Environment | The Guardian

News that governments are not meeting targets is alarming, but the actions of activists are a reason to hopeThe world is failing to combat the threat of climate change. Global carbon dioxide emissions from coal, oil and gas increased by 1.6% in 2017, after three years when they rose little or not at all. Demand for oil is increasing by around 1.5% a year. Last week one of the authors of a key United Nations climate report warned that governments are “nowhere near on track” to meeting their commitment, made in Paris three years ago, to avoid global warming of more than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.When it is unveiled next week, the report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will give a clearer idea of the probable consequences of this failure. One recent study suggested the impact of a temperature rise of 2C could be more severe than previously thought, and include sea level rises of six metres by 2100. The relationship between climate change and specific weather events is complex, but modelling suggests global warming made this summer’s European heatwave twice as likely. The increased frequency and severity of tropical storms fit with longstanding predictions that warmer oceans will bring more chaotic weather. Continue reading...

Ministers under pressure to fund new generation of small-scale nuclear power stationsBackers of mini nuclear power stations have asked for billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money to build their first UK projects, according to an official document.Advocates for small modular reactors (SMRs) argue they are more affordable and less risky than conventional large-scale nuclear plants, and therefore able to compete with the falling costs of windfarms and solar power. Continue reading...

Father asks why politicians are not acting on child health crisis caused by illegal toxin levelsFor David Smith, the final straw came as he was standing at the bus stop near his home in south London with his two-year-old son Ely.He had become increasingly aware of the damage pollution was doing to young people’s health since the birth of his two youngest children. And when the gridlocked traffic edged forward and a lorry pulled up a metre from Ely, something snapped. Continue reading...

Morrison says rate of increase not as high as previous years and renewables investment will ensure Australia meets commitmentAustralia’s greenhouse gas emissions have continued to rise, but Scott Morrison seized on the silver lining, maintaining Australia would meet its Paris commitment, despite the government having no legislated instrument to help it get there.Figures released on Friday showed Australia’s emissions increased 1.3% in the year to March 2018, up all sectors – except land use and electricity, where renewable technologies were having an impact on the latter. Continue reading...

A Danish ship has successfully completed a trial voyage through the Russian ArcticA Danish-flagged cargo ship has successfully passed through the Russian Arctic, in a trial voyage showing that melting sea ice could potentially open a new trade route from Europe to east Asia.The Venta Maersk made the journey as a one-off trial, said Palle Laursen, the chief technical officer of A.P. Moller-Maersk, the world’s biggest shipping group. Continue reading...

Young people face a long term ‘health crisis’ unless the government acts to clean up pollution, says children’s charityChildren in the UK are being denied their basic human right to breathe clean air and facing a long term “health crisis” because of the toxic fumes they breathe on their way to and from school, according to leading children’s charity Unicef.The organisation, which campaigns on children’s rights and wellbeing around the world, described the situation in the UK as “horrific” and has announced it is to make protecting youngsters from air pollution its priority across the country in the months ahead. Continue reading...

The thrill of a once-in-a-lifetime sighting mingles with a fear that this story may not end wellGrant Hazlehurst, a civil servant from Bromley, Kent has seen many whales. “Fin, sperm, Cuvier’s beaked, True’s beaked, sei, long-fin pilot …” most of them from his regular jaunts on a car ferry in the Bay of Biscay. “But I never thought I would see a beluga, not in the Thames,” he said. “So, I’m hoping.”So were the two dozen or so others who, on Friday morning, gathered on a windy shore near Gravesend, scanning foam-flecked waves in anticipation that, for a fourth day, the beluga whale that has somehow got lost in the Thames, would show itself. Continue reading...

A flock of house martins, red foxes and a Bengal tigress are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world Continue reading...

Conservation groups speak out as fears grow of Lake District being eyed as possible siteThe National Trust and 18 other conservation groups have urged ministers to rule out burying nuclear waste below national parks as fears grow that the Lake District is being eyed as a potential site.In January, the government restarted its attempt to find a community willing to host such a facility after a previous search collapsed five years ago. Ministers have refused to exclude national parks from the process. Continue reading...

Gardeners using methods like these to protect against gastropods are wasting their time, study showsEnvironmentally friendly gardeners who attempt to deter slugs and snails from devouring their vegetables with eggshells or copper tape are wasting their time, according to a study by the Royal Horticultural Society.Gastropods inflicted the same damage to lettuces protected with five natural methods – eggshells, copper tape, horticultural grit, pine bark mulch and wool pellets – as they did to lettuces left untreated. Continue reading...

