Environment news

• How fossil fuel burning nearly wiped out life on Earth – 250m years ago

  27-05-2015 15:05 via theguardian.com
  
  New evidence shows that catastrophic climate change probably destroyed 96% of species at the end of the Permian period. It could happen againDo you want to know the real reason for the advances by Islamic State in Iraq and Syria? Changing lightbulbs in America. This is the explanation given by John McCain, Republican chair of the Senate armed services committee. At the weekend he blamed Barack Obama’s inability to magic away Isis on the president’s belief that climate change is “the bigges
  
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• Earth’s ‘vital signs’ show humanity’s future in balance, say climate experts

  08-10-2024 16:08 via theguardian.com
  
  Record emissions, temperatures and population mean more scientists are looking into possibility of societal collapse, report saysMany of the Earth’s “vital signs” have hit record extremes, indicating that “the future of humanity hangs in the balance”, a group of the world’s most senior climate experts has said.More and more scientists are now looking into the possibility of societal collapse, said the report, which assessed 35 vital signs in 2023 and found tha
  
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• Surviving the summer on Queensland’s remote cattle properties: ‘We never give up on fires’

  08-10-2024 16:00 via theguardian.com
  Queensland is facing an increased risk of fire this summer but in regional areas firefighting is a job for volunteersSign up for the Rural Network email newsletterJoin the Rural Network group on Facebook to be part of the communityIn the southern states, the bushfire advice on days of extreme or catastrophic fire danger is to evacuate early or have a plan to fall back to a community place of safety. But in the Arcadia Valley, 650km north-west of Brisbane in remote central Queensland, the respons
  
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• Picnicking on Dartmoor is trespassing, landowner’s lawyers tell court

  08-10-2024 15:03 via theguardian.com
  
  Alexander Darwall, owner of Blachford estate in national park, is challenging the right to wild camping Picnicking on Dartmoor is trespassing, according to the lawyers for a landowner who is challenging the right to wild camping on the moors.The public should have no right to undertake any activities other than walking or horse riding in the Dartmoor national park without landowner permission, Timothy Morshead KC told a supreme court hearing on Tuesday. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘It was a challenge to film both sides’: the struggle to portray Kenya’s age-old land dispute

  08-10-2024 13:08 via theguardian.com
  From dodging bullets to sleeping on goat skins, film-makers Peter Murimi and Daphne Matziaraki faced unique challenges when documenting the conflict between white farmers and Indigenous herdersThe Laikipia plateau in Kenya is a wildlife conservation haven, and a popular safari destination featuring all the big five animals of Africa. As yet, a simmering local conflict between the Indigenous pastoralist communities and long-established white farmers has remained largely unnoticed by the internati
  
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• UK may approve bee-killing pesticide despite election promise to ban it

  08-10-2024 09:37 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: Environment groups urge government to stick to its promises and refuse pesticide applicationUK ministers are considering allowing the use of a bee-killing pesticide next year despite promising during the election to ban it.Neonicotinoids are banned in the EU because they are toxic to bees but have been authorised for use every year in the UK since 2021. Continue reading...
  
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• Britons urged to dig out unwanted electricals to tackle copper shortage

  08-10-2024 07:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Items such as cables and old tech could contain £266m worth of metal vital for decarbonisation drive, study findsScientists have called for people to go “urban mining” after a study revealed that old cables, phone chargers and other unused electrical goods thrown away or stored in cupboards or drawers could stave off a looming shortage of copper.The research found that in the UK there are approximately 823m unused or broken tech items hiding in “drawers of doom” con
  
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• Tiny parasitic wasp helps save one of world’s rarest birds from extinction

  08-10-2024 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Wasps released on Nightingale Island have protected Wilkins’ bunting by halting spread of mould-causing insectsA tiny parasitic wasp has given a lifeline to one of the world’s rarest bird species by killing off an invasive insect that was threatening its survival.The Wilkins’ bunting lives on Nightingale Island, part of the Tristan da Cunha group; the world’s most remote inhabited archipelago. It eats the fruit of the Phylica arborea, the island’s only native tree.
  
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• Country diary: Only plants with extreme strategies survive this hostile terrain | Ed Douglas

  08-10-2024 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Aladağlar, Turkey: One thorny wild almond that pierced my boot might have been arrested for carrying an offensive weaponIhsan Macar sold his flock of sheep a decade ago but keeps a simple hut high on the Yedigöller plateau, in the heart of Anatolia’s Aladağlar mountains. Though his animals no longer graze these sparse grasslands, he likes to spend a few weeks here each summer. It keeps him rooted in the pattern of his life.Yedigöller translates as “seven lakes&rdq
  
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• Country diary: Looking out to where farming began 8,000 years ago | Ed Douglas

  08-10-2024 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Aladağlar, Turkey: It was from the plains beyond that the Anatolians brought their practices to Europe – their descendants built monuments near to my homeIhsan Macar sold his flock of sheep a decade ago but keeps a simple hut high on the Yedigöller plateau, in the heart of Anatolia’s Aladağlar mountains. Though his animals no longer graze these sparse grasslands, he likes to spend a few weeks here each summer. It keeps him rooted in the pattern of his life.Yedigöl
  
