Environment | The Guardian

Speaking at a memorial to the victims of lynching, the former vice-president warned of the disproportionate impacts of global warmingAl Gore, the former US vice-president turned climate change advocate, has warned that the deepening crisis of global temperature and sea level rise – and the consequent spate of natural disasters in America – will increasingly affect black and poor people more than others.

Bluebell woods, two giant tortoises and a golden jackal are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world Continue reading...

Major study finds microplastics in soil across Switzerland and scientists warn urgent research is needed into impacts on food safety as other countries may be worse affectedMicroplastic pollution contaminates soil across Switzerland, even in remote mountains, new research reveals. The scientists said the problem could be worse in other nations with poorer waste management and that research was urgently needed to see if microplastics get into food.In the first major study of microplastics in soil, the researchers analysed soil samples from 29 river flood plains in nature reserves across Switzerland. They found microplastics, fragments under 5mm in size, in 90% of the soils. The scientists believe the particles are carried across the country by the wind. Continue reading...

The world’s most widely used insecticides will be banned from all fields within six months, to protect both wild and honeybees that are vital to crop pollinationThe European Union will ban the world’s most widely used insecticides from all fields due to the serious danger they pose to bees.The ban on neonicotinoids, approved by member nations on Friday, is expected to come into force by the end of 2018 and will mean they can only be used in closed greenhouses. Continue reading...

A scheme to rewild marshland east of Amsterdam has been savaged by an official report and sparked public protest after deer, horses and cattle died over the winterIt is known as the Dutch Serengeti, a bold project to rewild a vast tract of land east of Amsterdam. But a unique nature reserve where red deer, horses and cattle roam free on low-lying marsh reclaimed from the sea has been savaged by an official report after thousands of animals starved.In a blow to the rewilding vision of renowned ecologists, a special committee has criticised the authorities for allowing populations of large herbivores to rise unchecked at Oostvaardersplassen, causing trees to die and wild bird populations to decline. Continue reading...

The agreement was triggered by the Chinese ban on imported plastic waste but critics say it is too little too late

Demand in China and Korea has led to thousands of dudleya being stolen from California as officials lament ‘plant poaching’In China, they are prized for their chubby limbs and cute shapes. In Korea, they are a treasured hobby for housewives. But on the coastal cliffs of California, the dudleya succulent plants are vanishing, snatched up by international smugglers and shipped to an Asian middle-class market hungry for California native flora.California department of fish and wildlife wardens have made five busts this year, involving more than 3,500 stolen plants, evidence that the succulent, a symbol of American hipster style, has gone global to grievous effect. Continue reading...

Controversial plans for an open-pit gold mine have split the French overseas territory in South America. Opponents warn of pollution and biodiversity loss, while local officials point to its potential economic benefits. But ultimately the decision will be made thousands of miles across the AtlanticThrough the window of the small propeller plane leaving the capital Cayenne, the jungle’s canopy stretches out as far as the eye can see.

Abbeydale, South Yorkshire: Years ago, I stumbled across a large patch of the bone-white flowers. Could I find it again?When our children were young, we’d take them on voyages of exploration to an extensive patch near our home of what is sometimes called the unofficial countryside, and by unofficial I mean of course forbidden. Trespassing wasn’t mentioned, but children know when parents are being shifty. The subterfuge only added to their excitement, and having to ford a river to reach this lost Eden was very heaven. One April we stumbled across a large patch of wood anemones that hardly anyone would ever see, treasure that could never be moved. So when this past winter suddenly gave way to blazing sunshine, I wondered: could I find it again?Despite the sun, the moors were still heavy with rain, so the water flowed deep and fast. I threw my boots to the far bank and teetered across, immediately rewarded with a thick spread of ramsons, still fresh with dew. This is a plant almost designed to please children. It stinks and you can make up stories about the bears that grub for the bulbs, wild garlic’s Latin name being Allium ursinum. I stepped carefully, bathing in pungent draughts of scent, toes pushing into the warm earth. Continue reading...

Researchers analysed data from November quake and found main shock occurred near fracking siteOne of South Korea’s largest earthquakes on record may have been caused by hydraulic fracturing – or fracking – according to a study published on Friday in the journal Science.

