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environment/2024/feb/15/wild-summon-bafta-saul-freed-karni-arieli | ‘We’re going to become fish’: how a ‘natural history fantasy’ found its way to the Baftas | A strange-looking woman in a wetsuit heaves herself up on to a gravel beach in a remote corner of Iceland. Her mouth is swollen and peculiarly wide, she has webbed hands and is wearing a huge black diving mask and flippers. She stops moving abruptly and lies still, not breathing, her arms and legs splayed out at odd angles on the pebbles. But as the camera zooms slowly in on her body and the actor Marianne Faithfull’s voice starts narrating, we learn that the webbed woman is not a woman after all. She is a fish. The scene is from Wild Summon, a 14-minute film that combines animation with live-action underwater photography, which has won multiple awards since it premiered at the Cannes film festival last year. It was nominated for the festival’s Palme d’Or for best short film before being shortlisted for an Oscar, and now it is up for a Bafta on Sunday. The main protagonist is a female wild salmon, who “in her last act of resilience” is giving her body back to the river she was born in. “Hidden in the pebbles, near her decaying body, are thousands of eggs,” Faithfull says in her distinctively raspy voice. Under the water, human foetuses bob up and down inside small red sacs. Each is wearing a black diving mask. “We call it natural history fantasy,” says the Bristol-based film-maker Saul Freed, who made the film with his wife and fellow film-maker Karni Arieli. The couple wrote, directed, shot, CGI-animated and produced Wild Summon, helped by their 14-year-old son Yuli, who was the primary drone operator and aerial cinematographer while they were on location in Iceland. “If you watch the film without the sound, it might look like some sort of science-fiction film about creatures that live underwater. If you do the opposite – if you just listen to the voiceover – then it’s a straight natural history documentary,” says Freed. As the title Wild Summon suggests, it is a film about a wild female salmon and her fight for survival as she migrates from a freshwater river to the open ocean – and then, in an impressive feat of physical endurance, all the way back to her birthplace to spawn her young. “When we pitched the idea to the British Film Institute, to get funding, we walked in and said, ‘We’re going to become fish,’” says Arieli. “We wanted to not only tell this eco story, but embody it.” Nearly a quarter of the world’s freshwater fish are at risk of extinction, and Atlantic salmon are now classified as near threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list. In December, new evidence revealed that the species’ global population has fallen by 23% since 2006. Giving the female salmon a human body makes it easier for the viewer to empathise with her, says Arieli. “We wanted people to connect to this female journey. The female voice is telling them ‘this is a salmon’, but their eyes are telling them it’s a human woman.” The couple hope this innovative way of telling an environmental story may appeal to a new generation. “We’re huge fans of the [David] Attenborough genre, but that’s his genre, and he’s done that – so how do we move forwards and build on that?” Arieli asks. To ensure accuracy, it was important to the couple to shoot the backdrop of the film in the real locations in Iceland where salmon swim. So after doing some underwater training, they took Yuli and their younger son Teo, who was six at the time, on what Freed describes as a “family road trip filming event”. “For us, there was never any question that we’d have to be in the river,” he says. “We wanted to go and experience it. And for me personally, because I was the one in the freezing water, it was really physical.” Trying to keep his camera steady, he understood, in a very visceral way, just how powerful the river was. “You cannot stay still under that power.” On the last day of filming, sitting next to a waterfall, looking for empty water to shoot so they could add in their CGI “salmon-woman” later – the animated characters were composited into the footage they had shot in Iceland – they suddenly encountered a real-life giant salmon. “I swear to God it was my size,” says Freed. “It just jumped out of the water and flew into the air. It was an amazing moment.” A passionate wildlife photographer, their son Yuli is now studying film at college while Teo has decided that when he grows up, he wants to sing to whales. “What bigger gift can you give the next generation than a love of nature?” says Arieli. “Because if you love nature, you’re going to save it.” Wild Summon can be streamed for free on Bafta’s YouTube until 20 February | ['environment/series/seascape-the-state-of-our-oceans', 'film/film', 'film/baftas', 'culture/awards-and-prizes', 'culture/culture', 'environment/environment', 'environment/fish', 'environment/wildlife', 'culture/marianne-faithfull', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/donna-ferguson', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/environmentnews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/global-development'] | environment/wildlife | BIODIVERSITY | 2024-02-15T06:00:07Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2023/oct/26/scottish-whale-watchers-photos-used-to-gain-insights-into-animals-habits | Scottish whale watchers’ photos used to gain insights into animals’ habits | Snowy is the oldest known minke whale in Europe, while Knobble appears to adore attention – or, at least, the whale has been spotted more than 60 times since 2002, mostly close to the Isle of Mull. Photographic records of minke whales submitted by members of the public are being published in a digital catalogue, providing insights about the threatened species. The research, collated by the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust, reveals that more than 300 individual minke whales have been identified in the Hebrides since 1990. A third (33%) have been seen more than once. “Photographs are a powerful tool for strengthening our understanding of whale movements and the threats they face – providing vital evidence for effective conservation,” said Dr Lauren Hartny-Mills, science and conservation manager for the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust. Scotland’s west coast seas are an important area for minke whales, which migrate to feed in their rich waters each summer. Thousands of photographs each year are shared with the trust by the public and wildlife-watching crews through a community sightings website and the free Whale Track app. Photographs are also collected by volunteers during the trust’s research expeditions on its research yacht Silurian. Researchers then use the images to look for specific markings or features to identify and catalogue individual whales, dolphins, porpoises and basking sharks seen in the region. The new catalogue reveals that Snowy the minke whale has visited the Hebridean waters over a 27-year period – the longest known history of sightings for this species in Europe. Record-breaking Knobble – named after a distinctive small bump on its dorsal fin – has become a local celebrity, starring in a children’s book, a Facebook page and in a song on YouTube. But Knobble’s sex, or where the mammal goes in winter, are still unknown. Photos can shed more light on the seasonal feeding habits of the whales – and the pressures they face in increasingly anthropogenic seas. The catalogue shows scars and injuries on 22% of the photographed minke whales, suggesting that individuals have at some point been entangled in marine litter and fishing gear, which can cause mobility problems, injury and death. The minke whales seen in Scottish waters are also believed to be the same population that is hunted in more northerly waters by commercial whalers from Iceland and Norway. The trust is asking for members of the public to submit their photos – whether recent or historic – to help its scientists learn more about the whales’ movements, health and the threats they face. Andy Tait, a wildlife guide for Sea Life Mull, has submitted thousands of images over the past 30 years. “I get great pleasure in sending in my photos to the trust, knowing every photograph I send makes a real difference to our understanding of amazing whales like Snowy and Knobble,” he said. “By using the new online catalogue, anyone can match their sightings with known individual whales. They might even discover a new whale that can be added to the catalogue, which is really exciting. This is citizen science in action, and the great thing is that anyone can get involved.” | ['environment/whales', 'environment/marine-life', 'environment/environment', 'environment/wildlife', 'uk/scotland', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/patrickbarkham', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/wildlife | BIODIVERSITY | 2023-10-26T05:00:25Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
world/article/2024/jul/26/was-the-jailing-of-just-stop-oil-protesters-fair | Was the jailing of Just Stop Oil protesters fair? | Letters | I agree wholeheartedly with Chris Packham’s and Dale Vince’s article criticising the jailing of environmental protesters (You may find Just Stop Oil annoying. You may dislike their tactics. But they do not belong in prison, 19 July). It’s a chilling response that shames our judiciary. Yes, the protesters are often annoying, aggrandising and disruptive: that’s the point. Our history is littered with such protesters, whose actions have changed the lives of many and resulted in governments enacting legislation. That we now have legally protected characteristics for many citizens is, in part, due to campaigns by annoying, aggrandising and disruptive citizens, often pilloried, jailed and worse. Our legislative limits on the right to protest in the past few years are starting to look like an insidious march towards “illiberal democracy”, to coin a phrase that Viktor Orbán has used to describe his government. Patrick Callaghan London • When I heard the news of the lengthy prison sentences meted out to the environmental truth-tellers, I suddenly felt I had been transported to another country. Was I now in Russia? Or North Korea? I was in the queue of traffic caused by the Just Stop Oil protest. I was late for a family funeral. The delay I experienced made no difference to me or the occupant of the coffin in the long term. However, the prison sentences have made a huge difference to everyone living in the UK, whether they understand it or not. Rosy Mackin Birmingham • I disagree with Chris Packham and Dale Vince, who argue that members of Just Stop Oil who broke the law and pledged to wilfully continue such actions in the future don’t belong in jail. In fact, that is the very place they do belong. It’s quite extraordinary that there are people who believe that, as long as you believe your cause is righteous, you should face no consequences for your actions. This belief, that the law should only apply to those we find morally objectionable, is a dangerous slope. There was an easy way for these people to avoid jail – it was via peaceful organising, respectful political agitation, and the ballot box. Instead, they chose to act in a way that broke the law, and that must have consequences. This plea to the audience, that the evil petrochemical lobby breaks the law and gets away with it, is in fact an argument that the rules must be made to apply to the protesters, as they should always have done. Michael Daniell Kingskerswell, Devon • I fail to understand the bleating about the recent sentences. The convicted went out of their way to cause very significant disruption to thousands of people. Stiff prison sentences will at least stop these particular individuals from causing more trouble for a while. How dare they push their views down other people’s throats in this way? Nigel Hooper Bodmin, Cornwall • My fear is that the severity of the sentencing will embolden further protesters to be jailed “for a sheep as a lamb”, and raise the stakes to make the establishment take notice. People of a “certain age”, or of a medical situation, may not fear a longer sentence to make a valid point of view heard. Ric Allen Matlock Bath, Derbyshire • Climbing a motorway gantry causes no disruption to anyone. It is the closure of the motorway to allow a rescue and an arrest that causes the disruption. In my view, anyone climbing up can be left to come down (and face arrest) on their own. The motorway remains open. I suspect this form of protest would soon fall out of favour if this policy were followed. Robert Nelson London • If the Just Stop Oil activists had blocked the M62, rather than the M25, would they have been given such lengthy jail terms? Rowena Beighton-Dykes Birkenhead, Merseyside • 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. | ['world/protest', 'environment/just-stop-oil', 'environment/environment', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/activism', 'society/prisons-and-probation', 'law/criminal-justice', 'politics/labour', 'law/law', 'politics/politics', 'world/activism', 'tv-and-radio/chris-packham', 'business/dale-vince', 'science/fossils', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/letters', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/letters', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/just-stop-oil | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2024-07-26T17:20:24Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
technology/2014/jan/12/lg-texting-washing-machine | LG's texting washing machine? Tech firms are asking the wrong questions | The annual vapourware games – otherwise known as the International Consumer Electronics Show – took place last week in Las Vegas. As ever, it brought fascinating glimpses inside the fevered imaginations of marketing and engineering executives. One of the most hilarious was LG of South Korea, which promised that we would be able to text our washing machine or dryer to ask how it's doing. Pause a moment to let that sink in, and then ask yourself: when was the last time you actually cared how far through its wash/spin/dry cycle your washer and/or dryer was? Personally, if that does happen, then I get up and go and look at it. It's not as if my home is so large that it requires a special expedition. The nonsensical belief that people will text their appliances is typical of what emerges from a technology industry that simply tries to answer "What can we…?" As in, "What can we add to this toothbrush?" To which the answer, apparently, is "Bluetooth", plus a smartphone app so that your toothbrush can tell your smartphone how well you're brushing your teeth. (Depending on the definition of "well".) Or, of course, add texting capability to your washing machine. Whereas the question that you really want your new piece of technology to answer is "I wish I could…" For example, the original Sony Walkman granted "I wish I could listen to my music while I'm walking about." I recall trying one of the very first models, and while the sound wasn't amazing, the fact of being able to walk around with music was. You might say that LG is answering the calls of all those who think "I wish I could text my washing machine," but that's not how this game works. Really successful technology fulfils a desire, not a specific function; it fulfils the need through its functions. Viewed through this sort of prism, it becomes easier to analyse some of the technology that's flying towards us like space shrapnel in the film Gravity. Does in-home 3D printing answer any desire that you can fit around "I wish I could…"? If it's "I wish I could have small globs of plastic that I will discover in odd places," then job done – although for that purpose you can already just get some children to bring their Lego over, at far less expense. Similarly with "wearables" – those devices that strap to your wrist, head or other body part – the question again becomes, what is the need that these things are fulfilling? I'm happy to own a Pebble smartwatch, which for me fulfils a simple set of functions: tell me the time, and tell me if someone rings or texts my phone by vibrating and showing the caller details. Not very big, and definitely not demanding. I'm still uncertain that there's a large constituency out there saying: "I wish I could monitor how many steps I've taken every day and put it into a graph, which is then shown to all my friends and nags them to get one too." There are whole classes of things that we wear that don't serve any useful need: jewellery (or "accessories", as they're known in fashion). That's the real chasm that wearables need to cross. If they can answer "I wish I could…" with "…wear something that looks attractive," then it won't matter how functional they are. The executives departing from Las Vegas this weekend should take a look at the advertisements along the airport walls, especially for the expensive watches. All those do is tell the time – yet they sell. Sometimes it's not about the answers you provide – it's about the questions you ask in the first place. "Can I text my washing machine?" isn't a good one. | ['technology/lg', 'technology/technology', 'technology/ces-2014', 'technology/gadgets', 'technology/series/the-charles-arthur-column', 'tone/comment', 'type/article', 'profile/charlesarthur', 'publication/theobserver', 'theobserver/observer-tech-monthly', 'theobserver/observer-tech-monthly/observer-tech-monthly'] | technology/gadgets | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2014-01-12T08:00:01Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
commentisfree/2019/jan/09/brexit-utopia-receding-dream-food-shortage-fruit-veg-supplier | Brexit utopia is a receding dream – instead Britain faces a food shortage | Guy Singh-Watson | As an organic vegetable grower trying to fill 50,000 boxes with a varied selection of vegetables 51 weeks a year – while juggling the needs of our 70,000 customers, 600 staff and 100 suppliers, plus our environment impact – Brexit is a cloud that complicates every decision, every day. When the sun is out, looking 10 years forward and given sensible, consistent leadership I can (just) imagine UK food, farming and wildlife thriving outside the EU. In that distant utopia we would be eating more local and seasonal food, more plants and fewer animals from smaller producers known by their customers and supported, not just for the food they produce, but for their care for soil, wildlife and livestock and the access they offer to the public. These genuine custodians of the land would use fewer, if any, pesticides and be supported and protected from world markets with lower standards. Michael Gove’s “public money for public goods” suggests a similar vision, though it is questionable how far it will survive trade negotiations, or whether he will be around long enough to be held to account for his warm, if slightly woolly, promises. With 79 days left to the day the UK leaves the European Union, our utopia seems an ever‑receding dream, especially when those leading the Brexit charge seem so woefully ignorant of our industry. A “leave‑backing former cabinet minister” recently stated: “We won’t be able to get certain foods like bananas or tomatoes but it’s not like we won’t be able to eat. And we’ll be leaving at a time when British produce is beginning to come into season so it’s the best possible time to leave with no deal.” March, though, is the worst possible time for a no-deal Brexit. Weather permitting, some crops will have been planted (this time last year, very few had been) but, dear politicians, they need time to grow: 29 March is, in fact, the start of the UK “hungry gap” when last year’s crops of kale, cabbage, greens, cauliflower, carrots, parsnips, swedes and stored apples, onions and potatoes are all coming to an end, while harvest of new-season crops will not start until mid-May. Indeed, fresh UK veg is scarce until June. As a nation we import about 50% of our fruit and vegetables (for Riverford it is about 30%) but that figure starts rising in the new year, reaching about 80% in April before falling again in June. If there was a “best time for a no-deal Brexit”, it would be July to September, as any gardener could tell our politicians. For 30 years Riverford has struggled with this reality – we even suspend our UK-only veg box from March to June because we often cannot find eight UK-grown items to put in it. Over 20 years, we have developed a network of suppliers across Spain, Italy and France to bridge the hungry gap. Most are small and medium-sized organic farms who have become firm friends as well as trading partners. To see our businesses and relationships destroyed in the name of soundbites, bigotry and ignorance is disheartening. We will never grow lemons but with time, education and investment our diets and farming could adapt to be less dependent on imports, although the change will take years, not months. Michael Gove and his fellow Brexiters may have had a point when suggesting the public had “had enough of experts”, but after 18 months of fractious and divisive campaigning driven by entrenched unlistening belief, I long for a return to reasoned debate. Facts really should matter in determining policy. Utopia, should Brexiters ever agree on its form, can only be delivered by leaders making decisions guided by consideration, and judgment based on sound information, not dogma and political ambition. Were we to leave without a deal there couldn’t be a worse time than 29 March, unless you like woody swedes and sprouting potatoes. As for bananas, they are a tropical fruit with 99% coming from outside the EU anyway. • Guy Singh-Watson is founder of organic veg box company Riverford | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'politics/eu-referendum', 'world/eu', 'politics/foreignpolicy', 'politics/politics', 'business/fooddrinks', 'environment/environment', 'business/business', 'uk/uk', 'tone/comment', 'environment/farming', 'type/article', 'profile/guy-watson', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/opinion', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-opinion'] | environment/farming | BIODIVERSITY | 2019-01-09T08:00:07Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2019/feb/05/germany-air-pollution-limit-eu-backlash-evidence-world-health-organisation | German backlash against EU air pollution limits 'lacks evidence' | The World Health Organization says it has seen no evidence to support a German backlash against tough EU air pollution limits. The country’s transport minister, Andreas Scheuer, sent a letter to the European commission last week calling for a review of the EU’s nitrogen dioxide (NO2) limits, despite signs of a government split over the issue. Scheuer’s claim that “increasing voices” in Germany’s medical profession were casting doubt on the science behind clean air benchmarks provoked a strong response from the EU environment commissioner, Karmenu Vella, who said if the limits were changed they would only be made stronger. The dispute followed an open letter by 107 German lung specialists who argued that health fears about vehicle exhaust emissions had been overblown. Prof Dieter Köhler, the paper’s author – and a former president of Germany’s Federal Association of Pulmonologists, Sleep and Respiratory Doctors (BdP) – is in Brussels for talks with senior EU environment over the issue, even though the BdP has disowned his opinion, describing the initiative as ill-informed “populism”. The WHO’s climate and health team leader, Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum, told the Guardian the German material published so far should not be considered as a basis for discussion. “We need evidence to be published in a peer-reviewed journal and properly reviewed by experts,” he said. “We have heard the discussion but we’ve seen nothing that constitutes evidence, from our point of view. And we have guidelines that are based on thousands of scientific papers and drawn up by the world’s best possible experts.” Germany is one of several countries, including the UK, facing European court action for violating the air-quality directive, and its car industry has been scarred by Dieselgate, the Volkswagen emissions scandal. The EU’s environment wing views the underlying science of Scheuer’s claims as suspect. Officials believe the medics’ open letter contains no new data and say its signatories represent only 3% of the BdP’s 4,000 members. One EU source stressed that Tuesday’s meeting would not be allowed to influence a nearly completed fitness check of the EU’s air-quality directive, and had only been arranged as a “courtesy” to the doctor. “If his visit is merely a coincidence, it’s a remarkable one,” the source said, noting the German government’s recent loss of 16 domestic air pollution court cases. “There was no debate on NO2 prior to that.” The initiative had received “strong party political support” in the European parliament, the source added. Köhler will be appearing at meetings in Brussels with German conservative MEPs, including Peter Liese, a right-leaning member of the European parliament’s environment committee. Liese said he had wanted to help Köhler, whom he had known for years. “I don’t say he is right but he has important points to make and and I want responsible people in Brussels to listen,” he said. “When we want to maintain support for EU environmental policy, we need to react to legitimate criticism.” | ['environment/air-pollution', 'environment/environment', 'world/eu', 'world/germany', 'world/world-health-organization', 'world/europe-news', 'world/world', 'uk/uk', 'society/health', 'environment/pollution', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/arthurneslen', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2019-02-05T15:00:12Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
environment/2018/jun/18/country-diary-bottlenose-dolphin-attack-shatters-flipper-illusions | Country diary: bottlenose dolphin attack shatters Flipper illusions | There are occasions when nature shatters our cosy assumptions. Last week we were watching the bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) on the Moray Firth, much loved by tourists because they come so close to shore. They flip and leap, roll and dive, singly or in pods of a dozen or more, only a few yards from camera-clicking visitors thronging the shingle spit. The dolphins gather in the Chanonry narrows to feast on salmon migrating upstream to spawn. We often see salmon being flung high in the air and swallowed whole. A feeding spectacle. We know dolphins eat fish and we are comfortable with it. But what we witnessed in front of our lenses that day spun us into shock. Forget film-star Flipper, forget frolicking Fungie in Dingle Bay, forget chummy Sebastian in Disney’s Shark Tale – these Moray Firth dolphins are killers. It wasn’t salmon they were throwing high into the air that balmy afternoon, it was a harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena), at less than 2m long half the size of a dolphin and probably a tenth of its body weight). Yes, another cetacean. Another common cetacean that we all enjoy seeing in our coastal waters. And the dolphins weren’t feeding. Dolphins don’t eat porpoises, they just kill them. They ram them, bite them, throw them and catch them, playing with them like a cat plays with a maimed mouse. We don’t really know why. The scientists in the University of Aberdeen’s Cromarty Lighthouse field station, the leading authority on the bottlenose dolphins, tell me they don’t know either, but it’s not uncommon. Dead porpoises are found washed up, gashed with dolphin-teeth scars and ribs stove in. Is it territorial? Do the dolphins see them as competition for food? Or is it much darker than that – is it fun? Is it a ghastly gang game, killing for sport? I watched the body language of my friends. It wasn’t what they wanted to believe of these intelligent, semi-human mammals that we have idolised. It was an “Oh my God!” moment – stern, disbelieving faces, shock fizzing and spinning us into silence. Right there, only 30 yards away, right in front of our noses, a gang of beautiful killers having fun. | ['environment/series/country-diary', 'environment/dolphins', 'environment/porpoises', 'environment/environment', 'environment/wildlife', 'environment/marine-life', 'environment/cetaceans', 'environment/oceans', 'uk/scotland', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/john-lister-kaye', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/letters', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/cetaceans | BIODIVERSITY | 2018-06-18T04:30:33Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2019/jan/12/drivers-resist-low-emission-scheme-as-london-struggles-to-clean-up-its-air | Drivers resist low-emission scheme as London struggles to clean up its air | As the lights change, the thundering morning traffic comes to a stop at one of London’s busiest junctions. Hundreds of people on bikes seize their chance and stream across the seven-lane intersection before disappearing into the relative safety of the UK’s first ultra-low emission area. The network of streets in east London has become a haven for cyclists and pedestrians since two local councils banned all petrol and diesel cars, vans and lorries during morning and evening rush hour. The aim, in one of the most polluted areas of the capital, is to “reclaim the streets” from polluting vehicles, creating a healthier and safer environment for pedestrians and cyclists. And there is good reason for action. Air pollution in the UK causes at least 40,000 early deaths a year – 9,000 in London – and is linked to a growing number of debilitating conditions, from heart disease to cancer and Alzheimer’s, as well as a decline in intelligence. Research has also highlighted its potentially devastating impact on pregnant women and schoolchildren, as well as its role in increasing rates of dementia. Most of this deadly pollution comes from traffic, and the UK’s first ultra-low emission vehicle (Ulev) area is one of a number of initiatives being introduced across the country to try to tackle what MPs have described as a public health emergency. But the schemes are facing fierce opposition. The new zone in east London – while welcomed by clean air campaigners, cycling and walking groups and many locals – is not without its opponents. Sitting in a cafe a few hundred metres from the network of low-emission streets, Feryal Demirci, who orchestrated the plan for Hackney council, said she regularly faces “hate and anger” when the council proposes new anti-pollution initiatives. The latest scheme was the subject of a legal challenge from one local business within days of it being launched. “It is a similar story every time we try and do any of these schemes to tackle pollution and make the roads safer and cleaner,” said Cllr Demirci. “More than any other issue – housing, crime, you name it – for a certain type of person this is the thing they care most about: their right to drive wherever they want, whenever they want, whatever the wider cost to the community.” In Hackney, about one-third of households own cars, and Demirci said the most vocal opponents are often relatively well off. “Otherwise rational people can become quite aggressive and irate – I have been called scum in public meetings and have people who follow me round from meeting to meeting to oppose what we are trying to do,” she said. Among the cyclists and pedestrians on the street, there is a wholly different attitude. One after another, they welcome the latest attempt to tackle air pollution – and anything that makes the area, an accident blackspot, safer. Waiting to cross the junction at Old Street and Great Eastern Street is Nicos Dermi, who cycles to work most days. “Of course I worry about cycling, because cars and vans often don’t see you or give you enough space, so it is very good to have quieter streets,” he said. Dermi said the polluted air was also a concern. “It is something I think about but there is little you can do because you have to get around,” he added. “I have really started to notice the improvement as more streets are made quieter and better for walking and cycling – it means it is safer, cleaner and in the end, people can get to where they are going more quickly.” Other cyclists also welcomed the scheme, although many said the area it covers is too small and it does not tackle traffic on main roads. Inside the network of nine streets that make up the new zone, some are less enthusiastic. “It’s about making money,” said Steve, a driver for UPS, as he unloaded parcels from the back of his van. “It’s as simple as that. Pollution is a problem, I am not denying that, but closing a couple of roads – what difference is that going to make apart from get some fines in for the council?” However, the move already appeared to have prompted a change by UPS. “They were fed up of being fined every day so today we are out in an electric van,” said Steve. “It’s good for pollution I guess but it is so quiet it’s a menace for pedestrians, because they don’t hear us coming.” Demirci remains undaunted by the opposition she has encountered, and said the low-emission scheme will be reviewed next year, with the hope of expanding it to cover more roads. “The level of opposition from some people does sometimes take its toll, but I grew up in Hackney and I love it. Air pollution is causing nearly 10,000 premature deaths every year in London and blighting the lives of tens of thousands more people in this borough – many of them who don’t even own a car. It is not an option to do nothing,” she added. | ['environment/air-pollution', 'environment/pollution', 'uk/london', 'uk/hackney', 'environment/environment', 'uk/uk', 'society/health', 'uk/transport', 'politics/transport', 'politics/politics', 'politics/labour', 'lifeandstyle/cycling', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/matthewtaylor', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/air-pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2019-01-12T06:00:36Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
world/2018/jan/17/the-plastic-free-stores-showing-the-big-brands-how-to-do-it | The plastic-free stores showing the big brands how to do it | In the past few weeks Richard Eckersley has noticed a change in the type of people who come into his shop. The former Manchester United footballer, who turned his back on the game to set up the the UK’s first “zero waste” store on Totnes high street in Devon, says it is no longer only committed environmentalists who pop in, looking for a cleaner way to shop. “We thought January might be a bit quieter but it has been crazy,” says Eckersley, who set up the Earth.Food.Love shop with his wife Nicola in March. “A lot of new people are coming in – people who have not necessarily been involved in green issues before ... it really feels like this [concern about plastic waste] is starting to break out of the environmental bubble.” Last week Theresa May put cutting plastic pollution at the heart of the government’s 25-year environmental plan, and although critics said it was short on detail she did call for supermarkets to introduce plastic-free aisles to offer customers more choice. But Eckersley says many consumers are already way ahead of politicians. He and his wife have helped people who are planning to set up similar stores in Wales, Birmingham and Bristol. “We are getting calls every week from around the country from people wanting to set up something similar in their towns ... it feels like this has really tapped into something that is growing all the time.” More than 200 miles away, Ingrid Caldironi shares the enthusiasm. She set up the plastic-free Bulk Market in east London last year. It has proven so popular that it is now moving to bigger, permanent premises at the end of the month. “We have had an amazing response, especially in the last couple of months,” she says. Eckersley and Caldironi are at the vanguard of a burgeoning anti-plastics movement in the UK that has been fuelled by newspaper investigations including the Guardian’s Bottling It series, the Blue Planet television series and a general alarm at the damage plastic is doing to the natural environment. But their enthusiasm is not shared by big supermarkets, which have thus far shown little inclination to reduce their plastic waste. “For a nation of shopkeepers we are lagging behind in this race,” says Sian Sutherland, founder of the campaign A Plastic Planet which led the calls for plastic-free aisles. “The most exciting thing is that politicians and industry are no longer claiming that we can recycle our way out of the plastic problem,” she added. “Banning the use of indestructible plastic packaging for food and drink products is the only answer.” Wandering the aisles of the supermarket where everything from pizza to fresh fruit and veg is covered in plastic, Sutherland says urgent action - rather than warm words - is needed. “Once you start to see it, to notice it, it is really quite overwhelming,” she says. Her co-founder Frederikke Magnussen explains the origins of their campaign. “It started with two unreasonable women who wanted choice – and supermarkets are supposed to be all about choice, right? “I can buy gluten-free, fat-free, African food, Asian food, yet if I want to buy plastic-free it is impossible for me to do so … In this land of multiple choice the one thing I can’t do is buy things without plastic.” In the past year there has been a growing awareness of the scale of plastic pollution around the world which is causing widespread damage to oceans, habitats and food chains. Last year a Guardian investigation revealed more than 1m plastic bottles are bought around the world every minute, with most ending up in landfill or the sea. And later in the summer it emerged that the contamination is so extensive that tap water around the world also contains plastic. The UK environment secretary, Michael Gove, has also admitted that he had been “haunted” by images of the damage being done from David Attenborough’s Blue Planet II TV series Back in Devon, as politicians wake up to the scale of the problem, Eckersley says he hopes people are now becoming aware of the benefits of a more sustainable way of life. And the former premiership footballer says he has no regrets about turning his back on the big money to live “at a much slower pace, enjoying the simpler things in life with my family”. “After Willow, my daughter, was born, it made me think about what future lies ahead for her. I wanted to say that I at least tried, I wanted to make a difference.” | ['world/series/half-full-solutions-innovations-answers', 'environment/plastic', 'environment/environment', 'environment/pollution', 'uk/uk', 'environment/waste', 'lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle', 'environment/ethical-living', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/matthewtaylor', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-special-projects'] | environment/pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2018-01-17T14:30:03Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
commentisfree/2016/sep/15/the-guardian-view-on-hinkley-point-c-hard-choice-wrong-call | The Guardian view on Hinkley Point C. Hard choice, wrong call | Editorial | Theresa May has taken her first major strategic decision. Hinkley C will go ahead, seven weeks after a pause instigated when the champagne to celebrate final approval was already on ice. The only change from a move that infuriated the Chinese and flummoxed the French investors appears to be a British veto on any sale of the Gallic interest during construction, and in future a new national security test for all foreign investment in critical infrastructure. All the pause really illustrates is that when it comes to nuclear, Britain is no longer a player in a world in which Russia and China vie to dominate. Hinkley C is an unproven design that comes at a punitive cost. Given the bill that will finally be picked up by the British taxpayer, it could well be no riskier to make a commitment on a similar scale to building a smart energy network that delivers power efficiently. This approach could be complemented by investing more heavily in reducing demand through measures such as better insulation, while expanding renewables, whose costs are falling. Already offshore wind is the only source more costly than nuclear. But nuclear clearly has some advantages. It is low carbon and Britain would struggle to meet its target of carbon-free energy by 2050 without it. It will keep the lights on in a way that most renewable energy cannot yet be relied upon to do, although the gap is narrowing as storage technology improves. Unlike onshore windfarms, fracking or even extensive solar installations, all of which arouse powerful local opposition, most of the neighbours at Hinkley C want the investment. It will safeguard existing jobs and it will deliver new ones – as many as 25,000, it is estimated. British business is eagerly anticipating a supply-line bonanza. Most of all, after the shattering blow of the Brexit vote and its potential impact on foreign investment, it is hard to see how Mrs May could really risk withdrawing approval for Hinkley C. In trying to exercise power, the prime minister has instead illustrated the constraints on her scope for action in an area where she has to maintain a fragile balance between national security, global investment and the demands of climate change politics. She could be forgiven for wishing she was starting somewhere else. For nearly a decade, Hinkley C has been presented as the magic bullet that will keep the lights on for generations to come, and a prelude to a huge expansion of nuclear power to meet the rapidly increasing demand for energy and the need to take old, dirty and inefficient capacity out of service. But after some costly experiences, Britain has lost its nuclear know-how: by the time it was completed in 1995, the last nuclear power station to be built, Sizewell B in Suffolk, was 40% over budget and successive governments have retreated from such ambitious infrastructure investment. When, in 2006, Labour tentatively proposed putting nuclear back in the energy mix, it already appeared certain that new nuclear would be built with foreign expertise and capital. British consumers will not bear the £18.5bn construction costs of Hinkley C. But nuclear is far too costly and too slow to produce a return to attract private sector investment without huge incentives. That is why EDF secured a guaranteed price for its electricity that is nearly double the current wholesale cost, for half of its planned lifetime; it is why the government has also underwritten construction costs by £2bn, and it explains the decision which so worried Mrs May, to allow Beijing to pick up a third of the cost as a quid pro quo for future permission to build at least one nuclear power station to its own design, at Bradwell in Essex. The decision is made, but implementation will matter too. The benefits that the government is claiming for the project must be realised. The consumer must not end up with the bill for construction, jobs must come to Britain and above all, the technology has to work. But there is more to it than that. This is a tale that illustrates one of the basic lessons in the No 10 manual of governance: in a competitive field, energy policy is one of the hardest to get right. Keeping the lights on without adding to global warming at a price that consumers can afford is complex. And nuclear, with its lethal waste and high decommissioning costs, is no long-term solution; the worst judgment of all on Mrs May’s first big strategic choice is to find that it drives out investment in other, smarter, solutions which are the real technologies of the future. | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'uk-news/hinkley-point-c', 'tone/editorials', 'tone/comment', 'uk/uk', 'politics/theresamay', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'environment/energy', 'environment/environment', 'world/china', 'world/world', 'world/france', 'business/edf', 'business/business', 'type/article', 'profile/editorial', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/editorialsandreply', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2016-09-15T18:50:13Z | true | ENERGY |
us-news/article/2024/sep/09/wildfire-line-fire-evacuation-san-bernardino-la | Fast-spreading wildfire east of LA forces thousands to flee amid fierce heatwave | Thousands of people east of Los Angeles have been ordered to flee their homes from an out-of-control wildfire that has burned through a large area of forest. In southern California, currently in the grip of a ferocious heatwave, the so-called Line fire has burned areas around San Bernardino national forest, about 65 miles (105km) east of Los Angeles. As of Monday morning, the blaze had charred more than 23,000 acres of grass and chaparral and blanketed the area with a thick cloud of dark smoke. Only 3% of it is contained, threatening more than 36,000 structures, including single- and multi-family homes and commercial buildings, the US Forest Service said. In northern California, firefighters made progress in containing a small but fast-moving fire that ignited on Sunday and burned at least 30 homes and commercial buildings and destroyed 40 to 50 vehicles. The 76-acre Boyles fire, which was at least 40% contained on Monday morning, has displaced roughly 4,000 people around Clearlake. Meanwhile, authorities across the state are bracing for more intense temperatures in a region that has already been rocked by days of searing heat that set the stage for fire conditions. “We know that triple-digit temperatures are coming again today, so that’s why it’s so important to get that work done at night when it is cooler,” Cal Fire battalion chief Brent Pascua told CBS on Monday morning. “We had the water-dropping helicopters back last night, so hopefully we’ll see that containment come up.” The situation is worsened by thunderstorms that are providing winds fanning the flames, Cal Fire said, as well as the high temperatures, which have exceeded 110F (43C) in Los Angeles. Scientists have warned that persistent heatwaves, fuelled by the climate crisis, are helping cause larger and longer-burning fires in the US west. The California fire burned so hot on Saturday that it created its own thunderstorm-like weather systems of pyroculumus clouds, which can create more challenging conditions such as gusty winds and lightning strikes, according to the National Weather Service. Firefighters worked in steep terrain in temperatures above 100F (38C), limiting their ability to control the blaze, officials said. State firefighters said three firefighters had been injured. Evacuations were ordered on Saturday evening for Running Springs, Arrowbear Lake, areas east of Highway 330 and other regions. Steven Michael King, a resident of Running Springs, said he had planned to stay to fight the fire and help his neighbors until Sunday morning, when the fire escalated. He had prepped his house to prevent fire damage but decided to leave out of fear smoke could keep him from finding a way out later. “It came down to, which is worse, being trapped or being in a shelter?” King said outside an evacuation center on Sunday. “When conditions changed, I had to make a quick decision, just a couple of packs and it all fits in a shopping cart.” Joseph Escobedo said his family has lived in Angelus Oaks for about three years and has never had to evacuate for wildfire. His family, with three young children, was among the remaining few who had not left as of Sunday afternoon. “It’s kind of frightening with the possibility of losing your home and losing everything we worked really hard for,” Escobedo said as his family packed up the essentials to leave. “It’s hard to leave and not be sure if you’re gonna be able to come back.” The affected area is near small mountain towns in the San Bernardino national forest, where southern California residents ski in the winter and mountain bike in the summer. Running Springs is on the route to the popular ski resort of Big Bear. Smoke already blanketed downtown San Bernardino, where Joe Franco, a worker at Noah’s Restaurant, said his friends in the surrounding evacuation zones were gearing up to leave at a moment’s notice. “They’re just kind of hanging on tight and getting their stuff ready to move,” Franco said. ”Normally they’re here, but a lot of people are not coming today.” Redlands unified school district cancelled Monday classes for roughly 20,000 students, and the governor, Gavin Newsom, proclaimed a state of emergency for San Bernardino county. On Sunday, another blaze sparked amid searing heat in southern California’s Angeles national forest. The blaze burning north of the city of Glendora, in Los Angeles county, was 820 acres and uncontained on Monday. The Los Angeles county sheriff’s department ordered visitors at a campground and residents of an adjacent river community to evacuate, the US Forest Service said. Meanwhile, about 20 miles outside Reno, Nevada, the Davis fire, which started on Sunday afternoon, has grown to about 10 sq miles (26 sq km). It originated in the Davis Creek regional park in the Washoe Valley and was burning in heavy timber and brush, firefighters said. It, too, was not contained. An emergency declaration issued for Washoe county by the Nevada governor, Joe Lombardo, on Sunday said about 20,000 people were evacuated from neighborhoods, businesses, parks and campgrounds. Some of south Reno remained under the evacuation notice on Monday, firefighters said, and some homes, businesses and traffic signals in the area were without power. The Associated Press contributed reporting | ['us-news/california', 'us-news/nevada', 'us-news/west-coast', 'world/wildfires', 'us-news/us-news', 'us-news/gavin-newsom', 'campaign/email/today-us', 'us-news/us-wildfires', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/oliver-milman', 'profile/dani-anguiano', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-news', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/west-coast-news'] | us-news/us-wildfires | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2024-09-09T23:48:15Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
news/2020/feb/28/weatherwatch-leap-year-bringer-of-disaster | Weatherwatch: Leap Year – bringer of disaster | One of the more unusual folkloric weather beliefs is that leap years have an unfavourable effect. The Farmer’s Magazine of 1816 reports that in Scotland: “It has long been proverbial here that ‘leap year never was a good sheep year,’ an observation which this winter has been fully realized.” That year rapid changes in temperature turned the surface of the snow to ice, causing the deaths of many lambs. An 1875 Wiltshire natural history magazine mentions the same saying as a Wiltshire proverb. The writer says that although absurd, such sayings are widely accepted, and when they do occasionally come true, they are “held up to admiring disciples as infallible weather-guides.” In Russia, leap years are supposed to be associated with extreme weather and, as a result, premature deaths. It was even said that beans and peas planted in a leap year would grow upside-down or sideways in their pods, perhaps in response to the supposed upside-down nature of a leap year, which allowed women to propose to men. While some weather superstitions may have a valid basis, this one is highly doubtful. Leap years are a human invention, and are calculated differently in other calendars such as the Chinese and the Hebrew. How does nature know when a leap year occurs and when to start behaving badly? | ['news/series/weatherwatch', 'culture/folklore-and-mythology', 'world/extreme-weather', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/davidhambling', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-weather'] | news/series/weatherwatch | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2020-02-28T21:30:27Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
