Environment | The Guardian

Historic England announces scheme to deter would-be criminals from treasures at shipwreck sitesShipwreck treasures that lie on seabeds around the coast of England are to be given gamechanging" protection against criminals.Historic England has announced details of a scheme that will involve, for the first time, forensic marking at some of the 57 most protected wreck sites. Continue reading...

Selected from 49,957 entries from 95 countries, the winners of the Natural History Museum's prestigious wildlife photographer of the year competition were revealed at an awards ceremony in South Kensington on Tuesday. The flagship wildlife photographer of the year exhibition featuring the awarded images will open on Friday 13 October 2023 at the Natural History Museum in London Continue reading...

Drought and heatwave has killed fish in rivers as Indigenous group Apiam says villagers have no water, food or medicineIndigenous people in the Amazon are calling on the Brazilian government to declare a climate emergency as their villages have no drinking water, food or medicine due to a severe drought that is drying up rivers vital for travel in the rainforest.The drought and heatwave has killed masses of fish in the rivers that Indigenous people live off and the water in the muddy streams and tributaries of the Amazon river has become undrinkable, the umbrella organization Apiam that represents 63 tribes in the Amazon said on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Louisiana residents face crisis as seawater penetrates Mississippi but scientists say other coastal cities likely to be affected over timeThe threat to drinking water from the kind of saltwater intrusion currently creeping up the drought-hit Mississippi River towards New Orleans will increasingly be faced by coastal cities around the US, experts warn.Louisianans have been preparing for a potential crisis because of seawater from the Gulf of Mexico penetrating the low-lying Mississippi. The mayor of New Orleans declared a state of emergency last month amid concerns about the potential health risks to the city's drinking water, which would leave residents reliant on bottled water for cooking and cleaning. Continue reading...

Research shows climate crisis by far main cause of recent unseasonable temperatures in southern winter and early springThe deadly heat in central South America over the past two months was made 100 times more likely by human emissions that disrupted the climate, scientists have shown.Temperatures have exceeded 40C in late winter and early spring in the southern hemisphere, affecting millions and leading to heat-related deaths. Continue reading...

Experts say hop yields and quality will continue to drop by 2050 if farmers don't adapt to higher temperaturesClimate breakdown is already changing the taste and quality of beer, scientists have warned.The quantity and quality of hops, a key ingredient in most beers, is being affected by global heating, according to a study. As a result, beer may become more expensive and manufacturers will have to adapt their brewing methods. Continue reading...

As Annastacia Palaszczuk announces a desal plant costing up to $8bn, experts point out a $2.7bn recycled water scheme is being left largely dormant

Report on state of flora and fungi says newly discovered plants should be listed as threatened by defaultMore than 2m fungi species are waiting to be identified around the world in what scientists have called a new frontier of discovery" for life on Earth, according to a new report.But researchers also warn that the vast majority of new plant discoveries are endangered species, which should be listed as threatened with extinction by default, warning that three-quarters of undescribed species are likely to be at risk of disappearing. Continue reading...

Chris Bowen describes the opposition's promotion of the banned energy source as an attempt to continue the culture climate wars'

Only a third of countries with climate crisis plans include access to sexual, maternal and newborn health services, UNFPA report findsOnly a third of countries include sexual and reproductive health in their national plans to tackle the climate crisis, the UN has warned.Of the 119 countries that have published plans, only 38 include access to contraception, maternal and newborn health services and just 15 make any reference to violence against women, according to a report published by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and Queen Mary University of London on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Study finds only 39% of unique species have had threats and status assessed - less than half of New Zealand's

First of 277 turbines goes into operation at site that will produce enough energy for 6m homes a yearThe first turbine to be completed in a project to build the world's largest offshore windfarm, in the North Sea, has begun powering British homes and businesses.Developers confirmed on Monday that Dogger Bank, which sits 70 nautical miles off the coast of Yorkshire, started producing power over the weekend as the first of 277 turbines was connected to the electricity grid. Continue reading...

Measure signed into law by Gavin Newsom on Saturday is strong blueprint for national climate accountability, experts sayA groundbreaking California law will force large companies doing business in the state - including major global corporations - to disclose their planet-heating carbon emissions.The measure, signed into law by the governor, Gavin Newsom, on Saturday, will be the nation's first of its kind, serving as a blueprint for national climate accountability. Continue reading...

