Environment | The Guardian

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including a released spider monkey, deep sea creatures and a jagged ambush bug Continue reading...

Revenue at Australia Pacific LNG doubles in 2021-22, prompting renewed calls for a windfall tax

Most of the world’s mountain glaciers are retreating because of the climate crisis, but those in the European Alps are especially vulnerable. Smaller and with less ice cover, this year they are on track for their highest loss of mass in at least 60 years of record keepingFrom the way 45-year-old Swiss glaciologist Andreas Linsbauer bounds over icy crevasses, you would never guess he was carrying 10kg of steel equipment needed to chart the decline of Switzerland’s glaciers.Glaciologist Andreas Linsbauer and assistant Andrea Millhaeusler drill a hole at a measuring point on the Pers glacier, near the Alpine resort of Pontresina Continue reading...

Fears that turning muddy route BR-319 into an all-season road will make it an artery for illegal logging and deforestationBrazil’s environmental authority has granted an initial permit to allow a major highway to be paved through the centre of the Amazon rainforest, the minister of infrastructure said, in a move that threatens to increase deforestation.On the campaign trail, Brazil’s rightwing president, Jair Bolsonaro, had pledged to repave the road, called BR-319, that would connect the largest Amazon city of Manaus year-round to the rest of Brazil. Continue reading...

Recent extreme temperatures were higher than those simulated by climate models, analysis revealsClimate breakdown made the recent record UK heatwave 10 times more likely, researchers have found. Analysis by World Weather Attribution reveals that temperatures in the UK during the heatwave, when it hit 40.3C, were higher than those simulated by climate models.The researchers say extreme temperatures in western Europe are rising faster than expected. Continue reading...

The $369bn climate spending package is part of a broader package, known as the Inflation Reduction ActJoe Manchin, the centrist West Virginia senator and coal company owner who has repeatedly thwarted Joe Biden’s attempts to pass legislation to tackle the climate crisis, shocked Washington on Wednesday by saying he will support a bill aimed at cutting planet-heating emissions.The $369bn package has been touted by jubilant Democrats as the largest climate bill ever in the US, and even the world. It still faces obstacles before passing but the support of Manchin, a crucial swing vote in an evenly divided US Senate, appears to augur well for its chances. So what’s in the legislation? Continue reading...

Experts warned the move would significantly worsen the UK’s housing crisis and push up living costs

Aemo executive says need for renewables is ‘urgent’ as failing coal-fired power plants and global gas costs cause prices to surge

Hanover is first large city to impose energy-saving measures and Berlin switches off monument spotlightsCities in Germany are switching off spotlights on public monuments, turning off fountains, and imposing cold showers on municipal swimming pools and sports halls, as the country races to reduce its energy consumption in the face of a looming Russian gas crisis.Hanover in north-west Germany on Wednesday became the first large city to announce energy-saving measures, including turning off hot water in the showers and bathrooms of city-run buildings and leisure centres. Continue reading...

But the senator’s insistence on more fossil fuel drilling was called a ‘climate suicide pact’ by one expertClimate advocates reacted with surprise and delight to Joe Manchin’s decision to back a sweeping bill to combat the climate crisis, with analysts predicting the legislation will bring the US close to its target of slashing planet-heating emissions.The West Virginia senator, who has made millions from his ownership of a coal-trading company, had seemingly thwarted Joe Biden’s hopes of passing meaningful climate legislation – only to reveal on Wednesday his support for a $369bn package to support renewable energy and electric vehicle rollout. Continue reading...

Labour says UK government ‘asleep at the wheel’ of Cop26 presidency as just 16 of 197 member nations submit new climate action plansInternational climate targets could be at risk because only a handful of countries have updated their emission reduction goals since last year’s Cop26 summit, campaigners have warned.Just 16 out of 197 member countries of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change have updated their plans for how to meet climate goals – known as nationally determined contributions or NDCs. Continue reading...