commentisfree/2019/jun/23/promises-of-green-energy-jobs-boom-in-scotland-so-much-hot-air | Promises of a green energy jobs boom in Scotland are proving to be so much hot air | Kevin McKenna | In the renewables sector, the Scottish government has been perfecting a form of political alchemy over the last decade. In this, Nicola Sturgeon and her ministers have succeeded in spinning mere optimism into hard political currency. The title of its manifesto for the 2011 Holyrood election asked voters to “Re-elect a Scottish Government Working For Scotland” and claimed that developing the low-carbon economy would create “around 130,000 jobs”. At the current growth rate of real jobs in this sector, you wouldn’t bet on that figure of 130,000 being reached before that big asteroid with Earth’s name on it finds its bearings. The fabled potential of this sector for the economy has long mesmerised the political classes. Offshore Wind Scotland’s offering to potential investors reads like a licence to print money: “With over 25% of Europe’s offshore wind resource passing over Scottish seas, it’s no wonder some of the biggest names in offshore wind are already operating here,” it trills. “If your company is interested in the UK’s multibillion-pound offshore wind and renewables opportunity, then Scotland’s enterprise agencies are able to assist.” The 20 or so workers at the mothballed BiFab construction yards in Methil and Burntisland on the Fife coast have another perspective. The future of these yards is crucial to the wider, working-class communities that surround them. That future is now subject to the whims of the French energy giant EDF, which has a £1bn contract to supply jacket foundations, which support and anchor wind turbines to the seabed. The Scottish government, to give it its due, bought a significant stake in BiFab to help JV Driver, its new Canadian owner, navigate its way through the treacherous currents that dictate global contracts and processes in this sector. The EDF contract could create more than 1,000 long-term, skilled and well-paid jobs. It has the potential to revive and sustain communities that still haven’t recovered from Thatcherism. These hopes now hang by slender threads thanks to a mixture of what might generously be described as economic opportunism by EDF and rank incompetence by the Scottish government. The French firm plans to award this lifesaving contract to an Indonesian firm, effectively saying that it can’t afford a skilled Scottish workforce. Hard questions are being asked about the worth of job guarantees linked to the work and the quality of the contractual obligations laid down by the Scottish government. Independent advice given to the GMB union about the scope for taking legal action in the event that these jobs flit to the other side of the world indicates that these ought to be scrutinised further, but you wouldn’t bet on it. There has been almost £5bn of investment in offshore renewables in Scotland that, if properly managed and negotiated, could amount to several thousand sustainable and skilled jobs. According to the GMB, only 100 temporary jobs currently derive from this. In this global sector, we are often taking a penknife to a gunfight, with foreign-owned outfits heavily backed by governments that underwrite losses. Thus, our contracts need to be watertight and stringent. The Scottish government spent a great deal of money securing all the necessary consents for the wind farm and said that jobs would be created in the Fife yards. That was before EDF bought the project from the previous owners for £500m, before crudely jettisoning all prior commitments to local jobs. How the Scottish government failed to get these jobs nailed down legally, even in the event of the contract being bought out, may yet be scrutinised in court. Scotland faces the bizarre and humiliating prospect of a French firm riding on the crest of our spanking new green energy revolution by moving it to the other side of the world, before towing it back on diesel-burning ships to stick it 10 miles off the coast of Fife as a permanent insult to the communities that must look at them every day. UK taxpayers are entitled to ask why they are paying fortunes to subsidise green energy and create jobs everywhere else in the world except here. By 2022, all UK energy bill payers will be paying an extra £500 a year for renewables. EDF and the other global firms that have filled their boots on Scotland’s energy potential will make a lot of money from this. Gary Smith, secretary of GMB Scotland, said: “The electricity produced by this work will be very expensive. As a society, we are entitled to insist that the jobs created should be made here in Scotland.” In another consent document granted by the Scottish government for offshore work in Kincardine, there is no mention of any jobs until page 58. The following is both instructive and depressing: “It is expected that all of the WTG unit (tower, blade and nacelles) will be fabricated outside of Scotland and transported to the construction base for assembly… the construction of the development is expected to create a small number of short-term employment opportunities in the area… employment and economic impacts are considered to be a temporary, beneficial effect; of minor significance for the economy of Aberdeen City and Shire.” In this case, it didn’t matter anyway as the work went to a state-owned Spanish firm, Navantia. The Scottish government needs to get real here and get its finger out. It could start by seeking robust legal counsel to establish if EDF has misled ministers and Marine Scotland on their commitments to the economic and employment benefits deriving from the project to Scotland. • Kevin McKenna is an Observer columnist | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'environment/windpower', 'tone/comment', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'environment/energy', 'uk/scotland', 'business/edf', 'uk/uk', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'profile/kevin-mckenna', 'publication/theobserver', 'theobserver/news', 'theobserver/news/comment', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/observer-comment'] | environment/renewableenergy | ENERGY | 2019-06-23T05:00:36Z | true | ENERGY |
world/2015/may/13/dead-whale-valencia-spanish-beach | Mystery surrounds dead whale discovered on Spanish beach | Zoologists in Valencia are investigating the death of a six-tonne whale that washed up near the shore this week. Guardia Civil agents patrolling the area spotted the whale in shallow waters on Monday morning. They said it was floating lifelessly towards the shore and deployed a boat to protect the animal from oncoming vessels. Five hours later, the whale washed up on a beach in Cullera, a town about 30 miles south of Valencia. Police at the scene confirmed it was dead. Zoologists from the University of Valencia have been investigating the animal’s death. They confirmed it was a fin whale, one of the most common species in the Mediterranean. “It was female – most likely an adult,” Patricia Gozalbes, at the University of Valencia, said. “It showed no signs of a collision with a vessel or being caught in a net.” The whale’s advanced state of decomposition meant little more could be deciphered about its death, she said. Lured by the large population of krill, fin whales often frequent the waters off the Valencian coast to feed, Gozalbes said. They tend to wash up onshore in the region at a rate of about one a year. | ['world/spain', 'environment/whales', 'environment/cetaceans', 'environment/environment', 'world/europe-news', 'environment/marine-life', 'environment/wildlife', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/ashifa-kassam'] | environment/cetaceans | BIODIVERSITY | 2015-05-13T12:54:37Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
technology/2020/oct/19/uber-pledges-5m-toward-electric-vehicle-charging-points-in-london | Uber pledges £5m toward electric vehicle charging points in London | Uber has pledged to invest more than £5m in public electric vehicle charging infrastructure in some of the poorest boroughs in London, to help persuade its reluctant drivers to switch to electric cars. The global ride-hailing firm will announce the investment, which it admits is only a fraction of the money needed, as it seeks to highlight the imbalance across the capital in the installation of charge points. According to Uber’s analysis, the concentration of chargers is far higher in affluent boroughs, such as Kensington and Westminster, than in the areas where its drivers more typically live. Drivers in boroughs such as Newham and Tower Hamlets are also less likely than residents of south-west London to live in houses with driveways that allow them to charge electric vehicles overnight. Jamie Heywood, Uber’s regional general manager for northern and eastern Europe, said the £5m funding would be invested by 2023 in areas that lack the charging infrastructure they need to support electric vehicles, with the firm looking to work with the borough councils in Newham, Brent and Tower Hamlets to decide how it should be spent. He said: “Drivers consistently tell us that having reliable, accessible charging near where they live is a key factor when deciding if they should switch to electric. “If we address this challenge for professional drivers now, it will help create a mass market for electric vehicles in the years to come. As we all know this is critical if the UK is to achieve our goal to be net zero.” Only about 1,000 Uber vehicles in London are fully electric – a long way short of the firm’s pledge that all 45,000 cars on its app in the capital should be electric by 2025. London is nonetheless where Uber is spearheading its ambition for zero-emission fleets worldwide by 2040. It struck a deal with Nissan earlier this year to supply 2,000 discounted Leafs for London drivers. Uber is sitting on a fund of more than £100m raised through its self-imposed clean air fee in London, designed to help drivers transition to electric cars. The 15p per mile levy on passengers was announced in 2018 as Uber attempted to restore its battered corporate image, after Transport for London refused it a licence. Magistrates again granted a licence for Uber to continue operating in London last month after a court ruled it “no longer posed a risk”, a year after Transport for London refused for a second time to extend its licence over safety concerns. | ['technology/uber', 'environment/electric-cars', 'technology/motoring', 'environment/carbon-emissions', 'business/business', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'uk/london', 'uk/uk', 'money/motoring', 'environment/environment', 'money/money', 'environment/travel-and-transport', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/gwyntopham', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-business'] | environment/carbon-emissions | EMISSIONS | 2020-10-19T17:28:43Z | true | EMISSIONS |
australia-news/2022/mar/10/passivity-and-blame-shifting-scott-morrison-brings-his-signature-crisis-skills-to-lismore | In a disaster zone on the frontline of the climate crisis, the PM resorts to self-serving pontification | Katharine Murphy | Scott Morrison was prepared to acknowledge some realities when he arrived in Lismore on Wednesday. Australia was becoming a harder country to live in because of natural disasters, like the black summer bushfires, and the latest catastrophic floods that have killed more than 20 people. “We are dealing with a different climate to the one we are dealing with before,” the prime minister said. Morrison turned up with practical support. Cash. Promises of more defence personnel to clear out the rubbish (although that might take a month). He also opened the door on a conversation about what might need to be done locally to mitigate risk, with commonwealth funds on standby. But there was also plenty of passivity and blame-shifting, which are Morrison’s core crisis characteristics. We’ve seen these same instincts flare during the bushfires, during the pandemic and now during the floods. These qualities are now very familiar. It’s part of the reason the prime minister has lost standing with voters. On Wednesday, Morrison thought any inquiry into the quality of the disaster response in the northern rivers was a matter for the New South Wales government – not him. Morrison also thought a failure to scramble significant defence resources into the disaster zone was not actually a failure. The problem was people had unrealistic expectations about what governments could do. The prime minister noted people would always need to rely on their neighbours when catastrophe struck as opposed to a functioning triple zero emergency service (that the Morrison government most decidedly did not run – that was Dominic Perrottet’s responsibility). There was also the odd business of the emergency declaration. Morrison’s office made it known earlier in the day he was going to make the declaration, but it later emerged he couldn’t until the states were formally on board, because that’s how the legislation (that his own government drafted and passed) actually worked. But all of this was warm-up laps for peak passivity. As might have been predicted, Morrison hit peak passivity when pressed about his government’s record on the climate crisis. Morrison pretended the Coalition had always been on board with climate change despite the voluminous evidence to the contrary (including, but not limited to, the repeal of a functioning carbon price, Tony Abbott’s serious attempt to gut the renewable energy target, and, more recently, Morrison’s own hyper-partisan masterstroke, the entirely bogus “war on the weekend”). Morrison suggested his government had been so forward leaning on climate action it had been “the first government to commit by net zero by 2050”. Given Australia was one of the last countries in the developed world to actually make that commitment, and almost didn’t because of trenchant opposition from the National party – this first-cab-off-the-rank data point was perplexing to say the least. But in any case, lest all this forward leaning seem too forward, Morrison wrenched his bus into reverse. The prime minister proceeded to treat onlookers to one of his favourite tutorials: Australia makes bugger all difference when it comes to global climate action. We need to remind ourselves that this self-serving pontification by Morrison was occurring at the site of an actual disaster zone on the frontline of the climate crisis, while the traumatised residents of Lismore were milling outside still trying to process what the hell just happened. Carry on Lismore. Truly. Don’t mind us. Sure, global heating was real enough, but Morrison reminded people Australia was an emissions minnow, and nothing would stop global emissions rising until countries with rising emissions profiles were given access to technology enabling them to cut pollution. Anything else was just “warm fuzzy feelings”. This version of events – one that pretends demonstrable public policy failure has no costs or consequences – glosses over inconvenient truths like if runaway heating is a global problem (and it is), it can only be solved by rich countries like Australia pulling their weight. If every country acted with the abject derangement that Australia has exhibited for a decade, then the planet will most decidedly cook. Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning Another fact. Australia continues to export emissions that contribute to heating to the rest of the world like that ain’t no thing. One last fact. While Morrison was acknowledging the reality of the changing climate in Lismore, his energy minister, Angus Taylor, was out making the case for a further expansion of fossil fuels, and taunting European countries for not pursuing a “gas-fired recovery”. This leads us to the nub of the problem. Australia has struggled to get its disaster response right in part because federations are always complicated and imperfect beasts, and in part, because the Morrison government refuses to pull hard on the thread that will unravel the Coalition’s whole climate culture war. Getting the national disaster response right requires something radical. It requires the Coalition to be honest about the past, and about the future. To give Australians the tools they need to manage the existential threat of a heating climate, this government needs to be honest, first with itself, and then with the Australian public, about the nature of the threat. It needs to end a decade of excuses, evasions and obfuscations, and set about atoning for them. Until this government understands the magnitude of its own policy failures, until it can permit the most basic truth telling, this group of people will not be able to summon the imagination or the resolve, let alone the monumental whole-of-federation resources required to mitigate the risks and adapt to the new realities. That’s the truth. | ['australia-news/scott-morrison', 'australia-news/australia-east-coast-floods-2022', 'australia-news/coalition', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'australia-news/australian-politics', 'environment/flooding', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'tone/comment', 'profile/katharine-murphy', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | australia-news/australia-east-coast-floods-2022 | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2022-03-09T16:30:37Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2009/sep/01/metropolitan-police-climate-camp-tactics | Met promises to repeat low-key Climate Camp policing at future demonstrations | Scotland Yard said tonight the model of policing used at Climate Camp, the week-long gathering of environmental activists that ends tomorrow, was a "really successful" approach that would be repeated at future demonstrations. Chief Superintendant Helen Ball, a spokeswoman for policing at the campsite in Blackheath, south-east London, said neighbourhood-style tactics which included a "low-key" presence, limited surveillance of activists and almost no use of stop-and-search powers proved the Met had changed its approach since the G20 protests in April. The tactic is likely to be repeated at future demonstrations, she said, noting there had been just one arrest in seven days. "Where the opportunity arises to adopt a similar policing style in the future, we will do that." The Met's six-day policing operation at the camp was in stark contrast to the way the force handled the April demonstrations, when many of the same protesters were "kettled" and charged with batons as they were forcibly cleared from Bishopsgate, central London, which they intended to occupy for one night. Ball said the approach was "not an accident", but designed to build trust with activists after the G20 that would be repeated at future demonstrations. Organisers of the camp, which will end tomorrow as activists dismantle the site, which has been used as a model for sustainable living and training camp for activism, said more than 5,000 people took part in direct training workshops and discussion about global warming. Some said the barely visible police presence meant a greater attendance from people who would have otherwise have been nervous about participating. The decision not to use stop-and- searches was in complete contrast to last year's camp at Kingsnorth power station, in Kent, where there was blanket use of the powers. But activists were cautious about welcoming the Met's change in stance. "We're not going to be grateful to the police for not assaulting us and not trampling over our civil liberties like they did at Kingsnorth," said Tracy Lane, from the camp's media team. "The fact they maintained a low-key presence at this event doesn't mean any long-term, substantial change in the policing of protest." Climate Camp was used to prepare for a "mass action" against Nottinghamshire's Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in October andlaunched a series of smaller protests across the City yesterday. Protesters glued themselves to the headquarters of RBS and superglued themselves naked to the offices of Edelman PR, which represents the energy company E.ON. Friction did arise when Superintendant Julia Pendry entered the camp on the first day to talk to campers. She is understood to have wanted access to the camp, but agreed to backed down and all other meetings with between police and campers were held outside the perimeter fence. Officers did keep watch of the camp via CCTV cameras erected on a nearby crane. The force used its newly-activated Twitter account to dispell the as rumour that the cameras had directional microphones. Another Twitter message informed campers that a mobile police station parked had been closed "as there is no demand for it". • This article was amended on Wednesday 2 September 2009. We said activists superglued themselves naked to the officers of Edelman PR: we meant, of course, offices. This has been corrected. | ['environment/climate-camp', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/environment', 'uk/police', 'politics/politics', 'uk/uk', 'world/protest', 'environment/activism', 'world/world', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'profile/paullewis', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews'] | environment/activism | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2009-09-01T18:24:18Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
environment/2013/mar/26/nuclear-free-future-energy-strategy | Nuclear-free future not an option for UK energy strategy, says chief adviser | A nuclear energy-free future for the UK is not something the coalition "is thinking seriously about", the government's chief science adviser said on Tuesday at the launch of the country's long-term nuclear strategy. The government said its nuclear strategy would help seize the economic opportunities of a £1 trillion global market and provide 40,000 UK jobs. Prof Sir John Beddington, the government's chief scientific adviser, said new nuclear power was essential: "We really can't see a future for the UK energy sector, if we are to meet our climate change obligations and have resilience in the power sector, without a significant component of nuclear. A non-nuclear scenario is not one the government is thinking seriously about." Beddington led a review of the nuclear research and development programme needed if the government's high-nuclear scenario for future energy is to be feasible. Prof David Mackay, chief scientific adviser at the department of energy and climate change, said this scenario – one of four set out in the 2011 carbon plan – envisaged 75GW of nuclear capacity in 2050 providing 86% of the UK's electricity, a situation he compared to France today. The industrial strategy, welcomed by the nuclear industry which worked with government to develop it, covers every part of the nuclear chain from new build, operations and maintenance and waste management. It includes: • £15m for new research facilities in the UK. • Collaboration with the $450m US government programme to build small, modular reactors than can be transported or stacked together. • £12.5M to join the Jules Horowitz Test Reactor programme being constructed in France to develop future advanced nuclear fuels. • Examining new technologies including thorium reactors, which cannot meltdown, and fast reactors, which can be fuelled by waste plutonium. • A focus on training the next generation of nuclear engineers, as 70% of current senior staff are due to retire in the next 10 years. The energy secretary, Ed Davey, said: "Nuclear and other forms of low-carbon power mean highly skilled jobs and sustainable growth. We need all our energy options in play in the fight against climate change, and to keep the lights on in a way that is affordable to consumers." The business secretary, Vince Cable, added: "We need to sharpen [the UK's] competitive advantages to become a top table nuclear nation." Craig Bennett, at Friends of the Earth, said: "The nuclear industry has always over-promised and under-delivered and it is extremely risky for this government to bet the UK's energy future on new designs of nuclear reactors that we don't know the cost of and we don't know will ever be built. In contrast, there are huge opportunities for the government to throw its weight behind renewable and energy efficiency technologies that already exist and are proven to work." The government is in the middle of tense negotiations with EDF, the energy company controlled by the French state, over the guaranteed price it will receive for electricity from its two planned reactors at Hinkley Point in Somerset. But Mackay said the government would be committed to future nuclear power even if the EDF deal fell through. Mackay alluded to the enormous projected cost of the EDF reactors, when describing the attraction of small modular reactors. "One reason for interest in them is that they are easier to finance than the large reactors we have now, so they may be more attractive to the economy," he said. Beddington added: "There is the potential of synergy by working with the US, which is setting up a large SMR programme. It creates the possibility for piggy-backing on the US work." Future decisions on the UK's energy mix "will depend on political and financial issues", said Beddington. "Our job was to [recommend the R&D measures needed] to ensure that if the choice was made in future to go for the higher nuclear level, we could do it." He said his panel had presented some advice to government in December: "The broad response is that it has been accepted." Greenpeace's policy director, Doug Parr, said: "In 2010, the Climate Change Committee identified the low-carbon technologies the UK should develop and deploy in order to become world leading. The list included offshore wind and marine energy. It did not include nuclear. With the cost of offshore wind predicted to be on par with or cheaper than nuclear by 2020, there is no rationale for distorting policy to prop up the nuclear dinosaur." Mackay said the approach to dealing with the UK's 100 tonne stockpile of plutonium was changing from a heavy focus on the mixed-oxide fuel (MOX) approach, a programme which has suffered huge and costly failure in the past, to include consideration of advanced "fast" reactors, which can consume plutonium. The International Energy Agency has estimated that there will be £930bn of investment in new nuclear reactors in the next 20 years, and £230bn in decommissioning and waste storage. In January, the government suffered a serious setback when councils in Cumbria rejected a proposal to host a deep geological disposal site. The prime minister, David Cameron, said previously that a permanent waste solution should be in place before new reactors were built. | ['environment/nuclearpower', 'environment/energy', 'environment/environment', 'uk/uk', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'profile/damiancarrington'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2013-03-26T15:22:09Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2010/jul/24/bp-oil-spill-transocean-in-spotlight | BP oil spill: Transocean in spotlight | The damning testimony yesterday from rig technicians working on the stricken Deepwater Horizon about safety alarms being routinely switched off on the Transocean rig could be a pivotal moment in the political blame game. The oil company that commissioned the fateful Macondo well, BP, has so far taken all the flak for the blowout which killed 11 men and triggered an environmental disaster. But that may be about to change. Transocean, which has had an easy ride so far, could find itself in the line of fire as a range of official investigations into what went wrong that fateful early morning of 20 April continue to unearth evidence of widespread mistakes and failures. The singling out of BP for criticism over the last eight weeks has led some to conclude – this side of the ocean at least – that the oil company was a convenient target. It was after all a foreign-controlled entity and had very deep pockets when it came to being asked to set aside $20bn (£13bn) for potential claims – before blame had even been formally apportioned. The fact remains that the American drilling company, Transocean, with its first quarter profits of $677m, is a relatively small target for any ambulance-chasing lawyers who know that BP made almost 10 times that amount. Tony Hayward, the chief executive of BP, did not help his own cause with a number of ill-judged remarks. Early on he appeared to clumsily lay the blame for the disaster entirely on Transocean: "This was not our accident. This was not our drilling rig. This was not our equipment. It was not our people, our systems or our processes. This was Transocean's rig. Their systems. Their people. Their equipment," he said. The verbal hailstones that followed this attempt to pass the buck left BP reluctant to make any other effort to suggest others were to blame, although it did talk about a "complex accident" and "multiples causes" being at the heart of the accident. Last night BP said it had always believed that a lot of different things went wrong. BP might well have reminded everyone who their partners were on Macondo – because the names of Mitsui of Japan and Anadarko Petroleum of America are little known in this unfortunate saga. Both made appearances in front of a Senate sub-committee earlier this week, where Anadarko executives seemed happy to keep all the blame on the main operator BP. But BP will start to fight its own corner more vocally next Tuesday when Hayward reveals first half financial results, talks about future corporate strategy and argues BP should not be the sole focus of blame. | ['environment/bp-oil-spill', 'business/bp', 'us-news/us-news', 'environment/environment', 'business/business', 'business/oil', 'environment/oil', 'business/oilandgascompanies', 'environment/oil-spills', 'tone/analysis', 'type/article', 'profile/terrymacalister', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/international'] | environment/oil | ENERGY | 2010-07-23T23:59:48Z | true | ENERGY |
society/2014/oct/08/bristol-restaurant-skipchen-ingredients-binned-supermarkets | Bristol restaurant opts for ingredients plucked from supermarket skips | The menu was certainly eclectic, ranging from Orkney crab and king prawn salad to spicy baked beans on toast. There was a bread and butter pudding for desert – or a lighter fruit smoothie. “But tomorrow it will be all change again,” said chef Dylan Rakhra. “We get different foods in every day, loads of stuff – bagels, lobster, lettuce. “It’s really fun. You look at what you’ve got, you make up meals and serve them. People seem to be loving it.” The name of the restaurant – Skipchen – gives the game away. Rakhra and his fellow volunteers do not order in their supplies. Some of the food is donated but most is found: on farmland, outside mainstream restaurants and, most commonly, in supermarket skips. After Skipchen closes, its teams of volunteers go on the prowl to “intercept” foodstuffs that have passed their sell-by dates and, though they are perfectly safe and edible, are discarded by the major stores. “We get the food from anywhere and everywhere that has food going to waste,” said Sam Joseph, co-director of the Real Junk Food Project, which has launched Skipchen in the Stokes Croft area of Bristol. Joseph accepts that it is not legal to scavenge from supermarket skips but he argues that it is the right thing to do. “If edible food is going in the bin that’s wrong. “We really need to get it to people. We have cases of malnutrition rising in the UK. This isn’t something happening over in Africa. People here are struggling to feed themselves nutritiously. The real crime is the supermarkets throwing that edible food in the bin. That’s what we need to change.” Joseph said the teams of “skippers” watch as supermarket workers bin food and pluck it as soon as they can. “I am really conscious of food safety and food hygiene,” said Joseph. We get the food out and into a refrigerator straight away. They don’t use food that has gone beyond its best-before date whereas we will.” Treasured finds this week have included that lobster (which was served on a bed of roasted sweet pepper), gorgonzola cheese, kiln-roasted salmon and Belgian chocolate. Customers enjoying lunch at Skipchen on Wednesday were delighted both with the food and the concept. Artist Helen Sullivan opted for a goat’s cheese tart and banana bread while her son Odin, four, polished off beans on toast. Customers are invited to pay what they want and can eat for free if they are struggling financially. “I think it’s a brilliant idea,” said Sullivan. “It’s a scandal that so much food goes to waste.” By the time the not-for-profit restaurant shut at 3.30pm it had served around 70 customers. Skipchen is currently to be found in a small room donated to it by the Crofters Rights pub but is already thinking that new, bigger premises might be necessary. The clientele was as eclectic as the menu. Business types rubbed shoulders with students and unemployed people. The Guardian (for the record) opted for the crab and prawn salad, washed down with a strawberry smoothie, paying £10. As closing time approached Skipchen gave away food, urging passersby to take away loaves of bread. Nothing was discarded. “We never waste anything,” said Joseph. | ['society/food-poverty', 'uk/bristol', 'food/food', 'society/food-banks', 'environment/waste', 'society/poverty', 'uk/uk', 'food/restaurants', 'lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle', 'society/society', 'environment/environment', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'profile/stevenmorris', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews'] | environment/waste | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2014-10-08T17:22:29Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
us-news/2021/feb/11/california-dry-weather-drought-wildfire-agriculture | California's rainfall is at historic lows. That spells trouble for wildfires and farms | There’s a race on in California, and each day matters: the precipitation during winter that fuels the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada and fills groundwater supplies has been slow to start, and faltering at best. Northern California remains stuck in one of the worst two-year rainfall deficits seen since the 1849 Gold Rush, increasing the risk of water restrictions and potentially setting up dangerous wildfire conditions next summer. The current precipitation is only 30% to 70% of what the state would expect to have seen during a normal year – with no more big rainfall events on the horizon for February. Precipitation in the form of rain – and snowfall at higher elevations – is critical because it refills reservoirs, packs away snow for spring runoff to feed drier parts of the state, and helps stem the risk of wildfires. It also allows California’s agriculture to continue producing important crops. This year, the state saw a very delayed start to its annual rainy season, which is typically heaviest from January to March. Wildfires sparked as late as January. It’s a sign that the window of time where rainfall and snow can add to the state’s water reserves is shrinking, says John Abatzoglou, a climatology researcher at the University of California, Merced – and that window may be even narrower in the future. A study published this week showed that the onset of rains each fall has shifted back by a month over the past 60 years. That corresponds as well to drier fall weather, and an increase in the chance for fires to have devastating impacts, Abatzoglou says. Most of the state’s water comes from an astonishingly low number of precipitation events – just three to five winter storms do the work of building up the snowpack and filling reservoirs. That makes California uniquely vulnerable. “In years where you miss out on one or two of those, you’re probably going to struggle to get close to normal,” says Abatzoglou. Part of the problem is that California tends toward the extremes – rainfall is either feast or famine. “California is like the home run hitter that approaches and swings for the fences,” says Abatzoglou. “We rarely get a single: it’s either a home run or a strikeout.” The moisture comes from the west, over the ocean, says Naomi Levine, an oceanographer at the University of Southern California. “The wind patterns over the Pacific dictate our weather a lot and in La Niña years [an ocean-atmosphere phenomenon currently under way and characterized by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the equatorial Pacific], we tend to have drier years,” she says. “So all in all the interannual oscillations are stacked up against us.” The state had a fairly major drought from 2012-2016, says Jay Lund, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Davis. The lesson from that period was that the first year of dryness is not so bad for most of California, in that cities and agriculture can withstand one or two parched years without too much trouble. “But if we get a third or fourth dry year in a row, that’s when we see big problems with native species, as well as bigger economic impacts.” Lund did a study on the economic impacts of the 2012-2016 drought and found that the dryness had a $9bn price tag at the end of four years – but in the years afterward, the costs were much higher. Analyses by Stanford University and the New York Times have found that wildfires have caused tens of billions of dollars in damage over of the last four years. He adds that since the state’s forests still haven’t recovered from that four-year drought, there’s a bigger problem looming now – especially with warmer temperatures due to the human-caused climate crisis. “Last year, even with one dry year, we had a tremendous fire season.” Lund says that in the long term, California’s famous forests might look different. It might be an ecosystem with fewer trees, closer to what the environment looked like in the early 1800s, before widespread European settlement. “The density of trees in CA forests today is probably higher than it was in the early 1800s because there have been fewer fires, but with a drier, warmer climate we’ll probably see lower tree densities.” That means that the state would be less susceptible to wildfires – but there are plenty of downsides for native species that rely on tree-laden forests for survival. Agriculture is the state’s biggest water user, and during dry years, when surface water is less available, cities pump more groundwater – which is likely to be problematic in the coming years. “Currently, the state’s reservoirs are not as bad as they could be but the supply of groundwater – essential for agriculture – is not looking great because the majority of years in the past decade we’ve been on the dry end,” says Abatzoglou. “In the Central Valley, more and more water is being pumped for groundwater and that is not a sustainable situation. With another year of subpar precipitation, we are going to be sucking harder on that straw.” In addition to a shorter window for precipitation, there is also evidence that winter rains will be heavier – and they come with their own problems, such as mudslides or floods. “With a warming climate, we do expect increases in heavy precipitation at the expense of moderate precipitation,” says Abatzoglou – adding that it means fewer wet days in the future, but when those days come they may be soakers. For this year, there’s only a slim chance – about 10% right now – that the state will reach normal rainfall totals. That may become the norm going forward. “We’re banking on a miracle March or awesome April to dig out of this hole,” says Abatzoglou. “In all likelihood, we’re going to end the water year with another dry year.” | ['us-news/california', 'environment/water', 'us-news/us-news', 'environment/environment', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'world/wildfires', 'science/agriculture', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/katharine-gammon', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/west-coast-news'] | world/wildfires | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2021-02-11T11:00:12Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
world/2014/aug/04/wildfire-immigration-nsa-congress-failure-issues-reform | Unfinished business: NSA, immigration and wildfires top Congress's to-do list | The federal highway department will keep filling potholes and veterans’ healthcare gets a $16bn overhaul – but don’t let Congress fool you. Partisan gridlock was in full tilt last week before the legislature fled the capitol for a five-week vacation. With Washington now in its August doldrums, legislators left unfinished a solid plan to address the US migrant crisis, declined to meet its deadline to reauthorize the export-import bank, and allowed the National Security Administration to retain all of its pre-Snowden surveillance powers. But with approval ratings hovering around scalp-parasite level, maybe no one expected these issues to be finished anyway. Immigration unresolved It was a legislative sparring match in the House on Thursday and Friday, as largely untenable immigration reform bills were approved. A recent flood of Central American women and children illegally crossing the US-Mexico border has spotlighted the perennial issue. The House stayed in the capitol an extra day to pass a $697m border security bill, but only after a deep rift in the Republican party was exposed. Texas Senator Ted Cruz reportedly rallied conservative Tea Partiers to reject a bill scheduled for a vote Thursday. Obama vowed to veto the bills and the Democrat-controlled Senate is unlikely to pass the bills. Even consideration is impossible before September. The House legislation would end a 2008 human trafficking law that requires hearings for migrant children, and would defund a 2012 executive action that defers deportation of migrants brought to the US as children, as well as fund border security. Wildfires Wrapped into a failed $3.6bn immigration reform bill are $615m to fight wildfires in the west – the Senate failed to bring a vote on the bill Thursday. Senate Republicans blocked a vote on procedural grounds, saying the legislation violated the Senate’s budget rules. The money would have stopped the Interior Department and the US Forest Service from “fire borrowing”, or transferring money from another program to pay for firefighting efforts. NSA reform bill Barring reforms enacted by executive order, the NSA retains almost all of its pre-Snowden powers to bulk-collect phone records. A Senate bill introduced by Patrick Leahy could rein in the NSA’s collection efforts, and require the intelligence agency to obtain a warrant to access “details” about phone records, but a single warrant from the secret Fisa court could still allow the agency access to thousands of phone records. The Senate bill would create a stronger privacy advocate than the House NSA reform bill, the USA Freedom Act. However, neither seems likely to pass during the fervor before midterm elections this fall. If reforms aren’t passed before the next Congress is sworn in, NSA reforms will have to start from scratch. Export-Import Bank The “Ex-Im” Bank, as its often called, loans billions to American companies to help their sell wares abroad, the biggest beneficiaries being companies like Boeing and Caterpillar. The bank doesn’t receive any taxpayer funding, and actually delivered a $1.1bn profit to the Fed last year. But there are just 10 legislative days between Congress’ return on 8 September and a 30 September deadline to reauthorize the bank’s existence. A divided House Republican party has accused the bank of corruption and of picking winners and losers among companies. House majority leader Kevin McCarthy said he’d prefer to let authorization lapse. If the bank isn’t reauthorized, it could be the a win for “reform conservatives”. The same group points out that 80% of the bank’s 2012 loans went to Boeing. Minimum wage A week and five years ago, Congress raised the federal minimum wage to $7.25 per hour, providing a bump for America’s lowest paid workers. Now, a day’s work for minimum wage workers has about 10% less buying power, some many consumer goods, such as gasoline and ground beef, have gone up in price by as much as 40%. In April, Senate Republicans blocked a vote on a bill that would have gradually raised the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. Republicans widely oppose the bill, just one voted for it in the Senate, and whether the bill could have made it through the House appears dubious. | ['us-news/us-politics', 'us-news/us-news', 'world/wildfires', 'business/banking', 'business/banking-reform', 'business/inflation', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'tone/analysis', 'profile/jessica-glenza'] | world/wildfires | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2014-08-04T17:50:50Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2018/mar/12/microplastic-pollution-in-oceans-is-far-greater-than-thought-say-scientists | Microplastic pollution in oceans is far worse than feared, say scientists | The number of tiny plastic pieces polluting the world’s oceans is vastly greater than thought, new research indicates. The work reveals the highest microplastic pollution yet discovered anywhere in the world in a river near Manchester in the UK. It also shows that the major floods in the area in 2015-16 flushed more than 40bn pieces of microplastic into the sea. The surge of such a vast amount of microplastic from one small river catchment in a single event led the scientists to conclude that the current estimate for the number of particles in the ocean – five trillion – is a major underestimate. Microplastics include broken-down plastic waste, synthetic fibres and beads found in personal hygiene products. They are known to harm marine life, which mistake them for food, and can be consumed by humans too via seafood, tap water or other food. The risk to people is still not known, but there are concerns that microplastics can accumulate toxic chemicals and that the tiniest could enter the bloodstream. “Given their pervasive and persistent nature, microplastics have become a global environmental concern and a potential risk to human populations,” said Rachel Hurley from the University of Manchester and colleagues in their report, published in Nature Geoscience. The team analysed sediments in 10 rivers within about 20km of Manchester and all but one of the 40 sites showed microplastic contamination. After the winter floods of 2015-16, they took new samples and found that 70% of the microplastics had been swept away, a total of 43bn particles or 850kg. Of those, about 17bn would float in sea water. “This is a small to medium sized catchment in the north of England, it is one flood event, it is just one year – there is no way that [5tn global] estimate is right,” said Hurley. The researchers said total microplastic pollution in the world’s oceans “must be far higher”. The worst hotspot, on the River Tame, had more than 500,000 microplastic particles per square metre in the top 10cm of river bed. This is the worst concentration ever reported and 50% more than the previous record, in beach sediments from South Korea. But Hurley said there may well be worse places yet to me measured: “We don’t have much data for huge rivers in the global south, which may have so much more plastic in.” “There is so much effort going into the marine side of the microplastic problem but this research shows it is really originating upstream in river catchments,” she said. “We need to control those sources to even begin to clean up the oceans.” About a third of microplastics found by the team before the flooding were microbeads, tiny spheres used in personal care products and banned in the UK in January. This high proportion surprised the scientists, who said the beads may well also derive from industrial uses, which are not covered by the ban. Erik van Sebille, at Utrecht University in the Netherlands and and not part of the research team, said the work does support a much higher estimate of global microplastic pollution in the oceans: “I’m not surprised by that conclusion. In 2015, we found that 99% of all plastic in the ocean is not on the surface anymore. The problem is that we don’t know where that 99% of plastic is. Is it on beaches, the seafloor, in marine organisms? Before we can start thinking about cleaning up the plastic, we’ll first need to know how it’s distributed.” Anne Marie Mahon, at the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology in Ireland and also not part of the research team, said: “I am actually glad to see the estimate going up a bit, just to show there is this huge contribution coming from the freshwater system.” However, she cautioned that not all the microplastics shown in the study to be flushed out by the floods necessarily entered the sea – some may have been washed over the floodplain instead. “It is very difficult to tell how this plastic may be affecting us,” Hurley said. “But they definitely do enter our bodies. The missing gap is we need to know if we are getting contaminants inside us as a result of plastic particles.” The smallest particles that could be analysed in the new research were 63 microns, roughly the width of a human hair. But much smaller plastic particles will exist, and Hurley said: “It is the really small stuff we get worried about, as they can get through the membranes in the gut and in the bloodstream – that is the real fear.” | ['environment/plastic', 'environment/oceans', 'environment/rivers', 'environment/environment', 'uk/uk', 'world/world', 'environment/pollution', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/damiancarrington', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2018-03-12T16:00:15Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
environment/2010/jan/15/hull-venice-north-coastal-erosion | British coastal cities threatened by rising sea 'must transform themselves' | Hull could be transformed into a Venice-like waterworld and Portsmouth into a south coast version of Amalfi, engineers and architects have claimed in a study of options for developing Britain's coastal cities in the face of rising sea levels. The Institution of Civil Engineers and the Royal Institute of British Architects yesterday warned the future of cities including London, Bristol and Liverpool was at risk from seas which the Environment Agency predict could rise by as much as 1.9m by 2095 in the event of a dramatic melting of the Greenland ice sheet. The report, Facing up to Rising Sea Levels. Retreat? Defence? Attack?, suggests swaths of Hull and Portsmouth's city centres could be allowed to flood over the next 100 years and large parts of the populations moved out. In a model that explores managed retreat from the coast in some areas, Hull's historic city centre would be limited to an island reached by bridges and Venetian-style water taxis, while in Portsmouth large parts of Portsea island would be given back to the sea while new "hillside living" developments would be built on densely packed hillside terraces, akin to the towns of Italy's Amalfi coast. "The scenarios we have created are extreme, but it is an extreme threat we are facing," said Ruth Reed, Riba president. "Approximately 10 million people live in flood-risk areas in England and Wales, with 2.6m properties directly at risk of flooding." Other options include building out into rising waters using piers and platforms to create new habitable space – a strategy known as "attack". In Hull this could involve floating disused oil rigs up the Humber and reusing them for offices, homes and university buildings, while in Portsmouth two-storey piers could be built with the lower tier used for traffic and the top tier used for pedestrian space. Architect David West, one of the report's author's, admitted the proposals were "blue sky thinking" and uncosted, but said they had the potential to relieve pressure for housing on inland sites. "I think the concept of arriving at Hull as if you were arriving at Venice airport and taking a boat into the city is really exciting." The proposals were met with scepticism in Portsmouth. "A retreating coastline in this area would have a significant detrimental impact on the internationally designated harbours," said Bret Davies, a coastal strategy manager at Portsmouth city council. The Environment Agency's coastal policy adviser, Nick Hardiman, warned that extending into the sea was likely to be too expensive and structures were not likely to be sustainable.In the next financial year the Environment Agency will spend £570m on building and maintaining flood defences. | ['environment/sea-level', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/environment', 'artanddesign/architecture', 'society/communities', 'society/society', 'uk/uk', 'tone/news', 'environment/flooding', 'uk-news/portsmouth', 'cities/cities', 'type/article', 'profile/robertbooth', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews'] | environment/sea-level | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2010-01-15T00:05:30Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
