Environment | The Guardian

Lowest Paris agreement target may temporarily be surpassed for first time between now and 2023Global warming could temporarily hit 1.5C above pre-industrial levels for the first time between now and 2023, according to a long-term forecast by the Met Office.Meteorologists said there was a 10% chance of a year in which the average temperature rise exceeds 1.5C, which is the lowest of the two Paris agreement targets set for the end of the century. Continue reading...

Top scientists condemn State of the Union address and say future presidents must confront climate change as urgent priorityA climate scientist and a former government expert in the audience for Donald Trump’s annual address to Congress said this will probably be the last administration that can forgo talking about climate change in the State of the Union speech.Trump did not mention rising temperatures or extreme weather, although he did tout the country’s status as the top producer of oil and gas and boast about how quickly his officials have moved to cut regulations. Continue reading...

Shale gas firm calls for lighter regulation as it reveals only 5% of Blackpool well is fracked

First mass of congealed oil, grease and other nasties brought to surface in DevonThe first chunk of the Sidmouth fatberg, a monstrous mass of congealed oils, grease, wet wipes and other nasties lurking under the seafront of the Devon resort, has been brought to the surface at the start of an eight-week cleanup operation.A hunk of the 64-metre long object was hauled up into the light in a yellow plastic bucket. A wet wipe – a key component of fatbergs – poked out of one side of the grey-white mess, a cotton bud from another. Continue reading...

Scientists yet to figure out how the birds died after hundreds wash up on Dutch coastScientists are scrambling to understand the sudden death of an estimated 20,000 guillemots off the Dutch coast, hundreds of which are washing up on the country’s shoreline.The bodies of the birds, which spend most of their lives at sea where they dive for their food, started emerging over the past month, from the Wadden Islands in the north to Zeeland in the south. Continue reading...

Campaign targets pope because of his environmental leadership and influence over 1.2bn CatholicsEnvironmental campaigners have issued a challenge to Pope Francis: go vegan for Lent and receive $1m for the charity of his choice.The purpose of the Million Dollar Vegan campaign, led by 12-year-old Genesis Butler, is to encourage people to eat less meat and dairy in order to fight climate change. Global warming cannot be beaten without huge cuts in meat eating in rich nations, research shows, while reducing consumption of animal products also tackles pollution and the destruction of forests and wildlife. Continue reading...

New Zealand puts out call to find owner of memory stick spotted in frozen poo sampleA functioning USB stick has been found in the scat of a rare Antarctic leopard seal, prompting New Zealand’s national science body to launch a hunt for the owner.Volunteers at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) recovered the device while examining the animal’s frozen faeces – which had been sitting in a freezer for over a year. Continue reading...

Colorado Parks and Wildlife says man fought off the cougar, hiked out of the area after attack and drove himself to hospitalWildlife officials say a man who fought off a young mountain lion on a northern Colorado trail killed the animal by suffocating it.Colorado Parks and Wildlife says the man was running alone near Fort Collins when the lion attacked him from behind after the movement apparently triggered its hunting instincts. Continue reading...

Joke Schauvliege falsely claimed state agencies had evidence that children’s climate change protests were a ‘set-up’A Belgian environment minister has been forced to resign after falsely claiming the country’s intelligence services held evidence that children skipping school to demonstrate over climate change were being directed by unnamed powers.Joke Schauvliege, a minister in Flanders, where the school-strikes movement first emerged, provoked a wave of criticism of the wider political class after suggesting the protests were a “set-up” and “more than spontaneous actions of solidarity”. Continue reading...

Heat, rainfall, droughts, cyclones and bushfires are all on the rise, Climate Council warnsExtreme weather events linked to climate change have the potential to disrupt Australia’s summer sports obsession at elite and grassroots level, the Climate Council warns.Its latest report – Weather Gone Wild, released on Wednesday – says climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of events such as extreme heat, intense rainfall, droughts, tropical cyclones and bushfires. Continue reading...

