Environment | The Guardian

When hard-pressed farmers do a deal with the energy industry, full-on eco terror ensues, undoing this movie’s careful groundworkIf HP Lovecraft had joined Extinction Rebellion, this is the kind of idea he might have come up with: a cautionary horror story about fracking, which disguises itself as a 70s ensemble drama before erupting into something altogether ickier. While Terrence Malick loved filming American cornfields at the hallowed “magic hour”, this awkward hybrid prefers loitering at what you might call “morbid hour”, with Korean cinematographer Eun-ah Lee bathing everything in sallow, deathly light. The blight beneath everyone’s feet is creeping into their hearts.Set in rural Pennsylvania, Unearth is a tale of two houses: the Lomacks and the Dolans. Beer-chugging divorcee dad George Lomack (Marc Blucas) is struggling to provide for his two daughters with a failing auto-mechanic business; dollar signs light up in his eyes when a gas-extraction outfit called Patriot Exploration comes calling with an offer for his land. This is much to the horror of Kathryn Dolan (Adrienne Barbeau, on fearsome form), matriarch of the neighbouring clan, who is fighting to keep her land productive, and whose photographer daughter Christina (Allison McAtee) likes blowing off some steam amid the corncobs with pent-up George. Continue reading...

Woman finds hungry elephant rummaging for late-night snack – and it’s not the first time he’s stopped byRatchadawan Puengprasoppon was awoken in the early hours of Saturday morning by crashing and banging. When she went to find out what had happened, she discovered an elephant’s head poking through her kitchen wall beside the drying rack.The male elephant, named Boonchuay, appeared to be looking for something to eat. His trunk rummaged through the kitchen drawers, knocking pans and cooking paraphernalia to the floor. He chewed on a plastic bag as Ratchadawan, unsure what to do, filmed the episode on her phone. Continue reading...

A powerful form of clean energy already exists – and it is far more reliable than wind and solarOn 30 April, the Indian Point nuclear power plant 30 miles north of New York City was shut down. For decades the facility provided the overwhelming majority of the city’s carbon-free electricity as well as good union jobs for almost a thousand people. Federal regulators had deemed the plant perfectly safe.Related: Earth is trapping ‘unprecedented’ amount of heat, Nasa says Continue reading...

Former deputy PM says ‘based on feedback from some university constituents’ he won’t take up role in July as plannedThe former deputy prime minister Mark Vaile won’t become the next chancellor of the University of Newcastle following a backlash over his links to a coal company.The university released a statement on Monday afternoon confirming Vaile, who is the chairman of Whitehaven Coal, had advised he intended “not to proceed” with the appointment. Continue reading...

Marsupials introduced to Maria Island, east of Tasmania, to safeguard their numbers but have decimated birdlifeAn attempt to save the Tasmanian devil by shipping an “insurance population” to a tiny Australian island has come at a “catastrophic” cost to the birdlife there, including the complete elimination of little penguins, according to BirdLife Tasmania.Maria Island, a 116-square-kilometre island east of Tasmania, was home to 3,000 breeding pairs of little penguins around a decade ago. Continue reading...

Alliance of doctors and nurses calls for environment bill to include reduction in small particle pollution limitsMedical leaders are urging Boris Johnson to cut legal levels of air pollution in the UK to below World Health Organization limits in response to the death of the schoolgirl Ella Kissi-Debrah from toxic air.Members of the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change are calling for the reduction in limits of PM2.5 to be included in the environment bill, which returns to parliament this week. Continue reading...

Conservationists warn of impact on world’s largest mammal migration, key to seed dispersal across AfricaPlans to create a huge commercial farm next to a national park in Zambia could have a “catastrophic” impact on wildlife, conservationists have warned, threatening vital habitat for bats undertaking the world’s biggest mammal migration.Every October, about 10 million straw-coloured fruit bats descend on the evergreen swamps of Kasanka national park in central Zambia from across Africa, feasting on figs and fruit and berries in the surrounding area, and dispersing seeds across the continent in their epic journey. The park is home to 479 bird species and 114 mammals. Continue reading...

