Category Archives: Environment

Poorly planned Amazon dam project ‘poses serious threat to life’

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Operator faces choice of weakening 14km barrier or potentially devastating a biodiversity hotspot

The biggest hydroelectric project in the Amazon rainforest has a design flaw that poses a “very serious” threat to human life and globally important ecosystems, according to documents and expert testimony received by the Guardian.

The studies suggest engineers failed to anticipate the impact of water shortages on the Pimental dam at Belo Monte, which has been closed and turned into a barrier. This is forcing the operators to choose between a structural weakening of the 14km-wide compacted-earth barrier and a reallocation of water in the reservoir or on the Xingu river, which is home to indigenous communities, fishing villages and some of the world’s most endangered species.

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‘Greta Thunberg effect’ driving growth in carbon offsetting

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NGOs report fourfold increases in investments in carbon-reducing projects in developing countries

Growing concern about the climate crisis and the “Greta Thunberg effect” are driving huge increases in individuals and businesses choosing to offset their emissions by investing in carbon-reducing projects in developing countries.

NGOs and organisations involved in carbon offsetting have seen as much as a fourfold increase in investment from people who want to try to mitigate their carbon footprints.

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Scores of bushfires burn out of control in NSW and Queensland as temperatures soar

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Hot and windy weather has created volatile conditions along parts of Australia’s east coast

Parts of Australia faced an unprecedented bushfire threat on Friday evening as more than 100 blazes burned across coastal New South Wales and Queensland.

Communities on NSW’s mid-north coast and the far north coast were battling the worst of the conditions, which were described by authorities as “uncharted territory” and that led to a dramatic, orange-red glow descending on the fire-threatened city of Port Macquarie.

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‘We had to buy blankets’: floods force shoppers to spend night in Meadowhall

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Sheffield shopping centre cut off by rising waters as torrential rain deluges large areas and Met Office warns of more to come

Dozens of people have been trapped in Sheffield’s Meadowhall shopping centre overnight after torrential rain caused flooding throughout the city and transport chaos across large parts of northern England.

Heavy rain across the region on Thursday made roads impassable and forced the cancellation of train services, while 35 homes were evacuated in Mansfield after a mudlside.

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Africa poised to lead way in global green revolution, says report

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Continent is set for massive urbanisation but can avoid relying on fossil fuels, says IEA

Africa is poised to lead the world’s cleanest economic revolution by using renewable energy sources to power a massive spread of urbanisation, says an IEA report.

The IEA, or International Energy Agency, predicts that solar energy will play a big role in supporting the continent’s growing population and industrialisation over the next 20 years.

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North of England floods: trapped shoppers allowed to leave mall

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Meadowhall in Sheffield says those who wish to stay can, due to ‘extreme conditions’ outside

People trapped by flood water in a shopping mall near Sheffield have been told they can leave but were warned there will be severe delays due to “extreme weather conditions”.

People at the Meadowhall shopping centre had earlier been told to stay put by police and not to attempt to leave the mall after flooding left roads gridlocked.

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Pollutionwatch: Africa increases its reliance on fossil fuels

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Continent is embarking on a huge expansion of power stations, most of which will burn coal

Last week the UN secretary general, António Guterres, called for an end to new coal-fired power plants. Many European countries including the UK and Germany are decreasing their dependence on coal, but this is not the case everywhere. Across Africa many people rely on standby diesel generators to supplement erratic electricity supplies, leading to local air pollution problems and high emissions of climate-heating carbon dioxide.

Although Africa is in a unique position to leapfrog dependence on fossil fuels and utilise abundant renewable sources such as wind and solar, the continent is embarking on a massive expansion of fossil fuel electricity. More than 200 new power stations are planned, the majority of which will burn coal. Power ships – vast floating power stations, some burning highly polluting bunker oil – are already moored in Ghana, Sierra Leone and Mozambique.

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Thousands of rare ‘ice eggs’ found on beach in Finland

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Couple stumble upon unusual occurrence that is result of very particular weather conditions

A rare collection of “ice eggs” has been spotted in Finland, a phenomenon experts say only occurs in highly particular conditions.

Risto Mattila, who photographed the eggs, said he and his wife were walking along Marjaniemi beach on Hailuoto island on Sunday when they came across the icy balls covering a 30-metre (98ft) expanse of shoreline.

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Oil spill threatens vast areas of mangroves and coral reefs in Brazil

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Pollution stretches across 2,400km of coastline, with scientists fearing contamination of food chain

Hundreds of kilometres of mangroves and coral reefs, as well as humpback whale breeding grounds, are under threat from an oil spill that has polluted more than 2,400km of Brazil’s north-eastern coast in the last two months.

The Brazilian Navy, which has deployed 8,500 personnel, 30 ships and 17 aircraft in the cleanup operation, said this week that 4,200 tonnes of oil have been removed from beaches, amid fears by scientists that some has already entered the food chain.

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Ardern says New Zealand on ‘right side of history’ as MPs pass zero-carbon bill

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Centre-right opposition National party throws support behind the legislation that has been applauded around the globe

Jacinda Ardern’s landmark climate legislation has passed in New Zealand parliament, with historic cross-party support, committing the nation to reduce its carbon emissions to zero by 2050 and meet its commitments under the Paris climate accords.

