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world/2010/dec/03/wikileaks-cables-libya-enriched-uranium | Diplomatic cables: Gaddafi risked nuclear disaster after UN slight | A potential "environmental disaster" was kept secret by the US last year when a large consignment of highly enriched uranium in Libya came close to cracking open and leaking radioactive material into the atmosphere. The incident came after the mercurial Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, suddenly went back on a promise to dispose of the weapons-grade uranium, apparently out of pique at a diplomatic slight received in New York when he was barred from pitching a tent outside the UN. Leaked cables show that the shipment of seven metal casks – each weighing five tonnes and only sealed for transport, not storage – were left on the tarmac of a Libyan nuclear facility with a single armed guard. As US and Russian diplomats frantically lobbied Libyan officials, scientists warned that the uranium inside the casks was highly radioactive and rapidly heating up. The material was originally part of Gaddafi's nuclear weapons plan. "Department of energy experts are deeply concerned by the safety and security risks," US ambassador Gene Cretz said in a secret cable back to Washington from Tripoli. "According to the DOE experts we have one month to resolve the situation before the safety and security concerns become a crisis. "The temperature of the HEU [highly enriched uranium] fuel, which is radioactive, could reach such a level to cause cracking on the casks and release of radioactive nuclear material … Security concerns alone dictate that we must employ all of our resources to find a timely solution to this problem and to keep any mention of it out of the press." The casks containing 5.2kg of HEU were considered "highly transportable" and would have represented a huge prize for terrorists or would-be nuclear states. US officials, the cables show, urged the Libyans to disengage the crane at the site that would have allowed intruders to load the casks on to a vehicle. The containers were sitting at Libya's Tajoura nuclear facility. The DOE team "only saw one security guard with a gun (although they did not know if it was loaded)". "Given the highly transportable nature of the HEU and the shoddy security at Tajoura any mention of this issue in the press could pose serious security concerns. We have to assume that the Libyan leader is the source of the problem." The crisis blew up on 20 November 2009. A phone call suddenly came that day from Libya's atomic energy director, Ali Gashut, just as a Russian heavy transport aircraft, a specialised Antonov 124-100, was due to arrive in Libya to take away the uranium for disposal. Gashut had been "instructed", he said, to prevent the plane from landing. The US government had offered to pay Russia to take back the HEU and dispose of it. It had originally been supplied by Moscow, supposedly for research. Libya's agreement to get rid of its HEU was part of a package for Gaddafi to end his pariah status by abandoning weapons of mass destruction. By autumn 2009 he should have sent back all his HEU and started to destroy his stock of Scud B missiles. By the end of 2010 he is supposed to have converted his Rabta chemical weapons factory into a pharmaceutical plant and destroyed nerve gas ingredients. The final step, next year, is for Libya to destroy stocks of mustard gas. When the HEU crisis broke, Cretz finally managed to confront Gaddafi's influential son, Saif al-Islam. Saif announced that the Libyans were "fed up" and Gaddafi had felt "humiliated" by his recent treatment in New York. US diplomats recorded privately that Gaddafi's own compatriots felt embarrassed and ashamed by what were termed his "antics" in New York that August. Gaddafi had been refused consent to pitch a tent outside UN headquarters, and a rambling speech almost two hours long he made to the UN general assembly was greeted with considerable hostility. Cretz suggested that a personal message from Hillary Clinton to Gaddafi himself might soothe the dictator. A placatory message was accordingly rapidly dispatched on 3 December. But permissions were still not granted. The HEU casks remained on the tarmac, getting hotter. A US diplomat went to see the Libyan foreign minister in alarm and "described the environmental disaster that could take place … We also are seeking a meeting with Saif al-Islam's aide … in hopes of ensuring that senior Libyan officials understand the grave security and safety risks". On 7 December the situation finally brightened: armed guards appeared at the nuclear plant. "A close aide to Saif al-Islam al-Qadhafi indicated that [Clinton's] message … had been positively received and passed to the 'highest levels'." There was more brinkmanship to come. The US said it would refuse to pay the $800,000 Russian transp ort bill unless the fuel was officially released by a deadline of 18 December. Finally the giant Antonov plane was allowed to land. At dawn on 21 December, after a fraught month, it successfully took off for Russia with its radioactive cargo. America's nuclear emergency team that oversaw the shipment reported that "the month-long impasse had taken a visible toll on Dr Ali Gashut, the head of the Libyan atomic energy establishment". This year appears to have brought a new crisis – this time over the promised destruction of Libya's 240 Scud B missiles. "General Ahmed Azwai insisted that the US was mostly responsible for Libya's delayed fulfillment of Scud B destruction commitments," another cable from Tripoli reported. "Azwai blamed the US for hampering Libyan efforts to find … alternative weapons system to replace its Scud B stock and refused to discuss a destruction timeline." He "insisted that the 2004 trilateral agreement included 'promises by the US and UK to find a replacement'." The outcome of that dispute is unclear. | ['world/libya', 'world/muammar-gaddafi', 'world/middleeast', 'world/world', 'environment/nuclear-waste', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'environment/environment', 'us-news/the-us-embassy-cables', 'us-news/us-foreign-policy', 'world/nuclear-weapons', 'tone/news', 'world/africa', 'type/article', 'profile/davidleigh', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/topstories'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2010-12-03T21:30:08Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2019/feb/16/country-diary-the-place-is-awhirl-in-the-wind | Country diary: the place is awhirl in the wind | Outside the window the landscape has changed a little and it takes a minute to work out why. A gap where something once was. Where something has fallen. The place is awhirl in the wind as I walk down the garden to its end. A wall of honeysuckle taller than me has tipped and now lies heavily on the ground, like a collapsed drunk. There have been high winds before. Yet this time the wall of brush that served purposes both ornamental and ecological has given in. Now it’s down, what was a sheltered ne’er-go-nook is exposed. I don’t know how long the hedge stood, but it’s a while. Planted it to cover an untidy gap, a redundant woody snicket. A whole environment has developed in its lee – a shadowy place of leaf litter, tree roots, hidey holes. The place where the garden’s tenants retreated to: the hedgehogs that snuffle around on summer evenings, the frogs that seem to appear from nowhere. Ancient logs seething with spiders – enough in itself to keep investigations superficial. Now the mystique is feeling sun. Hefts of stone filmed with green, and former leaves now brown mulch nearly knee-deep. Cobwebs – they haven’t broken. Depressions in the leaves. And a smell, not the awful must of decay, just close, damp, the smell of shadow. It’s not that chaotic down here. But I worry about what has been disturbed. Here’s something else. A piece of tree has fallen. A big piece, too: silver birch, cut down by the wind. The wound is fat, raw, bright, finger-splayed. The ends of the fine branches have a grey carapace, as if cauterised. It has landed near a little bed of snowdrops. They are dewy and tiny, low enough to escape the wind. The noise above is loud. The trees are fretting. A horse chestnut, a sycamore and a now leaner birch, all of them making a squeaking creak, as if made entirely of neglected hinges. It’s more of a human sound than a sound of nature. The sort of sound you associate with something neglected, something struggling not to break. But then nature needs to break sometimes, too. | ['environment/series/country-diary', 'environment/environment', 'environment/winter', 'environment/forests', 'environment/wildlife', 'environment/spiders', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/simon-ingram', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/letters', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2019-02-16T05:30:02Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2005/jun/03/brazil.conservationandendangeredspecies | Environmental officials arrested in Brazilian logging crackdown | Federal police in Brazil have arrested 48 environmental officials - the people who should be protecting the rainforest - in a crackdown on illegal logging, it was reported today. Hundreds of federal agents yesterday began to dismantle an alleged corruption ring in Ibama, the federal environmental protection agency. The officials are accused of allowing the illegal destruction of around 43,000 hectares (118,608 acres) of Amazon rainforest over the past two years, much of it in national parks and Indian reservations. Police alleged that corrupt officials were responsible for illegally logging 1.9m cubic metres (67.09m cubic feet) of wood worth an estimated $890m (£203m). The wood was sold in Brazil and exported abroad, officers said. "This is a very important moment because our government has broken up this high level of corruption," senator Serys Slhessarenko, of Mato Grosso state, western Brazil, said. The crackdown comes weeks after the government said the Amazon rainforest was disappearing at an alarming rate. It shrank by 10,088 square miles in the 12-month period to last August, figures revealed. Almost half the destruction occurred in Mato Grosso. Among those arrested in the crackdown was Hugo Jose Scheuer Werle, Ibama's top official in Mato Grosso. He allegedly accepted money from loggers in exchange for documents declaring that the wood had been legally removed from the rainforest, and stands accused of profiting by $426,000 during the two years he headed the agency. The state's governor, Blairo Maggi - one of the world's largest soybean producers - has aggressively defended agricultural development in the state. "The federal government has done its part, now it's up to Blairo Maggi to do his part on the state level," Ms Slhessarenko said. The senator said she believed the high deforestation rate in her state had been driven by market forces seeking to cut down the jungle. That pressure fostered the corruption within Ibama, she added. The crackdown followed a nine-month investigation into corruption at Ibama in Mato Grosso. Police also arrested 32 businessmen connected to logging companies, and said they were looking for 15 more. According to Brazilian law, landowners in the Amazon must retain 80% of the forest on their land. | ['environment/environment', 'world/brazil', 'environment/conservation', 'world/world', 'environment/endangered-habitats', 'environment/amazon-rainforest', 'world/americas', 'type/article'] | environment/amazon-rainforest | BIODIVERSITY | 2005-06-03T11:52:34Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
world/2019/nov/07/bubble-barrier-launched-to-keep-plastics-out-of-oceans | Air bubble barrier traps plastic waste in Amsterdam's canals | The world’s first rubbish barrier made entirely from bubbles has been unveiled in Amsterdam in an attempt to catch waste in the city’s canals before it reaches the North Sea. A Dutch start-up, the Amsterdam municipality and the regional water board launched the Great Bubble Barrier, a simple device that channels rubbish – especially small pieces of plastic – to the side of the Westerdok canal where it can be retrieved. Tests have shown it can divert more than 80% of flotsam. “More than two-thirds of plastics in the ocean comes out of rivers and canals – so if you have to intercept it, why not do it in the rivers?” says Philip Ehrhorn, co-inventor of the technology. “You can’t put a physical barrier in a canal: it has to be open for wildlife and recreation.” The hope is that the innovation will help to address the mounting crisis of plastic waste in the ocean. Estimates suggest as much as 8m tonnes of plastic ends up in the world’s seas each year – the equivalent of one truckload of old bottles, trays and containers every minute. The bubble barrier is a long, perforated tube running diagonally for 60 metres across the bottom of the canal. Compressed air is pumped through the tube and rises upwards, and then the natural water current helps to push waste to one side. It is trapped in a small rubbish platform on the side of the Westerdokskade at the tip of Amsterdam’s historic canal belt. Ehrhorn, a German naval architect and ocean engineer, got the inspiration from a water treatment plant he saw while studying in Australia in 2015. “At one stage they aerate the water, and on a big surface put air bubbles like a big jacuzzi,” he said. “The small plastic pieces that people throw in the toilet all collected in one corner and that was the kind of spark for me. If you can guide plastic to the side, can’t you do it in a more directed way and on purpose in a river?” At the same time, three keen Dutch amateur sailors and friends, Anne Marieke Eveleens, Francis Zoet and Saskia Studer, were discussing the problem over a beer in Amsterdam one evening and came up with the idea of a curtain of bubbles that sifts out waste but lets fish and boats through over a beer one evening in Amsterdam. The two teams came together to work on the idea, with the help of a €500,000 Postcode Lotteries Green Challenge award and other prizes. The first operational barrier in Amsterdam – due to run 24 hours a day for three years – aims to supplement dredging operations, which currently collect 42,000 kg of larger plastics from the Dutch capital’s waterways each year. Bubble barrier waste will be separately collected, then analysed by plastics action group Schone Rivieren (Clean rivers). Marieke van Doorninck, head of sustainability for Amsterdam council, hopes it will be a successful example. “Amsterdam’s canals have enormous appeal,” she said. “But when you think of them, you don’t think about plastic bottles and bags in the water. The bubble barrier will mean fewer plastics reach the ocean, and is a step towards better regulation of our ecosystem, to the benefit of man, beast and environment.” In the small, waterlogged country, this kind of innovation is welcome. Bianca Nijhof, managing director of the Netherlands Water Partnership, who organises the Amsterdam International Water Week conference, running this week, added: “The Dutch live with the water and don’t fight against it: 50% of the country is below sea level, more than half is prone to flooding and in 2018 we had severe drought,” she said. “This special relationship with water combined with an entrepreneurial mindset mean that innovation is at our core. The bubble barrier is one solution for clean water for all.” | ['world/series/the-upside', 'world/world', 'environment/environment', 'environment/plastic', 'world/netherlands', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/senay-boztas', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/international', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/plastic | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2019-11-07T15:30:06Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
environment/article/2024/aug/27/tanya-plibersek-belubula-river-blayney-regis-goldmine | Plibersek denies sacred site decision blocks NSW goldmine, calls on Coalition to support Indigenous heritage | Tanya Plibersek has hit out at “misinformation” over her decision to block a waste dump proposed as part of a goldmine development and urged the Coalition to “come clean” on whether it believes Indigenous heritage should be protected. The environment and water minister was criticised after she issued a partial section 10 declaration to protect Aboriginal heritage from being destroyed by a tailings dam for the proposed McPhillamys gold project near Blayney in New South Wales. The developer Regis Resources had planned to build the tailings dam for the goldmine at the headwaters of the nearby Belubula River. On Tuesday, Plibersek said suggestions she had blocked the mine from proceeding were incorrect. “There’s been a fair bit of misinformation doing the rounds, so I want to be clear about the facts here: I’ve protected an area so a waste dump can’t be built on the headwaters of a river that is significant to local Aboriginal people. “I would note that since my decision, the company’s share price has gone up by more than 12%.” Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Plibersek accepted an application from the Wiradyuri Traditional Owners Central West Aboriginal Corporation that said the headwaters were particularly significant for Wiradjuri/Wiradyuri people and linked to ongoing cultural practices of the area. The Coalition accused the government of ripping up a “$1bn mining opportunity in the name of activism” after Plibersek made the decision in mid-August. “In a cost-of-living crisis, the last thing we need is for a government to ignore clear advice and unilaterally scrap a project like this, sabotaging hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in revenue for the state government,” the opposition environment spokesperson, Jonathon Duniam, said at the time. Plibersek said on Tuesday Australian governments had done a bad job of protecting Aboriginal cultural heritage and “the Juukan Gorge tragedy was an extreme example of that”. “Labor, Liberals, Nationals, everyone in the parliament, said we can’t allow things like that to happen again,” she said. “If we truly believe that we can’t allow the destruction of Aboriginal heritage in that way, then occasionally decisions like this have to be taken. “If the Liberals and Nationals have changed their position, if they don’t believe Aboriginal heritage should be protected, if this is an end to bipartisanship on this important issue, then they should come clean.” The NSW premier, Chris Minns, has said he hopes the proposal for the goldmine can be modified to build the tailings dam on another part of the site. The state government confirmed it would meet with Regis on Tuesday to discuss a way for the mine to go ahead. “We are in discussions with the mine proponent, and we’ve said very specifically that we don’t want them to start from the beginning,” Minns said on 2GB on Tuesday. “We’re hopeful that there’s a modification of the development application, which means that there can be, hopefully, and I’m not promising this, but [an] expedited approval.” At a press conference on Monday, Minns said he hoped the state government could talk to Regis “and see whether we can get it up and running with a different tailing”. The project had been approved by the NSW Independent Planning Commission but it also requires a federal assessment and decision. At a separate press conference on Tuesday, Plibersek sought to correct reports she had blocked the mine from proceeding. “Let’s be very clear here, I have said that the goldmine can go ahead but that the company needs to find a new site for the tailings dam,” she said. “We’re talking about a 2,500 ha site and I’ve said that the tailings dam can’t be built on 400 ha which represents the headwaters and springs of the Belubula River. “The reason I’ve made that determination is because the Wiradjuri traditional owners have told me the area is significant to them.” Under section 10 of the Aboriginal Heritage and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act, the minister may make a declaration to protect an area if they are satisfied it is a significant Aboriginal area and is under threat of injury or desecration. Section 10 declarations are extremely rare. The last to be made was by the former environment minister, Sussan Ley, who accepted an application, also made by the Wiradyuri Traditional Owners Central West Aboriginal Corporation, to protect a sacred site on Bathurst’s Mount Panorama/Wahluu from a go-kart track. Plibersek has rejected some section 10 applications, including one to protect Darwin’s Lee Point/Binybara from a defence housing development earlier this year. Regis’ goldmine plans have been met with mixed views in the central west region. Some people in the community have welcomed the potential economic benefits of the proposal and others are concerned about possible impacts on cultural heritage and the environment, including the river and threatened species, such as koalas. “There is not universal support for it and to suggest that there is universal support for it is not right,” Plibersek said. In its ASX announcements, Regis has said if it obtains the necessary approvals the earliest it would expect to consider a final investment decision on the project is in the 2026 financial year. Duniam said “the opposition have always been concerned about the direction that Tanya Plibersek is taking when it comes to Indigenous cultural heritage laws”. “We are equally concerned by the decision that she has made here, bypassing every state and federal approval and the views of the Orange Aboriginal Land Council, the legislated Indigenous representative voice for the area,” he said. Duniam said no member of parliament wanted a repeat of the Juukan Gorge disaster, which he said was “a tragic failure in the interactions between the company responsible and the traditional owners”. “But to equate that event to the rejection of the McPhillamys goldmine tailings dam is beyond absurd,” he said. | ['environment/mining', 'environment/environment', 'australia-news/indigenous-australians', 'australia-news/new-south-wales', 'australia-news/australian-politics', 'australia-news/rural-australia', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/lisa-cox', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/mining | ENERGY | 2024-08-27T06:31:42Z | true | ENERGY |
us-news/2019/apr/01/trump-mexico-border-avocados | US will run out of avocados in three weeks if Trump closes Mexico border | US consumers would run out of avocados in three weeks if Donald Trump makes good on his threat to close down the US–Mexico border. Trump said on Friday that there was a “very good likelihood” he would close the border this week if Mexico did not stop immigrants from reaching the United States. But a complete shutdown would disrupt millions of legal border crossings in addition to asylum seekers, as well as billions of dollars in trade, about $137bn of which is in food imports. From the avocados on avocado toast, to the limes and tequila in margaritas, the US is heavily reliant on Mexican imports of fruit, vegetables and alcohol to meet consumer demand. Nearly half of all imported US vegetables and 40% of imported fruit are grown in Mexico, according to the latest data from the United States Department of Agriculture. Avocados would run out in three weeks if imports from Mexico were stopped, said Steve Barnard, president and chief executive of Mission Produce, the largest distributor and grower of avocados in the world. “You couldn’t pick a worse time of year because Mexico supplies virtually 100% of the avocados in the US right now. California is just starting and they have a very small crop, but they’re not relevant right now and won’t be for another month or so,” said Barnard. Monica Ganley, principal at Quarterra, a consultancy specializing in Latin American agricultural issues and trade, said that a border closure would inevitably hit consumers. “We’re absolutely going to see higher prices. This is a very real and very relevant concern for American consumers.” The US and Mexico trade about $1.7bn in goods daily, according to the US Chamber of Commerce, which said closing the border would be “an unmitigated economic debacle” that would threaten 5m American jobs. The effects of a shutdown would run both ways. Mexico is the largest importer of US exports of refined fuels like diesel and gasoline, some of which moves by rail. It is unclear if rail terminals would be affected by closures. As changing palates have increased demand for fresh produce, and a greater variety of it, the United States has increasingly come to depend on Mexico to meet that need. Imports have nearly tripled since 1999. In that period, Mexico has gone from supplying less than a third of imported produce to 44% today. In addition to avocados, the majority of imported tomatoes, cucumbers, blackberries and raspberries come from Mexico. While there are other producers of these goods globally, opening those trade channels would take time, said Ganley. | ['us-news/us-mexico-border', 'us-news/usimmigration', 'us-news/us-news', 'us-news/us-politics', 'world/mexico', 'world/americas', 'environment/farming', 'food/fruit', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/international', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-foreign'] | environment/farming | BIODIVERSITY | 2019-04-01T15:26:59Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2014/nov/06/arrests-myster-drones-flying-french-nuclear-plants | Three arrests fail to staunch mystery of drones flying over French nuclear plants | Three people have been arrested with drones near a nuclear power plant in the Cher region south of Paris, as sources told the Guardian that the true number of French nuclear facilities being targeted may have been underplayed. The three twentysomethings, detained near Belleville-sur-Loire plant on Wednesday night with two drones, are thought to be model plane enthusiasts and unconnected to the recent spate of drones spotted over nuclear reactors in recent weeks by mystery operators. Blueberry Radio, a local station, reported that they had inadvertently strayed into a plant security zone during a post-birthday trip to film a remote-controlled boat on a lake. The three, who include a locksmith and student couple, now face possible one-year prison sentences and €75,000 fines. “These people do not have any link with the other flights done in the last weeks,” Yannick Rousselet, Greenpeace France’s nuclear campaigner told the Guardian. “It looks like they wanted to play with their drones close to the plant, which was not a good choice.” The French nuclear operator EDF admits 13 drone incidents in the last month, but the Guardian has learned that other nuclear facilities may have also been targeted for surveillance by the drones. Sources say that drones also overflew sites including an Areva spent fuel reprocessing plant in Flamanville on the Cotentin peninsula on 27 October and nuclear research centres in Saclay, south of Paris, and Cadarache, in Bouche-du-Rhone. “I think there have been more than 13 drone flights,” said Yves Marignac, the director of World Information Service Energy-Paris, and an advisor to France’s nuclear safety authority and environment ministry. “There are also reports of flights in Saclay, south of Paris and other facilities. Greenpeace have been saying for days that EDF is not the only nuclear operator affected by these flights and this has not been denied by other operators or by the government. So this is not strictly speaking a targeting of EDF sites.” EDF maintains that its plants are immune to “external stresses” and the French interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve has said that measures to “neutralise” the drones were in place. Le Figaro has reported that police officers have been given orders to shoot down any aircraft that could threaten the plants. But Rousselet, who lives close to the Flamanville plant, said that two army helicopters failed to intercept drones there on 27 October. “They were efficient and high speed helicopters,” he said. “They tried to follow the drones, but lost them.” “Immediately after Cazeneuve’s statement, there were two overflights and the day after that, there were seven,” he added. “That means there is some kind of provocation to the French government taking place.” In the aftermath of the first mysterious drone flights, some suspicion fell on Greenpeace, despite their denials, as the group has previously entered French nuclear plants to expose what they say are ongoing security failings. The group used drones earlier this year to film illegal coal mining in China and usually trumpets such activities. The Guardian has learned that Greenpeace activists flew a drone over the Sellafield nuclear plant after 11 September 2001, which the group has never publicly admitted. But that action was launched in the context of a bid to have the High Court overturn a government decision to proceed with the licensing of a Plutonium Mox plant in Sellafield, and photos taken in the operation were never put online to avoid revealing sensitive information to groups with malicious intent. Few experts believe that Greenpeace has the capacity or motive to engage in a campaign as sophisticated, sustained and technically-complex as the one unfolding in France, involving up to four drone missions aimed at different sites at the same time. Marignac said that he believed there were three possible culprits. “One is that anti-nuclear people have formed an underground group although the operation seems to involve too much capacity for a really secret group,” he said. “The second option is a group like Anonymous or an anti-government group, trying to defy the government and show that there are breaches in security.” “The third and most worrying possibility is that it is a malevolent and potentially terrorist group really challenging the government, saying ‘These are the means we have.’” He declined to speculate on whether lax security exposure, blackmail, warnings or reconnaissance were the most likely motives, but noted that many of the sites surveilled contained spent fuel pools and that drones were particularly useful for acquiring “precise on-site information”. The French environment minister Segolene Royal recently admitted that she did not “have any lead” on who was behind the drone operations. Rousselet said that in the absence of laser-based weaponry, the French government lacked a technological solution to the problem and so had no option but to find the culprits quickly. “We have direct and indirect contacts with the security services and my sense is that it looks like there’s some kind of panic developing as they don’t have any idea of who might be responsible,” he said. A spokesperson for the European Commission said that it was “too early to determine the implications the drone events might have for the security of nuclear power plants in Europe.” “However, given the nature of the installations concerned and, notably their relevance to energy supplies in Europe, the European Commission will follow closely any developments,” she added. | ['environment/nuclearpower', 'environment/environment', 'world/drones', 'environment/energy', 'world/europe-news', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/arthurneslen'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2014-11-06T14:02:33Z | true | ENERGY |
technology/2019/sep/22/the-five-airborne-pollutants-in-our-bodies-placenta-heart-lungs-liver | The five: airborne pollutants in our bodies | Placenta This week, scientists announced that they’d found, for the first time, air pollution particles on the foetal side of placental tissue. The discovery may explain the link between increased miscarriages and premature births and exposure to dirty air. Brain In 2016, UK scientists found “abundant” quantities of toxic nanoparticles, such as magnetite, from air pollution in human brains. Previous studies have found these particles are linked to Alzheimer’s disease. Heart A 2019 study also found air pollution particles in the heart muscle tissue of city dwellers. “They are inside the mitochondria, which are damaged and appear abnormal,” said lead author Barbara Maher. “Mitochondria are your energy source, making sure your heart pumps effectively.” Liver The liver is particularly at risk from air pollution because of its role in cleaning the blood. A study by Wayne State University, Michigan, using animal models found that exposure to particulate matter caused liver fibrosis. And a University of Southern California study found that patients diagnosed with liver cancer who lived in urban areas had lower odds of survival. Everywhere else… Earlier this year, a comprehensive global review concluded that air pollution could be damaging every organ in the human body – noting that 70,000 scientific papers have shown it is affecting human health. “Ultrafine particles pass through the [lungs], are readily picked up by cells, and carried via the bloodstream to expose virtually all cells in the body,” the authors explained. | ['technology/series/the-five', 'environment/air-pollution', 'science/medical-research', 'environment/environment', 'science/science', 'technology/technology', 'tone/features', 'type/article', 'publication/theobserver', 'theobserver/new-review', 'theobserver/new-review/discover', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/observer-new-review'] | environment/air-pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2019-09-22T04:30:03Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
sport/2020/mar/01/womens-t20-world-cup-cricket-nat-sciver-fires-england-past-west-indies-into-semis | Nat Sciver fires England past West Indies and into T20 World Cup semis | England sailed through to the semi‑finals of the T20 World Cup on Sunday in Sydney after beating West Indies by 46 runs. A third tournament half-century from Nat Sciver led the way while a gutsy 13-ball, 23-run cameo from Amy Jones – demoted from the opening position she has occupied for the past year – ensured England’s strongest finish of the tournament, hitting 36 runs from the last three overs of their innings to finish on 143 for five. “We knew it was going to be a slow wicket,” said Heather Knight after an impressive effort on a slow pitch. “We knew we’d have to be clever, keep it simple, and that’s what we did today.” The captain went on to praise Jones’s display: “Amy’s had a few low scores so we wanted to change something, and she showed amazing character in her innings.” England’s young spin attack, which was bolstered by the World Cup debut of the 21-year-old Mady Villiers, between them bowled West Indies out for 97 in 17.1 overs, Sophie Ecclestone finishing with phenomenal figures of three for seven from her 3.1 overs. “I’m really happy with how I’m bowling and I just hope it continues,” Ecclestone said. “With Sarah Glenn and now Mady in the team, it’s really nice to have spin companionship. Tonight I just needed to keep it simple and bowl my best ball. When I’ve got pressure on me I perform at my best.” The victory means England are likely to finish second in their group behind South Africa and therefore face the winner of Group A, India, in their semi-final at the SCG on Thursday. West Indies, meanwhile, are out of the tournament with one match left to play. “We didn’t play our best in this entire tournament,” said their pace bowler Shakera Selman. “We struggled against Thailand, obviously we’ve been defeated against Pakistan, and then we didn’t show with the bat today at all against England, and I guess we didn’t deserve to go through.” England had begun the crucial match by choosing to ditch the strategy they had so vociferously defended across the first half of the tournament by omitting Lauren Winfield from their playing XI and bringing Tammy Beaumont back up the order to open in place of Jones. The pressure on Beaumont to justify her promotion was immense and it told immediately: playing all around a delivery from Selman, she was plumb lbw for a two‑ball duck. Danni Wyatt, meanwhile, tried to attack her way out of her own recent dearth of runs, accumulating her highest score of the calendar year – a 27-ball 29 – before playing one uppish drive too many, brilliantly caught by a diving Selman at long on. Selman then added further to her personal highlights reel with a direct hit from midwicket to see off the in-form Knight for 17. Knight, perhaps underestimating the accuracy of her opponents – who lost against Pakistan by eight wickets on Wednesday after dropping a crucial catch and fluffing a run‑out – failed to dive and could not save herself. Sciver could have suffered the same fate at the non-striker’s end early in her innings, had the off-spinner Anisa Mohammed managed to release the ball after diving to retrieve it off her own bowling. Instead, she added insult to injury as she was dropped by Hayley Matthews at midwicket, scampering a single off the same ball to bring up her half-century. Matthews did eventually get her woman, Sciver sending the ball safely into her hands in the penultimate over, but the damage had already been done. West Indies’ reply was dented early when Deandra Dottin, promoted to the opening spot, fell in the third over before disaster struck in the eighth, when Stafanie Taylor suffered a groin injury and had to be carried off on a stretcher. The captain will be unavailable for their remaining group match, against South Africa on Tuesday. Three further wickets then fell with the score on 42 – Villiers opening up her account in World Cup cricket with a wicket maiden – and Glenn played a part in England’s first ever successful DRS review when UltraEdge showed Chedean Nation had edged the ball to Jones behind the stumps. Though Lee-Ann Kirby showed some fight for West Indies, thrashing two sixes over long-on, she eventually fell to Anya Shrubsole in the 15th over, and the rest felt like a mere formality for England. | ['sport/womens-world-t20-2020', 'sport/cricket', 'sport/womens-world-twenty20', 'sport/womenscricket', 'sport/england-women-cricket-team', 'sport/sport', 'type/article', 'profile/raf-nicholson', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/sport', 'theguardian/sport/news', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-sport'] | sport/womens-world-t20-2020 | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2020-03-01T11:46:11Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
environment/2018/aug/24/kelp-dredging-proposal-criticised-by-conservationists-scotland | Kelp dredging proposal criticised by Scottish conservationists | A proposal to mechanically dredge kelp forests off the coast of Scotland has led to an outcry from conservationists, who say it would destroy local ecosystems. Ayr-based company Marine Biopolymers has approached Marine Scotland to apply for a licence to use a comb-like device that pulls entire kelp plants from the bed. In order to inform the environmental appraisal required by Marine Scotland, Marine Biopolymers has published a report describing the potential environmental impacts to be researched further for a full assessment. Public comment on this report is open until Friday 24 August, and various stakeholders have expressed concern over the proposals. “Kelp habitats are vital ecosystems that absorb the power of waves along stormy coasts, lock up millions of tonnes of carbon every year and provide shelter for hundreds of species,” said Calum Duncan of the Marine Conservation Society. “This scoping report is only the first stage of an extensive consultation process,” said a statement issued by Marine Biopolymers. “The next stage is the full environmental survey, which will be carried out by internationally renowned scientists.” The report describes plans to harvest up to 34,000 tonnes of kelp per year, an estimated 0.15% of the kelp in Scotland. Proposed sustainability measures include plans to avoid harvesting young kelp, and to leave harvested beds to recover for five years before returning. However, these proposals may not be truly sustainable, according to Dan Smale, an ecologist at the Marine Biological Association. “I’m not opposed to wild kelp harvesting if it’s managed appropriately, and it’s been shown from both Norway and France that to an extent it can be done sustainably,” he said. “My problem here is that we don’t have enough baseline ecological information or understanding of how our systems work [in Scotland].” The recovery rate of five years may be insufficient not only for the kelp itself to recover, but also for associated animal communities to return, he explained. Ailsa McLellan, who harvests kelp by hand, is concerned about the precedent set by granting a licence to Marine Biopolymers, given the lack of legislation protecting wild seaweed from unsustainable harvesting: “Even if they’re the most careful company in the world, there’s no pressure on anyone else to do it that way.” There is also a conflict with the strict rules applied to hand harvesters, she added: “I have to record every single invertebrate bycatch. It can’t be one rule for us tiny operators and they’re allowed to go at it with a dredge.” The Marine Conservation Society supports the exploration of more sustainable alternatives to dredging. “Mechanically stripping swaths of pristine kelp forest clean from the reef at the scale proposed simply cannot be considered sustainable,” said Duncan. “We would urge a complete rethink and lower impact alternatives, such as managed hand-gathering and seaweed culture, to be explored instead.” | ['environment/conservation', 'environment/marine-life', 'uk/scotland', 'uk/uk', 'environment/environment', 'environment/coastlines', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/cathleen-o-grady', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/marine-life | BIODIVERSITY | 2018-08-24T11:05:02Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
australia-news/2023/dec/18/north-queensland-floods-nine-people-trapped-on-hospital-rooftop-in-wujal-wujal-cairns-airport-closed | North Queensland floods: entire town of Wujal Wujal to be evacuated after residents trapped on rooftops | Authorities are planning to evacuate the entire far north Queensland Indigenous community of Wujal Wujal as the region’s flooding emergency continues to worsen. Nine people, including a child, spent the night trapped on the roof of the local health clinic before they were able to self-evacuate on Monday morning during a temporary reprieve in water levels. Later in the morning, authorities revealed they were planning to evacuate the entire community of Wujal Wujal by air to Cooktown. The town was one of many in Queensland’s north cut off by rising flood waters caused by ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper. Another nine people remained stranded on rooftops in nearby Degarra and Bloomfield, with emergency services in contact but unable to reach them on Monday morning. Kiley Hanslow, the Wujal Wujal Aboriginal shire council CEO, said most of the remote Indigenous community had been inundated, including the council building, the town’s only store, the petrol station and many homes. “People are really scared.” she said. “We work together though … so there’s about 50 people sheltering at my place across on the other side of the community. We got stuck on this side because we’re helping people to evacuate. “Everyone else on the other side is safe.” Resident Dallas Walker spent an hour at the town clinic on Sunday afternoon. In that time small creeks rose with the tides to threaten the building. Her house flooded. Walker described brown, dirty water running through the town’s streets. The water was filled with crocodiles. “We’re looking at a house with people stuck there. They have a traditional owner, [who is] elderly. I can’t say how many people are there. But we’ve been here all morning, trying to get help, trying to get some sort of boat just to get over and bring them back to safety,” she said. With rain constant, the water level was expected to rise, with the high tide on Monday afternoon. Regan Kulka, the Wujal Wujal deputy mayor, said he had to flee his home at about 9pm on Sunday after stepping outside and seeing the flood waters rising. “It’s a pretty high house. We didn’t think we were in any danger and it came up. Luckily we got out of there,” Kulka said. “It went underwater. The water went right through it. There’s a hole in the ceiling. All my white goods are gone. We’re told we’re being evacuated but we haven’t got an ETA. “There’s nobody here for us, we’re here on our own, there’s no ED at the hospital, the power is off, there’s no food in the store. We’re just being forgotten.” Earlier on Monday, photos posted to social media by the Cape York Weekly showed clinic staff and patients huddled on the roof and on top of a troop carrier, with flood waters below more than 2 metres deep. One of them was a sick seven-year-old boy. The Queensland premier, Steven Miles, on Monday morning said attempts to rescue people trapped in Wujal Wujal had earlier been hampered by the extreme weather conditions. The cloud was too low and the rain too heavy. “The problem is the rain won’t stop and until it eases up we can’t get aerial support into remote places like Wujal Wujal and we have people stuck on roofs that have been there all night. “We have people standing by ready to do the rescues but we have to wait until it is safe to do so.” The state disaster coordinator, deputy police commissioner Shane Chelepy, said authorities were expecting “considerable rainfall” in the far north again on Monday “so we will be looking at evacuating those people from Wujal Wujal up to Cooktown”. “The other areas outside of Wujal Wujal, we know we still have seven people on five houses at Degarra on the roofs there and we have two people on the roof at Bloomfield,” Chelepy said. “We are doing everything we can to get our emergency services in to support these people. “We have been in contact via phone and we know they are safe and being on the roof at the moment is the safest location for these people. The water, through those areas, is moving very rapidly and for us to undertake rescues at this point in time would be highly unsafe.” | ['australia-news/north-queensland-floods-2023', 'australia-news/queensland', 'environment/flooding', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'world/extreme-weather', 'environment/environment', 'australia-news/queensland-politics', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/ben-smee', 'profile/andrew-messenger', 'profile/emily-wind', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-state-news'] | environment/flooding | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2023-12-17T22:03:43Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
business/2013/jul/30/beny-steinmetz-international-israeli-profile | Beny Steinmetz: Israeli diamond dealer who likes to keep a low profile | Beny Steinmetz, whose wealth is estimated at more than $4bn (£3bn), is the most secretive of Israeli tycoons. He has given few media interviews in his 36-year business career and rarely appears at public events. His official website acknowledges that he "seeks to maintain a low profile". But among his associates are some of the world's top lawyers, who have not been slow to fire off warnings of legal action against those looking into his business interests. Recently, however, there was an exception to Steinmetz's characteristic media shyness. On 30 June, Israel's biggest-selling newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, carried a long and sympathetic interview-cum-profile in which Steinmetz rebutted allegations of corruption in relation to his company BSGR's Guinea mining deal. "There are no skeletons in the closet," Steinmetz told Yedioth. "The company doesn't pay anything to anyone, not one penny to politicians; we simply don't do this kind of thing." But, according to one observer of BSGR, Steinmetz's desire to stay out of the limelight stems from his engagement with "crony capitalism" – business deals sealed in the corridors of power in the capitals of developing countries. According to this observer, "No one knows what the other bits of the empire are up to. Only Beny knows what's going across the whole business." Steinmetz was born in 1956 in Netanya, Israel, the fourth child of Rubin Steinmetz, who had established a successful family diamond trading business. At the age of 21, after completing his military service, Beny left Israel for Antwerp to work for a leading diamond dealer. Later he joined forces with his brother, Daniel, to create Steinmetz Diamonds Group and subsequently the Beny Steinmetz Group. Steinmetz – who holds a French passport along with his Israeli citizenship – has described himself as an "international Israeli". He spends part of the year at his home in Arsuf, an exclusive cliff-top community overlooking the Mediterranean, north of the coastal city of Herzliya, which contains some of the most expensive real estate in Israel. He also has a home in Geneva, and a yacht moored mainly in the south of France. He and his wife, Agnes, met as teenagers and have four children. They run a philanthropic foundation, active in educational and welfare projects for youngsters. In his interview, Steinmetz said that his tax affairs were legitimate and stressed that he did not live permanently in Israel. He also said he had no official role in BSGR, but was an "adviser". "I don't make decisions in BSGR," he said. His choice of paper for the interview was significant, say some. Yedioth is politically associated with Steinmetz's friend, former prime minister Ehud Olmert, who was forced out of office amid a string of corruption charges. Olmert is believed to be Steinmetz's closest political ally in Israel. In the interview, Steinmetz reflected briefly on his psyche, saying: "It's hard for me to characterise myself. I think I'm balanced. Some people might say I'm cold-hearted." He acknowledged "no interest" in media coverage. "It's not because I'm shy or scared, it's just not my style. I don't need it. It angers me that a timed, planned and paid smearing campaign is run against me in the press. We will fight it and we have already won the lawsuit we filed in London." He was referring to an out-of-court settlement last month in a case he brought against former British minister Mark Malloch-Brown and his PR company, FTI. Under the deal, Malloch-Brown paid €90,000 (£77,000) but admitted no liability. FTI insisted claims that it had colluded with George Soros, a leading critic of BSGR, while representing Steinmetz's business, were baseless. His legal reflex appears to belie his rare on-the-record comments. "The truth is," he told Yedioth, "that I don't really care what everyone thinks." | ['business/mining', 'world/guinea', 'world/africa', 'world/world', 'world/israel', 'world/middleeast', 'environment/mining', 'environment/environment', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'profile/harrietsherwood', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/topstories'] | environment/mining | ENERGY | 2013-07-30T07:00:04Z | true | ENERGY |
