Figures show 77 companies received $8.2bn under tax changes related to Covid relief and yet almost every one let workers goFossil-fuel companies have received billions of dollars in tax benefits from the US government as part of coronavirus relief measures, only to lay off tens of thousands of their workers during the pandemic, new figures reveal.A group of 77 firms involved in the extraction of oil, gas and coal received $8.2bn under tax-code changes that formed part of a major pandemic stimulus bill passed by Congress last year. Five of these companies also got benefits from the paycheck protection program, totaling more than $30m. Continue reading...

Campaign urges caution near vulnerable mammals, which have come further inshore during lockdownsThe public are being urged to give seals space in order to protect them from human disturbance before the Easter weekend.As lockdown measures ease, the government-backed campaign by the Seal Alliance is asking people to show special caution as seals have ventured further inshore on beaches and coastlines that have become quieter as a result of lockdown. Continue reading...

Exclusive: voluntary approach to ‘environmental travesty’ is an abject failure, say Alan Titchmarsh and othersThe UK government must ban the sales of peat compost this year after its goal of a voluntary phaseout by 2020 proved an “abject failure”, according to a group of gardening experts, conservationists and scientists.Peat bogs store huge amounts of carbon and must be retained to help tackle the climate crisis. In a letter to the environment secretary, George Eustice, seen by the Guardian, the group say the UK as host of the UN climate summit talks this year should show leadership on the issue. Continue reading...

Analysis contradicts claims that the environmental impact of pesticides is falling, say scientistsThe toxic impact of pesticides on bees and other pollinators has doubled in a decade, new research shows, despite a fall in the amount of pesticide used.Modern pesticides have much lower toxicity to people, wild mammals and birds and are applied in lower amounts, but they are even more toxic to invertebrates. The study shows the higher toxicity outweighs the lower volumes, leading to a more deadly overall impact on pollinators and waterborne insects such as dragonflies and mayflies. Continue reading...

Research shows rising temperatures since 1960s have acted as handbrake to agricultural yield of crops and livestockThe climate crisis is already eating into the output of the world’s agricultural systems, with productivity much lower than it would have been if humans hadn’t rapidly heated the planet, new research has found.Related: G7 should double help for poorer countries to cut CO2 emissions, says UN Continue reading...

New Mexico man did not initially notice giant swarm, which had got in through an open window while he was inside supermarketA man who went shopping in New Mexico returned to a car filled with 15,000 honey bees who had apparently got in through an open window while he spent 10 minutes buying groceries.Astonishingly, the man – who was not named in the New York Times report detailing his unexpected travel companions – did not notice the sudden presence of a giant swarm of buzzing insects on his vehicle’s back seat until he was driving away. Continue reading...

Richer nations also urged to ensure make-or-break climate talks this year are a successThe world’s richest G7 group of countries must double the amount of finance they are offering to poor countries to help them cut greenhouse gas emissions and cope with the impacts of climate breakdown to make vital climate talks this year a success, the UN has said.As part of that commitment, the G7 countries should meet their targets of providing 0.7% of their GDP in overseas aid, said Amina Mohammed, deputy secretary general of the UN. Continue reading...

Shareholders approve deal for Yorkshire plant despite concerns over carbon, climate and land useThe owner of the Drax power plant in North Yorkshire is expected to move ahead with a $652m deal to double its production of wood pellets after its shareholders voted 99.9% in favour of buying a Canadian biomass company.The deal will accelerate Drax Group’s plans to become a leading biomass electricity generator by substituting wood pellets in place of coal at its power plant – despite warnings from scientists, green campaigners and sustainable investors that burning wood pellets could accelerate the climate crisis. Continue reading...

EU commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius urges Australia to sign Leaders’ Pledge for Nature that promotes a green recovery from Covid crisisA senior European Union official has sounded the alarm over the rapid decline of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef while backing calls for all countries to make more ambitious cuts to greenhouse gas emissions.The EU’s commissioner for environment, oceans and fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius, told Guardian Australia he was deeply concerned by the threats facing the Great Barrier Reef. “As long as we do not change our behaviours, things will not improve,” he said. Continue reading...

Mosquitoes, rats and termites among species that have hitched ride on trade routes, causing at least $1.3tn of damageThe costs of damage caused by invasions of alien species across the world is trebling every decade, research has found.Mosquitoes, rats, ragweeds and termites are among the species that have hitched a ride on globalised trade routes, bringing disease, crop destruction and damage to buildings. The scientists calculated the costs at $1.3tn (£944bn) since 1970, and said even this “staggering sum” was likely to be a big underestimate as much damage is unreported. Continue reading...