In Lajas, Puerto Rico, wealthy newcomers drive up land prices and bring construction that reduces the bay's oxygen levelsEvery year, tourists from across the globe flock to the south-west corner of Puerto Rico to witness a phenomenon found in only a few select locations worldwide.Here in the idyllic coastal region of La Parguera in Lajas, the main attraction is a bay by the same name: filled with microscopic plankton that can glow in the dark, the bay turns into a sparkly blue lagoon after sundown. This is one of the only bioluminescent bays in the world; nighttime visitors rush to see it up close, pushing off into the shimmering waters in kayaks. Continue reading...

Kim Foster, author of The Meth Lunches: Food and Longing in an American City, tried to distribute healthy food in Las Vegas during the pandemicDuring the first year of the pandemic, I put out a few rolls of toilet paper in my Little Free Library. I found myself adding more and more, until one day, I realized I was running a free pantry. People kept showing up, asking for food and supplies. Soon there was a fridge, too, with a sketchy extension cord running back to the house to keep it powered.I didn't know it at the time, but our family would run this pantry for more than a year, providing fresh vegetables, herbs, meat and dairy to our downtown Las Vegas community. Neighbors often wanted to chip in and help. They asked what the pantry needed. Continue reading...

Exclusive: September quarter average fell to $63 a megawatt hour, partly thanks to milder winter and increased renewables

EPA says too many pesticide formulas exist to check all for the safety of ingredients that could harm humans, plants and wildlifeIngredients labeled as inactive" in pesticide formulas are potentially poisoning the environment, crops and animals, but the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has rebuffed calls to examine their toxicity and risks.Agency rules do not require the EPA to account for inactive ingredients when it evaluates pesticide formula safety, despite the fact that industry labels dangerous substances like per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as inert. Continue reading...

Analysis shows at least $2.8tn in damage from 2000 to 2019 through worsened storms, floods and heatwavesThe damage caused by the climate crisis through extreme weather has cost $16m (13m) an hour for the past 20 years, according to a new estimate.Storms, floods, heatwaves and droughts have taken many lives and destroyed swathes of property in recent decades, with global heating making the events more frequent and intense. The study is the first to calculate a global figure for the increased costs directly attributable to human-caused global heating. Continue reading...

Findings regarding clouds above Mount Fuji and Mount Oyama highlight how microplastics are highly mobileMicroplastics have been found everywhere from the oceans' depths to the Antarctic ice, and now new research has detected it in an alarming new location - clouds hanging atop two Japanese mountains.The clouds around Japan's Mount Fuji and Mount Oyama contain concerning levels of the tiny plastic bits, and highlight how the pollution can be spread long distances, contaminating the planet's crops and water via plastic rainfall". Continue reading...

A 5m project is helping more than 100 historic churches deal with the damage caused by bat coloniesHigh above the pews of All Saints church in Thornham, north Norfolk, a roost of soprano pipistrelle bats have made their home. The nooks and crannies of the medieval church are perfect entry points for the winged mammals, whose bodies are about the size of a thumb. In the warmer months, they emerge every evening from the rafters as darkness falls.They like our church," says Janet Needham, the warden, over tea and chocolate digestives in the church library. Continue reading...

Strategy for governing includes taking on firms that contaminate environment and getting supermarkets to pay fair price to farmersLabour's new environment team says it will take on big businesses and supermarkets in order to halt pollution and stop farmers from being ripped off if it wins the next election.The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has been criticised in the past for being too soft on polluting companies, and not using its full powers to stop water companies from spilling sewage. Farming groups have also criticised its close relationship with supermarkets, when farmers have felt ripped off by rising prices not being passed down the supply chain to their struggling businesses. Continue reading...

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New Zealand's first-ever Chook Symphony' to boost wellbeing of chicken flock - video Continue reading...

New research casts doubt on effectiveness of targeting surface runoff only and highlights need to use fertilisers more efficiently, experts say

Exclusive: Party says bill would enable UK electricity system to be fully based on clean power by 2030

The country must work harder to attract investment to keep up with the US and other competitors, Clean Energy Council says

Hawaii's environment has suffered since its annexation by the US - can rebuilding return the island to an earlier way of life?In the weeks after deadly wildfires tore through Maui, Dr Mlia Purdy thought often of a Hawaiian proverb she learned as a child.E Malama oe I ka ina, e Malama ka ina ia oe. Continue reading...

Major weather event' continues as heavy rainfall causes widespread disruptionHeavy rainfall caused flooding, transport disruption and the cancellation of events across many parts of Scotland over the weekend with a warning of more to come.An amber weather warning - the second highest - was in place between Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon for parts of north-east Scotland, while a yellow warning was in place for much of northern Scotland. Continue reading...

