Environment | The Guardian

Llangranog, Ceredigion For joyful dancing delight, for the palpable sense of fun and mischief, the raven is my choiceWind and wave hurl against the cliff, roar through the inlet, spinning white rosettes of spume in a vortex, a wavering pale column that snakes and twists into the air and bends landwards. A raven quartering the pasture above accepts the opportunity for play. He soars high, slipping the buffets of the gale, then folds his wings, drops like a dark stone into the white heart of the spray before rebounding and diving once more.His mate arrives, scolding tersely at the lateness of her dinner. Four choughs come squealing along the cliff edge. Her impatience set aside, she joins him in harrying them away. The air-mastery of these birds is breathtaking. Peregrine, goshawk, merlin, eagle – each is impressive in its way. But for joyful dancing delight, for the palpable sense of fun and mischief, the raven is my choice. From the path round Pendinaslochtyn I watch through a glass as they bully the choughs off their territory, then careen swiftly back along the wind. Continue reading...

Brush-tailed bettong, three-toed snake-tooth skink, swift parrot and types of orchid and albatross listedNearly 50 new species of flora and fauna have been added without fanfare to the federal government’s list of threatened species, including nine that are critically endangered.Among the species to be added to the list under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act were the brush-tailed bettong (endangered), the three-toed snake-tooth skink (vulnerable), the swift parrot (upgraded from endangered to critically endangered), and several types of orchid and albatross. Continue reading...

As another federal election looms, we need to keep in mind that violence and violent imagery do not prove passion for a nationLet’s redefine Australian patriotism.It’s time, because on the eve of a two-month long federal election campaign, we’re about to be subject to all manner of evocations from public figures about their advancement of the national interest and their love of their country. Continue reading...

Walter Micklethwait’s award-winning hut-turned-distillery in Scotland did not have change-of-use consent, it has emergedIs a shed still a shed if it is also a piano bar, a distillery and a small farm shop? Highland council will have to decide after it emerged that the recent winner of Shed of the Year did not have planning permission to change from a disused hen coop to a small enterprise of gin-making and egg-selling.Walter Micklethwait won the award in 2015 for transforming his dilapidated old wooden hut into a wild west-style saloon, farm shop and fully functioning Crossbill gin distillery.

Capacity market scheme to keep power stations on standby for peak demand could add £38 a year to each household billThe government has been accused of burying bad news during an election period after publishing a report (pdf) saying an emergency scheme to keep the lights on could add £38 a year to each household bill.

As flames rip through Alberta, we look at how putting out small fires can help to fuel increasingly catastrophic events as our climate gets hotter and drierBy dousing small, regular fires, forest managers are creating the conditions for cataclysmic events, scientists have said.Fires in temperate forests are generally increasing in size and area. This is partly because of climate change. Fire seasons in many parts of the world are getting longer and drier. Continue reading...

Letter calls for rapid shift to renewable energy after natural wonder affected by worst coral bleaching event yet seenTourism operators have broken their silence about the worst crisis ever faced by the Great Barrier Reef, with more than 170 businesses and individuals pleading with the Australian government to take urgent action to tackle climate change and ensure the reef survives.Related: Money trumpeted in budget for Great Barrier Reef previously announced Continue reading...

For more than 100 years, tourists and photographers have flocked to America’s national parks. Tim Dowling salutes the spectacular lakes, canyons – and rangers• America’s national parks in picturesSome years ago, my family and I paid a visit to the Rainbow Bridge national monument in Utah. It’s a natural stone arch, roughly the same height as the Statue of Liberty, and so remote that it wasn’t located by white people until 1909. It used to require a desert hike of several days to get to the bridge, but ever since the dam turned the Glen Canyon into Lake Powell, it’s only a two-mile stroll from a convenient landing dock. When we arrived, no one was around, apart from a park ranger stationed on the path, waiting for us, ready to answer any questions we might have, and to ask us to refrain from walking under the arch, because it is a site of tremendous religious significance for several Native American tribes.This federal employee standing in the middle of the desert – engaging, articulate, genial – seemed as much a monument as the bridge itself. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who enjoyed his job so much. We took turns posing for photographs wearing his hat. Continue reading...

Photographers have been inspired by the majesty of America’s national parks since they were founded more than a century ago• Tim Dowling hits the road Continue reading...

