Category Archives: Environment

Pharma’s market: the man cleaning up Africa’s meat

Posted on by

In Namibia a country of meat-lovers, vital expertise is needed to stop livestock spreading diseases

Wreathed in barbecue smoke, Vetjaera Haakuria gestures at the men butchering meat and cooking it over hot coals behind his back. “What have you learned about the risks of eating this?” he asks his young audience, spotless in their white lab coats. “It might contain drug residues, right? And what about diseases?”

It’s nearly noon in Windhoek, Namibia’s capital, and the market is preparing grilled meat – known locally as kapana – for the lunchtime rush. Everyone comes here, from construction workers to members of parliament. Namibians love to eat meat, and he is no exception: his tribe, the Herero, traditionally eat nothing else.

Continue reading...

UK’s preparation for climate crisis ‘like Dad’s Army’

Posted on by

Government’s official climate advisers say the lack of proper plans to cope with heatwaves and flash floods is ‘shocking’

The government’s own advisers have declared themselves shocked that the UK has no proper plans for protecting people from heatwaves, flash flooding and other impacts of the climate crisis.

The Committee on Climate Change said the UK’s climate crisis preparations were being run like Dad’s Army and left the population at real risk, adding that funding for programmes to tackle problems resulting from global heating had been cut.

The CCC’s annual progress reports, published on Wednesday, also found that just one of the 25 emissions-cutting policies it said were vital in 2018 had been delivered in full. Lord Deben, who chairs the committee, said ministers could be sued in court if the failure to act continued.

Continue reading...

Vienna’s euro-a-day public transport model could waltz into Berlin

Posted on by

Mayor of German capital considering €365 annual ticket to reduce traffic and pollution

Berliners could pay as little as €1 a day to use public transport for a year under plans to wean the German capital off its cars and reduce air pollution, its mayor has announced.

“Step by step I want to follow the goal of introducing an annual public transport ticket for €365,” Michael Müller told Neue Zürcher Zeitung. An annual ticket normally costs €761.

Continue reading...

Device could bring both solar power and clean water to millions

Posted on by

Researchers say one invention could solve two problems for people lacking basic resources

A device that can produce electricity from sunlight while simultaneously purifying water has been produced by researchers, an invention they say could solve two problems in one stroke.

The researchers say the device is not only a source of green energy but also offers an alternative to current technologies for purifying water. These, they add, often consume large amounts of electricity and require infrastructure beyond the reach of many communities that lack basic access to safe drinking water – a situation thought to affect more than 780 million people worldwide.

Continue reading...

World leaders have ‘a lot to answer for’ over damning figures on education

Posted on by

Former prime minister of New Zealand Helen Clark condemns complacency as Unesco data shows one in six children won’t be in school by 2030

World leaders have “a lot to answer for” as new figures reveal that governments are failing to give all children an education, and that by 2030 one in six children won’t be in school.

The former prime minister of New Zealand and advocate for education Helen Clark said the figures showed “worrisome complacency on the part of countries which, just a few years ago, were so keen to hammer out an ambitious global agenda and make it a success”.

Continue reading...

David Attenborough: polluting planet may become as reviled as slavery

Posted on by

Naturalist tells MPs radical action needed to tackle crisis but attitude of young people gives him hope

The attitude of young people towards tackling the environmental crisis is “a source of great hope”, David Attenborough has told MPs, as he predicted that polluting the planet would soon provoke as much abhorrence as slavery.

Giving evidence to the business, energy and industrial strategy committee on how to tackle the climate emergency, the naturalist and TV presenter said radical action was required.

Continue reading...

Glacial melting in Antarctica may become irreversible

Posted on by

Thwaites glacier is likely to thaw and trigger 50cm sea level rise, US study suggests

Antarctica faces a tipping point where glacial melting will accelerate and become irreversible even if global heating eases, research suggests.

A Nasa-funded study found instability in the Thwaites glacier meant there would probably come a point when it was impossible to stop it flowing into the sea and triggering a 50cm sea level rise. Other Antarctic glaciers were likely to be similarly unstable.

Continue reading...

Indoor carbon dioxide levels could be a health hazard, scientists warn

Posted on by

CO2 in bedrooms and offices may affect cognition and cause kidney and bone problems

Indoor levels of carbon dioxide could be clouding our thinking and may even pose a wider danger to human health, researchers say.

While air pollutants such as tiny particles and nitrogen oxides have been the subject of much research, there have been far fewer studies looking into the health impact of CO2.

Continue reading...

Ban government investment in fossil fuels, urges cross-party group of MPs

Posted on by

UK aid projects ‘actively undermine’ efforts to tackle climate crisis, MPs and campaign groups warn

A cross-party group of MPs, backed by campaign groups, has called for an immediate ban on all investment in fossil fuels and for all UK aid to be “nature positive”.

The 28 MPs, led by Tory Zac Goldsmith and Labour’s Kerry McCarthy, with support from Amnesty International, WWF and other organisations, criticised the UK for “actively undermining” its own investment in tackling the climate emergency by continuing to fund fossil fuels through aid and export finance.

Continue reading...

‘The next era of human progress’: what lies behind the global new cities epidemic?

Posted on by

The urge to build cities from scratch is not new – but this time they are being conceived by private multinational corporations as gilt-edged tax-exempt gated communities

At 8.30 every morning, an announcement is piped though a speaker in the ceiling of Kim Jong-won’s apartment, barking the daily bulletin in a high-pitched voice. The disembodied broadcaster details new parking measures, issues with the pneumatic waste disposal chute and various building maintenance jobs to be carried out that day.

“There’s no way of turning it off,” sighs Kim’s wife, Jung-sim, as she prepares breakfast. “I hate technology but my husband is an early adopter. He has to have everything first.”

