Environment | The Guardian

Millions of people from Sydney to Manila, Dhaka to London and New York are marching for urgent action on climate breakdown

According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump asked Volodymyr Zelensky to work with Rudy Giuliani on an investigation into Hunter Biden

Review also urges parks and beauty spots to increase appeal to minority ethnic visitors

Young and old alike took to the streets in an estimated 185 countries to demand actionMillions of people demonstrated across the world yesterday demanding urgent action to tackle global heating, as they united across timezones and cultures to take part in the biggest climate protest in history.In an explosion of the youth movement started by the Swedish school striker Greta Thunberg just over 12 months ago, people protested from the Pacific islands, through Australia, across-south east Asia and Africa into Europe and onwards to the Americas. Continue reading...

Shadow climate minister says he believes Scott Morrison may shift on issue during the coming termMark Butler wants to make one thing clear: the shadow minister for climate change and energy is not for turning. It wasn’t a mistake to pursue an ambitious climate policy in the 2019 election and “we are not going to change our position to get to a level of profound irresponsibility [on policy], like the government”, he tells Guardian Australia’s politics podcast.“Our position on climate is unshakeable.” Continue reading...

The climate strike must be a beginning and not an end. Warming won’t be stopped by symbolismDuring the carnage of the first world war, the poet Wilfred Owen revisited the biblical story in which God tests Abraham by commanding the sacrifice of Isaac, his son. In Genesis, Abraham dutifully prepares the lad for slaughter before God relents and tells him to offer a ram instead.Owen’s bitter poem rewrites the ending: Continue reading...

Governor Gavin Newsom said the state “won’t bend to the president’s reckless attacks” on the state’s clean car waiver

A kangaroo affected by drought, a prize-winning sea lion and a polka-dotted zebra foal Continue reading...

Sand from Great Yarmouth seabed creates mobile dune defences to protect villagesAn artificial dune of nearly 2m cubic metres of sand has been created on the Norfolk coast in an innovative approach to slowing coastal erosion.In the £20m sandscaping scheme, enough sand to fill one and a half Wembley stadiums has been dredged from existing North Sea seabed extraction sites off Great Yarmouth and ferried to the rapidly eroding coastline beside the large gas terminal at Bacton. Continue reading...

Exclusive: since January at least 45 consumers have fallen ill, investigation finds, despite assurances of very low riskDozens of people have been poisoned after consuming British eggs contaminated with salmonella, an investigation has found, despite recent government assurances that the risk had been virtually eliminated.At least 45 consumers have fallen ill since January this year in a major disease outbreak health officials have traced back to contaminated eggs and poultry farms. Salmonella can cause food poisoning and – in the most serious cases – can prove fatal. Public Health England (PHE), which monitors salmonella, is not aware of any deaths. Continue reading...

Cost of supporting offshore turbines drops to less than market price for electricityThe UK’s next wave of offshore windfarms will generate clean electricity at no extra cost to consumers after record low-subsidy deals fell below the market price for the first time.New offshore wind projects will power millions of British homes under “zero-subsidy” support contracts within the next four years, following a record-breaking government subsidy auction. Continue reading...

Organisers of the school strike for climate estimate 300,000 people turned out in more than 100 cities and townsHundreds of thousands of Australians took to the streets on Friday as they called for greater action on the climate emergency in more than 100 cities and towns across the country.Organisers of the school strike for climate claimed about 300,000 people attended dozens of rallies, including an estimated 100,000 in Melbourne and 80,000 in Sydney. The unprecedented climate crisis protests were likely the largest public demonstrations in Australia since the marches against the Iraq War in 2003. Continue reading...

Jones cited Joseph Goebbels while the Mail found a child who said they just wanted the day off schoolThe Daily Mail found a child at the climate strike who said they just wanted the day off school and Alan Jones quoted Joseph Goebbels. Those were just some of the more bizarre takes on the climate strike from sections of the media on Friday.Hundreds of thousands of people rallied across Australia in what were overwhelmingly peaceful events but on Sydney’s most popular breakfast program Jones interviewed climate sceptics and claimed school children were being brainwashed by adults with a political agenda. Continue reading...

