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Poor globally being failed on sanitation | Letters
WaterAid shares the global concern for the world’s top athletes dealing with the sewage in Rio’s bays (Report, 4 August). But the heavily contaminated waters don’t only put at risk the health of Olympians, it’s clear they also adversely affect the millions of people facing this faecal nightmare, day-in and day-out. Despite Brazil being an upper-middle income country, nearly 2% of Brazilians, or 3.5 million people, have no access to clean water, and 17%, or 35 million people, live without good sanitation. In Rio alone, 30% of the population is not connected to a formal sewerage system. It is a travesty that anyone should have to live like this.
Sadly, Brazil is not alone in facing a water and sanitation crisis. One in three people globally live without decent toilets, and one in 10 are without clean water. These Olympic Games have put the spotlight on one of the most urgent yet beatable crises of our time. World leaders must address it. The UN global goals for sustainable development were agreed by these leaders last year. The challenge now is to put those promises into action, ensuring that everyone, everywhere has clean water and sanitation by 2030.
Margaret Batty
Director of global policy and campaigns, WaterAid
Crown estate wades into Hinkley Point nuclear debate
Body says, with government reviewing £18.5bn project, benefits of renewables such as offshore wind should be looked at
The crown estate has waded into the battle over Hinkley Point, pointing out that offshore windfarms are already being built at cheaper prices than the proposed atomic reactors for Somerset.
While not arguing the £18.5bn nuclear project should be scrapped, the organisation – still legally owned by the Queen – said that the government’s current Hinkley review makes it a good time to consider the advantages of other low carbon technologies.
Continue reading...Hinkley C's future is in doubt. Let's turn our sights to offshore wind | Huub den Rooijen
Falling costs and increased reliability mean this clean power now offers a mature part of the solution for the UK’s energy mix
With the government re-examining the case for new nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point, it’s a good time to reflect on recent breakthroughs in another low carbon technology: offshore wind.
Offshore wind is already meeting about 5% of the UK’s electricity demand, more than any other country globally, and is on course to meet 10% by 2020. The sector has undergone a sea change over the last few years, driven by rapid advances in technology, cost, and industry’s ability to deliver on time and to budget.
Continue reading...World's largest vertical farm grows without soil, sunlight or water in Newark
AeroFarms has put $30m into a green revolution that seeks to produce more crops in less space, but whether it’s economically viable is an open question
An ambitious, almost fantastical, manifestation of agricultural technology is expected to come to fruition this fall. From the remains of an abandoned steel mill in Newark, New Jersey, the creators of AeroFarms are building what they say will be the largest vertical farm, producing two million pounds of leafy greens a year.
Whether it even qualifies as a “farm” is a matter of taste. The greens will be manufactured using a technology called aeroponics, a technique in which crops are grown in vertical stacks of plant beds, without soil, sunlight or water.
Continue reading...Woman and dog rescued from sinking car in Louisiana flooding – video
A woman and her dog are rescued from a car in Baton Rouge on Saturday, as floodwaters swallowed the vehicle. Shot by local television station WAFB, three men are seen trying to break open the car that is almost submerged in the water. One of the rescuers, David Phung, jumps in and pulls the woman and her dog out
Continue reading...The eco guide to algae
Toxic bloom is terrible for acquatic life – the good news is, we may be able to harness the sludge as a carbon-neutral biofuel
Ideally, in these days of busy news cycles, an eco problem needs to be visible from space to gain traction. Algae has obliged again this summer.
At Florida’s largest freshwater lake, Okeechobee, the cyano-bacteria blue-green algae bloom, covering 33 miles, has been clearly captured in Nasa satellite imagery.
Continue reading...River Dee's pearl mussels get a helping hand – or gill
They were hunted to near-extinction. Now a £3.5m project aims to let the Scottish molluscs flourish again
The sun shines on clear river water running through a valley in the Cairngorms, bringing the stones on the river bed into colourful focus. Here and there are dark shadows, half-buried clusters of dull black shells, lined and gouged by decades of shifting water and gravel: the pearl mussels of the river Dee.
