Environment | The Guardian

‘Extraordinarily hot’ in central and southern areas, say meteorologists, with forecast of 40C in AndalucíaParts of Spain are experiencing their hottest May since records began, as a mass of hot, dry air blows in from Africa, bringing with it dusty skies and temperatures of more than 40C (104F).Spain’s state meteorological agency, Aemet, has warned of a weekend heatwave of an “extraordinary intensity”, with temperatures between 10C and 15C above the seasonal average and more akin to high summer than mid-May. Continue reading...

The Life programme, which celebrates its birthday this weekend, has poured billions into saving Europe’s most vulnerable creatures“It has been a miracle,” whispers biologist Gabriel Llorens Folgado as he studies a tumble of granite boulders for any signs of movement. The miracle is that Spain’s lynx population has been saved. Today, in the wildflower-coated hills of the Sierra de Andújar in southern Spain, Folgado is looking for Magarza and her four cubs. “When I first saw a lynx, 20 years ago, there were fewer than 100 in just two places in Spain. I never stopped hoping, but I thought they might disappear,” he says.The Iberian lynx was the world’s most endangered cat 20 years ago, but after a number of EU Life projects, today there are more than 1,000 across Spain and Portugal. Carmen Rueda Rodriguez from the conservation group CBD Habitat, who has been working with the Iberian lynx since 2014, says the EU funding programme has been a gamechanger. Continue reading...

Documents indicate PM’s changes to foreign policy speech coincided with environment agreement in trade talks

The ban on wheat exports highlights the effect a rapidly warming planet has on food security – and livelihoodsIt was his buffaloes that he was first worried about. As temperatures in the small village of Baras, deep in the Indian state of Punjab, began to soar to unseasonably hot levels in April, farmer Hardeep Singh Uppal noticed that his two buffaloes, essential for his family’s livelihood, became feverish and unwell.A few weeks later and the buffaloes now seem fine, flicking their tails leisurely as an icy breeze blows down from an air conditioning unit, a luxury that once sat in Uppal’s parents house but now has been installed in an otherwise run-down cowshed, running all day at great expense. “The vet told me I need to keep them cool in this heatwave otherwise they will die so this is the only way,” said Uppal. Continue reading...

‘Clean’ hydrogen and carbon capture and storage head list of funding pledges since net zero promise

Temperatures expected to be 20F to 30F above average for this time of year, breaking records and raising health fearsDozens of states across the US are bracing for historically high spring temperatures this weekend, as a scorching heatwave moves east.The early onslaught of sweltering weather, before what’s expected to be another hot, dry summer, is forecast to break or tie roughly 130 heat records for this time of year, with temperatures between 20F and 30F above average in the mid-Atlantic and north-east. Continue reading...

EDF says plant will begin operating a year later than planned in June 2027 at an estimated cost of £25bnThe boss of Hinkley Point C has blamed pandemic disruption after admitting the new nuclear power station will start operating a year later than planned and will cost an extra £3bn.French energy company EDF said the first reactor unit at the Somerset site is now scheduled to start operating in June 2027, a year later than planned, with costs estimated between £25bn and £26bn. Continue reading...

Data shows people finding it harder to sleep, especially women and older people, with serious health impactsRising temperatures driven by the climate crisis are cutting the sleep of people across the world, the largest study to date has found.Good sleep is critical to health and wellbeing. But global heating is increasing night-time temperatures, even faster than in the day, making it harder to sleep. The analysis revealed that the average global citizen is already losing 44 hours of sleep a year, leading to 11 nights with less than seven hours’ sleep, a standard benchmark of sufficient sleep. Continue reading...

Speech by head of responsible investing Stuart Kirk dismissed global heating and joked about flooding risksHSBC is under pressure to fire a senior banker in charge of responsible investing after a speech in which he described warnings about the climate crisis as “unsubstantiated” and “shrill”, made light of major flooding risks, and complained about having to spend time “looking at something that’s going to happen in 20 or 30 years”.The bank has since been forced to denounce comments made by Stuart Kirk at a London conference on Thursday, after he gave a speech entitled “why investors need not worry about climate risk”, which appeared to discredit efforts to raise the alarm over global heating. Continue reading...

