Environment | The Guardian

Historic pace of land subsidence in state’s Central Valley, the most productive US agricultural region, drives need for extensive infrastructure fixesA canal that delivers vital water supplies from northern California to southern California is sinking in places. So are stretches of a riverbed undergoing historic restoration. On farms, well casings pop up like mushrooms as the ground around them drops.Four years of drought and heavy reliance on pumping of groundwater have made the land sink faster than ever up and down the Central Valley, requiring repairs to infrastructure that experts say are costing billions of dollars. Continue reading...

With the economy in tatters, the government has opened the country to prospectors operating without regulations or oversightIt’s a little before 7am on a bright, airless morning, and already Abdullah Idriss Isaac has been hard at work for hours.Swishing his aluminium pan back and forth through a waist-deep pool of brackish water, he wearily scrutinises its contents for glimmers of gold. With the sun beginning to beat down, the young miner splashes handfuls of the liquid – laced with mercury and cyanide to separate gold from unwanted rock – on his face to stay alert. Continue reading...

Army called in as flooding misery continues in York, Leeds and elsewhere4.37pm GMTHelen Pidd has the latest from Calder Valley2,000 properties "badly affected" by flooding in the Calder Valley, Calderdale Cllr Rob Holden says. Mytholmroyd "easily" the worst.4.03pm GMTThe floods have hit three cities and scores of towns and villages, in what the prime minister David Cameron described as an “unprecedented” situation. Continue reading...

At least 11 people have been killed in the Dallas area from a storm system packing torrential rains and unleashing a string of tornadoes that toppled homes, cut power lines and snarled transport for people returning from the Christmas holidays. The worst-hit area was in Garland, northeast of Dallas, where eight people were killed, cars blown off highways and homes flattened, officials said on Sunday

With each new deluge the UK learns nothing, unlike the Netherlands, which has adapted to the changing nature of the threatWhen more than 1,800 people died in the wake of the 1953 North Sea flood in the Netherlands, the national reaction was: never again. The resulting Delta programme to close off the south-western river delta from the sea was so bold that its name became synonymous with dealing with a crisis. If an issue needs a major response, you can be sure that a Dutch politician will call for a “Delta plan to tackle X”. It is time that the UK took some of that attitude and got a Delta plan to tackle flooding.Flooding has become an almost annual event in the UK. We are waiting for the next storm and flash flood to hit, with another group – or even the same group – of people evacuated, all followed by the promise of some money for a bit of flood defence work. As a nation, we can no longer afford to accept that. Consider the personal misery for those affected, even in areas not traditionally flood-prone like Manchester and Leeds. Consider that the financial cost of these events will continue to rise – and not only for the government. Every home insurance policy now includes a £10.50 Flood Re levy to subsidise insurance for homes with a high risk of flooding. Continue reading...

A team at Columbia University hope to use the energy produced by bacteria when they expand and contractA small Lego device on the shelf of professor Ozgur Sahin’s office at Columbia University could open up the possibility of another form of renewable energy, and one that is much cheaper than solar and wind.Sahin has used the simple gadget to prove that evaporating water can be used to generate power, which could eventually lead to energy being generated from still reservoirs. At the centre of the research by Sahin and his team in New York are spores of common soil bacteria that expand, much like a muscle, when there is moisture in the atmosphere, and contract in drier conditions. Continue reading...

With more than 200 flood warnings and alerts in place across England and Wales, the army have been called in to bolster flood defences and assist people in northern England. Hundreds more homes were evacuated on Sunday as further flooding was expected Continue reading...

Footage shows Goya city flooded by the overflow of the Paraná river in Argentina on Saturday. More than 100,000 people have had to evacuate from their homes in the bordering areas of Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina due to severe flooding in the wake of heavy summer rains brought on by El Niño Continue reading...

Victoria police constable Mel Varker helps a koala distressed during the Wye River bushfires on Sunday. When Country Fire Authority members fighting to put out the fire near Lorne found the koala lying unconscious by the side of the road, they brought the animal back to their station and helped it back to recovery. It has been nicknamed Constable K Bear Continue reading...

• Met Office issues two highest-level red weather warnings

Go for organic cotton over classic blue denim if you want to keep your jeans cleanGlobally, denim production adds up to 4bn metres per year, 60% of it made in Asia (mostly in China). Jeans are usually made from non-organic, non-sustainable cotton, which means pesticides, a gargantuan amount of water, trade injustice and exploitation. Fugitive Denim: a Moving Story of People and Pants in the Borderless World of Global Trade by Rachel Synder is an insightful read.Bleaching, sandblasting (supposedly banned in 2004, when it was linked to lung disease in workers) and stonewashing all give jeans a higher ethical impact. The distressing process involves repeatedly washing with pumice stones and lots of water. I have also seen effects obtained by putting jeans under sun lamps (imagine the energy burden). Continue reading...

