Environment | The Guardian

Climate change and human development have pushed Florida to the brink. Now conservationists are finding fresh hope in an unlikely formAt first pass, there seems little amiss in the idyll of Florida Bay. A wedge-shaped expanse of water between the Everglades and the Florida Keys, it is a clean, sun-dappled 1,000 sq mile playground for reddening tourists, grizzled fishermen and loud-shirted locals.But the consequences of Florida’s century-long attempt to bend the environment to its will aren’t hard to find. Starved of fresh water from a reworking of its natural plumbing further north and menaced by seas rising due to climate change, the Everglades and its adjoining bay are teetering at the edge of existential crisis. Continue reading...

Victoria’s first waste-to-energy project is going ahead but these projects threaten recycling and could pose health concernsIt’s the controversial scheme that’s attracting attention across the nation but as more waste-to-energy facilities get the green light, critics fear the opportunity to improve Australia’s recycling industry is going up in smoke.Waste-to-energy, also called bioenergy, has been used in Europe, east Asia and the United States for decades to destroy garbage that would otherwise go to landfill. The trash is burned as feedstock at high temperatures to create fuel, gas or steam that drives a turbine and churns out electricity. Continue reading...

Reservoir’s flood drain was expected to be used once every 50 years, but has seen action twice in last two

Rose Torphy is three years older than the national park itself, and recently joined as its oldest-ever junior ranger

Music festival will no longer sell single-use plastic water bottles in bid to cut wasteWith its sea of discarded tents and litter-strewn fields, Glastonbury has become almost as infamous for the mountain of rubbish left in its wake as it is renowned for its music.But this year, organisers are hitting back – by banning plastic bottles in a bid to stem the tide of waste. Continue reading...

Another climate announcement comes as the Coalition attempts to win back concerned votersThe Morrison government will persist with its attempted climate policy pivot by promising $50m in grants for businesses and community organisations to embark on energy efficiency projects, and an additional $17m to help building owners benchmark their energy use.The proposed investment in energy efficiency, which is one of the components of the government’s strategy for meeting Australia’s Paris commitments, comes as the prime minister has sent a public signal that Victorian energy retailers will have to pick up the costs of electricity transmitted through a second interconnector between Tasmania and the mainland. Continue reading...

Protesters glued themselves to windows of central London hotel hosting industry eventNine activists from the environmental group Extinction Rebellion have been arrested after they glued themselves to the front of a central London hotel to demand that the petroleum industry end its “deeply immoral” behaviour in driving climate change.Specialist police officers spent about two hours unsticking the protesters from windows next to the entrance of the InterContinental Park Lane hotel in Mayfair, which was hosting an oil and gas industry conference. Continue reading...

European cats to be released into Highlands in ‘last-ditch effort’ to help save speciesConservationists are planning to release captive European wildcats into the Highlands in a final attempt to save the Scottish wildcat from extinction.The new measures, described by ecologists as a last-ditch effort to save the species, follow an expert report that confirmed the Scottish wildcat was on the verge of becoming genetically extinct, with as few as 30 left in isolated pockets of the Highlands. Continue reading...

At least two dead and 14 injured in the incident in SulawesiDozens of people have been buried by a landslide at an unlicensed goldmine in Indonesia’s North Sulawesi province, the national disaster agency has said, as emergency personnel used their bare hands and farm tools to reach victims calling for help from beneath the rubble.The agency said two people were dead and 14 were injured, with at least 60 buried. Continue reading...

Case big enough for four round glass bottles can hold 10 letterbox-sized plastic onesWine may soon be distributed in flat plastic bottles, in a move that could reduce carbon emissions and costs in the industry’s supply chain.The bottles are a novel alternative to the glass model that has remained largely unchanged since the 19th century. Continue reading...

London, Leeds, Doncaster and Maidstone are among the worst affectedAlmost 2,000 locations across the UK have levels of air pollution that exceed safety limits, according to a pollution map released by campaigners.In 2017, the worst location for nitrogen dioxide pollution was Kensington and Chelsea, followed by Leeds and Doncaster. Continue reading...

Scientists say some marine animals with high levels of pollutants are failing to calvePlastics are an increasing cause of concern due to potential sources of chemicals that disrupt hormones and affect the growth and reproductive success of a wide variety of wildlife, according to a new report.Wildlife in the oceans and on land are subject to cocktails of pollutants known as endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), but little is still known about how these common substances interact in the environment despite years of research. The increasing problem of plastic waste breaking down in fragile ecosystems is now one of the key areas of research for scientists. Continue reading...

