Exclusive: Local authority asked what steps it is taking after hordes of splashing revellers seen disturbing nesting birdsMinisters have written to the City of London demanding it stop people from swimming in a protected pond on Hampstead Heath, after disturbing scenes of cygnets and eggs being disrupted went viral on social media.Swans and their 12-day-old cygnets were disturbed by hordes of splashing revellers in the north London park on Monday as temperatures reached a record 35C in the capital. In one video, a swan was seen poking an unhatched egg with its beak after it fell into the water during the chaos. Continue reading...

Despite government pledges, more than 20 authorities will not allow gullies, citing safety, legal and parking concernsThe energy secretary, Ed Miliband, has said charger gullies to connect electric cars parked on streets will help cut costs for drivers, yet millions of UK households may be unable to use the simple technology because their local councils will still not allow charging cables to cross the pavement.Despite government promises to slash red tape" and make it easier to put in gullies, more than 20 local authorities appear to be holding out against them. Continue reading...

Survey shows 44% increase on RSPB reserves of bird that almost became extinct in England in the 60sMore than half a century after the Dartford warbler almost vanished from the English countryside, the charismatic heathland bird appears to be staging a comeback.A survey has revealed the highest number of Dartford warblers ever recorded on reserves run by the bird conservation charity RSPB, with 264 pairs counted in 2025, a 44% increase in five years. Continue reading...

The 15-week-old triplets get their first swimming lesson from their mum, Bonita, and dad, Manu. The two boys, Uca and Yali, are named after an area of the Amazon rainforest and the second largest region in Peru. The female pup is named Yara, which means river spirit' in Brazilian folklore. Endangered giant otters face an uncertain future as conservationists estimate that only a few thousand remain across South America. The pups have been born as part of the international conservation breeding programme in European zoos that is working to safeguard them from extinction Continue reading...

Installing solar panels to offset electricity costs helps farms during financial strain. But the House version of the farm bill would limit their useTwelve years ago, George Hunt needed a new roof on his cow barn in Orange, Massachusetts. Solar was hot" back then, Hunt said, thanks to federal and state commitments to increase renewable energy supplies.When Hunt crunched the numbers, he found that adding solar panels to that roof would be a financial boon to his struggling dairy. He applied for a Rural Energy for America Program (Reap) grant from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), which covered about a third of the cost; he borrowed the rest and mostly paid that loan off with a solar energy credit he received from the state of Massachusetts. After that, we didn't have an electric bill for a decade," Hunt said. It was wonderful." Continue reading...

Conservation groups warn slashing Darwin Initiative will put species and habitats in jeopardy, and set back efforts to halt decline in natureOne of the UK's longest-standing funds for global nature protection is being drastically cut back, the Guardian has learned.At least 89 countries will lose eligibility for funding for biodiversity projects under the Darwin Initiative, in a round of cuts that conservationists warned would put species and habitats in jeopardy, and set back global efforts to halt the precipitous decline in nature. Continue reading...

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London authority's new Tory-led administration delivers significant blow to Labour's flagship housebuilding schemeEnfield council in north London has withdrawn from the government's new towns programme, in a significant blow to Labour's flagship housebuilding scheme.The move by the new minority Conservative-led administration could present one of the first tests of Rachel Reeves's planning changes, designed to curb the use of judicial reviews against new infrastructure. Continue reading...

Clean power remains essential. But until it arrives, Britain must stop LNG made scarce by the Iran war setting gas and electricity pricesThe US-Israel war on Iran will drive household energy costs in Britain to their highest level in two years over the summer. This has given fresh impetus to calls for the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, to change course. The cabinet minister is vulnerable because he promised cheaper bills if Britain embraced his clean, green power plan.Critics, including Labour's former prime minister Sir Tony Blair, are circling. Yet Mr Miliband ought to ignore the naysayers. Until global carbon emissions, including Britain's, are reduced to net zero, the planet will continue to fry and temperature records will continue to be broken.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...

Water company blames increased demand in extreme heat, but customers want answers about lack of storage reservoirsSpitting, fuming, angry and powerless" is how Pat Prestage describes her emotions after a water outage that has affected thousands of homes in Kent during the heatwave.On Wednesday, 8,000 South East Water customers in Whitstable lost water, with 14,000 more in Tankerton, Ashford, and its surrounding areas facing an intermittent supply or low pressure. South East Water's incident manager, Matthew Dean, said on Thursday that 22,000 people had had water supply problems. Continue reading...

