The little green invader gobbling shellfish and destroying habitats in the Gulf of Maine could finally have a predator – humansIn the salt marshes and estuaries of New England, the most dominant and fearsome predator is a voracious invader that grows to just inches and lays waste to everything in its path.The European green crab first arrived in the new world more than 200 years go, smuggling itself to American shores in the ballast holds of transatlantic ships. Continue reading...

The physicist, 79, has a seat on the National Security Council – and thinks the science that proves global heating is wrongBy the early 1990s, the man now dubbed the “chief climate change skeptic” in Donald Trump’s White House had already decided he was uneasy with the science that showed humans were heating the planet.Related: Seawalls to protect US against rising oceans could cost $416bn by 2040 Continue reading...

Survey says teachers feel ill-equipped to educate pupils, as school strikes continueA growing number of teachers want their pupils to learn more about the climate crisis and are calling for environmental training so they can prepare children for a rapidly changing world, according to a poll.The findings from YouGov research commissioned by Oxfam come before the latest round of school climate strikes on Friday, in which it is expected that hundreds of thousands of young people will walk out of classrooms around the world. Continue reading...

Once we lived without it, now we can’t escape it. A historian unpacks the origins of our plastic addictionIn 1957 Disneyland opened the Monsanto House of the Future, an all-plastic dwelling. Over the next 10 years millions of visitors passed through its fantastical rooms, designed by MIT architects with curved walls and large windows. The house was equipped with plastic chairs and plastic floors, the kitchen with precise stacks of plastic plates and plastic cups. Monsanto’s house trumpeted the wonders of science, as well as the chemical industry and its products. Plastic, it proclaimed, was the material of tomorrow.Related: Plastic wrapped in plastic: the wasteful reality of America's grocery stores Continue reading...

Legal and General Investment Management cuts companies including ExxonMobilAn ethical investment operation by the UK’s largest asset manager has dumped shares in a string of US companies it has deemed climate crisis laggards, including oil giant ExxonMobil and insurer Metlife.Legal and General Investment Management (LGIM) said it had cut five companies – ExxonMobil, Metlife, Spam maker Hormel Foods, US retailer Kroger and Korean Electric Power Corporation – from its umbrella of ethical investment funds worth a total of £5bn. Continue reading...

National Grid is able to confidently predict the 2019 record just six months into the yearZero-carbon energy sources are poised to overtake fossil fuels as the UK’s largest electricity source over a full calendar year.This year will be the first that fossil fuels make up less than half of the electricity generated, according to National Grid, following a dramatic decline in coal-fired power and rising renewable energy. Continue reading...

Concern grow over ammonia particles from fertiliser and bioaerosol from intensive farmsWe think of the countryside as being a place of fresh air. Each weekend thousands of us leave our cities to hike or cycle in rural areas or simply to enjoy time in nature. Increasing attention is being given, however, to air pollution from farming. Ammonia from fertiliser and slurry mixes with air pollution from cities, traffic and industry to add to the particle pollution that plagues many parts of the world. It is estimated that halving ammonia from farming could avoid about 52,000 premature deaths from air pollution across Europe each year and 3,000 in the UK.Increasing attention is also being paid to bioaerosol from intensive farming. In animal houses these are tiny particles and dust from the animals themselves, their food, bedding and waste. They can also include fungi, bacteria and pollen. A recent review by Imperial College and Public Health England found evidence of respiratory problems in farm workers and raised concerns about exposure for people living close to intensive livestock farms, including some evidence of increased asthma in children. Bioaerosol concerns mean that composting facilities need to be at least 250 metres from UK homes and schools, but farms can be nearer and only require assessment if they are closer than 100 metres. Continue reading...

MPs launch assembly plan but environmental activists say its conclusions must be bindingA citizens’ assembly on the climate emergency will take place this autumn to explore the fastest and fairest ways to end the UK’s carbon emissions.Six House of Commons select committees announced the assembly on Thursday. It is the second of the three demands made by the Extinction Rebellion protest group to be addressed. Continue reading...

Mass migration back to UK waylaid by stormy conditions and lack of nesting placesThe number of swifts that returned to Britain from their wintering grounds in Africa this spring was the lowest since records began, with poor weather in the Mediterranean delaying their arrival by two weeks. Experts fear the recent wet weather will further hit their numbers. Swift numbers in Britain have fallen by more than 50% since 1995.More than 100 walks, talks and visits to urban areas to witness the swift’s aerial “screaming parties” will be held this week to raise awareness of the plight of this unique migratory bird. Continue reading...