business/2023/feb/17/uk-arm-of-edf-returns-to-profit-as-household-electricity-prices-soar | UK arm of EDF returns to profit as household electricity prices soar | The UK arm of the French energy company EDF bounced back to profit last year, making more than £1bn, as it was boosted by the rising cost of wholesale energy, which allowed it to sell the electricity it generated at a higher price. The firm made a pre-tax profit of £1.1bn in the UK last year, before one-off items, a recovery from a loss of £21m a year earlier. EDF, which runs Britain’s nuclear power stations, said the profit was related to stronger operational performance of its nuclear fleet, and higher energy prices. The company is building Britain’s newest nuclear reactor, Hinkley Point C in Somerset, which has been hit by delays and climbing costs. The cost of the project was originally set at £18bn, before it was later put at £25bn to £26bn. On Friday, EDF said that £25bn to £26bn remained the estimated cost based on 2015 calculations but “the estimated nominal cost at completion could reach £32.7bn” because of inflation. The company, which is mostly state-owned but is being fully nationalised in France, is the UK’s fourth-largest energy supplier, providing gas and electricity to more than 5m UK households. EDF said Britain’s cap on energy bills hit earnings at its energy supply business, which made a loss of £200m. The company said this was because it cost it more to buy energy to supply to its residential customers than the price it was allowed to charge them under the energy price cap. The UK profit was a rare bright spot for EDF in its annual results, which reported a record net loss of €17.9bn (£16bn) for the whole group in 2022, as its nuclear output plunged to a 34-year low after a record number of outages at its reactors in France. Stress corrosion cracks were found in pipes in the cooling systems of some reactors. The group’s net debt rose to almost €65bn last year, up from €43bn a year earlier. EDF’s chief executive, Luc Rémont, who was appointed by the French government last November to turn the company around, said: “Today, our priority is to put EDF back on track.” EDF said it invested £2.6bn in the UK in 2022 in its nuclear, renewables and customer businesses. The company said it was investing more than £13bn in the UK between 2023 and 2025, largely in the Hinkley Point scheme. It is also planning to invest about £2bn in its existing nuclear fleet and renewables projects this year. It welcomed the UK government’s decision last November confirming that the Sizewell C nuclear power plant in Suffolk would go ahead, and which will be developed by EDF. The government has taken a 50% stake in the project, which will be the second of a new generation of UK nuclear power reactors, after Hinkley Point C. | ['business/edf', 'business/energy-industry', 'business/business', 'uk/uk', 'world/france', 'world/europe-news', 'campaign/email/business-today', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'environment/energy', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/joanna-partridge', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-business'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2023-02-17T11:15:43Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2009/jan/06/ocean-conservation-george-bush-pacific | Bush designates ocean conservation areas in final weeks as president | George Bush will designate nearly 200,000 square miles of the Pacific Ocean as conservation areas on Tuesday, recasting his record on the environment just two weeks before leaving the White House. Tuesday's formal announcement will establish Bush as the leader who has protected more of the oceans than anyone else in the world, environmentalists said. The three regions in the Pacific Ocean encompass some 195,280 square miles of remote and relatively uninhabited island chains. They include pristine coral reefs, vanishing marine species and the deepest place on Earth. Their preservation brought rare praise from environmentalists who have spent much of the last eight years fighting Bush on climate change, air pollution, and wildlife management. "The president has given the world a Texas-sized gift," said Diane Regas, manager of the ocean programme at the Environmental Defence Fund. But the marine reserves were as much a gift from Laura Bush, who was credited with heading off determined opposition from the vice-president, Dick Cheney, as well as business leaders in the Mariana Islands who had lobbied on behalf of fishing and energy exploration. White House officials, in a conference call with reporters, described three distinct areas: the Mariana Islands in the western Pacific, a chain of remote islands in the central Pacific, and the Rose Atoll off American Samoa. "These locations are truly among the last pristine areas in the marine environment on Earth," said James Connaughton, who heads the White House Council on Environmental Quality. The Marianas Marine National Monument will protect the Mariana Trench - deeper than Mount Everest is tall and five times the size of the Grand Canyon - and a string of 21 active volcanoes and thermal vents. The area is home to 300 species of stony corals and some of the most diverse fish populations in the Mariana Islands. It also harbours the Micronesian megapode, a bird which uses the heat from the volcanic vents to incubate its eggs. The Pacific Remote Islands National Monument will cover coral reefs surrounding Kingman Reef, Palmyra Atoll, Howland, Baker and Jarvis islands and Johnston Atoll and Wake Island. The islands and atolls are home to nesting sea birds and migratory shore birds, and endangered turtles. The waters off Kingman Reef teem with shark and other predators. The "tiny but spectacular" Rose Atoll Marine National Monument will protect a coral reef area known for rare birds such as petrels as well as reef sharks and parrot fish, Connaughton said. The conservation plan will ban commercial fishing, mining and energy exploration within the protected areas. Recreational fishing will be allowed only a limited permit basis "This is very very big. Basically in the last several years, it's on par with what we have been able to accomplish on land in the last 100 years," Josh Reichert, the managing director of the Pew Environment Group, said in a conference call with reporters. However, Bush fell short of meeting scientists' recommendation for a protection zone extending 200 miles off the islands. The protected areas will extend for only 50 miles. In addition, only the waters between the ocean floor and the rim of the Mariana Trench will be protected - not those rising from the rim to the surface of the water. The US military will also continue to operate in the monuments. However, environmentalists said the announcement would help protect oceans that are under threat from overfishing and global warming. The initiative, coming in the final fortnight of the George Bush presidency, also gives the incoming Barack Obama administration a strong take-off point on ocean conservation. The move was at odds with the Bush administration's record on other green issues and even on marine protection. When petrol prices soared last summer, Bush lifted the ban on offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and off California. But environmentalists who worked with the White House to develop the conservation plan say that Bush had developed a personal commitment to marine protection. He took the first step in 2006, using a law originally intended for antiquities to create a protected area in nearly 140,000 square miles in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands called the Papahanaumokuakea marine national monument. It was at the time the world's largest protected marine area. Last August, Bush asked Connaugton and other administration officials to review the prospects of creating new conservation areas in the Pacific. The effort met determined opposition from Cheney and local business leaders in the Marianas. But Bush had a key ally in his wife, Laura, who became unusually engaged in policy making. The First Lady arranged briefings for White House staff from scientists who supported the measure to try to blunt Cheney's influence. "We and others in the environmental community have been at odds with this administration on lots of things, but if one looks at this one event it is a significant conservation event," Joshua Reichert, managing director of the Pew Environment Group, said. | ['environment/conservation', 'us-news/us-news', 'us-news/george-bush', 'environment/environment', 'world/world', 'tone/news', 'environment/endangered-habitats', 'environment/water', 'environment/marine-life', 'environment/oceans', 'us-news/us-politics', 'type/article', 'profile/suzannegoldenberg'] | environment/endangered-habitats | BIODIVERSITY | 2009-01-06T02:02:14Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2019/apr/29/our-plastics-are-designed-to-degrade-in-the-right-conditions | Our plastics are designed to degrade in the right conditions | Letter | If the researchers from the University of Plymouth’s International Marine Litter Research Unit (Biodegradable plastic bags still intact after three years, 29 April) had been polymer scientists who understood the process of abiotic degradation, they would have understood that an oxo-biodegradable shopping bag contains stabilisers to give the product a useful service life and which could therefore delay the onset of degradation for two years or more depending on how the particular bag was designed. They would also have understood that oxo-biodegradable bags are not intended to degrade in special conditions such as landfill or when buried deep in soil, but are intended to degrade if they become litter in the open environment on the surface of land or sea with an abundance of oxygen and usually exposed to sunlight. The experiments performed at Plymouth were not, therefore, a fair test of the product, because they had folded it tightly so as to exclude most of the oxygen, and placed it in a dark environment under a pontoon. Even then it would eventually have degraded, and biodegraded until there was nothing left, much more quickly than ordinary plastic. Michael Stephen Chairman, Oxo-biodegradable Plastics Association • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com • Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters • Do you have a photo you’d like to share with Guardian readers? Click here to upload it and we’ll publish the best submissions in the letters spread of our print edition | ['environment/plastic', 'tone/letters', 'environment/ethical-living', 'environment/recycling', 'environment/waste', 'environment/environment', 'environment/pollution', 'environment/oceans', 'type/article', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/letters', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/plastic | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2019-04-29T16:52:30Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
environment/2018/aug/08/reflecting-suns-rays-would-cause-crops-to-fail-scientists-warn | Reflecting sun's rays would cause crops to fail, scientists warn | Proposals to combat climate change by reflecting the sun’s rays back into space would cause widespread crop failure, cancelling out any benefits to farming from the reduction in warming, according to new research. By examining the effects of volcanic eruptions on agriculture – which has a similar effect to proposed artificial methods of scattering solar radiation through aerosols – scientists have concluded that such methods could have unintended consequences. “[The research was to] find a way to examine the side effects of geoengineering without experimenting on the climate,” said Jonathan Proctor of University of California, Berkeley, lead author of the paper published in the peer review journal Nature. “[We found] potential adverse effect on agricultural production.” But he said there could be other positive effects that were less easy to capture. The findings deal another blow to proposals to use geoengineering to reduce or delay global warming, which some scientists think may be necessary to stave off the worst effects of rising greenhouse gas emissions. Spraying or injecting tiny airborne particles into the stratosphere has been regarded as one of the prime possibilities for geoengineering, by reflecting some of the sun’s rays back into space before they can warm the Earth. The scientists studied the eruption of El Chichón in Mexico in 1982 and the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, both of which caused large quantities of sulphate particles to enter the stratosphere. This created a “veil” which reduced the amount of sunlight reaching the Earth’s surface. In the study, the researchers examined the aerosol levels, solar radiation and crop yields. The deflection of sunlight had a negative effect on the yields of many staple crops, including rice, wheat and maize. They concluded that the impacts on crops of sending particles deliberately into the stratosphere would probably be similar, and that the beneficial effects on crop yields from the resulting cooling would be “essentially negated” by the loss in crops due to the reduction in sunlight, failing to remove the threat climate change poses to agriculture and food security. Hugh Hunt, reader in engineering at Cambridge University, who was not involved in the research, said solar radiation management [SRM] was “no magic bullet”, but the effects should be compared with doing nothing. “We may well decide to use SRM to slow or reverse the melting of Arctic sea ice and to preserve the Greenland ice sheet. We will then be glad to have saved valuable land and the homes of millions of people from rising sea levels. Moreover, in an SRM world, agriculture will be sustained by a more stable and predictable climate,” he told the Guardian. “SRM, rather like chemotherapy, is not something one would wish on a healthy planet. The Earth is sick and it is likely that any cure such as SRM will have unpleasant side effects. What we really ought to be doing is to halt the rise of atmospheric greenhouse gases, not just sometime in the future but now.” Matthew Watson, of the school of Earth sciences at Bristol University, added: “It’s worth noting that this research only states that SRM would not necessarily improve crop yields and that there are other potential co-benefits and risks that must be carefully considered.” Previous research has shown that the use of aerosols for geoengineering could have a substantial impact on weather patterns, for instance on the frequency and intensity of hurricanes, or could cause changes in rainfall such as droughts in vulnerable regions. In the UK, the Spice (stratospheric particle injection for climate engineering) project was set up as a government-funded university collaboration in 2010 to examine the possibilities of aerosol-based geoengineering. It ended in 2015 and is understood to have queried the potential positive impacts of geoengineering, though findings have not yet been published. An experiment to mimic the effects of such a programme was abandoned. Durwood Zaelke, president of the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development in the US, who was not involved in the research, pointed out that the effects of sulphate particles can already be seen, as many coal plants which emit sulphates have been closed down. Cutting sulphates can produce a short-term warming effect, because the sulphates can deflect the sun’s rays, while cutting carbon dioxide emissions takes longer to have an effect. He said: “There are other strategies for managing short-lived climate pollutants we should start with [including] cutting black carbon [soot, from fossil fuel burning], methane and HFC refrigerants. We need to think of climate change mitigation like a staggered race, where short-lived pollutants get a fast start and CO2 reductions eventually catch up and provide more and more cooling.” If these measures were taken, it could reduce temperature rises by up to 0.6C by 2050 and by 1.2C by the end of this century. The research showed, he concluded, that “maybe we can keep geoengineering on the bench a bit longer while we figure out how to manage it safely”. Stephen Salter, emeritus professor of engineering design at Edinburgh University, and an advocate of an alternative geoengineering method spraying the air to whiten clouds and increase their reflectivity, said: “The message is that we should not expect great agricultural improvements from stratospheric sulphur but negative results will be moderate. People who are hostile to geoengineering – there are lots of them – will argue that we are stuck with the results of stratospheric sulphur for a year or more and that there might be another Pinatubo or even something like the 1815 Tambora event, which gave the year without a summer.” | ['environment/geoengineering', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/environment', 'environment/farming', 'science/agriculture', 'science/scienceofclimatechange', 'science/science', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/fiona-harvey', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/farming | BIODIVERSITY | 2018-08-08T17:00:02Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
us-news/2015/jul/08/tom-selleck-california-drought | Tom Selleck cast as villain of California drought in lawsuit alleging water theft | He possesses Hollywood’s lushest moustache – a thick, luxuriant growth which seems to enhance the virtue of the characters he plays on screen. The heroic private detective of Magnum PI, the honest police commissioner of Blue Bloods, the doting father of Three Men and a Baby, all bolstered by Tom Selleck’s facial foliage. But now the actor has been cast as a villain of Hollywood – for stealing truckloads of water to try and maintain a verdant ranch amid California’s drought. He allegedly looted water from a public hydrant to irrigate his 60-acre ranch and avocado farm outside Los Angeles. This is a very personal, literal watergate, and it has made Selleck the new face of celebrity drought-shaming, a term of our times for high-profile people who flout state-mandated efforts to curb water consumption. The Calleguas municipal water district, which serves about three-quarters of Ventura County, said it paid a private investigator $21,685.55 to document the water thefts. The district is suing Selleck, 70, and his wife, Jillie Mack-Selleck, in the superior court for costs associated with the investigation plus legal fees, undetermined damages, plus a preliminary and permanent injunction barring the couple and their contractors or employees from taking more water. The complaint said a white commercial water truck filled up from a hydrant by a construction site in Thousand Oaks and took the water to Selleck’s property in the neighbouring Hidden Valley area of Westlake seven times between 20 September and 3 October 2013. Cease-and-desist notices were sent to the actor’s homes in November 2013, including one on Avenue of the Stars. But three weeks later, the same truck returned, filled up, and again delivered water to the ranch. The same truck allegedly made further trips between the hydrant and Selleck’s ranch four times at the end of March this year. Selleck and Mack have lived for nearly three decades at the ranch. An aerial photo from the real estate site Zillow this week did not show the property as “particularly lush”, with a swath of “fairly dense” trees and shrubbery and “plenty of brown grass”, Courthouse News Service reported. It was unclear when the photo was taken. Zillow assessed the value at $10.2m. A representative for Selleck did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday. But curbing water consumption has become a litmus of good citizenship – and celebrity – in California, which is reeling from four years of drought. Farms have withered and in some rural areas taps have run dry. Governor Jerry Brown has ordered 25% cuts in urban water use. There are fines of up to $500 a day for residential users who waste water and $10,000 a day for water suppliers. From the lush lawns of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West and beyond, self-appointed “drought-shamers” have been using multiple social media platforms all year to identify and excoriate alleged water wasters under the hashtags #DroughtShaming and #DroughtShame. Selleck has won an Emmy, a Golden Globe and a People’s Choice Award largely by playing virtuous characters. In addition to law enforcers he has played a love interest in Friends and Dwight Eisenhower. In contrast to Hollywood’s cast of outwardly liberal environmentalists, the actor calls himself a political independent with “a lot of libertarian leanings”. He serves on the board of the National Rifle Association. | ['us-news/california-drought', 'us-news/california', 'us-news/us-news', 'environment/drought', 'environment/environment', 'environment/water', 'culture/culture', 'film/film', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/rorycarroll'] | us-news/california-drought | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2015-07-08T18:16:04Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
uk-news/2017/jun/20/london-mayor-considers-pay-per-mile-road-pricing-and-ban-on-new-parking | London mayor considers pay-per-mile road pricing and ban on new parking | London is to consider pay-per-mile road pricing and banning car parking in new developments under plans to cut 3m car journeys a day in the capital. A transport strategy to be published on Wednesday by the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, will set targets to ensure 80% of journeys are made by public transport, walking or cycling. Khan said: “As London’s population is set to increase beyond 10 million, our future health and prosperity is more and more dependent on us reducing our reliance on cars. “We have to be ambitious in changing how our city works. While there will be 5m additional journeys being made across our transport network by 2041, at the same time we’re setting ourselves a bold target of reducing car journeys by 3m every day. “We have to make not using your car the affordable, safest and most convenient option for Londoners going about their daily lives. This is not only essential for dealing with congestion as London grows, but crucial for reducing our toxic air pollution and improving the health of all Londoners.” Measures under consideration include more vehicle-free zones and car-free days. The mayor will look to restrict car parking provision within new developments, with those near public transport expected to be car-free. Secure cycle parking will be demanded instead, and electric vehicle charging points in any developments where car parking is considered appropriate. The mayor and Transport for London will also explore new schemes to update the current congestion charge – potentially bringing in a single charge based on road usage and emissions. Khan signalled he would also back London boroughs in considering local road charging to cut traffic. Another element of the plans will focus on a “healthy streets” initiative, encouraging walking and cycling to combat diseases linked to inactivity, while cutting motorised traffic that the report identifies as responsible for half of air pollution in London. About £2.1bn has been allocated to double spending on cycling in the capital. German Dector-Vega, the London director of the transport charity Sustrans, welcomed the plan and said: “London’s continued success as a great city depends on our ability to move around without the pollution, ill-health and congestion that comes with excessive car use. It’s now imperative that London’s boroughs – who own 95% of London’s streets – get on with delivering improvements that will make a real difference for walking and cycling.” The transport strategy, which outlines plans for the coming decades, will be published for consultation on Wednesday. | ['uk/london', 'politics/sadiq-khan', 'politics/transport', 'environment/pollution', 'politics/congestioncharging', 'lifeandstyle/cycling', 'environment/environment', 'lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle', 'politics/politics', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'environment/air-pollution', 'profile/gwyntopham', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2017-06-20T17:36:06Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
uk-news/2022/may/26/hard-brexit-plans-ex-m16-richard-dearlove-hacked-leaked-russians | Hard Brexit plans by ex-MI6 chief hacked and leaked by Russians | A group of Russian hackers is believed to be behind the release of a cache of emails obtained from a former director of MI6 and other Brexiters unhappy with Theresa May’s failure to negotiate a “clean” EU exit deal. Google said the “clumsy campaign” bore the hallmarks of a Russian group it called Coldriver – and the hackers published the correspondence under the title “Very English Coop d’Etat”, claiming it revealed the existence of shadowy group of pro-Brexit plotters. But the principal cluster of emails – dated from August 2018 to July 2019 – instead appears to show a group of Brexiters frustrated with May’s willingness to seek compromises with the EU and their attempts to campaign against it. Shane Huntley, who directs Google’s threat analysis group, said the Russian Coldriver hackers had previously tried to steal people’s login credentials. “This is the first time we’ve seen them step into the disinformation / hack-and-leak space,” he added. Hack-and-leak operations are part of the standard modus operandi of Russian hackers, who are often linked to one of the country’s spy agencies – and the attack is one of the first detected during the now three-month-long Ukraine war. A key figure targeted was Sir Richard Dearlove, a former director of MI6 between 1999 and 2004, including the period leading up to the Iraq war. The former spymaster told Reuters, which first reported the story: “I am well aware of a Russian operation against a Proton [email] account which contained emails to and from me.” The emails describe a short-lived plan to create a hard Brexit campaign group in the summer of 2018 amid growing opposition to May’s proposed Chequers deal, which had already prompted the resignation of Boris Johnson from government. Using the codename “Operation Surprise” the group was to be chaired by leave-supporting former Labour MP and peer Gisela Stuart with Dearlove among a group of public figures who would sit on its advisory board. Its goals, the leaked document says, were to “block any deal” to leave the EU arising from the Chequers white paper, to “ensure that we leave on clean WTO terms” and “if necessary remove this prime minister and replace with one fit for purpose”. Later it adds: “May has now been shown to be incapable of office” and lists a group of well known rightwing journalists as part of its “media circle”. But the group never got going, after Stuart told others on the would be advisory board in August 2018 that she did not believe it was necessary, because other anti-Chequers campaigns were developing rapidly. Many of the other emails consist of ongoing complaints about civil servants, the drift of May’s policy, and even tittle tattle about anti-Brexiter George Soros, consisting largely of political remarks he had supposedly made to family members over dinner. Dearlove said that the emails had captured a “legitimate lobbying exercise” which, when seen through “this antagonistic optic” of a Russian hack-and-leak operation “is now subject to distortion”. The website containing the emails is called “sneaky strawhead” – a reference to Johnson’s often chaotic hairstyle. It was registered on 19 April by individuals using a commercial domain name provider. Democratic party emails were hacked by members of Russia’s GRU military intelligence in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election and passed to WikiLeaks, where their publication helped pave the way for the election of Republican candidate Donald Trump. Confidential documents relating to US-UK trade talks were stolen from a personal email account belonging to former trade minister Liam Fox. The 451-page cache was dumped on Reddit and eventually ended up in the hands of then Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, during the 2019 election campaign. | ['politics/eu-referendum', 'uk/mi6', 'politics/theresamay', 'politics/past', 'uk/uk', 'world/russia', 'technology/hacking', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/dan-sabbagh', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | technology/hacking | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2022-05-26T16:48:42Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
environment/2004/aug/09/weather.climatechange1 | Our 'brutal fight' with Hurricane Alex | As the enormous wave heightened and its crest began to break, the four men heard an almighty roar before it crashed - tearing their rowing boat in two and plunging them into the freezing sea. For almost six hours through the night until early morning, the rowers from the Pink Lady clung to a small life raft before they could be rescued yesterday morning by a Danish cargo ship 370 miles off the Isles of Scilly. The nine-metre (30ft) waves had battered the lurid pink, hi-tech boat since around midnight and the crew fought through the tail of Hurricane Alex, describing it as a "brutal combat" which they had been dreading for days. But just before 2.30am the rogue wave, which crew member Jonathan Gornall described as a "killer blow" to their mission, smashed their boat in half. "The next thing we knew we were under water, fighting to escape the rear part of the vessel - which, on inspection afterwards when we surfaced, appeared to be completely smashed by the tremendous wave," he said yesterday. "I just remember hearing it coming - unlike anything we have experienced before," he told the BBC. The men activated their emergency distress beacon and for the next six hours their only channel of communication was a fuzzy phone link to the coastguards at Falmouth, Cornwall, who were desperate to maintain contact until the men could be sighted. Being caught in such a storm, Mr Gornall had previously written, was like being in a coffin. "Your mind played tricks on you, huge waves smashed into the side of you and water went everywhere - it was very, very scary ... you felt you were in the wildest place on Earth," he wrote during the first leg of the voyage. After 39 days at sea, the crew had been "tantalisingly close" to reaching Cornwall and their target of a 54-day transatlantic journey which would have broken the previous record by 10 days. Led by 40-year-old skipper Mark Stubbs, a firefighter from Poole, Dorset, the men intended to row 2,100 miles to reach the Bishop's Rock lighthouse by August 23. The team, which also included ex-SAS diver Pete Bray, 48, of south Wales, digital mapping specialist John Wills, 33, of Elstead, Surrey, and Mr Gornall, 48, a Times journalist, of London, left St Johns in Newfoundland, Canada, on June 30, in their rowing boat, which was sponsored by Pink Lady apples to raise £50,000 for the British Heart Foundation To block out the howling winds they would play music on the crew iPod. Concentration needed to be exceptional to negotiate icebergs in thick fog. But their spirits were raised on nights when the seas were calm, and when they came close to whales and dolphins. With more than half their challenge completed - having rowed virtually non-stop in pairs for two hours at a time - the men were in survival mode and desperately hoped that the deterioration in the weather would not be as bad as predicted. When they last talked to their weather analyst and adviser, Lee Breen, there was concern about the fallout from the hurricane which was predicted to hit at 3pm on Saturday before calming slightly and then returning with more force around midnight. For three days, they had discussed the effect Hurricane Alex might have on their mission, but the team, who all have extensive Atlantic rowing experience, had hoped it would be something they could overcome. When the tail of the storm hit the boat, the men were as prepared as they could be and had battened down, hoping to row out the violent weather. "There would have been whistling noises, and spray from the crest of the waves breaking over the boat," Lee Breen explained. "I can't say for sure, but it would be reasonable to expect in this weather that winds could reach force 10 or 11." Coastguards initially scrambled a rescue helicopter from RAF Chivenor in north Devon to recover the men, but it later turned back because of the dangerous weather conditions. An RAF Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft from Falmouth located the life raft, and a mayday signal was broadcast to alert passing vessels before the Danish ship Scandinavian Reefer picked up the crew. When they were rescued, the men were 370 miles west of their destination, feeling battered and devastated, but safe. One of the rowers was suffering from hypothermia and another had slight concussion but they did not need urgent hospital treatment. They spent yesterday recovering, bound for the port of Foynes in County Limerick where they were expected to arrive this morning. "They were rattled initially but certainly a lot more chipper when they knew rescue efforts were coming to them," a coastguard spokesman said. "They knew they were in a perilous situation but these are tough, experienced guys - they knew this could happen, they were professionals and they were prepared." The current record for the transatlantic journey was set in 1896 by two Norwegian fishermen and equalled 17 years ago by the British rower Tom McClean. Of the 29 attempts to row the Atlantic from east to west, only 10 have been successful and six men have lost their lives in their attempts. Mr Gornall said yesterday the men were all grateful to be alive. "It's a shame we didn't make it, but at least we can assure ourselves it wasn't anything we did wrong," he said from the Scandinavian Reefer. "It was just, you know, you take on nature and you take what she delivers and on this particular occasion she delivered a killer blow." | ['environment/environment', 'world/world', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'uk/uk', 'world/natural-disasters', 'world/hurricanes', 'type/article', 'profile/leeglendinning'] | world/hurricanes | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2004-08-09T08:06:18Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2022/dec/19/greens-lambast-labor-for-failing-to-offer-extra-funding-for-global-nature-deal-at-cop15 | Greens lambast Labor for failing to offer extra funding for global nature deal at Cop15 | The Greens have criticised the Albanese government for failing to offer any new money for conservation measures at a global conference aiming to secure a new agreement for nature for the next decade. Countries have been meeting at the Cop15 summit in Montreal to negotiate targets for the protection and restoration of nature, including a target of $US200bn a year to fund conservation work. There have also been calls for developed nations to establish and pay into a fund to support conservation measures in poorer countries. While countries including Germany and France have made additional funding pledges, Australia has been criticised for failing to offer more than its existing budget commitments despite the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, using the summit to push for tougher targets on halting extinctions and protecting land and sea areas. The Greens environment spokesperson, Sarah Hanson-Young, who has been attending the summit, said she was disappointed “no money from Australia was put on the table to help those negotiations come along”. “We saw a lot of money pledged by countries like Germany. France made another contribution this morning. So other countries are putting money on the table,” Hanson-Young told the ABC’s Radio National. “It’s been disappointing to see Australia hasn’t contributed yet. In these final hours of the negotiations, I urge the Australian government to help keep ambition high by putting some more money on the table to help.” Kelly O-Shanassy, the chief executive of the Australian Conservation Foundation, is also in Montreal, where there are concerns the final text of the agreement will fail to include targets to halt extinctions immediately or by 2030. Australia has been an advocate for such a target in the agreement, having already set a zero extinctions target domestically. O’Shanassy said “money is essential to ending extinction, so it’s disappointing that there were no new funding commitments from Australia at Cop15”. “Australia has a lot at stake – our species are unique and found nowhere else on this planet – we have a lot to lose. There’s simply not enough cash on the table – both globally and at home in Australia – to end extinction,” she said. “Both France and Germany have made new funding commitments and there’s still time for Australia to step up and do the same.” The Albanese government is under increasing pressure to back its conservation targets with more funding. Scientists have estimated $2bn is needed a year in the federal budget to recover Australia’s full list of almost 2,000 threatened plants, animals and ecological communities. When it announced its zero extinctions target and a revamped threatened species strategy in October, scientists and environment groups warned the government would need to drastically increase funding to support domestic conservation measures. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Plibersek’s announcement this month of the government’s response to the 2020 review of national environmental laws was also met with calls from the Greens and the independent senator David Pocock for more public spending on the environment. Much of the government’s discussion of conservation funding has been focused on boosting private investment, including through a proposed nature restoration market. Plibersek told the ABC’s AM program on Monday that the government increased funding for the environment in the October budget and “we are determined not only to increase government funding but to make it easier for others to invest in repairing nature as well”. She said work to restore and protect nature was becoming as “important for businesses as reducing their carbon pollution”, and pointed to a recent report by the consulting firm PwC, which estimated a nature market could be worth $137bn by 2050. “Australia plans to increase its international public finance for nature through to 2030 to support developing countries implement an ambitious Global Biodiversity Framework,” she said in a further statement to Guardian Australia. “This builds on our commitment to double development assistance funding to $2bn over 2020-2025 for climate, including environment and biodiversity projects.” Plibersek said Australia had played a positive role in Montreal towards a final agreement and had gone from “environmental laggard to leader on the world stage”. She said one example was a statement developed by Australia and Norway and signed by 37 other countries pushing for higher ambition for protection of oceans. | ['environment/cop15', 'australia-news/australian-greens', 'environment/environment', 'environment/biodiversity', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/wildlife', 'australia-news/tanya-plibersek', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'australia-news/australian-politics', 'campaign/email/afternoon-update', 'australia-news/sarah-hanson-young', 'environment/endangeredspecies', 'australia-news/labor-party', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/lisa-cox', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/biodiversity | BIODIVERSITY | 2022-12-19T01:17:33Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
business/2021/sep/21/why-does-a-carbon-dioxide-shortage-matter-so-much-to-the-uk-economy | Why does a carbon dioxide shortage matter so much to the UK economy? | Carbon dioxide is a byproduct of industrial production, but it has a wide range of uses across numerous industries: from cooling nuclear power plants and extending the life of packaged fruit and vegetables, to surgical procedures and the sedating of animals during slaughter. The UK is one of Europe’s largest users of CO2. What is CO2 used in? CO2 is widely used across the food industry in production and packaging, and is of particular importance to the meat sector. The gas is essential for the humane slaughter of livestock as it is used to stun pigs and chickens. It is also widely used in the packaging of fresh meats, fresh produce such as salad and baked goods, where CO2 slows bacteria growth and extends the shelf life of the products. CO2 is widely used in fizzy drinks and beer and is also vital to cooling systems used to refrigerate products. It is also used to create dry ice, which can be used to keep food fresh for storage and transport. Meanwhile, the food industry says that the gas can encourage the healthy growth of vegetables in greenhouses, and can be used to purify drinking water. Surgeons use the gas to stabilise body cavities during operations, and to freeze off warts and moles. How do you make CO2? Carbon dioxide is created as a byproduct during the industrial manufacture of ammonia, alcohol and fertilisers, as well as being emitted by power plants. The UK currently emits around 350m tonnes of carbon dioxide every year, and is preparing to take major steps to driving this figure down to net zero by 2050. So fears of a CO2 shortage could at first glance appear to be good news. However, to produce carbon dioxide which is pure enough to be used in fizzy drinks, food packaging and abattoirs, specialist equipment is required to capture, purify and separate gases. In the UK, it is most often chemical companies that are equipped to produce food-grade CO2 rather than fossil fuel power plants. How did the UK become reliant on two plants? Until recently, the UK’s food industry has been able to rely on a steady supply of carbon dioxide from two fertiliser plants in the north of England for up to 60% of its CO2. So the shock decision by owner US firm CF Industries to shut the plants prompted serious concerns. The concentration of so much CO2 production in the hands of a single owner – as part of a joint venture established in 2007 – was investigated at the time by the Competition commission, according to industry body the Food and Drink Federation (FDF). The commission insisted on certain remedies to address the reduction in competition in supply of the gas. Currently, a further 20% of the UK’s carbon dioxide is produced by other plants in the UK, and the remainder is imported from overseas. Could the UK rely on imports? Approximately 20% of the UK’s carbon dioxide is imported, mostly from plants in Scandinavia and the Netherlands. However, soaring energy prices are also having an impact on European firms. A number of sizeable EU fertiliser companies are also stopping or significantly cutting back their production, either for scheduled maintenance or as a result of rocketing costs, which will mean a considerable reduction in the amount of carbon dioxide produced on the continent. This could also further squeeze UK supplies. Can the UK become self-sufficient; could new technology help? Brewers had their fingers burned by the global shortage of carbon dioxide in 2018, which occurred during a football World Cup, a key moment for sales of beer. As a result, many of the industry’s largest players have invested in new technology in the past few years, which allows them to capture CO2 produced during the fermentation process, store it, and then re-use it to carbonate their beer. More widely, there are hopes of wider industry adoption of carbon capture and storage technology. This would involve storing carbon dioxide captured from power plant emissions beneath the North Sea, but academics believe it could also be repurposed as food-grade CO2. However, these future technologies will come as cold comfort to the food industry this winter. • This article was amended on 23 September 2021 to clarify that CO2 slows the growth of bacteria in food rather than preventing them. | ['business/manufacturing-sector', 'business/fooddrinks', 'business/business', 'environment/carbon-emissions', 'uk/uk', 'business/gas', 'business/energy-industry', 'environment/carbon-capture-and-storage', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/joanna-partridge', 'profile/jillian-ambrose', 'profile/sarahbutler', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-business'] | environment/carbon-emissions | EMISSIONS | 2021-09-21T18:20:18Z | true | EMISSIONS |
society/2015/apr/27/george-bingham-obituary | George Bingham obituary | My friend and colleague George Bingham, who has died aged 76, was a pioneer of chemical solvent recycling, a long-time school governor and founding trustee of Emmaus Hastings and Rother, a charity community for the homeless. Born in Liverpool, he was the son of George, a dockyard engineer, and Sally, who was in service. They were immensely proud when George gained a scholarship to Merchant Taylors’ school, Crosby, and a degree in electrical engineering from Sheffield University. After starting a solvent recycling business in the north-west, George moved to East Sussex in 1984 with his second wife, Lynne, to become managing director of the chemical company Gelpke & Bate at Rye Harbour. George led a management buyout, renamed the company CMR and oversaw its growth into an international player in the field of solvent recovery. He he became chairman of the UK Chemical Recycling Association and president of the European Solvent Recycler Group. Family and friends remember him as someone who brought people together, both in business and in his voluntary life. As the head of CMR, George had a commitment to improving the prospects of young people in Rye and in 1992 became a governor of Thomas Peacocke community college (now Rye college). He became chair of the governing body and remained a governor until 2010. In recent years his passion was the charity Emmaus Hastings and Rother. Its communities provide homeless people with somewhere to live, work in its social enterprises and the necessary support to help them rebuild their lives. The Hastings and Rother community opened in 2011 and has room for 23 residents. George was central to bringing this about, taking a broad view of the role of a trustee – he was often to be found with a spanner or screwdriver rather than in meetings. His commitment to disadvantaged people gained him universal respect and affection. George was a lifelong supporter of Everton FC and a member of the Labour party, standing as candidate for Blackpool North in the 1966 general election coming a good second in a safe Tory seat. Conversation with George, often in his local, the Horse & Groom, St Leonards, would cover a staggering range of subjects; always well-informed, frequently hilarious and never boring. He is survived by Lynne; by three children, Ewan, Jane and Sarah, from his first marriage, to Jill, which ended in divorce; a stepdaughter, Leonie; and seven grandchildren. | ['society/homelessness', 'theguardian/series/otherlives', 'tone/obituaries', 'environment/recycling', 'technology/engineering', 'type/article', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/obituaries'] | environment/recycling | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2015-04-27T17:09:43Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
environment/2023/nov/01/country-diary-a-calculated-garden-thats-still-thriving | Country diary: A calculated garden that’s still thriving | Sara Hudston | Take the coast path west from Porlock Weir and you enter the fantastical ruins of a mathematician’s dream. Past the whimsical thatched gatehouse that guards entry to the Worthy toll road, you soon encounter an odd, semicircular stone bridge with an ivied turret clinging to its side. It is part of a wider system of curving walls, towers and tunnels, built on the orders of Ada Lovelace, the early computer programmer known as “the enchantress of numbers”. During the 1830s and 40s, Ada and her husband embarked on extensive landscaping, creating a crenellated Italianate villa with parterres, walkways and carriage drives. Here, she strolled with her friend, the inventor and philosopher Charles Babbage, discussing calculations for his “analytical engine”, a proposed computer. Her garden plans were never completed. The villa was demolished in the 1970s after a fire, and two centuries of landslips means that the modern path runs slightly more inland, jinking upwards to Culbone church and offering only brief glimpses of the sea. Ada’s constructions may be wrecked, but there are many thriving, living mementoes of her era. The Lovelaces planted thousands of trees, some of them by simply scattering handfuls of seed. They brought Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) from their estate in Scotland, as well as a selection of exotic species from overseas. Now that the native sessile oak and birch are shedding their leaves, the imported evergreens and firs are even more conspicuous. A tall coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) – one of the first to be introduced to the UK – droops dark green needles over a section of old track. The route is punctured with twisted clumps of salt-tolerant strawberry trees (Arbutus unedo), dangling spiky red baubles. Their waxy, white, bell-shaped flowers appear in autumn at the same time that the previous year’s fruit ripens, turning from yellow, through orange, to spongy crimson – a treat for birds. The rarest species here was flourishing long before the Lovelaces imposed their vision. This stretch of misty, coastal woodland running from Somerset into North Devon is home to a unique species of whitebeam, Sorbus subcuneata. Their tattered, silvery leaves are browning now, but in summer they shiver like olive trees, creating a faintly Mediterranean feel that must have captivated Ada. • Country diary is on Twitter at @gdncountrydiary | ['environment/series/country-diary', 'environment/forests', 'environment/environment', 'uk/ruralaffairs', 'uk/uk', 'technology/ada-lovelace', 'uk-news/somerset', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/sara-hudston', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/letters', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2023-11-01T05:30:32Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
