Review could lead to bans on plastic chemicals including vinyl chloride, compound at center of 2023 Ohio train wreckThe Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is launching a formal review of five highly toxic plastic chemicals, including vinyl chloride, the notorious compound at the center of the East Palestine, Ohio, train wreck fire. The move could lead to strong limits or bans on the substances.Vinyl chloride is most commonly used in PVC pipe and packaging production, but is also cancerous and highly flammable. For about 50 years, the federal government has considered limits on the substance, but industry has thwarted most regulatory efforts, hidden the substances' risks and is already mobilizing against the new review. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Newly uncovered documents reveal chemicals giant was aware environmentally neutral' products did not biodegradeThe multibillion-dollar chemicals company 3M told customers its firefighting foams were harmless and biodegradable when it knew they contained toxic substances so persistent they are now known as forever chemicals" and banned in many countries including the UK, newly uncovered documents show.From the 1960s until 2003, 3M made foams containing PFOS and PFOA (perfluorooctane sulfonate and perfluorooctanoic acid), synthetic chemicals that can take tens of thousands of years to degrade in the environment and have been linked to cancers and a range of other health problems such as thyroid disease, high cholesterol, hormonal problems and fertility issues. Continue reading...

The scope of the Cop26 net zero banking alliance may have been limited, but the exodus of six US banks signifies a seismic political shiftLast week, as flames began tearing through greater Los Angeles, claiming multiple lives and forcing more than 100,000 people to evacuate, JP Morgan became the sixth major US bank to quit the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) since the start of December. A smaller story, certainly, but the departure of top US banks from the NZBA in the weeks since Donald Trump's re-election nonetheless speaks to a seismic political shift prompting major financial institutions to turn away from the climate-related commitments they made in the optimistic years after the Paris agreement.The NZBA is a voluntary network of global banks committed to align lending and investment portfolios with net zero emissions by 2050". It is part of the umbrella Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), which counts among its membership dozens of alliances" covering the various segments of global finance. For its part, the NZBA requires new members to submit science-aligned targets within 18 months of joining, alongside disclosing plans for and status updates on meeting them.Adrienne Buller is director of The Break Down and the author of The Value of a Whale: on the illusions of green capitalism Continue reading...

Penny Sharpe says mystery' debris sent for testing and beaches not closed as there were so few balls

Dee Why and South Curl Curl remain closed but seven others reopen after marble-sized debris washed up at multiple locations

Efforts by the plastics industry to thwart regulation come from a familiar playbookAs the public wake up to the risk of forever chemicals", or PFAS, the industry is fighting back with a campaign researchers have compared with big tobacco's battle against restrictions on smoking. New findings about its intense lobbying efforts are highly concerning and require a response from the environment secretary, Steve Reed. A recent consultation by the European Chemicals Agency, regarding proposals for comprehensive regulation of the substances, which take an enormous length of time to degrade, was inundated with responses from business.Varieties of these chemicals have been used in manufacturing and consumer goods since the 1950s. They protect equipment, remove grease and smooth skin - hence their appearance in kitchenware and cosmetics. But they can also leak into soil and water, and accumulate inside human tissues. Some have been linked to health problems including cancer and high cholesterol. Continue reading...

Alex Margo Arden says symbolic damage' helped force public conversation about climate crisisProtesters who targeted paintings to raise awareness of the climate crisis were using an effective" tactic also used by the Suffragettes, according to an artist whose new show focuses on recent attacks on high-profile artworks.Alex Margo Arden, whose exhibition, Safety Curtain, opens this week at Auto Italia in east London, said the symbolic damage" caused to the images, which were protected by glass, helped force a public conversation about the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Growing concern that toxic chemicals released by wildfires can get into damaged drinking water systemsAs fires continue to burn across Los Angeles, several utilities have declared their drinking water unsafe until extensive testing can prove otherwise.A warmer, drier climate means wildfires are getting worse, and encroaching on cities - with devastating impact. Toxic chemicals from those burns can get into damaged drinking water systems, and even filtering or boiling won't help, experts say. Continue reading...

