Environment | The Guardian

Plant's owners hope analysis of tiny sample will help to establish how to safely decommission facilityA piece of the radioactive fuel left from the meltdown of Japan's tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has been retrieved from the site using a remote-controlled robot.Investigators used the robot's fishing-rod-like arm to clip and collect a tiny piece of radioactive material from one of the plant's three damaged reactors - the first time such a feat has been achieved. Should it prove suitable for testing, scientists hope the sample will yield information that will help determine how to decommission the plant. Continue reading...

Advocates urge government to allow precision breeding' to combat disease, but RSPCA warns of ethical dangersMinisters are preparing to introduce legislation that will permit the growing of gene-edited crops in England and Wales. But the new legislation will not cover the use of this technology to create farm animals that have increased resistance to disease or lower carbon footprints.The decision has dismayed some senior scientists, who had expected both uses of gene editing would be given the go-ahead. They fear the decision could hold back the creation of hardier, healthier herds and flocks. Animal welfare groups have welcomed the move, however. Continue reading...

Concerned students press for their high schools - some with $1bn endowments - to reinvest in clean energyA high school in California has decided not to invest in coal, oil or gas, instead pledging to put money into clean energy. It's the latest win in a new fossil fuel divestment campus campaign launched by high schoolers across 11 countries that is gaining support in the US.The Nueva School, an elite private school outside San Francisco, pledged in spring 2024 to invest a portion of its $55m endowment in renewable power. The commitment followed months of pressure from students. Continue reading...

Pedro Sanchez orders largest peacetime troop deployment to deal with flooding that has killed 211 peopleSpain's prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, has ordered the country's largest peacetime military deployment, announcing that another 5,000 troops will be drafted in to help deal with the aftermath of this week's devastating floods, which have killed at least 211 people in eastern, southern and central regions.Speaking after chairing a meeting of the flood crisis committee, Sanchez said the government was mobilising all the resources at its disposal to deal with the terrible tragedy", which stuck hardest in the eastern region of Valencia. He also acknowledged that much of the help still wasn't getting through and called for unity and an end to political bickering and blame games. Continue reading...

Big farms rake in record profits when food prices soar, while small farms struggle on razor-thin marginsWelfare for the rich': how farm subsidies wrecked Europe's landscapesThe 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. Continue reading...

Bondi beach's newest residents may look strange to human eyes, but goose barnacles are a normal part of the natural marine environment

Politicians say use of common yet toxic paraquat can't be justified due to apparent health and environment risksMore 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. Continue reading...

More than 200 deaths and widespread destruction in Valencia are the latest sign of danger in a warming worldThe 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 fria, or cold drop", is a regular occurrence when cold autumnal air moves over the warm Mediterranean, causing dense clouds to form. Butthis 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.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...

US Green party leader urged to withdraw from presidential race to prevent Donald Trump victory

Conservationists warn actions and ambitions of two super powers could lead to overexploitation of vital food source for whales, penguins and seals

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 Continue reading...

As air pollution hits toxic levels, one proposal is to introduce a smog diplomacy' initiative between Pakistan and IndiaAs 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. Continue reading...

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-makerThe 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, Bogota, and once in the Sierra with the Arhuaco.

Antonio Guterres says treaty will endure but urges US to remain amid reports that Trump plans to withdraw from the climate negotiating framework entirelyThe world needs the US to remain in the international climate process to avoid a crippled" Paris agreement, the UN secretary general has warned, amid fears that Donald Trump would take the country out of the accord for a second time.Antonio Guterres said the landmark 2015 agreement to limit global heating would endure if the US withdrew once again, but compared the prospective departure to losing a limb or organ. Continue reading...

First-of-its-kind research highlights need for change to regulation, as humans almost always exposed to mixturesMixtures of different types of PFAS compounds are often more toxic than single chemicals, first-of-its-kind research finds, suggesting humans' exposure to the chemicals is more dangerous than previously thought.Humans are almost always exposed to more than one PFAS compound at a time, but regulatory agencies largely look at the chemicals in isolation from one another, meaning regulators are probably underestimating the health threat. Continue reading...

