Environment | The Guardian

Researchers visited Chicago Cafe to find out if it's really 121 years old - and entered a chop suey parlor filled with memoriesOn a warm morning in March, a group of researchers entered an unassuming chop suey parlor in the Sacramento suburbs for a rare field trip.The six history enthusiasts affiliated with the University of California, Davis, had gathered at the Chicago Cafe in Woodland, California, with one goal in mind: to determine the exact age of what may be the oldest Chinese restaurant in the country. Continue reading...

Rivers Trust is asking citizen scientists to record observations of local waterways on free appPeople in Britain and Ireland are being asked to monitor their local rivers for pollution so a leading water charity can measure the scale of the sewage crisis.The Rivers Trust is this week launching the Big River Watch, asking people to record observations of their local rivers on a free app. The results will be made available through an interactive dashboard, and will help the organisation, as well as individuals and communities who can all access the data, to take action to improve rivers. Continue reading...

Experts say only handful of plants' operating with the dirtiest fuel will likely survive, and only Trump and lawsuits could save themNew climate rules imposed by Joe Biden's administration requiring huge cuts in carbon pollution from coal-fired power plants will accelerate the decline of an industry that until recently provided most of America's power, experts say, potentially even dealing a death blow to coal in the US.Coal, once the backbone of the US economy and feted by Donald Trump as he rose to the presidency, is being driven out of the power sector by cheaper renewables and gas and now faces an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulation, finalized last week, that demands all coal plants not retiring by 2039 to slash their carbon emissions 90% within the coming decade. Continue reading...

Viruses that cause mild sniffles in humans are devastating populations of chimpanzees and gorillas. In some ape communities, it's a bigger killer than habitat loss or poachingThere was something wrong with the chimpanzees. For weeks, a community of 205 animals in Uganda's Kibale national park had been coughing, sneezing and looking generally miserable. But no one could say for sure what ailed them, even as the animals began to die.Necropsies can help to identify a cause of death, but normally, the bodies of chimps are found long after decomposition has set in, if at all. So when Tony Goldberg, a US wildlife epidemiologist visiting Kibale, got word that an adult female named Stella had been found freshly dead, he knew this was a rare opportunity to look for an answer. Continue reading...

Use of enclosed combustors leaves regulators heavily reliant on oil and gas companies' own flaring dataOil and gas equipment intended to cut methane emissions is preventing scientists from accurately detecting greenhouse gases and pollutants, a satellite image investigation has revealed.Energy companies operating in countries such as the US, UK, Germany and Norway appear to have installed technology that could stop researchers from identifying methane, carbon dioxide emissions and pollutants at industrial facilities involved in the disposal of unprofitable natural gas, known in the industry as flaring. Continue reading...

Drop is a result of reduced land clearing and greater vegetation regrowth, but experts say land clearing in Queensland may be significantly underreported

US Senate hearing reviewed report showing sector's shift from climate denial to deception, disinformation and doublespeak'The fossil fuel industry spent decades sowing doubt about the dangers of burning oil and gas, experts and Democratic lawmakers testified on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.The Senate budget committee held a hearing to review a report published on Tuesday with the House oversight and accountability committee that they said demonstrates the sector's shift from explicit climate denial to a more sophisticated strategy of deception, disinformation and doublespeak". Continue reading...

Kenya Red Cross rescues more than 90 people from hotels and lodges as heavy rainfall continuesScores of tourists have been evacuated by air from Kenya's Maasai Mara national reserve after more than a dozen hotels, lodges and camps were flooded as heavy rains battered the country.Tourist accommodation facilities were submerged after a river in the Maasai Mara broke its banks on Wednesday morning. The reserve, in south-west Kenya, is a popular tourist destination because it features the annual wildebeest migration from the Serengeti in Tanzania. Continue reading...

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Trifluoroacetic acid found in drinking water and rain is thought to damage fertility and child developmentRapidly rising levels of TFA, a class of forever chemical" thought to damage fertility and child development, are being found in drinking water, blood and rain, causing alarm among experts.TFA, or trifluoroacetic acid, is a type of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS), a group of human-made chemicals used widely in consumer products that do not break down for thousands of years. Many of the substances have been linked to negative effects on human health. Continue reading...