Josh Frydenberg will seek agreement at meeting of environment ministers for a national stocktake of recycling• Sign up to receive the top stories from Guardian Australia every morningThe Turnbull government will ask the states to work towards a national fix on recycling in the wake of an import ban imposed by China on recycled waste, which has triggered a crisis in Australia.Environment ministers will meet on Friday to discuss practical responses to the Chinese ban, with the commonwealth seeking agreement from state counterparts for a national stocktake as the precursor to boosting domestic capacity to recycle. Continue reading...

Aerial footage supplied by the Lock the Gate Alliance shows the site of the former Ebenezer coalmine near Ipswich – which will remain a cratered landscape after the Queensland government accepted a rehabilitation plan from the site's current owner Continue reading...

EPA administrator blames media and his job’s learning curve as lawmakers grill him over lavish spending and ethical controversies

Site of former Ebenezer coalmine near Ipswich will remain a cratered landscape after authorities apparently lose key environmental documents• Sign up to receive the top stories from Guardian Australia every morningThe Queensland government accepted a “bare minimum” rehabilitation plan for a decommissioned coalmine near Ipswich after apparently losing key documents relating to the site’s environmental conditions.The site of the former Ebenezer mine will remain scarred by massive voids and a waste dam. Rather than fill them – a course of action demanded by environmentalists and local community groups – the owner wants to keep the cratered landscape in the hope of selling the site as a readymade garbage dump. Continue reading...

French president’s frank comments come after Congress address in which he stood up for policies his US counterpart has sought to destroyEmmanuel Macron conceded he had probably failed in his attempt during a three-day trip to Washington to persuade Donald Trump to stay in the Iran nuclear deal, describing US flip-flopping on international agreements as “insane”.The French president had hoped to convince Trump to continue to waive sanctions on Iran, as agreed by the 2015 nuclear deal, in which Iran agreed to accept strict curbs on its nuclear activities. Macron offered Trump the prospect of negotiations on a new complementary deal that would address Iranian missile development and Tehran’s military intervention in the Middle East. Continue reading...

We should account for the costs of disease and death from fossil fuel pollution in climate change policiesWhile the climate policy world is littered with numbers, three of them have dominated recent discourse: 2, 1000, and 66.

Sources within EPA tell Guardian that proposals are threadbare and muddled – ‘they’re are just making it up as they go along’Donald Trump has overseen an onslaught against environmental regulations while insisting, in the wake of the Flint lead crisis, that he would ensure “crystal-clean water” for Americans.The federal government says it is currently drawing up a new plan to tackle lead contamination, which the Environmental Protection Agency says will be unveiled in June. Continue reading...

Senators say Koch-linked figures are driving environmental policy, as résumés obtained by the Guardian and Documented show ties between staffers and networkDemocratic senators are demanding information about what they call the Koch brothers’ “infiltration” of the Trump administration, charging that Koch-linked personnel have secured key federal jobs and are determining US environmental and public health policy.The senators – including Sheldon Whitehouse, Edward Markey, Catherine Cortez Masto, Tom Udall, Ron Wyden and Elizabeth Warren – sent letters to eight government bodies and the White House requesting “information related to efforts by Charles and David Koch, Koch Industries, and the numerous groups they fund to influence decisions”. Continue reading...

Six conservationists have been recognised for their work with local communities to protect threatened wildlife and habitat around the world. The prestigious awards, known as the ‘green Oscars’, are made annually by the Whitley Fund for Nature, and provide winners with funding to scale up their projects Continue reading...

Analysis of a similar system in Norway shows no one will be out of pocket as long as bottles and cans are returnedRetailers will not suffer financial losses from the introduction of a plastic bottle deposit return scheme (DRS) in the UK, according to an analysis of a similar system in Norway.

Sandy, Bedfordshire: There was something terrible about this pike, so strong and adept in open air, breaking loose from its watery domain to display a row of jagged teethThe inflatable banana caught my eye again, drawing my attention from a stretch of riverside towpath that had been mined and undermined by rabbits, tunnelled by moles and pummelled into unevenness by the hooves of the Travellers’ horses that were long before left loose to run here.It was on that same walk the day before that I’d first seen the metre-long, primrose-yellow plastic banana lodged in bankside vegetation, as clean and bright as the moment it had been laughed down a weir or launched on the water to see how fast this bent canoe would go. Did they wonder if their joke would carry to the sea, the open ocean? Did they think the river a sink that would wash it down the plug hole? Had they even heard of microplastics? Continue reading...

