Environment | The Guardian

Extreme temperatures destroy kelp, seagrass and corals – with alarming impacts for humanityThe number of heatwaves affecting the planet’s oceans has increased sharply, scientists have revealed, killing swathes of sea-life like “wildfires that take out huge areas of forest”.The damage caused in these hotspots is also harmful for humanity, which relies on the oceans for oxygen, food, storm protection and the removal of climate-warming carbon dioxide the atmosphere, they say. Continue reading...

Logging in Poland’s Vistula lagoon described by experts as part of a ‘war on nature’ across the continent’s ancient forestsA logging operation at Poland’s spectacular 55-mile-long Vistula lagoon is casting a “dark omen” of deforestation and biodiversity collapse across Europe’s forests, campaigners say.Tree felling around the Natura 2000 site is aimed at clearing a path to the Baltic Sea for use by Poland’s navy, to the alarm of Russia. But they are just one front in what some academics describe as a war on nature. Continue reading...

Goal of cutting emissions by 90% before 2050 fails to address challenge, warns committeeNicola Sturgeon’s government needs to show much greater urgency in tackling climate change, a cross-party committee of the Scottish parliament has said.The environment committee said the Scottish government’s goal of cutting emissions by 90% before 2050 failed to address the scale of the challenge. Instead, ministers should aim for a net zero target, where there are no additional emissions that affect the climate, MSPs said. Continue reading...

Four suitcases abandoned in arrivals area contain rare and protected varieties of tortoisesPolice in the Philippines have discovered 1,529 live turtles wrapped in duct tape inside suitcases abandoned in an airport.The customs bureau seized four suitcases in Manila on Sunday and found they were filled with rare and protected varieties including star tortoises, red-footed tortoises, sulcata tortoises and red-eared sliders. Continue reading...

Dairy boom has coincided with decline in water quality, leaving two-thirds of rivers unsafe for swimmingIt has been a classic summer in New Zealand: hot days, barbecues on the beach and lazy afternoon games of cricket. But dozens of beaches, rivers and lakes have been closed to the public owing to pollution from farming.According to a recent poll, water pollution is now New Zealanders’ number one concern: 82% of respondents said they want tougher protections for waterways, ranking it as a priority above the housing crisis, the rising cost of living and child poverty. Continue reading...

Several reefs have not recovered from back-to-back bleaching, surveys have found, but others remain in good conditionCoral reefs in the far north of the Great Barrier Reef are showing lasting effects from the mass bleaching of 2016 and 2017 and in some cases their health has declined further, according to fresh surveys by the Australian Institute of Marine Science.Preliminary results of surveys by Aims scientists in January show several reefs have not recovered from the back-to-back bleaching, although the agency said some reefs they surveyed were in good condition. Continue reading...

Residents of Raposa Serra do Sol are determined to face down the threat posed by mining“A united people will never be defeated!” shouted Maria Betânia Mota, as the indigenous assembly in a partially burned-out agricultural college began. Hundreds of voices roared back in approval.Betânia Mota is the women’s secretary of its organisers, the Indigenous Council of Roraima (CIR), which represents the majority of those living in the 1.7m hectares of savannah and scrub that make up the Raposa Serra do Sol reserve in Brazil’s northernmost state. Continue reading...

Emissions fell for sixth year running in 2018, but reductions margins have shrunkThe government has been warned against complacency on climate change action after figures showed a slowdown in the rate of Britain’s carbon emission cuts.Emissions dropped for the sixth year running in 2018, to 361m tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent, a level last seen in the late 19th century. Continue reading...

Some are calling climate change this generation’s civil rights movement. These are the young activists leading the charge

Of 265 US power plants that monitor groundwater, 242 report unsafe levels of at least one pollutant derived from coal ashAlmost every coal-fired power plant in the US is contaminating groundwater with unsafe levels of toxic pollution, according to the first comprehensive analysis of the consequences of coal ash waste disposal.Of the 265 US power plants that monitor groundwater, 242 have reported unsafe levels of at least one pollutant derived from coal ash, which is the remnants of coal after it is burned for energy. More than half such facilities report unsafe levels of arsenic, a carcinogen linked to multiple types of cancer, with 60% finding elevated lithium, which is associated with neurological damage. Continue reading...

Beached hoodwinker sunfish, which is two metres long, baffles locals on California beachA giant sunfish has washed up on a beach in California, the first time this particular species of the animal has been sighted in the northern hemisphere in 130 years.The sunfish measuring 2.05 metres (6ft 8 in) and weighing several hundred kilograms, or more than 600lb, was found on the beach of the Coal Oil Point Reserve in California. Continue reading...

Crisis networks report rise in number of farmers distressed by uncertainty over futureCharities have said British farmers are increasingly at risk of suicide owing in part to uncertainty over Brexit and the impact of bad weather.Distressed farmers have made dozens of calls to crisis networks and some have been placed on “suicide watch”, according to the National Farmers’ Union (NFU). Continue reading...

