Warning comes as supermarkets ration sales of produce owing to dry conditions elsewhere in EuropeEngland is at risk of a severe drought, with experts warning it is one dry spell away from conditions similar to last summer.Farmers are preparing for a difficult growing year, with some areas having never left drought and others just recovering. This means it will be difficult to grow certain vegetables and yields could be affected. Last year, yields on crops such as cabbage and kale were reduced because of the drought. Continue reading...

Southern states led by Republicans did not vote for climate spending, but now embrace clean energy dollars like never beforeGeorgia, a state once known for its peaches and peanuts, is rapidly becoming a crucible of clean energy technology in the US, leading a pack of Republican-led states enjoying a boom in renewables investment that has been accelerated by Joe Biden’s climate agenda.Since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in August, billions of dollars of new clean energy investment has been announced for solar, electric vehicle and battery manufacturing in Georgia, pushing it to the forefront of a swathe of southern states that are becoming a so-called “battery belt” in the economic transition away from fossil fuels. Continue reading...

Ships have been essential to enable safe passage of grain but more than 300 crew remain stuck on vessels that are key targets• Russia-Ukraine war – latest updatesShipping companies and maritime organisations have urged the UN secretary general to help evacuate hundreds of seafarers who have been trapped onboard vessels in Ukrainian ports for a year.About 2,000 seafarers in 112 ships were berthed in Ukrainian ports across the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov before Russia’s invasion. After the war broke out, most crew were evacuated, but 331 seafarers remain stuck on 62 vessels across nine Ukrainian ports, including Mariupol and Odesa. Continue reading...

Exclusive: premier’s comments in November raise questions about how far Coalition would go to support fossil fuels if re-elected

EPA orders Norfolk Southern to clean up site in East Palestine, Ohio, as residents demand answers about health risksFederal environmental regulators on Tuesday took control of the clean-up from the derailment of the train carrying huge quantities of toxic chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio, earlier this month, and ordered the railroad company Norfolk Southern to foot the bill.Amid growing fear and frustration among residents about safety and transparency, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will now take control as the fallout from the 3 February train disaster moves from emergency response to the clean-up phase. Continue reading...

George Hibberd, convicted of obstruction with other Just Stop Oil activists, told court he gave up ‘dream job’ because of climate concernsA former easyJet pilot who sat in the road outside Harrods to cause traffic chaos told a court he left his job because he thought he was contributing to climate change.George Hibberd, 29, was part of a group of about 20 Just Stop Oil (JSO) activists who protested outside the world famous store in Knightsbridge, London. Continue reading...

Farming groups say allowing high-carbon meat to enter UK could undermine domestic beef sector and harm environmentMexican beef could hit UK supermarket shelves as the farming minister confirmed that the high-carbon meat could be imported under a new trade deal.Mark Spencer told journalists at the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) conference in Birmingham that the deal could pave the way for meat from the Latin American country, declaring: “We have to be fair to everyone; we can’t say we will sell milk to you but we won’t buy your beef.” Continue reading...

Only half of the packaging of kettles, air fryers and stick vacuums was being recycled, according to a survey by the consumer group

Mudburra elder Ray Dimakarri Dixon says he was shocked to discover site using his image to support fracking, which he is campaigning against

Decision allows Santos to open 116 new wells with an operational life of about 30 years in Surat Basin

Fuel loads that increased after heavy rain are now drying out and creating ‘powder keg’ conditions for future fires, report finds

Report finds four new offshore depots would emit around three times what the entire US emits each year, pushing world closer to climate catastropheJoe Biden’s administration has been urged not to sink its own climate goals by approving an unprecedented ramp-up of oil export infrastructure off the Texas coast that could result in planet-heating emissions equivalent to three years of the US’s entire emissions output.The federal government has already quietly approved the Sea Port oil terminal project, a proposed offshore oil platform located 35 miles off the Texas coast, south of Houston, and will decide whether to allow three other nearby oil terminal proposals. Combined, the four terminals would expand US oil exports by nearly 7m barrels every day, handling the capacity of half of all current national oil exports. Continue reading...

Body of missing 22-year-old campaigner who also took part in Just Stop oil protests found in London parkA young activist who campaigned with the climate groups Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil has been found dead after going missing almost a week ago.Xavier Gonzalez-Trimmer, 22, was found in Richmond Park on Monday after searches by friends and relatives in the area.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org. Continue reading...