Campaigners say pollution levels in street in Herne Hill were far higher when private schools were openParents driving children to private schools is associated with a 27% increase in air pollution and congestion in a south London street, according to campaigners who are calling for private schools to make greater use of sustainable transport.The analysis by Solve the School Run found that nitrogen dioxide levels and fine particulates produced by vehicles in the street in Herne Hill were far higher when nearby private schools such as Dulwich college were open, compared with when only local state schools were open. Continue reading...

Environmental Protection Agency officials warn of toxic PFAS found in sewage often spread on pastureHarmful chemicals in sewage sludge spread on pasture as fertilizer pose a risk to people who regularly consume milk, beef and other products from those farms, in some cases raising cancer risk several orders of magnitude" above what the Environmental Protection Agency considers acceptable, federal officials announced on Tuesday.When cities and towns treat sewage, they separate the liquids from the solids and treat the liquid. The solids need to be disposed of and can make a nutrient-rich sludge often spread on farm fields. The agency now says those solids often contain toxic, lasting PFAS that treatment plants cannot effectively remove. When people eat or drink foods containing these forever" chemicals, the compounds accumulate in the body and can cause kidney, prostate and testicular cancer. They harm the immune system and childhood development. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Natural England furious that years of work has been undone, with minister urged to push policy throughDowning Street has blocked plans to release wild beavers in England because officials view it as a Tory legacy", the Guardian can reveal.Natural England, the government's nature watchdog, has drawn up a plan for reintroductions of the rodent, which until about 20 years ago had been extinct in Britain for 400 years, having been hunted for their fur, meat and scent oil. Beavers create useful habitats for wildlife and reduce flooding by breaking up waterways, slowing water flow, and creating still pools. Continue reading...

Treasury expected to decide whether to support EDF-backed nuclear power plant in this year's spending review

A Guardian and Quinto Elemento Lab investigation finds very high levels of lead and arsenic in homes near a factory processing US toxic waste

Ontario's Marineland lost five belugas last year, which the park's management puts down to the circle of life'. But activists claim animal welfare is at stakeOn the southern shores of the Niagara River, a few hundred feet from the thundering falls, sits Marineland of Canada - an amusement park, zoo, aquarium and forest occupying nearly 1,000 acres of land (400 hectares). Over the years, millions of people have clamoured to view the park's 4,000 animals, including its prized walruses, orcas, dolphins and belugas.But over the past few years, the park has taken a decidedly dark turn as there has been a string of deaths among the world's largest captive beluga population. Last year, five belugas died at the facility bringing the total number of whales and dolphins to die there since 2019 to more than 20. Continue reading...

Allocation of funds from Inflation Reduction Act makes it harder for president-elect to halt green initiativesThe Biden administration has raced to allocate $74bn of funding for climate initiatives before Donald Trump's inauguration, leaving $20bn vulnerable to potential rollback by the incoming president, new figures reveal.As the inauguration of Trump looms, the outgoing administration has been accelerating its allocation of cash for climate change and clean energy programs before they are throttled by the incoming US president. Continue reading...

Newcastle funnel-web spider's last shared common ancestor with the Sydney funnel-web was 17 million years ago, experts say

More than 150 Nobel and World Food prize laureates sign open letter calling for immediate ramping up of food productionMore than 150 Nobel and World Food prize laureates have signed an open letter calling for moonshot" efforts to ramp up food production before an impending world hunger catastrophe.The coalition of some of the world's greatest living thinkers called for urgent action to prioritise research and technology to solve the tragic mismatch of global food supply and demand". Continue reading...

High court had ruled government was not meeting legal duty to clean up Costa Beck near PickeringThe UK environment secretary, Steve Reed, is pursuing legal action against a group of anglers who are trying to restore the ecosystem of a river.Lawyers for Reed will argue on Tuesday in the court of appeal that cleaning up individual rivers and streams devastated by pollution is administratively unworkable. Continue reading...

