The Guardian

Guardian investigation reveals ‘extremely high levels’ of toxic effluent in Lancashire river

• ‘Forever chemicals’ mean England’s waters will miss pollution targets for decades

Toxic substances from the site of a chemicals company have been found polluting a protected river in Lancashire at “extremely high levels”, in what has been described as a “huge concern”, an investigation by the Guardian and Watershed Investigations has uncovered.

More than 700 types of perfluorinated and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) were detected in effluent coming from the site of AGC Chemicals’ plant at Thornton Cleveleys, near Blackpool, into the River Wyre which flows into Morecambe Bay.

Oil companies plan to pump crude oil from Lake Albert, Uganda to the coast of neighbouring Tanzania, with the goal of producing 1.4bn barrels over the next two decades. But the pipeline project has created a human tragedy for those living in its 900-mile path

• Photographs by Sadak Souici. Words by Théophile Simon for La Chronique d’Amnesty International France

Mapping project reveals standards for PFAS will not be met until 2063 in many areas

• Toxic substances from chemicals firm site found polluting protected river
• What are PFAS, how toxic are they and how do you become exposed?

The government is investigating and mapping out the sources of dangerous “forever chemicals” present in our waterways.

But England will not meet its targets for waterways having good chemical status by 2027, the government admits, in part because of the PFAS “forever chemicals” in our rivers.

Exclusive: Resolving congestion on main electricity grid will top agenda of ministers’ meeting on Friday

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Renewable energy plants are struggling to supply all their output to customers, with one plant in New South Wales wasting half of its output over a full year.

Resolving congestion on the main electricity grid will top the agenda on Friday at the first meeting of federal, state and territory energy ministers in 2023.

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Experts say more cities should join the growing legislative trend to reduce trash, save birds and protect against wildfires

Laguna Beach – the California city known for surfers, waves, rolling hills – grabbed headlines this week for enacting a strict ban on the sale and use of balloons. The city council passed the resolution on Tuesday night, citing wildfire risk and the fact that balloons are a huge source of marine trash. Beginning in 2024, balloons of all types will not be permitted to be used on public property or at city events, with violators facing fines of up to $500. Residential homes will be exempt.

The move is part of a growing trend. Maryland and Virginia banned intentional balloon releases in 2021, Hawaii followed suit in 2022, with New York and Florida now considering similar measures. And like plastic bags and other pollutants, experts say balloon bans could catch on more widely as awareness rises of the harms that the popular celebratory item causes to the environment.

Conclusions from long-term survey in Sweden come days after 10th anniversary of Ella Kissi-Debrah’s death in London

Reducing air pollution could improve lung function development in children and cut the numbers of young people with significant pulmonary impairments, research suggests.

The impact of air pollution on health has become a topic of intense concern in recent years, with research suggesting it can affect every organ in the body and the World Health Orgazisation noting children’s developing organs and nervous systems are more susceptible to long-term damage.

We are seeing a leader emerge who doesn’t promise quick fixes, but is committed to the long-term revival of broken Britain

Aside from being 28% ahead in the polls, a sure sign that a party is on the threshold of power, is its leader receiving a ferocious roasting on the BBC’s Today show. Keir Starmer, laying out his “five missions” covering the economy, the NHS, crime, the climate crisis and education, was stress-tested in that boxing ring on Thursday morning. He stood up to it pretty well, as you’d expect of a former chief prosecutor.

The line of attack on him is the one that he will face through the next election: why had he broken the pledges he made in his leadership campaign? Pledges, the BBC’s Amol Rajan claimed, are for life, echoing attacks from right and left. The Tory chairman, Greg Hands, said that Starmer would “say anything if the politics of that moment suit him”. Momentum said: “His promises lie in tatters, ditched in favour of the reheated third-way Blairism typified by these latest, vapid ‘missions’.” Sky asked him after his speech: “Why should anyone believe a word you say?”

Farming leader Minette Batters says government needs to take action to tackle worsening water shortages

New reservoirs are needed across England to cope with increasingly severe water shortages that are putting the UK at risk of not being able to grow the food consumers require, a farming leader has warned.

Minette Batters, the president of the National Farmers’ Union of England and Wales, said failure to manage the country’s water adequately was creating problems for farmers and threatening food supplies.

The National Archives of Australia has restored and made public hundreds of rare and fragile images, digitised from glass plate negatives and lantern slides, of early 20th century British and Australian Antarctic expeditions

Preventing heat waste largely being ignored as solution to energy crisis, say environmental campaigners

Excess heat produced across Europe could almost power the entire region but preventing this waste is largely being ignored as a solution to the energy crisis, say environmental experts.

“The global energy crisis is a wakeup call to stop wasting energy,” said Toby Morgan, senior manager for the built environment at Climate Group, an environmental not-for-profit. “Now, more than ever, we need to make better use of the energy we already produce, we simply can’t afford to let it literally escape out the window. Energy efficiency improvements, like capturing and recycling excess heat, are absolutely critical to lower fossil fuel demand and lower bills.”

