Climate models are indicating Australia may be hit by a 'super El Niño' before the end of the year. After three years of La Niña and above-average rainfall, Australia is now looking at a hot, dry El Niño period. The last extreme El Niño in 2016 helped push global temperatures to the highest on record, underpinned by human-caused global heating that sparked floods, droughts and disease outbreaks. But what exactly is an El Niño and how do they work? Matilda Boseley explains

Region is suffering its worst drought in 40 years after five consecutive years of below-average rainfallThe devastating drought in the Horn of Africa would not have happened without the human-made impact of the climate crisis, new science has shown.The drought has affected about 50 million people in the Horn of Africa directly and another 100 million in the wider area. About 20 million people are at risk of acute food insecurity and potentially famine. Continue reading...

Company says it will continue to engage with shareholders on climate strategy but advocacy group says board has not met expectations

Climate commission draft guidance says country must take more action to directly cut pollution instead of relying on treesNew Zealand’s heavy reliance on planting trees to offset carbon pollution threatens to torpedo the country’s ambitious plans to reach net zero emissions by 2050, according to warnings from the body advising the government on its climate policy direction.The independent Climate Commission published draft guidance on Wednesday that – when finalised later this year – must be considered by New Zealand’s leaders as they draw up their next suite of plans to meet the country’s greenhouse gas reduction targets. Continue reading...

The former Fox News host liked to dredge up a laundry list of alleged errors by scientists in an effort to erode public trust

Three-year-old named Frosty, which has rare genetic condition, captured by whale-watching group sailing from Newport BeachA rare white orca calf has been spotted off the coast of southern California.In a video captured on Monday by a whale-watching tour company, Newport Coastal Adventures, the white calf was seen swimming with six other orcas near Newport Harbour. Continue reading...

Arrays installed by more than 50,700 households in first quarter of 2023 as people seek to reduce energy billsThe number of households installing rooftop solar panels reached its highest level in more than seven years in the first months of 2023 as energy-bill payers turned to renewable energy to guard against spiralling costs.Industry figures show that more than 50,700 households installed arrays between January and March, more than double the number in the same months last year and the highest figure since late 2015. Continue reading...

New results from the Darling-Baaka show system is ‘supercharged with nutrients’, expert says

Group pauses investment in carbon capture project as it waits for details on possible government subsidyThe owner of the Drax power plant will give its shareholders a £150m windfall after reporting its highest-ever annual profits, thanks in part to record electricity prices.The FTSE 250 company also said it was pausing investment in its controversial carbon capture project while it waited for more details from the government on a possible subsidy. Continue reading...

Cryptocurrency mining uses huge amounts of energy, but activists are urging for a change in its code to reduce its environmental impactOn the corner of New York’s Park Avenue and 52nd Street, curious onlookers recently stopped in front of a giant green skull sitting in the bed of a truck parked outside the office of Fidelity Investments, the global financial management company.The “Skull of Satoshi”, named after the pseudonymous bitcoin developer Satoshi Nakamoto, is composed almost entirely of computer circuit boards and fitted with tall smokestacks usually found atop coal power plants. Continue reading...

While minor spring floods aren’t unusual, this season could be inundated from the melting of the historic snowpackMost of Yosemite Valley – the tourist center of the famed national park – will close this weekend as rising temperatures threaten the region with a surge in snowmelt that’s expected to push the Merced River beyond its banks. Forecasters have warned that runoff from California’s historic snowpack, set high along the peaks of the Sierra Nevada range, could cause widespread flooding.“Downslope there will be problems,” said the National Weather Service meteorologist David Spector, adding that the area around the Pohono Bridge just east of the park’s central entrance would reach flood stage by Friday. “Only parts of the valley are expected to be impacted for now,” he said. “But it may become worse by Sunday or Monday.” Continue reading...

Europe accused of ‘neocolonialism’ for using vassal small island states to sway policy and continue ‘disgraceful plundering’ of distant watersMore than half of the EU’s delegation to a crucial body of tuna stock regulators is made up of fishing industry lobbyists, the Guardian’s Seascape project can reveal, as Europe is accused of “neocolonial” overfishing in the Indian Ocean.The numbers could shed some light on why the EU recently objected to an agreement by African and Asian coastal nations to restrict harmful fish aggregating devices (FADs) that disproportionately harvest juvenile tuna. Stocks of yellowfin tuna are overfished in the Indian Ocean. Continue reading...

Producers may be allowed to breach limit if they give enforceable promise to deliver minimum level of domestic supply

This live blog is now closed. You can read our full report here:

Offices of Citibank in New York and Wells Fargo in San Francisco targeted by activists urging shareholders to actAs they exited their office in Tribeca on Monday afternoon, Citibank employees were confronted with a boisterous crowd chanting and dancing along to the music of a mariachi band.It was a funny sight: New York banking professionals in black and gray business attire coming face to face with a loud, colorful group on a mission to engage in a conversation about the climate crisis. Continue reading...

