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environment/2020/feb/04/invisible-killer-uk-government-urged-to-tackle-air-pollution | 'Invisible killer': UK government urged to tackle air pollution | Almost a quarter of people in the UK are being exposed to dangerous levels of air pollution with potentially devastating health consequences, according to analysis. The study by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) found that about 15 million people in the UK live in areas where average levels of PM2.5 – a tiny toxic particle that predominantly comes from vehicle emissions, wood burning and construction – exceeds guidelines set by the World Health Foundation. Jacob West of the BHF said the scale of the problem meant the government, with its environment bill having returned to parliament last week, should make tackling air pollution in towns and cities across the country a priority. “Tackling a public health emergency on this scale requires serious and sustained commitment,” he said. “The uncomfortable truth is that UK heart and circulatory deaths attributed to air pollution could exceed 160,000 over the next decade unless we take radical steps now.” He said previous governments had taken bold steps such as introducing a Clean Air Act or, more recently, banning smoking to improve air quality, and called on Boris Johnson’s administration to do something similar. “This government has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to take brave political action in cleaning up our toxic air,” he said. Exposure to PM2.5 has serious health implications, especially for children, increasing the likelihood of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Health experts say young people exposed to these toxic pollutants are more likely to grow up with reduced lung function and develop asthma. Other scientific studies have highlighted the long-term damage air pollution is doing to people’s health, from being linked to dementia to harming unborn babies and increasing the risk of cancer. While PM2.5 particles come predominantly from traffic fumes, wood-burning stoves and construction, they can also come from other industrial and agricultural sources. West said: “We can’t see them, but every day, we all breathe in tiny toxic particles which damage our heart and circulatory health. They are an invisible killer.” The previous Conservative government’s clean air strategy was published in January 2019 but has been widely criticised by campaigners for not being bold enough. West said: “We must not become complacent and accept that dirty air is a part of normal life. Politicians have a unique opportunity to limit the damaging effects of pollution and improve the quality of our air, and they must seize it.” He said everyone had a role to play in demanding a healthier environment. “We are urging people to write to their MP to demand a change to the law. The more pressure we put on decision makers, the better our chances of cleaning up our air.” | ['environment/air-pollution', 'environment/environment', 'uk/uk', 'environment/pollution', 'society/health', 'society/society', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/matthewtaylor', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/air-pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2020-02-04T06:00:33Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
world/2013/oct/21/climate-change-science-politics-wa-royal-commission | WA Liberals to vote on royal commission into climate change science | There are calls from within the Liberal party for a royal commission into the science of climate change, with the party's Western Australian division set to vote next month amid backing from the federal MP Dennis Jensen. The proposal has been put forward by the WA Liberal party's rural policy committee, an eight-person panel of party members with a specialist interest in rural issues. It will be voted on at the party's state conference in Perth next month, although the policy motion will not be binding if accepted. Ben Morton, state director of the WA Liberal party, told Guardian Australia that the proposal has been listed as a low priority by the party executive, adding that it "won't necessarily pass". The support for an inquiry within WA is replicated at a federal level, with Jensen claiming that a number of Coalition MPs are keen on the idea. Jensen, federal MP for the WA seat of Tangney, said growing support for a royal commission could sway more of his parliamentary colleagues. "Within the party there are a lot of people very sceptical about [the theory of human-made climate change]," he said. "Labor is the same. It's a vexed question. "I'd say there is plenty of support for a royal commission in the grassroots lay-party, but less so in the parliamentary party. But the momentum is certainly swinging and people are starting to question things that wouldn't have been questioned five or six years ago. "It would be fair to say that the minority support a royal commission but if the grassroots party starts pushing for it strongly, it will certainly give MPs something to think about. These things can start small and build up." Jensen said he was keen on a royal commission, a judicial inquiry normally used to uncover deep-seated corruption or abuse, because of concerns about "distortions in climate science". "If you look at the previous IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] report, there were dozens of mistakes, which doesn't concern me per se as humans make mistakes," he said. "But what worries me is that an unbiased organisation would include mistakes where there were understatements and overstatements. The fact they were all overstatements is very concerning. "A royal commission is very good at digging down into the issues and hearing all sides of the argument. The issue has become way too emotive and anyone who has dared challenge scientists is called a denialist. "It will be helpful to have someone outside the scientific community look into this, someone who wasn't caught up in institutionalised groupthink. Science is about the search for truth, but the problem is when funding gets involved it can be distorted." The latest IPCC report, which included research from more than 800 climate scientists from around the world, warned that Australia could face a 6C rise in temperature on its hottest days by 2100. The report stated that humans were "unequivocally" the cause of the majority of the global warming to date – 0.89C since the start of the 20th century – through the burning of carbon-intensive fuels. Scott Ludlam, Greens senator for WA, told Guardian Australia that he initially thought the call for a royal commission was a "prank". "Serious people can't possibly be calling for this," he said. "They seem to be profoundly confused about climate science. "They've compounded this with confusion over what a judicial inquiry is, which is used to investigate widespread corruption and wrongdoing." Ludlam said Jensen's claims of scientific distortion were a "juvenile and unhinged conspiracy theory." "Let's grow up people, seriously," he added. "These views need to be set aside as counterproductive for a serious debate. I'd say that the climate sceptics are weak but extremely vocal and provide people like Dennis Jensen with a platform. "The most significant concern is that views from the far fringes influence the prime minister, who is known as a climate-change denier." | ['australia-news/australian-politics', 'environment/climate-change-scepticism', 'science/scienceofclimatechange', 'tone/news', 'environment/environment', 'australia-news/western-australia', 'australia-news/liberal-party', 'type/article', 'profile/oliver-milman'] | environment/climate-change-scepticism | CLIMATE_DENIAL | 2013-10-21T09:00:00Z | true | CLIMATE_DENIAL |
environment/2015/may/01/expert-says-carmichael-mine-losses-would-negate-adanis-need-to-pay-tax | Expert says Carmichael mine losses would negate Adani's need to pay tax | The Indian mining giant Adani would pay no corporate tax on Australia’s largest proposed coalmine, the Carmichael mine in central Queensland, because it was certain to operate at a loss, the state land court has heard. Energy industry analyst Tim Buckley told the court it was “categorically” his opinion that the Adani mine would not make a profit on the lower quality thermal coal it planned to export to Asia amid a long term decline in worldwide prices. Adani, which has enjoyed bipartisan political support in Queensland for a venture that includes an expanded coal port shipping through Great Barrier Reef waters, is fighting a legal challenge to its plans by the conservation group Coast and Country. Buckley was called as an expert witness on Friday by Coast and Country, which is seeking a land court recommendation that the Queensland government reject the proposed mine. Buckley said his modelling using data in part from Adani to calculate the mine’s revenues, cost and profits found it was “going to lose money at … in fact the operating level, so therefore it actually won’t pay any tax”. The court previously heard that modelling from Adani’s own independent expert witness, economics consultant Jerome Fahrer, showed the Carmichael project would generate corporate tax of $8.96bn over 30 years. Fahrer forecast that tax, combined with coal royalties of $7.85bn before inflation, would put $16.8bn into state and federal coffers. He also said the project would generate 1,464 jobs, including indirect related employment. Adani ran TV advertisements during the Queensland state election claiming the project would generate “10,000 jobs [and] $22bn in royalties and taxes invested back into Queensland communities”. Buckley suggested the mine could become a “stranded asset” as the market for thermal coal had reached a “major tipping point” driven by change in the Chinese electricity market, with prices never again to recover after peaking in 2013. Buckley said Chinese coal imports last year dropped by 9% while consumption dropped 3% as the Chinese government continued the “largest rollouts the world has seen” in hydro, wind and solar power in a move away from polluting coal. The Carmichael coal compared unfavorably in quality with the Australian benchmark Newcastle coal, having less energy content and more ash. If Adani were to put that 40megatonnes of coal a year into the Asian market, prices would be driven lower and consumption of coal in total would increase, Buckley said. Buckley also claimed the mine would struggle to gain funding because a looming restructure of Indian based parent company Adani Enterprises – stripping out ports and power assets into separate new companies – would reduce its profits by 80%. Adani Enterprises’ “ability to borrow will drop commensurately”, with Australian-based subsidiary Adani Mining already more than $1bn in debt against a “negative shareholders fund of $45m”. The hearing continues, with the land court recommendation on the mining project not expected to be handed down for months. The state government is not obliged to follow its advice when deciding to issue a mining lease or environmental approval. Adani’s climate market expert witness, John Stanford, earlier told the court it was widely acknowledged that the Carmichael mine was a “very high risk” project. Adani’s local financial controller, Rajesh Gupta, last week in court agreed the company would look to minimise its tax obligations within the law. But he repeatedly declined to say whether it would take advantage of a common ploy used by mining companies, revealed in a recent senate inquiry, of using “marketing hubs” in lower tax jurisdictions like Singapore to sell coal to and reduce the profits realised and taxes paid in Australia. Gupta, under cross-examination from barrister Saul Holt, acknowledged that Singapore-based Adani Global Private, the “parent entity” of Australia-based Adani Mining, was set up for “coal trading”. But he said he couldn’t comment on whether Adani Mining in Australia, would sell all its coal to its Singapore parent. “We can’t comment on that. We’ll not necessarily … be selling to them. We might sell to the customers directly as well,” Gupta said. “It’s not illegal,” Holt said. “Are you planning to use Adani Global Private Limited in Singapore as a trading hub to reduce – optimise, lawfully and legitimately – the corporate tax you pay in Australia?” Gupta replied: “What I can say is that we have done the calculation of taxes based on the, the profit we’ll be generating in Australia, and we’ll be paying the taxes on that basis.” Holt: “You didn’t answer my question. Are you planning to use Adani Global Private Limited as a trading hub? Let’s break it down?” Gupta: “I’m sorry, I can’t answer that question.” Gupta, who is in charge of tax planning for Adani Mining, also said he did not know the concessional tax rate in Singapore was 12% compared to 30% in Australia. He also said he had “no idea” what the purpose was of Adani Global Private’s related company, Adani Global Limited, in Mauritius, where the tax rate is 3%. | ['environment/mining', 'australia-news/queensland', 'business/business', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/joshua-robertson'] | environment/mining | ENERGY | 2015-05-01T07:05:00Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2022/nov/24/country-diary-bonsai-birches-grow-in-the-trees-crown | Country diary: Bonsai birches grow in the tree’s crown | The thin swift of a new moon rises through cirrus. Sunlight on the last leaf flashes oak-gold, bracken-rust. Many birches are fiery yellow, but some of the older trees are already stark against the sky. In the black-veined architecture of silver birches, Betula pendula, there are curious structures. They look like pubic tufts or birds’ nests, or what happens if birds and their nests become one thing. There is witchcraft in this, like the combs of care that cause knots in hair, that speaks of familiar lingering shadows of story. These clusters of twigs are witches’ brooms – however, this spell was not cast by human agency but by a yeast-like fungus, Taphrina betulina. Perhaps carried by an aphid, mite or other leaf-biter, the fungus enters a birch leaf bud in spring. It carries growth regulators, which penetrate the bud’s cells, disrupt them and cause a gall – a tumour. The bud goes haywire and, instead of a single leaf, multiple shoots sprout with their own buds but in miniature, like tiny bonsai birches. I’m sure I’ve heard of witches’ broom shoots being propagated to create dwarf or weeping birch clones. The Taphrina fungus is an ascomycete, like the ones associated with lichens. The asci – spore-bearing structures – grow on the birch shoots and in their sexual stage produce microscopic pods with beads that divide, then combine, into hapoid and diploid cells to reproduce. As the fungus ages, the tumour turns woody and growth proliferation stops; the witches’ brooms become micro-copses within the tree’s crown. These little bushes of birch pubes are sanctuaries supporting a community of small birds, squirrels, moths, beetles, spiders, other invertebrates and microbial life. In the early dusk recently, a tall, open-grown lime tree, Tillea x europea, began singing. A great thatch like a massive nest in its centre, visible now that the leaves have fallen, was full of the sounds of occult birds – unseen starlings and blackbirds (unless the starlings were mimicking them). Birds and twigs become one thing. This tree, broadcasting to the world, is a reminder of how trees are also places, above, below and within, full of living and imaginary creatures, invisible voices, fungal witches. • Country Diary is on Twitter at @gdncountrydiary | ['environment/series/country-diary', 'environment/forests', 'environment/birds', 'science/fungi', 'environment/environment', 'uk/ruralaffairs', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/paulevans', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/letters', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2022-11-24T05:30:18Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2004/dec/28/indianoceantsunamidecember2004.naturaldisasters4 | Anger and mourning - press reaction | The scale of the disaster in southern Asia left the local press overwhelmed. The Jakarta Post website simply read "Expired" for much of the day, and many other papers struggled to get reporters to the worst-affected areas. The Times of India reported that some areas were cut off for hours by floodwater. As the number of confirmed dead rose during the day, the paper bemoaned the lack of any formal system to warn of approaching tidal waves. Even the Bangkok Post found it hard to reach Thai resorts hit by the tsunami. For much of the day, it reported that inland ponds in the Phimai region of Indonesia had been rippled by the quake - traditionally a sign of good luck. The Thai press mourned the loss of the king's 21-year-old grandson, who was jet-skiing off Thailand's south coast. The devastation left the western press gripped by an awful powerlessness. The New York Times trembled at the "amoral mechanics of the earth's surface ... they demonstrate, geologically speaking, how ephemeral our presence is." Some Britons were able to post messages on weblogs to reassure their relatives they were safe, and an Israeli diver texted the news of her ordeal off Phuket to Haaretz. One Indian blogger living near Chennai marina found the usually busy beach deserted yesterday morning: "Some say, in India, such calamities are a means of population control. Nature tries to get into equilibrium in such ways. But it is only the poor people who suffer," wrote Lonely Aztec. The Hindustan Times found homeless Chennai fishermen and their families "silent and huddled besides their belongings along roadsides". | ['environment/environment', 'world/tsunami2004', 'world/natural-disasters', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'profile/rostaylor'] | world/tsunami2004 | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2004-12-28T15:54:04Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/ethicallivingblog/2007/oct/31/howwerebelivingin2022 | How will we be living in 2022? | In 2022, will we be taking air ships to New York? Trying to live a low-carbon lifestyle currently seems to be all about giving up things; traditional light bulbs, the car, flights to far-flung places, even having a bath. But in 15 years' time, exciting new products could have been developed that actually make eco-living fun. Take Kinetica, a gadget that uses your own personal energy to charge your mobile or laptop, or Autoconvoy, a conveyor belt for cars, the ultimate in eco-driving. If this sounds like an episode out of Futurama, think again. According to a report today from sustainable charity, Forum for the Future, called Low Carbon Living 2022, these, and many other ideas, could become reality very soon if we are serious about going low carb. But it's not just all about new technology. For Atlantic travel, the report ditches the plane in favour of an older from of transport: airships. Using airstream, these vehicles, fitted with offices, gyms and restaurants could get passengers from London to New York in 20 hours. To make low carb online shopping the norm, Shop&Drop is a simple idea that gives everyone a password-protected refrigerated lockup so you don't have to be in when the shopping's delivered. But to cut down on consumption all together, Locality is an online borrowing scheme that allows people to lend out those items people hardly even use, such as power drills, or what about Ugrow, an easy grow your own food scheme that reduces the food miles of getting your dinner from farm to fork. Other ideas are already with us, albeit on a small scale, such a modular housing, which the report calls Reef Living, because like coral that grows new nodules when the need arises, it can add modules when your family expands. Do these products and services sound feasible? Would you use them, or do you have better ideas? What eco-friendly idea do you hope will be mainstream by 2022? If you think this all a bit far fetched, just remember that 15 years ago hardly anyone had mobiles, the internet was just a communication device for universities, and Google and eBay weren't even a twinkle in anyone's eye. | ['environment/ethical-living', 'environment/environment', 'lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle', 'tone/blog', 'environment/carbonfootprints', 'environment/carbon-emissions', 'environment/green-living-blog', 'type/article', 'profile/alisonbenjamin'] | environment/carbonfootprints | EMISSIONS | 2007-10-31T11:29:43Z | true | EMISSIONS |
environment/2016/jul/13/wwf-buys-shark-fishing-licence-on-great-barrier-reef-to-scrap-it | WWF buys shark fishing licence on Great Barrier Reef to scrap it | A conservation group has taken the unusual step of buying a commercial shark fishing licence on the Great Barrier Reef, and will retire it, saving the sharks that it would otherwise be used to catch. WWF said it was now seeking funds to cover the cost of the $100,000 licence, which gives the owner the right to drag a 1.2km net anywhere along the length of the Great Barrier Reef, targeting sharks. It can also be used for fishing with lines to target other species. WWF said the licence was used to target sharks for 10 years until 2004, when it caught about 10,000 sharks each year. The move comes as Queensland government figures show shark catches on the Great Barrier Reef almost doubled between 2014 and 2015: from 222 tonnes to 402 tonnes – about 100,000 sharks that year. WWF-Australia’s conservation director, Gilly Llewellyn, said protecting apex predators such as sharks was particularly important after the unprecedented bleaching event that devastated the Great Barrier Reef this year. A 2013 study showed that removing sharks from coral reefs disrupted the ecosystem, making it harder for reefs to recover. “After bleaching, algae spreads,” Llewellyn said. “Researchers found that where sharks were removed by overfishing, smaller predators like snapper became more abundant. These snapper kill the algae-eating fish and the algae then overwhelms young coral.” Australia has been reluctant to protect endangered sharks from fishing. In November 2014 the Australian government agreed to grant 31 species of sharks protection under a UN-administered convention. But two months later, the government opted out of the agreement with respect to five of the species, including two species of hammerhead sharks. “These enormous nets kill tens of thousands of juvenile sharks each year, including hammerheads which are listed internationally as endangered,” Llewellyn said. “Hammerhead numbers have crashed in Queensland, possibly by 80%.” Besides catching the target species, these long nets catch almost anything they pass over, Llewellyn said. That includes dugongs, dolphins and turtles. How often that happens is not known, since while fishers are required to report the by-catch, there is evidence they could be attempting to hide the catches. This month a dead dugong was found near Townsville, with signs it had been caught in a net. And in 2010 and 2011, a dugong and a pair of dolphins were found, in a similar area, which looked as though they had been tied up by the tail and weighed down, with fishers attempting to hide the carcasses. | ['environment/wwf', 'environment/sharks', 'environment/great-barrier-reef', 'environment/marine-life', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'australia-news/queensland', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/michael-slezak', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/great-barrier-reef | BIODIVERSITY | 2016-07-13T08:05:54Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
business/2023/dec/21/advertising-watchdog-censures-brewdog-over-beer-climate-claims | Advertising watchdog censures BrewDog over beer climate claims | BrewDog has been censured by the advertising watchdog for misleading claims about the climate credentials of its beers. The brewery, best known for its Punk IPA beer, claimed its beers were carbon negative in an advertisement. In the ad launched in July, the company urged consumers to drink its beer to protect their descendants from the climate crisis. It described the beverage as “Beer for your grandchildren” and claimed BrewDog was “the world’s first carbon negative brewery”. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld two complaints that the post failed to explain its claims that the beer was in fact carbon negative, meaning the process of making the drink sequestered more carbon than it emitted. In its ruling, it said: “The ASA considered that consumers would understand from the ad that BrewDog was a carbon negative brewery, meaning that, as a business, they had a net effect of removing more carbon from the atmosphere than they emitted. We considered, within that context, the text ‘Beer for your grandchildren’ reinforced the carbon negative claim. “However, we considered that there was no information provided in the ad which explained the basis of BrewDog’s ‘carbon negative’ accreditation or the claim ‘Beer for your grandchildren’. Although we acknowledged that the ad referred consumers to a link for the BrewDog website which contained further information about their carbon reduction and offsetting project, we considered that the ad itself did not include information which explained the basis of the claim. Without that information, we considered that consumers would not have sufficient information to understand the basis of the environmental claims in the ad.” BrewDog’s chief executive, James Watt, criticised the ASA decision in a LinkedIn post. “You can all sleep more soundly now, knowing that the ASA is protecting you from insufficiently extensive carbon accounting data in your Insta feed,” he said. He also claimed that “spurious” complaints were likely to be made to regulators by competitors because dealing with them “sucks up a lot of time”. The beer company has fallen foul of the ASA a number of times in the past, including for a claim that its beverages count towards a target of five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, and that they are healthy. Advertising rules do not permit companies to make positive health claims about alcohol. The ASA also ruled against the brewer over a promotion that claimed “solid gold” cans worth £15,000 had been hidden in cases of beer. In fact, the cans were made largely of brass and coated with gold plating three-thousandths of a millimetre thick. BrewDog declined to make any further comment. | ['business/brewdog', 'environment/carbon-emissions', 'business/regulators', 'uk/uk', 'media/advertising', 'business/fooddrinks', 'uk/scotland', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/helena-horton', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/carbon-emissions | EMISSIONS | 2023-12-21T13:20:41Z | true | EMISSIONS |
environment/2018/aug/24/carry-the-cost-plastic-ban-levy-to-rise-to-10p-with-no-shop-spared | Carry the cost: plastic bag levy 'to rise to 10p – with no shop spared' | Ministers have been considering rolling out the plastic bag levy to all shops and doubling it to 10p. The prime minister was reportedly planning to announce the proposals next week as part of a series of measures designed to encourage the reuse of carrier bags and reduce the UK’s reliance on plastics, which are harmful to the environment. Reports in various Saturday newspapers suggested Theresa May was planning to open a consultation on the proposals to increase the charge and roll it out to all retailers, ending the exemption for those employing fewer than 250 people. Downing Street declined to confirm the reports, which appeared in the Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mail and the Sun on Friday night, calling them “speculation”. But May has previously spoken publicly about her desire to extend the existing scheme, which was introduced in 2015, in a bid to end what she termed Britain’s “throwaway culture”. In a speech on the environment given in January, May pledged to consult on the plan. She briefed cabinet ministers, telling them the government had a clear belief in “conserving what is good, and standing against the profligate use of resources – whether it be public money or natural resources”, her official spokesman said at the time. The plan was part of her attempts to realise the ambition of being the “first generation to leave the natural environment in a better state than we inherited”, the spokesman said. Ministers also previously announced an intention to ban the sale of plastic straws, stirrers and cotton buds and plans for a deposit return scheme to increase recycling rates of drinks bottles and cans. The number of disposable carrier bags issued by the seven biggest supermarket chains has declined by 86% since the charge was introduced, official figures have shown. Donations from the bag levy to good causes totalled more than £58.5m last year, based on figures from the two-thirds of retailers that voluntarily reported the information. A consultation on using the tax system to reduce waste is already considering measures such as introducing a “latte levy” on disposable coffee cups. | ['environment/plastic-bags', 'environment/waste', 'environment/environment', 'environment/recycling', 'environment/ethical-living', 'uk/uk', 'politics/theresamay', 'politics/politics', 'business/supermarkets', 'business/business', 'business/retail', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/kevin-rawlinson', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/waste | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2018-08-24T22:55:51Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
environment/2012/mar/14/energysolutions-fukushima-clean-up-contract | EnergySolutions awarded Fukushima clean-up contract | One of the first contracts for the clean-up of the Fukushima nuclear power plant has been awarded to EnergySolutions, a US-UK firm that is decommissioning 22 nuclear power stations in the UK. EnergySolutions will be charged with decontaminating the seawater that was used to cool the reactor as it went into meltdown, in the world's worst nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl accident in 1986. About 125,000 cubic metres of seawater – enough to fill 60 Olympic swimming pools – was used in an attempt to cool the reactor during the accident, and is now in storage. The clean-up contract is thought to be worth between £20m and £30m. The contaminated water contains as many as 60 different types of radioactive nuclides, which must be removed before the water can be returned to the sea. When processed, the level of nuclides in the water will be undetectable. EnergySolutions is in charge of decommissioning the UK's Magnox reactors, an early generation form of nuclear power that is now obsolete. The Fukushima nuclear incident, which occurred just over a year ago, followed the flooding of the plant after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan and killed nearly 20,000 people, did not result in any direct fatalities. However, the meltdown prompted several governments – including Japan, Germany, Switzerland and Italy – to reconsider their commitment to nuclear power. | ['environment/series/fukushima-fallout', 'environment/fukushima', 'world/world', 'world/japan', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'world/japan-earthquake-and-tsunami', 'environment/environment', 'tone/news', 'business/business', 'environment/energy', 'type/article', 'profile/fiona-harvey'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2012-03-14T11:13:01Z | true | ENERGY |
commentisfree/2007/oct/27/bringbacktheragandbonema | Bring back the rag and bone man | As the rainy season recedes in Bangkok, the visitors from the old country arrive. This year, they all seem to be asking the same question: "Do they recycle here?" Well, yes and no. Thailand is as aware as any country of the debates over carbon emissions and global warming, but environmentalism has yet to dominate bien-pensant dinner-party conversation in the way it seems to have done in London. "I'm not a plastic bag" bags can be seen on fashionable shoulders, but they're almost certainly cut-price ripoffs of the Anya Hindmarch original, picked up for a couple of hundred baht at a stall in Suan Lum or Chatuchak. And it's this creative opportunism that really fuels recycling in Bangkok. People recycle because they have no option. They push carts with teetering piles of cardboard, or carry sacks of plastic bottles. What they can't sell in the raw state, they use for themselves: discarded clothes are reincarnated as curtains; Coke cans are flattened and stapled together to make impromptu sunhats, or toy tuk-tuks. Even unpromising material like polystyrene food trays can be shredded and used to stuff cushions. Bangkok is a grimy, polluted city, but visitors are often surprised by the lack of litter. Anything that's dumped is snapped up within hours, to be reused, sold or cannibalised: the historic khlongs contain no submerged sofas, fridges or bicycles. The key point to note here is discarded material is recycled without government assistance. Much of the resistance to recycling in the west seems to be based on a distrust of the so-called nanny state, and the British government seems to woken up to the fact that initiatives such as charging for domestic waste, or even spy cameras in bins, would be a step too far. So could Britain, or any developed, western nation, learn something from the laissez-faire Thai model? Clearly there are major social and economic differences between the two countries. The cardboard collectors of Bangkok are slum dwellers whose standard of living is way below that of the poorest Brit. But the core structure is the same in both countries: a rapidly growing bourgeoisie, hopelessly addicted to excessive consumption; and an underclass living on the scraps from the middle-class table. Surely disadvantaged Britons can be presented with incentives to reuse or recycle the detritus of consumer capitalism? We're constantly told that lack of skills is the main barrier to prosperity among poor people: the dexterity and initiative demonstrated by the poor of Bangkok, fashioning clothes, utensils, even homes from domestic garbage exemplify the sort of attributes that can make all the difference. The odd thing is, though, that this spontaneous passion for recycling isn't some foreign innovation. I'm not yet 40, and I remember rag and bone men, and getting a penny back for lemonade bottles. If Gordon Brown or David Cameron really want to sell the notion of recycling to a sceptical middle class, they should appeal to a great British archetype, and encourage the return of old man Steptoe. | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'tone/comment', 'world/thailand', 'environment/recycling', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'world/asia-pacific', 'type/article', 'profile/timfootman'] | environment/recycling | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2007-10-27T14:00:00Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
commentisfree/2015/aug/02/observer-view-global-mining-industry-regulation | The Observer view on global mining regulation | The appalling suffering of villagers living close to the mining town of Chingola, in Zambia’s copperbelt region, whose water supplies have been dangerously polluted by leaks of sulphuric acid and other toxic chemicals, is both avoidable and unacceptable. As we report today, the Chingola pollution and associated environmental damage has led to serious health problems for those affected, such as potential organ failure, cancers and permanent disabilities, as well as failed crops, loss of earnings and livelihoods. This continuing toll on life and well-being is wholly avoidable, in part because the problems associated with Vedanta Resources’ giant mine at Chingola have been common knowledge for some years. A scientist whistleblower familiar with company activities claimed operating and maintenance standards were consistently poor from 2005, when the Vedanta-owned subsidiary, KCM, bought the plant. “There have been heavy spillages and massive leakages. Acid has been leaking all over the place… No effort has been made to correct this scenario,” the whistleblower said. Avoidable, too, because public attention has been drawn to the Chingola situation in the past. In April, Zambia’s supreme court upheld a 2011 high court judgment that found Vedanta (KCM) guilty of water pollution in 2006. But compensation payments to 2,000 claimants who said they suffered liver and kidney damage and other illnesses remain uncertain. Separate proceedings against London stock exchange-listed Vedanta began in the high court in London last week. A demonstration is planned outside the company’s AGM in London tomorrow, part of a “global day of action” by activists protesting at the activities of Vedanta and its subsidiaries in Africa and Goa, India. The Chingola case is unacceptable, in part because it seems so familiar. To a limited degree, some mining companies and the extractive industries’ national bodies have moved to clean up their act in recent years. Public awareness of issues arising directly and indirectly from mining in its various forms is greater than it once was, as the passionate debate in Britain about fracking has shown. But that said, the continuing problems linked to mining – human health and rights, climate change, deforestation, environmental pollution, water resources, and adverse impacts on biodiversity – are among the most fundamental challenges of our age. Not nearly enough is being done by mining companies or government regulators to mitigate them. The days when British coal miners died in large numbers in underground pit disasters and from mining-related disease have thankfully passed. Only about 34,000 people are now directly employed in mining, broadly defined, in the UK. But like other countries, Britain is not immune, for example, to the un-lovely effects of open-cast mining and quarrying. In Appalachia, in the eastern US, for example, strip mining involving the removal of whole mountain-tops continues to exact a huge environmental and human toll, particularly in respect of clouds of dust particles linked to cancer. In Soma, in western Turkey, the trial of allegedly negligent mining company officials continues after an underground fire that killed more than 300 miners last year. In the high sierras of Latin America and the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, miners and seabed oil-drillers continue to pay the ultimate price for the global scramble for cheap energy resources. In remote stretches of Inner Mongolia, residues from China’s booming rare earth industry have created a vast inland lake full of toxic sludge. And in terms of regulation, Chingola is again a case in point. Aware it had a pollution problem, Vedanta employed a leading Canadian engineering firm in 2010 to advise on remedies. But the Canadians’ subsequent, critical findings do not appear to have been acted on. Governmental inaction also greeted the findings of the House of Commons’ business, innovation and skills select committee, whose report last October on the activities of the extractive industries in the UK and around the world supported calls by NGOs for closer scrutiny of London-listed companies, but tiptoed around some of the nitty-gritty issues. The UK, it said, was “at risk of being associated with some of the negative practices often reported alongside the [mining] sector. To counter this, more needs to be done to improve social and environmental performance, transparency and reputations of the companies it hosts.” Pressure groups testifying before the committee were more incisive. The Publish What You Pay NGO highlighted “profit shifting, transfer mispricing, secret deals and the use of secretive shell companies and tax havens” by international mining companies operating out of London. It advocated an open, public ownership registry, in part to curb tax avoidance. Christian Aid said the current lack of transparency contributed to corruption. World Wide Fund for Nature UK suggested these factors encouraged a belief that the reputation of the extractive industries “is at an all-time low”. Unperturbed, the committee accepted government assurances that London-listed mining companies were not dodging tax. The UK exchequer was grateful for what it received: £6.1bn in 2012-13. Britain had joined the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, the committee noted approvingly. This and various new EU directives would help the UK “become a beacon of best practice”. This conclusion, and the government’s response, smack of complacency. Like the financial and banking sector before the 2008 crash, too many mining companies around the world, such as Vedanta, still put profit and greed before people and the planet. This cannot go on. As a study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found, “international regulation is necessary to prevent mining facilities from damaging the environment, to ensure the safety of miners, and to effectively deal with conflicts that arise over the international trade of strategic minerals”. Since offenders continue to offend, a comprehensive, muscular and mandatory global regulatory regime is required. MULTINATIONALS | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'tone/editorials', 'environment/mining', 'environment/environment', 'business/mining', 'business/business', 'world/africa', 'world/world', 'world/zambia', 'type/article', 'publication/theobserver', 'theobserver/news', 'theobserver/news/comment'] | environment/mining | ENERGY | 2015-08-01T23:05:05Z | true | ENERGY |
world/2017/nov/14/weatherwatch-volcanoes-and-their-effect-on-winds-and-global-weather | Weatherwatch: volcanoes and their effect on winds and global weather | Our weather is strongly influenced by what’s happening in the upper atmosphere. For example, high-level equatorial winds, known as the “equatorial jet”, swing between easterlies and westerlies roughly every two years. When they are in their westerly phase, we tend to see stormier and wetter winter weather in northern Europe. Understanding this pattern helps meteorologists to produce long-term forecasts. But, in 2016, the forecasts went to pot, when the equatorial jet did something unheard of, and flipped from west to east and back to west again, all within the space of six months. Possibly the strong El Niño was to blame but, given that measurements only go back to 1953 and there are no other examples of such a fast switch in the equatorial jet, it is hard to be sure. Kevin Hamilton, a retired professor from the University of Hawaii, is using the unusual sunsets and lingering twilights associated with large volcanic eruptions to push the record of the equatorial jet back hundreds of years. For example, the coloured skies caused by the ash thrown up by Indonesian volcano Krakatoa in 1883 were first observed close to the volcano, but moved steadily westwards, taking about 16 days for the phenomenon to travel completely around the equator. By contrast, the glowing sunsets after the devastating eruption of the Caribbean volcano Mont Pelée in 1902 took about twice as long to complete a westward equatorial journey, suggesting that the equatorial jet was in a weaker westerly phase at that time. So far, Hamilton has identified 22 suitable volcanic eruptions, that could reveal equatorial jet behaviour right back to 1812. | ['world/volcanoes', 'news/series/weatherwatch', 'science/meteorology', 'world/world', 'environment/elnino', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/kate-ravilious', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-weather'] | news/series/weatherwatch | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2017-11-14T21:30:41Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
world/2023/may/22/new-zealand-announces-its-biggest-emissions-reduction-project-in-history | New Zealand announces its biggest emissions reduction project in history | New Zealand has announced its largest emissions reduction project in history, transitioning from coal to renewable electricity at the country’s major steel plant in a move that the government says is equivalent to taking 300,000 cars off the road. The government will spend $140m on halving the coal used at Glenbrook steel plant to recycle scrap steel, replacing that generating power with an electric-powered furnace. The plant will contribute $160m to the project’s cost. Currently, the steel company accounts for 2% of New Zealand’s total emissions, through intensive burning of coal to melt down iron-rich sands into steel products. The new project will install a $300m electric-powered arc furnace to melt down scrap steel instead. That electricity will be provided by renewable energy through New Zealand’s national grid, which is primarily powered by wind, hydro and geothermal energy. Prime minister Chris Hipkins said the project “dwarfs anything we have done to date”. “This size of this project demonstrates how serious the government is about reducing New Zealand’s emissions as fast as possible,” he said. “Alone, it will eliminate 1% of the country’s total annual emissions.” The government says the plan will reduce New Zealand’s emissions by 800,000 tonnes annually. That is equivalent to removing the entire automobile fleet of Christchurch, one of New Zealand’s largest cities, from the road. “To understand the scale of this project, it reduces more emissions on its own than all the other 66 [government-funded emissions-reduction] projects we have approved to date,” Megan Woods, minister of energy and resources said. The electric-powered furnace is due to be running by 2026-7. Climate change expert prof James Renwick, of Victoria University, told the Guardian the project was “very significant” and “big news” for the country’s emissions goals. “It will be the biggest single reduction in national emissions when it comes into play,” he said. Still, Renwick added, there was “more work to do”. “1% is of national emissions is great, but we need to reduce 100%,” he said. “We need to do a lot more work.” The plan “will put New Zealand in a much better position to meet its climate target of net zero carbon by 2050,” climate minister James Shaw said. The plan marks a significant step in New Zealand actually reducing its greenhouse gas emissions – as opposed to buying offsets of tree-planting to reach net zero. In April, the Climate Commission warned that the country’s heavy reliance on planting trees to offset carbon pollution threatened to torpedo its ambitious plans to reach net zero emissions by 2050. Achieving a net reduction in emissions primarily through planting trees is impossible to sustain in the long term, experts have warned, as forests could be destroyed though fire or extreme weather and do not store carbon for ever. While New Zealand’s total contribution to global emissions is small, its gross emissions per capita are high. According to 2018 data, New Zealanders produce greenhouse gases equivalent to the heating power of 16.9 tonnes of carbon dioxide — more than double the per capita rate of the UK. The country has also been among the world’s worst performers on emission increases. “We can’t plant our way out of the problem of climate change,” Renwick said. “We need be focusing on gross emissions reduction rather than net.” Shaw said the deal was estimated to contribute 5.3% of the emissions reductions needed under New Zealand’s second emissions budget, which covers the period of 2026-2030, and 3.4% within the third emissions budget, of 2031-2035. | ['world/newzealand', 'environment/coal', 'world/asia-pacific', 'world/world', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/tess-mcclure', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/new-zealand'] | environment/coal | ENERGY | 2023-05-22T01:07:15Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2014/dec/02/communities-risk-flooding-wont-buy-spin-david-cameron | Communities at risk of flooding won’t buy this spin from David Cameron | Maria Eagle | Climate change is a serious threat to national security and last year’s winter storms highlighted the cost, damages and disruption that extreme weather can cause. Yet within the first six months of the coalition, David Cameron cut the flood protection budget by over £100m, leaving many communities, including the South West, overly exposed. Ever since then the government has been playing catch up and that’s what today’s promise of £2.3billion for flood defence schemes is all about. Communities at risk of flooding won’t buy this spin from David Cameron. The £2.3bn is not new money, instead it is another re-announcement of capital funding confirmed a year ago. As a result the Committee on Climate Change claims that the government’s plans will leave 80,000 additional properties at significant risk of flooding in the next five years alone. There were even reports over the weekend that these plans contain a £500m black hole. There are some heroic assumptions underlying these plans. The government has assumed it can raise £600m of the £2.3bn from its ‘partnership funding programme’, four times more than at present. The programme includes contributions from both the public and private sectors. Yet this has been a disaster. Not only has the government failed to raise even the original target of £140m in this Parliament, it is having to rely on councils to meet three-quarters of the costs as the private sector sit on their hands. It is difficult to see how cash-strapped local authorities will be able to raise anything like £600m for flood defences in the next six years. The reality is that flood risk management has gone backwards under this Tory-led government. Despite repeatedly telling us that they’re spending ‘more than ever’ and promising that “money is no object” they have been found out time and time again. Just last month the National Audit Office confirmed that David Cameron has cut flood defence spending by 10% in real terms since 2010. This same short-term approach has been applied to the ongoing maintenance of flood defences which were cut by 20% in 2010. As a result the Committee on Climate Change has said that three-quarters of existing flood defences are not being maintained to their identified need. This will end up costing the taxpayer more in the long-term because maintaining existing flood defence systems can be among the most cost-effective use of resources. Communities at risk of flooding deserve a proper long-term plan for infrastructure investment, including flooding. That is why Labour has called for an Independent National Infrastructure Commission to set out its flood defence spending in the context of a 25-30 year infrastructure plan. Taking climate change seriously is not something only to be done a few months before an election. Voters won’t be fooled by the prime minister who pledged to lead the “greenest government ever” and then instructed his aides to “cut the green crap”. • Maria Eagle MP is Labour’s shadow environment secretary | ['environment/flooding', 'environment/environment', 'uk/uk', 'politics/labour', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'type/article', 'tone/comment'] | environment/flooding | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2014-12-02T16:11:00Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
