The Guardian
Country diary: an electrifying sight beneath the pylons
Haldon Forest, Devon: Britain’s hawfinch population has been boosted by hundreds of unexpected but welcome visitors from the continent
Towering electricity pylons bisect the western edge of Haldon Forest, their splayed metal arms echoing the shapes of surrounding conifer trees, as if they have broken ranks from the plantation pines. It is bitterly cold but I take a seat at the foot of a pylon. I have come in search of one of Britain’s most elusive birds and the surrounding woodland, I have been assured, is the place to spot it.
Hail soon begins peppering the ground around me and causing the power cables above to fizz alarmingly. I consider retreating to my car, but a sudden sharp pit! jolts my senses like a static charge. The storm passes and I hear the sound again, tracing its source to a bird perched deep within a stand of hornbeam trees. I can just make out a heavy head fronted by a powerful nutcracker of a beak. It is enough to identify it: a hawfinch. My luck is in.
Continue reading...Divers discover world's longest flooded cave – video
A group of divers has connected two underwater caverns in eastern Mexico to reveal what is believed to be the world's largest flooded cave, a discovery that could shed light on the ancient Maya civilisation. The Yucatán peninsula is studded with monumental relics of the Maya people, whose cities drew on an extensive network of sinkholes known as cenotes. Some cenotes had religious significance to the Maya, whose descendants remain in the region
• World's longest underwater cave system discovered in Mexico by divers
Continue reading...25 staff laid off at agency key to May's plastic reduction pledge
Wrap, the agency responsible for tackling waste, blames government cuts for the redundancies, that come just a week after the prime minister’s pledge
Just one week after Theresa May and Michael Gove promised to eradicate the scourge of plastic waste, government budget cuts have forced a key agency charged with tackling the problem to make more than a tenth of its staff redundant, a move campaigners said could sabotage progress.
About 25 people are losing their jobs at the Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap), the body’s chief executive confirmed on Wednesday.
NSW cotton growers facing complete crop loss after alleged pesticide drift
5,000 hectares of cotton thought to be affected by off-target spray drift, says Bernie Bierhoff of Walgett Cotton Growers’ Association
On Christmas Day farmers around Walgett in north-west New South Wales noticed their infant cotton plants had begun to wither. Leaves began to curl and die, killing some plants and stressing others.
Within days, it was clear Walgett was facing a serious incident that had affected nearly 6,000 hectares (60 sq km) of cotton farms reaching as far as Burren Junction, and Rowena.
Continue reading...Is it possible to live without plastic? Readers' tips for for tip-free living
We asked you to recommend the best ways to reduce your plastic consumption and avoid excess waste. Here’s what some of you said
For 70 years, the world’s plastic usage has grown inexorably from humble beginnings to a position where humanity now produce roughly its own weight in plastic every year.
But is there a turning point in view? Guardian revelations about the scale of plastic waste and the threat it poses has finally prompted the authorities to take the issue seriously. Michael Gove is considering a deposit return scheme for plastic bottles, Sadiq Khan is looking at new water fountains to contain the plastic proliferation, and now Theresa May has set out her own plastic-free stall.
Continue reading...Nearly 1m tonnes every year: supermarkets shamed for plastic packaging
Exclusive: Guardian investigation unwraps truth about supermarket plastics after big brands refuse to divulge packaging secrets
Britain’s leading supermarkets create more than 800,000 tonnes of plastic packaging waste every year, according to an investigation by the Guardian which reveals how top chains keep details of their plastic footprint secret.
As concern over the scale of unnecessary plastic waste grows, the Guardian asked Britain’s eight leading supermarkets to explain how much plastic packaging they sell to consumers and whether they would commit to a plastic-free aisle in their stores.
Plan to remove hen harrier chicks and raise them in captivity dismissed as 'nonsense'
Conservationists say government scheme, aimed at placating grouse moor land owners who object to the birds breeding on their land, will not boost numbers of the endangered birds
Controversial government plans to remove chicks from the nests of one of England’s rarest birds and rear them in captivity have been criticised as “nonsense” by conservationists.
Hen harrier chicks or eggs will be removed from nests in northern England and hand-reared in captivity before being reintroduced into the wild, under the terms of a two-year licence issued by Natural England, the government’s conservation watchdog.
