Between 2000 and 2018, extreme heat caused more deaths in Australia than all our bushfires, floods, storms and cyclones combined

Trump's EPA strips itself of regulation ability, gutting Clean Air Act in what experts say is a gift to planet pollutersOn the heels of the hottest summer ever recorded in the US, the Trump administration has said it will erase any limits on emissions from coal and gas plants that are dangerously heating up our planet.The US Environmental Protection Agency said it will strip itself of its ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions coming from power plants under the Clean Air Act, removing a key tool to address the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Energy Transfer, whose CEO is a major Trump donor, named as biggest single methane producer in new rankingsDown a short gravel track in a largely nondescript corner of Louisiana sits a gas processing facility, operated by a company whose chief executive is a major donor to Donald Trump. It may be the largest emitter of methane in the US.The Energy Transfer site, located near the city of Shreveport, is named as the biggest single super emitter" in new rankings of US oil and gas operations for the largest releases of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that is rapidly overheating our planet, according to a new UCLA study, which is based on satellite data. Continue reading...

Cal Fire official says Sunday was big turning point' to reduce blaze in Lake county, now 30% containedFirefighters made progress toward containing northern California's Lucas fire, state officials said on Sunday.Fire officials are still investigating the cause of the fire, which has burned more than 4,120 acres across Lake and Mendocino counties. The fire was 30% contained by Monday morning, according to the California department of forestry and fire protection, or Cal Fire. Continue reading...

Teen was swimming at a popular spot at the time of the attack, the latest in a string that have occurred in the stateA 13-year-old Maryland boy is reported to be recovering from multiple surgeries and nerve damage after being attacked by a rabid beaver.The teen, Dominick Cebula, was swimming at a popular spot in Cunningham Falls state park in Thurmont, Maryland, on 26 July when a beaver attacked his chest underwater, a relatively rare kind of encounter that more recently has been recurring, according to reporting from local news outlets. Continue reading...

Batteries now meet almost half of the grid's dispatchable power needs during hours of highest demand

Greens accuse Labour of hiding position to avoid criticism before contest, in which Zack Polanski is standingA decision on approving the controversial Jackdaw gasfield in the North Sea is to be delayed until later this autumn, with the Greens accusing Labour of hiding their position before the crucial Holborn and St Pancras byelection.Miatta Fahnbulleh, the energy secretary, had been poised to give her recommendation to approve the Jackdaw field off the coast of Aberdeen next week. Continue reading...

Federal environment department tells industry representatives the government does not want to exacerbate cost of living pressures'

Businesses, charities and other groups sign letter calling for levies to be paid by the governmentMore than 120 organisations including big businesses and charities have called for the removal of hidden taxes" added to energy bills to help reduce costs for consumers and prevent businesses closing.In a letter to the chancellor the signatories - including Energy UK, business trade body the CBI, End Fuel Poverty and Age UK - called for levies amounting to 10% of energy bills that fund policies to be paid for by the government. John Healey is to present his first budget on 28 October. Continue reading...

Findings on decline of species such as Arctic tern and turtle dove published alongside flyways pledge at Kenya summitOne in nine migratory birds are threatened with extinction and 45% of migratory species such as cuckoos, turtle doves and Arctic terns are in decline, according to a global report.The migratory slender-billed curlew was officially declared extinct last year, the first global bird extinction in mainland Eurasia and Africa in recent centuries. Worldwide, seven migratory bird species have been confirmed or are suspected to have become extinct over the last 150 years. Continue reading...

This week's best wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...

From an energy-efficient bungalow in the South Downs to an historic chapel in Northumberland Continue reading...

The country is one of just three that still permits commercial whaling, while its government has faced mounting pressure to ban the practiceIceland will submit a bill in February 2027 which could permanently ban whaling in its waters, a move that would leave Norway and Japan as the only two countries to permit commercial whaling.Whaling in Iceland has been put under intense scrutiny since a government-commissioned report was published in 2023 that found harpooned whales took two hours to die. The report led to a temporary suspension of the hunt that year. Continue reading...

We'd like to hear from people about the impact of extreme heat this summer - and if you've had your power cutIt's been a record summer of heat in the US with rolling heat domes and July being the hottest month ever recorded in the country, surpassing temperatures stretching back over 132 years of reliable measurements, to 1895. July's temperatures surpassed previous high marks set in July 1936, in the teeth of dust bowl conditions, and in July 2012.

