Environment | The Guardian

Environmental campaigners raise concerns over sustainability of some eco-friendly itemsDisposable nappies, cotton buds , pet food and novelty Donald Trump toilet paper were among the products on sale on Amazon’s new eco-friendly section of its website, prompting concerns about the sustainability of some of the products on offer.The world’s biggest online retailer launched the new section of the website on Tuesday in the UK and Europe with more than 40,000 items on the new platform chosen for their sustainability credentials. Continue reading...

St Augustine, Florida, was founded in 1565 by Spanish explorers. Flooding has been a threat for centuries and is worsening with rising tidesThe holiday season in St Augustine, Florida, is approaching, and residents are looking ahead to the annual Nights of Lights festival – a months-long tradition that sees millions of white lights strung along every corner of the city’s historic downtown.But an old enemy is rearing its head: the sea. Increasingly, residents have to wear rain boots just to get to their cars and plan their commutes to avoid roads that are flooded with salty sea water. Continue reading...

The detached reef, taller than the Empire State Building, was discovered at the northern end of the Great Barrier Reef off Cape York in QueenslandAustralian scientists have discovered a detached reef more than 500 metres high – taller than the Empire State Building – at the northern end of the Great Barrier Reef.The “blade-like” vertical reef about 130km off Cape York, Australia’s north-eastern tip, was found during a 3D seabed mapping exercise conducted from a ship owned by the Californian non-profit Schmidt Ocean Institute. Continue reading...

As a new report spells out how financial institutions contribute to biodiversity loss, the clamour is growing for a new approach

South Korea relies on coal for about 40% of its electricity generation, with renewables making up less than 6%South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in, has declared that the country will go carbon neutral by 2050, bringing it into line with other major economies.In a policy speech in the national assembly on Wednesday, Moon said South Korea, one of the world’s most fossil fuel-reliant economies, would “actively respond” to the climate emergency “with the international community and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050”. Continue reading...

Billion-dollar export trade puts lives of animals and crew at greater risk of ‘total loss’ through faulty design and inexperienceShips carrying live animals are at least twice as likely to suffer a “total loss” from sinking or grounding as standard cargo vessels, the Guardian has found.In the past year alone there have been two disasters involving animals in transit. Last November, at least 14,000 sheep drowned after the Queen Hind capsized en route to Saudi Arabia from Romania. And last month, Gulf Livestock 1, a carrier transporting almost 6,000 cattle, sank off the Japanese coast en route to China from New Zealand. Forty crew members remain missing and are presumed dead. Continue reading...

Exclusive: investigator’s affidavit shows he surveilled and followed anti-Adani activist Ben Pennings’ wife and daughterA private investigator working for Adani took covert photographs of an environmental activist walking his nine-year-old daughter to primary school, court documents have revealed.The affidavit of the investigator – who was instructed by lawyers representing Adani in its civil case against activist Ben Pennings – also revealed he surveilled Pennings’ wife, trawled her Facebook page and followed her to work. Continue reading...

Intervention by ‘economically rational Liberal’ comes as Anthony Albanese hedges on 2030 emissions targets

UK record of conversation stresses ‘ambitious targets to cut emissions and reach net zero’, but account released by Australian PM’s office does not mention the targetScott Morrison has declared the British government understands that Australia’s mid century emissions reduction targets will not be set by London or by Europe, because Boris Johnson embarked on his own act of “sovereignty” by withdrawing the UK from the European Union.The Australian PM’s comments followed the release of official readouts – with different emphases – after a conversation about climate change between the two leaders on Tuesday night. Continue reading...

Joint study conducted finds that fish fed a diet including plastic were more likely to be eaten themselvesMicroplastics can alter the behaviour of fish, with those that ingest the pollutants likely to be bolder, more active and swim in risky areas where they die en masse, according to a new study.The survival risk posed by microplastics is also exacerbated by degrading coral reefs, as dying corals make particularly younger fish more desperate to find nutrition and shelter, and to venture into waters where they are more likely to be taken by predators themselves. Continue reading...

