Environment | The Guardian

Officials from Michigan city testified to congressional leaders Wednesday to ‘help us restore our city’ after lead was discovered in drinking waterOfficials from the embattled city of Flint, Michigan, testified to Democratic congressional leaders on Wednesday to reiterate their call for urgent upgrades to the midwestern city’s basic services.Abnormally high levels of lead were discovered in the city’s drinking water after an emergency manager, appointed by the state government, switched Flint’s water from Detroit’s supply to the Flint river, leading to extra corrosion in the old lead service lines that carry the city’s water. Continue reading...

Confusion surrounds the process by which Australia’s environment minister was crowned the world’s No 1, with the news agency denying it designed the schemeConfusion surrounds the selection process for the “best minister in the world” award bestowed upon Greg Hunt at the World Government Summit in Dubai for his efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

Larry Marshall says the climate lobby ‘is perhaps more powerful than the energy lobby was back in the 70s’ and criticises ‘emotion’ in debateCSIRO chief Larry Marshall said the reaction to his planned cuts to climate science in the organisation is more like religion than science, and compared climate science with the oil lobby in the 1970s.Related: CSIRO climate cuts attack a national treasure when we need it most Continue reading...

Even before the Zika virus, mosquitoes were the deadliest creatures on the planet. But gene modification means these blood suckers’ days might be numbered. Is it dangerous to talk about ‘editing nature’, or should we consider eradicating them for good?When an Aedes aegypti mosquito bites you, she – because only the females, which need blood as nutrients for their offspring, bite – will probe your skin with her proboscis as many as 20 times. Two pairs of sharp cutting edges, the fascicle, break the skin and then search for a blood vessel, withdrawing and re-entering until a suitable target is found. When the blood starts to flow, a salivary tube delivers a protein that stops it clotting. The mosquito holds still and then begins to suck; in 90 seconds’ time, she feels full, and stops. And then, if you are in parts of South and Central America and bang out of luck, you will have Zika.It’s a horrible idea, and one that will draw shudders from anyone who has ever been bitten by a mosquito – which is to say, just about everyone. In the entire animal kingdom, the mosquito occupies a special place as receptacle for our hatred and disgust. Even the great and generous EO Wilson, author of the touchstone argument for preserving biodiversity, The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth, makes an exception for anopheles gambiae, which spreads malaria in Africa. “Keep their DNA for future research,” he writes, “and let them go.” Continue reading...

Be’s One album (G2, 8 February), featuring the sound of 40,000 honey bees, is an exciting reminder of a musical experiment first conducted 400 years ago by the Rev Charles Butler. “The father of English bee-keeping” was an accomplished musicologist, and in the seclusion of his Hampshire vicarage, he composed a four-part bees madrigal, which was published in his bees manual, The Feminine Monarchie. Like Kev Bales, Butler was fascinated by the magical sound of bees in the hive – he kept them in straw skeps in his garden – and his composition tries to capture that quality by using the unaccompanied human voice. A choir from two Oxford colleges sang the madrigal at the dedication of a Butler memorial window in Wootton St Lawrence church in 1954. It has been performed publicly in recent years, including Vancouver in 2013. Presumably the bees again waived their copyright fees on those occasions.

We welcome the call for an independent review into Prevent made by the independent reviewer of the UK’s anti-terrorism laws, David Anderson QC, last week (Report, 3 February). One year ago the Prevent duty became statutory through the Counter-terrorism and Security Act 2015. This imposed a duty on public bodies to have “due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”.As a wide cross-section of Muslim community activists, academics, lawyers and politicians warned, the duty has in practice charged teachers, doctors and other professionals with monitoring people’s religious and political views. This is undermining the very ethos and relationships of mutual trust and openness that are fundamental to education and our public services while endangering other legal rights and protections. It is eroding civil liberties and deepening discrimination against Muslims. Continue reading...

The presidential election just got even more important – it will be a choice between a president in favor of climate action and one who would ignore itHours before New Hampshire’s primary voters made Donald Trump the favorite for the Republican presidential nomination Tuesday night – I can’t really believe this even as I type it – the US supreme court reminded us of why the upcoming presidential election is so important. On a party-line vote, the court temporarily stopped Barack Obama’s clean power plan from going into effect. This decision could well portend a future one that will have devastating consequences – not only for the climate but for the state of our lawmaking process.The decision also underscores the urgency of the November elections in two ways: it will be a choice between a candidate who supports taking action against climate change and one who believes it should be ignored, and it will present a choice between a president who believes that the federal government has the authority to effectively regulate and one who believes that the supreme court should arbitrarily throw monkey wrenches into the political process. Continue reading...

Two-year study finds more than 10% of children in England have not been to a natural environment in the past 12 monthsMore than one in nine children in England have not set foot in a park, forest, beach or any other natural environment for at least 12 months, according to a two-year study funded by the government.Children from low-income families and black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) households are markedly less likely than white children and those from higher income households to frequently visit urban or rural wild places, according to the survey conducted by Natural England. Continue reading...

