Authorities in Spain, Portugal, Greece and France issue extreme heat, wildfire and health warningsAuthorities across Europe are on alert as the first heatwave of the summer pushes temperatures up to 42C (107.6F), as the fastest-warming continent continues to suffer the effects of the climate emergency.Spain's state meteorological office, Aemet, issued a special heat warning on Friday, saying temperatures could reach 42C in some southern areas of the country over the coming days.Agence France-Presse and Associated Press contributed to this report Continue reading...
Clean tech's key minerals now drive western rearmament, reviving extractive ambition and exposing the toxic cost of dependenceIt's an irony that the minerals needed to save the planetmay help destroy it. Rare earth elements, the mineral backbones of wind turbines and electric vehicles, are now the prize in a geopolitical arms race. The trade agreement between Washington and Beijing restores rare earth shipments from China to the US, which had been suspended in retaliation against Donald Trump's tariffs. Behind the bluster, there has been a realisation in Washington that these are critical inputs for the US. They are needed not just by American icons such as Ford and Boeing but for its fighter jets, missile guidance systems and satellitecommunications.This understanding suggests that Washington will scale back some of its countermeasures once Beijing resumes delivery of rare earths. The paradox is that toreduce its dependence on China, the US must depend on Beijing a little longer. This is not yet decoupling; it's deferment. That, however, may not last. Mr Trump has signed an executive order to boostproduction of critical minerals, which encourages the faster granting of permits for mining and processing projects. He eyes Ukraine andGreenland's subterranean riches to break dependence on China. Continue reading...
Unusually aggressive lone star ticks, common in the south-east, are spreading to areas previously too cold for themBlood-sucking ticks that trigger a bizarre allergy to meat in the people they bite are exploding in number and spreading across the US, to the extent that they could cover the entire eastern half of the country and infect millions of people, experts have warned.Lone star ticks have taken advantage of rising temperatures by the human-caused climate crisis to expand from their heartland in the south-east US to areas previously too cold for them, in recent years marching as far north as New York and even Maine, as well as pushing westwards. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Doctors say clean air zones need expanding, after 45,458 visits in first half of this year - up from 31,376 last yearThe number of patients being treated by GPs for asthma attacks has increased by 45% in a year, prompting calls for urgent action to tackle toxic levels of air pollution.There were 45,458 presentations to family doctors in England between January and June this year, according to data from the Royal College of General Practitioners research and surveillance centre. Across the same period in 2024, there were 31,376 cases. Continue reading...
Negotiators doubt countries' financial and environmental commitment as military and trade wars divert attentionClimate is our biggest war. Climate is here for the next 100 years. We need to focus and ... not allow those [other] wars to take our attention away from the bigger fight that we need to have."Ana Toni, the chief executive of Cop30, the UN climate summit to be held in Brazil this November, is worried. With only four months before the crucial global summit, the world's response to the climate crisis is in limbo. Continue reading...
The Poo-tastic Tasmanian Paint Off asks artists to use a unique medium to paint portraits of people they admireKarin Koch was inspired to start the world's first animal poo painting competition after buying a large and highly detailed painting created out of cow dung by the German artist Werner Hartl.Koch then commissioned the Tasmanian artist Mel Hills to paint wombats using wombat poo and a pademelon with pademelon poo collected from her garden.Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Continue reading...
It is what we might call the HS2 fallacy: new reservoirs as tall as high-rise buildings that boost water companies' assetsBritain is running out of water, we are told. Soon there will be curfews, banning people from turning on their taps, as happens in Italy. Standpipes will sprout on the side of parched roads where trees once stood.Rivers will run dry and rural communities will begin digging wells in response to a water apocalypse destined to arrive courtesy of the ravaging effect of climate change. Continue reading...
Experts say brutal temperatures across much of US set to become more common as planet continues to heat upThe list of climate-related disasters in the US was long last week as vast swathes of the country sweated under a brutal heatwave.There was a mass-casualty event" of fainting high-schoolers in New Jersey as a K-pop concert was cut short in Washington DC. Young hikers had to be rescued in New Hampshire as tarmac roads buckled and melted in South Dakota and Nebraska. Continue reading...
