Environment | The Guardian

Activating real civic resilience could be a KPI for the prime minister's progressive patriotism, rather than spending billions more on big, shiny machines

Following the destruction from 2010's Deepwater Horizon oil spill, an anti-drilling coalition took action with HB 1143 - and got it signed by DeSantisThe giant and catastrophic Deepwater Horizon oil spill, also known as the BP oil spill, didn't reach Apalachicola Bay in 2010, but the threat of oil reaching this beautiful and environmentally valuable stretch of northern Florida's Gulf coast was still enough to devastate the region's economy.The Florida state congressman Jason Shoaf remembers how the threat affected the bay. Continue reading...

Climate change, development, labor shortages and tariffs are making life the pits for the state's cherry farmersNearly 100 years ago, north-west Michigan cherry farmers and Traverse City community leaders started a festival to promote the city and their region's tart cherry crop as a tourist destination.Now known as the cherry capital of the world", Traverse City's National Cherry Festival draws 500,000 visitors over eight days to this picturesque Lake Michigan beach town to enjoy carnival rides and airshows, and to eat cherries. It also sparked a thriving agrotourism industry amid its rolling hills that now boasts dozens of shops, wineries, U-pick orchards, and farm-to-table restaurants helmed by James Beard-award-winning chefs. Continue reading...

A14 in Cambridgeshire promised biodiversity net gain of 11.5%, but most of the 860,000 trees planted are dead. What went wrong?Lorries thunder over the A14 bridge north of Cambridge, above steep roadside embankments covered in plastic shrouds containing the desiccated remains of trees.Occasionally the barren landscape is punctuated by a flash of green where a young hawthorn or a fledgling honeysuckle has emerged apparently against the odds, but their shock of life is an exception in the treeless landscape. Continue reading...

Ecologists say 283 purple emperor recordings on one day at Knepp signal higher numbers nationwideA conservation project in West Sussex has had its best day on record for rare purple emperor butterfly sighting, and ecologists say they are confident the species is doing well nationally.Purple emperor populations steadily declined over the course of the 20th century but they have been slowly recolonising the landscape at Knepp since 2001, when Isabella Tree and her husband, Charlie Burrell, decided to turn the stretch of former farmland into a process-led" rewilding project. Continue reading...

The women are raising larvae of the endangered Taylor's checkerspot for release into the wildTrista Egli was standing in a greenhouse, tearing up strips of plantain and preparing to feed them to butterfly larvae.Of the many things the team here has tried to tempt larvae of the Taylor's checkerspot - a native of the Pacific north-west - with, it is the invasive English plantain they seem to love the most. Continue reading...

Loss of access to lake and waterfall in Thomas Hardy country prompts action at Bridehead estateHeaven only knows what Thomas Hardy would have made of it. On Saturday, protesters will arrive at the Bridehead estate in Dorset, hop across a low stone wall and take part in a peaceful trespass" to express their anger and sadness at the loss of access to a spot in the sort of landscape Hardy wrote about so evocatively.They will picnic near a lake, listen to songs and some will join a writing workshop, while drawing attention to the closure of a permissive path that local people and visitors have used for generations. Continue reading...

In an Arctic reshaped by the climate crisis, less ice really means more as countries face risks in push for more shipsFor millennia, a mass of sea ice in the high Arctic has changed with the seasons, casting off its outer layer in summer and expanding in winter as it spins between Russia, Canada and Alaska. Known as the Beaufort Gyre, this fluke of geography and oceanography was once a proving ground for ice to mature" into thick sheets.But no more. A rapidly changing climate has reshaped the region, reducing perennial sea ice. As ocean currents spin what is left of the gyre, chunks of ice now clog many of the channels separating the northern islands. Continue reading...

New study finds troubling levels of Pfas near wastewater plants and sludge sites in 19 statesSewage sludge and wastewater treatment plants are major sources of Pfas water pollution, new research finds, raising questions about whether the US is safely managing its waste.A first-of-its-kind study tested rivers bordering 32 sewage sludge sites, including wastewater treatment plants and fields where the substance is spread as fertilizer - it found concerning levels of Pfas around all but one. Continue reading...

