Letter cites growing evidence of link between dirty air and Covid-19 infections and deaths
Growing evidence of a link between air pollution and the impact of coronavirus means the government has a legal obligation to urgently review its air quality strategy, according to lawyers.
In a letter to ministers, the lawyers argue that refusing to order a review would breach UK law, the precautionary principle and the European convention on human rights.
Continue reading...Heat now causes more deaths than hurricanes, tornadoes or floods in most years, creating a new public health threat. An investigation reveals why the CDC’s prevention efforts have faltered
This story is co-published with Columbia Journalism Investigations, the Center for Public Integrity and Covering Climate Now. Read the full investigation here.
Charlie Rhodes lived alone on a tree-sparse street with sunburned lawns just outside Phoenix, Arizona. At 61, the army veteran’s main connection to the world was Facebook; often, he posted several times a day. But as a heatwave blanketed the region in June 2016 – leading to temperatures among the highest ever recorded – his posts stopped. Three weeks later, a pile of unopened mail outside his door prompted a call to police.
Continue reading...Giant tortoise, whose reproductive efforts almost single-handedly saved his species, has been moved to an uninhabited island
Diego, the giant Galápagos tortoise whose tireless efforts are credited with almost single-handedly saving his once-threatened species, has been put out to pasture on his native island after decades of breeding in captivity, Ecuador’s environment minister said.
Diego was shipped out from the Galápagos national park’s breeding program on Santa Cruz to the remote and uninhabited Española.
Continue reading...Nine acres in Exmoor includes buildings, rivers and moorland linked to 19th-century tale
It is a place of wooded valleys, tumbling rivers and rugged moorland that was immortalised in the 19th-century novel Lorna Doone, a twisty tale of romance, murder and outlaws by RD Blackmore.
The National Trust announced on Tuesday it had bought nine acres of land in Doone country, including farmhouses and cottages, and is hoping to encourage more visitors to explore this tucked-away area of Exmoor.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Milk giants’ climate impact rising and production caps needed, say researchers
The biggest dairy companies in the world have the same combined greenhouse gas emissions as the UK, the sixth biggest economy in the world, according to a new report.
The analysis shows the impact of the 13 firms on the climate crisis is growing, with an 11% increase in emissions in the two years after the 2015 Paris climate change agreement, largely due to consolidation in the sector. Scientific reports have shown that consumption of dairy, as well as meat, must be reduced significantly in rich nations to tackle the climate emergency.
Continue reading...Changes could introduce gluten-free wheat and disease-resistant fruit and vegetables, say peers
Peers are preparing plans to legalise the gene-editing of crops in England, a move that scientists say would offer the nation a chance to develop and grow hardier, more nutritious varieties. The legislation would also open the door to gene-editing of animals.
Continue reading...Modelling suggests climate is considerably more sensitive to carbon emissions than thought
Worst-case global heating scenarios may need to be revised upwards in light of a better understanding of the role of clouds, scientists have said.
Recent modelling data suggests the climate is considerably more sensitive to carbon emissions than previously believed, and experts said the projections had the potential to be “incredibly alarming”, though they stressed further research would be needed to validate the new numbers.
Continue reading...Casavant shot mother black bear under province policy but was suspended and eventually fired for not killing cubs
A conservation officer in Canada who was fired for refusing to kill two black bear cubs has won a protracted legal battle over his termination.
“I feel like the black clouds that have hung over my family for years are finally starting to part,” Bryce Casavant told the Guardian. “But the moment is bittersweet – my firing should have never happened in the first place.”
Continue reading...Akhtar Imam says animals saved his life from ‘gun-carrying criminals’ last year
An Indian man has opted to bequeath most of his land to two elephants that he says saved his life from intruders, a decision which has upset his wife and children.
Akhtar Imam, from a village in the eastern state of Bihar, said he changed his will to bequeath 2.5 hectares (6.2 acres) to gentle giants Moti (Pearl) and Rani (Queen).
Continue reading...From protecting fishing communities to regrowing coral reefs, Guardian readers and environmentalists share how they’re working to defend the ocean
World Oceans Day, which took place on Monday, is marked by hundreds of beach cleans and events globally. Despite Covid-19 restrictions, environmentalists and readers from around the world shared how they are continuing to work to protect the ocean, and told us about the local marine issues that matter to them.
Continue reading...Vast vessels spent almost 3,000 hours fishing in officially protected areas in 2019
Supertrawlers spent almost 3,000 hours fishing in UK marine protected areas in 2019, making “a mockery of the word ‘protected’,” according to campaigners.
Supertrawlers are those over 100 metres in length and can catch hundreds of tonnes of fish every day, using nets up to a mile long. A Greenpeace investigation revealed that the 25 supertrawlers included the four biggest in the world and fished in 39 different marine protected areas (MPAs).