Fabio Schvartsman and other executives resign after claims firm knew dam was unstableThe boss of the Brazilian iron ore mining firm Vale has resigned, following growing public and political anger over the collapse of a dam in which at least 186 people died.Fabio Schvartsman and several other senior executives resigned on a “temporary” basis on Saturday after prosecutors recommended their dismissal. The move came after a leak of official documents suggested that Vale knew the dam was at a heightened risk of collapse. Continue reading...

Spill could damage Rennell Island, the world’s largest raised coral atoll and home to many species found nowhere elseAustralia is sending more help to the Pacific nation of the Solomon Islands to stop oil from a grounded cargo ship destroying a world heritage-listed marine sanctuary, Australia’s foreign minister said on Sunday.At least 75 tonnes of heavy fuel oil has spilled from Hong Kong-flagged bulk carrier Solomon Trader since Cyclone Oma drove it onto a reef at Rennell Island on 5 February. Continue reading...

The energy minister repeats PM’s line that emissions fell by 1% when the government’s own figures show the oppositeThe energy minister has again insisted Australia’s emissions are going down, when the government’s official figures show emissions continue to increase, as the government struggles to sell the latest incarnation of its energy policy.In an interview with the ABC program Insiders, Angus Taylor repeatedly stated emissions had decreased by 1% repeating the line first said by the prime minister, Scott Morrison, that Australia would meet its Paris commitments in “a canter”. Continue reading...

Major brands’ refusal to use sustainable materials is having a devastating impact on forests and climate, new report saysWe’re all becoming more aware about the damage single-use plastics and fast fashion has on the environment. Yet there is one product we all throw away every single day that, so far, has not been a major part of conversations about sustainability: toilet paper.Related: The new household rules: ditch your toilet brush and wash much, much more Continue reading...

A layer cake of waterfowl, a cheeky monkey and a much-loved baby giraffe Continue reading...

Exclusive: Students issue an open letter ahead of global day of action on 15 March, when young people are expected to strike across 50 nations• Read the climate strikers’ letterThe students striking from schools around the world to demand action on climate change have issued an uncompromising open letter stating: “We are going to change the fate of humanity, whether you like it or not.”The letter, published by the Guardian, says: “United we will rise on 15 March and many times after until we see climate justice. We demand the world’s decision makers take responsibility and solve this crisis. You have failed us in the past. [But] the youth of this world has started to move and we will not rest again.” Continue reading...

‘It’s honest dollars,’ says one canner, but it’s not easy work – canners plan meticulous routes and often work long hours“It’s good for the environment,” says Anthony Pemberton, arranging the recyclable empty bottles and cans in his shopping cart. “And I’m a conservationist. You do also get five cents per can, which is a motivator.” Continue reading...

There are somewhere between 4,000 and 8,000 people in the city who support themselves by picking up cans and bottlesOn a Saturday afternoon in early November, about 30 people are watching a documentary inside a shack in the heart of Bushwick, a post-industrial neighborhood in Brooklyn. They are all canners – people who make a living redeeming empty cans and bottles, five cents apiece. Although they all got up before the sun and have worked in the cold for hours, no one looks like they’re about to fall asleep. All eyes on the screen. The short film, streamed from YouTube and projected on a white sheet, is about a workers’ cooperative in Argentina.The screening was organized by Ana Martínez de Luco, a Catholic nun who says she prefers to work “under the sun, not the Vatican”, and calls herself a street nun. Continue reading...

Already we argue over whether to call them climate deniers, skeptics or doubters. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez might have hit on a more devastating attackIt’s a fantastic time for verbal abuse in American politics. Donald Trump loves a schoolyard nickname, insulting everyone from “Crazy Bernie” Sanders to “Little Marco” Rubio. In turn, the president’s opponents, and sometimes his allies, have called him a moron, a motherfucker and mocked his tiny hands.But is there a way of using name-calling, not just to insult, but to introduce a new political idea. It seemed like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was doing that this week when she used the term “climate delayer” to call out those dragging their feet on climate change. Continue reading...

Mining operations continue while more than 500 tonnes of fuel oil remain on board MV Solomon Trader, almost a month after it ran agroundThe environmental damage from an oil spill in the Solomon Islands has been worsened by a bauxite mining company’s continued loading operations near the site where a $30m bulk carrier went aground last month.The Solomon Islands government has sought urgent help from Australia to deal with the environmental disaster because of frustrations at the slow progress in dealing with the spill. Continue reading...

