Two new AgustaWestland AW139s will be in use this year as total annual travel bill rises from 3.9m to 4.2mThe royal family spent more than 1m on journeys by helicopter last year, and will take delivery of two new ones to replace those they have used for the past 15 years.In total, royals made 170 helicopter journeys, costing a total of 1,096,300, official accounts reveal, with the total travel bill last year rising to 4.2m from 3.9m. Continue reading...

Latest research shows how illegal drug consumption by humans is harming marine lifeWild sharks off the coast of Brazil have tested positive for cocaine, according to new study by Brazilian scientists, in the latest research to demonstrate how illegal drug consumption by humans is harming marine life.According to a study entitled Cocaine Shark and published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, scientists dissected the bodies of 13 sharpnose sharks (Rhizoprionodon lalandii) caught in fishermen's nets off a beach in Rio de Janeiro. Continue reading...

Allies of the 73-year-old anti-whaling activist Paul Watson have said that prison time would amount to a life sentence'The arrest of the anti-whaling activist Paul Watson in Greenland - where he could face extradition to Japan - has been condemned as politically motivated" by supporters, who compared the case to the detention of the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange.The parallels are disturbing," said Omar Todd, chief executive and co-founder of the Captain Paul Watson Foundation (CPWF). Continue reading...

Preliminary data from Copernicus suggests temperature records were shattered, taking world into uncharted territory'World temperature records were shattered on Sunday on what may be the hottest day scientists have ever logged, data suggests.Inflamed by the carbon pollution spewed from burning fossils and farming livestock, the average surface air temperature hit 17.09C (62.76F) on Sunday, according to preliminary data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service, which holds data that stretches back to 1940. The reading inched above the previous record of 17.08C (62.74F) set on 6 July last year, but the scientists cautioned that the difference was not statistically distinguishable. Continue reading...

Talk of building reactors in Australia is breeding uncertainty and delaying decisions to back major solar and wind projects

Death is one of several believed to be caused by high temperatures in the western US in recent weeksA 56-year-old woman died while hiking near a state park in south-western Utah over the weekend after running out of water on a sweltering day, officials said.The woman's death is one of several believed to be caused by the extreme heat in the western United States over the past several weeks. Continue reading...

Civil Aviation Authority proposes measure to help consumers make more informed travel choices'Airlines may have to tell passengers the environmental impact of the flights they book under new proposals from the UK regulator.The Civil Aviation Authority said consumers should be able to make more informed travel choices when booking flights and package holidays. Continue reading...

Better food labels are a necessary but insufficient step to improve diets and healthDing.The microwave beeped. I grabbed the bowl of bright orange macaroni and cheese and slid it in front of my daughter, alongside an apple and milk, before dashing back to my laptop. My seven-year-old was home sick, and I was frantically attempting the hazardous maneuver all too familiar to post-pandemic parents: working while parenting. As I logged into Zoom, I wondered what my nutrition colleagues would think if they knew that down the hall, my kiddo was eating the verboten: ultra-processed food. Continue reading...

In western Kenya, wild giraffes are being relocated to the Ruko Conservancy to maintain peace between the Pokot and Ilchamus communities. Since the first giraffe's arrival to the reserve in 2011, poaching has ceased, and community relations have improved, creating jobs and regional stability. Before a giraffe's arrival, an intercommunal welcoming ceremony with dancing and singing is held for them, an inconceivable scene in the mid-2000s Continue reading...

Vice-president's record on climate crisis strikes stark contrast with Trump in potential 2024 election match-upKamala Harris has a strong record on the environment that will provide a vivid contrast with Donald Trump, who has vowed to rescind climate change policies should he return to the White House, according to green advocates who have welcomed the prospect of a Harris presidency.We are confident that she is ready to carry forward President Biden's historic legacy and set a new high bar for climate ambition in America," said Lena Moffitt, executive director of Evergreen, one of a raft of green groups, including Sierra Club, League of Conservation Voters Action Fund and the NRDC Action Fund that have now endorsed the leading contender for the Democratic nomination. Continue reading...

With little grass for grazing on the island of Lamu, donkeys are rummaging through rubbish - and scientists now fear it is a global problem affecting many speciesThe smell of sea water and fresh dung fill the oceanfront air on the Kenyan island of Lamu, as donkeys plod along the town's dock, ferrying residents and cargo. Lamu Old Town is a Unesco world heritage site, known for preserving its Swahili culture. With no cars but nearly 3,000 donkeys on the island, residents rely heavily on the animals for a living and as transport in the narrow, winding streets of the 700-year-old town, one of east Africa's oldest.Now, however, increasing numbers of donkeys are dying from eating plastic on the island, and scientists fear many other land animals are also being affected by human plastic pollution. Continue reading...

