id stringlengths 16 182 | title stringlengths 6 152 | body stringlengths 284 6.92k | tags stringlengths 50 917 | extracted_from_tag stringclasses 177 values | category stringclasses 10 values | date stringdate 1998-09-29 21:43:09 2024-12-31 13:00:45 | use bool 1 class | label stringclasses 10 values |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
science/2006/oct/22/biodiversity.conservationandendangeredspecies | Alien invasion threatens our rivers | Alien killer shrimps, plague-ridden crayfish and mussels that choke rivers and water pipes are taking over our waterways and rivers. Global warming is blamed, in part, for the sudden rise in the numbers of invading molluscs and crustaceans. And scientists say government inaction has allowed species to get a foothold. 'We have always been susceptible to invasions from freshwater invaders such as inedible zebra mussels and Asian clams. However, the problem has got much worse in the past five years,' said zoologist Dr David Aldridge of Cambridge University. 'It is an issue we should be very worried about. In America the cost of clearing up the mess has reached billions of dollars.' Engineers last week said they had cleared almost a thousand tonnes of zebra mussels - which arrived from eastern Europe - from London's water pipes. 'We now have a programme to keep their numbers under control,' said David Thomas of Thames Water. Power stations - including nuclear plants - boats, fire protection systems and other users of freshwater are finding that their tunnels, propellers and pipes are being clogged and coated. 'Zebra mussels - unlike the native British freshwater mussels - grow on top of each other in thick layers that block channels and ducts,' said Aldridge. Getting rid of these mussel layers is providing engineers with headaches, he added. 'In America they pump chlorine over the mussels,' Aldridge said. 'But as soon as a zebra mussel gets a whiff of chlorine it shuts up and will stop taking in water. It can keep that up for three weeks. During all that time you have to keep pumping in chlorine and that can cause considerable ecological damage. We can't do that in this country.' One solution, designed by Aldridge, is the bio-bullet: a micro-capsule of potassium chloride, coated in vegetable fat, a zebra mussel delicacy. The mussels eat the micro-capsules that are mixed into water and are then poisoned by the potassium chloride. 'We are still carrying out trials of the bio-bullet, but it does look promising,' he added. In the meantime other alien molluscs and crustaceans are spreading through our waterways, brought to this country in ballast water or clamped to the hulls of small ships. The American signal crayfish is now established in many areas, for example, with devastating consequences. It carries a fungal plague whose spores spread through the water and infect native species, including the white-clawed crayfish. They also burrow into riverbanks and breed rapidly, leading to the collapse of the banks. Similar damage is done by the Chinese mitten crab, which has caused bankside erosion, while the Asian clam - which arrived recently in this country in Norfolk - has spread to the Thames and Great Ouse where they are clogging riverbeds. In the US a nuclear power plant had to be closed for extensive cleaning after clams clogged its cooling pipes. 'We have a privileged position in this country,' said Aldridge. 'We are an island and we can see what is happening on the continent as these molluscs and crustaceans have spread through Europe's water systems. That should have given us time to act and to prepare, though so far we have not done that very well.' The latest threat is the 'pink peril', a shrimp which originates in the Caspian and Black Seas and has now reached the Netherlands. It attacks and kills all small creatures it comes across and is now poised - a few dozen miles across the Channel - to invade our waters. Wiping out the Natives American mink Came to Britain in 1929 for fur farming, but escaped and bred in the wild. Have been blamed for the decline of Britain's native water vole. Giant hogweed Arrived in Britain from south-west Asia as an ornamental plant in the 19th century. Found along rivers and wastelands, where it hosts diseases which kill other plants. Topmouth gudgeon Originally from south-east Asia, it carries a parasite that can wipe out native fish species. Floating pennywort A native of North America, it forms dense platforms that can blanket water surfaces. African redworm Recently discovered in swimming pools in Ireland, these tiny worms are believed to have travelled to this country from central Africa on decorational plants. Can cause digestive problems if swallowed when swimming. Martha Alexander | ['environment/biodiversity', 'science/science', 'environment/environment', 'environment/conservation', 'uk/uk', 'environment/endangered-habitats', 'type/article', 'profile/robinmckie', 'publication/theobserver', 'theobserver/observermain'] | environment/biodiversity | BIODIVERSITY | 2006-10-22T08:37:58Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2009/dec/16/copenhagen-summit-miliband-farce-warning | Copenhagen summit veering towards farce, warns Ed Miliband | The climate change summit in Copenhagen was in jeopardy tonight with the complex negotiations falling far behind schedule as the climate secretary, Ed Miliband, warned of a "farce". With just two days remaining, the inability to overcome disagreements about the shape of a deal to combat global warming led to hours of inaction today , while outside the negotiations police clashed with protesters who broke through a security cordon but failed in an attempt to storm the conference centre. "We have made no progress" said a source close to the talks. "What people don't realise is that we are now not really ready for the leaders. These talks are now 18 hours late." More than 115 world leaders arrive tomorrow and on Friday and had expected only to bargain over the final details in a prepared draft agreement but the earlier impasse could condemn the talks to failure. For the first time frustrated negotiators spoke openly of – at best – reaching a weak political agreement that would leave no clear way forward to tackle rising greenhouse gas emissions. That would mean the negotiations staying in limbo well into next year, increasing the damage caused by global warming. The day saw thousands of protesters take to the streets to demand a strong deal by Friday but, while they clashed with police, they failed in their objective to enter the conference centre. A key meeting of 25 government ministers from different countries, chosen to streamline the negotiations, was 18 hours behind track tonight , having failed to meet for the entire day. The group, along with another 25 "shadow" ministers, had been scheduled for its first meeting in the early hours of Wednesday but it was delayed. Ministers from developing countries were shocked to find that, instead of making progress on producing the slimmed-down draft agreement for the leaders, talks starting at 5.45am had seen the document increase in complexity. Miliband said people around the world would be rightly furious if negotiators failed to get a deal because the talks were delayed not over substance, but over the process. "It would be a tragedy if we failed to agree because of the substance. It would be a farce if we failed to reach agreement because of the process," he said. "People will find it extraordinary that this conference that has been two years in the planning and involves 192 countries, which is such an important thing, such important stakes, is at the moment being stalled on points of order." There was, however, some progress on other important issues. The US and China appeared to resolve some of their differences and a proposal from the Ethiopian prime minister on climate funding closed the gap between rich and poor countries. At the heart of the impasse is the fate of the Kyoto protocol, signed in 1997. It is the only legally binding agreement on climate change and requires industrialised nations – but not developing nations – to cut their emissions. Rich nations want a fresh treaty, arguing the world has changed and the major emerging economies such and China and India must commit to curbing their huge and fast growing national emissions. But the developing nations argue that rich nations grew wealthy by polluting the atmosphere and must take primary responsibility for it, which can only be guaranteed by Kyoto. China, India, South Africa and Brazil brought one half of the talks to a halt in expectation that the Danish presidency was going to introduce a new text which would effectively kill Kyoto. "Things are getting held up by procedural wrangling," said Miliband. "People can kill this agreement with process arguments. It will be tragedy if we cannot reach an agreement on substance, but it will be a farce if we cannot agree on process." • For a weekly email round-up of the best environment news and comment sign up for the Guardian's Greenlight newsletter. | ['environment/copenhagen', 'politics/edmiliband', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/environment', 'politics/politics', 'tone/news', 'environment/global-climate-talks', 'type/article', 'profile/johnvidal', 'profile/allegrastratton', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/topstories'] | environment/global-climate-talks | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2009-12-16T23:33:24Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
commentisfree/2019/oct/04/as-the-climate-collapses-we-can-either-stand-together-or-perish-alone | As the climate collapses, we can either stand together – or perish alone | Tim Hollo | Michael Mobbs has triggered an important conversation by “coming out” as a climate survivalist. He expects “societal collapse … a total breakdown within the next three to five years”, so he’s selling his ground-breaking and beautiful off-grid sustainable home in Chippendale and planning to move to the New South Wales South Coast. Mobbs has contributed an enormous amount over many years, but this latest intervention is deeply problematic. It is wrong in fact and wrong in approach, and could contribute to making an already bad situation worse. While climate breakdown is well under way, and societal collapse is a very real possibility within my lifetime if not necessarily his, there is no serious projection to justify a timeframe as short as three to five years for total breakdown. And the approach of running for the hills (or the coast) is neither sensible nor helpful. It only makes societal collapse more likely, by curtailing action and dividing the community even further. And, in that scenario, it won’t even help you survive. Far be it from me to criticise Mobbs’ personal choice here. His exhaustion and lack of hope is completely understandable. He has been actively working for solutions to ecological destruction for decades, leading whole communities towards action, while being ignored by the vast majority. Some of the responses to his declaration, suggesting his approach has been an individualist one ignoring the need for collective action, are ignorant of his work. Mobbs has been working for collective action, using his own personal action as an inspiring example to support others to follow suit and work together for systemic change, as all effective collective organising does. In this way, he has driven vital shifts in building regulations, and more important shifts in understandings of how we humans can and should live as part of the natural world rather than trying to separate ourselves from it. Ecological thinking teaches us that all collective action is made up of interwoven and interlinked individual action. As Greta Thunberg says: “We need system change rather than individual change, but you can’t have one without the other.” Which brings us to why talking of literally burning bridges is not helpful. If we’re to survive in the far-less-hospitable world that two centuries of institutionalised greed, selfishness and short-sightedness have bequeathed us, it will only be together. It will only be by using the coming years to cultivate resilient, cohesive, cooperative, equitable communities, embedded in the natural world. That’s why, while Mobbs is of course entitled to choose to retire with our thanks for what he’s achieved, the criticism of his public declaration of survivalism as embedded in a culture of white supremacy and the right of wealth is also entirely legitimate. Survivalist retreat shuts off the possibility of action. It assumes that there is no longer any chance of preventing catastrophe, that there is nothing left to be done, that no action to reduce our impact will have any effect. While the scientists whose research I read and who I speak to are increasingly desperate, none condone this view. All argue that, even if we were to pull out all stops now and drive the fastest and largest transition in human history, we will still face severe impacts for generations to come. We will almost certainly lose all corals, including the Great Barrier Reef, for example. Fires and storms and droughts will continue to get more intense and frequent. Make no mistake, things will be bad. But, if we act fast, it doesn’t have to mean extinction. The worst thing to do right now would be to cut off that option and give in to those who want to keep milking profits out of the destruction of our only home. That only makes it less likely that any of us will survive. Retreat, of course, by definition, is only available to a select few. This is why the focus of the responses to Mobbs’ declaration from the left, in particular Amy Gray’s searing critique, attack it as inequitable and racist. My addendum is that just as survivalism makes extinction more likely by cutting off the option of action, dividing our society even further makes societal collapse even more likely. This would be the worst outcome of all. At this point in history, now that we have locked in ecological disruption on a scale our species has never known, we must learn the lessons of ecology. And the number one lesson is that resilience is the key. Resilience, not dominance, is the real strength, especially in hard times. And the secret to resilience is connected diversity, cohesion, cooperative coexistence. That means that in many ways our most important task right now is to build social cohesion while learning to live within natural limits. Luckily, there are ways of making sure that the two go hand in hand. Whether it’s urban community agriculture or local sharing and repair groups; whether it’s models of participatory democracy like Voices for Indi or community renewable energy cooperatives; whether it’s stripping corporations of the rights of legal personhood unless they properly respect social and environmental norms, supporting worker- and user-owned cooperatives to compete with them, or prioritising the long-term interests of traditional owners and workers over the profits of fossil fuel corporations; all these point the way towards holding off the worst ecological impacts of climate disruption while building the resilience to avoid the societal collapse it could trigger. If, at this moment, we turn even more against each other, we have no future. The strongest will survive for a while. Then they, too, will be lost. In reality, Michael Mobbs’ solution of urban living in harmony with the natural world, brought together with deep democracy and cultivating social cohesion, is the only path to survival. • Tim Hollo is executive director of the Green Institute | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/environment', 'world/natural-disasters', 'environment/drought', 'environment/water', 'type/article', 'tone/comment', 'profile/tim-hollo', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-opinion'] | environment/drought | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2019-10-04T00:27:10Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
money/2008/may/19/workandcareers.greenbusiness | Virginia Mathews on the ultimate green office | Alastair Instone freely admits that his job is rubbish. But working at what claims to be the most authentically green office in London - where not only the desks, chairs, telephones, stationery and reception sofa, but the office plants, sunglasses, mugs and even teabags have been reclaimed from the tip - does have its advantages. "I'm not really in the mould of a traditional rag-and-bone man," says the well-spoken, 27-year-old geography graduate and keen ski mountaineer, who currently works as IT manager at waste removal firm Any Junk? "But having kitted out virtually my entire Clapham flat with other people's rubbish furniture, rugs, pictures and lights, I'm also quite happy to wear rubbish designer clothes and underwear (today, he's modelling a second-hand designer jacket, but we don't delve into his underwear), drink out of rubbish cups and listen to my rubbish stereo. "Although I've never constructed an entire meal out of other people's cast-offs, a bottle of vinegar two days past its sell-by date from a shop clearance, or some jars of coffee and tins from an office, are simply a fantastic perk as far as I'm concerned. "And before you ask, yes, the office jokes have already been recycled many times," he adds with a grin. While Instone's girlfriend has, on occasions, refused to give house-room to some of Instone's more fragrant finds - more than one reclaimed sofa has been banned from the flat, as have all second-hand beds and mattresses - his friends and family have no such qualms. "I have a long list of requests starting with top-of-the-range TV's, good stereos and expensive wardrobes and if my friends like calling me 'the rubbish man', it certainly doesn't stop them queuing up to pay £10 or £20 for someone else's rubbish furniture. I don't think I've ever been so popular." While Instone is a keen cyclist, he insists he is no eco-warrior. But the kind of careless waste that he sees at work infuriates him. "I'm continually amazed at what people chuck away because they're too rich or too lazy to bother with it themselves and would rather pay us to remove it all," he says. "What I do feel really good about though is the fact that so much of the good stuff that goes in our trucks either goes to charity or ends up being used back in the office or in one of our homes." It took a professional money man - ex-Rothschild corporate financier Jason Mohr, 38, who founded Any Junk? three years ago - to see the true value in waste. While Mohr, too, is more greenback than green and certainly more toff than totter, he says the recycling policy is proving very good for business. "When I set this operation up, there were lots of big companies who concentrated on the corporate clearance business, while the domestic market was more of a one-man-with-a-van who would probably leave mud on your carpets and may possibly case the joint while he was working," he says. "At Any Junk? we tell all our commercial and residential clients that we will be honest, polite and tidy but we will also recycle or refurbish at least 50 per cent of all the junk we collect rather than stick it in landfill; which is not only expensive for us but is also ecologically unsound. At all levels, we are finding that being eco-friendly is very sexy." Well perhaps not all. For ironically, the only truly green activist that Mohr has ever employed was eventually sacked for being too picky. "He made a lot of fuss about the fact that the water was tap, rather than filtered, and was a bit of a pain all round," says his former boss. While jars of loose change are regular finds when the removal team turns up, original Picassos or valuable antique furniture, thus far, are not. But recently, there was a brand new slate pool table, covered with purple baize, which proved too much trouble for its American owner after an unexpected recall home from his employers. Luckily, Mohr was able to take it off his hands as part of an all-in clearance job and he sold it for £700 on eBay. He made a similar sum at Christie's after finding a rare collection of 1930s sporting photographs. While an unwanted football table has been purloined for use by the Any Junk? staff - as have a fridge-freezer, cooker, kettle, crockery and cutlery - the unending supply of fax machines, furniture, filing cabinets, lamps, paintings, books, CD's, carpets and rugs are mere incidentals in the world of reclamation. It is metal - anything from copper saucepans to brass bedsteads - that really brings in the cash and, like any fair employer, Mohr has a system for dealing with the proceeds. "Whether it's money from a scrap metal dealer, a landlord looking to furnish a block of flats with beds and mattresses or staff members and their friends who pay a nominal amount for what they cart away, all the extra cash is shared out between the guys on the trucks because it's them who actually shift all this junk." Although Mohr's men are prepared to don face masks, goggles and gloves to tackle the worst forms of obsessive hoarding by a worryingly large number of residential customers, they draw the line at working for clients whose homes are littered with needles, rats, or animal or human excrement. "We love other people's junk and there's a very good business to be made out of it, but even we have standards," he says. | ['environment/recycling', 'money/money', 'money/work-and-careers', 'environment/series/greenworker', 'environment/environment', 'business/business', 'type/article', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/officehours', 'theguardian/officehours/features'] | environment/recycling | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2008-05-18T23:02:00Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
weather/2009/jul/03/weatherwatch | Weatherwatch | This year Kew Gardens celebrates its 250th anniversary, but quite apart from the plants, Kew became a world centre for studying the weather. "He is the best of Kings, the liberal protector of every art and science," hailed the astronomer William Herschel about George III. Ten years after Kew Gardens was founded, George III had an astronomical observatory built to observe the passage of Venus between the Sun and Earth on 3 June, 1769. The Kew Observatory went on to become important for astronomy and also set London's official time, before the meridian and timekeeping were moved to the Greenwich Observatory. From 1773, Kew became one of the earliest sites for weather measurements. Over the years the observatory increasingly became used for meteorology, as well as observations of the Earth's magnetic field and seismology. It became a national centre for testing and calibrating weather instruments, and launched the invention of automatic weather instruments. In 1867 Kew became the central weather station for the newly formed Meteorological Office. Kew took on research into electrical fields in rain clouds and thunderstorms, the effects of atmospheric pollution, particularly smoke and dust, the formation of mists and fogs, and measuring visibility. But the Kew Observatory became too small and the Met Office moved out in 1980. A small weather station in Kew Gardens remains part of the Met Office network. | ['news/series/weatherwatch', 'uk/weather', 'environment/environment', 'uk/uk', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'profile/jeremy-plester', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2'] | news/series/weatherwatch | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2009-07-02T23:01:00Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
commentisfree/2024/dec/06/natural-climate-disasters-science-research-governments | What is the real toll of natural and climate disasters? Science has staggering new answers | Devi Sridhar | The devastation of hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis or tornadoes is often conveyed by how many people have been injured or killed. And based on this, we assess “how bad was it really?” For example, the recent hurricane season in the Atlantic has cost nearly 300 lives in the US and the Caribbean, with Helene killing at least 228 people. These deaths are usually due to flooding of houses and resultant drownings, injuries caused by the destruction of buildings or loss of emergency medical care. But new research challenges us to see these disasters as broader events that have lasting effects for decades after they hit – whether from stress, financial hardship, pollution or long-term disease. A new paper in Nature magazine develops a methodology to estimate the overall effect of individual tropical cyclones (ie hurricanes and tropical storms) on all causes of mortality across all populations within the US. The authors analysed how mortality rates within a state changed for 20 years after the state was hit by a natural disaster, and took mortality data from 1950 to 2015 to form a longer-term picture. Their main finding is that a large number of premature deaths in the US could be traced back to tropical cyclone events: people who died earlier than would have been expected in the absence of a natural disaster. For example, looking at the direct toll of tropical cyclones shows that each one killed 24 individuals on average. But expanding this to indirect deaths takes the toll to 7,170-11,430 for each event on average. These indirect early deaths are relatively higher in those under the age of 44 and in Black populations. The Nature paper is notable because it’s the first systematic attempt to look across hundreds of what we might call “natural disaster” events and attempt to capture the full impact in terms of deaths over decades. While the study focused on hurricanes and similar storms in the US, that type of methodology could be used to study the long-term health impacts of other disasters, from climate floods to heatwaves, and could even be broadened to understand the indirect health impacts of any kind of societal shock – whether a natural disaster or conflict. For those of us working in global public health, the results aren’t surprising. Individual case studies of natural disasters show the longer-term impact on illness and death. For example, in 2010 a category 7 earthquake hit Haiti. The immediate death toll was estimated to range from 100,000 to 160,000 people. An international response was mounted, but with this came cholera. Genetic sequencing has shown that UN peacekeepers probably brought the disease, and it spread rapidly in conditions of failing water and sanitation systems. The outbreak resulted in nearly 800,000 Haitians being infected with cholera, and more than 9,000 deaths, and it took until February 2022 – nearly 12 years later – for the country to be declared cholera-free. Haiti is facing numerous other long-term consequences from the earthquake, including poor housing and infrastructure, and weak to nonexistent medical systems, all within multiple failed governments. While we know that such dire conditions will affect people’s health, it’s been hard to draw a direct line back to a single event and estimate its impact. Another example is the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, which was triggered by an earthquake in Indonesia. Massive waves up to 100ft high hit nearby countries like Sri Lanka. The direct toll is estimated at roughly 230,000 people, making it the deadliest natural disaster of the 21st century (so far). Reflecting 14 years later on the impact, Mathilda Shannon, studying disaster management at Manchester University, noted the gendered impact of the tsunami, including an increase in girls dropping out of school to take over the roles of their mothers who died in the tsunami, an increase in child marriages as families recover economically, pressure being put on young girls to reproduce to replace children who had died in the tsunami, and increased discrimination against girls. By doing a systematic analysis across hundreds of events, we can complement these case-by-case examples. We’ve referred to these as the “uncounted” dead in outbreaks: those who die not directly because of a disease such as Ebola, but because of the shutdown of health services and public health outreach. Perhaps that concept can also be used to count the true toll of natural disasters. We are used to thinking about natural disasters as events confined in time and space: the direct impact in a certain location of an earthquake happens over minutes, a hurricane over hours. While they might be confined in geography, longitudinal studies can help us understand the full range of effects and what extra efforts might be needed to rebuild. And with the climate crisis increasing the number and severity of disasters like hurricanes and heatwaves, we need to know the true extent of the devastation. Both to alert the public that the danger and harm go on long after the sudden shock of a disaster, and so that governments can plan for the longer-term impacts and develop policies that can save lives in the aftermath. Prof Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'world/natural--disasters', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'world/hurricanes', 'world/earthquakes', 'world/tsunamis', 'world/tornadoes', 'world/extreme-weather', 'world/world', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/comment', 'profile/devi-sridhar', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-opinion'] | world/tornadoes | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2024-12-06T06:00:47Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2018/oct/10/we-label-fridges-to-show-their-environmental-impact-why-not-food | We label fridges to show their environmental impact – why not food? | If you buy a washing machine, a fridge or a television in Europe, it comes with a sticker. Thanks to a 1992 EU directive, all appliances must be labelled with their energy efficiency. So why has our food system – which threatens 10,000 species with extinction, emits about 30% of greenhouse gases, and drives 80% of our nitrogen and phosphorus pollution – only ever had voluntary ecolabels? The appliances ruling had a huge impact; initially, 75% of fridges and freezers were rated G to D (low efficiency), but today 98% are classed A++ or A+++. Worldwide, the energy efficiency of labelled appliances has increased three times faster than appliances without labels. Introducing an equivalent system for food could have an even bigger impact. Mandatory environmental labels would change how we produce and consume in three far-reaching ways. First, producers would have to measure their impacts in a uniform way and be accountable for the results. This would not be expensive: it is free to monitor environmental impacts using digital tools such as Fieldprint and the Cool Farm Tool. Existing on-farm checks for subsidy payments and satellite data can validate farmer information. Olam, one of the world’s largest agricultural companies, already tracks 160,000 growers through its Farmer Information System. Monitoring tools often reveal simple ways to reduce impacts; for example, Costco’s organic egg producers found ways to cut emissions by 13%. And because these labels would be about results, not how the results are achieved, they would support producer choice. For example, adopting organic farming or limiting fertiliser use could reduce impacts and profits for some farms but increase them for others, depending on soil, climate and economic conditions. Providing farmers with tools to monitor impacts is a better approach than requiring they adopt certain practices. In China, a massive programme engaged 21 million smallholders: farmers who monitored and flexibly addressed their impacts reported 12% yield increases and 20% cuts in emissions compared with farmers who did not. Second, mandatory labels support sustainable consumption. Our research found that products that look, taste and cost the same can have dramatically different environmental impacts. A bar of chocolate can create 6.5kg of CO2eq – the same as driving 30 miles in a car – but zero emissions if the cacao trees are growing and storing carbon. High-impact beef producers use 5,700% more land and create 1,000% more emissions than low-impact producers. Labels would allow consumers to tell these products apart. It’s true that existing ecolabels such as Rainforest Alliance and RSPO Sustainable Palm have had limited environmental benefits and made little impact on consumer behaviour. One reason for this is that they are voluntary: producers who are already low-impact certify while high-impact producers go label-free. And voluntary labelling doesn’t leverage consumer behaviour: shoppers are more likely to stop buying brands they perceive as unethical than to start buying those they perceive to be ethical. Further, about 460 of these voluntary labels exist and consumer recognition is generally low. Mandatory labels would highlight both high- and low-impact producers, in the same way, across multiple products. This would encourage more people to think about their choices by exposing them to the facts every time they are in the shops. And this really matters, because we need more serious action than individuals simply choosing a different chocolate bar. Worldwide adoption of plant-based diets would mean we would need 3.1bn hectares less farmland, an area the size of Africa. This would take pressure off the world’s last remaining natural ecosystems and could see vast areas rewilded. Global greenhouse gas emissions would be 7bn tonnes a year lower. As trees regrew on old fields, they would remove an additional 6bn tonnes of CO2 a year from the atmosphere over 20 years. In total, this would mean a 25% reduction in emissions. Plant-based diets would also cut our nitrogen and phosphorus pollution in half and water scarcity by a quarter, and significantly reduce antibiotic and pesticide use. We can also use labels to turn smaller consumer changes into large environmental benefits: because a small number of producers create a disproportionate share of the impact, simply avoiding high-impact producers can make a huge contribution to emission reductions. Third, mandatory environmental labels would create information about the food system, and today this information is scarce. This could underpin better policy, particularly taxes or subsidies linked to actual environmental harm. When choosing energy-efficient appliances, consumers rank environmental issues about equally with future cost savings. In the long term, better financial incentives will be required in food too. These incentives would also encourage producers to innovate and change their practices. This is possible: more than $0.5tn of subsidies is distributed to farmers each year, but little of that money is linked to environmental issues. What we need now is for our leaders to implement mandatory environmental labelling. This would reward sustainable companies, enable sustainable eating and support better policymaking. This relatively simple but powerful change could be instrumental in halting and reversing the escalating degradation of our imperilled planet. • Joseph Poore researches agriculture and the environment at the University of Oxford. | ['environment/food', 'environment/environment', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/meat-industry', 'environment/farming', 'business/fooddrinks', 'type/article', 'tone/comment', 'profile/joseph-poore', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/farming | BIODIVERSITY | 2018-10-10T17:04:12Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2022/aug/22/discovered-in-the-deep-the-worm-that-eats-bones-osedax | Discovered in the deep: the worm that eats bones | The deep sea is home to a group of animals that look like tiny plants. They have no mouths, no stomachs and no anuses. They live inside a tube with a feathery red plume sticking out of one end and a clump of roots at the other. Deep-sea scientists first identified them in 2002, growing like a shaggy carpet on a whale skeleton they encountered by chance, nearly 3,000 metres deep in Monterey Bay, California. A deep-diving robot brought up samples which revealed these were not plants but worms that eat bones, now officially called Osedax – the bone-devourers in Latin. Once scientists knew how to look for them, the search for bone-eating worms – also known as zombie worms – began in earnest. Teams dragged dead, beached whales offshore and sank them into the deep. Landing devices deliver parcels of animal bones to the seabed – pigs, cows, turkeys – then retrieve them months or years later to see what has infested them. “Basically, wherever we put bones, we find [the worms],” says Greg Rouse from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, San Diego, and one of the team who found and described Osedax. More than 30 species from around the world have so far been found. There’s the bone-eating snot flower, Osedax mucofloris, first found off Sweden. Osedax fenrisi was discovered near a hydrothermal vent at a depth of more than 2,000 metres in the Arctic, and named in 2020 after the Norse god Loki’s son, Fenris the wolf. The bone-eating worm ranges in size from the length of a little finger to smaller than an eyelash. Those visible to the naked eye are usually females. Males are mostly tiny and don’t eat bones. They live in “harems” of tens or hundreds inside a female’s mucous tube, and wait for her eggs to emerge so they can immediately fertilise them. All the energy these diminutive males get comes from their mothers via their egg yolks. Once they have run down that energy store, they die. “We called them kamikaze males,” says Robert Vrijenhoek, retired evolutionary biologist from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, California, who was also part of the original Osedax-finding team. One species, Osedax priapus, does things differently. Rouse and his colleagues named it after the ancient Greek fertility god, as depicted in erotic frescoes. These males are a similar size to the females and have a long, extensible trunk which they use to reach across the bone. “I call this roaming the bone,” says Rouse. When they find females, these males deliver sperm stored inside their head. To feed, Osedax etch holes in bones by producing acid in the same way that humans produce stomach acid. Palaeontologists, in a quest to discover when Osedax worms evolved, have found telltale holes punched in the fossilised bones of a 100-million-year-old plesiosaur, one of the giant marine reptiles that once roamed the ocean. Genetic studies back up the theory that Osedax have been around since at least the Cretaceous period, long before there were whale skeletons around to feast on. Despite all the new species being found, nobody has yet tracked down any Osedax larvae. It’s not clear how the worms find bones. It is believed they may drift around until they locate a skeleton, perhaps guided by chemicals wafting through the water. Studies of Osedax DNA indicate that these worms live in huge, interconnected populations, possibly making stepping stones of whale skeletons and other large vertebrates stripped bare by scavengers. “Osedax probably just hop, skip and jump all the way across the ocean,” says Vrijenhoek. | ['environment/series/discovered-in-the-deep', 'environment/series/seascape-the-state-of-our-oceans', 'environment/environment', 'environment/oceans', 'environment/marine-life', 'environment/wildlife', 'global-development/global-development', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/helen-scales', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/global-development'] | environment/wildlife | BIODIVERSITY | 2022-08-22T05:00:29Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
world/2017/aug/30/third-wwii-bomb-bristol-channel-near-hinkley-point-nuclear | Third WWII bomb found in Bristol Channel near Hinkley Point | A half-mile (1km) exclusion zone has been set up in the Bristol Channel near the Hinkley Point nuclear power stations after a third unexploded second world war bomb was discovered in as many weeks. Bomb disposal experts will carry out a controlled explosion on the 250lb (113kg) ordnance on Wednesday, two miles north-west of the power plants. HM Coastguard has set up an exclusion zone around the unexploded device and warned ships to avoid the area. Ieuan Williams, a senior maritime operations officer at HM Coastguard, said: “The explosive ordnance disposal team plans to detonate the ordnance at 6pm today. Until that time we have taken measures to … clear the area of vessels to keep the public safe.” The bomb was reported in the early hours of Wednesday by a diving team from the Hinkley Point plant. They were clearing the seabed for intake and outtake pipes for cooling water for the reactors on the Hinkley Point C plant. It is the third suspected second world war bomb to be found in the Bristol Channel in the past three weeks. On 8 August, a 500lb device was discovered 2.5 miles from the coast. On 16 August, a 250lb bomb was found less than half a mile from the power station. Both were destroyed in controlled explosions. Hinkley Point, near Bridgwater in Somerset, houses two power nuclear power stations run by the French company EDF: Hinkley Point B, scheduled to be decommissioned in 2023; and Hinkley Point A, which closed in 2000. Hinkley Point C will be the UK’s first new nuclear plant for more than two decades. David Eccles, EDF’s head of stakeholder engagement for the project, said: “It is normal practice to check the seabed before construction activity starts on any marine project. “The safety of the public and our workforce is our priority, and we have a team of 10 divers checking the seabed ahead of the construction of the main cooling water tunnels and associated seabed structures for Hinkley Point C.” An EDF source conceded that divers could find more unexploded ordnance before the exercise to clear the area was completed, as the channel was used as a former army training range. The project to clear the seabed is expected to take several more weeks. | ['world/secondworldwar', 'world/world', 'uk-news/hinkley-point-c', 'uk/uk', 'uk/bristol', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'environment/energy', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/matthewweaver', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2017-08-30T14:37:08Z | true | ENERGY |
commentisfree/2019/sep/03/how-much-destruction-is-needed-for-us-to-take-climate-change-seriously | How much destruction is needed for us to take climate change seriously? | News of Hurricane Dorian’s first casualty came early on Monday morning from the Bahamas Press. A seven-year old boy named Lachino Mcintosh drowned as his family attempted to find safer ground than their home on the Abaco islands. Dorian is reportedly the strongest hurricane to have ever hit the Bahamas and the second most powerful Atlantic storm on record. Five deaths have been reported so far, and more are likely. The Bahamian MP and minister of foreign affairs, the Honorable Darren Henfield, offered a bleak update form the area he represents to reporters: “We have reports of casualties, we have reports of bodies being seen.” Rising temperatures don’t make hurricanes more frequent, but they do help make them more devastating. Each of the last five years have seen Category 5 storms pass through the Atlantic, brewed over hotter than usual waters. How many more people have to die before political leaders treat climate change like the global catastrophe it is? Donald Trump has been rightly criticized for golfing as Dorian devastated the Bahamas and drifted toward the US. But it’s as good a metaphor as any for the way elites across political lines have approached the crisis they have helped create and continue to fuel. One of the cruelest realities of global warming is that the people whohave done the least to contribute to it tend to be among the first and worst hit. Nations like the United States have amassed tremendous wealth both by burning fossil fuels and exploiting land and labor from the places most threatened by rising temperatures through slavery, colonialism and their living legacies. Similar inequalities play out within nations, including in the US, where most people’s own carbon footprints are dwarfed by those of the billionaires and fossil fuel executives best equipped to insulate themselves from heavy weather. Internationally, climate-vulnerable countries have for decades made the case that more ambition is needed, focusing policymakers’ concerns on to issues of equity. The Bahamas is part of a group within the UN known as the Alliance of Small Island States (Aosis), comprising countries already being hammered by climate impacts who have got comparatively few financial resources to deal with them. The Aosis chair and Maldives energy minister, Thoriq Ibrahim, argued at COP 24 last year that it would “be suicide not to use every lever of power we have to demand what is fair and just: the support we need to manage a crisis that has been thrust upon us”. That support has not been forthcoming. In its special report released last year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that keeping warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius – a level already dangerous for low-lying states – would require an annual investment in decarbonization of $3tn through 2050. And that’s just to mitigate warming. Trillions more will be required to adapt to the climate impacts already locked in, ensuring that when hurricanes like Dorian do hit they do less damage. Repairing the loss and damage of storms and other disasters is expected to cost $300bn a year by 2030, jumping to $1.2tn a year by 2060. As the world’s largest historical emitter of greenhouse gases and its biggest economy, the United States has both the ability and an outsized responsibility to decarbonize rapidly and make it possible for countries do the same – a climate debt. Back in 2009, industrialized nations pledged to mobilize $100bn toward mitigation and adaptation efforts by 2020, a response to persistent demands from climate justice organizers. As of last September, only $3.5bn had actually been allocated to the fund and just $10.3bn pledged to the multilateral body that’s supposed to be the main vehicle for dispersing that money, the Green Climate Fund (GCF). Before he left office, Obama promised $3bn toward the GCF. Just $1bn of that ever materialized before Trump withdrew that vow. That’s a fraction of the estimated $15bn a year the federal government spends subsidizing fossil fuel development. At the end of August, the US Import-Export Bank approved $5bn in financing for a natural gas project in Mozambique. We have more than enough money to fight the climate crisis, at home and abroad. It’s just going to all the wrong places. Greenhouse gases don’t fit neatly within borders. Efforts to curb them can’t either. Like other wealthy countries, the US has a responsibility to pay its fair share for the damage it’s caused to the planet – not through predatory loans or disastrously managed charity but through solidarity. Bernie Sanders’ plan for a Green New Deal pledges $200bn to the GCF, makes climate a centerpiece of American trade and foreign policy and ends fossil fuel financing through institutions like the Import-Export Bank. An extensive, recently released blueprint of a Green New Deal for Europe lays out a rapid and just transition away from fossil fuels, accounting for the emissions rich countries export abroad through trade and the need for a thoroughly democratic response to the climate crisis that doesn’t let the governments who have engineered this crisis call all the shots on how the world handles it. It’ll be tempting, as Dorian drifts toward Florida, for observers in the US to forget the death and destruction it has left behind elsewhere. That would be a mistake. Jeff Bezos’s escape plans notwithstanding, we’re all stuck on this warming planet together. Whether human civilization stays intact amid all this worsening weather depends on recognizing our shared humanity – and designing policy accordingly. Platitudes for the planet won’t cut it. Kate Aronoff is a freelance journalist covering climate change and US politics | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'world/hurricane-dorian', 'us-news/us-news', 'world/extreme-weather', 'world/natural-disasters', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'tone/comment', 'profile/kate-aronoff', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-opinion'] | world/hurricane-dorian | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2019-09-03T11:54:48Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
lifeandstyle/2024/nov/17/why-we-just-cant-wait-to-stop-procrastinating | Why we just can’t wait to stop procrastinating | Brief letters | I meant to write this yesterday but didn’t get round to it (Deadlines may be vital, but so is procrastination. I’ll tell you why … soon, 13 November). I was too busy rereading Samuel Johnson – a famous procrastinator. Never one to mince his words, he nails it in his Rambler essay of 1751: “Idleness never can secure tranquillity; the call of reason and of conscience will pierce the closest pavilion of the sluggard, and, though it may not have force to drive him from his down, will be loud enough to hinder him from sleep.” Dorothy Clague Richmond, North Yorkshire • Our chancellor is taking a gamble (Rules imposed after financial crisis have ‘gone too far’, Reeves tells City bankers, 14 November). Who will pay when it goes pear-shaped again? Kay S Powell Llandaff, Cardiff • We planted our live Christmas tree in the garden in January 18 years ago (Letters, 11 November). It’s now six metres tall and still growing. Decking it with lights each year requires bravery, ingenuity and very tall step ladders. Paul Hanbury Ashbourne, Derbyshire • With regard to the recent letters (14 November) about weather forecasters, my particular gripe is when they describe an average temperature as where the temperature “should be” – as if we should all be the average height and weight. Ian Wishart Chislehurst, Kent • No X please, we’re British (Guardian will no longer post on Elon Musk’s X from its official accounts, 13 November). Neil Heydon-Dumbleton Pathhead, Midlothian • Do you have a photograph you’d like to share with Guardian readers? If so, please click here to upload it. A selection will be published in our Readers’ best photographs galleries and in the print edition on Saturdays. | ['lifeandstyle/time-management', 'books/samueljohnson', 'politics/rachel-reeves', 'politics/labour', 'politics/politics', 'business/banking', 'lifeandstyle/christmas', 'environment/forests', 'uk/weather', 'technology/twitter', 'technology/elon-musk', 'uk/uk', 'commentisfree/series/brief-letters', 'type/article', 'tone/letters', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/letters', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2024-11-17T16:45:23Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
