One of the last populations in Australia of this near-extinct reptile is being moved from Canberra to a property 75km south in a do-or-die operationOn the frontline of saving a rare Australian reptile species near Canberra, the essential requirements are a large number of clay tiles, some quick reflexes and the hope that you haven’t accidentally grasped at one of the world’s most venomous snakes.An unremarkable looking plot of land opposite Canberra’s Exhibition Park is where conservationists are attempting the rescue of the reptile, the vulnerable striped legless lizard. Continue reading...
Urgent efforts are under way to bring an Australian reptile species back from the brink of extinction. Conversationists with Bush Heritage, near Canberra, are working alone to relocate about 200 striped legless lizards, one of the last populations in the country, before their grassland habitat is flattened to make way for a caravan park Continue reading...
Coalition of Fiji, Kiribati, Tuvalu and Tokelau ask wealthy nations to help their people migrate and find work if they have to flee because of rising sea levelsPacific island nations have pleaded with wealthy countries to help their people migrate and find work if they are forced to flee their homelands because of the consequences of climate change.
Canadian amateur photographer Don Gutoski has been named wildlife photographer of the year at London’s Natural History Museum for his image, Tale of two foxes. Here are the winning images in all categories Continue reading...
Broadcaster and naturalist Steve Backshall calls on the government to direct NHS funds towards helping people access green spaces and the coastline to tackle obesity and mental health issues. The funds requested would amount to 1% of NHS England’s £1.8bn public health budget. The proposal is one of 10 laid out by 26 nature organisations, including the RSPB, National Trust and Wildlife Trusts, in a report published on Tuesday Continue reading...
Video shot on Saturday shows the first recorded attack by the finned predator in the modern history of San Francisco BayA group of tourists, on a boat between Alcatraz and the mainland, were met with an unexpected sight over the weekend. The water was dyed a startling red.
Countries represent 90% of global carbon emissions, leading to hopes for deal at Paris climate summitSome 150 countries representing around 90% of the world’s carbon emissions have now filed pledges to curb them, dramatically increasing the chances of a deal at the Paris climate summit in December.The promises made so far would still put the world on track for dangerous global warming rise of 3C (around 9F). But they could be adjusted in the future to meet the 2C target recommended by international scientists, the EU’s climate commissioner, Miguel Cañete, told a UN conference in Rabat, Morocco. Continue reading...
The Democratic presidential field may seem tame compared to the Republicans, but the gloves will be off as the candidates square off in their first debateCompared with the unruly Republican pack, the Democratic presidential field can seem tame, with relatively few candidates, a strong frontrunner and zero candidates coming off careers in casinos, computers or neurosurgery.Related: Hillary Clinton's U-turn on TPP deal has team working overtime ahead of debate Continue reading...
Have we reached ‘peak farmland’? Patrick Barkham digs into a new book about food and the future, while Chris Newell provides a graphic summary of the challenges ahead’Tis the season of harvest festivals and farmers are celebrating another bumper crop. British farmers have this year twice smashed the record for the world’s highest-yielding wheat crop ever recorded, first in the Lincolnshire Wolds and then on a farm overlooking Holy Island in Northumberland.Squeezing ever-higher yields from the same fields is one reason why the famous theories of Thomas Malthus, the cleric who predicted catastrophic famine and disease as population growth outstripped food production, haven’t come to pass. During the last 40 years of the 20th century, when the world’s population doubled from 3 to 6 billion, our annual production of grain rose even faster, nearly tripling over the same period. Continue reading...
This New Yorker’s mason jar-sized waste output is enough to make me swoon. Let her eco-friendly excellence serve as motivation, not fuel for resentmentOne early morning a few days ago, I detached myself from my sweaty toddler and crept out of bed. I made a mug of green tea, sat down at my desk and started reading about Lauren Singer.I think I’ve finally found my soulmate. Continue reading...
Concerns about climate change and carbon emissions means world’s remaining oil resources are not likely to be exhausted, says BP’s chief economistThe world’s oil resources are unlikely to ever be fully exploited, BP has admitted, due to international concern about climate change.The statement, by the group’s chief economist, is the clearest acknowledgement yet by a major fossil fuel company that some coal, oil and gas will have to remain in the ground if dangerous global warming is to be avoided.
