Environment | The Guardian

Australian Energy Market Operator says risks of insufficient supply during summer peak load periods remain despite La Niña bringing cooler temperatures

Only water required for health and safety will be allowed as drought continues to grip the stateWater agencies in drought-stricken California that serve 27 million residents and 750,000 acres of farmland won’t get any of the water they have requested from the state heading into 2022 other than what’s needed for critical health and safety, state officials announced on Wednesday.It’s the earliest date the department of water resources has issued a 0% water allocation, a milestone that reflects the dire conditions in California as drought continues to grip the nation’s most populous state and reservoirs have dropped to historically low levels. Continue reading...

National Trust rangers predict record year as they begin count of grey seal pups“This is what it’s all about,” said Richard Bevan, beaming. “To see this many seals when 10 years ago there would not have been any.”Bevan is a zoologist surveying the shore of Inner Farne island off the coast of north Northumberland. As far as the eye can sea there are about 100 female grey seals and their dependant pups. In the water hopeful males splash about, none more obvious than a dominant bull with a roman nose and scar. “We’ve called him Pacino,” said a ranger. Continue reading...

Legal team faces daily threats as it works to protect displaced families from landowners, ecosystems from mining and indigenous groups from oil companiesJulia Figueroa never leaves her house without security. She travels with two bodyguards and an armoured vehicle. Her home and office are watched around the clock. She carefully monitors any devices that might contain compromising information about her clients.As the director of the Luis Carlos Pérez Lawyers Collective Corporation (CCALCP), threats to her life are a daily occurrence. The all-female group of lawyers provides legal representation to small-scale farmers and indigenous communities affected by the armed conflict in Colombia. Their work includes defending displaced peoples and victims of state crime, but also defending environmental rights, including fighting mining companies that seek to extract resources, often at the expense of the local water supply and the surrounding environment. Continue reading...

Thacker Pass is rich in lithium deposits but is also a place of historical and cultural significance to the Paiute peopleOn a windy afternoon in northern Nevada, where her family has lived for generations, Daranda Hinkey stood before one of the largest lithium deposits in the world – the place where, as she puts it, “there’s so much lithium it makes people foam at the mouth,” she says.The area is known as Peehee Mu’huh – or Thacker Pass – and while it could be a lucrative resource for companies hoping to cash in on the electric vehicle revolution (lithium can be used to power rechargeable batteries), Hinkey and her peers say large-scale mining operations could irreversibly damage one of her community’s most sacred sites. Continue reading...

As Cop26 president, UK must act on meat, fossil fuels and overseas aid, says Climate Change CommitteeThe UK must “walk the talk” on climate action over the next 12 months, which will be critical in tackling the climate emergency, according to an assessment of the Cop26 summit by the Climate Change Committee.The UK has one of the most ambitious 2030 emissions targets in the world, according to the government’s official advisers, but it does not have all the policies in place to deliver it. Continue reading...

Environmental groups say scheme falls far short of farming reforms promised after BrexitFarmers will be paid for looking after England’s soils for the first time from next year, when the first stage of the government’s new support payments begins.Environmental groups criticised the measures as puny and accused ministers of failing in their promises to use the UK’s departure from the EU to strengthen environmental protections and reduce the damaging impacts of farming. Continue reading...

A key claim in a column by the Danish thinktank head frustrates scientists who modelled reducing emissions

A landmark study has found one in six Australian birds are now threatened. Here are some of the species most likely to be headed to a museum, unless more is doneThere seems to be a perversity to human nature, in that we don’t really care about wild creatures until there are so few left that we can put a name to them. Think Martha, the last passenger pigeon, or the haunting images of Benjamin the last thylacine, pacing around its cage at Hobart zoo in 1936.The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2020 (released this week by CSIRO Publishing) bandies a lot of names of birds you may never have heard of, which are now classified as on the path to extinction – 214 to be exact, around one in six of Australia’s bird species and subspecies. It can all be too much to take in. So here is a guide to six birds of which there are so few left in the wild that we could easily remember them all if they had individual names. Continue reading...

But scientists say ‘moral imperative’ remains to prepare vulnerable populations for increasingly extreme weatherPoverty and a heavy reliance on annual rains are the key factors behind the devastating food crisis in southern Madagascar not climate breakdown, a new study finds.A million people in the region are struggling for food following the worst drought in 30 years. But the scientific analysis did not show a convincing link to global heating, despite the World Food Programme describing it as the “world’s first climate-induced famine”. Continue reading...

