Environment | The Guardian

Fears grow companies may use it to get around temporary fracking moratoriumCampaigners have warned that the fracking moratorium announced by the UK government does not apply to acid fracking, a process that involves injecting acid into the earth to dissolve and fracture rock.More than 500 academics, politicians and campaigners have signed an open letter initiated by Brockham Oil Watch calling on the government to ban the practice over fears companies may use it to get around the moratorium. Continue reading...

Bushfires across NSW and Victoria have caused road closures, making it difficult to get product to consumersWidespread damage to farms and crops as well as critical infrastructure from the unprecedented bushfires could affect the price and availability of fresh produce, experts say, but the effect is only expected to be short-term.Shaun Lindhe, a spokesperson for industry body AusVeg, says that damage from the fires has already had an impact on vegetable growers. Continue reading...

Two cases of upset stomach and diarrhea confirmed as norovirus, as park says it is undertaking ‘extensive cleaning’ effortsRoughly 170 people who have visited Yosemite national park in recent weeks have suffered upset stomachs and diarrhea, symptoms that park officials say are consistent with norovirus.Two of those cases have been confirmed as norovirus, park officials say. The park spokesman Scott Gediman issued a written statement that most of those who fell ill had spent time in Yosemite Valley around the first week of January. Continue reading...

Up to 100mm of rain has fallen in parts of NSW over Thursday and Friday with more forecast for the state and VictoriaFrom dancing cows to the overdue shaving of a two year old beard, Australians across drought-stricken and fire-hit parts of New South Wales and Victoria have celebrated the arrival of much-needed rain.Up to 100mm of rain has fallen in parts of NSW over Thursday and Friday, in what was, for some areas, the most significant rainfall in months. Continue reading...

Commitments to phase out deforestation by 2020 are out of reach for many, reports findSome of the world’s biggest brands are failing in their commitments to banish deforestation from their supply chains through their use of palm oil, despite making public claims to environmental sustainability, according to two reports.Scores of the world’s biggest consumer brands have agreed to phase out deforestation through the use of sustainable palm oil by 2020, but this goal looks far out of reach for many, according to separate reports from the campaigning groups WWF and Rainforest Action Network. Continue reading...

In past two years, proportion of Britons who have eaten meat substitutes has risen to 65%Almost a quarter of all new UK food products launched last year were labelled vegan, while nearly two-thirds of Britons chose to eat meat substitutes, figures show.Over the past two years, the proportion of Britons who have eaten food containing meat substitutes has risen from 50% in 2017 to 65%, the analysts Mintel said. Continue reading...

British naturalist says climate change is an ‘urgent crisis’ that must be solvedSir David Attenborough has said it is “palpable nonsense” to suggest that Australia’s bushfire crisis has nothing to do with climate changeas he warned “the moment of crisis” has arrived.The 93-year-old British naturalist made the direct link between the ongoing bushfires and climate change during an interview with the BBC published on Thursday. Continue reading...

Conservative government critics blame Treasury’s dramatic cut in subsidiesBritain’s green economy has shrunk since 2014, heightening concerns that the government will miss targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions by the middle of the decade.The number of people employed in the “low carbon and renewable energy economy” declined by more than 11,000 to 235,900 between 2014 and 2018, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Continue reading...

In fight against climate crisis, operators will be compensated for early switch-offsGermany will pay its utility companies billions of euros to speed up the shutdown of their coal-fired power plants as part of the country’s efforts to fight climate crisis, the government has said.The agreement reached between federal ministers and representatives of four coalmining states removes a key hurdle in Germany’s plan to curb greenhouse gas emissions over the coming decades. Continue reading...

Calls grow for mental health support for volunteers as images of animals killed in fires cause widespread distressThe bushfire crisis has caused a “collective grief” among wildlife carers, who say the “scent of death [is] in every breath” in fire-affected areas.The scale of the devastation – with more than a billion animals estimated to have died – has prompted renewed calls from some wildlife experts for mental health support for wildlife carers, almost a third of whom already experience “moderate to severe grief” as part of the ordinary course of their work. Continue reading...

