Labour party analysis of figures since 2010 shows raw sewage was discharged for more than 3.6m hours last yearWaterborne diseases such as dysentery and Weil's disease have risen by 60% since 2010 in England, new figures reveal.Analysis of NHS hospital admissions by the Labour party has found that the number of people admitted to hospital with diseases transmitted via waterborne infection has increased from 2,085 in 2010-11 to 3,286 in 2022-23. Continue reading...
Proposal aims to decarbonize all of nation's public housing units, with an investment of between $162bn and $234bn over next decadeWith a sweeping legislative proposal, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders are attempting to place public housing at the center of the green energy transition, tackling the twin crises of global warming and soaring housing costs.Public housing should be the gold standard for affordable, environmentally friendly, and safe communities," Ocasio-Cortez said in an email. This bill is how we ensure that." Continue reading...
The singer, who is known for her attempts to run her career sustainably, likened the practice to The Hunger Games - playing a game to get fans to keep buying moreBillie Eilish has criticised the practice of musicians releasing several vinyl variants of the same record in order to drive sales and earn them more money", likening it to The Hunger Games franchise: We're all going to do it because [it's] the only way to play the game."I can't even express to you how wasteful it is," Eilish, 22, told Billboard in an interview about her push to run her career in a sustainable and less environmentally impactful way. Continue reading...
Germans want to ban torture breeding' for extreme characteristics. Plus: don't even think about swimming in British waters this EasterI'll say this for the Germans: when they're right, they're so right. Word reaches us that dachshunds are to be banned in Germany. Continue reading...
Analysis finds majority of paraquat, banned in 60 countries, is used in counties where Latinos make up 75% of the population or higherLow-income Latinos living in California are disproportionately threatened by paraquat, a highly toxic herbicide widely used on US cropland, a new analysis of state data finds.The notorious weedkiller is banned in more than 60 countries and for some uses in the US, like golf courses, because it is so dangerous. But the US government still allows its use on crops, putting agricultural workers or those living in communities near where it is spread at risk. Continue reading...
Vivien Sansour, founder of the Palestine Heirloom Seed Library, believes biodiversity could help feed an entire planet in crisisThe first year that the Hudson Valley Seed Company tried growing yakteen at their farm in upstate New York, the heirloom variety of Palestinian gourd quickly spread until its vines were sending their tendrils across a full acre of land. Born of a partnership with the artist, researcher and conservationist Vivien Sansour, that pilot plot was just one of many pieces of evidence supporting Sansour's thesis: that saving Palestinian heirloom seeds could benefit not just Palestinians, but could help feed an entire planet in crisis.Sansour is the founder of the Palestine Heirloom Seed Library, a project that began in 2016 to conserve Palestinian heritage and culture by saving heirloom seed varieties and telling the stories and history from which they emerged. Continue reading...
Descendants of miners who dug up gold, silver and emeralds worth billions call on Colombia to halt plan to lift cargoIndigenous communities in Bolivia have objected to Colombia's plans to recover the remains of an 18th-century galleon believed to be carrying gold, silver and emeralds worth billions, calling on Spain and Unesco to step in and halt the project.Colombia hopes to begin recovering artefacts from the wreck of the San Jose in the coming months but the Caranga, Chicha and Killaka peoples in Bolivia propose that the galleon and its contents should be considered common and shared patrimony". Continue reading...
by Kaamil Ahmed, Damien Gayle and Aseel Mousa in Gaza on (#6KPV5)
Exclusive: Satellite analysis revealed to the Guardian shows farms devastated and nearly half of the territory's trees razed. Alongside mounting air and water pollution, experts says Israel's onslaught on Gaza's ecosystems has made the area unlivableIn a dilapidated warehouse in Rafah, Soha Abu Diab is living with her three young daughters and more than 20 other family members. They have no running water, no fuel and are surrounded by running sewage and waste piling up.Like the rest of Gaza's residents, they fear the air they breathe is heavy with pollutants and that the water carries disease. Beyond the city streets lie razed orchards and olive groves, and farmland destroyed by bombs and bulldozers. Continue reading...
When the research team at Vernadsky base are not defending their homeland, they are on the frontline of the climate crisisWhen Ukraine's Antarctic research and supply vessel Noosfera left Odesa on its maiden voyage on 28 January 2022, it passed Russian warships in the Black Sea. A month later, Vladimir Putin launched Russia's full-scale invasion of its neighbour. Noosfera has not been back since.A few weeks later, and Noosfera would have been an important symbolic target for Russia," said Vadym Tkachenko, a biologist who recently completed his second Antarctic winter at Ukraine's Vernadsky base. The ship now supplies both Ukrainian and Polish Antarctic bases from Chile and South Africa twice a year, at the start and end of the winter. Continue reading...