Data published for first time by Environment Agency shows 27% increase on previous yearWater companies discharged raw sewage into rivers and coastal waters in England more than 400,000 times last year, Environment Agency (EA) data has revealed.Untreated human effluent poured into rivers and seas for a total of 3.1m hours via storm overflow pipes that are supposed to be used only in extreme weather to relieve pressure in the sewage system. Continue reading...

NGOs and experts quoted in film say it contains ‘misleading’ claims, erroneous statistics and out-of-context interviewsA Netflix documentary about the impact of commercial fishing has attracted celebrity endorsements and plaudits from fans with its damning picture of the harm the industry does to ocean life. But NGOs, sustainability labels and experts quoted in Seaspiracy have accused the film-makers of making “misleading claims”, using out-of-context interviews and erroneous statistics.Seaspiracy, made by the team behind the award-winning 2014 film Cowspiracy, which was backed by Leonardo DiCaprio, pours doubt on the idea of sustainable fishing, shines a spotlight on the aquaculture industry and introduces the notion of “blood shrimp”, seafood tainted with slave labour and human rights abuses. Continue reading...

Our lab tests found that US drinking water might not be safe as you think. Take our test to learn how to test your waterFinding out what’s in your water and which water filter you need isn’t always straightforward. You need to find out which, if any, contaminants are in your tap water, and which filter works best for your situation. Plus, advice can vary depending on whether you’re on municipal or well water, and whether you have young children at home.This interactive will help you navigate the issues, especially related to three of the most concerning contaminants: lead, arsenic, and PFAS. Continue reading...

NSW deputy premier says ‘there will be no moratorium on coal in the Upper Hunter or anywhere else in the state’The New South Wales deputy premier, John Barilaro, has rejected Malcolm Turnbull’s call for a moratorium on new coalmines in the state and demanded the former prime minister “set aside his war on the Coalition”.Turnbull said on Wednesday he believed coalmine proposals and approvals in the state’s upper Hunter Valley were “out of control”. Continue reading...

Economies are gearing up for return to fossil fuel use instead of forging green recovery, warns Fatih BirolNew energy policies are urgently needed to put countries on the path to net zero greenhouse gas emissions, the world’s leading energy economist has warned, as economies are rapidly gearing up for a return to fossil fuel use instead of forging a green recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.Most of the world’s biggest economies now have long-term goals of reaching net zero by mid-century, but few have the policies required to meet those goals, said Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA). Continue reading...

Small group taking most flights should face frequent flyer levy, says environmental charityAn “elite minority” of frequent flyers cause most of the climate damage resulting from aviation’s emissions, according to an environmental charity.The report, which collates data from the countries with the highest aviation emissions, shows a worldwide pattern of a small group taking a large proportion of flights, while many people do not fly at all. Continue reading...

Calls for forests to be high on Cop26 agenda after loss of 42,000 sq km of tree cover in key tropical regionsThe rate at which the world’s forests are being destroyed increased sharply last year, with at least 42,000 sq km of tree cover lost in key tropical regions.According to data from the University of Maryland and the online monitoring platform Global Forest Watch, the loss was well above the average for the last 20 years, with 2020 the third worst year for forest destruction since 2002 when comparable monitoring began. Continue reading...

Former PM says Upper Hunter Valley mines are devastating the landscape and shortening life expectancy, and jobs focus should be on clean energy, tourism and wineMalcolm Turnbull has backed calls for a moratorium on new coalmine approvals in New South Wales, warning they are devastating the landscape, shortening lives by reducing air quality and – given declining global coal demand – potentially leaving taxpayers with a huge remediation bill.The former prime minister, who owns a farm in New South Wales’ Upper Hunter Valley, supported the findings of a new report by the Australia Institute that found new coal developments proposed in that area had the capacity to produce 10 times more coal than Adani’s controversial Carmichael mine in Queensland. Continue reading...

Black Summer report finds south coast forests particularly hard hit and prompts call for urgent review of logging rulesThe Berejiklian government is facing calls to stop all logging in New South Wales native forests after a forestry agency review found the catastrophic 2019-20 bushfires reduced the amount of available timber by as much as 30%.The report, published by the NSW Forestry Corporation on Friday night, finds the effects of the disaster have dramatically reduced the amount of timber that can be sustainably harvested in some areas, particularly on the state’s south coast. Continue reading...

