Environment | The Guardian

Removing a thick fishing rope from a highly fertile whale’s jaw was a priority for scientists who fear the species may be in terminal declineA mission to disentangle a particularly important North Atlantic right whale from a thick rope wrapped around its jaw has proved a partial success, amid growing fears that the endangered species is approaching a terminal decline.The individual female whale, known as Kleenex, is considered one of the most productive North Atlantic right whales left in existence, having given birth to eight calves. Its condition has deteriorated, however, since it was spotted off the coast of Delaware in 2014 with a thick fishing rope wrapped around its head and upper jaw. Continue reading...

Taps in capital city of Maputo being turned off every other day as climate change exacerbates southern African droughtIn the township of Chamanculo, in Maputo, Mozambique, a network of household taps made the community water pump obsolete years ago, freeing residents from the daily burden of lugging massive jerrycans of water long distances.But a water crisis, partly caused by an ongoing drought affecting much of southern Africa, is already reversing progress in this coastal city. An emergency “orange alert”, declared last February by the country’s disaster management council after failed rains, has triggered such strict water rationing across the capital city that the taps are turned off every other day and irrigation is banned. Continue reading...

Decision on Tasmanian, NSW and Queensland woodlands’ on hold despite advice from expert committee• Sign up to receive the top stories in Australia every day at noon Farmers’ associations, the Tasmanian deputy premier and a Tasmanian Liberal senator lobbied the environment and energy minister, Josh Frydenberg, not to grant critically endangered status to woodlands eligible for protection under Australia’s national environment laws.In 2017 the independent threatened species scientific committee, which provides scientific advice to the government about conserving threatened species, recommended two new woodlands be listed as critically endangered ecological communities under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. Continue reading...

Arctic Dispatches, part 1: The past winter was the warmest on record in the Arctic, putting a lifestyle that has endured for millennia at risk: ‘The magnitude of change is utterly unprecedented’‘Amazing but also concerning’: weird wildlife ventures to northern AlaskaA few days before Christmas last year, Harry Brower, mayor of Alaska’s North Slope Borough, was at home when he heard a stunning noise – the sound of waves lapping at the shore.The sound was as wrenching and misplaced as hearing hailstones thud into the Sahara. Until fairly recently, the Arctic ocean regularly froze up hard up against the far north coast of Alaska by October. In 2017, it wasn’t until the final few days of the year that the ice encased the waves. Continue reading...

Marshwood Vale, Dorset: ‘Askers’, great crested newts, used to be common here but the number of suitable breeding pools has more than halvedIt’s the yellow that catches my eye. Bright egg-yolk splotched with black warts, glistening against wet asphalt. Long, striped toes. A forearm flung out, fingers drooping, thumb hanging down, elegant as a lady offering her hand for a kiss. A great crested newt, Triturus cristatus, squashed.The pattern of pulping suggests a big, ridged tyre, probably a tractor. The driver would never have seen it in the dark, perched up high on his plastic seat, roaring up the lane to feed the heifers, one last job before turning in. Continue reading...

Measures would demand ‘all reasonable measures’ are taken to ensure handlers are licensedPeople who have their rubbish dumped illegally could face fines of up to £400, even if they do not personally engage in fly-tipping, under proposals being considered by ministers.The measures are aimed at tackling people who charge householders to take away their rubbish and then dump it illegally. They build on existing powers to issue on-the-spot fines to save the hefty court costs often involved in pursuing offenders. Continue reading...

The government has pledged to review its long-term climate targets. Renewable energy, housing and and transport are just some areas where new policies could cut emissions fastMore wind farms, solar power and electric cars: these are likely to be the future of the UK, under government plans announced this week to seek a zero-carbon economy in the next 30 years.Some of the less obvious effects could be just as transformative, however, involving innovations such as smart houses and smart roads, widespread changes to the countryside wrought by new tree-planting and new farming practices designed to conserve soils. Continue reading...

A newly hatched turtle, a roaming peacock and egrets in China are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world Continue reading...