Australian climate strikers’ signs send government a bleakly humorous Texta messageLaughing in the face of looming apocalypse, Friday’s climate strike brought out the best in dark Australian humour.While many signs were deadly serious, teens are nothing if not witty and they came armed with memes and pop culture references. Continue reading...

More than one in four birds have been lost across diverse groups and habitats, in what researchers describe as a ‘wake-up call’The US and Canada have lost more than one in four birds – a total of three billion – since 1970, culminating in what scientists who published a new study are calling a “widespread ecological crisis”.Researchers observed a 29% decline in bird populations across diverse groups and habitats – from songbirds such as meadowlarks to long-distance migratory birds such as swallows and backyard birds like sparrows. Continue reading...

The city is taking action to protect lower Manhattan’s waterfront while low-income residents in other boroughs must fend for themselvesJainey Bavishi is all business as she takes off from Battery Park to walk the perimeter of lower Manhattan. It’s a muggy afternoon, a breeze barely lifting off of the New York Harbor, after days of heavy rain. She manoeuvres throngs of tourists, construction workers and suits streaming out of office tours for lunch as she walks north from the waterfront park toward the Brooklyn Bridge.In a skirt suit and flats, Bavishi fits in among lower Manhattan’s workday hustle. But there’s no one else with a job like hers: director of the New York City’s mayor’s office of resiliency. She is the woman tasked with protecting all 580 miles of New York City shoreline from more frequent and extreme storms and expected sea rise due to the climate crisis. Continue reading...

NT’s Labor government says the territory’s vast solar resources can help it transition to zero net carbon emissionsThe Northern Territory government has set a target of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050 in a plan that says responding to climate change is “responsible economic strategy”.The NT’s Labor government’s draft climate change response says the territory will use its natural advantage in solar resources – “now the cheapest form of new electricity generation” – to transition away from fossil fuels. Continue reading...

The newly classified species Psylla Frodobaggins is found on the South Island, where the Tolkein movies were filmedNew Zealand researchers have named an insect after JRR Tolkein’s famous hobbit character Frodo Baggins. Like the famous literary character, the insect is smaller than its relations and is found in New Zealand’s South Island, the location where the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies were filmed.The Psylla frodobagginsi was identified by Francesco Martoni and Karen Armstrong, who examined the psyllid insects during research for Martoni’s PhD, with the New Zealand’s Bio-Protection Research Centre. Continue reading...

Shadow minister to tell conference he will make health service the world’s greenestAn “NHS forest” of a million trees would be planted at hospitals across the UK under a Labour government as part of the party’s plans for a green revolution.Under proposals due to be outlined at the party’s autumn conference, Labour will say it wants to plant the trees at hospitals to battle pollution and counteract the NHS’s carbon footprint. Continue reading...

From the rise and rise of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to possible solutions

As aviation hurtles towards electric planes, a zero-emission plane looks far offAs a report claims that airlines are struggling to control their contribution to the climate crisis, the question grows more urgent for aviation: does it have a greener future, and will a zero-emission plane ever fly?Executives hope a combination of sustainable fuels, offsetting and improving flight paths can play a part in reducing aviation’s footprint until, if ever, carbon-free flying becomes a viable technological and commercial reality. For now, the best long-term hope for the airline industry appears to be electric planes. Continue reading...

Open letter says the Australian government’s inaction on the climate crisis requires civil disobedience in responseAll you need to know about Friday’s protestsMore than 250 academics at Australian universities say the federal government’s inaction on the climate crisis requires civil disobedience in response and they feel a “moral duty” to rebel and “defend life itself”.In an open letter, professors, researchers and lecturers from more than a dozen institutions have declared support for the Extinction Rebellion movement and its global week of non-violent civil disobedience in October. Continue reading...

