Environment | The Guardian

Report shows Policy Exchange, which called for criminalisation of climate group, previously received money from oil firmA thinktank that received money from an oil company later published a report that advised the government to criminalise Extinction Rebellion in its tough new crime laws.Several Conservative MPs and peers cited the 2019 report by Policy Exchange in parliament and the home secretary, Priti Patel, repeated its claims about the climate campaigners being “extremists”. Continue reading...

Australian Energy Market Operator suspends spot market after it became ‘impossible to operate’ amid projected energy shortfalls

Transition to renewables, not new gas developments, will help avoid future power crises, environment groups say

Guardian analysis reveals toll of heat stress, cold and trauma amid rise in long-distance and more frequent journeysTens of millions of farm animals in the US are dying before they can be slaughtered, according to a Guardian investigation exposing the deadly conditions under which animals are transported around the country.Approximately 20 million chickens, 330,000 pigs and 166,000 cattle are dead on arrival, or soon after, at abattoirs in the US every year, analysis of publicly available data shows. A further 800,000 pigs are calculated to be unable to walk on arrival. Continue reading...

Spanish carrier orders 10 helium-filled Airlander 10 aircraft in boost for UK green tech and maker HAVAbout 1,800 jobs are to be created in South Yorkshire building 10 new environmentally friendly airships.Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV), a small Bedford-based company, announced on Wednesday it had signed a deal to provide a Spanish airline with 10 of its 100-passenger Airlander 10 helium-filled airships. Continue reading...

Barngarla traditional owners vie to overturn federal government’s decision to develop site near Kimba in South Australia

Crews battled the gusty winds as the Pipeline fire exploded to more than 24,000 acres by Tuesday morningFueled by gusty winds through drought-stricken remote terrain, wildfires burning north of Flagstaff, Arizona, exploded in size on Monday, with officials estimating more than 24,000 acres (9,700 hectares) had been blackened by Tuesday morning.Fire crews battling the blaze have faced intense conditions that have caused extreme fire behavior and sent enormous smoke plumes swirling into the sky. Continue reading...

About 90 tonnes of methane an hour were released from the Raspadskaya coalmine in January, data showsPossibly the world’s biggest leak of methane has been discovered coming from a coalmine in Russia, which has been pouring out the carbon dioxide equivalent of five coal-fired power stations.About 90 tonnes an hour of methane were being released from the mine in January, when the gas was first traced to its source, according to data from GHGSat, a commercial satellite monitoring company based in Canada. Sustained over the course of a year, this would produce enough natural gas to power 2.4m homes. Continue reading...

National park entrances could be closed up to a week and some may not reopen all summer after record rains caused floodingMore than 10,000 visitors were ordered out of Yellowstone as unprecedented flooding tore through the nation’s oldest national park, washing out road and bridges, officials said on Tuesday.The only visitors left in the massive park that straddles three states were a dozen campers still making their way out of the backcountry. Continue reading...

Mark McGowan says state’s two remaining coal-fired power stations are becoming less viable due to rise of renewable energy

Ambassador ‘deeply sorry’ for ‘information that did not prove correct’ as search continues for missing journalist and colleagueThe Brazilian ambassador to the UK has apologised to the family of Dom Phillips for incorrectly telling them his body had been found in the Amazon along with that of his missing travelling partner Bruno Pereira.On Monday morning an embassy official called Phillips’s brother-in-law and sister to inform them that the bodies of the British journalist and Brazilian Indigenous expert had been found tied to a tree, one week after the pair vanished on the River Itaquaí. Continue reading...

£100m move could ease China’s state nuclear company out of projectThe government has bought an option to take a 20% stake in the Sizewell C nuclear power plant in a move that could ease China’s state nuclear company out of the project.Ministers took a £100m option to invest in Sizewell C’s holding company in January and said on Tuesday it would convert that into equity if the project reaches a final investment decision. Continue reading...

Dozens wounded in clashes with police over eviction from ancestral lands to make way for hunting and safarisTen Maasai leaders were detained and more than 30 people wounded during violent clashes with police in northern Tanzania on Friday, as they protested against eviction from their land to make way for a luxury game reserve.One police officer was reportedly killed in the clashes and hundreds of people are in hiding after the protests in Loliondo, which borders Serengeti national park. Continue reading...

University of Chicago reports little change in global average particulate pollution in 2020, with increases in areas such as IndiaLockdowns imposed to stop the spread of Covid led to “virtually no change” in global average particulate pollution levels during 2020, and in some of the most populous countries pollution increased, according to a study.Analysis of revised satellite-derived data on PM2.5 levels, which measure minuscule and dangerous airborne particles, suggests that the economic lockdowns imposed across many parts of the world brought clear skies to some areas only temporarily.