As summers become hotter, air conditioner sales are booming. If you're looking to invest, here's what to considerWhen a heatwave struck the UK this week, Jon Connorton, a software developer, began monitoring temperatures inside his east Hampshire terrace house. With some rooms reaching close to 40C, it was time to deploy the air conditioner. We just wheel it out in emergencies," he said. We were having trouble sleeping."Connorton and his wife have a portable air conditioner. These plug-in devices cool interior air by removing heat from it and blowing that heat outside, typically via a large hose slung from a window or door. Continue reading...

Bodies of two teenagers recovered by emergency workers following separate incidents in Kent and OxfordThe number of water-related deaths during the UK's recent heatwave has risen to 11 after the bodies of two teenage boys were recovered in Kent and Oxford.Emergency workers recovered the body of a 14-year-old boy from the River Thames near Donnington Bridge, Oxford, at about 5.30pm on Wednesday. Thames Valley police said the boy's family had been informed and that his death was being treated as unexplained but not suspicious". Continue reading...

For those of us working in Aboriginal health, the outbreak doesn't come as a surprise. We must invest in housing that keeps remote communities safeThe diphtheria outbreak should shock Australia. Not simply because a disease once considered virtually eradicated has returned, but because of where it is spreading and why.More than 220 cases have been recorded in 2026, primarily across the Northern Territory and northern Australia. The overwhelming majority of patients are Aboriginal people, including those living in remote and very remote communities. Continue reading...

In the last century, industrialized farming has killed off delicious food - but a brigade of chefs, breeders and farmers are fighting to bring it backBill Tracy is clearly not one to brag, but after a while, it seems he just can't help himself. I did come up with something absolutely amazing actually," he says softly. Really quite amazing."Tracy has spent the last 40 years in the fields of Wisconsin as one of the US's leading sweetcorn breeders, tasting up to 300 ears a day in search of the perfect corn that might one day sizzle on barbecues across the country. Continue reading...

Investigators are still searching for what caused the recent deaths of a mother and her calf, but conservationists say the animal's shrinking habitat may be the first place to lookThe two elephants were found dead in the Indonesian province of Bengkulu, in an area of production forest" in southern Sumatra. The mother and her calf were lying side by side with their tusks still intact.Unlikely to be poachers, the cause of their deaths - and that of a tiger nearby - at the end of April is still being investigated but conservationists say this is not an isolated case. It is estimated that seven wild elephants have died in Bengkulu since 2018. Continue reading...

Authorities are cracking down on rights activists fighting for Indigenous people threatened by authoritarianism, extractivism and climate breakdownThe operation began at 9am Moscow time, but took place across all of Russia's 11 time zones. Almost simultaneously, agents of the federal security service (FSB) raided the homes and workplaces of 17 Indigenous rights activists.Officers carried out searches, confiscated laptops and phones, and arrested and interrogated activists about participation in international forums. Most were let go; many have since left the country. Others remain in Russia, but will no longer speak up. Continue reading...

What does a surge in ocean temperatures, compounded with El Nino, bode for the summer?An enormous marine heatwave off the US west coast is ringing alarm bells among ocean and atmospheric scientists as new data shows its ecological and environmental effects are intensifying.The unusual area of warm water has persisted since peaking in size during September 2025 and still stretches thousands of miles from the California coastline - more than halfway across the Pacific - affecting a vast triangle-shaped region of oceanic habitats from Hawaii to British Columbia and southward to Mexico. Continue reading...

Greater working from home and hot summer temperatures believed to be driving increase in ownershipAn estimated 4m homes in the UK now have air conditioning, double the figure from three years ago as Britons complain of unliveable" conditions during high temperatures.Portable units with power ratings around 1kW are slightly more common than the more powerful built-in versions that can guzzle 2.7kW of power - more than an electric oven. Continue reading...

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Phenomenon, often seen around Britain's coast at this time of year, is caused by a combination of algae and weatherAt this time of year a sinister-looking substance can often be sighted around Britain's coast: a frothy foam piled up along the shoreline or appearing in long ribbons offshore. People sometimes assume this foam is the result of pollution or sewage dumping. In fact it is a common natural phenomenon produced by a combination of algae and weather.Sea algae start to grow in April as conditions warm. The most common sort, phaeocystis, is not toxic and forms part of the marine food chain. When the algal bloom dies it leaves a brown scum of organic material with surfactant properties, which, like soap, lowers the surface tension of the water. Continue reading...

