Campaigner Feargal Sharkey says profiteering from firms that dump raw sewage into rivers an ‘obscenity’
The Environment Agency’s pension fund owns stakes in a string of British water firms – despite the watchdog calling for industry bosses to be jailed over shocking pollution levels, the Guardian can reveal.
An analysis of the Environment Agency Pension Fund’s investments shows it holds shares or bonds worth £28m in six of the largest water companies.
Continue reading...Charity says extreme conditions a ‘watershed moment’ and it is planning for long-term hot weather
The National Trust has reported significant effects across its estate from the recent extreme heat including bats in distress, heather struggling to flower and historic water features drying up.
At Wallington in Northumberland, bats were found disoriented and dehydrated in the daylight during the hottest days this summer, while in Cambridgeshire, a waterwheel that powers a flour mill has had to stop turning due to low river levels.
Continue reading...RSPB warns of risk to UK wild bird population this winter from 1 October release of captive-bred birds
Conservationists have called for ministers to ban the release of millions of gamebirds to prevent the UK’s wild birds being wiped out by a “catastrophic” avian flu epidemic this winter.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) said there was a significant risk that pheasants, partridge and ducks released for shooting from 1 October could spread avian influenza into wild bird populations, wreaking havoc in farmland and garden birds.
Continue reading...After nearly six hours of work, the 800kg cetacean was lifted from the river by crane and placed on a barge
The beluga whale stranded in the River Seine in northern France has reportedly been removed from the water early on Wednesday in the first stage of an ambitious rescue operation.
After nearly six hours of work, the 800-kilogram (1,800-pound) cetacean was lifted from the river by a net and crane at around 4am (0200 GMT) and placed on a barge under the immediate care of a dozen veterinarians.
Continue reading...Bill makes concessions to the fossil fuel industry as frontline community groups call on Biden to declare climate emergency
The landmark climate legislation passed by the Senate after months of wrangling and weakening by fossil-fuel friendly Democrats will lead to more harm than good, according to frontline community groups who are calling on Joe Biden to declare a climate emergency.
If signed into law, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) would allocate $369bn to reduce America’s greenhouse gas emissions and invest in renewable energy sources – a historic amount that scientists estimate will lead to net reductions of 40% by 2030, compared with 2005 levels.
Continue reading...New threatened species listings include south-eastern glossy black-cockatoo
Two Australian species that were badly affected by the 2019-20 black summer bushfires have been officially listed as threatened.
The damage caused by the black summer bushfires is still being felt today and can be seen reflected in these listings today.
The fires had an immense impact on our environment, from a small reptile found in the mountains to a bird that is at home on the coast. There is still a lot of work to do.
It seems as though these positions are being offered around almost like lolly bags to senior members of the New South Wales government rather than what they’re intended to be, which is senior positions funded by the taxpayer. We shouldn’t operate like that in New South Wales. We’re slowly but surely finding out the contours of what is an absolute scandal.
There’s many questions to be asked. At the end of the day we’re expected to believe of the 8 million people who live in New South Wales, John Barilaro was independently chosen to represent our interests. I think that ... stretches credibility.
Continue reading...On Joe Biden’s visit to flood-ravaged eastern Kentucky today he is not just viewing the effects through the lens of a disaster needing federal assistance but also through the lens of the climate crisis that is making events like this more intense, more common and more deadly, in America and around the world.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre addressed the issue in her media briefing aboard Air Force One en route to Lexington with the US president and first lady Jill Biden a little earlier.
Continue reading...Other discoveries formally named and described include 131 insects and other invertebrates, four fish, three plants and a frog
A blind cave-dwelling weevil, an ant that protects the caterpillars of one of Australia’s rarest butterflies, and the first millipede to actually have more than 1000 legs were among 139 new species described by scientists at CSIRO in the past year.
Other discoveries formally named and described in scientific journals include 131 insects and other invertebrates, four fish, three plants and a frog.
Continue reading...Community organisations in Cobargo say the agency, which has faced criticism, has done some good in protecting against fires
Community groups from a bushfire-ravaged village in the hinterland of the New South Wales south coast fear they will be abandoned amid reports the new government agency established to coordinate disaster recovery might be axed.
But critics of the organisation, created in response to the Black Summer bushfires in May 2020, say Resilience NSW is an ineffectual layer of bureaucracy whose funds would be better spent on frontline services.
Continue reading...Bernie Sanders calls climate measures a ‘very modest step forward’ and Republicans denounce the bill altogether
Democrats celebrated the much-delayed Senate passage of their healthcare and climate spending package, expressing hope that the bill’s approval could improve their prospects in the crucial midterm elections this November.
