Environment | The Guardian

Estimated 120,000 hectares stripped bare by rodents and now browning in heatwaveLarge swathes of Germany’s farmland are being decimated by plagues of field mice leading to significant crop loss, according to the country’s national farming association.In some parts of the country, a quarter of the arable land is affected, leading to calls for compensation as well as a relaxation on rules governing the use of pesticides. Continue reading...

ONS finds single-unit increase in pollution exposure over long term may increase death rate by up to 6%

Emails reveal experts at San Bernardino national wildlife refuge repeatedly sounded the alarm over grave threat to rare speciesStark warnings by federal scientists and wildlife experts about the grave threat posed by Donald Trump’s border wall to rare and endangered species were repeatedly ignored by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), according to documents seen by the Guardian.A cache of emails obtained using the Freedom of Information Act (Foia) by environmental groups reveal multiple efforts over several months by experts at the San Bernardino national wildlife refuge in south-eastern Arizona, to save rare desert springs and crystalline streams which provide the only US habitat for the endangered endemic Río Yaqui fish. Continue reading...

The investment by British billionaire industrialist, who is also investing in renewables for his Whyalla steelworks, will save 250 jobsA company headed by British billionaire Sanjeev Gupta has bought a hydro-powered smelter in northern Tasmania, saving some 250 jobs at the facility, and furthering Gupta’s aim of becoming a carbon-neutral steelmaker by 2030.The future of the Tasmanian Electro Metallurgical Company manganese alloy smelter had been up in the air for the best part of a year. Continue reading...

Pair fledge first chick in Dundreggan for 40 years in eyrie built by conservationistA nest of arm-sized sticks built on a precipitous crag by an octogenarian conservationist dangling from a rope has enticed a pair of golden eagles back to the Highlands of Scotland.The eyrie handmade by Roy Dennis, a renowned conservationist who has masterminded the revival of endangered species across Britain, helped the eagles successfully fledge the first chick on Trees for Life’s Dundreggan estate in 40 years. Continue reading...

Painstaking conservation effort to accommodate insect’s complex lifecycle pays offThe biggest reintroduction to date of the large blue has led to the rare butterfly flying on a Cotswold hillside where it has not been seen for 150 years.About 750 butterflies emerged on to Rodborough Common in Gloucestershire this summer after 1,100 larvae were released last autumn following five years of innovative grassland management to create optimum habitat. Continue reading...

Centrists draw up report aimed at bringing the UK in line with official climate adviceA group of moderate Conservative MPs has joined green groups in calling for the government’s ban on new fossil fuel vehicles to be brought forward by five years to 2030 as part of a plan to ignite a green economic recovery.The recently reformed caucus of centrist Conservatives has called on ministers to accelerate the shift to electric vehicles as part of a comprehensive green policy report aimed at bringing the UK in line with the official advice of the government’s climate tsars. Continue reading...

Heatwave brings wind turbines to standstill and causes gas plants to struggle

Government under fire after major companies again given green light to lift carbon emissions without penaltyIndustry and environment groups have questioned the point of the Coalition government’s “safeguard mechanism” – which promised to keep a lid on industrial greenhouse gas emissions – after major companies were allowed to again increase pollution without penalty.BHP, Anglo American and Tomago Aluminium were among companies given the green light to increase emissions by a combined 1.6m tonnes of carbon dioxide a year in an announcement by the Clean Energy Regulator in late July. Continue reading...

The national Covid-19 commission was created to help steer the government through economic and social recovery from the pandemic. However, an interim report recommending large-scale investment in gas has raised alarm among energy and climate experts. Christopher Knaus explores what we know about the commission and concerns that key information is being withheld from the publicYou can also read Christopher’s reporting on warnings that Australia’s Covid commission risks ‘subversion’ of democracy, and how the Australian PM’s department has refused to release Covid-19 commission documents. Plus Katharine Murphy has written about the commission downplaying ‘green recovery’ and confirming a gas push in recent senate hearings. Continue reading...

