Category Archives: Environment

Brazilian forest guardian killed weeks after joining Amazon summit

Posted on by

Janildo Oliveira Guajajara had recently taken part in an Amazon assembly organised by murdered Indigenous specialist Bruno Pereira

A rainforest activist from one of Brazil’s leading Indigenous protection groups has been killed just weeks after participating in an Amazon assembly organised by the murdered Indigenous specialist Bruno Pereira.

Janildo Oliveira Guajajara, a member of the Guardiões da Floresta (Forest Guardians) collective, was reportedly shot dead in the early hours of Saturday near the Araribóia Indigenous territory where he lived.

Continue reading...

Germany to delay phase-out of nuclear plants to shore up energy security

Posted on by

Last two working plants were due to be mothballed, but will be used as emergency reserve into 2023 after Russia cuts off gas

Germany is to temporarily halt the phasing-out of two nuclear power plants in an effort to shore up energy security after Russia cut supplies of gas to Europe’s largest economy.

The economy minister, Robert Habeck, announced on Monday that the power plants, Neckarwestheim in Baden Württemberg and Isar 2 in Bavaria, are to be kept running longer than planned in order to be used as an emergency reserve until the middle of next year.

Continue reading...

Pakistan’s biggest lake may burst banks after draining attempts fail

Posted on by

Lake Manchar on verge of causing more flooding, says local official, as third of country already underwater

Pakistan’s biggest lake is on the verge of bursting its banks after attempts by authorities to drain it in a controlled way failed, a senior local official has warned.

In a last-ditch effort to avoid a catastrophe, officials breached Lake Manchar on Sunday, a move they acknowledged could displace up to 100,000 people from their homes but would also save densely populated areas from floods.

Continue reading...

Liz Truss shows little sign she is ready to meet big environmental challenges

Posted on by

The new PM has not set out plans for reducing energy waste; instead she has talked of more oil and gas

Liz Truss faces a daunting array of environmental crises, from energy supply to sewage spills on British beaches, with little to show that she has the inclination to take them on.

Ben Goldsmith, the chair of the Conservative Environment Network, and a longtime green Tory who was a strong supporter of Boris Johnson, said of the UK’s new prime minister and her defeated rival: “Neither Truss nor Sunak has been known for their passion for nature. Neither has made a name for themselves as an environmental leader.”

Continue reading...

Over-consumption and drought reduce lake in vital Spanish wetland to puddle

Posted on by

Experts and environmentalists say aquifer feeding Doñana national park, a Unesco heritage site, has been overexploited for tourism and to water fruit farms

The largest permanent lake in Spain’s Doñana national park, one of Europe’s biggest and most important wetlands, has shrivelled to a small puddle as years of drought and overexploitation take their toll on the aquifer that feeds the area and sustains millions of migrating birds.

On Monday, experts from Spain’s National Research Council (CSIC) said the Santa Olalla lake, which sits in a Unesco world heritage site, had dried up for the third time in 50 years.

Continue reading...

Large parts of Amazon may never recover, major study says

Posted on by

Swathes of rainforest have reached tipping point, research by scientists and Indigenous organisations concludes

Environmental destruction in parts of the Amazon is so complete that swathes of the rainforest have reached tipping point and might never be able to recover, a major study carried out by scientists and Indigenous organisations has found.

“The tipping point is not a future scenario but rather a stage already present in some areas of the region,” the report concludes. “Brazil and Bolivia concentrate 90% of all combined deforestation and degradation. As a result, savannization is already taking place in both countries.”

Continue reading...

Drought likely to push parts of Somalia into famine by end of year, warns UN

Posted on by

World is ‘in last minute of the 11th hour to save lives’, says aid chief, amid fears that crisis is worse than 2010 famine, when 250,000 died

Two areas of Somalia are likely to enter a state of famine later this year as the country battles an unrelenting drought and flare-ups of conflict, the UN humanitarian chief has warned.

