The scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has reported that the Earth is already in the stages of the sixth mass extinction, which will see the world’s wildlife and plants die out. The research found that species, including those which are not endangered, had reduced in number due to habitation shrinkage, hunting, pollution and climate change
Cab maker ditches diesel to produce a petrol and electric-powered taxi that will be rolled out in NovemberThe maker of the London black cab has unveiled the new, electric design of the car, which will hit the capital’s roads in November and which it hopes to sell to pollution-blighted cities worldwide.Known as the London Taxi Company since 1948, the firm will rebrand as the London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC) to export the new model, which runs for about 70 miles off a battery before switching to a petrol engine for up to 400 miles. Continue reading...
The good news is that we are using our tumble driers less, the bad news we are chucking our unwanted clothes in the bin rather than recycling themThe carbon footprint of the UK clothing sector is worsening, a new report reveals, driven by the ongoing popularity of cheap and cheerful “fast fashion†and a shortage of sustainable raw materials.Although the amount of clothing being sent to landfill has fallen by 14% from 350,000 tonnes in 2012 to 300,000 in 2016 a staggering one-quarter is still binned rather than recycled. That is down from 31% four years ago. Continue reading...
Area of deforestation climbed 44% in 2016 compared with year before, as criminal groups have swooped in promote illegal logging and miningColombia has seen an alarming surge in deforestation after the leftwing rebels relinquished control over vast areas of the country as a part of a historic peace deal.
The Trocaz pigeon is a vital seed-disperser in one of the world’s rarest forest ecosystems, but its taste for cabbage has put it in direct competition with humans. Guess who wins?As we hike through the cool, low-canopied forest along a levada – a centuries-old water canal carved out of the mountainside – our guide talks effusively of a pigeon.It’s the “guardian of the forest†the guide with MB Tours tells me and the other hikers. Known as the Trocaz pigeon, or alternatively the laurel pigeon or the long-toed pigeon, it’s only found here: on the Portuguese island of Madeira. We halt under an ancient laurel tree and the guide explains that the endemic pigeon is vital to Madeira because it disperses many of the plants found in this unique forest ecosystem: the laurisilva. Continue reading...
Aemo chief executive calls Elon Musk’s project a ‘very important part of our summer plan’The head of Australia’s energy market regulator is “concerned†about avoiding blackouts next summer and says the proposed Tesla lithium ion battery in South Australia is a “very important part of our summer planâ€.Speaking at an industry event in Melbourne on Tuesday, the Australian Energy Market Operator chief executive, Audrey Zibelman, said the regulator would do everything it could to ensure the project was built within the 100-day deadline set by the Tesla founder, Elon Musk, saying missing that deadline was “not really an optionâ€. Continue reading...
West Sussex Over a few short weeks the peregrine chicks have grown from ungainly youngsters into aerobats like their parentsThe piercing calls coming from above, high up on the chalk cliff, reveal that there are still peregrine falcons at home. Four chicks have fledged, and over the course of a few short weeks I’ve been watching them grow from ungainly youngsters, flapping in short, clumsy flights across the cliff face, to become stronger aerobats like their parents. The mother soars overhead, her tail fanned out, and slowly banks and turns back towards the cliff, calling again, the sun catching her grey and white face. The young birds – brown with heavily streaked breasts – answer, their voices sounding more like squeaks than the piercing shrieks of the adult.In the past week, both parents have been enticing the chicks to follow them by carrying prey in their talons, which they give to the young mid-air. When they all leave the nest site, probably some time in the next few weeks, the adults will teach them how to hunt live prey – birds in flight – over the Downs.
Custodians of world heritage-listed sites should aim to keep global temperature increases to just 1.5C, UN agency saysCountries with responsibility over world heritage-listed coral reefs should adopt ambitious climate change targets, aiming to cut greenhouse gas emissions to levels that would keep global temperature increases to just 1.5C, the UN agency responsible for overseeing world heritage sites has said.At a meeting of Unesco’s world heritage committee in Kraków, Poland, a decision was adopted that clarified and strengthened the responsibility of countries that have custodianship over world-heritage listed coral reefs. Continue reading...
by Anushka Asthana and Heather Stewart on (#2W51T)
Keir Starmer pledges to work across parties to prevent ‘reckless’ plan as part of Brexit, as radiologists warn of effect on patientsLabour’s Keir Starmer has urged the government to keep Britain in the Euratom treaty that governs the movement of nuclear materials – and drop its red line on the future role of the European court of justice or risk defeat in the House of Commons.