Developers want to build a vast hydroelectric power facility that would flood sacred lands, threaten waterways and put habitats at riskShortly before Lucille Daniel’s father died, he told her: “Take care of the land. Take care of the livestock.”This land, a patch of remote desert not far from the Grand Canyon on the western Navajo Nation, has been in the Daniel family for six generations. Lucille, 85, was born and grew up here. Continue reading...

The pandemic has exacerbated severe energy and economic inequalities on Native lands in America – so people are turning to renewable energyWithin hours of posting a video to Facebook and Twitter in which she offered to donate iPads to K-12 Native students, Amanda Cheromiah was inundated with increasingly desperate requests.Related: Bid to save Alaskan wild salmon receives surprise boost from Trump Jr Continue reading...

Labor’s climate and energy spokesman says taxpayer underwriting of new gas infrastructure would be ‘longest white elephant in Australian history’Labor’s climate and energy spokesman Mark Butler has blasted his frontbench colleague Joel Fitzgibbon for endorsing the taxpayer underwriting of new gas infrastructure, championed by one of Scott Morrison’s most influential business advisers, before seeing the specifics.Fitzgibbon, the shadow resources minister, declared on Wednesday that Nev Power, the chair of Scott Morrison’s Covid advisory commission, was on the right path lobbying the government to support a gas-led recovery from the economic shock created by the pandemic. Continue reading...

Bank argues JBS has ‘no action plan’ to tackle link between indirect suppliers and Amazon destruction following Guardian investigationAnalysts at global banking giant HSBC have sounded the alarm over the potential risks of investing in JBS, the world’s biggest meat company, after a string of investigations raising concerns about Amazon deforestation issues in its beef supply chain.The meat giant “has no vision, action plan, timeline, technology or solution” for monitoring whether the cattle it buys originate from farms involved in rainforest destruction, according to analysis by the bank, which has substantial investments in the troubled meat packing firm. Continue reading...

Indigenous people in headwaters region say financing harms communities and ecosystemsIndigenous people living at the headwaters of the Amazon have called on European banks to stop financing oil development in the region, as it poses a threat to them and damages a fragile ecosystem, after a new report found $10bn in previously undisclosed funding for oil in the region.The headwaters of the Amazon in Ecuador and Peru are home to more than 500,000 indigenous people, including some who choose to live in voluntary isolation. The area, covering about 30m hectares (74m acres), hosts a diverse rainforest ecosystem, but it is threatened by the expansion of oil drilling. Continue reading...

A pioneering method from Africa that protects farms from forest herds is now paying off in India, with more profit and less conflictWatchtowers in trees, tripwire alarms, radio collars, chilli smoke and beehive fences: scientists and conservationists across Asia and Africa are coming up with safe and humane ways to keep elephants at bay and reduce conflict with humans.In early June, the agonising death of a pregnant wild elephant that ate an explosives-filled pineapple in India led to a global outcry, highlighting how far some farmers in India will go to protect their land from wild animals, which are increasingly encroaching on settlements. India is home to an estimated 27,000 elephants, more than half the global Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) population. Continue reading...

Expanded mine in north-west NSW predicted to generate extra 100 million tonnes of greenhouse gases once coal is burnedNew South Wales authorities have approved a Whitehaven Coal plan to develop an expanded new coalmine in the state’s north-west.The decision allows 168m tonnes to be extracted from the proposed Vickery coalmine, near Boggabri, over 30 years. Between 60% and 70% of it is expected to be metallurgical coal used in steel-making and the remainder thermal coal for electricity generation. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Walker Corporation says de-listing area of wetlands, which are a critical migratory bird habitat, was of ‘urgent national interest’Walker Corporation lobbied former federal environment minister Josh Frydenberg to remove an area from internationally listed wetlands for its Toondah Harbour apartment and retail development, government documents show.Documents obtained from the environment department by Guardian Australia under freedom of information laws show the company used a meeting with Frydenberg in August 2016 to stress the government had the power to remove part of the Moreton Bay Ramsar wetland as a matter of “urgent national interest”. Continue reading...