The tiny army cutworm moth provides a surprisingly nutritious meal for the giant carnivores - but humans are getting in the wayThe barren mountain slopes of north-west Wyoming might seem like inhospitable territory for a hungry grizzly bear. Big game animals are few and far between, and blueberries don't grow from these rocky hillsides, high above the treeline.But for a couple of months each summer, this stark landscape becomes a high-calorie buffet for hundreds of grizzly bears in the Rocky Mountain west. And it's all thanks to a small, unassuming insect whose relationship with the grizzly is as essential as it is unexpected. Continue reading...

Manuel Paez Teran, known as Tortuguita' was isolated and alone as police shot him dead - and his family and friends say the full story is being kept from themManuel Paez Teran's last word was: Help." It wasn't spoken; it was sent by text. From another location in the same forest where Paez Teran - or Tortuguita"- was camping in a tent, someone texted back: What do you need?"Seconds later, Tortuguita - Spanish for Little Turtle"- was dead. Six Georgia state patrol troopers shot Paez Teran with at least 14 bullets, leaving 57 wounds. The 26-year-old had been sleeping in tents and tree houses in a public park for months, along with dozens of other forest defenders" in protest against a $90m police and fire department training center known as Cop City", planned for another part of the forest less than a mile away. Continue reading...

Shnappy, who weighs 50lbs and lives in Clove Lakes Park, has gone missing - and locals suspect poachers stole it for soupIt is the case of a missing turtle.And this is no ordinary beast. The huge snapping turtle, known to all as Shnappy, weighs an enormous 50lbs and is a fixture in the New York borough of Staten Island, where he has long resided in Clove Lakes Park. Continue reading...

I had ideas about gardening, but everything I planted died. Then I started looking at what was already around me, and a lightbulb went offI was working as a financial services lawyer in urban areas like New York, Tokyo and Hong Kong for 30 years. My family came back to New Jersey because my youngest daughter had really bad allergies to the pollution in Hong Kong at the time. The whole forager thing started because we bought this major fixer-upper, and I had ideas about gardening. But everything I planted died. I was working, I've got three kids, so I didn't have time to look after things.I started looking at what was already there. What grows naturally? I was captivated by how beautiful some of these native plants are. And then my neighbors who are naturalists came over and explained the ecological difference between invasive plants [which are non-native to the ecosystem and whose introduction causes harm to human or ecological health] and native plants, which are indigenous species that occur naturally in an ecoregion without human introduction. That was my first lightbulb moment. I started to totally geek out on knowing what different plants are. I would read plant books in the bathtub after a long day of work. Continue reading...

Climate campaigners dismiss government argument that controversial move will improve food securityRishi Sunak plans to restrict the installation of solar panels on swathes of British farmland, which climate campaigners say will raise bills and put the UK's energy security at risk.Last year, then prime minister Liz Truss attempted to block solar from most of England's farmland. The plans were deeply controversial and unpopular, and were dropped when she left office. Continue reading...

Humpbacks and fin whales at risk, as study predicts increased ship traffic could cause a 30-fold increase in fatal collisions over the next decadeOn a quiet summer evening last month, the crew of the Northern Expedition spotted a dark shape surfacing from the water off Canada's west coast. Earlier that day, crew on the passenger ferry had made a similar sighting, and only narrowly avoided striking the humpback whale by ordering the ferry's powerful engines to be reversed.This time, the momentum of the 150-metre vessel was too much. It struck the hulking cetacean, sending the dull, jarring sound of metal against tissue reverberating throughout the ship. The crew were devastated; the head of BC Ferries called the collision disturbing". Nobody knows if the whale survived. Continue reading...

McCormick Place, the largest convention center in North America, is largely covered with glass, making it a lethal obstacle for birdsAt least 1,000 birds died from colliding into a single building in Chicago on Thursday, 5 October, as they migrated south to their wintering grounds. Volunteers are still recovering bird carcasses within 1.5 miles of McCormick Place, the largest convention center in North America, which is largely covered with glass.It's the tip of an iceberg but it's it's a huge, huge amount of birds we found both dead and injured," said Annette Prince, director of Chicago Bird Collision Monitors, adding that this was the highest number of bird strikes that the group recorded from the grounds of one building in a single day. Continue reading...

More than 100 leading companies urge PM to reinstate net zero measures to avoid hardship for manySome of the UK's biggest construction companies, property developers and estate agencies have written to Rishi Sunak to warn that his weakening and postponement of green policies will harm investment in housing and cause hardship for many people.More than 100 companies, including some of the UK's biggest construction specialists, have urged the prime minister to reinstate the net zero policies, or find alternatives that make upgrading Britain's homes affordable". Continue reading...

