Shaji NM has devoted his life to collecting and farming tubers such as yam, cassava and taro, and promoting them across the countryKnown as “the tuber man of Kerala”, Shaji NM has travelled throughout India over the past two decades, sometimes inspecting bushes in tribal villages, at other times studying the ground of forests closer to home among the green hills of Wayanad in Kerala. His one purpose, and what earned him his title, is to collect rare indigenous varieties of tuber crops.“People call me crazy, but it’s for the love of tubers that I do what I do,” says Shaji. “I have developed an emotional relationship with the tuber. When we did not have anything to eat, we had tubers.” Continue reading...

Standing in Queensland electorate of Flynn, Colin Boyce says Scott Morrison’s commitment to UN is ‘not binding’

State government proposes ‘eco-tourism’ accommodation in Sunshine Coast national park

One person killed in Nebraska, while hundreds of structures damaged in New Mexico, where thousands forced to leaveWind-driven wildfires sweeping through parts of Nebraska contributed to the death of one person and injured at least three firefighters, authorities said Sunday.The person who died was in Red Willow County, in the southwest corner of the state, Nebraska Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Jodie Fawl said. She said she did not have details about that person or where the firefighters were injured, though she said their injuries were not believed to be life-threatening. Continue reading...

Reversing a trend for ‘knock it down and start again’, the climate crisis is encouraging developers to rethinkFrom a former ice factory becoming a shiny home for offices and shops, to a Victorian bus works getting a new lease of life as a flexible workspace, across the country, buildings are being retrofitted and repurposed for the future.It stands in stark contrast to what seemed like the commercial property industry’s motto in recent years: knock it all down and start again. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Research finds fuel price surge due to war in Ukraine means it now costs £600 less to drive an electric car for a year

Many are still missing after this month’s floods. Extreme weather is becoming more frequent, and it can be devastatingSurvivors of South Africa’s devastating floods have described “sheet upon sheet of relentless rain” that washed away entire houses, bridges and roads, killing about 450 people and making thousands homeless.The storm, which delivered close to an entire year’s usual rainfall in 48 hours, took meteorologists by surprise and has been blamed by experts on climate change. The new disaster comes after three tropical cyclones and two tropical storms hit south-east Africa in just six weeks in the first months of this year. Continue reading...

Authorities say victims ‘burnt beyond recognition’ in explosion at bunkering site in Imo stateMore than 100 people were killed overnight in an explosion at an illegal oil refining depot on the border of Nigeria’s Rivers and Imo states, a local government official and an environmental group said on Saturday.“The fire outbreak occurred at an illegal bunkering site and it affected over 100 people who were burnt beyond recognition,” the state commissioner for petroleum resources, Goodluck Opiah, said. Continue reading...

Ninety years ago, Peak District ramblers defied the law to push for open access. This Sunday wild swimmers take their own standAt 2pm on 24 April 1932, hundreds of rebellious ramblers descended on Kinder Scout, Derbyshire’s highest point, to “take action to open up the fine country at present denied us”.Six people were arrested at what became known as the Kinder mass trespass, which established the principle of open access land and laid the foundations for the UK’s first national park, the Peak District. Continue reading...

Calls for rules akin to environmental regulations to reduce risk of collisions and preserve night skyThe orbital space around Earth must urgently be protected by environmental rules and regulations akin to those that safeguard the planet’s land, seas and air, leading scientists say.An international team of researchers warn that a dramatic rise in the number of satellites is polluting the night sky for astronomers and stargazers, while increasing the risk of objects colliding in space and potentially even striking people or aircraft when they fall back to Earth. Continue reading...

The Atolla reynoldsi is one of three formally identified new specimens of Atolla jellyfish floating in the depths of Monterey BayScientists have discovered an “unusual” new species of deep-sea jellyfish living in the waters off the California coast.The creature, a type of Atolla jellyfish, was discovered by scientists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). It lives in the so-called midnight zone of the ocean – between one and four kilometers deep – a mysterious region where light only comes from animals that produce it themselves and the pressure reaches 5,580 pounds a square inch. Continue reading...

Campaigners warn ‘baffling’ decision could be part of nationwide patternBirds of prey are being put at risk by the disbanding of one of the country’s leading wildlife crime teams, campaigners have warned, raising fears it could be part of a nationwide pattern.Wildlife crime officers work to stop offences such as raptor persecution, where birds of prey are poisoned or shot by gamekeepers and landowners. Continue reading...

Activists irate at Treasury decision and fear expansion of publicly accessible land will not go aheadThe English countryside is a “place of business” and already has “hundreds of thousands of miles of public footpaths”, a minister has said in response to questions about why the “right to roam” report has been shelved.The comments by Mark Spencer, the leader of the house, came as campaign groups expressed their fury over the Treasury’s decision to shelve the review, which was commissioned to search out a “quantum shift in how our society supports people to access and engage with the outdoors”. Continue reading...

