Environment | The Guardian

Evacuated residents urged not to return home with damage to structure at ‘critical level’Emergency services will continue their efforts to prevent a damaged dam from collapsing in Derbyshire, as forecasters warn more bad weather could be on the way.Water levels at the Toddbrook reservoir in Whaley Bridge have been reduced by half a metre since Thursday but the damage to the 180-year-old structure remains at a critical level. Continue reading...

About half a million acres of land in the rural Yazoo backwater area in Mississippi is underwater, a devastating blow for a poor region where agriculture is the economy’s lifebloodDating back to late February, about 550,000 acres of land have been underwater in the rural Yazoo backwater area of the lower Mississippi delta. About half of the acreage is farmland, creating devastating effects in a region where agriculture is the lifeblood of the economy. While flooding in the region is common, this year’s floodwater has hung around longer than ever. Continue reading...

The change, taking effect 20 August, is part of SFO’s plan to become a zero ‘waste-to-landfill’ facility by 2021The days of picking up a plastic bottle of water to stay hydrated during a long flight will soon be over for people flying out of San Francisco’s international airport (SFO).The airport, which restricted the distribution of single-use plastic straws when the city law went into effect in July, is now banning convenience shops, restaurants and vending machines from selling plastic water bottles. Starting on 20 August, only water in glass, recycled aluminum, or certified compostable materials can be sold. Continue reading...

PM tells residents that Toddbrook reservoir looks ‘dodgy but stable’The prime minister has visited the Derbyshire town of Whaley Bridge, where at least a thousand residents were forced to flee their homes amid fears a dam could collapse, engulfing the community of 6,500 people.Boris Johnson met a number of families affected by the evacuation. He told them he had flown over the dam twice and it was “dodgy but stable”, but police warned there was still “a substantial threat to life” if the dam wall fails. Continue reading...

Far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro calls satellite data showing rise in deforestation ‘lies’The director of Brazil’s National Space Research Institute (INPE) has been sacked in the midst of a controversy over its satellite data showing a rise in Amazon deforestation, which the far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, has called “lies”.Ricardo Galvão, who had defended the institute and criticised Bolsonaro’s attack, was dismissed on Friday after a meeting with the science and technology minister, Marcos Pontes. Continue reading...

Six right whales were killed in June, and two in July – a potentially devastating blow to a population estimated to be no more than 400Canadian conservationists are sounding an alarm over the survival of the North Atlantic right whale, a once numerous species that live off the east coast of the US and Canada.This June, six right whales were killed, followed by two more in July – a potentially devastating blow to a population that is now estimated to be no more than 400 strong. Continue reading...

Government told it is not acting quickly enough to upgrade infrastructureThe Whaley Bridge dam scare is a warning of the potentially disastrous consequences of failing to build new infrastructure to cope with the climate emergency, experts have said.As the environment secretary, Theresa Villiers, chaired a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee on efforts to make the dam safe, the government was facing calls for an urgent overhaul of flood defences and water infrastructure. Continue reading...

Mansion that was Mr Darcy’s home in BBC’s Pride and Prejudice saved by sandbagsA major clean-up operation is under way at one of the National Trust’s best-known properties after severe flooding caused “significant damage”.The trust said it was unsure when Lyme Park, which featured in the BBC’s 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, would reopen. Continue reading...

A dragonfly in Turkey, moose calf in Finland and wild boar in Barcelona

Record 35 chicks expected to leave nests this year in successful wildlife comebackThis summer, as the snows finally melt across the Alps, a record 35 bearded vulture chicks are expected to leave their nests and take to the skies to patrol their mountain home, in one of the most successful wildlife comebacks of recent times.“Bearded vultures were hunted to extinction in the Alps in the early 20th century. People referred to them as the devil bird believing that they would carry off small children and sheep,” said Théo Mazet, who works for Asters, a French wildlife organisation helping to bring the birds back to the Alps. Continue reading...

Mean maximum temperature 2.23C above average as authorities predict fire season worse than averageAustralia has just experienced its third-hottest July on record, beaten only by records set in 2017 and 2018, as fire and water authorities in the eastern states prepare for a worse than average fire season.The year-to-date temperatures from January to July were the second warmest on record, according to a monthly statement from the Bureau of Meteorology. Rainfall recorded during that period is the fifth lowest on record, with the drought worst in New South Wales, southern Queensland, and eastern and central Victoria. Continue reading...