Continue reading...

‘The odour of burning wakes us’: inside the Philippines’ Plastic City

Posted on by

In Valenzuela City, residents blame recycling plants for pungent smells and respiratory illnesses

As noon approaches in Valenzuela City and residents prepare to have their lunch, a pungent smell of melted plastic swirls through the air, killing everyone’s appetite.

“It gets suffocating in the evening. We have to close our windows despite the heat and bury our noses under our blankets when we sleep,” says Rosalie Esplana, 40.

Continue reading...

The wrong kind of trees: Ireland’s afforestation meets resistance

Posted on by

Residents and campaigners say fast-growing Sitka spruces are spoiling the landscape

Ireland is ramping up its response to the climate crisis by planting forests – lots of forests. East, west, north, south, the plan is to plant forests, the more the better.

With enough trees, goes the hope, Ireland can compensate for many of the cows, vehicles and fossil-burning power plants that make it one of Europe’s worst climate offenders.

Continue reading...

One climate crisis disaster happening every week, UN warns

Posted on by

Developing countries must prepare now for profound impact, disaster representative says

Climate crisis disasters are happening at the rate of one a week, though most draw little international attention and work is urgently needed to prepare developing countries for the profound impacts, the UN has warned.

Catastrophes such as cyclones Idai and Kenneth in Mozambique and the drought afflicting India make headlines around the world. But large numbers of “lower impact events” that are causing death, displacement and suffering are occurring much faster than predicted, said Mami Mizutori, the UN secretary-general’s special representative on disaster risk reduction. “This is not about the future, this is about today.”

Continue reading...

Barcelona mayor promises crackdown on cruise ships

Posted on by

Ada Colau will also oppose airport expansion to curb tourism and pollution

Barcelona’s mayor, Ada Colau, has pledged to restrict the number of cruise ships allowed to dock in the city and to oppose the expansion of the city’s airport, saying: “We don’t have infinite capacity.”

Colau said the limits would reduce pollution in the city, where air quality regularly exceeds World Health Organization limits for nitrogen oxide and PM10 particulates.

Continue reading...

‘Biggest compliment yet’: Greta Thunberg welcomes oil chief’s ‘greatest threat’ label

Posted on by

Activists say comments by Opec head prove world opinion is turning against fossil fuels

Greta Thunberg and other climate activists have said it is a badge of honour that the head of the world’s most powerful oil cartel believes their campaign may be the “greatest threat” to the fossil fuel industry.

The criticism of striking students by the trillion-dollar Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) highlights the growing reputational concerns of oil companies as public protests intensify along with extreme weather.

Continue reading...

Bury bodies along UK’s motorways to ease burial crisis, expert suggests

Posted on by

New approaches to disposing of the dead needed as graveyards and crematoria are almost full

From burials in pyramids to scattering ashes and even plastination, there has been no shortage of ideas about how to deal with human corpses.

But with graveyards and crematoria almost full in Britain, the conundrum of what to do with the dead has resurfaced with new urgency. Now a leading public health expert has suggested the sides of motorways, cycle paths and even brownfield or former industrial sites could be transformed to house the dead.

Continue reading...

Solomon Islands: bay hit by oil spill suffers second contamination crisis

Posted on by

An estimated 5,000 tonnes of bauxite has spilled into Kangava Bay, where a tanker ran aground in February

A second major spill has hit the pristine Solomon Islands bay where a bulk carrier ran aground on a coral reef and leaked oil earlier this year.

On Monday, an estimated 5,000 tonnes of bauxite, the ore used in aluminium smelting, slipped into the water at Kangava Bay, Rennell Island, while it was being loaded on to a barge.

Continue reading...

Who owns England? – podcast

Posted on by

It is a simple question with an incredibly complex answer – not even the Land Registry knows the exact ownership of all parts of the country. Guy Shrubsole set out to solve the mystery. Plus Alex Hern on the police’s use of facial recognition technology

For nearly 1,000 years, there has been no comprehensive answer to the question of who owns England. Ever since William the Conqueror ordered the “great survey”, the issue has not been satisfactorily resolved. Even the central body that should know, the Land Registry, can only pin down the ownership of about 80% of the country.

Using creative techniques and old-fashioned detective work, Guy Shrubsole set about solving the mystery. The author and campaigner looked at the prime suspects: royalty, the church, the aristocracy, foreign oligarchs and major companies. He tells Anushka Asthana that although some of the names have changed, we still live in a country recognisable from the middle ages, one in which a small elite owns the majority of the land.

Continue reading...

Tree planting ‘has mind-blowing potential’ to tackle climate crisis

Posted on by

Research shows a trillion trees could be planted to capture huge amount of carbon dioxide

Planting billions of trees across the world is by far the biggest and cheapest way to tackle the climate crisis, according to scientists, who have made the first calculation of how many more trees could be planted without encroaching on crop land or urban areas.

As trees grow, they absorb and store the carbon dioxide emissions that are driving global heating. New research estimates that a worldwide planting programme could remove two-thirds of all the emissions that have been pumped into the atmosphere by human activities, a figure the scientists describe as “mind-blowing”.

Continue reading...

Brazil: huge rise in Amazon destruction under Bolsonaro, figures show

Posted on by
  • Monthly deforestation up 88.4% compared with a year ago
  • Brazil pressured to protect Amazon under trade deal terms

Deforestation in Brazil’s portion of the Amazon rainforest rose more than 88% in June compared with the same month a year ago, the second consecutive month of rising forest destruction under the rightwing president Jair Bolsonaro.

According to data from Brazil’s space agency, deforestation in the world’s largest tropical rainforest totaled 920 sq km (355 sq miles).

Continue reading...