Starley network to provide vehicle-free routes or lanes separated from trafficCoventry is famous for its motor industry heritage but long before this, from the 1860s onwards, it was considered England’s bicycle city – and it gained an international reputation for quality engineering and fine craftsmanship.However, in the late 19th century, with the motoring industry snapping at its heels, this thriving industry, with 450 bicycle makers in the city, slowly began to decline. Continue reading...

A new study shows that US families consume cancer-linked glyphosate in their food. The good news: going organic rapidly reduces levels

I study the Arctic. The decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord is reprehensible – but we can’t give up hope

Animal stuck in shallow water at creek in Helford estuary is released back into the sea

Blood-sucking ticks can spread Lyme disease and are extending beyond their traditional north-eastern rangeGrowing up in north-eastern Ohio, Kimberly Byce spent much of her childhood running around in the woods, with the greatest threat being mosquito bites or sunburn. She can’t remember her parents ever uttering the word “tick”. And yet, in adulthood, disease-laden ticks now blight her family’s life.Byce’s husband Trent Beers has been struck down by Lyme disease twice in the past year, initially misdiagnosed after suffering back pain so bad he couldn’t emerge from bed, drenched from night sweats and his mind a fog of confusion. Their sons Arbor, four, and Abbott, seven, were struck down by raging fevers initially thought to be related to coronavirus, but subsequently confirmed to also be from Lyme disease. Continue reading...

Ebo forest is home to hundreds of rare species including Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzeesA Cameroonian government decree allowing logging in a forest that is home to some of the world’s most endangered species has sparked outrage among local communities and conservation groups.The richly biodiverse Ebo forest is one of the last intact forests in central Africa and home to hundreds of rare flora and animal species. Continue reading...

Company’s subsidiaries face up to $17m in fines for alleged breaches of exploration licences

Nev Power tells the Senate Covid-19 committee the commission has asked the government to underwrite gas pipelinesThe head of Scott Morrison’s Covid advisory commission says he has been approached by business leaders wanting the government to use the recovery from the pandemic to lock in low-emissions energy, but his organisation is not recommending “a green recovery per se”.Appearing before the Senate committee examining the government’s management of Covid-19 on Tuesday, Nev Power confirmed the commission had asked the government to underwrite new investment in gas pipelines as part of recommendations from a manufacturing taskforce. Continue reading...

For many young people, racial inequality and the climate emergency are inseparable issuesFor 14-year-old Eleanor Woolstencroft, it was last year’s school climate strikes that empowered her to throw herself into the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests in recent weeks.“[Without the climate strikes], I would have been a lot less confident, I wouldn’t have known how protests worked,” she said, adding that the strikes helped open her eyes to societal inequality. “There have been so many speakers at the climate strikes talking about racial injustice and how the climate emergency is going to affect immigrants and people in refugee camps first.” Continue reading...

Roads remain waterlogged and drivers warned to be careful as river levels fallHundreds of residents on the New South Wales south coast are waiting for the all-clear to return home as river levels fall and flooding eases after heavy rain and wild weather.After three days of damaging surf battering the state, a marine wind warning remains in place on Tuesday on the Byron, Coffs and Macquarie coasts in the north. Continue reading...

Stranded bulk carrier is breaking up, threatening even greater ecological devastationPeople living in Mauritius have described the devastation caused by an oil spill from a stranded vessel and called for urgent international help to stop the ecological and economic damage overwhelming the island nation.More than 1,000 tonnes of fuel has already seeped from the bulk carrier MV Wakashio into the sea off south-east Mauritius, polluting the coral reefs, white-sand beaches and pristine lagoons that attract tourists from around the world. Continue reading...