Australian News Corp columnist Andrew Bolt labels 16-year-old environmental activist ‘strange’ and ‘disturbed’News Corp’s Andrew Bolt showed “absolute ignorance” when he mocked the teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg in a column for the Herald Sun, an autism awareness advocate says.The high-profile columnist for Rupert Murdoch’s newspapers and Sky News commentator attacked the 16-year-old campaigner as “deeply disturbed”, “freakishly influential” and “strange” in the piece published on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Judges overturn injunction won by plastic manufacturers after thin plastic bags were outlawedMalawi’s highest court has imposed a ban on plastic bags, a huge milestone for the government and environmental charities who beat off challenges from some of the country’s big manufacturers.The government imposed the ban on thin plastic bags in 2015, but the move was overturned by the high court after a number of plastic manufacturers who operate in the southern-east African nation obtained an injunction, citing an “infringement of business rights”. Continue reading...

Firm handling half of Victoria’s recycling hoped buyer’s $40m injection would save it but ‘funds have not been received’The supreme court of Victoria has ordered recycling company SKM to be wound up, as tens of thousands of tonnes of recycling more than previously disclosed may be headed for landfill.SKM, which is owned by Melbourne’s Italiano family and handles about half of Victoria’s recycling, had staked its hopes on a buyer who was willing to rescue the company with a $40m injection. But a lawyer representing SKM, Reegan Grayson Morison, told the court on Friday that the “funds had not been received as hoped by the company” and SKM was not in a position to oppose the wind-up. Continue reading...

Company says parts of coal-fired Hunter Valley plant will stay open until 2023, and life of Torrens A, near Adelaide, may also be extendedAGL has delayed the closure of parts of its coal-fired Liddell power plant in New South Wales to meet energy demand over the summer months.The company has been under pressure from the federal government either to delay the closure or sell the plant to another operator. Continue reading...

Campaigner calls out ‘hate and conspiracy campaigns’ after Australian’s attackThe teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg has hit back at the Australian News Corp columnist Andrew Bolt for writing a deeply offensive column that mocked her autism diagnosis.The Swedish schoolgirl posted a tweet overnight calling out the “hate and conspiracy campaigns” run by climate deniers like Bolt, adopting his insult that she was “deeply disturbed” and turning it back on him. Continue reading...

Government spends less than $1m for cut equivalent to only 0.01% of Australia’s annual greenhouse gas pollutionThe Morrison government’s main climate change policy, the emissions reduction fund, has been labelled “a joke” after its latest auction bought cuts equivalent to only 0.01% of Australia’s annual greenhouse gas pollution.While the prime minister, Scott Morrison, announced prior to the election that the policy would get an additional $2bn funding, the first post-election auction from the fund dedicated less than $1m to just three emissions reduction projects. Continue reading...

Decision will leave only four remaining coal plants powering British homesThe German utility giant RWE will close its last UK coal plant after the coming winter, leaving only four remaining coal plants powering British homes.RWE will close the Aberthaw B power station in south Wales at the end of March 2020 after half a century generating electricity from coal. Continue reading...

Dishwater and bathwater can be used to give vital support that councils often cannot afford to young treesInstead of letting your dirty dishwater go down the drain, consider using it to water the trees on your street. That is the message from tree experts, who say survival rates for urban trees could be boosted significantly by volunteers.Russell Miller, a London-based arboricultural consultant, said: “If you plant trees from good stock, at the right time, and provide enough water, you’d lose almost none prematurely. But get that wrong, and more than half can die.” Continue reading...

Redirecting small portion of subsidies would unleash clean energy revolution, says reportSwitching just some of the huge subsidies supporting fossil fuels to renewables would unleash a runaway clean energy revolution, according to a new report, significantly cutting the carbon emissions that are driving the climate crisis.Coal, oil and gas get more than $370bn (£305bn) a year in support, compared with $100bn for renewables, the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) report found. Just 10-30% of the fossil fuel subsidies would pay for a global transition to clean energy, the IISD said. Continue reading...

