Environment | The Guardian

Cockatoo populations reduced after 2019-20 bushfires with decline expected to continue as climate crisis causes increased heatwaves

Aidan Ricketts, who also evacuated his own household of six, says the flood is ‘beyond all records or memories’

More intense bushfires due to climate change will slow recovery of ozone layer, scientist says

Transport secretary’s pledge comes with multiple oil tankers either docked or on their way to UK ports

It is past time to take on the ‘arsonists’ of the fossil fuel industry which refuse to manage their own declineWhat are the chances of humanity avoiding a full-scale disaster, given that history suggests civilisational collapse has been mostly the norm rather than the exception? The answer, according to the latest UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, is that the odds of annihilation are lower than previously imagined. Scientists are clear that not enough is being done to head off a climate disaster. The IPCC suggests about 40% of the human race is living in the danger zone, and that many ecosystems are being irretrievably degraded. The UN secretary general, António Guterres, was forthright in describing the abdication of leadership by world powers as “criminal”. The world’s biggest polluters, he said, “are guilty of arson on our only home”.No amount of global heating is safe. If the world’s average temperatures rise by 1.5C – the goal of the Paris climate agreement – the IPCC report warns that up to 14% of species on land face a very high risk of extinction. At 3C, not an outlandish rise, almost a third of life on terra firma could be gone. This report is a final warning. The next time the world’s scientists pronounce will be at the end of the decade – when it will be too late to stop the rot. That is why it remains essential to stick to the UN targets of cutting global greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by 2030 and achieving global net zero emissions by 2050. And why it is hugely disappointing that current commitments will see emissions increase by 14%. This risks a world in social chaos. Continue reading...

Engineers and miners work short stints in the wretched Siberian cold to extract gas – Putin’s trump card against Europe. Photojournalist Justin Jin was granted unprecedented access during several visits over the last decade, and offers a rare close-up look2022 – The Russian Arctic region, an area of 7,000 sq km atop the planet stretching from Finland to Alaska on which Moscow bureaucrats bestowed the name Zone of Absolute Discomfort, is wretched to live in, but just hospitable enough to allow for the extraction of resources trapped beneath it.Gas extractors burn off excess condensate in the Russian Arctic tundra. The practice, called ‘flaring’, is harmful to the environment. Continue reading...

Carbon emissions from felling of tropical forest doubled in just two decades and are accelerating, research saysCarbon emissions from tropical deforestation this century are far higher than previously thought, doubling in just two decades and continuing to accelerate, according to a study.The world’s forests form an enormous carbon store, holding an estimated 861 gigatons of carbon – equivalent to nearly a century’s worth of annual fossil fuel emissions at the current rate. When trees are cut down, they release the carbon they store into the atmosphere. Since 2000, the world has lost about 10% of its tree cover, becoming a major driver of global heating. Continue reading...

Wool parish councillors say proposed building would threaten lives of house martin and swift coloniesThe shiny exterior of a new police headquarters in Dorset could pose a “lethal threat” to the local bird population.Concerns have been raised by Wool parish council over the potential for bird deaths as a result of the reflective surface of the proposed building in Winfrith, the Dorset Echo reported. Continue reading...

Roberts suggests states could claim harm from laws not yet enacted

America’s first national park inspired a global movement of ‘fortress conservation’, but we know today indigenous peoples are essential stewards of nature• Read more: Yellowstone at 150: busier yet wilder than ever, says park’s ‘winterkeeper’On 1 March 1872, the US president, Ulysses S Grant, enacted a federal protection for the Yellowstone landscape, creating America’s first national park and one of the first in the world. The decision affected thousands of people from at least 27 distinct Native American tribes. More than 10,000 years of history were erased from the narrative at the stroke of a pen.Yet Yellowstone inspired a global national parks movement. Early parks were established to preserve “wilderness”, mostly by colonists grabbing land. The removal (or worse) of local people was not always an objective, but was too often a result. Despite many successes, protected area designations worldwide have notched up a catalogue of legacy issues. Continue reading...

