Environment | The Guardian

Some flashpoints for environmental activists relating to climate change that are likely to erupt in the first few months of Donald Trump’s presidencyDonald Trump is likely to face unprecedented opposition from environmental groups during his presidency as activists prepare to battle the new administration on a number of fronts across the US.While environmentalists clashed with Barack Obama over the Keystone and Dakota Access oil pipelines, these fights could pale in comparison to the array of grievances Trump will face over water security, fracking and climate change. Continue reading...

A recent outbreak of a fish parasite on Yellowstone may have seemed unremarkable, but new research shows it could be linked to years of human activities that are slowly chocking river systems to death, reports Environment 360The Yellowstone river has its headwaters in the mountain streams and snowy peaks of the famous US national park with the same name, and makes an unfettered downhill run all the way to the Missouri river, nearly 700 miles away. It is the longest undammed river in the Lower 48 states.Last August, the Yellowstone made national headlines when a parasite killed thousands of fish, mostly whitefish. Fear of spreading the parasite to other waterways forced Montana officials to close the river to fishermen, rafters, and boaters. At the height of summer, the stunningly scenic, trout-rich river was eerily deserted. Fishing re-opened in the fall, but the parasite has been found in other Montana waterways. Continue reading...

Solar cookers need to be moved during the day, an inconvenience that leads to some being discarded. But what if a clever unit did its own sun tracking?Solar cookers have been promoted as a safe alternative to boil water, cook food, or even sterilise medical equipment, but many require the user to move the unit so that its focal point is in direct line with the sun. It is a seemingly simple move, but critics claim it has tended to deter users from cooking with them.Roughly 3 billion people worldwide still cook on open fires or solid fuel stoves, according to the World Health Organisation, which estimates more than 4 million people die every year because of household pollution associated with such cooking measures. Continue reading...

Energy firm says it is building access road at site in Fylde after receiving government green light last yearThe energy company Cuadrilla has started work on a controversial shale gas site in Lancashire that will later this year become the first well to be fracked in the UK since 2011.The site at Preston New Road in the Fylde is one of two rejected by Lancashire county council, but its decision was overturned last year by the communities secretary, Sajid Javid. Continue reading...

Climate minister Nick Hurd told bank’s portfolio will be broken up and asset-stripped by Australia’s MacquarieThe prospect of the UK Green Investment Bank being stripped of its assets in a sale to Australian investment bank Macquarie is “deeply troubling”, Scottish ministers have told Westminster.The sale of the Edinburgh-based bank, which supports offshore windfarms and other green projects, is expected to be agreed in January. But the Labour party, Liberal Democrats, Greens and former Conservative ministers have all raised concerns in recent weeks that privatisation may see the bank lose its environmental purpose. Continue reading...

World’s largest energy market looks to move from coal towards cleaner fuelsChina will plough 2.5tn yuan (£292bn) into renewable power generation by 2020, the country’s energy agency has said, as the world’s largest energy market continues to shift away from dirty coal power towards cleaner fuels.

Huge fish sells for 74m yen as conservationists call for moratorium to help stabilise plunging Pacific stocksA bluefin tuna has fetched 74.2m yen (£517,000) at the first auction of the year at Tsukiji market in Tokyo, amid warnings that decades of overfishing by Japan and other countries is taking the species to the brink of extinction.The 212kg fish, caught off the coast of Oma in northern Japan, was bought by Kiyomura, the operator of the Sushi Zanmai restaurant chain, after its president, Kiyoshi Kimura, outbid rivals for the sixth year in a row. Continue reading...

Roker beach, Sunderland Storms tore wracks from the seabed and raucous black-headed and herring gulls rode the wavesStorms had torn wracks and kelps from the seabed and driven them against Roker pier, forcing the heap higher up the beach with each successive tide. This afternoon it was seething with seabirds.There were sanderlings, conspicuous in their pale grey and white plumage, and turnstones, whose feathers so closely matched the hues of the brown fronds that they would have been all but invisible if they had not been constantly on the move. Close by, on the seaward side, raucous black-headed and herring gulls gathered, riding the waves. Continue reading...

