Company maintains oil spills in 1970 were caused by third parties during civil warRoyal Dutch Shell has agreed to pay around €95m (£80.4m/$111.6m) to communities in southern Nigeria over crude oil spills in 1970, lawyers involved in the case have said.The decision is the latest involving Opec-member Nigeria’s oil-producing south where communities have long fought legal battles over oil spills and environmental damage. Continue reading...

Scores of fires blaze across 17 provinces as calls made for aid convoys and Morocco and France offer helpAlgeria’s president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, has declared three days of national mourning amid the death toll from raging wildfires in the north of the country rising to 69.The state-run news agency APS said the rash of more than 50 fires which broke out on Tuesday had claimed four more lives, bringing the total to 69, including 28 soldiers deployed to help the emergency services. Continue reading...

Reading at monitoring station in Syracuse unverified but comes amid heatwave in last few daysThe highest temperature in European history appears to have been recorded in Italy during a heatwave sweeping the country, with early reports suggesting a high of 48.8C (119.85F).If this is accepted by the World Meteorological Organisation it will break the previous European record of 48C (118.4F) set in Athens in 1977. The temperature was measured at a monitoring station in Syracuse, Sicily, and confirmed soon after by the island’s meteorological authorities. Continue reading...

Residents around the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach were paid to show support for natural gas trucks at community hearingsDiesel truck pollution from the busiest port complex in the United States has fouled the air in nearby neighbourhoods in southern California for decades. So when port officials asked for feedback on cleaning up that pollution, hundreds of people weighed in.Los Angeles and Long Beach officials hoped residents would help them decide whether to require zero-pollution electric trucks or instead promote vehicles powered by natural gas, a fossil fuel. Continue reading...

Communities on the frontline of the climate crisis say radical solutions must be on the table – before it’s too lateAyisha Siddiqa doesn’t want fossil fuel companies to determine her future anymore. The industry has promoted climate denial for longer than the 22-year-old has been alive. Rather than watch companies pad their profits as the world burns, Siddiqa has a radical solution in mind.“Abolish these oil companies, finish them, get rid of them, no more,” she said. Continue reading...

Revealed: investigation shows how Tyson’s near monopoly in its home state of Arkansas gives it huge power, at a cost to farmers and the environmentThe tight grip that America’s largest meat processing company has on the chicken industry has generated dire consequences for its workers, farmers and the environment in one of the US’s leading poultry-producing states, an investigation has found.Tyson Foods is ranked 73rd on the Fortune 500 list, with a revenue of $43bn in the last fiscal year. Continue reading...

Calls for deposit return scheme now, with report tracing 65% of branded packaging pollution back to 12 firmsCoca-Cola bottles and cans were the most prevalent branded litter on beaches in the UK, a report has found, as campaigners call on the government to get on with introducing a deposit return scheme.Almost two-thirds (65%) of all branded packaging pollution across the UK coastline can be traced back to just 12 companies, according to the findings by the marine conservation charity Surfers Against Sewage (SAS). Continue reading...

Organic farming methods, which use fewer pesticides and store more carbon in soil, are becoming more popularThere is growing momentum behind a shift to ‘regenerative’ agriculture in the UK, which can help to mitigate the climate crisis, say leading experts in the sector.“More and more people are seeing other farmers doing it [regenerative farming] and are happier for it,” said John Cherry, who founded Groundswell, the UK’s flagship event for regenerative agriculture, on his farm in Hertfordshire. “People may be getting a higher yield with conventional approaches, but it is costing them more too with all the inputs, so they are not making more money.” Continue reading...

Prime minister says request made for help internationally as forest blazes erupt in Kabyle region and elsewhereMore than 40 people, including 25 soldiers, have died in wildfires that erupted east of the Algerian capital, the country’s prime minister, Ayman Benabderrahmane, said.Benabderrahmane also told state television that the government had asked for help from the international community and was in talks with partners to hire planes to extinguish fires. So far, 42 deaths have been reported. Continue reading...

