The Guardian
Natural gas emissions will blow Europe's carbon budget at current levels
Governments have been underestimating methane emissions from gas and must phase out the fossil fuel, along with coal and oil, by 2035 to keep within Paris climate targets, a major study shows
Governments have drastically underestimated methane emissions from natural gas and will miss the Paris agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 2C unless they urgently scale down its use, a major new study has found.
Continue reading...Country diary: angling spot regular with a taste for unwanted catch
Rockland St Mary, Norfolk The fisherman rewarded the well-fed and fearless heron – a regular at the angling spot – with a small perch
There were two catchers of fish at the water’s edge. There was the old boy who told me he had been coming here for 50 years and then there was the grey heron that has acquired a deep familiarity with people. I often it see as I drive through the neighbouring village of Bramerton, where it stands by the pond right at the roadside.
Today, it was on Rockland staithe, where it kept a companionable distance from its human neighbour. Both faced towards the tide-swollen water and, while both were fish-focused, only one was doing the catching. He told me that the heron had been a regular at the spot for about 10 years and, over that time, had acquired the courage to pace within touching distance of his pitch. On winter mornings, when the ground is frozen and pickings are slim, the bird stands on an adjacent telegraph pole and croaks his disapproval. Apparently, the fishermen have taken this as a sign of its hunger and they toss it parts of their unwanted catch.
Continue reading...Bonn climate talks will aim to meet goals laid out in Paris, says UN
Delegates ‘do not have the luxury of lots of philosophical discussions’ but must focus on advancing the pledges set out in the Paris agreement
The UN hopes to create an “operating manual” for implementing the Paris agreement on climate change, with talks in the next two weeks in Bonn.
“We want to advance further, faster, together to meet the goals set out in the Paris agreement,” said Patricia Espinosa, the UN’s chief official on the climate, at the opening of the talks. “We need an operating manual for the Paris agreement. This has to be the launchpad for the next level of ambition on climate change action, because we know the pledges [to cut emissions] made so far are not enough to take us to [meeting the Paris goals].”
Continue reading...Fracking firm to give first households £2,000 payouts
Shale gas firm Cuadrilla says 29 Lancashire households will get payments – but one says they will refuse ‘blood money’
A group of residents in Lancashire will soon receive £2,070 each for living near a fracking site, in the first payments made direct to British householders by a shale gas company.
Cuadrilla said that 29 households would get the payment as part of a £100,000 community benefit fund for the second well it is drilling at a site between Blackpool and Preston that has attracted ongoing anti-fracking protests.
Continue reading...Oxford Street could become 'traffic-free boulevard' next year
Radical proposal to pedestrianise area west of Oxford Circus is aimed at improving air quality and tackling congestion
A large section of London’s Oxford Street could be traffic-free by next December under a proposal unveiled by the mayor on Monday to improve the area for shoppers.
A public consultation has opened into banning all forms of transport between Oxford Circus and Orchard Street to coincide with the launch of the new Elizabeth line at the end of 2018.
Continue reading...2017 set to be one of top three hottest years on record
Data so far this year points to 2017 continuing a long-term trend of record breaking temperatures around the world, says World Meteorological Organization
2017 is set to be one of the hottest three years on record, provisional data suggests, confirming yet again a warming trend that scientists say bears the fingerprints of human actions.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said temperatures in the first nine months of this year were unlikely to have been higher than 2016, when there was a strong El Niño weather system, but higher than anything before 2015.
Continue reading...We have every reason to fear Trump’s pick to head Nasa | Dana Nuccitelli
Republican climate science denial reared its ugly head at Bridenstine’s congressional hearing
Unlike past Nasa administrators, Trump nominee Jim Bridenstine doesn’t have a scientific background. He’s a Republican Congressman from Oklahoma and former Navy pilot. He also has a history of denying basic climate science. That’s concerning because Nasa does some of the world’s best climate science research, and Bridenstine previously introduced legislation that would eliminate Earth science from Nasa’s mission statement.
