Environment | The Guardian

Residents opposed to the drilling sites in Lancashire say the communities secretary Sajid Javid’s decision was unlawfulThe communities secretary, Sajid Javid, made significant legal errors when he overturned a council’s refusal to allow test drilling at a fracking site in Lancashire, a court has been told.Residents opposed to the drilling sites near Blackpool told Manchester high court that Javid acted “in breach of the rules of natural justice” when he gave the green light to test fracking in October. Continue reading...

Chemical used in the best-selling Roundup herbicide is cleared for public use following an EU licensing battle due to potential health risksA controversial chemical used in Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller has been judged safe for public use by the European Chemical Agency (Echa).Glyphosate has been the subject of a relicensing battle which split governments, regulators and scientists, with one arm of the World Health Organisation linking the substance to cancer, while another denied any risk. Continue reading...

Making EPA data easily accessible to the private sector plays a significant role in many billion-dollar industries, from renewable energy to auto manufacturing

A survey of five of the six biggest soft drinks firms found just 7% of throwaway plastic bottles are made from recycled materialsMore than two million tonnes of throwaway plastic soft drinks bottles are sold each year, with only a small proportion made from recycled materials, research reveals.

Harrowbarrow, Tamar Valley Short twigs of February-grafted cherries already show swelling buds above the yellow plastic tapeThe new tall fence should help protect Mary and James’s orchard from the attention of roe deer, which come from the valley’s sheltering woodland to nibble leaves, bark and the precious shoots of new grafts, as well as shed their potentially dangerous ticks.Most of the fruit trees are more than 30 years old, but this diverse and catalogued collection of once widely grown apples, cherries and pears is constantly being refined and added to. Short twigs of February-grafted cherries already show swelling buds above the yellow plastic tape that binds specific varieties to vigorous root-stocks. Lanky poor specimens of cherries have been dug out and the spaces infilled with more apples. Continue reading...

Eerie scenes on north-west coast show bioluminescent waters from ‘sea sparkle’The waters along Tasmania’s north-west coastline have taken on a bizarre, glowing appearance in recent days. Photographs taken off Preservation Bay and Rocky Cape showcase bioluminescent waters caused by a natural phenomenon known as noctiluca scintillans (AKA sea sparkle), which happens when tiny plankton emit blue light in self-defence.The phenomenon, which is best seen in calm, warm seas, is foreboding. “The displays are a sign of climate change,” Anthony Richardson, from the CSIRO, told New Scientist after an occurrence in Tasmania in 2015. Continue reading...

In the first of a series about Australian communities building renewable energy projects, we look at how Victoria’s Hepburn Shire overcame local opposition to deliver a new homegrown, community-owned generatorFrom the fertile spud-growing country of Hepburn Shire, 90km northwest of Melbourne, has sprung what many hope will become a revolution in renewable energy in Australia.On Leonards Hill, just outside the town of Daylesford – famed for its natural springs – stand two wind turbines that not only power the local area, but have also added substantial power to the community-owned renewable energy movement in Australia. Continue reading...

Kicking off our six-part series highlighting innovative community renewable energy projects across Australia, we visit the town of Daylesford in Hepburn Shire in rural Victoria. Despite early local opposition, residents have tackled the electricity crisis by building their own renewable energy projects, starting with a cooperative-owned windfarm and moving into the hydro power that was once a feature of the town Continue reading...

The Disasters Emergency Committee calls for urgent response to humanitarian emergency unfolding in east Africa, with 16 million people facing hungerA major appeal is being launched on Wednesday to help more than 16 million people facing hunger in east Africa.The Disasters Emergency Commission is calling for funds to scale up the response to drought in the region and prevent “hunger on a massive scale”, while aid agencies warn that “countless lives are at stake”. Continue reading...

Jay Weatherill was backed into a corner to produce an energy plan. But it is a grab bag of overlapping ideas that don’t really make senseSouth Australian Premier Jay Weatherill is a politician panicked by a cynical and misleading campaign by his SA Liberal party opponents and the federal government to blame the state’s high power prices and recent blackouts on his 50% renewable energy target.He has rushed out a so-called energy plan which is more like a grab bag of overlapping ideas that will do little to lower power prices. Meanwhile, they run the risk of saddling SA energy consumers or taxpayers with hundreds of millions of dollars in extra costs to support gas-fuelled generators that don’t materially improve energy security when there’s a lack of gas to fuel them. Continue reading...

