Temperatures forecast to hit 40C as even prime minister Jacinda Ardern struggles to keep coolA week-long heatwave has floored New Zealand, breaking temperature records across the country and causing a nationwide shortage of fans.Temperatures have soared above 37C (98.6F) in parts of the South Island, with records broken in Dunedin, Wanaka, Christchurch and many other cities and towns. Continue reading...
Our new in-depth series focuses on the less-scrutinised threats to Australia’s natural places, and you can get involvedThreats to the Australian environment get reported in bursts – a contested development decision or a particular conservation campaign can thrust an issue into the headlines and on to the nightly news bulletins for weeks before a deal is crunched and a “solution†heralded.Related: 'The Franklin would be dammed today': Australia's shrinking environmental protections Continue reading...
The nation is losing the political will to protect our pristine places – and biodiversity is sufferingWhat if the Franklin river hadn’t been saved?Stopping the Gordon-below-Franklin dam was one of the Australian environment movement’s great victories: in the late 1970s, the state-owned Hydro-Electric Commission wanted to flood one of three last temperate rainforests in the southern hemisphere to create a power station. Continue reading...
Maggie Sutton calls on all sellers of loose fruit and veg to supply only paper bags, and Kate Lammin says Waitrose and Prince Charles’s Duchy brand aren’t helping, while Melanie Wood looks to the Guardian to set an exampleI do so agree with Joleah Lamb (‘It’s like gangrene’: disease soars as plastic fouls reef, 26 January) about the need for people to take direct action against plastic. I would love to do so and so would thousands like me, but the question is how when manufacturers and supermarkets are calling the shots? I will buy only loose fruit and vegetables to avoid packaging, but all supermarkets and some market stalls offer only plastic bags to wrap them. A very simple and immediate change that could be made, long before the introduction of biodegradable packaging becomes available, would for all sellers of loose fruit and vegetables to supply only paper bags from now. I for one will be buying my greengrocery at the first supermarket and market stall that does that, and I expect many feel the same way.
Experiments involved monkeys and humans breathing in exhaust fumes for hours at a timeVolkswagen, the world’s biggest carmaker, is under fire globally from politicians and environmentalists following revelations it helped to fund experiments in which monkeys and humans breathed in car fumes for hours at a time.Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, said there was an urgent need for the company to reveal the true extent of the experiments, which were commissioned by the European Research Group of Environment and Health in the Transport Sector (EUGT), a body funded by Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW. Continue reading...
We Americans can do better in the fight to protect our threatened heritage, writes Theodore Roosevelt IV, a descendant of the ‘conservation president’A truly noble idea – one deeply democratic in its inspiration and one that honors the human need to be in relationship to awe and majesty.America’s public lands. Continue reading...
Fossil fuel faces stiff competition from nuclear, renewables and European importsGas power plant operators will scoop millions of pounds in state subsidies in coming days to go on standby next winter, but the owner of the UK’s largest gas fleet has warned the fossil fuel faces an uncertain future as a cornerstone of UK energy.Auctions starting on Tuesday for contracts in the capacity market, the government’s insurance policy for ensuring reliable electricity supplies, are crucial to the survival of gas plants. Continue reading...
Amid dangers from the Trump administration and climate change, sites including the Grand Canyon and Zion national park are facing yet another threat: ‘massive disrepair’
Heritage Lottery grant will help document inscriptions and wildlife found in graveyardsThe first national database to record all the natural and manmade treasures of burial grounds, from the giant Victorian urban cemeteries to little country churchyards, is to be created with a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
In 2008 an archaeologist discovered crocodiles living in remote caves in Gabon. Now, genetics hint that these weird cave crocodilians may be in the process of evolving into a new species.
Get monthly email updates from our series covering the threat to America’s public landsAmerica’s public lands are under threat. Sign up for monthly updates from our two-year series, This Land is Your Land, as we cover the challenges facing national parks, forests, deserts, coral reefs and seamounts. We’ll send you the latest stories from the Guardian and our partner publications. Continue reading...
Anger is often the first response to a near miss on the road but there are better ways to hold drivers to accountNot long ago, while riding down Archway Road in north London, I confronted a truck driver who pulled out without warning. The road is a long steep hill where bikes and cars gather decent speed if traffic is minimal. I was riding at just over 20mph, but flowing with traffic in my lane and within the speed limit. When the truck pulled out only metres ahead, I only just had time to brake, narrowly avoiding a collision and fortunate that the cars behind had not piled into me.Adrenaline and anger flooded my system. I asked the driver why he made this dangerous move. He contemptuously said he did not see me and that I was going too fast anyway. This suggested a rational discussion was unlikely, and my anger rose. I swore at the driver, who responded by challenging me to fight in the middle of the road. I turned down his invitation; the prospect of carefully placing my bike to one side and trading blows in the middle of the street while cars behind beeped wasn’t tempting.
