Seaweed has become a key cash crop as climate change and industrial trawling test the resilient culture of the semi-nomadic Vezo peopleAlong Madagascar's south-west coast, the Vezo people, who have fished the Mozambique Channel for countless generations, are defined by a way of life sustained by the sea. Yet climate change and industrial exploitation are pushing this ocean-based culture to its limits.Coastal villages around Toliara, a city in southern Madagascar, host tens of thousands of the semi-nomadic Vezo people, who make a living from small-scale fishing on the ocean. For centuries, they have launched pirogues, small boats carved from single tree trunks, every day into the turquoise shallows to catch tuna, barracuda and grouper.A boat near lines of seaweed, which has become a main source of income for Ambatomilo village as warmer seas, bleached reefs and erratic weather accelerate the decline of local fish populations Continue reading...

New protections for hares, and more humane conditions on farms, should be welcomed by allLooking after wildlife and improving the lives of farm animals and pets are the related but distinct aims of the government's new animal welfare strategy for England. Its launch is timely: more than 1 billion chickens and around 8 million turkeys are reared each year - with many of the latter slaughtered in the run-up to Christmas. Winter is also peak season for pet abandonments, with animal charities particularly fearful this year, given the already high numbers of dogs and cats being dumped.Pledges to end the use of cages for laying hens, and cramped farrowing crates for pigs, will be welcomed byall who object to animal cruelty. So will a proposal toreplace the carbon dioxide stunning of pigs with an alternativethat is less distressing for them. New rules for farmed fish are also on the way. Until now, fish have been largely excluded from the evolving set of regulations aimed at minimising suffering at the pointof slaughter.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...

U-turn lifts limit from 1m to 2.5m after protests and warnings that family farms were at riskMinisters will increase the threshold for taxing inherited farmland from 1m to 2.5m after months of pressure from campaigners and MPs representing rural areas.In a statement slipped out just before Christmas, the environment department announced the U-turn, which will apply from April when the tax kicks in. Continue reading...

No 10 has largely played down health secretary's commentsThe Treasury has published this explainer setting out in detail how the inheritance tax rules will apply to farms after today's announcement.When the government first announced its plan to extend inheritance tax to farms, it said that this would raise around 520m a year from 2028-29.The changes we are implementing reflects the concerns that have been raised while preserving the majority of the revenue from reform to help cut debt and borrowing and fund public services. The costings for today's announcement will be incorporated into the next OBR forecast. Continue reading...

Work under way to refloat boats on emptied waterway after earthwork more than 200 years old failsThe dramatic breach of a canal in the early hours of Monday, which sent two narrowboats tumbling into a hole and left others stranded, was caused by the collapse of an artificial embankment that had stood for more than 200 years.As emergency services declared the major incident phase over more than 24 hours after the embankment failure, work was beginning to isolate the damaged section of the canal and refloat boats still stranded either side of the emptied section of waterway. Continue reading...

As the number of the semi-aquatic creatures soars so can tensions. But the Swiss have a tried and tested system to calm the neighbours and restore harmonyI hate beavers," a woman tells the beaver hotline. Forty years ago she planted an oak tree in a small town in southern Zurich - now at the frontier of beaver expansion - and it has just been felled: gnawed by the large, semi-aquatic rodents as they enter their seasonal home-improvement mode.The caller is one of 10 new people getting in touch each week at this time of year. Beavers, nature's great engineers, can unleash mayhem during winter as they renovate their lodges and build up their dams. For people, this can mean flooding, sinkholes appearing in roads and trees being felled. A single incident can clock up 70,000 Swiss francs (65,000) in damages. Continue reading...

Met Office says temperatures are tracking ahead of 2022 after year of heatwaves and drought, though late cold spell could yet interveneForecasters say 2025 is more likely than not" to break the record for the hottest year in the UK since records began, after a summer of heatwaves and drought followed by a mild autumn.According to the Met Office, the official forecaster, the mean temperature for 2025 is tracking well ahead of the previous highest year, set in 2022. However, a colder spell expected from Christmas until the new year makes it too close to call definitively. Continue reading...

