Environment | The Guardian

Indonesia’s capital Jakarta – plagued by pollution, flooding and heatwaves – tops risk assessment rankingOf the 100 cities worldwide most vulnerable to environmental hazards all but one are in Asia, and 80% are in India or China, according to a risk assessment.More than 400 large cities with a total population of 1.5 billion are at “high” or “extreme” risk because of a mix of life-shortening pollution, dwindling water supplies, deadly heatwaves, natural disasters and the climate emergency, the report found. Continue reading...

Officials on Vancouver Island say at least 100 trees have been illegally cut down, leaving one stump with a face carved into itTwo tree stumps signaled to Larry Pynn that something was wrong.Jutting from a mossy forest floor in western Canada, the fresh stumps were the final remnants of two western red cedars that had been chopped down by chainsaw. Nearby, a set of deep tire tracks ran for nearly a kilometer in the mud before terminating at the main road. Continue reading...

NSW government lodges emergency request to deploy powerful bait currently outlawed for use in fieldsLeading rodent experts say they “aren’t convinced” a new poison spruiked by the New South Wales government as “napalm” for mice will significantly impact the state’s plague, and warn it comes at a vastly higher risk of killing native and domestic animals.Rodents are still running rampant across large tracts of inland NSW and southern Queensland, costing some farmers more than $100,000 in destroyed crops and damage to stored hay and grain. Cases of leptospirosis – a potentially deadly disease that can transfer from mice to humans – have almost doubled in Queensland this year, with health authorities citing the increased rodent numbers as a possible cause. Continue reading...

Toxic chemicals known as PFAS found in all 50 samples tested at levels nearly 2,000 times what is considered safe in drinking waterA new study that checked American women’s breast milk for PFAS contamination detected the toxic chemical in all 50 samples tested, and at levels nearly 2,000 times higher than the level some public health advocates advise is safe for drinking water.The findings “are cause for concern” and highlight a potential threat to newborns’ health, the study’s authors say. Continue reading...

London Wetlands Centre to run courses focusing on wildlife beauty as therapy to help alleviate depression and anxietyHundreds of people experiencing poor mental health will be introduced to the natural beauty of wetlands under a “blue prescribing” scheme.There is increasing evidence of the benefits of nature for mental health and wellbeing. A recent pilot wetlands project showed that people diagnosed with anxiety or depression moved up a clinical mental health grade, from below average to average. Continue reading...

Coalition will spend $5.4m creating havens in area more than twice size of Great Barrier Reef marine parkAustralia is adding an area of the Indian Ocean bigger than France to its network of marine parks in an attempt to keep out international fishing boats and promote scientific discovery in two biodiversity hotspots.The Morrison government announced $5.4m would be spent to create two marine parks around Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands covering 740,000 sq km – a huge expanse of ocean almost as large as the state of New South Wales. Continue reading...

DuPont and Daikin, manufacturers of ‘short chain’ PFAS, did not inform regulator about the FDA negative results of tests on animalsChemical giants DuPont and Daikin knew the dangers of a PFAS compound widely used in food packaging since 2010, but hid them from the public and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), company studies obtained by the Guardian reveal.The chemicals, called 6:2 FTOH, are now linked to a range of serious health issues, and Americans are still being exposed to them in greaseproof pizza boxes, carryout containers, fast-food wrappers, and paperboard packaging. Continue reading...

Addressing the climate crisis will be the greatest undertaking in the history of humankind. We have to give it all we haveJoe Biden wants to cut US emissions in half from their 2005 levels. However, since emissions have been slowly declining since then, this amounts to only a 37% drop from 2020 levels.That, in a nutshell, is the issue. Our leaders are adhering to a template that doesn’t meet the urgency of the moment. The US is not even the world’s largest emitter any more, and China – the biggest polluter – seeks to build more coal-fired power plants, failing to reach carbon neutrality until 2060. Unfortunately, that is a perfect illustration of just how disconnected we are from the gravity of the situation. Continue reading...

Fed by myths, fairytales and Disney, America’s demonization of wolves has been going on for centuries, and continues full throttleNothing embodies wildness like wolves, our four-legged shadow, the dogs that long ago refused our campfire and today prefer freedom and risk over the soft sofa and short leash. The dogs that howl more than bark, add music to the land, and – if left alone to work their magic – make entire ecosystems healthy and whole.Related: Idaho bill seeks to kill more than 1,000 wolves Continue reading...