Firefighters and police have saved a koala they found unconscious near Lorne in Victoria and say she is now doing very wellA koala has been saved by firefighters battling a bushfire along the Victorian coast.When Country Fire Authority members fighting to put out the fire near Lorne found the koala lying unconscious by the side of the road, they brought the animal back to their station. Continue reading...

Worst El Niño in more than 15 years causes several deaths and drives thousands from their homes in border areas of four South American countriesMore than 100,000 people evacuated their homes in the bordering areas of Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina due to severe flooding in the wake of heavy summer rains brought on by El Niño, authorities said.

The once vast sand dunes in Sydney’s south have been farmed, mined, filmed and eroded by wind and rain. Now they face encroaching housing developmentsThe gigantic Cronulla sand dunes were a wilderness when the First Fleet arrived in the land that would be Australia. More than 200 years later, they are far smaller.Related: Cronulla sand dunes: the 15,000-year-old landscape that greed destroyed – in pictures Continue reading...

The gigantic sand dunes in Cronulla, Sydney – close to the so-called birthplace of modern Australia – date back to mesolithic times. But over the past century they have been steadily encroached upon by human activity. The remaining dunes now lie sandwiched between a luxurious housing estate on one side and industrial buildings on the other. Our photographer Jonny Weeks has documented the current state of the dunes and the much-changed environment around them Continue reading...

Completion of new paths puts target date of 2020 within sight, raising hopes of boost to tourismMore than 95 miles of new coastal path will open in a few weeks as the government strives to meet its pledge to complete the England Coast Path on schedule. The new sections will almost double the length of coastal path that has already been created as part of the project.The paths will cover parts of the coast of Somerset and will help to link the South West Coast Path, which ends at Minehead, with the town of Aust, near Chepstow, where the Wales Coast Path begins. In addition, new sections of path are to be opened in Kent in a few weeks. Continue reading...

Troops come to the aid of emergency services to evacuate stranded familiesIt was the day the floodwaters inexorably advanced across the Pennines, leaving much of the north of England sodden and beleaguered. From Greater Manchester in the north-west to parts of North Yorkshire some 50 miles to the east, Boxing Day 2015 will be remembered as the day the rains came.In Todmorden, in West Yorkshire’s Calder Valley, Rebecca Marshall was last night facing the grim prospect of having to abandon her home as the floodwaters slowly rose around her house. The incessant rains had left the little town cut off after all the roads in and out were flooded. Continue reading...

Parts of Britain are under water again as torrential rain from Storm Eva causes mass flooding in the north west of England on Boxing Day. The Met Office has issued severe weather warnings for rain, snow, wind, fog and ice

East Porterville, California, is a predominantly Latino, low-income town that relies solely on private wells. As these dry up because of the drought, many families are forced to rely on deliveries, water from neighbours, or abandon their homes. Photographer Gabrielle Lurie has been documenting their plight Continue reading...

Europe’s refugee crisis, the Paris attacks, pollution in China, the continuing violence in Israel and Syria – the world’s leading photojournalists describe how they captured 20 defining images in 2015 Continue reading...

Almost 150 flood warnings issued as up to 120mm of rain set to fall in north of England – worsening situation in areas already saturated by winter stormsHouseholders in some parts of the north of England have been warned to take their Christmas presents and other valuables upstairs as the Environment Agency issued 149 flood warnings – seven of them severe – and 123 alerts. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency issued five flood alerts and eight flood warnings.The warnings south of the border, which mainly cover the north-west and north-east of England and Wales, come as forecasters said up to 120mm (4.7in) of rain could fall in some areas already saturated by winter storms.

From Sri Lanka to Uganda, UAVs with near-infrared sensors are monitoring plants for pests and disease, with implications for agricultural policy worldwideThe traditional image of a farmer standing in a field, squinting anxiously at the sky for signs of rain, may be about to get a 21st-century makeover as researchers explore the use of drones on farms from Sri Lanka to Uganda.The ability of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or drones) to hover low over fields of maize, sweet potato and rice with sensoring devices promises benefits for individual farmers and their communities. Continue reading...

A report quietly released on Christmas Eve shows Australia’s emissions rose by about 1% in 2014-15, compared with the previous yearAustralia’s greenhouse gas emissions increased in 2014-15, a report released with obscure timing by the Australian government has shown.Related: What does the Paris climate agreement mean for Australia? | Lenore Taylor Continue reading...

