Environment news

• Dumping 15m tonnes of salt at Queensland creek 'considerable' risk to water

  30-09-2018 20:00 via theguardian.com
  Study concludes considerable likelihood waste from coal seam gas operations could contaminate Stockyard Creek in headwaters of Murray-Darling BasinPlans to dump up to 15m tonnes of salt and other waste near a creek in drought-stricken Queensland carry a “considerable” risk of water contamination, a new study has found.Approved plans to expand a dump near the town of Chinchilla allow salt waste from coal seam gas operations to be stored fewer than 100 metres from Stockyard Creek, in t
  
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• Climate change and the true cost of economic growth | Letters

  30-09-2018 19:45 via theguardian.com
  Readers respond to George Monbiot’s request to start a conversation about the links between climate breakdown and consumerismIf George Monbiot really wants to get people talking about the connection between climate change and the economy, he’d do better to find a different question to “how do we stop growth?” (While growth continues we’ll never kick our fossil fuel habit, 26 September).The elephant in the room is the assumption that nature’s resources and capa
  
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• The Guardian view on climate policy failures: don’t give up | Editorial

  30-09-2018 19:37 via theguardian.com
  News that governments are not meeting targets is alarming, but the actions of activists are a reason to hopeThe world is failing to combat the threat of climate change. Global carbon dioxide emissions from coal, oil and gas increased by 1.6% in 2017, after three years when they rose little or not at all. Demand for oil is increasing by around 1.5% a year. Last week one of the authors of a key United Nations climate report warned that governments are “nowhere near on track” to meeting
  
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• Secret filming reveals hidden cruelty of licensed badger culls

  30-09-2018 11:00 via theguardian.com
  ‘Brutal slaughter’ will cost £1,000 per animal, claim campaigners, as government defends battle to beat bovine TBTrapped in a cage and shot at close range, the badger takes almost a minute to die. Covert footage published online by the Observer, the first to be shared publicly, shows the main method of dispatching Britain’s largest indigenous carnivore as part of a controversial cull now being expanded by the environment secretary, Michael Gove, which farmers insist is vi
  
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• London air pollution is poisoning my son, says campaigner

  30-09-2018 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Father asks why politicians are not acting on child health crisis caused by illegal toxin levelsFor David Smith, the final straw came as he was standing at the bus stop near his home in south London with his two-year-old son Ely.He had become increasingly aware of the damage pollution was doing to young people’s health since the birth of his two youngest children. And when the gridlocked traffic edged forward and a lorry pulled up a metre from Ely, something snapped. Continue reading...
  
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• PM claims Australia will meet Paris target 'in a canter' despite emissions climbing

  30-09-2018 05:38 via theguardian.com
  Morrison says rate of increase not as high as previous years and renewables investment will ensure Australia meets commitment Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions have continued to rise, but Scott Morrison seized on the silver lining, maintaining Australia would meet its Paris commitment, despite the government having no legislated instrument to help it get there.Figures released on Fridayshowed Australia’s emissions increased 1.3% in the year to March 2018, up all sectors – ex
  
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