The New River Gorge in West Virginia offers stunning views, rock climbing and rafting but some worry it is unprepared for an influx of visitorsThe New River has spent millions of years carving a bucolic gorge in West Virginia. It is now home to one of the most biodiverse forests on the continent. And while humans have tracked prey along its jagged cliffs for thousands of years, now most people come to the gorge to find adventure.Related: How to plan your 2021 trip to a US national park Continue reading...

Licences given to arms firm Lockheed Martin said to go against government’s stance on exploiting seabedDeep-sea mining exploration licences granted by the British government are “riddled with inaccuracies”, and could even be unlawful, according to Greenpeace and Blue Marine Foundation, a conservation charity.The licences, granted a decade ago to UK Seabed Resources, a subsidiary of the US arms multinational Lockheed Martin, have only recently been disclosed by the company. Continue reading...

The Pacific footballfish, which was featured in Pixar’s Finding Nemo, was found in perfectly preserved conditionWith its mouth agape – revealing a set of pointy black teeth – and a large protruding appendage surrounded by a series of tentacles, the sea creature resembled something out of a horror film. But, the 18in-wide fish, which somehow found its way from the depths of the Pacific to the shores of Newport Beach last Friday, is very real. It’s just a rare find.One of the roughly 300 species of anglerfish found around the world (perhaps best known as the one with fangs and the lightbulb-like antennae dangling from its head that appeared in Pixar’s Finding Nemo) the Pacific footballfish was spotted at Crystal Cove state park by a beachgoer, Ben Estes. The specimen was all the more surprising because of its perfectly preserved condition. Continue reading...

Set of government measures will include halting most live animal exports and a ban on hunting trophy importsAnimals are to be formally recognised as sentient beings in UK law for the first time, in a victory for animal welfare campaigners, as the government set out a suite of animal welfare measures including halting most live animal exports and banning the import of hunting trophies.The reforms will be introduced through a series of bills, including an animal sentience bill, and will cover farm animals and pets in the UK, and include protections for animals abroad, through bans on ivory and shark fins, and a potential ban on foie gras. Continue reading...

Survey of 800 cities around world finds almost 43% do not even have plan to adapt to impacts of global heatingOne in four cities around the world lack the money to protect themselves against the ravages of climate breakdown, even though more than 90% are facing serious risks, according to research.Cities are facing problems with flooding, overheating, water shortages, and damage to their infrastructure from extreme weather, which is growing more frequent as the climate changes. A survey of 800 cities, carried out by the Carbon Disclosure Project, found that last year about 43% of them, representing a combined population of 400 million people, did not have a plan to adapt to the climate crisis. Continue reading...

First complete assessment of how UK nature-based solutions can combat the climate and biodiversity crises released ahead of crucial environment summitsRegenerating native woodland, restoring grassland and rewetting peatland must be priorities when tackling the “two defining crises of our age”, according to the first complete assessment of how UK nature-based solutions can combat the climate and biodiversity crises.More than 100 ecologists examined how all kinds of landscapes – from urban to agricultural to coastal – could be enhanced to maximise carbon retention, biodiversity and human wellbeing. These nature-based solutions (NbS) must be implemented at scale to reap benefits, according to the 190-page peer-reviewed report, published by the British Ecological Society. Continue reading...

They are benevolent vegetarian gods. They watch over, through shielded eyes, the very few animals that have a fringe.William Topaz McGonagall, the “worst poet in the history of the English language”, is responsible for some of my mother’s favourite words in the world to say. She delivers them in a decent-enough Scottish accent, and she does so whenever the opportunity presents itself: “On yonder hill there stood a coo / It’s no’ there noo / It must’a shif’ted”. When I hear this rhyme I picture a Scottish highland cow, its coat waving in the icy flaff.

The 84-turbine site off Massachusetts will be capable of generating power for 400,000 homes and businessesJoe Biden’s administration has approved the construction of the US’s first large-scale offshore windfarm, with 84 turbines to be erected off the coast of Massachusetts.The approval of the project, which will generate about 800 megawatts of energy, enough to power around 400,000 homes and businesses, is a boost to Biden’s agenda of ramping up renewable energy production across the US in order to confront the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Great Eastern Brood set to emerge in the last two weeks of May and into early June, with hordes of bugs to push up from undergroundBrood X, otherwise known as the great cicada hatching of 2021, is drawing closer as soil temperatures in some parts of America move closer to 64F (18C) – the trigger, according to scientists, for trillions of the insects to push up to the surface and into the trees to mate.Related: If we want to save the planet, the future of food is insects Continue reading...

Nearly 59m hectares of forests have regrown since 2000, showing that regeneration in some places is paying offAn area of forest the size of France has regrown around the world over the past 20 years, showing that regeneration in some places is paying off, a new analysis has found.Nearly 59m hectares of forests have regrown since 2000, the research found, providing the potential to soak up and store 5.9 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide – more than the annual emissions of the entire US. Continue reading...