Union to tell parliamentary committee it’s ‘ludicrous’ to export uranium but not benefit from the energy source at homeNationals MPs have welcomed support from the Australian Workers’ Union for a domestic nuclear industry, as the union calls on progressives not to reject a “zero carbon compromise”.A House of Representatives committee chaired by Barnaby Joyce will hear from the union during a roundtable discussion in Sydney on Friday, before MPs visit the Lucas Heights nuclear facility for a site visit. Continue reading...

Carbon dioxide emitted by commercial flights increased by 32% from 2013 to 2018, study showsWorldwide CO2 emissions from commercial flights are rising up to 70% faster than predicted by the UN, according to an analysis.Carbon dioxide emitted by airlines increased by 32% from 2013 to 2018, according to a study by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT). Continue reading...

Force says it will arrest those who break rules in London, as millions worldwide prepare to demonstrateThe police are planning to impose restrictions on the global climate strike in London on Friday, warning that anyone who does not comply risks arrest.The event in London is part of what is expected to be the biggest mobilisation around the climate crisis the world has seen, with millions taking to the streets in demonstrations and strikes in cities on every continent. Continue reading...

Adults, businesses and trade unions asked to join youth climate campaignTrade unions representing hundreds of millions of people around the world have come out in support of what is expected to be the biggest climate mobilisation the world has ever seen.The global climate strike on Friday is set to see thousands of walkouts and demonstrations in cities on every continent except Antarctica. Continue reading...

Film by Swedish activist and Guardian journalist George Monbiot says nature must be used to repair broken climateThe protection and restoration of living ecosystems such as forests, mangroves and seagrass meadows can repair the planet’s broken climate but are being overlooked, Greta Thunberg and George Monbiot have warned in a new short film.Natural climate solutions could remove huge amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as plants grow. But these methods receive only 2% of the funding spent on cutting emissions, say the climate activists. Continue reading...

Opposition says the lack of a final report from Scott Morrison’s special envoy shows the process has been a ‘joke’Labor has lashed Barnaby Joyce for failing to produce a report on the drought after he was made special envoy for assistance and recovery by the prime minister, Scott Morrison.The shadow agriculture minister, Joel Fitzgibbon, who sought details of any report completed by Joyce through a production of documents order in parliament, said that the lack of a final report from the former Nationals leader showed the process had been a “joke”. Continue reading...

Queensland’s government will limit the agricultural pollution harming the Great Barrier ReefThe Queensland government has passed new regulations to limit agricultural pollution damaging the Great Barrier Reef in the face of a hostile campaign that has sought to discredit consensus science.On Tuesday the state made relatively minor commitments to agricultural groups, including an undertaking not to vary new limits for farm sediment and chemical runoff into reef catchments for at least five years. Continue reading...

From our environment to our economies, our security to our societies, biodiversity is vital. But preserving it will require transformative changeThe evidence is unequivocal: biodiversity, important in its own right and essential for current and future generations, is being destroyed by human activities at a rate unprecedented in human history.Governments around the world recognised this at the Earth summit in Brazil in 1992 and established the Convention on Biological Diversity to protect and conserve biodiversity. But the situation has become more and more dire. I have chaired or co-chaired three international assessments on the state of knowledge of biodiversity, and all have repeated the same message – we are destroying it at an alarming rate. Each time we have called for action, only to be largely ignored. Continue reading...

Islanders, whose homes already face inundation, have complained to the UN over Australia’s lack of action on climate changeTorres Strait islanders “embarrassed” by Scott Morrison’s appearance at last month’s Pacific Islands Forum will request he visit their region to view the impacts of climate change.Warraber man Kabay Tamu, representing a group of islanders who have complained to the United Nations about climate-based human rights breaches, will deliver the invitation to Australia’s delegation at the UN climate summit in New York next week. Continue reading...