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Climate change denial has become untenable yet Hanson's party digs in - with conspiracy theories, cherrypicking and claims that are easy to refute

EPA is loosening Biden-era rule that requires US businesses to reduce greenhouse gases used in cooling equipmentThe Trump administration is set to loosen a federal rule that requires grocery stores and air-conditioning companies to reduce greenhouse gases used in cooling equipment, in what officials say is a push to lower grocery costs.The head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lee Zeldin, said the Biden-era rule imposes costly restrictions that limit the type of refrigerants US businesses and families can use. Continue reading...

Young Americans are suing the president for violating rights with executive orders that fuel the climate crisisEva Lighthiser was at a dorm party on her Colorado college campus last month when she had to call it an early night.I said, Hey, I've got to go to bed, I'm flying out to Portland tomorrow,' and then of course follow-up questions get raised," she said. I'm like, Well, it's a lot to explain.'" Continue reading...

Ukrainians lament appalling toll of fighting on their country's bird populationRussia sent kamikaze drones to attack the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia in February. They hit buildings and killed several people. One unreported victim of the bombardment was a male long-eared owl, blinded in one eye and found with a badly broken wing. A passerby scooped up the stunned bird, put him in a box and took him to the city of Dnipro.The owl - nicknamed Sunny - is now recovering in a cosy room belonging to Veronica Konkova. No longer able to fly or hunt, Sunny instead hops around. Continue reading...

Sustainability promised to change the industry. With Shein reportedly acquiring Everlane, and Allbirds pivotting from eco sneakers to AI, it seems that promise was mostly marketingIt was always about the money, wasn't it? For a while there, it seemed like the execs opining sustainability is not a trend, it's the future actually meant it. But when yet another global brand drops its net zero goals or stops talking about DEI, you do wonder. Recent headlines include Stella McCartney adulterating her eco gloss with a sustainable capsule collection for H&M - don't worry, she's just infiltrating from within" - and Lululemon being investigated for Pfas. The letdowns keep coming.Now the internet is reeling from a report that Shein plans to acquire Everlane, the San Francisco-based sustainable basics brand built on radical transparency". Shein is the Chinese ultra-fast fashion giant epitomising murky supply chains and crazy-cheap landfill fashion. They release up to 10,000 styles a day, and have been making headlines of their own over secrecy and alleged links to forced Uyghur labour. Continue reading...

Chancellor's planning shake-up would reduce exposure from judicial review on all but human rights grounds'Rachel Reeves is preparing to announce a planning shake-up that would fast-track clean energy and infrastructure projects by curbing judicial reviews, the Treasury has said.The chancellor will propose that parliament should be able to designate and approve the most important clean energy projects as of critical national importance", as part of a wider package seeking to soften the economic blow from the Iran crisis. Continue reading...

Floral buzzing', the vibrations bees use to shake pollen loose from flowers, takes more energy than previously thoughtBees use as much energy collecting pollen through floral buzzing" as they do taking off in flight, a study shows.Scientists have found the vibrations bumblebees use to shake pollen loose from flowers are among the most exhausting behaviours they perform, forcing bees to carefully choose" which flowers are worth visiting. Continue reading...

Need for minerals, biofuels and pulp adding to pressures from ranching, monocrops, oil and logging, analysis findsThe growing extraction of rainforest resources is pushing the Amazon and similar biomes towards breaking point, a report has shown.Fresh demands for critical minerals, biofuels and pulp - used in fast fashion, processed food and packaging - are compounding existing pressures from cattle ranching, monocrops, oil and logging, the analysis finds. Continue reading...

A fast-growing brush fire that started on Monday morning in southern California has prompted evacuation orders for thousands of people and damaged at least one home.The Sandy fire was reported just after 10am in Simi Valley, a city in Ventura county about 30 miles north-west of Los Angeles. The blaze spread to more than 1,300 acres by its second day. Several neighbourhoods in nearby northern LA were put under evacuation warnings. Under an evacuation warning, residents are not required to leave immediately but are encouraged to be alert and be prepared to leave if conditions worsen

Study of Channel finds levels of toxic Pfas in Solent at 13 times safe limits in some places, with much coming from treated sewageScientists have found high levels of toxic Pfas, or forever chemicals", in soil, water and throughout the marine food chain in the UK's Solent strait, including at protected environmental sites, according to a new study.In some samples, pollution was 13 times the safe threshold for coastal waters. Others, which were below legal limits for individual chemicals, failed tests for combined toxicity. Continue reading...

