Environment | The Guardian

On Monday, we are expected to see the largest rollback of protections for public lands and waters in US history. This would be a grave mistake

Goods such as pasta, crisps and rice will be cut to 10p and sold for a further month at East of England Co-opA major retailer has become the first to start selling food that is past its “best before” date in a drive to reduce food waste.From this week, the East of England Co-op – the biggest independent retailer in East Anglia – will sell tinned goods and dried food such as pasta, crisps and rice for a nominal 10p once they reach their best-before date. The offer will not apply to fresh and perishable foods, however, which carry a “use by” date indicating when a product is safe to eat. Continue reading...

Proposals include new fountains and bottle-refill stations across the capital in parks and public squaresLondon’s mayor Sadiq Khan wants to roll out a new network of water fountains and bottle-refill stations across the capital to help reduce the use of single-use packaging, such as plastic water bottles, the Guardian has learned.The mayor also wants to experiment with getting businesses to make their tap water available to the public, building on a scheme launched two years ago in Bristol.

Comins Coch, Ceredigion A collection of old large-scale maps reveals how much the village has changed over the years – and how much remains unchangedThe package leaning against the front door was unexpected, and tightly wrapped against the pervasive drizzle. As the card inside explained, a friend clearing out an office had come across a set of long-unused maps and wondered if I had any use for them.Tired and frayed at the edges, these were Ordnance Survey maps of the village and the surrounding land at the impressive scale of 1:2500 (25 inches to the mile). The level of detail is astonishing, picking out the shape of gardens, how terraced houses were divided, and the precise location of springs and wells. Even better, the bundle contained two different editions, surveyed in 1885 and 1938, revealing subtle changes as the village slowly developed. Continue reading...

News could deal a blow to Carmichael coal project, which has so far been declined finance by 25 commercial banksAdani Group’s Carmichael coal project will not be financed by the China Construction Bank, according to a statement by a public relations firm that says it represents the bank.If true, the news could be a blow to Adani’s plans to build Australia’s largest coal mine. It has turned to China for finance, following difficulties in getting subsidies from the Australian government. Continue reading...

5 December 1967 CM Gadd was apparently the first person to realise how migrating birds are attracted to municipal sewage farmsCHESHIRE AND LANCASHIRE: I was sad to hear recently of the death of a Cheshire naturalist whose name is probably quite unknown to the great number of ornithologists who have profited from his energy and fieldcraft. I refer to the late CM Gadd who was apparently the first man to realise what a rich variety of migrating waders and other birds are attracted to municipal sewage-farms. It is from observations at these somewhat unpleasant places that much of our knowledge of overland migration has been derived. Gadd first visited the well-known Altrincham sewage-farm in 1916, found that it was attractive to birds and informed TA Coward. That famous ornithologist lived only four miles away from the farm but had never visited it, although subsequently, until his death in 1933, he went there repeatedly, as have innumerable bird-watchers after him.Related: Food and shelter at the sewage farm: Country diary 100 years ago Continue reading...

Chairman of the Countryside Commission who tried to bridge the gap between modern farming and conservationDerek Barber, Lord Barber of Tewkesbury, who has died aged 99, spent much of his long career in public life trying to bridge the gap between modern farming and the conservation of wildlife and landscape. He was chairman of the Countryside Commission from 1981 to 1991 and few people can claim to have left such an imprint on British rural life.His leadership was marked by numerous initiatives – Groundwork (now a national movement to encourage communities to improve their local environments), the National Forest (a new forested area in the Midlands), the reinvigoration of rights of way and the independent national parks – that have become established parts of the environmental scene in England and Wales. Continue reading...

Up to £100m expected to be announced in effort to make UK leader in technology and provide fresh source of clean powerMinisters are expected to back the first generation of small nuclear power stations in Britain with tens of millions of pounds this week, in an attempt to give the UK a competitive edge on the technology and provide a new source of clean power.Rolls-Royce and a host of US and Chinese companies have been lobbying and waiting for the support since George Osborne first promised them a share of £250m two years ago. Continue reading...