Re-use of spaces is the sustainable solution to overflowing graveyards, if done sensitively, says one of Britain’s biggest cemeteriesOne of Britain’s biggest cemeteries is leading the way on a solution to the nationwide shortage of grave spaces that’s reaching crisis levels.Experts say finding ways to stop cemeteries overflowing is vital, but the most effective way of doing so – re-using graves – challenges some people’s deeply held beliefs about burial. Continue reading...

Jonathan and Angela Scott: After the ivory burn, it’s up to all of us to make sure the pledges made there are honouredPeople have always been smitten by the beauty of elephant ivory, as I discovered for myself while travelling overland from London to Johannesburg in 1974.I am not exactly sure where I bought the small ivory carving that would haunt me in years to come. I think it was Kisangani (formerly Stanleyville), 2000 km upstream from the mouth of the mighty Congo River, home during the 1880s to Mohammed Bin Alfan Murjebi alias Tipu Tip, the infamous Zanzibari who traded ivory and slaves. Continue reading...

American alligators, sea stars and endangered Saharan Addax are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world Continue reading...

Raging wildfires have brought an ill-informed focus on this quintessentially Canadian place, which had a character long before the extraction plantsFort McMurray is a real place, not a Dante-esque metaphor for hell, despite the wildfires currently raging, which has forced its entire evacuation.An urban service area at the heart of the municipality of Wood Buffalo in north-eastern Alberta, one of Canada’s western provinces and currently in a state of emergency, it is not some frontier gold rush town huddled under a blanket of perpetual snow. It is not a work camp, although different work and service camps located at the mining sites, from 20 to 100 miles away, circle it. And it is not actually very far north in Canadian terms: the boreal forest just nudges the edge of the near north, and the far and the extreme north (yes, Canada has a near, far, and extreme north) are much farther beyond. It lies roughly between the longitudes of Edinburgh and Aberdeen, and no one would dare to call either Edinburgh or Aberdeen remote. Continue reading...

Ahead of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the national parks, the US Postal Service has issued 16 stamps that depict the beauty and diversity of these protected areas. The stamps collectively tell the story of the parks, from the glaciers of Alaska to the Everglades of Florida Continue reading...

Microbe populations make up 11-31% of living matter in the ocean seabed, but decline significantly as oceans warm

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...

Photographs from the Eyewitness series Continue reading...

Australia’s environment minister denies he failed to consider impact of a coal mine on the Great Barrier Reef, court documents showThe federal environment minister has argued in court that coal from Australia’s largest coalmine would have no “substantial” impact on climate change and as a result he did not need to consider whether it would affect the Great Barrier Reef.The Australian Conservation Foundation challenged Greg Hunt’s approval of Adani’s Carmichael mine, alleging he failed to consider the impacts the burning of the coal from the mine would have on climate change and hence on the Great Barrier Reef. Continue reading...

Eight-year-old male primate will leave Perth zoo for sanctuary on Indonesian island of Sumatra where, at his own pace, he will be releasedNyaru has been learning to fast between meals. On Tuesday the eight-year-old male orangutan will leave his enclosure in Perth zoo for the Indonesian island of Sumatra, where he will be released into the wild.An erratic feeding schedule, intended to mimic the “boom and bust” cycle of natural fruit availability, is one of the ways zookeepers have helped him to prepare. Continue reading...

Litchfield Down, Hampshire Just here the downs are a rolling sea of earth and flint – and the contraption sits atop the ridge like a ship run agroundEmerging from a stand of Scots pine at the crest of the down, I stumble across a silent monolith of steel and timber. On a base of low concrete walls there sits what was once a piece of clanking, many-chambered machinery. Much taller than I and metres long, it had riddled and sorted and spat under the power of the rusting engine embedded in a brickwork cradle at its side. But it has long since been disavowed of its agricultural purpose. Just here the downs are a rolling sea of earth and flint – “in fluctuation fixed”, as WH Hudson saw it – and the contraption sits atop the ridge like a ship run aground. It’s a wind harp, too; the spring breeze setting up a wicked music through the steel shutters and the maritime clang of a loose arm of iron knocking against its neighbour.I circle the machine and run my hands along its smooth, weathered timber flanks. As I turn a corner, a hare bolts from the cover of the walls. At full pace it traces with exactness the arc of a furrow and disappears over the crest of the hill. Looking into where the hare had been settled, I see the collected debris of rodent skulls and small bones.

