Campaigners say the pace at which native species habitat is being cleared for mining is accelerating despite warnings of an endangered species crisis

Studies ‘debunk the myth that Africa is running out of water’ but say resource needs to be better managedGroundwater resources in sub-Saharan Africa are enough to transform agriculture in the region and provide people with adequate safe water for their drinking and hygiene needs, if the resource can be better managed, researchers have said.Groundwater – found underground in aquifers, rocks and soils – makes up about 99% of all liquid freshwater on earth, and is abundant in much of Africa, but a lack of investment has left it untapped or poorly managed, two major studies have found. The reserves could be used for irrigation and to supply clean and safe water, but there is also a danger that if used unsustainably they could be rapidly depleted or polluted. Continue reading...

Police started investigating after owner died and found 139 species, all classed as invasive or dangerousSpanish police have recovered dozens of exotic animals, including two caimans, three pythons, eight iguanas and 46 giant African snails, after discovering a private zoo on the Canary island of Gran Canaria.Officers from the Guardia Civil’s environmental division, Seprona, began investigating after hearing that a resident of the central town of San Bartolomé de Tirajana had died recently, possibly leaving behind a large and illegal menagerie. Continue reading...

Fears for water quality as swimmers discover invisible microfibres in samples 400 feet undergroundInvisible microplastics have been found almost 400ft (120 metres) underground in UK water streams, according to the results of a citizen science project conducted by wild swimmers.More than 100 outdoor swimmers in the UK became “waterloggers”, collecting water samples from their favourite place for a dip using empty glass wine bottles. Continue reading...

Despite recent success in increasing numbers, Congo’s rising sea levels, coastal erosion and now the country’s first deep sea port pose new threatsThe sun is peeping over the horizon when eco-guard Christian Ndombe tips a bowl containing hundreds of baby turtles on to the beach where the Democratic Republic of the Congo meets the Atlantic surf. The newborns, who have spent the last eight weeks incubating at the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN) hatchery near the town of Muanda, inch towards the waves before being swept into the sea.Over the past decade, the efforts of Ndombe and other ICCN rangers at Congo’s only marine national park have helped to increase the number of nesting turtles by reducing poaching, educating fishers and helping to safeguard nests. But rising sea levels and increasingly aggressive coastal erosion are shrinking the beach, leaving the females without the quiet, dry, sandy areas they need to lay their eggs.Christian Ndombe, an eco-guard at the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation Continue reading...

António Guterres says countries seeking alternatives to Russian energy may increase use of fossil fuels

Dawn King’s dystopian courtroom drama The Trials, dubbed ‘12 Angry Young People’, is part of a programme that also includes European premieres of The Band’s Visit and A Doll’s House, Part 2The Donmar Warehouse in London is to stage a “searing” dystopian play in which a teenage jury hold their elders to account for crimes against the climate. The Trials, written by British playwright Dawn King (Foxfinder), is set in a near future in which a radical green government is in power and must manage scarce resources.The Donmar’s artistic director, Michael Longhurst, who has dubbed the courtroom drama “12 Angry Young People”, described it as a punchy, galvanising and “quite shocking” play which changed his perception of the world. Continue reading...

National Trust acquires two areas of land near monument that it will turn back into chalk grasslandPart of a ceremonial approach to the great circle of Stonehenge and a spot nearby where ancient hunter-gatherers shared feasts with the first British farmers have been saved from the threat of modern agriculture.The areas are to be restored as chalk grassland, which will benefit flora and fauna, including wild flowers, butterflies and hares, with the aim that they will eventually be opened to the public. Continue reading...

Federal government has not ruled out the use of underwater explosives and ‘bean bag rounds’ in trial off north-west Tasmania

Acting premier says review will investigate preparedness for such catastrophic events, as well as response and recovery

Meeting comes as Boris Johnson prepares to publish his energy security strategy amid soaring prices and Ukraine warBoris Johnson will chair a meeting on how to increase the UK’s nuclear power output on Monday, as he prepares to publish his energy security strategy this month amid soaring prices.The prime minister will discuss domestic nuclear projects with leaders from the nuclear industry at a roundtable meeting at Downing Street, No 10 said. Continue reading...

Long-term contract will not immediately stop flow of money to Russia, for which German ministers have been criticised

Scientists find 6PPD-quinone in Queensland creek and call for urgent research to see if local aquatic life was harmedA toxic chemical released from tyres as they wear down on roads and implicated in mass deaths of salmon in the United States has been found in an Australian waterway for the first time.Scientists detected the compound – known as 6PPD-quinone – among a cocktail of chemicals and hundreds of kilograms of tyre particles washed into a creek from a motorway during storms. Continue reading...

