The Guardian
Bittern numbers in UK at record high, says RSPB
Booming of male bitterns reveals presence of at least 164 of the heron-like waders living in British wetlands, says charity
Populations of the bittern, a wetland bird that was facing extinction in the UK in the late 1990s, are at a record high, conservationists report.
Resident numbers of “Britain’s loudest bird” increased in 2017, and experts – using the foghorn-like booming call of the males to survey the species – have counted at least 164 birds at 71 sites.
Continue reading...Narcissi bobbing in the slipstream of traffic | Brief letters
I’ve not seen any wasps either, now that you mention it (Letters, 4 November). What I have seen are the first daffodils of the spring – in November, when autumn hasn’t properly happened yet. Oaks and ashes are still holding their green leaves. I expect winter-flowering cherry, winter camellias, winter iris and daffs “January” and “February Gold” to make early appearances (and to be reported on the letters page as prodigious), but along the grass verges of the North Circular Road, seeded with spring bulbs, dainty, yellow and orange narcissi bobbed in the slipstream of the traffic on 3 November. Is there now a worrying decline in seasons?
Ilona Jesnick
London
• The real tragedy of the closure of the post office in Seer Green, Buckinghamshire (Letters, 4 November) is that there will no longer be the facility in the village for its inhabitants to draw their pensions and benefits. Many who do not drive, such as my brother, rely on this service to collect the money that they live off. It is also a vital asset in providing other postal services, as well as newspapers, cards, stationary and confectionary.
Elizabeth Rawlins
Newcastle upon Tyne
Europe's carmakers face 30% emission cuts target
New proposals to limit CO2 from passenger cars and vans by 2030 would meet climate goals, but campaigners say regulations fall short
The European commission has unveiled new proposals for limits on carbon dioxide emissions from passenger cars and vans, which would compel manufacturers to cut emissions from their vehicles by nearly a third from 2030.
But the proposals will not require manufacturers to make a fixed quota of their fleet run on electricity, as some campaigners had hoped.
Continue reading...Politicians and activists gather for COP23 Bonn climate talks - in pictures
The world’s nations are meeting in Bonn, Germany, for the 23rd annual “conference of the parties” (COP) under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which aims to prevent dangerous global warming. This year, Fiji plays president and meeting the Paris climate goals are top of the agenda
Continue reading...Don't dump your potatoes – use these easy recipes for your freezer
We are binning nearly half of the fresh spuds we buy. But stashing some in the freezer can save time and make for extra-crunchy roasties
Proof, as if more proof were needed, that Britain is heading to hell in a handcart, comes with the news that we waste nearly half the potatoes we buy, throwing a shameful 2.7m potential roasties or jackets in the bin every day.
The blame could be laid at the door of supermarkets, who insist on selling spuds in vast, plastic-wrapped quantities; decant them into a cool, dark place unless using immediately. And don’t be put off if they start sprouting in the gloom; simply cut off any unnerving proboscises or green patches, before cooking.
Continue reading...Germany's dirty coalmines become the focus for a new wave of direct action
Not far from the UN climate talks taking place in Bonn, activists frustrated with slow progress by governments are turning up the heat at the Hambach opencast mine, highlighting Germany’s failure to live up to its green pledges
A giant black mark on Germany’s environmental record is scarred on the land an hour’s drive from the venue of this year’s UN climate talks in Bonn.
Stretching 85 kilometres wide and 400 metres deep, the opencast coalmine near Hambach forest is the biggest hole in Europe and one of the biggest single sources of carbon on the continent.
Continue reading...'As close as the US gets to Egypt’s pyramids': how Chaco Canyon is endangered by drilling
Irreplaceable cultural resources in New Mexico are among those areas targeted for expedited drilling – and conservationists say it’s ‘like losing pages and chapters of that history book’
In Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, it is still possible to wander the maze of rooms of an ancestral Puebloan village erected roughly 1,000 years ago.
Visitors use the same staircases and duck through the same T-shaped doorways as residents did at the time. A jigsaw puzzle of rocks form walls that stand several feet thick and multiple stories tall. Where rooftops are gone, windows now let in glimpses of sky. It’s a simultaneous experience of vast space and marvelous connection.
Continue reading...The seven megatrends that could beat global warming: 'There is reason for hope'
Until recently the battle to avert catastrophic climate change – floods, droughts, famine, mass migrations – seemed to be lost. But with the tipping point just years away, the tide is finally turning, thanks to innovations ranging from cheap renewables to lab-grown meat and electric airplanes
‘Everybody gets paralysed by bad news because they feel helpless,” says Christiana Figueres, the former UN climate chief who delivered the landmark Paris climate change agreement. “It is so in our personal lives, in our national lives and in our planetary life.”
But it is becoming increasingly clear that it does not need to be all bad news: a series of fast-moving global megatrends, spurred by trillion-dollar investments, indicates that humanity might be able to avert the worst impacts of global warming. From trends already at full steam, including renewable energy, to those just now hitting the big time, such as mass-market electric cars, to those just emerging, such as plant-based alternatives to meat, these trends show that greenhouse gas emissions can be halted.
Continue reading...Nearly half of all fresh potatoes thrown away daily by UK households
Figures show nearly 3 million potatoes a day are wasted, at a cost of £230m a year
Nearly half of the edible fresh potatoes bought by UK householders each day are thrown away - nearly 2.7 million of them per day, and at a “staggering” annual cost of £230m, figures show.
The humble spud is the second most wasted food in the UK, behind bread, according to new official figures released on Wednesday. The new research was offered in support of a government campaign to encourage consumers to reduce their domestic food waste.