australia-news/2020/jan/17/wollemi-pines-time-travellers-from-a-different-australia | Wollemi pines' survival shows what humans can do when determined | Imagine if more than a quarter of a century ago, the bushwalker David Noble had not stumbled across the stand of Wollemi pines and they had remained undiscovered. The trees survive in three stands in just one remote canyon in a massive wilderness to Sydney’s north-west. Until they were found, they were a species clinging to the edge of the precipice of extinction – just one disaster away from vanishing. A quarter of a century for a species with a lineage going back to the age of dinosaurs is not even a fraction of a millionth of a blip. And given the monumental effort that has gone into saving this desperately endangered wild population it is highly likely that had they not been found in 1994, then the past few months would have seen them wiped out without anyone ever knowing they still existed. The miracle of their discovery has become the miracle that has saved them – for now. I remember the day in a Sydney newsroom almost 20 years ago when an editor at the paper where I worked at the time heard that I was writing a book about the Wollemi pines. Even though the trees’ discovery in 1994 made news on front pages around the world, my boss walked over to my desk, looked me in the eye and said: “No one is going to read a fucking book about a tree.” Implicit in what he said was that no one cared about Wollemi pines enough to read a book about them. How wrong he was, was demonstrated this week as dramatic news emerged that the trees had been saved from the firestorm of the vast Gospers Mountain fire and people rejoiced. To see the photos of the ribbon of green of the Wollemi pines, surrounded by the charred towering clifftops and ridgelines, was a rare moment of joy and relief for a community that has watched so much destroyed during the past few months. When I visited the canyon in 1997 I was taken in by helicopter wearing a blindfold and then abseiled into a deep and dark prehistoric environment that was absolutely soaked and waterlogged. At the time it seemed impossible that such a place would ever burn. Now it seems impossible that it didn’t. The Wollemi pine has been a story that has captured people’s imaginations. It is a tale of high adventure and academic excellence. First, there was a dramatic canyoning exploration trip that led to its discovery, then scientific detective work to determine exactly what that 40-metre-tall tree found by Noble actually was, followed by the quest to understand how it survived unnoticed, so close to Sydney. Perhaps the significance of the discovery was best captured by a quote given to me by the then director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Carrick Chambers, on the day the discovery was announced: “This is the equivalent of finding a small dinosaur alive on Earth.” What Chambers was alluding to and that most people don’t realise is that Wollemi pines are time travellers from a different Australia, from a warmer and wetter planet. Their history stretches back more than 100m years and they have survived natural climate change that has seen temperatures swing dramatically and sea levels rise and fall by hundreds of metres, multiple times. The trees tell the story of almost unimaginably deep time. Once, instead of gum trees, Gondwana – of which Australia was a small part – was covered in immense forests of Wollemi pines and their close relatives. These ancient trees deposited so much pollen that it is still found as fossils around the southern hemisphere, retrieved by geologists who find evidence of the trees in cores, from places like Bass Strait, that are kilometres thick. Then, 10m years ago, the trees begin to vanish from the fossil pollen record and two million years ago they disappeared altogether, indicating that the climate had shifted in a way that made their widespread survival untenable. Since then, as the planet shifted towards icier, colder, drier conditions, any surviving populations of the trees would have slowly shrunk, become separated and forced to retreat into the last refuges of wet deep rainforest canyons. After people arrived in Australia and widespread burning was practised, their fate was sealed to imprisonment in a single deep gorge. It is hard, after this week, to consider the remaining original Wollemi pines as wild. Only intensive water-bombing, the installation of emergency irrigation and the intervention of determined firefighting has allowed them to survive until the next threat. The trees are now dependent on us for their survival. And it’s not just our efforts to protect the canyon where they survive, it is also about the research that has seen millions of trees cultivated and sold commercially around the world. It is about the creation of back-up populations in other similar canyons in the greater Blue Mountains. It is also about the ongoing effort to keep the location of the trees secret and protected from fungal pathogens. The fact that out of this catastrophe, Wollemi pines have become a symbol of survival and all that is good about what we can do when we are determined to protect something, shows that all is not lost as human-made climate change tightens its grip. James Woodford is the author of The Wollemi Pine: The Incredible Discovery of a Living Fossil from the Age of the Dinosaurs, Text Publishing | ['australia-news/bushfires', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/forests', 'environment/environment', 'world/natural-disasters', 'australia-news/sydney', 'australia-news/new-south-wales', 'environment/endangered-habitats', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/conservation', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/james-woodford-australia', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2020-01-16T16:30:37Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
australia-news/2022/dec/23/environmental-watchdog-charges-redcycle-operators-over-secret-soft-plastics-stockpiles | Environmental watchdog charges REDcycle operators over secret soft plastics stockpiles | The operators behind REDcycle may face a possible fine of more than $165,000 after being charged by the environmental protection watchdog investigating the botched soft plastic recycling program. On Friday, the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) Victoria said RG Programs and Services had failed to provide information about the locations of warehouses secretly stockpiling hundreds of millions of bags. The operators have been charged with three counts of failing to comply with an information gathering notice. The maximum penalty for the fine is more than $165,000. About 3,000 tonnes of soft plastics meant to be recycled were found earlier in December across six sites as part of the investigation into the suspended program, posing potential fire risks. It equated to around half a billion plastic bags. A notice issued to the scheme’s operators led investigators to the six warehouses, managed by logistics companies in Melbourne’s western and northern suburbs. The EPA said the notice issued to RG Programs and Services required information to be disclosed by the program’s operators on the locations and amounts of stored soft plastics. It was issued following the discovery in May that soft plastics had been stored in a Williamstown North warehouse instead of being recycled. Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads “It is alleged RG Programs and Services Pty Ltd only provided partial information of known storage sites in response to the Information Gathering Notice,” the EPA said. “Additional information was obtained through investigations by EPA officers, including working directly with trucking and logistics companies. “EPA is not satisfied there is a reasonable excuse for this non-disclosure, leading to the charges today.” The REDcycle program was suspended in November after the Age reported soft plastics dropped off by customers at Coles and Woolworths were being stockpiled rather than recycled. Drop-off points at the supermarkets, which had been collecting more than 5m pieces of soft plastics every day, were swiftly closed. REDcycle said the two companies that took the recycled material couldn’t accept any more material, with a fire in a factory and “downturns in market demand” blamed. “Consumer recycling of soft plastic has grown exponentially in recent years, with a 350% increase in plastic returned since 2019,” a REDcycle spokesperson said at the time. “However, due to several unforeseen challenges exacerbated by the pandemic, REDcycle’s recycling partners have temporarily stopped accepting and processing soft plastics. This combination has put untenable pressure on the REDcycle business model.” Environment minister Tanya Plibersek called on the supermarket chains to come up with a “viable solution” after they were forced to hit pause on the scheme. On Friday afternoon, the EPA confirmed an additional manufacturing site located in Dandenong South was safely storing material from the REDcycle program. Previous storage sites were confirmed across Tottenham, West Footscray, Truganina, Williamstown North, Campbellfield, Tullamarine, Dandenong South and West Wodonga. EPA CEO Lee Miezis said the body would continue inspecting sites into the holiday period and beyond. “Our officers have been working hard to ensure risk control measures are put in place by those responsible and our environmental laws are being complied with,” he said. “It is important for local communities and the environment that these businesses store the material safely.’’ The EPA investigation is ongoing, with the possibility of further charges for breaches of environmental laws, including waste duties. A REDcycle spokeswoman said: “REDcycle acknowledges recent media reports and we are continuing to cooperate openly. Given this is now a legal matter we are not in a position to comment further. “Our commitment to diverting soft plastics from landfill and working with partners to recycle these into useful community products remains absolute.” | ['australia-news/victoria', 'environment/recycling', 'environment/plastic', 'environment/waste', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'campaign/email/five-great-reads', 'environment/environment', 'environment/ethical-living', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/caitlin-cassidy', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/plastic | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2022-12-23T08:12:27Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
world/2008/nov/17/los-angeles-wildfire | Thousands evacuated as wildfires destroy homes ins southern California | Wildfires, fuelled by high winds and soaring temperatures, raged across southern California over the weekend causing thousands of residents - including some Hollywood stars - to flee their homes. Less than a month after the area was swept by fires propelled by fierce Santa Ana winds, another series of blazes moved through neighbourhoods from the celebrity enclave of Montecito, outside Santa Barbara, to the suburbs of Los Angeles and south to Orange county. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in the region as the three main fires consumed around 29 square miles. More than 30,000 people were evacuated from their homes as 800 homes were destroyed, including 200 in Montecito and 500 mobile homes in the Sayre fire north of Los Angeles. Main roads were closed and more than 100,000 residents were left without power on Saturday. In some areas people were warned to boil water amid fears that the water supply had been contaminated. Residents remained indoors as specks of ash were blown by the winds. Warnings over air quality were issued from the mountains to the beaches of southern California, and the Pasadena marathon, due to be held yesterday, was cancelled. A 98-year-old man died on Friday while being evacuated in Santa Barbara but no further fatalities were reported. Eleven people were reported injured, including six firefighters. The fire treated the rich and famous of Montecito with the same disdain as it did the residents of mobile home parks. Celebrities including Oprah Winfrey, Rob Lowe, John Cleese, Jeff Bridges and Christopher Lloyd all have homes in the small suburb south of Santa Barbara. Speaking on Winfrey's TV show on Friday, Lowe described how he had helped neighbours as he fled his own home. "The next door neighbour's house, they were trapped behind their gates and could not get out," Lowe said. "Their daughter was lost on the property and so another gentleman and I pried the gates open ... Embers were raining down. They were in our hair, they were in our shirts. The wind was easily 70 miles an hour and it was absolutely Armageddon." Firefighters were aided by calmer winds on Sunday, and by mid-morning Montecito's Tea fire was 75% contained. The hot winds had lessened from highs of 85mph on Friday and Saturday to 30mph on Sunday. However new fires continued to break out to the south, with Diamond Bar, south of Los Angeles, covered in a fresh plume of smoke in the early morning. Investigations were launched into the causes of the fires, although authorities said there was no evidence of foul play. Five people were arrested on Saturday, two on suspicion of looting in the Sylmar area north of central Los Angeles. Veteran firefighters said that the devastation wrought by the fires was as bad as any they had seen. "I've been 31 years in the city of Los Angeles and have not seen anything like this," Michael Bowman, a battalion chief for the Los Angeles fire department, told the LA Times. He described combing through the mobile home park as the fire approached, waking residents to warn them of the danger. With three colleagues he helped a 300lb (136kg) disabled woman trapped in her mobile home to escape. "Between the four of us, we were able to take the woman out of the house as fire was breaking the glass," Bowman said. Schwarzenegger toured the area around Santa Barbara on Saturday, commenting: "When you walk around the area that was destroyed, it looks like hell. I feel awful for the people whose homes were destroyed." | ['us-news/us-news', 'world/natural-disasters', 'world/world', 'tone/news', 'world/wildfires', 'type/article', 'profile/danglaister', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/international'] | world/wildfires | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2008-11-17T00:01:00Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2019/may/06/biodiversity-what-the-un-has-found-and-what-it-means-for-humanity | Biodiversity: what the UN has found and what it means for humanity | What is the UN’s global assessment report and why is it important? That humans are meddling with the natural world, in ways that we often fail to understand, is no longer in doubt. From the near-extinction of many land animals – the elephant, the tiger, the rhinoceros – in their natural habitats to the destruction of forests in the developing world, the decline of insect life in areas of intensive agriculture in developed countries, and more recently the increasingly evident scourge of plastics in the oceans, our imprint on the natural world has become impossible to ignore. There is scarcely any natural environment, from the Amazon to Australia, where the hazards we have introduced are unseen – take microplastics, now known to be almost ubiquitous, or the dark stains of soot we have left upon the Arctic snowcap, in places where humans have never trodden but our footprints are clearly visible. Beyond these obvious effects, we are also wreaking changes on the climate which scientists warn will have dire consequences. Until now there has been no comprehensive attempt to look at all of these effects, even though some of them have been long known. The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) was convened by the United Nations to find an answer to the questions: what are we doing to the world’s species, its biodiversity, its ecosystems and its natural resources? And what are the consequences – for human life, as well as the natural world? What has the report found? At least a million species are at risk of extinction because of human actions. The abundance of native species in most major land habitats has fallen by a fifth since 1900. Frogs and other amphibians, particularly vulnerable because of their bodies and breeding habits, have suffered an astonishing 40% decline. Many scientists see amphibians as the “canary in the mine”, signalling dangers such as pollution and the spread of disease that can hit frogs and other amphibians harder at first than they do other animals. Nearly a third of corals around the world and more than a third of marine mammals are also threatened. At least 680 vertebrate species have been driven to extinction in the last 400 years, and that is of those that can be reliably counted. Even among the animals we value commercially, the picture is grim: about a tenth of all the domesticated breeds of mammals that we eat have been driven to extinction, as we increasingly focus on just a few breeds. Why does this matter? We do not know what the long-term consequences of our destruction will be for the rest of the Earth. We do know that the changes we are wreaking are already leaving us vulnerable. In the case of domesticated plants and animals, for instance, the lack of biodiversity in genes is leaving us with less protection against diseases, and fewer options for breeding plants and animals that will be better adapted to our changing climate. The decline in insect populations is another key example: where pollinators are not available, the cascading effects on ecosystems can quickly become catastrophic. Once these wild populations are eradicated or severely depleted, we have few ways to try to bring them back, and we cannot replace the “ecosystem services” – of pollinating plants that we need for food – that they provide. Should we not have realised this sooner? The signs of our despoliation of the natural world have been evident at least since the extinction of the dodo in 1681. Some of the earliest shouts of what turned into the modern environmental movement in the late 1960s and early 70s were to “save the whale” and other charismatic megafauna, such as the elephant and tiger. Yet while there has been growing awareness of the dangers to these few species, we have managed to ignore the much wider devastation that has been going on. Few noticed the decline of the bumblebee until just a few years ago, and frogs have gone largely unlamented, despite playing a key role in ecosystems. Why has all this happened? Increasing population has been a key factor, as it reduces the habitat available for animals and plants, but this would be less of a problem if it were well-managed – deforestation, for example, could be vastly reduced if we used existing resources better. Pollution of the air and water is also important, and the threats posed by some of the substances we have used for pest control have gone unremarked for years. In the oceans, overfishing and plastic pollution have played a big role. Climate change is likely to exacerbate these problems. What do we do now? The IPBES recommends changes to agricultural practices as a hugely important step, and better coordination among countries and authorities to help them cut down on destructive practices. Increased awareness of the problem is also vital – as with climate change, which scientists have been reporting on in detail for 30 years, gaining information and understanding on the nature of the problem is at least a start towards solving it. | ['environment/biodiversity', 'world/unitednations', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/environment', 'environment/wildlife', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'tone/explainers', 'tone/analysis', 'profile/fiona-harvey', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-foreign'] | environment/biodiversity | BIODIVERSITY | 2019-05-06T16:29:44Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
news/2019/jul/10/weatherwatch-lessons-from-doggerland-lost-land-of-the-north-sea | Weatherwatch: lessons from the lost lands of the North Sea | In 1931, a trawler fishing in the North Sea off Norfolk hauled up a lump of peat containing a prehistoric spear or harpoon made from an antler dating back 9,000 years, to the end of the last ice age. This was the first evidence that prehistoric people had lived in a land now submerged under the sea. Now the Europe’s Lost Frontiers project, using seismic data from oil and gas exploration, has built up a 3D picture of this long-lost landscape, with rivers, lakes, hills and valleys, stretching from present-day eastern England to north-west Europe. In the last ice age this was permafrost tundra like northern Siberia today and Britain was a peninsula of north-west Europe. But as the climate warmed, the land thawed and was colonised by plants, trees and people. This was Doggerland, believed to be densely populated by stone age standards, with thousands of people, some of them living in settlements. These ancient people were probably flexible enough to move on as sea levels rose and flooded coasts and valleys. But Doggerland completely vanished under the sea about 7,500 years ago, and the fate of the people living there remains a mystery. Now the fate of Doggerland serves as a warning of rising sea levels in present times, driven on by man-made climate change. | ['news/series/weatherwatch', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/sea-level', 'science/archaeology', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/jeremy-plester', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-weather'] | news/series/weatherwatch | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2019-07-10T20:30:35Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
us-news/2024/oct/10/hurricane-milton-what-to-know | Tornadoes, mass outages and deaths: what to know about Hurricane Milton’s impact | Hurricane Milton has killed at least nine people and left extensive property damage across Florida, hitting some areas previously affected by Hurricane Helene last month. Here are the key takeaways from what we know about its impact and what experts are saying about a hurricane that it had been feared could be one of the worst in the state’s history. What was Hurricane Milton’s impact? Milton stunned meteorologists by accelerating at record pace across the Gulf of Mexico to a huge category 5 hurricane, raising fears of catastrophe as it surged towards the heart of the heavily populated Tampa Bay area. Ultimately, the storm made landfall at Siesta Key, Florida, just south of Tampa, on Wednesday night as a category 3 event. Homes were damaged, trees uprooted and millions lost power, and there are already reports of several deaths, but utter devastation was avoided. “The storm was significant, but thankfully this was not the worst-case scenario,” said Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor. “The storm weakened before landfall, and the storm surge has not been as significant overall as what was observed for Hurricane Helene.” The death toll from Helene was at least 230 people. One of the most dramatic images in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton is the shredded roof of the Tampa Bay Rays’ Tropicana field. How bad was the storm surge? A major risk posed by Milton was that its winds would push huge volumes of seawater from Tampa Bay into the city itself. When the storm did arrive, the worst of this storm surge occurred in Sarasota county, where it was 8-10ft (2.5 to 3 meters)– lower than the worst of Helene two weeks ago. But flooding in places has been significant – just inland from Tampa, Plant City received more than 13in (33cm) of rain, inundating neighborhoods. “We have flooding in places and to levels that I’ve never seen, and I’ve lived in this community for my entire life,” Bill McDaniel, the city manager, said in a video posted online on Thursday morning. What has been the impact of tornadoes? The sudden changes in winds when a hurricane lands can spawn tornadoes but the number and ferocity of twisters triggered by Milton were unusually high, experts say. There were more than 140 tornado warnings across Florida on Wednesday before Milton even arrived, with some causing major damage. In St Lucie county, on the east coast of Florida, there have been four confirmed deaths from a tornado that smashed into a retirement home. Florida sees more tornadoes per square mile than any other state but they are usually quite weak. The tornadoes triggered by Milton were of the strength often seen on the US Great Plains. What are the biggest threats now? Milton has now torn across Florida and is heading out in the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Bahamas. It has left behind 3 million people without power, impassable roads, wrecked bridges and surging rivers from a huge amount of rainfall. An estimated 11 million people are at risk from flooding as this rainwater flushes through swollen rivers, with officials warning people that the danger is far from over. Joe Biden, who had warned that Milton could be the “storm of the century”, echoed local officials in urging people to stay indoors and off the roads. “Downed power lines, debris, and road washouts are creating dangerous conditions,” Biden posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday. “Help is on the way, but until it arrives, shelter in place until your local officials say it’s safe to go out.” What are the long-term consequences of the past couple of weeks? Within the span of just two weeks, the US has been ravaged by two enormous hurricanes, Helene and Milton, causing hundreds of deaths and billions of dollars of damage over six states. Many places, such as in North Carolina, are still without electricity or running water from the first storm, and people in Florida, hit by both hurricanes, face a similarly lengthy recovery period that could take months or even years. Biden has ordered federal aid to affected states, garnering praise from Republican governors but criticism from Donald Trump, who has claimed the response has been slow and has spread falsehoods and conspiracy theories that have slowed the effort to help people, according to the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Scientists have already determined that the climate crisis, caused by the burning of fossil fuels, made Helene far more likely by heating the air and water that gives hurricanes their strength. It’s likely that Milton was also turbocharged by a Gulf of Mexico that has been at record hot temperatures since this summer. | ['us-news/hurricane-milton', 'us-news/florida', 'us-news/hurricane-helene', 'world/hurricanes', 'world/extreme-weather', 'science/meteorology', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'us-news/us-news', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'tone/explainers', 'profile/oliver-milman', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/topstories', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-news'] | us-news/hurricane-milton | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2024-10-10T16:52:23Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2019/may/09/extinction-rebellion-founder-cleared-over-kings-college-protest | Extinction Rebellion founder cleared over King's College protest | The founder of Extinction Rebellion has been cleared by a jury of all charges relating to a protest against fossil fuels in what campaigners say is a historic moment for the climate justice movement. Roger Hallam, 52, did not deny criminal damage worth £7,000 in an action to urge Kings College, London to divest from fossil fuels. He sprayed the walls with the words “divest from oil and gas” in protest against the institution’s fossil fuel investments. But on Thursday after a three day trial at Southwark crown court, Hallam and another activist were cleared of all charges. They represented themselves and argued to the jury in their defence that their actions were a proportionate response to the climate crisis. On Thursday the jury acquitted Hallam of two charges of criminal damage and his fellow activist David Durant, 25, of one charge of criminal damage. Hallam said: ‘We are extremely grateful to the jury for following common sense … ordinary people, unlike the judiciary, are able to see the broader picture.” Speaking outside court, Durant said: “We sat in the court, we watched paint dry for three days on a ridiculous charge and the jury returned the common sense verdict of not guilty. “Chalk on the wall is obviously less important than the impending catastrophe for the planet.” When university security guards intervened on 19 January 2017, Hallam handed them homegrown salad including red mustard leaves, rocket and rainbow chard as a gift. Hallam and Durant were arrested several days later, on 1 February, when they spray painted the internal walls of the university’s Great Hall. Tim Crosland, the director of charity Plan B Earth, said the verdict was a historic moment for the climate protest movement.” He added: “Mr Hallam and Mr Durant did not deny they had caused the damage; but argued that their intervention was a proportionate response to the climate crisis.” Adam Loxley, former head of security at the university, described how four columns at the front of the listed 1960s building had been defaced with the words “Divest from oil and gas”, “Now!” and “Out of time”. In a video shown to the jury, Hallam said: ‘This is not about polar bears, this is about mass starvation. It is a total emergency, if we do not take drastic action, our civilisation will soon collapse.” In a second video shown to the jury, Durant can be heard saying: “You guys seem very concerned about the fact that we’re potentially damaging your building but not by the fact that King’s is damaging the planet.” A security guard told the court fellow protesters set off smoke grenades, which triggered the fire alarms. The Great Hall had to be evacuated as a private function was under way at the venue. Giving evidence, Hallam explained that he gave security guards his homegrown salad and said: “In my polytunnels I grow salads. A big part of Gandhi and civil disturbance is to give gifts to people who oppose you as a sign of good faith.” Hallam, who is studying for a PhD in civil disobedience at King’s College, explained that his academic studies influenced his decision to deface the university. He said: “My approach and my research is how we can update the work of Gandhi and Martin Luther King in a modern context. “Everything we did in this campaign was organised with the specific intention to maximise respect, both between ourselves the students at King’s College and the college authorities.” Hallam argued his actions were lawful because there was an exemption in the Criminal Damage Act that permits damage if it protects others’ property. The prosecutor, John Hulme, had told jurors there was “no legitimate basis for applying this spray, even if the defendants did not agree with the policy of the college”. He said the pair had used soluble paint but it could still be considered criminal damage under the law. “Also, it is a fact that some £7,000 was spent by the college to wash away the spray that had been applied,” he said. The judge ruled during the case the issue of climate change was “irrelevant” to the case. He said it was not a case about the issue of climate crisis, but about damaging property and whether the defendants had a lawful excuse. He said he would not allow the trial to be “sidelined into the issues”. The decision will be watched with interest by protesters who were charged after taking part in the Extinction Rebellion protests that disrupted motor traffic in central London and other cities last month, many of whose cases will be heard in the coming weeks. | ['environment/extinction-rebellion', 'environment/environment', 'world/protest', 'world/world', 'uk/london', 'type/article', 'uk/uk', 'environment/fossil-fuel-divestment', 'education/universities', 'education/education', 'tone/news', 'profile/sandralaville', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/topstories', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/extinction-rebellion | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2019-05-09T16:37:59Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
lifeandstyle/2019/mar/11/hypervolt-massager-as-if-grasped-electric-fence | The Hypervolt massager: it's as if I've grasped an electric fence and can't let go | The words “personal massaging device” make one spontaneously vibrate with the effort of suppressing a thousand schoolboy jokes, but let’s pretend we are better than that. The Hypervolt, a name that positively screams “fragile masculinity”, is the latest product from Hyperice, a company that usually specialises in foam rollers and ice compression packs with a name that is weirdly reminiscent of Müllerice. The Hypervolt (£374.99, hyperice.co.uk) looks sci-fi and fun; like Barbarella’s gun. It doesn’t want to be fun, though; it wants to speed up muscle recovery after intense exercise, using percussion therapy. This has nothing to do with nervously air-drumming in a doctor’s waiting room, while you sit expecting the results of your blood test, and this review is also nothing to do with that, so stop worrying and get it together, man. Percussion therapy involves vibrating muscles at high speed, to stretch them out after the tightening effects of exercise, as well as loosen the connective tissues surrounding them. It is not intended for lazy people such as me, who rarely exercise and store all tension in their thoughts. (What if the doctor says I’m not lazy – that there’s actually something wrong with me? Would that be better or worse? Immaterial. Focus.) Other at-home percussion massagers are available, notably the Theragun and TimTam, the latter of which is not to be confused with an Australian version of the Penguin chocolate snack. In action, however, those devices sound like the power tools they are, with decibel levels approaching Brian Blessed at a waxing salon. The Hypervolt plays its ace immediately. Turning it on, ramping up the three speed settings, there is a superb dampening of sound in the soft-touch handle. It is perfectly comfortable to hold and, even on its highest setting, has only slightly more volume coming out of it than a toothbrush. (An electric one, obviously.) Crucially, there is no trade off in power. Even purring away on the lowest setting, it hammers 2,000 times a minute, making it five times more effective than François Truffaut’s autobiographical film, The 400 Blows. When it is applied to a bicep on its most powerful setting, it is like I have grasped an electric fence and can’t let go. Applied to my neck on the same setting – not advised – it shakes my eyes, like watching the film Cloverfield, if less traumatic. This is a key selling point of percussion therapy: the desensitising effect of being pummelled at high speed means sore muscles can be targeted, while bypassing the pain of manipulation by human hands. Strangely, it checks out. As the device thuds back and forth into my flesh in a blur, I can feel deep tissues being rapidly pulsed, while at the surface there is a sort of numbness, as if my nerves don’t understand what the hell is going on, and can’t react. It is the physiotherapy equivalent of waterboarding. Perhaps more accurately, I feel like a cut of cheap meat being tenderised. There are four attachments: a spongy ball, a bullet, a flat coin and a fork, which apply different surface pressures. Sticking the fork in me, I am soon done. My calves feel tired but loose, like a couple of shanks ready for the pot. I try other areas with the ball, then the bullet, noting how easy it is to become estranged from one’s own body. I start to lose recognition of the familiar shoulder, chest or thigh. Instead, I see my boneless chuck, my beef cheek, my brisket. I steer clear of the tenderloin, because honestly, this thing is a velvet jackhammer. And it’s one that runs for hours with no palpable decrease in battery. Is there a happy ending? Not exactly. I don’t exercise at the kind of intensity that requires athletic recovery gadgets, especially not at this price. But I am aware there are people who do. This thing definitely isn’t designed for pleasure, but it’s no swizz either. Hypervolt supplies a lot of bang for your buck. The fact remains that this gun isn’t aimed at me, and for that, I am grateful. Highlight The highest setting throws out 3,200 percusses a minute, which is fewer cusses than that time I stepped on Lego, but nonetheless impressive. Wellness or hellness? Wellness. It is very pricey, though – I’d trade it for 400 Müllerices. 4/5 | ['lifeandstyle/series/wellness-or-hellness-', 'lifeandstyle/health-and-wellbeing', 'technology/gadgets', 'tone/features', 'lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle', 'type/article', 'profile/rhik-samadder', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/g2', 'theguardian/g2/features', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-g2-features'] | technology/gadgets | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2019-03-11T06:00:07Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
australia-news/2022/mar/15/screaming-for-something-to-be-done-nsw-town-repeatedly-cut-off-by-floods-demands-safe-evacuation-route | ‘Screaming for something to be done’: NSW town repeatedly cut off by floods demands safe evacuation route | Residents of Pitt Town on the flood-prone Hawkesbury-Nepean River found their designated evacuation route cut by rising water last Wednesday, forcing authorities to locate a gate key to open up the only other path out of the historic centre. That route has been partly under water twice again since Sunday, with another blockage possible on Tuesday amid yet more forecasts for heavy rain. The Bureau of Meteorology was predicting major flooding of the river, in places possibly exceeding both last week’s highs and those of March 2021. “We’ve been screaming for something to be done,” Peter Ryan, the Pitt Town progress association president, told Guardian Australia. “How many fatals do we have to have from this flood due to their lack of interest and total incompetence? Do we have to drown people in their cars trying to escape from here?” Pitt Town turns into a series of islands every time there is a flood described as a “one-in-100-year event”, meaning there is a 1% chance of that occurring in any year. But the population has tripled in the past 15 years, increasing the number of residents who may need to evacuate from the area quickly. “We want a safe, well-maintained flood evacuation route, which doesn’t have the ability to be cut off by local water, which is what happened [last week],” Ryan said. The usual evacuation route consists of several tight bends and is in places barely wide enough for vehicles to pass. The backup route, which has a locked gate and goes through part of a national park, is in an even poorer state – it has many potholes, no speed limits, and is usually only one-way given its narrowness. “I had one mum contact me to say that she drove through [the backup evacuation route] with three kids, and she was just terrified, doing it on her own knowing she was responsible for her kids,” Susan Templeman, the local federal Labor MP, said. “You have got to wonder at how sensible it is to have a locked gate where only a limited number of people have a key to be your key escape route from what could be a very fast-rising flood. Imagine in the dark and in the rain.” Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning Templeman recently inspected the evacuation routes with Ryan. “It was bad enough in daylight with people who knew the way … it’s very easy to miss the signs that are there,” she said. The Hawkesbury council and the state emergency services minister, Steph Cooke, were approached for comment. Mary Lyons-Buckett, a Hawkesbury councillor, called on authorities to create easier exits for residents. “I have always believed the priority around flood management and safety of our people is the capacity to ensure they can evacuate safely and without impediment,” Lyons-Buckett said. “We are seeing a lot of localised flooding and road closures. This makes it even more crucial to have designated effective routes to get people to safety.” Vince Rayfield, secretary of the Pitt Town progress association, said their group had been repeatedly rebuffed in their efforts to get documents from authorities detailing how much time the local community needed to escape in case of a worst-case flood scenario. “It takes so many hours to evacuate based on … a certain number of vehicles,” Rayfield said, adding that with a major flood “the entire population has to evacuate”. After the previous state Labor government changed the planning laws in 2006, Pitt Town had more than 1,000 additional development lots created. Most of them have been taken up. Ryan said another threat is that it only takes one tree to be blown over – and damaging winds are forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday from the east coast low – to block even those two inadequate routes out. “It’s getting to the stage we’re just going to have to have a chainsaw in the back of our cars,” he said. The challenges for local drivers have also increased because the privately owned local sewage works has little demand for its treated recycled water for local gardens. As a result, huge tankers come and go constantly. “You wouldn’t want to be behind one of those if it rolled,” Ryan said. | ['australia-news/australia-east-coast-floods-2022', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'australia-news/new-south-wales', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/peter-hannam', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | australia-news/australia-east-coast-floods-2022 | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2022-03-07T19:48:41Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
us-news/2024/oct/08/klamath-river-dam-removal-before-after-photos | Klamath River dam removal: before and after images show dramatic change | With California’s Klamath Dam removal project finally completed, new before and after photos show the dramatic differences along the river with and without the dams. The photos were taken by Swiftwater Films, a documentary company chronicling the dam removal project – a two-decade fight that concluded on 2 October. “The tribally led effort to dismantle the dams is an expression of our sacred duty to maintain balance in the world,” the Yurok tribal chairman, Joseph L James, said in a statement. “That is why we fought so hard for so long to tear down the dams and bring the salmon home.” Between 1903 and 1962, the electric power company PacifiCorp built a series of dams along the Klamath River to generate electricity. The dams disrupted the river’s natural flow, and the migratory routes of its fish – including, most famously, the Chinook salmon. By 2002, low water levels and high temperatures caused a bacterial outbreak in the river, killing more than 34,000 fish. The incident spurred tribes, like the Yurok and Karuk, and environmentalists to begin advocating for the removal of the river’s dams. In 2022, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved a plan to remove four dams, which would allow the river to flow freely between Lake Ewauna in Oregon to the Pacific Ocean. The Klamath Dam removal project, which the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) called “the world’s largest dam removal effort”, began in July 2023 and concluded more than a year later. “This is a monumental achievement – not just for the Klamath River but for our entire state, nation and planet,” Gavin Newsom, the California governor, said in a statement. “By taking down these outdated dams, we are giving salmon and other species a chance to thrive once again, while also restoring an essential lifeline for tribal communities who have long depended on the health of the river.” With the removal project completed on 2 October, scientists with the non-profit California Trout captured images of a 2.5-ft-long Chinook salmon migrating upstream for the first time in more than 100 years the very next day. Yet, scientists stress that it will take many more years to fully restore the ecosystems affected by the dams. | ['us-news/california', 'us-news/us-news', 'environment/fish', 'environment/environment', 'us-news/west-coast', 'world/world', 'environment/wildlife', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'tone/features', 'profile/cecilia-nowell', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/west-coast-news'] | environment/wildlife | BIODIVERSITY | 2024-10-08T22:45:53Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