Majority support subsidising EV purchases and setting a date to ban import of petrol-powered cars, while others prefer a carbon tax to lower emissionsAustralia’s top economists overwhelmingly back government measures to speed the transition to electric cars in order to meet emission reduction targets.An exclusive poll of 62 of Australia’s preeminent economists – selected by their peers – finds 51 back measures to boost the takeup of electric cars including subsidising public charging stations, subsidising the purchase of all-electric vehicles, and setting a date to ban the import of traditionally powered cars. Continue reading...

Thirty-two of the slow-flying water birds were found in Orange county, with all but 10 showing fractures to their wingsAuthorities in California are looking for a suspected human culprit behind attacks on more than two dozen brown pelicans found seriously injured in the south of the state.In an alert issued last week, the Wetlands & Wildlife Care Center in Orange county said 32 pelicans have been found between San Clemente and Huntington Beach, with all but 10 showing compound fractures to their wings. Continue reading...

Countrywide scheme is flourishing after being set up to reverse a 75% decline in insect populationsTo escape the Berlin bustle on a summer afternoon, all that Derek O’Doyle and his dog Frida have to do is lap the noisy building site outside their inner-city apartment, weave their way through the queue in front of the ice-cream van, and squeeze between two gridlocked lorries to cross over Baerwaldstrasse.Bordered by a one-way traffic system lies a bucolic 1,720 sq metre haven as colourful as a Monet landscape: blue cornflowers, red poppies, white cow parsley and purple field scabious dot a sea of nettles and wild grass as armies of insects buzz through the air. Two endangered carpenter bees, larger than their honey bee cousins and with pitch-black abdomens, gorge themselves on a bush of yellow gorse. Continue reading...

Activists have traveled from all over the US to protest against the construction of Line 3, a giant project that crosses Indigenous landAs the sun set, more than a dozen young people carried a wooden bridge toward a narrow section of the Mississippi River. The bridge allowed the group to cross more easily from their camp to where the immense oil pipeline was being built on the other side.They were cited for trespassing – but they had symbolically laid claim to the marshy landscape. Continue reading...

Financial aid ‘critical’ to help developing countries limit fossil fuels – and make Cop26 a success, says UNThe head of climate change at the UN has warned that world leaders are still “far away” from securing a deal to limit the disastrous effects of global heating, with less than five months to go before a key summit in Glasgow.Time is now running out, said Patricia Espinosa, who was formerly foreign minister of Mexico but now leads the UN on climate policy. She told the Observer that although advances had been made at the G7 meeting in Cornwall last weekend, progress had not been made on honouring past commitments to find $100bn (£72.5bn) a year to help developing countries invest in green technologies. Continue reading...

Exploratory project in Botswana and Namibia is threat to ecosystems, local communities and wildlife, conservationists sayTens of thousands of African elephants are under threat from plans for a massive new oilfield in one of the continent’s last great wildernesses, experts have warned.Campaigners and conservationists fear the proposed oilfield stretching across Namibia and Botswana would devastate regional ecosystems and wildlife as well as local communities. Continue reading...

Foreign affairs minister says net zero emissions target preferable by 2050 even as Liberals’ coalition partner shoots down ideaMarise Payne has said that net zero emissions as soon possible and preferably by 2050 is “the broad position of the Australian government”, playing down claims by the Nationals their agreement wasn’t sought or given for a net zero target.In an interview on ABC’s Insiders, the foreign affairs minister also said Australia’s position matters because climate change is a “key security challenge” for the Pacific and conceded that joint naval exercises in the South China Sea are at least in part directed at China over its human rights record. Continue reading...

Student Climate Network planning more demonstrations over oil firm’s funding of climate crisis exhibitionA group of activists who were threatened with arrest on Saturday evening after staging an “occupation” of the Science Museum in London have vowed to renew their fight on Sunday.The London branch of the UK Student Climate Network (UKSCN) organised a demonstration at the museum in protest at its decision to accept sponsorship from fossil fuel giant Shell. Continue reading...

