The prime minister was asked about his plans for transitioning away from fossil fuels. He chose to distract, not answerAllow me to let you in on a little secret. Many people working in politics and the media openly discuss the fact that Boris Johnson’s gaffes are entirely calculated. I once met someone who used to work for him and they told me that before he appears in the media, Johnson ruffles his hair to ensure he appears more dishevelled than he actually is.This ruse has been useful to our prime minister throughout his political career. It has helped him to climb the greasy pole without facing any consequences for accusations of serial lying, allegations of bigotry or his involvement in the planned assault of a journalist. And it is what we must bear in mind when we consider his latest comments on the closure of British coal mines. Continue reading...

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including baby pandas, common red soldier beetles and flight from wildfires Continue reading...

Helen Macdonald says she is prepared to be arrested as she awaits animal’s ‘kill window’Downing Street has refused to grant a stay of execution to an alpaca that faces the prospect of being killed after twice testing positive for bovine tuberculosis.The farmer who owns Geronimo, the stud animal, says she fears authorities will shoot it on Friday and has appealed to the environment secretary, George Eustice, to speak to her amid last-ditch attempts to secure a reprieve. Continue reading...

Cop26 president accused of undermining climate effort after visiting 30 countries in seven monthsAlok Sharma, the government minister responsible for vital UN climate talks, is facing calls to self-isolate when he returns from Brazil, after he was hit with a double barrage of criticism for not quarantining when returning from “red-list” countries and for the environmental impact of his trips around the world.The president of Cop26, which is being hosted in Glasgow in October and November, has visited 30 countries since February, including Brazil, where he has been this week, Indonesia and Kenya, it was reported. Continue reading...

Indigenous women in North and Central America are coming together to share ancestral knowledge of amaranth, a plant booming in popularity as a health foodJust over 10 years ago, a small group of Indigenous Guatemalan farmers visited Beata Tsosie-Peña’s stucco home in northern New Mexico. In the arid heat, the visitors, mostly Maya Achì women from the forested Guatemalan town of Rabinal, showed Tsosie-Peña how to plant the offering they had brought with them: amaranth seeds.Back then, Tsosie-Peña had just recently come interested in environmental justice amid frustration at the ecological challenges facing her native Santa Clara Pueblo – an Indigenous North American community just outside the New Mexico town of Española, which is downwind from the nuclear facilities that built the atomic bomb. Tsosie-Peña had begun studying permaculture and other Indigenous agricultural techniques. Today, she coordinates the environmental health and justice program at Tewa Women United, where she maintains a hillside public garden that’s home to the descendants of those first amaranth seeds she was given more than a decade ago. Continue reading...

Stagnant water caused by dry weather gives mosquitoes – the insect that spreads the virus – free rein, leading to an increased risk for humans​​For five days in the late summer of 2019, doctors battled to bring down John Hayden’s high fever.Hayden’s sudden onset of symptoms, including high fever, had everyone stumped, said his daughter Anne Hayden, and his body seemed to fail to respond to any treatment. He succumbed to the inexplicable illness just after Labor Day, his family at his side. Continue reading...

Agricultural runoff from farms and livestock operations creates oxygen-depleted areas inhospitable to animal and plant lifeScientists recently surveyed the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico around Louisiana and Texas and what they discovered was a larger-than-average area of oxygen-depleted water – a “dead zone” where nothing can live.National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists announced their findings this week: about 4m acres of habitat in the Gulf are unusable for fish and bottom-dwelling species. The researchers had estimated a smaller dead zone this year, predicting an average-sized area. Continue reading...

Burning of land released 343 megatonnes of carbon, with wildfire season yet to peak in many areasLast month was the world’s worst July for wildfires since at least 2003 when satellite records began, scientists have said, as swaths of North America, Siberia, Africa and southern Europe continue to burn.Driven by extreme heat and prolonged drought, the ignition of forests and grasslands released 343 megatonnes of carbon, about a fifth higher than the previous global peak for July, which was set in 2014. Continue reading...

Exclusive: IPCC says gas, produced by farming, shale gas and oil extraction, playing ever-greater role in overheating planetCutting carbon dioxide is not enough to solve the climate crisis – the world must act swiftly on another powerful greenhouse gas, methane, to halt the rise in global temperatures, experts have warned.Leading climate scientists will give their starkest warning yet – that we are rushing to the brink of climate catastrophe – in a landmark report on Monday. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will publish its sixth assessment report, a comprehensive review of the world’s knowledge of the climate crisis and how human actions are altering the planet. It will show in detail how close the world is to irreversible change. Continue reading...

