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by Melissa Davey and Steph Harmon on (#19S4C)
Environment minister told to ‘watch the series’ after saying David Attenborough documentary is evidence reef is safeEnamoured by stunning footage in David Attenborough’s latest documentary series, the Australian environment minister, Greg Hunt, took it as proof that the Great Barrier Reef remained an untouched beauty.But he might have been better off waiting to see the whole series before commenting. Continue reading...
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| Updated | 2025-07-21 00:15 |
by Kirstie Brewer on (#19RZV)
Nascar driver Leilani Münter is on a mission to convert America’s 75 million racing fans into vegan eco-warriorsLeilani Münter has a motto: never underestimate a vegan hippy chick with a racing car. She is a fierce environmental activist – who earns a living in one of the most gas-guzzling industries on the planet.But the 42-year-old, a Nascar racing driver, insists she isn’t the walking contradiction you might imagine. She’s a pragmatist. “I am making the biggest difference when I am at a race track and not when I am at an environmental event, preaching to the converted,†she says from her home in California. Continue reading...
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by Claire Stares on (#19RR6)
West Dean Woods nature reserve, West Sussex They are half the size of commercial daffodils and more subtly coloured, but en masse they are resplendentWe dawdle at a crossways, puzzling over our map. The guide instructs us to take the path through the larch trees, but the entire stand of conifers has been felled, the logs stacked to dry in neat pyramids by the side of the track. Honey coloured globs of resin ooze from the cut stumps, infusing the air with a sweet menthol aroma.We continue on, and after a 15-minute trudge along the mud churned bridleway we spot our next route marker up ahead, one of the 14 chalk stones by the environmental artist Andy Goldsworthy. Continue reading...
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by Steph Harmon on (#19RP4)
Veteran broadcaster spent a month on location, in what producer Anthony Geffen thinks will be final Attenborough ‘on-the-road’ documentaryDavid Attenborough’s Great Barrier Reef could be the veteran broadcaster’s last on-the-road documentary, according to series producer Anthony Geffen.Related: 'It is fantastic, better than travelling to the moon' – David Attenborough returns to the Great Barrier Reef Continue reading...
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by Guardian Staff on (#19RM4)
A Queensland couple had a very near miss with a bronze whaler shark when it charged at their jet ski, only just missing the woman’s leg. The Hervey Bay couple were riding a jestki off the coast of Fraser Island when they started filming the large black silhouette of a shark under the water. When they tried to get closer to the shark it lunged towards them and charged at the jetski. The couple didn’t seem all that fazed by the encounter – they can be heard laughing after the attack. Continue reading...
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by Oliver Milman in San Francisco on (#19QQM)
Dangerous levels of chemicals found in underground water, while waste was dumped in unlined pits and barriers to protect groundwater were inadequateTwo scientists have highlighted dangerous water contamination from a fracking operation in Wyoming, three years after the US Environmental Protection Agency decided to abandon its investigation into the matter.The report found there were dangerous levels of chemicals in the underground water supply used by the 230 residents of Pavillion, a small town in central Wyoming. Levels of benzine, a flammable liquid used in fuel, were 50 times above the allowable limit, while chemicals were dumped in unlined pits and cement barriers to protect groundwater were inadequate, the research found. Continue reading...
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by Naomi Klein on (#19QQY)
Clinton’s conviction that she can get the fossil fuel companies on board is mistaken: this can’t be solved by convincing the ultra-rich to do the right thingThere aren’t a lot of certainties left in the US presidential race, but here’s one thing about which we can be absolutely sure: the Clinton camp really doesn’t like talking about fossil-fuel money. Last week, when a young Greenpeace campaigner challenged Hillary Clinton about taking money from fossil-fuel companies, the candidate accused the Bernie Sanders campaign of “lying†and declared herself “so sick†of it. As the exchange went viral, a succession of high-powered Clinton supporters pronounced that there was nothing to see here and that everyone should move along. Continue reading...
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by Oliver Milman in San Francisco on (#19QHP)
Malathion and chlorpyrifos are each likely to harm most of the 1,782 mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and plants listed under the Endangered Species ActAlmost all of the 1,700 most endangered plants and animals in the US are likely to be harmed by two widely used pesticides, an alarming new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) analysis has found.Malathion, an insecticide registered for use in the US since 1956, is likely to cause harm to 97% of the 1,782 mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and plants listed under the Endangered Species Act. Malathion is commonly used to treat fruit, vegetables and plants for pests, as well as on pets to remove ticks. Continue reading...
