Wastewater injection, a byproduct of fracking, is the likely culprit behind a surge of earthquakes in northern Texas – and residents want accountabilityAn earthquake, Cathy Wallace says, feels like “a rumble – it’s like thunder in the ground coming towards your house like a train and you can hear it and feel it comingâ€.Wallace is not based in California, or in any of the US’s well-known seismic hot-spots. She lives in north Texas, historically one of the country’s least earthquake-prone regions – until the drillers came. Continue reading...
by Gwyn Topham Transport correspondent on (#3CEHR)
Industry says government has created uncertainty over an eventual ban on diesel cars, with sales dropping 17% in 2017UK car sales declined in 2017 after five years of rapid growth, with the industry blaming government for a collapse in consumer confidence in diesel vehicles.Total sales for last year were 2.54m new vehicles, a decline of 5.6% on 2016, with diesel sales dropping 17%. Despite the decline, 2017 sales remained near the highest on record. Continue reading...
In UK 2.5bn disposable cups are thrown away each year, of which less than 0.25% are recycled, according to environmental audit committee reportMPs are calling for a 25p charge on takeaway coffee in a move that could see disposable cups banned in five years time.In the UK 2.5bn takeaway coffee cups are used and thrown away each year – enough to stretch around the world five-and-a-half-times. The UK produces 30,000 tonnes of coffee cup waste each year, according to a report published by MPs on the environmental audit committee on Friday. Continue reading...
Simon and Jasmine Dale spent six years building their home, which is now the subject of a crowdfunding appealAn eco-home labelled the “cheapest house ever built in the western hemisphere†on the Channel 4 programme Grand Designs, has been destroyed by a fire.The three-bedroomed house, which is based in the sustainable community of Lammas in rural Pembrokeshire, was featured on the TV programme in 2016 after its owners, Simon and Jasmine Dale, spent just £27,000 building it. Continue reading...
Study of 100 tropical reef locations finds time between bleaching events has shrunk and is too short for full recoveryRepeated large-scale coral bleaching events are the new normal thanks to global warming, a team of international scientists has found.In a study published in the journal Science, the researchers revealed a “dramatic shortening†of the time between bleaching events was “threatening the future existence of these iconic ecosystems and the livelihoods of many millions of peopleâ€. Continue reading...
Hydropower policy to be rethought in face of environmental concerns, indigenous sensitivities and public unease, says surprise government statementAfter swathes of forest clearance, millions of tonnes of concrete and decades of hydro-expansion, Brazil has raised hopes that it may finally step back from the construction of new mega-dams.In a surprise statement, a senior government official said hydropower policy needed to be rethought in the face of environmental concerns, indigenous sensitivities and public unease.
Quality and provenance must be the future of the British food industry, rather than lowering regulation or welfare standards, says environment secretaryThe future of the British food industry after Brexit must focus on quality and provenance rather than weakened regulation, environment secretary Michael Gove has said.“The future for British food is in quality and provenance and traceability and competing at the top of the value chain,†Gove told a packed auditorium at the Oxford Real Farming Conference. “And if we sign trade deals or lower our regulation or welfare standards in a way that means we’re no longer at the top of the value chain, then we undermine the growing strength of the very best of British food production.†Continue reading...
Claxton, Norfolk The front lawn has been contested territory between the humans who assume they own it and the tiny creature that truthfully has possession Continue reading...
by Damian Carrington Environment editor on (#3CBRB)
Gove will tell farmers that the current subsidy regime, which rewards land ownership, will be replaced by a scheme focused on supporting the environmentFarmers will get subsidies for turning fields back into wildflower meadows after Brexit, according to environment secretary Michael Gove.
Generous tax breaks and incentives like free city tolls and parking put country en route to meet electric-only vehicle market by 2025Electric or hybrid vehicles accounted for more than half of all new cars sold in Norway in 2017, official data shows, confirming the country’s pioneering role in carbon-free transport.
Safeswim site predicts and tracks the safety of waterways in real time amid concern about effluent overflowsA government website nicknamed the “poo tracker†in New Zealand has revealed the extent of sewage pollution on some of the country’s most popular beaches, with 16 spots closed long-term in the Auckland region due to water quality issues.The website Safeswim was launched in November last year and predicts and tracks the safety of Auckland waterways in real time. Continue reading...
With much of the country already struggling with sub-zero temperatures, a storm is building off the coast of Florida that could be about to make things worsePeople on the US east coast dealing with a winter storm that is set to deliver plunging temperatures, strong winds, blizzards and coastal flooding have been provided a suitably stark term for the experience – “bomb cycloneâ€.Related: The big freeze: Arctic chill spreads across much of US – in pictures Continue reading...