by Damian Carrington Environment editor on (#2W4G5)
Researchers talk of ‘biological annihilation’ as study reveals billions of populations of animals have been lost in recent decadesA “biological annihilation†of wildlife in recent decades means a sixth mass extinction in Earth’s history is under way and is more severe than previously feared, according to research.Scientists analysed both common and rare species and found billions of regional or local populations have been lost. They blame human overpopulation and overconsumption for the crisis and warn that it threatens the survival of human civilisation, with just a short window of time in which to act. Continue reading...
Derbyshire police say rig was damaged at storage yard in move seemingly intended to slow embryonic shale industryA drilling rig owned by one of the UK’s most prominent fracking firms has been seriously vandalised, in a move seemingly intended to slow down the country’s embryonic shale industry.Derbyshire police said that between 18 and 24 May, a person illegally entered a facility near Chesterfield run by PR Marriott, Britain’s largest onshore deep drilling company, which stores and maintains the rig on behalf of shale gas firm Cuadrilla.
by Anushka Asthana, Heather Stewart and Adam Vaughan on (#2W3EE)
Government considering ‘associate membership’ of group that governs movement of radioactive material across EuropeThe government is drawing up plans to replicate the benefits of remaining a member of the Euratom treaty, which governs the movement of nuclear materials across Europe, in the face of a growing rebellion of Conservative MPs.The Guardian understands that one option being considered is an “associate membershipâ€, similar to that held by Switzerland, or paying money to an international agency to set up an independent arrangement. Continue reading...
Tory rebels are fighting over the UK’s participation in the European atomic energy community. What happens if Britain does quit?Of all the many European collaborations threatened by Brexit, the UK’s participation in the European atomic energy community, Euratom, might seem an odd subject for Tory rebels to pick for their first fight. But the government’s policy on leaving this nuclear safety and research watchdog provides an unusually clear-cut example of the economic pain of taking back control – and one for which there is unusually limited political justification.“Initially created to coordinate the member states’ research programmes for the peaceful use of nuclear energy,†explains the official legal summary, “the Euratom treaty today helps to pool knowledge, infrastructure and funding of nuclear energy. It ensures the security of atomic energy supply within the framework of a centralised monitoring system.†Continue reading...
Call for review follows repeated allegations of violence and excessive force by police and security staff at UK sitesRepeated allegations of excessive force by police and security staff against protesters at oil and gas fracking sites across the country have led to a call for an urgent review of police tactics.Lancashire police are investigating an allegation of assault by a security official at the Cuadrilla site at Preston New Road in Lancashire. At other protest sites – including Surrey and Derbyshire – demonstrators have made complaints about the alleged heavy-handedness of police officers. Continue reading...
A new series on Sky 1 traces the ancestry and evolution of the 500 million domesticated dogs worldwide, with biologist Patrick Aryee introducing some of the 36 wild species. Dogs: An Amazing Animal Family airs on Thursdays from 13 to 27 July.All photographs: Offspring Films Continue reading...
Amid budget cuts and threats from conservative lawmakers, the National Indian Foundation, or Funai, is barely able to protect indigenous people and their landThe Brazilian agency charged with protecting nearly a million indigenous people and their extensive reserves is barely functioning after a debilitating assault from a powerful group of conservative politicians and a cost-cutting government.The concerted campaign against the National Indian Foundation, known as Funai, could endanger some of Brazil’s most vulnerable tribes – and compromise the country’s ability to meet international commitments on climate change, said indigenous leaders, campaigners and scientists. Continue reading...
Carmichael plan details no mining or construction, which would trigger a Queensland government demand for funds to pay for land rehabilitationAdani has kept an operating plan for its unfunded Queensland mine to just six months, postponing an expected legal obligation to provide a billion-dollar rehabilitation bond before financial backing emerges.The miner has provided the state government with a plan that covers only up to the end of 2017, which falls before its deadline for securing US$2.5bn in financial backing to execute the first phase of Australia’s largest proposed coal project. Continue reading...
A relatively small number of fossil fuel producers and their investors could hold the key to tackling climate changeJust 100 companies have been the source of more than 70% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions since 1988, according to a new report.
