Environment | The Guardian

With up to 80% of butterflies in decline, people are being asked to spend 15 minutes to record number and type witnessedScientists are calling on the public to help track how British butterflies are moving north as the climate heats up.Examining 50 years of data, researchers from the wildlife charity Butterfly Conservation, which runs the annual Big Butterfly Count, have identified a clear northerly shift among many species, including the familiar garden favourites the comma, peacock and holly blue. Continue reading...

The best of this week's wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...

Hundreds of Europeans touring the American west and adventurers from around the US are being drawn to Death Valley national park, even though the desolate region known as one of Earth's hottest places is being punished by a dangerous heatwave, which was blamed for a motorcyclist's recent death Continue reading...

Researchers estimate 730,000 people a year in the US lose their ability to live independently due to traffic pollutionReducing air pollution may help elderly people to live independent lives for longer, research has found.Dr Boya Zhang, of the University of Michigan, who is one of the authors of the study, said: Air pollution is linked to worse health - more lung disease, more heart disease, shorter life expectancies and more likelihood of dementia. Knowing that air pollution increases our risk of poor health as we age made us wonder if exposures might also impact how people can care for themselves in later life." Continue reading...

Projected high of 10.3bn people is lower and will come earlier than expected, analysis suggestsThe global population is likely to peak earlier than expected and at a lower level, according to new UN projections that officials have said offer hope of reduced pressure on the environment.The analysis predicts there will be about 10.3 billion people by the mid-2080s, up from 8.2 billion this year. Continue reading...

Lawyers acting for minister say emissions of coal extracted from mine should have been taken into accountThe government has admitted that a proposed coalmine in Cumbria was approved unlawfully, as the carbon emissions of coal from the mine should have been taken into account in the planning decision.This follows a precedent set by a supreme court judgment last month, when Surrey county council's decision to extend planning permission for an oil drilling well at Horse Hill, on the Weald, was quashed. Continue reading...

Satellite analysis looked at credits sold by Finite Carbon, which runs some of North America's largest offset projectsThis story is co-published with SourceMaterial and FloodlightSome forest carbon offsets sold by the biggest offsetting company in the US offer little or no benefit to the climate, a satellite analysis has found. Continue reading...

Investigation launched after gunshot wounds and injuries from being hit by vehicles found on bodies at Gobarup and near Hotham

Seals have been biting people in the first big outbreak of the disease in marine mammals, writes Nick Dall in Cape TownIt's happened to me dozens of times: I'm riding a wave when, out of the corner of my eye, I see a black shape coming up beneath me. Being in Cape Town - a great white shark hotspot - it's hard not to assume the worst. But fear soon gives into relief when it becomes clear that I'm sharing the wave with a Cape fur seal. Sometimes, they get so close you can see the bubbles on their whiskers.Now, nine seals have tested positive for rabies - the world's first significant outbreak of the disease in marine mammals - and people like me are watching the water along this 400-mile (600km) coastline for a different reason. Continue reading...

City hits all-time high of 120F as officials set up emergency cooling centers at community centers across south NevadaLas Vegas set a new record on Wednesday as it marked a fifth consecutive day over 115F (46C), amid a lingering hot spell that will continue scorching much of the US into the weekend.The blazing hot temperatures climbed to 115F shortly after 1pm at Harry Reid international airport, breaking the old mark of four consecutive days above 115F set in July 2005. Continue reading...

After decades of bags lining the streets, the mayor has proudly wheeled out a McKinsey-approved trash canThe revolution will not be televised. Unless it's Mayor Eric Adams's Trash Revolution, of course. In which case a press conference will be held, music blasted, and every camera crew in the five boroughs invited.On Monday the mayor of New York, with Jessica Tisch, the sanitation commissioner, by his side, unveiled New York City's first official trash bin. The mayor wheeled the new NYC Bin down Gracie Mansion's driveway and, with his characteristic swagger, demonstrated how the innovative new technology works: you open the lid and you put the rubbish in. It's highly intuitive technology. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Letter from senators, led by Elizabeth Warren, says JPMorgan may have misled investors and publicJPMorgan Chase, the world's biggest investor in fossil fuels, may have misled investors and the public by backtracking on its already weak climate and environmental commitments, six US senators have warned in a letter to the CEO Jamie Dimon.Although a climate-disrupted world demands stronger action by the financial sector to reduce emissions and protect nature, the Wall Street firm is heading in the opposite direction, say the upper chamber legislators, who include Senate banking committee member Elizabeth Warren. Continue reading...

