As life starts to return to the capital's parks and woodlands, photographer Sarah Lee has been capturing daffodils and budding plants, walkers, buskers and joggers out in the sunshine. She says: Everything feels so dark right now, it's good to know the light is coming back' Continue reading...
by Patrick Greenfield, Elena Morresi, Ali Assaf and R on (#6W743)
Net zero is a target that countries should be striving for to stop the climate crisis. But beyond the buzzword, it is a complex scientific concept - and if we get it wrong, the planet will keep heating.Biodiversity and environment reporter Patrick Greenfield explains how a loophole in the 2015 Paris climate agreement allows countries to cheat their net zero targets through creative accounting, and how scientists want us to fix it Continue reading...
by Damien Gayle Environment correspondent on (#6W744)
Final gathering in April will mark end of street protests although campaign to continue in courts and prisons'Supporters of the climate group Just Stop Oil have announced that, after three years of disruptive protests, they are ending their campaign of civil resistance.Hannah Hunt, whose speech on Valentine's Day 2022 marked the beginning of the campaign, made the announcement outside Downing Street in London on Thursday. Continue reading...
Duration of spills by water companies up on previous year, in data described by environment secretary as disgraceful'Raw sewage was discharged into rivers and coastal waters in England for almost 4m hours last year, with waterways that have the highest environmental protections subjected to days of pollution.Data released by the Environment Agency on Thursday revealed water companies discharged untreated effluent for 3.62m hours, a slight increase on last year. Continue reading...
Strict laws saved the country's wolves from extinction. Now conservationists believe their relaxation could embolden vigilantesHigh on a mountain pass near the town of Cocullo in central Italy lay six black sacks. Inside were nine wolves, including a pregnant female and seven youngsters - an entire pack. They had eaten slabs of poisoned veal left out a few days earlier, dying over the hours that followed, snarls of pain fixed on their faces.Three griffon vultures and two ravens were also killed, probably alongside more animals that went into hiding, dying out of sight. Poison creates a succession of death, spreading through entire food chains and contaminating land and water for years. Continue reading...
Analysis published by non-profit group Oceana comes amid fears over human health risks posed by the spread of microplasticsBy 2030, Coca-Cola products will account for an estimated 602m kilograms of plastic waste entering the world's oceans and waterways each year, according to a stark new analysis published Wednesday by the non-profit Oceana.That is enough plastic to fill the stomachs of 18m whales. Continue reading...
A vast network of volunteers leap into action to save beached creatures in New Zealand, a global hotspot for strandingsOn a blustery March day in Wellington, a group of would-be whale rescuers wearing wetsuits and hi-vis vests are waist deep in the chilly waters of Scorching Bay. Between them, a two-tonne replica of a pilot whale gently rocks in the swell.On the sand, another group pours buckets of water over a replica dolphin, while some dig away the sand from beneath its fins. Occasionally, a trainer reminds students to stand back from the tail - if this were a real animal the tail could deliver an unexpected blow. Continue reading...
Gunther Felner says wife was in fear of life and limb' after animal rights group climbed shed and set off flaresThe conservative pick for German agriculture minister has withdrawn his candidacy after animal rights activists stormed his farm, prompting cross-party condemnation.Gunther Felner, a farming lobbyist who had won the backing of the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU), said his wife was in fear of life and limb" when activists climbed on to the cattle shed she was in to hang a banner and light smoke-emitting flares on Monday. Continue reading...
Sweeping synthesis of 2,000 global studies leaves no doubt about scale of problem and role of humans, say expertsHumans are driving biodiversity loss among all species across the planet, according to a synthesis of more than 2,000 studies.The exhaustive global analysis leaves no doubt about the devastating impact humans are having on Earth, according to researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag) and the University of Zurich. The study - which accounted for nearly 100,000 sites across all continents - found that human activities had resulted in unprecedented effects on biodiversity", according to the paper, published in Nature. Continue reading...
by Oliver Milman and Andrew Witherspoon on (#6W69T)
The Guardian has recreated a searchable climate future risk tool developed by Fema but then deletedWhen Donald Trump won November's election, a small team working on a key new US government tool charting impacts of the climate crisis scrambled into action. They hastily renamed the resource to remove the word climate" and quietly released it without fanfare in December, before Trump's return to the White House. Continue reading...