Report says new nuclear capacity will not be ready in time to provide required increase in baseload electricityLabour is likely to have to approve new gas-fired power stations in its attempt to decarbonise the UK's electricity systems by 2030, in what would be a tricky decision for the new government.Keeping the lights on for the rest of the decade, and beyond, will require some additional baseload power, and new nuclear power stations will not be built in time, according to a report from the National Engineering Policy Centre. Continue reading...

Late spring and early summer blazes in Canada, Alaska and eastern Russia add to carbon emissionsThe northern hemisphere has had a large number of intense wildfires in the first half of summer, carrying vast amounts of smoke across Eurasia and North America.Research by the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (Cams) showed large-scale and intense wildfires had been developing throughout the late spring and summer, with numerous fires burning in Canada, Alaska and eastern Russia. Continue reading...

Stormont's rescue proposal for UK's largest lake criticised by campaigners for dilution of sewage reduction targetsThere will have to be a move away from intensive farming around Lough Neagh if it is to survive, campaigners have said, as the noxious algal blooms that last year devastated the vast body of water returned to its shores earlier than ever.Lough Neagh is the UK's largest lake and supplies more than 40% of Northern Ireland's drinking water. But vast amounts of phosphorus, nitrogen and other substances draining into the lough have left it at crisis point for some years now. Continue reading...

If approved, the region would become Scotland's third national park and first to be made official in UK since South Downs in 2010Galloway has been selected by the Scottish government as the preferred site for Scotland's third national park.The region, which came out top from a shortlist of five, will now be the subject of a consultation and an investigation into its suitability before potentially being made official by 2026. The unsuccessful candidate areas were Lochaber, Loch Awe, Scottish Borders and Tay Forest. Continue reading...

Targets to halt environmental damage severely lacking', Australian Conservation Foundation says, urging food industry to step up to the plate'

Hitting target for zero-carbon electricity system will require step-change', says analyst Cornwall Insight

Found in products such as eggs and rice, forever chemicals' have been linked to cancer, kidney disease and moreIn recent years, research has found or pointed to the presence of toxic PFAS forever chemicals" in a range of staples, products and beverages across the food system.Among them are kale, eggs, butter, protein powder, milk, ketchup, coffee, canola oil, smoothies, tea, beef, juice drinks and rice. Evidence suggests they're most widely contaminating carryout food, seafood and even pet food. Continue reading...

Padi's first South African blind scuba diver describes how her other senses enhance her experience underwaterI went on my first dive in Mozambique and as I was descending, I could hear this weird chirruping noise. As we got closer to the reef, it got louder and louder. It was so weird and different from any other sound I've heard. Other scuba divers call it the crackling" of the coral reef. That's what I was hearing: the actual coral. I could hear the whole reef, being alive - and it sounded absolutely amazing, like its own kind of orchestra. A sea orchestra.I am Padi's first South African blind scuba diver. I have a condition called optic atrophy, caused by a brain tumour that pressed on my optic nerves when I was 11. After it was removed, my central vision turned completely black, but with pinpricks of light that almost look like stars. Continue reading...

Hunting migratory birds is illegal in the country, but a series of crises means enforcement is derisory and many birds are being shot just for fun'Shell casings litter a meadow on Mount Terbol in northern Lebanon. The valley below falls along one of the world's busiest routes for migratory birds. The mountain peak, buffeted by harsh winds, creates a natural corridor that encourages birds fatigued from long journeys between Africa and Eurasia to fly at low altitudes.Those low-flying birds are easy targets for poachers who live in the mountain communities, says Michel Sawan, director of the Lebanese Association of Migratory Birds (Lamb). They say: We inherited this culture from our grandfathers,' and I keep saying: Your grandfathers are and were wrong.'" Continue reading...

Five stores will offer to alter, clean or mend clothes in service marketed as a way to help prevent wasteJohn Lewis customers will be able to give their favourite leather jacket a new lease of life or have a cushion cover fixed, as part of a repairs partnership with Timpson Group, the business famed for offering ex-offenders a second chance.The service, which will be trialled at five stores from Monday, is designed to encourage shoppers to pay to have items altered, repaired, cleaned or restored, rather than throwing them away and buying replacements. Continue reading...

