Low bird populations could cause job losses over the season as up to 40% of shooting days in England could be lostThe grouse shooting season gets under way on Wednesday as gamekeepers warn poor weather conditions earlier in the year have hit the birds’ breeding.
A wax figure of late Australian conservationist Steve Irwin is unveiled at Madame Tussauds in Sydney by Wes Mannion, Irwin’s best friend and director of Australia Zoo. Irwin – also known as the Crocodile Hunter – was killed in 2006 by a stingray, while filming for the TV show Ocean’s Deadliest off the coast of Port Douglas, Queensland Continue reading...
Push for a cull in northern NSW comes after recent spike in shark sightings and attacks which have kept people out of the water and away from the regionA push from surfers in northern NSW for a shark cull has sparked an angry response from an animal rights group.It comes after nearly 200 locals, including Ballina’s mayor, local businesses, surfers, fishermen and police met earlier in the week in Lennox Head to discuss the spate of shark attacks and sightings in the region. Continue reading...
With the global population rising, wastage of products including 45% of all fruit and vegetables and 20% of meat is one of the greatest challenges to achieving food securityIf the amount of food wasted around the world were reduced by just 25% there would be enough food to feed everyone on the planet, according to the UN.Each year 1.3bn tonnes of food, about a third of all that is produced, is wasted, including about 45% of all fruit and vegetables, 35% of fish and seafood, 30% of cereals, 20% of dairy products and 20% of meat. Meanwhile, 795 million people suffer from severe hunger and malnutrition. Continue reading...
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by Kate Lyons, Glenn Swann and Cath Levett on (#H4W1)
Whether the wastage is measured in tonnes of spoiled goods, hectares of agricultural land or household expenditure, the scale is frightening Continue reading...
Minister says court ruling to overturn approval of Indian company Adani’s $16.5bn coal mine in Queensland makes trade talks more difficultThe trade minister, Andrew Robb, has warned “lawfare†by environmental groups is risking a trade deal with India.Tony Abbott and his counterpart Narendra Modi are keen for talks to conclude in coming months, Robb told the National Press Club on Wednesday. Continue reading...
At a meeting held in Newcastle, Armstrong claimed he stood up just as much for those who suffered from smoke as those who produced itA town’s meeting, presided over by the Mayor, was held at Newcastle-on-Tyne on Monday, “for the purpose of considering and adopting measures to remedy and prevent the injuries to health and the damage to vegetation arising from the escape of smoke and noxious vapours in the town and the country near to it.†The meeting ended in the appointment of a committee to investigate and report on the nuisance complained of. Among the speakers was Sir William Armstrong, who said he stood up quite as much on behalf of those who produced smoke as for those who suffered from its effects. He was as great an enemy as any one to recklessly creating superfluous smoke, but he did think it would be very impolitic to institute anything like an indiscriminate crusade against smoke in general.Very lately a friend from Spain had been on a visit to him – from the pure and smokeless air of Madrid, and he felt that the smoke of this country would be so shocking to his feelings that he (Sir William) considered an apology for it necessary. But his friend replied that it was quite unnecessary; that he liked the smoke, because beneath the smoke there lay so many ideas. – (Laughter.) He had a very pretty way of expressing the intelligence and enterprise that was associated with smoke, but he (Sir William) must say that in addition to that there were solid benefits associated with all those forms of manufacture which produce smoke so abundantly. There was not an artisan, a workman of any kind, not a shopkeeper, not a trade, nor a shareholder, nor a proprietor, who did not either, directly or indirectly, derive advantage from the present sources of smoke. Nevertheless, it was an undoubted fact that the quantity of smoke that was produced was far more than was necessary; and if they directed their efforts only against that which was unnecessary, he should join in the movement as heartily as anybody. He believed that so far as black smoke was concerned by far the greater portion of it was produced by steam boilers. He had himself at Elswick nearly fifty steam boilers in operation, and if there were no means provided for destroying the smoke of those fifty furnaces, the place would be a perfect pandemonium. But to every one was applied a smoke-consuming apparatus, and the effect was complete. - (Applause.) Continue reading...
