Gasteranthus extinctus had been presumed extinct after extensive deforestationA South American wildflower long believed to be extinct has been rediscovered.Gasteranthus extinctus was found by biologists in the foothills of the Andes mountains and in remnant patches of forest in the Centinela region of Ecuador, almost 40 years after its last sighting. Continue reading...
Water shortages leading to rising salt concentrations and sandstorms are eroding world’s ancient sitesSome of the world’s most ancient buildings are being destroyed by climate change, as rising concentrations of salt in Iraq eat away at mud brick and more frequent sandstorms erode ancient wonders.Iraq is known as the cradle of civilisation. It was here that agriculture was born, some of the world’s oldest cities were built, such as the Sumerian capital Ur, and one of the first writing systems was developed – cuneiform. The country has “tens of thousands of sites from the Palaeolithic through Islamic eras”, explained Augusta McMahon, professor of Mesopotamian archaeology at the University of Cambridge. Continue reading...
As climate breakdown and worldwide conflict continue to place the food system at risk, seed banks from the Arctic to Lebanon try to safeguard biodiversityAs the risks from the climate crisis and global conflict increase, seed banks are increasingly considered a priceless resource that could one day prevent a worldwide food crisis. Two in five of the world’s plant species are at risk of extinction, and though researchers estimate there are at least 200,000 edible plant species on our planet, we depend on just three – maize, rice and wheat– for more than half of humanity’s caloric intake.There are roughly 1,700 seed banks, or gene banks, around the world housing collections of plant species that are invaluable for scientific research, education, species preservation and safeguarding Indigenous cultures. Continue reading...
Charity launches campaign to stem decline of species including starlings, bumblebees and hedgehogsPlant sunflowers and lavender in your garden this spring to reverse the decline of previously common garden species, the RSPB has urged the British public.The bird charity has launched a “nature on your doorstep” campaign to highlight that UK gardens and balconies combined cover 4,000sq km, an area more than twice the size of Greater London. Together these connected habitats could help reverse the fortunes of species including starlings, bumblebees and hedgehogs.Sunflowers – beautiful and easy to grow from seed, these classic flowers are great for pollinators and are a great food source for birds when they set seed.Cornfield annuals – for just a couple of pounds you can have the glow of red poppies and blue cornflowers within weeks.Mini-meadow – just let parts of your lawn grow for a few months, or even better until late summer, and be rewarded with drifts of clovers and other meadow flowers.Lavender – the familiar lovely-smelling herb that’s brilliant for bees and butterflies.Foxgloves – tall purple, pink and white flowers that are bee magnets. Continue reading...
The musician and activist, who has collaborated with Michael Stipe on a new song for Earth Day, is asking questions of the music industry, and the likes of Coldplay are happy to answerGiven that it’s an industry addicted to air travel, whose artists put on energy-intensive live shows and release albums on vinyl, the music business is rightly being scrutinised for its green credentials. But as Brian Eno argues, an increasing number of musicians and workers are also trying to improve sustainability and public understanding. “Lots of people are becoming aware that we can’t just talk about the problem – we have to do something about it in our own practice,” he says.On Earth Day this year – 22 April – the producer, artist and activist plans to light up the internet with previously unheard music to direct attention and funds towards the climate crisis. Approximately 100 artists will release material exclusively via Bandcamp – with the platform dropping its usual 15% cut to 10% – and the proceeds being distributed among causes at the forefront of the emergency. Continue reading...
Government was in possession of a newly-released report that linked large-scale farms and wild salmon to contagious virusCanada was warned in 2012 by its own scientists that a virus was infecting both farmed and wild salmon, but successive governments ignored the expert advice, saying for years that risks to salmon were low.Justin Trudeau’s government has said it will phase out open-pen industrial fish farms off the coast of British Columbia by 2025. But both his government and the previous Conservative government were in possession of a newly released report that linked large-scale farms and wild salmon to the highly contagious Piscine orthoreovirus (PRV). Continue reading...