Sean Mace is suing the government, the National Park Service, the Department of the Interior and San Francisco Maritime National Historical ParkA navy veteran is suing after what his lawyer described as a 16lb pine cone fell and crushed his skull in San Francisco.
Innovation is essential to improving access to renewable energy, but how can it be accelerated? An expert panel made these suggestions in a live online Q&AAt a very macro-level, the public sector spends way too little on R&D. We made great strides with public investment in R&D on energy in the ‘60s, but have tapered off, and this is not unique to the US. Yet this is where we need bigger breakthroughs. Ilmi Granoff, head of green growth, the Overseas Development Institute, London, UK, @theilmatic Continue reading...
The VW scandal helps reinforce cynicism about the ability of the private sector to act in good faith and do their bit to tackle climate changeIt won’t show up in any biodiversity assessment, or make it into a State Of The World report. But alongside tuna stocks, tropical rainforests, and the white rhino, there is another finite resource being ruthlessly squandered through unsustainable practices.
VW division head promises to focus on electric and hybrid vehicles and revamp diesel cars and vans following emissions scandalThe Volkswagen Group has announced €1bn (£750m) of spending cuts at its core VW division to help pay for a product overhaul following the emissions testing scandal that has rocked Europe’s biggest carmaker.Herbert Diess, the chief executive of the VW brand, said he would overhaul the division’s strategy to concentrate on electric and hybrid vehicles and revamp all diesel cars and vans to feature cleaner exhaust emissions systems.
Advice published by Committee on Climate Change says current targets must be met even if the UK leaves the European UnionBritain should aim to cut its carbon dioxide output by about half by 2030, whether there is an exit from the European Union or not, according to advice published on Tuesday by the Committee on Climate Change.
Series of tweets from minister Andrea Leadsom accuse critics of lies, distortion and nonsenseAre those running the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) having a meltdown? The tweets sent by energy minister Andrea Leadsom certainly suggest tempers are running high: she accuses critics of lies, distortion and nonsense.The ministerial seats at Decc must be getting hotter by the day. More than 1,000 jobs have gone in the solar power industry, with bosses blaming the government’s intention to slash solar subsidies by almost 90%. The statement by Leadsom’s predecessor, Greg Barker, that the evidence for cuts is “pretty poor†and will “kill the industry†can only have added to the heat. But should the response of a minister of state to such criticism be to let the red mist descend? Continue reading...
Coalition claims nation is making good progress towards cutting emissions by 26% by 2030, but report by PricewaterhouseCoopers shows more is neededThe federal government has said it is making good progress in cutting greenhouse gases after a new report found that Australia will have to double its historic rate of decarbonisation if it is to meet its climate goals.
Australian minds have been colonised in the same way as our landscape, Winton argues in his latest book, but country is calling us homeTim Winton’s new book, Island Home, is a meditation on the places that have breathed life into his fiction over the past decades. Take this description of a plane ride over Northam, 100km inland from Perth:
Proposal is part of a wider plan put forward by the RSPB, National Trust and 24 other groups on how the government should protect and restore UK flora and faunaNHS England should spend millions of pounds on using nature to prevent illness and help people recover from health problems, according to a coalition of wildlife groups representing millions of people.In a report to be launched on Tuesday by broadcaster and naturalist Steve Backshall, the 26 nature organisations call for 1% of NHS England’s £1.8bn public health budget to be spent on helping people access green spaces and the coastline to tackle obesity and mental illness. Continue reading...
North Stoke, West Sussex A large, dark brown hen harrier, with slender wings and white rump, swoops down the valleyThe hill is eerily quiet on this wet afternoon, after the game shoot of the day before. Yesterday the fields rang with the crack-crack of guns. But today the butts are empty, the fields silent. The only noise is the fall of the rain on the ground and hedges.Water flows down the slippery chalk path. Up ahead, low cloud shrouds the trees at the top of the hill. I reach a gate and look out across the valley. A dozen grey partridges sit on the mud in the open, just a few yards away, completely oblivious to my presence. Perhaps the sound of the rain disguised my approach. Continue reading...
BirdLife Australia’s state of Australia’s birds report in July found magpie, kookaburra, lorikeet and willie wagtail numbers are decliningGazing at large numbers of birds darting overhead may not be ideal for people with Hitchcockian fears but the steady emptying of Australian skies of some species is getting twitchers a little, well, twitchy.