Queensland earthmoving businesses that banked on Adani’s project are turning to housing, farming and infrastructure projects to survive, industry figures sayFrontline contractors are abandoning the mining sector in Queensland amid growing doubts that Adani’s huge Carmichael coal project will emerge to deliver them from a savage industry downturn.Related: Carmichael mine's new hurdle: analysts predict India's coal imports zero by 2021 Continue reading...
Melbourne zoo’s pregnant Asian elephant, Num-Oi, tries to keep her weight down with regular exercises led by her keeper. This will help her have an easier delivery. A year into her pregnancy, she tips the scales at 3,230kg, but since Asian elephants gestate for 645 days, she still has another 10 months to go Continue reading...
Lord Deben, head of the British government’s climate change advisory body, says Australia’s 2030 emissions reduction target puts it among the ‘don’t cares’Australia’s “pathetic†2030 emissions reduction target shows the country has opted out of the global effort to limit warming, according to the head of the British government’s climate change advisory body.
Guardian Australia analysis shows figures for mining projects are skewed even more starkly, as critics of environmental laws renew calls for reformIf the Indian mining company Adani is concerned that its beleaguered Carmichael mine will be halted by the government, it should take comfort in the numbers – just 2.2% of projects that require federal environmental approval have ever been knocked back.
Yet-to-be-released forecasts show large decline in sector that Tony Abbott has said is ‘good for humanity’ owing to new greenhouse gas targets taking effectCoal will be hit hardest by the Abbott government’s new greenhouse gas targets and global climate action – with a 14% cut in the value of coal production in 2030 due to the new Australian target and an 8% cut due to the policies of other countries.The forecasts for the sector that Tony Abbott has insisted is “good for humanity†and has “a big future as well as a big past†are contained in yet-to-be-released modelling provided to the government as it made the decision to promise that Australia would reduce emissions by between 26% and 28% of 2005 levels by 2030. Continue reading...
Townspeople demand explanation over long-term effects of 3m gallons of waste to water supply, as Colorado and New Mexico make disaster declarationsTownspeople watching millions of gallons of orange-colored mine waste flow through their communities demanded clarity on Tuesday about possible long-term threats to their water supply.Colorado and New Mexico made disaster declarations for stretches of the Animas and San Juan rivers and the Navajo Nation declared an emergency as the toxic waste spread downstream toward Lake Powell in Utah. Continue reading...
James Hole’s family have kept cows for generations. This year his farm will make its first loss – as he says supermarket price cuts are making his work impossibleJames Hole cannot remember a time in his childhood when he wasn’t helping out on the farm. “I’ve always been on the farm. We’re a farming family, that’s what we do. I suppose, yes, I’m proud of that,†he said.One of six children, the Somerset dairy farmer and his family have been looking after cows for four generations. His 15-month-old daughter is already putting on her wellies and walking down with him to see the herd. Continue reading...
Conservative government used public money on outreach campaign to counter criticism of controversial Alberta tar sandsCanada’s Conservative government spent several million dollars on a tar sands advocacy fund as its push to export the oil faltered, documents reveal.In its 2013 budget, the government invested $30 million over two years on public relations advertising and domestic and international “outreach activities†to promote Alberta’s tar sands. Continue reading...
Met officer tweets details of snake chase in Wandsworth, which came a day after two royal pythons were found in TwickenhamPolice have captured a “feisty†1.5-metre snake that was on the loose in south London. Officers were called to a park in Wandsworth where the carpet python was found slithering along the edge of a fence.In a series of tweets, Supt Steve Wallace of the Metropolitan police revealed how a team of three officers snared the “slippery customer†– thought to have been an escaped or dumped exotic pet – using a ballistic bag.
From the sharing economy to digitization, technological and cultural trends are changing the way we think about sustainabilityYarra Valley Water had a problem: the water and sanitation company in Melbourne, Australia, couldn’t easily see what was going on with its operations. It was hard to determine if any of its $2bn US in assets – including almost 12,000 miles of water and sewer pipes, nine treatment plants, two water recycling facilities, and dozens of pump stations – had leaks, needed maintenance or were strained to their limits. And this confusion prevented the company from efficiently serving its customer base of 1.7 million people and 50,000 businesses.The company’s management systems lay at the heart of the problem. To oversee its confusing mass of infrastructure, Yarra Valley relied on a collection of different, aging computer systems that made it difficult to gain a comprehensive view of its operations. It’s a common issue around the globe: many water utilities lack insight into their aging, leaking, inefficient infrastructure, and are employing unimaginative stopgaps or privatizing their operations. Continue reading...