business/2007/jul/20/nuclearindustry.energy | MPs attack nuclear deal that could leave taxpayer £5bn bill | A parliamentary report yesterday attacked the government for putting the taxpayer at "significant risk" of having to shoulder future liabilities at the nuclear power group British Energy. At the same time it had failed to retain any real control over the commercial strategy of the group, which is campaigning to be involved in a new generation of atomic plants. The damning judgment of the public accounts committee yesterday coincided with British Energy announcing it planned to restart paying dividends to private investors for the first time since it was bailed out with public money in 2002. Shares in British Energy fell 1.5% to 522p as it also revealed at its annual meeting in Edinburgh that it was having "teething problems" at Hinkley Point in Somerset and Hunterston in Scotland. It was trying to bring the reactors back online after they had been withdrawn for repairs to their boilers. The parliamentary committee said the public had been left to underwrite a "large and uncertain liability" , estimated at £5.3bn. It concluded: "British Energy now poses a significant risk to the taxpayer but the Department (of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) plays no formal role in approving the company's commercial strategy." The committee said the company had little incentive to reduce its liabilities. It urged the government to put pressure on British Energy to review its estimates of the cost of decommissioning its power plants at least every five years, as it was meant to do. The Liberal Democrats described the financial restructuring as a "botched job", while environmentalists seized on the report as evidence of the financial waste in the industry and an argument against building more nuclear plants. Nathan Argent, nuclear campaigner for Greenpeace, said: "The British taxpayer will have to underwrite this out-of-date, expensive and dangerous technology to the tune of billions and, in the process, make this penniless company seem more attractive for foreign investment in new nuclear power stations. "The government would have us believe that there will be no more public money for new nuclear power, but the simple fact is that there is no reactor programme anywhere in the world which has operated without the taxpayer having to stick their hand in their pocket." British Energy was privatised in 1996 but by September 2002 had run into serious financial problems because of falling wholesale electricity prices. It approached the Department of Trade and Industry for help. To preserve electricity supplies and ensure nuclear safety, the government agreed to underwrite the company's nuclear clean-up costs, which were put at £5.3bn in February 2006. The shareholders agreed to exchange 100% of the existing equity for 2.5% ownership of the restructured company while bondholders, the major creditors, took 97.5% of the equity. By February 2006 that stake was worth £3.9bn after power prices had recovered strongly. The chairman, Sir Adrian Montague, said he was "delighted" to be resuming the payment of dividends and was proposing a basic 13.6p a share payout. · This article was amended on Monday July 23 2007. Hinkley Point power station is in Somerset, rather than in Kent, where we located it in this story. This has been corrected. | ['business/business', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'environment/energy', 'environment/environment', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'profile/terrymacalister'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2007-07-20T09:13:18Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/blog/2009/dec/02/backstreet-boys-green-events-copenhagen | Backstreet Boys call Everybody to Copenhagen's entertainment side show | During the UN climate conference which starts on Monday, Copenhagen offers a wealth of green cultural events that will help take your mind off the political talks. Here are some of the artistic happenings worth looking out for; if you're there to protest and make your voice heard, try our Copenhagen activist's guide and diary. Keep Hopenhagen Live The opening day of COP15 sees a dose of pop nostalgia with the Backstreet Boys' climate gig at Vega in Copenhagen - tickets are long gone but it will be screened on MTV and mirrored by further "climate gigs" by Moby in Stockholm and the Editors in Budapest. Elsewhere, there's a much more diverse musical offering at the Hopenhagen Live event in the City Hall Square. Running from 7-18 December alongside the UN conference, Hopenhagen hosts a series of exhibitions, debates and film screenings, while bands such as Gogol Bordello and Danish hip-hop pioneers Malk de Koijn take the to the stage in the evening. The musical programming is curated by the organisers of the Roskilde Festival, who have ensured that the production is as sustainable as possible by transporting the artists in electric cars, using LED for the stage lights and running everything on wind power. Racing cars to raise awareness "Street art meets climate meets technology," is how Danish artist Jacob Fulgsang Mikkelsen describes the CO2 E-race that takes place in central Copenhagen on 13 December. Rather than battling for pole position, the electric cars taking part in the race will be equipped with LED lights and colour-coded GPS devices that will light up the route in central Copenhagen and spell out "CO2". You will be able to track the race live online, and the interactive cityscape "painting" will be shown on big screens at the City Hall Square. The idea is inspired by prehistoric cave paintings of oxen, which created a graphic expression of a challenge that people as a group had to face. Rethinking culture and climate through art From public spaces to contemporary galleries, Copenhagen's art scene has been dominated by the climate debate this autumn. One of the most ambitious projects is the RETHINK collaboration between two of the city's major exhibition spaces and the National Gallery of Denmark. Among the highlights of RETHINK is the Argentinean artist Tomas Saraceno's floating globes at the National Gallery - the transparent biospheres are interconnected by a spider web of black wires, and some of the globes contain their own miniature plant-based ecosystems. If you arrive at 1pm and are lucky enough to get one of the 40 tickets that are handed out each day, you get to enter the largest of the sci-fi-inspired biospheres Seal the future with a kiss and a time capsule party Whether or not a binding agreement on emissions will be carved out at COP15, at least one enduring document for future generations will be produced in Copenhagen. Since mid-November, Love Letters to the Future has invited people to address their concerns about the future of the planet through video, image or 140-character text messages. The 100 "love letters" which get the most online votes will be saved on a microchip and stored in a time capsule, which will be on public display in Copenhagen until it is opened 100 years from now. The unveiling of the letters will take place at a free Time Capsule party at the Vega concert hall in Vesterbro on 13 December. The best entries will be read out by Danish actor Thure Lindhardt (probably best known as the self-flagellating albino monk in the latest Dan Brown film) and a host of local electro bands and DJs, including the wonderful mash-up universe of Dokkedal/Dixen, will supply the soundtrack. And if the sun comes out … go for a bike ride Cyclists are the kings of the road in Copenhagen, which is why it's widely hailed as one of the world's best cycling cities. Not just for kamikaze couriers on fixed wheelers, but for parents on vintage bikes with wicker baskets and children who seem to always have the right-of-way. There are more than 200 miles of cycle paths in Copenhagen and you can join the action by renting a bike at one of several outlets in the city (unfortunately Copenhagen's free bike scheme is now closed for the season). You can also get a guided tour off the beaten track if you go Biking with Mike or follow the green trail through the inner city district of Frederiksberg. At the Museum of Copenhagen you can learn more about the history of bicycle culture in the Danish capital, while the world-famous Christiania bike is celebrated at a special exhibition at Galloperiet in the autonomous Danish freetown. • You can keep up with daily events on the COP15 Post website and get an overview of the cultural programme at Visitcopenhagen.com. | ['environment/copenhagen', 'environment/environment', 'environment/blog', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle', 'culture/culture', 'music/music', 'environment/global-climate-talks', 'type/article', 'profile/larseriksen'] | environment/global-climate-talks | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2009-12-02T11:38:57Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
environment/2023/mar/18/a-wake-up-call-total-weight-of-wild-mammals-less-than-10-of-humanitys | ‘A wake-up call’: total weight of wild mammals less than 10% of humanity’s | The total weight of Earth’s wild land mammals – from elephants to bisons and from deer to tigers – is now less than 10% of the combined tonnage of men, women and children living on the planet. A study by scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science, published this month, concludes that wild land mammals alive today have a total mass of 22m tonnes. By comparison, humanity now weighs in at a total of around 390m tonnes. At the same time, the species we have domesticated, such as sheep and cattle, in addition to other hangers-on such as urban rodents, add a further 630m tonnes to the total mass of creatures that are now competing with wild mammals for Earth’s resources. The biomass of pigs alone is nearly double that of all wild land mammals. The figures demonstrate starkly that humanity’s transformation of the planet’s wildernesses and natural habitats into a vast global plantation is now well under way – with devastating consequences for its wild creatures. As the study authors emphasise, the idea that Earth is a planet that still possesses great plains and jungles that are teeming with wild animals is now seriously out of kilter with reality. The natural world and its wild animals are vanishing as humanity’s population of almost eight billion individuals continues to grow. “When you look at wildlife documentaries on television – for instance of wildebeest migrating – it is easy to conclude that wild mammals are doing quite well,” lead author Ron Milo told the Observer. “But that intuition is wrong. These creatures are not doing well at all. Their total mass is around 22m tonnes which is less than 10% of humanity’s combined weight and amounts to only about 6lb of wild land mammal per person. And when you add all our cattle, sheep and other livestock, that adds another 630m tonnes. That is 30 times the total for wild animals. It is staggering. This is a wake-up call to humanity.” The study, The Global Biomass of Wild Mammals, also reveals that those that do best – such as the white-tailed deer in the US and wild boars – are those that find it easier to adapt to the presence of humans. Both species can be found near settlements and are occasionally treated as pets. “Even within the wild, the fingerprints of humanity are obvious,” added Milo, whose team’s study is published in the US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. As part of the paper, researchers Lior Greenspoon and Eyal Krieger collected biomass data on about half of all known mammals and used machine-learning computational models on other zoological samples to calculate the other half. The grim figures for land mammals were matched by those found in the oceans. The total mass of marine mammals was calculated to be around 40m tonnes. Fin whales have the largest total biomass with sperm whales and humpbacks coming into the second and third slots, respectively. Common pet species were also found to be major contributors to humanity’s planetary impact. Domestic dogs have a total mass of around 20m tonnes, a figure close to the combined biomass of all wild terrestrial mammals, while cats have a total biomass of around 2m tonnes, almost double that of the African savanna elephant. “These domesticated-to-wild mass ratios emphasise the active role humans play in shaping the abundance of mammals on Earth,” the researchers state in their paper. Biomass studies are not the only way to quantify the animal world. Numbers of species are also revealing. As an example, it has been found there are 1,200 species of bats that account for a fifth of all land mammal species and two-thirds of all individual wild mammals by head count. However, they make up only 10% of the biomass of wild land mammals. “Biomass is complementary to species richness and other diversity metrics, and can serve as an indicator of wild mammals’ abundance and ecological footprint on a global scale,” the researchers state. Estimates made two years ago by the team suggested there were about 50m tonnes of wild mammals on Earth. The new figure, calculated using a host of techniques including AI, indicates that the crisis facing the planet’s wildlife appears to be much worse than first appreciated. Just how quickly the depletion of wild mammals is proceeding now needs to be assessed as a matter of urgency, they say, and is the focus of the study’s next phase which will assess how much of the biomass loss occurred over the past 100 years. | ['environment/wildlife', 'environment/biodiversity', 'science/science', 'environment/environment', 'world/world', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/endangered-habitats', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/robinmckie', 'publication/theobserver', 'theobserver/news', 'theobserver/news/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/observer-main'] | environment/endangered-habitats | BIODIVERSITY | 2023-03-18T17:07:21Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2020/jun/04/revealed-uk-banks-and-investors-2bn-backing-of-meat-firms-linked-to-amazon-deforestation | Revealed: UK banks and investors' $2bn backing of meat firms linked to Amazon deforestation | British-based banks and finance houses have provided more than $2bn (£1.5bn) in financial backing in recent years to Brazilian beef companies which have been linked to Amazon deforestation, according to new research. Thousands of hectares of Amazon are being felled every year to graze cattle and provide meat for world markets. As well as providing financial backing for Minerva, Brazil’s second largest beef exporter, and Marfrig, its second largest meat processing company, UK-based financial institutions held tens of millions of dollars worth of shares in JBS, the world’s largest meat company. All three meat companies have been linked to deforestation in their supply chains, though they say they are working to monitor their suppliers and mitigate risks. Marfrig, a Brazilian meat company that has supplied fast-food chains around the world, was found to have bought cattle from a farm that had been using deforested land last year. JBS remains unable to monitor a significant proportion of its suppliers despite operating deep in the Amazon, while last year Marfrig admitted that more than half of the cattle it slaughtered originated from indirect suppliers that it could not monitor. According to a joint investigation by the Guardian, Unearthed and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, financial data between January 2013 and May 2019 shows that HSBC underwrote $1.1bn of bonds for Marfrig and $917m for Minerva. They also held nearly $3m in JBS shares. Schroders held $14m in Marfrig bonds and $12m in Minerva bonds, while Standard Life Aberdeen held $10m in Marfrig bonds and $3m in JBS shares. Prudential UK had $23m in JBS shares and $5m in Minerva bonds. Banks frequently hold bonds and shares on behalf of clients who invest through their asset management funds. Other European-based institutions provided an additional $2.1bn of backing. Santander underwrote $1.4bn worth of bonds across the three companies. Deutsche Bank underwrote $69m worth of Marfrig bonds and loaned JBS $57m. European institutions also held significant shares in JBS: Crédit Agricole, Deutsche Bank and Santander invested $37m, $12m and $7m respectively. All data was correct as of May 2019. The European Commission is considering new financial reporting rules in light of the coronavirus crisis that would require banks, insurance firms and listed companies to disclose their exposure to biodiversity loss and pandemic risk. Scientists have warned that deforestation is increasing the risk of new diseases emerging. Some of the financial institutions told the Guardian they were engaging with the three companies over deforestation, and could reconsider their support if they saw insufficient progress. The three meat companies say they are confident that the farms their slaughterhouses directly purchase cattle from are not involved in deforestation, but they also accept they cannot know the origin of some animals that have passed through other farms beforehand. In a statement, JBS said it had blocked thousands of direct suppliers for breaking rules concerning deforestation and was working with the Brazilian government and industry on solutions for monitoring indirect suppliers. Minerva said there was “no accessible and reliable data and statistics on the complete cattle traceability chain” in Brazil and that it was evaluating a new tool developed by the National Wildlife Federation and University of Wisconsin to monitor indirect suppliers. Marfrig said it was developing a tool to combat the risk of buying from indirect suppliers which it cannot monitor. “No UK financial institution should be profiting from the destruction of rainforest or other precious habitats in Brazil or elsewhere. If the government’s claims to global leadership on climate are to have any meaning at all, it must stop turning blind eye to the links between UK banks and deforestation, by introducing strong regulation, harsh penalties and strict provisions on full public transparency of environmental and social impacts of all investment portfolios,” said Caroline Lucas, Green MP for Brighton Pavilion. In response to the findings, a spokesperson for Aberdeen Standard Investments said: “There are definitely shortcomings in supply chain monitoring for the entire beef industry in Brazil, but these practices are improving across the industry and investor activism plays an important role in this development ... At present, we remain invested but this may change depending on a number of factors.” Schroders said it was in dialogue with both Minerva and Marfrig and that, “if we did not see these signs of progress, we would certainly consider changing our recommendations for these companies.” Deutsche Bank said it did not finance activities where there is clear and known evidence on clearing of primary forests, areas of high conservation value or peat lands, illegal logging or uncontrolled and/or illegal use of fire. Crédit Agricole said it did not finance projects on deforested land with high biodiversity value. Prudential UK said it was actively engaging with companies operating in the Amazon region to find solutions. HSBC said it conducted reviews of clients for their commitment to sustainable business practices. Santander said it conducted annual reviews of more than 2,000 clients in Brazil, including those that are large soy producers, soy traders and meatpackers, especially about their supply chain. | ['environment/series/animals-farmed', 'environment/meat-industry', 'type/article', 'world/brazil', 'world/americas', 'environment/environment', 'environment/farming', 'environment/food', 'environment/deforestation', 'environment/amazon-rainforest', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/forests', 'world/world', 'tone/news', 'profile/alexandra-heal', 'profile/andrew-wasley', 'profile/emma-e-howard', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/global-development'] | environment/amazon-rainforest | BIODIVERSITY | 2020-06-04T08:00:01Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
commentisfree/2019/oct/08/us-hong-kong-right-protest-peacefully-under-attack | From the US to Hong Kong, the right to protest peacefully is under attack | Arwa Mahdawi | You know things are bleak in Britain when Russia starts trying to lecture us on human rights. “Disruptive protests are unacceptable, but police must act proportionately,” the Russian embassy tweeted on Sunday, after the Metropolitan police raided an Extinction Rebellion warehouse and arrested 10 activists. “‘Preventive arrests’ raise concern and need to be scrutinised against human rights standards.” The Met says the people it apprehended were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause public nuisance, but if all they were doing was planning to take part in a peaceful climate protest, then what happened at the weekend isn’t just concerning – it is alarming. The worrying escalation of pre-emptive police action against protesters is part of a global trend. In Hong Kong, the government used broad colonial-era powers to ban protesters from wearing face masks. More than half of US states have passed laws that punish companies or individuals who boycott Israel; according to Human Rights Watch, 78% of Americans live in these states. In Australia, there has been a spike in laws clamping down on protest. In Guinea, dissent has been silenced completely: street protests have in effect been banned for more than a year, with authorities citing threats to public security. I could go on. All over the world, the right to engage in non-violent protest is under attack – and not only legally, but from anti-democratic rhetoric. Peter Dutton, Australia’s home affairs minister, said last week that protesters who disrupt traffic should be imprisoned and have welfare payments withdrawn. Dutton, who seems to think he is a feudal lord living in 1419, rather than an elected official operating in 2019, also reckons protestors should be publicly shamed. Germany also seems keen to suppress democratic protest via public shaming. In May, the Bundestag declared that the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel was antisemitic. An open letter criticising this, signed by 60 Jewish and Israeli academics, noted: “The equation of BDS with antisemitism has been promoted by Israel’s most rightwing government in history [and] is part of persistent efforts to delegitimise any discourse about Palestinian rights.” Back in Britain, the Telegraph published an editorial on Sunday headlined: “The right to protest does not extend to acting like a terrorist.” While the piece stopped short of labelling Extinction Rebellion a terrorist organisation, the headline seemed to imply as much. “We have democratic processes,” the article huffed. “They should be followed, rather than disrupting the lives of millions.” As if thousands of peoples protesting the destruction of the climate is not the very essence of a democratic process. When you live in a country such as Britain, it is easy to take your civil liberties for granted. It is easy to think that we will never turn into Guinea or Saudi Arabia. It is easy to laugh off a mainstream newspaper implying activists are terrorists, or shrug off the arrests of would-be protesters. But these erosions of free speech and free assembly add up. Our right to rebellion is precious and precarious; if not protected, it will soon become extinct. •Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'world/protest', 'world/world', 'environment/environment', 'law/uk-civil-liberties', 'law/law', 'law/civil-liberties-international', 'environment/extinction-rebellion', 'type/article', 'tone/comment', 'profile/arwa-mahdawi', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/g2', 'theguardian/g2/features', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-g2-features'] | environment/extinction-rebellion | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2019-10-08T12:10:31Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
science/2016/aug/29/pictures-sky-just-illusion-weatherwatch | Pictures in the sky are just an illusion | The 16th-century Italian polymath Gerolamo Cardano is known today for his work on algebra and probability theory. But he also provided an account of a rare meteorological phenomenon in Milan, when there was a report of an angelic visitation. Cardano ran to the spot where, along with 2,000 other people, he saw what appeared to be an angel hanging in the air. “The strangeness of the sight filled everyone with amazement,” Cardano records in his book On Medicine. The only person present not amazed was a lawyer. He pointed out that the winged figure was in fact a projection, an image of the bronze angel on the top of the bell tower of San Gottardo reflected on to low cloud by the rays of the sun. Such images tend to be blurred. Gotham’s Bat-Signal in the Batman movies may look simple, but it is hard to replicate in real life because clouds are uneven and make poor screens. On 25 December 1930, the inventor Harry Grindell Matthews projected the image of an angel above Hampstead Heath in London with the message “Happy Christmas”, but like other plans for cloud-based advertising, it did not come to fruition because of the poor quality of the images. Modern cloud projectors using lasers suffer the same problem. When the artist Dave Lynch projected a galloping horse above Nottingham in 2015, though recognisable it was indistinct due to the uneven cloud. To so impress the crowd, Cardano’s angel must have been cast on to an unusually – if not miraculously – thick and even cloud. | ['science/meteorology', 'news/series/weatherwatch', 'culture/batman', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/davidhambling', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-weather'] | news/series/weatherwatch | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2016-08-29T20:30:11Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
world/2023/jun/07/tell-us-how-have-you-been-affected-by-the-canada-wildfires-and-the-smoke-in-the-us | Tell us: how have you been affected by the Canada wildfires and the smoke in the US? | Hundreds of wildfires are burning in Canada, from the western provinces to Nova Scotia and Quebec in the east, where there are more than 150 active fires in a particularly fierce start to the summer season. As the country grapples with the unprecedented threat, smoke moved into parts of of the US, where tens of millions of people were under air quality alerts on Wednesday and told to limit outdoor activity. We’d like to hear from our readers on how you are coping, both in Canada and the US. People living in Canada, how have you been affected? Those living in the US, how are you dealing with the air quality and hazy skies? | ['world/wildfires', 'type/article', 'world/canada', 'tone/callout', 'campaign/callout/callout-canada-wildfires', 'profile/guardian-community-team', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-communities-and-social'] | campaign/callout/callout-canada-wildfires | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2023-06-07T15:58:39Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2020/dec/30/fi-radford-obituary | Fi Radford obituary | My friend Fi Radford, who has died aged 72 of cancer, devoted her retirement to environmental activism. She was active in many organisations, including Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, the Green party and the anti-fracking movement, and, with the birth of Extinction Rebellion (XR), saw hope for a livable planet for her grandson. Her involvement with XR included inducting hundreds of activists into the cause, and she was part of XR’s Rebel Elders and Aged Agitators groups. With both XR and Greenpeace she took part in many campaigns on deforestation, energy, oceans and climate change, and against expansion of Bristol airport. She also founded Bristol Environmental Activists Together, was a member of Grandparents for a Safe Earth UK, and regularly demonstrated against the financial sector’s worst offenders on fossil fuel investment. At XR’s “You Can’t Eat Money” action outside BlackRock’s London HQ in 2019, she told fellow demonstrators: “People need to know what goes on behind those shiny glass doors. The business they’re engaged in is actually destroying our life-support system.” In 2019 Fi gave a powerful TEDx Talk, What did you do in the climate crisis, Grandma?, calling for the mobilisation of “an army of rebel retirees”. In the talk she said: “It’s time to reboot retirement. This is not the time to rest on our laurels, spend the children’s inheritance or to stay at home feeling unwanted and lonely. We have never been more needed and more valuable.” Born in Farnborough in Hampshire, one of four children of Dennis Hammond, a second world war pilot who was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, and Joan (nee Cowley), Fi was educated at Varndean grammar school, Brighton, where she met Andrew Radford. They married in 1970, shortly after Fi had gained a degree in modern languages at St Hilda’s College, Oxford. After obtaining a postgraduate diploma in library and information studies from University College London, Fi worked as a librarian for Portsmouth City Libraries and then, from 1973 until 1976, at Portsmouth Polytechnic, before moving into full-time motherhood while also becoming involved on a voluntary basis with various charities, including the National Childbirth Trust and the Christian Healing Trust. Always courteous and impeccably dressed, she will be remembered for her sunny smile, intelligence, inclusivity, courage and commitment to protecting our precious planet from further harm, right up to her first signs of cancer. She is survived by Andrew, and their sons, Richard and John, and grandson, Edgar. | ['environment/extinction-rebellion', 'theguardian/series/otherlives', 'world/activism', 'environment/activism', 'environment/environment', 'books/libraries', 'type/article', 'tone/obituaries', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/obituaries', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-obituaries'] | environment/activism | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2020-12-30T16:05:28Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
environment/2018/nov/22/tyres-and-synthetic-clothes-big-cause-of-microplastic-pollution | Tyres and synthetic clothes 'big cause of microplastic pollution' | Vehicle tyres and synthetic clothing are the two leading contributors to microplastic pollution from UK households, according to a new report from Friends of the Earth. The report estimates that between 9,000 and 32,000 tonnes of microplastic pollution enter British waterways each year from just four sources. The two leading sources are tyre abrasion, with between 7,000 and 19,000 tonnes entering surface waters each year, and clothing. In the UK an estimated two-thirds of clothing is made from synthetic plastic material, according to analysts from Eunomia, who wrote the report for FoE. Up to 2,900 tonnes of microplastics from the washing of synthetic clothing such as fleeces could be passing through wastewater treatment into our rivers and estuaries. The scale of plastic pollution from household plastics is of the same magnitude as that from large plastic waste such as bottles and takeaway containers – about 26,000 tonnes of which enters UK waterways each year. The environmental campaign group is calling on the government’s resources and waste strategy – expected next month – to include measures for tackling microplastics as part of a comprehensive action plan. The four key contributors to microplastic pollution in the oceans from UK sources, according to the report, are: Vehicle tyres: 68,000 tonnes of microplastics from tyre tread abrasion are generated in the UK every year, with between 7,000 and 19,000 tonnes entering surface waters; Clothing: the washing of synthetic clothing could result in the generation of 2,300-5,900 tonnes of fibres annually in the UK – up to 2,900 tonnes of this could be passing through wastewater treatment into our rivers and estuaries; Plastic pellets used to manufacture plastic items. Up to 5,900 tonnes are lost to surface waters in the UK every year; Paints on buildings and road markings – weather and flake-off results in between 1,400 and 3,700 tonnes ending up in surface water every year. Julian Kirby, FoE plastics campaigner, said: “It’s staggering that so little is being done to prevent thousands of tonnes of microplastic pollution from car tyres, clothing and paints pouring into our rivers and seas every year. “Microplastic pollution may be largely invisible, but it’s having a potentially devastating effect on our natural environment – especially as it can be mistaken for food by some our smallest ocean creatures, which are then eaten by bigger creatures as part of the food chain. “Ministers are right to be concerned about the impact of bags, straws and single-use coffee cups on our environment, but we mustn’t ignore the threat from tiny bits of plastic, too.” Friends of the Earth is urging the government to consider a number of measures to tackle car tyre pollution, including a standardised test to measure tyre tread abrasion rate and a car tyre levy to pay for research into solutions, and to consider mitigation measures. | ['environment/plastic', 'environment/pollution', 'environment/rivers', 'environment/oceans', 'environment/friends-of-the-earth', 'environment/environment', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/sandralaville', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/plastic | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2018-11-22T06:01:30Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
australia-news/2023/dec/19/closure-of-inland-route-will-increase-freight-costs-significantly-for-queenslands-banana-and-mango-growers | Closure of inland route will increase freight costs ‘significantly’ for Queensland’s banana and mango growers | Record-breaking flooding as a result of ex-Cyclone Jasper in north Queensland has cut off critical food supply routes, left communities stranded and disrupted the mango harvest. The Palmerston Highway, a vital produce route from inland growing regions to east-coast markets, suffered catastrophic damage from the deluge. It’s the only road to the coast accessible by B-doubles – large trucks that can carry two shipping container’s worth of goods – but major splits and cracks meant the 200 B-doubles that traverse the route each week will not be able to drive along it “for months”. Sign up to receive Guardian Australia’s fortnightly Rural Network email newsletter The Queensland Trucking Association’s chief executive, Gary Mahon, said the road had been damaged to the point that parts of it were “fundamentally not even there any more”. In the meantime, he said, it would take twice as many smaller trucks using alternative routes to get produce to market, increasingly transport costs significantly. “For banana and mango growers getting their produce off in the area, costs will escalate significantly,” Mahon said. “Our appeal for the government will be to put the highest priority on restoring that road.” In better news, the freight routes along the coast to Cairns would be “restored relatively quickly” once the rain stopped and the water subsided, Mahon said. Michael Guerin, the chief executive of the peak farming body Agforce, said the extent of damage would become clear in a few days. He said it was unlikely the floods would lead to a significant increase in fresh food prices in the lead-up to Christmas. “The majority of mangoes are grown out of the Northern Territory,” Guerin said. “The weather event has been contained to that patch of north-east Queensland so there won’t be a huge impact on prices.” Locally, however, communities and farmers had been heavily affected, he said. “We are very reliant on roads and supply chains in Cairns,” he said. “If you can’t get the produce out for processing and you can’t get it back for supply, then very quickly supermarkets are going to start running short.” Sixty kilometres south of Cairns, a cane farmer and grazier, Alex Stubbs, said he had lost an estimated one-third of his crop after part of his property flooded. He thinks that loss will be reflected across the region, which will “impact the millers, then employment and cashflows into regional communities”. “For the mango industry, the ability to be able to get in and harvest and keep supply will be nearly impossible at this stage,” he said. The chief executive of the Australia Mango Industry Association, Brett Kelly, said flooding had “severely” affected growers, and that the industry group was monitoring the situation closely. A spokesperson from Queensland Transport and Main Roads said most public roads in the far north were closed on Monday due to flooding and landslides. “We are continuing to assess conditions and provide emergency access, where possible,” the spokesperson said. Sign up for the Rural Network email newsletter Join the Rural Network group on Facebook to be part of the community | ['australia-news/series/the-rural-network', 'australia-news/north-queensland-floods-2023', 'australia-news/rural-australia', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'australia-news/queensland', 'environment/flooding', 'world/extreme-weather', 'australia-news/australia-weather', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'australia-news/series/rural-network', 'profile/aston-brown', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/the-rural-network'] | environment/flooding | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2023-12-18T15:00:02Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
australia-news/2022/mar/03/woman-gives-birth-after-being-rescued-from-brisbane-floods-by-neighbours-and-a-kayak | Woman gives birth after being rescued from Brisbane floods by neighbours and a kayak | The last thing Krystle Henry and Matt Bridges thought they would be dealing with in the hours before the birth of their son was a complex logistical problem caused by catastrophic flooding across the state of Queensland. Roughly 24 hours before a scheduled caesarean at Brisbane’s Mater Mothers’ hospital, the family had woken up on Monday to find themselves cut off by flood waters. Though their two-year-old daughter had been thrilled at the unfolding crisis, Bridges said the water came as a shock. “The floods really snuck up on us,” he said. “There was heavy rain on Saturday night, then we went to get coffee – our last as a family of three – on Sunday morning. “We went to the bottom of the road and it was cut off. On both ends.” At first, Bridges wasn’t worried. Parts of Brisbane are prone to flash flooding but the water usually recedes when the rain eases. But on Monday the rain hadn’t eased, the water was higher and news reports made clear a catastrophe was unfolding across the state. Henry’s obstetrician suggested she head into the hospital a day early to make sure she safely made her appointment, good advice which was unfortunately easier said than done. Bridges called the State Emergency Services and the family was put on a rescue list, but were a low priority as no one’s life was immediately at risk. With emergency rescue teams spread thin, the couple hatched a plan to make their appointment. The first step involved coordinating with Bridges’ dad, who was in Brisbane. He was tasked with renting a car to get as close to Taringa – a suburb 6.8km south-west of the city – as possible. Then the question became how Henry would get to Bridges’ dad. Swimming or walking through the dirty flood water wasn’t option for the expectant mother. Driving into flood water is extremely dangerous and neither was it possible for her to climb fences. The safest option was to paddle out. When Bridges put the word out among neighbours for anyone with a boat or a watercraft to help, everyone on their block began to pull together to organise Henry a ride, and someone to look after the couple’s daughter while they sorted things out. “One of our neighbours have older grandkids, so they have toys they don’t play with any more,” Bridges said. “When we dropped my daughter at our neighbour’s place, she didn’t look at us. [She] threw up a hand, said ‘bye’ and ran off to play with the toys. She wasn’t nearly as worried as mum and dad were.” Meanwhile, one neighbour, Clare, had found another neighbour, Rob, with a motorised kayak. “I saved his name in my phone as ‘Rob Kayak’ and he saved my name as ‘Matt Pregnant’, Bridges said. “It’s amazing. All he said is he was just happy to help out.” Loaded into the kayak, Henry was ferried off to meet Rob’s dad two streets away, who then took her by car to her appointment. Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning Later that evening, Bridges’ mum was able to come in to look after the couple’s daughter so he could join Henry at the hospital Monday evening – this time by jumping three fences – and be there for the birth of their son on Tuesday morning. While they considered alternative names such as “Royce”, the couple decided to name their son Angus. With several lives lost and people having everything they own destroyed in the floods, Bridges said the couple are deeply grateful for the kindness of their community which made their “little adventure” go without complication. “You get these baby books that you document milestones in,” Bridges said. “For the birth story, they only give you two lines.” “Krystle was joking saying we were going to need a few more lines on that book.” | ['australia-news/queensland', 'australia-news/brisbane', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'australia-news/australia-weather', 'australia-news/australia-east-coast-floods-2022', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/royce-kurmelovs', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | australia-news/australia-east-coast-floods-2022 | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2022-03-03T08:44:04Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2017/may/08/where-wild-garlic-grows-wales-country-diary | Where the wild garlic grows | My route through the beech woods was chosen to avoid the worst of the cold northerly wind that was cutting across the valley. Though the majority of leaves were still to open, the trees broke up the breeze and let me slacken the pace I’d needed to keep warm. The acoustic of this woodland is softened by its deep, moist leaf litter; outside sounds are dramatically attenuated, letting you focus on the spring birdsong and the occasional creak of high branches stirring in the wind. As I do every year, I was looking for the patches of wild garlic flowers that characterise this season for me. Blooming later here than the primroses and celandines, their flush of white flowers comes just at the point where spring activity goes into overdrive, the unfurling beech leaves splashing colour across the woodland canopy. The first group of wild garlic plants I came across were still developing, with the flowers sheathed and their white petals just starting to emerge, and I began to wonder whether I had made the trip a week too early. I wandered on, deeper into the wood, noting the way that moss and lichen have begun to colonise the stumps of those trees that were thinned out a few years ago. Then, turning aside from the main track, I found what I was looking for. A dense layer of firm, curved leaves and flower stems that reached to my ankles almost covered the narrower path ahead. Moving on further meant brushing against them, releasing the characteristically delicate scent of the spring plant. As the woodland warms and the wild garlic matures, this odour will grow to become fragrant, then strong and eventually overpowering – hanging over the woods like a miasma. Some like the smell, others endure it. In my own case, the spring scent of Allium ursinum never fails to make me feel hungry – and it tends to cling long after you have left the plants behind. A small price to pay for the sight of the frail-looking globes of white flowers that do so much to brighten the floor of the woodland. Follow Country diary on Twitter: @gdncountrydiary | ['environment/series/country-diary', 'environment/plants', 'environment/forests', 'environment/spring', 'environment/wildlife', 'uk/uk', 'uk/ruralaffairs', 'environment/environment', 'uk/wales', 'food/food', 'lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/john-gilbey', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-weather'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2017-05-08T04:30:53Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
cities/2014/feb/14/city-links-the-best-of-the-web | City links: the best of the web | 1. It’s not just all about the snow It’s always the same story (for non-Nordic cities): 2in of snow and the town collapses … while Britain dramatically floods, many cities in the US are facing non-stop snowstorms. Just a couple of weeks ago, Atlanta shut down – thousands of flights cancelled, 2,000 school children separated from parents and all kinds of dramatic stories of people stranded in highways or buses emerging. Rebecca Burns recalls in Politico Magazine how many took it as comical that one of the largest metropolitan areas of the US was brought to a standstill by a few flurries, and how it was only a matter of time until comparisons with the poster of the zombie apocalypse in the TV show The Walking Dead started popping up all over the net. She goes on to explain, though, that “what happened is not a matter of southerners blindsided by unpredictable weather” and that this event, more than any other, underscores the “horrible history of suburban sprawl in the United States and the bad political decisions that drive it”. Mainly, a balkanised metro area with over 60 mayors – reportedly 1m vehicles were leaving downtown Atlanta when the storm hit; a transportation system monopolised by cars and one main highway – the ‘downtown connector’ – a public transport system that only serves a fraction of the region; and the rejection of a special tax for transport improvement in a 2012 referendum. The result of this dangerous mix was a total paralysis – from which the city seems to have learned the second time around as citizens chose to stay home. 2. What snow can tell us about unused urban spaces As Dan McQuade puts it, snow is pretty when it falls, then it just lays there. And it gets ugly. This Philadelphia Magazine article explores an increasingly popular idea for a better use of public spaces triggered by the recent snow in the Pennsylvanian city. Its ”sneckdowns” – from ‘snow neckdowns’, or the space where snow collects in the street revealing the parts of paved roads cars don’t use – a term coined and expanding on Twitter. As Philadelphia political journalist, Jon Geeting, chronicled that snow accumulation shows spaces that are reserved for traffic but that aren’t used, and the idea is that these sneckdowns could be put to better use, such as pedestrian plazas – hence, making pedestrian feel safer and encouraging more foot traffic – without disturbing traffic or parking. 3. City logos - what for? After Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper commissioned eight new city logos for Toronto ny graphic designers, coinciding with the scandals surrounding its mayor – although not with this direct intention – a New Yorker piece questioned why, while it’s not obvious that city logos bear any relation to reputation, cities persist at changing them. Paul Hiebert traces city emblems back to 12-century Europe, and explains that while at first logos were a useful way of identifying various groups at a time when the peasantry was largely illiterate, “in recent decades heraldry has been losing ground to modern graphics, as cities borrow from the logos of the corporate world”. The article explores the interesting strategies that cities like New York, Amsterdam or Seattle envisioned behind the creation of world famous logos. 4. Refugee camps turned into cities The Zatari camp in Syria, currently hosting 100,000 Syrian refugees, was visited by CNN, who produced this report showing how its inhabitants live and work. This interactive map lets you explore this provisional city and includes beauty salons, three schools, vegetable gardens, a supermarket and even a makeshift ”Champs Elysees”. 5. The ice metropolis Everything’s bigger in China, including ice sculptures. The Harbin Ice and Snow World, in north-west China, is actually almost an ice city made of 180,000 cubic metres of ice. It includes structures from around the world, including the Empire State Building, the Colosseum and the Jade Belt bridge from Beijing, as this beautiful gallery by the New York Times Magazine shows. Last year, this festival – designed to promote winter tourism – attracted 800,000 visitors. A future ice Vegas? 6. What’s your Williamsburg? Apparently, each city has its own Williamsburg. Without entering the debate around whether this is good news or a catastrophe, this Gawker piece by Max Read wants to be a definitive list of “hip – or formerly hip and now just rich” neighourhoods in North America but also a handful of European, African and Asian cities. Oh, and they include the Bushwicks – or “next Williamsburgs” – too. Check if they got yours right. Share your suggestions in the comments section or tell us on Twitter at @guardiancities | ['cities/series/city-links', 'cities/cities', 'world/snow', 'weather/atlanta', 'environment/flooding', 'cities/commuting', 'artanddesign/design', 'world/syria', 'world/refugees', 'world/china', 'us-news/us-news', 'media/cnn', 'type/article', 'tone/blog', 'profile/marta-bausells'] | environment/flooding | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2014-02-14T18:03:34Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2019/mar/10/rubbish-police-check-bin-bags-drive-up-recycling-rates-swansea-fines | ‘Rubbish police’ check bin bags to drive up recycling rates | A pair of council officers in hi-vis jackets scrutinise a clipboard before approaching a bungalow on a windswept estate on the western outskirts of Swansea. They are looking for residents who have sneaked recyclables into black bin bags destined for landfill sites or incineration plants. Recycling promotion officer Scott Matthews shakes two bulging, partly ripped bags and listens to the telltale clinks and clanks: “There’s glass and cans in these. There is food too. And there is no recycling out whatsoever.” Swansea is the only council in the UK sending in special teams – referred to by some disgruntled locals as the “rubbish police” – to check household waste for recyclables and issuing fines of up to £100 to those who refuse to separate materials such as plastics and glass into coloured bags. The scheme, which was launched last month, is part of the city’s efforts to boost its already impressive recycling rates, before a further rise in the UK’s only statutory local authority targets for household recycling, which were brought in by the Welsh government in 2012. The targets have helped take Wales to third in the municipal recycling world rankings, just behind Germany and Taiwan. Swansea currently recycles 62-63% of its waste – far in excess of the UK average of 44.6%. But from April the city will need to recycle 64%, or risk £200 fines for every tonne of excess waste, which could run into millions of pounds. The bin bag checks are the brainchild of Chris Howell, who heads Swansea council’s waste department. “It’s not right that a minority are choosing to throw recyclable material away to be buried or burnt when natural resources are finite,” he says. While recycling levels in the city are relatively high, he insists more could be done. “Half of what is in residual waste in black bags is recyclable material and a quarter of it is food waste,” he says. Councils tend to use indirect ways to get people to recycle more, such as limiting the number of waste bags or the frequency of waste collections, but Howell is trying something different. “We are taking a more direct approach,” he says. “We don’t want recyclable material in a bag destined for landfill – that’s why we are seeking to keep it out.” He emphasises that people will get three warnings over an eight-week period before any fines are imposed. “You can’t get fined for accidents. The process is in place to ensure that it is targeted at habitual and determined non- or token recyclers.” Officers, he adds, will also take into account people’s vulnerabilities: “Some people have learning difficulties or have dementia. We have a letter we can issue saying ‘we fully understand you are trying your best and no further action will be taken’.” This does not completely reassure Jemma Bere, policy manager at the charity Keep Wales Tidy. She fears the fines may disproportionately hit poorer communities, as research suggests the lowest-income families are less likely to recycle. “The only correlation with the lack of take-up with household recycling is socioeconomic status,” she says. “Education and engagement have to come first. Enforcement – especially when it is in the home – should be a last resort.” Back on the estate, Matthews and his colleague, Dave Brown, have only managed to speak to four residents with recyclables in their fortnightly allowance of three black bin bags. They include a man in his 60s with a serious health problems and younger man, Kevin Thomas, who admits to paying individuals known as “black baggers” to take his rubbish because his family produces between 10 and 15 bags of waste every fortnight. He is worried by the idea of a fine: “It’s shocking. There are five of us living here. We make a lot of rubbish.” At the other end of the cul-de-sac, Gareth Dallimore, 47, says he recycles but doesn’t want officers rifling through his bags. “It’s an invasion of privacy. I put my bills and bank statements in there,” he says. Most, however, appear to approve of the new approach. Deborah Davies, 49, doesn’t mind her rubbish being checked. “It is important to reuse stuff. It is environmentally friendly. It’s the right thing to do, especially when you have got children,” she says outside her house. “You want your children to have a better world.” Retired cleaner Susanne Jones, 74, who is taking her dog for a walk, agrees: “We recycle everything we can. Odds and ends we put in black bags but that’s all. We do it for the environment, for our children.” Dos and don’ts Top five items we wrongly believe can be recycled • Soap pump dispenser tops • Used kitchen roll • Shiny or metallised gift-wrapping paper • Coffee cups • Glass that isn’t a bottle or jar (for example window glass) Top five items we wrongly believe we cannot recycle • Used foil and foil trays (if clean) • Empty deodorant aerosols • Empty surface cleaner bottle with trigger spray • Metal lids • Empty bleach bottles Source: British Science Association | ['environment/recycling', 'environment/ethical-living', 'environment/waste', 'uk/swansea', 'uk/wales', 'society/localgovernment', 'politics/politics', 'society/society', 'uk/uk', 'environment/environment', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'profile/tom-wall', 'publication/theobserver', 'theobserver/news', 'theobserver/news/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/observer-main'] | environment/waste | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2019-03-10T09:00:38Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