world/2008/aug/29/nuclear.china | China's lead in race for new nuclear plants could create UK skills famine | Britain's plans for a new generation of nuclear power stations will face a fierce challenge for skills and resources from countries keen to build their own, according to research published today. China has plans for 24 nuclear plants and outline proposals for another 76, according to the Economic Research Council, using figures from the International Energy Agency and the IAEA. "China's plans indicate its key role in new nuclear build, and the impact of just a small element of its projects being realised would have major implications for new nuclear build capacity — and the many constraints," according to the ERC. The research into planned and proposed nuclear plants is part of the ERC's Digest of Energy Statistics 2008, tracking energy trends including consumption, reserves, prices and efficiency at the European Union and world levels. The ERC defines planned plants as those with funding and planning consent , while proposed plants may lack funding, planning consent or both. One of the digest's editors, Nigel Hawkins, said there had been little nuclear new-build in the world after the Chernobyl disaster 20 years ago, but rising fossil fuel prices and the need for new electricity capacity has meant that most leading countries are now looking at the possibility of new nuclear facilities. "Over the next 20 to 30 years we are going to see a major ramp-up in nuclear build ," he said. Hawkins pointed out that the number of companies capable of nuclear newbuild was limited. They include Areva, which has applied jointly with EDF for UK approval of the technology for the EPR reactor, General Electric, Westinghouse — which Toshiba bought from British Nuclear Fuels in early 2006 — and Atomic Energy of Canada. In Britain, the authorities are looking at building a small number of nuclear power plants and are studying at least three reactor designs. British Energy and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority are expected to put forward a number of sites close to existing nuclear plants or former facilities which have been closed. Hawkins warned that, given the volumes under consideration by Beijing, the relatively small programme being considered by Britain could mean China would be seen as more of a priority by nuclear plant construction companies In June, business and enterprise secretary John Hutton said: "As more and more countries seek to insulate themselves against future energy price rises and the irrefutable reality of climate change, they're competing hard to enable their own nuclear programmes. "The UK government has the ambition and commitment to build and maintain the best market in the world for companies to do business in nuclear power. "The UK must aim to become the world's number one location for new nuclear investment." The government owns more than a third of British Energy and has given its blessing to plans for EDF to make a bid for the company, though no offer has yet emerged because of opposition by other shareholders. EDF is seen as a good fit because it has the experience of running existing nuclear power plants and nuclear new -build. But the government is keen to stress that its nuclear policy does not rest entirely on a British Energy/EDF tie-up. A spokesman from the Department for Business and Enterprise said: "We are not putting all our eggs into one basket. " | ['world/china', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'environment/energy', 'world/world', 'environment/environment', 'business/business', 'uk/uk', 'tone/news', 'environment/chernobyl-nuclear-disaster', 'world/asia-pacific', 'type/article', 'profile/markmilner', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/financial3'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2008-08-29T00:07:42Z | true | ENERGY |
fashion/2020/mar/02/how-celebrate-boris-johnson-baby-bad-news-coronavirus-floods-bullying-convenient-for-prime-minister | How should we celebrate Boris Johnson's baby? | Carrie Symonds is having a baby. How do we talk about this? Lester, by email If we were just talking about Symonds – a young woman who seems perfectly pleasant – having her first baby, there would be no difficulties: only a monster would express anything other than unalloyed joy. But it takes two to, er, tango, and we are also talking about the father of the baby, who happens to be Boris Johnson, who happens to be a prime minister known for his fondness for distraction and obfuscation. So things get even more complicated than trying to get out of him precisely how many kids he already has. (Four? Six? 10? Who’s counting? Certainly not him.) There are two schools of thought here. “Yes! … Some much needed happy news for the country,” tweeted one PR-I-mean-journalist, when the news broke over the weekend. “Let’s be kind to the pregnant lady, shall we?” tweeted another columnist who, as many promptly pointed out, was not exactly kind to Meghan when she was pregnant (or at any other time, for that matter). Yet it is true that we don’t always need to be cynical. Indeed, it sometimes feels that the instinct towards cynicism is part of the demise of collective empathy, as we see one another not as fellow humans, but as nefarious adversaries who are wrong. Surely a corrective to that would be to celebrate the Symonds-Johnson baby, no matter what our political differences, right? Right. And yet. How do we solve a problem like ol’ Boris? / How do we catch a cloud and pin it down? / How do you find a word that means ol’ Boris? / A chronic liar! A narcissist! A clown! The idea of using a baby to bury bad news is repulsive, as well as being slightly distracting, as the phrase inevitably makes you think of a baby literally burying bad news. Could it hold a shovel properly? Wouldn’t it get distracted from the task at hand and start eating the dirt? (It’s not just me who thinks like this, right?) Anyway, yes, accusing someone of using their unborn child to obscure other more awkward stories is bad – but lord knows the father of this particular baby has done worse. So let’s not start ascribing a moral compass to Johnson, who, as his former boss Max Hastings wrote in this paper last year, “would not recognise truth, about his private or political life, if confronted by it in an identity parade”. There is no question that news of this baby came at a convenient time for Johnson, given the number of less aww-inducing stories he is contending with, such as his predictable uselessness in the face of fears of a global pandemic; his even more predictable absence from the floods in this country; the accusations that his home secretary, Priti Patel, is a vicious bully; the ongoing questions about Russian meddling in the British political system; the interminable omnishambles known as “Brexit”, which has already cost more than everything we paid to the EU over 47 years; and news that 20 Tory party members, including six Tory councillors, have been suspended for posting Islamophobic comments online. You get the picture. Or rather, you don’t, because news of the upcoming baby topped most newspapers’ front pages on Sunday morning. I like babies. I have even had a couple myself. This country may indeed require some much-needed good news. But better news would be Johnson doing anything about any of the above, not him knocking out another baby to add to his collection, some of whom he publicly acknowledges and some of whom, well, let’s just say, they won’t be getting any front-page announcements any time soon, at least not if their father has any say in the matter. No one wants to detract from Symonds’ happiness. But a prime minister’s baby inevitably becomes political, especially when we are talking about this paternally focused prime minister, so while we can celebrate the baby, we also can’t let it bury the bad news. And I reckon the best way to do this is to name the baby, using all the words from the stories that are attracting less coverage, and that name should be used in every puff piece hereafter. I surely speak for the nation when I say I cannot wait to see the photos of little Brexit-Coronavirus-Floods-Russian-Bullying-Islamophobia Symonds-Johnson! Hard to embroider that on a babygro, but I’m sure Johnson, with his extensive child-care experience, will find a way. Post your questions to Hadley Freeman, Ask Hadley, The Guardian, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Email ask.hadley@theguardian.com | ['fashion/series/ask-hadley', 'politics/boris-johnson', 'politics/politics', 'uk-news/carrie-symonds', 'fashion/fashion', 'tone/features', 'uk/uk', 'news/islamophobia', 'environment/flooding', 'world/russia', 'politics/priti-patel', 'type/article', 'profile/hadleyfreeman', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/g2', 'theguardian/g2/features', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-g2-features'] | environment/flooding | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2020-03-02T18:09:04Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
sustainable-business/disaster-resilience-private-sector-role | Disaster resilience: the private sector has a vital role to play | One year after Hurricane Sandy, as powerful storms batter coastlines in India and Vietnam, we're reminded that even in an age of rising prosperity and advanced technology, nature still has the power to bring us to our knees. Sandy caused 159 deaths and an estimated $65bn in damage, left millions of homes without power and multiplied commute times across the region. Parts of America's east coast are still recovering. Superstorm Sandy was supposed to be a once-in-a-generation event, but many scientists believe that such storms will become both more frequent and more destructive. Rapid urbanisation around the world means that they will also disproportionately affect city-dwellers, especially in coastal regions, where nearly half of the world's population lives. Last year, the US government spent about $100bn on disaster cleanup related to extreme weather events – more than it spent on transportation or education. Building resilience to natural disasters is both a humanitarian mandate and an economic imperative. We usually think of disaster preparedness and response as the responsibility of government, and from New York and New Orleans to Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur, cities are leading the way with ambitious programs to protect residents from harm. Non-profits are helping the cause by stimulating policy innovation and community engagement – witness the Rockefeller Foundation's 100 Resilient Cities Centennial Challenge and Mercy Corps' global disaster preparedness initiatives. But given the scale of the challenge, the inescapable fact is that we in the private sector have a critical role to play in building more resilient cities. Specifically, private companies should contribute by developing technologies and business models that support early warning, hardened infrastructure, and risk pooling – key elements of the "resilient operating systems" that cities will increasingly need. First, the private sector can apply the innovation that brought us the "Internet of Everything" to upgrade early warning capabilities. The faster we identify where storms are likeliest to hit, the better we can target our efforts to prevent and respond to damage. Technologies that link sensor networks, large-scale data analysis and communications systems provide decision-makers with timely information to guide response. For example, Siemens implemented a levee monitoring system in the Netherlands that uses sensors to monitor water pressure, temperature and shifting weather patterns to identify areas that are at risk of being breached and trigger alarms. IBM's Smarter Cities programme provides a digital command centre that integrates real-time information on storm conditions, emergency response assets, and areas at risk. Better sensors, more powerful analytics, and new communication technologies will increase foresight and even save lives. Second, companies can help to "harden" infrastructure, improving the speed of recovery after disasters strike. Redundant systems for critical infrastructure and waterproof or diesel-powered pumping systems can reduce the chance of water and power system failures. System intelligence is another form of hardening; embedding sensors and controls into power lines and water treatment plants can allow cities to assess hazardous conditions, take preventative actions and target repair efforts. Finally, businesses can also develop new financial models to help cities more efficiently manage risk. Most disasters are low-frequency, high-impact events, and few cities have the resources to finance response and reconstruction on their own. New funding solutions can help. In New York, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority recently insured itself against infrastructure damage from storm surges by investing in cost-effective catastrophe bonds. Asset sharing is another important strategy. These days, most city managers understand it doesn't make sense to own a stockpile of flood-relief equipment – it's too expensive to pay for, store and maintain. Today, they can access flood relief pumping "as a service," just as they can access cloud computing or car sharing services. Before Sandy hit, for example, Xylem brought technicians and hundreds of rental pumps from across America to the mid-Atlantic; since then, they have been deployed to combat floods in other cities. This service model creates flexibility and "surge capacity"; it's effective and economical for cities and a good business opportunity for us. Beyond innovation in technology and business models, the private sector can contribute most by taking a seat at the table and asking how they can help. Governments and civic organizations are putting ambitious policy frameworks in place, political will and popular sentiment support taking action, and a great deal of the technology needed already exists. We already have many of the ingredients needed to build "resilient operating systems" in cities around the world; now, as Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) official David Miller recently noted, it is a question of affordability and coordination. Investments by companies like Xylem, Siemens, IBM and countless others will help to ensure that our cities will be better prepared for the next Sandy, whenever and wherever it strikes. Albert Cho is vice president for strategy and business development at Xylem, the global water technology company This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. Become GSB member to get more stories like this direct to your inbox | ['sustainable-business/sustainable-business', 'guardian-professional/sustainability', 'tone/blog', 'environment/water', 'us-news/hurricane-sandy', 'sustainable-business/climate-change', 'business/technology', 'type/article'] | us-news/hurricane-sandy | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2013-10-22T14:33:39Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
science/2020/jan/12/experiments-on-cuttlefish-are-cruel | Experiments on cuttlefish are cruel | Letter | The recent experiments on cuttlefish (Cuttlefish given 3D glasses for test of how they judge distance, 9 January) are indefensible, curiosity-driven nonsense that benefit only the experimenters who make a living from them and from ignoring what we already know about awe-inspiring cuttlefish. Supergluing Velcro to the delicate dorsal surface of the animals’ heads, withholding food for several days, forcing them to wear 3D glasses and subjecting them to video images to prove something we already knew about the species is not only unnecessary, but also cruel. Cuttlefish and their cephalopod relatives, squid and octopuses, are highly intelligent, self-aware animals. And both squid and cuttlefish use complicated colour patterns and waves to communicate with potential mates and rival suitors. Sensitive marine animals should be left in peace in their natural ocean homes, not imprisoned to be used in farcical experiments. Dr Julia Baines Science policy adviser, Peta Foundation • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com • Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters • Do you have a photo you’d like to share with Guardian readers? Click here to upload it and we’ll publish the best submissions in the letters spread of our print edition | ['science/animalbehaviour', 'science/biology', 'science/science', 'science/neuroscience', 'environment/marine-life', 'environment/wildlife', 'environment/environment', 'technology/3d', 'tone/letters', 'type/article', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/letters', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/marine-life | BIODIVERSITY | 2020-01-12T17:53:25Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
business/2019/jan/28/morrisons-to-trial-paper-bags-for-groceries-and-higher-price-for-plastic-bags | Morrisons to trial paper bags for groceries and higher price for plastic bags | Morrisons is to trial the launch of large paper bags for groceries at supermarket check-outs and is raising the price of its plastic bags by 50%. The supermarket will now charge 15p instead of 10p for its cheapest standard plastic bag, while testing out US-style paper grocery bags with handles costing 20p. Morrisons said the paper bags, which can be reused and recycled, were being introduced due to consumer demand, although they will initially only be available in eight of its 493 stores: Camden and Wood Green in London; Skipton, Hunslet and Yeadon in Yorkshire; Erskine in Scotland; Gibraltar; and Abergavenny, Wales. The chain eliminated its 5p carrier bags early last year, reducing overall bag sales by a quarter. Andy Atkinson, Morrisons’ group customer and marketing director, said: “These new paper bags do exactly the same job as standard plastic carrier bags. They are tough, reusable and can help keep a large amount of plastic out of the environment.” Some have expressed concern that paper bags could have a greater impact on the environment than plastic alternatives in terms of the energy use in production, an objection raised when Morrisons – and more recently, M&S – switched to selling loose fruit and vegetables in paper rather than plastic bags. However, Julian Kirby, waste and resources campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: “We welcome this – especially if they scale up from a trial. What stands out is that the bags are designed to be reused and will be less resource intensive to produce than the heavier duty tote bags and fully recyclable. It would be better still if they were made from recycled material themselves.” According to government figures in 2018, the number of single-use plastic carrier bags sold per year by seven supermarket chains – Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, M&S, the Co-op and Waitrose, along with Morrisons – has dropped to just over 1bn, down from more than 7bn before mandatory charges were introduced for large retailers in 2015. The government is consulting on raising the levy to 10p per bag and including smaller shops from next year. Meanwhile, Waitrose has launched a new £1m grant fund – using cash from the sale of plastic bags – for projects helping to cut plastic packaging and pollution. | ['business/morrisons', 'business/business', 'business/retail', 'business/supermarkets', 'environment/plastic', 'environment/environment', 'environment/plastic-bags', 'environment/recycling', 'environment/ethical-living', 'environment/waste', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/gwyntopham', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/financial3', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-business'] | environment/waste | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2019-01-28T06:01:54Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
environment/2022/nov/04/large-dams-may-threaten-survival-of-platypus-populations-research-finds | Large dams may threaten survival of platypus populations, research finds | Major dams have disrupted gene flow between platypus populations, making them more vulnerable to threats, according to new research. Scientists from the University of New South Wales examined the genetic makeup of platypuses in free-flowing and dammed rivers in that state. Their results, published in Communications Biology, found there was greater genetic differentiation between platypus populations located above and below dams compared to populations in free-flowing rivers. They said this indicated large dams were major barriers to the movement of platypuses, resulting in limited or no gene flow between separate populations. Prof Richard Kingsford, the director of the UNSW Centre for Ecosystem Science and one of the paper’s authors, said the findings had significant implications for platypus conservation. Sign up for our free morning and afternoon email newsletters from Guardian Australia for your daily news roundup “This is the first time that we’ve got some really good evidence of what we suspected might be going on,” he said. The scientists took blood samples from platypus populations above and below five dams in New South Wales: Dartmouth, Eucumbene, Jindabyne, Pindari and Nepean. They also took samples from populations in adjacent free-flowing rivers without dams. The researchers extracted DNA from the samples and found large differences between the genetic composition of populations living above dams and those living below. This level of genetic differentiation was not found in the neighbouring rivers without dams. “By using thousands of molecular markers, we were able to identify a strong signal indicating that genetic differentiation increased rapidly between platypuses below and above these large dams,” said the paper’s lead author, Luis Mijangos, a former UNSW PhD student who is now at the University of Canberra. The differences were found to be greater the longer the dam had been present. Kingsford said the results suggested dams prevented platypuses from moving up and down rivers and meeting up with other platypuses. This meant a population below a dam eventually started to change genetically from the group above because they were unable to mix their genes. He said over the long term this could lead to inbreeding and reduced genetic variability, resulting in populations that were less adaptable and more vulnerable to threats. The inability to disperse also meant platypuses could not move to areas with more suitable conditions. “In the long term, it can contribute to the local extinction of a population, usually below the dam,” Kingsford said. Platypuses are declining in many parts of their range in eastern Australia. Dr Gilad Bino, another of the paper’s authors, said the research showed dams were one of the main threats to the species. The authors said water conservation and management planning should consider alternative approaches to large dams. Kingsford said some populations might also require human interventions in future, such as translocation from one part of a river to another, to improve their genetic variability. Dr Melody Serena, a conservation biologist at the Australian Platypus Conservancy, said platypuses were capable of circumventing waterfalls more than 30m high and man-made weirs at least 10m high. She said the UNSW research suggested a different rule might apply when a platypus encountered a very large weir (more than 70m high). “However, the good news is that the study also confirmed that inbreeding has not yet actually increased due to restricted movement – platypus populations on both sides of study weirs remain genetically diverse,” she said. | ['environment/wildlife', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/mammals', 'australia-news/new-south-wales', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'campaign/email/afternoon-update', 'environment/environment', 'environment/endangeredspecies', 'environment/rivers', 'type/article', 'profile/lisa-cox', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/wildlife | BIODIVERSITY | 2022-11-03T16:00:19Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
business/2018/dec/13/eu-relaxation-of-diesel-emission-limits-was-illegal-court-rules | EU relaxation of diesel emission limits was illegal, court rules | The new generation of so-called “cleaner” diesel vehicles can be banned from Madrid, Paris and Brussels after a ruling by European justices. City authorities can now stop Euro 6 diesel vehicles from entering their cities. The European court of justice has overruled a decision by the European commission to allow new diesel vehicles to emit higher levels of nitrogen dioxide. The justices said the original limit of 80mg/km must be maintained and that a 2016 relaxation of car emission limits was illegal. The three cities took the European commission to court over its proposal to allow a 168mg/km limit following pressure from national governments. EU law had previously set a 80mg/km limit. The European court of justice said on Thursday the commission was not allowed to change the limits of nitrogen oxides for vehicles when it introduced a new test designed to be a realistic assessment of emissions. “The commission did not have the power to amend the Euro 6 emission limits for the new real driving emission tests,” the court said. The decision means plans by the three European cities to ban new diesel vehicles can go ahead. Areeba Hamid, clean air campaigner for Greenpeace UK, said: “Ever since Europe’s car industry told Europe’s governments their big lie, that they could make clean diesel engines, an array of mechanisms has been launched to cover up the inconvenient truth. “The diesel deception has moved from Volkswagen’s infamous cheat device and its equivalents from other manufacturers, to the contorted ‘standards’ with loopholes big enough to drive an SUV through. “Truth is, diesel is a dirty fuel, the car industry can’t be trusted, and no amount of smoke and mirrors is going to persuade anyone otherwise.” Hamid said: “There is no reason why London, and cities across Britain, should not follow suit.” | ['business/automotive-industry', 'law/european-court-of-justice', 'law/law', 'environment/pollution', 'environment/air-pollution', 'environment/environment', 'world/world', 'world/eu', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/sandralaville', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2018-12-13T15:40:28Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
news/2023/mar/09/weather-balloons-ufos-weatherwatch-sky | How helium-filled weather balloons keep an eye on our sky | Twice a day, about 900 weather stations around the world launch balloons in a coordinated international programme to measure conditions in the upper atmosphere. These weather balloons may reach an altitude of 115,000ft (35,000 metres) and can drift more than 186 miles (300km) from their launch point in a journey lasting up to two hours. Similar balloons have been taking soundings, as they are known, since the 1930s. Each helium-filled balloon is about a metre and a half in diameter on the ground but gets larger as it rises and the outside pressure decreases. A radiosonde, a package of meteorological instruments, is suspended 20 metres below the balloon. The radiosonde sends back readings of temperature, pressure and humidity at different altitudes. Meteorologists may also track the location of the balloon to determine wind speed and direction from its movement. When it reaches maximum altitude the balloon, now about 6 metres across, bursts and the radiosonde parachutes harmlessly back to earth. While people on the ground occasionally mistake weather balloons for UFOs, pilots and air traffic controllers are usually quite familiar with them. And, especially if the instruments are recovered, distinguishing an innocent short-range weather balloon from an intercontinental stratospheric spy with a solar-powered payload the size of a passenger jet is generally not too difficult. | ['news/series/weatherwatch', 'world/world', 'science/meteorology', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/davidhambling', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-weather'] | news/series/weatherwatch | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2023-03-09T06:00:07Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2020/nov/25/plan-to-bulldoze-almost-2000ha-of-land-in-great-barrier-reef-catchment-rejected | Plan to bulldoze almost 2,000 hectares of land in Great Barrier Reef catchment rejected | Sussan Ley has rejected an application for almost 2,000 hectares of land-clearing on Kingvale Station in the Great Barrier Reef catchment. The long-awaited decision was quietly published on Tuesday night at the same time as the federal government announced it had approved Santos’s Narrabri gas project in New South Wales. It is the third time Ley has used her powers as federal environment minister to reject a project under national environmental laws and only the 24th time by any minister in the history of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act. Environment groups that campaigned against the proposal, which would have cleared 1,846 hectares of bushland for agriculture at Kingvale Station on the Cape York Peninsula, welcomed the decision. Gemma Plesman, a senior campaigner at the Wilderness Society, said it was a “rare rejection” by a federal minister and noted that were it not for federal oversight the clearing would have occurred because it had already been approved by the former Newman government in Queensland. “Old-growth and important forest, like that on Kingvale Station, should simply be protected for good,” she said. “It should never have been considered for bulldozing. “We hope this signals a new era of commonwealth ministers treating deforestation seriously. Deforestation clearly has significant impacts and should be better regulated across the country under the EPBC Act.” The minister’s grounds for refusal were that the project would have unacceptable impacts on threatened species and habitats. A spokesman for the environment department, on behalf of the minister, said the proposal was assessed against EPBC Act requirements to protect matters of national environmental significance, “including the golden-shouldered parrot, red goshawk and bare-rumped sheath-tailed bat, as well as potential run-off and nutrient issues that are likely to impact on the Great Barrier Reef”. “The minister decided to refuse this proposal because in the absence of consent from the proponent she was unable to impose certain conditions necessary to protect threatened species.” According to the published decision, the project met the threshold for approval against other controlling provisions related to world heritage, national heritage and impacts on the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Kelly O’Shanassy, the chief executive of the Australian Conservation Foundation, said the bushland that was to be cleared was habitat for rare and threatened parrots, quolls and bats. “It’s especially important for the small remaining populations of the golden-shouldered parrot,” she said. “Queensland was going to allow this clearing to proceed. But this decision shows federal government can be a powerful force for good in protecting our rare and threatened species and highlights the importance of national leadership in protecting Australia’s biodiversity.” The proposed clearing at Kingvale Station has been controversial. Documents released under freedom-of-information laws revealed four Coalition senators from Queensland lobbied the then environment minister, Josh Frydenberg, in 2018 to approve it. The federal government originally wrote a draft approval for the clearing but this was thrown out by the federal court in 2018 after it found the government failed to apply proper scrutiny to the project. The proponent, Scott Harris, and his company were fined in the Cairns magistrates court last year for illegal clearing of vegetation at another property at Strathmore Station in Queensland’s Gulf country. Harris’s solicitor declined to comment about Ley’s decision to reject the planned clearing at Kingvale. Ley’s decision comes as the Senate prepares to debate legislation that would clear the way for the federal government to hand its approval powers under national environmental laws to state and territory governments. | ['australia-news/queensland', 'environment/series/environmental-investigations', 'environment/great-barrier-reef', 'environment/environment', 'australia-news/sussan-ley', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'australia-news/australian-politics', 'australia-news/coalition', 'environment/deforestation', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/forests', 'environment/endangered-habitats', 'environment/endangeredspecies', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/lisa-cox', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/endangered-habitats | BIODIVERSITY | 2020-11-25T05:51:35Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2015/apr/21/students-to-push-universities-to-ditch-investments-in-fossil-fuels | Students to push universities to ditch investments in fossil fuels | Students and academics will stage a coordinated push to persuade their universities to divest from fossil fuels on Wednesday, with rallies to be held on 15 campuses across Australia. The protests, organised by climate activist group 350.org across six states and territories, will see petitions containing thousands of signatures handed to university vice chancellors. The universities urged to ditch their holdings in fossil fuel companies include the University of Melbourne, the University of Sydney, Monash University, the University of Queensland and James Cook University. To date, the Australian National University is the only Australian university to go ahead with divestment. Its decision to sell stock in fossil fuel companies was described as “stupid” by prime minister Tony Abbott last year. 350.org said its day of campaigning was timed to follow the Harvard Heat Week, where hundreds of staff and students held a week-long sit in protest in an attempt to convince the prestigious US university to abandon its investments in coal, oil and gas companies. Stanford University in the US, University of Glasgow in the UK and New Zealand’s Victoria University of Wellington are among the institutions that have committed to divestment. Campaigners hope to put pressure on universities such as the University of Melbourne and University of Technology Sydney, both of which are considering their positions on divestment. Kate Auty, former environment commissioner to the Victorian government and now fellow at the University of Melbourne, said that the university was “turning its mind” to divestment. “I know they are thinking about it,” she said. “The university is having that conversation and they should be commended for doing so. We need to address this issue as a matter of urgency. There are a lot of academics who have had their consciences pricked and realise we can’t invest in coal forever and retain a planet we’re familiar with. “This country is extremely vulnerable to climate change and academics know that. It’s not a philosophical question to them. There’s momentum behind this divestment movement and we shouldn’t’ downplay that.” Mark Thompson, a 21-year-old electrical engineering student at Queensland University of Technology, said he expects around 100 people to rally on campus. “Climate change is a big issue for our generation because it will affect us massively,” he said. “We’ve seen plenty of inaction from our government and we need universities to step up. “So far the university has danced around the issue of divestment which is disappointing. Hopefully we will move that conversation forward.” Vicky Fysh, campaigner at 350.org, said that students at Australian universities have “overwhelmingly” signalled that they want their institutions to divest from fossil fuels. “We are at a point where there’s a lot of international momentum and we will start to build momentum in Australia, because universities here are at risk of falling behind,” she said. A University of Melbourne spokesman said the university’s investment management committee is reviewing its position on divestment and “plans to take any recommendations to university council this year.” | ['environment/fossil-fuel-divestment', 'australia-news/australian-universities', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'australia-news/tony-abbott', 'australia-news/australian-politics', 'environment/series/keep-it-in-the-ground', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'profile/oliver-milman'] | environment/fossil-fuel-divestment | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2015-04-21T14:01:07Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
environment/2019/nov/21/climate-crisis-topping-uk-election-agenda-is-unprecedented-change | Climate crisis topping UK election agenda is 'unprecedented' change | The climate emergency has risen to the top of the UK’s election agenda in a way that would have been “unthinkable” even five years ago, leading environmentalists have said, predicting that it augurs a permanent change in British politics. On Wednesday, Labour took the unprecedented move of putting green issues as the top section of its manifesto, the first time one of the UK’s two major parties has done so. Jeremy Corbyn led the appeal to voters with policies including an £11bn windfall tax on oil and gas companies, a million new jobs in a “green industrial revolution” and commitments on moving to a net-zero carbon economy. “Such focus on climate and the environment would have been almost unthinkable five years ago,” said Shaun Spiers, executive director of the Green Alliance. “Tackling climate change runs through this manifesto in a way that is unprecedented from either of the main parties ahead of a UK general election.” “It would not have been possible five years ago,” said Tom Burke, chairman of environmental thinktank E3G and former adviser to several governments, who said the move marked a permanent change in British politics, as younger voters in particular were “energised” over the environment. Public anxiety had been fuelled by people seeing extreme weather around the world, and the rise of climate activism in movements such as Extinction Rebellion and the school climate strikes reflected that. “The politicians are following the public on this, not the other way round.” Public concern over the climate is “unequivocal”, and people “back decarbonisation by a massive margin”, said Richard Black, director of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit. “The UK has never had an election like this one in terms of the profile of climate change. To have all the major parties supporting a transition to net zero within a few decades, and competing with each other on policies to deliver, is unprecedented.” Labour disappointed many green campaigners by failing to put a date on its commitment to a net-zero carbon economy. After union pressure, a proposal to mandate the transformation by 2030 was watered down to “achieve the substantial majority of our emissions reductions by 2030”, which should imply swifter and stronger action than the Tory pledge to decarbonise by 2050, but leaves room for interpretation. There was also no frequent-flyer levy, despite increasing concern over aviation emissions from the independent Committee on Climate Change, and a heavily hedged green light on airport expansion. “Labour’s manifesto stops short of getting full marks – its policy for tackling exploding aviation emissions is not fit for purpose,” said John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace UK. “And the commitments on plastic pollution and waste do not go far enough.” Ryan Shorthouse, director of the Conservative thinktank Bright Blue, accused the party of wanting too much state control in calling for nationalisation of energy, water and railways. “[The Labour manifesto] equates to a significant and unprecedented expansion of state expenditure and control. They envisage a super-spending, suffocating state. But voters are not stupid – the state cannot and should not deliver everything.” Burke believes Labour’s stance on Brexit will also alienate many environmentally minded voters. “Brexit is appallingly bad for the environment. The Labour party wants to do good things on the environment and wants do that within a strong EU – Corbyn is letting them down.” However, pushing the climate emergency back to the political periphery would no longer be an option for any party, he said. “This is mainstream now.” The Liberal Democrats, while focusing on Brexit, have also made the climate emergency a key priority, promising to generate 80% of the UK’s electricity from renewable sources by 2030, to bring forward to 2045 the deadline for net-zero carbon, and to expand electric vehicles and ban fracking. The Green party wants to spend £100bn a year for the next decade on the climate crisis, replacing high-carbon infrastructure and creating jobs. This weekend, the Conservative manifesto is expected to include policies on combatting climate change, reconfirming its commitment to net-zero carbon. Next year, thanks to Theresa May’s offer to the UN, the UK will host the most important international summit on the climate since the 2015 Paris agreement was signed, requiring a massive diplomatic effort if the government is to make it a success. But the party may be hampered by its recent see-sawing on environmental policies, with incentives to low-carbon development withdrawn, home insulation schemes closed and incoming housing regulations scrapped. Spiers said: “This will be a big moment for UK politics if the Conservatives show a similar level of ambition [to Labour].” | ['environment/climate-crisis', 'politics/general-election-2019', 'politics/labour', 'politics/politics', 'uk/uk', 'environment/environment', 'politics/conservatives', 'politics/green-party', 'politics/jeremy-corbyn', 'environment/extinction-rebellion', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/fiona-harvey', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/extinction-rebellion | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2019-11-21T19:08:44Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
environment/2018/oct/11/pollutionwatch-canada-moves-to-limit-wood-burning | Pollutionwatch: Canada moves to limit wood burning | This October the city of Montreal will draw a line under a 20-year air pollution problem that started with the 1998 ice storm. Considered one of the worst disasters in Canadian history, around 35 people died and nearly 1,000 were injured. At its peak, more than 3 million people were without electricity as pylons and power lines collapsed under the weight of encrusted ice. Some homes had no power for many weeks. People rushed to install wood burners to keep warm and to be prepared for a repeat of the crisis. Over the last decade the city has been plagued by winter smogs from home wood burning. With 38% of particle emissions coming from this source, the city had to act. This winter only fireplaces and stoves that meet the latest Canadian standards can be used and new rules will ban all wood burning during smogs. Across Europe cities are also struggling with the air pollution consequences of a return to solid fuel burning. In the UK, this now accounts for nearly 40% of particle emissions. Clean Air Zones set up following the 1952 London smog should ban open fires in most cities and define standards for stoves (although not as strict as those in Canada), but these appear to have fallen into abeyance. | ['environment/air-pollution', 'environment/environment', 'environment/series/pollutionwatch', 'world/canada', 'world/europe-news', 'world/americas', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/gary-fuller', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-weather'] | environment/air-pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2018-10-11T20:30:10Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
uk-news/2023/oct/12/sycamore-gap-tree-removed-hadrians-wall-seasoned-reused | Sycamore Gap tree removed from Hadrian’s Wall to be seasoned and reused | Some saw the day as a chance to say farewell. One person described the event as a “full stop” to the saga. But as the criminally felled, world-famous Sycamore Gap tree was carefully removed from its home on Hadrian’s Wall, people also spoke of hope, optimism and rebirth. “The irony of this criminal act is that we have reset the clock on this tree now,” said Andrew Poad, the National Trust’s general manager of the site. “In forestry terms, it has been coppiced and it will regrow.” A crane from Manchester arrived on Thursday morning for the challenging job of removing the tree. After days of withering winds, rain and gloomy skies, this thrillingly beautiful part of rural Northumberland enjoyed warm sun, blue skies and barely a breath of breeze. Poad regarded the day as a funeral, but also as “the point where we can draw a line under what has happened and start thinking about the future”. The Sycamore Gap tree was regarded by many as an integral part of north-east England. Its felling two weeks ago prompted an outpouring of distress, mixed with fury at the pointlessness of the vandalism. Throughout Thursday, a team worked with chainsaws to cut the tree into manageable sections that could be transported to a truck. Because the site is an ancient monument, a national park and a world heritage site, the work was slow and careful. The felling of the 50ft tree also caused damage to the wall on which it has been balancing precariously, slowing things down further. The tree is timber now. Before it can be used to create something new – a memorial bench, a sculpture or something completely different – the wood will need to season and will be taken to an undisclosed location where that can happen naturally. The expectation is that the stump will regrow and the National Trust said it would figure out a way to prevent the cattle and sheep who graze nearby from getting at it. Few people expect anything as wonderful as the one felled, “but most of us will see a small tree there in our lifetime”, said Poad. The Sycamore Gap tree was planted about 130 years ago by the landowner John Clayton. “He was an incredibly visionary man,” said Poad. “A real unsung hero. He planted it as a landscape feature in the full knowledge he wouldn’t see it in his lifetime. He took the long-term view and that is what we are here to do, we are planning for future generations.” The National Trust has been inundated with suggestions on what should happen to the tree and the site, particularly over the last few days. As landowner, the final decision will be taken by the trust but that will take months. “Emotions are running really high at the moment, I think it would be a good thing to let things calm down a bit so we are all thinking a bit more rationally,” said Poad. A partner in the process is Northumberland national park authority. Its chief executive, Tony Gates, said the day brought mixed emotions of sadness and hope. “I think we have reached a sort of full stop because this landscape is going to change forever today. But I’m feeling optimistic because of the public reaction to the felling of the tree. “My hope is that from one negative and selfish act we get 1,000 positive ones.” The Sycamore Gap tree has been the site of countless marriage proposals, scatterings of ashes, birthday celebrations and more. On Thursday, the public were asked to stay away but a few felt they had no choice but to see it for one last time. “It is a momentous day,” said Maggie McColl, a charity worker, visiting with her partner and three Northern Inuit dogs. Like many she remembers her emotions when hearing the news. “I was incredulous, just so angry … I was very sweary. I think I felt a kind of grief and an inability to comprehend how someone could do it. If you are cutting down something like that then you’ve lost all hope.” There have been hundreds, maybe thousands, of tributes, memories and suggestions about what happens next sent to the National Trust. McColl thinks a piece of the tree should be given to the UK’s four nations who should make something that comes back together as one. “Tragedies like these unite the country, so something that represents that would be really powerful.” Northumbria police arrested a boy, 16, and a man in his 60s after the tree was felled. They have been released on bail pending further inquiries. | ['uk-news/northumberland', 'environment/forests', 'uk-news/north-of-england', 'uk/national-trust', 'uk/uk', 'culture/heritage', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/markbrown', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2023-10-12T15:00:09Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/cif-green/2010/sep/10/hockey-stick-graph-illusion | The hockey stick graph remains an illusion | Andrew Montford | Two weeks ago, Bob Ward, the communications director of the Grantham Research Institute at the London School of Economics, wrote on this website what I will politely refer to as a "hit piece" about me and my book, The Hockey Stick Illusion. The book tells the story of the famous hockey stick graph, which was used as a sales tool to promote the idea of catastrophic manmade global warming, and the extraordinary steps that scientists were willing to take to protect it from criticism. Promoters of the green cause now seem to feel a pressing need to discredit me or the book, ahead of the publication of a report I am writing for the Global Warming Policy Foundation on the 'climategate' emails affair. Those who would rather I hadn't written The Hockey Stick Illusion have tried for months to pretend it didn't exist. But then, as positive reviews started to appear, in the Spectator and Sunday Telegraph, and a senior climatologist named Judith Curry challenged her scientific peers to debate the questions raised by the book, this approach was no longer tenable. One abortive attempt was made to challenge the facts in the book but subsequent critiques have been either fallacious or ad hominem. Ward's article is, however, worse. He fails to make clear that the scientific papers he discusses are rather peripheral to the hockey stick story. He makes three main arguments, each one of which is in essence a straw man. In one case he claims that I present the non-publication of a paper by a scientist called Shaopeng Huang as evidence that journals were bullied by climate scientists. In fact the discussion of journal bullying appears some 400 pages after the discussion of the paper in question. I make no link between the two sections and I neither assert nor imply nor believe that the journal in question was bullied. I don't intend to bore you with all the details; those who are interested can read about it here. In the light of all this, I'm astonished that the Guardian want to stick with Ward's article. I had a long chat to James Randerson, the editor responsible. James's response was that Ward was "entitled to his interpretation" of what was in my book. It is apparently "complicated". With that sort of approach to factual accuracy you can say almost anything you like about anyone. I still can't quite understand what possessed Randerson and the Guardian to publish what was patently a hit piece. Does the Guardian really want to look like a private press for the Grantham Research Institute? You might just as well be replaced with an RSS feed. The Guardian's only claim to be of more use than Bloglines or Netvibes is that it imposes some kind of quality control. Where was that two weeks ago? And then there's Ward. Remarkably, his article appears to have been written in his official capacity as the PR man for the Grantham Research Institute. He is also a board member of the Science Media Centre. And here he is spending his time trying to undermine the reputations of people he disagrees with. Is that what our universities do now? Whatever happened to learning things and discovering the truth? However much money Grantham gave the LSE, I hope it's enough to cover the cost of a new reputation. In many ways the decision by my critics to use such tactics against me is good news, because those outsiders who want to know the truth about this most important and most revealing story can now see that the facts as presented in the book are pretty much correct. If the facts were wrong, we would certainly have heard about it by now. The truth doesn't need a sales tool like the hockey stick graph and it doesn't need ad hominems and fallacies. Neither does it need a communications director to spin it out of trouble. Perhaps now, nearly nine months after it was published, we might see people, from both sides of the debate, answer Judith Curry's call to debate what the story of this most remarkable scientific paper tells us about the state of climatology and the state of science in general. | ['environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/environment', 'science/scienceofclimatechange', 'science/science', 'environment/climate-change-scepticism', 'tone/comment', 'commentisfree/cif-green', 'commentisfree/commentisfree', 'type/article'] | environment/climate-change-scepticism | CLIMATE_DENIAL | 2010-09-10T15:00:09Z | true | CLIMATE_DENIAL |