Joshua Alexander Heckathorn, 20, arrested and booked into jail for second-degree burglary, criminal trespass and criminal mischiefNearly 200 programs to raise baby salmon in a controlled environment dot the rivers in Oregon, holding them before releasing them into the wild to live out their life cycle. Last week, a man broke into the Winchester Bay Salmon Trout Enhancement Program (Step) and poured bleach into a Chinook salmon tank, killing about 18,000 fish.Authorities arrested 20-year-old Joshua Alexander Heckathorn, a resident of Gardiner, Oregon, on 23 April, a day after the chemicals were dumped into one of the hatchery rearing ponds. He told law enforcement officials he had visited a storage area the day before and picked up a bottle of bleach, according to a Facebook post by the Douglas county sheriff's office. Heckathorn was arrested and booked into the Douglas county jail on Tuesday for second-degree burglary, criminal trespass and criminal mischief. Continue reading...

Campaigners say loss of 200m from active travel budget is illegal and resulted from Treasury pressureSwingeing cuts to public spending on cycling and walking in England should be overturned as government expenditure was already insufficient to meet legally binding climate targets, the high court has been told.Campaigners are challenging a decision in 2023 to cut more than 200m from the Department for Transport's active travel budget for the following two years. Continue reading...

Banks may follow suit after UK weather-related claims on home insurance reach new highBritain's biggest building society has stopped granting mortgages on some properties where there is a high risk of flooding but said this affected only a very limited number" of homes.Nationwide's head of property risk, Rob Stevens, said the lender used mapping technology to identify which homes were vulnerable to flooding, and it would decline to grant a mortgage to buy a property it deemed to be at high risk. Continue reading...

Gardeners' World presenter Arit Anderson creating colourful display to encourage gardeners to move away from peatA completely peat-free garden will be showcased at the Hampton Court Palace flower show so the public can have a chat about peat-free gardening" and learn how to do it themselves.Peat-free compost has been a divisive topic in the gardening world, with some gardeners arguing that it is not as good as the peaty stuff for growing plants. Continue reading...

Agency announces rule on methylene chloride, colorless liquid used for stripping paint, cleaning metal and decaffeinating coffeeThe Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on Tuesday that it will ban most uses of methylene chloride, a colorless liquid used for stripping paint, cleaning metal, and even decaffeinating coffee. The chemical has been linked to dozens of deaths and advocates have long called for its ban.The new rule will require stronger worker safety protections from the harmful carcinogen for the remaining critical" uses. All consumer use will be prohibited within a year, while most commercial and industrial use will be phased out within the next two years. Continue reading...

Internal documents revealed by committee show companies lobbied against climate laws they publicly claimed to supportBig oil has privately acknowledged its efforts to downplay the dangers of burning fossil fuels, US Democrats have found.Major fossil-fuel firms have also pledged support for international climate efforts, but internally admit these efforts are incompatible with their own climate plans. And they have lobbied against climate laws and regulations they have publicly claimed to support, documents newly revealed by the committee show. Continue reading...

National Park Service will reintroduce bears to Washington's North Cascades and won't remove horses from North Dakota parkWildlife advocates are celebrating incredible" news for the preservation of threatened bears, and a herd of historically significant wild horses, in separate north-western and upper midwestern national parks.In North Dakota, the National Parks Service (NPS) has dropped a plan that would have seen about 200 wild horses, descended from those belonging to Native American tribes who fought the 1876 Great Sioux war, rounded up and removed from Theodore Roosevelt national park. Continue reading...

The far right are on the march in Germany and the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany has become the most popular party in several states. Immigration and a sense of being economically left behind have been driving factors in the rise in popularity but the Green party and the federal government's climate policies have also borne the brunt of public anger. The Guardian travelled to Gorlitz, on the German border with Poland, to find out to what extent Germany's green policies are fuelling the far right How climate policies are becoming focus for far-right attacks in Germany Continue reading...

The state's last sugar processing mill closed because there's just not enough water in the Rio Grande to share between the US and MexicoTudor Uhlhorn has been too busy auctioning off agricultural equipment to grieve the death" of Texas's last sugar mill.I'm as sad as anyone else," said the chairman of the board of the Rio Grande Valley Sugar Growers cooperative, which owns the now-shuttered mill in Santa Rosa, a small town about 40 miles from Brownsville. I just haven't had a whole lot of time to mourn." Continue reading...

Nitrogen, phosphorus, chloride, oil and cyanide among the 371m lb of pollutants released by just 41 plants in five yearsTyson Foods dumped millions of pounds of toxic pollutants directly into American rivers and lakes over the last five years, threatening critical ecosystems, endangering wildlife and human health, a new investigation reveals.Nitrogen, phosphorus, chloride, oil and cyanide were among the 371m lb of pollutants released into waterways by just 41 Tyson slaughterhouses and mega processing plants between 2018 and 2022. Continue reading...