Peak bloom reached on 26 March in Kyoto and experts say impact of global warming is to blame

New study released after Guardian Seascape investigation shows drop in seafood mislabelling, but campaigners argue it uses less strict methodologyCanada’s food safety authority has announced improved monitoring to tackle seafood fraud, after a recent Guardian Seascape analysis found fish mislabelling to be widespread. However,environmental campaigners are concerned samples taken for a key report behind the announcement did not include restaurants and food services and used a less accurate methodology.In its latest report, released on 24 March, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said only 8% of the seafood it had sampled in the past two years was mislabelled, after new investments in food fraud reduction. It looked at 352 samples collected from domestic processors, importers and packaged fish at supermarkets in 2019 and 2020. Continue reading...

Drastic steps taken to protect the Sierra Nevada’s 600 bighorn sheep after another charismatic species developed a taste for themIn order to save one endangered species, California scientists are having to relocate another iconic creature that is, regrettably, eating it.The California department of fish and wildlife is in the process of moving mountain lions over 100 miles away from struggling populations of bighorn sheep, which are unique to the Sierra Nevada mountains. The herbivores were first listed as endangered in 1999, when their population was estimated at only 125 individuals, according to researchers. Continue reading...

Exclusive: scientists write to ministers and supreme court over recent ruling in Heathrow caseProminent scientists and lawyers have said the UK government’s decision to ignore the Paris climate agreement when deciding on major infrastructure projects undermines its presidency of UN climate talks this year.The experts – including the former Nasa scientist Jim Hansen, the former UK government chief scientist Sir David King and the economist Prof Jeffrey Sachs – have written to ministers and the supreme court about a recent ruling that the government need not take the UK’s obligations under the treaty into account when setting policy, made in a case concerning the proposed expansion of Heathrow airport. Continue reading...

Tariq Fancy once oversaw the start of the biggest effort to turn Wall Street ‘green’ – but now believes the climate crisis can never be solved by today’s free marketsFrom his desk in midtown Manhattan Tariq Fancy once oversaw the beginning of arguably the biggest, most ambitious, effort ever to turn Wall Street “green”. Now, as environmentally friendly investing grows at an exponential rate, Fancy has come to a stark conclusion: “This is definitely not going to work.”As the former chief investment officer for sustainable investing at BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, Fancy was charged with embedding environmental, social and governance (ESG) corporate policies across the investment giant’s portfolio. Continue reading...

Rejection comes as company criticised over plans to split its business in two as part of a move to clean up its emissions profileThe Victorian government has rejected on environmental grounds a proposal from energy giant AGL to build a gas import terminal at Crib Point in Western Port.It came as the company also came under criticism from climate campaigners over a plan to spin off its high-polluting coal power plants that would allow it to rebrand the clean part of its business as “new AGL”. Continue reading...

The UK’s woods are full of strange specimens. But they aren’t easy to identify – even for the experts

Our colleagues from The age of extinction, Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield, are back with two new episodes. We often talk as if we know what species exist in the world – but we don’t. Could misclassifying the notoriously cryptic fungi have broader implications for what we know about the environment, and how we care for it? Continue reading...

‘The economics are going to drive EV adoption,’ company founder says, citing petrol costsAustralia may take another small step in the switch to electric cars if an ambitious $40m plan by the ride-hailing rental startup Splend to transition its fleet takes off.The company has said it will swap its petrol-driven cars in the UK for 1,000 electric vehicles by the end of the year, with half the 1,500 vehicles in Australia to follow by the end of 2022. Continue reading...

Biden administration’s effort to increase offshore wind energy is part of plan to generate power for more than 10m homes by 2030The Biden administration is moving to sharply increase offshore wind energy along the US east coast, saying on Monday it is taking steps toward approving a huge windfarm off New Jersey as part of an effort to generate electricity for more than 10m homes by 2030. Continue reading...

Mask and gloves protect people but harm animals from penguins to dogs when discarded, researchers say

Czechs and Germans who live in the shadow of the vast Turów mine claim it is an environmental menace. Some in Poland want to weaponise its defenceWhen the Czech government announced it was taking Poland to Europe’s highest court it came as a surprise to Warsaw. After all, EU countries rarely sue one another. Prague’s demand is a politically explosive one. Not only is it challenging the extension of mining activity at Turów, a vast lignite mine that has been in operation for nearly 100 years, it also wants the European court of justice to order its immediate closure.Sandwiched between Germany and the Czech Republic in the Silesia region of south-west Poland, the open-pit mine is depleting the groundwater supplies of its neighbours and violates EU environmental law, the Czech government alleges. On the Czech and German sides of the border, communities blame Turów for draining their water and causing dangerous levels of air and noise pollution. Continue reading...

