Major brands’ refusal to use sustainable materials is having a devastating impact on forests and climate, new report saysWe’re all becoming more aware about the damage single-use plastics and fast fashion has on the environment. Yet there is one product we all throw away every single day that, so far, has not been a major part of conversations about sustainability: toilet paper.Related: The new household rules: ditch your toilet brush and wash much, much more Continue reading...

A layer cake of waterfowl, a cheeky monkey and a much-loved baby giraffe Continue reading...

Exclusive: Students issue an open letter ahead of global day of action on 15 March, when young people are expected to strike across 50 nations• Read the climate strikers’ letterThe students striking from schools around the world to demand action on climate change have issued an uncompromising open letter stating: “We are going to change the fate of humanity, whether you like it or not.”The letter, published by the Guardian, says: “United we will rise on 15 March and many times after until we see climate justice. We demand the world’s decision makers take responsibility and solve this crisis. You have failed us in the past. [But] the youth of this world has started to move and we will not rest again.” Continue reading...

‘It’s honest dollars,’ says one canner, but it’s not easy work – canners plan meticulous routes and often work long hours“It’s good for the environment,” says Anthony Pemberton, arranging the recyclable empty bottles and cans in his shopping cart. “And I’m a conservationist. You do also get five cents per can, which is a motivator.” Continue reading...

There are somewhere between 4,000 and 8,000 people in the city who support themselves by picking up cans and bottlesOn a Saturday afternoon in early November, about 30 people are watching a documentary inside a shack in the heart of Bushwick, a post-industrial neighborhood in Brooklyn. They are all canners – people who make a living redeeming empty cans and bottles, five cents apiece. Although they all got up before the sun and have worked in the cold for hours, no one looks like they’re about to fall asleep. All eyes on the screen. The short film, streamed from YouTube and projected on a white sheet, is about a workers’ cooperative in Argentina.The screening was organized by Ana Martínez de Luco, a Catholic nun who says she prefers to work “under the sun, not the Vatican”, and calls herself a street nun. Continue reading...

Already we argue over whether to call them climate deniers, skeptics or doubters. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez might have hit on a more devastating attackIt’s a fantastic time for verbal abuse in American politics. Donald Trump loves a schoolyard nickname, insulting everyone from “Crazy Bernie” Sanders to “Little Marco” Rubio. In turn, the president’s opponents, and sometimes his allies, have called him a moron, a motherfucker and mocked his tiny hands.But is there a way of using name-calling, not just to insult, but to introduce a new political idea. It seemed like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was doing that this week when she used the term “climate delayer” to call out those dragging their feet on climate change. Continue reading...

Mining operations continue while more than 500 tonnes of fuel oil remain on board MV Solomon Trader, almost a month after it ran agroundThe environmental damage from an oil spill in the Solomon Islands has been worsened by a bauxite mining company’s continued loading operations near the site where a $30m bulk carrier went aground last month.The Solomon Islands government has sought urgent help from Australia to deal with the environmental disaster because of frustrations at the slow progress in dealing with the spill. Continue reading...

In a Guardian interview, Isha Clarke says she’s been inspired by student climate strikes in the UK and is planning one in the USIsha Clarke hasn’t been to school in five days – thanks to the Oakland teachers’ strike – but the 16-year-old is finding herself busier than ever.Clarke was one of several young people seen in a viral standoff with the California senator Dianne Feinstein over climate action. Despite criticism of the senator’s seemingly dismissive reaction, Clarke tells the Guardian the moment was “instrumental in moving the Green New Deal forward”. Continue reading...

A complaint from a non-partisan group accuses David Bernhardt of weakening protections for endangered fish to favor farmersSeveral years before becoming acting US interior secretary, David Bernhardt was a lobbyist for one of California’s largest water districts, where he sought to win more water for farmers, even if it came at the expense of imperiled fish that also needed it.But despite joining the interior department in 2017, a new complaint alleges, he has continued to pursue policies that favor his old clients. According to the non-partisan Campaign Legal Center, he has taken steps to weaken protections for endangered fish, such as the diminutive delta smelt, in California and make more irrigation water available for prominent agricultural interests in the state. Continue reading...

Floodwaters began receding Thursday after a rain-engorged river swamped thousands of homes and businessesFloodwaters turned two northern California wine country communities into islands reachable only by boat began on Wednesday, swamping thousands of homes and businesses. Continue reading...