Guardian Australia analysis reveals the frightening amount of world heritage area burned in Australia’s ongoing fire crisisAt least 80% of the Blue Mountains world heritage area and more than 50% of the Gondwana world heritage rainforests have burned in Australia’s ongoing bushfire crisis.The scale of the disaster is such that it could affect the diversity of eucalypts for which the Blue Mountains world heritage area is recognised, said John Merson, the executive director of the Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute. Continue reading...

Investment from Korean giants means startup is valued at £3bn, giving it ‘unicorn’ statusThe UK-based electric van maker Arrival has secured an £85m investment from South Korean car firms Hyundai and Kia – a cash injection which values the business at £3bn, defying the struggles of the British automotive industry.The money will be used by Arrival to fund the next stage of its development as it prepares to scale up production of an electric van it hopes will rival those from more established manufacturers. The Korean companies will work with Arrival to develop new commercial vehicles with zero exhaust emissions. Continue reading...

Students say law firm Paul Weiss has cultivated liberal reputation despite representing oil companies, tobacco and big banksHarvard law students have disrupted a recruiting event for Paul Weiss, the law firm representing ExxonMobil in climate lawsuits, in an escalation the protesters hope will open a new front in climate activism in the legal world.Related: James Murdoch's climate stance distances him from family empire Continue reading...

Shoppers in Middleton will be able to bring containers for cereal, tea and other groceriesThe supermarket chain Asda is joining forces with some of the UK’s best-known food and drink brands to create a “sustainability” store, in the latest drive to find and test new ways to eliminate unnecessary plastic and packaging.From May, its store in Middleton, Leeds, will become the first Asda in the UK where shoppers can fill up their own containers with a range of products, from big brands to own-label coffee and pasta. Continue reading...

In a new film, A Life on Our Planet, the broadcaster rails against the imminent, man-made dangers behind the climate emergencyDavid Attenborough has warned that humans have “overrun the world” in a trailer for A Life on Our Planet, a forthcoming documentary looking at the changes on Earth during his lifetime.The 93-year-old naturalist and broadcaster describes the project as a “witness statement” of the effects of the climate crisis, adding that the actions of humanity are sending the planet into decline. Continue reading...

Regional Community Energy Fund never opened and Gladys Berejiklian’s government refusing to explain whyThe New South Wales government has failed to act on a promise to provide regional towns with renewably sourced emergency backup power during disasters, leaving funding unavailable ahead of the state’s bushfire crisis.In 2018, the NSW government announced a $30m program to fund small-scale renewable energy generation and storage in regional and remote communities, through a scheme known as the Regional Community Energy Fund (RCEF). Continue reading...

Scott Morrison suggest he will ‘evolve’ his government’s climate policy but many still openly doubt the scienceThe science minister, Karen Andrews, has said it’s “time for everyone to move on” from ideological debates on climate change.“Every second that we spend discussing if climate change is real is a second we don’t spend addressing these issues,” she told Nine Newspapers. “Let’s move on and get over this.” Continue reading...

National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility funding was discontinued in 2017, while Scott Morrison was treasurerThe Coalition’s decision to axe funding to a climate change adaptation research body in 2017 has left Australia “not well positioned” to deal with fires, the “silent killer” of drought and other global heating impacts, its director has said.Jean Palutikof, the director of the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF), told Guardian Australia the decision to discontinue funding in 2017 – when Scott Morrison was treasurer – had hollowed out the research community and “the capacity to take action on climate change is smaller than it was decade ago”. Continue reading...

‘Bright and breezy’ day follows disruption of Storm Brendan, but wintry weather will returnMuch of the UK is to enjoy a brief respite from the wind and rain brought by Storm Brendan before a return to wintery conditions on Thursday, the Met Office has said.A 48-hour period of disruptive weather began on Monday as Storm Brendan hit Ireland, causing thousands of homes to lose power, before bringing winds in excess of 80mph to parts of Scotland and England. Continue reading...