cleantechrevolution2009/time-right-need-urgent | 'The time is right and the need is urgent' | Across the world, in the midst of a recession, the industries that are still growing are those providing renewable energy and other low-carbon technologies. Countries like China and the US, which is taking a new direction under President Obama, are investing heavily in these new technologies to try to reduce their ever growing greenhouse gas emissions while boosting jobs and manufacturing. In the UK this is seen by many as a way to revitalise the British economy and help us towards the country's goal of cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 80% by 2050. These technologies are also seen as providing a vast potential in export earnings. However, the government already looks set to miss its pledge to cut emissions by 20% by 2010. Additionally, politicians of all parties have been criticised by environmental groups for lacking the substantive plans necessary to bring about the carbon reductions needed to keep the climate safe. Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg, the leaders of Britain's three main political parties, give their views on the importance of low-carbon technologies to the future of Britain. Gordon Brown, Prime minister The rapid diffusion of low-carbon technology is vital not only to tackling climate change but to our economic recovery and future prosperity. The low-carbon economy will provide a major source of jobs and growth for Britain, and this new Carbon Trust competition is both a celebration of those UK firms that are leading the way and a rallying call for others to take action. Already the UK is a major player, with over 800,000 people now employed in the low-carbon sector and well over a million jobs predicted by the middle of the next decade. Our new low-carbon industrial strategy will help companies to seize those opportunities, making Britain one of the best places in the world to grow a low-carbon business. And the green stimulus measures announced in the budget will support over £10bn of new investment in renewables, energy efficiency and advanced green manufacturing - because we recognise that, even in these challenging economic times, it's crucial that we continue to invest. David Cameron, Conservative leader The need for Britain to move into a low-carbon technological future in tackling climate change is now widely accepted. But as this supplement - and the work of the Carbon Trust - recognises, a low-carbon future should also be seen as a new source of economic growth. The emerging global market for the green tech sector is expected to be worth billions of pounds in the decades ahead. At the moment, UK firms have less than a 5% share in that market. We can't afford to lose out like this. An immediate step we should take is to make it easier for companies to invest in green technologies by providing government guarantees for bank loans to green tech companies in the recession. If we want low-carbon technology to prosper in the long term, we have to build the energy infrastructure that the private sector alone can't provide. That's why, at the beginning of the year, the Conservative Party launched a comprehensive low-carbon strategy that laid out a blueprint for the networks and incentives we will need to bring us into a low-carbon future. Nick Clegg, Liberal Democrat leader The UK can be, and should be, a powerhouse for renewable energy and green technology. As an island nation, our potential in this field is enormous - in terms of wind, wave and tidal power. We have the opportunity to become a leader in the global energy market. Energy efficiency and renewable technology are vital if we are serious about cutting emissions and reducing our demand for fossil fuels. But we have a long way to go on renewable energy - generating less than 5% of our electricity. We need to act now to help Britain out of this recession - and show that reducing emissions, delivering sustainable economic growth and green technology must go hand in hand. Many British scientists and companies are showing the way - and they need government support to be able to make it happen. We need to guarantee minimum prices for renewable energy, invest in research and promote new and existing technology to businesses, local authorities and households. There is enormous potential in Britain, the time is right and the need is urgent. | ['cleantechrevolution2009/launch-supplement', 'type/article', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/carbon-challenge', 'theguardian/carbon-challenge/carbon-challenge'] | theguardian/carbon-challenge | EMISSIONS | 2009-07-08T23:01:00Z | true | EMISSIONS |
environment/blog/2013/sep/30/owen-paterson-science-climate-change | Owen Paterson v the science of climate change | The UK environment secretary, Owen Paterson, has told a fringe meeting at the Conservative party conference: "People get very emotional about this subject [climate change] and I think we should just accept that the climate has been changing for centuries." The UN's climate science panel, the IPCC, said last Friday: "Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and since the 1950s, many of the observed changes are unprecedented over decades to millennia … It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century." Paterson says: "I think the relief of this latest report is that it shows a really quite modest increase, half of which has already happened. They are talking one to two and a half degrees." Paterson seems to miss the fact that these temperature rises are averages across the entire planet and will not be spread evenly, so a rise of 1-2.5C is not "modest". Some regions, such as the Arctic, will experience much more extreme rises. The IPCC report on Friday put the high end of global mean surface temperature rises by 2065 at 2.6C, which is in addition to the 0.75C or so that we've already caused temperatures to rise since the industrial revolution. For comparison, a 4C rise was enough to transform the planet since the last ice age. Paterson: "Remember that for humans, the biggest cause of death is cold in winter, far bigger than heat in summer. It would also lead to longer growing seasons and you could extend growing a little further north into some of the colder areas." On farming, Paterson is right in a purely self-interested British sense. Some parts of the world will see farming yields go up as temperatures warm, in particular in the US and Europe. On the other hand, parts of the subtropics, such as the Mediterranean region and parts of Australia, and the low latitudes, could experience declining conditions. The more extreme weather that scientists expect climate change to be accompanied by will bring "significant consequences for food". On deaths, Paterson is right when it comes to the UK. There are far more deaths caused by our cold weather than by heatwaves – on average across the 2000s, there were 1,974 annual 'heat deaths' compared to 41,408 annual 'cold deaths'. Even with the levels of warming projected by the IPCC, "cold remains the issue even up to the 2050s," says Prof Andrew Watkinson at the school of environment sciences at UEA. Paterson: "I actually see this report as something we need to take seriously but I am rather relieved that it is not as catastrophic in its forecast as we had been led to believe early on and what it is saying is something we can adapt to over time, and we are very good as a race at adapting." As temperatures rise, up to 3.6 million people in the UK are expected to be at risk of flooding by 2050 if there is no investment to lessen the threat, according to an analysis of climate change impacts by Paterson's own Department for Farming, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). The flood defences needed to adapt to that will likely cost billions of pounds. Rising sea levels mean cities across Europe will likely have to build defences similar to the Thames Barrier to protect against sea surges, according to the European Environment Agency. Other forms of adaptation will include changes to farming, such as planting more drought-resistant crops. But Paterson again appears to be viewing the problem through a narrowly British lens. Developed countries such as the UK may be able to afford such adaptation measures, but poorer ones will be less likely to. He also ignores the fact that wildlife won't be able to adapt fast enough. A study earlier this year showed that most land animals won't appear to evolve quickly enough to cope with temperatures by the end of the century. | ['environment/climate-crisis', 'politics/owen-paterson', 'politics/conservative-conference-2013', 'politics/conservatives', 'politics/toryconference', 'environment/green-politics', 'politics/politics', 'uk/uk', 'science/scienceofclimatechange', 'science/science', 'environment/environment', 'environment/blog', 'tone/blog', 'environment/ipcc', 'world/unitednations', 'world/world', 'environment/global-climate-talks', 'type/article', 'profile/adam-vaughan'] | environment/green-politics | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2013-09-30T11:13:05Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
environment/2010/jul/24/oil-spill-deepwater-horizon-safety-breaches | BP oil spill: safety breaches revealed | The testimony of Michael Williams, an electronics technician, that emergency alarms on board the Deepwater Horizon were disabled weeks before it exploded, killing 11 workers and spewing more than 4m barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, is the most damning evidence yet of shoddy maintenance and compromised safety systems on board the oil rig. Hearings conducted by a federal panel of investigators from the US Coast Guard and the department of the interior have already uncovered several incidents of apparent safety irregularities that leave both BP, the oil giant that was working the Macondo well, and Transocean, the owner of the oil rig that was operating under contract to BP, with big questions to answer. Williams, a former Marine, managed to survive the explosion on 20 April by jumping from the burning rig. His evidence before the federal panel in Kenner, on the outskirts of New Orleans, suggested a litany of problems, from alarm systems that had been switched off to software that was so faulty the rig's computer systems – critical for the monitoring of key safety equipment – regularly crashed. This week, the panel heard from Ronald Sepulvado, a BP manager who had been on board the rig until five days before the blast. He told investigators that three months before the disaster he had been warned by Halliburton, which was acting as a contractor on the well, that the rig's blowout preventer could be faulty. Gas could be leaking out of the device, Halliburton reported, which would suggest that it was not fulfilling its role as the last line of defence against a possible blowout of oil or gas. Sepulvado said he informed his bosses at BP's Houston headquarters, but they in turn appear not to have passed on the information, as they were obliged, to federal authorities. While BP is in the line of fire for failing to act on such apparently crucial warnings, Transocean, the Swiss-based company that owns a fleet of offshore oil rigs, also has to answer for serious anomalies. A report compiled at Transocean's request by Lloyd's Register Group shortly before the catastrophe found that crucial elements of the blowout preventer, including safety valves, had not been properly inspected for 10 years in violation of guidelines that the device is fully inspected every three to five years. The report, obtained by the New York Times, also listed 26 parts of the rig that were in "bad" or "poor" condition. Workers quoted in the Lloyd's survey said that they were under the impression that Transocean considered keeping the drilling going a higher priority than maintaining the rig. So far in the three-month crisis, most attention has been placed on how BP has conducted itself before and after the explosion. Relatively little focus has been given to Transocean, which has been trying to limit its liabilities in the Gulf disaster by invoking an 1851 piece of legislation that sets a ceiling of $27m. On the other hand, the Obama administration has made clear that it is looking into the affairs of a number of companies, including BP and Transocean, as it considers whether to press criminal charges in the wake of the catastrophe, the worst environmental disaster in US history. In the long run, the federal authorities will have to consider whether a culture of compromised safety and corner cutting has spread across the business of offshore oil drilling. The Washington Post has scoured federal records and found that in numerous cases the operators of oil rigs have bypassed safety systems in order to press ahead with drilling. In similar terms, the energy and commerce committee of the US Congress has accused BP of scrimping on safety measures in order to meet tight drilling schedules. The committee's chairman, Henry Waxman, said last month that "time after time, it appears BP made decisions that increased the risk of a blowout to save the company time or expense". | ['environment/bp-oil-spill', 'business/bp', 'us-news/us-news', 'business/business', 'environment/environment', 'business/oil', 'environment/oil', 'business/oilandgascompanies', 'environment/oil-spills', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'profile/edpilkington', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/international'] | environment/oil | ENERGY | 2010-07-23T23:45:39Z | true | ENERGY |
world/2021/aug/21/tropical-storm-henri-us-north-east-hurricane-long-island-new-york-connecticut | Hurricane Henri: Long Island and southern New England brace for impact | Hurricane Henri remained on course early Sunday to crash into a long stretch of the north-east coastline of the US, as millions on New York’s Long Island and in southern New England braced for flooding, toppled trees and extended power outages. With the center of the storm projected to pass over or just off the eastern tip of Long Island by midday Sunday, hurricane warnings extended from coastal Connecticut and near the old whaling port of New Bedford, Massachusetts, to the summer getaway of Fire Island. New England has not taken a direct hit from a hurricane since Bob, a category two storm, hit in 1991. The first thunderstorms bringing what could be up to 6in (15cm) of rain arrived late Saturday, and storm surges and flooding were expected in some areas overnight. Several videos posted online showed drivers plowing through high water in New York City, and Newark and Hoboken, New Jersey. Forecasters said high water could also be seen in coastal New England as Henri moves inland. Heavy rain and wind may also produce flooding, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. From the White House, Joe Biden held a call with governors of states likely to be affected and officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. According to a White House readout of the call, Biden and the governors “discussed how important it is for residents in the storm’s path to prepare now for significant impacts … including by visiting Ready.gov, and the need to prevent the spread of Covid-19 through the use of vaccines, masks and social distancing if sheltering is required.” In New York, Andrew Cuomo used his last hours as governor to direct preparations, declaring a state of emergency in some areas and telling residents: “If you have to get to higher ground, it has to be today.” Cuomo will step down on Monday, two weeks after resigning over allegations that he sexually harassed 11 women. He denies the claims against him. In a press conference, Cuomo was asked why he was leading preparations rather than incoming governor Kathy Hochul, formerly his lieutenant. He said: “I am governor today and I am in charge. This is also something I’ve done a few times.” Henri was veering a little further west than first expected. If that track held it would have eastern Long Island in New York in its bullseye rather than New England, which hasn’t taken a direct hit from a hurricane since Bob, a category two storm, killed at least 17. New York hasn’t had a direct hit from a major hurricane season storm since Superstorm Sandy wreaked havoc in 2012. PSEG Long Island, the main power provider for the area, warned customers could experience outages for as many as 10 days, depending on the severity of the storm. On Fire Island, a narrow strip of sandy villages barely above sea level off Long Island’s southern coast, residents and visitors were urged to evacuate, with the last boats out to leave at 10.40pm. After that, officials said, there may be no way out. “If they do not leave the island today, they will be stuck on the island and we do not know what kind of conditions they may be facing. But they could be difficult. They could be dangerous,” said Steve Bellone, the Suffolk county executive. Officials were building a wall of sand along the boardwalk at Jones Beach to protect it against surging tides, said George Gorman, regional director for state parks on Long Island. The wall was being built with equipment procured in the wake of Sandy, which caused substantial damage. Campgrounds were expected to be closed starting on Saturday afternoon and remain off limits until Tuesday. In the Hamptons, the celebrity playground on the east end of Long Island, officials warned of dangerous rip currents and flooding likely to turn streets like mansion-lined Dune Road on the Atlantic coast into virtual lagoons. Ryan Murphy, emergency management administrator for the town of Southampton, said: “We have to plan as if it’s going to be like a category one hurricane that would be hitting us.” With a top wind speed of 75mph, Henri sped up to move north-north-east at 17mph as of Saturday afternoon. It was still about 395 miles south of Montauk Point on Long Island. The NHC said storm surge between 3ft and 5ft was possible from Flushing, New York, to Chatham, Massachusetts. Rainfall between 3in and 6in was expected. The National Weather Service warned of damaging winds and widespread coastal flooding. Authorities urged people to secure boats, fuel vehicles and stock up on canned goods. Broad impacts were expected inland to Hartford, Connecticut and Albany, New York and eastward to Cape Cod, which is also teeming with tourists. The Massachusetts governor, Charlie Baker, urged people vacationing on the Cape to leave well before Henri hits, and those who planned to start vacations there to delay their plans. “We don’t want people to be stuck in traffic on the Cape Cod bridges when the storm is in full force on Sunday,” he said. Governor Ned Lamont warned Connecticut residents to prepare to “shelter in place” from Sunday afternoon through at least Monday morning. Lamont declared a state of emergency and requested 200 national guard members be brought into the state in preparation for emergency assistance. “This is going to be a team effort, this is going to be a very dangerous storm,” said Rick Fontana of the New Haven emergency operations center. “We may not have seen anything of this magnitude in many years, maybe even 30 or 40 years. This is going to be difficult, it’s going to take a lot of patience.” | ['world/hurricanes', 'us-news/us-weather', 'us-news/us-news', 'world/world', 'us-news/new-york', 'us-news/connecticut', 'us-news/massachusetts', 'us-news/rhode-island', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/lauren-aratani', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-news'] | world/hurricanes | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2021-08-21T21:25:48Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
us-news/2017/sep/01/harvey-aid-white-house-congress-emergency-package | Harvey aid: White House to ask Congress for initial $5.9bn | The White House has prepared a request to Congress for an emergency $5.9bn (£4.6bn) package in Harvey recovery aid, as flood waters receded in Houston to reveal swaths of devastation wrought by the former hurricane. It is expected to be followed by further requests that could exceed the $110bn to victims of 2005’s Hurricane Katrina. Rescuers continued plucking people from flood waters across Texas as the death toll rose to 44 almost a week after the storm slammed into the Gulf of Mexico coast. Emergency crews and volunteers in boats, trucks and aircraft scoured inundated suburbs around Houston and cities to the east for people still in need of evacuation. Police rescued 18 people from flood waters overnight, said Houston’s mayor, Sylvester Turner. “Crisis ebbing but far from over.” In dryer areas recovery crews started to assess damage and remove debris. They braced for the discovery of bodies. Harvey, once a category 4 hurricane, was downgraded to a tropical depression as it moved over north-eastern Louisiana and into Mississippi. The emergency aid plan will be sent to Congress on Friday with House and Senate votes likely next week. The White House homeland security adviser said the initial aid money would be a down payment for immediate recovery efforts, to be followed by larger packages later. “We’ll go up to Congress and give them a sound supplemental request number. We’ll add to it,” Tom Bossert said. “And when we can get a better handle on the damage we can come back with a responsible last, so to speak, supplemental request.” Donald Trump has also pledged to donate $1m in personal funds to the relief effort. Fires and two explosions early on Thursday at a chemical plant in Crosby, north-east of Houston, have jolted residents to the presence of new dangers as waters recede. The plant, which makes organic peroxides used in plastic resins and paint, lost refrigeration due to the storm. An executive warned that eight more tanks could burn and explode. Contradictory messages from officials left people unsure if emissions were toxic. The Texas department of public safety said 48,700 homes had sustained flood damage, including 17,000 with heavy damage and 1,000 that were destroyed. The storm has forced 32,000 people into shelters and was the most powerful hurricane to hit Texas in half a century. Officials ordered mandatory evacuation of some communities near the Barker and Addicks reservoirs, which continued to discharge water. But much of Houston was dry and baked under a blazing sun. The heat aggravated the stench from stagnant waters and flood-damaged properties. “Man, oh-ooh, that is foul,” said a shirtless man on Discovery Green, a park beside a convention centre which is sheltering 8,000 people. The city’s health department urged residents to take precautions to minimise the risk of contamination and diseases such as cholera and typhoid. “Practice good hygiene such as hand washing after any contact with #Harvey floodwaters,” it tweeted. “Do not eat any food that came in contact with #Harvey floodwaters. When in doubt, throw it out.” Regular trash collection was due to resume on Thursday. Airports have resumed a limited service. Despite the havoc of recent days, Houston remained calm. “No city curfew citations or arrests for a second night in a row. Thank you Houston for your understanding and cooperation,” tweeted the mayor. The White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said she was uncertain whether Trump’s donation would come from the president directly or his private foundation, which has been a source of controversy. She called on the media to help decide which specific group or organisation he should give to. “He’d love some suggestions from the folks here and I’d be happy to take those if any of you have them,” she told reporters in the briefing room. “But as I said, he’ll pledge proudly a million dollars of his own personal money to help the people of both Texas and Louisiana.” Trump and his wife, Melania, will travel back to Texas and to Louisiana on Saturday, Sanders added. The tentative plan includes the Houston area in Texas and possibly Lake Charles, Louisiana, but this may change depending on conditions. The president visited Corpus Christi and Austin on Tuesday. Bossert claimed “coordination is happening better than any storm we’ve seen before” and noted that 28 search and rescue teams and taskforces from 16 states had been sent to Texas. “In fact, I believe that that’s the first time we’ve activated all the taskforces since 9/11, so this is an all-hands-on-deck operation.” The adviser said undocumented immigrants seeking government help should not be worried about their immigration status “unless they’ve committed a crime on top of coming here illegally”. No one would be denied help based on their legal status and shelters would not be subjected to inspections. Asked about explosions at the Arkema chemical plant near Crosby, he said the situation was not a public health hazard in the sense that people around the facility had already been evacuated. “If they were there, it would be dangerous and they have to keep an eye on it and take it seriously, but for right now the people don’t seem to be there, so a tree falling in the woods, if you will.” But further deaths in Texas were likely in the coming days, Bossert warned. “In the immediate response and recovery phase, people will use chainsaws, people will remove debris, people will be stressed … so unfortunately, we will see additional losses of life, if history is any precedent here.” | ['us-news/hurricane-harvey', 'us-news/us-news', 'world/world', 'us-news/houston', 'us-news/texas', 'us-news/trump-administration', 'world/natural-disasters', 'environment/flooding', 'environment/environment', 'us-news/louisiana', 'us-news/mississippi', 'us-news/hurricane-katrina', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/tom-dart', 'profile/rorycarroll', 'profile/davidsmith', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-foreign'] | us-news/hurricane-harvey | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2017-09-01T07:44:51Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2024/apr/08/country-diary-a-glorious-springtime-copse-blighted-by-discarded-tree-guards | Country diary: A glorious springtime copse, blighted by discarded tree guards | Susie White | A hare springs away over the swell of the hill as we drop down into the wood. On this bright morning, a mistle thrush flings its clear song on to the breeze. Wild garlic shines emerald beneath the trees and woodrush thrusts through fallen beech leaves. Other signs of spring: arrow-shaped lords-and-ladies, pale green flowers of dog’s mercury and, on a sheltered bank, the first primroses. There’s a feeling of movement, of growth, of upward vitality. The thing that jars is that which is not alive: the twisted, distorted tubes of long-ago tree guards, redundant now that the trees have grown. They cling on, cloven in two, forced apart by bark, still attached to mossy stakes by black ties. Or tumbled and half buried in grass and soil, where they will remain for many years. In an act of guerrilla tidying, we gather a load of the split, broken, battered plastic and pile it under an old piece of wriggly tin. These pieces will still break down into microplastics, but removing them frees the struggling trunks. This is just a small copse in Northumberland, but this scene is replicated across the country. In this last week I’ve seen: sand-coloured straps of plastic like giant tagliatelle wrapped round a hazel on a nature reserve; a roadside red-stemmed dogwood half-throttled as it tries to throw off its burden; and a top-heavy hawthorn hedge, its marching line of white tubes masking a barren base (to be stock-proof, a hedge needs to be dense right from the base). Tree guards are used to protect new plantings from rabbits, hares, voles and an ever-expanding deer population. They are, in theory, reusable or recyclable, but few are collected once they are no longer needed, and probably damaging the tree and littering the countryside. Biodegradable alternatives being trialled by the Woodland Trust, the National Trust and the Tree Council are made from materials such as wool or cardboard. I’m heartened by two Northumberland farmers. One does indeed collect the tubes and offers them for reuse, and these are snapped up on Facebook. The other is planting a mix of species within wooden post-and-rail cages without individual guards. • Country diary is on Twitter at @gdncountrydiary • Susie White’s book Second Nature: The Story of A Naturalist’s Garden is published by Saraband on Thursday 11 April. | ['environment/series/country-diary', 'environment/forests', 'environment/environment', 'uk/ruralaffairs', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/susie-white', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/letters', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2024-04-08T04:30:22Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2010/apr/28/arctic-sea-ice-loss-warming | Sea ice loss driving Arctic warming cycle, scientists confirm | The Arctic is locked into a destructive cycle that could see its icy cover rapidly disappear, scientists have confirmed. A new analysis shows that dwindling levels of sea ice are responsible for unusual levels of global warming in the region. The findings reinforce suggestions that a positive feedback between ice loss and temperature rise has emerged in the Arctic, which increases the chances of further rapid ice loss and warming. The study could re-ignite claims that the Arctic has passed a key tipping point, which could see ice disappear much sooner than expected. While most estimates say the summertime Arctic will not be ice-free until the middle of the century, some models suggest it could vanish within a decade. James Screen, a researcher at the University of Melbourne, Australia, who led the study, said: "The concept of Arctic sea ice having a tipping point is still hotly debated. Our results cannot prove whether we have passed a tipping point or not. What we can say is that the emergence of these strong ice-temperature feedbacks can only increase the likelihood of further rapid warming and sea ice loss." Temperatures in the Arctic have risen twice as fast as the rest of the world in recent decades, a phenomena known as Arctic amplification. Scientists have long suspected that loss of sea ice was responsible, but other factors such as changes in wind, clouds and ocean currents have also been blamed. Writing in the journal Nature, Screen and his colleague Ian Simmonds, say they used new data to show that the projected ice-temperature feedbacks are now being observed. "Previous studies have been hampered by a lack of quality data for the Arctic," Screen said. "The ice temperature feedbacks have likely strengthened in the last decade or so due to the dramatic declines in sea ice. Prior to this, the signal may have been harder to detect." Part of this change is down to the albedo effect, with white, reflective ice replaced by dark water, which absorbs more of the sun's heat. The removal of ice has also led to more summer evaporation of water, which acts as a powerful greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, and speeds temperature rise. Screen said: "The albedo effect is very important here, but there are other factors related to the loss of sea ice that likely play a role." | ['environment/poles', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/environment', 'science/scienceofclimatechange', 'science/science', 'world/arctic', 'world/world', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'profile/davidadam'] | environment/poles | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2010-04-28T18:00:01Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
world/2005/sep/08/hurricanekatrina.usa5 | Cheney promises to rebuild disaster zone | United States vice-president Dick Cheney has begun a tour of states affected by Hurricane Katrina, as it emerged that emergency officials in Louisiana were preparing 25,000 body bags for the disaster victims. In a visit to ravaged areas in Mississippi, he promised that disaster-hit areas would be rebuilt and mobile homes moved to the region as temporary accommodation for the worst-hit. "I think the progress we're making is significant. I think the performance in general at least in terms of the information I've received from locals is definitely very impressive," he told reporters during a tour of the Mississippi city of Gulfport. But Gulfport resident Lynn Lofton criticised the visit. "I think the media opportunity right here is a complete waste of time and taxpayer money," she told reporters covering the tour. Cheney's visit to the region comes after a week out of the public eye, which has attracted adverse commentary from across the political spectrum. Cheney will travel to New Orleans and Baton Rouge later today to inspect rebuilding and emergency efforts in the regions worst-hit by the hurricane. The international relief effort also continued, with a Mexican army convoy crossing into the US for the first time since the 1846 Mexican-American war to provide water treatment plants and mobile kitchens to feed 7,000 people a day. The US government today flagged up a role for Nato's newly formed response force in delivering aid to stricken areas of the Gulf coast. An Airbus Super Transporter landed in Mobile, Alabama, this morning, carrying 22 tonnes of bedding and tents from the UK and France. A mobile hospital is also expected to be delivered tomorrow. Predictions of the death toll from the hurricane and its repercussions have ranged from a few hundred to 10,000. The official figure of confirmed dead in Louisiana was 71 yesterday, but this is expected to rise. According to official estimates some 40,000 people are missing, though many of these are likely to have survived but been displaced. There is still no official estimate because dealing with the bodies still floating in floodwaters or lying on the streets has been a low priority during the hunt for survivors. However, with more emergency resources finally in the area officials are under growing pressure to deal with the deteriorating bodies. A website set up by the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross listed more than 117,000 names of people who have not been located. Hundreds of names have already been removed as survivors make contact. There are growing calls for a more accurate death toll to be established so that the scale of the disaster can be better understood. [Read more here] The latest reports from New Orleans highlight the terrible smell in the disaster area. Those working there are now using masks to cope with it. The first government tests confirmed yesterday that the amount of sewage-related bacteria in the floodwaters is at least 10 times higher than acceptable safety levels. Three people are also known to have died because of the floodwater. British officials are still trying to trace 96 UK nationals believed to have been in Hurricane Katrina's path, and other countries are also trying to find their citizens. Recovery teams are finding more and more bodies. More than 30 residents of a nursing home in St Bernard Parish, 20 miles east of downtown New Orleans, were yesterday found dead. A week on from the hurricane, the victims lay where they died - draped over a wheelchair, wrapped in a shower curtain or lying on the floor in several inches of muck. Police were preparing to begin forced evacuations in New Orleans, where between 10,000 and 15,000 people remain. Some are insisting they will not leave despite a demand by the mayor, Ray Nagin, on Tuesday for the entire city, including dry areas where some homes are relatively undamaged, to be evacuated. However, police appeared to be unready to start using force. Police Superintendent Eddie Compass told a news conference his officers would not forcibly remove residents until all those who wanted to leave voluntarily had done so. Another senior officer said forced evictions would start "in the next few days". One civilian still in the city, Patrick McCarty, who owns several buildings and lives in one of them, in the Lower Garden district, said: "A large group of young men armed with M-16s just arrived at my door and told me that I have to leave. While not saying they would arrest you, the inference is clear." Mr Nagin warned that the combination of fetid water, fires and natural gas leaks after Hurricane Katrina made conditions too dangerous to allow people to stay. Dr Julie Gerberding, chief of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, warned stragglers not to even touch the floodwater and pleaded: "If you haven't left the city yet, you must do so." The storm is expected to cause 400,000 job losses, a report for Congress said yesterday; some private estimates of the cost in unemployment terms have put the figure at 1 million jobs. Today it emerged that around 10,000 people affected by the storm had filed for unemployment benefits last week. The figure is expected to rise dramatically as many claims offices in the path of the hurricane have been shut. The US president, George Bush, has asked Congress for up to $50bn (£27bn) in aid for the recovery effort, which is currently costing up to $1bn a day, according to Thad Cochran, a senior Republican senator. | ['world/world', 'us-news/hurricane-katrina', 'us-news/us-news', 'us-news/dick-cheney', 'world/natural-disasters', 'us-news/us-politics', 'type/article'] | us-news/hurricane-katrina | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2005-09-08T18:12:38Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2020/jun/10/nsw-environment-minister-walks-back-suggestions-clean-air-strategy-has-been-dropped | NSW environment minister walks back suggestions clean air strategy has been dropped | The New South Wales environment minister, Matt Kean, has walked back suggestions the government has abandoned a long-promised clean air strategy for the state, blaming his office. Kean said his office was incorrect when it told Guardian Australia that the government would not be introducing a standalone strategy to tackle air pollution after four years of planning that included a summit on the issue. He said it was an error due to a “mix up”, and that the government intends to deliver the plan, which is three years overdue, early next year. Labor’s Kate Washington responded that “it sounds like somebody told the truth and then they realised the truth didn’t sound very good”. Guardian Australia reported on Saturday the government had dropped its commitment to a standalone clean air strategy for the state and would instead absorb air pollution into other policies, including its zero emissions targets. The story prompted anger from communities affected by air pollution, such as the Hunter Valley, as well as organisations that have spent four years contributing to the development of the plan. The NSW government held a clean air summit in 2017 and promised to announce a statewide framework to reduce toxic air and the health problems it causes later that year. The NSW Environment Protection Authority presented a draft proposal to the minister in May 2019 but it has never been released. In response to questions last week, a spokesman from Kean’s office said: “Rather than releasing a standalone plan for clean air, the NSW government is integrating air quality as a key component of other strategic priorities.” The statement said the government would instead factor air pollution into policies including the state’s net zero emissions plan, the NSW electricity strategy and a plan for the transition to electric and hybrid vehicles. “It’s certainly not the government’s position that we have shelved the policy as a standalone document,” Kean said on Tuesday. “It’s not my intention. I fully intend to have a standalone strategy. There was a miscommunication from my team and I want to correct the record. “We are absolutely committed to a standalone clean air strategy. There was a mix-up in my media team with regard to the statement that was issued.” An estimated 3,000 deaths per year in Australia are due to urban air pollution. Kean’s comments come as a NSW parliamentary inquiry into the hazardous air quality caused by the 2019-20 bushfire disaster and by drought gets under way, with hearings commencing on Wednesday. He said the fires had highlighted the importance of clean air after the state experienced the worst air quality in its history, which had affected people’s health and everyday way of life. “I think we need to do more work on making sure that people have the information they need in relation to bushfire smoke,” Kean said. “For example, during bad bushfire seasons, it’s really important for people to be able to plan when to go and do exercise outdoors and have accurate and timely information.” He said he wanted to explore if there were better technology options available to make this easier for communities, especially those most affected by air pollution. “We also need to make sure the clean air plan integrates with other government policies, like the electricity strategy,” he said. “To this end, I intend to do further consultation on clean air initiatives, especially regarding bushfire smoke, this year with a view to publishing the finalised plan early next year.” Labor’s environment spokeswoman, Kate Washington, expressed doubt about the minister’s explanation. “I would say the statement was unequivocal and then the minister has realised the communities affected by air pollution feel betrayed,” she said. “This is a backflip on a backflip. “It’s embarrassing that he didn’t like a story and realised maybe he actually has to come out with a plan.” Washington said the government should make its proposal publicly available soon, instead of waiting until 2021. “If it was the intention to do a standalone plan, it has been sitting on his desk for 12 months now and he should release it as soon as possible,” she said. | ['environment/series/environmental-investigations', 'environment/air-pollution', 'environment/environment', 'australia-news/new-south-wales-politics', 'australia-news/new-south-wales', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'australia-news/health', 'type/article', 'profile/lisa-cox', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/air-pollution | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2020-06-09T22:00:04Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
australia-news/2023/feb/09/famous-australian-beaches-vulnerable-to-severe-coastal-erosion-caused-by-la-nina | Famous Australian beaches vulnerable to severe coastal erosion caused by La Niña | Some of Australia’s most famous beaches, including the tourist hotspot Noosa, are increasingly vulnerable to coastal erosion caused by successive years of La Niña, with experts voicing fears for local biodiversity. Beaches along Australia’s south-east coast erode substantially during prolonged La Niña events, a study analysing four decades of satellite imagery has suggested. The research comes amid warnings that erosion along Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, after three consecutive La Niña years, is significantly affecting local biodiversity. Dr Javier Leon, a senior lecturer in physical geography at the University of the Sunshine Coast, has been monitoring the shoreline between Noosa’s Main Beach and Coolum. He estimated that over the last three years on average the shoreline has retreated by about 20 metres, while the sand dunes have receded between 7m and 10m and vertically eroded by 2m to 3m. Usually, some turtle nesting occurs along that stretch of coast between November and January – “30 or so every year”, Leon estimates. “This year there have been no nests.” “I’m assuming that it is because the beach and dunes have been eroded so there’s no place where turtles can [make] their nests,” he said, noting that there had been nesting activity further south, where beaches were less eroded. “If you were to leave a coastal system by itself, the beach would move a lot. The real problem is when you have infrastructure behind, or even worse, on those dunes.” Leon cited Main Beach and Maroochydore as particularly vulnerable areas. The Queensland analysis is in keeping with the findings of satellite research that studied more than 8,300km of coastline along the Pacific basin, looking at the effects of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation on wave-dominated sandy beaches. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Enso oscillates between warm El Niño, cold La Niña and neutral phases as a result of differences in sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean. Of the Australian coastline analysed, the researchers found that between 1984 and 2022, 48% of beaches experienced significant erosion during La Niña years. “That signal is very clear in south-east Australia,” said the study’s first author, Dr Kilian Vos of the University of New South Wales. The erosion during La Niña was linked to a 7% increase in wave power and sea level changes, Vos said. Conversely, El Niño was associated with an accumulation of sand across 75% of beaches analysed. Enso appeared to have the opposite effect on the other side of the Pacific, resulting in the accretion of sand on to beaches during La Niña years along the west coast of the Americas. “Enso is very asymmetric,” Vos said. “El Niño events are very intense and very short, while La Niña events are rarely as strong but they last much longer. “Beaches kind of have a memory. If there have been many storms in the past year, the beach will be eroded and will take a long time to recover.” He pointed to 2012-13 as an example, when the most extensive erosion in Australia was recorded. That year the Enso was in the neutral phase, but it followed two consecutive years of strong La Niña conditions. “This highlights how El Niño and La Niña can trigger prolonged erosion phases on sandy coastlines,” the study’s authors wrote. The researchers studied only wave power but not the direction from which the waves arrived along the coast. Leon, who was not involved in the study, said along Australia’s east coast waves tended to hit the beaches from a south-east direction, but “La Niña usually means more waves from the east”. “As soon as you get too many easterly waves, then a lot of those beaches are not used to it, so they are prone to erosion,” he said. “That’s what we’ve observed in the last three years.” Anthropogenic climate change would further complicate the natural cycle of coastline changes, Leon added. “The projections are that for the east coast of Australia, regardless of La Niña or El Niño, we will see waves shifting anti-clockwise, meaning they will come more and more from the east – because of climate change.” The research was published in the journal Nature Geoscience. | ['australia-news/queensland', 'environment/environment', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/la-nina', 'campaign/email/afternoon-update', 'environment/wildlife', 'environment/elnino', 'environment/biodiversity', 'environment/marine-life', 'environment/oceans', 'australia-news/sunshine-coast', 'australia-news/australia-weather', 'type/article', 'profile/donna-lu', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/wildlife | BIODIVERSITY | 2023-02-09T16:00:05Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