MP Chris Skidmore says approval would undermine UK’s efforts to tackle climate crisis and its claims to leadership on world stage

National Trust rangers brace for second year of mass deaths on islands off Northumberland coastA group of islands that make up one of the UK’s most important bird sanctuaries are to remain closed after new cases of avian flu were detected.The disease devastated the seabird population of the Farne Islands, off the coast of Northumberland, last year and National Trust rangers expect thousands more deaths this year. Continue reading...

Exclusive: US climate envoy says existing measures, such as shift to renewable energy, must be deployed faster to stop global warming

Agreement between grouse moor managers and conservationists had also aimed to restore populationsIllegal killings of birds of prey have led the Peak District national park to end an agreement between grouse moor managers and bird conservationists aimed at protecting raptors.The partnership was set up in 2011 and sought to restore bird of prey populations in the park. The rare birds have historically been killed by gamekeepers and others because they predate on grouse populations, which are maintained for shooting. Continue reading...

Four of 12 show gardens will contain weeds such as brambles and thistles to highlight benefits to wildlifeA third of show gardens at the Chelsea flower show will feature weeds, as horticulturalists move to rebrand them as “resilient plants”.Four of the 12 show gardens this year will feature plants traditionally regarded as weeds, including brambles, thistles and knapweed, the Times reports. Continue reading...

Cities bringing climate litigation against oil majors welcome US supreme court’s decision to rebuff appeal to move cases to federal courtsThe decision, climate experts and advocates said, felt “like a dam breaking” after years of legal delays to the growing wave of climate lawsuits facing major oil companies.Without weighing in on the merits of the cases, the supreme court on Monday rebuffed an appeal by major oil companies that want to face the litigation in federal courts, rather than in state courts, which are seen as more favorable to plaintiffs. Continue reading...

Ny-Ålesund in Svalbard, Norway, sits deep within the Arctic Circle, about 700 miles from the north pole. It has about 35 year-round residents, but in summer the population swells to more than 100 as scientists fly in from around the world. Life in the town centres around saunas, sled dogs, and a weekly evening gathering called Strikk og Drikk, or Knit and Sip Continue reading...

More than 300 barriers were taken down last year, boosting the health of waterways and the wildlife they support, say expertsA record number of river barriers, including dams and weirs, were removed across Europe in 2022, with at least 325 taken down in 16 countries, allowing rivers to flow freely and migratory fish to reach breeding areas.In its annual report, Dam Removal Europe said Spain led the way for the second year with 133 removals, followed by Sweden and France. The UK completed 29 removals, including Bowston Weir, which was built on the River Kent nearly 150 years ago for a paper mill. Its removal will help restore the health of the river, which is home to white-clawed crayfish, freshwater pearl mussels, and water crowfoot (an oxygenating aquatic plant). Continue reading...

The southern lights surge over Christchurch's Port Hills, a place that would not usually get to enjoy them. Unusually high levels of solar storm activity meant the Aurora Australis could be viewed much farther north than the lights are typically seen, and in cities where light pollution would normally render them invisible

Court to decide if judicial review of Liz Truss move to allow new oil and gas drilling should be permittedGreenpeace has attacked the government’s “disastrous” decision to award new licences for oil and gas drilling in the North Sea as it prepares to challenge the move in the high court.A court hearing on Tuesday will determine whether the environmental group will be permitted a judicial review of the decision, made during Liz Truss’s short-lived time as prime minister. Continue reading...

Four days of peaceful activism led by Extinction Rebellion fail to elicit pledge from government to ban new oil and gas projectsAfter four days of peaceful demonstrations, climate activists gathered in Parliament Square as a deadline for the government to act to end all new fossil fuel projects was reached.The actions involved a wide range of groups, including Extinction Rebellion, Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace, as well as the Christian climate coalition, with thousands gathering for Earth Day in London on Saturday. Continue reading...

Justices turn away appeals of lower court decisions that determined lawsuits belong in state, not federal, courtThe US supreme court on Monday declined to hear bids by major oil companies to move a growing wave of climate lawsuits from state courts to federal courts.The appeals to move the venue of the lawsuits were made by Exxon Mobil Corp, Suncor Energy Inc and Chevron Corp.Reuters contributed to this report Continue reading...

A series of initiatives involving scientists, NGOs and fishing communities across south-east Asia is attempting to breathe new life into vital marine ecosystems damaged by heating waters, acidification and years of overfishing

Tory MPs call for ministers, not watchdog, to make decisions on sites of special scientific interestSenior Conservative MPs have suggested the nature watchdog Natural England should be stripped of powers in an overhaul of how it manages England’s best wildlife sites, after complaints from landowners.Wildlife experts have said it is “outrageous” that sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs), which are some of the most important areas for nature in the country, could be “determined by politics rather than science”. Continue reading...