South African president infuriates officials in Zimbabwe by suggesting hunter who shot animal in Hwange did not know it was ‘well loved’The South African president, Jacob Zuma, has angered conservationists in neighbouring Zimbabwe by speculating that the experienced hunter who killed Cecil just saw a “nice lion†and was unaware of the animal’s importance.Walter Palmer, a dentist from Minnesota in the US, has claimed he was led to believe the hunt that ended in the lion’s death was legal and he had no idea the big cat was “a known, local favourite†and part of a research study. Continue reading...
Pickard is known as one of the oil industry’s toughest political operators with a history of doing whatever it takes to further Shell’s interests – and the Arctic is ‘just too big a prize’ to leaveAs a flotilla of kayaking environmental protesters surrounded her fleet in Seattle harbour in May, Ann Pickard, the rarely-interviewed executive in charge of Shell’s Arctic drilling programme, launched a PR counter-offensive.
Communities in Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona along the Animas and San Juan rivers struggle to make sense of mixed messages and a lack of communication from the federal agencySix days after a burst plug shot 3m gallons of toxic mining waste from Gold King Mine into Colorado’s Animas River, communities in three states are increasingly frustrated that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hasn’t explained the environmental and health impacts of the spill.
The Coalition is set to decide its approach on same-sex marriage and Abbott has confirmed a commitment to a 26% post-2020 emissions reduction target as parliament resumes normal business. All the developments from Canberra, live10.43pm AESTWell folks what fine company you have been on an epic day in the live blogue caper. I have to go and lie down now for a brief while before I get up again and face tomorrow in national affairs in pithy ten minute increments.Huge thanks to Mike Bowers for his magnificence throughout the day, afternoon, evening – which extended to supplying a fortifying cheese dinner for the bureau. Don’t ask. We won’t tell.10.20pm AESTOk, it’s late, and I’ve entered my sixteenth hour. Bear with me. Continue reading...
Universities are the latest target of conservative politicians with an agenda to pushThe work of scientists often produces facts that are uncomfortable and inconvenient to the interests of those in power. That’s why we should all be concerned that, recently, politicians are testing new tactics in their attempts to strip scientific inquiry of its independence. Nowhere is this more on display than in Wisconsin, where Governor Scott Walker and the Wisconsin legislature have joined forces to gut statutory guarantees of tenure and shared governance – the twin pillars protecting academic freedom and the integrity of scientific research – in the University of Wisconsin system.Tenure – earned by a researcher after many years of work, original contributions to the body of knowledge that constitutes his or her discipline and extensive vetting by his or her institutional and disciplinary colleagues – protects academic freedom and scientific integrity by making it so that the researcher can’t be fired for investigating awkward questions or reaching conclusions powerful people don’t like. Shared governance is the means by which academics shape their institutions’ academic programs – through the development of curriculum and the hiring of faculty - to meet the highest standards in the production and dissemination of knowledge. Continue reading...
Safety vessel Fennica’s arrival in the Chukchi Sea, after activists attempts to delay it, clears way for company to start drilling deep enough to hit oilShell is set to restart its controversial hunt for Arctic oil, three years after the company’s last ill-fated venture north.The Polar Pioneer rig began drilling on 30 July, but US safety standards have prevented the company from sinking a well deep enough to hit oil until a key safety vessel, an icebreaker called the Fennica, was in the Chukchi Sea. Continue reading...
Sendai nuclear plant in southern Japan is first to begin operation since 2011 Fukushima meltdowns, despite anti-nuclear protestsJapan has begun a controversial return to nuclear power generation with the restart of a reactor in the country’s south-west, four and a half years after its faith in atomic energy was shattered by the triple meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi.Related: Japan split over restart of first nuclear reactor since Fukushima disaster Continue reading...
Cassowaries are capable of inflicting fatal injuries on animals and humans. Luckily this one is only attacking a tree. Today, the Queensland government announced Australia’s only cassowary rehabilitation centre, which had been earmarked for closure, has been granted interim funding. Yesterday, Guardian cartoonist First Dog on the Moon drew this• Cassowary rehab centre in Queensland gets reprieve Continue reading...