Former allies have reacted with dismay to Kennedy's alliance with Trump, who routinely mocks the climate crisisDonald Trump has hurled insults at wind energy, calling it bullshit" and disgusting" and, if elected US president, may turn to another staunch opponent of offshore wind turbines to help stymie the nascent industry: Robert F Kennedy Jr.Kennedy has emerged as the leading foe of offshore wind in conservative circles and well-connected opposition groups, blaming new turbines, baselessly, for a spate of whale deaths and accusing former friends in the Democratic party of abandoning environmental ideals to the right. Allies see a perfect role for him in advising a new Trump administration crackdown on offshore wind energy. Continue reading...

Planned two-day protest that involves thousands of protesters poses a safety risk, police argue

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

LNP urged to release details of its alternative energy plans within first 100 days of government

Wild squirrel that was taken in by Mark Longo seven years ago was confiscated after conservation officials received reports of potentially unsafe housing of wildlife'A New York man who turned a rescued squirrel into a social media star called Peanut is pleading with state authorities to return his beloved pet after they seized it during a raid that also yielded a raccoon named Fred.Multiple anonymous complaints about Peanut - also spelled P'Nut or PNUT - brought at least six officers from the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to Mark Longo's home on Wednesday, Longo said. Continue reading...

Sydney's jacaranda trees are in full bloom, blanketing the city in purple and attracting crowds of people trying to capture that perfect frame

As wildfires become more frequent and intense due to the climate crisis, combining the First Nations practice with western techniques is crucial'

Voice of the Arctic Inupiat is a backer of the controversial Willow oil drilling projectThe administration of Alaska's Republican governor, Mike Dunleavy, awarded at least $1m in state funds to a group claiming to represent a consensus of Indigenous support for new Arctic oil drilling, new research shows.The group, called Voice of the Arctic Inupiat (VAI), had just months earlier communicated with the governor's office on ways to counter other Alaska Native groups opposed to new drilling. Continue reading...

At least 155 people have reportedly died with more rain forecast for the flood-hit region of Valencia

UK government offers undisclosed sum in compensation to Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah for daughter's untimely deathThe mother of a nine-year-old girl who became the first person in the UK to have air pollution cited on their death certificate will receive an undisclosed settlement from the government in compensation for her daughter's untimely death.Settling a legal case, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Department for Transport and the Department of Health and Social Care issued a statement expressing sincere condolences to the family of Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, from south-east London, who had a fatal asthma attack in 2013 after being exposed to excessive air pollution. Continue reading...

Campaigners say car park extension at Manningtree station inhibits access to Dedham Vale and threatens habitatsA commuter car park in Essex is to be one of the first test cases of whether the government will enforce new legislation aimed at protecting national parks and landscapes in England.Dedham Vale is a designated national landscape" on the border of Essex and Suffolk, home to increasingly rare species including hazel dormice and hedgehogs. Within it is Manningtree station, where the train operator Greater Anglia built an extension to the car park to cope with increased traffic. Continue reading...

African giant pouched rats trained to alert their handlers when they find illegally trafficked wildlife productsRats could be the latest weapon deployed in the fight against endangered wildlife trafficking, according to a study of rodents trained to sniff out pangolin scales, rhino horns, elephant tusks and hardwood.Researchers trained eight African giant pouched rats to sniff out the contraband, even when it was hidden among items commonly used to hide trafficked goods, including peanuts, leaves, wigs and washing powder. Continue reading...

It may be colourful but if it gets on your clothes you have to throw them away, says biologist Dr Joe Roman, who can't get enough of the stuff, which is vital to support ocean biodiversityI first encountered whale poop 30 years ago while I was working on a right whale research project. On one of my first days on the water, in the Bay of Fundy, in eastern Canada, we came upon a feeding male right whale with mud on its head - or bonnet - a sign that it had been feeding at the bottom of the bay. It had come up to breathe and rest.Just before it dived in again, it released this enormous faecal plume. Continue reading...