sustainable-business/coop-shared-ownership-climate-change-initiatives | The Co-operative - secret of success lies in shared ownership | Climate change has been the number one environmental priority for the Co-operative for the last five years. Since then, its operational greenhouse gas emissions have fallen in absolute terms by 21.5%, despite a substantial increase in turnover. But concerns about carbon go back further still. As an industrial and provident society owned and democratically-controlled by its 5.5 million members, the seeds of its strategy began in 1998. It was then that the Co-operative Bank turned down some substantial investment opportunities and imposed a ban on the financing of fossil fuel extraction. It also began reporting emissions and financing renewable energy projects – well ahead of rivals. The approach has been sustainability-led and very much focused on step-by-step innovation. Since 2005, over 98% of electricity supplied to the business has been exclusively from wind and hydropower. In 2006, the Co-op opened its first wind farm and commissioned the UK's largest photovoltaic solar system. Another wind farm is now being planning and wind, biomass and solar projects are in development, along with a new commitment to invest £1bn in renewable energy in the UK. In 2007, Co-operative Food became the first major food retailer to commit to only stocking white goods with an energy rating of at least an 'A' rating or recommended by the Energy Savings Trust. It successfully phased out tungsten light bulbs in 2009. Having pioneered carbon offset, the Co-op now offsets one tonne of CO2 for every mortgage it has held since 2000 and aims to be carbon neutral by 2012. In keeping with its values as a member-owned business, the Co-op also takes climate change strategy out into the community. Through a £4m green schools programme, it has installed solar panels, small wind turbines, biomass boilers and ground source heat pumps in 185 schools. It also helps schools reduce their carbon footprint by supporting more than 2,000 children to walk to school, saving around 180,000 car journeys every year. Having established an enterprise hub to help the growth and development of new co-operatives, the Co-op is now investing £1m to support community renewables and energy efficiency. As it grows, it's commitment to sustainability remains as strong as ever. The acquisition of Somerfield and its merger with Britannia in 2009 did not, for instance, lead to lower carbon reduction targets. If anything, it has led to the largest extension of sustainability policies undertaken on UK high streets. For example, each of its 3,000 food stores now has a dedicated energy champion. A "warts and all" approach to sustainability reporting is regarded as key to progress, and this has included carbon disclosure for the last decade. The future will be challenging, if only because the Co-op's 2011 ethical operating plan sets tougher targets. Since 2006 the aim has been for 25% of electricity used to be generated from inside the business. Meanwhile, the Co-op is determined to influence public policy and continues to work with NGOs such as the World Wildlife Fund and Friends of the Earth. A new head office, opening in 2012, will be given a Breeam "outstanding" rating. Lynn Beavis is part of the wordworks network 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/sustainable-business', 'tone/resource', 'sustainable-business/best-practice-exchange/series/gsba-2011', 'sustainable-business/best-practice-exchange/series/gsba-carbon', 'sustainable-business/series/awards-2011-carbon', 'type/article'] | sustainable-business/series/awards-2011-carbon | EMISSIONS | 2011-05-26T10:00:00Z | true | EMISSIONS |
australia-news/2024/apr/10/great-barrier-reef-discovery-overturns-belief-aboriginal-australians-did-not-make-pottery | Great Barrier Reef discovery overturns belief Aboriginal Australians did not make pottery, archaeologists say | Groundbreaking archaeological research may have upended the longstanding belief that Aboriginal Australians did not make pottery. A paper published in the Quaternary Science Reviews on Wednesday details the finding of 82 pottery pieces from a single dig site on a Great Barrier Reef island, dates them at between 3,000 and 2,000 years old and determines that the pots were most likely made by Aboriginal people using locally sourced clay and temper. The pieces are the oldest securely dated pottery discovered in Australia and weave Indigenous Australians into an ocean-going network of people in Papua New Guinea, the Torres Strait and Pacific Islands who formed a “community of cultures across the Coral Sea”, the paper finds. Fragments of pottery have also been found on the Torres Strait. The archaeologists say the finds open “a new chapter in Australian, Melanesian and Pacific archaeology”. The Walmbaar Aboriginal Corporation chair, Kenneth McLean, is a Dingaal clan member and traditional owner of the group of islands on which the pottery was unearthed. “For our elders Jiigurru was always a sacred place,” McLean said. “It was always a place of trading and ceremony.” The James Cook University distinguished professor Sean Ulm, who co-led the dig alongside Monash University’s Prof Ian McNiven and with the Dingaal and Ngurrumungu communities, says the finds not only overturn notions about Aboriginal people and pottery but a number of “very common tropes” about Indigenous Australians. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup One is that they were all isolated from the rest of the world. Another related to the simplicity of Aboriginal watercraft. The chain of islands of Jiigurru – of which the 10 sq km Lizard Island is the largest – surround a lagoon about 33km off Cape Flattery. The 2.4-metre deep dig unearthed evidence of continuous occupation going back more than 6,000 years on the islands, cut off from the mainland by sea level rise at least 10,000 years ago. McLean believes that his ancestors would have used the clay pots to carry resources such as water and shellfish on the long canoe voyages to the islands. “Holding the pieces of pottery that were locally made, on country, that was feeling my ancestors’ presence,” he said. “It was an emotional moment, holding something that was ancient.” Much remains to be learned about how the pots were made and appeared. The average size of the sherds is less than 2cm – too small and fragmented to reveal much of their original form and function. So momentous a story told by such tiny pieces of worked earth explains why the research took years to reach publication, Ulm says. The dig began in mid 2017 and ended 14 months later. But its findings would challenge a view widely held among academics since fragments of pottery were first spotted on Jiigurru by a holidaying archeologist from New Zealand while he snorkelled the shallow lagoon in 2006. Attempts to date those pottery pieces were inconclusive, though they were interpreted by many as direct evidence of the presence of Lapita people in Australia. From the islands of eastern Papua New Guinea and over the span of a few centuries, the Lapita and their descendants settled vast swathes of the remote Oceania, taking pigs, dogs and chickens, taro and breadfruit, and their distinctive pottery to the Solomon Islands and eastwards across the Pacific into Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji, Tonga and Samoa. Ulm’s paper describes it as “one of humanity’s great maritime settlement accomplishments”. But when Ulm and his colleagues went looking for more pottery pieces using the kind of methodical dig that could shed light on who made the Jiigurru pottery and when, they found none of the telltale signs – chicken bones or traces of banana – that would suggest Lapita occupation. Instead the shellfish and fish bones of the midden site spoke of continuous Indigenous occupation. And none of the ceramic sherds bore the hallmark designs of Lapita potters. The find begs the question of why pottery pieces weren’t found on the site after about 2,000 years ago, though seasonal occupation continued. That, Ulm says, is a question which cannot be answered from one dig site and will require more research to unravel. McLean, too, hopes the research will encourage further collaboration between Indigenous communities and archeologists that will “find more of the ancient artefacts that could rewrite Australia’s ancient history”. University of Southern Queensland professor, Bryce Barker, who was not involved in the study, says it “certainly is very significant” and an “exemplary piece of research”. “The science in that paper is exemplary – you can’t fault the science,” he said. “I don’t think there is any question that there is pottery there at 3,000.” But the claim that Aboriginal people made the pottery, he said, was “a little bit contentious”. “Perhaps the more parsimonious explanation for why that pottery is on Lizard Island is that it is part of that trade and interaction with those people from the north, rather than it being something that Aboriginal people manufactured,” he said. The researchers involved argue that the ancient pottery of the Great Barrier Reef “points to the likelihood” of more remains, perhaps including Lapita, scattered about “the vast and archaeologically unknown north-east Queensland coastline”. “To me, that’s what’s exciting about the find, that it’s a little glimpse into the extraordinary knowledge that we are yet to unfold about the deep history of this country,” Ulm said. “If one excavation of one metre by one metre can tell us all these ‘new things’, what does the rest of the coastline have to teach us?” | ['australia-news/indigenous-australians', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'australia-news/queensland', 'world/world', 'science/archaeology', 'science/science', 'environment/great-barrier-reef', 'environment/environment', 'artanddesign/ceramics', 'campaign/email/afternoon-update', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/joe-hinchliffe', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/great-barrier-reef | BIODIVERSITY | 2024-04-09T20:00:28Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2019/dec/25/flood-defence-strategy-needs-a-radical-rethink | Flood defence strategy needs a radical rethink | Letters | The call by leaders from the north and Midlands for an overhaul of how flood defence activity is funded and organised (Report, 23 December) will strike a chord with many across the country. Currently, 1m homes in the UK have a higher than 1% chance of flooding in any given year, and recent months have shown the devastating impact of flooding on households and businesses. Looking beyond what the effective emergency response is, we must do more to plan how to adapt to climate change and not continue with the current cycle of reactive funding that typically follows floods. Our National Infrastructure Assessment, published in July 2018, provides a blueprint for a stable, long-term funding programme. The government’s commitment to increase funding by £4bn over five years is a good start, but we need to be clear about what we want to achieve. To this end, the commission has recommended a nationwide flood resilience standard by 2050, to reduce the likelihood of flooding across the country. Such an approach would avoid the present flood resilience postcode lottery and empower local communities to engage in the decision-making process on what forms of mitigation and adaptation work best in their particular context. The government’s national infrastructure strategy is to be published with the next budget. We call on ministers to use this opportunity to endorse these proposals and ensure the UK is better protected against flood risks. Kate Barker Commissioner, National Infrastructure Commission • In recent years I have carried out research in New Orleans (post-Hurricane Katrina) and on the Somerset Levels (post-2014), and since then I have read many reports on behalf of residents who have experienced the horrors of being flooded. It is with dismay that I find a simple fundamental fact about rivers being consistently ignored: rivers love to move and wander. At times, and in certain places, they also love to flood. A beautiful benefit we gain from that is the wonderful landscapes we like to live among or visit, and to say things such as “Wow! Isn’t that a beautiful sight to behold?” Another benefit is the dispersion of fluvial silts on to agricultural land and the dispersion of essential vegetative seed life. Once we begin to try to control rivers, telling them where we think they should go and restrain their natural course, we are asking for catastrophe – or at least catastrophe for succeeding generations. So let me add my voice to a growing body of research that calls for the safest and cheapest flood defence policy: namely to respect rainfalls’ and rivers’ natural instincts, to stop building on floodplains, to let homes have gardens as soakaways and to exercise more wisdom and less hubris. In short, cut out political short-termism, curtail the construction industry’s lust for building wherever it can find space, listen to what the climate is screaming at us and implement radical changes to flood prevention that will save lives and livelihoods for generations to come. Dr Roger Abbott Senior research associate in natural disasters, Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, Cambridge • I think Boris Johnson is right not to have visited areas affected by floods – the residents have suffered enough already (PM criticised for failing to visit regions hit by flooding, 24 December). Pete Dorey Bath, Somerset • 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/flooding', 'world/natural-disasters', 'environment/environment', 'tone/letters', 'politics/boris-johnson', 'politics/politics', 'society/emergencyplanning', 'society/society', 'society/localgovernment', 'type/article', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/letters', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/flooding | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2019-12-25T17:15:47Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2015/aug/18/coalition-to-remove-green-groups-right-to-challenge-after-carmichael-setback | Coalition to restrict green groups' right to challenge after Carmichael setback | The government will remove the right of most environmental organisations to challenge developments under federal laws unless they can show they are “directly affected” – a direct response to the federal court decision this month on Adani’s Carmichael coalmine. Attorney general George Brandis took the plan to cabinet “under the line” on Monday and it was approved by the Coalition party room on Tuesday, where Tony Abbott said he wanted to use the issue to prove Labor was “torn between workers and greens”, whereas the Coalition was always on the side of the “hard-working and decent” workers. Brandis said the government would seek to repeal section 487 (2) of the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Act and “return to the common law”. The government says “vigilante” green groups have been “sabotaging” development, jobs and growth by “lawfare” – unfair and improper use of the courts. “Section 487 of the EPBC Act provides a red carpet for radical activists who have a political, but not a legal interest, in a development to use aggressive litigation tactics to disrupt and sabotage important projects,” Brandis said in a statement, promising to take the amendments to parliament by the end of the week. “The activists themselves have declared that that is their objective – to use the courts not for the proper purpose of resolving a dispute between citizens, but for a collateral political purpose of bringing developments to a standstill, and sacrificing the jobs of tens of thousands of Australians in the process,” Brandis said. “It is now for the federal Labor party to show that it cares more about jobs than inner-city greens.” Speaking during question time, Abbott said he wanted “the highest environmental standards to apply to investments in this country” but “some green groups are doing their best to sabotage investment and jobs.” He said the Carmichael mine was “good for jobs, good for global development and good for the environment because Australian coal is better than the alternatives”. Sections 487 and 488 extend the meaning of the term “person aggrieved” – and therefore able to take action – to include “individuals and organisations engaged in the protection, conservation or research into the environment within Australia and its territories”. Brandis said the current act allowed environmental groups based anywhere in the country to take legal action. Asked who would have standing to take legal action in the interests of an endangered species once the legislation had changed, he said that would be determined by the normal provisions of the common law. Abbott repeated the claim that the Adani mine would bring 10,000 jobs to Queensland even though the company’s own financial officer told a court this was not true and only 1,464 jobs would be created. He told his party room “green activists” were “sabotaging” projects that could be bringing growth and jobs to Australia. The approval of the $16bn Carmichael mine, to be located in Queensland’s Galilee Basin region, was set aside earlier this month following a legal challenge by the Mackay Conservation Group. The federal environment department said it would take six to eight weeks to reassess the project after it emerged the environment minister, Greg Hunt, had not properly considered the mine’s impact on two vulnerable species – the yakka skink and the ornamental snake. The Queensland Resources Council said the situation was “preposterous” and called on the government to “step up and close the loopholes” that allowed activists to stymie large mining projects. Initially the government was considering ways to make the environment minister immune from legal challenges if he or she ignored conservation advice provided by the department, but has now settled on restrictions to the groups that can bring legal action. Separate amendments to the EPBC Act have been held up in the Senate since last year. The government’s plan was on Tuesday attacked by farm groups protesting against coalmines and CSG wells. “If George Brandis has his way, local landcare groups like ours would have no right to challenge the federal approval of a devastating coalmine like Shenhua,” said Nicky Chirlian, a member of the Upper Mooki Landcare Group challenging the NSW approval of the Shenhua Watermark coalmine. “I won’t be directly affected by the Shenhua mine, but my regional environment and my entire community will be. If these changes go ahead, it will undermine basic justice and fairness for rural communities who are facing off against the biggest mining companies in the world” she said. “The Carmichael mine was rejected because the minister made a mistake. Now the government are using this error to cut Australians’ rights to protect the environment,” said Greenpeace chief executive David Ritter. “Australia’s environment laws aren’t very restrictive; they allow you to mine coal in prime farm land and are even failing to protect world heritage areas like the Great Barrier Reef … but today the government have announced that they are going to gut them to prevent local communities from objecting to mega mines like the Carmichael coal mine in Queensland. “They’re seeking to legislate special treatment and fast tracking for an industry in decline that causes significant environmental and economic damage,” Ritter said. The Minerals Council of Australia has attacked the Adani decision in similar terms to the government. “The gaming of the environmental approvals processes by a handful of protest groups now borders on the farcical. The inevitable dividend from continuing green sabotage is fewer jobs, lower real wages and lower living standards,” chief executive Brendan Pearson said. | ['environment/carmichael-coalmine', 'australia-news/queensland', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/mining', 'environment/environment', 'australia-news/george-brandis', 'environment/coal', 'australia-news/australian-politics', 'australia-news/coalition', 'law/law-australia', 'business/adani-group', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/lenore-taylor'] | environment/coal | ENERGY | 2015-08-18T05:30:25Z | true | ENERGY |
society/2022/feb/17/double-trouble-with-insulation-in-older-homes | Double trouble with insulation in older homes | Letters | While welcoming the Royal Institute of British Architects’ call for the insulation of 3.3m interwar houses (Report, 11 February), I am reflecting on the refusal of local planning officers to agree to effective measures to reduce the carbon footprint of my “interwar” property, although in this case the wars involved were the Seven Years and Napoleonic wars. There are over 370,000 listed buildings in the UK, listed not by worth but by age. Despite my repeated efforts to replace old and inefficient sash windows with almost identical but double-glazed ones, planners refuse to contemplate such works, recommending instead that thick curtains should suffice. Having already fitted such drapes, I am reluctant to keep them drawn for 24 hours a day, so would call upon Riba to include listed homes to its worthy campaign. Colin Burke Cartmel, Cumbria • I am a retired architect with some experience of dealing with historic buildings. Your article had no reference to the potential problems that retrofitting insulation can have, not only on the building itself, but also, with external insulation, on the character of the neighbourhood. It is essential that we tackle the climate crisis, but the solution of external wall insulation should be treated with caution. There are many papers which advise that retrofitting wall insulation can add problems rather than solve them, particularly with resulting damp. Loft insulation, double glazing and draughtproofing are preferable. Phil Ebbrell Mold, Flintshire • I was pleased that you included low-carbon heating in the excellent graphic on how to insulate and decarbonise an interwar home accompanying your report. Last October, I had my domestic gas boiler removed and installed an air-source heat pump, and am basking in the results. I invited interested parties to view it and have been amazed at the urban myths related by visitors, such as that they are noisy, or are unsuitable for solid-walled houses, or that you will need all your central heating ripped out and replaced. Anyone who wishes to view one in operation can contact me through Bath and West Community Energy. David Symington Bath • Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication. | ['society/housing', 'environment/energyefficiency', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/energy', 'environment/environment', 'environment/ethical-living', 'type/article', 'tone/letters', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/letters', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/energy | ENERGY | 2022-02-17T18:15:08Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/article/2024/jul/14/adanis-queensland-coalmine-a-threat-to-important-wetland-indigenous-groups-and-scientists-say | Adani’s Queensland coalmine a threat to important wetland, Indigenous groups and scientists say | There is growing concern that a culturally significant and nationally important wetland is under threat from Adani’s controversial coalmine in Queensland, with an Indigenous group demanding the government investigate alleged breaches of the conditions that protect the site. Scientists say drops in water levels in bores around the Doongmabulla Springs have been detected hundreds of times since mining started, and allege hydrocarbons associated with coal have been found in bores and the springs themselves. Adani rejected the claims, saying the springs had not been damaged by the Carmichael coalmine, operated by Bravus – a subsidiary of the Indian-owned Adani Group – and the company was fully compliant with environmental conditions. The springs, located mostly on a nature refuge, are a nationally important wetland and a culturally important site for Wangan and Jagalingou people, and their protection was a condition of the project’s 2016 federal approval by the then environment minister, Greg Hunt. In a letter sent this week to the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, and seen by Guardian Australia, the Wangan and Jagalingou man Adrian Burragubba wrote the minister should investigate concerns primarily around the health of the springs, the levels of groundwater and the models used to predict how mining might affect the site’s underground water. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Burragubba, who has long campaigned against the mine, said the springs, lagoon and a nearby ochre deposit were a sacred place for Indigenous ceremonies. “We go to reconnect with our ancestors and to hand on the stories of how we began,” he said. “The [state] government’s job is to make sure our human rights are not limited.” Burragubba’s Nagana Yarrbayn Cultural Custodians group is in Queensland’s supreme court trying to force the state government to act on their warnings about risks to the springs. Part of the push for a judicial review argues the group’s human rights are being restricted. The group says it wrote to the state government in November last year outlining the findings of reports from two scientists it had commissioned, as well as a report from CSIRO. One of those scientists, Prof Matthew Currell, a hydrogeologist and groundwater expert at Griffith University who is involved in ongoing research into the health of the springs, wrote there had been “marked increases” in detections of hydrocarbons in bore water sampling since mining started. Currell told the Guardian the springs had been in existence for thousands, if not millions, of years but alleged that now “hundreds of instances” where the levels of groundwater and the water quality had exceeded trigger values. “The concern is that the Carmichael mine is only 10 kilometres from the springs and they have been pumping significant volumes of groundwater. “I believe the springs are still in good health, but the levels occurring in bores between the mine and the springs have seen them going below the triggers. That’s a warning sign that we might not have too long. It’s a matter of time before we see impacts on the springs themselves.” He alleged hydrocarbons often associated with coal had been detected in bores and in the springs. “That points to a potential impact from mining and it needs to be urgently explained,” he said. A 2023 CSIRO review of the mine’s groundwater modelling and reporting said “confidence in the range of predicted impacts is low” and the company’s groundwater modelling report failed to comply with one of the conditions of its state environmental approval. Questions to Plibersek’s office were forwarded to the environment department, where a spokesperson said: “The department is aware of the matter and is making inquiries.” But a statement from Bravus said the company “wholly rejects the incorrect claims” of the scientists and said no damage had occurred to the springs. The mine was fully compliant with all state and federal obligations, it added. “Our groundwater program uses highly sensitive early warning triggers to detect small changes in groundwater levels that are then investigated. These triggers are not exceedances, and none have been related to mining activity. “Mischievous claims of hydrocarbons in the springs are false. Any trace elements detected are due to tiny amounts of drilling lubricants from when the monitoring borehole was dug. This is the same process used to drill any domestic water bore and it is not harmful to the environment.” In a stement the Department of Environment, Science and Innovation said groundwater drawdown thresholds acted as an early warning system and that there was “no evidence that mining activities are impacting the Doongmabulla Springs Complex at this time.” The department had reviewed Adani’s reports from each groundwater trigger incident and those reports “confirm it has not been caused by mining, but rather by dry seasonal conditions, landholder pumping nearby, or natural variation.” The department had filed an application to stay or dismiss the judicial review application over the department’s decision not to exercise power under the Environmental Protection Act 1994. But the statement said the department had in March 2023 issued an order preventing Adani from starting underground mining until the company had filed a second groundwater report, after the first was “rejected because DESI has low confidence in the predictions made in the report.” Adani has appealed that order, the statement said, but the company had agreed to install more monitoring bores and do more groundwater modelling work “to identify any short-term drawdown impacts”. | ['environment/carmichael-coalmine', 'australia-news/queensland', 'business/adani-group', 'environment/environment', 'australia-news/tanya-plibersek', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'campaign/email/afternoon-update', 'australia-news/indigenous-australians', 'environment/coal', 'environment/mining', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/graham-readfearn', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/mining | ENERGY | 2024-07-13T20:00:30Z | true | ENERGY |
world/2014/nov/02/g20-australia-makes-token-concession-on-climate-change-after-us-lobbying | G20: Australia makes token concession on climate change after US lobbying | Australia has reluctantly conceded that climate change can be included in a single brief paragraph of the G20 leaders’ communique after heavy lobbying by the US and European nations. The government had resisted any discussion of climate at the Brisbane meeting on the grounds that the G20 is primarily an economic forum, but other nations argued leaders’ agreements at meetings like the G20 are crucial to build momentum towards a successful international deal at the United Nations conference on climate change in Paris next year. The final wording of the leaders’ statement after the meeting is still being finalised but it is believed to simply recommit to addressing climate change through UN processes. The outcome – and Australia’s resistance – have been attacked by the leading climate economist Lord Nicholas Stern, who has written for Guardian Australia that the latest “synthesis” report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) should be “high on the agenda” for the G20 meeting. “The G20 is the most effective forum for the discussion of the growth story of the future, the transition to the low-carbon economy. Yet the local politics of a country of less than 25 million is being allowed to prevent essential strategic discussions of an issue that is of fundamental importance to the prosperity and well-being of the world’s population of 7 billion people,” he writes. Australia has agreed the G20 should discuss climate-related issues as part of its deliberations on energy efficiency, but this also appears to be wrapped up in a general commitment that countries consider taking action in the future on some of a long list of areas where energy efficiency improvements might be made. Australia is understood to be taking the “lead” at the talks on moves for better energy efficiency in building standards – something Australia may achieve with funding from its new $2.5bn Direct Action climate scheme. The US is “leading” on improvements in heavy vehicle emission standards, and other nations on improvements in the efficiency of household appliances and devices like computers and phones. None of the discussions are likely to require G20 nations to commit to anything, but the Australian government has also been considering new undertakings on light vehicle emission standards – especially after domestic car production ceases, when it would not have any impact on Australian manufacturing. Progress on implementing the G20 leaders’ decision in September 2009 to “rationalise and phase out over the medium term inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption” has also been slow. A proposal for countries to voluntarily submit their progress towards this goal for “peer review” has been met with fierce resistance. In a special “message” about the G20 release on Sunday, Tony Abbott also did not mention climate change. “The G20 focus will be on the fundamentals of the economy: trade, infrastructure, tax and banking. Our discussions will include the $1trn worldwide infrastructure gap, reducing tax avoidance by global companies and increasing participation in the workforce. “While a stronger economy won’t solve every problem, it will make almost every problem easier to tackle.” Abbott has previously insisted it is important to keep a clear and narrow focus for the G20 agenda “to ensure that these international meetings don’t cover all subjects and illuminate none”. US president Barack Obama’s international adviser, Caroline Atkinson, has insisted publicly that leaders around the table at the G20 will raise climate change. | ['world/g20-brisbane-2014', 'world/g20', 'environment/stern', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/ipcc', 'world/unitednations', 'environment/energyefficiency', 'australia-news/tony-abbott', 'environment/environment', 'environment/global-climate-talks', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/lenore-taylor'] | environment/global-climate-talks | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2014-11-02T04:44:16Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
environment/2018/may/01/melbournes-water-supply-at-risk-due-to-collapse-of-forests-caused-by-logging | Melbourne's water supply at risk due to 'collapse' of forests caused by logging | Melbourne’s water supply is at risk because decades of logging and forest loss from large bushfires has triggered the imminent collapse of the mountain ash forests in Victoria’s central highlands, ecologists have said. The Victorian government was warned of the likelihood of ecosystem collapse by Australian National University researches in 2015. New research led by Prof David Lindenmayer of ANU, published in PNAS journal on Tuesday, has found the ecosystem has already begun to undergo a “hidden collapse”. Sign up to receive the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning A hidden collapse meant that while the ecosystem may appear superficially intact, the lag time in recovering old-growth mountain ash forests — the linchpin in preserving mountain ash ecosystems — “means that collapse is almost inevitable”. Even if there were no additional logging and no significant bushfires for the next 50 years, modelling by Lindenmayer and his co-author, Chloe Sato, showed the number of hollow-bearing trees in 2067 would be at best less than 10% than the number of hollow-bearing trees in 1997. The number of hollow-bearing trees had already more than halved since 1997, the modelling showed, while numbers of greater glider had declined 65% and numbers of critically endangered Leadbeater’s possum had halved. Guardian Australia revealed this month that the Victorian forest agency VicForests had begun logging Barjag Flat, a nationally significant hotspot for greater gliders. Lindenmayer said if drastic measures were not immediately taken to halt or greatly reduce native logging operations in mountain ash forests, the forest may not be able to recover from the level of projected collapse in 2067 and would instead be replaced by an open acacia woodland. Either option — a young and growing mountain ash forest or an acacia woodland — would be potentially disastrous for Melbourne’s water supply, he said. The majority of Melbourne’s water catchments are in mountain ash forests, which are either protected in national parks or in state forests where logging is either allowed or has previously occurred. If those forests have been damaged or are still growing, Lindenmayer said, they draw 12 megalitres more water per hectare per year than forests that are more than 100 years old. More than 98% of the mountain ash forest in Victoria is no more than 80 years old, and most of those in key catchment areas are less than 80. In the Upper Thomson catchment, which feeds Melbourne’s largest water supply dam, the Thomson reservoir, about 61% of the trees have been logged. “That’s a serious issue because two-thirds of all the rainfall in that catchment falls on one-third of the area and that’s the ash forest … that’s called an own goal,” Lindenmayer said. “The value of the water that flows into the water catchments is about 25.5 times higher than the value of the timber cut from those same catchments.” An economic analysis published by the Threatened Species Recovery Hub found that economic contribution of the water supply to the Victorian economy was $310m, compared with $12m from the native timber industry. “My hope is that at some stage people will wake up and say, ‘Oh my god, that’s the water supply for 4.5 million Melburnians,’” Lindenmayer said. “Is it appropriate to compromise the water supply of soon-to-be Australia’s largest city?” He said the situation would be worsened if the federal government introduced new Regional Forestry Agreements to replace the rolled-over short-term agreements, which are due to expire in March 2020. “The new RFAs are going to be even more disastrous because what they will do is lock in a guaranteed level of saw long supply … which isn’t really sustainable,” he said. “The RFAs don’t take into account other values like water or tourism ... it’s nonsensical. It doesn’t make any sense to me.” | ['environment/endangered-habitats', 'environment/logging-and-land-clearing', 'environment/deforestation', 'environment/environment', 'environment/forests', 'australia-news/victoria', 'australia-news/melbourne', 'environment/water', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/endangeredspecies', 'environment/wildlife', 'australia-news/bushfires', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/calla-wahlquist', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/logging-and-land-clearing | BIODIVERSITY | 2018-04-30T19:00:20Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2018/jun/20/fracking-labor-pledges-to-tighten-regulations-to-protect-water-resources | Fracking: Labor pledges to tighten regulations to protect water resources | Regulations on unconventional gas development across Australia would be tightened up if Labor wins the next election. Labor’s shadow minister for the environment Tony Burke says the party, if elected, will keep the commitment it took to the 2016 election to broaden the “water trigger” to include other forms of unconventional gas extraction. The current water trigger, introduced by the Gillard government in 2013, assesses water resources as a matter of national significance only in relation to coal seam gas and coal mining. It means that much of the country isn’t covered by the legislation, even though the process used to extract shale and tight gas is similar to that used for coal seam gas mining. “Anyone from an environmentalist through to a local farmer can see that that’s a glaring omission,” Burke said. “Underground hydrology is incredibly complex, and you really need to have a robust scientific process to understand what the impacts might be. “It could be that it all stacks up, but at the moment, without the water trigger being extended, those checks to see what the impacts are simply aren’t being done at a national level.” Burke said concerns about the impacts of mining developments on water resources were not limited to the east coast and the Great Artesian Basin. The Greens, who pushed for shale and tight gas to be included as part of the water trigger when it was introduced, said “anything that mandates closer examination of impacts on water or anything else is always welcome”. But the party’s environment and biodiversity spokesman Andrew Bartlett said there were other issues that also ought to be considered, such as greenhouse gas emissions and the impacts of projects on climate change, as well as the effectiveness of Australia’s existing environmental protection framework. “Anything that looks more closely at water and climate issues is good, but I think there are much wider things to be looked at,” he said. “We’re pushing for an overhaul of environmental laws.” Conservationists, scientists and regional communities are calling for renewed consideration of water protections at a national level, amid growing concerns about the legislative scope of the water trigger as well as the 2017 revelations of systemic non-compliance within the Murray-Darling Basin framework. Burke’s comments come after the Northern Territory Gunner government’s decision to reopen up to half of the territory to the unconventional gas industry, pending the implementation of some 135 recommendations from an inquiry into fracking. Up to 90% of the territory’s water supply comes from ground water and the bulk of its gas resource is shale, to which the water trigger doesn’t apply. One of the architects of the original water trigger, former independent MP Tony Windsor, says he would not have a problem with Northern Territory developments being captured by the water trigger, but he was wary that making the trigger too broad could render it meaningless. “There’s been a number of attempts to either remove or make meaningless the water trigger,” Windsor said. “If you apply the water trigger to every water resource everywhere, the practicalities of doing that make it meaningless anyway. “If you make every water reserve subject to it, they’ll [the government] just hand it back to the states.” The effectiveness of the water trigger is one of the terms of reference for the current senate inquiry into water use by the extractive industry. A statutory review of the trigger in 2017 found it was operating effectively within its legislative scope, including the application of independent scientific expertise to the consideration of the impacts of coal and coal seam gas mining on water. The Coalition does not support expanding the trigger and, in response to questions, environment and energy minister Josh Frydenberg said: “The effectiveness of the water trigger legislation was independently reviewed in 2017. No legislative changes were recommended.” But environment groups, who have been calling for tougher environment assessments in relation to water as part of broader reforms to Australia’s system of environment laws, said an expansion would be welcomed. Additionally the final report from the Northern Territory’s fracking inquiry specifically recommended the water trigger be expanded to apply to onshore shale gas. The territory’s chief minister Michael Gunner has promised all 135 recommendations of the fracking committee’s recommendations will be implemented in full. If followed through, this would require the current government to change its position on the water trigger. “The federal government were very enthusiastic when the moratorium was lifted but actually extracting that gas is going to be dependent on them,” said Jimmy Cocking, CEO of the Arid Lands Environment Centre. Evan Quartermain, Humane Society International’s head of programs, said the trigger’s current scope was too narrow. “While the 2017 statutory review found the current water trigger to be operating effectively within its legislative scope, its focus is too limited and should be expanded to assess significant impacts on key water resources beyond coal or CSG projects,” he said. “Recent revelations of alleged water theft, poor monitoring, systemic non-compliance and possible corruption have shaken public faith in Australia’s water management framework and strong oversight is clearly needed.” | ['environment/series/our-wide-brown-land', 'environment/environment', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/fracking', 'environment/energy', 'environment/gas', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/lisa-cox', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-features'] | environment/fracking | ENERGY | 2018-06-19T18:00:19Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2019/mar/23/country-diary-how-soon-does-a-felled-tree-know-it-is-dead | Country diary: how soon does a felled tree know it is dead? | When I got home after a few days away, there was a new view. A bit more sky where there had been tree, a gawky sycamore whose trunk leaned 30 degrees wayward of vertical, prompting concern that it might topple on to the lane – or one of us. It was marked some time ago with a dot of green paint; now it’s gone. Perhaps if it had been an oak, I’d have made a point of visiting while it still stood. But it wasn’t, and I didn’t. The absence niggled for a few weeks, like the rough edge of the front tooth I chipped the same February weekend, my eye and tongue keep straying to the gaps. Eventually, I scrambled up the bank for a closer look. The stump was bigger than I expected. The next thing I noticed was that there had been two more trunks, whose truncated angles suggested they may have counterbalanced the main stem. Perhaps it never was in danger of falling. I walk their length, climbing horizontally, my hands grasping branch forks, among mosses and fruiting lichens, where only bird feet and squirrel paws have gripped before. The buds are still bright green, imminent-looking. How soon does a felled tree know it is dead? I scramble back to the stump and count the rings, working inward. After 10 I reach the wood that was being made when this tree and I became neighbours, in 2009. We’ve both put on weight since then. I measure the gain with my fingers. The tenfold layering is three knuckle-widths of sapwood (later on I calculate it as 106mm of diameter gained), the life-work of the tree since I’ve known it. Except, I realise now, that I didn’t know it at all. I’ve been oblivious to its sunshine-powered gorging, its fattening on carbon. I count further, working inwards towards the bullseye, getting periodically lost in the gougings of the chainsaw. It takes a few attempts, but eventually I come up with an age of 105. Chances are, this heart was formed during the first world war, and some of those squirrel paws I’d imagined grasping young, springy branches might have been red, not grey. | ['environment/forests', 'environment/environment', 'environment/series/country-diary', 'environment/wildlife', 'uk-news/yorkshire', 'uk/uk', 'uk/ruralaffairs', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/amy-jane-beer', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/letters', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2019-03-23T05:30:11Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