Sue Roaf writes that evacuation plans for Hinkley Point would have to involve at least a million people; while Diarmuid Foley says that, in the modern world, the route to weapons-grade material is not taken through the civilian nuclear fuel cycleJustin McCurry (Fukushima looms large as Japan plans to restart world’s biggest nuclear plant, 28 December) quotes critics of the proposed reopening of the 8.2GW Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in Japan, who say chaos would ensue if the plant failed and the 420,000 people who live within 20 miles of it had to be evacuated. But when the three Fukushima reactors failed on 11 March 2011, the radioactive plume spread over 40kms from the plant to the north-west, engulfing a large number of towns and villages. Everyone within 20kms of the plant was immediately evacuated. Iitate village, located 40kms away, and in the path of the toxic plume, was also evacuated. Many in the 20km zone may never return home but in the “return zone†villages they began to trickle back in early 2015. A 20-40km long radioactive plume issuing from the Hinkley nuclear facility could engulf both Cardiff (348,000 population) and Bristol (428,000 population), causing the evacuation of at least a million people from the region. The UK government is the only organisation brave enough to take on that level of catastrophic risk, with our money – happy to do so no doubt because the individuals who make the decisions on our behalf will be long retired when the cesium hits the fan.
The natural world does indeed carry on functioning, writes Margaret Porter, but it is struggling. Plus Andrew Dean says robins are as happy in an old paint tin as a nesting boxYour correspondent June Lewis (Letters, 29 December), having referred to Country diary, says that the country – by which I think she means the countryside and nature – is “carrying on happilyâ€. While the natural world does indeed carry on functioning regardless of politics (sometimes almost in spite of it), that world of nature struggles more than ever to maintain diversity of species with loss of habitat, environmental pollution, pesticides, climate change and human thoughtlessness. I mention just a few casualties: hedgehogs, butterflies, meadow flowers and some common birds, the numbers of all of which have declined over the last few generations in particular. Not a cause for rejoicing.
If you’re planning to cycle to work as part of a new year’s health kick here’s our tips to make sure you enjoy the ride rather than endure itCome the new year, it’s traditional for people to promise themselves that the next 12 months will be marked by a health kick, and this sometimes end up as a pledge to cycle to and from work.
As we begin 2018 we’d like to see your photos of the wildlife you’ve discovered where you liveWhat sort of wildlife will we all discover on our doorsteps this month? We’d like to see your photos of the January wildlife near you, whether you’re a novice spotter or have been out and about searching for wildlife for years.Share your photos and videos with us and we’ll feature our favourites on the Guardian site. We also occasionally print readers’ best images in the Guardian newspaper and will let you know if your image should feature.
Staff at Highland Wildlife Park in Scotland confirm the birth to mother Victoria but say the first three months of life for the new-born cub are perilousThe first polar bear cub to be born in Britain for 25 years is being cared for in a private den by its mother, Victoria, at the Highland Wildlife Park in Scotland.Staff at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) park confirmed the birth after hearing distinct high-pitched sounds from Victoria’s maternity unit, which remains closed to visitors to ensure privacy. Continue reading...
With 90% of Hull standing below the high-tide line, its devastating recent floods were a sign of things to come. Can the UK’s 2017 city of culture be retrofitted against disaster – or should its people think about moving on?Allan Fellowes had a rude awakening the day Hull flooded.“It was raining very heavily,†he says of the previous night. “I woke up the next morning and I was looking at the ceiling and there were refraction marks on it. I noticed that the couch I’d fallen asleep on was moving a bit unusually. And I actually fell into [the water]. Continue reading...
New research shows wildlife-friendly farming can quickly help bird populations bounce back, but large-scale rollout will be needed to reverse long-term declinesPlanting wildflowers and protecting nests on farms enables birds, from skylarks to starlings, to bounce back rapidly from long-term declines, new research shows.
Wenlock Edge, Shropshire The weathered waymark, like a fragment of a wooden henge, is an archive of local historyAt the top of steps into the railway cutting stands a wooden post. It is old and weathered and, when sunlight through trees catches it, a beautiful greenfinch blush of moss and algae. Continue reading...
Chain will now knock 50p off prices in bid to help change customers’ habits, with the UK discarding an estimated 2.5bn coffee cups every yearCustomers who bring reusable cups to Pret a Manger will be given a 50p discount on hot drinks after the company introduced the measure and said it was hoping to change people’s habits and reduce waste.The sandwich chain has been offering 25p discounts to customers using reusable cups since 2017, alongside Costa and Starbucks. CEO Clive Schlee said he hoped that doubling the discount would make a difference, following other initiatives to reduce waste such as not using plastic cup stoppers in inner city Pret shops. Continue reading...