business/2016/may/25/exxonmobil-climate-change-scientists-congress-george-w-bush | ExxonMobil tried to censor climate scientists to Congress during Bush era | ExxonMobil moved to squash a well-established congressional lecture series on climate science just nine days after the presidential inauguration of George W Bush, a former oil executive, the Guardian has learned. Exxon’s intervention on the briefings, revealed here for the first time, adds to evidence the oil company was acutely aware of the state of climate science and its implications for government policy and the energy industry – despite Exxon’s public protestations for decades about the uncertainties of global warming science. Indeed, the company moved swiftly during the earliest days of the Bush administration to block public debate on global warming and delay domestic and international regulations to cut greenhouse gas emissions, according to former officials of the US Global Change Research Program, or USGCRP. The Bush White House is now notorious for censoring climate scientists and blocking international action on climate change by pulling the US out of the Kyoto agreement. The oil company is under investigation by 17 attorney generals for misleading the public about climate change, and is facing a shareholder revolt at its annual general meeting on Wednesday by investors pressing Exxon for greater disclosure about the effect of climate change on its profits. In early 2001, however, after Al Gore lost the White House to George Bush, Exxon officials apparently saw a chance to influence the incoming administration, according to former officials of the research program. The government agency was set up in 1990 and charged with producing definitive reports to Congress every four years on the effects of climate change on the US. In the mid-1990s, as part of its legal mandate, USGCRP began organizing monthly seminars on climate science for elected officials and staffers in Congress. On 29 January 2001, nine days after Bush’s inauguration, Arthur Randol, a former senior environmental advisor at Exxon, telephoned Nicky Sundt, then communications director for the research program, to inquire about the future of the lecture series. A few days earlier, Sundt had emailed a survey to congressional staffers seeking suggestions for the next lecture series. Exxon had not been on his distribution list, and Sundt said he was surprised to receive a call from Randol. “I thought it was very unusual, if not inappropriate, for a fossil fuel lobbyist to be calling me directly days after the administration was sworn in only directly to instruct me on how we would be communicating to the Congress on climate change,” Sundt told the Guardian. “This is ExxonMobil reaching into the federal government science apparatus and seeking to influence the communication of science.” Sundt, who now directs the WWF-US climate science programme (although he said he was not speaking on behalf of the organisation), said he made notes of the phone call. The briefings had then been running for a number of years and were well regarded by Republican as well as Democratic staffers, according to Bryan Hannegan, a Senate staffer and scientist who went on to work for the Bush administration and is now at the National Renewable Energy Lab. But the Exxon lobbyist saw it differently. “I very specifically remember him suggesting that the seminars were what he called ‘agenda-driven’, and he indicated that with the new administration and the Congress that – if the seminars continue – he hoped to see a different balance of viewpoints,” Sundt said. That was Sundt’s only encounter with Randol. He told his USGCRP colleagues about the telephone call but did not speak out publicly until now. In retrospect, Sundt said the telephone call was the first sign of the energy industry’s efforts to squash the agency’s reporting about climate change, and the broader debate about global warming, during the George W Bush era. Bush went on to pull the US out of the Kyoto climate change agreement, and White House officials were later found to have played down scientists’ warnings about the dangers of climate change. Randol, who left Exxon in 2003 after 25 years with the oil company, was known to have played a key role in such efforts – even before Sundt came foward. On 6 February 2001, not long after his phone call to Sundt, Randol wrote a memo urging the Bush administration to demand the removal of Bob Watson, a well-regarded climate scientist, as head of the UN’s climate science panel, the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Randol describes Watson as “hand-picked by Al Gore”. “Restructure the US attendance at upcoming IPCC meetings to assure that none of the Clinton/Gore proponents are involved in any decisional activities,” the memo reads. In the same memo, Randol also recommended sacking three US climate officials. The Exxon lobbyist was extraordinarily successful. At the IPCC, Watson was replaced by Rajendra Pachauri, an Indian engineer who stepped down from the science panel last year after being accused of sexual harassment. Following Randol’s recommendations, a number of climate sceptics were appointed to the administration, including Harlan Watson, a then Republican congressional staffer, who went on to lead the US climate negotiating team. Meanwhile, Randol sought to put Exxon’s stamp on the blockbuster US climate reports. On 22 March 2002, Randol forwarded a company memo to the White House council of environmental quality suggesting an overhaul of the USGRCP’s national climate assessments. The memo, which extolled Exxon’s qualifications in climate science, recommended the agency focus more on “gaps and uncertainties” in climate science. Exxon and Randol did not respond to requests for comment. However, Mike MacCracken, a former chief scientist at the USGRCP, said Sundt’s account of the phone call fits in with his recollections of Exxon’s efforts to influence government climate science research. “I don’t recall the call directly but they were objecting to all sorts of things as the new administration came in,” he said. “I guess the Republicans were sort of pushing from Congress. They were taking over and they had their views.” | ['business/exxonmobil', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'business/oil', 'environment/oil', 'business/oilandgascompanies', 'us-news/us-politics', 'us-news/george-bush', 'us-news/us-news', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/suzannegoldenberg', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/west-coast-news', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-news'] | environment/oil | ENERGY | 2016-05-25T10:00:37Z | true | ENERGY |
world/2010/jul/26/afghan-war-logs-david-leigh-webchat | Afghan war logs: webchat with David Leigh | The Guardian, along with the New York Times and the German weekly Der Spiegel, has today published a series of documents that give a detailed and often disturbing picture of the conflict in Afghanistan. These disclosures come from more than 90,000 records of incidents and intelligence reports about the conflict obtained by the whistleblowers' website Wikileaks, in what has been described as one of the biggest leaks in US military history. The three news organisations were given access to the Afghan war logs before publication to verify their authenticity and assess their significance. For the past few weeks, a team of investigative reporters, regional specialists and database experts has been working on the story. David Leigh, the Guardian's investigations editor, answered your questions in a live web chat. PLEASE NOTE: this webchat is now over. | ['world/the-war-logs', 'world/afghanistan', 'uk/military', 'politics/defence', 'us-news/us-news', 'uk/uk', 'politics/politics', 'tone/blog', 'world/war-logs', 'type/article', 'profile/davidleigh'] | world/the-war-logs | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2010-07-26T09:47:14Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
environment/2013/jan/22/obama-pressure-nebraska-keystonexl-pipeline | Obama under pressure after Nebraska governor signs off on Keystone XL | Barack Obama's powerful call for climate action faced an immediate test on Tuesday, with the president forced into a decision on one of the most contentious items on his agenda: the Keystone XL pipeline. A day after Obama made a strong commitment to climate in his inaugural address, the governor of Nebraska signed off on the pipeline, leaving it up to the White House to decide on the fate of the project. "Construction and operation of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline … would have minimal environmental impacts in Nebraska," Dave Heineman, the governor of Nebraska, wrote in a letter to the White House. The approval now leaves the fate of a project seen as a litmus test of the administration's environmental credentials entirely in Obama's hands. It also removes any breathing space the president might have had to put together a plan to make good on the stirring promises on climate in his inaugural address. Republicans immediately pushed Obama to approve the pipeline. "There is no bureaucratic excuse, hurdle or catch President Obama can use to delay this project any further," John Boehner, the Republican speaker, said in a statement. "He and he alone stands in the way of tens of thousands of new jobs and energy security." Obama called a halt on the Keystone XL project a year ago, citing opposition from Heineman and local landowners in Nebraska to the proposed pipeline route. Heineman, a Republican, had initially held off on approving the pipeline, which would carry crude from the tar sands of Alberta to refineries on Texas's Gulf coast, because of concerns about its proposed route. Now with Heineman signing off on the pipeline, that political cover is gone, leaving it up to Obama to make a decision on a project that has come to symbolise the clash between environmental protection and economic growth. In the letter, Heineman said he was satisfied with the revised pipeline route, which would avoid the environmentally sensitive Sandhills region. The route would still cross part of a crucial aquifer. However, Heineman said he was satisfied with the safety plan put forward by the pipeline operators, TransCanada. "The concerns of Nebraskans have had a major influence on the pipeline route," he wrote. Campaigners accused Heineman of selling out Nebraska landowners. "Governor Heineman just performed one of the biggest flip-flops that we've in Nebraska political history," said Jane Kleeb, the executive director of the group Bold Nebraska. The move now puts Obama under immediate pressure to render his decision on the pipeline. With Nebraska on board, there is only one major hurdle remaining for the Keystone XL project. The State Department must review and approve the nearly 1,800-mile route because its crosses an international border. The looming decision has compounded the pressure on Obama, only a day after he raised expectations for action on climate in his second term. The White House was already being pressed for specifics of Obama's climate plan at Tuesday's press briefing. Tuesday's moves further ramps up the pressure. The White House press secretary, Jay Carney, offered no new details, and may have dialled back the climate cause by reaffirming Obama's commitment to developing America's home grown fossil fuels. He also declined to say much about the pipeline decision. Environmental groups argue that Obama has no other choice but to block the pipeline – if he is indeed serious about acting on climate change. They had also hoped that the incoming secretary of state, John Kerry, would be more inclined to block the project than Hillary Clinton. The State Department had earlier determined the project would have only minimal effects on the environment – though that review has been much criticised by environmental groups. The project is crucial for landlocked Alberta, which is facing difficulty getting its vast store of crude out of the ground and into American and European markets. But it would also unlock a big source of carbon, and tie America's economy more closely to the burning of fossil fuels. Campaign groups are planning a day of protests at the White House and around the country on February 17 to try to force Obama to block the project. "If President Obama is serious about tackling climate change, he needs to reject KXL once and for all, and we're not going away until that happens," campaign groups 350.org and Sierra Club said in a statement. | ['environment/keystone-xl-pipeline', 'us-news/barack-obama', 'us-news/nebraska', 'environment/environment', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'us-news/us-news', 'world/canada', 'us-news/usdomesticpolicy', 'environment/oil', 'us-news/us-politics', 'world/world', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'profile/suzannegoldenberg'] | environment/oil | ENERGY | 2013-01-22T19:16:00Z | true | ENERGY |
world/2019/jul/19/uk-first-climate-assembly-camden-draws-up-wishlist-for-council-action | First climate assembly in UK draws up wishlist for council action | Britain’s first climate “citizens assembly” opened its final session on Saturday morning at which more than 50 Londoners will decide on carbon-cutting measures they want their district to enact in order to confront climate change. Camden’s Citizens Assembly, convened to interrogate what locals, neighbourhoods and the council can do for the environment, is deliberating action that would reduce fossil fuel usage in homes and public buildings and on roads. The wishlist will be considered by the council as it draws up an environment action plan for 2020. The outcome of the assembly will be closely watched by other councils planning to follow suit this year, and by Westminster which will hold its own national climate assembly in the autumn. Council officials say there is a clear intention to implement at least some of the recommendations. “I hope there will be some concrete action that we can take forward as a council,” said Georgia Gould, the council leader. “That’s the idea of it being an open process – you are letting go of that control. Our climate is in a crisis and we need to act in radical new ways and this assembly is part of developing those new ideas.” Ideas being considered include community energy projects such as solar panels on schools, GP surgeries and public buildings, a revolution in heating buildings that favours air source heat pumps over old-style gas boilers, better insulation and urban greening. Anti-car measures are also being considered, though motorists produce only 13% of emissions in the district, with the rest generated by energy use in buildings. “I’m keen that they should ban all cars. They should ban all gas boilers in newbuilds now. They should retrofit old buildings,” said Rupert Cruise, one of the participants. But the assembly is diverse in age, ethnicity and outlook. Another juror, Neil Chappell, said: “I’m here to defend the motorist. Camden always hammers the motorist but only 10% of emissions is down to cars.” By the end of Saturday’s deliberations, participants will have spent 12 hours in three separate sessions listening to briefings, asking questions, debating with each other and coming up with solutions. They were recruited randomly via a street and door-knocking campaign. A shortlist was winnowed down to assure the final composition was demographically (but not necessarily politically) representative. The participants are being paid £150 in vouchers for their time. Some participants said that although they were keen to do something, they felt the real scope for action lay with the national government. After all, aircraft do not take off in Camden, there are no large power plants, and container ships do not pass through. “Most people are informed and there is consensus, but people feel that individuals can’t do much,” said Khalil Miah. “It’s up to national government to set the goalposts and the deadlines.” Others said the process itself was a breath of fresh air, helping to address not just the crisis in the environment but the crisis in democracy too. “It is absolutely great,” said Merve Öner, a student on the assembly. “It’s a diverse community and it’s delightful to involve them all. I think it should be implemented in lots of other countries.” | ['world/series/the-upside', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'society/localgovernment', 'politics/localgovernment', 'uk/london', 'environment/green-politics', 'society/communities', 'environment/environment', 'society/society', 'politics/politics', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/mark-rice-oxley', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-special-projects'] | environment/green-politics | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2019-07-20T09:14:51Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
environment/2022/jul/21/beavers-to-be-given-legal-protection-in-england | Beavers to be given legal protection in England | Beavers are to be given legal protection in England, meaning it will be illegal to kill or harm them as they are formally recognised as native wildlife. This is a step forward for the charismatic rodents, which were hunted to extinction in the country 400 years ago but have reappeared owing to illegal releases around the country. The government has also been licensing beaver releases inside enclosures, and some environmentalists hope that later this year in the upcoming beaver strategy there will be permissions for the rodents to be released to roam wild. It is thought there are hundreds of beavers already living wild along England’s waterways, with some experts believing there could be as many as 800. New legislation, due to come into force on 1 October, will make it an offence to deliberately capture, kill, disturb, or injure beavers, or damage their breeding sites or resting places – without holding the appropriate licence. The animals are known as “nature’s engineers” as they create wetlands – an important habitat for many plants and animals – when they build dams. In doing so, they also prevent flooding and drought-related problems such as wildfires by keeping water in the land. Derek Gow, a farmer turned rewilder who is known as one of the country’s leading beaver experts, said: “The news today that beavers will be afforded legal protection in England is both appropriate and welcome. “We have been very slow to recognise the critical role that this species delivers in the creation of complex wetland landscapes, which can afford resilience against the twin extremes of flood and drought. All they need from us to guarantee this goal is understanding, tolerance and space.” There was confusion this week as the plans were due to be announced earlier, but appeared to have been pulled at the last minute. Craig Bennett, chief executive of the Wildlife Trusts, said at the time: “Clarity around legal protections for beavers are crucial if populations are to recover and thrive long term – it is extremely disappointing that this legislation has been brought to a juddering halt, with no explanation why. “We need to see the widespread return of wild beavers to create vital wetland habitats and restore rivers, many of which have been damaged by centuries of dredging and being cut off from floodplains. As England grapples with a nature and climate emergency, we need our beavers back.” However, sources at Defra blamed the rush to get legislation out before recess for the hold-up, and said they always planned to enshrine these protections in law, as it is a legal requirement under the Berne convention. | ['environment/wildlife', 'uk/uk', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/helena-horton', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/wildlife | BIODIVERSITY | 2022-07-21T13:03:25Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2008/mar/13/waste.recycling | Letters: From verges to waterways, there's no let up in litter | I have been organising a village litter-pick for the past five years (Tossed from cars, dumped in ditches, March 10). I hoped that once we had the verges cleared, people would desist from throwing litter over them, but this has not been the case. This year there is more rubbish than ever. It has to stop and could, with a government campaign. We've learned to use seat belts, surely most people could be taught to see throwing litter around is a terrible practice. Gillian Crossley-Holland Diss, Norfolk A campaigning website I launched last week (www.peopleclearinglitter.co.uk) provides just the vehicle for all the Stan Stones across the country to see how their efforts can make a difference. And there are more Stans around than we may think. Since the launch, I have been inundated with emails from voluntary litter-pickers spread far and wide. Over the next weeks, we will begin seeing evidence of their work as the campaign badges and green-branded ribbon to tie up rubbish bags begin appearing. The message of my campaign - that public bodies alone will never be able to tackle the litter problem - is not a counsel of despair, but one of optimism, because it provides the chance for ordinary people to show they are prepared to work together to improve their environment. Steve McCormack Founder, People Clearing Litter Upon moving here from the US, I was appalled at the amount of litter. But I have since come to see it is, at least partially, the result of public policy. There are simply not enough rubbish bins. I took my litter with me off the train I'd taken back to Exeter from London, and walked through the entire station until I finally came to a lone bin in the car park. Wendy MacLeod Exeter, Devon Every year British Waterways removes tonnes of rubbish from the UK's canals and rivers in an effort to keep them clean, safe and beautiful. Among the main culprits are the ubiquitous shopping trolleys and discarded plastic bags, which not only look unsightly, but are potentially lethal to waterfowl and other wildlife. Until people take responsibility for their rubbish, this will be a never-ending battle. This week sees the beginning of our annual Towpath Tidy, where volunteers join forces with British Waterways staff in clearing litter and graffiti from the canals and rivers. It is great to see more people taking pride in their environment, but ultimately what is needed is a change of culture in which it becomes simply unacceptable to drop litter in the first place. Simon Salem Marketing director, British Waterways If all drinks containers (as in Denmark) carried, say, a 50p deposit, the problem of most litter would be solved. Owen Wells Ilkley, South Yorkshire | ['environment/waste', 'environment/recycling', 'environment/environment', 'environment/pollution', 'tone/letters', 'type/article', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/editorialsandreply'] | environment/waste | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2008-03-13T09:13:50Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
environment/2021/nov/15/scott-morrison-rules-out-more-ambitious-2030-emissions-target-despite-cop26-pact | Barnaby Joyce says Nationals did not sign Cop26 pact and Australia is ‘happy with targets’ | The Nationals did not sign the final communiqué of the Glasgow climate summit that commits to doing more to cut medium-term emissions, deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce has said, adding Australia is “happy with our targets”. Joyce, who was campaigning in the NSW coal town of Singleton on Monday, said the government had already determined its 2030 emission reduction target, and the Nationals had not agreed to the Cop26 pact signed by the Australian government on Sunday. “The Nationals did not sign it. I did not sign it,” Joyce told the ABC. “I am an executive member of this government. We are happy with our targets, with the negotiations the Nationals had with the Liberals (and) we said that we wouldn’t be changing our 2030 targets.” Joyce also targeted the president of Cop26, Alok Sharma, saying he was “cynical” about the suggestion he was emotional about the outcome of the summit. “Give me a break. These people are not worried about the environment, they just want to end up on television,” Joyce said. “He [Sharma] was with his gavel and ‘oh, I’m almost crying, I can’t do this’. He wants to shut down our coal industry but he never talked about shutting down the oil fields in the North Sea.” “He wants to shut down industries in other people’s countries, not in his country.” When asked why he was “mocking” Sharma, Joyce said he was “cynical” about the Glasgow summit. Earlier, prime minister Scott Morrison all but ruled out adopting a more ambitious 2030 emissions reduction target, dismissing calls from moderate MPs who want Australia to revisit its commitment at next year’s UN climate summit. Under the Glasgow pact arising from this month’s Cop26 summit, Australia was a signatory to a joint “request” for countries to re-examine and strengthen 2030 targets when countries return to the negotiating table at Cop27 in Egypt. Morrison on Monday said Australia had no plans to change its policy but would “meet and beat” its Paris target of a 26% to 28% cut on 2005 emission levels. This was in line with a statement released on Sunday that described the 2030 target as “fixed”. “We are going to achieve a 35% reduction in emissions by 2030. That is what we are going to achieve and that is what actually matters,” Morrison said on Monday. “What matters is what you actually achieve. We are well above our target because our policy is to meet and beat, that is what we do.” Australia was the only major developed country that refused to increase its 2030 emissions reduction targets at the Glasgow summit, rebuffing calls from allies and experts that stronger medium term targets are needed to prevent catastrophic global warming. The NSW Liberal MP Dave Sharma said Australia should consider a target of 40% to 45% by 2035, building on Australia’s forecast of achieving a 35% reduction by 2030 – largely driven by state targets. “It’s a modest stretch, but it’s not a big stretch,” Sharma told Sky News on Monday. “Particularly when you consider the number of new technologies we’re investing in and the cost of things like battery storage that are coming down now at an exponential rate.” Fellow moderates Jason Falinski, Katie Allen and Trent Zimmerman are also pushing for the government to revise its medium term target in the wake of the Glasgow resolution. The Glasgow pact also included a resolution to “phase down” coal and accelerate efforts away from “unabated” coal power, but this clause was watered down after a push by the Indian delegation objected to the term “phase out”. Sharma said the resolution indicated a clear shift “away from fossil fuels”, while Queensland Nationals senator Matt Canavan said the result was “a big green light for us to build more coal mines.” Joyce had earlier said the government’s position on fossil fuels was clear, and Australia had different considerations as a major coal exporter. “We will tell the Australian people quite clearly that if you stop using Australian coal, you’re just going to use more Indian coal or other coal from other parts of the world, from Indonesia, from Mongolia. And you’re going to get more emissions, not less,” Joyce said. He said that shutting down Australia’s coal industry would lead to a drop in export earnings, a fall in the value of the Australian dollar and a rise in the cost of imports. “If you start shutting that (coal) down, you of course are going to start shutting down your standard of living in Australia,” Joyce said.” “We’re doing our part. We’ve always done our part, but we have to be tempered and understand quite clearly, you know, where our money … comes from.” Morrison said he did not believe the Glasgow summit had been the “death knell” for the coal industry, saying there would be a transition but over a long period of time. “For all those working in the industry in Australia, they will continue to work in the industry for decades to come,” Morrison said. The Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, criticised the government for signing the Glasgow resolution but then refusing to consider a change to Australia’s 2030 target. “I find it completely extraordinary that 24 hours after the federal government signed up to having a higher 2030 target in 2022, they’ve walked away from that commitment that they voluntarily signed up to in Glasgow,” Albanese said. Albanese, who is expected to release Labor’s updated climate change policy later this month once the party resolves its position in the wake of the Glasgow summit, indicated Labor would be more ambitious than the Coalition. “I’m confident that a Labor Government will tackle climate change and will join the world rather than being in the naughty corner,” he said. “Labor will always engage with the world and will punch above our weight.” | ['environment/cop26-glasgow-climate-change-conference-2021', 'australia-news/australian-politics', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'australia-news/scott-morrison', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/sarah-martin', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/cop26-glasgow-climate-change-conference-2021 | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2021-11-15T07:32:44Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
environment/2015/mar/20/guardian-climate-change-petition-reaches-100k-signatures | Guardian climate change petition reaches 100k signatures | A Guardian petition which calls for the Wellcome Trust and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to ditch their fossil fuel investments has gathered more than 100,000 signatures since it launched on Monday. The campaign asks the world’s two largest charitable foundations to divest from the top 200 oil, gas and coal companies within five years and to immediately freeze any new investments. It was launched by Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger in partnership with the global climate movement 350.org. High profile signatories include Scottish actor Tilda Swinton and Professor Anne Glover, the former chief scientific adviser to the president of the European commission. The campaign has also attracted the support of activist Bianca Jagger, Costa award-winning author Helen Macdonald and Rou Reynolds from the band Enter Shikari, while chef Yotam Ottolenghi said he backed it “because we’re running out of time and it’s pretty terrifying”. Rusbridger said: “The argument for a campaign to divest from the world’s most polluting companies is becoming an overwhelming one, on both moral and pragmatic grounds. The usual rule of newspaper campaigns is that you don’t start one unless you know you’re going to win it. This one will almost certainly be won in time: the physics is unarguable.” Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, said: “We’re at a tipping point and it’s become clear that people and institutions of good conscience have to cut these ties. Now 100,000 people from around the world have combined to say that these giant philanthropies need to walk their talk.” The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have more than $1.4bn (£1bn) invested in fossil fuel companies, according to a Guardian analysis of their most recent tax filings in 2013. The charity has already given out $33bn in grants to global health programmes, including those dedicated to tackling the spread of malaria, polio and HIV. The Wellcome Trust, which is one of the world’s largest funders of medical research, has an endowment of over £18bn. In 2014, a minimum of £450m was invested in fossil fuel companies including Shell, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and BP. More than 200 institutions worldwide have now either divested from fossil fuels or have committed to do so, including faith organisations, local authorities and universities. In September 2014, a coalition of more than 50 philanthropic organisations and individuals in control of $50bn in assets committed to divestment. The Wellcome Trust has refused to divest, arguing that its investments allow it to engage with fossil fuel companies, which offer “a better prospect for change than divestment”. The foundation was unable to provide the Guardian with examples of this engagement. A spokeswoman for the Wellcome Trust said climate change and health was “a highly complex issue which we take seriously in our decisions and on which we engage with policy-makers, researchers and the businesses in which we invest.” The Gates Foundation refused to comment on its position on fossil fuel divestment, arguing their investments are handled by the Asset Trust, which does not make public statements. A spokesman for Bill Gates’s private office said: “We respect the passion of advocates for action on climate change, and recognise that there are many views on how best to address it. Bill is privately investing considerable time and resources in the effort [to develop clean energy].” The most recent annual letter from the $43.5bn Gates Foundation asks “whether the progress we’re predicting will be stifled by climate change. The long-term threat is so serious that the world needs to move much more aggressively – right now – to develop energy sources that are cheaper, can deliver on demand, and emit zero carbon dioxide.” Both the Wellcome Trust and the Gates Foundation sold off their respective £94m and $766m investments in the oil company ExxonMobil, which has funded climate change denial in the past. Both companies refuse to invest in tobacco on moral grounds. Ed Davey, Minister for Energy and Climate Change backed the Guardian Keep it in the Ground campaign on Tuesday, urging pension and insurance funds to consider divestment from “very risky” coal assets. Writing in the Guardian, he said: “I want this year’s UN climate change negotiations to be the seminal moment when humanity faces up to these challenges. That’s why I’m strongly backing the Guardian’s campaign to raise the profile of the divestment debate prior to climate change negotiations in Paris in December.” The campaign has also received the backing of the Climate and Health Council, which encouraged the British Medical Association to commit to divestment last year, the first health organisation in the world to do so. Co-chair Dr Robin Stott described the Wellcome Trust’s decision to maintain their fossil fuel investments as “a dereliction of duty”. The coalition was one of a number of medical groups that published a report in February, calling on health organisations to divest on moral grounds, as they previously did with tobacco investments. The report cited the UCL/Lancet commission on climate change which described climate change as “the biggest global health threat of the 21st century”. Professor Hugh Montgomery, co-author of the report and director of the Institute for Human Health and Performance at the University College London said: “I am backing the Guardian divestment campaign because I support the Gates Foundation and am a great fan of their work. I just want to help them to do more good.” | ['environment/series/keep-it-in-the-ground', 'environment/environment', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/fossil-fuel-divestment', 'media/theguardian', 'media/media', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'tone/blog', 'profile/emma-e-howard'] | environment/fossil-fuel-divestment | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2015-03-20T10:12:20Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
australia-news/article/2024/jul/08/every-step-of-the-way-no-one-cared-queensland-pensioner-says-solar-farm-next-door-has-left-her-unable-to-sell-her-property | ‘Every step of the way, no one cared’: Queensland pensioner says solar farm next door has left her unable to sell her property | Properties like Karen Mansbridge’s usually sell within 30 days but her home has been on the market for eight months. The two-hectare hobby farm in the South Burnett region, 160km north-west of Brisbane, was receiving so few inquiries the real estate agent decided to remove the address from the listing. Interest picked up – until buyers were reluctantly given the address. “They’d fly over it on Google Maps and go ‘nup’,” her real estate agent says. Mansbridge purchased the house three years ago. It’s 300 metres from the newly constructed Kingaroy solar farm. No one wants to live so close. “I really feel for her, it’s the only place that’s been on the market for that long,” the agent tells Guardian Australia. It’s an example of one of the concerns most frequently raised by communities near renewable energy developments: that it could hit their property prices. The former national energy infrastructure commissioner Andrew Dyer says there’s no credible evidence that suggests property values are systemically affected. But he added there “may be particular examples where it may have an impact”. Mansbridge, sobbing in her living room as she speaks to Guardian Australia, is one of those examples. The pensioner has spent years battling cancer. Every month she fails to sell is one less month spent living closer to her children. Sign up to receive Guardian Australia’s fortnightly Rural Network email newsletter Mansbridge and her neighbours hired lawyers and wrote to government officials to try to stop the project, but she says: “Every step of the way, no one cared, every government office, no one gave a shit.” The solar farm was built by Metlen Energy & Metals (formerly known as Mytilineos), a Greek renewable energy developer. To compensate for disruptions during construction, they provided Mansbridge with a $110 voucher to spend at the local RSL in town, a new water filter to combat construction dust and dug a few holes on her property for trees to eventually block views of solar panels creeping up a distant hill. They also washed the dust off her house once construction was complete. A neighbour received a voucher for a massage to deal with the stress. In a statement, a Metlen Energy & Metals spokesperson said the company was committed to working with the Kingaroy community to address social and environmental issues and was prioritising complaints with the “utmost care and attention”. “We strictly adhere to all regulations and standards set by all relevant authorities and levels of governance,” they said. Another landowner whose property backs the solar farm, who did not wish to be named, says the proponent’s lawyers “flat out refused” any form of significant compensation. They feel helpless. And this, compounded by a sense that rural Australia is carrying an unfair burden for the country’s energy transition, is feeding growing animosity towards the renewable energy rollout in regional areas. Poor community engagement by some developers contributes to that animosity. It’s then layered over mis- and disinformation spreading online to create a febrile environment which has been stoked for political gain. Lacklustre community consultation was one reason behind the South Burnett regional council’s decision to call for a moratorium on renewable energy projects unless strict conditions were met. “It’s about allowing time to get the planning guidelines right,” says the mayor, Kathy Duff. The original proponent of the solar farm, Terrain Solar, took the council to the Queensland planning and environment court after it knocked back the development application in 2018. After slight adjustments were made to the plans, the project was approved. “If we go against a development application, the planning court just overrules it … we have no say where these are going to end up,” Duff says. The solar farm was approved by state and local governments in early 2020. Mansbridge bought her property in January 2021 but says that because of the change in developers she didn’t know at the time that the project was still going ahead. Damien Martoo, the president of the Kingaroy chamber of commerce, says there is more to be gained by working with renewable developers than trying to use roadblocks that “open the door for these developers to go elsewhere or through the back door”. “If [the proposed development] is ticking all their boxes by law, then it’s going to happen anyway. You might as well build the relationships and make sure we are entitled to every cent, every piece of compensation we can get,” he says. Martoo says the consultation methods used by some developers have left communities feeling cold. The failure to compensate neighbouring landholders for direct impacts or loss of property values has also further soured the relationship. “People want to sit down with a real person and have their concerns heard,” Martoo says. “It’s coffee and cake or beer and a steak.” Locals in Kingaroy tell Guardian Australia they are concerned about inappropriate development and loss of local amenity. Abating global heating is rarely listed as a consideration. “I’m a strong Christian and I believe that God controls the weather,” Duff says. Suzanne Mungall, the organiser of a local environmental group, South Burnett Sustainable Future Network, says that regardless of views on the climate crisis, the region should welcome economic development. “Economically this is a very sensible move for our region … if we don’t do this we will have void of economic opportunity,” she says. Sign up for the Rural Network email newsletter Join the Rural Network group on Facebook to be part of the community • This story was amended on 8 July 2024 to clarify that Karen Mansbridge bought her property after the solar farm was approved. | ['australia-news/series/the-rural-network', 'australia-news/rural-australia', 'australia-news/energy-australia', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'environment/energy', 'environment/environment', 'australia-news/queensland', 'environment/solarpower', 'australia-news/business-australia', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'tone/features', 'type/article', 'australia-news/series/rural-network', 'profile/aston-brown', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/the-rural-network'] | environment/solarpower | ENERGY | 2024-07-07T15:00:11Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2015/sep/16/arctic-sea-ice-shrinks-to-fourth-lowest-extent-on-record | Arctic sea ice shrinks to fourth lowest extent on record | Ice coverage in the Arctic this year shrunk to its fourth lowest extent on record, US scientists have announced.The National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC) in Boulder, Colorado, said the ice reached a low of 4.41m sq km (1.70m sq miles) on 11 September in what experts said was a clear indicator of climate change. Sea ice melt is closely tied to warmer weather over the region, which can be affected by climate change and short-term weather variability. The weather patterns recorded over the summer were favourable to a low ice extent, the NSIDC said. The lowest sea ice extent ever recorded was in 2012, followed by 2007 and 2011 respectively. This year’s date comes four days earlier than the average minimum from 1981 to 2010. In March it was reported that last winter’s sea ice maximum hit a record low. Dr Jeremy Wilkinson, senior scientist at the British Antarctic Survey said: “This is undoubtedly an indicator of climate change. Even though it’s the fourth lowest on record it’s an ongoing downward trend that has been monitored for many years. For sea ice to melt you need a warmer atmosphere and a warmer ocean so these changes reflect the changes in the ocean and the atmosphere.” Wilkinson added: “The beauty of monitoring sea ice extent is that you can see it very clearly from space so you can record it very accurately. We have a very long track record.” Satellites have been monitoring the Arctic sea ice since the 1970s. Prof Andrew Shepherd, director of the Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling at the University of Leeds, told the Guardian that it was also important to establish the sea ice thickness, which cannot be picked by satellites over the summer months. It will start to be recorded next week. “What also matters is how thick the ice is, how cool winter was, which means sea ice can grow over the winter period which makes it more stable going into summer,” he said. In 2013, the Arctic sea ice experienced an unexpected revival, with the ice volume recorded increasing by 41%. Researchers said it did not indicate a wider recovery of the ice cap, but suggested that if global warming was tackled the potential for long-term recovery was more likely than previously thought. On Monday the Met Office predicted that 2015 and 2016 will be the hottest yet reported, with 2014 having previously broken the global record. The news comes with less than two weeks left in the window of time for drilling oil in the region. After a summer of setbacks, oil giant Shell was given final permission a month ago by Barack Obama, who has faced sharp criticism for the decision. Greenpeace spokesman, Ben Ayliffe, said: “We don’t need any more satellite images of shrinking sea ice to tell us that urgent action is needed to protect the far north. It’s time for governments, business and people the world over to respond and the most obvious place to start is by calling a halt to Shell’s reckless search for Arctic oil.” NSIDC is yet to provide a full analysis of this year’s melt, noting that there is a chance that changing wind patterns or low season melt could see the ice recede further. | ['environment/sea-ice', 'environment/environment', 'environment/poles', 'world/arctic', 'world/world', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/emma-e-howard'] | environment/sea-ice | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2015-09-16T12:22:29Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
commentisfree/2010/oct/17/chile-miners-pinera-pinochet-future | Pinochet's legacy | Peter Preston | If this were a Guardian third leader, it might well be headlined "In praise of General Pinochet". But then, headlines don't always get it quite right. Augusto Pinochet was a dictator, murderer, torturer and money launderer. How many innocents were killed under his rule? Maybe 3,000. How many tortured? Maybe 30,000 or more. The point isn't whether he was a good thing or a bad thing, however. The point is whether a triumphant President Sebastián Piñera of Chile would be in Britain today, basking in praise for his mine rescue role and looking for entrepreneurs to come and invest, if the Pinochet years hadn't happened. Piñera deserves a lot of the praise coming his way. He was on a visit to Ecuador when the mine collapsed. He could, like Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan, have taken too long to register disaster. He could, like George W Bush, have fashioned a hapless Katrina of a catastrophe out of crisis. When his advisers told him there was only a 2% chance of getting the 33 men home and safe, he could have contrived a misty political distance and decided not go to the San José mine to stake his own credibility on the rescue bid. Yet he didn't flinch; he laid everything on the line; he was there as the miners came up, one hug at a time; he can claim some of the PR spoils. But let's not get carried away. It's too easy to turn Chile's success into a miracle of democracy. It was "special cell-phones from Korea, flexible fiber-optic cable from Germany and advice from Nasa on the construction of the rescue capsule" that made it possible to save the 33, according to the Washington Post. Compare and contrast, inevitably, Hugo Chavéz's Venezuela, with a poverty rate of 40% against Chile's mere 20% (achieved in the two decades of returned democratic rule). See, we're only a few more glowing adjectives away from claiming the west – and Washington in particular – as true second phase heroes of San José. In fact, real life, including real political life, rarely deals in miracles. And Chile's divisive past matters in its future. Pinochet, hands soon steeped in blood, seized power when the chaos of opposition to Allende offered him that opportunity. He was, in a sense, Chile's appalling punishment for not getting it right. Yet, although dreadful things happened during his 15 years of rule, the figures to register most clearly are the percentages in the 1988 referendum that ushered him out: 56% wanted him gone, 44% asked him to stay. He retained levels of support that David Cameron would settle for any day. What did that mean for the politicians who succeeded him? It meant 20 years of earnest coalition government between socialists, radicals and Christian Democrats. It meant unchallenged socialist presidents and decades of prudent reform. A few months ago, it meant that a conservative contender, a media mogul and billionaire beyond coalition, Piñera, could be elected president. Piñera's success is crucial to an embedded democracy, just as José Maria Aznar's success was crucial in Spain. If governments of the centre or left can be replaced by governments that are the distant ideological heirs of dictatorship, then the bloodstream of dialogue flows clear at last. Democracy is embedded as a routine of freedom. Does that mean that all the hype about Chile's rebirth is merited? Of course not. We've a mine safety report to choke on. There's a hunger strike campaign on behalf of Mapuche Indians. And no one can tell whether Piñera's economic policies can keep up with his hugs. Go easy on the triumphalism. But wonder quietly if so many benign things could have happened without the malignity of Pinochet; without the levels of support the general still commanded at the end, compelling consensus and healing; without a gutted society seeing the need to come together. So not "praise", exactly. More a wrenching necessity to do something better. p.preston@theguardian.com | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'world/world', 'world/chile', 'world/pakistan', 'us-news/hurricane-katrina', 'world/natural-disasters', 'us-news/us-news', 'tone/comment', 'world/americas', 'type/article', 'profile/peterpreston', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/commentanddebate'] | us-news/hurricane-katrina | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2010-10-17T19:45:00Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
weather/2018/oct/10/world-weatherwatch-japan-and-south-korea-hit-by-tropical-storm-kong-rey-ex-hurricane-rosa | World weatherwatch: Japan and South Korea hit by tropical storm Kong-Rey | Last week ex-typhoon Kong-Rey became the ninth tropical system to hit Japan this year. Despite its category 5 status downgrading to tropical storm intensity before landfall, it produced damaging winds, storm surges, torrential rain and flooding across many parts of Japan and South Korea. Tracking across Japan’s southern islands, it reached South Korea on Saturday, before moving north-eastwards over northern Japan on Sunday. Sustained winds of 115mph (185km/hour) and wind gusts reaching 143mph were recorded, while dumping up to 75mm (3in) of rain an hour. The warm air associated with it exceeded Japan’s highest October temperature record, reaching 36C (96.8F) in Sanjo, Niigata Prefecture. Ex-hurricane Rosa made landfall in north-west Mexico on Monday last week, causing flooding there before bringing torrential downpours to the south-western US. It produced the wettest October day on record for Phoenix, Arizona, with 60cm of rain falling in 24 hours, causing flooding and leaving people trapped in vehicles. It is unusual for Pacific hurricanes and their remnants to reach such high latitudes. Meanwhile, drought-stricken parts of eastern Australia received much-needed heavy downpours throughout last week, triggered by a trough of low pressure that sat over New South Wales. Some towns received more rain in 24 hours than they have all year; the village of Pooncarrie recorded 53mm last Wednesday. | ['weather/japan', 'weather/southkorea', 'weather/mexico', 'weather/usa', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'weather/index/asia', 'weather/index/northandcentralamerica', 'world/world', 'news/series/world-weatherwatch', 'news/series/weatherwatch', 'science/meteorology', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-weather'] | news/series/weatherwatch | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2018-10-10T20:30:05Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
australia-news/2023/mar/07/queensland-to-spend-5bn-on-1100km-copperstring-power-line-to-unlock-renewables-potential | Queensland to spend $5bn on 1,100km CopperString power line to unlock renewables potential | The Queensland government has said it will take control of a $5bn proposal to build a 1,100km power line connecting Mount Isa to the national grid, which it says will “unlock” development of new-economy mineral deposits in the state’s north west. The project, known as CopperString 2.0, has long been touted as necessary to provide future energy certainty to Queensland’s north-west minerals province, where miners are considering the potential to extract large amounts of copper, cobalt, vanadium, lead, zinc and phosphate. The government said the project was a “Eureka moment” that would also provide a trigger for new minerals processing, battery manufacturing and new renewable energy generation projects in north Queensland. The proposal, which had been developed by a private company, will now be controlled by state-owned transmission company Powerlink. “CopperString is the most significant investment in economic infrastructure in north Queensland in generations,” the premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, said. “Unlocking affordable renewable energy and our critical minerals will benefit Townsville, Mount Isa and every town in between – unlocking thousands of jobs and billions in investment.” The government also said the cost of the CopperString project had doubled from early estimates of $2.5bn due to current market conditions. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup The high-voltage transmission line will be built in three sections, connecting Townsville to Hughenden, Hughenden to Cloncurry, and Cloncurry to Mount Isa. Construction is expected to begin next year, with the project completed by 2029. Within government, there have been some concerns that the pace of renewable development, particularly solar, in north Queensland has slowed in recent years. The CopperString project would provide more options for renewable energy generated in the region. It is hoped renewables can power minerals processing in Townsville and other parts of north Queensland, partly to meet growing global demand for exports with “green” credentials. The energy minister, Mick de Brenni, said the project would allow for the development of 6,000MW of potential renewable energy in north Queensland. The Queensland treasurer, Cameron Dick, said the state’s conscious decision to maintain majority public ownership of energy assets would be beneficial, amid pressures on the energy system. “Our Queensland energy and jobs plan makes clear that we will own 100% of our transmission assets,” Dick said. “This announcement delivers on that commitment. And we can only deliver on this commitment because at least $500 million of the cost is being delivered through our new progressive coal royalty tiers.” | ['australia-news/queensland-politics', 'australia-news/queensland', 'australia-news/energy-australia', 'business/mining', 'environment/energy', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'campaign/email/afternoon-update', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/ben-smee', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-state-news'] | environment/energy | ENERGY | 2023-03-06T23:41:43Z | true | ENERGY |
