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Race is on to rid UK oceans of PCBs after toxic pollutants found in killer whale
Scientists say more must be done to eliminate the chemicals, which have a devastating impact on marine life and can end up in the food chain
The body of Lulu the killer whale was found on jagged rocks on the Isle of Tiree in the Inner Hebrides. A member of the only pod found in British waters, she had died last year after getting entangled in fishing lines.
It was a sad discovery, especially as a post-mortem revealed Lulu had never produced a calf. But the recent autopsy also revealed something else; something that is alarming marine experts and which offers a bleak, damning judgment on the state of Britain’s coastal waters. Lulu’s body contained among the highest levels of a particular type of man-made chemicals ever recorded – more than 100 times above the level that scientists say will have biological consequences for a species.
Continue reading...Can riverbank wildlife cope with another summer of drought?
Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire, famous for its abbey, the Wars of the Roses battle in 1471 and the floods that ravaged the town in 2007, might seem an unlikely place to look for evidence of impending drought. But stroll along the riverbank at Abbey Mill Gate and the signs are there: the mud is cracked and dry, the reeds brown and withering, and the water is starting to form pools.
Continue reading...Sweet-scented scurvy-grass is a spring tonic in every sense
South Uist The bitter leaves of this hardy little plant once provided a welcome dose of vitamin C after a hard winter
Scurvy-grass is usually found in coastal regions, where its high tolerance of saline conditions enables it to flourish where other plants fail to thrive. It is an early flowerer and will grow abundantly on steep cliffs, sometimes forming sizeable, rather untidy clumps of stemmed white flowers.
There is something endearing about this unassuming yet resilient plant, whose presence here is so linked to the beginning of a fresh new season. Strangely, its scent is not mentioned in most of the plant identification guides, yet springtime walks with a warm breeze lifting and carrying up with it the sweet fragrance of the profusion of flowers unseen on the rocky faces below have always been a delight.
Continue reading...Viruses: ubiquitous, not always pathogenic and often beneficial
The formation of cyclones
John Church: Grim assessment of climate and CSIRO leadership
Could Dutch 'aquatecture' be a viable solution for affordable housing in Australia?
Thomas Woltz and reimagining landscape
The Arnavon Islands: turtle breeding ground becomes first national park for Solomon Islands
Free water from the bar tap? Get the app | Letters
I can quite understand why people feel awkward asking for tap water without making a purchase (British embarrassment over asking for tap water in bars fuels plastic bottle waste – survey, 11 May). Fortunately, the Refill app from refill.org.uk will help direct people to all sorts of lovely businesses who have made clear their commitment to plastic waste reduction. They will refill with no obligation to buy anything. If there are any businesses who would like to join, they can do so within the app, and together we can provide a robust alternative to plastic drinking bottles.
Guy Hodgson
Bath
• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com
Continue reading...Cockney sparrows living the high life | Brief letters
Kelvin MacKenzie loses his job over “racial slurs” (Report, 10 May). Are we to infer that the nasty abuse of Ross Barkley would have been fine had his grandparents all been indigenous English or European? Is there no need to care about respecting other people and their feelings, so long as no racial or sexual orientation or religious elements lurk somewhere?
Peter Cave
London
• I regularly have sparrows on the balcony of my seventh-floor Barbican flat (Patrick Barkham, Notebook, 9 May). They are from the colony which has lived in Fortune Street Park for several years. The sparrows don’t get on with the goldfinches which inhabit the estate’s wildlife garden. Alas all these birds and small mammals are prey to the resident peregrines. Who needs to live in Norfolk?
Joanna Rodgers
London
Locals dismayed as Trump's EPA gives new life to controversial Alaska mine
- Pebble Ltd Partnership allowed to seek permit to build mine near Bristol Bay
- Environmental activists say gold and copper mine threatens local community
Further legal battles and protesters “standing in front of bulldozers” could be in store in Alaska, after the Trump administration on Friday settled a lawsuit over the proposed development of a massive gold and copper mine at the headwaters of one of the state’s main salmon fisheries.
Related: Slow-freezing Alaska soil driving surge in carbon dioxide emissions
Continue reading...Lack of dust makes China's air pollution much worse
Why does Belgium shine so brightly?
Disappearing glaciers, orangutans and solar power – green news roundup
The week’s top environment news stories and green events. If you are not already receiving this roundup, sign up here to get the briefing delivered to your inbox
Continue reading...US signs treaty to protect Arctic, giving some hope for Paris agreement
Secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, signs a commitment to curb greenhouse gas emissions and to extend scientific cooperation in the Arctic region
Environmental campaigners were given some hope that the US may stick to its commitments under the Paris climate change treaty when Rex Tillerson, the US secretary of state, signed a commitment to protect the Arctic and extend scientific co-operation.
He was speaking at the end of a meeting of the eight-nation Arctic Council in Alaska, a consultative body dedicated to sustaining the Arctic.
Continue reading...UK farmers call for cross-country pipelines after driest winter in 20 years
Farmers and conservationists warn of water shortage, with ‘water shunting’ from wet north to dry south seen as one solution
Farmers are warning that water may have to be transferred across Britain after an unusually dry winter and spring left more than four-fifths of rivers with too little to support local growers.
Fears of a drought were expected to ease this weekend as scattered showers usher in a more traditional British spring, but wildlife and agriculture industries are bracing for a long, parched summer.
Continue reading...The week in wildlife – in pictures
A Sumatran tiger, an alligator and a humpback whale are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world
Continue reading...Papua's gold families – in pictures
Around 13,000 people live off the tailings of the PT Freeport Indonesia goldmine in Papua. Photographer Vembri Waluyas visited the settlement on the Ajkwa river to document their lives
Continue reading...Narwhals: new footage reveals possible purpose for mysterious tusk – video
Drone footage in Canada captures the behaviour of rarely-seen narwhals which appear to use their long tusks to tap and stun fish, making them easier to catch. Narwhals, a type of whale, live in remote locations, meaning very little is known about them. WWF and Fisheries and Oceans Canada have been working together to monitor the creature to better protect it from industrial development
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