Leaked TTIP energy proposal could 'sabotage' EU climate policy
EU proposal on a free trade deal with the US could curb energy saving measures and a planned switch to clean energy, say MEPs The latest draft version of the TTIP agreement could sabotage European efforts to save energy and switch to clean power, according to MEPs. A 14th round of the troubled negotiations on […]
Massive mangrove die-off on Gulf of Carpentaria worst in the world, says expert
Climate change and El Niño the culprits, says Norm Duke, an expert in mangrove ecology, after seeing 7,000ha of dead mangroves over 700km Climate change and El Niño have caused the worst mangrove die-off in recorded history, stretching along 700km of Australia’s Gulf of Carpentaria, an expert says. The mass die-off coincided with the world’s […]
Cormorants watch for trout beneath the mirror surface of the lake
Watendlath Tarn, Borrowdale At my approach the soot-black, long-necked bird opens its hook-tipped bill, and utters a harsh croak Watendlath Tarn shines like a burnished mirror. Perfect reflections of the surrounding hills and a Chelsea blue sky are disrupted only by the occasional splash of mallards and greylag geese and jumping trout. Black buzzer flies […]
Cutting the cable: Kangaroo Island eyes switch to 100% renewable energy
Australia’s third-biggest island could combine wind, solar, PV and battery storage to fuel own electricity needs – and set a blueprint for the rest of the country Kangaroo Island is one of the great icons of Australian tourism. As Andrew Boardman, the chief executive of the Kangaroo Island council, says: “You can’t buy a name […]
A rich variety of wildlife to be found in the dunes: Country diary 100 years ago
Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 11 July 1916 Close to the sands – indeed, washed by the highest tides – is a small marsh where, amidst a forest of sea club-rush and sea-plantain, both now in flower, young natterjacks, each with its yellow back-stripe, well earn their name of running toad: here a […]
Calls for a new clean air act in the UK
We are still a long way from being able to breathe air that does not harm our health Last week Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, joined campaigners to call for a new clean air act. This July marks the 60th anniversary of the original legislation that transformed the air in our cities and saved […]
Cathedral on the marsh: Crossness pumping station reopens
Sir Joseph Bazalgette’s sewage treatment works was the first of its kind in the world and helped eradicate cholera in London A glorious monument to the towering genius of Victorian engineering reopens this week, complete with a smart new cafe and a distinctive whiff of sewage drifting across from the working side of the Crossness […]
How sea otters help save the planet
New research into the complex links of the food chain suggest that the lovable mammals play a key role in managing carbon dioxide levels Charles Darwin once mused on the impacts that predators could have on the landscapes around them. In particular, he wondered – in On the Origin of Species – how neighbourhood cats […]
'Heaven's water': the launch of Amsterdam’s first rainwater beer
A group of Dutch entrepreneurs has used their country’s wet weather as a business opportunity by creating a rainwater bitter It may have been the wettest June since records began in some of the Netherlands, but that’s no reason for the Dutch to be despondent. A small group of entrepreneurs has demonstrated that it’s the […]
The eco guide to home baking
Baking your own bread sounds like the pinnacle of green cooking, but we still need to be aware of road miles and heat use For a non-baker (like me), a zero-energy cake used to mean one someone else made. But I’ve forced myself to recognise the footprint of shop-bought croissants and cream puffs. It’s no […]