Child health experts say public needs to be better informed about scale of crisis

Young patients with respiratory problems are a regular sight for doctors due to air pollution crisis

Bodies are believed to be the men, aged 21 and 23, reported missing yesterday. Follow all the developments6.54am GMTThanks for following along with us again today. We’ll be closing the blog shortly, but, before that, let’s just recap the day’s events in Townsville.The main story from today is the sad news that two men aged in their 20s have died in the floods. Earlier, police said they held grave fears for two men who were last seen on Monday morning. We will learn more about the circumstances in the hours and days to come.6.07am GMTThe Insurance Council of Australia has revised its current estimate of insurance losses up – it now sits at $45m from 3,500 claims.The council expects that figure to rise as people return to their homes. This has been occurring gradually throughout the day, although authorities say many homes are still unsafe. Continue reading...

Men, both in their early 20s, discovered in stormwater drain near Aitkenvale libraryThe bodies of two men have been found in flood waters at Townsville in north Queensland.The two men, both in their early 20s, were discovered in a stormwater drain near the Aitkenvale library on Tuesday afternoon. Continue reading...

Measures to cut emissions could include free bus travel, says Friends of the EarthCampaigners have called for free bus travel and the reopening of hundreds of miles of railway lines to end reliance on cars, as transport is due to be confirmed as the UK’s largest contributor to greenhouse gases.Official data released on Tuesday is expected to confirm transport as the most polluting sector, largely driven by cars. It outstripped energy for the first time in 2016, with annual emissions of about 125m tonnes of CO. This figure has barely changed since 1990. Continue reading...

Increase in extreme weather due to climate change is damaging fruit and vegetable growingThe British chip has been left an inch shorter by the 2018 heatwave, according to a report on the risks to UK fruit and vegetable growing from climate change.The spell of baking summer weather was made 30 times more likely by global warming and left spuds substantially smaller than usual. Yields of carrots and onions were also sharply down. Continue reading...

The deputy secretary has been running the department since Ryan Zinke stepped down at the end of the yearDavid Bernhardt, a former oil and gas and water lobbyist, will be nominated to run the interior department, Donald Trump tweeted.I am pleased to announce that David Bernhardt, Acting Secretary of the Interior, will be nominated as Secretary of the Interior. David has done a fantastic job from the day he arrived, and we look forward to having his nomination officially confirmed! Continue reading...

Launching a new fossil fuel industry was a bad idea, and a coalition of localists and environmentalists appears close to defeating itLess than four months after what was supposed to be a new beginning for fracking in England, when Cuadrilla resumed operations at its Preston New Road site in Lancashire, it appears increasingly unlikely that there is a future for this industry in the UK at all. Minor earthquakes rapidly halted fracking at Preston New Road, and led to a row about whether the legal limit for underground seismic activity, set at 0.5-magnitude after earthquakes in 2011, is unrealistically low. Now Jim Ratcliffe, chairman of petrochemicals firm Ineos and the UK’s richest man, has launched his own attack both on the 0.5 limit and on the planning system that has seen all three of Ineos’s applications to frack rejected by local authorities – although two were later granted on appeal. The government’s refusal to change the law in the industry’s favour, he said, means that it is “shutting down shale by the backdoor”.Having watched the success of the shale gas industry in the US since 2000, Mr Ratcliffe and politicians including former chancellor George Osborne decided that fracking – which involves pumping water, sand and chemicals 2km underground at high pressure – should become a UK industry too. Senior Conservatives including the current energy minister, Claire Perry, agreed. They were wrong. The UK is unsuited to fracking, for political and geological reasons that have become clearer over the past few years, and all the money (Ineos alone has spent £150m) and effort expended on trying to foist a new and dirty industry on communities who do not want it has been thrown away. Continue reading...

Seven protesters arrested between November 2016 and February 2017 win £24,300 from South Yorkshire policeCampaigners who were wrongfully detained while protesting against tree felling in Sheffield have been given a £24,300 payout by South Yorkshire police.The seven protesters were arrested between November 2016 and February 2017 and detained for up to nine hours under an obscure trade union law that was incorrectly used, the police watchdog found last year. Continue reading...

