The Guardian
Europe’s cities are leading the fight against xenophobia and the climate crisis | Ada Colau
Conservative politicians have long declared there is no alternative to capitalism. Many of capitalism’s cruelties, from housing crises and crumbling public amenities to increasingly precarious forms of employment, are most visible in towns and cities. But it’s also in these places that new movements are emerging and rebuilding politics from the bottom up. In cities such as Barcelona, Amsterdam, Berlin and Naples, local activists are defending human rights and public services against a rising tide of anti-immigrant xenophobia and fiscal austerity. We call these urban movements “municipalism”.
By achieving small victories around the world, municipalist movements are proving that there is another way of doing politics – one that begins in the places closest to us. It’s thanks to this movement that someone such as me, a woman from a working-class family who began my political career as a housing activist, can today govern a city such as Barcelona. A tide of municipal movements connects cities across the world, creating networks of alliances and shared objectives. Together, we have put pressure on our national governments and demanded greater powers to fight gentrification, increase the stock of affordable housing, and safeguard our collective right to the city.
Continue reading...Spring arrives earlier than ever recorded in southern US – adding to climate trend
Warming springs can cause plants to bloom earlier, alter hibernation times and locations for migrating animals, and increase insect populations
It’s still officially winter, but spring has already arrived in large parts of the southern US earlier than any point in the official record.
New data from the USA National Phenology Network (US-NPN), which has tracked the onset of spring for the past 39 years, shows that in parts of North Carolina, South Carolina, and northern Florida, spring has arrived over three weeks earlier than average.
Continue reading...Morrison government to stop funding international collaboration on shift to zero emissions
Exclusive: The five-year Australian-German initiative to transition to new energy and low emissions was due to end in 2022
The Morrison government has told researchers at two of Australia’s leading universities it will break a commitment to fund an international collaboration into what is required to shift to a zero emissions future.
The Australian-German Energy Transition Hub was announced in 2017 by then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and German chancellor Angela Merkel as a collaboration that would “help the technical, economic and social transition to new energy systems and a low emissions economy”.
Continue reading...A snowless winter around Europe – in pictures
Struggling ski resorts are having to get creative as slopes dry out during a record-breaking few months
Continue reading...New water mines in Gold Coast hinterland barred for a year amid concerns over bottling industry
Queensland government’s moratorium comes after dozens of bores supplying drinking water to Tamborine Mountain ran dry
The Queensland government has placed a year-long moratorium on new water mines in parts of the Gold Coast hinterland, where drought-hit residents have been campaigning against the impact of the bottled water industry.
Late last year, dozens of bores that supply drinking water to Tamborine Mountain schools, businesses and residents ran dry, with many residents having to wait six weeks for deliveries by truck. The area has three commercial water mines with deep bores that send about 100m litres a year for bottling.
Continue reading...'Seismic shift’: ministers signal end of badger cull
Vaccination and movement controls will be used instead to tackle bovine TB in England
The controversial cull of badgers across England will begin to be phased out in the next few years, the government has announced, with vaccination of the animals being ramped up instead.
The cull is intended to cut tuberculosis in cattle and has killed at least 100,000 badgers since 2013. TB in cattle is a severe problem for farmers and taxpayers, leading to the compulsory slaughter of 30,000 cattle and a cost of £150m every year.
Continue reading...This winter in Europe was hottest on record by far, say scientists
Climate crisis likely to have supercharged temperatures around world, data suggests
This winter has been by far the hottest recorded in Europe, scientists have announced, with the climate crisis likely to have supercharged the heat.
The EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) data dates back to 1855. It said the average temperature for December, January and February was 1.4C above the previous winter record, which was set in 2015-16. New regional climate records are usually passed by only a fraction of a degree. Europe’s winter was 3.4C hotter than the average from 1981-2010.
