Keeping the global average temperature rise (since pre-industrial times) below 1.5C is widely regarded as critical if we are to sidestep dangerous, all-pervasive climate change. This idea of a 1.5C temperature threshold is in the news again because just-published research has revealed that several catastrophic climate tipping points are in danger of being crossed at around this level of warming...
Adopting more efficient and low-carbon technology could create 29m new jobs and double the turnover of the chemicals industry, one of the world’s biggest emitters of carbon dioxide, according to a new report. Failure to do so could condemn the world to climate chaos, however, as the climbing emissions from the manufacture of chemicals could result in a global temperature rise of as much as 4C...
The waters of the EU are in a “dismal” state, with only a third of fish populations studied in the north-east Atlantic considered to be in good condition, according to more than 200 scientists and conservationists. The analysis, issued on Monday, follows a scathing report from the European court of auditors two years ago, which warned that the EU had failed to halt marine biodiversity loss in...
Bans on filling public swimming pools, maintaining ponds, washing cars and cleaning offices and shops could be put in place as England continues to run out of water, the Guardian can reveal. Despite recent showery periods, the country, particularly in the south and east, has not received enough rain to refill depleted rivers and reservoirs. Leaked documents from the National Drought Group, seen...
When we block traffic from a street, like for a sports event or a street party, we say that the street is “closed”. But who is it closed for? For motorists. But really, that street is now open to people. We say this because we’ve become accustomed to thinking about the street in “traffic logic”. For centuries, streets used to be a place with a multiplicity of purposes: talk, trade, play, work and...
In the ocean’s shadowy twilight zone, between 600 and 800 metres beneath the surface, there are fish that gaze upwards through their transparent heads with eyes like mesmerising emerald orbs. These domes are huge spherical lenses that sit on a pair of long, silvery eye tubes – hence its common name, the barreleye fish (Macropinna microstoma). The green tint (which actually comes from a yellow...
The first cool mornings, the sweet rot of fallen apples, the sight of seed heads – these are all signs that autumn is here. But what happens when it starts coming earlier? When the floor is littered with burnt leaves, when the summer crops give up early and the flowers fade before all the pollinators get their fill? What has happened is a “false” autumn . The leaves on the ground of your local...
Iam the first green mayor of London,” Sadiq Khan proclaimed last year during the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. The Labour party mayor has built a reputation for tackling air pollution. In 2019, he introduced ultra-low emission zones in the nation’s capital. New cycle infrastructure has appeared throughout the city, alongside cycling training courses, and London is brimming with...
The first time I heard the name Daniel Boldor, I was in Bucharest in a room full of police officers. A discussion about wealthy countries shipping their waste to poorer countries had turned to what Romania – one of the major recipients of Europe’s trash – was doing to fight back. Strict surveillance was being conducted at ports, the officers affirmed, and cargo trucks were undergoing checks. And...
A silent scuttle seen from the corner of the eye – there it is, a spider, bristle-legged on the cream-coloured carpet. It freezes for a moment and then dashes behind the chest of drawers. It’s a male giant house spider of a subspecies common in the West Country (Eratigena saeva). I can tell it is male by the large, club-like palps in front of the head, and also by the time of year. In late summer...