Scott Morrison is trying to scare people about franking credits but seems blithely unaware people are already scared – about climate changeAs I write this, fire is 500 metres from the largest King Billy pine forest in the world on Mt Bobs, an ancient forest that dates back to the last Ice Age and has trees over 1,000 years old. Fire has broached the boundaries of Mt Field national park with its glorious alpine vegetation, unlike anything on the planet. Fire laps at the edges of Federation Peak, Australia’s grandest mountain, and around the base of Mt Anne with its exquisite rainforest and alpine gardens. Fire laps at the border of the Walls of Jerusalem national park with its labyrinthine landscapes of tarns and iconic stands of ancient pencil pine and its beautiful alpine landscape, ecosystems described by their most eminent scholar, the ecologist Prof Jamie Kirkpatrick, as “like the vision of a Japanese garden made more complex, and developed in paradise, in amongst this gothic scenery”.“You have plants that look like rocks – green rocks – and these plants have different colours in complicated mosaics: red-green, blue-green, yellow-green, all together. It’s an overwhelming sensual experience really.” Continue reading...

Improving the quality of high sulphur fuel could offer 5% improvement on CO2 emissions ‘overnight’Australia’s cheap, dirty petrol ranks among the worst of the OECD nations, yet the peak industry body representing Australian petrol refiners has rejected the criticism, saying the industry should be given until 2027 to adjust to stricter regulations.Paul Barrett, the chief executive of the Australian Institute of Petroleum, hit back at critics who have described Australian petrol as low quality thanks to its sulphur content. Continue reading...

Exposure to particulate matter and ozone highest in poor eastern European states, says studyEurope’s poorest, least educated and most jobless regions are bearing the brunt of the air pollution crisis, according to the first official stocktake of its kind.Nearly half of London’s most deprived neighbourhoods exceeded EU nitrogen dioxide (NO2) limits in 2017 compared with 2% of its wealthiest areas. Continue reading...

Ministers are playing politics with the country’s future, says Ineos boss Sir Jim RatcliffeThe UK’s richest person has launched an attack on the government’s fracking rules, accusing ministers of policies that will cause an “energy crisis” and “irreparable damage” to the economy.Sir Jim Ratcliffe, chairman of petrochemicals firm Ineos, pledged four years ago to start a UK fracking revolution but the company has been bogged down in planning battles and is yet to drill or frack a single well. Continue reading...

Off-road drivers and vandals damaged the fragile ecosystem, prompting fears it could take ‘300 years’ to bounce backAs Ethan Peck’s boots crunch through the desert sands, he stops to point out tracks on the side of the trail: not coyote or other wildlife, but dog prints. “It’s just sad that people would do this,” says Peck, who owns Joshua Tree Adventures and has lived in the area for seven years. “You’re not allowed to hike with your dog [off-leash] in any national park.”Related: Joshua Tree national park 'may take 300 years to recover' from shutdown Continue reading...

Firm hopes to build scheme within six years after ministers rejected it for being too costlyThe backers of a pioneering project to harness energy from the tides off the Welsh coast have rebooted the scheme and believe they can build it without the help of government.With the recent failure of two major nuclear projects, attention has turned to alternatives to fill the low-carbon power gap, with developers of windfarms and small nuclear plants among those vying for government support. Continue reading...

Scientists say effects of global warming on ‘phytoplankton’ will intensify the coloursThe blues and greens of the ocean will become even bluer and greener by the end of the century as a result of global warming, scientists have found.Researchers say the colour changes are down to the effect of climate change on populations of tiny water-dwelling organisms, known as phytoplankton, that convert sunlight into chemical energy through photosynthesis, as well as effects on levels of other colourful components of the oceans. Continue reading...

Streaming case online will raise awareness of climate change, barrister arguesA high court challenge to the government’s controversial plan for a third runway at Heathrow could be opened up to a mass audience through livestreaming for the first time if judges accept a legal argument.Although the supreme court has transmitted its hearings since 2009, photography and recording of court proceedings elsewhere are strictly controlled by the Crime and Courts Act 2013, which only permits cases in the court of appeal to be broadcast. Continue reading...

