Australia's coal seam gas emissions may be vastly underestimated – report
Report says industry’s true carbon emissions could easily amount to twice the emissions Australia promised to cut by 2030 The coal-seam-gas industry could be vastly underestimating its emissions, jeopardising Australia’s commitments made at Paris and swamping any benefits gas has over coal, according to a landmark report by the Melbourne Energy Institute, commissioned by the […]
US funding new soldiers in wildlife trafficking war: giant rats
Elite rat team to begin by spotting illegal shipments of pangolins, the world’s most trafficked animal, at ports in Tanzania The US government will fund the training of a team of giant rats to combat illegal wildlife trafficking in Africa. An elite group of African giant pouched rats will be used at ports, initially in […]
Zac Goldsmith to resign as Heathrow decision sparks Tory unrest
Boris Johnson hits out at third runway as ‘undeliverable’ with Richmond Park MP to step down after ‘catastrophic’ announcement Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith is set to resign and force a byelection in protest after the government finally gave the go-ahead to a third runway at Heathrow airport, a decision it hailed as “momentous”. The former […]
Boris Johnson: Heathrow third runway is 'undeliverable' – video
Speaking on Tuesday, Boris Johnson, the UK foreign secretary, comments on the decision to build a third runway at Heathrow and says the project is ‘undeliverable’. Johnson adds that no other world city would dream of pursuing a similar project and create more noise pollution for its its suburban residents Heathrow expansion: Zac Goldsmith to […]
Backyard battery recycling is biggest chemical polluter for poorer nations
Report finds mining, leather tanning, rubbish dumps and the dye industry among the most polluting industries harming health and causing early death The backyard recycling of lead-acid car batteries is the number one source of chemical pollution in the world’s poorer nations and leads to millions of years of healthy life being lost, according to […]
'We feel betrayed': Harmondsworth residents furious at Heathrow decision
Six years after Cameron vowed no third runway, people in village set for part-demolition angry government now backs airport’s expansion In Harmondsworth, one of the villages scheduled to be partly or wholly demolished to make way for Heathrow’s third runway, there was little shock but considerable distress and anger when the government’s decision was confirmed. […]
The banana as we know it is in imminent danger
A genetic clone, the Cavendish banana that stocks supermarket shelves could easily be wiped out by disease. Science offers hope of a sustainable approach The banana is the world’s most popular fruit crop, with over 100m metric tons produced annually in over 130 tropical and subtropical countries. Edible bananas are the result of a genetic […]
Q&A: Heathrow expansion – what happens next
Decision to build third runway has been announced but there are still obstacles to overcome before project takes flight Six years after it overturned plans to build a third runway at Heathrow, the government has announced a renewed expansion of London’s main airport. A cabinet subcommittee of ministers, excluding some notable opponents of Heathrow, met […]
Chris Grayling: Heathrow expansion the right decision for Britain – video
The transport secretary, Chris Grayling, praises the approved expansion of Heathrow airport on Tuesday. Grayling says the move shows that, following the Brexit referendum, the UK remains open for business, adding that the committee thought long and hard about the decision before settled on a third runway at Heathrow. He adds that Heathrow’s third runway […]
Dirty old town: 40% of fly-tipping takes place in London, data for England shows
The capital accounts for 40% of illegal dumping in England, with next nine largest cities recording a further 12%, according to data from Defra The only grave is Essex: how the county became London’s dumping ground Animal carcasses and armchairs, bathtubs and boilers … and more than 200,000 instances involving black bags of rubbish – […]