Merle Liivand swam in choppy waters off Miami coast to raise awareness about importance of clean oceansIn the Little Mermaid, Ariel sings a whole song about wishing to be part of a world where people get to walk. Merle Liivand, on the other hand, wanted to do the opposite – and now holds the world record for the farthest swim as a mermaid.Liivand swam 26.22 miles wearing a silicone monofin, in just over 11 hours in choppy waters off the coast of Miami on 7 May. Continue reading...

DfT says it wants to focus funding on expanding the public electric chargepoint networkThe UK government is ending the last remaining subsidies for electric cars, arguing it will free up funds to expand the charging network and support other battery-powered vehicles.In a controversial move, the government has closed the £300m plug-in car grant scheme to new orders on Tuesday, the Department for Transport said. Continue reading...

Aemo cancels alert on potential blackouts in Victoria but electricity shortfalls forecast to continue in Queensland and New South Wales

As capital swelters, India urges rich countries to provide funds to help deal with effects of climate crisisThroughout the day Virender Sharma splashes water from a bucket on to the sheet he has pulled over his lilies, tuberoses, carnations and gerberas in an attempt to protect them from the hot, dry wind sweeping through Delhi.But the street flower seller’s attempts to protect his produce is futile. Since the onset of a brutal heatwave in mid-March, his income has dropped by 60%. Continue reading...

Penny Wong to visit New Zealand foreign minister; at least 31 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed

An on-call team at Amritsar’s tree hospital nurses sick neems and gives new life to troubled banyansSahib Singh clambers up a portable ladder, reaches out and, with the help of a few tools, tugs at the banyan tree and successfully removes it. The uprooted plant, which had sprouted from a wall inside the living room, is placed in a plastic bag filled with fertilised black soil. “We will replant this on the hospital lawn,” Singh says over Skype, while climbing back down the ladder. The operation lasts barely 20 minutes.The removal of the banyan tree, considered sacred in Hinduism, is the first of three calls attended by Singh in his tree ambulance on one day in May. He is a gardener and part of the team at the Pushpa Tree and Plant Hospital and Dispensary, in the northern Indian city of Amritsar, launched in January 2020. Continue reading...

Call comes after former UN climate envoy urged African countries to exploit their natural gas reservesAfrica must embrace renewable energy, and forgo exploration of its potentially lucrative gas deposits to stave off climate disaster and bring access to clean energy to the hundreds of millions who lack it, leading experts on the continent have said.Their call came as the UN secretary general, António Guterres, warned that exploring for gas and oil anywhere in the world would be “delusional”. Continue reading...

Years before the climate crisis was part of national discourse, this memo to the president predicted catastropheIn 1977 Star Wars hit movie theaters, New York City had a blackout that lasted 25 hours, and the Apple II personal computer went up for sale. It was also the year that a remarkable one-page memo was circulated at the very highest levels of US government.Years before the climate crisis was part of national discourse, this memo outlined what was known – and feared – about the crisis at the time. It was prescient in many ways. Did anyone listen? Continue reading...

Ministers keen to claim UK right to potential deposits before and after 1982 war with ArgentinaBritish ministers were keen to exploit oil around the Falkland Islands before and after the 1982 conflict, declassified British government documents show.In a previously unpublished letter, the former chancellor Norman Lamont said the revenues from Falklands oil should go to the British government, not the Falkland islanders. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Collin Beck, who is believed to have been involved in negotiating the pact, offers most comprehensive defence yet of the controversial dealThe controversial security deal struck between Solomon Islands and China that caught the western world off guard was needed to maintain internal security and help fight climate change, a leading Solomon Islands official has said, defending his country’s right to choose its allies.Speaking to the Guardian in his first interview since the deal between China and Solomon Islands was leaked, Collin Beck, the permanent secretary of foreign affairs and a senior figure in the Solomons government, also said Australia should question whether it had been “fair” to Solomon Islands in its intense scrutiny of the deal. Continue reading...

The entire park, spanning parts of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, will remain closed to visitors as officials assess damage to roads and bridgesRecord flooding and rockslides following a burst of heavy rains prompted the rare closure on Monday of all five entrances to Yellowstone national park at the start of the summer tourist season, the park superintendent said.The entire park, spanning parts of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, will remain closed to visitors, including those with lodging and camping reservations, at least through Wednesday, as officials assess damage to roads, bridges and other facilities. Continue reading...

Spray-painted graffiti measuring several feet square appears on boulders and other sitesOfficials at Yosemite national park are appealing to the public for information and witnesses after more than 30 sites in the park were vandalized with spray paint last month.Park officials are asking anyone who was on the trail to the top of Yosemite Falls on 20 May and who saw people carrying cans of spray paint and tagging the area to contact the National Park Service. Continue reading...