Continue reading...Scott Pruitt insincerely asked what's Earth's ideal temperature. Scientists answer | Dana Nuccitelli
In short, from a practical standpoint, as little additional warming as possible
In an interview with Reuters last week, Trump’s EPA administrator Scott Pruitt said,
The climate is changing. That’s not the debate. The debate is how do we know what the ideal surface temperature is in 2100?
Continue reading...Heathrow to unveil shorter third runway plan in bid to cut costs
Proposal sees 300 metres cut from runway in effort to help reduce costs to £15bn, but opponents say move changes forecasted economic benefits
Heathrow is to unveil proposals for a shorter, cheaper third runway in a public consultation to help push its expansion plans through.
The airport will propose cutting 300 metres from the length of the northwestern runway, a scheme approved by the government following the Airports Commission process, in an attempt to cut costs.
Continue reading...UK to miss legal climate targets without urgent action, official advisers warn
Vague ambitions, such as banning new petrol cars by 2040, must be turned into solid plans, says the Committee on Climate Change
The UK will miss its legally binding carbon targets without urgent government action, official advisers have warned.
The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) said vague ambitions, such as banning new petrol and diesel cars by 2040, must be turned into solid plans and new policies, such as planting more trees, are needed.
Continue reading...Country diary: ancient enclave where walkers usually roam
Cadson Bury, Lynher Valley: Early farmers and their animals were protected from marauders and wild creatures lurking in the dense woodland below
Just below the summit a shaggy-coated cow with long, curving horns gazes into the greyness of this dull afternoon. The sound of rushing water carries up from the river, now swollen with run-off from Redmoor and Tresellern Marshes, the Withey Brook and other boggy headstreams on the eastern side of Bodmin Moor, as well as little tributaries from intermediate waterlogged land.
Up here, on this precipitous hill, topped with defensive earthworks of ditch and rampart, a dozen or so highland cattle of varying age (owned by the Crago family of the nearby Cadson Farm) mooch about, graze and thrive on heather and the coarser vegetation that would otherwise smother this iron age hill-fort and the adjoining hillside. Yellow gorse flowers and the silver bark of birch gleam in the murk and, below, in the Lynher Valley and on the Newton Ferrers estate, the leafless tree canopy (dominated by lichen-encrusted alder and oak) is tinged pale green and purple. Inside the eastern entrance, the encampment of some six acres is a spongy oval space of trampled bracken and mossy turf. This enclave was once a secure area for early farmers, where they and their animals were relatively protected from marauders and wild creatures lurking in the dense woodland below.
Continue reading...Wagamama to mark Earth Day by ditching plastic straws
Asian food chain says it will hand out biodegradable paper alternative on request from 22 April
Wagamama has become the latest restaurant chain to commit to end the use of plastic straws.
From Earth Day on 22 April, the Asian food chain will switch to a biodegradable paper alternative, which will be available on request.
Continue reading...Natural gas has role in UK energy mix | Letters
Your editorial (Fracking’s day may have passed, 10 January) was keen to downplay the role of onshore gas in the UK’s future energy mix, and was deeply concerning. Natural gas has a role to play for many decades, and this is backed up by the National Grid, the government and other forecasters. 40% of UK primary energy was derived from natural gas in 2016, a 50% increase from 1990. In the UK, a projected annual gas demand of 68bcm in 2030, which is 90% of 2015 economy-wide consumption, is in keeping with the Committee on Climate Change’s fifth carbon budget. Natural gas is the largest energy source for UK homes and businesses, providing us with heat, power and vital feedstocks needed for our industries.
The site at Balcombe is not a site that will use hydraulic fracturing as there is not a need to – that was made clear by the company. You also refer to Ineos wanting to access gas in sensitive areas – this is despite the company confirming they have no plans to access site of special scientific interest (SSSI) areas for the purposes of the survey being carried out in the East Midlands, and this being confirmed by the governing authority, the local council.