Eni has filed at least six defamation suits against journalists and NGOs since 2019 in what critics say is intimidation campaign

The best of this week's wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...

Letter from workers, which EPA claims is unlawful', says agency is no longer living up to its missionThe Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Thursday put on administrative leave 139 employees who signed a declaration of dissent" about its policies, accusing them of unlawfully undermining" the Trump administration's agenda.In a letter made public on Monday, the employees wrote that the agency is no longer living up to its mission to protect human health and the environment. The letter represented rare public criticism from agency employees who knew they could face blowback for speaking out against a weakening of funding and federal support for climate, environmental and health science. Continue reading...

Costa Rica-based inter-American court of human rights says states have obligation to respond to climate changeThere is a human right to a stable climate and states have a duty to protect it, a top court has ruled.Announcing the publication of a crucial advisory opinion on climate change on Thursday, Nancy Hernandez Lopez, president of the inter-American court of human rights (IACHR), said climate change carries extraordinary risks" that are felt particularly keenly by people who are already vulnerable. Continue reading...

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Israel-based study finds that by 2050 average daily milk production could be reduced by 4% as a result of worsening heat stressDairy production will be threatened by the increasing frequency and intensity of heatwaves, a study has found.Drawing on records from more than 130,000 cows over a period of 12 years, the researchers report that extreme heat reduces dairy cows' ability to produce milk by 10%. Continue reading...

Plans announced by environment secretary mean many upland farmers may be incentivised to stop farmingSome farms in England could be taken entirely out of food production under plans to make more space for nature, the environment secretary has said.Speaking at the Groundswell farming festival in Hertfordshire, Steve Reed said a revamp of post-Brexit farming subsidies and a new land use plan would be aimed at increasing food production in the most productive areas and decreasing or completely removing it in the least productive. In reality, this means many upland farmers may be incentivised to stop farming. Continue reading...

Commissioner says two women were attacked by female elephant that was with a calfTwo female tourists from the UK and New Zealand have been killed by an elephant while on a walking safari in a national park in Zambia, police in the southern African country have said.The Eastern Province police commissioner, Robertson Mweemba, said the victims, who he named as 68-year-old Easton Janet Taylor from the UK and 67-year-old Alison Jean Taylor from New Zealand, were attacked by a female elephant that was with a calf. Continue reading...

More people reporting problems as climate crisis means plants and trees flower earlier, extending the pollen seasonPollen levels were so extreme in parts of Europe during spring that even people not known to suffer allergies felt the effects of hay fever, data has shown.The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (Cams) observed a seasonal rise in grass and olive pollen release and transport across southern Europe and extreme levels" of birch pollen in north-eastern regions, it said on Thursday. Continue reading...

Holloman Lake was a haven for wildlife and seemed an ideal campsite. But strange foam around the shoreline turned out to be more than just an oddity - and reveals the alarming way forever chemicals move through ecosystemsFor years, Christopher Witt took birdwatchers to Holloman Lake in the Chihuahuan desert off the route 70 highway in New Mexico. By mid-morning the sun would beat down as they huddled in the scant shade of the van. There were no trees other than a collection of salt cedars on the lake's north shore. But the discomfort didn't matter when the peregrine falcons appeared, slicing through the sky. It was hard to leave that place," says Witt.The lake - created in 1965 as part of a system of wastewater catchment ponds for Holloman air force base - is an unlikely oasis. Other than small ponds created for livestock it is the only body of water for thousands of square kilometres in an otherwise stark landscape. However, Witt says there was always something slightly weird about the foam that would form around the edge. But I only saw that stuff once I knew." Continue reading...

