The Guardian
Where have all the butterflies gone? | Brief letters
I don’t know whether to be happy or sad. No cabbage white butterfly caterpillars chomping through my veg is great, but where have all the butterflies gone (Letters, passim)? Not only have I not seen a single cabbage white butterfly this year but no red admirals, no peacocks and no tortoiseshells. Very worrying.
Peter Hanson
Exeter
• As she dissected the subtle and not so subtle outrages of patriarchy experienced from Virginia Woolf to “labouring women in Mexico”, I wonder what discretion or inhibition Charlotte Higgins (Patriarchy: the return of a radical idea, 22 June) exercised not to mention the pronounced patriarchy in the Catholic church (the Holy Father for goodness sake), the male-delineated roles in ultra-orthodox Judaism, and in the various iterations (institutional or cultural) of Islam, all elided (that is to say obscured) in the one word reference to “religion”.
Philip Stogdon
London
Red deer on the Isle of Rum – in pictures
A team of six scientists has descended on Rum, a small island in the Inner Hebrides on the west coast of Scotland, to catch red deer calves. During the month-long initiative, overseen by the Isle of Rum Red Deer Project, newborns will be tagged so data can be gathered on them over the course of their lifetimes. The island is home to hundreds of deer and about only 30 people, all of whom live in Kinloch village on the east coast
Continue reading...Flying cameras to spot lethal disease sweeping through world's olive groves
Fast-spreading Xylella fastidiosa is devastating species from citrus to oak trees, but can now be detected from the air
A devastating and fast-spreading infection killing olive trees and grapevines around the world can now be detected from the air, long before symptoms are visible to the human eye.
The new technique offers hope in the battle against one of the world’s most dangerous plant pathogens, which can infect 350 different species, including citrus and almond trees, as well as oaks, elms and sycamores. Special “hyperspectral” cameras provide an early warning system by detecting subtle changes in leaf colour.
Continue reading...Johnson criticised over decision to miss crunch Heathrow vote
Fellow Tory MPs say foreign secretary should resign over opposition to third runway
Boris Johnson is facing growing criticism from fellow Conservative MPs over his decision to miss Monday night’s crunch vote on Heathrow despite his claim that resigning over his opposition to a third runway would achieve “absolutely nothing”.
The foreign secretary, who is on a visit to Afghanistan, said he would continue to oppose the £14bn third runway with his ministerial colleagues behind closed doors.
Continue reading...Heathrow airport: how MPs are likely to vote on the third runway
The positions of parties and key players before the Commons vote on expansion
On Monday evening MPs will vote on whether or not Heathrow airport should have a third runway. It is a deeply factious issue and, not unexpectedly, the divisions are complex.
Continue reading...30 years later, deniers are still lying about Hansen’s amazing global warming prediction | Dana Nuccitelli
Koch paychecks seem to be strong motivators to lie
30 years ago, James Hansen testified to Congress about the dangers of human-caused climate change. In his testimony, Hansen showed the results of his 1988 study using a climate model to project future global warming under three possible scenarios, ranging from ‘business as usual’ heavy pollution in his Scenario A to ‘draconian emissions cuts’ in Scenario C, with a moderate Scenario B in between.
Changes in the human effects that influence Earth’s global energy imbalance (a.k.a. ‘anthropogenic radiative forcings’) have in reality been closest to Hansen’s Scenario B, but about 20–30% weaker thanks to the success of the Montreal Protocol in phasing out chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). Hansen’s climate model projected that under Scenario B, global surface air temperatures would warm about 0.84°C between 1988 and 2017. But with a global energy imbalance 20–30% lower, it would have predicted a global surface warming closer to 0.6–0.7°C by this year.
Continue reading...Government cautiously optimistic on Heathrow vote, says Grayling
Transport secretary claims strong support across political spectrum for third runway
The government is “cautiously optimistic” about winning a key parliamentary vote on the expansion of Heathrow airport, the transport secretary, Chris Grayling, has said, defending the controversial idea as being good for the whole of the UK.
The Conservatives, who have a three-line whip in place for their MPs, are likely to get significant Labour support in the vote on Monday after Unite called for Labour MPs to back the third runway.
Continue reading...Record emissions keep Australia on path to missing Paris target
Annual carbon emissions, excluding unreliable data, higher than ever, report says
Australia’s emissions over the past year were again the highest on record when unreliable data from land use and forestry sectors are excluded, according to new data from NDEVR Environmental.
If the country’s greenhouse gas emissions continue on their current trajectory, Australia will miss its Paris target by a billion tonnes of CO2, which is equal to about two years of Australia’s entire national emissions.
Baffled by the flight of the dragonfly - Country diary archive, 25 June 1918
25 June 1918 Without apparent effort they dash with incredible speed to one side or the other, or even backwards or forwards
Slim-bodied, brilliantly blue dragonflies dart above the waterside vegetation, then suddenly stop themselves and cling to an upright stem, wings extended wide, long legs clasping with angled “elbows.” They do not dash themselves against the plant they aim for. Poised in the air as if suspended are the buzzing hover-flies, their wings moving so rapidly that we only see a blur. Without apparent effort they dash with incredible speed to one side or the other, or even backwards or forwards; we see a line flash across our field of vision, and there the insect is, hovering again five yards away, or maybe back in the same spot from which it suddenly vanished.
Related: Photographing dragonflies is easier than you think | Mike Averill
Continue reading...Toronto pay-what-you-can store aims to tackle landfills and hunger
Initiative aims to reduce dumping of ‘waste’ and sell it at prices set by buyers
In a bright, airy Toronto market, the shelves are laden with everything from organic produce to pre-made meals and pet food. What shoppers won’t find, however, is price tags. In what is believed to be a North American first, everything in this grocery store is pay-what-you-can.
