Critics say permits allowing release of waste after extreme weather are a licence to polluteUrgent new measures are being taken to address the scale of untreated sewage leaks into rivers and seas as pressure grows on the water industry and government to act.The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has set up a taskforce to cut the frequency of sewage discharges into rivers and seas from storm overflows, following revelations in the Guardian that water companies released raw sewage into rivers more than 200,000 times last year. Continue reading...
After being recaptured after 42 days on the run, the bear’s fate is the subject of intense debateItaly’s environment minister has waded into the debate over the future of the country’s most famous bear, declaring that the animal – recaptured this week for a third time – must be returned to the wild.Sergio Costa said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that the bear, nicknamed Papillon after Henri Charrière’s memoir about escaping from a French penal colony, did not deserve to be repeatedly put back into captivity. Continue reading...
Countries unable to withstand ecological threats among world’s least peaceful, analysis findsMore than 1 billion people face being displaced within 30 years as the climate crisis and rapid population growth drive an increase in migration with “huge impacts” for both the developing and developed worlds, according to an analysis.The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), a thinktank that produces annual global terrorism and peace indexes, said 1.2 billion people lived in 31 countries that are not sufficiently resilient to withstand ecological threats. Continue reading...
Planning permission refused for ‘environmentally unacceptable’ mine near Druridge BayThe UK government has rejected plans to develop an “environmentally unacceptable” coalmine near Druridge Bay in Northumberland after years of fierce opposition from environmentalists.The ministry of housing, communities and local government refused planning permission for the project for a second time, saying the plans for a new open-cast mine in north-east England were “not environmentally acceptable”. Continue reading...
Made from Crossrail clay, Europe’s biggest coastal habitat restoration project is a valuable flood defence but is itself threatened by climate changeIt is the third hottest day on record in the UK and the cool saline mud oozing through my toes provides welcome relief from the beating sun. I am standing barefoot in a shallow pool in Europe’s largest coastal habitat restoration project, Wallasea Island in Essex. The 670-hectare (1,656-acre) expanse of salt marshes, lagoons and mudflats was formed using more than 3m tonnes of London clay excavated from the Crossrail tunnel network, almost half of the waste material from the entire project.In the heat, crowds of flamingos would not feel out of place, but the sweltering temperature is a gnawing reminder of how rising sea levels and the climate crisis will threaten the UK’s coastline. The problem is so grave that one Dutch government scientist has even proposed a 295-mile (475km) dam of the North Sea to protect large parts of western Europe. Continue reading...
by Peter Walker Political correspondent on (#57XXR)
Incumbents see off challenge from two other candidates after election successesThe Greens leadership partnership of Siân Berry and Jonathan Bartley has been re-elected for another two-year term, seeing off a challenge from two other candidates.Berry and Bartley, who took over from the previous leadership combination of Bartley and Caroline Lucas after easily winning the 2018 leadership election, were always strong favourites to win again. Continue reading...
Researchers in Andes find temperature a record for all birds and non-hibernating mammalsHummingbirds have scooped another record: they are not only tiny but can reach body temperatures below that of any non-hibernating mammal and any other bird.The hummingbird is among a number of small creatures, including certain bats, that can enter a state known as daily torpor, a phenomenon where they turn down their metabolism and body temperature to save energy. Continue reading...
Energy company will provide car, charging station as well as insurance and registration for flat fee, as research points to upfront cost as deterrentAGL, one of Australia’s largest energy companies, has launched the country’s first subscription service for electric cars in a move that the EV industry hopes may boost the nation’s low uptake rate.The company announced a pilot phase for the new scheme, which also includes installation of charging stations at customers’ homes, to cover Sydney and Melbourne. Continue reading...
We have a deep connection with this bird, and it is finally shaking off its reputation as a symbol of darknessOf all the world’s birds, the raven has the deepest connection with humankind. It was the first bird mentioned in the Bible, sent out by Noah to search for land. Ravens are central to Norse and Native American mythologies, as symbols of wisdom as well as agents of prophecy. And they feature prominently in literary works from Chaucer, via Edgar Allen Poe, to Game of Thrones.Whenever I see a raven flying above my Somerset home, uttering that deep, guttural call, I feel the weight of that long connection between bird and human. But I also feel a sense of hope; for in recent times, the raven has finally begun to shake off its reputation as a symbol of darkness. Continue reading...
Labor leader sidesteps tension in his party around resources to call for embrace of clean energyThe federal Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, says the resources sector has been the backbone of the Australian economy for decades, but the nation’s “long-term future lies in renewable energy sources”.Stepping around tensions within his own ranks, Albanese will use a speech on Wednesday about regional development to note that resources exports will “continue to meet the demands of the rapidly growing nations of our region” even as the world transitions to a lower-carbon future. Continue reading...
