The giant armadillo benefits 80 other species by providing a unique lodging and dining service in the largest wetland on Earth – the Pantanal in Brazil. Here’s a sneak peek into the lives of nature’s most amazing host and its guests Continue reading...
White-tail spider unlikely to be responsible for necrotising skin infection that led to amputation of Filipino tourist’s legsA Melbourne man’s double amputation is likely to have been misattributed to a white-tail spider bite.
Environmental and legal groups fear impact on groundwater and accuse Queensland government of giving Indian mining company special treatmentAdani’s controversial $21bn Carmichael coalmine has been granted an unlimited 60-year water licence in what environmental and legal groups say is another example of governments giving the company special treatment.The associated water licence, signed by a Queensland government representative the day after Cyclone Debbie tore through the state’s north, allows Adani Mining to take water from or near the Betts Creek formation when removing or draining water from the mine. Continue reading...
Despite past failures and high costs, wave power companies are pushing ahead with research trials“In two weeks we face the full brunt of the South Westerlies and we’ll see what the sea is going to do to us.â€Simon Gillett has a habit of talking about the device his company, Wave-tricity, has created as an extension of himself. This must be a nerve-wracking time. Continue reading...
Wenlock Edge Violets have a built-in nostalgia, a belonging to something that is always fleeting and longed forA century and a half ago, when springs were different, the poet John Clare wrote: “All bleaching in the thin March air / the scattered violets lie.†(March Violet). He may have meant violets growing under withered and bleached nettle stems, but for me, today, there are shining white violets “bleaching†on the hedge bank in one of the last cold, grey, “thin†mornings in March.
Theresa May ‘very conscious’ that past governments encouraged motorists to buy diesel cars, as increased charges for polluting vehicles loom largeTheresa May says she will not punish drivers of older diesel cars who were encouraged to buy the polluting vehicles under the Labour government.A crackdown on the vehicles to tackle poor air quality has been announced by the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, with drivers of polluting vehicles facing £24-a-day charges to drive in central London from 2019. Continue reading...
US defence expert warns people fleeing low-lying Pacific islands a precursor to ‘climate-exacerbated water insecurities’ that could trigger wider conflictAustralia could be on the frontline of a new wave of “climate refugees†displaced by extreme weather events, droughts and rising seas, a US expert on the national security impacts of climate change has warned.Sherri Goodman, a former US deputy undersecretary of defence, argues the impact of climate change – rising seas, extreme weather, prolonged droughts – will be a “threat multiplier†for security challenges, and could be the spark that ignites conflict and drives new waves of mass forced migration. Continue reading...
Daffodils on verges | Gendered Oscars | Anti-antidisestablishmentarianism | The world’s oldest continuously established parliament | The Boat Race | San SerriffeI agree with Jill Bennett (Letters, 4 April) that daffodils may not look great on urban verges, but here in Old Buckenham we persuaded the parish council to fund the purchase of sacks of varied narcissi for us in 1999. These were planted in bulk by volunteers around the base of all of the seven 30mph speed signs at the various entrances to the village as a Millennium project. They first bloomed in 2000 and are still providing a welcome sight, some 18 seasons later. Perhaps Patrick Barkham should come and have a look before the blooms die off.
MEPs say a ban, which needs approval from the European commission, is needed to avoid renewable targets contributing to deforestationMEPs have voted overwhelmingly to ban biofuels made from vegetable oils including palm oil by 2020, to prevent the EU’s renewable transport targets from inadvertently contributing to deforestation.A new palm oil regulation, minimum sustainability criteria, customs duty reforms and anti-deforestation articles in future EU trade deals were also approved with a 640-18 majority. Continue reading...
Troubled tech giant forced to take sole ownership of NuGen after Engie sells stake, adding to uncertainty over plan for three reactorsToshiba has been forced to buy out the French utility Engie from a project to build three nuclear reactors in Moorside, northwest England, further straining the Japanese company’s finances and adding to uncertainty over the project.Engie said on Tuesday it was exercising its right to sell its 40% stake in the NuGen venture to Toshiba following the bankruptcy of the Japanese firm’s Westinghouse nuclear power plant business. Toshiba will pay 15.3 billion yen ($138.5m) for the stake. Continue reading...
