Category Archives: Environment

EU parliament votes for 60% greenhouse gas emissions cut by 2030

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Backing for law demanding 60% reduction from 1990 levels puts capitals under pressure

EU capitals have been put under pressure to agree to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by 2030 compared with 1990, after the European parliament voted in favour of an “ambitious” climate law that would also oblige each member state to be carbon neutral by 2050.

The vote, which sets the chamber’s position as it goes into negotiations with the 27 member states and the European commission, won the backing of 392 MEPs, with 161 voting against and 142 abstaining.

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‘He really packed on the pounds’: Fat Bear Week crowns 747 the winner

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747, one of more than 2,200 brown bears roaming Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve, won after a week of online voting

In Alaska’s annual battle of furry heavyweights, a salmon-chomping bruin nicknamed 747 – like the jumbo jet - has emerged as the people’s choice as the most fabulously fat.

The bear, one of more than 2,200 brown bears roaming Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve, was victorious late Tuesday after a week of frenzied online voting (by humans) in what has become an international sensation: Fat Bear Week.

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Goldmining having big impact on indigenous Amazon communities

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Study calls for more rights for indigenous reserves as rising gold price attracts more miners

A new report has exposed the scale and impact of mining on indigenous reserves in Amazon countries as gold prices soared during the Covid-19 pandemic. More than 20% of indigenous lands are overlapped by mining concessions and illegal mining, it found, covering 450,000 sq km (174,000 sq miles) – and 31% of Amazon indigenous reserves are affected.

The report, released on Wednesday by the World Resources Institute, said indigenous people should be given more legal rights to manage and use their lands, and called for better environmental safeguards. As pressure mounts over the issue, a leading Brazilian thinktank has called for regulations tracing gold sold by financial institutions.

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Japan wins war on plastic, but shoplifters bag hidden spoils

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Charging for plastic bags has led to some customers concealing goods in their reusable bags, supermarket chains say

Japan’s consumers have embraced a campaign to address their addiction to plastic bags, but new measures to combat marine pollution have created an unforeseen problem: a rise in shoplifting.

All of Japan’s stores were required to introduce a fee for plastic shopping bags in July with the aim of encouraging shoppers to use their own, reusable bags rather than pay for carrier bags.

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California wildfires spawn first ‘gigafire’ in modern history

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August complex fire expanded beyond 1m acres, elevating it from a mere ‘megafire’ to a new classification: ‘gigafire’

California’s extraordinary year of wildfires has spawned another new milestone – the first “gigafire”, a blaze spanning 1m acres, in modern history.

Related: California fires set bleak record as 4m acres destroyed

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Air pollution particles in young brains linked to Alzheimer’s damage

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Exclusive: if discovery is confirmed it will have global implications as 90% of people breathe dirty air

Tiny air pollution particles have been revealed in the brain stems of young people and are intimately associated with molecular damage linked to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

If the groundbreaking discovery is confirmed by future research, it would have worldwide implications because 90% of the global population live with unsafe air. Medical experts are cautious about the findings and said that while the nanoparticles are a likely cause of the damage, whether this leads to disease later in life remains to be seen.

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Previous incident may have led Orcas to target boats, say experts

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Inquiry into encounters off coasts of Spain and Portugal says speed could be a factor

Experts investigating a series of extraordinary encounters between orcas and yachts off the coasts of Spain and Portugal believe the animals responsible may have been triggered to target boat rudders by an earlier “aversive incident” involving some kind of vessel.

Related: 'They were having a real go': man tells of orca encounter off Spain

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New Zealand bushfire that demolished village leads to climate crisis debate

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Scientists say hotter and longer summers make such an unusually fierce fire more likely

A bushfire that destroyed most of a village in New Zealand’s South Island has sparked a fierce debate between high-country farmers and conservationists, as those affected struggle to understand the unusually fierce nature of the blaze.

Lake Ōhau village is located at the foothills of the Ben Ohau mountain range, and is home to just 15 permanent residents but its numbers swell significantly during the holiday season. On Sunday morning, a fire tore through the foothills and into the village, forcing 90 people to evacuate.

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Indonesia mass strikes loom over cuts to environmental safeguards and workers’ rights

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New law to boost investment is a ‘tragic miscalculation’, campaigners say, as unions plan strike action in protest

Indonesia has passed a wide-ranging bill that will weaken environmental protections and workers’ rights in an attempt to boost investment, a move condemned as a “tragic miscalculation” that could lead to “uncontrolled deforestation”.

Groups representing millions of workers said they would strike on Tuesday in response to protest against the bill, which will amend about 1,200 provisions in 79 existing laws after it was pushed through parliament with unprecedented speed. Police said that a permit for the protest had not been approved, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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Boris Johnson to unveil plan to power all UK homes with wind by 2030

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PM vows to make Britain world leader in low-cost clean power with ‘Build Back Greener’ drive

Boris Johnson will promise to power every home in the UK with offshore wind energy within a decade, pledging to make the coronavirus pandemic a catalyst for green growth.

In a speech to the virtual Conservative party conference on Tuesday, he will say that the government will invest in a clean energy future to create “hundreds of thousands, if not millions of jobs” in the next decade.