commentisfree/2021/jul/08/trudeau-love-fossil-fuel-makes-canada-extreme-weather-worse | Canada is facing extreme weather. And Trudeau’s love of fossil fuel will only make it worse | Tzeporah Berman | After recording the country’s highest ever temperatures of 49.6C, the town of Lytton in British Columbia, Canada, burst into flames. Residents had minutes to flee a “wall of fire” with nothing but the clothing on their backs. Like people in many other places in the world struggling with heatwaves, fires, droughts and strange extreme storms, BC residents now know what it feels like to live in a changing climate on an increasingly inhospitable planet. It’s the helplessness you feel as a mother when your son is throwing up from heat exhaustion. It’s the fear you feel when your asthmatic niece struggles to breathe because of the dense smoke from wildfires. It’s the panic you feel when you know that your oldest son is out in northern British Columbia tree planting and that there are now 180 wildfires raging across the province, caused by unprecedented “fire weather” – 710,000 lightning strikes in a 24-hour period. It’s also the anger you feel when you know that our government has utterly failed to take the actions necessary to keep us safe. The most recent data, despite the Trudeau government’s claims of climate leadership, shows that Canada has made no progress in reducing emissions. Canada’s emissions are higher today than they were in 1990 and Canada is performing worse on climate change than any other G7 country. So why are we doing so poorly on addressing this emergency, in a relatively wealthy country with a stable democracy in which the majority of the population not only believes in climate change but supports strong action to move to a low carbon economy? The answer lies in part with the level of influence, lobbying and power of the fossil fuel companies in the committees, councils and commissions that are shaping our response to the climate emergency. The fox is watching the henhouse. Canada’s big banks and pension funds are among the largest fossil fuel financiers and investors in the world. Their enabling of the fossil fuel industry hinders real action on climate. The distortion of the debate is so remarkable – not only in Canada but internationally – that we are somehow still trying to convince ourselves that it is OK to finance and build more fossil fuel infrastructure, oil sands pipelines, offshore drilling and LNG plants while talking about committing to “net-zero” emissions. Climate policy is complicated. We know we have to reimagine and re-engineer how we produce goods, how we heat and power our homes and how we move about the world. But what the fossil fuel companies have been working to cover up and obfuscate is that emissions trapped in our atmosphere come from three products: oil, gas and coal. Today we have the technology to replace most of the uses of these products – from electric vehicles to renewable energies like wind and solar to large-scale battery storage. But in Canada, almost every policy proposed to help us shift away from fossil fuel production and use has been watered down, delayed or shelved because of the lobbying and influence of the oil and gas companies. Just this month, while the government announced better goals for achieving zero emission cars and trucks, no laws or tailpipe regulations have been proposed. And in climate policy the devil is definitely in the details. I have no doubt that at COP26, Canada will be lauded for its new, stronger targets and for its national carbon price. These policies are ones that, more than a decade ago, were thought to be enough. Similarly, a decade ago natural gas was considered a “bridge fuel” and along with biomass was thought to be better for the climate than coal. Today the science is clear that both exacerbate climate change, yet Canada continues to subsidize clearcutting our forests for wood pellets and fracking for liquified natural gas. In the face of the nightmare we are now living in, these policies are at best Band-Aids on a gaping wound and at worst they are throwing gas on the fire. It’s time for the Trudeau government to change direction. As Seth Klein, author of the brilliant book The Good War has argued, our government needs to shift into emergency mode, start telling the truth and spend what it takes to win. During the pandemic, billions in Canadian stimulus spending went to the fossil fuel companies. In the last budget Canada spent pitifully little on climate change while again pouring billions into oil pipelines, oil cleanup and carbon capture and storage technology that the oil companies themselves should be paying for. Pollution from oil and gas production is the fastest-growing source of Canada’s emissions, yet our government has no plan to wind down the industry and ensure a just transition for workers and their families. We cannot address the climate emergency if we refuse to honestly confront the challenges in front of us and pretend that it’s OK to keep building more of the problem instead of focusing on solutions. What the science has been telling us for decades and what we can now see in the smoke outside our windows is that every ton of carbon we don’t emit will save lives. We have run out of time for lauding yesterday’s policies, for spending billions of taxpayers’ dollars trying to keep alive a sunset industry that is literally killing us. If you are hurtling towards a cliff you don’t just attempt to slow down a bit. You change direction. Tzeporah Berman, BA, MES, LLD is the chair of the Fossil Fuel Nonproliferation Treaty Initiative and international program director of Stand.Earth. She lives with her husband and two sons in British Columbia, Canada. | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'world/justin-trudeau', 'world/canada', 'environment/environment', 'environment/fossil-fuels', 'type/article', 'tone/comment', 'profile/tzeporah-berman', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-opinion'] | environment/fossil-fuels | EMISSIONS | 2021-07-08T10:26:05Z | true | EMISSIONS |
environment/2023/mar/03/crucial-un-high-seas-treaty-stuck-over-sharing-of-genetic-resources | Crucial high seas treaty stuck over sharing of genetic resources | As UN member states gathered in New York to finally knock out a long-awaited treaty on the high seas announced “significant progress”, with just one day left in the talks a main stumbling block remained: how to fairly share “marine genetic resources” (MGR) and the eventual profits. The conference president, Rena Lee of Singapore, urged delegates to “stay focused and get the job done” yesterday on the penultimate day of talks. But the contentious issue of MGR, which caused the last round of negotiations – officially called the Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction, or BBNJ – to fail in August, has driven a wedge between developed and developing nations. Developed nations, with the technology and resources to scour the seas for new products, agree on benefit-sharing of MGR, but disagree on aspects of it, including questions over what, when and how. Developing countries, who do not have such resources or capacity, argue that benefit-sharing should be guaranteed and clarified in the treaty text. One delegate from an African country, who did not want to be named, said there was “a lot of insensitivity and privilege” on display as compromise was sought. The problem, according to NGOs, is one of “trust and solidarity” between industrialised and non-industrialised nations, and goes to the heart of the question of who owns the high seas. Michael Imran Kanu, the head of the African Group, and ambassador and deputy permanent representative to the UN for legal affairs of Sierra Leone, said the “major concerns” this week have been the “material scope and fair and equitable sharing of benefits – both monetary and non-monetary – of MGR” and related genetic data. “Obligation to share monetary benefits should be included in the text,” he said. “The major point is that all monetary benefits will go into conservation and sustainable use, hence remediating the global biodiversity crisis created by the developed states with activities in the high seas.” Delegates have been reluctant to speak out so close to the deadline on talks, which are due to end today. But in the early hours of yesterday morning, after attempts to reach a compromise on MGR, a delegate from Seychelles, Jeremy Raguain, tweeted: “Right now, on a critical component of the #BBNJ #IGC5, #MGR the global north (15% of the world’s population) are not only risking our chance for conserving & sustainable using the #highseas & #ourocean, but also disenfranchising the global south (85% of the world’s population).” In another tweet, which quoted the G77 and China saying “there is still work to be done”, Raguain said: “We don’t understand the global north’s approach. It is not in line with @Unbiodiversity or progressive international law.” Agreement on benefit sharing genetic resources is “the key to unlocking the treaty in the final days”, according to Li Shuo, a senior global policy adviser for Greenpeace. “Marine genetic resources is a key sticking point. If you have a deal on marine genetic resources you bring lots of developing countries on board and they do not oppose marine protection. But you have to give them the resources. It’s a bargaining tool. “It’s about trust and solidarity between the global south and the global north. It’s about who the high seas belong to – that aspect is more important than the dollars. If the high seas belong to everyone, the money needs to be shared by everybody.” Developing countries, who have been burned by the promises of developed countries before, for instance in the Paris climate agreement on funds for loss and damage, want the security of knowing finance from MGR will be there in the future, he said. “Some feel there is not that clarity,” said Li. “There will be some upfront finance from developed countries. But they will only decide whether there will be money in the future, after commercialisation.” The EU pledged €40m (£35m) through the Global Ocean Programme towards the early ratification of the new treaty. It was an example, NGOs say, of leadership among developed countries in moving towards compromise. Speaking in plenary yesterday, Aurore Maillet, the deputy head of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, talked about the importance of monetary benefit-sharing, saying “we are not far from each other”. She told delegates, “we have a duty to finalise this agreement” and assured “the funds will be there when the agreement enters into force and also for implementation”. The potential monetary value of MGR is huge. Marine organisms have already given rise to successful drugs, including Halaven, a blockbuster anti-cancer drug derived from a Japanese sea sponge that has annual sales of $300m ($250m), and remdesivir, an antiviral drug approved for use against Covid-19. Daniel Kachelriess, a marine genetic resource specialist for the High Seas Alliance, a network of 40 NGOs, said: “The mandate for the general assembly to negotiate the BBNJ treaty was on the basis of four elements: marine genetic resources; area-based management tools; environmental impact assessments; and capacity building and the transfer of marine technology. Delegates have always expressed a view that they should be advanced in lockstep and balanced against each other.” But while significant progress has been made in the other parts of the agreement, delegates are “still quite far apart in how close we are to the finish line with marine genetic resources” Kachelriess said. Further complicating the issue is the fact that genetic resources do not just include physical organisms, but gene sequence data known as Digital Sequence Information (DSI). In December, Cop15, the convention on biodiversity, set up a mechanism requiring the private sector to pay into a fund, expected to generate up to $15m a year from companies that use DSI on genetic resources. The African group wants the high seas treaty to take into account the work of Cop15 and to include DSIs in benefit sharing. | ['environment/series/seascape-the-state-of-our-oceans', 'environment/oceans', 'environment/biodiversity', 'world/world', 'environment/environment', 'environment/marine-life', 'global-development/global-development', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/karenmcveigh', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/global-development'] | environment/series/seascape-the-state-of-our-oceans | BIODIVERSITY | 2023-03-03T10:55:22Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2019/nov/01/argentina-plastic-waste-dumping-ground-imports | Argentina could become 'sacrificial country' for plastic waste, say activists | Argentina has changed its definition of waste in a move that could allow it to import millions of tonnes of plastic waste discarded in the US. The country’s president, Mauricio Macri, signed a decree in August reclassifying some materials destined for recycling as commodities instead of waste, allowing looser oversight of mixed and contaminated plastic scraps that are difficult to process, and are often dumped or incinerated. Social and environmental groups say the decree is illegal and bucks a global trend toward improving controls over waste imports. They worry it could be the first step towards Argentina taking in the plastics that have flooded developed nations after China began to refuse all but the cleanest of shipments in late 2017. Jim Puckett, the executive director of the Basel Action Network, a group that fights the export of toxic waste from industrialised societies to developing nations, said: “They’re willing to become a sacrificial country where the rest of the world could send their waste and they could profit from it.” Argentinian environment official Alejandra Acosta said advocates are misunderstanding the decree and that it would actually be more stringent than previous policies, although she could not explain why multiple groups are interpreting the change as relaxing plastic import rules. She acknowledged the government did not do enough outreach with advocates and argued that no mixed plastics or plastics destined for “final disposal” or “energy recovery” via incineration would be allowed. More than 180 countries are party to the Basel convention, which governs the international waste trade, but the US is not. Under a recent amendment proposed by Norway, developed nations will not be able to export low-quality plastic waste to developing nations without getting their explicit consent and ensuring the waste can be appropriately handled. The amendments aim to ensure that even abstaining countries, such as the US, follow the Basel convention rules when sending plastic waste to poorer countries. Basel convention countries could still strike separate agreements with the US, as long as they ensure that any plastics they receive will not be disposed of in ways that harm the environment and violate the convention, said Pål Spillum, the deputy director general of Norway’s environment ministry. Acosta argued that Argentina wanted more stringent policies than Norway did, although advocates following the negotiations said Argentina was set on undercutting the strengthening of the convention. Because of that stance and the new decree, Puckett said he worries that Argentina wants to start taking in America’s waste. It is thought Argentina could fill the void left by China’s decision to stop accepting all but the easiest-to-recycle plastics from the US, the UK and Europe. After that change, in late 2017, US plastic waste first began to flow to countries including Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand. When those countries started to ban the imports, they showed up in Cambodia, Laos, Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya and Senegal, which previously handled virtually no US plastic, as revealed in a Guardian investigation. Spillum said his country’s proposal was meant to “increase the control of transboundary movement of plastic waste which is not easily recyclable, and therefore likely to become an environmental problem in the country of import”. A spokesperson for the US Environmental Protection Agency said the US supported the Basel convention but opposed the amendments. For plastic scrap to be exempt from the amendments, it would need to “meet a very narrow and strict set of criteria that is difficult and costly to satisfy”, the EPA spokesperson argued, continuing: “The United States is concerned that barriers to the responsible movement of plastic scrap for recycling will decrease its value and make virgin plastics more attractive by comparison, likely increasing the overall volume of disposal of plastics from the waste stream.” The EPA said it had “just become aware” of Argentina’s new waste decree and had not had a chance to assess its impacts. Cecilia Allen, a Buenos Aires-based advocate with the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, said any mixed plastics Argentina accepted from abroad were unlikely to be recycled. In recent months, the value of recycled plastic has declined. It is more expensive to make than the virgin plastic produced from the ethane gas pulled from underground by oil and gas drillers. “One of the concerns we have is this can boost an incinerator industry in the country, or waste burning in cement plants,” Allen said. “We have a lot of waste here and we are not reducing, we are not recycling, we are not composting. And it makes no sense for us to open the door for more to come.” Incinerators that burn plastic are linked to major health problems from the air pollution they produce. Waste pickers in Argentina, who sift through piles of plastics to collect those that are deemed worth recycling, have protested against the decree, as it is expected to decrease the value of the domestic plastics they retrieve. Carolina Palacio, a representative for the Argentinian waste pickers federation, said the union has fought for better working and living conditions. “Instead of this, they deregulate and bring waste from other parts of the world. Don’t we have enough waste here?” Palacio said. • This article was updated on 4 November 20119 to add a response from the Argentinian government. | ['environment/plastic', 'world/argentina', 'world/world', 'environment/environment', 'world/americas', 'environment/recycling', 'environment/waste', 'us-news/us-news', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/emily-holden', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/international', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/waste | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2019-11-01T09:39:15Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
business/2015/jul/31/portland-bridge-shell-protest-kayaktivists-fennica-reaction | Portland's bridge-hangers and 'kayaktivists' claim win in Shell protest | They were two of the most daring days of the modern environmentalist movement: Greenpeace protesters, suspended from a bridge above – and others kayaking against a Royal Dutch Shell icebreaker below. Thirteen activists hung from the St John’s bridge, while another 13 monitored their ropes from above. Then, on Thursday night in Portland, just when the Greenpeacers thought the Shell ship had turned away and they could fend off $2,500-an-hour fines, the authorities came in. The “kayaktivists” were forced aside by the police. The rope monitors were detained, and eventually released. Two rappelling activists willingly lowered themselves, apparently at the urging of the Portland fire bureau, to a “rescue” vessel in the water. A third mid-air protester was removed unwillingly. With only 10 bridge-hangers remaining, Shell’s Fennica vessel snuck through and passed on to the Arctic, where its arrival will start the company’s drilling for oil. Despite the immediate heartbreak, to watch the event unfold – live in Portland or on social media, however many rivers away from the Willamette – was indeed to watch a victory, according to the innovative protesters. “This was a historic achievement not just because it blocked Shell’s icebreaker from reaching the Arctic, but because it helped spark an even bigger movement of people to raise their voices for something they believe in,” Greenpeace USA’s executive director, Annie Leonard, said. One of the danglers, Razz Gormley, told Oregon Live: “It was tough to see the boat go through there, but every second counts. I consider this a victory.” Sergeant Pete Simpson said safety was the main priority while confronting the climax of the two-day effort. But some Twitter users voiced concerns over how the authorities handled a peaceful – if persistent – protest. The activists, who had been in place since Wednesday at approximately 3am PT, delayed the departure of the oil company’s 380ft icebreaker Fennica. The vessel, originally scheduled to leave on Wednesday afternoon, approached the protesters early Thursday morning before turning back and returning to its dock. “We are incredibly proud of these climbers and truly humbled by what they have achieved here in Portland,” Leonard said. Those hanging from the bridge were prepared to stay for several days, according to Greenpeace US. They even remained in place after a federal judge in Alaska ordered Greenpeace USA pay a fine of $2,500 for every hour that protesters continued to block the icebreaker from leaving for the Arctic. US district court judge Sharon Gleason ruled in Anchorage that Greenpeace was in civil contempt because of the protesters’ impeding of the vessel. “The last two days have been a very emotional experience for all of us at Greenpeace, as well as all those who supported this action around the country and the world,” Leonard said. “Between the kayativists, the streamers, and the blue sky we have seen something new emerge, a sign that we can stand up to one of the most powerful companies in the world if we work together.” | ['business/royaldutchshell', 'us-news/oregon', 'environment/greenpeace', 'world/protest', 'us-news/us-news', 'environment/environment', 'business/oilandgascompanies', 'business/energy-industry', 'environment/activism', 'business/business', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/ellen-brait'] | environment/greenpeace | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2015-07-31T16:50:59Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
environment/ethicallivingblog/2008/may/02/treadlightlyswitchofftumbl | Tread lightly: Switch off your tumble dryer | Even in such a damp climate as ours, it's still possible to dry clothes naturally and without the use of a tumble dryer. Photograph: Frank Baron According to National Statistics, almost 60% of households now own a tumble dryer. That means more than 14m households are using electricity to dry clothes, when they could save that energy by hanging them outside. An average drying-machine cycle uses just over 4kWh of energy and produces around 1.8kg CO2. If all households with a tumble dryer dried one load of washing outside each week, instead of by machine, they would save over a million tonnes of CO2 in a year. There are three types of tumble dryer on the market in the UK: electric venting, electric condensing and gas. Venting ones release hot, damp air outside, while condensing ones transfer surplus water to a storage tank in the machine and release heat indoors. The latter type uses the most energy, but contributes heat to the house. Gas tumble dryers are the most energy-efficient of all, producing around half of the CO2 emissions of an electric equivalent. However, only one company produces front-loading gas models in the UK and less than 0.5% of UK tumble dryers currently run on gas. Whereas it is now easy to find fridges with an A or A+ rating for energy efficiency, tumble dryers are still mostly languishing in the C rating band or lower. The Energy Saving Trust endorses only three products, and only one of those has an A rating. The other two have a C rating but are recommended because they have an auto-sensor that stops them working once the clothes reach a specified level of dryness. Comparing the energy uses of different household appliances over the course of a year shows just how energy-hungry even the most efficient tumble dryers are. According to Carbon Footprint, an A+ fridge-freezer used 24 hours a day will produce 116kg CO2; an A-rated washing machine used 187 times will generate 51kg CO2; and a dishwasher used 135 times at 65°C will create 84kg CO2. The A-rated tumble drier recommended by the Energy Saving Trust, used 3 times a week, will generate over 160kg CO2 per year. Eco Washing Lines has a wide range of products for drying clothes indoors and out. If you can't dry clothes outside, invest in an airer to use inside your house. Ceiling ones work best because warm air rises. But if you don't have a suitable lofty location, try a floor-standing or wall-mounted one. Most home heating systems run on gas, so it is still better to dry your clothes inside the house in winter than to dry them by machine. You'll not only save energy and money by ditching the dryer but your clothes will last longer too. | ['environment/energyefficiency', 'environment/series/tread-lightly', 'environment/ethical-living', 'environment/environment', 'tone/blog', 'environment/carbonfootprints', 'environment/carbon-emissions', 'environment/green-living-blog', 'type/article', 'profile/carolynfry'] | environment/carbonfootprints | EMISSIONS | 2008-05-02T08:00:01Z | true | EMISSIONS |
environment/2014/feb/25/dumping-dredge-spoil-near-reef-cheaper | Dumping dredge spoil near reef was decided without independent analysis | The Environment Department did not conduct independent analysis of how much it would cost to dump dredge spoil on land before permission was granted to dump it in Great Barrier Reef waters. North Queensland Bulk Ports Corporation undertook its own assessment of expanding the port at Abbot Point and found dumping 3m cubic metres of dredge spoil on land would be prohibitively expensive. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) approved the dumping of the soil in the marine park in January with 47 conditions attached. Dean Knudson, from the department’s compliance division, said the department accepted the port’s own assessment of how much it would cost to dump the spoil on land. “The department did not undertake costing analysis of individual proposals. The proponent was in a position where they had undertaken costing estimates as you would expect commercial costings of the various options,” he told Senate estimates. Questioned by Greens senator Larissa Waters, he said that the decision was “consistent with the world heritage convention recommendations” and that “there was a world’s best practice environmental assessment undertaken for this port”. Waters has criticised the department for not undertaking its own analysis saying it was taking a mining company’s word for best practice. “The proponents could well be overstating the cost of disposing of dredge spoil on land but the government doesn’t know because it’s simply relying on the proponent’s word, even though the proponent obviously has a direct conflict of interest,” Waters said. “The community will be shocked to hear that our government is blindly relying on port developers’ claims and letting them dump dredge spoil offshore in the reef’s waters.” Among 47 new environmental conditions imposed by the authority with the approval to dump the spoil within the park was: • Measures to minimise impact on biodiversity, particularly coral. • A long-term water quality monitoring plan extending five years after the disposal activity is completed. • A heritage management plan to protect the Catalina second world war aircraft wreck in Abbot Bay. • Offset measures for commercial fishing in the event of adverse impacts. • The prevention of any harm to environmental, cultural and heritage values of any areas 20 kilometres beyond the disposal site. • Environmental site supervision by an authority nominee. • The establishment of an independent dredging and disposal technical advice panel and a management response group, to include community representatives. | ['environment/great-barrier-reef', 'environment/environment', 'environment/marine-life', 'business/mining', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'australia-news/australian-politics', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/bridie-jabour'] | environment/great-barrier-reef | BIODIVERSITY | 2014-02-25T03:59:17Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
commentisfree/2022/apr/07/the-guardian-view-on-boris-johnsons-energy-strategy-missed-opportunities | The Guardian view on Boris Johnson’s energy strategy: missed opportunities | Editorial | A few weeks after the November Cop26 summit concluded in Glasgow, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy published a striking snapshot of public attitudes towards the climate emergency. It showed that popular support for renewable energy, including onshore wind farms, had reached record levels. Given a cost-of-living crunch caused by the rocketing price of fossil fuels, and the new priority of energy independence following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, an imaginative and proactive government would move to harness this enthusiasm and seize the moment. Sadly, Britain is not blessed with such a government. The future energy strategy unveiled by Boris Johnson on Thursday instead carries some of the hallmarks of his flawed government: a prime ministerial penchant for grands projets that may or may not be deliverable; a tendency to be unduly influenced by vocal lobby groups on the right of the Conservative party; and a propensity to set targets without doing the necessary work to enable them to be met. The aspiration that 95% of the UK’s electricity should come from renewable sources by 2030 is admirable, and the commitment to hugely increase offshore wind and solar capacity is significant. But inexplicable lacunae and wrong priorities make this a tale of missed opportunities. The government has placed nuclear power at the heart of its approach, promising that as many as eight new reactors will be built. The realpolitik of meeting net zero targets means that nuclear, as a least worst option, should be part of the future energy mix. But the scale of Mr Johnson’s ambition represents a hugely expensive long-term gamble, the funding of which is conveniently buried somewhere in the long grass. According to the government’s own calculations, the journey from initial investment in a plant to the generation of electricity takes up to 17 years. Meanwhile, far faster routes to fulfilling net zero obligations and driving down spiralling fuel bills have been rejected or ignored. Four out of five members of the public support the use of onshore wind farms, which could be built quickly and cheaply if planning rules were eased. This was rumoured to be on the cards. But Mr Johnson has instead bowed to the nimby instincts of Tory MPs and ministers, whose views are at odds with the mood of the country, but who have the power to make life difficult in parliament. Limited consultations with some “supportive” communities will have next to no impact and a game-changing possibility has been lost. A golden chance to fund greater energy efficiency and better insulation in Britain’s leaky housing stock has also been missed, despite the relief this would afford the less well-off in particular. The Treasury’s apparent refusal to fund the expansion of an existing scheme to help poorer households is particularly callous, given the eye-watering bills that will drop on doormats next winter. But it is also emblematic of an administration that consistently fails to grasp the bigger picture. Promoting demand-side energy efficiency is fundamental in the drive to net zero, but the government must make the transition to green energy attractive, feasible and affordable if people are to take the plunge in their own homes. The public knows that radical action is needed to cope with long-term and short-term energy crises. This flawed strategy for the future demonstrates that the government has yet to find the courage to rise to the challenge. | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'environment/energy', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'environment/environment', 'environment/windpower', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'politics/boris-johnson', 'politics/politics', 'politics/conservatives', 'business/energy-industry', 'environment/energyefficiency', 'type/article', 'tone/editorials', 'tone/comment', 'profile/editorial', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/opinion', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2022-04-07T17:47:18Z | true | ENERGY |
world/2004/dec/29/tsunami2004.hughmuir | Overwhelmed call centre drafts more staff | All day long, volunteers from the Metropolitan Police sit in the Casualty Bureau Appeal Centre, listening through headsets to pleas from callers who fear the loss of loved ones. There are no raised voices; just the hum of 89 barely discernible conversations. They work with quiet efficiency. But they have been overwhelmed. In the immediate aftermath of the tsunami, hundreds of calls were received and since then, as anxieties have risen, lines have been permanently at capacity. Between 9am and 10am yesterday morning, there were 4,700 calls. That would have required each operator to deal with 52 each. Initially, when there were only 40 operators, the pressure on the new call centre, which is being operated for the first time, was even worse. With Gerald Howarth, the Conservative MP, voicing fierce criticisms and mirroring the complaints of anxious callers who have struggled to get through, the number of staff taking calls in the open plan facility was more than doubled. That number is almost certain to rise again. The appeal centre opened last October within Scotland Yard's Peel Centre training facility in north London, as part of the Met's emergency plan ning and its response to the terrorist threat in the capital. It was envisaged that the operation might have to cope with an emergency in London or the south-east or the impact on Britons of an atrocity abroad. The scope of their ambitions is illustrated by the fact that the centre was originally designed to operate in normal circumstances with a staff of three. Though reinforcements could be called upon, few imagined that it would have to cope with an international disaster on anything like the scale that has occurred. One official close to the discussions said: "The Met moved in because they were the only ones with the capacity to do it. The Foreign Office was slow off the mark. It doesn't really have anything suitable in place." At the weekend, Comman der Ronald McPherson, who is in charge of the operation, conceded: "Call volume is amongst the highest level that we have ever experienced for a mass casualty incident." The centre has been receiving calls about UK nationals in Sri Lanka, the Maldives, India, Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. Operators take the names of callers and details of the missing relative and both are entered on to a database. Each caller is asked whether they know which country the missing person was visiting, the names of the hotels or resorts they may have been staying in, and when last they had contact with them. Callers are re-contacted if their missing relatives turn up safely, but those in charge have also asked the public to inform the centre if they learn independently that their loved ones are safe. The centre has had its system disrupted by people seeking flight information. Callers have also sought routine travel advice, which is displayed - as normal - on the Foreign Office website. Confused and anxious callers have also put pressure on normal emergency procedures by dialling 999 instead of the centre's helpline. The Foreign Office declined to respond to criticisms yesterday, but it is likely to argue that no organisation could have been fully prepared for the aftermath of such an event. The Met, meanwhile, sees its role as that of a contractor, doing the FO's bidding. A spokesman said callers must be patient. "There is a queuing system, but all calls are answered eventually." | ['world/world', 'world/tsunami2004', 'type/article', 'profile/hughmuir'] | world/tsunami2004 | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2004-12-29T10:10:18Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
business/2022/jun/21/michael-gove-inquiry-marks-spencer-oxford-street-demolition-rebuild-co2-concerns | M&S accuses Gove of ‘grandstanding’ over Oxford Street store rebuild inquiry | Marks & Spencer has sparked a public row with Michael Gove, accusing the Conservative cabinet minister of “political grandstanding” after he ordered a public inquiry into its plan to demolish and rebuild its flagship Oxford Street store in London. The retailer said it was “bewildered and disappointed” at “Michael Gove’s baseless decision”, which came after the scheme was granted permission to the displeasure of campaigners, who claimed the project would release 40,000 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere. The M&S property director, Sacha Berendji, said the secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities “appears to prefer a proliferation of stores hawking counterfeit goods to a gold-standard retail-led regeneration of the nation’s favourite high street”. He said: “For a government purportedly focused on the levelling up agenda, calling in this significant investment in one of our most iconic shopping locations will have a chilling affect for regeneration programmes across the country.” A spokesperson for Gove’s department instantly hit back, accusing M&S of “a disappointing and misleading” statement and insisting it was “right that a project of such significance should be considered by the independent Planning Inspectorate and ministers”. “Call-in decisions are made in line with established policy,” they said. Either Gove or a junior minister will decide on the future of the project after the planning inspector reports back in a few months’ time. One campaigner criticised the retailer’s “intemperate response”, saying it had gone into “horns out and shout” mode. “They and their advisers have profoundly misread the direction of travel in the public debate on sustainability and placemaking,” said Nicholas Boys Smith, director of the Create Streets thinktank and a government urbanism adviser. Westminster city council, which fell to Labour at the local elections after the outgoing Tory administration granted M&S permission to tear down the 90-year-old store near Marble Arch, said it was pleased with Gove’s move. “The council is serious about reducing the environmental impact of new development by emphasising the benefits of retrofitting over demolition,” said Cllr Geoff Barraclough, cabinet member for planning and economic development. “The M&S proposal has major implications in sustainability terms.” M&S claims that in the long term the more energy-efficient new building “will more than offset any emissions from the redevelopment”. It said the building “cannot be modernised through refitting as it is three separate buildings containing asbestos”. Gove has tasked an inspector with determining if the scheme is consistent with national planning policy, citing its potential impact on the historic environment and asking them to consider “any other matters the Inspector considers relevant”. National policy requires planning to “support the transition to a low carbon future … [and] shape places in ways that contribute to radical reductions in greenhouse gas emissions”. In November 2021, Gove rejected plans for a viewing tower in the City of London designed by Lord Foster, complaining about the “highly unsustainable concept of using vast quantities of reinforced concrete”. The London mayor, Sadiq Khan, decided not to intervene over the M&S application, considering that it was in line with the capital’s planning strategy. The campaign group Save Britain’s Heritage and magazine Architects’ Journal organised a letter to Gove, signed by several leading architects, which argued that the existing building should be retrofitted rather than demolished. It described it as “a development which is environmentally wasteful, destroys an elegant and important interwar building and … negatively affects Oxford Street”. Architects including Julia Barfield, the co-designer of the London Eye, and Robert Adam, a favourite architect of Prince Charles, signed the letter, which said: “We should be adapting the building, not destroying it.” Berendji said: “An independent assessment of the building’s carbon impact across its whole lifecycle concluded that the new-build offered significant sustainability advantages over a refurbishment and, on completion, will be among the top 10% performing buildings in London.” | ['business/marksspencer', 'business/retail', 'environment/carbon-emissions', 'business/business', 'politics/michaelgove', 'environment/environment', 'uk/london', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/robertbooth', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/carbon-emissions | EMISSIONS | 2022-06-21T17:01:07Z | true | EMISSIONS |
commentisfree/cif-green/2009/dec/16/copenhagen-deal-barack-obama-speech | Mr Obama, here's your Copenhagen speech | George Monbiot | Everyone seems to be waiting for someone to break the dam. And everyone knows who that someone is. Because of the size and weight of the United States, and the moral power invested in the current president, it is Barack Obama, and Barack Obama alone, who can rescue the climate negotiations from the dismal bickering into which they have slumped. To save him the trouble, I have written the speech that could turn the talks around. "Your excellencies, ladies and gentlemen. Everyone in this room is confronted by voices urging us not to act. There are those whose immediate interests would be damaged by the action we need to take. There are those who do not wish to confront the uncomfortable truths we must discuss. But the threat of climate breakdown transcends the usual political demands. "All those of us who are elected to high office dream of a time when we might do what is right, rather than what is expedient. All of us dream of being statesmen rather than mere politicians. But when those opportunities arrive, all too often we duck them. There are too many political favours to return, too many powerful interests to appease. We cannot allow this to be one of those occasions. "Most of us have agreed on the ultimate goal: to prevent more than two degrees centigrade of global warming. But it should not be left to the poorer nations to remind the rich world of what its own scientists say. Even the most ambitious cuts the wealthy nations have proposed cannot meet our goal. They are likely instead to deliver three or four degrees of warming, threatening many of the world's people. "So I have come here to propose two policies which could meet the challenge our scientists have identified. This is the first. I hereby commit the United States to cutting greenhouse gases by 50% against our 1990 levels by 2020. I commit to this cut regardless of what other nations might do, but I urge you to compete with me to exceed it. We should be striving to outbid each other, not to undercut each other. "I recognise, however, that even this measure cannot guarantee that we stay within the two-degree limit. Eventual global temperatures will be set by the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The best scientific estimate is that we can afford to burn a maximum of 60% of the carbon stored in the world's current reserves of fossil fuels. A safer proportion would be 40%. "When I arrive home I will commission a taskforce to identify which of the fossil fuel reserves of the United States will be left in the ground. I will commission a second taskforce to identify the conservation and renewable energy projects needed to cover the gap. "These policies will present the United States with a formidable challenge. But my country, with its great wealth and deep reserves of ingenuity and enterprise, is better placed to respond than any other. When the United States entered the second world war, it was unprepared for the challenge presented by its enemies. But within six months we turned the economy around to meet it. By the middle of 1942, more than 1,000 automobile plants in the United States had been converted to manufacture weapons. Ford was soon turning out a B24 bomber every 63 minutes, GM took just 90 days from a standing start to begin the mass production of amphibious vehicles. "Today a similar technological revolution is required. Just as in 1941, we can rise to it, but, with the benefit of modern methods and materials, even more quickly. No longer will the United States, which has long been in the forefront of every one of the world's technological revolutions, be left behind in the most important race of all. "The transformation I have announced today will not be painless. Some people will lose their jobs, some companies will lose the value of investments they have made. But, as with all such revolutions, this is likely to create more jobs than it destroys. "I have no illusions about the resistance these proposals will encounter. This will be the political battle of my life. But I know it is a battle worth fighting. If I duck it, future generations will never forgive me, just as they will not forgive anyone in this room for failing to rise to our greatest challenge. This is the battle we owe to our children and to their children. This is the time to do not what is expedient, but what is right." Can he do it? We should hope so. There won't be another chance like this one. | ['commentisfree/cif-green', 'commentisfree/commentisfree', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/copenhagen', 'environment/environment', 'world/world', 'us-news/barack-obama', 'tone/comment', 'environment/georgemonbiot', 'environment/global-climate-talks', 'type/article', 'profile/georgemonbiot', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/commentanddebate'] | environment/global-climate-talks | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2009-12-16T21:00:01Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
business/2020/sep/01/lloyds-of-london-reopens-building-for-first-time-since-march | Lloyd’s of London reopens building for first time since March | The insurance market Lloyd’s of London has reopened its underwriting room for the first time since March, making it the latest City firm to inch towards normality amid the coronavirus pandemic. The 334-year-old institution welcomed underwriters and brokers back into the building on Tuesday morning, as part of a phased reopening that will mean running at 45% capacity until further notice to ensure social distancing rules are followed. It follows a dramatic change for Lloyd’s members, who have traditionally relied on face-to-face deals but have had to conduct most business online or over the phone since the market closed its doors on 19 March, before the UK-wide lockdown. The reopening was marked by climate protests, as activists called on syndicate members to stop insuring coal and tar sands projects. Campaigners from Insure Our Future hit out at contracts covering the proposed Adani Carmichael coal mine in Australia, Canada’s Trans Mountain tar sands pipeline, and reinsurance for Polish coalmines. Lloyd’s said while it took the climate crisis “extremely seriously” it did not set underwriting policies for its 90-plus syndicate members. However, the market said it was “committed to building consensus” among members as part of the transition towards a low-carbon economy. Lloyd’s – which usually hosts about 6,000 of its 45,000 workers, brokers and underwriters on any given day – will now rotate between insurance sectors throughout the week in order to manage capacity. On Tuesdays, members involved in property, terrorism and construction insurance will be the first to take the floor, followed by marine and aviation on Wednesdays. The market has also installed perspex barriers across the underwriting room with slots for contracts to be passed between brokers at what is known as the “box”, where deals are finalised. Digital booths have been installed for contacting members outside the building. Face coverings are mandatory throughout the building, except for at the box. Only three people will be allowed in a lift at a time, and its cafe is open for takeaway and pre-ordered food and drinks. Lloyd’s has arranged for enhanced cleaning throughout the day, swab tests every two weeks, and “fogging” the building to kill bacteria and viruses every 30 days. Fogging is meant to protect surfaces from contamination for up to a month. Meanwhile, Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) is relaunching mobile branch services and has started to increase working hours for its mortgage advisers, as it moves into “phase 3” of its Covid strategy. According to a newsletter by LBG’s staff union, Accord, bankers will be able to hold more face-to-face meetings, which will be restricted to vulnerable customers including those over 70 who may otherwise struggle to access phone or online banking. However, the union said staff who were uncomfortable with face-to-face meetings would not be forced to do so. Bank branch closures are now back on the table, after LBG put its cost-cutting and restructuring efforts on pause during the Covid-19 outbreak. Lloyds is pressing ahead with plans to close 56 branches, originally announced in January, but the lender was not able to confirm how many jobs would be lost as a result. Affected staff were informed on Thursday. Lloydst is reviewing its office space needs and exploring new ways of working after concluding that 50,000 of its 65,000 staff have worked from home effectively during the pandemic. This could result in office workers using surplus space in its branches going forward. | ['business/insurance', 'business/business', 'uk/uk', 'world/coronavirus-outbreak', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'world/protest', 'environment/environment', 'environment/fossil-fuels', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/kalyeena-makortoff', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-business'] | environment/fossil-fuels | EMISSIONS | 2020-09-01T13:14:37Z | true | EMISSIONS |
