Category Archives: Environment

Australia live news update: man drowns at Sydney beach; Labor’s Katy Gallagher says ‘mean girls’ label ‘diminishes women’; 11 Covid deaths

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Man drowns on Sydney’s northern beaches; Labor senator Katy Gallagher says she had no ‘difficult arguments’ with Kimberley Kitching beyond what was normal in politics; Victoria records five Covid deaths and 7,466 new cases; NSW records one death and 17,450 new cases; Queensland records 7,738 new cases and one death; Western Australia records 7,197 new cases, four deaths. Follow developments live

The NSW Labor opposition has outlined a plan for the state to rebuild and recover from the devastating floods that have left about 1,500 people in emergency accommodation and damaged or destroyed about 95,000 homes, AAP reports.

The federal and New South Wales governments were too slow to act in the immediate response and have been too slow in their support, NSW Labor has said in a statement today.

The difference is, David, we’re looking for maximum community benefit and economic benefit while the government’s looking for maximum political benefit.

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Rollercoasters v water voles: ‘Disney-on-Thames’ plan could devastate wildlife

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Proposed theme park the size of 136 Wembleys will threaten protected species and local jobs, say campaigners

It promises to be one of Britain’s most unusual planning battles. On one side is an array of endangered wildlife that includes a species of jumping spider. On the other are backers of a theme park that they claim will rival Disneyland in its size and ambition.

The park, called the London Resort, would be built on the Swanscombe peninsula on the Thames, near Gravesend, where it would cover land equivalent to 136 Wembley stadiums and would include themed rides, a water park, conference venues, hotels and a shopping centre.

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Future of popular NSW walking track through sacred site in doubt after floods

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Wollumbin track reopening delayed after floods, while hikers asked to reconsider climb out of respect for Indigenous sacred place

The fate of one of northern New South Wales’s most popular walking tracks remains uncertain after authorities chose to delay a controversial decision regarding its future for the fourth time.

Situated near the flood-hit town of Murwillumbah, Wollumbin national park previously attracted more than 100,000 visitors a year, and its summit is renowned as the first place in Australia to catch the sunrise.

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US plan to provide 15bn cubic meters of natural gas to EU alarms climate groups

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The deal is intended to decrease reliance on Russia but will entrench reliance on fossil fuels, environmentalists say

A major deal that will see the US ramp up its supply of gas to Europe in an attempt to shift away from Russian fossil fuel imports risks “disaster” for the climate crisis, environmental groups have warned.

Under the agreement, unveiled on Friday, the US will provide an extra 15bn cubic meters of liquified natural gas (LNG) to the European Union this year. This represents about a tenth of the gas the EU now gets from Russia, which provides 40% of the bloc’s total gas supply.

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Woman poisoned by chlorine gas leak at London’s Olympic park plans to sue

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Tess Riley has been left fraught with anxiety over any potential impact the gas has had on her pregnancy

A pregnant woman injured by a high quantity of poisonous gas that was accidentally released at the aquatics centre at London’s Olympic park is planning to sue the company that runs the pool.

Tess Riley, 37, who fled the pool with her husband, Thom, and their two-year-old daughter Ruby, said they “vomited our guts out” after the incident, which took place moments after a parent and toddler session in the centre’s training pool on Wednesday morning.

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Great Barrier Reef authority confirms unprecedented sixth mass coral bleaching event

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Aerial surveys show almost no reefs across a 1,200km stretch escaping the heat, prompting scientists to call for urgent action on climate crisis

The Great Barrier Reef has been hit with a sixth mass coral bleaching event, the marine park’s authority has confirmed, with aerial surveys showing almost no reefs across a 1,200km stretch escaping the heat.

The Guardian understands a United Nations mission currently under way to check the health and management of the reef will be briefed on the initial findings of the surveys as early as Friday in Townsville.

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UK government vows 10-fold increase in electric car chargers by 2030

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New target comes after criticism of infrastructure rollout for failing to match surging vehicle sales

The UK government has set a new target to increase the number of electric car chargers more than ten times to 300,000 by 2030 after heavy criticism that the rollout of public infrastructure is too slow to match rapid growth in sales.

The Department for Transport (DfT) said it would invest an extra £450m to do so, alongside hefty sums of private capital. Sales of new cars and vans with petrol and diesel engines will be banned from 2030.