Continue reading...Researchers have pioneered a new way of calculating the large green sea turtle population on Raine Island in the Great Barrier Reef. Using drones and a stripe of white paint on the back of adult turtles, the researchers from the Raine Island Recovery Project estimated there were 64,000 endangered green turtles at the Raine Island rookery. The new count shows there may be 1.73 times the number of turtles previously believed and they have now been able to adjust historical data to paint a more accurate picture of the area’s endangered green turtle population
Continue reading...Fire has reportedly spread to homes near well that has been leaking ‘uncontrollably’ for two weeks
A massive fire has broken out at an oil field in north-eastern India, after gas that had been leaking for two weeks ignited, sending plumes of smoke and flames into the sky, and reportedly setting fire to nearby homes.
Five deaths in the area are being investigated for potential links to the gas well, which has been leaking “uncontrollably” for two weeks, according to Oil India, the state-owned company managing the oil field.
Continue reading...Residents of towns in Castilla y Léon region told to stay away from banks of Pisuerga River
Police and specialist wildlife officers are using boats and a drone to search a stretch of river in north-west Spain after three sightings of what is thought to be a Nile crocodile.
People in and around the towns of Simancas and Tordesillas in the Castilla y León region have been told to stay away from the banks of the Pisuerga River while the search continues.
Continue reading...Opinion poll puts Socialist at 44% of intentions to vote, well ahead of her closest rival
The mayor of Paris has opened up a strong lead in her bid to be reelected after forging an alliance with the city’s ecologists.
An opinion poll put the Socialist Anne Hidalgo at 44% of intentions to vote, well ahead of her closest rival, the centre-right candidate Rachida Dati, a former justice minister under Nicolas Sarkozy.
Continue reading...Failure to consider dirty air as a factor in higher death toll among ethnic minorities wholly irresponsible, say critics
The failure to consider air pollution as a factor in the higher rates of coronavirus deaths among minority ethnic groups is “astonishing” and “wholly irresponsible”, according to critics of a Public Health England review.
The PHE report released on Tuesday confirmed the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on people from ethnic minorities but did not mention air pollution. Minorities in the UK, US and elsewhere are known to generally experience higher levels of air pollution, and there is growing evidence around the world linking exposure to dirty air exposure to increased coronavirus infections and deaths.
Continue reading...A place to socialise, an oasis for wildlife, a gift to our neighbours – a front garden can be all of these things. Isn’t it about time we showed them some love,asks Clare Coulson
Last month, with more time at home than usual, Charlotte Harris, one half of the landscape design duo Harris Bugg, decided to dig up her paved front garden in Newham, east London. “It was a discussion we’d been having for a while,” says Harris, who gardens with her girlfriend Catriona Knox. They’d already removed the paving from the back garden of their house, which is in a densely populated area of the city undergoing vast amounts of regeneration. “Around here every bit of green space feels precious,” she says. “Obviously there are parks, but I think each of us has to take responsibility for any space we have.”
As you’d expect in a city, the new front garden needs to work hard to accommodate bins, bikes and a composting hot bin, but Harris is determined to plant as much as possible in the rest of the space, including a small tree (on the shortlist are a Sichuan pepper tree, hawthorn or a Chinese fringe tree) underplanted with perennials and bulbs.
Continue reading...Government spending on clean energy would deliver 100,000 new jobs, EY assessment finds
Stimulus programs backing clean energy as a path out of recession would create nearly three times as many jobs for every dollar spent on fossil fuel developments, according to a financial consultancy analysis.
The assessment by professional services firm Ernst & Young (EY) says a government focus on renewable energy and climate-friendly projects to drive the economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic could create more than 100,000 direct jobs across the country while cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
Continue reading...Activists welcome move but say government is still dragging its feet over crackdown on waste in lakes and waterways
The Malawian government this week ordered the closure of factories belonging to two major plastic producers for flouting the country’s plastics ban.
The companies – OG plastics and City Plastics – were found to still be manufacturing thin plastics, often used to make plastic bags, despite a ruling last year that banned its production, import and use.
Continue reading...Greenpeace report shows cattle indirectly sold to JBS, Marfrig and Minerva came from protected Serro Ricardo Franco park
Three international meat companies have indirectly sourced cattle from farms that deforested a unique, protected Amazon reserve, a new report from Greenpeace has found – and two of them later sold meat from the area to the UK.
The revelations come as the Brazil-based companies involved, JBS, Marfrig and Minerva, are under increasing pressure to come clean about their Amazon supply chains. They are now known to have broken commitments made to Greenpeace and Brazilian federal prosecutors more than a decade ago.
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