Cuadrilla faces action for breaching planning permission after delivery to site near BlackpoolA company preparing to be the first to start large-scale UK fracking has breached its planning permission by delivering a drilling rig overnight, prompting the local authority to warn it is considering action against it.Cuadrilla said that around 30 trucks had made deliveries to its Preston New Road site near Blackpool at 4.45am on Thursday. It has permission to frack at the site later this year. Continue reading...
Modern trophy hunters can shoot animals via the internet – but they argue that it is all conservation. The killing of Xanda – Cecil the Lion’s son – has sparked debate about what hunting really meansThey’re known as canned hunts; captive mammal hunting ranches in the US which offer the chance to shoot a zebra or antelope or even a lion for several thousand dollars. The animals are fenced in and often unafraid of humans so the kills are easy, to the extent that some venues even provide the option of shooting them via the internet, with the use of a camera and a gun on a mount.It’s estimated that there are more than 1,000 of them - completely legal. But many US hunters consider them a betrayal of every belief they hold dear. “I don’t consider that hunting,†said John Rogalo, a New Jersey hunter who has been stalking bears, deer and turkeys for nearly 50 years. “It’s a weird culture that has developed in this country in the past few years. I joke that you may as well ask the farmer if you could shoot his black Angus because at least you’d get more meat for it.†Continue reading...
by Damian Carrington Environment editor on (#2XKFR)
Met Office figures for 2016 also show long-term decrease in amount of frost, while last winter was the second wettest on record across the countryThe winter of 2016 was the warmest for England and Wales in records that stretch back to 1910, the Met Office’s annual State of the UK Climate report revealed on Thursday.The average temperature from December 2015 to February 2016 was more than 2C above the long-term average across the southern half of the UK. The report also found that, over the last decade, the number of air frosts has dropped by 7% and the number of ground frosts by 9%, compared with the average between 1981-2010. Continue reading...
Creeks found to be contaminated by decades-long use of poisonous firefighting foam, studies showSeafood in two creeks near Darwin airport is contaminated with toxic firefighting chemicals at levels similar to the notorious Williamtown red zone, research has found.The Northern Territory government on Thursday released the results of two contamination studies at Rapid and Ludmilla creeks. Continue reading...
Court rules in favour of Indigenous owners, who have long questioned whether mining giant provided enough to fully rehabilitate the lead and zinc mineA Northern Territory court has ruled the amount of money mining giant Glencore gave to the state government as a security bond for its McArthur River mine must be revealed, after a lengthy court battle brought by traditional owners.The NT civil administrations tribunal has ruled in favour of Borroloola resident Jacky Green, who had long questioned whether Glencore had provided enough to fully rehabilitate the controversial lead and zinc mine. Continue reading...
Here’s how to prepare for the 100-mile cycling event ...Shortly before 6am on Sunday, the first of about 25,000 intrepid cyclists will set off from the Olympic Park in east London on a 100-mile trip through the capital and into the hills of Surrey, finishing on the Mall.It is the fifth year of an event which has so far lived up to its billing of a London marathon for two wheels, part of a wider and much-enjoyed weekend of cycling activities in the capital, which has now spawned similar events elsewhere in Britain. Continue reading...
The route, which will span 2,000km from Cairns to Coolangatta and west to Toowoomba, within six months will offer drivers 18 free recharging stationsQueensland will have a 2,000km network of electric vehicle charging stations that make up one of the world’s longest electric vehicle highways within six months.The state government announced on Thursday it would build an 18-station network stretching along Queensland’s east coast from Cairns to Coolangatta and west to Toowoomba. Continue reading...
by Gabrielle Chan Deputy political editor on (#2XJRW)
Joyce’s comments at odds with press conference on Wednesday when he likened water thieves to cattle and sheep thievesBarnaby Joyce has told a pub in a Victorian irrigation district that the Four Corners program which raised allegations of water theft was about taking more water from irrigators and shutting down towns.The deputy prime minister, agriculture and water minister told a gathering at a Hotel Australia in Shepparton that he had given water back to agriculture through the Murray Darling Basin plan so the “greenies were not running the showâ€.