Banned PCB chemicals are still severely harming the animals – but Arctic could be a refugeAt least half of the world’s killer whale populations are doomed to extinction due to toxic and persistent pollution of the oceans, according to a major new study.Although the poisonous chemicals, PCBs, have been banned for decades, they are still leaking into the seas. They become concentrated up the food chain; as a result, killer whales, the top predators, are the most contaminated animals on the planet. Worse, their fat-rich milk passes on very high doses to their newborn calves. Continue reading...

After receiving a custodial sentence, the three men promise they will win battle against frackingThree environmental activists jailed for their part in an anti-fracking protest have released a video message promising they will win the battle against fracking.The men became the first to receive a custodial sentence for environmental protests against shale gas extraction this week. Simon Roscoe Blevins, 26, and Richard Roberts, 36, were given 16 months in prison and Richard Loizou, 31, was sentenced to 15 months in jail on Wednesday after being convicted of causing a public nuisance by a jury at Preston crown court in August. Continue reading...

Residents face drastic price rises and being cut off from Irish Republic’s electricity supplies, documents showNorthern Ireland faces blackouts and drastic electricity price rises in the event of a no-deal Brexit, leaked government documents reveal.The country would likely be cut off from electricity supplies from the Republic of Ireland and unable to use its sole electricity link to the UK mainland, according to an internal briefing. Continue reading...

Erik Solheim, under pressure over frequent flying and rule-breaking, has also now recused himself over wife’s jobThe UN’s environment chief, under fire over huge travel expenses and rule-breaking, has been forced leave the UN general assembly in New York early and return to his Nairobi headquarters to deal with the growing crisis.The problems for Erik Solheim, Norwegian head of the UN Environment Programme (Unep), include the Netherlands becoming the latest nation to withhold millions of dollars in funding until the issues are resolved. Continue reading...

Washington man faces prison for role in years-long operation to poach and sell 250,000lb of poorly understood creatureA Seattle-area fish processor who hoped to cash in on China’s appetite for sea cucumber faces years in prison for his role in a $1.5m poaching scheme that rocked an already unstable fishery.Federal prosecutors claim Hoon Namkoong led a years-long operation to poach and sell sea cucumbers as regulators were cutting the struggling Washington state fishery. Dozens of divers are also implicated in the poaching ring. Namkoong bought at least 250,000lb of stolen sea cucumber taken illegally from waters once rich with the echinoderms. Continue reading...

Bus will clean up air pollution as it drives around the city, using a filtration system on the roofOne of the UK’s largest bus and rail operators has launched the country’s first air filtering bus in an effort to tackle air pollution.The Go-Ahead Group unveiled the Bluestar bus in Southampton on Thursday claiming that the new filtration system attached to the top of the vehicle will clean the air as it moves around the city. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Author of key UN climate report says limiting temperature rise would require enormous, immediate transformation in human activityThe world’s governments are “nowhere near on track” to meet their commitment to avoid global warming of more than 1.5C above the pre-industrial period, according to an author of a key UN report that will outline the dangers of breaching this limit.A massive, immediate transformation in the way the world’s population generates energy, uses transportation and grows food will be required to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5C and the forthcoming analysis is set to lay bare how remote this possibility is. Continue reading...

Report due to be published on Thursday warns of ‘folly of technological tribalism’Abandoning the UK’s ambitions for a number of new nuclear power stations would cause carbon emissions to spike and push up energy costs, according to lobbyists led by a former Conservative MP.The New Nuclear Watch Institute warned against what it called the “folly of technological tribalism” of pursuing a future powered by renewables and gas-fired power stations, rather than any new nuclear plants. Continue reading...

Three protesters given prison sentences for blocking Cuadrilla lorry convoyThree environmental activists are believed to be the first people to receive jail sentences for an anti-fracking protest in the UK.Simon Roscoe Blevins, 26, and Richard Roberts, 36, were given 16 months in prison and Richard Loizou, 31, got 15 months on Wednesday after being convicted of causing a public nuisance by a jury at Preston crown court in August. Another defendant, Julian Brock, 47, was given a 12-month suspended sentence after pleading guilty to the same offence. Continue reading...