Instead of yanking products, EPA made Monsanto and others amend labels before reapproving dicamba, lawsuit claimsThe US Environmental Protection Agency has in effect ignored a 2020 federal court order prohibiting the use of Monsanto and other producers’ toxic dicamba-based herbicides that are destroying millions of acres of cropland, harming endangered species and increasing cancer risks for farmers, new fillings in the lawsuit charge.Instead of permanently yanking the products from the market after the 2020 order, the EPA only required industry to add further application instructions to the herbicides’ labels before reapproving the products. Continue reading...

Diane Wilson took on Formosa Plastics and won a $50m settlement to help clean up decades worth of toxic plastic wasteGrassroots activists who took on British mining giants and a serial plastics polluter – and won – are among this year’s recipients of the world’s most prestigious environmental prize.The environmental campaigns led by the six 2023 Goldman prize winners highlight the hurdles faced by some local activists, who are often on the frontlines confronting the toxic mix of corporate greed and systemic corruption that is fuelling the climate emergency, biodiversity collapse and increasingly forced displacement. Continue reading...

Anote Tong says that Australia needs to take responsibility for emissions caused by the export of its fossil fuels

With water reserves running low, Spanish farmers are also struggling to protect crops from thousands of rabbits starved of fresh grassWith much of Spain facing severe drought after an exceptionally dry winter that followed the hottest summer on record, Alex Foix is planting vines in dusty ground near the village of Verdú in the province of Lleida. He hopes to have enough water for the vines to survive their first year, but that is not his only worry: it is the rabbits he fears most.Unusually, the area worst affected by drought isn’t in the south of the country but in the north-east region of Catalonia, where – in addition to a severe water shortage – farmers are facing a plague of rabbits. With a lack of grass and water, the animals are destroying crops, especially young wheat and barley, and eating the bark on vines and fruit trees. Continue reading...

Some of UK’s biggest pension funds preparing to demand tougher plans to reduce emissions by 2030BP faces a green rebellion at its annual shareholder meeting on Thursday as some of Britain’s biggest pension funds prepare to demand the company toughens its plans to reduce its emissions by 2030.The National Employment Savings Trust (Nest), which represents about 11m individual workplace pensions, plans to back a resolution put forward by climate campaigners at Follow This, which calls for BP to align its emissions reduction plans with the Paris agreement. Continue reading...

A research team has discovered a parasite that’s been killing off sea urchins, but there’s no method to eliminate it yetMarine biologists at a Florida university say they have solved the mystery of a mass die-off of long-spined sea urchins from the US to the Caribbean.The scientists blame a microscopic, single-cell parasite for the die-off, which took hold early last year. Affected Diadema antillarum urchins lose their spines and suction, then succumb to disease. Continue reading...

Local governments approved more coal power in first three months of 2023 than all of 2021Local governments in China approved more new coal power in the first three months of 2023 than in the whole of 2021, according to official documents.The approvals, analysed by Greenpeace, reveal that between January and March this year, at least 20.45 gigawatts of coal power was approved, up from 8.63GW in the same period in 2022. In the whole of 2021, 18GW of coal was approved. Continue reading...

Dirty air causes premature death of at least 1,200 children across Europe every year, says European Environment AgencyEurope is failing its children when it comes to air pollution, exposing nearly all children across the continent to air that falls below healthy standards and delaying the clean-up of the sources of pollution, research has found.Breathing dirty air causes the premature death of at least 1,200 children across Europe each year, and many thousands more are afflicted with physical and mental health problems that could have lifelong impacts, according to the latest assessment of air pollution by the European Environment Agency. Continue reading...

Experts ask the public to be on the lookout for the invasive species and kill them and their brood to protect US plant lifeExperts are urging the US public to start keeping an eye out for the spotted lanternfly, an invasive species harmless, if irritating, to humans, but known to wreak havoc on plant life and agriculture.Experts believe that spotted lanternflies entered the US in a shipping crate. Native to China, they were first detected in Pennsylvania in 2014 and have since spread to at least 14 states. Continue reading...

Poll reveals 65% of drivers expect to be buying a hybrid or electric vehicle if they upgrade in the next 10 years

The former Brecon Beacons has acknowledged it is facing an onslaught of environmental threats – with the UK’s national parks from Dartmoor to the Cairngorms facing similar pressures“We are all longing for a taste of the wild, of true wilderness. But it’s like Joni Mitchell says: ‘They’ve paved paradise and put up a parking lot’,” says Cathy, who is enjoying a day out hiking in the Brecon Beacons, or Bannau Brycheiniog as it is now to be known.The national park announced it was changing its name back to the old Welsh one earlier this week and, in doing so, acknowledged a painful open secret: nature in the UK’s national parks is in trouble. Continue reading...