Fears of widespread famine as people in extremist-controlled areas are threatened with death if they contact aid agenciesIslamist militants in Somalia have imposed a ban on humanitarian assistance in areas they control, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to choose between death from starvation and disease or brutal punishment.
For 10 years, Nasa has been flying over the ice caps to chart their retreat. This data is an invaluable record of climate change. But does anyone care? By Avi SteinbergFrom the window of a Nasa aircraft flying over the Arctic, looking down on the ice sheet that covers most of Greenland, it’s easy to see why it is so hard to describe climate change. The scale of polar ice, so dramatic and so clear from a plane flying at 450 metres (1,500ft) – high enough to appreciate the scope of the ice and low enough to sense its mass – is nearly impossible to fathom when you aren’t sitting at that particular vantage point.But it’s different when you are there, cruising over the ice for hours, with Nasa’s monitors all over the cabin streaming data output, documenting in real time – dramatising, in a sense – the depth of the ice beneath. You get it, because you can see it all there in front of you, in three dimensions. Continue reading...
Sandy, Bedfordshire The Airlander 10 is a 92-metre hybrid airship-plane, full of helium and personalityHalf an hour after appearing high over our washing line a giant followed us down to the pub. The church bells next door rang eight, the air was mosquito-still and then an all-consuming bass rumble filled the sky.A puffed up grey cloud three times the length of a blue whale came overhead. People sitting at the neighbouring table glanced up, then went back to their drinks. Continue reading...
Power network raises questions about how UK will meet demand when all new cars and vans sold are electricNational Grid has welcomed the plan to make electric or zero-emission cars and vans account for all new sales from 2040, but said the government and industry now faced big decisions on how the extra power was provided and demand for it was managed.The grid recently warned that, by 2030, electric cars could require 3.5-8GW of additional capacity, on top of the current peak demand of 60GW. Continue reading...
If the UK government is serious about cutting noxious emissions, it needs to step on it. We should not have to wait 23 years to breathe easyOnly 20 years ago, it would have sounded like the stuff of fantasy: a clean, green image of the 21st century, with Britons gliding along in electrified, no doubt self-driving, cars. Even now, the pledge to ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2040 has a bold, vaguely futuristic ring to it. That is its political genius. In fact, it reflects the current trajectory of the motor industry – while masterfully distracting us from the government’s persistent failure in the rest of its plan to address the health crisis that must be tackled now: the air pollution that chokes our cities.The announcement may help to concentrate the minds of policymakers, consumers and car manufacturers on the need to press ahead with the switch and the huge changes that will be required. (Installing ranks of charging points is the least of it; how will Britain supply them all with power?) But the government has already said that 2050 emissions targets will require “almost all new cars and vans sold to be near-zero emission at the tailpipe by 2040â€. Norway is to ban the sale of all fossil-fuel-dependent cars by 2025. Momentum in electric purchases is building rapidly, thanks to falling costs, longer battery ranges and more charging points, even if the total number of sales remains relatively low; at present just 1 in 700 of the cars on Britain’s roads are pure electric. Volvo has said it will make only hybrid or fully electric cars from 2019. If anything, the need is for governments to offer short-term incentives so more people start choosing electric or hybrid vehicles now. Twenty-three years is too long to wait. Continue reading...
Second-biggest biosecurity operation in nation’s history sees $411m committed to eradicating invasive species that threatens agriculture, wildlife, tourism and outdoor lifestyleThey are one of the world’s worst invasive species, and now, more than two decades after they are believed to have arrived in Australia, the country is launching the second-biggest biosecurity operation in its history to eradicate red imported fire ants.State, territory and federal agricultural ministers met in Melbourne on Wednesday and agreed to spend $411.4m over the next 10 years, endorsing a biosecurity operation second only in size and ambition to the country’s successful eradication of bovine tuberculosis, which started in the 1970 and took nearly three decades. Continue reading...