Politicians around world continue to respond to report from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate ChangeFood production around the world will suffer as global heating reaches 1.5C, with serious effects on the food supply in the next two decades, scientists have warned, following the biggest scientific report yet on the climate crisis.Rising temperatures will mean there will be more times of year when temperatures exceed what crops can stand, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in its sixth assessment report published on Monday. Continue reading...

NatureScot hails conservation success but draws criticism after revealing 115 animals were killed under licenceWild beavers have colonised lochs and rivers across the southern Highlands of Scotland after a sharp surge in their numbers.A survey by NatureScot, the government conservation agency, estimates 1,000 beavers now live in the wild, reaching rivers north of Dundee in the east, westwards to Crianlarich, north of Loch Lomond, and south to Stirling on the river Forth. Continue reading...

Almost 900 firefighters fighting what the Greek prime minister called ‘a natural disaster of unprecedented dimensions’In scenes more resonant of war, trained firefighters backed by a ragtag army of local people waged a “superhuman” battle overnight to extinguish wind-whipped blazes raging for an eighth day on the Greek island of Evia.With yet another village ordered to be evacuated on Tuesday, a multinational force of nearly 900 firefighters were at the scene in a desperate bid to stop the conflagration enveloping the northern town of Istiaia. Continue reading...

Newcomer on dairy alternative scene is vegan, sequesters carbon and increases biodiversityI’m sitting in my kitchen, about to try my first sip of a milk that is vegan, sequesters carbon and increases biodiversity. Dairy milk has a high carbon footprint. Soy is linked to deforestation, almond to high water use. But how does the new kid on the scene – hemp seed milk – measure up for taste?An Innovative Farmers project coordinated by the Soil Association is investigating how industrial hemp production could aid the transition to a low-carbon economy. In collaboration with scientists at Cranfield University and the British Hemp Alliance, research will quantify the environmental benefits of growing hemp. In farm trials that launched last month, five farmers are helping to investigate this plant’s ability to sequester or store carbon, improve soil health and increase biodiversity. Continue reading...

Welcome to our monthly roundup of the biggest issues in farming and food production, with must-read reports from around the webMore than a million animals reportedly died in flash floods in the Henan province of China. A Reuters report from the village of Wangfan, where most of the 3,000 residents raise pigs or chickens or grow grain, found that at least 200,000 chickens and up to 6,000 pigs – half the village’s herd – had been lost in the floods, the worst in centuries. Continue reading...

Obama campaigned in climate poetry and then governed in fossil fuel prose. Joe Biden may well follow in his footstepsIf after Monday’s news you didn’t feel a pang of doom, you’re either a zen master, a recluse living in a news vacuum, or a nihilist. The new United Nations report on climate change predicts an actual, bona fide apocalypse unless our civilization discards our fetish for incrementalism, rejects nothing-will-fundamentally-change fatalism and instead finally takes the crisis seriously.The bad news is that we’ve been here before during the last era of Democratic supremacy, and if the Obama era we sleepwalked through now repeats itself, we’re done. It’s that simple. Continue reading...

Andrew Constance says the second-hand market for EVs could be driven by state and federal government adoption of the new technologyNew South Wales transport minister, Andrew Constance, has urged the Morrison government to accelerate the uptake of electric vehicles in Australia by using them for federal government fleets.Speaking at a Smart Energy Council summit, Constance said state and federal governments should “drive the second-hand market” by buying up electric vehicles in order to lower the price. Continue reading...

Project will pipe the ‘dirtiest fuel left on the planet’ across Minnesota’s pristine lakes and wetlandsMore than 600 people have now been arrested or received citations over protests amid growing opposition to the Line 3 oil sands pipeline currently under construction through Minnesota.Native American tribes including the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, the White Earth Band of Ojibwe and indigenous-led environmental organisations such as Honor the Earth are leading opposition efforts in court and on the ground, mobilizing ‘water protectors’ to try to halt the project. Continue reading...