Environment Agency says talks under way about increasing prices for industrial users to try to reduce poor water managementMinisters are exploring making water more expensive for some users, in the face of severe supply shortages.Despite the UK being a famously wet country, the precarious nature of the water supply has been made particularly acute this summer, with almost three-quarters of England and all of Wales in drought and 27 million people facing restrictions on their water use. Continue reading...

As public air monitors disappear, federal rollbacks and state laws are making it harder than ever to know what's in the airAs the US's network for monitoring air pollution deteriorates, a Floodlight investigation has found that the chemical industry is going state-to-state to restrict one of the few options citizens have left for holding polluters accountable: low-cost air sensors.Over the past two years, the non-profit investigative newsroom determined, lawmakers in Louisiana, Kentucky and Ohio have passed strikingly similar laws barring regulators from acting on air-quality data that communities collect themselves - unless it comes from Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-approved equipment that typically costs tens of thousands of dollars. Similar legislation has repeatedly been introduced in West Virginia. Continue reading...

Warning by United Nations climate chief comes as EU data shows August 2026 was joint hottest month everAttempts to stoke a climate crisis culture war must be rejected or the world will face economic disaster, the UN's climate chief has warned.Simon Stiell, the executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, warned that this year's hot as hell" summer had killed tens of thousands of people in Europe alone and hammered" infrastructure, businesses and economics, costing a likely 180bn (155bn), as well as leading to forced migration around the world. Continue reading...

Emissions of planet-heating methane and CO2 from natural sources are worsening the climate crisis, paper saysRising global temperatures caused by the burning of fossil fuels are transforming the world's forests, wetlands and tundra to the point they are releasing emissions that could further worsen global heating by as much as 30%, a new study has found.As the world heats up, permafrost in the high latitudes is thawing, fiercer wildfires are burning in drying forests and wetlands and lakes are warming. All of these changes are themselves causing the release of planet-heating methane and carbon dioxide locked in trees and soils, therefore worsening the climate crisis, the paper states. Continue reading...

The Syrian rock hyrax depends on the fragile landscapes of the border region. Alongside other environmentalists, I have been documenting the destruction of its habitatWars are usually measured in the number of people killed, homes destroyed and towns erased. Far less attention is paid to what happens beneath the rubble. Across southern Lebanon, repeated large-scale detonations are not only causing human tragedy by demolishing villages, they are also destroying the ancient limestone habitats that have sheltered colonies of rock hyrax for centuries.As founder and president of Green Southerners, an environmental organisation documenting the ecological effects of war in southern Lebanon, I have been helping colleagues to record the damage inflicted on forests, wildlife and fragile ecosystems across the border region. Continue reading...

Climate catastrophe is on our doorstep - yet Labour's impending approval of further drilling will bring more pain for negligible gainsPinch yourself, it's happening again. Here is a Labour government spending a vast amount of political capital to earn tiny material gains while risking huge political losses. It occurred repeatedly under Keir Starmer, and now - with the impending decision to approve further gas and oil drilling in the North Sea - it is happening under Andy Burnham. You rack your brains to explain it, but no rational explanation comes.Burnham is studiously cryptic about his reasons. His clearest statement to date goes as follows: There is a resource there. When people are struggling, we can't ignore that." Does he mean that oil and gas workers are struggling? If so, this decision will be of little use to them. The Jackdaw gasfield, likely to be approved this week, will generate a grand total of 27 direct full-time jobs. The Rosebank oilfield, whose approval is likely to follow soon, will support 450 UK-based jobs during its lifetime. Yet the UK's net zero economy directly employs 300,000 people, and a further 400,000 jobs are planned. The rest of the green economy employs more than 600,000. A just transition for fossil fuel workers, securing jobs in the green economy, is better for everyone.George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Party backed plan to allow big industry to use a new koala national park in NSW to offset its climate pollution, but three senators dissented

Exclusive: State government delayed releasing major report into the health of the koala population for more than 12 months

Climate Council forecasts more than 267,000 coastal properties will be damaged by flooding by 2100, costing hundreds of billions of dollars

Green leader says ministers must stop hiding the truth' about threat to UK security from climate and nature crisisZack Polanski has challenged Andy Burnham's government to publish an unredacted version of an explosive report by the UK's spy chiefs that found the collapse of overseas ecosystems would have catastrophic consequences for the UK's national security.The Green party leader in England said the prime minister should come clean about the scale and impact of the climate and nature crisis and called on the government to publish in full the report that warns the UK faces devastating security consequences. Continue reading...