Critics say trial in Leicester Square is ‘manipulative’ but expert says fast food ideally suited for plant-based dishesAll fast food will eventually become vegan, a leading plant-based restaurateur has said, after Burger King trialled making one of its flagship restaurants completely meat-free.The Burger King outlet in Leicester Square, London, has been offering only vegan food for a month to test its popularity. This includes a plant-based version of its Whopper burger, as well as a “chicken” katsu burger and vegan nuggets. Continue reading...
Rush hour chaos at Chiswick roundabout as environmental activists vow to ‘stop the flow of oil in London’Environmental campaigners have caused rush-hour chaos in west London by clambering on to an oil tanker and forcing the closure of a major roundabout leading to the start of the M4 motorway.“Road closures are currently in place at the Chiswick roundabout,” Hounslow police tweeted on Thursday morning. “Diversions are in place. Please avoid the area if possible.” Continue reading...
Fine and dry weather expected for most, with possible showers in north-west, before cooler MondayMost of the country will bask in fine and dry weather over the Easter weekend, with forecasters predicting that a new record for the hottest day of the year could be set on Good Friday.Temperatures are expected to rise to more than 10C above average, peaking at 22C in some parts of the UK. Continue reading...
Agency will look at whether Black citizens’ rights were violated in polluted industrial corridor in LouisianaThe Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has opened a series of civil rights investigations into state agencies in Louisiana to examine whether permits granted in the highly polluted industrial corridor, known locally as Cancer Alley, have violated Black citizens rights.The news, first reported by the New Orleans Advocate, marks further enforcement action taken by the federal agency in the region since the EPA administrator, Michael Regan, visited the area late last year. Continue reading...
Environmental campaigners have caused rush-hour chaos in west London by clambering on to an oil tanker and forcing the closure of a major roundabout leading to the start of the M4 motorway Continue reading...
Researchers say Brexit politicians now pushing against net zero amid cost-of-living crisisRightwing populist parties have a detrimental impact on climate policy, researchers have found for the first time, amid growing fears of a similar movement in the UK.The study, by the universities of Sussex and Warwick, looked at the policy of more than 25 countries over a period of more than a decade. Researchers created a climate policy index and compared it with a baseline of a centre-right government. They found the combined effect of the presence of a rightwing populist party in parliament and in government was associated with a reduction in the index of about 25% on average.The Netherlands 2010 – the populist and climate-sceptic PVV party got its best ever electoral result and came in as a junior coalition partner in a centre-right led government. The scale and ambition of greenhouse gas emissions reduction and renewable energy targets set by the previous government were reduced, and a coal phaseout remained off the agenda.Norway 2013 – the populist Progress party entered a minority government. Previous centre-left coalition governments had had ambitious climate policy, but again targets for emissions reduction and renewables were reduced. The Progress party took over the ministry of petroleum and energy and issued new drilling licences for oil, including in the Arctic for the first time.Denmark 2015 – the centre-right Venstre party formed a minority government that had informal support from the populist Danish Peoples’ party, which got 21% of the vote, its best ever share. There was backsliding on emissions reduction and renewables targets, and the goal of phasing out coal set by the previous government was dropped.Poland 2015 – the populist PiS took power as the largest party in a coalition government. In its first term it was hostile to renewables, blocking onshore wind and opposing expansion of renewable energy targets at the EU level. It also blocked the 2050 carbon neutrality goal in the European Council. However, from 2019 the party changed position on renewables.Austria 2017 – the populist FPÖ came in as a junior partner in a centre-right led government. The FPÖ had little impact in the end but voted against Austria joining the Paris Agreement and against parliament declaring a climate emergency in 2019. Continue reading...
Dogger Bank saved from destructive practice along with three other areas, after campaigning by activistsThe UK’s largest sandbank has been protected from bottom trawling, an environmentally destructive fishing technique.Activists have been calling on the government for years to stop bottom trawling at Dogger Bank, an important site off the east coast of England for species including sand eels, hermit crabs, flatfish and starfish. Continue reading...
