Environment | The Guardian

Exclusive: Claire Perry says level at which operations must be halted could be raisedRules designed to halt fracking operations if they trigger minor earthquakes could be relaxed as the shale industry begins to expand, the UK energy minister, Claire Perry, has said.A series of small tremors seven years ago prompted tough regulations that mean even very low levels of seismic activity now require companies to suspend fracking. Continue reading...

Threats to the rainforest and its people and an end to the Paris agreement are among the promises of Brazil’s presidential hopeful, reports Climate HomeNo more Paris agreement. No more ministry of environment. A paved highway cutting through the Amazon.Not only that. Indigenous territories opened to mining. Relaxed environmental law enforcement and licensing. International NGOs, such as Greenpeace and WWF, banned from the country. A strong alliance with the beef lobby. Continue reading...

Whale was freed but marine charity says proposed new laws would have made it illegal to highlight the distress of the animalExtraordinary photographs that revealed a baby humpback whale caught in a shark net on the Gold Coast could not have been taken under new laws proposed by the Queensland government, two environmental groups have said.The baby whale is seen entangled in the shark net in photos and video released by the Humane Society International and the Australian Marine Conservation Society on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Iron Ox, based in California, aims to improve labor shortages and pressure to produce crops by using AI and heavy machineryAmerica’s first autonomous robot farm launched last week, in the hopes that artificial intelligence (AI) can remake an industry facing a serious labor shortage and pressure to produce more crops.Claiming an ability to “grow 30 times more produce than traditional farms” on the strength of AI software, year-round, soilless hydroponic processes, and moving plants as they grow to efficiently use space, the San Carlos, California-based company Iron Ox aims to address some of the agricultural industry’s biggest challenges. Continue reading...

IPCC report ‘underestimates potential of these key dangers to send Earth into spiral of runaway climate change’

Coastguard expresses shock after decades-old piece of debris ends up on UK beachA plastic washing-up bottle that is at least 47 years old has been found washed up on a beach in the UK with its lettering and messaging still clear, prompting warnings about the enduring problem of plastic waste.The item, found by a coastguard warden at a beach in Somerset, “still looks almost new”, said the organisation. “We were staggered yesterday by how much debris has washed up on the beach,” wrote the Burnham Coastguard on Facebook. “It’s shocking how long … rubbish can survive and ultimately harm nature.” Continue reading...

Deputy PM Michael McCormack says policy will not change based on ‘some sort of report’The Australian government has rejected the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report’s call to phase out coal power by 2050, claiming renewable energy cannot replace baseload coal power.The deputy prime minister, Michael McCormack, said Australia should “absolutely” continue to use and exploit its coal reserves, despite the IPCC’s dire warnings the world has just 12 years to avoid climate change catastrophe. Continue reading...

Even half degree of extra warming will affect hundreds of millions of people, decimate corals and intensify heat extremes, report shows

IPCC authors suggest there is high agreement that injection of chemicals into stratosphere could help limit rises

2016 Kigali amendment on hydrofluorocarbons could reduce warming by a small but crucial 0.5CFrom the beginning of next year, a new global pact will take effect that could have a profound impact on climate change, cutting harmful greenhouse gas emissions by amounts that could help stave off some of the worst impacts predicted by the IPCC.This little-noticed treaty has nothing to do with the Paris accord, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations that have dragged on since 1992, or energy sector emissions, which have resumed their rise. Continue reading...

William Nordhaus and Paul Romer honoured over two of most ‘basic and pressing’ issuesTwo American economists at the forefront of work on climate change and the role of governments in boosting growth have been jointly awarded the prestigious Nobel Memorial prize for economics.The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said William Nordhaus and Paul Romer were being honoured for their research into two of the most “basic and pressing” economic issues of the age. Continue reading...

UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says coal-fired electricity must end by 2050 if we are to limit global warming rises to 1.5C

The UN’s climate change report shows every fraction of a degree matters but world governments now have the chance to deliver a safer futureThe new 1.5C report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a sophisticated intelligence briefing on the fate of our planet. Its message is relevant to every human being on Earth.Based on more than 6,000 scientific studies, the report was compiled by more than 80 of the world’s top climate scientists from nearly 40 countries, and calibrates 40,000 peer-review comments. It is a robust and outstanding example of international cooperation, and an extraordinary source of shared intelligence. Continue reading...

If we’re already doomed to disastrous climate change, then there’s no reason to cut carbon pollution, argues the Trump administration

Environment groups tell Senate inquiry there’s ‘massive and pervasive non-compliance with legislation’Australia’s environment laws have been “white-anted with loopholes” and non-compliance takes place on a “scandalously huge scale”, a Senate inquiry into threatened species has heard.The inquiry into the rate of faunal extinctions was established after a Guardian Australia investigation found that Australia’s 1,800 threatened plants, animals and ecological communities were poorly monitored and conservation efforts inadequately funded. Continue reading...

