The Guardian
Meat tax ‘inevitable’ to beat climate and health crises, says report
‘Sin taxes’ to reverse the rapid global growth in meat eating are likely in five to 10 years, according to a report for investors managing over $4tn
“Sin taxes” on meat to reduce its huge impact on climate change and human health look inevitable, according to analysts for investors managing over $4tn of assets.
The global livestock industry causes 15% of all global greenhouse gas emissions and meat consumption is rising around the world, but dangerous climate change cannot be avoided unless this is radically curbed. Furthermore, many people already eat far too much meat, seriously damaging their health and incurring huge costs. Livestock also drive other problems, such as water pollution and antibiotic resistance.
Continue reading...Country diary: even reduced to bare bones the bat's magic remains
Welburn, North Yorkshire With a tiny paintbrush and tweezers I salvage a skeleton: the tiny skull, the whisker-fine finger bones
I found it at the top of the field in July, after the barley harvest. A little body, wings folded and face scrunched. It was snagged on a scaffold of stubble like a miniature sky burial, overlooking a vista it must have known well until the previous night, when, somehow, all its knowing became nothing. Reflexively, I picked it up. In my hand, with its sky-tickling energy surrendered to gravity and its ultrasound din silenced, its dead weight might not have been there at all.
We were leaving on holiday next morning and in the frenzy of packing I almost forgot it. I should have taken measurements and got past a generic identification Myotis (mouse-eared bats). Instead, I hurriedly sealed the little corpse in a margarine tub with a perforated lid, along with a splash of water to prevent mummification, and left it on a shady sill in the garden.
Continue reading...Bird keepers at Sydney's Taronga zoo name their favourite Australian birds – video
As the result of the bird of the year poll is made public, Taronga keepers Brendan Host, Lille Madden, Ashleigh Page, Mark Domenici, Leanne Golebiowski and Michael Shiels select their favourites
Continue reading...North Atlantic right whales on the brink of extinction, officials say
Fishing nets and lack of food blamed for pushing number of the world’s most endangered marine animal to just 450
Officials with the US federal government say it is time to consider the possibility that endangered right whales could become extinct unless new steps are taken to protect them.
North Atlantic right whales are among the rarest marine mammals in the world, and they have endured a deadly year. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has said there are only about 450 of the whales left and 17 of them have died so far in 2017.
Continue reading...Conspiracy theories and celebrity endorsements: how bird of the year played out online
The white ibis provoked strong feelings on Twitter throughout the three-week campaign, and the result was never going to please everyone
The three-week campaign to select Australia’s bird of the year has been bitterly fought out on social media, and Monday’s result provoked another round of celebration and recriminations.
Swooping in with an incredible 19,926 votes, of a total of almost 150,000, the Australian magpie took the title, having quietly gained ground over the white ibis (19,083), which had a commanding early lead.
Continue reading...Wales is second best household waste recycler in the world
Eco-friendly policies place country second to Germany but England lags far behind other countries according to new research
Wales ranks second in the world for recycling household waste but England lags far behind other European countries, according to new research.
Policies brought in by the Welsh government and a target to be zero waste by 2050 have driven the country up the league table to come in just under Germany. With recycling rates of 63.8% for municipal solid waste, which includes household plastic and other packaging, Wales is set to become the world leader for recycling by next year, according to a report from the environmental analysts Eunomia.
Continue reading...Magpie edges out white ibis and kookaburra as Australian bird of the year
They were the only three species to get more than 10,000 votes out of the 150,000 received before the poll closed on Saturday
The Australian magpie has been crowned Australian bird of the year for 2017, upsetting the early favourite, the white ibis, and getting 13.3% of the vote.
The magpie got 19,926 votes, followed by the Australian white ibis with 19,083 votes and the laughing kookaburra with 10,953 votes.
Continue reading...Magpies: how I learnt to grudgingly admire – and then love – the bird of the year | Paul Daley
They’re feared for their fierce protection of sovereignty and dive-bombing trespassers, but all is forgiven listening to a pair magpies warbling in a gumtree
Anodyne eastern suburbs Melbourne seemed less dangerous than any other place in the world when I was a primary school kid.