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by Rowena Mason Political correspondent on (#19QAN)
Defra confirms U-turn after outcry over move to repeal legislation and put industry in charge of guidance on chicken farmingMinisters have backed down on plans to repeal farm animal welfare codes, abandoning their move to put the poultry industry in charge of the guidance on chickens that was scheduled to come into force this month.The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs released a statement confirming the U-turn, saying the decision was taken “in light of views raisedâ€. Continue reading...
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by Guardian Staff on (#19Q8G)
A giant panda cub born in Malaysia last year is named ‘Nuan Nuan’ on Thursday, which means ‘warm’ in Chinese . The move is intended to be a a symbol of the good relations between Malaysia and China according to the Wan Junaidi bin Tuanku Jaafar, the Malaysian minister of natural resources and environment at a press conference Continue reading...
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by Oliver Milman on (#19Q7A)
Researchers find clouds contain more liquid – as opposed to ice – than was previously believed, threatening greater increase in temperaturesClimate change projections have vastly underestimated the role that clouds play, meaning future warming could be far worse than is currently projected, according to new research.Researchers said that a doubling of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere compared with pre-industrial times could result in a global temperature increase of up to 5.3C – far warmer than the 4.6C older models predict. Continue reading...
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by Sibylla Brodzinsky on (#19Q2T)
Fridays in April and May will be non-working holidays in the latest attempt to curb energy use as a drought dries up reservoirs used to generate electricityVenezuela has declared two months of three-day weekends in the latest attempt to curb energy use as a months-long drought dries up reservoirs used to generate electricity.President Nicolás Maduro announced that Fridays in April and May would be non-working holidays as part of an effort to stave off electricity rationing. Continue reading...
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by Oliver Milman on (#19Q36)
Australia battled a 14-year drought with recycled toilet water, rooftop tanks and shared showers – and now California is hoping to do the sameAs hopes that a much-hyped “Godzilla†El Niño event will banish California’s record drought fade, the state is starting to look for clues from overseas on how to conserve each increasingly precious drop that does fall on its parched land.The water capture efforts of Australia, itself plagued by a lengthy recent drought, are in the sights of Californian politicians mindful of how the pulses of rain that did arrive in January resulted in much of the water washing out into the sea. Continue reading...
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by Alan Yuhas in New York on (#19Q19)
Sanders says Indian Point facility is ‘a catastrophe waiting to happen’, but former New York senator says he’s late to the issue and site simply needs more oversightThe Indian Point Energy Center, a controversial and ageing nuclear plant near New York City, has split the Democratic presidential candidates .Related: Indian Point nuclear plant reeks of troubled history Continue reading...
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by Kylie Noble on (#19PGE)
British overseas territory stops 24-year national day tradition because of threat to marine life
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by Guardian Staff on (#19PEX)
Video captured from the Greenwich cable car over the river Thames on Wednesday appears to show a mysterious large shadow in the water, which resembles a large sea creature. The animal that some suggest is a hoax, comes up to the surface very briefly before submerging itself once again. The original uploader of the video suggested that the entity could be a whale or a ‘weird submarine’, however neither of these have been confirmed
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by Adam Corner on (#19P6Y)
Thousands of Tata steel workers may soon be in need of employment. The vast majority of the infrastructure for a decarbonised energy sector is still to be built. Is it really that hard to put two and two together?Following the announcement by Tata Steel that its Port Talbot plant is haemorrhaging money and will be sold, thousands of employees (and their families) are facing a frantic fight for their livelihoods.Campaigners celebrate the closure of coal-fired power plants, but have less to say about people who work there Continue reading...
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by Reuters on (#19P2G)
Scientists estimate up to 14% of emissions from agriculture in 2050 could be avoided by managing food use and distribution betterReducing food waste around the world would help curb emissions of planet-warming gases, lessening some of the impacts of climate change such as more extreme weather and rising seas, scientists said on Thursday.
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by Autumn Spanne on (#19P2J)
The environment is the new battleground for human rights, and activists are getting caught in the crossfire – particularly in Honduras, where two were killed last monthSince her mother’s murder a month ago, Bertha Isabel Zuniga Cáceres has scarcely had time to grieve. The 25-year-old student is adamant that her mother, Berta Cáceres Flores, will not become just one more Honduran environmental activist whose work was cut short by their assassination.
