The Guardian
‘Dirty secret’: insiders say UK water firms knowingly break sewage laws
Exclusive: Whistleblowers point to broader sewage scandal, with wastewater systems manipulated to divert sewage
Whistleblowers say UK water companies are knowingly failing to treat legally required amounts of sewage, and that some treatment works are manipulating wastewater systems to divert raw sewage away from the works and into rivers and seas.
It is well known that water companies are dumping large volumes of raw sewage into rivers and seas from storm overflows but an investigation by the Guardian and Watershed Investigations reveals that the industry’s “dirty secret” is bigger, broader and deeply systemic.
Continue reading...Drone video shows Western Australia’s forests dying in heat and drought – video
Video shows trees and shrubs along Western Australia's south-west coastline turning brown after Perth recorded it hottest and driest six months since records began. There were similar scenes in the state's south-west eucalypt forests in 2010 and 2011 – a major die-back event that prompted more than a dozen studies. Drought-hit forests were hit by fire years later
Continue reading...For the first time in decades, the elusive call of the ‘bunyip bird’ returns to Tasmania’s Lagoon of Islands
Experts celebrate discovery of secretive and endangered Australasian bittern in recently restored wetlands
The “bunyip bird” – named after a mythological river-lurking, human-eating monster – is as elusive as its namesake. Also known as the Australasian bittern, it is heard more often than it is seen.
It means that when bittern expert Geoff Shannon discovered the bird at Tasmania’s recently restored Lagoon of Islands – the first time it had been seen there in 40 years – it was a “very special moment”.
Continue reading...Western Australia’s eucalypt forests fade to brown as century-old giant jarrahs die in heat and drought
Dead and dying shrubs and trees – some of which are found nowhere else on Earth – line more than 1,000km across the state’s south-west
A couple of weeks ago, Joe Fontaine stood in the middle of one of Western Australia’s eucalypt forests on another hot and dry day that was stripped of the usually raucous backing-track of bird calls.
“I could hear this scratching-crunching noise coming from the trees,” says Fontaine, a forest ecologist at Perth’s Murdoch University.
Continue reading...EPA moves to make US polluters pay for cleanup of two forever chemicals
Superfund law requires industries responsible for PFOA and PFOS contamination in water or soil to pay for cleanup
The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday designated two forever chemicals that have been used in cookware, carpets and firefighting foams as hazardous substances, an action intended to ensure quicker cleanup of the toxic compounds and require industries and others responsible for contamination to pay for their removal.
Designation as a hazardous substance under the Superfund law does not ban the chemicals, known as PFOA and PFOS. But it requires that release of the chemicals into soil or water be reported to federal, state or tribal officials if it meets or exceeds certain levels. The EPA then may require cleanups to protect public health and recover costs that can reach tens of millions of dollars.
Continue reading...Ocean spray emits more PFAS than industrial polluters, study finds
Research into release of ‘forever chemicals’ raises concerns about contamination and human exposure along world’s coastlines
Ocean waves crashing on the world’s shores emit more PFAS into the air than the world’s industrial polluters, new research has found, raising concerns about environmental contamination and human exposure along coastlines.
The study measured levels of PFAS released from the bubbles that burst when waves crash, spraying aerosols into the air. It found sea spray levels were hundreds of thousands times higher than levels in the water.
Continue reading...UN livestock emissions report seriously distorted our work, say experts
Exclusive: Study released at Cop28 misused research to underestimate impact of cutting meat eating, say academics
A flagship UN report on livestock emissions is facing calls for retraction from two key experts it cited who say that the paper “seriously distorted” their work.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) misused their research to underestimate the potential of reduced meat intake to cut agricultural emissions, according to a letter sent to the FAO by the two academics, which the Guardian has seen.
Continue reading...Week in wildlife – in pictures: a hungry jackal, a cat with webbed feet and a cheeky badger
The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world
Continue reading...Letting grass grow long boosts butterfly numbers, UK study proves
Analysis of 60o gardens shows wilder lawns feed caterpillars and create breeding habitat
Good news for lazy gardeners: one labour-saving tweak could almost double the number of butterflies in your garden, according to a new scientific study – let the grass grow long.
In recent years nature lovers have been extolling the benefits of relaxed lawn maintenance with the growing popularity of the #NoMowMay campaign. Now an analysis of six years of butterfly sightings across 600 British gardens has provided the first scientific evidence that wilder lawns boost butterfly numbers.
Continue reading...Victimise people who raise a voice in Britain? Then destroy their families? Not in my name | George Monbiot
Marcus Decker dared to protest on climate and was punished. Now he could be deported. Is that a humane democracy?
When the traditional ruling class was obliged to concede to demands for democracy, it gave away as little as possible. We could vote, but it ensured that crucial elements of the old system remained in place: the House of Lords, the first-past-the-post electoral system, prerogative powers and Henry VIII clauses, and above all a legal system massively and blatantly biased towards owners of property.
In combination, these elements ensured that the system remained predisposed to elite rule, even while it pretended the people were in charge. The portcullis excluding us from power has never been properly lifted since the Norman conquest. The relationship between rulers and ruled remains, in effect, a relationship between occupier and occupied.
Continue reading...Most UK dairy farms ignoring pollution rules as manure spews into rivers
Exclusive: 80% of Welsh dairy farms inspected, 69% of English ones, 60% in Scotland and 50% in Northern Ireland breaching regulations
The majority of UK dairy farms are breaking pollution rules, with vast amounts of cow manure being spilled into rivers.