Continue reading...Weatherwatch: climate change and overfishing bring explosion of jellyfish
Warmer and more acid seas cause huge blooms of jellyfish, but scientists are working on ways to convert them into something useful
The combination of climate change and overfishing is causing a population explosion in jellyfish. Since there are fewer fish to eat them, they appear off the British coast in vast swarms. This is a threat to nuclear power stations – because they can block the intake of cooling water – and to fish farms, where thousands get caught in the netting, sometimes killing hundreds of salmon by depriving them of oxygen.
Some species are poisonous, and so caution is required when jellyfish float next to you in the sea or are stranded on beaches. Their sting can be powerful.
Continue reading...BHP opposes Minerals Council of Australia's war on activist rights
Exclusive: Miner separates itself from call for environmental groups to be restricted to using 10% of funding for advocacy
BHP has said it will not support the Minerals Council’s bid to strip environmental groups of their ability to advocate for policy change.
The surprising move comes amid increasing pressure on Australia’s biggest miner to distance itself from the Minerals Council, which has taken a hardline position against any form of credible action on climate change. The government will soon table a bill aimed at limiting the ability of any charity to use donations raised from overseas on advocacy in Australia.
Continue reading...Farmers must stop antibiotics use in animals due to human health risk, warns WHO
Overuse of antibiotics in animals is contributing to growing drug resistance in humans with serious health implications, says global health body
Farmers must be prevented from using powerful antibiotics on animals reared for food, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned, because of the serious risks to human health that result.
New guidelines from the global body suggest farmers should stop using any antibiotics routinely to promote growth and prevent disease in animals that are otherwise healthy, a common practice in some parts of the world, including Asia and the US. Such routine use is banned in Europe, though campaigners fear the rules are sometimes flouted.
Continue reading...Delhi smog declared public health emergency – video
A public health emergency has been declared in Delhi as a choking blanket of smog descended on one of the world’s most polluted capital cities.
The declaration from the Indian Medical Association came as the US embassy website said levels of the fine pollutants known as PM2.5 that are most harmful to health reached 703 on the air quality index – well over double the threshold of 300 that authorities class as hazardous
Continue reading...Syria signs Paris climate agreement and leaves US isolated
Syria’s decision means America will be the only country outside the landmark deal if it follows through with Donald Trump’s vow to leave
Syria has decided to sign the Paris agreement on climate change, the world’s final functioning state to do so. The surprise decision, taken amid a brutal civil war in the country, will leave the US as the only country outside the agreement if it follows through on President Donald Trump’s vow to leave.
The landmark 2015 agreement requires global governments to limit temperature rises to no more than 2C, which scientists say is the threshold of safety, beyond which the ravages of global warming are likely to become catastrophic and irreversible.
Continue reading...What are your experiences of Delhi's pollution crisis?
Heavy smog has led doctors to declare a state of emergency in one of India’s largest cities
A public health emergency has been declared in Delhi as a choking blanket of smog descended on the world’s most polluted capital city.
“We have declared a state of public health emergency in Delhi since pollution is at an alarming level,” Krishan Kumar Aggarwal, head of the Indian Medical Association, told AFP.
Continue reading...UK government sued for third time over deadly air pollution
Ministers accused of ‘stubborn failure’ to tackle widespread and illegal levels of air pollution, which cause 40,000 early deaths every year
The UK government is being sued for a third time over the widespread illegal levels of air pollution, which cause 40,000 early deaths every year.
Environmental lawyers ClientEarth have already defeated ministers twice in court, forcing a new pollution plan to be drawn up in July. But ClientEarth believes even the latest strategy does not meet the legal requirement of banishing toxic air in the “shortest possible time”, as EU law requires.
Continue reading...Banning bikes from Oxford Street is a disaster for London cycling
Plans to pedestrianise one of the capital’s busiest cycling roads send the troubling message that cyclists and pedestrians can’t co-exist in an 80ft-wide street
Sadiq Khan’s proposal to ban cyclists from Oxford Street, published on Monday, is an unqualified disaster for cycling in London, perhaps the single biggest blow it has suffered in years. And he’s sending an even more dangerous signal to the rest of the country.
More than 2,000 cyclists a day, according to Department for Transport figures, use the first section proposed for pedestrianisation next year, between Selfridges and Oxford Circus. More than 5,000 a day use the section between Oxford Circus and Tottenham Court Road, which is proposed to be pedestrianised in 2019.
The British Wildlife Photography awards 2017 - in pictures
Daniel Trim’s airport-roosting pied wagtail has won the 2017 competition, which celebrates the work of amateur and professional photographers and the beauty and diversity of British wildlife. Winning images are chosen from thousands of entries, including film and junior categories.
More than 100 images are on show at the Mall Galleries in London, before touring nationally, and a book of the images is also available
Continue reading...Church of England should lead on climate change by divesting from ExxonMobil | Letter
As Church of England clergy, we have a strong interest in the ethics of investments made by the Church Commissioners and the Church of England Pensions Board on our behalf.
This week, governments from around the world will meet in Bonn for the next round of UN climate talks. The Paris climate change agreement, which was signed by 195 countries in December 2015, included a commitment to hold the increase in the global average temperature to “well below 2C … and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels”.
Continue reading...Bishops urge Church of England to divest from ExxonMobil over climate change
Group says church should show ‘moral leadership’ in light of claims that the oil giant misled the public over the risks of global warming
The Church of England should “show moral leadership” and immediately sell its investments in the oil giant ExxonMobil, according to a group of bishops and other clergy.
ExxonMobil is accused of misleading the public for decades over the dangers of climate change – the oil company denies the allegations – and has funded climate change denial, making its presence in the church’s £7.9bn investment fund of particular concern, the group argues. Investment funds worth more than $5tn have already committed to divest from fossil fuels.
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