Overall, sales of single-use bags by big supermarkets have fallen 90% since 5p charge introducedShoppers’ use of plastic carrier bags in England has continued to fall following the introduction of the 5p charge, according to new figures. Sales of single-use bags by all large retailers in 2018/2019 slumped by 37% to 1.11bn compared with the previous year.Sales of plastic bags by the seven biggest supermarkets – Asda, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, The Co-operative Group, Tesco and Waitrose – have plummeted by 90% since the levy was introduced in October 2015. Continue reading...

Negative emissions tech is important, but the idea it could replace decarbonisation is pure fantasy. Business as usual is not an optionThe Arctic is on fire, hot on the heels of the latest scorching European heatwave. As the impact of the climate crisis mounts, more and more people are asking: how can we control this beast we have created? The scientific answer is fairly straightforward: reduce the amount of greenhouse gases added to the atmosphere to zero. The sooner that’s done, the lower the stabilised temperature and the fewer devastating climate impacts we must face.Related: UK's biggest carbon capture project is step-change on emissions Continue reading...

Environment movement accuses the Berejiklian government of caving in to big agribusiness over the amnestyNew South Wales farmers who cleared land illegally under the old Native Vegetation Act have been granted an amnesty by the Berijiklian government, which has announced it will no longer launch any new prosecutions for breaches of the old law.Hundreds of cases are believed to be in the pipeline, after the land clearing skyrocketed in north-western NSW ahead of more lenient land clearing laws being introduced by the government in August 2017. Continue reading...

Ministers look at setting up alternative monitoring scheme as existing system shows alarming rise in clearance ratesThe Amazon forest is being burned and chopped down at the most alarming rate in recent memory, but the Brazilian government of Jair Bolsonaro is focused on reinterpreting the data rather than dealing with the culprits, monitoring groups have said.At a clearance rate equivalent to a Manhattan island every day, deforestation in July was almost twice as fast as the worst month ever recorded by the current satellite monitoring system, which is managed by the government’s National Institute for Space Research. Continue reading...

World’s biggest fund manager urged to invest in clean energy for good of the climate and its investorsBlackRock, the world’s biggest investor, has lost an estimated $90bn over the last decade by ignoring the serious financial risk of investing in fossil fuel companies, according to economists.A report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) has found that BlackRock has eroded the value of its $6.5tn funds by betting on oil companies that were falling in value and by missing out on growth in clean energy investments. Continue reading...

Bank of England governor says firms that ignore crisis ‘will go bankrupt without question’Capitalism is “very much part of the solution” to tackling the climate crisis, according to the governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney.Challenged in an interview by the Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow over whether capitalism itself was fuelling the climate emergency, Carney gave a strident defence of the economic system predicated on private ownership and growth but said companies that ignored climate change would “go bankrupt without question”. Continue reading...

Godfrey Boyle, who has died aged 74, was founder-editor in 1972 of Undercurrents, a magazine of “radical science and people’s technology”, which inspired a variety of sustainable energy, housing, transport and community projects. In its founding year he led the editorial team of Undercurrents (known affectionately as Undies) to the first United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, where they distributed a special issue on energy and organised an exhibition on alternative technologies. The publication lasted 10 years before merging with Resurgence magazine.In 1975 Godfrey co-edited (with Peter Harper) Radical Technology, a book with contributions from many of the Undies stable that was perhaps best known for the series of Visions drawings by the anarchist artist Clifford Harper. In the same year Godfrey published his influential book Living on the Sun, which advanced the then novel idea that industrial countries could make a transition to renewable power. Continue reading...

Conservation and climate change policy ‘should be two sides of same coin’, says chair of Natural EnglandA new generation of national nature reserves are being created to help improve people’s health and mitigate the effects of climatic extremes, according to the chair of the government’s conservation watchdog.The South London Downs reserve is the first in a series of landscapes that will be designated a national nature reserve this year, said Tony Juniper of Natural England. Several more will follow this autumn, including what he described as one “very significant” newly protected area. Continue reading...

Punjab residents must plant 10 trees to get a firearms licence – and send photos to prove it

Relative nobodies like John Delaney and John Hickenlooper have taken up more airtime than the climate crisis during the debates. We deserve betterMillions of Americans don’t know who John Delaney or John Hickenlooper are. They probably wouldn’t be able to correctly identify them in a photo. And yet, at the Democratic debate on Tuesday night, Delaney got to speak for nearly 11 minutes, and John Hickenlooper for almost nine. In one night, those two relatively unknown men combined got more airtime than the climate crisis has in all three debates thus far. And that’s despite the fact that, if we don’t do anything to address rising temperatures now, we will see several US cities underwater in the coming decades.So here’s my pitch: if these and other candidates without a shot in hell at winning actually cared about the future of this country, they would drop out. Continue reading...

