Environment | The Guardian

Averting catastrophe would be the best business decision to emerge from the economic forum in its 50 years of existence

Company wants to build on 1.6-hectare area of Rotary Wood in Pinewoods forestOne of Britain’s best-known bottled water companies is proposing to extend its bottling plant, which would lead to the loss of huge areas of woodland in a Yorkshire spa town.Harrogate Spring Water wants to expand its operations and build on a 1.6-hectare (four-acre) area of woodland. Continue reading...

In this waking nightmare, the Trump administration has filled the parks department with anti-public land sycophants

Amid mounting threats posed by privatization, energy extraction and climate change, we’re devoting new resources to our public lands journalism

Kamilo Beach, located on Hawaii’s Big Island, has been called one of the most plastic-polluted spots on EarthAn array of plastic crunched underfoot as Mattie Mae Larson walked down Kamilo Beach. Toothbrushes, a plastic broom, a leaking bottle, the back of a TV.Larson used to come to this remote stretch of Hawaiian sand as a child to climb 10ft high mountains of debris, searching for treasures. Continue reading...

Residents had for years been drinking water contaminated by dangerous PFAS chemicals – and the impact has been brutalIn the years before 2017, Sandy Wynn-Stelt and her husband had suspicions about the water they drew from a well on their House Street property in the Michigan town of Belmont. She attributed the bad taste to it being well water, but the “weird film” on their morning coffee was difficult to explain.By June 2017, state officials alerted her that PFAS from a nearby, decades-old dump belonging to Wolverine World Wide, a shoe giant best known for the Hush Puppy brand, had contaminated their well. Continue reading...

Contractors removed potential habitats for bats and butterflies in Buckingham nature reserve to prepare for rail lineTrees were felled and the potential habitats of rare bats and butterflies were destroyed on a nature reserve without permission to make way for HS2, the high-speed rail scheme has admitted.Contractors sealed off public footpaths and removed trees inside Calvert Jubilee nature reserve, in Buckinghamshire, without notifying the landowner, the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT). Work which eradicated habitat where bats could roost was carried out in December, despite the government having ordered that “irreversible” destruction of ancient woodland should be halted unless deemed absolutely necessary while HS2 is under review. Continue reading...

PM says he is disappointed that Australia’s bushfire crisis is being ‘conflated’ with emission reduction targetsScott Morrison has rejected criticism of the Coalition’s climate change policies amid the ongoing bushfire crisis, as a growing number of MPs privately concede that the government needs to do more to match the rising tide of concern over the issue.As firefighters continued to battle out-of-control bushfires across four states on Friday, the prime minister said it was “disappointing” that people were conflating the ongoing fire crisis with Australia’s emission reduction targets. Continue reading...

10 January 1989: As well as cost, Labour’s energy spokesman warns about the risk of nuclear accidents

President said Thursday – while announcing a rollback of environmental regulations – that he plans to read Donald J Trump: An Environmental HeroDonald Trump is going to acquire a book.The book in question, as Gizmodo reported on Thursday, is titled Donald J Trump: An Environmental Hero, by Edward Russo. And the shocking news emerged as the president announced a rollback of environmental regulations at the White House, taking an ax to the environmental review process required for infrastructure projects. The move, which he pitched as a way around “endless delays” to various projects, poses a new threat to the climate and is likely to face legal challenges. Continue reading...

Emily Townsend’s reply-all email to executive chairman calls the company’s coverage ‘irresponsible’ and ‘dangerous’A senior News Corp employee has accused the company of “misinformation” and diverting attention from climate change during the bushfire crisis in an explosive all-staff email addressed to executive chairman Michael Miller.The email accuses News Corp papers, including the Australian, the Daily Telegraph and the Herald Sun, of misrepresenting facts and spreading misinformation to focus on arson as the cause of the bushfires, rather than climate change. Continue reading...

World’s largest investor signs up to Climate Action 100+ after criticism from activistsBlackRock, the world’s largest investor, has joined an influential pressure group calling for the biggest polluters to reduce their emissions, after criticisms that it was undermining action addressing the climate crisis.The US investment firm has signed up to Climate Action 100+, a group of investors managing assets worth more than $35tn (£27tn), that pressures fossil fuel producers and other companies responsible for two-thirds of annual global industrial emissions to show how they will reduce carbon dioxide pollution. Continue reading...

