Environment | The Guardian

Bird snapped by Newhaven wildlife sanctuary ecologist is likely a juvenile on risky 1,500km journey away from parents, expert says

Many palm species in the city are receptive to embers, hard to extinguish - and probably helped spread the firesWhen the Los Angeles wildfires broke out on the morning of 7 January, some of the most dramatic images were of palm trees set ablaze along Sunset Boulevard. In the days that followed, burning palms became a symbol to illustrate what may be the costliest wildfires in history, which left at least 25 dead and destroyed thousands of structures.The trees are icons of the city. They also played a role in spreading the flames, researchers and fire officials say. Continue reading...

Mark Avery to stand down from role with Wild Justice but won't completely give up campaigning, he insistsIf government ministers and civil servants are grey squirrels, they may think they can rest easy - the predatory pine marten in the Westminster jungle is leaving them in peace.A campaigner who has created a landscape of fear" over the authorities' failure to protect nature is stepping back from Wild Justice to spend more time with the wildlife - and grandchildren - in his garden. Continue reading...

As the captain of a royal research ship, I break ice to get to British stations in the Antarctic. It's great fun - but getting stuck is always a riskI have been working for the British Antarctic Survey since I was 19. I started icebreaking on my first trip to the Antarctic and got hooked. Now I am the captain of the royal research ship Sir David Attenborough and I find icebreaking addictive.It's unique in a maritime career to have the ability, even as a junior officer, to do quite intricate ship handling and manoeuvring at all stages. Ships break the ice continually, 24/7 - so the whole bridge team gets to do it. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Treasury analysis shows ticket prices expected to go up across board with no plans for frequent flyers to shoulder more of the costRachel Reeves's bid to expand Heathrow airport could add 40 to the cost of an airline ticket, according to the Treasury's own analysis.The chancellor's proposal to minimise the carbon emissions of a bigger Heathrow include the use of sustainable aviation fuels, which experts say are expensive and unlikely to reach the scale needed for aviation expansion. Continue reading...

Report reveals solar power generated 11% of Europe's electricity, surpassing coal at 10%Europe made more electricity from sunshine than coal last year, a report has found, in what analysts called a milestone" for the clean energy transition.Solar panels generated 11% of the EU's electricity in 2024, while coal-burning power plants generated 10%, according to data from climate thinktank Ember. The role of fossil gas fell for the fifth year in a row to cover 16% of the electricity mix. Continue reading...

From LNG to drilling in Alaska, here's everything you need to know about Trump's energy and climate executive ordersThrough a flurry of executive orders, a newly inaugurated Donald Trump has made clear his support for the ascendancy of fossil fuels, the dismantling of support for cleaner energy and the United States' exit from the fight to contain the escalating climate crisis.We will drill, baby, drill," the president said in his inaugural address on Monday. We have something that no other manufacturing nation will ever have - the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth, and we are going to use it. We're going to use it." Continue reading...

Representatives of Heartland Institute linking up with MEPs to campaign against environmental policiesClimate science deniers from a US-based thinktank have been working with rightwing politicians in Europe to campaign against environmental policies, the Guardian can reveal.MEPs have been accused of rolling out the red carpet for climate deniers" to give them a platform in the European parliament, amid warnings of a revival of grotesque climate denialism". Continue reading...

Some areas of the Amazon experienced their worst drought in 120 years in 2024. Brazilian rivers such as the Negro fell to their lowest levels on record, affecting more than 140,000 families for months.

Climate crisis is making it harder for insurance companies to operate, with many pausing or withdrawing policiesHomeowners in the United States are facing an enormous financial crunch due to the climate crisis, with many struggling to find insurance or even dropping premiums that are soaring due to a mounting toll of wildfires, hurricanes and other disasters, new federal government data shows.The figures, the most comprehensive numbers ever released by the US treasury department on the issue, show insurance premiums are increasing quickly across the country, with people living amid the greatest climate-driven risks experiencing the steepest rises of all. In the four years to 2022, people living in the top 20% riskiest places for such perils paid, on average, 82% more than those in the 20% lowest climate risk zip codes. Continue reading...

Antonio Guterres issues warning at Davos, days after Donald Trump pulled US out of Paris climate agreement

Experts say UK should stop biomass burning as electricity sector decarbonisation by 2030 can be achieved without itThe UK should stop burning wood to generate power because it is not needed to meet the government's target of decarbonising the electricity sector by 2030, according to analysis.Ed Miliband, the energy security and net zero secretary, is expected to make a decision soon on whether to allow billions of pounds in new public subsidies for biomass burning, despite fierce opposition from green groups. Continue reading...