Supermarket clashes with Compassion in World Farming over award given in 2010Sainsbury’s has been accused of breaking promises on improving welfare conditions for chickens after it handed back a good practice award.The animal rights pressure group Compassion in World Farming said Sainsbury’s applied for the group’s “good chicken” award in 2010 and committed to upgrade within five years all its fresh own-label chicken to the RSPCA welfare mark, which involved giving birds more living space and light. Continue reading...

Former pro-cyclist Doug Petty has been bringing cyclists to the Balearic island for more than 50 years to ride the famous hairpin bends on its spectacular mountain roadsMallorca attracts more than 200,000 roadies a year. Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome are usually credited for popularising winter riding on this Spanish Balearic island, but it’s two others who really put the island on the cycling map, one of them quite literally.

The energy friendly agenda inside Trump’s interior department is revealed in records obtained by the Guardian and the watchdog groups Documented and the Western Values Project

The state’s glut of marijuana – over 1m lb of unsold pot – is in many ways the result of an industry still finding its feet

New installation at Somerset House in London lets visitors experience the air of some pollution hotspots – plus a pristine Norwegian islandNew Delhi: the suffocating smell of old cars and industry. São Paulo: enough ethanol to make your eyes water. And in London, a scent called Living Diesel.Those are the dominant notes of those cities’ contaminated air, according to an “artist’s approximation” that aims to raise awareness of the problem of pollution around the world. Continue reading...

Scientists discover ant species that fights enemies by detonating themselves, covering their foe in toxic gooWoe is the insect that crosses the path of the Colobopsis explodens ant.Scientists exploring the Borneo jungle have just discovered the species, which dwells in the trees, and they were most intrigued by the ant’s unique ability – to explode and shower toxic yellow goo on to its enemies. Continue reading...

Calls for state governments to invest in long-term recycling and sustainable waste solutions

Campaigners say $90m should be used instead to help Latrobe Valley transition away from brown coalA $90m fund set aside for failed “clean coal” projects in the Latrobe Valley should be spent on helping the region transition away from reliance on coal, Environment Victoria has said.The Victorian government said this week that the Advanced Lignite Demonstration Program (ALDP) would be shut down after its third and final project to find a low-emissions use for the valley’s enormous brown coal store was declared unsuccessful. Continue reading...

It’s not just Chris Packham who has helped birdwatching become mainstream, writes Jennifer M JonesIt was encouraging to read your item on birding becoming mainstream (Shortcuts, G2, 19 April). While Chris Packham and the ’watches teams have indeed contributed to this, please do not ascribe this emerging enthusiasm to just one source. Other TV naturalists, including Iolo Williams and Mike Dilger, have done much to encourage and enlighten young people about wildlife issues. Organisations such as the British Trust for Ornithology and RSPB provide excellent opportunities for youngsters to realise that birding can be fun. Local RSPB reserves and groups, Wildlife Trusts and talented individuals are also playing a part. We need these youngsters to care for the future and should be grateful to all those, often working hard behind the scenes, who are enabling this. Many an older birder will express gratitude to one enthusiastic mentor who set them on the road to a lifetime of birdwatching. Long may this continue and not just rely on charismatic TV presenters.

Supermarket chain’s new range includes spicy chilli buffalo worms and smoked cricketsDespite being a country that guards its culinary traditions more jealously than most - the recipe for the perfect tortilla proves enduringly divisive, and woe betide the anglosajón celebrity chef who dares pollute a paella with chorizo - Spain could be set to swell the ranks of the two billion people on the planet who regularly eat insects.Or so the supermarket giant Carrefour is hoping. Continue reading...

Electric vehicles’ share of new UK registrations rises to 2%, still falling far short of Norway’s 48%Sales of electric cars in the UK have risen 11% on last year, putting the country in the premier league of those ditching petrol and diesel engines, though it is still miles behind Norway and China.An analysis of the latest global sales of electric vehicles found that nearly half the vehicles registered in Norway in the first three months of 2018 were electric (48%), compared to just over a third (35%) during the same period in 2017. The vehicles are run almost exclusively off the nation’s hydropower resource, underlining Norway’s claim as the world leader. Continue reading...