The blaze near Parkgate, which burned reedbeds on a site of special scientific interest, has been put outA large fire that ravaged important reedbeds looked after by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is no longer burning but concern remains about its consequences for wildlife.Fire crews and six engines from Cheshire and Merseyside fire and rescue services tackled the blaze on marshland near Parkgate on the Wirral peninsula, after being called out at about 6.20pm on Saturday evening. Continue reading...

Byungsu Kim pleaded guilty to attempting to ferry more than 3,700 wild dudleya plants from California parks to South KoreaWhen Byungsu Kim appeared for his sentencing hearing on Zoom from the Santa Ana jail in California, his jaw was wired shut.The 46-year-old South Korean national had been in prison for more than two years on two different continents. According to the US government, he was an “international succulent trafficker”, perhaps the most notorious houseplant poacher in the world. Continue reading...

A move out of the city gives you a front-row seat for the show of the seasonLast spring, I finally moved out of town. That makes it sound like I gave in after decades of edgy murder-mile living, rivers of piss, my children playing with syringes. I did a tiny bit of that back when you could still see blowjobs and drug deals from the window of my east London flat and not men in ironic Deirdre Barlow glasses selling rare succulents for £700, but mainly I lived in a quiet corner of Brussels. When I moved back to the UK, it was to a provincial city centre where I complained constantly, like those idiots who pay millions to live in Soho, then decide they don’t like the noise of people having fun.So after a year enveloped in the blessed peace of the outer suburbs, what have I learned? Well, after a lifetime of aching for the first frost, fetishising boots and boring on about hygge, I admit it: I was wrong about winter. It turns out that when you move somewhere with no insulation as an energy crisis starts to bite, no amount of woodsmoke-scented candles and hot chocolate will keep you cosy. When people recommend turning your thermostat down a degree, I laugh, my breath dancing spirals in the morgue-cold air: the modest number on ours is a mad aspiration, like me saying I’ll do a 7am yoga class. Getting out of bed (two duvets, blanket, electric blanket, flattened and grilled like a human panini) requires superhuman effort: I put my clothes on top of my pyjamas, so no skin is ever exposed, mummying myself in so many layers my arms stick out like a toddler in a padded snowsuit. It’s very sexy. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Multiple families who evacuated during the NSW floods left with no choice but to move back home in recent days

Ending onshore wind projects, solar subsidies and energy efficiency schemes has added to inflated bills, study findsThe decision by David Cameron’s government to ditch what he denounced as “green crap” policies will cost every household as much as £150 a year by the autumn, new analysis has shown.With energy prices already soaring and bills set to rise even further this year, it suggests Cameron’s decisions to effectively end onshore wind projects in England, cut solar subsidies and slash energy-efficiency schemes played a large part in rising bills. It comes with the government preparing to announce its much anticipated energy strategy this week, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine further drives up energy prices. It is expected to push measures such as solar and onshore wind power generation, as well as North Sea oil projects. However, there are concerns that the Treasury is holding back more radical action. Continue reading...

Yoga guru will visit dozens of countries en route from London to India to raise awareness of plight of one of nature’s greatest resourcesOne of India’s best-known spiritual leaders is embarking on a 100-day motorbike journey from London to India to raise awareness of one of nature’s most undervalued resources.Sadhguru, or Jaggi Vasudev, is setting off on Monday on a 30,000km (18,600-mile) trip through Europe and the Middle East in an effort to “save soil”, meeting celebrities, environmentalists and influencers in dozens of countries along the way. Continue reading...

Amid a cost-of-living crisis the government is attempting to secure energy supplies and try to dampen soaring costsSoaring energy prices are helping to create a cost-of-living crisis, with the average family’s energy bill rising by 54%. The energy price cap has been raised to £1,971 and a further increase is expected later this year, which would take the average household bill to about £2,300. The government has responded by offering a one-off £200 discount on bills from October, to be paid back over five years. Continue reading...

A report from the International Energy Agency makes clear that viable alternatives are limited

People asked to record flowering cherry and plum trees near them to see whether patterns are changingThe British public have been asked to track flowering fruit trees to help determine whether climate change is changing blooming patterns, in one of the largest studies of its kind.The University of Reading and Oracle for Research have developed a fruit recording website where citizen scientists can easily post their findings. People will initially be asked to record the flowering cherry and plum trees near them, with apple trees soon to follow. Continue reading...

Hens have been indoors for months because of avian flu and their eggs must now be differently labelledConsumers will no longer be able to buy free-range eggs in the UK from Monday, with birds not having been allowed outdoors since November due to fears of avian flu outbreaks.Eggs sold in shops will have to carry a sticker or label saying they are in fact “barn eggs”, the name given to eggs produced by hens permanently housed indoors. Continue reading...

