Environment news

• Recycling rate falls in UK as just 44% of household waste is recycled

  26-09-2024 15:31 via theguardian.com
  
  England’s recycling rate decreased in 2022 as rest of UK improved but country still lags behind EuropeJust 44% of UK household waste is being recycled, government statistics show, as the recycling rate in England is going down instead of improving.The UK recycling rate for waste from households was 44.1% in 2022, the latest year the government had data for, down from 44.6% in 2021. Continue reading...
  
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• America’s first ‘carbon positive’ hotel comes to Denver – but do its climate claims stack up?

  26-09-2024 14:00 via theguardian.com
  The stylish Populus hotel boasts eco-friendly construction and tree planting for every guest. Is this the hospitality of the future – or hot air?Travelers to Denver, Colorado, will soon have the opportunity to spend the night in what promises to be “the first carbon positive hotel in America”. So say the creators behind Populus, a new 265-room, stylish, yet climate-conscious luxury hotel in the heart of the city.Set to open in mid-October, the building is a striking addition to
  
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• Revealed: how the fossil fuel industry helps spread anti-protest laws across the US

  26-09-2024 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Lobbyists and lawmakers have coordinated to enact new laws that increase criminal penalties for peaceful protestsFossil fuel lobbyists coordinated with lawmakers behind the scenes and across state lines to push and shape laws that are escalating a crackdown on peaceful protests against oil and gas expansion, a new Guardian investigation reveals.Records obtained by the Guardian show that lobbyists working for major North American oil and gas companies were key architects of anti-protest laws that
  
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• Great news, everybody! We’re about to be over-run by giant spiders | Nell Frizzell

  26-09-2024 12:00 via theguardian.com
  It’s that time of year when homes fill with hairy eight-legged monsters. At least they keep the flies under control …It is giant spider season and I am delighted. As someone who is ravaged by flying insects all summer, I welcome these eight-legged death machines into my home with open arms. Speckle-backed Tegeneria? Be my guest! I would far rather something that looks like an animated tomato stalk occasionally scuttled across my curtain than be beset by a swarm of fruit flies,
  
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• Great news, everybody! We’re about to be over-run by giant spiders

  26-09-2024 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  It’s that time of year when homes fill with hairy eight-legged monsters. At least they keep the flies under control …It is giant spider season and I am delighted. As someone who is ravaged by flying insects all summer, I welcome these eight-legged death machines into my home with open arms. Speckle-backed Tegeneria? Be my guest! I would far rather something that looks like an animated tomato stalk occasionally scuttled across my curtain than be beset by a swarm of fruit flies,
  
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• Britain’s tropical rain and parched Amazon are new norms in a messed-up climate | Jonathan Watts

  26-09-2024 11:57 via theguardian.com
  
  On my return to the UK from Brazil I’ve seen how northern latitudes are behaving like the equatorial marginsReturning to British suburbia from the Brazilian Amazon is always disconcerting, but it has been doubly weird in the past few days because the London commuter belt has been inundated with volumes of rain that normally belong in the tropics.Mini-tornadoes, flash floods and the dumping of a month’s worth of rain in a single day have flooded transport hubs, high street pubs, and t
  
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• Comedy wildlife photography awards 2024 – in pictures

  26-09-2024 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Loved-up brown bears and whispering raccoons feature in this light-hearted look at a selection of finalists from the Nikon Comedy Wildlife awards. A winner will be announced on 10 December Continue reading...
  
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• ‘You could single-handedly push it to extinction’: how social media is putting our rarest wildlife at risk

  26-09-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  From breeding spots overrun by visitors to photographers disturbing endangered species, experts say the rarer the find is, the bigger the problemWith its impressive size, striking plumage and rowdy displays, sighting a capercaillie is many birders’ dream. Only about 530 of the large woodland grouse survive in the wild, most in Scotland’s Cairngorms national park.But in recent years, those tasked with saving the species from extinction have had to walk a line between calling attention
  
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• Why corn ethanol is worse for the climate than petrol

  26-09-2024 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Ethanol made from maize has been touted as a green fuel, but a closer look at its production puts paid to this claimEthanol made from corn was touted as a clean, renewable fuel for vehicles. Because the maize plants absorb carbon dioxide as they grow they were deemed environmentally friendly, and this is now big business in the US where billions of gallons of ethanol are blended into nearly all petrol supplies.The problem is that actually ethanol is worse for the climate than petrol. Growing mai
  
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• UK will need to double nature protection funding to meet targets, new data shows

  26-09-2024 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Carbon Brief says more than £800m will need to be spent in each of the next two yearsThe UK government has been failing to meet its commitments to fund nature protection in the developing world, and will need to double current spending to meet the targets, new data has shown.Underspending on overseas climate aid by the previous Conservative government has meant spending averaged £450m a year for the three full years since 2021 – less than half the £3bn that was pledged fo
  
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• The Life at Sea 2024 photography awards: a rare glimpse into the highs and lows of seafaring

  26-09-2024 07:00 via theguardian.com
  The lives of seafarers are rarely documented, as working at sea by its very nature can be a lonely and isolating existence. The seafarers’ photography competition, run by the ITF Seafarers’ Trust, offers a glimpse into a largely unseen world; the hard labour, the camaraderie, the enormity of the structures that stand as workplaces, and even the occasional beauty of working on ships. The annual competition, which started during the pandemic, tracks the consistent issues faced by seafa
  
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• Oil pollution in UK waters far worse than reported, says conservation group

  26-09-2024 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  ‘Opaque’ recording system means recorded volume of everyday oil pollution over the past decade should be increased by 43%, according to Oceana reportThe true extent of oil pollution released into UK waters by the fossil fuel industry has been “significantly underestimated” and it is putting marine wildlife at risk, according to a report released today.The conservation group Oceana said chronic oiling, defined as frequent, small scale releases, into the North Sea was much
  
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• Flying high: Kew botanists and paramotorists survey rare plants in Peru

  26-09-2024 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Soaring with an engine strapped to your back is faster than walking and more environmentally friendly than a 4x4Botanists are partnering with flying paramotorists to survey rare vegetation in one of the most fragile and inaccessible landscapes in the world.Paramotoring is a slightly eccentric way of getting around, but with a small engine strapped to their back and suspended from a paraglider, paramotorists can travel faster than walking, in a way that is far more environmentally friendly than h
  
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• RSPCA launches review of its farm animal welfare scheme

  26-09-2024 02:17 via bbc.com
  
  More than 200 farms are inspected amid concerns an animal welfare certification scheme is failing.
  
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