Moonshine Gap, Cambridgeshire I watch a bird, listen to its dainty movements, then walk over into Northamptonshire, into the wood and signs of rural mischiefMoonshine Gap: what does that name say? When I saw it on the map it said something probably over-romantic, definitely nefarious, the sort of feature found in literature of the Kentucky backwoods. Or older, when the transit of and sightlines to stellar objects were watched, noted and sometimes immortalised. Seemed a stretch for this place.Gap is like col or pass, a place where the ground gives to allow a way between this place and that. All are mountain words, so a strange find in this flat place. This “gap†marks a straddle between Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire, so maybe that’s why. It’s not new: there it is on the 1889 map, attached to a wedge of wood amid crackle-glaze fields. Continue reading...
Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 12 July 1917Along the grassy cuttings of the railway line between Carlisle and Kilmarnock the midsummer flowers are rampant. One would like to have a free pass to investigate the flora of railway cuttings. Many are the tales one hears of the uncommon plants which turn up in such situations, but, in whirling past, one can get only an impressionist view. To-day the prevailing colour was a brilliant and beautiful lilac-blue, that of the tufted vetch (Vicia cracca) whose long-spikes of pea-shaped flowers made “little heavens†for many miles. In some places they had begun to mow the grass along the cuttings, and the farmers will be glad of this vetch, which makes a much-prized sweet food for cattle.Related: How to access the Guardian and Observer digital archive Continue reading...
The June heatwave brought dangerously high ozone levels and caused serious summer smogThe hottest June day in the UK since 1976 caused widespread summertime smog across southern England and the Midlands. Sevenoaks in Kent and Lullington Heath, East Sussex, measured the greatest ozone level for 11 years; reaching eight on the UK government’s ten-point scale for the first time. The winds then turned westerly and carried our polluted air eastwards to create problems over Germany.Ozone can take days to form in the atmosphere. It therefore spreads across very wide areas. To reduce the worst impacts, Paris once again banned the oldest vehicles from its roads and, in a targeted approach, restrictions were placed on industries that emit volatile hydrocarbons that contribute to ozone formation. In a re-run of the 2003 heatwave, smoke from the tragic forest fires in Portugal spread over France and reached the UK during the hot weather. Continue reading...
Plans to reduce forest protections linked to attacks on inspectors and campaigners, environmental groups said after two land rights activists murderedEnvironmental campaigners have blamed the Brazilian government for intensifying violence in the lawless Amazon after two land activists were murdered and a transporter carrying vehicles for Brazil’s environment agency was torched last week.Related: Brazil's archaeologists join fight to preserve country's ancient lands Continue reading...
Energy analysis firm RepuTex finds clean energy target going beyond that advocated by Finkel Review would keep prices down for longerThe more ambitious a clean energy target is, the lower Australian wholesale electricity prices will be, according to new modelling by energy analysis firm RepuTex.
Surinder Arora publishes ‘cheaper and less disruptive’ plan to expand airport including shifting new runway away from M25 and reducing site area by 25%A wealthy hotel operator has submitted plans for a third runway at Heathrow which he claims would be £6.7bn cheaper than the airport’s current scheme.Surinder Arora, founder and chairman of the Arora Group, said there were “cheaper and better ways†to expand Britain’s biggest airport in proposals sent to the government as part of a public consultation. Continue reading...
The Taylor review of employment practices, set up by Theresa May, is due to be published. It must promise radical reformWhen Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the Royal Society of Arts, was appointed last year by Theresa May to lead a review of modern employment practices, he said it would be “really important to get out and listen to peopleâ€, as opposed to merely crunching data and numbers.Let us hope he has listened to some of the same people as Frank Field, the former chair of the work and pensions committee. Field’s latest report from the frontline of the gig economy told some depressing, if by now familiar, stories. Workers can be forced into forms of self-employment against their will. Contracts can offer effective wages of less than £2.50 an hour and be enforced with threats of fines or loss of work. Continue reading...
by Sam Jones in Malpartida de Plasencia, Extremadura on (#2W0QG)
Animals and plants struggle to survive as severe heat dries up the landA taunting peal of thunder rings out overhead as Diego GarcÃa de la Peña studies one of his ponds and wonders whether its water will see his cattle through until October.The 65-year-old farmer – a former bullfighter who quotes Federico GarcÃa Lorca and whose ancestors were among the legions of steely Extremadurans who bent the New World to their will – is a worried man. Continue reading...
