Experts warn new memo could deter families from accessing food assistance, despite no changes to eligibility rulesThe Trump administration is now using popular anti-hunger programs, including food assistance and school lunch, as part of its attack against immigrants in the US - a move many say will prevent large numbers of families, especially children, from getting the food benefits they're eligible for.In a recent memo, agriculture secretary Brooke Rollins told senior staff at the USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS): It is essential to use all available legal authority to end any incentives in FNS benefit programs that encourage illegal immigration." Continue reading...

As droughts become more prevalent, corporate control over our drinking water is threatening the health of water sources and the access people have to them. Josh Toussaint-Strauss explores how foreign multinational companies are extracting billions of litres of water from natural aquifers to sell back to the same communities from which it came - for huge profits

The ancient Mediterranean city is at risk as sea levels rise. But most people in the vulnerable fishing village of El Max believe it will always weather the storms of timeOn a sunny January morning in El Max, west of Egypt's second city, Alexandria, where a canal meets the Mediterranean Sea, Ahmed Gaz is untangling his fishing net on the beach after landing his catch at dawn.Like almost everyone in the neighbourhood, Gaz was born and raised by the water, destined to fish for a living: My whole life is in the sea. My life, my work and my livelihood." Continue reading...

The run-up to 2016 shows common sense' isn't enough. Even ignorant, reactionary arguments must be properly counteredKemi Badenoch's speech on climate this week was not interesting of itself: she said net zero couldn't be achieved by 2050 without a serious drop in our living standards or by bankrupting us". She has no expertise in climate science, no background in renewables or apparent familiarity with the advances made in their technology, no qualification in economics - just about the only bit of that sentence she knows anything about is bankrupting us.Yet even if Badenoch can take its particulars and shove them, the fact of its existence is interesting for a number of reasons. First, this attack on net zero has been predicted, not secretly by new-Conservative fellow travellers, though conceivably them too, but by progressives - and for years. Among the first was the Cambridge academic David Runciman, who predicted a backlash against action on the climate crisis as the new galvanising issue on the radical right after it had moved on from Brexit. On his Talking Politics podcast, he was in conversation with Ed Miliband, who took that point but said he hoped Runciman was wrong. He was not wrong.Zoe Williams is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Researchers cite 2.4bn annual cost of flooding and say a third of England's critical infrastructure is at riskSpending on flood defences will fall off a cliff edge next year, a report warns, calling on the chancellor to commit at least 1.5bn a year in the spending review to protect the economy and the public.Nearly 2 million people across the UK are exposed to flooding every year, which is equivalent to the combined populations of Birmingham, Sheffield and Newcastle upon Tyne. Continue reading...

Charity's poll finds 80% feel more positive after spending breaks outside, but only 10% do soEmployees are being urged to step outside to take time to observe one of the wonders of the natural world: the fleeting but lovely spring blossom season.Research commissioned by the National Trust, which operates in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, shows that while almost all those polled said they felt better if they took breaks in nature, only one in 10 did so. Continue reading...

Labor will push the contentious bill through parliament next week despite concerns about the extinction of the Maugean skate

Non-profit, which will appeal decision, says lawsuits like this are aimed at destroying the right to peaceful protest'A jury in North Dakota has decided that the environmental group Greenpeace must pay hundreds of millions of dollars to the pipeline company Energy Transfer and is liable for defamation and other claims over protests in the state nearly a decade ago.Energy Transfer Partners, a Dallas-based oil and gas company worth almost $70bn, had sued Greenpeace, alleging defamation and orchestrating criminal behavior by protesters at the Dakota Access pipeline in 2016 and 2017, claiming the organization incited" people to protest by using a misinformation campaign". Continue reading...

German coal giant is one of world's biggest polluters and should contribute to flood defences, says farmer in PeruA Peruvian farmer's home is in concrete danger" from climate change, a court has heard, in the resumption of a decade-long legal battle to get German coal giant RWE to contribute to flood defences in the Andes.Lawyers for Saul Luciano Lliuya, who say his home is threatened by rapidly melting glaciers, told the upper regional court in Hamm on Wednesday that the risk of extreme flooding represented a breach of civil law. Continue reading...

