Environment news

• Louisiana residents relieved worst of Hurricane Francine is over: ‘It was a surprise’

  12-09-2024 21:51 via theguardian.com
  
  While the category 2 storm was ‘worse than expected’, locals are grateful damage didn’t exceed Hurricane IdaAs Hurricane Francine churned offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, Danielle Morris, a resident of the city of Dulac out in the swampy Louisiana coast, made a crucial decision.“We’re crazy and we’re staying,” she said, speaking by phone before the hurricane hit, as she stocked up on gasoline for the family’s generator. Some might agree with her jud
  
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• Louisiana residents breathe a sigh of relief as Hurricane Francine recedes

  12-09-2024 21:51 via theguardian.com
  Storm did not cause large-scale damage or loss of life, but ferocity of winds and rain raises fears for the futureAs Hurricane Francine churned offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, Danielle Morris, a resident of the village of Dulac out in the swampy Louisiana coast, made a tough call.“We’re crazy and we’re staying,” she said, speaking by phone before the hurricane hit, as she stocked up on gasoline for the family’s generator. Some might agree with her judgment of her ow
  
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• Mystery tremors were from massive nine-day tsunami

  12-09-2024 20:17 via bbc.com
  
  Scientists launched an investigation after being baffled by seismic signals picked up across the world
  
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• Entire Earth vibrated for nine days after climate-triggered mega-tsunami

  12-09-2024 20:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Landslide in Greenland caused unprecedented seismic event that shows impact of global heating, say scientistsA landslide and mega-tsunami in Greenland in September 2023, triggered by the climate crisis, caused the entire Earth to vibrate for nine days, a scientific investigation has found.The seismic event was detected by earthquake sensors around the world but was so completely unprecedented that the researchers initially had no idea what had caused it. Having now solved the mystery, the scient
  
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• Billionaire completes first private spacewalk

  12-09-2024 17:01 via bbc.com
  
  A billionaire and an engineer have become the first non-professional crew to perform a spacewalk.
  
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• ‘Waste has value’: how surfing helps Colombia solve its plastic problem

  12-09-2024 13:00 via theguardian.com
  The Amigos del Mar has found a way to help Tierra Bomba island clean up its beaches – and get children back to schoolAs the morning sun beats down on the Caribbean island of Tierra Bomba in Colombia, a group of schoolchildren heads towards the beach, with two carrying surfboards over their heads. The children, many of whom are barefoot, meander through the town, also called Tierra Bomba, down unkempt and littered dirt roads, past colourful tin-roofed homes and makeshift clotheslines.As the
  
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• Out of 1,500 global climate policies, only 63 have really worked. That’s where green spin has got us | George Monbiot

  12-09-2024 09:00 via theguardian.com
  Grand schemes, many backed by governments, masquerade as positive action on the environment. They should be disownedLet’s talk about perceptionware. Perceptionware is technology whose main purpose is to create an impression of action. Whether it will ever work at scale is less important, in some cases entirely beside the point. If it reassures the public and persuades government not to regulate damaging industries, that’s mission accomplished.Managing perceptions is an expensive busi
  
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• ‘I’ll have them with hot sauce’: should vegans eat oysters?

  12-09-2024 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Bivalve veganism is built on the philosophy that molluscs such as mussels and oysters feel no pain. But some say the scientific jury is still outAlex Karol is fantasising about the next time she gets to slurp up some freshly shucked oysters. “I’ll have them with lemon juice, shallots, and a couple of drops of hot sauce. Sometimes, I have a couple with a splash of vodka,” says the London- and Toronto-based publicist. Cost curbs her craving for oysters to one meal a month, and so
  
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• Beware the great green deception: 'perceptionware' is being used to hoodwink us | George Monbiot

  12-09-2024 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Grand schemes, many backed by government, masquerade as taking action on the environment. They should be disownedLet’s talk about perceptionware. Perceptionware is technology whose main purpose is to create an impression of action. Whether it will ever work at scale is less important, in some cases entirely beside the point. If it reassures the public and persuades government not to regulate damaging industries, that’s mission accomplished.Managing perceptions is an expensive busines
  
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• Weatherwatch: how winds of war kept England from going Viking

  12-09-2024 07:00 via theguardian.com
  William of Normandy was so desperate for a favourable breeze in 1066 he had saintly relics presented to his troopsModern sailing yachts can make way upwind, but old square-rigged vessels could only sail in the general direction the wind was blowing. When Duke William of Normandy assembled his invasion fleet in 1066, he prayed for a favourable breeze.William’s force had been gathered at Dives in northern France since July. By early September the winds were still not ideal, but the invasion
  
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• Country diary: A forgotten church that’s being returned to the earth | Alexandra Pearce-Broomhead

  12-09-2024 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Merther, Cornwall: For centuries, a small local population worshipped at St Cohan’s. Now it’s the ivy and thistles, ferns and avens that take their nourishment hereIn the hamlet of Merther, nature is concealing a secret. Wrapped in robes of ivy and traveller’s joy, the ruins of a 14th-century church are hidden among a small copse. Little remains of the original building; the crumbling outer walls have been slowly succumbing to wildlife ever since the church closed 80-odd y
  
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• The hell and horror of cow attacks: ‘I told my husband to leave me to die’

  12-09-2024 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Cattle are the most common cause of death in the UK farming industry – with some figures suggesting cows kill more people than dogs. So what can you do if the herd approaches?“I remember feeling I was about to die,” says Jill Gilmore. She and her husband, Mark, were walking their dog, Finnegan, in the Stockport area and had just climbed over a stile on a public footpath. Jill was slightly ahead, with Finnegan on a short lead, when a group of cows appeared. “It was just in
  
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• Europe saved its predators from the brink of extinction. So why is it killing thousands of bears, wolves and lynx?

  12-09-2024 06:00 via theguardian.com
  With Sweden issuing permits to kill a fifth of its bears, and Romanian MPs voting to double its quota, and the debate over hunting season has become a political issueThe forest was unnaturally still when Soňa Chovanová Supeková first picked up the bear’s scent. It was roe deer rutting season in southern Slovakia, and the hills below the Carpathian mountains were busy with tourists biking and foraging for mushrooms. Fellow hunters who had come face to face with bears had
  
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• Consumerism and the climate crisis threaten equitable future for humanity, report says

  12-09-2024 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The Earth Commission says hope lies in sustainable lifestyles, a radical transformation of global politics and fair distribution of resourcesAll of humanity could share a prosperous, equitable future but the space for development is rapidly shrinking under pressure from a wealthy minority of ultra-consumers, a groundbreaking study has shown.Growing environmental degradation and climate instability have pushed the Earth beyond a series of safe planetary boundaries, say the authors from the Earth
  
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• National parkland in public hands 'would help nature'

  12-09-2024 02:05 via bbc.com
  
  Campaigners call for national parks to be given new powers to buy private land and protect habitats.
  
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• Don’t eat up the claim, peddled by the Coalition and conservative media, that greenies are ‘coming for your steak’ | Temperature Check

  12-09-2024 02:00 via theguardian.com
  Climate Change Authority’s report didn’t even contain a recommendations section, let alone a command to eat less red meatGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe notion that “greenies” are coming for the Aussie barbecue and want to rip that eye-fillet from your cold dead hands is a recurring culture war flash point for many conservatives.Last week came a flood of media stories and furious commentary that claimed the government’s Climate Change
  
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