Indigenous leader Célia Xakriabá and Vagina Monologues author V discuss Brazil’s biodiversity crisis and why this is the century of the indigenous womanCélia Xakriabá is the voice of a new generation of female indigenous leaders who are leading the fight against the destruction of Brazil’s forests both in the Amazon and the lesser known Cerrado, a savannah that covers a fifth of the country. V, formerly Eve Ensler, is the award-winning author of the Vagina Monologues, an activist and founder of V-Day, a global movement to end violence against all women and girls and the Earth. The two recently held a conversation in which V asked Xakriabá about what is happening to Brazil’s biodiversity and indigenous peoples, and why women are the key to change.V: Many people, especially in the west, don’t really understand what’s happening to the Cerrado in Brazil. Can you tell us what’s happening to the forests?

The majestic fish inspired Ernest Hemingway but as numbers falter alternatives to landing the ocean giants are finding favour

Growing oil spill from MV Wakashio threatens ecological and economic disasterA ship that ran aground off Mauritius leaking tonnes of oil into the ocean is cracking up, the country’s prime minister has said, threatening an even greater ecological and economic disaster for the island nation.More than 1,000 tonnes of fuel has seeped from the bulk carrier MV Wakashio into the sea off south-east Mauritius, polluting the coral reefs, white-sand beaches and pristine lagoons that lure tourists from around the globe. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Taneti Maamau says Kiribati will seek support from China and other allies to elevate islands from the sea, partly through dredgingKiribati will raise its islands above the ocean as part of its fight against sea-level rise, seeking help from its new diplomatic partner China to secure the archipelagic nation’s future, the country’s newly re-elected president has said.In his first in-depth interview since his resounding election win in June, Taneti Maamau told the Guardian international co-operation would be on Kiribati’s terms: he said he would not accept large loans “from any country”, and would not allow China to build a base on Kiribati’s strategically significant Christmas Island, south of Hawaii. Continue reading...

Donations to support the president’s re-election have flooded in from a fossil fuel industry that has enjoyed three years of energy deregulation and tax cutsIn mid-June the oil pipeline billionaire Kelcy Warren hosted a fundraising bash at his palatial Dallas, Texas, home that drew the presence of Donald Trump and raised $10m for the US president’s campaign coffers.Warren’s fundraising gusher for Trump occurred after he and his wife had donated a hefty $1.7m since 2019 to Trump Victory, a fundraising vehicle for Trump’s re-election and the Republican National Committee, according to the non-partisan Open Secrets group. Continue reading...

Thousands turn to rivers and canals for exercise, fresh air and easy social distancingTo celebrate his 40th birthday last week, Adam Partington and his partner, Gemma Cann, took to the River Cam on new paddleboards with a goodies hamper strapped to the front.After gliding past Cambridge’s ancient colleges, the couple stopped at Grantchester Meadows at the edge of the city for a picnic and celebratory glass of bubbly before paddling back to their starting point. Continue reading...

Two prominent ‘lukewarmers’ take climate science denial to another level, offering tepid manifestos at bestIt is no longer credible to deny that the average temperature around the world is rising and that other phenomena, such as extreme weather events, are also shifting. People can now see with their own eyes that the climate is changing around them.Nor is it tenable to deny that the Earth’s warming is driven by increasing levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, resulting from human activities, such as the production and burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. Such denial is only now promoted by cranks and conspiracy theorists who also think, for instance, that the Covid-19 pandemic is linked to the development of the 5G network. Continue reading...

As the black stuff burnt in the UK plummets to a level not seen since the early steam age, we trace its long, deep history and the problems left in its wakeBritain achieved an unlikely status as a power provider last year. Its annual consumption of coal plunged to the lowest level in 250 years. According to figures released last week, a mere 8 million tonnes were incinerated in UK factories and power plants. That is roughly the same amount that was burned nationally in 1769, when James Watt was patenting his modified steam engine.That invention helped to spark the Industrial Revolution and triggered a massive rise in annual coal use in Britain, which soared to well over 200 million tonnes by the mid-20th century. Now levels have plummeted back to their original pre-revolution state. King coal – once the undisputed ruler of British industry – has finally been dethroned. Continue reading...