world/2015/nov/08/cheeses-are-often-best-after-their-best-before-date | Cheeses are often best after their ‘best before’ date | Letters | I write as a retired food technologist who spent many years working in the food industry. Joanna Blythman’s article (Food labels have passed their sell-by date, 5 November) is the first sensible article on this subject that I have ever seen in the media. The legislation which at first insisted that food had a “sell by” date started as a very laudable way of ensuring that retailers could not pass off old food as fresh. Enforcement agents (environmental health officers) could easily initiate prosecutions against cheats. However, more detailed good intentions soon led to “mission creep”, and with the introduction of “use by” and “best before” dates turned also into guidance to food consumers as to how to control the contents of their larders. At that point, people ignorant of the nature of food preservation were soon throwing away perfectly good food. For example, cheddar cheese only improves with age, but like all food it has to have at least a “best before” date. And yoghurt is fundamentally a safe food due to its acidity, yet someone doing risk analysis has decided it is possible for mould to grow on it – and some moulds develop toxins, and so it must have a “use by” date; yet most yoghurt is perfectly safe to eat months after being out of date, and if it has got a mould growing on it, only the most desperately hungry would eat it because it would both look and taste horrible. As a result of the coding, though, out-of-date yoghurt is likely to be thrown away completely unnecessarily. David Mills Holme-on-Spalding-Moor, East Riding of Yorkshire • Fresh produce we bought at a French supermarket recently bore a “packed on” date – surely a much better guide to freshness and life in the fridge at home. Rosemary Ross Harpenden, Hertfordshire • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com | ['world/food-safety', 'food/food', 'science/food-science', 'lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle', 'world/world', 'environment/waste', 'science/science', 'environment/environment', 'food/cheese', 'tone/letters', 'society/health', 'science/biology', 'environment/food', 'type/article', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/editorialsandreply'] | environment/waste | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2015-11-08T19:35:04Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
tv-and-radio/2020/apr/15/flockdown-tv-the-startling-beauty-of-the-great-mountain-sheep-gather | Flockdown TV: the startling beauty of The Great Mountain Sheep Gather | It has been going on for a thousand years. Not our current predicament – although, in low moments, it may sometimes feel that way. No, this is the “gather”, a ritualised round-up where Lake District shepherds sweep the local peaks to coax a diffuse flock back home for the mutton equivalent of an MOT. BBC Four’s documentary film The Great Mountain Sheep Gather was hardly the usual splashy Easter blockbuster premiere, yet it was probably the most restorative thing screened over the holiday weekend. The perennial One Man and his Dog aside, this was also the biggest herding-related TV event since ITV’s Flockstars in 2015, that ill-fated attempt to turn sheepdog trials into a celebrity circus. The Great Mountain Sheep Gather took a notably loftier approach, using unhurried aerial drone footage to help communicate the sheer scale of the task facing local shepherd Andrew Harrison and his roving team of dogs. These sweeping but pleasingly languid shots of flinty beauty were interspersed with short stanzas of poetry written by Mark Pajak and read by Maxine Peake. The result was a film overflowing with lush but hardscrabble beauty that seemed to model itself on the wandering rhythms of the gather itself, with long sections of contemplative silence – or at least what passes for silence on the fells. There was always a soothing pastoral underscore of birdsong and the occasional plaintive bleat. In marked contrast to online discourse, every “meh” made my heart leap. A lifelong farmer, Harrison has England’s highest mountain, Scafell Pike, on his patch and his 500-strong flock of Herdwick sheep were self-reliant enough to scatter themselves all over its vertiginous facets. To this layman’s tired eyes, they also seemed much harder to spot than other breeds, sporting thick woollen coats of various shades of grey, off-white and even dark chocolate brown. Equipped with a crook, Adidas joggers and a bodycam, Harrison was up before 4am to ascend to his preferred starting position. Even though this was a July morning, the elevated terrain was girdled in thick fog. As the shepherd advanced through the murk – the drone camera floating obediently at heel behind him – he would occasionally be obscured from sight, giving this doc the unexpected and phantasmagorical feel of a pagan horror movie. If the God’s-eye view from the drone showcased the Lake District landscape in all its brooding beauty, there was also the chance to sample the mossy, mulchy experience at ground-level. A sheep-cam thrust you into the stop-start bustle of the expanding herd, with all the snuffling and rustling you might expect. Footage harvested from Harrison’s bodycam simulated the sensation of striding purposefully across the moors or dipping abruptly into a brook to slake your thirst. In one memorable lull, he rested against a handy rock and the POV shot was dominated by his hands deftly rolling up a ciggie: the world’s most scenic fag break. It was not all quiet contemplation and communing with nature. By halfway through, Harrison and his indefatigable dogs – now bolstered by some fellow herders – had rounded up a considerable flock requiring constant attention to direct over the unpredictable terrain. We learned of “trods”, narrow paths favoured by sheep but yet to show up on any OS map, and felt the shared relief of navigating every animal safely through the fell gate, after which the bleak wildness gradually gave way to fields and paddocks more visibly shaped by man. The Great Mountain Sheep Gather was presumably commissioned ages ago, certainly long before we all became so unfortunately familiar with the phrase “herd immunity”. While not quite Slow TV, it does feel like a conscious attempt to tap into the renewed interest surrounding the traditional words and ways of the UK countryside spearheaded by the work and advocacy of Robert Macfarlane. That it also allowed viewers to ride shotgun on a bracing expedition through remarkable scenery at a time when our default state involves managing unpredictable levels of cabin fever made it feel especially timely. By the closing scenes, it had even become aspirational TV, as the bemused Herdwicks were brusquely but not unkindly manhandled by Harrison as he efficiently sheared off their thick coats. A meditative natural journey with a professional haircut at the end of it? Sign me up for the sequel. | ['culture/television', 'tv-and-radio/tv-and-radio', 'environment/farming', 'culture/culture', 'uk/lake-district', 'environment/environment', 'tv-and-radio/documentary', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/graeme-virtue', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-g2-features'] | environment/farming | BIODIVERSITY | 2020-04-15T09:21:00Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2022/jun/06/peter-dutton-says-hes-not-afraid-of-nuclear-debate-after-advocate-named-shadow-energy-minister | Peter Dutton says he’s ‘not afraid’ of nuclear debate after advocate named shadow energy minister | Peter Dutton has confirmed that his frontbench pick for the opposition’s climate and energy portfolio signals he is up for a debate about nuclear power in Australia. In Sunday’s reshuffle the Liberal MP and nuclear power advocate Ted O’Brien was appointed to the shadow cabinet in the crucial portfolio. On Monday Dutton told ABC Radio National he was “not afraid to have a discussion on nuclear”, confirming he had considered O’Brien’s support for the form of power in deciding to take the fight to Labor on electricity prices and emissions reduction. In December 2019 O’Brien chaired a parliamentary committee that recommended the partial lifting of the moratorium on nuclear energy to allow for “new and emerging nuclear technologies”. The report won plaudits from some other Liberals in the party room and Nationals in the Senate, although O’Brien has reportedly said the ban should not be lifted without bipartisan support. Dutton said O’Brien was a “very considered person”, praising his work on the latest generation of nuclear power – “the small modular nuclear generation which can power up to 100,000 houses”. “If we want to have a legitimate emissions reduction, if we want to lower emissions reduction, that’s exactly the path President Macron has embarked on in France, it’s what prime minister Johnson is talking about in the United Kingdom,” he told Radio National. “I don’t think we should be afraid to talk about any technology that’s going to have the ability to reduce emissions and electricity prices. That’s something we can consider in time. I don’t think we should rule things out simply because it’s unfashionable to talk about them.” Labor has long called on the Coalition to rule out the “fantasy” of nuclear power, and threatened to campaign against it in communities where plants had been proposed, such as Townsville. A nuclear reactor is expected to take at least 15 years to build. Although small “modular” reactors show promise, the CSIRO science agency has suggested they won’t be affordable until 2050. The Australian Nuclear Association has said nuclear power would only be cost competitive with gas and coal generation if Australia adopted a price for carbon emissions, an anathema to the Coalition since its repeal of Labor’s interim carbon price. The conservative thinktank the Institute of Public Affairs released a poll, taken in April, finding that most Australians (53%) agreed with the proposition that “Australia should build nuclear power plants to supply electricity and reduce carbon emissions”. About a quarter (23%) disagreed, and 24% neither agreed nor disagreed. On Monday the Liberal senator Hollie Hughes, the shadow assistant minister for climate change and energy, said she was “not personally in favour” of extending carbon emission reduction targets. Hughes told ABC News Breakfast that Australia “could shut everything down tomorrow and all go live in trees” and the impact on total global emissions would be negligible. She suggested Australia should consider small modular nuclear energy. The Coalition reshuffle also saw Julian Leeser, an advocate of an Indigenous voice to parliament, appointed to the role of shadow attorney general and Indigenous affairs minister. Dutton said the Coalition was “very open to the discussion and what the government has to say” on the voice. “In principle, do we support anything that’s going to improve the situation of Indigenous Australians? Absolutely.” But he warned there “are things that can be done now in those communities that don’t need to wait for a referendum, and I would like to see those actions”. “Every government that I’ve been in, that I’ve witnessed … Liberal or Labor, has had good intention … of closing the gap. “There have been some successes and we should celebrate those successes, but that we’re still talking about sexual assault of women and children, now, and the domestic violence incidences at a record rate is completely and utterly deplorable.” Dutton also signalled greater efforts to recruit women to the Liberal party but ruled out the use of quotas. The shadow cabinet now contains 10 women, three in the Nationals and seven in the Liberals, with Sarah Henderson joining as shadow communications minister but Marise Payne stepping back into the cabinet secretary role. Dutton said the Liberals were “at a disadvantage” because women in the labour movement could run for office, then work for unions or industry super funds if they lost. “Business won’t do that for the Liberal party. A small businesswoman who is juggling an overdraft and trying to get her business up and running can’t afford to take six weeks off for a campaign, because her business goes broke. “So we need to come up with a different model, and that in my mind is the biggest inhibitor.” | ['environment/energy', 'australia-news/peter-dutton', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'australia-news/liberal-party', 'australia-news/australian-politics', 'australia-news/energy-australia', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/paul-karp', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/energy | ENERGY | 2022-06-06T00:29:37Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2019/dec/13/michelle-obama-greta-thunberg-message-support-trump | Michelle Obama sends Greta Thunberg message of support after Trump tweet | Michelle Obama has sent a public message of support to the 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg after the teenager was mocked by Donald Trump. “@GretaThunberg, Don’t let anyone dim your light,” the former first lady wrote following a visit to Vietnam. “Like the girls I’ve met in Vietnam and all over the world, you have so much to offer us all. Ignore the doubters and know that millions of people are cheering you on.” The message comes after Trump, 73, tweeted that Thunberg, who has been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, had an “anger management problem” and should “chill”. “So ridiculous,” the president wrote. “Greta must work on her Anger Management problem, then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Greta, Chill!” Thunberg swiftly changed her bio description on Twitter. “A teenager working on her anger management problem,” it now reads. “Currently chilling and watching a good old fashioned movie with a friend.” Thunberg has caught the ire of many US conservatives for helping to spotlight a climate emergency which her critics pretend does not exist. That ire was in evidence this week, when Time magazine named Thunberg its person of the year, drawing much criticism from climate crisis deniers. But Trump’s attack on her, in personal terms, from his presidential bully pulpit struck many observers as a marked and hypocritical escalation. The first lady, Melania Trump, and Trump’s eldest son recently reacted with outrage when a witness called by Democrats to testify in the impeachment hearings punned on the name of Trump’s 13-year-old son, Barron, to make a point about how presidents are not kings. Melania Trump is also the nominal head of an initiative against online bullying called Be Best. “A minor child deserves privacy and should be kept out of politics,” Melania Trump wrote at the time. Speaking at a youth leaders conference in Malaysia’s capital city of Kuala Lumpur, organised by the Obama Foundation, on Friday, the former president Barack Obama said island nations and poor coastal countries facing the severest effects of climate change were offering a “moral call to the rest of the world” to act now. “For those of you who are … experiencing the effects of it right now, there may be some hard questions in terms of adaptation versus mitigation,” he said. Island countries that could disappear due to rising sea levels had on Thursday accused rich nations of losing sight of the urgency of the crisis, as a UN summit enters the final stretch of negotiations for countries to honour the 2015 Paris agreement to combat global warming. “Your voice, your witness to what’s happening right here and now, is a moral call to the rest of the world. And figuring out how to tell the story of what you are seeing, and the losses that are already taking place, that’s going to be important.“ The US signed up to the 2015 Paris agreement during Obama’s presidency, promising a 26-28% cut in emissions by 2025 from 2005 levels. But the administration of Obama’s successor, Trump, filed paperwork last week to withdraw from the pact. The Paris accord aims to avoid the most catastrophic scenarios foreseen by climate scientists by limiting the rise in average global temperatures caused by burning fossil fuels. Once it exits, the US – the top historic greenhouse gas emitter and leading oil and gas producer – will become the only country outside the accord. Obama said that it is up to the world’s youth to lead the charge in dealing with climate change, blaming the previous generation for failing to handle the issue “the way it should have”. “The oceans will be rising, and that is going to displace people. So we’ll have to anticipate and care for some of the consequences, including large-scale migrations and disruptions. That’s going to be very possible,” Obama said. “Old people are not going to worry about this as much as young people because they’re going to be gone when the full effects of this will come. So you’re going to have more urgency and educate your communities.” | ['environment/greta-thunberg', 'us-news/michelleobama', 'us-news/donaldtrump', 'us-news/us-news', 'environment/environment', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-news'] | environment/greta-thunberg | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2019-12-13T13:36:31Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
environment/2017/feb/14/energy-australia-boss-says-she-fears-bill-shock-for-customers-after-heatwave | Energy Australia boss says she fears bill shock for customers after heatwave | The boss of one of Australia’s largest energy suppliers says she is worried about customers’ power bills after the latest heatwave in the country’s south-east. Energy Australia’s managing director, Catherine Tanna, has joined the push for a transition to newer forms of energy, saying bipartisanship is needed to draw up a national energy policy. The company operates sites including the Yallourn plant in the Latrobe valley, a brown-coal power station in Victoria that supplies nearly a quarter of the state’s electricity. “I am worried about our customers and what will happen with their bills,” she told the ABC. “We’ve seen that customers over the weekend in some places in Australia used 25% more than usual. “In a couple of months when these bills turn up they are going to get a surprise and I am worried about that because I know that the cost of living is a concern for them.” Tanna warned that over the next 20 years older and cheaper forms of energy – such as coal-fired power stations – were going to retire and she said there needed to be investment in newer technologies such as renewables. Her warning came after the federal treasurer, Scott Morrison, took a lump of coal into parliament in a stunt before temperature records were broken across Australia. New South Wales had its hottest day on record on Saturday as Penrith recorded 46.9C, while the town of White Cliffs had the hottest night on record at 33.3C. Bushfires in NSW have destroyed at least 30 homes in the past week while the debate about energy policy reignited. Freedom of information documents this week revealed that the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, ignored public service advice when he linked South Australia’s blackouts to renewable energy. “The single-biggest barrier to investment is uncertainty around policy settings,” Tanna said. “So when there is a lot of rhetoric about policy settings changing, no matter who it comes from, or a lot of flip-flopping about the fiscal assumptions, it makes it very, very difficult for anyone to make a commitment to new projects.” NSW avoided a blackout on Friday when the demand for electricity reached record highs. On Monday it was revealed that Turnbull has installed batteries to store energy from his rooftop solar panels so he will have electricity in the event of a power shutdown. The Daily Telegraph reported that Turnbull had installed lithium-ion batteries at his home in Point Piper and had upgraded his solar panels. | ['environment/energy', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'environment/environment', 'australia-news/malcolm-turnbull', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/solarpower', 'australia-news/australian-politics', 'australia-news/victoria', 'australia-news/new-south-wales', 'type/article', 'australia-news/energy-australia', 'australia-news/australia-weather', 'profile/bridie-jabour', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | environment/renewableenergy | ENERGY | 2017-02-14T00:54:06Z | true | ENERGY |
news/2011/jan/08/weatherwatch-kipling-storm | Weatherwatch | Rudyard Kipling is on his way back from Stockholm in 1907, with his Nobel Prize for Literature, and has taken a paddle-steamer from Flushing in Holland for the three hour trip across the Channel in what proves to be the worst storm in living memory. "When we reached the open sea, she, the boat, simply stood still, and batted her paddles about as a fainting woman waggles her hands in a crowd. The water swept her from end to end, and between the regular swish of the downfall and the sucking rush through the scuppers, one felt vicious digs, kicks and punts as various waves hit her on various sides. The wind was all but dead in her teeth, and each separate wave, as it came, had to be negotiated singly," he wrote in a letter quoted in Lord Birkenhead's 1978 biography. Kipling knew enough about shipbuilding to make him unhappy. "My new fear was that the paddle-boxes would be stove into matchwood (this actually happened to the Ostend boat that same night about 40 miles away) and naked paddle wheels are rather dangerous things." He contemplates the hazards of sailing ships adrift, then goes out to look at the sea. The rain had passed, the sky had blown clear, and the wind was up in earnest. "But the extraordinary sight was the sea, snow white, and unable to rise. It reminded me somehow of a nest of serpents wriggling, or of an ermine cloak made of live weasels lying on their backs and squealing because they couldn't rise." | ['news/series/weatherwatch', 'books/rudyard-kipling', 'uk/weather', 'type/article', 'profile/timradford', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2'] | news/series/weatherwatch | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2011-01-08T00:06:56Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
world/2010/aug/13/iran-nuclear-power-plant-russia | Iran to gain nuclear power as Russia loads fuel into Bushehr reactor | Russia will begin to load fuel into the reactor at Iran's Bushehr nuclear power station next week, marking the start of its launch after years of delay, Moscow said today. Russian and Iranian specialists are to begin loading uranium-packed fuel rods into the reactor on 21 August, a process that will take about two to three weeks. This will be a key step towards starting up the reactor, although it will not be considered operational from that date. "This will be an irreversible step," Sergei Novikov, a spokesman for Russia's state nuclear corporation, Rosatom, said. "At that moment, the Bushehr nuclear power plant will be certified as a nuclear energy installation." Novikov said that the head of Rosatom, Sergei Kiriyenko, would travel to Bushehr, in southern Iran, for next week's ceremony. Iran's vice-president, Ali Akbar Salehi, who also heads the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, is scheduled to attend as well. In March, the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, on a visit to Moscow, criticised Russia's plans to start up the Bushehr plant, describing them as premature, given western suspicions about Tehran's nuclear programme. In June, the UN security council approved a fourth round of sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme, including tougher financial controls and an expanded arms embargo, as well as an asset ban on three dozen companies and a travel freeze on individuals. Despite American reservations about the facility, nuclear experts say Bushehr does not contain sensitive technology, which is why it does not figure in any UN security council resolutions. Moreover, Bushehr has no link with Iran's secretive uranium enrichment programme, seen as the main "weaponisation" threat, at other installations. "The Iranians have been able to go ahead with Bushehr because it's clean," said a nuclear expert, adding that the light-water reactor in Bushehr was internationally tolerated because of Russia's involvement. The Foreign Office said that Britain respected Iran's right to a peaceful civilian nuclear programme as long as it meets its international obligations. "The Bushehr reactor, which will use fuel provided by Russia, is separate from Iran's proliferation sensitive nuclear activities that are a clear contravention of six UN security council resolutions," the Foreign Office said in a statement. "Today's announcement underlines the fact that Iran does not need to pursue these other activities to enjoy the benefits of nuclear power." Moscow points out that the project has been closely supervised by the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and that Iran has signed a pledge to ship all the spent uranium fuel from Bushehr back to Russia for reprocessing, ruling out the possibility that any of it could used to make nuclear weapons. Construction of this, Iran's first nuclear plant, was begun in 1975 by several German companies. They pulled out following a US embargo on high-technology supplies to Iran, after the 1979 Islamic revolution and the subsequent US embassy siege in Tehran. Russia stepped in and agreed to build the 1,000-megawatt reactor 15 years ago, in a project that has been likened to efforts to fix a German engine in a Russian car. Delays have plagued the $1bn (£640m) project, with diplomats saying that Moscow has used it as a lever in relations with Tehran. Iran has had to put up with the long timescale because it has no other potential nuclear partners. | ['world/iran', 'world/russia', 'world/middleeast', 'world/world', 'environment/nuclearpower', 'environment/environment', 'world/nuclear-weapons', 'tone/news', 'world/europe-news', 'type/article', 'profile/marktran', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/international'] | environment/nuclearpower | ENERGY | 2010-08-13T12:34:47Z | true | ENERGY |
world/2005/jun/24/tsunami2004.internationalaidanddevelopment | UN refugee agency to return to Aceh | The UN's refugee agency is to resume humanitarian work in the tsunami-ravaged Indonesian province of Aceh three months after it was expelled for allegedly exceeding its mandate. However, the government's Aceh reconstruction agency told the Guardian yesterday that the UN high commissioner for refugees (UNHCR) would have a less autonomous role than previously. "They will be working on a humanitarian mandate and not on their previous one," a spokesman said, without elaborating on what the previous one had been. "They will be reporting to the [agency]." Further details would be announced by the agency's head, Kuntoro Mangkusubroto. It is unlikely UNHCR staff will be returning to offer shelter. In the three months after the tsunami, the UNHCR provided thousands of tents to the newly homeless. Robert Ashe, its regional director, confirmed that it would be returning to Aceh. Jakarta expelled the refugee agency at the end of the relief operation on March 26, although it had more than £12m of unspent donations. Officials claimed its presence was redundant because there were no refugees there, only internally displaced people. The issue is sensitive in Indonesia, where the UNHCR is viewed as an agency that helps conflict victims. Acehnese separatists have been waging a 29-year armed campaign. The government did not want the tsunami reconstruction to be linked to the conflict. | ['world/world', 'world/tsunami2004', 'global-development/global-development', 'world/indonesia', 'world/refugees', 'world/asia-pacific', 'type/article', 'profile/johnaglionby'] | world/tsunami2004 | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2005-06-24T01:31:24Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
business/2022/may/16/tesco-to-pay-out-more-to-pig-farmers-as-industry-warns-of-critical-situation | Tesco to pay out more to pig farmers as industry warns of ‘critical’ situation | Tesco is to hand pig farmers £6.6m in additional support, taking the total to £10m, after warnings that a slew of producers could go out of business. The UK’s biggest supermarket said farmers would get £6.6m until August on top of £3.4m handed out since March under an “accelerated and enhanced payment plan”, after being criticised for not paying a “fair price” for its pork. Tesco is the latest supermarket to hand farmers extra cash in the face of surging costs of feed caused by the war in Ukraine, after an export slump last year combined with Covid disruption and Brexit-related shortages of abattoir workers. A recent industry poll found that four out of five producers would go out of business within a year unless their financial situation improved. The National Pig Association (NPA) wrote to Tesco asking for help as it said the industry had faced an unprecedented crisis over the past 18 months. It said the price shock caused by the war had turned a “very challenging financial situation to a critical one”. The NPA has said there are 100,000 pigs stuck on farms that should have gone to slaughter, with farmers losing in excess of £50 a pig due to the enormous gap between the cost of production and the price that retailers were willing to pay. It had called on Tesco to act after rivals including Waitrose, the Co-op, Marks & Spencer, Aldi, Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s agreed to pay more for British pork through their dedicated supply chains. Waitrose, which is less than half the size of Tesco, has offered £16m, while Sainsbury’s offered £7.8m. The NPA chair, Rob Mutimer, said: “We are very pleased that Tesco has responded following our letter to chief executive Ken Murphy, with some much-needed extra financial support for the pig industry. “This is a very welcome boost for beleaguered pig farmers, who are currently facing unprecedented costs of production and need a tangible increase in the price they are being paid in order to stay in business. “We look forward to seeing the pig price rising very soon as a result of this action and hopefully we can begin to stem the flow of producers exiting the industry.” Tesco said that since January it had taken an extra 32,000 pigs, and planned to take a further extra 22,000 in the months ahead as it increased its range of British pork products by 30%. It will add five new British pork options in store and launch an “I Love British” brand for bacon and ham, from which a farmers will receive an additional 5p a pack. Dominic Morrey, Tesco’s commercial director for fresh foods, said: “We fully recognise the seriousness of the situation UK pig farmers are facing and have been working closely with our suppliers to understand what more we can do to support the sector.” But he added: “We know there is more to do, and we will be working with suppliers, farmers and the wider industry to drive more transparency and sustainability across our supply chains and support the future of the British pig industry.” Jim Brisby at Cranswick, a Tesco pork supplier, said: “We’ve been working with Tesco to find a more sustainable way of paying our farmers for pigs, and we are pleased with the progress we have made to increase the availability of British pork to Tesco shoppers, and are continuing to work with the team to significantly increase these volumes even further over the next few months. The announcement today regarding the increased prices paid to British farmers will also help to support those farmers supplying Tesco.” | ['business/tesco', 'environment/farming', 'environment/meat-industry', 'business/supermarkets', 'business/business', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/sarahbutler', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-business'] | environment/farming | BIODIVERSITY | 2022-05-16T16:42:23Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2022/apr/06/microplastics-found-deep-in-lungs-of-living-people-for-first-time | Microplastics found deep in lungs of living people for first time | Microplastic pollution has been discovered lodged deep in the lungs of living people for the first time. The particles were found in almost all the samples analysed. The scientists said microplastic pollution was now ubiquitous across the planet, making human exposure unavoidable and meaning “there is an increasing concern regarding the hazards” to health. Samples were taken from tissue removed from 13 patients undergoing surgery and microplastics were found in 11 cases. The most common particles were polypropylene, used in plastic packaging and pipes, and PET, used in bottles. Two previous studies had found microplastics at similarly high rates in lung tissue taken during autopsies. People were already known to breathe in the tiny particles, as well as consuming them via food and water. Workers exposed to high levels of microplastics are also known to have developed disease. Microplastics were detected in human blood for the first time in March, showing the particles can travel around the body and may lodge in organs. The impact on health is as yet unknown. But researchers are concerned as microplastics cause damage to human cells in the laboratory and air pollution particles are already known to enter the body and cause millions of early deaths a year. “We did not expect to find the highest number of particles in the lower regions of the lungs, or particles of the sizes we found,” said Laura Sadofsky at Hull York medical school in the UK,a senior author of the study. “It is surprising as the airways are smaller in the lower parts of the lungs and we would have expected particles of these sizes to be filtered out or trapped before getting this deep.” “This data provides an important advance in the field of air pollution, microplastics and human health,” she said. The information could be used to create realistic conditions for laboratory experiments to determine health impacts. The research, which has been accepted for publication by the journal Science of the Total Environment, used samples of healthy lung tissue from next to the surgery targets. It analysed particles down to 0.003mm in size and used spectroscopy to identify the type of plastic. It also used control samples to account for the level of background contamination. A 2021 study in Brazil on autopsy samples found microplastics in 13 of the 20 people analysed, whose average age was higher than those assessed by Sadofsky’s study. Polyethylene, used in plastic bags, was one of the most common particles. The researchers concluded: “Deleterious health outcomes may be related to … these contaminants in the respiratory system following inhalation.” A US study of lung cancer patients in 1998 found plastic and plant fibres (such as cotton) in more than 100 samples. In cancerous tissue, 97% of samples contained the fibres and in non-cancerous samples, 83% were contaminated. Huge amounts of plastic waste are dumped in the environment, and microplastics contaminate the entire planet, from the summit of Mount Everest to the deepest oceans. Microplastics have been found in the placentas of pregnant women, and in pregnant rats they pass rapidly through the lungs into the hearts, brains and other organs of the foetuses. A recent review assessed cancer risk and concluded: “More detailed research on how micro- and nanoplastics affect the structures and processes of the human body, and whether and how they can transform cells and induce carcinogenesis, is urgently needed, particularly in light of the exponential increase in plastic production.” | ['environment/plastic', 'environment/pollution', 'environment/environment', 'society/health', 'society/society', 'uk/uk', 'science/medical-research', 'science/science', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/damiancarrington', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/plastic | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2022-04-06T10:18:23Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
global-development-professionals-network/2015/jan/16/fieldpost-amazon-envious-male-ability-pee-standing | Amazon field post: 'I'm so envious of men's ability to pee standing up' | I spend a lot of time in the rainforest. It’s by far the most rewarding and incredible part of the job but, I’ll be honest, it’s also pretty gruelling. While I’ve managed to avoid the malaria, dengue fever and tuberculosis that’s riddled my (male) colleagues, there are 101 things that make the rainforest a rather disagreeable place. First and foremost, there’s the heat. It’s so hot you are continually bathing in your own sweat. By the end of a trip, my own stench really is something to behold. Second absolutely everything bites or stings. Snakes and spiders you can understand. But a caterpillar that can kill a child – really? I’ve also casually brushed against a plant only to feel like I’ve been set on fire. Imagine a stinging nettle on steroids. The sting transformed into an enormous pus volcano on my thigh that considerately exploded in the middle of a meeting. Third, the runs. No stay in the rainforest is complete without a good old bout of diarrhoea. One of our party was so fearful of what lay ahead he took an entire packet of Imodium before he even entered the forest. Needless to say, he couldn’t defecate for more than a week. I’ve also contended with quicksand, nearly drowning in rapids, being held at gunpoint, and been made to sing (terribly) for our local hosts. I would argue that these delightful quirks of the rainforest affect men and women in equal measure. But the one area that I am continuously envious of is the male ability to pee while standing. Despite my best efforts I’ve had to accept that I’ll never accomplish it. It really is a gift from the gods. Trying to find somewhere to squat that doesn’t reveal my nether regions to all and sundry is the bane of my life. And yes, I have heard of a Shewee but there’s something oddly humiliating about trotting off with a rubber hose in front of your colleagues. I’ll spare you the delights of thrush and periods in the rainforest, I’m sure you get the gist. What I do find infuriating in all of this is that women who have a sense of adventure, who challenge themselves, or in my case merely marinade themselves in their own sweat, are often described as “having balls”. If a man does something stereotypically feminine, do we heap on praise by declaring “they have a vagina”? Obviously not. So why the hell is it considered complimentary to say that women have testicles? When women do something brave or adventurous, it should be a demonstration of their ability as a woman, not how like a man we can be. I am completely in awe of the women in our rainforest projects around the world. Their unflappable style is an example to us all – male or female. They pay no attention to the pathetic tribulations I’ve listed above. I’ve watched my young friend Mikaela lop the head off of Peru’s most poisonous snake with a machete without a second thought. Or what about giving birth in the rainforest? Think of the song and dance we make about childbirth in the UK – we’ve got the bloomin’ NHS. Ana from Cutivireni in Peru has given birth to 14 children with no medical help – half inside a cave while hiding from the Shining Path. I can’t think of anything braver. These women steadfastly safeguard their families and the forest. Cool Earth is about to celebrate saving its 100 millionth tree. A landmark achievement that is largely down to these incredible women, with no balls in sight. Kitty Jenkin is the project manager for Cool Earth. Follow @coolearth on Twitter. Would you like to share your story of working in the field? Email globaldevpros@guardian.co.uk with ‘Field post’ in the headline. Read more like this: • Field post: ‘We live in the same world but we have such different lives’ • Land rights in Latin America: where are the voices of indigenous women? • COP20: Peru must give indigenous people means to fight climate change Join the community of global development professionals and experts. Become a GDPN member to get more stories like this direct to your inbox. | ['working-in-development/working-in-development', 'global-development-professionals-network/series/field-posts', 'global-development-professionals-network/people-in-development-global-development-professionals-network', 'environment/deforestation', 'environment/forests', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/insects', 'world/peru', 'world/indigenous-peoples', 'travel/amazon', 'travel/southamerica', 'world/feminism', 'lifeandstyle/women', 'type/article'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2015-01-16T14:05:33Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
commentisfree/2009/mar/26/recession-g20 | Brendan Barber: This recession demands a new politics with solidarity, fairness and equality at its core | The G20 summit will meet in desperate times. Not since the 1930s has the entire world been gripped by deep recession and never before has it faced a threat such as climate change. In the UK those who lose their jobs and homes as mass unemployment returns face real hardship. This may well be the worst recession to lose your job in for many years. Our increasingly individualistic society means that there are far fewer informal social support systems. Benefits have been set at scrounger-deterrent levels with no pretence that they provide enough on which to live. People in developing countries, without even our limited safety nets, face even greater catastrophe. Already facing the real effects of climate change, global recession is choking off development as world trade collapses and rich countries turn inwards. The assumption that each year life, at least for most, will get a little better as health and living standards improve no longer applies. Such unprecedented times demand a new politics. For more than two decades we have lived life based on the last great ideological shift. Thanks to Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan and those Chicago economists, the state and public realm went out of fashion, markets were set free and growing inequality was seen at best as an unfortunate side effect and at worst something to celebrate. We need an equivalent shift now. This is what the people of the US said when they voted for Obama-style change. This should be no backwards move. Although a return of values such as solidarity, fairness and equality will be at its core, the policy tools that we need in a globalised world facing new problems will be very different. There is no blueprint. Governments facing this recession cannot know which tools will work best, and cannot simply hope that existing measures will work through. Yes, we need more regulation, but precisely what kind is not obvious. We need a co-ordinated fiscal stimulus, but there is no manual telling us how best to shape it to get the biggest and quickest return. Neither can we simply do the exact opposite of what we have done for two decades. Big country protectionism is still counter-productive. Markets, even if they must be made to serve people, are still a prime source of innovation and prosperity. If the G20 summit next week ends up an argument simply about the best technical response to the crisis it will have failed. It is unrealistic to expect it to solve all our problems at a stroke. Nor will the leaders attending admit that they mostly bought into the failed consensus that brought about the problems that they must now tackle. What the summit can do is set out clearly where policy instruments are meant to take us. G20 leaders need to set out that they want to see a different kind of world and that getting there is the best way to counter recession and ensure financial collapse never threatens the world economy again. That needs clear commitments to create jobs, build a low-carbon economy, work to reduce inequality both within and between countries and ensure decent public services for all. It is this hope that has brought the extraordinary coalition of unions, development groups, environmentalists and faith communities that is organising next Saturday's Put People First march for jobs, justice and climate in London. Not everyone there will agree on every issue, but just as Obama energised thousands who had simply given up on politics, this is perhaps the first post-recession political event that offers hope. Importantly it is going on outside Westminster, whose debates now look increasingly out of touch. For just as the economic consensus has broken, so too has UK electoral politics. Voters want action to reduce the gap between rich and poor; they are angry at the tax avoidance of the super-rich and big companies; and they see Sir Fred Goodwin's pension as symbolic of a much wider malaise. Yet this has no outlet. Polls show that voters blame the government. That is hardly surprising. They are after all in charge. But it goes deeper, many of Labour's leading players – even those now valiantly struggling to turn things round – were complicit in constructing the test that said Labour could only govern if it uncritically accepted the 1980s economic consensus. But the only way that voters can show this in our declining two-party system is to support the opposition. Yet this is a party that said the mortgage market was too regulated just as the sub-prime crisis was brewing. Its flagship spending pledge is an inheritance tax break that would benefit just the top two or three per cent. Fixing our politics is as challenging as mending the economy. It could go horribly wrong. Recessions can stimulate a nasty nationalism of protection and xenophobia. But there is also cause for hope. Solutions that involve a confidence in using the state, asserting democracy over markets and fighting inequality can only come from progressives to the left of centre. This recession is too desperate to talk of silver linings, but its very severity must make people question their previous assumptions. Coupled with a new popular movement for progressive change, of which Put People First is part, this could just be the start of a new and confident progressive politics. Nothing can stop the recession, but we can make sure that its pain is fairly shared, and that we emerge a fairer, greener and more democratic society the other side. | ['commentisfree/commentisfree', 'business/recession', 'world/g20', 'business/financial-crisis', 'business/job-losses', 'politics/politics', 'money/redundancy', 'business/global-economy', 'business/globalrecession', 'business/economics', 'society/society', 'inequality/inequality', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'environment/activism', 'tone/comment', 'type/article', 'profile/brendanbarber'] | environment/activism | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2009-03-27T12:00:00Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