New research has shown the aged care provider Warrigal that sustainable design affects residents’ wellbeing, as well as its bottom lineIt’s something none of us like to think about. Aged care is a service many people benefit from, although most of us shudder at the thought of leaving the comfort of home during the last stages of our lives.Yet given our ageing population, it’s a sector that is in increased demand – and struggling to keep up. According to the recently released 2016 Residential Aged Care Sustainability Review from the global tax advisory firm RSM, projections show the need for aged care in the next 40 years will rise by 68%. And it suggests that $32.9bn needs to be invested in capital stock over the next decade. Continue reading...

There’s probably a German word for enjoying an autumn swim thanks to global warming, but since I am Catholic the only word I can think of is ‘guilt’Yippee! I’ve said every day I’ve woken up this week, looked out the window and seen that today is yet another beach day when we should be rugging up.“How great is this? The backpackers have gone home, the sun is shining, the water is still warm, and it’s May!” I say to a fellow swimmer on Bondi beach. Continue reading...

The $5bn deal with the government could weaken the huge class action faced by the mining giant and its local partner ValeA Brazilian judge has ratified the settlement BHP Billiton and Vale signed with the Brazilian government in March to cover damages for a deadly dam spill last year.

Hot weekend means people with lung or heart problems should avoid outdoor strenuous activity, warns DefraAir pollution warnings have been issued with temperatures forecast to climb towards 27C (80F) in south-east England and the Midlands this weekend.Some parts of Britain will be hotter than areas of the Mediterranean, but the warm weather will be accompanied by moderate levels of air pollution, which can cause breathing difficulties in vulnerable people. Areas of south-west England and western Scotland could be at higher risk by Sunday. The highest levels are expected in Northern Ireland. Continue reading...

The party leader goes into the election with ambitious plans, having shown his willingness to negotiate with the CoalitionHere’s a quote from Margaret Thatcher warning about climate change. In the 1980s.

Patrick Barkham on how the late flowering of food species can spell disaster for butterflies emerging after winterFor me, spring truly begins when the first male orange tip passes on its ceaseless jinking search for females. It was late this year, and this small white butterfly with unmistakable orange tips to its wings only materialised in my garden last week.What worried me was not its tardiness but its food plant’s. The garlic mustard on which superbly-camouflaged (and occasionally cannibalistic) orange tip caterpillars feed (they also devour that lovely spring flower, lady’s smock, in damper spots) had barely sprouted any leaves last week. Continue reading...

President railed against ‘corrosive attitude’ of hands-off government – but those unable or unwilling to drink their own water need pragmatism, not politicsFour months after he declared a state of emergency in Flint over its toxic water crisis, Barack Obama’s first visit to the Michigan city was as much about repudiating the philosophy of shrunken, hands-off government as it was about the lead-laced liquid that residents still have to drink and bathe in.The president’s address to a restive crowd he called “feisty” included an obligatory sip of Flint water. “This isn’t a stunt,” Obama insisted, while stressing that people could drink the water, if it is properly filtered. Continue reading...

The new mayor of London (Opinion, theguardian.com, 4 May) will need the massed support of the 47% of their constituents who rent their homes if they are to implement an affordable living rent at one third of income. That desperately needed London policy will sail into a perfect gale of national policy crosswinds.The Department for Communities and Local Government tells us, in windy language worthy of Yes Minister, “the maximum rent for an affordable rent property, when it is first let to a new tenant, is 80% of the market rate, inclusive of service charges, or the ‘social rent rate’ (exclusive of service charges), whichever is higher. Providers should then apply the 1% reduction, introduced by the Welfare Reform Act 2016, in the following relevant years”. Continue reading...

Experts have offered stark warnings that proposed power plants in India, China, Vietnam and Indonesia would blow Paris climate deal if they move aheadPlans to build more coal-fired power plants in Asia would be a “disaster for the planet” and overwhelm the deal forged at Paris to fight climate change, the president of the World Bank said on Thursday.In an unusually stark warning, the World Bank president, Jim Yong Kim, noted that countries in south and south-east Asia were on track to build hundreds more coal-fired power plants in the next 20 years – despite promises made at Paris to cut greenhouse gas emissions and pivot to a clean energy future. Continue reading...

As David Attenborough turns 90, we’d like you to share how the wildlife television presenter has influenced your life.To celebrate Sir David Attenborough’s 90th birthday on 8 May, we’d like you to share your tributes to the wildlife broadcaster and naturalist whose career in broadcasting has spanned more than half a century.A twist of fate led Sir David to his first presenting role on the BBC series Zoo Quest in 1954. Since then he has fronted a vast number of wildlife documentaries, collected honorary degrees – 32, which is the most of any other person, and has inspired a huge number of wildlife documentary-makers and enthusiasts. Continue reading...

