Environment news

The Guardian view on microplastics: harmful pollution must be curbed | Editorial

16-03-2025 18:25 via theguardian.com

New evidence of particles damaging crops strengthens the case for an international plastics treatyNew and concerning findings from environmental scientists about the impact of microplastics on crops and marine algae add to a growing body of evidence about the disruption caused to living systems by plastic pollution. The results, from a team led by Prof Huan Zhong at Nanjing University, China, are not definitive and require corroboration. But analysis showing that plastics could limit photosynthe

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Friends with benefits: Gina Rinehart and Peter Dutton’s ideological love-in

16-03-2025 15:00 via theguardian.com

Since Dutton became opposition leader, the billionaire mining magnate has cultivated their bond. We look back at their increasingly close relationshipListen to a teaser of our new narrative podcast series GinaThe buzz from Gina Rinehart’s 70th birthday party was reportedly “so spectacular” that it drifted across the Swan River from the mining magnate’s Perth home, catching the attention of people more than a kilometre away.Four hundred guests, mostly employees, had gather

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Underwater ‘doorbell’ helps scientists catch coral-eating fish in Florida

16-03-2025 14:00 via theguardian.com

Researchers use innovative cameras to identify fish species hindering coral reef restorationMarine scientists in Florida working to help reverse a calamitous decades-long decline in coral reefs caught fishy “porch pirates” in the act with an innovative underwater doorbell-style surveillance camera.The footage showed that three corallivorous species – redband parrotfish, foureye butterflyfish and stoplight parrotfish – were responsible for eating more than 97% of coral lai

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Loved by rockers and royals, Eel Pie Island is threatened by tide of red tape

16-03-2025 12:00 via theguardian.com

Changes in flood status raise fears for the future of the island where the Rolling Stones and David Bowie playedFrom Henry VIII to the Rolling Stones, Eel Pie Island has drawn people for centuries, curious about what life is like on a small patch of ground surrounded by the River Thames.Yet the 100 or so people who live and work on the island believe their unique community is now under threat from the casual stroke of a bureaucratic pen. Continue reading...

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The life of the lonesome cowboy, 1978

16-03-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com

The enduring romance of the Wild West was one thing, the tough conditions faced by ranchers quite anotherThe life of the lonesome cowboy out West is a fantasy for others living in their ‘urban Levi-lands of blue denim,’ writes Alan Road in the Observer Magazine of 29 January 1978. They long for ‘the freedom of the ranch’ and eye up the cattlemen and ranch hands of Western Canada, dressed in stetson and ‘sweat-stained shirt, jeans, boots, spurs and leather chaps&rsqu

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