Borth, Ceredigion: Arrow-straight as a result of canalisation in the early 19th century, the river once had a meandering path into the open seaAs soon as I reached the top of the sea wall, I realised that I had badly misjudged the state of the tide. Instead of miles of firm sand, recently exposed by the retreating sea, I was faced with a jumble of storm waves breaking against the bank of stone cobbles at the back of the beach. My objective, the dunes of Ynyslas a couple of miles to the north, was temptingly visible through a shroud of misty salt spray – but, stumbling across the shifting, irregular stones, I made only slow progress. Cursing my cursory examination of the tide tables, I realised I had read the time for high water, rather than low.After I had walked for half an hour, the dunes looked as far away as ever and I began to consider alternatives. Looking east, beyond the ridge of stones and the Afon Leri, I could see the great flat expanse of Cors Fochno – a rare survival of raised peat bog, which forms a key part of the Unesco-recognised Dyfi biosphere. With a backdrop of steep, open hills, this diverse wild landscape is an important ecological resource, protected both by statute and its sheer inaccessibility. Continue reading...
City faces lengthy cleanup as water reaches 5.84 metres, just shy of levels seen in 2016The swollen Seine has peaked at more than four metres above its normal level, leaving a lengthy mop-up job for Parisians after days of rising waters.The river rose to 5.84 metres (19.2ft) early on Monday morning, causing problems for commuters as well as people living near its overflowing banks. Continue reading...
Devon and Cornwall force’s idea to ease the pressure of policing the cull was termed ‘appalling’A police force has been strongly criticised by animal rights campaigners after proposing the suspension of the law that protects badgers in areas where the government’s controversial cull has been taking place.Devon and Cornwall police suggested that decriminalising the taking of badgers in cull zones would ease pressure on resources, save the public money and could help stop the spread of bovine TB. Continue reading...
Two weeks after the launch of Brightline, a ‘green’ alternative, the project has been overtaken by controversiesIt launched to a fanfare two weeks ago: the first privately funded US express passenger railway in decades, a new start for long delayed plans, and a “green†alternative to Florida’s increasingly congested highways.
US president says he would consider signing a ‘completely different’ climate deal – while wrongly suggesting polar ice has not been recedingPresident Donald Trump would be willing to sign the US back up to the Paris climate accord, but only if the treaty undergoes major change, he has said in comments published on Sunday.
Co-op announces initiative to reduce Britain’s plastic wasteThe war on plastic waste is extending to the UK’s favourite beverage, with a major retailer in the final stages of developing a fully biodegradable paper teabag that does not contain plastic.The Co-op is to make its own-brand Fairtrade 99 teabags free of polypropylene, a sealant used industry wide to enable teabags to hold their shape, and the guilt-free brew is due to go on sale by the end of the year. Continue reading...
The Santa Ana refuge, home to migratory birds, butterflies and ocelots, could soon be dominated by a militarised barrierAs politicians in Washington quarrel over funding for border security, a protest rally is planned for Saturday at the Texas wildlife centre that is set to be one of the first locations of Donald Trump’s wall.This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Santa Ana national wildlife refuge, a 2,088-acre site by the Rio Grande river that is festooned with Spanish moss and a haven for migratory birds, butterflies and ocelots. But campaigners fear the sanctuary will be wrecked if the government builds a giant barrier through it. Continue reading...
Welburn, North Yorkshire: A spring from the lime-rich bedrock calcifies all in its path, from pine cones to snail shellsJanuary has wrapped itself so tight around the valley that there is no view today. Even the short sightlines in the woods are cloaked and murky. The mud on the main track is tedious, so I’m tempted by the firmer footing of a leafy badger path. It starts well but soon becomes steep and hostile, with bramble snares every few paces. The hulk of a dead birch gives way as I grasp it for support; muddied and disheartened, I try to cut back.I emerge instead in the swamp landscape of a dinosaur picture book, thick with dead horsetails banded bone-white and brown like okapi legs. A few more squelching steps and I reach what must be the source of the small spring we call the Trickle. Here, its early course runs white over a petrified woodland floor. Bathed in water sprung from the lime-rich bedrock, twigs, leaves, pine cones and needles are turning to stone. Continue reading...