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More than 14m tonnes of plastic believed to be at the bottom of the ocean

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Thirty times more plastic on ocean floor than surface, analysis suggests, but more trapped on land than sea

At least 14m tonnes of plastic pieces less than 5mm wide are likely sitting at the bottom of the world’s oceans, according to an estimate based on new research.

Analysis of ocean sediments from as deep as 3km suggests there could be more than 30 times as much plastic at the bottom of the world’s ocean than there is floating at the surface.

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Russian rocket fuel leak likely cause of marine animal deaths

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Injured surfers and large number of dead sea creatures reported in Kamchatka region

Water pollution in Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula that caused sea creatures to wash up dead on beaches has prompted fears that rocket fuel stored in the region’s military testing grounds may have leaked.

The pollution came to light late last month after surfers reported stinging eyes and said the water had changed colour and developed an odour. Officials later confirmed the surfers had sustained mild burns to their corneas.

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Decoy turtle eggs put in nests to track illegal trade in Costa Rica

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Quarter of fakes were stolen with some eggs tracked from thief to trafficker to consumer

Decoy eggs made by a 3D-printer and fitted with satellite tags have been placed in sea turtle nests on beaches in Costa Rica to track the illegal trade of their eggs.

A quarter of the fake eggs put among 101 turtle nests on four beaches in Costa Rica were stolen, with some eggs successfully tracked as they moved from thief to trafficker to consumer.

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Amazon near tipping point of switching from rainforest to savannah – study

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Climate crisis and logging is leading to shift from canopy rainforest to open grassland

Much of the Amazon could be on the verge of losing its distinct nature and switching from a closed canopy rainforest to an open savannah with far fewer trees as a result of the climate crisis, researchers have warned.

Rainforests are highly sensitive to changes in rainfall and moisture levels, and fires and prolonged droughts can result in areas losing trees and shifting to a savannah-like mix of woodland and grassland. In the Amazon, such changes were known to be possible but thought to be many decades away.

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Sir David Attenborough reveals favourite animal to young royals

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Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s three children quiz veteran broadcaster on his passion for nature

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s children have shared their passion for animals with Sir David Attenborough in an adorable video.

Prince George, seven, Princess Charlotte, five, and Prince Louis, two, quizzed the 94-year-old broadcaster in a video recorded at Kensington Palace in August. Princess Charlotte revealed that she likes spiders, and Attenborough told Prince Louis that his favourite animals were monkeys.

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‘Green hydrogen’ from renewables could become cheapest ‘transformative fuel’ within a decade

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Government has nominated ‘clean hydrogen’ using gas and CCS but for many countries ‘clean’ already means without fossil fuels

“Green hydrogen” made with wind and solar electricity could become the cheapest form of what the Australian government has described as a “transformative fuel” much faster than expected, analysts believe.

Chinese manufacturers have reported making systems to create hydrogen with renewable energy for up to 80% less than official Australian estimates from just two years ago.

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Brazil’s Amazon rainforest suffers worst fires in a decade

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  • Satellites record 61% rise in hotspots over September 2019
  • Scientist warns: ‘It could get worse if the drought continues’

Fires in Brazil’s Amazon increased 13% in the first nine months of the year compared with a year ago, as the rainforest region experiences its worst rash of blazes in a decade, data from space research agency Inpe has shown.

Satellites in September recorded 32,017 hotspots in the world’s largest rainforest, a 61% rise from the same month in 2019.

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Jair Bolsonaro attacks ‘international greed’ over Brazil’s rainforests – live

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Brazilian leader vows to continue to exploit country’s natural resources in combative comments at UN biodiversity summit

The leaders dialogue on addressing biodiversity loss and mainstreaming biodiversity for sustainable development is underway. Statements from Angela Merkel and Imran Khan got us started.

The German chancellor said extinctions are accelerating at a pace never before seen in the history of humanity. She said the world must turn the tide on biodiversity loss by expanding protecting areas, restoring ecosystems and directing financial resources to protecting plants and animals.

We are going to take a short break now before the next leaders’ dialogue. It will be chaired by Angela Merkel and Imran Khan on addressing biodiversity loss and mainstreaming biodiversity for sustainable development.

That will begin at 3pm in New York and 8pm UK time.

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What does the first climate question at a US debate in 20 years reveal?

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The question framed the existence of a human-made climate crisis as something that is for some Americans still debatable

The long-awaited climate question in last night’s presidential debate broke a 20-year silent streak from moderators on the crisis – thrusting it into prime time but also revealing just how stuck in the past much of the US is on the issue.

After more than an hour of chaos as the candidates talked over each other, the Fox News anchor Chris Wallace asked Donald Trump: “What do you believe about the science of climate change and what will you do in the next four years to confront it?”

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Greenland’s ice melting faster than at any time in past 12,000 years

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Increased loss of ice could trigger sea level rise of up to 10cm by end of century

Greenland’s ice is starting to melt faster than at any time in the past 12,000 years, research has shown, which will raise sea levels and could have a marked impact on ocean currents.

New measurements show the rate of melting matches any in the geological record for the Holocene period – defined as the period since the last ice age – and is likely to accelerate, according to a paper published in the journal Nature.

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