President describes ‘catastrophe of enormous proportions’ as more than 300 people die in Durban areaSouth Africa is bracing for more heavy rain in districts hit by massive and lethal downpours earlier this week.More than 300 people have died in flooding in and around the eastern coastal city of Durban in recent days. On Wednesday the president, Cyril Ramaphosa, described the flooding as a “catastrophe of enormous proportions”, directly linking it to the climate emergency. Continue reading...
Carlo Amodeo fell in love with Sicilian black bees after being mesmerised by them as a child. He has spent more than 40 years finding and preserving themIt was love at first sight when five-year-old Carlo Amodeo first saw a swarm of black bees. He could not stop thinking about them and every night for a week he had the same dream: of building a house for the bees made from wood using his toy carpentry set.Amodeo, now 62, still remembers that first encounter. It took place in the 1960s, while he was spending the summer with his mother at the seaside 30 minutes from Palermo, in north-west Sicily. He saw the swarm hanging from an olive trunk during a stroll in the countryside. “I was paralysed, motionless like a dog pointing at prey,” he recalls. “Then my mother dragged me off to the beach.” Continue reading...
by Nina Lakhani, Alvin Chang, Rita Liu and Andrew Wit on (#5Y5K0)
The world’s farms produce only a handful of varieties of bananas, avocados, coffee and other foods – leaving them vulnerable to the climate breakdown Continue reading...
President Cyril Ramaphosa blames ‘catastrophic’ rainfall in KwaZulu-Natal on climate crisisThe death toll from devastating floods in and around the South African port city of Durban has risen to 306, the government said Wednesday, after roads and hillsides were washed away as homes collapsed.The heaviest rains in 60 years pummelled Durban’s municipality, eThekwini in Zulu. According to an AFP tally, the storm is the deadliest on record in South Africa. Continue reading...
by Damian Carrington Environment editor on (#5Y54V)
Peer-reviewed analysis of 2,500 pets finds vegan dogs visit the vet less often and require fewer medicationsVegan diets are healthier and safer for dogs than conventional meat-based diets, according to the largest study to date, as long as they are nutritionally complete.The diet and health of more than 2,500 dogs were followed over a year using surveys completed by their owners. These assessed seven general indicators of health, such as multiple visits to the vets, and 22 common illnesses. Continue reading...
Affiliates of Scientists for Extinction Rebellion highlight climate science they say government is ignoringTwenty-five scientists have pasted pages of scientific papers to the windows of the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and glued their hands to the glass to highlight the climate science they said the government was ignoring.The scientists, affiliated with Scientists for Extinction Rebellion, arrived at the department’s building at 1 Victoria Street, Westminster, London, just after 11am. Doctors and health professionals staged a decoy action to give them space to get into position. Continue reading...
Urgent action is needed, say conservationists, after report shows numbers of birds of prey in the country declining by as much as 95% over the past 40 yearsDarcy Ogada rarely spots raptors from her home in central Kenya any more. The birds were once a common sight in the industrial town of Thika, 25 miles (40km) north of Nairobi, but the region’s forests are rapidly declining, and the few remaining raptor populations face the added threats of poison and persecution.“It is a disaster,” says Ogada, “Every day I go out of the house and look into the sky, I am disappointed. I might see the extinction of these birds in my lifetime.” Continue reading...
Loophole allows chicken-meat farmers to retain free-range status after birds ordered indoors to stem avian fluA loophole in government regulations means that chickens can still be called free-range even though they are no longer allowed outside because of the outbreak of avian flu.The UK has been affected by what government officials have called the “largest ever outbreak of avian flu” over the winter, with almost 100 reported highly pathogenic outbreaks in England, Scotland and Wales. Continue reading...
Climate breakdown has fueled ‘decisive increase’ in intensity, researchers say, as separate study links crisis to increased rainfallExtremely active Atlantic hurricane seasons are now twice as likely as they were in the 1980s due to global heating, according to new research that warns the climate crisis is supersizing storms that threaten life and property in coastal areas.Climate breakdown has contributed to a “decisive increase” in intense hurricane activity since 1982, the study states. Researchers in Germany and Switzerland who undertook the analysis wrote that the growing hyperactivity of storms could be “robustly ascribed” to the rising temperature of the oceans. Continue reading...