Losses in North Sea are among the world’s biggest, according to US analysisFish catches have declined markedly and are likely to fall further, a study has found, with warming oceans to blame.Around the world, fish populations have fallen over the past 80 years, although some species have shown greater resilience than others. Overall, catches of commercially important fish have fallen by just over 4%, but in some regions catches have plunged by about a third since early in the last century. Continue reading...

Morrison government engages chief scientist to develop roadmap for potential $1.7bn export industryThe Morrison government will on Friday open public consultations on a national hydrogen strategy, after engaging Australia’s chief scientist to develop a roadmap with the cooperation of Canberra and the states.The Coalition’s move, which is part of a broader climate and energy policy reboot executed this week, follows a commitment from Labor in January to set aside $1bn in funding from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation for clean hydrogen development, and to invest up to $90m from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency for research, demonstration and pre-commercial deployment of hydrogen technologies. Continue reading...

Summer heatwave in UK and Europe brings increase in call-outs for pest controlSearing heat in the UK and across Europe last summer led to an increase in infestations of rats, wasps and flies, leading to a marked increased in call-outs for pest control business Rentokil Initial.The company, which has been catching rats since 1924, said the number of call-outs to deal with wasps doubled in the UK and Europe as temperatures soared in the summer of 2018. It also said fly control was up by a third in the UK and it dealt with 14% more rat problems. Continue reading...

Opponents say noise and pollution will be disastrous for wildlife and local residentsRichmond Park has been known for its rich wildlife and tranquil landscape for hundreds of years, but the controversial expansion of Heathrow airport will mean hundreds of aircraft flying at low altitude over the royal park, according to consultation documents issued by the airport.Maps of the new flight paths released as part of the consultation process for a third runway reveal the extent of proposed air traffic over the park, with some aircraft flying as low as 300 metres (1,000ft). Current flight paths to Heathrow are not routed directly over the park. Continue reading...

The water level in the Lake Berryessa reservoir, 75 miles north of San Francisco, has risen so much that, unusually, water is pouring into its overflow pipe, as can be seen in footage published by The Vacaville Reporter. The overflow, known as the Morning Glory Spillway, or simply the Glory Hole, drains water once the reservoir is over capacity and shoots it into a creek below the Monticello Dam.

New law will allow people of Toledo to act as legal guardians for Lake Erie, and polluters could be sued to pay for cleanup costsWhen they first started talking about doing something about the algae blooms in Lake Erie, which had made the once pristine water green and slimy and unhealthy from agricultural phosphorous runoff, people in Toledo, Ohio didn’t really know what to do. “Sometimes it was almost like all of us were at a funeral and we felt we had just seen the lake die,” said Tish O’Dell, a community organizer who specializes in environmental issues.Related: 'Moment of reckoning': US cities burn recyclables after China bans imports Continue reading...

Emissions for the year to September 2018 up 0.9% as Morrison government attempts a policy pivot on climateEmissions in Australia are continuing to rise, with the latest increases driven predominantly by an increase in liquefied natural gas production in Western Australia.Emissions for the year to September 2018 went up 0.9% on the previous year, according to the latest inventory, primarily due to a 19.7% increase in LNG exports, but there were also increases in stationary energy, transport, fugitives, industrial processes and waste sectors. Continue reading...

Planned Koukoutamba dam to be built in reserve established to protect chimps from miningUp to 1,500 chimpanzees could be killed by a new Chinese dam that will swamp a crucial sanctuary for the endangered primate in Guinea, experts have warned.The 294MW Koukoutamba dam will be built by Sinohydro, the world’s biggest hydroelectric power plant construction company, in the middle of a newly declared protected area called the Moyen-Bafing National park. Continue reading...

Climate change and human development have pushed Florida to the brink. Now conservationists are finding fresh hope in an unlikely formAt first pass, there seems little amiss in the idyll of Florida Bay. A wedge-shaped expanse of water between the Everglades and the Florida Keys, it is a clean, sun-dappled 1,000 sq mile playground for reddening tourists, grizzled fishermen and loud-shirted locals.But the consequences of Florida’s century-long attempt to bend the environment to its will aren’t hard to find. Starved of fresh water from a reworking of its natural plumbing further north and menaced by seas rising due to climate change, the Everglades and its adjoining bay are teetering at the edge of existential crisis. Continue reading...

Victoria’s first waste-to-energy project is going ahead but these projects threaten recycling and could pose health concernsIt’s the controversial scheme that’s attracting attention across the nation but as more waste-to-energy facilities get the green light, critics fear the opportunity to improve Australia’s recycling industry is going up in smoke.Waste-to-energy, also called bioenergy, has been used in Europe, east Asia and the United States for decades to destroy garbage that would otherwise go to landfill. The trash is burned as feedstock at high temperatures to create fuel, gas or steam that drives a turbine and churns out electricity. Continue reading...