The 86-year-old social scientist says accepting the impending end of most life on Earth might be the very thing needed to help us prolong it“We’re doomed,” says Mayer Hillman with such a beaming smile that it takes a moment for the words to sink in. “The outcome is death, and it’s the end of most life on the planet because we’re so dependent on the burning of fossil fuels. There are no means of reversing the process which is melting the polar ice caps. And very few appear to be prepared to say so.”Hillman, an 86-year-old social scientist and senior fellow emeritus of the Policy Studies Institute, does say so. His bleak forecast of the consequence of runaway climate change, he says without fanfare, is his “last will and testament”. His last intervention in public life. “I’m not going to write anymore because there’s nothing more that can be said,” he says when I first hear him speak to a stunned audience at the University of East Anglia late last year. Continue reading...

Record-breaking dive in Antarctic waters emerges after scientists accidentally tagged wrong emperor penguinsScientists in Antarctica have recorded the world’s longest penguin dive, an astounding 32.2 minutes under the water; a full five minutes longer than the previous record.Emperor penguins, which live only in Antartica, are the tallest and heaviest penguins in the world, and have the best diving ability. They can dive as much as 500 metres down in some of the world’s harshest and coldest seas. Continue reading...

But is it a genuine energy solution – or just a prop for the Carmichael mine?• Sign up to receive the top stories in Australia every day at noonGodda, in the Indian state of Jharkhand, is surrounded by the country’s most productive coalmines. It will soon also be home to the Adani group’s latest coal-fired power station, a plant built for the sole purpose of sending energy across the border to Bangladesh.

Critics say retailers can pick and choose whether to sign up to Plastics Pact, a series of pledges that have no enforcement mechanismUK supermarkets and food companies launched a new voluntary pledge to cut plastic packaging on Thursday as ministers consider forcing them to pay more towards collecting and recycling the waste they produce.In a first response to a growing public backlash against the huge volumes of plastic rubbish, most of the UK’s largest supermarkets signed up to support the UK Plastics Pact – an industry-wide initiative which says it aims to transform packaging and reduce avoidable plastic waste.

Mexico City police found 416 totoaba swim bladders, prized for their purported rejuvenating qualities, in passenger’s suitcasesMexican authorities have arrested a Chinese airline passenger after a strong smell emanating from his suitcases led to the discovery that he was transporting body parts from hundreds of endangered fish.Police at the Mexico City international airport “found 416 totoaba swim bladders in [the passenger’s] two suitcases,” the prosecutor general’s office said in a statement on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Those dedicated to going plastic-free wonder how to dispose of cat litter or buy cleaning products sans packaging. Share your problems – and solutions

Cross-party group asks auditor general to seek information about three 2017 purchasesA cross-party group of federal MPs has asked the auditor general to urgently investigate $180m spent on water buybacks last year, amid concerns about whether the government got value for money.The buybacks of water rights from three large properties as part of the Murray-Darling basin plan proceeded without tender, and took place while Barnaby Joyce was minister for agriculture. Continue reading...

Larger-than-expected population in Africa gives hope for species survival, scientists say, but animal remains critically endangeredThere are far more gorillas left in the world than previously thought, according to a landmark new survey, with numbers as much as double earlier estimates.However, their populations are continuing to fall fast, down 20% in just eight years, leaving them critically endangered. Furthermore, 80% of the remaining gorilla troops do not live in protected areas, leaving them vulnerable to the threats the researchers summarise as “guns, germs and [felled] trees”.

Low-lying atolls around the world will be overtaken by sea-level rises within a few decades, according to a new study

The centennial flame is a popular attraction in Ottawa, but it could be replaced with an ‘alternative sustainable approach’

Since 2014, Flint has received millions of dollars in aid, and the state of the water is improving – but residents are still left with physical ailments and lifelong fearsLeeAnne Walters was one of the activists who brought Flint’s brown, lead-laden water to the world’s attention, thrusting plastic bottles of dingy liquid into camera lenses and the national consciousness.Four years later, you might think things have improved in the Michigan city. But Walters is still bathing her kids in bottled water, which she heats on the stove in four separate pots and a plastic bowl in the microwave. Continue reading...

Over 600 NAS members called out ‘the Trump Administration’s denigration of scientific expertise’

Guardian investigation reveals $64bn fund includes investments in companies involved in bribery and major environmental damageThe United Nations is facing calls for a full review of its staff pension fund after the Guardian uncovered that it has around a billion dollars invested in companies whose activities are or have been incompatible with core UN principles and programmes.

