Environment | The Guardian

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...

It is ‘absolutely illogical’ not to tackle the risks of heatwaves and power blackouts, says Climate Change CommitteeThe UK government is failing to protect people from the fast-rising risks of the climate crisis, from deadly heatwaves to power blackouts, its official climate advisers have warned.The climate change committee said action to improve the nation’s resilience is not keeping pace with the impacts of global heating, many of which are already causing harm. The CCC’s experts said they were frustrated by the “absolutely illogical” lack of sufficient action on adaptation, particularly as acting is up to 10 times more cost-effective than not doing so. Continue reading...

Centuries-old trade has been thwarted by trafficking and now Brexit. An unusual rewilding mission hopes to aid a 4,000-mile migration back to British rivers

Landscape painting discovered in Killerton house informs National Trust development of groundsA 19th-century painting found in the archive of a Devon country house is being used to help inspire the 50-year restoration and enrichment of the estate.The artwork depicts a healthy and diverse landscape at Killerton, near Exeter, rich in mature trees hedgerows and scrubland being grazed by Highland cattle. Continue reading...

Swedish carmaker joins forces with steel firm to use technology that replaces coal with hydrogenVolvo plans to build cars using steel made without fossil fuels by 2026, as part of a deal that could significantly reduce the carbon emissions from manufacturing its vehicles.The Swedish carmaker and compatriot steelmaker SSAB signed a letter of intent to commercialise technology that replaces coal with hydrogen in a crucial part of the process. Continue reading...

Scientists concerned as severe perkinsea infection found in European tree frog tadpoles kept in an aquarium in SurreyA disease that causes mass die-offs in frogs has been found in captive UK populations for the first time, scientists have warned.Severe perkinsea infection (SPI) has caused large tadpole mortality events across the US, and this is the first proof that its geographic range is spreading. Researchers also found the disease-causing microbe in wild and seemingly healthy populations in Panama, where some of the most rapid declines in frog populations globally have occurred. Continue reading...

Traces of drugs found in water can make crustaceans more outgoing – but also vulnerable to predatorsAntidepressant drugs in water can alter the behaviour of crayfish, making them bolder and more outgoing, and therefore more vulnerable to predators, researchers have found.Low levels of antidepressants – excreted by humans or disposed of incorrectly – are found in many water bodies. Researchers from the University of Florida assessed the impact of these medicines on crayfish, which are a fundamental component of many aquatic food webs – given they eat almost everything, from plants, insects, leaf litter to small fish (even cannibalising each other). Continue reading...

Increasing droughts in producer nations will also make palm oil and soya imports highly vulnerable, study findsCoffee and chocolate supplies in Europe soon could be disrupted by the climate crisis as droughts hit producer countries, according to a study.The research also found a high vulnerability for palm oil imports, used in many foods and domestic products, and soybeans, which are the main feed for chickens and pigs in the European Union. Continue reading...

It isn’t clear yet if president will follow recommendation, but during his campaign he pledged to restore Utah’s monumentsIt was one of Donald Trump’s most provocative environmental decisions. After a year in office, he angered preservationists and Native American tribes and ordered that two treasured national monuments be dramatically reduced in size.The areas falling outside the diminished monuments, both expanses of rocky outcroppings dense with archaeological artifacts in Utah, lost environmental protections. A few years later, he also ordered that commercial fishing be allowed in a marine preserve off the coast of New England. Continue reading...

Flooded roads and paddocks disrupt local spiders which seek higher ground on road signs, trees and any tall grass they can find

Underwater surveyors found the remains of a plane in Folsom Lake, which currently has historically low water levels

Natural gas companies say they are being treated unfairly and are fighting to be absolved from reporting dangerous leaks

Conservationists call for ‘urgent rethink’ after Australian government announces 21 offshore exploration areasOne of Australia’s most-photographed tourist destinations – the limestone stacks known as the Twelve Apostles off the coast of Victoria – is less than five kilometres from new areas announced on Tuesday for offshore oil and and gas exploration.Conservationists said the release of the areas showed “nothing is off limits to the oil and gas industry” and the opening up of new offshore blocks for fossil fuels needed an urgent rethink. Continue reading...