Advocates say State Electricity Commission's $650m Delburn windfarm will be a new chapter' for region previously home to Hazelwood coal power station

Major incident declared as 50-metre-long breach opens up in waterway previously flagged as amber risk'A man has told of his narrow escape after waking up just in time to raise the alarm as his canal boat and those of others were swallowed by a fast-appearing giant hole.Emergency services declared a major incident after the 50-metre-long crater - initially described by emergency services and other agencies as a sinkhole - breached the Llangollen canal in England's West Midlands, leaving boats teetering on the edge of a steep drop or stuck at the bottom of the cavity. Continue reading...

Black Diamond Pool eruption provides dramatic footage after being captured on official cameraA hot spring in Yellowstone national park that erupts sporadically was captured on an official camera exploding in spectacular muddy plumes at the weekend.Volcanic experts at the US Geological Survey described the eruption as simply Kablooey!" Continue reading...

Interior department move affects five projects under construction in latest blow to industry targeted by TrumpThe Trump administration has said it is immediately pausing all leases for offshore wind farms already under construction, in the heaviest blow yet to an industry that the administration has relentlessly targeted throughout the year.Trump's Department of the Interior said that it was halting the building of five wind projects due to national security risks". The department said it would work with the US Department of Defense to mitigate the risk of the wind turbine towers creating radar interference called clutter" that could in some way hamper the US military. Continue reading...

Video shared by the US Geological Survey on social media shows mud spraying up and out from the Black Diamond Pool in Yellowstone national park. Other recent eruptions have mostly been audible but not visible because they happened either at night or when the camera was obscured by ice. The agency said the Black Diamond Pool was previously the site of a hydrothermal explosion, in July 2024, that sent rocks and mud flying hundreds of feet into the air and damaged a boardwalk. It prompted the closure of the area to visitors due to the damage and potential for additional hazardous activity Continue reading...

Mass of congealed fat, oil and grease 100 metres in length found blocking sewers in Whitechapel area of capitalA fatberg" weighing an estimated 100 tonnes has been discovered blocking sewers in east London, officials have said.The mass of congealed fats, oils and grease measures about 100 metres long (328ft) and weighs about a third more than the heaviest of the British army's battle tanks. It has been called the grandchild of the 2017 Whitechapel fatberg, which weighed 130 tonnes and stretched for more than 250 metres (820ft). Continue reading...

Rich Stockdale says model of regenerative capitalism' would maximise profits by planting trees, restoring peatlands, and installing windfarms across its estatesThe founder of an investment firm buying large estates across Britain to restore woods and peatland has said it is unashamedly and proudly" capitalist, and plans to make tens of millions of pounds in profit.Rich Stockdale, the chief executive of Oxygen Conservation, said his model of regenerative capitalism" was a force for good" because it would offer investors significant profits by planting trees, restoring peatlands, operating solar farms and holiday homes and installing new windfarms across its estates. Continue reading...

Thousands of farms set to go bankrupt as grain farmers in particular hit by trade disruptions caused by price hikesDonald Trump, having promised to NEVER LET OUR FARMERS DOWN", appeared to come through for them this month when he unveiled a $12bn aid package. Industry leaders say thousands of farms will still go bust this year.While the US president has vowed to increase domestic farm production, and even claimed this formed a big part" of his plan to lower grocery prices for Americans, many US farmers are grappling with mounting financial issues - compounded by Trump's agenda. Continue reading...

Milder weather led to a bloom in the invertebrates in south Cornwall and Devon, wildlife charity saysRecord numbers of sightings of one of the world's most intelligent invertebrates over the summer have led the Wildlife Trusts to declare 2025 the year of the octopus" in its annual review of Britain's seas.A mild winter followed by an exceptionally warm spring prompted unprecedented numbers of Mediterranean octopuses to take up residence along England's south coast, from Penzance in Cornwall to south Devon. Continue reading...