world/2005/jan/06/tsunami2004.internationalaidanddevelopment | Press review: Tsunami disaster | Daily Mirror Editorial, January 5 "Even in this nation's long history of compassion, the British people have never responded with such generosity as they have over the tsunami. The same cannot be said of their government ... "Downing Street is ... saying that the real issue is how the money is spent. Oh no it isn't. The real issue is whether the government shows it cares as much as the British people do." Sun Editorial, January 5 "The greatest outpouring of charity in our history. There can be no other way of describing the truly epic scale of Britain's generosity towards the tsunami victims. It is estimated that more than £100m has been pledged to the national fund in just 10 days. Many millions have undoubtedly come from caring Sun readers. Today, as we fall silent at noon to remember the dead, let us also reflect on our own capacity to match tragedy with kindness." Nicholas D Kristof New York Times, January 5 "So is the US 'stingy' about helping poor countries? That accusation by a UN official, in veiled form, provoked indignation here. After all, we're the most generous people on earth, aren't we? "No, alas, we're not. And the tsunami illustrates the problem: when grieving victims intrude on to our TV screens, we dig into our pockets and provide the massive, heartwarming response that we're now displaying in Asia; the rest of the time, we're tightwads who turn away as people die in far greater numbers ... "The bottom line is that this month and every month more people will die of malaria (165,000 or more) and Aids (240,000) than died in the tsunamis, and almost as many will die because of diarrhoea (140,000) ... With America's image tarnished around the world, one of the most effective steps George Bush could take to revive it would be to lead a global effort to confront an ongoing challenge like malaria." Eric Schwartz Newsday, New York, January 4 "Will the US sustain its willingness to help meet rehabilitation and development needs in India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and other affected countries in the months and years to come? This is a perfectly reasonable question. Over the past several decades, the US, under both Democratic and Republican administrations, has been far better at responding effectively to natural disasters and man-made emergencies, from the Balkans to Africa, than it has been at addressing the needs that follow ... "With hundreds of thousands of people in dire need, it is difficult to focus on anything other than the immediate relief and recovery challenge. None the less, the US and other donors must also organise themselves for longer-term challenges." Denver Post Editorial, US, January 4 "After four devastating hurricanes raked Florida last fall, destroying 25,000 homes and killing 117 people, the US government responded with roughly $13bn [£7bn] in aid. "With more than 137,000 dead so far, 1.8 million hungry and another 5 million homeless from the December 26 tsunami in the Indian Ocean, the world community has chipped in just $2bn [£1bn]. The difference in amounts is staggering ... Cynics will say that if only the 12 Indian Ocean countries devastated by the tsunami were swing states, such as Florida, they would receive whatever they need. But you can hardly consider Puerto Rico a swing state, and, just 13 days before the tsunami hit, Washington approved about $385m [£205m] in federal disaster funds for Puerto Ricans who suffered damage in tropical storm Jeanne. The storm hit on September 15, killing eight people ... "Americans are generous people ... It's our hope that our government, which is spending roughly $1bn [£0.5m] a week in Iraq, will lead by setting the appropriate example." | ['world/tsunami2004', 'global-development/global-development', 'world/world', 'theguardian/series/the-editor-press-review', 'type/article'] | world/tsunami2004 | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2005-01-06T00:44:30Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2015/mar/27/great-barrier-reef-protection-zones-help-boost-fish-stocks-to-pre-european-times | Great Barrier Reef protection zones help boost fish stocks 'to pre-European times' | The expansion of no-fishing zones across the Great Barrier Reef has allowed fish numbers to rebound in some places to levels not seen since European arrival in Australia, a long-term study of the ecosystem has shown. Data taken from underwater surveys of about 40% of the reef’s marine park between 1983 and 2012 found that biomass of coral trout more than doubled in protected areas. A separate analysis of two comparable reefs, one where fishing was allowed and one where it was banned, found an 80% difference in coral trout biomass. Biomass is measured not only in the numbers of fish but also their size, demonstrating that coral trout, a popular species for fishers, grow much larger in no-fishing areas, allowing them to spawn more offspring. About a third of the Great Barrier Reef’s marine park is off limits to any kind of fishing. These “green zones” were vastly expanded to their current size in 2004 – previously, only 5% of the marine park was fully protected. The research, conducted by the Australian Institute of Marine Science (Aims) and James Cook University and published in Current Biology, found that not only have fish numbers rebounded, they are more robust, coping better with natural events such as cyclones. Researchers said the analysis vindicated the then-contentious decision to expand no-fishing zones in 2004. “It was a politically bold move at the time and we needed monitoring to show it has worked – and we now know it has,” said Hugh Sweatman, a scientist at Aims. “The zoning has done exactly what it intended to do. Fishermen seem to be guardedly in favour of the zoning, too.” Sweatman said the Great Barrier Reef was well managed compared with other reefs around the world, which have suffered from over-fishing where top predators have been removed, leading to negative effects flowing down the food chain. “Obviously fishing does still have an effect on the Great Barrier Reef but these green zones have taken the fish community back to pre-European times,” he said. While the green zones appear to have boosted fish numbers, marine life on the reef also has to cope with warming, acidifying waters due to climate change, as well as pressures from pollution and coastal development. “The reef’s outlook report states that climate change is the biggest long-term threat and it’s safe to say that climate change is not going to be affected by zoning,” Sweatman said. | ['environment/great-barrier-reef', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/environment', 'environment/marine-life', 'environment/wildlife', 'environment/conservation', 'australia-news/australian-politics', 'australia-news/queensland', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/oliver-milman'] | environment/great-barrier-reef | BIODIVERSITY | 2015-03-27T03:45:29Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2019/jun/13/uk-flower-growing-industry-in-full-bloom-and-worth-121m | UK flower-growing industry in full bloom and worth £121m | The British-grown flower industry is now worth £121m – up from £82m in 2015 – following years of decline owing to imported stems, figures reveal. Last year homegrown flowers accounted for 14% of the £865m worth of all stems sold in the UK, compared with 12% three years ago, according to a report by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The uplift has been driven by increased consumer demand for British blooms, in turn allowing UK growers to expand and flourish. Environmental benefits include increased biodiversity as growing flowers supports wildlife such as bees and butterflies across local farms. According to Alastair Owen of New Covent Garden Market, the largest fresh produce market in the country, the use of British blooms in recent royal weddings had helped drive growth in homegrown stems. “We encourage anyone who loves flowers to get involved and to buy more British,” said Owen. Without the lengthy transportation and refrigeration used for imported flowers, British stems are said to have a better scent and stay fresher for longer. Imported flowers are either cultivated in vast glasshouses in the Netherlands, or flown in by the millions of stems from farms in Africa and South America. Supermarkets remain the largest outlet for cut flowers in the UK, however, representing just over half of all sales. Waitrose has reported a resurgence in the popularity of British peonies, up 48% compared with last year. The Co-op recently became the second UK supermarket – after Aldi – to sign up to the National Farmers’ Union’s plants and flowers pledge, a 12-point charter aiming to increase the proportion of British plants and flowers available for consumers to buy. | ['environment/farming', 'business/retail', 'environment/environment', 'uk/uk', 'business/business', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/rebeccasmithers', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-business'] | environment/farming | BIODIVERSITY | 2019-06-12T23:01:55Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
australia-news/2019/oct/24/melbournes-plane-trees-to-be-replaced-by-species-resistant-to-climate-change | Melbourne's plane trees to be replaced by species resistant to climate change | The London plane tree, a divisive staple of many Australian city streetscapes, will be gradually removed from Melbourne’s central business district and replaced with species resistant to climate change such as Moreton Bay figs, jacarandas and sweet gums. London plane trees make up 70% of the tree population in Melbourne’s inner city. While admired by some for their hardiness and environmental benefits such as providing extensive cooling and shade, the trees are also unpopular for shedding leaf and shoot hairs, known as trichomes, during the same period that grass pollen levels are at their highest. It means the trees are also blamed for causing hay fever and allergic reactions, even though the most common cause of hay fever is grass pollen and there is limited evidence that plane trees cause allergies. However, the fine hairs are renowned for making people cough and for irritating skin. A University of Melbourne botanist, Ed Newbigin, who heads the Melbourne pollen count, said “lots of people hate plane trees”. “They certainly do. But they’re not going to cause anaphylaxis,” he said. “You’d have to bury yourself in them for that. They’re more of an irritation to the eyes and skin, and they’re also a bit messy. You’ll be sitting outside of a cafe on a sidewalk and suddenly you’ll have bits of plane tree blow into your coffee.” To Newbigin, however, “they’re a beautiful tree”. “They have an open canopy, they take surgery well so you can get them to grow around power lines, so they do a lot of things that are good for cities and they do make cities cooler on a hot day.” The acting lord mayor, Arron Wood, said the main reason the trees were being replaced was that many were planted in the 1980s and 1990s when they replaced poorly performing ash trees and some elms and paperbarks. But the trees were now in poor health and needed to be removed, he said. “The plane trees in Swanston Street form a consistent and relatively healthy avenue, but where plane trees in other parts of the city need to be removed we are taking opportunities to replace them with different tree species,” he said. Along the Russell Street median strip the trees are being replaced with spotted gums, while along Exhibition Street they have been replaced with camphor laurels. Port Jackson figs have replaced them along Lonsdale Street, while liquidamber, lemon-scented gums and red ironbarks are being planted along Southbank Boulevard. This was also being done to increase tree diversity, the council said in a statement. The director of respiratory medicine, allergy and clinical immunology research at Monash University, Prof Robyn O’Hehir, said the fine particles from plane trees could cause throat irritation and laryngospasm – a spasm of the vocal cords – even in people who are not prone to allergies. “I warn patients to wear wraparound sunglasses and avoid prominent plane tree areas such as street cafes in Carlton in August and September when they are most problematic,” she said. “People often need water or a mouthful of bread to clear the fine particles from their throats.” | ['australia-news/melbourne', 'environment/forests', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/environment', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'australia-news/victoria', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/melissa-davey', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2019-10-24T06:49:52Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
media/pda/2009/apr/09/bbc-research | The BBC's latest web prototype: a show designed to be chopped up on the web | The BBC's fledgling RAD department - or rapid application development project - has revealed another of its very early stage, prototype working models, this time exploring how to construct a video show designed, from the outset, to be published, pulled apart and shared on the web. It's not dissimilar to what used to be called 360-programming commissions at the BBC and other broadcasters, where shows would be designed with web versions in mind. But the RAD project is much more techie and structured both editorially and technologically for that audience. RAD, led by portfolio manager George Wright, looked to various other BBC departments for advice on this, including Vision and with heavy involvement from Ian Forrester at Backstage. Firstly, the subject of the show - called R&DTV - is about web-based technology. The first episode includes Nicholas Negroponte, founder of One Laptop Per Child, Kevin Rose from Digg and some of the BBC team behind the BBC Micro. Though it's not produced to the high-budget standards of BBC TV, it's definitely not filmed on Flip cameras with bad audio. It's well-thought out, web-friendly subject matter and filmed in HD quality by Rain Ashford and Hemmy Cho from Backstage. More importantly, the team wanted to explore how the production and post-production process would be different when building a film designed to be taken apart. R&DTV has been produced in two versions; one five-minute and one 30-minute. Filming their own content from the outset meant they could use a suitable rights framework, rather than trying to adapt existing footage. They included the open .ogg video standard and established all material under a free, non-commercial Creative Commons attribution licence. Editorially, they learnt early on not to use music or any soundtrack that would make a re-edit too hard. One of their interviewees was showing a Disney clip for an internal demo they had recorded, and that was another rights-related issue that had to be dealt with. Episode 1 is online now. The longer, 30-minute version provides more material for those who want to cut and re-use footage for their own video, but crucially every element of the show's assets in one bundle - at least 27 different elements including the full-length interviews in different video file formats including Quicktime, Flash and Ogg, audio, logos and also metadata files. The project idea came up in December, and they started building it a month ago. "These trials are to learn what from people do with this stuff," said Wright, who has explained the project on the RAD blog. "We've already learnt that rights are even more complicated than you think, even if you're starting from scratch. Video codecs are also very complex, and distributing large files over the internet legally and in a quality assured way is still very difficult, especially when you're wokring in a distributed way." Wright aid they could have made distribution easier (especially because Forrester works from Manchester and Wright from London) by using lower-quality files if they had filmed on lower-sec equipment, but that they didn't want a consumer "internetty" feel. "If they want, they can downgrade the footage for an iPhone or web tablet, but you can't upgrade footage." "If we have a good idea, Erik Huggers and Matthew Postgate let us get on with it," said Wright. "We have this space to do this kind of work as an important part of our day jobs." The next episode is due in early May. Though this is just a very early stage prototype and not a roadmap for the BBC's future production strategy, it's an interesting experiment in constructing projects in a more web friendly, distributable way - a very interesting, and web literate approach that could and should be used more often by traditional media firms struggling to keep control of their content once they release it online. In this format, everyone wins. | ['media/pda', 'media/bbc', 'technology/research', 'technology/digitalvideo', 'technology/olpc', 'media/erikhuggers', 'media/digital-media', 'media/media', 'tone/blog', 'type/article', 'profile/jemimakiss'] | technology/digitalvideo | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2009-04-09T15:54:17Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
environment/2020/nov/30/air-pollution-girl-died-london-should-have-treated-emergency-ella-kissi-debrah | Air pollution where girl died in London 'should have been treated as emergency' | Illegal levels of air pollution in the area where a nine-year-old girl lived and died should have been treated as a public health emergency, an inquest heard. Instead the London borough of Lewisham moved at a “glacial pace” to take steps to address toxic air from traffic where Ella Kissi-Debrah lived and went to primary school, the inquest in south London was told on Monday. In a landmark legal case a coroner is being asked to rule that air pollution caused the death from an acute asthma attack of the primary school pupil in February 2013, a finding that would make legal history. It has never been identified as a cause of death before in the UK and this is thought to be the first case of its kind in the world. Philip Barlow, an assistant coroner for inner south London, opened the hearing in which witnesses gave evidence via video link. Barlow said the inquest would examine whether air pollution caused or contributed to Ella’s death, as well as how toxic air levels were monitored, the steps taken to reduce illegal levels of air pollution and what information was given to the public about reducing exposure. He said it had already been decided that article 2 – the right to life – of the Human Rights Act, which scrutinises the role of public bodies in a person’s death, applied to the hearing. As such, representatives from Lewisham council, the mayor of London and government will give evidence about their knowledge of the levels of toxic air around where Ella lived, the health impacts and what was being done to reduce the pollution. The inquest was granted after years of campaigning by Ella’s mother, Rosamund Kissi-Debrah, when lawyers presented new evidence to the attorney general that directly linked Ella’s serious form of asthma and her death with the heavy traffic on London’s South Circular near her home. Her death coincided with one of the worst air pollution surges in her local area. Giving evidence on Monday, David Edwards, the head of environmental health at Lewisham, accepted that levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) near the child’s home consistently exceeded the annual legal limit of 40µg/m3 between 2006 and 2010. Asked by Barlow whether exposure to high levels of nitrogen oxides raised health concerns, he replied: “Yes, from my experience, yes it would.” Representing the family, Richard Hermer QC asked: “For many years before Ella’s death Lewisham would have been aware that the levels of air pollution in the borough was placing the life and health of those who lived and worked there at risk?” “Yes,” Edwards said. The council official agreed the risk was particularly real to those suffering conditions such as asthma and was also increased for those who lived near high levels of traffic pollution. Hermer said Ella’s home and school were in areas identified as of particular concern by the borough, both in terms of nitrogen oxide pollution and particulate matter. “Taking what Lewisham would have known about what this meant in terms of deaths, what this meant about those at particular risk ... this should have been treated as a public health emergency in the year before Ella’s death.” Edwards replied: “Yes.” But, Hermer said, it took the borough 10 years to draw up and adopt an action plan to try to tackle the problem. “That’s a glacial pace in the context of a public health emergency,” he said. The borough was obliged when facing such a public health emergency to work to reduce air pollution levels and to inform those at risk. Yet Ella’s mother, he said, in her evidence to be presented to the inquest, said she was never told about the risks of air pollution in relation to her daughter’s asthma. “She is precisely the sort of person who should have been told about those risks, isn’t she?” Hermer asked. “Yes,” Edwards replied. Edwards told the hearing that ultimately the responsibility for tackling the levels of traffic using the South Circular through the borough lay with Transport for London and the national government. “There are a number of people who have a greater impact than perhaps the local authority does,” said Edwards. The hearing is due to last two weeks and will hear from government departments including Defra and the Department for Transport. Ministers have repeatedly failed to bring air pollution from traffic within legal limits, for which they have been censured by judges several times. In 2014 the first inquest into the child’s death made no mention of air pollution. The coroner ruled Ella had died of acute respiratory failure caused by severe asthma. This verdict was quashed in 2019 and a new inquest ordered after lawyers for the family presented evidence to the attorney general in 2018 from Prof Sir Stephen Holgate, one of the UK’s leading experts on air pollution. The hearing continues. | ['environment/air-pollution', 'uk/london', 'environment/environment', 'society/asthma', 'environment/pollution', 'society/society', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/sandralaville', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2020-11-30T14:01:41Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
us-news/2018/sep/11/trump-hurricane-maria-puerto-rico-success | Donald Trump attacked for calling Hurricane Maria response an 'incredible success' | Donald Trump on Tuesday touted the “incredible, unsung success” of the federal response last year in Puerto Rico, where the government estimates nearly 3,000 died as a result of Hurricane Maria. The president’s remarks drew swift condemnation from the island and the mainland as Trump sought to assure the public that his administration was as “ready as anybody has ever been” for the powerful 500-mile wide Hurricane Florence swirling toward the Carolina coast. “This is an offensive, hurtful and blatantly false comment from the president,” Senate minority leader Charles Schumer tweeted on Tuesday. “Nearly 3,000 of our fellow citizens died in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria. That is the complete opposite of ‘success’.” Carmen Yulín Cruz, the mayor of San Juan and a fierce critic of Trump, said his comments added “insult to injury”. She told CNN: “This is a stain on his presidency. He says he’s done a good job when 3,000 people have died? God bless us all if this man continues on this path.” Bernie Sanders added:“Nearly 3,000 people died. That is not a success. That is a tragedy and a disgrace.” Trump spoke from the Oval Office, where he was receiving a briefing on efforts to prepare for Florence by Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) head Brock Long. Asked on Tuesday what lessons his administration learned from responding to storms in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico last year, Trump boasted that he deserved top marks. “I think Puerto Rico was an incredible, unsung success,” he said. “Texas, we had been given A-plusses for. Florida, we’ve been given A-plusses for. I think, in a certain way, the best job we did was Puerto Rico but nobody would understand that.” The administration’s efforts in Puerto Rico were widely criticized as slow and insufficient. During a visit to the island last September, Trump tossed paper towels into a crowd and told Puerto Rican officials that they should be proud the damage did not compare to the havoc wreaked by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which he described as a “real catastrophe”. As many as 1,800 deaths are attributed to Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans. Last month, nearly one year after Maria struck Puerto Rico, the island’s government raised the official death toll to 2,975 people – a dramatic increase on the previous official figure of 64. “Puerto Rico was, actually, our toughest one of all because it’s an island– you can’t truck things onto it. Everything is by boat,” Trump said. “We moved a hospital into PuertoRico – a tremendous military hospital in the form of a ship.” He continued: “I think Puerto Rico was incredibly successful.” | ['world/hurricane-maria', 'us-news/donaldtrump', 'us-news/us-news', 'world/world', 'us-news/puerto-rico', 'world/hurricane-florence', 'world/hurricanes', 'world/americas', 'world/natural-disasters', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/lauren-gambino', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/west-coast-news'] | world/hurricane-florence | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2018-09-12T06:41:10Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
global-development/2016/sep/10/zimbabwe-compassion-before-politics-food-aid-distribution | Zimbabwe urged to put compassion before politics in distribution of food aid | Aid agencies have called on President Robert Mugabe’s government to look beyond political differences and prioritise humanitarian principles after the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission accused the ruling Zanu-PF party of partisan food aid distribution. The commission’s chairman, Elasto Mugwadi, revealed this week that an official investigation into reported discrimination in the distribution of food had uncovered evidence of political bias and theft of relief items, and reports of assault. The inquiry was prompted by what Mugwadi described as “a flood of complaints” from communities grappling with severe food shortages caused by the country’s worst drought in 35 years. Responding to reports of discriminatory food circulation, Machinda Marongwe, Oxfam’s country director in Zimbabwe, said: “Oxfam is deeply concerned with these findings and calls for humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality and impartiality, to be upheld in order to effectively deliver much needed assistance to the 4.2 million people affected by the drought. Every person has a right to receive the help they need, regardless of their political views.” “The government should empower existing structures in the communities such as the Drought Relief Committees to better deal with such occurrences and ensure food assistance reaches all who need it, in a fair manner. “At this point in time we should not be dealing with issues to do with the selection criteria of beneficiaries, but rather focusing more on short-term action to feed the vulnerable.” The need to put philanthropy before politics was also underlined by the World Food Programme, a spokesman for whom stressed the importance of close coordination between agencies, donors and government. “WFP is providing a wide range of food and nutrition assistance in Zimbabwe, though not in any of the districts cited in the recently issued ZHRC report,” said the spokesman. “WFP has in place a range of mechanisms to mitigate against the politicisation of food assistance in Zimbabwe … in coordination with the government, donors and other partners, we carry out food security assessments, including through the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee, to determine the areas and the number of people in need of food or cash assistance. “Every stage of the process, right up to and including actual distribution, is monitored by WFP and cooperating partners to ensure that assistance only reaches those entitled to it.” Others, however, appear to have been less punctilious. Speaking in the Zimbabwean capital of Harare on Wednesday, Mugwadi spoke of “unbridled maladministration on the part of some officials public officials who were allegedly performing their duties partially and with bias against persons of particular political affiliations”. “The ruling party members were the major perpetrators in violations linked to distribution of food, agricultural inputs and other forms of aid,” said Mugwadi. Youths connected with Zanu-PF openly told people affiliated to the opposition that they would never get food aid, he added, revealing that the problem affected several rural areas across a country already riven by economic crisis. In February, Mugabe, 92, declared a state of disaster in regions affected by the El Niño-induced drought. The crisis has left 4 million people severely hungry and in need of humanitarian aid until the next harvest season in March 2017. | ['global-development/food-security', 'global-development/hunger', 'global-development/global-development', 'environment/drought', 'world/robert-mugabe', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/global-development'] | environment/drought | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2016-09-10T08:00:26Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
uk-news/2015/dec/22/further-flooding-cumbria-storm-desmond | Further flooding worsens troubles for Cumbrian towns hit by Storm Desmond | Householders and businesses in Cumbria have once again been hit by flooding, just days after having finished cleaning up after Storm Desmond. Thousands of people’s Christmas celebrations face disruption as the Environment Agency warned that the rain will continue to fall over the coming days. Worst hit on Tuesday was the market town of Appleby-in-Westmorland, which was also the first to be affected when Desmond first struck on 5 December. The main bridge was closed and homes flooded for the second time in just over two weeks as the Eden river burst its banks again. The town’s mayor, Hughie Potts, said: “We just hope and pray it recedes soon. We really need help. It is just too much to be struck again like this. Someone needs to get a grip. The obvious solution is to dig a deeper channel.” Potts spoke as 45cm (18in) of water filled his home in The Sands. “Outside it is 2ft 6in and rising,” he said as he ushered his family fromtheir home. He had moved upstairs in his terrace house after Desmond and installed dehumidifiers in the ground floor. “They’ll have to be moved now or they’ll be washed away,” he added. Elsewhere in Appleby, a town of 2,000, a pop-up Co-operative store had to be moved from the bowling green, which was swamped, to avoid it floating down the river. The flooding of the Eden river could also impact Carlisle, which lies further downstream and is usually affected by flooding about 12 hours after Appleby. The city, visited by Prince Charles this week, had more than 3,000 families made homeless during Desmond. For the third time this month the Glenridding hotel, by Ullswater, was inundated by the local beck. The hotel reported on Facebook that the beck is overflowing once again past the bridge and what was Ratchers Bar and the Kitchen were flooding again. Contractors are working to save their equipment, said the hotel. The Environment Agency had issued 24 flood warnings across England and Wales by early evening on Tuesday: five of them in the north-east and12 in the north-west and three in Wales. These are one step below the most severe category, which warns of risk to life, but still indicates immediate action is required. Already thousands of families face Christmas out of their homes. An Environment Agency spokesman said on Tuesday: “Rain falling last night and today has led to a rise in some river levels in Cumbria. This will continue throughout the day. “The amount of rainfall forecast would not usually lead to disruption, but with saturated ground and river levels already high, there may be further flood impacts to roads and potentially to some properties. “Our operational activity is ongoing with teams taking action to reduce the potential impacts of flooding and supporting those communities affected. Environment Agency staff are on the ground ready to help residents in the event of flooding. “Persistent rainfall in Wales could also see parts of Herefordshire and Shropshire experience isolated flooding impacts from the River Wye and River Severn. “There is currently the possibility for further unsettled weather during the festive period which could lead to some disruption in the north of England. We are monitoring the situation closely and will issue further flood alerts and warnings if required. The rivers Eden, Greta and Kent and their tributaries were full to the brim and fields became waterlogged after another belt of heavy rain crossed the region. Appleby, Carlisle, Keswick and Kendal are likely to be the worst-hit. Storm Desmond has already left 6,000 families in those towns homeless, putting pressure on welfare organisations and housing stocks. Cumbria police said: “A multi-agency response group has been set up in order to combat an extended spell of consistent rainfall which is currently falling across the county. Flood warnings have been issued for Appleby, Carlisle, Kendal and Keswick. There are also 11 flood warnings and 14 flood alerts for all river catchments in Cumbria. “Whilst the rainfall is not likely to be near the amount that fell during Storm Desmond, it will be falling on already saturated ground and is likely to cause surface-water flooding on roads across the county. “Due to the potentially high winds and wet conditions advice issued to drivers is to slow down, plan extra time for your journey and to make sure that your car is equipped to deal with deteriorating weather conditions.” | ['uk/weather', 'uk/uk', 'uk-news/storm-desmond', 'environment/flooding', 'world/natural-disasters', 'type/article', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews'] | environment/flooding | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2015-12-22T18:33:03Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
news/2011/jun/11/weatherwatch-sea-storm-japan | Weatherwatch: A storm gives warning before it starts to blow | Genji, the shining prince, seeks ceremonial purification. Also he wants to see the sea. "Suddenly, the wind began to blow, and the sky darkened. The purification broke off in the ensuing confusion. Such a downpour followed that in the commotion the departing gentlemen could not even put up their umbrellas," reports the novelist Murasaki Shikibu, in Royall Tyler's translation of the thousand-year-old Japanese classic, The Tale of Genji. "Without warning, a howling gale sent everything flying. Mighty waves rose up, to the terror of them all. The sea gleamed like a silken quilt beneath the play of lightning, and thunder crashed. They barely managed to struggle back, feeling as though a bolt might strike them at any moment. 'I have never seen anything like this!' 'A storm gives warning before it starts to blow! This is terrible and strange!' Through their exclamations the thunder roared on and the rain drove down hard enough to pierce what it struck. While they wondered in dismay whether the world was coming to an end, Genji calmly chanted a scripture. At dark, the thunder fell silent for a time, but the wind blew on through the night. 'All those prayers of mine must be working.'" Towards the dawn, there is sleep, disturbed for the hero by an ominous dream of a strange summons from an unrecognised being. The calm is illusory. In the next chapter, "it rained and thundered for days on end. Genji's miseries multiplied endlessly." | ['news/series/weatherwatch', 'tone/features', 'world/japan-earthquake-and-tsunami', 'weather/japan', 'type/article', 'profile/timradford', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2'] | news/series/weatherwatch | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2011-06-10T23:27:34Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
world/2020/feb/18/hundreds-of-thousands-of-mussels-cooked-to-death-on-new-zealand-beach-in-heatwave | Hundreds of thousands of mussels cooked to death on New Zealand beach in heatwave | Hundreds of thousands of mussels have been cooked to death on a beach in New Zealand’s North Island, with experts saying more will die as the effects of the climate crisis accelerate. The mass die-off in Northland was sparked by “an exceptional period of warm weather” combined with low tides in the middle of the day, which had exposed the shellfish, said Dr Andrew Jeffs, a marine scientist from the University of Auckland. He said more marine life would soon be affected by climate change, and there was little that that could be done to protect the vulnerable shellfish, other than manual protection measures such as shadecloth, which were impractical and “unrealistic”. Northland is experiencing drought conditions, with many parts of the region not seeing rain for a record-breaking 40 plus days. The effects of the drought have been severe, with Kiwi birds perishing as they search for water, and tankers of freshwater urgently trucked in to fill rainwater tanks in remote communities. Exposed at a time of day when the sun was at its most intense, hundreds of beds of mussels had been “cooked” by the sun, Jeffs said. Scientists had observed mussels suffering under changing weather conditions for a decade, but conditions were now getting more intense and devastating for the animals. “I think we’re going to see entire communities of marine creatures change,” said Jeffs. “These tidal areas are already a very intense place to live and have got very hot sunshine during the summer, it only makes it more intensive. It will only be the very toughest plants and animals that will survive there.” According to local Northland resident Brandon Ferguson, the smell of the dead mussels was pungent and disturbing. “It smelt like death and most of the shells had already been cleaned out by gulls and other sea life, but there were still hundreds of full mussels, dying mussels and dead mussels washing in and some just floating around in the tide,” Ferguson told the Northern Advocate newspaper. “It was heartbreaking to see. Some were still washing in, but not knowing what was wrong, we didn’t touch them, there were more than 500,000 empty shells that we saw.” The Ministry for Primary Industries said it was investigating the mass die-off and urged people not to collect or eat the affected mussels. Jeffs said mussels were ecologically very important for New Zealand’s coastal environment, but it was likely they would disappear from reef areas, as conditions became increasingly adverse, especially during summer. “This is large-scale, whole reef systems being dried out and dying,” Jeffs said. “We’re just going to lose them” | ['world/newzealand', 'environment/wildlife', 'environment/marine-life', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/environment', 'world/asia-pacific', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/charlotte-graham-mclay', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/international', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-foreign'] | environment/marine-life | BIODIVERSITY | 2020-02-18T04:38:28Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
australia-news/2019/aug/08/gorgon-lng-plant-begins-long-delayed-carbon-capture-and-storage-project | Gorgon LNG plant begins long-delayed carbon capture and storage project | Oil and gas company Chevron says a long-delayed carbon capture and storage project has begun operating at one of the country’s largest liquefied natural gas developments. The Gorgon LNG development in the Pilbara, promised as a landmark development in burying greenhouse gas to limit emissions from fossil fuels, was supposed to start along with gas production in 2016. But the project was repeatedly delayed, with the company blaming technical issues. Half of the increase in Australia’s annual carbon dioxide emissions have been linked to Chevron and its partner’s failure to deliver on its agreement with the Western Australian government to capture emissions from an underwater gas field and inject them into a reservoir 2km under Barrow Island. The company announced that the safe startup and operation of the carbon dioxide injection system had begun. The Chevron Australia managing director, Al Williams, said it was “one of the world’s largest greenhouse gas mitigation projects ever undertaken by industry”. “This achievement is the result of strong collaboration across industry and governments and supports our objective of providing affordable, reliable and ever-cleaner energy essential to our modern lives,” he said. “We are monitoring system performance and plan to safely ramp up injection volumes over the coming months as we bring online processing facilities.” Williams said once fully operational the carbon dioxide injection facility would reduce Gorgon’s emissions by about 40%. Richie Merzian, the climate and energy program director with progressive thinktank The Australia Institute, described the start of the project as “better late than never”. He noted the company had not released details of how much it had sequestered. “Given the lengthy delays and excuses Chevron has offered to date … we will watch with interest when the project gets ramped up and is fully operational as promised,” Merzian said. Politicians applauded the announcement. “This has been a very expensive and complicated proposal that has challenged both the proponents and regulators alike, and having it finally cross the production line must be a relief to all,” the WA opposition environment spokesman, Steve Thomas, said. Sign up to receive the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning The company has previously said between 3.4m and 4m tonnes of carbon dioxide would be buried each year. It was estimated it would cut Gorgon’s total emissions – counting both fugitive emissions from gas wells and those released during production, when the gas is compressed into liquid form for export – by about 40%. The $2.5bn project is backed by $60m in federal government funding. Federal government data shows LNG production is the main reason national emissions have risen year-on-year. Berlin-based researchers at Climate Analytics found the growth in LNG pollution in Australia between 2015 and 2020 would effectively wipe out that avoided through the 23% national renewable energy target. | ['australia-news/energy-australia', 'environment/environment', 'environment/carbon-capture-and-storage', 'business/oilandgascompanies', 'business/chevron', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/carbon-emissions', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/adam-morton', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/carbon-capture-and-storage | EMISSIONS | 2019-08-08T07:56:46Z | true | EMISSIONS |
commentisfree/2017/nov/06/bird-of-prey-killers-get-away-hope-legal-changes-hen-harriers-peregrines-buzzards | Bird killers are getting away with it. But there’s hope in sight | Patrick Barkham | We may despair of living in an era where the powerful are getting away with it more than ever before, but hope glimmers in unexpected places. A dismal landmark was revealed last week. In 2016, there were 81 confirmed incidents of British bird of prey persecution but, for the first time in decades, there were no prosecutions for these wildlife crimes. The 81 is an iceberg tip, with many more unconfirmed or undetected shootings, poisonings and trappings of peregrines, buzzards and particularly hen harriers. Despite the ubiquity of camera phones and an increasing number of walkers and nature lovers being aware of illegal killing, prosecutions have slid steadily down, from eight in 2012 to four in 2015. Someone, somewhere, is getting away with it. To give us a clue, the RSPB compiled court data in 2015 of the occupations of the 176 individuals convicted of raptor persecution since 1990: 68% were gamekeepers. Gamekeepers are under pressure to deliver huge quantities of wild red grouse or factory-farmed pheasants to lucrative shoots on private moors or woods where crimes can be committed with impunity. They are also getting away with it because policing and prosecutions are inadequate. North Yorkshire police apart, according to the RSPB, many forces lack expertise or even part-time wildlife crime officers. Crown prosecutors don’t help either. In Scotland, extraordinarily, despite the RSPB obtaining video evidence of someone shooting a hen harrier on its nest, prosecutors deemed this evidence inadmissible on the preposterous technicality that people have the right to roam on private land but not to “investigate” crime. No prosecutions presented the shooting community with an opportunity to renew denials of illegality. Instead, Christopher Graffius, acting chief executive of the British Association of Shooting and Conservation (BASC), called for “action by everyone who shoots” against the “criminals among us”. BASC’s brave and welcome honesty suggests the game is up. There’s growing momentum for two simple legal changes in England. Vicarious liability would hold landowners responsible for wildlife crime. And licensing shoots would add to that deterrent by ensuring that shoots are put out of business if wildlife crime is committed. These reforms are coming, and smart shooters know it. Planting trees is like kissing babies Happy 800th birthday to the Forest Charter, which granted commoners rights to use woodland. This force for collective good helped save Epping Forest from development in 1878. A new Tree Charter launched this week brings alarm over fewer hectares of trees being planted in the past two years than at any point since 1971. We can relax about this statistic. Planting a tree is a feelgood gesture like kissing babies, but new trees aren’t all good: commercial blocks of sitka spruce aren’t socially useful, scenic or wildlife-friendly. And the aftermath of the great storm of 87 shows it’s often more wildlife-friendly to let trees seed themselves. The one stat we must worry about is that, according to the Woodland Trust, a record 780 ancient woods are threatened by new homes, quarries, golf courses and transport – and particularly by HS2. The government prefers to trumpet its “new network of forests across the country”. What’s really needed is proper planning protection for the irreplaceable ancient fragments we’ve got left. Global warming’s truffling benefits An oak planted in 2008 in Wales brings news of an upside to global warming in the week of the Bonn climate talks. A Périgord black truffle has been sniffed out beneath a Monmouthshire sapling, the first time this prized delicacy has been cultivated so far north. Truffles are a fine accompaniment to the English sparkling wine with which we can now toast the cooking of the planet. • Patrick Barkham is a natural history writer for the Guardian and the author of Islander, The Butterfly Isles, and Badgerlands | ['commentisfree/series/notebook', 'environment/birds', 'uk/ukcrime', 'commentisfree/commentisfree', 'tone/comment', 'environment/wildlife', 'environment/environment', 'law/law', 'uk/uk', 'environment/forests', 'type/article', 'profile/patrickbarkham', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-opinion'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2017-11-06T15:54:09Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2015/sep/14/federal-environmental-oversight-costs-vastly-overstated-analysis-finds | Federal environmental oversight costs 'vastly overstated', analysis finds | The Coalition’s bid to speed up environmental approvals for developments such as mines and ports will not save businesses as much money as claimed and will weaken protection for vulnerable species and ecosystems, according to a new report. The analysis, by WWF-Australia and the Australia Institute, comes as the federal government presses ahead with plans to devolve environmental oversight of projects to the states, despite the move being blocked in the Senate last year. The House of Representatives voted on Monday to allow states to handle the so-called “water trigger”, which is used to scrutinise the impact of mining upon groundwater supplies. The government hopes to hand over all environmental assessments and approvals to the states in a “one-stop shop”, a move it says will simplify and speed up decision making. The federal environment minister, Greg Hunt, has said national oversight of projects “adds complexity and costs”, adding “we can cut red tape and streamline approvals, and importantly, we can do it without compromising high environmental standards”. An analysis by Hunt’s department estimates that businesses will save $417m a year by not waiting for federal, as well as state, approval for projects. An additional $9m in administration costs will be saved by not having to deal with two different application forms, according to the government. This stance has been backed by the Minerals Council of Australia and the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association, which have both bemoaned economically damaging delays to coal and gas projects. “The industry does not seek to remove or diminish environmental standards or safeguards,” the MCA,’s chief executive, Brendan Pearson, wrote to MPs. “Rather, the minerals industry seeks only to create a more streamlined process in meeting environmental outcomes through the removal of unnecessary and costly duplication.” But this argument has been challenged by WWF, which attacks industry justification for the move as being based upon “woefully inadequate economics”. Its analysis argues that delays and costs are vastly overstated, with many of the approvals processes happening concurrently. It also points out that the $417m saving estimate assumes that all proposed projects will immediately proceed, when many are scrapped owing to unfavourable economic conditions. “Teenagers view the cost of waiting until they turn 16 before learning to drive as a ‘delay cost’,” it states. “Most parents view this delay as a necessary risk mitigation strategy, while the wider community enjoys the obvious benefits of not having 14-year-olds driving cars. “Most of the [mining industry] documents reviewed here take the teenagers’ point of view. Worse, much of the economic assessment is also of teenage standard.” The report adds that mining lobby groups have slanted their arguments to favour their members, rather than the national interest, and points out that very few projects have been rejected under the federal Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. “If passed, these amendments will limit our ability nationally to protect the places and iconic creatures Australians love,” said Dermot O’Gorman, chief executive of WWF-Australia. “The $417m in cost savings quoted by the government to justify the one-stop shop cannot be taken seriously because the government’s own modelling is completely flawed. It deceptively overstates delay timeframes and includes projects which failed to even get off the ground.” | ['environment/mining', 'environment/environment', 'business/mining', 'australia-news/greg-hunt', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'australia-news/australian-politics', 'environment/water', 'environment/coal', 'environment/gas', 'business/australia-economy', 'environment/wwf', 'business/co-operative-group', 'type/article', 'profile/oliver-milman'] | environment/mining | ENERGY | 2015-09-14T02:30:14Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2018/apr/15/iain-reddish-obituary | Iain Reddish obituary | My friend Iain Reddish, who has died aged 72, had a varied career in which he was a parliamentary aide, teacher, public relations officer and sports executive before settling down to be an international environmental lobbyist with Greenpeace for more than a decade. He joined Greenpeace in 1995, moving to its Amsterdam headquarters, and worked on various projects, including the Save the Whale campaign. By the time he left in 2007, he had visited 149 cities in 38 countries. His final role was as European coordinator for Eurogroup for Animals, an organisation based in Brussels that seeks to improve the treatment of animals throughout the European Union, a job he held until retirement in 2012. Born in Hampstead, north London, Iain was adopted by a Nottinghamshire couple, Enid and Mowbray Reddish, and grew up in Nottingham, where his adoptive father worked as an engineer. He read political sciences at Durham University (1965-68) and attended the College of Europe in Bruges (1970-71), where he had a placement in the press and information department at the European Commission in Brussels and visited the US on a Roosevelt scholarship. After his studies he worked in various jobs, including as a Liberal party parliamentary aide, teaching at a school in Notting Hill, west London, and as a public relations officer for the London borough of Richmond in the 1980s. From 1986 to 1995 Iain was head of international affairs at the British Sports Council, during which time he went to the Olympics at Seoul (1988) and Barcelona (1992). Iain and I first met in the Islington Labour party, campaigning during the 1992 election. Passionate about politics, Europe and the arts, Iain was angered and saddened by the Brexit referendum result, and became a Dutch citizen in 2016. He loved France and the country life of markets, art and food, and shared a house in Provence with friends for 20 years. He was an excellent host, throwing memorable 50th and 60th birthday parties in Amsterdam. Iain found and met his birth mother in 1995 and enjoyed having new relatives. He is survived by his nephews, Jo-Jo and Rupert. | ['environment/activism', 'theguardian/series/otherlives', 'tone/obituaries', 'environment/greenpeace', 'environment/environment', 'politics/eu-referendum', 'politics/politics', 'type/article', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/obituaries', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-obituaries'] | environment/activism | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2018-04-15T16:59:01Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