Conservationists fear negative impact on ecosystem and call on the government to release cull dataIt is one of the more neglected dimensions of the badger cull, but one that could reignite the controversy surrounding the attempt to control the spread of bovine tuberculosis.Conservationists have long claimed that eliminating badgers from certain areas is likely to trigger an increase in other predators, such as foxes, leading to serious consequences for species and habitats. But the government has refused to publish data showing what impact the cull is having on local ecosystems for fear that the results will be used by animal rights activists to identify the farmers and landowners carrying out the extermination. Continue reading...
Joint statement points to US decision to withdraw from Paris agreement while other G20 countries see accord as ‘irreversible’World leaders have made clear the US’s isolated stance on climate change, with 19 of the G20 countries affirming their commitment to the “irreversible†Paris climate agreement.After lengthy negotiations that stretched well into Saturday, the final joint statement from the meeting in Hamburg notes Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris deal while stating that the world’s other major economies all still support the international effort to slow dangerous global warming. Continue reading...
Carcasses found off Canada in recent weeks in what may be biggest single die-off of one of world’s most endangered whale species, expert saysSeven North Atlantic right whales have been found floating lifelessly in the Gulf of St Lawrence, off Canada, in recent weeks, in what is being described as a “catastrophic†blow to one of the world’s most endangered whales.The first whale carcass was reported in early June. Within a month, another six reports came in, leaving marine biologists in the region reeling. Continue reading...
More battery-powered vehicles would mean cleaner air and quieter streets – but also a drain on the National Grid and less fuel duty to the TreasuryStreets will be quieter, the air will be cleaner, people will spend less time at petrol stations and car factories might even return to Britain’s shores if the country switches to electric cars in a dramatic, widespread fashion.But widespread adoption of battery-powered vehicles would not be without challenges too. A large-scale switchover to electric cars could create problems for power grids, could mean roads lined with charging poles and it could also leave a big hole in public coffers as fuel duty dries up. Continue reading...
Kendal, Lake District Every year they fly 5,000 miles to breed in the exact same crack or crevice in the exact same buildingIn their brief sojourn here, swifts wreak high-pitched havoc – they are all daredevil velocity and sassy sociability. Since Roman times at least, these urban Apodidae have exploited humankind’s structures. They are nest site faithful, returning every year to breed in the exact same crack or crevice in the exact same building after their 5,000-mile migration from Africa.But according to the RSPB, over a third of the UK’s swifts have been lost in 22 years, in no small part because of habitat loss. Re-roofing or re-pointing old stone buildings can unwittingly lock swifts out; they may return from their long-haul trip to find their homes boarded up and, for that season at least, breeding will not take place. Continue reading...
Lord Howe Island is the nesting site for hundreds of thousands of providence petrels (Pterodroma solandri). The birds used to be common on Norfolk Island, but were eaten to extinction by starving convicts in the early days of settlement. Although fast and graceful in flight, providence petrels spend most of their lives at sea and are clumsy on land. They also have no fear of humans. If they hear a call they will land and investigate, making them easy prey for a hungry convict• Birds, sweat and fears on Lord Howe Island’s grand Seven Peaks Walk Continue reading...
Plastic seems inescapable but there are easy ways like quitting junk food, carrying your own cutlery and using up leftovers that will make a differenceBy now, we all know the horrors of plastic. The way it hangs around without biodegrading for centuries, the way it’s clogging the stomachs of birds, how it creates islands in the ocean for marine life to get stuck in, how it pollutes our riverways and motorways as non-biodegradable rubbish.
Vehicle-to-grid technology could help meet demand for electricity at peak times, with owners paid in money or free parkingThe UK plans to invest millions of pounds to explore how the batteries in thousands of electric cars could help the power grid and drive take-up of the cleaner vehicles.British businesses will be able to bid for £20m of government funding for undertaking research and trials of vehicle-to-grid technology, which officials believe holds “enormous potential†benefits for drivers and the energy system. Continue reading...
After the Yamuna river, a tributary to the Ganges, was granted the accolade, it made sense for activists to tell police that somebody had killed itOne morning in late March, Brij Khandelwal called the Agra police to report an attempted murder.Days before, the high court in India’s Uttarakhand state had issued a landmark judgment declaring the Yamuna river – and another of India’s holiest waterways, the Ganges – “living entitiesâ€. Continue reading...