Ed Gemmell wants to offer Conservative voters climate-conscious, business-friendly alternative

The climate emergency has been declared over and over. The future the scientists warned us about is here, nowWe are declaring a climate emergency. Everyone can, in whatever place on Earth they call home. No one needs to wait for politicians any more – we have been waiting for them for decades. What history shows us is that when people lead, governments follow. Our power resides in what we are witnessing. We cannot deny that Great Salt Lake is vanishing before our eyes into a sun-cracked playa of salt and toxic chemicals. Nor can we deny that Lake Mead is reduced to a puddle. In New Mexico a wildfire that began in early April is still burning in late July. Last August, the eye of Hurricane Ida split in two – there was no calm – only 190mph winds ripping towns in the bayous of Louisiana to shreds; and 7m acres in the American west burned in 2021. The future the scientists warned us about is where we live now.The climate emergency has been declared over and over by Nature and by human suffering and upheaval in response to its catastrophes. The 2,000 individuals who recently died of heat in Portugal and Spain are not here to bear witness, but many of the residents of Jacobabad in Pakistan, where Amnesty International declared the temperatures “unlivable for humans”, are. The heat-warped rails of the British train system, the buckled roads, cry out that this is unprecedented. The estimated billion sea creatures who died on the Pacific north-west’s coast from last summer’s heatwave announced a climate emergency. The heat-devastated populations of southern Asia, the current grain crop failures in China, India, across Europe and the American midwest, the starving in the Horn of Africa because of climate-caused drought, the bleached and dying coral reefs of Australia, the rivers of meltwater gushing from the Greenland ice sheet, the melting permafrost of Siberia and Alaska: all bear witness that this is a climate emergency. So do we. Yet the anxiety we feel, the grief that is ours, pales in comparison to the ferocity of our resolve.Rebecca Solnit is a Guardian US columnistTerry Tempest Williams is a writer, naturalist, and activist Continue reading...

This week is National Moth Week, when citizen scientists worldwide are urged to record their sightings of some of the 160,000 species of moth. In recent years, photographer Carla Rhodes has been capturing moths in all their beautiful variety at her home in New York state Continue reading...

Tradies in paradise scheme offers incentives for workers to move to state, but budget mostly spent on ads and admin, government says

Canterbury-Bankstown mayor says bin mixing due to ‘problematic locations’, sparking wider reflection on Australia’s waste system

Heatwaves around world showing clear evidence of climate crisis, experts sayEven cool periods in the UK are now warmer than they used to be, meteorologists have warned, as an assessment of last year’s weather showed average temperatures higher across the country, in sync with rising heat across the globe.Britain’s record-breaking heatwave last week, when the mercury topped 40C for the first time on record, has subsided into scattered showers and cooler temperatures across much of the country, but forecasters have warned that smaller heatwaves could return in the next month. Continue reading...

Despite declaring a climate emergency, government is in court defending decision to issue fossil fuel prospecting permits in TaranakiNew Zealand’s government has argued that the climate crisis is of “insufficient weight” to stop it issuing oil and gas exploration permits – despite declaring a climate emergency and committing to eliminate offshore exploration.The government is in court defending its 2021 decision to allow fossil fuel companies to prospect for oil and gas in Taranaki. A group of students sued over the decision, saying the ministry failed to adequately consider the climate impact of the exploration, or give enough weight to crucial documents including advice from the climate commission and the International Energy Agency’s Net Zero By 2050 report. Continue reading...

The PM spruiked the myth that Australia’s ‘quality’ coal was relatively clean – following in the footsteps of Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison

Biden notes ‘extraordinary effort it took to reach this result’ and urges Congress to pass measureSenator Joe Manchin, the West Virginia Democrat infamous for thwarting his own party’s most ambitious policy goals, announced he has signed on to a domestic policy bill that would pay down the national debt, lower healthcare costs and address the climate crisis.After reaching a deal with the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, Manchin said the new policy package was called the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and included “realistic energy and climate policy”. Continue reading...

Users may also be paid to use less electricity, as country prepares for gas shortfalls across EuropeCoal power plants could be paid to generate more electricity, with consumers and businesses paid to use less, as the UK hunkers down for a winter of gas shortfalls across Europe caused by the standoff with Russia over the war in Ukraine.In its early outlook forecasting Britain’s ability to keep the lights on over winter, the National Grid admitted there could be “tight periods” in early December, which would trigger a call for power plants to ramp up generation. Continue reading...