CleanSpace service uses shared data from personal air quality sensors to create network of pollution hotspotsMillionaire businessman Lord Paul Drayson, a major Labour party donor, former science minister and self-confessed “car nutâ€, is moving on to his next environmental challenge: a hi-tech bid to tackle the UK’s air pollution crisis.The peer, who made a reported £80m fortune from a needle-free injection system, has already funded the development of a record-breaking electric car through his company Drayson Technologies. Continue reading...
PM says goal to reduce Australia’s emissions by 26% to 28% of 2005 levels by 2030 is ‘foursquare in the middle’ of pledges by comparable economiesTony Abbott says his new emission reduction goal is in line with comparable countries and will cost the economy around $4bn in 2030, but climate groups say it is “pathetically inadequate†and far less than Australia’s share of the cuts needed to stop global warming at 2C.Abbott said the new target – to reduce emissions by 26% to 28% of 2005 levels by 2030 – was “foursquare in the middle†of the pledges comparable economies will take to the United Nations meeting in Paris in December. Continue reading...
Species declared locally extinct in 2000 is making a comeback as new sightings suggest queen bees brought from Sweden have successfully nestedNew sightings of short-haired bumblebees show a scheme to reintroduce the vanished species to the UK is proving successful, conservationists have said.
Environmental activists are being investigated, prevented from leaving the country and having their funds frozen. Why is India’s political class lining up to brand them enemies of the state?After deciding not to sleep at all before her 6.50am flight out of Delhi, Priya Pillai felt slow and drowsy as she handed her passport over the immigration counter. It was a few hours past midnight on 11 January 2015; Pillai, a campaigner with Greenpeace India, knew that two full weeks of work awaited her in London. At check-in, she had secured an aisle seat, which made her happy. Now, as the official scanned her passport, Pillai sent idle texts to a colleague in Boston and pondered a plan to visit a friend in the north of England for the weekend.Related: Sign up to the long read email Continue reading...
Wepham Down, West Sussex The drone of a small propellor aeroplane makes me look up in time to see a flock of a dozen black, scythe-shaped swiftsIn spite of the sunshine, it is cool in the strong breeze that is blowing across the downs. Two combine harvesters are steadily working their way across the pale, bleached barley crops in the valley below. All around, the field margins glow with the shimmering whites, yellows and blues of summer flowers.I walk uphill, watching the insects, including orange and brown gatekeeper butterflies and bright red soldier beetles on the thistles, daisies and cow parsley that line the bank along the track. Continue reading...
Ecologists from University of NSW say reintroducing devils to Australian mainland after 3,000-year absence would be huge boon for native wildlifeReintroducing Tasmanian devils to the Australian mainland after a 3,000-year absence would drastically improve the fortunes of native wildlife by curbing the spread of feral cats and foxes, research has found.
Adani’s $16bn coalmine would be left ‘stranded’, says energy institute, by India’s plan to install renewable energy plants and upgrade gridsQueensland’s huge Carmichael coal project, fresh from parting ways with the Standard Chartered bank, faces being left marooned with a new forecast predicting India will phase out coal imports by 2021.
A giant panda at Washington DC’s National zoo may be pregnant again. Scientists have been monitoring Mei Xiang since she was artificially inseminated in April and say her hormone levels indicate she may give birth. However, Mei Xiang could be experiencing a phantom pregnancy where she simply mimics the behaviour and hormones associated with being pregnant Continue reading...
Modelling for the government by economist Warwick McKibbin finds a more ambitious target of 35% by 2030 would increase economic costs only slightlyAustralia could meet tougher greenhouse gas emission targets without extra economic pain, according to the modelling used by the Abbott government to decide on post-2020 emission reduction targets that have been labelled “pathetically inadequateâ€.Modelling for the government by leading economist Warwick McKibbin is understood to have found the Abbott government’s target – to reduce Australia’s greenhouse gas pollution by between 26% and 28% below 2005 levels by 2030 – would reduce gross domestic product by around 0.2% or 0.3% in 2030 if the government dropped its ban on allowing businesses to buy international carbon permits. If the government sticks to the current ban on international permits the 2030 GDP cost would double – to between 0.4% and 0.6%. Continue reading...
