Environment | The Guardian

People are being urged not to tip cooking oil down drain to prevent post-Christmas buildup of congealed fat in sewersChristmas dinner with all the trimmings could lead to congealed cooking oil and grease blocking drains up and down the country, water companies have warned.Engineers from Severn Trent Water have been digging tons of fatty gunk, which sets as hard as concrete, out of sewers in the West Midlands after reports of flooding caused by fatbergs. Continue reading...

Food companies have a bad history of funding biased research to support their products. We took a look at a few egregious recent examplesRecently, evidence emerged that the sugar industry had paid scientists in the 1960s to implicate saturated fat, and not sugar, as a cause for heart disease. While the revelations are stunning, food industry funding of nutrition research is more common than consumers may realize.

With at least nine senior members of transition team denying basic scientific understanding, president-elect’s choices demonstrate pro-fossil fuels agendaThe heads of Donald Trump’s transition teams for Nasa, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of the Interior and the Department of Energy, as well as his nominees to lead the EPA and the Department of the Interior, all question the science of human-caused climate change, in a signal of the president-elect’s determination to embark upon an aggressively pro-fossil fuels agenda.Trump has assembled a transition team in which at least nine senior members deny basic scientific understanding that the planet is warming due to the burning of carbon and other human activity. These include the transition heads of all the key agencies responsible for either monitoring or dealing with climate change. None of these transition heads have any background in climate science.

Edinburgh University researchers say windfarm energy prevented 36m tonnes of harmful coal and gas emissions in six yearsWind power plays a key role in curbing greenhouse emissions from other energy sources such as coal and gas, a new study has shown.

First deal for 15 years seen as gamechanger by analysts who forecast oil price to rise further from $57 a barrel with Saudi Arabia pledging even greater cutsOil prices have surged to a 17-month high after a group of the world’s largest producers, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, agreed to reduce output.The weekend deal between Opec and a number of non-Opec members, notably Russia, has pushed Brent crude up 5% to $57.04 a barrel, its highest level since mid-July 2015. Continue reading...

Levels of airborne pollution across north Indian plains routinely higher than in the capital, Delhi, researchers warnAir quality in the Indian holy city of Varanasi is “the most toxic in the country” according to research that reveals the extent of the pollution crisis across northern India.There has been a growing awareness of the dangers of the smog that envelopes Delhi in the winter months, but a report released on Monday by three environmental groups highlights the extent of the problem across the north Indian plains, where levels of harmful airborne particles are routinely higher than in the capital. Continue reading...

Great British cod supper is under threat as cold-water fish are replaced by warm-water species, says researcherIt is the meal most associated with the UK, along with slurping tea and moaning about the weather. But the great British fish supper could be on the way out, replaced by more continental variations such as squid and chips, as seas continue to warm, the British Ecological Society will be told this week.Britons may have to adopt a more continental diet when it comes to fish, as climate change sees cold-water fish such as cod gradually replaced by squid and other warm-water species, according to research led by Dr John Pinnegar of Cefas, the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science.

Airedale, West Yorkshire All of these birds – none weighing more than an ounce, and the smallest of them barely tipping the scales against a 10p piece – have a crisp, spruce lookAt this time of year, it can sometimes seem as though the bare trees have been decked out with toy birds. The broad-spreading alder across the river is tinged purple-pink (the fuchsia-coloured catkins persist deep into the winter) and the branches are busy with tinkling finches: green siskins, bright motley goldfinches, chaffinches in pink and soft greys.I pause on the riverbank as a detachment of long-tailed tits, perhaps a dozen or so, makes its shuttling way through the willows. For a few moments I’m surrounded by them, a cloud of them; beneath the familiar hubbub of zinging tsees and tsirrups, I can hear their soft chut, chut contact-calls. Dinkiest of all are the two tiny goldcrests that pick over a low-hanging ash branch while working through a programme of deft variations on the theme “upside-down”. Continue reading...

Warmer summers boost numbers but average weight falls by 7kg because winter snow turns to rain, which then freezes and locks away its foodReindeer are shrinking on an Arctic island near the north pole as a result of climate change that has curbed the amount of winter food available to the animals, scientists said on Monday.

Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 14 December 1916Passing through the Severn Tunnel one got a strange contrast in weather. On the Welsh side mist, clinging, cold, dreary; on the English side hoar frost over the grass, a blue sky and hot sun overhead. The trees are bare now and showing their clean anatomy. Never are they more lovely than when one can see every finest twig outlined with characteristic gesture against the sky. Elms especially show to advantage when bare; where they have to be lopped for safety it is indeed a sore sight, for their habit of ending in a fine spreading plume is so individual and so beautiful. Along the banks of a canal the rows of pollard willows make quaint reflections in the still water. Farther on, by the river, the beech woods are grey, with scarcely a shade of brown from the tightly packed scrolls of buds. But the chestnut tips are thick and sticky, and it will be worthwhile cutting a few branches to put into water. Sprays of birch also may be treated in the same way, and it is a great joy to watch them unfold. Continue reading...