sport/2023/apr/03/wales-rugby-union-exodus-continues-as-hawkins-makes-move-to-exeter-for-2023-24 | Wales exodus continues as Hawkins makes move to Exeter | Another Wales international has opted to play his club rugby in England next season, with the centre Joe Hawkins having confirmed his summer move to Exeter Chiefs. The 20-year-old Osprey has signed a long-term deal and will join his Welsh teammates Christ Tshiunza and Dafydd Jenkins at Sandy Park. Hawkins, who made his Test debut last November and started against England in the Six Nations championship this year, is a young player with considerable potential and has five caps. It means he does not meet Wales’s eligibility criteria of 25 caps for those playing outside the country, so risks missing out on the World Cup this autumn. Rob Baxter, the Exeter director of rugby, and the head coach, Ali Hepher, are looking to rebuild the Chiefs as a title-winning force with several established players set to leave the club next month. Hawkins said: “I’m really excited about the move. It’s a new challenge for me and something a bit different, especially moving away from my home region who I will always be thankful to. That said, it does feel a home away from home, especially with all the Welsh boys that are down there already. “Chatting with Rob and Ali, I liked what they had to say about how they want to play and how they want to create a new team capable of challenging at the very top.” Baxter is similarly delighted to have signed the Swansea-born back, who can also play fly-half. “He’s someone we have had a close eye on for some time and was someone I spotted when we were looking at footage of Daf and a few of the other Welsh Under-20s,” Baxter said. “We do have players moving on at the end of this season, so it was important we looked at the areas we needed to fill and that we brought in the right players. Joe ticks pretty much every box that we look for in a player and I’ve no doubt he’s going to be a great addition to the squad. “We are putting together a group of players who, I believe, can really take this club forward over the next few years and really challenge for honours.” Exeter have also announced the signings of Ethan Roots, the Ospreys’ English-qualified back-rower, and the Newcastle fly-half Will Haydon-Wood. | ['sport/exeter', 'sport/ospreys', 'sport/wales-rugby-union-team', 'sport/rugby-union', 'campaign/email/the-breakdown', 'sport/sport', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/robertkitson', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/sport', 'theguardian/sport/news', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-sport'] | sport/wales-rugby-union-team | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2023-04-03T13:45:05Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
uk-news/2023/jan/19/king-charles-redirects-1bn-windfarm-profits-towards-public-good | King Charles redirects £1bn windfarm profits towards ‘public good’ | King Charles has asked for profits from a £1bn-a-year crown estate windfarm deal to be used for the “wider public good” rather than as extra funding for the monarchy. Under the taxpayer-funded sovereign grant, which is now £86.3m a year, the king receives 25% of the crown estate’s annual surplus, which includes an extra 10% for the refurbishment of Buckingham Palace. Six new offshore wind energy lease agreements, announced by the crown estate on Thursday, have generated a major windfall for the estate, which would usually lead to a jump in the monarchy’s official funding. The monarch’s right to collect royalties from wind and wave power was granted by Tony Blair’s Labour government in a 2004 act of parliament. The approach is in contrast to the job of setting royalties and assigning drilling rights for oil and gas, which rests with the government. But the king, who highlighted the cost of living crisis in his Christmas message, has requested that the extra funds “be directed for wider public good”, instead of to the sovereign grant, at a time when many are facing financial hardship. It is not clear as to the exact amount of taxpayer funding the king has passed up, but it is likely to be many millions. The crown estate – an ancient portfolio of land and property – belongs to the reigning monarch “in right of the crown” but it is not their private property. Profits for the crown estate jumped by £43.4m to £312.7m in the year to the end of March, with the value of its seabed portfolio swelling to £5bn. The portfolio also includes chunks of central London – the monarch is one of the largest property owners in the West End, including St James’s and Regent Street – as well as farmland, offices and retail parks from Southampton to Newcastle. The crown estate is also responsible for managing the Windsor estate, which spans nearly 16,000 acres (6,500 hectares) and includes parkland and ancient woodland, as well as the Ascot racecourse. The total value of the crown estate’s properties was estimated at £15.6bn in the most recent annual accounts. The monarch surrenders the revenue from the estate – more than £312m a year – to the Treasury each year for the benefit of the nation’s finances, in exchange for the sovereign grant. The king’s keeper of the privy purse, Sir Michael Stevens, who manages the royal household’s finances, has contacted the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, and the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt – his fellow royal trustees – to ask for “an appropriate reduction” in the percentage of crown estate profits used for the sovereign grant. A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: “In view of the offshore energy windfall, the keeper of the privy purse has written to the prime minister and the chancellor to share the king’s wish that this windfall be directed for wider public good, rather than to the sovereign grant, through an appropriate reduction in the proportion of crown estate surplus that funds the sovereign grant.” The sovereign grant is based on funds two years in arrears, so any boost in crown estate profits and new percentage arrangements would not affect the grant until 2024-2025. The sovereign grant covers the running costs of the royal household and events such as official receptions, investitures and garden parties. The percentage increased from 15% to 25% in 2017 to cover the cost of a 10-year programme of £369m’s worth of repairs at the palace. The grant goes up if crown estate profits increase, but it does not fall when they decrease. The crown estate confirmed on Thursday it had signed lease agreements for six offshore wind projects that have the potential to power more than 7m homes. Three of the six projects are located off the north Wales, Cumbria and Lancashire coast, and three are located in the North Sea off the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire coast. Together they will pay about £1bn to the crown estate every year. The successful bidders, which were announced last year, included Germany’s RWE Renewables, which won two licences at Dogger Bank, off the Yorkshire coast, and two from a consortium that includes the oil company BP. The sovereign and the wider royal family have three main sources of income – the crown estate, the Duchy of Lancaster and the Duchy of Cornwall, with combined assets of more than £17bn. | ['uk/monarchy', 'uk/prince-charles', 'uk/uk', 'environment/windpower', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'business/cost-of-living-crisis', 'business/business', 'campaign/email/business-today', 'environment/energy', 'environment/environment', 'business/realestate', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/alex-lawson', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/renewableenergy | ENERGY | 2023-01-19T00:01:12Z | true | ENERGY |
world/2005/sep/21/hurricanekatrina.usa | 1m face evacuation ahead of Hurricane Rita | Over a million people in the southern United States were preparing for evacuation today as Hurricane Rita strengthened to a category four storm - the same force as Katrina, which devastated the area three weeks ago. The mayor of Houston, Bill White, called for residents in low-lying, flood-prone areas of the city to evacuate beginning tomorrow in anticipation of Hurricane Rita, which is approaching across the Gulf of Mexico. Emergency officials said evacuation in those areas would mean as many as one million people may attempt to leave. Rita is expected to make landfall in the Galveston area, just to the south-east of Houston, the scene of the US's worst hurricane disaster in 1900, when at least 8,000 people died. "Hurricane Rita on its present course poses a risk to Houston and the whole Houston region," Mr White told reporters. "We are asking all residents in the greater Houston area that are in the storm surge area for a hurricane of this force and above to begin making their evacuation plans," he said. The eye of Rita passed just south of the Florida Keys overnight, producing heavy rains and 85mph winds, before moving into the Gulf of Mexico. It caused damage along the northern Cuban shore where some 130,000 people were evacuated. Electricity, gas and water services were interrupted around Havana and some streets were flooded. With sustained wind speeds now over 130mph, Rita is expected to veer northwards gathering further strength from the warm Gulf waters and possibly reaching a category 5 storm, the highest on the scale, with 150mph winds. Forecasters said Rita will probably strike land on Friday. Texas is seen as the most likely destination, though Louisiana and northern Mexico are also possibilities. Mr White called for residents in low-lying areas on the east side of Houston to leave the city tomorrow. He said schools should close for the rest of the week and employers should give their workers two days off. If Rita makes landfall where expected it could cause significant flooding in areas up to 35 miles inland when the anticipated storm surge rushes through Galveston Bay and along the Houston Ship Channel, emergency officials said. Mr White urged those who did not have the means to evacuate themselves to arrange with friends or neighbours to get out. He said if that was not possible, people should contact emergency numbers to get help from the authorities. "There will not be enough government vehicles to go and evacuate people in all the areas," he warned. The US president, George Bush, said: "All up and down the coastline people are now preparing for what is anticipated to be another significant storm." Mr Bush received a briefing about Rita aboard the USS Iwo Jima, which is docked near downtown New Orleans, as the hurricane caused new anxiety among Katrina victims. The city's levees, patched up after being breached by Katrina, are unlikely to withstand the pounding if Rita passes nearby. "There's still plenty of warm water that it needs to move over in the next couple days. The forecast is favourable for further intensification," said Michelle Mainelli, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Centre. The Louisiana governor, Kathleen Blanco, urged everyone in the south-west part of the state to prepare to evacuate. The Pentagon stationed coordinating officers and staff at Tallahassee, Florida, and Austin, Texas, to help with storm preparations and recovery. The USS Bataan, an amphibious assault ship, was off Florida's Atlantic coast near Jacksonville, preparing to follow behind Rita to support relief efforts. The hurricane lifted crude oil prices more than $1 late yesterday in trading on the New York mercantile exchange, sending futures back above $67 (£37) a barrel as workers fled facilities in the Gulf of Mexico. Katrina destroyed 46 platforms and rigs and significantly damaged 18 platforms and rigs, according to the American Petroleum Institute. Rita is the 17th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, making this year the fourth-busiest season since records began in 1851. The record is 21 tropical storms in 1933. Six hurricanes have hit Florida in the last 13 months. The hurricane season lasts until November 30. | ['world/world', 'us-news/hurricane-katrina', 'us-news/us-news', 'world/hurricanes', 'type/article', 'profile/jamessturcke'] | us-news/hurricane-katrina | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2005-09-21T16:44:39Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
technology/2010/mar/19/streaming-video-online-privacy | Where does privacy fit in the online video revolution? | Victor Keegan | I spent part of yesterday attending a business meeting in Japan. I didn't understand a word of what was said, yet a message of sorts was coming across about where the internet is going. I stumbled upon the meeting by chance as I was playing around with Ustream.tv, a service that enables you to create or participate in live video streams anywhere in the world. On this occasion, someone was filming the entire meeting on their iPhone and broadcasting it to as many people in the world that cared to listen (in this case 24, including me). There was an instant message text box by the side of the video and when I asked in English what they were talking about someone answered: "We're discussing how to build a company while we're university students." I then noticed there was a link to a map showing exactly where their brainstorming was taking place – at Tokyo Metropolis Shibuya Ward. The internet is, of course, drowning in video and you could be forgiven for wondering whether it needs any more. US internet users alone watched – wait for it – 32.4bn videos in January 2010, according to comScore Video Metrix service. But the revolution is only just beginning and is already changing direction as it becomes more immediate and communitarian. Web sites such as Seesmic.com have for some time enabled live interactive video and the likes of qik and kyte enable you to stream or upload near-live videos from your mobile phones to your own global TV channel. I have qik on my new Google Nexus One phone and it is unbelievably easy to use. Two new sites that have caught my eye are vPype.com and Create.tv, which are taking video towards what vPype describes as "a place for authentic real-time conversations to happen in a trusted community". Interestingly, vPype – a US company based in California – chose to launch in London this week because it believes Europe, the birthplace of internet telephony company Skype, is much more attuned to using live video in a conversational way than the US. vPype claims it is different because it streams from "the cloud" (remote servers) giving a more seamless experience and is being launched as a Facebook app giving it access to a live interactive network of more than 400 million people. Arnold Waldstein, chief marketing officer of the company, told the socialmedia world forum in London this week that vPype is filling a gap caused by "video being used everywhere but not socially". Who could he be thinking about? Ustream also connects to Facebook and, like vPype, has a freemium model whereby a basic version is free and a more sophisticated one costs extra. If video is entering a period of live interactivity then it may need new tools to rise above the blandness of most of the YouTube archive (though other places such as Metacafe and Vimeo have more sophisticated filtering systems). Enter sites like Wreckamovie and Create.tv which enable online video editing. Create.tv, which hasn't officially been launched yet (but is available to play around with) enables people around the world to cooperate not just in editing online, but also doing storyboarding and all the other things involved in making a film. It is not as sophisticated as stand-alone editing suites, but it is a big step forward for global collaboration. Editing can be done for public or private consumption and it has online mentors to help solve problems and to help the site to spread the word. Create.tv was involved in doing a collaborative film for Oxfam for its climate change initiative, The Wave. The way things are going it won't be long before practically everyone has a mobile phone capable of streaming whatever is happening around them for as long as they like. We could all have tiny cameras on our spectacles or belts to do just that – streaming our lives to an archive in the cloud. The controversial website ChatRoulette, which links you randomly to anyone else sitting in front of a web cam (as long as they have given permission), is but a taste of the future when everyone will have instantaneous access to almost anyone else. The main limitation at the moment is battery life which some people are solving by linking phones and cameras to a reserve power supply in their backpacks. There are pluses and minuses to all of this. An archive in the cloud would be amazing tool not only to jog ones memory about what happened years ago (if there is a search engine that can do it), but an historic gift to posterity – if anyone ever has the time to go through it. It could reduce crime, since so many crimes, including personal attacks, would be on video, but at the expense of a huge and unprecedented invasion of our privacy. Indeed, if people accepted all this as they have done for CCTV cameras, we would have to redefine what the word privacy means. Whatever our fears about governments collecting data about ourselves, we seem to be two steps ahead of them in revealing it all ourselves voluntarily. twitter.com/vickeegan | ['technology/digitalvideo', 'technology/technology', 'technology/internet', 'tone/comment', 'media/digital-media', 'technology/data-protection', 'type/article', 'profile/victorkeegan'] | technology/digitalvideo | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2010-03-19T13:55:00Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
world/2011/may/24/japan-nuclear-plant-more-meltdowns | Japan nuclear plant confirms meltdown of two more reactors | The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant said fuel rods in two more reactors were likely to have suffered a meltdown soon after they were crippled by the 11 March earthquake and tsunami in north-east Japan. Confirmation by Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) that fuel in the cores of reactors 2 and 3 had melted came days after new data confirmed a similar meltdown in reactor 1 about 16 hours after the disaster. The utility, which last week suffered the biggest annual loss by any Japanese firm outside the financial sector, said most of the melted fuel in all three reactors was covered in water and did not threaten to compound the world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl. The temperature of the fuel rods, which are believed to have melted and settled at the bottom of flooded reactor pressure vessels, remained well below dangerous levels, the company said. "It is unlikely that the meltdowns will worsen the crisis because the melted fuel is covered in water," said a Tepco spokesman, Takeo Iwamoto. It said the fuel rods in the reactors 2 and 3 had started melting two to three days after the earthquake and tsunami, which knocked out vital cooling systems. Tepco officials repeated their insistence that the reactors had been crippled by the waves, but speculation has mounted in recent days that the quake itself had been responsible, casting doubt on Tepco's claims that the plant was able to withstand even the most violent seismic shifts. Tepco said it had been unable to confirm the meltdowns until it had finished analysing data, but Koichi Nakano, a political science professor at Sophia University, suggested the revelation was timed to minimise its impact on the public. "In the early stages of the crisis Tepco may have wanted to avoid panic," he told Reuters. "Now people are used to the situation … nothing is resolved, but normal business has resumed in places like Tokyo." Tepco's handling of the crisis will come under closer scrutiny with the arrival in Tokyo of a delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The UN nuclear inspectors will visit the Fukushima plant and present their findings at a meeting of ministers from IAEA member-states on 20 June. Tepco has suffered recent setbacks that may derail attempts to bring the plant under control in the next six to nine months, which is the deadline the firm announced just over a month ago. On Monday, it said makeshift containers being used to store tens of thousands of tonnes of contaminated water were almost full. The company has yet to complete a system to reprocess the water for reuse in the reactors, raising fears that contaminated liquid could leak into the sea. A Tepco spokesman said dealing with contaminated water that has gathered in reactor buildings and trenches could take until the end of the year, adding that the volume of water being used to cool the damaged reactors could rise to about 200,000 tonnes. Tepco is working with the French nuclear engineering firm Areva to reprocess the water. Japan's shift towards renewable energy, meanwhile, is expected to gather momentum later this week. The prime minister, Naoto Kan, will unveil plans at the G8 summit in Deauville, France, to require all new buildings to be fitted with solar panels by 2030, the Nikkei business newspaper said. Kan has already announced a comprehensive review of Japan's nuclear energy policy and ordered the temporary closure of an atomic plant in central Japan that is considered particularly vulnerable to earthquake damage. But he is also expected to tell G8 leaders that Japan will continue to use nuclear energy after making safety improvements. Some have criticised Kan and Tepco for failing to quickly release information about the extent of the damage at Fukushima Daiichi. "I am very sorry that the public doesn't trust the various disclosures the government has made about the accident," Kan told parliament. Separately, Italy's government voted by 313 votes to 291 to shelve plans for new nuclear power plants. Earthquake-prone Italy currently has no reactors, but pro-nuclear prime minister Silvio Berlusconi had planned to build new nuclear plants. He decided to scrap the plans following rising public concern after the disaster at Fukushima. | ['world/japan-earthquake-and-tsunami', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'world/japan', 'world/world', 'environment/energy', 'environment/environment', 'world/g8', 'world/italy', 'tone/news', 'world/asia-pacific', 'environment/fukushima', 'type/article', 'profile/justinmccurry', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/international'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2011-05-24T08:54:02Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2007/feb/14/kenya.conservationandendangeredspecies | Air-freight flowers greener than Dutch hothouses, say Kenyans | The British and Kenyan governments weighed into the growing debate over "food miles" yesterday, insisting it was ethically and environmentally sound to buy flowers from Kenya on Valentine's Day. There is increasing concern at the amount of carbon emitted by the fleets of aircraft that carry millions of flowers to Europe every day from the impoverished east African nation. People in Britain will buy 10,000 tonnes of roses today. Joseph Muchemi, the Kenyan high commissioner to Britain, said: "'Food miles' is a valuable concept but it must be looked at in the whole. It is neither fair nor sustainable to stigmatise certain goods purely on the basis that they have been freighted by air. 'Food miles', or the distance food has travelled, is on its own not a reliable indicator of the environmental impact of food transport." Hilary Benn, the international development secretary, said that while people wanted to buy ethically and do their bit for climate change, they often did not realise that they could support developing countries and reduce carbon emissions. "Recent research shows that flowers flown from Africa can use less energy overall than those produced in Europe because they're not grown in heated greenhouses. "So, this Valentine's day, you can be a romantic, reduce your environmental impact and help make poverty history. This is about social justice and making it easier, not harder, for African people to make a decent living." Mr Muchemi said Kenya provided 31% of Europe's cut flowers, directly employing 500,000 people and another million through auxiliary services. Air-freighted fresh flowers, fruit and vegetables from the whole of sub-Saharan Africa accounted for less than 0.1% of total UK carbon emissions, he said. Moreover, while the average Briton emits 9.3 tonnes of carbon a year, the average Kenyan is responsible for 0.2 tonnes. "European nations must look to reduce their emissions first before penalising African producers. A boycott of Kenyan roses or green beans would be disastrous for many Kenyan farmers, especially smallholders, and would do little to mitigate climate change." Mr Benn pointed to a recent study that showed emissions produced by growing flowers in Kenya, where it is warm and sunny, and flying them to the UK can be less than a fifth of those for flowers grown in heated and lighted greenhouses in the Netherlands, Europe's main producer of flowers. "Climate change is hugely important to the future of developed and developing countries but if we boycott goods flown from Africa we deny the poor the chance to grow; their chance to educate their children and stay healthy. "We in the west can have more impact on our huge carbon footprint by turning off our TVs at night and using energy-saving lightbulbs." Mr Muchemi said he was concerned that plans by European retailers to introduce labels on their products more clearly identifying their origin could hit Kenyan farmers. "We can't have a situation in which poor farmers in Africa pay the price for European carbon emissions. It's simply not fair to penalise African farmers." Environmentalists, though, are concerned about the ecological impact that flower growing is having in Kenya. As we report in Society Guardian today, the thousands of workers who have flocked to the shores of Lake Naivasha to work in the flower-growing areas are placing enormous strain on the local ecology, such that the lake could soon be polluted beyond use and have all but dried up in the next 10 to 15 years. David Harper, a University of Leicester ecologist, says the flower trade is devastating the area. "The lake is being destroyed at an alarming rate by the sheer pressure of people on it." He does not advocate boycotting Kenyan flowers but wants to see a "Fair Trade" system and "Fair Planet" label to highlight the problem. Its profits would be used to improve the lake's environment, he says. Food miles The idea of food miles is an extension of the argument that the further things are transported to Britain from other countries, the higher will be the amount of carbon dioxide emitted. The study mentioned by Hilary Benn yesterday, though, shows that the arguments can become complex if, in the case of fresh flowers, they are also produced in Europe but in heated greenhouses, which emit CO2 in far greater quantities than aircraft that bring flowers from Kenya. | ['environment/environment', 'world/kenya', 'business/business', 'environment/conservation', 'world/world', 'environment/endangered-habitats', 'world/africa', 'type/article', 'profile/ashleyseager', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/financial3'] | environment/endangered-habitats | BIODIVERSITY | 2007-02-14T08:11:07Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2022/feb/14/mumbai-marine-india-life-revealed-aoe | ‘Every time the tide recedes, it’s a new world’: Mumbai’s marine life revealed | A hidden forest of algae sponges and hydroids photographed at low tide; a stunning night image of green button polyps under ultraviolet light; and a beautiful shot of a honeycomb moray eel stuck on a ledge on a rocky shore. Mumbai may be a bustling metropolis, but photographer Sarang Naik’s aesthetic and vibrant images of marine life show a different side of the city. When Naik first started exploring the coast of urban Mumbai, India’s financial capital and home to Bollywood stars, he was astounded by the diversity of creatures that he came across – from hermit crabs, barnacles and a baby octopus to zoanthids (colourful disc-shaped relatives of coral) and prickly sea urchins. The intertidal zone or foreshore – where the land is exposed at low tide and is under water at high tide – is home to diverse marine life over different terrains, from mudflats to beaches and mangroves. “Most of my images have the creatures against the city in the background, reminding us that these creatures have been here way before us,” says Naik. “Even after three years of taking these shore walks, I am often blown away by the sight of some new coral or rare species. You don’t expect this kind of biodiversity in this concrete jungle.” Clockwise from top: a honeycomb moray eel stranded at low tide at Breach Candy; a nudibranch sea slug on coralline algae; zoanthids glowing in UV Light at Malabar Hill rocky shore; squid babies inside an egg mass; an Elysia sea slug feeding on algae in a tide pool Naik, who was born in the city, is a member of the Marine Life of Mumbai (MLOM), a collective of volunteers, marine biologists and enthusiasts co-founded by Pradip Patade, who played on Girgaum Chowpatty beach in southern Mumbai as a child. After he quit his job in human resources, Patade started teaching water sports and would walk along the shore taking pictures of the creatures he found there. He started MLOM with Abhishek Jamalabad, a marine biologist and certified diver, and Siddharth Chakravarty, an independent researcher in industrial fisheries, in February 2017. Exploring Juhu Beach at low tide Members upload their findings to iNaturalist, a biodiversity database accessed by expertsand have logged more than 484 species to date. MLOM’s Instagram page has records of sightings from common hairy crabs to pistol shrimp, nassa mud snails and even portuguese man o’ war. An octopus at Juhu Beach Jamalabad, who was born and raised in Mumbai, believes the intertidal zone has been largely neglected, not only in India, but across the world. “This is ironic because it’s one of the most accessible of all marine habitats and has a multitude of unique creatures. It also plays an important part in the ecology and lifecycle of creatures which live in the deeper parts of the ocean. “The Indian Ocean squid, a commercially important species, breeds and lays its eggs in the intertidal zone. Many reef fish spend their juvenile period in this zone to avoid predatory creatures. Many fishermen not only depend on the high seas for their catch but also on the intertidal zone. Oyster picking is restricted to this zone and is a female-dominated occupation, unlike fishing. It is also important for the physical integrity of the coast, as it keeps it safe from the impact of storms,” he says. Sejal Mehta, editor at MLOM, says that the resilience of the creatures found on Mumbai’s shores is constantly surprising. “As I started discovering the shores on different walks, from Haji Ali to Nepean Sea Road, what hit me was how prolific the marine life was in spite of all the plastic, sewage and marine pollution. It reminded me of the resilience of Mumbaikars who, despite all odds, thrive in this crowded and chaotic city. “Some creatures, like the gorgonian sea fan corals, which you expect to only see in crystal clear pristine waters, are found here along the shores. Every time the tide recedes, it’s a new world that you are looking at. It’s as dynamic as the ebb and flow of the tides,” she adds. A sea fan coral at Breach Candy; sponges, zoanthids, hydroids and algae at the Marine Drive shore; colourful nudibranch sea slugs Shaunak Modi, director of Coastal Conservation Foundation, a nonprofit organisation that evolved from MLOM in 2019 to extend the model beyond citizen science and take it to other parts of India, says: “Though I grew up close to Juhu Beach, the narrative was always about the pollution, dirt and garbage, and I never expected to find any life on these shores. On one of my shore walks, I saw a cratena sea slug, an alien-looking creature that wowed me and cemented my place in MOLM. I was amazed at how much biodiversity existed on these shores.” The diverse marine life exists despite the constant onslaught of development in the city. “We clearly should not build over the intertidal zone, but over 200 to 300 years this has been happening in Mumbai, with the shores getting landfilled for development,” says Jamalabad. The controversial Coastal Road project, which will run alongside the Arabian sea for 18 miles (29.2km), threatens corals and olive ridley sea turtles among other creatures, say campaigners. “There was a lot of noise about the corals and some of it was translocated, but what about the other creatures and their habitats that would be affected by this development?” says Modi. “The people who come on our walks are an extremely diverse bunch – from graphic designers to doctors and architects. All want to get to know their city better,” says Mehta. “Hopefully, this will translate into an increasing awareness and desire to protect the precious shores so that future generations can enjoy them.” Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield on Twitter for all the latest news and features | ['environment/series/the-age-of-extinction', 'world/mumbai', 'environment/coastlines', 'world/india', 'environment/marine-life', 'environment/coral', 'environment/environment', 'environment/biodiversity', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/wildlife', 'artanddesign/photography', 'world/south-and-central-asia', 'world/world', 'environment/oceans', 'science/biology', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/kalpana-sunder', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/topstories', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-age-of-extinction'] | environment/biodiversity | BIODIVERSITY | 2022-02-14T07:15:10Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
global-development/2019/sep/05/most-renewable-energy-companies-claims-mines | 'Most renewable energy companies' linked with claims of abuses in mines | Most of the world’s top companies extracting key minerals for electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines have been linked with human rights abuses in their mines, research has found. Analysis published by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC), an international corporate watchdog, revealed that 87% of the 23 largest companies mining cobalt, copper, lithium, manganese, nickel and zinc – the six minerals essential to the renewable energy industry – have faced allegations of abuse including land rights infringements, corruption, violence or death over the past 10 years. As the global economy switches to low-carbon technologies to combat global heating, demand for minerals could rise by as much as 900% by 2050, according to World Bank estimates. In order to prevent further human rights abuses, renewable energy companies urgently need to clean up their supply chains, said BHRRC senior researcher Eniko Horvath. “As the renewable energy sector finds its feet, it is crucial that it introduces rigorous human rights protections throughout its supply chains,” said Horvath. “This is essential in order to prevent abuse, retain the social licence to operate, and avoid costly delays due to local opposition.” The watchdog found no correlation between the existence of a company’s human rights policy and whether such a policy prevented it from receiving allegations of abuses, indicating that the current company policies were either insufficient or not adequately enforced in their supply chains. For example, the top five lithium companies have all had human rights abuse allegations made against them, yet only one company had a publicly available policy on human rights, BHRRC found. BHRRC’s deputy director, Marti Flacks, said that in many of the countries where minerals are mined, weak regulation, poor enforcement and lack of rule of law have meant many companies have escaped scrutiny. “Renewable companies need to do their due diligence no matter where they’re working. This is not just about one country or one mineral,” said Flacks. “The companies that develop these six minerals are by and large more medium-sized mining companies, which don’t have as extensive due diligence or human rights policies in place, nor have they faced the same kind of exposure the larger companies have had, which means they haven’t been subject to the same kind of scrutiny. “But the renewable energy sector is growing really fast and it has a chance to change the standards and practices of the industry. This is a unique chance to send the sector a message to say: ‘You have to do your due diligence, you have to have a human rights policy and you have to be engaging in multi-stakeholder initiatives, doing site visits, and most importantly talking to communities and NGOs to get accurate reporting of what’s going on.’” The highest number of allegations of human rights abuses took place in cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the report found, where 31 allegations were recorded between 2007 and 2019. Cobalt is a key component in electric car batteries, with more than 70% of the world’s cobalt mined in DRC. Tens of thousands of artisanal miners – a large number of whom are believed to be children – face dangerous working conditions, relocations and toxic pollution, reports have found. Copper, which is integral to wind turbines and solar panels, had the second highest number of human rights abuse allegations, said the report, with 22 allegations of human rights abuses, including harm to access to water and land rights, recorded in Zambia between 2010 and 2019. The BHRRC has launched a tracker tool to allow investors, businesses and civil society groups to trace the allegations made against companies mining the six key minerals for the electric car, solar and wind sectors. | ['global-development/series/exploitation-in-focus', 'global-development/natural-resources-and-development', 'global-development/global-development', 'global-development/human-rights', 'environment/mining', 'world/congo', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'world/africa', 'environment/energy', 'environment/environment', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/kate-hodal', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/global-development'] | environment/mining | ENERGY | 2019-09-05T08:00:07Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2017/may/17/air-pollution-kills-more-people-in-the-uk-than-in-sweden-us-and-mexico | Air pollution kills more people in the UK than in Sweden, US and Mexico | People in the UK are 64 times as likely to die of air pollution as those in Sweden and twice as likely as those in the US, figures from the World Health Organisation reveal. Britain, which has a mortality rate for air pollution of 25.7 for every 100,000 people, was also beaten by Brazil and Mexico – and it trailed far behind Sweden, the cleanest nation in the EU, with a rate of 0.4. The US rate was 12.1 for every 100,000, Brazil’s was 15.8 and Mexico’s was 23.5, while Argentina was at 24.6. The figures are revealed in the WHO World Health Statistics 2017 report, published on Wednesday, which says substantially reducing the number of deaths globally from air pollution is a key target. The report reveals outdoor air pollution caused an estimated 3 million deaths worldwide, most of these in low- and middle-income countries. Wealthy European nations had high levels of air pollution from fine particulate matter. The UK had an average of 12.4 micrograms of fine particulate pollutants (PM 2.5) for each cubic metre of air, which includes pollution from traffic, industry, oil and wood burning and power plants in urban areas. This is higher than the pollutant levels of 5.9 in Sweden, 9.9 in Spain and 12.6 in France. Germany had higher levels of particulate pollution than the UK at 14.4 and Poland’s was 25.4. Dr Penny Woods, chief executive of the British Lung Foundation, said the report confirmed that deaths from air pollution were higher in the UK than many other comparable countries. She said: “It is deeply tragic that around 3 million lives are cut short worldwide because the air we breathe is dirty and polluted. In the UK, air pollution is a public health crisis hitting our most vulnerable the hardest – our children, people with a lung condition and the elderly. “Yet, we are in the fortunate position of having the technology and resources to fix this problem. It’s time to use what we have to sort this problem out as a matter of urgency and clean up our filthy, poisonous air. The next government needs to bring in a new Clean Air Act to protect the nation’s lung health.” The worst countries for toxic air included India, where 133.7 deaths for every 100,000 people are attributed to air pollution, and Myanmar, where the rate was 230.6 deaths. WHO said: “Outdoor air pollution is a major environmental health problem affecting everyone in developed and developing countries alike. “Some 72% of outdoor air pollution-related premature deaths were due to ischaemic heart disease and strokes, while 14% of deaths were due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or acute lower respiratory infections, and 14% of deaths were due to lung cancer.” The World Health Organisation said it was up to national and international policymakers to tackle the toxic air crisis “Most sources of outdoor air pollution are well beyond the control of individuals and demand action by cities, as well as national and international policymakers in sectors like transport, energy, waste management, buildings and agriculture,” the WHO said recently. | ['environment/pollution', 'environment/environment', 'science/science', 'society/health', 'society/society', 'uk/uk', 'world/world-health-organization', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'environment/air-pollution', 'profile/sandralaville', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2017-05-17T18:00:16Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
theguardian/2015/feb/27/blame-for-landslips-and-floods-monbiot | What’s really to blame for landslips and floods | Letters | In response to George Monbiot (Our government’s big green idea: let’s subsidise natural disasters, 25 February): the Environment Agency is already using natural processes to tackle floods at source and reduce flood risk to communities. These range from increasing woodland areas, which intercept rain and absorb ground water, to using ponds to store excess water. Coastal schemes, such as the award-winning Medmerry managed realignment scheme, which works with natural tides to provide wetland habitat, are also a key way of working to reduce flood risk at source. We are currently piloting a number of land management schemes to slow the flow of water before it reaches rivers and reduce the risk of flooding in such areas as Belford in Northumberland and Pickering in Yorkshire. These schemes can be extremely effective, particularly when developed alongside more traditional forms of flood risk management and we will continue to use them where we can. There is an interconnection between the ways land is used and water is managed and we always seek to work in partnership with farmers and local authorities to support the right approaches. Pete Fox Director, Flood Risk Strategy and Investment, Environment Agency • Groundwater was the cause of the landslip at Harbury, Warwickshire, not (as George Monbiot claims) vegetation clearance. Harbury cutting sits on a mudstone bed which weathers to a high plasticity clay. There was a landslip in 2007 which not only removed the top 750mm of the slope face, but also all the trees along with it. Tackling the groundwater has been the main priority for the geotechnical experts and engineers. The failure plane (where movement occurred) at the landslip on Saturday 31 January was extremely deep, at a far greater depth than any root system could penetrate. Even if trees were still on the cutting at the time, they’d have been swept away along with the soil as happened in 2007. We’ve been moving heaven and earth to reopen the railway. We’ve so far removed 100,000 tonnes out of the estimated 350,000 tonnes of material from the site and are on track to have it open by Easter. James Dean Network Rail • George Monbiot makes the very good point that reforesting of upper catchment areas could significantly reduce the risk of flooding further downstream. But it may not be quite as simple as that. I remember reading a few years ago, during a severe drought, that a water company was seeking to clear forests in central Wales in order to give better flows further downstream where there was insufficient water for abstraction. Roger Hand Taunton, Somerset • George Monbiot is not quite correct in saying that farmers can clear land of scrub and deep vegetation, “trashing wildlife and exacerbating floods downstream” so that “farm subsidies” can be claimed on areas of “ineligible features”. The Environmental Impact Assessment (Agriculture) (England) (No 2) Regulations 2006 protect such areas, and a screening application must be submitted before any of the following are undertaken on “uncultivated land and semi-natural areas”: increased use of fertiliser or soil improvers; sowing seed; ploughing, tine harrowing or rotovating the land; draining land; clearing existing vegetation, either physically or using herbicides. Prosecution may result in a fine of up to £5,000 and the possibility of an order to return land to its former state. Payment of the common agricultural policy single payment may also be affected: it is only made if environmental protection rules are followed. John Davis Aberystwyth • Back in the 1970s, the secondary school where I taught in Hackney used to timetable small groups of pupils in a cottage in central Wales for a week’s field studies. Each year we included a visit for the geography and geology groups to the Clywedog dam, where the manager would ask them what purpose they thought the dam served. Then we would drive up to the summit of the Hafren forest, and look out on woodland as far as the eye could see. No student ever guessed the purpose of the dam and the forests was not for drinking water and timber, but to control the level of water along the length of the rivers Severn and Wye by holding back rain water. It was a satisfying moment of education to see their realisation. That was 40 years ago. Simon Clements Sheffield • Apropos manmade disasters that keep coming back: there may be an Indian analogue but the pitchfork quote I know is from Horace: Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret (“You can drive out nature with a pitchfork, but she’ll keep coming back”). Jinty Nelson London | ['environment/environment', 'tone/letters', 'environment/environment-agency', 'environment/farming', 'world/world', 'world/natural-disasters', 'world/landslides', 'environment/deforestation', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/forests', 'type/article', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/editorialsandreply'] | environment/deforestation | BIODIVERSITY | 2015-02-27T18:29:32Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2011/mar/09/feed-in-tariffs-good-news-for-small-investors | Feed-in tariff review is good news for small-scale solar power investors | The recent announcement of a review of feed-in tariffpayments for solar photovoltaic installations, prompted by fears over large-scale solar farms blowing the budget for Fits, was met with a chorus of disapproval from both the solar industry and environmentalists. However, last week, John Costyn from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) explained the reason for exploring an upper limit of 50kWp for entering the scheme: it's because that is the legal definition of micro generation. This reminder that the tariff is all about encouraging small installations in and for local communities – not big installations needing big money and generating big profits – suggests that the review should be welcomed instead. Mark Shorrock, from solar farm developers Low Carbon Solar and the landowner- and investor-backed campaign group Power to Society, has claimed that "scores of 'big society' community-owned schemes" are affected. In practice it's probably no more than a dozen schemes that are close to 100 kWp, and any limit must surely be adjusted to accommodate these. But let's be clear about how big a 50kWp installation is – up to 270 panels, a sizeable installation for any community building or social housing project. Every school in the country, for example, could spend up to £145,000 and gain an income, including free electricity, of £17,000 a year. Large-scale solar farms are claimed to be more cost-efficient but have few benefits compared with smaller installations. They don't generate electricity where it's needed and energy is lost in transmission. They are slower to construct due to planning and grid connection issues. More jobs are created installing a hundred 50kWp systems compared to one 5,000kWp solar farm and these smaller projects can be even more cost -fficient if they are grouped together. They also offer great opportunities to engage people in changing their behaviour around energy use. The Shimmer project based in Kingston-upon-Thames, for example, installs panels on the roofs of fuel poor households and helps tenants monitor their savings and build on them by using energy more efficiently. If venture capital funds lose interest in solar power, as has already been reported, then it's time to get creative and replace their money with the savings of tens of thousands of small investors through 'community share' schemes – such as those planned by Brighton Energy Co-op and Ovesco in Lewes, based on models successfully used for wind farms. Green Isas and pension plans should be encouraged not threatened, and used to develop renewable energy. At the Solar Co-op, we have raised finance for our first big installation from another cooperative and there must be hundreds more co-ops, charities, churches, trusts and other organisations interested in finding a safe, ethical home for their members' money. The early review has unsettled a lot of people who are striving to make community-funded installations a reality, but with the clarity that projects below 50 kWp will not be affected, there is still more than enough to be getting on with. • Kevin Frea works for the Solar Co-op | ['environment/feed-in-tariffs', 'environment/solarpower', 'environment/energy', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'environment/environment', 'money/money', 'money/energy', 'money/household-bills', 'money/consumer-affairs', 'uk/uk', 'tone/comment', 'type/article'] | environment/solarpower | ENERGY | 2011-03-09T16:10:17Z | true | ENERGY |
