The Guardian
Jellyfish as big as a human seen off Cornwall coast – video
A large barrel jellyfish has been spotted by the biologist and wildlife presenter Lizzie Daly, who came face to face with the sea creature while diving near Falmouth. Barrel jellyfish are the biggest species of jellyfish found in British waters
Continue reading...Lambs 'professionally slaughtered' in spate of farm attacks
More than 45 animals in fields around Northamptonshire killed, butchered and stolen
At least 45 lambs and sheep have been “professionally slaughtered” in fields in Northamptonshire, with several left butchered for farmers to discover.
In the past week there have been four brutal attacks, the incidents occurring within 30 miles of one another.
Continue reading...Corbyn pledges Labour transparency on UK carbon footprint
The UK will stop hiding its “true impact” on the climate by revealing its consumption of carbon emissions from across the world, Jeremy Corbyn was due to pledge on Sunday.
In an attempt to place his party at the forefront of the battle against the climate crisis, the Labour leader was due to say, is “even greater than we think” and demands an end to “passing the buck to poorer countries”.
Continue reading...'Just a matter of when': the $20bn plan to power Singapore with Australian solar
Ambitious export plan could generate billions and make Australia the centre of low-cost energy in a future zero-carbon world
The desert outside Tennant Creek, deep in the Northern Territory, is not the most obvious place to build and transmit Singapore’s future electricity supply. Though few in the southern states are yet to take notice, a group of Australian developers are betting that will change.
If they are right, it could have far-reaching consequences for Australia’s energy industry and what the country sells to the world.
Continue reading...Extinction Rebellion kick off weekend of protest with Dalston blockade
Other events included mass bike ride through A10, Olympic park traffic blocks as well as talks and panels in London Fields
Extinction Rebellion has staged a blockade in Dalston, east London, disrupting traffic at its busiest central junction. Car horns, sirens and swearing competed with drumming protesters, singing and hula dancing. On Saturday the group kicked off a weekend of activity ahead of its summer uprising this week, which aims to disrupt five major UK cities and shock people into action against the climate crisis.
About 50 protesters lined the road with banners reading “thank you for your patience” and “sorry for the disruption” in the hope of placating the public for the seven-minute intervals during which they blocked traffic. Some drivers were bored, others were furious.
Continue reading...Battle for clean air is sending our gardens to new heights
When Andrea Carnevali’s son started at St Mary’s Catholic primary school in Chiswick he was alarmed to find that pupils were sometimes kept indoors at break times, despite a large playground.
The reason was the nearby six-lane A4 road, which has up to 100,000 vehicles thundering past the school each day. As evidence mounted about the impact of poor air quality on children’s health, the headteacher restricted time outside.
Continue reading...Putting pigs in the shade: the radical farming system banking on trees | John Vidal
A farm in Portugal is showing how the ancient art of silvopasture – combining livestock with productive trees – may offer some real answers to the climate crisis
The land to the north of the village of Foros de Vale Figueira in southern Portugal has been owned and farmed through the centuries by Romans, Moors, Christians, capitalists, far rightists, even the military. It has been part of a private fiefdom, worked by slaves as well as communists.
Now this 100-hectare (247-acre) patch of land just looks exhausted – a great empty grassland without trees, people or animals, wilting under a baking Iberian sun.
Continue reading...Weatherwatch: migrating monarch butterflies ride the high winds
Monarch butterflies have been tracked soaring high to make use of strong tailwinds on their long-distance migration
Every September an incredible migration phenomenon begins. Clouds of stripy orange monarch butterflies set off on a 2,500km journey, travelling from southern Canada to warmer climes in southern California and Mexico. Come spring they follow the milkweed blossom and travel back up north. No butterfly completes the entire trip: after flying many hundreds of kilometres the female butterflies lay eggs and pass the baton to the next generation. Now a new study, published in Biology Letters, reveals how these amazing insects make use of the weather to aid their journey.
Related: Monarch butterfly population wintering in Mexico increases 144%
Continue reading...Trump administration to approve pesticide that may harm bees
EPA said studies it considered, most of which were sponsored by industry, found sulfoxaflor isn’t dangerous for the pollinators
The Trump administration is approving the pesticide sulfoxaflor – thought by some experts to harm bees – for use on a wide variety of crops.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says the studies it considered, most of which were sponsored by industry, found the chemical is not dangerous for the pollinators responsible for $15bn in US crops each year.
Continue reading...The week in wildlife – in pictures
This week: Hungary’s insect of 2019, and bluehead wrasse courtship and sex change
Continue reading...Extinction Rebellion protesters appear in court in London
More than 30 activists have been charged with a range of public order offences
More than 30 Extinction Rebellion protesters have appeared in court in London charged with a range of public order offences.
The charges relate to demonstrations led by the movement in April – when thousands of people blocked landmarks across the capital over 10 days to highlight climate breakdown.