Met Office’s annual report on state of UK climate also says snowy days have become rarerElectric fans could soon be as indispensable in British weather as umbrellas: a report has revealed the UK is becoming hotter and wetter, while snow days have become rarer.The annual report into the state of the UK’s climate, the fifth of its kind, has been released by the Met Office and comes just days after meteorologists confirmed that Cambridge recently set a new record for the highest temperature ever recorded in the UK. Continue reading...

Southern white rhino calf at San Diego Zoo raises hopes for the future of wild rhinocerosesThe bumbling, sleepy rhino calf at San Diego Zoo is sure to delight animal lovers around the world. But for conservation scientists, his birth has additional meaning – it marks a significant step toward saving wild rhino populations from the edge of extinction.The newborn southern white rhino is the first in North America, and the third in the world, born as the result of artificial insemination. Continue reading...

Ben Lecomte is making a trans-Pacific journey to better understand how plastics pollution is affecting our oceansBen Lecomte is spending his summer swimming in trash – literally. So far, he’s found toothbrushes, laundry baskets, sandbox shovels and beer crates floating out in the open waters of the Pacific Ocean.The 52-year-old Frenchman is journeying from Hawaii to San Francisco via the Great Pacific Garbage Patch to better understand how plastic is affecting our oceans. He will swim a total of 300 nautical miles, intermittently travelling by sailboat with a crew of 10 the rest of the way. Continue reading...

Kooyong resident says treasurer betrayed Australia on climate change as Gladys Liu also challenged over Chinese language signsJosh Frydenberg’s eligibility to sit in parliament has been challenged in the court of disputed returns by a constituent who says he feels “betrayed” by the Liberal party’s inaction on climate change.Michael Staindl, a resident of Kooyong, filed a petition on Wednesday alleging the treasurer and deputy Liberal leader is disqualified by section 44(1) of the constitution because he is a citizen of Hungary, which Frydenberg denies. Continue reading...

‘Insidious’ health-related impacts in Australia and Pacific include lowered cognitive capacity and spread of diseasesClimate change is “absolutely” already causing deaths, according to a new report on the health impacts of the climate crisis, which also predicts climate-related stunting, malnutrition and lower IQ in children within the coming decades.The report, From Townsville to Tuvalu, produced by Monash University in Melbourne, pulled together scientific research from roughly 120 peer-reviewed journal articles to paint a picture of the health-related impacts of the climate emergency in Australia and the Pacific region. Continue reading...

Nadi Bay declaration issues blunt warning: coral atoll nations could be uninhabitable as early as 2030Pacific leaders have called on Australia to abandon plans to use carry-over credits to meet Paris climate targets and to immediately stop new coalmining, warning some of their countries could be uninhabitable as soon as 2030.In a strongly worded statement issued at the end of a Pacific Islands development forum in Fiji, the leaders said they were deeply concerned about a lack of “comprehension, ambition or commitment” from developed nations despite the climate crisis posing grave consequences for their people. Continue reading...

Data also shows that none of Britain’s coldest years have happened since 1963The UK’s 10 hottest years on record have all occurred since 2002, the Met Office has said. Its statistics stretching back to 1884 reveal a worrying trend, as the planet as a whole deals with the climate crisis.In a further indication of how the climate is heating up, the records show that none of the UK’s 10 coldest years have occurred since 1963. Continue reading...

Calls for Mexico to crackdown on use of illegal fishing nets after further decline of speciesThere are fewer than 19 vaquita porpoises thought to be left, according to a study.In 2016, estimates of the vaquita population stood at just 30, but research published in Royal Society Open Science suggests the figure has fallen further. Continue reading...

North of Tyne aims to have UN-accredited climate change teacher in every state schoolA region of northern England plans to become the first place in the world to have a UN-accredited climate change teacher in every state primary and secondary school.Jamie Driscoll, the new mayor of the North of Tyne combined authority, said every school in the area would have the opportunity to train a member of staff to give lessons on global heating and the impact of the climate crisis. The region is working with the creators of EduCCate Global, a UN teacher training scheme. Continue reading...