A family enjoying a new year’s trip has freed a humpback whale it found entangled in fishing nets off the coast of Antofagasta, Chile. Juan Menares said two of his children dived in to free the distressed 10-metre animal on Monday. Menares said: ‘That feeling after doing something good ... fills me with joy, fills me with pride and to be able to do something that I really had never done before.’ Continue reading...

Known as Granny and believed to be 105, the matriarch of a small population of struggling Puget Sound orcas was first identified by researchers in the 1970sThe world’s oldest known orca – a century-old matriarch of a small population of endangered Puget Sound orcas – has been missing for months and is presumed dead by researchers in what is being described as a tremendous blow to an already struggling population.

Thomas Karl and colleagues were harassed by Republicans for publishing inconvenient science. A new study proves them right.

Extension of prevention measures announced one day after a backyard flock in south Wales was found to have diseasePoultry owners across Britain have been told they must keep their chickens, ducks and geese away from wild birds until the start of spring to counter the threat of avian influenza.Keepers, including people with just a few backyard hens, must place poultry indoors or take other measures to reduce the chances of them coming into contact with wild birds. Continue reading...

Last year saw highest costs from natural disasters since 2012, according to data from reinsurer Munich ReLast year saw the highest costs from natural disasters since 2012, with two earthquakes in Japan in April accounting for the heaviest losses, a leading insurer has said.Related: Climate change threatens ability of insurers to manage risk Continue reading...

Analysis reveals extent of decline because of subsidy cuts and raises concerns about Britain meeting emissions targetsInvestment in windfarms will fall off a “cliff edge” over the next three years and put the UK’s greenhouse gas reduction targets at risk, a thinktank has found.More than £1bn of future investment in renewable energy projects disappeared over the course of 2016, the Green Alliance found when it analysed the government’s latest pipeline of major infrastructure plans. Continue reading...

London at night, snow in the Sahara and Hawaii’s volcanoes are among the images captured by European Space Agency and Nasa satellites last monthA night-time view of western Europe captured by crew members aboard the International Space Station. London is visible in the centre of the image, photographed from more than 250 miles above. Continue reading...

Carbonclean is turning planet-heating emissions into profit by converting CO2 into baking soda – and could lock up 60,000 tonnes of CO2 a yearA breakthrough in the race to make useful products out of planet-heating CO2 emissions has been made in southern India.

1,700 cyclists have been hit by cars and trucks in four years, with one in four drivers failing to stop. Personalised ghost bikes are an effort to show people noticed when someone was killed – and give their families some closure“It’s always the same story,” says Steve Sims, who runs Houston’s Ghost Bike scheme with wife Melissa. “We speak to the family who tell us ‘My loved one was struck and killed.’ It’s devastating for them, but when someone gets hit on a bike here, nothing gets done. It happens over and over. You get involved every time but after a while they just kind of blend together.”We meet at the tattoo parlour the ghost bike group uses as a base. The garage out back is packed wall to wall with old bikes which have been donated and spray-painted white, ready to be used as memorials to the victims of crashes with cars and trucks. It’s eerie to think these bikes will soon mark the site of someone’s death – like visiting the scene of a future mass killing. Continue reading...

Feral population of up to 6.3 million, at a density of one cat for every 4 sq km ‘underlines how potent they are for wildlife’Feral cats cover 99.8% of Australia at a density of one cat for every four square kilometres, according to new research.The research was published in the journal of Biological Conservation and brings together data from almost 100 surveys completed by 40 environmental scientists from different institutions. Continue reading...

Certification schemes criticised for failing to spot labour rights violations on farms in Brazil, the world’s largest coffee producerSerious labour rights violations have taken place at Brazilian farms linked to some of the largest international coffee certification systems, including Rainforest Alliance and UTZ, according to an investigation by Repórter Brasil.The report by the civil society organisation, published this week, found that monitoring systems at so-called sustainable coffee plantations failed to spot irregularities.