Campaigners say last-minute compromise plays into the hands of petrostates and industry influencesCampaigners are blaming developed countries for capitulating at the last minute to pressure from fossil fuel and industry lobbyists, and slowing progress towards the first global treaty to cut plastic waste.Delegates concluded talks in Ottawa, Canada, late on Monday, with no agreement on a proposal for global reductions in the $712bn (610bn) plastic production industry by 2040 to address twin issues of plastic waste and huge carbon emissions. Continue reading...

Crossbench MPs and conservationists say clearing exemplifies failed environmental reform as endangered species like Gouldian finch face habitat destruction

So long as oil and gas companies remain wedded to self-interest, the push against them isn't going away

Year in, year out, there's a good chance someone in politics has suggested nuclear power as an answer to Australia's energy problems. Guardian Australia'sMatilda Boseley explains why. Modern-day nuclear energy is climate friendly compared with coal and gas. But going nuclear isn't practicalfor Australia - and it's an idea that's more than likely coming directly from the Coalition's 'delaying action on climate change' handbook

Exclusive: New documents reveal government division over controversial program as data reveals death toll

RHS Wisley garden manager says composting at home saves money and creates habitat for hedgehogs and invertebratesGet rid of your green waste bin if you want to make your soil more healthy and save money, a Royal Horticultural Society expert has said.Sheila Das, a garden manager at the charity's Wisley site, removed her garden waste bin some years ago" in order to recycle nutrients into her garden soil, she told the RHS spring conference. She said: I thought, why am I sending my stuff away? This [the grass cuttings and plant trimmings] is gold dust!"Start composting. The RHS recommends that where space is limited, consider using a Dalek" bin made from recycled plastic or a HotBin.Make use of fallen leaves. These can be used as leaf mould which is a useful mulch, soil improver, and potting compost ingredient. Collect fallen leaves from lawns and paths in autumn, place them in a jute leaf sack, old compost bag or bin bag, and in about two years you will have a bag of leaf mould, often referred to as black gold". This can be shared with other gardeners around you if you don't have the space to keep it all.Felled trees and waste wood can be used to make mulch. Many arborists have mobile chippers and will be happy to leave you the wood chips. Woodchippers are also available for hire. Wood chips can be used as a surface for informal paths or as a mulch around established plants.Matchstick mulching. With hand shears or a hedge trimmer, cut the old stems of grasses or herbaceous perennials into matchstick-length sections and spread them evenly around plants as a layer of mulch.Use logs to create pathways, borders, seats and create homes for wildlife. Continue reading...

Motion sets out worldwide target in alignment with Paris agreement to limit global heating to 1.5CCountries are for the first time considering restrictions on the global production of plastic - to reduce it by 40% in 15 years - in an attempt to protect human health and the environment.As the world attempts to make a treaty to cut plastic waste at UN talks in Ottawa, Canada, two countries have put forward the first concrete proposal to limit production to reduce its harmful effects including the huge carbon emissions from producing it. Continue reading...

Some crops completely wiped out and dramatic falls in yields being predicted in county which reflects crisis in rest of UKWith his farm almost entirely surrounded by the banks of the River Severn in north Shropshire, Ed Tate is used to flooding on his land - but this year, the sheer level of rainfall is the worst he has ever seen.He points to a field where about 20% of wheat crops have failed as they have been covered with rainwater that has pooled in muddy puddles, in areas that would usually be a sea of green by now. Continue reading...

Murrawah Johnson recognised for role in landmark legal case to block coalmine backed by Clive Palmer

Andrea Vidaurre helped persuade regulators to adopt rules that will improve air quality for millions in one of US's smoggiest areasA grassroots organizer from one of the US's smoggiest communities has been awarded the prestigious Goldman prize for environmental activists, after leading a successful campaign to clean up California's trucking and railway sectors.Andrea Vidaurre from Inland Empire, a sprawling metropolitan region in southern California, helped persuade state regulators to adopt two historic transport regulations that will improve local air quality for millions of people - and accelerate the country's transition away from greenhouse gas-spewing vehicles. Continue reading...

Government tells operators they must join cooperatives by Tuesday and gradually replace their vehicles with greener optionsA three-day strike by drivers of jeepneys in the Philippines began on Monday as transport groups warned that thousands could be pushed off the roads by government modernisation plans.The jeepney is the backbone of the Philippines' transport system. The customised, privately-owned buses, which look like a cross between a Jeep and a van and are decorated in flamboyant colours, ply routes in neighbourhood streets and city centres, offering rides for as little as 13 pesos (23 US cents). They have featured in pop songs and films - Pope Francis even travelled through Manila in a jeepney-inspired popemobile. Continue reading...

