Proposed ban on trophy hunting imports ignores African perspectives and could reverse conservation gains, says open letterA proposed UK ban on trophy hunting imports risks undermining the conservation of rhinos, elephants and other endangered wildlife, according to a group of leading scientists and conservationists who said African perspectives have been ignored by the government.On Friday, MPs will vote on a private member’s bill to ban trophy hunting imports while, separately, the government is preparing legislation to ban hunting trophies from thousands of species, including lions, leopards, rhinos, elephants and polar bears. Continue reading...

Friends and colleagues pay tribute after the recent deaths of these groundbreaking naturalists, who shifted our understanding of the world and our futureOver Christmas and the new year, three of the world’s leading naturalists died. Thomas Lovejoy, a conservation biologist credited with popularising the term “biodiversity” and a passionate defender of the Amazon, died on 25 December. A day later, Edward O Wilson, known to many as the “modern-day Darwin”, died in Burlington, Massachusetts. On 2 January, Richard Leakey, a world-renowned Kenyan conservationist who helped establish Africa as the birthplace of humankind, died at his home in Nairobi.From presidents to undergraduate students, thousands have paid tribute to the three men, whose achievements range from developing theories on forest and island ecosystems to reforming the Kenyan civil service and devising proposals to protect half the planet for nature. Alongside grand accomplishments, which were sometimes controversial, their passing has been a chance to reflect on the small and the mundane: fleeting interactions that inspired careers, kind words that propelled research projects, and generosity of spirit that has helped amplify the voices of those that practise and produce science. Continue reading...

New report finds ‘alarmed’ group doubled in size over five years, while only two in 10 Americans are ‘doubtful’ or ‘dismissive’A new report has revealed that a record number of Americans are now alarmed about the climate crisis.The study, published by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, found that Americans overall are becoming increasingly worried about global heating, more engaged with the issue and more supportive of finding solutions to the issue. Continue reading...

Activists mourn deaths in Amazon state of Pará as bodies of José Gomes, Márcia Nunes Lisboa and their daughter found by sonPolice in the Brazilian Amazon state of Pará are investigating the killing of three members of the same family who were shot dead at the riverside home where they bred turtles.The deaths happened on the island of Cachoeira da Mucura, on the banks of the Xingu River, in São Félix do Xingu and regional media named the victims as José Gomes, his wife Márcia Nunes Lisboa and her teenage daughter, Joane Nunes Lisboa. Continue reading...

Human rights report slams Australian treatment of refugees as in previous years, and addresses climate for the first time

Justice groups say bill will undermine right to protest at critical time in fight to avoid climate catastrophe

Water companies should each designate one area as fit for use by 2025, says environmental audit committee in highly critical reportWater companies in England should each designate a stretch of river as bathing water by 2025 to drive the cleanup of a chemical cocktail of sewage, agricultural waste and plastic pollution that is suffocating biodiversity and risking public health, MPs have said.In a report published on Thursday, MPs on the environmental audit committee said they wanted more assertive regulation and enforcement from Ofwat and the Environment Agency to restore rivers to good ecological health, protect biodiversity and adapt to a changing climate. They also called for Ofwat to act to limit bonuses paid to water company bosses who continue to oversee the dumping of raw sewage into England’s rivers. Continue reading...

‘Seeing one in real life is indescribable,’ says marine biologist of the technicolour marine mollusc she spotted off QueenslandOnly a handful of people have spotted the dazzling blanket octopus in the wild, making it one of the rarest sights in the marine world.The technicolour marine mollusc was spotted last week by reef guide and marine biologist Jacinta Shackleton, off the coast of Lady Elliot Island in the Great Barrier Reef . Continue reading...

Gas extraction could generate up to 199m tonnes of C02-equivalent a year, expert warns

Ruptured line operated by Collins Pipeline Co was highly corroded but repairs were delayedA severely corroded pipeline ruptured and spilled more than 300,000 gallons of diesel fuel just outside New Orleans late last month, according to federal records.The spill from the 16in-diameter line operated by Collins Pipeline Co was discovered on 27 December near a levee in St Bernard parish, just east of New Orleans, according to documents from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. Continue reading...

