Environment | The Guardian

The Lone Star State is aptly named. If you’re not part of the Republican oil elite with Cruz and Abbott, you’re on your ownTexas has long represented a wild west individualism that elevates personal freedom – this week, the freedom to freeze – above all else.Related: Why the cold weather caused huge Texas blackouts – a visual explainer Continue reading...

Selenicereus wittii bloomed in a live stream from Cambridge University’s Botanic Garden on SaturdayA rare Amazonian cactus called the moonflower has bloomed for what botanists believe is the first time in the UK.Experts at Cambridge University’s Botanic Garden kept a night watch throughout the week so that they did not miss the flowering of Selenicereus wittii – an event which usually begins at sunset and is over by sunrise. Continue reading...

Tribes across the US are buying back land lost during and after the colonization period on the open marketMore than six decades after a 1,705-acre patchwork of meadows, wetlands and timberland in southern Oregon was taken from the Klamath Tribes, the Native American community has found its way back to the territory – by way of the real estate market.

Exclusive: Prof Sir Robert Watson says backing of Cumbrian mine refutes claims of climate leadershipOne of the UK’s most eminent environmental scientists has called the government’s failure to block a new coalmine in Cumbria “absolutely ridiculous”.Prof Sir Robert Watson said the UK’s commitment to net zero emissions by 2050 to tackle the climate crisis was “wonderful”, but that there had to be a focus on immediate actions. The UK is hosting a UN climate summit, Cop26, in November and Boris Johnson has pledged to lead a green industrial revolution. Continue reading...

Campaign group Trees Not Cars says victory exposes ‘hypocrisy’ of council’s approach to air pollutionA group of women from Manchester have won a legal battle with the city’s council, which wanted to build a 440-space car park next to the city centre’s only primary school.Campaigners said the victory exposed the “hypocrisy” in the local authority’s approach to addressing air pollution and global heating. Continue reading...

Shannon Stevens was treated with first aid kit after incident in which bear face was seen at at toilet seat levelAn Alaska woman had the scare of a lifetime when using an outhouse in the backcountry and she was attacked by a bear, from below.“I got out there and sat down on the toilet and immediately something bit my butt right as I sat down,” Shannon Stevens told the Associated Press. “I jumped up and I screamed when it happened.” Continue reading...

John Kerry made remark as US officially returned to climate agreement on Friday, 107 days after it left under Donald TrumpThe US has marked its return to the Paris agreement by urging countries to do more to confront the climate crisis, with America’s climate envoy, John Kerry, warning that international talks this year are the “last, best hope” of avoiding catastrophic global heating.On Friday, the US officially returned to the Paris climate accord, 107 days after it left at the behest of former president Donald Trump. Joe Biden moved to reverse this on his first day in office and Kerry conceded that the US is returning “with a lot of humility, for the agony of the last four years”. Continue reading...

Public told to watch what they flush after workers take two weeks to free blockage

Curiosity and sociability among traits found, despite dolphins having evolved separately for millions of yearsDolphins have developed a number of similar personality traits to humans, despite having evolved in vastly different environments, researchers have found.A study, published in the Journal of Comparative Psychology, looked at 134 male and female bottlenose dolphins from eight facilities across the world, with each dolphin’s personality being assessed by staff at the facilities. The results of the study found a convergence of certain personality traits, especially curiosity and sociability. Continue reading...

Both states have faced widespread power outages after failing to plan for extreme weatherWhen California saw widespread power blackouts last year during wildfires and a summer “heat storm”, Republican lawmakers from Texas were quick to deride the coastal state’s energy policies. “California is now unable to perform even basic functions of civilization, like having reliable electricity,” tweeted Senator Ted Cruz during the record-breaking heatwave in August. Continue reading...

UK police services to launch national cycle crime partnership while pushing theft preventionBike theft is a perennial problem – and a pandemic-induced cycling boom inevitably means more targets for thieves.However, last year there was a 16.3% drop in cycle theft, according to police data from Opal (the serious organised crime unit), partly because more people and their cycles were at home. Across the transport network theft dropped by 60%. Perversely, the main exception seems to be thefts from key workers such as hospital staff. Continue reading...