More than 300 pesticides are permitted in conventional agriculture, and some may combine in a harmful cocktail effect. So for your sake and the planet’s, go organicLeeks, potatoes and onions are not vegetables you’d usually associate with a soup that could harm you. However, recent UK government data on pesticides and mainstream crops shows that they could create a very concerning cocktail effect. The number of different active pesticide ingredients used on these crops has increased between six and 18 times since the 1960s. Toxicologists refer to a cocktail effect because while safety certificates are issued to individual pesticides, their cumulative effect is not tested.Toxicologists refer to a cocktail effect because pesticides' cumulative effect is not tested Continue reading...

Wangan and Jagalingou native title claimants seek to prevent Carmichael Indigenous land deal being signed before court ruling over who has authorityTraditional owners opposed to the Adani Carmichael coalmine have filed an application for an injunction with the federal court to prevent the native title tribunal from signing off on an Indigenous land use agreement before the outcome of a court challenge.The application was filed following a meeting of the W&J traditional owners council in Brisbane on Saturday, where the 120 attendees voted against the Ilua for the fourth time since it was proposed in 2012. Continue reading...

Terns, spoonbills and visiting hoopoes will be given protectionLittle terns and black-throated divers are among the seabirds that have been given greater protection after a stretch of coastline in Cornwall was awarded special status to safeguard its wildlife. The newly designated marine special protected area (SPA), which stretches for 24 miles between Falmouth Bay and St Austell Bay, is home to more than 150,000 rare seabirds.Great northern divers and Eurasian spoonbills are also visitors along with sandwich terns and common terns. All are amber-listed by conservation groups because they have suffered significant losses of numbers and range in the recent past. Continue reading...

Only hope for world’s most endangered marine mammal now rests with bid to stop illegal fishingA last-ditch attempt to save the world’s most endangered marine mammal, the vaquita, by taking them into human care has been abandoned. The chances that this rare species of porpoise will become extinct are now extremely high, researchers have warned.They had hoped to catch a few of the planet’s last 30 vaquitas – which are only found in one small area of the Gulf of California – and protect them in a sanctuary where they could breed safely. But last month, the $4m (£3m) rescue plan by an international team of more than 60 scientists and divers ran into trouble after only a few days, when the first vaquita they caught had to be released when it began to display dangerous signs of stress. Continue reading...

Steady rainfall that has dumped more than 200mm in some catchments gradually begins to easeVictoria and parts of southern New South Wales have received more than their average December rainfall in two days but authorities say the worst of the weather has passed.Flood warnings have been downgraded across Victoria and evacuation warnings lifted from some north-east towns as the steady rainfall that has dumped more than 200mm in some catchments gradually begins to ease. Continue reading...

We are in the midst of a host of battles over the fate of the nation and the earth, and the outcome is in no small part up to us. We can win if we try

Dolbenmaen, Gwynedd This sett was, I think, first occupied in the early 1950s, its entrances concealed among dense rhododendron thicketsThis sett I’ve known for 50 years. I think it was first occupied in the early 1950s. Huge now, 200 metres long and 60 wide, with innumerable entrances concealed among dense rhododendron thickets, I called it Badgeropolis, and spent much time watching from the hillside above as the badgers made their moonlit excursions. These were an enchantment: the silvery bounce of their beautiful coats; the rough-and-tumble of cubs’ play; their curiosity and habituation to my still, nightly presence; the astonishing inflected vocabulary of squeal, purr, yelp and mew; their tenderness at mating; the affection between boar and sow, parents and cubs. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Pure electric cars cost less over four years than petrol or diesel cars in the UK, US and Japan, researchers say, but China is set to lead the marketElectric cars are already cheaper to own and run than petrol or diesel cars in the UK, US and Japan, new research shows.The lower cost is a key factor driving the rapid rise in electric car sales now underway, say the researchers. At the moment the cost is partly because of government support, but electric cars are expected to become the cheapest option without subsidies in a few years. Continue reading...

As we enter the final month of the year we’d like to see your photos of the wildlife you’ve discovered where you live

Lion cubs at play, the world’s oldest known giant tortoise and a mountain hare are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world Continue reading...

Protected cycle lanes are one of the best ways to reduce congestion in London, carrying up to five times as many people per hour as a main road, a new report showsCongestion isn’t exactly the most fashionable political topic of our times, but it is a problem that threatens London’s status as a well-functioning, competitive global city. Businesses need to be able to make and receive reliable deliveries, Londoners need to be able to get to work on time, and tourists – almost 20 million of them a year in London – need to get around quickly and easily too.