Pension and investment fund managers have a duty to reduce the risk global warming poses to the world economy, green law firm warnsPension and investment fund managers who ignore the risks of climate change face the prospect of legal action, according to financial and legal experts.Global warming poses a systemic risk to the world economy and could significantly cut the value of investments, the experts argue, so those with fiduciary responsibility have a duty to act to reduce that risk, or be taken to court. Continue reading...

Politicians, businesses and campaigners from other countries rally to support Barack Obama after supreme court puts US flagship climate plan on holdThe US commitment to cutting carbon emissions under the landmark Paris agreement remains unaffected by the setback delivered to President Obama’s climate plans by the country’s supreme court, the White House has said.Politicians, businesses and green campaigners from other countries rallied to the support of the president after the US supreme court put a temporary freeze on new rules to clean up coal-fired power plants, the centrepiece of Obama’s climate plan. They insisted that the Paris commitments on tackling emissions would be enforced. Continue reading...

British oil company accused of being self-serving after saying fossil fuels will still be providing 80% of world’s total energy supply in 2035BP has predicted a bright future for the oil and gas industry with crude prices spiking at $100 a barrel again, huge increases in shale output and new production from Canadian tar sands.The British oil company believes fossil fuels will still be providing 80% of total energy supply in 2035 and admits that under this scenario, carbon emissions will rocket. Continue reading...

Readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific conceptsWhy do flies fly under a ceiling lamp during the day time, in a curiously dithering way, then suddenly make a sharp turn, repeating this endlessly - and how do they make that sharp turn?Anna Hughes, London, W4 Continue reading...

Offices with scenic views, as well as high-quality indoor environments, could help employees become more productive, research suggestsThe view from office windows is rarely the stuff of picture postcards. Yet the scenic quality of our daily environments has a direct correlation on our personal wellbeing, researchers say.

After Greg Hunt, Liberal party member of the Australian House of Representatives and environment minister in Tony Abbot’s government, was proclaimed ‘the world’s best minister’ at the World Government Summit held in Dubai, Green party deputy leader Scott Ludlam invites Australians to ‘celebrate’ Hunt’s record on environmental policies Continue reading...

Leaked review shows that EU law is failing to prevent $100bn a year trade in illegal timber - or that rules are even being implementedThere is “no solid evidence” that an EU law has done anything to prevent the illegal timber trade or even that it has been implemented, according to a draft commission review seen by the Guardian.Nine EU countries have still not imposed penalties or taken action against timber traffickers and six others have yet to carry out checks on importers as required by the EU’s timber regulation. Continue reading...

On jobs, health and wildlife, the European Union is often all that stands between us and unfettered corporate powerBy instinct, like many on the left, I am a European. I recognise that many issues – perhaps most – can no longer be resolved only within our borders. Among them are grave threats to our welfare and our lives: climate change and the collapse of the living world; the spread of epidemics whose vectors are corporations (obesity, diabetes and diseases associated with smoking, alcohol and air pollution); the global wealth-grab by the very rich; antibiotic resistance; terrorism and conflict.I recognise that the only legitimate corrective to transnational power is transnational democracy. So I want to believe; I want to belong. But it seems to me that all that is good about the European Union is being torn down, and all that is bad enhanced and amplified. Continue reading...

£4.4m lottery grant will see opening of the Slimbridge home of Sir Peter Scott, who designed the panda logo for conservation group WWFThe home of the “patron saint of conservation” is to open its doors to the public for the first time after being awarded a £4.4m grant.Sir Peter Scott, son of Antarctic explorer Captain Scott who instructed his wife in a last letter to “make the boy interested in natural history”, and his home at Slimbridge, Gloucestershire, were central to the modern conservation movement. Continue reading...

MPs warn that without CCS technology, it will be much more expensive to meet national and internationally agreed targets on reducing emissionsThe scrapping of government support for carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology has put at risk the UK’s international commitments on tackling climate change, an influential group of MPs has found.The energy and climate change committee said that, without such technology, it would be much more expensive to meet national and internationally agreed targets on reducing greenhouse gases. The extra cost could run to billions, outstripping the £1bn of public funds that had been promised for CCS. Continue reading...

Faster jet stream will add thousands of hours to journey times and increase airline fuel billsAirline flights are known to worsen climate change but now climate change is set to worsen flight times, according to new research.The work shows faster jet stream winds will delay transatlantic flights, adding thousands of hours a year to journey times and millions of dollars to airline fuel bills. Earlier work showed other impacts of rising temperatures on aviation, including bumpier, more turbulent flights and reducing the weight planes can carry. Continue reading...

Video shows thousands of insects clinging to hotel walls in town locals say is often overrun by the winged creatures when they breed after rainThe outback Queensland town of Winton has been blanketed by a swarm of moths after heavy rain in the region.A video posted to Facebook on Wednesday shows thousands of the tiny winged creatures filling the gutters of a car park and clinging to the walls of the Winton hotel. Continue reading...

