Environment | The Guardian

Government bans the practice of plunging live lobsters into boiling water amid fears the animals can feel painThe Swiss government has ordered an end to the common culinary practice of throwing lobsters into boiling water while they are still alive, ruling that they must be knocked out before they are killed.

At least 17 people have been killed, with the death toll expected to rise, after heavy rains caused a violent mudslide exacerbated by recent wildfire damage

Mayor Bill de Blasio: ‘It’s up to the fossil fuel companies whose greed put us in this position to shoulder the cost of making New York safer and more resilient’New York City is seeking to lead the assault on both climate change and the Trump administration with a plan to divest $5bn from fossil fuels and sue the world’s most powerful oil companies over their contribution to dangerous global warming.Related: Hurricanes and heatwaves: stark signs of climate change 'new normal' Continue reading...

Ryan Zinke confirmed Florida would be exempt from massive offshore plan – which other states claim is simply a favor for Republican governor Rick ScottGovernors of coastal states have urged the Trump administration to scrap its plan to usher oil and gas drilling into almost all US waters, in an unusual bipartisan backlash against the surprise proposal itself – and the controversial twist that suddenly saw Florida, alone, excused from going along with it.Related: Trump administration won't allow oil drilling off Florida coast Continue reading...

State oil company starts second phase of drilling in one of the world’s most biodiverse hotspotsEcuador’s state oil company has begun drilling the first of 97 planned wells inside a new field of the Yasuní national park, one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots.The opening of the Tambococha-2 well has triggered fierce criticism from conservationists, who say President Lenín Moreno is backtracking on a promise to protect the Amazon and pay greater heed to the opinion of indigenous groups.

Lobby group aims to curb ‘misinformation from urban activists’ to show ‘potential of Australian minerals sector’The Minerals Council of Australia will continue hawking the benefits of coal-fired technologies, despite resources giant BHP threatening to pull out of the organisation over previous campaigns.The lobby group says it is hoping to counteract “misinformation from urban activists”.

Expansion expected of highly successful policy of charging 5p for each bag could be extended beyond large retailersThe 5p charge for plastic bags is expected to be applied to small shops under government plans to be unveiled by Theresa May this week as she seeks to tackle Britain’s “throwaway culture”.In a major speech on the environment, the prime minister will promise to hold consultations on removing an exemption that allows retailers with fewer than 250 employees to continue to give out free bags. The levy on supermarkets and other large retailers resulted in a 90% decline in use, with nine billion fewer plastic bags being used. Continue reading...

Wenlock Edge, Shropshire As twitchy birds forage along the hedges, an almost path through the fallen trees leads to an ominous discoveryThis is a searching time. Blackbirds examine the ivy berries like jewel thieves. Thrushes poke through the mown grass of the Gaskell recreation ground with all the attention of the forensics team brought in to investigate the Spar robbery last month. The birds are twitchy, fossicking close to the hedge lines in case of attacks by sparrowhawks. Rooks are watchful and jackdaws group-speak up and down from the trees where blue tits, long-tailed tits and great tits work the branches as if picking tiny locks. A nuthatch chisels into a hazelnut to crack its secret.After the snow, after the gales, after Storm Whatshername emerged from a murmuration of thrashing wings to press her lips to the window and blow through the glass like a kazoo, the woods are in disarray. A few big trees have bought it, but mostly it’s the damsons around the old squat lines, blackthorn along lanes and hazel in derelict coppice that cracked and twisted in the winds. Continue reading...

IEEFA report says China will dominate international investment in renewable technology over the next several decadesChina is moving towards becoming a global leader in renewable technology as the US pulls away, a new report has said.China is the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases and still invests in coal but in recent years it has become the largest investor in domestic renewable energy. The country is now on track to lead international investment in the sector, according to the report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). Continue reading...

In an abrupt reversal after announcing plans to expand offshore oil drilling, administration bows to opposition from Republican Florida governorThe Trump administration said Tuesday that it would not allow oil drilling off the coast of Florida, abruptly reversing course under pressure from the state’s Republican governor, Rick Scott.Interior secretary Ryan Zinke said after a brief meeting with Scott that drilling would be “off the table” when it comes to waters in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean off Florida. Continue reading...