environment/2024/feb/22/taking-the-pulse-of-the-planet-how-monitoring-nature-from-space-could-keep-earth-healthy | ‘Taking the pulse of the planet’: could we monitor biodiversity from space as we do the weather? | For the handful of people who get the chance to observe Earth from space, the impact is often profound. Called the “overview effect”, astronauts report being deeply moved by the experience, as the planet’s fragility and beauty became clear. Others, such as the actor William Shatner, said they were overcome with grief. Now, scientists are proposing the creation of a new system that they hope will use the view from space to transform our understanding of Earth’s changing ecology and its complex systems. By combining satellite data and imagery with on-the-ground technologies such as camera traps, acoustic monitoring and DNA barcoding in every country on Earth, scientists say the creation of a new multibillion international scheme would allow countries to effectively track the health of the planet and safeguard food, water and material supplies for billions of people. In 2022, governments pledged to transform their relationship with nature by the end of the decade. From halting extinctions caused by human behaviour to restoring nearly a third of the planet’s degraded ecosystems, countries signed up to 23 targets to stop the rapid decline of life on Earth. But a growing number of scientists warn that data about the health of the planet’s seas, soils, forests and species are so flawed, it will be impossible to know if we have been successful at meeting the agreed-upon targets. Despite major advances in monitoring the climate, information on the Earth’s biodiversity is comparatively poor, they say. To overcome the issue, researchers have proposed the creation of a new system to monitor the biosphere akin to how humans monitor the weather, regularly “taking the pulse of the planet”. Canada, Colombia and several European nations are among the countries developing their own biodiversity observation networks – known as BONs – which researchers say should be combined into a global observation system. A BON system brings together raw data on seas, soils, forests and species to give an overview of a nation’s biodiversity health – which could then be combined at a planetary level. “The uncertainty in our knowledge of where biodiversity is changing is so great that even if we achieve the goals, we wouldn’t be able to measure them,” says Andrew Gonzalez, a professor in conservation biology at the University of McGill, who co-chairs GEO BON, a global biodiversity observation network aiming to make the initiative a reality. “We wouldn’t even know if we’d hit the target. I’m not sure that everybody’s quite ready for that conclusion but that’s the stark reality,” he says. “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it, as the saying goes. And if you can’t predict it, you can’t protect it. These things really matter.” This year, the world’s space agencies are coming together to improve their biodiversity monitoring. There are various limitations of the current data, say researchers. Analysis of 742m records of nearly 375,000 species in 2021 found widespread gaps and biases: just 6.74% of the planet has been sampled, with high elevations and deep seas particularly unknown. Some of the biggest gaps were in the tropics, despite these areas being home to large swathes of life. Europe, the US, Australia and South Africa accounted for 82% of all records, and more than half of records focused on less than 2% of known species. The data gaps are not limited to animals. In 2023, Kew Gardens identified 32 planet “dark spots” – including Fiji, New Guinea and Madagascar – that are known to be rich in plant biodiversity but have poor data records. Fourteen dark spots were in the Asia-tropical region, six were in the Asia-temperate region, nine in South America and two in Africa. There was one in North America. Alice Hughes, an associate professor at the University of Hong Kong, says the poor data coverage means that places like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has the largest share of the second-biggest rainforest on Earth – home to huge numbers of species – are poorly understood despite being under significant threat. Geospatial data can be used to monitor loss from spaces, says Hughes, but new technologies such as eDNA and other methods have opened up new ways to monitor ecosystem health. Other techniques, such as acoustic monitoring and DNA barcoding allow better understanding of ecosystems and identify some of the millions of species yet to be discovered. Innovations in scanning technologies enable researchers to check an entire forest for disease and identify species distributions. But scientists say there is still more to be done to look at Earth’s systems as a whole. “If you go to a doctor, you don’t want them to just look at you and say, ‘yeah, you look healthy’ or, ‘you look a bit pale’,” says Hughes. “They take measurements. There are many different ways to use this data but it would basically allow us to take the pulse of the planet.” Maria Azeredo de Dornelas, a professor of biology at the University of St Andrews, says: “We need a bigger observation system that allows us to measure biodiversity like we measure the weather. We probably don’t need it as frequently as the weather but we do need to do it. “There is the potential to do this really well. It would need international cooperation because it’s not the kind of thing that one country or even continent can do. The planet’s biodiversity doesn’t really care about political borders.” | ['environment/series/the-age-of-extinction', 'science/space', 'science/science', 'environment/environment', 'environment/biodiversity', 'environment/wildlife', 'environment/conservation', 'world/world', 'science/satellites', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'tone/news', 'profile/patrick-greenfield', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-age-of-extinction'] | environment/series/the-age-of-extinction | BIODIVERSITY | 2024-02-22T06:00:45Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2024/dec/04/four-of-uks-oldest-nuclear-plants-to-run-for-even-longer-as-hinkley-point-delayed | Four of UK’s oldest nuclear plants to run for even longer as Hinkley Point delayed | Four of Britain’s oldest nuclear power plants will continue running for more than a decade longer than initially planned to help bridge a gap before the delayed Hinkley Point nuclear station starts up. The owner of Britain’s nuclear plants, the French energy company EDF, said it had agreed to extend the lifetime of its reactors yet again to “boost energy security and reduce dependence on imported gas”. The decision means that the Heysham 2 nuclear reactor in Lancashire and the Torness nuclear plant in East Lothian, Scotland, will keep producing low-carbon electricity for an additional two years to March 2030. It is the second life extension for the two plants, which both started operating in 1988 and were originally expected to run for 30 years. EDF will also extend the life of the Heysham 1 plant and the Hartlepool nuclear plant in Teesside by one extra year until March 2027. It is the fourth time EDF has extended the lifetime of these plants, which both began generating electricity in 1983 and were initially expected to close in 2008. Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, said: “These extensions are a major win for our energy independence – powering up to 11.6m homes for longer while supporting good jobs across Lancashire, Teesside and East Lothian. We can’t achieve clean power by 2030 without nuclear, which provides an all-important steady supply of homegrown clean energy.” “This will come alongside our backing for new nuclear including supporting the completion of Hinkley Point C, confirming £2.7bn for Sizewell C, and pressing on with contract negotiations for our small modular reactor competition,” Miliband said. Britain has not built a new nuclear power plant since the Sizewell B reactor, on the Suffolk coast, was commissioned in 1995, meaning the UK’s nuclear output is expected to decline sharply in the years ahead as older reactors begin to close. The delays to start up the Hinkley Point C nuclear project in Somerset, the first plant to be built in a generation, threatens to leave a gap in the UK’s supplies of low carbon power, which could lead to higher level of gas power on days when renewable energy is in short supply. EDF is also hoping to extend the life of the Sizewell B plant by 20 years longer than scheduled, until 2055. Mark Hartley, the managing director of EDF’s nuclear operations business, said: “When EDF acquired these stations in 2009, they were all due to end generation by early 2023 which would have left the UK with just one generating nuclear station at Sizewell B.” He said the ability to extend their lifetimes was a testament to the company’s £8bn investment in the UK’s nuclear fleet since 2009, which had helped the sites generate far higher output than was predicted. The company expects to spend another £1.3bn in its five generating stations over the next three years to keep them running safely. The extension was revealed in the same week that UK energy generators were called on to ramp up their electricity output after the system operator warned that the country faced an energy supply crunch on Tuesday evening. The National Energy System Operator (Neso) triggered an official warning over Britain’s power supplies just hours before an expected squeeze on the country’s electricity was forecast, but later removed the warning notice, saying it had “enough electricity generation to meet demand”. | ['environment/nuclearpower', 'environment/energy', 'business/edf', 'business/energy-industry', 'business/business', 'uk-news/hinkley-point-c', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/jillian-ambrose', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/financial3', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-business'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2024-12-04T00:01:06Z | true | ENERGY |
news/2014/mar/03/weatherwatch-great-expectations | Weatherwatch: Great expectations | By reputation, March is often supposed to be the windiest month in the calendar, though after the battering Britain has taken from this winter's storms we must all be hoping for a spell of calm, fine and sunny weather. Two years ago that's exactly what we got. 2012 saw the third warmest March on record; on average just a fraction of a degree below 1938 and 1957. It was also the fifth driest and the third sunniest March since records began in the early 20th century. Last March could hardly have been more different. Constant easterly winds brought dry weather, certainly, but it was also very cold. March 2013 was the coldest since 1962, with temperatures more than three degrees below the long-term average. Astonishingly, it was even colder than the Big Freeze of 1963. So what can we expect this year? We can take heart from the discovery that March's reputation for strong winds may be exaggerated. In fact the windiest time of year is, as you might expect, autumn and winter, with the majority of storms and gales occurring during this period. These include three of the most devastating weather events ever to hit the UK: the Great Storm of October 1987, the storms and floods of January 1953 and the Burns Day Storm of January 1990. But if you venture into the high tops of the Scottish mountains, do take care: in March 1986 the wind on top of Cairn Gorm gusted at an astonishing 150 knots (173mph) – still the British record. | ['news/series/weatherwatch', 'tone/features', 'type/article', 'profile/stephenmoss1', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2'] | news/series/weatherwatch | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2014-03-03T21:30:00Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
business/2012/feb/17/olympic-games-protest-bp-sponsorship | Olympic Games organisers face protests over BP sponsorship deal | Olympics organisers have come under attack from environmentalists, artists, indigenous people's leaders and development groups over the position of BP as an official partner in the games. In an open letter to the IOC, the London organising committee (Locog) and the Commission for a Sustainable London, 34 signatories say the organisers have failed to consider the broader ethical and environmental impacts of potential sponsors. The oil company, say the signatories, is unsuitable to be a major Games sponsor because of its involvement in extracting Canadian tar sands, and its development, with others, of giant oil fields in the vulnerable Russian Arctic. "BP's business model involves continuing to extract fossil fuels long into the future, playing a central role in ushering in irreversible climate change. In other words, it is one of the least sustainable companies on earth", says the letter. "In virtually every element of BP's involvement in London 2012 there is cause for alarm as to how it got Locog's blessing and slipped past the commission's watchful eye", it says. The signatories include Greenpeace UK, London mayoral candidate Jenny Jones, the director of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management, the World Development Movement, the Polaris Institute, Climate Rush and the UK Tar Sands Network. BP, they say, plans to provide only conventional fossil fuel and a small amount of biofuel for the 5,000 official Olympic vehicles and, as the official carbon offset partner, it "promotes the seductive idea that barely any behavioural change is needed to combat climate change because offsetting effectively eliminates carbon emissions". A spokeswoman for BP said: "BP is working with LOCOG to make these Games the most sustainable yet. In our bid to become the Official Oil and Gas partner we presented extensive proposals and details on how we could achieve our goals. We are providing the most efficient and technologically advanced fuels, including some biofuel blends which are not currently available on our forecourts. Through our Target Neutral programme, our goal is to offer to offset the emissions from all spectator journeys to and from the Games and to change behaviours so that more people consider more sustainable ways to travel." Controversy around Dow Chemicals's sponsorship of the Olympic Stadium wrap erupted after Indian activists protested against the deal with Dow, which now owns Union Carbide, the company responsible for the 1984 Bhopal disaster. Activists have also voiced concerns over the choice of corporate sponsors including worldwide partners McDonald's and Olympic suppliers Rio Tinto. A London 2012 spokesperson said: "BP is a valued partner of the London 2012 Games. We have stringent requirements for the procurement process and all sponsors, licensees and suppliers have to adhere to sustainability guidelines and we are confident that BP has met these. As a Sustainability Partner, BP is working with us to make London 2012 the most sustainable Games possible." | ['environment/environment', 'business/bp', 'sport/olympics-2012', 'business/oil', 'business/oilandgascompanies', 'business/energy-industry', 'business/business', 'sport/sport', 'environment/oil', 'sport/olympic-games', 'type/article', 'profile/johnvidal', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews'] | environment/oil | ENERGY | 2012-02-17T07:00:00Z | true | ENERGY |
lifeandstyle/2022/nov/06/dont-pretend-to-be-nice-it-doesnt-get-you-anywhere | Don’t pretend to be ‘nice’. It doesn’t get you anywhere | This is a column against niceness. Chuck out the nice cup of tea, bin off your biscuits, tell your neighbour exactly what you think of their drive, the project has failed… Hear me out. There were two things this week that got me reconsidering the concept, even as I screamed upstairs telling the children to share their toys. Even as I smiled at strangers and clicked the button to donate to charity and performed all the small domestic kindnesses that make up the winter fat of my life. The first thing was James Corden. James Corden, whose documented rudeness to a waiter has surfed the news cycle like a plastic bottle, washing up again and again on our shores. For those of you who have managed to avoid the scandal, here is what happened: his wife’s “egg yolk omelette” arrived with some egg white in it. When they replaced the order, it came, not with the requested salad but instead, chips. “You can’t do your job!” Corden told their waiter. And, “Get us another round of drinks this second.” The owner of the restaurant banned him, the internet threw rocks at him, the story took on water, bobbing in and out of the headlines, and last week on his talkshow he apologised. “It was an unnecessary comment,” he admitted. “It was ungracious.” It was over. But it was not over. Because – the problem had never really been that this celebrity was rude to a waiter; the problem had been, this celebrity had found fame by appearing to be nice. Cheeky, cheery, normal, nice. Like the infamous “wife guys” before him – men whose brands pivoted on the idea that they loved their wives and who were, therefore, universally shamed when found cheating on said wives – Corden’s crime (apart from the obvious lack of general decency) had been inauthenticity, presenting himself as one thing when the cameras were on, but acting very differently when they were off. He was exposed. Unfortunately, as our learned celebrity friends have realised, today the cameras are never off. The second thing that made me review the benefits of being nice was the reaction to the Just Stop Oil protests. The police (and government’s) attitude towards protest in the UK became starkly clear when the Queen died and protesters were arrested for questioning the monarchy. It’s chilling, actually, the new restrictions that mean potential prison sentences for people believed to be planning to “lock-on” with bike locks or glue, new stop-and-search powers for police, and the possibility that anybody who’s been involved in protests over the past five years can be fitted with an electronic tag to monitor their movements. Less chilling, perhaps, but just as notable has been the general public’s attitude towards recent protests by Just Stop Oil, where they chucked soup and mashed potato at paintings, sprayed paint on buildings (including 55 Tufton Street in London, home to fossil fuel lobby groups) and blocked roads. The argument against these “stunts” (Daily Mail, sneering) has hinged on the idea that they’re alienating the public from the cause itself. Videos of the protests show passersby screaming at them to get a job – these young women are destined for years of hate and disapproval, not to mention criminal records. But through being quite “annoying” (Bob Geldof, admiringly) they’ve got Just Stop Oil’s demand for a moratorium on new fossil fuel projects heard. Gentler protests, “nicer” protests, polite letters or jolly banners, have had far less impact – . By suggesting something as radical as the destruction of valuable art, they shocked people into sitting with the concept, for a minute at least, of the destruction of civilisation itself. If this was how it felt to mourn a painting, how might it feel to mourn a population? And so I say: down with nice. Sure, compliment a haircut, say hi to a dog. There’s no need to rinse our lives completely clean of the stuff. Niceness has its place, as a lubricant, or a moisturiser, or a starting point from which to chip deeper into a conversation or relationship. But everybody’s an arsehole sometimes. Everyone’s annoying. Everybody gets angry, often multiple times a day, sometimes at such a thing as a fly or idiot shoe, sometimes at not being listened to, or acts of ignorance and evil. Issues arise when we try to suppress those unlikable parts of ourselves, or deny them, or conceal them. The fallout from marketing oneself as a nice guy, only to be revealed as actually a bit of a dick, is far more damaging than if a person acknowledges they are flawed, vulnerable and sometimes also mean. Niceness is flimsy, a tiny part of the whole. And nobody should be expected to perform that niceness when they are horrified and angry and risking their freedom for a crisis so huge it’s almost impossible to conceive of. We need to stop expecting nice in situations where nice does not belong. We should keep it for best. Email Eva at e.wiseman@observer.co.uk or follow her on Twitter @EvaWiseman | ['lifeandstyle/series/up-front', 'environment/just-stop-oil', 'tone/comment', 'culture/james-corden', 'culture/culture', 'environment/environment', 'lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle', 'type/article', 'profile/evawiseman', 'publication/theobserver', 'theobserver/magazine', 'theobserver/magazine/life-and-style', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/observer-magazine'] | environment/just-stop-oil | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2022-11-06T08:00:14Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
global-development/2022/jul/18/kaddu-sebunya-it-is-time-for-africa-to-shape-its-own-conservation-and-climate-agenda-aoe | It is us we are waiting for! Africa needs to shape its own conservation and climate agenda | Africa’s more than 8,500 protected areas of land and sea cover more than 30% of the continent – an expanse almost the size of Australia and 28 times the size of the UK. These ecosystems play a critical role in climate mitigation and adaptation, as global heating wreaks havoc on all fronts. Today, Africa is embarking on an ambitious trajectory, with significant technological advancements, radical agricultural techniques, groundbreaking approaches to alleviating poverty and unprecedented rates of economic growth. Our natural resources, especially those in protected areas, play a critical role in development models we pursue. However, only about 1,000 of these protected areas have sound management strategies. That Africa has to develop economically is non-negotiable, yet the continent stands to lose a significant proportion of its biodiversity in the immediate future. Given our youthful population and growth rates, ambitious targets cannot be met unless Africa circumvents the unsustainable pathways others have already chosen. In addition, global climate goals will not be met unless Africa takes a different development route from every other continent. As one of the world’s hardest-hit regions, investments are necessary to support adaptation to climate change. The good news is that Africa has experience in leapfrogging old technology, such as in the telecommunications and energy sectors. We should be defining a lower-carbon economic scenario that leverages ecosystem-based adaptation and nature-based solutions. The underlying drivers of biodiversity loss need to be understood and addressed in practical ways, and the global post-Covid economy needs to reflect the reality that our lives and economies depend on nature. Any global solution that does not support this transition will definitely not meet the requisite ambition. The IUCN Africa Protected Areas Congress (Apac), which opens in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, on Monday, will be the first time Africa will meet to discuss these natural assets. It presents an unparalleled opportunity to chart a path that balances economic growth with conservation of Africa’s natural capital. This must be done through strategic choices and investments driven by the best-available knowledge and long-term thinking. We can no longer underestimate the central role that parks play in Africa’s ambitious restoration agenda. The congress will aim to embolden the current and next generation of leaders to realise an African future where biodiversity is valued as an asset that contributes to development. This congress will also position Africa’s protected and conserved areas within the broader goals of economic development and community wellbeing, and increase understanding of the vital role parks play in conserving biodiversity and delivering the ecosystem services that underpin human welfare and livelihoods. Africa needs to shape its own conservation and climate agenda by investing in the areas we have set aside as the backbone of natural infrastructure that underpins the aspirations we are aiming for in the African Union’s Agenda 2063. Climate change affects the most vulnerable the most by contributing to alarming food insecurity, population displacement and putting major stress on water resources. Enhancing ecosystem integrity is one fundamental way of reducing these vulnerabilities, which are partly to blame for the migration of Africans to the developed world. As an organisation that recently clocked up 60 years, we at the African Wildlife Foundation are guided by our mission, which dictates that conservation and development are intertwined, that people are at the centre of conservation, and that the sustenance of our planet relies on our relationship with nature. Success in Africa depends on African leadership. It is us we are waiting for! Alongside the IUCN and the Rwandan government, we are greatly optimistic that we can make titanic strides, and we encourage all people to join us in this journey towards a better Africa and, by extension, a better planet. • Kaddu Sebunya is CEO of the African Wildlife Foundation | ['global-development/global-development', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/wildlife', 'environment/environment', 'environment/series/the-age-of-extinction', 'environment/biodiversity', 'world/rwanda', 'world/africa', 'world/world', 'global-development/conservation-and-indigenous-people', 'global-development/least-developed-countries', 'environment/national-parks', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'global-development/food-security', 'global-development/migration', 'society/society', 'type/article', 'tone/comment', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-age-of-extinction'] | environment/series/the-age-of-extinction | BIODIVERSITY | 2022-07-18T06:30:03Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
music/2013/oct/11/kanye-west-song-gone-charts-i-quit-video-viral | Kanye West song Gone back in charts after 'I quit' video goes viral | Reading on mobile? Watch the video here Kanye West is back on the US Billboard's top 20 singles list, but it isn't for a new song. One of the rapper's eight-year-old tracks, Gone, has soared up the chart thanks to its use on a popular viral video in which a woman quits her job. When Marina Shifrin, 25, quit her job at Next Media Animation, she certainly didn't know she would be sending West's 2005 tune back to the top 20. But the rapper is the latest beneficiary of Billboard's new rules, which incorporate YouTube views into its calculation of the singles chart. Shifrin used West's song as the soundtrack for her whimsical, self-produced video - an "interpretive dance" where she bids farewell to "a boss [who values] quantity, speed and [page]views" over "the quality of [a video's] content". Earlier this month, the New York comedienne's choreography went suddenly viral: today, the two-minute clip has been watched more than 15m times. Even though Shifrin's film wasn't an official video for Gone, Billboard's new rules sort of treat it like one: by racking up that many views, Gone has climbed to No 18, currently higher than any song from West's most recent album, Yeezus. Like this summer's videos using Harlem Shake, which sent Baauer's song to number one, it doesn't matter that people are tuning in for something other than the music, for Billboard, a play is a play. At this rate, Gone may just be getting started. Fuelled by Shifrin's TV appearances and even a new job offer, her video is still zipping around the internet. Her former workplace has published a response - again using West's song - and the video format has been mimicked by amateur film-makers from Barcelona to Bangalore. Perhaps West needs to get in touch with Shifrin to see what she can do with Bound 2. That track - the latest Yeezus single - peaked at No55. See more great clips in our Viral video chart | ['music/kanyewest', 'music/r-and-b', 'music/rap', 'music/hip-hop', 'music/music', 'media/social-media', 'technology/digitalvideo', 'tone/news', 'money/work-and-careers', 'money/work-life-balance', 'type/article', 'profile/seanmichaels'] | technology/digitalvideo | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2013-10-11T09:50:05Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
world/2022/jun/15/cannabis-fed-chickens-may-help-cut-farmers-antibiotic-use-thai-study-shows | How cannabis-fed chickens may help cut Thai farmers’ antibiotic use | It all began when Ong-ard Panyachatiraksa, a farm owner in the north of Thailand who is licensed to grow medicinal cannabis, was wondering what to do with the many excess leaves he had amassed. He asked: could his brood of chickens benefit from the leftovers? Academics at Chiang Mai University were also curious. Since last January they have studied 1,000 chickens at Ong-ard’s Pethlanna organic farm, in Lampang, to see how the animals responded when cannabis was mixed into their feed or water. The results are promising and suggest that cannabis could help reduce farmers’ dependence on antibiotics, according to Chompunut Lumsangkul, an assistant professor at Chiang Mai University’s department of animal and aquatic sciences, who led the study. Chompunut observed the chickens to see what impact cannabis had on their growth, vulnerability to disease, and to see if their meat and eggs were different in quality, or if they contained cannabinoids. The animals were given the plant in varying intensities and in different forms – some were given water that had been boiled with cannabis leaves, while others ate feed that was mixed with crushed leaves. No abnormal behaviour was observed in the chickens, Chompunut said: “At the level of intensity we gave them, it wouldn’t get the chickens high.” The levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the plant’s psychoactive substance which makes people feel high, and cannabidiol (CBD), a compound that does not give users a high, in the leaves ranged from 0.2 to 0.4%. “I try to find the suitable level for them that could help them to improve immunity and performance without any bad effects,” said Chompunut. The results are yet to be published but Chompunut has observed positive signs. Cannabis-supplemented chickens tended to experience fewer cases of avian bronchitis, and the quality of their meat – judged by the composition of protein, fat and moisture, as well as its tenderness – was also superior. The medicinal and cooking benefits of cannabis have long been recognised in Thai tradition, said Chompunut: “It is the local wisdom of Thai people to use cannabis [leaves] as a food additive – mixing it as an ingredient to make chicken noodles. People put it in the soup to make it taste better.” She wanted to investigate the science behind such practices. Thailand has relaxed its laws on cannabis over recent years, first legalising marijuana for medical purposes and later allowing companies to sell products infused with hemp and CBD. This month, the Thai government removed cannabis and hemp plants from its narcotics list, although the public has been warned not to smoke in public. Extracts that contain more than 0.2% of tetrahydrocannabinol remain illegal. Officials say they want to boost agriculture and tourism by tapping into a growing interest in infused food and drinks, and medical treatments. It is not clear why the cannabis had positive effects on the chickens, said Chompunut. It’s possible the bioactive compounds in cannabis may have stimulated the chickens’ gut health, immunity and thereby enhanced their performance elsewhere. Further investigation is needed to observe if cannabis could replace antibiotics in chicken farming, Chompunut said. She is planning a second study that will use cannabis extracts with a higher intensity to observe what impact this has on disease and fatality rates among the chickens. “The trend of [rearing] chicken these days is going forwards to cleaner, more organic growing with less antibiotic usage,” she said. There is also a desire to make use of byproducts and to produce less waste. Using cannabis in chicken farms could help achieve such goals, said Chompunut. Ong-ard said the price of cannabis is still too high in Thailand for farms to easily incorporate it into chicken feed, but that recent legal reforms may change that. “As time goes by and we can grow more, it’s going to get better,” he said. The chickens that have been fed with cannabis will sell for a higher price at the farm’s restaurant, he added. Chicken generally sells for 60 baht (£1.40) per kg, he said, but his chicken would go for double. There are no traces of cannabinoids in the chicken meat or its eggs, however, according to Chompunut’s findings. | ['world/thailand', 'society/cannabis', 'food/chicken', 'world/asia-pacific', 'food/food', 'society/antibiotics', 'environment/environment', 'society/drugs', 'environment/farming', 'environment/farm-animals', 'world/world', 'environment/food', 'society/society', 'science/science', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'tone/features', 'profile/rebecca-ratcliffe', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-foreign'] | environment/farming | BIODIVERSITY | 2022-06-15T14:32:31Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
sustainable-business/2015/feb/25/the-pacific-islands-tomorrows-climate-refugees-struggle-to-access-water-today | The Pacific Islands: tomorrow's climate refugees struggle to access water today | Among the Pacific islands, Tuvalu is among the most dependent on rainwater harvesting. Rainfall hasn’t traditionally been a problem in the Pacific island state; the problem has been capturing it. Tuvalu is scattered across over 500,000 square kilometres, yet its nine low-lying islands only comprise 27km2 of land area. Tuvalu’s water problems are shared across Oceania, where – at one in four – fewer people have access to piped water than in sub-Saharan Africa. Over 3.2m of the region’s 10.3m population, meanwhile, has no access to surface water. According to the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), a regional intergovernmental organisation based in Fiji, the Pacific Islands’ 22 nations and territories are “significantly off track” to meet water improvement targets set under the Millennium Development Goals (pdf). “If current trajectories persist,” says Peter Sinclair, water resources assessment coordinator in SPC’s Geoscience Division, “millions of Pacific islanders will continue to endure unsafe water and sanitation for generations to come, with profound implications for economic growth, public health, the environment and human rights.” Making the most of rainwater While desalination plants and other large-scale infrastructure projects can be found scattered through these islands, lack of economic resources and an absence of fuel for generating power to run such facilities restricts their widespread uptake. As such, the area continues to maintain a strong focus of catching what falls from the sky. On Tuvalu, rainwater is seen as a cheaper and more environmental alternative to imported bottled water, a primary water source for many of the island’s 11,000 or so residents. Helping promote rainwater harvesting there is the Pacific Regional Environment Programme, a Samoa-based intergovernmental organisation. The Programme’s Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change project (PACC) just inaugurated a 288,000 litre cistern in Tekavatoetoe, on the Tuvaluan island of Funafuti. This follows a new 700,000 litre cistern in the nearby community of Lofeagai. The cisterns are closed in so as to avoid contamination by salt water or water-borne diseases, such as e-coli. In both cases, the units are attached to church buildings, which, along with schools, hospitals and government offices, are widely used for communal rainwater harvesting. “The roof surfaces of the island’s largest buildings would be wasted if they’re not used to collect water”, says Netatua Pelesikoti, programme manager at PACC. Technological innovation As well as helping with everyday water needs, rainwater harvesting is seen as an important defence against climate change, which Pelesikoti says is causing shorter wet seasons and more erratic weather patterns. One of the consequences is a higher risk of drought, the last major instance of which occurred in 2011 (also a La Niña year), causing Tuvalu to introduce emergency water rationing. Samoa, Tokelau and Tonga suffered similar drastic water shortages. “Other approaches [to rainwater harvesting] do not work in these low-lying atoll environments due to space, land issues and high energy wave environments on both the ocean and lagoon sides of Tuvlau atolls”, says Peniamina Leavai, PACC’s adaptation planning officer. Rainwater harvesting is by no means new, but technological innovations are helping drive improvements. So-called ‘first flush diverters’ mark one notable example. Using a ball float system, the low-tech solution essentially isolates the first flows of rainwater in a separate chamber as these often contain bacteria and other pollutants collected in roof guttering. The technology is widely used in Niue, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji and Nauru, as well as Tuvalu. The island of Niue boasts another notable innovation. With the assistance of New Zealand-based water tank manufacturer Galloway International, the island has built a tank moulding facility. The home-grown 5,000 litre tanks are made from high-density polyethylene, which is lighter weight and more durable than the imported tanks habitually used. The facility also has capacity to build septic tanks and waste bins. Business lagging behind In general, however, the region’s business community has taken a back seat in promoting water collection efforts. Local firms, particularly in the tourist sector, may well donate tanks, pumps or other equipment, but such efforts are uncoordinated and sporadic. The charitable foundation of Fuji Water, a bottled water company, is one of the few to do so systematically and at scale. SPC’s Peter Sinclair is among those who would like to see greater input by the private sector, especially when it comes to developing affordable technologies. The scope here is “tremendous”, he insists, although he strikes a word of caution: “In the Pacific, technological solutions need to be replicable and of low cost or they could well leave a community reliant on a solution that cannot be sustained over the long term.” Community involvement has to be a central feature of any such endeavour, he argues. He cites a €3.3m (£2.4m) project that SPC is currently rolling out in Kiribati. The initiative, which includes the construction of small-scale rainwater harvesting units, will be jointly managed by the community and follows a three year outreach programme among 16 of Kiribati’s outer islands. Pacific islanders have long looked to the sky’s munificence for their water needs – an experience outside funders should be mindful of, even if modernisation and expansion of rainwater collection systems is keenly needed. As Sinclair concludes: “Effective communication is essential to understand the needs of communities and their existing solutions, which may have been serving communities well for hundreds of years.” This is the second in a three part series on islands and water. The first can be read here. Future articles will also be published in our water hub. The water hub is funded by Grundfos. All content is editorially independent except for pieces labelled ‘brought to you by’. Find out more here. This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. Become a GSB member to get more stories like this direct to your inbox. | ['sustainable-business/series/water', 'sustainable-business/sustainable-business', 'global-development/access-to-water', 'global-development/global-development', 'environment/corporatesocialresponsibility', 'environment/environment', 'business/business', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'tone/sponsoredfeatures', 'profile/oliver-balch'] | environment/corporatesocialresponsibility | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2015-02-25T17:39:04Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
world/2019/aug/07/bolsonaro-amazon-deforestation-exploded-july-data | Bolsonaro rejects 'Captain Chainsaw' label as data shows deforestation 'exploded' | Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon “exploded” in July it has emerged as Jair Bolsonaro scoffed at his portrayal as Brazil’s “Captain Chainsaw” and mocked Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel for challenging him over the devastation. Speaking in São Paulo on Tuesday, Brazil’s president attacked the leaders of France and Germany – who have both voiced concern about the surge in destruction since Bolsonaro took office in January. “They still haven’t realized Brazil’s under new management,” Bolsonaro declared to cheers of approval from his audience. “Now we’ve got a blooming president.” The far-right populist repeated claims that his administration – which critics accuse of helping unleash a new wave of environmental destruction – was the victim of a mendacious international smear campaign based on “imprecise” satellite data showing a jump in deforestation. Bolsonaro ridiculed what he called his depiction as “Capitão Motoserra” (“Captain Chainsaw”). But as he spoke, official data laid bare the scale of the environmental crisis currently unfolding in the world’s biggest rainforest, of which about 60% is in Brazil. According to a report in the Estado de São Paulo newspaper, Amazon destruction “exploded” in July with an estimated 2,254 sq km (870 sq miles) of forest cleared, according to preliminary data gathered by Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research, the government agency that monitors deforestation. That is an area about half the size of Philadelphia and reportedly represents a 278% rise on the 596.6 sq km destroyed in July last year. Rômulo Batista, an Greenpeace campaigner based in the Amazon city of Manaus, said the numbers – while preliminary – were troubling and showed a clear trend of rising deforestation under Bolsonaro. What was not yet clear was if the devastation was “going up, going up a lot, or skyrocketing”. Batista blamed Bolsonaro’s “anti-environmental” discourse and policies – such as slashing the budget of Brazil’s environmental agency, Ibama – for the surge. “It’s almost as if a licence to deforest illegally and with impunity has been given, now that you have the [environmental] inspection and control teams being attacked by no less than the president of the republic and the environment minister,” Batista added. “This is a very worrying moment.” The spike in destruction under Bolsonaro – who was elected with the support of powerful mining and agricultural sectors – has come as a shock to environmentalists, but not a surprise. During a visit to the Amazon last year Bolsonaro told the Guardian that as president he would target “cowardly” environmental NGOs who were “sticking their noses” into Brazil’s domestic affairs. “This tomfoolery stops right here!” Bolsonaro proclaimed, praising Donald Trump’s approval of the Dakota Access and Keystone XL oil pipelines. Bolsonaro returned to that theme on Tuesday during a gathering of car dealers in Brazil’s economic capital, São Paulo, complaining that “60% of our territory is rendered unusable by indigenous reserves and other environmental questions”. “You can’t imagine how much I enjoyed talking to Macron and Angela Merkel [about these issues during the recent G20 in Japan],” Bolsonaro added to guffaws from the crowd. “What a pleasure!” In June Merkel described the environmental situation in Bolsonaro’s Brazil as “dramatic”. In recent weeks the globally respected National Institute for Space Research has found itself at the eye of a political storm as a result of the inconvenient truths revealed by its data. Earlier this month, with alarm growing about the consequences of the intensifying assault on the Amazon, its director, Ricardo Galvão, was sacked after contesting Bolsonaro’s “pusillanimous” claims he was peddling lies about the state of the Amazon. Galvão’s successor, the air force colonel Darcton Policarpo Damião, looks set to follow a more Bolsonarian line. In an interview this week Damião said he was not convinced global heating was a manmade phenomenon and called such matters “not my cup of tea”. Pope Francis – who is preparing to host a special synod on the Amazon in October – has also incurred Bolsonaro’s wrath on the environment. In June the Argentinian leader of the Catholic church questioned “the blind and destructive mentality” of those seeking to profit from the world’s biggest rainforest. “What is happening in Amazonia will have repercussions at a global level,” he warned. Asked about those comments, Bolsonaro offered a characteristically unvarnished response, suggesting they reflected an international conspiracy to commandeer the Amazon. “Brazil is the virgin that every foreign pervert wants to get their hands on,” Bolsonaro said. | ['world/brazil', 'world/jair-bolsonaro', 'environment/amazon-rainforest', 'environment/deforestation', 'world/americas', 'world/world', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/environment', 'environment/forests', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/tomphillips', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/international', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-foreign'] | environment/deforestation | BIODIVERSITY | 2019-08-07T15:25:36Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
world/2012/mar/20/oil-firm-drilling-canary-islands | Oil firm given go-ahead for Canary Islands drilling | One of Britain's best-loved holiday destinations is under threat from oil prospectors who have been given permission to drill for offshore fields, according to local authorities and hoteliers in the Canary Islands. The area's authorities have reacted angrily to a Spanish government decision that allows the giant Repsol company to look for oil 60km (37 miles) off the coasts of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, warning that a spill would wreck beaches and drive tourists away. "This is not compatible with the kind of sustainable tourism we want," said regional prime minister Paulino Rivero, of the Canary Coalition party. "It only benefits Repsol." TUI, owner of Thomson and First Choice holiday brands, has already expressed worries that an oil spill might permanently damage the Canary Islands' reputation as a holiday spot. "A tragedy of this kind would not just ruin a single tourist season, but would see the Canary Islands forever associated with oil," TUI's head of sustainability, Harald Zeiss, said in a letter to the island government of Fuerteventura. But Spain's new conservative government, which gave the go-ahead for drilling, hopes oil and gas fields hidden under the Atlantic seabed will allow it to reduce oil imports. "Apart from reducing our almost total dependency on imported gas and petrol, it also has great potential to create highly qualified jobs and benefit the islands' economy," a government statement said. Repsol would be expected to pay for any clean-up operation caused by an accident, and extraction licences would have to be approved separately. The company claims it would create up to 5,000 jobs. Local environmentalists said the only jobs would be for specialists from abroad. "This is a threat to the islands' economy, which is based on tourism, and to a rich source of maritime biodiversity," said Iván Darias of the Ecologists in Action group. "Both the technology and the depth of the fields they seek are similar to those used in Louisiana in 2010." Fears over oil spills have increased since the explosion on BP's Deepwater Horizon rig off the Louisiana coast in 2010 which killed 11 people and released millions of barrels of crude into the Gulf of Mexico. "The government is creating the same sort of risks that can lead to accidents like the one seen in the Gulf of Mexico," agreed Greenpeace spokesman Mario Rodríguez. Around 2.6 million British holidaymakers visit the Canary Islands every year. | ['world/spain', 'world/europe-news', 'environment/oil', 'business/tuitravel', 'world/world', 'business/business', 'environment/oil-spills', 'business/oil', 'environment/oceans', 'environment/energy', 'environment/environment', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'profile/gilestremlett', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/international'] | environment/oil | ENERGY | 2012-03-20T13:36:35Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2015/jul/21/pope-links-climate-change-with-human-trafficking-and-urges-un-to-take-lead | Pope laments 'meaningless lives' in tying human trafficking to climate change | Pope Francis said he had “great hopes” that a fundamental agreement to tackle climate change would be reached in Paris later this year and he believed the United Nations needed to play a central role in the fight against global warming. “The UN really needs to take a very strong position on this issue, particularly the trafficking of human beings … [a problem] that has been created by climate change,” the pope said. The remarks followed a day-long meeting of mayors from around the world that was hosted by the Vatican to discuss environmental challenges and how disruptions in climate were contributing to a humanitarian crisis in migration and modern slavery. Speakers included Bill de Blasio of New York, George Ferguson of Bristol and Gustavo Petro of Bogotá, among dozens of others. The conference began by hearing harrowing testimony from two Mexican women who were victims of modern-day slavery. “It’s not possible that it still exists, that we remain blind” to the issue of modern slavery, said Ana Laura Pérez Jaimes, who spent five years chained up and forced to work 20 hours a day in Mexico. She showed the mayors photographs of some of the 600 scars she suffered as an indentured servant, forced to iron for hours a day without food or water. She said she had to urinate in a plastic bag. A fellow Mexican, Karla Jacinto, described how she was physically and sexually abused by her family and forced into prostitution between the ages of 12 and 17. She was forced to have sex with more than 42,000 clients before she was rescued. “I didn’t think I was worth anything. I thought I was just an object that was used and thrown away,” she told the hushed conference hall. The 22-year-old mother of two now campaigns on behalf of trafficking victims. The meeting came about one month after the popular Argentinian pontiff released an encyclical – or church teaching – on the environment that called for the phasing-out of fossil fuels and for action to combat climate change and immoral consumption, which he said was putting humanity at risk. Francis said in remarks, which seemed to be impromptu and were not from a prepared text, that his was not a “green” encyclical, but rather a “social” one, which reflected an “attitude of human ecology”. “We cannot separate man from everything else. There is a relationship which has a huge impact, both on the person in the way they treat the environment and the rebound effect against man when the environment is mistreated.” He spoke of the “uncurtailed growth of cities”, a global phenomenon that was giving rise to “shanty towns and slums” on the periphery of big cities because there was not enough economic opportunity to sustain poor people in rural areas. “This needs to be denounced,” Francis said. He criticised the rise in youth unemployment – which in countries such as Italy has reached rates of more than 40% – and lamented that the plight of the young and poor was leading to “meaningless lives”. “If we project this to the future ... what kind of horizon can they look towards,” he asked. “Some turn to guerrilla activities, to find some meaning in life and also their health is jeopardised.” He criticised the growth of black market labour and no-contract work, which he said ensured that people could not earn living wages and led to forms of “addiction”. He emphasised the importance that the local mayors, who were gathered before him, had in shaping environmental debates at home, saying that true reform had to emerge from the periphery to be effective, and could not be imposed from above. | ['world/pope-francis', 'world/vatican', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'world/catholicism', 'world/migration', 'cities/cities', 'global-development/cities-and-development', 'uk/bristol', 'us-news/new-york', 'law/human-trafficking', 'environment/cop-21-un-climate-change-conference-paris', 'world/christianity', 'environment/environment', 'global-development/global-development', 'world/italy', 'world/europe-news', 'law/law', 'environment/cop-20-un-climate-change-conference-lima', 'environment/global-climate-talks', 'world/religion', 'world/the-papacy', 'uk/uk', 'us-news/us-news', 'world/world', 'society/youth-unemployment', 'society/society', 'society/unemployment', 'world/unitednations', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/stephanie-kirchgaessner'] | environment/cop-20-un-climate-change-conference-lima | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2015-07-21T18:49:44Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
