Category Archives: Environment

Somerset estate offers rare peek into life of beavers with launch of online tour

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National Trust project shows family home of ‘nature’s engineers’ and how they have improved the environment for other wildlife

They can be seen chugging around their watery domain like small furry tugboats, gnawing away at saplings or nuzzling up to each other. The sound of babbling water and birdsong provides a pleasing soundtrack.

A new online tour is being launched on Thursday of an enclosure on the Holnicote estate in Somerset that is home to a family of five beavers. In what is billed as the first of its kind, the tour allows viewers to navigate through the 2.7-acre Exmoor enclosure where two adult beavers and their three offspring live and work.

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‘A serious threat’: calls grow for urgent review of damage done by wood burning stoves

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Government plan to educate owners and encourage fines not enough to effectively tackle air pollution

• Study links air pollution to mental ill-health

Politicians and campaigners have called for an urgent review of wood-burning stoves, which cause large amounts of pollution in urban areas.

The calls follow the admission by the environment secretary that the government had set weaker air pollution targets than it would like. The admission came as she announced a new environmental plan for England that held back from banning wood-burning stoves and settled instead for “educating” people on their use.

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Outrage as US government advances $8bn Alaska oil drilling plan

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Interior department report recommends scaled-back version of ConocoPhillips’ Willow project despite Biden campaign pledge

The Biden administration has advanced a $8bn drilling project on Alaska’s north slope. The ConocoPhillips Willow project, which would be one of the largest oil and gas developments on federal territory, has drawn fierce opposition from environmentalists, who say its approval runs counter to the president’s ambitious climate goals.

An environmental assessment released by the interior department on Wednesday recommends a scaled-back version of the project ConocoPhillips originally proposed, and would produce about 600m barrels of oil over 30 years, with a peak of 180,000 barrels of crude oil a day.

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Costa Rican farmer handed 22 years for murder of Indigenous land defender

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Brörán leader Yehry Rivera, 45, was shot and killed by Juan Varela during conflict in Terraba community in February 2020

A Costa Rican court has sentenced a man to 22 years behind bars for the murder of an Indigenous land rights defender in 2020, in a case which stoked decades-old tensions between native communities and farmers over disputed territory.

Yehry Rivera, a leader of the Brörán people, was shot from behind and killed by farmer Juan Varela during a land conflict in the Terraba community, 80 miles (130 km) south-east of the capital San Jose in Puntarenas province.

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Thérèse Coffey admits UK can’t achieve air pollution target advised by experts

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Environment secretary sets lower 10-year objective for cleaner air but researchers say their goal is reachable with stronger action

The government cannot achieve the air quality improvements advised by medical experts, so has set its targets lower for the next 10 years, the environment secretary has admitted as she unveiled a new environmental plan.

Thérèse Coffey said on Tuesday: “We have cleaner air. I want it to be even cleaner. Now, I would have loved to have made our target to achieve 10 micrograms [of fine particulate matter, known as PM2.5, per cubic metre of air] by 2030, not 2040. Many parts of the country already enjoy this, but the evidence shows us that with the best will in the world we cannot achieve that everywhere by the end of the decade, particularly in London.”

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Water firms in England urged to upgrade sewage works for new homes

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Campaigners in Oxfordshire, Cotwolds and Cumbria say houses should not be occupied until system can cope

Campaigners are intervening to prevent new houses being occupied in several areas of the country until sewage treatment works are upgraded to cope.

In Oxfordshire, the Cotswolds and in Cumbria, the failure of water companies to invest in sewage infrastructure means new homes would just add more sewage into treatment works that are at or beyond capacity, and increase pollution into rivers, they say.

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Leaked EU plan reveals response to US and Chinese green subsidies

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Draft plan to loosen state aid rules follows Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and Chinese subsidies

The EU executive will loosen state aid rules and propose a new “European sovereignty fund” later this year, in response to the controversial US Inflation Reduction Act and China’s “unfair” green subsidies.