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says climate effects expected to be more severe than initially predicted

Report says human actions are causing dangerous disruption, and window to secure a liveable future is closing

Eight dead and hundreds rescued from rooftops as rainfall exceeds annual averages in just a few daysThe flood broke through the levee before daybreak. By the time many residents of Lismore in northern New South Wales woke up on Monday, the water had begun to lap at their doorsteps.Those unable to flee climbed on to upper levels of their homes, then out on to their rooftops. Hundreds were rescued by boats and kayaks and jetskis; many others are still unaccounted for. Continue reading...

From the return of wildlife to the pressures of tourism and the climate crisis, Steven Fuller has seen it all in his nearly 50 years watching over America’s oldest national park• Read more: Native Americans are at the heart of Yellowstone. After 150 years, they are finally being heardAs “winterkeeper” at Yellowstone national park, Steven Fuller lives in a rustic cedar-shingled cottage, built in 1910, set on a hill a short walk from the majestic Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.On balmier days, with the windows open, he can hear the roar of the 308ft Lower Falls tumbling into the chasm. In autumn, he is treated to the sound of bugling bull elk in rut or, in the middle of night, the howls of wolves. Continue reading...

Analysis by the Marine Conservation Society shows dredging at England’s Dogger Bank site has increased despite government pledge to ban the practiceThe government is under pressure to safeguard Britain’s marine conservation areas after analysis showed the Dogger Bank protected site has seen a threefold increase in destructive bottom trawling since Brexit.A year ago, conservationists welcomed government proposals to ban trawling and dredging fishing practices, which involve dragging weighted nets over the seabed, in 14,030 sq km (5,400 sq miles) of English waters, an area equivalent to the size of Northern Ireland. The area includes Dogger Bank and three other marine protected areas (MPAs). Continue reading...

Minister who led Cop26 climate talks issues stark warning on eve of landmark report from IPCCThe impacts of the climate crisis are proving much worse than predicted, and governments must act more urgently to adapt to them or face global disaster, the UK president of the UN climate talks has warned on the eve of a landmark new scientific assessment of the climate.Alok Sharma, who led the Cop26 climate summit last year, said: “The changes in the climate we are seeing today are affecting us much sooner and are greater than we originally thought. The impacts on our daily lives will be increasingly severe and stark. We will be doing ourselves and our populations a huge disservice if we fail to prepare now, based on the very clear science before us.” Continue reading...

Speaking at the festival, the author took aim at the event’s ‘embarrassing’ financial arrangements that come ‘straight out of the big tobacco playbook’Tim Winton has used his closing address at Perth festival’s Writers Weekend to voice his opposition to the ongoing reliance of Western Australian arts organisations on sponsorship from the fossil fuel industry.Taking aim specifically at Woodside Energy – which is a sponsor of one of the festival’s key events, the Saturday 5 March performance of John Luther Adams’ Pulitzer prize-winning work Become Ocean – Winton, one of Australia’s most highly recognised writers, said that the “arts-washing” fossil fuel companies continued to engage in on a major scale was “straight out of the big tobacco playbook.”Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning Continue reading...

Eight people have now died, with at least two more missing as major flooding hits Brisbane, Lismore, Murwillumbah and Gympie

Seventh person dies, with two more missing, and major flood warnings issued for Brisbane, Ipswich, Lismore and Grafton

On eve of alarming IPCC report, organisation warns governments to treat crisis on a par with war and peaceGovernments must start treating the climate crisis as a national security concern on a par with war as climate breakdown threatens countries’ stability and safety, the global chief of the Red Cross has warned.Jagan Chapagain, secretary general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said: “People should be seeing the climate as a national security issue, as it is having an impact on national security. We need to see that the climate crisis is not only having an environmental impact, but a very significant security impact.” Continue reading...