In the first project of its kind, scientists are trying to answer if the future of Alaska's streams and tundra may depend not on survival of the fittest but on how species adapt togetherOn Alaska's North Slope, scientists tread carefully across clumps of tussock grasses toward a fast-flowing stream draining the imposing Brooks Range of ice and snow. Near Galbraith Creek, they string out a mist net for white-crowned sparrows. The birds have recently arrived from southerly latitudes, intent on feasting on the insects that will soon descend on the tundra like storm clouds.The Arctic summer is short-lived, and sparrows have only a few weeks to establish territories, find mates, lay eggs and raise their chicks on a steady diet of bugs. From every ensnared bird, the scientists collect blood, feather and faecal samples to see what they are eating and how that changes over the summer.Galbraith Creek on Alaska's North Slope Continue reading...

Officials say sighting a sign species - driven to extinction in state before reintroduction in 2011 - expanding its rangeA gray wolf has recently been seen in California's Mendocino national forest for the first time since the species returned to the state 15 years ago, state wildlife officials confirmed.Officials in Lake county, which is about two hours north of San Francisco, said last week the California department of fish and wildlife (CDFW) had received reports of sightings in the forest in late August. The agency verified the presence of a wolf in the far north end of the county, county supervisor Brad Rasmussen said in a statement on social media. Continue reading...

A total of six people apprehended as clean-up of rubbish stacked 10 metres high cost about 6mTwo men have been arrested after fly-tippers dumped a mountain of illegal waste", stacked 10 metres high, in Oxfordshire.Hundreds of tonnes of rubbish appeared in a field between the River Cherwell and the A34 near Kidlington in November last year. The waste tip was so large that removing it could cost more than the local council's annual budget, the area's MP said. Continue reading...

Center of storm passed west of the islands and was moving away but flooding and mudslides will continue to be a riskDamaging winds and heavy rains from Hurricane Lowell pelted Hawaii's western islands on Tuesday, knocking out power to thousands and ripping up stretches of beachside roads.Fierce winds downed trees and caused widespread power outages on the island of Kauai, home to 73,000 residents. The Kauai island utility cooperative reported that nearly all of its members were without power early on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Appeals court dismisses lawsuit from Jackson residents claiming that tainted drinking water violated their rightsA US appellate court has decided that the federal constitution does not guarantee a right to clean water.That legal opinion came in the form of a decision on Friday from the fifth circuit court of appeals to uphold a lower court's dismissal of a 2022 lawsuit from several Jackson, Mississippi, residents claiming that tainted drinking water violated their constitutional rights. Continue reading...

Climate scepticism is common at the Reform party conference, but many also criticise Labour for failing to protect Britons from hot weatherOn the second day of the Reform UK conference, in the wake of an undercover investigation alleging party officials plotted to evade the law on foreign donations, the deputy leader, Richard Tice, addressed the audience. Within minutes, a banner appeared behind him reading: Collect 5m, burn the planet."It was taken down promptly and Tice, who has repeatedly called on people to enjoy the summer's five successive heatwaves and record drought, rolled on. As Reform members at the Birmingham venue applauded Tice, there was plenty of agreement with his views. I enjoyed the heat this summer," said Jeanette Bowden, of Bexley. I don't think people need telling to take care of themselves." Her partner, James, added, without scientific backing: Carbon dioxide was much higher in the past, it was 10 times higher than this during the ice ages. It's not a human problem." Continue reading...

A total fire ban is in place for greater Sydney with extreme fire danger exacerbated by hot and windy conditions

Insurers in England and Wales tell of busy August with one reporting near-140% jump in claimsUK insurers are experiencing a surge in the number of homeowners making claims for subsidence after the hottest summer on record, with Hastings Direct reporting a near 140% jump to an all-time high for August.Insurance firms have been overrun by calls and online queries, as well as a rise in claims during the five heatwaves that followed the warmest spring ever recorded in England and Wales. Continue reading...

Experts say invasive species are creating pollinator deserts' and could have serious impact on food securityBritish beekeepers have called for a national awareness campaign about the impact of Asian hornets as they warned the invasive species was creating pollinator deserts" and threatening food security.Native to south-east Asia, the yellow-legged hornet is thought to have arrived in Europe in 2004 and has continued to spread ever since, its numbers probably boosted by increasingly warm springs and summers. Continue reading...

Interior department given three months to decide whether wolves can be removed from endangered species listDonald Trump signed an executive order on Friday directing the interior department to consider de-listing gray wolves from the Endangered Species Act and to contemplate whether the agency could make it easier to authorize killing them.The order gives interior secretary Doug Burgum three months to determine whether gray wolves and Mexican gray wolves have recovered enough for the federal government to de-list them. Continue reading...