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• The scandal of food waste and how we can stop it

  08-10-2024 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Every informed observer agrees that food waste and loss must be reduced if we are to feed all humans. What’s stopping us?In traditional societies, little to no food goes to waste. Every edible part of an animal or plant is utilised. Researchers found that the members of a Maasai cattle herding community in northern Tanzania were outraged at the thought of intentionally wasting food, calling those who would do so “lunatics”. Some even said it was worse than killing a person, bec
  
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• Lab-grown meat could be sold in UK in next few years, says food regulator

  08-10-2024 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Food Standards Agency says applications for cultivated steak, chicken and foie gras have already been submittedCell-cultivated meat could be on sale in the UK within a few years, the food regulator has said, with applications for lab-grown steak, beef, chicken and foie gras already submitted, while another 15 applications are expected in the next two years.The Food Standards Agency (FSA) was awarded £1.6m of government funding on Tuesday to develop an efficient safety assessment process fo
  
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• Comb jellies fuse together when injured, study finds

  07-10-2024 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Research reveals ‘sea walnuts’ fuse together if they become injured, and nervous systems mergeIt might not be what the Spice Girls envisaged when they sang 2 Become 1, but scientists have found comb jellies do actually fuse together if they are injured.Researchers studying a species of the gelatinous marine invertebrates known as “sea walnuts” said they made the discovery after spotting an unusually shaped individual in the laboratory tank. Continue reading...
  
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• Salmon numbers in England and Wales last year were lowest on record

  07-10-2024 14:39 via theguardian.com
  
  Total declared salmon catch estimated at 5,399 fish, down from 6,952 in 2022 – and 20,000 in years up to 2017Salmon numbers in England and Wales last year were the lowest on record, figures show, as pollution and climate breakdown are killing off the endangered fish.A report from the Environment Agency and Cefas shows Atlantic salmon stocks in England and Wales have dropped to their lowest level since records began in 1997. Continue reading...
  
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• Weather tracker: tail end of Hurricane Kirk to bring gusts and rain to Europe

  07-10-2024 11:24 via theguardian.com
  
  Hurricane activity is strong in Atlantic while months of below-average rainfall in South America leads to droughtHurricane Kirk is heading towards Europe. At its peak strength in the mid-Atlantic, Kirk reached category 4 status with maximum wind speeds of 145mph. As Kirk tracks north-east towards Europe, leaving the warm seas behind, it is expected to be downgraded to a category 1 hurricane by Monday.Over the next few days, Kirk will undergo extratropical transition, becoming an ex-hurricane by
  
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• Climate warning as world’s rivers dry up at fastest rate for 30 years

  07-10-2024 10:00 via theguardian.com
  
  World Meteorological Organization says water is ‘canary in the coalmine of climate change’ and calls for urgent actionRivers dried up at the highest rate in three decades in 2023, putting global water supply at risk, data has shown.Over the past five years, there have been lower-than-average river levels across the globe and reservoirs have also been low, according to the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) State of Global Water Resources report. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘We look after our neighbors’: how mutual-aid groups are filling the gaps after Hurricane Helene

  06-10-2024 14:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The federal government, state governments and larger non-profits have had a slower – and, say some residents, insufficient – responseThe first thing members of the Pansy Collective, based in Asheville, North Carolina, did following the start of Hurricane Helene was reach out to each other, ensuring that everyone was OK, and helping people who needed to evacuate. As soon as they were able to get down from the Blue Ridge Mountains, where Asheville is nestled, they drove more than 200 m
  
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• ‘Nature is free, and the best kind of medicine’: is this the perfect walk for improving mental health?

  06-10-2024 11:00 via theguardian.com
  Research suggests that our minds benefit from our encounters with aspects of nature – be it cold water and calming scents, or vivid colours and certain types of landscape – and Kielderhead ticks all the boxesThere’s an old saying that the perfect walk has “something to see, somewhere to pee, and somewhere to get a cup of tea”. While those things do indeed make for a respectable hike, scientists have discovered that aspects of nature will turn a good walk into a grea
  
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• Wanted: expedition botanist to follow in Darwin’s footsteps and look for plants

  06-10-2024 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  If you have a sense of adventure and know your squills from your spurges, Cambridge University Botanic Garden may have the job for youWith the promise of travel, adventure and the chance to follow in the footsteps of Charles Darwin, applications have opened for what might be the best job in the natural world: an expedition botanist to go on plant-collecting adventures for Cambridge University Botanic Garden.It is understood to be the first time such a post has been offered by a British botanic g
  
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• British food firms lobbied to defer £1.7bn plastic packaging tax, documents reveal

  05-10-2024 15:00 via theguardian.com
  
  New scheme to improve recycling rates and tackle pollution was pushed back by Tories after industry complaintsLobbyists for Britain’s biggest food brands successfully pushed for a £1.7bn packaging tax to be deferred, new documents reveal.The fees for a new scheme to improve recycling rates and tackle plastic pollution were due to be imposed this month, but were delayed for a year by the last Tory government after the industry complained about the costs in a series of private meetings
  