India’s finance secretary has called for decision clearing company of allegations of siphoning huge sums into tax havens to be reviewedThe Adani Group is likely to again have to answer allegations it siphoned more than US$600m (£445m) into overseas tax havens after senior Indian finance authorities recommended an appeal of a judgment clearing the mining giant.The Indian finance secretary has confirmed to local media the August decision clearing the Adani Group had been reviewed by senior officials in November who ordered an appeal to be lodged by 14 December. Continue reading...

The British Ecological Society has announced the winners of its annual photography competition, Capturing Ecology. Taken by international ecologists and students, the winning images will be exhibited at the society’s joint annual meeting in Ghent in December Continue reading...

Italy’s biggest oil firm is accused of polluting an area where experts found more toxic substance than water in the seaEveryone in the Sicilian town of Gela knows someone who has been hit by the health crisis that has gripped the town for decades.Mortality rates are higher than elsewhere on the island, and the town has an unusually high rate of birth defects, including the highest rate in the world of a rare urethra disorder. Continue reading...

Jay Weatherill marks the official launch as Elon Musk delivers on his promise to complete project within 100 daysThe world’s largest lithium-ion battery has officially been turned on in South Australia promising to usher in a revolution in how electricity is produced and stored.Tesla boss Elon Musk has made good on his promise to build the 100-megawatt facility on deadline or provide it free after blackouts last year that critics of the state’s Labor government blamed on pro-renewable policies. Continue reading...

Australia is home to one in 10 of the world’s unique bird species – and most of the world’s birds can trace their lineage to the continent• Vote for the Australian bird of the yearIf you live in Australia, you may not realise how unique and special the birds around you are. Our continent was perhaps the most important for the evolution of modern birds, with a majority of the world’s species tracing their ancestry here.Related: Australian bird of the year 2017: vote for your favourite Continue reading...

The system works fine when there are two candidates in an election but is a poor option with multiple choices – and it can lead to some bad resultsThe results so far of the Guardian’s bird of the year poll have not been without controversy. The Australian white ibis, a bird that is disliked by many who encounter it, took an early lead and has maintained that lead for more than a week. While this seems like a strange result, it makes sense when you think about the options provided to the voters. With so many birds to choose from, the voting system used has a tendency to produce a winner who has a committed support base, even if that option also has a lot of opponents.

Modelling says there is a 92% chance mountain ash forests will not be able to support current ecosystem by 2067Decades of unsustainable logging has created an “extinction debt” in Victoria’s central highlands that will trigger an ecosystem-wide collapse within 50 years without urgent intervention from the state government, ecologists have warned.According to modelling produced by Australian National University researchers Dr Emma Burns and Prof David Lindenmayer, there is a 92% chance the mountain ash forests will not be able to support its current ecosystem of arboreal animals, like the critically endangered leadbeater’s possum, by 2067. Continue reading...

Decision to hear Saul Luciano Lliuya’s case against the energy giant is a ‘historic breakthrough with global relevance’, campaigners sayA German court has ruled that it will hear a Peruvian farmer’s case against energy giant RWE over climate change damage in the Andes, a decision labelled by campaigners as a “historic breakthrough”.Farmer Saul Luciano Lliuya’s case against RWE was “well-founded,” the court in the north-western city of Hamm said on Thursday. Continue reading...

The Africa Food Prize winner talks about her work with Kenya’s smallholder farmers, and how indigenous crops can be a tool in the battle against food insecurity and climate changeWhen Ruth Oniang’o was working as a nutrition researcher in 1980s Kenya, she noticed an ominous change in the country’s agricultural landscape: regions that had once provided a diversity of nutritious food crops were being turned over to cash crops like sugarcane. Grown mostly for export, these crops were usurping land and soil that was intended for feeding people.Spurred on by what she witnessed all those years ago, today Oniang’o--a professor of nutrition and a native Kenyan--leads the Rural Outreach Program, a nonprofit that champions the role of indigenous African crops and smallholder farmers in safeguarding food security. With the ROP, Oniang’o visits hundreds of farming communities in Kenya and helps them access, grow, and share seeds for indigenous crop varieties like sorghum, cassava, arrowroot, and jute mallow--foods that are not only nutritious, but also disease-resistant and climate-resilient. This year, these efforts got her recognised as the joint winner of the 2017 Africa Food Prize. Continue reading...