Ad watchdog informally resolves Cuadrilla complaints over leaflet stating chemicals used in fracking can cause cancer and contaminate waterFriends of the Earth has agreed not to reproduce an anti-fracking leaflet after the advertising watchdog upheld complaints made by the energy firm Cuadrilla.Cuadrilla, which in October was given government permission for plans to frack after appealing two rejections by Lancashire council, made a string of complaints about the leaflet which made claims that chemicals involved in fracking can cause cancer.

Cross-party committee of MPs also say farmers face a ‘triple jeopardy’ of lost subsidies, export tariffs and increased competitionBrexit could harm the UK’s wildlife and farming, according to a cross-party committee of MPs, with key protections left as ineffective “zombie legislation” and farmers facing a “triple jeopardy” of lost subsidies, export tariffs and increased competition.

Conservation plan involves sending dolphins into Gulf of California to find vaquita and then surface to raise the alarmUS Navy-trained dolphins and their handlers will participate in a last-ditch effort to catch the last few dozen of Mexico’s vaquita porpoises to save them from extinction.The trained animals will use their sonar to locate the extremely elusive vaquitas, then surface and advise their handlers. Continue reading...

‘Lucky’ owls are the latest animal to join Japan’s growing list of themed pet cafes but welfare groups are calling for the practice to stopSeveral owl species sit tied to a makeshift wooden perch as a TV plays a loud, animated owl-themed film behind them in the dimly lit room.This is Tokyo’s Forest of Owl cafe, filled with locals and snap-happy tourists even on a weekday morning, and as the countdown to 2017 begins, its resident owls will be petted and photographed by more Japanese customers than usual as people seek good fortune for the New Year. Continue reading...

The UK’s first commercial windfarm in Delabole has produced enough energy to boil 3.4bn kettles since it began in 1991, when people dismissed the idea. Now it’s one of more than 1,000 onshore projects across the countryFrom Pam the lollipop lady to the repairs for a storm-battered church roof, the fruits of wind power are not hard to find in Delabole. The residents of this Cornish village have lived alongside the UK’s first commercial windfarm since it was built in the year the Gulf war ended and Ryan Giggs rose to fame.The Delabole windfarm marked its 25th anniversary in December, having produced enough power to boil 3.4bn kettles since the blades began spinning. Peter Edwards, a local farmer, erected the first turbines after going on an anti-nuclear march with his wife, Pip. Continue reading...

Asian elephants have faced less poaching than their African cousins but the latest grisly finds have led conservationists to worry for their survivalEven the planet’s smallest elephants, tucked away on the island of Borneo, are no longer immune to the global poaching crisis for ivory.On New Year’s Eve, wildlife officials in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, found the bones of a beloved male elephant, nicknamed Sabre for his unusual tusks that slanted downwards like the extinct sabre-toothed tiger’s canines. Continue reading...

What sort of wildlife will you discover in the early days of the new year?2017 is upon us and wintry conditions will be dominating the northern hemisphere in the weeks ahead. Meanwhile the southern hemisphere will be basking in summer sunshine and the heat that goes with it. So what sort of wildlife will we all discover on our doorsteps? We’d love to see your photos of the January wildlife near you.Share your photos and videos with us and we’ll feature our favourites on the Guardian site. Continue reading...

Nineteen-year-old snorkeller is treated by paramedics before being airlifted to hospital in BundabergA snorkeller is in hospital after the ninth suspected irukandji jellyfish sting at Queensland’s Fraser Island in less than a week.The 19-year-old man was stung on the lip while swimming in Coongul creek on the western side of the island about 11am on Tuesday. He was treated at the scene by paramedics before being airlifted to Bundaberg base hospital.

Thursford, Norfolk Occasionally one blackbird would position herself so close to the glass that you felt sure she was looking at youA friend and fellow wood-owner has built a hide in his patch that’s sunk into the ground so that windows, which are fitted with one-way glass, look out at eye-level over a nearby pond. From its interior you have the most intimate ringside views of the wildlife – which, meanwhile, hasn’t any inkling of human presence.Related: Here for the dawn Continue reading...