Underground aquifers are usually replenished from October through to March, but hydrographs reveal progress was slow until JanuaryIn the UK, about one third of the water that comes out of our taps is sourced from groundwater. The south of the country is particularly dependent on this underground store of water, with Cambridge Water and Cholderton Water relying entirely on the water found in the chalk and sandstone rock formations of the south-east.After a dry winter, groundwater levels are lower than normal for the time of year, and scientists from the British Geological Survey are keeping a close eye on the situation. Continue reading...

The ripping up of gas treaty in pursuit of a greater share of revenue from Sunrise gas field could create a failed state if no new agreement is forged, expert saysTimor-Leste’s decision to rip up a treaty with Australia on the carve-up of future revenue from Greater Sunrise oil and gas reserve in the Timor Sea could make it an “architect of its own demise”, experts have told a parliamentary inquiry.In January Timor-Leste announced it wished to terminate the treaty which split future revenue 50-50 with Australia and put a 50-year moratorium on a permanent maritime boundary. Continue reading...

‘We hope that these estimates and their significant magnitude raise public awareness and increase the level of appreciation for spiders,’ study authors sayThe world’s spiders eat 400-800m tonnes of insects every year – as much meat and fish as humans consume over the same period, a study said Tuesday.In the first analysis of its kind, researchers used data from 65 previous studies to estimate that a total of 25m metric tonnes of spiders exist on Earth. Continue reading...

Last century, the cliff-dwelling bird of prey almost became extinct in Britain. Now it has reinvented itself as a city creature. What is behind this spectacular recovery?By the four chimneys of Battersea power station, between tower cranes and builders’ cabins, is an unobtrusive metal mast. At the top, a watchful figure looks down upon the 3,000 workers bustling around this vast £9bn construction site.“Female,” says David Morrison, with a deft glance through his binoculars. “She’s protecting her nest site. There was an intruding female about half an hour ago.” Continue reading...

Jeremy Hance writes a letter to his young daughter as a part of the Letters to the Revolution initiative.

Staying politically neutral on Trump administration policies is proving difficult for businesses in the face of mounting public pressureAmerican companies have a long history of weighing in on political and social issues. But the election of Donald Trump has fueled public pressure on businesses to go much further to take a stand on specific policies – and made it difficult for those that wish to remain neutral.

Invented a century ago, rotating columns fixed to ship’s deck interact with wind to provide forward thrust and could make 10% fuel savingAn ocean-going tanker is to be fitted with a type of “spinning sail” invented almost a century ago in a step that could lead to more environmentally friendly tankers worldwide.The unusual sails are rotating columns fixed to the deck of the ship, whose interaction with the wind provides forward thrust. The trial is backed by Maersk, one of the world’s biggest shipping companies and Shell’s shipping arm. Continue reading...

The bill ‘spells doom’ for species including Tasmanian devil, wedge-tailed eagle and swift parrot, says Bob BrownA proposal to allow logging access to more parts of Tasmania’s wilderness has sparked calls for federal government intervention.Related: Speaking for the trees: hope, despair, and regrowth in Tasmania's charred wilderness | Continue reading...

The South Australian government has announced it will intervene in the national energy market in a $550m plan that seeks to tame the state’s turbulent power supply and prices. The premier, Jay Weatherill, says his government will build a gas-fired power station and Australia’s largest battery storage unit Continue reading...

South Australia’s premier has committed to a high-stakes rebuild of the state’s energy market – but what choice did he have?If you happen to be looking on at events in South Australia on Tuesday with confusion, let’s keep it simple.

In normal light the polka-dot tree frog has a dull complexion – but under UV light it glows bright greenThe world’s first fluorescent frog has been discovered in the Amazon basin in South America.Scientists at the Bernardino Rivadavia Natural Sciences Museum in Buenos Aires made the discovery by accident while studying the pigment of polka-dot tree frogs, a species common across the continent. Continue reading...