Research links consumption of foods such as coffee and chocolate to global deforestationThe average western consumer of coffee, chocolate, beef, palm oil and other commodities is responsible for the felling of four trees every year, many in wildlife-rich tropical forests, research has calculated.Destruction of forests is a major cause of both the climate crisis and plunging wildlife populations, as natural ecosystems are razed for farming. The study is the first to fully link high-resolution maps of global deforestation to the wide range of commodities imported by each country across the world. Continue reading...

John Mappin, who chairs Dutch Green Business Group, has funded conservative political causesNigel Farage’s new employer is part-owned by a wealthy British businessman and Donald Trump supporter who has promoted the far-right QAnon conspiracy.Dutch Green Business (DGB) Group, which says it aims to offset carbon dioxide emissions by planting trees, announced its appointment of Farage as the first member of its advisory board on Sunday. Continue reading...

UN development chief says access to finance is vital if upcoming Cop26 climate talks are to be a successBoris Johnson’s government must take the lead in giving poor countries access to the finance they need to tackle the climate crisis, to make vital climate talks a success, the UN’s development chief has said.Ministers from around the world will meet virtually this week at a conference hosted by the UK to discuss the needs of developing nations struggling to cut their greenhouse gas emissions, as their economies have been left reeling by the Covid pandemic. Continue reading...

Labour’s leader on climate says Boris Johnson must face up to ‘terrifying’ challenge of stopping global warmingThe UK must tell the truth about the “terrifying and exacting” scale of the challenge the world faces to avoid climate breakdown as it prepares to host a make or break summit of world leaders later this year, Ed Miliband has warned.“A cosy consensus” between politicians, policymakers and some NGOs, focusing on long-term net zero targets rather than short-term action, could prove disastrous, he said. Instead, Boris Johnson’s government must focus on persuading countries to implement immediate far-reaching reductions in emissions and throw everything at making the conference in Glasgow in November a success, including enlisting the help of former prime ministers like Theresa May and Gordon Brown. Continue reading...

Rebecca Pow says government will have to report on efforts to reduce discharge from storm overflowsThe environment minister, Rebecca Pow, has promised to bring in legislation to reduce discharge of raw sewage into rivers. Pow said that she would be placing a legal duty on government to come up with a plan to cut dumping by water companies by September 2022.Pressure has been growing on water companies and ministers as evidence grows of the scale of the issue and amid increasing evidence of the poor state of rivers. Continue reading...

Thick dust carrying extremely high levels of hazardous particles blows in from drought-hit MongoliaThe second sandstorm to hit China in less than a fortnight has reversed the colours of the sky, turning the sun blue and the heavens yellow.Beijing woke on Sunday morning shrouded in thick dust carrying extremely high levels of hazardous particles. Continue reading...

As soon as you’re sure you imagined them, on they go again“Thou aeronautical boll weevil / Illuminate yon woods primeval,” the Mills Brothers sang in 1952, imploring glow-worms to “Light the path below, above / And lead us on to love”. John Keats, comparing the fairness of goddess Psyche with the bright white moon and the evening star (spoiler: she is fairer than both), refers to the star as an “amorous glow-worm of the sky”. Seamus Heaney poked a glow-worm with a blunt stick and “a tiny brightening den lit the eye” – turning the stick into a wand.Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo. I’m in Mozambique, it is dark, and there is a wedding tomorrow. I have just had my first – and I don’t know it yet, but only – drink in a coconut. I chose Fanta Grape. Outside at the restaurant, I see my first glow-worms. It is possible that they are fireflies, but they’re still: on the branches of what I hope are hibiscus trees, but then again, I would happily plant a hibiscus in every memory I have. Continue reading...

Australia Institute calls for rule change to allow renewables to replace fossil fuels in underpinning grid reliabilityRenewable energy and batteries can secure Australia’s electricity grid as effectively as coal and gas, new research suggests.The research, commissioned by the Australia Institute thinktank and released on Monday, found clean technologies provided the fast frequency response service and voltage control needed to secure the energy grid and reduce cost. But the report says regulatory barriers currently limit the ability of renewable energy and batteries to provide system security. Continue reading...

