Environment | The Guardian

From floating solar farms and volcanic cement to deep-sea mining and asexual reproduction, 15 things to watchIt is no secret that the diversity of life around us is plummeting. Scientists declared more than 100 species to be extinct in 2020 alone. That’s bad news not only for the creatures themselves but for those of us (that would be all of us) who rely on them for food, to produce oxygen, to hold soil in place, to cleanse water, to beautify our world and so much more. According to the World Economic Forum, nature plays a key role in generating more than half of global GDP.So what can we do to reduce future harm? One big thing is to identify emerging threats and opportunities to protect biodiversity and proactively shape policies and actions to prevent harm early on. To this end, a group of scientists and conservation practitioners led by William Sutherland, a professor of conservation biology at the University of Cambridge, create and publish a “horizon scan” of global trends with impacts for biodiversity each year. Read on for this year’s top picks. Continue reading...

The US president has made at least five disaster tours in the past year as his administration has tried to pass sweeping climate policies, with mixed successIn September, Joe Biden stood in a ravaged area of Manville, New Jersey, after Hurricane Ida brought hundred-year flooding. He motioned at the water marks that reached as high as the first-story windows on some of the homes on the block.“Literally over your head, that’s pretty amazing,” the president reportedly said, while consoling a family whose home was destroyed by a fire that began alongside the flooding. “Well, thank God you’re safe.” Continue reading...

From local activism to shareholder rebellions, here’s what climate advocates accomplished over the last year.After a year of record-breaking climate disasters and a grim prognosis from the world’s top experts who warn the planet has already sustained “irreversible” harm, a movement is gaining momentum to force change. As the UN secretary general declared in August, the urgent need to curb carbon emissions marks a “death knell” for the fossil fuel industry.For decades, Americans were told that standing up to powerful oil and gas companies wasn’t possible. But the reality is that everyday people are making a difference in the fight to cut emissions. These grassroots victories also show that the people who have been made most vulnerable by fossil fuel extraction, including Black and brown communities, already have solutions on hand. Continue reading...

From Wally the walrus to dancing sea slugs it was a good year for spotting wildlife at sea, but the climate crisis and human activity are taking their tollHumpback whales are becoming an increasingly common sight off the coast of Britain, according to a marine review of 2021, but dumped fishing gear is causing a rising number of stranded seals and dolphins.Walruses, pufferfish and furrowed crabs were among the marine creatures from far-flung places that visited the UK and Ireland this year due to the climate crisis, according to the Wildlife Trusts, while puffins returned to the Isle of Man for the first time in 30 years after a rat eradication programme. Continue reading...

Biodiversity talks in Kunming are likely to be delayed again, but the world urgently needs a Paris-style agreement for nature

New products range from washing machine filters and balls to fabrics made from kelp and orange peelFrom filters to bags to balls, the number of products aimed at stopping the torrent of microplastic fibres being flushed out of washing machines and into rivers and oceans is increasing rapidly.Grundig recently became the first appliance manufacturer to integrate a microfibre filter into a washing machine, while a British company has developed a system that does away with disposable fibre-trapping filters. Continue reading...

Adam McKay’s end-of-the-world film is a ‘powerful’ depiction of society’s response to scientific warnings, campaigners sayDon’t Look Up, the latest celluloid offering from the writer-director Adam McKay, has become Netflix’s top film globally despite dividing critics and viewers.The film, a satire in which two scientists played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence attempt to warn an indifferent world about a comet that threatens to destroy the planet, is an intentional allegory of the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Declared extinct in the wild in 2003, species has been reintroduced to its native river after being bred in ChesterA “charismatic little fish” declared extinct in the wild has been reintroduced to its native Mexico after being bred in an aquarium at Chester zoo.The tequila fish (Zoogoneticus tequila), which grows to no bigger than 70mm long, disappeared from the wild in 2003 owing to the introduction of invasive, exotic fish species and water pollution. Continue reading...

Climate summit president makes clear UK net zero agenda is responsibility of all government colleaguesTackling the climate crisis must be a whole government effort or risk the Cop26 climate summit becoming “just a bunch of meaningless promises”, the cabinet minister who chaired the UN summit has said.Alok Sharma, who acted as president for Cop26 in November, made clear that all of his colleagues must bear a joint responsibility for the UK’s net zero agenda, and that the international community viewed continued UK efforts as vital. Continue reading...

Decarbonization should be a slam dunk, especially in progressive states. But a recent fight over hydropower shows states must listen carefully to voters firstEarlier this year, Massachusetts passed a landmark law as part of a push towards decarbonization that requires the state to cut emissions in half by 2030.But the state’s plan to meet this ambitious goal hit a snag this fall, when residents in Maine voted down a regional clean energy project, arguing it would irreversibly damage their own natural resources in order to deliver hydropower somewhere else.This article was updated on 29 December 2021 to include comment from Clean Energy Matters, a political action committee funded by Avangrid, and to add further clarification to the story. Continue reading...