The bill, formally known as the Inflation Reduction Act, passed the Senate on Sunday in a party-line vote of 51-50, with Vice-President Kamala Harris breaking the tie in the evenly divided chamber.
Continue reading...Inflation Reduction Act could put US within striking distance of Biden’s goal of halving emissions by 2030, analysis suggests
The US is, following decades of political rancor and fossil fuel industry obfuscation, almost certain to make its first significant attempt to tackle the climate crisis. Experts say it will help rewire the American economy and act as an important step in averting disastrous global heating.
Independent analysis of the proposed legislation, known as the Inflation Reduction Act, shows it should slash America’s planet-heating emissions by about 40% by the end of the decade, compared with 2005 levels.
Continue reading...Fourth set of skeletal remains, as yet unidentified, discovered at Swim Beach in Nevada as lake hits lowest level in 80 years
A fourth set of human remains has been found at the shrinking reservoir of Lake Mead as the drought gripping the western US continues to blaze and sends its water levels plunging.
The fourth set of skeletal remains was found on Saturday at Swim Beach in Nevada, and are now being assessed by the local Clark county coroner. The identity of the body is unknown, nor the manner of death.
Continue reading...Rising sea temperatures caused by climate crisis create unusual phenomenon in St Ives
Thousands of venomous crabs converged on the beaches of Cornwall due to rising sea temperatures caused by the climate crisis.The migratory creatures swarmed in the shallow water in St Ives, shedding their shells before returning to depths of up to 300ft.
The crustaceans are instantly recognisable for their long legs and pincers and have a venomous bite that is poisonous to their prey but harmless to humans.
Continue reading...Apparently underweight whale swimming towards Paris is refusing food and seems skittish, say French authorities
French authorities were planning on Saturday to give vitamins to a beluga whale that swam way up the Seine, as they raced to save the malnourished cetacean that is refusing food.
The apparently underweight whale was first spotted Tuesday in the river that flows through Paris to the Channel. On Saturday it had made its way to about 70km (44 miles) north of the French capital.
Continue reading...Pedigree livestock breeders in Britain could be forced to spend millions of pounds to build facilities in France for ‘red tape’ checks by vets so their animals are allowed to enter the single market
British farmers are trying to set up red tape and border checks in France costing millions of pounds – and may even pay for it themselves.
Breeders in Britain are unable to export their pedigree cattle, sheep and pigs to the EU because no one has built any border control posts where vets can check the animals before they enter the single market.
Continue reading...Oil company spent £800,000 on social media influence ads after Labour proposed windfall tax
BP has spent more than £800,000 on social media influence ads in the UK this year that champion the company’s investments in green energy, it can be revealed.
On Tuesday, BP announced a 14-year high profit of £7bn for the second quarter of this year. In the previous eight days, the company paid about £570,000 to Facebook and Instagram for influence ads that reached tens of millions of viewers in the UK.
Continue reading...The world heritage site still has some capacity for recovery but the window is closing fast as the climate continues to warm
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The Great Barrier Reef is one of the planet’s natural jewels, stretching for more than 2,300km along Australia’s north-east.
But as well as being a bucket-list favourite and a heaving mass of biodiversity across 3,000 individual reefs, the world heritage-listed organism is at the coalface of the climate crisis.
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Continue reading...Analysis: breakdown of cooperation between world’s two biggest greenhouse gas emitters over Taiwan could spell disaster for global warming targets
China’s decision to halt cooperation with the US over the climate crisis has provoked alarm, with seasoned climate diplomats urging a swift resumption of talks to help stave off worsening global heating.
On Friday, Beijing announced a series of measures aimed at retaliating against the US for the “egregious provocation” of Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the US House of Representatives, visiting Taiwan. China, which considers Taiwan its territory and has launched large-scale military exercises near the island, said it will stop working with the US on climate change, along with other key issues.
Continue reading...Businesses along the river say drought means they are on the verge of having to shut production
Germany’s Rhine, one of Europe’s key waterways, is just days away from being closed to commercial traffic because of very low levels caused by drought, authorities and industry have warned.
Crucially, the impending crisis could lead energy companies to cut their output, one of the country’s biggest gas companies has said.
Continue reading...Birdwatcher ‘overcome with emotion’ on spotting the Santa Marta sabrewing, only third time it has been documented
A rare hummingbird has been rediscovered by a birdwatcher in Colombia after going missing for more than a decade.
The Santa Marta sabrewing, a large hummingbird only found in Colombia’s Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains, was last seen in 2010 and scientists feared the species might be extinct as the tropical forests it inhabited have largely been cleared for agriculture.
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