As the UK is hit with another wave of air pollution we look at the causes and effects, what you should do and what action is being takenStagnant air from continental Europe, which has picked up pollution from industry and agriculture, is being blown over the UK from the south-east. This air combines with pollutants already present in the air from UK sources, such as nitrogen oxides and particulates from diesel vehicle engines, to produce air pollution. Continue reading...

Business models employed by multinationals such as Shell and BP are no longer fit for purpose, warns energy expertInternational oil companies such as Shell and BP must completely change their business model or face a “nasty, brutish and short” end within 10 years, one of Britain’s most influential energy experts has warned.Paul Stephens, a fellow at Chatham House thinktank, said in a research paper the oil “majors” were no longer fit for purpose – hit by low crude prices, tightening climate change regulations and their own wrongheaded strategies. Continue reading...

Recent deals in the global agrochemical and seed industry, driven by financial motivations, are a threat to farmers, prices and the environment

Protected areas and habitats are being downgraded and delisted so often, to accommodate mining, logging or population growth, the problem even has its own acronym. Environment 360 reportsIt’s the saddest truism in wildlife conservation: When politicians announce that they are setting aside precious habitat “in perpetuity”, what they really mean is until somebody else wants the land.Protected areas now get reopened so often under the pressure of population and economic growth that the trend has spawned an acronym, PADDD, for “protected area downgrading, downsizing, and degazettement.” There’s also a web site, PADDDtracker.org, jointly maintained by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Conservation International. Continue reading...

Whether or not the practices are safe, some wonder why companies are pouring resources into an area that so many are trying to innovate out of existence

Analysis of the huge news and online response to his death could offer conservationists an opportunity to turn the ‘Cecil moment’ into a ‘Cecil movement’, reports Conservation MagazineWhen the story of Cecil the lion’s death at the hands of an American hunter hit the media, the global response was “the largest reaction in the history of wildlife conservation,” according to a new paper. Researchers from Oxford’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (or WildCRU, the same organization that had tracked the lion since 2009) analyzed the traditional and social media response to the hunting incident. They found that a combination of elements in the story may have made it go viral in a different way than the average internet sensation. And conservationists may subsequently have a golden opportunity to transform the “Cecil moment” into a “Cecil movement”.To recap the sequence of events around Cecil’s death: Around 10pm on 1 July 2015, a hunter from Minnesota named Walter Palmer sent an arrow into the side of a 13-year-old male African lion nicknamed ‘Cecil’ on privately owned property outside of Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park. This arrow failed to kill the beast, but the second one, shot some 11 hours later, did. Continue reading...

Dry farming forgoes modern irrigation and, farmers say, produces much tastier crops. In a drought-stricken state, should others follow suit?There’s something different about Will Bucklin’s grape vines. At first it’s hard to notice, but a drive through northern California’s Sonoma Valley, past waves of green, manicured vineyards, makes it clear. The black ribbon of PVC irrigation pipe that typically threads the vines is curiously absent here – because Will doesn’t water his crops.Bucklin’s Old Hill Ranch, purchased by his stepfather Otto Teller in 1980, claims to be the oldest-rooted vineyard in the area. Teller fell in love with the vineyard because it was one of the few that still “dry-farmed”. Dry farming is a method that bypasses artificial irrigation, relying instead on seasonal rainfall and working the soil in such a way that it holds on to water for the drier months. Continue reading...

If we want to reduce emissions, cities are key. But they need to be empowered if they are to have an impactThe Paris climate agreement, already signed by more than 175 countries, was successful in large part because national governments recognized cities’ progress in reducing carbon emissions. On Thursday, as world leaders gather in Washington DC to discuss how to reach the goals set in Paris, they should focus on helping cities do even more, and act faster, to reduce those emissions.Cities account for most of the world’s carbon emissions, and their share will continue to increase as cities increase in size. Today more than half of the world lives in cities, and by 2050, two-thirds will. Every day, the world’s cities grow by about 60 square kilometers – an area equal to New York City’s borough of Manhattan. Continue reading...

Storms and rising sea levels could break up old rubbish dumps in England and Wales releasing potentially toxic waste, study showsOver 1,000 old landfill sites on the coasts of England and Wales are at increasing risk of being breached by erosion, according to a new study, posing a serious pollution danger to wildlife and bathing waters.Landfill sites before the mid-1990s had few or no restrictions about what rubbish could be dumped in them and little is known about what they contain. But many were on the coast and some were used to raise land levels and even as part of flood defences. Climate change is bringing higher sea levels and stronger storms, putting the old dumps at greater risk of being broken up. Continue reading...