Scientists say it is likely no marine ecosystems are left that are not affected by pollutionThe world’s deepest ocean trenches are becoming “the ultimate sink” for plastic waste, according to a study that reveals contamination of animals even in these dark, remote regions of the planet.For the first time, scientists found microplastic ingestion by organisms in the Mariana trench and five other areas with a depth of more than 6,000 metres, prompting them to conclude “it is highly likely there are no marine ecosystems left that are not impacted by plastic pollution”. Continue reading...

Once a rapidly spreading rift intersects with another fissure, an iceberg of at least 660sq miles is set to be loosened, Nasa saysAn iceberg roughly twice the size of New York City is set to break away from an Antarctic ice shelf as a result of a rapidly spreading rift that is being monitored by Nasa.A crack along part of the Brunt ice shelf in Antarctica first appeared in October 2016, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa). The crack is spreading to the east. This rift, known as a Halloween crack, is set to intersect with another fissure that was apparently stable for the past 35 years but is now accelerating north at a rate of around 2.5 miles a year. Continue reading...

Film appears to show cows and calves being punched, beaten and dragged across the floorThe RSPCA is investigating a British farm, after undercover footage which appears to show dairy cows and calves being force fed, punched and beaten was released by an animal rights group.The footage, taken on a farm in Buckinghamshire, appears to show workers beating and swearing at dairy cows. Later in the footage, workers appear to drag young calves across the floor, and at one point appear to be force-feeding a young calf, as well as beating it. At one point a cow appears to be attempting to tend to a still-born calf. Continue reading...

Greater Manchester mayor says this part of levy would disproportionately affect poorThe mayor of Greater Manchester has been accused of a “cop-out” after a decision to exempt private cars from a daily charge under which polluting vehicles will pay up to £100 a day to use roads in the region.Andy Burnham asked the government for £116m to implement Greater Manchester’s plan, which includes a clean air zone designed to drastically reduce harmful levels of nitrogen dioxide by 2024. Continue reading...

Paul Flynn (obituary, 21 February) had a huge range of causes, often championing minority issues where others feared to tread, such as legalising cannabis and supporting the troops returning from overseas wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, and the families of the fallen in these wars, which he opposed.The issue on which I worked most with Paul was nuclear power and weapons dangers, costs and secrecy. According to the Parliamentary Archives database, Paul asked 1,410 parliamentary questions on nuclear issues during his time as an MP. Indeed his first three questions as an MP (in July 1987) were posed on nuclear safety. He opposed the Hinkley C plant in Somerset, opposite his constituency across the Bristol Channel, to the end, and insisted the plans for new nuclear plants in Wales at Wylfa and a small modular reactor at Trawsfynydd were expensive white elephants, while backing “clean, green eternal” tidal power to the last. Continue reading...

Whale discovered at Marajó Island should have been in Antarctica at this time of yearA young humpback whale has been found dead after being washed ashore on a remote swamp in the Amazon River.The humpback whale should have migrated thousands of miles to Antarctica by this time of year, but members of the conservation group Bicho D’Água said they found it at Marajó Island in Brazil’s north-east. Continue reading...

With the animal making a comeback in many US cities, enthusiasts such as San Francisco’s ‘coyote lady’ have become both educator and defenderSan Francisco’s resident Coyote Lady met her first coyote early one cool June morning on Twin Peaks, one of the city’s tallest hills.The coyote was a curious little thing, prancing here and there, dashing up the hill, and then down, all the while watching this strange creature and her dog. “She ran this way, she ran that way, she was so excited, like, ‘What’s going on? What are you doing?’” said Janet Kessler, 69. Continue reading...

On 26 February 1919, President Woodrow Wilson established Grand Canyon national park. Today it attracts more than 6 million visitors a year, drawn to its extraordinary beauty. It has also been a home to Native American tribes such as the Havasupai, Hopi, Hualapai and Navajo since long before it became a national park. Rare archival images, including those from the Grand Canyon Centennial Project, provide a rich visual record of this remarkable place

Morrison government waved through plan for luxury camp with helicopter access despite expert adviceA Tasmanian council has blocked a contentious private tourism development with helicopter access in the state’s world heritage wilderness.The luxury camp proposal for remote Halls Island on Lake Malbena, in the Walls of Jerusalem national park, had been waved through by the Morrison government in August against the recommendation of expert advisory bodies. Continue reading...

