Rainfall near Memphis, Tennessee, is expected to exceed 12in over the next three daysA prolific tornado outbreak will give way to a rare and widespread flooding threat across the midwest and southern US this week, stressing the nation's short-staffed weather forecasting and disaster response efforts.At least four people have reportedly died so far as nearly 100 tornadoes struck on Wednesday. Continue reading...
by Gwyn Topham Transport correspondent on (#6WCBY)
Transport secretary Heidi Alexander grants consent to London's fourth-biggest airport to allow potential 32m passengers a yearLuton airport will be allowed to almost double in capacity after the government overruled planning inspectors who recommended blocking the scheme on environmental grounds.The transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, granted a development consent order for the airport's plans to expand its perimeter and add a new terminal, allowing for a potential 32 million passengers a year. Continue reading...
Application, submitted by Cranswick, would have created one of the largest industrial poultry and pig units in EuropeA megafarm that would have reared almost 900,000 chickens and pigs at any one time has been blocked by councillors in Norfolk over climate change and environmental concerns.Councillors on King's Lynn and West Norfolk borough council unanimously rejected an application to build what would have been one of the largest industrial poultry and pig units in Europe. Continue reading...
Energy Transfer, a top backer of US president, has received requests to power even more energy-guzzling data centersOil and gas barons who donated millions of dollars to Donald Trump's presidential campaign are on the cusp of cashing in on the administration's support for energy-guzzling data centers - and a slew of unprecedented environmental rollbacks.Energy Transfer, the oil and gas transport company behind the Dakota Access pipeline, has received requests to power 70 new data centers - a 75% rise since Trump took office, according to a new investigation by the advocacy non-profit Oil Change International (OCI) and the Guardian. Continue reading...
Firm makes product used to waterproof clothing and allegedly polluted water with some kinds of PfasThe makers of Gore-Tex, a popular product commonly used to waterproof clothing by companies such as the North Face and Mountain Hardware, poisoned drinking water and sickened residents around their facilities in rural Maryland, two lawsuits allege.The facilities, about 90 miles north-east of Baltimore, polluted drinking water with levels up to 700 times above federal limits with some kinds of Pfas, a group of toxins known as forever chemicals" due to their environmental longevity. The tainted water caused high rates of cancers and other diseases linked to Pfas exposure in the area, a class action suit alleges. Continue reading...
by Phoebe Weston. Photographs by Billy Barraclough on (#6WC61)
Traditional methods benefit hundreds of species but as new agricultural techniques take over, the distinctive haystacks mark a vanishing way of lifeGolden haystacks shaped like teardrops have been a symbol of rural life in Romania for hundreds of years. The 3-metre-high (10ft) ricks are the culmination of days of hard work by families, from children up to grandparents, in the height of summer.Together they cut waist-high grass, leave it to dry in the hot sun and stack it up to be stored over the winter, combing the hay downwards to protect it from harsh winds, heavy rain and snow. Throughout winter, clumps of it are removed from the haystacks and fed to livestock. Continue reading...
Animals affected by domoic acid are known to exhibit erratic behavior and poisonings are becoming frequentA teenager was attacked by a sea lion in southern California, raising concerns that a recent increase in algae-induced poisonings among marine mammals could have elicited the erratic behavior.Phoebe Beltran initially feared it was a shark when she was bitten repeatedly during a 1000-yard swim test for the Junior Lifeguards cadet program in Long Beach on 30 March. Relatives onshore saw the sea lion pop its head out of the water before it swam away, the Los Angeles Times reported. Continue reading...
Reports predict global heating will bring catastrophes and that air conditioning market could grow by 41%The world is on track for disastrous global heating - but this will create profits for some air conditioning companies, according to forecasts by leading Wall Street financial institutions.Recent reports by Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase and the Institute of International Finance all make clear the finance sector considers the Paris climate agreement limiting global temperatures, signed a decade ago by nearly 200 nations, is effectively dead and investors should plan accordingly. Continue reading...
Hurricane Helene proved a hard truth: a freezer of seeds is the literal version of putting all your eggs in one basketAbout a month after Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina last fall, Rodger Winn and I met in an Asheville, North Carolina, supermarket parking lot. He'd driven two hours from Little Mountain, South Carolina, where the passing storm had also left its destructive mark.When the power finally came back on," Winn said, two of my freezers didn't work." Winn was worried not about spoiled food inside, but his seed collection. On that autumn day, in an act of forced downsizing and seed philanthropy, Winn handed over two boxes filled with seeds. He wanted me, as founder of the non-profit Utopian Seed Project, to share the seeds with farmers across the region. The boxes contained a trove of Appalachian varieties: speckled field peas, white mountain half-runner beans, purple-podded bush beans and lots of butterbeans. Continue reading...