world/2022/may/24/ukrainian-farmers-war-food-insecurity-famine | ‘My house, the barns, I lost everything’: the Ukrainian farmers devastated by war | There was a gruelling artillery duel between Ukrainian and Russian troops, positioned just four kilometres apart. Right in the middle, between the two frontlines, stood Ivan Mishchenko’s farmhouse, with his dozens of cows and 100 hectares (247 acres) of wheat fields, transformed into a bloody battleground for five consecutive days in early March. “Two kilometres on the right were the Russian troops, two kilometres on the left were our troops,” said Mishchenko, 66, whose farm lies in the countryside around Pochepyn, a small village north of Kyiv. “They were shooting so hard, as if it was some kind of computer game. The first two days I stayed in the house, but then it was so insufferable that I had to leave. When I returned, I was in shock. My house, the warehouse, the barns ... were all destroyed. I lost everything.” Mishchenko, who has livestock and grain fields, is one of hundreds of Ukrainian farmers whose businesses were devastated by a war that has unleashed economic devastation in the country and threatened famine elsewhere. And like other farmers in Ukraine, his few hectares of surviving wheat fields cannot be harvested due to the shortage of fuel in the region and after his harvester and other machinery were destroyed by shelling. Silos and ports across Ukraine are brimming with more than 20 million metric tonnes of grain and corn that has nowhere to go, with Russia blockading the country’s Black Sea coast and the exit routes for Ukraine’s grain. Ukraine used to export most of its goods through seaports but since Russia invaded the country, it has been forced to export by train or via its small Danube River ports. As a result, global wheat prices leaped by 20% in March, owing to the direct impact of the war on wheat production, with the world facing a worsening state of food insecurity and malnutrition, at a time when 42 million people were already one step away from famine. David Beasley, the executive director of the UN World Food Programme, which feeds 125 million people and buys 50% of its grain from Ukraine, appealed to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin: “If you have any heart at all, please open these ports.” “This is not just about Ukraine,” Beasley said last week. “This is about the poorest of the poor who are on the brink of starvation as we speak.” “The war will absolutely cause grain shortage and perhaps hunger,” says Mishchenko. “We already have problems, because even those farmers who managed to sow their fields, they simply don’t have enough fuel to harvest. Another problem – fertilisers; we used to import them from Russia and Belarus, not enough fertiliser means you harvest 20-30% less.” Before the Russian invasion, Ukraine served as one of the world’s leading breadbaskets – exporting roughly 4.5m tonnes of agricultural produce per month through its ports, including 12% of the planet’s wheat, 15% of its corn, and half of its sunflower oil. Last year, Ukraine produced about 33m tonnes of wheat, of which it exported about 20m tonnes, making it the sixth largest exporter globally. This year, with the situation as it stands, according to the satellite analysis company Kayrros, which uses artificial intelligence combined with data from satellites to monitor commodities, the wheat harvest in the country is likely to be down by at least 35% compared with 2021. “I don’t know how to survive,” says Mishchenko, who toured the world before the war with a Ukrainian folk choir. “The government doesn’t have the money to help us rebuild. All the money goes to the army.” The cannon shots of both Russian and Ukrainian artillery destroyed his warehouse, the shed where he worked the grain and the house where he lived with his wife and son, Roman, 42. At least 20 of his cows were shot, the carcasses still lying inside the stables, which were also destroyed. The livestock that survived the bombings have been reduced to skin and bones after a blast incinerated tons of hay. The war not only destroyed Mishchenko’s business. It also took his son-in-law away from him. “He volunteered to join the army and was killed defending Marakiv.” Like many other Ukrainian farmers, Mishchenko will have to start rebuilding everything from scratch. A few days ago, he launched a crowdfunder, and is hoping to resume his business as soon as possible. Mishchenko was one of the first independent growers in Ukraine, after the fall of the Soviet Union. When he bought this piece of land with his wife, back in the early 1990s, all they had was a tiny trailer. Today, the trailer is the only structure left standing after shelling, and that’s where Mishchenko and his son live today. “Thirty years after I built all this, I am back in that trailer,” he said. “All my life – everything I have built with my own hands in these 30 years, was destroyed, in just one moment.” Artem Mazhulin, AFP and Reuters contributed to this report | ['world/ukraine', 'world/russia', 'world/europe-news', 'world/world', 'global-development/famine', 'world/unitednations', 'world/vladimir-putin', 'environment/farming', 'business/fooddrinks', 'world/global-food-crisis', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/lorenzo-tondo', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-foreign'] | environment/farming | BIODIVERSITY | 2022-05-24T09:36:34Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
world/2010/aug/09/floods-mudslides-drought-extreme-weather | Floods and mudslides on three continents, as drought hits Africa | Regions across the world have been buffeted by extremes of weather, drought and floods. Sometimes an area is hit by one extreme, followed soon after by another, Niger being a case in point. In the case of floods in Pakistan, the Met Office says high pressure over Russia has forced the jet stream much further south than usual this year and this pattern has remained almost stationary over recent weeks. Therefore low pressure has been sitting over Pakistan longer than normal, intensifying the monsoon rains. "The extremes of rainfall are getting heavier and are entirely consistent with climate change predictions," said Helen Chivers, a spokeswoman with the Met Office. Asia In China rescuers used shovels and bare hands as they struggled today to save survivors of a major mudslide in the north-west, where blocked roads hindered vehicles trying to reach the disaster scene. At least 337 people were killed and 90 injured when landslides and flood waters engulfed Zhouqu county in Gansu province late on Saturday night. But with more than 1,100 people still missing, the death toll is likely to grow. Flooding across many provinces has killed more than 1,450 people this year and forced 12 million to flee their homes, but the Zhouqu landslide is the worst single incident. Experts had warned of the dangers of soil erosion in the area, known to be prone to mudslides. In spring south-western China was hit by drought, described as the worst in a century. In June south-east China, which had also endured drought, was hit by devastating floods. Southern China experiences flooding almost every summer, but the Beijing climate centre says extreme weather events have increased in recent years, with longer droughts and rain falling in more intense and damaging bursts. Pakistan's floods were caused by monsoon rains, described as the worst since 1929. The Pakistan meteorological department said that at one point 12 inches (300mm) of rain fell over a 36-hour period. Water levels in the river Indus, which cuts down the middle of Pakistan and has most of the population huddled around it, are said to be the highest in 110 years. The torrents, having ravaged the north-west, are now gushing deeper into Pakistan. The authorities have evacuated people living alongside expanding rivers as forecasts predicted further heavy rain that could worsen the country's flood crisis. The UN has raised its forecast of the number of people affected to six million and said the scale of the crisis was similar to the 2005 earthquake that hit northern Pakistan. About 1,600 people have died in the floods. Africa A severe drought is causing increasing hunger across the Eastern Sahel in west Africa, affecting 10 million people in four countries. In Niger, the worst-affected country, 7.1 million are hungry, with nearly half considered highly food insecure because of the loss of livestock and crops coupled with a surge in prices. Last year exceptionally heavy rainfall destroyed crops and devastated this year's harvest in the region. The resulting fall in production in staples like maize, millet and sorghum has affected much of West Africa's Sahel – fragile in the best of times – including neighbouring Chad and northern Nigeria. Latin America In April floods and mudslides struck the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, after the heaviest downpours in four decades, leaving at least 212 people dead. The favelas, the shanty towns built on the hillsides of the city of Rio de Janeiro, were badly hit. Floods struck again in June, this time in the states of Alagoas and Pernambuco, over 1,200 miles north-east of Rio de Janeiro. At least 1,000 people were unaccounted for. Europe Southern Poland suffered its worst flooding in decades in May after heavy rains engorged rivers sending torrents of water through Bogatynia in south-west Poland and Görlitz in eastern Germany. The UK experienced the driest first six months of the year since 1929, which led to the imposition of a hosepipe ban covering 6.5 million people in north-west England. Russia experienced generally dry and hot weather starting around late May. Temperatures of 35C (95F) first occurred after 12 June, which alone was abnormal for the country, as average mid-June temperatures seldom rise above 30C ). Moscow and St Petersburg both recorded temperatures as high as 42C on 3, 4 and 5 July. Average temperatures in the region increased to over 35C. In early August, President Dmitry Medvedev declared a state of emergency in seven regions as firefighters struggled to contain about 600 blazes covering an estimated 309,000 acres (125,000 hectares). | ['world/natural-disasters', 'environment/flooding', 'environment/drought', 'environment/environment', 'world/wildfires', 'world/world', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'profile/marktran', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/international'] | environment/drought | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2010-08-09T22:21:25Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2022/aug/29/male-dolphins-form-lifelong-bonds-that-help-them-find-mates-research-finds | Male dolphins form lifelong bonds that help them find mates, research finds | Dolphins form decade-long social bonds, and cooperate among and between cliques, to help one another find mates and fight off competitors, new research has found – behaviour not previously confirmed among animals. “These dolphins have long-term stable alliances, and they have intergroup alliances. Alliances of alliances of alliances, really,” said Dr Richard Connor, a behavioural ecologist at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and one of the lead authors of the paper. “But before our study, it had been thought that cooperative alliances between groups were unique to humans.” The findings, published on Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, appear to support the “social brain” hypothesis: that mammals’ brains evolved to be larger in size for animals that keep track of their social interactions and networks. Humans and dolphins are the two animals with the largest brains relative to body size. “It’s not a coincidence,” Connor said. Connor’s team of researchers collected data between 2001 and 2006 by conducting intensive boat-based surveys in Shark Bay, Western Australia. The researchers tracked the dolphins by watching and listening to them, using their unique identifying whistles to tell them apart. They observed 202 Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus), including during the peak mating season between September and November. Back in the lab, they pored over data focusing on 121 of these adult male dolphins to observe patterns in their social networks. And for the next decade they continued to analyse the animals’ alliances. Dolphins’ social structures are fluid and complex. The researchers found alliances among two or three male dolphins – like best friends. Then the groups expanded to up to 14 members. Together, they helped each other find females to herd and mate with, and they help steal females from other dolphins as well as defend against any “theft” attempts from rivals. “What happens as a male, you might be in a trio, herding a female. And if someone comes to take that female, the other males in your team and your second-order alliance come in and help you,” said Dr Stephanie King, professor in animal behaviour at Bristol University and one of the authors of the study. “These males have a very, very clear idea of who is in their team.” These teams can last for decades and are formed when the dolphins are still young, although they do not tend to reap the rewards of paternity until their mid-teens, King said. “It’s a significant investment that starts when they’re very young – and these relationships can last their entire lives.” Sometimes, especially when dolphin groups feel there is a risk to themselves, two second-order alliances will also come together to form a larger team. As a result, among the dolphins observed by the scientists, every male was directly connected to between 22 and 50 other dolphins. The researchers’ observations show that in these groups, the tighter the clique – and the stronger the bonds between the dolphins – the more success they have attracting females. It’s their cooperative relationships, rather than alliance size, which gives males more breeding success, said King. It is already widely known that dolphins are highly social and cooperative, as well as being remarkably good at adapting to and teaching behaviour specific to their environment, said Stephanie Venn-Watson, former director of Translational Medicine and Research at the National Marine Mammal Foundation in San Diego, California, who was not involved in the study. “One would not rule out the possibility that other cetaceans could develop similar alliances,” said Venn-Watson. “These complex behaviours will likely be limited to large-brained mammals.” According to the researchers behind the paper, this is the only non-human example of these kinds of strategic multilevel alliances to have been observed. But these findings also highlight the cognitive demands these animals face, suggesting that dolphins’ large brains help them to keep track of the different relationships, Connor said. “I would say that dolphins and humans have converged in the evolution of between-group alliances – an incredibly complex social system,” said Connor. “And it’s astonishing because we are so different from dolphins.” | ['environment/series/seascape-the-state-of-our-oceans', 'environment/dolphins', 'environment/cetaceans', 'environment/marine-life', 'environment/wildlife', 'environment/environment', 'science/biology', 'science/science', 'science/zoology', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/sofia-quaglia', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/global-development'] | environment/wildlife | BIODIVERSITY | 2022-08-29T19:00:05Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
world/2023/may/31/nova-scotia-wildfires-canada | ‘Unprecedented’ Nova Scotia wildfires expected to worsen, officials warn | Officials in the province of Nova Scotia say unprecedented wildfires that have forced thousands from their homes will keep growing despite the “water, raw muscle power and air power” deployed by fire crews. As of Wednesday, more than 20,000 hectares of the Maritime province were burning from 13 wildfires, including three fires that considered out of control. More than 18,000 people remain under evacuation order outside Halifax, the region’s largest city. More than 200 structures, the majority of which are homes, have been destroyed by the fire. No fatalities have been recorded. Hot, dry and windy conditions have seen the fire near the community of Tantallon grow to 837 hectares. Temperatures are expected to hit more than 30C this week, giving little respite to fatigued crews. “Today could possibility be a very difficult day,” David Steeves of the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources told reporters. “Today could be a day that is very dangerous for the folks on the ground.” Dave Meldrum, deputy chief of Halifax regional fire and emergency, said exhausted crews have been using “water, raw muscle power and air power” to fight the blazes since Sunday, using three helicopters and fire fighters from the city, province and department of national defence. Even after four days, the fires remains out of control. For a province that typically measures the total amount of the region burned in hundreds of hectares, the record-breaking Barrington Lake blaze, stretching more than 20,000 hectares and still growing, has pushed Nova Scotia’s scarce resources to the brink. The largest ever fire recorded in Nova Scotia was in 1976 and measured 13,000 hectares. “We’ve got more fires than we have resources to support them,” Scott Tingley, manager of forest protection at Nova Scotia’s department of natural resources, said during a news conference, adding the province is prioritizing safety and human life ahead of infrastructure. The prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said images of people fleeing their homes are “heartbreaking” and pledged federal assistance. On Tuesday, the Nova Scotia premier, Tim Houston, announced a ban on all activity in the province’s forests, including hiking, camping, fishing, hunting, the use of off-highway vehicles and logging after six illegal burns were reported on Monday evening. “For God’s sake, stop burning. Stop flicking cigarette butts out of the car window. Just stop it. Our resources are stretched incredibly thin right now fighting existing fires,” Houston said. “This is absolutely ridiculous with what’s happening in this province … It’s mind-boggling.” On Wednesday, the province’s natural resources minister said the conditions Nova Scotia in are “unprecedented” and expected to worsen. “Everything lined up for a perfect storm, if you will,” Tory Rushton told the CBC. “The dry winter, dry spring, perfectly warm breeze and warm weather in the spring has certainly not helped our province at all with this fire season.” He said Barrington Lake fire had so far destroyed 40 structures, but added the size and speed of the fire made it difficult for officials to gauge the true scope of damage. Officials are hopeful that rains forecast for the weekend will slow the largest fires and give crews a better chance at controlling the blazes. | ['world/canada', 'world/wildfires', 'world/world', 'world/americas', 'environment/environment', 'world/canada-wildfires', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/leyland-cecco', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-foreign'] | world/wildfires | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2023-05-31T16:05:06Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
business/2012/jan/12/derry-newman-solarcentury-chief-executive | Derry Newman of Solarcentury: 'I do not want to look back with regret at 60' | It is not hard to imagine what a former Sony boss used to the trappings of a five-star corporate lifestyle would think of Solarcentury's offices. The renewable energy company's HQ is sandwiched between a betting shop and a newsagent offering money transfers in the colourful but scruffy market that shares the road behind Waterloo station in London. Derry Newman made that journey. The softly spoken but steely Welshman went from head of European operations at the Japanese electronic group with more than 3,500 staff to a job at Solarcentury, where he had responsibility for 65 employees. "It was a shocking change," says the chief executive who gave up half his salary and company car to join a company that he has turned into one of Britain's fastest growing businesses, with a team that has almost doubled to 120 staff in his time there. But Newman is now about to embark on another brave leap of faith: into unemployment. The official reason the 54-year-old is quitting is that he wants to spend more time with his family. That is often a euphemism for a boardroom bust-up but in this case reflects the fact that both he and his wife have had health problems: "There have been times when my wife has had illness and I have had to rush back from business trips abroad, and we don't want to be in that position again." His decision to leave Solarcentury in April, announced to the staff on Thursday, is not just about taking his marital duties seriously, it is also about looking after his children, himself – and the company. "One of the first things I will do is go out and buy a dog for my son. I have committed to do that for him – but only when I had time to look after it properly. I have had 33 years at senior-level appointments when I have not been able to support the family in the way that I should or could have done. I do not want to get to the age of 60 and look back with regret." But Newman is also influenced by the fact that Solarcentury is at a turning point. The company, which is more often associated with its founder and chairman Jeremy Leggett, will hear in the appeal court on Friday whether the government had the legal right to cut the feed-in tariff (FIT), which reimburses small renewable energy generators, in the middle of a consultation period. Solarcentury and a group of other renewables firms won an earlier judgment against the Department of Energy and Climate Change and they expect to win again. But the reality is that any judgment over this decision will not stop the industry here being badly hit. The FIT is to be cut in half and new rules on insulation standards will rule out 90% of UK properties from receiving solar panels in future, argues Newman, who describes the move as "draconian". Solarcentury needs to find new markets in Asia and elsewhere fast, and the current says he is not the man for that job. "I do not want to find myself in a position where I am financially secure but emotionally bankrupt and physically not able to do what is needed for the business. The demands on a chief executive these days are extreme. There is a need to give financial returns to investors, there are kneejerk reactions from governments and the need to keep the staff together. Anyone who leads a company and thinks they can take all this in their stride is fooling themselves. It inherently chips away at you and causes emotional and spiritual stress." Newman, born in Port Talbot and educated in engineering at Southampton, questions whether António Horta-Osório, the group chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group who recently took time off work due to fatigue, was right to rush back, and Newman says he does not want to end up like Steve Jobs, the Apple boss who kept on working despite having pancreatic cancer and being already one of the richest men in the world. There are serious challenges at Solarcentury but Newman says he is leaving the company with no debt and a strong pipeline of contracts including high-profile ones such as the setting-up of new lighting for Blackfriars station in London, involving the installation of more than 4,400 solar photovoltaic panels on a bridge over the Thames – which the company says will be the biggest solar array in London. And, although he must be looking forward to cutting out the commute from his home in Fleet, Hampshire, he reflects: "Whoever comes in will have a rare privilege. There are few companies where the staff all have absolute passion for their work." | ['business/energy-industry', 'business/series/fridayinterview', 'business/business', 'environment/solarpower', 'environment/energy', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'environment/environment', 'tone/interview', 'type/article', 'profile/terrymacalister', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/financial3'] | environment/solarpower | ENERGY | 2012-01-12T20:00:04Z | true | ENERGY |
commentisfree/2020/mar/22/australia-faces-coronavirus-global-architecture-indigenous-people-sharks | How Australia faces up to the coronavirus, global architecture, and sharks | Rowan Moore | Recovery on hold Mallacoota, in the Australian state of Victoria, has the jump on most of us when it comes to confronting the apocalypse. This is a town whose people, last New Year’s Eve, had to retreat to the beach to escape the fires that threatened it. Some of its houses are wrecked, their timber frames burned away, their metal cladding scrunched like tissue paper. Which makes it all the more striking that one of the first acts of restoration has been to install a brand-new public barbecue facility, with pristine picnic tables and emerald grass, a few feet from a backdrop of charcoal trees next to a river mouth polluted by ash. I am not sure if this work is mad or touching – possibly both. To drive from Sydney to Melbourne, via the scenic coastal routes, is to alternate between shock and hope. You can travel all day through damaged forests, but the underlying beauty of the landscape endures. Native trees have a remarkable ability to sprout green shoots from their charred trunks, so that seemingly dead wood is swathed in new life. Locals tell you they’re grateful you’ve come, which makes it all the more heartbreaking that this latest catastrophe will stop tourism once again. Faulty towers As for almost everyone, the past few weeks have been about adjusting to realities that change every day. I went to Australia to join my daughter, who has been living there for six months, and we were to travel the country before she and her boyfriend set off on an ambitious Asian tour. I have never planned a trip in more detail, half of which is now unpicked. A fortnight ago we decided – wrongly as it turned out – that it was still reasonable to see a show at Sydney’s opera house (it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance, we told ourselves). A week ago I was having a drink in a Melbourne bar with a friend of a friend, while my daughter explored the idea of sitting out the pandemic in Bali. At the time of writing we were due to be camping in Australia’s red centre. Then the realisation dawned that we might not get home at all if we didn’t leave soon. So, here I am, contemplating a pale sun fighting to penetrate a London sky, the desert horizons having contracted to the saw-tooth backs of London terraces. It’s not supposed to be possible to like both Sydney and Melbourne, one allegedly more superficial, the other more sophisticated. I claim a tourist’s prerogative to enjoy both, but Melbourne – which lacks the icons and setting to impress itself on the world’s consciousness – is the more intriguing. It has aspects of both American and British towns, a Houston-Eastbourne fusion which, I hasten to say, is also definitively Australian. Like London, it reveals itself through a series of contrasting districts. Like London, its recent skyline is atrocious, made of gimmicky glass towers delivered in both cities by much the same cohort of investors, developers and consultants. Which only goes to show that this junk is global. Aboriginal sin Wherever you go, you encounter awkward proclamations of respect for the indigenous people who formerly lived in a given location. You hear them before the show starts at the Sydney Opera House, along with announcements about turning off mobile phones, and at the entry to some caves in the hill town of Buchan. You read them in signs in Melbourne’s neo-Gothic cathedral or in the preserved bit of wilderness that is the Yarra Bend park. Such statements don’t include the possibility that the land might ever be handed back, of course, which is what makes them awkward, but I guess it’s better to have this acknowledgment than not. A day out on the coast, south of Melbourne near the towns of Hastings and Rye. Also Safety Beach, renamed in the 1960s from Shark Bay, on account of the (admittedly harmless) creatures who swam around nearby. Apparently the old name deterred visitors. Rebranding, you might say – one way to deal with unwelcome information. • Rowan Moore is the Observer’s architecture critic | ['commentisfree/series/observer-notebook', 'commentisfree/commentisfree', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'world/coronavirus-outbreak', 'world/wildfires', 'world/world', 'tone/comment', 'type/article', 'profile/rowan-moore', 'publication/theobserver', 'theobserver/news', 'theobserver/news/comment'] | world/wildfires | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2020-03-22T07:00:00Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/jun/30/amazon-brazil | Fate of the Amazon hangs in the balance | Siân Herbert | A special committee in the Brazilian parliament is poised to vote on a new report which, if approved, could pave the way for looser regulation on land use and deforestation. As the mania of the World Cup unfolds on the streets of Rio and election season kicks in, debate on the issue is not getting the attention it deserves. There are growing demands to postpone the vote until next year, when a fairer vote could be held. But there are many interests at play. Political expediency and politicking are rife and the reformed legislation could win approval at the plenary by 16 July this year. So why is this important? Brazil is a powerhouse for agricultural and commodity exports. However, it is also home to some of the world's richest areas of biodiversity. Brazil's future depends on the balancing of these two interests. Environmental legislation is therefore as important to Brazilian development as the World Cup is to Kaka. The Brazilian forestry code, established in 1965, is widely touted as one of the most advanced environmental laws in the world. It sets strict limits on land use in areas of high biodiversity. Landowners are required to maintain 80% of their land in its natural state in the Amazon, 35% in the Cerrado (savanna terrain) and 20% in the Mata Atlântica (known as the Atlantic Forest). The complex issue of re-evaluating the law has caused serious controversy, with strong arguments on both sides. The debates have led to a standoff between the powerful Brazilian agricultural lobby, known as the Ruralistas, and a group of politicians and NGOs who support the original forestry code, known as the environmentalists. The Ruralistas have been pushing for reform of the forestry code for many years, claiming that it stifles economic development and the agricultural sector's competitiveness. They argue that the code is unfair, making agriculturalists and indigenous people, who are often subsistence farmers, into "environmental criminals". This is a pertinent issue. The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) estimates that over 30% of Brazilians live in poverty – and a disproportionately high amount live in the Amazon. With a population of 20 million, there is an urgent need to raise living standards in the region. But really, would a reform of the forestry code actually help the Amazon's poorest? Call me a cynic, but the dash to dismantle the forestry code looks like it's more in the interest of agribusiness than anyone else. Also, remember that the degradation of environmental resources disproportionately affects the poor, especially subsistence farmers. The reality of the situation is that, since inception, the forestry code has not even been successfully enforced. Landowners often fall foul of the regulations and levels of illegal deforestation are high. According to some estimates, one-quarter of the Brazilian Amazon has already been subjected to deforestation or damage. In an effort to cut down on illegal activity, a new land registry system came into force in January this year. The government now has a photographic database monitoring land use; this includes a system of fines for noncompliance. Considering the rampant disregard for the forestry code, hefty fines hang over the heads of some powerful Brazilian people. It seems somewhat coincidental that just as a system of fines is set up to punish illegal land use, a change to the forestry code is being rushed through. The special committee's final report, written by the Communist party's Aldo Rebeldo, suggests 11 changes to "relax" the forestry code. These include: allowing federal states to determine land use limits; allowing landowners to cultivate larger areas of land; and offering an "amnesty" to landowners who have already been fined for illegal deforestation. The committee is aiming to push the vote through next week, despite mounting concerns over its inconvenient timing. It is reported that the Ruralistas make up more than half of the members on the committee. The report has been given the red card by environmentalists who warn that the revised legislation could allow up to 80% of the Amazon to be cut down. Greenpeace and Ipam (Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazônia) estimate that this could lead to carbon emissions of 25-31 billion tonnes from the Amazon alone. This could jeopardise Brazil's commitment, made at Copenhagen, to reduce carbon emissions by 39% before 2020. They also strongly criticise the idea of an amnesty for illegal deforesters. This would essentially penalise those who originally complied with the law. The turbulent debates over the past month have also elevated the profile of the Green party presidential candidate, Marina Silva. Silva reiterates the overwhelming concern that polarising legislation must not be voted on in an election year. In the rush to win votes and election funding, politicians are cautious of taking positions on controversial issues. It's undeniable – the debate is being stifled in Brazil. But the fate of the Amazon should not just be swept under the carpet. It's too important for the agriculturalists and the environmentalists alike. It's too important for the future of Brazil. | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'environment/forests', 'environment/deforestation', 'environment/farming', 'environment/environment', 'commentisfree/cif-green', 'world/brazil', 'world/world', 'tone/comment', 'environment/amazon-rainforest', 'world/americas', 'type/article', 'profile/sian-herbert'] | environment/deforestation | BIODIVERSITY | 2010-07-03T09:00:35Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
tv-and-radio/2021/apr/26/tv-tonight-a-street-reveals-its-dirty-secrets-in-viewpoint | TV tonight: a street reveals its dirty secrets in Viewpoint | Viewpoint 9pm, ITV Noel Clarke stars in this voyeuristic thriller as DC Martin Young, who is tasked with keeping watch on the prime suspect for a missing persons crime by staking out his street in Manchester. In tonight’s opening episode, Young and his partner, Beckett, set up camp in the home of single mum Zoe (Alexandra Roach) and soon realise they are witnessing the entire road’s secrets play out. As Young illicitly leaves his post and Zoe covers for him, the pair begin to establish a bond. Continues nightly until Friday. Ammar Kalia Dom Digs In 11am, BBC One Many of us now have a fresh appreciation for essential workers. In this series, Dominic Littlewood tries his hand at various jobs, perhaps discovering that presenting TV shows isn’t the hardest thing he could be doing. He begins on a ferry, processing freight between Northern Ireland and England. Phil Harrison Greta Thunberg: A Year to Change the World 9pm, BBC One For the third and final leg of her journey, the teenage climate activist is in Brussels taking the EU parliament to task. But as Europe goes into lockdown, coverage of her speeches is replaced in the headlines with pandemic news. Even so, the need for action is still urgent. Ellen E Jones Baby Surgeons: Delivering Miracles 9pm, Channel 4 Prof Basky Thilaganathan of St George’s hospital is the miracle worker in question here. He brings a whole room to a standstill as he lasers an unborn baby’s tumour while the mother is awake, and performs a caesarean for a couple who have restricted growth. An absorbing watch. Hannah Verdier Starstruck 10.45pm, BBC One Comic Rose Matafeo co-writes and stars in this charming sitcom as twentysomething Jessie, who discovers she has had a one-night stand with a movie star, Tom (Nikesh Patel). We open on a chance encounter between the pair in a men’s bathroom on New Year’s Eve. All episodes are available on iPlayer. AK Dreaming Whilst Black 11.10pm, BBC One As part of BBC Three’s Comedy Slice slate of pilots, Adjani Salmon co-writes and stars in this continuation of his popular web series following film-maker Kwabena (Salmon), as he tries to get his script made while navigating his family’s disappointment at his choice of career. First, he has to endure his boring day job. AK Film choice Ray & Liz (Richard Billingham, 2018), 11.20pm, Film4 The photographer Richard Billingham made his name in the 90s with remarkable images of his parents in their Black Country council flat. Now comes this gruelling, impressionistic film, in which he looks back at his brutal childhood with neglectful dad Ray (Justin Salinger) and mum Liz (Ella Smith). Simon Wardell Live sport Snooker: the world championship 1pm, BBC Two. Two second-round matches. IPL cricket: Punjab Kings v Kolkata Knight Riders 3pm, Sky Sports Main Event. T20 match from Narenda Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. Premier League football: Leicester City v Crystal Palace 7pm, Sky Sports Main Event. From King Power Stadium. | ['culture/series/watchthis', 'tv-and-radio/tv-and-radio', 'culture/culture', 'tv-and-radio/crime-drama', 'tv-and-radio/drama', 'culture/television', 'tv-and-radio/documentary', 'tv-and-radio/comedy', 'tv-and-radio/factual-tv', 'environment/greta-thunberg', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/simon-wardell', 'profile/ammar-kalia', 'profile/phil-harrison', 'profile/ellen-e-jones', 'profile/hannah-verdier', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/g2', 'theguardian/g2/tvandradio', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-culture', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-g2-production'] | environment/greta-thunberg | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2021-04-26T05:20:27Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
australia-news/2022/mar/29/australia-federal-budget-2022-flood-recovery-spend-6bn-four-years-nsw-queensland-floods-disasters-lismore-northern-rivers-south-east-qld-emergency-response | Budget reveals flood recovery spend to top $6bn in four years after NSW and Queensland disasters | Commonwealth spending on flood recovery will top $6bn over the next four years, as budget papers reveal the federal government will again dip into its Emergency Response Fund and spend the maximum annual allocation of $150m in the upcoming financial year. The Morrison government’s decision to spend the entire Emergency Response Fund annual allocation in the 2022-23 financial year comes 11 days after it backflipped on its long-held resistance to accessing the $4bn pool of funding when it announced it would withdraw $150m for the current financial year. While the first withdrawal from the fund was to be split evenly between the New South Wales and Queensland governments to pay for recovery efforts, budget papers state that $150m from the fund to be spent in 2022-23 will be provided to “fast track recovery and post-disaster resilience”. The government will engage the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), at a cost of $10.4m over two years, to identify the most promising projects for flood mitigation in the NSW northern rivers region. Tuesday’s federal budget included a comprehensive flood package, which outlined a raft of new measures including providing two additional $1,000 Disaster Recovery Payments to residents in catastrophically impacted areas who have already claimed their initial payments. The government believes these two additional payments will cost $245m in coming months, and take its total spending on disaster payments as a result of the floods to $450m by July. The government will also spend $10m over four years on a program called Resilient Kids, designed to deliver mental health care and trauma education to primary and secondary students in the NSW northern rivers affected by recent floods. Childcare providers in flood affected communities will receive $22.1m to help them continue operations, while the commonwealth will provide $5m in “targeted support” to non-government schools in NSW and Queensland affected by the floods. Small businesses affected by the floods will also be able to access free financial counselling, at a cost of $800,000, while the government will give $1.7m to Emergency Management Australia to integrate with the National Resource Sharing Centre “to better share resources and capability information across states and territories and the Commonwealth during large-scale disasters”. While the government’s plans for spending on floods are less clear after the upcoming financial year, it has budgeted to spend a further $3bn in disaster payments and allowances related to this year’s NSW and Queensland floods by June 2026. One reason for this large anticipated spend is because the commonwealth pays up to 75% of the cost of public assets, such as rebuilding roads. In announcing the flood package, the emergency management minister, Bridget McKenzie, said “we are listening to communities and providing funding for support where it is needed most”. “These budget initiatives will play a critical role in supporting disaster-impacted local communities and businesses to recover as quickly as possible and be better prepared for future events,” McKenzie said. The Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, in his budget delivery speech said the flood package “will deliver hope, work and the prospect of returning to a better life”. “Nothing I say can overcome the personal pain and loss of so many Australians. We will stand with these communities and help them rebuild,” Frydenberg said. A large share of the commonwealth’s expected $6bn total spend on floods by June 2026 include reimbursing the NSW and Queensland state governments for joint-funding efforts previously announced. The NSW and federal governments had previously announced jointly funded measures including a $100m package for small and medium businesses in the LGAs of Lismore, Ballina, Byron, Kyogle, the Richmond Valley, Clarence Valley and Tweed. They have also announced $35m in rural landholder grants, $150m for the primary industry sector to protect supply chains, $142m for property assessments and demolitions, $300m to pay for cleaning up debris, and $285.2m for temporary housing packages including motor homes and housing pods. The Queensland and federal governments have so far jointly funded $558.5m in measures, including $75,000 grants for primary producers, $50,000 grants for small businesses and non-profits, and $20,000 for sporting and community clubs. | ['australia-news/australian-budget-2022', 'australia-news/australia-east-coast-floods-2022', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/environment', 'australia-news/brisbane', 'australia-news/australian-politics', 'australia-news/scott-morrison', 'australia-news/coalition', 'australia-news/queensland', 'australia-news/new-south-wales', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/elias-visontay', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | australia-news/australia-east-coast-floods-2022 | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2022-03-29T09:12:44Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
world/2014/jul/17/sydney-melbourne-least-tree-biggest-cities | Sydney and Melbourne have least tree cover of biggest Australian cities | Tree cover in Sydney and Melbourne is lagging far behind Hobart, Brisbane and Darwin thanks to burgeoning development in Australia’s two largest cities, a report has found. The study, conducted by the University of Technology Sydney, found that Hobart was the “greenest” capital city in the country, with 59% of the Tasmanian capital covered by tree canopies. Brisbane, at 49%, and Darwin, at 28%, make up the top three cities. Melbourne and Sydney took out the bottom two positions, at 13% and 15% respectively. In the first study of its kind, researchers measured the area covered by trees in each city using software which calculates the composition of urban areas from aerial images. The software, called iTree, was used to analyse the make-up of 139 local government areas which comprise the more densely populated areas of Australia, containing 68% of the country’s population. Overall, the average urban area contains 39% tree canopy cover, with just 8% made up of “hard surfaces” – buildings, footpaths, car parks and bodies of water. The rest is comprised of shrub area and sites cleared for development, pastures and lawns. The report was commissioned by 202020 Vision – a group that aims to increase Australia’s urban green space by 20% by 2020. Sydney and Melbourne came bottom of the list due to their rapid rate of development, while a relative lack of high-rise buildings in Hobart helped the city to the top of the pile. “Some of the older, more established cities which haven’t been built up rapidly have the higher densities of tree cover,” Anthony Kachenko, of the National Urban Forest Alliance, told Guardian Australia. “Sydney and Melbourne are built-up cities with a lot of competition for space. They have to think more strategically about their green spaces. “In Brisbane and Darwin, we’re seeing a high percentage of canopy cover to help cool the cities down. Australia is projected to warm in the future, so other areas may look to go down the same path, to use tree canopies to provide relief from the heat. Western Sydney is certainly an area that could look to do this.” Local government areas with a high proportion of concrete rather than trees include Fremantle in Western Australia and Maribyrnong in Victoria. | ['australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/environment', 'environment/forests', 'world/asia-pacific', 'cities/cities', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/oliver-milman'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2014-07-17T05:40:47Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
travel/2001/mar/06/netjetters2000sam.netjetters | Week 13: Sydney to Uluru | Getting off the plane at Alice Springs was like stepping into a furnace. The sun was beating down out of a clear blue sky, but the surrounding landscape was a scorched ochre. The temperature was over 40C. It was like a wall of heat. I sweated my way to the relief of the air-conditioned terminal. I had come to the centre of Australia to go on a three-day outback camping tour, taking in some of the highlights of the Northern Territory, including Uluru (Ayers Rock), the Olgas and Kings Canyon. Alice Springs has grown up around the tourist trade, and there were plenty of hotels lining the road from the airport. As soon as I got to my hostel I dived into the shade and stayed there until the sun dropped and the temperature became slightly more normal. The next morning, I was up at 6am to meet my bus. I was travelling with Sahara Tours. There were 19 in our group and Dave, an Englishman who had emigrated to Australia 12 years ago, was our guide. Australia is vast and it takes a really long time to get anywhere. We had to drive for 400 kilometres to reach Uluru: it took most of the day. We passed camel farms and stopped at isolated roadhouses to stock up on cold drinks. We saw Aboriginal ranchers herding cattle along the highway. At one point, a dust devil made up of whirling red sand and tumbleweed swept across the road in front of us. Arriving in the Ayers Rock resort, we sorted ourselves out in the campsite and then went to have a look round the Aboriginal Culture Centre. Uluru is of immense religious significance to the Aboriginal community; they believe that such features were formed during the Dreamtime - or creation - when their ancient god-like ancestors moved through the landscape. There are numerous stories about Uluru and the battles and incidents that formed it - many of which are known only to the local people (look at Sam's photos). The displays in the centre explained that the Aboriginals regard Uluru as a spiritual place: it is part of them, and as such they would prefer people to respect their ancestors and not climb it. This caused some debate among our group as we drove out to the sunset viewing area. Tomorrow we would have the opportunity to see the rock up close, and climb it if we wished. Sunset was impressive, but still a bit of an anti-climax for me. Everyone has seen Uluru on television or in magazines and inevitably, the reality does not live up to your expectations (particularly when you have to share the experience with busloads of other tourists). The next morning we were up at 4.30am, and it was still dark as we made our way to the start of the path up Uluru. On seeing the sheer face and the flimsy rail that ran up the steep incline, I was more than happy to respect the Aboriginals' wishes and stick to the walk round the base. There was no one else about. As I gradually made my way around, the rock changed from grey to a deep, vibrant red. In the early morning light and the strange stillness that envelops Uluru, I began to understand its significance to the Aboriginals. Back on the bus we were headed for the Olgas when I suddenly realised that I had dropped my hat. This was not good news. It would be madness to go out in the sun without some sort of protection. Clearly I would have to improvise. A little later, tourists getting off the other buses were treated to the sight of an odd-looking character coming down from the hills. Was it Yasser Arafat on holiday? Laurence of Arabia, perhaps? No, it was me with a tea towel round my head. It actually worked quite well: I could put my head under the tap and soak the cloth to keep myself cool. This was the first time I had encountered the sort of heat that could kill you. There were plenty of stories about people expiring among the rocks because they hadn't taken enough water with them. Dave made sure we were all carrying plenty - at least a couple of litres each - when we ventured out. Back at the campsite, I slept out under the stars - partly for the experience and partly to get away from the extremely poisonous redback spider that was sharing my tent. Next day began with another early morning rise in order to get to Kings Canyon before the heat made walking unbearable. The canyon turned out to be another ancient rock feature with a beautiful green oasis and a deep, dark pool sandwiched between the steep rock sides. We dived in to cool off - it was lovely. Then it was back to the bus for the long, hot drive to Alice Springs. In the evening the group all met up for the traditional goodbye meal in a local bar. I tried kangaroo steak (if you are interested, it tastes like a slightly tougher version of veal). And the following day, with not a little trepidation, I caught the plane to Perth for my connecting flight into Africa. Until next week... | ['travel/netjetters2000sam', 'travel/netjetters', 'travel/travel', 'travel/netjettersblog', 'type/article'] | travel/netjetters2000sam | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2001-03-06T17:58:30Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