Poor harvests in extreme weather conditions have led to a tripling of cocoa prices - but farmers have seen no benefitAround the world this holiday weekend, people will consume hundreds of millions of Easter eggs and bunnies, as part of an annual chocolate intake that can exceed 8kg (18lb) for every person in the UK, or 5kg in the US and Europe. But a global shortage of cacao - the seed from which chocolate is made - has brought warnings of a chocolate meltdown" that could see prices increase and bars shrink further.This week, cocoa prices rose to all-time highs on commodity exchanges in London and New York, reaching more than $10,000 a tonne for the first time, after the third consecutive poor harvest in west Africa. Ghana and Ivory Coast, which together produce more than half of the global cacao crop, have been hit by extreme weather supercharged by the climate crisis and the El Nino weather phenomenon. This has been exacerbated by disease and underinvestment in ageing plantations. Continue reading...
A process called biofortification puts nutrients directly into seeds and could reduce global hunger, but it's not a magic bulletIn 2004, Donald Davis and fellow scientists at the University of Texas made an alarming discovery: 43 foods, mostly vegetables, showed a marked decrease in nutrients between the mid and late 20th century.According to that research, the calcium in green beans dropped from 65 to 37mg. Vitamin A levels plummeted by almost half in asparagus. Broccoli stalks had less iron. Continue reading...
Experts are trying everything from drums to whale calls to lure kiisaiis - or Brave Little Hunter - out of the Canadian lagoon she has been trapped in since the stranding death of her motherAs a two-year-old orca calf circled a lagoon off the west coast of Canada on Monday, she heard a comforting sound resonating through the unfamiliar place in which she found herself: the clicks and chirps of her great-aunt.But the calf, named kiisaiis (pronounced kwee-sahay-is, which roughly translates as Brave Little Hunter) by local First Nations people, could not locate another whale in the shallow waters. The calls, broadcast from speakers placed underwater, were part of a complex and desperate operation still under way to try to save the stranded calf. Continue reading...
Experts say the hybrids risk polluting' the genetic stock, but scientists disagree on how to deal with them. In Piedmont, Italy, the sight of a blond wolfdog signals the risk of another new litter
World's fossil-fuel producers on track to nearly quadruple output from newly approved projects by decade's end, report findsThe world's fossil-fuel producers are on track to nearly quadruple the amount of extracted oil and gas from newly approved projects by the end of this decade, with the US leading the way in a surge of activity that threatens to blow apart agreed climate goals, a new report has found.There can be no new oil and gas infrastructure if the planet is to avoid careering past 1.5C (2.7F) of global heating, above pre-industrial times, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has previously stated. Breaching this warming threshold, agreed to by governments in the Paris climate agreement, will see ever worsening effects such as heatwaves, floods, drought and more, scientists have warned. Continue reading...
The World Nature Photography award winners have been announced from a pool of entries from all corners of the globe - including a baby elephant in Kenya and an owl-like plant in Thailand. The top award and cash prize of $1,000 went to Tracey Lund from the UK for her image of two gannets under the water off the coast of the Shetland Islands. Lund and her fellow winners were drawn from thousands of images Continue reading...
French president tells Brazil forum both parties need to be much stronger' on biodiversity and climateEmmanuel Macron has called a proposed trade agreement between the EU and South America's Mercosur bloc a very bad deal" that lacks proper climate considerations.As it is negotiated today, it is a very bad deal, for you and for us," the French president told Brazilian businessmen in Sao Paulo on Wednesday while on a three-day trip to Brazil, Latin America's largest economy. Continue reading...
Unanimously passed ordinance makes employers give contractors access to rest, shade, water and air conditioning in hottest US cityPhoenix, Arizona, passed a landmark rule this week that will provide protections from extreme heat for thousands of outdoor workers in the hottest US city.In a unanimous 7-0 vote, Phoenix city council passed an ordinance on Tuesday requiring employers to provide access to rest, shade, water and air conditioning, as well as training on recognizing signs of heat stress. The rule applies to city contractors and their subcontractors who work outdoors, including construction and airport workers. Continue reading...
Global adoption of diet low in meat would aid health, land and food systems as well as reducing emissions, researchers sayA global shift to a mostly plant-based flexitarian" diet could reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help restrict global heating to 1.5C, a new study shows.Previous research has warned how emissions from food alone at current rates will propel the world past this key international target. Continue reading...
Chase Hays and more than 50 neighbors are suing Blackhawk Mining after a silt retention pond burst and killed 43 peopleChase Hays knew it was time to evacuate when he saw his neighbor's home float through his front yard. It was just after midnight on 28 July 2022, and Lost Creek, Kentucky, was experiencing a catastrophic rainstorm.As Hays would later learn, the rains caused a silt retention pond to burst at a nearby mine, sending a torrent of rainwater and sediment down the mountain. Continue reading...
