It’s crucial to understanding how gender is affecting our ability to rally behind a shared ecological vision
Feminist influencer Liz Plank opens her groundbreaking book For the Love of Men with a bold statement: “There is no greater threat to humankind than our current definitions of masculinity.” She means it at several levels, from the most intimate: how male partners are the leading cause of death for pregnant women in the US; to the most macro: how associating “eco-conscious behaviors with femininity and a repudiation of masculinity” is literally killing the planet. This Earth Day, it’s worth reflecting on why this is so and what can be done about it.
While it won’t come as news to most that, compared with women, men litter more, recycle less, and leave a bigger carbon footprint There’s something more extreme than simple thoughtlessness causing young men, in a form of anti-environmental protest known as “rolling coal”, to modify the diesel engines on their pickup trucks to deliberately belch large amounts of grey-black exhaust, and then run Priuses and bicyclists off the road.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
04/22/2026 - 05:00
04/22/2026 - 04:00
Council proposal to use glyphosate to tidy up pavements criticised over potential harm to humans and wildlife
Cornwall is famed for its glorious gardens and verdant landscapes but a bitter row has broken out over a plan to tackle a less glamorous type of vegetation – roadside weeds.
The unitary authority has announced plans to use the controversial herbicide glyphosate to tidy up pavements and kerbsides, after largely phasing out its use over the last decade amid concerns about potential harm to humans and the peninsula’s rich ecosystems.
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04/22/2026 - 04:00
Macaques have learned to eat soil to avert gut irritation caused by salty and sugary snacks, researchers believe
Troops of monkeys living on the Rock of Gibraltar have learned to eat soil in what scientists believe is an effort to settle their stomachs after all the junk food they receive – and sometimes steal – from crowds of tourists.
Researchers spotted the intentional mud eating, known as geophagy, while observing groups of Barbary macaques in the territory. Monkeys that had the most contact with tourists ate the most soil and consumption peaked in the holiday season, they found.
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04/22/2026 - 03:48
Shell Australia says campaign needed to ‘counterbalance’ claims by levy advocates – but Ed Husic urges industry ‘do not spend millions defending the indefensible’
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Gas companies are mounting a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign to fight against a new export tax, prompting the Labor MP Ed Husic to accuse the industry of “defending the indefensible”.
Shell Australia is among half a dozen oil and gas companies contributing around $1m to an Australian Energy Producers (AEP) campaign that attempts to justify the amount of tax the industry pays, a parliamentary inquiry heard on Wednesday.
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04/22/2026 - 03:00
Campaigners in Henley say insufficient number of bathers to qualify for status is result of poor water quality
Bathing water rules in England should be improved to help drive a clean-up of pollution at a spot on the River Thames in Henley, campaigners say.
In a letter to the environment secretary, Emma Reynolds, businesses, river users, community groups and civic leaders said poor water quality had been damaging the town and had put public health at risk.
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04/22/2026 - 01:42
Program portrayed efforts to wean Australia off fossil fuels as morally bankrupt, trashing rainforests and enslaving Australia to China
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Children sieve mud, workers drop down claustrophobic hand-cut mine shafts, men grimace while others carve out rock with chisels in bare feet to recover cobalt “for our renewable green dream”.
These were the dramatic scenes from the Democratic Republic of Congo in a “special investigation” from Channel Seven’s Spotlight program, aired in prime-time on Sunday evening.
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04/22/2026 - 00:00
Research shows natural hazards linked to climate crisis disrupted 23 elections in 18 countries in 2024
Democracy is under mounting threat from the climate crisis, with new analysis documenting how elections are increasingly shaped not only by political forces but also by floods, wildfires and extreme weather.
At least 94 elections and referendums across 52 countries have been disrupted by climate-related impacts over the last two decades, researchers found.
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04/21/2026 - 12:45
The government’s plan to de-link gas and electricity prices will have a modest effect – more promising are plans on EVs and heat pumps
Why are UK electricity prices linked to gas – and what does it mean for bills?
It’s a holy grail of UK energy policy – de-linking gas and electricity prices. After all, we’ve been told endlessly that one reason why our energy bills are so high is because “gas sets the price of electricity”. And here it comes: “decisive action” from the government to “break the link”. So, tell us, by how much can we expect bills to fall?
Energy secretary Ed Miliband and colleagues didn’t offer even a tentative answer. The big announcement was a prediction-free zone on bills for two reasons.
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04/21/2026 - 06:00
While wildlife populations crash globally, research finds designated areas enable recovery of threatened species
Wildlife and humans are thriving within sites recognised by Unesco, research has found, allowing for the recovery of threatened species and habitats around the world.
While wildlife populations have crashed globally by nearly three-quarters since 1970, those within Unesco-protected areas have remained largely stable.
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04/21/2026 - 04:25
Actor, who has publicly objected to plans to fast-track project near his farm, says he has received personal abuse
The actor Sam Neill says he has received threats of violence from supporters of a controversial goldmine that could be opened several kilometres away from his farm in New Zealand’s Central Otago district, after he publicly objected to the government’s plans to fast-track the mine.
The Australian mining company Santana Minerals is pushing to expedite a 85-hectare (210-acre) open-cast goldmine, called Bendigo-Ophir, in the Dunstan mountains, an area described as “outstanding natural landscape” by the Central Otago district council.
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