The UK now has more offshore wind power capacity than any other country – but we need a plan B for ultra-cold winters with soaring energy demandsLast year was one of the greenest for power in the UK. Nearly one-third of all electricity came from renewable sources, and wind and solar provided more power than coal on 315 days of the year. Rapid growth in both solar and wind (the UK now has more offshore wind power capacity than any other country in the world) has enabled the UK to achieve these impressive statistics, but will the rise in renewables also make UK power more vulnerable to the whims of British weather?Researchers working on the European Climatic Energy Mixes project have been investigating future risk by assessing how the UK would fare with a repeat of the unusually cold winter of 2009-10. From mid-December 2009 a southward-displaced jet stream allowed cold air to pour in from eastern Europe, bringing widespread snow and plunging temperatures. The mean UK temperature for the entire winter was just 1.5C, the lowest since 1978-79 when it was 1.2C . As a result power demand surged, with electricity consumption between 10 and 20% above average on a number of occasions. Continue reading...

The rewards are uncertain and time limited. Massive investment in a short-lived fuel may not make business senseJust a few short years ago, fracking – the underground extraction of gas from rock – was to revolutionise Britain’s energy production as it has transformed it in the US. Under David Cameron and George Osborne, it was to produce the fuel that would build a bridge from the high-carbon past to the no-carbon future. Just 18 months after the two leading politicians of their generation quit the scene, fracking’s prospects are uncertain. Now companies are preparing for a make-or-break year. On Tuesday Cuadrilla won permission from West Sussex county council to test for oil at its site in Balcombe, where five years ago hundreds of local protesters saw off the company’s efforts to explore its potential. Cuadrilla may read this as a positive message, and insists it is not interested in fracking. But well-organised objectors do not believe the company, and it may be wise not count its chickens just yet.Another of the big four frackers, Ineos, has also aroused antagonism after a freedom of information request revealed at the weekend that while it had denied in public that it wanted to prospect for gas beneath the scientifically sensitive parts of Sherwood Forest, it has in fact now acquired permission to do just that. It has also announced a legal challenge to Scotland’s fracking ban. Meanwhile, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is imminently expected to approve fracking by the oil and gas company Third Energy at a site in North Yorkshire. It would be the first well to be fracked in the UK since 2011. It would also be a leap of faith. After the activism of the Cameron-Osborne years, Theresa May has shown no interest. She abolished the climate change department, and sounds more concerned about cheaper energy than cleaner energy; last October’s Clean Growth strategy failed to mention fracking at all. Yet Britain is committed to huge cuts in carbon emissions by 2030 – a 57% reduction on 1990 levels. The role for shale gas needs explaining. There is a chance that what might have been a useful stopgap on the road to zero-carbon energy is running out of road to secure a return on the large investments already made. Continue reading...

Readers respond to the government’s pledge of £5.7m towards the creation of a northern forest stretching from Liverpool to Hull, and to a report on agroforestryThe government’s tossing a few million towards a grand £500m “northern forest” (Government pledges £5.7m for northern forest, 8 January) is an example of the puny tokenism operating today, where acts of vandalism against our precious environment, such as HS2, can be so casually “offset”. HS2 is a folly, the stubborn imposition of a luxury fairground ride built over never-to-be-seen-again landscapes.Improve what we have, protect the things that are good around us, cancel HS2. And for sure, plant some more trees (and not just pine and spruce, please – we don’t want more Forestry Commission-style bland industrial forestry). There are thousands of acres of aristocratic grouse-shooting estates all over the North Pennines and North Yorkshire, where trees are not allowed because they spoil all the fun of the chase. Wonderful places to plant some new trees, if the Tories really are suddenly into tree-planting.

Charging point manufacturer’s CEO warns that UK power grid needs to handle expected 9m electric vehicles by 2030The UK should speed up preparations for the rise of electric vehicles, according to the chief executive of ABB, the world’s largest supplier of fast-charging points.Speaking as the Switzerland-based engineering firm became the first official sponsor of the electric street racing series Formula E, Ulrich Spiesshofer predicted a flood of consumer take-up of plug-in cars. Continue reading...