Continue reading...Why don’t we treat the climate crisis with the same urgency as coronavirus? | Owen Jones
It is a global emergency that has already killed on a mass scale and threatens to send millions more to early graves. As its effects spread, it could destabilise entire economies and overwhelm poorer countries lacking resources and infrastructure. But this is the climate crisis, not the coronavirus. Governments are not assembling emergency national plans and you’re not getting push notifications transmitted to your phone breathlessly alerting you to dramatic twists and developments from South Korea to Italy.
More than 3,000 people have succumbed to coronavirus yet, according to the World Health Organization, air pollution alone – just one aspect of our central planetary crisis – kills seven million people every year. There have been no Cobra meetings for the climate crisis, no sombre prime ministerial statements detailing the emergency action being taken to reassure the public. In time, we’ll overcome any coronavirus pandemic. With the climate crisis, we are already out of time, and are now left mitigating the inevitably disastrous consequences hurtling towards us.
Continue reading...Glowing, glowing, gone: plunge in glow-worm numbers revealed
Exclusive: study shows a 75% fall in 18 years in England, with climate a clear factor
Glow-worm numbers have plunged by three-quarters since 2001, research in England has revealed, with the climate crisis a clear factor.
The larvae feed on damp-loving snails, and increasingly hot and dry summers mean fewer prey and a greater risk of glow-worms becoming desiccated.
Continue reading...Analysis shows climate finance not reaching most vulnerable
Funding is intended to help countries protect their people from the climate breakdown
People in some of the world’s poorest countries are receiving as little as $1 each a year to help them cope with the impacts of the climate crisis, despite rich countries’ promises to provide assistance.
Climate finance is intended to help developing countries cut greenhouse gases and protect their people from the consequences of climate breakdown, and forms a core part of the Paris agreement. Rich countries pledged more than 10 years ago to provide £100bn a year to the poor by 2020, but it is not certain that these commitments are being met.
Continue reading...Tropical forests losing their ability to absorb carbon, study finds
Amazon could turn into source of CO2 in atmosphere by next decade, research suggests
Tropical forests are taking up less carbon dioxide from the air, reducing their ability to act as “carbon sinks” and bringing closer the prospect of accelerating climate breakdown.
The Amazon could turn into a source of carbon in the atmosphere, instead of one of the biggest absorbers of the gas, as soon as the next decade, owing to the damage caused by loggers and farming interests and the impacts of the climate crisis, new research has found.
Continue reading...Focus on coronavirus shows need for climate law, says EU official
Frans Timmermans calls for bloc to legislate so it does not lose track of net zero target
Tensions at the Greek-Turkish border and the coronavirus show why the European Union needs a climate law that binds member states to net zero emissions by 2050, the EU’s top official on climate action has said.
Frans Timmermans, a European commission vice-president who leads on the climate emergency, said the different crises facing Europe underscored the need for a climate law in order not to lose track of reducing emissions.
Continue reading...Japan lifts evacuation order for town hit by Fukushima disaster
Futaba to reopen for start of Olympic torch relay after being deserted for nine years
Japan has lifted an evacuation order for parts of a town in the shadow of the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, weeks before the area is to host the start of the Olympic torch relay.
Futaba, 2.4 miles (4km) west of the plant, has been almost deserted since the nuclear meltdown nine years ago, while other areas in the region have mounted a partial recovery after the government declared them safe for residents.
Continue reading...The government must abandon its fossil fuel power projects. If not, we’ll sue | George Monbiot
Last week’s Heathrow judgment was a watershed. Now we must target other projects that put profit before life on Earth
No longer should our survival be an afterthought. If we are to withstand the climate crisis, every decision should begin with the question of what the planet can endure. This means that any discussion about new infrastructure should begin with ecological constraints. The figures are stark. A paper published in Nature last year showed that existing energy infrastructure, if it is allowed to run to the end of its natural life, will produce around 660 gigatonnes of CO2. Yet, to stand a reasonable chance of preventing more than 1.5°C of global heating, we can afford to release, in total, no more than 580 gigatonnes.