A leaked European Commission plan underscores the global green subsidy race is under way, although EU member states remain divided on how to respond.

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Farmers will be key to plan to restore England’s green spaces and wildlife

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Environmental improvement plan includes many ambitious pledges but hard-pressed agricultural sector will need effective support

It has taken years of campaigns and mass trespasses for the government to put access to green space in England at the top of its agenda, as it has today in the environmental improvement plan.

During the pandemic, the importance of nature for our physical and mental wellbeing became ever more apparent – as did the inequality in access, with the poorest in society less able to access green space.

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Every household in England ‘to be within 15 minutes of green space or water’

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Major environmental plan includes tackling sewage spills and restoring wildlife habitats but critics question lack of funding

Every household will be within a 15-minute walk of a green space or water, under a major environmental improvement plan for England set out by the government on Tuesday.

The long-awaited measures will include commitments to restore at least 500,000 hectares (1.2m acres) of wildlife habitat, and 400 miles of river. This will include 25 new or expanded national nature reserves and 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) of new woodland along England’s rivers. A new species survival fund will target some of the most threatened wildlife, including hedgehogs and red squirrels.

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Peers deliver several blows to government’s anti-protest bill

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House of Lords votes against flagship public order bill on day when Extinction Rebellion protesters disrupted proceedings in chamber

A government bill aimed at cracking down on protest has suffered a number of setbacks in the House of Lords, setting the stage for a tense showdown between parliament’s two chambers.

Peers inflicted a number of defeats on the wide-ranging public order bill, which is aimed at curbing guerrilla tactics used by protest groups.

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EU plans to loosen state aid rules to boost renewables investment

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Proposed use of tax credits follows pressure to respond to Biden’s $369bn green subsidy scheme in US

The EU is stepping up its green subsidy race with the US through plans to loosen state aid rules on tax credits for renewable energy projects.

European policymakers have been under pressure to respond to the US president Joe Biden’s $369bn (£298bn) Inflation Reduction Act, which aims to encourage renewables investment in everything from electric cars to wind turbines.

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Death in the marshes: environmental calamity hits Iraq’s unique wetlands

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Rivers and lakes that have nurtured communities since civilisation’s dawn are drying up, as drought leads to hunger, displacement and simmering conflict

Small gangs of buffaloes sat submerged in green and muddy waters. Their back ridges rose over the surface like a chain of black islets, spanning the Toos River, a tributary of the Tigris that flows into the Huwaiza marshes in southern Iraq.

With their melancholic eyes, they gazed with defiance at an approaching boat, refusing to budge. Only when the boatman shrieked “heyy, heyy, heyy” did one or two reluctantly raise their haunches. Towering over the boat, they moved a few steps away, giving the boatmen barely enough space to steer between a cluster of large, curved horns.

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Australian period underwear makers deny using ‘forever chemicals’ after Thinx settles suit in US

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Modibodi and Bonds say they avoid using PFAS chemicals, which break down slowly over time and have unclear health impacts

Australian manufacturers of period underwear have denied using “forever chemicals” in their products following a class-action lawsuit in the US, while experts say more research is needed into the compounds and their potential health impacts.

Thinx, a US manufacturer of menstrual hygiene products, announced last week that it had reached a settlement in a class-action lawsuit over allegations “regarding the presence of short chain per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (‘PFAS’)” in its underwear.

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US renters worry about living with gas stoves amid new air pollution concerns

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Lack of choice over appliances is acutely felt in low-income housing as new research reveals extent of indoor air pollution

New research has revealed the extent of indoor air pollution caused by gas stoves. Switching to alternatives like electric or induction stoves is the best way to reduce the health risk of burning fossil fuels in the kitchen – but that is rarely an option for renters, who typically can’t choose the type of appliances installed in their apartment.