UK foreign secretary says urgent pressure needed to get strait of Hormuz reopened and fertiliser and fuel movingGlobal fertiliser supplies must be freed up within weeks to avoid disaster, with harvests suffering and food prices rising, the UK's foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, has said.The war in Iran has frozen shipments of fertiliser through the strait of Hormuz, creating a supply crunch that has already damaged farming in the UK, Europe and the US and is having its worst impacts in the developing world, where farmers cannot afford the higher prices now being charged. Continue reading...

EPA outlines effort to kill Biden-era rules as critics condemn RFK Jr and Lee Zeldin's hocus pocus'The Trump administration has announced a plan to kill Biden-era drinking water limits on four Pfas forever chemicals", and to delay the implementation of standards for two other compounds.The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing two separate rules to delay and rescind the limits. The rules must go through an approval process that can take several years, and almost certainly will be challenged in court. Continue reading...

Never documented archaeologically before, evidence points to First Nations people caring for and nursing the animal

Use of AI is a valuable tool for weather prediction but only when it's trained with ample data, experts sayAs the US prepares for hurricane season and a summer of record-breaking heat, experts fear the Trump administration's cuts to climate and weather data programming could make the federal government's weather forecasts less reliable when they are needed most.The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) late last year launched a suite of artificial intelligence-powered global weather forecast models which it said would improve speed, efficiency, and accuracy". In March, an agency official said those models were being trained with centuries of weather data. Continue reading...

Rising demand for exotic pets is pushing many gibbon species to extinction, with their strong family bonds making them especially vulnerable to the brutal tradeIt is a cool morning in Thailand's hilly north, and a wildlife officer sits on the veranda of Omkoi wildlife sanctuary's office. On her lap is a wide-eyed infant primate dressed in baby clothes. Not unlike a human baby, he kicks and waves excitedly. Most of his dark skin is covered in dense white fur, except for his face and the palms of his hands.We call him Chokdee," the officer says. It means good luck'." Continue reading...

Energy security comes from using local, renewable resources to power, heat and cool communities, as Ukraine is doingDonald Trump's unjustified war on Iran and the resulting global fuel crisis is a continuing reminder that true energy security and independence will continue to elude us so long as we remain dependent on fossil fuels.Whether it's wars over oil and gas resource access or attacks on fossil fuel power plants and energy grids, this reliance on finite resources only worsens a country's threat profile. News this month of Russia's deadly attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, Russian drones swarming Ukrainian power stations and Kyiv running out of time to prepare for another winter of attacks on its energy grid illustrates this urgency.The US representative Lloyd Doggett serves Texas's 37th district in the House of Representatives and is a member of the Ukraine caucus and the House sustainable energy and environment coalition. Michael Shank PhD is adjunct faculty at New York University's Center for Global Affairs, and at George Mason University's Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution Continue reading...

Requests for gas connections by operators amount to more than 15 terawatt hours per year, endangering climate targetsMore than 100 new datacentres in the UK plan to burn gas to generate electricity, some potentially doing so permanently.British officials say this is an inevitable consequence of a years-long wait to connect to the National Grid, and raises an interesting question" about the UK's climate targets. Continue reading...

Climate and transport organisations warn ministers not to sleepwalk into crisis' amid Iran war oil and gas shortagesPrivate jets should be banned and the speed limit on UK motorways reduced to 60mph as part of a pre-emptive effort to ease the looming fuel supply crisis, according to leading climate and transport organisations.The group - including Greenpeace and Transport and Environment - are calling on ministers not to sleepwalk into a crisis" that could lead to severe shortages of jet fuel and spiralling petrol prices at the pump in the coming months. Continue reading...

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Butterfly Conservation poll is open until 7 June with choice of 60 species from small tortoiseshells to purple emperorsWill it be the rapidly disappearing former garden favourite, the small tortoiseshell? Or the poet John Masefield's oakwood haunting thing", the charismatic purple emperor? Or perhaps the brimstone, the ultimate harbinger of spring?The question of which is Britain's favourite butterfly is being put to a popular vote for the first time. The charity Butterfly Conservation is running the poll, which runs until 7 June, giving people the chance to choose their favourite from the 60 species that fly around Britain every summer. Continue reading...