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including a busy bee, a baby bear and a very hairy sheep Continue reading...

Northern Ireland Assembly’s first climate act will require the farming sector to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050Northern Ireland will need to lose more than 1 million sheep and cattle to meet its new legally binding climate emissions targets, according to an industry-commissioned analysis seen by the Guardian.The large-scale reduction in farm animals comes after the passing of the ​​jurisdiction’s first ever climate act, requiring the farming sector to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and reduce methane emissions by almost 50% over the same period.

Thousands of Indigenous people sign letter to UK, US and EU protesting at appropriation of land for tourist safaris and huntingThousands of Maasai pastoralists in northern Tanzania have written to the UK and US governments and the EU appealing for help to stop plans to evict them from their ancestral land.More than 150,000 Maasai people face eviction by the Tanzanian government due to moves by the UN cultural agency Unesco and a safari company to use the land for conservation and commercial hunting. Continue reading...

Amid dancing and singing, 200 different Indigenous ethnic groups met at the annual Free Land Camp to demand action on land rights and the environmentA multitude of sounds and tones echoing local chants; vibrant face paints with colours and tracery from the red of the urucum shrub and the black of genipap tree fruit; the strong and coordinated movements of magical dances: the annual Free Land Camp brought Indigenous peoples from across Brazil to its capital earlier this month.Hitup and Wekanã Pataxó carry a stone that represents a gold nugget during a march in Brasília. Fora Bozo means Out Bolsonaro Continue reading...

These people are monsters!!!!!

Report says land should only be classed as protected if wildlife is proved to be recovering over long-termThe UK’s national parks should not be considered “protected areas” unless the way they look after wildlife radically improves, according to a new report.Internationally, the UK is leading calls to protect 30% of land and sea by 2030 (the “30x30” target), but is failing to protect its own wildlife, says a report by the British Ecological Society (BES). Continue reading...

PM hits out at ‘prejudice’ against environmental agenda as he rejects idea of ending green levies on billsBoris Johnson has attacked “prejudice” against environmental policies, as he rejected the idea of ditching green levies on household energy bills to tackle the cost of living crisis.Senior Tories including Steve Baker, who separately called on Johnson to resign over the Partygate revelations, have urged the prime minister to remove the levies, which are set to cost about £153 per household this year and are used to fund energy efficiency measures and renewables. Continue reading...

Sweden’s ‘green transformation’ promises to help Europe fight the climate crisis. So why is it uniting radical environmentalists, ecologists and Sami reindeer herders in protest?The stove gurgles as Sofia Olsson puts a chunk of wood into the fire, lifts the kettle and offers mugs of tea and grainy camp coffee to the small group reclining on reindeer skins around her. In the taiga forest and frozen marsh outside their snow-covered Swedish military tent, it’s -12C (10.4F). Last night, it was near -20C (-4F). But inside, it’s surprisingly comfortable.

Exclusive: violations of farming rules for water last year reached highest level since legislation was introducedThe number of documented violations of legislation designed to reduce water pollution caused by agriculture in England has hit record levels as the rules remain largely unenforced.Last year had the highest number of recorded violations of the farming rules for water since the legislation was introduced in April 2018, and environmental groups estimate tens of thousands of English farms continue to commit undocumented violations. Continue reading...

Dominic Perrottet concedes thousands of applications from residents, farmers and businesses rejected or not processed

In a powerful new three-part docuseries, the oil industry is put on trial as the extent of climate change awareness is revealedThere is a moment in the revelatory PBS Frontline docuseries The Power of Big Oil, about the industry’s long campaign to stall action on the climate crisis, in which the former Republican senator Chuck Hagel reflects on his part in killing US ratification of the Kyoto climate treaty.In 1997, Hagel joined with the Democratic senator Robert Byrd to promote a resolution opposing the international agreement to limit greenhouse gases, on the grounds that it was unfair to Americans. The measure passed the US Senate without a single dissenting vote, after a vigorous campaign by big oil to mischaracterise the Kyoto protocol as a threat to jobs and the economy while falsely claiming that China and India could go on polluting to their heart’s content. Continue reading...

Subterranean fires are almost impossible to extinguish and add to global emissions from fossil fuelsThe longest-lasting fire known in the world, thought to date back at least 5,500 years, is burning beneath Mount Wingen in New South Wales. The blaze burns in a coal seam that may once have been exposed on the ground and set alight by lightning.Since then the fire has been smouldering, eating into the coal seam at a rate of about 3ft (1 metre) each year, but because it is about 100ft deep underground the fire is almost impossible to extinguish and will probably continue to burn long into the future.

