The Guardian
Garden feeders are supporting rising numbers of urban birds
More than half of British homeowners feed birds, maintaining 133 species
The increasingly appetising buffet provided for garden birds, from sunflower hearts to suet cakes, is supporting a rising number and greater diversity of species in Britain’s urban areas, according to research.
In the 1970s, half of all birds using garden feeders belonged to just two species, the sparrow and starling, but by the 2010s the number of species making up the same proportion had tripled, with goldfinches, woodpigeons and long-tailed tits soaring in number because of the food on offer.
Continue reading...'Panic is setting in': Jayda G brings climate crisis home to fans
DJ and producer wants to banish ‘disconnect’ between climate issues and daily life
One of dance music’s rising stars is swapping the decks for a microphone to deliver a series of talks about the importance of environmental sciences to help tackle the climate crisis.
Jayda G – real name Jayda Guy – is a Canadian DJ and music producer whose livestreamed mixes on YouTube clock up thousands of views, and now she is fusing two worlds by using her platform to expose fans to issues affecting the natural world.
Continue reading...Revealed: 1.6m Americans live near the most polluting incinerators in the US
Lower-income and minority communities are exposed to majority of the pollution coming from waste-burning plants, report finds
A total of 1.6 million Americans live next to the most polluting incinerators in the country, with lower-income and minority communities exposed to the vast majority of pollution coming from these waste-burning plants.
The burning of household and commercial waste can give off a stew of pollutants, including mercury, lead and small particles of soot. This pollution isn’t evenly distributed, however. Of the 73 incinerators across the US, 79% are located within three miles of low-income and minority neighbourhoods, according to research by the Tishman Environment and Design Center at New York City’s New School.
Continue reading...Environmental heroes: the 2019 Whitley Award winners
On May 1, Princess Anne, patron of the Whitley Fund for Nature, presented the fund’s awards recognising community-based conservation projects. See more at whitleyaward.org
Continue reading...Rewild a quarter of UK to fight climate crisis, campaigners urge
Subsidies to restore woodlands and meadows would also boost wildlife, says Rewilding Britain
A quarter of the UK’s land could be restored to nature, making a significant contribution towards cutting the nation’s carbon emissions to zero, under a new rewilding proposal.
The plan, published by Rewilding Britain, calls for billions of pounds in farm subsidies to be redirected towards creating native woodlands and meadows and protecting peat bogs and salt marshes. The group says wildlife would benefit, farmers would not lose money and food production need not fall.
Continue reading...Determination and passion: how these renewable energy resources can save our planet | Damon Gameau
There are already environmental solutions that reduce emissions and regenerate ecosystems – we just have to act on them
When my daughter was two years old, I found myself struggling to finish any article relating to the dire state of our environment. I would get halfway through the piece, then disengage and move on to something else. I assumed I wasn’t the only parent to feel this way.
Curious to understand why I seemed incapable of persisting, I reached out to the environmental psychologist Renee Lertzman. She explained that when we receive information charged with fear, dread or anxiety, the limbic system in our brain can be activated, which can override the prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain associated with creative thinking and problem solving. These days our news feeds are filled with images and stories of a bleak future. This is what we bombard our consciousness with, the images we expose our children to and they may also be why many of us feel paralysed when it comes to taking action on solutions to save our planet.
Continue reading...Value farmers if you want to save bees | Letters
Saving bees and other insects is indeed a vital goal for the world (Journal, 18 May). Farming practices do need to change and there are many innovative farmers in the UK who are working hard to improve biodiversity as they provide food for the nation.
We need to ensure that new policies encourage good practice and support farmers. Regenerative farming using diverse crop rotations, no-till planting, use of indigenous seeds and management of livestock grazing to reproduce natural landscape management can reduce or eliminate the need for pesticides and artificial fertilisers while restoring healthy soil. But the transition can take years before the farmers reap the benefits.
Continue reading...Art installation lights up Sydney's zoo – in pictures
As part of this year’s Vivid Sydney festival, Taronga Zoo will feature an array of dazzling animal projections, illuminated trails and giant multimedia light sculptures telling a story about wildlife conservation
Vivid Sydney at Taronga Zoo runs from 24 May-15 June
Continue reading...Tell us if you are taking part in Friday's school climate strikes
Young activists around the world are planning to strike for climate action on 24 May
Young people calling for immediate action on the climate emergency are planning to join mass school strikes inspired by Greta Thunberg on Friday.
More than 1.4 million young people around the world took part in school strikes for climate action in March, according to environmental campaigners.
Continue reading...It’s not just about the bees – earthworms need love, too
They may not be cute, but the work they do for our soil keeps humans in business. But their numbers are in steep decline
If earthworms had feathers, wings or fur, or eyes that looked mournful – or eyes at all – perhaps they would fare better in the public’s affections. This is a clutch of species facing as much pressure as any other from the ecological abuse of their habitats as any other – yet unlike, say, bees (which have their own UN day of celebration today), the decline of worms rarely makes the news. This is a shame. We need to talk more about worms. The health of our earth may depend on it.