People stuck with gas stoves in rentals are grappling with the reality of living with an appliance that may be leaking dangerous pollutants like methane and benzene even when it’s turned off. The lack of choice over appliances is acutely felt in low-income housing.

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Weather tracker: Cheneso restrengthens to bring flooding to Madagascar

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Tropical storm upgraded to cyclone status, hitting Indian Ocean island with 75mph winds and intense rainfall

Madagascar continued to be hit by intense rainfall this week, resulting in serious flooding and several landslides. Severe Tropical Storm Cheneso made landfall in the north-east last week, and had weakened as it pushed south-west across the island. But after reaching the warm waters of the Mozambique channel on Monday, Cheneso restrengthened, achieving tropical cyclone status by Wednesday with sustained wind speeds of 75mph, equivalent to a category 1 hurricane.

Unusually, the system remained near-stationary for almost four days, stalling just off the west coast of Madagascar and bringing more than 100mm of rain each day to some coastal areas. Cheneso’s lack of movement resulted in weakening of the system on Thursday, as upwelling of cooler water beneath the storm reduced the energy available to the cyclone, and sustained winds decreased to about 55mph. The storm has now started to accelerate to the south, and begun the process of curving out towards the southern Indian Ocean. Cheneso may briefly restrengthen during this period, before becoming extratropical by Monday.

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NSW plan to offer emissions offsets with car registration sends wrong message, critics say

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Government told to focus on boosting uptake of electric vehicles, public transport, cycling and walking rather than offset ‘gimmick’

Drivers in New South Wales will be offered the chance to buy carbon offsets when they renew their car registration in a step critics have described as a “gimmick” that could undermine efforts to cut transport emissions.

The NSW treasurer and energy minister, Matt Kean, announced the scheme on Friday saying it would give people “looking for practical ways to take action on climate change” more ways to cut their emissions.

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Birdsong boosts mental wellbeing for 90% of people, UK poll finds

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RSPB shares results as Britons encouraged to spend an hour counting birds in annual Big Garden Birdwatch

Watching birds and hearing birdsong have a positive impact on wellbeing for more than nine in 10 people, according to a survey to mark the largest garden wildlife count in the world.

People are being urged to boost their mental health and help scientists by spending an hour this weekend counting the birds in their garden or local park for the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch.

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Human activity and drought ‘degrading more than a third of Amazon rainforest’

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Fires, land conversion, logging and water shortages have weakened resilience of 2.5m sq km of forest, says study

Human activity and drought may have degraded more than a third of the Amazon rainforest, double the previous estimate, according to a study that heightens concerns that the globally important ecosystem is slipping towards a point of no return.

Fires, land conversion, logging and water shortages, have weakened the resilience of up to 2.5m sq km of the forest, an area 10 times the size of the UK. This area is now drier, more flammable and more vulnerable than before, prompting the authors to warn of “megafires” in the future.

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Food, feed and fuel: global seaweed industry could reduce land needed for farming by 110m hectares, study finds

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Scientists identify parts of ocean suitable for seaweed cultivation and suggest it could constitute 10% of human diet to reduce impact of agriculture

An area of ocean almost the size of Australia could support commercial seaweed farming around the world, providing food for humans, feed supplements for cattle, and alternative fuels, according to new research.

Seaweed farming is a nascent industry globally but the research says if it could grow to constitute 10% of human diets by 2050 it could reduce the amount of land needed for food by 110m hectares (272m acres) – an area twice the size of France.

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England’s coast faces ‘multiple threats’ of dredging, sewage and pollution

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Environment Agency paints bleak picture of coastal regions with eco-systems and people coming under increased pressure

Dredging is likely to increase around the English coast, while pollution and sewage are piling pressure on coastal eco-systems, and an increasing number of people are at risk of coastal flooding, the Environment Agency has warned.

Three quarters of shellfish waters around England failed to meet “aspirational” standards for environmental protection in 2021, the report by the agency’s chief scientist’s group found.

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