Labour leader speaks after meeting Blackpool protesters and calling for fracking banBoris Johnson’s close relationship with Donald Trump could be dangerous for the environment with both leaders putting “short-term economic gains” ahead of longer-term climate issues, Jeremy Corbyn has said.The Labour leader made his comments after meeting with fracking protesters in Blackpool, where he called on the prime minister to impose an immediate ban on shale gas extraction. Continue reading...

The renewable boom will end without a national policy to encourage future clean investments, industry warnsClean energy will be providing 35% of Australia’s total electricity needs within two years, analysts say, as new data underlines the pace at which solar power is transforming the national energy market.A report by consultants Green Energy Markets found rooftop solar systems and new large-scale farms regularly pushed renewable energy to beyond 30% of generation at midday during June, one of the least sunny months. Continue reading...

InterContinental Hotels Group will switch to refillable bottles by 2021 to reduce plastic wasteInterContinental Hotels Group is ditching miniature shampoo, conditioner and body-wash bottles across its 5,000-plus sites worldwide to reduce plastic waste.The owner of the Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza and InterContinental chains will switch to bulk dispensers, refillable bottles and ceramic containers by the end of 2021. Continue reading...

Oxfordshire farmers launch campaign against Home Office policy on hemp cultivationTwo hemp farmers say they have been left devastated after they were forced to destroy 40 acres of the crop – the end product of which can be bought legally in high street shops.Patrick Gillett and Ali Silk said they had to cut down their crop because the Home Office said they were no longer allowed to harvest it for cannabis oil, or CBD. Continue reading...

Met Office warns of severe weather across large parts of UK on Tuesday and Wednesday

Labour says fracking for gas will prevent Britain meeting carbon emissions targetJeremy Corbyn has urged Boris Johnson to ban fracking for gas as research by Labour shows it will stop the UK meeting a net zero target for carbon emissions this century.The analysis was published ahead of a visit by the Labour leader to join anti-fracking protesters at Cuadrilla’s Preston New Road site in Lancashire. Continue reading...

Messages appear to be a ruse to get people to sign up to unnecessary servicesWe have had solar panels on our roof for some years and all is working well. Last week we received a letter from the British Trading Solar Association warning us that the five-year warranty on our inverter was due to expire. It invited us to book a free health check and service. I have never heard of the BTSA and it did not install our system. Can you shed any light on this?

Comparable death toll has been recorded only once before, says Norwegian Polar InstituteAbout 200 reindeer have been found dead from starvation in the Arctic archipelago Svalbard, an unusually high number, the Norwegian Polar Institute has said, pointing the finger at climate crisis.During an annual census of the wild reindeer population on the group of islands about 1,200km (746 miles) from the north pole, three researchers from the institute identified the carcasses of about 200 deer believed to have starved to death last winter. Continue reading...

Nation replaces Brazil for first time in annual list of murders compiled by Global WitnessThe Philippines has replaced Brazil as the most murderous country in the world for people defending their land and environment, according to research that puts a spotlight on the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.More than three defenders were killed across the world every week in 2018, according to the annual toll by the independent watchdog Global Witness, highlighting the continued dangers facing those who stand up to miners, loggers, farmers, poachers and other extractive industries. Continue reading...

John Williams pushed for review after hearing Richard Taylor talk on radio about clearing of grasslandsA national review of how conservation laws affect the agriculture industry was prompted by a complaint on the radio from Richard Taylor – the brother of Angus Taylor – the former Nationals senator John Williams has said.Williams says he pushed for the farm-focused review after he heard Richard Taylor speaking about state and federal investigations into alleged illegal clearing of grasslands on land he and the energy minister part-own in New South Wales. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Queensland authorities believed penalty – a 20th of the maximum for a single infringement – would serve as a deterrentOne of Australia’s most contentious coalmines, New Acland, was caught drilling 27 illegal bores last year and fined $3,152 by the Queensland government, a figure an environment group has labelled “paltry”.Documents obtained under Queensland freedom of information laws show the state Department of Environment and Science believed the Darling Downs miner had committed a “major” breach of environmental laws. Continue reading...