If Peter Dutton needs to court the crossbench to form minority government after the election, he would risk putting his Coalition partner offside on climate and environment policy
Experts are desperate to analyse rusty patched bumblebee nests for information that might help save them. But they are extremely hard to find - unless you're a trained conservation canine
A 19th-century zoologist found the little salt dweller', which could be a portal to the past - if only we could locate it againLast February, with colleagues Gert and Philipp and my daughter Francesca, I made the long journey to an unremarkable city called Rio Cuarto, east of the Argentinian Andes. We went in search of a worm of unusual distinction.Why a worm? As humans, we naturally love the animals that are most familiar. But from a zoologist's point of view, the vertebrates, from mammals and birds to frogs and fish, can be seen as variations on a single theme. We all have a head at one end (with skull, eyes and jaws); in the middle, a couple of pairs of limbs (a goldfish's fins, or your arms and legs); and, holding all this together, a backbone ending in a tail. Continue reading...
More than half of Britain's 59 native species are in long-term decline, UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme findsLast summer was the fifth worst in nearly half a century for butterflies in Britain, according to the biggest scientific survey of insect populations in the world.For the first time since scientific recording began in 1976, more than half of Britain's 59 native species are in long-term decline. Continue reading...
Government wants to spur economic growth and drive housebuilding but charities say nature should be priorityWildlife groups have expressed alarm after ministers promised a radically streamlined" approach to UK environmental regulation intended to drive economic growth and speed up new housing, as well as major projects such as airports.While officials said the plans should boost nature conservation overall, the removal of what one called bat by bat" decisions, a reference to the 100m bat shelter constructed for part of HS2, could water down individual protections. Continue reading...
Silver fire leading to fears about Methuselah, a nearly 5,000-year-old bristlecone pine in eastern part of stateFirefighters have managed to make strong progress" containing a fire burning through eastern California near the world's oldest trees, but the blaze remains an active threat, officials said.Since igniting on Sunday afternoon, the Silver fire has scorched nearly 1,600 acres (647 hectares) in the eastern Sierra Nevada and forced residents of about 800 homes to evacuate. Strong winds fanned the flames, which burned through dry grass and brush in Inyo county, threatening neighborhoods, endangered species and the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. Continue reading...
Conservative party leader says she believes show is based on real story', a claim described as wholly untrue by writer and co-creator of seriesRichard Hughes, chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility, is giving evidence to the Treasury committee. There is a live feed here.Hughes started by telling the committee that he wrote to the chancellor earlier this year to say that, when his five-year term ends later this year, he would like to have a second term in office.We are of course negotiating an economic deal which will, I hope ... mitigate the tariffs.The US is our closest ally. Our defence, our security, our intelligence are bound up in a way that no two other countries are.So it's obviously in our national interest to have a close working relationship with the US, which we've had for decades, and I want to ensure we have for decades to come.We are obviously working with the sectors most impacted at pace on that.Nobody wants to see a trade war but I have to act in the national interests. Continue reading...
by Patrick Barkham, Sarah Bertram, Mathilde Poncet an on (#6WB55)
Invertebrates may be the unsung heroes of the planet but they have received a lot of love and recognition from Guardian readers. A dazzling array of nominations have flown in for insects, arachnids, snails, crustaceans, corals and many more obscure creatures for our invertebrate of the year competition. Natural history reporter Patrick Barkham reviews this year's shortlist of 10
Inferno spread to nearby homes, trapping residents, while full extent of damage still being assessedA fireball erupted from a burst gas pipeline outside Malaysia's largest city, injuring 145 people as it burned for several hours before being extinguished.
Hundreds of projects supported by USAID have been thrown into doubt, as fears grow of an increase in crimes such as poaching and traffickingWhen the guns finally fell silent in 1992, little was left alive in Gorongosa national park. During the 15 years of Mozambique's civil war - in which more than a million people died - the country's wildlife also paid a terrible price. Poaching for meat and ivory was so intense that the small surviving elephant population rapidly evolved to lose their tusks. Leopards, wild dogs and spotted hyenas had all disappeared. Populations of zebra, buffalo and other herbivores had collapsed.In the following years, a huge effort to restore the park took shape. Led by the philanthropist Gregory Carr and Mozambique's government, it was the start of the park's journey to becoming one of Africa's most celebrated wildlife conservation success stories. Today, elephants, lions, hippos, antelope, painted wolves, hyenas and leopards all thrive in the park once again - thanks to work that for the past 20 years has been supported by a long-term partnership with USAID. Continue reading...