Drone used to identify animal that went on rampage in northern Slovakia this month, says Toma TarabaA brown bear has been killed by an armed patrol after drone technology identified it as the animal that injured five people during a rampage in a town in northern Slovakia this month, the country's environment ministry has said.The environment minister, Toma Taraba, said the bear, which left a 49-year-old woman and a 72-year-old man needing hospital treatment and three other victims including a 10-year-old girl with cuts and bruises, was shot dead late on Tuesday. Continue reading...
Richard Meal is second senior leader to depart following Guardian investigation into failings at UK nuclear waste siteA former Royal Air Force officer who has led Sellafield's information security for more than a decade is to leave the vast nuclear waste site in north-west England, it can be revealed.Richard Meal, who is chief information security officer at the Cumbrian site, is to leave later this year. Continue reading...
If ever there was a perfect case-study of the negative impacts on taxpayers of privatisation of strategic public assets, Eraring is it', Tim Buckley says
UN Food Waste Index report also finds global food wastage is big contributor to climate crisisMore than a billion meals are thrown away every day, in poor countries as well as rich ones, despite more than 730 million people living in hunger around the world.About a fifth of food is wasted, sometimes through profligacy or poor planning, sometimes from a lack of access to refrigeration or storage, according to the UN Food Waste Index report, published on Wednesday, at a global cost of about $1tn a year. Continue reading...
by Mark Brown North of England correspondent on (#6KN6B)
Boats had been barred from landing since July 2022 owing to virus, which has ravaged populations of seabirdsThe puffins started arriving two weeks ago - and now there are thousands of them fizzing around in a mad frenzy. They have joined kittiwakes, guillemots, razorbills, fulmars and shags. Soon Arctic terns will arrive after their epic journey across the world from the Antarctic.This week humans arrived after a two-year ban from the Farne Islands in Northumberland, one of the UK's most important sanctuaries for breeding seabirds. Continue reading...
IFRC and USAid staging conference to draw attention to risks and share best practice in disaster alerts and responseTwo of the world's biggest aid agencies will host an inaugural global summit on extreme heat on Thursday as directors warn that the climate crisis is dramatically increasing the probability of a mass-fatality heat disaster.The conference will highlight some of the pioneering work being done, from tree-planting projects to the development of roof coverings that reduce indoor temperatures. Continue reading...
They thought their redeveloped 19th-century building was safe - but after learning it still contained toxic levels of lead, they formed a tenants unionKaty Slininger was one of dozens of residents who moved into the Lofts at the Cargill Falls Mill in Putnam, Connecticut, shortly after it opened in late 2020, enticed by the historic charm of the building and affordability of an apartment in an area with significant affordable housing shortages.The building is a redeveloped 19th-century mill that opened in 2020 after government subsidies contributed millions of dollars in grants and tax credits to its renovation and was hailed by local officials as a boon to the local economy. Continue reading...
Some ecologically sound' brands contain as little as 2.7% of the eco-friendly paper alternativeIn the bathrooms of the ecologically conscious, bamboo toilet paper is the new bottom line - a supposedly green alternative to the bog-standard pulp-based loo roll that requires the chopping down of 1m trees a year, just to be flushed down the pan.But findings from consumer watchdog Which? will wipe away that smug feeling: samples of three out of the five of the UK's top bamboo brands were actually made from other woods, some of them heavily implicated in deforestation. Continue reading...
Natural England-backed scheme at most southerly tip of UK will nurture lichens, liverworts and wildflowersThe landscape at the most southerly tip of mainland Britain is expansive and grand: rolling heath and grasslands, spectacular cliffs, crashing waves.But a recovery project funded by Natural England is focusing on unique and vital microhabitats" found in sometimes overlooked spots on the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall. Continue reading...
Just 2% of continent's gas capacity has planned retirement date despite pledges to decarbonise, study showsEurope's tone-deaf" expansion of fossil gas is accelerating climate breakdown and increasing reliance on hostile regimes, campaigners have warned.Just four of Europe's gas-fired power plants have a retirement plan and new projects will increase the continent's gas generation capacity by 27%, according to analysis from the campaign group Beyond Fossil Fuels. Continue reading...
Fears of overcharging on bill grows after jump from 2.7m machines is blamed on reporting errors from energy providersNearly 4m energy smart meters in homes and businesses are faulty, government figures have shown, in a further blow to the troubled" rollout of the technology.Data from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero reported that, at the end of last year, 3.98m meters in Great Britain were not working properly. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Fingers of willow gloves, found in only two woodlands, will be rushed to Cumbria and tied to new treesFingers of a critically endangered fungus will this week be removed from its last sites in Scotland and fixed to trees in three woodlands in England to save it from extinction.Willow gloves, which resembles the fingers of washing-up gloves and grows on dead trees, is found only in two woodlands, and the vast majority is living on just one fallen tree. Continue reading...