Continue reading...Don’t panic! We’re doing our bit on climate crisis | Letters
Michael Barrett (Letters, 9 July) calls upon the religions to join with ecologists to take action on climate change as it offers “a compelling cause” to tackle declining memberships. We are already on board. Since Pope Francis’s letter to the world, Laudato Si’, Catholics have been reflecting on how we can work for climate justice. Thousands of our churches now run on renewable energy, while thousands of parishioners have taken to the streets to demand political action.
Last month, for instance, nearly 1,500 Cafod supporters joined people from other faith communities as part of a climate and environment lobby of parliament. Some 12,000 people of all faiths and none travelled from across the country to speak to more than 350 MPs about the political and economic decisions needed if the UK is to reach net-zero emissions. And faith leaders undertook a Walk of Witness down Whitehall to show our commitment to protecting creation and our poorest sisters and brothers – those who will pay the greatest price if we fail to urgently cut emissions.
Continue reading...US philanthropists vow to raise millions for climate activists
Fund donates £500,000 to grassroots Extinction Rebellion and other groups, with promise of more to come
A group of wealthy US philanthropists and investors have donated almost half a million pounds to support the grassroots movement Extinction Rebellion and school strike groups – with the promise of tens of millions more in the months ahead.
Trevor Neilson, an investor and philanthropist who has worked with some of the world’s richest families, has teamed up with Rory Kennedy – daughter of Robert Kennedy – and Aileen Getty, whose family wealth comes from the oil industry, to launch the Climate Emergency Fund.
Continue reading...KFC first UK fast food chain to commit to new chicken welfare standards
Move expected to put pressure on rivals McDonald’s, Burger King and large supermarkets such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s
KFC is to become the first UK fast food chain to sign up to new European welfare standards for farmed chickens, in an attempt to tackle growing concerns about inhumane conditions in the intensive and large-scale production of meat.
The move by the America-owned chain – 18 months after the blueprint was unveiled – will put pressure on rivals McDonald’s and Burger King, as well as large supermarkets such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s to follow suit.
Continue reading...Adani land-use agreement: court dismisses Indigenous group’s appeal
Group of five Wangan and Jagalingou people ordered to pay miner’s costs in case over native title
Indigenous traditional owners opposed to the Adani Carmichael coalmine have lost a full-bench appeal to the federal court, which has upheld a land-use agreement and ordered a group of elders to pay the miner’s costs.
The minority group of five Wangan and Jagalingou (W&J) people had sought to invalidate an Indigenous land-use agreement (ILUA) approved by seven of 12 native title applicants.
Continue reading...'Like a horror movie': Dozens of corellas dead after falling from sky in suspected poisoning
The native birds were bleeding from their mouths, according to rescuers at One Tree Hill near Adelaide
Nearly 60 native birds have died after they fell out of the sky in front of horrified onlookers and a nearby primary school in a suspected case of mass poisoning in South Australia.
Bird rescuers said it was like “something out of a horror movie” as dozens of birds fell, bleeding from their eyes and beaks at One Tree Hill near Adelaide.
Continue reading...Koala and kangaroo culling considered as numbers become 'overabundant'
Species’ expansion threatens South Australia’s habitat and biodiversity, report says
Animals including koalas and kangaroos could be culled in parts of South Australia, where high population numbers are damaging the landscape.
A report from a parliamentary inquiry has recommended the state’s environment minister make an immediate decision to declare koalas, western grey kangaroos, long-nosed fur seals and little corellas overabundant in some areas.
Continue reading...Tanzania leads the fight against plastic | Letters
Re your article about “Plastic City” on the outskirts of the Philippine capital of Manila (The villagers who are forced to live with the world’s waste, 9 September), we have just returned from Tabora town in Tanzania, having worked as volunteers for 10-week periods over the past 20 years. Our final trip revealed an amazing and extraordinary fact that Tanzania has recently banned all plastic bags, with not a black plastic bag to be seen in the streets, which hitherto was a common sight in the ditches, on the roads and in fact everywhere. These black bags were given to you in the market and from small roadside stalls selling fruit and veg, clothes and much more.
In May this year Tanzania passed a law making the use of plastic bags an offence with a hefty fine or imprisonment. The law was implemented within a month, ie on 1 June, and the effect was immediate, with all stalls and shops using a new paper-based bag in varying sizes and colours.
Continue reading...Meat infected by African swine fever found in UK for first time
Highly contagious virus can live for months in processed meat and would have ‘devastating implications’ if passed to live pigs
African swine fever has been picked up in meat seized by port authorities in Northern Ireland, the first time the ASF virus has been detected in the UK.
Officials confiscated more than 300kg of illegal meat and dairy products from airport passengers’ luggage in June. Samples tested by the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute in Belfast confirmed traces of the virus, which is highly contagious and can survive for several months in processed meat.
Continue reading...Cuadrilla to restart fracking at site in Lancashire
Drilling at Preston New Road is last-ditch effort to convince regulators to relax safety rules
Cuadrilla plans to restart fracking at its Preston New Road site in Lancashire in a last-ditch effort to convince policymakers to relax safety rules.
The first company to frack for shale gas in the UK will drill a second well near Blackpool after it was forced to abandon the first, which caused multiple earth tremors.
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