Industry says state is ‘up there with best global practice’ as environment minister aims for 52% of new car sales by 2030-31The New South Wales government will waive stamp duty on electric vehicle purchases and provide subsidies for 25,000 new purchases as part of a $490m strategy to drive uptake of EVs.Under the plan announced on Sunday, people buying battery and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles priced under $78,000 from 1 September will pay no stamp duty, and $3,000 rebates will be available on the same day for the first 25,000 private purchases of electric vehicles priced under $68,750. Continue reading...

Controversial plan to build 3,000 houses in Sussex will have ‘catastrophic impact’ on environment, say wildlife campaignersTwo of the UK’s oldest institutions – Eton College and trout fishing – are heading for an unexpected, watery confrontation. The battle has been sparked by an announcement by the £42,000-a-year boarding school that it plans to sell off 500 acres of East Sussex for a massive housing development. The move has triggered widespread anger, with infuriated members of the fishing community arguing that the proposal is a threat to one of the most important spawning grounds of the sea trout in England.The proposed 3,000-house new town would be built at North Barnes Farm, near East Chiltington, at the edge of the South Downs National Park. The Bevern stream, part of the River Ouse catchment area, runs through the land and is a nationally important spawning ground for sea trout. Continue reading...

Tourists line the air-conditioned casino labyrinths amid record temperatures – but many locals are not able to take cover indoorsBy midnight on Wednesday, two days into a scorching heat wave to hit the US west, the air in Las Vegas had barely cooled.Throughout the day and for the days that followed, temperatures in the desert city hovered close to historic highs, peaking at 116 degrees Fahrenheit (46.6 Celsius), and setting a new record for such dangerously hot weather so early in the year. Meanwhile, dust and smoke from nearby wildfires hung in the stiff hot air, casting a brown haze over the valley. Continue reading...

Companies should be subject to globally agreed carbon floor price to reach Paris climate goalsCompanies with high greenhouse gas emissions should be subject to a carbon price of $75 a tonne of carbon dioxide, the International Monetary Fund has said, as a way of reaching the goals of the Paris climate agreement.A carbon floor price would mean that companies, including energy generators and heavy industries, would have to pay for the carbon they produce. At present, many countries and regions have their own carbon pricing systems, but there is no globally agreed carbon price. Continue reading...

In an open letter, 16 philanthropists said they could not support the appointment of Mark Vaile ‘who is determined to build new coalmines’Prominent philanthropists have said they will not donate to the University of Newcastle after coalmining executive Mark Vaile was appointed the institution’s new chancellor.Vaile, a former federal Nationals leader and the current chairman of Whitehaven Coal, was named the university’s new chancellor earlier this month, a decision that prompted a member of the university council to resign. Continue reading...

Judges say state’s failure to meet climate targets breaches civil law and human rights conventionBelgium’s failure to meet climate targets is a violation of human rights, a Brussels court has ruled, in the latest legal victory against public authorities that have broken promises to tackle the climate emergency.The Brussels court of first instance declared the Belgian state had committed an offence under Belgian’s civil law and breached the European convention on human rights. Continue reading...

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including courting gannets and sleeping elephants Continue reading...

Marathon Petroleum received more tax benefits than any other US oil company while also cutting about 9% of its workforceOne morning in September, word of layoffs began to spread quickly through Marathon Petroleum’s refinery in the small industrial community of Garyville, Louisiana.Seven months into the pandemic, workers at the oil refining plant thought they would be spared the fate of their colleagues at other facilities, who had already been jettisoned into a daunting job market. Continue reading...

The recommendation from threatened species experts comes after bushfires hit already struggling populationsKoalas could soon be listed as endangered in Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory after bushfires smashed already struggling populations and destroyed precious habitat.A federal panel of threatened species experts has recommended the marsupial’s status be upgraded from vulnerable in each of the three jurisdictions. Continue reading...

