Category Archives: Environment

‘We’re causing our own misery’: oceanographer Sylvia Earle on the need for sea conservation

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‘Queen of the Deep’ says it is not too late to reverse human-made damage to oceans and preserve biodiversity

The world has the opportunity in the next 10 years to restore our oceans to health after decades of steep decline – but to achieve that, people must wake up to the problem, join in efforts to protect marine areas and stop eating tuna, according to the oceanographer and deep sea explorer Sylvia Earle.

“We are at the most exciting time maybe ever to be a human, because we’re armed with knowledge,” said Earle, also known as the Queen of the Deep and “her Deepness”. Earle has also set numerous records for deep sea diving, and was the first woman to serve as chief scientist of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

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Finding fangs: new film exposes illicit trade killing off Bolivia’s iconic jaguar

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Undercover documentary investigates the trafficking of Latin America’s big cat to meet demand in China

Elizabeth Unger was a 25-year-old biology graduate working as a PhD research assistant for big cat and climate projects in Latin America when she heard about the Bolivian authorities intercepting dozens of packages containing jaguar fangs sent by Chinese citizens to addresses in China.

“I was really blown away as [the story] was completely under the radar,” she says. Six years later, she is making her directorial debut with a film about the trade, which is contributing to a decline in the population of Latin America’s iconic big cat.

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Pikachus, politicians and pollution art: how activists are protesting at the G7 summit – video

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As world leaders flocked to the G7 summit at Carbis Bay in Cornwall to discuss the Covid pandemic recovery and the climate emergency, activists have also taken the chance to demonstrate to the leaders of seven of the wealthiest global democracies.

From a swarm of 300 drones creating 3D images of endangered species to protesters running around in Pikachu costumes, demonstrators have got creative to get the attention of politicians and the press. Here are some of the most impressive stunts

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From bamboo to barbecues: the cargo caught up in Ever Given legal battle

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Ship cannot sail out of Egyptian waters as authorities detain crew and cargo until owners pay for blockages

Lemons, bamboo shoots and tofu sit in the sweltering heat, alongside goods from Lenovo, Ikea, Dixons Carphone and dozens of other brands – including barbecues, sun loungers, swimwear, lawnmowers and camping equipment – that will arrive at their intended destinations long after summer ends.

Since the successful operation in late March to dislodge the 220,000-ton Ever Given from the Suez canal, where it was stuck for six days, the cargo ship has been grounded again – this time by a fierce legal battle between the ship’s owners, insurance companies, and the Suez Canal Authority (SCA).

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G7 leaders face make-or-break moment in climate crisis

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Analysis: message in Cornwall is clear – leaders must act now or go down in history as the ones who threw away last-ditch chance

Global leaders arriving in Cornwall for the G7 summit have already found themselves in a changed world: masks and social distancing have replaced the usual hugs, handshakes and cheek-pecking, the entourages have slimmed down, and the usual media circus has been muted, with protesters having to content themselves with writing sand messages on the beach.

Boris Johnson has faced ridicule and accusations of hypocrisy for travelling to Carbis Bay by private jet. Some of the other leaders have been more concerned about the extent to which quarantine rules apply to them.

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Australian researchers discover why only two of echidna’s four penis heads become erect at one time

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The major blood vessel of the penis splits into two main branches which each supply two of the four penile heads

The penis of an echidna has four heads but only two become erect at any one time. Now, Australian researchers have uncovered why.

Scientists discovered the marsupial has unusual reproductive anatomy that causes male echidnas to ejaculate from only two of their four penile heads at one time.

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Lake Mead: largest US reservoir falls to historic low amid devastating drought

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The reservoir will be at its lowest since the 1930s when the Hoover dam was built, and officials expect levels to get worse

Levels in Lake Mead – the largest US reservoir by volume – fell to historic lows on Thursday, as the region continues to face the effects of a devastating prolonged drought.

Stationed on the main stem of the Colorado River in the Mojave along the Arizona-Nevada border, Lake Mead was formed with the construction of the Hoover dam, which generates electricity for areas in Arizona, California and Nevada. It provides water for urban, rural and tribal lands across the south-west.

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Takeaway food and drink litter dominates ocean plastic, study shows

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Just 10 plastic products make up 75% of all items and scientists say the pollution must be stopped at source

Plastic items from takeaway food and drink dominate the litter in the world’s oceans, according to the most comprehensive study to date.

Single-use bags, plastic bottles, food containers and food wrappers are the four most widespread items polluting the seas, making up almost half of the human-made waste, the researchers found. Just 10 plastic products, also including plastic lids and fishing gear, accounted for three-quarters of the litter, due to their widespread use and extremely slow degradation.

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Polish government faces court action over failure to tackle climate crisis

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Five citizens accuse government of failing to protect them from impacts of global heating

Five Polish citizens are taking their government to court over its failure to protect them from the impacts of the climate crisis.

They say the state has breached their rights to life, health and family life by delaying action to cut national carbon emissions and propping up the coal industry.

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‘I fell in the water, but it was worth it!’: Guardian readers on their most extraordinary bird photographs

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From friendly Antarctic penguins to the rainbow plumage of a Colombian hummingbird, our readers on their favourite images – and the lengths they went to to capture them.