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‘Climate smart’ policies could increase southern Africa’s crops by up to 500%

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Researchers outline urgent steps to improve food security in the face of increasing natural disasters caused by the climate crisis

The climate crisis is threatening food stocks in sub-Saharan Africa, but a comprehensive approach to food, farming and resources could increase crop production by more than 500% in some countries in the region, according to new research by more than 200 experts.

There is no single technological fix to the threat posed by the barrage of natural disasters striking the region, they said, but significant improvements could be achieved with new approaches, based on modelling done by the network of researchers in Malawi, Tanzania, South Africa and Zambia.

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‘It’s trendy’: wild garlic foragers leave bad taste in mouth of Cornish residents

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Patrols suggested as residents say foragers collecting large bags of wild garlic are ruining annual supply

Usually in the springtime, Millham Lane in the Cornish town of Lostwithiel is flanked by thick, unbroken banks of strongly scented wild garlic.

But this year ugly gaps have appeared in the bright green swathe after they were stripped by foragers – apparently professionals – intent on sourcing a fresh, free ingredient for fashionable dishes such as wild garlic pesto.

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Wolverine fish and blind eel among 212 new freshwater species

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Report from Shoal on 2021’s newly described species shows ‘there are still hundreds and hundreds more freshwater fish scientists don’t know about yet’


Scientists are celebrating 212 “new” freshwater fish species, including a blind eel found in the grounds of a school for blind children and a fish named Wolverine that is armed with a hidden weapons system.

The New Species 2021 report, released by the conservation organisation Shoal, shows just how diverse and remarkable the world’s often undervalued freshwater species are, and suggests there is plenty more life still to be discovered in the world’s lakes, rivers and wetlands.

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Johnson to defy cabinet fears and push for onshore wind expansion

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PM ‘passionate’ about potential in light of fresh push for self-sufficiency after Russia invasion of Ukraine

Boris Johnson is expected to open the door to more onshore wind at next week’s energy strategy, despite some cabinet ministers lobbying against relaxing planning laws to allow more turbines.

The cabinet is split over whether to aim for more onshore wind projects, which can often get into lengthy planning battles, after officials drew up plans for a target of 30GW by 2030.

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UN mission must see coral bleaching to get ‘whole picture’ of Great Barrier Reef, experts say

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Government’s reef envoy says visiting scientists ‘have to see the good and the bad’ as widespread bleaching confirmed

A UN mission under way in Queensland to see if the Great Barrier Reef should be put on an “in danger” list will not get “the whole picture” unless it visits reefs currently experiencing coral bleaching, conservationists and the government’s own reef envoy have said.

Details of the 10-day mission, which began on Monday in Brisbane, are being kept confidential and the locations to be visited have not been formally disclosed.

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Australia news live update: NSW government seeks to suspend MP facing charges; nation records 26 Covid deaths

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NSW government seeks to suspend Gareth Ward; Craig Foster lashes treatment of asylum seekers in National Press Club address; new research suggests long-lasting Covid immune response from vaccine-induced T-cells; at least 26 Covid deaths recorded; Atagi expected to green light fourth booster shots for some Australians. Follow all the day’s news live

David Koch:

Have you spoken to the “mean girls” – Kristina Keneally, Penny Wong – in the last week or so since Kimberly Kitching’s death about the allegations of bullying?

I think that term is really unfortunate.

She used it, it is not just us.

There is a lot of people speaking on other people’s behalf at the moment. I think that in politics, there are a range of people who are involved in party politics who play it pretty hard. One of those was Kimberly Kitching. She was somebody who engaged in politics and was passionate about her belief and from time to time that could produce some conflict. But it needs to be done in a way that is respectful, in a way that is understanding, and attempts to reach consensus.

It is rather bizarre ... I am always available and indeed I lobby regularly to be on the Sunrise program. I am always happy to discuss things with the media, but I won’t be taking lectures from a prime minister who visited Lismore and had strict streets shut off so victims of floods could not get near him.

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Giant of the Australian bush takes top spot in Eucalypt of the Year competition

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Eucalyptus regnans, commonly known as mountain ash, swamp gum and stringy gum, named Australia’s favourite eucalypt

The mountain ash has towered above its competition to be voted Australia’s favourite eucalypt.

Eucalyptus regnans, commonly known as the mountain ash in Victoria, the swamp gum in Tasmania, and the stringy gum, has won a public vote to be named the 2022 Eucalypt of the Year.