The flood-affected area in outback Queensland has grown to double the size of Victoria after experiencing its worst deluge in 50 years. Water broke the banks of a makeshift levee in Thargomindah in the state's south-west, forcing the evacuation of 100 residents. Stock losses are expected to be catastrophic and more rain is forecast for the coming week
by Jessica Murray Social affairs correspondent on (#6WA1B)
Council leader says situation causing harm and distress' with 17,000 tonnes of rubbish uncollectedBirmingham city council has declared a major incident over an ongoing bin strike, saying the daily blocking of depots by picket lines means vehicles are unable to pick up 17,000 tonnes of uncollected rubbish across the city.The council said it was unable to carry out its contingency plan due to striking workers blocking lorries on the picket line, and that there was now a risk to public health. Continue reading...
You can forget the advice on disguises, secret codes and spreading propaganda by dropping leaflets in train carriages. But there is something for us all here about the need for actionThe SOE Syllabus was a series of lectures given to prospective secret agents in Britain during the second world war. These lessons in ungentlemanly warfare" were released from the top secret bit of the Public Record Office (now known as the National Archive) and published as a historical curio in 2001, when my esteemed colleague John Crace picked out the sillier bits in one of his Digested Read reviews. There was a whole lecture about how to craft a disguise, in which people with sticky-out ears were advised to use glue to pin them back.But now, 24 years later, I have picked up the book with a graver purpose - just on the off-chance that if we end up having to resist a fascist state, the past might have something to offer. They won't know everything, these ungentlemanly gentlemen, being as they didn't have the internet. But they can't have known nothing.Zoe Williams is a Guardian columnistDo 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...
by Edward Helmore in Ossining, New York on (#6W9SW)
Head of Riverkeeper, which helped clean up Hudson River, talks about challenges during the second Trump termDonald Trump's push to repurpose the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) amid funding cuts and staffing losses poses a huge threat to water safety and environmental advances in one of the big environmental success stories in the US in recent decades: the clean-up of the Hudson River.Once a byword for environmental degradation, the Hudson River is now recovering, in part due to the work of Riverkeeper, a non-profit environmental organization that established a model of legal activism for water protection and inspired more than 300 programs globally. It is also where Robert F Kennedy Jr cut his teeth as an environmental lawyer, before becoming a senior member of Trump's rightwing cabinet. Continue reading...
Unsustainable logging is one of the global north's best-kept secrets. We're running out of time to stop itThe world is running out of time to halt deforestation and forest degradation. Yet instead of stepping up, the United States is dismantling forest protections and undermining global progress - highlighting the dangers of global forest policy that fails to hold the wealthiest, most powerful countries accountable.Unsustainable logging is one of the global north's best-kept secrets. Each year, millions of acres of old-growth and primary forests across North America, Europe and Australia are clearcut under the guise of sustainable forest management". International policy, by design, looks the other way, focusing attention instead on deforestation in the tropics. This double standard allows the world's wealthiest nations to evade accountability for industrial logging's catastrophic consequences.Jennifer Skene is director of global northern forests policy for the Natural Resources Defense Council Continue reading...
by Oliver Milman, Dharna Noor and Aliya Uteuova on (#6W9T7)
We asked 18 Republicans whose districts benefit most from Biden's IRA climate law if they back Trump's demandsBillions of dollars in clean energy spending and jobs have overwhelmingly flowed to parts of the US represented by Republican lawmakers. But these members of Congress are still largely reticent to break with Donald Trump's demands to kill off key incentives for renewables, even as their districts bask in the rewards.The president has called for the dismantling of the Inflation Reduction Act - a sweeping bill passed by Democrats that has helped turbocharge investments in wind, solar, nuclear, batteries and electric vehicle manufacturing in the US - calling it a giant scam". Trump froze funding allocated under the act and has vowed to claw back grants aimed at reducing planet-heating pollution. Continue reading...
South Africa's Marion Island is a breeding ground for the birds, but their chicks are being eaten alive by rodents. Now, the world's largest operation to eradicate the invasive species is about to get under wayBy 2015, scientists knew from camera trap evidence that mice were attacking albatross chicks on Marion Island, but no one had ever witnessed it first-hand on the small volcanic outcrop off the coast of South Africa. So, when researchers Stefan and Janine Schoombie came across a badly wounded wandering albatross chick in a relatively accessible part of the island, they resolved to return at night. After hiking for 30 minutes in the dark, Stefan started quietly setting up his camera equipment behind a rock. We were expecting to have to stalk, but the mice were climbing all over us," he says.It didn't take long for the mice to start feeding on the albatross chick. The bird was a complete fluffball," says Janine. So, they just climbed up its back and started nibbling at its head. We could see their teeth going into its flesh." The bird, too young to walk let alone fly, could only shake its head in irritation. As scientists our job is to not intervene," says Stefan. But we really wanted to help that bird." Continue reading...