Royal Dutch Shell wants to cut its own climate emissions in half by 2050 - a target wiped out by burning one month’s worth of their fossil fuelsIf you’re a millennial, the global oil and gas company Shell will have been most pleased if you’d seen one their #makethefuture music videos.Twice now Shell have lined up superstars including Jennifer Hudson, Pixie Lott and Yemi Alade to sing about solar panels, hydrogen cars, clean cooking stoves and lights powered by a bag of rocks and gravity. Continue reading...

Friends of the Earth says countryside would be industrialised with a new well fracked daily until 2035More than 6,000 shale gas wells would be needed to replace half the UK’s gas imports over a 15-year period, according to a new report.The nascent UK fracking industry has argued that growing reliance on gas from Norway and Qatar necessitates developing home-produced supplies in addition to North Sea output. Continue reading...

Exclusive: The prime minister says the UK leads the world on climate action, but Foreign Office officials dedicated to the issue have plunged since 2016The number of full-time officials dedicated to climate change in the Foreign Office has dropped by almost 25% in the two years since Boris Johnson became foreign secretary, according to data released under freedom of information (FoI) rules.

Wenlock Edge, Shropshire: Toads can control their skin tone and this soft yellowishness showed it was ready to ‘a-wooing go’“How could a purse / squeeze under the rickety door and sit, / full of satisfaction, in a man’s house?” wrote the poet Norman MacCaig in Toad. This toad, a soft yellow-brown and ornamentally purse-like, had come through the back door somehow and was squatting defiantly on quarry tiles. It was seeking asylum from an extraordinarily brilliant morning, unfamiliar heat and ultraviolet light that the weather forecast said was moderate but to toadskin was extreme radiation. It did not seem full of satisfaction to me but then Bufo bufo’s narrowing eyes with horizontal pupils and that broad enigmatic smile may be mistaken for smugness.The place in the toad’s head that myth says contains a jewel is hidden by an inscrutable mask that is somewhere between divine and reprobate. The bulging paratoid glands on its head, the warty skin excrescences that secrete toxins, and the sumo stance, all suggest repulsion but its soft yellowishness is the colour of fading daffs, with hints of celandine, primrose, agate and potting sand. Toads can control their skin tone and this was being dressed to “a-wooing go”. Continue reading...

Kenya’s ban comes with the world’s stiffest fines and some businesses are struggling to find affordable alternatives, but in Nairobi’s shanty towns the clean-up is changing livesWaterways are clearer, the food chain is less contaminated with plastic – and there are fewer “flying toilets”.A year after Kenya announced the world’s toughest ban on plastic bags, and eight months after it was introduced, the authorities are claiming victory – so much so that other east African nations Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda and South Sudan are considering following suit. Continue reading...

Spring is risky for mountain hares; to avoid predators, they have to time their change from white to brown carefullyBritain’s mountain hare Lepus timidus should presently be turning from white to grey-brown with a blue tinge as the breeding season starts. Spring is a dangerous time; the snow disappears and adults need to blend in to avoid hungry eagles or a fox.Unlike brown hares and rabbits the mountain hare is a true native species, but is increasingly threatened by climate change as it has to climb higher to find a suitable habitat. There are mountain hares as far south as Derbyshire and on the Pennine Hills, where they have been introduced, but their true home is in alpine Scotland. Continue reading...

We can take back control of our waters, writes Bertie Armstrong, while Steve Peak laments the Tories’ broken promisesWe agree with Polly Toynbee that fishing is “deep-dyed in the national identity” (Opinion, 23 April). The UK is in the middle of some of the best fishing grounds in the world. Where she is wrong is in making two assertions: firstly, that taking back control of our waters “is not going to happen, because it can’t”; and secondly, that the problem is that UK skippers sold their quotas to foreigners.On the first, actually it can. The United Nations convention on the law of the sea (UNCLOS) awards sovereign rights over and responsibilities for the natural resources to coastal states in their own exclusive economic zones. That will be us on Brexit, and there are a couple of pre-packed examples of the benefits in the EEZs of our near north-east Atlantic neighbours. Iceland catches 90% of the seafood resource in its EEZ and Norway some 85%. For us, under the rules in the common fisheries policy, we catch 40%, which is absurd. It certainly can change, and according to the prime minister and DexEU and Defra, it will change. It will be a negotiation, but if, as Polly says, the referendum was actually won on fishing sentiment, then public support will see the negotiations move in the right direction. Continue reading...