Fatih Birol says low gas flows to continent coincide with escalating rift over UkraineThe head of the International Energy Agency has accused Russia of orchestrating Europe’s deepening energy crisis at a time of heightened geopolitical tensions by withholding up to a third of its gas exports.Fatih Birol, the executive director of the IEA, directly blamed Russia’s behaviour for the record-high energy market prices in Europe this winter that threaten to upend large parts of the European economy and plunge millions into a cost of living crisis. Continue reading...

Hong Kong scientists design simple filter system to capture the harmful microplastics – but there’s a catchA single tumble dryer could be responsible for releasing 120m micro plastic fibres into the air each year, a study has found.Tumble dryers are one of the main sources of microfibre pollution in the atmosphere, according to research by Prof Kenneth Leung, director of the State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution (SKLMP) and department of chemistry at City University of Hong Kong. Continue reading...

Armed men in pickup trucks rule over vast illicit industry that has transformed rural counties, depleting water and scaring localsChristopher Hall parks his old Toyota on a dirt road that dead-ends in a forest in Oregon’s Illinois Valley. He points out a cluster of greenhouses surrounded by piles of trash, and the hillside above, which has been terraced and entirely stripped of vegetation. Guard dogs run through a small clearing, barking at us.Two men pull up almost instantly in a Honda with busted headlights; the driver asks Hall what he’s doing there. For a bespectacled middle-aged conservationist, Hall is surprisingly reckless. Even though he can see the men are armed, he yells back at them: “Where are you from? We know what you’re doing here is illegal! How many plants are you growing?” One man says they’re from Serbia and claims they have a license to grow as another truck pulls up. Continue reading...

Naturally rewilded landscapes, fungi and a beaver habitat to be showcased alongside manicured gardensWhile many expect to see rows of bright flowers and pillowy blossoms at the Chelsea flower show, this year star gardens will also feature such biodiverse elements as fungi and a beaver habitat.Garden designers at the annual Royal Horticulture Society (RHS) show have been asked to consider the environment when making their entries. Continue reading...

Rapidly warming winters are bad news for biodiversity, water supply and farm yield, experts sayAmerican winters are rapidly warming and December 2021 was no exception.In New York, last month’s average temperature was 43.8F (6.5C) – 4.7F above the 1991-to-2020 average according to a recent analysis by Climate Central. The American south had an especially warm December, with Shreveport, Louisiana (+13.4F), Dallas, Texas (+13.2F), and Memphis, Tennessee (+12.4F), all posting unusually high temperatures. Continue reading...

Research shows planned expansion of conifer woodlands across the UK could have unintended consequencesConifer plantations, which are being expanded around the UK to combat the climate crisis and foster biodiversity, are in danger of hurting one of the key species they were thought to protect: red squirrels.The threatened red squirrels, driven to near-extinction over most of the UK by grey squirrel incursion, were thought to thrive in conifer habitats as the food sources in such forests tend to be limited to small seeded cones, which red squirrels are better at exploiting than the more generalist grey squirrels. That should mean conifer plantations prove better for red squirrels than greys. Continue reading...

ClientEarth and Friends of the Earth say strategy fails to include policies needed to ensure emissions cutsThe UK government is being sued over its net zero climate strategy, which lawyers argue illegally fails to include the policies needed to deliver the promised cuts in emissions.Court papers were filed on Wednesday by ClientEarth (CE) and, separately, by Friends of the Earth (FoE). CE also claims the failure to meet legal carbon budgets would contravene the Human Rights Act by impacting on young people’s right to life and family life. Continue reading...

Experts say we can expect more of the same, with 2021 beating all records since 1909Last year was New Zealand’s hottest year on record, according to the country’s National Institute of Water and Aeronautic Research (NIWA), and seven of the past nine years are among New Zealand’s warmest ever. The country’s steadily rising temperature brings increased risk of major floods, bushfires and storms.According to NIWA, New Zealand’s average temperature in 2021 was 13.56 degrees Celsius. It’s the highest average NIWA has recorded since it began its seven-station annual temperature series in 1909, and breaks the previous record set in 2016 by 0.11 degrees. Continue reading...