australia-news/2024/mar/27/kim-beazley-urges-tanya-plibersek-to-reject-woodside-lng-plant-extension | Kim Beazley urges Tanya Plibersek to reject Woodside LNG plant extension | The former Labor leader Kim Beazley has joined other ALP luminaries in calling on the federal environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, to protect culturally important Indigenous rock art on Western Australia’s Burrup peninsula by refusing to extend the life of a major fossil fuel development by nearly 50 years. Beazley, the former WA Labor premiers Carmen Lawrence and Peter Dowding, and the ex-ALP national president Barry Jones have signed a letter to Plibersek asking her to reject Woodside’s attempt to extend the life of the North West Shelf liquified natural gas processing facility until 2070. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup The letter, also signed by Indigenous elders, scientists and crossbenchers, said the LNG plant could lead to 4.3bn tonnes of CO2 once the gas was exported and burnt, and this impact on the climate would be “several times greater than the combined savings expected from all climate policies introduced by the Albanese government from now until 2030”. “On this ground alone, the proposal should be rejected,” it said. It said the plant was also likely to have a “profound and irreversible” impact on the Murujuga cultural landscape, which has been proposed for a world heritage listing and includes more than 1m ancient petroglyphs, making it “the largest and oldest outdoor art gallery on earth” and “one of the world’s most significant cultural heritage landscapes”. “It includes the oldest known depictions of the human face, and a documented record of over 50,000 years of continued coexistence between Aboriginal people and their physical and spiritual environment,” the letter said. The extension of the life of the LNG plant is being considered by the WA appeals convener, which will make a recommendation to the state climate action minister, Reece Whitby. The project also needs federal approval. The federal environment department has paused its assessment after asking Woodside for more information. Beazley was a senior minister under Bob Hawke, deputy prime minister under Paul Keatin, and the Labor leader for nearly eight years between 1996 and 2006. The letter he signed is dismissive of assessments of the Burrup Hub undertaken by Woodside and the WA government, describing them as “parties with declared interests in the ongoing proliferation of industry on the Burrup”. It said Plibersek had a unique responsibility to ensure the protection of Australia’s “most precious heritage places for current and future generations”, and compared it to the Hawke government’s decision to save the Franklin River in Tasmania from being dammed. A spokesperson for Plibersek said her legal responsibility in assessing developments meant she could not comment on the specifics of the proposal, but the government was strongly committed to protecting the Murujuga cultural landscape and proud to help nominate it for inclusion on the world heritage list. “This precious part of Western Australia is of immense cultural and spiritual significance with thousands of years of continuous culture and practice,” the spokesperson said, adding: “It is a spectacular and deeply important area that deserves to be recognised for its significance.” Plibersek’s spokesperson said the WA government had announced there would be no further new development on the Burrup peninsula and that 254 hectares would be transferred to the Murujuga national park, including four land parcels that had previously been set aside for industry. The Burrup Hub gas expansion consists of six projects that each need separate approval. An Australian Conservation Foundation report last week found the full expansion, including opening the Browse and Scarborough gasfields, could be the southern hemisphere’s largest new fossil fuel project. | ['australia-news/western-australia', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'australia-news/labor-party', 'australia-news/tanya-plibersek', 'australia-news/indigenous-australians', 'environment/fossil-fuels', 'campaign/email/afternoon-update', 'artanddesign/indigenous-art', 'australia-news/woodside', 'business/gas', 'environment/gas', 'environment/carbon-emissions', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/conservation', 'australia-news/australian-politics', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/adam-morton', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/carbon-emissions | EMISSIONS | 2024-03-26T14:00:18Z | true | EMISSIONS |
sustainable-business/2017/jul/06/troubling-fire-record-uk-recycling-plants | The troubling fire record of UK recycling plants | Fire crews were called out on Tuesday to extinguish a major fire at a waste plant in the West Midlands town of Oldbury. It’s very likely another recycling centre will be calling the fire services this month. There were on average more than 300 fires per year at waste and recycling plants in the UK between 2001 and 2013. In May, 40 firefighters tackled a blaze that burned for two days at a recycling plant near Rotherham. The same month, 24 residents were evacuated from their homes in Manchester after computer parts went up in flames at a recycling plant in Swinton. As well as representing an obvious danger to human life, these fires pose a major environmental hazard and impose a significant cost on business in property damage. Most waste sites are “well run”, says Nicky Cunningham, deputy director for waste regulation at the Environment Agency, and awareness of fire risks is increasing. Yet the combustibility of the materials destined for recycling centres – paper, plastic, wood, cardboard and so on – means it’s impossible for waste businesses to take too many precautions. “Where sites create an unacceptable risk, we will take enforcement action, including prosecutions if necessary,” says Cunningham. Improving the troubling fire record of the UK waste sector is the subject of new guidance from the Waste Industry Safety and Health Forum WISH (pdf). Recommendations in the report range from installing sprinklers and other fire-extinguishing systems though to training staff in fire-fighting tactics and evacuation procedures. Investment in fire prevention equipment doesn’t come cheap. UK waste firm Renewi, for instance, is investing £10m to improve fire safety at its 36 British recycling plants over the next three years. In an industry hit by tight margins, finding the up-front investment for fire prevention equipment represents a real challenge for many companies, says Chris Jones, director of risk management at waste firm Cory Energy. “Even so, capital expenditure remains really important. If you build a major recycling facility and you haven’t spent between 10% and 20% on fire protection, then you’ve got to ask why,” he states. But expensive equipment will never offset poor on-site management. If a facility is full of dust, or if recycled materials are stacked too high or too close together, no amount of state-of-the-art prevention systems will put it out. “There’s no management voodoo to it,” says Jones. “It’s just hard work.” Instances of fire would radically reduce if authorised waste firms followed the fire prevention plans that they are now obliged to draw up under Environment Agency rules, according to Mark Andrews, who leads the Chief Fire Officers Association’s work on waste fires. “The problem is that firms often store excessive amount of waste in single stacks and don’t leave sufficient distance between them. If there’s a fire, it’s virtually impossible for the fire service to get in and put it out,” Andrews says. While blame can be placed on accidents and sloppy practice by registered waste firms, industry negligence is not the only cause. One big problem for the sector is illegality. Hundreds of fly-by-night firms operate across the UK, with little or no concern for fire prevention. The issue of illegal waste sites and fly-tipping has become a bête noire for Amanda Milling, Conservative MP for Cannock Chase. Milling has called for a review of rules about illegal waste sites after one such site in her constituency went up in flames late last year. After more than eight months, it’s still smouldering. “Illegal waste sites are growing in number across the country,” says Milling, who would like to see police enforcement and penalties stepped up. The general public isn’t without fault either. A large proportion of fires are caused not by what happens behind the walls of waste facilities, but what passes through their gates. The inclusion of “hot or hazardous materials” in kerbside recycling cause nearly one third (31%) of all fires in waste and recycling facilities, according to WISH. Chief culprits include hot ashes, lithium batteries, gas cylinders, flammable liquids and aerosols – the latter being cited by fire services at this week’s Oldbury fire. Lithium batteries are a particular concern, according to Stephen Freeland, policy manager at the Scottish Environmental Services Association. He says: “It’s been causing us no end of bother and it’s getting worse as these batteries are appearing in all sorts of electrical products.” A potential solution is to place an electronic tag on batteries so that waste firms can detect them if they enter the conventional waste stream. The Environmental Services Association is currently lobbying battery manufacturers to introduce such technology, but without success so far. Darren Shelford, an expert on the waste industry at UK insurance broker Marsh, admits that the risk of fires at waste sites can never be fully eliminated. As he concludes: “Only through collaboration with stakeholders, technical experts, insurers, and the public will 21st century solutions to this age-old risk be found.” | ['sustainable-business/series/circular-economy', 'sustainable-business/sustainable-business', 'environment/recycling', 'uk/firefighters', 'environment/environment', 'environment/ethical-living', 'uk/uk', 'environment/waste', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'politics/amanda-milling', 'profile/oliver-balch', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-professional-networks'] | environment/waste | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2017-07-06T11:50:18Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
environment/blog/2010/feb/17/iphone-app-climate-change | iPhone app pitches climate change science against scepticism | Leo Hickman | I'm not sure this is going to quell the climate wars raging at present, but it's an interesting development nonetheless. An Australian solar physicist called John Cook, who runs the popular Skeptical Science website, has developed an app which "lets you use an iPhone or iPod to view the entire list of skeptic arguments as well as (more importantly) what the science says on each argument". So the next time you're caught at the fag end of a wedding reception in an interminable one-way conversation with a reactionary uncle who's boring on about how "the climate's always changed", just switch on this app, hand them your iPhone, and proceed to the bar. In reality, of course, this is hardly likely to win round any sceptic, least of all your worse-for-wear uncle who, with or without the evidence presented to him by this app, will still continue to swear blind that climate change is a fiction made up by a clandestine world government-in-waiting because he's read about it all on his favourite blog, which just so happens to be frequented by an army of other reactionary uncles. One suspects this app will only act to increase the polarisation between the two sides of this "debate". (Still think a debate's going on? When was the last time you heard someone from either side say, "Thank you for this information. Actually, I'd never thought of it like that before. I'm now prepared to change my mind on climate change.") For example, Climate Realists, a site manned by sceptics such as weatherman Piers Corbyn, is already jumping up and down in horror at the news of the app's release: "WARNING! There is an iphone app trying to put down what we have to say under the heading of 'Skeptical Science'. We need as many of you as possible to promote that this iphone app is yet another attempt to discredit 'Climate Realists'. We can only hope the general public can see through this as a cheap trick to prop up the FAILED SCIENCE OF MAN MADE CLIMATE CHANGE. Climate Realists need another iphone app that shows our side of the argument as it is, rather then what a supporter AGW thinks it is! Please send this message to all known friendly sites that support our side." This call to arms appears to have worked as the first reviews on the iTunes app store are deeply negative. This is what the reviewer "GabesiPod" said: "This is app from an AGW [anthropogenic global warming] supporter and just supports his views and NOT the views of SKEPTICS! I find that iPhone apps have mislead people, in that, the name of the product is NOT what it is claimed to be. This is a cheap trick to support the FAILED SCIENCE OF AGW, AND HAS NO SCIENTIFIC VALUE. This app should be withdrawn!" Just what is it with sceptics and their love of block capitals? So what does this app actually do that is proving so unpalatable to the folks at Climate Realists? This is how it works, according to Cook: "You browse arguments via the Top 10 most used arguments as well as 3 main categories ('It's not happening', 'It's not us', 'It's not bad'). When you select one of the 3 main categories, a list of sub-categories pop up. You can then select any category to see the skeptic argument, a summary of what the science says and the full answer including graphs plus links to papers or other sources. A novel inclusion is a feature that lets you report when you encounter a skeptic argument. By clicking on the red ear icon (above left, shown to the left of the skeptic arguments or above right, next to the headline), the iPhone adds another hit to that particular skeptic argument." The app currently has rebuttals to 90 sceptic "arguments", which include many of the classics, such as "There is no consensus", "Models are unreliable", "It hasn't warmed since 1998", "Ice age predicted in the 70s", "CO2 lags temperature", "It's freaking cold!", "CO2 is not a pollutant" and so on. According to the site, the most frequently cited sceptic argument is "It's the sun". You can read Skeptical Science's rebuttal to this particular argument online . This might shock some people, but I happen to agree with the sentiment underlying the request issued by Climate Realists for sceptics to build their own rival app. I think it would be very constructive if they compiled a one-stop shop for all their arguments with full references and citations so that everyone could assess them calmly and dispassionately. This would be done away from the white heat of the blogosphere cauldron where people can make any claim they choose and know it has the ability to stick – as proved just this week with the shameless, wilful twisting by the Daily Mail of climatologist Phil Jones's remarks to the BBC about whether there has been a statistically significant rise in global temperatures since 1995. I await with bated breath. | ['environment/blog', 'environment/environment', 'tone/blog', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/climate-change-scepticism', 'technology/apple', 'technology/iphone', 'technology/technology', 'tone/comment', 'technology/apps', 'type/article', 'profile/leohickman'] | environment/climate-change-scepticism | CLIMATE_DENIAL | 2010-02-17T07:00:02Z | true | CLIMATE_DENIAL |
environment/2023/may/17/scots-have-the-right-idea-about-roaming | Scots have the right idea about roaming | Letters | It is sad to read that right to roam only applies to 8% of land in England (92 constituencies in England allow no right to roam, data shows, 13 May). No wonder Westminster politicians will be debating this huge barrier to the enjoyment of nature on 18 May. Why is such access so limited in England when the opposite is true in Scotland? Here, public access rights apply to most land and water, even around our own densely populated cities, so long as we follow the Scottish Outdoor Access Code. Today’s Westminster politicians need to come north and learn about access to nature. The annual prime ministerial visit to Balmoral provides the perfect opportunity. King Charles can demonstrate how rights of public access apply to most land and water on the Balmoral estate and in the surrounding hills, woods and fields, whether on foot, bike or horseback. If the king and any member of the public can exercise right to roam in this way, then the prime minister should return south with a determination to deliver equal rights of access to nature for all citizens. England deserves no less. Dave Morris Kinnesswood, Kinross • The distribution of Labour and Tory MPs follows lines of Labour success in urban areas and Conservative in rural. It should be no surprise, therefore, that it is Conservative constituencies that have any land to roam on at all. While the report does not detail what green space is counted in cities, where I live in Manchester the council has a policy for how much green space there should be by population, a useful measure in planning, vindicated by the pandemic. A more egalitarian way of quantifying right to roam would be what percentage of green space is available to roam in each constituency, otherwise it would appear that having a large piece of the pie only means you have to share less of it. Laura Collier Manchester • Were I a ground-nesting warbler, I would look askance at Guy Shrubsole’s campaign for a right of access to the majority of land. Right to roam in England means, to most, right to roam with my dog, and these panting predators disturb and disrupt vast swathes of potential nesting sites. This has been exacerbated by the recent sharp rise in dog ownership, and the seeming unwritten right to own a dog, whatever the circumstances. For the sake of our birdlife, I am grateful for military sites and well-managed hunting estates. Tom Lerwill Bronygarth, Shropshire • Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section. | ['environment/access-to-green-space', 'lifeandstyle/walking', 'environment/environment', 'lifeandstyle/hobbies', 'uk/scotland', 'politics/conservatives', 'politics/labour', 'politics/politics', 'environment/wildlife', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/letters', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/letters', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/wildlife | BIODIVERSITY | 2023-05-17T16:44:18Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
uk-news/2019/jan/07/weatherwatch-why-cold-weather-is-still-a-killer-in-the-uk | Weatherwatch: why cold weather is still a killer in the UK | In an affluent, educated country like the UK it is surprising that there is still a large spike in the number of people who die in cold weather because they cannot afford to heat their homes or do not understand the danger they are in. Last winter there were 50,100 excess deaths in England and Wales, many of which were entirely preventable. Most of those who die unnecessarily are older adults who have not kept themselves warm enough. People living on low pensions faced with ever-higher fuel bills were at greatest risk. These people are often tenants rather than homeowners who live in badly insulated properties and cannot afford their heating bills. Added to that there is a widespread lack of knowledge about how being cold can affect your heart, lungs and circulation. This risk is greater for older people who do not move about much. Apart from educating people and tackling fuel poverty, research found that it was the local community that could do most to halt this loss of life. Those at risk did not take much notice of leaflets but listened to advice from personal contact. Of most help were local doctors, nurses and people in the neighbourhood who took an interest in the welfare of those at risk. | ['uk/weather', 'news/series/weatherwatch', 'society/older-people', 'society/fuel-poverty', 'society/poverty', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/paulbrown', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-weather'] | news/series/weatherwatch | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2019-01-07T21:30:24Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2023/sep/07/how-hole-ozone-layer-affected-summer-rainfall-tibet | How hole in ozone layer affected summer rainfall in Tibet | Repairing the ozone hole didn’t just help reduce the risk of skin cancer; it also reversed unwelcome effects of the climate crisis. Every summer heavy rains bubble up along the southern edge of the Tibetan plateau, but during the 1980s and 1990s the amount of rain increased significantly, raising the risk of flooding and landslides in Nepal and northern India. Thankfully, since the mid-1990s the trend has reversed. A study shows that the increase and subsequent decrease in Tibetan summer rainfall were linked to changes in ozone levels in the upper atmosphere. Using long-term measurements of rainfall and stratospheric ozone, researchers were able to model the interactions between ozone and climate and demonstrate that falling ozone levels in the upper atmosphere brought about a cooling effect in the lower stratosphere, which helped to accelerate convection and generate more rain. Their results, published in Geophysical Research Letters, show that the effect was particularly pronounced along the southern edge of the Tibetan plateau. Rainfall patterns in this region have far-reaching consequences, with 200 million people in Nepal and northern India directly depending on the summer rains. The new model will help improve seasonal forecasts, and better management of water resources for agriculture, hydroelectric power, industry and everyday water needs. | ['environment/ozone-layer', 'world/tibet', 'world/india', 'world/nepal', 'news/series/weatherwatch', 'world/world', 'world/south-and-central-asia', 'environment/environment', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/kate-ravilious', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-weather'] | news/series/weatherwatch | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2023-09-07T05:00:17Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
media/greenslade/2008/apr/03/councilconsidersclamponfre | Council considers clamp on freesheets | A London council is seeking to limit the number of free newspapers being distributed outside tube stations. According to a Camden council spokeswoman, the publishers of thelondonpaper and London Lite - News International and Associated Newspapers respectively - have been informed that the council may introduce controls to regulate the distribution of free literature within the borough. She said the council is considering a report recommending controls. She told told the Camden Gazette: "Although the council has seen a positive improvement, it is still being recommended that it brings in these controls. Our main concerns are the volume of litter the papers create, the obstruction to people on our pavements and the cost to the council for emptying litter bins more frequently." But Westminster council, which once considered imposing similar controls, reached an agreement with both publishers to inroduce recycling banks. Camden council may give the idea a trial too. Around 800,000 copies of the two freesheets are distributed across central London every weekday evening. Several key distribution points are within the Camden borough, including Holborn, Kings Cross, St Pancras and Camden Town. Environmental campaigners against the free papers, Project Freesheet, carry our regular walkabouts to highlight the problem of increased litter on London's streets. | ['media/greenslade', 'media/pressandpublishing', 'media/free-newspapers', 'environment/waste', 'media/media', 'environment/environment', 'uk/uk', 'society/localgovernment', 'tone/blog', 'media/newspapers', 'type/article', 'profile/roygreenslade'] | environment/waste | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2008-04-03T08:00:00Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
environment/2022/jul/08/overexploitation-wild-species-sustainability-un-report-aoe | Wild species support half of world’s population, report finds | Wild plants, animals, fungi and algae support half of the world’s population but their future use is threatened by overexploitation, according to a new assessment by leading scientists. From the 10,000 known wild species that humans harvest for food to the firewood that one in three people need for cooking, nature is key to the livelihoods and survival of billions of people in developed and developing countries, says a new UN report. Amid a global food crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the study offers insights into how humans can more sustainably use resources from ecosystems, drawing on more than 6,200 sources, about 200 contributing authors and holders of Indigenous and local knowledge, with a summary approved this week by 139 countries in the German city of Bonn. They found that about 50,000 wild species are known to be used for medicine, energy, food, building materials, recreation and Indigenous cultural practices, upon which 70% of the world’s poor directly depend. Examples of the damaging practices include unsustainable fishing and logging, which have left one in three fisheries overexploited around the world and one in 10 tree species threatened with extinction. Plant groups such as cacti, orchids and cycads are particularly at risk, and unsustainable hunting has been identified as a threat to the survival of 1,341 wild mammal species, especially pronounced in large-bodied species with low reproduction rates. The report also highlights lessons from sustainable practices around the world. The authors point to the early recovery of bluefin tuna in the Atlantic Ocean after the collapse in stocks in the 1990s and 2000s, and the more sustainable fishing of the enormous pirarucu fish in the Amazon, which involves community-based management. The exploitation of the Earth’s natural resources is one of the five main drivers of the destruction of biodiversity, according to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (Ipbes), often referred to as “the IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] for biodiversity”. The new report also considered the future use of wild species and found that climate change, increasing demand and the improving efficiency of extractive technologies pose a significant challenge. Dr Marla Emery, who co-chaired the assessment, said: “Half of humanity uses and benefits from the use of wild species. Their sustainability is essential for biodiversity conservation, and for human wellbeing. “The information we have compiled gives us a great deal of hope, as well as models for how we can have more sustainable use of wild species in the world.” The report, compiled over four years by 85 experts, underscores the importance of Indigenous and local knowledge in ensuring the sustainable use of wild species. The use of wild species is also an important income source for millions of people. Before the pandemic, protected areas received 8 billion visits a year and generated $600bn (£500bn) annually. The legal trade in wild plants, algae and fungi is a billion-dollar industry. Dilys Roe, head of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s sustainable use and livelihoods specialist group, said the standout finding of the report was the importance of wild species to billions of people, particularly to Indigenous and local communities. “We have heard a lot about bans on the wildlife trade, a ban on wild meat consumption and so on, and I think this assessment really makes clear how key sustainable use of wild species is to human wellbeing,” she said. “It’s not just about subsistence use for local people. It also talks about commercial use and recognises the revenue generated from wild species as an important source of income, which is a really important incentive for conservation.” The sustainable use of biodiversity is one of the three pillars of the UN convention on biological diversity, which will hold the Cop15 meeting in Montreal this December to agree targets on halting biodiversity loss, including those relating to the sustainable use of biodiversity. Roe said an important limitation of the report was the lack of data about species that humans consume and exploit, but that existing information included in the assessment indicated that more often than not, human practices were sustainable. “That’s a slightly different story to the one that we normally get told, which is usually much more negative,” she said. “But it does highlight the huge need for better information.” Writing about the assessment for the Guardian, the UK government’s chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, said the report provided compelling evidence that humans were overexploiting wild species, and that governments must act at Cop15 to halt the decline. “The last decade’s targets were not met; the next decade’s must be. Credible delivery plans will be required, and we need a robust mechanism for monitoring progress and holding ourselves to account,” he writes. “This is our chance to secure long-lasting agreements to protect our planet.” Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield on Twitter for all the latest news and features | ['environment/series/the-age-of-extinction', 'environment/biodiversity', 'environment/environment', 'environment/wildlife', 'science/fungi', 'world/unitednations', 'world/world', 'science/biology', 'science/science', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/food', 'world/brazil', 'world/americas', 'environment/deforestation', 'environment/forests', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/patrick-greenfield', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-age-of-extinction'] | environment/wildlife | BIODIVERSITY | 2022-07-08T12:56:00Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
sport/2021/nov/17/tom-harrison-facing-county-revolt-over-ecb-handling-cricket-racism-scandal | Tom Harrison facing county revolt over ECB’s handling of racism scandal | Tom Harrison faces the prospect of a county rebellion and possible calls to resign amid growing anger over the England and Wales Cricket Board’s handling of the Yorkshire racism scandal. Harrison, the governing body’s chief executive, will head into a game-wide meeting at the Oval on Friday under significant pressure following his bruising time in front of the digital, culture, media and sport select committee on Tuesday. The 49-year-old struggled to justify the response to Azeem Rafiq’s allegations of racism at Yorkshire last year. MPs criticised the ECB for its decision to let the club run its own investigation, only stepping in to suspend Headingley from hosting Test matches and start its own probe once it became clear that no action would result. Harrison and the ECB insisted this was down to the governing body’s role as the sport’s regulator. But one senior county administrator told the Guardian there is a growing belief in the game that this “train wreck” session in parliament has only served to highlight the structural flaws in the sport’s governance and the need for reform. Though the fates of executive roles at the ECB are technically decided by its independent board of directors, the meeting on Friday to discuss the sport’s ongoing crisis could lead to enough of the ECB’s 41 members – the 18 first-class counties, the National Counties and MCC – pushing for change at the top. This occurred when Ian Watmore was forced to resign as ECB chair last month after the controversial decision to call off the planned tour of Pakistan by England’s men and women and his struggle to lead on the issue of next year’s county structure. It may be that with Watmore still to be replaced – Barry O’Brien is interim chair, but missed the DCMS select committee due to ill health – Harrison survives, even if the £2.1m bonus pot he and other senior executives are due to share next year, in spite of financial losses and redundancies, remains a source of much disquiet in the game. While Harrison battles to remain in place, Rafiq has reiterated his call for Yorkshire to remove Andrew Gale and Martyn Moxon but show clemency towards Gary Ballance if the former England batsman displays remorse. Speaking the day after his landmark evidence session, Rafiq shared a belief that “the floodgates” could now open for “hundreds or thousands” of similar allegations of racism in county cricket and urged the sport to listen to and support those who come forward. Certainly the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket, set up by the ECB in March to probe discrimination from the professional level down to the grassroots, has received more than 1,000 responses since its call for evidence began on 9 November. This will feed into a report due for publication next summer but at Headingley things will have to move quicker. Both Gale, the Yorkshire head coach, and Moxon, the director of cricket, were implicated in Rafiq’s evidence and the former England Under-19s captain sees no way back for the pair. “I don’t think Martyn and Andrew can [continue],” Rafiq said during a round of broadcast interviews. “I don’t think it’s possible for Yorkshire to move forward with them in there, with them knowing full well what role they played in that institution. They had an opportunity yesterday to come down here under parliamentary privilege to get their side of the story across and they didn’t.” Gale is suspended by Yorkshire as it looks into an antisemitic tweet posted 11 years ago but in the 57-page witness statement published by DCMS is accused by Rafiq of using racist language and being “aggressive and rude” towards himself and Adil Rashid in ways “he wasn’t with white players”. The 37-year-old, who swapped the captaincy for the head coach role in 2016, has so far declined to comment. But, along with Moxon, alleged to have not acted on Rafiq’s initial reporting of racism and bullying, he is unlikely to survive the expected clearout of backroom staff under the club’s new chair, Lord Kamlesh Patel. Rafiq was more optimistic about Ballance, however. The former club captain is accused of regularly using racist language, including the word “Kevin” to describe people of colour, and could yet be forced out despite signing a new three-year contract in September. “I think Gary – if he apologises properly, has some sort of acceptance – I feel he should be given some sort of accountability, whatever that may be,” Rafiq said. “I think he should be allowed to play.” Alex Hales, said by Rafiq to have named his black dog “Kevin” in reference to Ballance’s use of the word, released a statement on Wednesday denying the rumour and spoke of his respect for the former’s spinner’s plight. Meanwhile, Tim Bresnan is the subject of an inquiry by his employers Warwickshire, having apologised to Rafiq for bullying but also denied the alleged use of racist language at Yorkshire that emerged in Tuesday’s evidence. The 36-year-old former England seamer was hailed as a key dressing-room influence during this year’s County Championship title victory but Warwickshire’s chair, Mark McCafferty, and Stuart Cain, the chief executive, are now keen to speak to Rafiq to hear more details of their time together. According to a club source, Bresnan has now pulled out of a teammate’s stag party this weekend in order to “lie low”. Essex are also conducting investigations into two separate allegations of historical racism at the club, while other counties are braced for similar cases in the coming weeks as the sport’s reckoning continues. | ['sport/ecb', 'sport/azeem-rafiq', 'sport/yorkshire', 'world/race', 'sport/cricket', 'sport/sport', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/ali-martin', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/sport', 'theguardian/sport/news', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-sport'] | sport/ecb | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2021-11-17T19:55:31Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
sustainable-business/cradle-to-cradle-certification-benefit-business-study | Study looks at business benefits from cradle to cradle certification | Anyone who has ever read the seminal book, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, might wonder if the ideas of co-authors, William McDonough and Michael Braungart could really make a difference. One of the most powerful ideas to come from the book has fortunately manifested in the world: the Cradle to Cradle Certified Products Standard. The Cradle to Cradle Certified Product Standard As a continuous improvement methodology, the Cradle to Cradle Certified Product Standard evaluates products across five categories: material health, material reutilisation, renewable energy and carbon management, water stewardship, and social fairness. The programme began as a private recognition system for clients of McDonough and Braungart and the advisory companies MBDC and EPEA. In 2010, the certification protocol was given to the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute to become a public, third-party standard. To date, over 200 product companies have designed, manufactured and optimised thousands of products using the guidance the program provides. After four years of working on product innovation and design based around cradle to cradle principles, the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute decided to try and find out how the certification standard helps companies make changes in their products and processes and what difference it makes to environmental and social systems and to the bottom line. The results were brought together in the recent report on the impacts of cradle to cradle certification. What was the report based on? From a group of early innovators, the Institute and its partner Trucost, a global environmental data and insight company, selected 10 companies and their certified products to establish a preliminary framework for measuring the business, social, and environmental benefits of achieving cradle to cradle certification. These 10 selected companies operating across global markets represented a wide range of product portfolios from carpet tiles to toiletries, with combined revenues of over €6.75bn and global workforces exceeding 50,000 people. Together they offer an early indication of the potential impact of certification. Business benefits: good design equals good business The study showed that product optimisation in response to the certification process brought benefits such as reduced costs, improved product value, new revenue streams and avoided risks. Shaw Industries, for example, the world's largest carpet manufacturer, received its first cradle to cradle certification in 2007 for its EcoWorx Tile - now its fastest growing carpet product. Compared to the uncertified version Shaw previously manufactured, energy efficiency combined with its switch to renewables has cut the environmental cost of making carpet tiles by more than half, along with the amount of water needed to produce a tile. The water and energy savings for total production in 2012 equated to a cost saving of over $4m. Environmental benefits: from grey to green Companies pursuing certification are encouraged to work towards the design and production of products that have a positive impact on the environment, making them 'more good' rather than 'less bad'. Ultimately, this means that during the production process, water used is purified instead of polluted, and more renewable, cleaner energy is generated than is consumed. The study showed that negative environmental impacts were reduced through the use of alternative choices of safer ingredients. Puma for instance, has developed a biodegradable trainer called the Incycle Basket (pdf) which holds cradle to cradle basic certification. To ensure product recovery is possible and optimised, Puma provides collection banks in many of its stores in cooperation with the international recycling company I:CO. Collection rates are not yet available, so the success of the collection banks is undetermined, but if all Incycle Baskets are composted at end-of-use, the sneaker has an 87% smaller impact at the end of use compared to conventional trainers. Social benefits: fair and healthy makes happy The Cradle to Cradle Program is based on best practice social fairness principles. The impact study found the majority of participating companies already had high standards of social commitments in place and little additional effort was required to meet the Cradle to Cradle Certified Product Standard. This is likely to be the result of the already strong ethical and social commitment of companies with the desire to certify products. Ecover, for example, undertakes social fairness activities supporting local communities and social projects. This includes the funding of projects with OKAN in Netherlands, as well as ecological projects that help support local communities dependent on ecosystems. This work is important for the company to move toward a socially positive entity, creating an environment capable of minimising negative impact for its workforce and progressing towards bringing value and benefit to the wider community and individuals outside the workspace. Embracing the circular economy Although a preliminary framework, the report offers a promising account of impact and value achieved by ten companies which have made steps toward product optimisation. The overall findings reveal that the pursuit of cradle to cradle product optimisation and certification helps companies become a front-runner in the transition to the circular economy, providing them with a competitive edge. Bridgett Luther, president of the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute The circular economy hub is funded by Philips. All content is editorially independent except for pieces labelled advertisement feature. Find out more here. Join the community of sustainability professionals and experts. Become a GSB member to get more stories like this direct to your inbox | ['sustainable-business/resource-efficiency', 'sustainable-business/waste-and-recycling', 'sustainable-business/sustainable-business', 'business/ethicalbusiness', 'business/corporate-governance', 'environment/corporatesocialresponsibility', 'type/article', 'sustainable-business/series/circular-economy'] | environment/corporatesocialresponsibility | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2014-06-24T06:00:00Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
environment/2018/may/16/new-labelling-helps-uk-shoppers-avoid-plastic-packaging | New labelling helps UK shoppers avoid plastic packaging | A new plastic-free “trust mark” is being introduced today, allowing shoppers to see at a glance whether products use plastic in their packaging. The label will be prominently displayed on food and drink products, making it easier for consumers to choose greener alternatives. UK supermarket Iceland and Dutch supermarket chain Ekoplaza - which introduced plastic-free aisles earlier this year – will start using the new labelling, alongside Teapigs teabags, but campaigners hope others will follow suit. “Our trust mark cuts through the confusion of symbols and labels and tells you just one thing – this packaging is plastic-free and therefore guilt-free,” said Sian Sutherland, co-founder of A Plastic Planet, the campaign group behind the scheme. As well as items obviously wrapped in plastic, scores of everyday products – from tinned beans to tea bags – have some plastic in their packaging. Sutherland said she hoped the new labelling system would revolutionise the way people shop and lead to a radical reduction in plastic waste. “Finally shoppers can be part of the solution not the problem,” she added. There has been growing concern about the devastating impact of plastic on the oceans and wider environment. Plastic pollution is now so widespread that it has been found in tap water, fish and sea salt – with unknown consequences for human health. Iceland will begin to adopt the new labelling system on relevant own-label products this month, and roll it out across its range, which it has said will be free of single-use plastic packaging by 2023. Ekoplaza said it would be rolling out the trust mark in 74 outlets across the Netherlands. A Plastic Planet has been campaigning for supermarkets to introduce plastic-free aisles and there has been growing pressure on the major retailers to do more to tackle the problem. Earlier this year the Guardian revealed that supermarkets are responsible for 1m tonnes of plastic waste a year. Iceland managing director, Richard Walker, said: “With the grocery retail sector accounting for more than 40% of plastic packaging in the UK, it’s high time that Britain’s supermarkets came together to take a lead on this issue. “I’m proud to lead a supermarket that is working with A Plastic Planet to realise a plastic-free future for food and drink retail.” | ['environment/plastic', 'environment/waste', 'environment/pollution', 'environment/environment', 'business/supermarkets', 'world/iceland', 'world/europe-news', 'world/netherlands', 'world/world', 'business/retail', 'business/business', 'environment/ethical-living', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/matthewtaylor', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2018-05-16T09:17:56Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
sustainable-business/2014/aug/27/mobile-apps-california-drought-uk-floods-india-drinking-water | Mobile apps for California's drought, UK floods and India's drinking water | Whether there’s too much of it or not enough, whether it’s too expensive or too dirty, water problems affect billions of people. Governments and water utilities spend vast sums every year on repairing pipes and installing new infrastructure, but water woes continue. The water industry is increasingly looking to harness the power of mobile phone technology in an attempt to provide smarter solutions to persistent problems. Service disruptions India counts more than 940m mobile phone subscribers; yet only around one in four of its 1.2 billion people have access to clean drinking water in their own homes. Millions of people queue at public water pumps every day, often for hours due to damaged pipes or faulty faucets. Pioneered in Bangalore and the brainchild of Anu Sridharan, NextDrop is a messaging service that informs people of planned delays or unexpected alterations to their service. Citizens can also text in updates about faults, which NextDrop forwards to the relevant water utility. The service has already been rolled out to over 75,000 mobile users. IBM is pioneering a similar system. The Creek Watch app crowdsources information from citizens about the height and flow speed of their local watercourses, plus the amount of rubbish in evidence. These public updates feed real-time into a central database, which water control boards then use to track pollution and improve their general water resource management. Initially launched in San Jose, California, the app is now used in over 25 countries. Safe drinking Around 760,00 children under five years old die of diarrhoea every year – usually caused by the consumption of contaminated water or food – making it the second leading cause of death for the very young. mWater aims to tackle the spread of diarrhoea and other water-related diseases by engaging citizens in water quality testing. The early-stage pilot is based in Mwanza, Tanzania’s second largest city, where a baseline study revealed faecal contamination in 90% of shallow dug wells and springs. The app uses the onboard cameras on mobile phones, plus a $5 testing kit, to automatically detect colonies of coliform and E coli bacteria. The findings are instantly analysed and shared with local communities through an online map of safe water sources. Community health workers can also feed into the system, providing extra notes on the condition and status of water sources as well as details on the price and reliability of water. Last October, mWater received a $100,000 investment from USAID’s venture capital arm to enable it to send automated text messages to water users about safer drinking sources nearby. Drought measures As California struggles through its third consecutive year of severe drought, conscientious homeowners can now use their phones to cut their water use. Before, people would have to wait three months until the utility bill dropped through the letterbox to understand their water consumption. Now, a new app gives householders access to daily water usage information. The Dropcountr app follows a recent plea from the state governor for Californians to reduce water consumption by one fifth. The app includes alerts that warn customers before they hit “peak water usage”, as well as information about leaks. “This is the first mobile app to connect consumers with their water use, empowering them to save water and money”, says Robb Barnitt, chief executive of Dropcountr, adding that the app can be used on any water meter system and by any water utility around the world. People can also use their phones to dob in the neighbours. The social media service VizSafe allows phone owners to send anonymous reports about water wastage. Water warnings Flood damage in the world’s largest 136 coast cities could hit $1tn (£640bn) a year by 2050. In the UK, smartphone users can access up-to-date information about flood risks in their specific area. FloodAlerts, which won the Guardian’s Innovation Nation award in 2012, takes data from the Environment Agency and displays pin-point accurate shapes on a BING map. The app was developed by Shrewsbury-based software developer Shoothill, which recently launched a Twitter-based service that flags up water levels of individual rivers around the UK. Both services are run in partnership with the Environment Agency, a strong supporter of citizen-based information sharing. Using the PlantTracker app, the Environmental Agency encourages community members to submit geo-located photos about non-native plant species in UK rivers. The problem, which costs the UK economy an estimated £2bn per year, can block drains, disable water pumps and disable trash screens that reduce the risk of flooding. Read more pieces like this: The great salty mess: pollution threatens US fresh water resources Climate change may ‘bottleneck’ the Panama Canal and disrupt world trade Advertisement Feature: The water, energy and food nexus - animation The water hub is funded by SABMiller. All content is editorially independent except for pieces labelled advertisement feature. Find out more here. Join the community of sustainability professionals and experts. Become a GSB member to get more stories like this direct to your inbox | ['sustainable-business/sustainable-business', 'guardian-professional/sustainability', 'environment/water', 'global-development/access-to-water', 'technology/technology', 'sustainable-business/technology', 'technology/mobilephones', 'money/mobile-phones', 'world/india', 'world/africa', 'environment/drought', 'environment/flooding', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/oliver-balch'] | environment/flooding | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2014-08-27T11:42:32Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
world/2020/jun/12/climate-crisis-to-blame-for-67bn-of-hurricane-harvey-damage-study | Climate crisis to blame for $67bn of Hurricane Harvey damage – study | At least $67bn of the damage caused by Hurricane Harvey in 2017 can be attributed directly to climate breakdown, according to research that could lead to a radical reassessment of the costs of damage from extreme weather. Harvey ripped through the Caribbean and the US states of Texas and Louisiana, causing at least $90bn of damage to property and livelihoods, and killing scores of people. Conventional economic estimates attributed only about $20bn of the destruction to the direct impacts of global heating. Climate breakdown is known to be making hurricanes stronger and may make them more likely to occur, but separating the effects of global heating from the natural weather conditions that also cause hurricanes is complex. In a study published in the journal Climatic Change, researchers used the emerging science of climate change attribution to calculate the odds of such a hurricane happening naturally or under increased carbon dioxide levels, and applied the results to the damage caused. Similar methods were used in a separate study, published last month in the same journal, that found that droughts in New Zealand between 2007 and 2017 cost the economy about NZ$4.8bn, of which $800m was directly linked to climate change. Floods caused insured losses of about NZ$470m over the same period, of which NZ$140m was linked to the climate. The researchers say the new tools are a more accurate way of estimating the economic damage caused by climate breakdown. “We’re pretty sure the climate change-related damages associated with extreme events have been underestimated in most assessments of the social cost of carbon,” said David Frame, a professor of climate change at the Victoria University of Wellington and the lead author of the studies. “We think this line of research, as it matures, should provide a really valuable input.” Friederike Otto, the director of the Environmental Change Institute at Oxford, who was not involved in the research, said the method could make it possible to generate global estimates of the true cost of climate breakdown, which could have a profound effect on how governments and businesses approach the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “We have known about the costs of climate change theoretically,” said Otto. “It’s all very well in the abstract, but the global mean temperature does not kill anyone – extreme events cost money and lives. Being able to attribute these impacts to climate change means being able to convey what climate change really means.” She said it would become possible to compile an inventory of the damage that could be attributed to climate change around the world, which governments and businesses could use to bring about change. “Hopefully this will speed up the process of moving to net zero [carbon].” Estimating the true costs of the climate crisis could also help developing countries seeking recognition of the loss and damage they face as a result of climate breakdown, which they argue should spur rich countries to provide more assistance. Loss and damage is likely to be one of the most vexed issues at next year’s UN Cop26 climate summit. Legal actions around the world would also be affected, said Tessa Khan, a co-director of the Climate Litigation Network. Activists and local governments around the world are taking fossil fuel companies to court over their greenhouse gas emissions, arguing that they knowingly caused damage while profiting from raising carbon dioxide levels. “[The two new studies] are opening to door to stronger evidence to persuade courts that fossil fuel companies should be held accountable for their role,” Khan said. “This will strengthen the legal basis of these lawsuits.” | ['world/hurricanes', 'world/natural-disasters', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/environment', 'us-news/us-news', 'world/caribbean', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/fiona-harvey', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | world/hurricanes | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2020-06-12T05:00:13Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