The endangered great apes of Malaysia and Indonesia struggle when translocated despite efforts to protect them, finds researchWhen authorities were called about reports of an orangutan in an Indonesian village, they arrived to find it bound with ropes by concerned local people. Worried about the animal's proximity to humans, plans for translocation were made: removing it to an undisturbed forest habitat, far from human settlements, where it could peacefully live in the treetops. But when they finally identified the 20-year-old male, they found it had been relocated before, but, instead of settling in the new site it had travelled about 130km (80miles) away.Researchers are starting to realise that many great apes struggle when they are moved far from their homes, despite well-intentioned efforts to protect them. Continue reading...

Agriculture department cuts to funding for local food in school meals betrays growers, kids and collective wellbeingIf you happened to smell hickory smoke in the city this week, we were probably to blame," the North Little Rock school district's child nutrition program shared in a 30 January Facebook post featuring a picture of the day's lunch.The locally sourced menu included school-smoked chopped beef, pulled pork, fresh apples and coleslaw. This isn't standard cafeteria fare, but funds from the US government helped kids in this Arkansas town get fresh, nourishing foods produced by farmers and ranchers in their own community. Continue reading...

Americans eat takeout more. Some drink less. Bar-and-grill chains have shuttered. But the restaurant industry has evolved and reboundedBefore Covid, Li'l Dizzy's, a Creole buffet run by one of New Orleans' famous Black restaurant families, was a mainstay of the city's Treme neighborhood. But when officials issued the first Covid stay-at-home orders in March 2020, Li'l Dizzy's closed, and it did not reopen: how could a buffet restaurant operate during a pandemic?That fall, the cafe's 73-year-old owner, Wayne Baquet Sr, announced he was selling the restaurant, citing his age and pandemic health risks. The closure appeared to mark the end of a Baquet culinary family legacy that started in Treme in the 1940s and expanded to other family outposts across the city. Continue reading...

Scotland's first minister speaking as report suggests up to 1,200 jobs could be created - but too late for refinery's workersThere is a realistic chance that one of the UK's largest oil refineries can be converted into a hub for green chemicals, sustainable fuels and plastics, Scotland's first minister says.Grangemouth oil refinery, which is being shut down by its UK and Chinese owners PetroIneos this year with the loss of 400 jobs, could become a world leader in low carbon chemicals and green fuels, John Swinney told media on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Increased cost of the fossil fuel has also cut forecasts of how much gas will be needed in Australia's southern states

Moves to roll back 31 pollution regulations risk public health and big annual healthcare savings, Guardian analysis showsA push by Donald Trump's administration to repeal a barrage of clean air and water regulations may deal a severe blow to US public health, with a Guardian analysis finding that the targeted rules were set to save the lives of nearly 200,000 people in the years ahead.Last week, Trump's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provoked uproar by unveiling a list of 31 regulations it will scale back or eliminate, including rules limiting harmful air pollution from cars and power plants; restrictions on the emission of mercury, a neurotoxin; and clean water protections for rivers and streams. Continue reading...

Litter such as crisp packets and bottle tops are polluting the coast at the rate of nearly two items a sq metre, conservation charity report findsSingle-use plastic waste increased on UK and Channel Island beaches last year with items such as crisp packets and bottle tops polluting the coast at the rate of almost two items a sq metre, according to data from beach cleanups.The amount of plastic waste collected on beaches rose by 9.5% in 2024, compared with 2023, and more than three-quarters of a million pieces of waste were picked up by volunteers, according to evidence from the State of our Beaches report by the Marine Conservation Society. Continue reading...