Martin Griffiths said the latest UN food insecurity analysis had found “concrete indications” that famine would occur in the Baidoa and Burhakaba districts of south-central Somalia between October and December unless aid efforts were significantly stepped up.

Continue reading...

Anthony Albanese promises resources sector ‘orderly’ reduction in emissions

Posted on by

Labor is under pressure on climate policy from Greens who propose ban on high-carbon projects

Anthony Albanese has promised to work with the resources sector to “reduce emissions in a predictable and orderly way” as Labor comes under increased pressure from the Greens to ban emissions intensive projects.

Albanese made the comment to the minerals industry parliamentary dinner on Monday, suggesting the “cooperation and dialogue” Labor achieved at the two-day jobs and skills summit “should be the rule” not a “48-hour exception”.

Continue reading...

Heatwave in North America threatens to break global September temperature record

Posted on by

Temperatures nearing record of 52.2C set in Mecca, California, in 1950


Western areas of North America are continuing to suffer a significant heatwave that is threatening to break the highest global September temperature record. The global record in September is 52.2C (126F), in 1950 in Mecca, California. On 1 September this year, temperatures at Furnace Creek in Death Valley reached a scorching 51.3C (124.4F), less than a degree off the all-time record.

In the following days, several Canadian provinces’ September records were broken, including Alberta, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia. On 2 September Lytton in British Columbia reached 39.6C (103F), only 0.4C off the September record for all of Canada. Records in many other cities also fell on 2 and 3 September. The remainder of this week will stay anomalously hot, about 10C above average, with a continued threat of records falling but the heat is expected to move away eastwards later this week.

Continue reading...

Dutton withdraws Albanese ‘liar’ allegation in question time – as it happened

Posted on by

Anthony Albanese insists stage-three tax cuts worth $243bn will go ahead

There has been a lot of talk around the incoming (July 2024) stage-three tax cuts given they will cost the budget $243bn over 10 years (at this point); overwhelmingly benefit men earning over $180,000; and destroy Australia’s progressive tax system (everyone earning between $40,000 and $200,000 will pay the same tax rate).

You make a choice about what you do, your initiatives and the initiatives we are making are positive ones that will make a difference to people, including our childcare policy.

It’s really important that our payments keep up with inflation. That’s why they’re indexed twice a year, and every little bit helps. This indexation will be particularly big this month, because inflation is particularly challenging.

And we know that it won’t solve every problem for everybody, but it’s important that we try and make sure that those payments keep up. That’s what the indexation is about. It will be welcome even as we acknowledge that times will still be tough for a lot of people.

I’ve been really upfront with people before the election, during the election and after the election. I’ve said to you many times over the last six months or so that it would be too expensive to continue that petrol price relief indefinitely. I think Australians understand that we’ve inherited a budget which is heaving with a trillion dollars in Liberal party debt, and that means some difficult decisions including this one.

Continue reading...

Tanya Plibersek urged to save Gouldian finches from NT defence development

Posted on by

Conservationists call on government to reconsider project near Darwin after 100-plus birds were spotted in bushland marked for clearing

The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, is being urged to intervene to save a population of endangered Gouldian finches threatened by a defence development in the Northern Territory.

The first stage of clearing has begun to allow a defence housing development in savannah woodlands at Lee Point, in Darwin’s north, having been approved in 2019.

Continue reading...

Jackson mayor: residents face ‘longer road ahead’ before safe water is restored

Posted on by

Precariousness of water system remains before services are fully restored after infrastructure failure, Chokwe Antar Lumumba says

The mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, where 150,000 people are still without safe drinking water after an infrastructure failure, said on Sunday residents face a “much longer road ahead” before services are fully restored in the majority Black city.

Speaking to ABC’s This Week, Chokwe Antar Lumumba said there had been improvements, with water pressure restored to a majority of residents.

Continue reading...

Pakistan authorities breach lake to save other areas from floods

Posted on by

Up to 100,000 people will be displaced from homes by Lake Manchar after waters reached dangerous levels

Authorities in flood-hit Pakistan have breached the country’s largest freshwater lake, displacing up to 100,000 people from their homes but saving more densely populated areas from gathering flood water, a minister said.