By temporarily freezing the rule, the high court’s order raises fears that the centerpiece of the president’s clean power plan could be overturnedThe supreme court agreed to block Barack Obama’s clean power plan on Tuesday, raising fears that the centrepiece of his climate change plan could be overturned.

Federal plan stops short of listing bird that once numbered in the millions as an endangered species but western state fears mining and agriculture will sufferThe greater sage-grouse, a bird best known for its flamboyant mating ritual, has become embroiled in a tussle over states’ rights, with Utah suing the federal government over its protection of the threatened species.Utah’s lawsuit claims that a federal plan to protect the sage-grouse has “overthrown” the state’s own work to safeguard the species and will prevent the state from using vast tracts of land for mining or agriculture. The greater sage-grouse is a ground-dwelling bird that has been described as resembling an “avant-garde turkey”. Continue reading...

As public inquiry opens, council defends decision to reject energy firm’s planning application to drill for shale gasThe decision to refuse planning permission for fracking in Lancashire was “local democracy in action”, a barrister for Lancashire county council has said at the first day of a public inquiry into the decision.Lancashire council in June refused applications by the energy firm Cuadrilla for permission to drill for shale gas at two sites in the county. The public inquiry, which is scheduled to last five weeks, was launched after Cuadrilla appealed against the decision. Continue reading...

Market Forces report finds members of 15 Australian super funds lost an average of $1,109 per member in fossil fuel investments over two yearsMany Australians are losing thousands of dollars a year from their retirement savings because their super funds continue to invest in fossil fuel companies, according to a new report.Related: Fossil fuel investments damaging Australians’ retirement savings, research shows Continue reading...

Female shark that has had no contact with males for more than two years produces two fertile eggsA female shark that has had no contact with males of its species for more than two years is due to give birth to two babies. The white-spotted bamboo shark arrived at Great Yarmouth Sea Life Centre in 2013, having been evacuated from the badly flooded sister centre in Hunstanton, also in Norfolk.She has been the only member of her species at the centre in that time and has had no contact with male sharks. But experts at the centre have revealed that she has produced two fertile eggs, which are due to hatch in nine months’ time. Continue reading...

When the Caribbean state was no longer able to afford pesticides – which have been linked with declining bee populations – it made a virtue out of a necessityLong known for its cigars and rum, Cuba has added organic honey to its list of key agricultural exports, creating a buzz among farmers as pesticide use has been linked to declining bee populations elsewhere.Related: Cuba: a country on the brink of change – in pictures Continue reading...

Urgent trade embargo on live Asian species is needed to prevent a virulent disease from wiping out European newts and salamander populationsA skin-eating fungus could eradicate newts and salamanders from large tracts of Europe by 2020 unless a ban on live imports of Asian species is urgently introduced, a group of scientists and NGOs has warned.The US embargoed 201 species last month in a crackdown on the virulent Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans or “Bsal” fungus, which is thought to originate in Asia. Continue reading...

No further sightings of possible whale in trouble off north Norfolk coast following reports this morningCoastguard teams have stood down after no further sightings of a possible whale in trouble off the UK’s east coast.A member of the Mundesley coastguard rescue team reported a potential sighting at 10.15am on Tuesday of a whale around 400 yards off the coast of the Norfolk village. Continue reading...

US snowstorms, Tasmanian bushfires and Arabian plankton blooms were among the images captured by European Space Agency and Nasa satellites last monthIn orbit around the Earth on board the International Space Station, Nasa astronaut Scott Kelly captured this blue water image and tweeted it out with this message: “ A splash of #EarthArt over the #Bahamas! #YearInSpace.” Continue reading...

Ordinary merchant ships will not be able to take an ice-free shortcut from China to Europe until at least 2040, report predictsIt will be decades before big cargo ships link China and northern Europe by taking a shortcut through the Arctic Ocean, a report predicts.

Longest-running study to date analyses long-term mortality risks of Britons exposed to historic particulate pollutionAir pollution raises the risk of death for many decades after exposure, according to the longest-running study to date.The analysis of 368,000 British people over 38 years also showed that those living in the most polluted places have a 14% higher risk of dying than those in the least polluted areas. Those exposed to particulate air pollution were more likely to die from respiratory problems, like pneumonia, emphysema and bronchitis, and also from cardiovascular problems, like heart attacks. Continue reading...

Burton Mill, West Sussex I make my way through the woodland to the willows and alder that edge the main pondThe morning rain has left the already-soaked footpaths even wetter – my boots sink deep into the mud. But the clouds have cleared and the sun is shining for the last hours of the day. The weak whistles of flocks of long-tailed tits carry through the thin silver birches, as the little birds flick from one tree to the next.I make my way through the woodland to the willows and alder that edge the main pond. Jet-black coots, with their white beaks and foreheads glistening in the sunshine, dive for weed or emit their harsh, percussive calls. One of them noisily chases a grey-backed pochard and then a black and white tufted duck which have both strayed into its path. Continue reading...