Oakey Coal Action Alliance says it will still oppose inappropriate' mining after abandoning court appeal to stop New Hope Group's project

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Fires have killed at least 24, displaced thousands, destroyed over 12,000 structures as winds predicted until WednesdayFire crews are trying to get the upper hand on blazes that are tearing through Los Angeles before expected high wind gusts threaten their progress. The fires, which may become the most expensive in US history, have killed at least 24 people, displaced thousands, destroyed more than 12,000 structures and have 100,000 people under evacuation orders.Sustained winds of up to 40mph (64km/h) and gusts in the mountains reaching 65mph (105km/h) are predicted through Wednesday, forecasters said. Winds picked up on Monday and were expected to strengthen on Tuesday, fire behavior analyst Dennis Burns said. Continue reading...

Warning of particularly dangerous situation' with gusts expected as LA fire chief says: We are not in the clear yet'Firefighters battling the disastrous wildfires around Los Angeles were prepared for a return of dangerous winds that could again stoke the flames as the death toll in the tragedy has hit at least 24.Fierce gusts known as Santa Ana winds have been largely blamed for turning the wildfires into devastating infernos that leveled huge tranches of neighborhoods around America's second-largest city, which has also been hit by drought. Continue reading...

Concerns that dangerous fine particle pollution can become embedded in bloodstream and lungs

Honolulu officials had filed a lawsuit against the companies for an alleged decades long misinformation campaignThe supreme court has shot down the fossil fuel industry's attempts to kill a Hawaii lawsuit, which is seeking to hold the sector accountable for an alleged decades-long misinformation campaign.The Monday decision will allow the closely watched litigation, filed by officials from Honolulu, to proceed toward a trial. It is a procedural victory for the wave of climate accountability lawsuits filed against oil and gas companies in recent years. Continue reading...

Rhino unintentionally' punctured zebra's stomach in enclosure they shared, zoo saysA male zebra died after a female rhino unintentionally punctured his stomach, a zoo in Essex has said.The rhino, called Astrid, had been sparring with her son Tayo when she tried to move Ziggy out of the way last Friday. Colchester zoo said Ziggy died of his injuries within minutes. Continue reading...

The news from California is clear, but we don't want to see it. It's too confounding, big, complex. But we can sense the dangerWhen I send anxious texts to friends in Los Angeles - friends who have been evacuated or who are waiting to leave , friends escaping a fire zone, wondering if their life's work has been destroyed, worrying about the smoke's effect on an asthmatic child - I always begin with the same three words:are you OK?But a continent away, watching photos and videos of a city I love being incinerated, overcome by waves of terror, grief and mourning, I have other questions. Continue reading...

What the president-elect calls a giant hoax' is changing the strategic calculus in the Arctic and for the Panama canalDonald Trump's desire to seize control of Greenland and the Panama canal is being shaped in part by a force that he has sought to deny even exists - the climate crisis.Last week, Trump ramped up his demands that the United States annex both Greenland and the Panama canal, refusing to rule out economic or even military interventions to take them and threatening very high" tariffs upon Denmark, of which Greenland is an autonomous territory, if it opposes him. Continue reading...

Australian mainland states permit killing of nearly 5 million annually as part of industry supplying meat and leather products

Forecasters say there won't be winds as strong as last week's record-setting gusts, but LA's dry season will get worse

Growers blame weather challenges in UK and Europe, which Met Office says will become more frequent with climate breakdownBroccoli, cauliflower and other brassicas may be in short supply this spring as the mild autumn and winter has caused the crops to come up early, growers have said.Any shortages will prolong the so-called hungry gap", which runs from April to early June, when very few crops grown in the UK are ready to eat. Continue reading...