Earthworms are not doing very well at the moment. This year, a scientific study found that 42% of fields surveyed by farmers were seriously deficient in earthworms; in some fields they were missing altogether. Particularly hard-hit were deep-burrowing worms, which are valuable in helping soil collect and store rainwater, but were absent from 16% of fields in the study.
Continue reading...Extinction Rebellion stage anti-weedkiller protest outside Hackney town hall – in pictures
The Hackney families branch of Extinction Rebellion wants the east London council to stop using glyphosate weedkiller in parks, playgrounds and roadsides, saying it is deeply concerned about the effect on wildlife, especially pollinators such as bees. The protesters spoke to the councillor Jon Burke outside the town hall last Friday
Continue reading...Own a Gerrard Gethings Bee photograph
To coincide with World Bee Day, we are giving readers the opportunity to purchase an exclusive edition of Gethings’s bee photographs
• Own one of the edition by Gerrard Gethings
Continue reading...Farhana Yamin: ‘It took 20 minutes to unglue me from Shell’s office. It was a bit painful’
The climate crisis lawyer talks about the Extinction Rebellion protests and why the government must take action on the environment
Farhana Yamin is an environmental lawyer who, over the past three decades, has worked on a number of international treaties, including the Paris climate agreement. She has represented small island nations threatened by the effects of global heating and recently took part in the Extinction Rebellion protests.
How did you become politically interested in the environment?
When I was about 20, 22 and qualifying as a lawyer. It was just before the Earth summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. I was already working for the small island states in the climate negotiations. And the climate change convention was adopted and the biodiversity convention was adopted. So all of these agreements were supposed to have sorted out the problem. It was a time when I was very optimistic about what law could do.
Extinction Rebellion urges ad industry to use its power for good
Letter to senior figures urges them to use their power to influence public opinion on climate change
Environmental activists Extinction Rebellion have turned their fire on the advertising industry in a public letter, encouraging it to use its expertise in manipulating public opinion for good or risk mass public protests against it.
Speaking to the Guardian, one of the authors of the letter, which was written by Extinction Rebellion members with decades of experience of the advertising industry, said the group was not “singling out advertising, as we previously disrupted fashion week and are systematically challenging all industries who have the platform, influence and skills to tackle this epoch-defining crisis but are failing to do so in any meaningful way”.
Continue reading...130,000 trees to be planted in English cities and towns
More than 130,000 trees are to be planted in English towns and cities over the next two years as part of the nation’s battle against global heating.
The environment secretary, Michael Gove, will announce on Sunday that grants for the plantings will be made available through the Urban Tree Challenge Fund.
Continue reading...The heat is on over the climate crisis. Only radical measures will work
Experts agree that global heating of 4C by 2100 is a real possibility. The effects of such a rise will be extreme and require a drastic shift in the way we live
Drowned cities; stagnant seas; intolerable heatwaves; entire nations uninhabitable… and more than 11 billion humans. A four-degree-warmer world is the stuff of nightmares and yet that’s where we’re heading in just decades.
While governments mull various carbon targets aimed at keeping human-induced global heating within safe levels – including new ambitions to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 – it’s worth looking ahead pragmatically at what happens if we fail. After all, many scientists think it’s highly unlikely that we will stay below 2C (above pre-industrial levels) by the end of the century, let alone 1.5C. Most countries are not making anywhere near enough progress to meet these internationally agreed targets.
Continue reading...Slippery challenge: can the European eel be saved from oblivion?
Project hopes to identify best habitats for extraordinary creature more endangered than giant panda – and shed light on mysterious breeding location
“That one is definitely over five years old, it could be eight to 10 years old,” shouts Dr Peter Walker, as a writhing 50cm long eel is scooped out of the River Tone near Taunton in Somerset. “This year or next I would expect this one to be on its merry way.”
The European eel makes an extraordinary 6,000km (3,728-mile) journey to the Sargasso Sea in the north Atlantic to spawn, from where its larvae travel all the way back. Now scientists hope a new project may shed light on this still mysterious part of eels’ lifecycle, which could provide crucial help in protecting the species.
Continue reading...We all smell the smoke, we all feel the heat. This environmental catastrophe is global | Alexis Wright
Governments of the world need to act. It’s time to speak to our planet with kindness before it’s too late
All the raspy-voice myna birds have come here, to this old swamp, where the ghost swans now dance the yellow dust song cycles of drought. Around and around the dry swamp they go with their webbed feet stomping up the earth in a cloud of dust, and all the bits and pieces of the past unravelled from parched soil. The Swan Book, by Alexis Wright.
A dense haze of smoke crawled over Melbourne and embraced us for a day in its lonely pilgrimage, inviting us to contemplate its mourning rite, its long prayer.
Continue reading...'Shame on you': Boots berated for wrapping prescriptions in plastic bags
Campaigners say pharmacy chain should uphold promise to reduce plastic packaging
The pharmacy chain Boots has come under fire for using plastic bags, rather than paper ones, to package some of its prescriptions.
Environmental campaigners and customers criticised the firm, which signed up to a high-profile scheme to cut plastic packaging last year.
Continue reading...The week in wildlife – in pictures
A bobcat, a Burmese python and a baby elephant
Continue reading...