At his Senate hearing last week, Bridenstine tried to remake his image. He said that his previous science-denying, politically polarizing comments came with the job of being a Republican congressman, and that as Nasa administrator he would be apolitical. A kinder, gentler Bridenstine. But while he softened his climate science denial, his proclaimed new views remain in line with the rest of the harshly anti-science Trump administration. That’s very troubling.
Continue reading...How India’s battle with climate change could determine all of our fates
India’s population and emissions are rising fast, and its ability to tackle poverty without massive fossil fuel use will decide the fate of the planet
“It’s a lucky charm,” says Rajesh, pointing to the solar-powered battery in his window that he has smeared with turmeric as a blessing. “It has changed our life.”
He lives in Rajghat, a village on the border of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh states, and until very recently was one of the 240 million Indians who live without electricity. In the poverty that results, Rajghat has become a village of bachelors, with just two weddings in 20 years.
Continue reading...Abstract art or drone photo? – in pictures
Brothers Mike and JP Andrews bought a drone camera, flew to Australia, and embarked on Abstract Aerial Art, a 70,000-mile global photographic odyssey
Continue reading...Bonn climate talks must go further than Paris pledges to succeed
Hosts Fiji will be aiming to build transparency and constructive dialogue – and this will be crucial to successfully ratcheting up the tough climate targets sidestepped at Paris
Talanoa is a Fijian term for discussions aimed at building consensus, airing differences constructively, and finding ways to overcome difficulties or embark on new projects. It is one of the building blocks of Fijian society, used for centuries to foster greater understanding among a people distributed over many small islands, and carry them through a tough existence.
This week, talanoa comes to Europe, and the rest of the world. Fiji is hosting the UN’s climate talks, following on from the landmark Paris agreement of 2015, and will hold the conference in Bonn, Germany. Talanoa will be the founding principle of the conference, the means by which Fiji hopes to break through some of the seemingly intractable problems that have made these 20-plus years of negotiations a source of bitter conflict.
Continue reading...It's time to put children's health before pesticides | Baskut Tuncak
A pending decision on Monsanto’s ubiquitous weedkiller is a crucial opportunity to protect our children from the toxic cocktail of pesticides polluting their food, water and play areas
Our children are growing up exposed to a toxic cocktail of weedkillers, insecticides, and fungicides. It’s on their food and in their water, and it’s even doused over their parks and playgrounds. Many governments insist that our standards of protection from these pesticides are strong enough. But as a scientist and a lawyer who specialises in chemicals and their potential impact on people’s fundamental rights, I beg to differ.
Last month it was revealed that in recommending that glyphosate – the world’s most widely-used pesticide – was safe, the EU’s food safety watchdog copied and pasted pages of a report directly from Monsanto, the pesticide’s manufacturer. Revelations like these are simply shocking.
Continue reading...Country diary: insects still find sanctuary in the priory ruins
Kirkham Priory, Malton, North Yorkshire The skeleton of a building offers respite from a biting wind and a final home for the last of the summer’s wasps
It is one of those season-hinge days when the slightest atmospheric whim might swing it either way. There is some warmth in the intermittent sunshine and autumn’s colours are still bright, but the wind is pure north and it carries smatters of cold rain. The river is swollen, with violet reflections in oxtail-brown water – an ominous palette of decay.
This stretch of the Derwent was once used to transport stone a mile from the ancient Whitwell Quarry to Kirkham, where in 1122 a local nobleman founded an Augustinian priory as a memorial to his son, who died falling from his horse on the hill above. For 400 years, monks went about their practical and spiritual business here. Orchards spread on to the surrounding slopes, fishponds were excavated on the flood meadow.
Continue reading...Red squirrels successfully reintroduced to Scottish Highlands
New population naturally expanded since reintroduction to north-west Scotland in 2016
Red squirrels, a species previously lost from their native woodlands, have been successfully returned to the Highlands, early results of a reintroduction project show.