With Europe grappling with an energy crisis, Mohammed bin Salman finds he is once again welcomeSmiles, handshakes, backslaps and the Acropolis all to himself. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has landed in Europe – his first trip west since the brutal killing of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi – and on a continent jittering with energy worries, the Saudi royal has received red-carpet treatment.Human rights concerns aside, the de facto leader of the world’s greatest oil producer has luxuriated in a welcome that only recently may have seemed impossible. Continue reading...

Vladimir Putin’s cynical extortion makes as eloquent a case for the clean energy transition as any environmental idealistWhen Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine, he gambled that it would be won quickly and that the west would acquiesce in a fait accompli. He underestimated Ukrainian resilience and European readiness to punish Kremlin aggression with sanctions. That forced Mr Putin into a longer game. Now he is betting that European reliance on Russian gas exports will corrode western solidarity, leading to a degrading of sanctions and restored tolerance of Moscow’s territorial aggressions.To hasten that scenario, Russia has cut the flow of gas through the main east-west pipeline. The Kremlin’s message of strategic extortion is not subtle: go softer on the war and have a cosier winter; stay tough and freeze. European solidarity is just about holding. Earlier this week EU members agreed a deal to cut gas usage by 15% as part of a phased move away from reliance on Russian supplies. But the deal is diluted by opt-outs and exceptions for various countries. Hungary, the EU state that is cosiest with the Kremlin, has not signed up at all. Continue reading...

Gregory Andrews is one of several former public servants at rally outside Parliament House calling for end to fossil fuel expansion

From Spain to Hungary, output of staples such as corn forecast to fall by up to 9%, adding to impact of Ukraine war on food securityYields of key crops in Europe will be sharply down this year owing to heatwaves and droughts, exacerbating the impacts of the Ukraine war on food prices.Maize, sunflower and soya bean yields are forecast by the EU to drop by about 8% to 9% due to hot weather across the continent. Supplies of cooking oil and maize were already under pressure, as Ukraine is a major producer and its exports have been blocked by Russia. Continue reading...

Plans for the site have got the go-ahead. The knock-on effect for Suffolk’s rivers and seawater will soon be clearLast week, the government gave the go-ahead for a new nuclear power station to be developed on the Suffolk coast. Providing low-carbon electricity for about 6m homes, Sizewell C will stand alongside two existing stations, Sizewell B and the decommissioned Sizewell A. I live close enough to see the 60-metre tall, white dome of Sizewell B almost every day. When I want to torture myself, I look at developer EDF’s “construction phase visualisations” of the 1,380-acre building site, with its towering spoil heaps and forest of cranes, and wonder if this is what it will take to save the planet.What might not have been immediately obvious in the coverage of the government’s decision was that the Planning Inspectorate, tasked with assessing such projects, had recommended that permission be refused. The problem, the examiners explained, was fairly simple: EDF couldn’t say exactly where it would obtain one of the main substances needed to make a nuclear power station work, that substance being water. Continue reading...

British Trust for Ornithology says droppings are ‘innocuous compared to wet wipes or dog poo in plastic’Warnings on Scottish beaches not to feed gulls because bird poo contributes to water pollution are “massively out of proportion”, according to ornithology experts.The posters, which are part of Keep Scotland Beautiful’s My Beach Your Beach campaign, have also been criticised for “demonising” gulls and contributing to a chronic human misunderstanding of bird behaviour. Continue reading...

One industry consulting firm has influenced politics across Florida, Alabama and at least six other statesThe CEO of the biggest power company in the US had a problem. A Democratic state senator was proposing a law that could cut into Florida Power & Light’s (FPL) profits. Landlords would be able to sell cheap rooftop solar power directly to their tenants – bypassing FPL and its monopoly on electricity.“I want you to make his life a living hell … seriously,” FPL’s CEO Eric Silagy wrote in a 2019 email to two of his vice-presidents about state Senator José Javier Rodríguez, who proposed the legislation. Continue reading...

Banks’ financing of coal, oil, and gas was higher in 2021 than it was in 2016, the year after the Paris agreement was adopted Continue reading...

The likes of Expedia, Airbnb and Tui fail to impress alternative consumer body Ethical ConsumerThe first report of its kind to assess the ethical practices of travel booking sites has named luxury camping company Canopy & Stars and Fairbnb, a non-profit that donates half of its 15% commission fee to local community projects, as among the most ethical options for holidaymakers.Conducted by Ethical Consumer, the UK’s leading alternative consumer organisation, the report focused on 29 companies that people use to book their own transport and accommodation, rather than holiday operators. Continue reading...