Wepham Down, West Sussex The hen harrier raises its wings as air brakes, using the wind to lift, stall and loop backwardsA skylark rises up in loud, breathless song, claiming its breeding territory. The bird hovers with vibrating wings, unmoved by the strong gusts of wind. It climbs into the air in steps, each new phrase propelling it further up into the sky, until I can no longer see it. Another skylark answers in the distance.Fieldfares hop across the grass – they’ll be moving on, returning to northern Scandinavia to breed, within days. Black and white lapwing patrol a bare patch of soil. They feed in quick down-up motions, as if bowing to each other. This large flock will also soon disperse, many returning to the continent, but some will stay here to nest. Continue reading...

Grylls thanks supporters on Facebook after Colin Barnett’s government loses Western Australian electionBrendon Grylls, the leader of the Western Australian National party, who spearheaded a campaign to increase charges paid by Australia’s two biggest mining companies, has lost his seat to Labor.Grylls is yet to make a formal statement but told Australian Associated Press on Tuesday that he had conceded the seat, saying: “I can’t come back from this.” Continue reading...

Premier Jay Weatherill announces drastic measures for the state to take control of its energy sources, saying Australia’s energy market is ‘failing the nation’• South Australia’s energy plan – as it happened The South Australian government has announced it will intervene in the national energy market in a $550m plan that seeks to tame the state’s turbulent power supply and prices.

From encouraging bike riding and compostable plates to better recycling, organisers have diverted 98% of waste from landfill – and they want to do moreFor all the good vibes and communal spirit, when it comes to environmental sustainability there isn’t a great deal to celebrate about the average music festival.As anyone who has gazed upon the aftermath of one can attest, these orgies of consumption typically leave in their wake a trail of plastic cups and dumped tents strewn about a wasteland of churned earth. Continue reading...

Pipeline from Tennant Creek to Mount Isa could bring gas from the territory into the eastern states market amid power crisisAn $800m gas pipeline from the Northern Territory to Queensland is one step closer after the federal government granted environmental approval for construction.The approval, which carries conditions to protect the native death adder snake, had not been expected by the NT government for several weeks, and follows Malcolm Turnbull’s statement that his government will consider “all measures” to ensure energy security. Continue reading...

Sharp intake of breath on reading Chitra Ramaswamy’s statement that Pembrokeshire is the only coastal national park (Last Night’s TV, G2, 8 March). True, it is the only fully coastal one, but here in North Yorkshire we have the best national treasure of all in a park with heather moors, beautiful villages nestling in valleys, heritage and craftspeople aplenty as well as a delightful varied coastline.

Rescue workers search 74-acre site for survivors, with residents blaming construction of biogas plant for disasterAt least 65 people were killed in a giant landslide at Ethiopia’s largest rubbish dump this weekend, officials said on Monday, with entire families including children buried alive in the tragedy.“The rescue operation is still ongoing. Security personnel and rescuers are trying their level best to locate any possible survivors, while searching for the dead,” said communication minister Negeri Lencho. Continue reading...

Packaging – much of it single-use food wrapping – has created a rubbish problem that now pollutes every corner of the world. Manufacturers got us into this mess, but it’s up to us to dig ourselves out – and here’s howIn 2003, I was told by a restaurant owner on a Thai island that local fishermen used to wrap their lunch in banana leaves, which they would then casually toss overboard when done. That was OK, because the leaves decayed and the fish ate the scraps. But in the past decade, he said, while plastic wrap had rapidly replaced banana leaves, old habits had died hard – and that was why the beach was fringed with a crust of plastic. Beyond the merely unsightly, this plastic congregates in continent-scale garbage gyres in our oceans, being eaten by plankton, then fish; then quite possibly it’ll reach your plate ... This is a worldwide problem – we can’t point the finger at Thai fishermen. The west started this. The developing world justifiably yearns for its living standards and, with it, its unsustainable convenience culture. Continue reading...

Competition watchdog will urge companies to sell to the domestic market, as South Australia reveals its plan to head off further power cutsThe head of Australia’s competition watchdog will urge gas companies to support the domestic market to ensure struggling manufacturers don’t go to the wall, as the Turnbull government mulls options for boosting domestic gas supply to head off forecast shortages.The chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Rod Sims, will outline his views on the east coast gas crisis in a speech in Sydney on Tuesday, as the South Australian government unveils a blueprint to shore up the state’s unreliable power network, perhaps including new investment in baseload power and storage. Continue reading...