Economists condemn ‘rot’ in system after manufacturer issued billions in stock buybacks despite problems at Michigan factoryA deadly bacteria outbreak in baby formula and an ongoing formula shortage stem from issues some economists characterize as “rot” in the nation’s economic system: prioritization of shareholder wealth and consolidation.The embattled baby formula producer Abbott used windfall profits to enrich investors instead of replacing failing equipment that was likely injecting the dangerous bacteria into its infant nutritional products, financial records and whistleblower documents show. Continue reading...

University of Essex pilot study suggests being outdoors can help self-esteem and wellbeingWilderness therapy and access to green space may help domestic abuse survivors heal while improving therapy outcomes, a study has found.Scientists from the University of Essex worked with the Wilderness Foundation, a charity that offers outdoor therapy programmes, to see if treatment in the natural world could work better, or alongside, traditional methods. Continue reading...

Covid lockdowns in host country frustrate scientists as no date in sight for key UN conservation conference after two years of delays

Move could provide income for homeless and clean up Barcelona’s streets and beaches, says governmentIn a move that could provide some income for homeless people and clean up the streets, the Catalan government is looking at paying €4 to anyone who hands in a pack’s-worth of cigarette ends at a recycling point.The cost of the proposal would be covered by a 20-cent levy on each cigarette, its proponents say, which would nearly double the price of a pack of Marlboro Red from about €5 (£4.25), compared with about £13 in the UK. Continue reading...

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including an injured bird, hungry jackals and a rescued dolphin Continue reading...

Jenny Jones says bill, named after girl who died of asthma, treats pollution as matter of social justiceA new clean air law is starting out in parliament after the Green party peer Jenny Jones won first place in the House of Lords ballot for private members’ bills.Named Ella’s law, as a tribute to nine-year-old Ella Kissi-Debrah who died from asthma induced by air pollution, the bill would establish a right to clean air and set up a commission to oversee government actions and progress. It would also join policies on indoor and outdoor air pollution with actions to combat our climate emergency, and include annual reviews of the latest science. Continue reading...

Failures in government’s investment strategy mean taxpayer has contributed £10.7bn in just two yearsThe cost of decommissioning the UK’s seven ageing nuclear power stations has nearly doubled to £23.5bn and is likely to rise further, the public accounts committee has said.The soaring costs of safely decommissioning the advanced gas-cooled reactors (AGRs), including Dungeness B, Hunterston B and Hinkley B, are being loaded on to the taxpayer, their report said. Continue reading...

Despite the growth of renewable energy, Australia’s per capita coal emissions of 4.04 tonnes a year is nearly four times the global average

Proposed EPA to collect data on the plight of the country’s wildlife as Labor commits to global biodiversity targets

Peter Muchlinski, Robert Cooper and Andy Bradley respond to the Guardian’s exposé of big oil’s fossil fuel projects that are a colossal threat to the climate and human lifeYour exposé on the dangers of fossil fuel “carbon bombs” (Revealed: the ‘carbon bombs’ set to trigger catastrophic climate breakdown, 11 May) gives us much to worry about. I would like to offer a small ray of hope. Last year, The Hague’s district court held that Royal Dutch Shell was obliged to reduce the group’s CO emissions by a net 45% by the end of 2030 relative to 2019. Shell was found to have a legal duty of care to do so, based on the relevant facts of the case, the best available science on climate change and how to manage it, and “the widespread international consensus that human rights offer protection against the impacts of dangerous climate change and that companies must respect human rights”.This linkage between climate change and human rights is a major step towards acknowledging that fossil-fuel-based industries are a significant threat to human rights. It offers a basis for mass legal challenges against the purveyors of carbon bombs. Sadly, the UK and other governments don’t see it this way and continue to subsidise such projects. In this, they may well be complicit in mass violations of human rights. Uncontrolled fossil fuel investment should be seen as a direct threat to the human right to life, and the law should impose severe financial penalties on firms and governments that continue to invest in carbon bomb projects. Continue reading...