Academics say UK defendants should be able to explain reasons for their actions and not have to express remorseProtesters charged with non-violent offences should not be forced to disavow their motives when defending themselves at trial or seeking mitigation on their sentences, academics have said.In a challenge to the current approach to protest trials, a study argues courts should allow defendants to explain the reasons for their actions as a defence, and respect their integrity as a mitigating factor. Continue reading...

I drove 2,000 miles with a French friend across my home country - and saw the endless nowhere land that is the crucible of TrumpismIn 1941 Dorothy Thompson, an American journalist who reported from Germany in the lead-up to the second world war, wrote an essay for Harper's about the personality types most likely to be attracted to Nazism, headlined Who Goes Nazi?" Those who haven't anything in them to tell them what they like and what they don't - whether it is breeding, or happiness, or wisdom, or a code, however old-fashioned or however modern, go Nazi," Thompson wrote.Talia Lavin, a US writer, recently gave Thompson's idea an update on Substack with an essay of her own: Who Goes Maga?"Alexander Hurst is a Guardian Europe correspondent Continue reading...

The potential layoffs listed in documents reviewed by Democrats are part of the White House''s broader push to shrink the federal governmentThe Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to eliminate its scientific research office and could fire more than 1,000 scientists and other employees who help provide the scientific foundation for rules safeguarding human health and ecosystems from environmental pollutants.As many as 1,155 chemists, biologists, toxicologists and other scientists - 75% of the research programme's staff - could be laid off, according to documents reviewed by Democratic staff on the house committee on science, space and technology. Continue reading...

Floods, heatwaves and supercharged hurricanes occurred in hottest climate human society has ever experiencedThe devastating impacts of the climate crisis reached new heights in 2024, with scores of unprecedented heatwaves, floods and storms across the globe, according to the UN's World Meteorological Organization.The WMO's report on 2024, the hottest year on record, sets out a trail of destruction from extreme weather that took lives, demolished buildings and ravaged vital crops. More than 800,000 people were displaced and made homeless, the highest yearly number since records began in 2008. Continue reading...

Thinktank's warning follow reports that Labour is considering cuts to budget of company it set up to drive renewable powerThe government risks disappointing voters" hoping for cheaper energy bills in the next decade if it cuts the 8.3bn budget for GB Energy, a thinktank has warned.Researchers at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) found that the publicly owned energy company - set up by Labour to drive renewable energy and cut household bills - will need to be fully funded if it hopes to build enough clean energy projects to meet 5% of the country's electricity needs by the 2030s. Continue reading...

The Orbital and Morningside authors join Abi Dare, Roz Dineen and Kaliane Bradley in the running for the 10,000 award, for inspiring ways to rise to the challenges of the climate crisis with hope and inventiveness'Samantha Harvey and Tea Obreht are among the writers in the running for the inaugural Climate fiction prize.Harvey's Orbital, her Booker-winning novel set on the International Space Station, and Obreht's novel The Morningside, about refugees from an unnamed country, have both been shortlisted for the new prize, which aims to celebrate the most inspiring novels tackling the climate crisis". Continue reading...

New White House fact sheet has removed references to Chuckwalla and Sattitla national monuments

Meteorologist Eric Holthaus on growing concern of dust storms and why recent storms were a preview of futureOver the weekend, more than 120 tornadoes rampaged across at least 11 states in a three-day severe weather outbreak that killed more than 40 people. In addition to the tornadoes, the storm system brought extremely strong winds to drought-stricken parts of the plains states, kicking up dust storms and wildfires from Texas to Kansas. The combined impact has now become one of the deadliest non-hurricane weather disasters in decades in the US.At the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (Noaa) Storm Prediction Center - the nerve center of severe weather forecasting in the US - scientists worked around the clock for days to anticipate the storms and give ample warning to those in their path. The center now has five staff vacancies, including two of its three senior roles in fire forecasting. Still, overworked meteorologists there passed one of the biggest tests yet of the newly diminished National Weather Service. Continue reading...

The Guardian's picture editors select photographs from around the world Continue reading...