Miskito and other groups face a dire challenge as illegal deforestation threatens their ancestral lands and cultureAviles Morphy pulled out his mobile phone and swiped through the photos until he reached a shot showing fallen trees in what looked like the aftermath of a hurricane. That was a big forest and look how it is now: everything's been destroyed," he says. And these are the coordinates."Then he played a video. The camera focused on a startled man wearing a red track-and-field shirt, resting his back against a post as he responded to questioning. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Fears customers will end up paying twice for work needed in order to comply with legal pollution limitsThames Water has failed to complete more than 100 upgrades to ageing sewage treatment works to meet legal pollution limits, the Guardian can reveal.The schemes costing 1.1bn were supposed to cut pollution into rivers by increasing the capacity at sewage works, adding phosphorus removal to the treatment process, and installing new storm tanks. The upgrades, which were promised in 2018, are being paid for by customers as part of a five-year spending round to 2025 but will not be delivered within that timeframe. Continue reading...

Nearly 34 million people in those cities, or 15% of the US population, experiencing temperatures higher than in surrounding areasAlmost 34 million people in 65 major US cities, or 15% of the country's population, are experiencing temperatures that are 8F higher than their surrounding areas, according to a new analysis from Climate Central, a non-profit research group.That is largely due to built environments like parking lots and asphalt sidewalks, and a lack of trees, that contribute to what's known as the urban heat island effect. Continue reading...

A rising number of lawsuits in courts around the world are holding governments and corporations to account for their treatment of the seas and those who rely on themA few years ago, Anna von Rebay gave up her lucrative job in a corporate law firm specialising in art law to concentrate on her passion for the ocean. All threats to the sea come from humans, who behave as though nature is nothing more than a resource," says Von Rebay, who works in Germany and Indonesia. But the ocean can't stand up for itself."Inspired by a rising wave of lawsuits seeking to hold governments and companies to account for climate action, she set up Ocean Vision Legal, a law firm with a unique remit: to litigate on the ocean's behalf. Continue reading...

Advert trumpeting storm overflow plans should have disclosed past environmental harms, says ASAA Wessex Water TV advert about its plans to tackle storm overflows has been banned as misleading because it omitted key information about its record on sewage pollution.The Advertising Standards Authority investigated after receiving a complaint about the ad for the supplier, which provides water to 1.4 million customers and sewerage services to 2.9 million people in the south-west of England. Continue reading...

Forecast predicts most dangerous portion of the heatwave' would last through Tuesday evening in Pacific north-westThe Pacific north-west endured more sweltering temperatures on Tuesday as authorities in Oregon reported multiple heat-related deaths, with forecasters warning that the dangerous weather wasn't over yet.The heatwave, which has cooked Oregon in triple-digit temperatures for days on end, is suspected to have caused at least six deaths in the state, the state medical examiner's office said on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Mission control centre' to work with energy companies and regulators towards goal of clean and cheaper power by 2030Labour has appointed one of the country's foremost climate experts to lead a mission control centre" on clean energy.Chris Stark, the former head of the UK's climate watchdog, will head a Covid vaccine-style taskforce aimed at delivering clean and cheaper power by 2030. Continue reading...

Teen's injuries weren't considered life-threatening in shark attack, which are rare incidents, though Florida is US and world leaderA shark bit a Florida teen on the leg during a lifeguard training camp on Monday morning, officials said.The attack on the 14-year-old boy in question occurred near the Ponce Inlet lifeguard tower shortly before noon, Volusia county beach safety officials said. The lifeguard trainee had been practicing water entries when he landed on a shark. Continue reading...