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by Giovanni Ortolani on (#19NNW)
EnerGaia is using the rooftop of a Bangkok Novotel to harvest spirulina, an algae some are calling the spinach of the futureThe hot Thai sun is beating down on the rooftop of the Hotel Novotel Bangkok on Siam Square, in downtown Bangkok. There, a few dozen white barrels line the edges of the rooftop; inside, a bright green jam is bubbling in the heat. There’s no smell – just the captivating sight of an urban farm harvesting spirulina, an edible green algae sometimes referred to as the “spinach of the futureâ€.The Novotel’s rooftop spirulina farm is the brainchild of EnerGaia, a Thai startup pushing the boundaries of urban farming. Saumil Shah, EnerGaia’s 42-year-old director and founder, decided to invest in the microalgae business after reading an article about how carbon dioxide from an industrial facility could be used to grow algae. Continue reading...
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by Andrew Simms on (#19NMW)
Our children’s children will not thank us for investing so heavily in technologies like nuclear at the expense of safer, low-carbon optionsWhich energy technologies will future generations thank us for? Continue reading...
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by Sam Haddad on (#19NBZ)
Sam Haddad talks to female custom handmade bicycle-frame builders about changing the huge gender imbalance in the industryThe clouds of doom and gloom may be shrouding British manufacturing right now, yet one particular sector - custom handmade bicycle frames - is thriving. But there’s a giant gender imbalance. Out of 80 builders exhibiting at next week’s Bespoked, the UK handmade bicycle show, just two are women.
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by Arthur Neslen on (#19MWY)
ICAO blueprint criticised for having too many exemptions to be credible, too little detail to be trustworthy and for contradicting Paris climate dealA draft UN plan to offset the air industry’s surging growth in emissions contains too many exemptions to be credible and too little detail to be trustworthy, European diplomats say.Aviation is one of only two sectors not covered by the Paris climate agreement and many diplomats are optimistic that the UN International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) blueprint can be whittled into shape before a Montreal conference this September. Continue reading...
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by Research and editing by Eric Hilaire on (#19MMN)
In 1913, poet Edward Thomas cycled from London to Somerset to “meet the springâ€. The vivid account of his journey, In Pursuit of Spring, was published the following year. Thomas died on the western front in 1917.More than 100 years later, his nature classic is being republished by Little Toller, with previously unseen photographs of his journey offering us a glimpse of England before the first world war.Adrian Sherratt travelled to the locations of these pictures to photograph what they look like today. Click on the blue buttons to see the difference“On the journey from London to Somerset that became In Pursuit of Spring, Edward Thomas took many photographs of the churches, farmyards, cottages, lanes, fields and hedgerows he passed along the way,†writes Alexandra Harris in the foreword to the republished edition. “Published in a book for the first time, these images enrich the original text by offering us a glimpse of England before the first world war and give us rare insight into what drew the poet’s eye as he wandered the byways and highways westward.“The photographs are part of a larger Edward Thomas collection looked after by the Special Collections and Archives team at Cardiff University, having been donated to the university by the Thomas family in the 1970s. Continue reading...
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by Adam Vaughan on (#19MMG)
Labour says PM has ‘given up pretence of leadership’ on climate change after he says he has no plans to replace Lord BarkerDavid Cameron has no plans to appoint a new climate change envoy, a role he created in the run-up to the landmark Paris climate summit.Opposition politicians said it showed Cameron had given up any pretence of leadership on climate change and that he was sending out the wrong signals by not filling the role. Continue reading...
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by Phil Gates on (#19MJA)
Hamsterley Forest, Weardale A life supported by surface tension gives water crickets a sensory outlook that can only be imaginedAll winter the ditches beside the forest track flowed with water draining from the hillside. Today, after a fortnight of drier weather, they were reduced to small pools as smooth as mirrors; perfect for the water crickets that had come to skate on their surface.
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by Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington DC on (#19M5A)
Meeting represents one of the last chances to grow on climate partnership agreed on by Justin Trudeau and Barack Obama before US president leaves officeThe US and Canada will take their newfound climate alliance to the next level on Thursday, advancing efforts to curb emissions of methane, a powerful warming agent produced at fracking sites and tar sands, ageing oil installations and pipelines.Thursday’s meeting in Ottawa represents one of the last chances to grow on the climate partnership agreed on by the US president, Barack Obama, and Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, before the president leaves the White House. Continue reading...