Reservoir’s flood drain was expected to be used once every 50 years, but has seen action twice in last two

Rose Torphy is three years older than the national park itself, and recently joined as its oldest-ever junior ranger

Music festival will no longer sell single-use plastic water bottles in bid to cut wasteWith its sea of discarded tents and litter-strewn fields, Glastonbury has become almost as infamous for the mountain of rubbish left in its wake as it is renowned for its music.But this year, organisers are hitting back – by banning plastic bottles in a bid to stem the tide of waste. Continue reading...

Another climate announcement comes as the Coalition attempts to win back concerned votersThe Morrison government will persist with its attempted climate policy pivot by promising $50m in grants for businesses and community organisations to embark on energy efficiency projects, and an additional $17m to help building owners benchmark their energy use.The proposed investment in energy efficiency, which is one of the components of the government’s strategy for meeting Australia’s Paris commitments, comes as the prime minister has sent a public signal that Victorian energy retailers will have to pick up the costs of electricity transmitted through a second interconnector between Tasmania and the mainland. Continue reading...

Protesters glued themselves to windows of central London hotel hosting industry eventNine activists from the environmental group Extinction Rebellion have been arrested after they glued themselves to the front of a central London hotel to demand that the petroleum industry end its “deeply immoral” behaviour in driving climate change.Specialist police officers spent about two hours unsticking the protesters from windows next to the entrance of the InterContinental Park Lane hotel in Mayfair, which was hosting an oil and gas industry conference. Continue reading...

European cats to be released into Highlands in ‘last-ditch effort’ to help save speciesConservationists are planning to release captive European wildcats into the Highlands in a final attempt to save the Scottish wildcat from extinction.The new measures, described by ecologists as a last-ditch effort to save the species, follow an expert report that confirmed the Scottish wildcat was on the verge of becoming genetically extinct, with as few as 30 left in isolated pockets of the Highlands. Continue reading...

At least two dead and 14 injured in the incident in SulawesiDozens of people have been buried by a landslide at an unlicensed goldmine in Indonesia’s North Sulawesi province, the national disaster agency has said, as emergency personnel used their bare hands and farm tools to reach victims calling for help from beneath the rubble.The agency said two people were dead and 14 were injured, with at least 60 buried. Continue reading...

Case big enough for four round glass bottles can hold 10 letterbox-sized plastic onesWine may soon be distributed in flat plastic bottles, in a move that could reduce carbon emissions and costs in the industry’s supply chain.The bottles are a novel alternative to the glass model that has remained largely unchanged since the 19th century. Continue reading...

London, Leeds, Doncaster and Maidstone are among the worst affectedAlmost 2,000 locations across the UK have levels of air pollution that exceed safety limits, according to a pollution map released by campaigners.In 2017, the worst location for nitrogen dioxide pollution was Kensington and Chelsea, followed by Leeds and Doncaster. Continue reading...

Scientists say some marine animals with high levels of pollutants are failing to calvePlastics are an increasing cause of concern due to potential sources of chemicals that disrupt hormones and affect the growth and reproductive success of a wide variety of wildlife, according to a new report.Wildlife in the oceans and on land are subject to cocktails of pollutants known as endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), but little is still known about how these common substances interact in the environment despite years of research. The increasing problem of plastic waste breaking down in fragile ecosystems is now one of the key areas of research for scientists. Continue reading...

Scientists say it is likely no marine ecosystems are left that are not affected by pollutionThe world’s deepest ocean trenches are becoming “the ultimate sink” for plastic waste, according to a study that reveals contamination of animals even in these dark, remote regions of the planet.For the first time, scientists found microplastic ingestion by organisms in the Mariana trench and five other areas with a depth of more than 6,000 metres, prompting them to conclude “it is highly likely there are no marine ecosystems left that are not impacted by plastic pollution”. Continue reading...

Once a rapidly spreading rift intersects with another fissure, an iceberg of at least 660sq miles is set to be loosened, Nasa saysAn iceberg roughly twice the size of New York City is set to break away from an Antarctic ice shelf as a result of a rapidly spreading rift that is being monitored by Nasa.A crack along part of the Brunt ice shelf in Antarctica first appeared in October 2016, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa). The crack is spreading to the east. This rift, known as a Halloween crack, is set to intersect with another fissure that was apparently stable for the past 35 years but is now accelerating north at a rate of around 2.5 miles a year. Continue reading...