Minister responsible for climate conference travelled mainly during winter and spring and did not isolateThe government minister responsible for this year’s UN climate change conference in Glasgow has flown to 30 countries in the past seven months, it has been reported.Alok Sharma, who was appointed as president of Cop26 in January, has visited countries including Brazil, Indonesia and Kenya since February, according to the Daily Mail. Continue reading...

Prime minister denounced for comments on visit to Scotland, where he refused to meet Nicola SturgeonMargaret Thatcher gave “a big early start” to green energy by closing coalmines, Boris Johnson has joked, in comments denounced as “unbelievably crass.”On a visit to Scotland on Thursday, the prime minister made a number of provocative comments, stating that a second referendum on Scottish independence is “about as far from the top of my agenda as it is possible to be”. Continue reading...

This summer will have highest number of fledged chicks since 2002, according to Moorland AssociationThe endangered hen harrier is continuing its recovery from near extinction in England with this summer set to have the highest number of chicks fledging since 2002.Of 24 successful nests producing at least 77 fledged chicks this summer, 19 were on moors managed for red grouse, according to the Moorland Association. Continue reading...

As irrigated crops compete with fish for scarce water, farmers in the Klamath Basin lament they may be the last generation to work the landThey are land rich and resource poor. Most have hundreds of acres of fertile soil, some thousands, but little money in the bank and – most importantly – no water.Now the young farmers of the Klamath Basin, an agricultural community on the border of Oregon and California, fear they might be the last generation of their kind. Continue reading...

The ‘heat dome’ over the Pacific north-west brought unprecedented death to sealife. And the effects will be felt for years to comeAs a marine biologist who has studied the effects of extreme weather events for decades, I expected it would be bad. The “heat dome” brought record high air temperatures to the Pacific north-west, and for the plants and animals living along our extensive coastlines the late June timing could not have been worse. The scorching heatwave coincided with some of the lowest daytime tides of the year, leaving tidal lands exposed to hot air and sun for hours during the hottest part of the day, several days in a row.And bad it was. In the days immediately after the historic heatwave, I visited shorelines that looked and smelled like death. Mussel, oyster and clam shells open wide with rotting tissue exposed, snails and chitons no longer able to cling to the rock, kelp and surfgrass bleached white and sloughing off dead tissue. Similar scenes were reported throughout the Salish Sea of Washington and British Columbia by scientists, shellfish growers and the general public, with mortality estimates ranging from millions to billions of individuals. We’ve never seen anything quite like this before. Continue reading...

Researchers also find impact of bottled water on ecosystems is 1,400 times higher than that of tap waterThe impact of bottled water on natural resources is 3,500 times higher than for tap water, scientists have found.The research is the first of its kind and examined the impact of bottled water in Barcelona, where it is becoming increasingly popular despite improvements to the quality of tap water in recent years. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Area twice the size of London devoted to grouse shooting in UK’s parks, threatening efforts to tackle climate crisisNational parks supposedly at the heart of efforts to tackle the climate crisis and boost nature are dominated by intensively managed grouse moors, according to new research.Driven grouse moors, which are associated with the controversial burning of vegetation and the illegal persecution of birds of prey, make up 44% of the Cairngorms national park, 28% of the North York Moors and a fifth of the Peak District, a study by the charity Rewilding Britain has found. Continue reading...

Thinktank InfluenceMap accuses petroleum giants of gaming Facebook to promote oil and gas as part of climate-crisis solutionFacebook failed to enforce its own rules to curb an oil and gas industry misinformation campaign over the climate crisis during last year’s presidential election, according to a new analysis released on Thursday.The report, by the London-based thinktank InfluenceMap, identified an increase in advertising on the social media site by ExxonMobil and other fossil-fuel companies aimed at shaping the political debate about policies to address global heating. Continue reading...

Home deliveries are soaring and cargo bikes cut congestion and pollution in cities, researchers sayElectric cargo bikes deliver about 60% faster than vans in city centres, according to a study. It found that bikes had a higher average speed and dropped off 10 parcels an hour, compared with six for vans.The bikes also cut carbon emissions by 90% compared with diesel vans, and by a third compared with electric vans, the report said. Air pollution, which is still at illegal levels in many urban areas, was also significantly reduced. Continue reading...

Villages on Evia are evacuated as blaze rages across the island, and fires also threaten suburbs of Athens and historic OlympiaAt least 150 houses have been destroyed by a raging fire that surrounded a monastery and a dozen villages on the Greek island of Evia, one of over 100 blazes burning in the country.Firefighters were also continuing to battle a blaze near Athens on Thursday morning, while the mayor of Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympic Games, pleaded for help as flames threatened the site. Continue reading...