Oakey Coal Action Alliance lodges submission on Queensland project’s $900m stage three, which the group says would be a threat to the local communityAnti-mining activists have launched legal action against the controversial expansion of Queensland’s Acland open-cut coalmine.The Oakey Coal Action Alliance (OCAA) on Tuesday lodged a formal submission on the $900m stage-three expansion of the project. Continue reading...
Nick Davies (The old man and the river, 8 October) raises many pertinent questions with regard to pollution of the Sussex Ouse, but similar problems affect many lowland rivers. He is right that we face huge financial issues in attempting (unsuccessfully) to comply with the worthy but unpopular EU water framework directive. Not least is the gross underfunding and understaffing of the Environment Agency.One point of clarification: rainfall in the area is not declining but is increasing in intensity, ie more rainfall falling on fewer days, so he is correct to highlight waste and overuse of water by consumers as a cause of low flow and increased pollution in rivers. Continue reading...
Fifty years ago, a vast mural decorated in gold leaf was assembled 1km beneath Ben Cruachan. We go underground to uncover the story behind the country’s most remote art workIf you want to get up close to the most remote work of art in Britain, you’ll need to make a 2 ½-hour train journey from Glasgow to the Highlands, drive 1km into the heart of a mountain and climb a flight of slippery steps on to a viewing platform before you can catch a glimpse: a 48ft x 12ft mural made of wood, plastic and gold leaf, sparkling away at the centre of a vast cave like some fairytale treasure. In terms of accessibility, it’s not the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square: even the artist behind the work has never made the trek to see it in situ.What may sound like some postmodern joke on modern art’s elitism is, in fact, the opposite: a period piece that tells a story of a very different Britain, a country in which artists enjoyed a more intimate relationship with the world of industry than that of entertainment. For years, the work and its creator, Elizabeth Falconer, were forgotten. A new radio play by the art writer Maria Fusco, co-commissioned by Radio 4 and Artangel, now rediscovers its significance. Continue reading...
The internet has monumentally changed our world in just 40 years. If we harness the vision and belief of those innovators a low-carbon revolution is possible tooDo you really believe? I’m not asking if you ‘believe’ in climate change – thankfully that question has been delegated to the world of trolls. I mean, do you believe we can build a low-carbon economy in which 9 billion people thrive? That’s a much harder question for many of us. But until we all answer with a resounding ‘yes!’ we won’t move far or fast enough.
New research predicts a doubling of surface melting of the ice shelves by 2050, risking their collapse by the end of the century, say scientistsAntarctic ice is melting so fast that the stability of the whole continent could be at risk by 2100, scientists have warned.
Do you live in a city and have a favourite skatepark, rooftop garden, or outdoor gym? Share your photos with us via GuardianWitnessCities have been linked with killer air pollution and increased stress levels. But surely life in the world’s concrete jungles can’t be all bad, or why would so many of us live in them? In among the mix of tower blocks and tarmac is someone’s favourite park, or hill with a view. We’d like to see yours.
Zimbabwean environment minister says Walter Palmer’s big-game hunting trip was legal and he could not be chargedZimbabwe will not charge American dentist Walter Palmer for killing a prized lion in July because he had obtained legal authority to conduct the hunt, a cabinet minister has said.“We approached the police and then the prosecutor general, and it turned out that Palmer came to Zimbabwe because all the papers were in order,†the environment minister, Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, told reporters, adding that the American could not be charged.
The UN’s sustainable development agenda for the next 15 years can be used as a model for businessesWhen the Syrian refugee crisis hit the news, global educational publisher Pearson wrote a check. But after sending £500,000 ($765,605) to aid relief efforts, the company began looking for more ways to make a more personal contribution.“In big humanitarian crises like this, our usual answer is to make a philanthropic contribution,†said Kate James, the company’s corporate affairs officer. “We’re a global learning company. “Conflict zones are not our area of expertise.†Continue reading...
Hoesung Lee says change of tack for UN climate science body is needed to galvanise global action on emissions reductionsThe new leader of the world’s most authoritative climate science body has declared it’s time researchers shifted away from tracking the impacts of climate change - and focused instead on finding solutions.