Analysts fear government’s commitment to net zero is facing most severe test yet as PM comes under increasing pressureThe government’s climate agenda is under threat as Boris Johnson’s popularity slumps, according to green campaigners who work closely with the Conservative party.As the prime minister faces further lockdown party allegations, and angry Conservative MPs seek answers over energy price rises and the cost of living crisis, analysts fear the government’s commitment to net zero is facing its most severe test yet. Continue reading...

Robert Habeck has called for nation to act to realise ‘gigantic task’ of creating climate neutral countryGermany’s new economy and climate protection minister has called for the nation to pull together to realise the “gigantic task” of creating a climate neutral country, saying it posed a considerable social and financial challenge as well as a big opportunity.Introducing a broad outline of his ambitious plans to the public for the first time since entering government as part of a three-way coalition last month, the Green party’s Robert Habeck called for a threefold increase in the speed with which carbon dioxide emissions are reduced, arguing Germany faced a race against time and required a “massive national debate” to achieve the goals set out by his ministry. He said the government faced an uphill task to win many people over to the idea of a transition. Continue reading...

Gomeroi traditional custodians seek assurances Liverpool Plains farmland will be accessible to Indigenous people

One of Australia’s biggest landholders takes on gas giant in Northern Territory supreme court

Industry expected to report near-record cashflows thanks to rising gas prices, low wind generation and Chinese demandBumper shareholder payouts, soaring profits, booming asset valuations: the oil and gas industry has bounced back from the depths of the pandemic with a vengeance.After a difficult 2020, when plunging demand led at one point to negative prices, crude recovered in 2021 and wholesale gas prices have soared in Europe and the UK. Gas has risen as much as tenfold to new all-time highs, due to factors including low storage capacity, strong Chinese demand and low wind generation during the summer. Continue reading...

Ocean heating driven by human-caused climate crisis, scientists say, in sixth consecutive year record has been brokenThe world’s oceans have been set to simmer, and the heat is being cranked up. Last year saw the hottest ocean temperatures in recorded history, the sixth consecutive year that this record has been broken, according to new research.The heating up of our oceans is being primarily driven by the human-caused climate crisis, scientists say, and represents a starkly simple indicator of global heating. While the atmosphere’s temperature is also trending sharply upwards, individual years are less likely to be record-breakers compared with the warming of the oceans. Continue reading...

Year was third-costliest extreme weather year on record with affected communities spread from coast to coastThe US was battered by 20 separate billion-dollar climate and weather disasters in 2021, one of the most catastrophic climate years on record which led to at least 688 deaths, according to the annual report of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa).Damage from the year’s 20 most costly disasters, which included thousands of wildfires burning across western states, frigid temperatures and hail storms in Texas, tornadoes in the south-east, and tropical storms saturating the east coast, totaled around $145bn. Continue reading...

‘Do not go into flood waters,’ police warn as dangerous conditions continue after state battered by ex-Tropical Cyclone SethA second person has died during flooding in south-east Queensland, with some communities still isolated three days after more than 50cm of rain fell on the Wide Bay Burnett region.Police say a 52-year-old man’s body was found on Tuesday hours after he disappeared when his boat overturned in flood waters while he was looking for stock with two female family members near Tiaro, south of Gympie.Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning Continue reading...

Council rejects TV star’s proposal for conversion of lambing shed, accused by barrister of being a ‘Trojan horse’In his old life, Jeremy Clarkson conceded he might have been prepared to pave over the British countryside – but the former petrolhead-in-chief has insisted he is a changed man.As a farmer, he was trying to do his bit to save the countryside by turning his recently built lambing shed into a restaurant serving locally produced food at his Diddly Squat farm in the Cotswolds, he told planning subcommittee officials in the small Oxfordshire town of Witney. Continue reading...

Exclusive: river groups appalled by strategy set out in briefing that says agency has capacity to deal with only most severe casesEngland’s Environment Agency has told its staff to “shut down” and ignore reports of low-impact pollution events because it does not have enough money to investigate them, according to a leaked internal report.The ruling on so-called category 3 and 4 incidents means that events such as farm pollution or hazardous dumps by business may not be properly investigated. The decision has infuriated river groups and NGOs. Continue reading...