sustainable-business/sustainable-innovation-business-fashion-transport | From fashion to transport: businesses are leading on sustainable innovation | An ethical smartphone, air cleaning carpets and carbon-negative plastic. Sustainability innovation is truly broadening out these days, and the big winners are businesses that are finding new ways to create novel products and save on budgets and resources. A new study, Sustainia100, identifies 100 leading sustainability innovations from more than 900 technologies and projects to pinpoint how and where innovations are being developed, deployed and put to scale. The study outlines efforts to make sectors from fashion and food to buildings and transportation more efficient and more sustainable. The result is clear: global markets are currently witnessing a growing diversity in sustainability innovations, which is providing businesses with new opportunities. We're beginning to see an eclectic mix: wireless technology alerting farmers via text when crops are at risk, Swedish IT systems operating rail traffic in energy efficient ways and 100% biodegradable plastic. Consumers and companies have sustainable options like never before. These examples might seem futuristic, but they are readily available and have demonstrated environmental, social and economic benefits. The 100 selections are currently being deployed in 142 countries, and arguments for why they should be used are hard to ignore. Financial incentives Take the savings made by Icelandic company GreenQloud as an example. Not only does its data storage service reduce CO2 emissions but by keeping servers cool in a cold climate, 30-40% of average data centre costs are cut. These new energy and resource-optimising solutions are not just eco-friendly. They can also be appealing design alternatives. Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta's beautifully designed office building Powerhouse is the first energy-producing office in the world. If companies do not gear themselves towards this changing landscape, where efficient and sustainable operations are key to long-term survival, they will not last. Broader global trends in sustainability The report shows how the circular economy in particular is a growing focus for market-ready products. Companies are re-thinking consumption, waste, materials and systems-return at an impressive scale. There is an increasing prevalence towards innovation for reuse, recycling, upcycling or even biodegradation in order to minimise waste. One example is the Italian company, Bio-on, which is replacing petroleum-based plastics with 100% biodegradable plastic made from agricultural waste. While Dutch company, Mud Jeans, has made a business out of leasing jeans, giving customers the option of keeping, swapping or returning them after use for recycling. A solid trend among the case studies is innovation using data analytics. Numerous big data solutions are improving the performance of utilities, homes and office buildings as well as traffic flows and water pressure to reduce energy and resource consumption. Swedish company Transrail has developed the CATO (Computer-Aided Train Operation) system which makes use of advanced algorithms to operate railway traffic as efficiently as possible. Fashion with an eye for green The fashion industry has a history of issues with workers' right and challenges around its polluting production processes. Innovations are now providing the materials, methods and technologies necessary to set new standards throughout supply chains. This involves the use of mobile technology to monitor and survey working conditions and environmental management. For example, in collaboration with suppliers, Levi's has created a water recycling system that saves millions of litres by reducing the amount of water used in the finishing process. Laura Storm is director of Scandinavian think tank Sustainia. The study of 100 leading sustainability innovations is released today and available online. The technology and innovation hub is funded by BT. All content is editorially independent except for pieces labelled advertisement feature. Find out more here. | ['sustainable-business/sustainable-business', 'sustainable-business/innovation', 'tone/blog', 'technology/technology', 'business/business', 'environment/corporatesocialresponsibility', 'business/ethicalbusiness', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'sustainable-business/series/technology-and-innovation'] | environment/corporatesocialresponsibility | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2014-06-16T04:00:00Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
world/2009/mar/04/srilanka-cricket-team-attack-pakistan | Gunmen throw Pakistan's sporting future into doubt | The future of international cricket was thrown into the air yesterday as the game's world governing body warned that the sport had been changed irrevocably by the first targeted attacks on sports figures since the Munich Olympics 37 years ago. After the first Test series in cricket-mad Pakistan for 14 months was brought to a bloody and premature end, the International Cricket Council (ICC) immediately cast doubt on the likelihood of the 2011 world cup being held in the country. Attention also turned to the Indian premier league, the Twenty20 tournament due to start on 10 April. The Indian government has asked organisers to postpone the event so as not to clash with the country's general elections, for fear of stretching security resources. Sri Lanka's tour of Pakistan was hurriedly cancelled and a helicopter chartered to take their shaken players home, including the seven injured in the attack. Match officials were evacuated to Abu Dhabi. Haroon Lorgat, chief executive of the ICC, said yesterday the sport had been altered for ever by the attack: up to now there had been respect for the teams but "all that has changed". He said no decisions about the 2011 tournament, to be hosted by Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India, would be taken until the board met next month. The ICC could delay a decision until next year, but it would be "very challenging for us to be convinced that Pakistan could be a safe venue". Those views were echoed by some of the biggest names in Pakistani cricket. Ehsan Mani, a former ICC president, said it was "very unrealistic" to think teams would play in Pakistan for at least two to three years. Javed Miandad, a former captain, said: "It is going to be very difficult for us to now convince teams that they can play the world cup in Pakistan safely." It later emerged that the Pakistan players escaped the gunfire because they delayed their journey by five minutes. Meanwhile, ICC president, David Morgan, said it could not be responsible for bilateral arrangements between member countries. "There is a significant difference between safety and security for a bilateral event that involves two countries and the ICC champions trophy that would involve several visiting teams." Australia and India had already refused to go on planned tours for security reasons, and it was with some difficulty that the Pakistani cricket authorities managed to persuade Sri Lanka to tour the country. The ICC could now try to persuade Pakistan to play its "home" matches in the Middle East; or other countries could offer to host matches at neutral venues. Cricket Australia said it was in talks to play its Test series against Pakistan, in England next summer. Pakistan are scheduled to tour England next spring. The culture secretary, Andy Burnham, said yesterday it had been "a grim day for sport", adding that cricket brought people together "in a common, peaceful, purpose, and this appalling attack is a grotesque violation of that". | ['world/sri-lanka-cricket-team-attack', 'world/pakistan', 'world/srilanka', 'sport/cricket', 'sport/sport', 'world/world', 'tone/news', 'world/south-and-central-asia', 'type/article', 'profile/owengibson', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/topstories'] | world/sri-lanka-cricket-team-attack | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2009-03-04T00:01:00Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
environment/2011/jul/19/palm-oil-labelling-australia-bill | Palm oil labelling in Australia could become a reality if bill passes | While the quasi-apocalyptic tumult over carbon pricing has dominated the Australian media for the best part of 2011, another fierce, albeit less high profile, environmental debate has entered its final stages – the labelling of palm oil on product packaging. A long-running legislative saga, launched in the Australian senate in 2009 by independent Nick Xenophon, is being willed to the finish line by environmentalists Down Under. An unlikely alliance between Xenophon, the Greens and the centre-right Coalition has passed legislation in the senate, despite it being rejected at committee stage. The truth in labelling – palm oil bill, which will require products to carry information on palm oil content, is now expected to be approved by the house of representatives. Xenophon, who has long crusaded to reduce Australians' use of poker machines, sees palm oil labelling primarily as a consumer issue, saying: "Australians consume 10 kilos of palm oil every year and don't know it. These laws will give consumers the knowledge they need to make an informed choice at the supermarket checkout." But for conservation groups, the legislation is a long-overdue boost for the orangutan, which has been pushed to the edge of extinction by the rampant clearing of its natural habitat in Indonesia and Malaysia for palm oil cultivation. The two south-east Asian countries account for 85% of the world's $40bn palm oil industry, with the product estimated to be present in around 40% of Australian foods, including beloved national snacks such as Tim Tams and Arnott's Shapes. Palm oil, which is also found in toothpaste and cosmetics, is labelled as vegetable oil on packaging in Australian shops. A 2007 report by the UN found that 98% of natural rainforest in Malaysia and Indonesia could disappear by 2022, with palm oil production seen as a key driver of the destruction that sees the equivalent of 300 football pitches of forest wiped out each hour. The impact upon the orangutan, the only Asian great ape, has been severe – it's estimated that 1,000 a year die due to forest clearing in its heartlands of Borneo and Sumatra, with predictions that the species could be extinct in the wild within 20 years. There are also concerns over the impact of palm oil-driven deforestation on climate change, with peat-filled soils, exposed by the removal of trees, releasing large quantities of methane into the atmosphere. Indonesia has been ranked the world's third largest emitter of carbon dioxide, behind the US and China, when deforestation is taken into account. But it is images of orphaned orangutans that has turned the issue into a cause celebre in Australia, which imports around 130,000 tonnes of palm oil a year. The Don't Palm Us Off campaign, which has been supported by Zoos Victoria, TV network Ten and an assortment of local celebrities, has proved a straightforward environmental cause for Australians confused by the endless carbon price ructions. The campaign aims to have a similar impact to Greenpeace UK's widely-circulated Kit Kat video, which successfully pressed Nestle into agreeing to use palm oil derived from sustainable sources. "The production of palm oil is essentially destroying the habitat and homes of orangutan species," says Rachel Lowry, director of wildlife conservation at Zoos Victoria. "We have horrifying footage, images coming through to us almost daily here at Zoos Victoria." "We have staff that go across to Indonesia for skill share programs that are bringing back reports of orangutans being displaced, being killed, essentially returning to burning fields or fields that have been cleared [to put] palm oil crops in." The World Wildlife Fund and Greenpeace also support Xenophon's bill, arguing that Australia must move to certified sources of palm oil, as defined by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. However, opposition to the palm oil labelling requirements has been persistent. The Australian Food and Grocery Council, despite being a member of RSPO, claims that the changes will cost the industry "hundreds of millions of dollars" to implement and may even breach the Australia/New Zealand Food Treaty, which requires the antipodean neighbours to consult each other over amendments to food law. New Zealand is the world's largest user of palm kernel extract, a palm oil byproduct, which it uses to feed cows. While the minority Gillard government should be able to brush aside the concerns of industry lobbyists, the situation with Malaysia is a little more delicate. Tan Sri Bernard Giluk Dompok, Malaysia's commodities minister, is currently in Australia to stress to MPs the economic importance of palm oil exports. Dompok insists that palm oil has been an "easy target" for campaigners in Australia, rebuffing evidence that the product causes environmental destruction. Dompok's visit comes at a crucial time in relations between the two countries, with the Australian government poised to finalise a controversial deal that will see it swap 800 asylum seekers who arrived by boat with 4,000 refugees already processed by Malaysia. Conservationists hope the long-awaited palm oil packaging law won't hit yet another hurdle, so close to the finishing line. | ['environment/green-living-blog', 'environment/palm-oil', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'world/julia-gillard', 'world/malaysia', 'world/newzealand', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/greenpeace', 'environment/activism', 'environment/wwf', 'world/world', 'environment/environment', 'tone/news', 'tone/blog', 'world/asia-pacific', 'australia-news/australian-politics', 'type/article', 'profile/oliver-milman'] | environment/activism | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2011-07-19T06:00:00Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
uk/2011/mar/29/fukushima-raditation-found-across-uk | Fukushima radiation from Japan's stricken plant detected across UK | Traces of radioactivity believed to come from the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan have been detected across the UK by emergency monitoring stations in Oxfordshire and Glasgow. The Health Protection Agency has said that "the minutest" levels of radioactive iodine have been detected at its air monitoring stations over the last nine days, but they posed no risk to health. The readings peaked at 300 micro-becquerels per cubic metre but averaged at a barely detectable 11 micro-becquerels over that nine-day period - readings similar to findings by monitoring stations in Switzerland and Germany. The HPA said the dose from breathing in air "was minuscule and would be very much less than the annual background radiation dose". It said it had expected to see these traces as a result of the Fukushima crisis, where four reactors have been seriously damaged and have emitted significant levels of radiation, in one of the world's worst civil nuclear disasters. But the agency warned that radiation levels in the UK could rise. "Levels may rise in the coming days and weeks but they will be significantly below any level that could cause harm to public health," it said in a statement. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa), which oversees radiation monitoring in Scotland, said the levels detected in Glasgow were less than a millionth of normal background levels. The detection of these traces was due to the extremely large volumes of air being tested and their very great sensitivity. Dr James Gemmill, Sepa's radioactive substances manager, said: "The concentration of iodine detected is extremely low and is not of concern for the public or the environment." However, Alex Salmond, the first minister of Scotland and a prominent critic of nuclear power, has complained to the HPA about a delay in informing the public that radiation had been detected by the Glasgow monitoring station on Friday. Salmond said the HPA had been expected to release the Glasgow readings on Monday morning. This had been agreed with Sepa but it did not do so. Sepa officials had then been told it would be disclosed on Tuesday morning, but the HPA statement was released after 1pm. Salmond said he suspected this information was delayed to avoid clashing with the release of a report calling for rapid investment in new nuclear power stations from Oxford's Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, headed by Prof David King, the UK's former chief scientific adviser. Roseanna Cunningham, the Scottish environment minister, is writing to the HPA to protest, Salmond said. "When these things happen, our obligation is to tell people frankly, clearly and concisely as soon as possible. We're extremely angry and suspicious as to why the pre-arranged statement didn't appear," he said. The HPA said there had been no political influence on its decision on when to disclose this information. It had been keeping the situation at Fukushima under close review, and had waited until the Glasgow readings were compared to findings at other air monitoring stations before releasing its findings. It added: "Because of the high volumes of air needed to identify any radioactive materials, measurements normally take place over extended periods of time. HPA instituted this special high volume air sampling to establish what the levels were." | ['uk/scotland', 'uk/uk', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'world/japan', 'politics/alexsalmond', 'environment/environment', 'tone/news', 'world/world', 'world/asia-pacific', 'environment/fukushima', 'type/article', 'profile/severincarrell', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2011-03-29T15:05:07Z | true | ENERGY |
news/2020/jul/22/huge-waves-batter-australian-coast-homes-at-risk-weatherwatch | Huge waves batter Australian coast and put homes at risk | Coastal New South Wales in Australia was battered by huge waves last week, eroding some exposed coastlines and putting homes at risk of collapse. Waves over 10 metres high were reported, part of a swell associated with a deep area of low pressure off the east coast. Low pressure systems such as these are a common feature of the southern hemisphere autumn and winter months, but differ from tropical storms that form over the warm waters of the Pacific, usually affecting the north of the country. Significant flooding occurred the Italian city of Palermo last Wednesday, as a powerful thunderstorm produced intense rainfall which overwhelmed drainage systems. In what is Sicily’s driest month of the year, when it usually rains little more than once, estimated rainfall from this event of around 80-100mm in the space of an hour or two, represented around 15% of typical annual levels. Death Valley in California, normally an even drier part of the world, recorded the world’s highest air temperature of the year so far. The temperature of 53.3C (128F) was among the hottest conditions ever observed on earth and was just around one degree off the highest widely accepted recorded temperature, also in Death Valley, of 54C( 129.2F). | ['news/series/world-weatherwatch', 'news/series/weatherwatch', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'australia-news/australia-weather', 'tone/features', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-weather'] | news/series/weatherwatch | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2020-07-22T20:30:23Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2022/jan/29/superyacht-sales-surge-prompts-fresh-calls-for-curbs-on-their-emissions | Superyacht sales surge prompts fresh calls for curbs on their emissions | The rising fortunes of the world’s billionaires during the pandemic helped fuel a record £5.3bn in superyacht sales last year, prompting calls for new curbs on their emissions. New figures reveal that 887 superyachts were sold in 2021, an increase of more than 75% compared with the previous year. Yachting brokers say some of the demand has been from wealthy clients seeking a secure refuge from the pandemic. Sam Tucker, head of the superyachts team at VesselsValue, the maritime and aviation data firm which compiled the report, said: “It has been the strongest year on record for the number of transactions and the money spent.” He said low interest rates and rising stock markets had meant more disposable income for the world’s richest people. A superyacht is typically defined as a privately owned vessel 78 feet (24 metres) or more in length. According to industry data, there are more than 9,300 on the seas worth a total in excess of £50bn. While maritime construction yards are keen to promote the green credentials of many superyachts, they are major polluters. It has been estimated a superyacht with permanent crew, helicopter pad, submarines and pools emits about 7,020 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, more than 1,500 times higher than a typical family car. Paul Stretesky, a professor of social sciences at Northumbria University and co-author of a 2019 report, Measuring the Ecological Impact of the Wealthy, said more financial levies were needed on the superyacht industry. He said: “The damage done by this conspicuous consumption is incredible. It’s not something we should aspire to, it’s something we should stop.” Stretesky’s report found that the annual fuel costs of a superyacht can be about £300,000. A report last year by the environmental platform EcoWatch analysed the carbon footprint of 20 billionaires. It found a superyacht was “by far the worst asset to own from an environmental standpoint”. The Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich, who is reported to have owned at least five superyachts, topped the list published in February last year, accounting for estimated annual carbon emissions of nearly 34,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide. The biggest vessel in his fleet is the 163-metre (535ft) superyacht Eclipse. It has nine decks, with the top one containing two helipads and a garage. It has a 16-metre (53ft) swimming pool that can be converted into a dancefloor. It is estimated to be worth £1bn after extensive refurbishments. Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos was near the bottom of the carbon footprint league table in last year’s analysis, but has rapidly climbed up the table in 2021 with a trip to the outer edge of space and reports he had commissioned a new superyacht with the project name Y721. The £350m yacht will accommodate 18 guests with a 40-stong crew and will be escorted by its own support vessel. New rules were due to come into force in 2016 to curb some of the most dangerous nitrogen oxide emissions from superyachts, which can be about 300 times as potent as carbon dioxide at heating the atmosphere. The industry successfully lobbied for the International Maritime Organization (IMO) emission standards to be delayed for five years for superyachts under 500 tonnes. They were finally implemented in January last year, but the US Coast Guard has said it will not enforce the regulations after lobbying by the marine industry which says the bulky equipment required to remove pollution out of engine exhaust is impractical on many yachts. | ['environment/shipping-emissions', 'environment/carbon-emissions', 'environment/carbonfootprints', 'business/luxury-goods-sector', 'travel/luxury-travel', 'world/roman-abramovich', 'technology/jeff-bezos', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/jon-ungoed-thomas', 'publication/theobserver', 'theobserver/news', 'theobserver/news/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/observer-main'] | environment/carbonfootprints | EMISSIONS | 2022-01-29T17:03:46Z | true | EMISSIONS |
us-news/2023/aug/28/tropical-storm-idalia-florida-forecast-path | Tropical Storm Idalia strengthens as it threatens to strike Florida | Residents along Florida’s Gulf coast were warned of an “increasingly dangerous situation” on Monday as Tropical Storm Idalia continued to bulk up off the coast of Cuba and threatened to strike the state later in the week as a major hurricane. With the storm moving north on a path almost parallel to Florida’s west coast, the location of its landfall, expected early Wednesday, was difficult to predict, forecasters at the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami said in a late-morning briefing. But there was growing confidence in the intensity of Idalia, which was strengthening in the abnormally hot water of the Gulf of Mexico. “Steady to rapid intensification is predicted beginning Tuesday while Idalia traverses the warm waters of the eastern Gulf and the upper-level environment becomes more favorable,” NHC officials said. Winds of 115mph are expected at landfall, making the storm a category 3 hurricane. Any hurricane higher than a category 2 is considered major. Forecasters were also predicting storm surge of up to 11ft, which could bring significant inland flooding in vulnerable areas north of Tampa. Idalia would be the first hurricane to strike Florida since Nicole in November 2022, and the first major cyclone since Hurricane Ian ravaged the south-west of the state and killed almost 150 people last September. Joe Biden approved a federal emergency declaration for the state on Monday, pledging his “full support” during a conversation with Republican governor Ron DeSantis. The president said the federal emergency management agency (Fema) had deployed personnel and resources to Florida ahead of the storm. The heavily populated Tampa Bay area remained on the southern edge of the NHC’s “cone of uncertainty”. But DeSantis, who broke off from his presidential campaign in Iowa to return to the state and oversee preparations for Idalia’s arrival, warned of possible widespread impacts. “There really doesn’t seem anything to prevent it from continuing to strengthen. And we’ve seen this before, with Hurricane Michael that continued to gather strength,” he said at a Monday morning press conference at the Florida emergency operations center in Tallahassee. “This is going to be a major impact and Floridians should expect that this storm will be a major category 3-plus hurricane, so please prepare accordingly.” DeSantis said 1,100 national guard personnel had been activated, with high-wheeled vehicles and aircraft, and other state agencies were on standby for rescue missions. Additionally, he said, thousands of electricity workers were lined up to restore power lost in the storm, and schools in a number of counties in Idalia’s predicted pathway would be closed until at least Thursday. Forty-six of Florida’s 67 counties were under an emergency declaration after DeSantis added 13 more on Monday, freeing up resources for recovery and relief efforts. “If you are in the path of this storm, you should expect power outages,” DeSantis said at a briefing Sunday. “There’s a lot of trees that are going to get knocked down, the power lines are going to get knocked down, that is just going to happen, so just be prepared for that and be able to do what you need to do.” In the NHC’s early briefing Monday, hurricane specialist Eric Blake said the environment was “conducive for significant strengthening” of Idalia. “The risk continues to increase for life-threatening storm surge and dangerous hurricane-force winds along portions of the west coast of Florida and the Florida Panhandle, beginning as early as late Tuesday,” he wrote. He urged residents to “prepare for possible significant impacts, and monitor future updates … for this increasingly dangerous situation”. The rise in intensity in Atlantic hurricanes has increasingly been blamed on the climate crisis, with researchers warning earlier this year that “extremely active” seasons are twice as likely as they were in the 1980s because of global heating. Earlier this month, forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s climate prediction center (CPC) upgraded their outlook for the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season to “above normal”, reflecting “unprecedented” sea temperatures off Florida and elsewhere. “The main climate factors … are the ongoing El Niño and the warm phase of the Atlantic multi-decadal oscillation, including record-warm Atlantic sea surface temperatures,” said Matthew Rosencrans, lead hurricane season forecaster at the CPC. In its 10 August update, the center said it now expected six to 11 hurricanes before the Atlantic season ends 30 November, of which two to five are predicted to be major hurricanes. With category 4 Hurricane Franklin currently swirling in the Atlantic but posing only a passing threat to Bermuda, Idalia would become only the third hurricane – and second major cyclone – of the season. | ['us-news/florida', 'us-news/us-weather', 'world/hurricanes', 'us-news/us-news', 'campaign/email/us-morning-newsletter', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'us-news/hurricane-idalia', 'profile/richardluscombe', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-news'] | world/hurricanes | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2023-08-28T16:07:24Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2019/mar/28/country-diary-the-wondrous-black-alder-lives-fast-and-dies-young | Country diary: the wondrous black alder lives fast and dies young | The square bulk of Chatsworth House came into view, cresting the rise above Edensor, the newly restored gold of the window frames opulent in the late afternoon sun. The large number of stewards in gilets jaunes spread across the surrounding park surprised me. A helicopter was on the way, said the first steward I met. “Who’s on board?” I asked. She shrugged and smiled. “They never tell us anything.” This would be something to see. While I waited, I decided I would visit an old friend. Many summers ago, standing in the outfield of Chatsworth’s cricket pitch, pretending to play, I had noticed an ancient tree with a fat trunk that many must mistake for an old oak; there are plenty of those at Chatsworth. It was actually a black, or common, alder, most probably among the oldest in the country. Alders ordinarily have a diameter of about half a metre aged 60, when the heartwood starts to go; few make it to 150. The girth of this one measured more than six metres in circumference in 2015, giving it almost a two-metre diameter. In the charismatic tree stakes, alders barely get a nod. We think of beech and yew and, most of all, oak. Yet these are wondrous trees, with tricks and quirks that make them prosper in unlikely situations, such as marshy, flooded ground where they have evolved to cope with the toxic gases produced in such anaerobic conditions. This makes them a likely ally in an era of climate change and flooding. They live fast and die young, but when cut, the wood becomes iron-hard under water, which is why there are still piles of alder propping up Venice. This specimen stands in splendid isolation, some distance from the River Derwent, which flows on the other side of the cricket pitch. The colossal trunk is hollow and worm-eaten. Without its leaves, the tree seemed fissured and careworn, like the face of Samuel Beckett, patiently enduring the world. Yet the bark was rough and vibrant, recalling the shoulders of an elephant. As the helicopter roared overhead, I clambered up the tree’s branches and gave it a hug. | ['environment/forests', 'environment/series/country-diary', 'environment/environment', 'uk/uk', 'uk/ruralaffairs', 'culture/heritage', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/eddouglas', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/letters', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2019-03-28T05:30:21Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2024/nov/16/red-squirrels-to-vanish-from-england-unless-vaccine-against-squirrelpox-funded | Red squirrels ‘to vanish from England’ unless vaccine against squirrelpox funded | Red squirrels will soon disappear from England unless the government funds a vaccine against squirrelpox, one of the biggest groups set up to protect the species has warned. Conservationists say the English population of non-native grey squirrels has exploded this year, triggered by warmer winters which enable mating pairs to feed and breed all year round, and estimate that 70% are carrying squirrelpox, a virus which is lethal only to red squirrels. “We’re facing a huge surge of grey squirrels,” said Robert Benson, founder of Penrith and District Red Squirrel Group, which covers 600 square miles of Cumbria. “We think they are breeding three or four times a year, and having four or five kits each time, leading to a massive expansion in grey squirrel numbers: 15 or 20 young grey squirrels are moving through the countryside [each year], from each breeding pair.” Benson founded his group 40 years ago when the first grey squirrel was spotted in the region and recently took on an eighth full-time ranger to try to control the local grey squirrel population, helped by teams of part-time volunteers. “Red squirrels are already under extreme pressure, because the grey squirrels will out-compete them for feed and for territory,” he said. “We’ve already lost them from every county in mainland England, apart from Cumbria and Northumberland.” Squirrel protection groups in those regions desperately need help from the government to control the local grey squirrel population, he said. “We are at the coal face. England is under extreme threat, and in due course, Scotland will be threatened in the same way.” He said his group is just one of the many conservation groups across Cumbria and Northumberland working to make sure the red squirrel survives: “Unless we can manage to control that grey surge, the chances are, in two or three years, the red population will begin to disappear.” The government needs to urgently invest in developing a vaccine against squirrelpox, while there is still a “viable population” of red squirrels alive who can benefit. If that doesn’t happen soon, he said, “we won’t have red squirrels in England, and probably in the United Kingdom, because Scotland too will go, in time … Defra [the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs] and Natural England have to take seriously the threat to our red squirrels”. He added: “If it wasn’t for the work we do, the red would already have disappeared from this part of the world.” For the past two winters, he has been finding pregnant and lactating female grey squirrels in December, January and February. “We’re seeing it now, in November. They shouldn’t be breeding at this time of year, but they are.” Grey squirrels have a natural advantage over red squirrels because they find it easier to digest the tannins found in acorns, a widespread food source which reds struggle to eat. When squirrelpox is present in the local squirrel population too, the disappearance of reds accelerates and they are replaced by grey squirrels up to 25 times faster. “Every time a red gets squirrelpox, it dies, and it’s a slow painful death,” said Benson. He said grey squirrels also cause a “huge amount of damage”, especially to growing timber, and feed on song birds and their eggs. “They cause damage to property too, by getting into lofts and outhouses, chewing through plumbing and electrics. Yet I’m afraid that the conservation of red squirrels seems to be a low priority for the government.” Defra and Natural England were contacted for comment. | ['environment/wildlife', 'environment/environment', 'environment/invasive-species', 'uk-news/england', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/donna-ferguson', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/wildlife | BIODIVERSITY | 2024-11-16T21:29:03Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
australia-news/2021/oct/14/7-eleven-took-photos-of-some-australian-customers-faces-without-consent-privacy-commissioner-rules | 7-Eleven took photos of some Australian customers’ faces without consent, privacy commissioner rules | Convenience store giant 7-Eleven has disabled facial recognition technology used in 700 of its Australian stores as customers filled out feedback surveys after the privacy commissioner found it interfered with their privacy. Up to 3.2m facial images had been collected over a 10-month period. In June 2020, 7-Eleven rolled out tablets in its 700 stores across New South Wales, the ACT, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia to allow customers to fill in surveys. Each tablet had a built-in camera that took photos of customers both when they started and completed the survey. The photos were uploaded to an Australian-hosted server, where the facial image was converted to an encrypted algorithmic faceprint, and a person’s approximate age and gender were recorded based on an assessment of the faceprint. It was then cross-referenced with all other faceprints generated by the tablet in the previous 24 hours, and if there were any matches, they were flagged for review. The facial images were held by 7-Eleven for seven days and the company said the faceprints “effectively expired” after 24 hours, but did not say whether they had been deleted. Between June 2020 and March 2021, 1.6m surveys were completed in 7-Eleven stores, but the company shut down the review system in September after the privacy commissioner, Angelene Falk, shared a preliminary finding that the collection of the images had interfered with the privacy of customers who had completed surveys. In a final decision released on Thursday, Falk said the large-scale collection of such sensitive biometric information “was not reasonably necessary for the purpose of understanding and improving customers’ in-store experience” – and was obtained “without consent”. Falk said she accepted “implementing systems to understand and improve customers’ experience is a legitimate function for 7-Eleven’s business [but] any benefits to the business in collecting this biometric information were not proportional to the impact on privacy”. 7-Eleven had initially tried to defend the practice, telling the commissioner the facial recognition technology was designed to prevent staff members or others from completing multiple surveys in one day. However, the company did not hand over any information about how many surveys were found not to be genuine. Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning The company also argued people had the option of not using the tablets and the company had posted signs in stores stating: “By entering the store you consent to facial recognition cameras capturing and storing your image.” The privacy policy on 7-Eleven’s website also mentioned it might collect biometric information but did not connect this with the feedback tablets. The company argued the facial images and faceprints “were not personal information because they are not used to identify, monitor or track any individual”. The arguments were all rejected by the commissioner. Ahead of the final decision, 7-Eleven disabled the image capture component of the survey system. Falk also ordered 7-Eleven to destroy all faceprints within 90 days. A 7-Eleven spokesperson said the company accepted the decision but argued the system was “used by many businesses across the retail sector” and was entirely voluntary – with no other personal information collected. “All images taken by the system in our stores have been permanently deleted,” the company said. Anna Johnston, the principal at Salinger Privacy, told Guardian Australia the case “clearly shows that putting things in your privacy policy does not equal consent” and the argument that someone’s face was not personal information did not wash. “The very selling point of facial recognition technology from a vendor’s perspective, their sales pitch, is facial recognition technology is great because we can distinguish people uniquely, with a high degree of accuracy. To turn around and say that that is not personal information is, I think, a bit of a stretch,” Johnston said. The Human Rights Law Centre senior lawyer Kieran Pender said facial recognition technology raised significant human rights and privacy issues. “Given these risks, the increasing use of facial recognition technology without proper safeguards – including by law enforcement and as part of home quarantine apps – is alarming,” he said. “The Morrison government should urgently enact laws that provide robust safeguards against the potential misuse of facial recognition technology.” | ['australia-news/business-australia', 'technology/facial-recognition', 'world/privacy', 'technology/technology', 'law/law-australia', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/josh-taylor', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | technology/facial-recognition | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2021-10-14T08:18:42Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
australia-news/2024/mar/13/peak-motorist-body-requests-clarity-on-albanese-governments-proposed-clean-car-policy | Peak motorist body requests clarity on Albanese government’s proposed clean car policy | The nation’s peak motorist organisation has called on the Albanese government to release in full the modelling underpinning its proposed new laws aimed at removing the worst polluting cars from Australian roads and hastening the uptake of cleaner vehicles. The Australian Automobile Association (AAA), in its submission responding to the government’s proposed national vehicle efficiency standard (NVES), reiterated it has long supported such a scheme. But it said Labor should “be more transparent” about how it arrived at the calculations supporting its preferred, more ambitious targets. “The AAA is mindful that a poorly designed standard and overly stringent targets will deliver bad outcomes for both consumers and the environment,” the peak motoring body, which represents state organisations including the NRMA, RACQ and RACV, said. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup The criticism from the AAA comes as rival car manufacturers continue sparring with one another as well as climate advocates over claims the proposed NVES will increase the cost of popular cars. Australia’s proposed fuel standard will place a cap on the emissions from new cars supplied to the market to incentivise carmakers to supply more low- and zero-emissions vehicles. The cap will be lowered over time, and the government hopes it will bring down the nation’s emissions and make cars that are cheaper to run more accessible. Car manufacturers whose emissions averages come in below the cap will gain credits, while other companies will be penalised for exceeding the cap. The Albanese government’s preferred model is expected to cut 369m tonnes of CO2 by 2050 – equivalent to the last six years of emissions from light vehicles in Australia. However, the AAA said it is “is very concerned by the lack of detail in the government’s published analysis on the achievability of its preferred targets, particularly those relating to 4WDs and the light commercial fleet”. “Given the global lack of affordable and ready alternatives for existing popular vehicles, it is incumbent on the government to provide robust analysis showing how it sees its headline targets for light commercial vehicles being met.” The AAA’s submission included an analysis it commissioned from The Centre for International Economics, which found the government’s preferred NVES model – known as option B – would require more than 40% of new passenger vehicles sold in 2029 to be electric. The analysis also found 50% of utes bought in 2029 – or vehicles broadly falling within the light commercial category – would need to be electric. Recent sales data from February found electric vehicle sales made up 9.6% of total sales, and the AAA claimed that there is just one electric ute available in Australia, with just 15 sold in the fourth quarter of 2023. The AAA’s analysis found there would continue to be a cohort of Australians resistant to buying an EV, even if it cost less than a traditional internal combustion engine vehicle, due to factors such as concerns for its range before needing to be charged, and towing capacity. In its submission, the AAA called on the federal government to do more to address charging infrastructure across the country. The AAA also expressed concern about the “very short timeframe” for introducing the NVES. The government plans to introduce legislation before July that will take effect from January 2025 – a date the AAA said “appears rather ambitious”. It flagged the possibility that carmakers unable to achieve the strict standard in a short timeframe will either be forced to factor in the cost of penalties into consumer prices or restrict what models are available to Australians. In concerns echoed in Toyota’s submission to the government, the AAA noted that the US scheme Australia is hoping to catch up to offers manufacturers “supercredits” for the cleanest of vehicles, “off-cycle credits” for specific green technologies used in cars that are not measured in tailpipe emissions, and “air conditioning credits” for using greener refrigerants. None of these credits are included in the Albanese government’s preferred option B. Additionally, the AAA noted many states in the US offer consumers subsidies of up to $7,500 credit towards an EV on top of federal measures, while in Australia states have begun winding back such incentives. “The analysis suggests the targets will be unlikely to be met without additional consumer and/or producer subsidies, as well as significant enhancements to Australia’s EV recharging network,” the AAA said. In its submission to the government, the Grattan Institute estimated the proposed NVES model would, on average, increase prices by about 1%, but that consumers would quickly be financially better off due to significant savings on fuel and maintenance costs. A new car sold in Australia uses on average 6.9 litres of fuel for each 100km compared with new cars in Europe and the US that use 3.5 litres and 4.2 litres respectively. | ['australia-news/transport', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/carbon-emissions', 'environment/automotive-emissions', 'environment/electric-vehicles-australia', 'campaign/email/afternoon-update', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/elias-visontay', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/carbon-emissions | EMISSIONS | 2024-03-12T14:00:48Z | true | EMISSIONS |