Advocates warn firings and funding freezes already risk poisoning drinking water and decimating fish populationDonald Trump's and Elon Musk's attacks on federal agencies and funding freezes will be cataclysmic" for the environment of the sensitive Great Lakes region if not reversed, industry and environmental advocates in the region warn.Initial actions taken since Trump returned to the White House in January - and put Musk in charge of slashing the federal government - already risk poisoning drinking water, decimating fish populations, and risking the jobs and health of tens of millions of people who rely on the lake system, they add. Continue reading...

Witnessing near-miss roadkill on a daily basis makes me wonder if we can be better neighbors to wildlifeHeart racing, I hold my breath and brace to witness the impact.The spindly fawn crosses first, tottering its way across the two-lane artery that borders my house. I watch a truck approaching in the opposite direction and wait for it to slow down. Will it? Continue reading...

Some of the caves I dive in are hundreds of thousands of years old and the marine life is unique. But they can be very dangerous placesCave diving is like swimming through the history of the planet. There are remains of both humans and animals but also stalactites and stalagmites. These cannot form when the cave is flooded, so you can see when parts of it were submerged and when it was dry.Yet when I'm in a cave, time does not tick. There is no natural light, so the cave looks the same, whether it's midday or midnight. If you cave dive without the right training, equipment and mindset, it can be a very dangerous place. I have a very meditative focus when I'm down there. I live in the now. I cannot think about anything else but what is happening in the cave. I find that very soothing and relaxing. Continue reading...

Deal will restrict fishing near colonies on Robben Island and Bird Island for 10 years, after long debate between industry and conservationistsEfforts to stop the critically endangered African penguin from going extinct took a step forward on Tuesday after South African conservationists and fishing industry groups reached a legal settlement on no-fishing zones around six of the penguins' major breeding colonies.Sardine and anchovy fishing will not be allowed for 12 miles (20km) around the penguin colony off Cape Town on Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned, and Bird Island, across the bay from Gqeberha, also known as Port Elizabeth. There will be more limited closures around four other colonies, according to a court order formalising the agreement. Continue reading...

Charity says thousands of signs on capital's estates deter children from being active, and is covering some of them upA campaign to bring down thousands of no ball games" signs across London - and eventually across the UK - has launched with a more ball games" takeover on a Lambeth housing estate.The new signs, which show basketball hoops, were designed by the inequality charity London Sport, working with the advertising giant Saatchi & Saatchi, and are being put over no ball games" signs on the Mursell estate in Stockwell with support from Lambeth council. Continue reading...

Flying lobsters, cuttlefish ink and stargazy pie ... Jon Tonks got on his kayak to spend 18 months photographing the incredible fishing communities around England's south-west coast Continue reading...

Ana Toni also criticises the UK's plans to slash overseas aid to fund defence spendingCountries looking to boost their national security through rearmament or increased defence spending must also bolster their climate efforts or face more wars in the future, one of the leaders of the next UN climate summit has warned.Some countries could decide to include climate spending in their defence budgets, suggested Ana Toni, Brazil's chief executive of the Cop30 summit. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Almost 300,000 hours of raw effluent poured into waterways, figures show, up from 196,000 in 2023A record 50% more raw sewage was discharged into rivers in England by Thames Water last year compared with the previous 12 months, data seen by the Guardian reveals.Thames, the largest of the privatised water companies, which is teetering on the verge of collapse with debts of 19bn, was responsible for almost 300,000 hours of raw sewage pouring into waterways in 2024 from its ageing sewage works, according to the data. This compares with 196,414 hours of raw effluent dumped in 2023.The Amersham balancing tanks in Buckinghamshire, which are supposed to safely store excess sewage after heavy rain, discharged 4,842 hours of raw sewage in 2024.Amersham was the scene of the longest unbroken individual discharge, when the equivalent of 154 days of raw sewage spilled into the River Misbourne, a chalk stream, last year.Marlborough sewage treatment works dumped raw sewage for 2,786 hours.At the Chesham sewage treatment works there were 2,681 hours of sewage discharges. Continue reading...

