Nettles, hedge garlic, sticky weed: Britain in May is a lush salad bar that I can't resist, and it's doing wonders for my skinI had a daughter during one of the bone-cold early months of this year, which means that my full-time job is now to produce a yield. Between the hours of dawn and midnight, with a few lactic minutes in between, I am a feeding machine for a new person.And it is this, perhaps, that has led to my somewhat strange new eating habits. Pregnancy may traditionally be the time associated with cravings and aversions - the old cliches of sardines and jam, coal and creosote, bread and crackers. But here, in my postnatal feeding frenzy, I'm eating nettles by the handful. I am chomping on sticky weed. I have been biting the heads off dandelions (bitter - like really serious dark chocolate) and sucking the nectar from inside honeysuckle. This recent chlorophyll gala has, of course, coincided with England's greatest month: May. Some of us love the look of May, some of us enjoy the smells. But for me, this year, the greatest heady, verdant, leaf-rich pleasure of my life is to eat May by the bushel.Nell Frizzell is a journalist and authorDo 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...

Reefs off the Keys have lost 90% of healthy coral cover in 40 years, but replanting effort aims to make reef more resilientA taskforce of experts looking into the mass bleaching and decline of Florida's delicate coral reefs is planting more than 1,000 nursery-grown juveniles from the reef-building elkhorn species in a new effort to reverse the tide of destruction.Record ocean heat in 2023 hastened the death spiral for reefs in the Florida Keys, which have lost 90% of their healthy coral cover over the last 40 years, largely because of the climate emergency, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa). Continue reading...

New rules for zoos and aquariums include guidance on elephant enclosures and ban on touching fishZoos will be obliged to boost conservation efforts and improve animal welfare under the first revision of mandatory standards for the sector in more than a decade.Under the update to the Standards of Modern Zoo Practice for Great Britain, last set out in 2012, elephants will need to be kept in larger enclosures and birds of prey must be kept in large aviaries rather than being tethered. Continue reading...

Backbencher says it's time to resolve the issues of access to the English countryside once and for all'Labour backbenchers are pressing the government to revive a right to roam policy in England after a supreme court ruling enshrined the right to wild camp on Dartmoor.The court ruled this week that camping on the national park was legal after a multimillionaire hedge fund manager tried to remove the right to camp on his Devon estate, and by extension from the rest of the park. Continue reading...

Two-month-old black bear, who was starving in a California forest, is youngest cub the San Diego center has cared forHuman bears, some would say, are taking care of a two-month-old cub that spent days without his mother, starving in a California forest.The small black bear cub was rescued by campers in Los Padres national forest after being found alone and starving. The infant bear is now recovering at San Diego Humane Society's Ramona Wildlife Center, and is believed to be the youngest cub the organization has ever cared for. Continue reading...

President aims to construct new nuclear reactors as he implements his own energy policies and undoes Joe Biden'sDonald Trump signed a series of executive orders on Friday intended to spur a nuclear energy renaissance" through the construction of new reactors he said would satisfy the electricity demands of data centers for artificial intelligence and other emerging industries.The orders represented the president's latest foray into the policy underlying America's electricity supply. Trump declared a national energy emergency on his first day in office over and moved to undo a ban implemented by Joe Biden on new natural gas export terminals and expand oil and gas drilling in Alaska. Continue reading...

MPs had previously backed Conservative amendment to ask developers to provide hollow bricks for endangered birdsProviding every new home with at least one swift brick" to help endangered cavity-nesting birds has been rejected by Labour at the committee stage of its increasingly controversial planning bill.The amendment to the bill to ask every developer to provide a 35 hollow brick for swifts, house martins, sparrows and starlings, which was tabled by Labour MP Barry Gardiner, has been rejected by the Labour-dominated committee. Continue reading...

The Brazilian photographer has died at 81, leaving behind a career filled with striking images taken around the world. Through the lens of his camera, Sebastiao tirelessly fought for a more just, humane and ecological world,' a statement from his family read.

Brazilian photographer's work highlighted injustice and introduced rainforest to the world

Party spokesperson says policy has clear benefits for securing jobs and energy independence'Reform UK has promised to reverse the government's ban on fresh North Sea oil and gas drilling as a day one" priority if elected to power, with the taxpayer taking a stake in the projects.Richard Tice, the party's deputy leader, has met with senior UK oil executives in recent weeks to pledge the party's support for the industry, which has been hit hard by the government's windfall tax and moves to block fresh North Sea exploration licences. Continue reading...