There was the creek with its tadpoles, turtles and occasional foxes. There was, inevitably, a local haunted house. And there was the path.
Continue reading...The mighty ibis did not win Australian bird of the year but it's still a winner | John Martin
It fell short of victory by a few hundred votes. For a bin chicken, that’s something to celebrate
What happened? Am I missing something, do people actually “like” ibis? I know they didn’t win, but hell, they came second – that’s a win for the bin chicken, surely?!
I like ibis, and I’ve occasionally met people who admit to liking ibis, but overwhelmingly I hear and read comments from people expressing that they do not like ibis. Despite this, the Australian white ibis has become an icon – to individuals, music, documentaries and government. It’s revered by our modern society like its cousin the Sacred Ibis was in ancient Egypt as the god Thoth. Of course, in this instance my interpretation of the word “revered” includes being the butt of many, many jokes and even more memes.
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Country diary 1917: warmth from the sun brings out winter wildlife
15 December 1917 Larks ran along the edge of the river backwater pecking off the gnats and insects
SURREY
A quick break this morning of white frost set the birds vigorously at search over the fields. Larks ran along the edge of the river backwater pecking off the gnats and insects that came out so soon as a slight warmth from the sun set a watery sparkle on blades of grass. These small flying things, which now crawl, appear as magnified a little in the pale yellow light. Moving slowly, they drop from a thin stalk, a bird runs, and at once you understand that his work has been done. A flock of young chaffinches come and perch on the hedge-top, a few rising into the air and returning as though uncertain where exactly they would find a meal. Presently all go straight to the manure pound some distance away.
Pollutionwatch: not much cheer from online Christmas shopping
As more of us shop online, more vans make more deliveries, with competing delivery companies duplicating journeys and causing even more pollution
Vans, up by 71% since 1996, are the fastest growing vehicle type in UK. They are nearly all diesel-powered and share the same nitrogen dioxide exhaust problems as diesel cars.
In 2015, 73% of UK adults did Christmas shopping online and 88% of these used home deliveries, causing concerns about traffic pollution.
Continue reading...Australian bird of the year 2017: the top 10 – video
So how did your feathered favourite fare? Meet the winners of the 2017 Guardian Australia/BirdLife Australia bird of the year poll. After weeks of controversy, argument over the voting system and at least one hack, the results are in. There's been plenty of colour but here's the result in black and white …
Continue reading...Magpie wins Australian bird of the year poll – live
Australian magpie pips the ibis and laughing kookaburra in the Guardian Australia/BirdLife Australia poll after weeks of controversy, a powerful owl voting hack and a strong #teambinchicken social media push
9.04pm GMT
We didn’t include any species in our original list, an oversight that many of you sought to correct by writing in your own vote.
9.01pm GMT
Opinion is divided.
[Piping Shrike swoops in, carries off with #BirdOfTheYear trophy from under the unsuspecting beaks of the lesser Australian magpies]
what did they do to win it??? they ain't nothin but a hazard if you ask me! the bin chicken was much more deserving! #BirdOfTheYear
My old bike helmet would agree that the magpie makes quite an impact on society - and gives us all a (adrenaline) buzz when we see them (especially in September/October) #BirdoftheYear #jerkoftheyear https://t.co/RcM2aFSZy3
Australia has restored a small piece of global sanity with the election of the Magpie. #BirdOfTheYear
The murderous, vicious, beady eyed monster the magpie has just been named Australia’s #BirdOfTheYear ... one of those little bastards tried to peck out my eye in Darwin two years ago!! pic.twitter.com/NGGo3eonNn
Pretty outraged by the #BirdOfTheYear result tbh. Yet another election with a disappointing outcome.
AUSSIE MAGPIE WON! I AM SO HAPPY!
Well done little mates! #BirdoftheYear #magpies pic.twitter.com/dIsb02rFcJ
Delays causing needless exposure to dangerous toxins in Australia, advocates say
A process to review air pollution standards for two toxins began two years ago but consultations are only just starting
Australians are being placed at risk by stalled government action on two dangerous pollutants mainly emitted by coal-fired power stations, environmental experts have warned.
