The Guardian
Darwin’s finches sing out-of-tune call after parasites deform beaks
Concern over mating as malformed beaks and nostrils lead to ‘subpar songs’ - study
Tree finches made famous by Charles Darwin’s visit to the Galapagos islands in the 19th century have gone out of tune because of parasitic infections that damage the birds’ beaks and nostrils.
Researchers found that male finches that picked up the fly parasite had malformed beaks and enlarged nostrils that led to “subpar songs”, making it harder for the birds to find mates and reproduce.
Continue reading...Theresa May commits to net zero UK carbon emissions by 2050
UK to put down legislation but Greenpeace warns of impact on developing nations
Theresa May has sought to cement some legacy in the weeks before she steps down as prime minister by enshrining in law a commitment to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050, making Britain the first major economy to do so.
The commitment, to be made in an amendment to the Climate Change Act laid in parliament on Wednesday, would make the UK the first member of the G7 group of industrialised nations to legislate for net zero emissions, Downing Street said.
Continue reading...Problem in the bagging area: the plastic-shaming scheme that went very, very wrong
Tired of people failing to bring in their own carrier bags, a Canadian store brought in a set with ‘embarrassing’ logos. There was just one problem
Name: Plastic shaming.
Age: Brand new in its current form.
Continue reading...Who’s to blame for the plight of hen harriers? | Letters
The “brood management” scheme that is to be trialled on hen harriers nesting on grouse moors is not a serious conservation action but a measure to appease the people responsible for the hen harriers’ plight (Trial to take hen harrier chicks from nests splits bird experts, 7 June). The parlous state of the hen harrier population in England is entirely due to illegal persecution by grouse moor managers, and changing the species’ fortunes simply requires this persecution to stop.
I would take serious issue with the suggestion that what is being proposed is in any way equivalent to the captive rearing of curlew chicks from nests established next to runways on Ministry of Defence airfields. While the curlew chicks are at risk from lawful activities of the MoD, the only threat the hen harrier chicks are being protected from is criminal acts by gamekeepers.
Jonathan Wallace
Newcastle upon Tyne
Atmospheric carbon levels are leaping. We can't afford more years like this
Each year of high emissions adds to the stock of carbon in the air, bringing us closer to catastrophe
One of the many ironies of the climate crisis is that as temperatures change and extreme weather becomes more common, we need more energy to maintain comfort. Hotter summers have driven an increase in power-hungry air conditioning and cooler temperatures in some places – which may be driven by the melting Arctic – raise demand for heating.
BP’s report that carbon emissions from energy use have risen at the fastest rate in nearly a decade reflects those forces, as well as continuing demand from a rising global population and expanding industries.
Continue reading...Secret slaughterhouse video reveals brutal treatment of pigs in Cambodia
Undercover footage shows workers among hundreds of pigs, clubbing animals before slitting their throats
Campaigners are calling for animal welfare reform in Cambodia after exclusive footage of an open-air slaughterhouse revealed the brutal treatment of pigs.
In the undercover video, taken by British animal rights campaigners Moving Animals, hundreds of the animals can be seen huddling together watching others being killed in close proximity.
Continue reading...Greenpeace continues anti-drilling protest on BP oil rig in North Sea
Oil firm accused of hypocrisy by claiming it accepts Paris agreement while still drilling
Two more Greenpeace climate protesters have climbed onboard a North Sea oil rig the environmental campaign group has occupied since Sunday in a protest against increased drilling by BP.
The two activists climbed on to the rig in the Cromarty Firth, north of Inverness, at about 9pm on Monday, replacing the two campaigners who first boarded the rig on Sunday night.
Continue reading...Death by clubbing: the brutality of Thailand's pig slaughterhouses
Humane killing practices are virtually unknown in the majority of Thailand’s abattoirs, say campaigners, with millions of pigs dying in pain
All photographs by Jo-Anne McArthur/We Animals
Warning: this article includes some graphic images that some readers may find distressing
Photos of shirtless workers clubbing pigs with bats in a Thai slaughterhouse have prompted campaigners to call for wider training and monitoring of humane welfare practices.
Undercover images taken in the central Thailand abattoir and shared with the Guardian also shows workers stunning the animals on their eyes with what appear to be homemade stunning machines, contrary to equipment recommendations.
Continue reading...Yorkshire village faces petrochemical giant in anti-fracking fight
Ineos, owned by UK’s richest man, wants to overturn ban on well next to sheltered housing
A petrochemical company owned by Britain’s richest man is attempting to overrule a Yorkshire council to drill a shale gas well next to a sheltered housing development.
Residents in Woodsetts, Rotherham, have crowdfunded £10,000 to pay a lawyer to help them oppose the application by Ineos to carry out test core drilling on a field just outside the village.
Continue reading...Could the Cycle to Work scheme start an ebike revolution?
New guidance on £1,000 ‘cap’ means more expensive ebikes are available as part of scheme
Over the weekend, new guidance on the Cycle to Work scheme was announced by the Department for Transport (DfT), making it clear that ebikes are eligible for it. This clarification could encourage a new demographic on to two wheels, and provide huge benefits to disabled and elderly people.
The scheme is a complicated but well-used salary sacrifice scheme in which employees can get bikes, tax-free, via their employers. It starts with a year-long loan, which most people extend until the bike is worth so little they can “buy” it for a nominal sum or extend the hire for a percentage of the bike’s value. (After five or six years, HMRC considers a bike to have a negligible value).