MPs say ministers are showing no confidence in tackling the illegal levels of air pollution that prematurely kill an estimated 40,000 people a yearMinisters have been accused of having to be “dragged screaming” to tackle illegal levels of air pollution across the UK, which kills an estimated 40,000 people a year prematurely.Neil Parish, co-chair of a parliamentary inquiry into air quality, told ministers from the Treasury, environment, transport and local government departments they were showing no confidence that they would tackle toxic air pollution as soon as possible. Continue reading...

Retailers in favour of setting up mandatory system in England and Wales after government sought views on ideaIceland and the Co-op have become the first supermarkets to support a bottle deposit scheme after the government sought views on the idea to reduce plastic pollution in the oceans.The retailers came out in favour of setting up a mandatory deposit return scheme (DRS) in England and Wales as the environment secretary, Michael Gove, began to review the results of a seven-week consultation on whether to introduce a system to increase recycling rates of plastic bottles and reduce leakage into the oceans. Continue reading...

Annual survey by the Marine Conservation Society records 10% rise in litter in 2017 - with much of it plasticThe rubbish washing up on the UK’s beaches is continuing to increase, rising by 10% in 2017, the Marine Conservation Society’s (MCS) annual beach clean has revealed.Much of the waste is plastic, leading the MCS to call on the government to urgently introduce a charge on single-use plastic items, such as straws, cups and cutlery. The chancellor, Philip Hammond, recently announced the government is considering such action. Continue reading...

New South Wales water chief says he is disappointed by a lack of progress on prosecutions and recommends a ‘no metering, no pumping’ policyModern water meters need to be rolled out as a matter of urgency in the Barwon-Darling river system and prosecutions launched against breaches, the man charged with fixing New South Wales’s water administration has warned.Immediately after the ABC Four Corners program that alleged large-scale water theft and meter tampering by some irrigators, the state government asked water expert Ken Matthews to review the system. Continue reading...

Know your miner from your myna. Both are aggressive in different ways – discover why we’re killing one but never the other• Vote for Australia’s bird of the yearA kookaburra nestles on my balcony and belts its deliciously rambunctious laugh, like an ape in a zoo. But, mid-cackle, it is interrupted by a series of urgent, high-pitched screams like sirens.Three miner birds flutter in its face, screaming hysterically at it. At first, the kookaburra just gives the unrelenting interlopers an unblinking, nonchalant death stare before eventually giving in and moving on. The miners follow it and chase it out of the neighbourhood. Continue reading...

New research shows by the end of the century an increase in sea level will threaten the White House, early colonial settlements and other historic placesLarge tracts of America’s east coast heritage are at risk from being wiped out by sea level rise, with the rising oceans set to threaten more than 13,000 archaeological and historic sites, according to new research.Even a modest increase in sea level will imperil much of the south-eastern US’s heritage by the end of the century, researchers found, with 13,000 sites threatened by a 1m increase. Continue reading...

How climate denial blogs misinform so many people with such poor scientific arguments.

New labelling guidelines suggest we should keep more of our fruit in the fridge. But not everything is suitable for cold storage – here’s a fruit-by-fruit guideIs there anything more disappointing than biting into an apple, only to find it has gone all fluffy and soft? It happens all the time – and now we know why. According to a government initiative on food labelling, it is because we are not storing our Pink Lady apples in the fridge.As part of a drive to reduce annual household food waste in the UK by 350,000 tonnes, labelling is changing. In future, it will include, among other things, a “little blue fridge” icon for foods that keep for longer in the fridge, including apples and oranges. Can this be right? Well, yes – but it’s a matter of timing. Here’s a guide to when to let fruit chill. Continue reading...

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority says it is quizzing companies about their actions to assess climate risksAustralia’s financial regulator has stepped-up its warning to banks, lenders and insurers, saying climate change is already impacting the global economy, and flagged the possibility of “regulatory action”.Geoff Summerhayes from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (Apra) revealed it had begun quizzing companies about their actions to assess climate risks, noting it would be demanding more in the future. Continue reading...