For miles around Walleys Quarry in Silverdale, people have reported waking up in the night struggling to breatheIt may have been labelled the country’s smelliest village but it is much more than a bad stench from the local landfill making life miserable for the residents of Silverdale in Staffordshire, who have now started crowdfunding for potential legal action against the site.For miles around Walleys Quarry landfill near Newcastle-under-Lyme, people have reported waking up in the middle of the night struggling to breathe, with itchy eyes and sore throats. Those with asthma have had their medication increased, and some have reported nosebleeds. Continue reading...

Posters demand ‘red card’ for football club’s sponsor as hoax website ‘announces’ end of UK bank’s support for coalMore than 50 billboards and bus stop adverts drawing attention to the Liverpool FC sponsor Standard Chartered’s links to the fossil fuel industry have appeared across the city, as a number of activist groups targeted the bank ahead of its annual general meeting on Wednesday.One poster design installed outside Anfield, featuring the Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp and player Mohamed Salah, reads: “Give Standard Chartered the red card.” Continue reading...

Cornwall attraction unveils plan for new feature close to rainforest biome as it prepares to reopen

Val d’Aran regional government in Spain believes there are ‘several indications’ animal is responsible

The real threat to our way of life – and Saturday night steak – is an oligopoly food system that teetered close to collapse last spring when its workers were overcome by CovidFirst President Obama was coming for your guns. Didn’t happen. Then President Trump said the socialists were going to take away our energy. The lights are on after 100 days, although it got dicey in Texas for awhile (and no, wind turbines didn’t cause the ice storm).But whoa, Nellie! We hear a Hamburglar will steal your right to beef before you can say “pass the ketchup”. Continue reading...

While the governor says the line is a ‘ticking timebomb’, the company says Line 5 has never experienced a leakThe state of Michigan has told a Canadian energy company it must shut down a controversial oil and gas pipeline by Wednesday amid growing fears that a spill would be catastrophic to the region, in a feud which threatens to strain relations between Canada and the United States.The company’s refusal to comply with the order, and swift support from top Canadian officials, highlights the politicized nature of pipelines, which campaigners have used as a target in the fight against climate change. Continue reading...

Funding soared in 2020, while study shows 80% of people are open to eating meat grown in bioreactorsThe nascent industry growing real meat in bioreactors had a record-breaking year in 2020, with investment growing sixfold and dozens of new companies being founded.A study also indicates that 80% of people in the UK and US are open to eating meat produced in a factory rather than a field, with the researchers concluding that cultivated meat is likely to be widely accepted by the general public. Continue reading...

Residents of Hangzhou warned to stay indoors as search continues for leopard escaped from safari parkResidents in a Chinese city were told to stay indoors as authorities released flocks of chickens as bait to track down a leopard that escaped from a safari park, state media have reported.The leafy lakeside city of Hangzhou has been on edge since late last week, when residents began spotting leopards roaming around local hills covered in forest and tea plantations. Continue reading...

New wind and solar power projects in China, Europe and the US spurred 45% rise in capacityThe world’s renewable energy industry grew at its fastest pace since 1999 last year, despite the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, and may have established a standard for growth in the future, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).The global energy watchdog revealed that the delivery of renewable energy projects, including windfarms and solar power projects, grew by 45% last year in a step change for the global industry. Continue reading...

Majority of counties now under emergency declaration as California faces extensive dry spell and dwindling water supplyCalifornia has expanded a drought emergency declaration to a large swath of the nation’s most populated state amid “acute water supply shortages” in northern and central parts of California.The declaration, expanded by Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday, now includes 41 of 58 counties, covering 30% of California’s nearly 40 million people. The US drought monitor shows most of the state and the American west is in extensive drought just a few years after California emerged from a punishing multiyear dry spell. Continue reading...

Minke whale made it as far as Teddington, south-west London, but rescue teams were unable to save itAs crowds gathered along the banks of the Thames around Teddington weir to catch a glimpse of the little whale that had lost its way upriver, the mood gradually became tinged with sadness at the realisation that the baby minke would probably never make it back out to sea.The calf had first got stranded on Richmond lock’s boat rollers on Sunday evening. It was finally freed by rescue teams around 1am but wriggled free from the inflatable rescue raft and went missing, before being spotted again in Teddington late on Monday morning. Continue reading...

