Nitrogen, phosphorus, chloride, oil and cyanide among the 371m lb of pollutants released by just 41 plants in five years
Tyson Foods dumped millions of pounds of toxic pollutants directly into American rivers and lakes over the last five years, threatening critical ecosystems, endangering wildlife and human health, a new investigation reveals.
Nitrogen, phosphorus, chloride, oil and cyanide were among the 371m lb of pollutants released into waterways by just 41 Tyson slaughterhouses and mega processing plants between 2018 and 2022.
Continue reading...
Breaking Waves: Ocean News
04/30/2024 - 05:00
04/30/2024 - 04:57
Campaigners say last-minute compromise plays into the hands of petrostates and industry influences
Campaigners are blaming developed countries for capitulating at the last minute to pressure from fossil fuel and industry lobbyists, and slowing progress towards the first global treaty to cut plastic waste.
Delegates concluded talks in Ottawa, Canada, late on Monday, with no agreement on a proposal for global reductions in the $712bn (£610bn) plastic production industry by 2040 to address twin issues of plastic waste and huge carbon emissions.
Continue reading...
04/30/2024 - 04:41
Clean Water Alliance lays out three-part strategy for action
‘Further and faster action on pollution’ needed, says group
Seven water-based sports, including British Rowing, British Triathlon and Swim England, have formed an alliance to demand the government go “further and faster” in tackling water pollution.
It comes less than a month after the Boat Race was marred by Oxford men’s crew getting sick with E Coli amid high levels of sewage in the Thames, and with concerns mounting over huge levels of sewage in Britain’s rivers, lakes and coastal waters. Last month an Environment Agency report also found that raw sewage was discharged for more than 3.6m hours into rivers and seas last year, a 105% increase on the previous 12 months.
Continue reading...
04/30/2024 - 03:16
Crossbench MPs and conservationists say clearing exemplifies failed environmental reform as endangered species like Gouldian finch face habitat destruction
Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast
The destruction of woodland habitat for hundreds of bird species, including the endangered Gouldian finch, has commenced at a popular Darwin site, prompting conservationists, crossbench MPs and residents to condemn the federal government’s failure to protect the area from a defence housing development.
As bulldozers moved into Lee Point/Binybara, which has been the focus of a long community campaign, independent and Greens MPs said the clearing was an example of Australia’s failed environmental protections and the need for urgent reform.
Continue reading...
04/29/2024 - 23:00
Guardian Seascapes reporter Karen McVeigh tells Madeleine Finlay about a recent trip to the Galápagos Islands, where mounds of plastic waste are washing up and causing problems for endemic species. Tackling this kind of waste and the overproduction of plastic were the topics on the table in Ottawa this week, as countries met to negotiate a global plastics treaty. But is progress too slow to address this pervasive problem?
Read more about Karen McVeigh’s trip to the Galápagos Islands
Follow all the reporting from the Guardian’s Seascapes team
Continue reading...
04/29/2024 - 19:27
So long as oil and gas companies remain wedded to self-interest, the push against them isn’t going away
Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast
Australia’s south-west is suffering through a historic dry stretch. Perth had the lowest rainfall on record in the six months to March, and trees in eucalyptus forests and scrubland across a 1,000 kilometre stretch are dying in shocking and spectacular fashion, with spillover effects through the ecosystems that rely on them.
The climate signal – the impact of rising atmospheric greenhouse gases, largely due to the burning of fossil fuels – in this part of the world has been clear for a while. Winter rainfall has fallen up to 20% since the 1970s in what scientists have for years described as one of the earliest examples of the climate crisis having a measurable influence.
Continue reading...
04/29/2024 - 19:19
Scientists have applied a data-driven approach to understanding firefly population dynamics on a continental scale. Key findings from this new study indicate that fireflies, part of the beetle order, are sensitive to various environmental factors, from short-term weather conditions to longer climatic trends, including the number of growing-degree days related to temperature accumulations.
04/29/2024 - 16:46
Year in, year out, there's a good chance someone in politics has suggested nuclear power as an answer to Australia's energy problems. Guardian Australia's Matilda Boseley explains why. Modern-day nuclear energy is climate friendly compared with coal and gas. But going nuclear isn't practical for Australia – and it's an idea that's more than likely coming directly from the Coalition's 'delaying action on climate change' handbook
Dutton’s blast of radioactive rhetoric on nuclear power leaves facts in the dust
Continue reading...
04/29/2024 - 13:00
Exclusive: New documents reveal government division over controversial program as data reveals death toll
Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates
Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast
More than 90% of marine animals caught in shark nets off New South Wales beaches over the summer were non-target species, with new documents revealing division within the government over the controversial program.
More than half of the 208 non-target species – such as turtles, dolphins and smaller sharks – that were caught in the nets over the past eight months were killed, data obtained by conservationists show.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup
Continue reading...
04/29/2024 - 08:23
RHS Wisley garden manager says composting at home saves money and creates habitat for hedgehogs and invertebrates
Get rid of your green waste bin if you want to make your soil more healthy and save money, a Royal Horticultural Society expert has said.
Sheila Das, a garden manager at the charity’s Wisley site, removed her garden waste bin “some years ago” in order to recycle nutrients into her garden soil, she told the RHS spring conference. She said: “I thought, why am I sending my stuff away? This [the grass cuttings and plant trimmings] is gold dust!”
Start composting. The RHS recommends that where space is limited, consider using a “Dalek” bin made from recycled plastic or a HotBin.
Make use of fallen leaves. These can be used as leaf mould which is a useful mulch, soil improver, and potting compost ingredient. Collect fallen leaves from lawns and paths in autumn, place them in a jute leaf sack, old compost bag or bin bag, and in about two years you will have a bag of leaf mould, often referred to as “black gold”. This can be shared with other gardeners around you if you don’t have the space to keep it all.
Felled trees and waste wood can be used to make mulch. Many arborists have mobile chippers and will be happy to leave you the wood chips. Woodchippers are also available for hire. Wood chips can be used as a surface for informal paths or as a mulch around established plants.
Matchstick mulching. With hand shears or a hedge trimmer, cut the old stems of grasses or herbaceous perennials into matchstick-length sections and spread them evenly around plants as a layer of mulch.
Use logs to create pathways, borders, seats and create homes for wildlife.
Continue reading...