Environment department says it will no longer consider changes that would provide greatest health benefitMoves to introduce stringent regulations for Australian fuels have been excluded from the government’s most recent consultation paper in favour of cheaper options that would result in more damage to the environment and public health.The Ministerial Forum on Vehicle Emissions is considering changes that would reduce emissions from motor vehicles, including regulations that would improve the fuel-efficiency of new cars and limits on pollution levels in fuel. Continue reading...
by Damian Carrington Environment editor on (#3EBK0)
A major study in Hong Kong shows the risk of death rises sharply on hazy days, when air pollution is much worseThe risk of death for people with mental and behavioural disorders rises sharply on days when air pollution reaches toxic peaks, a major study in Hong Kong has found.
Visitors to Paris Zoological Park evacuated as workers try to lure animals back to enclosuresThe Paris Zoological Park has been evacuated and closed after dozens of baboons escaped their enclosure.As zookeepers raced to round up the animals, armed police surrounded the popular attraction and sealed off nearby roads. Continue reading...
by Lauren Zanolli in Africatown, Alabama on (#3EAYQ)
In 1860 the last, illegal, shipment of slaves to the US landed in this part of Alabama. Now hundreds of the largely African American residents are suing an industrial plant claiming it released toxic chemicals linked to cancerFrom the front seat of his truck, Joe Womack points out the site where the Clotilda, the last known slave ship to enter the US, landed in 1860, 52 years after it outlawed the international slave trade.Related: A civil rights 'emergency': justice, clean air and water in the age of Trump Continue reading...
RSPB says successful breeding season and kind weather could see many species faring well in this year’s Big Garden BirdwatchBlue tits, great tits, greenfinches and chaffinches are set to bounce back into British gardens this winter after a successful breeding season and “relatively kind†conditions.More than half a million people are expected to spend an hour this weekend spotting birds and other wildlife in the 39th year of the Big Garden Birdwatch, the world’s biggest wildlife survey. Continue reading...
Glapthorn Cow Pastures, Northamptonshire: The naked winter wood seems vast and empty, silent but for the thick patter of melt dropsSnow, an inch or two, but a broken layer, mainly because the chill wind has plastered vertically. Swirling flurries fall still, but as the afternoon progresses, snow shifts into sleet, then freezing rain. A flock of 100 fieldfare hunt in an empty sheep pasture, scrutinising the half-buried sward for morsels of invertebrate food. Their backs dip and hunch above the snow as they tug and flick at detritus and vegetation. They do not look like good invertebrate-hunting conditions to me, but I hope these Scandinavian visitors are more adept than I and manage to fill their bellies. The fieldfare are accompanied by a single starling and an individual mistle thrush who, hopping erect through the snow and grass, appears to have adopted the role of lookout. Continue reading...
More than 100 scientists have urged the museum to sever its ties with Mercer, one of Donald Trump’s top donorsThe American Museum of Natural History is under pressure to sever its ties to Rebekah Mercer, one of Donald Trump’s top donors who has used her family’s fortune to fund groups that seek to undermine scientists’ work on climate change.More than 200 scientists have put their names to a letter that urges the museum to “end ties to anti-science propagandists and funders of climate science misinformation†and axe Mercer from its board of trustees, a position she has held since 2013. Continue reading...
by Damian Carrington Environment editor on (#3E97C)
A major new study estimates 11bn pieces of plastic contaminate vital reefs and result in infections: ‘It’s like getting gangrene,’ scientists warnBillions of pieces of plastic pollution are snagged on coral reefs, sending disease rates soaring, new research has revealed. The discovery compounds the damage being done to a vital habitat that already faces an existential threat from the warming caused by climate change.Scientists examined 125,000 corals across the Asia-Pacific region, home to half the world’s reefs, and found 89% of those fouled by plastic were suffering disease. On plastic-free reefs, only 4% of the corals were diseased. Continue reading...
Government is being sued for third time to act quickly on illegal levels of toxic airAir pollution will continue to take a heavy toll on people’s health for many years to come unless the UK government is forced once again to improve its action plan, the high court has been told.
Companies seeking exploration rights need to prove they can bear clean-up costs as business secretary tightens consent rulesFracking companies must undergo financial health checks if they want to win a green light for their operations, the business secretary has said, as the industry faces another barrier to exploration in the UK.The decision comes after a Barclays-backed company hoping to be the first to frack in the UK for seven years suffered a blow when the business secretary, Greg Clark, said he was withholding consent because of the state of its accounts. Continue reading...
Kettle’s Yard loan scheme | Plastic packaging | Books on shelves | Bayeux tapestry | Bell-ringingIt is true that we no longer lend out the Ben Nicholsons and Alfred Wallises that Harland Walshaw was lucky enough to choose from as a student (Letters, 24 January), but we do still invite students in to Kettle’s Yard to choose a work of art, which for a small deposit and a modest fee they can hang on their walls for the year. And there are some beautiful works to choose from. We do love to hear the stories from those who enjoyed Jim Ede’s generosity when he was still living here.
