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The Big Plastic Count: Consumers confront their plastic footprint
The palm cockatoo should be Brisbane Olympics mascot – imagine a stadium full of big crested hats and drumming on seats | Andrew Stafford
Games recognition could spur conservation action for the birds lovingly known as ‘rockatoos’ for their punk mohawks, vocal dexterity and percussive talents
They have shaggy crests and bright scarlet cheeks. They bow, sway, stamp their feet and spread their wings in a Jesus Christ pose, justifying their status. They whistle and whoop. Males even use their enormous beaks to fashion tree branches into drumsticks, which they use to beat on tree hollows approaching the breeding season.
They are palm cockatoos: the largest cockatoo in the world, weighing in up to 1.2kg – lovingly known as “rockatoos” for their punk mohawks, vocal dexterity and percussive talents. And Birds Queensland has officially nominated them as the mascot of the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games, pointing out that previous Australian Olympic mascots have mostly been mammals.
Continue reading...Wedge-tailed eagles: Australia’s dark history with its largest native bird of prey – in pictures
Photographer Matt Dunne documents wedge-tailed eagles and sites where they have been deliberately killed. His monograph The Killing Sink captures the tragic loss of life and the efforts of those trying to protect eagles, and shines a light on Australia’s dark history with native species
Continue reading...Greta Thunberg makes surprise appearance at Glastonbury festival
19-year-old activist warns world faces ‘total natural catastrophe’ unless citizens take urgent action
Greta Thunberg has warned that the world faces “total natural catastrophe” unless citizens take urgent action as she made a surprise appearance at Glastonbury festival.
The 19-year-old activist led chants of “climate … justice” after delivering a rousing speech from the Pyramid stage which painted an apocalyptic picture of the future of the planet.
Continue reading...The artist shining a light on water poverty in Ethiopia – in pictures
Although artist Aïda Muluneh had an itinerant childhood in Europe and America, she was born in Addis Ababa and is an expert in African photography. When charity Water Aid asked her to participate in a campaign highlighting water poverty, it was the women of Afar, northern Ethiopia, that she shot for her series Water Life, now included in Ekow Eshun’s new book of African art and photography, In the Black Fantastic (Thames & Hudson), published to coincide with a show at London’s Hayward Gallery. Muluneh was pleased that Water Aid wanted to use art for advocacy rather than reportage. “Our continent has many layers,” she says. “However, we have been at the mercy of the international media that does not show the complexities of our challenges. My approach has been to tell a story from my perspective, not based on cliches often covered by foreign photographers.”
Continue reading...Ready for takeoff: curlews from eggs rescued at airfields set for release
Nearly 100 birds are being ‘headstarted’ to boost numbers as species vanishes from lowland England
An evocative peeping echoes across a large, sunny aviary. The distinctive call of the curlew comes from dozens of chicks, who strut through long grass squabbling over a much-prized worm.
The scruffy-looking chicks with the beautiful voices may be the best hope for the endangered species, whose numbers have halved in the past 25 years as it vanishes from lowland England.
Continue reading...‘It keeps on going’: driving the world’s first production-ready solar car
Makers of the €250,000 Lightyear 0 hope to convince drivers it can be a viable climate-friendly alternative
Winding past the ochre-coloured plateaux of the Bardenas Reales natural park in northern Spain, Roel Grooten nudged me to take my foot off the accelerator.
The car continued to barrel down the open stretch of road, its speed dipping only slightly. “It keeps on going,” said Grooten, the lead engineer for the Dutch car company Lightyear, as we whizzed through the lunar-like landscape. “What you feel is nothing holding you back. You feel the aerodynamics, you feel the low-rolling resistance of the tyres, of the bearings and the motor.”