Fifty-one sites in NSW have significant PFAS contamination requiring continued monitoring and remediation, EPA tells Senate inquiry

Juan Guillermo Garces had a brush with death while burning jungle for cattle pasture - now he runs a nature reserve in Colombia where more than 100 new species have been discovered

Forecasters warn gusty conditions will return on Wednesday, marking end of break in fire-risk conditionsSouthern California was bracing for more dangerous winds on Tuesday as new wildfires broke out across the region, which is continuing to grapple with the major fires that have ravaged Los Angeles communities.Forecasters warned that strong winds would hit southern California for at least two more days. The winds had eased somewhat on Tuesday afternoon after peaking at 60mph (96km/h) in many areas, but gusty conditions will return on Wednesday, said Ryan Kittell, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service's office for Los Angeles. Continue reading...

Climate negotiator Andre Aranha Correa do Lago given top job, bypassing Brazilian environment minister Marina SilvaBrazil has announced the top team for the next UN climate summit, which will be hosted in Belem this November, bypassing the country's environment minister, Marina Silva, in favour of a veteran diplomat for the crucial role of president of the talks.The experienced climate negotiator and secretary for climate, energy and environment, Andre Aranha Correa do Lago, will preside over the Cop30 summit, which is expected to draw scores of world leaders to Brazil - though not Donald Trump, who soon after his inauguration on Monday ordered the US's withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement. Continue reading...

Pollution aside, the problem with expanding Heathrow lies in the disruption and delay inevitable in such a complex projectGet ready for another season of that interminable saga, Heathrow's third runway. There was a lull during the Covid pandemic when the airport's owners, despite winning permission from the supreme court in 2020 to submit a planning application, cooled their jets while they waited for passenger numbers to recover. Now the whole thing is back, courtesy of Rachel Reeves. The chancellor is reported to be preparing to use a speech next week to declare support for a third runway at Heathrow alongside wider airport expansion in the south-east.The best form of airport expansion is none at all, environmentalists (some of them in the cabinet) will argue, but it looks as if Reeves has dismissed those objections in the name of economic growth. A 1.1bn investment in Stansted, to enable it to grow its annual capacity from 29 million passengers to 43 million, was welcomed by the government last year. Continue reading...

Cost of fixing forever chemical' pollution should be borne by manufacturers and polluters, not governments and consumers, expert tells Senate inquiry

Critical CO stores held in permafrost are being released as the landscape changes with global heating, report showsA third of the Arctic's tundra, forests and wetlands have become a source of carbon emissions, a new study has found, as global heating ends thousands of years of carbon storage in parts of the frozen north.For millennia, Arctic land ecosystems have acted as a deep-freeze for the planet's carbon, holding vast amounts of potential emissions in the permafrost. But ecosystems in the region are increasingly becoming a contributor to global heating as they release more CO into the atmosphere with rising temperatures, a new study published in Nature Climate Change concluded. Continue reading...

Artisanal shellfish farmers face ruinous losses but money meant to help is going to the powerful fishing industry, say criticsEarly on a warm September morning in southern Italy, Giovanni Nicandro sets out from the port of Taranto in his small boat. Summoning his courage, the mussel farmer inspects his year's work - only to find them all dead, a sight that almost brings him to tears.We have many problems," he says. The problems start as soon as we open our eyes in the morning." The loss is total - not only for Nicandro but also for Taranto's 400 other mussel farmers, after a combination of pollution and rising sea temperatures devastated their harvest. Continue reading...

Move is part of 300m investment that includes deepwater quay and building of hundreds of homes near city centreBelfast harbour is to invest 90m to upgrade its port to serve a wave of wind energy projects and cruise ships as part of a 300m investment plan.A new deepwater quay capable of supporting wind projects will be the largest part of an investment plan that also includes the construction of hundreds of homes at a site near the city centre. Continue reading...

President tells crowd that US will not sabotage our own industries while China pollutes with impunity'

President declares energy emergency, reiterates Paris withdrawal plan and overturns emissions standardsDonald Trump declared a national energy emergency on the first day of his new presidency, as part of a barrage of pro-fossil fuel actions and efforts to unleash" already booming US energy production that included also rolling back restrictions in drilling in Alaska and undoing a pause on gas exports.The emergency declaration, which made good on a campaign-trail promise but could be open to legal challenge, would allow his administration to fast-track permits for new fossil fuel infrastructure.Trump sworn in as 47th president - follow live inauguration updatesFactchecking Trump's speechA who's who of far-right leaders in WashingtonMigrant groups at US-Mexico border await mass deportationsDoge' violates federal transparency rules, lawsuit claims Continue reading...