Tim Crosland had claimed he had no choice but to protest against ‘deep immorality’ of backing third runwayEnvironmental lawyer Tim Crosland has been fined £5,000 for criminal contempt of court after deliberately making public a supreme court ruling related to Heathrow airport before the result was officially announced. The judges could have jailed him for two years.The supreme court had ruled that a planned third runway at Heathrow was legal. The runway is highly controversial, with opponents arguing that the increased carbon dioxide emissions it would cause are incompatible with the UK’s obligations to fight the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Condition of mammal is deteriorating, says rescue service coordinator, with ‘refloat’ unlikely

Welcome to our monthly roundup of the biggest issues in farming and food production, with must-read reports from around the webNew Zealand will end the export of livestock by sea over the next two years, officials have announced. It comes after a ship bound for China last year capsized, killing nearly 6,000 cows and 41 of 43 crew members. Continue reading...

Disc drives, circuit boards, fluorescent lamps and batteries for electric vehicles could be among affected productsRare elements such as indium, yttrium, neodymium, cobalt and lithium are vital for the production of low-carbon technology, but many are being thrown away because of the lack of a requirement to recycle them, industry experts have warned.Concern is growing over the future supply of such elements, as the switch to green technology – including electric vehicles, solar panels and low-carbon heating – will require far greater volumes of rare earths and other critical raw materials. Continue reading...

In letter to ministers, groups say aviation strategy needed after sector included in binding climate targetsThe UK government must suspend all airport expansion plans until it sets out how they fit with its legally binding climate targets and the advice of its own experts, campaigners have warned.In a letter to ministers, groups opposing planned expansions at eight airports around the country say the government’s recent decision to include aviation in its binding climate targets mean the expansion plans must be halted. Continue reading...

VicForests won appeal even though federal court upheld finding its activities threatened greater glider and Leadbeater’s possumA Victorian government forestry agency has won an appeal against a landmark court judgment that found it had repeatedly breached conservation regulations during its logging of the state’s central highlands.The full bench of the federal court on Monday overturned a judgment that last year found VicForests had breached a code of practice related to a regional forestry agreement between the federal and state governments, and had therefore lost its right to be exempt from national environment laws. Continue reading...

People eating termites and clay as UN says acute malnutrition has almost doubled this year in southMadagascar’s worst drought in 40 years has left more than a million people facing a year of desperate food shortages.The south of the island will produce less than half its usual harvest in the coming months because of low rains, prolonging a hunger crisis already affecting half the Grand Sud area’s population, the UN estimates. Continue reading...

BloombergNEF forecasts result of falling cost of making batteries as well as dedicated production linesElectric cars and vans will be cheaper to produce than conventional, fossil fuel-powered vehicles by 2027, and tighter emissions regulations could put them in pole position to dominate all new car sales by the middle of the next decade, research has found.By 2026, larger vehicles such as electric sedans and SUVs will be as cheap to produce as petrol and diesel models, according to forecasts from BloombergNEF, with small cars reaching the threshold the following year. Continue reading...

FOI documents show Walker Corporation assured an international environment group it would do no harm to the protected site while lobbying the Coalition with plans to build on itA property developer has been accused of misleading an international environment body about the true nature of its plans for an apartment and retail complex at the Ramsar-listed Moreton Bay wetlands in Queensland, after new documents shed more light on its lobbying efforts.The Guardian has obtained notes under freedom of information from a September 2017 meeting in Switzerland between Walker Corporation and the secretary general of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, Martha Rojas-Urrego. Continue reading...

Australian Conservation Foundation calls for reform to tackle Australia’s declining environment funding ahead of this year’s budget

The industry bemoans benefits, but workers don’t want jobs where pay is low and risks high, say Saru Jayaraman, president of One Fair Wage, and author Mark BittmanAmong the things Americans say they’re looking forward to most when pandemic-related restrictions ends is “having dinner in a restaurant with friends”. But if the restaurant industry doesn’t support higher wages, there will be fewer restaurants for customers to return to.There is an unprecedented shortage of job applicants for restaurant jobs. In a new survey this week by One Fair Wage of more than 2,800 workers, more than half (53%) reported that they are thinking about leaving restaurants. More than three-quarters of workers surveyed (76%) said they are leaving restaurants because of low wages and tips – by far the most important reason for leaving – and a slightly higher percentage (78%) said that the factor that would make them stay in restaurants is a “full, stable, livable wage”. Continue reading...