Repairs to masonry damaged by intruder put Craignethan’s cellar tunnel out of bounds to publicParts of a Scottish castle remain closed to the public after a “very angry badger” took up residence. The cellar tunnel at Craignethan Castle, in South Lanarkshire, was initially closed last week after the animal arrived, and remains closed while the damage it caused is repaired.It is thought the animal had become lost, and staff tried to lure it out with cat food and honey.

The Drastic on Plastic initiative will target single-use plastics, including drinks and toiletry bottles, straws, food trays, cable ties and glitterMore than 60 independent British music festivals have committed to ban single-use plastic from their sites by 2021. The Drastic on Plastic initiative, led by the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF), will lead to the removal of plastic drinks bottles, plastic straws, glitter, plastic food trays, cable ties and toiletry bottles from festival sites.All 61 of AIF’s members have signed up to the pledge, including End of the Road, Bestival, Boardmasters and Kendal Calling. As an initial measure, participants will also support the Final Straw initiative to ban vendors from supplying plastic straws at their sites this year. Continue reading...

'Monster' is the largest reticulated python in captivity in Australia. Getting her on the the scales for a weigh-in required a number of handlers, and caution. In December she bit one of her handlers on the hand.

Researchers from South Australia’s Flinders University demonstrate how a polymer can act like a sponge to remove crude oil and diesel from seawater. The lead researcher, Dr Justin Chalker, says it has the potential to be a cheap and sustainable recovery tool in areas affected by oil spills. 'Our goal is for this to be used globally,' he says. 'It is inexpensive, and we have an eye for it to be used in parts of the world such as the Amazon Basin in Ecuador and the Niger Delta that don’t have access to solutions to oil spills.'• Researchers create super sponge that mops up oil spills Continue reading...

Consultation to start later this year as Theresa May continues drive against single-use plastic wasteCotton buds, plastic drinking straws and other single-use plastics could be banned from sale in England next year in the next phase of the campaign to try to halt the pollution of the world’s rivers and oceans.Theresa May hopes to use the announcement to encourage the Commonwealth heads of government to join the fight as the meeting opens formally on Thursday. “The Commonwealth is a unique organisation with a huge diversity of wildlife, and environments – so it is vital we act now,” the prime minister will say, urging all Commonwealth countries to participate.

Scientists have chronicled the 'mass mortality' of corals on the Great Barrier Reef, in a new report that says 30% of the reef’s corals died in a catastrophic nine-month marine heatwaveThe study, published in Nature and led by Prof Terry Hughes, the director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, examined the link between the level of heat exposure, subsequent coral bleaching and ultimately coral death Continue reading...

Campaign draws up eight principles to guide people who want to be healthier and reduce their environmental impactEating less meat has long been advocated for our health and that of the planet, but the choices we make within that advice can be just as important, according to a new report.Choosing lamb, for instance, means the animal is almost certain to have been grass-fed and free range, as sheep are not factory farmed in the same way as pigs or chickens. Meat from pasture-fed animals also tends to have higher levels of “good” fats, which are healthier. Continue reading...

As the country rushes to cut carbon emissions by 26%, campaigners worry that forests and wildlife are being trampledThe tens of thousands of solar panels resting on the surface of the Yamakura dam reservoir have finally begun to earn their keep.

Queensland council’s mayor, Andrew Antoniolli, says every other council will feel brunt of China’s recycling crackdown

Recovery plan for threatened Mary river turtle and other species drafted in 2013 but never approved

Research shows people with healthy diets rich in fruit and vegetables are the most wasteful and calls for better education for consumersAmericans waste about a pound of food per person each day, with people who have healthier diets rich in fruit and vegetables the most wasteful, research has found. Continue reading...