Lack of policies regulating impact on natural world means finance industry effectively bankrolling biodiversity loss, analysis finds

Climate of the Nation report finds 80% think heating effects are now being felt and only 12% back government’s ‘gas-led recovery’Battling a global pandemic and the first recession in 30 years has not prompted Australians to worry less about the impacts of climate change, and a substantial majority of voters believe we are already experiencing the effects of warming, according to an authoritative snapshot of community attitudes.The latest Climate of the Nation report, an annual national survey of almost 2,000 voters that has been running for 13 years, will be launched on Wednesday by the New South Wales environment and energy minister, Matt Kean. Continue reading...

A conservation group commissioned ex-ABC journalist Jonathan Holmes to investigate if political pressure was a factorHolmes: Relevance doesn’t mean telling people what they want to hearThe ABC’s 7.30 and AM programs did not cover climate change adequately and related reports on drought, bushfire, fossil fuel extraction, and energy policy ignored climate change as a causative factor, a confidential report for the Australian Conservation Foundation has found.The ACF commissioned the former Media Watch host Jonathan Holmes to study the programs’ output for 15 months, between 1 October 2017 and 31 December 2018, to find out if criticism of the ABC’s coverage was valid and if he could detect a deliberate avoidance of the issues due to political pressure. Continue reading...

Analysis shows Australia’s industrial greenhouse gas emissions are projected to increase by 77% between 2005 and 2030Australia’s skyrocketing industrial greenhouse gas emissions are projected to increase by 77% between 2005 and 2030, the period over which the Coalition has promised to cut national carbon pollution.RepuTex, an energy and climate change analyst firm, examined government data and found total emissions from the 200 largest industrial emitters – including mines, oil and gas production, manufacturers and waste facilities – was forecast to keep rising for at least another decade. Continue reading...

Barrett and five other conservative justices will wield considerable influence on climate change policyThe supreme court is shifting right, at a pivotal moment when it could have the last word on how much the US contributes to battling the climate crisis.Amy Coney Barrett’s addition to the court could leave an indelible mark on how fiercely the US, and perhaps the rest of the world, can fight rising temperatures, even as scientists warn society has just years to take serious action. Continue reading...

Poor quality of used vehicles exported from the US, Europe and Japan are hindering efforts to mitigate climate breakdown, says UNMillions of used motor vehicles exported from the US, Europe and Japan to developing countries are of poor quality and are contributing significantly to air pollution, according a new UN report.About 80% of the 14m used light-duty vehicles – saloon cars, SUVs and minibuses – exported between 2015 and 2018 went to low and middle-income countries. About 40% went to Africa, found the report, published by the UN Environment Programme (Unep). Continue reading...

Climate change is eroding beaches all over the Caribbean – even though the region contributes a tiny fraction of the emissions heating the planetSunbathing mothers keep an anxious eye out for children enjoying horseback rides, as groups of young men engage in energetic games of beach football and cricket. Further along, a boombox blasts as the smell of fresh fish wafts across the shoreline.For years, this was the scene at the Hellshire Beach in Portmore, St Catherine, on a public holiday or weekend when Jamaicans and visitors alike would flock to one of the island’s most popular beaches. Today, however, parents no longer bring their children. The horses, along with most of the beachline, have long disappeared and the few visitors who come to Aunt Merl’s or Prendy’s on the Beach – two of the few remaining seafood restaurants left standing – are confined to the benches inside. Continue reading...

Conservationists accuse Sussan Ley of choosing ‘rocks over koalas’ after she approved 52 hectares of habitat destruction to expand Brandy Hill quarryMore than 50 hectares of koala habitat in the New South Wales town of Port Stephens is set to be cleared after the federal environment minister, Sussan Ley, approved the expansion of a quarry.The minister, whose decision comes as the government considers the koala for an official endangered listing, said on Tuesday the department’s assessment found the development would “not rob the area of critical koala habitat”. Continue reading...

Legal observers among those arrested as Indigenous Australians express outrage after Djab Wurrung directions tree felledThe Victorian government has cut down a tree that was culturally significant to Australia’s Indigenous Djab Wurrung women to make way for a highway in the state’s west.The yellow box, known as a directions tree, was felled on Monday. The government has defended its actions, saying the tree was not one of those listed as requiring protection in an agreement with the Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation, and was not the sacred directions tree that is now subject to a federal court action. Continue reading...

