Water firm says dealing with 2022's record-breaking heatwave and other weather events cost it 17mSouth East Water has reported a pre-tax loss of nearly 75m, which it blamed in part on the cost of dealing with last year's extreme weather events" including the record-breaking heatwave.The water firm, which supplies 2.2 million customers in Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, Berkshire and Surrey, said the weather events cost it 17m. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Leaked document falls far short' of what is needed to safeguard lives and livelihoods from heat, drought and storms, say expertsThe government's new plan to cope with the climate crisis has been condemned as very weak" by experts, who say not enough is being done to protect lives and livelihoods.Responding to the document, which was leaked to the Guardian, one highlighted its failure to adequately protect people in the UK from extreme heat. The heatwave in 2022, when temperatures surpassed 40C for the first time, led to the early deaths of more than 3,000 people, wildfires, buckled rail lines and farmers struggling with drought. Southern Europe is currently in the grip of a searing heatwave. Continue reading...

Unwitting whale advocates and rightwing thinktanks create the impression that offshore wind energy projects endanger cetaceansOne night in late March, J Timmons Roberts, a professor of environmental studies at Brown University, stepped in to a high school gymnasium in a small seaside town in Rhode Island. He was there to speak at a town hall aimed at allaying concerns about a local offshore windfarm.In the front row, he noticed a woman dressed as a whale, holding a sign that read Save Me!" Continue reading...

Ollie and Harry Ferguson from Aberdeenshire took inspiration for 12,500-mile journey from Ross scientific expedition of 1839-43A pair of model ships built by two young brothers have launched on a mission to circumnavigate Antarctica, in what is thought to be a world first.Ollie Ferguson, 13, and his younger brother Harry, 11, from Turriff in Aberdeenshire, took inspiration from the Ross scientific expedition of 1839-43 where HMS Erebus and HMS Terror discovered the Ross ice shelf. Continue reading...

Asset management firms accused of sacrificing climate action by voting against shareholder resolution at Chevron and ExxonMobilSome of the UK's largest investors have backtracked on their support for a shareholder resolution that would force the big oil companies to cut their carbon emissions, according to a campaign group.Asset managers at Legal & General, abrdn and Janus Henderson voted against the climate resolutions put forward by Follow This, a Dutch shareholder activist group, at the annual general meetings of the US oil companies Chevron and ExxonMobil this year, having voted in favour of them in previous years. Continue reading...

Analysts call on government to make pumps mandatory for all new homes and scale up grants for installation in existing propertiesThe UK is lagging far behind France and other EU countries in installing heat pumps, research has shown, with less than a tenth of the number of installations despite having similar markets.Only 55,000 heat pumps were sold in the UK last year, compared with more than 620,000 in France. Twenty other European countries also had higher installation rates than the UK. Continue reading...

But Dale Vince's Ecojet plane will run on kerosene-based fuel in 2024 to enable quick start to projectThe green energy tycoon Dale Vince is planning to launch Britain's first electric airline in a move designed to prove polluting industries can decarbonise.Ecojet, styled as a flag carrier for green Britain", will launch early next year with a 19-seater plane travelling on a route between Edinburgh and Southampton. Continue reading...

Researchers argue that industry claims about benefits of more flights should be taken with pinch of saltClaims that airport expansion will help grow the UK economy should be treated with scepticism, according to a report that finds air travel does not increase productivity or growth.Declining business travel and lower wages in aviation undermine claims made by the industry for the value of increased air connections, say researchers at the New Economics Foundation. Continue reading...

South-west and parts of the west hardest hit amid warnings to take heat seriously' as Phoenix temperature to rise to 118F SundayMore than 100 million people, around a third of Americans, were under extreme heat advisories this weekend and that record-breaking heat was expected to continue into the new week.There were advisories from coast to coast, with the south-west and parts of the west hard hit and officials warning that conditions could get worse in Arizona, California and Nevada. Continue reading...