UN summit in New York hears how resources needed for sustainable energy threaten Indigenous land and peopleWorld Indigenous leaders meeting this week at an annual UN summit have warned that the west’s climate strategy risks the exploitation of Indigenous territories, resources and people.New and emerging threats about the transition to a greener economy, including mineral mining, were at the forefront of debate as hundreds of Indigenous chiefs, presidents, chairmen and delegates gathered at the 22nd United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Continue reading...

Wildlife presenter urges people to join action on climate crisis during mass protest supported by more than 200 organisationsThe wildlife presenter Chris Packham has made a rallying call for “every last person who cares” about the planet to join Extinction Rebellion after thousands took part in a demonstration on Saturday.The 61-year-old broadcaster spoke to the crowd from a stage close to Parliament Square, Westminster, during the second day of a mass protest the climate group has called The Big One. Continue reading...

Hundreds of dead birds found in past three weeks as conservationists call for international funding to help stop the disease spreading on migration routesAn outbreak of avian influenza in seabirds in the Gambia could affect vast numbers of birds migrating along the East Atlantic Flyway, unless international funding is secured, warn conservationists.Teams from the West African Bird Study Association (Wabsa), the Gambia’s Department of Parks and Wildlife Management, and UK-based NGO Conservation Without Borders have buried hundreds of dead birds over the past three weeks, including some ringed birds from Europe. Continue reading...

A new generation explores alternative models and hopes for new legislation to counter record-high land pricesOlivia Cleveland misses her farm – the chickens, the donkeys, the smell of the dirt and the way the wind would blow at three o’clock in the afternoon. For almost three years, Cleveland, 30, lived on a farm in north-east Alabama, owned by her then husband. She spent her days doing hard physical labor, cultivating land she deeply cared for, but she owned none of it on paper. So when Cleveland and her husband divorced in 2021, she lost everything.Since then, Cleveland has spent the last two years rebuilding and working towards buying her own farm in her home state of Tennessee. Continue reading...

Denis Hayes, who coordinated the first event in 1970, denounces fossil fuel companies that use the event to get positive publicityCorporate greenwashing should not undermine the message behind Earth Day and has nothing to do with its original aims, one of the founders of the annual environmental event has warned.Denis Hayes, the American environmental activist who coordinated the first Earth Day in 1970, denounced the “appalling” environmental messaging by oil, gas and other extractive companies and said he hoped it did not distract attention from the threats posed by the climate crisis and biodiversity loss, which he compared to the threat of nuclear conflict during the cold war. Continue reading...

Biodiversity crisis leads horticulturalists to highlight gardeners’ role in conserving wild flora and faunaIn not so distant times, a list of garden wildlife for many horticulturalists could have been a list of deadly enemies, containing aphids, slugs, snails and other creatures previously thought of as irritants.But as awareness of the biodiversity crisis grows, horticulturalists have become more aware of the importance of wild flora and fauna, and the important role gardeners can play in conserving it.LichensNative ladybirdsPollinatorsSolitary bees (Aculeate hymenoptera)Sulphur tuft fungi (Hypholoma fasciculare)Slime mouldsRose chafer beetle (Cetonia aurata)Ink cap mushroomsHoverfliesSocial wasps

Morgan Trowland and Marcus Decker scaled bridge over River Thames, forcing police to stop trafficTwo Just Stop Oil protesters who scaled a bridge on the Dartford Crossing, forcing police to close it to traffic, have been sentenced to more than two and a half years each for causing a public nuisance.Morgan Trowland, 40, and Marcus Decker, 34, used ropes and other climbing equipment to scale the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links the M25 between Essex and Kent across the River Thames, in October last year. The police closed the bridge to traffic, causing gridlock. Continue reading...

Environmentalists decry move but natural resources minister says doubling of Vancouver terminal’s size is needed to meet demandCanada’s federal government has approved a controversial container terminal expansion in Vancouver that would double the port’s current size but could have damaging effects for maritime species already on the brink of extinction, environmental groups warn.The country’s natural resources minister announced support for the Port of Vancouver’s plan – which would effectively double the size of the Roberts Bank Terminal – framing the decision as a way of preventing future backlog. Continue reading...

Mass protest on climate crisis by 200 groups led by XR, which has halted disruptive tacticsThousands of climate protesters picketed government departments and filled the streets of Westminster on the first day of the Big One, a mass demonstration by 200 different groups headed by Extinction Rebellion (XR).The goal was to build a wide coalition, including bigger groups such as Avaaz, Friends of the Earth and Keep Britain Tidy, plus local and community groups, in order to bring people to a climate crisis protest who may have been less comfortable with the acts of direct action and civil disobedience that attracted public anger. Continue reading...