A specially deployed team of remote air firefighters helped save the trees from the giant Gospers Mountain fireFirefighters have saved the only known natural stand of Wollemi pines, so-called “dinosaur trees” that fossil records show existed up to 200m years ago, from the bushfires that have devastated New South Wales.The state’s environment minister, Matt Kean, said a specially deployed team of remote air firefighters helped save the critically endangered trees from the giant Gospers Mountain fire. Continue reading...

Divestment decision by the world’s biggest fund manager called a breakthrough – but only a first stepIn recent decades, environmentalists have grown used to disappointment when big companies and Wall Street pay lip service to concern over the climate crisis. On Tuesday, it looked like something might have changed.The decision by the private equity giant BlackRock – the world’s biggest fund manager – to exit investments that “present a high sustainability-related risk” has been welcomed by environmentalists as a significant moment in the battle to reshape the relationship between money and the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Expected falls up to 80mm in fire grounds in Victoria and New South Wales called a ‘double-edged sword’Forecast heavy rains across bushfire-hit areas of Victoria and New South Wales may cause mass fish deaths as ash and sediment is washed into rivers, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority has warned.Central parts of Victoria and and NSW are forecast to see falls up to 80mm between Thursday and Sunday, some of it in areas recovering from bushfires. Fire grounds in the Snowy Mountains and south coast regions of NSW may get strong falls. Continue reading...

Facility threatens UK’s aim to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, report saysBritain’s first new deep coalmine in 30 years is unnecessary and incompatible with UK climate ambitions, according to a report.The £165m Woodhouse colliery in Cumbria was given cross party-backing in March 2019, leading to protests from climate campaigners who said the mine would harm the UK’s efforts to reduce CO emissions. Continue reading...

Survey reveals internationally protected natural habitats are among the areas at riskHS2 will destroy or irreparably damage five internationally protected wildlife sites, 693 local wildlife sites, 108 ancient woodlands and 33 legally protected sites of special scientific interest, according to the most comprehensive survey of its impact on wildlife.Swaths of other irreplaceable natural habitat will be lost to the new high-speed line, with endangered wildlife such as willow tit, white-clawed crayfish and dingy skipper butterfly at risk of local extinction. Continue reading...

Doctors liken this summer’s hazardous bushfire smoke to the days when we realised the sun contributes to skin cancerUnprecedented bushfires have sparked health concerns for Australia’s most vulnerable populations, but proper education and adequate policies may help the public to cope better, according to the Public Health Association of Australia.People such as children under the age of 14, those over the age of 65, pregnant women and individuals with pre-existing respiratory issues are at the highest risk during periods of poor air quality. Continue reading...

Migration routes after nesting in French Guiana found extended as far as Nova Scotia and France, research showsLeatherback turtles are making exhausting journeys, in some cases nearly twice as long as usual, from nesting to feeding grounds, because of rising ocean temperatures and changing sea currents.After nesting, turtles must move to cooler waters to feed, but higher temperatures mean some are having to swim further to reach suitable areas, according to research from Greenpeace and the French Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien, part of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. Continue reading...

Rain forecast to bring relief from smoke haze in afternoon as 12 people remain at Tamboon, which is cut off by fireEnvironmental authorities have warned much of Victoria is set for another smoky day on Wednesday, but conditions are expected to improve with rain forecast for large parts of the state by the afternoon.The forecast comes after small group of residents still in a town cut off by bushfire were forced to shelter on the beach after a blaze in Victoria’s East Gippsland flared. Continue reading...

Labour leadership contender says public should be more involved to build consensus

BlackRock CEO says climate crisis will now dictate investments but environmentalists remain waryBlackRock, the world’s largest fund manager, has announced it will put sustainability at the heart of its investment decisions.In his annual letter to chief executives, the BlackRock boss, Larry Fink, writes that the climate emergency is altering how investors view the long-term prospects of companies. “Awareness is rapidly changing, and I believe we are on the edge of a fundamental reshaping of finance.” Continue reading...