environment/2024/mar/28/sinking-us-cities-increase-risk-flooding-rising-sea-levels | Sinking US cities increase risk of flooding from rising sea levels | A number of cities on the US east coast are sinking, increasing the risk of flooding from rising sea levels. Between 2007 and 2020 the ground under New York, Baltimore and Norfolk in Virginia sank between 1mm and 2mm a year, other places sank at double or triple that rate, and Charleston, South Carolina, sank fastest, at 4mm a year, in a city less than 3 metres above sea level. Some of this subsidence resulted from pumping out groundwater for water supplies or for natural gas, but New York and other cities are sinking under the sheer weight of their buildings pressing into soft ground. It is a complex situation, in which there are a number of factors at play. After the great ice sheets melted at the end of the ice age, the ground has also been gradually tilting, with northern areas that were under the ice rising upwards while southern areas that were ice-free tilting downwards. If the ground is sinking and sea levels are rising as a result of climate changes, the risk of seawater inundation along the US east coast is heightened. Buildings, roads, railways, farmland and much else are under threat, with the risk of seawater infiltrating water supplies and turning woodland into “ghost forests”, and especially vulnerable to subsidence are coastal wetlands, crucial for protecting many cities from storm surges during hurricanes. | ['environment/sea-level', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'cities/cities', 'environment/environment', 'us-news/us-news', 'news/series/weatherwatch', 'us-news/us-weather', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/jeremy-plester', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-weather'] | news/series/weatherwatch | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2024-03-28T06:00:27Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2018/may/31/chronic-inaction-call-for-planning-overhaul-as-population-growth-threatens-biodiversity | Humans v birds: poorly managed urban growth squeezes biodiversity | The outskirts of Melbourne are a maze of newly-paved culs-de-sac. Freestanding homes twist in on each other, filling the footprint of their small street blocks. On the other side of the road, short wooden stakes have been tied with fluorescent tape to mark out the next development. It is a seemingly never ending process to house Melbourne’s rapidly expanding population, which grew 2.3% to 4.85 million people in 2016-17. But environmental scientists say that unless planners change the way they provide for this growth it will come at the cost of biodiversity. A new study published online in the British Ecological Society journal this week found that development models based on a “land sharing” approach, where native species are provided with habitat in the form of the inter-connected backyards and tree-lined streets of a low-density suburb, performed poorly compared to a model of medium-density housing alongside continuous tracts of environmental reserve, known as a “land sparing” model. A survey of bird species in 28 parcels of land throughout Melbourne’s northern and eastern suburbs, including four reserves, found that half of the native species observed decreased significantly in proportion to the density of human occupation, and 13 species were only found in reserves. Some species, such as rainbow lorikeets, magpies and red wattlebirds were abundant throughout the suburbs. But to maximise the diversity of native bird species, the study concluded, large tracts of native vegetation must be included alongside urban areas. It noted that even including reserves was not a perfect model, saying “growth in human population density in large urban centres comes at a cost to biodiversity, regardless of how it is achieved”. Co-author Dale Nimmo, an associate professor with Charles Sturt University’s Institute for Land, Water, and Society, said the study showed that low-density leafy suburbs could not replace the environmental value of development-free areas. “There’s no substitute for having these large continuous forest blocks around and through our cities,” Nimmo said. “A lot of people see native birds in their gardens and think that they are being catered for by the vegetation that their gardens provide but without the forest alongside those species would not be catered for.” The health benefits for humans of living in greener suburbs are significant, and there are some conservation benefits, but Nimmo said both could be met in well-designed medium-density housing while retaining a larger area for conservation. “People need to get away from the idea that we are all going to be able to have a quarter-acre block within reach of the city, because it’s just not possible.” The dream of a house on a quarter-acre block has already collapsed in most Australian cities, RMIT professor Sarah Bekessy said. What is offered in new developments on the outskirts of state capitals is an hour-plus commute to an eighth of an acre, with a paved backyard for alfresco dining. “They don’t provide for access to nature,” Bekessy said. Bekessy is a national leader on the question of promoting biodiversity in the urban fringe and has been advocating for a move to medium-density, European-style developments, comprised of four or five-storey apartments around a central shared space, as a solution to Melbourne’s burgeoning population. Melbourne has the largest footprint of any Australian city and is the 29th largest for any city in the world, according to the Demographia World Urban Areas survey. Bekessy says that both land-sharing and land-sparing development models are required to maintain some degree of biodiversity but that the latter does not have to mean large plant-filled backyards. Green roofs, green walls and well-developed streetscapes could all encourage native species to come back, she said. “There’s an opportunity to bring back a whole lot of really exciting butterflies to Melbourne if everyone planted a certain type of species on their balcony,” she said. Bekessy also argues for a shift in development focus away from greenfields sites on the urban fringe to brownfields developments in abandoned industrial developments and unused defence land. “Sadly the evidence is that the urban fringes of cities around Australia are very important biodiversity hotspots,” she said. “All these places are jam-packed with threatened species.” Most at risk are the critically endangered Victorian volcanic plain grasslands to the west of Melbourne, of which less than 1% remain. The Cumberland plain, west of Sydney, and the Swan coastal plain in Perth are also in the uneasy position of being threatened ecosystems in identified growth corridors. Prof Brendan Gleeson, director of the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute at Melbourne University, said that planners had been aware of research around sustainable city development for some time but there was no imperative from governments to change decades-old practice. “We continue to fail to take biodiversity into account in fringe urban development, which means that we fail to value it and make an effort to protect it,” Gleeson said. “It’s a little bit draining because these debates have been going on for decades in Australian cities.” There are a few exceptions, such as the development at the brownfield site of Fisherman’s Bend in the inner west, but they are isolated cases in a sea of “chronic inaction”, he said. “If we are sticking with this scenario of very high if not convulsive population growth then we are going to have to embrace medium-density housing,” he said. | ['environment/biodiversity', 'australia-news/melbourne', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/environment', 'australia-news/sydney', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/wildlife', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/calla-wahlquist', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/biodiversity | BIODIVERSITY | 2018-05-31T08:12:23Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
commentisfree/2012/jul/26/greenland-ice-sheet-borrowed-time | Greenland's ice sheet is melting fast – I'm not surprised | Edward Hanna | I wasn't hugely surprised to see the news from Nasa about unprecedented melting of most of the Greenland ice sheet surface. Much of Greenland has been experiencing record warmth since May, and on the 29th of that month the weather station in the extreme south reached a positively balmy 24.8C, which set a new record May temperature for the country; this is significant because records from several weather stations extend back to the late 19th century. The unusually warm conditions prevailed for much of June and into July, with the Danish Meteorological Institute website showing Greenland temperature anomalies about 2-4C higher than the 1961-90 baseline average during these last three months. Kangerlussuaq, the "gateway to Greenland" in the southwest, reached 24.6C on 10 July, just as the record melt reported by Nasa was under way. This comes against a background of Greenland already having warmed 2.3C on average in summer over the past 20 years; this might not sound a great deal but is more than three times greater than the northern hemisphere average temperature increase of 0.5C in the same period. For every 1C rise in temperature, the resulting effect is to increase the amount of melt by around a third, so we might expect double the climatological "normal" amount of meltwater being produced by the ice sheet during June and July this year. The Nasa satellite picture of melt covering most of the ice sheet surface on 12 July (corroborated by several independent satellite methods and research groups) is dramatic, and several key Greenland scientists have confirmed it is unprecedented in the satellite record going back to the late 1970s. However, Nasa also cites evidence from ice cores at the summit of the ice sheet that suggest similar wholesale melting events occur once every 150 years on average, and the last one was in 1889. If this is this case, the recent melt may be due to natural climate variability, so do we have anything to worry about? I consider we have good reason for concern. My own work, in collaboration with various international groups including the Danish Meteorological Institute and Free University of Brussels, involves analysing Greenland temperature records and running computer models of meltwater losses and mass balance of the ice sheet. The last six summers since have seen successive record warmth and surface melt and runoff of that meltwater signalling increased mass loss from the ice sheet. This tallies with satellite observations from several independent methods showing a significant and accelerating mass loss of 250bn tonnes per year from the ice sheet averaged over the past five years or so. Although we cannot yet reliably predict how the ice sheet will respond to ongoing global warming the general prognosis is not good: more warmth clearly means more melting. Moreover, recent changes in the northern hemisphere polar jet stream in summer – which may well be related to human-enhanced global warming – have led to more warm air being drawn up over the flank of the ice sheet, contributing to the enhanced regional warming and extra icemelt. Even without sustained global warming, the Greenland ice sheet is living on borrowed time. If all the ice sheet melts, sea levels will rise by more than seven meters. Although it will take several thousand years for the ice to melt in its entirety according to current estimates, it is quite possible that the ice sheet could add up to several tens of centimetres to the global sea level by 2100. This would make many coastal communities more vulnerable to flooding and storm surges. | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'environment/poles', 'environment/environment', 'science/scienceofclimatechange', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'science/science', 'world/greenland', 'world/world', 'world/natural-disasters', 'us-news/us-news', 'science/nasa', 'tone/comment', 'environment/sea-ice', 'type/article', 'profile/edward-hanna'] | environment/sea-ice | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2012-07-26T14:46:09Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
world/2019/nov/25/storms-france-greece-italy-destruction-floods | Storms in France, Greece and Italy leave 'biblical destruction' | Nine people have died as violent storms swept through parts of France, Greece and Italy over the weekend, causing flash floods, landslides and the collapse of an overpass. Greek media described the storms as leaving a trail of “biblical destruction” in some areas of the country while the overpass collapse in northern Italy brought back a chilling reminder of Genoa’s Morandi bridge giving way during a thunderstorm in August 2018, killing 43 people. Flash floods in France’s Côte d’Azur claimed the lives of four people, while two others are believed to still be missing. Three of the victims were found in cars that were swept away in floods in the Var region, and the fourth was among a group being rescued by the fire brigade when the dinghy carrying them to safety capsized. One of the worst affected towns was Roquebrune-sur-Argens in the Var, where the Argens River rose seven metres. The French meteorological office said three months’ worth of rain had fallen in less than 48 hours. Members of the French civil defence took part in rescue operations in a number of flooded areas around Cannes and other coastal towns. The orange alert was lifted in the Var and Alpes-Maritimes regions on Monday as the water receded, leaving an estimated 4,500 homes without electricity. Two other French departments, the Puy-de-Dôme and the Gironde, were placed on high flooding alert. Jean-Luc Videlaine, the prefect for the Var region, said the rain had been of “historic” intensity and there was considerable damage. Jean-Pierre Hameau of Météo France said the storms and flooding should not be blamed on climate change. Hameau said the phenomena, known in France as cévenols, or Mediterraneans, were relatively frequent in the region. “They occur three or six times a year. It often begins in September when the Mediterranean is warm and there is rising hot air in the south,” Hameau said. “This usually happens in September and October, but sometimes we find these conditions in November. It’s not linked to global warming. We had these cévenols before and there hasn’t been an increase since temperatures rose. However, we have noted an increase in the intensity of the rains.” Meanwhile in Greece, two men in their 50s died when their sailing boat broke free of its moorings and capsized after being hit by gale-force winds in Antirio. At least one other person was reported missing in Kineta, a beach town west of Athens that was described as being the worst hit by the storms. Emergency services said it could take days to clear the extensive damage in Kineta, where uprooted trees and rockfalls from surrounding hills also disrupted the road network. Late on Monday Greece’s public broadcaster said the extreme weather had claimed another two lives on the island of Rhodes. A disabled and elderly woman died when rainwater flooded her home, and a winter swimmer perished at sea. The fallout from heavy rainfall was such that authorities were forced to close the highway connecting the Greek capital with Corinth and the Peloponnese peninsula as services cleared the road network of tonnes of mud. The fire service reported widespread flooding of homes, saying hours after the downpours it was still trying to remove people trapped in buildings engulfed by water and debris. The country was bracing itself for more heavy rain later on Monday. In Italy, a woman died after her car was swept away by the flood of the Bormida River in the north of the country. There was flooding in Turin, landslides in the Liguria region and Lake Como overflowed on Sunday, while the River Ticino burst its banks overnight in the northern city of Pavia. Venice, which has suffered recurrent flooding in recent weeks, was again hit with acqua alta, or high water. The Emilia-Romagna region was on high alert for extreme weather on Monday. Italy’s prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, said the government had earmarked €11bn of investments intended to accelerate projects to protect the country from extreme weather events. | ['world/europe-news', 'world/natural-disasters', 'environment/flooding', 'environment/environment', 'world/world', 'world/france', 'world/italy', 'world/greece', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/angela-giuffrida', 'profile/kim-willsher', 'profile/helenasmith', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/international', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-foreign'] | environment/flooding | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2019-11-25T16:36:57Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
world/2011/mar/18/japan-nuclear-crisis-iaea-information | IAEA: Japan in race against time to control nuclear crisis | The head of the UN nuclear watchdog has warned that Japan's battle to regain control at the failing Fukushima power plant is a race against time, as the crisis enters a second week. Yukiya Amano urged the prime minister, Naoto Kan, to provide more detailed information. Japanese media reported that Kan pledged to do so. Earlier, Amano told reporters: "This is not something that just Japan should deal with and people of the entire world should co-operate with Japan and the people in the disaster areas." The International Atomic Energy Agency chief said staff would monitor radiation in Tokyo and then closer to the plant, Kyodo news agency reported. Kan later told a press conference: "Everything has been disclosed to the public. We have shared what we know with the international community about the current situation. It is still very grave. "In the not so distant future, it will be controlled and we will be able to emerge from the crisis. We are making every effort towards that end." He said police, firefighters, the self defence forces and workers were putting their lives on the line to resolve the situation. Japan's nuclear safety agency said the problems at the Fukushima No 1 power station were at level five – "accident with wider consequences" – on an international scale used to assess such incidents. That puts the damaged caused by last Friday's natural disaster at the same level of gravity as the Three Mile Island nuclear accident in the US in 1979. Events have escalated since the agency rated the Fukushima situation as level four, having "local consequences", last Saturday. The French nuclear watchdog has argued it constitutes a "serious accident", which would be level six. The Chernobyl disaster in 1986 rated seven, the highest point on the scale. Fire trucks doused a reactor at the facility with tonnes of water on Friday in a renewed attempt to cool reactor 3. It is thought spent fuel rods were exposed as water levels dropped in a storage pool, leading to significant increases in radiation levels. There is also concern about water levels in the pools at reactors 1 and 4; the pools at reactors 5 and 6 are also thought to be warming. Radiation readings taken 1km west of reactor 2 offered some hope, dropping from 351.4 microsieverts per hour just after midnight to 265 microsieverts per hour at 11am. But there have been enormous variations in readings at different parts of the plant and within short spaces of times. Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for the Japanese nuclear agency, said steam or smoke was seen on Friday morning at reactor 2, where the containment vessel is damaged. He said the authorities could yet bury the reactors in sand and concrete, as happened at Chernobyl. Nishiyama said the priority was adding water to the spent fuel pools. Asked about the "Chernobyl solution", he replied: "That solution is in the back of our minds, but we are focused on cooling the reactors down." However, the head of the US nuclear regulatory commission, Gregory Jaczko, warned on Thursday that the units may not cool down for weeks. Jaczko said the situation "continues to be very dramatic", adding: "I really don't want to speculate on where this could go." The plant's operators say workers are attempting to restore power to the cooling systems of two reactors by the end of the day and two more by Sunday. But there are fears that the systems themselves may have been damaged. In the US, President Barack Obama said the situation posed a substantial risk to residents near the Fukushima plant. The US has advised its citizens to evacuate or take shelter if within 80km (50 miles) of the plant, a recommendation adopted by Britain and Canada. Tokyo has told everyone living within 20km to evacuate, and advised people between 20km and 30km away to stay indoors. The ministry of health said it had ordered local governments to test the radioactivity levels of domestically produced food. | ['world/japan-earthquake-and-tsunami', 'world/japan', 'world/natural-disasters', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'tone/news', 'world/asia-pacific', 'type/article', 'profile/taniabranigan'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2011-03-18T12:54:00Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2018/oct/19/uk-is-endangering-peoples-health-by-denying-their-right-to-clean-air-says-un | UK is endangering people's health by denying their right to clean air, says UN | The UK government is putting the health of millions of its citizens at risk by failing to tackle the country’s air pollution crisis, according the UN’s special rapporteur on human rights and the environment. David Boyd said people’s right to breathe clean air was being violated in the UK and warned the crisis was responsible for up to 50,000 deaths – and devastating the lives of “many millions” more in towns and cities across the country. Speaking to the Guardian, he said air pollution and climate change were inextricably linked and called on the UK government to take a global lead by introducing new clean air legislation to raise standards, protect its citizens and meet its climate obligations. “The interesting thing about the UK is that the London smog of 1952 was the galvanising event that led to the world’s first Clean Air Act,” said Boyd. “I really feel like we have reached the point again where it is time for the UK to step up and show some leadership.” The intervention follows a slew of new scientific studies over recent months that have highlighted the long-term damage air pollution is doing to people’s health, from asthma to dementia, damage to unborn babies and heart disease. Last month the world’s biggest children’s charity, Unicef, told the Guardian it had refocused its UK operation to tackle air pollution because of the scale of the “health crisis” facing young people in the country. It also follows a landmark UN climate report that warned we only had 12 years to avert disastrous climate breakdown. Boyd said: “Air pollution and climate change are inextricably linked – fossil fuels are by far the biggest contributor to air pollution. But if you flip that around, by dealing with air pollution we are also starting to deal with climate change, and that is a great opportunity as well as a great challenge.” The UK government has been widely criticised by clean air campaigners and environmental groups over what they say has been its failure to tackle the air pollution crisis. It has been defeated three times in court over its plans on the issue and is now one of six countries taken to the European court of justice over their toxic air. A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs defended the government’s record, claiming the UK was “acting faster to tackle air pollution than almost every other major developed economy, with an ambitious £3.5bn plan to reduce harmful emissions, an upcoming environment bill which will include provisions to improve air quality, and a commitment to end the sale of conventional new diesel and petrol cars and vans by 2040.” It also called on individuals to take action, from burning only the “cleanest fuels” to “leaving the car at home on the school run”. However, Boyd said ministers were “simply not doing enough”. “The fact that they still have these weak standards and the fact that there are somewhere between 30,000 and 50,000 premature deaths in the UK?” he said. “That should simply not be acceptable in a wealthy, advanced society.” And he warned that the official death toll was “just the tip of the iceberg”. “If you are having tens of thousands of premature deaths,” he said, “you are also talking about millions of illnesses from asthma to lung cancer that don’t necessarily kill you but make lives utterly miserable.” Boyd, who took up his post in August, said the crisis in the UK was part of a global public health emergency that kills between 6 and 7 million people a year. He argued that the “vast majority” of these deaths are preventable “if we put stronger laws, policies and standards in place … we just need the political will.” Children are among the most susceptible to toxic air. Last month the Guardian reported how youngsters in the UK were getting a disproportionate amount of air pollution during the school day. One primary school was found to have levels several times over the World Health Organization limit for the most damaging particulates inside its classrooms. However, Boyd said he remained optimistic that the global air pollution crisis could be overcome, pointing out that repeated studies into the cost of tackling air pollution have shown “absolutely clearly that the net benefits are in the trillions of dollars”. “There is no economic argument against cleaner air – in fact, this is one of those rare instances where our environmental objectives, our economic objectives and our social objectives line up very neatly,” he said. | ['environment/air-pollution', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'uk/uk', 'society/health', 'law/human-rights', 'society/society', 'environment/environment', 'law/law', 'environment/pollution', 'world/unitednations', 'society/children', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/matthewtaylor', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/air-pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2018-10-19T14:17:23Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
australia-news/2022/apr/15/coalition-faces-criticism-for-limiting-top-up-payment-to-lismore-flood-victims-only | Coalition faces criticism for limiting ‘top-up’ payment to Lismore flood victims only | The Morrison government is facing criticism for excluding flood victims outside Lismore from a new $350-a-week “top-up” paid to those unable to work. The disaster recovery allowance is paid at the jobseeker rate of $642.70 a fortnight to those who are temporarily unable to earn an income. The benefit is separate from the disaster recovery payment, which has been the subject of controversy after the Morrison government initially provided an extra $2,000 to flood victims in the National party-held areas Lismore, Richmond Valley and Clarence Valley but excluded nearby areas held by Labor. That decision was later reversed after other areas were assessed, with the government arguing Lismore had been initially prioritised as it was worst hit by the disaster. But last Friday the government quietly added a $350-a-week top-up payment to the disaster recovery allowance. The top-up is now automatically added to the payments of disaster recovery allowance recipients who work or live in the Lismore local government area. In a repeat of the situation that sparked fury last month, flood victims receiving disaster recovery allowance in other areas, such as those in the Labor-held seat of Richmond, are ineligible. Because the top-up payment can be paid for a maximum of 13 weeks, those in Lismore could theoretically receive a total of $4,550 more than victims from other areas. The federal National MP for Page, Kevin Hogan, had last week called for the disaster payments to be doubled. But the decision to introduce the “top-up” payment was not publicised by the federal government. The only official announcement was an update on the Services Australia website. Hogan has since labelled the decision to only include Lismore as “absurd”, while NSW state Liberal MP Catherine Cusack said the latest announcement showed a “total lack of integrity in the commonwealth’s funding approach”. Cusack, who intends to quit parliament over what she believes was the politicisation of NSW floods funding by the Morrison government, told Guardian Australia: “The whole northern rivers community would unite around the idea that funding should be according to need and not determined by where people live.” Last month, after fierce criticism from Cusack, Labor and others, the federal government added Ballina, Byron and Tweed to a list of areas eligible for an extra $2,000 in payments. Those areas are in the federal electorate of Richmond, held by Labor’s Justine Elliot. Elliot, who has accused the government of “pork-barrelling”, said the decision to once again exclude her constituents was “appalling”. “What makes it even worse is they snuck it out a Friday afternoon, they didn’t do a press conference,” Elliot told Guardian Australia. “I first heard about it when I saw it on the Services Australia website. They were doing it really quietly.” “There are people here who desperately need the top-up. Of course Lismore desperately needs that, and we feel for them, but we’re just as worthy,” she said. A joint press release issued on Tuesday by the federal and NSW government that outlined new flood support made no mention of the “top-up” payment. “It seems unfair it’s there for Lismore and not for us,” Elliot said. “I think the fact they’re trying to hide it shows they know that. These people have been through so much. Everyone in my community is really traumatised. People have lost their homes, their ability to work, because the business was flooded.” Mandy Nolan, who is running for the Greens in Richmond, said many people in the electorate “were unable to access their properties by car or couldn’t leave their property because “it’s impossible”. “These people have missed out on the support they need,” she said. “I’ve been into some of these areas. They have to hike on a road by foot two hours on rope into their properties. They’re the people who have really missed out. This recovery top-up would be so helpful.” Like Elliot, Nolan also believed the decision was politically motivated. “To cut out areas because they’re not a safe National seat, which Lismore is, [is wrong].” Because it is only the Lismore local government area that is eligible for the “top-up”, it is likely some of Hogan’s own constituents have also missed out on the extra support this time. “This funding has been targeted using a one-in-500 year flood definition,” Hogan told Guardian Australia. “The bureaucrats in Canberra (Australian Climate Service, National Recovery and Resilience Agency, and Bureau of Meteorology), somehow decided the one-in-500 year event only happened in Lismore. “This is obviously absurd. I have told the minister the one-in-500 year definition needs to be expanded to other communities.” A National Recovery and Resilience Agency spokesperson said the government had made additional support available to those who live or work in Lismore “as it was the most significantly affected local government area based on the proportion of people and businesses directly impacted”. He said the top-up payment had been paid to 2,037 people, of the 16,485 people eligible for the disaster allowance in the 58 flood-affected local government areas in New South Wales. The emergency management and national recovery and resilience minister, Bridget McKenzie, referred questions to the National Recovery and Resilience Agency. | ['australia-news/new-south-wales', 'australia-news/australian-politics', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'australia-news/australia-east-coast-floods-2022', 'environment/flooding', 'australia-news/welfare-in-australia', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/luke-henriques-gomes', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | australia-news/australia-east-coast-floods-2022 | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2022-04-14T20:00:11Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2021/aug/10/days-of-wine-and-olives-how-the-old-farming-ways-are-paying-off-spain-aoe | Days of wine and olives: how the old farming ways are paying off in Spain | They call it the sea of olives, 70 million olive trees that stretch to the horizon in every direction in the province of Jaén in southern Spain. It’s a spectacular landscape and yet, olives aside, the land is virtually dead, with scarcely a flower, bird or butterfly to be seen. All this could be about to change following the remarkable success of a project that is raising new life from the dust of Andalucía. In 2016, with financial support from the EU’s Life programme, 20 olive farms in the region were selected to adopt a regenerative agriculture model, allowing grass and wild flowers to flourish between the trees. Various local species were planted, nest boxes installed, and ponds created to encourage insect and bird life. In the world’s largest study on olive grove biodiversity, researchers from the University of Jaén and the higher council for scientific research (CSIC), partners in the Olivares Vivos project, found that in three years, the bee population in the regenerative olive groves increased by 47%, birdlife by 10% and woody shrubs by 172%, compared with 20 control groves. As rabbits thrived on the grass, birds of prey have reappeared. It was also discovered that herbicides were killing those insects that eat the larvae of the olive fruit fly (Bactrocera oleae), one of the crop’s principal pests. “What we are doing is returning to more traditional ways,” says Paco Montabes, who farms 650 hectares (1,600 acres) of picual olives in Jaén’s Sierra Mágina. “Not ploughing between the trees makes for better water retention, less erosion and run-offs after heavy rain. The vegetal covering makes the ground sponge-like and absorbs the rain.” The initiative was motivated by both environmental and economic concerns, says José Eugenio Gutiérrez, of the conservation organisation SEO Birdlife, the project coordinator. Growers were worried about soil erosion and the lack of biodiversity, but were also suffering financially as a global glut of olive oil pushed prices to below the cost of production. Often the only people making a profit were at the bottling plant and the retailers. The Olivares Vivos approach is a win-win strategy: biodiversity thrives while the olive oil is certified as having been produced in conditions that increase biodiversity, rather than being certified simply as “ecological”, giving it added value. “You can grow under plastic and it’s still classed as ecological,” says Gutiérrez. “We needed to create labelling that guarantees the product is produced through regenerative agriculture.” As growers save money on herbicides and pesticides and can sell their oil at a premium, the scheme has not gone unnoticed in the region. Gutiérrez says that more than 600 growers have expressed an interest in adopting the regenerative model. The idea is one that has already taken off in the wine business. Some smaller vineyards have adopted regenerative practices, but now major winemakers are signing up, too. In the wine-growing region of Penedès, 450 miles (750km) north of Jaén, Torres, Spain’s biggest winemaker, is embracing the regenerative approach as it seeks ways to reduce its carbon footprint. “Although we were certified as organic viticulture in most of our vineyards, there was a feeling that we weren’t doing enough,” says Miguel Torres, the fifth generation at the head of the winery. Traditionally, the earth is ploughed between the vines to get rid of weeds and open the ground to the rain. However, as well as contributing to erosion, this leads to a lack of biodiversity and poor soil, which then needs nutrients to be replenished artificially. “The organic viticulture rules don’t even mention carbon footprint, so you can use a tractor as much as you want. We thought, ‘we have to reduce our emissions but we also have to capture CO2,’” says Torres. The producer has reduced its carbon footprint by 34% a bottle and is aiming for 60%, mostly through energy-efficiency measures introduced during the winemaking process. “Our objective is to stop ploughing,” he says. “When you plough you bring organic material to the surface and then it oxidises, so everything you had stored goes into the atmosphere. What we try to do is imitate nature as much as possible, which means we have to give life back to the soil.” While tree planting is at the forefront of the fight against the climate crisis, if the world’s 7.4m hectares of vineyards adopted the regenerative model the impact would be huge, Torres says. Nearby, at the Parés Baltà winery, the oenologist Marta Casas is going further. She believes regenerative viticulture is a major step towards the more holistic biodynamic approach, which views animals, soil and produce as part of a single, interrelated system. “The more you give to the soil, the more it gives back in return,” she says, standing beside an open-air oven from the 6th century BC that inspired her to make a wine in earthenware pots. Casas’ passion for her work is matched by her curiosity, which has led her to pursue many ancient ideas. For example, she discovered that by using a solution of the plant horsetail it is possible to significantly reduce the amount of copper sulphate sprayed on vines to treat mildew. If regenerative agriculture seems more like common sense than a revolutionary idea, for vine and olive growers alike it marks a rejection of two farming shibboleths: plough the earth and kill the competition. Montabes says they have had to break out of the mindset that regards any plant other than the desired crop as a competitor, a weed, or mala hierba in Spanish. “Now we know better,” he says. “Las malas hierbas son buenas.” Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield on Twitter for all the latest news and features | ['environment/series/the-age-of-extinction', 'environment/environment', 'environment/farming', 'food/wine', 'food/food', 'world/spain', 'world/europe-news', 'environment/organics', 'environment/ethical-living', 'environment/biodiversity', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/stephen-burgen', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/international', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-age-of-extinction'] | environment/series/the-age-of-extinction | BIODIVERSITY | 2021-08-10T05:30:11Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
news/2021/jul/20/future-flooding-threat-could-overwhelm-complacent-uk-banks | Future flooding threat could overwhelm complacent UK banks | One criticism made of politicians is that their policy and vision for the future only extends as far as the next election. It is alarming to discover that banks have an equally short horizon – three to five years, according to the Bank of England. Across the North Sea in Denmark, Nationalbank has become so alarmed at this short-termism it has produced a series of warnings about the stability of its financial system. It says that long-term lending, 20 to 30 years, needs to take into account the climate crisis and the catastrophic write-down in the value of assets that may result from flooding. The bank’s fears stem mainly from sea level rise because Denmark has more than 8,000km (4,970 miles) of coastline and a lot of valuable installations close to the sea. Perhaps the Bank of England, behind London’s Thames Barrier, has got complacent. Along the east coast of England much coastal infrastructure and many homes are at least as vulnerable to storm surges as those on the other side of the North Sea. Maybe it will take a disaster on the scale of the east coast’s 1953 “Big Flood” to wake up UK banks to the potential financial danger of a changing climate. Let us hope their reserves can survive the shock. | ['news/series/weatherwatch', 'environment/sea-level', 'environment/flooding', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'world/denmark', 'uk/uk', 'business/banking', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/paulbrown', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-weather'] | environment/flooding | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2021-07-20T05:00:18Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2019/jun/09/energy-firms-buy-electricity-from-household-rooftop-solar-panels | New rules give households right to sell solar power back to energy firms | Britain’s biggest energy companies will have to buy renewable energy from their own customers under new laws to be introduced this week. Homeowners who install new rooftop solar panels from 1 January 2020 will be able to lower their bills by selling the energy they do not need to their supplier. A record was set at noon on a Friday in May 2017, when solar energy supplied around a quarter of the UK’s electricity. However, solar panel owners are not always at home on sunny days to reap the benefit. The new rules will allow them to make money if they generate electricity for the grid. Some 800,000 householders with solar panels already benefit from payments under a previous scheme. However, the subsidies were controversially scrapped by the government in April, causing the number of new installations to fall by 94% in May from the month before. Labour accused the government last week of “actively dismantling” the solar industry. The sector will still struggle this summer as the change does not come in for another seven months, so homeowners have no incentive to buy panels this year. Chris Skidmore, the minister for energy and clean growth, said the government wanted to increase the number of small-scale generators without adding the cost of subsidies to energy bills. “The future of energy is local and the new smart export guarantee will ensure households that choose to become green energy generators will be guaranteed a payment for electricity supplied to the grid,” he said. The government also hopes to encourage homes with solar panels to install batteries. Greg Jackson, the founder of Octopus Energy, said: “These smart export tariffs are game-changing when it comes to harnessing the power of citizens to tackle climate change”. A few suppliers, including Octopus, already offer to buy solar power from their customers. “They mean homes and businesses can be paid for producing clean electricity just like traditional generators, replacing old dirty power stations and pumping more renewable energy into the grid. This will help bring down prices for everyone as we use cheaper power generated locally by our neighbours,” Jackson said. Léonie Greene, a director at the Solar Trade Association, said it was “vital” that even “very small players” were paid a fair price. “We will be watching the market like a hawk to see if competitive offers come forward that properly value the power that smart solar homes can contribute to the decarbonising electricity grid,” she said. | ['environment/solarpower', 'uk/uk', 'tone/news', 'environment/energy', 'money/energy', 'technology/energy', 'environment/feed-in-tariffs', 'type/article', 'profile/jillian-ambrose', 'publication/theobserver', 'theobserver/news', 'theobserver/news/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/observer-main'] | environment/solarpower | ENERGY | 2019-06-09T08:00:21Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2020/jun/15/covid-19-pandemic-is-fire-drill-for-effects-of-climate-crisis-says-un-official | Covid-19 pandemic is 'fire drill' for effects of climate crisis, says UN official | The coronavirus pandemic is “just a fire drill” for what is likely to follow from the climate crisis, and the protests over racial injustice around the world show the need to tie together social equality, environmental sustainability and health, the UN’s sustainable business chief has said. “The overall problem is that we are not sustainable in the ways we are living and producing on the planet today,” said Lise Kingo, the executive director of the UN Global Compact, under which businesses sign up to principles of environmental protection and social justice. “The only way forward is to create a world that leaves no one behind.” She said there were “very, very clear connections” between the Covid-19 and climate crises, and the Black Lives Matter protests around the world, which she said had helped to reveal deep-seated inequalities and “endemic and structural racism”. “We have seen illustrated to everyone that social inequality issues are part of the sustainable development agenda,” Kingo said. Human rights were “inseparable” from dealing with climate breakdown, she told the Guardian in an interview. “This horrible racism [seen in the killing of George Floyd] is about human rights. We have to make sure that we give the social part of the agenda equal focus.” She called on business leaders to take heed. “We want all chief executives to become social activists – to understand social equality,” she said. Not only was this the right thing to do, but “it creates stable markets for companies around the world” and reflects the desires of young people. “Young people are so engaged, so dedicated to this agenda, they don’t want to work for companies that do not have a solid responsibility strategy,” she said. The UN secretary general, António Guterres, said building a fairer society would be essential to the world’s health, as well as to saving the planet from climate breakdown and ecological destruction. “Today, the fabric of society and the wellbeing of people hinge on our ability to build a fair globalisation,” he told the two-day UN Global Compact virtual conference of business leaders, which started on Monday. “Where once ‘do no harm’ was a common approach for the business community, today we are arriving at a new landscape of elevated expectations and responsibilities. But despite progress, serious threats would undermine our future, including climate change, poverty, loss of biodiversity and widening social inequalities. The pandemic has underscored the world’s fragilities, which extend far beyond the realm of global health.” Mark Carney, the former governor of the Bank of England, told the conference that the Covid-19 crisis had shown how urgent it was to tackle global heating. “This is a crisis that will involve the whole world and from which no one can self-isolate,” he said. He called for all companies to provide clear information to customers, the public and investors about how they plan to move to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. More than 10,000 companies are signed up to the UN Global Compact, and they are being urged to strengthen their commitments to cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Many have pledged to cut carbon in line with the Paris agreement goal of holding global temperature rises to no more than 2C. But scientific studies show that this may not be enough to stave off disaster, and that the consequences of even 1.5C of global heating will be severe. Kingo wants companies to revise their business plans in order to reduce carbon in line with a 1.5C goal. “We need to see leadership to drive this,” she said. A report by the UN for the 20th anniversary of the Global Compact found that only four in 10 companies had targets that would enable them to meet the UN’s sustainable development goals by the 2030 deadline, and fewer than a third thought their industry was moving fast enough. While 84% of companies participating in the UN Global Compact were taking action on the goals, fewer than half were “embedding” those targets into their core business activities, and only 37% were designing their business models to meet the goals. “The human community is completely interconnected and interdependent,” Kingo said. “Without solidarity, especially with those most vulnerable among us, we all lose. We are paying the price for turning a blind eye to obvious injustices in the world.” | ['environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/sustainable-development', 'world/coronavirus-outbreak', 'world/black-lives-matter-movement', 'world/unitednations', 'environment/environment', 'world/world', 'business/business', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/fiona-harvey', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/sustainable-development | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2020-06-15T14:16:53Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
