Environment | The Guardian

Nancy Pelosi has been notably tepid on green legislation – so are the Democrats serious about fighting climate change?With hundreds of thousands of Americans forced to evacuate their homes in the western US, Donald Trump hasn’t said a word about the wildfires blazing across multiple states in nearly three weeks.Related: Oregon fires force hundreds of thousands to flee as deaths rise Continue reading...

Port Moresby nature park may not survive the impact of pandemic shutdownsFrom the heat and dust of the city’s noisy, crowded streets, the Port Moresby Nature Park is an oasis, for the city’s residents as well as the animals it keeps.Home to more than 500 creatures and spread over 30 verdant acres, the park has spent years rescuing injured, orphaned or trafficked animals from across the country, and protected and nurtured native species, including the endangered pig-nosed turtle, and the magnificent riflebird. Continue reading...

Australia’s biggest superannuation funds also demand the miner guarantee the protection of culturally important sitesRio Tinto has sacked three senior executives, including the global CEO, as penance for destroying a 46,000-year-old archaeological and sacred site in Western Australia’s Pilbara, but shareholder and Indigenous groups insist the move must signal the start of a major overhaul of the way all mining companies operate in the region.One of Australia’s biggest superannuation funds says the departure of CEO Jean-Sébastien Jacques, head of iron ore Chris Salisbury, and corporate affairs chief Simone Niven won’t be enough to restore investor confidence. Continue reading...

The best of the week’s wildlife pictures from around the world, from mountain lion cubs in California to an orca with her new calf Continue reading...

Final blast of summer expected after weekend downpours in parts of ScotlandThe UK can look forward to “one last blast of summer” next week, with temperatures forecast to climb above 30C (86F).The mercury could hit 31C in southern England on Tuesday, however parts of Scotland can expect torrential downpours this weekend that could bring almost a month’s worth of rain in just one day. Continue reading...

Citroën’s ‘urban mobility object’ is classed as a light quadricyle and can be driven without a full licenceThe vehicle is cheap and the reactions from the pavement are a bonus, from the disbelieving double-take or uncontrolled giggle to the frankly envious where-do-I-get-one-of-those (plus the odd pitying stare, but then this is Paris).At first glance, Citroën’s new Ami, a playful polypropylene cube on wheels with an unashamedly Toytown aesthetic, seems hardly the kind of car to excite the passions of France’s drivers. But, perhaps because it is not a car, that is just what it is doing. Continue reading...

Scientists have been warning of the growing threat of climate change, and now those projections are a reality

Competing teams have both completed trips to the summit but plans have been disrupted by the pandemicSome time in the near future – after a wait of a decade – the world will learn the new height of Mount Everest.China and Nepal have teamed up to measure the world’s highest mountain which straddles their border and, under a 2019 memorandum of understanding, they must announce their findings together. The announcement was reportedly delayed because of the pandemic. Continue reading...

Father of Lukas Orda says family was shocked to hear active search for his son had been called off by Japan’s coast guard on Wednesday

NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian offers to hold further talks over state’s koala protections policy at cabinet on 6 OctoberThe NSW Nationals leader, John Barilaro, has backed off from his threat to pull his party out of the Coalition and has instead agreed to a compromise offered by Gladys Berejiklian to hold further talks over the state’s new koala protections in cabinet on 6 October.The Nationals had earlier resolved to push for early talks in September and had compiled a list of changes that they wanted. But the premier insisted on normal processes and declined to offer concessions. Continue reading...

Over 600 people were arrested during the environmental demonstrations in LondonTen days of Extinction Rebellion demonstrations in London ended with naked protests and an arrest over graffiti daubed on a statue of Winston Churchill.At least 648 people have been arrested during the environmental action, including one man on Thursday on suspicion of causing criminal damage to the statue in Parliament Square. Continue reading...

By early June, emissions had mostly returned to the levels of the same period in 2019, a UN report foundThe Covid-19 pandemic will deliver an unprecedented annual drop in global greenhouse gas emissions of up to 7% by the end of 2020, but the slowdown’s impact on the atmosphere will be almost imperceptible, according to a major report led by the United Nations.Analysis of fossil fuel burning found emissions hit their lowest daily rate in April but by June – as economies began to open up again – emissions were returning to the same levels seen the previous year. Continue reading...