Humane slaughter requirements for farmed fish and end to puppy farming also in new package of animal welfare lawsCaged hens will be a thing of the past in England, the government has announced, as it launches a package of new animal welfare laws.Pig farrowing crates, which campaigners have said are cruel, will also be banned under the welfare changes. These cramped crates are used to stop pigs from rolling over and crushing their young, but once in them sows cannot turn over or move around at all. Continue reading...

Magpie on a mince pie anyone? Continue reading...

The first ever mass deployment of mother reef bricks aims to rebuild habitats - and could reshape the North SeaAllie Wharf's career unfolded amid conflict. As a senior foreign producer for Newsnight, she reported on Iraq and Afghanistan. Just two years ago, she was filming mass graves in Ukraine.But burnt out by wars, and after a detour farming ducks in Tanzania, Wharf has now settled on the quiet north Norfolk coast. Here, alongside her life and business partner, Willie Athill, she has embarked on a different kind of mission: the creation of Europe's largest natural oyster reef. Continue reading...

Asda, Lidl and Morrisons understood to be stocking imported branded turkeys to meet Christmas demandSeveral of the UK's big supermarkets have been forced to source turkeys from elsewhere in Europe to keep shelves stocked this Christmas, after avian flu curtailed UK production.Asda, Lidl and Morrisons are understood to be stocking branded turkey imported from mainland Europe - a move industry sources described as unprecedented" - to protect availability" and ensure sufficient supply for festive meals. Continue reading...

The Golden State's clean energy use hit new highs in 2025. As the Trump administration abandons US climate initiatives, can California fill the void?As officials from around the world met in Brazil for the Cop30 climate summit last month, the US president was nowhere to be found, nor were any members of his cabinet. Instead, the most prominent American voice in Belem was that of the California governor, Gavin Newsom.During the five days he spent in Brazil, Newsom described Donald Trump as an invasive species" and condemned his rollback of policies aimed at reducing emissions and expanding renewable energy. Newsom, long considered a presidential hopeful, argued that, as the US retreated, California would step up in its place as a stable, reliable" climate leader and partner. Continue reading...

Heating means pests breeding and spreading faster, warn scientists, with simplified current food system already vulnerable

System operator Neso predicts lowest carbon intensity ever on Christmas Day after new wind and solar power come onlineBritain's energy system operator has predicted that this year's Christmas Day could be the greenest yet.If the weather remains mild and windy for the rest of December, the National Energy System Operator (Neso) has said it could record the lowest carbon intensity - the measure of how much carbon dioxide is released to produce electricity - recorded on the network for 25 December. Continue reading...

European legislators may ban plant-based products from using the name to prevent confusion'. Just don't mention beef tomatoes or buffalo wingsMost of what you eat is sausages. I mean, if we're going to get literal about it. Sausage derives from the Latin salsicus, which means seasoned with salt". You might think of a sausage as a simple thing, but on this reading it is everything and nothing, a Borgesian meta-concept that retreats as you approach it.From another perspective, a sausage is an offal-filled intestine, or the macerated parts of an electrocuted or asphyxiated pig or other animal - generally parts that you wouldn't knowingly eat - mixed with other ingredients that, in isolation, you might consider inedible. For some reason, it is seldom marketed as such. Continue reading...

EPA proposed undoing Biden-era policy on exposure to carcinogenic toxin in latest push to weaken toxin standardsDonald Trump's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to increase the levels of exposure to highly carcinogenic formaldehyde it considers safe. If successful, people would continue to be exposed to concerning amounts of the toxin in thousands of everyday products used across the economy, experts and advocates say.Formaldehyde, a pungent colorless gas at room temperature, is found in a range of cosmetics, personal care products, home cleaners, craft supplies, leather goods, furniture, clothing, plastic, building materials and other everyday goods. During Joe Biden's term, EPA scientists took a major step toward reining in the broad societal risk by issuing a finding that any level of exposure to formaldehyde can cause cancer, and very low levels cause non-cancer health harms. Continue reading...