Met Office issues amber weather warning as forecasters say 80mph gales mean lives could be at riskThousands of homes have been left without power as Storm Eleanor hit Britain with winds of up to 80mph.Forecasters warned lives could be at risk from flying debris as the fifth-named storm of the season arrived on Tuesday evening. An amber weather warning was issued for southern parts of Northern Ireland and northern England as well as southern fringes of Scotland overnight. Around 22,000 houses in Northern Ireland and scores more in England were affected by power cuts. Continue reading...
Plastic that would have been imported to China will cause chaos for councils as it mounts up, warn industry expertsA ban on imports of millions of tonnes of plastic waste by the Chinese government is already causing a build up of rubbish at recycling plants around the UK and will bring chaos for councils in the weeks ahead, according to industry experts.Simon Ellin, chief executive of the UK Recycling Association, said his members had already seen some lower grade plastics piling up at their yards and warned urgent action was needed. Continue reading...
Ryan Zinke has recommended three major marine monuments be reduced to allow greater commercial fishing, prompting anguish from environmental groupsThe Trump administration’s plan to shrink four land-based national monuments has provoked howls of anguish from environmental groups, Native American tribes and some businesses, such as the outdoors company Patagonia.
Climate scientists predicted the rapid rise in global surface temperatures that we’re now seeing2017 was the second-hottest year on record according to Nasa data, and was the hottest year without the short-term warming influence of an El Niño event: Continue reading...
Wildlife rescuers retrieve 43 eggs believed to be from of one of the world’s most venomous snakes from school’s sandpitIt’s a mystery as hard to grab hold of as the slippery serpents supposedly at its centre: were the 43 unidentified eggs found in a sandpit at a school on the New South Wales mid-north coast snakes, or something less sinister?Snake social media went into meltdown on Tuesday when reports emerged that wildlife rescuers had been called in to remove a dozen mystery eggs from a sandpit at a school near the coastal town of Laurieton, 350km north of Sydney. Continue reading...
Grassington, Upper Wharfedale The stark geometry of the bone-white boundary walls complements the outcrops and escarpments around Grass WoodThe weakest of the year’s sunlight falls on the barn-studded latticework of dry stone walls just outside Grassington. I stop to admire the skill they must have required: the Great Scar Limestone that underlies much of Upper Wharfedale comes from the fields in big, irregular chunks, too dense for a chipping hammer, and the resulting walls are completed puzzles that testify to the creativity of the builder. Continue reading...
Campaigners say they could enhance West Yorkshire’s health and economy by converting an old railway lineA campaign has accelerated to turn a disused railway line in Yorkshire into England’s longest cycle tunnel – instead of using £3m of public money to close it for ever.The 1.4 mile (2.3km) Queensbury line, which runs 377ft (115 metres) below a hill between Halifax and Keighley in West Yorkshire, was closed in 1956 as rail travel declined and private car ownership increased. Continue reading...
Turning turds into power is not new but most of this energy still goes to waste. A host of innovative projects aim to maximise poo’s full potentialA long winding road climbs into a gathering dusk, coming to an abrupt dead end in front of a house. Here, a solitary flickering flame casts out a warm glow, illuminating the nearby ridge line of the Malvern Hills.
by Mark Rice-Oxley, Richard Nelsson and Guardian corr on (#3C3XY)
British rail fares will rise again this year and Californians will be able to buy marijuana legally for recreational purposesSaudis and Emiratis will pay more tax, the Swiss will pay less, Brits will start taking more expensive train journeys and China will stop taking in the world’s rubbish.These are some of the changes that will take effect as the world ticks over into a new year. Continue reading...
Black Banks Plantation, Weardale, County Durham Maintenance of insulating plumage is vital for a bird whose survival depends on feeding underwaterIt was a morning of brittle beauty, the best kind of winter day. Last night’s magical transformation remained intact; rusty-brown bracken fronds fringed with frost crystals and ice-encrusted leaves that crunched underfoot. No hint of a thaw yet; the low elevation of the sun had left this side of the riverbank in deep shadow. The cold air stung our cheeks.In still pools beside the river, the 6mm-thick ice must have frozen gradually overnight, from the edges inwards as the water level dropped, creating concentric oval patterns with elegant art nouveau flourishes around their margins. In a few places, ice sheets remained suspended between the trunks of alders, creaking and groaning when the wind disturbed their branches. Continue reading...