environment/2019/nov/26/country-diary-walk-through-woods-leads-to-a-spiritual-retreat | Country diary: walk through woods leads to a spiritual retreat | Under grey skies the air is perfectly still in Launde Big Wood and the space between the grand arching ashes and big solid oaks resonates with the songs of robins and marsh tits. Chipping calls of nuthatches are frequent as they forage up the tree trunks, and in the distance a raven cronks. The woodland has a pleasing structure; broad grassy paths meander through high forest and areas of coppiced hazel. In one of the more steeply sloped compartments of the wood, just inside the entrance, clear water burbles over the gravelly bed in a narrow stream, a tributary of Eye Brook. Despite stacks of deadwood, and given the dampness of the ground and great age of the wood, the fungal display is a little disappointing. Nevertheless we locate a handful of magnificently mauve wood blewits (Lepista nuda), one of the most splendidly delectable of mushrooms. Nothing today, however, to compete with the excitement last week of finding a wrinkled peach (Rhodotus palmatus) growing on a dead elm 12 miles away in Bulwick. The domed cap of this pink mushroom is exquisite, with, in this case, a very slight crinkling of its semi-translucent, subtly velvety, cuticle. The fungus is listed as vulnerable to extinction in Europe, although it is still encountered sporadically in the UK, which has perhaps the best remaining populations. Launde Big Wood, and nearby Launde Park Wood, although managed by Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust, are part of the Diocese of Leicester’s Launde Abbey estate. The imposing ironstone abbey sits in extensive parkland to the north of the woods; it incorporates fragments of an Augustinian priory founded 900 years ago, but surrendered to Henry VIII in 1539. Thomas Cromwell intended to live there himself but was executed before taking up residence; he left the estate to his son Gregory (who was married to Henry’s sister-in-law, Elizabeth Seymour), whose renaissance tomb dominates the adjoined chapel. After a rebuild as a country house in the 1600s, and passing through several families, the property was returned to the church in 1957 and once more serves a spiritual purpose as a retreat and cafe. | ['environment/series/country-diary', 'environment/forests', 'environment/wildlife', 'environment/environment', 'environment/plants', 'environment/rivers', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/matt-shardlow', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/letters', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2019-11-26T05:30:12Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/blog/2011/jan/19/top-10-renewable-energy-companies | Top 10 small-scale renewable energy innovators | John Vidal | Abu Dhabi hosting the World Future Energy conference is like Dracula running a meeting of blood coagulant specialists. Never mind that the emirate has vast oil and gas reserves and is throwing up scandalously inefficient buildings by the score, it really wants to make the world believe that the future will be renewable power. Money is no object here; not only did Abu Dhabi spend big undisclosed amounts in its campaign to house the proposed International Renewable Energy Agency, the emirate is pumping billions of dollars into Masdar City, billed as the world's first carbon-neutral city. Masdar is also paying for the giant London array offshore windfarm in the Thames estuary and many other clean-tech developments in Europe, Egypt and the US. Now it has now hooked up with the Massachusetts Institute for Technology (MIT) to attract the world's top scientists and dozens of blue-chip multinationals to roll out the next generation of renewables. The energy conference is heavily skewed to solar, as you might expect in this region, but its lifeblood is the small-scale entrepreneurs, inventors and technologists who have come to Abu Dhabi hoping to attract cash and become mainstream in 20 years' time. Here are my top 10 (mostly) small-scale innovating companies on view in Abu Dhabi this week, in no particular rank or order: 1. Jet-stream power Skymill Energy is a small US/Indian company trying to harness the limitless high-altitude jet-stream winds that blow at over 200mph at over 30,000ft. Others have tried with tethered kites but Skymill think they have cracked the problem by using a remote rotary-lift aerial vehicle, like a helicopter, which is attached to a generator on the ground. The prize is fabulous: vast renewable energy, no pollution, straightforward technology and available materials. Skymill say it could produce power cheaper than coal and are backed by Boeing, former Nasa scientists and Indian technologists. Pilot trials begin in India next year. 2. Plant factories Korean company Semi-Materials wants to grow vast quantities of food indoors in what could be high-rise factories. The technology needs no soil but uses nutrients and water with LED lighting linked to solar PV power. These minutely controlled environments, it says, would be ideally suited to high-value crops and avoid bacteria, bad weather and viruses. One plant factory is now working, others are planned. 3. Desert soils Humus Analysis is a small French firm that has grown out of a government research institute. It makes compost from waste products from the oil industry, as well as municipal wastes and claims to be able to build soils which are good enough to grow grass and trees in a year, and edible crops in two years. If employed widely, says the company, it would enable energy profligate Arab states to reduce water use – and therefore energy – significantly. First trials are taking place in Abu Dhabi this year. 4. Micro geothermal Ritesh Arya is an Indian hydro-geologist who in 2001 found groundwater at over 11,000ft in the Himalayas, the highest that it has ever been discovered. He is backed by three Nordic research groups as well as giant Norwegian oil company Statoil, and is finding geo-thermal resources in places where no-one thought it could be. Thousands of Himalayan communities could benefit from the source of renewable energy. 5. Solar rubbish dumps African Renewable Energies is a small London–based firm that aims to help poor communities in developing countries earn money and generate electricity from innumerable rubbish tips around African cities. The idea is to cover landfill sites with thinfilm solar phovololtaic cells printed on to the flexible membranes used to cap landfills. Money would be earned from the UN's clean development mechanism and the electricity should last for decades. Trials now taking place in Italy, the US and Nairobi. 6. Waste houses 2G, an emirates company, takes waste palm tree fronds and leaves, mixes in plastics and produces immensely strong floorboards, gates, walls, cladding, roof tiles, decking and other building materials. The raw material is plentiful and free, and the end product is cheaper than wood or plastic. One factory is already built, others expected soon. 7. Air sandwich New Japanese technology that uses multiple layers of high performance plastic film with air trapped between them to save up to 40% of energy being lost through glass doors or windows. Cheaper and more efficient than most glass double-glazing and good for retrofits. 8. Desert oases Hitachi is developing small-scale desalination plants that pump brackish water using PV electricity and then cleans it up using reverse osmosis technology. The result is clean water for humans and animals in remote places which would not normally be served by large scale desalination plants. A 40ft container-sized plant can provide enough clean water for 100 people or a waterhole in the desert. Already being used in conservation areas in Abu Dhabi to help oryx and other animals survive. 9. Algae power Algaeventure is a small US company that has found a cheap way to efficiently separate liquids and solids, bypassing expensive, power-hungry, centrifugal machines. This, they believe, is the key to developing algae as a major source of both food and power in the next 30 years. The company expects algae technology to race ahead in the next 10 years. 10. Solar fridges Freecold is a small French company specialising in PV-powered solar refrigerators, ideal for off-grid villages, health centres or even remote bars wanting to make ice. It does not need batteries or converters and uses advanced insulation to keep temperatures cool for 75 hours or more. • John Vidal's travel and accommodation were paid for by the Zayed Future Energy prize. | ['environment/blog', 'environment/windpower', 'environment/solarpower', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'environment/energy', 'environment/environment', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'science/energy', 'science/science', 'tone/blog', 'technology/technology', 'type/article', 'profile/johnvidal'] | environment/windpower | ENERGY | 2011-01-19T12:49:11Z | true | ENERGY |
world/us-news-blog/2012/dec/04/sandy-dividend-carmakers-november-auto-sales | Was there a Sandy dividend for carmakers in November's auto sales? | Harry J Enten | According to reports, auto sales were steeply up for the month of November, with experts holding to an increase in the seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of between 15.0-15.4% – a four-year high. Some have been quick to suggest superstorm Sandy as a key cause, creating a spike in trade as people were forced to replace storm-damaged vehicles. Not so fast. Here are five reasons why the November boost may not be as large as we're told – and why Sandy may not be "to blame". 1. Much of the overall boost comes from other factors Sales for the whole year were already at a four-year high. Back at the beginning of October, auto sales experts said that this "robust pace was fed by consumers replacing older vehicles, the wide variety of new fuel-efficient models on the market and the greater availability of credit at low interest rates." September's car sales helped push the SAAR to its highest in four years, at 14.9%. October and November continued this torrent of sales. Both months, like each one over the last year, featured gains in car sales year on year. Sandy may have helped make November's SAAR higher than September's, but the difference is about half a million cars or fewer – and that's not enough to account for why November 2012 was so much better than 2011. 2. The jump in car sales from October to November is less than the number of cars damaged by Sandy We can't quite know yet how many people will eventually buy new cars because their autos, more than 230,000 overall, were lost in the storm. In addition, about 30,000 sales were lost in October. Put together, we might assume that there were 260,000 fewer cars on the road after Sandy. November's sales, however, only rose by about 20,000 units over October's. We can't say whether or not car sales would actually have fallen in November in a universe without Sandy. Sales did fall this time last year, by 2.52%; instead, in 2012, November's sales improved on October's, but only by 1.11%. That hardly adds up to a Sandy bonanza. 3. Percentage change hides the smallness of the gains If I tell you that Ford deliveries increased by 6.4% from November 2011 to November 2012, it sounds like a very impressive figure. What if I told you that Ford deliveries were up from 166,441 in November 2011 to 177,092 in November 2012? That sounds slightly less impressive. If these car deliveries were vote totals in an election, 2012 car sales would only be up by 3 percentage points. 4. Any Sandy boost fits the historical pattern If the car industry did, in fact, see a boost because of Sandy, it was well expected. Jessica Caldwell of Edmunds.com noted in November that "we know there will be increased interest in both new and used vehicles as people replace vehicles damaged in the storm." Analysts pointed to how people bought more cars after Katrina – once they received their insurance payout. We can see this foresight in the auto business forecasts. While both Ford and Nissan topped industry predictions, the much-talked-about 14% Chrysler gains actually fell short of the mean 16% gains predicted by the Bloomberg aggregated average of experts. 5. The overall market shares remain fairly constant It would be notable if one company was able to pick up an edge over competitors after Sandy. At first glance, this doesn't seem to be the case. Ford was up 4.9% on the year through October, and deliveries at 6.4% in November show an apparent continuation of that trend. General Motors deliveries rose to 3.4%, as compared to its 3.6% increase in yearly sales through October. Nissan sales up 13% in November is fairly close to their year-to-date growth of 10.5%. Meanwhile, Toyota and Honda had through October, and in November, gains of over 15% from a year ago. Overall, any effect that Sandy has over the long term on the market seems relatively minor. Sandy or no Sandy, car sales were all year, and continue to be now, a hot business in America. | ['us-news/news-blog', 'business/chrysler', 'business/ford', 'business/generalmotors', 'business/toyota', 'business/honda', 'business/business', 'business/automotive-industry', 'business/useconomy', 'us-news/hurricane-sandy', 'world/natural-disasters', 'us-news/us-news', 'business/consumerspending', 'business/nissan', 'tone/comment', 'type/article', 'profile/harry-j-enten'] | us-news/hurricane-sandy | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2012-12-04T12:00:01Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2020/oct/21/australian-outback-cattle-station-to-house-worlds-largest-solar-farm-powering-singapore | Australian outback cattle station to house world's largest solar farm, powering Singapore | A cattle station halfway between Alice Springs and Darwin is set to house the world’s largest solar farm, with energy generated from the project to ultimately power Singapore. Newcastle Waters, where casino mogul James Packer worked as a jackaroo for a year when his father, Kerry, owned the 10,000 sq km property, has been earmarked for the $20bn solar farm, according to the company responsible for the project, Sun Cable. The 10 gigawatt solar farm, which will be visible from space if built, was granted major project status from the Morrison government in July and has attracted billionaire investors including Andrew Forrest and Mike Cannon-Brookes. Sun Cable’s chief executive, David Griffin, told Guardian Australia the site would take up about 12,000 hectares, and that a referral for the project has been submitted to the Northern Territory’s Environmental Protection Authority – the first stage of a lengthy approvals process that is expected to allow construction to begin in late 2023, energy production by 2026 and export by 2027. Speaking about the reasons for proposing the Newcastle Waters site, Griffin said its location was “a meeting point of a few key criteria”. “It’s on the Adelaide to Darwin rail corridor, which is brilliant for our logistics given the enormous amount of material we’ll have to transport to the site,” he said. It was also within 30km of the Stuart highway, the main highway running through the sparsely populated Northern Territory. “It’s a bit of a balancing act too, because it’s far south enough to get away from the main patch affected by the wet season, so it’s a steady solar resource throughout the year,” he said. “There’s plenty of sun and not many clouds.” Griffin also said the site was not so far south that it made the costs of transmitting the electricity to Darwin too high, and that the existing land was “really ideal for construction of a solar farm as it’s extremely flat”. Sun Cable has entered into an agreement with the current owners of Newcastle Waters, Consolidated Pastoral Company, to use the land. However, Griffin said he could not reveal the financial details of the deal. Overhead transmission lines will send the electricity generated by Sun Cable to Darwin and feed into the state’s power grid, but Griffin said two-thirds of the power would be exported to Singapore by high-voltage direct current undersea cables. There will be at least two cables, each with a diameter slightly smaller than a soccer ball, with Sun Cable able to provide about a fifth of Singapore’s electricity needs as the country looks to move away from its increasingly expensive gas-fired power system. Griffin has also said the solar farm could supply power to remote communities in the Northern Territory that currently rely on expensive diesel generators for electricity. Sun Cable expects the project will generate 1,500 direct jobs and 10,000 indirect jobs during construction, and about 350 permanent jobs once in operation. Griffin said Sun Cable was working on a training and employment opportunities plan so part of the workforce could be sourced from nearby Indigenous communities, and that supplies would be produced by local businesses. Exporting solar energy has been flagged as a way Australia can expand its energy production while significantly reducing global emissions. Australia is responsible for about 1.4% of greenhouse gas emissions, which increases by 5% if fossil fuel exports are counted. | ['environment/environment', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'australia-news/northern-territory', 'environment/solarpower', 'australia-news/energy-australia', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'world/singapore', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/elias-visontay', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/solarpower | ENERGY | 2020-10-21T05:21:09Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2024/oct/30/budget-cuts-mean-farmers-in-england-must-do-more-with-less | Budget cuts mean farmers in England ‘must do more with less’ | Farmers and conservationists will have to “learn to do more with less” ahead of expected deep budget cuts to the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the environment secretary has said. Steve Reed said that Labour would continue to prioritise the restoration of the nature in England, but acknowledged that the chancellor’s budget would be “difficult”. Speaking to the Guardian on the fringes of Cop16 in Colombia on the eve of Wednesday’s statement by the chancellor, the environment secretary said that the flagship nature-friendly farming scheme would continue to receive backing from the government despite expected cuts to its budget. He said expected growth in housebuilding would generate much-needed funds through the government’s biodiversity net gain (BNG) initiative, which forces all new building projects to achieve a 10% net gain in nature or wildlife habitat. “The prime minister and chancellor have been very clear this is going to be a difficult budget, right across the board,” he said when asked what expected cuts would mean for farmers and environmentalists. “We all are going to have to do more with less. I think that’s right because you should always look at how you can use any resource you’ve got more efficiently and effectively.” On Tuesday, the Guardian reported that Defra was likely to see particularly severe cuts in Wednesday’s budget, and that the reductions will largely fall on nature and flood protections. Defra has historically fared worse than other departments in times of austerity, with the environment budget declining by 45% in real terms between 2009/10 and 2018/19, according to Guardian analysis. Reed said that the government would begin consulting on a land use framework so the country to improve food security while meeting the government’s target to protect 30% of land and sea. “The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world,” he said. “So that matters, because nature underpins everything. It underpins tomorrow’s budget, it underpins the economy, it underpins health, it underpins food, it underpins society as we know it. Without nature, there is no life. “So the fact that we are an outlier in that respect should concern all of us.” Asked whether planned investment in the economy in Wednesday’s budget would come at the expense of the natural world, Reed said that the government’s nature-friendly farming scheme – which is known as the Environment Land Management Scheme (ELMS) and pays farmers to create wildlife habitats – would remain the government’s “main lever” to protect nature. “It’s a world-leading scheme today. We supported it when it was introduced. It will still be a leading scheme tomorrow,” he said, adding they would look to find other sources of funding from the private sector. The environment secretary also committed to a consultation on a land use strategy in England to meet an international commitment to protect 30% of land and sea by 2030, the headline commitment of this decade’s UN agreement to halt the destruction of biodiversity. “We have a relatively small amount of land for the size of our population and the many demands that we make of that land,” he said. “We will be publishing the land use framework initially as a consultation document, but it will be looking at how we balance the many different demands that we make of our land, particularly from the different perspective ensuring that we remain food secure, so we have enough land available for growing the food that we need, but also enough land to help nature recover and to meet our demanding but achievable 30 by 30 targets. “By being much more explicit within the framework about how we’re going to ensure we meet all of our objectives, including nature’s recovery, we have a much better chance of achieving it,” he added. Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow the biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield on X for all the latest news and features | ['environment/series/the-age-of-extinction', 'environment/farming', 'environment/cop-16', 'uk/uk', 'environment/environment', 'uk-news/autumn-budget-2024', 'politics/steve-reed', 'politics/politics', 'uk/budget', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/patrick-greenfield', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-age-of-extinction'] | environment/series/the-age-of-extinction | BIODIVERSITY | 2024-10-30T05:00:02Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
commentisfree/2007/dec/11/keepingthepeace | Keeping the peace | Jonathan Schell's comment on the failure of US policy towards Iran and nuclear weapons is very much to the point. After years of exaggeration of the "threat" from Tehran, Washington's new joint intelligence report has gone in the other direction. What counts is not taking the final step towards making a bomb but obtaining the materials to do so. Any country that reaches the necessary enrichment capacity can then bide its time or, like India, stage a rush to the finishing line. As Schell says: "The doctrine according to which great powers, many of them nuclear-armed, try to stop lesser powers from acquiring nuclear weapons by force and threats of force ... has reached a dead end." What is missing, Schell concludes, is a policy to address this dilemma, and that surely has to be our starting point. The grand bargain implicit in the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT), that non-nuclears would stay non-nuclear while the nuclears moved seriously towards disarmament, has failed. We can go a long way back to see why. Years before the treaty was signed in 1968, British and French chauvinism had first expanded the nuclear club: the cold war isolation which the US imposed on China (later abetted by the Soviet Union) ensured that Beijing would join the club too and turning a blind eye to the Israeli bomb set up a new regional equation of which Iran is now very much a part. India and Pakistan should have been the final writing on the wall. There may be a lull now as some sort of deal leaving North Korea with a latent capacity is reached while Iran continues to pursue a potential one. But before too long the non-proliferation exercise will be again revealed to have no clothes. There is a way forward, but only if a new grand bargain can be struck which addresses both the danger that civilian nuclear programmes can be militarised, which is the nub of the Iran issue, and the persistent failure of the major nuclear powers to show any convincing intention of moving towards abolition. As Kofi Annan warned shortly before he stepped down, it means "progress on both fronts - non-proliferation and disarmament at once". We need a new grand bargain to form the agenda for the next NPT review in 2010. 1) On the non-proliferation front: • Universal adherence to the additional protocol of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which strengthens powers of inspection • Restrictions on the behaviour of states who withdraw from the treaty • Nuclear fuel to be supplied solely by an international fuel-service regime • Effective enforcement mechanisms against nuclear proliferators 2) On the disarmament front: • Extension of international controls over those nuclear states outside the NPT • Ratification of the comprehensive test-ban treaty, and conclusion of a verifiable fissile material cut-off treaty • Acceptance by all nuclear powers of the principle of no-first-use • Real commitment to the 10 "practical steps" towards nuclear disarmament agreed at the NPT 2000 conference It's a very big deal but it's the only alternative to a continuing drift towards an even more dangerously nuclearised world. | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'tone/comment', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'world/iran', 'us-news/us-news', 'world/china', 'world/north-korea', 'world/russia', 'world/nuclear-weapons', 'world/europe-news', 'world/asia-pacific', 'type/article', 'profile/johngittings'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2007-12-11T08:00:00Z | true | ENERGY |
money/2011/jan/01/make-money-2011-coal-mine | Eleven ways to make money in 2011. #4: open your own coal mine | Evy Hambro, one of the world's biggest investors in the mining industry (he helps manage $40bn (£26bn) in natural resources at Blackrock, including its top-performing Blackrock Gold & General fund) reckons that coal will be king once again in the commodity markets in 2011. Last year alone, China added about 51 gigawatts of coal-fired capacity, equal to around half the capacity of all the power stations in the UK. India is also becoming a large net importer of the black stuff, helping to send global coal prices soaring. Europe's coal stocks are also running lower after the dreadful early winter conditions. Prices for a tonne of coal exported from Australia are now $115, compared to $88 a year ago, while in Europe the price has jumped from $83 to $126, according to coal market expert IHS McCloskey. The rebound in the resources sector since the onset of the financial crisis has been remarkable. The feeling in 2007/08 was that recession would slow the Chinese juggernaut as demand in the West dried up. Commodity prices would fall and industry giants would see their profits slashed. But as Jo Warner, manager of First State Global Resources says, China just kept on buying, and inventory build-up was nowhere near as bad as forecast. Shares in BHP Billiton have jumped from £18 to £26 over the past three months alone. Rio Tinto has gone from £32 to £45. Hambro reckons the supply/demand equation will keep commodity prices – and mining company shares – firm for several years to come. The industry underinvested after the financial crash, he says, so new supply won't be coming on to world markets for some time. The big "if" is China. If its industrial expansion slows down, global commodity prices could tank, but few analysts are forecasting such an event. "Last year, China bought 70% of the world's sea-borne iron, and 40% of its copper, nickel and zinc. In future, emerging markets will decide if commodity prices remain strong," Warner says. Analysis by Rio Tinto reveals that populations that survive on less than $5,000 a head use tiny amounts of resources. But once their average income moves above that level (such as in China), resource consumption takes off, and by the time it reaches $15,000-$20,000 it's on a par with the rich, developed countries. Someone living in Switzerland may have an average income of $100,000, but they don't really consume any more than someone on a fifth of that income. For a more adventurous bet, try rubber, says Jason Webster, manager of the VAM Commodities Equity Fund. Ongoing weather problems have been compounding the troubles of an already tight market and prices have recently hit records. High oil prices fuel natural rubber prices as they make synthetic rubber more expensive to produce. Demand should be assured as the car ownership genie has been let out of the bottle in both China and India and their replacement cycle is shorter because of poorer road quality. It all adds up to an interesting sector for 2011." A lower-risk investment strategy is to buy a global resources fund such as one from Blackrock or First State. But you can also use Exchange Traded Funds to track the performance of an underlying commodity or price index. For coal, etfsecurities.com has an index of coal-mining companies. And here are the rest of our 11 money-making tips for 2011: 1 – make things, 2 – get a better paid job, 3 – buy and sell shares, 5 – invest in a high risk fund, 6 – rent a room, 7 – speculate on property, 8 – trade in your clutter, 9 – antique furniture, 10 – clinical trials and 11 – sperm and opinions. Here are Patrick Collinson's best and worst investments of 2010, and Rupert Jones provides tips on how not to make money. | ['money/consumer-affairs', 'money/money', 'business/mining', 'business/commodities', 'business/business', 'environment/coal', 'environment/environment', 'lifeandstyle/new-year', 'lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle', 'tone/features', 'type/article', 'profile/patrickcollinson', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/money', 'theguardian/money/money'] | environment/coal | ENERGY | 2011-01-01T00:01:10Z | true | ENERGY |
news/2014/may/12/weatherwatch-all-world-map | Weatherwatch: All the world's a map | Are you feeling battered by the wind? Fed up with those squalls and tired of limp temperatures and constant clouds scudding across the sky? Then it's time to remind yourself that it could be worse. Take a look at Cameron Beccario's mesmerising global map of the weather. A bright green band, whipping across the North Atlantic ocean, reveals the source of our woes. But scroll down to the Southern ocean and take a look at those angry yellow Van Gogh-like curls, whipping up the waves around Antarctica, tearing across Tasmania and swiping Chile and Argentina. Then pan up through the atmosphere to 850 hPa (around 1,500m) and you might see a tropical cyclone, revving up to go. Higher still, at 250 hPa air pressure (around 10km altitude) you see the fierce jet-streams, weaving their way around the world. These hypnotic pink and red bands snake their way around each hemisphere and lord it over the weather down below. Beccario, a Tokyo-based software engineer, uses weather data from the US National Weather service, and updates his weather map every three hours. If you wish you can also overlay your map with temperature, to see angry reds revealing the sweltering 40°C plus temperatures across northern India, while deep purples show the other extreme: -60°C down in Antarctica. And for those who want to know what is happening in the ocean, just switch to the ocean currents option. What better way for "weatherholics" to while away a rainy afternoon? | ['news/series/weatherwatch', 'tone/features', 'type/article', 'profile/kate-ravilious', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2'] | news/series/weatherwatch | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2014-05-12T20:30:02Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
world/2005/sep/04/hurricanekatrina.usa5 | Bush sends marines as flood fury grows | President George Bush ordered an extra 17,000 troops - including 7,000 elite airborne troops and marines - into New Orleans and the devastated Gulf Coast yesterday to try to bolster the stumbling flood relief effort and salvage the reputation of his presidency. The order was announced after it became clear that National Guard troops sent into the city on Friday were no match for the scale of the disaster unleashed by Hurricane Katrina and the consequent collapse of the levees around the city. Within two days the number of military personnel in the area is hoped to reach some 54,000 people. As a full-scale rescue operation finally got under way and thousands of victims of the storm were ferried from the city by bus, plane and truck, the US military announced it would be deploying a further 10,000 National Guards. The latest moves come as rescuers continued to find bodies across the city, and as victims of the disaster continued to die amid the horrible conditions. Although there has been no official estimate of the number of dead, some fear it could top 10,000 in Louisiana alone. Despite the increase in the rescue efforts, 5,000 people were still stranded in the Superdome stadium yesterday, although it had been promised they would be evacuated by Friday night. Meanwhile, another 20,000 people seem condemned to spend at least another night in the city convention centre, where they had spent most of the week with minimal food and water and no sanitation or medical care. Relief workers were confronted with a new face to the catastrophe, as up to 60 fires blazed in the city. The worst engulfed the warehouse district on the waterfront, where firefighters were unable to operate due to the lack of running water. In his weekly radio address, Bush acknowledged the shortcomings of the relief effort. 'Many of our citizens simply are not getting the help they need, especially in New Orleans. And that is unacceptable,' he said. 'In America, we do not abandon our fellow citizens in their hour of need. And the federal government will do its part. Where our response is not working, we'll make it right. Where our response is working, we will duplicate it. 'We have a responsibility to our brothers and sisters all along the Gulf Coast, and we will not rest until we get this right and the job is done.' The first plane carrying fresh soldiers was due to arrive in New Orleans yesterday afternoon, said Lieutenant-General Joseph Inge, deputy commander of Northern Command. Soldiers from the 1st brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division would begin arriving within 48 hours. National Guard soldiers arrived on Friday night to provide evacuees with their first hot meal since Katrina struck. Since then more than 25,000 residents have been evacuated, claimed Mike Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is facing severe criticism for its response to what it now describes as the 'worst catastrophe in living memory'. Brown admitted that the number of people left in the city and the death toll remained unknown because people were still turning up at evacuation sites and dead bodies were still being counted. Brig Gen Mark Graham added: 'There are people in apartments and hotels that you didn't know were there.' Thousands more people were reported to be in limbo on a motorway, waiting for buses that failed to come because there was no plan for housing the victims elsewhere Bush said the new troops would include elite combat units such as the 82nd Airborne and the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. Last night the Pentagon announced an extra 10,000 National Guard troops would be sent, raising the number of Guard personnel in the stricken states up to about 40,000. The National Guard - militias under the command of state governors - are frequently used to deal with civilian crises but it is unheard of for regular troops to be deployed at home. The deployments will put further strain on an army already stretched by conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was announced yesterday that 300 airmen deployed on both fronts would be brought home because their base near Biloxi in Mississippi had been devastated by the hurricane and many of their families had been moved to shelters. Louisiana's Democrat governor, Kathleen Blanco, also appealed to Bush to bring home a Louisiana National Guard unit, the 256th Brigade Combat Team, which is serving in Iraq. 'They are urgently needed back home. We have never needed them so much,' she said. Bush also signed a $10.5 billion emergency aid package for the stricken area. But he is struggling to restore his personal credibility after liberals and conservatives joined forces to criticise the federal relief effort. Louisiana Senator David Vitter, a Republican, said the federal response had been 'an abject failure'. Attacks on the Bush administration's tardy reaction to the disaster also came from unexpected quarters in the media; even conservative commentators on the usually loyal Fox News channel lambasted the President's performance. | ['world/world', 'us-news/hurricane-katrina', 'us-news/us-news', 'type/article', 'world/natural-disasters', 'profile/jamiedoward', 'profile/julianborger', 'publication/theobserver', 'theobserver/news', 'theobserver/news/uknews'] | us-news/hurricane-katrina | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2005-09-04T10:26:17Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
technology/2017/sep/08/equifax-hack-credit-social-security-helpline-response-criticism | Equifax hack: credit monitoring company criticized for poor response | Credit monitoring company Equifax has been criticized by customers and security experts for an inadequate response to a data breach that included the personal information of up to 143 million Americans. The hack was especially problematic because of the sensitivity of the information stolen, including names, social security numbers, addresses, birthdays and driver’s licence numbers – details that make it easy for cybercriminals to fraudulently assume victims’ identities. Equifax has a website and hotline to handle customer questions about the breach, but it has been criticized for being unclear and ill-equipped to deal with the volume of incoming queries. Equifax discovered the cyber-attack on 29 July but took five weeks to announce it publicly. On Thursday it published a link to an informational website and a hotline number for concerned customers to call to check if their personal data had been affected. However, many callers were kept waiting, or would be randomly disconnected. Those who got through were told by outsourced call center agents to visit the website. Another customer, Amy Yoakum, said that after nine disconnected calls she was put on hold for 23 minutes before reaching an operator. “He said he is a contractor and had been instructed to direct everyone back to the website. He had no access to my account and told me all of the other agents were getting a lot of frustrated callers today,” she said. When customers visited the website to see if their data had been compromised they were encouraged to sign up for a year’s worth of identity theft protection and free credit monitoring through the company’s TrustID Premier service. “The CEO [Rick Smith] talks about taking the ‘unprecedented step’ to offer every US consumer a free year of service,” said John Peterson, a management consultant from Boston who was affected by the breach. “It’s really irrelevant when hackers have everything they need – name, date of birth, social security number, mother’s maiden name – to create a bogus credit line in your name at any point in the future.” “This is a big deal, but the response has been underwhelming. I see no reason why the CEO shouldn’t step down,” he said. Forrester security analyst Jeff Pollard called for more clarity from Equifax on what data has been compromised in the breach, given how sensitive it could be. “When retailers get hit by a breach like this, it’s a single credit card that might get stolen, when Equifax it could be everything about the affected parties, and presumably linked to other things. We need more information from Equifax other than your information was or possibly was accessed,” he said. ‘A disingenuous attempt to limit liability’ Once customers signed up for the free service, many were perturbed to find in the small print a clause that prevented them from suing Equifax or entering into a class-action lawsuit. “It’s a disingenuous attempt to limit liability,” Peterson said. “For individuals affected by this we recommend not signing up with Equifax monitoring services,” Pollard said. A class-action lawsuit has been filed in Portland, Oregon, alleging that Equifax had been negligent in protecting customer data, opting to save money instead of developing technical safeguards against such a cyber-attack. The suit was filed by Mary McHill from Portland and Brook Reinhard from Eugene on behalf of all those affected by the data breach. It claims that the lawsuit could have cost implications of $68.6bn. “Equifax knew and should have known that failure to maintain adequate technological safeguards would eventually result in a massive data breach,” states the complaint, obtained by Cyberscoop. “Equifax could have and should have substantially increased the amount of money it spent to protect against cyber-attacks but chose not to.” Several law firms – including Holzer & Holzer, Khang & Khang and Levi & Korsinsky – have launched investigations into potential securities law violations by Equifax. “It is ideal, if ironic, for cybercriminals to compromise the very companies that internet users rely on to safeguard their identities and finances,” said security expert Kenneth Geers, a senior research scientist at Comodo. “Even if you are not a customer, Equifax likely has a lot of data about you, and you should take proactive steps in response to this hack.” Equifax’s stock has fallen by more than 14% since the breach was made public on Thursday. | ['technology/hacking', 'technology/technology', 'us-news/us-news', 'us-news/state-of-georgia', 'business/business', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/olivia-solon', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/west-coast-news', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-news'] | technology/hacking | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2017-09-08T20:13:15Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
news/blog/2008/jan/16/newsdesknotesforwednesdayj2 | Newsdesk notes for Wednesday January 16 | Dame Suzi Leather, chair of the Charity Commission, on the guidelines for private schools on demonstrating their 'public benefit'. The watchdog says fee-paying schools must help the wider community. • Subscribe free to Newsdesk, via iTunes • or download this to your computer • The Newsdesk podcast feed URL Mitt Romney has won the primary in Michigan, becoming the third Republican candidate in as many elections to be declared winner. The race for the White House is wide open, reports Ed Pilkington from Southfield, Michigan. As shares in Northern Rock plunge, business correspondent Philip Inman assesses the prospects for the bank as nationalisation looms. Gordon Brown said yesterday that bringing Northern Rock under state control was one of several options. Our chief political correspondent Andy Sparrow looks at the career prospects of Peter Hain after Gordon Brown conceded he'd been 'incompetent' . We hear from Paul Watson, the captain of an anti-whaling ship who sent two activists on board a Japanese harpoon vessel in a drama on the high seas. Today's papers reviewer is Ros Taylor. | ['news/blog', 'tone/blog', 'us-news/us-elections-2008', 'politics/peterhain', 'business/northern-rock', 'environment/whaling', 'environment/environment', 'politics/politics', 'business/business', 'world/world', 'environment/whales', 'environment/cetaceans', 'type/article', 'profile/jondennis'] | environment/cetaceans | BIODIVERSITY | 2008-01-16T12:00:00Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
weather/2008/nov/17/1 | Weatherwatch: confounding expectations | Journalists often mock scientists who spend months proving the obvious. But sometimes, scientists come to conclusions that delight news editors because they confound expectations. So it was when four researchers "proved" in 1995 that pedestrians breaking into a run to avoid getting as wet as walkers in the rain were wasting their effort. Complex mathematical formulas showed that over a set distance the amount of rain hitting the runner would be the same as the walker. Two other scientists, with a little more common sense and caught in the rain during a hike, decided this must be bunk. They first redid the maths and concluded that there were some wrong assumptions behind the complex equations. But the killer blow to the original paper was a simple experiment. The two bought identical hats, sweatshirts and trousers and sets of plastic bags to go underneath this clothing to avoid any water escaping. One scientist walked 100 metres though heavy rain and the other ran. Weighing their clothing afterwards proved that the running man's clothes had absorbed 40% less rain than those of the walker. In 1997 their rebuttal appeared in the Royal Meteorological Society journal, Weather. They suggested that fellow scientists should consider that there was still a role for simple observational checks, particularly if complex computer conclusions showed people typically reacted in a totally irrational way to common weather phenomena. | ['news/series/weatherwatch', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'profile/paulbrown', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2'] | news/series/weatherwatch | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2008-11-17T00:01:00Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
news/2019/jun/12/weatherwatch-winnipegs-worst-storm-relegated-to-a-footnote | Weatherwatch: Winnipeg's worst storm relegated to a footnote | On 15 June 1919, the city of Winnipeg in Canada was struck by the most powerful storm in its history, with winds reaching over 84mph. Anything more than 74mph is hurricane-strength. Although news reports described the event as a hurricane or a cyclone, this was neither, just an unusually powerful summer storm. That June was a notably hot one in Winnipeg. It was 3C above average, and extremely humid. Such conditions carry large amounts of moisture to high altitude, and are ideal for storm formation. A major storm was no surprise, but few could have expected miles of telephone and power lines to be brought down and power plants damaged. The unprecedented wind tore the roofs off several buildings, including a children’s hospital. Parked cars tumbled over and were blown across Main Street. Eaton’s department store, the biggest in Winnipeg, had six large plate glass windows broken. The only injuries seem to have been suffered by a couple in a car struck by flying debris. Dramatic as it was, the storm attracted little attention, being overshadowed by more momentous events. Winnipeg was in the throes of a general strike, later recognised as one of the most important in Canadian labour history. The record-breaking storm was relegated to a footnote. | ['news/series/weatherwatch', 'world/natural-disasters', 'world/canada', 'science/meteorology', 'weather/winnipeg', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/davidhambling', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-weather'] | news/series/weatherwatch | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2019-06-12T20:30:52Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
us-news/2021/oct/14/phthalates-deaths-older-americans-study-chemicals | Chemicals used in packaging may play role in 100,000 US deaths a year – study | The group of chemicals called phthalates, also known as plasticizers, may contribute to the early deaths of 91,000 to 107,000 older adults in the US each year, according to a new study. Adults between 55 and 64 with the highest concentrations of phthalates in their urine were more likely to die of any cause, especially heart disease, than adults with lesser exposure, according to the study published on Tuesday in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Pollution. The study also estimated that this loss of life could cost the US between $40bn and $47bn each year. “Until now, we have understood that the chemicals connect to heart disease, and heart disease in turn is a leading cause of death, but we had not yet tied the chemicals themselves to death,” the study’s lead author, Dr Leonardo Trasande, said in a release. In the US, three types of phthalates have been restricted or banned in toys, but are less restricted in cosmetics and food packaging materials. Researchers said the study “focuses substantial urgency” in putting further limits on phthalates in food packaging materials and other consumer goods. Phthalates, a group of chemicals most commonly used to make plastic harder to break, can interfere with the function of hormones, and researchers plan to examine what role the chemical plays in hormone regulation and inflammation in the body. The study included more than 5,300 adults who between 2001 and 2010 participated in the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which collects health information from people during in-person interviews across the US. The survey results included in this study were from adults who had also provided urine samples that were measured for phthalate metabolites. Trasande, the study’s lead author, is director of the Center for the Investigation of Environmental Hazards at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine and wrote Sicker Fatter Poorer, a book about the threat of hormone-disrupting chemicals. He cautioned that the biological connection between phthalates and early deaths has not been established, so the study does not prove phthalates were the direct cause of these early deaths. “Our research suggests that the toll of this chemical on society is much greater than we first thought,” said Trasande. “The evidence is undeniably clear that limiting exposure to toxic phthalates can help safeguard Americans’ physical and financial wellbeing.” | ['us-news/us-news', 'environment/plastic', 'society/health', 'environment/pollution', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/amanda-holpuch', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-news'] | environment/plastic | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2021-10-14T17:10:06Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
technology/2014/oct/09/htc-selfie-camera-phone-desire-eye | HTC launches new 'selfie' phone, the Desire Eye | The Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC has seized the trend for selfies by releasing a dedicated new handset with a front-facing camera as big and powerful as the conventional rear-facing camera. The HTC Desire Eye has a 13-megapixel camera and dual LED flash above the screen where the phone’s speaker normally sits. It is the highest resolution front-facing camera fitted to a smartphone, complete with auto-focus and 1080p video recording. “It’s a smart move by HTC to introduce the Desire Eye, given the consumer frenzy around selfie pictures,” said Ben Wood, chief of research at CCS Insight. “The company has undoubtedly beaten others to the punch with this design and rivals will watch closely to see whether it is a capability that appeals to consumers.” ‘A clever way of differentiating’ Most smartphones, including the iPhone 6 and HTC One M8 have front-facing cameras that do not match the cameras on the rear of the phones, lacking auto-focus among other common camera features. Unlike HTC’s high-end One M8, the Desire Eye is a cheaper, mid-range smartphone costing approximately £300-£400, but has specifications similar to the £550 One M8. The Eye has a 5.2in 1080p screen and the same quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor with 2GB of RAM as the flagship One M8. It is also waterproof to 1m for 30 minutes with a plastic body. “Beefing up the front-facing camera is a clever way of differentiating this phone from the sea of homogenous rectangular smartphones,” said Wood. “If it gets a positive reception you can almost guarantee Samsung and others will take a similar approach in 2015.” ‘HTC is desperately trying to break into new categories’ HTC also unveiled a 16-megapixel action camera the Re Camera, which connects to both Android phones and iPhones and features a periscope design, looking like an asthma inhaler. HTC claims the Re is the action camera for those living normal lives, not extreme sports fans who might already own the market-leading GoPro action camera. The Re Camera will cost $200 (£123) in the US and will have a tough time convincing users that they need another camera for general shots, considering most carry a smartphone with a camera. “The decision to launch the RE Camera signals HTC is desperately trying to break into new categories as competition in smartphones reaches new, uncomfortable heights,” explained Wood. HTC has struggled to differentiate itself in the increasingly competitive smartphone market dominated by Apple and Samsung. Cheaper smartphones from China are squeezing the bottom end and HTC is joined by Sony, LG and Motorola in the high-end space where Samsung and Apple dominate Whether the Desire Eye and Re Camera will sell in enough volume to help HTC climb out of its downward trajectory is unknown. • HTC One mini 2 review: selfie-camera ready for action • HTC One M8 review: a lightning-quick, five-star smartphone This article has been amended at 17:30 to remove reference to Three’s exclusivity. | ['technology/htc', 'technology/smartphones', 'technology/technology', 'technology/gadgets', 'technology/android', 'technology/mobilephones', 'technology/photography', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/samuel-gibbs'] | technology/gadgets | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2014-10-09T10:24:55Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