17m tonnes of carbon dioxide to be stored beneath the North Sea every yearAfter decades spent extracting fossil fuels from the UK’s North Sea, a consortium of oil companies is preparing to pump Britain’s greenhouse gas emissions back beneath the seabed to help meet the government’s climate ambitions.BP has set out plans to lead an alliance of energy companies in siphoning off the carbon dioxide from factory flues under new plans in which almost half the UK’s industrial emissions will be stored beneath the North Sea from 2026. Continue reading...

Labor and the Greens accuse the Morrison government of failing to deliver on its recycling and waste commitmentsA $100m scheme to fund the manufacturing of products from recycled plastics and paper has not used any of its funding, nor supported any initiatives, since it was unveiled by the Morrison government ahead of the 2019 election.Labor has accused the government of failing to deliver on its recycling and waste commitments after Senate estimates last week heard leaders in charge of the Recycling Investment Fund (Rif) “haven’t entered into any transactions at this point”. Continue reading...

The Morrison government is urged to prepare for a shift in the global economy as major trading partners move to cut emissionsA pledge by Japan to cut its greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 underscores the risk facing Australia if it fails to prepare for the inevitable shift in the global economy and falling demand for fossil fuels, analysts say.The new Japanese prime minister, Yoshihide Suga announced the target in his first policy speech to national parliament since taking office last month. He said responding to the climate crisis was no longer a constraint on growth, and proactive measures to change the country’s industrial structure would expand the economy. Continue reading...

Humanity is said to have just 10 years left to start seriously tackling the climate crisis before passing the 'point of no return' with multiple-degree temperature increases, rising sea levels and increasingly disastrous wildfires, hurricanes, floods and droughts predicted.Scientists say the US is far off the path of what is necessary for the nation and the world to avoid catastrophic global heating, particularly as in the past four years Donald Trump has shredded environmental protections for American lands, animals and people.

Mexican photographer Alejandro Prieto has captured the diverse wildlife threatened by Donald Trump’s barrier, winning a number of awards, including the Fritz Pölking prize, with his project Border Wall Continue reading...

Paper suggests climate crisis reducing insects in lowlands and central jungle, as fruit-eaters not affectedBird species are in decline even in the remote parts of the Amazon, far from human interference, a study shows.Scientists have found a sharp decline in nine insect-eating bird species in the lowlands of the central jungle in the space of a few decades. No equivalent decline was found among fruit-eating birds. This, they said, indicated that the climate crisis and its effect on insect populations may be to blame. Continue reading...

Yoshihide Suga says dealing with climate change is no longer a constraint on growth as he sets out a bolder approach to the emergencyJapan’s prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, has said the country will become carbon neutral by 2050, heralding a bolder approach to tackling the climate emergency by the world’s third-biggest economy.“Responding to climate change is no longer a constraint on economic growth,” Suga said on Monday in his first policy address to parliament since taking office. Continue reading...

The two US presidential contenders offer starkly different approaches as the world tries to avoid catastrophic global heatingAmong the myriad reasons world leaders will closely watch the outcome of a fraught US presidential election, the climate crisis looms perhaps largest of all.The international effort to constrain dangerous global heating will hinge, in large part, on which of the dichotomous approaches of Donald Trump or Joe Biden prevails. Continue reading...

Industry urges people not to throw out dead batteries with household rubbish or recycling“Zombie batteries” are causing hundreds of fires a year at waste and recycling sites, industry experts have warned. They are urging people to ensure dead batteries are not thrown away in household rubbish or recycling.Batteries discarded with general waste are likely to be crushed or punctured during collection and processing, according to the Environmental Services Association (Esa). Some types, particularly lithium-ion and nickel-metal hydride batteries, can ignite or explode when damaged and set fire to other materials. In some cases, this leads to incidents requiring dozens of firefighters and the evacuation of residents, potentially putting lives at risk. Continue reading...

After four years of Trump, protected places such as national monuments and wildlife refuges have opened to oil drilling, new maps show – with more on the way Continue reading...