More than 2,000 schools around England and Wales are located near roads with illegal and dangerous levels of emissions from diesel cars. Use this tool to see whether your school is on the listType a school name, postcode or town name into the box to see the schools affected by dangerous levels of NO2 pollution. Continue reading...
European parliament backs tougher rules and €30,000 per vehicle fine for carmakers to prevent repeat of VW emissions scandalDiesel vehicles will disappear from roads much faster than expected, according to the European Union’s industry commissioner.
David King, who served Labour and Tory governments, says he was misled by car industry over levels of diesel pollutionThe former chief scientific adviser has admitted it was wrong to cut fuel duty on diesel vehicles after being hoodwinked by the car industry, as the mayor of London launched a crackdown on vehicle pollution.David King, who until last week served Labour and Tory governments as special representative for climate change, said he was misled by carmakers over the amount of poisonous nitrogen oxides (NOx) diesel cars would emit on the road. Continue reading...
by Damian Carrington Environment editor on (#2J38Q)
Exclusive: new analysis indicates south will get significantly more funding per capita than elsewhere, in part because of higher property pricesThe government’s planned spending on flood defences heavily favours London and the south-east of England, according to a new analysis, with spending per person up to 13 times higher than in other regions.The recently published plans set out spending to 2021 and, for major projects, beyond that date. By far the largest projects are those for the Thames estuary, leading to 60% of the planned spending going to London and south-east, home to 32% of England’s population. Continue reading...
by Peter Walker Political correspondent on (#2J381)
Conservative thinktank finds voters want to protect laws on beach standards and renewable energy productionSignificant majorities of Conservative voters want EU environmental regulations to be maintained or even strengthened in the wake of Brexit, a poll carried out for the Tory thinktank Bright Blue has found.While a handful of prominent Conservatives, such as the former environment secretary Owen Paterson, have argued that leaving the EU will allow Britain to revamp its rules on the subject, the survey found huge support for the status quo. Continue reading...
Activists warn of serious environmental consequences for UN-backed hydro projects in Nepal, Tajikistan and the Solomon IslandsPlans to earmark more than $136m (£109m) of UN money for large dam projects in Nepal, Tajikistan and the Solomon Islands have been angrily condemned by activists, who have warned the projects could have serious environmental consequences.The UN’s green climate fund was set up during the Paris climate agreement to mobilise $100bn a year by 2020 for poor countries looking for innovative and transformational projects. Continue reading...
Buxton, Derbyshire What compels our imagination is the sheer drive of frogs and toads to get to the spawning pondsWhat is it about frogs and toads that has made them such classic icons of sexual reproduction? It cannot be timing, because their breeding is often over before the other elements of high spring – flowers, bees, birdsong, sunshine – are in full flood. Frogs will gather at the spawning pond when the starlit nights are frosted and the vegetation rimed in white.Nor can it be that frogs or toads flesh out the dawn chorus. I have often found that frogs are most vocal on late-winter nights, and the little burp of toads, which is more creak than croak, is so quiet one has to strain to pick it out. The soft, even, purring of frogs is sweeter but, as one herpetologist noted, a pondful of thousands in full throat was completely inaudible just 50m away. Continue reading...
Environmental Protection Agency updates advice due to presence of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substancesThe Environmental Protection Agency has issued a health warning against barramundi caught in the recreational fishing ponds used as cooling for the now defunct Hazelwood power station, after a change in national guidelines.Barramundi were released into the 55ha Hazelwood Pondage lake system, which was artificially heated by water cycled through the cooling system for the power station condensers, in April 2016. Continue reading...
Helle Thorning-Schmidt, appearing on the ABC’s Q&A, says every country needs to determine the right mix of energy sources for its requirements, but the important thing is investment, planning and political will. She says Denmark started investing in its renewables strategy 30 years ago and now makes more from the export of related technology than from its traditional agricultural sector Continue reading...