Third of global GDP could be lost this century if climate crisis runs unchecked, says reportTaking strong action to tackle the climate crisis will increase countries' economic growth, rather than damage their finances as critics of net zero policies have claimed, research from the world's economic watchdog has found.Setting ambitious targets on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, and setting out the policies to achieve them, would result in a net gain to global GDP by the end of the next decade, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), in a joint report with the UN Development Programme. Continue reading...
People living near Kasungu national park say they are living in fear after translocation of 263 elephants by International Fund for Animal WelfarePeople living on the edge of a protected area in Malawi are taking legal action against an NGO that moved more than 250 elephants into the area, which they say have killed at least 10 people.Villagers near Kasungu national park, which is Malawi's second largest and crosses the Zambian border, say they are living in fear for their livelihoods and safety after 263 elephants were introduced in July 2022, causing a sharp spike in human-wildlife conflict. Ten people claiming to be affected by the translocation from Liwonde national park have begun legal action against the International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw), demanding that the conservation NGO construct adequate fencing to protect the 167 villages around the park and compensate local people for the damage caused by the elephants. Continue reading...
The government appears willing to put the future of an entire unique Australian species at risk at the behest of one industry. The hypocrisy is mind-bogglingThe anger I have witnessed over the past few days within the environment and climate movement has been extraordinary.I have spent the past four days in emergency meetings with leaders across the environment movement furiously responding to Anthony Albanese's latest attack on nature. Continue reading...
UN-backed research has found emissions of the potent greenhouse gas methane coming from Glencore's Hail Creek coalmine are probably between three and eight times higher than officially reported. Two aircraft with different types of monitoring equipment and flying at different altitudes looked for plumes of methane coming from the coalmine in Queensland's Bowen Basin - a site highlighted in a previous study as a major emitter. Glencore has challenged the results, saying in a statement it had 'significant doubts' about the research, claiming it used 'out of date' dataSubscribe to Guardian Australia on YouTube
New powers mean regulator can ban payouts under criteria of Ofwat's choosingBonuses for water bosses in England could be banned this year for companies that spill sewage, break the law or mismanage their finances, Ofwat has announced.The regulator has launched a consultation into draft criteria under which it would ban bonuses being paid to chief executives. Sources at Ofwat told the Guardian they are near-certain to ban some water CEO bonuses this year. Continue reading...
Panther Minerals set to start exploring Elim's land as Trump seeks to expand drilling and resource extraction in AlaskaFor generations, the people of Elim have subsisted off the forests and waters of north-west Alaska: hunting caribou and bearded seals in the late winter, gathering bird eggs and wild greens from the tundra in early spring, and fishing the salmon run in the late summer.The Inupiat community of 350 people lives on one of the state's most productive and biodiverse fisheries, an inlet of the Bering Sea called the Norton Sound. They refer to their land as Munaaquestevut, or the one who cares for us". Continue reading...
US Department of Agriculture calls in university to help study decline as Trump administration staff cuts stingHoneybee deaths have hit record highs in the US, with the unprecedented loss of colonies pushing many beekeepers close to ruin as scientists scramble to identify the main cause of the huge declines.Commercial beekeepers have reported losing more than 60% of their colonies, on average, over the winter, according to an ongoing Project Apis m. survey that covers more than two-thirds of America's managed bees.We're running our invertebrate of the year competition again! Between March 24 to April 2, we'll be profiling a shortlist of ten invertebrates which were chosen by readers and selected by our wildlife writers from over 2500 nominations. The voting will open at midday on Wednesday April 2 until midday Friday April 4, with the winner to be announced on Monday April 7. Continue reading...
by Shauna Murray and Greta Gaiani for the Conversatio on (#6W5PR)
Algae blooms can be a problem for marine life and people but it's not yet clear if warmer oceans and nutrient runoff are causing more of themConfronting images of dead seadragons, fish and octopuses washed up on South Australian beaches - and disturbing reports of more than 100" surfers and beachgoers experiencing flu-like symptoms after swimming or merely breathing in sea spray - attracted international concern last week.Speculation about the likely cause ranged from pollution and algae to unusual bacterial infections or viruses. We can reveal the culprit was a tiny - but harmful - type of planktonic algae called Karenia mikimotoi. Continue reading...