Sharon Lavigne, a retired special ed teacher, led a successful campaign to block construction of a toxic plant in LouisianaA retired special education teacher from Louisiana who led a successful grassroots campaign to stop construction of a toxic plastics plant in America’s Cancer Alley has won the 2021 Goldman prize for environmental defenders.Sharon Lavigne, 68, organised marches, petitions, town hall meetings and media campaigns after elected officials gave the green light to the construction of another polluting factory in St James parish – a majority-Black community already blighted by heavy industry and exorbitant cancer rates. Continue reading...

This year’s winners include a Japanese coal fighter, a Vietnamese protector of pangolins and a Peruvian forest defenderFor more than 20 years, Kimiko Hirata has fought a long and often lonely battle against coal in Japan, but for the first time the climate activist believes the dirtiest fossil fuel is on the run, not just in her country but across the world.Like several other winners of this year’s Goldman environmental prize, the frontline campaigner sees a shift in the political winds that has created a rare – and perhaps final – opportunity to reduce emissions and rebuild the planet’s natural life support systems. Continue reading...

Prime minister reassures industry the Coalition will back it during transition to ‘new energy economy’Scott Morrison says Australia’s oil and gas sector will “always” be a major contributor to Australia’s prosperity and the Coalition will back producers both as exporters and suppliers to the domestic market during the transition to the “new energy economy”.The prime minister, who is currently in London, used a video address to the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association’s conference in Perth to reassure producers the government had a plan for the transition to low emissions as efforts to decarbonise economies have gathered pace in developed economies since the US re-entered the Paris agreement. Continue reading...

Treasurer Cameron Dick says budget, which boasts $2bn fund to develop clean energy, vindicates state’s Covid lockdownsThe Queensland government anticipates its state-owned power generators – mostly coal-fired power stations – will be unable to pay dividends to taxpayers within two years, due to an influx of renewables and lower power prices.One of the most significant measures in the state’s budget, handed down on Tuesday, was a “watershed” $2bn fund that would build renewables and further develop industries linked to clean energy. Continue reading...

To eat an oyster raw is to eat it aliveOn the oyster’s edge, under the sea, on a rock, a tree root, a bamboo pole, a pebble, a tile or another shell, the bivalve’s cilia – from the Latin for eyelash – are waving. Together, they move water over the oyster’s gills – its shell is open, its muscles are relaxed. The oyster has lungs. It has a three-chambered heart. An hour passes; the oyster has filtered five litres of water. The oyster has listened to the breaking waves: it opens and closes according to the tides.One valve is the cupped half of the shell, the other is the flat half. A cargo ship sounds its horn. The oyster shuts in fright. Continue reading...

California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah face extreme heat, worsening drought and raising risk of wildfiresDangerously hot temperatures across the US south-west will continue to climb this week, reaching higher than 120F (49C) in some areas, exacerbating the region’s already-dire drought conditions and increasing the risk of new fire ignitions.Extreme heat will be felt across much of Utah, along with southern and central California, Nevada and Arizona. Continue reading...

While the G7 calls for a ‘green revolution’ to deal with an ‘existential crisis’, it is no clearer if Scott Morrison will formally embrace a net zero targetIn an Australian context, the climate message from the weekend G7 summit is clear: the world’s biggest and richest democracies are acknowledging what the science demands and pledging to act in a way they haven’t before. The contrast with the debate in Canberra is growing.The commitments from the G7 have come later than they should have. Activists are understandably sceptical about whether their actions will rise to meet the leaders’ words, and critical of the failure to announce long-promised climate funding to help developing countries. Caution ahead of the major UN summit in Glasgow in November, known as Cop26, is justified and necessary. Continue reading...

Laurence Tubiana, a key player in 2015 Paris summit, says UK and others must explain how they will achieve climate goalsRich countries must come forward with detailed plans on how they hope to meet their climate targets, and Boris Johnson must forge much closer relationships with developing countries to bring about the breakthrough needed on the climate crisis this year, one of the architects of the Paris agreement has said.The G7 summit, which ended on Sunday in Cornwall, achieved much less than campaigners had hoped, with no significant new cash forthcoming for the world’s poorest and most vulnerable, on the frontlines of climate breakdown. Continue reading...