Using local creatives and actors, director Katie Mitchell’s A Play for the Living in a Time of Extinction is a narrative response to the climate crisis and an experiment in sustainabilityKatie Mitchell’s new theatre production will arrive at the Barbican in London in April having already toured internationally without anyone involved getting on a plane or even crossing a border. The show, entitled A Play for the Living in a Time of Extinction, is an experiment in how theatre can be more sustainable. It is staged by a local creative team and features a different performer in each venue it plays.The idea took shape at Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne in Switzerland, where the British theatre director was due to stage a show. The French choreographer Jérôme Bel had recently announced that he would no longer fly, a decision Mitchell had herself made after working with scientist Stephen Emmott on Ten Billion, staged at the Royal Court in 2012. Mitchell and Bel began discussions with producers at Vidy-Lausanne about sustainable theatre in which, says Mitchell, “the artistic conversations were intersecting with budgeting and systems and structures as well”. The zero-travel rule is just one part of the initiative which is not a set-in-stone model but rather a way to prompt new ways of working on individual productions and within organisations. Continue reading...

New study shows impact of weather phenomenon could have a ‘double whammy’ effect, leading to worsening extreme weather and accelerating sea level rise

Farmers’ union president Minette Batters to say ‘volatility, uncertainty and instability are greatest risks to farm businesses’“The clock is ticking” to support Britain’s farmers battered by a storm of rising costs, labour shortages, bird flu and post-Brexit changes to support payments, the union representing the sector has told ministers.“Volatility, uncertainty and instability” are endangering UK farm businesses, according to the National Farmers’ Union, which is urging the government to support British food producers so they can keep supplying squeezed UK households and a growing global population. Continue reading...

Gondolas unable to navigate some of its famous canals as Italy faces prospect of another droughtWeeks of dry winter weather have raised concerns that Italy could face another drought after last summer’s emergency, with the Alps having received less than half of their normal snowfall, according to scientists and environmental groups.The warning comes as Venice, where flooding is normally the primary concern, faces unusually low tides that are making it impossible for gondolas, water taxis and ambulances to navigate some of its famous canals. Continue reading...

Cities cancel carnival festivities as rescue workers search for victims and clear roadsAt least 36 people have died and dozens are missing after torrential rain brought flooding and landslides to coastal areas of south-east Brazil over the weekend as the country geared up for its annual carnival celebrations.Rescue efforts continued in São Paulo state on Monday as more than 500 workers searched for victims, cleared roads and tried to reconnect isolated communities. Continue reading...

Controversy stirs in New Jersey along political lines as some scientists say wind turbine theory is ‘cynical disinformation’Thousands gathered at New Jersey’s Point Pleasant beach on Sunday with a united mission: to pause offshore wind projects in response to recent whale deaths along the New York-New Jersey coast.The gathering unfolded even as officials dispute the notion that the projects may be to blame for the dead whales, a controversy that – like many – is breaking along political party lines. Continue reading...

But usually its pupils are W-shaped. It also has three heartsA cuttlefish, the tentacled, colour-changing sea creature with floating, polystyrene-like centre, is a kind of child’s birthday party lucky packet in cephalopod form: reach into the strange mixture and you’ll pull out a series of simple diversions, small delights. Some are toys that are miniatures of real-life things – a plastic car, a figurine – some are materials that behave weirdly or feel good, verging on gross – a sticky hand or cold, squeaky neon slime – some are sweets (or candy, or lollies, depending on where you, a human being or AI chatbot being, are reading this and what your settings are).Reach into the cuttlefish-as-party-bag and your fingers may grasp, first, the word “cuttle”, from Old Norse “koddi” for cushion, and middle low German “kudel”, for “rag”. Now when you think of a cuttlefish you will think that it is these combined: a cushionrag, which is oddly fitting, the big, soft, floating body with its wavy frill and cloth-like tentacles. Continue reading...

Successive La Niñas have eased demand but, with many renewable and storage projects now delayed, the energy market operator has revised its projections

Exclusive: Poll shows national support for ban in urban areas, where burners have worst impactAn overwhelming majority of people in London support the banning of wood burners, which are the single biggest source of tiny air pollution particles in Britain.An exclusive poll for the Guardian indicates that 67% of Londoners backed a ban, with 17% opposed and 16% saying they did not know. Across Britain, 44% supported a wood burner ban, with 36% opposed. Continue reading...