More chemicals being released by reused plastic could indicate need for ‘super clean’ recycling processA widely used kind of recycled plastic bottle passes more potentially harmful chemicals into their contents than newly manufactured bottles, researchers have warned.Researchers from Brunel University London found 150 chemicals that leached into drinks from plastic bottles, with 18 of those chemicals found in levels exceeding regulations. Continue reading...

Tory chair hits out at ‘net zero dogma’, Corbynistas and ‘cancel culture brigade’The Conservative chair has announced that Boris Johnson will kick off a two-year election campaign from May, as he hit out at “net zero dogma” and sought to pitch Labour as still linked to Jeremy Corbyn.Oliver Dowden, the party co-chair and former culture secretary, made his comments in a speech at the Tory spring conference in Blackpool, as the party attempts to draw a line under the prime minister’s troubles over alleged lockdown-breaking parties. As part of an attempt to downplay the scandal, the Brexit minister, Jacob Rees-Mogg, dismissed the furore over Partygate as “disproportionate fluff” compared with the crisis in Ukraine. Continue reading...

Russian invasion diverts attention but may ironically help push world towards cleaner future, say experts

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including a rescued goat, a leaf monkey cub and fishing cats Continue reading...

Jacob Rees-Mogg’s call to once more dig for coal at the colliery has been granted and many fear it will hamper tourism as well as damage the environmentNestled beneath waterfall country in the south western tip of the Brecon Beacons national park, the town of Glynneath is perfectly positioned to exploit the visitors drawn to the beauty of the landscape.It is as Jacob Rees-Mogg said in the House of Commons, our green and pleasant land. But a powerful group of Tory MPs pushing back against the need to pivot away from fossil fuels to meet the UK’s net zero targets believe it should play host not to a future involving clean air, renewable energy and sympathetic tourism but to the revival of the coal industry. Continue reading...

UK activists fighting climate heating and pollution say public response more welcoming than expectedThe activists who took “climate action” against sports utility vehicles by flattening their tyres in the last two weeks have been receiving solidarity and calls for information from around the world.Tyre Extinguishers provides instructions on how to deflate SUV tyres, offers guidance on who to target and collates reports of actions across the country. They have gauged the campaign’s reach by angry emails from SUV owners. Continue reading...

Marine park’s chief scientist says aerial surveys so far indicate bleaching worst off TownsvilleDead corals are being recorded in aerial surveys across the Great Barrier Reef in what the marine park’s chief scientist says is a widespread and serious bleaching event on the world heritage icon.Aerial surveys have covered half of the 2,300km reef, with the worst bleaching observed in the park’s central region off Townsville, where corals on some reefs are dead and dying. Continue reading...

The child suffered significant lacerations to her head, back and arm after the incident in ArmidaleA three-year-old girl has been flown to hospital after suffering head wounds during a “terrifying” kangaroo attack in the New South Wales northern tablelands.Emergency crews from NSW Ambulance were called to a residential street in Armidale about 5.30pm on Thursday with reports the girl had been attacked by a kangaroo. Continue reading...

Cornish pub used in Daphne du Maurier novel says there are no pluses, just minuses to hunt visitsA pub that was the setting for a novel by Daphne du Maurier has banned hunts from meeting on its land after 100 years of the practice.The Jamaica Inn in Cornwall – immortalised in the 1936 novel of the same name about smuggling – announced the decision after the East Cornwall Hunt invited the Beaufort Hunt to meet there on Saturday, a move the pub called “extremely ill-advised”. Continue reading...

Diane Ordish opposes massive industrialisation of the land, and Anthony Cheke points to vast unused urban roofs that could be given over to solar farms. Plus a letter from Francis CreedPolly Toynbee is so right (The Tories railed against ‘green crap’. Why trust them to solve the energy crisis now?, 15 March), but it is unfair to describe those opposing gigantic windfarms and solar farms as “shire nimbys”. There are many environmentalists who don’t feel such massive industrialisation of our land and seascapes is necessary.Insulting anyone who opposes ugly and often highly profitable developments in the name of progress by calling them nimbys has a long history – those fighting to save Covent Garden from demolition, Welsh mining communities opposing windfarms, communities saving swathes of east London from elevated motorways, and in Brighton it was local people who rejected the wholesale demolition of now thriving neighbourhoods through the creation of conservation areas. As Joni Mitchell said, “You don’t know what you’ve got till its gone”. Continue reading...

Explainer: Boris Johnson has asked Saudi Arabia to pump more oil; what implications would this have?Why are Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates being asked to pump more oil?Western powers are looking for ways to keep the pressure on Russia during its invasion of Ukraine. Some countries have committed to phasing out Russian oil and gas, while others are still investigating ways of doing this. Saudi Arabia is one of a number of countries, along with Venezuela and Iran, that might be able to plug the gap in oil production. Continue reading...