Renowned conservationist dedicated to saving orphaned elephants and releasing them back into the wildElephant babies like coconut oil. This discovery has saved the life of hundreds of orphaned, unweaned elephants, left behind when their mothers were killed, victims of the ivory wars that have catastrophically reduced elephant populations across Africa.The discovery came after two decades of efforts by the renowned conservationist Daphne Sheldrick, who has died aged 83. She devoted most of her life to rescuing young elephants and releasing them back into the wild. Continue reading...

Substances used to aid muscle-building and weight loss made up more than half of the pharmaceuticals found in the capital’s sewers. What does this tell us about modern life?Along with the flushed debris and the thriving bacteria – the wet wipes, condoms, and sanitary towels; the listeria and E coli – that have congealed within the giant fatbergs in the sewers under central London, are chemicals found in banned gym supplements. In fact, they were discovered in greater quantities than drugs such as cocaine and MDMA.In tonight’s Fatberg Autopsy: Secrets of the Sewers, on Channel 4, samples from a giant block were examined to see what it contained. Caused by people pouring cooking oil down the drain – which then congeals with items that should not be flushed, such as wet wipes – fatbergs are an increasing problem for water companies, particularly in urban areas. But the examination of fatbergs’ chemical content also provides a picture of the way we live. The scientists who did the analysis discovered numerous predictable substances, such as paracetamol, prescription medications and substances used in skin creams. But more surprising was the amount of hordenine and ostarine – described by the programme-makers as often being found in gym supplements, which made up more than half of the pharmaceuticals found. Continue reading...

Samples taken from five locations found concentrations of more than 12,000 microplastic particles per litre of sea iceScientists have found a record amount of plastic trapped in Arctic sea ice, raising concern about the impact on marine life and human health.Up to 12,000 pieces of microplastic particles were found per litre of sea ice in core samples taken from five regions on trips to the Arctic Ocean – as many as three times higher than levels in previous studies. Continue reading...

Bob Dudley faces criticism for calling for university to ‘come to its senses’ over divestmentBP’s chief executive has come under fire from campaigners after he urged Cambridge University not to drop its fossil fuel investments.Bob Dudley was greeted with laughter when he told an industry conference on Tuesday: “We donate and do lots of research at Cambridge so I hope they come to their senses on this.” Continue reading...

Demand lower following recent warm weather, making it easier for gas, renewables and nuclear to cover UK’s needsThe UK has been powered without coal for three days in a row, setting a new record and underlining the polluting fuel’s rapid decline.Coal has historically been at the cornerstone of the UK’s electricity mix, but last year saw the first 24-hour period that the the country ran without the fuel since the 19th century. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Taking back control of UK waters would lower the price of British-caught fish, new analysis shows – but most of the fish we eat is importedA hard Brexit that banned EU fishermen from UK waters would lead to many more fish being landed by British boats and a corresponding drop in prices, according to new economic analysis.But there’s a catch. Two-thirds of the fish UK consumers eat are imported from overseas, and the costs of those would rise, due to the trade barriers resulting from a hard Brexit. Moreover, the fall in the price of UK fish would lead to a drop in earnings for UK fishermen. Overall, the analysis shows closing the UK’s sea borders would be a “lose-lose situation” for both UK and EU consumers and fishing industries. Continue reading...

The global network of 85,000 members runs on goodwill and a ‘pay it forward’ philosophy, allowing riders to navigate the lonely and sometimes testing side of cycle touring and connect with kindred spiritsImagine you’re nearing the end of another long day in the saddle, partway through your latest cycling tour. Your panniers feel heavy and your tyres sticky as you drag your bike over the final climb of the day. You pull your map out and wrestle with the foreign characters on the paper, trying to match them with those on the road sign ahead. Continue reading...

Ferry Meadows, Peterborough: The sun is shining and tiny furrow bees join other species feeding on pollen and nectar

Soil erosion and water pollution caused by poor farming practices mean land could become too poor to sustain food crops by the end of the centuryEngland must invest £10m a year to ensure its soil is productive enough to continue to grow food by the end of the century, a new report warns. Continue reading...