This draconian clampdown on peaceful protest reeks of desperation from the fracking industry and the governmentFracking protesters have been sent to prison for the first time. It reeks of desperation from the industry and a clampdown on the right to protest. In 2013 I was arrested in Balcombe, West Sussex, for peacefully blockading a fracking site in solidarity with the local community. The charges against me were dropped, but today, for the first time ever, a judge sent three protesters to prison for doing the same thing in Lancashire.All charges relating to over 350 previous acts of non-violent direct action at Preston New Road since work started in January 2017 have led to fines or community service. But, as Cuadrilla prepares to start fracking within weeks, the police have pursued the most severe charge and sentencing possible. Continue reading...

Ecologists ask public to stay away as beluga is seen 25 miles east of London and 1,500 miles from its normal habitatExperts are monitoring a beluga whale in the Thames estuary for a second day as fears grow for its safety.The whale’s movements are being monitored by experts on a Port of London Authority patrol boat moored to a barge east of Gravesend. Continue reading...

Firm wants #PacketInWalkers campaigners to use envelopes instead of posting used packets with label attachedA social media campaign asking crisp manufacturers to make their packaging recyclable has led to Royal Mail issuing a plea to members of the public to put crisp packets in an envelope before posting them.The #PacketInWalkers campaign was launched on 21 September, asking people to use “a pen, paper, and some sellotape” to send used Walkers’ crisp packets back to the Leicester-based crisp manufacturer. The campaign page says: “It won’t cost a penny as we can use Walkers’ own Freepost address. Imagine the scenes in Walkers HQ when hundreds of packets are delivered each day.” Continue reading...

The River Thames has become a ‘wild west’ unbound by new laws to clean up the city’s roads, say campaignersA huge new cruise ship terminal planned for the river Thames would lead to a surge in dangerous levels of air pollution in the heart of the capital with unknown health consequences for hundreds of thousands of people, campaigners have warned.Under the proposals, which have been given planning permission, up to 55 giant cruise ships would dock in London every year. Each ship would need to run its diesel engines round the clock to power onboard facilities, generating the same amount of toxic NO2 emissions as almost 700 continuously running lorries. Continue reading...

Do you know how an ice sheet can move? You’ll find out below.In this warming world, some parts of the planet are warming much faster than others. The warming is causing large ice bodies to start to melt and move rapidly, in some cases sliding into the ocean.This movement is the topic of a very new scientific study that was just published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters. The Arctic is warming much faster than other parts of the planet and the ice there is showing the signs of rapid warming. This fact has serious consequences. First, melting ice can cause sea levels to rise and inundate coastal areas – it also makes storms like hurricanes and typhoons more destructive. Melting ice also causes a feedback loop, which can cause more future warming and then more ice loss. Continue reading...

Emails tabled in Senate inquiry recommended ‘trade-offs’ to Great Barrier Reef FoundationGreat Barrier Reef scientists were told they would need to make “trade-offs” to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, including focusing on projects that would look good for the government and encourage more corporate donations, emails tabled in the Senate reveal.The documents, including cabinet briefing notes, contain significant new details about the workings of the foundation and the government decision to award it a $443m grant, including: Continue reading...

Extra 259GW capacity from coal in pipeline despite Beijing’s restrictions on plantsChinese coal-fired power plants, thought to have been cancelled because of government edicts, are still being built and are threatening to “seriously undermine” global climate goals, researchers have warned.Satellite photos taken in 2018 of locations in China reveal cooling towers and new buildings that were not present a year earlier at plants that were meant to stop operations or be postponed by orders from Beijing. Continue reading...

A jury ruled the agrochemical company caused Dewayne Johnson’s cancer. He tells the Guardian he wants to use the victory to make a difference while he still canDewayne Johnson tries not to think about dying.Doctors have said the 46-year-old cancer patient could have months to live, but he doesn’t like to dwell on death. These days, he has an easy distraction – navigating the international attention on his life. Continue reading...

Discovery comes as zoo faces scrutiny after a meerkat was stolen, and later recoveredPolice in Western Australia have located a critically endangered tortoise that was stolen from Perth zoo seven years ago.The discovery comes as the zoo faces intense scrutiny of its security measures, after last week’s theft, and subsequent recovery, of a baby meerkat. Continue reading...