Experts say hedgehogs face crisis in towns and countryside, as RSPB records fewer sightings of the animals for third year in a rowDuring the day they curl up in nests of shredded paper but when night falls those that are well enough scurry and snuffle around the old fish boxes that serve as their temporary homes.These hedgehogs at the RSPCA’s West Hatch animal centre in Somerset have had a tough time of it. Some have tangled with dogs, strimmers, bonfires, fruit netting or vehicles; others have been brought in as tiny unseeing hoglets, having lost their parents. Continue reading...
Environment adviser to Labour who headed Greenpeace for five years but later broke with many of its positionsThe environmentalist Stephen Tindale, who has died aged 54, was an influential backroom figure in the Labour party who became executive director of Greenpeace UK. His brand of environmentalism was driven by his socialist principles. He was international in outlook, pragmatic about what could be achieved politically, and technologically optimistic. He was successful as a leader, first in government and then outside it.Heading Greenpeace from 2001 until 2006 was Stephen’s most public-facing role, at a time when the organisation was at its noisiest. In 2005 he was arrested during direct action at Range Rover’s SUV plant in Solihull. Greenpeace planted a flag subverting the company’s logo and proclaiming “Land Rover: Climate Criminalsâ€. Stephen was proud of this act of civil disobedience and a framed image of his arrest adorned his wall. Continue reading...
The week’s top environment news stories and green events. If you are not already receiving this roundup, sign up here to get the briefing delivered to your inbox Continue reading...
The Guardian’s Bottling It series is shining a light on the problem of what to do with the 1m plastic drinking bottles produced every minute. Your replies were thoughtful and inspiringWe often hear from members about our environment reporting – you tell us that you value it and would like us to increase our focus in this area. So we were interested in hearing your views on our Bottling It series, which asks who is responsible for the world’s plastic binge, and how we might solve the environmental crisis it is creating. Thank you to all who got in touch – your thoughts were informed, passionate and often inspiring, which is why we have published a selection of them below.The series has been very well read, and this week continues with our reporter Nicola Davis documenting her attempts to avoid buying anything with plastic in it or on it. Do you want to join her? Let us know how you get on using #nomoreplastic on Twitter and Instagram. Continue reading...
by Damian Carrington Environment editor on (#2VXJG)
Six of the secretive cats could be released in Northumberland’s Kielder forest if an application by the Lynx UK Trust is approvedAfter an absence of 1,300 years, the lynx could be back in UK forests by the end of 2017. The Lynx UK Trust has announced it will apply for a trial reintroduction for six lynx into the Kielder forest, Northumberland, following a two-year consultation process with local stakeholders.The secretive cat can grow to 1.5m in length and feeds almost exclusively by ambushing deer. Attacks on humans are unknown, but it was hunted to extinction for its fur in the UK. The Kielder forest was chosen by the trust from five possible sites, due to its abundance of deer, large forest area and the absence of major roads. Continue reading...
America the beautiful … it’s a land of dramatic – and protected – scenery but, with 27 national monuments’ status under review, change may be coming. Here, are 22 of the threatened mainland sites
Activists are ramping up efforts to raise awareness of the US president’s order, which puts 27 US wilderness areas at risk of losing their protected status
by Anushka Asthana and Patrick Wintour on (#2VX5Z)
Donald Trump wants to remove wording from a draft communique that would commit the US to an agreed international approach on reducing fossil fuel emissions, it has been suggestedDonald Trump is trying to water down the wording of a G20 draft communique about lowering fossil fuel emissions, it has been suggested.
As global sales of plastic drinking bottles approach half a trillion a year, share your stories and photos of the environmental implications of plastic waste
Photographer Murdo MacLeod travelled on a converted fishing boat to the Treshnish Isles and Staffa in the Inner Hebrides to admire puffin breeding colonies, where the birds nest in burrows on the edge of cliffsIn Scotland, the much-loved puffin – or fachach in Gaelic – nests on the Treshnish Isles and Staffa in the Inner Hebrides. Outside of the breeding season they spend most of their lives at sea, resting on the waves when not swimming.This distinctive seabird, famous for its stout patterned beak, flies thousands of miles in migration, can dive to more than 60 metres and live for more than 40 years. Continue reading...