The experimental study is the first to directly show harm to songbirds, extending the known impacts of neonicotinoids beyond insectsThe world’s most widely used insecticide may cause migrating songbirds to lose their sense of direction and suffer drastic weight loss, according to new research.

Supermarket packaging will carry new logos advising which items can be kept in the fridge, ensuring they last longer and reduce food wasteBags of supermarket apples will carry a new logo advising consumers to keep them in the fridge to make them last longer as part of a shake-up of food labelling aimed aimed at cutting about 350,000 tonnes of domestic food waste – worth £1bn – by 2025.The confusing and sometimes misleading “display by”, “best by” and “use by” dates on packaging is being simplified to encourage shoppers to get the most out of their larder, fridge and freezer. Continue reading...

To mark International Women Human Rights Defenders’ Day, we pay tribute to some of the women killed this year because of their activismMore than half of the women cited in AWID’s 2017 tribute to female activists were murdered for defending their rights. Among the women killed are those who fought to protect their land from the state and multinational companies, or called out injustices or corruption, or stood up for the rights of lesbian, gay and transexual people.While thousands of men defend human rights, women face particular challenges for their activism. They are targeted for who they are, as women, not just because they are protesting. In countries that view a woman’s role as being in the home, female human rights defenders are more prone to attack than men because they are seen as breaking social norms. Continue reading...

Musicians and other stars arriving at the annual music awards at Sydney's Star casino weigh into the Australian bird of the year debate. There are some firm opinions for and against the ibis. AB Original may contend that the term 'bin chicken' is profiling, but David Le'auppe from Gang of Youths maintains that no one can love a bird that defecates on 'every single picnic table in the inner west'• Vote in the 2017 Australian bird of the year poll Continue reading...

Minister stops short of committing to increased transparency around Australian regulator’s compliance and enforcementThe regulation of Australia’s offshore oil and gas industry will become more transparent after the resources minister, Matthew Canavan, announced that environmental plans for exploration and extraction would no longer be kept secret.Canavan also announced the federal government would consider lifting secrecy surrounding the way the offshore oil and gas regulator conducts compliance and enforcement activities, but did not commit to doing so. Continue reading...

Officials at Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park, home to the glacier, said such ruptures were rare and had not occurred since the early 1990sA large iceberg broke off the Grey glacier in southern Chile, authorities said on Tuesday, adding that the cause of the rupture was unclear.

Social anxiety over new technology have a long history. This panic has caused major delays in driving renewables in AustraliaRenewable energy is front and centre of global hopes of avoiding existential threats from climate change. Yet Australia has no commissioner for climate change, but we do have a windfarm commissioner.Related: Dr Onthemoon's self diagnosis windfarm syndrome check list! | First Dog on the Moon Continue reading...

Ever heard of the King Island brown thornbill? What about the orange-bellied parrot? Can you guess which is more endangered?• Vote here for the Australian Bird of the Year 2017 In January 2016, a keen birdwatcher named Dion Hobcroft walked into the Pegarah state forest on Tasmania’s King Island with a recorded birdcall and took the first blurry photographs of the King Island brown thornbill.The brown thornbill, Acanthiza pusilla archibaldi, is a subspecies of the Tasmanian thornbill, distinguished from its cousins on the big island by a slightly longer beak. Continue reading...

Unlike other birds, robins have always sung throughout the season, but now other species are joining them due to their warming environment

Researchers say ‘source reefs’ could produce larvae and help repair damage by bleaching and starfishA group of “source” reefs have been identified that could form the basis of a life support system for the Great Barrier Reef, helping repair damage by bleaching, starfish and other disturbances.Researchers from the University of Queensland, CSIRO, Australian Institute of Marine Science and the University of Sheffield searched the Great Barrier Reef for ideal areas that could potentially produce larvae and support the recovery of other damaged reefs. Continue reading...

Centre for Policy Development urges companies to adopt standardised analysis of climate’s impact on businessAustralian companies need to start developing sophisticated scenario-based analyses of climate risks, and incorporating them into their business outlooks so shareholders know how climate change will affect profitability, a thinktank has said.However, the Centre for Policy Development (CPD) said companies needed to do so in a standardised way, so investors and regulators were able to easily understand economy-wide risks to whole industries. Continue reading...