Chris Gloninger wove the reality of global heating into his forecasts in the conservative heartland of Iowa. Not everyone was receptiveIt was a brave, if perhaps scientifically obvious, experiment - to convey messages about the unfolding climate crisis via the regular local TV weather forecasts seen by viewers in the conservative heartland of Iowa. It culminated in the meteorologist involved receiving death threats and exiting the state.Chris Gloninger, who is 38, has been obsessed with the weather since he was a child, when Hurricane Bob crunched into his New York state home town, parlaying this into an itinerant career as a TV meteorologist in cities such as Milwaukee and Boston, where he pioneered at NBC 10 what he thinks was the US's first regular broadcast segment on climate change, in 2010. Continue reading...

Petros Chrysafis helps Californians like the wildlife they live with' by taking a unique approach to deterring livestock killingsPetros Chrysafis has always had a fascination with predators, but he never thought he could make a career out of it. Then he helped a friend solve a chicken-stealing coyote problem. Word spread. Now he runs a one-man predator detection and deterrence" business in California's Central valley and Sierra Nevada mountains.His job is an odd combo of forensic scientist, homicide detective, set designer and negotiator. Typically when he first meets his clients, they are ready to find and kill the predator that's been attacking their livestock. His goal is to offer an alternative: coexistence. Continue reading...

Dedication of the 3-mile loop to Winston Walker comes after a push to make national parks more inclusiveAs a nature loving little girl, Jessica Newton never understood why the faces on information boards in the state and national parks she visited looked nothing like her.My parents would take me to these places and the platforms would tell you about a trail, or a person, but I'd never see anyone that looks remotely close to my color," she said. Continue reading...

Energy firms have made record profits by increasing production of oil and gas, far from their promises of rolling back emissionsIt was probably the Earth's hottest week in history earlier this month, following the warmest June on record, and top scientists agree that the planet will get even hotter unless we phase out fossil fuels.Yet leading energy companies are intent on pushing the world in the opposite direction, expanding fossil fuel production and insisting that there is no alternative. It is evidence that they are motivated not by record warming, but by record profits, experts say. Continue reading...

More than 100 companies are set to send a letter to the PM voicing fears about the disastrous effects of Britain's overreliance on gasMore than 100 of the UK's biggest energy companies will tell Rishi Sunak this week not to back off the green agenda after a report by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) warned of catastrophic effects on the economy of continued overreliance on gas.The energy sector is becoming so alarmed at what it sees as the Sunak government's mixed messages on switching to more renewable energy that big UK companies are ready to go public with a letter to Downing Street within days. Continue reading...

Once the preserve of farmers, now the dog trials, sheep shearing and food stalls are starting to appeal to everyoneOne of the highlights of the Great Yorkshire Show for Bridlington farmer Geoff Riby - other than his ram winning the Beltex male champion in the sheep class competition - was watching Lorenzo the Flying Frenchman perform in the main ring at the Harrogate show ground.Riby has exhibited at the fair since 1972 and has seen this annual event evolve from an industry trade fair promoting tractors to the sort of festival that would feature one of France's most skilled equestrians on the bill. Continue reading...

Anticyclone Caronte could send thermometer to 48C/118F as Mediterranean heatwave intensifies Read more: Acropolis closes to protect touristsA fierce anticyclone named after Cerberus, a three-headed monster-dog that features in Dante's Inferno, had not even ended before Italians were warned that a more intense one called Caronte, or Charon, who in Greek mythology was the ferryman of the dead, was on its way.Italy sweltered in temperatures reaching highs of 38C over the weekend, while Caronte will grip the country from Monday, sending the mercury beyond 40C in central and southern regions, with the islands of Sicily and Sardinia possibly hitting a peak of 48C. Continue reading...

First-aid workers drafted in to treat visitors suffering effects of 48C - 118F -temperatures at the country's most visited monumentThe Greeks know a thing or two about heat, and they know a thing or two about dealing with it. But last week saw heat of an altogether different order.Temperatures were of such magnitude that they called for measures never before seen in a country that prides itself on being the first in Europe to have appointed an official dedicated solely to dealing with the challenges of global heating. Continue reading...