Chris Weston, CEO of Britain's biggest water company, faces questions over paused' executive bonus schemeThe chief executive of Thames Water has been ordered to tell MPs whether any executives have received payments from a controversial bonus package taken from a 3bn loan.Britain's biggest water company admitted last week that senior managers were in line for substantial" bonuses linked to an emergency 3bn loan. Thames claimed the payouts were vital to retain staff and prevent rival companies from picking off" its best employees. The disclosure provoked fury as the company has said its finances are hair-raising" and that it came very close to running out of money entirely" last year. Continue reading...

Farm country voted for Trump in 2024, but many of his actions - from tariffs to federal cuts - are hurting growersDonald Trump may have won the votes of the US's most farming-dependent counties by an average of 78% in the 2024 election. But the moves made by his administration in the past few months - imposing steep tariffs, immigration policies that target the migrant labor farmers rely on, and canceling a wide range of USDA programs - have left many farmers reeling.The policies of the Trump administration are wreaking havoc on family farmers. It's been terrible," said John Bartman, a row crop farmer in Illinois. Bartman is owed thousands of dollars for sustainable practices he implemented on his row crop operation as part of the USDA's Climate-Smart program. Continue reading...

Signs more typically seen in Australia aim to raise awareness after more than 30 moorland fires since MarchWildfire warning signs normally seen in the parched Australian outback have been installed on English moorland for the first time.In a stark illustration of the worsening impact of the climate emergency, signs have been put up in the Peak District and south Pennines, where there have been more than 30 moorland fires since March. Continue reading...

Study details evolutionary change of Anna's hummingbirds and finds ranges have expanded to follow such devicesWhich came first: the feeder or the bird?A seemingly straightforward question, but the answer might not be so simple. According to a recently published study in Global Change Biology, the use of human-made hummingbird feeders has changed the beak sizes and shapes of Anna's hummingbirds, and spread their range from a narrow pocket of California all the way up the coast to British Columbia. Continue reading...

Anthony Albanese acknowledges home insurance now a real challenge' as government announces disaster assistance for 19 local council areas in NSW

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

Guardians will highlight bravery of unseen, unheard and undervalued' protectors of natural world, prince saysWildlife rangers perform one of the most dangerous jobs on the planet", the Prince of Wales has said at the launch of a docuseries highlighting these unseen, unheard and undervalued" heroes of the natural world.William, who presents Guardians, a six-part series launching on Friday, said championing the protectors of the natural world was particularly special as he had met many of them on his travels. Continue reading...

All the key points laid out in the US president's House-approved sweeping bill as it awaits Senate considerationThe Republican-controlled House of Representatives on Thursday passed the One Big Beautiful Bill act, which would enact Donald Trump's taxation and spending priorities. The legislation will now be considered in the Senate, where the Republican majority will probably make its own changes.Here is what the version of the bill passed by the House would do: Continue reading...

Legislation would dismantle regulations in farming, mining and energy, increasing risk of widespread destructionEnvironmental activists in Brazil have decried a dramatic rollback of environmental safeguards after the senate approved a bill that would dismantle licensing processes and increase the risk of widespread destruction.The upper house passed the so-called devastation bill" with 54 votes to 13 late on Wednesday, paving the way for projects ranging from mining and infrastructure to energy and farming to receive regulatory approval with little to no environmental oversight. Continue reading...

Exclusive: expert raises concerns over quantities allowed to be discharged from nuclear fuel factory near PrestonThe Environment Agency has allowed a firm to dump three tonnes of uranium into one of England's most protected sites over the past nine years, it can be revealed, with experts sounding alarm over the potential environmental impact of these discharges.Documents obtained by the Guardian and the Ends Report through freedom of information requests show that a nuclear fuel factory near Preston discharged large quantities of uranium - legally, under its environmental permit conditions - into the River Ribble between 2015 and 2024. The discharges peaked in 2015 when 703kg of uranium was discharged, according to the documents. Continue reading...