Scientists left scrambling amid hurricane season after irreplaceable program is slotted to be shutteredA critical US atmospheric data collection program will be halted by Monday, giving weather forecasters just days to prepare, according to a public notice sent this week. Scientists that the Guardian spoke with say the change could set hurricane forecasting back decades", just as this year's season ramps up.In a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) message sent on Wednesday to its scientists, the agency said that due to recent service changes" the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) will discontinue ingest, processing and distribution of all DMSP data no later than June 30, 2025". Continue reading...
Having a child makes you see cities differently. We deserve better than shuttered playgrounds and locked paddling poolsThere's nothing like a boiling hot summer with an energetic small child to make you acutely aware of the need for outdoor space. We are lucky to have a garden, albeit an overgrown one that isn't exactly child-friendly, so, like many parents, we mostly rely on public space in order for him to play and get the huge amount of exercise he needs. And, if you are able-bodied, there's nothing like having a child to make you look at public spaces differently.Steps instead of ramps. A lack of benches on which to feed a baby, or give a toddler their snack. No shade. No access to toilets or changing tables. Nowhere to fill up a water bottle. No fences or gates dividing pedestrianised space from a busy road, or a deep body of water, or myriad other hazards. These are just some of the things that start to matter. Before your eyes, the urban environment becomes transformed and often inhospitable. Things such as locked playgrounds (I'm looking at you, Camden council - Falkland Place playground has been closed for literally months at this point) have the potential to ruin your morning. In a heatwave, broken splash pads and locked paddling pools (most recent personal disappointments include Brighton and Leamington Spa) feel like acts of particular cruelty.Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett is a Guardian columnist and author. Her Republic of Parenthood book will be published this summer Continue reading...
Long-awaited ILC report examines what should happen to vulnerable countries as sea levels riseStates should be able to continue politically even if their land disappears underwater, legal experts have said.The conclusions come from a long-awaited report by the International Law Commission that examined what existing law means for continued statehood and access to key resources if sea levels continue to rise due to climate breakdown. Continue reading...
Environmental groups, immigration advocates and Native Americans decry idea to set up the outdoor detention campEnvironmental groups, immigration rights activists and a Native American tribe have decried the construction of a harsh outdoor migrant detention camp in the Florida Everglades billed by state officials as Alligator Alcatraz".Crews began preparing the facility at a remote, largely disused training airfield this week in support of the Trump administration's aggressive goal of arresting and incarcerating 3,000 undocumented migrants every day. Continue reading...
Groups question UK membership of Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative after actions of successive governmentsA coalition of civil society groups is calling for the UK government to be suspended from a key global body that oversees how oil and gas companies are run.The campaigners said Keir Starmer's Labour party had overseen a fossil fuel-sponsored crackdown" on peaceful protest and direct action in the UK since it came to power last year. Continue reading...
Sustainable period care brand says report from rival Mooncup is flawed and contains inaccuraciesThe sustainable period care brand Here We Flo, which launched in 2017 selling plant powered" pads and liners that are 100% free of nasties", is removing the terms plastic-free" and no synthetic fibres" from its packets.The company said it had been working on a packaging refresh" for the past year. Continue reading...
Swimmable Cities summit in Rotterdam wants to change cleanliness of waterways and people's relationship to themSwimming in urban waterways should be a right, activists have said, as an international alliance aims to persuade politicians to clean up rivers so they can be used safely by their citizens.At the world's first Swimmable Cities summit in Rotterdam, more than 200 representatives from more than 20 countries gathered and plunged into the water. Continue reading...
Residents on British Columbia island fiercely divided over whether to relocate, euthanize or ignore Tex' the bearMost visitors to Texada Island, a 30-mile sliver of land off the west coast of British Columbia, choose one of two main methods of arrival: a provincial ferry service with 10 daily sailings or a 3,000ft air strip, which welcomes the occasional chartered plane.But a four-year-old grizzly bear recently took a far more challenging route, braving strong currents and frigid water to swim nearly three miles across the Malaspina Strait. Continue reading...
Democratic senator leads calls for answers over provision that could cut fossil fuel firms' income tax to zeroDemocratic lawmakers led by the Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren are pressing two energy companies about their efforts to win a $1.1bn tax loophole" in Donald Trump's so-called big, beautiful bill".The proposed exemption, which Senate Republicans inserted into their version of the reconciliation mega-bill this month, would exempt fossil fuel companies from paying a tax codified by Biden in 2022. Continue reading...
