When deciding a nation’s future, politicians play with their food
In the UK and abroad, the political events of the past year prove that politicians are willing to gamble with the health, prosperity, and fate of our food systems. One of the many things that the past year of political turmoil on both sides of the Atlantic has revealed, is that governments have a questionable […]
Europe's extreme June heat clearly linked to climate change, research shows
Heatwaves that saw deadly forest fires in Portugal and soaring temperatures in England were made up to 10 times more likely by global warming, say scientists Human-caused climate change dramatically increased the likelihood of the extreme heatwave that saw deadly forest fires blazing in Portugal and Spain, new research has shown. Much of western Europe […]
No more business as usual: the corporates stepping up to save the planet
As Trump reneges on climate change commitments, progressive businesses are implementing the measures themselves When the US president, Donald Trump, announced his intention to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, one might have anticipated a hearty cheer from industry around the world relieved that business as usual could continue. Instead the opposite has happened. Across […]
Silver savers: how car colour cuts pollution
White and silver cars are cooler than dark ones and need less air conditioning, so fuel is saved and air pollution reduced Driving a silver or white car is good for the climate. A study a few years ago showed that the interiors of silver and white cars were cooler than black cars. That’s because […]
The Guardian view on tackling our plastics problem: don’t bottle it | Editorial
Annual consumption of plastic bottles is set to top half a trillion by 2021. We cannot afford this addiction Invention is the mother of necessity, warned Thorstein Veblen. So packaged water is now seen as essential by many, and a million plastic bottles are produced every minute worldwide, as the Guardian series Bottling it has […]
Tasmania trials artificial shy albatross nests to help seabird fight extinction
Conservationists say threatened seabird is vulnerable to the environmental effects of rising air temperatures and warming oceans caused by climate change Tasmanian scientists will trial a new tactic this spring to help the shy albatross fight extinction: constructing artificial nests. Conservationists hope the nests will boost the population of the threatened seabird, which they believe […]
Grow Heathrow runway protest community given 14 days to leave site
High court orders 20 residents must leave the community garden that was set up on a formerly derelict site to protest the airport expansion A community project set up to protest against a third runway at Heathrow has been given 14 days to leave its home by the high court. Grow Heathrow took over a […]
We need to talk about plastic bottles – video
A million plastic bottles are bought around the world every minute and despite the rise in recycling culture over the past few decades, just 7% of those collected last year were turned into new bottles. Most end up in landfill or in the ocean and by 2050 plastic waste is estimated to outweigh all the […]
If you drop plastic in the ocean, where does it end up?
Modelling shows that ocean currents can concentrate slow-degrading debris in certain parts of the world’s oceans, leading to so-called ‘garbage patches’ It is estimated that between four and 12m metric tonnes of plastic makes its way into the ocean each year. This figure is only likely to rise, and a 2016 report predicted that by […]
Merkel to put climate change at centre of G20 talks after Trump's Paris pullout
German chancellor says Trump administration’s decision to quit Paris climate agreement means EU must show leadership on issue Tackling climate change will be one of the central tasks of the upcoming Hamburg G20 summit of the world’s largest economies, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said on Thursday, following the US withdrawal from the Paris climate […]