Large parts of islands could be uninhabitable by 2050, federal court told in first climate class action taken by Australian First Nations people

From an eagle to Elton John, the Played and Remade project enables artists to make something magical' from free materialsThe task of loading once-loved but now unwanted pianos into a van and carting them off to the recycling centre is a disheartening and melancholy one. So a music shop in Bath that scraps as many as 300 redundant and unfixable pianos a year has launched a project to repurpose the thousands of parts that make up each instrument into pieces of art.The Piano Shop Bath is inviting artists to take their pick for free from the varied materials that make up each piano - wood, cast iron, brass, felt, copper, steel wires and so on - and turn them into pieces that can then be hung in its showroom. Continue reading...

Chelsea flower show to focus on water reuse as gardeners prepare for shortages caused by climate crisisRain gardens and bathwater are becoming gardening trends, the Royal Horticultural Society has said, as gardeners battle predicted water shortages caused by climate breakdown.At the Chelsea flower show this year, many of the gardens will be focused on reducing water usage. Rain gardens will be on show, including in the Water Aid garden, which includes a rainwater harvesting pavilion designed to slow its flow, collecting and storing it for irrigation of the garden and filtering it for use as drinking water. Continue reading...

Levy on oil and gas majors in richest countries would help worst-affected nations tackle climate crisis, says reportA new tax on fossil fuel companies based in the world's richest countries could raise hundreds of billions of dollars to help the most vulnerable nations cope with the escalating climate crisis, according to a report.The Climate Damages Tax report, published on Monday, calculates that an additional tax on fossil fuel majors based in the wealthiest Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries could raise $720bn (580bn) by the end of the decade. Continue reading...

A new approach aims to restore fish levels in the Yukon River but some feel it unfairly targets traditional practices while failing to tackle huge losses to industrial fishing in the oceanEarlier this month Alaska officials announced a new plan they say could revive the Yukon River's struggling salmon population. The 2,000-mile waterway that runs from Canada's Yukon Territory to the Bering Sea has seen sharp declines in its Chinook, or king salmon, in recent years.The new strategy aims to restore the number of fish that reach their northern spawning areas near the Canadian border to 71,000, up from about 15,000 that reached the Canadian border in 2023, by suspending commercial, sport, domestic and personal use fisheries in the Yukon River until 2030. Previously, fishing closures were revisited each year. Continue reading...

People want more seafood than the oceans can sustainably supply, so a German firm aims to plug that gap with cultivated fish - but are consumers ready to buy it?The redbrick offices, just north of Hamburg's River Elbe and a few floors below Carlsberg's German headquarters, are an unexpectedly low-key setting for a food team gearing up to produce Europe's first tonne of lab-grown fish.But inside Bluu Seafood, past the slick open-plan coffee and cake bar, the rooms are dominated by gleaming white tiles, people bustling about in lab coats, rows of broad-bottomed beakers and pieces of equipment more at home in a science-fiction thriller. A 50-litre tank (a bioreactor) is filled with what looks like a cherry-coloured energy drink. The liquid, known as growth medium", is rich with sugars, minerals, amino acids and proteins designed to give the fish cells that are added to it the boost they need to multiply by the million. Continue reading...

Investigation finds groups hosting Islamophobic attacks on London mayor Sadiq Khan, white supremacist slogans and antisemitic conspiracy theoriesConservative party staff and activists are secretly operating a network of Facebook groups that have become a hotbed of racism, misinformation and support for criminal damage.An investigation has identified 36 groups that appear to be separate grassroots movements opposing the expansion of ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) schemes to reduce air pollution. They do not say they were set up by the Conservatives as part of a coordinated political campaign. Continue reading...

Total deaths reach 76 and more than 130,000 displaced as weeks of flooding also affects east African neighboursSeventy-six people in Kenya have died because of flooding triggered by torrential downpours since March, the government has said, warning residents to brace for even heavier rainfall".Kenya and its east African neighbours have been battered by stronger than usual rain in recent weeks, compounded by the El Nino weather system. Continue reading...

Boy discovers octopus figurine that fell from cargo ship along with 5m other Lego pieces during stormA 13-year-old boy has discovered a holy grail" Lego octopus which spilled into the sea from a shipping container in the 1990s.The octopus is one of nearly 5m Lego pieces that fell into the sea in 1997 when a storm hit a cargo ship 20 miles off Land's End, Cornwall. While 352,000 pairs of flippers, 97,500 scuba tanks, and 92,400 swords went overboard, the octopuses are considered the most prized finds as only 4,200 were onboard. Continue reading...