Two soldiers are recovering from ‘horrific injuries’ after 700km rescue mission from remote bay in state’s northWildlife officers have killed a crocodile that mauled two soldiers who went swimming in a remote Queensland bay where the reptiles were known to live.The officers had no trouble identifying their target, with the reptile becoming highly aggressive as they approached it in their vessel north of Lockhart River on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Week of blazes forces evacuations and brings devastating scale of destruction to large areas of southern EuropeThe devastating scale of destruction from a week of wildfires in Greece and Italy was being assessed as the EU mounted one of its largest firefighting operations ever and smoke from forest fires in Siberia reached the north pole.As UN experts on Monday said global warming was advancing faster than feared and that humanity was “unequivocally” to blame, firefighters and local residents battled massive blazes on the island of Evia, east of Athens, for a seventh straight day. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Analysis reveals more than 1.2 million people are currently employed in low carbon industry

The US president may have only one chance to pass legislation to confront the crisis: ‘We can’t wait’A stark UN report on how humanity has caused unprecedented, and in some cases “irreversible”, changes to the world’s climate has heaped further pressure on Joe Biden to deliver upon what may be his sole chance to pass significant legislation to confront the climate crisis and break a decade of American political inertia.The US president said the release on Monday of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report showed that “we can’t wait to tackle the climate crisis. The signs are unmistakable. The science is undeniable. And the cost of inaction keeps mounting.” Continue reading...

Dogger Bank on course to be the world’s largest offshore windfarm in a region built on coal

Project in Seaham, County Durham, will use water from mine shafts to heat 1,500 new homes

The ‘no-plough’ regenerative methods adopted in small vineyards have spread to olive groves and leading wine producers – boosting biodiversity and profitsThey call it the sea of olives, 70 million olive trees that stretch to the horizon in every direction in the province of Jaén in southern Spain. It’s a spectacular landscape and yet, olives aside, the land is virtually dead, with scarcely a flower, bird or butterfly to be seen.All this could be about to change following the remarkable success of a project that is raising new life from the dust of Andalucía. Continue reading...

Climate report says country will suffer rain and floods in the south and drought and fires in the northThe first major assessment of its kind in seven years from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has found the globe’s ocean, land and air temperatures are rising, and the human influence is “unequivocal”.But what does the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report say about changes in New Zealand, and what can we expect for the future? Continue reading...

The Morrison government’s ‘technology, not taxes’ mantra ignores the fact that taxes pay for technology, and affordable technology can make a difference

Delegates from 196 countries attending talks offered jabs before event, with rules on self-isolating eased for many

A new IPCC report makes clear what island nations have long warned. Their survival depends on urgent collective actionA new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) finds that the world may warm by 1.5°C by the early 2030s, much earlier than previously estimated. It’s terrible news for the Pacific. With temperatures rising above 1.5°C, Pacific communities are likely to experience increasingly devastating climate change impacts.The key takeaway from the IPCC report is that the more we know, the worse it looks. The planet is now already between 0.8°C and 1.3°C warmer than in pre-industrial times – moving frighteningly close to the 1.5°C threshold. This warming has already worsened temperature extremes, such as marine heatwaves that cause coral bleaching and heatwaves on land, with dangerous consequences for human health. Temperature and other climate extremes will become more intense, frequent and appear in more locations with every fraction of a degree that the planet warms. Continue reading...

Alok Sharma says chance to limit worst impacts of climate breakdown ‘still achievable, but retreating fast’The world’s biggest emitters of greenhouse gases must produce clear plans to cut their carbon output drastically, the president of vital UN climate talks has urged, after scientists warned there was only a small chance of escaping the worst ravages of climate breakdown.The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change set out the starkest warning yet on the widespread and “unprecedented” changes to the climate that are “unequivocally” the result of human actions. Extreme weather resulting from these changes was already seen around the world and growing worse, in the form of rising temperatures, more frequent and fiercer storms, heatwaves, droughts, floods and sea level rises, according to the biggest assessment of climate science in eight years. Continue reading...