Queensland government move branded ‘another special deal’ for Carmichael mineThe Queensland government has quietly granted the Adani mining company a year-long extension to pay $18.5m for a water extraction licence, citing Carmichael coalmine “project timetable delays”.The extension was branded “another special deal” by environmental groups, who said the government had consistently defended granting water access to Adani in the middle of a drought by stating the company would be made to abide by strict conditions. Continue reading...

Distinct difference in amount of coral that would remain under two climate change scenarios

The world heating up by even 1.5C would have a brutal impact on future generationsThe authoritative new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change sets the world a clear target: we must reduce emissions of greenhouse gases to net zero by the middle of this century to have a reasonable chance of limiting global warming to 1.5C.Every government should read this report and recognise the clear choice we now have. Continue reading...

IEA head says growth in renewables needs to be paired with coal plant closuresCarbon emissions from the energy sector are on track to grow for the second year running, in a major blow to hopes the world might have turned the corner on tackling climate change.Preliminary analysis by the world’s energy watchdog shows the industry’s emissions have continued to rise in 2018, suggesting that an increase last year was not a one-off. Continue reading...

Five reports and an agreement: the IPCC has been raising the climate alarm for 30 yearsThe Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is set up by the UN and the World Meteorological Organisation, bringing together the world’s leading climate scientists to assess knowledge of climate change and provide scientific advice to policymakers. Continue reading...

PM says Australia won’t be providing more money to the global climate fundScott Morrison has resisted conservatives’ calls to withdraw Australia from the Paris climate agreement but ruled out providing more money to the global climate fund.The prime minister made the comments on 2GB Radio on Monday, before the release of a Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, which is expected to call for a phaseout of coal power generation to help limit temperature rises to 1.5C. Continue reading...

Plans to expand program are on hold as gag-inducing pong and vermin are holding back residents, foodies and hipsters from saving food scrapsIt was meant to be an ambitious environmental program but efforts at composting in New York are breaking down amid rats, roaches and rank smells.New Yorkers are relatively good at recycling but an “ick factor” is holding them back from saving food scraps for reprocessing, the authorities admitted. Continue reading...

Ancient woodland will be pieced back together as part of Europe-wide project that will give endangered species their habitats backOnly a few tattered scraps of woodland in the Cairngorms provide evidence that a vast forest once covered the Scottish Highlands and much of the rest of the nation. This vast arboreal canopy provided homes for wolves, lynx, elks and many other species.Land clearances for farming, and felling trees for timber, destroyed most of that habitat hundreds of years ago, leaving only a few disconnected fragments of land to provide shelter for dwindling numbers of animals. Continue reading...

Even as we argue about the controversial drilling, we risk overlooking the urgent need for new sources of energyWithin a few days, the UK shale industry’s long-delayed bid to frack for gas beneath the English countryside is set to begin in earnest. Cuadrilla, the company that is currently leading the charge to use fracking technology in Britain, has confirmed that it plans to start working on a well in Lancashire later this week. The response of anti-fracking protesters – some having already been given lengthy prison sentences for their protests against the company’s operations – can be expected to be intense, vociferous and prolonged. One local businessman has already filed an injunction to try to further delay drilling, though it is unclear how long this manoeuvre will slow down Cuadrilla’s plans.Opponents of fracking point out that Britain is committed to halting the combustion of all fossil fuels as a means of generating electricity by the 2030s. After that, we will have to rely on only carbon-free technologies, such as solar, wind and nuclear plants, in order to provide power for our homes and factories. So why, ask green protesters, are we creating a new industry that will only make it easier for us to obtain gas and oil? Why bring these fossil fuels to the surface now? Why not invest more in green technologies, such as tide and wave power? Continue reading...

Court victory halts utility firm RWE’s plan to raze Hambach woodland and expand an opencast mineThousands of anti-coal demonstrators descended on Germany’s Hambach forest on Saturday to celebrate an unexpected court victory that suspended an energy company’s planned razing of the woodland to expand a giant opencast mine.The ancient forest near Cologne has been occupied by activists for the past six years and has become a symbol of resistance against coal energy in Germany, a country that despite its green reputation remains heavily reliant on this dirty fossil fuel. Continue reading...