A mysterious island has emerged in Williston Lake in Canada. A local resident shared a video of a floating 'island' with trees growing from it - which has appeared, disappeared and appeared again within two months. Satellite imagery has confirmed its existence and disappearance, and experts say the rising water level has set free trees that have been growing on woody debris on the shore Continue reading...

This week's best wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...

Scientists will be able to estimate the amount of heating and destruction caused by the gas ultimately drawn from the Beetaloo

Report calls for legally binding targets to cut microplastic pollution as soil is a complex living ecosystem'The accumulation of microplastics in soil presents an emerging threat to the UK's food security, according to scientists, MPs and campaigners who have called for legally binding targets to cut microplastic pollution.UK agricultural soils have been identified as among the most contaminated by microplastics in Europe, often as a result of repeated applications of sludge from water treatment works as fertiliser, according to a report published by the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on microplastics. Continue reading...

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Majority of missing Australians were near Gyirong Port minutes before impact. Rescuers say the area is now destroyed, covered in metres of silt and debris

A battle over datacentre power sources is only part of the picture. Australia needs a much bigger electricity system to meet all future demandAnthony Albanese has been clear that he wants a set of national standards to ensure datacentre growth accelerates Australia's push to renewables and keeps a lid on power prices. At the centre of his desired policies was a BYO power" requirement - a condition that all new datacentres would be powered by 100% renewable electricity.But last week these aims collided with the Queensland and Northern Territory governments' desire to rely on their state-owned gas and coal power stations to power datacentres. Continue reading...

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Once the economic lifeblood of the region, Latrobe Valley's coal industry is in terminal decline. Jesse Thompson's photographic project aims to document this period of rapid change and examine its legacy Continue reading...

Hundreds of experts write to environment minister calling for stronger protections for unique and distinct' marine ecosystems

Capitalism and the climate crisis are conspiring to destroy the concept of seasons. I'll take solace in my pumpkin spiceHappy spooky season, everyone! Get those jack-o'-lanterns out, because Halloween is just around the corner!Just kidding, no, it's not. Continue reading...

An 1857 decree to drain swamps and plant a monoculture, detritus from the trees and global heating combined to produce the conditions for the Gironde infernoThe ruinous fires that overran parts of France this summer have burned more land than ever recorded, forced more people from their homes than at any point since the second world war and caused what scientists suspect is the country's first firestorm thundercloud. The smoke from France's biggest inferno in nearly 80 years choked Limoges, a city 125 miles (200km) from the flames, with more toxic dust than Delhi residents inhaled on the city's worst day of smog last year.The blaze that tore through forests outside Bordeaux in late July took just a few weeks to reforge France's relationship with fire, but the conditions behind it were centuries in the making. Continue reading...

Since Hurricane Sandy in 2012, a growing labor movement has addressed the climate crisis and economic inequalityRyan McElroen had spent years repairing the New York City subway underground when he got the opportunity to work in the middle of the ocean.I had no views other than the darkness at work," he said. Then I went polar opposite." Continue reading...

Similar initiatives have been launched from Barcelona to Bogota, but they have misinformation, political pressure and vested interests stacked against themTen years ago, Alastair Harper was an advocate for young people's health sitting in a stuffy meeting room in London planning an air pollution campaign. My phone started buzzing," he said. I took the call, and then told the room I needed to leave immediately.I had to get to UCLH [one of London's major hospitals]. My own child was headed there in a blue-lit ambulance because she was struggling to breathe London's toxic air." Continue reading...

Beach patrols report hundreds of stings a day as warmer waters and drought create favorable conditions for jellyfishAn unusually high number of jellyfish are crowding Delaware's beaches this summer amid climate change and other environmental factors - keeping some beachgoers out of the ocean and stinging lifeguards as well as bathers.Beach safety patrols in the state have reported hundreds of daily stings as the jellyfish have increased with intensifying environmental factors, including warmer waters, hot and dry conditions, and water circulation favorable to the invertebrates. Continue reading...

Running a farm is tough - TV's Clarkson's Farm shows that - but I know many minorities would love the chance. And we would all benefitWho'd be a farmer? Clarkson's Farm on Amazon is great entertainment but it also gives some indication of the stresses and challenges behind the farm gate. Would anyone who lacked the significant alternative income that Clarkson is lucky to have want that? Well, actually, yes.I'm an entrepreneur who owns a farm, as opposed to hands-on running the small one I bought 25 years ago, but as I look around the industry, I'm struck by a significant fact: the very reason I can be known as the Black Farmer is because I am such a rarity that it makes me readily identifiable. Continue reading...