Storm has been upgraded to Very Intense Tropical Cyclone with severe risk of deadly landslidesCyclone Freddy, upgraded to a Very Intense Tropical Cyclone on 19 February, is expected to make landfall in Madagascar this week, with fatalities likely.The previous tropical cyclone to affect the country was Cheneso, which struck about a month ago and caused dozens of deaths. Freddy is forecast to inflict much more damage. Continue reading...

Unions say rail companies’ desire for increased profits is driving up safety risks – and more accidents will happen without actionUS railroad workers say the train derailment in Ohio, which forced thousands of residents to evacuate and is now spreading a noxious plume of carcinogenic chemicals across the area, should be an “eye-opening” revelation for Congress and “an illustration of how the railroads operate, and how they’re getting away with a lot of things”.Workers and union officials cited the Norfolk Southern Railway derailment in early February as a glaring example of why safety reforms to the industry – which include providing workers with paid sick leave – need to be made. Continue reading...

Northern states on alert for invasion of cross-bred pig that threatens flora and fauna – and is difficult to stopFor decades, wild pigs have been antagonizing flora and fauna in the US: gobbling up crops, spreading disease and even killing deer and elk.Now, as fears over the potential of the pig impact in the US grow, North America is also facing a new swine-related threat, as a Canadian “super pig”, a giant, “incredibly intelligent, highly elusive” beast capable of surviving cold climates by tunneling under snow, is poised to infiltrate the north of the country. Continue reading...

Countryside feels let down by 13 years of Tory rule but other parties will not pick up votes by defaultWhen Keir Starmer takes to the stage at the National Farmers’ Union conference next week, he may find his audience more receptive than expected.The rural vote is swinging away from the Conservatives, and seats in communities that have been true blue for years could be going to Labour or the Liberal Democrats at the next election if recent opinion polls are borne out by reality. Continue reading...

OdySea Aquarium in Scottsdale salutes ‘tiny arrivals’ in its population of 40 endangered seabirdsAn aquarium in Arizona has welcomed three new arrivals in its population of endangered African penguins.In an Instagram post, the OdySea Aquarium in Scottsdale showed the fluffy chicks being gently held by staff, as they were yet to fully stand up on their own. Continue reading...

Report finds that supply chains for major industries, including iron and steel, could cut annual CO2 to 17m tonnes by mid-century

Work on HS2 was halted after a mysterious five-metre square pool of bubbling foam appeared above an area where tunnelling was being carried out in Ruislip, west London. Locals spoke of a 'sinkhole' but an HS2 spokesperson said it was a 'slurry pool'. HS2 said the foam had been cleared, but white foam was seen 24 hours later. Tunnelling has now resumed but the area has been cordoned off and an investigation is under way

Tunnelling stopped briefly after brown bubbling substance emerged from the ground on rugby pitch in RuislipWork on HS2 was halted on Saturday after a mysterious five-metre square pool of bubbling foam emerged above the ground where tunnelling was being carried out.The area on a rugby pitch in Ruislip, to the west of London, has been cordoned off, danger signs have been erected, and an investigation is under way. Local residents described it as a “sinkhole”, but a HS2 spokesperson said what had emerged from the ground was a slurry pool. Continue reading...

Officials say they will keep close eye on Eurasian eagle-owl, who has been successful at hunting the city’s plentiful supply of ratsFor two weeks, an owl that escaped the Central Park Zoo has eluded capture as legions of fans worry about its ability to survive in New York City.Would Flaco, a majestic Eurasian eagle-owl, go hungry because he had not developed an ability to hunt while in captivity? The answer was a resounding no: Flaco is feeding on park rats. Continue reading...

Startups rush to gain foothold in a burgeoning industry as New York and California move to legalize human compostingAmericans are looking for greener ways to die, and a new wave of deathcare startups are rising to the occasion.After death, bodies are typically handled in one of two ways: embalmed and buried in a casket, or incinerated and turned into ashes. But both of these options have contributed to the environmental crisis – with fossil fuel-intensive cremation emitting chemicals such as carbon monoxide into the air, and burials taking up large swathes of land. Continue reading...