The writer reflects on the recent climate change conferenceThere’s an old French saying, “Send a donkey to Paris and it won’t come back any smarter.” It sounds good, but I’m betting it’s wrong, and that the big Paris conference has saved the world from heat death. Too late to save it for me, perhaps, but I’d like to believe that my granddaughter now faces no greater threat to her future than passing out from excitement when opening Christmas presents.As Christmas loomed, I was worn out from giving and taking hints about presents. The book I most wanted was The Silent Deep, concerning the Royal Navy submarine service. It was hard to hint about. You can’t say, “Speaking of submarines, yesterday I saw one in the river. I wish I knew more about submarines.” So I hinted more subtly, dragging the talk around to submarines even when the subject was climate change. When the ocean rose, I suggested, there would be more room for submarines. The hint worked. Continue reading...

Burghead, Highlands Normally herring gulls hover over the eiders’ feeding area, waiting for any fragments of food the ducks might leave. The wind had put paid to all that. Despite the weather two of the drake eiders were displaying to the drab-looking femalesLast week the seas off our vantage point under a low cliff were the roughest we have ever seen from this peninsula. The strong wind was from the west, where, in the far distance, we could see the snow-capped tops of the hills. Much of the sea to our left was so dominated by the white foam that no water could be seen.With the tide ebbing, the rock pools on one side were exposed and here various waders were seeking not only food but shelter. Perhaps the weather had affected their behaviour – oystercatchers, purple sandpipers, redshank and turnstone were all mixed up in their search for food. Usually, along this stretch of coastline, these four waders keep together in small, loose groups whether feeding or roosting. The beaks of the different species vary in length, so that when they are probing for food they tend to find different food at varying levels. Continue reading...

Zimbabwean activist Johnny Rodrigues says he now has an unprecedented platform to promote conservationFor 35 years, Johnny Rodrigues has been trying to get people to pay attention to conservation issues in Zimbabwe’s Hwange national park, with limited success. Then, in July, a dentist from Minneapolis killed Cecil the lion, the park’s most famous resident, and Rodrigues found himself at the centre of an international media storm.Related: Killer of Cecil the lion was dentist from Minnesota, claim Zimbabwe officials Continue reading...

In a new book photographer Eva-Lotta Jansson documents the mining industry’s environmental destruction Continue reading...

The mild weather is definitely having its effect (Ice rinks melt as Christmas goes crackers, 24 December). We have plants flowering in the gardens that really shouldn’t be at this time of year, such as Phacelia, and we even have a few roses still in bloom. We shouldn’t see any seedlings growing outside, but currently we’ve got wildflower seedlings growing among our tulip bulbs, which is virtually unheard of for December. Our Euphorbia seems to think it’s March already, with yellow heads showing, and we keep cutting back plants only to find they just keep growing back. Another real consequence of the warmer weather is that the bugs and pests won’t be killed off, which may mean we will have many more to deal with than usual in the spring time. The warm December has also meant lots of rain, so waterlogging may be a problem for some gardens out there. We combat this with lots of compost; my advice to other gardeners would be to do the same and ensure heavy objects are moved away from lawns so that soil isn’t compacted. If the mild weather continues and we have early fruit tree blossoms followed by a hard frost, the fruit harvest could be seriously damaged.

Grand plan to clean up air in Indian capital by banning cars on alternate days watered down and may be scrappedDelhi’s grand plan to deal with record levels of pollution and clean its air appears to be stalling before it has even been put into action.Arvind Kejriwal, the top elected official of the Indian capital, said last month that private cars would be allowed on the city’s roads only on alternate days from 1-15 January, with days allocated on the basis of whether licence plates ended in an even or odd number. Continue reading...

Road connecting north and south Jamaica will be lined with luxury hotels and is China’s largest investment in the Caribbean – but not for much longerStretching some 67 km (41.6 miles) north to south across Jamaica, the $600m four-lane highway skirts around a mountain and will eventually be lined with luxury hotels, restaurants and bars.Nicknamed the “Beijing highway” – after the Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt reportedly turned down a chance for the road to carry his name – the state-of-the-art tolled carriageway is the most striking sign that the Chinese treasure ship has arrived in the Caribbean. Continue reading...

Authorities respond to forecasts of heavy smog by issuing first red alerts for pollution in 10 cities, following two warnings in Beijing this monthMore Chinese cities are issuing their first red alerts for pollution in response to forecasts of heavy smog, after the capital, Beijing, issued two this month following criticism for not releasing them earlier.Shandong province in eastern China issued alerts in four cities after warning that the density of particulate matter in the air would exceed high levels for more than 24 hours. The Shandong environmental protection bureau said the alerts started Thursday morning and that kindergarten, primary and middle schools should close and construction of buildings and roads, and demolition work, should stop. Continue reading...