Joyous blooms mix with climate fears as you tell the story of the UK’s surprise burst of warmthUK experiences winter temperatures of 20C for first timeRecord temperatures in complete contrast to the weather at this time last year have led to signs that spring has sprung much earlier than usual in the UK, and naturalists have expressed worry about what this means for the environment.Related: Naturalists concerned for early-emerging spring species in UK Continue reading...

Exclusive: Natracare wipes are first to carry symbol showing they pass stricter sewer testsThe first wet wipes in the UK to be given official certification as “fine to flush” down the toilet will go on sale next month, as part of a national drive to eliminate the growing scourge of fatbergs.The organic brand Natracare is launching what it claims to be Europe’s first truly flushable moist tissue wipe and the first to carry a new symbol drawn up by Water UK, which represents water and sewerage companies in Britain. Continue reading...

Environment minister says under plan, his grandchildren in 2035 will have the same carbon footprint as his grandparents did in the 1940s – and by 2050 none at allCosta Rica has launched an economy-wide plan to “decarbonize” the country by 2050, as the Central American nation aims to show other nations what is possible to address climate change.Environment minister, Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, said that if the plan is achieved, his grandchildren in 2035 will have the same carbon footprint as his grandparents did in the 1940s – and by 2050 his grandchildren will have none at all. Continue reading...

Activists condemn Republican Senate leader for ‘lining your pockets while we die in floods’ and demand climate action

Greens’ Caroline Lucas says record-breaking weather reflects ‘climate emergency’The UK is experiencing its warmest February day on record and some of the highest temperatures ever recorded in winter, according to forecasters.Temperatures in Trawsgoed, Wales, reached 20.3C, (68.5F) on Monday morning and rose to 20.6C in the afternoon. The previous highest recorded temperature in February had been 19.7C in London in 1998. Continue reading...

Concerns had been raised over project increasing German reliance on Russian energyDonald Tusk, the president of the European council, called it a mistake, while the US president, Donald Trump, has branded it very inappropriate and a “very bad thing for Nato”.The Nord Stream 2 pipeline to take Russian gas to Germany is arguably Europe’s most controversial energy project, drawing opposition from Ukraine, which it will bypass, and uniting the US, eastern EU states and the European commission, which fears it will undermine the bloc’s ‘energy union’ plans. Continue reading...

Expected announcement by ExxonMobil of discovery off island’s south coast seen as potential game changerTensions between Cyprus and Turkey over energy could soon come to a head, with ExxonMobil apparently poised to announce a significant natural gas find off the divided island’s southern coast.After more than three months of deep-water exploration in the eastern Mediterranean, the US firm is expected to unveil findings this week in what is being described as a seminal moment in the race to tap potentially profitable underwater resources. Continue reading...

Real economic responsibility means sustaining the communities and physical resources on which society is builtIn the coming days, the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, plans to hold a vote on the Green New Deal resolution recently introduced by congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Senator Edward Markey (D-MA). Despite polls showing broad bipartisan support for a Green New Deal, McConnell hopes his ploy will divide Democrats and boost the GOP talking point that the plan is fiscally irresponsible.While McConnell and other critics seem to think that they can defeat the Green New Deal by repeating a tired mantra – “we can’t afford to do it” – the real question is: how can we afford not to? Without bold action to tackle climate change, toxic pollution and economic and racial inequity, our society will only see rising fiscal burdens. A Green New Deal would not only help us avoid mounting costs – it also would stimulate broad-based demand in the economy by investing in real drivers of economic prosperity: workers and communities. That’s in stark contrast to the GOP’s expensive recent policy priority – the nearly $2tn tax cuts of 2018 – which did little more than enrich stateless mega-corporations and the wealthiest investors. Continue reading...

Holidaymaker shocked to see stowaway python in her slip-ons on return from QueenslandAs souvenirs go, it is a unique one. A woman has returned to Scotland from a holiday in Australia to discover a stowaway snake hidden in one of her shoes.In an incident that will confirm the worst fears of visitors to Australia, Moira Boxall unpacked her luggage after the more than 9,300-mile journey from Queensland to find the small and very much alive creature curled up in her slip-ons. It even shed its skin during its voyage in her footwear. Continue reading...