Rents will rise and homelessness quadruple in a decade unless serious steps to cut emissions are taken, University of Sydney researchers find

Thames at Ham designated as one of 13 new swimming areas across England to be monitored for water qualityThe first designated bathing water area on the River Thames in London will welcome swimmers for the official start of the bathing season on Friday as one of 13 new monitored swimming areas across England.The Thames at Ham, in south-west London, has been designated as a new river bathing water area after campaigners gathered evidence to show thousands of people use the river for swimming throughout the year.Canvey Island foreshore, EssexEast Beach at West Bay, Bridport, DorsetFalcon Meadow, Bungay, SuffolkGranville Parade Beach, Sandgate, KentLittle Shore, Amble, NorthumberlandNew Brighton Beach (east), MerseysideNewton and Noss Creeks, DevonPangbourne Meadow, BerkshireQueen Elizabeth Gardens, Salisbury, WiltshireRiver Dee at Sandy Lane, Chester, CheshireRiver Fowey in Lostwithiel, CornwallRiver Swale in Richmond, YorkshireRiver Thames at Ham and Kingston, Greater London

Groups say supreme court justice, who owns oil stocks, may be violating ethics codes by participating in certain casesThe supreme court justice Samuel Alito, who owns stock in oil companies, may be violating court ethics codes by participating in certain cases that could benefit big oil, government watchdog groups say.In a Thursday letter, a coalition of watchdog organizations called on the Senate judiciary committee to investigate Alito, the sole supreme court justice with holdings in energy companies. Continue reading...

New undercover video appears to show cruel treatment of salmon at Cooke hatchery amid push for chickenification' of fishThe Trump administration is keen to do to fish what has been done to chickens - mass-produce them on an industrial scale to accelerate the US's output of seafood.But this chickenification" of fish may come at a hefty cost to the environment and to the fish themselves, as a new undercover video at one of the country's leading fish farms has highlighted. Continue reading...

When the birds started nesting on her land at Useless Bay, Chile, Cecilia Duran Gafo decided she would protect them from people and predatorsFive pairs of rubbery feet carry velvet-sheathed black-and-white bodies towards the rope line separating the king penguins from the dozen or so visitors, who look on in awe. As these emissaries shuffle over, a hundred of their cohorts parade on a nearby bank, splashing around in the water and regurgitating food into their chicks' open beaks.The king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus) makes its home almost exclusively on islands in the Southern Ocean. But it has been coming to this wind-battered bay in southern Chile's Tierra del Fuego region for hundreds of years, probably because its shallow shores offer protection from marine predators and humans. Continue reading...

Environmentalists hail decline but warn weakened laws could reverse gainsBrazil's Atlantic forest, the country's most threatened biome, last year recorded its lowest level of deforestation since monitoring began 40 years ago, a new report shows.The forest is Brazil's most populous biome, and home to 80% of the population and major cities such as Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. In 2025 it recorded 8,658 hectares of deforestation, marking the first time it has fallen below 10,000 hectares since 1985. Continue reading...

If resolution is passed, governments will recognise their legal responsibility to cut greenhouse gas emissionsThe UN's willingness to tackle the climate crisis in a fair and legal way will be tested next week during a critical vote of the UN general assembly in New York.Every member state is being asked to back a series of landmark findings on climate justice from the international court of justice (ICJ) as part of a new political resolution. If passed, it will mean governments recognise they have a legal responsibility to cut their greenhouse gas emissions, including tackling fossil fuels. Continue reading...

Woodland Trust also finds significant north-south divide in tree cover, leaving many people at risk of poor healthNigel Farage's constituency of Clacton-on-Sea is a tree desert", leaving people more exposed to air pollution, poorer health, lower life expectancy and the impact of rising temperatures, according to a new report.The Essex town is rated the worst-performing for equal access to trees in England, with the highest proportion of urban residents - 98.2% - living in neighbourhoods with critically low access to trees. Continue reading...

King Arthur is said to have transformed into a chough when he died, its red feet and beak representing his bloody endDecades after disappearing from the jagged cliffs around Tintagel Castle on the coast of north Cornwall, a bird with legendary connections to the area has returned.The custodian of Tintagel, English Heritage, and local ornithologists have declared that choughs - charismatic corvids with red beaks and feet - are back. Continue reading...