Approval by West Sussex council comes as another shale company plans a legal challenge against Scotland’s fracking ban

Exclusive: compliance committee considers complaint alleging government breached Aarhus convention by not consulting public over withdrawal billThe British government may have breached a major “environmental democracy” law by failing to consult the public when drawing up Brexit legislation.

More than 400 animals have died in one colony alone as temperatures soar above 47C, causing exhaustion and dehydrationA colony of flying foxes has been nearly wiped out by extreme heat in Campbelltown in south-west Sydney, according to environmentalists.The Help Save the Wildlife and Bushlands in Campbelltown campaign posted a series of images to Facebook showing the corpses of the animals lying in the ground, apparently after they had died from dehydration in the soaring temperatures. The group say more than 400 of the animals were lost, many of them juveniles. Continue reading...

We can’t accurately predict solar activity, and a quiet solar cycle would have a small impact on Earth’s climate anyway

Body of sailor from Sanchi found and 31 others missing amid fears of environmental catastrophe after crash with container shipBad weather has hindered efforts to contain a tanker fire and oil spill off the coast of China, as environmental groups warned of a potential catastrophe.The body of one sailor had been found and 31 others were missing after an Iranian-owned tanker collided with a container ship about 160 nautical miles east of Shanghai on Saturday evening. The Sanchi was carrying 136,000 tonnes of light crude oil or about 1m barrels. Continue reading...

The Natural History Museum has chosen 24 of the best images from its Wildlife photographer of the year competition shortlist. Members of the public can vote for their favourite by 5 February 2018

Waltham Brooks, West Sussex A burst of loud, profane whistles announce the presence of a Cetti’s warbler, darting through the rushes in search of foodThe early morning rain has lifted but there is still damp in the air. Konik ponies watch me between their mouthfuls of grass as I make my slow way through the dark, water-logged mud. The small, brown horses – descendants of the wild Tarpans that once roamed Europe – are a hardy, self-sufficient breed, perfectly adapted to grazing wetlands. They are used increasingly by conservation bodies in the UK, as here by the Sussex Wildlife Trust, to control young trees, shrubs and plants that would otherwise grow and dominate habitat like this. The ponies’ grazing clears channels and pools, opens up patches of grass, and creates new opportunities for diverse species of plants, insects, birds and animals to thrive.Related: Hoof hardy in the snow Continue reading...

Manufacturing ban means the tiny beads which harm marine life can no longer be used in cosmetics and personal care productsPlastic microbeads can no longer be used in cosmetics and personal care products in the UK, after a long-promised ban came into effect on Tuesday. The ban initially bars the manufacture of such products and a ban on sales will follow in July.Thousands of tonnes of plastic microbeads from products such as exfoliating face scrubs and toothpastes wash into the sea every year, where they harm wildlife and can ultimately be eaten by people. The UK government first pledged to ban plastic microbeads in September 2016, following a US ban in 2015. Continue reading...

Panels which lie under transparent concrete are dug up in what is believed to be a case of technology theftThieves in China have vandalised a newly opened solar highway, less than a week after the road was christened with much fanfare.

Study prompts calls for more energy-efficient hospitals and for doctors to use general anaesthetic alternatives to gasesAustralia’s healthcare system is contributing more than 7% of the nation’s carbon footprint, with hospitals and pharmaceutical companies forming the bulk of health-related emissions, an analysis led by the University of Sydney has found.The findings, published in the international medical journal the Lancet on Tuesday, have prompted the climate lobby group Doctors for the Environment Australia (DEA) to urge the federal government to fund states and territories to make hospitals more energy-efficient. Continue reading...

Despite costing up to $4.5bn, the feasibility study for ‘Australia’s biggest battery’ finds it would still be economically viable

The unexpected decision by the Republican-controlled body is a blow to the president’s high-profile mission to revive the struggling US coal industryAn independent energy agency on Monday rejected a Trump administration plan to bolster coal-fired and nuclear power plants with subsidies, dealing a blow to the president’s high-profile mission to revive the struggling coal industry.The decision by the Republican-controlled Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) was unexpected and comes amid repeated promises by Trump to rejuvenate coal as the nation’s top power source. The industry has been besieged by multiple bankruptcies and a steady loss of market share as natural gas and renewable energy have flourished. Continue reading...