Dry and sunny Friday forecast gives residents and SES volunteers chance to assess damage after vigorous coastal low wreaks havoc on east coast

Last year, a single female was recorded returning to one tributary of a river usually celebrated for its fish. Now a plan is in place to change things - but it's proving controversialOn an unusually hot May day in Aberdeenshire, Edwin Third stands on the bank of the River Muick, a tributary of the UK's highest river, the Dee, talking us through the rising threats to one of Scotland's most celebrated species, the Atlantic salmon. Against the hills of the Cairngorms national park, a herd of stags on the moorland bask in the sun.It is a spectacular landscape, attracting hikers, mountain-bikers and salmon fishers, the latter contributing an estimated 15m to Aberdeenshire's economy. Continue reading...

Amendments to children's wellbeing and schools bill call for ban on Pfas and synthetic fibres over health concernsThe volume of microplastics and potentially harmful forever chemicals" in school uniforms should be restricted, experts have said, as they urge peers to back two amendments to a crucial bill.The children's wellbeing and schools bill, which applies mainly to England and Wales and is at committee stage in the House of Lords, is poised to introduce new regulation on the cost of school uniform items, as well as the number of branded uniform items schools can require pupils to wear. Continue reading...

FoI requests also reveal that since 2019 less than 3% of those held under law in London were prosecutedPolice in London have been accused of abusing their powers to curb protest after research found that less than 3% of arrests for conspiracy to cause a public nuisance in the past five years resulted in a prosecution.The research also found an almost tenfold rise in the number of arrests in the capital for the offence, most commonly used to target activists, since 2019 when Extinction Rebellion set off a wave of climate activism. Continue reading...

Vigorous coastal low forecast to keep sending severe weather across eastern New South Wales for much of Wednesday, before gradually easing on Thursday

This blog has now closed, you can read more on this story hereIn other high stake talks, EU trade chief Maro efovi will be in Washington today in another attempt to strike a tariff deal with the US before the 9 July deadline next week.Our Brussels correspondent Jennifer Rankin takes a look at the EU's longest-serving commissioner, who has built up a reputation as a reliable and trustworthy fixer. Continue reading...

Special soil spray is used to increase amount of water grass can absorb to prevent courts from drying outA special chemical is being used at Wimbledon to make water wetter" to try to reduce water bills and tackle rising temperatures.As the championship welcomed rain on Wednesday after opening with scorching temperatures, Neil Stubley, Wimbledon's head of courts and horticulture, said the tournament uses a soil spray to adjust the amount of water a plant root system can absorb. Continue reading...

The event of the oligarchical season showcased the carelessness of a couple who claim to care about the climateIf last week was the best of times for Zohran Mamdani and the working people of New York City, it was the worst of times for the billionaires who spent a small fortune trying to stop him from securing the city's Democratic mayoral nomination. The media mogul Barry Diller, to name just one, donated a cool $250,000 to Andrew Cuomo's campaign, only to see the disgraced former governor lose by a decisive margin.But Diller would soon be able to drown his disappointment in Great Gatsby-themed cocktails as he joined Tom Brady, Ivanka Trump and at least three Kardashians for the cheeriest event on this season's oligarchic social calendar: the Venetian wedding of the former TV journalist Lauren Sanchez and the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Continue reading...

French far-right leader's grand plan' to expand AC comes under attack, while Germany braces for possible record heatThe European heatwave has moved east, threatening record temperatures in Germany, as a political row broke out in France over air conditioning.The French far-right leader Marine Le Pen seized a canvassing opportunity before the 2027 presidential election, announcing she would launch a grand plan for air conditioning" for the nation if she won power. Continue reading...

Water shortages hitting crops, energy and health as crisis gathers pace amid climate breakdownDrought is pushing tens of millions of people to the edge of starvation around the world, in a foretaste of a global crisis that is rapidly deepening with climate breakdown.More than 90 million people in eastern and southern Africa are facing extreme hunger after record-breaking drought across many areas, ensuing widespread crop failures and the death of livestock. In Somalia, a quarter of the population is now edging towards starvation, and at least a million people have been displaced. Continue reading...