The 46-year-old Queensland man suffered critical lower leg injuries after he was bitten off Greenmount beach at CoolangattaA surfer has died after a shark attack on the Gold Coast with authorities saying he suffered critical leg injuries.The Queensland ambulance service said the attack occurred at Greenmount Beach at Coolangatta about 5pm on Tuesday. Continue reading...
A new study has found four species reduced in size, with climate change and competition from hatchery-raised cousins as possible factorsThe fishermen and women knew something was off with their catch. “At first, it was just a general comment by everybody: ‘The fish, yeah, I didn’t get any big ones this year,’” said Richard Burnham, who has commercially harvested salmon for four decades in the interior Alaska village of Kaltag.Related: 'They're owned by all Alaskans': salmon free-for-all draws throngs Continue reading...
Wildlife group puts up wooden shapes to remind drivers to slow down as hedgehog declared vulnerable to extinction“Ghost hedgehogs” are starting to appear on roadsides in Dorset to highlight the plight of hedgehogs killed by fast-moving vehicles.The hedgehogs, made of white-painted wood, are being put up by the Dorset Mammal Group after one small village, Pimperne, reported more than 20 squashed hedgehogs on its roads in just one year. Continue reading...
Rene becomes storm number 17 of the year, forming earlier than the previous record-holder, Rita in 2005Tropical storm Rene has formed in the Atlantic Ocean, becoming the Atlantic’s earliest R-named storm on record, as the year’s extremely active hurricane season continued.Rene formed on Monday, breaking the previous record held by Rita in 2005, which formed 18 September. Continue reading...
Sussan Ley says conditions of export licence for shark fins and other products have not been metEnvironment minister Sussan Ley has moved to revoke the export of shark fins and other seafood products from a Queensland government fishery over inaction on reforms to protect threatened species.Ley has written to Queensland’s fisheries minister, Mark Furner, saying the state had not met the conditions of its export licence for the East Coast Inshore Fin Fish Fishery, which would be revoked from 30 September. Continue reading...
by Jonathan Watts Global environment editor on (#57VH0)
Report calls for more support if plan to plant 100m hectares of vegetation is to be realisedThe world’s most ambitious reforestation project, the Great Green Wall of Africa, has covered only 4% of its target area but is more than halfway towards its 2030 completion date, according to a status report.More funds, greater technical support and tighter oversight will be needed if the plan to plant 100m hectares of trees and other vegetation is to be realised, say the authors of the study, which was unveiled on Monday at a meeting of regional ministers. Continue reading...
From blockading printers to meditating outside Barclays, the climate crisis campaign has drawn a variety of participantsThousands of Extinction Rebellion (XR) activists and supporters have been staging “die-ins”, preventing copies of newspapers from being distributed and meditating outside banks over the past week in a series of actions aimed at highlighting the worsening ecological crisis.At printing plants in Merseyside and in Hertfordshire on Friday evening, many trucks carrying newspapers were unable to deliver to shops. The prime minister, Boris Johnson, accused XR of seeking to limit the public’s access to news amid suggestions that the environmental group could subsequently be treated like an organised crime group by the authorities. Continue reading...
Yersinia pestis killed millions of people across Europe in the middle ages. Today it remains a deadly threat to one of the US’s most endangered speciesEvery year, from August to November, Travis Livieri becomes nocturnal. The field biologist goes out in his truck in Conata Basin, South Dakota, armed with a spotlight in search of one of the most endangered mammals in North America: the black-footed ferret. When the light catches the reflective green shine of the ferret’s eyes, he waits for the animal to disappear into a burrow and then lays a trap at the entrance.Once the ferret is trapped, Livieri coaxes it into a long black tube and anaesthetises it before giving it a vaccine shot. Then he takes a blue marker and draws a line from the ferret’s left ear to its right shoulder. About a month later, he returns again at night to the same location to give the ferret its booster, drawing a line from its right ear to its left shoulder. Ferrets marked with an X are safe from the plague. Continue reading...
by Jillian Ambrose Energy correspondent on (#57TYH)
Friends of the Earth seeks judicial review, saying aid deal contradicts climate commitmentsEnvironmentalists at Friends of the Earth will mount a legal challenge against the government’s decision to offer $1bn in financial support to a major fossil fuel project in Mozambique that they say is “incompatible” with the Paris climate agreement.The green group will go to the high court this week to seek a judicial review into the government’s decision to use taxpayer money to “worsen the climate emergency” by helping to finance a $20bn gas project on the Mozambican coast. Continue reading...