NSW premier tells deputy he cannot sit on crossbench and remain in cabinet after dispute sparked by koala protectionThe New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian, has given her deputy, John Barilaro, until Friday morning to reverse his threat to have the Nationals sit on the crossbenches or he and his fellow Nationals ministers will be stripped of their portfolios.The crisis in the Coalition has been prompted by National party demands over koala policy which passed through cabinet and became law earlier this year but which the Nationals now want to be changed. Continue reading...

Retailers say they don’t have enough time to adjust to law, which is likely to come into force in early 2021South Australia has become the first Australian state to introduce laws banning some single-use plastics including cutlery, straws and stirrers.Environmental campaigners say the laws, likely to come into force in early 2021, are historic and will help protect wildlife on land and in the oceans. Continue reading...

Home values, state tourism and local governments could be damaged, causing defaults and market disruptionsThe devastating wildfires now sweeping across the western US are among the sparks from climate change that could ignite a financial crisis by damaging home values, state tourism and local government budgets, an advisory panel to a US markets regulator found.Those effects could set off a cascade of events including defaults and market disruptions, undermining the economy and sparking a crisis, according to a report from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Continue reading...

Discovery of deadly virus in wild boar cadaver leads to crisis measures including hunting, harvesting and leisure bansGerman farmers have been ordered to enact a series of crisis measures after the discovery of the country’s first case of African swine fever (ASF).The arrival of the highly infectious disease, found in the cadaver of a wild boar close to the German border with Poland in the state of Brandenburg, is a devastating blow to farmers who have been at pains for several years to keep it at bay. Continue reading...

Insurance market says claims totalled £2.4bn in first half of 2020, leading to £400m loss

Strategic partnership will seek to develop more wind farms off the coast of the US

More than 230m gallons spilled in Fort Lauderdale between December 2019 and February 2020Florida has recently experienced several large sewage spills and the is issue expected to worsen in the state due to its growing population, urban development, the climate crisis and ageing infrastructure that frequently cause existing wastewater systems to fail.For example, between December 2019 to February 2020, more than 230m gallons of sewage spilled into waterways in Fort Lauderdale, the result of ageing water infrastructure. Continue reading...

Centre Alliance’s Stirling Griff joins independents Rex Patrick and Jacqui Lambie to oppose EPBC Act changesCrossbench senators have vowed to block the Morrison government’s proposed changes to environmental laws next month, in part because they include nothing to improve the protection of Australia’s ailing wildlife and natural heritage.The Coalition last week used its numbers to gag debate in the lower house of parliament and force through changes that would transfer greater development approval powers to state and territory governments. Continue reading...

Assembly made up of members of public says economic recovery should drive move to net zero carbon emissions

Pinning hopes of economic recovery on fossil fuel comes at huge environmental cost, analysis warnsAustralia’s untapped gas reservoirs could lead to three years’ worth of global greenhouse gas emissions if they were developed to their full extent, an analysis suggests.With the Morrison government proposing what it has described as a “gas-led recovery”, a report by the thinktank the Australia Institute has estimated the emissions that would be released if the fossil fuel industry were significantly expanded. Continue reading...

Extinction rates for birds and mammals since 1993 would have been ‘three to four times higher’ without actionUp to 48 bird and mammal extinctions have been prevented by conservation efforts since a global agreement to protect biodiversity, according to a new study.The Iberian lynx, California condor and pygmy hog are among animals that would have disappeared without reintroduction programmes, zoo-based conservation and formal legal protections since 1993, research led by scientists at Newcastle University and BirdLife International found. Continue reading...

Animal populations have plunged an average of 68% since 1970, as humanity pushes the planet’s life support systems to the edgeWildlife populations are in freefall around the world, driven by human overconsumption, population growth and intensive agriculture, according to a major new assessment of the abundance of life on Earth.On average, global populations of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles plunged by 68% between 1970 and 2016, according to the WWF and Zoological Society of London (ZSL)’s biennial Living Planet Report 2020. Two years ago, the figure stood at 60%. Continue reading...

Report suggests buyers of polluting vehicles should subsidise electric carsUp to £1,500 could be added to the cost of new petrol and diesel cars in order to subsidise electric car purchases, under proposals being considered by the government.Forcing buyers of more polluting vehicles to pay towards making electric cars cheaper, a so-called “feebate” system, would be one of the most effective ways to encourage a faster move away from fossil fuels, according to a feasibility report commissioned by the Department for Transport (DfT). Continue reading...