Many of the democratic socialist's policies aim to slash carbon emissions and boost environmental justiceAs she canvassed for Zohran Mamdani in New York City on Tuesday last week, Batul Hassan should have been elated. The mayoral candidate - a 33-year-old state assemblymember - was surging in the polls and would within hours soundly defeat Andrew Cuomo on first preference votes in the Democratic primary election.But Hassan's spirits were hampered by record-breaking temperatures. In Crown Heights, where she was the Mamdani campaign's field captain, the heat index soared into the triple digits. Continue reading...

Adult raptor was found with one of its legs ripped open from knee to ankle and appearing severely underweightA veterinarian saved the life of a badly injured American bald eagle using a pioneering fish skin graft procedure more commonly used for human wound, releasing the bird back into the wild in a symbolic act ahead of the Fourth of July holiday.The adult raptor named Kere was found by a park visitor in Hayward, Wisconsin, in August, with one of its legs ripped open from knee to ankle from an unknown injury, and appearing severely underweight. Continue reading...

Farmers warn of risk to Britain's food supply as more than three-quarters take hit to income from extreme weatherMore than 80% of UK farmers are worried that the devastating" effect of the climate crisis could damage their ability to make a living, a study has found.Farmers have warned that global heating risks Britain's supplies of home-grown food amid wild swings in weather conditions, in new research carried out by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU). Continue reading...

The national climate assessments help state and local governments prepare for the impacts of a warming worldLegally mandated US national climate assessments seem to have disappeared from the federal websites built to display them, making it harder for state and local governments and the public to learn what to expect in their back yards from a warming world.Scientists said the peer-reviewed authoritative reports save money and lives. Websites for the national assessments and the US Global Change Research Program were down Monday and Tuesday with no links, notes or referrals elsewhere. The White House, which was responsible for the assessments, said the information will be housed within Nasa to comply with the law, but gave no further details. Continue reading...

With net zero targets under attack from the populist right, dangerously high temperatures should refocus mindsAt times like now, with dangerously high temperatures in several European countries, the urgent need for adaptation to an increasingly unstable climate is clearer than ever. From the French government's decision to close schools to the bans in most of Italy onoutdoor work at the hottest time of day, the immediate priority is to protect people fromextreme heat - and to recognise that a heatwave can take a higher toll than a violent storm.People who are already vulnerable, due to age or illness or poor housing, face the greatest risks from heatwaves. As well as changes to rules and routines, public health warnings are vital, especially where records are being broken and people are unfamiliar with the conditions. In the scorching European summer of 2022, an estimated 68,000 people died dueto heat. Health, welfare and emergency systems must respond to those needing help.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

Portugal and Spain suffer historic temperature highs for June, as French schools close because of heatOutdoor working has been banned during the hottest parts of the day in more than half of Italy's regions as an extreme heatwave that has smashed June temperature records in Spain and Portugal continues to grip large swathes of Europe.The savage temperatures are believed to have claimed at least three lives, including that of a small boy who is thought to have died from heatstroke while in a car in Catalonia's Tarragona province on Tuesday afternoon. Continue reading...

Governor Gavin Newsom says bureaucratic roadblocks have made it difficult to build housing in the most populous stateCalifornia is overhauling its landmark environmental protection rules, a change state leaders say is essential to address the state's housing shortage and homelessness crisis.California's governor, Gavin Newsom, had threatened to reject the state budget passed last Friday unless lawmakers overhauled the California Environmental Quality Act, or Ceqa, a 1970s law that requires strict examination of any new development for its impact on the environment. Continue reading...

Public health warnings as heatwave raises concerns about impact of climate change

Surrey council's designs for mini-parks aim to demonstrate the benefits of less car-focused public spacesMini-gardens that fit inside a parking space have been presented by a council at Hampton Court flower show as part of a drive to make public spaces less car-focused.Three gardens created by Surrey county council are on display at the show to demonstrate that areas used as parking spaces can give far more benefit to the community if they are thoughtfully designed as mini-parks. Continue reading...