Republicans and Democrats are introducing bills to push against Biden’s new restrictions on oil and gas companiesJust south of Oil City, where Louisiana representative Danny McCormick is from, is the predominantly Black city of Shreveport. Residents there breathe some of the most toxic air in the country. Oil refineries owned by UOP and Calumet contribute to the town’s toxic emissions, according to the EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory.But McCormick, a Republican, introduced a bill at the Louisiana capitol last week that would protect oil companies and not residents in his district who have to breathe in that air. The bill would establish Louisiana as a “fossil fuel sanctuary state” and ban local and state employees from enforcing federal laws and regulations that negatively impact petrochemical companies. Continue reading...

Taps are now shut off two days a week, and worse is to come unless action is taken on climate crisisTaiwan’s Sun Moon Lake is so low that parts of it have dried and turned to grass. Jetties that normally float are sprawled awkwardly on dry land, and tour boats are crowded at the tail ends of pontoons still in the water.Usually one of the island’s most famous tourist destinations, the lake has recently become a star of a different kind. Following the worst drought in 56 years, it is now famous for all the wrong reasons. These days, Instagram influencers photograph themselves posing in a dust-coloured, dinghy half-buried in a cracked and cratered lakebed. Continue reading...

In a little-known region that calls to mind Tolkien’s Middle-earth, photojournalist Augusto Gomes marvels at one of the oldest, harshest, most biodiverse – and most threatened – ecosystems on the planetWhen I was a child, my family would drive three hours from our home in Belo Horizonte to visit my grandfather’s ranch near the town of Santana dos Montes. On the way, we would cross the Espinhaço mountain range, which runs north to south in the central-eastern portion of Brazil.Espinhaço means “spine” in Portuguese, and the name could not be more apt. The range spans 1,200km (750 miles), its bony peaks reach as high as 2km, and the thriving, humid Atlantic Forest drops away to the east, foggy and dense with evergreens, ferns, mosses and bromeliads, the air bursting with the strange songs of birds you never see. On the west side of the mountains, the arid, savannah-like Cerrado stretches flat and exposed, with golden grasslands and small, twisted trees. Continue reading...

There are more than 70 ‘food forests’ in the US as part of a growing movement to tackle food insecurity and promote urban agricultureAmerica’s biggest “food forest” is just a short drive from the world’s busiest airport, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson, but there is a relative calm as you wander through the gravel paths that weave through its fertile 7.1 acres (2.8 hectares).When the Guardian visits the Urban Food Forest at Browns Mill there are around a dozen volunteers working on a warm morning. Among them are a mother and son clearing weeds from a secluded area soon to become a yoga and meditation space. “I wanted to help,” Rina Saborio said. “I thought it was a really cool opportunity for the community.” Continue reading...

Energy giant objects to use of its logo on posters and online advertising that use phrases like ‘generating pollution for generations’Energy giant AGL has launched legal action against Greenpeace Australia Pacific over a campaign that targets the company as Australia’s biggest corporate greenhouse gas emitter.It comes after the environment group launched a report and campaign with posters and online advertising that feature AGL’s logo and phrases such as “generating pollution for generations” and “Still Australia’s biggest climate polluter”. Continue reading...

Comparethemarket.com analysis shows electric car drivers were charged an average of £566The average cost of insuring an electric car in the UK is £45 less than the cost of covering a petrol or diesel car, according to research from the website Comparethemarket.com.Analysis of annual premiums in the first three months of the year showed electric car drivers were charged an average of £566, while petrol and diesel drivers paid £611. Continue reading...

Mark Dreyfus says corruption watchdog needed to investigate government buying $30m in offsets related to new airportLabor has strengthened its call for a national integrity commission, saying it is needed to investigate the Morrison government’s purchase of more than $30m in environmental offsets related to the development of the western Sydney airport.The shadow attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, made the call after the New South Wales transport department referred its purchases of $50.6m in offsets from the same western Sydney properties to the state’s Independent Commission Against Corruption for investigation. Continue reading...

State lawmakers agree on $400m measure to expand ‘wildlife corridors’ in effort to help panthers and other endangered speciesIn a political culture where bipartisan legislation is a rare species, lawmakers in one state have come together to agree major new conservation efforts that will help that other endangered animal – the Florida panther.The big cat, whose habitat has a history of being swallowed up and its numbers hunted by humans, is expected to benefit from a $400m cash boost. Continue reading...

Republican governor says measure sends message that Wyoming is ‘prepared to bring litigation to protect her interests’Wyoming is faced by a transition to renewable energy that’s gathering pace across America, but it has now come up with a novel and controversial plan to protect its mining industry – sue other states that refuse to take its coal.A new state law has created a $1.2m fund to be used by Wyoming’s governor to take legal action against other states that opt to power themselves with clean energy such as solar and wind, in order to meet targets to tackle the climate crisis, rather than burn Wyoming’s coal. Continue reading...