Demonstrators rejecting algal bloom explanation for wash-ups on England’s north-east coast call for investigation to be reopenedAbout 25 fishing boats have sailed into the mouth of the River Tees while setting off flares and fireworks in a protest over mass marine deaths that are ruining livelihoods as well as being a “huge ecological disaster”.More than 200 well-wishers, many representing conservation and environmental campaigns, cheered from the shore, chanted “Stop the sludge” and sang protest songs. Continue reading...

Fewer laying birds are being placed on farms as producers respond to poor retail profit marginsConsumers could be hit with higher egg prices as UK farmers reduce their flock numbers, in response to escalating costs and insufficient profit margins.The numbers of chicks being placed by egg producers in April was down 15% year on year, according to the latest government figures. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Pollutants can upset body’s metabolic thermostat with some even causing obesity to be passed on to childrenChemical pollution in the environment is supersizing the global obesity epidemic, according to a major scientific review.The idea that the toxins called “obesogens” can affect how the body controls weight is not yet part of mainstream medicine. But the dozens of scientists behind the review argue that the evidence is now so strong that it should be. “This is critical because the current clinical management of obese patients is woefully inadequate,” they said. Continue reading...

International experts who analyzed more than 1,200 scientific studies warn chemicals are being consumed with unknown long-term impacts

While alarm over wildfires, droughts, flooding and societal unrest is on the rise, not many of us talk about climate angst

Aquatic mammals can recognise friends and family members without seeing or hearing themDolphins are able to recognise one another by the taste of their urine, a study has found.Researchers at the University of St Andrews have discovered that the mammals can recognise friends and family members without seeing or hearing them. Continue reading...

Poor seed harvests have led to empty shelves at supermarkets in France and global shortagesClimate change and rising costs are causing supermarkets in France to run out of dijon mustard, raising questions over whether the shortage could spread to other countries.French mustard producers said seed production in 2021 was down 50% after poor harvests, which they said had been brought on by the changing climate in France’s Burgundy region and Canada, the second largest mustard seed producer in the world. Continue reading...

Only 1,500 huemul remain in the world, but a parks corridor is being created to save the deer that features on Chile’s coat of armsIt is twilight in Las Horquetas valley in Patagonia’s northern Aysén region. Several cars have pulled over beneath sandy cliffs on a wide paved road. Just metres away, three deer graze unperturbed in the glow of the car lights.The Patagonian huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus), or South Andean deer, is the most endangered hoofed animal in South America. It has deep inset eyes, furry antlers and is no bigger than a toddler. Fewer than 1,500 survive today – two-thirds are found in Chile and the remainder in Argentina, where the huemul’s principal habitat is lenga forest and scrubland. They exist in severely fragmented groups of 101 known sub-populations, with 60% of these comprising only 10-20 individuals, making them susceptible to freak weather events. They also suffer from poor genetic diversity. Continue reading...

Regulator says outgoing boss Stuart Smith had no role in selecting winners and was invited to acknowledge his work over eight years

About 50 schemes are thought to be in pipeline between now and 2025 despite climate pledgesSeveral major UK fossil fuel projects have been approved since Cop26 concluded, an analysis has found, while about 50 schemes are thought to be in the pipeline between now and 2025.Three separate schemes have received some form of approval from government bodies during the six-month period since Boris Johnson’s administration hosted the UN climate summit in Glasgow. Continue reading...

Environmental organisations partner to create 15,000-acre protected wetland from Glastonbury to Bridgwater BayAt this time of year the booming call of the bitterns resonates across the Avalon Marshes in Somerset while hawks skim over the reed beds and great white egrets nest in the shallows. The pools and ditches are alive with rare reptiles, mammals, insects and spiders.Plans to improve the habitat for flora and fauna that live in one of the UK’s most extraordinary landscapes by creating a “super nature reserve” stretching from these marshes around Glastonbury to the edge of Bridgwater Bay were announced on Thursday. Continue reading...