Soaring hurricane-cover premiums are bad news for the state's homeowners - and Ron DeSantis is accused of dragging his feetHouseholds in Florida, the third most populous state in the US, have been grappling for some time with a property insurance crisis that is making home ownership unaffordable for many. After at least six insurers went insolvent in Florida last year, Farmers on Tuesday became the latest to pull out of the Florida market, saying in a statement that the decision was based on risk exposure in the hurricane-prone state.Climate change is threatening the very existence of some parts of Florida. And the costs are already being felt by Floridians. At the end of 2022, average annual property insurance premiums had already risen to more than $4,200 in Florida - three times the national average. Continue reading...

Video of capture of Burmese python measured at 19ft - as long as an adult giraffe is tall - was posted on InstagramA snake believed to be the longest invasive Burmese python ever recorded was captured by two Florida hunters after a mighty struggle.Stephen Gauta and Jake Waleri caught the humungous reptile in Big Cypress national preserve near the Everglades in southern Florida earlier this week after it lunged at Waleri, 22, who then wrestled it back to the ground. Continue reading...

Zachariah and Mary Ben were struck by the lack of of fresh and local foods near them, so they began growing their own cropsThere's a paleontological site in the center of Zachariah and Mary Ben's family farm plot. Or, at least there is if you're their two-year-old son, Yabiitoh. Neon-colored pterodactyl and stegosaurus toys lay strewn about between freshly sprouted Hopi red dye amaranth and Navajo white corn. As the Bens plunge corn jabbers - a hand-held farming tool - loaded with Oaxacan green corn seeds into the New Mexico soil, Yabiitoh ditches the dinosaurs and races across the farm lot.Just a few miles north of Shiprock, New Mexico, on land long stewarded by the Navajo (or Dine) people in the fertile valley of the San Juan River, Zach and Mary tend the land where they grow produce for their baby food company, Bidii Baby Foods. Continue reading...

Rome, Florence and Bologna among areas affected as forecasters say Sicily and Sardinia could face record 49C temperaturesSixteen cities across Italy have been issued with red alerts as southern Europe continues to experience fierce heat and faces the possibility of record-breaking temperatures.Rome, Florence and Bologna are among the areas affected by the heatwave, with forecasters suggesting that Sicily and Sardinia could see temperatures climb as high as 49C (120F), which would be the hottest ever recorded in Europe. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Former envoy raises concerns over possible deliberate defunding of climate diplomacy under Sunak government'The UK Foreign Office has said it does not know how many of its officials and diplomats are working on climate change and energy issues, in response to freedom of information requests.The government has frequently described itself as a world leader on climate issues and the Foreign Office recently stated that climate change remains an area of utmost importance and is a central focus of our diplomatic relations on a daily basis". Continue reading...

After years of underinvestment, reservoir has had to be topped up from estuary, raising health concernsMore than half of Uruguay's 3.5 million citizens are without access to tap water fit for drinking, and experts say the situation could continue for months.Some had predicted the crisis years ago when pointing out the vulnerability of the single reservoir supplying water to the metropolitan area around the capital, Montevideo. Continue reading...

LGA says single-use e-cigarettes are a litter blight and cause problems in bin lorries and recycling centresCouncils are joining paediatricians in calling for a ban on disposable vapes owing to the environmental damage they cause and the soaring number of young people taking up the addictive products.The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents councils in England and Wales, said urgent action was needed to save taxpayers' money - as single-use e-cigarettes are costly to recycle without going through special treatment - protect the planet and keep children safe. Continue reading...

Licensing for scallop dredging and trawling must comply with National Marine Plan after judicial review by Open Seas charityThe Scottish government should stop approving licences for fishing vessels using methods believed to cause harm to habitats, a charity working to protect marine life has urged, after a court declared a routine licensing decision to be unlawful.Scotland's highest court ruled that the Scottish government had failed to act in accordance with Scotland's National Marine Plan (NMP) when varying fishing licences last December, after a judicial review by the conservation charity Open Seas. It is legally obliged to act in accordance with its environmental duties, as stated in the NMP, when making these decisions. Continue reading...

The 35-year-old had to be airlifted after he shot and fended off the 250lb animal preying on his sheepA black bear attacked a sheepherder in the Colorado mountains, leaving the 35-year-old man severely injured with bites to his head and other wounds, wildlife officials said. The bear suspected of attacking him was later killed.The attack, the first reported in Colorado this year, happened early on Tuesday in the Weminuche Wilderness in the San Juan national forest in south-western Colorado, the state parks and wildlife department said in a news release. Continue reading...