Asset management giant promises to put environmental issues at the heart of its investment strategy, following pressure from climate protesters

Dramatic reduction in population needed to combat biodiversity crisis, say expertsA coalition of Scottish conservation groups has called for legally enforceable culls of deer to be imposed on private landowners and stalking estates, while raising the prospect of local communities becoming more involved in shooting and killing deer for food.The report, published by Scottish Environment Link (SEL), which includes the John Muir Trust, the National Trust for Scotland, RSPB Scotland and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, argues that a dramatic reduction in the country’s wild deer population is needed to tackle accelerating climate and biodiversity crises. Continue reading...

MP Tim Farron expected to be among thousands attending day of activism in GrasmereThousands of protesters are expected to descend on the Lake District next month to demonstrate over what they say is the increasing push to develop the national park for commercial gain.Protesters are planning a day of activism following a series of public outcries over the threat of commercialisation of the national park. The move has echoes of the Kinder Scout mass trespass of 1932. Then, hundreds of radical ramblers walked across hills and moorland which had previously been the preserve of landed gentry, eventually resulting in the creation of Britain’s national parks. Continue reading...

After purifiers were installed in southern California classrooms following a gas leak, students saw gains on math and English testsA 2015 gas leak that belched toxic chemicals into the air and spread panic may have indirectly led to higher student test scores.In the days after a gas leak was discovered in Aliso Canyon, 30 miles north of Los Angeles, thousands of residents were evacuated from the area, many of whom reported headaches, nausea, stomach aches, dizziness or breathing problems. Students from two nearby schools were relocated and 18 other schools were impacted. Continue reading...

Colombia was the bloodiest nation with 103 murders and the Philippines was second, followed by Brazil, Honduras and MexicoMore than 300 human rights defenders working to protect the environment, free speech, LGBTQ rights and indigenous lands in 31 countries were killed in 2019, a new report reveals.Two thirds of the total killings took place in Latin America where impunity from prosecution is the norm. Continue reading...

Authorities warn people to take health precautions as firefighters spend night responding to alarms triggered by smoke hazeVictorians started Tuesday by breathing in the worst air in the world due to smoke blowing down from bushfires in the state’s east and New South Wales.The city centre recorded hazardous levels of fine particles in the air from 12am to 4am and had since been categorised as very poor by the Environmental Protection Authority. Continue reading...

Deadly ‘heat islands’ which have fewer green spaces and tree canopy linked to racist policies in urban neighborhoods, study findsDeadly urban heatwaves disproportionately affect underserved neighbourhoods because of the legacy of racist housing policies which have denied African Americans home ownership and basic public services, a landmark new study has found.Extreme heat kills hundreds of people in the US every year – more than any other hazardous weather event, including hurricanes, tornadoes and flooding, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Heatwaves have been occurring more frequently since the mid-20th century, and are expected to become more common, more severe and longer-lasting due to the climate crisis. Continue reading...

US asset manager that built up fossil fuel portfolio fails to join rivals in engaging with climateVanguard, the world’s second largest asset manager, has refused to sign up to a group of major investors demanding that polluters respond to the climate crisis, despite its rival BlackRock relenting to pressure to do so.The US investment manager’s decision leaves it increasingly isolated after BlackRock last week joined Climate Action 100+ (CA100+), a group of asset managers that pushes the largest fossil fuel producers to show how they will meet carbon dioxide reduction targets. Continue reading...

Protest group leader Luisa Neubauer says she would lose right to criticise the companyThe leader of Germany’s Friday for Future climate protests has said she turned down a seat on the board of Siemens’ new energy business amid growing anger over its role in a controversial coalmining project in Australia as she feared she would lose the right to criticise the company.Luisa Neubauer, 23, the German face of the campaign group inspired by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who has campaigned alongside her, said on Monday the position would jeopardise her independence if she had taken up the offer from its chief executive, Joe Kaeser, made at a meeting in Berlin on Friday. Continue reading...

Oceans are clearest measure of climate crisis as they absorb 90% of heat trapped by greenhouse gasesThe heat in the world’s oceans reached a new record level in 2019, showing “irrefutable and accelerating” heating of the planet.The world’s oceans are the clearest measure of the climate emergency because they absorb more than 90% of the heat trapped by the greenhouse gases emitted by fossil fuel burning, forest destruction and other human activities. Continue reading...

