Environment | The Guardian

A Minnesota judge found the preponderance of evidence did not favor coal industry climate science denial

The UK government’s failure to build new homes that are energy efficient will see future generations dealing with our costly mistakesFrom the Forth Bridge to our sewer system and the London Underground, we still rely on Victorian engineering every day in modern Britain. We all benefit from this inherited infrastructure, but we’re still paying the bills for the way it was built.Our older homes are among the most energy-wasting the world. And as anyone who has lived in a draughty, single-glazed, Victorian terrace knows, they can be expensive to keep warm in winter. Continue reading...

The UK government’s failure to build new homes that are energy efficient will see future generations dealing with our costly mistakesFrom the Forth Bridge to our sewer system and the London Underground, we still rely on Victorian engineering every day in modern Britain. We all benefit from this inherited infrastructure, but we’re still paying the bills for the way it was built.Our older homes are among the most energy-wasting the world. And as anyone who has lived in a draughty, single-glazed, Victorian terrace knows, they can be expensive to keep warm in winter. Continue reading...

Airport will ban arrivals and departures before 5.30am, and support the launch of an independent noise authorityHeathrow has agreed to curb night flights if permission is granted for a third runway, as it announced measures it claimed met all the conditions set by the Airports Commission for its expansion plan.As well as banning all arrivals and departures before 5.30am, the airport said it would support the introduction of an independent noise authority, and pledged not to add new capacity unless it can do so without delaying UK compliance with EU air quality limits. Continue reading...

Airport reveals package of measures to reduce impact of potential expansion on local residents and the environmentHeathrow has announced plans to ban night flights in an attempt to reduce the impact of a potential third runway on the local community and environment.The airport said it would support the introduction of an independent noise authority, and pledged not to add new capacity unless it can do so without delaying UK compliance with EU air quality limits. Continue reading...

Future in which global concentration of CO2 is permanently above 400 parts per million loomsThe world is hurtling towards an era when global concentrations of carbon dioxide never again dip below the 400 parts per million (ppm) milestone, as two important measuring stations sit on the point of no return.The news comes as one important atmospheric measuring station at Cape Grim in Australia is poised on the verge of 400ppm for the first time. Sitting in a region with stable CO2 concentrations, once that happens, it will never get a reading below 400ppm. Continue reading...

Future in which global concentration of C02 is permanently above 400 parts per million loomsThe world is hurtling towards an era when global concentrations of carbon dioxide never again dip below the 400 parts per million (ppm) milestone, as two important measuring stations sit on the point of no return.The news comes as one important atmospheric measuring station at Cape Grim in Australia is poised on the verge of 400ppm for the first time. Sitting in a region with stable CO2 concentrations, once that happens, it will never get a reading below 400ppm. Continue reading...

Stocks at the centre of the ‘mackerel war’ regain eco-label after joint efforts by fishermen and regional ministersNorth-east Atlantic mackerel has won back its status as a sustainably managed fish stock - after losing it at the height of the “mackerel war”.An international coalition of more than 700 fishing boats from small coastal vessels to ocean-going trawlers has regained the “eco-label” for mackerel from the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), which certifies well-managed fisheries. Continue reading...

Stocks at the centre of the ‘mackerel war’ regain eco-label after joint efforts by fishermen and regional ministersNorth-east Atlantic mackerel has won back its status as a sustainably managed fish stock - after losing it at the height of the “mackerel war”.An international coalition of more than 700 fishing boats from small coastal vessels to ocean-going trawlers has regained the “eco-label” for mackerel from the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), which certifies well-managed fisheries. Continue reading...

Filed patents show the British engineering firm may use solid-state batteries that could stretch electric car’s range to hundreds of miles and increase safetyDyson could become the next Tesla motors as it develops a new electric car, according to a leading industry expert. Filed patents show the Dyson vehicle may use solid-state batteries, which would see the car’s range stretch to hundreds of miles and also be safer than current batteries.In March, a government document revealed funding to help Dyson develop “a new battery electric vehicle”. The company declined to comment but in 2015 it said it planned to invest £1bn in battery technology and in October it bought solid-state battery company, Sakti3, for $90m, which founder Sir James Dyson said had “developed a breakthrough in battery technology”. Continue reading...

Study of different colours in black bears, barn owls, black sparrowhawks and crows finds online images can substitute for costly fieldworkStudying photographs of animals posted online by the general public has proven to be as valuable as traditional fieldwork in research on the locations of species that have evolved with different colours.Colour polymorphism - the occurrence of two or more colour types in the population of a species - has long fascinated biologists. These different colour types often vary geographically, providing a useful way of studying how different colour morphs evolve. Continue reading...