Related: Fundraising drive aims to save seabird paradise off Scotland
Continue reading...The next generation of river people
Large cruise ship voyage through Arctic ice rekindles rows
Campaigners say Crystal Serenity trip puts at risk very environment tourists are travelling to see in Northwest Passage
A decision to proceed with plans to sail the first huge cruise liner through the Northwest Passage on Tuesday with 1,000 passengers on board has rekindled rows with environmentalists about the Arctic.
The wildlife charity WWF has accused Crystal Cruises of putting at risk “the very thing that tourists would come to see” – a pristine wilderness and home to endangered species such as polar bears and walrus.
Continue reading...White waterlilies combine purity with a hint of danger
South Uist They exist in two worlds, coming to flower in the sunshine and open air while rooted in the murky waters of the loch
It’s a scene worthy of the grounds around the most cultured of stately homes. An expanse of tranquil water faithfully reflecting back the glorious blue of a cloudless summer sky while a spread of white waterlilies rests serenely on its surface. Yet this is no planned garden but just one of the many lochs and lochans on the moorland and rough grazing which, for a short period each year, becomes something almost magical.
The contrast with the wiry grasses and the stands of scratchy, leggy heather itself soon to come into bloom only emphasises the waxy perfection of the waterlilies. Each layered ruff of white petals curves gently upward, cradling the mass of yellow anthers in the centre of the flower. There is a touch of the purity of the lotus about them, yet also somehow a hint of danger and mystery, existing as they do in two worlds, coming to flower in the sunshine and open air while rooted in the murky waters of the loch.
Continue reading...The 20 photographs of the week
The Rio Olympics, wildfires in Europe, the continuing violence in Aleppo – the best photography in news, culture and sport from around the world this week
Continue reading...Options for tropical fish: adapt, move or die
Response to rapidly changing climate - deflect, distract, deny and delay
Women in Antarctica making up for lost time
From the rich black soil of the Liverpool Plains springs hope for coalmine-free future
New South Wales government couches its words carefully, but community hopes the end of BHP mine also spells the end of the Shenhua Watermark mine
One of Australia’s biggest mining battles could be drawing to a close, with the enormous Shenhua Watermark coalmine looking set to be stopped by the state government after relentless community pressure.
In a major victory for the uneasy coalition of environmentalists, farmers and conservative politicians and commentators, the New South Wales government said it was moving to stop mining in the fertile farming soils of the Liverpool Plains.
Continue reading...What does a dibbler have for breakfast?
Country Breakfast Features Sat 13th
The fictional, extraordinary life of the Greenland shark – 392 years and counting
The enormous predator is one of the oldest and largest creatures on planet Earth. Writer Thomas Batten imagines a shark’s tale
Researchers in Arctic waters have used new techniques to set the age of a female Greenland shark at a staggering 392 years. The enormous predator – one of the world’s largest at about five meters in length – actually isn’t the oldest creature in the sea, as that honor belongs to a 507-year-old Icelandic clam, but the shark has definitely lived an extraordinary life.
Related: 400-year-old Greenland shark is oldest vertebrate animal
Continue reading...Veganism’s place in the climate change debate | Letters
It is very commendable that George Monbiot has converted to veganism (Opinion, 10 August), but perhaps he is deluding himself into thinking that this will alter our output of CO2 into the atmosphere. We can practise all the accepted methods of reducing carbon emissions, but nothing is more effective than choosing to have no more than two children. As we hurtle towards the point of no return with regards to global warming, choosing not to eat meat is quite low down the scale of things we need to do.
Which are: 1 Stabilise world population. 2 Eradicate poverty. 3 Stop using fossil fuels and change to renewables. 4 Use our land to produce crops more effectively. 5 Reduce excessive meat consumption.
Continue reading...Pigeon fancier receives lifetime ban for cheating in race
Eamon Kelly, 52, from Didcot, disqualified for cheating in Tarbes Grand National race after sending decoy birds
A pigeon-racing champion has received a lifetime ban from the sport after allegations that he cheated to win one of the most prestigious competitions in the sport’s calendar.
Eamon Kelly, 52, from Didcot, was accused of cheating by registering 14 birds for the Tarbes Grand National race but keeping them at home and sending decoys instead.
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