At 42m metric tons of plastic waste a year, the US generates more waste than all EU countries combinedThe US is the world’s biggest culprit in generating plastic waste and the country urgently needs a new strategy to curb the vast amount of plastic that ends up in the oceans, a new report submitted to the federal government has found.The advent of cheap, versatile plastics has created “a global scale deluge of plastic waste seemingly everywhere we look”, the report states, with the US a leading contributor of disposable plastics that ends up entangling and choking marine life, harming ecosystems and bringing harmful pollution up through the food chain. Continue reading...

Company’s shares hit seven-year high after revealing plans to invest £3bn despite questions over biomassThe owner of the Drax power station is expected to profit from Britain’s energy crisis until 2023 and will plough billions into doubling its production of wood pellets for burning by 2030 despite mounting opposition from environmentalists.The FTSE 250 energy company’s shares hit seven-year highs on Wednesday after it told investors it aimed to invest £3bn by 2030. Part of that investment would be directed towards doubling production and sales of biomass pellets, which Drax uses at its North Yorkshire power plant as an alternative to burning coal. Continue reading...

Industries gazing out to sea for more space, more cold, clean water and more wind offer a glimpse of the future and its risksIn September 2017, a giant, floating fish farm capable of raising 1.5 million salmon was installed in central Norway. Besides its vast size – the circular structure is roughly the equivalent of two baseball fields – what set SalMar’s Ocean Farm 1 apart was its location three miles off the coast. It was hailed as the world’s first offshore salmon farm.Four years later, there have been two production cycles with better growth and survival of salmon compared with inshore farms, according to the company, hence less food waste and a lower carbon footprint. Energy demand was also reduced compared with traditional inshore farms because seawater naturally flows through the nets, oxygenating salmon with no need for the pumps used on traditional inshore farms. Continue reading...

Government accused of reneging on environmental pledges with plan to build on old airfield near BraintreeCampaigners have criticised plans to develop two mega-prisons on the site of a rare bird and amphibian habitat in England.The government has been accused of reneging on commitments in the Environment Act to stop the decline of wildlife by proposing the development on the old Wethersfield airfield, which has become an important space for nature near Braintree, Essex. Continue reading...

RSPB warns wildlife is in freefall with 70 of Britain’s 245 bird species now seriously at riskThe red list of Britain’s most endangered birds has increased to 70 species with the swift, house martin, greenfinch and Bewick’s swan added to the latest assessment.The red list now accounts for more than a quarter of Britain’s 245 bird species, almost double the 36 species given the status of “highest conservation concern” in the first review 25 years ago. Continue reading...

We are going to need more bigger badder climate activists

Dame Meg Hillier says scheme cost £50m and delivered only a fraction of objectivesThe government’s green homes grant scheme underperformed badly and risks damaging future efforts to deliver net zero, the public accounts committee (PAC) said.Hailed by the prime minister, Boris Johnson, as a key plank in his green industrial revolution, the grants only upgraded about 47,500 homes out of the 600,000 originally planned. They also delivered a small fraction of the expected jobs. Continue reading...

Renewables will account for about 95% of growth in global power-generation capacity up to the end of 2026, finds energy agencyIt has been another record year for renewable energy, despite the Covid-19 pandemic and rising costs for raw materials around the world, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).About 290GW of new renewable energy generation capacity, mostly in the form of wind turbines and solar panels, has been installed around the world this year, beating the previous record last year. On current trends, renewable energy generating capacity will exceed that of fossil fuels and nuclear energy combined by 2026. Continue reading...

Engie closed the coal-fired plant in 2017 and expects its new $150m battery to be operating by November 2022

The levy will raise $NZ574m over 10 years and will pay for 15,000 mature trees, 4,000 saplings, electric ferries, and new cycle pathsHomeowners in New Zealand’s largest city will have to chip in around a dollar a week to plant urban forests, pave cycle lanes and reduce Auckland’s emissions, under the city’s proposal for one of the world’s first climate-targeted rates.Auckland’s mayor, Phil Goff, announced plans on Wednesday for a billion-dollar climate package to reshape the city’s infrastructure and reduce its carbon emissions, investing in electric ferries, cycling and walkways, and urban forests. Continue reading...

Some towns in the state experienced four times the usual rainfall as the La Nina weather event took hold, the Bureau of Meteorology records show

Once-in-a-decade study finds 216 out of 1,299 species are in danger – up from 195 in 2011

Turbine sites paid to switch off on windy days because there was no way to transmit power to south of UKTwo energy companies will pay a record £158m fine after delays to a major subsea power cable bringing renewable energy from Scotland to England and Wales caused home energy bills to rise.National Grid and Scottish Power agreed to pay the penalty after an investigation by the industry regulator found many of Scotland’s windfarms were paid to turn off on windy days because there was no way to transmit the clean electricity to areas of high energy demand in the south of the UK. Continue reading...