Wenlock Edge, Shropshire The more it tries to blend in, the more noticeable it becomes. The bird looks as if it’s made from hedgeThe thrush in the hedge is only a nipper. It’s supposed to remain concealed, but every now and then it whirrs across the lane to the hedge opposite. There it perches in a thicket of twigs and briars, feigning invisibility, like a child hiding behind coats hung on the back of a door.There may be trouble. Two adult thrushes are flying up and down the lane. It could be the parent birds getting frisky or else one parent seeing off a rival. They are flying literally at breakneck speed; one false move and either of them could be fatally injured. Spring is drunk on daring. Continue reading...

Wenlock Edge, Shropshire The more it tries to blend in, the more noticeable it becomes. The bird looks as if it’s made from hedgeThe thrush in the hedge is only a nipper. It’s supposed to remain concealed, but every now and then it whirrs across the lane to the hedge opposite. There it perches in a thicket of twigs and briars, feigning invisibility, like a child hiding behind coats hung on the back of a door.There may be trouble. Two adult thrushes are flying up and down the lane. It could be the parent birds getting frisky or else one parent seeing off a rival. They are flying literally at breakneck speed; one false move and either of them could be fatally injured. Spring is drunk on daring. Continue reading...

Blaze that partly destroyed city has temporarily shut down Alberta’s oil sands production – a mainstay of the country’s petroleum industryA wildfire that partly destroyed the city of Fort McMurray has cut Canada’s oil output by as much as a third after forcing the oil sands industry to effectively shut down in the province of Alberta.Related: Fort McMurray evacuees caught in uneasy limbo week after wildfires Continue reading...

Thousand-year rainfall record shows weather in New South Wales over the past 100 years has been unusually stable and absent of mega droughtsDrought and flood risk in New South Wales is vastly underestimated, with weather in the past 100 years being unusually stable, according to a detailed reconstruction of rainfall over a NSW catchment for the past 1,000 years.In a world first, scientists have used data drawn from an ice core to reconstruct the rainfall records for a particular catchment – in this case one in the Hunter Valley called the Williams river. Over the past 1,000 years they found droughts such as the millennial drought or worse occurred quite frequently, as did periods of very wet weather. Continue reading...

Interactive map commissioned by Lock the Gate shows fossil fuel claims cover 37% of Australia’s landmassMore than a third of Australia’s landmass is earmarked for coal or gas, according to a new analysis and interactive map commissioned by the community group Lock the Gate.No single register of fossil fuel exploration and extraction licences and applications exists so, commissioned by Lock the Gate, Energy Resources Insights gathered spatial information on land earmarked for fossil fuels from state and federal regulators. Continue reading...

Female fertility | DNA database | Prison reform | Disposable fashion | Last English kingI was surprised to be informed (The foul reign of the biological clock, 10 May) that 1.5 is “the number of children the average American woman had in 1976”. At a rough estimate this means 120 million children were born in 1976. There’s an old joke about an American asking “Do you have children?”, and a British person answering “Not if I can help it.” But it’s not apparently a distinction that your editors are aware of.

A glass of wine can require as much as 14 gallons of water to make, prompting Fetzer Vineyards to try a wriggly wastewater solution invented in ChileNext time you open a bottle of merlot or chardonnay, be sure to thank the vintner. And you might want to toast the worms, as well.Everyday earthworms are the latest solution to a thorny problem that most wine drinkers never consider: wastewater disposal. Continue reading...

The sweet ritual of hanging your clothes to dry in the warmth of the sun is not only environmentally effective, it’ll spare your clothes undue damageEveryone hates me in the springtime.As soon as the weather warms up, the clothesline in my backyard gets hauled into action and I become physically unable to stop talking about it. My Instagram feed becomes littered with bucolic pictures of my dainties fluttering in the sunny breeze and I become prone to embarking upon long-winded screeds to anyone within earshot about how amazing my sheets smell when they’re dried in the fresh air.

Six more islands have large swaths of land, and villages, washed into sea as coastline of Solomon Islands eroded and overwhelmed

Report’s author says many media outlets have misinterpreted the science by conflating sea-level rise with climate changeLinks between climate change and the sinking of five islands in the Pacific Ocean have been exaggerated, the author of a widely reported new study has said.The report, published on Friday, tracked the shapeshifting of 33 reef islands in the Solomon Islands between 1947 and 2014. It found that five had been washed away completely and six more had been severely eroded. The study blamed the loss on a combination of sea-level rise and high wave energy. Continue reading...