Air pollution places a significant burden on the health of Australians, causing 3,000 deaths each year and a mortality cost of between $11bn and $24bn, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Continue reading...Australia's greenhouse gas emissions highest on record
Exclusive: Renewable energy and proper climate policy are key to dropping emissions, carbon consultancy chief says
Australia’s emissions over the past year were the highest on record, when relatively unreliable emissions from land use are excluded, according to estimates by the carbon consultancy NDEVR Environmental.
Greenhouse gas emissions continued to rise in recent quarters, with the most recent the second highest for any quarter since 2011, despite electricity emissions being driven down by wind generation.
Continue reading...North Atlantic right whales could become extinct, US officials say
- Noaa scientist: ‘You do have to use the extinction word’
- Study suggests whales leave protected areas to feed
US federal officials say it is time to consider the possibility that North Atlantic right whales could become extinct, unless new steps are taken to protect them.
Related: North Atlantic’s greatest survivors are hunted once more
Continue reading...The eco guide to Christmas trees
Do you keep it real or try and fake it? When it comes to Christmas trees try and find an organic one and, if possible, a living one so you can dust off the tinsel and keep it going for next year
This year I’m going real. Given the plastic pandemic, my goodwill doesn’t extend to manufacturers of oil-based fake trees shipped across the globe.
From an ecological point of view, all cut trees are imperfect. Three-quarters of the trees put up this Christmas in the UK will be grown here (this at least cuts down on tree miles). But these trees are raised on plantations that are as quick growing as possible. They are not carefully calibrated forests for the benefit of the future.
Continue reading...As Britain’s birdlife takes flight, skies of my youth are changing for ever
Even though almost half a century has passed, I can still recall in vivid detail the events of a hot, sunny afternoon in August 1970. My mother and I were visiting Brownsea Island, off the Dorset coast. We entered a dark hide, opened the window and looked out across the lagoon. And there – shining like a beacon – was a Persil-white apparition: my first little egret.
Back then, this ghostly member of the heron family was a very rare visitor to Britain. Nowadays, little egrets are so numerous that we hardly give them a second glance. On my local patch, the Avalon Marshes in the heart of Somerset, I have seen up to 60 in a single feeding flock. And, according to the magazine British Birds, there are now more than 1,000 breeding pairs, as far north as the Scottish border.
Continue reading...Footage of starving polar bear exposes climate change impact – video
Video filmed in the Canadian Arctic provides graphic evidence of the impacts of climate change on polar bears in the region, showing an emaciated animal scrounging for food on ice-free land. The footage was recorded by the conservation group Sea Legacy during a late summer expedition in Baffin Island. ‘My entire Sea Legacy team was pushing through their tears and emotions while documenting this dying polar bear,’ the photographer Paul Nicklen wrote on social media.
‘Soul-crushing’ video of starving polar bear exposes climate crisis, experts say
Continue reading...Country diary: the cold is bitter, but the views are entrancing
The Chevin, Otley, West Yorkshire In the waning light the massed black-headed gulls move like a cloud of incense
The light that drenches the far side of Wharfedale has the translucence of burning coal, burnishing fields with the illusion of deep warmth. But it presages the onset of a bitterly cold night; the meagre heat of the winter sun is lost as my surroundings, the Danefield woods on the Chevin escarpment, are plunged into dusk.
My run has been prolonged by enthusiasm. Now I feel as exposed as a North Sea swimmer, the heat of my body’s movement the only thing that fends off the searing cold. Arriving with an Arctic air mass, a stinging wind sweeps from the north, is lifted up by the escarpment, and slices straight through my woefully inadequate clothing. The light on the opposite side of the valley deepens into an orange tauntingly redolent of a late summer evening, but pausing to admire it for too long would genuinely tempt hypothermia. I swerve around people swaddled in down jackets, get my feet tangled around dogs, and generally plough onwards.
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