Record monsoon rains and melting glaciers in Pakistan’s northern mountains have brought floods that have affected 33 million people and killed at least 1,290, including 453 children. The inundation, blamed on climate breakdown, is still spreading.

Continue reading...

Queensland proposal to remove more large crocodiles could raise risk of attacks, experts warn

Posted on by

Almost 8,000 people have so far signed a petition against the proposal which has been described as a ‘silent cull’

Critics of a proposal to remove more large crocodiles from Queensland’s populated far north coast say the move will result in a “silent cull” and could actually put more people at risk of attack.

The Queensland government said crocodile numbers had been slowly rising and it was conducting modelling to see what impact taking more animals out of the wild would have on the species.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Pakistan appeals for ‘immense’ international response to floods

Posted on by

Unprecedented flooding in the country during monsoon season has left at least 1,265 people dead

Pakistan has appealed to the international community for an “immense humanitarian response” to unprecedented flooding that has left at least 1,265 people dead.

According to initial government estimates, the rain and flooding have caused $10bn (£8.7bn) in damage.

Continue reading...

‘We just want the truth’: British coastal towns fight for answers over mystery sealife deaths

Posted on by

Question mark over freeport in Tees Valley after ecological disaster puts communities in the north east of England at loggerheads with the government

Stan Rennie has indelicate hands that aren’t good for typing. He’s not the kind of person who cares much for technology at all.

But over the last year, the fisherman has found himself spending less time outdoors and more time glued to his computer, tapping out stern emails to politicians and researching niche areas of environmental law. “It’s taken over his life,” his daughter Sarah, 36, says.

Continue reading...

Farmers in England to be allowed to use ‘lethal force’ on beavers

Posted on by

Government guidance on rodents angers conservationists who say animals are a help not a hindrance to agriculture

Farmers in England will be allowed to shoot beavers if they threaten their crops, the government has revealed.

Conservationists have opposed the move, saying the animals are an “ally to farmers”, helping conserve water in times of drought, and are an endangered species that should be treasured. The rodents became extinct in the UK 400 years ago after they were hunted for their pelts, but in recent years they have been reintroduced to England and Scotland.

Continue reading...

Blazes erupt across California as state bakes in scorching heat

Posted on by

Seven firefighters hospitalized, with extreme temperatures expected to last through Labor Day

Firefighters were battling blazes across California in grueling heat on Friday, as fast-moving flames erupted near the Oregon border and prompted evacuation orders for at least 5,000 people.

Residents of the towns of Weed, Lake Shasta and Edgewood in Siskiyou County were told to evacuate after a blaze, dubbed the Mill fire, began spreading in hot and windy conditions and grew to 500 acres in about an hour, the Siskiyou sheriff’s office said in a statement.

Continue reading...

Let them eat bugs: UK urges hunger-stricken African nations to farm insects

Posted on by

Aid projects in DRC and Zimbabwe encourage rural inhabitants to eat insects rich in vitamins and minerals

UK aid spending is encouraging hunger-stricken Africans to eat insects, with projects aiming to develop the practice in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zimbabwe.

Edible insects have long been touted as a resource-efficient source of protein, requiring less land and water than conventional livestock. However, taste and cultural resistance have proved to be stumbling blocks in extending the practice in many parts of the world.

Continue reading...

Weather tracker: South Korea and Japan brace for typhoon Hinnamnor

Posted on by

Strongest tropical storm of the year also forecast to hit China’s mainland this weekend after winds reach 160mph

Destruction is imminent across southern Japan and South Korea as super typhoon Hinnamnor barrels northwards through the East China Sea this weekend.

The typhoon is so far the strongest tropical storm of the 2022 hurricane season and developed gradually this week out in the Pacific, edging towards the Philippines and Taiwan. By Thursday, maximum sustained winds had reached 160mph, leading to classification as a category 5 tropical cyclone, or a super typhoon.

Continue reading...