At least six energy companies prospecting for first windfarms in almost a decade after Labour lifts limitsRenewable energy companies have begun work on new onshore windfarms in England for the first time in almost a decade after the new government reversed restrictions the Conservatives had put in place on turbines.At least half a dozen renewables developers have begun identifying potential sites for full-scale windfarms in England after the Labour party swept to power last week with the promise to make Britain a clean energy superpower. Continue reading...

From climate crisis being a crime story to presenting basic weather news in the context of climate change, here are some lessons from journalistsMark Hertsgaard and Kyle Pope of Covering Climate Now (CCNow) hail the winners of their organization's annual global climate journalism awards, and here describe some lessons they have taken from the more than 1,250 entries.Mark Hertsgaard is executive director and co-founder of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration committed to more and better coverage of the climate story, and the Nation magazine's environment correspondentKyle Pope is executive director of strategic initiatives and co-founder of Covering Climate Now, and a former editor and publisher of the Columbia Journalism Review Continue reading...

Key Largo tree cactus no longer growing naturally in US thanks to salt water inundation and soil depletionScientists in Florida have recorded what they say is the first local extinction of a species caused by sea-level rise.The climate emergency has killed off the Key Largo tree cactus growing naturally in the US through saltwater inundation and soil depletion from hurricanes, according to researchers from the Florida Museum of Natural History, and Miami's Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Continue reading...

Vibrant blooms mean first stage of plan to cover 1,200 hectares is hailed as a success 18 months after plantingWhen the sowing began on the coastline of south-west England, conservationists warned it may take a little while for the new wildflower meadows to flourish fully.But 18 months on, a vibrant display of blooms has popped up in north Devon, a joy for human visitors and a draw for precious birds, insects and mammals. Continue reading...

Warning after intensification of storm aided by unusually hot ocean waters in much of Beryl's pathHurricane Beryl, which slammed into Texas on Monday after wreaking havoc in the Caribbean, was supercharged by absolutely crazy" ocean temperatures that are likely to fuel further violent storms in the coming months, scientists have warned.Beryl left more than 2m people without power after making landfall near Houston as a category 1 storm, after having rampaged through the Caribbean as a category 5 hurricane, with wind speeds reaching 165mph (265km/h), killing 11 people. Continue reading...

Report says member states poured $1.34tn into their militaries last year - an increase of $126bn from 2022As leaders from member countries gather to mark the 75th anniversary of Nato in Washington DC, researchers are warning that their military budgets are eroding the climate, producing an estimated 233m metric tonnes of greenhouse gas, more planet-heating pollution than some entire countries.Our research shows that military spending increases greenhouse gas emissions, diverts critical finance from climate action, and consolidates an arms trade that fuels instability during climate breakdown," says a new report from three international research and advocacy groups, the UK's Transnational Institute and Tipping Point North South, and the Netherlands' Stop Wapenhandel. Continue reading...

Incidents from sites and pipe network increased by 19 last year to 350 amid delays in investment, company says

Wildlife authorities are hopeful about a new technique to identify which waterways have crocs without needing to sight them

Blackened trees, dead animals and scorched earth - early wildfires have already devastated Brazil's Pantanal and local people worry they may lose the battle to save themPerched atop blackened trees, howler monkeys survey the ashes around them. A flock of rheas treads, disoriented, in search of water. The skeletons of alligators lie lifeless and charred.The Pantanal, the world's largest wetland and one of the most biodiverse places on Earth, is on fire. Huge stretches of land resemble the aftermath of a battle, with thick green shrubbery now a carpet of white ash, and chunks of debris falling from the sky. Continue reading...

Activists are convinced a wartime campaign of resistance is the only way to highlight the existing system's failure to meet the moment

Man, 53, and woman, 74, killed by fallen trees and third person drowns amid howling winds and torrential rainTropical Storm Beryl made landfall in south-east Texas on Monday with howling winds and torrential rains, causing the deaths of at least three people, closing oil ports, and knocking out power to more than 2.5 million homes and businesses.Before making landfall in Texas, the storm had already carved a path through the Caribbean as a category 5 hurricane, where it killed 11 people. It continued on to Mexico's Yucatan peninsula as a category 2, temporarily dropped in intensity to a tropical storm but again strengthened to a hurricane over the weekend. Continue reading...

