Environment news

• Degradation of land is threat to human life, Saudi government says

  04-11-2024 16:30
  
  Deputy environment minister calls for urgent action as Riyadh prepares for global summit on issue next monthThe degradation of the world’s soils and landscapes is threatening human life, and must be addressed as a matter of urgency, the government of Saudi Arabia has said.Neglect of the land is wiping trillions of dollars from global economies, hampering agricultural production, disrupting water supplies, threatening children with poor nutrition, and destroying vital ecosystems, according
  
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• Climate crisis leaves European farmers vulnerable to far right, say campaigners

  04-11-2024 16:00
  Populist groups capitalising on costly environmental policies that affect farmers by offering them supportWhat are farmers in the EU required to do to protect the environment?The painful impacts of the climate crisis and globalisation have left farmers in Europe marginalised and vulnerable to populist politicians, warn anti-racism campaigners and academics.They argue that if the transition to a low-carbon economy is not properly funded, planned and equitable, it risks fuelling a resurgence of th
  
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• Edinburgh activists target SUVs in solidarity with Spain’s flood victims

  04-11-2024 15:09
  
  Tyre Extinguishers group stencils ‘These cars kill Valencians’ on 4x4s in city to highlight SUVs’ role in climate crisisClimate activists in Scotland have carried out a series of actions against SUV cars, saying they are acting in solidarity with the victims of the Valencia floods.The Tyre Extinguishers have called on their supporters to take actions against SUV cars in their areas, after members of the group in Edinburgh stencilled the sides of targeted vehicles on Sunday nigh
  
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• We are all leeches now, trying to work out what is walking towards us | Helen Sullivan

  04-11-2024 15:00
  
  One sucker is precariously attached to some flimsy reality – a wet leaf, a slippery rock – the other one pointed at the futureImagine if your Wikipedia page described you as a “segmented or parasitic worm” with “two head segments” and “suckers at both ends”. You might turn to the Bible, instead – here is the Book of Proverbs on leeches: “The horseleech hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfi
  
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• Why did so many die in Spain? Because Europe still hasn't accepted the realities of extreme weather | Friederike Otto

  04-11-2024 12:48
  
  Severe flooding is, unfortunately, inevitable. What isn’t inevitable is how ready we are, from early warning systems to emergency servicesFriederike Otto is a climatologist and co-founder of World Weather AttributionAt the time of writing, the death toll has risen to 214. Battered cars and other debris are piled up in the streets, large swaths of Valencia remain underwater, and Spain is in mourning. On Sunday, anger erupted as the king and queen of Spain were pelted with mud and other obje
  
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• Trump donor fined for pollution leads a fight to end methane emission penalties

  04-11-2024 12:00
  
  Detailed plans from 30 oil and gas producers come amid historic levels of potent planet-heating emissionsA powerful US oil and gas industry lobby group has drawn up detailed plans to kill off penalties for emitting methane, a potent planet-heating gas that’s increasing at the fastest rate in decades, with this effort led by a major donor to Donald Trump whose company has just been fined for methane pollution.Leaked internal documents from the American Exploration & Production Council (
  
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• Decontamination of landfill waste leads to increase in toxic chemicals, says study

  04-11-2024 10:36
  
  Exclusive: Researchers find treatment plants designed to clean up leachate liquid waste boost levels of banned PFASProcesses intended to decontaminate noxious liquid landfill waste before it enters rivers and sewers have been found to increase the levels of some of the worst toxic chemicals, a study has shown.Landfills are well known to be a main source of PFAS forever chemicals – or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – but the new study shows that the treatment plants designed to c
  
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• ‘Two sides of the same coin’: governments stress links between climate and nature collapse

  04-11-2024 07:00
  
  Representatives at the Cop16 summit in Colombia negotiated against a backdrop of extreme weather and ecosystem collapseAs world leaders gathered in Colombia this week, they also watched for news from home, where many of the headlines carried the catastrophic consequences of ecological breakdown. Across the Amazon rainforest and Brazil’s enormous wetlands, relentless fires had burned more than 22m hectares (55m acres). In Spain, the death toll in communities devastated by flooding passed 20
  
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• Gridlock: why it can take 11 years to connect solar farms to the UK network

  04-11-2024 07:00
  
  Companies are waiting up to 14 years for connections, leading some to revise net zero targetsOn the south bank of the Mersey, Britain’s first factory dedicated to manufacturing electric vehicles may one day be powered exclusively by wind and solar farms.Stellantis, the European carmaker that owns the Ellesmere Port site, has begun work to fit four megawatts (MW) of solar power capacity across 500 sq metres (5,400 sq ft) of its rooftop space, enough to power the equivalent of 8,000 homes. C
  
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• Country diary: I’m too late for the sweet chestnuts this year | John Gilbey

  04-11-2024 06:30
  
  Rhydyfelin, Ceredigion: On another warm autumn day before the grey blur of winter, I find that the September gales denied me my seasonal nutty snackA mature sweet chestnut tree stands by the path at the field edge. As I pass, boat-shaped leaves ease downwards through the still air, landing on me with a surprising impact. In this sheltered, west‑facing spot the tree has prospered, but this year I have arrived too late to enjoy the plump astringent nuts that fall in groups from spiked cases.
  
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