The Guardian
Record low number of UK butterflies a 'shock and a mystery'
Annual Big Butterfly Count records lowest ever number of usually prolific species despite the relatively warm, dry summer
If you think you saw fewer butterflies than ever this British summer, you are probably correct: the Big Butterfly Count has recorded its lowest number of common species since records began.
Normally ubiquitous butterflies such as the gatekeeper, comma and small copper experienced their worst summers in the history of the count, which is run by Butterfly Conservation and began in 2010.
Continue reading...Great Barrier Reef Legacy invites Leonardo DiCaprio to join its campaign – video
The conservation organisation Great Barrier Reef Legacy is raising funds to operate the reef’s only independent research vessel and it wants Leonardo DiCaprio’s help. The actor, a well-known environmentalist and activist for action against global warming, has spoken about the reef’s plight and the need to protect it
Continue reading...Grey squirrel spotted in Manchester suburb: Country diary 100 years ago:
Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 13 October 1916
The appearance of the American grey squirrel in a Withington garden might well cause surprise, but the lady who reports it evidently knows this animal, which is rather larger than our familiar red squirrel, is grey in colour, and lacks ear-tufts. She wonders if it had escaped from confinement. I do not expect so; it is more likely that it has been intentionally released in one of the Manchester parks, or possibly at Belle Vue. Many of these engaging little squirrels are turned down in different parts of the country; I have seen them in woods near Torquay, and, locally, in Dunham Park.
The first successful introduction that I know of was more or less accidental. A large number of grey squirrels were placed in the marmots’ enclosure in the London Zoological Gardens, but the authorities did not calculate upon their excellent jumping powers, and several escaped. These ran free in the Gardens and in Regent’s Park for some time, getting very friendly with the visitors, even taking food from their hands. The result was that a number were pocketed by people who thought that they would make nice pets. Since then others have been put in the enclosure and allowed to escape; and the species has also been turned loose in other London parks. It appears to be more ready to make friends than our British squirrel, but possibly it has not the same hereditary recollection of stone-throwing boys.
Continue reading...How can we know when the air we are breathing is harmful?
In response to public concern, small, relatively inexpensive air pollution sensors are coming on to the market. But tests show that they can be inaccurate. Is there an alternative?
If only we could see the air pollution around us we could identify the culprits and avoid exposure. From an early age we are taught not to drink dirty water or eat mouldy food but we have less opportunity to avoid harmful air.
In a re-run of autumn 2010, this September’s warm weather caused unusually late summertime smog. Air pollution over most of England reached six on the UK government’s ten point scale. These incidents go largely un-noticed but they have a health impact; 10 days of high particle pollution in spring 2014 caused an estimated 600 extra deaths.
Continue reading...John Abbott obituary
My friend John Abbott, who has died of cancer aged 63, was a talented mathematician and liberal-minded individual who improved the air that we breathe. John was the first (in 2005) to understand that nitrogen dioxide concentrations were not decreasing as expected. A decade later, this is now widely known and understood, with diesel cars being particularly high emitters, and has led to a revision of the vehicle emission standards in Europe.
John was born and brought up in Bishop’s Stortford, the son of Peter Abbott, a technical telecommunications officer with the Civil Aviation Authority, and his wife, Jean, a BT telephone operator with BT. He excelled at Newport grammar school, Essex, and graduated with a first in chemical engineering from Leeds University. He joined the Warren Spring Laboratory, Stevenage, which was then a government lab. There he developed improved methods for efficient bulk handling of materials, contributing to greater energy efficiency and the suppression of pollution.
Continue reading...World Bank says Paris climate goals at risk from new coal schemes
Jim Yong Kim says slowing down growth in coal-fired power stations is essential in order to reduce emissions
Slowing down construction of coal-fired power stations will be vital to hit globally agreed climate change goals, the World Bank president, Jim Yong Kim, said as he outlined a five-point plan to flesh out last year’s Paris agreement to reduce CO2 emissions.
Speaking at a climate ministerial meeting in Washington during the bank’s annual meeting, he said there was no prospect of keeping global warming at or below 2C (3.6F) if current plans for coal-fired stations, especially those earmarked for Asia, were built. “Many countries want to move in the right direction. We can and should all help to find renewable energy and energy efficiency solutions that allow them to phase out coal,” Kim said.
Continue reading...Carmichael mine to be given 'essential' status in sign of Palaszczuk support
Queensland government poised to declare mine ‘critical infrastructure’ to speed remaining approvals process
The Queensland government is poised to declare Adani’s proposed Carmichael coal project “critical infrastructure”, a rare step that will elevate its status to an operation that is “essential to [the] state’s economic and community wellbeing”.
The Palazsczuk government appears to be bolstering its visible signs of support for the controversial and stalling coal export project. The state mines minister, Anthony Lynham, is reportedly due to accord it the highest priority development status on Monday.
Continue reading...Sand tiger sharks: far friendlier than you think
They have a reputation for being sinister loners, creatures that swim the seas in solitary silence before pouncing on unsuspecting prey. Think of the deadly predator in Jaws and you have the perfect stereotype of a shark.