Storm naming competition raises idea to remind public of link between fossil fuels and extreme weatherThe Met Office should name storms after fossil fuel companies, campaigners have said, after the weather forecasting service opened a storm naming competition.Climate campaigners have recommended the Met Office names its storms after various oil and gas corporations to remind the public of the link between burning fossil fuels and extreme weather. Continue reading...
Exclusive: UK Green Building Council calls for adaptation of millions of buildings and warns of flood threats to townsThe UK's schools, care homes and offices are not equipped for the effects of global heating and face lengthy heatwaves even in optimistic scenarios, according to a groundbreaking report that calls for climate resilience to be declared a national emergency.The report by the UK Green Building Council also predicts that towns including Peterborough and Fairbourne will be uninhabitable by the end of the century because of flooding.The appointment of a minister for resilience within the Cabinet OfficeA new legal objective to ensure all planning decisions deliver climate safety.A more ambitious future homes standard to protect against increasing climate hazards - overheating, flooding and water scarcity.A comprehensive retrofit strategy to make homes and buildings climate safe.The protection of all communities with trees, parks and ponds. Continue reading...
Thousands from Pacific island nation under threat from rising seas enter ballot that awards visas to 280 citizens a year world-first dealAlmost a third of citizens in the Pacific nation of Tuvalu are seeking a landmark visa in the context of climate change to live in Australia as rising seas threaten their palm-fringed shores, official figures show.Australia is offering visas to 280 Tuvalu citizens each year under a climate migration deal Canberra has billed as the first agreement of its kind anywhere in the world". Continue reading...
Freighters emit more greenhouse gases than jets, but a tech startup believes a simple and effective technique can help the industry change courseAn industrial park alongside the River Lea in the London suburb of Chingford might not be the most obvious place for a quiet revolution to be taking place. But there, a team of entrepreneurs is tinkering with a modest looking steel container that could hold a solution to one of the world's dirtiest industries.Inside it are thousands of cherry-sized pellets made from quicklime. At one end, a diesel generator pipes fumes through the lime, which soaks up the carbon, triggering a chemical reaction that transforms it into limestone. Continue reading...
Company's Starbase launch site in Texas near the Mexican border has seen test failures resulting in large explosionsMexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has threatened legal action over falling debris and contamination from billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX rocket launches across the border in the United States.Mexico's government was studying which international laws were being violated in order to file the necessary lawsuits" because there is indeed contamination", Sheinbaum told her morning news conference on Wednesday. Continue reading...
Millions seek relief from a severe heat dome that's led to lake drownings, leaking methane gas and affected farmersAt a splash pad on the banks of the Great Miami River in downtown Dayton, Michelle Winston, her partner and their daughter have come to cool off from the brutal heat.It's our first time down here this year, but because it's so hot, we'll be coming back for sure," she says as she helps her daughter clear water from her eyes. Continue reading...
People are disgusted by the idea of eating bugs despite their lighter planetary cost compared to traditional livestockRecent efforts to encourage people to eat insects are doomed to fail because of widespread public disgust at the idea, making it unlikely insects will help people switch from the environmentally ruinous habit of meat consumption, a new study has found.Farming and eating insects has been touted in recent years as a greener alternative to eating traditional meat due to the heavy environmental toll of raising livestock, which is a leading driver of deforestation, responsible for more than half of global water pollution, and may cause more than a third of all greenhouse gases that can be allowed if the world is to avoid disastrous climate change, the new research finds. Continue reading...
From peat bogs containing centuries of history to the fascinating world of sea creatures' senses, the theme for this year's annual event is Biosphere' Continue reading...
More than 1,000 of one UK's rarest butterflies seen around Holnicote Estate thanks to grazing cattle and good weatherThe combination of sunny spring weather and habitat improved by a herd of red Devon cattle has led to a surge in numbers of one of the UK's rarest butterflies on moorland in the English west country.As well as increasing in established pockets on Exmoor, the heath fritillary is spreading to new areas, which experts say is highly unusual. Continue reading...