Type of whale immortalised in Moby-Dick has only been spotted handful of times this centuryIt is the most mythic animal in the ocean: a white sperm whale, filmed on Monday by Leo van Toly, watching from a Dutch merchant ship off Jamaica. Moving gracefully, outrageously pale against the blue waters of the Caribbean, for any fans of Moby-Dick, Herman Melville’s book of 1851, this vision is a CGI animation come to life.Sperm whales are generally grey, black or even brown in appearance. Hal Whitehead, an expert on the species, told the Guardian: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a fully white sperm whale. I have seen ones with quite a lot of white on them, usually in patches on and near the belly.” Continue reading...

Tiny bridge in Lancashire will connect two wild populations of the tree-dwelling hazel dormouseMeasuring 12 metres long and just 30cm wide, it’s a bridge of miniature proportions.But it is hoped that the square metal tube – set to become the first “dormouse bridge” across a UK railway – could help to save Britain’s endangered wild hazel dormouse population from extinction. Continue reading...

Climate models show switch will happen decades faster than previously thought, with ‘profound’ implicationsRain will replace snow as the Arctic’s most common precipitation as the climate crisis heats up the planet’s northern ice cap, according to research.Today, more snow falls in the Arctic than rain. But this will reverse, the study suggests, with all the region’s land and almost all its seas receiving more rain than snow before the end of the century if the world warms by 3C. Pledges made by nations at the recent Cop26 summit could keep the temperature rise to a still disastrous 2.4C, but only if these promises are met. Continue reading...

The noxious Cross Bronx Expressway could get an upgrade thanks to new federal fundingIt’s an appalling freeway. It’s loud, congested, and contributes to some of the nation’s highest asthma rates.But now, after years of organizing from community groups and state lawmakers, there’s federal funding to develop a plan: cover portions of the highway with green space and reconnect neighborhoods separated by the structure. Continue reading...

Local conservationist recognises ‘honeybee propaganda’ beside mural before writing to famed British naturalist

A dozen countries block Morrison government’s ‘highly inappropriate’ push to suspend process for adding sites to world heritage ‘in danger’ list

Overload of chicken and dairy cow manure has left some catchments critical, says author of book on issueUK farmers may have to reduce the number of animals they keep because of the critical state of some river catchments, a pollution expert from the government’s environment watchdog has said.

Even if warming is kept to 1.5C, bleaching would hit more than three times a decade, study predicts

LVMH, Zara, Nike and others at risk of contribution to destruction of rainforest based on connections to leather industryNew research into the fashion industry’s complex global supply chains shows that a number of large fashion brands are at risk of contributing to deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, based on their connections to tanneries and other companies involved in the production of leather and leather goods.The report, released Monday, analyzed nearly 500,000 rows of customs data and found that brands such as Coach, LVMH, Prada, H&M, Zara, Adidas, Nike, New Balance, Teva, UGG and Fendi have multiple connections to an industry that props up Amazon deforestation. Continue reading...

In a bid to secure the future of the near threatened species, 30 animals have been driven, flown and finally rehomed in Akagera national parkGetting stuck into the in-flight wine wasn’t an option for the 30 passengers flying overnight from South Africa to Rwanda. Crew members instead worked to keep the first-time air travellers placid and problem-free. The last thing anyone wanted was a 1.5-ton rhino on the rampage aboard a Boeing 747.“All the rhinos were slightly sedated to keep them calm and not aggressive or trying to get out of the crates,” said Jes Gruner, of conservation organisation African Parks, who oversaw the largest single rhino translocation in history this weekend. “The rhinos weren’t sedated on the plane in the sense they were totally lying down, as that’s bad for their sternums. But they were partly drugged, so they could still stand up and keep their bodily functions normal, but enough to keep them calm and stable.” Continue reading...

We were told we would be able to get £5,000 towards insulation and an air source heat pumpWe are renovating a 1950s bungalow that still has coal-fired central heating and we had planned to install a new clean heating system.Just before the government axed its green homes grant scheme, we applied and were delighted when it got in touch in late June to tell us that we had been accepted, and would be able to receive £5,000 towards the £15,000 cost of insulating the home and installing an air source heat pump system. Continue reading...

Letter calls for urgent action this winter to help those with no, or inadequate, housingHomeless people and those in poor housing are at increasing risk from the climate crisis, while suffering the consequences of our dependence on costly fossil fuels, housing charities have warned.The leaders of three of the UK’s biggest housing charities have written to ministers to call for urgent action for this winter for people facing homelessness, and to improve inadequate housing. Continue reading...

Forecaster says some rivers could still cause moderate floods in area hit by extreme weather this monthThough flooding expected to threaten parts of the US north-west turned out not too bad on Sunday, officials urged residents to remain alert because more rain was on the way to an area subject to lingering effects from extreme weather earlier this month.“There’s some good news and some pending news,” said Steve Reedy, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Seattle. Continue reading...