Labour leadership frontrunner joins police chiefs in denouncing the move

With its old ideology being treated with universal scorn, a new line is being embraced – and it could signal the death of the planetThe impact of climate-change over the past five months across Australia has caused climate-change deniers within the media and government to quickly update their tactics to a new sinister position.Gone are the plans to just keep lying for the next decade that activists such as Greta Thunberg are predicting that the world is going to end in 2030, or to continue to flub and fudge the science – no real warming since 1998, 2005, 2010, 2016! Solar activity! Volcanoes! Greenland! Continue reading...

Only 15 giant Española tortoises were left in the wild before one male sired 800 offspring in a wildly successful breeding programThe Galápagos National Park has announced it is ending a captive breeding program for giant Española tortoises, after one tortoise produced more than 800 offspring, helping save the species.Related: Giant tortoise believed extinct for 100 years found in Galápagos Continue reading...

Rollout of new turbines is in decline amid Tory subsidy cuts, jeopardising climate targetsThe government’s current energy policies have led to a sharp decline in the number of new onshore windfarms, raising fears that the UK may fall short of the renewable energy it needs to generate to meet its climate targets.Industry data shows the ­rollout of new onshore windfarms fell dramatically after the ­government scrapped subsidy schemes four years ago. Continue reading...

Proposal would involve rerouting traffic to ring road in attempt to improve air qualityThrough traffic could be banned from Birmingham city centre under plans being considered by the council to reduce emissions.The proposal, which forms part of the draft Birmingham transport plan, published on Monday, would involve rerouting traffic to a ring road in an effort to improve air quality in the city centre. Continue reading...

Paris-style proposal to counter loss of ecosystems and wildlife vital to the future of humanity will go before October summitAlmost a third of the world’s oceans and land should be protected by the end of the decade to stop and reverse biodiversity decline that risks the survival of humanity, according to a draft Paris-style UN agreement on nature.To combat what scientists have described as the sixth mass extinction event in Earth’s history, the proposal sets a 2030 deadline for the conservation and restoration of ecosystems and wildlife that perform crucial services for humans. Continue reading...

DHS listed activists engaged in non-violent civil disobedience targeting oil industry alongside white supremacists in documentsA group of US environmental activists engaged in non-violent civil disobedience targeting the oil industry have been listed in internal Department of Homeland Security documents as “extremists” and some of its members listed alongside white nationalists and mass killers, documents obtained by the Guardian reveal.The group have been dubbed the Valve Turners, after closing the valves on pipelines in four states carrying crude oil from Canada’s tar sands on 11 October 2016 which accounted for about 15% of US daily consumption. It was described as the largest coordinated action of its kind and for a few hours the oil stopped flowing. Continue reading...

Catastrophic bushfire burns through half Kangaroo Island’s landmass, devastating wildlife and the sheep populationUp to 100,000 sheep were killed in bushfires on Kangaroo Island and at least 25,000 more livestock perished in fires on mainland Australia, farming groups have said.Kangaroo Island farmers ordered thousands of rounds of ammunition to shoot animals that were critically injured in a catastrophic bushfire that has burned through half of the island’s landmass, devastating a significant koala population and thousands of other wildlife and killing up to one-sixth of the sheep population. Continue reading...

78 out of 154 universities joined campaign in blow to big oil’s ‘social licence’, campaigners sayHalf of UK universities have signed up to divest from fossil fuels in what campaigners say is a significant blow to the “social licence” of big oil.Seventy-eight of the UK’s 154 public universities have joined the divestment campaign, either divesting or pledging to divest hundreds of millions from the fossil fuel industry. Continue reading...

New Economics Foundation calls for £50bn to reboot economy on greener footingThe government fightback against the next recession should include pumping as much as £50bn into green projects, in a move that would help reboot the economy and tackle the climate emergency, according to a left-leaning thinktank.Against a backdrop of concern among economists that Britain is ill-equipped to combat another downturn on the scale of the 2008 financial crisis, the New Economics Foundation thinktank said a green plan to beat a future slump was required. Continue reading...