Maasai pastoralists living by the national park in Kenya's capital are helping wildlife with a crucial migratory route through their land - at great risk to their cherished cattleNairobi national park in Kenya is the only large wildlife conservation area to fall within a capital city. It is hemmed in on three sides by human development, and unfenced only on its southern boundary - this gap providing a crucial wildlife passageway, linking the park's animals to other populations of wildlife and wider gene pools.The gap, however, is also home to a small Maasai community, where farmers face an agonising choice between protecting livestock and making space for the predators that prey on their cattle. Continue reading...
Scrutiny of how companies plan to meet climate commitments is growing, with many successful legal challengesJudges across the world are proving sceptical of companies' attempts to offset their greenhouse gas emissions by buying carbon credits, a report has found.In an analysis of nearly 3,000 climate-related lawsuits filed around the world since 2015, the latest annual review of climate litigation by the London School of Economics found action against corporations in particular was evolving", with growing scrutiny of how companies plan to meet their stated climate commitments. Continue reading...
Trump officials had ordered states not to spend $5bn given by Biden under national EV infrastructure schemeA US district judge has blocked the Trump administration from withholding funds previously awarded to 14 states for electric vehicle charger infrastructure.Seattle-based judge Tana Lin, who was appointed to the bench by Joe Biden in 2021, granted a partial injunction to the states that filed suit against Trump's Department of Transportation. Continue reading...
Extreme heat is bringing a stifling, dangerous, start to summer across much of the eastern US this weekA rare June heatwave is bringing a stifling, dangerous, start to summer across much of the eastern US this week, with forecasts for temperatures to get even hotter on Tuesday.On Monday, just the second day of summer, the National Weather Service placed extreme heat warnings in effect from the Carolinas to Maine, advising against any outdoor activities under the conditions.Eric Holthaus is a meteorologist and climate journalist based in Minnesota Continue reading...
A mass casualty incident' as temperatures soar to upper 90s fahrenheit in the regionMore than 150 people fell ill with heat at an outdoor high school graduation ceremony in New Jersey on Monday - and the fire chief of the city of Paterson declared a mass casualty incident" due to the overwhelming number of those who needed emergency treatment.The incident happened as students from several local schools in the city gathered at Hinchliffe Stadium to hear their names read out as graduates. Paterson's fire department said about 50 people were evaluated, and nine were sent to a local hospital from the stadium. Continue reading...
The Alaska senator, who helped deal Trump's first big legislative setback, believes there can be only so much fear that Americans can handleLate one night about six months into Donald Trump's first term, John McCain stepped on to the Senate floor and with a dramatic thumbs-down gesture dealt the president his first major legislative setback by defeating an attempt by his fellow Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act.It was the last major political effort of the Arizona senator, who would die the following year from brain cancer, but his no vote would not have been effective had he not been joined by fellow Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska - who gives that incident, and many other brushes with Trump, a prominent place in Far from Home, the memoir she released on Tuesday. Continue reading...
Agriculture secretary to scrap roadless rule' that protects lands including largest old growth forest in countryThe Trump administration will rescind protections that prevent logging on nearly a third of national forest lands, including the largest old growth forest in the country, the agriculture secretary, Brooke Rollins, announced on Monday.The announcement will be followed by a formal notice rescinding the roadless rule", a nickname for the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, in coming weeks, the Associated Press reports. The rule prohibits road building and logging on all national forest land without roads, accounting for about 59m acres (24m hectares) of US national forest land. Continue reading...
Researchers say urgent conservation efforts will be needed to mitigate the shocking statistic' that threatens to unravel ecosystemsMore than 500 bird species could vanish within the next century, researchers have found, calling for urgent special recovery programmes" such as captive breeding and habitat restoration to rescue unique species.Birds such as the puffin, European turtle dove and great bustard will be among those to disappear from our skies if trends continue, according to the paper. Their loss threatens to unravel ecosystems across the globe. Continue reading...