Newsom issues rallying cry as GOP-controlled Senate votes to reverse EPA waiver and prevent state setting own rulesCalifornia has long been one of the nation's preeminent eco-warriors, enacting landmark environmental standards for cars and trucks that go much further than those mandated by the federal government. Vehicles across the country are cleaner, more efficient and electric in greater numbers because of it.But that could all change if Donald Trump and his Republican allies manage to revoke the state's ability to set its own, stricter emissions standards amid a White House crusade to combat climate-friendly policies. Continue reading...

Bill will unleash millions more tonnes of planet-heating pollution and couldn't come at a worse time, say expertsA Republican push to dismantle clean energy incentives threatens to reverberate across the US by costing more than 830,000 jobs, raising energy bills for US households and threatening to unleash millions more tonnes of the planet-heating pollution that is causing the climate crisis, experts have warned.A major tax bill passed by the Republican-held House of Representatives on Thursday morning will, as currently written, demolish key components of climate legislation signed by Joe Biden that has spurred a record torrent of renewable energy and electric vehicle investment in the US. Continue reading...

Revealed: an investigation shows how consumers buying fish in the UK are playing a role in food insecurity and unemployment in SenegalRead more: Chris Packham calls sea bass labelling in UK supermarkets a dereliction of duty'At the entrance to the fish market in Joal-Fadiouth, a coastal town in central Senegal, a group of women have set up shop under the shade of a small pavilion. A few years ago, they say, the market would have been bustling with ice-cream sellers, salt vendors and horse-drawn carts delivering freshly caught fish to the women, who would set about sun-drying, salting and sorting the catch into affordable portions for local families to buy.Today, trade is dead, says Aissatou Wade, one of the remaining small-scale fish processors left in the town. Without fish [to sell], we have no money to send our children to school, buy food or get help if we fall ill," she says. Continue reading...

With more intense rain forecast, the SES has a fleet of 500 boats and nine helicopters trying to assist 48,000 people isolated in flood waters

Taree resident Phill Smith captured the moment a woman was rescued from flood waters, declaring the crew involved in the rescue 'definitely deserve an Australia Day just for themselves'. Unprecedented flooding has hit the New South Wales mid-north coast, with further rain predicted to come

Introduced from South America, mathenge was intended to halt desertification, but now three-quarters of the country is at risk of invasion by the invasive treeFor his entire life, John Lmakato has lived in Lerata, a village nestled at the foot of Mount Ololokwe in northern Kenya's Samburu county. This used to be a treeless land. Grass covered every inch of the rangelands, and livestock roamed freely," he says.Lmakato's livestock used to roam freely in search of pasture, but three years ago he lost 193 cattle after they wandered into a conservation area in Laikipia - known for the fight over land access between Indigenous pastoralists and commercial ranchers. Continue reading...

Australia should also make moves to address the climate impact of its fossil fuel production and exportsWatching from the western Pacific, we saw many describe Australia's recent election as a decisive moment for climate and energy policy. If that was the case, the people of Australia have spoken loud and clear.Like many of us in the Pacific had hoped, most Australians wanted to throw off the shackles of the last decade's climate wars" and usher in a new era of responsible climate and energy policy, one that harnesses the limitless potential of Australia's renewable energy superpowers and helps lead the Pacific region and the world to a safer and more prosperous climate future. Continue reading...

Residents describe anxious waits for rescue as unprecedented level of flooding strikes the Manning river

Researchers suggest buzzing noises could be used as environmentally friendly way to enhance crop pollinationPlants can hear" bees buzzing and serve up more nectar when they are nearby, scientists have found.The research suggests that plants are a more active partner than previously thought in their symbiotic relationship with pollinators. The behaviour could be a survival strategy that favours giving nectar and sugar to bees over so-called nectar robbers that do not offer plants any reproductive benefits. Continue reading...

Twenty-eight-year-old bear, who had been at Highland Wildlife Park since 2015, is euthanised on vets' adviceThe UK's oldest polar bear, and the first in the country to give birth to a cub in 25 years, has been put down because of age-related health problems.Victoria was 28 and had been kept in Highland Wildlife Park near Aviemore in the Scottish Highlands since 2015. Vets at the park took the decision to euthanise her on Tuesday morning after an assessment about her quality of life and wellbeing. Since December she had been receiving geriatric care after showing signs of arthritis. Continue reading...