Programme accused of being out of touch after China bans all trade in ivory and UK looks to tightening existing legislationThe BBC is considering whether to stop showing ivory on the Antiques Roadshow as the government looks to a total ban on the material’s sale in the UK.China has already outlawed all trade in ivory and the UK government is consulting on whether to follow suit as attempts to stop the poaching of elephants increase around the world. Continue reading...

Major hurricanes, wildfires, drought and tornadoes have led to highest ever damage costs, as expert says extremes have ‘climate change fingerprints on them’

Campaigners say it causes unnecessary suffering but those in favour of method say it is less damaging than trawlingGroups representing small-scale fishing fleets across Europe have called on the European Union to reinstate a ban on fishing using electrical pulses, which they say is a destructive method.However, others have called for the technique to continue, saying it causes less disturbance than methods such as trawling the bottom of the seabed. Continue reading...

Carlton Reid picks up burgers and pizzas, but he doesn’t eat them - he delivers them. In just a few months he has lost weight and saved cash for the Giro d’ItaliaThere’s a way to get healthy from fast food: the trick is to deliver it, not eat it. I’m 52, but am now fitter than I was at 22. As a gig-economy food delivery rider I’m getting paid to melt my middle-age spread. I started in November, but have lost 5kg. Although I only do a few evening hours per week, I have already banked enough cash to pay for a trip to see the Giro d’Italia in May.

Goblin Combe, Somerset This is one of those rare habitats where lime-hating and lime-loving plants suck together from the same earth, roots entangledThere is no doubt when you are on the carboniferous limestone. Crags jut out as if the rock is struggling to release itself from its turfy skin, shedding broken stones. Sheep’s fescue, rockrose, kidney vetch and many more lime-loving species form the distinctive close-knit grassland. The signature of this rock is written all over the hill.At Goblin Combe we cross the limestone turf, heading for my favourite slope. Melted frost has touched every leaf with diamonds and pin-cushioned the anthills with rainbow spangles. And then – so suddenly – wine-dark mounds of bell heather. Lime-hating heather, among all those lime-lovers! Continue reading...

8 January 1968 The fox was completely absorbed in its own affairs and very catlike in its stance, it stood motionless and its sharp nose pointed at a tuft of winter-pale grassKESWICK: The first week of the new year often brings strange weather as if it is undecided as to which season it belongs to and one milder morning lately, with soft clouds resting on the snowy fells, there was a smell of growing things in the air. It was an indefinable smell – not the flowering witch hazel, the swelling daphne, or even the balsam poplar whose buds, though furled, can send out sweetness. It was, rather, the exhalation of the earth itself and a promise of growth to come. There were a few wintry daisies in the grass but they are as scentless as snow.Related: 21st-century fox: how nature's favourite outsider seduced the suburbs Continue reading...

We used to worry more about acid rain than about climate change. It took years but the agreements made in the Gothenburg Protocol have made a differenceToday we focus our concern on climate change, but 40 years ago it was acid rain and forest die-back that dominated our air and environment debate. In 1977, a new measurement programme showed that the sulphur landing in Scandinavia was far greater than the countries were producing. Industrial coal burning and westerly winds meant that the UK was Europe’s largest exporter of sulphur air pollution. Moving power generation to the countryside and building tall chimneys had reduced local air pollution but did not prevent sulphur being transported over thousands of kilometres.This was at the height of the cold war. Warsaw Pact countries offered 30% reductions in their sulphur emissions and watched as the western allies were split. The UK was isolated and Canadian provinces were pitched against upwind industrial states in the US. Continue reading...