Charity reports 196 incidents of waste dumped in its woods and lands, bringing annual bill for dealing with rubbish in woodlands to £354,000The Woodland Trust has suffered its worst year on record for flytipping, with almost 200 incidents of rubbish dumped in its woods and land.The charity has spent £42,596 on clearing up 196 incidents of flytipped waste this year, bringing the overall bill for dealing with litter in its woodlands to around £354,000 in 2016. Costs are up substantially on last year, when the trust spent £31,360 on tackling flytipping, as part of an overall waste clearance bill of £192,000. Continue reading...

Ancient ponds on the Greensand Ridge can produce thousands of tiny frogs – so long as the water supply holds upThere are two types of ponds along the Greensand Ridge that runs across from Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire into South Cambridgeshire. They are either lined with clay, and fill with rainwater, or they are hollows in the ground that rely on rising groundwater in the winter.

Greenpeace gathers almost 9,000 signatures on letter as opponents say Europe’s largest mammals are endangered and protected by lawEnvironmentalists are fighting Polish plans to allow hunters to shoot bison.

Residents determined to block removal of 31 lime trees from row of 700 along Rivelin Valley RoadA bitter dispute over the future of hundreds of roadside trees in Sheffield looks set to continue into 2017, as campaigners rally to protect the second longest avenue of limes in the UK.The row came to national attention in November when council contractors summoned people out of bed to move their cars and police detained protesters as eight trees were chopped down in Hallam. Continue reading...

Wildlife experts have applied for licence to release 10 animals following successful reintroductions in Scotland and EnglandBeavers could return to Wales for the first time in hundreds of years, after being successfully reintroduced in other parts of the UK.Wildlife experts are submitting a licence application to release 10 beavers in the south of the country and hope the reintroduction could begin this year. Continue reading...

2016 wasn’t all bad news for the climate, but it was ugly toward the end

After a five year battle to save Glasgow’s green space, campaigners are hoping to pave the way for new Scottish legislationNorth Kelvin Meadow – or Children’s Wood, as it has been renamed by campaigners – has been saved from housing developers after a hard-fought five year battle, some two decades on from when locals first sowed grass seed on the abandoned sports ground.In contrast to the city’s nearby Botanic Gardens, the three acre Children’s Wood is a ramshackle affair, offering a very different kind of natural resource to local residents who have gradually transformed the meadow from a derelict site into a thriving civic space, close to the fashionable West End. Continue reading...

Parkhead, Sheffield Shortly before the day died, luridly bright streaks of pink and purple began appearing like a bruiseThe window of my room here looks south-west, over the rooftops of a Sheffield suburb draped over the foothills of the Pennines, and through it I watch the endless traffic of the sky all day; the fleets of clouds steaming past on their journey from coast to coast, the planes etching contrails that wobble tipsily in the winds.Recently, the sky has seemed muted, in the way it often does when the light is at its leanest and the weather settles for grey neutrality. But a marvel of midwinter is how even the most austere, threadbare days can give rise to the most lavish of sunsets. Continue reading...

On the first day of 2017 in Beijing pollution climbed as high as 24 times the level recommended by the World Health OrganizationMillions in China rang in the New Year shrouded in a thick blanket of toxic smog, causing road closures and flight cancellations as 24 cities issued alerts that will last through much of the week.

Karumba locals use improvised barricades to corral the 3.5m saltwater crocodile, which made an unwelcome appearance on New Year’s EveLocals in a small north Queensland fishing town improvised with rubbish bins and hay bales to corral a 3.5m crocodile who wandered into their midst on New Year’s Eve.The crocodile kept police and residents in Karumba, on the shores of the Gulf of Carpentaria, on high alert for most of Saturday until environment department officials arrived from Cairns, about 700km away, to capture and remove the reptile. Continue reading...

Sites for new villages include green belt land and spread from Cornwall to Cumbria, but local opposition is strong in some areasFourteen garden villages are to be built across England on sites including a former airfield and green belt land, ministers have said.The villages, totalling 48,000 homes, will not be extensions of existing small towns or villages, but “distinct new places with their own community facilities”, the government said. Continue reading...