By grazing between trees and removing potential wildfire fuel, wild horses help protect Galicia's delicate ecosystems, but Europe's largest herd has declined to just 10,000 Continue reading...
Labour's measures to ban deep-peat burning aim to safeguard habitats, tackle carbon emissions, and protect wildlife, so why are hunters up in arms?Burning vegetation on deep peat will be banned under government plans to protect nature and reduce carbon emissions.Vegetation on peatland is often burned to create habitat for grouse, which like to feed on the fresh shoots of new plants that grow after the burn. This increases the number of birds available to be shot for sport. Continue reading...
If a tree-planting scheme in western England can match the first national forest, people as well as wildlife will benefitThe benefits for bats were presumably not at the top of the government's list of reasons for announcing the creation of the new western forest. The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, regards rules that protect these nocturnal mammals as a nuisance. Nevertheless, the rare Bechstein's bat, as well as the pine marten and various fungi, are expected to be among species that benefit from the multiyear project, to which central government has so far committed 7.5m.Like England's only existing national forest, in the Midlands, this one will be broken up across a wide area, featuring grassland, farmland, towns and villages as well as densely planted, closed-canopy woodland. JohnEveritt, who heads the National Forest organisation (which is both a charity and a government arm's length body), describes this type of landscape as forest in the medieval sense with a mosaic of habitats".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...
Riot of native wildflowers that enthralled visitors in the past several years have failed to sprout due to too little rainIt's one of the best known rites of spring in California: extraordinary displays known as superblooms" that coat the hillsides in an abundance of color. Some years the blooms are massive enough to draw tourists from around the world to revel in the fields, such as in 2023 when more than 100,000 people showed up on a weekend to gawk at the poppies in Lake Elsinore, a small city about an hour outside Los Angeles.But this year, not so much. Thanks to a brutally dry winter, the hills around the usual southern California superbloom hotspots have been conspicuously bare. Callista Turner, a state park ranger, could count the number of blooms on two hands as she surveyed the 8 miles of rolling hills at the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve in the final week of March, which is typically when superbloom season peaks. We're still waiting to see what kind of season we have," she says. It's a very slow start." Continue reading...
Cyclone Alfred drives wild seas, a seagull eclipses the moon, and our Kylie performs on a trapeze: Guardian Australia looks at some of the month's best images
Local councillor says federal Labor should not be plonking giant batteries in public parks' though no other council has refused development applications in the state
In a city where surfing is a way of life, the wait to get back in the water has been agonizing. But new research offers a glimmer of hopeAlex Sinunu was used to surfing three or four times a week in Santa Monica Bay - after all, the beach was just a mile from his home and he could ride his bike there with his board. But ever since the megafires that swept through neighboring Pacific Palisades in early January, the ocean has been filled with ash, debris - and endless questions.The massive blaze consumed thousands of homes and other structures, many of them on the edge of the Pacific coastline. Subsequent rainstorms sent tons of debris washing into the ocean, turned the water brown and raised fears about the toxins that could be coming from all the charred remains of buildings and cars - including asbestos, lithium-ion batteries and plastics. Continue reading...
Environmentalists call bid to skirt UN treaty reckless' amid fears that mining will cause irreversible loss of biodiversityA Canadian deep-sea mining firm has revealed it has been negotiating with the Trump administration to bypass a UN treaty and potentially gain authorisation from the US to mine in international waters.The revelation has stunned environmentalists, who condemned the move as reckless" and a slap in the face for multilateralism". Continue reading...
California Forever is back with a proposal that has some on board: using the land it owns to create a shipbuilding hubIn 2023, a group called California Forever, funded by Silicon Valley billionaires, introduced a splashy proposal to build a new city on tens of thousands acres of farmland it had acquired north-east of San Francisco.Residents and officials of Solano county, where the city would sit, were frustrated by what they saw as a lack of local input and concerned about wealthy outsiders with big plans to reshape their region. After months of extensive news coverage and efforts to woo over local leaders, California Forever changed track: withdrawing a ballot measure that would have fast-tracked the plans and instead seeking approval through standard county processes. Continue reading...
Greenpeace lost - not because it did something wrong but because it was denied a fair trialThe stunning $667m verdict against Greenpeace last week is a direct attack on the climate movement, Indigenous peoples and the first amendment.The North Dakota case is so deeply flawed - at its core, the trial was really about crushing dissent - that I believe there is a good chance it will be reversed on appeal and ultimately backfire against the Energy Transfer pipeline company. Continue reading...