The new store aims to tackle food insecurity and wastage by pitting the two issues against each other, said Jagger Gordon, the Toronto chef who launched the venture earlier this month.
Continue reading...Len McCluskey at odds with Corbyn over Heathrow expansion
Union boss and Corbyn ally urges all Labour MPs to back expansion ahead of third runway vote
Len McCluskey has written to all Labour MPs urging them to back Heathrow expansion on Monday, a move that puts the head of the Unite union directly at odds with Jeremy Corbyn.
He said they had “the opportunity to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs” by backing the government’s decision to build a third runway.
Continue reading...New NT gasfields would put Paris commitment in doubt
‘There’s no room for any new long-term fossil fuel developments,’ climate scientists say
A gas boom in the Northern Territory would contribute as much as 6.6% to Australia’s annual emissions, according to data in a report from an inquiry examining the risks associated with fracking.
The final report by the inquiry’s committee assessed the emissions from exploration, producing gas from the planned new gasfields and from burning that proportion of the gas destined for the domestic market.
Continue reading...Frogs and dragon flies in a deadly duel | Letters
Your report (21 June) urging gardeners to be frog friendly is, of course, to be welcomed. However, cherishing amphibians raises a dilemma because one of the major threats to frog populations is predation by dragon fly larvae, rapacious creatures up to two inches long and said to be capable of eating anything not bigger than themselves. This year not a single froglet will emerge from my pond, despite the protection given to the frog spawn during the late snow and frost. The entire population of tadpoles has been eaten by dragon fly larvae. The fact that the adult dragon fly is a magnificent creature in its own right, and, like adult frogs and toads, eats creatures we might regard as garden pests, leaves me in a quandary: is it OK to kill dragon flies to protect frogs, or should I leave it to nature to sort itself out?
Peter Malpass
Bristol
• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com
Continue reading...Genetically modified animals
Last week, scientists from the University of Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute announced they had deleted the section of DNA that leaves pigs vulnerable to porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, which is estimated to cost European farmers £1.5bn a year in loss of livestock and decreased productivity. Genetically modified animals are banned from the EU food chain, but since this is a new and different technique it’s possible they’ll be appearing in bacon sandwiches in a few years.
Continue reading...Up to 100 Labour MPs to back government on Heathrow third runway
Labour MPs who disagree with Jeremy Corbyn’s opposition to the expansion of Heathrow airport have been working closely with government ministers and Tory whips to ensure the plans win parliamentary approval on Monday, in an extraordinary show of defiance against their party leader.
The extent of behind-the-scenes cooperation with the government on such an important policy issue is believed to be unprecedented and all but guarantees that the third runway plan will be passed, despite Corbyn, his shadow chancellor John McDonnell and the Labour front bench opposing the move.
Continue reading...Coral reefs ‘will be overwhelmed by rising oceans’
Scientists have uncovered a new threat to the world’s endangered coral reefs. They have found that most are incapable of growing quickly enough to compensate for rising sea levels triggered by global warming.
The study suggests that reefs – which are already suffering serious degradation because the world’s seas are warming and becoming more acidic – could also become overwhelmed by rising oceans.
Continue reading...Green energy feels the heat as subsidies go to fossil fuels
The number of people generating their own power has almost flatlined, with only one new group formed in the UK last year, according to the body representing grassroots energy organisations.
Cuts to subsidies for homeowners to install solar panels and a “hostile planning approach” that has in effect banned new wind turbines are behind the “wholesale decline”, Community Energy England (CEE) said in its 2018 State of the Sector report.
Continue reading...Living next door to 17 million chickens: 'We want a normal life'
Ukrainian villagers living in the shadow of Europe’s biggest chicken farm are fighting back – not just against the company but the development banks funding it
The locals call this area the Ryaba-land. That’s the name of the chicken brand Nasha Ryaba under which MHP – the largest poultry company in Ukraine and the owners of Vinnytsia farm - sells poultry meat in supermarkets. There are more chicken sheds than houses here. Even the village signs bear the MHP brand.
There are, as is so often the case, tensions between the industrial farms and the villagers. But in this case, anger is focussed not just on the company, but on their funders – the big international development banks that hand out public money.
Continue reading...Country diary: they look like a crowd of skinheads frowning in long grass
Kirkham Abbey, North Yorkshire: If the residents of these anthills object to me perching on their home like some mammal Godzilla, they don’t show it
I wonder if they’re aware of the colossal creature approaching. Do they sense its lumbering footfalls? Do the walls tremble, or the avenues and galleries of their metropolis deform perceptibly under its weight? Can they sense its extravagant metabolic heat?
The mounds that pimple this sloping pasture are silent. The sheep were taken off a week or two back, but there’s been virtually no rain, so the turf tops remain cropped and dry – they look like a crowd of skinheads frowning into the longer grass around, some with tiaras of speedwell. Each tump is tall enough to escape winter waterlogging and, coincidentally, the perfect height for sitting on. If the residents object to me perching on their home like some mammal Godzilla, they don’t show it.
Continue reading...You don't use so much plastic, do you? How to ditch plastics for July – and beyond
Cutting single-use plastics can be surprisingly challenging but there are easy alternatives
My first Plastic Free July was in 2013. At the time most of my friends were signing up for Dry July, the month where participants go alcohol free and raise funds for cancer support organisations across Australia.
Instead, I decided to participate in what was then a relatively unknown challenge to reduce my single-use plastics over a month after watching the eco-documentary The Clean Bin Project.
Continue reading...