Invasive prickly plant is widely cleared in Scotland and has been used as animal fodder in the pastThe gorse bushes that have invaded many Scottish landscapes could produce enough protein to feed millions of people, according to the leader of a Scottish government research programme.The surprising suggestion by Prof Wendy Russell, at the University of Aberdeen, comes from research on the protein content of invasive plants that have to be doused with herbicides or burned back to keep them under control. Continue reading...

One of first trials of its kind in UK follows rise in dumping of illegal waste after police shut down sitesLandlords who illegally dump the remains of cannabis farms will be traced using “smart water” spray in what is thought to be one of the first trials of its kind in the UK.Council officials in Bradford said they were taking action after a rise in the number of cannabis farms that had been fly-tipped in streets, along streams and in country lanes. Continue reading...

Defusing the climate emergency requires defusing threats to American democracyA year ago last Thursday, Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy were fleeing for their lives as a violent mob swarmed the halls of the US Capitol. With their personal safety at risk, the two most powerful Republicans on Capitol Hill at last stood up to Donald Trump. In a heated phone call, McCarthy, the House minority leader, fruitlessly implored the president to call off the mob. Senate majority leader McConnell later called the rioters “terrorists” and said Trump was “morally responsible” for the violence.But McConnell and McCarthy soon slunk back to enabling Trump’s assaults on democracy. They were quiet while Trump insisted the 2020 election was stolen and that anyone who disagreed must be purged from public office. They stayed mute as Trump supporters threatened violence against election officials and Republican-dominated state legislatures rewrote laws and procedures to prevent fair voting. Continue reading...

According to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, cases will increase between 2.2% and 3.9% depending on emission levelsRising temperatures due to the climate crisis will lead to a rise in people suffering from kidney stones – a painful medical condition exacerbated by heat and dehydration, according to a new study.Researchers used two climate scenarios to estimate the burden of heat and humidity related kidney stone disease by the end of the century in South Carolina – a state in the south-east US, a region which currently has a higher than average incidence rate. Continue reading...

Storm downgraded to tropical low as it crossed Cape York Peninsula, but expected to ramp up as it moves into Northern Territory

An exclusive Jane Goodall self-portrait is among prints from 100 leading environmental photographers being sold to help protect endangered habitats. Prints available at vitalimpacts.org until 17 January

Most complete large ichthyosaur ever found in Britain found beside England’s largest reservoirThe fossilised remains of a 10 metre-long ichthyosaur, a giant “sea dragon” that terrorised marine life 180m years ago, have been discovered beside England’s largest reservoir.The discovery at Rutland Water nature reserve is the most complete large ichthyosaur ever found in Britain, with a skull the size of a piano and weighing one tonne, including the Jurassic clay encasing it. Continue reading...

Social enterprise wins grant to send out composting worms that can turn waste into high-grade fertiliserIt used to be that the early bird would get the worm, but households, schools and even prisons can now have the invertebrates delivered free to their door – if they get a wriggle on.A Nottingham-based initiative, the Urban Worm Community Interest Company (UWC), is on a mission to “worm up” the UK by kickstarting an urban worm farming movement that can create high-grade fertiliser from banana skins and old socks.Tackles climate change: rotting food waste releases the greenhouse gases methane and nitrous oxide, which are 13 and 310 times stronger than carbon dioxide.Worms for all: low-cost, low-tech and perfect for the city. You don’t need a garden to keep a few worms. They will be very happy under your kitchen sink.Sustainable waste management: worms love organic waste. Solutions for domestic and industrial waste management – from food to animal waste – that are efficient, ecological and economical. Continue reading...

One week left to donate to appeal, which will share funds between four charities tackling impact of climate crisis

Supermarket hopes to stop hundreds of millions of pints being wasted as charities call for other retailers to remove date labelsMorrisons will remove “use-by” dates from milk packaging at the end of the month in an attempt to save millions of pints from being thrown away unnecessarily every year.The British supermarket is asking customers to use a simple and time-honoured test to work out if cow’s milk is usable: sniff it. Continue reading...