Campaigners say question about individual action was irresponsible and too little time was spent on subjectA group of environmental organisations and campaigners have written to the BBC to rebuke it for inadequate questioning about the climate crisis during Monday’s Conservative leadership debate.Just one question on the environment was asked in the debate, and it put the onus on individuals rather than leaders to act on the climate. Continue reading...

A group of Gen Z activists is targeting gas-guzzling vehicles as frustration mounts over US inaction on the climate crisisOn a searingly hot night in New York City, a group of mask-wearing activists grasping bags of lentils set out to stage the biggest blitzkrieg yet upon a new target for climate campaigners in the US – the tires of SUVs.The group – a mixture of ages and genders – split up as midnight approached, heading down the streets of the Upper East Side, lined by some of the most expensive apartments in the world and a gleaming parade of high-end, parked SUVs. This type of vehicle is the second largest cause of the global rise in carbon dioxide emissions over the past decade. Continue reading...

Tourism minister Stirling Hinchliffe says funds were diverted to theme park ride after koala project delayed

Critically endangered grey nurse sharks and threatened turtles among species trapped along with 51 targeted sharks

Industry to feel pinch first after all countries in bloc except Hungary agreed to voluntary reductionThe EU has agreed to cut its gas consumption by 15% in an attempt to stave off a winter crisis triggered by a sharp reduction or total shutdown of Russian gas supplies to the bloc. Continue reading...

Local hosepipe bans considered as Environment Agency officials prepare to declare drought in AugustPeople in England are being urged to curb their use of water as the country faces its driest conditions since 1976.Officials are preparing to declare a drought in August if dry conditions continue, after months of very low rainfall in the UK. Continue reading...

Analysis: Southern European countries were unwilling to sign up to homogenous 15% cut in gasA decade after its government admonished southern European states to “do their homework” of painful fiscal changes to end a sovereign debt crisis, Germany is slowly adapting to the humbling reality of being worst-in-class when it comes to reliance on Russian gas.As EU countries in recent days sought to agree on emergency proposals to curb their gas demand in reaction to Russia’s Gazprom throttling supplies to Europe, southern states made clear they were unwilling to sign up to a homogenous 15% cut in gas across countries with a less vulnerable energy mix than Germany. A deal was finally agreed on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Governments in the European Union have agreed to ration natural gas this winter in order to protect themselves against further supply cuts made by Russia. Since Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, EU leaders have accused Moscow of using its global gas supply as a political weapon. Energy ministers from the 27 EU member states mostly backed a plan for a voluntary 15% reduction in gas usage, but added in several opt-outs for island nations and countries unconnected or little connected to the European gas network, which will blunt the overall effect

Instead of siphoning off profits to private shareholders, state utility companies could tackle the cost of living and climate crisisYesterday morning, Rachel Reeves was drawn into stating on the Today programme that a Labour government would not bring rail, energy and water into public ownership. Then followed a number of tweets from Labour’s shadow transport ministers, reaffirming the party’s commitment to nationalising the railway. By the afternoon, Keir Starmer had confirmed that rail would indeed be brought into public ownership because this was “pragmatic”, but water and energy would not.While Starmer claims the pragmatism of the policy rests on the fact that some of the rail network is already in public hands, the more relevant issue is that Labour is terrified of buying back assets. Bringing contracts (like rail franchises) into public ownership when they come to an end is generally cost-free whereas buying back water and energy companies involves compensating shareholders – and Jeremy Corbyn was hammered for this in the 2019 election.Cat Hobbs is the founder of We Own It, an organisation that campaigns for public ownership of public servicesDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 300 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at guardian.letters@theguardian.com Continue reading...

Various grim discoveries have been made at the drought-stricken Nevada reservoir, including a body in a barrelMore human remains have been found as the shrinking shore line of Lake Mead recedes in the face of a brutal drought gripping the western United States.In a statement, the National Park Service said the unidentified remains were spotted at Swim Beach in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area late on Monday afternoon. Continue reading...