In the face of nuclear weapons and climate change, scientists moved the clock forward, putting much of the blame on the Trump administrationThe risk to global civilisation is as high today as it has ever been in the face of twin threats, nuclear weapons and climate change, a group of leading scientists has announced, putting a significant share of the blame on the Trump administration.
New search for communities willing to host underground site for thousands of yearsLocal communities around England, Wales and Northern Ireland will be offered £1m a year to volunteer to host an underground nuclear waste disposal facility for thousands of years, as part of a rebooted government programme.
by Rebecca Smithers Consumer affairs correspondent on (#3E7CG)
Free refill points and fountains will be set up in shops, cafes and high streets in every English town and cityConsumers will be encouraged to refill their water bottles free of charge in tens of thousands of shops, cafes, businesses and water fountains in England under plans announced by the water industry.The national scheme aims to fight the growing scourge of waste created by single-use plastic by preventing the use of tens of millions of plastic bottles every year, as well as increasing the availability of quality drinking water. Continue reading...
Sandy, Bedfordshire: At the tree’s base, an autopsy of its last seconds was written in splits, snaps, rips and a broken heartWhen the last storm whipped through our valley it brought down the tallest tree on the river. An old Lombardy poplar, a spire without a church, it belonged to an age when planting poplars was popular. They were the leylandii of their day, for they shot up as fast as rockets and looked like them too. They were often grown in rows as windbreaks, though nobody much thought about old age and the wind’s revenge.For a day or so after, my eyes clawed at the air, looking for the absent shape of a tower that had been a crow’s nest for a magpie, a labyrinth for tits, a cricked neck. I saw only a wooded ridge, some houses, and sky – so much sky that it snuffed out the memory. For a day or so only, passersby stopped to inspect the toppled giant, as they might view the corpse of a beached whale. Continue reading...
Part of the Louvre museum is closed as the river is forecast to reach 6.1 metres by Saturday – three times its normal heightParisians have been warned to stay away from the river Seine as it continues to rise, flooding surrounding roads and causing disruption to the city’s transport network.As water levels touched 5.2 metres on Wednesday, the capital’s authorities said the river was expected to reach 6.1 metres (20ft) by Saturday. Continue reading...
A new-build programme would create an intolerable burden on communities into the far future, writes Andrew Blowers; while Rose Heaney wonders why our abundant renewable energy sources are being overlookedIn 1976, Lord Flowers pronounced that there should be no further commitment to nuclear energy unless it could be demonstrated that long-lived highly radioactive wastes could be safely contained for the indefinite future. Ever since, efforts to find a suitable site for a geological disposal facility have been rejected by communities (Wanted: community willing to host a highly radioactive waste dump in their district, 22 January).There is, therefore, little evidence to support the government’s claim that “it is satisfied that effective arrangements will exist to manage and dispose of the waste that will be produced from new nuclear power stationsâ€. Deep disposal may be the eventual long-term solution but demonstrating a safety case, finding suitable geology and a willing community are tough challenges and likely to take a long time. The search for a disposal site diverts attention from the real solution for the foreseeable future, which is to ensure the safe and secure management of the unavoidable legacy wastes that have to be managed. It is perverse to compound the problem by a new-build programme that will result in vastly increased radioactivity from spent fuel and other highly radioactive wastes which will have to be stored indefinitely at vulnerable sites scattered around our coasts. Continue reading...
As sceptics fretted over price, range and lack of charging stations, Australia was overtaken by the rest of the world. Now policymakers are being urged to jumpstart the industryIn Elizabeth in South Australia, they stood in a huge line, only three months ago, and spelled out HOLDEN for the helicopters. Thirteen weeks later, after the plant closed and the last car rolled away, the talk began of rejuvenation, a new owner and the promise of the electric.The proposal, from the British billionaire Sanjeev Gupta, to refit the old Holden plant to make electric cars is still just a suggestion, but it has captured the imagination of a country suddenly keen to talk. On Monday, the idea was backed to the hilt by the premier, Jay Weatherill, and the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union. On Tuesday, the federal energy minister, Josh Frydenberg, said the electric car would do to Australia “what the iPhone did to the communications sectorâ€. Continue reading...
Glasgow to Edinburgh route among those affected as Met Office forecasts winds of up to 90mphThe Edinburgh to Glasgow railway line and five others in Scotland have been affected by landslides and flooding, leading to delays and cancellations.Landslides took place on Wednesday along two commuter lines, including the main route between Glasgow Queen Street and Edinburgh, plus Glasgow Central to Carlisle and the Newcastle line via Dumfries. Continue reading...