Environment | The Guardian

Promising new studies suggest the long elusive technology may be capable of producing electricity for the grid by the end of the decadeIf all goes as planned, the US will eliminate all greenhouse gas emissions from its electricity sector by 2035 – an ambitious goal set by President-elect Joe Biden, relying in large part on a sharp increase in wind and solar energy generation. That plan may soon get a boost from nuclear fusion, a powerful technology that until recently had seemed far out of reach.Researchers developing a nuclear fusion reactor that can generate more energy than it consumes have shown in a series of recent papers that their design should work, restoring optimism that this clean, limitless power source will help mitigate the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Covid has made people see how the food system is dominated by large corporations, say campaignersSeeds need to be brought back into public ownership, rather than belonging to a small group of agrochemical companies, say campaigners, after a year in which seed-swapping and saving has reached new heights of popularity.From March onwards, when the pandemic hit the UK, seed producers and seed banks across the country were overwhelmed with demand. Organisations such as the Seed Cooperative, Vital Seeds and Irish Seed Savers saw a sharp surge in orders, 600% in some cases. Continue reading...

In their latest scan of emerging global biological conservation issues, experts assess the 15 most urgent risks society needs to addressIf it did nothing else, the emergence of Covid-19 a year ago underlined for all of us the importance of anticipating and preparing for – and, as appropriate, steering the course of – things that might happen in the future.That is, in a nutshell, the goal of the 2021 horizon scan of emerging global biological conservation issues recently published in the journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution by the Cambridge University conservation biologist William Sutherland and a team of 24 other conservation practitioners and researchers from around the world. Continue reading...

Mounted City of London police receive a surprise order: to help trample in wildflower seeds at the Barbican

National Trust review has warned that the climate emergency is clearly leading to more erratic conditionsIt was a year of extremes as far as the weather was concerned: pounding rain, violent summer storms, some mild winter months and periods of searing sunshine.An annual audit of how this year’s weather has affected flora and fauna in the UK has concluded that it was, to say the least, a challenging 12 months. Continue reading...

The president-elect plans to reduce incentives for fracking, but has stopped short of a banThe result of the US election has cast a long shadow across the US shale heartlands. Joe Biden wants to make the climate crisis his top priority, sparking real hope for global efforts to avert an environmental catastrophe and real concern for shale operators.The president-elect’s climate plans include a return to the Paris climate agreement, $2tn (£1.5tn) of spending on clean energy, and an ambition to create a carbon-neutral US energy system by 2035 through “aggressive emission reductions”. Continue reading...

The 60-year-old congresswoman will be the first Native American cabinet secretary next month when she takes over at interiorDebra Haaland is making American history. Continue reading...

The crisis poses a deadly threat to some sectors and creates opportunities for others. We examine how they will fare in 2021Coronavirus has changed lives and industries across the UK, accelerating fundamental shifts in behaviour and consumption that were already on their way. Debates about home working, preserving local high streets and the ethics of air travel were bubbling away before coronavirus rampaged across the world, but the consequences of the worst pandemic in more than a century have either settled those arguments or boosted the momentum behind certain lifestyle changes. Here we look at how those debates have been changed – or resolved – by Covid-19. Continue reading...

Necropsy reveals 80% of the thousands of songbirds that died suddenly showed typical signs of emaciation

Authorities want to shield Europe’s only wild monkeys from threat of Covid-19

Researchers surprised by reappearance of species without aid of reintroduction schemeNative oysters have unexpectedly returned to the shores of Belfast Lough after more than 100 years, researchers have discovered – though scientists are still unsure how they got there.Ostrea edulis, the European flat oyster, is listed as threatened and/or declining by the Ospar conservation scheme and is the focus of numerous biodiversity projects around Europe. But now it has impressed scientists by establishing itself in Belfast Lough without the aid of a reintroduction programme. Continue reading...

Memories of Brazil’s dictatorship as plan threatens biodiverse home of three indigenous communitiesBrazilian activists have voiced alarm over their government’s plans to bulldoze a 94-mile highway through a biodiverse corner of the Amazon along the border with Peru that is home to at least three indigenous communities.The planned road is an extension of the BR-364, a 2,700-mile highway that links São Paulo with the Amazon state of Acre, and would connect the town of Cruzeiro do Sul with the Peruvian border town of Pucallpa. Continue reading...

