The Guardian
Full scale of plastic in the world's oceans revealed for first time
Over five trillion pieces of plastic are floating in our oceans says most comprehensive study to date on plastic pollution around the world
• Microplastic deposits found deep in world’s oceans
More than five trillion pieces of plastic, collectively weighing nearly 269,000 tonnes, are floating in the world’s oceans, causing damage throughout the food chain, new research has found.
Data collected by scientists from the US, France, Chile, Australia and New Zealand suggests a minimum of 5.25tn plastic particles in the oceans, most of them “micro plastics” measuring less than 5mm.
Continue reading...World’s largest cave in Vietnam threatened by cable car
Vietnamese are protesting plans to build a cable car through remote Phong Nha-Ke Bang national park that could carry 1,000 visitors an hour to Son Doong cave
Plans for a cable car in Vietnam’s Unesco-listed Phong Nha-Ke Bang national park would open up the world’s largest cave to mass tourism. But Vietnamese are protesting the project, and experts warn the environmental impact could be devastating.
Quang Binh province announced in October that resort developer Sun Group would build a $212m (£135m) cable car system through the national park, which occupies a remote, mountainous swathe of central Vietnam. The 10.6km route would connect Son Doong Cave, so large it could house an entire 40-story building, with other caves in the area as part of a planned “tourism, service and resort complex”.
Continue reading...Eating less meat essential to curb climate change, says report
Global livestock industry produces more greenhouse gas emissions than transport but fear of a consumer backlash is preventing action, says Chatham House report
Curbing the world’s huge and increasing appetite for meat is essential to avoid devastating climate change, according to a new report. But governments and green campaigners are doing nothing to tackle the issue due to fears of a consumer backlash, warns the analysis from the thinktank Chatham House.
The global livestock industry produces more greenhouse gas emissions than all cars, planes, trains and ships combined, but a worldwide survey by Ipsos MORI in the report finds twice as many people think transport is the bigger contributor to global warming.
World's largest rat poisoning project aims to rid South Georgia of its rodents
Eradication effort to protect the island’s wildlife from millions of invasive rats, which will feed on the brains of live seabird chicks, starts in 2015
Conservationists are undertaking a final push to wipe out millions of rats from South Georgia once and for all, in a bid to protect the island’s wildlife.
Described as the world’s largest rodent eradication project, the UK-led effort will see three helicopters dropping 95 tonnes of the poison Brodifacoum on the British overseas territory next year.
Continue reading...Toiletry chemicals linked to testicular cancer and male infertility cost EU millions, report says
Nordic Council calls on EU to ban damaging compounds found in household products that cost millions due to their harmful impact on male reproductive health
The hormone-mimicking chemicals used routinely in toiletries, cosmetics, medicines, plastics and pesticides cause hundreds of millions of euros of damage to EU citizens every year, according to the first estimate of their economic impact.
The endocrine disruptor compounds (EDCs) are thought to be particularly harmful to male reproductive health and can cause testicular cancer, infertility, deformation of the penis and undescended testicles.
Continue reading...Great white sharks: 10 myths debunked
Every time you enter the ocean, anywhere on Earth with a temperate or subtropical climate, you cross into the domain of the great white shark. But almost everything the average human thinks he or she knows about these sharks – other than the fact that they are big and dangerous – is wrong. We unpick 10 of the most tenacious myths
Continue reading...Consumers offered cash for old gadgets in new recycling scheme
Over 50 companies, including Samsung, Dell, Sky and B&Q, have signed up to UK government-backed plan to refurbish and resell unwanted electrical goods
Consumers will be urged to trade in their unwanted electrical gadgets at retailers in return for cash – with the products to be refurbished and resold – as part of a national initiative unveiled on Tuesday.
The government-backed plan to improve the disposal of electric waste is supported by 51 companies and organisations including Samsung, Dell, Sky, B&Q, and the owner of Argos and Homebase.
