Environment news

• Fly-tippers’ vehicles to be crushed in bid to save England from ‘avalanche of rubbish’

  29-04-2025 23:30
  The scheme, part of policy blitz for local elections, will encourage councils and police forces to work togetherCouncils will be encouraged to work with police forces to seize and crush vehicles used by fly-tippers, in the latest phase of a government policy blitz before Thursday’s local elections.Under a scheme being led by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), new legislation will impose jail sentences of up to five years for people who illicitly transport waste
  
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• ‘Chipmunks were obsessed with my mics’: the man who recorded a tree for a year

  29-04-2025 16:12
  Joshua Bonnetta spent 8,760 hours recording a pine – then honed it down into a four-hour album full of creatures, cracking branches and quite possibly the sound of leaves growingWhat does a landscape sound like when it’s not being listened to? This philosophical question was a catalyst for film-maker and artist Joshua Bonnetta, who has distilled a year of recordings from a single tree in upstate New York – that’s 8,760 hours – into a four-hour album, The Pines. As R
  
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• What caused the blackout in Spain and Portugal and did renewable energy play a part?

  29-04-2025 15:56
  The countries boast high levels of wind and solar on their grids, leading to speculation about the robustness of the technologyEurope live – latest updatesPedro Sánchez vows to find the cause of huge power cut in Spain and PortugalSpain and Portugal suffered the worst blackout in living memory in Europe this week. About 55 million people were affected and it lasted more than half a day. Some have blamed renewables and net zero emissions targets, as the two countries boast high level
  
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• Climate plan based on phasing out fossil fuels doomed to fail, says Tony Blair

  29-04-2025 15:42
  Former PM claims net zero policies losing public support and says there should be greater focus on carbon captureUK politics live – latest updatesTony Blair has warned that any strategy based on phasing out fossil fuels in the short term or limiting consumption is doomed to fail.Calling for a reset of action on climate change, the former prime minister suggested the UK government should focus less on renewables and more on technological solutions such as carbon capture. Continue reading...
  
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• Why effects of Michigan’s ice storm will linger for months, perhaps years

  29-04-2025 14:00
  
  Climate experts say warming atmosphere from climate change could fuel severe freezing rain and ice storms like the one that hit the upper midwest last month Winter has been slow to release its icy grip from the upper midwest this year, and in northern Michigan, its effects will be keenly felt for months, perhaps years.A devastating ice storm that hit late last month has left an estimated 3m acres of trees snapped in half or damaged from the weight of up to an inch-and-a-half of ice across the no
  
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• The satellite that will 'weigh' world's 1.5 trillion trees

  29-04-2025 12:27 via bbc.com
  The new satellite will be able to see through clouds and forest canopies.
  
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• ‘You sold it – now recycle it’: the protesters mailing worn-out clothes to the shops they bought them from

  29-04-2025 12:00
  
  Charity shops won’t take them. Councils incinerate them. Retailers dump them on the global south. We’re running out of ideas on how to deal with our used clothes – and the rag mountain just keeps growingIn February, a threadbare polycotton bedsheet landed on the desk of Simon Roberts, CEO of Sainsbury’s. A “protest by post”, it had been sent by the Sheffield-based designer, maker and eco activist Wendy Ward. “I purchased this from Sainsbury’s at le
  
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• ‘Last chance for humanity’: the cold reality of monitoring global heating on a glacier

  29-04-2025 11:00
  
  Scientists on Union glacier in Antarctica fear the region is reaching a dangerous tipping point• Words and photographs by James Whitlow DelanoEvery time Dr Ricardo Jaña crosses the turbulent seas that separate Chile from Antarctica, it feels like his first time. The glaciologist at the Chilean Antarctic Institute (Inach) has sailed each year for 12 years through the Drake Passage, where the prevailing westerly winds, unimpeded by any land mass, raise the waters in chaotic waves that
  
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• Labour to press on with pylons as study shows underground cables more costly

  29-04-2025 09:20
  
  IET report says running cables below ground about four and a half times more expensive than overhead linesLabour has vowed to press ahead with its plans to build more pylons across England and Wales, a subject of local political division, as a new report says underground electricity cables are more than four times more expensive than overhead lines.Pylons have become one of the key electoral issues in a number of counties including Lincolnshire, which is a local election battleground this week.
  
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• The poop scoop: is bagging it really the best solution?

  29-04-2025 08:00
  
  1,000 tonnes of dog waste hits the ground daily in the UK – how can we reduce its environmental impact? Scientists weigh up the best options, from flicking it into the undergrowth to reusing newspapersWhen Laura Young got Cooper the cavapoo in 2020, she knew that single-use plastic poo bags weren’t going to cut it. “Having a dog is a lifestyle extra,” says the 28-year-old environmental scientist. “I was aware that I wanted to try not having a negative environmental
  
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• ‘Source of data’: are electric cars vulnerable to cyber spies and hackers?

  29-04-2025 07:00
  
  British defence firms have reportedly warned staff not to connect their phones to Chinese-made EVsMobile phones and desktop computers are longstanding targets for cyber spies – but how vulnerable are electric cars?On Monday the i newspaper claimed that British defence firms working for the UK government have warned staff against connecting or pairing their phones with Chinese-made electric cars, due to fears that Beijing could extract sensitive data from the devices. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘It’s an existential moment’: Greens take on Reform in fight for fed-up voters

  29-04-2025 07:00
  
  Party hopes ‘green patriotism’ will help it win seats in true-blue areas such as Wiltshire in this week’s local elections With its thatched cottages and patchwork fields, Wiltshire is a traditional true-blue Tory heartland; its county council is always dominated by Conservatives.But this week, the Greens think they stand a good chance of winning their first seats on the council because people are so fed up with the main parties. Continue reading...
  
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