Transport overtook power generation for climate-warming emissions in 2017 but the Trump administration is reversing curbs on auto industry pollutionSome of the most common avatars of climate change – hulking power stations and billowing smokestacks – may need a slight update. For the first time in more than 40 years, the largest source of greenhouse gas pollution in the US isn’t electricity production but transport – cars, trucks, planes, trains and shipping.Related: Fightback begins over Trump's 'illegal and irresponsible' clean power repeal Continue reading...
Then primary industries minister tried to renew 11 woodchip export licences against environment department’s adviceIn January 1995 the Keating government’s attempts to curtail logging in old growth forests ran into fierce opposition when timber trucks blockaded Parliament House, ringing the building for days.The government had established the regional forest policy in 1992, in a bid to balance environmental preservation with jobs in the timber industry. Its aim was to preserve high-value native old growth forests but allow logging in less valuable industries and to encourage value-adding, rather than just exporting raw woodchips. Continue reading...
Cabinet debated how to cling on to government’s ‘no regrets’ policy while maintaining Australia’s influence at international bargaining tableAustralia’s response to climate change and the challenge of meeting its international obligations proved as difficult for the Keating government in 1994 and 1995 as it would for future governments.Cabinet papers released by the Australian National Archives on Monday show that much of the debate in the Keating cabinet was about how to cling on to the government’s “no regrets†policy while maintaining Australia’s influence at the international bargaining table. Continue reading...
1 January 1918 It was from a food-hunting flock of tits, vigorously working from tree to tree, that a great tit detached itself with harsh cries of alarmThe birds are not sentimental; the death of the old year, the passing of time, does not worry them. They know that winter is a strenuous season, for food is hard to find and every beakful means a search; perhaps they feel at times that the days are lengthening and are stirred by the promise of better times, but beyond that the close of one year and the opening of the next have no meaning. It was from a food-hunting flock of tits, vigorously working from tree to tree, that a great tit detached itself with harsh cries of alarm. It came down from the upper twigs, dropping from bough to bough, until, still scolding, it was just above my head, and there, jerking its body from side to side, it made emphatic remarks in tit language. Mr. Hudson, in Birds and Man, tells how some Surrey goldcrests mobbed him because, he believed they mistook his tweed cap for a coiled-up cat. If this tit made a similar mistake it was surely short-sighted; I am rather inclined to the view that it had, even so early, felt the first vernal instincts that move the birds to seek mates and hunt for suitable nesting sites, and which later cause them to look upon intruders in the woods as possible enemies.Related: Goldcrest combs the gorse for slim pickings Continue reading...
Now that China and Hong Kong won’t take our rubbish, it’s time to get realRight now you may well be surveying the wreckage of Christmas, all that old wrapping paper. Whereas in previous years I’ve skipped through the issue of post-Christmas waste in an upbeat “how to†guide, this year’s advice might be summed up as “Brace, braceâ€.Let me explain. Back in July the Chinese government announced a clampdown on so-called “foreign garbageâ€. To get slightly more technical, that means bringing in very tight contamination limits on 24 categories of scrap, especially waste paper and plastic. This concerns us, because since 2012 the UK has shipped more than 2.7 million tonnes of plastic scrap to mainland China and Hong Kong. Put simply there is no other market to replace it right now. Continue reading...
As advances in gene editing, energy and AI gain momentum, Jim Al-Khalili predicts their impact on our futureMeteorologists can now reliably tell us if it is going to rain tomorrow, but wouldn’t dream of forecasting rain a year from now. Similarly, scientists find it much easier to predict what the world will look like in the next decade rather than in a century. This is because the technology of tomorrow relies on the science of today – it is only after we have understood a certain concept that we can think about how to put it to use. A famous example is Michael Faraday’s research into electricity and magnetism in the 1830s. It was only decades later that others saw how to use this new knowledge to build electric motors and power generators, inventions that transformed our world. Sometimes, of course, scientific discoveries lead to completely unforeseen applications – the internet is one such example.But what about 2018? Surely the world won’t look too different? All I can say for certain is there are three technologies we’re going hear much more about next year, even more than we have done this year. The first is the incredible opportunities opening up in medicine thanks to advances in gene editing. Just this year, we saw the development of techniques that allow for single molecules on DNA to be tweaked or replaced, with the potential to reverse genetic mutations responsible for a whole host of terrible conditions. Soon we will be able to remove, very precisely, a faulty gene responsible for diseased cells, and replace it with the “healthyâ€, correctly functioning version, thus treating genetic disorders, such as sickle cell anaemia, cystic fibrosis or Huntington’s disease. The flip side is that this advance opens up the insidious possibility of modifying the genome in an embryo (so-called germline editing) leading, potentially, to designer babies and genetically modified superhumans. Debate about the ethics of such techniques needs to be had, and quickly. Continue reading...