Data released by the International Energy Agency leads to renewed calls for more emission cuts and block on new projects

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Methane emissions from Australian coalmines and gas production could be more than 60% higher than federal government estimates suggest, according to satellite and ground data released by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The results of the Paris-based energy organisation’s annual methane tracker, released this week, led to renewed calls for the Albanese government to require emissions cuts at existing local and gas mines using existing technology and to block new developments.

Last year, 3 million were displaced in the US. Millions more will follow – and neither they, the government or the housing market are ready

Over the past decade, the US has experienced a succession of monumental climate disasters. Hurricanes have obliterated parts of the Gulf Coast, dumping more than 50in of rain in some places. Wildfires have denuded the California wilderness and destroyed thousands of homes. A once-in-a-millennium drought has dried up rivers and forced farmers to stop planting crops. Many of these disasters have no precedent in living memory, and they have dominated the headlines as Americans process the power of a changing climate.

But the disasters themselves are only half the story. The real story of climate change begins only once the skies clear and the fire burns out, and it has received far less attention in the mainstream media.

Almost half of products cleared so far under a new US federal ‘biofuels’ program are not, in fact, biofuels

• This article is co-published with ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power

The Environmental Protection Agency recently gave a Chevron refinery the green light to create fuel from discarded plastics as part of a climate-friendly initiative to boost alternatives to petroleum. But, according to agency records obtained by ProPublica and the Guardian, the production of one of the fuels could emit air pollution that is so toxic, one out of four people exposed to it over a lifetime could get cancer.

“That kind of risk is obscene,” said Linda Birnbaum, former head of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. “You can’t let that get out.”

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Major mapping project reveals PFAS have been found at high levels at thousands of sites

• What are PFAS, how toxic are they and how do you become exposed?
• Buncefield: the PFAS legacy of ‘biggest fire in peacetime Europe’

Pollutants known as “forever chemicals”, which don’t break down in the environment, build up in the body and may be toxic, have been found at high levels at thousands of sites across the UK and Europe, a major mapping project has revealed.

The map shows that per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a family of about 10,000 chemicals valued for their non-stick and detergent properties, have made their way into water, soils and sediments from a wide range of consumer products, firefighting foams, waste and industrial processes.

Plan to triple size of Macquarie Island protection zone to shield ‘remote wildlife wonderland’

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The Australian government plans to make an area about the size of Germany in the Southern Ocean a marine zone, strengthening protections around Macquarie Island for millions of penguins and seals.

The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, announced that the government wants to triple the size of the Macquarie Island marine park, describing it as a globally significant contribution to marine conservation that would put 388,000 sq km under high protection.

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With the Coalition opting out of an adult discussion on climate policy, tough decisions lie ahead for Labor, the Greens and independents on what they are willing to accept

The long-running fractures that define Australian climate politics can do weird things to people who have been involved in it too long.

One observer with more experience than most had a moment of reverie this week, joking about a fantasy universe in which Labor, the Coalition and the Greens all made substantial compromises to transform the landscape, literally and figuratively.

Far more tiny particles now come from tyres than are emitted from exhausts but new tyre designs may help

Scientists are “increasingly concerned” by the health impact of air pollution produced by the wear of vehicle tyres. The particles are especially damaging due to the toxic chemicals they are made from, say the scientists from Imperial College London.

The warning follows UK government data that shows significantly more tiny pollution particles now come from tyre erosion than are emitted from vehicle exhausts.

Environment secretary leaves Birmingham with egg on face while Rish! endures Brexit psychodrama

All praise the government of all the talentless. Or look at it this way. If Thérèse Coffey can make it to the cabinet, how useless do the rest of the Tory MPs have to be not to make the cut? Or perhaps Coffey has some svengali-like hold over Rishi Sunak. Can bend him to her will. Because let’s be honest, there’s no obvious sign of intelligent life in her. She’s at her most convincing when she’s at her most unconscious.

You’d have thought the environment secretary would have taken notes. Would have seen Sunak and Mark Spencer crash and burn at the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) conference in Birmingham on Monday, and make an effort to raise her game before facing the same crowd on Tuesday.

Oil and gas companies seek expansive contracts to tackle short-term problem of tight European gas supply

American oil and gas companies are pushing to solve the short-term problem of a tight European gas supply, driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) contracts, a new report shows.

The US fossil fuel industry has locked in 45 long-term contracts and contract expansions since the start of the war, according to research by Friends of the Earth, Public Citizen and BailoutWatch. That’s a major increase from the 14 such contracts signed in 2021.

Analysis says hundreds of animals are contaminated with dangerous compounds linked to cancer and other health problems

Hundreds of animal species across the globe from ticks to whales have blood contaminated with toxic PFAS, a new analysis of previous peer-reviewed research shows.

Though the analysis does not aim to reveal how the exposure to PFAS affects wildlife, anecdotal evidence in some of the previous studies show the chemicals are likely sickening animals.