Fears raised that biodiversity summit not addressing countries' failure to meet a single target to stem destruction of natural worldGovernments risk another decade of failure on biodiversity loss, due to the slow implementation of an international agreement to halt the destruction of Earth's ecosystems, experts have warned.Less than two years ago, the world reached a historic agreement at the Cop15 summit in Montreal to stop the human-caused destruction of life on our planet. The deal included targets to protect 30% of the planet for nature by the end of the decade (30x30), reform $500bn (then 410bn) of environmentally damaging subsidies, and begin restoring 30% of the planet's degraded ecosystems. Continue reading...

Rescue workers are set to comb through debris in worst hit areas like Valencia, after at least 95 people were killed in deadliest floods in a generationRescue workers in Spain continued to search for more victims after deadly floods, as questions were raised about how one of the world's most developed nations failed to respond adequately to an extreme storm.Torrential rains that began at the start of the week sparked flooding that has left at least 95 people dead, the deadliest such disaster in the western European country since 1973. Continue reading...

Unnamed victim, who lived in Malaga, died from cardiac arrests and hypothermia, and is one of more than 95 deaths

It comes as renewable sources powered 39.3% on average, the Aemo says, a record share for the September quarter

Downpours caused Spain's deadliest flooding in decades. Floodwaters surged through cities, towns and villages, trapping people in their homes, sweeping up cars in their wake and causing significant damage Continue reading...

Soldiers aid search for dozens still missing as prime minister warns extreme weather may not be overAt least 95 people have died in eastern, central and southern Spain after torrential rains triggered the country's deadliest floods in three decades, unleashing torrents of muddy water that surged through cities, towns and villages, trapping people in their homes, bringing down trees, and cutting off roads and railway lines.As the search for dozens of missing people continued, motorists were urged to stay off the roads and away from swollen rivers amid warnings that the severe weather was not over and that the number of deaths could still rise. Continue reading...

A report by BoM and CSIRO checks vital signs of Australia's climate' - and shows temperature trends will only worsen

A 2022 law gave wildland firefighters with presumptive cancer coverage', but the list of ailments left out a range of cancers affecting womenRiva Duncan was overjoyed when Congress in 2022 approved better support for federal wildland firefighters during their cancer battles. As a retired fire officer of the US Forest Service (USFS), Duncan had spent years fighting for the friends and colleagues who disproportionately fell ill.The 2022 law gave firefighters so-called presumptive cancer coverage" - meaning they were eligible for workers compensation and the process to receive federal financial support for disability and death was streamlined. Finally, she thought, firefighters wouldn't have to prove cancer and other illnesses, including lung and heart diseases, had derived from their hazardous and carcinogenic work to receive needed funds. Continue reading...

The environmental footprint of this holiday is frightening - here are ways to celebrate responsibly and still have funHalloween is just around the corner, with millions of children gearing up to put on their favorite costumes and flock to the streets for trick-or-treating. Spooky skeletons and glowing jack-o'-lanterns are adorning homes that have gone all out to celebrate a night of fright. But the truly scariest part of the holiday might just be the plastic waste left behind after the festivities end.The environmental footprint of Halloween is staggering. Continue reading...

UK among most nature-depleted countries in the world' warns environment secretary

Representatives from nearly 200 countries at the UN's Cop16 summit in Colombia have yet to break the deadlock over who pays and how muchExperts agree that the world needs $700bn (539bn) a year to restore nature - but no one knows where the money is going to come from, and anger is building about rich countries failing to pay their share.With representatives of nearly 200 countries gathered in Colombia for the UN Cop16 biodiversity summit, the question of who will fund conservation and how those funds will be distributed is a key battleground - and as negotiations push into their second week, frustration is growing at the lack of movement. Continue reading...