Authorities have blamed the growing of coca – the base ingredient of cocaine – for clearcutting, but a recent study shows otherwiseCattle-ranching, not cocaine, has driven the destruction of the Colombian Amazon over the last four decades, a new study has found.Successive recent governments have used environmental concerns to justify ramping up their war on the green shrub, but the research shows that in 2018 the amount of forest cleared to cultivate coca, the base ingredient of cocaine, was only 1/60th of that used for cattle. Continue reading...

A veteran naturalist and writer picks the species that have played a key role for humans, from ancient civilisations to today’s climate crisisFor the whole of human history, we have shared our world with birds. We have hunted and domesticated them for food; worshipped them in our religions; placed them at the heart of our myths and legends; poisoned and persecuted them; and celebrated them in our literature, art and music. Even today, despite a very worrying disconnection between ourselves and the rest of nature, birds continue to play a role in our lives.The current official list of the world’s birds stands at roughly 10,800 different species. But there are 10 whose stories stand out, for the way they influenced a crucial aspect of our history, and shaped our lives. Continue reading...

Residents of East Palestine grapple with mixed safety messages two weeks after leak of hazardous chemicals from trainDuring his Thursday visit to the site of a fiery train derailment that may have poisoned a small eastern Ohio town with a range of highly toxic chemicals, the Environmental Protection Agency chief, Michael Regan, told residents: “All families need to know that they are safe.”But Regan’s words, along with those from the Ohio governor Mike DeWine’s administration and Norfolk Southern officials, have been of little comfort to Jami Cozza. Continue reading...

Legislation could see companies fined millions of pounds for making unproven environmental assertions to sell their productsWhen the hydrogen-powered Hyundai Nexo car was launched in the UK in the spring of 2019, it was described as “so beautifully clean” that it “purifies the air as it goes”.Hyundai Motor UK claimed that if 10,000 of its cars were on the road, carbon emission reduction would be “equivalent to planting 60,000 trees”. Continue reading...

UK environment secretary calls on business and finance to make meaningful investment in nature-based solutionsThe financial sector must be encouraged to invest in nature conservation for the world to meet this decade’s UN biodiversity targets, the UK environment secretary has said.Thérèse Coffey, speaking at an event at Lancaster House in London to mobilise private finance after Cop15, said the private sector had a critical role to play in meeting this decade’s deal to halt the destruction of Earth’s ecosystems.Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield on Twitter for all the latest news and features Continue reading...

Former environmental activist Erin Mendenhall leads a fast-growing city threatened by toxic dust from the lake’s shrinking water levelsErin Mendenhall was once an environmental activist, campaigning for clean air. Now, in a fitting but grim twist, she is the mayor of a fast-growing US city that faces being enveloped by a huge toxic cloud of dust.Mendenhall, who is 42, became animated by the issue of air pollution after learning that the air quality in Salt Lake City had become so bad from cars, trucks and industry that it could take two years off the life of her newborn son. In 2010, she co-founded a non-profit group, called Breathe Utah, before embarking upon a political career that saw her become Salt Lake City’s mayor in 2020. “I had to do something [about the air pollution] or move,” she says. Continue reading...

In Grasse, droughts, heatwaves, and excessive rainfall have made growing flowers increasingly difficultWhen heatwaves used to hit the French town of Grasse, the perfume capital of the world, townspeople didn’t water their flowers. Instead, they marched along the town’s cobblestone streets, in a procession towards the church.“They were calling for rain from the spirits,” says Carole Biancalana, a fourth-generation perfume flower producer whose grandmother participated in the rain ceremonies. “But I don’t think this procession would cut it in today’s climate.” Continue reading...

Leading athletes call on International Ski and Snowboard Federation to overhaul sustainability strategyTop skiers have signed a letter to the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) demanding action over the climate emergency.This season, there has been a notable lack of snow across Alpine resorts, leaving holidaymakers disappointed and causing some ski tournaments to be called off. Continue reading...

A train derailed and flooded a town with cancer-causing chemicals. But something larger, and more troubling, is at workEarlier this month, a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in eastern Ohio, exploding into flames and unleashing a spume of chemical smoke on the small town of East Palestine. The train’s freight included vinyl chloride, a chemical known to cause liver cancer and other sicknesses.In response, government and railway officials decided to “burn off” the vinyl chloride – effectively dumping 1.1m lbs of the chemical into the local community, according to a new lawsuit. Officials said that they did so to avert the vinyl chloride from exploding; in contrast, an attorney for the lawsuit has said that the decision was cheap, unsafe, and more interested in restoring train service and appeasing railway shareholders than protecting local residents.Steven Donziger is a human rights and environmental lawyer, a Guardian US columnist, and the creator of the Substack newsletter Donziger on Justice Continue reading...