MPs also shown polling that claims stopping the controversial coalmine will not necessarily cost Queensland seatsFederal Labor MPs have been given new legal advice arguing there is a valid pathway to revoke the environmental approvals for the controversial Adani coal project, and a summary of polling showing stopping the project would not necessarily cost seats in central Queensland.Guardian Australia has seen a brief for Labor MPs prepared by the Stop Adani campaign, which quotes legal advice from Neil Williams SC, a specialist in environmental and planning law, arguing “there is evidence to support revocation of Adani’s approval under section 145 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, including significant impacts on water resources that were not assessed when the mine was approved”. Continue reading...

Sadiq Khan’s claims to have built 140km of cycling infrastructure are simply falseAmong the more amusing frauds of the energy company Enron was the time, in 1998, when it decided to create an entire fake trading floor at its Texas HQ – complete with TVs, computers, and shirtsleeved guys shouting down phones – to fool Wall Street analysts visiting for its annual general meeting.Now, however, the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, appears to be aiming for something even more ambitious – an entire fake cycle network. I am in south-west London, in an alley about six feet wide, wedged between a railway line and the back garden fences of Southdown Road. According to Khan, this is the Wimbledon to Raynes Park Quietway, part of the 140km of cycle infrastructure, which he claims to have built since taking office. Continue reading...

Call the emissions reduction fund a ‘climate solutions’ fund if you like, but it doesn’t mean it isLet’s start with the good news. Scott Morrison is talking constructively about climate change because he is intelligent enough to understand that failing to do that renders the Coalition unelectable in parts of the country, and with parts of its own base.Compared with where we’ve been, a Liberal prime minister standing up at a podium, accepting the science of climate change and making the case for action, is progress. Continue reading...

Exclusive: miner Gold Fields to get $1m from Coalition fund for gas power plant for its Western Australian mineThe Morrison government’s emissions reduction fund – rebadged as a “climate solutions” policy and to be boosted with an extra $2bn – is being used to help one of the world’s biggest gold miners pay for a fossil fuel power plant the company concedes it would have built anyway.Fund opponents say it is the latest evidence that design flaws in the scheme are leading to taxpayers’ money being wasted on projects that are commercially viable even without public support. In some cases, the climate funding is going to new fossil fuel projects on the grounds that they are cleaner than the dirty projects they replace. Continue reading...

Evidence collected by Friends of the Earth allege estates have continued practice despite voluntary commitments to stopAn official watchdog is investigating five grouse-shooting estates for allegedly damaging the environment in a practice that they had pledged to stop.Natural England is looking into allegations that the estates have repeatedly burned heather on their land to maximise the number of grouse for shooting. The watchdog launched its investigation after being passed evidence in the form of eyewitness accounts that the environmental group Friends of the Earth had collected. Continue reading...

PM to announce ‘climate solutions fund’ to appeal to voters concerned about Coalition’s recordScott Morrison will attempt to appeal to voters deeply concerned that the Coalition have been been wreckers on climate change by rebadging Tony Abbott’s emissions reduction fund as a “climate solutions” fund – with $2bn to be rolled out over 10 years.Attempting to draw a line over years of destructive in-fighting within the Coalition that has cruelled various emissions reduction policies, the prime minister will use a speech in Melbourne on Monday to launch a new package of measures on climate change, saying his government acknowledges and accepts the challenge “but we do so with cool heads, not just impassioned hearts”. Continue reading...

It is time to prove it is serious about phasing out use of fossil fuels worldwide

Former UN secretary-general says country must live up to Theresa May’s commitment

Britain’s carnivore numbers are booming after clampdown on hunting and pollutionThey must survive government culls, gamekeepers, poisoning, persecution and increasingly busy roads but, in modern times at least, Britain’s carnivores have never had it so good: badger, otter, pine marten, polecat, stoat and weasel populations have “markedly improved” since the 1960s, according to a new study.The otter, polecat and pine marten have bounced back from the brink of extinction, and the country’s only carnivorous mammal now in danger of being wiped out is the wildcat, with the dwindling Scottish populations hit by hybridisation with domestic and feral cats. Continue reading...

Simon Birmingham says coal taking twice as long as normal to clear ports amid quality checksAustralia’s trade minister has welcomed high-level confirmation from Beijing that there is no ban on coal exports, but has raised concern about slow processing times through some of China’s ports.Simon Birmingham told Sky News on Sunday coal was currently taking twice as long as normal to clear ports in China, and he referenced a similar set of circumstances that impacted Australian coal shipments last year. Continue reading...