The animals that don't die need total nursing care,' wildlife rescuer says, ahead of a potential spike in cases in coming weeks

Environment minister said vandalism and intimidation were completely unacceptable'

My generation feels trapped in a political system not built for us. Why wouldn't we be disillusioned?I'm scrolling on TikTok after work when I get a text that would have sent 12-year-old Anjali into a spiral, a frenzy of extreme climate anxiety. The text is from a friend letting me know that it's official - 2024 is the hottest year on record. Not just that, it's the first year to exceed 1.5C of warming over preindustrial levels.The news comes as my entire feed is flooded with images of an inferno of flames ripping through neighbourhoods in LA, in winter. Continue reading...

LA's first female fire chief, in a public spat with the mayor, is a 25-year veteran who's prioritized diversifying her teamKristin Crowley was appointed Los Angeles fire chief in 2022 at a time of turmoil in a department consumed by complaints of rampant hazing, harassment and discrimination among its 3,400-member ranks.She was portrayed by then mayor Eric Garcetti as a stabilizing force, a trailblazer and the most qualified person. I look for who's best, not just who makes history, because the protection of our city first and foremost has to go to the human being who is best prepared to lead. But let me be clear, that is Kristin Crowley," he said. Continue reading...

Getty team says no current plans to move prominent pieces from center deemed marvel of anti-fire engineering'It houses some of the richest treasures of the art world, such as Vincent van Gogh's Irises, a popular Rembrandt and a priceless collection of paintings, portraits and other works spanning more than seven centuries.To protect them, the Getty Center in Los Angeles was built in 1997 as a marvel of anti-fire engineering", complete with fire-resistant stone and concrete, protected steel, and set in well-irrigated landscaping. Continue reading...

More than 7,000 hectares logged in planned park area since Chris Minns won 2023 election with commitment to deliver new sanctuary, conservationists say

Organic farmers sound alarm about greenwashing amid push to introduce national domestic standard

A fire tornado was spotted as the Palisades fire continued to blaze through the San Fernando valley in California

Strong winds and low humidity continue as five fires rage across Los Angeles area, with death toll expected to rise

Postmortem will be carried out on wild cat, one of four humanely captured in Cairngorms after illegal releaseOne of the four lynx captured in the Scottish Highlands this week has died. The animal, which had been illegally released, was caught on Friday near Kingussie in the Cairngorms national park.The Eurasian lynx was one of four that had been discovered running wild in the Dell of Killiehuntly area. Two were captured on Thursday and are being kept in quarantine at Edinburgh zoo. The other pair were trapped the next day and the survivor will join the first two in captivity. Continue reading...

Elon Musk, one of the brightest minds of his generation, is saying it, so it must be trueWomen, eh? They're simply not to be trusted. Eve ate that apple; Pandora opened that horrible little box; and now women are to blame for the devastating wildfires in California. I know that sounds like a ridiculous thing to say, but it's what Elon Musk, one of the brightest minds of his generation - and one of the most powerful people on Earth - is saying, so it must be true. Continue reading...

John Vaillant, the author of Fire Weather, explains why fires such as those in Los Angeles are different from those beforeWhen writing about the hot, dry Santa Ana winds and how they affect the behavior and imaginations of southern Californians, Joan Didion once said: The winds show us how close to the edge we are."I've lived here my entire life. I evacuated my family's hillside home as a teenager. I've experienced the surrealism of watching ash rain down from the sky more times than I can count. But there is something different, supercharged, about the hurricane-force winds that fueled this week's catastrophic wildfires in Los Angeles. Continue reading...

We fell in love with the power and speed that fossil fuels brought us. But the price being paid in California, and around the world, has become too highZero per cent contained. In layperson's terms, that means out of control and burning at will". It's a common designation for a wildfire - in the wild. But when a fire like this enters an urban area such as Los Angeles County, the most highly populated metropolitan area in the US, it becomes an exploding bomb, and this one has been detonating since last Tuesday.By now, the energy release from this wind-driven, drought-fuelled firestorm turned urban conflagration is into the megatons, and the nuclear-scale destruction is there for all to see: block after block and neighbourhood after neighbourhood levelled - roughly 12,000 structures destroyed or rendered uninhabitable, 55 sq miles of city and mountain burnt, nearly 200,000 residents evacuated - so far. There is more to come. Continue reading...