Thursday’s top story: US-Iranian tensions escalate amid dispute over an American drone. Plus, Joe Biden criticised for working with segregationist senatorsSubscribe now to receive the morning briefing by email.Good morning, I’m Mattha Busby with today’s essential stories. Continue reading...

Environmental groups say Line 5 poses a major threat and is run by Canada’s Enbridge which has a long record of mismanagementA coalition of environmental groups and newly elected Democrats in Michigan are seeking to shut a controversial pipeline through the Great Lakes they say represents a major environmental threat and is being run by a company with a long record of mismanagement, poor safety habits and deception.Canadian oil giant Enbridge wants to replace an ageing pipeline called Line 5 that cuts through the Great Lakes, which hold more than 90% of the nation’s freshwater. It transports about 540,000 barrels of oil and liquid natural gas daily in 4.4 miles of pipelines that are exposed on the lake floor in the Mackinac Straits. Continue reading...

There are only about 30 north Pacific right whales left after hunters nearly wiped out the slow-moving animalsMarine biologists for the first time have recorded singing by one of the rarest whales on the planet, the north Pacific right whale.Researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) used moored acoustic recorders to capture repeated patterns of calls made by male north Pacific right whales. Continue reading...

Event will take place on 22 September across 18 boroughs, with road closures and eventsSadiq Khan has announced plans to implement London’s biggest car-free day to date, closing 12.3 miles (20km) of roads in the centre of the capital in September.Roads will be closed for the event around London Bridge, Tower Bridge and much of the City of London to help tackle the capital’s air pollution crisis, which kills thousands of people each year and leaves two million – including 400,000 children – living in areas with illegally dirty air. Continue reading...

On a shopping trip to Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods and other leading markets, plastic feels more plentiful than the food itself

Democrats accept the climate crisis must be confronted – but there’s a split between those who signed a pledge to no longer accept industry money those who haven’t Continue reading...

Seawalls could cost as much as the initial investment in the interstate highway system, with Florida facing $76bn, report finds

A whale that swam into the bay has earned fans and the nickname ‘Allie’, but experts say it may be seeking a place to recuperate

Female 12-year-old beluga whales Little Grey and Little White arrive at Klettsvik BayTwo beluga whales from a Shanghai aquarium have arrived in Iceland to live out their days in a unique marine sanctuary that conservationists hope will become a model for rehoming 3,000 of the creatures currently in captivity.Little Grey and Little White, two 12-year-old female belugas, left behind their previous lives entertaining visitors at the Changfeng Ocean World and were flown across the globe in specially tailored containers. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Frydenberg’s office canvassed whether he had power to weaken grasslands protections after Angus Taylor raised the issue, which was affecting a company he part-owns

Renewable energy is not only a money-spinner for the NT, it can also help mining industries expand, a new report saysEnergy development in the Northern Territory is a typically Australian story: it is backing fossil fuels – in this case gas – when it could, as one of the sunniest places on Earth, be reaping economic and environmental benefits from renewable energy.That is the message from a report that makes the alternative case, suggesting embracing clean energy could dramatically expand the electricity, mining and mineral processing industries while reducing living costs. Continue reading...

Study marks worst winter on record for beekeepers, despite intensive push to stem lossesBeekeepers across the US lost four in 10 of their honeybee colonies over the past year, as the worst winter on record for tracked bee populations raised fresh concerns over the plight of the crucial pollinators.Over the past winter, 37% of honeybee colonies were lost to beekeepers, the worst winter decline recorded in the 13-year history of a nationwide survey aimed at charting bees’ fortunes. Overall, 40% of colonies died off over the entire year to April, which is above the 38% average since the survey began. Continue reading...

Program projects state would produce 100% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2040New York state would launch the most progressive policy in the US to combat the climate crisis and one of the most ambitious in the world under a new plan devised by state legislators.The program projects that the state would produce 100% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2040 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85% by 2050. Continue reading...

IMF, WTO and World Bank not doing enough to fight climate crisis, shadow chancellor saysFighting the climate crisis should be put at the heart of decisions made by the International Monetary Fund and other global institutions as part of a fundamental shake-up designed to reduce the influence of corporate power, John McDonnell has said.The shadow chancellor used a Guardian interview to say that Donald Trump’s hostility to international bodies was the opportunity to recast organisations set up after the second world war for the modern age. Continue reading...