Witnesses went into floodwaters at Tumbulgum after one child escaped from the sinking vehicle but were unable to reach three othersThe search for three people feared dead in a northern New South Wales river will resume on Tuesday morning, with police divers from Sydney heading to flood-hit Tumbulgum.It is feared a woman, her son and daughter died when their car was swept into the swollen Tweed river on Monday afternoon. An eight-year-old girl was able to escape as the vehicle was washed into the water. Continue reading...
Energy minister says Australia’s remoteness means it cannot match European countries yet in producing electricity from renewablesJosh Frydenberg has pointed to South Australia’s intermittent power issues as evidence that the rest of the country is not ready to transition out of fossil fuels, calling the state Australia’s “great experimentâ€.
At Kimba in the heart of the country, a community is divided – in one case literally so – over a plan to deposit the national stockpile of radioactive wasteAt a point almost halfway between the east and west coasts of Australia, a mob of emus scamper along the Napandee property fenceline. The mallee scrub out this way appears otherwise deserted, the kind of remote location where one could hide a dead body and get away with it – but what about an entire country’s radioactive waste?Landowner Jeff Baldock is determined to find out. Continue reading...
We are dairy farmers in Scotland who rear our calves to eight weeks of age in hutches clearly visible to the public next to a road. Walkers, cyclists and motorists stop to view and photograph the calves in their happy and comfortable environment. We have never had a negative comment as to their welfare and since starting to calve in September – the last one arrived on Sunday night – no antibiotics have been required to treat any ailment with the calves.Though I would agree that the calves pictured in your article (Dairy is scary. The public are waking up to the darkest part of farming, theguardian.com, 30 March) looked too big for the hutch accommodation provided, I find this to be the healthiest method to rear calves for the first period of what is in our interest to be a happy, contented and productive life.
French musician to perform in front of ancient Masada fortress to draw attention to urgency of saving planet EarthPioneering electronic musician Jean-Michel Jarre has said he wants to use an all-night concert at the Dead Sea to highlight what he sees as the anti-environmental policies of Donald Trump.The French musician, who shot to fame in the 1970s, will perform in front of the ancient Masada fortress in Israel on Thursday in a bid to draw attention to the “urgency of saving the Dead Seaâ€, he told AFP. Continue reading...
Rise in number of environmentally conscious consumers lead to boom in sales of organic wines, beers and spiritsIt is made from grapes grown without pesticides and chemicals, is kind to the environment and rarely triggers hangovers. Sales of organic wine are booming in the UK as part of the growing trend for “conscious consumerismâ€.According to the organic food and farming group the Soil Association, sales of organic beers, wines and spirits rose by 14.3% last year to reach nearly £6m, driven by strong demand for wines where consumers are increasingly seeking “natural†ingredients and reassurances about provenance. Still a relatively small share (2.2%) of the overall UK organic market, sales are now growing at double the rate of the market as a whole. Continue reading...
European Environment Agency report solar and and wind is reducing fossil fuel dependency but clean energy capacity still not growing fast enoughA surge in the use of wind and solar energy helped Europe to cut its fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by about 10% in 2015, an authoritative new report has found.Energy use from renewables rose to 16.7% of Europe’s total, up from 15% in 2013, and accounted for 77% of the continent’s new power capacity. Continue reading...
Documents show Anglo-Swiss firm is using Brexit as a chance to seek further exemptions from climate policy costsAnglo-Swiss chemicals firm Ineos is privately leading an industry lobbying attempt to avoid paying for the cost of decarbonising Britain’s economy.Documents released under freedom of information rules reveal that Ineos is pushing the government to use Brexit as a chance to exempt the chemicals sector entirely from climate policy costs. Continue reading...
April brings the joys of spring for the northern hemisphere while winter is a step closer for the southern hemisphere. We’d like to see your wildlife photosEverything is starting to finally bloom for the northern hemisphere, with the start of April promising milder spring weather. Meanwhile the southern hemisphere is preparing itself for more of those cooler autumn days. So what sort of wildlife will we all discover on our doorsteps? We’d love to see your photos of the April wildlife near you.You can share your April wildlife photos, videos and stories with us by clicking on the blue ‘Contribute’ buttons. Or if you’re out and about you can look for our assignments in the new Guardian app. Continue reading...