Made up of blobby tissue and living deep in the ocean, the distinctive species beat the longfin eel and pygmy pipehorse in the annual contestIt was once crowned the world's ugliest animal" and now the disgruntled-looking gelatinous blobfish has a new gong to its name: New Zealand's fish of the year.The winning species of blobfish, Psychrolutes marcidus, lives in the highly pressurised depths off the coasts of New Zealand and Australia and has developed a unique anatomy to exist. Blobfish do not have a swim bladder, a full skeleton, muscles or scales. Instead, their bodies are made up of blobby tissue with a lower density than water that allows them to float above the seafloor. Continue reading...

Break in cross-party consensus on issue to be announced on TuesdayKemi Badenoch is dropping her party's commitment to reaching net zero by 2050, as she launches the Conservatives' widest policy review in a generation.The Tory leader will give a speech on Tuesday in which she will argue that hitting Britain's legally binding climate target is impossible", abandoning one of the most significant policies enacted by her recent predecessor Theresa May. Continue reading...

Revealed: Edelman worked for Brazilian trade group accused of pushing for environmental rollbacks in AmazonEdelman, the world's largest public relations agency, is in talks to work with the Cop30 team organising the UN climate summit in the Amazon later this year despite its prior connections to a major trade group accused of lobbying to roll back measures to protect the area from deforestation, the Guardian and the Centre for Climate Reporting can reveal.The summit is set to take place in November in the city of Belem on the edge of the Amazon rainforest, which has been ravaged by deforestation linked to Brazil's powerful agriculture industry. For the first time, the talks will be at the epicenter of the climate crisis", the summit's president wrote last week. As the Cop comes to the Amazon, forests will naturally be a central topic," he added. Continue reading...

Village joins continental network alongside nearby Knepp estate, as birds previously extinct in Britain flourishThe Saxons knew the West Sussex village of Storrington as Estorchestone, the abode of the storks".But the graceful white birds disappeared from its skies more than 600 years ago, when they became extinct in Britain. Continue reading...

Judges dismiss appeal from campaigners who argued eye-watering' cost of loan was not in public interestThe court of appeal has upheld Thames Water's 3bn emergency bailout loan, in a decision published on Monday.Appeal court judges dismissed an appeal from environmental campaigners and a small group of Thames creditors after a three-day hearing last week. Continue reading...

Energy security and net zero secretary travels to Beijing for countries' first formal climate meetings since 2017Ed Miliband has accused the previous Conservative government of negligence for failing to engage with China on climate issues, as he travelled to Beijing for the countries' first formal climate meetings since 2017.The secretary of state for energy security and net zero was in Beijing to announce a new annual UK-China climate dialogue. The first summit will take place in London later this year. China's minister of ecology and environment, Huang Runqiu, is expected to attend. Continue reading...

In the 1960s, the Swiss had some of the dirtiest water in Europe. Now, their cities boast pristine rivers and lakes - and other countries are looking to follow their leadIn the first days of spring, people flock to Lake Geneva's broad, tree-lined promenade, their faces tilted towards the sun. Dior, Cartier and Rolex are among the high-end shopfronts overlooking the water. Rene Rottenberg, 75, has just finished his 400m swim through this upmarket urban jungle - a ritual he repeats up to five times a week, even in midwinter.For the retired gynaecologist, being able to swim in the crystal-clear water is the greatest luxury. It's just so fun," he says. The place is beautiful." Continue reading...

The toxic smog that settles over the Mongolian capital every winter has been a suffocating problem for well over a decade that successive governments have failed to dispel. In the depths of winter, the city's daily average of pollutants that can enter the lungs and bloodstream can be 27 times higher than the level considered safe by the World Health Organization. Respiratory illness cases have risen steadily, with pneumonia the second leading cause of death for children under five Continue reading...