Swiss-based Solway group that runs Fenix nickel mine paid 1% on revenues from unrefined ore

Four reservoirs supplying India’s sixth largest city dry up as state accused of inactionAuthorities in Chennai have been criticised for failing to deal with a crippling water shortage that has brought the Indian city to crisis point, leaving taps dry in homes and forcing schools, offices and restaurants to close as temperatures soar.The four reservoirs supplying the bulk of the city’s drinking water have completely dried up, leading the Chennai Metro Water to cut the water it provides by about 40%. Continue reading...

South-east forecast to be worst hit after Eastbourne has 1,000 lightning strikes overnightThunderstorms and rain are expected across parts of the UK as the unsettled weather continues. About 1,000 lightning strikes hit Eastbourne in East Sussex overnight and a yellow weather warning remains in place for the east of England – covering Yorkshire, East Anglia and the south coast – with forecasters warning of the likelihood of more rain, hail and lightning.Homes were left without power and roads flooded in parts of southern England after an overnight deluge. Continue reading...

Climate change is colonialism’s final frontier which is why land rights are the first order of climate justiceIn the Anthropocene we humans have become a geological force, a “force of nature” – and a self-defeating one. But this crisis in climate and extinction was first kindled by coal-fired colonialism and its ethos of extraction and elimination.Here in Australia the historical coincidence of colonialism and coal sticks out like a porcupine at a nudists’ colony. Watts’s coal-fired steam engine was invented just two years before the first fleet arrived in Sydney Cove. Coal mining began near Nobbys Head in Newcastle in the 1790s, with the first coal shipment leaving now the world’s largest coal export port in 1799. Continue reading...

State ready to disrupt or phase out the most polluting business activities to meet 2050 targetUK companies must brace for the government to deliberately disrupt or phase out business areas that are unfit for a net zero-carbon economy, according to a report.The UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) has said many companies will face fundamental change, including the phasing out of the UK’s most polluting business activities. Continue reading...

Research suggests support for urgent measures to tackle crisis is becoming mainstreamNearly 70% of British people want urgent political action to tackle climate change and protect the natural environment, according to research by a coalition of green charities.Theresa May, in one of her last acts as prime minister, has enshrined in law a commitment to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050, making Britain the first large economy to do so. Continue reading...

Research says those born since 2010 are expert at spotting fake news and handling technologyPolitical protest, spotting fake news and taking control of new technology comes naturally to the UK’s under 10s, the so-called Alpha generation and the first cohort born into the fully-fledged social media age, new research reveals.One in five children aged between five and nine have already attended their first march or protest about something they care about, and half of their parents are encouraging them to speak out as activists, according to a survey carried out for Beano Studios, which owns the comic brand. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Energy minister denies interfering with department action over alleged illegal land clearing by company he partially owns with his brother

Pair attempt to reach top of 4,450m mountain but are intercepted by police and told to turn backTwo Swiss mountaineers have landed a small plane less than 400 metres from the summit of Mont Blanc before heading for the top of Europe’s tallest peak with police in pursuit.The pair landed the aircraft 4,450 metres (14,600ft) up the mountain in the French Alps on Tuesday in an incident described as an unprecedented “provocation” by Eric Fournier, the mayor of the nearby Chamonix resort. Continue reading...

Gathering aimed at keeping global heating close to 1.5C will be most significant since ParisThe UK is to host a critical global summit on the climate crisis at the end of 2020, at which the world’s 190 nations must commit to deep cuts in emissions.It will be the most significant UN climate summit since the Paris deal was struck in 2015, when countries made pledges to curb emissions. But these pledges would only keep global heating to a 3C rise, which would bring devastating heatwaves and extreme weather. Continue reading...

Proposals, including lowering M25 and rerouting rivers, raise fears of environmental impactThe scale of the disruption from Heathrow airport’s expansion project has been revealed with the publication of detailed plans to lower the M25 for the third runway to cross, reroute rivers, replace utilities and build car parks for nearly 50,000 cars.A 12-week public consultation opened on Tuesday at 8am, with campaigners warning of the severe impact for years to come of more than 700 extra planes in the sky after 2026, when the runway is due to open. Continue reading...