Target of at least 26% below 2005 levels by 2030, to be taken to UN meeting in Paris in December, is less ambitious than most other developed countriesRelated: Australia must cut carbon emissions by 30% by 2025, says Climate Change AuthorityThe Abbott government will reportedly unveil a target for a reduction in Australia’s greenhouse emissions of at least 26% below 2005 levels by 2030 – less ambitious than most other developed countries. Continue reading...
Agriculture leaders want government to introduce long-term contracts between farmers and supermarkets after emergency summit on falling milk pricesFarming is in a “state of emergency†and a “seismic change†is needed to the way food is sold in Britain, agriculture leaders have warned after a crisis summit on falling milk prices.Leading farming unions called on the government to introduce long-term contracts between farmers, distributors and supermarkets and to force retailers to clearly label whether their products are British or imported. Continue reading...
Your timely editorial about the need to improve our knowledge of the ocean (8 August) rightly stresses the responsibility of political leaders to create the means to find out more about the 70% of the planet covered by the ocean. But it is not only in the physical, biological and chemical sciences that we must improve our knowledge. There are large gaps in our knowledge about the economic and social aspects of human interactions with the sea.In 2002 the UN general assembly accepted the need for “a regular process for the global reporting and assessment of the marine environment, including socioeconomic aspectsâ€, as recommended by the 2002 Johannesburg world summit on sustainable development. Implementing this immense and novel project has been a slow and, at times, difficult task. Continue reading...
Animal advocates gather on Boston Common during second annual event to call for an improved coexistence between humans and lions as world mourns CecilDays after the death of Cecil the lion incited international outrage, organizers of World Lion Day are hoping to raise even more awareness of the complex nature of the relationship between lions and humans.“Obviously, Cecil put the lions in the spotlight,†said Wim Dekok, executive director of Four Paws, an international organization that runs sanctuaries to protect wild animals. “Unfortunately, what happened to Cecil happened to many lions before.â€
A teenage blogger is behind a bold move to increase satellite tagging of Britain’s most endangered breeding birdCecil the Lion may be the most famous persecuted wild animal in the world but there is a growing furore in Britain over the slaughter of our own majestic predators.Related: Is the RSPB to blame for the loss of England's rare hen harriers? Continue reading...
by Alex Kirby, for the Climate News Network, part of on (#GZRE)
Canadian province of Nova Scotia cancels a successful project which rewarded people for generating renewable energy, reports Climate News NetworkThe Canadian province of Nova Scotia, on the country’s Atlantic seaboard, has ended a programme which gave citizens an incentive to produce renewable energy.The decision, which will initially mean lower prices for energy users, is at odds with widespread warnings that renewable energy must rapidly replace fossil fuels. Continue reading...
President’s comments come after Zimbabwean officials quietly lift blanket ban on hunting imposed after lion’s deathZimbabwean president Robert Mugabe has expressed anger that his people failed to protect Cecil, the lion killed by a US dentist on an illegal hunt, from what he called foreign vandals plundering the country’s resources.The 91-year-old president made his first public comments about the big cat that captured global attention after Zimbabwean officials quietly lifted a blanket ban on hunting that was imposed in the wake of Cecil’s death. Continue reading...
The major spill from the Gold King mine in Colorado dumped 3m gallons of toxic waste in to the Animas River in Colorado. The health threat to humans and wildlife is still being assessed, but the orange sludge that discolors the river shows the massive scale of the pollution
As the world agonised over the death of Cecil the Lion, poachers slaughtered five elephants in South Africa. It’s time we addressed this global epidemicRelated: Inside the complicated world of online wildlife traffickingAs the world agonised over the death of Cecil the lion, poachers in Kenya’s Tsavo West National Park – less than 296km (183 miles) from the UN Environment Programme world headquarters in Nairobi – illegally slaughtered five elephants, plundered the carcasses and fled the country with their ivory prize. Compared to Cecil, the slaughter barely registered on the world’s radar. Continue reading...
Involvement with the mine, which critics say threatens endangered species, was exposing the London-based bank to reputational damageStandard Chartered bank is pulling out of a vast coal mining project in Australia that critics say threatens endangered species and could wreck international efforts to contain global warming.The London-based bank revealed on Monday it was giving up its role advising the Indian conglomerate, Adani, on building one of the world’s biggest coal mines in Queensland and expanding a port on the Great Barrier Reef. Continue reading...