Biodiversity pledge is part of formal response to landmark review of economic importance of natureThe UK government has committed to leaving the environment in “a better state than we found it” in response to a landmark review of the economic importance of nature.Major transport and energy infrastructure projects in England will need to provide a net-gain for biodiversity, and the government said it would ensure all new bilateral aid spending did not harm the natural world as part of an effort to ensure a “nature-positive” future. Continue reading...

EDF subsidiary reportedly warned of ‘imminent radiological threat’ at Taishan nuclear power plantA French nuclear company has said it is working to resolve a “performance issue” at a plant it part-owns in China’s southern Guangdong province after an earlier report of a potential leak there.Framatome, a subsidiary of the energy giant EDF, told Agence France-Presse news agency that it was “supporting resolution of a performance issue” at the plant. “According to the data available, the plant is operating within the safety parameters,” it said, adding that an extraordinary meeting of the power plant’s board had been called “to present all the data and the necessary decisions”. Continue reading...

As the world moves towards electric cars and renewable grids, demand for lithium is wreaking havoc in northern ChileThe Atacama salt flat is a majestic, high-altitude expanse of gradations of white and grey, peppered with red lagoons and ringed by towering volcanoes. It took me a moment to get my bearings on my first visit, standing on this windswept plateau of 3,000 sq km (1,200 sq miles). A vertiginous drive had taken me and two other researchers through a sandstorm, a rainstorm and the peaks and valleys of this mountainous region of northern Chile. The sun bore down on us intensely – the Atacama desert boasts the Earth’s highest levels of solar radiation, and only parts of Antarctica are drier.I had come to the salt flat to research an emerging environmental dilemma. In order to stave off the worst of the accelerating climate crisis, we need to rapidly reduce carbon emissions. To do so, energy systems around the world must transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Lithium batteries play a key role in this transition: they power electric vehicles and store energy on renewable grids, helping to cut emissions from transportation and energy sectors. Underneath the Atacama salt flat lies most of the world’s lithium reserves; Chile currently supplies almost a quarter of the global market. But extracting lithium from this unique landscape comes at a grave environmental and social cost. Continue reading...

Tony Danker says UK government must publish detailed and concrete guidance on home heating and transport to unlock private resourcesThe head of the UK’s biggest business lobby group has warned that the corporate world is “way off track” in tackling the climate crisis.Tony Danker, the director general of the CBI, called on the government to do more to unlock the resources of the private sector by publishing new guidance on heating and transport. Continue reading...

Underreporting by water companies and failure to hold them to account have resulted in ecological damage, analysis showsWater companies are being allowed to unlawfully discharge raw sewage into rivers at a scale at least 10 times greater than Environment Agency prosecutions indicate, according to analysis to be presented to the government.The number of prosecutions of English water companies for unlawful spills from sewage treatment plants in 10 years are just a tiny fraction of the scale of potentially illegal discharges, the research presented to the environment minister, Rebecca Pow, this week will suggest. Continue reading...

I was promised one would be installed by BP Pulse but can’t get it doneAt the beginning of April, I ordered a new £28,000 Renault Zoe electric car from my local dealer. As part of the deal, a company called BP Pulse was supposed to come and install a charger at my home.I have been trying ever since to get it installed. The dealer has put in the request twice, but nothing has happened. As I need to get this before the car arrives, I took up the battle but am no nearer to getting it done. Continue reading...

PM resists pressure to commit Australia to 2050 climate deadline as he talks up hydrogen, LNG and carbon capture and storageScott Morrison has inked deals with Japan and Germany to develop technology to help reach “a net zero emissions future” – but continues to resist international pressure to formally commit Australia to a firm 2050 deadline.With the climate crisis taking centre stage on the final day of the G7 summit in Cornwall, England, the prime minister stuck to his preferred approach of focusing on technologies such as hydrogen, rather than signing up to more ambitious medium- and long-term emission reduction commitments. Continue reading...