I took this photo at the end of January in Balloch, Scotland. I have always wanted to take a picture of a male mandarin duck. It is the bird that made me want to start taking photographs. They are beautiful, with so many stunning colours. At the end of January, I had heard via Facebook that there was a pair of them up the road from me. I got up early and drove to Balloch. I had all but given up hope, when all of a sudden I saw the bright orange tail feathers of the duck in between some bushes on the river’s edge. I had to lean on a tree that was in the water to take the pictures. I then fell into the water and tore my trousers, but it was worth it. Paul Fraser, 36, freshwater biologist, Callander, Scotland

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Ardern says climate crisis is ‘life or death’ as New Zealand landmark report calls for sweeping changes

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Climate Commission recommends shift to electric cars, large-scale agricultural reform and an end to reliance on gas in homes

New Zealand has been handed a new vision for dramatic reduction of its greenhouse gas emissions – including reduced animal numbers on farms, no new household gas connections by 2025, and a dramatic shift to electric cars in the next decade.

The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, said the climate crisis was a matter of “life or death” as she spoke at the release of a new roadmap for the government’s response to global heating.

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The island with no water: how foreign mining destroyed Banaba

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The Kiribati island survived droughts due to sacred caves that captured rainfall but rampant phosphate extraction ruined this precious resource

  • Read more of our Pacific Plunder series here

The last decent rain on Banaba was more than a year ago.

Without rain, people on the isolated central Pacific island, which is part of the country of Kiribati, have been forced to rely on a desalination plant for all their water for drinking, bathing and growing crops.

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Scott Morrison digs in against deeper cuts to emissions ahead of G7 summit

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Prime minister to say it should be up to sovereign nations to chart their own course and Australia does not support ‘setting false deadlines’

Scott Morrison is resisting international pressure to lock in more ambitious climate commitments, declaring Australia opposes setting targets for certain parts of the economy or “false deadlines for phasing out specific energy sources”.

Before he sets off for the G7 summit in the UK later this week, the prime minister will use a foreign policy speech to say that “ambition alone won’t solve the problem of actually reducing emissions”.

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‘Birds are here for everyone’: how Black birdwatchers are finding a community

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In a 2011 study by the Fish and Wildlife Service, 93% of birders surveyed were white while just 4% were Black

“This is my form of therapy,” says Mariana Winnik, a third-grade teacher and avid birdwatcher from Brooklyn. Wearing a T-shirt with illustrations of birds and wielding a pair of binoculars and a trusty bird identification app, Winnik makes her way through north Central Park, on a mid-morning Saturday walk led by Christian Cooper.

Cooper says he doesn’t usually lead bird walks because of the responsibility that comes with it. “I feel awful if we go out and we don’t see a lot of good birds,” he says.

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Republicans pledge allegiance to fossil fuels like it’s still the 1950s

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Republican-led states are threatening retaliation against banks that refuse to lend to coal, oil and gas companies in effort to delay transition to clean energy

Joe Biden may be pressing for 2021 to be a transformational year in tackling the climate crisis, but Republicans arrayed in opposition to his agenda have dug in around a unifying rallying theme – that the fossil fuel industry should be protected at almost any cost.

For many experts and environmentalists, the Republican stance is a shockingly retrograde move that flies in the face of efforts to fight global heating and resembles a head in the sand approach to the realities of a changing American economy.

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We are running out of time to reach deal to save natural world, says UN talks chair

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Warning comes amid fears of further delays to Kunming summit, which aims to agree on curbing destruction of ecosystems

The world is running out of time to reach an ambitious deal to stem the destruction of the natural world, the co-chair of negotiations for a crucial UN wildlife summit has warned, amid fears of a third delay to the talks.

Negotiators are scheduled to meet in Kunming, China, in October for Cop15, the biggest biodiversity summit in a decade, to reach a hoped-for Paris-style agreement on preventing wildlife extinctions and the human-driven destruction of the planet’s ecosystems.

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Climate crisis to shrink G7 economies twice as much as Covid-19, says research

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G7 countries will lose $5tn a year by 2050 if temperatures rise by 2.6C

The economies of rich countries will shrink by twice as much as they did in the Covid-19 crisis if they fail to tackle rising greenhouse gas emissions, according to research.

The G7 countries – the world’s biggest industrialised economies – will lose 8.5% of GDP a year, or nearly $5tn wiped off their economies, within 30 years if temperatures rise by 2.6C, as they are likely to on the basis of government pledges and policies around the world, according to research from Oxfam and the Swiss Re Institute.

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The pig whisperer: the Dutch farmer who wants to end factory farming

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A unique ‘pig toilet’ and a diet of organic leftovers are part of former vet Kees Scheepens’ plans to put animal welfare and sustainability first

“Oma, hoi! Hier! Hallooo,” Dr Kees Scheepens, a Dutch farmer known as the “pig whisperer”, is calling his two oldest pigs for some apricot snacks.

Oma or “granny”, a seven-year-old sow, lives with a Berkshire boar called Borough, who’s nine, off a quiet lane in the town of Oirschot, in the south of the Netherlands, on a farm called Hemelrijken – Dutch for “the realms of heaven”.

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