The Line 3 route traverses land that Native American pipeline opponents say is protected by US treaties with Ojibwe nationsDressed in a ribbon skirt and mask, Tara Houska gazed down at the trickling waters of the Mississippi near its headwaters. The great American river that eventually flows into the Gulf of Mexico is just a stream in these parts of northern Minnesota.A pipeline will soon burrow underneath this part of the Mississippi and its surrounding wetlands. It is one of hundreds of water crossings, including wild rice fields, that lie in the path of a new stretch of Line 3, a pipeline bringing nearly 1m barrels of tar sands a day from Alberta, Canada, to Superior, Wisconsin. Continue reading...

World leaders expect Washington to prove commitment to accord after four years of inactionThe US is back in the Paris climate accord, just 107 days after it left.While Friday’s return is heavily symbolic, world leaders say they expect the US to prove its seriousness after four years of being mostly absent. They are especially keen to hear an announcement from Washington in the coming months on the US’s goal for cutting emissions of heat-trapping gases by 2030. Continue reading...

Record low temperatures damaged infrastructure and froze pipes, disrupting services and contaminating supplies for 12 millionMillions of Texans are facing water shortages after the deadly winter storm ravaging the state caused pipes to burst and treatment plants to back up, disrupting services and contaminating supplies.Texas officials ordered 7 million people – a quarter of the population of the nation’s second-largest state – to boil tap water before drinking it following days of record low temperatures that damaged infrastructure and froze pipes. Continue reading...

Rivers are biodiversity hotspots but pollution, dams and invasive species have caused havocRivers in which fish populations have escaped serious damage from human activities make up just 14% of the world’s river basin area, according to the most comprehensive study to date.Scientists found that the biodiversity of more than half of rivers had been profoundly affected, with big fish such as sturgeon replaced by invasive species such as catfish and Asian carp. Pollution, dams, overfishing, farm irrigation and rising temperatures due to the climate crisis are also to blame. Continue reading...

The outages endured by residents result from the state’s political decisions – but all of us need to think more about ensuring resilience

Former Texas governor says winter weather crisis should not be used as an opportunity for Democrats to advance energy policiesRick Perry, the former Texas governor who became Donald Trump’s energy secretary, has said that Texans would willingly endure longer periods of sub-freezing temperatures if it stymied Democrats’ energy policy and efforts to combat the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Morrison government’s inaction is driving away chance to build a new low-emissions economy, industry experts say

From the Komodo’s mouth hang various strands of toxic drool, lightly coated in dust

Edelman Trust Barometer records big gains for attitudes towards government, media and business, but not technologyA new survey has found Australians are more afraid of climate change than catching Covid-19 – and they want government to do something about it.The 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer asked 1,350 Australians questions on a range of topics between October and November 2020. Continue reading...

Six experts say failure to reform climate finance risks undermining trust in Paris agreementTaxes on international transport could provide new flows of finance to developing countries to help them reduce greenhouse gas emissions and cope with the impacts of climate breakdown, a group of climate finance experts have said.Rich countries are failing on their pledge to provide $100bn a year to help poor countries cope with the climate crisis, and the way in which climate finance is organised needs urgent reform, the six academics argue in an article in the journal Nature Climate Change. Continue reading...

UN report offers bedrock for hope for broken planet, says António GuterresHumanity is waging a “senseless and suicidal” war on nature that is causing human suffering and enormous economic losses while accelerating the destruction of life on Earth, the UN secretary-general, António Guterres, has said.Guterres’s starkest warning to date came at the launch of a UN report setting out the triple emergency the world is in: the climate crisis, the devastation of wildlife and nature, and the pollution that causes many millions of early deaths every year. Continue reading...

Increasing land grabs endangering forest communities and wildlife as governments expand mining and agriculture to combat economic impact of Covid

New group has written to Noble Foods near River Wye, where chemical runoffs are said to be causing serious damageThe heads of some of the biggest agricultural suppliers are being targeted in a campaign to stop their activities polluting rivers.River Action, a new group focusing on the state of UK rivers, is launching its first campaign by writing to the chief executive of Noble Foods, one of the biggest egg producers operating around the River Wye, where pollution from increasing numbers of free range poultry farms is said to be seriously damaging the river. Continue reading...