Daniel Pryor of the Adam Smith Institute, David E Hanke, Georgina Ferry and Prof Mick Watson respond to an article by George Monbiot claiming that lab-grown food will end farming and save the planetIt’s encouraging to find agreement across the political divide on the potential of new technologies to combat climate change, reduce animal suffering and supplant massive agricultural subsidies. The Adam Smith Institute recently released a paper on the topic that made many of the same points as George Monbiot (Lab-grown food will end farming – and save the planet, Journal, 8 January).One overlooked benefit of lab-grown food is that it may help the UK tackle the crisis in housing affordability. As farming is superseded by precision fermentation, the significant amount of land currently used for livestock farming (including parts of the green belt) will be freed up for development in places that people actually want to live. Continue reading...

Five species and five subspecies found in Indonesia in the largest discovery of its kind in more than a centuryTen new songbird species and subspecies have been identified on a trio of previously under-explored Indonesian islands in the largest discovery of its kind in more than a century, according to a new study.Hidden away on the remote Wallacean islands of Taliabu, Peleng and Batudaka, close to where British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace independently developed the theory of evolution to Charles Darwin, five new bird species and five subspecies were detected during a six-week expedition to the area, off the coast of Sulawesi. Continue reading...

Plan would help Trump administration advance projects held up over global heating concerns such as the Keystone XL oil pipelineThe Trump administration on Thursday unveiled a plan to speed permitting for major infrastructure projects like oil pipelines, road expansions and bridges.Related: How the oil industry has spent billions to control the climate change conversation Continue reading...

Plan to cover area 1.5 times size of Manchester is part of goal to achieve net zero emissionsThe National Trust is planning to plant 20 million trees over the next decade as part of efforts to achieve net zero emissions by 2030.The organisation made the announcement, which it says will cost £90m-100m, on Thursday to mark its 125th anniversary. Continue reading...

Permanent hair dye increases a black woman’s risk of breast cancer by 45% and the more they’re used, the greater the risk, as products believed to contain more dangerous chemicalsPriscilla Graves is a hairstylist with 15 years’ experience straightening and coloring black women’s hair. She has endured bouts of dizziness, nausea and difficulty breathing from applying potent chemical straighteners, and regularly deals with distraught clients suffering alopecia and painful blisters after using dyes and lotions specifically marketed to African Americans.“I try to find out online what’s in the products, but the government should be doing more to keep us safe and keep dangerous chemicals out of cosmetics,” said Graves, 34, at a salon in Harlem. “There should be clear warnings on the labels, we need more information.” Continue reading...

Detroit’s most vulnerable residents face inequalities like toxic air, lead poisoning, and water shutoffs. Now they’re fighting backGrowing up in southwest Detroit, Vince Martin thought it was normal for the sky to be orange.When he was three years old, his family moved from Cuba to one of the black areas of town. At the time, discriminatory housing practices segregated the city. His Afro-Cuban family settled in the 48217 district, now Michigan’s most polluted zip code, where 71% of the population is black and air pollution makes the sky look like it’s on fire. Continue reading...

100 daily records set around the country in 2019, with experts saying global heating is driving the trendNew Zealand has experienced its fourth-warmest year since records began in 1909, with temperatures between 0.5C and 1.2C higher than annual averages across the country.There were 100 new daily temperature records set at spots around New Zealand. Continue reading...

Activists say Democratic climate proposals won’t be able to pass until lawmakers put a stop to oil companies trying to rebrand themselvesAmerica’s oil companies are trying to rebrand themselves as part of the solution to the climate crisis, launching a campaign to counter top Democrats’ proposals to rapidly cut pollution from the power plants and cars that run on the industry’s petroleum and natural gas.They say natural gas – a fossil fuel that emits heat-trapping carbon dioxide – is helping to slow climate disruption by providing an alternative to coal. Continue reading...

Environment secretary tells farmers WTO rules would allow UK to uphold standardsThe UK could introduce tariffs on imports of food from countries with lower food safety and farming standards than the UK, using World Trade Organization rules, the environment secretary has suggested.“We want to ensure all our food comes from countries that meet our standards,” Theresa Villiers told an audience of farmers on Wednesday. “That is what the powerful tools of the WTO do, they enable us to impose tariffs where we believe products do not meet our high standards.” Continue reading...