Excitement as DNA barcoding technique leads to unmasking of new species tempered with fear that some are already at risk of extinction

Bright yellow stickers warn drivers burning of gasoline has ‘major consequences on human health and the environment’Cambridge, Massachusetts, has become the first US city to mandate the placing of stickers on fuel pumps to warn drivers of the resulting dangers posed by the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Forecast comes as emergency services prepare to evacuate 1,000 people from flooded holiday parkStorm Bella is due to hit parts of the UK on Boxing Day after dozens of homes and businesses were flooded following heavy rain.An amber national severe weather warning has been issued in parts of south Wales and across southern England, as the Met Office said conditions across the UK would turn increasingly unsettled through to 27 December, with strengthening winds and heavy rain moving in from the north.

Rescuers unable to shepherd whales back out to sea due to rough conditions and their sizeA pod of 10 sperm whales have died on the east Yorkshire coast in what is thought to be the biggest mass stranding of the cetacean in England since records began in 1913.A rescue operation was launched after the group of juvenile mammals was spotted in shallow water between Tunstall and Withernsea at around 8.30am on Christmas Eve. Continue reading...

Reptiles often become immobile in chilly weather and can plummet from trees though they are still aliveWith unexpectedly cold weather forecast and pandemic-related curfews in some places, Florida is about to have a Christmas unlike any other – and it may involve falling iguanas.Related: 'I took a trip to the North Pole': Anthony Fauci tells children he vaccinated Santa Continue reading...

From digging ponds to planting pollinators, Guardian readers have been bringing out the best in nature

Canadian government’s speed restrictions are not enough to prevent deaths of endangered animals, researchers sayFor North Atlantic right whales, collisions with large cargo vessels are one of the deadliest threats to an endangered population. But new research from Canada has found even under the government’s current maritime speed restrictions, strikes are likely to be fatal.In a new paper published in Marine Mammal Science, biologists found that collisions between large vessels and whales at a speed of just 10 knots had an 80% chance of producing a fatality. Continue reading...

Donations from individuals and charities to green causes more than double since 2016Philanthropic donations to environmental causes have more than doubled in value in the UK as the climate crisis and unprecedented biodiversity loss attract increasing attention from individuals and charities.The amounts of money given to support efforts to tackle climate change and nature loss range from £5,000 to millions of pounds, and the focus of the funding is as broad. Continue reading...

Some 53 vessels have been waiting offshore for more than four weeks while coal ships from other countries have delivered their loadsMore than 50 Australian coal ships are still stranded off China’s coast, held up by a Chinese government import ban, despite the country facing coal shortages and one of its worst power blackouts in years.China has rejected suggestions that its October ban on Australian coal has contributed to the coal shortage but the ban has been linked to higher domestic prices. Analysts have said that under the current circumstances any incoming coal would help. Continue reading...

Activists say $900bn stimulus package will help the Biden administration ‘build back better’ at home and abroadJoe Biden’s pledge to make the climate emergency a top priority of his administration from day one has received a major boost from the $900bn Covid-19 relief bill that cleared Congress this week and now awaits Donald Trump’s signature.Related: America braced for final month of madness as Trump show nears its end Continue reading...

Traditional owners acknowledge mining company’s efforts in rebuilding relationship but say more needs to be done

State’s planning minister says commonwealth proposal has ‘significant economic potential’ but energy analysts say focus should stay on renewablesThe NSW government has granted critical infrastructure status to a proposed new gas-fired power station in the Hunter Valley in a move energy analysts say is “pandering” to the federal government.The state’s planning minister, Rob Stokes, said he made the declaration because the commonwealth proposal to build the power station on the site of a former aluminium smelter in Kurri Kurri had “significant economic potential”. Continue reading...

Tongass national forest, which plays a key role in fighting climate crisis, poised for logging after US ruling

British startup in joint venture with Tokyo Gas, which buys 9.7% stake for $200mThe one-time owner of a London coffee shop now has a paper fortune worth an estimated $155m (£115m) after a deal with a Japanese utility firm valued Octopus Energy, the sustainable energy business he founded little more than five years ago, at $2 billion.Greg Jackson, a serial entrepreneur, owns a 7.4% stake in Octopus, the UK’s fastest growing energy supplier. Octopus only attained ‘unicorn status’ – a term used to describe young start-up companies worth $1bn – earlier this year. A new investment agreed on Wednesday has doubled that value in the last eight months as it begins its global expansion. Continue reading...