Market operator in talks with large consumers as country faces energy crisis mainly due to poorly performing coal-fired generators

Brazil president comments on journalist and Indigenous expert’s fate amid unconfirmed claims bodies have been found in AmazonThe Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, has said he believes “something wicked” was done to the missing British journalist Dom Phillips and the Brazilian Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, amid unconfirmed claims their bodies had been found in the Amazon.British relatives of Phillips said they had been contacted by the Brazilian embassy in London on Monday morning and informed that two unidentified bodies had been found during the search operation. Continue reading...

Murdoch-owned channel creates and distributes content promoting climate scepticism across the world, analysis finds

Old baths, PVC pipes and even dog bowls can make suitable homes for amphibians affected by habitat destruction

Vessel off Yemen with more than 1m barrels of oil aboard has been stranded for six years and is close to breaking upA rare UN appeal to the public to raise $20m is to be launched on Tuesday in an attempt to prevent an environmental catastrophe caused by the potential break-up of an oil tanker off the coast of Yemen.The money is needed to offload more than 1.14m barrels of oil that have been sitting in the decrepit cargo ship, Safer, for more than six years because of an impasse between Houthi groups and the Saudi-backed government over ownership and responsibility. Continue reading...

French firm in talks to extend life of Nottinghamshire plant to shore up Britain’s winter energy suppliesThe UK government is close to striking a deal to keep a coal-fired power station in Nottinghamshire open longer than planned as ministers attempt to shore up Britain’s energy supplies.UK officials are in negotiations with the French energy company EDF over plans to extend the operations of the West Burton A power station near Retford. Continue reading...

Campaigners spotted proposal to absorb conservation watchdog into Defra buried in recent government consultationDiscussions about dismantling Natural England have sparked anxiety, with experts fearing this would further damage efforts to protect wildlife and reach net zero.Campaigners have raised the alarm after spotting the proposal buried in a recent government consultation on nature recovery, which was sent to stakeholders. Continue reading...

Longstanding protester asks if UK is ‘heading towards dictatorship’ as Home Office updates public order billSwampy, the UK’s most famous tunnel protester, has criticised plans to beef up the penalties for tunnelling protests, after Priti Patel announced those using the “guerrilla protest tactic” could face up to three years in jail.An amendment to the recently published public order bill will create a new offence of causing serious disruption by creating and occupying tunnels, while going equipped to create protest tunnels will also be criminalised. Continue reading...

Experts say heatwaves happening earlier and more often as temperatures hit highs not normally recorded until July or AugustA second extreme heat event of the year is searing Spain and southern France, with temperatures hitting highs not normally recorded until July or August and experts warning summer heatwaves are happening earlier and more often.The French state forecaster, Météo France, said temperatures had already exceeded 35C close to the Mediterranean and would rise further from midweek as the hot air mass moved northwards, with parts of the south-west and Rhone valley reaching 39C. Continue reading...

Analysis: high temperatures will lead to a surge in energy demand for cooling but drought in Spain has reduced energy from hydropowerThe extreme heat affecting Iberia this week has led to temperatures peaking at over 40C in some parts of Spain over the past days – that’s 7-9C above the seasonal average in some locations like Andalucia.The hot and dry weather has worsened the drought issues across the region, with many water reservoirs recording extremely low levels of storage at the start of the summer season, following a very dry winter (especially January/February) and a very dry May too. Spain generates more than 10% of its electricity from hydropower plants, so this will have some serious implications for energy production and availability/prices. Continue reading...

Even in the midst of war, we have to think about recovery. Seeds are what make future life possible. Without seeds, it is very difficult to rebuild a food systemThe war in Ukraine has made the food crisis triggered by the pandemic worse. People in Ukraine not only fear for their lives but are facing possible food shortages. Because Ukraine and Russia are major producers and exporters of agricultural commodities, the conflict is also having major impacts on global supply chains. The Ukrainian government has said that 22m tons of grain are stuck in the country due to the Russian blockade of its ports. Traders and financial speculators have further driven up wheat and cooking oil prices.Not only are Ukrainian farms and fields being destroyed by Russian forces, but we are also very troubled by reports that Ukraine’s national seed bank has been partly destroyed amid fighting in Kharkiv in the north-east, where almost 2,000 crop samples rest in underground vaults. If Ukraine’s farmers cannot farm and the country’s seed banks are destroyed, its future is in peril.Michael Fakhri is UN special rapporteur on the right to food and a professor at the University of Oregon School of Law. Sofia Monsalve is secretary general of the food rights organization Fian International Continue reading...