Peter Smith, 64, received critical care for injuries to arm, leg and stomach after attack in shallow watersA British man is in intensive care after an unusual" shark attack on the Caribbean island of Tobago.Peter Smith, 64, received critical care after sustaining serious injuries to his left arm, left leg and stomach on Friday morning, according to a local official. Continue reading...

Home workers aim to tackle smelly athleisure clothing, save money and be kinder to the environmentFor years, laundry detergents have focused their cleaning power on stain removal and getting whites white but now a new invisible enemy has emerged in the shape of the musty smell that clings to your gym gear.The shift to remote working has fuelled the popularity of athleisure" clothing such as T-shirts, joggers and leggings which, rather than shirts and dresses, are now the default work wardrobe of many Britons. Continue reading...

Inaugural contest at Crab Museum in Margate allows crustaceans to pick the winner, with the help of tinned fish used as baitHow did the crab get out of prison? And why did the crab get bad grades?The answers to these conundrums and other clawsome jokes were among the competitors for the inaugural World's Funniest Crab Joke competition, held by the Crab Museum in Margate to celebrate International Crab Day.What do you call a red crab piggybacking another red crab all around the town? A double-decapod.A horseshoe crab walks into a bar. Why the ventral face?" the bartender asks. The crab replies: Mind your own business and please tip a pint of lager and a packet of crisps on to the pub carpet."How did the crab get out of prison? It used its escape claws.Why didn't the crab help the chicken cross the road? Because it was eaten by a pelican crossing.What did the sea urchin say to the crab? Please sir, can I have some claw?What format do you have to save photos of crab soup on to? Floppy bisque.A man walks into a restaurant with a crab under his arm and says: Do you make crab cakes?" The manager answers: Yes, we do." Good," says the man, because it's his birthday."How do barnacles get around? A taxi crab.Why did the crab cross the road? It didn't. It used the sidewalk.Why did the crab get bad grades? Because it was below C level. Continue reading...

Two-year-old calf one step closer to reuniting with family group after tragic accident that left her stranded in remote lagoonAn orca calf, trapped for weeks in a remote lagoon in western Canada, has freed herself and is travelling towards open waters, hailed as incredible news" by a growing body of human supporters.The move puts her one step closer to reuniting with her family one month after a tragic accident left her stranded. Continue reading...

Panel of nearly 100 countries to draw up guidelines for industries that mine raw materials used in low-carbon technologyA UN-led panel of nearly 100 countries is to draw up new guidelines to prevent some of the environmental damage and human rights abuses associated with mining for critical minerals".Mining for some of the key raw materials used in low-carbon technology, such as solar panels and electric vehicles, has been associated with human rights abuses, child labour and violence, as well as grave environmental damage. Continue reading...

Egg cartons are labeled with all sorts of descriptors in the US, making grocery shopping a confusing experience. Experts tell us what these labels mean and how to shopShopping for eggs at the grocery store can be a confusing experience. Cartons are labeled with all kinds of descriptors - natural, organic, cage-free, free-range - and some cost more at checkout. But what do they actually mean, and for ethically minded consumers, are they actually worth the money?Protein-packed eggs are linked to relatively low carbon emissions compared with other land-based animal protein sources, but not all eggs are created equal when it comes to the environment, health or animal welfare, experts say. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Environmental groups say bank is misleading public over sustainable' financing for Eni as company vastly expands fossil fuel productionBarclays is being accused by environmental groups of greenwashing after helping to arrange 4bn (3.4bn) in financing for the Italian oil company Eni in a way that allows them to qualify towards its $1tn sustainable financing goal.Environmental groups have said the London-based bank is deliberately misleading the public by labelling the financial instruments as sustainable" at the same time that Eni is in the midst of a multibillion-pound fossil fuel expansion drive designed to increase production. Continue reading...

Group banned plants removed from habitat' from its shows - causing uproar from enthusiastsA furious row has blown up in the UK's leading succulent society over the practice of taking desirable specimens from the wild, with the chair resigning in protest over the behaviour of his fellow enthusiasts.Succulents have risen in popularity in recent years: they are attractive and hardy. Continue reading...

Plan to break up Noaa claims its research is climate alarmism' and calls for commercializing forecasts, weakening forecastsClimate experts fear Donald Trump will follow a blueprint created by his allies to gut the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), disbanding its work on climate science and tailoring its operations to business interests.Joe Biden's presidency has increased the profile of the science-based federal agency but its future has been put in doubt if Trump wins a second term and at a time when climate impacts continue to worsen. Continue reading...