David Nowell thinks Extinction Rebellion should focus on insulating homes, running public transport cooperatives and campaigning for major economic reforms, while Iain Climie says late Arctic ice formation should surprise nobodyThe delayed freeze in the Laptev Sea is consistent with the entire Arctic Ocean, which is set for the slowest recovery in the extent of sea ice this autumn, if the current daily trend continues (Alarm as Arctic sea ice not yet freezing at latest date on record, 22 October). This follows on from this summer having the second lowest minimum since 1979, with the early decades significantly above the annual trends during the last few years.Other feedback mechanisms are now starting to take hold of global heating, as current atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations are well beyond the normal Quaternary levels over the last 800,000 years – usually 170 to 280 parts per million, between ice age maximums and interglacial stages, compared with a still accelerating anthropogenic 410 ppm, coupled with the impact from a significant rise in methane and other warming gases. Continue reading...

State government proposal allows rural landholders to clear up to 25 metres from their fence lineTens of thousands of hectares of bush could be at risk under a New South Wales government proposal to allow rural landholders to clear up to 25 metres of land from their property’s fence line, analysis by WWF-Australia shows.The NSW government announced this month it planned to amend its Rural Fires Act to allow clearing without an approval on rural property boundaries to reduce bushfire risk. Continue reading...

The shift to renewables in SA’s Upper Spencer Gulf has been a social as well as technological process

The Tongass forest sequesters 3m tons of C0 annually, the equivalent of removing 650,000 gas-burning cars off the roads every yearForests are the lungs of the Earth.Around the world, every minute of every day, trees perform magic. They inhale vast amounts of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, and exhale oxygen, the stuff of life. They keep things in balance. And no single forest does this better – contains more living plant life per area, or stores more carbon – than the 17m-acre Tongass national forest in coastal Alaska. Continue reading...

A 20-year project to reintroduce the species across the peninsula has seen their numbers rise to 855Spotty of coat, tufty of ear, and teetering on the verge of extinction less than two decades ago, the Iberian lynx is continuing to claw its way back across Spain and Portugal.According to the latest survey, the lynx population on the peninsula has increased ninefold over 18 years, rising from 94 in 2002 to 855 this year. Experts say that if the current conservation and reintroduction efforts can maintain their momentum, the species could be out of danger by 2040. Continue reading...

Route chosen for £250m dual carriageway around Arundel avoids national park but slices through three villages“It’s like they are torturing us. Each step, it just gets worse.” Gilly McCadden is in tears. She has just learned that the route chosen for the £250m dual carriageway around Arundel in West Sussex will bring four lanes of 70mph traffic within metres of her house and garden.The new route of the A27, bypassing a bypass built in the 1960s, has been planned – and resisted – since the 1980s. Now Highways England has unexpectedly chosen the “grey route” – a longer, more expensive plan that slices through three villages but avoids the South Downs national park. For locals in the village of Binsted who fought previous iterations of the plan for destroying ancient woodlands, it means the proposed road will crash through their gardens and peaceful meadows. Continue reading...

As the climate crisis brings increasingly unpredictable fire seasons, the future of the $43bn industry is uncertainThe Silverado Trail, a two-lane road that weaves through the bucolic hillsides in the heart of California’s wine country, is the quintessential vision of Napa Valley. Home to dozens of wineries, it is a destination within a destination – one that welcomes both vacationing imbibers and oenophiles from around the world.But recently the amber hillsides have been laced with the ashen aftermath of wildfires that have torn through the region, leaving behind charred rubble that is fast becoming as much a part of the landscape as the neatly trussed rows of vines. Continue reading...

Paramedics airlift man to hospital after being bitten on Britomart Reef, a popular spear-fishing locationA man is in a critical condition after being attacked by a shark at the Great Barrier Reef.He was airlifted to Townsville University hospital after being bitten at Britomart Reef around 12.20pm on Sunday, Queensland Ambulance says. Continue reading...

Nest near Canadian border contained an estimated 100 to 200 invasive insects, which crews vacuumed into canistersHeavily protected crews worked in Washington state on Saturday to destroy the first nest of so-called murder hornets discovered in the United States.Related: First US murder hornet nest located in Washington state Continue reading...

The mining giant’s decision to abandon its Olympic Dam mine has raised questions about the government’s ‘opaque’ selection process for major projectsThe collapse of a government-declared priority project at the Olympic Dam mine in South Australia has prompted claims the Morrison government pursued an “opaque” process lacking evidence to select projects.Mining giant BHP abandoned a proposed multibillion-dollar expansion at the mine last week after deciding it did not make economic sense. It came four months after prime minister Scott Morrison declared it a major project of national economic significance that would be fast-tracked. Continue reading...