Over breakfast at Tom's Restaurant, right below the historic Giss lab, James Hansen calls Doge's decision a big mistake'Perched above the New York City diner made famous by the TV show Seinfeld, Tom's Restaurant, a small research laboratory became, improbably, crucial to humanity's understanding of our changing climate and of the universe itself.Now, it is being shut down by Donald Trump's administration. Continue reading...

Developer shrinks five-year investment plans by 3bn blaming policy and planning delaysOne of the UK's biggest energy developers will cut its planned spending on new renewables projects in a blow to the government's 2030 clean power targets.SSE warned that it would be unlikely to meet its own renewable energy goals for the end of the decade after shrinking its five-year spending plans by 3bn to 17.5bn. Continue reading...

Case came to supreme court after court of appeal determined the term open-air recreation' included campingWild camping will be allowed on Dartmoor after the supreme court ruled that a multimillionaire landowner was wrong to ban it on his land.Dartmoor was - until the legal action - the only place in England where wild camping without the permission of the landowner was enshrined in law. In Scotland, people have enjoyed this right since 2003. Continue reading...

International Energy Agency says it is time to sound alarm' over future shortages of metal needed for low-carbon transitionDemand for copper, needed for the transition to a low-carbon world, will outstrip supply within the next decade, according to the global energy watchdog.Supplies of the metal, a key component of every form of electrical energy system at present, will fall 30% short of the amount required by 2035 if nothing is done, analysis by the International Energy Agency predicts. Continue reading...

Burning, worsened by global heating, overtook farming and logging as biggest cause of destruction of tropical forestsThe destruction of the world's forests reached the highest level ever recorded in 2024, driven by a surge in fires caused by global heating, according to frightening" new data.From the Brazilian Amazon to the Siberian taiga, Earth's forests disappeared at a record rate last year, losing an area the size of Italy to agriculture, fires, logging and mining, according to analysis from the University of Maryland hosted on Global Forest Watch. Continue reading...

Doug Burgum defends Trump budget slashing green funds, saying AI and Iran pose bigger threatsThe US has plenty of time" to solve the climate crisis," the interior secretary, Doug Burgum, told a House committee on Tuesday.The comment came on his first of two days of testimony to House and Senate appropriators in which he defended Donald Trump's proposed budget, dubbed the one big, beautiful bill", that would extend tax reductions enacted during Trump's first term, while cutting $5bn of funding for the Department of the Interior. Continue reading...

Dom Phillips' posthumously published book is an urgent reminder of why this unique landscape matters so muchIt doesn't start for six months, but the build-up to the UN's annual climate conference is already well under way in Brazil. Hosting the tens of thousands of delegates who make the trip is a big undertaking for any city. But the decision to host Cop30 in Belem, at the mouth of the Amazon river, has multiplied the complications.After three consecutive Cops in autocratic nations, the stated aim of Cop30's chair, Andre Aranha Correa do Lago, is to make this year's event a showcase for civil society, including the Indigenous groups and forest defenders who play such a vital role in conservation. But the lack of affordable accommodation and other infrastructure, as well as the distance that must be travelled to reach the Amazon port, mean this commendable ideal will be hard to realise.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.How to Save the Amazon by Dom Phillips (Manilla, 22). To support the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply. Continue reading...

Study shows firms in Colorado, including Chevron, have pumped 30m lbs of chemicals in 18 months without meeting all disclosure rulesColorado oil and gas companies have pumped at least 30m lbs of secret chemicals into the ground over the past 18 months without making legally required disclosures, according to a new analysis.That's in spite of first-in-the-nation rules requiring operators and their suppliers to list all chemicals used in drilling and extraction, while also banning any use of Pfas forever chemicals" at oil and gas sites. Since the transparency law took effect in July 2023, operators have fracked 1,114 sites across the state, but as of 1 May chemical disclosures have not been filed for 675 of them - more than 60% of the total, the analysis says. Continue reading...