Portfolio selection rules on evaluating risk used to pick 50 reefs as ‘arks’ best able to survive climate crisis and revive coral elsewhereA Nobel prize-winning economic theory used by investors is showing early signs of helping save threatened coral reefs, scientists say.Researchers at Australia’s University of Queensland used modern portfolio theory (MPT), a mathematical framework developed by the economist Harry Markowitz in the 1950s to help risk-averse investors maximise returns, to identify the 50 reefs or coral sanctuaries around the world that are most likely to survive the climate crisis and be able to repopulate other reefs, if other threats are absent. Continue reading...

Brash piles provide safety from predators and place to breed for animal now hailed as ‘ecosystem engineer’Symbol of Easter and scourge of Mr McGregor, the rabbit may be the cute hero of children’s books but its rapid reproduction has traditionally made it a pest for farmers and gardeners.Now, however, with British rabbit populations are being decimated by disease, the humble bunny is being hailed as an “ecosystem engineer” and landowners encouraged to create innovative “rabbit hotels” to revive its numbers. Continue reading...

Western areas still assessing millions of dollars’ worth of damage from flooding earlier this monthResidents in Washington state were on Saturday preparing for possible flooding as “atmospheric rivers” once again threatened parts of the US north-west, which saw heavy damage from such extreme weather earlier this month.Flood watches were issued for much of western and north-central Washington and the National Weather Service (NWS) warned that flooding was possible through Sunday in north-western Washington. Continue reading...

When Cousin Greg was disinherited by his grandfather in favour of the environmental group, inquiries about such legacies soaredIn one bewildering and painful scene in the hit TV drama Succession, Cousin Greg sees his future of ease and wealth turn to dust. His grandfather, Ewan, announces he is giving away his entire fortune to Greenpeace, depriving Greg of his inheritance.Now Greenpeace is hoping to benefit in real life as well as in the fictional world of the media conglomerate Waystar Royco. Thousands of people have looked into leaving money to the environmental group since the darkly comic storyline about Cousin Greg losing his inheritance and then threatening to sue the organisation was broadcast. More than 22,000 people have accessed online advice about making donations in their wills to Greenpeace. The group’s legacy webpage has also seen a tenfold surge in traffic since the episode was first broadcast earlier this month. Continue reading...

Collapsed supplier used access to ministers to criticise competitors’ green credentials and exaggerate its own

Daughter of late fashion designer Carla Zampatti points to low number of female Liberal MPs and asks ‘when is this going to change?’

Expert says claims that EVs will ‘end the weekend can be put to bed’ by new figures

Material Focus says tech superseded by purchases on Black Friday and beyond can be donated or recycledBlack Friday and pre-Christmas spending sprees will create an e-waste mountain as 5m unwanted electrical items are binned or put in storage in Britain, a campaign group has warned.The end-of-November sales event triggers the commercial run-up to Christmas and is followed days later by the Cyber Monday e-commerce frenzy, with retailers offering cut-price deals on a range of goods from mobile phones to laptops and smart speakers. Continue reading...

Move appears to contradict president’s climate crisis goals but some say it defends the economy ‘against disruption’In a surprising move, some climate crisis campaigners have praised Joe Biden for ordering the release of emergency oil reserves in an attempt to reduce energy prices across the country.On Tuesday, the president announced the release of a record 50m barrels of oil stored in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, in coordination with other countries including China, India and the UK. Continue reading...

Facing economic and environmental pressures, coal plants are closing across the US, leaving communities to work out how to keep afloatWhen the coal-fired power plant just outside the tiny town of Nucla, Colorado, closed in 2019, it had the makings of a disaster.The plant, which opened in 1959, shut down three years ahead of schedule when it ran out of coal, leaving the town shocked and facing the loss of its largest employer. The facility provided nearly half the tax revenue to the region, said Deana Sheriff, executive director of the West End Economic Development Corp, which serves Nucla and the surrounding area between Telluride and Grand Junction in western Colorado. Continue reading...

Overcrowding of western lowland gorillas in zoos has led regulatory body to consider drastic measuresCampaigners are hitting back at zoo proposals to cull adult male gorillas, arguing they should be returned to the wild instead.

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including sparring polar bears, hungry hedgehogs and a green cat Continue reading...

Naturalist and campaigner Dave Bangs says limiting access to the countryside makes it harder to save our ancient landscapesIn a prehistoric bog where iguanodons once roamed and the early Britons first smelted ore into iron, what looks like a tiny orange candle peeps through the mire. It sends my companion into a paroxysm of joy.“That’s good! That’s new!” Continue reading...

Plan to ‘unlock basins’ for domestic and export criticised as ‘out of sync’ with global trends and climate action