Exclusive: Some Canon Institute for Global Studies posts call the climate crisis ‘fake news’ and compare Greta Thunberg to a communistA thinktank linked to Japanese technology giant Canon is coming under pressure to remove multiple articles from a research director that describe the climate crisis as “fake news” and compares campaigner Greta Thunberg to a communist.One Australia-based international fellow at the Canon Institute for Global Studies (CIGS), Prof Jeffrey Braithwaite, told the Guardian the claims about climate science from research director Dr Taishi Sugiyama were “not defensible”.Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning Continue reading...

Education centre on 2,000-acre East Ayrshire estate will aim to bring new talent into rural sectorPrince Charles has been given the green light to build a new school for farming in Scotland that will aim to draw in people who have no connection to agriculture to learn traditional skills including one of his private passions: hedgelaying.Planners have granted approval for an education centre at Home Farm at Dumfries House, the East Ayshire Palladian mansion operated by the Prince’s Foundation, one of Charles’ charities, after he stepped in to help save it in 2007. Continue reading...

Retailer is also Britain’s biggest seller of wet wipes, with customers purchasing 75m packs a yearTesco is to become the first of the main UK retailers to stop selling baby wipes containing plastic, which cause environmental damage as they block sewers and waterways after being flushed by consumers.The supermarket said it was stopping sales of branded baby wipes containing plastic from 14 March, about two years after it ceased using plastic in its own-brand products. Continue reading...

Local authorities faced with huge bills to repair roads, bridges and other infrastructureCouncils will have to cut key services to pay for the “soul-destroying” damage caused by three unprecedented storms across the UK, local leaders have said.Storms Dudley, Eunice and Franklin brought hurricane-force winds and heavy rain to large parts of the UK in the past week, leaving more than 1m homes without power and hundreds under water. Continue reading...

More than 1,400 households estimated to have been affected, as localised rain storms make it difficult to predict who is next

Six people have died across state, while Gympie records highest flood level in more than 100 years

Only £320m of £4bn needed to build flagship vehicles for ‘green transport revolution’ has been committed by chancellor Rishi SunakOne of Boris Johnson flagship “green” pledges – to provide 4,000 new zero-emission, British-built buses by the end of 2024 – has been cast into serious doubt by UK manufacturers who say they have yet to receive any orders for new vehicles.MPs and campaigners are pressuring ministers for information on when money will be committed to allow the manufacture of the zero-emission buses, which the prime minister promised would form part of a green transport revolution in his first term in Downing Street. He made the pledge in February 2020, just before the Covid pandemic, when he was keen to promote his environmental credentials and show how green policies could benefit people’s lives whileboosting British businesses. Continue reading...

Petroleum lobby calls for looser regulation and drilling on public lands to ‘ensure energy security’

Without fossil fuel, and Europe’s dependence on it, Putin wouldn’t have so much power. We need clean energy now, but big oil has other plansNever ones to let a good crisis go to waste, the fossil fuel industry and their allies have taken to the airwaves over the last few days to try and use the Russian invasion of Ukraine as an excuse for greater oil and gas development.It’s the classic shock doctrine that we’ve come to expect from big oil, and unless our politicians are wise enough to see through it, it’s a strategy that will continue to undermine our ability to take action on climate change over the decade to come.Jamie Henn is the founder and director of Fossil Free Media Continue reading...

Poorer residents have a mental and physical health disadvantage that leads to worse outcomes throughout their livesHomes in the poorest areas of England have less than a third of the private garden space enjoyed by those in the richest, giving those residents a mental and physical health disadvantage that leads to worse outcomes from the cradle to the grave.According to a Guardian analysis, in the richest 10% of areas in England, properties had 379m sq on average, compared with 114m sq in the poorest 10%. The analysis, based on data from the Office for National Statistics, also found that areas with the highest proportion of addresses without any garden space at all were often in more deprived areas. Continue reading...