Corporate capture of academic research by the fossil fuel industry is an elephant in the room and a threat to tackling climate change.On February 16, the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center hosted a film screening of the “Rational Middle Energy Series.” The university promoted the event as “Finding Energy’s Rational Middle” and described the film’s motivation as “a need and desire for a balanced discussion about today’s energy issues.”

Industry wants more support from federal government now prime minister has ‘taken interest in the tweets of an American billionaire’Malcolm Turnbull should encourage Australia’s battery energy storage industry now he has “taken interest in the tweets of an American billionaire”, Zen Energy chairman Ross Garnaut says.Garnaut was referring to Elon Musk, the billionaire co-founder of electric car giant Tesla, who tweeted that Tesla could solve the power shortage issue causing price spikes and blackouts in South Australia within 100 days by installing 100-300 megawatt hours of battery storage. Continue reading...

Llanon, Ceredigion The paths retain their sense of age, hinting at centuries of daily journeys from homestead to field and backBetween the village of Llanon and the sea lies an area of flat land perhaps a kilometre wide, bordered to north and south by minor rivers. On the large scale maps of the area it is labelled Morfa Esgob – which translates roughly as Bishop’s Land. In contrast to the steep, thin-soiled hill pastures inland it is a favoured spot. Well-drained and quick to warm in spring, thanks to the great heat store of Cardigan Bay, the land is now mostly grazed, but both map and landscape hint at a more complex past.

Macfarlane urges MPs to pass legislation to protect land use agreements as Indigenous leaders call for consultationThe former federal resources minister Ian Macfarlane has said the majority of 126 mining projects under Indigenous land use agreements could be shut down pending renegotiations following a federal court ruling on native title.His comments come after a federal court ruling in the McGlade native title case found that an Indigenous land use agreement (Ilua) was invalid because not all Indigenous representatives had signed it. Continue reading...

Damaging winds are forecast to hit parts of New South Wales on Monday, bringing large hailstones and heavy rainSevere thunderstorms with heavy rain, hail and winds of up to 90km/h are forecast to hit parts of New South Wales on Monday.The Bureau of Meteorology has warned people in the central west slopes and plains, and northern tablelands, to brace for large hailstones, damaging winds and heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding.

Many victims are thought to have been people who scavenged for a living at Koshe landfill siteAt least 46 people have died and dozens more have been injured in a giant landslide at Ethiopia’s largest rubbish dump outside Addis Ababa, a tragedy squatters living there blamed on a biogas plant being built nearby.Dozens of homes of squatters who lived in the Koshe landfill site, on the outskirts of the capital, were flattened when the largest pile of rubbish collapsed on Saturday. Continue reading...

Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 17 March 1917Surrey

For too long, no one suspected that any car manufacturer was cheating. Instead it was thought to be a weakness in the testIt is amazing that the Volkswagen and diesel emissions scandal was not discovered earlier. In 2003 nitrogen dioxide alongside London’s Marylebone Road increased by around 20%. As we approached the 2010 legal compliance date, concentrations from traffic went up, not down, and diesel cars were shown to be much more polluting than the official tests led us to believe.However, according to the EU parliament’s recent inquiry, no one suspected that any car manufacture was cheating. Instead it was thought to be a weakness in the test. Continue reading...

Prime minister told to adopt a domestic gas reservation policy to deal with forecast LNG shortagesThe prime minister is under mounting internal pressure to adopt a domestic gas reservation policy to deal with forecast shortages. The chairman of the government’s backbench committee on energy and the environment, Craig Kelly, has said it is something Malcolm Turnbull should consider.With Turnbull due to meet senior executives from the east coast gas companies on Wednesday, Kelly told Guardian Australia the government needed to be open to adopting a reservation policy to ensure that a looming lack of gas supply did not create a full-blown energy crisis. Continue reading...

Activists will challenge permission granted to Cuadrilla for test fracking sites near Blackpool as pressure mounts over the cost of policing the protestsThe government will go to court this week to defend test drilling at a fracking site in Lancashire as it comes under pressure to pay hundreds of thousands of pounds to cover the cost of policing anti-fracking protests.The high court in Manchester will hear two cases on Wednesday that pit Sajid Javid, the communities secretary, against protesters who oppose the permission granted to fracking companies for test sites near Blackpool. Continue reading...