The Morrison government has pledged hundreds of millions of dollars for new gas projects, while Labor moves in lockstep with them on coal

‘Operation thermostat’ initiative aimed at helping country avert shortages and ministers sign gas deal with AngolaSchools and other public buildings in Italy will be forbidden from setting their air conditioning to any setting lower than 25C from next month, under a scheme intended to help the country dodge an energy crisis exacerbated by the war in Ukraine.The energy rationing initiative, called “operation thermostat”, comes as Italy on Wednesday penned a deal with Angola to ramp up gas supplies from the southern African country. Continue reading...

Danger looms for larger species such as bumblebees, which have lower heat tolerance, leading to ‘cascading effects’ on ecosystemsThe climate crisis could lead to more small-bodied bees but fewer bumblebees, according to research warning of potential “cascading” effects on plant pollination and across whole ecosystems.Scientists in the US trapped and studied more than 20,000 bees over eight years in an area of the Rocky Mountains to find out how different types reacted to changing climatic conditions. Continue reading...

Experts say not enough is being done to reduce petrol consumption and encourage uptake of electric vehicles

Study finds Chinese consumption will fall within two to three years as Australian coalmining communities warned to reduce dependence on industryAustralia’s coal export boom will come to an abrupt end because of an “imminent and substantial” drop in purchases by China, and local coalmining communities should brace for the change, the lead author of a new study says.The peer-reviewed paper, published on Thursday in the journal Joule, forecasts China’s thermal coal imports will contract at least a quarter from 2019 levels of 210m tonnes by 2025, mostly as improved transport links will give local suppliers an edge. Continue reading...

Study of wetland birds in national parks and other reserves shows that species-specific management is crucial to successNational parks and other protected areas have had mixed success in conserving wildlife, according to the largest ever global study of their effects.Using wetland bird data from 1,506 protected areas around the world, scientists analysed the trends of more than 27,000 populations, and found that increased provision for the birds had not necessarily helped. Continue reading...

Campaigners had hoped access to nature would be extended in England, where 92% of land is privately ownedThe government has quashed a review into the right to roam in England’s countryside, amid anger from campaigners that the law of trespass stops people from walking freely around the country.It was revealed last year that the Treasury had commissioned Lord Agnew to lead a review into access to nature, asking respondents for “radical, joined up thinking” to achieve a “quantum shift in how our society supports people to access and engage with the outdoors”. Continue reading...

Campaigners say utility firm’s investment plan to remedy situation is ‘completely inadequate’Thames Water dumped untreated effluent for more than 68,000 hours into the river systems around Oxford last year, campaigners have revealed, arguing that the sum of money the company plans to spend to improve the situation is woefully inadequate.The company discharged raw sewage into the River Thames and its tributaries including the River Windrush, Thame, Evenlode and Ock 5,028 times in 2021, according to data analysed by the Oxford Rivers Improvement Campaign (ORIC). Continue reading...

Necropsy suggests marine mammal was ‘impaled in the head with a spear-like object’ while being illegally fedWildlife officials in Florida are investigating the mysterious death of a bottlenose dolphin that was recovered on a beach with an apparent stab wound to the head.The mammal, which was found on Fort Myers beach in the south-west of the state on 24 March, is believed to have been killed deliberately, probably while it was being fed illegally by humans. Continue reading...

Project by startup Granular will offer greater transparency over energy sources and could mean lower billsConsumers will soon be able to check where their energy is coming from hourly, and get a discount on bills if they use electricity when renewables are in surplus.Under plans by the startup Granular and energy giants including Elexon and National Grid, energy companies will allow UK consumers to track their power source. Continue reading...

Harvests have collapsed, and the way President Rajapaksa introduced the policy angered even organic farmersDriving through the verdant landscape of Rajanganaya, a rural district in north Sri Lanka where the hibiscus flowers pop out of rich green foliage and the mango trees are already weighed down by early fruit, it is hard to imagine this is a community in crisis. Yet for many of those who have farmed this land since the 1960s, mainly with rice and banana crops, the past year has been the toughest of their lives.“If things go on like this, in the future it will be hard to find a farmer left in Sri Lanka,” said Niluka Dilrukshi, 34, a rice paddy farmer. Continue reading...

Officials say nuclear energy remains vital as carbon-free source of power to help tackle the climate crisisThe Biden administration is launching a $6bn effort to rescue nuclear power plants at risk of closing, citing the need to continue nuclear energy as a carbon-free source of power that helps to combat climate change.On Tuesday, a certification and bidding process opened for a civil nuclear credit program that is intended to bail out financially distressed owners or operators of nuclear power reactors, the US energy department told the Associated Press exclusively, shortly before the official announcement. It’s the largest federal investment in saving financially distressed nuclear reactors. Continue reading...

