The Guardian
‘Too big to handle’: Queensland man survives crocodile attack by prising jaws off his head
Marcus McGowan was attacked 40km off the Cape York coast on Saturday with an expert stating the croc likely ‘realised it grabbed something too big to handle’
A Queensland man who survived a crocodile attack by prising the reptile’s jaws off his head says he was “simply in the wrong place, at the wrong time”.
Marcus McGowan, 51, was snorkelling near the Charles Hardy Islands, 40km off the Cape York coast, with his wife and friends when he was attacked on Saturday.
Continue reading...A decade through the lens of Guardian Australia photographer Mike Bowers – in pictures
From the furnace of federal politics to fires, droughts and floods, Guardian Australia’s photographer-at-large captures 10 years of tumult and triumph
Continue reading...Experts call for ‘loss and damage’ fund for nature in developing world
Rich nations should pay for biodiversity loss, which disproportionately affects poor countries, say scientists
Wealthy countries should pay for the loss and damage they cause to nature in poorer countries in the same way as for climate impacts, researchers have argued.
At the Cop27 climate talks in November, world leaders agreed to a dedicated “loss and damage” fund providing financial assistance to poor nations stricken by climate disaster. More developed countries, which are largely responsible for driving climate breakdown, are to pay compensation to poorer nations, which are typically more vulnerable to its impacts.
Continue reading...Weather tracker: power prices dip to negative in Europe amid clean energy boost
Low demand combined with sunny conditions and meltwater lifts hydro and solar production
Over the last week, several European countries had power prices in the wholesale energy market dip into negative values during daylight hours. The decline in prices was mostly driven by the abundance of available energy generated by renewable sources, combined with the relatively low demand for energy for heating or cooling, caused by normal springtime temperatures.
Negative prices often occur when there is an excess supply of electricity in the market. This can happen when renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, or hydro produce a large quantity of electricity which exceeds demand and cannot be stored for later use. In such cases, producers may offer negative prices to incentivise wholesale consumers to take the surplus electricity off the grid and avoid overloading the system. This situation occurred due to an area of high pressure dominating across much of central and north-west Europe, providing lots of solar power generation across the area. Meanwhile, Finland experienced an oversupply of hydroelectric power resulting from excessive springtime meltwater which in turn led to negative prices here as well.
Continue reading...Ukraine built more onshore wind turbines last year than England
Revelation about war-torn country is ‘terrible indictment’ of UK government, says Ed Miliband
Ukraine has completed more onshore wind turbines than England since it was occupied by Russian soldiers – despite the UK’s government’s promise to relax restrictions on onshore wind farms.
Only two onshore wind turbines have been installed in England since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year, generating 1 megawatt (MW) of electricity in the Staffordshire village of Keele.
Continue reading...The vanishing swifts from the sky above my shed are a sad omen | Henry Porter
On 7 May, I tweeted that swifts had appeared in the skies over the shed where I write on the same day in 2022, and predicted, if they kept to their schedule, they would leave overnight on 7 August. My excitement was short-lived. I’ve seen no more than three or four breeding pairs over the village of Blockley, Gloucestershire, whereas last year I estimated 16 to 20 pairs and an end of season exodus of between 50 and 60 birds.
My figures are hardly scientific, but they suggest a decline of between 75% and 85% on last year, an acceleration in an established trend that shows a loss of 60% of swift numbers since 1995.
Continue reading...More than 40,000 hectares of nationally vital koala habitat marked for potential logging in NSW
Analysis shows area includes 9,000 hectares where there was already active logging as pressure grows on government to end practice
Conservationists say forest areas that include 41,000 hectares of nationally important koala habitat have been identified for potential logging on the north coast of New South Wales in the region’s 12-month logging plan.
The analysis, by the North East Forest Alliance, comes as pressure grows on the NSW government to cease logging of native forests after the Victorian government announced logging in its native forests would end in December, six years earlier than planned.
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Continue reading...Just Stop Oil protesters stop play at Twickenham rugby final – video
Just Stop Oil protesters forced a stoppage in play during the Gallagher Premiership final at Twickenham. Two men invaded the pitch midway through the first half of the match between Saracens and Sale, throwing orange powder on to the field. Fans jeered the duo before cheering as stewards escorted them from the stadium. Twickenham Stadium later confirmed two men had been arrested and that the incident is now a police matter.
Continue reading...Just Stop Oil protesters invade pitch and stop play at Twickenham rugby final
Gallagher Premiership match between Saracens and Sale delayed after two men throw orange powder during match
Just Stop Oil protesters have forced a stoppage in play during the Gallagher Premiership rugby union final at Twickenham.
Two men invaded the pitch midway through the first half of the match between Saracens and Sale, throwing orange paint powder on to the field.
Continue reading...Recycled and reused food contact plastics are ‘vectors’ for toxins – study
Research provides a unique review of contact chemicals in packaging, utensils, plates, etc and how they contaminate food
Recycled and reused food contact plastics are “vectors for spreading chemicals of concern” because they accumulate and release hundreds of dangerous toxins like styrene, benzene, bisphenol, heavy metals, formaldehyde and phthalates, new research finds.
The study assessed hundreds of scientific publications on plastic and recycled plastic to provide a first-of-its-kind systematic review of food contact chemicals in food packaging, utensils, plates and other items and what is known about how the substances contaminate food.