Figure rises for second consecutive year, says Massachusetts’ top shark expert, warning of ‘public safety issue’ despite no deaths in state’s waters since 1936Great white sharks are swimming toward the waters off Massachusetts in rising numbers, scientists say, after a second consecutive year showing an increase in predators to Cape Cod.The latest data from a multiyear study of the ocean predators found that the number of sharks in waters off the vacation haven appeared to be on the rise, said Greg Skomal, a senior scientist with the Massachusetts division of marine fisheries, and the state’s top shark expert. Continue reading...

MPs condemn ‘waste of money’ as documents show controversial £2bn privatisation has cost taxpayers at least £1m in banking and legal feesThe troubled £2bn privatisation of the Green Investment Bank has already cost at least £1m of taxpayer money in consultancy fees, official documents have revealed.Ministers have promised that the sale of the bank, which has invested in green projects from offshore windfarms to energy-saving street lights, will deliver value for taxpayers’ money. An announcement on the sale to Australian investment bank Macquarie was expected in January but has yet to materialise amid strong political opposition. Continue reading...

Tesla boss speaks to South Australian premier and then Australian prime minister about issues with state and national supplyMalcolm Turnbull has spoken to the Tesla founder, Elon Musk, about energy storage issues after the tech billionaire offered to supply battery technology to solve South Australia’s energy reliability problems within 100 days.The prime minister’s office said the hour-long conversation on Sunday had occurred by mutual arrangement, given Turnbull’s longstanding commitment to exploring technological options to enhance storage. Continue reading...

Smallholders hope to reverse years of dairy industry decline with a return to cows grazing in the great outdoorsThis is a story that is almost as rare as a free-range cow: a good news story about the British dairy industry.This month, Jenni and Jerry Hobbs will swing open the gates to the yard of their modest farmhouse in Gloucestershire, shout a few words of encouragement and watch as their herd of brown Swiss, Friesians, Fleckviehs and the rest, big eyes blinking as they survey the expanse of grass before them, buck and cavort their way out to pasture. Continue reading...

Manu national park in Peru threatened by roads, oil/gas operations, narco trade, goldmining, logging and ‘human safaris’Just under half of Unesco’s World Heritage sites are under threat, the WWF asserts. Sites deemed threatened include the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the Pantanal in Brazil and the Virunga national park in the Democratic Republic of Congo – and 111 others.But what about the Manu national park in Peru’s Amazon, which Unesco calls the most biodiverse place on Earth and was declared part of a biosphere reserve in the 1970s? Continue reading...

But campaigners remain unconvinced by firm’s shift towards cleaner energyWhen Shell sold most of its Canadian tar sands operations last week, the Anglo-Dutch oil company took a modest step towards making good on its promise to be part of the solution on global warming, rather than the problem.Tar sands are reviled by climate change campaigners as one of the dirtiest forms of energy. The sands are a glutinous, bitumen-addled mix when extracted from the ground and a huge amount of energy is need to turn them into synthetic crude oil. Continue reading...

Rapidly growing Canada goose population is health hazard but quarter of King’s students sign petition to spare the birdsIt’s been an exasperating week for Philip Isaac, domus bursar at King’s College, Cambridge University. It all started with an impassioned letter from students which, invoking the words of Gandhi, called for the peaceful coexistence of scholars and geese. It was only a matter of time before the press got wind of the petition. Journalists flocked to cover the story of the college that’s murdering its wildlife.Related: Make a honk for rare geese | Patrick Barkham Continue reading...

Trump administration’s zeal for deregulation seen by environmentalists as a recipe for fossil fuel cronyism, runaway climate change and toxic water crisesScott Pruitt, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, caused conniptions among scientists this week by claiming that carbon dioxide isn’t the primary catalyst of global warming. Conservative groups and industry, on the other hand, heard hints that a cherished goal may be within reach.

South Uist Though we cannot see the hunters their presence is signalled by the waders that suddenly rise in flocksFar in the distance the craggy peaks of Skye have been rendered Alpine-like by the overnight snow. Away to the north the high hills of Harris also bear a covering, and even South Uist’s less lofty heights have a dusting of white. There is a hint of warmth in the morning sun, but what makes this a glorious day to be outside is the complete absence of wind, for with even a light breeze it would be skin-flayingly cold.