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by Marc Gunther on (#19KGT)
A collective of animal welfare activists are gaining ground with an investment fund that supports businesses developing alternatives to meat, cheese and other animal products
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by Bruce Watson on (#19KGV)
Meat from a plant? Gelatin from a microbe? In this photo gallery, we take a look at the startups hacking your dinner plate – and the venture capitalists who are signing on for the ride
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by Letters on (#19K0Y)
Dr David Lowry (Letters, 5 April) presents a highly selective and misleading view of the recent Nuclear Threat Initiative report. Britain does indeed come bottom and below North Korea in the theft rankings – but on one aspect only: the number of sites and quality of material held. As a longtime nuclear weapon state and user of nuclear power, it is hardly surprising that we have a lot in quite a few places. Places like Australia and Argentina will inevitably “win†this category.Related: Britain is no leader in nuclear security | Letters Continue reading...
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by Ryan Felton in Flint, Michigan on (#19K12)
The lawsuit brought by Flint residents alleges the two-year crisis was the result of ‘intentional’ actions by state officials to cut costs amid bankruptcy fearsA federal racketeering lawsuit by hundreds of resident in Flint, Michigan, is alleging the city’s two-year water crisis was the result of an“intentional scheme†crafted by state officials and Michigan’s governor, Rick Snyder, to balance the city’s budget.In a press conference announcing the 17-count racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations (Rico) complaint on Wednesday, attorneys said the state of Michigan ran Flint’s day-to-day operations through an emergency manager, who prioritized balancing the city’s budget through a cost-cutting measure: switching Flint’s water source in April 2014 from Lake Huron, which serviced the city for more than 50 years, to a local river. Continue reading...
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by Daniel Vulliamy on (#19JAF)
My friend Gerry Browning, who has died aged 83, was a fiercely independent man who defied stereotyping.Born in Hull, the oldest child of Leonora, a barmaid, and Victor, a tram and bus driver, Gerry was seven when the second world war began. He was twice evacuated, but fled and made his way home, until he was allowed to spend the war in what he described as a feral existence in Hull, without other children. Stumbling into Albert Avenue baths after an air raid one day, he saw lines of dead bodies laid out in the empty swimming pool, which was being used as an emergency morgue. Continue reading...
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by Guardian Staff on (#19J8E)
A TV crew in Oklahoma helps a man narrowly escape a wildfire on Tuesday after his road grader gets stuck. Shot from inside KWTV’s truck, footage shows the man attempting to drive away but jumping out to join the TV crew moments before his machine is engulfed in fire. Scorching wildfires in Oklahoma and Kansas have forced many to evacuate Continue reading...
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by Rebecca Smithers on (#19J4W)
It’s been six months since the 5p charge was introduced for single-use plastic bags. So what have we learned?It is six months since the introduction of the 5p charge for single-use plastic carrier bags in England, the last part of the UK to implement a charge. Here are six things we have learned since then:
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by Kyle Moore on (#19J0R)
Photographs from the Eyewitness series Continue reading...
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by John Vidal on (#19HBW)
Villagers stage further protests following the deaths of at least four people demonstrating against plans for two Chinese-funded coal-fired plantsBangladeshi villagers staged further protests on Tuesday after police opened fire and killed at least four people demonstrating against the planned construction of two large Chinese-financed coal-fired power stations.
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by Brian Logan on (#19H7C)
Orange Tree, Richmond
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by AFP on (#19H5B)
Conservationists say Indochine tigers are ‘functionally extinct’ as they launch action plan for reintroductionTigers are “functionally extinct†in Cambodia, conservationists conceded for the first time on Wednesday, as they launched a bold action plan to reintroduce the big cats to the kingdom’s forests.
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by Lenore Taylor Political editor on (#19H2W)
Pitt and Sherry analyst declares era of falling demand for electricity has ended after increase in use of black coalAustralia’s emissions from electricity generation continue to rise and are now 5.5% higher than when the carbon price was repealed, new data reveals.
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by Press Association on (#19H1E)
WWF said there were indications that the endangered rhino was suffering from a severe infection caused by snares from an earlier poaching attemptThe first critically endangered Sumatran rhino to be found in an area of Borneo for 40 years has died, wildlife experts said.The species had been thought to be extinct in Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo, until a few years ago when surveying found evidence through camera traps and footprints of 15 Sumatran rhinos in the area. Continue reading...