Downing Street says PM focusing on bringing durable peace in Ukraine' after Steve Witkoff's commentsThere have been a lot of claims recently, in the rightwing papers and on social media, that the government is wasting a fortune on expensive cars for disabled people getting benefits, through the Motability scheme. Archie Bland has a very good explainer setting out how the scheme actually works, and showing why many of these allegations are false or misleading.The forthcoming plan to fix the NHS will see funds allocated to social care, Wes Streeting, the health secretary, has suggested. PA Media reports:Streeting said spending NHS resources more effectively though social care" will be better for patients and deliver better value for taxpayers.At present, social care is most often paid for by councils, but thousands of people at any one time are stuck in NHS hospital beds even though they are fit to be discharged. Continue reading...
by Sandra Laville Environment correspondent on (#6W4KA)
Exclusive: RSPB and National Trust among groups saying rhetoric from Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer at odds with public sentimentNature charities with a combined membership of about 8 million people are pressing the prime minister and chancellor to stop demonising wildlife and to urgently strengthen environmental protections in new planning laws.Organisations which are household names, such as the RSPB, the National Trust and the Wildlife Trusts, are calling on MPs to back amendments to the planning and infrastructure bill to end what they say is the scapegoating of nature for the failures of the planning system. They say the anti-nature rhetoric employed by Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer, who has labelled environmental objectors as blockers", is at odds with public sentiment. Continue reading...
This is my last column in this series. Farewell, all joys!'This morning I learned the word limn". It looked at first like a typo, and I almost ignored it. But I pressed on the letters on my phone, which caused its meaning to pop up in a little box, like a window appearing in a wall. To limn is to depict or describe in painting or words".I was drinking cold coffee in my kitchen, and preparing to write this column - my last. Because I knew that I would do the swan, a large, long-necked water bird had started gliding around my mind, so it seemed clear that the word limn looks like a swan: the tall l with the tiny flick of a dipped head, and the letters after.I have looked upon those brilliant creatures,
A carbon crime or bright new future? For nearly four years, a fierce debate raged over demolishing the site's high-rise flatsFor nearly four years, a fierce debate raged over the future of the Wyndford estate in Glasgow, dividing residents and sparking wider national controversy. Was the demolition of its high-rises an environmental travesty or the first step toward much-needed regeneration?The dispute began in November 2021, days after the city hosted the UN climate conference Cop26, at which politicians and businesses promised to curb wasteful building destruction. Yet residents of Wyndford soon found leaflets on their doorsteps heralding a bright new dawn" - one that involved the demolition of all four high-rise blocks on the estate. The decision set off years of protests, legal challenges and community divisions.The four high-rise blocks of the Wyndford estate one week before demolition. Three blocks were demolished by controlled explosion on 23 March - the block on the left will be brought down floor by floor because of its proximity to other homes on the estate Continue reading...
Handbook outlines practical ways faith organisations can speak truth to power' to help protect planetChristians around the world are being encouraged to take legal action against polluters and those who finance them.In a new climate justice handbook, the World Council of Churches sets out practical ways faith organisations can help protect young people and future generations from the climate crisis. Continue reading...
Measures blocking companies involved in modern slavery from receiving public money could be overturnedMeasures that would have blocked companies found to have used forced labour in any part of the state-owned Great British Energy supply chain from receiving public money could be overturned this week.Labour MPs are being whipped on Tuesday to throw out the clause that was inserted into the energy bill in the House of Lords in February. Continue reading...
BYD, a Chinese carmaker once dismissed by Tesla's CEO, claims to have outpaced western rivals with charging tech that's as fast as filling petrol enginesTesla's boss, Elon Musk, once thought the idea that China's BYD could compete with his company was laughable. In 2011, he smugly dismissed the Chinese carmaker as unimpressive, its products unattractive and its technology not very strong". He's not laughing now - and not just because Tesla's stock has plummeted amid a boycott by motorists protesting against his embrace of far-right politics. More pressingly, Mr Musk, like other western carmakers, has been outpaced by BYD.Last week, the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer unveiled new charging technology that, it says, is capable of delivering 400km (249 miles) of driving range in just five minutes - as quick as filling up a petrol car. The system, released next month, will be fitted in two EVs, priced from 270,000 yuan (29,000) - comparable to Tesla's most affordable model in China. Yet BYD claims to quadruple Tesla's kilometres-per-minute charging rate. Technological supremacy at a competitive price may help to explain why BYD now sells seven times as many cars in China as Tesla. Continue reading...
MPs claim during her 2022 party leadership campaign she promised them she was committed to green targetsKemi Badenoch has been accused of breaking a promise made to Tory MPs during her leadership campaign after abandoning the party's commitment to reaching net zero by 2050.Speaking to the Observer, Chris Skidmore, who served as a government minister between 2016 and 2020, said that Badenoch had made clear to a group of Tory MPs and other Conservatives at a leadership hustings in 2022, when she was seeking their votes in the race to replace Boris Johnson, that she backed the policy. Continue reading...
