Category Archives: Environment

Scientists put forward plan to create universal species list

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Single classification system could end centuries of disagreement and improve global efforts to tackle biodiversity loss

A plan to create the first universally recognised list of species on Earth has prompted hopes of an end to centuries of disagreement and confusion over how to classify the world’s library of life.

The 10-point plan aims to finally bring order with an authoritative list of the world’s species and a governance mechanism responsible for its quality. Researchers hope a single recognised list would improve global efforts to tackle biodiversity loss, the trade in endangered wildlife, biosecurity and conservation.

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Coronavirus: world treating symptoms, not cause of pandemics, says UN

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Ongoing destruction of nature will result in stream of animal diseases jumping to humans, says report

The world is treating the health and economic symptoms of the coronavirus pandemic but not the environmental cause, according to the authors of a UN report. As a result, a steady stream of diseases can be expected to jump from animals to humans in coming years, they say.

The number of such “zoonotic” epidemics is rising, from Ebola to Sars to West Nile virus and Rift Valley fever, with the root cause being the destruction of nature by humans and the growing demand for meat, the report says.

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Why we need sharks: the true nature of the ocean’s ‘monstrous villains’

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Why did dolphins get Flipper while sharks got Jaws? These majestic, diverse animals bring balance to the ocean ecosystem – and they’re in grave danger

Each day, as the sun sets over the coral-fringed Raja Ampat Islands in Indonesia, an underwater predator stirs. As predators go, it’s not especially big or ferocious – an arm’s length from head to tail, with a snuffling, moustachioed snout.

What’s unique is that it doesn’t so much swim along the seabed as walk. Using its four fins as legs, and twisting its spine like a lizard, it can emerge from the water and hold its breath for an hour, strutting across the exposed reef and clambering between tide pools to find prey.

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Farmers’ markets go hi-tech: how online sales are saving Indian farmers

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Facing the prospect of rotting crops and ruined livelihoods, Indian farmers have embraced virtual marketplaces to sell produce

When the call finally comes, the connection is so poor that Silme Marak can barely catch the words. After running upstairs to the roof of her house for a better signal, the 39-year-old farmer finally hears the first piece of good news to come her way in months: an order for 600 pineapples from a harvest that she had feared might have to be left to rot.

Marak lives in the Tura town of Meghalaya, a hilly place in north-east India whose name translates as “the abode of clouds”. She is among millions of farmers in India – agriculture contributes nearly a seventh of the country’s GDP – in despair at the prospect of seeing their produce rot as the country entered a severe lockdown in the third week of March. According to a Credit Suisse report, vegetable farmers alone have lost upwards of Rs 20,000 crore (£2.5bn).

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Britain beyond lockdown: what we learned from two weeks on the road

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People do not want to go back to the way things were, but the good intentions could fade without the right leadership

Britain is crying out for a better normal. Communities across the country are emerging from lockdown with a new sense of what is possible and what is necessary – and the answers to both go a lot further than Westminster’s efforts to drive the country back to business as usual.

That was the overriding impression from a two-week reporting trip around Britain, asking people in different regions how they view recovery and whether there is an appetite for more fundamental change.

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Algae turns Italian Alps pink, prompting concerns over melting

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Pink snow observed on parts of the Presena glacier believed to be caused by plant that makes the ice darker, causing it to melt faster

Scientists in Italy are investigating the mysterious appearance of pink glacial ice in the Alps, caused by algae that accelerate the effects of climate change.

There is debate about where the algae come from, but Biagio Di Mauro of Italy’s National Research Council said the pink snow observed on parts of the Presena glacier is likely caused by the same plant found in Greenland.

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Japan floods leave dozens dead, including nursing home residents

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Record rainfall triggers landslides in western Kumamoto region, stranding hundreds

Deep floodwaters and the risk of further mudslides have hampered search and rescue operations after heavy rain in southern Japan, including at elderly home facilities where more than a dozen residents died and scores were left stranded.

Helicopters and boats rescued more people from their homes in the Kumamoto region. More than 40,000 troops, the coastguard and fire brigades took part in the operation.

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‘An ashram for the hummingbird’: the Trinidad haven for world’s tiniest bird

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Theo and Gloria Ferguson have created a garden specially designed to attract hummingbirds – and hundreds visit daily

At the foot of Theo and Gloria Ferguson’s property stands a giant silk cotton tree. Reminiscent of those enchanted species in children’s fables, this ancient sentinel’s huge varicose limbs yawn upwards and outwards, towards a canopy of leaves that scratch the sky. Eight adults linking arms would struggle to encircle its vast girth, proof of the aeons it has stood guarding the edge of Trinidad’s Maracas valley.

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Heatwaves have become longer in most of the world since 1950s – study

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Frequency of heatwaves and cumulative intensity has risen through the decades, research finds

Heatwaves have increased in both length and frequency in nearly every part of the world since the 1950s, according to what is described as the first study to look at the issue at a regional level.

The study found the escalation in heatwaves varied around the planet, with the Amazon, north-eastern Brazil, west Asia (including parts of the subcontinent and central Asia) and the Mediterranean all experiencing more rapid change than, for example, southern Australia and north Asia. The only inhabited region where there was not a trend was in the central United States.

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Dry tropical forests may be more at risk than wet rainforests, study says

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Areas with a drier climate have seen greater loss of biodiversity from global warming

Dry tropical forests are more vulnerable to the impacts of global heating than had been thought, according to new research, with wildlife and plants at severe risk of harm from human impacts.