Product will be sold in 100% recyclable FSC-certified paper-based cartonsThe first mainstream fresh dairy brand to switch from plastic milk bottles to cartons goes on sale in UK supermarkets on Wednesday, in the latest drive to reduce the use of single-use plastics.With millions of plastic milk bottles disposed of daily in the UK, a2 Milk is switching to 100% recyclable paper-based cartons that use 80% less plastic than bottles and carry the Forest Stewardship Council label. That means they are made with pulp from FSC-certified forests and/or recycled sources. Continue reading...

In conference speech Labour leader to lay out plans to change direction of economyJeremy Corbyn will on Wednesday attack the “greed-is-good” capitalism that he claims has resulted in large swaths of the UK being left behind, promising a raft of new policies including a “green jobs revolution” that will create 400,000 new positions.The Labour leader will attempt to reset the theme of the Labour conference which has so far been dominated by deep divisions over its Brexit stance and return to his core argument about the failure of the broken economic system. Continue reading...

DUP leader claims deputy first minister at time was aware of concerns about energy schemeArlene Foster, the Democratic Unionist party leader, has claimed Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness knew of warnings about a botched green energy scheme that cost the taxpayer hundreds of millions of pounds.A public inquiry into the “cash for ash” scandal heard evidence from Foster on Tuesday that she had told the late deputy first minister about a note from a whistleblower that claimed people were abusing the system for financial gain. Continue reading...

Men who stopped lorries to become first campaigners to be jailed for a protest in UK since 1932Four anti-fracking activists face being the first environmental campaigners to be jailed for a protest in the UK since 1932.Simon Roscoe Blevins, 26, Richard Loizou, 31 and Richard Roberts, 36, were told by a judge to expect custodial sentences after being convicted of causing a public nuisance by a jury at Preston crown court in August. Another defendant, Julian Brock, 47, pleaded guilty so did not face trial. Continue reading...

Lawsuit argues that customers are being misled after tests found traces of glyphosate in bread productsTwo lawsuits have been filed against the sandwich company Pret a Manger in the US, claiming it deceptively labelled and marketed breads as “natural” when they contained glyphosate.The “false and misleading” practice suits come after it emerged that a teenager who was severely allergic to sesame died at London’s Heathrow airport in 2016, after eating an unlabelled Pret sandwich that contained the ingredient. Continue reading...

Two countries have frozen funding after a draft internal UN audit raised concerns over Erik Solheim’s frequent flying and expensesTwo countries have halted their funding to the UN Environment programme following sharp criticism of its leader’s frequent flying in a draft internal audit.The audit also said Erik Solheim, a former Norwegian environment minister, had “no regard for abiding by the set regulations and rules” and had claimed unjustified expenses. Now, Denmark and Sweden have frozen their funding until the audit is finalised. Continue reading...

Experts say animal may have been forced 1,000 miles south of its usual habitat by stormsA beluga whale has been sighted off Gravesend in the Thames estuary, more than 1,000 miles from its usual habitat in the Arctic.The ghostly white whale was videoed and photographed coming up for air on Tuesday lunchtime. Whale experts said the animal appeared lost but seemed to be swimming strongly. Continue reading...

Bulwark could protect against rising sea levels and 35,000 tonnes of first world war weaponry on seabedFor almost 100 years 35,000 tonnes of poison gas grenades, abandoned by the fleeing Germans around first world war battlefields, have lain in steel barrels on the seabed less than a kilometre from the Belgian coastline.A convoy of small boats dumped the cargo into the North Sea over a period of six months in 1919 when unloading it into the world’s oceans was thought to be the best way to protect people from exposure to the toxic material. Continue reading...

Experts warn emerging markets could suffer as crude prices hit four-year high of $82The global economy could be damaged if oil prices return to $100 (£76) a barrel, experts have warned, after crude prices hit a four-year high of $82.16.Some market watchers have predicted prices between $90 and $100 by the year’s end after Opec last weekend rebuffed Donald Trump’s demands for the oil cartel to rein in prices by expanding production. Continue reading...

Park lands have warmed twice as fast as the rest of the countryAmerica’s national parks have warmed twice as fast as the US average and could see some of the worst effects of climate change, according to a new study.Most of Joshua Tree national park could become uninhabitable for its eponymous trees, glaciers will continue to melt away at Glacier national park, and many other of America’s most treasured beauty spots could be rendered virtually unrecognizable by climate change, Patrick Gonzalez, the lead author of the study, writes in the journal Environmental Research Letters. Continue reading...