PM says UN report is ‘sobering reading’ but Labour say he is ‘failing to treat the crisis with the seriousness it deserves’

Australian investment bank left Thames Water saddled with debt when it sold up in 2017The Australian investment bank Macquarie has returned to the UK water industry – four and a half years after leaving Thames Water saddled with debt – buying a majority stake in Southern Water for more than £1bn.The infrastructure investor promised to put the utility firm “back on a stable footing” after it was fined a record £90m last month for dumping billions of litres of raw sewage off the north Kent and Hampshire coasts. Continue reading...

Occurrence is first since records began and comes as Russian weather officials warn blazes are worseningSmoke from raging forest fires in Siberia has reached the north pole for the first time in recorded history, as a Russian monitoring institute warned the blazes were worsening.Devastating wildfires have ripped across Siberia with increasing regularity over the past few years, which Russia’s weather officials and environmentalists have linked to climate change and an underfunded forest service. Continue reading...

A devastating wastewater dump may have contributed to a deadly algal bloom, residents sayHundreds of tons of dead marine life have washed ashore and wafted a putrid stench along Florida’s beaches in recent weeks amid a toxic red tide bloom spreading in its waters.Thomas Patarek lives just a half mile away from the waterway. Continue reading...

A lead author of latest IPCC report says humans ‘still in the control cabin of the planet’ but there is no limit to the damage possible

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change states every corner of the planet is already being affected and it could get far worse

Australia ranks 20th or worse in seven of eight categories despite Coalition claim it is leading the way in reducing emissions

IPCC’s landmark report will be most comprehensive assessment yet as governments prepare for pivotal UN talks in NovemberThe fires, floods and extreme weather seen around the world in recent months are just a foretaste of what can be expected if global heating takes hold, scientists say, as the world’s leading authority on climate change prepares to warn of an imminent and dire risk to the global climate system.The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will on Monday publish a landmark report, the most comprehensive assessment yet, less than three months before vital UN talks that will determine the future course of life on Earth. Continue reading...

Specialists including Defra bovine tuberculosis expert say positive tests indicate danger to public healthThe row over his fate has captured the public’s imagination – with a petition to save him gathering nearly 100,000 signatures and his friendly, furry face splashing newspaper front pages. But vets have cautioned that the law is clear: Geronimo the alpaca must be put down.The six-year-old animal is facing a death sentence after twice testing positive for bovine tuberculosis (bTB), a deadly respiratory disease that has blighted the countryside for decades. Continue reading...

Campaign seeks pledges for the rewilding of arable land as the Cop26 climate summit approachesFarmers are being called upon to dedicate 1% of their land to nature and carbon sequestration in an unexpected way – by farming in straight lines.The call to make a commitment to nature and the climate in the run-up to the crucial Cop26 UN climate summit in Glasgow comes from WildEast, the farmer-led rewilding movement that is encouraging landowners large and small to create wildlife-rich places across East Anglia. Continue reading...

The sculpture, to be unveiled next month, will celebrate the courageous contribution of pit workers to our industrial heritageThey toiled far underground in dark, cramped and dangerous conditions, emerging at the end of their shifts caked in coal dust and often gasping for air.Towns grew up around the collieries; boys followed their fathers and grandfathers down the pit. In the 19th century, women and children were among the nation’s coal workers. But by the end of the 20th century, miners had mostly been consigned to the post-industrial scrap heap as pit after pit shut down. Continue reading...

Lush Mendocino draws nearly 2m visitors a year. But drought is threatening to sink its key industryOn many mornings, the village of Mendocino vanishes into a thick white fog that covers its seaside cliffs, redwood trees and quaint Victorian houses.Carved into California’s northern coast, the historic hamlet’s rugged beaches, scenic hikes, charming bed-and-breakfasts and boutique galleries draw in 1.8m visitors each year. Continue reading...