Report chronicles ‘mass mortality’, the extent and severity of which has shocked scientists

They may be duff at identifying birds and flowers, but some young people are at least showing an interest. So here are our tips for experiencing the best of British nature

‘Outrageous financial demands will have serious repercussions across the renewables sector’Labour has accused the government of holding back clean energy projects in the UK by allowing energy networks to impose “outrageous” charges on renewables developers.This week, two of the six companies that run the country’s local electricity grids began making green energy firms pay for an estimate of how much it will cost to connect their solar and windfarms. Continue reading...

Hundreds of geese spotted in grasslands around roads in east Netherlands, with some birds swooping into paths of vehiclesThe emergence of the Netherlands as the most popular place in Europe for geese has prompted an urgent call for Dutch drivers to watch out for hundreds of birds breeding on the grassy junctions and motorways verges.

Exclusive: Plans for a network of hydropower plants in three countries would cause ‘chain reaction’ for endangered species, report warnsNearly one in 10 of Europe’s fish species will be pushed to the brink of extinction by a constellation of hydropower plants planned in the western Balkans, new research has found.Eleven endemic species would be wiped out, seven more would be critically endangered, four types of sturgeon would be devastated and the number of endangered species would double to 24, according to the University of Graz report. Continue reading...

Two new island fish farms given the go-ahead in spite of Scottish parliamentary report warning of possible environmental impactsTwo new salmon farms are to be built off the Scottish island of Skye after receiving permission from the Highland council, despite opposition from residents over the possible environmental impacts and a lack of guarantees the farms will remain organic.The two sites on the north-east of the island are among the first to be approved since MSPs warned that the continued expansion of the industry could cause “irrecoverable damage” to the environment. Continue reading...

Authorities grant whalers a quota to hunt the endangered fin whale this summer after a two-year pauseIcelandic fishermen will resume their hunt for the endangered fin whale this year after a two-year pause and have set a target of 191 kills for the season.An apparent loosening of Japanese regulations on Icelandic exports had made the resumption of the hunting commercially viable again, the country’s only fin whaling company, Hvalur, announced. Continue reading...

At twice the size of a regulation basketball court, the enormous replica will be used to work out an ambitious water-diversion plan

As climate scientists predicted, glaciers are vanishing due to rapidly warming temperatures.

Some 79% of seafood range is sustainable, according to survey which shows supermarkets are selling more ‘blue label’ products than everThe discount grocer Aldi has been named the best British high street supermarket for sustainable fish, according to a new league table.Some 79% of the seafood range stocked by the fast-growing German discounter is certified sustainable, the annual survey from the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) found. This year’s results also show that supermarkets are selling more sustainable seafood than ever before – a 60% rise over the last two years. Continue reading...

Kaveh Madani had been seen as symbol of Rouhani government’s attempt to reverse brain drainA top Iranian environmental scientist wooed by Hassan Rouhani’s administration to return home from the UK has left Iran amid a crackdown on environmentalists and pressure from hardliners.Kaveh Madani had been persuaded to leave his position at Imperial College London last year to serve as the deputy head of Iran’s environment department.

UK’s largest coffee shop chain has pledged to recycle up to 500m cups a year by 2020 – a fifth of the total used in the countryThe UK’s largest coffee chain is to become the first to commit to recycling the same volume of takeaway cups used by its customers every year in a bid to stop hundreds of millions needlessly ending up in landfill.Costa Coffee has pledged to recycle up to 500m coffee cups a year by 2020 – the equivalent of its entire annual use of takeaway cups and one-fifth of the total 2.5bn takeaway coffee cups used in the UK each year. Continue reading...

The Indonesian national park boasts some of the world’s best dive sites and spectacular marine life, but illegal fishing and unsustainable tourism is threatening its Unesco statusIt was the unusual thrashing on the water that caught their attention. As those onboard the dive boat in Indonesia’s Komodo national park drew closer, it became clear it was a green turtle entangled in rubbish and thick fishing net.The divers managed to lift it out of the water, cut the blue bind from its shell and then set the turtle free, but dive operator Ed Statham says it is just one of the increasing and alarming signs the Unesco heritage site is fast being destroyed. Continue reading...