The $9.4bn facility, owned by Formosa Plastics, would consist of 14 separate plastic plants in St James parish, known as Cancer AlleyThe state of Louisiana has issued a series of key air quality permits for a gargantuan proposed petrochemical complex that would roughly double toxic emissions in its local area and, according to environmentalists, become one of the largest plastics pollution-causing facilities in the world.The $9.4bn facility, owned by the Taiwanese chemicals firm Formosa Plastics, would consist of 14 separate plastics plants across 2,300 acres of land in St James parish, a largely African American community in the already heavily polluted area in southern Louisiana known as Cancer Alley. Continue reading...

Emergency services minister says it’s ‘reckless and selfish’ to rally when police are busy in bushfire-affected communitiesTwo senior Victorian ministers have endorsed a police call for climate activists to abandon a planned protest on the state’s next high fire danger day.The demonstration has been set down for Friday night in Melbourne’s CBD in response to the bushfires, which have blackened more than 1.2m hectares of Victoria. Continue reading...

Rumors of Middle East war used to inevitably lead to soaring gas prices but fracking revolution has changed the market landscapeFor many older Americans the thought of war in the Middle East will trigger memories of soaring gas prices and long lines at the pumps. But as US relations with Iran sink to a new low there is, as yet, no sign of panic.Related: By killing Qassem Suleimani, Trump has achieved the impossible: uniting Iran | Dina Esfandiary Continue reading...

Donald Trump Jr was among those who retweeted misleading figures published by News Corp

Farmers in delta lowlands are discovering innovative answers to floods and storms

Institutional investors file resolution for AGM of bank to phase out loans to fossil fuel projects or companiesBarclays is being urged to stop offering loans to fossil fuel companies as part of the first ever shareholder climate resolution aimed at a UK bank.A group of 11 pension and investment funds managing more than £130bn worth of assets have filed a resolution calling for Barclays to set clear targets to phase out services to energy companies that fail to align with Paris climate goals. Continue reading...

Volunteers worldwide create shelters for wildlife such as baby marsupials that need pouches to growThe bushfires affecting Australia in recent weeks have sparked a global crafting effort, as thousands of volunteers unite to knit, crochet and sew shelters for animals affected by the crisis.Millions of hectares of land have burned in the bushfires, killing an estimated 1 billion animals. As the death toll climbs, many creatures have been orphaned or left without homes. Continue reading...

Even on a dull December day my local patch yields snatches of song and glimpses of egretsA spare hour at dusk, on the last day of work before Christmas, and after a wet month I took the chance for a walk around my local patch. As often happens here, I saw virtually nothing for the first half of the walk: a few blackbirds chinking along the wooded drive, the rooks in the rookery by the car park.And then, after dusk had fallen, when it was almost too dark to see, it all kicked off. First, two marsh harriers, floating low over the reedbed; then, no fewer than half a dozen great white egrets, each heading purposefully south to roost on the main Avalon Marshes. These elegant birds arrived here from France just a few years ago, enabled by the warming climate to extend their range northwards. Cetti’s warbler, another relatively recent arrival from continental Europe, wren and robin – the three birds that do sing during the winter – all uttered snatches of song. And as darkness fell, the jink and twist and turn of a male sparrowhawk, shooting across the path in front of me before disappearing into the trees. Continue reading...

Kristalina Georgieva calls for rethink of economic policies to better help those left behindRaising income tax on the wealthy will help close the growing gap between rich and poor and can be done without harming growth, the head of the International Monetary Fund has said.Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF’s managing director, said higher marginal tax rates for the better off were needed as part of a policy rethink to tackle inequality. Continue reading...

Stephanie Kelton says Australia could ‘absolutely’ benefit from a program similar to the Green New DealAustralia’s unprecedented bushfires are a wake-up call to the world about the importance of tackling climate change, Bernie Sanders’ economic adviser said, and the country should consider implementing a green new deal to transition to a low carbon economy.Stephanie Kelton said Australia could benefit from an ambitious program of spending, similar to the one proposed by Sanders and others that aims to transform the US economy and help keep global heating below 1.5C. Continue reading...

