Environment | The Guardian

Parliamentary inquiry told more than 40 underwriters refused to insure a rail line for the Adani coalmineFossil fuel producers and their contractors in Australia have admitted moves by major global investors and insurers to reduce their exposure to risks from the climate crisis are making it harder for them to insure and finance major projects.One contractor building a 120km rail line for the controversial Queensland Adani coalmine said a global search for insurance had failed with more than 40 underwriters refusing to back it. Continue reading...

Food-growing areas will see drastic changes to rainfall and temperatures if global heating continues at current rateA third of global food production will be at risk by the end of the century if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise at their current rate, new research suggests.Many of the world’s most important food-growing areas will see temperatures increase and rainfall patterns alter drastically if temperatures rise by about 3.7C, the forecast increase if emissions stay high. Continue reading...

Congressman Peter Meijer, 33, warns that false claims of a burger ban or blaming immigrants risk losing the young generationLies that hamburgers will be banned, conspiracy-laden claims of government tyranny, blame for environmental degradation foisted upon immigrants – the Republican response to Joe Biden’s climate agenda suggests the base instincts of Donald Trump still strongly animate the party.Related: Asia is home to 99 of world’s 100 most vulnerable cities Continue reading...

Marine life charities and wildlife tour operators observe growing interest in and empathy for whalesWhen a sick baby minke whale lost its way up the Thames earlier this week, hundreds of people gathered to watch the rescue efforts at Richmond and Teddington over the course of two days.It was the furthest upriver a whale had ever ventured, a feat so out of the ordinary that the curiosity among the crowds flocking to the weir and those following the whale’s misguided journey on social media was matched by the outpouring of sadness when the little whale didn’t survive. Continue reading...

Nature-driven artist and environmentalist Clare Celeste Börsch among contributors to exhibition exploring concept of EdenAs in many paradise gardens, particularly those inspired by Islamic culture, a fountain lies at the heart of the quadrilateral garden created inside the Aga Khan Centre gallery in King’s Cross, London. This fountain doesn’t spout water, however, but beautiful, intricate strips of paper with laser-cut flowers made by Berlin-based American artist Clare Celeste Börsch.The fountain is at the centre of Making Paradise, an exhibition exploring the concept of Eden through art and Islamic garden design. On display are numerous artworks depicting trees, flowers and fruits, including botanical illustrations from the Royal Horticultural Society’s Lindley library collection, alongside contemporary works. Continue reading...

Alok Sharma is working with health experts and Scottish government on best way for climate summit to go ahead

Lightning or poisoning cited as possible causes of deaths in protected area in Assam stateAuthorities are trying to establish how 18 wild Asiatic elephants died in a remote corner of India’s north-east.The elephants, including five calves, were found dead in the protected Kondali forest reserve in the state of Assam, Jayanta Goswami, a wildlife official, told Associated Press. The forest guard reached the area on Thursday and found 14 elephants dead atop a hill and four at its bottom. Continue reading...

President-designate of Cop26 talks says tackling the fossil fuel is ‘a personal priority’Coal must be consigned to history as the world faces its “last hope” of holding back climate breakdown, the president of the Cop26 climate summit says.Alok Sharma, a former UK business secretary and now president-designate of Cop26, to be held in Glasgow this November, is expected to say this Friday morning: “This is our last hope of keeping 1.5C alive. Our best chance of building a brighter future … of green jobs and cleaner air. I have faith that world leaders will rise to the occasion and not be found wanting in their tryst with destiny.” Continue reading...

Reason for lower flows was not clear, the research found, as it was not linked to land use or increased ground waterAustralian researchers have warned that drought-affected rivers could experience reduced flows indefinitely even after the drought has broken in a study which found more than a third of Victorian water catchments have not fully recovered from the millennium drought.The millennium drought ran from 1996 to 2010 and was the longest uninterrupted period of low rainfall in south-east Australia since 1900. Continue reading...

Nigel Topping says the Morrison government will face ‘a certain amount of pressure’ at the G7 meeting in Cornwall in JuneA leading UK climate official says Australia is alone among major countries in that neither its national government nor opposition have a significant climate plan, and frustrating local business leaders.Nigel Topping, the UN’s “high-level champion” whose role involves global outreach to drive global ambition ahead of the Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow in November, said he had not seen another country in which no major political party had a plan to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Continue reading...