Nearly 300 climbers and their guides are waiting for weather window this week after two climbing seasons marred by tragedyClimbers are hoping to reach the summit of Everest this week for the first time in almost three years, following two seasons marked by tragedies on the world’s highest mountain.

Coalition of wildlife groups write to US Bureau of Land Management asking them to remove Cliven Bundy’s cattle from federal land in NevadaEnvironmental groups have called on the government to round up Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy’s cattle with a mass seizure of livestock that some fear could lead to a tense standoff between armed militia groups and federal authorities.A coalition of wildlife organizations wrote to the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on Monday urging the agency to remove Bundy’s cattle in the Gold Butte area of Nevada, where the 70-year-old has for years allowed his cows to graze freely on public lands in defiance of federal land-use restrictions. Continue reading...

Survey finds 35,000 filling stations overtaken by more than 40,000 recharge points – although many belong to private ownersWhen it comes to electric vehicles, Japan is speeding ahead of the rest of the world, blissfully free of the range anxiety that afflicts plug-in drivers elsewhere.

Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten explored already well-worn themes on day two of the election 2016 campaign, despite the best efforts of the Greens to butt in, writes Elle Hunt • Sign up here to receive your Campaign catchup in your inbox every afternoonWith polls suggesting a tight contest, could we be heading towards another minority parliament?The Greens seem happy to fan that analysis, with Adam Bandt, the MP for Melbourne, telling Radio National the party would be open to forming a “stable progressive government” with Labor. Continue reading...

Moving towards low-carbon, climate-resilient transport and infrastructure is the best route to reducing poverty worldwideWill 2015 be a watershed in the human effort to solve global problems, or just another chapter in the history of collective inaction?The answer will soon become apparent on construction sites around the world. Continue reading...

UK routinely topped annual league table run by Ernst & Young but has slid to 13th place due to government’s ‘non-committal approach’The attractions of Britain for investors in renewable energy projects are at an all-time low, an authoritative new report has found.The UK routinely topped the annual league table for attractiveness to clean energy companies, run by consultancy Ernst & Young (EY), in the mid-2000s. For the first time, however, it has slid to 13th in the global rankings. Continue reading...

Pulborough Brooks, West Sussex Ten slender black and white birds are wading through the water, their red, stick-like legs folding and unfoldingA line of birdwatchers with telescopes are looking out from the Hanger viewpoint towards the grey pools below. Ducks and wading birds swim about or sleep on the banks of mud in the fine morning rain. Pete Hughes, a former warden here at RSPB Pulborough Brooks, and now warden at the nearby reserve at Medmerry, greets me: “The stilts are in the left-hand pool, towards the front.”Nothing else looks like the black-winged stilts. Ten slender black and white birds are wading through the water, their red, stick-like legs folding and unfolding delicately as they dip their long, needle-like beaks in the water. Only one is fully adult – a male – the rest are probably just over one year old. Continue reading...

Cosmetics company Lush has managed to combine record sales with controversial campaigns. Don’t expect others to copyLush likes to cause a stink. As well as its smelly shops and package-free produce, a large chunk of the handmade cosmetics company’s time and money is spent on political activism.Far from carefully choosing a few business-friendly good causes, Lush has backed a plethora of controversial causes from Guantanamo prisoners, to hunt saboteurs and the anti-fracking campaign. It does this through financial donations – totalling £5m a year in 2015 - and in-store products such as the May Day bath bombs, which supported activists opposed to the badger cull. It also supports groups in favour of peaceful resistance to the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Continue reading...

Severe weather and dangerous swells hamper search for 2.5m pygmy or dwarf sperm whale found at Logans BeachWildlife officers are trying to find a small and rare whale that was found stranded at a Victorian beach on Monday evening, however their search efforts are being hampered by severe weather and dangerous swells.The adult whale, about 2.5m long, was found at Logans Beach in Victoria’s south-west and rescuers believe it to be either a pygmy sperm whale or a dwarf sperm whale. Continue reading...

Currently the world’s biggest producer of lithium, Australia is well-placed to take advantage of the lithium-ion battery solar storage boomOut Western Australia way unlikely new environmental heroes can be found toiling in the red ochre dust of the Pilbara.Until recently companies such as Altura Mining, which has a long rap sheet of coal projects to its name, weren’t exactly contributing to the effort to curb global carbon emissions, but that is about to change. Continue reading...