The oil- and gas-rich state is experiencing what officials call a ‘total failure’ of its electricity infrastructureMillions of people in Texas have spent days in below-freezing temperatures without power in what officials have called a “total failure” of the state’s electricity infrastructure. How did oil- and gas-rich Texas – the biggest producer of energy in the US – get here?Related: The Texans facing blackouts and burst pipes: 'Do I wait for the ceiling to cave in?' Continue reading...

Bushy variety of cotoneaster works best in areas of heavy traffic, say researchers, while other plants can cool buildings or reduce floodingBushy, hairy-leafed cotoneaster is a “super plant” that can help soak up pollution on busy roads, horticultural experts have said.Scientists at the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) looked at the effectiveness of hedges for soaking up air pollution, comparing different types of shrubs including cotoneaster, hawthorn and western red cedar. Continue reading...

Government alleges bulk carrier discharged heavy fuel oil into the sea off Santa Cruz islandA bulk carrier ship has deliberately dumped about 1,000 tonnes of oil into the sea off the coast of the Solomon Islands, government authorities have alleged.The Panama-flagged MV Quebec, which was in the Solomons carrying a logging shipment for a Chinese company, is accused of discharging heavy fuel oil into Graciosa Bay in Temotu province in late January. Continue reading...

Analysis: soaring price of copper and nickel raises hopes for investments in clean energyIt is known as a “supercycle” – and there have only been four in the past century. The term defines periods when commodity prices enjoy an extended boom, and this week’s multibillion-dollar windfalls for mining company investors suggest a fifth supercycle is on its way.Indeed, there are signs it may have already begun. In recent weeks the price of iron ore, which is used to make steel, surged by more than 85% to reach highs not seen in almost 10 years. Continue reading...

Proposal is likely to be one of the most contentious fights in the state legislature this yearA new bill introduced in the California state senate on Wednesday would ban all fracking near schools and homes by 1 January 2022 and in the entire state by 2027. Continue reading...

Reef water quality report card gives condition of marine environment a ‘D’ grade relative to earlier reportsA government report card has found the marine environment along the Great Barrier Reef’s coastline remains in poor health, prompting conservationists to call for urgent action ahead of a world heritage committee meeting this year.The reef water quality report card, released on Wednesday, said the health of corals and seagrass meadows in inshore areas had not improved, but water quality was slightly better than previous years. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Ángel Gurría says action on environmental crises must be defining focus of wealthy countries after Covid

Campaign group calls for more testing at Mavrovouni, a temporary facility housing thousands of refugees on the Greek islandThe Greek government is “downplaying” the risks of lead contamination in the refugee camp on Lesbos, according to Human Rights Watch.The group is calling for further comprehensive testing at the Mavrovouni camp after results revealed that one area had particularly high levels of lead contamination. Continue reading...

Ángel Gurría reflects on time at helm as new generation leads institutions with power to influence governments

Local leaders shift from largely lackadaisical approach that allowed polluters to contaminate Black neighborhoods to working with and advocating for Black residents

Multibillion-dollar company DuPont worried about the potential cost of offsetting emissions of a ‘likely human carcinogen’Chemicals giant DuPont decided to sell a plant in south Louisiana that emits a likely cancer causing pollutant, citing “major concerns” that government agencies would regulate its emissions to protect the community living nearby, internal documents seen by the Guardian reveal.The documents show the multibillion-dollar company worried in 2011 about the potential cost of offsetting its emissions of the “likely human carcinogen”, chloroprene, and so moved to sell the plant, the Pontchartrain Works facility. Continue reading...

To reach this conservation goal, the country will have to conserve more than 400m acres of land and waterways in the next 10 yearsIt was an executive order that made waves in environmental circles: after only a week in office, President Joe Biden pledged to preserve 30% of US lands and waters by 2030.The so-called 30 by 30 conservation goal has already met with bipartisan support in Congress, and it aligns with science-based global preservation targets to reach an eventual target of 50% by 2050. Continue reading...

With webbed feet and a tail for a rudder, Asia’s fishing cats face shrinking habitats. But conservation efforts in West Bengal are helping it swim against the tide

The Department of Environment says light pollution and ocean plastics may be to blame for the unprecedented developmentQueensland’s environmental authorities have raised alarm about large numbers of flatback turtle hatchlings that are dying soon after leaving the nest in the waters along the Capricorn coast region of Queensland.The Queensland Department of Environment said it had been finding many hatchlings dead or stranded since the start of hatching season in late January. Continue reading...