BP has funded Washington's National Gallery of Art, UK's Royal Shakespeare Company and National Portrait GalleryOil interests have funded cultural institutions such as museums, youth organizations and athletic groups in recent years, new research shows, in what appears to be a public relations effort to boost their image amid growing public awareness of the climate crisis.Top US fossil fuel lobby group the American Petroleum Institute (API) sponsored a 2017 workshop for the Pennsylvania Girl Scouts, featuring activities that mimicked work in the energy industry". Energy giant BP in 2016 sponsored Washington DC's National Gallery of Art and continues to fund the British Museum in London. And in 2019, Shell sponsored the golf event the Houston Open for the 26th time. Continue reading...

Simon Stiell says investors ready to hit the go button' if they have the right signals from governmentsThe climate crisis has raised the price of commodities and exacerbated famine - and only strong action on greenhouse gas emissions can restore economic stability, the UN's climate chief has said.Simon Stiell, the executive secretary of the UN framework convention on climate change, was speaking in Panama, where recent years of drought drove the water to perilous lows that disrupted international trade. Continue reading...

Governor lobbied Trump in a series of phone calls, and will now allow new gas pipeline capacity to move forward

The pandemic and harsh laws suffocated climate movements as we knew them. Get ready for a new kind of actionOn 21 April 2019, I was on Waterloo Bridge in London with my younger siblings. Around us were planters full of flowers where there were once cars, and people singing. This was the spring iteration of Extinction Rebellion, when four bridges in London were held by protesters. My siblings, then 14, had been going out on school strike inspired by Greta Thunberg, and wanted to see her speak.We were there for less than a day, but the occupations of bridges and other blockades lasted for 11 days. Tens of thousands of people mobilised in the UK that spring. An estimated 500,000 people were affected by the shutdowns the movement imposed on central London's road networks, and more than 1,000 protesters were arrested in what was then an official part of XR's strategy. Continue reading...

Newborns seen in colder waters as far south as Tasmania, indicating breeding and migration more complex than thought

It remains unclear why the monkeys, filmed on a Panamanian island, were taking the babies from another speciesScientists have spotted surprising evidence of what they describe as monkey kidnappings while reviewing video footage from a small Panamanian island. Capuchin monkeys were seen carrying at least 11 howler babies between 2022 and 2023.This was very much a shocking finding," said Zoe Goldsborough, a behavioural ecologist at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Germany. We've not seen anything like this in the animal kingdom." Continue reading...

Scientists have spotted surprising evidence of what they describe as monkey kidnappings while reviewing video footage from a small Panamanian island. Capuchin monkeys were seen carrying at least 11 howler babies between 2022 and 2023. The footage showed the capuchins walking and pounding their stone tools with baby howlers on their backs. But cameras did not capture the moments of abduction, which scientists said likely happened up in the trees, where howlers spend most of their time Continue reading...

Researchers are deploying sniffing dogs to combat spread of leaf-hopping pests that can damage trees and fruit cropsThe spotted lanternfly, a leaf-hopping invasive pest first detected in the US a decade ago, has steadily spread across the East coast and into the midwest with little getting in its way.But now researchers are deploying a new weapon to slow its advance: specially trained dogs with the ability to sniff out the winged insect's eggs before they hatch. Continue reading...

Report finds Nestle used purification treatments that were unauthorised for natural mineral waterFrance's lucrative mineral water industry is under scrutiny after a report by the senate found the French government had covered up a scandal over illegal filtering treatments of premium brands.At the heart of the report, released on Monday, is France's world-famous fizzy water, Perrier. Obtained from a source in southern France and traditionally served on ice with a slice of lemon, Perrier has long been long known as the champagne of table waters". Continue reading...

Introduced bees could be harming native species and risk driving them to extinction, researchers say

How fast we cut climate pollution will define how safe or scary the world becomes as our children grow upAt its core, the most fundamental duty of any government is to safeguard the security and wellbeing of its people. The climate crisis is hitting Australians hard.Right now, farmers in South Australia and Victoria are battling drought, while Queensland farmers pick up the pieces after heartbreaking floods. Globally, 2024 was the hottest year on record and the first time average temperatures surged 1.5C above preindustrial levels. We are living through longer, deadlier heatwaves, devastating bushfires, more frequent and intense floods, and rising sea levels that threaten coastal communities. Continue reading...

Clichy-Batignolles, in the city's north-west, is emblematic of the 15-minute' city approach to urban planning Continue reading...