When Stephen Moss was a boy, the seasons followed predictable patternsWhen I was growing up, in the 1960s and 1970s, we had what my nan used to call “proper weatherâ€. Snow in winter, showers in spring, sun (or at least, sunny intervals) in summer and gales in autumn. Britain’s weather may have been changeable by the day, but the seasons were seemingly set in stone, with a reassuringly predictable regularity.That certainly suited the country’s fauna and flora. Wild animals and plants, and by extension their habitats, evolved to cope with short-term unpredictability and long-term stability. If change did occur, it happened slowly, over decades or centuries; rather than rapidly, in a single year. Continue reading...
Using biomass instead of fossil fuels may not be the answer to averting global warmingPolicies aimed at limiting climate change by boosting the burning of biomass contain critical flaws that could actually damage attempts to avert dangerous levels of global warming in the future. That is the stark view of one of Britain’s chief climate experts, Professor John Beddington, who has warned that relying on the cutting down and burning of trees as a replacement for the use of fossil fuels could rebound dangerously.Beddington, a former UK government chief scientific adviser, said there was now a real risk that increasing wood-burning in order to help European countries, including Britain, reach renewable energy targets could turn out to be misguided. “These policies may even lead to a situation whereby global emissions [of carbon dioxide] accelerate,†he states in a blog on Carbon Brief, the UK-based website that covers climate and energy issues. He says wind and solar projects should dominate programmes to boost renewable energy generation in Europe. Continue reading...
She broke the solo record for sailing round the world, but now she is dedicating her life to an even greater challenge – saving it from the destructive tide of plastic pollutionTrophies from her past glories as a competitive yachtswoman are placed discreetly around the 16th-century building on the Isle of Wight, the base of Dame Ellen MacArthur’soperations today.On a blackboard in one of the meeting rooms, the targets of a different passion are spelled out. From uncovering the scale of plastic pollution in the oceans to targeting the textile waste of the fashion industry, MacArthur, who in 2005 broke the solo record for sailing round the world, is dedicating her life to saving it. Continue reading...
From rosella pie to the ‘delicate’ flesh of baby emus, the 19th century ornithologist relished the taste of the creatures he so meticulously studiedOf all the changes to the study of ornithology in the past 200 years, the most striking, when reading John Gould’s seven-volume 1848 treatise The Birds of Australia, is the apparent lack of interest among modern scientists in what their subjects taste like.Gould left no such questions unanswered. The prototype of his beautifully illustrated guide, digitised and made available online by the State Library of New South Wales, contains many tips for the keen sportsman on how best to shoot each of the featured birds and, where Gould had opportunity to sample them, what they tasted like. Continue reading...
Pictures of overflowing bins and bags spilling out their contents shared online as Five Star Movement fails to tackle wasteMounds of uncollected rubbish have been piling up in Rome since Christmas Eve, with some residents setting them on fire in protest against a municipal administration that has failed to deliver on its promise to tackle the city’s waste.Scenes of overflowing bins and bags spilling out their contents have been shared on social media as collections by the public services firm, Ama, were disrupted by holidays and heavy downpours. Continue reading...
A rare golden monkey, Hawaiian green sea turtles and Malaysia’s last female Sumatran rhinoceros all feature in this week’s pick of images from the natural world Continue reading...
by Suganshi Ropia, as told to Sophie Zeldin-O'Neill on (#3BY04)
Suganshi Ropia says a piece she read after the signing of the Paris Climate Agreement helped her realise we shouldn’t wait to make our voices heardSuganshi Ropia, 21, is a law student from Pune, IndiaI try to keep in touch with news related to climate change, and am particularly interested in environmental law. My compulsion to do something positive about climate change was one of the reasons I decided to study law. When I read the opinion piece Civil disobedience is the only way left to fight climate change, by Kara Moses, in spring 2016, it crystallised my feelings about the responsibility we have as a community of humans to do more.
by Damian Carrington Environment editor on (#3BXN9)
Fungicides are found to be the strongest factor linked to steep bumblebee declines, surprising scientists and adding to the threats to vital pollinatorsCommon fungicides are the strongest factor linked to steep declines in bumblebees across the US, according to the first landscape-scale analysis.The surprising result has alarmed bee experts because fungicides are targeted at molds and mildews – not insects – but now appear to be a cause of major harm. How fungicides kill bees is now being studied, but is likely to be by making them more susceptible to the deadly nosema parasite or by exacerbating the toxicity of other pesticides. Continue reading...
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