‘We’re not going home’: inside the North Dakota oil pipeline protest – video
There is a battle under way near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, over plans for a multibillion-dollar oil pipeline. The North Dakota Access pipeline will run just outside the formal boundary of the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, and tribal members fear it will pollute local drinking water and disturb sacred sites Faces of the North Dakota […]
New York governor sparks anger after killing threatened shark
Conservationists criticise Andrew Cuomo after he tweets photos of himself next to thresher shark caught during fishing trip The New York state governor, Andrew Cuomo, and his news anchor brother Chris have been criticised by conservationists and constituents after posing beside a threatened shark they killed on a fishing trip. The governor tweeted two photos […]
UK government could approve Hinkley Point but delay Essex project
Decision on the Bradwell reactor could be stalled to allow a discussion about security, potentially endangering deal with China The government is considering a proposal to detach development of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant from an agreement allowing China to build a reactor in Essex. The plan is one of the options under […]
The Anthropocene epoch: scientists declare dawn of human-influenced age
Experts say human impact on Earth so profound that Holocene must give way to epoch defined by nuclear tests, plastic pollution and domesticated chicken Humanity’s impact on the Earth is now so profound that a new geological epoch – the Anthropocene – needs to be declared, according to an official expert group who presented the […]
The Anthropocene epoch could inaugurate even more marvellous eras of evolution | Martin Rees
The darkest prognosis is that bio, cyber or environmental catastrophes could foreclose humanity’s potential. But there is an optimistic option On Christmas Eve 1968, the Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders took a photograph of the view outside the window as his spaceship orbited the moon. The now iconic Earthrise image shows our half-moon blue planet […]
World first for Shetlands in tidal power breakthrough
Nova Innovation deploys first fully operational array of tidal power turbines in the Bluemull Sound A power company in Shetland has claimed a breakthrough in the race to develop viable offshore tidal stations after successfully feeding electricity to local homes. Nova Innovation said it had deployed the world’s first fully operational array of tidal power […]
California has urged President Obama and Congress to tax carbon pollution | Dana Nuccitelli
The California state government passed AJR 43, urging the national government to pass a revenue-neutral carbon tax Last week, the California state senate passed Assembly Joint Resolution 43, urging the federal government to pass a revenue-neutral carbon tax: WHEREAS, A national carbon tax would make the United States a leader in mitigating climate change and […]
Small tortoiseshell butterfly numbers have plummeted across UK
Conservationists fear this year’s cool spring and slow start to summer have taken their toll on one of UK’s best-loved butterflies Conservationists are warning of the decline of one of the UK’s best-loved butterflies. Numbers of the small tortoiseshell – which is one of the most recognisable and widespread in the country – appear to […]
Our message to Japan: Africa's elephants need your support
Paula Kahumbu: Elephant diplomacy is helping to get Japan on board in efforts towards a global ban on ivory trade The global coalition for a total ban on the trade in ivory is taking shape. In Africa calls for the ban are led by the 29 nation African Elephant Coalition (AEC). In the consumer countries, […]
Greg Hunt's approval of Adani's Queensland mine upheld by federal court
Former environment minister entitled to find any assessment of resulting carbon pollution on the Great Barrier Reef was ‘speculative’, court says The federal court has upheld the commonwealth approval of Adani’s Queensland mine, ruling that former environment minister Greg Hunt was entitled to find any assessment of resulting carbon pollution on the Great Barrier Reef […]