Move brings tolerable daily intake levels in line with US standards and follows months of controversy over contaminations near airports and military basesThe federal government has dramatically lowered the safe exposure levels of toxic firefighting chemicals, following months of controversy over contaminations detected near airports and military bases.The new tolerable daily intake levels (TDIs) of the polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) chemicals – used in firefighting foam for decades until the early 2000s but now known to be toxic – are now in line with US standards, but authorities have warned the long-term effects of exposure remain unknown. Continue reading...
Police say child escaped car and raised alarm in latest tragedy as flood emergency continues in northern New South Wales and south-east QueenslandA police rescue effort is under way to recover three people from a car that went into the Tweed river in far northern New South Wales.Emergency services were called to Dulguigan Road in Tumbulgum about 1.40pm on Monday. A spokeswoman for NSW police said a child had been able to escape the vehicle and seek help from a nearby house. Continue reading...
The influx includes a newly discovered breeding colony of the nomadic and somewhat mysterious banded stiltTens of thousands of coastal birds have flocked to the outback after record-breaking rains filled inland lakes to their highest levels in three decades.The influx includes a newly discovered breeding colony of the nomadic and somewhat mysterious banded stilts, on one of the lakes’ islands in the remote eastern Pilbara region of Western Australia. Continue reading...
Parks and Wildlife and Indigenous land and ranger groups have observed huge numbers of birds, including the mysterious banded stilt, flocking to inland lakes to breed after record-breaking rain events in Australia’s desert regions Continue reading...
These powerful, and at times graphic, images bear witness to the plight of critically endangered Sumatran elephants and the challenges they face. These include the conversion of forest habitat to oil palm plantations, degradation of forest habitat by illegal logging, conflicts with farmers through crop-raiding, and being illegally hunted for their ivory tusks. While the situation is dire, the camera’s lens also finds hope in the efforts of those working to safeguard the animal’s future Continue reading...
Manchester airport A grounded traveller is distracted by the pied wagtails swarming over the terminal roofThe storm has mostly moved over, but its trailing coat still ruffles the air outside Terminal 1 of Manchester airport, and the backlog of cancelled and delayed flights testifies to its handiwork. With an unexpected three hours to kill, I leave the terminal by way of a first-floor access road, as the dregs of the day drain from the oppressively blank sky.I am braced for boredom, but an incongruous flicker of movement stops me in my tracks. The sheer brazenness of the small, energetic bird as it hops around on the asphalt is startling but, before I can contemplate it further, another bird bouncing along a railing distracts my eye. Another, then another, and, before I know it, my eyes are attempting to join 200 or more restless black and white dots, each one a point of elusive energy that seems to flee my gaze just before I can settle on it. Continue reading...
The influx of thousands of gem hunters is disfiguring a protected environment and prompting calls for military interventionA “sapphire rush†has brought tens of thousands of people into the remote rainforests of eastern Madagascar, disfiguring a protected environmental area and prompting calls for military intervention.More high-quality sapphires have been found in the biodiverse area known as Corridor Ankeniheny-Zahamena in the past six months than were found in the entire country over the past 20 years, according to Vincent Pardieu, a French gemologist who has been visiting mines there for more than a decade. Continue reading...
Australian Medical Association accused of supporting politics over science after Dr Michael Gannon said impact of job losses may outweigh health benefitsMembers of the Australian Medical Association have threatened to quit over comments by the national president, Dr Michael Gannon, that the impact of job losses from Victoria’s Hazelwood power plant closure should be considered as well as the health benefits.Gannon has been accused of contradicting clear AMA policy on clean air and going back on his pledge to be less political than his predecessor, but the head of Australia’s peak medical body has denied both accusations. Continue reading...
