the western part of Hudson Bay on the southern tip of the Canadian Arctic, according to a government survey.The report said there had been a dramatic decline in the of number of female bears and cubs in particular. Continue reading...

Chestnut forests could provide food security for communities, be a boon for farmers and benefit the environmentMichael Judd strides among the chestnut trees on the four-hectare (10-acre) swath of land that he manages in Frederick, Maryland. The trees spread above him, the last few nuts dangling from the branches like Christmas ornaments. Covering the ground is a soup of dead leaves, hiding spiky chestnut shells. Judd, 49, a lanky man who wears a different-colored woolen beanie every day, picks one up and demonstrates how easy it is to pop it open and reveal the nutritious morsel inside.Judd bought this six-decade-old orchard to conduct experiments in service of his grander mission: to help plant 1m nut trees across the US’s mid-Atlantic region, chief among them the chestnut. Continue reading...

Wild bird populations have been decimated across the UK and scientists fear there is more to come in 2023It is more than a year since avian flu began to devastate wild birds in large numbers, and conservationists are fearful of what 2023 will hold. The highly infectious variant of H5N1 has caused Europe’s worst bird flu season and has spread across the globe with little sign of slowing.In the UK, there were reports of some great skua dying from the H5N1 variant in the summer of 2021 but the mass die-offs started in the autumn and winter. More than a third of Svalbard barnacle geese in the Solway Firth, on the border of England and Scotland, – 16,500 out of 43,000 – died last winter. Continue reading...