environment/2024/mar/06/microscopic-plastics-could-raise-risk-of-stroke-and-heart-attack-study-says | Microscopic plastics could raise risk of stroke and heart attack, study says | Doctors have warned of potentially life-threatening effects from plastic pollution after finding a substantially raised risk of stroke, heart attack and earlier death in people whose blood vessels were contaminated with microscopic plastics. Researchers in Naples examined fatty plaques removed from the blood vessels of patients with arterial disease and found that more than half had deposits contaminated with tiny particles of polyethylene or polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Those whose plaques contained microplastics or nanoplastics were nearly five times more likely to suffer a stroke, heart attack or death from any cause over the following 34 months, compared with those whose plaques were free from plastic contamination. The findings do not prove that plastic particles drive strokes and heart attacks – people who are more exposed to the pollution may be at greater risk for other reasons – but research on animals and human cells suggests the particles may be to blame. “Our data will dramatically impact cardiovascular health if confirmed because we are defenceless against plastic pollution,” said Dr Raffaele Marfella, first author on the study at the University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli in Naples. “The only defence we have available today is prevention by reducing plastic production.” Because plastic pollution is ubiquitous, reaching across the entire planet, Marfella said even if society succeeded in the massive task of slashing plastic pollution, any health benefits from the cleanup would not be seen for years. The doctors embarked on the research after noticing a rise in strokes and heart attacks in patients who would normally be considered low risk. Marfella and his colleagues wondered whether plastic pollution might be involved in damaging people’s blood vessels by driving inflammation. Writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, the doctors describe how they analysed fatty plaques removed from 304 patients with atherosclerosis affecting the carotid arteries. The carotid arteries are the main blood vessels that supply blood to the neck, face and brain. The disease causes a build-up of plaque in the arteries, which substantially raises the risk of stroke. The plaques can be removed by a procedure called carotid endarterectomy. Lab tests on the extracted plaques revealed polyethylene in 150 patients and polyvinyl chloride in 31, alongside signs of inflammation. On examination under an electron microscope, the researchers spotted jagged foreign particles in the fatty deposits, most less than a thousandth of a millimetre across. The doctors followed 257 of the patients for an average of 34 months after they had carotid plaques removed. Those who had plastic particles in their plaques were 4.5 times more likely to have a stroke or heart attack, or to die from any cause, than those whose plaques were free from plastic pollution. Marfella said the discovery of plastics in the plaques was “surprising” and that the likely effect on cardiovascular health was “worrisome”. The findings may explain what doctors call “residual cardiovascular risk”, he said, where 20%-30% of patients who have been treated for common risk factors, such as high blood pressure and diabetes, still go on to have heart attacks and strokes. Further work is needed to confirm whether plastic pollution plays a role in strokes and heart attacks, but Marfella called for greater awareness of the potential threat. “People must become aware of the risks we are taking with our lifestyle,” he said. “I hope the alarm message from our study will raise the consciousness of citizens, especially governments, to finally become aware of the importance of the health of our planet. To put it in a slogan that can unite the need for health for humans and the planet, plastic-free is healthy for the heart and the Earth.” Holly Shiels, professor of integrative physiology at the University of Manchester, said the impact of micro- and nanoplastics on plaque formation and coronary heart disease needed greater attention. “It is conceivable that microplastics and nanoplastics, and the toxins they carry, could trigger events leading to the development of atherosclerosis,” she said. | ['environment/environment', 'society/health', 'environment/plastic', 'society/stroke', 'society/heart-attack', 'science/medical-research', 'science/science', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/iansample', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/plastic | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2024-03-06T22:00:35Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
technology/2022/may/25/techscape-clearview-ai-facial-recognition-fine | TechScape: Clearview AI was fined £7.5m for brazenly harvesting your data – does it care? | Your face has a defender: the ICO. On Monday, the UK’s data protection regulator issued its third largest fine ever, against facial recognition provider Clearview AI. From our story: The UK’s data watchdog has fined a facial recognition company £7.5m for collecting images of people from social media platforms and the web to add to a global database. US-based Clearview AI has also been ordered to delete the data of UK residents from its systems by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Clearview has collected more than 20bn images of people’s faces and data from Facebook, other social media companies and from scouring the web. Picking up a thread from last week’s newsletter, plenty of startups are built around the basic idea of quietly breaking rules until you get large enough that you can afford to comply (or even better, until you get large enough that the rules are changed to promote innovation and make what you do legal anyway). But it’s rare for a company to be as belligerent about that approach as Clearview. The company burst into public awareness in early 2020, after a New York Times exposé described it as “the secretive company that might end privacy as we know it”. Clearview’s product was simple: facial recognition technology, marketed to law enforcement in particular, that could take a picture of a suspect and return a solid guess as to their name. As technology, it wasn’t actually hugely novel. Similar tech was, of course, already built in to Facebook, and Russian company FindFace offered a similar service domestically since 2016. The impressive part of Clearview’s work was, instead, in building up the database required to make the system functional. Any facial recognition system like that needs at its heart a massive collection of people’s faces, linked with their names. And Clearview gathered that in the most brazen manner possible: it just took it all from social media. As the New York Times’ Kashmir Hill wrote: The system — whose backbone is a database of more than three billion images that Clearview claims to have scraped from Facebook, YouTube, Venmo and millions of other websites — goes far beyond anything ever constructed by the United States government or Silicon Valley giants. It would have been impossible to get that information with Facebook’s permission, even pre-Cambridge Analytica, and so Clearview just didn’t bother. Instead, it took the gamble that even if it did get caught, it was unlikely to be forced to delete data it had already collected. The gamble paid off. In the furore following the NYT’s publication, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and LinkedIn all demanded the company stop collecting images from their sites. But their ability to do so is limited: scraping data from public sites is legal under US law, and American data protection regulations are slim, and mostly bound up in contract law – by which Clearview is unencumbered, because it didn’t make any agreements with the people whose data it processed. A few state regulators have taken action against Clearview, and Illinois, which has the strongest biometric privacy law in the country, secured a ban this month on the company working with the private sector in the state (it had already voluntarily ceased such deals in 2020, Clearview says). But, other than that, the company continues to operate more or less unchallenged in the US. That’s not the case, thankfully, in the UK – as the ICO’s fine demonstrates. You have rights over the use of your data that remain relevant even if it gets scraped, passed around, reformed and deanonymised. Unfortunately, that might not help that much. Clearview’s response has been vituperative. A spokesperson for its lawyers suggested that the company simply will not comply. “While we appreciate the ICO’s desire to reduce their monetary penalty on Clearview AI, we nevertheless stand by our position that the decision to impose any fine is incorrect as a matter of law. Clearview AI is not subject to the ICO’s jurisdiction, and Clearview AI does no business in the UK at this time.” The ICO’s position is that any company handling the data of UK citizens is bound by UK law; Clearview disagrees. The company isn’t the only one to raise such questions. Take the Chinese dataset released as WebFace260M, built for training facial recognition AI using faces and names scraped from IMDb and Google Images. The dataset is governed – or, not – by Chinese law, but the faces in it certainly aren’t exclusively Chinese citizens. This precedent matters far beyond the narrow question of facial recognition. Large public datasets scraped from the internet are the fuel powering the latest burst of progress in the AI sector. Text generator GPT3 is built on posts and links harvested from Reddit; Dall-E 2, the groundbreaking visual AI that we discussed here a few weeks ago, is built on images scraped from the web. The company is very aware that Dall-E 2 can be enticed to generate real people’s faces, to the point that beta testers are banned from posting realistic human faces publicly. It would be a bold move for the ICO to turn its eye to policing such models, in the face of a UK government that is already discussing watering down data protection law to make Britain a hub for innovation. But what if the thing that distinguished Clearview from the competition is less the substance of its data harvesting, and more the style with which it defended it? If you want to read the complete version of the newsletter please subscribe to receive TechScape in your inbox every Wednesday. | ['technology/series/techscape', 'technology/technology', 'technology/facial-recognition', 'technology/artificialintelligenceai', 'technology/uber', 'type/article', 'tone/newsletter-tone', 'profile/alex-hern', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/newsletters'] | technology/facial-recognition | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2022-05-25T10:45:33Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
environment/2015/feb/21/climate-change-denier-willie-soon-funded-energy-industry | Work of prominent climate change denier was funded by energy industry | A prominent academic and climate change denier’s work was funded almost entirely by the energy industry, receiving more than $1.2m from companies, lobby groups and oil billionaires over more than a decade, newly released documents show. Over the last 14 years Willie Soon, a researcher at the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics, received a total of $1.25m from Exxon Mobil, Southern Company, the American Petroleum Institute (API) and a foundation run by the ultra-conservative Koch brothers, the documents obtained by Greenpeace through freedom of information filings show. According to the documents, the biggest single funder was Southern Company, one of the country’s biggest electricity providers that relies heavily on coal. The documents draw new attention to the industry’s efforts to block action against climate change – including President Barack Obama’s power-plant rules. Unlike the vast majority of scientists, Soon does not accept that rising greenhouse gas emissions since the industrial age are causing climate changes. He contends climate change is driven by the sun. In the relatively small universe of climate denial Soon, with his Harvard-Smithsonian credentials, was a sought after commodity. He was cited admiringly by Senator James Inhofe, the Oklahoma Republican who famously called global warming a hoax. He was called to testify when Republicans in the Kansas state legislature tried to block measures promoting wind and solar power. The Heartland Institute, a hub of climate denial, gave Soon a courage award. Soon did not enjoy such recognition from the scientific community. There were no grants from Nasa, the National Science Foundation or the other institutions which were funding his colleagues at the Center for Astrophysics. According to the documents, his work was funded almost entirely by the fossil fuel lobby. “The question here is really: ‘What did API, ExxonMobil, Southern Company and Charles Koch see in Willie Soon? What did they get for $1m-plus,” said Kert Davies, a former Greenpeace researcher who filed the original freedom of information requests. Greenpeace and the Climate Investigations Center, of which Davies is the founder, shared the documents with news organisations. “Did they simply hope he was on to research that would disprove the consensus? Or was it too enticing to be able to basically buy the nameplate Harvard-Smithsonian?” From 2005, Southern Company gave Soon nearly $410,000. In return, Soon promised to publish research about the sun’s influence on climate change in leading journals, and to deliver lectures about his theories at national and international events, according to the correspondence. The funding would lead to “active participations by this PI (principal investigator) of this research proposal in all national and international forums interested in promoting the basic understanding of solar variability and climate change”, Soon wrote in a report to Southern Company. In 2012, Soon told Southern Company its grants had supported publications on polar bears, temperature changes in the Arctic and China, and rainfall patterns in the Indian monsoon. ExxonMobil gave $335,000 but stopped funding Soon in 2010, according to the documents. The astrophysicist reportedly received $274,000 from the main oil lobby, the American Petroleum Institute, and $230,000 from the Charles G Koch Foundation. He received an additional $324,000 in anonymous donations through a trust used by the Kochs and other conservative donors, the documents showed. Greenpeace has suggested Soon also improperly concealed his funding sources for a recent article, in violation of the journal’s conflict of interest guidelines. “The company was paying him to write peer-reviewed science and that relationship was not acknowledged in the peer-reviewed literature,” Davies said. “These proposals and contracts show debatable interventions in science literally on the behalf of Southern Company and the Kochs.” In letters to the Internal Revenue Service and Congress, Greenpeace said Soon may have misused the grants from the Koch foundation by trying to influence legislation. Soon did not respond to requests for comment. But he has in the past strenuously denied his industry funders had any influence over his conclusions. “No amount of money can influence what I have to say and write, especially on my scientific quest to understand how climate works, all by itself,” he told the Boston Globe in 2013. As is common among Harvard-Smithsonian scientists, Soon is not on a salary. He receives his compensation from outside grant money, said Christine Pulliam, a spokeswoman for the Center for Astrophysics. The Center for Astrophysics does not require scientists to disclose their funding sources. But Pulliam acknowleged that Soon had failed to meet disclosure requirements of some of the journals that published his research. “Soon should have followed those policies,” she said. Harvard said Soon operated outside of the university – even though he carries a Harvard ID and uses a Harvard email address. “Willie Soon is a Smithsonian staff researcher at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, a collaboration of the Harvard College Observatory and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory,” a Harvard spokesman, Jeff Neal, said. “There is no record of Soon having applied for or having been granted funds that were or are administered by the University. Soon is not an employee of Harvard.” Both Harvard and the Smithsonian acknowledge that the climate is changing because of rising levels of greenhouse gas concentrations caused by human activities. Pulliam cast Soon’s association with the institutions as an issue of academic freedom: “Academic freedom is critically important. The Smithsonian stands by the process by which the research results of all of its scholars are peer reviewed and vetted by other scientists. This is the way that the scientific process works. The funding entities, regardless of their affiliation, have no influence on the research.” | ['environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/climate-change-scepticism', 'science/scienceofclimatechange', 'science/science', 'environment/environment', 'business/business', 'us-news/koch-brothers', 'business/exxonmobil', 'business/oil', 'business/oilandgascompanies', 'business/energy-industry', 'education/harvard-university', 'education/education-us', 'education/education', 'us-news/us-news', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/suzannegoldenberg'] | environment/climate-change-scepticism | CLIMATE_DENIAL | 2015-02-21T21:32:07Z | true | CLIMATE_DENIAL |
news/2012/jan/11/weatherwatch-arctic-icebreakers-trade | Weatherwatch: Trade traffic in Arctic waterways is increasing | As Arctic ice gets thinner, you could expect that icebreakers would become less important. However, the volume of traffic in Arctic waterways is now increasing, and with it the demand for ships that can navigate ice-covered waters. President Putin of Russia has suggested that the Arctic sea could overtake the Suez Canal in trade volume, as it offers a short route from Europe to the Asian Pacific, and he wants more icebreakers to escort convoys. In winter, the ice cover in the Arctic Ocean can be up to two and a half metres thick. Nuclear powered icebreakers can force a passage through this at up to 10 knots, leaving a path clear for other vessels. Thinner ice in other seasons or farther south can be traversed more quickly. Ships trapped in ice can only be rescued by icebreakers, and they are also the only vessels able to help with oil spills in frozen conditions. The Russians have seven nuclear icebreakers and proposals to build three more. They also possess several non-nuclear icebreakers. The US Coast Guard has just three heavy (non-nuclear) icebreakers, and there are plans to decommission two of them. Mead Treadwell, Lieutenant Governor of Alaska, fears that the US is being left behind. He wants more Coast Guard icebreakers, not just for emergency rescue, but also to boost international trade. "A couple of icebreakers at $750m (£484m) or so apiece can actually open up a major sea route for global commerce," he said. | ['news/series/weatherwatch', 'tone/features', 'world/arctic', 'type/article', 'profile/davidhambling', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2'] | news/series/weatherwatch | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2012-01-11T22:30:01Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2022/jan/21/more-than-30000-jobs-at-risk-if-insulation-levy-cut-from-fuel-bills | More than 30,000 jobs at risk if insulation levy cut from fuel bills | More than 30,000 jobs would be put at risk if the government were to scrap the energy bill levy that pays for home insulation improvements for poor households, the industry has warned. Ministers are mooting an end to the Energy Company Obligation (ECO), a £1bn levy on energy bills that pays for energy efficiency measures for people on low incomes. The energy price cap is expected to rise by about £700 to £2,000 for the average household bill in April, after a surge in gas prices. The government is reluctant to take major steps such as windfall tax, which the Labour party and others have called for, and the longstanding ECO has been targeted by the Treasury as a way of reducing bills. However, the amounts saved from scrapping it would be small, at about £29 on the average bill. The Insulation Assurance Authority has written to ministers urging them to keep ECO. The body said the levy added less than 52p a week to the average energy bill but had reduced household energy bills by about £300 a year on average for the 3m homes treated so far. Nigel Donohue, chief executive of the industry body, said: “ECO has been the backbone in supporting those hit hardest by fuel poverty. We need a long-term solution to end our dependence upon high cost gas and that means we must ramp up energy efficiency investment. Cutting or just suspending ECO would be utterly self-defeating, lead to mass redundancies in the industry and harm the most vulnerable. ECO must be saved.” He warned that any move to abandon or suspend the measure would be disastrous for jobs. The insulation industry has suffered from government policy reversals over the last decade, when plans for a nationwide “green deal” insulation scheme were first trumpeted from 2010 then abruptly squashed in 2015. That left the ECO as the only remaining insulation programme, until the “green homes grant” was launched in 2020 then scrapped last spring after six months of maladministration. Experts have said this “stop-start” pattern to government intervention in the market has led to a severe lack of investment, training and skills in insulation, which is proving problematic as the UK has the leakiest homes in Europe. Previous moves to slash the ECO in the face of high energy prices led to the number of jobs in insulation falling by about half, the IAA said. | ['environment/environment', 'uk/uk', 'money/energy', 'money/consumer-affairs', 'money/household-bills', 'environment/energyefficiency', 'environment/energy', 'business/energy-industry', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/fiona-harvey', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/topstories', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/energy | ENERGY | 2022-01-21T00:01:15Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2014/jan/04/ancient-woodland-cut-down-biodiversity-offsetting | Campaigners attack proposals to allow destruction of ancient woodlands | Green campaigners have urged the government not to "gamble" with England's natural heritage after the environment secretary defended plans to allow developers to destroy ancient woodland. Owen Paterson sparked anger after defending the "biodiversity offsetting" scheme that he plans to introduce under which woodlands could be cut down to make way for new construction if developers agree to plant 100 trees for every one they destroy. Paterson said that "biodiversity offsetting" could accelerate construction, providing jobs and easing the pressure on housing prices. But critics warn that the proposals could result in the destruction of forests dating from around 1600 - around a third of all woodland in England. While destroying mature trees was a "tragic loss", replacing each with 100 new ones would "deliver a better environment over the long term", he said. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said any move to build on ancient woodland would be restricted to major projects and would only get planning permission in exceptional cases. Paterson conceded that the present generation of UK residents would lose out and that replacement sites could be up to an hour away by car. But he insisted the initiative – designed to ease the construction of homes, roads and major projects – would result in an "enormous increase" in trees. "The point about offsetting is it will deliver a better environment over the long term," he told the Times. He signalled that he would like to see offsetting become compulsory to encourage a market of sites that could be improved. That was one recommendation of a report by the Commons environmental audit committee, which also raised serious concerns. It said the proposed system was too simplistic to take into account the full value of the lost sites and a full assessment of pilot projects was required. While speeding up development was welcome, there was a risk developers were given "carte blanche" to concrete over valuable habitats, it concluded. The report specifically highlighted fears ancient woodland and sites of special scientific interest would not be adequately protected. Friends of the Earth nature campaigner Paul de Zylva said including ancient woodlands "highlights the absurdity" of the policy. "It's the quality of forests that's important, not just the quantity of trees. "Ministers should be protecting nature, instead of gambling with it by allowing Britain's best wildlife sites to be shifted around the country. "The government's madcap biodiversity offsetting plans should get the chop – not our forests." The Woodland Trust said more than 380 ancient woods were already under threat from projects including the HS2 high-speed rail line. Offsetting should only be used as a "last resort", policy director Hilary Allison told the Times – criticising Paterson's suggestion that an hour's journey by car would be close enough to do compensatory work. "It is critical that any habitats created to compensate for loss are placed within the local area that suffered the original impact," she said. "Unfortunately, this still appears open to debate." Three years ago, Paterson's predecessor Caroline Spelman was forced by public outcry into an embarrassing U-turn on plans to sell off England's public forests. Campaigners are now warning that they too could be under threat again in the form of plans to introduce a new management organisation to "own and manage the public forest estate". Defra insists there are no plans to sell or privatise England's forests following the establishment of the new arrangements. | ['environment/forests', 'environment/biodiversity', 'environment/wildlife', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/environment', 'business/construction', 'business/business', 'politics/owen-paterson', 'politics/politics', 'uk/uk', 'tone/news', 'type/article'] | environment/biodiversity | BIODIVERSITY | 2014-01-04T15:51:00Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
politics/2018/nov/25/bath-residents-resent-congestion-charge-tackle-pollution-nitrogen-dioxide | Bath's drivers choke on plans for daily £9 pollution charge | The city of Bath may have a reputation for gentility but plans to charge many motorists £9 a day to drive into its Georgian streets are provoking anger and resentment. High levels of pollution, largely caused by topography – the city lies in a giant bowl – are forcing the council to act, but critics say the move will hit people struggling financially and force traffic out into areas just outside the zone. Traffic congestion has long been a problem in Bath, which has Unesco world heritage status. Suggested solutions have ranged from boring a road tunnel under the city centre to building a park-and-ride site on water meadows. There are a number of spots in Bath where nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels exceed the legal limit of 40 µg/m3. According to Bath and North East Somerset council (Banes), a third of Bath’s NO2 is produced by diesel and petrol cars. It says 12,000 people in Banes suffer from asthma and risk attacks because of the high levels of NO2. Banes is proposing to set up a clean air zone (CAZ) by the end of 2020 that would mean drivers of “higher-emission vehicles” – including many reasonably new diesel cars and older petrol ones – would have to pay £9 a day to enter the designated area. It would not affect only residents. The geography of Bath and the lack of alternative routes around the city mean that many commuters and travellers who need to pass through to get elsewhere would also be caught by the charge. Thousands of people have taken part in a consultation, which ends on Monday (26 November), with many fiercely opposed. At a consultation event at a social club (which was watched over by two members of security staff), Cllr Bob Goodman, cabinet member for development and neighbourhoods, said the authority had been mandated to bring the levels down and believed charging was the best solution. “It may sound draconian but we have to take action,” he said. “The government has mandated us to reduce the NO2 levels. We have to do that.” Goodman said private and commercial drivers would be helped to change their vehicles for compliant, lower-emission ones. There would also be exemptions or concessions including for disabled people and registered carers. “There are many people who have non-compliant vehicles who are adamantly against it but we will help them,” he said. “I’m not going to let our kids suffer from pollution and asthma.” Few at the event seemed impressed. Andy Southern, who lives in a village west of the city and has to cross Bath every day to get to work, said: “I have a diesel car that will fall foul of this. It’s going to cost me £2,200 a year. I agree we need to improve air quality but this scheme will hit families like mine. We’d like to change the car [but] we can’t afford to at the moment.” Stephen Moss, a taxi driver who reckons he has driven 2m miles around Bath during his 35-year career, said the proposal was making him feel ill with anxiety. “These are stealth controlling tariffs and are out of reach of the average man or woman.” Melanie Hilton, who lives in Keynsham, within Banes but eight miles from the city centre, said it could stop her visiting. “I can’t afford £9 when I want to come in and pick my child up from the station or get my hair cut. We need more intelligent thought about how to design roads to get people in and out more effectively.” Emma Adams, a businesswoman and chair of the parish council in Batheaston, a village to the east of the city centre, said she feared the scheme would prompt drivers of non-compliant – and thus most polluting – vehicles into rural rat runs. “We’re already congested and we’re concerned that will increase.” A decision is due to be reached by the council in December. • This article’s headline was amended on 26 November 2018 to clarify that the planned charge would be introduced to tackle pollution, not traffic congestion. | ['politics/congestioncharging', 'environment/air-pollution', 'politics/transport', 'environment/pollution', 'uk/uk', 'world/road-transport', 'uk/transport', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/stevenmorris', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2018-11-26T16:26:46Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
society/2023/sep/27/laws-demanding-uk-developers-improve-local-nature-delayed | MPs vow to fight new plans to scrap pollution rules for housebuilders | Political parties and wildlife groups are gearing up to fight the UK government’s renewed plans to scrap pollution rules for housebuilders. The environment secretary, Thérèse Coffey, has announced that a new bill is in the works, with Rishi Sunak hoping to push it through parliament in the limited time he has left before the general election. This comes as it was revealed that the government will delay new environmental laws that require housebuilders in England to improve local nature and wildlife habitats when they build a development in existing green space. Earlier this month, peers delivered an astonishing defeat to the government when they voted against amendments to the levelling up bill, which would have forced local authorities to turn a blind eye to pollution from new developments. A separate bill tabled by the government would allow planning officials to ignore the extra pollution caused by sewage from new homes in sensitive areas and runoff from construction sites, with the taxpayer paying to offset the damage to the environment instead. There will be a coalition of MPs in the House of Commons who will unite to try to defeat the new law. The Labour party continues to oppose the government’s plans, and has called for further evidence and consultation before any rules are changed. Matthew Pennycook, the shadow housing and planning minister, said: “These reckless proposals were defeated in the Lords by a combination of peers from all parties, including those on the Conservative benches. Ministers should abandon their flawed plan and instead get around the table to agree a solution that builds the homes we need without further polluting our rivers and precious ecosystems.” The Lib Dem environment spokesperson, Tim Farron, told the Guardian: “The government failed to get its nutrient neutrality changes into the levelling up bill thanks to the hard work of Liberal Democrats. “We are disappointed that they can’t take no for an answer and instead of thinking again they’ll continue to undermine our environment. Liberal Democrats in parliament will continue to oppose these changes in both the commons and the Lords.” Peers will also try to oppose the bill again when it comes to them. Jenny Jones, the Green peer who led the rebellion against the last amendment, said: “If the prime minister wants to use up precious parliamentary time and make this an issue in the run-up to the general election, then he really must be desperate to get those big party donations from property developers flowing again. “If the measure is in the upcoming king’s speech then the best that could happen is for the Lords to throw the entire bill out.” There are other ways political parties are trying to stop the bill from coming into practice. A spokesperson for the Green party said their local councillors were trying to get local authorities to oppose the idea. Environmental experts said it was an inappropriate priority for a government running out of time. Ruth Chambers, from the Greener UK coalition, said: “If ministers are intent on proposing such a bill, they should look at the rejection of their previous proposals and consult nature and housing experts before publishing any new measures. There is overwhelming public support for cleaning up our rivers, not worsening their pollution.” Elliot Chapman-Jones, the head of public affairs at the Wildlife Trusts, added: “Giving housebuilders a licence to pollute rivers with impunity should not be a priority in the king’s speech. There are already worries that the government’s agenda is too packed to honour important existing promises such as the bill to ban the sale of peat – so why is it persisting in efforts to instead push for weakening environmental rules at a time when the public, and the House of Lords, are so clearly upset about the quality of our rivers?” Meanwhile, government officials admitted there would be a delay to proposed rules called “biodiversity net gain”. The principle is that developers cannot destroy the local environment and any development has to give extra provisions for nature. The rules, which state that building projects must result in 10% net gain, were supposed to be introduced in 2023 and would have provided funding for many wildlife charities from developers’ profits. Sources at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities confirmed the delay and said the legislation should come into force in the new year. Last week, the Lords’ built environment committee said the government was “failing to deliver for either side” in its approach to competing demands for new homes and environmental protection. | ['society/housing', 'business/construction', 'environment/environment', 'environment/wildlife', 'politics/planning', 'society/society', 'environment/access-to-green-space', 'politics/politics', 'uk/uk', 'uk-news/england', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/helena-horton', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/wildlife | BIODIVERSITY | 2023-09-27T15:30:45Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2019/feb/13/academics-back-uk-schools-climate-change-strikes | Academics back UK schools' climate change strikes | More than 200 academics have voiced their support for this week’s school climate strikes, in which thousands of young people are expected to take to the streets in towns and cities across the UK. The academics, including almost 100 professors, say the “tragic and desperate facts” of the unfolding climate breakdown – and the lack of meaningful action by politicians – leave young people with little option but to take matters into their own hands. In a letter to the Guardian, they write: “[Those taking part in the strike] have every right to be angry about the future that we shall bequeath to them, if proportionate and urgent action is not taken.” The number of those taking part in Friday’s strike is growing rapidly, amid mounting evidence of the scale and impact of the climate emergency. There are more than 50 confirmed events from Fort William to Hastings, with more added each day. The UK day of action is part of a movement that started in August when Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old schoolgirl, held a solo protest outside Sweden’s parliament. Globally, up to 70,000 schoolchildren each week are taking part in 270 towns and cities. Individual demonstrations have already been held in the UK, but Friday’s coordinated day of action is expected to see the biggest protests by students and young people in the UK since the student strikes of 2010 over tuition fees. There has been some criticism of the strikes by climate change deniers and politicians who claim the strike amounts to little more than truanting. Earlier this month a Belgian environment minister was forced to resign after falsely claiming the country’s intelligence services held evidence that the tens of thousands of children skipping school were being directed by unnamed powers. But the strike has been backed by one of the UK’s leading teaching unions and the academics say the young people who are prepared to organise and take part in the strike are setting an example that others should follow. “We are inspired that our children, spurred on by the noble actions of Greta Thunberg and many other striking students all around the world, are making their voices heard.” The letter highlights the growing signs of climate breakdown, from the latest UN report that warns there are 12 years to avoid the worst impacts of global warming, to record-breaking droughts and heatwaves, warming oceans and melting ice sheets. The academics added: “It is with these tragic and desperate events in mind that we offer our full support to the students, some of whom may well aspire to be the academics of the future, who bravely plan to strike on 15 February to demand that the UK government takes climate action.” | ['environment/activism', 'world/protest', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'education/academics', 'education/schools', 'education/secondary-schools', 'environment/environment', 'education/education', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'environment/school-climate-strikes', 'profile/matthewtaylor', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/school-climate-strikes | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2019-02-13T12:12:10Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
environment/ethicallivingblog/2007/sep/12/whatswrongwithturninglight | What's wrong with turning lights off? | At the beginning of George Monbiot's book Heat, he gets environmentalist Mayer Hillman to answer the question "What will this country look like when you've finished with it?" Hillman grins, and replies: "A very poor third-world country". It's an answer that would have brought joy into the hearts of many of the members of the environmental movement. At times one senses a thirsty relish within the movement for the social restructuring that lies ahead: there is no doubt that many (myself included) hope that it will be possible to survive the huge challenge of climate change as a kinder, more equable civilisation. There are many different dreams - of anarchist utopia, collectivisation, parties that just go on and on... But what these dreamers sometimes forget is that there are also many people who like things just the way they are, thank you very much. They like their Ford Focus, they like the primroses that line their driveway, the latest series on ITV, a quick chat with the station master on the way to work, the window cleaner who comes on Thursdays, and their night out at the Italian restaurant in town once a fortnight. They have ordinary, quiet lives and they are perfectly happy with them. George Marshall walks us through the pointlessness of many of the actions advocated by the government - not filling kettles up, turning lights off, saving plastic bags (that last, by the way, is motivated by concern about wasting resources and killing dolphins I think - I doubt climate change comes into it in anyone's thinking). He's right, these small things add up to very little. But how, then, are we to get this solid mass of human beings moving? I think that Marshall is confusing the (yes, very annoying) suggestions from the government with the small local organisations and council officers and headteachers who are trying to put these things into practice. Children in schools, doing their green projects, making their parents turn off lights and writing letters about polar bears to Downing Street. And what about places like the Cheshire village of Ashton Hayes, trying to become zero-carbon, or Totnes in Devon going oil-free? He mentions Modbury, the town which banned plastic bags. What will the aftermath of that campaign have been? Fewer plastic bags, sure, but also a local network for action, which can easily be reactivated. A general sense of the potential of autonomous action, and an opening of debate about these subjects. And some more detailed things - such as how to run a meeting, how to build a database of support, how to communicate quickly with plenty of people. Aren't these the building blocks for the much talked about grassroots action. While these actions don't acheive much themselves: isn't the effect of taking them what we should be after? You could even argue that it gives us all a taste of collective action. But I think that might be pushing it. | ['environment/energyefficiency', 'environment/ethical-living', 'environment/environment', 'tone/blog', 'environment/carbonfootprints', 'environment/carbon-emissions', 'environment/green-living-blog', 'type/article', 'profile/bibivanderzee'] | environment/carbonfootprints | EMISSIONS | 2007-09-12T15:32:08Z | true | EMISSIONS |
environment/2020/oct/20/plantwatch-australias-giant-stinging-trees-35m-tall-with-a-poison-that-can-last-for-months | Plantwatch: Australia's giant stinging trees – 35m tall with a poison that can last for months | It sounds like something out of The Day of the Triffids: a stinging nettle the size of a large tree, with a sting so vicious it inflicts excruciating pain that can last for days, weeks or even months. But this is no science fiction, these are the stinging trees of Australia. Dendrocnide excelsa can grow up to 35 metres tall in tropical rainforests in Queensland, one of a gang of six Dendrocnide tree or shrub species found in Australia. These thugs of the plant world belong to the same family as common stinging nettles, with leaves covered in similar tiny needle-like hairs that act like hypodermic syringes, injecting their poison at the slightest touch of the skin, although the poison is far more powerful than a nettle’s. The poison in stinging trees was recently discovered to be a peptide not previously seen in plants, and remarkably similar to that in some venomous spiders and cone snails found in tropical seas, which also inflict terrible pain. The poison works by binding to pain receptors in the nervous system, firing them up into a frenzy of activity, and it’s hoped that working out exactly how these proteins work may lead to the creation of new painkillers. | ['environment/forests', 'environment/environment', 'science/science', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'tone/features', 'profile/paulsimons', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-weather'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2020-10-20T20:30:16Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
world/2008/jan/09/australia.japan | Australia increases pressure on Japan over whale hunt | Australia has stepped up pressure on Japan to end its controversial whale hunt in the southern ocean, dispatching a surveillance vessel that will gather evidence for a possible legal challenge to the cull. The Oceanic Viking, an armed icebreaker normally used to apprehend poachers, left a naval base near Perth yesterday and will track the fleet for 20 days, local media reported today. Australian customs officials do not have the authority to board the Japanese ships and, in a conciliatory gesture, the Oceanic Viking's twin 50mm machine guns will be stowed below deck. In addition, it will not share information on the fleet's location with protesters from Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd. The Oceanic Viking's dispatch came as Britain and other anti-whaling countries stepped up their campaign to end Japan's annual "scientific" hunts. Japan insists the missions are vital to a better understanding of the mammals' migratory, feeding and reproductive habits. Last month, 30 countries and the EU issued a written protest. Japan agreed to drop plans to kill 50 endangered humpbacks, but said it would proceed with the slaughter of almost 1,000 other whales. Britain's fisheries minister, Jonathan Shaw, today told Japan's deputy ambassador, Wataru Nishigahiro, of Britain's outrage at the lethal research in the Antarctic. "Japan's slaughter of whales in the name of so-called science is unacceptably cruel, scientifically unnecessary and of no economic value," he said. He said Tokyo "must realise the serious damage that whaling does to [Japan's] image here and around the world", adding: "Britain cannot understand why Japan chooses to defy international opinion, and we will continue to oppose all attempts by Japan to undermine the worldwide ban on commercial whaling." Japan has killed around 7,000 minke whales in the name of research since the International Whaling Commission banned commercial whaling in 1986. This year's target cull of 935 minke and 50 endangered fin whales is the biggest so far. The cull has strained ties between Japan and the Australian Labor government of Kevin Rudd, who took office at the end of last year promising to take a tougher line than his conservative predecessor, John Howard. Some opposition MPs, however, claimed Rudd had delayed the Oceanic Viking's departure in an attempt to limit the diplomatic fallout amid reports that the whalers had already killed between one-third and half of their quota. | ['australia-news/australia-news', 'world/world', 'world/japan', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/environment', 'environment/whaling', 'environment/oceans', 'world/animal-welfare', 'environment/whales', 'world/asia-pacific', 'environment/cetaceans', 'type/article', 'environment/hunting', 'profile/justinmccurry'] | environment/cetaceans | BIODIVERSITY | 2008-01-09T15:41:45Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
technology/2018/feb/19/samsung-galaxy-s9-new-flagship-smartphones-full-screen-design-camera | Samsung Galaxy S9: everything we think we know about the new smartphones | Samsung will launch its new Galaxy S9 and S9+ flagship pair of smartphones, the follow up to the popular Galaxy S8 range, in Barcelona on 25 February. Here is everything we think we know about the new top-spec Android smartphones. Same all-screen design The Galaxy S8 ushered in a new all-screen design to the modern smartphone, which was followed by everyone from OnePlus to Apple with its iPhone X. The Galaxy S9 will have a similar design that is expected to match the sizes of the S8 and S8+ and come with curved edges, an elongated screen with rounded corners, metal edges and glass front and back, according to several well placed sources talking to the Guardian. Improved single camera A few details are expected to change for the new model, primarily around imaging. The Galaxy S8 had an improved version of the 12-megapixel camera fitted to the previous Galaxy S7. The Galaxy S9 is expected to come with an improved single camera and the S9+ with a version of Samsung’s dual-camera system that first debuted in the Note 8, according to two people familiar with the matter. The orientation of the camera equipment and the fingerprint scanner on the back of the smartphones has been changed from horizontal to vertical, which is expected to make the biometric system easier to reach, two sources said. Samsung’s teaser trailers for the S9’s camera suggest improved low-light performance and an ability to adjust the aperture, as well as an attempt to replicate Apple’s animoji. Stereo speakers According to reports, Samsung is also expected to push improved video recording for the S9 phones, including enhanced slow-motion video capture, as well as stereo speakers – a feature on rival Google’s Pixel 2 smartphones and Apple’s iPhone. Reports also suggest that the S9 will retain the headphone socket, making it one of the only top-end smartphones to continue to support the feature. The S9 smartphones are expected to ship with two different processors, depending on region – Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 chip in the US and Samsung’s latest Exynos 9810 chip in the UK and Europe. Face and iris scanning Rumours also suggest that Samsung has improved its face and iris scanning technology for securing the S9, although whether it will be able to match up to Apple’s Face ID remains to be seen. The iris scanning technology built into last year’s S8 and the Note 8 is fast and accurate, but fiddly compared with Apple’s face-scanning system. Finally, Samsung is also expected to debut a new version of its DeX system, which turns a smartphone into an Android-powered desktop computer, connecting with an external monitor, keyboard and mouse. Samsung Galaxy S8 review: the future of smartphones Samsung Galaxy Note 8 review: a greatest hits package from the godfather of phablets To find discount codes for Samsung Galaxy S9 retailers, visit discountcode.theguardian.com | ['technology/samsung', 'technology/technology', 'technology/smartphones', 'technology/gadgets', 'technology/android', 'technology/mobilephones', 'technology/telecoms', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/samuel-gibbs', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-technology'] | technology/gadgets | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2018-02-19T12:20:59Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