Footage shows five-year-old humpback in Canadian waters stalking and ambushing group more used to role of attackersAn aggressive humpback whale appeared to turn the tables on a pod of orcas off the Canadian coast, stalking then ambushing the group that more usually would have been attacking it.The rare occurrence took place on the Salish Sea between British Columbia and Washington state and was witnessed and recorded by enthralled tourists on a whale-watching trip. Continue reading...

Campaigners say they will revive campaign without pledge from Boris Johnson to end new fossil fuel projectsJust Stop Oil has said it will suspend its direct actions against fuel distribution for a week, but has told the prime minister its members will escalate their disruptive protests “if you do not fulfil your duty to the people”.For two and a half weeks, the climate activists have been targeting oil terminals and oil tankers in the Midlands and the south-east of England with blockades and mass trespass. Continue reading...

Boss says he hopes to be providing power to the national grid by 2029Rolls-Royce is to start building parts for its small modular nuclear reactors in anticipation of receiving regulatory approval from the British government by 2024, one of its directors has said.Paul Stein, the chairman of Rolls-Royce SMR, a subsidiary of the FTSE 100 engineering company, said he hoped to be providing power to the UK’s national grid by 2029. Continue reading...

Party seeking legislation as research reveals executives received £27m in bonuses in last two yearsBonuses should be banned for water company bosses until sewage spills into rivers stop, the Liberal Democrats are to demand.Executives were awarded £27m in bonuses over the past two years despite pumping out raw sewage into waterways 1,000 times a day, analysis by the party has found. Continue reading...

French energy firm plans to drill in national park and build 900-mile pipeline in sensitive environmentsThe French oil and gas company TotalEnergies has worked to cultivate a green reputation with climate goals and plans to ramp up renewable power, but a massive east African oil project is casting a shadow over that messaging campaign.Total plans to drill for oil in a richly biodiverse national park in Uganda and build a 900-mile pipeline, the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), which will flow through sensitive environments to a port in Tanzania for export. Continue reading...

Experts cite Scottish example, with turbines along roads and rail lines, as a way to make better use of ‘cheap, clean’ energy sourceOnshore windfarms need not blight the most beautiful parts of England because there is plenty of room for them next to rail lines and on brownfield land, leading scientists have said.The government decided to keep the curbs on onshore wind, introduced by David Cameron, in the recent energy strategy. This means that it will be difficult to expand onshore wind in England. Continue reading...

Revenue brought in by westerners hunting markhor, ibex and wild sheep is being used to conserve the elusive big cat and provide income for villages in the mountainous regionThere are few mammals that capture our imagination more than the rare and elusive snow leopard. Listed as vulnerable on the red list of threatened species, fewer than 7,000 Panthera uncia are thought to remain across the high mountains of Asia. Of these, an estimated 5% live in Tajikistan’s Pamir mountains, the third-highest ecosystem in the world after the Himalayan and Karakoram ranges. Here, against the odds, the leopards appear to be thriving.“In Tajikistan, the situation with snow leopards is optimistic because the population is visibly increasing,” says Khalil Karimov, a wildlife biologist and scientific adviser to the Association of Nature Conservation Organisations of Tajikistan (Ancot). “We have between 350 and 450 cats, although the exact number is impossible to say due to the nature of the leopards and the remote environment they inhabit.” Continue reading...

Culture Unstained put together submission stating oil company ‘falls short’ in response to climate crisisA group of climate scientists, archaeologists and those familiar with the museum industry have written to the British Museum’s board of trustees to urge them to sever a sponsorship deal with BP, arguing that it goes against the museum’s own policies and that a renewal would damage its reputation.The submission, put together by the group Culture Unstained, is part of an escalating campaign against the oil firm’s sponsorship of the museum, which is expected to make a decision about renewing the deal imminently. Continue reading...

Conservative governments have left the UK’s problem with leaky homes unresolved

Ed Miliband says move will ease energy price crisis and reduce dependence on Russian gas

Minister under pressure to release modelling he claims shows consumers would be $560 a year worse off under ALP’s electricity policy

Hispanic and Latino farmworkers at high risk from pesticide use in agriculture, while people in lower-income housing also affectedPeople of color and low-income communities are at disproportionate risk of pesticide exposure, a new study has found.Roughly 90% of pesticide use in the US is in agriculture, making farmworkers – 83% of whom identify as Hispanic – more vulnerable to the synthetic chemicals intended to kill, repel or control pests. Continue reading...

Pharmacy joins other retail chains in committing to end sales of plastic wipes by end of this yearThe high street chemist Boots is joining the ranks of retailers vowing to stop selling all wet wipes that contain plastic fibres, as part of efforts to cut non-biodegradable waste.The retailer said it was committing to stop selling all wet wipes containing plastic by the end of the year and would replace them with plant-based alternatives. Continue reading...