Australia's world heritage-listed reefs - Ningaloo on the west coast and the Great Barrier Reef on the east - are being hit by simultaneous coral bleaching, with teams of scientists on both coasts monitoring and tracking the event across thousands of kilometres of marine habitat. On Western Australia's Ningaloo reef, waters have accumulated the highest amount of heat stress on record during an extended marine heatwave that has hit coral reefs all the way along the state's vast coastline
Giant blobs along 5,000-mile-wide sargassum belt has killed animals, harmed human health and discouraged tourismScientists in Florida believe they have identified a tipping point" in atmospheric conditions in the Atlantic Ocean they say caused giant clumps of toxic seaweed to inundate beaches around the Caribbean in recent summers.Previous theories for the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt that has killed marine animals, harmed human health and plagued the tourism industry in several countries include a surfeit of nutrients in the water, such as nitrogen and phosphorus in runoff from intensive farming and carried into the ocean in the Congo, Amazon and Mississippi rivers. Continue reading...
Conservationists find critically endangered species thriving on Indian Ocean island of ArideRecord numbers of Wright's gardenia, one of the world's rarest and most fragrant trees, have been counted on the tiny tropical island of Aride in Seychelles.The only place in the world where the critically endangered tree occurs naturally is on the 72-hectare granite island in the Indian Ocean. The tree was once found on other, larger islands in the Seychelles archipelago but its sturdy wood was harvested for firewood, leading to its disappearance from everywhere except Aride. Continue reading...
Bird of prey's violent reign in Flamstead could soon come to an end, according to parish councilIt stole two woolly hats from the head of a 91-year-old pensioner. It clawed a jogger's scalp and left him reeling. It is said to swoop in from behind without making a sound, has a penchant for tall men's heads and - so far - has evaded capture.But the violent reign of the Flamstead hawk, which has made men in the Hertfordshire village of Flamstead afraid to go out without covering their heads, may soon be at an end. Continue reading...
A new prize recognises the power of storytelling to address the biggest issue of our timeNo novelist should ignore the climate emergency, Paul Murray, author of the bestselling novel The Bee Sting, told the Observer last year: It is the unavoidable background for being alive in the 21st century." In recognition of the vital role of literature in responding to the Anthropocene moment, this week the inaugural shortlist was announced for the Climate Fiction prize.The five novels include Orbital by Samantha Harvey, set during one day on the International Space Station and the winner of last year's Booker prize; time-travelling romcom The Ministry of Time from debut novelist Kaliane Bradley; eco-thriller Briefly Very Beautiful by Roz Dineen; And So I Roar, about a young girl in Nigeria, by Abi Dare; and a story of migrants in an abandoned city in Tea Obreht's The Morningside. Allthe shortlisted authors are women.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
Researchers spot orange Maori octopus clinging to back of large shark off coast of New Zealand in December 2023Footage of an octopus riding a shark has stunned scientists - and delighted marine animal enthusiasts.Researchers spotted the orange Maori octopus clinging to the back of a large shortfin mako shark in the Hauraki Gulf off the northern coast of New Zealand in December 2023. The University of Auckland research team was searching the ocean for feeding frenzies at the time. Continue reading...
As Trump pushes drill, baby, drill' agenda, Greenpeace verdict offers startling outlook for environmental activismA pipeline company's victory in court over Greenpeace, and the huge damages it now faces, will encourage other oil and gas companies to legally pursue environmental protesters at a time when Donald Trump's energy agenda is in ascendancy, experts have warned.On Wednesday a North Dakota jury ruled that three Greenpeace entities collectively must pay Energy Transfer, which was co-founded by a prominent Trump donor, more than $660m, deciding that the organizations were liable for defamation and other claims after a five-week trial in Mandan, near where the Dakota Access pipeline protests occurred in 2016 and 2017. Continue reading...
Broadcaster and nature campaigner claims Labour's attack on wildlife in push for economic growth is PR disaster'Bats are being scapegoated" by Rachel Reeves, Chris Packham has said, after the chancellor suggested the winged creatures were getting in the way of economic growth.Reeves recently said she wanted businesses to focus on getting things built, and stop worrying about the bats and the newts", and this week the press release announcing her shake-up of all the UK's regulators mentioned bats six times. A very niche directive to Natural England, the nature watchdog, to take advice from the Bat Conservation Trust out of a planning document, became the linchpin of Reeves's deregulation plan. Continue reading...