What lies ahead is a gruelling and expensive campaign that will leave the country much as it was before

As the drought persists Governor Jerry Brown has made some water conservation measures permanent, such as a ban on overwatering lawnsGovernor Jerry Brown has ordered California to adopt permanent water conservation measures in response to a devastating five-year drought, including long-term bans on wasteful practices and mandatory reporting rules.While the drought has become less severe in recent months – leading some communities and water agencies to abandon strict restrictions – Brown’s executive order on Monday made clear that the drought was not over and that California must transition its short-term emergency measures into a permanent conservation plan. Continue reading...

Environmental health professor says microparticles of plastic, known to damage marine life, could be entering the airPeople could be breathing in microparticles of plastic, according to a leading environmental health expert, with as yet unknown consequences on health.Microplastics are known to be damaging to life in the oceans, with marine creatures mistaking them for food, and to be consumed by people eating seafood. But Frank Kelly, a professor of environmental health at King’s College London, told MPs investigating the issue that the particles could be being inhaled too. Continue reading...

The shift comes amid a decline in the use of coal and increase in the use of natural gas to generate electricity, energy officials sayCarbon dioxide emissions from the US’s energy sector fell in 2015 and now stand at 12% below 2005 levels, a drop mainly driven by the continuing collapse of the coal industry.Americans’ energy consumption resulted in the release of 5.2bn tons of CO last year, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), down from 5.4bn tons in 2014. The 12% cut since 2005 has come during a period in which the US economy has, adjusting for inflation, grown by 15%. Continue reading...

Former Irish cabinet minister says there are growing fears in Dublin that country could be used as back door into UKPoliticians in the Irish Republic fear their border towns could become the “new Calais” if Britain votes to leave the EU, as irregular migrants use Ireland as a back door into the UK, according to an EU commissioner.The commissioner for agriculture, Phil Hogan, said on Monday that there were growing fears in the republic that immigrants could use the border with Northern Ireland as a way into the UK if there was a Brexit result next month. Continue reading...

The chough had once vanished from England, but since 2002 there has been a growing colony of these fascinating birds in CornwallThe dawn chorus is deafening in my neck of the woods at the moment. The blackbirds are like loquacious honey-voiced DJs and the thrush is gloriously strident, but I’ve never heard two birds converse quite like a pair of choughs. Perhaps this is because these charismatic coastal-dwelling crows, with curved blood-red beaks, pair for life – although I’ve seen plenty of long-married human couples with far less conversation.Choughs vanished from England – eradicated by persecution and habitat loss – in the early 1970s but in 2001 a breeding pair unexpectedly flew in from Ireland and recolonised their old stronghold of Cornwall. This year, they are thriving, with a record 12 breeding pairs in the county, up from seven last summer. Continue reading...

Green lawyers criticise government after it emerged experts were commissioned to explore whether high-tech paint could reduce NO2 levelsLawyers have accused the government of pursuing gimmicks to tackle illegal air pollution, after it emerged experts were asked to examine whether high-tech paint could fix the problem.After losing a legal battle over pollution in the supreme court last year, the environment department last year announced plans for five clean air zones which will not affect nine in 10 vehicles.

The tough, innovative and resilient UK solar industry can outlast this government’s energy policiesKing Canute is alive and well in Britain.

Two activists in Colombia talk about their hopes and fears over bringing an end to the world’s longest running civil warFather Alberto Franco has spent much of his life speaking out for the most vulnerable people in Colombia – men and women who have been kicked off their land and attacked by armed groups serving powerful elites. He has been threatened and persecuted, so perhaps it is natural that he is “moderately pessimistic” about hopes for an end to the world’s longest civil war.“For us, the end of the armed conflict is not peace. Peace is building a more just society, a more inclusive society, respectful of human rights and the environment,” says Franco, who is a leader with the Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission. “While there are interests in the land, there will be social conflicts.” Continue reading...

Massive water transfer schemes are no solution to Iran’s growing problems with drought

Iran’s salt desert, New Suez Canal and British astronaut Tim Peak’s snap of UK under an aurora were among the images captured by European Space Agency and Nasa satellites last monthDasht-e Kavir, the swirling landscape of Iran’s salt desert, is reminiscent of an abstract painting. With temperatures reaching 50C in the summer, this area sees little precipitation, but runoff from mountains creates seasonal lakes and marshes. Extreme heat causes the water to evaporate, leaving behind clays and sand soils with a high concentration of minerals. The “brushstroke” patterns are geological layers eroded primarily by wind. Along the left side of the image we can see part of an area known as the “devil’s dunes” because it was believed to be haunted by evil spirits. This belief likely originated from its hostile conditions, and the early travellers who did attempt to cross it probably never returned due to starvation or dehydration. Continue reading...