The prospect of handing control of the energy company to overseas buyers has raised a series of concerns. But many of them are nebulousAmid the multifarious chaos of the past week, many of us might have missed the controversy over the proposed purchase of the energy business Santos by an overseas consortium. But the proposal is likely to create big problems for Australian governments and its resolution will reveal a lot about how Australian policymakers view energy and climate policy.Santos is one of the largest and oldest Australian producers of oil and gas, second only to Woodside Energy (its name is an acronym of South Australia and Northern Territory Oil Search). The core of its operation is the Moomba gas field in the Cooper Basin, in the north-east corner of South Australia. The company now supplies gas to the entire eastern seaboard and has assets in the Timor Sea and Papua New Guinea.John Quiggin is a professor at the University of Queensland's school of economicsThis article originally stated that XRG was owned by the Carlyle Group and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc). It was amended on 25 June 2025 to clarify that it is wholly owned by Adnoc and includes the Carlyle Group among its members Continue reading...
The Lower Thames Crossing proves the point. It's a white elephant plan, sucking money from local projects that could actually improve livesThere appear to be two main determinants of what infrastructure gets built. The first is whether it provides large and lucrative contracts for powerful corporations. The second is whether ministers can pose beside it in hard hats and yellow jackets. Otherwise, it is hard to explain the decisions made.Both determinants favour large and spectacular schemes. Big corporations don't want to dabble in minor improvements: real money comes from prestige projects over which governments cannot afford to lose face, ensuring that they keep throwing cash, however high the budget spirals. And few ministers want to pose beside a new bus stop: a grand ego demands a grand setting.George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
by Damian Carrington Environment editor on (#6Y6A0)
About 110 million people suffer stress and sleep disturbance that lead to tens of thousands of early deathsMore than 110 million people across Europe suffer high levels of health-damaging noise pollution, according to a report. The resulting physiological stress and sleep disturbance leads to 66,000 early deaths a year and many cases of heart disease, diabetes and depression.The report, from the European Environment Agency (EEA), focuses on noise from cars, trains and aeroplanes and found that 20% of the population of the European Economic Area (EEA) were affected. Separate research, using a slightly lower threshold for dangerous noise pollution, found that 40% of the UK population were exposed to harmful transport noise. Continue reading...
Governor says plant upstate is a critical energy initiative' while renewable energy groups slammed the decisionKathy Hochul has announced plans to build a nuclear-power plant in New York, the first major new US plant in over 15 years, and one designed to add to add at least 1GW of nuclear power generation.The governor said in a statement that she had directed the New York Power Authority (NYPA) to develop and construct a zero-emission advanced nuclear power plant in upstate New York to support a reliable and affordable electric grid. Continue reading...
Behavior in orca population off coast of US and Canada captured by scientists using drone observationKiller whales have been observed mutually grooming each other with a type of seaweed, the first known instance of a marine animal using tools in a way that was previously thought to be the preserve of primates such as humans.A group of killer whales, which are also known as orcas, have been biting off short sections of bull kelp and then rolling these stems between their bodies, possibly to remove dead skin or parasites. The behavior is the first such documented mutual grooming in marine animals and is outlined in a new scientific paper. Continue reading...
by Lisa Cox Environment and climate correspondent on (#6Y5S8)
Super fund, on the brink of becoming Whitehaven's biggest shareholder, says company's acquisition of metallurgical coal assets made it a more attractive investment
Nature in Australia's smallest state is in poor health, but this has been largely ignored by both major parties in the lead-up to the early state election
Scientists fear thousands of tonnes of chemicals dumped in mining tunnels in Alsace may seep into an aquifer, with devastating consequences for people and wildlifeEight police officers linger with their backs to the two-hectare (five-acre) site known as Stocamine. The place is nondescript in the morning drizzle: two mine shafts, some modern-looking office buildings, a staff car park, lines of landscaped trees. The reason for the police presence, however, is what lies beneath: 42,000 tonnes of toxic waste stored under our feet.Stocamine, which lies in the old industrial town of Wittelsheim, Alsace, once held an old potash mine. Now, the mine shafts are closed, storing poisonous waste from elsewhere. Above the mine shafts is one of Europe's largest aquifers. Continue reading...
Dr Veronique Paris has a hands-on approach to her research - she lets hundreds of mosquitoes bite her arm in order to feed and maintain her mosquito lab. Paris helps research mosquito-borne diseases. We have people working on mosquitoes here that don't feed their own colonies, there will always be volunteers around that can do that, so no one has to feed mosquitos if they don't want to and that's totally fine," Paris says Continue reading...