Miners and environmentalists have reached an uneasy truce over lithium – both agree Australia should be mining more of this key ingredient in renewable energy batteries“Where are you going to find experienced lithium miners? That’s like finding unicorns,” laughs James Brown, the managing director of Western Australian resources firm Altura Mining.Brown is the next best thing. Hailing from a family five generations deep in coal mining, the burly Queenslander never imagined he’d be applying his expertise to digging out a key building block of a low-carbon economy. Continue reading...

Critics say permits allowing release of waste after extreme weather are a licence to polluteUrgent new measures are being taken to address the scale of untreated sewage leaks into rivers and seas as pressure grows on the water industry and government to act.The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has set up a taskforce to cut the frequency of sewage discharges into rivers and seas from storm overflows, following revelations in the Guardian that water companies released raw sewage into rivers more than 200,000 times last year. Continue reading...

Water seeping into fissures in Thwaites glacier in Antarctica, accelerating rise of sea levels

After being recaptured after 42 days on the run, the bear’s fate is the subject of intense debateItaly’s environment minister has waded into the debate over the future of the country’s most famous bear, declaring that the animal – recaptured this week for a third time – must be returned to the wild.Sergio Costa said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that the bear, nicknamed Papillon after Henri Charrière’s memoir about escaping from a French penal colony, did not deserve to be repeatedly put back into captivity. Continue reading...

Countries unable to withstand ecological threats among world’s least peaceful, analysis findsMore than 1 billion people face being displaced within 30 years as the climate crisis and rapid population growth drive an increase in migration with “huge impacts” for both the developing and developed worlds, according to an analysis.The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), a thinktank that produces annual global terrorism and peace indexes, said 1.2 billion people lived in 31 countries that are not sufficiently resilient to withstand ecological threats. Continue reading...

Planning permission refused for ‘environmentally unacceptable’ mine near Druridge BayThe UK government has rejected plans to develop an “environmentally unacceptable” coalmine near Druridge Bay in Northumberland after years of fierce opposition from environmentalists.The ministry of housing, communities and local government refused planning permission for the project for a second time, saying the plans for a new open-cast mine in north-east England were “not environmentally acceptable”. Continue reading...

Made from Crossrail clay, Europe’s biggest coastal habitat restoration project is a valuable flood defence but is itself threatened by climate changeIt is the third hottest day on record in the UK and the cool saline mud oozing through my toes provides welcome relief from the beating sun. I am standing barefoot in a shallow pool in Europe’s largest coastal habitat restoration project, Wallasea Island in Essex. The 670-hectare (1,656-acre) expanse of salt marshes, lagoons and mudflats was formed using more than 3m tonnes of London clay excavated from the Crossrail tunnel network, almost half of the waste material from the entire project.In the heat, crowds of flamingos would not feel out of place, but the sweltering temperature is a gnawing reminder of how rising sea levels and the climate crisis will threaten the UK’s coastline. The problem is so grave that one Dutch government scientist has even proposed a 295-mile (475km) dam of the North Sea to protect large parts of western Europe. Continue reading...

Incumbents see off challenge from two other candidates after election successesThe Greens leadership partnership of Siân Berry and Jonathan Bartley has been re-elected for another two-year term, seeing off a challenge from two other candidates.Berry and Bartley, who took over from the previous leadership combination of Bartley and Caroline Lucas after easily winning the 2018 leadership election, were always strong favourites to win again. Continue reading...

Thousands of tons of pollution spew into the air in the US from devices that proliferate online and in body shops

Researchers in Andes find temperature a record for all birds and non-hibernating mammalsHummingbirds have scooped another record: they are not only tiny but can reach body temperatures below that of any non-hibernating mammal and any other bird.The hummingbird is among a number of small creatures, including certain bats, that can enter a state known as daily torpor, a phenomenon where they turn down their metabolism and body temperature to save energy. Continue reading...

Energy company will provide car, charging station as well as insurance and registration for flat fee, as research points to upfront cost as deterrentAGL, one of Australia’s largest energy companies, has launched the country’s first subscription service for electric cars in a move that the EV industry hopes may boost the nation’s low uptake rate.The company announced a pilot phase for the new scheme, which also includes installation of charging stations at customers’ homes, to cover Sydney and Melbourne. Continue reading...