Continue reading...Rewilding the Galápagos can be a model for a new way to coexist with nature | Danny Rueda Córdova and Leonardo DiCaprio
We must work with local communities to restore key species on a global scale if we are to tackle the climate and biodiversity crises gripping the world
There are few places in the world as majestic and full of wonder as Ecuador’s Galápagos Islands. From the rosy-hued pink iguanas on the northern rim of Wolf Volcano to the iconic Pinzón giant tortoise on Pinzón Island to the black-tipped reef sharks feeding off Floreana Island, we have both found boundless inspiration in exploring the islands that led Charles Darwin to develop his groundbreaking theory of evolution nearly two centuries ago.
We have both also witnessed a more recent rapidly evolving process in the Galápagos based on a shared vision of restoring the profusion of life that the archipelago is renowned for. This process is rewilding, a positive reframing for nature conservation. There is an idea that rewilding involves restoring nature at the expense of people, but we believe it is all about effectively integrating ourselves within the ecosystems that sustain us – to work with, rather than against, nature to create thriving and resilient ecosystems for the benefit of all.
Continue reading...Why Britain desperately needs a news story about ‘glorious weather’ | Ian Jack
I remember chilly trips to the beach in Fife, and my first visit to the Mediterranean. The association of heat with pleasure is hard to shake
I never saw my mother in a swimsuit, and I only once remember my father in one. In Fife in the 1920s, when both of them were young, sun-worshipping had yet to catch on. When my father swam, he swam in rivers, and then warmed himself up with a brisk towelling. My mother, who never learned to swim, would enjoy a day on the sands with tea brewed over a fire and sometimes a dance or two, if anyone had a squeezebox and the rain held off.
My parents remembered these things fondly during my childhood, when we might spend a summer afternoon on the local beach – it was only a 15-minute walk away – sometimes with relatives: cousins, a grandfather, uncles and aunts. Meteorology was less reliable then, and there seemed to be little question of adults “dressing for the weather” other than carrying a tightly folded plastic mac, which removed the precautionary need for a proper raincoat neatly arranged over the forearm.
Ian Jack is a Guardian columnist
Continue reading...CP Daily: Friday June 24, 2022
INTERVIEW: Now that the European Parliament has passed ‘Fit for 55’, what do the analysts think?
Switzerland agrees bilateral crediting deal with Thailand
CCA emitters favour V23s and V21s, speculators scoop up V22s
ARB board member backs tougher LCFS targets for California at Scoping Plan meeting
Australian voters have sent Peter Dutton a clear message; he would be silly to miss the cue | Katharine Murphy
Dutton’s choice to continue a policy of wrecking in energy highlights the challenge Albanese has in seeking to end the destructive decade
Every time I think my job is too hard and I need to retrain as a florist, I think of the poor officials who have served during the climate and energy policy wars – smart people held hostage by a public policy atrocity.
Back in July 2018 – when Malcolm Turnbull and Josh Frydenberg were attempting to land the national energy guarantee (Neg), wedged uncomfortably between post-truth rightwingers and state governments increasingly annoyed about being conscripted to an omnishambles – the Energy Security Board (ESB) ran out of patience.
Continue reading...Our global food supply is at risk when high gas prices limit the creation of fertiliser | Andrew Whitelaw
We need synthetic fertilisers to produce enough food for the world’s population – there are no other alternatives yet
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If water is the source of life, fertiliser is the source of scaleable food production.
The increasing cost of fertiliser is one of the largest contributors to a “cost-price” squeeze affecting the farmers of major agricultural products in Australia and globally.
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Continue reading...Orange roughy: campaigners call for limit to trawling of species after breeding age of 73 revealed
Australian fisheries management says there are regional differences and new data only applies to population in New Zealand
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Ocean campaigners say that a New Zealand fishing fleet that trawls for orange roughy in waters off Tasmania should be “sent back” in light of new data about the vulnerable species.
Orange roughy is an endangered deep-sea species which, under Australia’s environmental laws, can still be fished in approved fisheries.
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Continue reading...Denmark imposes domestic carbon levy for ETS-covered firms
Pompeii: Ancient pregnant tortoise surprises archaeologists
Norfolk: Control zone created while officials test for disease in pigs
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