Using cork to clad an extension – inside and out – was a speedy, sustainable and affordable choice for this family homeWhen Dan Barber and Hat Margolies bought a two-bed Victorian terrace house in 2013, the entire building needed an overhaul. It had leaky pipes, asbestos and rattling windows; and it needed rewiring, new radiators and a new boiler. Wind whistled through the front room floorboards. “The light and proportions made it really special but there were no original features – the fireplaces had long gone,” says Margolies, a photographic agent with an eye for vintage furniture.But the couple saw it as a chance to make their new home, in south London, as eco-friendly as they could: to conserve energy, and recycle and reuse as much as possible. They lived with the house as it was for five years, during which time their second daughter was born, and then employed NimTim architects to transform it on a tight budget. Continue reading...

Barrett previously recused herself from cases because her father worked for Shell but has failed to commit to doing so in futureAmy Coney Barrett is poised to make critical rulings on whether oil and gas companies will be held accountable for the effects of the climate crisis once she is confirmed to the supreme court, even though she has acknowledged in the past that she has a conflict of interest in cases involving Royal Dutch Shell.Related: Trump and Barrett's threat to abortion and LGBTQ rights is simply un-American | Robert Reich Continue reading...

Experts warn of more encounters as animals forced into populated areas to find foodA spate of bear attacks in Japan has prompted calls to improve their natural habitat, as experts warned of more potentially dangerous encounters with the animals as they venture into populated areas in search of food.Japanese media have reported several incidents of “ursine terror” in recent weeks, including an attack in Ishikawa prefecture last weekend that left four people injured, including a man in his 90s and two hunters called to confront the bear. Continue reading...

Climate scientists warn that strong winds, coinciding with low humidity and record-dry vegetation, make for a dangerous mixResidents of northern California are bracing for another weekend of high wildfire risk, as fierce winds expected for Sunday afternoon increase the danger of fresh fires in the bone-dry region.Authorities issued a high wind watch starting Sunday evening until Monday morning for parts of the San Francisco Bay Area, the Santa Clara Valley and Santa Cruz county. The strong winds, coinciding with low humidity and record-dry vegetation, make for a dangerous mix, warned climate scientist Daniel Swain. Continue reading...

Fikile Ntshangase was involved in legal dispute over extension of coalmine in KwaZulu-NatalA South African environmental activist who opposed the extension of a coalmine near her home has been shot dead in her home.Fikile Ntshangase, 65, was involved in a legal dispute over the extension of an opencast mine operated by Tendele Coal near Somkhele, close to Hluhluwe–Imfolozi park, the oldest nature reserve in Africa. Continue reading...

Green groups say agreement will allow emissions to continue to rise in the next decadeGovernments have rejected calls for tougher regulation of international shipping, settling instead for new rules on reducing greenhouse gas emissions that campaigners say will imperil the Paris climate goals.The International Maritime Organization (IMO), the UN body that regulates international shipping, agreed on Friday after a week-long online meeting to make an existing target legally binding: to reduce the carbon intensity of shipping by 40% compared with 2008 levels in the next 10 years. Continue reading...

Conservatives say Biden’s comments likely to lose support from Democratic supporters in oil-producing areasJoe Biden’s promise to “transition” away from the oil industry during Thursday’s presidential debate has caused uproar among conservatives while being praised by environmentalists as being a candid acknowledgment of the scale of the climate crisis.Related: Mitch McConnell says he has no health concerns after photos show bruising Continue reading...

Meat-related words can be used to describe plant-based foods, decides European parliamentPlant-based products that do not contain meat can continue to be labelled “sausages” or “burgers”, European politicians have said, after they rejected a proposal backed by the meat industry to ban the terms.In votes on issues relating to agricultural products, the European parliament said that so-called veggie burgers, soy steaks and vegan sausages can continue to be sold as such in restaurants and shops across the union. Continue reading...

The closing moments of the final presidential debate focused on climate change. Joe Biden stressed the need to expand sources of renewable energy while again disputing Donald Trump’s claim that he intended to ban fracking, which he does not. 'I know more about wind than you do,' Trump retorted, drawing an exasperated laugh from Biden. 'It’s extremely expensive. Kills all the birds'