Some tropical forests are very wet, but others thrive in a drier climate and scientists had thought these drier forests would be better adapted to drought, and therefore more able to cope with the effects of the climate crisis.

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$10bn of precious metals dumped each year in electronic waste, says UN

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A fast growing mountain of toxic e-waste is polluting the planet and damaging health, says new report

At least $10bn (£7.9bn) worth of gold, platinum and other precious metals are dumped every year in the growing mountain of electronic waste that is polluting the planet, according to a new UN report.

A record 54m tonnes of “e-waste” was generated worldwide in 2019, up 21% in five years, the UN’s Global E-waste Monitor report found. The 2019 figure is equivalent to 7.3kg for every man, woman and child on Earth, though use is concentrated in richer nations. The amount of e-waste is rising three times faster than the world’s population, and only 17% of it was recycled in 2019.

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Revealed: raw sewage poured into Olympic Park wildlife haven

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Thames Water overflow pipe pumped waste for 1,000 hours into London wetlands last year

Raw sewage was discharged for more than 1,000 hours from a Thames Water overflow pipe into an environmental wetland at the Olympic Park last year, the Guardian can reveal.

The combined sewer overflow (CSO) at Mulberry Court pumped untreated waste 91 times into the waterway that feeds into the River Lea. To April this year, the same CSO has so far discharged for 34 hours in 20 incidents.

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The green recovery: what is it and will Australia miss a once in a lifetime opportunity?

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As countries around the world begin restarting their economies after the coronavirus crisis, a growing chorus of prominent leaders have labelled this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to tackle climate change by targeting post-pandemic stimulus toward areas that promote renewable energy. Will Australia take heed or continue to rely on fossil fuels?

You can read Adam Morton’s piece on the green recovery here and find his reporting on Beyond Zero Emissions jobs plan here.

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Exclusive: water firms discharged raw sewage into England’s rivers 200,000 times in 2019

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Untreated effluent flowed into waterways for more than 1.5m hours, data shows

Water companies in England discharged raw sewage into rivers on more than 200,000 occasions last year, according to data obtained by the Guardian.

The analysis reveals untreated human waste was released into streams and rivers for more than 1.5m hours in 2019.

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Hundreds of elephants dead in mysterious mass die-off

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Botswana’s government is yet to test the remains of the dead animals in what has been described as a ‘conservation disaster’

More than 350 elephants have died in northern Botswana in a mysterious mass die-off described by scientists as a “conservation disaster”.

A cluster of elephant deaths was first reported in the Okavango Delta in early May, with 169 individuals dead by the end of the month. By mid June, the number had more than doubled, with 70% of the deaths clustered around waterholes, according to local sources who wish to remain anonymous.

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Air pollution likely to make coronavirus worse, say UK government advisers

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Experts say further investigation of link is urgently required and may be relevant to managing pandemic

Air pollution is likely to be increasing the number and severity of Covid-19 infections, according to the UK government’s expert advisers.

In a report published on Wednesday, the experts said further investigation of the link between dirty air and the coronavirus pandemic was “urgently required” and may be relevant to how the pandemic is managed.

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Revealed: Covid-19 outbreaks at meat-processing plants in US being kept quiet

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Testing has found positive cases at North Carolina facilities, but officials refuse to release the information

A chicken processing facility in western North Carolina reportedly underwent widespread testing for Covid-19 in early June.

Workers at the plant were scared. Several employees had already tested positive and the company, Case Farms – which has been repeatedly condemned for animal treatment and workers’ rights violations – was not providing proper protective equipment.

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Petrol sold to Nigeria from Europe ‘dirtier’ than black market ‘bush’ fuel

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Samples from illegal refineries in Niger delta found to be of a higher quality than imported petrol in new analysis

Black market fuel made from stolen oil in rudimentary “bush” refineries hidden deep in the creeks and swamps of the Niger delta is less polluting than the highly toxic diesel and petrol that Europe exports to Nigeria, new laboratory analysis has found.

Shell, Exxon, Chevron and other major oil companies extract and export up to 2m barrels a day of high quality, low sulphur “Bonny Light” crude from the Niger delta. But very little of this oil is refined in the country because its four state-owned refineries are dysfunctional or have closed.

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‘New deal’ risks fuelling emissions and eroding building standards

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Green campaigners and housing experts warn Boris Johnson’s recovery plan could swiftly become a liability

Boris Johnson’s plan to build tens of thousands of new homes risks locking in high carbon emissions for decades to come, if they are built to today’s poor efficiency standards instead of being designed for net zero carbon.

The prime minister’s plans to “build, build, build” form the centrepiece of his “new deal” to lift Britain’s economy out of the coronavirus recession. About £12bn will go to building 180,000 new homes to relieve the housing crisis, while new hospitals and schools will be constructed to improve degraded public services.

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‘Swim happy!’: family save bear found swimming with a plastic jar on its head – video

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A family were fishing on a lake in Wisconsin when they spotted a bear with a plastic jar stuck on its head. After several attempts at moving their boat next to the bear and removing the jar, they were finally able to free the animal. 'Never dreamt we would ever do this in our life time,' Tricia Hurt wrote on Facebook. 'Out on Marshmiller Lake yesterday with Brian Hurt and Brady Hurt when we spotted this poor bear. He made it to shore after all that'

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