Exclusive: this year’s show promotes the trend of digging up lawns and planting wildlife-friendly flowersBees and other pollinators will be the stars of this year’s Chelsea flower show, with many gardens demonstrating how to attract and protect them.Scientists have also developed a planter specifically designed with flowers that appeal to bees. Its designers say that if 50,000 gardeners planted just one container each, it would provide enough flower power to fuel 1m bumblebee miles every day, equivalent to an estimated 2m foraging trips. Bumblebees must fly from and to the nest multiple times each day to supply their colony with nectar and pollen. Continue reading...

Carbon capture and storage isn’t working close to a scale that would significantly lower emissions – despite billions in taxpayers’ cash thrown at it

If national emissions data is incorrect then Australia less likely to be on track to meet Coalition’s target of a 26-28% cut by 2030

Scientists compare findings of tree study to mass coral bleaching in Great Barrier Reef

European Commission says extra €210bn needed over next five years to pay for phasing out of Russian fossil fuelsThe EU plans a “massive” increase in solar and wind power, and a short-term boost for coal, to end its reliance on Russian oil and gas as fast as possible.In a plan outlined on Wednesday, the European Commission said the EU needed to find an extra €210bn (£178bn) over the next five years to pay for phasing out Russian fossil fuels and speeding up the switch to green energy. Continue reading...

Fields in Trust charity finds about one in 24 people in Britain live 10 minutes walk from nearest parkNearly 2.8 million people in the UK live more than 10 minutes walk from a public park, garden or playing field, according to research.Fields in Trust, which protects and campaigns for public green spaces, found just four out of the 11 regions in Great Britain met its “six-acre standard” for green space provision. Continue reading...

Latest analysis adds to evidence that the impacts of human-caused global heating are already damaging many lives around the worldRecord-breaking heatwaves in north-west India and Pakistan have been made 100 times more likely by the climate crisis, according to scientists. The analysis means scorching weather once expected every three centuries is now likely to happen every three years.The region is currently suffering intense heat, with the Indian capital New Delhi setting a new record on Sunday above 49C and the peak temperature in Pakistan reaching 51C. Millions of people are suffering from crop losses, and water and power outages. Continue reading...

Gump was the last lizard of her kind when she died in 2014, and her demise should be ‘a scar on our conscience’The last Christmas Island forest skink was named Gump. She lived in a spacious cage filled with rocks, soil, logs and a ready supply of fresh invertebrate food in the island’s national park. She wasn’t particularly active, but then again it’s impossible to know what goes on in the mind of a skink. Her namesake was Forrest Gump – they were both solitary individuals who, despite being mild and unassuming, experienced momentous events while remaining quite unaware of the exceptional courses their lives had taken.The Christmas island forest skink (or whiptail skink) used to thrive on its island home, an Australian territory off the coast of Indonesia. In 1979, researchers documented that they were its most abundant skink. These lizards were, visually, fairly nondescript. Not too small, but by no means large, they averaged about 20cm (8in) in length, with a slim body covered in brown-yellow scales. They were practically the default image that comes to mind when you think “lizard”. Continue reading...

Stockholm institute calls for ‘bold science-based decision-making’ to tackle climate, social and economic crisesThe world is at “boiling point” and humanity needs to redefine its relationship with nature if it is to address a web of crises, from rising prices to extreme heat and floods, according to a report released ahead of a landmark UN conference.The research from the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and the Council on Energy Environment and Water says the solutions to the interlinked planetary and inequality crisis exist, but calls for “bold science-based decision-making” to “completely rethink our way of living,”.Replacing GDP as the single metric to measure progress and instead focus on indicators that take “inclusive wealth” and the caring economy into account.Establishing a regular UN forum on sustainable lifestyles.A global campaign on nature-based education for children.Transforming people’s everyday relationship with nature by integrating it in cities; protecting animal welfare and shifting to more plant-based diets. It also says policymakers should draw on indigenous local knowledge. Continue reading...