Residents of the transforming Brooklyn neighborhood, a peninsula surrounded by water, saw a grim look at its future on the city’s floodplain after Hurricane Sandy in 2012

Ruling cancels indefinitely a controversial sport hunt of grizzlies in Wyoming and IdahoIn a ruling hailed as historic for wildlife conservation in America, a US judge on Monday ordered that the world-famous grizzly bears living in and around Yellowstone national park be returned to the endangered species list.The move means that a controversial sport hunt of grizzlies in Wyoming and Idaho – outside the boundaries of the park – will be canceled indefinitely, extending protections against hunting that have lasted 44 years. Continue reading...

As people flee intense heat in Arizona for gentler climes, rental and property values soar. But what about those left behind?Only half-jokingly, some residents of a progressive city 300 miles north of the Mexican border have adopted the “build the wall” slogan in the face of a wave of newcomers. But these perceived interlopers are starkly different from Donald Trump’s imagination.They are American, mainly white and are fleeing the unlivable heat. Continue reading...

Submission to Senate inquiry urges reforms to ensure international obligations to protect biodiversity are metThe Law Council of Australia is concerned Australia’s system of environment laws was failing to meet international obligations to protect its biodiversity.In a submission to the Senate inquiry into the high rate of fauna extinctions, the council’s environment and planning law committee has called for reforms to reverse the decline in native species. Continue reading...

Roadmap outlines steps firms must take to reduce waste at every stage of supply chainLarge supermarkets and manufacturers are signing up to efforts to drive down the UK’s annual £20bn food waste bill by committing to halving waste from “farm to fork” by 2030.A roadmap being published on Tuesday by the government’s waste reduction body, Wrap, and the food and grocery charity IGD sets a series of milestones for businesses to reduce waste at every stage of the supply chain. The annual bill is equivalent to more than £300 per UK citizen. Continue reading...

Party committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to zero by middle of the centuryAlmost all of Britain’s homes and businesses would be powered by wind, solar and nuclear power by 2030, under bold new green energy plans being outlined by Labour.Rebecca Long-Bailey, the shadow business secretary, will declare on Tuesday that the party is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to zero by the middle of the century. The UK’s current goal is an 80% cut by 2050. Continue reading...

Glyphosate – the most used pesticide ever – damages the good bacteria in honeybee guts, making them more prone to deadly infectionsThe world’s most used weedkiller damages the beneficial bacteria in the guts of honeybees and makes them more prone to deadly infections, new research has found.Previous studies have shown that pesticides such as neonicotinoids cause harm to bees, whose pollination is vital to about three-quarters of all food crops. Glyphosate, manufactured by Monsanto, targets an enzyme only found in plants and bacteria. Continue reading...

Devon and Cornwall police warn activists as cull zone is massively expandedPolice have warned badger cull protesters that they may use drones to try to keep order in the far south-west of England following heightened tensions between activists and officers.In an email to protesters seen by the Guardian, a Devon and Cornwall officer said the force would consider using drones “where intelligence dictates”. Continue reading...

Unfortunately, mainstream climate scientists are still right, and we’re running out of time to avoid dangerous global warmingWe’re currently on pace to double the carbon dioxide-equivalent (including other greenhouse gases) in the atmosphere by around mid-century. Since the late 1800s scientists have been trying to answer the question, how much global warming will that cause?In 1979, top climate scientists led by Jule Charney published a report estimating that if we double the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from pre-industrial levels of 280 ppm to 560 ppm, temperatures will warm by 3 ± 1.5°C. Four decades later, ‘climate sensitivity’ estimates remain virtually unchanged, but some climate contrarians have argued that the number is at the low end of that range, around 2°C or less. Continue reading...

By the end of this century, sea level rises alone could displace 13m people. Many states will have to grapple with hordes of residents seeking dry ground. But, as one expert says, ‘No state is unaffected by this’After her house flooded for the third year in a row, Elizabeth Boineau was ready to flee. She packed her possessions into dozens of boxes, tried not to think of the mold and mildew-covered furniture and retreated to a second-floor condo that should be beyond the reach of pounding rains and swelling seas.Boineau is leaving behind a handsome, early 20th-century house in Charleston, South Carolina, the shutters painted in the city’s eponymous shade of deep green. Last year, after Hurricane Irma introduced 8in of water into a home Boineau was still patching up from the last flood, local authorities agreed this historic slice of Charleston could be torn down. Continue reading...