Games such as Dragon Quest used to mobilize workers to back corporate goals including relaxing environmental rulesToyota, the world's biggest carmaker, is using retro-style video games to rally its US workforce behind its corporate goals, including lobbying to relax environmental rules, the Guardian can reveal.Through an internal platform called Toyota Policy Drivers, employees can play games with names such as Star Quest, Adventure Quest and Dragon Quest, earning prizes by engaging with company messaging about policy and by contacting federal lawmakers using company-provided talking points. Continue reading...

Researchers noticed dramatic' changes in nutrients in crops, including drop in zinc and rise in leadMore carbon dioxide in the environment is making food more calorific but less nutritious - and also potentially more toxic, a study has found.Sterre ter Haar, a lecturer at Leiden University in the Netherlands, and other researchers at the institution created a method to compare multiple studies on plants' responses to increased COlevels. The results, she said, were a shock: although crop yields increase, they become less nutrient-dense. While zinc levels in particular drop, lead levels increase. Continue reading...

Long Island receives 21cm of snow, while a tornado tears down decorations near MalagaHeavy snow fell in parts of New England this week. New York's Central Park received a few centimetres of snow, while 21cm (8.5in) was dumped in parts of Long Island. This is the earliest New York has experienced snowfall since 2018.New York narrowly missed out on widespread snowfall a few weeks ago. The low-pressure system tracked ever so slightly to the north of New York, enabling the warmer air to edge in. Meanwhile, upstate New York and other parts of New England were on the colder side of the system and received significant snow accumulations. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Ancient forests and turquoise rivers of the Cochamo Valley protected from logging, damming and developmentA wild valley in Chilean Patagonia has been preserved for future generations and protected from logging, damming and unbridled development after a remarkable fundraising effort by local groups, the Guardian can reveal.The 133,000 hectares (328,000 acres) of pristine wilderness in the Cochamo Valley was bought for $63m (47m) after a grassroots campaign led by the NGO Puelo Patagonia, and the title to the wildlands was officially handed over to the Chilean nonprofit Fundacion Conserva Pucheguin on 9 December. Continue reading...

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

Analysis suggests consumption at Northumberland site could be 50 times higher than US operator QTS estimatesThe UK's largest proposed datacentre is understating the scale of its planned water use, according to an analysis.The first phase of construction for the hyperscale campus in Cambois in Northumberland has been given the go-ahead by the local council. The US operator QTS, which is developing the site, has promoted its water-free" cooling system as proof of its sustainability. Continue reading...

In the Peloponnese mountains, the usually hardy trees are turning brown even where fires haven't reached. Experts are raising the alarm on a complex crisisIn the southern Peloponnese, the Greek fir is a towering presence. The deep green, slow-growing conifers have long defined the region's high-altitude forests, thriving in the mountains and rocky soils. For generations they have been one of the country's hardier species, unusually capable of withstanding drought, insects and the wildfires that periodically sweep through Mediterranean ecosystems. These Greek forests have lived with fire for as long as anyone can remember.So when Dimitrios Avtzis, a senior researcher at the Forest Research Institute (FRI) of Elgo-Dimitra, was dispatched to document the aftermath of a spring blaze in the region, nothing about the assignment seemed exceptional. He had walked into countless burnt landscapes, tracking the expected pockets of mortality, as well as the trees that survived their scorching. Continue reading...

Digital facilities that track wastage down to the gram have brought about behavioural change among usersMin Geum-nan walks towards a metal bin beneath her apartment block in Gangdong district, eastern Seoul carrying a small bag of vegetable peelings. She taps her resident card on the reader, the lid swings open, she empties the contents and scans again and a digital screen flashes: 0.5kg.You have no choice but to pay attention because you can see exactly what you're wasting," says Min, who has lived in the complex for 15 years and watched the system arrive in 2020. Continue reading...