Related: Heathrow third runway ruled illegal over climate change
Continue reading...Let’s enjoy some good climate news: the block on UK onshore wind farms is no more | Max Wakefield
Onshore wind companies can now compete for clean energy contracts. Despite onerous planning barriers, this is a big step
On Monday, the government did something remarkable. In the windiest country in Europe, it finally ended a five-year block on new onshore wind turbines. It’s a victory for campaigners, and anyone who wants action on the climate crisis and cares about lower energy bills in future.
Related: UK government lifts block on new onshore windfarm subsidies
Continue reading...Bushfires likely to have killed about 5,000 koalas in NSW, report finds
Exclusive: Conservation groups call for emergency endangered species declaration as numbers drop by up to two-thirds in less than 20 years
About 5,000 koalas in New South Wales are likely to have died in the bushfires, and their numbers may have dropped by as much as two-thirds in less than 20 years, a new report has found.
Conservation groups want the state government to make an emergency endangered species declaration for the koalas.
Continue reading...World's biggest meat company linked to 'brutal massacre' in Amazon
Investigation traces meat sold to JBS and rival Marfrig to farm owned by man implicated in Mato Grosso killings
A new investigation has linked the world’s biggest meat company JBS, and its rival Marfrig, to a farm whose owner is implicated in one of the most brutal Amazonian massacres in recent memory.
The report by Repórter Brasil comes as JBS faces growing pressure over transparency failings in its Amazon cattle supply chain.
Continue reading...EU member states call for 2030 climate target
Dozen member states hope letter will focus minds before Glasgow UN talks this year
A dozen countries have called for an EU climate target for 2030 to be drawn up “as soon as possible”, if the bloc is to galvanise the rest of the world before vital UN talks in Glasgow later this year.
In a letter to the EU’s top official on climate action, Frans Timmermans, the dozen EU member states say “the EU can lead by example and contribute to creating the international momentum needed for all parties to scale up their ambition” by adopting a 2030 EU greenhouse gas emissions reduction target “as soon as possible and by June 2020 at the latest”.
Continue reading...#FrontlineLive: experts answer your questions on the impacts of the climate emergency
To mark the end of The Frontline series a panel of experts answer your questions about the climate crisis and how it is affecting Australia.
Ask Prof Lesley Hughes, Greg Mullins, Prof Michael Mann and Assoc Prof Donna Green your questions, and see the answers on our live blog. Email frontline.live@theguardian.com or tweet #frontlinelive
12.03am GMT
And now our second-last question for Prof Hughes.
From Micaela Ledin:
For those of us who are feeling overwhelmed and helpless right now, what bigger steps can we take as individuals? (Beyond cutting plastic, less water, less driving etc). What actions, specifically, should we be demanding our government to do?
Use your vote wisely - make sure your parliamentary representatives know that climate change policy will be the number one reason determining your vote at the next election. In the meantime, add your signature to Zali Steggall’s climate bill.
Think about where your money is - in insurance, superannuation and banks. If your bank, insurance company or super fund is investing in fossil fuels, move your money and tell them why. The website Market Forces is a great resource to support this action. Put solar panels on your house if you can, or buy green power if you can’t.
11.58pm GMT
From grape to grain: how a warming climate is changing what we eat and drink https://t.co/H85FhnoR28
This is 'The Lost Harvest', the final episode in @GuardianAus's multimedia series #TheFrontline: inside Australia's #climateemergency pic.twitter.com/FaT20ib3SR
Outdoor air pollution cuts three years from human lifespan – study
Global survey finds average figure is higher than that caused by smoking tobacco
Humans are missing out on almost three years of life expectancy on average because of outdoor air pollution, researchers have found.
However, the study reveals more than a year of life expectancy could be clawed back if fossil fuel emissions are cut to zero, while if all controllable air pollution is cut – a category that does not include particles from natural wildfires or wind-born dust – global life expectancy could rise by more than 20 months.
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