Owners of Queensland’s controversial Carmichael mine say plant will use 3.1m tonnes of coal a year to make PVCThe owners of the controversial Carmichael mine in Queensland want to build a US$4bn plant in India that would use Australian coal to make plastic.Adani Enterprises, which owns the Carmichael coalmine, said in submissions to Indian authorities the plant will use 3.1m tonnes of coal a year at the plant to make PVC. Continue reading...

With traffickers taking species from the wild before they are even recorded, one of the UK’s oldest constabularies is on guard at Kew Gardens• Podcast: Inside the world of wildlife traffickingJohn Deer runs a peculiar operation. As Kew Gardens’ security manager it is his job to protect the 1.8 million people that visit every year. It is also his job to make sure plants and cuttings do not vanish from the botanical collection while the public are on the royal estate. To do so, members of one of the UK’s oldest constabularies patrol the grounds and officers keep watch from a state-of-the-art control room.“We’ve had people climb over the perimeter walls to access the gardens. It’s why we have 24-hour security,” Deer says, noting that there is still the occasional breach. “But the orchids, I would say, are more protected.” Continue reading...

‘Song tutoring’ gives the regent honeyeater a better chance of survival in the wild, researchers findCaptive-bred regent honeyeaters – a native Australian songbird threatened with extinction – are being taught to sing the right songs, with new research showing it helps them survive when they are released into the wild.Less than 400 critically endangered regent honeyeaters, a woodland songbird, are left in the wild so conservationists are supporting the bird with a captive breeding program. Continue reading...

Airline’s new domestic routes include Birmingham to Newquay, less than 200 miles, for £22.99EasyJet launched 12 new domestic UK flying routes on Thursday, a decision criticised by green campaigners as likely to increase greenhouse gas emissions.The airline said the routes, which will include Birmingham to Newquay for £22.99 – less than 200 miles – as well as Liverpool to Bournemouth at £22.99 and Manchester to Edinburgh at £30.00, as well as to Belfast and the Channel Islands, were in response to passenger demand following restrictions on travel during the Covid-19 pandemic. Some of the new routes were served by other airlines, including Stobart Air, which recently went bust. Continue reading...

Countries urged to take urgent action on managing water and land and tackling the climate emergencyDrought is a hidden global crisis that risks becoming “the next pandemic” if countries do not take urgent action on water and land management and tackling the climate emergency, the UN has said.At least 1.5 billion people have been directly affected by drought this century, and the economic cost over roughly that time has been estimated at $124bn (£89bn). The true cost is likely to be many times higher because such estimates do not include much of the impact in developing countries, according to a report published on Thursday. Continue reading...

Government accused of disregarding coroner’s words about death of Ella Kissi-Debrah, aged 9The government has refused to commit to an immediate lowering of legal levels of air pollution as a result of the death of a nine-year-old child from toxic air.Ella Kissi-Debrah was the first person in the UK to have air pollution listed as a cause of their death in a historic ruling by a coroner earlier this year. Continue reading...

Lion famous for his gnarly face and exceptional mane was celebrated for long reign at top of many pridesIt is seldom a death at 14 is celebrated with awe, but for conservationists, the passing of Scarface of natural causes marked a remarkable end for the most famous lion in the world.“With its death, the Mara has lost yet another iconic lion,” said the Nation newspaper, with the Kenyan Wildlife Service reporting he “died in peace without any disturbance from vehicles or hyenas”. Continue reading...

Colony of small-flowered tongue orchid plants discovered in rooftop garden of investment bank NomuraA rare species of orchid believed to have been extinct in the UK has been discovered on the roof of an office building in the City of London.Serapis parviflora, also known as small-flowered tongue orchid, was found growing in the 11th-floor rooftop garden of the Japanese investment bank Nomura. It is usually found in the Mediterranean basin and the Atlantic coast of France, Spain and Portugal. Continue reading...