Scientists say government must prepare for unlikely but plausible' 4C rise in temperature and a 2-metre rise in sea levelsThe worst-case impacts of the climate crisis for the UK have been laid bare by scientists, ranging from a scorching 4C rise in temperatures to a 2-metre rise in sea level. Another scenario sees a plunge of 6C in temperature after the collapse of key Atlantic Ocean currents, massively disrupting farming and energy needs.The impacts, some of which are linked to climate tipping points, are seen as low probability but plausible. The researchers said the scenarios filled a gap in forecasting that had left the UK unprepared for extreme outcomes. Continue reading...

Streams of soil turn sand and surrounding water red, creating sharp contrast with blue waters of Persian GulfRainfall on Iran's Hormuz Island briefly transformed the coastline of its Red Beach into a striking natural scene this week, as red soil flowed into the sea and turned the water shades of deep red.The beach is known for its vivid red sand and cliffs, created by high concentrations of iron oxide. Continue reading...

Rainfall on Hormuz Island briefly transformed the coastline of its famed Red Beach into a striking natural scene this week, as soil flowed into the sea and turned the water shades of deep red. The beach is known for its vivid red sand and cliffs, created by high concentrations of iron oxide Continue reading...

Campaigners celebrate defeat of proposal to extend Bilbao institution into areas including nature reserveEnvironmental groups and local campaigners in the Basque Country have welcomed the scrapping of a project to build an outpost of Bilbao's Guggenheim Museum on a Unesco biosphere reserve that is a vital habitat for local wildlife and migrating birds.The scheme's backers, which include the Guggenheim Foundation, the Basque government and local and regional authorities, had claimed the museum's twin sites - one in the Basque town of Guernica and one in the nearby Urdaibai reserve - would help revitalise the area, attract investment and create jobs. Continue reading...

The molluscs are decimating food chains in Switzerland, have devastated the Great Lakes in North America, and this week were spotted in Northern Ireland for the first timeLike cholesterol clogging up an artery, it took just a couple of years for the quagga mussels to infiltrate the 5km (3-mile) highway of pipes under the Swiss Federal Technology Institute of Lausanne (EPFL). By the time anyone realised what was going on, it was too late. The power of some heat exchangers had dropped by a third, blocked with ground-up shells.The air conditioning faltered, and buildings that should have been less than 24C in the summer heat couldn't get below 26 to 27C. The invasive mollusc had infiltrated pipes that suck cold water from a depth of 75 metres (250ft) in Lake Geneva to cool buildings. It's an open invasion," says Mathurin Dupanier, utilities operations manager at EPFL.Mathurin Dupanier indicates the water cooling systems that were blocked by the invasive quagga mussels. Photographs: Phoebe Weston/the Guardian; Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne Continue reading...

Forecast is slightly cooler than the record 1.55C reached in 2024, but 2026 set to be among four hottest years since 1850Next year will bring heat more than 1.4C above preindustrial levels, meteorologists project, as fossil fuel pollution continues to bake the Earth and fuel extreme weather.The UK Met Office's central forecast is slightly cooler than the 1.55C reached in 2024, the warmest year on record, but 2026 is set to be among the four hottest years dating back to 1850. Continue reading...

Record rains have forced hundreds of rescues, swamped communities and left rivers high, with more storms forecastThe extent of the damage in Washington state is profound but unclear after more than a week of heavy rains and record flooding, according to the state's governor, Bob Ferguson.A barrage of storms from weather systems stretching across the Pacific has dumped close to 2ft (0.6 metres) of rain in parts of the state, swelling rivers far beyond their banks and prompting more than 600 rescues across 10 counties. Continue reading...

Residents of Gloster, Mississippi, are suing plant that exports wood pellets to UK and Europe. Company says it is reducing emissionsWhen Helen Reed first learned about the bioenergy mill opening in her hometown of Gloster, Mississippi, the word was it would bring jobs and economic opportunities. It was only later that she learned that activity came with a cost: the Amite Bioenergy mill, opened in 2014 by British energy giant Drax, emits large - and sometimes illegal - quantities of air pollutants, including methanol, acrolein and formaldehyde, which are linked to cancers and other serious illnesses.When I go out, I can't hardly catch my breath," Reed said. Everything is worse since Drax came here." Continue reading...