With a week still to go, this year’s appeal has already raised £725,000. Here, we hear why people have given so generouslyClimate justice is the theme of this year’s Guardian and Observer charity appeal and with a week to go we have so far raised more than £725,000 for four environment charities: Practical Action, Global Greengrants Fund UK, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, and Environmental Justice Foundation. Nearly 7,000 readers have already donated. Here, they tell us why.Pam MacLeod, 79, Truro

The new arrival is a boost for the critically endangered species, which has been hard-hit by unrest in eastern CongoA lowland gorilla, a critically endangered species, has been born in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s famed Virunga national park, authorities said, boosting the population to seven.Conservationists have long sought to protect the world heritage site’s gorilla population even as violence and instability has plagued the DRC’s eastern provinces for the past 25 years. Continue reading...

Only the controversial Carmichael mine has opened, while a dozen other projects are shelved, lapsed or discontinued

President Berdymukhamedov orders experts to find way to put out five-decade-old blaze Karakum desertTurkmenistan’s strongman leader has ordered experts to find a way to finally extinguish a massive five-decade-old fire in a giant natural gas crater, labelled the “gateway to hell”.Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, president of the central Asian country, appeared on state television on Saturday, telling officials to put out the flames at the Darvaza gas crater in the middle of the vast Karakum desert. He cited environmental and economic concerns. Continue reading...

Returns process thought to cost firms about £7bn a year and weigh heavily on companies’ carbon footprintsIt all started with a hooded tracksuit worth less than £30. The unwanted item, processed online at one second past midnight on Christmas Day because it was too large, was the first in a torrent of festive returns for ZigZag Global, a company that specialises in handling online returns.Within an hour, 709 products had been returned online via ZigZag; at 3.51am a £99 off-the-shoulder dress was the first item to be deposited at an InPost locker, and when newsagents began opening at 10am, queues began forming at counters to post back unwanted items. Continue reading...

Build Back Better bill hangs in balance as Biden takes his sixth tour of a climate disaster since taking officeJoe Biden ended his tour of neighborhoods devastated by Colorado’s most destructive blaze by emphasizing the link between America’s escalating wildfires and the global climate crisis, saying that the US can “no longer ignore the reality” of weather conditions that have “supercharged” blazes.Biden’s trip to Boulder county on Friday marked his sixth climate disaster tour since taking office a year ago, underscoring the growing threat of global heating in the US and the need for radical action to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Continue reading...

Twenty animals hunted in recent months, the most in a season since the animals’ reintroduction to the areaTwenty of Yellowstone national park’s renowned gray wolves roamed from the park and were shot by hunters in recent months – the most killed by hunting in a single season since the animals were reintroduced to the region more than 25 years ago, according to park officials.One pack – the Phantom Lake pack – is now considered “eliminated” after most or all of its members were killed over a two-month span beginning in October, according to the park. Continue reading...

The region’s air typically doesn’t suit strikes – so they have become an important climate crisis indicatorThe high Arctic saw a dramatic rise in lightning in 2021 in what could be one of the most spectacular manifestations of the climate crisis.In a region where sightings were once rare, the Earth’s northernmost region saw 7,278 lightning strikes in 2021 – nearly double as many as the previous nine years combined. Continue reading...

Supermarket says 20% rise in price forced move to also stock cheaper Irish beefBritish farmers have criticised Asda’s decision to backtrack on its promise to sell only British beef.The retailer said the U-turn was the result of higher beef prices, and it would now sell both Irish and British-produced beef in its stores. Continue reading...

Swedish and Dutch firms claim their technology could replace gas and oil boilers without added insulationA new type of heat pump that may soon be rolled out in the UK could ease the shift for homes to low-carbon heating but is no quick fix, experts say.The Swedish company Vattenfall and the Dutch company Feenstra claim their new high-temperature heat pump, being launched in the Netherlands this year, could replace gas and oil boilers in UK homes without the need for added insulation or new radiators like other heat pumps. Continue reading...