Opposition in wealthier areas is likely and overcoming it is essential, says Resolution FoundationThe government will need to take on net-zero nimbys" and ramp up public investment to decarbonise Britain's homes, transport and electricity system, a leading thinktank has said.With Keir Starmer promising a rapid transition to decarbonise the power system by 2030, a report by the Resolution Foundation said achieving the target would require more government spending and private investment. Continue reading...

AI-based system designed to help people assess immediate risk of getting ill from water polluted with bacteriaReal-time water quality monitors are being installed at wild swimming spots and beaches across southern England to help people assess their immediate risk of getting ill from polluted water.Wessex Water is installing sensors at three freshwater sites in Dorset, Somerset and Hampshire, plus two coastal sites in Bournemouth, after a successful pilot study at Warleigh Weir near Bath. Here, the artificial intelligence-based system correctly predicted when bacteria in the water were high 87% of the time. Continue reading...

Sparrows were taken into captivity after numbers dwindled - and this week experts released 1,000th bird back into wildScientists in Florida are hailing the landmark release this week of a tiny bird only 5in tall as an oversized success in their fight to save a critically endangered species.Numbers of the Florida grasshopper sparrow, seen only in prairies in central regions of the state, dwindled so severely by 2015, mostly through habitat loss, that authorities took the decision to remove remaining breeding pairs into captivity. Their wager was that a controlled repopulation program would be more successful than leaving the birds to their own devices. Continue reading...

Decline blamed on washout summer driving down population of insects, butterflies and moths they feed onConservation groups across England are seeing more malnourished bats, as wildlife experts warn the washout summer is driving down the insects, butterflies and moths they feed on.Groups across Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Worcestershire, Essex and South Lancashire said they are seeing an increase in the number of starving" or underweight" bats, often juveniles, who need to be rescued and cared for by volunteers. In some places, they are seeing fewer bats than they usually do in the summer. Continue reading...

Violence erupts after about 4,000 gather in La Rochelle amid heightened tensions over water resourcesA police officer and five protesters were injured when violence erupted after about 4,000 people turned out for a demonstration in La Rochelle over the use of reservoirs to supply large-scale agriculture, local officials said.Police fired teargas and brought in water cannon trucks and reinforcements to disperse the demonstrators after the unrest broke out on Saturday afternoon, with several shop fronts smashed and at least seven people arrested. Continue reading...

The energy secretary's plans to install thousands of pylons in unspoiled rural areas is facing a huge backlashThe energy secretary, Ed Miliband, has been warned he faces battlegrounds across the country over plans to install thousands of pylons in unspoilt rural areas to deliver a clean power" revolution.Council leaders and communities oppose proposals for a vast new network of pylons across large parts of several counties, including Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. Continue reading...

Pedro Romero is one of hundreds of thousands of informal waste workers the world over, from Paris to BangalorePedro Romero's story is a familiar one in New York: he wasn't born or raised here, but he moved to the city to take advantage of the bustling metropolis's many opportunities. And in a city full of people willing to hustle to make it work, he's found an opportunity others might overlook: in the trash.Romero is a Mexico-born, Brooklyn-based waste picker who collects, sorts and redeems empty bottles and cans. Having formerly worked at grocery stores, as a food delivery driver and in restaurants, he got into waste picking through his wife, Josefa Marin, 14 years ago, and has been at it ever since. He works seven days a week, digging through the things his fellow New Yorkers throw out and salvaging what he can. Continue reading...

The robotic services allow farmers to rely less on chemicals. This solves a lot of problems,' workers sayOn a sweltering summer day in central Kansas, farm fields shimmer in the heat as Clint Brauer watches a team of bright yellow robots churn up and down the rows, tirelessly slicing away any weeds that stand in their way while avoiding the growing crops.The battery-powered machines, 4ft (1.2 metres) long and 2ft (0.6 metres) wide, pick their way through the fields with precision, without any human hand to guide them. Continue reading...

Twisters is the latest in a long line of movies that fail to address the environmental emergency - experts say it's a missed opportunityA rodeo crowd waves cowboy hats as a man rides a bucking horse. Then comes a shower of leaves, a chorus of mobile phone rings and a wail of klaxons. Horses run wild and cars collide. One vehicle is whipped into the air by what a weatherman calls a once-in-a-generation tornado outbreak.This is a scene from Twisters, starring Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones, in which rivals come together to try to predict and possibly tame ferocious storms in central Oklahoma. A sequel to the hit disaster movie Twister from 1996, it is a Hollywood summer blockbuster designed to entertain - but also a lost opportunity to raise awareness of the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Countries and companies involved in oil and gas extraction to be asked to join scheme aimed at tackling global heatingFossil-fuel producing countries and companies are being asked to pay into a new international fund to help poor countries cope with the effects of the climate crisis.The climate investment fund is being set up by the Azerbaijan government, host country of the Cop29 UN climate summit in November. Continue reading...