sport/2009/mar/06/indian-premier-league-cricket | Cricket: Indian Premier League organisers have announced that the Twenty20 tournament will go ahead as originally scheduled | Indian Premier League organisers have announced that the Twenty20 tournament will be played across eight Indian cities as originally scheduled. Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, said that although there would be some changes to the schedule to avoid clashes with polling in India's national elections, which take place throughout the country between 16 April and 13 May, the tournament would definitely be going ahead. "We want to assure cricket fans and everyone involved with the event that the IPL is on," said Modi, who insisted that the security of the players and spectators, in the light of the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai and Lahore, would not be a problem. India's federal home minister, Palaniappan Chidambaram, also insisted that the Indian Premier League was safe to proceed this year, saying: "Cricket in India is completely safe, but the dates for IPL matches need to be rejigged. We'll help in staging the IPL matches, even though redrawing of the scheduling appears unavoidable." Chidambaram had said earlier in the week that the IPL might need to be postponed from its 10 April-24 May schedule to avoid overstretching security personnel during the concurrent elections but IPL organisers, who were eager to avoid a postponement as it would be difficult to find another window in the crowded cricket calendar in which both Indian and international players would be available, claimed that they would not need national paramilitaries to provide security, and could get by with local police forces in the host cities. The news was met with relief by the IPL side the Delhi Daredevils, whose chief executive officer, Amrit Mathur, said: "We are relieved that the uncertainty has ended and that the tournament would go ahead as planned. We expect the new schedule very soon because we only have about a month to go for the event and lots of arrangements are dependent on the schedule. We would have to get rolling immediately the schedule is out." Mathur said that no concerns regarding security following Tuesday's terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore, in which six policemen and a driver were killed and seven players injured, had been raised by any of his players. "None of the players have raised apprehensions, but I think once it's clear that the new schedule has the approval of the government of India, the home ministry and the other appropriate authorities, I think that would give a lot of comfort to everyone concerned with the IPL. "It would also remove any concerns stakeholders might have had after the Lahore incidents. I think fans in India and abroad are looking forward to a hugely successful season two," he said. IPL officials are holding a meeting in Mumbai today, with a further announcement on the 2009 tournament expected. The Federation of International Cricketers' Association's chief executive, Tim May, said a players' survey had shown a large majority of foreign players contracted to IPL teams wanted security stepped up. | ['sport/ipl', 'world/sri-lanka-cricket-team-attack', 'sport/cricket', 'sport/sport', 'tone/news', 'type/article'] | world/sri-lanka-cricket-team-attack | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2009-03-06T12:23:00Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
environment/2016/aug/15/pilanguru-people-fight-uranium-mine-approval-vimy-resources-mulga-rock-western-australia | Pilanguru people to fight on as uranium mine gets environmental approval | Traditional owners have vowed to fight a proposed uranium mine at Mulga Rock, about 240km west of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, which was given conditional environmental approval on Monday. The Environmental Protection Authority of WA recommended the Barnett government approve construction of the open-pit mine and uranium processing plant, operated by Perth-based Vimy Resources Limited, after a three-month public environmental review. The proposed project would mine 4.5m tonnes of ore a year, processed down to 1,360 tonnes of uranium oxide concentrate, which would be trucked to Port Adelaide in sealed steel drums. It would require the clearing of 3,787ha of native vegetation, the preferred habitat of the endangered sandhill dunnart, which the proposal says would be rehabilitated at the end of the mine’s 16-year life. Tailings from the uranium processing would be stored in above-ground storage facilities for the first 18 months before being moved into in-ground tailings pits that would be capped and covered once the site was decommissioned. Bruce Hogan, the chair of the Pilanguru Native Title Group, said he and other traditional owners planned to fight the proposal and claimed the company had not adequately consulted the Aboriginal community. The area was subject to a native title claim by the Wongatha people but that was rejected by the federal court in 2007. There are four registered Aboriginal heritage sites within the 9,998ha property, containing scattered artefacts including stone flakes and tools which, according to a 2010 heritage survey, represented short-term occupation by Aboriginal peoples following ephemeral water sources. Two of the sites are in areas slated for development and at least one is expected to be affected by land clearing and excavation. “We use to go out there with our elders,” Hogan said. “We can’t see how this mine could go ahead. “The seven sisters’ tjukupa [Dreaming] goes through there and the two wadis [lore men] went through that area too. The elders use to take us there for cultural practice, they would leave us there for a few days and then come back to pick us up. “We don’t want that mine to go ahead. We will fight against that mine at Mulga Rock.” Indigenous people living in the area have a bad history with uranium developments. It’s a few hundred kilometres from Cundalee, the mission where Spinifex people from the Great Victoria Desert were placed after being pushed off their traditional lands by the British government’s nuclear testing program in Maralinga, South Australia, in the 1950s and 60s. “It is an emotive issue because of that history,” Fiona Pemberton, general manager of the Paupiyala Tjarutja Aboriginal Corporation, told Guardian Australia. Most of those displaced people now live at Tjuntjuntjara near the South Australian border but one woman remains at Coonana, a remote Aboriginal community near Cundalee. The closest house to the planned uranium mine is at Pinjin station, 105km away. The EPA report said the impact of radiation from the mine on human health would be negligible. “Worst-case scenario” testing, based on hypothetical homes within 9km of the boundary, projected an exposure of about 0.04 millisieverts per year, compared with the normal radiation exposure in Australia of 1.5 to 2mSv/yr. It said exposure along the transport route would be negligible: 0.0006mSv/yr for a car stuck behind the uranium truck for the full six-hour journey, or 0.004mSv/yr for a person who spent a year standing beside the trucking route. The estimated exposure for workers, who will be housed in on-site accommodation, was 3mSv/year, compared with the regulatory dose limit of 20mSv/yr for uranium mine workers. Mia Pepper, an anti-nuclear campaigner at the Conservation Council, said a bigger concern was that radiation from the tailing pits could leach into the water table and impact the Great Victoria Springs, a class A nature reserve about 30km to the south. The Conservation Council said it was concerned about Vimy’s ability to successfully remediate the site. She said the EPA was too ready to accept the mitigation practices proposed by Vimy and the Conservation Council would lodge an appeal. “The difference with uranium is the risks are very, very high and when things go wrong, they go very wrong,” she said. | ['environment/mining', 'australia-news/indigenous-australians', 'environment/environment', 'australia-news/western-australia', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'business/mining', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'environment/energy', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/calla-wahlquist', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/mining | ENERGY | 2016-08-15T08:01:04Z | true | ENERGY |
commentisfree/2017/mar/17/britain-greens-dutch-european-far-right | What can Britain's greens learn from their resurgent Dutch counterparts? | Molly Scott Cato | According to the media, there was only one story about the Dutch election: the rise of the far right and in particular the hype around Geert Wilders, who was portrayed as Europe’s answer to Donald Trump. But the election has revealed another, if less sensational story: the increase in support for the GreenLeft party, GroenLinks, under its charismatic leader, Jesse Klaver. European Greens have had good reason to feel jubilant of late. First came the spectacular election of the world’s first green head of state in Austria last autumn, and now a fourfold increase in the Green vote in the Netherlands. Of course such jubilation should be tempered slightly, as the wide choice of rightwing parties on offer either held or increased their vote. It was also a bad night for the social democrats, who ended up with just nine seats – a loss of 29 and five behind the Greens. Their vote quite simply evaporated. But equally, Geert Wilders’ Freedom party received less support than in 2010. The decline and collapse of social democrat and centre-left parties throughout Europe is another story that has been submerged beneath the narrative of the rise of nationalism and the far right. Yet it is an integral part of that story. By abandoning the idea of solidarity with working people across the world and embracing neoliberal ideology, socialist parties have given fresh impetus to a nationalism that we had hoped was dead and buried after two world wars. Which brings us to Jesse Klaver, the charismatic leader of GroenLinks who must take due credit for the huge increase in support for his party; among followers and devotees he is jokingly referred to as the new Jessiah. With his good looks, informal manner and mixed heritage ancestry, he has been compared to both Justin Trudeau and Barack Obama. But he is much more than a pretty face. He has honed a message of hope fighting fear. He is pro-refugee, pro-European, and believes that rightwing populism can be stopped in its tracks by standing up for the principles of tolerance and compassion. So could Britain’s Greens experience the same surge as GroenLinks in the Netherlands? Once again, in Britain see our path blocked by our outdated and dysfunctional first-past-the-post electoral system. Like most European countries, the Netherlands has a proportional system where seats match the votes cast for each party. The Dutch elections demonstrate clearly that such a system increases turnout – over 80%, which is the sort of figure we can only dream of in the UK. It is also the case that such a system encourages and rewards smaller parties such as the Greens. The Netherlands plays host to a thriving political pluralism, which is often an argument used against reforming Britain’s electoral system. With opportunities for so many smaller parties to gain a foothold, PR would allow extremist elements into power and/or result in a weak government, so the arguments go. Yet the results in the Netherlands dispel these myths. Greens in the Netherlands have provided a counterbalance to the extreme right and the inevitable coalition government that will follow will prevent Geert Wilders and his bunch of racists entering power because other parties have refused to work with them. With electoral reform – something I have campaigned for my entire political life – I have no doubt that the UK could also have at least as many Green MPs as the 14 elected in the Netherlands. But even without PR, do the Dutch elections offer hope and prospects for Greens in the UK? In Amsterdam, Klaver’s party topped the poll with almost 20% of the vote. This is a city with many similarities to Bristol, where I have my constituency office. Both are port cities, with the inevitable mixing of cultures that implies. Both are youthful and have a green counter-culture. Bristol is also proudly European, with almost 80% of residents from the Bristol West constituency voting to remain in the EU. Bristol is exactly the sort of place where Greens hope to be able to nudge closer to the 14 seats won in the Netherlands by GroenLinks, with or without PR. By standing as Bristol West Green party candidate in the next general election, I hope to build further on the 27% achieved by the Greens in 2015. The political landscape is going through a period of seismic change. Broadly speaking, it is young people who embrace the reality of the global village and recognise their place as citizens of a world they share and need to protect. As climate change and other trans-border issues dominate the politics of the 21st century, we may see more elections where the far-right populists and Greens are vying for the votes of those jaded with the right and left choice of the last century. | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'world/netherlands', 'world/europe-news', 'environment/green-politics', 'environment/environment', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'tone/comment', 'profile/molly-scott-cato', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-opinion'] | environment/green-politics | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2017-03-17T13:11:54Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
environment/planet-oz/2014/jan/07/maurice-newman-climate-change-denial-tony-abbott-roy-spencer | Tony Abbott's advisor Maurice Newman shows a different kind of climate change madness - Graham Readfearn | Maybe Maurice Newman was dizzy from the schadenfreude of seeing a climate scientist getting stuck in Antarctic sea ice? Perhaps the unnatural heat from Australia's warmest year on record was playing tricks on the brain of Tony Abbott's top business adviser? Maybe the documented CWM effect – the high prevalence of climate change denialism among conservative white males - is especially strong in the 75-year-old former stockbroker, banker and chair of the ABC and the ASX? Whatever the cause, Newman has turned his conspiracy theory dial well passed 11 with his latest outburst. In a column published in The Australian newspaper he wrote that the "climate change establishment" (whatever that is) is intent only on "exploiting the masses and extracting more money". Newman wrote that the United Nations "has applied mass psychology through a compliant media" (he really did write that) to fool the world into thinking the activities of industrialised countries have changed the climate. "The scientific delusion, the religion behind the climate crusade, is crumbling," wrote Newman, before citing Dr Roy Spencer, a research scientist at the University of Alabama. Maybe the juxtaposition of Dr Spencer with Newman's claim that the climate crusade is a "religion" was accidental, given that Dr Spencer himself believes that the universe, the earth and everything on it was probably created by a god. Some years ago, Spencer wrote that he had looked at claims in the Christian bible that "the universe and all life within it had been created by some greater intelligent Being, not by mere chance." Spencer concluded that the "theory of creation actually had a much better scientific basis than the theory of evolution". He also claimed that science had "hit a brick wall in its attempt to rid itself of the need for a creator and designer". If Newman is worried that the judgement of people who accept climate science is clouded by faith, he might want to find a better source than a climate sceptic who told a US Senate hearing last year that there was no way that a DNA molecule could have developed "by chance" and that there was more evidence supporting the idea that life was "created" than there was for evolution. Mr Newman could have asked Australia's science minister about that, if only we had one. Newman also claims scientists working with the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change were "implicated" in the non-scandal that became known as Climategate. He fails to note the more than half a dozen inquiries that subsequently dismissed those accusations of misconduct. As well as routinely dismissing the entire body of climate change science as a conspiracy to earn money, Newman also likes to attack wind farms, which he claims are a "danger to human health" despite numerous reviews dismissing such claims. Newman has previously threatened to sue a landholder near where he lives over plans to build a wind farm. Giles Parkinson, who has also written about Newman's attacks on renewable energy, says the adviser's outbursts on climate and energy should be seen as a proxy for Abbott's own views, given the two are said to be meeting weekly. But Newman is just one of a clutch of climate change sceptics which have the ear of the Prime Minister Tony Abbott. Newman says Australia has "become hostage to climate change madness". Now, given Australia has just experienced its warmest year on record at a time when the world – with Australia's help – is pumping CO2 into the atmosphere at a rate not seen in at least 65m years, I'd say he's probably right about the "madness" part. Just, not in the way he meant. | ['environment/planet-oz', 'environment/environment', 'tone/blog', 'environment/climate-change-scepticism', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'science/scienceofclimatechange', 'australia-news/tony-abbott', 'type/article', 'profile/graham-readfearn'] | environment/climate-change-scepticism | CLIMATE_DENIAL | 2014-01-07T06:45:00Z | true | CLIMATE_DENIAL |
commentisfree/2019/sep/06/scientists-climate-crisis-activism-extinction-rebellion | We scientists must rise up to prevent the climate crisis. Words aren’t enough | Claire Wordley and Charlie Gardner | As scientists, we tend to operate under an unspoken assumption – that our job is to provide the world with factual information, and if we do so our leaders will use it to make wise decisions. But what if that assumption is wrong? For decades, conservation scientists like us have been telling the world that species and ecosystems are disappearing, and that their loss will have devastating impacts on humanity. Meanwhile, climate scientists have been warning that the continued burning of fossil fuels and destruction of natural carbon sinks, such as forests and peatlands, will lead to catastrophic planetary heating. We have collectively written tens of thousands of peer-reviewed papers, and shared our findings with policymakers and the public. And, on the face of it, we seem to have done a pretty good job: after all, we all know about the environmental and climate crises, don’t we? But while we’re now well informed, we haven’t actually changed course. Biodiversity loss proceeds apace, to the extent that a million species face extinction in the coming decades, and we continue to pump carbon into the atmosphere at ever faster rates. We have emitted more greenhouse gases since 1990, in full awareness of its impacts, than we ever did in ignorance. It seems that knowledge alone cannot trigger the radical global changes we so urgently need. It was this realisation that incited us both to embrace activism, and to take to the streets and engage in non-violent civil disobedience as members of Extinction Rebellion. The refusal to obey certain laws has a long and glorious history: from the suffragettes to Rosa Parks and Gandhi, many of the 20th century’s greatest heroes engaged in non-violent civil disobedience to win their rights. Today, civil disobedience is again on the rise. And it is working. The protests that shut down four sites in London in April raised the climate crisis rapidly up the political agenda, and into the public consciousness. The environment is now the third most pressing issue for British voters, above the economy, crime and immigration: the UK parliament and half the country’s local councils have declared a climate emergency, and a zero-carbon target has been enshrined into law. We don’t know what policy change will follow, but it is an encouraging start. Alongside this are the Greta Thunberg-inspired school strikes and our sister movements worldwide. This is what we have been waiting for. And yet, the reaction within the scientific community has been strangely muted. In conversation, our conservationist colleagues (and we imagine climate scientists, too) have long bemoaned the fact that environmental issues remain so marginal in the public consciousness. “If only conservation was mainstream,” we lament, “and if only people would take action to fight for our world.” Well, now they are, yet few of us seem to have joined them. Young people have embraced the movement, and grandparents, too. So have doctors and lawyers, farmers and unemployed people. But not many scientists, which is odd given we probably know more about the severity of the problems we face than anybody. Perhaps it’s related to an unspoken assumption that if our job is to provide information, then adopting a position will weaken our authority. In fact, research shows it doesn’t. Alternatively, scientists may be reluctant to rise up because there are “proper” channels for influencing policy: you can vote, you can write letters and sign petitions, and if things get really desperate you can walk from A to B on a sanctioned march. The trouble is, these avenues aren’t working, and lobbyists for fossil-fuel industries have far greater access to political decision-makers. In 2018, for example, oil and gas lobbyists alone spent more than $125m (£100m) lobbying politicians in just one country, the United States. Worse, these lobbyists and the corporations they work for have invested heavily in an anti-science agenda, all with the aim of convincing the world that we can carry on as normal. They are endangering our very survival in pursuit of profit, and undermining the faith in truth, rationality and the scientific method that – surely – will be critical to surviving these crises. This is why we have taken a break from our usual areas of research to publish an article in the prestigious journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, urging our fellow scientists to rise up and embrace rebellion. As scientists we have spent years telling policymakers that we must change course, but they haven’t taken action. They may be starting to now, but only because people have engaged in open rebellion, making it clear that we will no longer accept inaction. Surely scientists have a moral duty to join the masses, and rebel for life. • Claire Wordley is a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Cambridge, Charlie Gardner is a lecturer in conservation biology at the University of Kent | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/environment', 'environment/extinction-rebellion', 'world/activism', 'world/world', 'world/protest', 'environment/school-climate-strikes', 'education/academics', 'science/science', 'uk/uk', 'tone/comment', 'type/article', 'profile/charlie-gardner', 'profile/claire-wordley', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/opinion', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-opinion'] | environment/school-climate-strikes | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2019-09-06T05:00:37Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
technology/2018/jun/07/marshall-major-iii-bluetooth-review-wireless-headphones | Marshall Major III Bluetooth review: rocking wireless headphones | The Marshall Major III Bluetooth headphones are the latest in the much-loved British audio brand’s wireless headphone range, and while the changes are minor over the last pair they are still a winning combination of look, sound and battery life. Classic Marshall styling slimmed down You’d be hard pressed to notice the difference at first glance between 2016’s Major II Bluetooth and the new Major III Bluetooth. But compare them side by side and you realise they are slimmer and better looking, maintaining the classic Marshall styling in black vinyl. In fact, the new headphones are 24g lighter, which combined with softer ear pads make them a touch more comfortable to wear. They still squeeze my head pretty hard, but the top band does give a bit so they will eventually wear in. They are on-ear headphones, meaning they sit directly on your ear, not around it. The arms are slimmer and simplified, but maintain their height, twisting and tilting degrees of freedom so that they sit flat against your ear. Connectivity and controls The controls have been simplified for the Major III, with the brilliant gold-coloured metal joystick at the bottom of the left phone taking over all functionality. Hold it in for a few seconds to turn them on or off, press it once to pause or play the music, twice to trigger Google Assistant or Siri, tilt it left or right to skip the track and up or down to adjust volume. It all works very well, making you wonder why so many other manufacturers don’t have a similar control scheme. The Bluetooth connection is strong in all scenarios and supports aptX for higher fidelity and lower latency streaming with modern Android smartphones. Pairing is easy – just hold down the joystick for a few more seconds when powering the headphones on and find them on your phone. A standard 3.5mm analogue headphone socket is in the right ear cup for listening wired or when the battery runs out. Sound The Major headphones have always sounded good with rock and similar genres, but the Major III Bluetooth suit a wider range of music types. They still sound great with driving rock music, but feed them something slightly more subtle such as the live version of Hotel California by the Eagles from Hell Freezes Over and you can hear good separation, punchy bass drums and clear vocals. The sound is very direct and those looking for thundering bass will have to look elsewhere. But the Marshalls make anything sound good, from Librarian by My Morning Jacket and Do I Wanna Know? by the Arctic Monkeys at the indie-rock end of things, to hip-hop tracks such as Dr Dre’s Forgot About Dre or Can’t Take It With Me by Blue Sky Black Death. 30 hours between charges The new Marshalls lasted well over 30 hours in my testing, making them some of the longest-lasting Bluetooth headphones around. You’ll probably be able to go weeks of commuting between charges, even at relatively high volumes. They charge in half the time that the older model did, going from dead to fully charged in around three hours via the microUSB socket in the right earcup. Observations You can share your music by plugging in a headphone cable to the headphones when streaming music via Bluetooth They fold up to become relatively compact for travel The Major IIIs isolate relatively well for on-ear headphones, meaning you don’t have to have the music blasting out The old Major II Bluetooth headphones were pretty robust and the new ones feel similarly well made They only connect to one device at any one time, but can be paired with multiple phones, tablets and computers Price The Marshall Major III Bluetooth only come in black and cost £129, which puts them in the mid-range of Bluetooth headphones. Competitors range from around £50 and up. The previous generation Major II Bluetooth are still on sale for £69, while a wired-only version of the Major III cost £69 and the Marshall Mid Bluetooth cost £169. Verdict The Marshall Major III Bluetooth are another brilliant pair of wireless on-ear headphones from the British audio brand that bring great sound, very long battery life and classic styling. They aren’t perfect, squeezing my head a little too hard, lacking NFC for instant pairing and with the cost of Bluetooth headphones coming down over the last couple of years they’re not quite as good value as they were in 2016. But the Major III Bluetooth are packed with small improvements over almost every aspect of the design, fit and sound compared to the previous generation, and worth considering, particularly if you’re into driving rock music. Pros: great sound, long battery life, great controls, fold up for travel, sturdy, great look, good connectivity Cons: on-ear design may not be comfortable for everyone, no NFC for one-touch pairing Other reviews 2016’s Marshall Major II Bluetooth headphones review Marshall Mid Bluetooth headphones review: sound that will rock you Hushed tones: six of the best noise-cancelling headphones | ['technology/headphones', 'technology/bluetooth', 'technology/gadgets', 'technology/technology', 'music/music', 'culture/culture', 'type/article', 'tone/reviews', 'profile/samuel-gibbs', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-technology', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/consumer-tech--commissioning-'] | technology/gadgets | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2018-06-07T09:15:39Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
environment/2019/may/13/scott-morrisons-claim-coalition-saved-great-barrier-reef-condemned-as-ridiculous | PM's claim Coalition saved reef from nonexistent 'endangered list' condemned as 'ridiculous' | Scott Morrison has credited his government with having “saved” the Great Barrier Reef, a claim rejected as “ridiculous” by scientists, environmental groups and the Queensland government. At the Liberal party’s campaign launch in Melbourne on Sunday, Morrison thanked the former environment ministers Greg Hunt and Josh Frydenberg for their work on reef issues. “We have saved the Great Barrier Reef – well done to Greg Hunt particularly on his work when he was environment minister – taking it off the endangered list,” he said. “We’ve invested record funds in researching and protecting its future thanks to Josh’s time as environment minister.” Morrison’s statement contained more than one inaccuracy, including the suggestion the reef was on an “endangered list” at all. “There is such a thing as the ‘in danger list’ for world heritage properties,” the coral reef scientist Prof Terry Hughes said. “The barrier reef was never on that list. “If Morrison is claiming Hunt got Australia off the ‘in danger’ list, the obvious response is: it never was on it.” In 2017, Unesco opted not to list the reef as in danger after reviewing the government’s Reef 2050 plan. But it will reassess that decision in 2020 and whichever party wins the federal election must submit an update on progress of the plan at the end of this year. Hughes said recent surveys of the Great Barrier Reef showed the impact climate change and rising ocean temperatures were having on coral cover. The Australian Institute of Marine Science – the government’s own agency responsible for monitoring reef health – reported in 2017-18 that trends in coral cover in the north, central and south reef showed steep decline that “has not been observed in the historical record”. Hughes’s most recent paper found that the production of baby coral on the reef had fallen by 89% after the climate change-induced mass bleaching of 2016 and 2017. Under the Liberal-National coalition government, Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions have continued to increase, which Hughes said was “an abject failure” for the Great Barrier Reef. Imogen Zethoven, director of strategy at the Australian Marine Conservation Society, said “the claim that the Coalition government has saved the reef is ridiculous”. “The fact is that the Great Barrier Reef’s survival is in danger because of climate change,” she said. “In 2016 and 2017, 50% of the shallow-water corals died as a result of two unprecedented severe marine heatwaves. Since then, there has been a steep decline in coral cover and the rate of reproduction of corals has dropped dramatically.” The Queensland environment minister, Leeanne Enoch, said on Monday that Morrison’s remarks “show how out of touch he and the federal government is when it comes to protecting the environment and the Great Barrier Reef”. “This is the same government that handed out $444m [£240m] in taxpayer dollars to a reef organisation without tender or application,” she said. “This is also the same government that parachuted in one of their own political staff as CEO of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.” Enoch said it was well known the two biggest threats to the reef were climate change and water quality. “If the federal LNP government truly wanted to make a difference to protect the Great Barrier Reef, they should step up and lead a national approach towards tackling climate change,” she said. A Coalition campaign spokesman said that it was “thanks to the Coalition” that Unesco’s World Heritage Committee decided not to list the reef as in danger. He said: “The committee endorsed the Coalition’s Reef 2050 plan and the significant investment we are making, saying “Via the 2050 Long Term Sustainability Plan and its supporting initiatives, there has undoubtedly been an unprecedented level of increased effort to reduce pressures affecting the property, provide an integrated vision for its future protection, and establish concerted management cooperation across different levels of government. This effort is a marked departure from past practices and deserves full recognition.” | ['environment/great-barrier-reef', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/environment', 'australia-news/scott-morrison', 'australia-news/coalition', 'science/science', 'australia-news/australian-politics', 'australia-news/queensland', 'australia-news/australian-election-2019', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/lisa-cox', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/international', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/great-barrier-reef | BIODIVERSITY | 2019-05-13T03:06:28Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/shortcuts/2015/nov/16/mathieu-flamini-arsenal-chemical-company-saviour | Could Arsenal's Mathieu Flamini save the planet? | Name: Mathieu Flamini. Age: 31. Appearance: Brooding philosopher in a red Emirates top. Occupation: Arsenal midfielder, saviour. Saviour? You must be joking. He’s only played five matches so far this season. Not the saviour of Arsenal; the saviour of civilisation. That makes more sense. Wait, no it doesn’t – what are you talking about? Flamini has just announced he has developed a breakthrough chemical process that could revolutionise the energy industry and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. I see. Are there perhaps two Mathieu Flaminis? No, it’s definitely the same one. He is a partner in an Italian company, GFBiochemicals, which claims to have found a new way to manufacture levulinic acid (LA). Which is what, exactly? 4-oxopentanoic acid, or CH3C(O)CH2CH2CO2H. It is an organic compound that could be used as a precursor to biofuels. And Flamini makes this stuff? He has been funding research into it since his days with AC Milan, eventually starting a company with a partner, Pasquale Granata. Where did their research take them? “After several months, we came up with the technology of how to produce LA on an industrial scale,” says Flamini. “We patented it.” The GFBiochemicals plant in Caserta now employs 80 people, synthesising LA from biomass waste. It sounds as if this could be worth some money. “We are opening a new market,” says Flamini. “And it’s a market potentially worth £20bn.” Wow! He’ll be able to retire. A lot of fans are suggesting he could use the money to buy Arsenal and fund the purchase of new players. That’s a terrible idea. Because it overlooks Flamini’s obvious commitment to green issues and financing technological advances that could ultimately rescue our planet? No, because I hate Arsenal. What does Wenger say about all this moonlighting? Apparently, he had no idea. “I don’t think Arsène Wenger knows, I never spoke to him about it,” says Flamini, who didn’t even tell family members about the investment until recently. Do say: “While it remains to be seen whether levulinic acid can provide a cost-effective building block in biofuel manufacture, the compound has many applications in the pharmaceutical, plastics and solvent industries. Go on, my son!” Don’t say: “I’m John Terry – welcome to my prototype nuclear fusion reactor.” | ['environment/renewableenergy', 'football/arsenal', 'football/football', 'sport/sport', 'environment/energy', 'environment/environment', 'news/series/pass-notes', 'news/shortcuts', 'tone/blog', 'tone/features', 'business/business', 'type/article', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/g2', 'theguardian/g2/features'] | environment/renewableenergy | ENERGY | 2015-11-16T16:05:35Z | true | ENERGY |
sport/2022/nov/26/cricket-hundred-private-equity-offer-400-million | Private equity firm ‘makes £400m offer’ for 75% stake in the Hundred | English cricket has received a “£400m private equity approach” for a majority stake in the Hundred, a potentially gamechanging moment for the sport. The offer for 75% of the sport’s newest competition has come from Bridgepoint Group, a London-listed buyout firm, offering an injection of funds for the England and Wales Cricket Board and the 18 first-class counties, according to Sky News. The Hundred, which launched in 2021 after a 12-month delay because of the Covid-19 pandemic, has long been considered ripe for private investment with the overall rise of franchised Twenty20 competitions around the world. But while Richard Thompson, the new England and Wales Cricket Board chair, did not rule out this possibility when speaking to the Guardian this week, he also struck a word of caution about seeking outside investment before the tournament has bedded in. Thompson said: “There’s a feeding frenzy at the moment – rights holders have never seen a rise like the one they have [recently] and the Hundred will undoubtedly get more and more interest as a unique format that finds an audience the others don’t. “We’re open but treading carefully in that space. We’re not going early. It’s just two years old, we can’t get greedy, we have to see it play out. The worst thing would be to do something too early, then see the value go through the roof and you’ve lost out and someone else benefits. It’s important to let it grow and develop first.” Though it has been met with opposition from a large section of cricket supporters and caused headaches over scheduling and player availability, the Hundred has provided a boost for the women’s game and is locked in until 2028 after the ECB extended its broadcast deal with Sky Sports during the summer. Thompson, who was sceptical about the Hundred when the chair of Surrey, also confirmed the format will remain, despite suggestions it may convert to a Twenty20 competition in order to align with other leagues and international cricket. Differentiation from the T20 Blast is among the reasons for this, with Thompson and his new chief executive, Richard Gould, expected to divert more central funds into promoting the 18-team county competition. A terrestrial broadcast partner for 2025 to 2028 is yet to be secured – the BBC is the current broadcaster – and this package is set to include a new weekly free-to-air T20 Blast programme, along with live Hundred games and international highlights. | ['sport/the-hundred', 'sport/cricket', 'sport/sport', 'campaign/email/the-spin', 'sport/ecb', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/ali-martin', 'publication/theobserver', 'theobserver/sport', 'theobserver/sport/news', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-sport'] | sport/ecb | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2022-11-26T13:12:43Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
environment/2012/oct/01/climate-change-campaigners-threshold-warning | Ignoring global warming is 'reckless' of the government, warn campaigners | The government's failure to tackle climate change is "reckless and short-sighted" with just 50 months remaining to prevent a critical threshold in the fight against global warming being breached, environmental campaigners warn today. In a letter to the Guardian and expanded on in an article in G2, they say global warming remains one of the greatest threats to human progress but condemn the fact it has dropped down the political agenda. The signatories, including senior figures at Greenpeace, Oxfam and the Women's Institute, as well as the designer Dame Vivienne Westwood and the environmental campaigner Bianca Jagger, warn there are just 50 months left before it will become unlikely that a 2C temperature rise can be prevented. The UK and the EU have set the 2C mark as a line the world should not cross. "There is so much to gain from investing with speed and scale in a modern, low-carbon economy, that the failure to do so appears both reckless and short-sighted," the letter says. "Some recent policies seem even to take us backwards. More of the same old economics will not work. To create jobs, more secure energy systems and less pollution, investing in a massive energy-efficiency drive, and a programme to expand renewable energy are just two of the more obvious steps that could benefit the economy and the environment." The campaigners say the lack of action comes against a backdrop, this year, of a record loss of sea ice, greenhouse gas concentrations above the Arctic at their highest point for possibly 800,000 years, and crop-wrecking droughts and record temperatures in the US mid-west. The signatories have outlined to the Guardian what they will do differently over the next 50 months to prevent the threshold being breached and challenge the government and opposition to do the same. Ruth Bond, chairwoman of the National Federation of Women's Institutes, will try to give every child practical skills such as cooking to tackle obesity and instil the value of food, and growing food, which gives them an appreciation of the natural environment. John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace , has committed to more direct action to protect the Arctic from oil drilling, while Westwood said there was a need to inflame public opinion and blame politicians for the crisis. The letter urges politicians to say what they will do "to grab the opportunity of action and prevent catastrophic climate change". | ['environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/green-economy', 'environment/environment', 'politics/economy', 'politics/politics', 'business/economics', 'business/business', 'environment/greenpeace', 'environment/activism', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'profile/haroonsiddique', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews'] | environment/activism | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2012-09-30T23:05:01Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
environment/2021/oct/12/insulate-britain-says-no-10-avoiding-having-protesters-in-prison-during-cop26 | Insulate Britain says No 10 avoiding having protesters in prison during Cop26 | Insulate Britain protesters have accused the government of delaying taking action against them to avoid the embarrassment of having demonstrators in prison while Glasgow hosts a crucial climate summit. Members of the climate activist group, who have blocked motorways and busy roads in and around London, were in the high court on Tuesday morning. They were responding to three injunctions granted to National Highways that ban the group from protesting on the M25, on the M4 and around the port of Dover. On the application of the claimant, Mr Justice Lavender agreed to adjourn for a week so that the three injunctions could be heard alongside a fourth, banning the group from protesting in 14 London locations. Any trial of those accused of breaking the injunctions could be arranged then, Lavender said. A previous hearing last week was also adjourned. Responding to the delay, Liam Norton, a member of Insulate Britain, who was in court, told the judge: “We believe that they are potentially trying to delay this injunction until after Cop[26 climate talks, starting on 31 October]. We wondered why has it taken so long to issue this injunction.” Lavender assured him the injunction had indeed been issued. David Elvin QC, acting for National Highways, added: “I wish to make clear in public that there is no intention to have this as a long drawn-out proceedings, or to delay matters.” Members of Insulate Britain have previously said they expected to see activists held on remand within a week of beginning their campaign. Some members have been arrested seven or eight times in the past five weeks, and they say that when they are released, they are clear with police that they will return to block roads. A spokesperson for the group said it seemed the government was trying to avoid prosecutions until after the Cop26 climate talks in Glasgow. Asked why, she said: “We know that our government and institutions purport that we live in a democracy, so they don’t want to have 50-100 climate protesters on remand when Cop starts.” In court, Norton said it was in fact Insulate Britain that was trying to uphold laws the government had failed to observe, specifically obligations to keep climate change within 2C and keep the UK’s population safe. “We believe that the people who should be in court today are the UK government and particularly Boris Johnson, who should be on trial for treason to the British state,” he said. | ['environment/cop26-glasgow-climate-change-conference-2021', 'environment/insulate-britain', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/environment', 'uk/uk', 'world/protest', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/damien-gayle', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/cop26-glasgow-climate-change-conference-2021 | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2021-10-12T18:51:28Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
environment/2011/mar/08/carbon-plan-coalition-green-credentials | Carbon Plan fails to claw back coalition's green credentials | When his government's credibility was on the slide, Yes Minister's Jim Hacker always knew what to do. "We're getting unpopular – organise an initiative will you, Sir Humphrey?" And, at first sight, bolstering the coalition's fast-fading green credentials appears to be the intention of the new cross-government Carbon Plan, published today by energy and climate change secretary Chris Huhne. Yet Huhne's document is actually quite a canny bit of politics. Most of the 130 or so actions which it commits the government to taking over the next two years are just milestones in existing policy processes, many of them continuing those of the Labour government, which had already put in place carbon budgets for each Whitehall department. But a few are new, and in publishing them Huhne appears to have drawn several of his Cabinet colleagues into making commitments before they would have wanted to, while locking in others to existing policies they may have wished to wriggle out of. Under the plan, the Department for Business is committed to getting the Green Investment Bank operational by September next year – before the Treasury has approved key decisions on its structure and remit. Technically the Treasury could still oppose Huhne's plans for the bank; he is adamant that it must be able to borrow from the capital markets to finance a new wave of low-carbon energy infrastructure, while the Treasury wants it to be simply a government fund, with a much more restricted remit. But the announcement further ratchets up the pressure on George Osborne. Similarly, it is unlikely Philip Hammond at the department of transport would have announced a strategy for electric car infrastructure as early as June. Most remarkably of all, the plan commits the Treasury to legislating to create a minimum carbon price by next month. The carbon price is the cost companies have to pay to emit a tonne of carbon under the European Emissions Trading Scheme; it's currently too low and too volatile to incentivise the kind of investment in low-carbon energy supply the government wants (particularly new nuclear power stations). The Treasury has been consulting on the possibility of introducing a tax mechanism that would guarantee a floor below which the price could not fall – but until yesterday it had not announced the conclusions it had reached, and these were not expected until the next budget. It is quite a coup for Huhne to pre-announce a budget measure. But it's also risky. A carbon price floor is just one of the government's options for incentivising a low-carbon electricity. Reform of Britain's electricity market is a fiendishly complex process with huge ramifications for our energy industry and the bills that consumers will face. The white paper setting out the full proposed reform package is now not expected till June. Pre-empting it with an otherwise unexplained announcement on a carbon price floor risks antagonising business and campaign groups and pre-judging many of the key questions which are yet to be answered. The Carbon Plan gives the impression that Huhne, a Liberal Democrat, is in a strong position. But the reality is that it is also a sign of weakness. He has been struggling to persuade his ministerial colleagues – particularly but not exclusively the Tory ones – to prioritise the low-carbon policy needed to meet the binding cuts in greenhouse emissions introduced by Labour and help drive a low-carbon economic recovery. This week was meant to see the coordination of announcements from government departments supporting 'green growth'. In practice it looks as if only Huhne's department of Energy and Climate Change is making any. Stung by criticism from shadow DECC minister Meg Hillier that the government has no more of a green growth strategy than one for growth in general, Huhne is keen to persuade Osborne to green this month's budget. But reports from the Treasury are not encouraging. The wider story here is that, Huhne aside, the government has lost a lot of credibility on environmental issues. Nick Clegg and David Cameron have sensibly added their names to the foreword to this week's Carbon Plan, but that only points up their conspicuous silence in this field since the election. This might be understandable given the other problems on their plate, but it has irritated the those who care deeply about environmental issues. With Caroline Spelman laying claim to be the worst environment secretary since Nicholas Ridley – with her disastrous handling of the privatisation of national forests followed last week by a botched announcement on Whitehall oversight of sustainable development, which has unleashed another furious reaction from Jonathon Porritt – Cameron's claim that his would be the "greenest government ever" looks increasingly like a millstone round the coalition's neck. | ['environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/environment', 'environment/green-politics', 'politics/chrishuhne', 'politics/politics', 'tone/comment', 'type/article', 'profile/michael-jacobs'] | environment/green-politics | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2011-03-08T16:29:57Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