Common Wealth thinktank warns that communities and taxpayer may have to pick up pieces when production endsNorth Sea oil and gas must be brought under greater public control to avoid a cliff-edge collapse of the industry and secure a sustainable future for workers and communities, according to a report.Under the current private ownership model the inevitable end of North Sea oil and gas production - whether through government action or the lack of viable oilfields - will lead to private companies abruptly abandoning the basin, leaving frontline communities and the state to deal with the social and economic consequences, the authors predict. Continue reading...

Every barrel of oil, every cubic meter of gas, and every ton of coal burned brings us closer to environmental catastropheApocalyptic flames and smoke are raging through southern California in the worst fire in Los Angeles county's history. At least seven people have died. Thousands of structures have been destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes. The private forecaster AccuWeather estimates initial damage and economic loss at more than $50bn and has the potential to be the costliest wildfire disaster in American history. The impacts of the disruption and loss faced by community members is incalculable.While some media outlets are discussing the link between the Los Angeles fires and the climate crisis, the president-elect Donald Trump and rightwing media are using this devastating event to foster misinformation including denying the role of climate crisis. Continue reading...

Environmentalists condemn unauthorised releases as reckless' and highly irresponsible'For a brief moment this week, lynx have been roaming the Scottish Highlands once again. But this was not the way conservationists had hoped to end their 1,000-year absence.On Wednesday, Police Scotland received reports of two lynx in a forest in the Cairngorms national park, sparking a frantic search. That episode ended in less than a day. Both animals were quickly captured by experts from the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) and taken to quarantine facilities at Highland wildlife park. Continue reading...

Second pair of illegally released animals safely captured in Cairngorms after they were spotted on camera trapsTwo more lynx abandoned in the Cairngorms have been safely captured, the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland said on Friday.Two of the illegally released animals were captured on Thursday after being sighted in the Dell of Killiehuntly near Kingussie in the Scottish Highlands. Continue reading...

Firefighters battle on as people across Los Angeles struggle to find a way forward on Friday

Noaa says last year was the warmest since records began in 1850 and Nasa concurs: The long-term trends are very clear'It was the hottest year ever recorded for the world's lands and oceans in 2024, US government scientists have confirmed, providing yet another measure of how the climate crisis is pushing humanity into temperatures we have previously never experienced.Last year was the hottest in global temperature records stretching back to 1850, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa announced, with the worldwide average 1.46C (2.6F) warmer than the era prior to humans burning huge volumes of planet-heating fossil fuels. Continue reading...

Events in California reveal how political obstruction is deepening a climate crisis that needs urgent action to prevent it becoming an irreversible disasterThe wildfires ravaging Los Angeles have killed at least 10 people, displaced 180,000 and scorched about 40 square miles - an inferno driven by fierce winds and severe drought in what should be California's wet season. It is a sobering reminder that the climate crisis is driving wildfires to become more frequent, intense and destructive - leaving ruined lives, homes and livelihoods in their wake. The US president Joe Biden responded by mobilising federal aid. By contrast the president-elect, Donald Trump, a convicted felon who was criminally sentenced on Friday, used the disaster to spread disinformation and stoke political division.The climate crisis knows no national borders. Deadly floods in Spain, Hawaii's fires and east Africa's devastating drought show nowhere is safe from its effects. Countries must work toward the global common interest and beyond their narrow national interests. The scale of the climate emergency is such that there is a case to view all crises through a green lens. Instead Mr Trump's denialism works to foment distrust about the science. He's not just aiming to delay the onset of truth. He wants to demolish it. It's a familiar playbook: the fossil fuel industry knows the reality of the climate emergency but chooses profit over responsibility, effectively deceiving the public while the planet burns. Continue reading...