From how to charge them to whether they are really better for the environmentThe first generation of electric-car buyers have been people with homes where it is easy to plug one in. “The vast majority of Nissan Leaf customers are [families with] 2.4 children, mums and dads, with off-street parking,†said Gareth Dunsmore of Nissan Europe. “Tomorrow that won’t be the case.†Continue reading...
Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders calls for more customer incentives to buy electric and criticises outright banBritain’s car industry has warned that the government’s proposed ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars by 2040 risks damaging the industry and stalling sales of new cars.Mike Hawes, chief of executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders trade body, said that carmakers were working with ministers on the switch to electric cars but called for the government to use carrots rather than sticks. Continue reading...
by Damian Carrington Environment editor on (#2XGKJ)
A ban on new petrol and diesel vehicles from 2040 is a great vision for the future but does nothing to address a public health emergency happening right nowWhat a beautiful smokescreen. A UK ban on new petrol and diesel vehicles from 2040 conjures up the clean, green vision of an all-electric future and is absolutely the right thing to tackle climate change – emissions from transport are high and not falling.But for the public health emergency of today, with most urban areas already having suffered illegal levels of air pollution for years, it does nothing at all. Continue reading...
Chlorinated chicken is the tip of the iceberg. Current EU standards cover everything from conditions for battery hens to antibiotics use in farms, and they are all up for negotiationThe international trade secretary Liam Fox has been in the US for the preliminary stages of thrashing out a trade deal to take effect after the UK leaves the EU. He was asked about the trade in food and agricultural products, which is likely to form a key plank of any deal. Fox on Monday refused to rule out allowing imports of chlorinated chicken, which is banned under EU regulations. Then Michael Gove, secretary of state for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs stepped in on Wednesday morning to say that the UK would not permit imports of chlorinated chicken under any new trade rules. Continue reading...
by Sameer Pokhrel for Climate Home, part of the Guard on (#2XG02)
Valuable fungus, prized as a reputed aphrodisiac, is disappearing due to warming temperatures, reports Climate HomeA Himalayan fungus used in Chinese medicine, which underpins the livelihoods of communities of harvesters in Nepal, is under the threat due to climate change.Harvesting the Cordyceps sinensis fungus, called ‘yarsha gumba’ in Nepal, provides a livelihood for Himalayan dwellers. The fungus fetches up to Rs 2,800,000 (£20,000) per kg in raw form. During the peak season of yarsha collection, locals drop everything to pursue fungus hunting, including their usual profession. Even schools remain closed during yarsha collecting seasons. Continue reading...
The fossil fuel industry used the same arguments, and even the same people, to block climate policies in the 1990s. We must not let this happen again.Since President Trump announced on June 1 that the U.S. would cease implementation of the Paris Agreement, pundits have argued about whether the American pullout will truly affect greenhouse gas pollution one way or another, since, after all, the Paris Agreement was not legally binding to begin with.We don’t know the future, but we do know the past, and here’s something we shouldn’t miss: we’ve seen this before. The same arguments used by President Trump - and even the same people he cited - were used by the oil and gas industry to block climate policies throughout the 1990s, including the United States’ implementation of the Kyoto Protocol. The playbook from twenty years ago is back, and this time we must be ready for it.
by Oliver Milman at Giant Sequoia national monument, on (#2XFPP)
As the Trump administration continues to roll back protections on public lands, timber industry advocates are pushing to reduce federal defenses for California’s giant treesFor the largest living things standing on the planet, California’s giant sequoias have an unassuming, almost gentle aura to them. The recognizable cinnamon-colored bark is soft and fibrous. Its cones are modest. When cut down, the trees tend to shatter and won’t produce reliably sturdy timber.
California man faces up to 20 years in prison after the three live snakes were illegally shipped from Hong KongA man has been arrested on federal smuggling charges after customs officers intercepted a shipment with three live king cobras hidden inside potato chip canisters that were being mailed to his California home, US prosecutors said.Rodrigo Franco, 34, was scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday afternoon in Los Angeles on a charge of illegally importing merchandise. It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney who could comment on the allegations. Continue reading...
