The Guardian
Brown snake bite kills man who tried to defend dog
Despite administration of antivenom, 24-year-old died within an hour of being bitten on the finger in NSW backyard
A man is dead after he was bitten by a brown snake while trying to help his dog in the north-west of New South Wales.
The 24-year-old was rushed to hospital by a family member but died within an hour of being bitten on the finger in a backyard in Tamworth on Wednesday night.
Continue reading...UK’s wasted chances to recycle and renew | Letters
In view of the appalling revelations that the UK has been shipping vast quantities of plastic to China for many years (Editorial, 8 January), would it not be a good idea to have the UK lead once more in something and have genuine recycling plants set up here in the country? I mean genuine plants to process plastic from the UK and the rest of Europe, not just depots for onward reselling as seems to have been the case.
There are initiatives to use such waste plastic in innovative ways. For example there is a small startup company in Scotland, MacRebur, developing ways to reduce the amount of toxic bitumen in asphalt by substituting a proportion of waste plastic into the mix. Surely we should urge government and private industry to build and develop plants to deal with the problem now, before we are knee-deep in bottles?
Ian Paul
York
Trust’s critics can’t see the wood for the trees | Letters
The response in your letters section to the northern forest raised some useful points (Development for the north? Let them eat wood, 9 January). However, drawing parallels between the Woodland Trust’s native woodland policy and xenophobia demonstrates ignorance of the ecology and the conservation of semi-natural woodlands. Britain’s native woodlands are so diverse because of the association and dependency of species that have co-evolved over several thousand years.
The accusation that we create “plantations of birch and rowan and field maple, producing scrub rather than woodland” couldn’t be further from the truth (and, by the way, scrub habitat has huge conservation value). We use local tree and shrub species to create diverse, functioning and resilient habitats for biodiversity and local communities.
Continue reading...Priest to chain herself to tree at Euston in protest against HS2 felling plans
Residents say they have been pushed into taking direct action to save the 200 trees around train station in central London
A priest is to chain herself to a tree outside Euston station in central London in a protest against the felling of more than 200 trees around the station to make way for the HS2 rail line.
Dozens of giant London plane trees in Euston Square Gardens are among those earmarked to be cut down to provide temporary sites for construction vehicles and a taxi rank displaced by work at the station.
Continue reading...It's an environmentalist's dream – but will May's green plan ever be reality?
The PM has finally made the environment a priority. But past double-dealing damages confidence in the government’s eco plan proposals
The government’s new 25-year plan conjures up an environmentalist’s dream, from huge new nature reserves to protecting our long-neglected but life-giving soils. The nation’s beleaguered wildlife, toxic urban air and polluted waters certainly need it.
The question is whether turning the plan into reality will become a political nightmare when confronted with vested interests or lack of Treasury funds. Such ghouls have shattered far less ambitious goals in the past.
Continue reading...Government indecision leaves £1.3bn Welsh tidal lagoon project in limbo
Tory politician Charles Hendry, in independent review, says he’s hopeful Swansea will receive backing for plan
Plans for a £1.3bn tidal power lagoon in Swansea could still be backed by ministers despite government indecision on whether to support it, according to the author of an independent review on the project.
Charles Hendry, a Conservative politician and former energy minister, enthusiastically supported the scheme a year ago as a source of clean power and UK jobs.
Continue reading...UK retailers see rise in sales of reusable coffee cups
Home and kitchenware shops report growth in sales of portable mugs as government hints at a tax on disposable cups
Sales of reusable coffee cups are soaring in the UK, retailers are reporting, as the government hints at a tax on disposable cups.
Argos, which is part of the Sainsbury’s Group, said it had sold 537% more portable cups in December 2017 than the same month the previous year. Meanwhile, kitchenware chain Lakeland reported an increase in sales of more than 100% month-on-month, homeware company Robert Dyas reported a 50% lift year-on-year.
Continue reading...Conservatives' 25-year green plan: main points at a glance
Moves to cut plastic, create a new environmental watchdog and boost wildlife habitats are among the new measures
One of the most heavily trailed announcements is the end of an exemption for small shops from England’s 5p plastic bag charge. The loophole was an anomaly compared with similar schemes in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It was also imposed against the wishes of corner shop owners at the time, with three small business trade associations opposing being exempted on the grounds it would be confusing for customers. “Its abolition is long overdue,” said Mary Creagh, chair of the environmental audit committee of MPs. The change will affect 3.4bn bags handed out at about 200,000 stores each year.
Continue reading...Theresa May defends green plan as critics say it is too slow and vague
Environmental groups welcome ambition but say 25-year promises must be backed by force of law, money and new watchdog
Theresa May has said her government is serious about improving the environment after pressure groups gave a lukewarm response to a new 25-year green plan, praising its ambition but warning that it lacked sufficient plans for immediate action.
May’s proposals were also criticised by Jeremy Corbyn, who said her pledge to stop all avoidable plastic waste by 2042 was “far too long” to take action.
Continue reading...Insect declines: new alarm over mayfly is ‘tip of iceberg’, warn experts
Modest pollution in many English rivers is enough to kill 80% of eggs, increasing concerns over insects which are vital to all ecosystems
Modest levels of pollution found in many English rivers are having a devastating impact on mayflies, new research suggests, killing about 80% of all eggs.
Clouds of emerging mayflies were once a regular sight on English summer evenings and they are a key part of the food chain that supports fish, birds and mammals. The finding that even pollution well below guidelines can cause serious harm adds to concerns about plummeting insect numbers.