Sussan Ley says number of humpback whales in Australian waters has grown from 1,500 at height of the commercial whaling industry to estimated 40,000Humpback whales have been removed from the threatened species list after a significant increase in numbers in the 60 years since they were first protected, but green groups warn populations could decline again as oceans warm.Global heating is predicted to have a significant impact on krill populations in Antarctica, a major feeding ground for humpback whales. Continue reading...

Report says average 4% of GDP will be spent on adapting to climate breakdown, risking deeper povertyAfrican countries are being forced to spend billions of dollars a year coping with the effects of the climate crisis, which is diverting potential investment from schools and hospitals and threatens to drive countries into ever deeper poverty.Dealing with extreme weather is costing close to 6% of GDP in Ethiopia alone, equating to a spend of more than $1 repairing climate damage for every $20 of national income, according to research by the thinktank Power Shift Africa. Continue reading...

Grower says quick crop is down to weather conditions as well as use of coconut fibreBritish asparagus is landing on supermarket shelves eight weeks earlier than usual after the mild winter weather quickened the arrival of this year’s first spears.The traditional start to the season is 23 April but Waitrose will have homegrown asparagus in its shops from Saturday. It has been grown in polytunnels in Hampshire where the grower reported “unseasonably warm” January temperatures. Continue reading...

Damian Hinds challenged schools to ditch disposable plastics by 2022 but goal is still long way offThe UK government has failed to back up its call for schools to ditch plastic, say campaigners, despite setting a 2022 target.Three years ago Damian Hinds, then the education secretary, challenged headteachers in England to ditch disposables such as straws, bottles, bags and food packaging by this year. But campaigners say that without tangible targets, funded resources and a realistic strategy, this goal is still a long way off. Continue reading...

The influence of Caribbean horticulture has often been missing from histories of British gardening. Now a south London exhibition aims to shine a light on this rich heritageFrom yams to chocho to ackee, a new exhibition is shining a light on south London’s Caribbean gardens, created by the Windrush generation who moved to Britain after the second world war.The Sowing Roots exhibition at the Garden Museum in Lambeth explores how Caribbean horticultural heritage has enriched British gardening. It tells the stories of 15 individuals through interview extracts, photographs and artefacts – including a pair of dirty gardening gloves, horticulture books and herbal teas. Continue reading...

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including firefall, rock goats and a pack of grey wolves Continue reading...

After Hitler invaded the Sudetenland, America turned its industrial prowess to building tanks, bombers and destroyers. Now, we must respond with renewablesThe pictures this morning of Russian tanks rolling across the Ukrainian countryside seemed both surreal – a flashback to a Europe that we’ve seen only in newsreels – and inevitable. It’s been clear for years that Vladimir Putin was both evil and driven and that eventually we might come to a moment like this.One of the worst parts of facing today’s reality is our impotence in its face. Yes, America is imposing sanctions, and yes, that may eventually hamper Putin. But the Russian leader made his move knowing we could not actually fight him in Ukraine – and indeed knowing that his hinted willingness to use nuclear weapons will make it hard to fight him anywhere, though one supposes we will have no choice if he attacks a Nato member. Continue reading...

PFAS chemicals detected in 20% of private wells and 60% of public wells sampled in 16 eastern statesPollution by toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” in America’s aquifer system has led to widespread contamination of private and public drinking water wells, data from a new study by the US Geological Survey finds.The study, published in Environmental Science and Technology, detected PFAS chemicals in 20% of private wells and 60% of public wells sampled in 16 eastern states, and offered new insights on how to predict which drinking water sources may be contaminated. Continue reading...

Rightwing groups are urging the supreme court to hobble not just environmental regulation, but Biden’s ability to governOn Monday the US supreme court will hear arguments in a group of cases that could have an immediate impact on the American government’s ability to respond to the climate emergency.The consequences could be even more substantial, however, reaching deep into the Biden administration’s authority to govern. Continue reading...