We think of wood burning as natural, but experiments show that wood smoke contains shocking levels of harmful particlesWalk round many suburbs on a winter’s night and your nose will tell you that wood burning is being used for home heating. A recent UK government survey found that 7.5% of UK homes now burn wood. The vast majority use it for supplementary heating or decoration. Wood burning is most popular in the south-east where it is used by around 16% of households and it is least popular in northern England and Scotland where it is used by less than 5%.We think of wood burning as being natural and therefore less harmful to the environment when compared with fossil fuels. However, particle pollution from UK wood burning is now estimated to be more than double diesel exhaust.

This week EU fisheries ministers meet to decide the north-east Atlantic fishing quotas for 2017 at their annual December conference. Let’s hope our minister, George Eustice, does not repeat his performance of last year, when – in the face of a desperate need to end overfishing – he acquired for the UK a 2016 quota that exceeded scientific advice by more than any other EU country and proclaimed this as a good deal. Overfishing is “a good deal” only for the short-term interests of the smallest but wealthiest sector of the fishing industry, whose mega-trawlers hoover up the stocks, destroy their habitats and exacerbate their chronic over-exploitation. It is to be hoped that Eustice will also conform to another requirement of the common fisheries policy – the provision of a greater share of the quota to the small, under 10-metre, boats that constitute the largest part of the fleet, fish more sustainably, employ more fishermen, provide real benefits for their communities and enhance their prospects of both survival and a renewed prosperity. While representing about 80% of the Welsh and English fleet, they have just 6% of the quota.

London mayor urges government to take action, saying pledged settlement in emissions cheating scandal is far too lowSadiq Khan has called on the government to secure proper compensation from Volkswagen for the “dieselgate” scandal, saying the £1.1m pledged so far was outrageous.The London mayor said the settlement was far too low compared with the £12bn payout achieved by US authorities for VW’s use of sophisticated “defeat devices” to cheat emissions tests. Continue reading...

Clean Energy Finance Corporation loan comes three months after minister slammed SA’s over-reliance on wind powerThe Clean Energy Finance Corporation has made a multi-million dollar loan for a new windfarm in Barnaby Joyce’s electorate.It comes three months after Joyce slammed the South Australian government’s over-reliance on wind power, and linked SA’s damaging September blackout on the state’s lack of coal-fired baseload power. Continue reading...

Vehicles failing to display Crit’Air stickers will be banned from low-emission zones in Paris and other cities in bid to combat smogFrench motorists in high pollution areas will be required to display a “clean sticker” on their vehicle from January to combat pollution that has created a cloud of noxious smog in Paris and other cities.

General Mills is co-funding a project with the federal government to restore the habitat of pollinators such as bees and butterflies on North American farmsOn the 33-acre Prairie Drifter Farm in central Minnesota, farmers Joan and Nick Olson are cultivating more than just organic vegetables. Alongside their seven acres of crops – including tomatoes, cucumbers and onions – they’ve also planted flowering plants, dogwood and elderberry hedgerows to accommodate species of bees and butterflies essential for the health of the crops.The Olsons are not beekeepers, but they are part of a movement to reconnect sustainable farming to a healthy environment. As part of a 2013 project by Xerces Society, a nonprofit that specializes in wildlife preservation, the Olsons worked with a biologist to figure out what types of flowers and shrubs to plant to attract bees, butterflies and other insects that pollinate plants. With seeds and plants they received from Xerxes, and those bought with federal grants, the couple also planted strips of grasses and flowers to attract beetles, which help to defend the vegetables against pests. Continue reading...

Some protesters plan to lend solidarity to campaigns, including fight against meth addiction, a proposed telescope in Hawaii and other oil pipelinesFor months, Julie Richards has been planning for the battles that would come the moment that she was no longer needed at the Standing Rock encampments. When that day came, the 43-year-old Oglala Lakota woman knew that she needed to take the fight back home.“I have a crew ready to go back to my homeland, to set up a camp like this, and move against meth,” she said in November. Continue reading...

Demand for charcoal in sub-Saharan Africa is surging. While foreign investors focus on renewables, domestic companies are findings ways to make it cleaner and more efficient. Photographs and words by Nathan Siegal

We humans have polluted our world into a new geological epochIf you’re feeling unsettled by the Brexit/Trump future, consider this: since the 1950s humans have ramped up the pressure on the planet to such an extent that we have very likely propelled ourselves into a new geological epoch – the Anthropocene. Now that’s what geologists call change. The thing that freaks me out is that it’s rarely mentioned.To unwrap that: for the past 10,000 years or so, we have hung out comfortably in what we call the Holocene epoch. During this period we have been able to rely on the Earth’s systems to dampen the effects of “forcings”. These are different factors that affect the Earth’s climate, such as volcanic eruptions and solar variations. Continue reading...