Thousands of homes at risk as Townsville braces for ‘once-in-a-century’ flood. This blog is now closed

Water birds and marine animals particularly at risk, according to new RSPCA findingsWildlife and pets are under increasing threat from plastic waste and litter, according to new data from the RSPCA, which shows the number of incidents of animals hurt by plastic litter has risen sharply on previous years.Plastic litter led to 579 cases of damage to wildlife or pets that were reported to the animal charity in England and Wales in 2018, up from 473 in 2015. That rise came against a background of falling damage to animals from other forms of litter, down from 4,968 reported incidents in 2015 to 4,579 last year. Continue reading...

As peak Australian farming body bemoans advent of pea protein-based bar, others hail ‘smart move’ by UnileverThe peak body for Australian dairy farmers has labelled a new vegan Magnum made of pea protein “a problem for the dairy industry” and said it should not be called an ice-cream.The vegan Magnum, released widely in Australia this month, is a dairy-free version of the popular ice-cream snack. It features dairy-free chocolate made from coconut oil and cacao butter, and pea protein flavoured with vanilla. Continue reading...

Protected countryside is more than 15 miles away from almost half of the most deprived areasFrom Exmoor to Northumberland, the country’s poorest people are being denied access to England’s most beautiful countryside and missing out on the mental and physical health benefits that can result, research has found.Almost half of the country’s most socially deprived areas are more than 15 miles by road from 10 national parks and 46 areas of outstanding natural beauty (AONB), according to a submission to a government review into how national assets are being managed. Continue reading...

South Australian senator says cotton sales are equivalent to exporting 20% of river system’s water to China and IndiaThe South Australian Centre Alliance senator Rex Patrick is calling for cotton exports to be banned in an attempt to draw attention to the plight of the Murray-Darling river system and the over-extraction by irrigators.The senator is preparing to introduce a bill when parliament resumes next week. It would impose a ban on exporting cotton in three years’ time. Continue reading...

After 12% drop in generation, experts say existing nuclear plants are likely to close earlyBritain’s nuclear power stations recorded a 12% decline in their contributions to the country’s energy system over the past month, as outages raised concerns over how long the ageing plants will be able to keep operating.Related: What role does nuclear power play in UK and what are alternatives? Continue reading...

Several hopefuls are embracing the effort for a Green New Deal – but success will require overcoming legislative hurdlesCarl Shoupe, a 71-year-old who lives in Benham, Kentucky, at the foot of the tallest mountain in the state, does not feel well served by America.When he came back from Vietnam, he went to work in the coal mines. At 22, he was nearly killed by a roof collapse. Continue reading...

Some put lack of action down to fundamental differences between the two countriesIt started with a solo protest outside Sweden’s parliament by 16-year-old Greta Thunberg and has snowballed across the globe.Schoolchildren demanding action on climate change have played truant and taken to the streets in Australia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland and, in their greatest numbers, in Belgium, where 35,000 made their voices heard in Brussels a week ago and a further 12,500 marched on Thursday. Continue reading...

More than 220 remain missing after an avalanche of liquid mining waste swept through the countryside of Minas GeraisHelicopters clattered overhead as teams of men and sniffer dogs picked their way across the few areas of red mud solid enough to walk on. Other recovery teams gathered around a digger as its shovel scooped up the sludge and drained it, again and again.Related: Brazil dam collapse: bodies pulled from toxic mud as hope fades for survivors Continue reading...

An understaffed stretch of California coastline has new residents: nearly 100 elephant seals and their pupsDuring the US government shutdown, understaffed national parks were overrun by careless visitors. But at one spot in California, the absence of rangers meant a takeover by a horde of a different sort: a massive group of boisterous elephant seals.Related: 'That income is gone': shutdown pain lingers for unpaid contract workers Continue reading...

Footage shows torrent of mining waste, while ceremony pays tribute to 110 victimsA week after the deadly collapse of a mining dam in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, dozens paid tribute to the 110 victims killed and 238 who are still missing, while newly released video footage showed the moment that a powerful wave of waste began sweeping over everything in its path.A ceremony was held at the site of the disaster around 1pm local time on Friday, the hour at which the dam breached on 25 January, unleashing a destructive torrent of reddish-brown mining waste. Continue reading...