EPA warns Forestry Corporation of NSW it could face regulatory action after accusing it of walking away from negotiationsThe Forestry Corporation of New South Wales has signalled it will resume logging in bushfire-affected forests despite warnings from the state’s environmental regulator.The dispute between the state-owned forestry agency and the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has escalated after the Forestry Corporation indicated it would not operate under rules that were set up to protect forests on the state’s south coast after the 2019-20 summer fires. Continue reading...

More Nationals supporting Joyce amendment and Liberal Craig Kelly says he will consider itThe deputy Liberal leader, Josh Frydenberg, has rejected Barnaby Joyce’s call to allow the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to invest in coal in a bid to slap down a growing Nationals revolt.The Morrison government has deferred the looming internal brawl on coal by removing its own bill from the notice paper, but on Wednesday more Nationals came out in support of the Joyce amendment and Liberal Craig Kelly said he would consider it. Continue reading...

Lawmakers and the Murdoch media target wind and solar but grid operator says fossil fuel generators suffered biggest problemsThe electricity outages suffered by millions of Texans amid frigid temperatures sweeping across the United States have been seized upon by conservative commentators presenting a false narrative that renewable power was to blame.“We should never build another wind turbine in Texas,” read a Facebook post on Tuesday by the state’s agriculture commissioner, Sid Miller. “The experiment failed big time.” Continue reading...

World’s biggest investor wants polluting industries to set targets to cut emissions and reach net zeroBlackRock, the world’s biggest investor, has said that oil companies and other polluting industries should disclose their carbon emissions and set targets to cut them, in the latest sign of the rapid reassessment of climate risks by asset managers.All companies in which BlackRock invests will be expected to disclose direct emissions from operations and from energy they buy, known respectively as scope 1 and scope 2 emissions, the investment firm said in a letter outlining its plans. Continue reading...

Environmental audit committee says chancellor must use budget to spur low-carbon growthMinisters should cut VAT on repairs for electrical goods and green home improvements, to help people reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their everyday lives, an influential committee of MPs has urged.Funding for green home grants to install insulation and low-carbon heating, should also be restored to kickstart a “green recovery” in the UK, said the environmental audit committee in a report on how to “grow back better” from the coronavirus crisis. Continue reading...

Former Nationals leader announces he will try to amend his own government’s legislationThe outspoken Liberal backbencher Craig Kelly says he will look at an amendment from Barnaby Joyce that would allow the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to invest in coal.Joyce took Liberals by surprise on Tuesday night by proposing an amendment to the government’s CEFC bill intended to allow for new investment in “high efficiency, low emissions” coal-fired power. Continue reading...

Trade union body says Mathias Cormann would set back fight against poverty and the climate crisisThe TUC has urged the UK foreign secretary to reject the Australian candidate to lead the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), saying it would set back the fight against poverty and the climate crisis.Frances O’Grady, the head of the trade union body, said she was concerned that the UK was preparing to vote in favour of Mathias Cormann, the former Australian finance minister who has a reputation for defending Australia’s mining interests and opposing urgent action on climate change. Continue reading...

Foundation Food Group allegedly asked workers to sign blank sheets of paper, and impeded compensation and healthcare claimsMeat plant workers who were injured and displaced after a fatal accident in the US last month are alleged to have been intimidated and offered limited medical care.A liquid nitrogen leak at a Foundation Food Group poultry plant in Gainesville, Georgia, killed six people in January and hospitalised at least 11 others.

CSIRO-led research estimates 100 entire populations were burnt and another 816 had more than half their area burntMore than 100 plant species had their entire populations burned in the Black Summer bushfires, according to the most detailed study yet of the impact on Australia’s plants.An estimated 816 species had at least half the areas they grow burned, according to estimates in the study, and some ecosystems are now at risk of “regeneration failure”. Continue reading...

Anton Hofreiter says homes an unsustainable option because they use too much space and energy

Fires used by just 8% of population but cause triple the particle pollution of traffic, data showsDomestic wood burning has become the single biggest source of small particle air pollution in the UK, producing three times more than road traffic, government data shows.Just 8% of the population cause this pollution by burning wood indoors, according to a separate government-commissioned report. It found almost half of those burning indoors were affluent and many chose a fire for aesthetic reasons, rather than heat. Continue reading...