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SA hospitals under ‘extraordinary strain’; Perrottet asks MP to resign after charges – as it happened

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NSW MP Gareth Ward denies historic sexual abuse allegations; South Australian hospital system ‘under extraordinary strain’ new premier says, as at least 23 Covid deaths recorded nationally; Anthony Albanese proposes award in late Victorian senator Kimberley Kitching’s honour. This blog is now closed

Peter Malinauskas has promised to keep his shirt on from now on, after a photo of his muscled torso made quite a stir in the world of Australian politics.

ABC radio host Patricia Karvelas:

During the campaign, you were photographed shirtless in swimming shorts, and it caused a bit of a stir. I have to ask you ... the Australian’s Greg Sheridan said jokingly on [ABC] Insiders that you’re “far too good looking”. Which I thought was quite a statement. What have you made of the reaction to that picture?

Do you have any idea how much grief I’ve copped around the place as a result of that?

Have they told you just to buff to be premier?

They’ve piled it on, let me tell you. I haven’t stopped copping it, and I deserve every bit of it.

We were announcing a big investment at our major aquatics centre here in South Australia and a whole bunch of us jumped in for a swim in our boardies with our kids there. And, yeah, it got a bit more attention than I anticipated, fair to say.

So you’re going to keep your shirt on from now on?

Damn straight!

I think we’re about to see a federal election where a cost of living is a front and centre issue. And I think Australians get the price of petrol, but they can’t control the price of groceries.

The way we address cost of living as a nation is to start having an incomes policy focus on how we improve working in small businesses to improve the productivity of their labour, so they can earn a higher income. And that’s why education, training and skills is so important.

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US watchdog plans to make companies reveal greenhouse-gas emissions

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Climate action rules announced by SEC chair Gary Gensler expected to face opposition from Republicans and industry groups

The US’s top financial watchdog proposed on Monday that publicly traded companies report information on their greenhouse-gas emissions and even those of their suppliers and consumers in one of the Biden administration’s most sweeping environmental actions to date.

The new Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules faces staunch opposition from some politicians and members of the business community and will be open to public comment for at least two months before final rules are released.

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Better use of groundwater could transform Africa, research says

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Studies ‘debunk the myth that Africa is running out of water’ but say resource needs to be better managed

Groundwater resources in sub-Saharan Africa are enough to transform agriculture in the region and provide people with adequate safe water for their drinking and hygiene needs, if the resource can be better managed, researchers have said.

Groundwater – found underground in aquifers, rocks and soils – makes up about 99% of all liquid freshwater on earth, and is abundant in much of Africa, but a lack of investment has left it untapped or poorly managed, two major studies have found. The reserves could be used for irrigation and to supply clean and safe water, but there is also a danger that if used unsustainably they could be rapidly depleted or polluted.

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Conservationists call for ban on explosives to scare seals at salmon farm in federal waters off Tasmania

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Federal government has not ruled out the use of underwater explosives and ‘bean bag rounds’ in trial off north-west Tasmania

Environment groups have called on the federal government to rule out the use of explosives and guns loaded with “bean bag” rounds to scare seals at a proposed salmon farming trial in commonwealth waters off the north-west coast of Tasmania.

Under Tasmanian laws, the companies are allowed to use underwater explosives, known as “seal crackers”, to deter predators at farms in state waters. Other authorised measures include shooting seals with fabric coated plastic shells containing lead shot, known as bean bag rounds and darts with blunt tips known as “scare caps”. Official documents show some seals have been killed.

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PM to chair roundtable on boosting UK’s nuclear power output

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Meeting comes as Boris Johnson prepares to publish his energy security strategy amid soaring prices and Ukraine war

Boris Johnson will chair a meeting on how to increase the UK’s nuclear power output on Monday, as he prepares to publish his energy security strategy this month amid soaring prices.

The prime minister will discuss domestic nuclear projects with leaders from the nuclear industry at a roundtable meeting at Downing Street, No 10 said.

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Chemical from tyres linked to mass salmon deaths in US found in Australia for first time

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Scientists find 6PPD-quinone in Queensland creek and call for urgent research to see if local aquatic life was harmed

A toxic chemical released from tyres as they wear down on roads and implicated in mass deaths of salmon in the United States has been found in an Australian waterway for the first time.

Scientists detected the compound – known as 6PPD-quinone – among a cocktail of chemicals and hundreds of kilograms of tyre particles washed into a creek from a motorway during storms.

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