We have a deep connection with this bird, and it is finally shaking off its reputation as a symbol of darknessOf all the world’s birds, the raven has the deepest connection with humankind. It was the first bird mentioned in the Bible, sent out by Noah to search for land. Ravens are central to Norse and Native American mythologies, as symbols of wisdom as well as agents of prophecy. And they feature prominently in literary works from Chaucer, via Edgar Allen Poe, to Game of Thrones.Whenever I see a raven flying above my Somerset home, uttering that deep, guttural call, I feel the weight of that long connection between bird and human. But I also feel a sense of hope; for in recent times, the raven has finally begun to shake off its reputation as a symbol of darkness. Continue reading...

Diary of a Young Naturalist hailed as ‘astute and candid’ by judges, who call for the book to be added to national curriculum

Labor leader sidesteps tension in his party around resources to call for embrace of clean energyThe federal Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, says the resources sector has been the backbone of the Australian economy for decades, but the nation’s “long-term future lies in renewable energy sources”.Stepping around tensions within his own ranks, Albanese will use a speech on Wednesday about regional development to note that resources exports will “continue to meet the demands of the rapidly growing nations of our region” even as the world transitions to a lower-carbon future. Continue reading...

Home secretary tells police superintendents she will not allow XR ‘anarchy’ on streets

The 46-year-old Queensland man suffered critical lower leg injuries after he was bitten off Greenmount beach at CoolangattaA surfer has died after a shark attack on the Gold Coast with authorities saying he suffered critical leg injuries.The Queensland ambulance service said the attack occurred at Greenmount Beach at Coolangatta about 5pm on Tuesday. Continue reading...

A new study has found four species reduced in size, with climate change and competition from hatchery-raised cousins as possible factorsThe fishermen and women knew something was off with their catch. “At first, it was just a general comment by everybody: ‘The fish, yeah, I didn’t get any big ones this year,’” said Richard Burnham, who has commercially harvested salmon for four decades in the interior Alaska village of Kaltag.Related: 'They're owned by all Alaskans': salmon free-for-all draws throngs Continue reading...

Wildlife group puts up wooden shapes to remind drivers to slow down as hedgehog declared vulnerable to extinction“Ghost hedgehogs” are starting to appear on roadsides in Dorset to highlight the plight of hedgehogs killed by fast-moving vehicles.The hedgehogs, made of white-painted wood, are being put up by the Dorset Mammal Group after one small village, Pimperne, reported more than 20 squashed hedgehogs on its roads in just one year. Continue reading...

Rene becomes storm number 17 of the year, forming earlier than the previous record-holder, Rita in 2005Tropical storm Rene has formed in the Atlantic Ocean, becoming the Atlantic’s earliest R-named storm on record, as the year’s extremely active hurricane season continued.Rene formed on Monday, breaking the previous record held by Rita in 2005, which formed 18 September. Continue reading...

Sussan Ley says conditions of export licence for shark fins and other products have not been metEnvironment minister Sussan Ley has moved to revoke the export of shark fins and other seafood products from a Queensland government fishery over inaction on reforms to protect threatened species.Ley has written to Queensland’s fisheries minister, Mark Furner, saying the state had not met the conditions of its export licence for the East Coast Inshore Fin Fish Fishery, which would be revoked from 30 September. Continue reading...

Report calls for more support if plan to plant 100m hectares of vegetation is to be realisedThe world’s most ambitious reforestation project, the Great Green Wall of Africa, has covered only 4% of its target area but is more than halfway towards its 2030 completion date, according to a status report.More funds, greater technical support and tighter oversight will be needed if the plan to plant 100m hectares of trees and other vegetation is to be realised, say the authors of the study, which was unveiled on Monday at a meeting of regional ministers. Continue reading...

Campaigners say expansion is a betrayal as government had pledged to phase out cull

From blockading printers to meditating outside Barclays, the climate crisis campaign has drawn a variety of participantsThousands of Extinction Rebellion (XR) activists and supporters have been staging “die-ins”, preventing copies of newspapers from being distributed and meditating outside banks over the past week in a series of actions aimed at highlighting the worsening ecological crisis.At printing plants in Merseyside and in Hertfordshire on Friday evening, many trucks carrying newspapers were unable to deliver to shops. The prime minister, Boris Johnson, accused XR of seeking to limit the public’s access to news amid suggestions that the environmental group could subsequently be treated like an organised crime group by the authorities. Continue reading...