Join us on Thursday 29 October from 12.30 to 2pm GMT to discuss what cities and their partners can do to combat poor healthAir quality is deteriorating in many of the world’s cities. Nearly two-thirds of people with diabetes live in urban areas. Wealthier lifestyles, prioritising convenience and fast food, have led even formerly famine-stricken China to admit an obesity epidemic. Urban dwellers have far-higher stress levels than their rural counterparts.If that’s city living, who’d do it? Continue reading...
From solar powered irrigation to handheld crop sensors, climate-smart villages are springing up across Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab and other statesCamels pulling wooden carts loaded with coconuts plod down the main road amid speeding motorcycles, buses, rickshaws and cars. Farmers sit atop slow-moving oxcarts loaded with grasses and other cattle feed. In this region of central Gujarat, India, it appears that rural life has not changed for decades.
Members of the scheme would each be hundreds of pounds better off if funds had been divested from fossil fuels, say campaignersThe pension funds of millions of local government workers have lost hundreds of millions of pounds in the last 18 months, as the value of the world’s biggest coal mining companies has crashed, according to a new analysis.The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) provides pensions for 4.6m people, including social workers, school staff, bus drivers, librarians, park attendants and housing officers. The losses estimated by campaign group Platform are equivalent to hundreds of pounds per member. Continue reading...
Azure butterfly bounces back from cyclical decline caused by parasitic wasps with numbers increasing by 151% on last years’ annual Big Butterfly countA butterfly locked in a cyclical struggle with a parasitic wasp has bounced back this summer after years of scarcity, according to the world’s largest annual insect count.
Arnos Vale, Bristol Bats are very particular about their living conditions and every breath we exhale will gradually alter the humidity of their homeThere’s something about graveyards that makes me stare at my feet. It’s partly respect for other visitors but also a morbid fascination with what I’m walking across. I imagine layers of gothic decay: bones, beetles and things that go bump.So when I’m invited under the gatehouse of Bristol’s Arnos Vale Cemetery by a grave digger turned ecologist, my expectations are set to spooky. The screech of an electric drill sounds as the groundskeeper unscrews a protective wooden panel and I descend into the pitch-black basement. The tunnel here was once used by Victorian undertakers to travel between the entrance buildings without disturbing mourners: now it’s home to rare mammals. At the bottom of the stone steps I duck my head under an archway and immediately spot what we’re looking for: a black diamond shape suspended from the ceiling. Continue reading...
High in the Peruvian Andes a team of researchers from the University of Massachusetts have been maintaining a satellite-linked weather station on top of the Quelccaya ice cap since 2003. The goal of the station is to document the impact of a major El Niño weather system now affecting the world, specifically in the Pacific. It is expect to reach its peak by the end of 2015.Report: El Niño could leave 4 million people without food or drinking water Continue reading...
Linc Energy faces charges over alleged leaks of toxic gas into air and groundwater near its Chinchilla coal gasification plant that took place during period when donations were madeLinc Energy, a mining company being prosecuted over allegedly dangerous gas leaks, gave more than $350,000 to political parties between 2009 and 2014, it has been revealed.
Four and a half years after a tsunami triggered a triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, people have returned to live in the areaEntering the living room of Kohei and Tomoko Yamauchi’s house in Naraha is a disconcerting experience. Above the tatami-mat floor, the shelves are lined with rows of kokeshi dolls; to one side is a large display of daruma figures, a traditional harbinger of good fortune. Kohei’s ancestors look down from framed black-and-white photographs mounted on the wall.It is hard to imagine a more immaculate home. Yet for four and a half years, the Yamauchis’ house, along with every other home in the picturesque town in Fukushima prefecture, was deserted. Continue reading...
Papua New Guinea drought has already claimed two dozen lives and looming El Niño weather pattern could be as severe as in 1997-98, when 23,000 people diedTwo dozen people have already died from hunger and drinking contaminated water in drought-stricken Papua New Guinea, but the looming El Niño crisis could leave more than four million people across the Pacific without enough food or clean water.
Experts feared butterfly numbers would plummet in wet summer weather but nationwide count shows some improvements on 2014Butterflies did better than feared in the wet and miserable weather across much of the UK in July and August, experts have said.More than half of the 20 species recorded by the public in the Big Butterfly Count showed better numbers than they did last year, although people braving the soggy conditions saw fewer butterflies on average than in 2014, charity Butterfly Conservation said. Continue reading...