But scientists in the United States, using a novel tagging procedure, have discovered that some shark species are really finny networkers who like to spend their time mixing and chilling out together. In some cases, the sharks were found to spend up to 95 consecutive hours together. And all without Snapchat.
Continue reading...The eco guide to unleaded playgrounds
Beware toxic lead paint on climbing frames and seesaws
Everyone assumes that lead poisoning is no longer a real risk, and that the horror story of lead-laced water in Flint, Michigan, would mean that the only safe amount is no lead at all.
Yet lead is still in use and that means we run the risk of exposure. In the UK we still subscribe to 40-year-old legislation that permits some concentrations of lead (products must contain less than 2,500 parts per 1,000,000).
Continue reading...Drones to monitor shark activity off Western Australia coastline
Three-month surveillance trial will stream live pictures to surf lifesavers at metropolitan and regional beaches
A three-month trial of drone surveillance will be used at West Australian beaches to monitor shark activity and potentially spot other dangers such as rips and schools of bait fish, which attract the predators.
Under the trial, $88,000 will be provided for a small drone equipped with a high-definition camera to stream live pictures back to Surf Life Saving WA operators at metropolitan and regional beaches.
Continue reading...The Australian coastline that reveals a glimpse of early life on Earth – video
Hamelin pool contains the world’s largest collection of active stromatolites – stony mounds of sand and calcium carbonate stuck together with a kind of biological glue, which emerge from the water as the tide goes out. Studying stromatolites today promises an insight into how life began as well as what the Earth was like 3.7bn years ago
Continue reading...Top anti-Heathrow Tories will miss vote on third runway
Theresa May set to support expansion and spare opponents including Boris Johnson and Justine Greening embarrassment
The most high-profile cabinet critics of a third runway at Heathrow – Boris Johnson and Justine Greening – will be “unavoidably away” when the Commons votes on the issue.
With the prime minister expected to announce her support soon, No 10 is devising a strategy to avoid embarrassment for key figures.
Continue reading...Welsh tidal lagoon project could open way for £15bn revolution in UK energy
Backers of an ambitious proposal to transform the UK’s power supply will learn in the next few weeks if they are to be given the go-ahead to build tidal lagoons to generate electricity. The green light could see a series of major lagoon projects costing more than £15bn being constructed around the coast of Britain.
A tidal lagoon generates electricity from the natural rise and fall of the tides. Rising water flows into dams many miles in length, driving turbines. It is then held back behind walls as the tide recedes before being released to drive the turbines again, generating thousands of megawatts of power.
Continue reading...The 20 photographs of the week
The continuing refugee crisis in Europe, the devastation caused by Hurricane Matthew, Paris fashion week – the best photography in news, culture and sport from around the world this week
'Walking into the unknown': rural England weighs up the reality of Brexit
The EU helped shape the UK landscape with both money and a swath of rules and directives. In places like Crediton, a picture-perfect corner of rural Devon, locals fear the change to come – but also smell opportunity
The landscape around Crediton in Devon is picture-postcard perfect – a patchwork of fields, thick hedges, woods, rolling hills with rivers, streams and deep lanes meandering through.
Continue reading...Predatory menace of the peregrine in the pylon
Airedale, West Yorkshire We have kestrel and sparrowhawk here, buzzard and kite, but nothing quite matches the peregrine for dramatic oomph
I’ve spent a lot of time lately staring up at the electricity pylon across the river. Hawks, wrote JA Baker in his 1967 classic book The Peregrine, grow out of dead trees, like branches; I’ve learned that peregrines can also sprout from steel lattice and aluminium alloy.
David, a local birder, pointed out the peregrine on the pylon one morning in late September; it was mantling over a wood pigeon on the lowest crossarm, 15 metres up. Since then, on every visit to the riverside, my gaze has been drawn insistently upward, checking for the falcon’s return.
Overwhelming global response to giving away Australian wildlife sanctuary
Harry Kunz’s search for a successor willing to continue his legacy of caring for injured creatures has been met by an avalanche of calls, emails and visits
For Harry Kunz, the wildlife rescuer who joked he worked with animals because “humans I can’t understand anymore”, it’s been the kind of week that just might have restored some faith in his own species.
The Austrian-born Kunz has been overwhelmed by the global response to his offer to give away his north Queensland wildlife sanctuary to someone willing to carry on his legacy caring for injured and orphaned native Australian creatures.
Continue reading...Hundreds expected to protest at Lancashire fracking site
Environmentalists plan sustained campaign against Cuadrilla after government gave it green light for drilling
Hundreds of people are expected to protest near a fracking site in Lancashire that was given the green light by the government this week.
The Lancashire Responds rally on Saturday is the first shot across the bows of Cuadrilla, in what anti-fracking groups and local residents say will be a sustained campaign of action to stop the company fracking next year.
UK fracking, record temperatures and fishy accents – 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...The Ghanaian villages destroyed by climate change – in pictures
Worsening coastal and riverine erosion is sweeping away homes and livelihoods on the Ghana coast. Photographer Nyani Quarmyne visited the small fishing village of Totope, which was once three miles from the sea but has now virtually disappeared
Continue reading...