world/2010/oct/01/pervez-musharraf-regain-power-pakistan | Pervez Musharraf bids to regain power in Pakistan – from London's clubland | From the distance and safety of an antiquarian London library, Pakistan's ousted ruler, Pervez Musharraf, officially launched his political comeback today around a personality-driven new party, offering to be the "light in the darkness" for his long-suffering country. Musharraf, a former general who held power after a military coup in 1999 until he was forced out two years ago, vehemently denied reports he was calling for another army takeover. He admitted to having made unspecified mistakes while in power, but he used the occasion principally to pour scorn on the civilian government elected to replace him, accusing it of corruption and incompetence in the face of a natural disaster. After two years' exile in London, he said he could no longer stand on the sidelines. "Based on the realisation than today the political alternative visible in Pakistan does not show any sign of light in the darkness that prevails there, I think I can give that light," Musharraf told cheering supporters. The launch of the All Pakistan Muslim League was the climax of an elaborate series of interviews and advance publicity. Yesterday more than 200 of his supporters were wedged between the leather-bound tomes of the Gladstone Library at the National Liberal Club and shown a screened account of the "achievements" of the Musharraf years. In particular, his response to a severe earthquake in 2005 was portrayed as being far more brisk and effective – with helicopters flying and aid enthusiastically distributed by Pakistani troops – than President Asif Ali Zardari's reaction to the recent devastating floods. To ominous background music, ordinary Pakistanis were shown helplessly marooned. "Apres moi le deluge," Musharraf seemed to be telling his country. The former president spoke for an hour in Urdu and an hour in English, laying out pledges to restore the country to unity, prosperity and growth, but he made clear it was his leadership above all that was on offer. "This is not merely a manifesto. This is a covenant between me and God, and between me and the people of Pakistan," he said, under the new party symbol, a martial-looking falcon. Earlier in the day, he told Radio 4's Today programme: "When there is a dysfunctional government and the nation is going down and its economy is going down ... there is a pressure on the military from the people. There is a sense of despondency spreading in Pakistan. We cannot allow Pakistan to disintegrate. So who is the saviour? The army can do it. Nobody else can do it." Tonight, however, he denied he was calling for a return of the army to power. "I don't think the army will ever take over. The army doesn't need to take over," he insisted. After yesterday's speeches and slogans, it was unclear where the new party would go. Musharraf announced he was off to Birmingham to drum up more support, but admitted he was unable at present to return to his homeland, where the government is calling for his prosecution for actions taken while in office, and where he faces death threats from jihadist groups. There are few signs of political support for him inside Pakistan. "Musharraf can no longer count on the only constituency that might once have backed him, and that's the army," said Farzana Shaikh, associate fellow of Chatham House's Asia programme and author of Making Sense of Pakistan. "Having led the institution into disrepute, I don't think he can expect any support from that institution." Musharraf is evidently still a long way from home, but for an exiled ruler who has spent more than a year in a three-bedroom flat off Edgware Road, last night's brightly lit stage and the admiring, handpicked audience listening to his speech, interrupted only by strategically placed activists yelling his praise, must have seemed like the next-best thing to being back in power. | ['world/pakistan', 'world/world', 'world/pakistan-flood', 'world/natural-disasters', 'tone/news', 'world/pervez-musharraf', 'type/article', 'profile/julianborger', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/international'] | world/pakistan-flood | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2010-10-01T22:00:01Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2022/feb/25/mild-winter-brings-british-asparagus-to-shops-eight-weeks-early | Mild winter brings British asparagus to shops eight weeks early | British asparagus is landing on supermarket shelves eight weeks earlier than usual after the mild winter weather quickened the arrival of this year’s first spears. The traditional start to the season is 23 April but Waitrose will have homegrown asparagus in its shops from Saturday. It has been grown in polytunnels in Hampshire where the grower reported “unseasonably warm” January temperatures. Asparagus requires a soil temperature of at least 10C to grow. However, if the conditions are right it can grow up to 10cm in one day. Sandy Booth, of New Forest Fruit, which is supplying Waitrose, said the mild conditions as well as their use of coir – coconut fibre, which warms up more quickly than soil – had led to the early harvest. Chris Chinn, the chair of the British Asparagus Growers Association, said this first wave was “very early”. “The traditional asparagus season kicks off on the 23 April, St George’s Day, so it is obviously significantly earlier than that date.” Air mile-laden products from countries such as Peru and Mexico – which are among the world’s biggest exporters of asparagus – have traditionally bolstered supermarket shelves because of the unpredictability of British weather. The location of New Forest Fruit, on the sunny south coast, meant the crops “get a lot of sunshine”, Chinn explained. “They’re using some very early varieties and forcing the crop using plastic, so it’s a good use of the greenhouse effect you get inside a polytunnel.” “Asparagus is very weather-dependent,” he continued. “This particular crop is grown in a protected environment but it will still be a bit variable depending on the sunlight receipts and ambient temperature. It’s been a mild winter without many frosts or snow on the ground.” The climate crisis has led to rising temperatures around the world, with Nasa stating last month that global temperatures were now an average 1.1C (1.9F) above the average of the late 19th century. Chinn, who is a partner at Britain’s largest asparagus growers, Cobrey Farms based in the Wye Valley, Herefordshire, said warmer winters were bringing crops on earlier, but added that better plant breeding and growing plants under cover were also extending the growing season. He pointed out, however, that shoppers would have to wait until April for supply to hit its stride. “You won’t see it everywhere in the shops until mid to late April,” he suggested. “It slightly depends on the weather conditions as we get towards that point in time. If we get warm weather it could be closer to mid-April, if it’s colder weather it’s going to be into May.” Once regarded as a “posh” culinary delicacy, asparagus has become a more mainstream choice for consumers in recent years. This growth in demand has encouraged more farmers to get involved and there are now more than 100 domestic asparagus growers. Lucy Darby-Smith, Waitrose’s vegetable buyer, said shoppers wanted to buy British so it was good news that the British asparagus – which costs £3.50 for a 200g bundle – had arrived earlier than usual. “It’s a clear sign that spring is on its way and we’re certainly looking forward to the warmer weather.” | ['environment/farming', 'environment/environment', 'business/supermarkets', 'business/waitrose', 'business/retail', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/zoewood', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/farming | BIODIVERSITY | 2022-02-25T16:17:21Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2024/sep/12/country-diary-a-forgotten-church-thats-being-returned-to-the-earth | Country diary: A forgotten church that’s being returned to the earth | Alexandra Pearce-Broomhead | In the hamlet of Merther, nature is concealing a secret. Wrapped in robes of ivy and traveller’s joy, the ruins of a 14th-century church are hidden among a small copse. Little remains of the original building; the crumbling outer walls have been slowly succumbing to wildlife ever since the church closed 80-odd years ago. Brambles, thistles, avens and bedstraw grow at the entrances. Only one of the windows remains intact; the sun glances through the lead-lined glass as ivy fronds spill over the empty windowsills. Inside, a congregation of sycamores has gathered in the nave, branches stretching towards the heavens while hard ferns, hart’s-tongues and brackens cover the floor. A few relics of the church’s heydays remain: an ivy-shrouded pillar stands like an altar in the chancel, and the outline of bezant crosses can be seen against the far wall of the south aisle. Built around 1370, St Cohan’s served the community for more than 500 years until the population shifted to nearby Tresillian and attendance to the church dwindled. It slowly became structurally unstable, and when the lead was stripped from the roof to support the second world war effort, the building never recovered, and it held its final service in 1945. Outside, yew trees encircle the church, and scattered gravestones in various lichen-encrusted states weave between them. A common sight in graveyards, the yew transcends the evolution of religion with new beliefs about them sprouting from old tales, passing on mythology through the centuries. Yews were considered sacred long before the rise of Christianity in the UK, as they symbolised death and rebirth to pagans – yew branches grow downwards, and when they touch the ground, they root and produce new saplings. When Pope Gregory decreed in AD601 that churches should be built on sacred pagan spaces to amalgamate the religions, the yew symbolisation regenerated within Christianity, becoming linked to Jesus’s death and resurrection. A darter dragonfly drifts by on stained-glass wings, while a low hum of bees emits from the canopy above. As Anglican attendance declines, particularly in rural communities, more churches are finding themselves abandoned, and about 3,500 have closed since 2013. While many will be demolished or renovated into housing, St Cohan’s has re-established itself as a shrine to nature. • Country diary is on Twitter/X at @gdncountrydiary • Under the Changing Skies: The Best of the Guardian’s Country Diary, 2018-2024 (Guardian Faber) is published on 26 September; pre-order now at the guardianbookshop.com and get a 20% discount | ['environment/series/country-diary', 'uk/ruralaffairs', 'environment/plants', 'environment/forests', 'environment/environment', 'uk/uk', 'culture/heritage', 'uk-news/cornwall', 'artanddesign/architecture', 'world/anglicanism', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/alexandra-pearce-broomhead', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/letters', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2024-09-12T04:30:12Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2024/apr/13/ghost-roads-pave-way-for-deforestation-rainforest-asia-pacific-aoe | Network of ‘ghost roads’ paves the way for levelling Asia-Pacific rainforests | A vast network of undocumented “ghost roads” is pushing into the world’s untouched rainforests and driving their destruction in the Asia-Pacific region, a new study has found. By using Google Earth to map tropical forests on Borneo, Sumatra and New Guinea islands, researchers from James Cook University in Australia documented 1.37 m kilometres (850,000 miles) of roads across 1.4m sq kilometres of rainforest on the islands – between three and seven times what is officially recorded on road databases. These ghost roads, which include bulldozed tracks through natural rainforest and informal roads on palm-oil plantations, were “almost always” an indicator of future destruction of nearby rainforests, according to the study published in the journal Nature. They are “among the gravest of all direct threats to tropical forests”, the researchers concluded. “They’re being constructed by a range of people, including legal or illegal agriculturalists, miners, loggers, land grabbers, land speculators and drug traffickers,” said Prof Bill Laurance, a co-author of the study. “By sharply increasing access to formerly remote natural areas, unregulated road development is triggering dramatic increases in environmental disruption due to activities such as logging, mining and land-clearing.” A team of more than 200 trained volunteers and study authors performed the analysis over a combined 7,000 hours. They estimate 640,000 hours would be required to map all of the roads on Earth. “There are some 25m kilometres of new paved roads expected by mid-century and 90% of all road construction is happening in developing nations, including many tropical and subtropical regions with exceptional biodiversity,” Laurance said. “Worryingly, our new findings show that the extent and length of roads in the tropical Asia-Pacific is severely underestimated, with many roads being out of government control. In these findings, nature is the big loser.” The researchers said their findings tally with earlier studies in Cameroon, Solomon Islands and Brazil, with road building almost always preceding local forest loss. “Informally or illicitly constructed ghost roads can be bulldozed tracks in logged forests, roads in palm-oil plantations and other roads missing from existing road datasets for various reasons,” said Laurance. Last year, the destruction of the world’s most pristine rainforests continued at a relentless rate despite efforts to slow the loss. While there were falls in Colombia and Brazil, the world lost an area nearly the size of Switzerland from previously undisturbed forests. The survival of rainforests is essential to meeting the goals of the Paris agreement to limit global heating to 1.5C and the Kunming-Montreal framework on biodiversity. Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield on X for all the latest news and features | ['environment/series/the-age-of-extinction', 'environment/deforestation', 'environment/logging-and-land-clearing', 'environment/forests', 'world/asia-pacific', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/environment', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/patrick-greenfield', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-age-of-extinction'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2024-04-13T06:00:16Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
politics/2023/jun/05/ministers-face-legal-challenge-over-cuts-to-walking-and-cycling-investment-in-england | Ministers face legal challenge over cuts to walking and cycling investment in England | The government faces a legal challenge to its decision to cut investment in walking and cycling in England, over claims that the move bypassed legal processes and risks scuppering commitments over the climate emergency and air pollution. Lawyers acting for the Transport Action Network (TAN), a campaign group, have written to the Department for Transport (DfT) to formally seek a judicial review of the cuts announced in March by Mark Harper, the transport secretary. The action comes at a perilous time for Harper and his team, who are expected to face heavy criticism later this week when the National Audit Office publishes a report on the DfT’s wider strategy for walking and cycling. Although Rishi Sunak’s government remains officially committed to a target established under Boris Johnson that half of all urban journeys should be walked or cycled by 2030, Harper announced a 50% reduction in the money for active travel in England in March. According to TAN, whose lawyers at Leigh Day, have sent a pre-action legal letter to Harper, outside London the funding dedicated to active travel in England will be only £1 a head per year over the rest of the current parliament, against equivalent figures of £23 for Wales and £58 in Scotland. Harper’s announcement in March, justified on the basis of the turbulent economic situation, said that of £710m pledged for active travel in the 2021 spending review, only £100m more would be spent, amounting to a £380m reduction. While the DfT says more than £3bn is being spent on active travel overall during this parliament, TAN argues this figure includes budgets from other departments that will benefit active travel, without proper evidence as to how this will happen. The group notes that even if £3bn is being spent, this is still much less than the estimates for what is needed to meet the 2030 target, with some experts arguing that up to £18bn would be required. Even before the cuts, official estimates were that the 2030 target would be missed. The legal letter argues that Harper’s move to cut spending even further contravenes his obligations under the government’s walking and cycling strategy, and that a shift towards more active travel is an integral part of net zero targets. Other grounds for the challenge are that failure to shift more people out of cars will mean ministers miss targets for improved air quality, and that active travel is an important element of equalities obligations. Chris Todd, TAN’s director, said the cuts to active travel risked being “the Jenga block that makes climate, air quality, levelling up and health plans all come tumbling down”. He said: “Legally binding targets to cut carbon and air pollution rely on big increases in walking and cycling by 2030. But official forecasts predict we’ll miss this ambition by a mile. Rather than increasing effort, ministers seem to be deliberately sabotaging these efforts.” TAN is trying to crowdfund £40,000 to pay for the case. The challenge comes amid more general concern among active travel groups that Harper and Sunak have minimal commitment to the issue, and prefer instead to court culture war-related headlines criticising a supposed “war against drivers”. When a tranche of active travel schemes were unveiled in May, anonymous government sources briefed newspapers that Harper had committed to not funding any low-traffic neighbourhoods and road filtering schemes that make walking and cycling safer. A DfT spokesperson said: “We cannot comment on possible legal proceedings. We are committed to delivering active travel infrastructure that enables everyone to build healthier journeys into their daily lives. That is why we are investing over £3bn into active travel – more than any other government.” | ['politics/transport', 'news/cycling', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/air-pollution', 'environment/pollution', 'uk-news/england', 'uk/uk', 'uk/transport', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/peterwalker', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/air-pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2023-06-05T05:00:22Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
environment/blog/2014/jan/10/owen-paterson-climate-change-flood-insurance | Owen Paterson has failed to factor climate change into flood insurance | With insurers receiving thousands of claims for flood damage caused to homes over the past few weeks, there are worrying signs that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is failing, under the stewardship of its Secretary of State, Owen Paterson, to take account properly of the implications of climate change for a new flood insurance scheme. Much of the recent flooding has been triggered by heavy rainfall, with last month being the sixth wettest December in the UK since records began in 1910. Some households are making their second insurance claim in two years after extensive flooding in 2012, the UK’s second wettest year on record, which, according to the Environment Agency, cost the economy £600 million. Met Office data shows that four of the five wettest years in the UK have all occurred since 2000. Long-term averages of 30-year periods show an increase in annual rainfall of about 5% between 1961-1990 and 1981-2010. In addition, a preliminary analysis by the Met Office also indicates that 1-in-100-day extreme rainfall events have become more frequent since 1960. In addition, global sea level is also rising by more than 3cm every decade, and poses a particular problem for coastal properties in south-east England where the Earth’s crust is slowly sinking. So a combination of increased rainfall and rising sea level is clearly increasing the risk of flooding, and raising costs for both homeowners and insurers. At present, insurance for properties at high risk of flooding is implicitly subsidised through higher premiums for all policy-holders. However, insurance companies have warned successive Governments over the past few years that the rise in the number of properties at risk of flooding has pushed the existing arrangement to breaking point. In June 2013, Defra initiated a consultation about a proposal for a new scheme, called Flood Re, to provide cover for high-risk properties, paid for through an explicit levy on all policy-holders’ premiums. Defra's original proposal was accompanied by an Impact Assessment which stated that Flood Re would cover about 500,000 homes, and to pay future claims, £180 million each year would need to be raised through a levy of about £10 on all policy-holders’ premiums. But the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment pointed out in its response to the consultation that the Impact Assessment for Flood Re, which the Government expects will operate for between 20 and 25 years from 2015, had failed to take into account any increase in flood risk through rising sea levels and shifts in rainfall due to climate change. The Institute highlighted the Climate Change Risk Assessment, published by Defra in January 2012, which concluded that the number of residential properties in England and Wales exposed to a significant risk of coastal or river flooding could increase from 370,000 in 2008 to between 450,000 and 800,000 by the 2020s, even when assuming no new buildings. In early November last year, Defra appeared to acknowledge this serious mistake and promised to publish a revised clause to be added to the Water Bill and an updated Impact Assessment which “has taken account of the consultation responses, notably in terms of developing the analysis of transition to a free market, the potential impacts of climate change, impacts on property values and the costs of the options”. However, its revised Impact Assessment, published on 29 November, simply dismissed, with a single statement, the potentially substantial rise in the number of homes at risk due to the impacts of climate change: The significant uncertainties in these factors, the relatively short term transitional nature of measures being considered and the Environment Agency Long Term Investment Strategy whose aim is to match the lower climate change scenario suggest that the assumption of no change in flood risk is a reasonable one for comparing options against the baseline scenario. Hence, Defra has assumed that new and enhanced flood defences will prevent the risk to any additional homes from becoming significant, and that its original calculations, which ignored climate change, require no modification at all. But last July, the House of Commons Select Committee on Environment Food and Rural Affairs warned that “funding has not kept pace in recent years with an increased risk of flooding from more frequent severe weather events and the relatively modest additional sums to be provided up to 2020 will not be sufficient to plug the funding gap”. This shows that Defra is unable or unwilling to perform the serious analysis needed to ensure that its plans for Flood Re are robust. It also provides further evidence that Defra has been failing, since the appointment of Owen Paterson as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in September 2012, to ensure that the UK adapts and becomes more resilient to the impacts of climate change, particularly flooding. | ['environment/blog', 'environment/environment', 'environment/flooding', 'uk/uk', 'money/money', 'money/insurance', 'environment/sea-level', 'environment/rivers', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/environment-agency', 'politics/owen-paterson', 'politics/politics', 'type/article', 'tone/blog', 'profile/bob-ward'] | environment/flooding | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2014-01-10T12:21:07Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2000/aug/07/weather.climatechange1 | US troops mass to fight fire | Thousands of troops have been deployed across the western United States as hundreds of wildfires yesterday burned out of control, apparently impervious to bombardments by flying water tankers attempting to halt the blaze. President Bill Clinton is due to visit areas stricken by what has been described as the worst outbreak of forest fires in half a century. The government is spending $15m a day (about £10m) to support 20,000 civilian and military firefighters from 46 states and Canada. The national interagency fire centre (NIFC) in Boise, Idaho, reported yesterday that there were now more than 70 large fires engulfing more than 750,000 acres in 11 states, notably Montana, California, Colorado, Nevada, Idaho and Wyoming. Officials are alarmed that the blazes have come earlier than the usual fire season and that they are proving more difficult to contain. Some of the fires are thought to be so well established that they will only be extinguished by the arrival of snow in October or November. "The northern Rockies is the hottest place in the country at the moment," said Lynn Pisano-Pedigo of the NIFC yesterday. She cited "dry lightning" as one of the main causes of the latest outbreak. The weather conditions that produce dry lightning are expected to continue for several weeks - a combination of high temperatures, low humidity and rainless thunderstorms. Temperatures have also been at record highs in many areas. Weather officials report "triple digit" temperatures in central California, making the land even more susceptible to the blazes. Hamilton in Montana is at the centre of the main blazes and yesterday residents were warned to remain indoors because of the thick smoke engulfing the area. More than 300 homes have been evacuated so far, and a further 300 were expected to be evacuated by late last night. A total of 16 large fires were raging in the state, covering 135,000 acres. In Nevada, a helicopter carrying a firefighting crew crashed near Elko, killing one member and injuring three others. In Colorado, the Mesa Verde national park was having to deal with a blaze that threatened the park's research centre and museum. More than 400 firefighters were trying to save the threatened parts of the forest, which is a popular holiday place, aided by helicopters and seven air tankers flying in to drop water on the blaze. In California, the US forest service reported that there were more than 100 wildfires blazing and that some were in areas of brush that have not burned in more than 100 years. Two hundred people were evacuated from Jackson, Wyoming, three days ago and have still not been able to return to their homes. Troops are being trained as temporary firefighters. More than 500 soldiers were dispatched from Fort Hood in Texas yesterday after training, to join 500 other soldiers and 500 marines fighting the fires in Idaho. A further 500 were sent to Montana to back up a beleaguered and exhausted fire crew. The head of the US forest service, Mike Dombeck, said yesterday that the situation was now so serious that Canadian firefighting crews were having to be brought in to help. Since the start of this year, there have been about 62,000 wildfires across the US. They have engulfed 3.76m acres of forest, almost double the 10-year average. One of the reasons for this dramatic increase has been that people are going deeper and deeper into forested areas in the search for seclusion. Wherever there are humans, there is the risk of fires - usually started accidentally, from cigarette ends and barbecues, but sometimes lit deliberately. It is now relatively common for people to start fires and then call the fire service and give themselves a heroic role in fighting the blazes. However, while it would make ecological sense to stop people living in such areas, there would be a political price to pay in restricting residential areas. Marines have been using various techniques to try to contain the blazes, ranging from bombing the fires from above with a mixture of slurry and water, to fighting fire with fire - burning swaths of undergrowth themselves to create firebreaks. But unless weather patterns change, they appear to be fighting a losing battle. | ['environment/environment', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'world/world', 'world/natural-disasters', 'world/wildfires', 'type/article', 'profile/duncancampbell'] | world/wildfires | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2000-08-07T11:30:34Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
news/datablog/2014/nov/17/majority-drowning-deaths-low-and-middle-income-countries | Over 90% of drowning deaths happen in lower and middle income countries | Each year 372,441 people die due to drowning, according to a new report by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Of those deaths, 90% occur in lower and middle income countries. It is the world’s third leading unintentional injury killer. Particularly at risk are those aged under 24, for whom drowning is one of the ten leading causes of death in every region in the world. The WHO define drowning as: “the process of experiencing respiratory impairment from submission/immersion in liquid.” Its death toll is about half that of malaria and two thirds that of malnutrition, but unlike those public health issues there are no targeted large scale efforts at combating drowning. The chart below looks at how deaths by drowning are distributed across lower and middle income countries in the different regions of the world. | ['news/datablog', 'world/world', 'environment/flooding', 'world/asia-pacific', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/george-arnett'] | environment/flooding | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2014-11-17T14:26:44Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2009/sep/16/bp-windfarm-india | BP sells windfarm operation in India | BP has signalled a further retreat from its international renewable business by selling off its wind operation in India today. The oil group, which recently shut down its alternative energy headquarters in London, said it would concentrate its wind interests in the US. BP has sold three operational windfarms in India for just under $100m (£61m) to Green Infra Limited, an independent energy provider owned by private equity. The business controls a relatively modest 100MW of power in locations such as Maharashtra but has a vital foothold in one of the world's fastest-growing renewable markets. "Following a strategic review in 2008, BP decided to concentrate its global wind development activities on the portfolio of onshore wind development projects and opportunities that it had built up across the US," it said in a prepared statement. The company will continue with its solar joint venture in India and has no intention of selling any of its petroleum-related businesses there. BP employs over 1,500 staff in India and says it is continuing to "actively explore new opportunities and long-term material growth options" for its Castrol automotive lubricants and other sectors. The company was recently awarded operation of a deepwater oil exploration block in the Krishna-Godavari basin off the east coast of India. It says it remains committed to its Tata BP Solar joint venture which is a leading manufacturer and supplier of photovoltaic power systems. But since Tony Hayward took the helm at BP from John Browne in the spring of 2007, critics have detected a marked retreat on the renewables front. There has also been a move into more carbon-intensive activities such as tar sands. But Hayward and BP deny any major change of direction, insisting that the company is just marshalling its resources better in an economic downturn. They point out that over the past three years, BP has built a wind business in the US with interests in over 1,000MW of installed gross generating capacity and more than 1,000MW gross capacity at an advanced stage of development. In total, BP's US wind energy portfolio contains almost 100 projects, with a total potential generating capacity of up to 20,000MW. Critics of the company's record on renewable energy point to the decision to close the independent London office of BP Alternative Energy and the exit of managing director, Vivienne Cox in June. In April, BP axed 620 jobs from its solar power business, closing two plants in Spain and phasing out module assembly at one in the US. There has also been confirmation that the 2009 budget for the clean energy division will be cut from $1.4bn (£850m) to anywhere between $1bn and $500m but the company has insisted that its original spending target of $8bn by 2015 remains on track. | ['environment/windpower', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'environment/energy', 'world/india', 'world/world', 'business/bp', 'business/business', 'business/utilities', 'business/oil', 'environment/oil', 'business/energy-industry', 'type/article', 'profile/terrymacalister', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/financial3'] | environment/windpower | ENERGY | 2009-09-16T15:41:40Z | true | ENERGY |
technology/2014/sep/05/motorolas-new-moto-x-ducks-out-of-specification-race-in-favour-a-leather-or-wooden-back | Motorola’s Moto X - like a smartphone, but in leather | What don’t Apple, Samsung, HTC or Sony’s smartphones have? Leather or wooden backs, of course – which Motorola is hoping will set its flagship Moto X phone apart from the rest. The new Moto X, initially priced at £419, has a full HD (1080p) 5.2in screen but the narrow bezels and a curved back to make it easy to hold. There are enhanced gesture and voice control features, including a customisable trigger word so users can use something other than “OK Google” to wake the phone for a voice command. “We think the [specifications] game doesn’t work with consumers any more,” Christoph Jeneba, Motorola’s head of product for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, told to the Guardian. “We have to offer more to differentiate ourselves from the competition.” Users can say things like “good morning” to their phone to wake it up, turn on notifications and turn off silent mode, or “good night” to do the opposite. Waving a hand over a ringing Moto X will silence it, while approaching the phone with a hand will show notification on the screen without fully waking the phone. Motorola will also be rolling out its phone customisation service Moto Maker in the UK and France soon, launching in Germany in September while having been available in the US since 2013. Users will be able to customise their Moto X with a wide choice of colours, backs and materials before purchase, including engraving and a 32GB storage model for an added fee. The new Moto X replaces the old Moto X from 2013, which launched with critical acclaim in the US, but failed to sell well and stalled on launch in the UK months later. The new Moto X has a 2.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor and a 13-megapixel camera with a ring flash. It joins a highly competitive smartphone market but is priced lower than most of its £500-plus competitors like the Samsung Galaxy S5 and HTC One M8 costing £419 from the end of September. • HTC One M8 review: a lightning-quick, five star phone • Samsung Galaxy S5 review: bigger, faster - but still plastic • Moto G review: the best smartphone you can buy for £135 | ['technology/gadgets', 'technology/smartphones', 'technology/google', 'technology/android', 'technology/technology', 'technology/mobilephones', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/samuel-gibbs'] | technology/gadgets | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2014-09-05T06:00:18Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
katine/2007/dec/06/1 | John Vidal on the effect of climate change on Katine | Joyce Abuko in Katine treads as lightly as anyone on earth. She walks everywhere, or sometimes travels on the back of a friend's bike. Nothing she uses is wasted. Her home is made of mudbricks and grasses, her possessions total a couple of big yellow plastic jerry cans to collect water in, a mat to sleep on and some plates. She burns a single candle at night and she cooks on wood which she collects from a nearby forest or, if she can afford it, charcoal. When she had a cow, it emitted a few climate-changing methane burps and farts, but that's about it. Lifetime carbon dioxide emissions of this mother of five: a few kilos of carbon dioxide a year. Total lifetime carbon footprint: as near as dammit nil. Similarly Katine, her community. The 24,000-odd people who live in the sub-county of the same name own one or two cars between them and almost certainly none have been up in an aeroplane. They come and go by bus to the local town, Soroti, and some travel six hours to the capital, Kampala, once or twice a year. Their cattle herds have a minimal impact, but altogether Katine is a minute contributor to the environmental problems of Uganda and the world. Total emissions of 24,000 people? If all of them burn wood, then perhaps a few dozen tonnes of carbon a year – the equivalent of half a dozen two car UK families. The report from the UN development programme last week set out the maths. Uganda's share of world carbon dioxide emissions was officially 0.0%, and its emissions share per person - remember that there are some very dirty industries and hundreds of thousands of old cars in Kampala - was 0.1 tonnes of carbon. That compares with 20.6 tonnes for every person alive in the US - a 2000% difference. Put another way, one American emits the same amount of greenhouse gases as around 2,000 Katineans. Three thousand miles away from Katine, in Bali, Indonesia, people like Joyce and places like Uganda are high on the international political agenda this week as world leaders start to thrash out a fair climate deal to follow on from the Kyoto agreement, which runs out in 2012. Every day, Oxfam, the World Development Movement and other charities and scientists, ram home at the conference that those people with the lightest carbon footprint and the least means to protect themselves from climate change are inevitably going to be the first victims of developed countries' energy-rich lifestyles. China may be the west's bogeyman, now emitting as much carbon dioxide as the US, but in per capita terms, each Chinese emits only one sixth of each American. The damage that climate change will inevitably bring is not underestimated. In the short term, says the UN, the effects of a 2C rise in temperatures - what scientists say is the absolute maximum that eco systems can tolerate - could be "apocalyptic" for the people of Katine and other poorest people. People in rich countries can respond to climate change by adjusting their thermostats. In Katine, the crops fail, the seasons change, floods and droughts come when least expected, people go hungry, and women and children spend more hours collecting water. The UN report was stark. Africa in 1992 emitted less than 3% of the world's emissions, but if average temperatures are allowed to rise by another two or three degrees an extra 600 million people in the continent will go hungry; more than 300 million more poor people could be flooded out of their homes, and 400 million more people could be exposed to diseases like malaria, meningitis and dengue fever. In other words, failure to act on climate change will have grave consequences in some of the poorest places in the world. But there is some hope in Bali. Not only will any global agreement have to allow Uganda and other African countries to carry on developing, it will have to involve the rich countries helping the poor financially. This might be done in different ways. Britain, for instance, may not be able to cut its emissions down, but it could pay Uganda to "offset" them by not cutting down its forests, which store carbon. How much could that be? Uganda fells nearly 86,000 hectares (212,420 acres) of its forests a year, most of it for firewood and charcoal for people like Joyce. One analysis suggests that an "avoided deforestation" initiative could be worth nearly $172m a year to Uganda, depending on how much deforestation it could "avoid" and the market price for carbon offsets. Rich countries are also under immense moral pressure in Bali to help Uganda and other developing countries adapt to the climate change that their actions over many years have created. In a minute foretaste of what could come, Katine lost perhaps one tenth of its crops this year in the huge rains that inundated 19 countries and did millions of pounds of damage. On the outcomes of Bali and follow up conferences, hangs the fate of at least 10,000 places like Katine and more than 1 billion women in Joyce's situation. For the moment, they must go on helping themselves. | ['katine/katine', 'environment/bali', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'world/uganda', 'environment/global-climate-talks', 'world/africa', 'type/article', 'profile/johnvidal'] | environment/global-climate-talks | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2007-12-06T15:13:38Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
world/article/2024/aug/21/barcelona-americas-cup-tourism | ‘Elitist and opaque’: Barcelona residents oppose America’s Cup and related tourism | The America’s Cup sailing race, the ultimate sporting competition for the super-rich, starts in Barcelona on Thursday, marking the latest attempt by one of the cities on the frontline of Europe’s overtourism crisis to attract “quality rather than quantity” tourism. The event, which runs until 27 October, is sponsored by the luxury fashion house Louis Vuitton, which held a fashion parade in the Antoni Gaudí-designed Park Güell in the Catalan capital in late May. Emirates Team New Zealand is the defending champion and will be challenged by boats from the UK, Italy, Switzerland, France and the US. The teams began establishing their bases in Port Vell, the city’s old port, over a year ago. Ada Colau, Barcelona’s former mayor, fought off competition from two other Spanish cities – Valencia, which hosted the cup in 2007 and 2010, and Málaga – to secure host city status in 2022. The radical leftwinger, who was deposed in 2023, has since been highly critical of high-profile events in Barcelona, such as a week-long Formula One festival in June, which she condemned as inappropriate in a city that was trying to reduce car use and struggles with high levels of air pollution. Some people who live in Barcelona have voiced opposition to the boat race, including residents of Barceloneta, the neighbourhood adjacent to Port Vell. Last year a group of 60 residents and community organisations came together to form the Platform Against the America’s Cup. “It will bring nothing but every sort of misery to the city,” said the group’s spokesperson, Esther Jorquera, when the platform was launched, adding that the event was “elitist and opaque”. Local people say they have been bombarded with calls from estate agents and speculators wanting to buy their homes to cash in on the event, which they say is pushing up rents. Barceloneta is already one of the areas of Barcelona most affected by mass tourism, which has driven out much of the local population. Campaigners argue that rather than attracting a “better”, high-spending type of tourist, events such as the America’s Cup simply bring more people to a city already struggling to cope with the mass of visitors. City authorities say they expect the event to bring benefits of up to €1bn to the local economy. But critics say the potential income will be enjoyed by few, and have questioned why such a lavish competition has called for volunteers to organise the event rather than offer paid, seasonal jobs. The America’s Cup, first staged on the Isle of Wight in 1851, is claimed to be the oldest international sporting event in the world. It was last held in 2021 in Auckland, New Zealand, and was won by the hosts. | ['world/barcelona', 'news/overtourism', 'world/spain', 'environment/series/overtourism-and-the-climate-crisis', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/stephen-burgen', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/international', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-foreign'] | environment/series/overtourism-and-the-climate-crisis | GLOBAL_CRISIS | 2024-08-21T12:08:17Z | true | GLOBAL_CRISIS |
society/2019/apr/05/uk-councils-weedkiller-cancer-link-monsanto-roundup | UK councils assess weedkiller use after US cancer court case | Councils from Wirral to Norwich are looking to phase out the use of chemical weedkillers on playgrounds, parks and pavements after a US court ordered the manufacturer of the bestselling brand Roundup to pay one user $80m (£61m) in damages after he developed cancer. Hampshire county council said it was re-examining its use of glyphosate herbicides, the London borough of Richmond is to begin trials of non-chemical weed removal next week, and Trafford borough council last month voted to phase out the use of all pesticides and weedkillers on council land, and scrap glyphosate treatments within a year on all but the most stubborn weeds. The action comes after a US federal jury in Santa Rosa, California, ruled that the manufacturer of Roundup, Monsanto, was liable for the non-Hodgkin lymphoma suffered by Edwin Hardeman. Hardeman testified that he had sprayed the herbicide for nearly three decades before he was diagnosed with cancer. Last week’s ruling was the second major legal blow to Monsanto’s owner, Bayer. In November, Dewayne Johnson, a 46-year-old former groundskeeper with terminal cancer, was awarded $79m by a San Francisco judge after a jury ruled the company was responsible for “negligent failure” and knew or should have known that its product was “dangerous”. Shares in Bayer sunk to their lowest price in almost seven years after the Hardeman verdict. A third trial began in Oakland on 28 March. Alva Pilliod and his wife, Alberta, both in their 70s, have non-Hodgkin lymphoma after using Roundup. They are suing Monsanto claiming that the company had known for two decades that Roundup could cause the disease. Bayer denies the claims, citing “four decades of extensive science and the conclusions of regulators worldwide that support the safety of our glyphosate-based herbicides and that they are not carcinogenic”. It is appealing against the two verdicts. The cases have caused growing concern in UK town halls where glyphosate products have been widely used. A spokesperson for Hampshire county council told the Guardian: “In the light of this ruling, we are looking into the implications of HCC’s use of glyphosate-based weedkillers. Given their widespread use nationally, we also await and expect further guidance from central government.” Current government advice describes glyphosate as an important chemical for use in agriculture and transport and it is approved for use in the UK until 2022. However, the evidence is under review. Wirral, which currently uses glyphosate on kerbs and pavements, and to control weeds on the footpaths of Hoylake beach, said it was “seeking ways to minimise the use of glyphosate for the future, by researching alternative weed treatments including non-chemical approaches”. Some alternatives have already been ruled out in parts of the country. Vinegar is often considered too smelly, boiling water is too dangerous for some and mini flame-throwers raise concerns about insurance coverage. Trafford will still use glyphosate on the toughest weeds, including Japanese knotweed. Support for glyphosate is being led by the Amenity Forum, a group whose members include Monsanto and its parent company, Bayer, which both help fund the organisation and have written advice articles for its newsletter. At least one council, West Lothian in Scotland, decided to continue using glyphosate on the forum’s advice. In 2016 it told concerned petitioners: “We have continued to use it, based on information provided by the Amenity Forum, who are a non-profit-making, independent body.” Monsanto has also employed Red Flag, a Dublin-based lobbyist, which was last year revealed by Greenpeace to have been the administrator of a campaign by farmers in the UK and other European countries defending the use of glyphosate. Red Flag’s chief executive, Karl Brophy, said at the time that it was to oppose an activist-led campaign to ban glyphosate, which he said was “flying in the face of science, the position of all relevant EU regulatory agencies and the position of the European commission”. John Moverley, chairman of the Amenity Forum, said the group was currently running events around the country to advance its case that glyphosates are safe and cheaper than the alternatives. “If [councils do switch], fine, but they need to alert their residents that the costs of managing the weeds will significantly increase,” he said. | ['society/localgovernment', 'society/public-finance', 'environment/pesticides', 'business/monsanto', 'environment/farming', 'uk/uk', 'environment/environment', 'politics/politics', 'society/society', 'type/article', 'profile/robertbooth', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/topstories', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/farming | BIODIVERSITY | 2019-04-05T10:46:07Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