The climate change response (zero carbon) amendment bill passed on Thursday afternoon with the centre-right opposition National party throwing their support behind it late in the day, despite none of their proposed amendments being accepted. The bill passed 119 votes to one.

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Italy to put sustainability and climate at heart of learning in schools

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Country will become first to make study of global heating and human influence on natural resources compulsory in state schools

Italy is to become the first country in the world to make sustainability and climate crisis compulsory subjects for schoolchildren.

State schools will begin incorporating the UN’s 2030 agenda for sustainable development into as many subjects as possible from September, with one hour a week dedicated to themes including global heating and humans’ influence on the planet.

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Extinction Rebellion protesters may sue Met as ban ruled unlawful

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Section 14 order issued to halt protest across London was not legitimate, high court rules

Hundreds of Extinction Rebellion protesters may sue the Metropolitan police for unlawful arrest after the high court quashed an order banning the group’s protests in London last month.

In a judgment handed down on Wednesday morning, Mr Justice Dingemans and Mr Justice Chamberlain said the section 14 order imposed during XR’s “autumn uprising” in October was unlawful.

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Money and maps: is this how to save the Amazon’s 400bn trees?

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Alarmed by the impact of logging, indigenous Peruvians are using satellite mapping to manage their land

The first thing Ramón heard about the deal was the televisions. A number of families from the Asháninka indigenous group had received them from outsiders, in exchange for land. Loggers were interested in the mahogany, oak and tornillo trees that grow to impressive heights in this part of the rainforest around Cutivireni in central Peru.

The loggers had other means of persuasion, besides bribery. They might offer to build a school or a meeting house in exchange for timber. When the work ran over budget, they would demand money – and since the Asháninka had none, they would take more trees to service the debt, according to Adelaida Bustamante, the community treasurer. And if that failed, they used violence. In 2014, four forest defenders from the Asháninka were murdered for their campaign to keep loggers off their land (Ramón asked me not to use his real name).

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Forest guardians: the Asháninka of Peru – in pictures

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In an area of the Amazon vulnerable to illegal loggers, Cool Earth, a UK-based charity, is working with the Asháninka people to reduce deforestation. Photographer Alicia Canter travelled to Cutivireni in central Peru

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Climate crisis: 11,000 scientists warn of ‘untold suffering’

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Statement sets out ‘vital signs’ as indicators of magnitude of the climate emergency

The world’s people face “untold suffering due to the climate crisis” unless there are major transformations to global society, according to a stark warning from more than 11,000 scientists.

“We declare clearly and unequivocally that planet Earth is facing a climate emergency,” it states. “To secure a sustainable future, we must change how we live. [This] entails major transformations in the ways our global society functions and interacts with natural ecosystems.”

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Delhi pollution: farm fires set to continue despite court ruling

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Indian city suffering record levels of poor air quality, partly caused by stubble burning

The illegal burning of crop stubble by farmers in India, one of the biggest causes of the record-breaking pollution that has enveloped Delhi over the past week, is expected to continue for the next two weeks, despite a supreme court order for all farm fires to be halted.

Delhi has been experiencing its longest spell of hazardous air quality since public records began, with the city suffering from “severe” levels of pollution for nine days straight, prompting a public health emergency to be declared.

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Trump begins year-long process to formally exit Paris climate agreement

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  • Exit will not be final until day after 2020 elections
  • Many organizations are keeping US in climate crisis fight

Donald Trump is moving to formally exit the Paris climate agreement, making the United States the only country in the world that will not participate in the pact, as global temperatures are set to rise 3C and worsening extreme weather will drive millions into poverty.

The paperwork sent by the US government to withdraw begins a one-year process for exiting the deal agreed to at the UN climate change conference in Paris in 2015. The Trump administration will not be able to finalize its exit until a day after the presidential election in November 2020.

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No fly zone: I didn’t catch a plane for a year and saved 19 tonnes of Co2

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A year without air travel taught me the path to carbon neutral won’t be easy, but I learned I could inspire others to act

What is the single thing that you could do that would most reduce your carbon footprint? Take your bike to work rather than your car? Dig up your lawn for a vegetable garden? For me, an academic scientist living and working in Auckland, New Zealand, I reasoned that the most significant thing I could do was to stop flying.

In 2017 I flew 84,000km. I made twenty day trips to Wellington, New Zealand’s capital city. I travelled to the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia to attend conferences and work on joint projects with other scientists. All of this made me accountable for around 19 tonnes of carbon dioxide that year, nearly three times that of the average Kiwi.

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‘It’s suffocating’: Delhi residents react as toxic smog blankets city – video

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Pollution in Delhi has reached its worst levels so far this year, at almost 400 times the amount deemed healthy. A week on from Diwali, the thick brown smog that shrouded the city after the festival has shown no sign of shifting. One local said the pollution was so bad it burned his nose and throat, making simple activities such as jogging difficult

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Delhi restricts cars in attempt to lessen pollution

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Vehicles with odd or even licence plates are banned from roads on alternate days

Delhi restricted many private vehicles from the roads on Monday to try to lessen pollution as India grapples with a public health crisis over its toxic smog.

The “odd-even” scheme will restrict private vehicles with odd-number licence plates to driving on odd dates while even-numbered plates are allowed on even-numbered dates. It was begun days after authorities in the Indian capital began emergency control measures and ordered the closure of schools as pollution levels reached a three-year high.

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