Maxwell mine in Hunter region is fourth fossil fuel project to get the green light in five monthsEnvironmentalists say they have lost faith in the ability of New South Wales authorities to assess controversial mining projects after the Independent Planning Commission approved another coalmine – the fourth fossil fuel project in the state to get the green light in five months.The Maxwell underground coalmine, being developed by a subsidiary of Malabar Resources, is the latest to receive development consent after the commission determined on Tuesday that the “risks of adverse impacts on the environment are low”. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Surveys indicate 2021 political contest likely to be focused on post-pandemic economic recovery

Lancet report finds that toxic air caused rise in lung cancer, stroke and other diseasesPollution accounted for nearly 1.7m premature deaths in India in 2019, or 18% of all deaths, according to a study that lays bare the human cost of the country’s toxic urban air.A report published by the Lancet says pollution in India has led to an increase in diseases such as lung cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, neonatal disorders and respiratory diseases, resulting in millions more deaths. Continue reading...

There is no way to mine fossil fuels without driving the planet past 1.5C of warming and putting Indigenous communities at risk

Analysis also found the lowest impact meat was still far more damaging than the worst plant foodsThe cost of the climate damage caused by organic meat production is just as high as that of conventionally farmed meat, according to research.The analysis estimated the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from different foods and calculated how much their prices would need to rise to cover the harm they cause by fuelling the climate emergency. Continue reading...

Scientists warn of threat of nuclear contamination from work on giant E40 waterway linking Baltic to the Black Sea

Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham urge Trump to submit Iran nuclear deal and Paris climate agreement to Senate to undercut future attempts to revive themTwo prominent Trump loyalists in the US Senate, Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham, are reportedly pressing the president to submit the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris climate agreement to the chamber for ratification, in a last-minute attempt to scupper Democratic plans to take America back into the accords.Related: Senior Republican says party’s final election challenge will ‘go down like a shot dog’ Continue reading...

Health impact is unknown but scientists say particles may cause long-term damage to foetusesMicroplastic particles have been revealed in the placentas of unborn babies for the first time, which the researchers said was “a matter of great concern”.The health impact of microplastics in the body is as yet unknown. But the scientists said they could carry chemicals that could cause long-term damage or upset the foetus’s developing immune system. The particles are likely to have been consumed or breathed in by the mothers. Continue reading...

Whichever state you are in, there could be harmful PFAS chemicals in water near you

The Guardian’s biodiversity editor looks back on a year that put the state of the planet on the agenda in ways no one could have foreseen

Artists and campaigners work to ensure the life and death of the lone sea wolf known as Takaya was not wasted

Campaigners in Ilkley hope River Wharfe designation will ‘trigger a clean-up’ of local sewage systemA stretch of river in Yorkshire will become the first in the UK to be given bathing water status in a major success for campaigners trying to stop releases of untreated sewage into inland waters.Part of the River Wharfe in Ilkley, which is a popular swimming and paddling spot, is to be added to the list of bathing waters next year, after months of campaigning. Continue reading...

Manufacturers and shops remove millions of pieces of single-use plastic from their rangesUK retailers and supermarkets have stepped up efforts to take plastic out of packaging for the festive season, boasting of a flurry of eco-friendly wrapping for Christmas puddings, desserts, party foods and chocolates, and with many greetings cards and crackers now free of glitter.Tesco alone has removed more than 20m pieces of single-use plastic from its Christmas range this year – including crackers, lights, cards and the packaging for puddings – as part of a national drive to reduce pollution from single use plastics. Continue reading...

Federal court finds operators contravened national electricity rules by operating with inadequate settings to cope with disruptions to the power networkThe operators of a windfarm in South Australia’s mid-north have been hit with a $1m fine by the federal court for failing to properly comply with mandated performance standards in the lead-up to a statewide blackout in September 2016.In a judgment on Tuesday, the court also ordered the operators of the Snowtown Wind Farm Stage 2 – Tilt Renewables Limited – to engage a compliance expert to review its operations and provide a report on any gaps. Continue reading...

Westland petrel fledglings have been hitting the roads, possibly mistaking the lights for bioluminescent fish they feed onIn an attempt to save a rare bird species, a New Zealand village is trialling an innovative strategy: it is switching off all its street lights to stop baby birds becoming confused and crash landing on to the road.Westland petrels, which are blackish-brown with ivory beaks, breed only along an 8km stretch of coastal forest in the foothills near Punakaiki, a South Island town of fewer than 100 people and popular with tourists for its pancake rock formations and gushing ocean blowholes. Continue reading...