After revealing that sampling from the Cadia Hill goldmine showed a vent was emitting dust at more than 11 times the limit of air pollution regulations, the NSW Environment Protection Authority announced interim test results from dust samples were within regulatory limits. While management says the Newcrest-owned mine is now operating in compliance with licence conditions, residents and experts remain concerned

Two demonstrators removed almost immediately after sounding air horns and throwing confetti on the stageTwo Just Stop Oil protesters disrupted the opening night of the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall after running on to the stage, setting off confetti cannon and sounding air horns.The pair were taken off stage at the west London venue within moments of unfurling their orange banners on Friday evening, according to footage on social media. Continue reading...

Animal fatally attacked Andrea Papi, 26, who was first person to be killed in Italy by a bear in modern timesAn Italian court has suspended a ruling that a brown bear should be put down for mauling to death a jogger in the Alps.The animal, a 17-year-old female identified as JJ4, was captured after the fatal attack on Andrea Papi, 26, near his village of Caldes on 5 April. He was the first person in Italy to be killed in a bear attack in modern times. Continue reading...

Notoriously hot California national park could surpass modern record of 130F amid unrelenting heatwaveTemperatures in the famously sizzling Death Valley national park are predicted to equal or even break modern records this weekend - but that hasn't stopped the tourists from showing up.The US south-west is currently trapped under an unrelenting heatwave, with extreme temperatures forecast to climb even higher in the coming days. In the national park, the thermometer could climb past 130F (54.4C). Continue reading...

Brazilians write to Sunak to urge the UK government to crack down on unethical corporate practicesVictims of Brazil's worst environmental disaster have written to the British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, accusing the mining company BHP of environmental racism" and urging the UK government to act on unethical practices by British companies.About 720,000 Brazilians are suing BHP, an Anglo-Australian company that until recently had its headquarters in London, over its role in the 2015 Mariana dam disaster. The company denies liability. It is facing claims for compensation amounting to 36bn in the world's largest group claim in English legal history. Continue reading...

Scientists caution against rush to mine the seabed, and say it could be decades before the full impact on marine life is knownAnimal populations appear to decrease where the deep sea is being mined, and the impact on marine life of the controversial industry may involve a wider footprint" than previously expected.According to analysis of seabed ecology undertaken after drilling tests in 2020 in Japan - the country's first successful extraction of cobalt crusts from deep-sea mountains - there was a decrease in marine life such as fish and shrimp at the site a year later. The density had dropped even further in areas outside the impact zone, by more than half. Continue reading...

The Bureau of Meteorology's long-range forecast expects more warm weather for the east coast, with Sydney hitting a top of 23C on Saturday

Owner Origin Energy say nothing has changed' on plan to shut the coal-fired Eraring plant no sooner than August 2025

Residents of Arizona's capital are used to scorching heat, but the summer's unyielding sizzle is making harder to live thereIt's Wednesday morning in Phoenix and even under thick clouds, the thermometer is hovering above 100F (37.7C).Arizona's capital city is nicknamed Valley of the Sun", and residents are used to scorching heat. But by day 12 of a vicious heatwave that's sent temperatures soaring into triple digits, with little relief overnight, limits are being tested - and it's only going to get hotter. Continue reading...

Protester Colette Joan Harmsen says she committed offences due to worsening climate crisis' and is not a menace to society'

Policies such as refunds for repairing old clothes put too much responsibility on consumers, say criticsFrance is saving the planet one shirt, one plastic fork and one washing machine at a time. With refunds to be offered on repairs to clothing and household appliances, limits on single-use plastics in fast food and other restaurants and punitive parking fees for SUV owners, the recent green focus has targeted the consumer.It is the latest phase in the government's environment roadmap, pledged by Emmanuel Macron in his presidential re-election campaign last year and announced by the prime minister, Elisabeth Borne, in May. Continue reading...