Costs only become an issue when it comes to programs that run counter to Republican policy prioritiesIf you know who Sean Hannity is, you probably know that he is no fan of the Green New Deal. The proposal has blanketed Fox News since it debuted in November 2018, with Hannity and fellow hosts on the network narrowing in a particular line of attack, summarized during a radio spot he did last year: “What they are proposing is so outrageously expensive and cost prohibitive even they acknowledge that if we confiscated all the billionaires’ wealth, it still wouldn’t be able to pay for this mess of theirs.” Along similar lines, Republicans circulated a bogus study from the industry-funded American Action Forum claiming a Green New Deal would cost $93tn, elevating the number into something of a meme among rightwing talking heads and politicians. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell told his colleagues it would be more than enough to “buy every American a Ferrari”.Hannity and McConnell, along with most of the rest of the Republican party, have more recently been heaping praise onto Trump for assassinating Iranian Gen Qassem Suleimani. “This is a huge victory for American intelligence, a huge victory for our military, a huge victory for the state department, and a huge victory and total leadership by the president,” Hannity boasted after the killing. Without consulting Congress, the president kicked long-simmering US-Iran tensions up to a boil that now threatens to spill over into another full-blown war in the Middle East. His threats to bomb cultural sites throughout the country – in violation of international law – make that even more likely. So why aren’t Republicans asking how the government would pay for it? Continue reading...

Environmental activists say controversial rail project is destroying flora and faunaHS2 has begun evicting a group of environmental protesters who have been living at a camp along the route of the rail project for more than two years.Dozens of police and bailiffs are at the Harvil Road site in the Colne Valley, in the London borough of Hillingdon. Continue reading...

Analysis shows impact of climate emergency in year of record temperaturesThe summer heatwaves of 2019 resulted in almost 900 extra deaths, according to statistical analysis from Public Health England.Over the past four years more than 3,400 people have died early during periods of extreme temperature in England. Global heating is increasing the frequency of heatwaves and a cross-party committee of MPs warned in July that the UK was “woefully unprepared” for this impact of the climate emergency. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed• Record-breaking 4.9m hectares of land burned in NSW this bushfire season• Kangaroo Island bushfires: grave fears for unique wildlife after estimated 25,000 koalas killed• Craig Kelly interview: senior government MPs distance themselves after Piers Morgan lashing8.01am GMTWe’re closing up the blog for the night. Thanks to my colleague Amy Remeikis who did most of the heavy lifting here today. There’ll be another live blog tomorrow.A quick summary.7.53am GMTSome very good news: two men - one aged in his 70s - who has been missing on NSW’s fire-ravaged far south coast have been found alive, police say.

Fires are more frequent, more damaging, and more terrifying - a symptom of the new age that I call the Pyrocene

The Good Morning Britain host called the conservative Liberal MP ‘disgraceful’ for denying climate link to bushfiresSenior government ministers have sought to distance themselves from conservative Liberal MP Craig Kelly who sparked controversy by telling UK television there was no link between climate change and Australia’s bushfire crisis.Kelly, a longstanding critic of climate change action, was lambasted as a “denier” and “disgraceful” by the conservative British commentator Piers Morgan and the meteorologist Laura Tobin in a combative interview on ITV overnight. Continue reading...

Orange is the New Black star says the air travel needed for a life in two continents is ‘environmentally unjust’The Australian actor Yael Stone has vowed to give up her green card, which allows her to work in the United States, as a “personal sacrifice” aimed at reducing carbon emissions in what she called the “climate war”.In a video posted to Twitter on Tuesday and Instagram on Sunday, the actor and star of Netflix’s Orange is the New Black said she came to the decision to give up her green card “after a long, considered process”. Continue reading...

Greatest concerns for endangered Kangaroo Island dunnart and glossy black-cockatoo after third of island burnedEcologists have grave concerns for the future of unique and endangered wildlife on Kangaroo Island where bushfires have killed thousands of koalas.Fires on the island, in South Australia, have so far burned through 155,000 hectares – about one third of the island’s entire area – with blazes concentrated in the biodiversity-rich western areas. Continue reading...

Renewable energy up 9% on 2018 but nuclear outages are limiting progress, report warnsEnergy produced by the UK’s renewable sector outpaced fossil fuel plants on a record 137 days in 2019 to help the country’s energy system record its greenest year.The report by the Carbon Brief website found that renewable energy – from wind, solar, hydro and biomass projects – grew by 9% last year and was the UK’s largest electricity source in March, August, September and December. Continue reading...

The amount of liquid milk consumed per capita in the US has tumbled more than 40% since 1975The US dairy industry, the largest in the world, is under severe pressure as the consumption habits of Americans shift.Borden Dairy filed for bankruptcy protection, the second major US dairy to do so in as many months. Borden produces nearly 500m gallons of milk each year for groceries, schools and others. It employs 3,300 people and runs 12 plants across the US. Continue reading...