Beads add hardly any extra weight to fishing gear and could save thousands of lives, it is claimedSimple plastic beads could save the lives of some of the thousands of porpoises and other cetaceans that get caught in fishing nets each year, scientists say.Harbour porpoises use echolocation to find their prey and for orientation. However, their acoustic signals cannot pick up the mesh of a gillnet, and as a result they often become trapped. Continue reading...

India’s tiger corridor and Australia’s possum ‘tunnel of love’ are among the myriad infrastructure projects providing safe passage

Two 37-tonne lorries will serve supermarket’s Magor distribution centre in Wales from JanuaryTesco is to launch the first fully-electric HGVs to be used commercially in Britain to serve its distribution centre in Wales.Two 37-tonne lorries will transport goods from a rail freight terminal in Cardiff to the company’s hub in Magor, about 30 miles away, from January. Continue reading...

Environmental activist criticises US president for expanding fossil fuel infrastructureGreta Thunberg has criticised Joe Biden for not leading the fight against the climate crisis.In an interview with the Washington Post, the 18-year old Swedish environmental activist rejected the idea that the US president is a leader on climate issues. Continue reading...

Ten Insulate Britain activists spent Christmas in jail as campaigners decry ‘power grab’ over right to protestAt least 18 peaceful environmental protesters have been sent to prison this year, with 10 spending Christmas Day behind bars.As concern about the climate crisis grows, activists have been jailed after blocking roads, disrupting court proceedings and in one case climbing on top of an aeroplane in an attempt to draw attention to the escalating emergency. Continue reading...

Court instructs company to stop tests along Wild Coast after concerns raised about wildlife and lack of consultationShell will be forced to halt oil exploration in vital whale breeding grounds along South Africa’s eastern coastline after a local court blocked the controversial project.The court order calls for an immediate halt to Shell’s seismic tests which involve blasting sound waves through the relatively untouched Wild Coast marine environment, which is home to whales, dolphins and seals. Continue reading...

Severe weather brings record low temperatures in Seattle and huge snowfalls in California and NevadaThe US west is facing record-breaking cold temperatures and heavy snow as severe weather sweeps the region from Washington to California.Officials in Oregon and western Washington opened emergency warming shelters as temperatures dropped into the teens (below zero in centigrade) amid an arctic blast that forecasters said would last several days. In California, heavy snow closed ski resorts and shut down travel across much of the Sierra Nevada, the mountainous region along the California-Nevada border. Continue reading...

Research shows UK’s 50 most polluted areas also have highest rates of child povertyThe Labour party has demanded stricter limits on air pollution after analysis showed the close correlation between children living in poverty and dirty air in the UK.Five London boroughs rank worst for child poverty and worst for dirty air, according to government data collated by Labour, mapping areas of high poverty against statistics on air pollution. The analysis showed that the higher the rate of child poverty in a given area, the dirtier the air there was on average, with most of the 50 most polluted areas in the UK also showing the highest rates of child poverty. Continue reading...

The climate emergency has clear themes with heroes and villains. Describing it this way is how to build a movementThe biggest success of the fossil fuel industry’s decades-long campaign to push doubt about climate science is that it forced the conversation about the climate crisis to centre on science.It’s not that we didn’t need scientific research into climate change, or that we don’t need plenty more of it. Or even that we don’t need to do a better job of explaining basic science to people, across the board (hello, Covid). But at this moment, “believe science” is too high a bar for something that demands urgent action. Believing science requires understanding it in the first place. In the US, the world’s second biggest carbon polluter, fewer than 40% of the population are college educated and in many states, schools in the public system don’t have climate science on the curriculum. So where should this belief – strong enough to push for large-scale social and behavioural change – be rooted exactly?Amy Westervelt is a climate journalist and the founder and executive producer of the Critical Frequency podcast network Continue reading...

Net Zero Diaries focus group finds people sceptical about whether Cop26 commitments will stickBritons are concerned that hypocrisy by politicians will affect the public’s willingness to change their own behaviour to tackle the climate crisis – and doubt that Cop26 commitments can be met unless they are legally binding.The opinions come from the latest in the Net Zero Diaries, a project run by the consultancy Britain Thinks to examine evolving attitudes to the pursuit of a net zero emissions target, the first collation of public views from the cohort since the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow. Continue reading...