Victims – among them environmental defender Edwin Chota – were tortured before their deaths in Peruvian Amazon in 2014Five illegal loggers in Peru have been given 28-year jail sentences for the murder of four Indigenous leaders, among them the prominent anti-logging campaigner Edwin Chota, in a rare win for environmental justice.Nearly eight years after the 2014 quadruple murder, a court in Pucallpa in the Peruvian Amazon found the loggers, Eurico Mapes Gómez and the brothers Segundo and Josimar Atachi Félix, guilty of aggravated homicide against the leaders, and sentenced them on Thursday to 28 years and three months in prison. Continue reading...

Designer’s tie-up is latest stage of plan to put fully recyclable plastic bags into every supermarketShe first made reusable shopping bags chic 16 years ago, now Anya Hindmarch is teaming up with the Co-op and Asda in the latest step of a plan to put fully recyclable plastic bags into every supermarket.Asda will begin stocking the bag – putting its bright green spin on the large tote which features a smiley face and stripy straps – in 300 stores from the end of February and the Co-op’s turquoise version will appear next month. Continue reading...

Coalition of neighbourhood groups and NGO seek to halt park works that are part of metro system extensionThousands of people are due to gather in Madrid on Saturday to protest against “barbaric” plans to cut down more than 1,000 trees in two popular parks to make way for an extension of the city’s metro system.Although the regional Madrid government had originally planned to build two new stations on line 11 of the metro in streets south-west of the city centre, it has now decided that the stations will be located in the old Arganzuela section of the Madrid Río park and in the nearby Comillas park. Continue reading...

Vast areas along Po River already parched, raising fears for farming, hydropower and drinking waterItaly’s rivers and lakes are facing another year of severe drought after a winter of little rain and snowfall, raising the alarm on the implications for farming, hydropower and access to drinking water.Vast areas of the Po – the country’s longest river that nourishes several northern and central regions – are already parched, while the water level on Lake Garda is the lowest during winter in 35 years. Continue reading...

Shadow justice secretary Steve Reed will criticise ministers’ attempts to repeal Human Rights ActA new wave of human rights legislation to guarantee clean air quality and nutrition could be rolled out by the next Labour government, under plans announced by the shadow justice secretary on Friday.Steve Reed will vow to fight “tooth and nail” against any attempt by the government to repeal the Human Rights Act, and instead look to roll out the “next frontier” of “fundamental freedoms”. Continue reading...

SSW phenomenon is linked to polar vortex, an area of low pressure across the North PoleThere has been keen interest over recent weeks in the much-anticipated sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event, which only began this week but is now well under way. The SSW phenomenon is linked to the polar vortex, an area of low pressure across the North Pole that forms within the stratosphere during autumn, as temperatures plummet in the absence of solar radiation.SSW events are very common and occur two in every three winters. It remains unclear how climate change will affect these events in the future. As the vortex develops during autumn and into winter, westerly stratospheric winds increase in strength. But in the event of a SSW episode, stratospheric temperatures rise rapidly in the space of only a few days, leading to the weakening or even reversal of these winds. The zonal mean winds at 10hPa pressure – about 30km high – turned to an easterly direction on 15 Wednesday February, significantly displacing the polar vortex away from the North Pole. The vortex and zonal winds are forecast to stay much weaker than normal for the remainder of February and into the first half of March. Continue reading...

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including a lucky sea eagle, a hungry monkey and a dozing panda Continue reading...

RHS gardeners say buds on trees suggest glorious spring blooms and season will potentially last longerThe UK is expected to have a spring of beautiful blossom, after a heatwave followed by a cold early February set the trees up for peak condition blooms.Gardeners at the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) have been studying the buds on the trees in their gardens across the country. They say buds suggest trees will be floriferous with blossom this spring because of the perfect conditions last year for bud formation, and also because early flowering has been prevented by the cold this February. Continue reading...

Testing of birds is continuing but Wildlife Victoria believes paralysing infection is to blame