Pending a legal challenge, Cuadrilla will start work on a well this week – and answer key questions about the industry’s viabilityFracking is due to return to the UK this week, as the shale gas company Cuadrilla prepares to start operations at a well in Lancashire – provided it can see off a last-minute legal challenge.It will be the first horizontal shale well to be fracked in the UK. The drills have penetrated two kilometres deep and later this week Cuadrilla will pump in water, sand and chemicals at high pressure to fracture the rock and release the gas. Continue reading...

Supporters demonstrate against ‘outrage and scandal’ of three men’s imprisonmentHundreds of supporters of the three environmental activists who became the first people to be jailed for an anti-fracking protest have demonstrated outside the prison where they are being held after an appeal against their imprisonment was lodged.Protesters marched across Preston chanting “Free the three”, “Protest is not a crime”, and “We said no”, in reference to the local council’s decision to ban fracking in the county that was later overturned by Sajid Javid. Continue reading...

As a UN panel prepares a report on 1.5C global warming, researchers warn of the risks of ignoring ‘feedback’ effectsThis week, hundreds of scientists and government officials from more than 190 countries have been buzzing around a convention centre in the South Korean city of Incheon.They are trying to agree on the first official release of a report – the bit called the Summary for Policymakers – that pulls together all of what’s known about how the world might be affected once global warming gets to 1.5C. Continue reading...

Waste is split into four categories – infectious, sharp, anatomical and medical – and transportation rules are stringentThe Environment Agency has launched a criminal investigation into how a major NHS supplier failed to dispose of body parts, including amputated limbs and waste from cancer treatment. What rules must UK hospitals follow to remain within the law?What sort of waste comes out of hospitals? Continue reading...

Manufacturer to collect and repurpose packaging after campaign against firm’s wasteWalkers has agreed to offer a free national recycling scheme to stop millions of empty crisp packets ending up in landfill in the UK every year after consumers heaped pressure on it to change its plastic packaging.A social media campaign asking crisp manufacturers to make their packaging recyclable led to Royal Mail issuing a plea to members of the public last week to put empty crisp packets in an envelope before posting them back to the company. Continue reading...

Waste management firm is first choice to replace supplier that allowed body parts to pile upThe NHS is in talks with Mitie about the outsourcing company taking over the disposal of body parts and hazardous waste after the existing contractor allowed huge stockpiles to build up, triggering health concerns.NHS chiefs fear the current contractor Healthcare Environmental Services (HES) could collapse and are urgently trying to find a replacement firm to undertake some or all of the work done by the company. Continue reading...

A Malaysian sun bear, lion cubs and a fruit bat in flight are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world Continue reading...

Three activists were first people to receive jail terms for anti-fracking protests in UK

Paulatuk, Kugluktuk and Cambridge Bay were unable to receive shipments of food, fuel and lumberAuthorities in Canada’s Arctic north are scrambling to transport critical supplies to three isolated communities after the early arrival of sea ice prevented delivery barges from reaching in the region.Paulatuk, Kugluktuk and Cambridge Bay, which have a combined population of nearly 3,000 people, have been unable to receive shipments of food, fuel and lumber after ice moving from the high Arctic sealed off the Amundsen Gulf. Continue reading...

Two forthcoming major climate talks offer governments an opportunity to respond to this year’s extreme weather with decisive actionThe warning signals of climate change that have hit people around the world in the last few months must be heeded by national governments at key meetings later this year, political leaders and policy experts are urging, as the disruption from record-breaking weather continues in many regions.Extreme weather events have struck around the world – from the drought and record temperatures in northern Europe, to forest fires in the US, to heatwaves and drought in China, to an unusually strong monsoon that has devastated large areas of southern India. Continue reading...

The western US has long been characterized by balmy weather and fresh starts, but some are weary of the unhealthy air and worry about a water shortageMaricela Ruelas is a manager at a vineyard in Medford, Oregon. She trims, harvests – whatever needs doing. This year, she has done much of that work in a face mask.Wildfire smoke has plagued her and her fellow workers nearly continuously for “a couple of months”, she said through a translator, leading to pounding headaches. “It was horrible, horrible this year.” Continue reading...

Shale gas giant to restart controversial drilling after years of delays and protestsThe UK shale industry’s long-delayed fracking drive will begin again next week, after the leading company Cuadrilla confirmed it will start working on a well in Lancashire within days.The well at Preston New Road, between Blackpool and Preston, will be the first to be fracked in the UK since 2011, after years of hold-ups due to a moratorium, regulatory changes and planning battles. Continue reading...

Healthcare Environmental Services exceeded waste limits at five sites in EnglandA criminal investigation has been launched into how a major NHS supplier employed by dozens of hospital trusts retained body parts including amputated limbs and waste from cancer treatment.The Environment Agency said Healthcare Environmental Services (HES) had breached its permits at five sites in England that deal with clinical waste. Continue reading...