Environment secretary responds to Liam Fox’s remarks by saying UK would avoid deal requiring it to accept lower standardsThe UK would back out of any trade deal that required it to accept lower standards, such as allowing imports of chlorinated chicken from the US, the environment secretary has said, deepening the cabinet split over the issue.Michael Gove has opposed the suggestion by the trade secretary, Liam Fox, that the UK should be open to the prospect of allowing poultry treated with a chlorine wash process, which is banned by the EU, as part of a trade deal with the US. Continue reading...
Deputy PM accused of orchestrating ‘National party takeover’ with nomination of irrigation lobbyist Perin DaveyThe intergovernmental war over water management has deepened as it has emerged that Barnaby Joyce has nominated an irrigation lobbyist to the board of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA).Perin Davey worked for Australia’s largest private irrigation company, Murray Irrigation, as the executive manager of corporate affairs until April 2017. Continue reading...
As a trio of lawsuits claim compensation for sea rises resulting from fossil fuel emissions, campaigners say carbon majors must change their business modelsThree Californian communities have launched legal action against some of the world’s biggest oil, gas and coal companies, seeking compensation for the current and future costs of adapting to sea level rises linked to climate change.San Mateo and Marin Counties, coastal communities in northern California, and Imperial Beach, a city in San Diego County, have filed complaints against 37 “carbon majorsâ€, including Shell, Chevron, Statoil, Exxon and Total. Continue reading...
McArthur’s book of photographs puts the spotlight on ethics of zoos around the world. Accompanied by essays by Born Free Foundation’s Virginia McKenna and philosopher Lori Gruen, the images and stories are also shared online through A Year of Captivity. Images from both projects will be exhibited at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre from 7 to 10 September Continue reading...
Wenlock Edge, Shropshire A fantasia of hoverflies, solitary bees, bumblebees, butterflies and beetles feed on ragwortRagwort makes fields of gold, and to walk in them feels far more transgressive than a bucolic stroll through wheat or barley. Unlike the pale, safe, beige of ripening cereal crops, the ragwort is bold as brass. Unlike the slim pickings in the stashes of mice (and men), the ragwort swarms with life.The insects, and those creatures who feed on them, are harvesting a crop that is toxic to humans yet the antidote to the intensive agriculture that harms insects. Continue reading...
Water minister responds to allegations first aired on Four Corners that billions of litres reserved for the environment were being pumped out by irrigatorsBarnaby Joyce has said allegations of water theft are “overwhelmingly†an issue for New South Wales and anyone who has broken the law will be dealt with.In his first response to allegations raised on Four Corners on Monday night, the federal water minister and deputy prime minister likened water thieves to cattle and sheep rustlers but stressed there were only allegations of water theft at this stage.
Survey finds Highlands population has halved since 1990s, believed to be because of climate change and human activityConservationists have called for action to protect the capercaillie, one of Scotland’s rarest and most treasured birds, after data showed its population had fallen 50% in just over two decades.An extensive field survey of capercaillie breeding grounds in the Highlands estimated a population of only 1,114 birds between 2015 and last year, compared with an estimate of 2,200 between 1992 and 1994. Continue reading...
by Anushka Asthana Political editor and Matthew Taylo on (#2XEGX)
Plans follow French commitment to take polluting vehicles off the road owing to effect of poor air quality on people’s healthAs part of a government strategy to improve air quality, Britain is to ban all new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2040 amid fears that rising levels of nitrogen oxide pose a major risk to public health.The commitment, which follows a similar pledge in France, is part of the government’s much-anticipated clean air plan, which has been at the heart of a protracted high court legal battle.