In a Guardian interview, Isha Clarke says she’s been inspired by student climate strikes in the UK and is planning one in the USIsha Clarke hasn’t been to school in five days – thanks to the Oakland teachers’ strike – but the 16-year-old is finding herself busier than ever.Clarke was one of several young people seen in a viral standoff with the California senator Dianne Feinstein over climate action. Despite criticism of the senator’s seemingly dismissive reaction, Clarke tells the Guardian the moment was “instrumental in moving the Green New Deal forward”. Continue reading...

A complaint from a non-partisan group accuses David Bernhardt of weakening protections for endangered fish to favor farmersSeveral years before becoming acting US interior secretary, David Bernhardt was a lobbyist for one of California’s largest water districts, where he sought to win more water for farmers, even if it came at the expense of imperiled fish that also needed it.But despite joining the interior department in 2017, a new complaint alleges, he has continued to pursue policies that favor his old clients. According to the non-partisan Campaign Legal Center, he has taken steps to weaken protections for endangered fish, such as the diminutive delta smelt, in California and make more irrigation water available for prominent agricultural interests in the state. Continue reading...

Floodwaters began receding Thursday after a rain-engorged river swamped thousands of homes and businessesFloodwaters turned two northern California wine country communities into islands reachable only by boat began on Wednesday, swamping thousands of homes and businesses. Continue reading...

Losses in North Sea are among the world’s biggest, according to US analysisFish catches have declined markedly and are likely to fall further, a study has found, with warming oceans to blame.Around the world, fish populations have fallen over the past 80 years, although some species have shown greater resilience than others. Overall, catches of commercially important fish have fallen by just over 4%, but in some regions catches have plunged by about a third since early in the last century. Continue reading...

Morrison government engages chief scientist to develop roadmap for potential $1.7bn export industryThe Morrison government will on Friday open public consultations on a national hydrogen strategy, after engaging Australia’s chief scientist to develop a roadmap with the cooperation of Canberra and the states.The Coalition’s move, which is part of a broader climate and energy policy reboot executed this week, follows a commitment from Labor in January to set aside $1bn in funding from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation for clean hydrogen development, and to invest up to $90m from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency for research, demonstration and pre-commercial deployment of hydrogen technologies. Continue reading...

Summer heatwave in UK and Europe brings increase in call-outs for pest controlSearing heat in the UK and across Europe last summer led to an increase in infestations of rats, wasps and flies, leading to a marked increased in call-outs for pest control business Rentokil Initial.The company, which has been catching rats since 1924, said the number of call-outs to deal with wasps doubled in the UK and Europe as temperatures soared in the summer of 2018. It also said fly control was up by a third in the UK and it dealt with 14% more rat problems. Continue reading...

Opponents say noise and pollution will be disastrous for wildlife and local residentsRichmond Park has been known for its rich wildlife and tranquil landscape for hundreds of years, but the controversial expansion of Heathrow airport will mean hundreds of aircraft flying at low altitude over the royal park, according to consultation documents issued by the airport.Maps of the new flight paths released as part of the consultation process for a third runway reveal the extent of proposed air traffic over the park, with some aircraft flying as low as 300 metres (1,000ft). Current flight paths to Heathrow are not routed directly over the park. Continue reading...

The water level in the Lake Berryessa reservoir, 75 miles north of San Francisco, has risen so much that, unusually, water is pouring into its overflow pipe, as can be seen in footage published by The Vacaville Reporter. The overflow, known as the Morning Glory Spillway, or simply the Glory Hole, drains water once the reservoir is over capacity and shoots it into a creek below the Monticello Dam.

New law will allow people of Toledo to act as legal guardians for Lake Erie, and polluters could be sued to pay for cleanup costsWhen they first started talking about doing something about the algae blooms in Lake Erie, which had made the once pristine water green and slimy and unhealthy from agricultural phosphorous runoff, people in Toledo, Ohio didn’t really know what to do. “Sometimes it was almost like all of us were at a funeral and we felt we had just seen the lake die,” said Tish O’Dell, a community organizer who specializes in environmental issues.Related: 'Moment of reckoning': US cities burn recyclables after China bans imports Continue reading...

Emissions for the year to September 2018 up 0.9% as Morrison government attempts a policy pivot on climateEmissions in Australia are continuing to rise, with the latest increases driven predominantly by an increase in liquefied natural gas production in Western Australia.Emissions for the year to September 2018 went up 0.9% on the previous year, according to the latest inventory, primarily due to a 19.7% increase in LNG exports, but there were also increases in stationary energy, transport, fugitives, industrial processes and waste sectors. Continue reading...

Planned Koukoutamba dam to be built in reserve established to protect chimps from miningUp to 1,500 chimpanzees could be killed by a new Chinese dam that will swamp a crucial sanctuary for the endangered primate in Guinea, experts have warned.The 294MW Koukoutamba dam will be built by Sinohydro, the world’s biggest hydroelectric power plant construction company, in the middle of a newly declared protected area called the Moyen-Bafing National park. Continue reading...

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...