Organisers said the flood of votes traced back to Australia was ‘potentially someone’s idea of a joke’

New global policies such as carbon pricing are needed if we are to avoid an apocalyptic increase in temperatureWe are following a path that will ultimately take us to a 4C-warmer world. A hot state where it is unlikely that we can generate food, water and shelter for all citizens, where sea level rise will ultimately exceed 10 metres, and where social insecurity and widespread disease will very likely be universal.Along the way we will reach several critical tipping points. One such is at 2C – a scenario that may prompt the Earth system to shift from self-cooling by means of buffering emissions to self-warming, thereby putting us on a path to a “hothouse Earth”. At 3C we reach a point where extreme floods and droughts will force people to leave their homes; more powerful hurricanes will destroy urban infrastructure. Continue reading...

Beijing’s crackdown on foreign waste prompts redirection of US recycling to developing countries in south-east AsiaExports of plastic waste from the US to developing countries have surged following China’s crackdown on foreign waste imports, new research has shown.Nearly half of plastic waste exported from the US for recycling in the first six months of 2018 was shipped to Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam, according to analysis of US census bureau data by Unearthed, Greenpeace’s investigative arm. The previous year, the US sent more than 70% to China and Hong Kong. Continue reading...

Threat to major population centres is increasing as planners fail to prepare for impacts of global warming, report saysLondon, Jakarta, Shanghai and Houston and other global cities that are already sinking will become increasingly vulnerable to storms and flooding as a result of global warming, campaigners have warned ahead of a landmark new report on climate science.The threat to cities from sea level rises is increasing because city planners are failing to prepare, the charity Christian Aid said in the report. Some big cities are already subsiding – the ground beneath Shanghai, for instance, is being pressed down by the sheer weight of the buildings above – and rising sea levels resulting from global warming will make the effects worse. Continue reading...

Shetlanders with chronic and debilitating illnesses could be given ‘nature prescriptions’Doctors in Shetland are to start prescribing birdwatching, rambling and beach walks in the Atlantic winds to help treat chronic and debilitating illnesses for the first time.From Friday, doctors working in the 10 GP surgeries on the islands will be authorised by the archipelago’s health board, NHS Shetland, to issue “nature prescriptions” to patients to help treat mental illness, diabetes, heart disease, stress and other conditions. Continue reading...

Removal of annual $588 fee among measures proposed to cut red tape affecting deer huntersVictoria has proposed deregulating the taxidermied deer industry as part of a draft management strategy to control the increasing feral deer population.Deer are protected under Victorian wildlife laws along with other introduced species like pheasants and European quails and partridges, meaning they cannot be hunted without a licence. Continue reading...

80% say they would pay up to $10 per week for better servicesTwo-thirds of Australians believe their household recycling is sent to landfill and 72% said they would recycle more if they knew that their household waste was reliably recycled, a survey has found.But despite the desire for better recycling, the survey, released on Friday by the University of New South Wales, also found that only half of the respondents were prepared to pay more for better recycling services. Continue reading...

New car registrations drop 20% in September amid Brexit uncertainty, new testing rules, and diesel declineUK sales of new cars plunged by a fifth in September as new emissions tests caused delivery backlogs, while waning appetite for diesel cars and weaker consumer confidence weighed on demand.A total of 338,834 new cars were sold last month, according to figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), down 20.5% compared with the same month last year. Continue reading...

Schools could be closed for up to three weeks while non-deadly spiders are dealt withFour schools in east London have been closed because of infestations of false widow spiders.The creatures, which have a body length of between 8.5mm and 11mm and resemble the far more dangerous black widow, have been found at two primary and two secondary schools in Newham. Continue reading...

Some towns receive more rain in 24 hours than in the whole year combinedSome parched New South Wales towns have received more rain in 24 hours than they have all year but it’s not enough to break the drought that’s gripped the state for months.Western regions received significant falls on Wednesday night generated by a trough that was set to cross central NSW before moving into the Hunter Valley, the Bureau of Meteorology said. Continue reading...

National and conservation leaders say the annihilation of nature is a dangerous ‘blight on humanity’, ahead of major summit• Dominic Jermey: This corrupt, illegal war on wildlife makes losers of us allHumanity is waging a war of terror on wildlife across the globe, according to the head of a world-leading research institute who was previously a counter-terrorism expert for the UK government.Dominic Jermey, director general of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), also spent years in Afghanistan supporting the fight against terror, until leaving his post of UK ambassador in 2017. “Coming to ZSL, I have a front-row seat on a different kind of war: the war on wildlife,” he said in an article for the Guardian. “[It is] a war with catastrophic impacts on people and animals.” Continue reading...