Annalena Baerbock faces social media onslaught after voicing opposition to Nord Stream 2 projectFears are growing in Berlin of a Russian-led cyber campaign against the leader of Germany’s Green party after she pledged to block a gas pipeline project between Russia and Europe.Annalena Baerbock, who is running to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor in September’s election, has been targeted in recent days by an increasingly vicious campaign across social media. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Briefing note prepared for a meeting with government-funded scientists suggested they ‘don’t publish the paper’

Exclusive: prime minister’s short flights cast doubt on the sincerity of his pledges to fight the climate crisis, say criticsBoris Johnson has been criticised for taking a short helicopter flight from London to the West Midlands to promote a local bike hire scheme, despite the train from London taking just more than two hours.Critics said the flight was “completely unnecessary” and cast doubt on the sincerity of the prime minister’s pledges to fight the climate crisis. Air travel produces far more global-heating emissions than other modes of transport. Continue reading...

Court ruling gives go-ahead for sugar plantation in Bugoma forest, home to endangered chimpanzeesConservationists in Uganda have condemned as “shallow and absurd” a court ruling that authorised the government to allow swathes of a tropical forest to be cleared for a sugar-cane plantation.Three environmental groups had taken the government to court over a decision to allow Hoima Sugar Ltd to build on 5,500 hectares (13,500 acres) in the Bugoma Forest Reserve. Continue reading...

Research says discharge of untreated sewage and wastewater during dry spells to blameWater companies are causing high levels of microplastic contamination in UK rivers by discharging untreated sewage and wastewater into the water system, new research reveals.As pressure builds on water companies, the Environment Agency and ministers to tackle the way water firms release untreated effluent into rivers, scientists have for the first time linked the practice to microplastic pollution. Continue reading...

Move comes after campaign by New Forest national park authority in wake of fire in Wareham Forest last MayDisposable barbecues have been banned across a swath of open countryside in Hampshire and Dorset after a campaign led by the New Forest national park authority.The move to ban the sale of disposable barbecues began last May in the wake of a catastrophic fire in Wareham Forest, Dorset, which burned slow worms and lizards alive and damaged more than 200 hectares (500 acres) of the site of special scientific interest. The fire was thought to have been caused by a disposable barbecue or a campfire. Continue reading...

In states like Kansas, energy companies want to impose charges on people who produce their own power with rooftop arraysKevin Good is the president of a small solar power company in Kansas – a state that tends to be so sunny you’d think he’d have it made.“I got into solar at maybe the worst point to do so in the last 50 years,” said Good, who runs Good Energy Solutions in Lawrence, a town of about 100,000. Continue reading...

Undocumented immigrants are doing the backbreaking farm work that keeps the US food system running but struggle to feed their familiesPhotographs by Encarni PindadoIn the piercing midday heat of southern Texas, farmhand Linda Villarreal moves methodically to weed row after row of parsley, rising only occasionally to stretch her achy back and nibble on sugary biscuits she keeps in her pockets. In the distance, a green and white border patrol truck drives along the levee beside the towering steel border wall.For this backbreaking work, Villareal is paid $7.25 per hour, the federal minimum wage since 2009, with no benefits. She takes home between $300 and $400 a week depending on the amount of orders from the bodegas – packaging warehouses which supply the country’s supermarkets with fruits and vegetables harvested by crews of undocumented mostly Mexican farmworkers. Continue reading...

Indonesia’s capital Jakarta – plagued by pollution, flooding and heatwaves – tops risk assessment rankingOf the 100 cities worldwide most vulnerable to environmental hazards all but one are in Asia, and 80% are in India or China, according to a risk assessment.More than 400 large cities with a total population of 1.5 billion are at “high” or “extreme” risk because of a mix of life-shortening pollution, dwindling water supplies, deadly heatwaves, natural disasters and the climate emergency, the report found. Continue reading...

Officials on Vancouver Island say at least 100 trees have been illegally cut down, leaving one stump with a face carved into itTwo tree stumps signaled to Larry Pynn that something was wrong.Jutting from a mossy forest floor in western Canada, the fresh stumps were the final remnants of two western red cedars that had been chopped down by chainsaw. Nearby, a set of deep tire tracks ran for nearly a kilometer in the mud before terminating at the main road. Continue reading...