On first day back as president, Trump signs letter giving notice to UN of US exit from treaty seeking to curb climate crisis effects

Banks, asset managers and industry groups move to accommodate US president's anti-net zero stanceThe second Trump administration is expected to strike a blow to efforts to align the global financial sector with the path to net zero, with banks, asset managers and industry groups already moving to accommodate the incoming president's avowed policy of drill, baby, drill".As authorities declared 2024 the hottest on record, atmospheric carbon dioxide leapt by a record amount and fires ravaged Los Angeles, a key private sector climate alliance, the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) abandoned a requirement that members be aligned to the Paris agreement. Continue reading...

Australian Conservation Foundation's analysis finds amount of habitat approved to be razed double previous year's as it calls for stronger protections

These ibises have a special skill called remote touch', which they use to find their worm, grub and snail prey through vibrationsHadedas are iridescent grey-brown ibises - jack russell-sized birds with long, curved bills and very small heads - found throughout sub-Saharan Africa.They have a special skill called remote touch", which they use to find their worm, grub and snail prey. At the tip of their bills is an organ that, when they stick it into the soil, can sense the vibrations of their food nearby. Continue reading...

Altadena's Village Playgarden education center served diverse families with outdoor classrooms, small farm and animals - till it was destroyed by flamesIn Altadena, it had become the hot ticket among the preschool set.But when Geoff and Kikanza Ramsey-Ray first bought the two-acre property at the edge of town in 2008, it was a shambles. The home was a rental for over 30 years and the grounds were woefully neglected. Yet the couple saw promise. Nestled against Angeles Crest national forest, with a mountain view and on a road with few other homes, the place felt protected and perfect for their vision: an early education center called Village Playgarden. Continue reading...

Pod Point reports weak demand for new cars as government says no firms will pay fines over ZEV mandate

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String jellyfish species that has killed millions of salmon in Norwegian sea farms reported in ScotlandA jellyfish species that has been wreaking havoc on Norway's salmon industry has made its way to Scotland, causing significant damage and prompting calls for urgent action.The string jellyfish has killed millions of salmon in Norwegian sea farms with officials urging an extermination of affected stocks. Continue reading...

Federal government aims to encourage power-intensive producers to switch to renewables by 2036

Exclusive: Restoration fund in England could be siphoned off' to be used for general government spending, not repairing riversRachel Reeves's Treasury is looking to keep millions of pounds levied on polluting water companies in fines that were meant to be earmarked for sewage cleanup, the Guardian has learned.The 11m water restoration fund was announced before the election last year, with projects bidding for the cash to improve waterways and repair damage done by sewage pollution in areas where fines have been imposed. Continue reading...

Volunteers who leave water in the desert describe rising fears of vigilantes and climate perilIt was a blustery day in the Sonoran desert as a group of humanitarian aid volunteers hiked through a vast dusty canyon to leave gallons of bottled water and canned beans in locations where exhausted migrants could find them.Empty plastic bottles, rusty cans and footprints heading north were among the signs of human activity strewn between the towering saguaro and senita cacti, in an isolated section of the Organ Pipe Cactus national monument - about 20 miles (32km) north of the US-Mexico border. Continue reading...

Shifting responsibility to consumers minimises the role of energy industry and policymakers, University of Sydney research suggests

Sifting for bottles together never gets old - it's the idea that something so fragile could have survived for so long in one piece and in one placeMy family and I have a weird hobby. We like to dig for old bottles. It's something we stumbled upon, quite literally, one soggy weekend.On a visit to the family farm, we were exploring a shady gully below the house, where an occasional creek meandered down the hill. One of the kids tripped on a jutting ridge in the mud. Dug up and sluiced out, the object revealed itself to be a round, honey-hued medicine bottle. Continue reading...

Angelenos returning to homes in burned areas could be exposed to toxic materials and mudslidesThe wildfires raging across the Los Angeles landscape have destroyed many thousands of homes and buildings and damaged hundreds more.And each property, experts warn, could pose a risk to Angelenos even long after the flames are extinguished. Continue reading...

United Utilities has dropped legal fight to block access to data on the discharge of treated sewage in Lake DistrictThe water company United Utilities has conceded defeat in its legal battle to block public access to data on treated sewage it is discharging into Windermere in the Lake District.Company officials initially claimed that data from phosphorus monitors at a main sewage treatment works at the lake was not environmental information. The company also wanted to block access to data from Cunsey Beck, a site of special scientific interest, which flows into Windermere. Continue reading...

Mexican officials ordered facility to shut down after report on very high levels of pollutants in surrounding neighborhood

Environmentalists are braced for new construction on the president's signature border wall - and the damage that would wreakDuring Donald Trump's first presidential term, he began an ambitious and costly border militarization program, including the construction of over 450 miles of wall that severed wildlife corridors and fragmented ecosystems in some of the country's most remote and biodiverse regions. With his second inauguration on Monday, environmentalists are bracing for any new phase of construction that could exacerbate the ecological toll of the border wall.It's an absolute travesty and a disaster for border wildlife," said Margaret Wilder, a human-environment geographer and political ecologist at the University of Arizona, regarding the environmental impact of the existing border wall and the prospect of renewed construction. She said the wall harmed efforts after many decades of binational cooperation between the US and Mexico to protect this fragile and biodiverse region. I don't think Americans realize what is at stake." Continue reading...