Warming water and pollution are contributing to a variety of harmful bacteria that can wreak havoc on aquatic environmentsFrom New York City to coastal California, a poison-producing living slime is overtaking waterways and shorelines, killing pets, ravaging tourism markets and making its way into local drinking water. So far this year, algae has been implicated in dog deaths and illness in California, Georgia, North Carolina and Texas. In August, toxic algae overtook Lake Erie, growing to 620 sq miles. Continue reading...

Three executives at Tepco acquitted, marking the end of the only criminal action over the disasterThree former executives at the company that runs the ruined Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have been acquitted of failing to prevent the March 2011 nuclear meltdown, in the only criminal action resulting from the disaster.Tsunehisa Katsumata, a former chairman of Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) and former vice presidents Sakae Muto and Ichiro Takekuro, had apologised for the triple meltdown at the plant, but said they could not have foreseen the massive tsunami that triggered the disaster. Continue reading...

New report shows roadmap for Australia to be global green energy export leaderAustralia could run entirely on renewable electricity and produce double what it needs to create a massive green export industry by 2050, leading experts say.A report from scientists working under the Australian-German Energy Transition Hub has examined the economic opportunities of decarbonisation over the coming decades. Continue reading...

Most of the risk is from naturally occurring arsenic, the byproducts of chemicals used to disinfect water and contaminantsContaminated tap water causes 100,000 cancer cases in the US over a lifetime, according to a new study from scientists with the Environmental Working Group.Most of the cancer risk is from naturally occurring arsenic, the byproducts of chemicals used to disinfect water and radioactive contaminants, according to the analysis, which was published in the peer-reviewed journal Heylion. Continue reading...

The permanent closure of our school is imminent, yet some call this progress. I call it an emergency and a lesson to learn from the story of WollarIn the New South Wales town of Wollar you can’t hear children laughing in the school playground any more. Coal has silenced the schoolyard, coated the remaining houses in a layer of dust and cut off the future of our community, just as it is doing to our children’s future on a global scale.When the world takes part in the climate strike on Friday, those with a remaining connection to Wollar will strike too, at the empty local school. Continue reading...

Fiordland penguin found 170km west of Melbourne recuperates for eight weeks after 2,500km swimA New Zealand penguin that washed up on a beach in Victoria has been released back to the wild to complete a 2,500km swim home.The emaciated Fiordland penguin was found struggling against rocks in the shallows at Kennett River, 170km west of Melbourne, on 10 July. Continue reading...

Offshore leasing auction starts for 7GW capacity project that could supply 6m UK homesThe crown estate has opened the first leasing round for offshore windfarms in a decade to usher in a new generation of wind projects expected to eventually generate an investment of £20bn.The business intends to auction off new seabed rights in the waters around England and Wales to wind power developers. The leasing scheme allows up to 7GW of electricity generation capacity – enough to meet the needs of more than 6m homes. Continue reading...

New Democrat Coalition worried that Green New Deal plays into Republican messaging, seek ‘secure durable climate legislation’Moderate congressional Democrats worried about the infeasibility of passing the kind of sweeping climate legislation their progressive counterparts are proposing, such as the Green New Deal, are laying out their own policies.The New Democrat Coalition released an 11-page outline of principles on Wednesday, along with a list of bills to back them up, advocating for incremental and “pro-market” steps to cut pollution. Continue reading...

New rules will allow production lines at pork plants to run faster, despite concerns over safety and qualityThe US government has given the go-ahead to new rules to eliminate production line speed limits at pig slaughterhouses, deeming restrictions “unnecessary” despite fears that lifting them will worsen the already high number of serious injuries suffered by US meat plant workers.Amputations, fractured fingers, second-degree burns and head trauma are just some of the serious injuries suffered by US meat plant workers every week, according to an investigation last year by the Guardian and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Continue reading...