They look funny when they walk, beautiful when they swim. And they have adorable babies – so it was time to ignore the fact this was a ‘dramatised’ documentary, and open the BaileysAre penguins the gift that keep on giving or what? Aesthetically perfect for television – sharply delineated black on white, a flash of enlivening colour at the beak, all set against spectacularly snowy wastelands. They waddle comically when they walk, then make you gasp in awe at their sleek, streamlined beauty in the water. And they have ADORABLE babies – which is where, last night, we came in.Snow Chick: A Penguin’s Tale (BBC1) followed the fortunes of a young emperor penguin from soup to nuts – or at least from egg to first, slippery steps into adulthood. It was a “dramatised story”, which is the BBC’s way of saying that it’s just possible a few other chicks were cut in when our hero was too busy snorting dried fish in his trailer or tooling round the red light districts in a snowmobile with his buddies to turn up for shooting. But also that it’s Christmas, and none of us should get too worked up about it. I embrace this philosophy fully. That is why, when it looked like the egg – so carefully nurtured in Daddy Penguin’s pouch while Mummy is off filling her belly with fish for the post-ovum months – wasn’t going to hatch, I nearly spilled my Baileys, shouting: “It’s Christmas! Don’t give me Dead Egg! It’s Christmas!” And shortly after that, when the downy chick was weakening by the hour and it looked like Mummy and her fish belly weren’t going to get back in time, “Don’t give me Dead Fluffball! It’s Christmas! It’s Christmas, you BBC bastards! ” Continue reading...

Without action to protect this treasured bird, it will disappear from the UK altogether within the next decade, writes Catherine BearderThe turtle dove has long been a symbol of Christmas and the loving bonds that bring us together at this time of year. But now the 12 Days of Christmas risks becoming 11, as the iconic species comes increasingly under threat.The bird’s distinctive, purring call was once a common feature of the British countryside. Now it has become increasingly rare as the birds are confined to ever-shrinking patches of East Anglia and the south-east. The latest figures show that we have lost a shocking nine in 10 turtle doves in the UK since 1970. Continue reading...

Strand Beach near Cape Town has been shut as experts fear the corpse of the 14 metre whale may attract sharksA South African beach popular with Christmas holidaymakers has been closed until the carcass of a beached whale is removed amid concerns its blood may attract sharks, the City of Cape Town said.Local media described it as a humpback whale measuring over 14 metres (46 feet) in length and said two sharks had been spotted in the area. Continue reading...

Nothing defined the year in Australia as strongly as the response to terrorism, and climate change made its presence felt. Yet when it came to refugees or progressive reform, it remained as indifferent as ever

George Monbiot’s demonisation of meat eating (Your festive meal could be worse than a long-haul flight, 23 December) is oversimplified and misleading. Factory farming is wasteful and horrific but other forms of livestock-rearing such as pastured grazing provide a highly nutritious source of food using land that is often unsuitable for horticulture. Pound for pound, pastured meat proteins are more diverse than those of cereals and are similar in terms of water use and carbon emissions. Livestock has an essential role in farming practices like permaculture, which may offer the only viable alternative for sustainable food production, utilising stubble and fertilising fields left to fallow. Pastured animals can improve soil health and repair damage done to it by incessant tilling, provided they are stocked at an appropriate level. Fatty meat provides almost three times the calories per kilogramme as cereals and contains almost every nutrient essential to the human body. Three billion people eat meat-free diets, and 4 billion suffer malnutrition. This does not make a case for going vegetarian.Without doubt, the rich world needs to eat less meat, but the developing world also deserves to have a share of it. Steppe and other grassland converted to cereals supported huge populations of wild, methane-emitting herbivores, and is essentially neutral at sustainable levels (ie not artificially supported with feed). Similarly, termites emit twice the methane as livestock, but there is no great push for termite eradication. It is the intensity of meat production supported by oil energy that is the problem. Hence, the carbon costs of factory farming systems ultimately derive from the fossil fuels used to grow feed and artificially support the lives of these poor animals, and it must be stopped, if only for the sheer cruelty of the animals’ treatment.

John Cornish (Letters, 22 December), comments on the Pass notes for Shippea Hill and rightly draws attention to the excellent Drainage Museum in nearby Prickwillow. But the Pass notes bemoaned the lack of nightlife in the area. Look no further than the Hiams Club in Prickwillow, which has a full programme of dance sessions open to the public, including rock’n’roll nights featuring live bands with national reputations.