Shadow environment minister sceptical whether law followed on approvals for coal projectTony Burke says he has always been sceptical about whether the law has been followed in relation to previous environmental approvals for the controversial Adani coal project in Queensland.But the shadow environment minister argues that he can’t telegraph a firm disposition about what he might do about the approvals in the future without making a prejudgment that could render any subsequent decision unlawful. Continue reading...

Two significant events have showed that a major adjustment of our economy is needed to end our reliance on coal

Glaswegian men are going topless and Aberdeen is positively balmy. What is going on with the weather?In Scotland, good weather is rarely unconditional. Take the honey bees, for instance. You’d think the wee fellas would be delighted with all this unseasonably good weather, but you’d be wrong. In Edinburgh on Saturday, Michelle Wood, who sells organic vegetables from her stall in the farmers market below the castle, was delivering a lesson in bee welfare. “People are tempted to cut their lawns too early when the weather is as mild as this in February,” she said. “That means the daisies and dandelions, which are a vital source of food for the honey bees, get cut, too, thus endangering the hive. I’m starting a campaign to raise awareness of this.”In Princes Street Gardens and up by the National Monument on Calton Hill, little clutches of daffodils were gathering, soon to announce their riotous presence. At the head gardener’s house at the east end of the Gardens, purples, pinks and yellows were already emerging. It is hard to believe that in this week last year all these places, along with just about everywhere else in Scotland, were impassable amid massive snowdrifts. The country’s first ever red warning for snow was issued as the “Beast from the East” occupied most of the UK and held it fast for two weeks. Continue reading...

Climate change and conflict have left the river Jordan a stagnant stream and the Sea of Galilee critically lowIf Jesus were alive today, he might reconsider a baptism in the river Jordan; there’s a good chance he’d pick up an eye infection. Faecal bacteria in the pungent, murky waters have risen in recent years to up to six times the recommended levels.Once a raging torrent, the lower Jordan has been starved of water to become a stagnant stream, filled with sewage and dirty run-off from farms. Around 95% of its historical flow has been diverted by agriculture during the past half-century. And the river’s primary source, the Sea of Galilee – where Christians believe the son of God walked on water – has for years been dammed to prevent its demise. Continue reading...

Sunrise Movement says California senator reacted with ‘smugness and disrespect’ to their campaigning for New Green DealThe California senator Dianne Feinstein is facing criticism over a video of her response to a group of children and teenagers asking her to support the Green New Deal.The video clip shows parts of a Friday morning meeting between the Democrat and young activists from the Sunrise Movement. Founded in 2017, the group organizes young people to fight climate change and support the Green New Deal. Continue reading...

Former vice-president continues environmental justice tour in Alabama and urges political leaders to take drastic actionAl Gore continued an environmental justice tour with a visit to poor areas of Alabama – and warned that already dire conditions are set to worsen because of climate change.Related: Hoda Muthana's father sues in bid to bring his daughter back to US Continue reading...

Traffic blocked at Department for Education during call for national curriculum changesMore than 100 teachers, academics and students have blocked traffic and staged mock climate classes outside the Department for Education in a protest against the underplaying of environmental problems in the national curriculum.The demonstrators – who carried Teach the Truth, Rebel for Life and Climate: More Important Than Brexit banners – urged the government to make the climate and ecological crisis an educational priority. Continue reading...

Pangolins, a mountain lion and a sad good-bye to Papua New Guinea’s Bramble Cay melomys Continue reading...

Redesignation makes Indiana Dunes the US’s newest national park, ending a fight for recognition lasting 103 yearsWild and rugged – though the link to Spielberg’s similarly-named action hero ends there – Indiana Dunes has been designated America’s newest national park, marking the end of a 103-year-long effort instigated by the US National Park Service’s first director Stephen Mather.The first national park in the state of Indiana, the area is already popular with tourists and day trippers from Chicago, with more than two million visitors a year exploring the 50 miles of walking trails through one of the country’s most biodiverse protected areas. Covering 15 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, its vast sand dunes, forests, marshes and prairies are home to over 350 species of bird and 1,100 native plants. Continue reading...

A cold, wet March could prove problematic for animals now out of hibernation