Regulations would limit projects that require environmental review and no longer require agencies to weigh climate impactsThe Trump administration is set to unveil new regulations which would limit the types of projects like highways and pipelines that require environmental review and no longer require federal agencies to weigh their climate impacts, sources familiar with the plan said.The proposed overhaul will update how federal agencies implement the bedrock National Environmental Policy Act (Nepa), a law meant to ensure the government protects the environment when reviewing or making decisions about major projects, from building roads and bridges, cutting forests, expanding broadband to approving interstate pipelines such as the Keystone XL. Continue reading...

Shift to gas saved more than 300m tons of planet-heating carbon dioxide as nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide levels droppedThe human toll from coal-fired pollution in America has been laid bare by a study that has found more than 26,000 lives were saved in the US in just a decade due to the shift from coal to gas for electricity generation.Related: The Guardian view on the bushfires: Australia needs a government with the right priorities | Editorial Continue reading...

Phasing out synthetic pesticides and fertilisers and aggressive emission reductions among series of solutions outlined by scientistsThe world must eradicate pesticide use, prioritise nature-based farming methods and urgently reduce water, light and noise pollution to save plummeting insect populations, according to a new “roadmap to insect recovery” compiled by experts.The call to action by more than 70 scientists from across the planet advocates immediate action on human stress factors to insects which include habitat loss and fragmentation, the climate crisis, pollution, over-harvesting and invasive species. Continue reading...

Communities vanished in 15th century after walrus hunted to near extinction, study findsThe mysterious disappearance of Greenland’s medieval Norse society in the 15th century came after walruses were hunted almost to extinction, researchers have said.Norse communities thrived for more than 400 years in the Arctic, hunting walruses for their tusks, a valuable medieval commodity. Continue reading...

More than 10,000 readers contribute to climate initiatives with just under a week to goWith just under a week to go, more than £750,000 has been donated to the Guardian and Observer climate emergency charity appeal, which supports projects planting and protecting trees, woodlands and forests.More than 10,000 readers have contributed to the appeal, which promotes environmental and social justice through natural climate solutions, from safeguarding rainforests in the Amazon to rewilding the Scottish Highlands and planting trees in Britain’s towns, cities and countryside. Continue reading...

Farmers blame ‘ecological emergency’ on inadequate treatment of sewageA gastroenteritis epidemic sweeping France has hit oyster farmers in Brittany after the virus was found in shellfish.Health authorities have banned the fishing and selling of oysters in the bay around Mont-Saint-Michel and other shellfish farming areas on France’s north-western coast until further notice. Continue reading...

Scott Morrison says the final cost of the Australia fires is likely to rival the $5.6bn for cyclone Yasi and the Brisbane floodsThe prime minister, Scott Morrison, has announced at least $2bn for bushfire recovery, as the government steps away from its pledge to deliver a budget surplus amid the ongoing crisis.Warning that the fires would keep burning over the coming months, Morrison said further government funds may yet be forthcoming as the economic toll from the horror fire season continued to rise. Continue reading...

Mike Kelly says civil defence corps needed to tackle bushfires and failure to act would be ‘most serious dereliction of duty in our history’The federal Labor MP Mike Kelly has called for a war-like national mobilisation effort to deal with the existential threat of climate change, warning that a failure to act would be the “most serious dereliction of duty in our history”.The member for the New South Wales electorate of Eden-Monaro, which includes huge areas of the NSW south coast and the Snowy Mountains where destructive bushfires continue to burn, has called for the federal government to establish a civil defence corps (CDC) that would operate as a national disaster response reserve, and said compulsory national service might be necessary. Continue reading...

Indonesian soldiers spray disinfectant to battle disease as death toll passes 60, with thousands more living in emergency sheltersMudslides and power blackouts have hampered the search for people missing in massive floods in Indonesia’s capital, where more than 60 people have died and some of the tens of thousands of evacuees are living in damp, cramped emergency shelters.More than 1,000 soldiers and health workers sprayed disinfectant in hard-hit areas on Sunday to fend off the spread of disease. Monsoon rains and rising rivers submerged a dozen districts in the greater Jakarta area after extreme New Year’s Eve rains, causing landslides in hilly areas on the outskirts of the capital that buried scores of people. Continue reading...