Oil and gas firms have given more than $75m to Trump's campaign and stand to benefit from his drill, baby drill' planAs Joe Biden warns in his farewell address as president that an oligarchy is taking shape in America", a new report reveals that US fossil fuel billionaires' wealth increased by 15% over the past nine months. Some of those wealthy figures will be at parties in DC celebrating Trump's inauguration on Monday and expecting further rewards for his drill, baby, drill" energy agenda.The report from the research group Climate Accountability Research Project (Carp) comes just days ahead of climate denier Donald Trump's second presidential inauguration, which oil and gas representatives and Trump donors plan to celebrate at a swanky industry party in Washington DC. Continue reading...

A combustible combination of factors laid the groundwork for disaster. Will LA learn the lessons from the fires as it moves forward?Dr Edith de Guzman watched the flames of the Palisades fire rolling through the Santa Monica mountains out of the windows of her University of California, Los Angeles, classroom last week.First, on Tuesday, flames surged toward the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, the affluent community overlooking the ocean from the canyons in west LA. Then overnight, they tore through parts of Altadena, a diverse town in the city's east that had served as a refuge for Black Angelenos. Continue reading...

More sightings may be a positive sign for growing population but also indicative of effect of climate changeThe slap of an enormous tail upon grey waters as a humpback whale leaps from the sea is becoming an increasingly possible - although still rare - natural thrill around Britain.The 30-tonne, 15 metre-long migratory giants are being spotted in growing numbers and locations this winter from Kent to the Isles of Scilly. Continue reading...

Blaze erupts in Monterey county at one of world's largest battery storage plants, causing highway and school closuresA fire at one of the world's largest battery-storage plants in northern California flared up again on Friday afternoon, sending up plumes of toxic smoke after authorities had said the blaze was mostly over.The fire in Moss Landing in Monterey county started on Thursday, forcing the evacuation of up to 1,500 people and the closure of a major highway. Fire crews were not engaging with the fire but rather waiting for it to burn out on its own, a local fire official said. Continue reading...

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Some wildlife species have accumulated many times more than safe amount of PFAS in their tissue and organs

Adam McKay says the Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio-starring satire resonates with a widespread feeling of being deceived by government and mediaAdam McKay, writer-director of climate-crisis satire Don't Look Up, says that the film's popularity with viewers shows the popular will to tackle climate change, despite the critical brickbats the film attracted and political inertia around the issue.McKay was speaking to the NME during the wildfire emergency that is currently affecting Los Angeles, which has included many high-profile victims from the Hollywood community. Saying that while Netflix, the film's distributors, would not release definitive audience figures, he estimated that somewhere between 400 million and half a billion" people saw it, and that viewers all really connected with the idea of being gaslit". Continue reading...

Big oil executive plans to celebrate Trump's inauguration as California burns - though experts say climatic conditions are only getting more extremeDonald Trump's response to the catastrophic wildfires in Los Angeles has provided a stark prologue to how his US presidency will probably handle the growing threat of such disasters - through acrimony, brutal dealmaking and dismissal of a climate crisis that is spurring a mounting toll of fires, floods and other calamities.As of Thursday, four fires, whipped up by wind speeds more typically found in hurricanes, have torched 63 sq miles (163 sq km) of Los Angeles, a burned area roughly three times the size of Manhattan, destroying more than 12,000 homes and businesses and killing at least 25 people. The Palisades and Eaton fires, the largest of the conflagrations that have turned entire neighborhoods to ash, are still to be fully contained. Continue reading...

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

Cheonggyecheon stream in the South Korean capital has become an attraction - and helps with flood management, fighting air pollution and cooling the cityOn a crisp December morning, office workers and tourists stroll along a tree-lined stream in central Seoul, pausing on stepping stones that cross its flowing waters. It's difficult to imagine that just over 20 years ago, this was a vast elevated highway carrying 168,000 cars daily through the heart of South Korea's capital.Cheonggyecheon, a stream that runs for about 3.5 miles (nearly 6km) through Seoul, was one of the earliest experiments in an increasing trend in cities globally: turning spaces where there was once car or rail infrastructure into spaces for pedestrians and cyclists. It's a powerful example of the way that these spaces can become loved and popular, along with projects such as the High Line in New York, where an old railway track has been turned into a raised park, or the city moat in Utrecht, where a multi-lane road (nicknamed the motorway from nothing to nowhere") was converted back into a canal, in part of a huge continuing push to allow pedestrians and cyclists to dominate the city's centre. Continue reading...