Calls for further regulation after latest data after latest data from Stats NZ shows greenhouse gas emissions rose another 3% in 2019Greenhouse gases released by New Zealand’s dairy industry have hit an all-time high, according to the latest data.Data from Stats NZ, just released for the years 2007-2019, showed dairy emissions rose 3.18% in 2019, to a total of 17,719 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent that year. That rise helped drive an overall increase across the agricultural sector, which released almost 42,000 kilotonnes that year. Continue reading...

Petition calls for outlawing use of chemicals in private and public areas to slow insect decline and protect human healthA leading insect expert has called for a UK-wide ban on the use of pesticides in gardens and urban areas to protect bees, wildlife and human health.Dave Goulson, a professor of biology at the University of Sussex, said outlawing chemical spraying in the country’s 22m private gardens, along with road verges, parks and other green spaces, could slow insect decline by creating a network of nature-friendly habitats where insects can recover. Continue reading...

Officials approve new rules that will bar farmers and landowners from using water drawn from key watershedFaced with dire water shortages and a severe drought, California has moved to enact emergency restrictions that will prevent thousands of farmers and landowners from using water drawn from an enormous system of streams and rivers that services nearly two-thirds of the state.Regulators on the water resources control board, which oversees the allocation of the state’s water, voted unanimously on Tuesday to stop diversions from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, a vast watershed sprawling from Fresno to the Oregon border. This unprecedented action will primarily affect those using water for agricultural irrigation purposes, the Los Angeles Times reported. The restrictions will force some farmers to rely on alternative supplies, such as groundwater wells. But the timing of the order, which will take effect in two weeks, could spare many growers from hardship as the greatest agricultural demand on the watershed tends to fall in late spring and summer, the newspaper said. Continue reading...

Keir Starmer says Labour will not support proposed Cambo oilfield as party lays out £30bn green jobs planThe UK must set a “hard-edged timetable” for the cessation of oil and gas exploration, Keir Starmer has said, as he revealed that Labour would not support the proposed Cambo oilfield development 77 miles north-west of Shetland.Emphasising that “we absolutely have to protect people’s jobs”, the Labour leader said: “We’ve got to try to create a timetable for [the cessation of exploration]. It’s got to be subject to consensus and agreement, and we have got to bring communities with us. Continue reading...

The government has failed to set a clear path for the phasedown of oil and gas production, writes Greenpeace’s Mel EvansOil and Gas UK is claiming that the sector is a “major asset” in the push to reduce carbon emissions (Letters, 2 August). But it is the oil industry that has blocked climate action for the past three decades. OGUK touting its “net zero by 2050” ambition – which covers only operational emissions and completely ignores the much more significant “scope 3” emissions from burning the fossil fuels produced – is ridiculous. On top of which, the UK’s track record on operational emissions is abysmal.The government’s North Sea transition deal failed to address the two core issues of energy transition – setting a clear path to phase down oil and gas production, and backing that up with adequate support for workers and communities affected. Where other countries have ended licensing for oil exploration, the UK government maintains its policy mandating the “maximisation of economic recovery” of oil and gas, meaning companies have to extract every last drop. They claim that this is necessary for energy security, but the controversial Cambo oilfield, currently under review by the government, is expected to export 80% of its production. Continue reading...

Populations in flood-prone regions is increasing, with 57 countries especially susceptibleFrom Germany to New York City, this summer has demonstrated the destructive force of floods. Now, a new study shows that many more people will live in flood-prone areas in the coming decade and reveals the population in areas likely to flood is increasing at a greater rate than other places.The study, which was published in the journal Nature today, used daily satellite observations of floods during 913 large flood events between 2000 and 2018. Continue reading...

Rewilding of forests and ‘saturated’ habitats in Germany and Belgium behind growing populationThey disappeared centuries ago, but wildcats have returned to the forests of the southern Netherlands, local conservationists have said.The wildcat, which has longer legs and a flatter head than its domestic cousin, disappeared from modern-day Dutch territories in the middle ages as a result of hunting and forest clearance. The return of the animal, with its distinctive round-tipped and black-ringed tail, is a sign of the rewilding of forests in the southern Dutch region of Limburg, according to Hettie Meertens, a biologist who works for the ARK conservation group. Continue reading...