Minister says Direct Action review just ‘housekeeping’ after chief scientist casts doubt on ability to meet emissions targetMathias Cormann has refused to say if the Turnbull government still has confidence in Dr Alan Finkel after the chief scientist warned Australia would not meet its emissions reduction target under the Paris agreement with current federal policy settings.“Look at our track record,” Cormann told Sky News on Sunday. “People thought that we couldn’t meet the 2020 emissions reduction target based on our policy settings and indeed we are exceeding those targets. Continue reading...

The shrieks of horror that follow mentions of pricing carbon show politics remains wedded to the belief that economic growth trumps concerns of climate changeThis week was a prime example of how economics and, by extension, politics doesn’t cope very well with the issue of climate change.The news that Australia economy went backwards in the September quarter was greeted with alarm by politicians and then used as a reason to push their policy barrow. And most of the barrows were piled high with coal. Continue reading...

Government steps in after council and school identify campaigners as key risks under controversial Prevent programmeThe Home Office has been forced to make it clear that anti-fracking campaigners should not be considered extremists after a council and a school in North Yorkshire used the government’s counter-terrorism programme to target environmental protesters.City of York council included anti-fracking activists in its Prevent programme, the controversial centrepiece of the government’s strategy to tackle extremism and thwart terrorism. In response, the Home Office on Saturday issued a statement saying “support for anti-fracking is not an indicator of vulnerability” to extremism. Continue reading...

But environmentalists raise concerns about measure in bill reducing protections on California’s Bay-Delta estuary amid ‘partisan games’In some of its last business of the year, the Senate on Friday passed a bill that included $170m in funding to remove lead-tainted pipes from the water supply in Flint, Michigan.Environmentalists were concerned, however, about a “poison pill” in the legislation which rolled back environmental protections in California’s Bay-Delta estuary. Continue reading...

Any remaining optimism Australians had for Malcolm Turnbull evaporated this week when once again he proved incapable of acting in the national interestHere we go again.Just like last year’s sorry excuse for a debate on taxation reform, where nation building policy ideas were knocked off the table one by one, we find our federal government again unable to act in the national interest when it comes to energy policy. Continue reading...

But blow for government’s ‘dash for gas’ plans as large plants fail to win subsidies to generate backup powerA series of new battery power-storage plants and two small new gas power stations will be built in the UK following the award of subsidies designed to bolster energy supply and head off the threat of shortages.But government hopes of an ambitious “dash for gas” were dealt another blow after this week’s auction of subsidies to build backup capacity for Britain’s energy network. No new gas power station of a significant scale won a subsidy contract in the bidding process, where companies and technologies competed to provide backup power for the lowest price during the winter of 2020-21. Continue reading...

Tina Louise Rothery, part of a protest group known as the Nanas, staged a three-week occupation of a field near BlackpoolAn anti-fracking campaigner has been spared jail after she refused to pay more than £55,000 of legal fees to the oil and gas firm Cuadrilla.

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...

Without their traditional land managers, conservation reserves in Central America are left vulnerable to corporate interests, report finds. Climate Home reportsConservation reserves in Central America have shut indigenous peoples off from their traditional lands and driven deforestation, community leaders have told Climate Home.Since revolution in the region started to wind down in the 1980s, there has been an internationally celebrated trend to create large conservation areas. Hundreds of thousands of square kilometres of forest have been placed within borders designed to protect them. Continue reading...

Report projects by 2050 more than 98% of coral reefs will be afflicted by ‘bleaching-level thermal stress’ each yearThe Great Barrier Reef will not survive coral bleaching if current sea temperature trends continue, according to a new report charting increases over the past three decades which blames manmade climate change for the problem.The study found thermal stress to coral reef areas was three times more likely when its investigation finished in 2012 compared with when it began in 1985, forecasting “more frequent and more severe” bleaching through the middle of this century. Continue reading...

Mikah Meyer is making a record-breaking attempt in a battered Hyundai his father left him when he died, hoping to highlight parks for gay people and millennialsThere was the night when something big was sloshing around ominously in the river next to his tent and he was too terrified to look out, but knew wolves and moose were at large.Then there was the sweaty night when he thought he would bake to death in his van but was too scared to open the windows because he was parked in a sketchy neighborhood in Ohio. Continue reading...

Senate Democrats vow to fight Trump’s nominee to lead the EPA, a climate denier who has sued the agency multiple times as attorney general of OklahomaDemocrats have promised to stage a last-ditch effort to thwart the appointment of Scott Pruitt as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, amid fears within the agency that he will trigger an “unprecedented disaster” for America’s environment and public health.

An emissions trading scheme is the cheapest way meet Australia’s climate commitments – which will be news to anyone listening to the CoalitionI just want to be very, very clear that energy prices are too high already. We will do everything that we can to put downward pressure on energy prices. We will not impose a carbon tax, or an emissions trading scheme – that is our position.This is the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, talking to the Melbourne radio host, Neil Mitchell, on Thursday, talking nonsense as it turned out – which is what the government has been doing all week on the subject of climate change.