Regional and presidential votes in next two years will test Europe Écologie-Les Verts’s claim of a ‘historic turning point’Regional and presidential polls over the next two years will show whether the “green wave” that surged through a swath of big French cities earlier this summer heralded a fundamental redrawing of the country’s politics – or a transitory ripple.In June’s municipal elections, Europe Écologie-Les Verts (EELV) – alone or at the head of leftwing majorities – held Grenoble, seized Annecy, Besançon, Bordeaux, Lyon, Poitiers and Strasbourg, and were part of winning coalitions in Paris and Marseille. Continue reading...
Researchers estimate the new calf, which was seen ‘swimming vigorously alongside its mother’, was born last weekAn orca who became famous around the world in 2018 when she carried her stillborn calf aloft in the water for 17 days has given birth to a healthy baby.The not-for-profit Center for Whale Research spotted the baby, dubbed J-57, “swimming vigorously alongside its mother”, named Tahlequah, on Saturday in waters near the border between the US state of Washington and the Canadian province of British Columbia. They estimate that the calf was born on Friday. Continue reading...
Conservation groups warn Australia’s natural world heritage sites are ‘under more pressure than ever before’Australian conservation groups have written to the UN’s peak environmental heritage body urging it to oppose the Coalition’s bid to devolve the approval process for projects to state and territory governments.In a letter to the director general of Unesco, the 13 groups warn of the “alarming moves … to weaken legal protection for Australia’s 20 world heritage listed properties” through changes to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act. Continue reading...
Labour defence spokesman who helped to move the party away from a policy of unilateral nuclear disarmament in the 80sMartin O’Neill, latterly Lord O’Neill of Clackmannan, was an able Labour politician who as shadow defence secretary in the late 1980s played a crucial role in moving the party away from the policy of unilateral nuclear disarmament under Neil Kinnock.A well-liked figure across all sections of the party, O’Neill, who has died aged 75, was appointed as deputy spokesman on defence by Kinnock in 1984 as the policy transition began to evolve, though Labour still went into the election three years later on a unilateralist platform. Continue reading...
Hundreds of campers descended on the Devon national park this summer as the UK’s Covid lockdown easedThe scene could hardly be more idyllic. A broad grassy bank next to a clear, burbling river. Downstream from the stone bridge, herons patrol the shallows, while deer, wild ponies and cattle trot down the hillside in the early autumn sunshine for a drink.This spot at Bellever in the heart of Dartmoor was very different at the height of the summer, when hundreds of “fly-campers” descended from across the UK with tents, gazebos, music systems, fairy lights and generators to grab a taste of post-lockdown freedom. Continue reading...
Western condemnation is worthless. But if Angela Merkel cancels the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, Putin will take noticeAlexei Navalny, who lies critically ill in a German hospital after being poisoned in Siberia, is Russia’s unofficial leader of the opposition and the politician Vladimir Putin fears most. Relatively young, resourceful and smart, he has bravely defied many previous attempts to silence him, including imprisonment and physical attacks. Navalny is not easily dismissed as a pro-western dissident or leftwing intellectual. He is a Russian patriot, a daring, Jason Bourne-like figure who recently flew drones over the private dachas of the Kremlin elite to expose their apparently corruptly acquired wealth, then posted videos online.That the Kremlin is responsible for Navalny’s plight is not in serious doubt. Whether Putin had prior knowledge of the plot, or personally authorised it, will probably never be known. As usual, the Kremlin is hiding behind a wall of denials and absurd claims, such as that Navalny fell ill after flying on an empty stomach. But his German doctors are unequivocal. He was poisoned by a chemical nerve agent, novichok, which the Russian state secretly developed and which only Russia is known to have used. Continue reading...
Renewable energy equivalent to four large coal plants will be installed this year but lack of investment could put a brake on further growthThe numbers make a clear case that renewable energy is booming in Australia. Data released last week by the government’s Clean Energy Regulator suggests 6.3 gigawatts of new solar and wind energy – roughly equivalent in capacity to four large coal plants – will be installed across the country this year.It would equal the record set last year, and is about five times greater than what was installed in 2016. Continue reading...
Climate campaigners stage a range of public events over five days despite Covid restrictionsMore than 600 people have been arrested during five days of climate crisis protests in central London, police have said.Environmental campaign group Extinction Rebellion (XR) reignited its efforts to highlight the dangers of climate crisis this month after they were largely placed on hold by the coronavirus pandemic. Continue reading...
Global climate activist pleased with film’s portrayal of her as a ‘shy nerd’A documentary following Greta Thunberg and her journey from Swedish schoolgirl to global climate activist accurately portrays her as a “shy nerd”, the teenager said as the film premiered at the Venice film festival.Director Nathan Grossman recorded Thunberg’s everyday life for a year, chronicling her rise to fame from the beginning of her school strike outside the Swedish parliament in August 2018 to her trips around the world demanding that political leaders take action to fight the climate crisis. Continue reading...