world/2004/dec/27/indonesia.naturaldisasters | Leader: Undersea earthquake | Just one year to the day that an earthquake hit Bam, the dusty desert town in southern Iran, nature struck again yesterday. The strongest earthquake in the world for 40 years struck under the sea north-west of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Massive sea surges (tsunamis) spread from its epicentre bringing death and destruction to the coastal areas of south and south-east Asian countries ringing the Indian ocean. Waves ranging in size from 10ft to 30ft were reported by different witnesses. Floodwater on some coastlines surged inland for several kilometres. Radio listeners who woke to hear the news yesterday morning were told 500 were feared dead, but by evening the number was approaching 10,000 and still climbing. Many thousands more were missing or injured and millions more displaced. Our correspondents and news agencies report today on the grim consequences for the people of Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the Maldives. Sri Lanka, over 1,500km from the epicentre with no experience of sea surges of such magnitude, was one of the hardest hit with at least 3,500 people killed. A national disaster was declared after the giant tsunami hit its east and southern coastlines sweeping away people, cars and villages. Landmines from its civil war were dislodged, adding several mine-related accidents. About 2,000km of southern India's coastline was badly affected. Fishing villages in the state of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh were particularly hard hit with many fishermen being swept out to sea and other villages reporting beaches strewn with their dead bodies. The health hazards were obvious: the unburied bodies which will quickly decompose in tropical temperatures; water supplies polluted from both huge quantities of salt water sloshing around and overflowing sewage; plus already over-stretched and under-funded health systems with acute shortages of medical supplies facing huge extra numbers of injured people. Further complications will be caused by disrupted communications and power supplies. Similarly, the nations face severe economic consequences, not least those especially dependent on tourists - such as Thailand, the Maldives and Sri Lanka - with the disruption and damage the tsunamis have wreaked on their frail infrastructures. The floods have coincided with the peak of their tourism season. British travel agents estimated yesterday that up to 20,000 British holiday-makers will have had their plans disrupted. Yesterday's quake, with a magnitude of 8.9 on the Richter scale, has only been exceeded four times in the last century. It occurred 25 miles below the seabed, where a clash of tectonic plates along the region's "ring of fire", jolted the seabed by 10 metres. The resulting waves, one of which travelled 2,500km to reach the Maldives, only slowed down when reaching shallow water, but that in turn raised the height of the wall of water to 30ft. Although scientists noted it was not caused by either climate change or global warming, the floods that hit the low-lying Maldives are a warning of what is to come. One issue which the international community must take up is whether a warning system, similar to what is already in operation in the Pacific, would have been of any help. An even more urgent challenge to the nations offering aid yesterday, is whether they will honour their pledges. People in Bam ruefully complained yesterday that while $1bn of aid was promised in the wake of their quake last year that killed 30,000 people, only $17m was ultimately paid over. Tens of thousands still lack basic facilities, let alone help overcoming the traumas they have suffered. There is always a difficulty for donors balancing emergency help with long-term strategic support, but a pledge is a pledge. | ['world/indonesia', 'world/natural-disasters', 'world/tsunami2004', 'world/india', 'world/world', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/environment', 'tone/editorials', 'world/earthquakes', 'type/article'] | world/tsunami2004 | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2004-12-27T15:59:38Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
commentisfree/2015/nov/25/if-we-want-investment-in-sustainable-fuel-rules-cannot-constantly-change | If we want investment in sustainable fuel, rules cannot constantly change | Santiago Seage | There is no question that the world faces a tremendous challenge in confronting the threat of climate change. I am confident that the world’s innovators can create the energy technologies necessary to reduce emissions and meet the climate challenge. It is more difficult, though, to have faith in our political leaders to make and keep the policy commitments intended to drive innovation. As CEO of one of the global leaders in the development of low carbon transportation fuels and solar energy, I think our ability to address the problem will come down to two things: whether we can develop and deploy the technologies necessary to change the way we make and use energy, and whether a diverse set of governments can make and keep public policy commitments. Because energy markets are not free markets, and therefore do not properly reward innovation, clean energy investors need policy to gain a foothold in the marketplace. That leaves energy innovation more vulnerable to political pressure, which can result in midstream policy changes that undercut the development of these technologies. Over the last year, we’ve seen firsthand what politics can do to climate agreements in one of the countries most committed to the negotiations in Paris – the US. Consider the fate of the strong Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), which the United States passed 10 years ago, obligating oil companies to blend specific amounts of low carbon renewable fuel into America’s transportation fuel supply. The policy was designed to ensure that the oil companies who control the distribution infrastructure could not block the growth of lower carbon alternatives to gasoline. It is the only federal climate law on the books in that country, and it is one of the only laws in the world requiring real behavior change in the fossil fuels industry. Based upon that statutory commitment, Abengoa – my company – and others made significant US investments to support the development of first and second-generation biofuels. Barack Obama pledged to support the RFS for its environmental and energy security attributes and he has made action on climate change a central aspect of his legacy. But as fracking enabled the United States to become, for the time being, a global leader in oil production, the Obama administration took the unprecedented step of proposing to change the RFS to allow the volumetric targets to be set based upon the amount of biofuel the oil companies are willing to blend. The highly controversial proposal is scheduled to be approved by Obama on 30 November, the very day that COP21 starts in Paris. What the administration is proposing is not just inconvenient for companies like ours. If finalized, the plan would increase carbon emissions by an estimated 35m metric tons in one year, or the equivalent of the annual emissions of nine new coal-fired power plants. Obama is clearly genuinely concerned about climate change. There is no better champion in the world for the cause. But his decision on the RFS should serve as a bellwether for investors looking at US and perhaps global innovation markets. If Obama fails to modify the EPA proposal, he will be arriving at the UN-sponsored COP21 meetings in Paris at the very moment he is eviscerating the only real climate law America has. And that would shake investor confidence in renewables at the exact moment when we need it most. While it’s heartening to see a number of countries making bold commitments in the run-up to the global climate talks, what the business community really needs to reduce carbon emissions is the political resolve to reach binding agreements and stick to them. | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'environment/energy', 'us-news/obama-administration', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'type/article', 'tone/comment', 'profile/santiago-seage'] | environment/renewableenergy | ENERGY | 2015-11-25T15:23:10Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2016/apr/21/scientists-resort-to-advertising-to-get-great-barrier-reef-crisis-in-queensland-paper | Scientists resort to advertising to get Great Barrier Reef crisis in Queensland paper | Scientists say they are fed up with Queensland’s biggest newspaper not covering the worst bleaching event to hit the Great Barrier Reef, so have taken out a full page ad to get the message out. The ad comes as a survey revealed 93% of the Great Barrier Reef was affected by the bleaching. That finding motivated the Queensland government to call on the federal government to convene an urgent meeting of the nation’s environment ministers to talk about measures to address climate change in light of bleaching. Organised by the Climate Council, the full page ad in the Courier Mail on Thursday contains an open letter signed by 56 scientists. “One of the reasons we placed the ad in the Courier Mail was that we’ve seen very little coverage of the coral bleaching event in that paper and in fact there was a front-page story that said the coral bleaching event had been wildly exaggerated,” said Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, director of the Global Change Institute at the University of Queensland and one of the signatories of the letter. The letter explains that it is the worst bleaching event in its history, and that it is being driven by climate change. “The Great Barrier Reef is at a crisis point,” the scientists say. “Its future depends on how much and how quickly the world, including Australia, can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit ocean warming.” It then calls for Australia to rapidly phase out coal-fired power stations and for no new coalmines. “This must be the top priority for Australia if we are to protect what remains of the Great Barrier Reef and other reefs around the world,” they say. Climate Council member and signatory to the letter Lesley Hughes said: “We are now seeing first-hand the damage that climate change causes, and we have a duty of care to speak out.” On 7 February, the Courier Mail ran a story quoting the federal environment minister, Greg Hunt, as saying the reef remained an untouched beauty. His comments were in response to a David Attenborough documentary about the Great Barrier Reef being aired. “The key point that I had from seeing the first of the three parts is that, clearly, the world’s Great Barrier Reef is still the world’s Great Barrier Reef,” Hunt told the Courier Mail. The story included a subheading that read: “Reports of reef’s death greatly exaggerated: Attenborough”. A News Corp Australia spokesman said on Wednesday that the claim there had been very little coverage of coral bleaching in the Courier Mail was “frankly baffling”. “A quick Google search shows numerous stories have been published including, to highlight just a few, on March 1st, 21st and 30th. And today the paper has covered the issue extensively once again,” he said. “Equally importantly the paper also exposed Greenpeace’s dishonesty in using deceptive imagery on two separate occasions. Such scare campaigns only serve to undermine the efforts to secure the reef’s future.” A story about the 93% bleaching appeared in Thursday’s paper on page 13. The Queensland environment minister, Steven Miles, called for an urgent meeting with Hunt, and said “we have to move quickly on climate change,” and bemoaned the “lack of a coherent effective national policy.” “The federal environment minister, Greg Hunt, has been downplaying the seriousness of the coral bleaching because he knows the major cause is global warming and we still haven’t seen any meaningful climate change policy from the federal level,” Miles said. The Queensland government itself has been criticised for approving Adani’s Carmichael mine, which would be Australia’s largest coalmine. Federal approval of the mine will be challenged in court this month, on the basis that emissions released when the coal is burned will threaten the Great Barrier Reef. | ['environment/great-barrier-reef', 'environment/environment', 'australia-news/queensland', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/michael-slezak', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/great-barrier-reef | BIODIVERSITY | 2016-04-20T22:25:54Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2024/nov/05/biggest-onshore-windfarm-energy-cubico-scout-moor-greater-manchester | Plans for biggest onshore windfarm in England to be submitted this week | Plans to build what would be the biggest onshore windfarm in England will move forward this week, the first since the Labour government lifted the de facto ban put in place by the Conservatives nine years ago. An independent renewable energy developer has submitted plans to erect 21 wind turbines next to an existing windfarm north of Manchester. While other onshore sites in England have more turbines, those at the proposed windfarm at Scout Moor would be more powerful because of technological advances that would enable more than 100 megawatts to be generated there. That is enough electricity to power the equivalent of 100,000 homes and meet more than 10% of Greater Manchester’s domestic energy needs before the end of the decade. This would help to meet the government’s target of doubling Britain’s onshore wind power capacity by 2030. That target alongside goals to triple its solar power capacity and quadruple its offshore wind capacity are part of a plan to create a zero-carbon electricity system in the 2030s. The developer, Cubico Sustainable Investments, will set out its plans to build the new project alongside its proposal for a multimillion-pound community wealth fund to support local people. If approved, the site would also be the fifth biggest onshore wind power producer in the UK, with the others all in Scotland, topped by the 539MW generated by the 215 turbines at Whitelee, south of Glasgow. Plans for the Scout Moor site were shelved 10 years ago after a backlash against onshore windfarms in England prompted the then Tory government to put in place planning rules that in effect ruled out new developments. David Swindin, the Cubico chief executive, said his team had been developing new projects “for about four years in anticipation of the rules changing” to allow further onshore windfarms to be built in England. Cubico is one of the world’s largest privately owned renewables developers. It is one of many windfarm developers hoping to erect onshore turbines in England for the first time in almost a decade. Labour lifted the Tories’ de facto ban within 72 hours of coming into power in July. Swindon said: “It was obvious that there was going to be pressure to change the rules, even for the Conservatives. And for some time it seemed likely that Labour would come to power. So we have been eagerly waiting for the moment that we can press the button.” Peter Rowe, the project’s development manager, said the site was “one of the most ideal locations for a windfarm” in England thanks to its high wind speeds and close proximity to energy consumers in Greater Manchester. The location rules out the need for expensive grid upgrades to carry the electricity long-distances. “Clearly we will be going into a public consultation [with the local community] very sensitively. The site itself has been used in the past for mining and quarrying, and the area has been at the heart of Britain’s industrial story. So what we’re putting forward is a modern reinterpretation of how the moors and uplands have been used historically,” he said. James Robottom, the head of policy at Renewable UK, a trade association, said that since the government lifted the block on onshore windfarms in England, ambitious plans were beginning to come forward “with a strong emphasis on the new investment, jobs and benefit funds which they would bring to local communities”. “Close consultation with these communities is a key element of every proposal, ensuring that local people have a strong voice in the planning process,” he added. A government spokesperson said: “While we can’t comment on this specific case, onshore wind is crucial to making Britain a clean energy superpower, boosting the UK’s energy independence and protecting bill payers.” | ['environment/windpower', 'environment/energy', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'environment/environment', 'business/energy-industry', 'business/business', 'uk/uk', 'campaign/email/business-today', 'uk/manchester', 'uk/greater-manchester', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/jillian-ambrose', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/financial3', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-business'] | environment/windpower | ENERGY | 2024-11-05T06:00:11Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2019/dec/16/the-climate-emergency-military-emissions-and-greta-thunberg | The climate emergency, military emissions and Greta Thunberg | Letters | With reference to your report on the COP25 climate talks in Madrid (13 December), we have just returned from Madrid, where we displayed a large banner saying “War causes climate change and climate change causes war”. Thousands of passing delegates expressed a great interest in, and approval of, the message. Scientists for Global Responsibility estimates that 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions result from military-related activity – apart from the unfathomable human devastation – so at first sight it appears astonishing that the subject of war does not feature in the COP negotiations; nor are its emissions taken into account when reduction targets are set. Perhaps this absence can be explained by the fact that military-related emissions have been excluded by some of the largest polluters from the global north whose delegates, as government officials, will naturally avoid jeopardising lucrative arms and military aid contracts, and whose people do not suffer the catastrophic wars and climatic devastation that directly affect the global south. Evidently we cannot rely on government negotiators to address the subject of war and militarism. We have to stop believing that war is inevitable and accept that international climate finance offers better value in both resolving conflict and sustaining the environment than the equivalent spent on military operations. Hilary Evans Movement for the Abolition of War David Collins Veterans for Peace UK • I was delighted to see Greta Thunberg announced as Time magazine’s person of the year (Report, 12 December). For me, after so many years of campaigning on environmental issues, it has been a huge relief that now, in 2019, the future of the planet has finally entered the political mainstream – and not a moment too soon. This is thanks, in no small part, to the vision and actions of Greta herself, but also to those many others whom she has inspired to take up the fight. The world is realising the scale of the threat posed by every aspect of our destructive exploitation of our lovely planet. Now we need to see some real political leadership so that the leading nations of the world, our own included, can ensure a real revolution in practice, to match the fiery ambitions that have been lit up in our hearts by this inspirational Swedish teenager. Catherine Rowett Green party MEP, East of England • I’m writing in reference to your use of the term “global heating”. I understand the motivation is probably to draw attention to the fact that we are actively changing the climate, a laudable goal. However, the term should be used correctly. In an article about the disappointing results of the COP25 climate negotiations (Discord at climate talks branded a betrayal, 16 December) it was noted that: “Experts say more ambitious emissions cuts are needed globally if the Paris pledge to hold global heating to no more than 2C is to be met.” However, heating involves a change in energy and is measured in joules. Warming, on the other hand, is a change in temperature and is measured in degrees celsius. So “global warming” would have been more apt here. I know that climate change deniers, some of whom have some knowledge of physics, keep a lookout for inconsistencies like this. Better not to give them any extra ammunition. Keep up the good environmental reporting – I’m a fan. Prof Joe LaCasce University of Oslo • This article was amended on 17 December 2019 to add David Collins as a co-signatory to Hilary Evans’ letter. His name had been omitted due to an editing error. • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com • Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters • Do you have a photo you’d like to share with Guardian readers? Click here to upload it and we’ll publish the best submissions in the letters spread of our print edition | ['environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/environment', 'science/scienceofclimatechange', 'science/science', 'environment/paris-climate-agreement', 'environment/greta-thunberg', 'uk/military', 'world/unitednations', 'uk/uk', 'tone/letters', 'environment/cop-25-un-climate-change-conference', 'type/article', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/letters', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/greta-thunberg | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2019-12-16T17:53:52Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
environment/2023/dec/29/stategy-protect-temperate-celtic-rainforest-england-atlantic-woodland-aoe | ‘Jewel of Britain’s nature crown’: Plan to restore rainforest welcomed by campaigners | Conservationists have praised the launch of a new government strategy to revive the remaining fragments of the vast temperate rainforests that were once “one of the jewels of Britain’s nature crown”. Temperate rainforest, also known as Atlantic woodland or Celtic rainforest, once covered most of western Britain and Ireland. The archipelago’s wet, mild conditions are ideal for lichens, mosses and liverworts. But centuries of destruction have meant that only small, isolated pockets remain. In England, just 189 sq km (46,624 acres) survive from the ecosystem that once stretched from Cornwall to the west of Scotland, and these remain threatened by overgrazing from sheep, invasive species and nitrogen pollution. After three years of campaigning, the government published the strategy at the end of November to protect and recover England’s temperate rainforests, and committed £750,000 for research and development. The strategy includes a commitment to protect and restore the internationally rare ecosystems and use public-private partnerships to help fund their conservation. There is also a pledge to reduce pressure from grazing by deer, which is one of the main factors preventing forests’ recovery. The government says it will work with farmers and landowners to protect areas of temperate rainforests on their land. Guy Shrubsole, who leads the Lost Rainforests of Britain campaign, said the move was “exciting” but called for a target to be set to double the area of British rainforests by 2050. “Before 2021, no politician had even mentioned temperate rainforests in the UK parliament. Now, the government themselves have not only mentioned it, they’ve actually devoted entire official policy documents to this habitat,” he said. “That’s really cool to see.” Shrubsole, who wrote a bestselling book about Britain’s rainforests, added: “The government has to set a very clear ambition: that this is about doubling the rainforests. “They really need to tackle things like rhododendron and there has to be a reckoning about overgrazing sheep,” he said, urging members of the public to volunteer and keep getting involved with the effort. Joan Edwards, director of policy for the Wildlife Trusts, said: “Temperate rainforest is a globally rare habitat that was once one of the jewels of Britain’s nature crown. The remnants that still exist contain some of the highest floral diversity in the world, including a vast array of mosses, lichens, liverworts and ferns. “We welcome the government’s intention to invest in temperate rainforest restoration and management, as part of protecting 30% of land by 2030, and look forward to a more detailed strategy in the coming months.” Environmental organisations have long been campaigning for a government strategy and to raise the profile of the ecosystem, including the Wildlife Trusts, Woodland Trust, RSPB, National Trust and Plantlife. Members of the public have been helping to map and identify remaining fragments by looking for indicator species such as lichens, mosses and liverworts. The private sector has also contributed to reviving the rainforests, with Aviva pledging £38m in February for restoration efforts through the company’s sustainability programme. Wildlife Trusts are partnering with the insurance firm, and Edwards said they were already putting the money to work “expanding British rainforests with projects already under way in north Wales, Devon and the Isle of Man”. The forestry minister, Rebecca Pow, paid tribute “to campaigners on this issue, who have led an inspiring movement, and I look forward to working with them on our shared endeavour to protect these unique places”. She added: “The UK is home to globally rare temperate rainforests supporting rich native habitats and rare species and plants. Most of our temperate rainforests are centuries old and form an important part of our natural heritage. It is vital they are supported and protected for future generations.” 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/endangered-habitats', 'environment/forests', 'environment/environment', 'uk/uk', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/wildlife', 'environment/deforestation', 'environment/plants', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/patrick-greenfield', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-age-of-extinction'] | environment/series/the-age-of-extinction | BIODIVERSITY | 2023-12-29T08:00:03Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/blog/2010/apr/21/iceland-volcano-climate-sceptics | Iceland volcano gives warming world chance to debunk climate sceptic myths | Leo Hickman | Along with the ash and lava, there have been many interesting asides tossed into the air for our consideration by the Eyjafjallajokull volcano. We have noticed just how reliant our globalised systems are on air travel. We have been reminded of nature's brute force and primordial beauty. And we have been intrigued by what a wonderfully complex language Icelandic appears to be – to Anglo-Saxon ears, at least. But one opportunity the volcano has gifted us in particular is the chance to put to bed once and for all that barrel-aged climate sceptic canard which maintains that volcanoes emit far more carbon dioxide than anthropogenic sources. It's always been a favourite, but has been pushed even further up the charts of popularity in recent months by the repeated claims of Ian Plimer, the Australian mining geologist who wrote the climate sceptic bible Heaven and Earth last year. Here, for example, is what Plimer wrote on Australia's ABC Network website last August: The atmosphere contains only 0.001 per cent of all carbon at the surface of the Earth and far greater quantities are present in the lower crust and mantle of the Earth. Human additions of CO2 to the atmosphere must be taken into perspective. Over the past 250 years, humans have added just one part of CO2 in 10,000 to the atmosphere. One volcanic cough can do this in a day. John Cook of the increasingly popular Skeptical Science website currently lists the "volcanoes emit more CO2 than humans" viewpoint as number 54 on his ever-growing list - 107, to date - of debunked sceptic arguments. It was also a point picked up by my colleague James Randerson when he interviewed Plimer last December. In Heaven and Earth, Plimer says: "Volcanoes produce more CO2 than the world's cars and industries combined." Randerson challenged Plimer on this point, stating that the US Geological Survey (USGS) states: "Human activities release more than 130 times the amount of CO2 emitted by volcanoes." Plimer responded by saying that this does not account for undersea eruptions. However, when Randerson checked this point with USGS volcanologist Dr Terrence Gerlach, he received this reply: I can confirm to you that the "130 times" figure on the USGS website is an estimate that includes all volcanoes – submarine as well as subaerial ... Geoscientists have two methods for estimating the CO2 output of the mid-oceanic ridges. There were estimates for the CO2 output of the mid-oceanic ridges before there were estimates for the global output of subaerial volcanoes. Despite having seemingly lanced this festering boil for good, the focus on Eyjafjallajokull over the past week has allowed this question to bubble back up to the forefront of people's minds. It was enough to trigger the Paris-based AFP news agency to seek some answers: Iceland's Eyjafjoell volcano is emitting between 150,000 and 300,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) per day, a figure placing it in the same emissions league as a small-to-medium European economy, experts said on Monday. Assuming the composition of gas to be the same as in an earlier eruption on an adjacent volcano, "the CO2 flux of Eyjafjoell would be 150,000 tonnes per day," Colin Macpherson, an Earth scientist at Britain's University of Durham, said in an email. Patrick Allard of the Paris Institute for Global Physics (IPGP) gave what he described as a "top-range" estimate of 300,000 tonnes per day. Both insisted that these were only approximate estimates. Extrapolated over a year, the emissions would place the volcano 47th to 75th in the world table of emitters on a country-by-country basis, according to a database at the World Resources Institute (WRI), which tracks environment and sustainable development. A 47th ranking would place it above Austria, Belarus, Portugal, Ireland, Finland, Bulgaria, Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland, according to this list, which relates to 2005. Experts stressed that the volcano contributed just a tiny amount – less than a third of one percentage point – of global emissions of greenhouse gases. So, please, can we now put this hoary old chestnut to bed? One extra volcano-related aside: with European carbon market prices fluctuating around the €14 per tonne mark at present, this would mean that Eyjafjallajokull would theoretically be liable to a maximum daily bill of €4.2m if it were a fully fledged, carbon-trading nation or corporation. But who would dare get close enough to present it with an invoice? | ['environment/blog', 'tone/blog', 'world/iceland', 'environment/environment', 'world/iceland-volcano', 'world/world', 'world/natural-disasters', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/climate-change-scepticism', 'travel/travel', 'world/europe-news', 'world/volcanoes', 'type/article', 'profile/leohickman'] | environment/climate-change-scepticism | CLIMATE_DENIAL | 2010-04-21T06:30:01Z | true | CLIMATE_DENIAL |
australia-news/article/2024/may/20/new-rules-for-nsw-polluters-to-require-credible-plan-for-mitigating-climate-impact | New rules for NSW polluters to require ‘credible’ plan for mitigating climate impact | New coalmines, gas fields and other big sources of greenhouse gases in New South Wales will need to provide more rigorous plans to minimise pollution and reduce carbon emissions before they are approved, under new rules imposed on Monday. Revised assessment requirements and guidelines from the Environment Protection Authority mark a “foundational” tightening of rules for firms planning new projects or modifying existing ones that emit at least 25,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent a year, said Tony Chappel, the NSW EPA chief executive. “It’s one step but it’s an important one,” Chappel said. “It brings the assessment of climate impacts front and centre into the planning process in a way that should be clear and transparent for the community and for industry.” Developers’ environmental impact statements in the past had often been “using emission factors which have been found to be significantly inaccurate”, he said, adding that independent third-party verification will be needed “every step of the way”. “We can’t regulate if we don’t have clarity of the data,” Chappel said. “We can’t have the data if the proponent isn’t doing the rigorous work on making that available.” Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Firms will also have to demonstrate how they’ve “seriously and credibly worked through what pollution they can avoid, what they can mitigate, and what they can abate before they then look at offsets”, he said. The energy minister, Penny Sharpe, said all economic sectors “will need to reduce emissions in order for NSW to reach our legislated emissions targets”. “This statement definitively reverses the previous government’s position to ignore NSW’s 2030 emissions target in planning decisions,” Sharpe said. Along with most other states and the commonwealth, NSW has set goals to cut carbon emissions to limit climate impacts. Its own data shows it is currently not on target. The Minns Labor government is also expected to soon reveal plans to extend the life of Eraring, Australia’s biggest coal-fired power station. A report by the energy market operator this week is expected to warn of potential blackouts if the plant owner, Origin Energy, proceeds with the August 2025 scheduled closure. The draft rules, which take effect on Monday ahead of an expected six-week consultation period, will be followed by industry emissions targets and then progressively imposed on all firms covered by EPA licences, Chappel said. “Any major polluter is captured through an existing environment protection licence but they don’t currently deal with greenhouse gases,” he said. “They will need to develop what we call climate mitigation and adaptation plans.” Those plans will also need to include how firms will “improve their resilience to the escalating climate extremes that will be with us for at least the next few decades”, he said. The EPA will press sectors to reduce emissions and improve efficiency “rather than going straight to offsets as the silver bullet”, Chappel said. “There’s lots of available technologies across the economy that are already being deployed at scale,” he said, listing biofuels and renewable energy, among others. “Those opportunities need to be a real focus for any operation before it comes to thinking about what’s the role of offset. ‘“The world can’t offset its way out of these issues. We also have to reduce our emissions,” he said. | ['australia-news/new-south-wales', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/environment', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/fossil-fuels', 'campaign/email/afternoon-update', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/peter-hannam', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/fossil-fuels | EMISSIONS | 2024-05-19T20:00:44Z | true | EMISSIONS |
film/2019/may/17/beats-film-rave-scene-protest-glasgow | Beats, rhymes and strife: how ravers raised the roof on mass protest | Beats is a gem of a film that has drawn attention not just for its exuberant depiction of early 1990s rave culture but the deeper questions it raises, 25 years on, about the legislation that criminalised the free party movement – and about how the UK pivoted from Reclaim the Streets, via Cool Britannia, to Brexit Britain. Set in the summer of 1994, as the Criminal Justice Bill threatened to outlaw musical gatherings around “sounds wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats”, the film charts the friendship – by turns madcap and tender – between teenagers Johnno and Spanner as they struggle to escape the restrictions of family and class on their West Lothian housing estate. With the help of a sisterly gang of older girls, the boys bounce into their local rave scene and soak up the ethic that “the only good system is a sound system, and if I can’t dance then it’s not my revolution”. “I’ve always been interested in the politics of mass gatherings of young people,” explains Kieran Hurley, who adapted the screenplay for Beats from his acclaimed Edinburgh Fringe play with director Brian Welsh. Noting that the film’s political setting is the genesis of New Labour, he adds: “We were trying to set this mad communal euphoria against the context of a world that is encouraging people to behave in a certain individualistic and aspirational way, to underline how rave was a cultural reaction against some of that.” It’s worth recalling that, while the 1994 act marked one of the final legislative excesses of the Conservative government, the subsequent New Labour regime hardly covered itself in glory over civil liberties. Hurley sees significant resonances between the protests around the 1994 bill and the Extinction Rebellion activists of today. “There’s something about the aesthetic of celebratory protest, claiming space and shutting it down, that you can draw directly back to Reclaim the Streets and the party protest moment, and that all comes out of the Kill the Bill protests. There’s a direct lineage.” Beats serves as a timely reminder of that initial injection of creativity – and music – into mass protest, and demands a hat-tip of recognition to those who were shouting about the environment, the erosion of public space and the dangers of cheap credit long before these concerns entered the mainstream. It is also one of the few films to authentically capture the dancefloor experience. With a soundtrack curated by Glasgow clubland legend JD Twitch, the final, extended rave scene switches between moments of hands-in-the-air euphoria and bursting full-colour visuals from Weirdcore, music video director for Aphex Twin and Radiohead. It is a “Wizard of Oz moment”, as Welsh puts it. If the rave looks genuine, says Welsh, that’s because it was. “I was very clear that to make this work we had to have a proper rave with real people and real music in a secret location. We had to deconstruct the traditional way of shooting a party scene, where the music plays for a couple of minutes, someone calls cut and everyone keeps fake dancing while we record the dialogue. A lot of the sound is synced sound so you’ve got the atmosphere of the crowd and screams at the appropriate points in the music, and all that makes it a more authentic experience.” But Beats also offers a defiant riposte to the numbing capacity of cynicism, advocating instead for experience: because everything is new to somebody. “It’s a fag-end scene, it’s been done,” moans Spanner as the boys arrive at the final rave of the summer. Johnno’s reply is as galvanising as it is universal: “It’s not been done by us.” | ['film/film', 'culture/culture', 'uk/glasgow', 'music/electronicmusic', 'music/music', 'uk/scotland', 'uk/uk', 'world/protest', 'environment/extinction-rebellion', 'environment/environment', 'world/world', 'music/dance-music', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/libbybrooks', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-culture'] | environment/extinction-rebellion | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2019-05-17T11:55:15Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
world/2017/sep/21/dominica-daze-hurricane-maria-island-caribbean-rescue | Hurricane Maria: Dominica ‘in daze’ after storm leaves island cut off | Dominica – the first island hit by the full category-five force of Hurricane Maria – is “in a daze”, officials have said, cut off from its Caribbean neighbours in the wake of a storm that destroyed properties, silenced communications and cut power and running water. Seven people have so far been confirmed dead in Dominica but that toll is expected to rise as rescue teams make their way to inaccessible parts of the island. Hartley Henry, an adviser to the prime minister, Roosevelt Skerrit, said there had been a “tremendous loss of housing and public buildings”. There was no electricity and virtually no means of communicating with the outside world, he said. Henry said he had spoken to Skerrit – who had to be rescued from his flooded residence during the hurricane – via satellite phone. “He and family are fine: Dominica is not,” he said. “The main general hospital took a beating. Patient care has been compromised. Many buildings serving as shelters lost roofs, which means that an urgent need now is tarpaulins and other roofing materials. “It’s difficult to determine the level of fatalities but so far seven are confirmed as a direct result of the hurricane. That figure, the prime minister fears, will rise as he wades his way into the rural communities.” Some districts were reporting “total destruction” of homes, roads and crops, Henry said. “In summary, the island has been devastated.” A CNN crew who flew over Dominica on Wednesday reported: “Nearly every tree was touched – thousands snapped and strewn across the landscape – and the island was stripped of vegetation. The rainforests appear to have vanished. “The breadth of the destruction is staggering – intact or untouched homes hard to find amid the chaos.” The airport and sea ports are closed, although Henry said it was hoped a landing strip could be opened within days to allow relief teams and supplies to reach the island. Recovery efforts are being coordinated from the nearby islands of St Lucia and Antigua. Philmore Mullin, head of Antigua and Barbuda’s National Office of Disaster Services, told CNN the only power available on the island was from emergency generators and car batteries. “Damage is severe and widespread. We know of casualties, but not in detail. We’ve heard of many missing but we just don’t know much at the moment.” Ross University school of medicine, which is based in Dominica, said it would being to evacuate its students – more than 80% of whom are US citizens, with close to 10% from Canada – by boat to St Lucia on Thursday, “weather permitting”. Ronald Jackson, the executive director of the Caribbean Disaster and Emergency Management Agency, said staff had managed to guide helicopters to Dominica to deliver some food, water and shelter materials on Wednesday. In an interview with Jamaica’s RJR News, Jackson said the agency was planning to drop people into remote communities with satellite phones because many areas were completely inaccessible. Communications towers were snapped by winds of up to 160mph (260km/h). The official death toll from Hurricane Maria is 10, with two deaths confirmed on the French island of Guadeloupe, and one so far in Puerto Rico. There has not yet been word of casualties from St Croix, in the US Virgin Islands, which the storm swept past in the early hours of Wednesday, and the number of fatalities could rise in Puerto Rico, which took a direct hit. The capital, San Juan, has suffered catastrophic flash flooding and the entire island has lost electricity. Puerto Rico’s governor, Ricardo Rosselló – who called the hurricane “nothing short of a major disaster” – said one man had been killed when he was struck by a piece of debris in high winds. “When we are able to go outside, we are going to find our island destroyed,” Abner Gomez, the director of the island’s emergency management agency, was quoted as saying by El Nuevo Dia newspaper. It was the strongest hurricane to make landfall in Puerto Rico for almost a century. In 1928, the San Felipe Segundo hurricane killed more than 300 people. Maria dipped to category-two strength as it moved away from Puerto Rico towards the Dominican Republic, but the US National Hurricane Center warned it could yet regain strength. The Dominican Republic, the Turks and Caicos Islands and the south-eastern Bahamas remain under hurricane warnings. Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report | ['world/dominica', 'world/hurricane-maria', 'world/world', 'world/hurricanes', 'world/natural-disasters', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'world/caribbean', 'profile/clairephipps', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-foreign'] | world/hurricanes | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2017-09-21T07:53:09Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
world/2005/jan/12/indonesia.tsunami2004 | Man says he survived at sea for two weeks by eating coconuts | A tsunami survivor says he drifted on the Indian Ocean for two weeks, living on coconuts that he prised open with his teeth while floating on pieces of wood, a broken boat and, finally, a fishing raft. Ari Afrizal was spotted by a container ship, Al Yamamah, on Sunday. It hauled him aboard and took him to Malaysia on Monday. He was later taken to hospital. Mr Afrizal, 21, was working on a construction site in the Indonesian province of Aceh on December 26 when the tsunami swept him and his friends out to sea. "The earthquake lasted about 15 minutes," Mr Afrizal told reporters after Al Yamamah docked at Port Klang, near Kuala Lumpur. "Then the waves came; big, big waves that slammed down hard on us." Mr Afrizal, who appeared fit despite the ordeal, said he and his co-workers were swept out to sea and clung on to passing pieces of wood. "I recall seeing four of my friends hanging on to wood, but we drifted away from each other as the waves rolled us out further into the sea," he said. Mr Afrizal said he saw "many bodies" and debris floating around him. "I prayed and prayed. I told God I don't want to die ... I worried about my elderly parents and asked for a chance to take care of them," he said. "As if my prayers were answered, a broken sampan floated toward me a few days later." On the fifth day he saw a huge fishing raft and swam out to it, thinking he would be rescued. Although the raft was unmanned, it did contain bottles of fresh water. He ate coconuts that he found floating in the sea, husking the soft ones with his teeth. He said many ships passed without noticing him until the Al Yamamah came along. The ship's captain, John Kennedy from New Zealand, said he had not expected to find survivors when his crew spotted the raft, because nearly two weeks had passed since the tsunami. But the crew sounded a whistle anyway. "To our surprise, a frail-looking man emerged," Capt Kennedy said. He said Mr Afrizal looked fine except for parched lips and managed to board the ship without help. Mr Afrizal is the third Indonesian tsunami survivor rescued from the sea and taken to Malaysia. The authorities have allowed him to stay and work in the country. | ['world/world', 'world/indonesia', 'world/tsunami2004', 'world/asia-pacific', 'type/article'] | world/tsunami2004 | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2005-01-12T00:02:29Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
uk-news/2015/jun/30/the-runway-guessing-game-is-never-easy | The runway guessing game is never easy | Letters | Your story about our campaign against a third runway at Heathrow (Greenpeace airport stunt that stalled, 26 June) fails to mention a crucial fact. Importantly, while the land we bought in 2009 was on the site of the proposed runway, and therefore represented a legal block, the airport’s owners have now submitted a proposal to build the third runway in a different place, away from our plot. Therefore, even if we still owned the land, it would no longer do what it was originally designed to do. It would have cost many thousands of pounds of our supporters’ money for us to maintain ownership of a piece of land away from BAA’s proposed new runway. Contrary to what the article implies, when we launched Airplot we were straight with the beneficial owners who signed up. On the Airplot website we said: “If the third runway is cancelled we have promised to return the land to its previous owner and focus our efforts on other threats to the climate and the planet.” By May 2010, both the prime minister David Cameron and his deputy Nick Clegg had given their word that a third runway at Heathrow would not go ahead, and the pledge was included in the coalition agreement. David Cameron couldn’t have been clearer about his commitment, saying: “The third runway at Heathrow is not going ahead, no ifs, no buts.” He even agreed to adopt a tree growing on Airplot, while Clegg had become one of the beneficial owners. We said at the time that the Airplot “probably won’t be needed now”. As it is, the prospect of a new runway has returned, albeit in a different place, no longer over the village of Sipson where we bought the land. John Sauven Executive director, Greenpeace UK • Some of the suggestions for moving institutions out of London (This town ain’t big enough, G2, 30 June) may be fanciful, but surely the one that makes most sense is to move Heathrow to the east Midlands. Given a blank sheet of paper, who in their right mind would have planned to concentrate the UK’s main hub airports in one small corner of the country, relatively inaccessible to the majority of its inhabitants? Dr John Davies Kirkby in Cleveland, North Yorkshire • Of all the alternative sites for a hub airport, I don’t think Nord-Pas de Calais has yet been suggested. High-speed rail links to London, Paris and Brussels already exist from the location, as do motorways east, south and west. Three capital cities are thus within about an hour and the terrain offers large areas of relatively flat farmland. Approach paths could be largely over water and no major cities would be overflown. Either Heathrow or Gatwick could be closed, the other remaining for local routes. In anticipation of the xenophobic frisson that would arise from the idea that our major airport is on French, albeit one time English, soil, France might be persuaded to lease the several square kilometres of land to a multinational consortium, owned by Britain, France and Benelux. Do I have a vested interest? Yes, I have a few shares in Eurotunnel. Alec Leggatt Farnham, Surrey | ['uk-news/heathrow-airport', 'politics/transport', 'travel/travel', 'business/business', 'environment/environment', 'travel/business', 'uk/transport', 'environment/heathrow-third-runway', 'world/air-transport', 'uk/uk', 'tone/letters', 'politics/politics', 'environment/greenpeace', 'environment/activism', 'politics/planning', 'type/article', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/editorialsandreply'] | environment/greenpeace | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2015-06-30T19:43:06Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