Continue reading...Meet the Republicans in Congress who don't believe climate change is real
On Tuesday, the Senate will vote to approve the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. With Republicans now in control of both chambers in Congress, here’s a round-up of some of the most prominent climate sceptics (and deniers) in the GOP
It’s much easier to list Republicans in Congress who think climate change is real than it is to list Republicans who don’t, because there are so few members of the former group. Earlier this year, Politifact went looking for congressional Republicans who had not expressed scepticism about climate change and came up with a list of eight (out of 278).
But with the GOP taking over the Senate next year – and with the Senate set to vote on approving the Keystone XL pipeline on Tuesday – the question again arises of what, exactly, prominent Republicans think about the evidence that humans are changing the climate.
Continue reading...US windfarm company sues to block release of data about bird deaths
Information is sought by the Associated Press as part of an investigation into deaths of protected species at Pacificorp facilities and the government’s reluctance to prosecute
A company that operates at least 13 wind-energy facilities across three states is suing in federal court to block the US government from releasing information to the Associated Press about how many birds are found dead at its facilities.
Pacificorp of Portland, Oregon, is seeking an injunction in US district court in Utah to prevent the Interior Department from releasing information it considers confidential. The Obama administration has said it planned to turn over the material to the Associated Press, which sought it from the Interior Department in March 2013 under the US Freedom of Information Act. The government concluded that the industry’s concerns were “insufficiently convincing” to keep the files secret.
Continue reading...How the world uses coal – interactive
China and the US have agreed a historic deal to cut carbon emissions – but both countries are still huge consumers and producers of coal, the most carbon-intensive fossil fuel. Drag the slider below to see how coal use has changed in the past few decades – and click the ‘future’ button to see what’s to come. Data: EIA
Continue reading...Gamekeeper sentenced for poisoning birds as judge warns landowners
RSPB described killing of 11 birds of prey by Allen Lambert at Stody estate in Norfolk as worst case ever detected in England
A judge has warned Britain’s rural aristocracy that they must take responsibility for the actions of their employees after a gamekeeper was sentenced for poisoning birds of prey.
The RSPB described the killing of 11 birds of prey by Allen Lambert, former gamekeeper at the Stody estate near Holt in Norfolk, as the worst case of bird poisoning ever detected in England.
Continue reading...The IPCC is stern on climate change – but it still underestimates the situation | Bill McKibben
At this point, the scientists who run the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change must feel like it’s time to trade their satellites, their carefully calibrated thermometers and spectrometers, their finely tuned computer models – all of them for a thesaurus. Surely, somewhere, there must be words that will prompt the world’s leaders to act.
This week, with the release of their new synthesis report, they are trying the words “severe, widespread, and irreversible” to describe the effects of climate change – which for scientists, conservative by nature, falls just short of announcing that climate change will produce a zombie apocalypse plus random beheadings plus Ebola. It’s hard to imagine how they will up the language in time for the next big global confab in Paris.
Continue reading...Amazon rainforest losing ability to regulate climate, scientist warns
Report says logging and burning of Amazon might be connected to worsening droughts – such as the one plaguing São Paulo
The Amazon rainforest has degraded to the point where it is losing its ability to benignly regulate weather systems, according to a stark new warning from one of Brazil’s leading scientists.
In a new report, Antonio Nobre, researcher in the government’s space institute, Earth System Science Centre, says the logging and burning of the world’s greatest forest might be connected to worsening droughts – such as the one currently plaguing São Paulo – and is likely to lead eventually to more extreme weather events.
Continue reading...Photographs of Sellafield nuclear plant prompt fears over radioactive risk
Nuclear safety expert claims there is ‘significant risk’ due to poor condition of storage ponds containing highly radioactive fuel rods
Previously unseen pictures of two storage ponds containing hundreds of highly radioactive fuel rods at the Sellafield nuclear plant show cracked concrete, seagulls bathing in the water and weeds growing around derelict machinery. But a spokesman for owners Sellafield Ltd said the 60-year-old ponds will not be cleaned up for decades, despite concern that they are in a dangerous state and could cause a large release of radioactive material if they are allowed to deteriorate further.