Orders roll in as Chinese carmaker launches Shark 6 in move that could signal electrification spreading from sedans and SUVs to large ute market

Lochaber tree, named after the ceilidh band that discovered it, now in running for European Tree of the Year contestAn ancient oak named after a ceilidh band has won the UK's tree of the year competition and will now compete in the European edition.The Skipinnish Oak in Lochaber, Scotland, was discovered by chance by members of the band of that name who were playing a nearby gig for the Native Woodland Discussion Group. Continue reading...

Charities plan to create flagship for nature recovery on 3,850-hectare portion of estate sold by Duke of Northumberland's sonThe Wildlife Trusts have bought part of the Duke of Northumberland's son's estate in the largest land sale in England for 30 years.Marketed by its estate agents as a paradise for those with a penchant for sporting pursuits, from world-class fishing on the illustrious River Coquet to pheasant and grouse shooting", Rothbury estate has now been bought by the federation of charities, which plans to restore it for nature. Continue reading...

It was my dream job. But what's the point of preserving masterpieces for a future being destroyed by fossil fuel companies?

Grants to be used to improve port infrastructure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions at 55 sites across the countryJoe Biden's administration is awarding nearly $3bn to boost climate-friendly equipment and infrastructure at ports across the country, including Baltimore, where a deadly bridge collapse killed six construction workers in March and disrupted east coast US shipping routes for months.The president timed the announcement of the grants ahead of a visit to the city's main port on Tuesday. Officials say they will improve and electrify port infrastructure at 55 sites nationwide while supporting an estimated 40,000 union jobs, reducing pollution and combating the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Department's finances were slashed during austerity and campaigners say more cuts will stall progress to meet nature and climate targetsRachel Reeves has been urged not to cut the government's environment funding in the budget as analysis shows the department's finances were slashed at twice the rate of other departments in the austerity years.Between 2009/10 and 2018/19, the environment department budget declined by 35% in monetary terms and 45% in real terms, according to Guardian analysis of annual reports from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Environment Agency and Natural England. By comparison, the average cut across government departments during the Conservative austerity programme was about 20%. During the first five years of austerity, it was the most cut department. Continue reading...

Researchers found 38,000 fewer people - 10 times number of murders - would have died if atmosphere was not clogged with greenhouse pollutantsClimate breakdown caused more than half of the 68,000 heat deaths during the scorching European summer of 2022, a study has found.Researchers from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) found 38,000 fewer people would have died from heat if humans had not clogged the atmosphere with pollutants that act like a greenhouse and bake the planet. The death toll is about 10 times greater than the number of people murdered in Europe that year. Continue reading...

If unchecked, pest species would burden health system with 650,000 more appointments and more than $2bn in costs each year, expert says

Thousands more people than expected are at the biodiversity summit in Cali, Colombia, and hotels are full - leading the city's council to press less orthodox accommodation into serviceRobert Baluku, a Ugandan delegate to the UN's biodiversity summit in Colombia, found himself between a rock and hard place when his team's accommodation was abruptly cancelled, leaving them stranded before the start of Cop16 in Cali.The city's hotels were packed to capacity with thousands of country leaders, scientists, government ministers and UN negotiators, and Baluku was left scrambling for options - until the Motel Deseos (Desires) came to the rescue. Continue reading...

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It seems reasonable to call the Coalition's policy what it primarily is: a proposal to expand fossil fuelsSome news you may not have clocked last week while the focus was on important things like a royal tour: 44 of the world's top climate scientists, including four decorated Australian professors, released an open letter warning that ocean circulation in the Atlantic is at serious risk of collapse sooner than was previously understood.They said a string of studies suggested the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a body backed by nearly 200 countries, had greatly underestimated the possibility that the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation - or Amoc, a system of ocean currents that brings heat into the northern Atlantic west of Britain and Ireland - could in the next few decades reach a point at which its breakdown was inevitable. The cause? Rising greenhouse gas emissions. Continue reading...