Michel Forst, UN special rapporteur, joins growing chorus of voices criticising jail terms handed to five defendantsThe lengthy multi-year sentences handed to Just Stop Oil activists are not acceptable in a democracy", a UN special rapporteur has said, as the government faced growing pressure to reverse the previous administration's hardline anti-protest" approach.Michel Forst, the UN special rapporteur for environmental defenders, joined a growing chorus of voices condemning the sentences handed down to the five defendants for planning non-violent protests on the M25. Continue reading...

Tourist hotspots including Ullapool and Fort William badly hit as biting insects enjoy damp, humid conditionsScotland's wet summer is providing perfect conditions for surges of midges, with experts saying worse is yet to come.This week the Scottish Midge Forecast predicted high numbers of the biting insects, reaching peaks of four and five on a scale of one to five. Continue reading...

Thousands have joined American Climate Corps, a new federal program that links young people with jobs in green energy and conservationDid you ever imagine spending a year restoring paths along the Appalachian Trail? Developing community gardens on a Caribbean island? Or helping neighbors electrify their homes?This summer, thousands of people in the US joined the American Climate Corps (ACC), a new federal program that connects young people with jobs in conservation, climate adaptation and green energy. Continue reading...

Chris Packham calls for meeting with attorney general as prominent figures condemn long jail terms for M25 activistsChris Packham has called for a meeting with the attorney general for England and Wales as he joined a chorus of prominent voices condemning long jail terms for Just Stop Oil protesters.Speaking after five activists were sentenced to up to five years for planning protests on the M25, the broadcaster and naturalist said: Be clear, be very, very clear, this is not just about climate activism. Continue reading...

Nominating Biden is a recipe for electing Trump,' says founder of Climate Defiance, while other groups stay quietSome climate campaigners are heaping further pressure on Joe Biden to drop out of the US presidential election, with activists staging a protest outside the Democratic National Committee's headquarters on Friday to demand the US president stand aside.Several dozen protesters are planning to blockade the DNC in Washington on Friday morning to call for a freeze on Biden's nomination, in favor of another candidate who could prevent Donald Trump becoming president and tearing up Biden's climate policies. Continue reading...

As heatwaves hit the US, farm workers struggle to wear PPE. The country now faces its biggest human outbreakExtreme heat may be a crucial factor behind the biggest bird flu outbreak in humans in the US as officials continue to track the virus' spread.A heatwave in Colorado likely caused personal protective equipment not to work correctly for workers culling poultry infected with H5N1, a highly pathogenic bird flu. Four people have tested positive for H5N1 and a fifth is also expected to have their case confirmed as bird flu, officials said this week. Continue reading...

From a Grand Designs-style property nestled underground to a remote timber-framed home on a hillside Continue reading...

Campaigners receive longest ever sentences for non-violent protest after being convicted of conspiracy to cause public nuisanceFive supporters of the Just Stop Oil climate campaign who conspired to cause gridlock on London's orbital motorway have been sentenced to lengthy jail terms by a judge who told them they had crossed the line from concerned campaigner to fanatic".Roger Hallam, Daniel Shaw, Louise Lancaster, Lucia Whittaker De Abreu and Cressida Gethin were found guilty last week of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance for coordinating direct action protests on the M25 over four days in November 2022. Continue reading...

Driven out by hunting and habitat loss, the birds are now nesting and breeding in a few pockets in EnglandWith their long, spoon-shaped beaks, it is perhaps little surprise that the RSPB has nicknamed the offspring of a spoonbill a teaspoon".It has been a bumper year for the snow-white wading birds, which have been found nesting and breeding in Cambridgeshire for the first time since the 17th century. Continue reading...

As the climate crisis causes heavier and more frequent floods across the US, one in four small businesses are one disaster away from shutting downAlejandra Palma lives in perpetual fear of the next storm.We are constantly checking the weather," said Palma, who co-owns Root Hill Cafe in Brooklyn's low-lying Gowanus neighborhood. If we see that there's a hurricane in Florida, it's like, oh my God, please let it not come here." Continue reading...