Education minister says cases are piling up' and that an immediate response is needed'France has been forced to shut seven schools over growing concerns over an infestation of bedbugs, the education minister has said.Bedbugs were detected at various levels in ... I believe 17 institutions, and currently as I speak to you, seven institutions are closed for this reason," Gabriel Attal told France 5 television. Continue reading...

Commander's Palace's response to municipal emergency of saltwater intrusion into drinking water? A boozy drink, of courseNew Orleans is famous for witty defiance in the face of looming misfortune and one iconic city watering hole is taking the latest turn of ominous events with a pinch of salt.The 130-year-old Commander's Palace restaurant has presented the Big Easy with its latest cocktail creation - linked to bad news for the environment and the healthier tipple of tap water. Continue reading...

While the US offers free school meals to its poorest students, many who don't qualify still struggle to pay. Some politicians are joining the fight to erase that debtWhen Talyn Summers was in middle school, their parents started receiving emails and text messages from their school multiple times a day. The problem? Summers had eaten school lunch but hadn't paid in full: they owed 30 cents.In a fairly well-off school district in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, Summers remembers feeling like their peers were completely oblivious to the fact that other students might be plagued by the shame of lunch debt". While the US offers free school meals to its poorest students, many who don't qualify still struggle to pay. According to the Education Data Initiative, more than 30 million students in the US can't afford their school meals. On average, those students owe $180.60 each year, for a national total of $262m in student lunch debt annually. Continue reading...

Leaders say they are open to post-election deal with Labour, in joint speech at opening of party's conference

After French capital hosted fashion week and Rugby World Cup there are concerns the problem will spreadParis is burning its luggage and bed linen as it battles a scourge" of bedbugs, stoking fears of infestation around the world as pest controllers report an uptick in inquiries and transport operators and hoteliers seek to assuage concerns.The city of light is reportedly under siege from the nocturnal bloodsuckers, leading the French transport minister, Clement Beaune, to meet transport operators. It's a real nightmare," says Yacine, a schoolteacher in Paris who declined to give his surname. I'm so afraid to take the Metro, I don't go to the cinema - it's very alarmant." Continue reading...

Dale Vince says he will concentrate his efforts on getting Tories voted out of government at next election

Study proposes government commission more research into environmental benefits of cattle feed additivesSweden is one step closer to making the use of methane-reducing cow feed additives such as seaweed government policy after experts recommended further investigation into the area.A report by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency into reduced methane emissions says development in the field has been rapid in recent years" and is among a number of new interesting additives with higher potential". Continue reading...

More than 30% of the continental US is experiencing drought after roasting this summer, but in the heart of Texas hill country, the conditions feel worseThe heat dome that roasted a wide swath of the US this summer has dissipated - but it has left behind a crisp, dehydrated landscape, particularly in Texas.Even as the weather cools, more than 30% of the continental US is experiencing drought, according to a newly released analysis from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa). Sizable portions of the Pacific north-west, midwest and much of the south find themselves grappling with drier-than-normal conditions. Continue reading...

Rio Grande communities feel like the sacrificial lamb' in a political war as climate activists and environmentalists call foulThe Biden administration's decision to waive environmental, public health and cultural protections to speed new border wall construction has enraged environmentalists, Indigenous leaders and community groups in the Rio Grande valley.It was disheartening and unexpected," said Laiken Jordahl, a borderlands campaigner with the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), amid concerns of the impact on essential corridors for wild cats and endangered plants in the area. This is a new low, a horrific step backwards for the borderlands." Continue reading...

Climate activists condemn oil giant for paying influencers to showcase marketing game from new gasoline campaignClimate activists are calling out Shell for partnering with popular video gamers and online youth influencers to promote fossil fuels to a younger generation.The oil giant, which in July reported quarterly profits of more than $5bn (3.9bn), worked with Fortnite creators and paid popular gamers on multiple platforms to showcase its ultimate road trips" promotion, part of a marketing campaign for a new gasoline it calls V-Power Nitro+. Continue reading...

The best of this week's wildlife photographs, including an endangered rhino, a reindeer herd and a roaring stag Continue reading...

Cargill and ADM led push to weaken new protections for threatened ecosystems in South America, report saysCargill and ADM, two of the world's leading livestock feed companies, helped to scupper an attempt to end the trade in soya beans grown on deforested and threatened ecosystem lands in South America, a new report alleges.Soya is one of the cheapest available types of edible protein, and is in huge demand for feed for animals around the world; as our consumption of meat and dairy has risen globally, the need for soya has soared too. Continue reading...

The moment has arrived - and the swift parrot has taken the crown for 2023 after the votes for the final 10 candidates

Critically endangered parrot narrowly pips the tawny frogmouth, runner-up for the third time in the biennial Guardian/BirdLife Australia poll