Ben McCarthy of Plantlife, Ruth Borthwick of the creative writing charity Arvon, Minette Batters of the NFU, Graeme Willis of the CPRE, Tracy Worcester of Farms not Factories and Gwyn Jones of RUMA respond to reports on the increase in intensive factory farming of poultry, pigs and cattle in the UKThe “unnoticed†expansion of mega-farms raises serious concerns about farm animal welfare and our food system (Mega-farms transforming UK countryside, 18 July). Even less visible is the air pollution generated by intensively housed animals and the devastating impact it is having on nearby wildlife.At high concentrations, such as from these mega-farms, ammonia and other nitrogen emissions cause direct damage to lichens, mosses and other plants, including bleaching and discolouration. Continue reading...
Energy policy | Civil partnerships | Codeword puzzles | Dramatic accents | Irritating BBC presentersDid I invent the solar panels scheme which paid a generous feed-in tariff to install panels on your roof? I think I may also have imagined a green deal which was so advantageous that nobody much took it up. I fear this new initiative (UK ‘on verge of clean energy revolution’, 25 July) is going to place a similar strain on my mental faculties when it vanishes without trace under the label “green crapâ€.
According to a report obtained by the Guardian, health officials in Pittsburgh have downplayed the dangers of lead contamination discovered in local waterHealth officials in a major American city downplayed dangers of lead contamination in water even as officials in Flint, Michigan, faced a criminal investigation, according to a report obtained by the Guardian.
Vote in the Observer Ethical Awards, now in their 11th year. You can vote in as many or as few categories as you like using the form below. Continue reading...
Bureau of Land Management says it is moving to discard 2015 regulation as it duplicates state rules and ‘imposes unjustified costs’ on oil and gas industryThe Trump administration has proposed scrapping an Obama-era rule that aimed to ensure fracking for oil and gas does not pollute water supplies.
Higher than normal levels of enterocci sparked bathing ban at Canal de l’Ourcq structure that drew queues of Parisians trying to beat the heatA new public swimming area on Paris’s Canal de l’Ourcq has reopened after it was temporarily closed due to higher than normal bacteria levels following weekend rains.
From problems with poor disabled access to restrictions against photographers, readers describe mixed experiences of privately owned public spaces in London following a Guardian Cities investigation
by Frances Perraudin North of England reporter on (#2XCB3)
North Wales’ Arfon Jones, a former anti-fracking activist, had queried why his force was helping Lancashire policeThe North Wales police and crime commissioner has been accused of “cronyism†after his force withdrew from policing anti-fracking protests following his intervention.Arfon Jones, a member of Plaid Cymru and former police inspector, was an anti-fracking campaigner before being elected to the police and crime commissioner job last year. Continue reading...
by Damian Carrington Environment editor on (#2XBX7)
Foreign animals and plants can cause huge damage, with the march of Argentine ants in the UK a new example of how climate change is boosting the threatInvasions by alien species and global warming form a “deadly duoâ€, scientists have warned, with the march of Argentine ants in the UK a new example. The public are being asked to be on alert for invaders such as the raccoon dog and Asian hornet, as eradication can be near impossible after a species becomes established.As trade and human travel has become globalised many thousands of species have crossed oceans or mountain ranges and become established in new regions, with some causing “invasional meltdown†and over a trillion of dollars of damage a year. Continue reading...
Allendale, Northumberland The melancholy thistle’s heads are magenta shaving brushes lighted on by hoverflies and beesThe garden is all heat and light on this summer afternoon, pulsing and multilayered with insect sounds and constant movement.Wild flowers jostle with the cultivated, in varieties chosen for their nectar and pollen. Bumblebees wiggle up into the blue throats of viper’s bugloss, hoverflies taste scabious, dabbing with their tongues, soldier beetles clamber over wild carrot, bumping into each other before hurriedly parting. Continue reading...
Satellite analysis shows clearing of more than 100 hectares at Cape York’s Olive Vale station in year after minister’s interventionLand is being cleared in north Queensland without federal government approval despite concerns about threatened species in the area, in what conservation groups have claimed is an unfolding environmental crisis.Four peak environmental bodies on Tuesday released satellite analysis showing more than 100 hectares at Olive Vale station in Cape York were cleared without approval in the year following the intervention of the federal environment minister in 2015. Continue reading...