Aerospace company says growth in air travel to continue despite climate crisis concernsThe number of commercial aircraft in operation will more than double in the next 20 years to 48,000 planes worldwide, Airbus has forecast.The European aerospace company said that despite mounting concerns about the effects of aviation and the climate crisis, it believes air travel will continue to grow rapidly. Continue reading...

Chuang Chuang reportedly collapsed after eating bamboo in Chiang Mai ZooThe sudden death of a giant panda on loan to a zoo in Thailand has sparked outrage in China and calls for no more of the bears to be lent to the country.Chuang Chuang, a 19-year-old male, reportedly collapsed on Monday afternoon after eating bamboo in Chiang Mai zoo in northern Thailand, according to Thai media. Continue reading...

António Guterres cites ‘fantastic leadership’ of young activists and is counting on public pressure to compel governments to honor the 2015 Paris Agreement

Fisheries department will no longer be able to use nets and drumlines to control sharksThe Queensland government has lost its battle for the right to use nets and drumlines to catch and kill sharks in a bid to protect swimmers on the Great Barrier Reef.The state government appeal to maintain its controversial management program was dismissed on Wednesday in the federal court in Sydney. Continue reading...

BP, Shell and Chevron representatives will be at event on sidelines of UN climate summitOil and gas executives are holding an exclusive invitation-only forum with environmentalists and government representatives on the sidelines of the UN climate summit, in what critics have condemned as an attempt to influence negotiations in favour of fossil fuel companies.Senior executives from leading oil companies including BP, Shell and Chevron will be at the event in New York on 22 September, which they describe as a “closed high-level discussion” with key stakeholders. Continue reading...

One million plant and animal species are threatened with extinction, yet governments are failing to stem the tideThe number of mammals, insects, amphibians, fish and birds is in steep decline, the world’s forests are on fire and the abundance of life is diminishing at rates unprecedented in human history. The TV screens are full of images of gorgeous wildlife but one million plant and animal species are threatened with extinction and governments appear paralysed.Faced with stark and mounting evidence of nature’s precipitous decline, leading natural and social science researchers, philosophers, anthropologists and conservationists have come together to ask why conservation is failing, and to call for an urgent re-think of how the natural world should be protected. Continue reading...

The protest has endured for more than six weeks, gaining national attention and support from Bernie SandersHarlan county, Kentucky, earned the nickname “Bloody Harlan” from a series of labor strikes and violent confrontations in the 1930s led by coalminers and union organizers against coal corporations and law enforcement. In 1973, Harlan’s coalminers went on strike for 13 months when contract negotiations with Duke Power Company broke down after miners voted to form a union.There are no longer any unionized mines in Kentucky, but Harlan’s miners are currently continuing the region’s legacy of labor struggles against wealthy and powerful coal corporations: they are blocking the coal trains from leaving a mine that laid them off. Continue reading...

The climate crisis isn’t the only reason to kick fossil fuels – the prospect of a war to protect Saudi crude reminds us of thatWe are sadly accustomed by now to the idea that our reliance on oil and gas causes random but predictable outbreaks of flood, firestorm and drought. The weekend’s news from the Gulf is a grim reminder that depending on oil leads inevitably to war too.Depending on how far back you want to stand, the possibility of war with Iran stems from a calculated decision by Tehran or its Houthi allies to use drones and missiles on Saudi installations, or on the infantile rage that drove President Trump to tear up a meticulously worked out and globally sponsored accord with Iran and to wreck its economy. But in either case, if you really take in the whole picture, the image is rendered in crude, black tones: were it not for oil, none of this would be happening. Continue reading...

Independent planning commission refuses South Korean company Kepco’s $290m proposalThe New South Wales Independent Planning Commission has rejected the development of a coalmine near Mudgee because of significant concerns about environmental impacts, including on climate change, and the costs to future generations.On Wednesday the commission said it had refused development approval for Kepco’s proposal for an open-cut and underground coalmine in the Bylong valley that would extract up to 120m tonnes of coal over 25 years for export. Continue reading...