Temperature topped 110F on four consecutive days and has not fallen below 80F at night-time for the past week in the Arizona city, breaking several recordsAfter a record-breaking daytime temperature in Phoenix last Friday, the onset of night offered little relief from the sweltering heat. As the clock struck midnight it was still a staggering 100F (38C) outside and just a few degrees cooler inside 60-year-old Sarepta Jackson’s home.Jackson lay naked and as still as possible on the bed next to an old portable air conditioning unit in the bedroom window, but couldn’t relax or get comfortable. She eventually got up around 2am to make rice and beans for the following day because the air conditioner and electrical appliances won’t run together, so it’s too hot to cook during the day. Continue reading...

Researchers in Canary Islands coin term for new type of marine pollution they say could be leaking toxic chemicals into oceansThe discovery came as a team of researchers were combing the shores of the Spanish island of Tenerife in the Canaries. Time and again, set against the sparkling waters that lapped the Playa Grande, they spotted clumps of hardened tar, dotted with tiny, colourful fragments of plastic.They swiftly realised that this combination of tar and microplastics – or “plastitar” as they named it – was unlike any other plastic pollution they had seen. Continue reading...

Wealthy landowners have filed a high court case to ‘clarify’ law around public access to the moorDartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA) has vowed to defend wild camping on the moor, following a case brought by a wealthy landowner.The huge moorland in Devon is one of the few places in England which legally allows wild camping in certain areas. DNPA fears the case, which seeks, according to the complainants, to clarify the law governing wild camping in the park, could throw into doubt popular overnight events such as Ten Tors and the Duke of Edinburgh’s award.

Our national building standards need to be overhauled to fight climate change and energy poverty – and improve our lives

Former PM says state and federal governments should ‘make sure all the gas we need is available here’

Ship Badr 1 sank in Red Sea port of Suakin early on Sunday, prompting environmental concernsA ship crammed with thousands of sheep sank on Sunday in Sudan’s Red Sea port of Suakin, drowning most animals onboard but with all crew surviving, officials said.The livestock vessel was exporting the animals from Sudan to Saudi Arabia when it sank. “The ship, Badr 1, sank during the early hours of Sunday morning,” a senior Sudanese port official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “It was carrying 15,800 sheep.” Continue reading...

Henry Dimbleby says government’s response to his review of food system shows no vision and ‘is not a strategy’The government’s lead adviser on food issues has condemned what ministers have billed as a landmark national plan to combat food poverty and obesity, saying it is “not a strategy” and warning it could mean more children will go hungry.Henry Dimbleby’s verdict is further bad news for Boris Johnson as the white paper is a direct response to last year’s wide-ranging review of Britain’s food system, which was led by the restaurateur. Continue reading...

A mining lease being sought for a proposed coalmine is being challenged in the state’s land court

The British journalist was travelling in the Amazon with Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira when they went missingThe wife and mother-in-law of the missing British journalist Dom Phillips have said their hopes of finding him alive had gone, in a heartfelt and heart-breaking message that paid tribute to him and his travelling companion Bruno Pereira.Phillips, a longtime contributor to the Guardian, and Pereira, an experienced Indigenous advocate, went missing on 5 June in a remote part of the western Amazon. Continue reading...

Phoenix reported 114F, Las Vegas soared to 109F and Denver hit 100F, while inland areas of California reached triple digitsA dangerous heat swept across the American south-west over the weekend as potentially deadly heat set temperatures soaring to record levels in numerous major US cities in the region.Phoenix, Las Vegas, Denver and California’s Death Valley all posted record temperatures on Saturday. Continue reading...

An avid diver saw how lionfish have devastated populations of Florida’s native tropical fish and resolved to help solve the problemAarav Chavda has been diving off the coast of Florida for years. Each time he became increasingly depressed by the ever-growing void, as colourful species of fish and coral reefs continued to disappear.A significant reason for that disappearance is the lionfish, an invasive species that has boomed in Atlantic waters from Florida to the Caribbean in recent decades, and in numerous other places from Brazil and Mexico to the Mediterranean. Continue reading...

President visits state beset by Hermits Peak Calif Canyon fire, result of two accidental fires that mergedJoe Biden landed in New Mexico on Saturday amid anger and frustration from wildfire survivors as he visited the state to review efforts to fight its biggest blaze in recorded history – which was started by federal officials.Driven by drought and wind, the fire has destroyed hundreds of homes in mountains north-east of Santa Fe since two controlled burns by the US Forest Service went out of control in April. Continue reading...

Ecologists say discovery of scaly-tailed possum at Bullo River Station is a sign of positive benefit of private land conservationA rare scaly-tailed possum has been caught in the Northern Territory for the first time in what scientists say is a sign that private land conservation is having a positive effect.The scaly-tailed possum, also known as the Wyulda, is a rock-dwelling marsupial with stout limbs and a “grippy” tail it uses to hang from branches and rock ledges to reach for seeds, fruits and flowers. Continue reading...