Forecasters say temperature logged in Frittenden is very likely to be exceeded in the coming hours'The UK's hottest day of the year so far has been recorded with a temperature of 33.6C (92F) in Frittenden, Kent, the Met Office has said.The temperature exceeded the previous highest temperature of the year, which was 33.2C in Charlwood, Surrey on 21 June. Continue reading...

The unlikely return of the bentwood box underscores the challenges facing Indigenous communities working to reclaim items raided from their landsWhen the plane took off from Vancouver's airport, bound north for the Great Bear Rainforest, Qixitasu Elroy White felt giddy with excitement.The plane traced a route along the Pacific Ocean and British Columbia's coast mountains, still snow-capped in late May. Continue reading...

Aberdeen chair says some asset managers may have put themselves at legal risk by exaggerating ESG role

This year marks the first time that local NWS offices have stopped round-the-clock operations in the agency's historyA brutal stretch of severe weather has taxed communities on the eastern fringes of tornado alley this spring and early summer, while harsh staffing cuts and budget restrictions have forced federal meteorologists to attempt to forecast the carnage with less data.As of 30 June, there have already been more than 1,200 tornadoes nationwide. Continue reading...

Three leading female photographers - Gulshan Khan, Laura El-Tantawy and Lisl Ponger - explore the complex global entanglements of climate crisis, environmental justice and human survival Continue reading...

Forever chemicals have polluted the water supply of 60,000 people, threatening human health, wildlife and the wider ecosystem. But activists say this is just the tip of the Pfas icebergOne quiet Saturday night, Sandra Wiedemann was curled up on the sofa when a story broke on TV news: the water coming from her tap could be poisoning her. The 36-year-old, who is breastfeeding her six-month-old son Come, lives in the quiet French commune of Buschwiller in Saint-Louis, near the Swiss city of Basel. Perched on a hill not far from the Swiss and German borders, it feels like a safe place to raise a child - spacious houses are surrounded by manicured gardens, framed by the wild Jura mountains.But as she watched the news, this safety felt threatened: Wiedemann and her family use tap water every day, for drinking, brushing her teeth, showering, cooking and washing vegetables. Now, she learned that chemicals she had never heard of were lurking in her body, on her skin, potentially harming her son. I find it scary," she says. Even if we stop drinking it we will be exposed to it and we can't really do anything." Continue reading...

Consumer regulator claims owner of Hawaiian Tropic and Banana Boat misled consumers but company stands by products

Offshore wind power boom helps push profit from land and property to more than double what it was two years agoKing Charles is set to receive official annual income of 132m next year, after his portfolio of land and property made more than 1bn in profits thanks to a boom in the offshore wind sector.Profits at the crown estate - which partly funds the monarchy - were flat at 1.1bn in its financial year to the end of March but more than double their level two years ago, at 442.6m. Continue reading...

Spectators use fans and umbrellas and players offered ice packs on court to try to cool offTennis fans faced the hottest start to Wimbledon on record on Monday as temperatures soared to 32C.Spectators used fans and umbrellas to cope with the heat as they queued from the early hours to watch players including Emma Raducanu, the British women's No 1; and the defending men's champion, Carlos Alcaraz, who rushed to the aid of a fan who collapsed. Continue reading...

Extreme heat the new normal', says UN chief, as authorities across the continent issue health warningsA vicious heatwave has engulfed southern Europe, with punishing temperatures that have reached highs of 46C (114.8F) in Spain and placed almost the entirety of mainland France under alert.Extreme heat, made stronger by fossil fuel pollution, has for several days scorched Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Greece as southern Europe endures its first major heatwave of the summer. Continue reading...

For years, Puerto Ricans have faced high electricity costs and regular blackouts. The town of Adjuntas, in the central mountains, boasts the island's first community-owned solar microgrid Continue reading...

More than 170 EPA employees signed letter, with about 100 more signing anonymously out of fear of retaliation