Tories, including former net zero tsar, among signatories to letter urging PM not to let down developing countriesRishi Sunak must uphold his 11.6bn climate finance commitment, Conservative parliamentarians, including the former net zero tsar, have said.Writing to the prime minister in a cross-party letter, they say recommitting to the target and clearly demonstrating how it would be met would avoid doing further damage to the UK's climate leadership, and help to build a safe and more prosperous future". Continue reading...

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CPRE London hopes to surround capital in trees by weaving existing areas of green belt in outer boroughsAn environmental charity is bidding to create an M25 for nature" that would encircle London in woodland, hedgerows and street trees to boost biodiversity, carbon capture and wellbeing.The countryside charity CPRE London hopes to weave together existing areas of green belt in the city's 18 outer boroughs to create an uninterrupted ring of trees around the capital. Continue reading...

The best of this week's wildlife photographs, including released beavers, fantastic flamingos and a hungry puffin Continue reading...

Latest storm warning comes just days after areas of Vermont and New York were hit with flash flooding, raising concerns over more damageMeterologist Ben Frechette from NBC5 reported that a tornado risk is going up slightly in north-eastern NewYork state:As some parts of the US are sweltering, Vermont was bracing for more rain on Thursday. Continue reading...

As annual three-week survey kicks off, there are signs weather has taken toll on populations of common speciesLast summer's drought may have reduced butterfly populations this year because grasses and flowers that would usually feed caterpillars withered and died in the heatwave, scientists say.People are being urged to help researchers understand the impact of extreme weather on British butterflies by counting the number and species they see this summer as part of the world's largest insect survey. Continue reading...

Fish, beavers and skunks all suffered from the deluge this week. But good news: populations are healthy and they will reboundThe toll to wildlife from climate crisis-related weather events is an area that often gets overlooked in their immediate aftermath. But after the flooding in Vermont this week, previous weather calamities - including Tropical Storm Irene, in 2011 - can offer some clues.Fish in Vermont's rivers, primarily species of trout - brook, rainbow and brown - have been found to move upriver during increased water flow to less turbulent areas, including tributaries or flooded fields, or find refuge behind fallen trees or rocks. Continue reading...

After multiple worker fatalities, the US government warned manual gauging was dangerous. The oil industry seems to have not taken note, activists say

Climactic event will almost certainly strengthen throughout the year, US climate scientists predictMild El Nino climatic conditions brewing in the Pacific Ocean will strengthen throughout the year, with an outside chance of a record-breaking event that will further turbocharge already sweltering temperatures around the globe, scientists have forecast.Last month saw a weak" El Nino form, a periodic climatic event where the circulation of the equatorial Pacific Ocean shifts and its temperature rises, causing knock-on heat around the world, according to an update from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa). Continue reading...

Britain and Switzerland among countries that need to adapt most for heating, says research looking at impact of 2C global riseThe UK and Switzerland will see a 30% increase in the number of days of uncomfortably hot temperatures if the world heats by 2C, and are two of the countries which need to adapt the most for global heating, scientists have predicted.The research, published in Nature Sustainability on Thursday, found that while central Africa will see the most extreme temperatures overall, it is mostly northern European countries that will experience the greatest relative increases in uncomfortably hot days. Continue reading...

Nearly 90 million Americans are facing heat alerts this week, yet GOP members are wrangling over spending to reduce emissionsSwaths of the US are baking under record-breaking heat, yet some lawmakers are still attempting to block any spending to fight the climate crisis, advocates say.Nearly 90 million Americans are facing heat alerts this week, including in Las Vegas, Nevada, which may break its all-time hottest temperature record; Phoenix, Arizona, which will probably break its streak of consecutive days of temperatures over 110F; and parts of Florida, where a marine heatwave has pushed up water temperatures off the coast to levels normally found in hot tubs. Continue reading...

In 2010, Barcelona's nine city beaches were topped upwith 700,000 cubic metres of sand. Since then, 70% of that sand has disappeared. In the past 20 years the rate of erosion along Spain's east coast has been accelerating. It is partly to do with storms and rising sea levels but there are also other factors at play. The local authorities are in a bind, trying to balance economic needs and the environment, with no viable solutions to choose from. It is a tricky situation that could spell the end of Barcelona's beaches Continue reading...

Agriculture ministers agree to phase out cages as animal rights advocates criticise state's lack of deadline