world/article/2024/jul/22/canada-wildfires-evacuation-british-columbia | Canada wildfires drive hundreds from homes as more scorching heat forecast | Wildfires have forced hundreds from their homes in Canada’s westernmost province and officials warn weeks more of scorching temperatures will add pressure to fire crews already in the parched region. The British Columbia wildfire service said crews were battling more than 300 blazes, with more than half of the fires are classified as out of control. Thousands of residents are under evacuation alert, readying to leave their homes at a moment’s notice. “Fire suppression efforts continue to be challenged due to hot, dry conditions and localized winds,” the wildfire service said in an update. “A three-week heatwave continues, and more hot and dry conditions are expected to continue for most of the province.” Over the weekend, 14 communities in the province eclipsed or matched daily high-temperature records. Lytton, a community which was completely incinerated by a 2021 wildfire, shattered a 78-year-old record for its 20 July temperatures when it hit 41.2C (106F). The province’s wildfire service said nearly 1,000 provincial firefighters were on the ground, aided by crews from Nova Scotia and Ontario as well as New Zealand and Australia. Hot, dry conditions mean those crews are trapped in a Whac-A-Mole situation, scrambling to prioritize attacks on new blazes while tending to existing fires close to towns and cities. A spate of lightning strikes have also further complicated efforts. Officials believe there have been close to 1,300 strikes in the province since last week and lightning is believe to be the culprit in nearly 90% of the current fires. Still, the vagaries of daily weather mean the province is faring better than it did last year, when it endured its worst-ever wildfire season, with 1.45m hectares (3.6m acres) burned. In one case, the Donnie Creek fire in northern British Columbia charred more than 571,000 hectares. The record-breaking blaze was among the 100 fires that burned into December. This year, officials say the fire season is more in line with the 10-year average, which would see 300,000 hectares burned by the autumn. In neighbouring Alberta, thick smoke from more than 150 fires blanketed major cities, prompting air quality alerts. Officials say 7,500 people are under evacuation orders. Nearly 900 active fires are burning across the country, with 352 classified as out of control. • This article was amended on 30 July 2024 to clarify that the high of 41.2C in Lytton was a record there for the date of 20 July. | ['world/canada', 'world/world', 'world/americas', 'world/wildfires', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/leyland-cecco', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-foreign'] | world/wildfires | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2024-07-22T16:23:47Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
lifeandstyle/2016/jun/08/foodsaver-vacuum-sealer-kitchen-gadgets-review-vampiric-office-machine-sadistic-hunger | FoodSaver vacuum sealer review – a vampiric machine with sadistic hunger | The FoodSaver Automated Vacuum Sealer (£149.99, Lakeland) is an air compressor and heat sealing bar. Air passed through a thermoplastic bag creates an extraction vacuum around its contents, before the bag is welded airtight. Why? It’s a fun way to suffocate your food! Well? Despite the superheroic name, FoodSaver is a machine that essentially puts food to sleep. Which isn’t to say vacuum sealing doesn’t have near-mythic qualities: food can be stored up to five times longer than usual, and takes up less space doing it. Apparently, an oxygen-deprived lamb chop can keep for three years in the freezer. The device has just one instruction: “Fill bag and insert into machine.” That’s kinda two, but whevs. Obviously, I don’t have three years to test its extravagant claims. (“Let’s all meet up in the year 2020 and check on my lamb chop” sounds like a second-tier Pulp lyric.) But let’s try it. I feed ingredients into the device’s front slot – the machine grabs the bags with a sadistic hunger. As air is extracted, the bags crumple. Moisture draws in rivulets up their textured runnels. There’s something vampiric to it, albeit with the sexiness extracted. This plastic-heavy process can’t be environmentally friendly, as I’ve heard nature abhors a vacuum. But it’s quick, and the device’s footprint relatively small. Aesthetically, it’s a tougher sell. It looks like a fax machine. Or printer. Officeware, anyway. You could put this in a copper-accented country kitchen in the same way you could put a bonnet on a toad, but it’ll look odd. Strangely, I like it. It reminds me of every office job I’ve done; specifically the point at which a senior figure such as a CEO or editor inevitably has to ask the lowest-paid person in the room: “Do you know how to change printer toner? It was jammed and I opened a drawer and now it’s only printing sideways.” I love those moments. Anyway, is FoodSaver useful enough? Probably, for people who plan lunches two years in advance. I’m not sure a cryogenic dormitory of bagged and tagged meals is for me – it’s kinda like food, with the spontaneity sucked away. Redeeming features? The booklet suggests vacuum sealing to keep camping valuables dry, which is ingenious. (Also, what else can it do? What happens if you vacuum pack bubble wrap? #BlowingMyOwnMind) Counter, drawer, back of the cupboard? Stationery cupboard, I guess? Check with Sharon in facilities and CC me, please. 3/5 | ['lifeandstyle/series/inspect-a-gadget', 'food/food', 'lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle', 'technology/gadgets', 'technology/technology', 'lifeandstyle/homes', 'tone/features', 'type/article', 'profile/rhik-samadder', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/g2', 'theguardian/g2/features', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-g2-features'] | technology/gadgets | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2016-06-08T12:07:01Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
world/2013/aug/27/letter-from-papua-new-guinea | Letter from Papua New Guinea: logging as a mixed blessing | In striking contrast to the slightly built, softly spoken, diffident people around him, Eddie is of solid build, with a distinct, though not excessive, paunch and an air of authority. He organises the workers and drivers with minimum discussion. But at home in the village in the evening he blends in and is respected, but is not deferred to. He is the site manager and one of three directors of a landowners' association that works with a Malaysian logging company. As soon as the name of this company is mentioned in Papua New Guinea and other parts of the Pacific, alarm bells ring. And so I hear anger and loathing from the environmental community, and murmurs of disapproval from locals about the destruction of biodiverse habitat and of traditional lifestyle. "The landowners have stopped planting their food crops," I hear. It seems that in this case the initiative to seek out the company came from Eddie and his fellow directors. They spent four years doing the groundwork: persuading the landowners to give up their land for the project, seeking out the logging company that seemed to offer the best deal, employing their own law firm, and establishing firm guidelines to ensure that their interests are met. These include the collection of appropriate royalties, the retention of a fixed percentage of the sawn logs for local housing construction, the preparation of land for cash crops – cocoa and coffee, for the planting of which professional help is being sought. Personnel training has been on the agenda, an accountant is to be employed and housed in the excellent building prepared on the company's site. "And we are here to keep an eye on them," says Eddie. The road that the company has built to the site is a blessing, as the company truck picks up villagers and their loads of betel nut and yams. The primary school has become more accessible. Saving money has been difficult in unsecured thatch huts, with the nearest bank a five-hour outboard motor ride away. Now a local branch is likely to be opened at the site. So, is this progress, or is it the destruction of the environment and lifestyle of a traditional Pacific island community? Every week Guardian Weekly publishes a Letter from one of its readers from around the world. We welcome submissions – they should focus on giving a clear sense of a place and its people. Please send them to weekly.letter.from@theguardian.com | ['world/series/letter-from', 'world/papua-new-guinea', 'world/asia-pacific', 'world/world', 'environment/deforestation', 'environment/environment', 'environment/forests', 'type/article', 'profile/gabi-duigu'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2013-08-27T13:01:29Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2022/sep/28/worlds-central-banks-financing-destruction-of-the-rainforest | World’s central banks financing destruction of the rainforest | Some of the world’s biggest central banks are unwittingly helping to finance agri-business giants engaged in the destruction of the Brazilian Amazon, according to a report published on Wednesday. The Bank of England, the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank are among the institutions that have bought millions of dollars in bonds issued by companies linked to deforestation and land-grabbing, according to the report Bankrolling Destruction, published by the rights group Global Witness. “Because these programmes are guaranteed by the respective governments in the UK, the US and EU Member States, this means taxpayers throughout those territories are unwittingly underwriting companies engaged in the destruction of the Amazon and other rainforests,” according to the report. The banks buy corporate bonds issued by big companies in an attempt to inject liquidity into financial markets when the private sector is reluctant to lend. Known as “asset purchase programmes”, these measures aim to reduce the cost of borrowing for companies and were used extensively during the pandemic as a way of bolstering economies. Some of the companies that sold bonds are linked to environmental destruction, the report says, naming Cargill, Inc., the Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (ADM) and Bunge Ltd Financial Corp, three of the biggest agri-business conglomerates operating in Brazil. Brazil is one of the world’s biggest producers or exporters of grains, coffee, soy, fruit and other raw materials, and all three companies have faced previous allegations of wrongdoing. The Guardian reported on links between Cargill and Bunge and a Brazilian farm which has been connected to abuses of indigenous rights and land. Addressing the allegations in the Global Witness report, Cargill said it was “committed to ending deforestation and conversion in our agricultural supply chains” and Bunge stated it was “committed to complying with all regulations either in local or global markets and to adhering to our own strict social-environmental policies”. ADM did not respond to requests for comment. But it was the central banks that bore the brunt of the criticism. “Since 2016, the Bank of England has also purchased an undisclosed share in a £150m corporate bond issued by Cargill, Inc., and the European Central Bank has bought an undisclosed amount of debt issued by Bunge Finance Europe B.V.,” the report says. And in just the last two years “the US Federal Reserve has bought a combined total of $16m of bonds issued by the Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (ADM) Bunge Ltd Financial Corp, and Cargill, Inc. “All this comes despite the repeated public statements from all three central banks stressing the risks that climate change poses to financial stability and long-term economic growth.” Global Witness said the Federal Reserve had “wound down” its bond buying scheme and the Bank of England would start the same process this month. The Fed said it had adopted the policy as a one-off measure in 2020 to save jobs during the global pandemic, and had no plans to do so again. The Bank of England said it had taken measures to lower borrowing costs for all firms and to highlight the support given to Cargill was “an extremely narrow focus”. The European Central Bank, meanwhile, said it “aims to gradually decarbonise its corporate bond holdings, on a path aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement. To that end, the Eurosystem will tilt these holdings towards issuers with better climate performance through the reinvestment of the sizeable redemptions expected over the coming years.” However, Global Witness said the refusal of UK and EU banks to publish the values of their holdings in the companies created “a lack of transparency”. “As supervisors of the private financial sector, central banks must lead by example and adopt an explicit zero-deforestation policy as part of their approach to climate change, including divestment from all deforestation-linked bonds and greater scrutiny of the threat to financial stability posed by deforestation and biodiversity loss,” the report said. The report comes amid ongoing destruction in the Amazon region, a vast area covering parts of nine different South American countries and a vital carbon sink to absorb the emissions driving the climate crisis. Deforestation under far-right President Jair Bolsonaro hit a record high for the first seven months of the year, the latest shocking statistic under a president who has turned a blind eye to the illegal loggers, ranchers and miners active in the region. Already, 26% of the Amazon has been cut down and some parts have passed the tipping point where previously lush forest have turned into dry savannah, according to a report issued early September by scientists and Indigenous organisations. “I think this report is a very useful piece of analysis which highlights the need for central banks to look at their exposure to deforestation in their portfolios,” said Nick Robins, a professor of sustainable financing at the LSE. “2022 really is the year that central banks recognised nature risk as a threat to institutions. The focus up to now has been on the energy sector but this is another signal that deforestation and land use needs to be put at the heart of climate scenarios.” | ['environment/series/animals-farmed', 'environment/environment', 'world/brazil', 'business/bankofenglandgovernor', 'business/federal-reserve', 'business/european-central-bank', 'environment/deforestation', 'environment/amazon-rainforest', 'world/jair-bolsonaro', 'world/americas', 'business/business', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/forests', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/andrew-downie', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2022-09-28T08:46:33Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2018/feb/28/first-plastic-free-aisle-is-an-example-for-other-supermarkets-to-follow | First plastic-free aisle is an example for other supermarkets to follow | Letters | Today the world’s first plastic-free aisle was launched in Amsterdam by environmental campaign group A Plastic Planet and Dutch supermarket Ekoplaza. The aisle enables shoppers to choose from 700 everyday products that are free from plastic packaging. Before the end of the year, Ekoplaza plans to roll the plastic-free aisle out across each of its 74 stores. Plastic packaging has no place in food and drink. There is no logical basis for wrapping something as perishable as food with something as indestructible as plastic. With recycled plastics today accounting for just 6% of total plastics demand in Europe, it’s clear that we cannot recycle our way out of the plastic problem. Food and drink plastic packaging does not belong in a circular economy given that it is difficult to reclaim, is easily contaminated, and all too often proves valueless. The grocery retail sector accounts for more than 40% of all plastic packaging. Plastic-free aisles make sound commercial sense, with a Populus poll last year revealing that 91% of Britons back the measure. Plastic has replaced so many forms of packaging that consumers wanting to reduce their plastic footprint at the moment find it impossible to do so. We agree with A Plastic Planet that a plastic-free aisle will help consumers to reduce their own single-use plastic mountain. We call on supermarkets across Europe to follow Ekoplaza’s example without delay. Julie Andersen Executive director, Plastic Oceans Foundation, Chris Butler-Stroud CEO, Whale and Dolphin Conservation, Luca Bonaccorsi Director of communications and engagement, Marine Conservation Society UK, Laura Chatel Senior advocacy officer, Zero Waste France, Natalie Fee Founder, City to Sea, Dr Laura Foster Head of clean seas, Marine Conservation Society UK, Julian Kirby Environmental justice campaigner, Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland, Ffion Matthews Communications director, Friends of the Earth Wales, Frederikke Magnussen Co-founder, A Plastic Planet, Mindy O’Brien Coordinator, VOICE, Sian Sutherland Co-founder, A Plastic Planet, Hugo Tagholm Chief executive, Surfers Against Sewage, Maria Westerbos Founder and director, Plastic Soup Foundation • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com • Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters | ['environment/plastic', 'business/supermarkets', 'environment/plastic-bags', 'business/retail', 'world/netherlands', 'environment/environment', 'business/business', 'world/europe-news', 'world/world', 'tone/letters', 'type/article', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/letters', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/plastic | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE | 2018-02-28T06:00:11Z | true | POLLUTION_AND_WASTE |
environment/2013/oct/09/why-leaves-turn-red-autumn-colours | Why leaves turn red – and why this autumn's colours should be spectacular | Patrick Barkham | We are already enjoying a spectacular autumn fruiting season with more blackberries than I can ever remember and now some autumn leaves are beginning to turn gold and ginger as well. I don't remember all I should of GCSE biology but luckily the Woodland Trust are on hand to help explain the wonder of autumn colours. Why leaves are green Plants make food to grow via photosynthesis (which means “putting together with light”) converting carbon dioxide and water into sugars using the energy in sunlight. This energy is captured by chlorophyll, the green pigment found in leaves and green parts of plants. The sugars produced by photosynthesis are transported around the tree and stored in the leaves. Plants need sunlight and warmth to produce chlorophyll, which is also destroyed by bright sunlight. In summer, it is continuously created to keep the leaves green. Why leaves turn yellow If a plant is kept away from sunlight, it yellows: a good example is grass covered by a tent. In winter, with less sunlight, chlorophyll is not produced. But the crucial chemical pigment behind leaves turning yellow is carotene – the main pigment in carrots, which is also found in leaf cells in the growing season. This is a yellow pigment but it isn't visible until the production of chlorophyll slows in autumn. As the green fades, the yellow carotene remains. Low temperatures also destroy chlorophyll so cold nights quicken the yellowing of leaves. Why leaves turn red As a tree prepares to shed its leaves in winter, a layer of cells form across the base of the leaf stalk which restricts the movement of sugars back into the body of the tree. Concentrated in the leaf, sugars react with proteins in the cell sap to produce anthocyanin, a purply red pigment that causes apples to turn red and black grapes purple. Crucially, the production of anthocyanin is boosted by sunlight, drought and temperatures staying above freezing. The ingredients for a perfect autumn According to Kate Lewthwaite of the Woodland Trust – the manager of the Nature’s Calendar Project – the perfect ingredients for vibrant autumn colours are cold – but not freezing – nights, dry weather and bright sunny days. In dry weather, the leaf sugars become concentrated and produce more anthocyanin. In sunny conditions, photosynthesis can still occur in the autumn and this uses up the remaining chlorophyll (no longer being produced by the trees) and so the sugar concentration in the leaves further increases, and more anthocyanin is produced. If the summer has been dry, that helps too. Cloudy, wet autumns lead to drabber autumn leaves. What will happen this year? So far, only horse chestnut trees have turned gold, with ash and sycamore not far behind. Oaks and beeches – traditionally one of the most vibrant autumnal trees – are still deep green, and unlikely to turn yellow and red until November. Brian Muelaner, the National Trust's ancient tree advisor, originally hails from Canada. He says the British weather over the summer and autumn has been just right to create spectacular colours “just like a good Canadian autumn” in a few weeks. “Summer conditions have been ideal for a perfect autumn show,” he says. “As long as we don't get a storm at a critical stage or a really, really hard frost – which causes the leaves to drop straight off – we should have a spectacular show this year.” | ['environment/blog', 'environment/environment', 'environment/autumn', 'environment/forests', 'science/science', 'science/biology', 'type/article', 'tone/blog', 'profile/patrickbarkham'] | environment/forests | BIODIVERSITY | 2013-10-09T14:56:13Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
us-news/article/2024/aug/27/corn-moisture-humidity-heat-midwest | Corn sweat: crop moisture amplifies humidity and heat in US midwest | You won’t believe your ears, but corn is making the extreme heat the US midwest is battling feel more intense, according to experts. The moisture – or “sweat” – that corn and other crops release in high temperatures is contributing to the humidity in the air in the midwest US, where 55 million people have been under alerts for extreme heat in recent days. The increase in moisture pushes up dew points, making it harder for water vapor to condense – and for it to feel cooler. Exacerbating the situation is the fact that the US is the “largest producer, consumer, and exporter of corn in the world”, as well as ethanol, which the country primarily makes from corn kernel starch, according to the US Department of Agriculture. And two states in the grips of the heatwave – Iowa and Illinois – are responsible for a third of US-produced corn. That has left residents of those states, along with other prolific corn-producing neighbors, feeling even warmer as they grapple with scorching temperatures forecasted to reach 105F (41C) to 115F (46C). “It is the plants reacting to that warmer weather. They also then need more moisture, so they’re uptaking more from stored-underground water and bringing that up to the atmosphere that we’re in,” Chris Clark, an agronomist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison told a local CBS news outlet. One acre of corn, which is a little smaller than the size of an American football field, can can create 3,000 to 4,000 gallons of corn sweat, Clark said. The climate crisis, caused primarily by the burning of fossil fuels, forest destruction and methane emissions, means heatwaves are increasing “in frequency, duration, intensity and magnitude”, according to the World Health Organization. A heat dome covered large swathes of the US south-west earlier in August, affecting nearly 23 million Americans and straining energy infrastructure. And in the coming days, a heatwave may soon sweep over mid-Atlantic states, including parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island. Heat is the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the US. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, each year about 1,220 people in the US are killed by extreme heat. The heatwave and the related corn sweat-induced humidity are part of broader extreme weather patterns seen in the US in recent days. Elsewhere, an Alaska landslide reportedly killed a public works employee who had volunteered to help his community’s government respond to inclement weather during his scheduled time off. A woman died in a Grand Canyon national park flash flood. Additionally, Hawaii was pounded with rain from Tropical Storm Hone, and California’s Sierra Nevada saw early-season snow. | ['us-news/us-weather', 'environment/extreme-heat', 'us-news/us-news', 'environment/environment', 'world/extreme-weather', 'environment/climate-crisis', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'profile/erum-salam', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/us-news'] | environment/extreme-heat | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2024-08-27T16:15:35Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2019/may/23/wildlife-and-biodiversity-are-not-the-same | Wildlife and biodiversity are not the same | Letter | Congratulations for making serious and important decisions about your use of climate crisis terminology (18 May). With one big exception: the use of “wildlife” rather than “biodiversity”. “Wildlife” used to mean “animals” (far from all living diversity), and has morphed into some sort of general term for things in nature reserves. It is those cute things Sir David watches from behind trees. In contrast, biodiversity is straightforward. It is the diversity of life – all the things we need to look after, from elephants to bacteria, and from ecosystems to molecular DNA diversity. Emeritus Professor John Bolton University of Cape Town • 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/biodiversity', 'environment/wildlife', 'environment/environment', 'environment/conservation', 'tone/letters', 'type/article', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/letters', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/biodiversity | BIODIVERSITY | 2019-05-23T16:15:07Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
media/2008/jun/03/yahoo.microsoft | Yahoo takeover: board had early plans to reject Microsoft bid, papers reveal | Yahoo drew up a plan to reject a Microsoft takeover bid months before its $45bn ($22.9bn) offer, according to newly released court documents revealing the lengths the company went to in its attempts to avoid being swallowed up by the technology giant. The web firm had also previously rejected the idea of a Google tie-up on competition grounds, according to court documents made public in the US yesterday. These documents, unsealed by a Delaware chancery court judge as part of a legal action by Yahoo shareholders angered that the company rebuffed Microsoft's approaches, provide more details of its resistance to doing a deal. The documents revealed minutes from a Yahoo board meeting last October at which the directors discussed "recent communications about a third party's interest" and the likelihood of a takeover offer. The plaintiffs allege the third party was Microsoft. The Yahoo chief executive, Jerry Yang, then received approval to draw up a "standby" press release rejecting any offer that was eventually made. Microsoft made its initial takeover move three months later - and Yahoo rejected the offer. In paragraph 32 of the plaintiffs' complaint, which contains excerpts of an internal Yahoo meeting on October 5 last year, directors discussed preparing a press release rejecting any offer. "Yang and the [Yahoo] board discussed 'recent communications about a third party's interest in a transaction with the company' and 'the likelihood that a third party [alleged to be Microsoft by the plaintiffs] would make an offer to purchase the company'," the document stated. "Yang obtained approval to set the stage publicly for a rejection of any offer. A standby press release to be issued by Yang after consultation with select board members stated, among other things, that 'the board will carefully consider the offer and is committed to acting in the best interests of shareholders in doing so', but that it had 'very recently determined that it was not the right time for the company to seek to sell itself'." The documents also reveal that on January 30, just days before Microsoft publicly announced its $31 a share, $45bn initial offer for Yahoo, an internal document prepared executives to reject any question of a search advertising deal with Google at an "all hands" internal meeting. "Short-term analysis of the revenue potential of outsourcing monetisation may not take into account the longer-term impact on the competitive market if search becomes an effective monopoly," said an extract from the document. This is at odds with Yahoo's subsequent announcement in April that it was conducting a test with Google in a move interpreted by observers as one strategy to seek alternatives to a deal with Microsoft. The bulk of the lawsuit, brought by two Michigan pension funds in a shareholder suit against Yahoo, focuses on whether the court should cancel a generous employee severance plan that the plaintiffs argued is a strategy to make a Microsoft takeover hugely expensive. Based on Yahoo's internal estimates the severance plan, adopted on February 12, would have added between $462m and $2.1bn to Microsoft's costs based on the company's offer of $31 per share. If the bid had been raised to $35 per share, Microsoft's potential costs from the severance scheme changes would have ranged from $514m to $2.4bn. Yahoo introduced the severance plan after the Microsoft chief executive, Steve Ballmer, mentioned that there could be $1.5bn in incentives to retain employees in a conversation on January 31, the day before the technology company made its bid public. The total cost of the severance plan would have depended on how many Yahoo employees were made redundant after a Microsoft takeover. The lawsuit is seeking to get Yahoo's severance plan invalidated. The documents also include a reference to Yahoo board minutes indicating that Microsoft had offered to buy the company for about $40 per share in January 2007. Yahoo said in a statement: "We're disappointed by the judge's ruling in Delaware. That said, this is a routine legal matter which we believe will have no substantive bearing on the outcome of the case before the court - which is without merit. "Most of the internal discussions made public revolve around Yahoo's employee retention plan. We adopted this plan to preserve the company's most valuable asset - its employees - at an unprecedented time in the company's history. "The retention plan's intent is to help us preserve and enhance shareholder value by continuing to attract and retain the industry's best talent, and to allow employees to stay focused on implementing Yahoo's business strategy. We believe Yahoo did the right thing for its employees and its shareholders alike." · To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediatheguardian.com or phone 020 7239 9857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 7278 2332. · If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication". | ['media/digital-media', 'media/mediabusiness', 'media/media', 'business/business', 'business/useconomy', 'technology/technology', 'technology/yahoo-takeover', 'technology/yahoo', 'technology/microsoft', 'us-news/us-news', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'profile/marksweney'] | technology/yahoo-takeover | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2008-06-03T10:09:36Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
society/2022/jun/09/how-thunderstorms-can-trigger-hay-fever-attacks | How thunderstorms can trigger hay fever attacks | The hay fever season moves into its second phase in June, as tree pollen levels decline and pollen from grasses starts to rise. How much pollen you actually experience depends on the weather; clouds and rain are generally good news for hay fever sufferers, but under some conditions they can be catastrophic. Plants release pollen on dry, sunny days, when the particles can rise on thermal updraughts and be carried by light winds. In general, the more warm weather, the more pollen there is. Clouds mean less pollen is released, and rainfall washes pollen out of the air, with prolonged rain having more of an effect. But intense summer thunderstorms can actually increase pollen levels. This is because the strong winds stir up pollen, and thunderstorms typically come after a period of dry weather during which pollen accumulates on the ground. Moisture can rupture dry grass pollen grains, producing clouds of tiny, allergy triggering fragments. And thunder showers are usually brief and have large droplets that do little to clean the air. The net result is that summer thunderstorms can produce waves of “thunderstorm asthma” or “thunderstorm hay fever”, which have been recorded in London and elsewhere. Fungal spores may also be a factor, turning the summer air into a rich cocktail of allergens. | ['society/hay-fever', 'news/series/weatherwatch', 'society/health', 'society/allergies', 'uk/weather', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/davidhambling', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-weather'] | news/series/weatherwatch | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2022-06-09T05:00:10Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
science/2004/dec/31/sciencenews.indianoceantsunamidecember2004 | Seabed sensors could stop scares | A tsunami early warning system in the Indian Ocean could reduce the number of false alarms that triggered the panic in India yesterday. Not all subsea earthquakes and tremors trigger giant waves and the key is monitoring the motion of the water, not the shaking of the ground. The most hi-tech feature of the much-heralded warning system in the Pacific is a series of pressure sensors on the sea bed. These detect changes in the weight of the water above them caused by shifts in sea level as small as one centimetre (0.4in), and send updates through cables to buoys on the surface. The information is transmitted by satellite to a control station in Hawaii. In November last year, the system was able to give the all clear after a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck deep beneath the ocean off the Alaskan coast. A tsunami warning was issued within 25 minutes of the quake, and then withdrawn an hour later when a pressure sensor hundreds of miles to the south indicated the resulting wave was only 2cm high. When it rolled into the harbour in Hilo, Hawaii, a few hours later it raised water levels by just 21cms. Each sensor costs about $200,000 (£104,000) and data from the Indian Ocean could be relayed by existing satellites. Dave Tappin, of the British Geological Survey, said sensors would have to be carefully placed near the most likely earthquake zones. "It's still possible that a wave would miss all the buoys and there would be no warning," he said. Coastal tidal gauges, the cornerstone of the Pacific system, are more reliable but only register dangerous changes in water levels when the leading edge of a tsunami strikes land. Several countries around the Indian Ocean had discussed linking their tidal gauges with high speed broadband cables before the disaster. Establishing and maintaining such systems is crucial. A seismograph on the Indonesian island of Java failed to warn officials in Jakarta before the recent disaster because it was disconnected during an office move in 2000. Mr Tappin said the northwestern US coastline is littered with signs telling people which way to run when tsunami sirens sound. "All of that has to be set up, from central facilities down to a local level." | ['science/science', 'world/tsunami2004', 'world/world', 'tone/news', 'world/india', 'type/article', 'profile/davidadam', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/life', 'theguardian/life/features'] | world/tsunami2004 | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2004-12-31T00:02:25Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
politics/2019/sep/11/labour-activists-pledge-to-create-most-radical-manifesto-ever | Labour activists pledge to create most radical manifesto ever | Labour activists are planning to put forward the most radical set of ideas ever proposed at party conference later this month as they try to shape the manifesto for an expected snap election. A four-day week, abolishing private schools and ambitious climate change targets are among the policy ideas campaigners hope will be adopted by the party when thousands of delegates meet in Brighton from 21 September. Young party members believe Corbyn has allowed radical ideas to flourish, beyond traditional areas preoccupying the left such as defending the NHS and welfare state. The leftwing grassroots group Momentum has announced it is backing a zero carbon target by 2030 as part of a Green New Deal agenda, which has been passed by around 90 constituency Labour parties so far and has backing from the Communication Workers Union. If passed the target will be Labour’s most progressive green policy and among the most radical of any European political party. In the UK other political parties commit to net-zero by 2050. A Momentum source said: “With members putting forward exciting, radical policy like the Green New Deal just before an election, they’re essentially writing the next manifesto. “It’s a real chance for members to feed into policy, and it could well result in the most most ambitious, radical manifesto ever put forward by Labour.” The conference is taking place the day after the youth climate strike and alongside a week of action by Extinction Rebellion, with activists pushing for the climate emergency to top the agenda on the conference floor. There was some relief among activists that the party conference would run to its full five days and had not been cut short because of an immediate election. Some policies have been in development for nearly a year. Banning private schools has support from six constituency parties so far and the backing of senior party figures, and is expected to be another key policy debated and voted on in Brighton. Shadow chancellor John McDonnell and former Labour leader Ed Miliband are both supporting the Labour Against Private Schools campaign group, which is running the AbolishEton hashtag on social media. The motion due to be brought to conference calls for the integration of state and private schools and the end of endowments of private schools. Teacher and campaigner Holly Rigby, said: “The thing about Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party is it expanded what is possible again for the left. “For a long time we were just defending the limited rights of the welfare state, but then when Corbyn got elected people started think about what can we could do with the left in power. “This is why you’re seeing loads of exciting political ideas like a four-day week and abolishing private schools becoming popular. It feels like there’s no limit with how radical people want to go with it.” Constituency Labour parties are allowed to back one motion at conference and the cut off date to list support is 12 September. Other motions include ending detention centres and setting up the “inclusive ownership fund” which was floated by McDonnell last year. A source said: “This is probably Labour’s most radical policy to date. This is the wholesale transfer of assets of a large company to the worker.” The four-day week with no loss of pay is also being backed by Momentum. British workers currently have the longest hours of any European country. If delegates pass motions they will be taken to the Clause V meeting of the National Executive Committee, shadow cabinet and trade unions where a manifesto is hammered out. | ['politics/labour', 'politics/labourconference', 'politics/politics', 'uk/uk', 'politics/jeremy-corbyn', 'politics/john-mcdonnell', 'education/private-schools', 'environment/extinction-rebellion', 'environment/environment', 'education/schools', 'education/education', 'politics/momentum', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/kate-proctor', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/extinction-rebellion | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM | 2019-09-11T05:00:18Z | true | CLIMATE_ACTIVISM |
environment/2019/jun/24/survival-of-natural-world-is-in-balance-says-wildlife-chief | Survival of natural world is in balance, says wildlife chief | The survival of the natural world upon which humanity depends hangs in the balance, according to the new chair of the global scientific body for biodiversity. Ana María Hernández said she did not know if society could make the major changes needed to stop the annihilation of wildlife, which some scientists thought was the start of a mass extinction. It would be very difficult to shift society out of its current “comfort zone” of business-as-usual, but she thought the much higher environmental awareness among young people was a reason for great optimism. Hernández is chair of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), which in May published the most thorough planetary health check ever undertaken. It concluded that human society was in jeopardy from the accelerating decline of the Earth’s natural life-support systems, with a million species at risk of extinction. The destruction of nature by the razing of forests, overhunting and fishing, pollution and the climate emergency has slashed wildlife populations by 60% since 1970 and plant extinctions are running at a “frightening” rate, according to scientists. The web of life that provides the food, clean air and water on which society ultimately depends is being dismantled by unsustainable methods of production and wasteful lifestyles, say conservationists. “If I look at my generation, the people who are running the companies and countries and society in general, I don’t know if we are going to be able at this point in time to make extreme transformative changes, because we love to do the things we way we always do things,” Hernandez said. “We are in our comfort zone and it is very difficult to change. If we do not, then I am afraid the next 50 years are going to be very dramatic for us.” “But if I look at young people, I am optimistic. They are people who have grown up with environmental concern,” she said. “I think we are going to have this transformation from the old society to a new environmental society in this 50 years. But if we cannot change business-as-usual we are going to be in trouble.” Hernández will oversee a series of new projects by IPBES in the coming years, including a detailed assessment of the connections between biodiversity and food, water and human health. “If we don’t understand the relationship between biodiversity and the very basic needs of our lives then we are not going to understand how deeply biodiversity is important to maintain our own survival,” she said. IPBES will also examine the root causes of the destruction of ecosystems, beyond the direct exploitation of wildlife, to include poverty, conflicts and other political and economic factors. There will also be major reports on how global heating is harming biodiversity and the relationship between business and biodiversity. Some senior conservationists back moves towards declaring half of the Earth as a protected zone to rescue the natural world. But Hernández said the precise area designated was less important than having effective, on-the-ground enforcement, as some existing places were national parks only on paper. “I don’t care about the number, you can have 30%, 50% or 70%,” she said. “But if you don’t have really efficient tools inside those areas to reduce the causes of biodiversity loss, you are not doing anything.” Hernández is a Colombian expert in international relations and biodiversity, and said her work had been inspired by the incredible natural environments found in her home nation, such as the rainforests in Guainía. She said people could help preserve wildlife by buying sustainable food and products. “These things will help a lot,” she said. “I am reducing meat consumption at my house.” She also said people should use their votes for change: “People often do not vote because they know the proposals of the politicians, but because the person is charismatic or famous. Voters must understand the environmental proposals of the candidates.” | ['environment/biodiversity', 'environment/wildlife', 'environment/conservation', 'environment/environment', 'world/colombia', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'tone/interview', 'profile/damiancarrington', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-environment'] | environment/biodiversity | BIODIVERSITY | 2019-06-24T06:00:06Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
environment/2022/sep/30/country-diary-seascape-and-saltmarsh-make-a-feast-for-the-senses | Country diary: Seascape and saltmarsh make a feast for the senses | This saltmarsh has a slow, rhythmic pulse. Twice daily, the conjunction of the moon’s gravitational pull and the Earth’s rotation draws saltwater into the Coquet estuary, sending it creeping along brackish, muddy channels, through Spartina grass, between sand dunes and fields. It’s low tide. A little egret, waiting for the first trickle that will coax crabs to sidle cautiously out of their mud burrows, keeps a wary eye on us as we pass. The last spring tide left a broad ribbon of reed straw, driftwood and moulted seabird feathers – from gulls, waders, even a few from geese and swans – along the edge of the dune, all the way to the high point that overlooks Amble on the far bank of the river. Gaunt ribs of wrecked wooden vessels, festooned with wracks, lie half-buried in ooze, where curlews probe for worms. Desolate alarm calls of redshank and distant rapping of halyards against yacht masts are the soundtrack to a mournfully beautiful landscape, conducive to quiet introspection. Not so, though, on the seaward side of the dune. The sound of breaking waves grows louder as we climb the sandy path, flanked by the last sky-blue flowers of viper’s bugloss and yellow hawkweeds. The energy of the seascape that unfolds before us is exhilarating. A chilly, autumn north-westerly brought crystal clear air today. The horizon is drawn with razor-sharp clarity. White surf breaks on honey-coloured sand along the curve of the bay. Seashells – razor shells and tellins – are clues to life that lies beneath. Oystercatchers, in immaculate pied plumage, patrol the shoreline and chase retreating waves for whatever the incoming tide exposes. Expanses of this shore are so broad and flat that water never completely drains away at low tide, creating a mirror glaze that reflects clouds scudding overhead; a strange, dizzying, disorientating sense of sky moving overhead and underfoot. Gaps between clouds piling in from the north grow smaller, bands of sunshine and shadow sweep over us as we head along the beach, in exuberant mood, towards Alnmouth. Two seascapes, separated by towering sand dunes perhaps 50 metres wide, emotionally affecting in such contrasting ways. No wonder so many people love this coastline. • Country Diary is on Twitter at @gdncountrydiary | ['environment/series/country-diary', 'environment/coastlines', 'environment/rivers', 'environment/wildlife', 'environment/environment', 'uk/ruralaffairs', 'uk/uk', 'uk-news/northumberland', 'environment/plants', 'environment/birds', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'profile/philgates', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/letters', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/wildlife | BIODIVERSITY | 2022-09-30T04:30:29Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
global-development/2015/dec/23/uk-gives-ethiopia-30m-fight-drought-similar-in-scale-1984-crisis | UK gives Ethiopia £30m to fight drought similar in scale to 1984 crisis | The UK will provide an extra £30m in aid for Ethiopia, where a prolonged drought means that more than 18 million people will need urgent relief in the next year, according to the Department for International Development (DfID). Half of the cash is earmarked for the UN’S World Food Programme to supply emergency food supplies to around 1.9 million people, while £14m will go to a pooled fund that can be accessed by UN agencies and NGOs providing emergency water and healthcare. The funding was announced as Nick Hurd, the new international development minister, travelled to Ethiopia in December on his first foreign trip since replacing Grant Shapps, who resigned last month. Hurd visited a health clinic in the northern Tigray region, and said the number of mothers and children who had squeezed into the rooms demonstrated the severity of the crisis, as well as the effectiveness of services supported by British aid, he said. “The scale of this is very big and almost certainly too big for the domestic systems the government has set up in a very impressive way since learning all the lessons of droughts in the past,” he said. “A relentless drought is pushing millions to the brink in Ethiopia. The scale of the drought is similar to the one that killed so many in 1984. This time the Ethiopian government is in a much stronger position to help its people. However, they need the help of the international community,” he said. Around £1m from the UK funds will be spent on seconding humanitarian experts to the UN and the Ethiopian government, which have jointly launched an appeal for $1.4bn (£923m) for their drought response. Always prone to droughts, Ethiopia has also been affected by the El Niño weather phenomenon this year. And already difficult conditions are set to worsen in 2016 as meagre stocks from a weak harvest dwindle and the dry spell continues, possibly until June in some areas. The Ethiopian government says 10.2 million people will need emergency food aid in 2016, and another 7.9 million “chronically food insecure” individuals will depend on the safety net programme. More than two million additional Ethiopians will need treatment for malnutrition because of the drought, which is mostly affecting low-lying eastern areas. In August this year, the UN said around 4.5 million people in Ethiopia were projected to require assistance after failed rains. That figure has risen steadily since then. Ethiopia is one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies, with nearly double-digit growth every year for the last decade, but failed rains have had devastating consequences for food supplies for its 96 million people, around three-quarters of whom are farmers. The country has allocated £200m for the crisis, mainly to pay for cereal imports. The annual budget is £7.4bn, with 17% coming from foreign loans and grants. Frequently using foreign credit, the state has embarked on an ambitious infrastructure programme, building railways, apartment blocks, sugar factories and power stations. It is also using £2.8bn of domestic funds to build a hydropower dam – Africa’s largest – on the Blue Nile. But given the scale of the drought, the government has said it will reallocate some funds from road building to drought relief. Wheat imported by the government will make up the bulk of food aid deliveries in early 2016, until food provided by donors arrives, says David Del Conte, the deputy head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Ethiopia. “Donors have contributed a lot and it will pay dividends in eight weeks or 12 weeks. Until then, the government will continue to play an incredible lead role by using the commodities they’ve purchased,” he said. At this critical time, the government is also facing criticism over its controversial urban expansion plans for the capital Addis Ababa, which have angered farmers in the surrounding Oromia region. Opposition groups say around 50 people have been killed in clashes between security forces and protesters over the last three weeks. The government says around five people have been killed. With multiple crises leading to a record global humanitarian appeal of $20bn by the UN this year, the UK will be encouraging others to make further donations to Ethiopia, Hurd said. The UK has given a total of £113m for the crisis so far, according to DfID. “Whichever way you cut it, the international community is going to have to step up,” he said. “A stable, more prosperous Africa is firmly in Britain’s national interest and it is right that we do all that we can to prevent the crisis spiralling out of control.” | ['global-development/food-security', 'global-development/global-development', 'world/ethiopia', 'global-development/hunger', 'global-development/malnutrition', 'environment/drought', 'world/africa', 'environment/environment', 'world/world', 'global-development/aid', 'politics/department-for-international-development-dfid', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/william-davison'] | environment/drought | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2015-12-23T12:23:09Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