Despite warnings that it would devastate rare wildlife habitats, the controversial project is back on the table

Environment minister calls death of migratory cranes from virus ‘the most serious damage to wildlife in the history of the country’A bird flu outbreak in northern Israel has killed at least 5,200 migratory cranes and forced farmers to slaughter hundreds of thousands of chickens as authorities try to contain what they say is the deadliest wildlife disaster in the nation’s history.Uri Naveh, a senior scientist at the Israel Parks and Nature Authority, said the situation was not yet under control. “Many of the birds are dead in the middle of the water body so it’s difficult for them to be taken out,” he said on Monday. Continue reading...

Analysis of 1m loyalty card transactions suggests decline is mostly down to levy on single-use bagsShoppers have been shunning single-use plastic bags to save pennies rather than the planet, a “big data” study of more than 10,000 consumers has found.The research by Nottingham University business school’s N/LAB analytics centre of excellence suggests the massive decline in plastic bag use in the UK may have little to do with shoppers’ concern for the environment. Continue reading...

The winds in November brought down millions of trees but unlike after the great storm of 1987, there is no rush to clear them all away

National Trust’s annual audit highlights how climate crisis is altering environment for everIt was a year of fire and storms, of crumbling cliffs and falling trees, all of which put a huge strain on flora and fauna, according to an annual audit of the impact of the weather on nature in the UK.There were many losers, including rare birds and mammals displaced by blazes on uplands in the north of England and Northern Ireland, but also winners, from crickets heard singing for the first time in newly colonised places to the grey seals that enjoyed a good breeding season despite the turmoil. Continue reading...

Man wanted to breed birds but ‘it got out of control’, official says, adding: ‘You just have more babies, babies and more babies’An animal shelter in Michigan has been inundated with hundreds of parakeets.The Detroit Animal Welfare Group in Romeo said in a Facebook post that the small, colorful birds were dropped off on Thursday night, the Detroit News reported. Continue reading...

Council and Ramblers Association clash with Donald Houston over access route to Ardnamurchan peninsula in western Scotland

Across the world conservation groups, researchers and volunteers are working to combat the five key drivers of biodiversity loss identified by scientists

The resumption of killing whales for profit for the first time in over 30 years is offering little cause for celebrationYou don’t have to look far to find evidence of Wada’s centuries-old connection to whaling. Visitors to the town on Japan’s Pacific coast are greeted by a replica skeleton of a blue whale before entering a museum devoted to the behemoths of the ocean.At a local restaurant, diners eat deep-fried whale cutlet and buy cetacean-themed gifts at a neighbouring gift shop. At the edge of the water stands a wooden deck where harpooned whales are butchered before being sold to wholesalers and restaurants. Continue reading...

Thirty-one-year-old man, who appeared to be a bodyboarder, pronounced dead in San Luis Obispo countyCalifornia authorities have closed some beaches in San Luis Obispo County after a 31-year-old man was pronounced dead following an encounter with a shark on Friday.The fatality marked the first death in a shark attack in 18 years in the area, which lies roughly midway between Los Angeles and Jan Jose. Continue reading...

Two dozen conspirators forced workers to pay fees for travel and housing while forcing them to work for little to no payIn June, a farm worker from Mexico, who requested to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, was transported through a trafficking network from Monterey to work on farms in Georgia.They paid the traffickers 20,000 pesos, about $950, loaned from their mother, taking frequent trips back and forth to Monterey, before being told it was safe to leave. Then they were finally transported across the border. Continue reading...

Five families who have run the city’s famous tours for decades face potential competition from China – and, even worse, nearby GhentFor decades, five families in Bruges have run the tourist boats that chug serenely along the beautiful Flemish city’s picturesque canals. Day in, day out, the guides describe the medieval belfry, low-sweeping bridges and rich history of this “Venice of the north”.But there may be stormy waters ahead for the boaters of Bruges. There is talk that Chinese investors and, even worse, people from Ghent, known locally as Stroppendragers or noose-bearers, could make waves. Continue reading...

Developers will consider contribution to environment using Urban Greening Factor formula

Taylor Energy to pay more than $43m in clean-up costs, penalties and damage, and transfer $432m clean-up fundAmerica’s longest running oil spill dispute is close to a resolution after a Louisiana-based energy firm has agreed to a proposed multi-million dollar settlement.Taylor Energy agreed to pay more than $43m in clean-up costs, civil penalties and natural resource damage, and transfer a $432m clean-up trust fund to the Department of Interior, according to a proposed settlement announced by the Department of Justice. Continue reading...

Our photographers brought the natural world to the fore, with pictures of wildlife and the efforts to conserve them across the globe Continue reading...

Study finds exports to region doubled in 2020 with practice predicted to grow as US invests in recycling plantsEnvironmental organisations across Latin America have called on the US to reduce plastic waste exports to the region, after a report found the US had doubled exports to some countries in the region during the first seven months of 2020.The US is the world’s largest plastic waste exporter, although it has dramatically reduced the overall amount it exports since 2015, when China – previously the top importer – said it “no longer wanted to be the world’s rubbish dump” and began imposing restrictions. Elsewhere around the world imports are rising, and not least in Latin America, with its cheap labour and close proximity to the US. Continue reading...