Continue reading...Sweet reward: Yunnan honey hunters – in pictures
Gathering wild cliff honey in China’s Yunnan province is not for the faint-hearted – honey hunters face swarms of bees and are stung repeatedly while suspended from rope ladders. Photographer Kevin Frayer joined them on their daredevil expedition
Continue reading...‘Frightening’ number of plant extinctions found in global survey
Study shows 571 species wiped out, and scientists say figure is likely to be big underestimate
Human destruction of the living world is causing a “frightening” number of plant extinctions, according to scientists who have completed the first global analysis of the issue.
They found 571 species had definitely been wiped out since 1750 but with knowledge of many plant species still very limited the true number is likely to be much higher. The researchers said the plant extinction rate was 500 times greater now than before the industrial revolution, and this was also likely to be an underestimate.
Continue reading...Scottish Power to build vast battery to improve wind energy supply
Energy firm says project will be big step towards continuous renewable power for UK
Scottish Power is to undertake the most ambitious battery power project in Europe in an attempt to unlock the potential of the UK’s wind and solar farms.
The company will connect an industrial-scale battery to the Whitelee onshore windfarm early next year to capture more power from its 214 turbines.
Continue reading...Gatwick hosts UK's first airport reusable coffee cup trial
Customers buying coffee from South Terminal Starbucks will be able to borrow free refillable cup
The UK’s first airport reusable coffee cup trial gets under way this week at Gatwick, offering passengers the opportunity to borrow and return refillable cups in a bid to help cut waste and tackle “throwaway” culture.
Customers buying hot takeaway drinks from Starbucks will have the option to borrow a free reusable cup instead of using a paper cup, which they can then drop off at a designated point before boarding their flight.
Continue reading...Food porn meets Hitchcock horror as seagull spies Maine chance
Pepperdine professor photobombed by lobster mobster bird happy to see picture of roll reversal go viral
Alicia Jessop knew Friday was going to be memorable, but she didn’t realize it would be a day she would never forget.
Related: 'We live in a lobstocracy': Maine town is feeling the effects of climate change
Continue reading...Greenpeace activists board BP oil rig as it is towed out to sea
Protesters scale 27,000-tonne rig as it leaves Cromarty Firth to demand end to drilling new wells
Environmental campaigners have boarded an oil rig in the north of Scotland as it was being towed out to sea and are staging a protest on board.
Greenpeace activists say they scaled the 27,000-tonne rig – thought to be operated by BP – as it attempted to leave Cromarty Firth. The protesters are calling for BP to end the drilling for new oil wells and say they are prepared to stay onboard the rig for days.
Continue reading...Pesticide report ‘was misrepresented’ | Letter
We write as chief scientific advisors to the European commission, authors of the scientific opinion on EU authorisation processes of plant protection products referred to in your article (Science institute that advised EU and UN ‘actually industry lobby group’”, 3 June). We are a completely independent expert group basing our reports on a wide range of sources and evidence, including academia, practitioners, NGOs and industry, but quite separate from them.
The statement in your article that our report recommends “a slew of industry positions” on pesticides is incorrect. What was recommended in our report was that the European commission “facilitates a broader discussion throughout society to establish an EU-wide, shared vision for food production, including the role of plant protection products therein”. Likewise, it is incorrect to say that we recommend replacing current rules outlawing any products that could harm human health with a US-style concept of “acceptable risk”. What our report says is that the European commission should “re-examine the treatment of hazards, risks, costs and benefits – to provide reassurance that the system is fit for purpose”.
Professor Rolf-Dieter Heuer (Chair), Sir Paul Nurse and Professor Janusz Bujnicki
European commission group of chief scientific advisors
New rules give households right to sell solar power back to energy firms
Britain’s biggest energy companies will have to buy renewable energy from their own customers under new laws to be introduced this week.
Homeowners who install new rooftop solar panels from 1 January 2020 will be able to lower their bills by selling the energy they do not need to their supplier.
Continue reading...How one woman’s crusade against plastic sparked a new era at Waitrose
Catherine Conway tells how her long campaign led last week to a supermarket trial of unpackaged goods that could change the way we buy our food
It all started with a mouse. Catherine Conway was unpacking all her food from the supermarket into glass jars to prevent it being eaten by a mouse that had taken up residence in her home when she had an idea. “I remember very distinctly, one day, having all this packaging in my hands, thinking: why I can’t I just go to a shop and refill everything in jars?” It was 2005, and Conway, a charity worker, had been learning about the businesses that are set up to create social and environmental good. “I was in my late 20s. I didn’t have kids and I didn’t have a mortgage. And in my professional life, I was looking for something interesting to do.”
She decided to set up a market stall in central London selling unpackaged dry goods – everything from Ecover cleaning products and cereal to nuts, dried fruit and rice – which people could only buy if they brought their own containers. “It was popular with a small amount of people right from the start: early adopters who, like me, wanted a solution. People who knew packaging was a problem, and didn’t want it in their homes.”
Continue reading...Ex-BP boss John Browne: ‘It’s going to take a long time to take oil and coal out of the energy system’
The energy executive talks about squaring his business dealings with his personal convictions – and what he would say to Greta Thunberg
Before standing down in 2007, John Browne was CEO of BP for 12 years. In 2015, he returned to the global oil business as executive chairman of L1 Energy. Since leaving BP, he has written five books; in the latest, he argues that engineers will save humanity from the threats such as disease, artificial intelligence and global warming.
You say that civilisation is founded on engineering innovation and technology. Do you equate human progress with machines?
Absolutely not. It is the combination of the machines, the engineering and humans that makes progress. Without engineering, there will not be progress, but machines without humans will go nowhere.