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by Andy Beales/Barcroft Media on (#19H0C)
Photographs show insight into a dying 1,000-year-old tradition. Sailing peacefully across the river Li in Guilin, men fish without the aid of a rod, hook or bait, instead using a method which was first practised in 960AD
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by Christopher Thomond and Matt Fidler on (#19GWY)
Since the disastrous floods caused by Storm Desmond in 2015, road and bridge closures have hit Cumbria and the tourism it relies on hard. Photojournalist Christopher Thomond went to see the rebuilding in the region and spoke to some of the business owners and householders, in the lull before the busy summer season Continue reading...
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by John Vidal on (#19GGG)
Poisonous water causing major health crisis in Bangladesh, despite millions of wells being tested and thousands being boredNearly 20 million Bangladeshis are still drinking water poisoned with high levels of arsenic despite millions of wells being tested and hundreds of thousands of safe ones having been bored to avert a major health crisis, a new report has suggested.The lack of progress in improving what the UN’s World Health Organisation called “the largest mass poisoning of a population in history†in the 1990s is blamed on government nepotism, rich country neglect and NGOs losing sight of the problem, says Human Rights Watch (HRW). Continue reading...
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by Guardian Staff on (#19GGP)
Charismatic yet elusive, wild mammals can be challenging for photographers. The Mammal Society’s annual competition showcases the best efforts from around the UK in four categories. A free exhibition of the winning photographs will be held at the society’s spring conference in Stafford Continue reading...
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by Paul Evans on (#19GES)
Shropshire Hills A vocal flock of linnets add their song to a spring day on the commonA choir of birds flew over Clee Liberty. Their voices sharply urgent, excited. Once perched in a tree all facing north, they fell silent. Apart from a bounding flight and ardent voices, their distinguishing marks were dark streaks that fell across their bodies like the shadows reaching across fields from great oaks in the valley below.The birds were female linnets, I think, birds that Aristotle could not identify but called Acanthis, after a woman in Greek mythology turned into a bird. Her father’s starving horses attacked and ate her brother Anthus, so Zeus turned the sisters into birds so they would not starve. They could forever feed on seeds of the fields and moors: finch-faced sisters, Acanthis their scientific name. Continue reading...
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by Joshua Robertson on (#19GCW)
Wildlife rescue numbers more than doubled over three years in which land-clearing laws were relaxed by the former Liberal National state governmentWildlife carers have blamed a surge in tree clearing in Queensland for a dramatic rise in the number of native animals needing rescue.Figures from the RSPCA show wildlife rescue numbers swelled to 18,413 in 2014-15, more than doubling over three years in which land-clearing laws were relaxed by the former Liberal National government. Continue reading...
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by Michael Slezak on (#19FXV)
Internal emails reveal motivation behind decision to cut climate research and cast doubt on assertions made by executives to Senate committeeThe CSIRO’s decision to sack about 120 climate scientists was motivated by an intention to move some of the organisation’s focus from science done in the public good towards science that makes money, internal emails suggest.The internal decision-making process behind the CSIRO’s decision to cut its climate research has been revealed in a 700-page document dump, delivered as part of a Greens-Labor inquiry into federal government budget cuts. Many key emails sent from private accounts were not included in the disclosure, but the documents reveal a shopping-list of controversial internal decisions. Continue reading...
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by Michael Slezak on (#19FT7)
Exclusive: ReachTEL poll shows 56.5% of people in state think coalmining has a negative effect, up 9.5 percentage points since 2013A shift in opinion in New South Wales has left the majority of residents believing coal does more harm than good, and continuing to think the state government isn’t doing enough to protect farms and water from mining and fracking.
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by Fiona Harvey on (#19FS0)
Charity concludes that at least 114 of 229 world heritage sites of outstanding importance for species and habitats are at risk from mining and other activitiesClose to half of the sites around the world designated for special protection as areas of outstanding importance for nature are now being threatened by industrial development, a new survey has shown.
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by Giles Parkinson on (#19FR5)
A pilot biodiesel plant in Queensland’s Gladstone could lead to the production of enough fuel by 2020 to power the entire army, navy and air forceIn just four years from now, a significant portion of Australia’s military hardware – its ships, jets, tanks and other vehicles – could run on fuels recycled from old tyres, human waste, noxious weeds and sugar cane residue.That’s the vision of Tim Rose, the managing director of Australian refining company Southern Oil, which last week announced the first stage of a $650m investment to produce enough diesel from “advanced biofuels†to power Australia’s entire defence force. Continue reading...