Record El Niño set to cause hunger for 10 million poorest, Oxfam warns
Charity says countries already facing a ‘major emergency’ include Ethiopia, where 4.5 million people need food aid because of scarcity of rain this year At least 10 million of the world’s poorest people are set to go hungry this year because of failing crops caused by one of the strongest El Niño climatic events on […]
World's energy systems at risk from global warming, say leading firms
Energy grids, power stations and distribution networks are vulnerable to storms, flooding and heatwaves caused by climate change, say World Energy Council The world’s energy infrastructure is at risk from the extreme weather expected to result from climate change, a group of prominent energy companies has warned. Energy systems, including fossil fuel power stations, distribution […]
Mining and oil threatens one in three natural world heritage sites — report
WWF finds 31% world heritage sites at risk from fossil fuel exploration and mining, including Great Barrier Reef and Africa’s oldest national park Nearly one in three natural world heritage sites are at risk of exploration for fossil fuels and mining, a report from the conservation charity WWF has found. The record high of 31% […]
Five million hectares around Uluru declared an Indigenous protected area
Government funding will allow the Anangu people to protect sacred sites, native plants and animals around the Uluru-Kata Tjuta national park Five million hectares (12.35m acres) of land around Uluru in the Northern Territory is to be declared an Indigenous protected area, allowing traditional owners to better preserve sites of cultural significance. Related: Uluru’s secrets […]
Questions over Direct Action as Greg Hunt reveals Paris target needs industrial emissions cut
Experts doubt environment minister’s assumption that ‘safeguards’ mechanism can deliver cuts required to meet Australia’s emissions reduction target Australia is calculating that its big industrial emitters will be forced to reduce greenhouse pollution by 200m tonnes between 2020 and 2030, an assumption experts say will require major changes to the Direct Action policy which is […]
Zoo visitor claims she was bitten by spider
Elsa Fricker says she has had fever, dizziness and migraines since visiting In With the Spiders but London Zoo says species are docile and unlikely to bite London zoo is investigating claims by a woman who believes she was bitten by a spider while visiting a new exhibition designed to bring visitors face to face […]
Outdoor apparel brand United By Blue takes charge in ocean cleanup effort
Active lifestyle brands are organizing to protect the environment they rely on. This month, a small Philadelphia-based apparel company picked up 250,000lb of waste On a late Saturday morning earlier this month, hundreds of people gathered under a navy blue tent at Brandywine Creek in Wilmington, Delaware, in preparation to pick up trash. Philadelphia-based outdoor […]
Jeremy Corbyn prefers mushroom curries to clouds – thank goodness | Lucy Mangan
Even talking about nuclear weapons brings us uncomfortably close to a nightmare too awful to contemplate From the age of five until 10 I lay awake every night frozen in terror by the thought of the four-minute warning going off when I was at school, which I knew to be at least a five minute […]
Lord Drayson launches pollution sensor powered by radio waves
Businessman and Labour party donor’s FreeVolt project uses ambient wireless and mobile network waves to power CleanSpace tag for app designed for cyclists and pedestrians Lord Drayson, the millionaire businessman, Labour party donor and former science minister, has released a pollution monitor that he hopes will drive efforts to improve air quality around the world. […]
Weatherland by Alexandra Harris review – are seasons and colours the same for all readers?
How does the weather affect us? This is a splendid history of writers’ and painters’ reflections on the wind, rain and sun I learned this poem by Christina Rossetti when I was a very small child. I thought about it a lot. It was maybe my first thinking about weather in general. The wind was a […]