From edible cutlery to drone vaccines, we celebrate the technologies and innovations that promise to advance sustainability efforts in the years aheadIt’s been a rollercoaster of a year. In the world of sustainability alone, we saw the landmark Paris climate change agreement come into force; learned how rising temperatures in the Arctic are negatively impacting local residents; and watched as the world’s top conservationists mourned the declining state of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.And then, a bombshell: a certain “short-fingered vulgarian” won the US presidential race and called into question everything from America’s basic environmental protection to Nasa’s ongoing climate change research. Corporate America took evasive action, signing a letter telling Donald Trump it is serious about sustainability, while others began unpacking Trump’s emphasis on “clean coal” and what it really means for the future of energy in the US. Continue reading...

Ineos to conduct seismic survey for shale gas and could be working within 200m of the 1,000-year-old tree Major Oak, documents revealThe latest battleground for the future of fracking in Britain looks set to be Sherwood Forest, the legendary home of folk hero Robin Hood and now the target of a seismic survey by Ineos.The chemical multinational, which relocated its headquarters back to the UK last month, appears to have agreed terms with the Forestry commission to start burying charges and spend up to two years using “thumper trucks” or vibroseis machines to search for shale gas. Continue reading...

Martin Hughes-Games, a presenter of BBC’s Springwatch, says David Attenborough series ignores damage humans are doingDavid Attenborough’s blockbuster nature series Planet Earth II is “a disaster for the world’s wildlife” and a significant contributor to planet-wide extinctions, a rival natural history producer has claimed.The BBC programme concluded in December and drew audiences of more than 12 million viewers but presents “an escapist wildlife fantasy” that ignores the damage humans are doing to species everywhere, according to Martin Hughes-Games, a presenter of the BBC’s Springwatch. Continue reading...

Economically driven infrastructure and housing plans endanger beauty spots, say rural campaignersSome of Britain’s best-loved landscapes are being threatened by the government’s rush to declare the country “open for business”, warn rural campaigners.Large developments and infrastructure projects are planned in some of the UK’s most treasured tourist destinations, including the Lake District, the Cotswolds, and Sussex’s High Weald as well as on large swaths of green belt land. Continue reading...

A longtime advocate for public lands, Terry Tempest Williams has been at the forefront of fighting for conservation. This year, she stepped into the firing lineOne cold day last February, Terry Tempest Williams, a prominent environmental author and advocate, stepped into Utah’s Salt Palace to begin her unlikely career in the energy industry.Salt Palace, Salt Lake City’s largest convention center, was hosting a federal oil and gas lease sale, at which the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) would auction off 45,000 acres of public land for oil and gas extraction. Continue reading...

The president designated large landscapes as well as places significant to landmark social movements, highlighting ‘under-told parts of American history’This week, Barack Obama added two more regions to the US’s collection of national monuments, in a final push to protect the country’s historic and natural landscapes before he leaves office. Obama has used the law more than any previous president since the Antiquities Act was enacted in 1906.Related: Barack Obama designates two national monuments in west despite opposition Continue reading...

Cricieth, North Wales There was no horizon, no distinction in the grey tonality, no dividing line between sea and skyA drab December greyness. I scrunched eastwards along the shingle, heading towards Black Rock. Foamy salients threatened to swamp my boots. My little terrier Phoebe darted in and out of the wavelets to retrieve sticks.

Each summer for 40 years Nev and Bev McLachlan have camped on a remote Queensland beach to monitor and tag nesting sea turtles. Melissa Davey joins them on their missionIt’s about 7pm at the remote Wreck Rock beach within Deepwater national park in Queensland and Nev and Bev McLachlan are starting the night watch.

Spy in the Wild uses camouflaged cameras to capture unprecedented footage of wildlife in five-part showWhat does a newly hatched crocodile see while it is being transported to water between its mother’s jaws? How should a wild dog pup behave if it wants to be accepted by an approaching pack of adults?These and other questions will be answered in a new BBC wildlife series screening this week, in which the stars of the show are not only the animals being filmed, but the animatronic “spy creatures” used to film them. Continue reading...

Dr Martin Warren has saved at least three species from extinction, laying the ground for landscape-scale conservationEvery June on Exmoor and in woods near Canterbury, a fragile-looking golden butterfly called the heath fritillary flutters in the sunshine.