Apple says it is ‘deeply committed to responsible sourcing of materials’Electronics companies, including Canon, Apple and Nokia, are re-evaluating their supply chains following reports they may be using gold extracted from a Tanzanian mine that has been criticised for environmental failures.Over the past 10 years, at the North Mara goldmine – which is operated by London-listed Acacia Mining – there have been more than a dozen killings of intruding locals by security personnel. Continue reading...

War of words as Turkish vessel begins offshore operations in eastern MediterraneanGreece and Cyprus have urged the European Union to take punitive measures against Turkey amid escalating tensions in the eastern Mediterranean over offshore energy reserves.As Ankara upped the ante by announcing it would expand exploration for potentially lucrative gas resources in the region, the Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, appealed to the EU “to unreservedly condemn the illegal actions of Turkey”. Continue reading...

Study finds most sensitive plant and wildlife habitats are worst affected, yet government has no clear plans to monitor impactAmmonia and nitrogen pollution, mostly from farms, is harming more than 60% of the UK’s land area and hitting the most sensitive habitats for plants and wildlife hardest, a government report has found, despite there being no clear plans to monitor or reduce its impact.More than 85% of England’s total land area receives ammonia concentrations above the critical level set to protect lichens, mosses, liverworts and similar plants – keystone species that are vital to ecosystems – while Northern Ireland is even worse, at 88%. Just over half the land in Wales is affected, and less than a fifth of Scotland. Continue reading...

Government backs only voluntary measures for clothing industry despite rising environmental costsMinisters have rejected recommendations from MPs to clean up the huge environmental impact of fast fashion, which sees 300,000 tonnes of clothing burned or buried in the UK every year.MPs on the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) said a charge of 1p for each garment was urgently needed to raise £35m a year for better clothing collection and sorting, a move supported by many in the industry. But the government’s response, published on Tuesday, failed to commit to this, stating only that it could be considered by 2025. Continue reading...

A booming seal population is drawing the apex predator to the Massachusetts peninsula where contact with humans followsWhen beachgoers arrive at Cahoon Hollow Beach in Wellfleet on Massachusetts’ Cape Cod peninsula, the first thing they see is a large sign displaying a photo of a great white shark.“WARNING” it reads. “Great white sharks hunt seals in the shallow water at this beach. People have been seriously injured or killed by sharks along this coastline.” Continue reading...

It’s a ‘fairly rare’ event, arachnology expert says, as it’s more common to see huntsman eat small birds or frogs. Prepare for Tasmania’s spider possumPygmy possums usually aren’t on the menu for huntsman spiders.But an Australian man from Tasmania has captured the rare moment a huntsman attempted to devour a tiny possum at a lodge in the Mount Field national park, 64 km north-west of Hobart. Continue reading...

Essential poll finds 44% of Australians support nuclear power plants and 40% oppose themAustralians are slightly more inclined to support nuclear power plants than oppose them, but a clear majority of voters do not want to live near one, according to new polling.With nuclear power making a return to the national political agenda, a new survey from Essential finds 44% of Australians support nuclear power plants, up four points since the question was last asked in November 2015, and 40% oppose them. Continue reading...

Tally of deaths makes it one of most dangerous fields for journalists after war reporting

Massive increase in low-carbon energy needed to hit goal of net zero by 2045, inquiry says

Varadkar reveals ideas to curb greenhouse gases and move towards net-zero carbon emissions by 2050Ireland has unveiled an ambitious plan to tackle the climate emergency by weaning the state, businesses, farms and households off fossil fuels.The government published a long-awaited report on Monday outlining more than 180 measures to curb the country’s greenhouse gas emissions and set a path for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Continue reading...

Destructive industrial fishing practices condemned as ‘corporate, organised crime’Illegal fishing by foreign trawlers is decimating Ghana’s fish populations and costing the country’s economy tens of millions of dollars a year, according to researchers.An investigation published on Monday by the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) claims that “saiko” fishing, whereby trawlers target the staple catch of Ghanaian canoe fishers and sell it back to fishing communities at a profit, landed approximately 100,000 tonnes of fish in 2017, worth $50m (£40m) when sold at sea and up to $81m when sold at port. Continue reading...

Millions of people who use park face up to 93 low-flying aircraft an hour under planA psychologist who treats patients experiencing stress and anxiety with a dose of nature in Richmond Park says the expansion of Heathrow airport will be detrimental to mental health.Heathrow will on Tuesday publish a consultation on its “master plan” for airport expansion, including environmental aspects of building a third runway. Continue reading...

Kensington and Chelsea council has blocked a flagship plan after a campaign based largely on myths