Review recommends ‘trailing liability’, where owners remain liable for decommissioning sites after selling themEnergy giant Woodside Petroleum is facing calls to pay more than $200m to clean up a moribund oil production site in the Timor Sea, after a government review recommended past owners of offshore facilities should be made liable for remediation costs.Woodside operated the Northern Endeavour oil production ship, permanently moored about 550 kilometres north-west of Darwin, from 1999 until 2016. It announced the site would close, but then paid the newly incorporated group Northern Oil and Gas Australia (Noga) $24m to take it over. Continue reading...

The information commissioner says release of material previously redacted by the scientific agency is a matter of public interest

President’s eldest son opposes controversial Pebble mine at headwaters of Bristol Bay, home to world’s largest wild salmon runA surprise intervention from Donald Trump Jr has breathed life into efforts to protect the biggest remaining wild salmon run on the planet.Earlier this week, Trump Jr expressed his opposition to the controversial Pebble mine at the headwaters of Alaska’s Bristol Bay. The move breaks with the Trump administration’s efforts to advance the mine’s development. Continue reading...

Narendra Modi’s dream of a ‘self-reliant India’ comes at a terrible price for its indigenous populationOver the past decade, Umeshwar Singh Amra has witnessed his homeland descend into a battleground. The war being waged in Hasdeo Arand, a rich and biodiverse Indian forest, has pitted indigenous people, ancient trees, elephants and sloths against the might of bulldozers, trucks and hydraulic jacks, fighting with a single purpose: the extraction of coal.Yet under a new “self-reliant India” plan by the prime minister, Narendra Modi, to boost the economy post-Covid-19 and reduce costly imports, 40 new coalfields in some of India’s most ecologically sensitive forests are to be opened up for commercial mining. Continue reading...

The Olive Ridley turtles are part of conservationists’ attempts to boost the population and promote environmental protectionMore than 10,000 baby turtles were released into the sea off the Indonesian island of Bali, as part of conservationists’ attempts to boost the population of a vulnerable species and promote environmental protection.Conservation groups carried crates each full of dozens of tiny turtles to the island’s Gianyar beach on Friday and encouraged local people and volunteers to line up on the sand and release the hatchlings together. Continue reading...

Alicia Ramsay was hit by humpback whale’s fin days after two others injured swimming at tourist hotspot Ningaloo reefA woman snorkelling on Ningaloo Reef, on the north-west coast of Western Australia, has become the third person to be injured by a humpback whale there in less than a week.The woman, Alicia Ramsay, 30, was flown to Royal Perth hospital with rib fractures on Thursday after being hit by the whale, which was swimming nearby with its calf. Continue reading...

Country’s prime minister has asked France for help in tackling the disasterThe Indian Ocean island of Mauritius has declared a “state of environmental emergency” after a Japanese-owned ship that ran aground offshore days ago began spilling tons of fuel.The prime minister, Pravind Jugnauth, made the announcement late on Friday as satellite images showed a dark slick spreading in the turquoise waters near environmental areas that the government called “very sensitive”. Continue reading...

Giant turbines operating from anchored rafts can harness strong offshore windsOffshore wind farm potential is enormous. They are no longer limited to shallow water but can operate from anchored rafts - and the size and output of the turbines keeps increasing.Less than a decade ago turbines of three megawatts (MW) were the new giants – now the industry is installing 10mMW machines, and designs for 15 to 20MW are ready. The newest turbines will be 150 metres high with a rotor diameter of 240 metres – that is the length of more than two football pitches. Continue reading...

The National Park Service has warned against sacrificing slower friends in a bear attack ‘even if the friendship has run its course’There are a few potential reactions to being attacked by a bear – stand your ground and attempt to scare it off, run away or perhaps curl up into the fetal position and hope for the best.The US government has now, however, officially advised against the most cowardly option: pushing over a slower friend to save yourself. Continue reading...

The pick of the world’s best flora and fauna photos, including a giant pangolin and a tiny hummingbird Continue reading...