Uncovering the oil and gas mega-projects. Also: anger in Buffalo

Scientists hail breakthrough that could maximise catches while reducing damage caused by fishingAn unusual technique for catching scallops that was stumbled upon accidentally by scientists could potentially reduce some of the damage caused to our seabeds by fishing.The marine scientist Dr Rob Enever and his team at Fishtek Marine, a fisheries consultancy based in Devon, designed small underwater “potlights” to help protect fish stocks by replacing the need to use fish to bait crab and lobster pots. Continue reading...

A Guardian investigation has revealed 195 oil and gas projects known as ‘carbon bombs’ that could trigger catastrophic climate breakdown if allowed to continue. Damian Carrington reports

Toxic air, water and soil are ‘existential threat to human and planetary health’, says global reviewPollution is killing 9 million people a year, a review has found, making it responsible for one in six of all deaths.Toxic air and contaminated water and soil “is an existential threat to human health and planetary health, and jeopardises the sustainability of modern societies”, the review concluded. Continue reading...

Owners of community land bought shares to join annual meeting of Fresnillo, a Mexican FTSE 100 companyMexican farmers have travelled to London to demand that a FTSE 100 company compensates them for illegal mining on their land and explain violence against anti-mining activists.Penmont mining, a subsidiary of Fresnillo, was ordered by an agrarian court in Mexico in 2013 to pay members of El Bajío community, co-owners of common land in Sonora, north-west Mexico, for the gold extracted and to restore the land to its original state. Continue reading...

Group previously accused of being part of ‘astroturfing’ campaign says ‘community deserves clarity’ on position of Labor candidate in Queensland seat of Groom

First female prime minister in 30 years faces calls to act fast after ‘five lost years’ on tackling global heatingThe new French prime minister, Élisabeth Borne, has immediately come under pressure from environmentalists on the left who warned “hopes were low” that she would drastically cut France’s carbon emissions or move fast enough to address global heating, despite Emmanuel Macron’s election promise to make France a world-leader on the climate emergency.Borne’s first comments after taking office were to promise to “act faster and stronger” to deal with climate challenges, after the newly re-elected centrist president, Macron, promised his prime minister special oversight powers to plan France’s transition to become “the first major nation to abandon gas, oil and coal.” Continue reading...

Report tells of 20-hour shifts for £3.50 an hour, racism and sexual abuse under cover of transit visa loopholeA third of migrant workers on UK fishing vessels who responded to a research survey work 20-hour shifts, and 35% reported regular physical violence, according to a new study that concludes there is rampant exploitation and abuse on British ships.“Leaving is not possible because I’m not allowed off the vessel to ask for help,” one migrant worker told researchers at the University of Nottingham Rights Lab, which focuses on modern slavery. They found fishers reported working excessive hours, with few breaks, on an average salary of £3.51 an hour. Continue reading...

Increasing supply is ‘absolutely part of the solution’ to decarbonising the economy, Appea chair tells conference

Pascal Lamy to lead commission exploring how methods to tackle global heating could be governedCountries must urgently agree a way of controlling and regulating attempts to geoengineer the climate, and consider whether to set a moratorium on such efforts, as the danger of global heating exceeding the 1.5C threshold increases, the former head of the World Trade Organisation has warned.Pascal Lamy, a former director general of the WTO and a former EU trade commissioner, now president of the Paris Peace Forum, said governments were increasingly likely to explore the possibilities of geoengineering, as efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions have so far been inadequate. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Nearly half existing facilities will need to close prematurely to limit heating to 1.5C, scientists sayNearly half of existing fossil fuel production sites need to be shut down early if global heating is to be limited to 1.5C, the internationally agreed goal for avoiding climate catastrophe, according to a new scientific study.The assessment goes beyond the call by the International Energy Agency in 2021 to stop all new fossil fuel development to avoid the worst impacts of global heating, a statement seen as radical at the time. Continue reading...