Judge says environmental activists ‘inspired me personally’ after impassioned speeches in courtInsulate Britain protesters have been praised by a judge, who said he was “inspired” by their commitment to greener living, as he fined 12 of them over a demonstration that disrupted the journeys of drivers on the M25.The protesters blocked traffic at junction 3 of the motorway. Some glued themselves to the tarmac, while another glued himself to a police car. Continue reading...
An expedition to the forests of Louisiana say extinction of bird, last definitively seen in 1944, has been exaggeratedIn terms of elusiveness, it is the Bigfoot or Loch Ness monster of the bird world, so rare and undetectable that the US government declared it extinct last year. But the ivory-billed woodpecker is, in fact, still alive and pecking in the forests of Louisiana, a team of researchers has claimed.A series of grainy pictures and observations of the bird, which had its last widely accepted sighting in 1944, show that the scrupulously furtive woodpecker is still holding on in the swampy forests of the US south, according to the team’s new research, which is yet to be peer-reviewed. Continue reading...
Environmentalists block entrance to insurance market as they demand end to fossil fuel supportExtinction Rebellion protesters have forced the closure of the insurance market Lloyd’s of London, after using superglue, chains and bicycle locks to block entrances to the building.The environmental activist group said more than 60 people had been at the site in the City of London since 7am on Tuesday to prevent workers from entering and with the intention of closing the business for the day. Continue reading...
Osmund, only male of four chicks that became internet hit in spring 2020, is spotted over 100 miles awayA young male peregrine falcon that hatched at Salisbury Cathedral two years ago and became an internet star during the early days of the first Covid lockdown has spread his wings and reached the island of Guernsey, more than 100 miles away.Osmund, the only male of four chicks raised on the cathedral tower in spring 2020, was spotted on the coast of the Channel island and identified by his blue ring bearing the initials YK. Continue reading...
Extinction Rebellion close Lloyd’s of London as activist groups continue their direct actionAnti-fossil fuel activists have vowed to continue blockading oil terminals until they are jailed, as they approached 1,000 arrests for their actions so far.“Ministers have a choice: they can arrest and imprison Just Stop Oil supporters or agree to no new oil and gas,” Just Stop Oil said on Tuesday morning. “While Just Stop Oil supporters have their liberty the disruption will continue.” Continue reading...
Chair of Conservative Environment Network faces calls to resign after tweeting support for Just Stop Oil protestsTory MPs have criticised Ben Goldsmith and called for his resignation as chair of the Conservative Environment Network (CEN) and a director at Defra after he voiced support for Extinction Rebellion.The financier and environmentalist, who sits on Defra’s board, has apologised after criticising Labour’s strong stance against the Just Stop Oil protests, during which activists have blockaded fuel distribution terminals. He has said he has no plans to resign. Continue reading...
Among the products that tested positive for chemicals were colorful baby toys, as well as canned foods and non-stick cookwareAn alarming number of products purchased at US dollar stores, including many children’s toys, contain harmful chemicals, according to a report released today.Researchers tested 226 products purchased at five popular retailers for chemicals, including phthalates and lead, and found that 120, or more than half, had at least one chemical of concern. Among the products that tested positive were colorful baby toys and Disney-themed headphones. Continue reading...
Surf Wood for Good aims to tackle waste caused by polystyrene bodyboards by lending beachgoers UK-made wooden boardsA new initiative is offering free bellyboard hire across England, Wales and Northern Ireland to discourage the use of polluting plastic boards.Surf Wood for Good aims to tackle the waste caused by polystyrene bodyboards, which are usually imported and single-use, by lending beachgoers British-made wooden boards. Continue reading...