Picnics, treks, camping and swimming continue despite hazardous air quality and ash in national parkYosemite national park’s dramatic vistas were shrouded by a thick grey haze on Monday afternoon, as smoke from the fiercely burning Oak fire hung over its granite peaks. Along the road winding toward the valley, skeletal trees told the story of the Washburn fire that tore through just weeks earlier.The blazes – the two largest to ignite in California so far this year – have besieged Yosemite during one of its busiest months, causing entrance closures, cancellations, and cloaking the landmark in hazardous air. Continue reading...

PM says if Australia didn’t export coal there would be ‘replacement coal from other countries that’s likely to produce higher emissions’

We can’t keep sitting in school, pretending everything is all right, and studying as if the planet wasn’t on fireSchool and university students all over the world are planning to take school strikes one step further and occupy our campuses to demand the end of the fossil economy. Taking a lesson from student activists in the 1960s, the climate justice movement’s youth will shut down business as usual. Not because we don’t like learning, but because what we’ve learned already makes it clear that, without a dramatic break from this system, we cannot ensure a livable planet for our presents and futures.Why occupy? Because we’ve marched. We’ve launched petitions. We’ve written open letters. We’ve had meetings with governments, boards and commissions. We’ve struck. We’ve filled squares, streets and avenues with thousands and, all together, millions of people in continents across this Earth. We’ve screamed with all our lungs. Some of us have even participated in blockades, sit-ins and die-ins. And just as it seemed the seed for deep and radical social transformation was taking root in the midst of the massive 2019 climate mobilizations, Covid-19 came, and our momentum drastically decreased. What didn’t decrease, however, was the greenhouse gas emissions, the exploitation of the global south and the unimaginable profits hoarded by the fossil fuel industry.This open letter was written by youth activists involved in End Fossil: Occupy! and signed by organizers and groups around the world Continue reading...

High temperatures expected to continue for at least another week with more than 300 cities forecast to reach 35CA long-running heatwave in China has pushed electricity usage to record levels in some areas and led to blackouts, with warnings that the high temperatures are expected to continue for at least another week.More than 300 cities were forecast to reach temperatures above 35C on Tuesday. China Southern Power Grid Company said Monday’s usage had surpassed last year’s peak load by 3%. The Guangdong province power grid also hit a record high, reaching 142m kilowatts, an increase of 4.89% over last year’s peak load. Blackouts were reported in the provincial capital, Guangzhou, which has recorded a full week of maximum temperatures above 37C, including highs of 40C on Sunday and Monday. Continue reading...

Faith leaders in the skeptical south are working to persuade their congregations that climate action is a Christian dutyRobin Blakeman, an eighth-generation West Virginian, has been a practicing minister since 2004. This May, the city where she lives flooded for the second time in nine months. Several inches of rain left roads in disarray, with cars washed out and first responders rushing to evacuate families. The rising flood also damaged one of the city’s churches.Before that point, local congregations in Huntington, West Virginia, had talked about how the climate crisis was causing flooding. One church had hosted film screenings about global heating; Blakeman herself gave a sermon on Earth Day at another in 2020. But since the flood, they’re talking about it a lot more, said Blakeman. Continue reading...

Group claims ministers have failed to check environmental impact of burning gas at site off AberdeenGreenpeace has confirmed it will take legal action against the UK government over claims it has failed to check the environmental impact of burning gas from the Jackdaw gasfield off the coast of Aberdeen.The government gave its approval for Shell to develop the field for gas extraction on 2 June. Continue reading...

Services need to recognise risk after last week’s ‘unprecedented’ blazes, say expertsFire chiefs have warned that cities in the UK need to prepare for wildfires after dozens of “unprecedented” blazes broke out during last week’s record-breaking temperatures.Temperatures reached 40C (104F) across England last Tuesday in a heatwave that dried out green spaces, triggering wildfires that destroyed more than 40 houses and shops. Continue reading...

Sightings and non-fatal incidents have proliferated on Long Island this year but experts say they are actually evidence of a conservation success storyThere were thousands of people on Robert Moses Beach on New York’s Long Island on Saturday, but in this heatwave few were venturing into the Atlantic water beyond their ankles or knees.Mothers kept their children close. An array of boats, helicopters and drones moved up and down beyond the surf. And teams of lifeguards aloft in their posts were poised with whistles to order people out of the water. Continue reading...