It is not good to be too pessimistic on the climate crisis. That said, it sure does seem like we’re screwedIf you have cultivated an Edgar Allen Poe-like appreciation for the macabre, there is a certain sort of amusement to be had in watching the developed world deal with the insistent onslaught of climate change. Like many horror stories, this one features a main character full of futile determination to maintain a sense of normalcy even as the ominous signs of doom become ever more impossible to ignore. We can chuckle knowing that the monster is going to come for our designated protectors. We stop chuckling knowing that it’s coming for all of us next.Related: Wildfire fighters advance against biggest US blaze amid dire warnings Continue reading...

Researchers found 20 areas where the mammal would survive even if grey squirrels colonised all of BritainTwenty forest strongholds in Scotland would save the red squirrel from extinction even if grey squirrels were to colonise the whole of Britain, according to research.Since their introduction from North America by Victorian enthusiasts, grey squirrels have pushed red squirrels out of much of the country, with reds outcompeted by the bigger greys and also succumbing to the squirrelpox virus carried by the non-native squirrel. Continue reading...

The Green Alliance thinktank found more than 450,000 jobs could be created by minimising wasteReusing and repairing household goods, from washing machines to phones, and recycling throwaway consumer items such as plastic bottles, could create hundreds of thousands of green jobs across the UK, a thinktank has found.The UK creates thousands of tonnes of unnecessary waste each year, some of which is still exported, because of a failure to value resources and invest in the infrastructure needed to re-purpose manufactured goods. Continue reading...

Pioneering scheme in Welsh capital uses groundwater boreholes to take advantage of urban warmthThe air in urban areas can be up to 3C (5.4F) warmer than in the surrounding countryside, known as the urban heat island effect. But less well known is that urban heating also warms the ground, and could be used to help combat the climate crisis.A lot of this extra urban heat goes into the ground from basements, underground car parks, heat from sewers and much else, and a pioneering scheme in Cardiff is tapping into this subterranean heat. The Welsh capital has dozens of boreholes about 10 metres deep filled with groundwater, and a survey by the British Geological Survey (BGS) found that between September and December water in these boreholes can reach 16C while water nearer the surface can be close to or below freezing. Continue reading...

Disease can be spread by fleas that move between animals and humans but it is preventable and treatableSurrounded by fires, parched by drought, and shut down by the pandemic – residents of California’s scenic South Lake Tahoe thought they’d endured everything.That was until this week, when the US Forest Service announced it was closing several popular sites after discovering bubonic plague in the chipmunk population. Continue reading...

If the price of oil rises further, the firm’s move away from oil and gas output will fuel doubts

Scheme with Asian Development Bank could help make big progress on climate goals, says insurerThe British insurer Prudential is working with the Asian Development Bank on a scheme to buy out coal-fired power plants in Asia in order to shut them down within 15 years.Its backers say the plan is designed to limit use of the polluting fossil fuel while allowing workers time to find new jobs and incentivising countries to invest in clean energy alternatives. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Labour leader says prime minister’s lack of ambition risks failure of Cop26

The animals have suffered from drought, wildfires, habitat destruction, as well as poisoning and trappingThe slender, bushy-tailed Sierra Nevada red fox will be listed as an endangered species, federal wildlife officials announced, saying its population has dipped to just 40 animals in an area of California stretching from Lake Tahoe to south of Yosemite national park.The US Fish and Wildlife Service decided against listing a distinct population of the foxes in the southern Cascade Range of Oregon and near Lassen Peak in northern California. But it said in a listing rule to be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday that the Sierra Nevada segment south of Tahoe “is in danger of extinction throughout all of its range”. Continue reading...

Energy giant raises oil price forecasts for rest of decade, but lowers them for longer term• Future dividends will raise doubts about green plansBP will hand shareholders a surprise dividend increase, and $1.4bn (£1bn) in share buybacks, after the company returned to profit after a rebound in oil prices which it believes could last for the rest of the decade.The oil giant predicted that the world’s demand for oil will reach pre-pandemic levels by the second half of next year, and lifted the value of its oil reserves by $3bn after revising its forecasts for oil prices higher for the rest of the decade. Continue reading...

Electric cars able to do long journeys and there are increasing number of chargers on UK roads, say expertsElectric car experts have rallied to the defence of the vehicles after suggestions from a government spokesperson that they were unsuitable for long journeys.Electric cars have an average range of about 200 miles, suitable for the vast majority of journeys taken on British roads, while top-range models have a more extensive range of about 250 miles. Continue reading...