Pristimantis ledzeppelin is discovered in Cordillera del Cóndor, which straddles Ecuador and PeruResearchers in the misty mountains of the Ecuadorian Andes have discovered a new species of terrestrial frog and named it after the pioneering British rock band Led Zeppelin.Pristimantis ledzeppelin, known in English as Led Zeppelin’s Rain Frog, was found by the scientists David Brito-Zapata and Carolina Reyes-Puig in the Cordillera del Cóndor, which straddles south-east Ecuador and north-east Peru. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Brussels is concerned that British government is favouring domestic firms, in breach of trade dealA new front has opened up in the post-Brexit tensions between Boris Johnson and the EU over Brussels’ concerns that the British wind turbine industry is being favoured for government contracts worth billions of pounds.With the support of the governments of France and Spain, the European Commission has privately warned UK officials that the government’s procurement policy could be in breach of the trade deal signed on Christmas Eve. Continue reading...

How we know the American south-west is experiencing a once-in-a-millennium drought Continue reading...

Estimated 3.4m children learn in unhealthy environment, says charity behind researchMillions of British children attend schools where air pollution is worse than the World Health Organization limit, campaigners have said.An analysis found that more than a quarter of schools, from nurseries to sixth-form colleges, were in locations with high levels of small particle pollution. This means an estimated 3.4 million children are learning in an unhealthy environment, said Global Action Plan (Gap), the charity behind the research that was released on Clean Air Day on Thursday. Continue reading...

Overall use of drugs has fallen but treatments of a ‘critically important’ class rose from 2015 to 2019UK pig farms’ increasing use of a class of antibiotics critically important for human health has prompted concerns about farming practices and efforts to reduce reliance on the drugs.Previously unpublished industry data seen by the Guardian, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and Vet Record shows the use of a class of antibiotics prescribed for various infections in humans more than doubled on UK pig farms between 2015 and 2019. Continue reading...

In the second part of our look at wildlife crime, Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield from the Guardian’s age of extinction project look at another victim: orchids. Why are they valued so highly? And how are they being protected?• Read more: ‘Orchidelirium’: how a modern-day flower madness is fuelling the illegal trade Continue reading...

Keith Pitt, a Queensland National who sits in the cabinet, says such a climate commitment by 2050 would ‘absolutely cause damage’ in regional areasThe resources minister, Keith Pitt, has fired a warning shot at Scott Morrison, declaring he cannot adopt a policy of net zero emissions by 2050 without the backing of the Nationals.Morrison has been trying to telegraph a pivot on climate policy since the election of Joe Biden as the US president, signalling Australia wants to achieve net zero as soon as possible and “preferably” by 2050. Continue reading...

eBioAtlas programme aims to identify fish, birds, amphibians and land animals in freshwater systems from the Ganges to the MekongConcealed by the turbid, swirling waters of the Amazon, the Mekong and the Congo, the biodiversity of the world’s great rivers has largely remained a mystery to scientists. But now a multimillion-pound project aims to describe and identify the web of life in major freshwater ecosystems around the world with “gamechanging” DNA technology.The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and UK-based environmental DNA (eDNA) specialists NatureMetrics have launched a partnership to take thousands of water samples from freshwater river systems like the Ganges and the Niger delta to identify the fish, birds, amphibians and land animals that live in and around them. Continue reading...

Entomologists say it’s first confirmed report from Snohomish county and seems to be unrelated to 2019 and 2020 discoveriesScientists have found a dead Asian giant hornet north of Seattle, the first so-called murder hornet found in the country this year, federal and state investigators said Wednesday.Entomologists from the state and US Agriculture departments said it’s the first confirmed report from Snohomish county, north of Seattle, and appears to be unrelated to the 2019 and 2020 findings of the hornets in Canada and Whatcom county, along the Canadian border, that gained widespread attention. Continue reading...

Former fields were naturally regenerated with oak trees growing from acorns buried by the birdsMore than half the trees in two new woodlands in lowland England have been planted not by landowners, charities or machines but by jays.Former fields rapidly turned into native forest with no plastic tree-guards, watering or expensive management, according to a new study which boosts the case for using natural regeneration to meet ambitious woodland creation targets. Continue reading...

