Big farms rake in record profits when food prices soar, while small farms struggle on razor-thin margins
‘Welfare for the rich’: how farm subsidies wrecked Europe’s landscapes
The income gap between the biggest and smallest farms in Europe has doubled in the past 15 years and hit record levels at the same time as the number of small farms has collapsed, a Guardian analysis of agricultural income data has found.
Figures from the European Commission’s Farming Accountancy Data Network (FADN) and Eurostat suggest farmers across the continent raked in record profits when the war in Ukraine sent food prices soaring, boosting a long-running trend of rising average incomes that has outstripped inflation.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
11/02/2024 - 00:00
11/01/2024 - 18:00
Bondi beach’s newest residents may look strange to human eyes, but goose barnacles are a normal part of the natural marine environment
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Goose barnacles look as strange as their name, with a long, noodle-like stalk emerging from smooth white plates. The crustacean, also known as percebes, is also extremely expensive – in Europe, where it’s enjoyed as a delicacy, a kilo might cost hundreds of dollars.
And this week, a bunch washed up at Horseshoe Bay, south of Adelaide.
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11/01/2024 - 14:10
Politicians say use of common yet toxic paraquat can’t be justified due to apparent health and environment risks
More than 50 US lawmakers are calling on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to join dozens of other countries in banning a widely used weedkiller linked to Parkinson’s disease and other health dangers.
In a 31 October letter to the agency, seven US senators said that paraquat, a weedkiller commonly applied on US farms, was a “highly toxic pesticide whose continued use cannot be justified given its harms to farmworkers and rural communities”. The call for a ban from the senators came after 47 members of the US House of Representatives sent a similar letter to the EPA calling for a ban earlier in October.
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11/01/2024 - 13:43
Researchers developed citizen science platforms as a new data source to evaluate the effectiveness of the 742 protected areas for birds across Germany. This research shows that although these areas are well placed, their effectiveness varies greatly.
11/01/2024 - 13:30
More than 200 deaths and widespread destruction in Valencia are the latest sign of danger in a warming world
The death toll from floods in Spain’s Valencia region has topped 200. A huge clean-up is under way amid desperate conditions, with severe weather warnings still in place. The storms which caused this devastation – with roads turned into muddy rivers, thousands of homes deluged and cars swept into piles – were unprecedented. The gota fría, or “cold drop”, is a regular occurrence when cold autumnal air moves over the warm Mediterranean, causing dense clouds to form. But this rain, according to the Spanish weather service, was 10 times stronger than a normal downpour.
Extreme weather in Spain, and the rest of southern Europe, is more commonly understood to mean dangerous heat, drought and wildfires. The regional government is under attack regarding the lack of sufficient warnings and there is no doubt that the severity of these floods came as a terrible shock.
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11/01/2024 - 09:35
US Green party leader urged to withdraw from presidential race to prevent Donald Trump victory
US elections 2024 – live updates
A coalition of European Greens have urged the US Green party’s nominee, Jill Stein, to pull out of next week’s election and endorse Kamala Harris to stop Donald Trump from becoming president.
Green parties in 16 European countries from Portugal to Ukraine distanced themselves from their US counterparts in a statement on Friday, and called for Stein to withdraw from the race.
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‘Very bad precedent’: China and Russia team up to undermine krill fishing restrictions in Antarctica
11/01/2024 - 09:00
Conservationists warn actions and ambitions of two super powers could lead to overexploitation of vital food source for whales, penguins and seals
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China and Russia are working together to block new Antarctic marine parks and loosen krill fishing restrictions, undermining a major international convention designed to protect the region from overexploitation, according to analysts and conservationists.
With the support of Russia, China reportedly used its veto rights at a meeting of the 26-nation Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) in Tasmania to prevent the renewal of an agreement restricting krill fishing.
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11/01/2024 - 08:39
More than 200 people have died in Valencia and neighbouring provinces after floods hit the east of Spain. According to the country’s national weather agency, Valencia received a year’s-worth of rain on 29 October, causing flash floods that destroyed homes and swept away vehicles
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11/01/2024 - 06:45
As air pollution hits toxic levels, one proposal is to introduce a ‘smog diplomacy’ initiative between Pakistan and India
As the smog descended over Lahore, people began to feel the familiar symptoms. First came the scratchy throat and burning eyes, then the dizziness, tightness in the chest and the dry racking cough.
“It’s become a physical ordeal just to go outdoors,” said Jawaria, 28, a master’s student living in the Pakistani city.
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11/01/2024 - 06:00
As leaders gather in Colombia for the global Cop16 nature summit, photographer Dougie Wallace captures the Indigenous Arhuaco, who are deeply involved in protecting the country’s biodiversity – and who have produced the region’s first Indigenous film-maker
The Arhuaco live in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta on the Caribbean coast, which they consider the heart of the world. They are so respected that in recent years it has become tradition for each new Colombian president to be sworn in twice: once in the capital, Bogotá, and once in the Sierra with the Arhuaco.
The Sierra, the highest tropical coastal mountain range in the world, is a biodiversity hotspot, in urgent need of safeguarding. This year, the Arhuaco, who are key to its protection, have been awarded the UN Development Programme’s Equator prize for rewilding and agroforestry for their work.
Well-organised and very effective rewilders, the Arhuaco have been awarded a UN prize for their work for the environment
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