The new population has naturally expanded since they were reintroduced to north-west Scotland last year. The species had disappeared due to the reduction of forests to just isolated remnants, as well as disease and competition from the introduced non-native grey squirrel.
Continue reading...Joining in the fungi: black truffle grown in UK for first time
Dog unearths Périgord black truffle successfully grown in Wales, the furthest north the delicacy has ever been found
An expensive Mediterranean black truffle has been cultivated in the UK for the first time, the farthest north that the species has been found.
Researchers believe the truffle, mostly found in northern Spain, southern France and northern Italy, was able to grow in Wales due to climate change.
Continue reading...Fracking protester warns: 'Yorkshire's gorgeous, but that can be taken away’
Test drilling by Third Energy expected to get go-ahead soon at Kirby Misperton, the first in UK since 2011
For the past year, Leigh Coghill has devoted her life to one thing – trying to stop the gas exploration company Third Energy from fracking on the outskirts of a tiny village in North Yorkshire. The 26-year-old from Wolverhampton, who “married into Yorkshire”, quit her job working for York council in November last year, deciding to devote herself to the cause.
Since September, when Third Energy started preparing the site at Kirby Misperton for drilling, she has been one of a group of around forty Ryedale locals to have spent almost every day protesting next to the gates to the well, holding banners and placards, and watching in dismay as lorries trundle in.
Continue reading...The COP23 climate change summit in Bonn and why it matters
Halting dangerous global warming means putting the landmark Paris agreement into practice – without the US – and tackling the divisive issue of compensation
The world’s nations are meeting for the 23rd annual “conference of the parties” (COP) under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which aims to “prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system”, ie halt global warming. It is taking place in Bonn, Germany from 6-17 November.
Continue reading...The eco guide to big ethics
Is it good news or bad when environment-friendly brands are bought out by major industry players?
At a recent event held by the outdoor clothing brand Patagonia I detected a sheepish air. Nothing to do with eco wool, but rumours that the company was about to surpass a $1bn turnover.
I'd rather market share went to Patagonia than to brands without discernible values
Continue reading...One step beyond organic or free-range: Dutch farmer’s chickens lay carbon-neutral eggs
There’s the much-criticised battery hen egg, and then the pricier organic and free-range varieties. But for the truly ethically committed, how about the carbon-neutral egg, laid in what has been billed as the world’s most environmentally friendly farm?
Dutch stores are now selling so-called “Kipster eggs” laid at a shiny new farm near the south-eastern city of Venray. “Kip” means chicken in Dutch, “ster” means star, and it’s no coincidence the name rhymes with hipster. The intention is to rethink the place of animals in the food chain, according to Ruud Zanders, the poultry farmer and university lecturer behind the farm, which includes a visitor centre, corporate meeting room and even a free cappuccino machine.
Continue reading...‘For us, the land is sacred’: on the road with the defenders of the world’s forests
Of the many thousands of participants at the Bonn climate conference which begins on 6 November, there will arguably be none who come with as much hope, courage and anger as the busload of indigenous leaders who have been criss-crossing Europe over the past two weeks, on their way to the former German capital.
The 20 activists on the tour represent forest communities that have been marginalised over centuries but are now increasingly recognised as important actors against climate change through their protection of carbon sinks.
Continue reading...Coral bleaching badly affected reefs of Kimberley, study finds
Up to 80% of Kimberley’s inshore reef bleached in El Niño heatwave of 2016, with about 29% of the coral at Rottnest, off Perth, also affected
Up to 80% of coral in inshore reefs in the Kimberley was bleached during the global mass bleaching event that also affected 93% of the Great Barrier Reef in the summer of 2016-2016, according to new research.
Led by scientists from the University of Western Australia and published in Scientific Reports this week, the research found between 57% and 80% of corals in the Kimberley, particularly at Montgomery Reef, the largest inshore coral reef in Australia, were bleached in April 2016.
Continue reading...