Party announces it will campaign for application to be made to Unesco in bid to stop drillingThe Greens have launched a campaign to give the Great Australian Bight world heritage protection – but such a move would need the government’s support.

Environmental and legal groups warn of potential huge effects on Indigenous people and the environment• Sign up to receive the top stories in Australia every day at noon The “new global gold rush” over deep-sea mining holds the same potential pitfalls as previous resource scrambles, with environmental and social impacts ignored and the rights of Indigenous people marginalised, a paper in the Harvard Law Review has warned.A framework for deep-sea mining – where polymetallic nodules or hydrothermal vents are mined by machine – was first articulated in the 1960s, on an idea that the seabed floor beyond national jurisdiction was a “common heritage of mankind”. Continue reading...

Data compiled from rubbish collected by volunteers aims to encourage industry to control plastic pollution at the sourceAustralians are battling against a tide of millions of pieces of discarded plastic debris at beach clean-up events all across the continent, according to two years of data analysed by Guardian Australia.Some 2,651,613 pieces of debris were collected from beaches and recorded in a database during 2016 and 2017, with about three-quarters of items made from plastics. Continue reading...

The 56,000 sq km reef is thought to contain dozens of undiscovered species, in an area where a French company intents to drill for oilScientists aboard a Greenpeace ship have discovered a massive and unique coral reef near the mouth of the Amazon, in an area where the French company Total intends to drill for oil.The 1,000km long and 56,000 sq km Amazon coral reef is a biome thought to contain dozens of undiscovered species that environmentalists say would be irreparably damaged if drilling for oil began – a vision at odds with the wish of oil companies hoping to explore the area’s vast estimated reserves. Continue reading...

Tucking in to less popular meats could help preserve those breeds, according to a farming charity. Here are six varieties it thinks might benefitWhen you think about Britain’s endangered animals, hedgehogs, small tortoiseshell butterflies and puffins may spring to mind. But rare breeds of farm animals and horses face extinction, too.The Rare Breed Survival Trust (RBST) published a list of endangered breeds this week. At a critical point are vaynol cattle, with only 12 breeding females remaining. The suffolk horse is similarly threatened, with 80 breeding females left. Many breeds of cow, sheep and pig make the list. The solution? According to the RBST, we should eat them. Continue reading...

Daniel Webb accrued a mountain of plastic – including many packets of Hula Hoops – and made it into a mural, now on display at Dreamland in Margate. We are overproducing and overconsuming, he says, and recycling is not the answerWe all know, in theory, that we ought to use less plastic. We’ve all been distressed by the sight of Blue Planet II’s hawksbill turtle entangled in a plastic sack, and felt chastened as we’ve totted up our weekly tally of disposable coffee cups. But still, UK annual plastic waste is now close to 5m tonnes, including enough single-use plastic to fill 1,000 Royal Albert Halls; the government’s planned elimination of “avoidable” plastic waste by 2042 seems a quite dazzling task. It was reported this week that scientists at the University of Portsmouth have accidentally developed a plastic-eating mutant enzyme, and while we wait to see if that will save us all, for one individual the realisation of just how much plastic we use has become an intensely personal matter.One early evening in mid-2016, Daniel Webb, 36, took a run along the coast near his home in Margate. “It was one of those evenings where the current had brought in lots of debris,” he recalls, because as Webb looked down at the beach from his route along the promenade he noticed a mass of seaweed, tangled with many pieces of plastic. “Old toys, probably 20 years old, bottles that must have been from overseas because they had all kinds of different languages on them, bread tags, which I don’t think had been used for years …” he says. “It was very nostalgic, almost archaeological. And it made me think, as a mid-30s guy, is any of my plastic out there? Had I once dropped a toy in a stream near Wolverhampton, where I’m from, and now it was out in the sea?” Continue reading...