Rivers that supply Santiago with water are running low, forcing rotating cuts to different parts of the cityAs a punishing, record-breaking drought enters its 13th year, Chile has announced an unprecedented plan to ration water for the capital of Santiago, a city of nearly 6 million.“A city can’t live without water,” Claudio Orrego, the governor of the Santiago metropolitan region, said in a press conference. “And we’re in an unprecedented situation in Santiago’s 491-year history where we have to prepare for there to not be enough water for everyone who lives here.” Continue reading...
Shortages at filling stations reported as campaign obstructs deliveries from fuel terminals in EnglandDowning Street has condemned the “guerrilla tactics” of protesters who have blockaded fuel distribution terminals, as reports of shortages at petrol station forecourts spread and figures showed a fall in fuel deliveries.Supporters of the Just Stop Oil campaign have taken action at 11 different fuel terminals in England since the start of the month, blockading and trespassing on sites to stop tankers entering, filling up or leaving to deliver fuel. Continue reading...
Moral hierarchy giving different value to different animals is learned during adolescence, survey suggestsChildren think farm animals deserve to be treated as well as human beings but lose this belief in adolescence, a groundbreaking study has found.Researchers from the universities of Exeter and Oxford asked a group of British children aged nine to 11, young adults aged 18 to 21 and older men and women about their attitudes to different sorts of animals. Continue reading...
by Stephen Burgen in Cáñar, la Alpujarra on (#5Y1Z5)
A project to restore a 1,000-year-old network of water channels is helping farmers in the Sierra Nevada adapt to the effects of the climate crisisHigh in la Alpujarra, on the slopes of the majestic Sierra Nevada in Andalucía, the silence is broken only by the sound of a stream trickling through the snow. Except it is not a stream but an acequia, part of a network of thousands of kilometres of irrigation channels created by Muslim peasant farmers more than a thousand years ago.The channel begins at an altitude of 1,800 metres (5,900ft) and, fed by the melting snow, for centuries supplied water to the village of Cáñar and beyond until it fell into disuse in the 1980s through the gradual depopulation of the area. Continue reading...
Founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s proposal comes as energy prices soar and ‘with so much gas under our feet’The chemicals and energy company Ineos has offered to drill a shale gas test site in the UK to demonstrate that fracking can be done safely, as the country wrestles with high energy prices.It comes after the government published its energy strategy, which focuses on securing UK energy supplies, as western countries consider how to reduce reliance on Russian oil and gas. Continue reading...
Across a cluster of low-income, mostly Black neighborhoods, toxic waste sites risk contaminating an aquifer and endangering the lives of residents with noxious emissionsThis article was supported by the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, a non-profit dedicated to support reporting on American financial struggle.Hundreds of feet below the city of Memphis, Tennessee, an enormous collection of freshwater – known as the Memphis Sand Aquifer – provides drinking water for at least a million residents. Continue reading...
Democracies are making more progress than autocracies when it comes to climate action. But divestment campaigns can put pressure on the most recalcitrant of political leadersAt first glance, last autumn’s Glasgow climate summit looked a lot like its 25 predecessors. It had:A conference hall the size of an aircraft carrier stuffed with displays from problematic parties (the Saudis, for example, with a giant pavilion saluting their efforts at promoting a “circular carbon economy agenda”).Squadrons of delegates rushing constantly to mysterious sessions (“Showcasing achievements of TBTTP and Protected Areas Initiative of GoP”) while actual negotiations took place in a few back rooms.Earnest protesters with excellent signs (“The wrong Amazon is burning”). Continue reading...
Global heating speeding up their decline as terrain of newly discovered alpine species disappearsSix new alpine species of New Zealand’s most unusual and beloved insect – the wētā – have been discovered, but it is a bittersweet victory, with another piece of research describing the threat global heating poses for their snowy mountain habitat.Wētā belong to the same group of insects as crickets and grasshoppers, and there are between 70 and 100 species of wētā endemic to New Zealand. They are wingless and nocturnal, and some, including the wētāpunga, are among the heaviest insects in the world – comparable to the weight of a sparrow. Continue reading...