politics/2015/nov/26/move-on-with-labours-great-helmsman | Move on with Labour’s great helmsman | Letters | John McDonnell makes a very important point by brandishing Chairman Mao’s Little Red Book in parliament (McDonnell throws the (Mao) book, 26 November). George Osborne is not just enabling the Chinese state to own British state assets. He is actually subsidising Chinese state enterprises to do so, as well as structuring UK public sector contracts in such a way as to favour the Chinese. What’s more, with recent Chinese engagement in energy, he is effectively selling to China future UK tax revenues. Nick Matthews Rugby, Warwickshire • Put aside the Red Book and instead concentrate on the real political issue. Do we think it’s in Britain’s best interests that swathes of our national infrastructure should be sold to foreign investors, be they companies or countries? Already we cannot plan for economic growth as we might wish because foreign multinationals own much of our business and industry, and, as we have discovered with our steel plants, the government cannot stop them when they choose to walk away leaving behind a trail of economic and social devastation. Our nuclear power industry is being upgraded with Chinese funding, but at what cost to our independence and security? Furthermore, just imagine the possibilities for economic or political blackmail if George Osborne sells air traffic control to one of his new friends. Whether or not the Little Red Book was a good idea, John Mc Donnell was absolutely right on the key issue to castigate the Tories for their plans to further sell off of our essential infrastructure. Margaret Parker Holmfirth, West Yorkshire • Sometimes the Labour leadership brings me close to tears. All that John McDonnell needed to point out – as Jonathan Freedland so clearly does (Hypothetical windfall down the back of the Treasury’s sofa allowed the chancellor to play Santa Claus, 26 November) – is that the whole of the chancellor’s so-called strategy is imprudently based on a forecast which following previous predictions is likely to be flawed. There is no need for Red Books or other stunts. The government is financially irresponsible in the extreme. Why, oh why, can’t Labour just say this? David Hawkins Kingston upon Thames, Surrey • For everyone watching the chancellor’s statement, John McDonnell’s Red Book reference was clearly a joke and, as the only remnant of what used to be a relatively intellectually sound press, I would hope that the Guardian would recognise this, dismiss it as such, and instead focus on the actual details of what he said. He is saying important things and, since no one else will, it is on the Guardian that its readers rely for an objective, sensible coverage, rather than a sensationalist one. McDonnell, which should be clear from the impressive economic advisory committee he has convened, has some very interesting things to say, and they must be heard in the Guardian if nowhere else. Blairism is dead and even if wasn’t, the chancellor would have colonised it with the rest of the centre-right. Move on with your readers. George Houghton London • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com | ['politics/spending-review-2015', 'politics/john-mcdonnell', 'politics/labour', 'politics/politics', 'world/china', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'tone/letters', 'politics/economy', 'business/economics', 'type/article', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/editorialsandreply'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2015-11-26T19:32:45Z | true | ENERGY |
world/2021/feb/24/meatless-school-menu-sparks-political-row-in-france | Meatless school menu sparks political row in France | A decision by the Green mayor of Lyon, seen by many as the country’s culinary capital, to temporarily take meat off the menu in school canteens during the coronavirus pandemic has sparked a major political row in France. Government ministers have accused the mayor, Grégory Doucet, of “ideological” and “elitist” behaviour after the measure, which is also being studied by several other cities including Paris, came into force in Lyon’s schools on Monday. The city council has said the decision to provide the same meatless four-course lunch was purely practical, saying physical distancing rules necessitated more sittings in school canteens and it could not serve 29,000 children in two hours if there was a choice of meat and vegetarian menus. Food represents roughly a quarter of France’s carbon footprint and proposals are being developed by the government to encourage the French both to eat more local produce and to consume less meat, but of higher quality. The French senate last year recommended a more vegetable-based diet, but mainly to counter the unhealthy impact of fast food and takeaways. There have also been proposals to reward low-emission meat producers. But resistance to any proposals to reduce meat consumption will be fierce from France’s powerful farming lobby. The Lyon decision was met with protest in the form of tractors, cows and goats paraded in front of the city hall. Banners proclaimed: “Meat from our fields = a healthy child” and “Stopping meat is a guarantee of weakness against future viruses”. The Lyon city council has promised canteens will offer a meat option again as soon as restrictions are relaxed and pupils have more time to eat, also pointing out that the temporary menus are not vegetarian, but contain fish and eggs, and that the previous rightwing mayor, Gérard Collomb, took the same step during the first Covid-19 wave last spring. Doucet has said he eats meat and denied he was trying to force vegetarianism on to the city’s children. “Being able to offer a seated hot meal to all the children is important,” he told French television. “This is Lyon, the capital of gastronomy. For us, flavour is also essential.” But that has not stopped some ministers from France’s centrist government jumping on the decision. “This is absurd from a nutritional point of view, and a scandal from a social point of view,” the agriculture minister, Julien Denormandie, told French radio. “Let’s stop putting ideology on our children’s plates,” Denormandie said on Twitter. “Let’s just give them what they need to grow well. Meat is part of it.” He said he had asked the region’s prefect, the state-appointed top local official, to overrule the move. The conservative interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, also took aim at what he called the “scandalous ideology” of the Lyon city council, describing the decision as “an unacceptable insult to France’s farmers and butchers”. Darmanin said on Twitter that it was “clear that the Greens’ moralising and elitist policies excluded low-income people. For many children, the school canteen is the only place where they get to eat meat”. In a rare display of disagreement within the cabinet, however, the environment minister, Barbara Pompili, said on a visit to a school canteen on Monday that schools should offer a daily vegetarian menu option and called the Lyon debate “prehistoric”. Pompili said that while many people assumed “children from less privileged backgrounds eat less meat, research shows the opposite”. The health minister, Olivier Véran, also said he did not find a menu with neither meat nor fish shocking. President Emmanuel Macron, whose La République En Marche party was meant to be “neither left nor right” and attracted politicians from both camps, has so far sidestepped the row. Macron said during an agriculture-themed visit to a farm on Tuesday that schools should aim for “a complete model of nutrition” and that “quality meat” was produced in France. But the row foreshadows broader political battles to come. Doucet is one of a number of Green politicians to win control of major French cities in local elections last year, in a defeat for Macron’s party that partly reflected growing concerns about the environmental damage from intensive farming and other green issues. | ['world/france', 'food/vegetarian', 'lifeandstyle/vegetarianism', 'education/schools', 'world/europe-news', 'world/world', 'environment/meat-industry', 'world/coronavirus-outbreak', 'environment/environment', 'education/education', 'environment/farming', 'environment/food', 'type/article', 'profile/jonhenley', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/international', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/farming | BIODIVERSITY | 2021-02-24T11:31:35Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
business/article/2024/may/22/severn-trent-increases-payout-to-shareholders-despite-its-60000-sewage-spills-last-year | Severn Trent increases payout to shareholders despite its 60,000 sewage spills last year | Severn Trent has increased its payout to shareholders despite being responsible for 60,000 sewage spills last year. Severn hiked its final dividend by 9% to 70.1p a share after pre-tax profits swelled almost 20% to £201.3m in the year to the end of March. The dividend increase risks angering MPs, campaigners and the public amid an outcry over English water firms handing large payouts to investors while polluting waterways, hiking bills and awarding large pay packets to executives. Severn, which serves 4.6m households and businesses from the Bristol Channel to the Humber, and mid-Wales to the east Midlands, was responsible for more than 60,000 sewage spills last year – a one-third increase from almost 45,000 in 2022 – with those spills lasting for more than 440,000 hours. Earlier this year, Severn Trent was fined more than £2m for polluting the River Trent near Stoke between November 2019 and February 2020. Its boss, Liv Garfield, was forced last week to defend her £3.2m pay packet for 2023 and the nearly £13m she had received over the past four years. She told the BBC that the 60,000 sewage spills “doesn’t make me feel good”. Severn Trent raised £1bn last year, in a sign that investors are still prepared to pump money into the sector despite the financial troubles at Thames Water, Britain’s biggest water company. On Wednesday, Garfield said: “The extra £1bn we raised from our investors will help us continue to transform the network, reducing spills, improving river health and providing our customers with the best and most reliable service. We are planning record levels of investment in the coming years, while also keeping bills the second lowest in the country. “Our customers and the communities in which they live are at the heart of our business and we’re doing more than ever to ensure we have a positive economic, environmental and social impact across our region.” Water companies are awaiting a draft view from the industry regulator, Ofwat, on their business plans for the five years to 2030, which will be delivered on 12 June. Severn Trent has proposed to invest £12.9bn and increase customer bills to £518 a year over the period. The company is in the process of spending £450m to improve 900 storm overflow points, about a third of the total across its network, as part of a push to halve its average spill rate by 2030. Neil Shah, the director of research at the investment firm Edison Group, said Severn Trent had made progress in “reductions in supply interruptions, blockages and low-pressure incidents”. Meanwhile, a cross-party group of MPs has said that water bills should be frozen until performance on sewage discharges into waterways had improved. Thirty-seven MPs from Labour and the Green party have written to David Black, the CEO of Ofwat, urging him to deny the water companies’ requests in the price review process. The MPs argue in their letter that, on top of illness, worry and inconvenience caused to their constituents by repeated sewage spills, “the excessive price rises proposed will cause them further harm and cannot be justified”. They are asking him to block any proposals for above-inflation price rises until 2030, and to ban the payment of dividends until agreed infrastructure improvements have been funded by shareholders. The letter was signed by MPs including Labour’s Clive Lewis, Barry Gardiner, who sits on the environment audit committee, the former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, the former shadow environment minister Alex Sobel, and the Green party’s Caroline Lucas. On Wednesday, the environment, food and rural affairs committee announced it would be hauling in United Utilities and South West Water for questioning after sewage spills into Windermere in the Lake District and a period of unsafe drinking water in Brixham, Devon, to ask for assurances such incidents will not happen again. Water UK, which represents the water companies, has been contacted for comment. | ['business/water-industry', 'business/corporate-governance', 'business/severntrent', 'business/business', 'campaign/email/business-today', 'business/utilities', 'uk/uk', 'uk-news/england', 'uk/wales', 'environment/pollution', 'environment/environment', 'business/executive-pay-bonuses', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/alex-lawson', 'profile/helena-horton', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/financial3', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-business'] | environment/pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2024-05-22T13:52:31Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
science/2018/may/22/weatherwatch-the-magic-of-may-dew | Weatherwatch: The magic of May dew | Folklore maintains that dew gathered in May is special. For one thing, it is supposed to give you a flawless complexion. In 1667, Samuel Pepys’ wife went to Woolwich to collect May dew, “the only thing in the world to wash her face with”. While purists only gathered dew on 1 May, others believed the power persisted for the whole month. The Royal Society took May dew seriously, the mathematician John Pell telling a meeting about a man whose warts it had cured. The chemist Robert Boyle mentioned a recipe for making vinegar from May dew, and copious quantities were harvested for experimentation. Some samples may not have been entirely pure. The physician Nathaniel Henshaw observed a tub of May dew putrefy to produce first jelly and then a mass of “those insects, commonly called hog-lice or millipedes”. Science gradually started to get a grip and myths were exploded. Robert Hooke, the society’s curator of experiments, showed that May dew, “commonly accounted the lightest and most volatile” of waters, weighed the same as ordinary water. Whatever science may say, modern-day witches still collect May dew for their recipes. Perhaps the only wonder is that it is not bottled and marketed at extravagant prices. | ['science/royal-society', 'news/series/weatherwatch', 'science/science', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/davidhambling', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-weather'] | news/series/weatherwatch | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2018-05-22T08:41:56Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2015/may/06/eu-agrees-landmark-carbon-market-deal | EU agrees 'landmark' carbon market deal | A deal to claw back hundreds of millions of surplus allowances from Europe’s emissions trading system (ETS) has been hailed as a watershed by environmentalists, MEPs and renewable industry groups. Nearly half of the continent’s emissions are covered by the ETS, the world’s largest carbon market, which sets a cap on CO2 output and forces firms to buy or sell allowances to stay within its boundaries. Recession and lavish handouts to industry have contributed to a glut of around 2bn allowances but a new market reserve will now start removing roughly the same amount from the market in 2019, as the Guardian reported in February. Damien Morris, the policy chief for Sandbag, an environmental NGO, welcomed the agreement as a “landmark” that marked “a huge turning point for Europe’s flagship climate policy”. “After a decade of what seemed like terminal decline, this enhanced stability reserve has the potential to inject new life into the carbon market,” he said. But with another 2.2bn of surplus allowances likely to accrue by 2020, Sandbag says that attention should now switch to tightening the market’s cap as quickly as possible. The deal was agreed in ‘trilogue’ negotiations between the EU’s parliament, commission and member states after wealthier EU countries agreed to commit more allowances to the reserve than poorer ones. The environment spokesman for the Liberal group in the European parliament, Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy described it as “a welcome result that will help put the EU’s climate policies back on track”. The Green party was more guarded, warning that EU climate policy would grind to a standstill without a solution to the ETS’s structural problems. “This agreement is a band aid to address the massive oversupply of emissions permits, which is totally undermining the EU carbon market,” said the party’s climate change spokesperson Bas Eickhout. “Nobody should be deluded that this addresses the more fundamental problems with the system. The debate must shift to permanently fixing the ETS and this must now be a priority.” The reserve will work by removing an estimated 1.5-2bn surplus carbon allowances in total, with 610m of them being fast-tracked directly into the reserve. Up to 100m carbon credits will automatically be released back onto the market when carbon prices are ‘short’. But a proposal to allow hundreds of millions more allowances to trickle back into circulation by 2030 did not make it into the final text. Around 50m allowances may be put into an innovation fund to help industry. The reserve’s 2019 kick-off will have disappointed the UK and Germany, which favoured an earlier 2017 start date. But reactions from market analysts were broadly supportive. Sara Deblock, the European policy director of the International Emissions Trading Association said that the move marked “another step to restoring the credibility of the EU ETS”. Allowance prices inched higher on news of the deal but, at around €7.50 (£5.60), are still far too low to encourage fuel switching or investment in renewables. Ivan Pineda, a spokesman for the European Wind Energy Association said that the result had been “pleasing” but that “much more comprehensive reform is needed in order for this instrument to provide a meaningful signal to investors.” While Europe has pioneered carbon trading as a way of reducing emissions, nearly 40 countries are enacting similar schemes with analysts keenly watching developments in South Korea and China. Regions such as California, Quebec and Ontario have also rung the bell on their own carbon markets and the EU is close to an emissions trading pact with Switzerland, although a report by Carbon Market Watch earlier this week warned that doing so could limit emissions abatement and hoover up public funds. The new ETS reform is now expected to be rubber-stamped by the European parliament by July, and by the European council shortly after. | ['environment/emissionstrading', 'environment/carbon-emissions', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/environment', 'environment/carbonfootprints', 'environment/carbon-offset-projects', 'world/eu', 'world/europe-news', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/arthurneslen'] | environment/carbon-offset-projects | EMISSIONS | 2015-05-06T16:43:50Z | true | EMISSIONS |
environment/2022/aug/06/spider-crabs-swarm-in-shallow-waters-on-cornish-beach | Spider crabs swarm Cornish beaches as sea temperatures rise | Thousands of spider crabs have converged on the beaches of Cornwall due to rising sea temperatures caused by the climate crisis. The migratory creatures swarmed in the shallow water in St Ives, shedding their shells before returning to depths of up to 90 metres (300ft). The crustaceans are instantly recognisable for their long legs and pincers, but they are harmless to humans. However, their presence at Porthgwidden beach was enough to put many bathers off entering the sea. Kate Lowe, a marine photographer captured the event just days after a snorkeler was bitten by a blue shark during an excursion off Penzance. Lowe said: “I go snorkelling most of the time throughout the year, but I have never seen spider crabs in such numbers. When we turned up at the beach, it looked as though there were lots of dark rocks under the surface. “But it turned out that there were thousands of crabs just two or three steps into the water. It was just really incredible, they were only knee-deep. I was able to float on the water above them and tried not to step on them. “A lot of the tourists were squealing at the sight of them. Their shells were just floating around.” Experts say while it is not unusual to see them in British waters, mass gatherings are becoming more common in the summer because of the rising sea temperatures linked to the climate crisis. These common spider crabs – Maja brachydactyla – usually gather in huge numbers in shallow water to protect themselves from predators while they wait for their new exoskeletons to thicken and toughen up. • This article was amended on 8 August 2022. An earlier version incorrectly stated in the headline and text that the spider crabs massing at Cornish beaches were “venomous”; no species of crab is venomous. Also, their Latin species name is Maja brachydactyla, not “Hyas araneus” as we said. | ['environment/wildlife', 'environment/environment', 'uk/uk', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'uk-news/cornwall', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/nadeembadshah', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/wildlife | BIODIVERSITY | 2022-08-06T19:11:27Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
sustainable-business/climate-change-scepticism-business | How US climate change scepticism censors the business conversation | There is a world of a difference between being told something and experiencing it for oneself. I have heard hundreds of times about the chilling impact that climate scepticism has been having in the United States. But in the UK, it has become almost inconceivable to worry about talking openly about the potentially disastrous impacts of the rise in manmade emissions. Having spent the last few weeks in the US, though, I have now personally experienced this for the first time. The fossil-fuel lobby in the US has been extremely effective in closing down open debate, despite the fact that the news channels are filled with almost daily stories of domestic environmental disasters ranging from severe flooding to massive forest fires. My first experience came a few days ago when, ahead of meeting one senior executive of a major American financial institution, I was advised not to focus the conversation on climate change because "they would not like that". The next day, I was chatting with Scott Wicker, the chief sustainability officer of UPS, considered a sustainability leader among US corporations. When discussing the company's various environmental initiatives, Wicker said, almost without thinking: "Even if you don't believe in climate change, it's about making it a better place for future generations." When I asked why he felt the need to add that phrase in, he responded: "Because it can be very hard when discussing with people. The jury is still out in their minds; not everyone is solidly convinced. "They may be convinced the amount of carbon is rising, but a lot of people are not convinced by what it all means." This is more than just a worry. The fossil-fuel lobby's insidious effects are preventing action at the federal, state and local level. UPS has a good case in point. It says it wants to switch its enormous transport fleet away from fossil fuels, but is being severely hampered by the heavy tax penalty of doing so. "Simply put, UPS is dependent on fuels for our vehicles, and we're not satisfied with the fuel options we have today," the company states. "A host of constraints, ranging from economics to politics to infrastructure, currently limits our choices for low-emission or no-emission fuels." Wicker gives the example of liquefied natural gas (LNG), which burns quicker – and cleaner – than its diesel equivalent but gets no tax incentive, therefore making it more expensive to use. In fact, current law taxes LNG at 17 cents more per gallon than diesel fuel. These disincentives stretch to the alternative vehicles themselves, which are much more expensive to purchase than their traditional counterparts – and therefore also attract a relatively higher tax charge. "Taxes can really add up, especially when LNG vehicles can cost two times as much," Wicker says. Despite great effort, UPS has made only modest progress in trying to convince states to support moves toward cleaner fuels and has found it almost impossible to make any headway at the federal level. We all know the reason why: fossil fuel companies are vastly outspending the lobbying power of businesses that want to see progressive change. All of this means that UPS' desire to move away from fossil fuels will almost certainly be a slow uphill struggle. It now has 2,700 alternative-fuel vehicles and has approved the addition of 1,000 vehicles using natural gas. However, this remains only a small percentage of its overall fleet of 100,000 vehicles worldwide. Wicker says: "In public policy, we are following every possible lead for working with local, state and national governments to develop alternative-fuel technology and infrastructure. "In terms of natural gas, we are working with utilities to see if they can sell it direct to us. Some can and some can't, depending on laws. Unfortunately you cannot just flip a switch to make it happen." With the launch of the new IPCC report on climate change, which shows that the future of our civilisation is increasingly at risk, we can only hope that Wicker and other US corporate sustainability leaders no longer feel obliged to self-censor their own conversations and, instead, join forces to challenge the fossil-fuel lobby head on. | ['sustainable-business/leadership', 'sustainable-business/climate-change', 'sustainable-business/sustainable-business', 'sustainable-business/communication', 'sustainable-business/low-carbon', 'sustainable-business/cleantech', 'tone/blog', 'business/business', 'type/article', 'profile/joconfino'] | sustainable-business/low-carbon | EMISSIONS | 2013-09-26T19:57:00Z | true | EMISSIONS |
commentisfree/2023/sep/06/contact-sports-can-contribute-to-chronic-brain-trauma-its-time-face-up-to-it-and-address-the-risks | Contact sports can contribute to chronic brain trauma. It’s time to face up to it and address the risks | Alan Pearce | We are at the crossroads when it comes to addressing the issue of brain trauma in sport. Increasing numbers of athletes and their families are revealing their daily struggles resulting from a history of repetitive hits to their brains. Studies showing long-term impairments are also escalating concern in the community. Consequently, our major sports have responded, implementing and refining concussion protocols, cracking down on head-high hits and resting players for 11 to 12 days. Sports are now resolute in their mission to show the public that this issue is sorted. Done and dusted. Nothing to see here now. Let the games continue. In their quest to be good corporate citizens, these sports have focused this issue solely on concussion. Despite acknowledging links to the insidious brain disease known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the sports provide solutions based on the assumption that concussion is the enemy. But this is only half of the story. A recent report on four American soccer players posthumously diagnosed with CTE and our recent case study on the death of AFLW player Heather Anderson brings us back to the other road, the one less travelled: the issue of repetitive physical trauma to the brain. This is the issue that isn’t discussed as publicly or as widely as it should be because it is a difficult concept for the lay sports enthusiast to grasp – that the physicality, the fabric that makes these sports addictive to play and watch, could be damaging our brains. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup I have previously spoken to journalists who have empathised with my concerns but have admitted that it is too difficult to write about. Concussion is much easier to explain and much more newsworthy (think big crunching hit). Repetitive knocks are often dismissed by sceptics who argue “how hard does a knock to the head have to be?” Some have said to me, “I can knock my head with my knuckles all day and not get CTE”. Informal fallacies are an easy antidote to the spectre of a brain disease risk. But it is a risk we need to confront. We are not talking about athletes getting the odd concussion from an accidental collision or high contact from a wayward forearm to the head. The risk of CTE comes from repetitive impacts (anywhere between 20 and 30 times the Earth’s gravity) that impart forces on to brain tissue. Not quite enough to cause a concussion but significant nevertheless when done tens of thousands of times over a playing career. Like smoking, CTE risk comes from environmental exposure. The more one is exposed, the greater the risk. The brain is delicate. Some doctors and pathologists have described it as “squishy”, similar to tofu. The offset of having an organ as complex as the brain is its vulnerability to damage. Impacts from collisions, tackling, bumping and being slung to the ground add up. It accelerates and decelerates the brain tissue, putting stretching and strain tensions that cause microdamage. Repeat that over many training sessions and matches across decades of a playing career. While some may argue that alcohol and drugs affect the mental health of these athletes prior to their posthumous CTE diagnosis, it has been explained by experts that, seen down the microscope, substance abuse brain damage differs to CTE damage. We cannot keep diverting the attention away that repetitive physical trauma is the major contributor to CTE. However, this exposure risk does not mean we want to stop these sports. Adults, have fun and knock yourself out (pun intended). But exposure can be reduced. For children with developing brains, the stakes are higher. We do not let kids smoke or drink for a reason. We can do the same in contact sports. While there is no magic number, modifying sports for children to the age of 14 years can significantly reduce the risk of CTE. Children can still learn the fundamental skills of running, agility, passing, catching and the resilience of knowing how to win and deal with loss. But like many other sports that have modified versions to reduce chronic injuries in kids, modifying these sports will reduce unnecessary hits to the head. Many of the federal parliamentary inquiry recommendations released on Tuesday centre on concussion and rightly so. Recognise and remove and if in doubt sit it out. But recommendations must go beyond concussion and address the issue of environmental exposure of CTE risk. We do not want another athlete and their family to suffer through a brain disease that could be prevented. Do we have the will to take the road less travelled? • Alan Pearce is a clinical neuroscientist and concussion/CTE researcher. He is an adjunct professor at La Trobe University, adjunct research manager at the Australian Sports Brain Bank and non-executive director of the Concussion Legacy Foundation Australia | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'sport/concussion-in-sport', 'australia-news/health', 'science/medical-research', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'campaign/email/morning-mail', 'type/article', 'tone/comment', 'profile/alan-pearce', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-opinion'] | sport/concussion-in-sport | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2023-09-06T01:06:47Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
australia-news/2021/jan/21/subalpine-regions-struggle-to-recover-after-2019-20-bushfires-as-eucalypt-forests-fare-better | Subalpine regions struggle to recover after 2019-20 bushfires as eucalypt forests fare better | Forests in some subalpine areas near Mount Kosciuszko and in Victoria’s East Gippsland region are struggling to recover from the 2019-20 bushfires, according to researchers examining the aftermath of the disaster. But eucalypts in forested areas of the New South Wales south coast appear to be recovering well, say the scientists, who are tracking the sites using data gathered by groups of citizen scientists. The Bushfire Recovery Project is a team of five scientists based at Griffith and the Australian National universities. It was formed following the catastrophic 2019-20 bushfire season – which burned more than 8m hectares – to bring together experts and community volunteers to produce data that might assist with the development of post-fire policy. Citizen scientists have been tracking forest regrowth on the south coast near Batemans Bay and in subalpine woodlands near the NSW and Victorian border. Patrick Norman, an ecologist at Griffith University and one of the lead researchers, said the groups had been monitoring sites on a weekly basis, taking photos and recording information using a dedicated app. Norman said forests on the south coast dominated by eucalypts, which were more resilient to fire, appeared to be faring well, as did some areas of East Gippsland. “Most eucalpyt forests once a fire has gone through, even if all of the leaves have been burnt, they’ll shoot out recovery buds,” he said. “We’re trying to take note of how they’re greening, whether or not they’re shooting from the canopy or the tree. On the south coast, they’re recovering quite well, especially when it’s larger, older forests.” The groups have compiled hundreds of records from sites in the Murramarang and Monga national parks and sites on the western side of Mount Kosciuszko. The scientists then use satellite data to compare the information gathered by the citizen scientists with data showing the extent to which those forests had burnt and their pre-fire condition to determine how their recovery is progressing. David Lindenmayer, of the Australian National University, is another member of the Bushfire Recovery Project. He said the resprouting occurring in areas along the south coast was “wonderful” but said the fires, combined with the effects of drought and logging, had taken a toll on wildlife such as the koala and greater glider. Lindenmayer said subalpine areas in the mountain country of East Gippsland and southern NSW were not showing the same level of forest recovery. He said the team had been monitoring communities in locations dominated by alpine ash, which regenerate by producing seeds rather than sprouting recovery buds. When a fire comes through, seeds drop to the forest floor and germinate to produce a new stand of trees. But Lindenmayer said frequent fires in those areas in recent years meant that trees being burnt were too young to produce seeds. “What it means is fires are burning young trees, which means there’s no seed rain from the canopy, which is how these trees regenerate,” he said. “It’s burning through young trees that aren’t old enough to produce seed, so the system is dead.” Lindenmayer said there had been a huge effort in Victoria after the fires to collect seeds that could be used to re-establish forest in the worst-affected areas. “Whilst the recovery in some parts is wonderful and is great to see, in other places I’m really concerned about how much the landscape is burning and how frequently,” he said. Steve Douglas is an ecologist based in NSW who has conducted extensive surveys in subalpine zones of the Kosciuszko national park over the past five years. He said he had seen the effects of previous fires, prior to the 2019-20 season, and drought on those systems. “There were areas up there … that looked like they’d been hit by an air burst nuclear detonation. They were absolutely flatlined,” he said. “The alps has long been flagged in climate impact models as one of the most at-risk bioregions in Australia from temperature rise, drying and increased fire frequency and intensity,” he said. Justin Field, an independent NSW MLC and resident of the south coast, said it was a relief to see new growth in the region’s burnt forests “and the clean white trunks of big spotted gums that have now shed their burnt bark”. “But there are also large areas where the intensity of the fires was much greater, many large trees have now clearly died and the canopy has been entirely lost,” he said. “The recovery is going to be slow and the long-term impacts may not be known for a long time.” | ['australia-news/bushfires', 'environment/forests', 'environment/environment', 'australia-news/new-south-wales', 'australia-news/victoria', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/lisa-cox', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2021-01-20T16:30:07Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2021/oct/20/sunrise-movement-climate-activists-hunger-strike | ‘Tired of broken promises’: climate activists launch hunger strike outside White House | With little more than sun hats, placards and folding chairs, five young activists have begun a hunger strike in front of the White House urging Joe Biden not to abandon his bold climate agenda. The protest came a day after the US president threatened to water down his $3.5tn social and environmental legislation and with Washington’s commitments about to face scrutiny at the COP26 summit in Glasgow. The five protesters said they will eat no food and drink only water. They intend to gather in Lafayette Park every day from 8am to 8pm until their demands – which include a civilian climate corps, clean energy performance program and funding for environmental justice – are satisfied. On Wednesday, in bright autumn sunshine, the quintet stood in a row holding signs including “Hunger striking for my dreams” and “Hunger striking for my future children”. They then sat down in red folding chairs with the words “Hunger strike day one” written in giant letters on the pavement before them. “I’m nervous in that I know that I will go on hunger strike until the demands are met, until I’m absolutely physically unable to,” said Ema Govea, a high school student who turned 18 on Tuesday. “That’s scary and I know my parents are worried and my friends back home are worried.” Biden met privately on Tuesday with nearly 20 moderate and progressive Democrats in separate groups as he appeared ready to ditch an ambitious $3.5tn package in favour of a smaller proposal that can win passage in the closely divided Congress. A provision central to Biden’s climate strategy is among those that could be scaled back or eliminated. Joe Manchin, a conservative senator from coal-rich West Virginia, has made clear that his opposes the Clean Energy Performance Plan, which would see the government impose penalties on electric utilities that fail to meet clean energy benchmarks and provide financial rewards to those that do, in line with Biden’s goal of achieving 80% “clean electricity” by 2030. The hunger strikers, who have worked with the Sunrise Movement youth group, warned that such concessions would be disastrous for the planet. Govea, from Santa Rosa, California, said: “Joe Biden made these campaign promises and we worked really hard on his campaign and to get him elected so that he could stop the climate crisis on these promises that he made.” Abandoning Biden’s commitments would signal to Cop26 that America has failed, Govea added. “I won’t let Joe Biden send a message to the world that he’s willing to give up on climate because I know that the American people, and young people across the country and across the world, are terrified but they’re ready to fight.” The hunger strikers drew TV cameras and curious glances from tourists in an area close to the White House that has reopened after months of security restrictions. As they sat, they spoke to reporters, checked emails and contemplated the long haul ahead. Paul Campion, 24, had skipped his usual breakfast of a bagel with cheese and eggs. He said: “I’m nervous about losing my my body weight, my muscles, about what it will do to my energy, to my brain, but I’m putting my body on the line because I’m here to remind Joe Biden of the promises that he’s made and that the stakes are this high, that young people are out here not eating because it’s this urgent and it’s this important.” Campion, a community organizer from Chicago, and his fellow protesters are “sick and tired of broken promises” from Biden and the Democrats, he continued. “I’m hunger striking because I want to live a full, beautiful life without fear of the climate crisis and I want to have children, I want to play with them in the park and I want to have community dinners where I invite my friends and family over and we sing and we have a bonfire. “That’s the future that we can have if Joe Biden will side with the people and deliver on his own agenda and actually fight for it instead of siding with ExxonMobil executives who are trying to gut his climate agenda and trying to prevent any significant federal action on climate change.” | ['environment/climate-crisis', 'world/activism', 'us-news/joebiden', 'us-news/biden-administration', 'us-news/us-politics', 'us-news/us-senate', 'us-news/us-congress', 'environment/cop26-glasgow-climate-change-conference-2021', 'us-news/us-news', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'us-news/joe-manchin', 'profile/davidsmith', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-news'] | environment/cop26-glasgow-climate-change-conference-2021 | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2021-10-20T19:20:26Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
us-news/2018/oct/11/hurricane-michael-florida-panhandle-photos-storm-chasers | Hurricane Michael: scenes of destruction reveal scope of storm's force | At least two people have been reported dead and innumerable homes destroyed as Hurricane Michael devastated the Florida Panhandle on Tuesday. The towns of Panama City Beach and Mexico Beach took much of its impact, and there were reports of homes burning uncontrolled with no one on hand to put them out. Images of the destruction began circulating on social media on Tuesday and into this morning revealing the massive scope of the hurricane’s force. Marc Weinberg, a meteorologist at WDRB in Kentucky, shared this video of a home falling down in Panama City Beach. ABC News meteorologist Ginger Zee surveyed the aftermath. Storm chaser Jeff Gammons saw gas stations and numerous other businesses destroyed. Jaclyn Whittal of the Weather Network toured downtown Panama City, now eerie and mostly desolate. “Like an vast tornado ripped through the entire city,” she wrote. “It’s true. Catastrophic damage everywhere near Panama City, FL.” The hurricane, the strongest to hit the United States in decades, was powerful enough to rip a high school gymnasium in half, as seen in a video shared by ABC News. A storm chaser filming a live stream in the midst of the storm had to eventually abandon his car, and footage of the camera, still rolling inside, appears to show the car being swept away by the water. He was later reported as being safe. The Weather Channel’s Chris Dolce shared a before and after photo of the same location that appears to show an entire two-story home lost to the sea. “It’s hard to convey in words the scale of the catastrophe in Panama City. The whole city looks like a nuke was dropped on it. I’m literally shocked at the scale of the destruction,” wrote storm chaser Josh Morgerman on Twitter. Flooding has now been reported as far away as North Carolina this morning as the storm moves north into a region still barely recovering from Hurricane Florence. | ['us-news/hurricane-michael', 'us-news/florida', 'world/hurricanes', 'world/natural-disasters', 'us-news/us-news', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/luke-o-neil', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-news'] | world/hurricanes | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2018-10-11T15:55:07Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
business/2010/may/19/wind-wave-power-north-sea | UK on course to reap massive renewable energy harvest | Britain could become the "Saudi Arabia of the renewables world" on the back of North Sea wind and wave resources, according to a study carried out by government and industry. The review by independent consultants for the Offshore Valuation Group estimates that by 2050 the UK could generate the equivalent in electricity to the 1bn barrels of oil and gas being produced annually offshore. Green energy experts in the City are sceptical claiming it would require herculean efforts to put the infrastructure in place to hit even the most modest targets. The study, undertaken by the Boston Consulting Group, suggests that Britain could not only keep the lights on but would produce a surplus, suggesting the need for connections to a "super grid" to enable electricity to be exported via subsea cables. It predicts that using even 29% of the available resources, Britain could save 1.1bn tonnes of carbon dioxide between now and the middle the century. "The UK is now most of the way through its first great offshore energy asset, our stock of hydrocarbon reserves. The central finding of this report is that our second offshore asset, of renewable energy, could be just as valuable. Britain's extensive offshore experience could now unlock an energy flow that will never run out," the report concludes. It looks at different likely scenarios for growth of the industry with even the most conservative – 13% resource utilisation, producing 78 gigawatts of power at a capital cost of £170bn – which would provide half of the UK's electricity demand. A more ambitious scenario, using 29% of resources would see 169GW installed at a cost of nearly £433bn and would make Britain a net exporter of electricity. The report was sponsored by the Department of Energy and Climate Change, the Scottish government and the Crown Estate as well as companies including Scottish and Southern Energy, E.ON and turbine manufacturer, Vestas. David MacKay, the chief scientific adviser at DECC, said the "helpful" study underlined the need for major investments in innovation to bring down the cost of turbines, tidal schemes and novel energy storage systems. But industry was much more upbeat saying it was very helpful to have a first really authoritative study of the enormous economic benefits waiting to be exploited. "This is a hugely exciting piece of research which sets out compelling factual evidence of the huge potential of the UK's offshore renewable energy resource," said Peter Madigan, head of offshore renewables at trade body, RenewableUK. "As an association we have long been saying that the North Sea will become the Saudi Arabia of wind energy, and today's tonne of oil and employment comparisons amply bear this out. Just as 30 years ago, the North Sea could be our ticket for economic growth. We are looking forward to the new government putting in place the policy framework to make this happen," he said. There was caution among financial analysts such as Dean Cooper, head of clean tech at Ambrian Resources. He said: "We see the report as providing compelling sizing information to value the offshore resource, but equally it highlights the herculean scale of efforts needed to achieve the numbers outlined. To reach 78GW will require a build rate of 2.8GW per annum by 2050, which is equivalent to more than two 5MW turbines every day. This compares to the equivalent of one 5MW turbine installed every two weeks for the installed stock of offshore wind in the UK today. "Offshore wind will be an important element in the UK's energy mix to keep the lights on, yet the gaps in supply chain, grid and planning to achieve this are monumental. There is money to be made in offshore wind as a structural growth trend, but when?" | ['environment/renewableenergy', 'business/energy-industry', 'environment/energy', 'science/energy', 'technology/energy', 'environment/windpower', 'environment/wave-tidal-hydropower', 'business/business', 'environment/environment', 'science/science', 'type/article', 'profile/terrymacalister', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/financial3'] | environment/windpower | ENERGY | 2010-05-19T17:10:26Z | true | ENERGY |
us-news/2023/nov/17/texas-republican-school-board-climate-textbooks | Texas: Republican-controlled school board votes against climate textbooks | Texas’s Republican-controlled education board voted on Friday not to include several climate textbooks in the state science curriculum. The 15-member board rejected seven out of 12 for eighth-graders. The approved textbooks are published by Savvas Learning Company, McGraw Hill, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Accelerate Learning and Summit K-12. The rejected textbooks included climate-crisis policy solutions, and conservative board members criticized them for being too negative about fossil fuels – a major industry in the state. Texas leads the nation in the production of crude oil and natural gas. Although Texas adopted standards in 2021 that requires eighth-graders be taught the basics about climate change, some argue that measure does not go far enough. Aaron Kinsey, a Republican board member and executive of an oilfield services company in west Texas, criticized photos in some textbooks as unduly besmirching the oil and gas industry during a discussion of the materials this week. “The selection of certain images can make things appear worse than they are, and I believe there was bias,” Kinsey said, according to Hearst Newspapers. “You want to see children smiling in oilfields?” said Democratic board member Aicha Davis. “I don’t know what you want.” Texas’s 1,000-plus school districts are not required to use board-approved textbooks. But the board’s decision wields influence. Some in powerful positions have tried to sway the board to reject the textbooks. On 1 November, the Texas railroad commissioner, Wayne Christian – who oversees the state’s oil and gas industry – sent a letter to the education board’s chairman, Kevin Ellis, relaying “concerns for potential textbooks that could promote a radical environmentalist agenda”. Also contested was the inclusion of lessons on evolution – the theory addressing the origins of human existence which the scientific community supports and religious groups reject. The decision comes despite pleas from the National Science Teaching Association to not “allow misguided objections to evolution and climate change” to affect the adoption of new textbooks. The deputy director of the National Center on Science Education, Glenn Branch, said: “Members of the board are clearly motivated to take some of these textbooks off of the approved list because of their personal and ideological beliefs regarding evolution and climate change.” Texas is one of six states that has not adopted the Next Generation Science Standards in its K-12 science curriculum. The standards underscore that climate change is a real threat caused by humans and can be mitigated by a reduction in greenhouse gases. Texas has seen some of the most extreme effects of the worsening climate crisis in recent years. According to the Texas state climatologist, John Nielsen-Gammon, the summer of 2023 was the second hottest on record, after 2011. In 2021, Texas experienced an unprecedented winter storm that blanketed much of the state in snow, left millions without power after the electrical grid failed, and resulted in deaths. Houston also bore the wrath of 2017’s Hurricane Harvey, a devastating category 4 hurricane that destroyed homes and buildings while leading to the deaths of more than 100 people in Texas. The state ranks 41st out of 50 in the US for education. The Associated Press contributed reporting | ['us-news/texas', 'us-news/us-news', 'us-news/us-politics', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/environment', 'education/education-us', 'world/world', 'education/education', 'us-news/series/big-oil-uncovered', 'environment/fossil-fuels', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/erum-salam', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-news'] | environment/fossil-fuels | EMISSIONS | 2023-11-17T22:49:51Z | true | EMISSIONS |