New evidence of particles damaging crops strengthens the case for an international plastics treatyNew and concerning findings from environmental scientists about the impact of microplastics on crops and marine algae add to a growing body of evidence about the disruption caused to living systems by plastic pollution. The results, from a team led by Prof Huan Zhong at Nanjing University, China, are not definitive and require corroboration. But analysis showing that plastics could limit photosynthesis (the conversion of sunlight into chemical energy) must be taken seriously. If the researchers are correct, and staple crops are being reduced by about 12%, there are huge implications for global agriculture and food supplies. This could inject new urgency into efforts to tackle plastic pollution.There is no single route by which microplastic particles inhibit plants from growing. The overall effect is attributed to a combination of blocked sunlight and nutrients, and damage to soil and cells. This can lead to reduced levels of chlorophyll - the pigment enabling photosynthesis. When the researchers modelled the crop losses caused by an effect of this size, they found Asia was hardest hit, potentially contributing to food insecurity and worsening hunger.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...

Researchers use innovative cameras to identify fish species hindering coral reef restorationMarine scientists in Florida working to help reverse a calamitous decades-long decline in coral reefs caught fishy porch pirates" in the act with an innovative underwater doorbell-style surveillance camera.The footage showed that three corallivorous species - redband parrotfish, foureye butterflyfish and stoplight parrotfish - were responsible for eating more than 97% of coral laid as bait by the researchers at an offshore reef near Miami. Continue reading...

Trump administration accused of quid pro quo' for fast-tracking controversial fossil fuel proposal in MichiganDonald Trump's administration is being accused by activists of a quid pro quo as it attempts to fast-track a controversial fossil fuel pipeline proposal in Michigan that would in part be built by a donor with deep financial ties to the president.While Canadian oil giant Enbridge owns the Line 5 oil and gas pipeline that it is attempting to replace in the Great Lakes region, the contractor is Tim Barnard, who, along with his wife, gave $1m to Trump's campaign last year, Federal Election Commission records show. Continue reading...

Decomposing organic matter in catchments flooded by Cyclone Alfred removed oxygen from water, suffocating aquatic life

Energy summit in Houston makes clear US is nowhere close to curbing fossil fuels, but tariffs are causing disquietThis week, the world's most influential fossil-fuels conference, which has been dubbed the Coachella of oil", featured an industry displaying outward glee but barely managing to conceal its anxiety.As recently as last year, sustainability was a major focus at the annual Houston convention, known as CeraWeek, with fossil-fuel companies touting climate plans. But in the wake of Donald Trump's re-election, the industry is undergoing a vibe shift, forgoing talk of the energy transition and instead parroting the president's focus on energy dominance". Continue reading...

After years of helping Scottish criminal investigations and despite fearing for his life in India, Vishal Sharma's asylum claim has been rejectedWhen Vishal Sharma, an experienced merchant seaman, arrived in London from India in November 2017, he was looking forward to a good job on a Belgian tanker, the MT Waasmunster, assisting engineers. He had a 15-month contract and a transit visa, enabling him to travel to Milford Haven in Wales, where the 174-metre vessel was anchored.But in a last-minute change of plan, his Mumbai agent told him to head to Southwick in West Sussex, England, to board a scallop trawler, the Noordzee. Continue reading...

Salford University findings show gulls are predators - not just opportunists snatching people's snacks

Gulls are known for being ravenous - check out a selection of things they like All images from the Gulls Eating Stuff project From profiteroles to moles: project uncovers gulls' surprising diet Continue reading...

Co-leader says deprioritisation of net zero is extremely dangerous' as he rejects nimby-in-chief' characterisationLabour's push for economic growth at the expense of climate and nature is extremely dangerous", the co-leader of the Green party has said.Adrian Ramsay, the MP for Waveney Valley between Norfolk and Suffolk, was one of the five Green MPs elected to parliament last July in their best ever result. He said and his colleagues knew they would be holding Labour to account, but did not expect to be as disappointed as they have been. Continue reading...