Legal temporary farm workers also worry about the H-2A visa program and Trump's anti-immigration regimeThis article is a collaboration between the Guardian and Enlace Latino NC, an independent bilingual publication. Read this article in Spanish.On a cold December afternoon, about 10 workers load the season's final Christmas trees onto a truck at Wolf Creek Tree Farm and Nursery in Cullowhee, North Carolina. Nearby, another group takes a break, warming up around a barrel fire. More workers are out in the fields, a half-hour's drive up further into the mountains. Continue reading...

Greece is hoping that protected areas will help keep daytrippers away and allow vulnerable monk seals to return to their island habitatsDeep in a sea cave in Greece's northern Sporades, a bulky shape moves in the gloom. Someone on the boat bobbing at a distance offshore passes round a pair of binoculars and yes! - there it is. It's a huge Mediterranean monk seal, one of the world's rarest marine mammals , which at up to 2.8 metres and over 300kg (660lbs), is also one of the world's largest types of seal.Piperi, where the seal has come ashore, is a strictly guarded island in the National Marine Park of Alonissos and Northern Sporades, Greece's largest marine protected area (MPA) and a critical breeding habitat for the seals. Only researchers are allowed within three miles of its shores, with permission from the government's Natural Environment and Climate Change Agency. Continue reading...

Researcher in Kerala rainforest sounds alarm after being told frogs had died after being handled by humansA group of endangered galaxy frogs" are missing, presumed dead, after trespassing photographers reportedly destroyed their microhabitats for photos.Melanobatrachus indicus, each the size of a fingertip, is the only species in its family, and lives under logs in the lush rainforest in Kerala, India. Their miraculous spots do not indicate poison, as people sometimes assume, but are thought to be used as a mode of communication, according to Rajkumar K P, a Zoological Society of London fellow and researcher. Continue reading...

Environmentalists say proposed temporary suspension of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides doesn't go far enough'

Swimmers find driver, believed to be 33-year-old man, and vehicle in about 6ft of water in ditch in Snohomish areaA man who drove past warning signs was found dead in a car submerged in flood waters near Seattle, Washington, on Tuesday, in the first reported death following a week of heavy rain and flooding in the region.Governor Bob Ferguson said on Tuesday the extent of the damage in Washington state is profound but unclear as more high water, mudslides and power outages were in the forecast. Continue reading...

Housing minister announces exemption to 10% net gain rule in England for smaller developmentsThe government has broken its promise to protect nature by weakening planning rules for housing developers, groups have said.While developers once had to create biodiversity net gain" (BNG), meaning creating 10% more space for nature on site than there was before the building took place, the housing minister Matthew Pennycook announced exemptions to this rule on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Region known as world's refrigerator' is heating up as much as four times as quickly as global average, Noaa experts sayThe Arctic endured a year of record heat and shrunken sea ice as the world's northern latitudes continue a rapid shift to becoming rainier and less ice-bound due to the climate crisis, scientists have reported.From October 2024 to September 2025, temperatures across the entire Arctic region were the hottest in 125 years of modern record keeping, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) said, with the last 10 years being the 10 warmest on record in the Arctic. Continue reading...

Modelling suggests main electricity market could run almost entirely on renewables without increase in generation cost by 2050

Launch of third generation of Leaf follows investment of more than 450m into model, including 300m direct to UKNissan has started the production of its latest electric car in Sunderland, a crucial step in the UK automotive industry's transition away from petrol and diesel.The Japanese manufacturer will launch the third generation of the Leaf on Tuesday, which was the first mass-market battery electric car to be built in the UK. Nissan has made 282,704 Leaf models at the north-east England plant so far. Continue reading...