Allan Buckwell says British farmers are not ‘subsidised’, Jane Mardell and Richard Middleton fear that only the rich will be able to buy British-grown food, and Vanessa Griffiths and Kate Ashbrook see hope in public access to landPlease don’t use the word “subsidy” for payments to farmers who manage land for biodiversity and the ecosystem services it provides (Report, 3 January). A subsidy is generally considered a temporary assistance and often comes with an undertone that is negative and undeserved. There is now a large body of analysis and evidence to support paying for services that the market cannot supply. We don’t talk about subsidising nurses for health services, or teachers for educational services. So let’s pay for environmental services on a similar basis.It is good that Michael Gove is supportive of this approach, but there is no need to leave the EU to do it. With strong UK leadership, the common agricultural policy has been adapted for over 20 years to enable governments to pay farmers for environmental services, and to do this under their own locally devised schemes. The resources allocated for this purpose have been decided domestically, and we could have done much more of this had we chosen. Let’s hope Mr Gove now delivers on his rhetoric.

A blackbird would stand beside it, taking the worms and insects dislodged, recalls Sallie BedfordWe had a mole a few years ago that made 17 molehills on our back lawn in as many days (Country diary, 4 January). I watched from the kitchen window each morning as the new hill was being excavated, the earth moving with clumps falling away. A blackbird would stand beside it, watching carefully and taking the worms and insects dislodged – fascinating! This was another wild creature to add to our garden list of frogs, grass snakes, lizards, slowworms and so on and we loved having it, though I must confess to trying to catch it by standing over it when the earth was moving one day and grabbing at the soil, without success. How did it move so quickly? Instead of collecting the soil we raked it back into the grass and eventually the mole departed (to the flower beds) and the area returned to its meadow-like state.

Company got permission for seismic surveys in sensitive areas despite claiming it would exclude themOne of Britain’s top fracking firms has been accused of misleading the public over its intent to explore for shale gas in a protected area of ancient woodland in Sherwood Forest.Ineos, a UK-based petrochemicals firm, has said publicly it would exclude sensitive areas of the legendary home of Robin Hood from its seismic surveys. Continue reading...

An oil tanker has collided with a cargo ship off China's east coast, causing an oil spill and setting the tanker ablaze. China and South Korea have mounted a search-and-rescue operation to find the 32 people – 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis – reported missing

Plan to plant 50m trees along 120-mile stretch next to M62 will provide habitat for wildlife as well as help manage flood riskThe government has pledged £5.7m to kickstart the creation of a northern forest that will stretch from Liverpool to Hull.The plans, which are being led by the Woodland Trust, include the planting of 50m trees along a 120-mile stretch of land running next to the M62. The project is expected to cost £500m over 25 years, with more than £10m committed by the Woodland Trust and the remainder still to be raised. Continue reading...

China and South Korea mount search operation for crew of Iranian tanker spilling oil east of Shanghai after collision with Hong Kong freighterThirty-two people, mostly Iranians, were missing after an oil tanker collided with a cargo ship off China’s eastern coast, authorities said on Sunday.

Vast amounts are paid into Britain’s pensions schemes and, sadly, much of it still goes into supporting fossil fuelsI have great hopes for earth defending activism this year. And one of the most exciting opportunities involves pensions. Huh? OK, pension schemes and auto enrolment do not immediately shout “riveting”, but it is time to follow the money.The lion’s share of that giant pot flows in the direction of oil and gas companies Continue reading...

Consultation by the government shows huge public support for ending all salesEnvironmental campaigners believe that public pressure is finally about to force the environment secretary, Michael Gove, to introduce a blanket ban on the commercial trade in ivory in the UK.A consultation on what form a proposed ban should take has just closed, and the government says it will give its response soon. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which is overseeing the consultation, said there had been “a massive public response to the government’s proposed ban on ivory sales”. More than 60,000 responses were received, half of them coming in the week running up to Christmas, making it one of the biggest consultations in Defra’s history. Of the responses analysed so far, the overwhelming majority support a ban. Continue reading...