Steven Donziger has been detained at home since August 2019, the result of a Kafkaesque legal battle stemming from his crusade on behalf of Indigenous AmazoniansMany of us will have felt the grip of claustrophobic isolation over the past year, but the lawyer Steven Donziger has experienced an extreme, very personal confinement as a pandemic arrived and then raged around him in New York City.On Sunday, Donziger reached his 600th day of an unprecedented house arrest that has resulted from a sprawling, Kafkaesque legal battle with the oil giant Chevron. Donziger spearheaded a lengthy crusade against the company on behalf of tens of thousands of Indigenous people in the Amazon rainforest whose homes and health were devastated by oil pollution, only to himself become, as he describes it, the victim of a “planned targeting by a corporation to destroy my life”. Continue reading...

Lifesaving research on fighting drought and climate change at risk after snap decision to halt crucial fundingFor two years, the Rwandan-born scientist Anita Etale has been leading efforts to develop cheap methods to clean contaminated water supplies, a widespread problem in Africa.Based at Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg, South Africa, Etale had a £300,000 grant from Britain’s Royal Society in 2019 to build a team of researchers, who went on to develop cleaning filters using maize and sugarcane stubble. “Finding cheap source materials is crucial to make affordable filters,” Etale said Continue reading...

Outlawing the sale of the controversial delicacy will now be easier because of Brexit but could still be challenged by the WTOFoie gras has been served in one form or another at the banquets of the pharaohs and the court of Louis XIV.But present-day fans are losing the battle to keep foie gras on the menu in Britain, after years of campaigning by opponents appalled at its production by force-feeding ducks and geese. Continue reading...

Summit is designed to revive a US-convened forum of the world’s major economies that previous administrations had allowed to lapseJoe Biden is doubling down on his reset of his predecessor’s environmental policies by inviting the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and Xi Jinping of China to the first big climate talks of his administration next month aimed at increasing cooperation to fight global heating.The Leaders Summit on Climate talks, scheduled to be held virtually on 22 and 23 April, are an opportunity for the US to shape, hasten and deepen global efforts to cut climate-wrecking fossil fuel pollution, administration officials told the Associated Press. Continue reading...

£1.5bn scheme at heart of Boris Johnson’s ‘build back better’ promise has struggled since launchThe government has scrapped its flagship green homes grant scheme, the centrepiece of Boris Johnson’s promise to “build back greener” from the Covid-19 pandemic, just over six months after its launch.The abandonment of the £1.5bn programme, which offered households grants of up to £5,000 or £10,000 to put in insulation or low-carbon heating, leaves the UK without a plan for tackling one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Continue reading...

Relentless student pressure and the cold facts of the bottom line forced an institution with close ties to the car industry to reverse course in just six yearsIf you want proof of how decisively the climate zeitgeist has begun to shift, you could look to Washington and the transition between the Trump and Biden eras.But you could also look further west, to Ann Arbor, home to the University of Michigan, which routinely tops the rankings of America’s best public universities. It’s a massive institution whose faculty and graduates have collected scores of Nobel, Pulitzer and MacArthur prizes; somewhere on the surface of the moon there’s a plaque marking its first extraterrestrial alumni chapter, because all the astronauts on Apollo 15 had studied there. It couldn’t be more middle-American, with deep ties to, among other things, the state’s world-leading automotive industry. Continue reading...

Activists seek ban on flying horses to Japan with thousands sent every year from Canada and France

Conservationists build 400-tonne structure to tempt migrating birds back to nature reserve after 25 yearsA giant “sandcastle” has been constructed to encourage sand martins to nest at a nature reserve for the first time in 25 years, Surrey Wildlife Trust has said.The 400-tonne sand installation at Spynes Mere, near Merstham, Surrey, was built by professional sand sculptors who used a “giant bucket mould” made from wooden boards, as well as the help of diggers and dumper trucks. Continue reading...

Yurok Tribe will create a captive breeding facility in Redwood national park for birds that could be released as early as this fallAfter a century of absence, the endangered California condor is set to return to the skies of the Pacific north-west.The condor once soared from British Columbia to Mexico, but habitat loss, overhunting and, most significantly, poisoning from hunting ammunition drove the birds to near extinction. Continue reading...

Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin among invitees as US heralds return to forefront of climate fightJoe Biden has invited 40 world leaders to a virtual summit on the climate crisis, the White House said in a statement on Friday.Heads of state, including Xi Jinping of China and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, have been asked to attend the two-day meeting meant to mark Washington’s return to the front lines of the fight against human-caused climate change, after Donald Trump disengaged from the process. Continue reading...