Continue reading...York groundsel blooms again in Britain’s first-ever de-extinction event
Yellow flower that only grows in York went extinct in 1991 brought back to life by Natural England experts
York groundsel was a cheerful yellow flower that slipped into global extinction in 1991, thanks to overzealous application of weedkiller in the city of its name.
But now the urban plant has been bought back to life in the first ever de-extinction in Britain, and is flowering again in York.
Continue reading...Number of ‘coronation meadows’ marking queen’s reign tops 100
Scheme that began to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s diamond jubilee in 2012 has thrived, project audit finds
Wildflower meadows planted a decade ago to celebrate 60 years of the late queen’s reign have thrived, with 101 new fields of flowers created since the scheme was launched.
King Charles, then the Prince of Wales, worked with Plantlife and the Wildlife Trusts to launch ”coronation meadows”, identifying 60 species-rich meadows from which to take donor seeds – one meadow for each year of the queen’s reign at the time.
Continue reading...30 water treatment works released 11bn litres of raw sewage in a year, study suggests
Exclusive: Researchers analysed works run by nine water and sewerage companies in England and Wales
Eleven billion litres of raw sewage were discharged from a sample of 30 water company treatment works in one year, new research suggests.
The study aimed to reveal the volume of discharged effluent released from storm overflows by water firms. Companies are not forced to reveal the volume of raw sewage released during discharges. They are only required by regulators to provide data on the number of discharges and the length of time they lasted.
Continue reading...Antarctic animals are facing troubled waters | Fiona Katauskas
It gives a whole new meaning to ‘going with the flow’
Continue reading...The Guardian view on water politics in Europe: a new fault line | Editorial
As drought beacomes the norm, creative solutions must be found to deal with a new, parched reality
In April, Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, suggested that severe drought would become “one of the central political and territorial debates of our country in the coming years”. That stark warning surely applies to southern Europe as a whole, as the prospect of another summer crisis looms, following a disastrously dry winter.
An absence of melting snow from the Alps has left Italy’s Po River as shallow as during last year’s searingly hot summer. In January and February, France recorded the highest number of rain-free days since records began, and water restrictions are in place in the Pyrénées-Orientales region. About 90% of mainland Portugal is suffering from drought, judged to be severe in one-fifth of the country. In Spain, from Catalonia to Andalucía, unseasonable heat has contributed to reservoirs drying up and a disastrous drop in olive oil production. By the middle of this month, southern Spain had received barely 30% of expected rainfall. As temperatures continue to rise, and Europe warms faster than the global average, drought across vast swathes of territory is simply becoming the norm.
Continue reading...Sewage spills blamed as E coli forces Cornish shellfish sites to close
Producers accuse government of failing to tackle pollution after ‘very high’ levels of bacteria found
“Very high” levels of E coli found in oysters and mussels have led to the closure of 11 shellfish production zones in Cornwall.
In an email seen by the Guardian and Watershed Investigations, the Cornwall Port Health Authority (CPHA) told food business operators they “must not collect the affected animals from this area by any method. It is unsuitable for their production for health reasons and has been temporarily closed.”
Continue reading...Background levels of PFAS may be higher than thought, analysis suggests
Findings from soil samples in New Hampshire ‘pretty disturbing’, expert says, and raise questions on food and water contamination
Background levels of toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” in the ground and air may be much higher than previously thought, federal testing of spatially random soil samples from across New Hampshire suggests.
The analysis found high levels of PFAS in all 100 shallow soil samples, which were taken from undisturbed land not close to known polluters. The chemicals are thought to largely have gotten there through the air, and the study, along with recent EU research, suggests similar levels of soil and air contamination throughout the world.
Continue reading...One in three GB News presenters cast doubt on climate science, study reveals
Ten of broadcaster’s 31 hosts made on-air statements in 2022 rejecting or challenging scientific consensus
Almost a third of presenters on GB News have used their platform to cast doubt on the scientific consensus on climate breakdown, according to an analysis.
Ten of the broadcaster’s 31 presenters made statements on air in 2022 rejecting or challenging widely accepted scientific findings about how humans are affecting the climate, and the role the climate crisis plays in extreme weather events.
Continue reading...Weather tracker: Typhoon Mawar narrowly avoids landfall as it hits Guam
Wind and rain bring island to a standstill but eye replacement cycle fortuitously weakens it temporarily
Earlier this week, Typhoon Mawar whipped up a storm in western Micronesia as the category 4 storm came close to landfall on the island of Guam. Starting out as a tropical depression over the weekend, Mawar rapidly deepened and intensified over the following couple of days, almost reaching category 5 by Tuesday evening. Wind gusts peaked at 155mph (250km/h), briefly making Mawar a super typhoon about 100 miles south-east of the US island territory.
In a stroke of luck an eyewall replacement cycle occurred overnight, hours before the then super typhoon was due to reach Guam. The cycle involves the slight degradation of the storm’s structure as a new eye develops around the old eye. Consequentially, the storm’s intensity weakened temporarily while simultaneously spreading strong winds over a larger area. Mawar’s winds dropped to a sustained speed of 140mph as the typhoon brushed the northern edge of Guam at about 7am local time (2200 BST) Had Mawar made landfall, it would have been the first category 4 typhoon to do so since Typhoon Pamela in 1976.
Continue reading...The week in wildlife – in pictures
The best of this week’s wildlife photographs, including a crab spider, a glass frog and a curious snow leopard
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