Continue reading...Ban heavy fuel use in sensitive waters | Letters
The stricken tanker now sunk offshore of Shanghai should give pause to all with concern for the ocean, especially those who depend on sensitive, remote waters such as the Arctic. The tanker’s cargo of light fuel burned for a week, but response crews have voiced concerns about the heavy fuel oil or bunker fuel that powered the tanker. Heavy fuel is the dirtiest oil and highly persistent if spilled. A large heavy fuel spill into the waters of China’s largest fishery would compound the tragedy of the tanker’s missing crew. High seas, poisonous fumes, explosions, and winds have hampered rescue and response efforts this week. China’s calamity highlights efforts to prevent heavy fuel oil spills in other sensitive, but more challenging waters. International consideration is being given to phase out the use of heavy fuel oil in the Arctic where communities depend on marine life and spill response is negligible. If spilled, heavy fuel oil would remain for long periods and could spread widely if entrained in moving ice. This dangerous fuel is already banned under international rules for Antarctic waters. The Arctic deserves the same international precautions.
Sue Libenson
Senior Arctic program officer, Pacific Environment, Haines, Alaska
• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com
Continue reading...European parliament votes to end electric pulse fishing
Campaigners hail movement towards prohibiting the controversial practice but warn other measures will leave European waters in a worse state
The European Union’s parliament has voted to prohibit the controversial practice of electrical pulse fishing within EU waters, to the approval of some groups of small-scale fishermen and green campaigners.
However, a series of other measures designed to prevent overfishing and preserve the marine environment were voted down. Campaigners say the rejection will have a damaging effect on Europe’s fisheries for many years.
Continue reading...BP's Deepwater Horizon bill tops $65bn
Firm’s financial pain offset by rising oil prices as it winds down payouts from 2010 disaster
BP is nearing the end of the $65bn (£47bn) Deepwater Horizon compensation process, it said as it announced an unexpectedly high payout of $1.7bn among the final few hundred outstanding claims.
The British oil firm said on Tuesday it would pay the $1.7bn charge in the last quarter of 2017 for court-ordered payments resulting from the worst oil spill in US history. It means BP will have paed out $3bn in compensation for 2017, compared with the $2bn anticipated.
Continue reading...EU declares war on plastic waste
Brussels targets single-use plastics in an urgent clean-up plan that aims to make all packaging reusable or recyclable by 2030
The EU is waging war against plastic waste as part of an urgent plan to clean up Europe’s act and ensure that every piece of packaging on the continent is reusable or recyclable by 2030.
Following China’s decision to ban imports of foreign recyclable material, Brussels on Tuesday launched a plastics strategy designed to change minds in Europe, potentially tax damaging behaviour, and modernise plastics production and collection by investing €350m (£310m) in research.
Continue reading...Could biodiversity destruction lead to a global tipping point?
We are destroying the world’s biodiversity. Yet debate has erupted over just what this means for the planet – and us.
Just over 250 million years ago, the planet suffered what may be described as its greatest holocaust: ninety-six percent of marine genera (plural of genus) and seventy percent of land vertebrate vanished for good. Even insects suffered a mass extinction – the only time before or since. Entire classes of animals – like trilobites – went out like a match in the wind.
But what’s arguably most fascinating about this event – known as the Permian-Triassic extinction or more poetically, the Great Dying – is the fact that anything survived at all. Life, it seems, is so ridiculously adaptable that not only did thousands of species make it through whatever killed off nearly everything (no one knows for certain though theories abound) but, somehow, after millions of years life even recovered and went on to write new tales.
'The feeling of freedom': empowering Berlin's refugee women through cycling
When NGO Bikeygees set out to teach female refugees how to ride a bike they were shocked by the demand. Now hundreds have benefitted from the scheme
Emily is a 21-year-old Afghan refugee living in Berlin, and her best experience in Germany so far has been, without a doubt, learning to ride a bike.
Continue reading...Country diary: the deadly beauty of spider silk
Wolsingham, Weardale: In the fog every surviving thread was spangled with water droplets, sparkling as the sun broke through
Swirling fog plays tricks. As we crossed an open field the silhouette of an oak loomed, with a glimmer of pale yellow light cradled in its branches, before it dissolved back into the clammy miasma.
We had descended from the high fells, from clear blue sky and crystal-clear views into a monochrome lake of valley fog, cold grey vapour trapped by warmer air above. It thickened as we followed the footpath along the riverbank.
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