Willie Walsh, chief executive of British Airways’ owner, says ministers should not be bound to third runway proposalThe alternative, cheaper scheme to expand Heathrow airport should be put back on the table if the government gives the go-ahead for a new runway, according to the boss of British Airways’ owner.Willie Walsh, the chief executive of IAG, whose airlines, including BA, operate the majority of services at Heathrow, said he did not expect a decision soon – but the “prohibitive costs” meant ministers should not be bound to the airport’s own proposals for a third, north-west runway.

Climate change is a problem that cannot wait, 20 backbenchers say in their statement to PM, urging him to accept cuts in greenhouse gas emissionsTwenty Conservative MPs have written to the prime minister urging him to accept the steep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions required by the UK’s ‘fifth carbon budget’.On the eve of local elections in several regions, and the poll for the next London mayor, the MPs have made a strong statement that climate change is a problem that cannot wait. Continue reading...

National Geographic is inviting entries to its annual travel photographer of the year award. You can find details of how to enter here and the competition closes on 27 May 2016. Here is a small selection of photographs already submitted. Continue reading...

EU proposal seeks to close a legal loophole allowing the sale of endangered lizards in Europe after a Guardian article revealed the scale of the problemEurope has moved to close a loophole that allows wildlife smugglers to trade in several endangered lizard species, after revelations by the Guardian about the scale of the problem.An EU proposal to strictly regulate the trade in arboreal alligator lizards (Abronia), backed by Mexico, will be debated at the Convention on international trade in endangered species (Cites) conference, which opens in Johannesburg this autumn. Continue reading...

The Clean Energy Regulator has bought up 50.5m tonnes of carbon abatement but there are doubts over how effective this will be in reaching Paris agreement targetsThe government has now spent two-thirds of its emissions reduction fund but has only achieved 7% of the emissions cuts it would need to reach its 2030 target, according to analysts.Today the Clean Energy Regulator announced the results of its third Emissions Reduction Fund auction, the centrepiece of government climate policy by which it pays polluters to pollute less. Continue reading...

Wolsingham, Weardale The butterbur brings to mind strawberry ice-cream cones, and to the bees it has the same irresistible sweetnessIf we had been standing among these riverside alders four months ago we would have been swept away. This low-lying stretch of the bank of the river Wear is inundated by flood water every winter, and debris was still trapped in the lower branches above our heads. Continue reading...

Former premier supports legislation, which has cross-party backing, as well as campaign by dolphin advocacy group to end captivity at the state’s only dolphin park in Coffs HarbourA legislative bid to abolish dolphin captivity in New South Wales, targeting the remaining park in the state in Coffs Harbour, has gained cross-party support as well as that of the former premier Bob Carr.More than 85,000 people have already backed advocacy group Australia for Dolphins’ appeal to premier Mike Baird to end dolphin captivity in the state since it launched on 9 April. Continue reading...

Schools face water shortages and government says entire nation is affected as rainy season is forecast to be delayed by monthsBehind a clutch of huts that hug the major route between Cambodia’s capital and its famed Angkor temples, rice farmers Phem Phean and Sok Khoert peer into a cement hollow.Related: Armed guards at India's dams as drought grips country Continue reading...

Federal government confirms $171m allocated to the reef is recycled funding and focuses on water quality not climate changeAll the $171m in funding announced in the budget for the Great Barrier Reef has come from other environmental programs, which already had significant amounts directed at conserving the reef, it emerged on Thursday.It was also revealed that a large portion of the reallocated money will not be available for the reef until 2019, coinciding with when Unesco is scheduled to reconsider whether to categorise the reef as “in danger”. Continue reading...

Study finds only 1% of cities in world have such high levels of pollution that the activities could prove detrimental to healthThe health benefits of cycling and walking outweigh the harm from inhaling air loaded with traffic fumes in all but the world’s most polluted cities, according to a study.An international team of researchers who have modelled the effects say only 1% of cities in the world have such high levels of air pollution that cycling or walking could make a person’s health worse. Continue reading...

The need for fossil fuels is destroying regions and communities, causing war and famine in the process, argues the activist and authorClimate change is spawning injustice, racism, intolerance and wars, according to author and political activist Naomi Klein.