Analysis: Nord Stream 2 was meant to deliver 70% of country’s gas and switch to renewable energy has been slow

Tony Juniper says he has high hopes for scheme obliging new developments to factor in 10% nature increaseDemand for nature is exceeding supply but new wildlife areas can be created by regulations to ensure housing estates bring about “biodiversity net gain”, according to the chair of England’s nature watchdog.Tony Juniper said the post-pandemic surge in people visiting wild places for their mental and physical wellbeing – and to walk lockdown puppies – was concentrating footfall in relatively few nature reserves, which were increasingly used like public parks. Continue reading...

Officials say a trio of oversized bears is responsible for home invasions that had been blamed on a 500lb black bear dubbed Hank the TankDNA evidence has shown that the 500-pound black bear the public had nicknamed Hank the Tank is, in fact, at least three not-so-little bears who have damaged more than 30 properties around Lake Tahoe in recent months.The Department of Fish and Wildlife on Thursday said it would soon begin trapping bears in the South Lake Tahoe area to tag the animals and collect evidence for genetic analysis. The bears will be released in a “suitable habitat” and the agency said no trapped animals will be euthanised as part of the project. Continue reading...

World leaders to gather in Nairobi next week to discuss first global treaty to combat plastic waste

Adam Bandt says Australia must quit coal and take advantage of ‘enormous opportunities’ in critical minerals and green metals

First two months of 2022 alone have seen more than 300 manatee deaths as major conservation effort to rescue populationMore than 80 Florida manatees are currently in rehab centers across the US as officials and conservations work to rescue a population that has been hit hard by starvation.The data, released by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and US Fish and Wildlife Service on Wednesday, underscores the peril facing the manatees, and comes amid a major conservation effort that includes a feeding program distributing 3,000lb of lettuce daily at a site by the Florida coast. Continue reading...

GPs tell London mayor the ‘environmental hazard’ will disproportionately affect capital’s poorest peopleDoctors have accused Sadiq Khan of betraying his commitment to view pollution as a social justice issue, as they handed in a letter to his office calling for him to cancel a major new road tunnel.The Silvertown tunnel will pass beneath the Thames between Greenwich and Newham, one of London’s most deprived riverside boroughs. Experts say it will massively increase air pollution faced by some of the capital’s poorest people. Continue reading...

Firm makes apparent concession to boycott that began over untreated discharges into coastal watersSouthern Water is offering discounts on bills to some people engaged in a non-payment protest campaign over raw sewage discharges, in an apparent concession to the boycott.The non-payment protest, which was backed by Sir Bob Geldof, began because of anger at the level of untreated sewage discharged into coastal waters. Continue reading...

Report finds 99.5% of pheasants in Cambridge University study contained pellets made of the toxic metalA voluntary phasing out of lead shot in the UK has had almost no impact according to a report, with 99.5% of birds killed found to contain the toxic metal.While other industries have been forced to phase out lead, with the material banned from paint and fuel decades ago, shooters are still allowed to use it despite the fact it could poison soil and wildlife. Continue reading...

Court to hear West Virginia case that takes aim at EPA’s ability to issue strict rules to curb pollution from fossil fuel power stationsJoe Biden’s faltering effort to tackle the climate crisis faces a further, potentially devastating, blow on Monday in a supreme court case that experts warn could severely restrict any future US government attempt to limit planet-heating emissions.The court has agreed to hear a case brought by West Virginia, supported by 18 other Republican-led states, that takes aim at the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ability to issue strict regulations to curb pollution from fossil fuel-fired power stations. Continue reading...

Up to 45% of Barataria Bay’s dolphins died after 2010. Now they face the threat of new drilling and a Mississippi River schemeNearly 80% of dolphins exposed to oil in the Deepwater Horizon disaster remain badly affected nearly 12 years later, according to new research, even as the Biden administration continues to approve leases for oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.Scientists looked at the long-term impact of the oil spill on bottlenose dolphins living in Barataria Bay, near New Orleans. Continue reading...