science/2020/aug/04/remains-of-10000-year-old-woolly-mammoth-pulled-from-siberian-lake | Remains of 10,000-year-old woolly mammoth pulled from Siberian lake | Russian scientists are poring over the uniquely well-preserved bones of a 10,000-year-old woolly mammoth after completing the operation to pull them from the bottom of a Siberian lake. Experts spent five days scouring the silt of Lake Pechenelava-To in the remote Yamal peninsula for the remains, which include tendons, skin and even excrement, after they were spotted by local residents. About 90% of the animal has been retrieved during two expeditions. Such finds are happening with increasing regularity in Siberia as climate change warms the Arctic at a faster pace than the rest of the world, thawing the ground in some areas long locked in permafrost. The woolly mammoth will probably be named Tadibe, after the family who discovered the adult animal, which is thought to have been a male between 15 and 20 years old, and and about 10ft (three metres) tall. Andrey Gusev from the Centre of Arctic Research, said the preservation of the animal was unique, with the lower spine still connected by tendons and skin, but that the retrieval operation was painstaking because the remaining bones were jumbled up. “We assumed that the bones were preserved in the anatomical order. But the first and the second days of our expedition showed that it was true only about the back part of the skeleton,” he said. “The rest of the bones were in such chaotic order that it was impossible to guess where they were.” Evgenia Khozyainova from the Shemanovsky museum in Salekhard, said: “We have one front and one hind foot well-preserved, with tendons, soft tissues and pieces of skin. Also we have sacrum with adjacent vertebrae, including the tail preserved with tendons and a big piece of skin.” Of particular interest is the excrement, or coprolite, because it will contain details of the animal’s diet, as well as pollen and other environmental clues. The cause of the mammoth’s death is not clear yet as no signs of injuries were found on the bones. Researchers have found mammoth fossils dating from up to 30,000 years ago in Russia. Scientists circulated images in December of a prehistoric puppy, thought to be 18,000 years old, that was found in the permafrost region of Russia’s Far East in 2018. Reuters contributed to this report | ['science/fossils', 'world/russia', 'science/science', 'world/europe-news', 'science/extinct-wildlife', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-foreign'] | science/extinct-wildlife | BIODIVERSITY | 2020-08-04T02:33:17Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
business/2011/apr/29/total-solar-power-renewables | Total invests £800m in US solar power firm | Total, one of the world's largest oil companies, is to make a $1.38bn (£800m) investment in solar power reversing a trend that has seen Shell and BP cut back their involvement in green energy. France's biggest company is to purchase 60% of SunPower Corporation, the second biggest solar panel manufacturer in America, and use it as a new springboard into a renewable sector struggling for competitive edge. Shares in SunPower surged 40% after it revealed a "friendly tender offer" from an oil company that had been expected to put major new investment into nuclear rather than solar or wind, at least until the Japanese earthquake raised new questions about the safety of atomic power. "The world future energy balance will be the result of a long-term transition in which renewable energies will take their place alongside conventional resources," said Philippe Boisseau, president of Total's gas and power division. Total has been raking in enormous profits from oil at $120 a barrel – but is said to see renewables energy as a useful hedge. High crude prices make alternative power sources more attractive but the solar industry has also been hit in places such as Britain, Germany and Spain which have started to cut their public subsidies as part of wider plans to reduce debt levels. Total is not an entire newcomer to renewables. It has held a half share in two solar firms since the early 1980's – Photovoltech and Tenesol. In November Total unveiled plans to build a solar panel manufacturing plant in the Moselle region of France with annual capacity of 220,000 solar panels a year. The oil company will now inject $1bn into SunPower over the next five years allowing the US solar business to "accelerate our power plant and development business," according to its chief executive Tom Werner. SunPower has been hit by mounting competition from lower cost Chinese panel makers but still claims to design, manufacture and deliver the highest efficiency solar products in the industry. BP and Shell made major forays into renewables but have backed off in recent years. BP shut down its stand alone Alternative Energy head office while Shell sold off a major part of its photovoltaic module production to SolarWorld of Germany in 2006 and then disposed of its solar rural business in the developing world. Total had been investing in nuclear having acquired an 8.33% interest, in the consortium commissioned to develop the European pressurized reactor project in Penly, France, with EDF and GDF Suez. The Fukushima plant accident – coupled with the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident – has spread a pall of negativity over nuclear energy business. | ['business/oilandgascompanies', 'business/business', 'business/mergers-and-acquisitions', 'business/oil', 'business/energy-industry', 'environment/solarpower', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'environment/energy', 'environment/environment', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'world/france', 'world/europe-news', 'tone/news', 'environment/fukushima', 'type/article', 'profile/terrymacalister', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/financial3'] | environment/solarpower | ENERGY | 2011-04-29T15:37:13Z | true | ENERGY |
business/2007/aug/14/transportintheuk.activists | Passengers sympathetic to Heathrow protesters | In the long haul check-in queues at Heathrow yesterday, the climate camp protesters' cause drew a sympathetic reaction. But travellers' determination to fly remained undimmed during another busy day at Britain's largest airport. Air travel is growing at 5% a year, despite the green backlash against the aviation industry and its contribution to global warming. Long haul passengers at Heathrow acknowledged the camp's grievances but had mixed opinions about the threat of direct action, which could paralyse an airport already operating beyond original capacity as more than 67 million people pass through each year. "We all realise that if you do not take direct action these days no-one takes any notice. I have got a lot of sympathy with direct action. It would be irritating, but they are making a point that many people are not brave enough to make," said Rob Swift, 40, on a trip to New York. He added: "I have a lot of admiration for people who can pack up their jobs for a week and go to the camp instead of taking a holiday. If you see Joe Bloggs protesting, it's a hell of a lot more impressive than Swampy." Ian Bruce, 44, who was taking his family to California, said sympathy for the camp would soon run out if direct action halted flights: "Everybody thinks the camp is a great idea so long as it does not aff ect their lifestyle." Other passengers, mindful of successive summers of disruption, said direct action was not necessary. "It would undermine their cause. They can make a political point without disrupting passengers ," said Zambia-bound Terry Wright, 57. | ['environment/climate-camp', 'business/business', 'uk/transport', 'environment/activism', 'environment/environment', 'environment/travel-and-transport', 'uk/uk', 'travel/heathrow', 'uk-news/heathrow-airport', 'type/article', 'profile/danmilmo', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews4'] | environment/climate-camp | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2007-08-14T10:30:20Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
commentisfree/2022/dec/07/just-stop-oil-risk-save-the-planet-rethink-protest | Memo to Just Stop Oil and everyone risking all to save the planet: we need a rethink | Feyzi Ismail | The battle between climate protesters and the government is raging, and most people know who is in the right. The people trying to sound the alarm about the climate crisis are closer to mainstream opinion than those enabling fossil fuel corporations to make almost $3bn a day in profit while the planet burns. Many in the government probably know it too, but to openly confront that reality would mean doing the unthinkable: pointing to corporate short-termism as the source of the crisis. The default alternative is to crack down on the right to protest. This is unlikely to deter the protesters, as Just Stop Oil has vowed to defy the law until the government imposes the death penalty. However hard Suella Braverman and Rishi Sunak might try, they can’t legislate away determination, commitment and, well, the science. But here’s the dilemma for the protesters: the government can indeed start to take out individual protesters through long prison sentences, unlimited fines and seizing their stuff. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act allows the police broad powers to restrict protest, based on what they interpret to be serious disruption – if a protest is too noisy, for example, or protesters are deemed to be causing a public nuisance, such as occupying a public space. The public order bill goes even further. It extends stop and search, and introduces serious disruption prevention orders – you can’t hang out in the wrong place with the wrong people if you have been convicted of a protest-related offence twice before. These measures won’t stop protest, but they do challenge our strategy and tactics. A Just Stop Oil protester was recently sentenced to six months in prison for climbing a gantry on the M25. National Highways has secured a high court injunction that lasts until November next year against protests on the M25, with specific individuals named. More and more activists are being found guilty of criminal damage and going to prison for being disruptive. This number looks set to rise as arrests are already in the thousands and mounting. The type of protest considered acceptable to government is rapidly shrinking. This is a massive threat to democracy. And this is why, as the government starts to crack down, the climate movement needs to step up, to raise its game. Some tactics can make it too easy for the government to drive a wedge between protesters and the wider public. Getting arrested regularly is not something most people can afford to do. Preventing ordinary people from getting to work or hospital inevitably alienates, making criminalisation easier. The protesters must not allow the government to score on that front. The other tactical dilemma for Just Stop Oil is that the protests remain in the same register and rely on a few brave individuals. Another day, another gallery. Tomato soup, mashed potatoes, chocolate cake. It keeps the media talking – and this is essential – but who are they trying to persuade? The government, who won’t be persuaded? Ordinary people, who are already aware of the depth and scale of the crisis? With governments moving intolerably slowly in doing what is necessary, it falls on ordinary people, including those on the frontline of the effects of the climate crisis, to intervene. As it happens, they also have the power to transform things. A step up means that, rather than coming into confrontation with ordinary people, the climate movement seeks common cause with their struggles. A dual strategy follows from this, and is gaining increasing attention from within the movement. First, the focus must include maximising street protest over the climate, and supporting wider protests about the cost of living crisis and the war in Ukraine, both of them tightly linked with energy policy. While direct action over energy is crucial, it was encouraging to see Just Stop Oil and others on the climate bloc at the recent People’s Assembly demonstration over the cost of living crisis. Second, the movement must identify with the rising militancy among trade unions and working people – those who can stop production, whether it’s oil and gas or SUVs. This means supporting the strikes over pay and conditions, turning up to picket lines and mobilising numbers to organise the biggest movements possible. This is starting to happen, and Just Stop Oil is supporting striking workers at the UK’s largest oil refinery at Fawley in Hampshire, operated by ExxonMobil, which recorded £17.3bn in profits over the last quarter. We need more of this kind of action, where the climate movement and labour militancy come together. Persuasive arguments are being made for the climate movement to make a strategic refocus on production rather than consumption. This is because the crisis isn’t mainly about consumption, important though that is. It is mainly about the way production is organised, what is produced and who profits from that production. The protesters are not selfish or reckless, as transport secretary Mark Harper claims. Nor are they extremists, as Suella Braverman wants us to believe. It is those who are blocking change who are the real extremists. Make no mistake, the protesters must continue. But by expanding the range of tactics, and by making a strategic turn towards those who have real power in society, we would become unstoppable. Feyzi Ismail is a lecturer in global policy and activism at Goldsmiths, University of London | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'environment/activism', 'world/protest', 'environment/just-stop-oil', 'environment/environment', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/comment', 'profile/feyzi-ismail', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-opinion'] | environment/activism | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2022-12-07T15:00:27Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
environment/2021/apr/21/melting-ice-in-arctic-linked-to-bowhead-whales-holding-off-annual-migration | Melting ice in Arctic linked to bowhead whales holding off annual migration | As the ice melts at pace in the Arctic, the mining and shipping industry has carved itself an opportunity out of the crisis. Meanwhile, the marine ecosystem is left to coping with the heat, noise, pollution and the cascade of other changes that come with the upheaval of the environment. Now researchers have found a whale species that typically migrates away from solid sea ice each autumn and returns every summer to feast on tiny crustaceans did not make the 6,000km (3,700-mile) roundtrip in 2018-2019. Bowhead whales are one of the few species that reside almost exclusively in Arctic and subarctic waters, thriving within a narrow temperature preference window, generally between −0.5C (32.9F) and 2C. There are now four different stocks of these whales swimming along in the Arctic — one of the biggest stocks migrate annually from the northern Bering Sea, through the Chukchi Sea in the spring, to the Beaufort Sea where they spend much of the summer before returning again to the Bering Sea in the autumn to weather out the winter. Using data extracted from underwater tape recorders, researchers in Canada concluded that this whale population did not make their annual journey in 2018-2019, they wrote in the journal Royal Society Open Science. Lead author Dr Stephen Insley from Wildlife Conservation Society Canada said it was unclear whether this change was an aberration or the beginning of a new way of life. The researchers have suggested a plethora of potential factors that could explain what occurred. As water temperatures rise, the proliferation of predators such as killer whales (orcas) could have influenced the bowheads to stay put over winter. One potential factor is that given bowhead blubber can be up to half a meter thick, extra warmth could put the whales at risk of overheating. It could also be that there was an abundance of food such as plankton driven by higher temperatures – and so the whales may have elected to save their energy and bulk up by forgoing the travel. If there is absolutely solid ice during the winter, the bowheads would be forced to migrate. They have a huge, thick skull that helps them push through ice up to a meter thick – so they can break even heavy ice, but it needs to be open enough for them to get through cracks to come up to breathe, explained Insley. “It starts with whether or not the ice is open. Then everything else starts playing a role as well, whether the water is too warm, is there enough food, or predators.” Erich Hoyt, from the UK-based charity Whale and Dolphin Conservation who was not involved in the study, said the research was not entirely surprising. “These changes in whale distribution are often food-related and orcas, as noted, could also be an issue – although the bowheads wouldn’t know to avoid the other areas unless they went there and turned back,” he said. As the Arctic dramatically warms, it was difficult to parse out all the ways the changing climate was affecting creatures that lived on land, and it was even harder to see what was going on below the ice, added Insley. “You have a whole oceanscape that was once completely solid now moving to a semi-solid state and then a full liquid state just because of the dynamics of ice. The bottom line is, I think some species will do well … some species will not. And that the question going forward is — which species and how?” | ['environment/environment', 'world/arctic', 'environment/whales', 'environment/cetaceans', 'environment/marine-life', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/natalie-grover', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/cetaceans | BIODIVERSITY | 2021-04-20T23:01:03Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2018/nov/26/scientists-prepare-for-the-most-detailed-whale-poo-expedition-ever | Scientists prepare for 'the most detailed whale poo expedition ever' | Most people go out of their way to avoid even the faintest whiff of excrement, but a team of scientists is now preparing to voyage for seven weeks to the Antarctic so they can collect blue whale faeces and examine its impact on biodiversity and climate change. “The most detailed whale poo expedition ever,” as the participants have dubbed it, aims to test a theory that waste from the world’s biggest mammal plays a far more crucial role in maintaining the productivity of southern oceans than previously believed. “I want to show that whales are ecosystem engineers,” said Lavenia Ratnarajah, a marine biogeochemist at the University of Liverpool. “Conservation campaigns are usually focussed on their beauty, but that doesn’t convince everyone. If we can show how much these animals contribute to the functions of the ocean, then it will be easier to save them. Blue whale numbers plunged by 95% in the early 20th century, but they have stabilised and partially recovered since the introduction of a global ban on catches in 1966. There are now thought to be between 10,000 and 35,000, mostly in the Antarctic. Until now, most research has focused on the breeding and migratory habits of these giant creatures, which can grow to more than 30 metres in length and weigh 200 tonnes – more than even the largest dinosaurs. But the new research will consider how they contribute to nutrition levels in Antarctic waters. Whale excrement acts as an iron-rich ocean fertiliser that stimulates the growth of marine bacteria and phytoplankton – tiny plants that form the base of the Antarctic food chain and act as the greatest biological source of carbon sequestration. Without the biological recycling of iron, the relatively anaemic Southern Ocean would not be able to sustain as much phytoplankton, which is the main food for krill. The new study will try to quantify that fertilising impact and test theories that the whale is irreplaceable in the polar ecosystem because the other major predators – penguins and seals – tend to defecate on the ice rather than in the water so they cannot provide the same nutritional benefits. The team – along with dozens of other scientists – on 19 January from Hobart, Tasmania on the Research Vessel Investigator, which is is funded by the the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation and Australian Antarctic Division. They will first deploy sonar buoys to identify the location of the whales and then, when close, use drones to fly above them and wait for telltale orange plumes. It can take days. The faeces, which is mainly composed of digested krill, initially floats on the surface before dissipating and then sinking to the floor of the ocean. On previous missions, researchers have had to collect samples by hand, but this time they are relieved that they can get drones to do the dirty work. “You don’t want to fall into it. It’s liquid and smells awful,” said Ratnarajah, who plans to tweet about the voyage. “Sometimes I think I have the worst job in the world and sometimes I think I have the best.” | ['environment/whales', 'environment/biodiversity', 'world/antarctica', 'science/science', 'world/world', 'environment/environment', 'environment/marine-life', 'environment/wildlife', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/jonathanwatts', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/marine-life | BIODIVERSITY | 2018-11-26T06:00:29Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
world/2009/oct/01/iran-uranium-enrichment-plant-inspection | Iran agrees to send uranium abroad after talks breakthrough | Iran agreed in principle today to export much of its stock of enriched uranium for processing and to open its newly revealed enrichment plant to UN inspections within a fortnight. The agreements, struck at negotiations in Geneva with six major powers, represented the most significant progress in talks with Tehran in more than three years, and offered hope that the nuclear crisis could be defused, at least temporarily. Western officials cautioned that the preliminary agreements could unravel in negotiations over the details. But if the deals are completed, it will push back the looming threat of further sanctions and possible military action. A full day of talks in a lakeside villa just outside Geneva included the most senior and substantive bilateral meeting between an American and an Iranian official for three decades. At a lunchtime break in the proceedings, the US delegate, William Burns, took aside Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, for a one-to-one chat that lasted 40 minutes. At the end of the negotiations, the EU foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, on behalf of the six-nation group – known as the E3+3 and consisting of Britain, France, Germany, the US, Russia and China – said the meeting "represented the start of what we hope will be an intensive process". The most concrete, and potentially most significant, gain from the Geneva talks was an agreement in principle that Iran would send a significant quantity of its stockpile of low-enriched uranium (LEU) for further enriching and processing in Russia and France respectively, so that it could be used as fuel in its research reactor in Tehran, which makes isotopes for medical uses. President Barack Obama said yesterday: "Taking the step of transferring its low-enriched uranium to a third country would be a step towards building confidence that Iran's programme is peaceful." Western experts at today's session said that up to 1,200kg of LEU could be involved, three-quarters of Iran's declared stock. It would be further enriched in Russia from below 5% purity to just under 20% – enough for the research reactor, but not enough for a warhead. Once it had been turned into fuel at a French plant it would be extremely hard to turn into a weapon, and so would defuse the immediate international tension surrounding the purpose of Iran's uranium stockpile, which some scientists say is enough to make a warhead. The proposal has been put together over the past month between the US and Russia, and seeks to fulfil an Iranian need for reactor fuel in a way that reduces international tensions. Solana said that the details of the deal would be hammered out at a meeting of experts from Iran, France and Russia at the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on 18 October. On Saturday, the IAEA director, Mohamed ElBaradei, is due in Tehran to seal another of the deals struck in Geneva – on when inspectors from the UN agency can inspect a new enrichment plant under construction in Qom, the existence of which only became known last week. Solana said that he hoped the inspection would take place "within the next couple of weeks". The third agreement struck in Geneva is for the six-nation group to meet Iranian officials again before the end of this month to negotiate a long-standing offer to Iran of a "freeze-for-freeze". Under that proposal, first put forward last year, the international community would impose no new sanctions, and Iran would not expand or accelerate its uranium enrichment programme. NEW ADDA senior US official in Geneva said yesterday that until uranium enrichment was suspended "the overall problem of Iran's nuclear programme remains". The Iranians were assured yesterday that a freeze on sanctions would include all multilateral and bilateral measures, and that the Obama administration – unlike its predecessor – would remain a full participant in the negotiations throughout. The deadline for further progress on all these fronts is still December, as stipulated earlier this year by Obama. Yesterday, the US president said: "We're not interested in talking for the sake of talking. If Iran does not take steps in the near future to live up to its obligations, then the United States will not continue to negotiate indefinitely, and we are prepared to move towards increased pressure." Speaking in Washington after the talks ended, the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, said it had been a productive day, but added a note of caution. "I will count it as a positive sign when it [Iran] moves from gestures and engagements to actions and results," she said. • Read Julian Borger's global security blog here | ['world/iran', 'world/unitednations', 'world/nuclear-weapons', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'world/world', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'profile/julianborger', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/international'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2009-10-01T19:39:27Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2022/nov/15/climate-backsliding-fears-rallying-call-what-happened-day-eight-cop27 | Climate backsliding fears and a rallying call: what happened on day eight at Cop27 | The Cop27 talks have been dominated by fears that countries are backsliding on their commitments to tackle the climate crisis, as the first tentative drafts started to emerge of key potential decisions. The situation is still highly fluid, but pledges on 1.5C, on funding for adaptation, and on the $100bn agreed to be delivered by rich countries by 2020, are being picked over. The British-Egyptian prisoner Alaa Abd el-Fattah has ended his hunger strike, his sister has said. Sanaa Seif, who spoke at Cop27 last week, tweeted that she had received a letter from her brother, which said he would “explain everything” on Thursday when his family visits. Indonesia, the world’s fifth largest greenhouse gas emitter, will be helped with $20bn (about £17bn) of public and private finance to shut coal power plants, the US, Japan and partners announced. Experts called for transparency and respect for human rights to be built into the deal. The Guardian and more than 30 international media titles in more than 20 countries published a joint editorial calling for radical thinking on how to fund climate action. Katharine Viner, editor-in-chief of the Guardian, which led the initiative, said: “With Cop27 taking place in Egypt, we wanted to publish an ambitious editorial that highlights how strongly many different news organisations, and our readers, feel about the climate crisis.” | ['environment/cop27', 'environment/environment', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'type/article', 'tone/explainers', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/cop27 | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2022-11-15T18:32:46Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
world/2011/jul/13/fukushima-skilled-veterans-corps-nuclear-offer | Fukushima pensioner army waits for call-up to frontline duties | So far, about 9,000 workers have been involved in the four-month operation to stabilise the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, where three of six reactors experienced meltdown in the aftermath of the 11 March tsunami. If Yasuteru Yamada gets his way, the Fukushima workforce of the future will include a band of fearless pensioners calling themselves the skilled veterans corps. This month the retired engineer for Sumitomo Metal Industries, one of the world's top steel manufacturers, is expected to visit the plant with four colleagues to carry out preliminary inspections. They propose to help design a replacement for the destroyed reactor cooling system. The 72-year-old graduate of Tokyo University will survey the damage and, pending final approval from the government and Tepco, the plant operator, call on hundreds of registered volunteers, all over 60, with expertise in a range of disciplines. In April, he and two former colleagues reached out to 2,500 potential volunteers by phone and email. Before long their plea had been repeated on Twitter and via blogs, and for days Yamada's phone did not stop ringing. As of last week, 430 people had volunteered, according to the group's website. Their average age is in the late 60s. The oldest is 82. The government and Tepco have welcomed the plan with caution – they have yet to approve the hiring of hundreds of eager pensioners while conditions at the plant remain hazardous. Goshi Hosono, a special adviser to the prime minister, initially likened Yamada's offer to a "suicide mission" and suggested his and his corps's services would not be required. But Hosono has since made more enthusiastic noises. "People who are willing to sacrifice their daily lives to help the nation resolve these problems are invaluable," he told reporters. "First we will have to check on their health status, as people at an advanced age working in that kind of environment could fall ill." Yamada, who helped build power plants as a Sumitomo Metal employee, insists that the skilled veterans corps should be allowed to replace younger plant workers who, over time, are more susceptible to developing cancer. Unlike the young engineers currently exposing themselves to high levels of radiation at Fukushima Daiichi, Yamada, a cancer survivor, reckons he has, at best, about 15 years left to live. "Even if I were exposed to radiation, cancer could take 20 or 30 years or longer to develop," he told the BBC. "That means us older ones have less chance of getting cancer." Having benefited from the limitless supply of power nuclear gave resource-poor Japan in the postwar years, Yamada believes his generation now has a moral duty to it help stabilise the stricken plant. "In particular, those of us who hailed the slogan that 'Nuclear Power is Safe' should be the first to join," the corps says on its website. "This is our duty to the next generation and the one thereafter." Yamada shuns inevitable comparisons with the kamikaze, the specialist pilots who flew suicide missions for imperial Japan during the second world war. His team, Yamada said, would only enter the plant with guarantees of limited exposure to radiation, and with the support of the country's nuclear authorities. "The kamikaze were something strange, no risk management there," he said. "They were going to die. But we are going to come back." | ['world/japan-earthquake-and-tsunami', 'world/japan', 'world/world', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'environment/energy', 'environment/environment', 'society/older-people', 'society/society', 'world/natural-disasters', 'tone/news', 'world/asia-pacific', 'environment/fukushima', 'type/article', 'profile/justinmccurry', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/international'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2011-07-13T18:11:13Z | true | ENERGY |
australia-news/2022/aug/09/csiro-researchers-identify-139-new-species-including-an-ant-that-babysits-caterpillars | CSIRO researchers identify 139 new species, including an ant that ‘babysits’ caterpillars | A blind cave-dwelling weevil, an ant that protects the caterpillars of one of Australia’s rarest butterflies, and the first millipede to actually have more than 1,000 legs were among 139 new species described by scientists at CSIRO in the past year. Other discoveries formally named and described in scientific journals include 131 insects and other invertebrates, four fish, three plants and a frog. One of the invertebrates – a parasitic flatworm now known as Enenterum petrae – was discovered inside a specimen of a fish collected from Lizard Island on the Great Barrier reef, and named in honour of CSIRO scientist Daniel Huston’s new daughter, Petra. Dr David Yeates, an insect expert at CSIRO, said formally describing species in scientific journals was a critical part of protecting biodiversity. A newly named ant – Anonychomyrma inclinata – has a remarkable relationship with one of Australia’s rarest and most striking butterflies, the Bulloak jewel. Like taking children to a buffet, the ants carry the caterpillars in their jaws from their daytime hideaway underneath bark to fresh bull-oak leaves, both protecting them and letting them feed. Yeates said ants would often eat caterpillars, but this new species works more like a babysitter. For the ant’s efforts, Yeates said the caterpillars release a sugary substance “like ant opium” that the ants feed on. “It’s a neat little relationship. [The caterpillar’s gland] appears to have evolved just to feed and appease the ants,” said Yeates. Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning About 100 of the new species the CSIRO scientists helped to describe are Australian. Most of the scientific papers involved collaborations between CSIRO and other organisations and institutions. They include the first millipede to actually have more than 1000 legs, found 60 metres underground in a mining area in Western Australia; a new mountain frog; and four new marine fish. Among the insects was a new genus of beetle, undarobius, that has two species that are the first weevils found in Australia to have evolved to live in caves. The species were discovered in lava caves at Undara Volcanic national park in north-eastern Queensland. Yeates said the weevils did not have eyes – a common evolutionary trait for cave dwelling organisms – but were likely a relic of their ancient rainforest cousins. CSIRO experts say only about a quarter of Australia’s flora and fauna have been formally recorded, but the process was vital in understanding and protecting the country’s vast ecosystems. John Pogonoski, a CSIRO fish scientist, helped name four new species of marine fish including three brightly coloured anthias, rarely seen because they live deeper than divers usually go. Pogonoski said the new silverspot weedfish, heteroclinus argyrospilos, lives as deep as 100 metres below the surface and was described from only two known specimens collected by a CSIRO research vessel between 2000 and 2005. “Working together with our research community to name species is incredibly important – it is the first step in Australia understanding and managing its biodiversity,” Yeates said. “As a country, we are still in the very exciting phase of species discovery.” | ['australia-news/csiro', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/environment', 'environment/insects', 'environment/wildlife', 'science/science', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/graham-readfearn', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/wildlife | BIODIVERSITY | 2022-08-08T17:30:05Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2022/dec/01/scientists-develop-motion-powered-health-monitors-for-cows | Scientists develop smartwatch-like health trackers for cows | Cows on farms could soon have their health, reproductive readiness and location monitored by smart technology powered by the kinetic energy of the animal’s movements. Devices that monitor the health of each cow or keep them within invisible fences are already used on farms but these smart tools are often powered by chemical batteries, which add to energy used by an emissions-intensive industry. Alternatives such as solar-powered monitors – deployed in Britain to create fenceless grazing for cows – may depend on the weather. But researchers from China writing in the journal iScience have designed a wearable smart device for cows that captures the kinetic energy created by their smallest movements. “There is a tremendous amount of kinetic energy that can be harvested in cattle’s daily movements, such as walking, running, and even neck movement,” said Zutao Zhang, an energy researcher at Southwest Jiaotong University and co-author of the paper. His team’s design uses a motion-enhancement mechanism made up of magnets and a pendulum to amplify small movements made by cows. “Our kinetic energy harvester specially harvests the kinetic energy of weak motion,” said Zhang. The technology is housed in a scallop-shaped shell, which is attached to a cow’s ankle or neck. An electromagnetic generator converts kinetic into electrical energy. This is stored in a lithium battery which powers the wireless monitors. Information can then be gathered, including the amount of exercise the animal gets, reproductive cycles, disease, oxygen concentration, air temperature, humidity and milk production, helping ensure good health and improving breeding productivity. Researchers tested the devices on humans and found that a light jog was enough to power temperature measurement in the device. They see future applications in sports monitoring, healthcare and smart home systems. “Kinetic energy is everywhere in the environment – leaves swaying in the wind, the movement of people and animals, the undulation of waves, the rotation of the earth –these phenomena all contain a lot of kinetic energy,” said Zhang. “We shouldn’t let this energy go to waste.” | ['environment/farming', 'technology/technology', 'environment/environment', 'science/science', 'world/world', 'world/china', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/patrickbarkham', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/farming | BIODIVERSITY | 2022-12-01T16:00:50Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2024/apr/14/ways-to-solve-a-crisis-in-our-national-parks | Ways to solve a crisis in our national parks | Letters | It is of deep concern to see the core funding for national parks fall, and it is widely known that the UK has a considerable challenge to tackle nature depletion and the biodiversity crisis (National parks in England and Wales failing on biodiversity, say campaigners, 9 April). There should be an overhaul of how parks are funded to emphasise these issues, and how actions by all interest groups, from landowners to tenant farmers, can be supported towards positive outcomes and maintaining livelihoods. There is excellent work being carried out by some organisations within our national parks. Wild Ennerdale and Wild Haweswater represent excellent coordinated efforts among wider stakeholders to tackle historic biodiversity depletion and work towards sustainable agroecology. Cairngorms Connect is working with many stakeholders towards a holistic ecological restoration in the Cairngorms national park, including large-scale peatland restoration. The North York Moors national park, via its woodland grant schemes, is embarking on woodland establishment on a large scale, bringing potential for many ecosystem benefits, including biodiversity gains. As a researcher in this area, I am proud to work with some of these organisations to learn how to best implement these approaches for biodiversity gain and sustainable rural livelihoods, and we should be using these, and the many other projects as inspiration for much wider work across our national parks and beyond. Dr Robert Mills University of York • Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section. | ['environment/biodiversity', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/environment', 'environment/wildlife', 'environment/forests', 'type/article', 'tone/letters', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/letters', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/wildlife | BIODIVERSITY | 2024-04-14T16:22:14Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2005/jun/16/brazil.weather | Controversy engulfs plan to bring water to Brazil's arid north-east | The Brazilian army is to start work on one of Latin America's most ambitious water transfer schemes, when construction begins next month on a project to supply water to more than six million people. The army will build a network of reservoirs and more than 430 miles of canals to transfer water from the country's third largest river to the semi-desert region in the north-east of the country. The Rio Sao Francisco project is intended to provide irrigation water for millions of impoverished farmers and drinking water for communities in a region which has experienced more than 70 droughts in the past 150 years. The Brazilian ministry of national integration says it will bring water to six million people, irrigate 330,0000 hectares and bring 1,300 miles of dry riverbeds back to life. It is expected to cost $2.3bn (£1.2bn) over five years, providing little more than drought relief. But the plan has been denounced by more than 200 social and environmental groups. Critics argue that it is ecologically and socially misguided, extravagant and aimed at promoting the reelection of the president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, next year. He is from the north-eastern state of Pernambuco. They favour the construction of more reservoirs, cisterns, wells and aqueducts, which they say would be cheaper and more efficient than building the canals. The army will start to build the two short canals needed to take the water from the river to two new dams next month. The water, estimated at about 1% of the Sao Francisco's flow, will then be pumped into 435 miles of canals which are planned to irrigate the states of Ceara, Rio Grande do Norte, Pernambuco and Paraiba. The idea of diverting water from the 1,800 mile-long Sao Francisco to the north-east of the country has been debated in Brazil for almost 200 years, and has been promised or investigated by colonial, civil and military governments since 1858. More than $8bn has been spent on drought relief since 1988. Critics of the project, which is not supported by the World Bank or foreign backers, do not contest the need for drought relief in the region but say this plan will be socially divisive and environmentally dubious. "It is nonviable economically, socially and ecologically," said Roberto Malvezzi, the national coordinator of the Catholic Church's pastoral land commission. According to Mr Malvezzi, the World Bank studied the viability of the plan and proposed a series of smaller projects to store and distribute water to the region's rural poor instead. The area is home to many of Brazil's poorest farmers as well as large numbers of landless people, but it is doubtful whether they will directly benefit. "About 70% of the water will be for economic use - irrigated grapes and other fruits, flowers and shrimp farming for export. Only 4% is for poor people in the scrub", said Mr Malvezzi. Renato Cunha, the director of the Bahia Environmental Group, said: "The problem of the northeast is not the scarcity of water, but the way water is managed and that existing projects have been left unfinished. This plan is not going to solve the problem. It will only exacerbate existing conflicts over who controls land and water." The growing opposition now includes environmentalists, scientists, community and professional associations. | ['environment/environment', 'world/brazil', 'science/science', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'world/world', 'environment/water', 'environment/drought', 'world/americas', 'type/article', 'profile/johnvidal'] | environment/drought | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2005-06-15T23:02:10Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
commentisfree/article/2024/aug/08/the-guardian-view-on-wind-energy-and-the-uk-labour-plays-catch-up | The Guardian view on wind energy and the UK: Labour plays catch-up | Editorial | In its pomp during the 1970s, Ardersier port near Inverness was a behemoth of Scottish industry. During the North Sea oil and gas boom, thousands worked on one of the largest rig construction sites in the world. Disused since 2001, the port is making a triumphant comeback, to be reconfigured as a giant hub for the turbines that will harness wind power off the Scottish coast. If Sir Keir Starmer’s government is to achieve its goal of fully decarbonising electricity by 2030, this huge investment project in the Highlands will need to be matched by similar ambition elsewhere. Wind energy is fundamental to meeting Britain’s net zero commitments, generating growth and reducing energy costs. But under Rishi Sunak, the sector suffered a lost year in 2023, when the government failed to award a single offshore wind contract. In July, the Climate Change Committee estimated that by 2030, the number of annual offshore and onshore wind installations needed to at least triple and double, respectively. A month into this parliament, Labour has already demonstrated that it means business. On her first day in office, the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, announced that the National Planning Policy Framework would be amended to eliminate clauses that amounted to a de facto ban on new onshore windfarms. Meanwhile, the new publicly owned company, Great British Energy, has announced a partnership with the crown estate – which owns the majority of the seabed surrounding Britain’s coastline – that will help accelerate the deployment of fixed and floating turbines. Crucially, the secretary of state for energy security and net zero, Ed Miliband, has boosted to record levels the budget for this year’s summer auction of renewable energy contracts, which in 2023 attracted no offshore wind bidders after the government set the price too low. Taken together, these early moves amount to a step change on wind energy that gives substance to Sir Keir’s stated determination to transform Britain into a “clean energy superpower”. Nevertheless, enormous challenges remain if wind is to play its part in achieving Labour’s target date for clean power. Tripling offshore wind generation within the next six years is likely to entail still more generous financial guarantees to attract developers, who are being heavily courted by the United States and European Union member states. Mr Miliband’s hiked budget was a good start, but much more fiscal firepower will be required. The politics of pylons will also be treacherous. Fully accessing wind power will rely on the government’s ability to support a massive expansion and upgrading of the country’s power networks. By 2030, five times more electricity infrastructure will need to be installed than in the last three decades. As Labour invokes centralised planning powers to fast-track construction and override local objections, it will need to find creative ways to incentivise and win consent from communities. That will require offering an inspiring vision as well as tough talk about hard choices. In a new report, the Royal Academy of Engineering invokes the sense of mission that informed the work of the vaccines taskforce. Fully exploiting the British Isles’ most obvious natural asset is environmentally and economically the right thing to do, and Mr Miliband has made a very good start. But compared with the challenges ahead, so far it’s been a breeze. | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'environment/windpower', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'environment/energy', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'politics/labour', 'politics/politics', 'environment/environment', 'business/energy-industry', 'type/article', 'tone/editorials', 'tone/comment', 'profile/editorial', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/opinion', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/renewableenergy | ENERGY | 2024-08-08T17:40:26Z | true | ENERGY |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.