World faces huge wildlife losses by 2050 unless what and how food is produced changesThe global food system is on course to drive rapid and widespread ecological damage with almost 90% of land animals likely to lose some of their habitat by 2050, research has found.A study published in the journal Nature Sustainability shows that unless the food industry is rapidly transformed, changing what people eat and how it is produced, the world faces widespread biodiversity loss in the coming decades. Continue reading...

Environmentalist groups say the pipeline, intended to funnel gas from Pennsylvania to north Brooklyn, is an example of environmental racismPati Rodriguez grew up in Bushwick, a historically industrial, predominantly Hispanic neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. She has worked as a community organizer for years, and at 38, she knows the neighborhood inside and out. So she was surprised last year to learn about a natural gas pipeline being built a block away from her daughter’s school, more than two years after its construction had begun.Rodriguez says she learned about the Metropolitan Reliability Infrastructure (MRI) project – more often referred to as the North Brooklyn pipeline by local activists – from the anti-fracking advocacy group Sane Energy Project, which for the last year has held neighborhood meetings to raise awareness of the construction. Continue reading...

Environment group says plan led by Woodside is ‘most polluting fossil fuel project ever to be proposed in Australia’Environmentalists have launched a court challenge against approvals for a mega gas project in Western Australia that could lead to the release of billions of tonnes of greenhouse gases.Lawyers for the Conservation Council of Western Australia (CCWA) want a judicial review of decisions made by the state’s environment agency which they say allowed for unlimited amounts of gas to be processed at two plants that are part of the Burrup Hub proposal. Continue reading...

Australian Energy Market Commission says households could expect to pay $120 lessElectricity for consumers will be cheaper in 2023 as new generation capacity enters the power grid, including 1,667 megawatts of solar and 2,580 megawatts of wind, the Australian Energy Market Commission said.The AEMC’s annual price assessment projected that power prices would decrease until 2021-22 and then potentially increase during 2022-23. But prices in 2023 were expected to be lower than they are now. Continue reading...

Packagers step up production of ‘frugal’ containers as consumers embrace sustainable alternativeThe world’s first gin in a paper-based bottle is set to go on sale in the UK early next year as packaging specialists jostle to step up production of eco-friendly alternatives to the traditional glass container.The UK manufacturer of the so-called “frugal” bottle – made from predominantly recycled paperboard with a food-grade liner inside – has received orders from around the world to make containers for sake and spirits in Japan, whiskey in the US and wine in Spain, Australia, Italy and France. Continue reading...

Paul McCartney and Chris Packham among stars urging people to ditch meat and dairy in 2021 to fight climate change and avoid another pandemicA host of musicians, actors and sports stars have joined up with businesses and environmental groups in what they hope will be a successful push to get more people to ditch meat, fish and dairy in the new year.Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Sir Paul McCartney, Ricky Gervais, Lily Cole and Alan Cumming have all signed a letter calling for people to change their diet for “Veganuary” next month. “We cannot tackle climate change while we farm and eat animals on an industrial scale”, the open letter written by the Veganuary association says. Continue reading...

President-elect announces racially diverse team to face ‘existential threat of our time’President-elect Joe Biden announced a racially diverse slate of environmental advisers on Saturday, to help his administration confront what he called “the existential threat of our time, climate change”.Related: US to hold world climate summit early next year and seek to rejoin Paris accord Continue reading...

Forty per cent of Friday’s electricity was generated in windfarms thanks to blustery winter weatherBlustery winter weather helped Great Britain’s windfarms set a record for clean power generation, which made up more than 40% of its electricity on Friday.Wind turbines generated 17.3GW on Friday afternoon, according to figures from the electricity system operator, narrowly beating the previous record set in early January this year. Continue reading...

Critics say plan for third runway runs counter to UK’s legally binding target of net zero emissions by 2050The government faces a legal challenge over its plan to expand Heathrow airport, with lawyers and environmentalists demanding it review its policy in line with its commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050.The Good Law Project, a not-for-profit organisation with a focus on public interest cases including environmentalism and tackling poverty, argues that the government must update its plan for a third runway to take into account the emissions pledge it made following the approval for the airport expansion in June 2018. Continue reading...