Campaigners say activities leading to severe environmental harm usually also violate human rightsThe international criminal court (ICC) has been urged to start investigating and prosecuting individuals who harm the environment.Academics, lawyers and campaigners from around the world have sent expert opinions to the court outlining what they call its current regime of impunity" for serious environmental crimes. Continue reading...
Inexpensive and easy to use, drones are proving invaluable for activists monitoring illegal fishing, hunting and deforestation - as well as keeping tabs on zoos and aquariumsLate last year, UrgentSeas received an anonymous tip from a former employee at the Miami Seaquarium about animal tanks away from public view. The advocacy group went to investigate.In November, they posted a short clip of what they found by flying a drone over the property: an elderly manatee living alone in a decaying private pool. Within a month, the clip had been watched millions of times and the outcry had grown so intense that the US Fish and Wildlife Service moved the manatee, Romeo, and his mate, Juliet, to a sanctuary. Continue reading...
Asymptomatic cases may seem reassuring for the penguins, but scientists fear they could act as Trojan horses' for other speciesAdelie penguins in Antarctica are testing positive for bird flu without showing outward signs of disease, according to researchers who travelled around 13 remote breeding sites on an ice-breaking cruise ship.Since bird flu arrived in the region this year, there have been concerns about the virus reaching the Antarctic's fragile penguin populations. In November last year, researchers warned in a pre-print research paper that if the virus caused mass mortality in these colonies, it could signal one of the largest ecological disasters of modern times". Continue reading...
Horse racing industry insiders said to be pushing for Sydney track to be moved to former brickpit in Olympic Park - a sanctuary for an unlikely urban survivor
by Matthew Taylor Environment correspondent on (#6KKNG)
Government has repeatedly used figure to justify more fossil fuel developments despite climate crisisAre 200,000 jobs really supported by the oil and gas industry in the North Sea? Campaigners and MPs are questioning the longstanding government claim.Ministers have repeatedly used the 200,000 jobs figure as justification for pushing ahead with more fossil fuel developments despite the escalating climate crisis and widespread opposition from scientists and energy experts. Continue reading...
Residents and marine officials in British Columbia hope a changing tide will save her orphaned calfA killer whale stranded off Canada's west coast has died despite efforts to rescue her, but residents and marine officials hope a changing tide will save her orphaned calf.On Saturday, members of the Ehattisaht First Nation, a coastal community along the north-western reaches of Vancouver Island, spotted an orca trapped on a rocky outcropping. Continue reading...
Predatory species, which poses huge danger to bee populations, spotted on 11 March, indicating winter stayAsian hornets may have become established in the UK after the earliest-ever sighting of the predatory insect was recorded by the government this month.This is a dangerous development for Britain's bee population and could have a knock-on effect on agriculture that needs the pollinators, because once hornets are established it is almost impossible to eliminate them. Continue reading...
Funding will go to recipients in more than 20 states in industrial sector, which is responsible for roughly 25% of US emissionsThe Biden administration announced a record $6bn in funding Monday to decarbonize US industry facilities including plants that make cement and concrete, iron and steel, and food production plants including ones which make mac and cheese, and ice cream.The industrial sector is responsible for roughly 25% of all the nation's emissions, and has proven difficult to decarbonize due to its energy-intense, large-scale operations.Constellium in Ravenswood, West Virginia, is going to operate a first-of-its-kind zero-carbon aluminum casting plant and install low-emission furnaces that can use clean fuels such as hydrogen. The company produces aluminum for a range of products including cars and planes.Kraft Heinz will install heat pumps, electric heaters and electric boilers to decarbonize food production at 10 facilities, including in Holland, Michigan, where it makes mac and cheese.Cleveland-Cliffs Steel Corporation in Middletown, Ohio, will retire one blast furnace, install two electric furnaces, and use hydrogen-based ironmaking technology. The project aims to eliminate 1m tons of greenhouse gas emissions each year from the largest supplier of steel to the US automotive industry.Heidelberg Materials US Inc will build a system that captures and stores carbon underground at its plant in Mitchell, Indiana. The project aims to capture at least 95% of the carbon dioxide released by the cement plant, which will prevent 2m tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere each year.Associated Press contributed to this report Continue reading...
Turkey's eighth national Antarctic science expedition is seeking answers to questions about the future of the world with 22 different projects on the continent. Anadolu Agency's photojournalist Sebnem Coskun is documenting the expedition's scientific research, climate change impacts and life in the region to share the findings with the world.
Environment | The Guardian