Video cut to close-up of insect making its way along a ledge during the final minutes of women’s field hockey matchIt was a moment of the Tokyo Olympics just made for television. But the clip raising eyebrows on Tuesday wasn’t Simone Biles capturing a medal on her return to the gymnastics arena, or Novak Djokovic throwing a tantrum on the tennis court when his own dream of gold turned sour.Instead, it was a six-legged runner. Continue reading...

Murray-Darling Basin Authority says the state did not operate in a manner consistent with its submitted water resource plan

Oregon’s Bootleg fire 84% contained but parched conditions raise risk of new ignitionsFirefighters made progress battling some of the largest fires burning across the west, but dangers of flare-ups and new ignitions remain amid hot, dry conditions that will bake the parched landscape.Nine large fires have collectively burned more than 1.8m acres in 12 states, the National Interagency Fire Center reported on Monday morning, including 23 in Montana, some of which have displayed extreme fire behavior. Continue reading...

Allegra Stratton cites time taken to recharge on long journeys, despite average electric vehicle now having range of over 200 milesBoris Johnson’s climate spokesperson has criticised the infrastructure that she says is putting people like her off switching to an electric car.Allegra Stratton, the prime minister’s former press secretary, revealed she drove a “third-hand” diesel Volkswagen Golf. Continue reading...

Leak of potent greenhouse gas is currently small but further research is urgently needed, say scientistsThe Siberian heatwave of 2020 led to new methane emissions from the permafrost, according to research. Emissions of the potent greenhouse gas are currently small, the scientists said, but further research is urgently needed.Analysis of satellite data indicated that fossil methane gas leaked from rock formations known to be large hydrocarbon reservoirs after the heatwave, which peaked at 6C above normal temperatures. Previous observations of leaks have been from permafrost soil or under shallow seas. Continue reading...

The UK offshore oil and gas industry sector is a major asset in ensuring the UK meets its Paris agreement commitment to keep the planet’s global average temperature rise below 1.5C, says Deirdre MichieFar from threatening the UK’s net zero goals, all companies operating in the North Sea, including private equity and state-backed overseas oil and gas companies, help to provide this country’s energy security while working to reduce their carbon emissions, as set out in the recent North Sea transition deal that our industry agreed with the government (Foreign control of North Sea oil licences threatens UK’s net zero goal, 29 July).Many of these companies are also involved in low-carbon projects that are critical to the UK achieving net zero by 2050. For example, Neptune Energy is progressing a hydrogen and carbon capture project, and Harbour Energy, which has grown from private equity roots, is part of the Acorn hydrogen and carbon capture and storage project off the north coast of Scotland. Continue reading...

Orca washed up on Prince of Wales island and was stuck in a crevice of rocks above the tide lineA killer whale stranded on a rocky shore in Alaska was saved in an hours-long rescue effort by boaters, locals and wildlife officials.The 20-ft (6 metres) orca was spotted washed up on Prince of Wales island last Thursday, apparently stuck in a crevice of rocks 4ft above the tide line. Continue reading...

Wildfires break out across much of southern Europe, with temperature reaching 45C in GreeceTurkey has launched an international appeal for help in taming fires raging across the country that have killed eight people in recent days, as what has been described as one of the worst heatwaves in decades intensifies in south-east Europe.Following criticism of the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, after it emerged that Turkey has no firefighting planes, authorities in Istanbul were promised water-dropping planes from the European Union. The country is battling deadly wildfires along its coastline for a sixth day. Continue reading...

Authorities in Henan province more than triple the confirmed number of people killed in disasterChinese authorities have raised the official death toll in last month’s devastating Henan floods to 302, with at least 50 still missing.The announcement more than triples the confirmed number of people killed in the floods, which had sat at 99 since Thursday. Continue reading...

ExxonMobil and Suncor face lawsuits in the western state but big oil’s apologists say the US consumer is to blame for emissionsMore than a decade after the Fourmile Canyon blaze drove even the firefighters out of Gold Hill, blackened hillsides and scorched trees attest to the Colorado mountain town’s close shave with destruction.“Because of the wind and the dryness, it took off,” said Chris Finn, who volunteers as the town’s fire chief when he’s not running the local inn. “That day in 2010, I felt that my business and my house might not be here any more.” Continue reading...

Investigations into the cause of the blaze that began during testing on Friday can now begin

Scientists, ecologists and artists have collaborated to showcase global work to protect seeds in an exhibition at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum & art gallery (Ramm) in Exeter.Seedscapes: future-proofing nature runs until 5 September Continue reading...

Lemon, blacktip, bonnethead and nurse sharks retreat from sea as state struggles to contain pollution problem