Our photographers captured many moving and inspirational moments in 2021. Here’s our pick of the most striking imagesIn 2021, our photographers told some of the most profound stories in America. They captured personal moments, like a man assessing the remnants of his home after Hurricane Ida. There were inspirational stories, like how a majority Black high school created a girls lacrosse team during the pandemic. And there were historic scenes, like the lead-up to the presidential inauguration just weeks after insurrectionists tried to overturn the election results. Thank you to all the photographers who worked with us this year.*** Continue reading...

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala calls for changes to ensure developing nations are resilient to affects of extreme weatherRemoving trade barriers around the world would help to tackle the climate crisis, enable a “just transition” away from fossil fuels and make developing countries more resilient to the impacts of global heating, the head of the World Trade Organization has said.Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who took over as director general of the global watchdog last March, said: “Trade is part of the solution, not part of the problem … We need a global effort to climate-proof the supply chains and infrastructure of the most vulnerable economies or risk undoing hard-won economic progress and development.” Continue reading...

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including galloping horses, a honey-bee hive and a lonely red-crowned crane Continue reading...

Conditional licence granted in 2016 at Aberpergym has led to row between Whitehall and devolved administrationPlans for the expansion of an underground coalmine in Wales could be approved imminently despite pledges made at the Cop26 climate conference to move away from the dirtiest fossil fuel.The Coal Authority is imminently expected to decide whether the conditions have been met to allow work to begin at a recently active deep-shaft site in the Neath Valley, south Wales.

Chief executive seeks public dialogue, suggesting protests against Loznica project have hindered any ‘reasonable debate’Rio Tinto will put its controversial western Serbia lithium project on hold, a news agency has reported, quoting the CEO of Rio’s Serbian arm.The mining group wants to develop the mine near Loznica in the western Jadar river valley to extract lithium, used in electric car batteries, and borates, used in solar panels and wind turbines. Continue reading...

Seismic testing is planned for an 8,000km sq area on the doorstep of two marine parks that are home to almost 100 protected species

Exclusive: Releasing nutrients can spur phytoplankton growth, absorbing carbon dioxide in the process

Campaigners help close the loophole allowing glue-trapping in France, but the battle to save endangered bird species goes on

Rare species set to return to ‘pingos’, which are basin forged by ice age and then buried to give way to farmlandGhost pingos, unique ponds forged by the ice age and buried during the era of industrial agriculture, are to be excavated to revive wildlife on two former farms.Rare species including the scarce emerald damselfly and the northern pool frog are set to return to the pingos, which are being restored on farmland next to Thompson Common near Thetford in Norfolk, a little-known nature reserve whose 400 ancient ponds make it the pingo capital of Britain. Continue reading...

Revitalized alliance could help strengthen both the fight for reducing emissions and for bolstering worker rightsAs the Biden administration attempts to increase incentives for the production of electric vehicles, labor unions and climate groups have teamed up to push for better wages and working conditions for autoworkers – and leave the door open for the nascent EV industry to unionize.Last month, leaders from some of the largest environmental groups in the country sent a letter to top executives at Toyota, lambasting the automaker for appearing to support the electric vehicle revolution all while lobbying against a proposed tax credit for union-made electric cars. Continue reading...

New figures show slow coal phaseout progress to date, with pledges not enough to limit warming to 1.5CThe majority of coal-fired power is not being phased out quickly enough to meet climate goals and avoid catastrophic global heating, despite new pledges made at Cop26.While coal is on its way out, some of the largest coal-dependent economies might be delaying for too long, according to a new report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. Continue reading...

Gazprom’s $11bn project to deliver gas from Russia to Germany seems impossible to abandon and impossible to carry forwardThe saga of Nord Stream 2, the gas pipeline between Russia and Germany running along the Baltic seabed, has been stuck so long it has been likened to a suitcase at an airport without a handle – impossible to abandon, and impossible to carry forward. Most of the original cast of characters – Jean-Claude Juncker, Angela Merkel, Matteo Renzi, David Cameron, Petro Poroshenko – have left the political stage. Only one politician has survived the entire story: Vladimir Putin, the Russian President, and the master of divide and rule.First announced in 2015, the $11bn (£8.3bn) pipeline owned by Russia’s state-backed energy giant Gazprom has been built to carry gas from western Siberia, doubling the existing capacity of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline and keeping 26m German homes warm at an affordable price. Continue reading...

Environment Centre Northern Territory argued the $21m for drilling program was legally unreasonable on multiple grounds