The EU has a reputation for legislating to protect nature, whereas the UK drags its heels. Without us, perhaps animals and their habitats might get a better dealNothing oozes status like a man with an endangered alligator lizard draped over his shoulder that he has bought illegally through a German reptile trade show. These are people not content with a pet bearded dragon or a pet corn snake. They want more. They want something no one else has, even if having it contributes to the extinction of these unusual lizards in the wild.Thank goodness, then, that the Guardian exposed this illegal market last year, and that the EU committed on Thursday to tightening the loopholes in the illegal trade of reptiles such as these beautiful endangered lizards. I’d like to say that Britain was a key part of this story, but our record on tackling wildlife crime isn’t brilliant. Although we talk the talk (remember this?) in three out of the past four years the government has attempted to close our National Wildlife Crime Unit, an important department for monitoring such things as illegal pet trade activity. Thankfully the EU forced us forward – on this issue at least. Continue reading...

Air pollution kills 28,000 people every year in the UK. But the solution might lie in a hi-tech tower that sucks up harmful particlesHigh in the skies over London, the UK’s first air pollution monitoring squad have been using the latest sensors to chart the levels of ozone and nitrogen dioxide in our atmosphere. The team is highly trained, each equipped with a hi-tech backpack, and proficient in social media. Which all sounds relatively standard, apart from the fact that it is entirely made up of pigeons.Using one of the UK’s best-known feathered friends as a publicity stunt for air pollution awareness was the brainchild of Plume Labs, which has created an app for monitoring pollution on the go. It follows on the heels of similar apps released in the past two years, ranging from UCLA’s AirForU to BreezoMeter, the brainchild of Israeli engineer Ran Korber, who was looking to buy a house for his family far away from polluted environments. Continue reading...

The state would reap billions of dollars in revenue by hosting a dump, says royal commissioner and former governor Kevin ScarceSouth Australia should seize the opportunity to store the world’s high-level nuclear waste, the state’s nuclear royal commission has recommended.Related: Nuclear waste is zombie waste: Australia must not become a dumping ground | Dave Sweeney Continue reading...

Researchers to investigate how disease is passed between red squirrels, whose numbers have declined drastically

Malaysian palm giant, IOI, lost business after it was suspended from the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil’s certification scheme over deforestation allegations in IndonesiaOne of the world’s largest palm oil producers is suing the green body that suspended its sustainability certification last month because of allegations it had deforested Indonesian rainforests.The Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a body set up by industry and NGOs to address environmental concerns about the commodity’s production, confirmed it had been served with a lawsuit by the Malaysian palm giant, IOI. Continue reading...

Bill Shorten fails to realise world has ‘moved on from ideology’, says PM – but Climate Institute contradicts himMalcolm Turnbull has warned Australia would lose vital “leverage” in international negotiations under Labor’s plan to dramatically increase Australia’s emissions reduction target.On the first official day of the election campaign the prime minister criticised the Labor leader, Bill Shorten, for failing to realise that the world had “moved on from ideology” in the climate change debate towards practical negotiations. Continue reading...

Isle of May, Firth of Forth All around there are the mouths of the burrows where, not far below the surface, puffins incubate eggsOn the Isle of May, off the coast of Fife, the seabirds have arrived, and they are feeling broody. From my vantage point on the south cliffs, I have an unfettered view of two shags bedded down comfortably by the water’s edge. Black plumage glistens green in the sunlight. As I watch, one stands to stretch and straighten out her wings, and I count three pale eggs: long and ovoid, like pills.Their oversized nests are mere piles of rotting seaweed, but seem luxurious compared with those of the kittiwakes and razorbills on the precipitous rockface above – mere toeholds in the cliff, streaked with guano. Further down, the sleek, monochrome guillemots crowd on salt-sprayed ledges. Herring gulls edge between them, feigning nonchalance as they scrounge for speckled eggs. Continue reading...

The energy internet, the ‘smart’ grid, solar energy and battery storage are converging and the economic benefits are clearChange is coming to the energy landscape. A transition to a new energy economy is happening. In a country like Australia – awash with energy both under and above the ground – this transition could be rapid and profound. There is a lot to lose for those who can’t keep pace.Last month the government committed $1bn to the Clean Energy Innovation Fund. The fund will have “the primary purpose of earning income or a profitable return” on debt and equity extended to renewable energy, energy efficiency and low-emissions technologies. While many will argue the right way for that money to be used, investment like this is well timed. Continue reading...