Film appears to show cows and calves being punched, beaten and dragged across the floorThe RSPCA is investigating a British farm, after undercover footage which appears to show dairy cows and calves being force fed, punched and beaten was released by an animal rights group.The footage, taken on a farm in Buckinghamshire, appears to show workers beating and swearing at dairy cows. Later in the footage, workers appear to drag young calves across the floor, and at one point appear to be force-feeding a young calf, as well as beating it. At one point a cow appears to be attempting to tend to a still-born calf. Continue reading...

Greater Manchester mayor says this part of levy would disproportionately affect poorThe mayor of Greater Manchester has been accused of a “cop-out” after a decision to exempt private cars from a daily charge under which polluting vehicles will pay up to £100 a day to use roads in the region.Andy Burnham asked the government for £116m to implement Greater Manchester’s plan, which includes a clean air zone designed to drastically reduce harmful levels of nitrogen dioxide by 2024. Continue reading...

Paul Flynn (obituary, 21 February) had a huge range of causes, often championing minority issues where others feared to tread, such as legalising cannabis and supporting the troops returning from overseas wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, and the families of the fallen in these wars, which he opposed.The issue on which I worked most with Paul was nuclear power and weapons dangers, costs and secrecy. According to the Parliamentary Archives database, Paul asked 1,410 parliamentary questions on nuclear issues during his time as an MP. Indeed his first three questions as an MP (in July 1987) were posed on nuclear safety. He opposed the Hinkley C plant in Somerset, opposite his constituency across the Bristol Channel, to the end, and insisted the plans for new nuclear plants in Wales at Wylfa and a small modular reactor at Trawsfynydd were expensive white elephants, while backing “clean, green eternal” tidal power to the last. Continue reading...

Whale discovered at Marajó Island should have been in Antarctica at this time of yearA young humpback whale has been found dead after being washed ashore on a remote swamp in the Amazon River.The humpback whale should have migrated thousands of miles to Antarctica by this time of year, but members of the conservation group Bicho D’Água said they found it at Marajó Island in Brazil’s north-east. Continue reading...

With the animal making a comeback in many US cities, enthusiasts such as San Francisco’s ‘coyote lady’ have become both educator and defenderSan Francisco’s resident Coyote Lady met her first coyote early one cool June morning on Twin Peaks, one of the city’s tallest hills.The coyote was a curious little thing, prancing here and there, dashing up the hill, and then down, all the while watching this strange creature and her dog. “She ran this way, she ran that way, she was so excited, like, ‘What’s going on? What are you doing?’” said Janet Kessler, 69. Continue reading...

On 26 February 1919, President Woodrow Wilson established Grand Canyon national park. Today it attracts more than 6 million visitors a year, drawn to its extraordinary beauty. It has also been a home to Native American tribes such as the Havasupai, Hopi, Hualapai and Navajo since long before it became a national park. Rare archival images, including those from the Grand Canyon Centennial Project, provide a rich visual record of this remarkable place

Morrison government waved through plan for luxury camp with helicopter access despite expert adviceA Tasmanian council has blocked a contentious private tourism development with helicopter access in the state’s world heritage wilderness.The luxury camp proposal for remote Halls Island on Lake Malbena, in the Walls of Jerusalem national park, had been waved through by the Morrison government in August against the recommendation of expert advisory bodies. Continue reading...

Joyous blooms mix with climate fears as you tell the story of the UK’s surprise burst of warmthUK experiences winter temperatures of 20C for first timeRecord temperatures in complete contrast to the weather at this time last year have led to signs that spring has sprung much earlier than usual in the UK, and naturalists have expressed worry about what this means for the environment.Related: Naturalists concerned for early-emerging spring species in UK Continue reading...

Exclusive: Natracare wipes are first to carry symbol showing they pass stricter sewer testsThe first wet wipes in the UK to be given official certification as “fine to flush” down the toilet will go on sale next month, as part of a national drive to eliminate the growing scourge of fatbergs.The organic brand Natracare is launching what it claims to be Europe’s first truly flushable moist tissue wipe and the first to carry a new symbol drawn up by Water UK, which represents water and sewerage companies in Britain. Continue reading...