NSW government lodges emergency request to deploy powerful bait currently outlawed for use in fieldsLeading rodent experts say they “aren’t convinced” a new poison spruiked by the New South Wales government as “napalm” for mice will significantly impact the state’s plague, and warn it comes at a vastly higher risk of killing native and domestic animals.Rodents are still running rampant across large tracts of inland NSW and southern Queensland, costing some farmers more than $100,000 in destroyed crops and damage to stored hay and grain. Cases of leptospirosis – a potentially deadly disease that can transfer from mice to humans – have almost doubled in Queensland this year, with health authorities citing the increased rodent numbers as a possible cause. Continue reading...

Toxic chemicals known as PFAS found in all 50 samples tested at levels nearly 2,000 times what is considered safe in drinking waterA new study that checked American women’s breast milk for PFAS contamination detected the toxic chemical in all 50 samples tested, and at levels nearly 2,000 times higher than the level some public health advocates advise is safe for drinking water.The findings “are cause for concern” and highlight a potential threat to newborns’ health, the study’s authors say. Continue reading...

London Wetlands Centre to run courses focusing on wildlife beauty as therapy to help alleviate depression and anxietyHundreds of people experiencing poor mental health will be introduced to the natural beauty of wetlands under a “blue prescribing” scheme.There is increasing evidence of the benefits of nature for mental health and wellbeing. A recent pilot wetlands project showed that people diagnosed with anxiety or depression moved up a clinical mental health grade, from below average to average. Continue reading...

Coalition will spend $5.4m creating havens in area more than twice size of Great Barrier Reef marine parkAustralia is adding an area of the Indian Ocean bigger than France to its network of marine parks in an attempt to keep out international fishing boats and promote scientific discovery in two biodiversity hotspots.The Morrison government announced $5.4m would be spent to create two marine parks around Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands covering 740,000 sq km – a huge expanse of ocean almost as large as the state of New South Wales. Continue reading...

DuPont and Daikin, manufacturers of ‘short chain’ PFAS, did not inform regulator about the FDA negative results of tests on animalsChemical giants DuPont and Daikin knew the dangers of a PFAS compound widely used in food packaging since 2010, but hid them from the public and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), company studies obtained by the Guardian reveal.The chemicals, called 6:2 FTOH, are now linked to a range of serious health issues, and Americans are still being exposed to them in greaseproof pizza boxes, carryout containers, fast-food wrappers, and paperboard packaging. Continue reading...

Addressing the climate crisis will be the greatest undertaking in the history of humankind. We have to give it all we haveJoe Biden wants to cut US emissions in half from their 2005 levels. However, since emissions have been slowly declining since then, this amounts to only a 37% drop from 2020 levels.That, in a nutshell, is the issue. Our leaders are adhering to a template that doesn’t meet the urgency of the moment. The US is not even the world’s largest emitter any more, and China – the biggest polluter – seeks to build more coal-fired power plants, failing to reach carbon neutrality until 2060. Unfortunately, that is a perfect illustration of just how disconnected we are from the gravity of the situation. Continue reading...

Fed by myths, fairytales and Disney, America’s demonization of wolves has been going on for centuries, and continues full throttleNothing embodies wildness like wolves, our four-legged shadow, the dogs that long ago refused our campfire and today prefer freedom and risk over the soft sofa and short leash. The dogs that howl more than bark, add music to the land, and – if left alone to work their magic – make entire ecosystems healthy and whole.Related: Idaho bill seeks to kill more than 1,000 wolves Continue reading...

The New River Gorge in West Virginia offers stunning views, rock climbing and rafting but some worry it is unprepared for an influx of visitorsThe New River has spent millions of years carving a bucolic gorge in West Virginia. It is now home to one of the most biodiverse forests on the continent. And while humans have tracked prey along its jagged cliffs for thousands of years, now most people come to the gorge to find adventure.Related: How to plan your 2021 trip to a US national park Continue reading...

Licences given to arms firm Lockheed Martin said to go against government’s stance on exploiting seabedDeep-sea mining exploration licences granted by the British government are “riddled with inaccuracies”, and could even be unlawful, according to Greenpeace and Blue Marine Foundation, a conservation charity.The licences, granted a decade ago to UK Seabed Resources, a subsidiary of the US arms multinational Lockheed Martin, have only recently been disclosed by the company. Continue reading...