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• Harsh terrain, extreme fatigue. Life as a wildland firefighter in a heatwave: ‘It’s not normal for humans’

  05-10-2024 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Firefighters carry heavy packs along rugged slopes to calm fast-moving fires, and sweltering weather is compounding already dangerous workLife as a roofer in Florida’s sweltering heat: ‘It feels like 120F’Life as California warehouse worker: ‘Products matter more than people’
  After 20 years fighting flames for the US Forest Service, the fire captain Abel Martinez has pretty much seen it all.His lungs are scarred from the smouldering car tires and scorched homes that
  
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• Labour could cut financial support for farms damaged by floods

  05-10-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: Farmers still awaiting promised payments for uninsurable damage caused by Storm HenkLabour may cut financial support for flooded farmers, the Guardian has learned, while money to compensate them for deluges in January has still not hit their pockets.The previous Conservative government earlier this year promised up to £25,000 in payments for uninsurable damage from flooding caused by Storm Henk. However, the eligibility criteria for these grants has still not been set out, leavi
  
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• Country diary: Music belts out to chivvy along the junior wallers | Andrea Meanwell

  05-10-2024 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Tebay, Cumbria: Competition judges look out for no uncrossed joints, stones decreasing in size as the wall gets higher, the middle well filled, and a tidy jobPick-ups parked on the grass verges lined both sides of the lane down to our farm on Sunday morning. We were hosting the Cumbria Young Farmers Southern District walling competition. Early in the morning, a long stretch of drystone wall, including the footings, had been taken down, and the competitors had the rest of the day to rebuild their
  
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• Businesses say Australia’s economy depends on the environment. Will Labor’s ‘nature-positive’ summit help?

  05-10-2024 02:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Financial leaders have urged the country to focus on protecting and restoring nature – but details remain thin on the groundGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAs the Albanese government prepared to host what has been billed as a “global nature-positive summit” in Sydney, Australian business and finance leaders issued something of a rallying call. In a joint statement, they urged the country to focus more on the importance of nature protection and restora
  
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• At least 14 killed in Bosnian floods after torrential rainstorm overnight – video

  04-10-2024 17:50 via theguardian.com
  
  At least 14 people died in floods in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Friday and others were missing as torrential rain and landslides destroyed homes, roads and bridges across the centre of the country, officials said. Bosnia's presidency said it had requested military help for the wider Jablanica area, and engineers, rescue units and a helicopter were deployed, including to rescue 17 people from a mental health hospital. Neighbouring Croatia was hit by floods on Friday, though there were no reports o
  
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• Starmer pledges to avoid rerun of 1980s deindustrialisation with clean energy plans

  04-10-2024 16:40 via theguardian.com
  
  Prime minister suggests there will be more public money made available for new technologiesWhat is carbon capture, usage and storage?Keir Starmer has signalled his government will drastically increase its green investment plans in an attempt to avoid a rerun of 1980s-style industrial decline by safeguarding jobs in heartland manufacturing communities.On a visit to a Merseyside glass factory on Friday to unveil billions of pounds in funding for carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects, the prime
  
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• Outraged that some plastic you send for recycling ends up being burned? Don’t be | James Piper

  04-10-2024 15:33 via theguardian.com
  
  Recycling is, by its nature, complicated. The imperfections in the process don’t mean the whole system is a conThe process of recycling is, by its nature, complicated. We put our mix of rubbish in the right bins, and from that point onwards hope that those we entrust it to – be it local councils picking up rubbish or supermarket recycling schemes – will do the rest. If this is you, then you may be dismayed to learn that a recent Everyday Plastics report found that most soft pla
  
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• Exported gas produces far worse emissions than coal, major study finds

  04-10-2024 14:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Research challenges idea that sending liquefied natural gas around the world is cleaner alternative to burning coalExported gas emits far more greenhouse gas emissions than coal, despite fossil-fuel industry claims it is a cleaner alternative, according to a major new research paper that challenges the controversial yet rapid expansion of gas exports from the US to Europe and Asia.Coal is the dirtiest of fossil fuels when combusted for energy, with oil and gas producers for years promoting clean
  
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• Northern Lights possible as solar storms gather

  04-10-2024 13:59 via bbc.com
  
  The largest solar flare since 2017 has been spotted erupting from the Sun’s surface.
  
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• Chris Packham urges protesters to stop blocking roads as he takes climate role

  04-10-2024 12:43 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: Broadcaster joins board of Climate Emergency Fund and says there needs to be new ways of pushing for changeClimate activists need to stop blocking roads and start holding fossil fuel executives personally to account, Chris Packham has said, after being appointed to the board of one of the biggest activist funds in the world.The naturalist and broadcaster is the first non-US-based director of the Climate Emergency Fund, which has given almost $15m (£11.4m) to activists taking par
  
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