RET will come to a natural end as emissions intensity scheme can reach goal of 50% renewable energy by 2030, says Andrew LeighLabor will abandon the renewable energy target after 2020 because an emissions intensity scheme will be sufficient to reach the goal of 50% renewable energy by 2030, Andrew Leigh has said.On Sky News on Sunday the shadow assistant treasurer firmed the opposition’s plan to reach the 50% goal without a hard target in comments that appeared to rule out extending the existing renewable energy target (RET). Continue reading...
Body of 77-year-old man Eagleby man found in state’s south-east as NSW flood victims face massive clean-upAuthorities hold grave fears for three men still missing in Queensland as residents in parts of northern NSW return to their homes to start cleaning up.Police on Sunday resumed searching for a man in his 60s who went bushwalking at Lamington national park as well as for a 50-year-old Mondure man David Heidemann and 58-year-old John Frost from Mount Pleasant in Mackay. Continue reading...
Rare only 40 years ago, farmed salmon is now taken for granted in our kitchens. But the growth of the industry has come at great costEvery day, salmon farmers across the world walk into steel cages – in the seas off Scotland or Norway or Iceland – and throw in food. Lots of food; they must feed tens of thousands of fish before the day is over. They must also check if there are problems, and there is one particular problem they are coming across more and more often. Six months ago, I met one of these salmon farmers, on the Isle of Skye. He looked at me and held out a palm – in it was a small, ugly-looking creature, all articulated shell and tentacles: a sea louse. He could crush it between his fingers, but said he was impressed that this parasite, which lives by attaching itself to a fish and eating its blood and skin, was threatening not just his own job, but could potentially wipe out a global multibillion-dollar industry that feeds millions of people.“For a wee creature, it is impressive. But what can we do?†he asks. “Sometimes it seems nature is against us and we are fighting a losing battle. They are everywhere now, and just a few can kill a fish. When I started in fish farming 30 years ago, there were barely any. Now they are causing great problems.†Continue reading...
Airlines generated 5.2m tonnes of waste in 2016, most of which went to landfill or incineration – and it cost them £400mYou probably know about the waste problem in our oceans. But how about the one in our skies?Airline passengers generated 5.2m tonnes of waste in 2016, most of which went to landfill or incineration, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates. That’s the weight of about 2.6m cars. And it’s a figure set to double over the next 15 years. Continue reading...
Llanfairfechan, Gwynedd In their usual river habitat, these magnificent, large, hole-nesting ducks are shy and rightly soTraeth Lafan’s wide expanse of sand is a landscape that draws you in, like the Elenydd moors or the high Arctic, through its abstraction. Nothing’s solid here; all’s sketched and coloured in shifting tones of water and light. Even history has become ambiguous, uncertain. These are drowned lands, their legends tide-steeped, wind-honed.I come here for the birds, to which the fluid landscape accords a peculiar gift. Its bas-relief undulations, its distances, absorb and hide. What on first glance appears empty, on closer scrutiny teems with life. Though on this grey and turbulent day, with a flooding tide, little stirs. A couple of oystercatchers, heavy-billed, speed past. A little egret lifts out of a filling channel and braves the buffets as it heads back towards the old heronry at Penrhyn Point. In the stand of Scots Pine at the furthermost end of the promenade ravens discourse, shear down to the water’s edge, soar aloft with shellfish in their bills, to drop them from a height on the concrete sea-wall before folding their wings and swooping down to pick out the morsel of flesh. Continue reading...
If the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility hasn’t got a risk policy yet, how can it be considering a $1bn loan for the Adani project?We don’t yet know whether the $5bn Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) will be – as was alleged in parliament this week – a “slush fund†used to pursue the government’s “pro-coal agendaâ€.
Researchers at Utah University have captured video of an American badger burying a calf carcass in Utah’s Grassy Mountains. The images show the badger digging around the cow’s body, which then sinks into the tunnels below, before covering it with earth. It then returned to feed on it over the coming weeks. This behaviour has never before been caught on camera
The birth of Britain’s first crowned sifaka, a type of rare lemur, has been filmed by staff at the Cotswold Wildlife Park. Yousstwo, a male pup, was born to parents Bafana and Tahina in December. The sifaka lemur is critically endangered in Madagascar, so the birth has extra significance