news/2014/apr/06/weatherwatch-invasion-waterweeds | Weatherwatch: Invasion of the waterweeds | Some of the effects of climate change – the lack of snow and the movement of hornets northwards – are obvious. But unless we look closely, we might easily miss the slow adaptation of plants. Some plants, however, do demand attention and these are ones that inconvenience us by thriving excessively, particularly those that are classed as invasive weeds. New research into some of these weeds, previously killed off by low winter temperatures, finds they are becoming even more of a problem. Invasive waterweeds have been studied by Quercus, Northern Ireland's biodiversity research centre, and scientists have come to the conclusion that warmer winters mean better survival rates. Four species are identified as threats, multiplying to clog up canals, lakes and rivers and cause flooding at an estimated annual cost of £57m to boating, angling and waterway management. They are water fern, parrot's feather, leafy elodea and water primrose. All have been imported as ornamental pond plants and "escaped" into the wild. They are all now regarded as a threat to native species and a hindrance to keeping waterways clear of obstructions. In small quantities these plants are all quite attractive, but let loose in a canal, pond or lake they can take over to the point where animals and children can mistake the dense surface vegetation for dry land and fall into deep water. The government is beginning to take action. From this month, selling the water fern, parrot's feather and water primrose is banned and could attract a £5,000 fine. | ['news/series/weatherwatch', 'tone/features', 'type/article', 'profile/paulbrown', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2'] | news/series/weatherwatch | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2014-04-06T20:30:00Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
uk/2012/nov/23/britain-braced-wet-weather-flooding | Britain braced for more wet and windy weather after flooding | A motorist has died after becoming trapped in his car in floodwater and police were searching for a second man feared drowned as Britain braced itself for more wet and windy weather this weekend. Downing Street said 300 properties were mopping up after the deluge and by Friday night the Environment Agency had issued more than 200 flood warnings and alerts. Another 40mm of rain is expected to fall this weekend and gale-force winds were predicted to batter the south of Britain as an area of low pressure sweeps in from the Bay of Biscay. Eddy Carroll, the Met Office's chief forecaster, said: "The current very unsettled spell of weather is set to continue across the country over the next few days. "Another deep depression will bring heavy rain and strong to gale-force winds to the southern half of the UK on Saturday, and this brings the potential for further flooding and travel disruption. "We are forecasting gusts of 60-70mph for southern counties of England overnight Saturday and into Sunday with the potential for storm force winds over the English Channel." The elderly motorist who died in the village of Chew Stoke, eight miles south of Bristol, is believed to have been visiting relatives. His Mitsubishi Shogun was swept away as he tried to cross a ford. It became completely submerged and was wedged under a small wooden bridge. Rescuers got the man out but he died after suffering a cardiac arrest on the way to the Bristol Royal Infirmary. Cynthia Troup, who has lived in Chew Stoke for 38 years, said locals would not cross the ford in bad weather. "We don't go over it when it's too deep. We know not to," she said. "We treat it with respect and certainly would never drive through it when it was like this." David Smith, who lives next to the ford, said: "This is the first time we've experienced this kind of flooding. The speed of the water was quite horrendous." A second tragedy nearly happened in the same place when a Land Rover was swept away. But it hit a bollard, halting the vehicle. The driver scrambled out and villagers attached ropes to the vehicle to pull it clear. Thames Valley police were searching for a 91-year-old man called Franz Van De Gender amid fears that he had fallen into the river Thames at Sonning in Berkshire. His empty car was found nearby. Dozens of other people had narrow escapes after becoming rescued from stranded cars. The AA urged drivers to think twice before taking on saturated roads. Darron Burness, the AA's head of special operations, said: "Even if you think you know your local roads, don't be complacent, as flash-flooding continues to be a real risk and is catching people out. "The best advice is to stay out of flood water. It can mask a range of hazards like raised drain covers and open manholes and it's often impossible to gauge how deep it is." The RAC said its callouts for breakdowns were up by 10% on Friday. It was dealing with 60% more callouts in south-west England than normal. An elderly woman and her two cats were plucked from her houseboat on the river Avon near Bristol. North Wales fire and rescue was so under pressure that it appealed for people to call only "if you believe lives are at risk". Accident and emergency departments across the country were being kept busy with injuries ranging from cuts and bruises caused by falling branches or trees to broken bones caused by falls on slippery pavements. Thousands of homes suffered power cuts in the storms as winds of more than 80mph hit some areas. In Bath a huge boulder crashed down in a landslip on Upper Camden Place. Fortunately, nobody was hurt. Dozens of elderly people had to be evacuated after a landslide in Exeter close to sheltered housing. In Cornwall, heavy rainfall and winds around the fishing port of Mevagissey resulted in a landslide. There continued to be long delays for some travellers as roads and rail lines were blocked or damaged by the week's deluges. The Environment Agency said its teams continued to work around the clock to shore up defences, monitor river levels, clear blockages from watercourses and pump out flood water from towns. A spokesperson said: "Rain will return to all parts of the country on Saturday with the heaviest and most persistent rain in western England and parts of Wales. River flooding is likely with the possibility of significant disruption, particularly across Devon, north Somerset and Wales. This rain spreads north and east increasing flood risk in north-east and north-west England on Sunday. The picture remains unsettled for the start of next week." A minor mystery was caused by the weather on Hayling Island in Hampshire, where golf-ball-sized balls washed up on the shore. The council advised members of the public not to touch them or allow dogs to eat them, though they were thought to be balls of natural emulsified oils and organic matter. | ['uk/weather', 'environment/flooding', 'environment/environment', 'uk/uk', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'profile/stevenmorris', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews'] | environment/flooding | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2012-11-23T18:28:17Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
environment/2024/mar/21/clermont-locals-pushed-for-this-queensland-mine-now-adani-is-fighting-for-the-right-not-to-employ-them | Clermont locals pushed for this Queensland mine. Now Adani is fighting for the right not to employ them | When Adani’s north Queensland coalmine obtained its final approvals in 2019, the residents of Clermont held an impromptu celebration at the Leo hotel. “Our town needs it, everyone’s passionate about it, it will be great for the community. A welcome, welcome thing,” one local at the pub told the ABC. In some exaggerated versions of the story, Clermont is the “little town that played a huge role” in the 2019 election result, after locals helped organise a counter-protest when the Stop Adani convoy rolled into town. More than four years later, the miner and the Queensland government have become embroiled in a legal dispute about whether Adani has the right to exclude Clermont locals from work at the Carmichael mine. Under Queensland law, companies are banned from having a 100% fly-in, fly out workforce if there is a “nearby regional community” within 125km. In September, the assistant coordinator general, Kerry Smeltzer, wrote to Adani advising the company the state had decided to expand the “nearby regional community” area for the Carmichael mine to include the town of Clermont, which is 159km from the coal pits. “Accordingly, this means the 100% fly-in, fly-out prohibition and anti-discrimination in recruitment provisions [which prohibit discrimination against locals applying for jobs] now apply to the project,” Smeltzer said. Adani responded by taking legal action in the Queensland supreme court in December, seeking a judicial review to overturn the decision, which it claimed was “an improper exercise of power” that restricts its “freedom” to choose “who it may employ and from what locations”. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Adani said in a statement that it had “Clermont people working in permanent jobs” and businesses from the town working as suppliers but that it had challenged the decision on the basis it was overreach. “We brought this legal action because the state’s decision to legislate that we employ Clermont locals was unnecessary overregulation as we already do so and have done so throughout construction and operation of the Carmichael mine,” the company said. On 14 March, the Queensland government rescinded its determination, citing an “administrative error”. Accordingly, the case lodged by Adani was abandoned but it is unlikely to be the end of the dispute. It is understood the state government made no concessions in relation to Adani’s legal arguments and that it might now consider making an amended declaration to extend the nearby regional community area to Clermont. “The decision made in September 2023 was intended to achieve the objective of the [laws], so residents living nearby the Carmichael coalmine benefit from the operation of the project,” a spokesperson from the coordinator general’s office said. “The coordinator general will continue to work with both Bravus and Isaac regional council to ensure the objectives … are achieved for the community of Clermont.” The vast majority of staff at the Carmichael mine are fly-in workers based in Rockhampton, Townsville and Mackay. The state government’s initial determination letter says that the decision should not alter the miner’s “commended” focus on employment in larger regional centres but would “mean that residents of Clermont will not be excluded from employment opportunities at the mine”. In a social impact assessment for the Carmichael mine, Adani noted that the Clermont community had said a “desired outcome” would include a “provision for workers to reside locally” but that driving or bussing workers to the mine site from the town would only be considered once road access had improved. The upgrade of a mine access road was a condition of Adani’s Queensland government approvals. Adani says works have begun, but the road is not complete and is behind schedule. The Isaac regional council launched legal action last year, claiming the road was a ““vital connection for rural residents, as well as suppliers and workers” and that Adani had failed to meet its obligations. The letter from the assistant coordinator general notes the ongoing “delays and disputes” and requests Adani to “give the construction and completion of the road your urgent attention”. Adani said in a statement that providing employment and contracting opportunities for Clermont “will remain an everyday part of our business”. The company says it is pursing costs for the legal case. Ellen Roberts, the national coordinator of Lock the Gate, said governments had “bent over backwards to give Adani what it wanted” including public subsidies and the deferral of mining royalties. “Unfortunately, it seems the Queensland government is continuing the legacy of governments doing all they can to appease Adani by backflipping so quickly on what was a sensible direction.” | ['environment/carmichael-coalmine', 'business/adani-group', 'australia-news/queensland', 'environment/coal', 'environment/mining', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'campaign/email/afternoon-update', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/ben-smee', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-state-news'] | environment/mining | ENERGY | 2024-03-20T14:00:02Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2019/nov/10/the-difficulty-of-letting-kids-go-wild | The difficulty of letting kids go wild | Letters | No one could dispute the Wildlife Trusts’ plea for all children to “have the opportunity to experience the joy of wildlife in daily life” and “to recognise the multiple benefits of nature for children – and ensure that at least one hour per school day is spent outdoors learning and playing in wild places”. (Call for schoolchildren to ‘go wild’ for at least one hour of every day, 7 November). For the majority of children who go to schools that don’t have immediate access to those wild places, how is this to be achieved? Over the years many schools have established forest clubs and gardening clubs, but these do not and cannot equate with “wild places”. My childhood was spent on Vancouver Island in the 1950s, when we had large gardens that were in themselves wild places. My four children have been raised in Oxford, which certainly allows access to country places and, at Shotover Park, for example, a relatively wild place, at least for some, but not easily or practicably accessible to all. Schools are already grinding away to keep themselves going. Will wild places for children be on the top of the daily agenda during this election campaign? Should be … won’t be. Bruce Ross-Smith Headington, Oxford • I read with interest the article about the Wildlife Trusts wanting children to have access to the outdoors. My daughter spent a year studying for a diploma in forest school. She qualified and now teaches forest school classes outside at the nursery where she works in Macclesfield. She looks after children from toddlers to school age, and up to 11 during school holidays. Parents tell her that the children love the classes and miss them when they go on to normal school. Martin Wainwright Macclesfield, Cheshire • 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/environment', 'environment/forests', 'education/primary-schools', 'education/education', 'society/children', 'education/schools', 'society/society', 'tone/letters', 'environment/biodiversity', 'environment/wildlife', 'environment/conservation', 'type/article', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/journal', 'theguardian/journal/letters', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-letters-and-leader-writers'] | environment/biodiversity | BIODIVERSITY | 2019-11-10T17:13:57Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
news/2019/mar/25/where-the-river-runs-red-tasmania-guardian-documentary | Where the River Runs Red: a Tasmanian mining town divided | In Where the River Runs Red, we visit the isolated area of western Tasmania, where an ominous red river divides the small mining town of Queenstown. A result of copper runoff from a closed mine, it is an ever present reminder of the town’s past. Delving into the day-to-day lives of the locals, Where the River Runs Red explores a community caught between the past and a future that is less reliant on a mining economy. The film is directed by Brodie Poole, and was produced in partnership with Screen Australia. Coming up: Someone Else’s War To date about 20 British nationals, some with no previous experience of combat, have travelled to Syria and joined the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) fighters to battle Islamic State. Some of these Britons were killed and have been proclaimed “martyrs” by the YPG and members of the UK’s Kurdish community. However, the British government has deemed their actions illegal, and sees the YPG as potential terrorists. In this documentary, we meet parents whose children were killed fighting with the Kurds against Isis. Someone Else’s War is out in April Documentary news and screenings The programme for the excellent Frames of Representation film festival has been announced. The festival, which looks at the outer limits of the documentary form, especially where it crosses over with drama, is a highlight of the year. My recommendations include What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire?, about race in the southern US, an earlier version of which won the best documentary award at the London film festival. Another treat is Honeyland, a wonderful documentary about rural beekeeping in Macedonia. It tells how a harmonious life is interrupted when a new family moves in with different and more commercial ideas about how to make honey. A current release I highly recommend is Being Frank, the story of the legendary comedian, musician and cultural figure Frank Sidebottom – or rather Chris Sievey, the man behind the papier-mache head. A labour of love taking years to make, its director, Steve Sullivan, has done a brilliant job uncovering hilarious and moving videos, photos and recordings that produce a picture of a manically creative person. A legend of Manchester, Sidebottom/Sievey comes across as a dedicated artist adored by many. The film is a perfect tribute, made in the independent spirit Frank Sidebottom championed. It is released on 29 March – check the film’s Twitter account for screening locations. Finally, we recommend any new documentary makers looking for funds to make films in developing countries to apply to the One World Media Fellowship. | ['news/series/guardian-documentaries-update', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'environment/mining', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/charlie-phillips', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-video'] | environment/mining | ENERGY | 2019-03-25T12:12:20Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2012/apr/11/wind-turbines-wuthering-heights-moors | Wind mast to be built on moors that inspired Wuthering Heights | Had the Brontë sisters been alive today, campaigners claim they would have been horrified by the plans to build giant wind turbines on the bleak and brooding moors that inspired their enduringly popular fiction. But campaigners who want to prevent the development are regrouping after losing the first stage of their fight to oppose four wind turbines on Thornton Moor, west of Bradford. Planning permission was granted on Wednesday to house a 200ft high wind monitoring mast on the site, a move that they fear will pave the way for future approval of the turbines. Residents had hoped they would be able to prevent the development going ahead by lobbying councillors during the meeting in Shipley, west Yorkshire. Outside the meeting, they held up placards which said: "Saying No to the Turbines." Thornton Moor is close to the famous parsonage at Haworth, where the Brontë sisters lived with their family, and where their father was the village clergyman. It's now preserved as a museum, which attracts tourists from all over the world who are fans of the Brontë's work and retrace their steps on the moors. The influence of the landscape can be witnessed throughout the Brontë sisters' work - notably Emily's Wuthering Heights with its dramatic scenes on the moors in appalling weather. The Brontë Way footpath also runs straight across Thornton Moor. Banks Renewables wants to build turbines next to the route of the footpath. The mast is part of process of assessing the suitability of the site. Anthea Orchard, who lives in nearby Denholm Gate and is the chair of the Thornton Moor Windfarm Action Group, said: "We've got to dust ourselves down, re-group and start again. We submitted our case but they voted against us four to two." She said: "This is just the start. I think they will put the mast up in the next few weeks. We can now start for preparing for the full application. While this is a temporary mast, it will inevitably lead to the construction of something much larger, permanent and devastating for this community." The group believes the wind farm is too close to a site of special scientific interest and houses, as well as an ugly addition to the landscape. Bradford council gave the go ahead to build a 200ft wind monitoring mast, which is expected to pave the way for four 330ft turbines on the moor at Denholme. The Brontë Society had also opposed the planning application, pointing out that the structure would "deface" views across the moorland, which is culturally and historically significant. However, Banks Renewables argued that the windfarm would bring £3.8m investment and produce enough electricity to power 4,400 homes. The planning application for a test mast – to gather wind data ahead of a full planning application for the turbines – was agreed at a meeting of the Shipley area planning panel. Councillor Simon Cooke, who spoke against the application, told the meeting there is nowhere else in the world with this kind of landscape, adding: "I, for one, do not want to see it lose its uniqueness simply to satisfy urban demand." But another councillor, Imdad Hussain, from Heaton, said: "I think we have got the situation here where members of the public are against something because it is in their back gardens." • This article was amended on 12 April 2012. In the original, Haworth was misspelt. This has been corrected. | ['environment/windpower', 'environment/energy', 'environment/renewableenergy', 'environment/environment', 'uk/ruralaffairs', 'uk/uk', 'books/emilybronte', 'books/books', 'books/charlottebronte', 'culture/culture', 'uk/bradford', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'profile/helencarter'] | environment/windpower | ENERGY | 2012-04-11T19:47:44Z | true | ENERGY |
sustainable-business/2015/aug/06/land-disputes-conflict-nestle-coca-cola-unilever | Can big brands like Nestlé really play a role in halting land disputes? | Globally, over 70% of land lacks clear registration or is subject to ownership disputes. This phenomenon directly increases the vulnerability of the world’s poorest, as development agencies such as the World Bank now widely recognise. Liberia’s emerging palm oil industry provides a case in point. Golden Veroleum, one of the sector’s largest foreign investors, stands accused of intimidating local landowners and trampling on communal property rights. In response, the firm says all its concessions comply with government rules, “thereby recognising the communities’ customary stake”. Thousands of similar land disputes regularly impact investment projects, resulting in a hike in operating costs for companies of up to 29 times a typical scenario, according to the Munden Project, a UK consultancy. Lack of legal clarity over land ownership is a “recipe for conflict and chaos”, says environmentalist Fred Pearce, author of The Landgrabbers. “Even if a company has got a piece of paper entitled to the land, it may turn out that somebody has competing rights and also has a piece of paper or at least a legal claim,” he says. Yet most companies prefer to bury their heads in the sand. That’s partly because of precedent, says Ben Bowie, a partner at TMP Systems (the trading name of the Munden Project). Weak local governance and government collusion mean that the repercussions of ignoring competing land claims are considered “tolerable” by business. That is slowly changing, Bowie argues. In the future, for example, the human rights group First Peoples Worldwide predicts that up to 60% of future activities by US extractive companies will occur on land occupied by indigenous people – thus pushing the issue up the agenda. Even so, the pervasiveness of the problem, the difficulty of quantifying associated risks and the apparent lack of solutions all combine to conspire against the private sector taking concerted action. “[Business] people have seen it as a risk that they can’t deal with so they’ve just ignored it,” says Bowie. Business taking action It is significant, therefore, that next week a cross-sector group including brands such as Coca-Cola, Unilever and Nestlé is due to release a set of practical guidelines to help companies implement advice set by the UN-backed Food and Agriculture Organisation. The Respecting Land Rights guidelines, due to be published by the Interlaken Group, will focus primarily on land rights relating to agribusiness and plantation forestry. In the coming months, TMP Systems is also set to release a web-based Land Diligence Toolkit designed to assist investors with assessing land tenure liabilities and risks. The work was inspired by a previous project involving Norges Bank Investment Management aimed at evaluating the financial impact of environmental and social issues. Another company active in trying to fill the data gap around land registration is Thomson Reuters. The UK-based business information provider markets a software solution that enhances land registration processes. To date the Aumentum service, which is primarily geared to help governments increase property tax receipts, has resulted in the registration of 65m parcels of land in around 20 countries. The system, which uses satellite-mapping features to tie specific land titles to precise geographic coordinates, gives private investors confidence to buy or lease land, says Donald Peele, vice-president of international operations at Thomson Reuters. He cites the example of Liberia, where the company’s technology has been used on a USAid-support project to create a centralised archive of all the country’s land records. Changing out-dated mindsets Better data alone won’t reduce companies’ exposure, however. “Land tenure and land rights are only as strong as the underlying rule of law in any particular country,” notes Christopher Barlow, a spokesperson for Thomson Reuters. An effective land registry may very well strengthen a claimant’s legal case, but it won’t necessarily keep them out of court. A more fundamental shift of mindset is needed, many land experts argue. Businesses have an unfortunate tendency to believe official assertions that unregistered land is state-owned and empty, says Andy White, coordinator of the Rights and Resources Initiative, a US non-profit. In reality, more than 90% of government lands have people living on them, according to one study. If land-related conflicts stand a chance of slowing down, businesses need to start seeing communities as legitimate counterparts, not just governments. Such an approach is not easy, White concedes: “You’ve got to invest a lot more in sorting it [land use] out but your risks are a lot lower.” Yet respecting communal rights is by no means impossible. Divine Chocolate, the Ghana-based Fairtrade chocolate producer, provides a stellar example of co-ownership with traditional rights holders. White cites the Finnish forestry company Stora Enso, which has established direct land use contracts with communities in southern China – albeit only after criticisms of a dubious initial deal with the government. Elizabeth Auden Wily, an independent land tenure specialist, insists that progressive corporate engagement on land rights can provide momentum to efforts at making national property laws both clearer and more just. Despite such reforms being in the private sector’s long-term interest, too few businesses are demanding change. “The incentive for government to change the law in the last decade has really declined,” says Wily. “And a major factor in that is the low will of business to require it.” This article was amended on 7 August 2015. An earlier version said the Land Diligence Toolkit emerged out of a joint project with Norges Bank Investment Management aimed at evaluating non-financial risks. | ['sustainable-business/series/role-business-development', 'sustainable-business/sustainable-business', 'environment/land-rights', 'environment/palm-oil', 'environment/corporatesocialresponsibility', 'technology/mapping-technologies', 'technology/technology', 'business/business', 'environment/environment', 'environment/sustainable-development', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'tone/sponsoredfeatures', 'profile/oliver-balch'] | environment/corporatesocialresponsibility | CLIMATE_POLICY | 2015-08-06T15:26:52Z | true | CLIMATE_POLICY |
sport/2023/mar/10/afl-says-players-health-paramount-after-liam-picken-legal-action-over-concussion | AFL says players’ health paramount after Liam Picken legal action over concussion | The AFL and Western Bulldogs say they have not been notified of legal action by the former premiership player Liam Picken, who alleges he was allowed to continue to play despite concerns about cognitive impairment from concussion. In a writ lodged with the court on Wednesday, the 2016 premiership player claims he repeatedly flagged concerns he was suffering symptoms after being concussed, but was never sent to an expert for help and was allowed to continue playing. Concussion in the AFL has become a key issue in recent years, with concerns raised after the deaths of Danny Frawley and Shane Tuck, who were both diagnosed postmortem with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a brain injury that leads to dementia and is linked to repeated head injuries. Both the club and The AFL say they have not received any correspondence from Picken or his lawyers, National Compensation Lawyers, despite the lodgement. “To this point, the Western Bulldogs have not received any formal notification about this matter, nor have we had any approach from his legal representative(s). Accordingly, we are not able to comment,” a spokesperson for the Western Bulldogs said. The club said concussion remains a significant issue within the industry. “As a club, the health, safety and wellbeing of all of our players (and all of our people) remains paramount at all times. This remains non-negotiable. The Western Bulldogs will provide further updates as and when required.” In a statement, the AFL also said it was unable to comment, but that it took the issues of players’ health seriously. “The health and safety of players at all levels of the game is the AFL’s key priority and we take concussion and the protection of the brain health of all those playing our game extremely seriously.” Michael Tanner, principal at National Compensation Lawyers, said Picken would allege he suffered various concussive events throughout his playing career with the Western Bulldogs that were either known, or should have been known to the AFL, and the club. In a statement, Tanner claimed the club and the AFL had a responsibility to the player’s health. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Picken’s lawyers allege he underwent a number of cognitive assessments which showed irregular results and despite such was returned to the field to play and that he was not provided with further specialist medical care and assessment after the irregular test results. Tanner said the former player is still suffering symptoms today, including an aversion to bright lights. It comes after Margalit Injury Lawyers announced last month it is going to represent former players who have suffered on-going issues as a result on concussion in a class action against the AFL. In a statement, the firm’s managing principal, Michel Margalit, said none of the injured players they had spoken to received any compensation. “The former players have told us heartbreaking stories of the impact that concussion sustained playing in the AFL has had on their personal lives, their families and their career after their footy ended,’’ Margalit said. “Players often enter into AFL careers as teenagers, without the life experience or perspective to understand the lifelong debilitating impacts of concussion. “These players need to be protected and adequately cared for if injured.” | ['sport/concussion-in-sport', 'sport/afl', 'sport/australian-rules-football', 'sport/australia-sport', 'australia-news/australia-news', 'campaign/email/morning-mail', 'type/article', 'profile/cait-kelly', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/australia-news'] | sport/concussion-in-sport | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2023-03-10T07:07:54Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
technology/2008/feb/07/yahoo.microsoft | Newly asked questions | Yes - though whether any of them has any merit is quite another question. The US Congress' judiciary committee is going to hold "hearings to explore the competitive and privacy implications of the deal" - starting tomorrow, in fact. But Microsoft can justifiably claim that the deal would increase competition in the search advertising marketplace by creating a larger rival to Google which might be able to force prices down. Since the new entity won't be larger in that important field, what is there to complain about? Google, with 62% of the world search market and about 42% of its advertising, would rather shift the debate: its top lawyer David Drummond noted that together, Microsoft and Yahoo would have an "overwhelming share" of the instant messaging and webmail markets, and also that they have two of the web's most visited sites. "Could a combination of the two take advantage of a PC software monopoly to unfairly limit the ability of consumers to freely access competitors' email, IM and web-based services?", Drummond asked. He was being rhetorical, but we suspect the simple answer is: no. The previous antitrust finding against Microsoft means the US Department of Justice would be watching it closely for such behaviour - probably with a Democrat president, Congress and Senate in the background. Be on your best behaviour at Redmond. Even so, there is some potential for abuse at the fringes. ComScore says Yahoo has 256 million webmail users, and Microsoft's Hotmail 255 million; Google's Gmail has perhaps 50 million users. And you can have multiple webmail accounts; some will even let you divert messages from one to another. The problems could come if or when a combined Microhoo decided that it would not let you forward messages to another webmail account: that might strike some as anticompetitive, and thus requiring some opening up - rather as the European Commission has demanded Microsoft should do with the details of the interface to its server products. But Hewitt Pate, a lawyer who served as an assistant attorney-general in the US Justice Department's antitrust division until 2005, couldn't see any obvious objections. The point is, Google does have a dominant share of web searches and income from web advertising, which will be strengthened once it completes its $3.1bn (£1.6bn) acquisition of the online display ad company DoubleClick - if the EC lets it. Microsoft and Yahoo together would dominate that sector, with about 25% of the market. But there's still all the rest of the web to play for. Earlier this week Microsoft was bullish, telling analysts that "Microsoft believes this proposed combination would receive all necessary regulatory approvals" and should be complete by the second half of this year. We'll see, won't we? | ['technology/yahoo-takeover', 'technology/yahoo', 'technology/microsoft', 'technology/searchengines', 'technology/google', 'technology/email', 'technology/internet', 'technology/technology', 'business/business', 'tone/news', 'type/article', 'profile/charlesarthur', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/technologyguardian', 'theguardian/technologyguardian/technology'] | technology/yahoo-takeover | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE | 2008-02-07T00:13:22Z | true | UNRELATED_TO_CLIMATE |
uk-news/2022/aug/02/swimmer-bitten-by-shark-while-snorkelling-off-coast-of-cornwall | Swimmer bitten by shark while snorkelling off coast of Cornwall | A swimmer has been bitten by a shark while snorkelling off the coast of Cornwall. The person involved, whose name has not been disclosed, was reportedly bitten on the leg by a blue shark during an excursion near Penzance. The snorkeller received first aid and, following advice from HM Coastguard, was given further treatment ashore from ambulance crews following the incident last Thursday. Blue Shark Snorkel Trips, the company that organised the tour, said such incidents were “extremely rare” and they were “in continued talks with shark experts” as to what had happened. The company said in a statement on its Facebook page: “As we know, these things can happen when we choose to interact with wild animals in their own environment. “The last thing we want is to let speculation drive the media into a world of bad press for the sharks, under no fault of their own. We immediately enacted our emergency response plan, with first aid being carried out on the person involved. “Following advice and assessment from the coastguard, the person walked off the boat and received further treatment ashore.” The firm shared a statement from the victim, who said: “I just wanted to say that despite how the trip ended, it was amazing to see such majestic creatures in the wild and I don’t for a second want this freak event to tarnish the reputation of an already persecuted species. “Wanted to thank everyone for their amazing actions. What was a very scary incident was made so much easier by the kindness and calmness of the people around me. “Thank you to the trip team for getting me back to shore quickly and carefully and making me feel as safe as I possibly could. We all take these risks when we enter the habitat of a predator and we can never completely predict the reactions of a wild animal.” Blue sharks visit the UK during the summer from the Caribbean and are known to mainly feed on small fish and squid. The species has been known to attack seabirds and other small sharks, according to the Wildlife Trusts. The UK-based charity the Shark Trust says there have been no “unprovoked” shark bites in British waters since 1847 when records began. HM Coastguard said in a statement: “HM Coastguard sent Penzance Coastguard Rescue Team to meet a snorkeller who suffered a suspected shark bite. “The coastguard was notified just before 12.30pm on Thursday. It is believed the swimmer suffered a leg injury. The coastguard team met the casualty at Penzance harbour to assist with passing them into the care of the ambulance service.” | ['uk-news/cornwall', 'environment/sharks', 'environment/marine-life', 'uk/uk', 'type/article', 'tone/news', 'profile/nadeembadshah', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/uknews', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-home-news'] | environment/marine-life | BIODIVERSITY | 2022-08-02T17:26:47Z | true | BIODIVERSITY |
news/2017/feb/15/weather-bombed-north-east-us-feels-the-chill | Weather bombed north-east US feels the chill | Storm Orson has made an impact on parts of the north-east US, leaving more than a metre (40in) of snow over the past week as it underwent explosive cyclogenesis, dropping 24 millibars in just 15 hours. Explosive cyclogenesis, or a “weather bomb”, is meteorologically defined as the rapid intensification of a low-pressure system, whereby the central surface pressure falls 24 millibars within 24 hours. Prior to the birth of Storm Orson cold continental air spilled southward from Canada and collided with the warmer waters of the Gulf Stream, creating a sharp temperature gradient and fuelling the rotation of a cyclone. These events most commonly occur during winter when there is a stark temperature contrast between high and mid latitudes. Following the worst drought Bolivia has seen in more than 25 years, severe thunderstorms plagued parts of central South America last week. Whilst rainfall helped alleviate drought conditions, more than 75mm of rain fell in just a few hours across parts of Santa Cruz, Bolivia, triggering severe flash floods as water inundated the dehydrated and impermeable ground. Other regions were hammered by crippling hailstorms, leaving at least two fatalities. The Kashmir valley in northern India has also been buried by its heaviest bout of snowfall in 25 years, an event that initially coincided with the harsh weather period known as Chillai Kalan , when regional temperatures can drop as low as -20C (-4F). Incessant snowfall continued to coat the region thereafter, triggering a series of devastating avalanches last week. This was due to a “western disturbance” feeding in – an extra-tropical storm driven by westerly winds originating from the Mediterranean area. | ['news/series/world-weatherwatch', 'news/series/weatherwatch', 'us-news/us-weather', 'science/meteorology', 'us-news/us-news', 'weather/index/southamerica', 'world/bolivia', 'environment/drought', 'world/kashmir', 'world/india', 'world/natural-disasters', 'type/article', 'tone/features', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-weather'] | environment/drought | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2017-02-15T21:30:23Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
business/2010/jun/16/cost-insuring-bp-debt-high | Cost of insuring BP debt jumps to all-time high | The cost of insuring BP's debt against default ballooned to an all-time high today after Barack Obama vowed to make the company pay the full costs of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The credit default swap (CDS) on BP's five-year bonds jumped by 115 basis points (bps) to 600 bps, according to data from research firm Markit, which also predicted that BP's CDS contracts would remain "volatile". At today's level, it costs £600,000 to insure £10m of BP debt against default. CDSs on BP's one-year debts have been trading even higher, hitting 674 bps, in another sign that traders are becoming more concerned about BP's financial health. Analysts said that Obama's speech last night, in which he backed calls for BP to set up a compensation fund, has pushed up the potential bill for the disaster even higher. "I will meet the chairman of BP and inform him that he is to set aside whatever resources are required to compensate the workers and business owners who have been harmed as a result of his company's recklessness," said Obama in the televised address. That meeting between Obama and BP chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg will take place at the White House later today. BP told the City this morning that it "notes the comments" from Obama, and would meet the US president to "discuss his proposal for arrangements to ensure that all legitimate claims in respect in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill are paid out in a fair and timely manner". Shares in BP had dropped slightly to 340p, down 1.3p, by midday. Analysts at Collins Stewart said that BP's current share price probably represented "good value" at current levels, but admitted that it was a risky investment. They also suggested that some large US investors were selling their BP shares to avoid unpopularity. "We believe the worst (and highly unlikely) case for BP could lie in ascribing zero value for its entire US business, assuming it is relinquished in some way and ringfenced to settle liabilities. On this basis, we see a residual base sum-of-the-parts value for BP of around 390p per share," Collins Stewart said. David Cameron said today that it was important that BP should pay compensation to those who have suffered because of the spill, but argued that the company also needed "certainty" that it will not have to handle claims from people who were only indirectly affected. "I know from my conversations with BP that they want to play the fullest possible part in capping the well, in dealing with the clean-up and, yes, in paying compensation to the hotel owners and the fishermen and others who have suffered," Cameron told BBC radio. "They do need a level of certainty, and this is BP's worry, that there won't be claims entertained that are three or four times removed from the oil spill." On Tuesday BP's credit rating was cut six-points by Fitch, who warned that the rising cost of the disaster was threatening the oil group's ability to pay its dividend to shareholders. In a separate development today, a worker was killed in an accident at BP's Rotterdam refinery. | ['business/bp', 'environment/bp-oil-spill', 'business/oil', 'business/oilandgascompanies', 'environment/oil', 'environment/oil-spills', 'business/business', 'tone/news', 'environment/environment', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'profile/graemewearden'] | environment/oil | ENERGY | 2010-06-16T13:58:00Z | true | ENERGY |
environment/2023/may/19/weather-tracker-italy-floods-exacerbated-months-drought | Weather tracker: Italy’s floods exacerbated by months of drought | At the start of this week an area of low pressure moved off the coast of north Africa, deepening as it travelled northwards across the Mediterranean before situating itself over Italy. Consequentially, much of the country received persistent heavy rain from Monday to Wednesday with the largest quantity falling over the north-eastern Emilia-Romagna region. Within a 36-hour period this region received an average 200mm of rainfall, although some areas recorded at least 500mm during the same period. Given Emilia-Romagna receives an average of 1,000mm a year, 50% of the annual mean rainfall falling in a short timeframe in a localised area has led to substantial flooding as rivers burst their banks. The flooding has been exacerbated by the previous months of drought conditions, drying out soils and reducing their capacity to store water. Extensive flooding submerged thousands of acres of farmland, towns and villages, resulting in thousands of evacuations with an estimated €20m (£17.4m) in damages. Additionally, the Formula One grand prix scheduled for this weekend has been cancelled and at least nine deaths have been reported so far. Meanwhile over in Nunavut, Canada, early May temperature records were broken last weekend. On Saturday 13 May a temperature of 21.2C (70F) was recorded by a weather station next to Hudson Bay - which is now frozen over – beating the previous record of 14.5C by an astonishing 6.7C. The record-breaking temperatures come as part of a large heatwave that is affecting much of the Pacific north-west as well as central parts of Canada. While this heatwave is not the most extreme the region has experienced, it has significantly contributed to the continuing wildfires in western Canada that have forced thousands to evacuate their homes. The amount of evacuations required was reduced earlier this week by a passing cold front, although strong winds did manage to blow wildfire smoke eastwards, leaving many central areas with poor air quality. As of Monday 15 May the wildfires had burned almost half a million hectares (1.25m acres). While wildfires are not uncommon in May, this wildfire has so far burned about 10 times the average for this time of year. | ['environment/series/weather-tracker', 'world/italy', 'environment/flooding', 'world/europe-news', 'world/canada', 'world/world', 'type/article', 'tone/analysis', 'publication/theguardian', 'theguardian/mainsection', 'theguardian/mainsection/weather2', 'tracking/commissioningdesk/uk-weather'] | environment/flooding | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS | 2023-05-19T07:01:30Z | true | EXTREME_CLIMATE_IMPACTS |
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