us-news/article/2024/aug/07/new-york-city-subway-hazardous-air | New York City subway riders are breathing in hazardous air, study finds | New York City subway riders are breathing in hazardous air, with Black and Hispanic commuters exposed to higher levels of pollution, a new study shows. New York University researchers found that the average subway platform had four times the particulate pollution (PM2.5) exposure standard deemed safe over a 24-hour period by the Environmental Protection Agency, and nine times the exposure guideline set by the World Health Organization. The researchers note that although commuting time is only a portion of the entire day, riding the subway accounts for a significant portion of a person’s daily exposure to PM2.5. “At that size, these particles penetrate the lung, and it’s been shown that small particles cause issues with cardiovascular, respiratory and neurological diseases,” said Masoud Ghandehari, the lead researcher and a professor of urban systems engineering at New York University. “We have 5 million riders per day. Imagine the human impact one may be having in a single day in the New York City subway system.” The burden of air pollution disproportionately falls on low-income people and communities of color, both above ground and below. By looking at census block data for ethnicity and income, researchers found that low-income New Yorkers and people living in majority Black and Hispanic communities have longer, more frequent commutes. That, in turn, leads to higher exposure to dangerous air pollutants. The study found that Black and Hispanic workers endure PM2.5 levels that are 35% and 23% higher, respectively, than Asian and white commuters. “Most jobs are in financial districts in New York City, [such as] midtown and downtown Manhattan,” Ghandehari said. “Those with lower income oftentimes live further away from these job centers. So their commute time ends up being longer, which means their exposure is going to be higher.” The researchers found a staggering concentration of iron within the fine particles they analyzed. That is largely due to wear and friction of trains’ metal wheels, brakes and rails, they said. Older, deeper, busier stations with poor ventilation had higher concentrations of PM2.5. “Whatever pollutants that are brought from the outdoor air get trapped and recirculated,” said Kabindra Shakya, an assistant professor of geography and the environment at Villanova University who was not involved in the study. “Above ground, there is more chance for dispersion, wind speed carrying away and cleaning it, whereas it’s being accumulated [underground] with less ventilation.” In 2020, Shakya and his team found that the level of air pollution in Philadelphia’s subway systems was roughly four times that of aboveground. They also found that stations with less direct outdoor access had higher concentrations of particulate matter. He described the risk to people with short commutes as “minimal”, but added: “I want to emphasize that occupational workers, like subway workers or the vendors who work [there], are at the most risk.” | ['us-news/series/americas-dirty-divide', 'environment/air-pollution', 'us-news/new-york', 'environment/pollution', 'society/health', 'environment/environment', 'us-news/us-news', 'campaign/email/today-us', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/aliya-uteuova', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-news'] | environment/pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2024-08-07T18:08:56Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
us-news/2023/jul/01/california-warm-weather-wildfire-risk | Warm temperatures return to California after cool spring bringing wildfire risk | It’s been a slow start to the summer in California, where an extremely wet winter and unseasonably cool spring have left the landscapes lush. But a timely spike in temperatures is forecast for the holiday weekend, providing both ideal weather for revelry and the return of high risks. State officials have issued strong warnings to residents and visitors alike: California has been spared a ferocious fire so far this year – but the dangers still loom large. “We know what is coming our way – hot weather and dry conditions,” said Isaac Sanchez, a battalion chief with California’s department of forestry and fire protection, adding that the agency is ready and planning for the worst. “The importance of preparation on the part of the public can’t be understated.” The Fourth of July has long been a high-risk weekend for wildfire in California, with fireworks-fueled celebrations sparking thousands of blazes each year. Even as snow-capped peaks are still visible across the Sierra and hillsides retain their greenish hues, officials painted a stark picture about how quickly conditions can shift when temperatures rise. “We did have a very wet winter and it’s delaying the manifestation of conditions that lead to large destructive fires – but they are coming,” Sanchez said. Extreme heat has created hazardous conditions across the country this week as areas of the south and south-west dangerously smolder. In Texas, the deaths of at least 13 people have been attributed to a heatwave that also sent hundreds to the emergency room. California’s conditions are not expected to be as extreme and are not likely to break state records. The warm weather will also probably be more mild than the summer conditions that set the stage for big blazes in past years. But it will push temperatures higher than they have been so far this year, according to the climate scientist Daniel Swain. Temperatures will surge this weekend, with some regions possibly hitting more than 100F (37C). As temperatures rise, so do the risks. “The rising heat and falling humidity will act to dry out vegetation, and the holiday fireworks surge will provide potential sources of ignition,” he said in a post discussing the weekend’s surge of warm weather. The dousing California received over the last several months has also spurred the growth in grasses and other quick-drying vegetation that is “ready to burn”, Joe Tyler, the director of Cal Fire, said at a press conference on Thursday. In the last week alone the agency was called in to help fight more than 300 new fires. Even though the added moisture offered drought-stricken landscapes a badly needed reprieve, dead and drying trees still dot the forests, he said. “That dry fuel does not recover in a single year of rain and snow.” Officials also highlighted how, in previous slow-to-start seasons, the numbers eventually caught up. Hoping to inspire public vigilance, Tyler outlined the grim statistics from 2017, which also followed a wet winter. With more than 1.5m acres burned, the fires broke records at the time and claimed the lives of 47 people. More than 11,000 structures were destroyed. “There’s an obvious temptation to think that the wet weather has abated or at least delayed the risk of wildfire across California – but the facts are more complicated than that,” Tyler said. “As the Fourth of July quickly approaches, I am asking each of you to be mindful of how quickly a fire can have devastating consequences.” | ['us-news/california', 'us-news/us-news', 'world/wildfires', 'us-news/us-weather', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/gabrielle-canon', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/west-coast-news'] | world/wildfires | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2023-07-01T13:00:13Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
business/marketforceslive/2015/may/27/glencore-slips-on-weak-thermal-coal-prospects | Glencore slips on weak thermal coal prospects | Glencore has slipped back after Morgan Stanley pointed to poor prospects for its thermal coal business. Following a visit to Chinese coal province Shanxi, the bank issued a downbeat note on Glencore, with an equal weight rating and 270p price target. Glencore is currently down 3.6p or 1.2% at 286.15p. Morgan Stanley said: Thermal coal mining is unlikely to become a large profit contributor for Glencore soon we think. Our visit to China’s Shanxi coal province confirms that oversupply and poor demand will keep prices around current spot levels for the foreseeable future. Thermal coal accounts for around 17% of Glencore’s Industrial Group revenues on spot and 16% of EBITDA ($1.5bn) in 2015. At the peak in 2011 this business generated $3.3bn EBITDA. Although costs have declined, global overcapacity continues to keep spot prices depressed, which will keep a lid on Glencore’s thermal coal mining profits. Our meetings in Shanxi province indicated that the domestic thermal coal industry continues to cut production to improve supply and demand balance and stabilise prices. However, it is often a reduction in utilisation rather than a process of full market exit. As a result, if a price recovery were to take place capacity could return. Furthermore, replacement of import coal by domestic production was mentioned as another source of supply and demand rebalancing. Producers are looking for alternative applications of coal such as coal to chemicals, coal to gas (a by product from the coking process) and coal to liquids. However, we found little evidence that these technologies are successfully applied on a large scale. Consequently, we do not expect substantial coal demand from these technologies in the near term. Furthermore, export of thermal coal was not mentioned as a potential for the region. On the other hand, export of coking coal or coke was mentioned several times as a potential growth area. Last week we visited independent power producers, construction companies, iron ore traders, coal mining companies, property developers and cement producers. Those meetings suggested that industrial demand growth and growth of electricity consumption will remain weak as well. As a result, global seaborne thermal coal prices are likely to remain weak for the foreseeable future, limiting Glencore’s earnings power in mining. | ['business/marketforceslive', 'business/series/market-forces', 'business/business', 'business/glencore', 'environment/coal', 'type/article', 'tone/blog', 'profile/nickfletcher'] | environment/coal | ENERGY | 2015-05-27T10:45:00Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2016/jul/25/why-concrete-rain-flash-floods-weatherwatch | Why concrete + rain = flash floods | In towns and cities, flash floods are a growing problem. The concrete jungle can’t soak up rainwater, so in heavy downpours it has nowhere to go except into drains, overloading them and setting off flash floods. A movement in Canada and the US called Depave is tearing up concrete and asphalt in local neighbourhoods and replacing it with gardens to soak up rainwater and help prevent flooding. And although Depave is largely unknown in Britain, there’s a growing need for similar action here. Gardens in Britain are vanishing at alarming speed under slabs of paving stones, decking and asphalt. Front gardens are being turned into car parking spaces – nearly 5m front gardens in the UK are now completely paved over and more disappear each year – and London has seen the biggest destruction of front gardens. Meanwhile, back gardens are increasingly being turned into patios, with a lot less maintenance needed. All the while, intense rainfalls in Britain are becoming the new norm. The problem is especially bad in towns and cities with creaking Victorian drains and sewers that can’t cope with deluges, and only last month torrential rains unleashed serious floods in London and Birmingham. Planting gardens with trees, shrubs and grasses helps to soak up rainwater in the ground like a sponge. Car parking on front gardens can use well-drained gravel, porous block paving, permeable asphalt, and even a new fast-draining concrete that soaks up rainwater so rapidly the water disappears almost instantly. Gardens are seriously under-rated for flood protection, and movements like Depave are needed to help towns and cities in Britain from going under water. | ['environment/flooding', 'news/series/weatherwatch', 'environment/environment', 'world/natural-disasters', 'world/world', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/jeremy-plester', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-weather'] | environment/flooding | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2016-07-25T20:30:54Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
uk-news/2019/jan/07/manchester-car-drivers-pollution-charges-mayor-andy-burnham-clean-air-plan | Drivers in Manchester may face charges under mayor's clean air plan | Drivers of the most polluting vehicles could face charges in Greater Manchester under a proposal to introduce a clean air zone announced by the mayor, Andy Burnham. The mooted clean air zone (CAZ) would penalise operators of buses, coaches, taxis, lorries and vans, as well as some private cars registered outside the area. The proposal comes after the government ordered Greater Manchester and more than 60 other local authorities to reduce road transport emissions. Announcing the proposal on Monday, Burnham said it would not be a congestion charge, an idea rejected by 79% of voters in a 2008 referendum. “I want to stress two things as emphatically as I can,” he said. “Firstly, this is not a charge to use the roads – a congestion charge – but instead a penalty scheme for non-compliant vehicles. People with a compliant vehicle would have no fine to pay. Second, this proposal would not apply to private cars registered in Greater Manchester, 80% of which are already compliant. We believe that restrictions on the remaining 20% would be neither progressive nor proportionate.” The air quality in parts of the region already breaches legal limits, with one Manchester primary school unable to open windows because the pollution is at such a dangerous level. About 1,200 Greater Mancunians die prematurely because of related respiratory problems, according to official estimates, and central Manchester has the highest rate of emergency hospital admissions for asthma in England, at more than double the national average. Alex Ganotis, the leader of Stockport council and the Greater Manchester lead on air pollution, said it was not a money-making exercise for the combined authority. Speaking at the launch of Greater Manchester’s future plan, he said: “What should be the aim of a penalty regime in terms of how much money it should raise? The answer is nothing, nothing at all … because what you want to do is get those vehicles off the road. If owners of those vehicles think ‘we’ll take the penalty and just drive as usual’, it’s all a waste of time.” Ganotis said it was “not right” that the government was forcing Greater Manchester and other councils to take drastic action on air pollution while not asking the same of Highways England, formerly the Highways Agency, which owns the motorway network as well as many A-roads. “We need to be very clear that Highways Agency, which runs the motorway network, has to be part of the solution to this. Think about the way the motorway network is embedded across Greater Manchester, the way it dissects our communities … The motorway network heavily contributes towards the air quality issue in Greater Manchester,” he said. The government believes clean air zones do not seek to reduce the number of vehicles on roads but encourage people to switch to less polluting vehicles, a view opposed by many environmental campaigners. Ganotis demanded help from the government to help people switch without it costing them personally. “We need a package that encourages and facilitates vehicle renewal so that people can avoid those penalties, for example, fully funded scrappage schemes and retrofitting of vehicles, so that we can have vehicles that comply with air quality levels but do it in a way that doesn’t hit business in the pocket. We need assistance from this. That has to come from the government,” he said. A similar proposal is under consultation in Leeds, with potential daily fees ranging from £12.50 for taxis and private hire vehicles to £100 for buses, coaches and HGVs. In central London, an ultra-low emission zone will be introduced on 8 April. Most vehicles including cars and vans will need to meet stricter exhaust emission standards or pay a daily charge from £12.50 to travel within the restricted area. | ['uk/greater-manchester', 'environment/air-pollution', 'politics/andyburnham', 'politics/politics', 'uk/uk', 'politics/mayoral-elections', 'society/localgovernment', 'politics/localgovernment', 'society/society', 'environment/pollution', 'uk/manchester', 'environment/environment', 'politics/labour', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/helenpidd', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/air-pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2019-01-07T16:59:15Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
environment/2017/sep/27/london-issues-red-alert-for-extremely-high-air-pollution | Sadiq Khan triggers alert for high air pollution in London | The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has triggered the capital’s emergency air quality alert as polluted air from the continent combines with toxic air in London to create dangerous levels of pollution. The alerts will see warnings displayed at bus stops, road signs and on the underground. Khan has also asked TV and radio stations across the capital to warn their viewers and listeners in news bulletins. Anyone with lung or heart problems is advised to reduce strenuous exercise, especially outside. The young and elderly are particularly vulnerable. Today’s alert has been triggered by “high” levels of air pollution. It is the seventh time in 13 months that the mayor has used the alert system. One instance was because the level of pollution was deemed “very high”, and on six occasions because it was “high”. Khan said: “The shocking and illegal state of London’s filthy air means once again I am triggering a high air pollution alert today under my new comprehensive alert system.” The government’s committee on the medical effects of air pollutants advises adults and children with lung problems, and adults with heart problems, to reduce strenuous physical exertion, particularly outdoors, and particularly if they experience symptoms. People with asthma may find they need to use their reliever inhaler more often. Older people should also reduce physical exertion. Khan is implementing a range of measures to try to tackle the air pollution crisis in the capital, and he called on the government to do more. “I am doing everything with the powers I have at City Hall and it’s now time for the government to step up by introducing a national diesel scrappage fund to rid our streets of dirty diesels, and to give me the powers I need to tackle non-transport sources of pollution.” Responding to the news that the capital’s air quality emergency alert had been triggered, Prof Jonathan Grigg from Doctors Against Diesel said “dirty air is seriously damaging Londoners’ health and wellbeing.” Grigg called on Khan to do more to tackle it. “Vulnerable people shouldn’t have to restrict their activities to stay safe,” he said. “Sadiq Khan must bring London’s air pollution down to legal levels as soon as possible, and commit to phase out diesel vehicles by 2025 to protect Londoners’ lungs.” The government has come under increasing pressure over the UK’s air quality. It has suffered a string of humiliating defeats in the courts over its failure to clean up the nation’s air. Its latest proposal, released in July, was met with widespread criticism from clean air campaigners and regional politicians. The latest episode of dangerously polluted air has been caused by mist, low cloud, fog and slow wind speed in London that has lead to a build up of pollution. This has combined with air arriving from the continent that has travelled slowly over industrial polluted areas giving it time to pick up emissions on the way. Experts say this is likely to produce high levels of PM2.5 and moderate levels of PM10 particulate pollution across areas of London and the south-east. | ['environment/air-pollution', 'environment/pollution', 'uk/london', 'politics/sadiq-khan', 'environment/environment', 'politics/politics', 'uk/uk', 'society/asthma', 'society/health', 'society/society', 'type/article', 'profile/matthewtaylor', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/air-pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2017-09-27T10:29:16Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
commentisfree/2019/aug/15/ash-dieback-killer-plagues-britain-trees | Ash dieback is just the start of killer plagues threatening Britain’s trees | George Monbiot | As Dutch elm disease spread across Britain in the 1970s, the country fell into mourning. When the sentinel trees that framed our horizons were felled, their loss was a constant topic of sad and angry conversation. Today, just a few years into the equally devastating ash dieback epidemic, and as the first great trees are toppled, most of us appear to have forgotten all about it. I’ve travelled around much of Britain this summer, and seen the disease almost everywhere. A survey published this spring found infected trees across roughly three-quarters of England and Wales: the spread has been as rapid and devastating as ecologists predicted. But in this age of hypernormalisation, only a few people still seem to care. Ash to ashes: our memories wither as quickly as the trees. And almost nothing has been learned. Our disease prevention rules, whose scope is restricted by the European Union and the World Trade Organization, and whose enforcement is restricted by the British government’s austerity, do little to prevent similar plagues afflicting our remaining trees. Several deadly pathogens are marching across Europe. While it is hard to prevent some of these plagues from spreading across land, there is a simple measure that would stop most of them from spreading across water: a ban on the import of all live plants except those grown from tissue cultures, in sterile conditions. But bans are more or less banned. Nothing must be allowed to obstruct free trade. Instead, the world’s governments rely on hand wringing. Take, for example, a lethal plague called Xylella fastidiosa, which is ravaging olive groves in Italy and threatens a remarkable variety of trees and shrubs, including oak, sycamore, plane and cherry. The system for preventing its spread depends on inspections of random consignments of known host plants, and a passport scheme to ensure they aren’t imported from infected areas. This system is likely to be useless. The EU keeps a list of plants that can carry Xylella. It has been updated 12 times in four years, as new carriers emerge. No one knows how many more host species there might be. Visual inspections won’t reveal plants that carry the disease without symptoms. Random sampling won’t protect us from a plague that can be introduced by a single plant. Nor do we know whether Xylella is the most urgent risk to our remaining trees, or whether an entirely new contagion will hit them instead. Many plant pathogens evolve at extraordinary speed, jump unexpectedly from one host to another, suddenly hybridise with each other, and behave in radically different ways in different environments. A system that regulates only known risks is bound to fail. Even in economic terms, the live plant trade is senseless. Ash dieback alone, according to a paper in Current Biology, will cost this country around £15bn. But the UK’s import and export of all live plants amounts to £300m a year – 2% of the costs of this disease. The paper estimates that another 47 major tree pests and diseases now threaten to arrive in Britain, and these are just the known plagues. In ecological terms, this legislative failure is a total disaster. For the sake of deregulatory machismo, we face the prospect of tree species everywhere eventually meeting their deadly pathogens. Where logging and climate breakdown have so far failed to eliminate the world’s forests, imported diseases threaten to complete the job. What will come next? Will our beech trees succumb to Phytophthora kernoviae, a disease that appears to have been imported to Cornwall on infected shrubs from New Zealand? Will Sitka spruce, on which commercial forestry in this country relies to an extraordinary extent, be hammered by the larger eight-toothed spruce bark beetle, found for the first time this year in a Kent woodland? Will it be hit by another marvellously named plague, Neonectria fuckeliana? Or by something else entirely? As the trade in live plants reaches almost every corner of the Earth, nothing and nowhere is safe. Just as we need a precautionary approach, every lid is being ripped off, every barrier smashed, facilitating trade in everything, including pathogens. In response to a parliamentary question about Xylella, the environment minister, Thérèse Coffey, claimed that Brexit creates an opportunity to introduce “stricter biosecurity measures”. It does, but will it be used? Given that, for the monomaniacs who now run this country, the main purpose of leaving the EU is to escape its public protections, the chances of Brexit leading to stricter regulation of plant imports seem remote. Never mind that this trade makes neither ecological nor economic sense. Our government, like many others, favours a global trade regime that places the free movement of goods above all other values (while imposing ever tighter restrictions on the free movement of people). There’s nothing good about ash dieback, but there is one useful thing that could be done: wherever possible, leave the dead trees to stand. There is more life in a dead tree than in a living tree: around 2,000 animal species in the UK rely on dead or dying wood for their survival. But (except in politics) there’s a dearth of dead wood in this country. Many species, such as the lesser spotted woodpecker, the pied flycatcher and the stag beetle, are severely restricted by the shortage of decay, caused by our tidy-minded forestry. And there’s another reason to let the dead giants stand: as memorials to the repeated failures of government. Let us remember our losses, and learn from them. • George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'environment/ash-dieback', 'environment/forests', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/environment', 'tone/comment', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'profile/georgemonbiot', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/opinion', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-opinion'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2019-08-15T05:00:41Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
technology/2017/dec/07/bitcoin-64m-cryptocurrency-stolen-hack-attack-marketplace-nicehash-passwords | Bitcoin: $64m in cryptocurrency stolen in 'sophisticated' hack, exchange says | Nearly $64m in bitcoin has been stolen by hackers who broke into Slovenian-based bitcoin mining marketplace NiceHash. The marketplace suspended operations on Thursday while it investigated the breach, saying it was working with law enforcement as “a matter of urgency” while urging users to change their passwords. The hack was “a highly professional attack with sophisticated social engineering” that resulted in approximately 4,700 bitcoin being stolen, worth about $63.92m at current prices, said NiceHash head of marketing Andrej P Škraba. NiceHash is a digital currency marketplace that matches people looking to sell processing time on their computers for so called miners to verify bitcoin users’ transactions in exchange for the bitcoin. Troubles with the website over the past day or so drew alarm and complaints, with many bitcoin owners posting panicked comments on NiceHash’s social media accounts. NiceHash said in a statement: “We understand that you will have a lot of questions, and we ask for patience and understanding while we investigate the causes and find the appropriate solutions for the future of the service.” The price of bitcoin has surged to more than $14,668, gaining around $2,000 (£1,494) of value in a day according to bitcoin monitor CoinDesk. That compares with a value below $1,000 at the beginning of the year. Online security is a vital concern for cryptocurrency marketplaces and exchanges, with bitcoins contained within digital wallets that have increasingly become a target for hackers as the number of bitcoins stored and their value has skyrocketed over the last year. In Japan, following the failure of bitcoin exchange Mt Gox, new laws were enacted to regulate bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies. Mt. Gox shut down in February 2014 having lost approximately 850,000 bitcoins, potentially to hackers. Mark Karpelès, head of Mt Gox, went on trial in Japan in July, facing up to five years in jail under charges of embezzlement and the lost of $28m of user funds. Everything you wanted to know about bitcoin but were afraid to ask Bitcoin mining consumes more electricity a year than Ireland | ['technology/bitcoin', 'technology/cryptocurrencies', 'technology/technology', 'technology/hacking', 'world/slovenia', 'world/europe-news', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/samuel-gibbs', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-technology'] | technology/hacking | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2017-12-07T10:38:55Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
fashion/2021/jul/05/hairy-moment-for-job-hunters | Hairy moment for job hunters | Brief letters | The Queen’s awarding of the George Cross to the NHS is a reflection of the nation’s gratitude (Report, 5 July). Hopefully it will be a morale booster for thousands of exhausted workers. But Her Majesty could add to its impact if she reminded Boris Johnson at their next meeting that prestigious awards do not pay the bills. An improved pay award would be a much-needed practical indication of the nation’s thankfulness. Frances Davies Thirsk, North Yorkshire • How helpful to be able to get the ingredients for Feast recipes from Ocado by using the new QR codes published with them. As I never know what half the ingredients are, let alone where to obtain them, a new culinary world opens up for me. But just a mo: I don’t think my prehistoric phone is up to QR codes. That’s disappointing. Frances Clegg Harrow, London • Regarding the technique that would allow strawberries to be grown for most of the year, as reported in your print edition (New technique could boost strawberry yields, 5 July), is this a case of strawberry yields forever? David Gerrard Hove, East Sussex • After reading Priya Elan’s article (It’s curtains for short hair as Jack Grealish resurrects centre parting, 2 July), my mother, 96, remembers a time in the 1940s when job adverts could state “Men with middle partings need not apply”. Maggie Willsher Poole, Dorset • Like the previous marmalade saga, I feel that the knickers letters (4 July) have gone on too long. Can’t you make them briefer? Geoff Ramshaw Charlton Kings, Gloucestershire • Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication. | ['fashion/mens-hair', 'fashion/fashion', 'commentisfree/series/brief-letters', 'food/fruit', 'society/nhs', 'environment/farming', 'uk/queen', 'type/article', 'tone/letters', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/letters', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/farming | BIODIVERSITY | 2021-07-05T16:27:39Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
commentisfree/belief/2017/may/18/the-pilgrims-of-progress-who-are-leading-us-to-self-destruction | The pilgrims of progress who are leading us to self-destruction | Giles Fraser: Loose canon | I’m sitting at the bottom of my garden, reading Paul Kingsnorth’s astonishing new book, Confessions of a Recovering Environmentalist. It’s too late, he says. There is no way we can reverse the environmental changes that will lead to our destruction. And the very idea of progress, of continual forward momentum, is precisely the engine of our destruction. I start to daydream. My thinking slips sideways. I start puzzling about the Progressive Alliance. What is a progressive? And how are they related to the progress Kingsnorth believes has been destroying our planet? The word “progressive” twists and turns in our political life, constantly shifting its meaning. Tony Blair repurposed the term for those broadly on the left who didn’t want to call themselves socialists. Yet David Cameron was also frequently described that way. Now, however, the term progressive means not Tory. The Progressive Alliance urges tactical voting from Labour, Lib Dem and Green voters, to limit the size of Theresa May’s victory. Being progressive is a big party, and almost everyone is welcome. How about Rick Wakeman, I wonder? After all, he was the poster boy of progressive rock … you remember, interminable keyboard solos by men with long hair and silly silver boots. I know, I’m being slightly facetious. But these days he’s a big donor to the Conservatives. It’s hard to know who progressives would not invite to their party. And how come the very idea of progress is intuited as something broadly of the left? A hundred years ago in Italy, the so-called futurists were fascists, appropriating the language of technological progress for the far right. “Idealists, workers of thought, unite to show how inspiration and genius walk in step with the progress of the machine, of aircraft, of industry, of trade, of the sciences, of electricity,” gushed the futurist founder Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. Love of progress isn’t just for progressives. Hell, only last week, even Kim Jong-un was lauding his latest missile launch as a “great leap forward”. The historian Sidney Pollard described the belief in progress as “the assumption that a pattern of change exists in the history of mankind … that it consists in irreversible changes in one direction only, and that this direction is towards improvement”. These days progressives would write humankind. And yes, that’s an improvement. But the idea that history consists of some continual and inevitable elevator towards human betterment is hardly borne out by the environmental catastrophe that our ingenuity and greed are currently visiting upon this planet. Species disappearing, ice melting, topsoil vanishing, choking with carbon emissions – when our forebears spoke breathlessly about future progress, this wasn’t what they had in mind. Kingsnorth doesn’t romanticise the past. He just points out that seeing the future with rose-tinted spectacles is now more “socially acceptable”, and therefore more dangerous: “The kind of people who are disgusted by an idealized past can often barely contain their enthusiasm for an idealized future.” In economic terms, progress goes by the name of growth. Ever onwards, ever upwards, calls the money-making machine. And we are its servants, poor Homo economicus. Trapped by debt, we are encouraged by our leaders to run ever faster (they call it productivity) to make and buy more useless and invented stuff – even if that means us borrowing more to do it. The possibility of one or two Green MPs aside, all of those we will elect to parliament next month will believe economic growth to be an unquestionably good thing. No party will ever form a government on the basis that we will need to learn to live with less. A collapsing planet is a niche interest, an inconvenient externality that will one day be resolved by technological progress – that contemporary deus ex machina, good for all occasions. Ovid had something to say about all this towards the end of the first century BC: “Clever human nature, victim of your inventions, disastrously creative.” That’s the sort of wisdom you don’t need progress to achieve. | ['commentisfree/series/loose-canon', 'environment/environment', 'politics/politics', 'commentisfree/belief', 'commentisfree/commentisfree', 'world/anglicanism', 'world/christianity', 'world/religion', 'uk/uk', 'world/world', 'tone/comment', 'environment/green-politics', 'books/scienceandnature', 'books/books', 'type/article', 'profile/gilesfraser', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/editorialsandreply', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-opinion'] | environment/green-politics | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2017-05-18T16:41:02Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
sport/2023/mar/31/michael-vaughan-cleared-of-using-racist-language-at-yorkshire-cdc-hearing-finds | Vaughan rails at ECB after charge of racist language found unproven | Michael Vaughan has described the proceedings of the Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) as “inappropriate and inadequate” after charges against him of using racist and/or discriminatory language and bringing the game into disrepute were dismissed on Friday, saying the process of clearing his name “brought me to the brink of falling out of love with cricket”. Vaughan was the only one of those charged by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) as a result of Azeem Rafiq’s descriptions of his treatment while a player at Yorkshire to be cleared by the CDC panel. John Blain, Tim Bresnan, Andrew Gale, Matthew Hoggard and Richard Pyrah, former Yorkshire players and coaches whose cases were heard in their absence after they withdrew from the disciplinary process, were all found to have breached ECB directive 3.3 by engaging in “conduct which may be prejudicial to the interests of cricket or which may bring the game of cricket or any cricketer or group of cricketers into disrepute”, by using racist language. A decision on what sanctions they, along with the cricketer Gary Ballance and Yorkshire themselves – whose cases were not considered by the panel because they had admitted to the charges they were facing – will be decided at a separate hearing, still to be scheduled. There is a right to appeal, and Bresnan and Blain indicated they would do so. “I’ll continue to fight this by whatever means are available,” Blain said. “It’s unfair and very difficult to digest when I’ve done nothing. The process itself will be very difficult moving forward. These things take time but I have to move on and try to get justice. It’s hard to accept. I’ve done nothing wrong and I have the clear evidence to prove that.” Under the organisation’s regulations the ECB was required to prove its cases to a civil standard, demonstrating that those charged were guilty on the balance of probabilities, rather than beyond reasonable doubt. The CDC panel was also invited to “draw such reasonable inferences as it deems proper from any failure by the respondent to attend any disciplinary hearing”, and chose in the cases of all five non-cooperating defendants to assume “that [they] did not feel that [they] had an answer to the ECB’s case which would sensibly stand up to cross-examination”. Vaughan was accused of telling a group of four players of Asian descent that “there’s too many of you lot” before a Twenty20 game in June 2009. The 48-year-old denied doing so and, although three of the four other players involved remembered him using the phrase, the CDC concluded: “Having taken into account all the relevant evidence … the panel is not satisfied on the balance of probabilities that these words were spoken by Michael Vaughan at the time and in the specific circumstances alleged.” Vaughan wrote on Instagram: “The outcome of these CDC proceedings must not be allowed to detract from the core message that there can be no place for racism in the game of cricket, or society generally.” He added: “The dismissal of the specific charge that concerned me takes nothing away from Azeem’s own lived experiences.” But the former Ashes-winning England captain said he disagreed with the way the hearings were conducted. “Particularly with an issue such as this, CDC proceedings were an inappropriate, inadequate and backwards step,” he wrote. “One of the many reasons why I hold that view is because CDC proceedings are adversarial. They invite claim and counterclaim. They invite those involved to accuse each other of untruths or lying … I remain of the view that no good can come of that approach. There are no winners in this process and there are better ways – there have to be better ways – for cricket to move forward positively and effectively.” Rafiq welcomed the ECB’s decision to uphold the majority of those charges that were brought but said: “The issue has never been about individuals but the game as a whole. Cricket needs to understand the extent of its problems and address them. Hopefully, the structures of the game can now be rebuilt and institutionalised racism ended for good. It’s time to reflect, learn and implement change.” The ECB chair, Richard Thompson, admitted that the hearings had “taken a clear toll on everyone involved” and said his organisation would need “time to consider the decisions carefully”. It is also awaiting the imminent publication of a report from an Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) into discrimination across the English game on grounds of race, gender and class. “There now needs to be a time of reconciliation where, as a game, we can collectively learn and heal the wounds and ensure that nothing like this can ever happen again,” Thompson said. “At its best, our sport is one that brings people together and connects communities. It is now time, as we also prepare to receive the report of the ICEC, to work together to continue, expand and accelerate the work that is under way to change for the better, so that we can make cricket the UK’s most inclusive sport.” | ['sport/michael-vaughan', 'sport/azeem-rafiq', 'sport/yorkshire', 'sport/cricket', 'sport/ecb', 'sport/sport', 'sport/sport-politics', 'world/race', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/simonburnton', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/sport', 'theguardian/sport/news', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-sport'] | sport/ecb | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2023-03-31T17:02:23Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
world/2017/jun/08/mexico-border-wall-solar-panel-plan-donald-trump | Trump's pitch for making the Mexico border wall 'beautiful': add solar panels | The president this week proposed a radical way to fund his proposed Mexican border wall: covering it in solar panels. The same Donald Trump who has spent years criticizing renewable energy as uneconomical and who has pulled the US out of the Paris climate agreement has now floated the idea of adding solar panels to his proposed barrier along the the US–Mexico border. The president believes the panels would transform the wall, which Trump envisions would be 40 to 50ft high, into “beautiful structures”, according to congressional insiders who spoke to Axios about a meeting Trump had with Republican leaders. Just as “put a bird on it” became Portlandia’s mantra for transforming objects from humdrum to hipster, “put a solar panel on it” appears to be a mechanism for making hostile architecture more palatable. It turns out that solar panels are popping up as adornments on other hostile structures across the United States. Last month Boston welcomed 10 new benches with solar-powered USB charging units to its collection of urban furniture. The units allow members of the public to add juice to their smartphones on the go – useful, for sure, but their positioning prohibits homeless people from lying down. Solar panels have also been installed in the grounds of several California prisons as a means to save on energy costs. Even better, federal inmates actually get to manufacture some solar panels for less than $1 per hour. Outfitting public spaces with solar panels doesn’t hurt, but they will never really tackle the underlying problem, said Albert Pope, from the Rice School of Architecture. “The average American needs to cut her energy consumption by 75% – and cut it fast,” he said. The president’s idea of adorning the border wall with solar panels is raising questions of practicality and logic. “Putting solar panels on the wall would amount to mere decoration with no substantive contribution to its basic obnoxious function – a barrier separating one group of people from another,” said Langdon Winner, political theorist, philosopher of technology and author of Do Artifacts Have Politics? “I’m wondering what the solar electricity would be used for? Electrocuting people who try to climb the wall?” For Nezar AlSayyad, a UC Berkeley professor of architecture and planning, the wall is “indefensible” from a humanitarian perspective and ineffective from a security perspective. “Trying to embellish it with a technical function or a new utility ... is a folly,” he said. There are many areas along the border where it will be impossible to build a wall, with or without solar panels. Even if the government could , the wall’s configuration is not appropriate for a solar farm. “There are no photovoltaic power stations [solar panel farms] that are arranged in a line,” said Pope. “That is because it is inefficient to disperse panels like that.” Meanwhile so few Americans live within 40 miles of the Mexico border that the government would require a multibillion-dollar interstate power line to deliver the electricity where it was needed. According to an analysis in the Financial Times, the cost of building such infrastructure renders the project a “non-starter”. Nevertheless, solar panels, Winner said, can make structures seem “more friendly”. He said Trump’s proposal reminded him of the “greening” of steel mills he saw in northern China a decade ago. The mills were surrounded by newly planted little trees as an expression of care for the environment and the health and safety of the people in the vicinity. “Of course, this gesture had merely symbolic significance. The trees had negligible effect on the pollution belching from the furnaces and smokestacks,” he said. Just how far could the “put a solar panel on it” policy extend? “I imagine that solar powered electric chairs would be popular in states that still have the death penalty,” said Winner. If that idea sounds like something The Onion would have written, you won’t be disappointed. The same can’t be said for the solar-powered border wall. According to the report in Axios which broke the story of the president’s proposal: “Trump told the lawmakers they could talk about the solar-paneled wall as long as they said it was his idea.” | ['world/mexico', 'environment/solarpower', 'us-news/us-news', 'us-news/usimmigration', 'us-news/donaldtrump', 'world/americas', 'environment/energy', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'tone/analysis', 'profile/olivia-solon', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-news', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/west-coast-news'] | environment/solarpower | ENERGY | 2017-06-08T12:13:02Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2021/nov/15/canada-floods-evacuation-wildfires-rain | Record rainfall prompts evacuations in British Columbia and Pacific north-west | Communities in western Canada who were forced to flee their homes this summer by wildfires and extreme heat are once again under evacuation orders after overwhelming floods across the region. The heavy rainfall and pounding storms are also taking a toll on the US Pacific north-west, where flooding and mudslides in Washington state have also forced evacuations and school closures. Helicopters were dispatched on Monday to Highway 7, more than 100 kilometres (62 miles) east of Vancouver, to rescue about 275 people, including 50 children, who had been stranded on the road since it was blocked by a mudslide late on Sunday. Footage from the area shows stranded travelers heading toward a yellow emergency helicopter during the rescue operation. The surrounding landscape is littered with debris from a landslide blocking access to the highway. “I definitely heard people screaming for help,” Adam Wuisman, who was driving the section of the highway when a landslide hit, told CBC News. “It’s kind of helpless to feel like you’re between a very vulnerable mountainside on one side and the Fraser River on the other side. And there’s really nothing you can do about it, but hope nothing comes down on top of you.” Images of surging rivers, mudslides, flooded cities and destroyed highways circulated on social media as officials scrambled to assess the full extent of the damage, warning residents the situation could deteriorate further as winds picked up throughout the day. According to Environment Canada, 225 millimetres of rain fell on the community of Hope since the storm began Saturday and 180 millimetres had fallen around Agassiz and Chilliwack in the eastern part of the Fraser Valley. After two bridges and its water treatment facility were overwhelmed by flood waters, the city of Merritt issued an evacuation order to all residents, warning that “continued habitation of the community without sanitary services presents risk of mass sewage back-up and personal health risk”. Merritt last issued evacuation orders this summer after the wildfire that destroyed the village of Lytton came dangerously close to the city. Since June, the province has experienced a record-setting “heat dome”, huge wildfires that destroyed two towns and choked the air for weeks, extreme events that experts say were worsened by the climate crisis. Last week, Vancouver, British Columbia’s largest city, was briefly placed under tornado watch, a rare event for the region. In Washington state, the National Weather Service warned that winds nearing hurricane strength were possible in the region, which has seen nearly ceaseless rain for about a week. A wind gust of 58mph (93km/h) was reported on Monday at Sea-Tac international airport in Seattle. More than 158,0000 customers were without power in western Washington at one point Monday, the Seattle Times reported. Parts of the region have seen more than 6in (15cm) of rain in the past several days. Less than halfway into the month it is already the third wettest November that Seattle has seen in more than a century, according to the Washington Post, with rainfall records likely to be broken. A state of emergency was declared over the weekend for the town of Hamilton, about 80 miles (129km) north-east of Seattle, and residents were urged to evacuate as soon as possible, the Skagit Valley Herald reported. As the water was making its way down the Skagit River, people were warned to expect flooding in the cities of Sedro-Woolley, Burlington and Mount Vernon. Just south of the Canadian border in Sumas, Washington, officials said city hall was flooded and that the flooding event was the worst in decades. Nicole Postma, who owns a coffee stand in Sumas and is president of the Sumas Chamber of Commerce, told the Bellingham Herald on Monday that people are nervous. “We knew that the flood was imminent, but had no idea it would be like this,” she said. The Associated Press contributed reporting • The headline of this article was amended on 19 November 2021 to be more accurate about the area affected by these events. The Pacific north-west, which was the only area highlighted in an earlier headline, generally refers just to the US. To make clear that parts of Canada are also affected, “British Columbia” has now been added. | ['environment/climate-crisis', 'world/canada', 'world/world', 'environment/environment', 'environment/flooding', 'world/americas', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/leyland-cecco', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-foreign', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/west-coast-news'] | environment/flooding | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2021-11-16T01:31:59Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
politics/2023/oct/05/scientific-search-for-a-dot-of-contrition | Scientific search for a dot of contrition | Brief letters | Perhaps the Nobel prize scientists who discovered the quantum dot could be set to work on detecting an equivalent dot of contrition in Rishi Sunak’s Conservative party conference speech (Key takeaways from Rishi Sunak’s 7,500-word Tory conference speech, 4 October). John Lowery London • It’s odd that the prime minister proposes a ban on smoking “for the nation’s health” while simultaneously encouraging road traffic congestion with its accompanying emissions and pollution. John Weightman Ettington, Warwickshire • Why is it that no one has pointed out that raising the minimum wage to £11, as Jeremy Hunt pledges (Report, 1 October), is an increase of 5.6%? This is below the August CPI rate of 6.7% and the average rate of pay increase, which in July was running at 7.8%. Hardly the generous increase the chancellor is portraying. Fred Pickering Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire • The correspondence about breast pockets (Letters, 29 September) reminds me that I often bemoan the lack of any pockets at all in many skirts and dresses. Keeping a handkerchief up a sleeve just doesn’t work as it almost invariably falls out. Designers, please note! Patricia Pipe Saltash, Cornwall • What a crying shame they didn’t begin work on HS2 at the northern end (Industry backlash at Sunak’s ‘damaging’ U-turn on northern leg of HS2, 4 October). Helen Watson Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire • 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. | ['politics/conservative-conference-2023', 'type/article', 'tone/letters', 'commentisfree/series/brief-letters', 'politics/toryconference', 'politics/conservatives', 'politics/politics', 'politics/rishi-sunak', 'society/smoking', 'environment/pollution', 'environment/air-pollution', 'politics/jeremy-hunt', 'society/minimum-wage', 'fashion/fashion', 'lifeandstyle/women', 'uk/hs2', 'uk/uk', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/letters', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2023-10-05T17:11:06Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
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