“The concrete is in dreadful condition, degraded and fractured, and if the ponds drain, the Magnox fuel will ignite and that would lead to a massive release of radioactive material,” nuclear safety expert John Large told the Ecologist magazine. “I am very disturbed at the run-down condition of the structures and support services. In my opinion there is a significant risk that the system could fail.
Continue reading...WA abandons shark culling program, but reserves right to kill again
Western Australia’s premier, Colin Barnett, announces application for baited drum line approval has been withdrawn
The Western Australian government has conceded defeat over its plan to systematically trap and kill large sharks near popular beaches, after scrapping a proposal to implement the strategy over the next three years.
Colin Barnett, the WA premier, confirmed on Friday that WA had withdrawn its application to the federal government for the shark culling to go ahead.
Continue reading...Suspicious death of rare Tasmanian devil prompts zoo investigation
New Mexico zoo increases security and offers $5,000 reward for information on death of endangered marsupial named Jaspar
The killing of a rare Tasmanian devil on loan from Australia has prompted beefed-up security at a New Mexico zoo and a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that the Albuquerque BioPark Zoo is adding more guards and surveillance cameras following the death of the animal named Jasper at the zoo last week.
Continue reading...Has Lockheed Martin really made a breakthrough in nuclear fusion technology?
Lockheed’s announcement has generated a lot of publicity, but experts point to the lack of details or results, suggesting fusion power is still a long way off. Karl Mathiesen investigates.
Let us know your thoughts. Post in the comments below, follow Karl Mathiesen’s Facebook page, email karl.mathiesen.freelance@guardian.co.uk or tweet @karlmathiesen
Scientists have responded with scepticism to the announcement of a breakthrough in nuclear fusion by Lockheed Martin.
The arms manufacturer announced on Wednesday that it was “working on a new compact fusion reactor (CFR) that can be developed and deployed in as little as 10 years”. But Lockheed’s four paragraph press release and accompanying video are heavy on hyperbole and light on detail.
Continue reading...Romanian politician calls for the army to help control bear population
Csaba Borboly has called for military assistance and for culling quotas to be lifted following a spate of cases involving brown bears damaging property in Romania
In the depths of Transylvania, Romania, a war against one of Europe’s largest brown bear populations is looming.
Following a string of cases involving damage to private property from bears in recent months, Csaba Borboly, a senior politician from the Transylvanian region, has called for the army to be brought in. “The [bear] problem needs the involvement of specialised state institutions such as the police, the paramilitary and even the army.”
Why cycling is great for everyone – not just cyclists
Mass cycling could save the NHS £17bn in 20 years, cut 500 road deaths a year and reduce smog, says a new study for British Cycling
At some point during most discussions about promoting cycling the question crops up: “Yeah, but some people don’t want to cycle or can’t cycle – how are bike lanes any use for them?”
The answers are many and overwhelming. However, they can be hard to pin down. Luckily, someone has just done just that in a thorough and easy to follow way.
Continue reading...Why is Antarctic sea ice at record levels despite global warming?
While Arctic sea ice continues to decline, Antarctic levels are confounding the world’s most trusted climate models with record highs for the third year running. Karl Mathiesen investigates.
Let us know your thoughts. Post in the comments below, follow Karl Mathiesen’s Facebook page, email karl.mathiesen.freelance@guardian.co.uk or tweet @karlmathiesen
Antarctic ice floes extended further than ever recorded this southern winter, confounding the world’s most-trusted climate models.
“It’s not expected,” says Professor John Turner, a climate expert at the British Antarctic Survey. “The world’s best 50 models were run and 95% of them have Antarctic sea ice decreasing over the past 30 years.”
Continue reading...