Extinction Rebellion protests at News Corp sites condemned by Society of Editors as ‘attempt to silence other voices’Ministers and MPs from all parts of the political spectrum have condemned Extinction Rebellion for blocking the delivery of newspapers across the UK on Saturday.Four national newspapers, including the Sun and the Daily Mail, were missing from some newsagents’ shelves on Saturday morning after more than 100 environmental protesters targeted printing presses owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp on Friday evening. Continue reading...
Parks in California are seeing double or even triple the usual number of campers, who can bring trash and unsafe behaviorChris Giesige thought planning a camping trip would be simple. He’s a regular, often heading out into the wilderness several times per year. But when he recently tried to reserve a campsite online in Yosemite, then Mammoth, then Whiskeytown Lake, he was shocked to see they were all booked for weeks. Twice he thought he’d found an open spot, only to see it get snapped up moments later.“I know May, June and July are busy camping months, but I don’t remember it being like this,” he says. “I have never had as much trouble before in trying to find a campground.” Continue reading...
Project by supermarket and charity Hubbub aims to tap into changing attitude to food waste after lockdownConsumers are being asked to rifle through their bins in order to weigh and record their daily food waste, in an ambitious trial that aims to reduce the 6.6m-tonne mountain of food thrown away by UK households every year.The UK’s largest supermarket, Tesco, has linked up with the environmental charity Hubbub to run the six-week experiment in which families will receive advice on meal planning and food storage along with recipe tips for using up leftovers. Continue reading...
Births between May and August mark regional record for National Park Service researchersA mountain lion baby boom has occurred this summer in the Santa Monica Mountains and Simi Hills west of Los Angeles.Thirteen kittens were born to five mountain lion mothers between May and August, according to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. Continue reading...
Campaigners spray fake blood over building’s entrance in protest against high-speed lineAnti-HS2 protesters have sprayed fake blood over the entrance to the Department for Transport and glued themselves to its doors, on the day it was announced that formal construction of the high-speed rail line will begin.The five activists chanted “HS2 is ecocide” and “HS2 has blood on their hands” as police attempted to remove them. Continue reading...
World political leaders must step up on the environment, activist tells Venice film festival showing of documentary about herThe Swedish activist Greta Thunberg has called for more action to be taken to address the climate crisis, which she says has slipped dangerously off the political agenda.Thunberg appeared by video link at the Venice film festival where the film, I Am Greta, has been screened. It documents her life as one of the most famous teenagers in the world after she became the figurehead for a global climate crisis campaign. Continue reading...
High court ruling comes as work on high-speed rail line formally beginsHS2 has been granted a new injunction barring environmental protesters from land in west London where work on the high-speed rail link is being carried out.The high court ruling in HS2’s favour came as the company announced the formal start of the project. Preparation work has been taking place since 2017. Continue reading...
Communities that rely on a steady stream of tourists are suffering financially as locals can’t make up for the loss in visitor spendingOn a normal Saturday in August, Mara Goodman would see up to 300 visitors at her job at the Mariposa county visitor center located on Highway 140, one of the major routes into Yosemite national park.But it’s been months since Goodman saw a normal Saturday. This year, she’s more likely to get 30 visitors on a good day. That’s partly because Yosemite, which reopened in early June after a two-month closure, is only admitting half of its normal number of daily visitors due to the coronavirus. Continue reading...
Bureau of Land Management accused of giving a handout to rich corporations at the expense of states who depend on oil revenuesThe oil and gas industry has been allowed to pay far less than usual to the government for the right to drill on public lands under a controversial Trump administration coronavirus relief policy, an analysis by a watchdog group and the Guardian reveals.The Bureau of Land Management has granted economic relief for drilling on land leased by the energy giants BP and ExxonMobil, according to records from the bureau. Continue reading...
Derek Gow is winning over doubters in his bid to reintroduce storks, beavers, wildcats, water voles and much, much moreI am sleeping in a shepherd’s hut 30 metres from a dozen wildcats. It’s an unusual way to spend a Monday night, especially in rural Devon. In the valley are the familiar sounds of dogs barking and foxes shrieking, as well as the unfamiliar sounds of storks clapping their beaks together, a noise that has been absent from Britain for 600 years. Beavers, iron age pigs, mouflon (wild sheep), Heck cattle and Exmoor ponies also live on this 120-hectare farm near Lifton, owned by rewilding specialist and farmer Derek Gow.This unassuming old dairy farm with its small whitewashed barns is a hub for covert species reintroductions. In 1995, Gow started working with water voles – his first species of interest – after buying a batch from a fish farm in Hampshire. Then he noticed restored wetlands were naturally silting up and realised another keystone species was missing: beavers. Bereft of beavers, ponds require huge amounts of management to keep them open, so in 1997 he drove to Poland to get some. Continue reading...