The Pacific footballfish, which was featured in Pixar’s Finding Nemo, was found in perfectly preserved conditionWith its mouth agape – revealing a set of pointy black teeth – and a large protruding appendage surrounded by a series of tentacles, the sea creature resembled something out of a horror film. But, the 18in-wide fish, which somehow found its way from the depths of the Pacific to the shores of Newport Beach last Friday, is very real. It’s just a rare find.One of the roughly 300 species of anglerfish found around the world (perhaps best known as the one with fangs and the lightbulb-like antennae dangling from its head that appeared in Pixar’s Finding Nemo) the Pacific footballfish was spotted at Crystal Cove state park by a beachgoer, Ben Estes. The specimen was all the more surprising because of its perfectly preserved condition. Continue reading...

Set of government measures will include halting most live animal exports and a ban on hunting trophy importsAnimals are to be formally recognised as sentient beings in UK law for the first time, in a victory for animal welfare campaigners, as the government set out a suite of animal welfare measures including halting most live animal exports and banning the import of hunting trophies.The reforms will be introduced through a series of bills, including an animal sentience bill, and will cover farm animals and pets in the UK, and include protections for animals abroad, through bans on ivory and shark fins, and a potential ban on foie gras. Continue reading...

Survey of 800 cities around world finds almost 43% do not even have plan to adapt to impacts of global heatingOne in four cities around the world lack the money to protect themselves against the ravages of climate breakdown, even though more than 90% are facing serious risks, according to research.Cities are facing problems with flooding, overheating, water shortages, and damage to their infrastructure from extreme weather, which is growing more frequent as the climate changes. A survey of 800 cities, carried out by the Carbon Disclosure Project, found that last year about 43% of them, representing a combined population of 400 million people, did not have a plan to adapt to the climate crisis. Continue reading...

First complete assessment of how UK nature-based solutions can combat the climate and biodiversity crises released ahead of crucial environment summitsRegenerating native woodland, restoring grassland and rewetting peatland must be priorities when tackling the “two defining crises of our age”, according to the first complete assessment of how UK nature-based solutions can combat the climate and biodiversity crises.More than 100 ecologists examined how all kinds of landscapes – from urban to agricultural to coastal – could be enhanced to maximise carbon retention, biodiversity and human wellbeing. These nature-based solutions (NbS) must be implemented at scale to reap benefits, according to the 190-page peer-reviewed report, published by the British Ecological Society. Continue reading...

They are benevolent vegetarian gods. They watch over, through shielded eyes, the very few animals that have a fringe.William Topaz McGonagall, the “worst poet in the history of the English language”, is responsible for some of my mother’s favourite words in the world to say. She delivers them in a decent-enough Scottish accent, and she does so whenever the opportunity presents itself: “On yonder hill there stood a coo / It’s no’ there noo / It must’a shif’ted”. When I hear this rhyme I picture a Scottish highland cow, its coat waving in the icy flaff.

The 84-turbine site off Massachusetts will be capable of generating power for 400,000 homes and businessesJoe Biden’s administration has approved the construction of the US’s first large-scale offshore windfarm, with 84 turbines to be erected off the coast of Massachusetts.The approval of the project, which will generate about 800 megawatts of energy, enough to power around 400,000 homes and businesses, is a boost to Biden’s agenda of ramping up renewable energy production across the US in order to confront the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Great Eastern Brood set to emerge in the last two weeks of May and into early June, with hordes of bugs to push up from undergroundBrood X, otherwise known as the great cicada hatching of 2021, is drawing closer as soil temperatures in some parts of America move closer to 64F (18C) – the trigger, according to scientists, for trillions of the insects to push up to the surface and into the trees to mate.Related: If we want to save the planet, the future of food is insects Continue reading...

Nearly 59m hectares of forests have regrown since 2000, showing that regeneration in some places is paying offAn area of forest the size of France has regrown around the world over the past 20 years, showing that regeneration in some places is paying off, a new analysis has found.Nearly 59m hectares of forests have regrown since 2000, the research found, providing the potential to soak up and store 5.9 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide – more than the annual emissions of the entire US. Continue reading...

For miles around Walleys Quarry in Silverdale, people have reported waking up in the night struggling to breatheIt may have been labelled the country’s smelliest village but it is much more than a bad stench from the local landfill making life miserable for the residents of Silverdale in Staffordshire, who have now started crowdfunding for potential legal action against the site.For miles around Walleys Quarry landfill near Newcastle-under-Lyme, people have reported waking up in the middle of the night struggling to breathe, with itchy eyes and sore throats. Those with asthma have had their medication increased, and some have reported nosebleeds. Continue reading...