Trial of diverting textiles from landfill to farm has potential to recycle ‘huge amount’ of materialThere are lots of places where unwanted cotton clothes could go to escape landfill – the op-shop, a garage sale or turned into rags for tradies.But what about shredding them and putting them back into the soil? And what if, in a world of perfect circularity, that soil was on a cotton farm? Continue reading...

Opposition frontbencher will tell industry Labor’s support is predicated on gas being a transitional fuel during the shift to net zero emissionsLabor’s resources spokesperson, Madeleine King, is launching a full-throated defence of Australia’s gas industry, including supporting opening up new reserves “subject to independent scientific assessments and effective environmental regulation”.King will use a speech to the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association conference in Perth to champion gas jobs, gas exports, gas as “a critical feedstock for Australia’s manufacturing industry, as well as in electricity generation” and the opening up of new reserves, like the Beetaloo basin. Continue reading...

Ford, LG and Samsung among companies in discussions with government and local authoritiesThe UK government has held talks with six manufacturers about building “gigafactory” electric car battery plants as part of its efforts to improve the prospects of the British automotive industry.The US carmaker Ford and the Korean electronics conglomerates LG and Samsung are among the companies that have had early-stage discussions with the government or local authorities, it is understood. Continue reading...

Activists allege decision to grant oil exploration licences violated right to healthy environmentSix climate activists and two environmental NGOs have taken Norway to the European court of human rights (ECHR), arguing the Nordic country’s plans to drill for oil in the Arctic are harming young people’s futures.The activists, Greenpeace and Young Friends of the Earth, want the court to rule that Oslo’s 2016 decision to grant 10 Barents Sea oil exploration licences violated article 112 of Norway’s constitution, which guarantees the right to a healthy environment. Continue reading...

Bavarian minister says activist could have ‘paid with life’ for stunt before Germany v France game in MunichA Greenpeace protester who parachuted into the stadium before Germany’s Euro 2020 match against France in Munich was lucky not to have been shot down by anti-terror marksmen enforcing a no-fly zone, a state minister has said.Two people were injured when the activist lost control of his powered paraglider, which had a motor attached to his back, and hit overhead camera wires attached to the stadium roof. Fans ducked as he careered towards the spectator area, narrowly missing the stands and demolishing technical equipment before crashing in front of the German penalty area. Continue reading...

Environment minister Sussan Ley stares down Senate on conservation laws and says damage by Kosciuszko feral horses makes her ‘extremely angry’The Morrison government is attempting to stare down the Senate over changes to conservation laws, warning the wording of controversial new environment standards before parliament is “not negotiable” and will not be strengthened.The push was immediately rejected by two key crossbench senators, with one declaring the legislation to change the laws – which all parties agree are failing – was “dead in the water” unless the standards were strengthened. Continue reading...

Officials advise to avoid using large appliances such as ovens and washing machines, amid soaring summer temperaturesAs temperatures rise to unseasonably warm levels across Texas this week, its citizens are being asked to use less energy on basics like cooking and washing clothes to ease strain on the state’s power grid that is struggling to generate enough electricity to cope with the high temperatures.The move triggers memories for many Texans of the cold snap in the winter that incapacitated much of the state’s power infrastructure and raises fears that Texas – and other US states – are not prepared to deal with the extreme weather events that come with the global climate crisis. Continue reading...

Help is needed to replace gas boilers with low-carbon alternatives, warn builders, energy firms and charitiesHouseholds on low incomes should be supplied with free heat pumps in order to kickstart the market for low-carbon heating equipment and meet the UK’s climate targets, experts have told the government.Heat pumps can currently cost thousands of pounds to install, but the more that are installed, the faster that cost is likely to come down. They are widely regarded as the best way to replace the UK’s gas boilers and reduce carbon dioxide emissions from homes. Continue reading...