Exclusive: leaked emails show officials planning crisis centres to manage halt in waste exports to EUGovernment officials are preparing to deal with “putrefying stockpiles” of rubbish in the event of a no-deal Brexit, according to documents leaked to the Guardian.If the UK leaves the EU without a deal on 29 March, export licences for millions of tonnes of waste will become invalid overnight. Environment Agency (EA) officials said leaking stockpiles could cause pollution. Continue reading...

Macaques adapt to city life, Andean condors are released back into the wild, and a lion catches a seal in this week’s gallery Continue reading...

Introduction of minimum prices in supermarkets aims to increase farmers’ incomesFrance’s agriculture minister has sought to reassure households that food shopping bills would not jump dramatically after a rise in minimum food prices aimed at increasing farmers’ incomes came into effect.The measure introduced on Friday had been postponed by the government in December as France reeled from nationwide unrest and sometimes violent gilets jaunes (yellow vests) protests over high living costs and squeezed household budgets. Continue reading...

Hottest month ever shows temperatures rising faster than predicted, say climate expertsAustralia sweltered through the hottest month in its history in January, spurring mass deaths of fish, fire warnings and concerns among climate scientists that extreme heat is hitting faster and harder than anticipated.For the first time since records began, the country’s mean temperature in January exceeded 30C (86F), according to the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM), which said daily extremes – in some places just short of 50C – were unprecedented. Continue reading...

After secret footage of animals raises health fears across Europe, reporter says tip-offs suggest scandal was not isolated incidentThe practice of smuggling sick cows into the meat chain is feared to be more widespread in Poland than previously believed, according to the investigative reporter who captured footage of ill cows being dragged to slaughter with a winch.After Patryk Szczepaniak’s undercover footage aired, the EU’s rapid alert system for food and feed was triggered, and it has since been confirmed that meat from this particular abattoir was exported to 12 other EU countries (not including the UK). Continue reading...

Many cruise ships use seawater to ‘wash’ dirty fuel to meet targets but dump washwater back in oceanA boom in cruise liner holidays is raising concerns over the widespread use of “emissions dodging” by global shipping to meet tough new dirty fuel rules next year.Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd revealed this week it had received record bookings for 2019, with the boom sparked in part by a rise in Chinese passengers. Continue reading...

Campaigners argue that the business case for the project was a ‘no-brainer’A scrapped “emerald necklace” cycleway up the spine of the country alongside HS2 would have delivered a return on investment of up to five times greater than the rail project itself, an FoI request has revealed – but neither the government nor HS2 Ltd will fund it.A 50-page report outlining the business case for the national cycleway, obtained by the Guardian, reveals health, congestion and economic benefits of between £3 and £8 per £1 spent. The return on investment of HS2 itself, meanwhile, is just £1.5-£1.7 per £1, according to the National Audit Office. Campaigners say completing the cycleway should have been a “no-brainer”. Continue reading...

Pressure from investors forces UK oil and gas firm to be more transparent on climate changeBP has bowed to pressure from investors, including the Church of England, by backing a plan to explain how its strategy and investments are consistent with the Paris climate agreement.The UK oil and gas company supported a resolution, put forward by a group of shareholders including the investment arms of HSBC, Legal & General and the C of E, forcing it to be more transparent on climate change. Continue reading...

Up to 100 more homes face flooding after mayor orders high-risk plan to open floodgates on the Ross River damOne hundred homes could be flooded in Townsville after the city’s mayor sanctioned the high-risk release of dam water to save the area from more widespread inundation following more than 1.1 metres of rain.Announcing the emergency measure for the Ross River dam on Friday, the mayor Jenny Hill said there were no guarantees the plan would work. Between 90 and 100 homes downstream from the dam were being evacuated, she added. Continue reading...

Controversial climatologist John Christy, who once said scientists believed Earth was flat, to join advisory board at environment agency

Bureau of Meteorologist says global warming contributed to soaring temperaturesJanuary was Australia’s hottest month on record, with the country’s mean temperature exceeding 30C for the first time since records began in 1910.The Bureau of Meteorology released its climate summary for January on Friday and said the widespread heatwave conditions and daily extremes were “unprecedented”. Continue reading...