Union says members being kept up at night' over failure to commit to continue payments at current rateFarmers are facing a cliff edge" as the Labour government refuses to commit to maintaining the agriculture budget for England, the president of the National Farmers' Union has said.The issue is one of the first pressures Labour is facing over its tight fiscal rules, along with a rebellion on the party's refusal to remove the two-child benefit cap. Continue reading...

Marathon Petroleum predecessor warned of potential for social and economic calamities' in decades-old publicationThe corporate predecessor to America's largest refiner of oil, Marathon Petroleum, explained in a company periodical nearly 50 years ago that global temperature rise potentially linked to industrial expansion" could one day cause widespread starvation and other social and economic calamities".This decades-old description of climate breakdown is from a 1977 issue of the magazine Marathon World and is attributed in the article by an unnamed author to several experts including a scientist working for a top US agency. Continue reading...

Some scientists want to stop naming new species after public figures, especially as it can threaten an animal's survival, but others say it can be a helpful conservation toolWhen Lady Gaga held a Q&A on Reddit for a 2014 album release, there was one question that took the botany world by storm: what's it like to have a genus of ferns named after you? Pretty cool," she responded, especially since it's an asexual fern."The 19 fern species of the Gaga genus are found from Bolivia to the south-west US, and were named after the singer partly for their G-A-G-A genetic sequence. All sexless, judgeless," she added. How I wish to be." Continue reading...

A team of scientists are trying to find the cause of what is becoming an increasingly common event - and the answer may be hidden deep in the whales' skullsA mass stranding last week that led to the deaths of 77 pilot whales on the Orkney island of Sanday was the largest ever recorded of the species on British shores. Initially, 12 of the animals at Tresness beach were still alive - but sadly did not survive.The event occurred almost exactly a year after the stranding of 55 pilot whales on Tolsta beach on the Isle of Lewis in the Hebrides on 16 July 2023. All but one of those whales died. According to Dr Andrew Brownlow, director of the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS) at Glasgow University, this may not be a coincidence. Continue reading...

A sustainable project aims to repurpose encroacher bush to create building blocks to solve Namibia's housing crisisPeople think the house would smell because the blocks are made of all-natural products, but it doesn't smell," says Kristine Haukongo. Sometimes, there is a small touch of wood, but otherwise it's completely odourless."Haukongo is the senior cultivator at the research group MycoHab and her job is pretty unusual. She grows oyster mushrooms on chopped-down invasive weeds before the waste is turned into large, solid brown slabs - mycoblocks - that will be used, it's hoped, to build Namibian homes. Continue reading...

Scientists say government's approach to emissions cutting is high risk' and reliant on immature technologies'New Zealand's ambitious plan to reach net zero emissions by 2050 is at risk of being derailed, as the government backslides on climate policies, new figures show.In 2019, the Labour government passed landmark climate legislation, committing the nation to reducing its carbon emissions to net zero by 2050 and meeting its commitments under the Paris climate accords. It requires future governments to detail how New Zealand will meet its greenhouse gas targets on the way to a carbon-neutral future. Continue reading...

Snakebites, the deadliest of neglected tropical diseases', often impact rural communities the most but a new study offers hope

Fourteen attorneys general petition federal emergency officials as millions in US under excessive heat advisoriesFourteen state attorneys general are urging the federal government to declare extreme heat and wildfire smoke major disasters. The petition comes as millions of people in the south and north-east face excessive heat advisories, and large swaths of the western US and Canada battle ongoing wildfires.The likelihood of high-severity extreme heat and wildfire smoke events is increasing due in part to climate change," wrote the Arizona attorney general, Kris Mayes, in a letter submitted to the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday. We urge Fema to update its regulations to prepare for this hotter, smokier future." Continue reading...

Three restaurant owners share their experiences feeding people - and leveraging their positions to tell humanizing storiesAs some of the most visible Palestinian establishments in American cultural life, Palestinian restaurants have found themselves thrust into the spotlight in a new way over the last nine months of Israel's bombardment of Gaza.Some have rejoiced at finally being able to list themselves on Google as Palestinian, as opposed to the more vague Middle Eastern or Mediterranean, and found a new customer base in the form of people looking to demonstrate their solidarity. Others have found themselves suddenly flooded with one-star reviews designed to tank their online rankings, been robbed, or even received death threats for putting their Palestinian identities on display. Continue reading...