Environment minister says under plan, his grandchildren in 2035 will have the same carbon footprint as his grandparents did in the 1940s – and by 2050 none at allCosta Rica has launched an economy-wide plan to “decarbonize” the country by 2050, as the Central American nation aims to show other nations what is possible to address climate change.Environment minister, Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, said that if the plan is achieved, his grandchildren in 2035 will have the same carbon footprint as his grandparents did in the 1940s – and by 2050 his grandchildren will have none at all. Continue reading...

Activists condemn Republican Senate leader for ‘lining your pockets while we die in floods’ and demand climate action

Greens’ Caroline Lucas says record-breaking weather reflects ‘climate emergency’The UK is experiencing its warmest February day on record and some of the highest temperatures ever recorded in winter, according to forecasters.Temperatures in Trawsgoed, Wales, reached 20.3C, (68.5F) on Monday morning and rose to 20.6C in the afternoon. The previous highest recorded temperature in February had been 19.7C in London in 1998. Continue reading...

Concerns had been raised over project increasing German reliance on Russian energyDonald Tusk, the president of the European council, called it a mistake, while the US president, Donald Trump, has branded it very inappropriate and a “very bad thing for Nato”.The Nord Stream 2 pipeline to take Russian gas to Germany is arguably Europe’s most controversial energy project, drawing opposition from Ukraine, which it will bypass, and uniting the US, eastern EU states and the European commission, which fears it will undermine the bloc’s ‘energy union’ plans. Continue reading...

Expected announcement by ExxonMobil of discovery off island’s south coast seen as potential game changerTensions between Cyprus and Turkey over energy could soon come to a head, with ExxonMobil apparently poised to announce a significant natural gas find off the divided island’s southern coast.After more than three months of deep-water exploration in the eastern Mediterranean, the US firm is expected to unveil findings this week in what is being described as a seminal moment in the race to tap potentially profitable underwater resources. Continue reading...

Real economic responsibility means sustaining the communities and physical resources on which society is builtIn the coming days, the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, plans to hold a vote on the Green New Deal resolution recently introduced by congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Senator Edward Markey (D-MA). Despite polls showing broad bipartisan support for a Green New Deal, McConnell hopes his ploy will divide Democrats and boost the GOP talking point that the plan is fiscally irresponsible.While McConnell and other critics seem to think that they can defeat the Green New Deal by repeating a tired mantra – “we can’t afford to do it” – the real question is: how can we afford not to? Without bold action to tackle climate change, toxic pollution and economic and racial inequity, our society will only see rising fiscal burdens. A Green New Deal would not only help us avoid mounting costs – it also would stimulate broad-based demand in the economy by investing in real drivers of economic prosperity: workers and communities. That’s in stark contrast to the GOP’s expensive recent policy priority – the nearly $2tn tax cuts of 2018 – which did little more than enrich stateless mega-corporations and the wealthiest investors. Continue reading...

Holidaymaker shocked to see stowaway python in her slip-ons on return from QueenslandAs souvenirs go, it is a unique one. A woman has returned to Scotland from a holiday in Australia to discover a stowaway snake hidden in one of her shoes.In an incident that will confirm the worst fears of visitors to Australia, Moira Boxall unpacked her luggage after the more than 9,300-mile journey from Queensland to find the small and very much alive creature curled up in her slip-ons. It even shed its skin during its voyage in her footwear. Continue reading...

MPs also shown polling that claims stopping the controversial coalmine will not necessarily cost Queensland seatsFederal Labor MPs have been given new legal advice arguing there is a valid pathway to revoke the environmental approvals for the controversial Adani coal project, and a summary of polling showing stopping the project would not necessarily cost seats in central Queensland.Guardian Australia has seen a brief for Labor MPs prepared by the Stop Adani campaign, which quotes legal advice from Neil Williams SC, a specialist in environmental and planning law, arguing “there is evidence to support revocation of Adani’s approval under section 145 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, including significant impacts on water resources that were not assessed when the mine was approved”. Continue reading...

Sadiq Khan’s claims to have built 140km of cycling infrastructure are simply falseAmong the more amusing frauds of the energy company Enron was the time, in 1998, when it decided to create an entire fake trading floor at its Texas HQ – complete with TVs, computers, and shirtsleeved guys shouting down phones – to fool Wall Street analysts visiting for its annual general meeting.Now, however, the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, appears to be aiming for something even more ambitious – an entire fake cycle network. I am in south-west London, in an alley about six feet wide, wedged between a railway line and the back garden fences of Southdown Road. According to Khan, this is the Wimbledon to Raynes Park Quietway, part of the 140km of cycle infrastructure, which he claims to have built since taking office. Continue reading...