environment/2019/may/22/republicans-climate-science-deniers-house-congress | Republicans give platform to climate science deniers at hearing on biodiversity | The climate crisis has become a top issue among Democrats running for president. But many Republican lawmakers are still resistant to the science showing global heating is a serious, manmade problem. When Democrats in control of the House scheduled a hearing for international scientists to explain their warnings that humans are critically wounding biodiversity on Wednesday, conservative members of Congress called on career climate science deniers to testify alongside them. While a small but growing number of moderate conservatives acknowledge the urgency of the manmade problem, many Republican members of the House of Representatives in leadership positions do not. Republicans on a natural resources subcommittee called two prominent science deniers to criticize a landmark report that 1m species are at risk of extinction – largely because of humans, including because of rising temperatures from fossil fuel use and other unsustainable activities. The conservatives invited Marc Morano, who founded a website to question climate science, and Patrick Moore, the chairman of the CO2 Coalition – which falsely argues that more carbon is good for the planet. The panel’s chairman and top Democrat, California’s Jared Huffman, accused the two of “trolling” the scientists who helped spearhead the report for the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). “I don’t know what inspires someone to make a career out of trolling scientists,” Huffman said, referring to the witnesses as being from “the shadowy corners of these junior varsity thinktanks”. The hearing highlighted what recent polling confirms: climate change is more politically polarizing in the US than even abortion. More Democrats are seeing climate action as a top necessity, but conservative Republicans are not. Morano was formerly communications director for the GOP senator James Inhofe but now refers to himself as an investigative journalist. He said the report’s claims that societal transformation is needed to protect and restore nature are “the latest UN appeal” for “more money and more regulatory control of the economy and people’s lives”. Moore said humans putting carbon dioxide into the environment “are the salvation of life on Earth”. And Tom McClintock, the panel’s ranking Republican from California, insisted inaccurately that there was “a vigorous debate in the scientific community over how human activity compares with vastly more powerful natural influencers that have driven climate change for four-and-a-half billion years”. The scientists testifying defended the integrity of the report. They said they received and addressed 15,000 expert comments in an open review process. “What we wanted to do was to find out what do we know and what don’t we know? Where is there unanimous agreement about what’s happening, where are there differences of opinion?” said Robert Watson, the past chair of IPBES. “It’s the most heavily peer-reviewed document ever.” Jacob Malcom, conservation innovation director at the not-for-profit Defenders of Wildlife, said “the damage we have done and are doing is almost unimaginable. “The top threats to biodiversity are a result of humans living unsustainably,” he said, from “ongoing land and sea degradation” to “direct exploitation” from hunting and fishing, and climate change. “Natural systems cannot sustain this level of change,” Malcom said. | ['environment/climate-change-scepticism', 'environment/environment', 'us-news/republicans', 'us-news/house-of-representatives', 'us-news/us-news', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/emily-holden', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-news'] | environment/climate-change-scepticism | CLIMATE_DENIAL | 2019-05-22T22:33:27Z | true | CLIMATE_DENIAL |
environment/ethicallivingblog/2009/aug/10/you-ask-pants-to-poverty | You ask, they answer: Pants to Poverty | This week's You ask, they answer guest has an unusual mission: it promises to "rid the world of bad pants" by selling Fairtrade and organic underwear that's "truly ethical from grain to groin." Pants to Poverty says that it helps Indian farmers enjoy a fair wage and safe working environment denied to other cotton farmers who are exposed to pesticides. To tell you more about its work, from Monday to Friday this week, the company will be online answering your questions in the comments below. Got a question about its "pants amnesty" earlier this summer and its campaign to make Bayer Group drop insecticides containing the chemical endosulfan? Want to know how its supply chain is more ethical than the average underwear firm? Wondering whether buying organic and Fairtrade pants really makes a difference? Here's your chance to ask - just post your question below to get the debate started. | ['environment/series/you-ask-they-answer', 'environment/ethical-living', 'tone/blog', 'environment/organics', 'global-development/fair-trade', 'environment/environment', 'business/business', 'environment/corporatesocialresponsibility', 'business/ethicalbusiness', 'lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle', 'fashion/fashion', 'environment/green-living-blog', 'type/article', 'profile/adam-vaughan'] | environment/corporatesocialresponsibility | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2009-08-10T10:23:35Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
world/2008/mar/19/brazil.drugstrade | First coca crop found in Brazilian rainforest | Drug cartels have moved into Brazil's Amazon and are producing cocaine deep in the rainforest, opening a new frontier in South America's narcotics trade. Authorities discovered the first known coca plantations in Brazil's jungle at the weekend after satellite images revealed clearings that turned out to be about 2 hectares (5 acres) of coca plantations. Army units in helicopters and small boats also discovered a laboratory to refine cocaine at the site, about 80 miles south of the border town Tabatinga, along the banks of the Javari river, which runs along Brazil's western border with Peru. "It is an unprecedented fact and it surprised us," Colonel Antonio Filho told Brazilian journalists who visited the area. Coca is traditionally grown in the Andean highlands of Bolivia, Colombia and Peru, prompting speculation that the cartels had genetically modified the leaf for humid jungle conditions. "We believe they are using a transgenic or an adaptation of the leaf used in the Andean region," Filho said. "They are probably trying to find new locations to grow this, so we need to stay alert. If we don't do anything it might even become a source of deforestation." The producers reportedly tried to conceal the coca, which is the raw ingredient for cocaine, with pineapple and manioc. The crop, almost ready for harvesting, was destroyed. There were no arrests. The discovery worried the US Drug Enforcement Agency. "It's something law enforcement is going to have be vigilant on ... so [Brazil] doesn't become a major producer," a spokesman told the Associated Press. The vast, remote rainforest offered shelter and impunity, he said. "Drug traffickers and organisation are always moving to new areas. The Colombians are phenomenal in that respect." Some 230 indigenous communities, home to 54,000 Indians of different ethnicities, have been touched by cocaine, Davi Felix Cecilio, the region's indigenous foundation administrator, said. "The invasion from neighbouring countries, Colombians and Peruvians, is constant." Indians on the Brazilian side were being used as "mules", he said. An offensive by Colombia's US-backed forces has eradicated many plantations and pushed cartels and guerrillas, who double as traffickers, towards border areas. In an interview with the Guardian last year a senior member of Brazil's air force, Colonel José Hugo Volkmer, said the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) were making incursions into Brazil. He said it was possible that Ingrid Betancourt, Farc's highest profile hostage, had been in captivity on the Brazilian side of the border. Brazil is a transit point for Colombian and Peruvian cocaine bound for Europe and the US but local authorities had long denied that coca plants or cocaine itself were produced in their country. But signs are growing that drug production has started to migrate across the border. Last August police in Rio closed down what they called the first cocaine refinery found in Brazilian territory. They said the laboratory, in the Rio shantytown of Rocinha, produced between 250kg (about 550lb) and 500kg of cocaine a month. | ['world/brazil', 'world/drugs-trade', 'world/world', 'environment/amazon-rainforest', 'world/americas', 'type/article', 'profile/rorycarroll', 'profile/tomphillips', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/international'] | environment/amazon-rainforest | BIODIVERSITY | 2008-03-19T00:05:51Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2015/dec/30/el-nino-ocean-warming-seals-california-pacific | El Niño ocean warming 'causing havoc' for seals off California coast | The warming of the Pacific Ocean caused by the El Niño climate event is “causing havoc” among marine animals off California’s coast, with unprecedented numbers of dead or starving seals being washed ashore. The San Francisco-based Marine Mammal Center said it has rescued 106 emaciated northern fur seals so far in 2015 – three times greater than the previous record year for rescues. The center said the seals are victim of the exceptionally strong El Niño, which has brought a surge of warm water species, such as red tuna crabs and hammerhead sharks, to California’s coast. Mothers of seal pups born on California’s channel islands, found west of Los Angeles, are finding it difficult to find their usual prey of sardines and anchovies, which are moving to cooler areas further north to escape sea temperatures that are 2-4C warmer than average. This means that pups, initially reliant on their mother for nutritious milk, are underweight and understrength when they have to find their own food. “They can’t dive as deep, they can’t hold their breath as long,” said Dr Shawn Johnson, director of veterinary science at the Marine Mammal Center. “We have been rescuing four-month-old pups weighing 4-5kg, which is typically their birth weight. They should be double that. We are finding pups at record low weights. It’s really worrying for us. “The redistribution of fish is forcing the mothers to work harder to find food. This is all directly related to the warm water. It’s been the busiest year in our 40-year history and we are really preparing ourselves for the worst in 2016.” According to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries, there has been a huge increase in stranded sea lions, which are in the same family as fur seals, in 2015. According to Noaa, more than 4,200 sick sea lions have been washed up in California so far this year, comfortably the greatest number of strandings over the past decade. A further 100 Guadalupe fur seals and 150 northern fur seals have also been washed up, state-wide. Johnson said a strengthening El Niño signal in January and February could doom huge numbers of sea lion and fur seal pups. “We are seeing trends that are completely unusual for us and who knows what will happen when the El Niño really hits us,” he said. “We are concerned that there will be a new normal for wildlife here to adapt to. We will certainly need a lot of volunteers and help for the sea lion pups that come along in 2016. “We are seeing a lot of unusual species around here and it’s hard to say what the impact will be. We know the sharks are suppressing southern sea otters. There could be other negative impacts on the animals moving around.” The El Niño conditions have exacerbated warming off the US west coast that has persisted for most of the past year. Scientists are attempting to work out what the potential long-term impact of these altered conditions will be. “We are entering a really interesting period where the observations we make don’t have a precedent,” said Dr Terry Gosliner, senior curator of invertebrate zoology at the California Academy of Sciences. “We are seeing species outside their traditional range by 100km to 200km for their entire life cycles. I’d seen a certain species of sea slug maybe a dozen times in 40 years in central California and now if I go down to the rock pools I’ll see 100 of them. “One of the concerns is that if these animals hang around for long enough, they will disrupt ecosystems that have a cast of characters that have been in equilibrium for a long time. It could take decades for these ecosystems to stabilize again. “Some species are very vulnerable. Seabirds may have to abandon their nesting colonies and try to find sites further north, for example. We are going to have to face what the new normal will be and it will take at least a decade to figure out what, exactly, it will entail.” | ['environment/elnino', 'environment/marine-life', 'environment/environment', 'environment/wildlife', 'us-news/us-news', 'us-news/california', 'environment/oceans', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/oliver-milman'] | environment/marine-life | BIODIVERSITY | 2015-12-30T16:52:26Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/blog/2010/apr/21/infrastructure-planning-committee | Labour's fast-track planning body: £9.3m to run a year and no punters | It cost £5m to set up, and costs £9.3m a year to run. We're paying the chairman £200,000 a year, and also supporting a team of 25 commissioners, a chief executive, five directors and a communication team. But the Infrastructure Planning Committee - a quango set up by the government to fast-track nationally important projects such as windfarms and nuclear power stations - has yet to receive a single application. And if the Tories or Lib Dems win the election they're going to shut it down. British planning at its best. The IPC is the crowning achievement of a five year overhaul of our planning system. Back in 2004 Kate Barker – economist and member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee - was asked to carry out a review of land use planning. She concluded that the current system was overcomplicated, and was losing us money, and she recommended "introducing a new system for dealing with major infrastructure projects, based around national Statements of Strategic Objectives and an independent Planning Commission to determine applications". Her wish came true; in the very next white paper the Department of Communities and Local Government promised a "new system" which would be simultaneously accountable, transparent and streamlined. Wow. Needless to say – this is the planning process after all - the setting up of the resulting IPC, a national commission entrusted with the job of making decisions on large scale projects of national importance, has been fraught with difficulties. Local councils complain that they have been given new responsibilities, with no money to carry them out; moreover they've been told to ask the companies planning the projects to pay for environmental assessments. Environmental campaigners including the RSPB and Friends of the Earth have complained of being "deeply disappointed by the national policy statements (NPS) which guide the decisions of the IPC. And the Royal Town Planning Institute has warned that the NPSs may form a "jigsaw which won't fit together". Moreover, there are fears from many quarters that the processes of the IPC will exclude the public from taking part in decisions. The new system will only allow the public to intercede at three points in the process; before the application is made (while the company making the application are consulting), in written form or during a one day public hearing. They can also make a legal appeal during six weeks after a decision is taken. And this comes as the EU is threatening to take the UK to court for being so opaque in its planning decisions. The Lib Dems vowed last year that they would shut the IPC down. The conservatives have wavered, promising last July to keep it going, before stating finally in their manifesto last week that "we will abolish the unelected infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) and replace it with an efficient and democratically-accountable system that provides a fast-track process for major infrastructure projects". So now, the IPC, which declared itself open for business last October, and officially announced that applications would be welcome from 1 March 2010, is sitting, waiting to discover its fate. So far, it has published one opinion, on an expected application for a waste plant. But that had to be withdrawn because it failed to meet consultation requirements. The press officer for the IPC told the Guardian yesterday that he's not sure when the first application will actually be arriving. But he believes that it will be fairly soon. And when we rang back yesterday with more questions, the communication team was off. Apparently they don't come in on Tuesdays. Who can blame them, really? It's hard not to wonder what they would have to communicate anyway. There is a certain poetry to the idea, however, that the body designed to modernise the UK's rococo planning system may well turn out to be the biggest white elephant of all. | ['environment/renewableenergy', 'environment/blog', 'environment/environment', 'tone/blog', 'society/communities', 'politics/planning', 'environment/windpower', 'environment/energy', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'type/article', 'profile/bibivanderzee'] | environment/windpower | ENERGY | 2010-04-21T07:30:00Z | true | ENERGY |
world/2021/dec/17/environmental-activists-spat-at-by-drivers-at-rome-protest | Environmental activists ‘spat at by drivers’ at Rome protest | Italian activists have blocked a major road in Rome as part of a series of protests aimed at urging the government to take action to tackle the climate crisis. The activists, from the group Last Generation, which is supported by Extinction Rebellion, claim they were slapped, kicked and spat at by angry drivers after they assembled along the Maglianella viaduct on the A90 motorway. It was the eighth time that the environment campaigners have blocked a road in Rome in the past 10 days, with eight activists arrested on Wednesday. Peter, who was among seven people protesting on Friday morning, said: “I expose myself to danger and uncertainty because I am aware of the danger we are running to humanity.” It is the first time Italian climate activists have used the road-blocking method to raise awareness, and comes as a civil court case, brought by 203 plaintiffs who are suing the government for failing to address the climate crisis, gets under way in Rome. The main objective of the Last Generation activists is to force the government to establish a citizens’ assembly as a way to urge politicians to take swift action to address climate issues. “The assembly is supposed to be created by the government by the end of 2022 and the decisions taken by it will have to become law, so it’s not just about giving the government advice,” said Beatrice Costantino, a spokesperson for Last Generation. “We’re a small group of people but we’ll repeat this action until our request is accepted. We are also asking for a meeting with [prime minister] Mario Draghi and other ministers. The point of the meeting is to ask them why the government is leaving Italian citizens without any strategy to face the climate crisis.” Pledging to put the environment at the top of the agenda of his government, Draghi established a ministry for “ecological transition” after being appointed prime minister in February. About €59bn (£51bn) of the more than €200bn Italy is to receive from the EU’s post-pandemic economic recovery fund has been allocated for investment in green initiatives. Costantino said the government’s pledges so far were just “greenwashing”. “They want to give the impression they are thinking about the problem, but really it’s not enough,” she said. The plaintiffs taking legal action against the government want Rome’s civil court to order the government to adopt more ambitious climate policies, such as cutting carbon emissions by 92% by 2030. In 2019, Italy set itself a 33% target for carbon emissions reduction by 2030. Italy is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The melting of the country’s glaciers is picking up speed, while extreme weather events, such as the rare flooding that struck the Sicilian city of Catania in October, are becoming more frequent. Italy endured a long heatwave this summer, with a town in Sicily believed to have broken the European record for the highest temperature registered – 48.8C – in August. The heatwave also exacerbated wildfires, especially in southern Italy. “Italy is a real climate hotspot,” said Costantino. “2021 was also a bad year for Italian agriculture – we lost one in four types of fruit and almost 80% of olives.” A further roadblock is planned on Saturday. “The point of taking disruptive action is to make people agree with the cause. Some drivers have shown their support,” Costantino said. “We are not looking to be loved by people, but to talk about the problems.” | ['world/italy', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/environment', 'world/europe-news', 'world/world', 'environment/activism', 'world/protest', 'environment/extinction-rebellion', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/angela-giuffrida', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/activism | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2021-12-17T11:23:49Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
environment/2022/aug/04/emergency-water-plant-london-unusable-despite-drought-risk | Emergency water plant in London unusable despite drought risk | A £250m desalination plant launched 12 years ago to increase drinking supplies during long dry spells has been put on hold, as water companies in England and Wales face growing political pressure over their management of the supply crisis. The Thames Water plant at Beckton, east London, opened in 2010 with plans to supply up to 1 million people during emergencies, but that ambition has been scaled back amid doubts as to when the facility can begin operating. Despite July’s heatwave and the driest eight-month spell since 1976, the Beckton plant will not start supplying drinking water until next year at the earliest, according to the Daily Telegraph. The company told the paper it had downgraded the estimated supply from the plant by a third. A spokesperson said: “This adjustment was made on the basis of experience and to avoid creating unrealistic expectations about the output that could be achieved over a sustained period.” He added that “planned work” had to be completed before the plant could begin operating. It means that even if a drought is declared in the Thames region, the plant will not operate. Experts said Thames Water had failed to take into account the varying salt water levels in the Thames estuary. Of the 11 water companies, two – Southern Water and South East Water – so far have decreed hosepipe bans even after pressure from the government to do more to curb excessive water use. The two Tory leadership candidates have called for tougher measures against suppliers that fail to tackle leaks. The former chancellor Rishi Sunak told the Telegraph he was considering offering compensation to customers if hosepipe bans were introduced as a consequence of water company failures. He said: “It is unacceptable for water companies to impose restrictions on their customers when they fail to stem leaks. We need tougher financial penalties on the companies that are not investing enough to stop water being wasted.” His rival, Liz Truss, is planning tougher regulation. A spokesperson for her campaign told the Telegraph: “We shouldn’t be in a position where hosepipe bans have to happen. More needs to be done to make sure water companies fix leaks and waste across their networks. “As prime minister, Liz would look at how best Ofwat could hold those water companies with the worst track record to account, so that hardworking people across the country are not restricted on their water use over the summer months.” South East Water said on Wednesday it had “no choice” but to restrict water use for 3m households from 12 August, saying demand this summer had broken “all previous records” during extremely dry conditions. But other companies, even in drier areas, are resisting imposing a ban. Those involved in drought discussions say companies would rather wait until the last minute, when rivers are running dry, rather than irritate customers by putting bans in place early. Yorkshire Water, which has reservoirs that are only 52% full, is among the companies holding firm against a hosepipe ban. Instead it is urging customers not to wash to their cars, and if they have to wash them to do so over lawns. | ['environment/water', 'environment/drought', 'business/utilities', 'uk/london', 'business/business', 'environment/environment', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/matthewweaver', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/drought | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2022-08-04T08:40:35Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2023/oct/03/carbon-tree-planting-schemes-threaten-tropical-biodiversity-aoe | Tree-planting schemes threaten tropical biodiversity, ecologists say | Monoculture tree-planting schemes are threatening tropical biodiversity while only offering modest climate benefit, ecologists have said, warning that ecosystems like the Amazon and Congo basin are being reduced to their carbon value. Amid a boom in the planting of single-species plantations to capture carbon, scientists have urged governments to prioritise the conservation and restoration of native forests over commercial monocultures, and cautioned that planting swathes of non-native trees in tropical regions threatens important flora and fauna for a negligible climate impact. Writing in the journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution, ecologists said the increasing popularity of commercial pine, eucalyptus and teak plantations in the tropics for carbon offsetting is having unintended consequences, such as drying out native ecosystems, acidifying soils, crowding out native plants and turbocharging wildfires. “Despite the broad range of ecosystem functions and services provided by tropical ecosystems, society has reduced the value of these ecosystems to just one metric – carbon,” the paper reads. “It is broadly assumed that maximising standing carbon stocks also benefits biodiversity, ecosystem function and enhances socioeconomic co-benefits – yet this is often not the case.” Tree-planting has been held up as an important tool in mitigating global heating, with dozens of public and private initiatives under way to rapidly increase forest cover around the world to meet net zero goals. However, research indicates that the environmental benefit is heavily dependent on the scale and type of restoration, and requires huge areas of land. One 2019 study estimated that allowing natural forests to regenerate could return 40 times as much carbon as plantations. Jesús Aguirre-Gutiérrez, an ecologist at the University of Oxford who led the paper, said the scientists decided to say something after witnessing the increase in commercial plantations in the tropics. “We carry out a lot of fieldwork in the tropics to research what is happening with climate change and we have seen the boom in these plantations for ourselves: teaks, conifer and eucalyptus, just one or two species,” he said. “These schemes are a win for the company planting these trees but not for biodiversity. This is the start of this phenomenon, hence the seriousness of the situation.” The paper estimates that a plantation across the combined size of the US, China, Russia and the UK would have to be planted in order to sequester one year of emissions. While plantations are often more economically viable than standing forests, the paper highlights that they often support a lower level of biodiversity. For example, in the Brazilian Cerrado savanna, a 40% rise in woodland cover reduced the diversity of plants and ants by about 30%. Simon Lewis, a professor of Global Change Science at University College London, said it was dangerous to treat trees as “nothing more than sticks of carbon”. “Of course, plantations are needed for the paper and wood products society needs, but rebadging industrial plantations as carbon offsets is yet another problem of the … unregulated carbon offsets market. Tree-planting should not be seen as an alternative to rapidly cutting fossil fuel emissions,” he said. Thomas Crowther, a professor of ecology at ETH Zurich, who co-authored a paper that found there are 900m hectares (2.2bn acres) of land outside urban and agricultural areas suitable for forests, said placing the carbon value of an ecosystem above everything else was wrong. “Whenever we value one part of nature more than everything else, we incentivise the propagation of that part at the expense of everything else,” he said. “Historically, we have valued the parts that we use for food, timber, medicines etc, but now we are doing the same thing with carbon.” Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield on X (formerly known as Twitter) for all the latest news and features | ['environment/series/the-age-of-extinction', 'environment/biodiversity', 'environment/environment', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'profile/patrick-greenfield', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-age-of-extinction'] | environment/biodiversity | BIODIVERSITY | 2023-10-03T15:00:17Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2017/oct/23/country-diary-epping-forest-charter-henry-iii-ancient-beech-pollard | Country diary: Henry III’s charter helped this tree survive to a ripe old age | Centuries of sunlight have solidified into this beech’s massive presence, which creates its own woodland world. I stand beneath the grandeur of its shaded columns in veneration. But it was not always this way. This great beast was made to bend to the will of generations of commoners, lopped for the humblest of produce, a 10-yearly crop of firewood. It was a labourer, a working tree. Until the mid 19th century, that is, when cropping ceased. Today, 20 poles, each the size of a mature tree, thrust skywards from the lumpen head of this ancient pollard. And around its great girth, in its crevices and creases, the microclimate changes with the compass. Dominating the trunk’s north-west curve, like a coral outcrop, the bracket fungus Perenniporia fraxinea fans out dramatically in three layers more than 120cm wide. For 20 years I’ve watched this veteran grow so large that its soft, skin-coloured underbelly is now punctured by a million tiny spore-producing pores. To the north, failing root buttresses are covered by clusters of clam-shaped southern brackets, Ganoderma australe, showering everything in a decorative cinnamon dust. The roots were damaged by compaction 30 years ago and three poles are crumbling away, pock-marked by great spotted woodpeckers. Beneath this canopy-gap, I watch a comma flirting with the October sunshine. Over on the east side the morning warmth generates a frenzy of fungus gnats scenting the brackets. They scatter abruptly as a glossy hoverfly muscles in, investigating a pungent brown ooze exuding from a bark lesion. The tree’s main public face is its south side though few these days look up 3m to see the graffiti carved a generation ago. Perhaps, like me, those earlier visitors were drawn to the apparent permanence of this tree and clambered up, like axemen of old, to fix their own place in time. It is exactly 800 years since the Forest Charter of Henry III fixed the forest boundaries and protected common rights, including the cyclical harvesting of firewood from its trees. Such harvests ensured constant rejuvenation of the trees, extending their lives. So now I shelter beneath one of Europe’s oldest living organisms, in a landscape encompassing thousands more. Follow Country diary on Twitter: @gdncountrydiary | ['environment/forests', 'environment/series/country-diary', 'environment/conservation', 'science/fungi', 'environment/environment', 'uk/ruralaffairs', 'uk/uk', 'science/science', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/jeremy-dagley', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-weather'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2017-10-23T04:30:11Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2014/apr/23/snowdonia-national-trust-hydro-power-hafod-y-llan-grid | Snowdonia hydro-turbine marks major National Trust green energy project | A hydroelectric turbine in Snowdonia, Wales will begin generating power on Wednesday in the National Trust's first large-scale renewable energy project. Power generated by a turbine installed on a river at the trust's Hafod y Llan farm on the south flanks of Snowdon will be sold via the grid to energy company Good Energy. Patrick Begg, rural enterprises director at the National Trust, said the hydro scheme would ensure a sustainable future for the property, which was bought for the nation with a campaign spearheaded by Sir Anthony Hopkins in 1998. "We're lucky to be blessed with an abundance of natural resources that we look after for the benefit of the nation," he said. "Now with this new trading company we can harness some of the power generated by nature to help fund our conservation work. "However, the real prize for us as the UK's largest conservation charity is that we are helping to protect special places forever by creating sustainable energy solutions that work in complete harmony with our natural and historic heritage." As a charity, the trust is unable to sell excess power, so has set up a trading company to sell electricity to invest in conservation work such as footpath repairs and habitat management. The trust says turbine is expected to generate 1,900 megawatt hours per year – enough electricity to power around 445 homes and more than the amount needed to light all of its properties in Wales, which includes eight mansions, three castles and 45 holiday cottages. But critics say any improvement in its own energy performance are outweighed by the trust's continued and heavily criticised opposition to windfarms. A spokeswoman for RenewableUK, the trade association for wind, wave power and tidal power industries, said: "It's great to see the National Trust's commitment to developing their renewable energy portfolio - and that they're profiting from it too. To achieve the decarbonisation we need to clean up our energy system, it's essential that the amount of low-carbon electricity we generate increases, so we hope to see the National Trust taking an equally pragmatic approach to the development of other large-scale renewable energy projects as well." The trust already has more than 250 small and medium-scale renewable energy schemes at properties across England and Wales, including biomass boilers for heating castles and solar panels on stately homes. Last year it launched a £3.5m plan with Good Energy to provide clean energy to 43 historic properties, beginning with five pilot projects involving a marine source heat pump, two biomass boilers and two hydropower turbines. It is hoped the scheme will help the charity to reduce energy use by 20%, generate half its energy from renewables sources by 2020 and halve fossil fuel use in the same period. This would save the charity £4m a year in energy costs that could be released for conservation work. The trust says its policy is to "consider opportunities to install renewable technology where it is appropriate and in the right location and scale for the landscape". Last year the trust was reported to be fighting against 25 windfarm proposals that it said threatened stately homes and unspoilt landscape. A spokeswoman said the latest planning records showed the trust was currently objecting to 10 wind developments. "This is largely due to the number, scale and location of the turbines in respect of the landscape. There are further live wind applications that we are commenting on, but we are not currently objecting to these." Last October the Times published a front-page story saying the National Trust had an "open mind" about fracking – but would not allow windfarms. But the chair, Dame Helen Ghosh, later said the headlines were misleading and the quotes selective. Responding to a blogpost by George Monbiot asking her to clarify her position, she wrote: "We believe wind has a place in the clean energy portfolio but the 'kit' needs to work with the landscape – and it's our job to look after some very beautiful ones. "We do have some small-scale wind on our land, and we don't always oppose windfarms, particularly if they meet the agreed environmental guidelines. But it's not for the trust to be the national planning authority for exactly where every renewable development goes." | ['environment/hydropower', 'environment/energy', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'environment/windpower', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/environment', 'uk/national-trust', 'uk/uk', 'uk/wales', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'profile/jessicaaldred'] | environment/windpower | ENERGY | 2014-04-23T05:00:00Z | true | ENERGY |
news/2005/jan/01/leadersandreply.mainsection | Leader: Tsunami | The tsunami will, overwhelmingly, be remembered as a catastrophic natural disaster. But it also marks a milestone in the development of the internet. At first it was total failure. The information revolution that can extract or send data from anywhere in the world in a fraction of a second, failed to transmit news of the doomsday waves to those affected despite a window of several hours during which potential victims could have been warned. Somehow the world's fax machines, emails, mobile phones, satellite phones, internet cafes, computers and texters failed to link up in a way that could have warned enough people in the path of the tsunami who could have spread the alarm. As a result tens of thousands of people died who might have had time to move to higher ground. This could easily be solved and must never be allowed to happen again. Since that early systemic failure the internet has turned itself into an angel of deliverance. There has been an explosion of web sites on the internet and blogs (online journals) helping rescue work and also raising money for charities at a speed never known before. In Britain £45m had been raised by yesterday, much of it through online contributions which might not otherwise have been made. Hundreds of sites have been set up, mainly by volunteers, to identify victims and to coordinate rescue work. Yesterday a website was launched in Hong Kong enabling internet users worldwide to upload pictures of missing relatives which can be automatically scanned against a database of photographs of victims in Phuket, Thailand. It may be expanded to cover other affected areas. This displays the awesome power unleashed by the internet when its global network of communications is allied to the community spirit that drives so many of its activities. There is one more task to do. The web's army of volunteers must ensure that the follow-through is effective once the powerful but transient presence of the world's media moves on to another place. They have a big role to play through blogging and web cameras to keep the world focussed on the massive reconstruction work that will have to be done before normal service can be resumed. So often in the past promised resources have not materialised once the initial horror has waned. If the internet community can help keep the world's politicians on continuous alert, it will be even more deserving of our gratitude. | ['world/tsunami2004', 'media/digital-media', 'world/world', 'technology/technology', 'media/media', 'tone/editorials', 'type/article', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/editorialsandreply'] | world/tsunami2004 | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2005-01-01T12:20:49Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2022/jul/11/the-new-culprit-in-wasteful-excessive-packaging-air | What’s worse for the planet than millions of vans delivering shopping? Millions of vans delivering air | Name: Packaging. Age: Technically, it has been around since bananas came with skin and coconuts with shells. More recently, it has become less good, though. This is about wasteful and unnecessary packaging, isn’t it? Well, there is that: 300 million tonnes of plastic waste is produced every year, increasing by 9% annually, and with 91% of plastic not being recycled. In the UK alone, nearly half of the estimated five million tonnes of plastic used each year is packaging. Frequently, as with shrinkwrapped bananas, this packaging is entirely unnecessary. Sounds like an absolute horror show. It is, but there is another new packaging beast on the loose: air. So you’ve got plastic, which takes between 500 and 1,000 years to decompose, and you want to talk about air, which, last time I took a lungful, was actually quite nice? Have you never been annoyed by that massive box from an online retailer, that you open to find … oh, just a little packet of tap washers, for example? Yes! So annoying. And wasteful. But I do recycle the cardboard. How evil is it, in the scheme of things, compared with plastics? Well, guess how much air is being shipped to British homes each year, because the cardboard boxes used are bigger than what is inside them? Er, I give up. 85 million cubic metres. Oh my God, that’s terrible, even if I have no idea how much that is. How does that compare to the size of something tangible, such as Wales, say? Wales is for area, remember. For volume, we use … Olympic swimming pools! How many Olympic swimming pools of air is it? It’s 34,000 Olympic swimming pools. Put another way, oversized packaging means five million unnecessary delivery journeys a year, and an extra 85,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emitted. Then you’ve got the unnecessary extra packaging itself – 170,000 tonnes of cardboard a year, and 480 million square metres of plastic tape, at a cost of £40m. Just going back to the air thing, it’s not always just air though, is it? No, sometimes the unneeded space is filled with scrunched-up paper, packing peanuts, bubble wrap, plastic, so now we’re back to ramping up those waste figures, too. Research has found that enough of these fillers are used every year to fill London’s O2 Arena. I’m just imagining the Dome stuffed with packaging filler, and thinking how much fun that would be – but that’s probably not the right way of looking at it. No, it’s not. Do say: “I’m deleting everything in my basket until it comes with no unnecessary packaging – and is delivered by owl.” Don’t say: “How many Olympic swimming pools do you get in one O2 Arena anyway?” | ['environment/waste', 'business/packaging', 'environment/environment', 'environment/plastic', 'news/series/pass-notes', 'technology/amazon', 'environment/recycling', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/g2', 'theguardian/g2/features', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-g2-features', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-g2-production'] | environment/plastic | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2022-07-11T14:14:03Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
uk-news/2021/feb/13/activists-evicted-from-longest-running-hs2-protest-camp | Activists evicted from longest-running HS2 protest camp | Activists at the first and longest-running protest camp against the controversial HS2 high-speed rail development were evicted in the early hours of Saturday morning. The camp, at Harvil Road in the Colne Valley, Hillingdon, 25 miles west of the Euston tunnel protest against HS2, which has now entered its 17th day, was set up three and a half years ago. It has been the subject of several high court actions as HS2 sought and obtained injunctions to evict environmental activists from various parts of the site. Seven activists were evicted soon after midnight by dozens of black-clad members of the National Eviction Team (NET) supported by police officers. Four environmental activists had erected hammocks in trees and three were on the ground. One activist could be seen on the ground surrounded by members of NET screaming: “Can you get off me so I can stand up. Ow!” A NET bailiff can be heard saying: “You are on HS2 property I’m afraid.” “We really don’t need the level of aggression you are putting towards us,” the protester can be heard saying. Protesters said the eviction was swift. In previous high court cases relating to the eviction of parts of the Harvil road site protesters were told that while they were being removed from parts of the site they could still exercise their legitimate right to protest at a camp on the side of the highway. Now that camp has been dismantled. “Harvil Road Wildlife Protection Camp is no more,” said Mark Keir, a longstanding environmental protester at the site. “But this is not the end of the line for us. We will find other ways to protest against the HS2 development. The camp, once in a green and verdant landscape, is surrounded now by mile after mile of building site and endless floodlights at night. Last night’s eviction of Harvil Rd Wildlife Protection Camp was one of the most brutal we have yet seen. A vast army of 40 against a very doughty seven activists.” In September 2020 the high court issued its latest injunction barring protesters from the HS2 site. Opponents of HS2 have pointed to its spiralling costs and the destruction of trees and wildlife to make way for the rail line. The Colne Valley nature reserve is home to a variety of fauna and flora including bats, owls and osprey. Protesters claim that pile-driving into an aquifer (an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock) on the site, which supplies almost a quarter of London’s water, will cause serious damage to this water supply. HS2 denies there will be any damage. Meanwhile at the Euston tunnel protest tunnel activists have reported soil collapse in one of the tunnels they have named Crystal. HS2 says that ensuring that the seven protesters remaining in the tunnel are removed safely is their priority. An HS2 spokesperson said: “Today we have taken possession of land to the west of Harvil Road to secure it for our future works. This was carried out with support of a warrant and involved the safe removal of a small number of illegal trespassers, who had put themselves and our team at risk. Protesters are always given the opportunity to remove themselves from sites that they illegally occupy.” | ['uk/hs2', 'uk/rail-transport', 'world/protest', 'uk/london', 'environment/activism', 'uk/transport', 'environment/environment', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/dianetaylor', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/activism | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2021-02-13T13:44:03Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
australia-news/2021/oct/20/bridget-mckenzie-warns-it-will-be-ugly-if-morrison-commits-to-net-zero-target-without-nationals-support | Bridget McKenzie warns ‘it will be ugly’ if Morrison commits to net zero target without Nationals support | Nationals minister Bridget McKenzie has declared “it will be ugly” if the prime minister, Scott Morrison, commits Australia to a net zero emissions target by 2050 without the formal imprimatur of the Nationals party room. McKenzie’s assertive warning shot at Morrison on Wednesday came as the mining giant Rio Tinto became the latest resources player to unveil a new target to reduce direct and indirect emissions by 50% by 2030 – tripling the company’s previous commitment. Rio’s more ambitious medium-term target follows the Nationals vetoing an effort by Morrison to increase Australia’s 2030 target beyond the current 26-28% reduction. The mining behemoth says its more ambitious pledge will be backed by $7.5bn of “direct investments to lower emissions between 2022 and 2030”. With the Cop26 climate talks in Glasgow looming, the prime minister is attempting to land a net zero commitment before he departs Canberra next Thursday for the United Nations-led conference. McKenzie, a cabinet minister, has not been clear about whether she is prepared to support that 2050 target. But while she fired up in Senate question time, Morrison was clear in the House of Representatives that the net zero decision would be taken by cabinet. Morrison said that process aligned with “the approach taken in the past” when it came to setting Australia’s international climate commitments – like agreeing to the Kyoto and Paris agreements. Any ministers dissenting from the cabinet decision would need to consider their positions. The Nationals are split about whether to agree to net zero and a handful of trenchant opponents, including Queenslanders Matt Canavan and George Christensen, are campaigning actively against that landing point. While a group of Nationals remain implacably opposed, senior Liberals and Nationals remain hopeful the impasse will be resolved. The Nationals leader, Barnaby Joyce, has appointed a kitchen cabinet of four Nationals ministers, which includes McKenzie, to work up a wishlist in exchange for supporting the mid-century target. Joyce told parliament on Wednesday that list would be with Morrison in the next 24 hours. While Nationals opposed to net zero will push for poison pill items, like new coal plants, party MPs have been told the wishlist should not include specific projects – like power plants, or local roads and bridges – but instead reflect principles and safeguards protecting regional Australians during the transition. David Littleproud, the agriculture minister, supports an “aspirational” net zero target. He told the ABC on Wednesday: “We are not working through parochial projects.” “We are thinking more about how we secure regional and rural Australia’s future if [net zero] is imposed and how do we grow it as part of it,” he said. Littleproud said the principles outlined in the wishlist would be more about using existing mechanisms and programs for regional employment and jobs “than going for a cash grab”. But when questioned whether the eventual ask from the Nationals would include money, Littleproud responded: “Money makes the world go around.” In the lower house, Joyce said the Nationals were working through a collaborative process – not “grandstanding”. Asked about McKenzie’s warning shot at Morrison, Joyce said the Nationals were following a prudent and constructive internal process. Joyce said the Nationals party room would be the “final arbiter … of our position”. During question time, Joyce expressed scepticism that renewables projects generated substantial numbers of jobs. When it was pointed out to Joyce that Australia’s mining, farming and livestock industries supported a net zero target, Joyce acknowledged that BHP and Rio Tinto were supportive, as was the National Farmers Federation, but he said senior business leaders inhaled “rarefied air”. Joyce said executives did not live in mining towns like Muswellbrook or Singleton in the Hunter Valley. He also noted that farmers only made up 12% of his electorate of New England. While again telegraphing that the cabinet, and not the Nationals party room, was the decision-maker on net zero, Morrison sought to soothe rather than inflame Coalition tensions on Wednesday afternoon. The prime minister said he understood that people in rural and regional Australia “will face some real challenges to their economic futures because of what is happening around the world, and changes in the global economy”. He said it was important not to engage with opponents of the transition in “any sort of pejorative way”. It is possible the Nationals party room will meet again this week to consider the final wishlist. Once that list is finalised, Joyce will meet again with Morrison. The Nationals are also due to meet this coming Sunday. Federal parliament sits again next week. Assuming the Nationals wishlist is acceptable to Morrison and the Liberals, cabinet and the joint Coalition party room will meet next week. Rio Tinto said on Wednesday it will switch its iron ore mines in the Pilbara to renewables as part of the multibillion-dollar pledge to accelerate decarbonisation. The move, announced to investors on Wednesday evening, would see gas phased out at the company’s Pilbara mines and coal eliminated from the electricity supply to its aluminium smelters. It has warned that the future of its Australian smelters, at Boyne Island and Tomago, depends on being able to decarbonise their power supplies. | ['australia-news/australian-politics', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'australia-news/coalition', 'australia-news/national-party', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'business/mining', 'business/rio-tinto', 'environment/cop26-glasgow-climate-change-conference-2021', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/katharine-murphy', 'profile/ben-butler', 'profile/daniel-hurst', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/cop26-glasgow-climate-change-conference-2021 | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2021-10-20T08:21:37Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
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