Environment secretary says bovine tuberculosis test used on animal ‘over 99% accurate’Environment secretary George Eustice said it is an “arduous but necessary endeavour” to cull animals that test positive for bovine tuberculosis (bTB), as he defended the decision to put down Geronimo the alpaca.Helen Macdonald’s animal has been ordered for destruction after twice testing positive for the disease, but she has repeatedly questioned the tests used to condemn him. Continue reading...

Josh Frydenberg’s office allowed proposed Queensland development to go to assessment despite legal advice it was ‘unacceptable’

The city is surrounded by flames. On the ground, there are tales of heroism – and fear for the futureLittle had prepared any of us on the Athens-bound flight for the sight of the great fire-induced clouds that swept either side of the plane as it made its descent on Friday.News of the extreme heat engulfing Greece had spread beyond its borders all week, packaged in increasingly desperate language. Temperatures were breaking records few had ever imagined. If Monday was bad, then Tuesday was worse. In some parts of the country, the mercury had hit 47C (117F), with thermal cameras on drones recording the ground temperature in downtown Athens at 55C. Continue reading...

Alok Sharma’s air miles made the headlines, but missteps by his colleagues may be more damaging to the crucial talks in GlasgowAlok Sharma stepped off the plane from Brazil on Friday, the latest stop in a punishing travel schedule that has taken him to 30 countries in seven months, and into the eye of a media storm.“The height of hypocrisy,” screamed the Daily Mail’s headline, slamming the UK president-designate of the Cop26 UN climate talks, to be hosted in Glasgow in October and November. Sharma’s crime? No quarantines, having taken advantage of the rare exemptions offered to ministers, and 200,000 air miles in the pursuit of climate diplomacy. Continue reading...

Nathusius’ pipistrelle weighing just 8g flew 1,254 miles across EuropeA tiny record-breaking “Olympian” bat flew more than 1,200 miles from London to Russia but ended up being killed by a cat.The female Nathusius’ pipistrelle bat, weighing only 8g, was found on the ground after her 1,254-mile journey, after being attacked by the cat. Continue reading...

Homes, farms and businesses destroyed while Turkey also suffers devastating blazesA volunteer firefighter has been killed in a blaze threatening the Greek capital’s most important national park, and at least 20 people have been injured in fires during the country’s worst heatwave in 30 years, with temperatures of up to 45C (113F).Thousands of residents and holidaymakers have fled from the flames by land and sea, while in Turkey fires of a ferocity not seen in decades tore through swaths of the country’s southern coast, killing eight people over the past 10 days. Continue reading...

Research shows more than a quarter of US population suffered ill health last summer, and it’s likely to get worseThe summer of 2020 brought fear of Covid-19, social distancing – and heat-related health problems that affects tens of millions of Americans.Related: Last month was worst July for wildfires on record, say scientists Continue reading...

Every morning after moving here, I thought I must have done something right because I got to live in all this majesty. Then the Dixie fire took it awayMy defiantly quirky, beautiful adopted hometown turned into a ghost town last night. There are so many things I could tell you about Greenville. There were over a thousand people and change, though the population sign still said 2,000.We all have an opinion. About everything. We are a microcosm of America and often frustrated with each other. Greenville is filled with do-gooders, volunteers, retirees, hippies, bikers, and rednecks, ranchers, cowboys, and people who never felt like the town they were born in was quite the right fit for them. We were extended families and single moms and dads. We were drunks. We were sober. We tried not to be too judgmental lest someone judge us back. We were recent survivors of Paradise, too. Continue reading...

Anna Sacks documents her ‘trash walks’ on social media, shining a light on the everyday shame and indignity of producing and living with so much wasteOn an ordinary street in the middle of Manhattan, Anna Sacks gets ready to rifle through the trash. But first, she takes out her phone and turns on the camera. Continue reading...