Posters demand ‘red card’ for football club’s sponsor as hoax website ‘announces’ end of UK bank’s support for coalMore than 50 billboards and bus stop adverts drawing attention to the Liverpool FC sponsor Standard Chartered’s links to the fossil fuel industry have appeared across the city, as a number of activist groups targeted the bank ahead of its annual general meeting on Wednesday.One poster design installed outside Anfield, featuring the Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp and player Mohamed Salah, reads: “Give Standard Chartered the red card.” Continue reading...

Cornwall attraction unveils plan for new feature close to rainforest biome as it prepares to reopen

Val d’Aran regional government in Spain believes there are ‘several indications’ animal is responsible

The real threat to our way of life – and Saturday night steak – is an oligopoly food system that teetered close to collapse last spring when its workers were overcome by CovidFirst President Obama was coming for your guns. Didn’t happen. Then President Trump said the socialists were going to take away our energy. The lights are on after 100 days, although it got dicey in Texas for awhile (and no, wind turbines didn’t cause the ice storm).But whoa, Nellie! We hear a Hamburglar will steal your right to beef before you can say “pass the ketchup”. Continue reading...

While the governor says the line is a ‘ticking timebomb’, the company says Line 5 has never experienced a leakThe state of Michigan has told a Canadian energy company it must shut down a controversial oil and gas pipeline by Wednesday amid growing fears that a spill would be catastrophic to the region, in a feud which threatens to strain relations between Canada and the United States.The company’s refusal to comply with the order, and swift support from top Canadian officials, highlights the politicized nature of pipelines, which campaigners have used as a target in the fight against climate change. Continue reading...

Funding soared in 2020, while study shows 80% of people are open to eating meat grown in bioreactorsThe nascent industry growing real meat in bioreactors had a record-breaking year in 2020, with investment growing sixfold and dozens of new companies being founded.A study also indicates that 80% of people in the UK and US are open to eating meat produced in a factory rather than a field, with the researchers concluding that cultivated meat is likely to be widely accepted by the general public. Continue reading...

Residents of Hangzhou warned to stay indoors as search continues for leopard escaped from safari parkResidents in a Chinese city were told to stay indoors as authorities released flocks of chickens as bait to track down a leopard that escaped from a safari park, state media have reported.The leafy lakeside city of Hangzhou has been on edge since late last week, when residents began spotting leopards roaming around local hills covered in forest and tea plantations. Continue reading...

New wind and solar power projects in China, Europe and the US spurred 45% rise in capacityThe world’s renewable energy industry grew at its fastest pace since 1999 last year, despite the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, and may have established a standard for growth in the future, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).The global energy watchdog revealed that the delivery of renewable energy projects, including windfarms and solar power projects, grew by 45% last year in a step change for the global industry. Continue reading...

Majority of counties now under emergency declaration as California faces extensive dry spell and dwindling water supplyCalifornia has expanded a drought emergency declaration to a large swath of the nation’s most populated state amid “acute water supply shortages” in northern and central parts of California.The declaration, expanded by Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday, now includes 41 of 58 counties, covering 30% of California’s nearly 40 million people. The US drought monitor shows most of the state and the American west is in extensive drought just a few years after California emerged from a punishing multiyear dry spell. Continue reading...

Minke whale made it as far as Teddington, south-west London, but rescue teams were unable to save itAs crowds gathered along the banks of the Thames around Teddington weir to catch a glimpse of the little whale that had lost its way upriver, the mood gradually became tinged with sadness at the realisation that the baby minke would probably never make it back out to sea.The calf had first got stranded on Richmond lock’s boat rollers on Sunday evening. It was finally freed by rescue teams around 1am but wriggled free from the inflatable rescue raft and went missing, before being spotted again in Teddington late on Monday morning. Continue reading...

Tim Crosland had claimed he had no choice but to protest against ‘deep immorality’ of backing third runwayEnvironmental lawyer Tim Crosland has been fined £5,000 for criminal contempt of court after deliberately making public a supreme court ruling related to Heathrow airport before the result was officially announced. The judges could have jailed him for two years.The supreme court had ruled that a planned third runway at Heathrow was legal. The runway is highly controversial, with opponents arguing that the increased carbon dioxide emissions it would cause are incompatible with the UK’s obligations to fight the climate crisis. Continue reading...