When animal waste enters the river, it causes a buildup of the nutrients found in the effluent, such as nitrates and phosphates. These cause algal blooms, which deplete the waterway of oxygen and block sunlight, choking fish and other aquatic life.
Continue reading...Two endangered black-footed ferrets cloned from frozen tissue samples
Noreen and Antonia, born last May, are among first cloned offspring of a native endangered species in the North America
Two more black-footed ferrets have been successfully cloned in an attempt to save the endangered species, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced.
The national agency shared news about the births of ferrets Noreen and Antonia, who were both born last May.
Continue reading...Fossil of ‘largest snake to have ever existed’ found in western India
Scientists estimate Vasuki indicus was up to 15m long, weighed a tonne and would have constricted its prey
Fossil vertebrae unearthed in a mine in western India are the remains of one of the largest snakes that ever lived, a monster estimated at up to 15 metres in length – longer than a T rex.
Scientists have recovered 27 vertebrae from the snake, including a few still in the same position as they would have been when the reptile was alive. They said the snake, which they named Vasuki indicus, would have looked like a large python and would not have been venomous.
Continue reading...US lawmakers Elizabeth Warren and Ro Khanna seek to ban trade in water rights
Bill would stop private investors, including hedge funds, farmers and municipalities, from profiting off water scarcity
With private investors poised to profit from water scarcity in the west, US senator Elizabeth Warren and representative Ro Khanna are pursuing a bill to prohibit the trading of water as a commodity.
The lawmakers will introduce the bill on Thursday afternoon, the Guardian has learned. “Water is not a commodity for the rich and powerful to profit off of,” said Warren, the progressive Democrat from Massachusetts. “Representative Khanna and I are standing up to protect water from Wall Street speculation and ensure one of our most essential resources isn’t auctioned off to the highest bidder.”
Continue reading...Kale, watermelon and even some organic foods pose high pesticide risk, analysis finds
A new analysis by Consumer Reports shows that pesticides have contaminated the US fruit and vegetable supply – even some organics
Watermelon, green beans and bell peppers are among the many common fruits and vegetables found in US supermarkets that contain potentially unsafe levels of pesticides, according to an analysis published today by Consumer Reports.
The new report – which analyzed seven years of US Department of Agriculture data on commonly eaten fruits and vegetables – offers one of the most comprehensive evaluations to date of pesticides found in US produce. The data was based on nearly 30,000 fruit and vegetable samples, including fresh, frozen, canned and organic, collected from supermarkets by the USDA as part of routine pesticide testing. Consumer Reports built a massive database to analyze the data – and scored different foods to provide actionable recommendations to help consumers shop and eat with less risk.
Continue reading...What’s safe to eat? Here is the pesticide risk level for each fruit and vegetable
Even organic produce can contain unhealthy amounts of pesticide – see which fruits and vegetables rank best and worst
After reviewing the results of thousands of tests on fruits and vegetables, Consumer Reports has found unhealthy levels of pesticides in about 20% of US produce.
This chart, in alphabetical order, shows the risk from pesticides in conventional and organic produce, as well as whether the fruits and vegetables are domestically grown or imported. Consumer Reports “recommends those rated as very low, low or moderate risk. When possible, replace a food rated high or very high with a lower-risk one, or choose organic. Keep in mind that the risk comes from repeated servings over time.”
Continue reading...Scotland to abandon pledge to cut carbon emissions by 75% by 2030
In ‘acute global embarrassment’, Scottish government expected to follow UK and Wales by adopting five-year carbon budgets
The Scottish government is to abandon its “world-leading” goal to cut carbon emissions by 75% by 2030, after repeatedly missing its legally binding targets.
Màiri McAllan, the Scottish net zero secretary, is expected to announce that Scotland will instead follow the UK and Welsh government’s lead by adopting five-yearly “carbon budgets”, in a significant policy climbdown.
Continue reading...Lethal heatwave in Sahel worsened by fossil fuel burning, study finds
Deaths from record temperatures in Mali reportedly led to full morgues turning away bodies this month
The deadly protracted heatwave that filled hospitals and mortuaries in the Sahel region of Africa earlier this month would have been impossible without human-caused climate disruption, a new analysis has revealed.
Mali registered the hottest day in its history on 3 April as temperatures hit 48.5C in the south-western city of Kayes. Intense heat continued across a wide area of the country for more than five days and nights, giving vulnerable people no time for recovery.
Continue reading...Climate crisis: average world incomes to drop by nearly a fifth by 2050
Cost of environmental damage will be six times higher than price of limiting global heating to 2C, study finds
Average incomes will fall by almost a fifth within the next 26 years as a result of the climate crisis, according to a study that predicts the costs of damage will be six times higher than the price of limiting global heating to 2C.
Rising temperatures, heavier rainfall and more frequent and intense extreme weather are projected to cause $38tn (£30tn) of destruction each year by mid-century, according to the research, which is the most comprehensive analysis of its type ever undertaken, and whose findings are published in the journal Nature.
Continue reading...Funding Australia’s renewable transition isn’t ‘picking winners’ – it’s securing our future | Greg Jericho
Government support for green manufacturing is actually the easy part. To truly reduce emissions, we must stop digging up and burning fossil fuels
Last week Anthony Albanese finally announced the government’s major plan for the transition to a renewable energy economy. The Future Made in Australia plan was quickly derided by critics as “picking winners”, in the misguided view that the market is better at deciding how to tackle climate change and that the market is in any way free or lacking distortions.
It’s an article of faith among many economists and commentators that governments should not try to “pick winners”, despite the fact that Australia has a long and glorious tradition of doing so.
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