Continue reading...Big new renewable projects planned across Australia as Tesla effect hits
Following the success of Elon Musk’s 100-megawatt battery in South Australia, another battery and renewable power plant are in the works
Australia’s renewable energy sector responds to the success of South Australia’s Tesla lithium ion battery. South Australia will build the world’s largest solar thermal plant, and a Queensland wind farm may be the site of a new record-breaking battery.
The Aurora solar plant in Port Augusta, SA, will begin construction this year, and is slated to provide 100% of the state’s electricity needs by 2020, the state’s acting energy minister, Chris Picton, announced on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Country diary: sleeping swans float down the river like white coracles
Sandy, Bedfordshire The family of swans has separated, the juveniles driven off by parents ready to breed again
On a snow-flecked night over the holidays, I slipped down to the river and paused on the bridge. Floating a little upstream were two brilliant white coracles: sleeping swans, each with its beak folded away in the well between its wings. Anchorless and rudderless, did they lay their heads on feather beds under the weir, in the dreamy expectation that they would wake at dawn in the mill pool? Some overnight sleeper.
Only two swans. The last time I was here, there had been more – a whole family. It is the harshest, most necessary part of a territorial bird’s life that there should come a time when they drive away the young they so diligently nurtured. These birds had given theirs a Christmas present of solitude and self-reliance, and themselves the space to breed again.
Continue reading...Beak fitness: New Zealand develops roadside gym for endangered keas
Conservationists want to stop the birds – dubbed the world’s smartest parrot – from wandering onto roads and begging humans for food
Bird experts in New Zealand have designed a special gym for the country’s playful alpine parrot to keep them away from some of the nation’s most dangerous roads.
For the last couple of years contractors working on the road to Milford Sound in the South Island have captured footage of keas moving their road cones and equipment into the middle of the road when the workers knocked off overnight.
Continue reading...Theresa May proposes plastic-free supermarket aisles in green strategy
PM to declare war on scourge of plastic waste as she unveils much-heralded 25-year environmental plan
Theresa May is to announce a war on plastic waste, with proposed policies including plastics-free aisles in supermarkets and a tax on takeaway containers.
The prime minister will set out her ambition to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste within 25 years in a major speech on Thursday in which she will promise the UK will lead internationally on environmental issues. But campaign groups said the aspirations would need to be backed up by legislation.
Continue reading...Coastal states to Trump: why is Florida exempt from drilling and not us?
Ryan Zinke confirmed Florida would be exempt from massive offshore plan – which other states claim is simply a favor for Republican governor Rick Scott
Governors of coastal states have urged the Trump administration to scrap its plan to usher oil and gas drilling into almost all US waters, in an unusual bipartisan backlash against the surprise proposal itself – and the controversial twist that suddenly saw Florida, alone, excused from going along with it.
Related: Trump administration won't allow oil drilling off Florida coast
Continue reading...New round of oil drilling goes deeper into Ecuador's Yasuní national park
State oil company starts second phase of drilling in one of the world’s most biodiverse hotspots
Ecuador’s state oil company has begun drilling the first of 97 planned wells inside a new field of the Yasuní national park, one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots.
The opening of the Tambococha-2 well has triggered fierce criticism from conservationists, who say President Lenín Moreno is backtracking on a promise to protect the Amazon and pay greater heed to the opinion of indigenous groups.
Minerals Council of Australia kicks off coal power campaign despite BHP threat
Lobby group aims to curb ‘misinformation from urban activists’ to show ‘potential of Australian minerals sector’
The Minerals Council of Australia will continue hawking the benefits of coal-fired technologies, despite resources giant BHP threatening to pull out of the organisation over previous campaigns.
The lobby group says it is hoping to counteract “misinformation from urban activists”.
Storm chaser braves 2017's wild year of US weather – in pictures
With three hurricanes, wildfires, flooding and tornadoes, 2017 was a turbulent year across the US, costing a record $306bn in damage. Veteran storm photographer, Jason Weingart, captured the incredible displays in what was one of his most challenging years yet
Continue reading...Country diary: the woods are in disarray after the storm
Wenlock Edge, Shropshire As twitchy birds forage along the hedges, an almost path through the fallen trees leads to an ominous discovery
This is a searching time. Blackbirds examine the ivy berries like jewel thieves. Thrushes poke through the mown grass of the Gaskell recreation ground with all the attention of the forensics team brought in to investigate the Spar robbery last month. The birds are twitchy, fossicking close to the hedge lines in case of attacks by sparrowhawks. Rooks are watchful and jackdaws group-speak up and down from the trees where blue tits, long-tailed tits and great tits work the branches as if picking tiny locks. A nuthatch chisels into a hazelnut to crack its secret.
After the snow, after the gales, after Storm Whatshername emerged from a murmuration of thrashing wings to press her lips to the window and blow through the glass like a kazoo, the woods are in disarray. A few big trees have bought it, but mostly it’s the damsons around the old squat lines, blackthorn along lanes and hazel in derelict coppice that cracked and twisted in the winds.
Continue reading...China on track to lead in renewables as US retreats, report says
IEEFA report says China will dominate international investment in renewable technology over the next several decades
China is moving towards becoming a global leader in renewable technology as the US pulls away, a new report has said.
China is the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases and still invests in coal but in recent years it has become the largest investor in domestic renewable energy. The country is now on track to lead international investment in the sector, according to the report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).
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