The UK has been slow to embrace agroforestry, fearing trees compete for valuable space and water. In fact they can increase crop diversity as well as profits, as two pioneering Cambridgeshire farmers have found“Most people round here think it’s pretty normal for the earth to just blow away,” says Lynn Briggs. “They seem to think it’s what happens and you just have to live with it. It’s even got a name – they call it fen blow.”But when Lynn and her husband Stephen moved on to their Cambridgeshire farm in 2012 they had some radical farming notions. Against all precedent, the Briggs planted rows of fruit trees at 21-metre gaps in their cereal fields to provide both windbreaks and alternate crops. “Our neighbours thought we were absolutely crazy,” says Stephen. His soil, however, began to stay put. Continue reading...

Morfa Bychan, Gwynedd A distant, writhing, black line resolves itself into a low-flying flock of scoter ducksAt the western end of Black Rock Sands, the beach where Roman Polanski filmed the battle scenes in his powerfully unsettling 1971 version of Macbeth, is a dark crag of ancient rock, trap-dyked, quartz-seamed, dripping. In it are the sea-caves that Robert Graves inhabited with the “Things never seen or heard or written about” of his poem Welsh Incident (1929). A dull winter’s afternoon intensified their gloom. The bright orange flash of a kingfisher whirred around sombre overhangs until it found shelter among deep shadow. I turned to face seawards.Related: Climate change is radically reshuffling UK bird species, report finds Continue reading...

Jenny Jones says the UK must respond proactively to news that China has banned imports of millions of tons of plastic wasteThis could be the year we start burning more of our waste than recycling it (China’s plastic waste ban ‘creates a crisis for UK local authorities’, 3 January). There are already three English regions where incineration (energy from waste) has become the most likely way for councils to dispose of our waste and the amount that we recycle has flatlined in all but one area of the UK. The exception to this is Wales, partly because they use the incineration ash to make concrete and count this as recycling. We need to urgently cut down on how much we use and build the recycling infrastructure to deal with the waste ourselves. We need regulation to ensure that what we use contains a minimum percentage of recycled materials, so that we can build up the market for such products. Most urgent of all is a charge on incineration to remove the perverse incentive for councils to burn, rather than recycle.

A year of unusually dry weather means parts of England are facing summer drought with groundwater and some reservoirs well below normalA year of dry weather, only slightly alleviated by recent storms, has left much of south-east England facing drought this summer.

The Oxford Farming Conference and its upstart sibling, the Oxford Real Farming Conference, seem poles apart. But faced with big changes, from Brexit to the future of meat itself, a united front may be the best optionIt’s a brisk five minute stroll up the high street to get from the Oxford Farming Conference to its upstart younger sibling the Oxford Real Farming Conference – but a much longer mental leap.Stately, careful and well-connected, the OFC has been going for 80 years. Sponsored by Big Agriculture businesses such as chemistry multinational BASF and farm machinery specialists Massey Ferguson, the cloakroom creaks with waxed cotton and quilted Barbours, while the audience is overwhelmingly male, white and upwards of 40. The great and good – royalty, government ministers, international politicians – come to speak to a polite, attentive audience; this is the thoughtful end of commercial British farming, brought together over bacon baps and craft beer. Continue reading...

Government unveils phase-out plan, with one of eight remaining power stations to stop generating electricity this yearOne of the UK’s eight remaining coal power stations is expected to cease generating electricity this year, the government has said as it laid out new rules that will force all the plants to close by 2025.The coal phase-out is one of the Conservative party’s flagship green policies, and the long-awaited implementation plan comes ahead of a speech by Theresa May on the environment next week. Continue reading...

Although the contamination rate has fallen from a half since a partial EU ban the insecticides remain in the farmed environment posing a serious risk to beesAlmost a quarter of British honey samples remain contaminated after a partial ban on neonicotinoid pesticides, new research has revealed.

On a busy Guildford high street reaction to the proposed ‘latte levy’ is mixed. While many welcome the move to change peoples’ habits, for some, already feeling the squeeze of a weak pound, the 25p hit is too highTurn any corner in the busy town centre of Guildford on a weekday morning, and someone is carrying a disposable cup bearing the logo of one of the major chains.

Global warming is predicted to push clouds higher in the sky. One scientist hopes to understand the future of our forests by suspending a vast fog-catching mesh in the Peruvian jungle