Bundaberg mayor Jack Dempsey says voters in his region ‘oppose coal’ and want no new mines

Former defence force chief Chris Barrie says it’s a disgrace that we’ve made a left-right issue out of global heating and its impacts

Opponents of £2bn road tunnel say scheme will increase traffic and pollutionA fourth London council has voted to oppose a new £2bn road tunnel under the Thames in east London, putting the capital’s mayor at loggerheads with local authorities over his biggest infrastructure project.Sadiq Khan accused councils of “want[ing] to put off tough decisions”, after Greenwich councillors voted overwhelmingly to call for all work on the Silvertown tunnel to be paused immediately. Continue reading...

Phil Goldberg, a self-described ‘committed environmentalist’, has a powerful strategy to shield the largest oil companies in AmericaIn the spring of 2019, Phil Goldberg, a lawyer and hired gun for a front organisation serving some of America’s most powerful oil firms, spotted an opportunity to serve his masters.The University of Hawaii was holding a conference about a wave of lawsuits against the oil industry, and Goldberg was alarmed the event failed to include representatives from the energy business. So the day before the symposium, he fired off an email to the university demanding that big oil be heard alongside its critics. Continue reading...

Conservation groups say ‘incredibly concerning’ report shows Coalition is failing to protect endangered wildlife

A new project aims to shore up the disappearing coastline of New York City’s Staten Island, while reviving a once famously thriving oyster populationOn a recent Saturday afternoon, diners at the Brooklyn restaurant Grand Army slurped oysters drizzled in mignonette and lemon juice against a soundtrack of hip-hop classics and funk. Unbeknown to many of them, they were also supporting a new effort to use oyster shells as building blocks for new, living coastal reefs – a transformative use that’s not only restorative, but may also help protect the city from climate change.Grand Army is one of dozens of restaurants in the city donating its oyster shells to support restoration projects like Living Breakwaters, a $107m effort to shore up the disappearing coastline of New York City’s Staten Island. Continue reading...

Victoria’s longest hunting season since 2018 is under way, despite bans on the practice elsewhere

Prof Terry Hughes says he believes bleaching is under way as the Australian government conducts monitoring flights over 2,300km reef

Environment groups say Urannah Dam project could destroy rare freshwater turtle habitat while feasibility studies suggest dam is not viable

Scott Morrison has to be very selective with the data to make a favourable global comparison

Pro-leave MP is due to speak at event to launch Farage’s campaign for a referendum on net zeroA Labour MP is to appear on stage with Nigel Farage at the launch of an anti-net zero campaign for a referendum on policies to tackle climate change, a move that has sparked anger from party colleagues.Graham Stringer, a prominent Brexiter who has appeared with Farage at pro-leave events and on his GB News show, was billed as appearing alongside the former Brexit party leader along with Reform UK leader Richard Tice and the broadcaster Julia Hartley-Brewer. Continue reading...

Boris Johnson facing criticism over trip to Saudi Arabia to push for a rise in oil output to reduce the UK’s dependence on Russian fuel Continue reading...

Levelling up secretary calls for more onshore wind as ministers explore case for reversing fracking banMichael Gove has said he is “not convinced” by the case for more fracking in the UK, opening up a cabinet split after Boris Johnson ordered a rethink and Jacob Rees-Mogg backed reversing the moratorium.Gove, the levelling up secretary, made the comments at an environment reception, where he also spoke of the need for more onshore wind power. Continue reading...

Warnings come as extreme heat kills more people than all other natural disasters in Australia combined

Concerns findings could stay secret for 20 years if Coalition loses election, while earlier report shows inadequate fuel storage

Measures to reduce PM2.5 ‘fall a long way short’, say campaigners, as government publishes new targets under Environment ActThe government has proposed to set air quality limits that would allow twice as much small-particle pollution in England as the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends as an upper limit, and that would not be met for almost 20 years.The new target is to reduce levels of fine particulate matter, known as PM2.5, to 10 micrograms per cubic metre by 2040, in contrast to WHO guidelines, updated last September, that say concentrations of PM2.5 should not exceed 5 micrograms per cubic metre on average over a year.Reduce nutrient pollution in water in England, with phosphorus in treated sewage to be cut by 80% by 2037, and nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment from agriculture to be reduced by 40% by 2037.Halt the decline in species by 2030 and increase species abundance by 10% by 2042, creating or restoring more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat outside protected sites by 2042.Halve residual waste produced by 2042, from 560kg per person in 2019;Improve the marine environment by ensuring 70% of “designated features” in marine-protected areas are in favourable condition by 2042.Increase tree canopy and woodland cover from 14% of England to 17.5% by 2050. Continue reading...