More than 146 million Americans under extreme heat alerts as dangerous weather fuels outbreak of new wildfiresA fierce heatwave has shattered temperature records across the US west and has been tied to at least four deaths in Oregon, with more heat on the way as dangerous weather fueled the outbreak of new wildfires.Oregon faced triple-digit temperatures and saw several records toppled over the weekend, including in Salem, where on Sunday it hit 103F (39.4C), topping the 99F (37.2C) mark set in 1960. Authorities in Multnomah county - home to Portland, where temperatures broke daily records over the weekend - said they were investigating four suspected deaths tied to the heatwave. Continue reading...

This live blog is closed.Rachel Reeves has finished the speech, in which she confirmed a range of measures to speed up planning. I will post a full summary shortly.She is now taking questions.I have repeatedly warned that whoever won the general election would inherit the worst set of circumstances since the second world war.What I have seen in the past 72 hours has only confirmed that. Our economy has been held back by decisions deferred and decisions ducked. Political self-interest put ahead of the national interest. A government that put party first and country second.New Treasury analysis I requested over the weekend exposed the opportunities lost from this failure.Had the UK economy grown at the average rate of OECD economies since 2010, it would have been over 140bn larger. Continue reading...

Government urged to enforce more stringent rules amid target to build 1.5m new homes this parliamentLabour must stand firm against special pleading from housebuilders, who are likely to argue against fitting out new homes to stringent green standards, experts have warned.The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, laid out sweeping changes to the planning system on Monday in her first speech on reviving economic growth while pursuing the climate goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Continue reading...

Rachel Reeves says she will revise planning policy and decisions should be taken nationally, not locally'

Laura Davy, who travelled from Tasmania to take part in a protest at a coal terminal, will appeal prison sentence

The lifting of a long-held ban has angered conservationists, but others argue trophy hunting can support local economies and even help protect threatened speciesIn the borderlands of Tanzania and Kenya, the super tuskers" roam. A combination of old age, genetic pooling and prolonged protection from poaching has created a population of bull elephants with enormous tusks, weighing up to 45kg apiece, large enough to scrape along the ground as the animals walk. To many, the bulls are living icons" of the African savannah. They are also highly prized by trophy hunters.Now, a series of super-tusker killings has sparked a bitter international battle over trophy hunting and its controversial, sometimes counterintuitive role in conservation. Some conservationists believe the killing of these extraordinary animals should not be allowed. Others say controlled, regulated hunting can actually contribute to elephants' long-term survival by providing jobs for local people and incentives for habitats to be preserved. Continue reading...

Copernicus Climate Change Service says results a large and continuing shift' in the climateThe world has baked for 12 consecutive months in temperatures 1.5C (2.7F) greater than their average before the fossil fuel era, new data shows.Temperatures between July 2023 and June 2024 were the highest on record, scientists found, creating a year-long stretch in which the Earth was 1.64C hotter than in preindustrial times. Continue reading...

Ruling, based on constitutional rights for natural features like Quito's Machangara River, appealed by governmentA ruling described by activists as historic," a court in Ecuador has ruled that pollution has violated the rights of a river that runs through the country's capital, Quito.The city government appealed the ruling, which is based on an article of Ecuador's constitution that recognizes the rights of natural features like the Machangara River. Continue reading...

One of the biggest consumers in a global market worth an estimated 2bn, trade in the cheap fish in the south American country is booming. But worried conservationists say most people do not realise they are eating shark

Rules allow hunting practices that target bears and wolves, including pups or cubs, on federal land in AlaskaThe Biden administration has reinstated controversial Trump-era rules allowing what critics say are barbaric" hunting practices that target bears and wolves, including pups or cubs, on federal land in Alaska.Sport hunters use the practices, like killing young in their dens, to eliminate predators of caribou, which are considered trophy animals. The killings are probably decimating predator populations on federal Alaskan preserves, said Jeff Ruch, Pacific director with Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. Continue reading...

Temperatures could crest 100F (38C) in many regions after breaking records and sparking dozens of wildfiresA long-running heatwave that has already broken records, sparked dozens of wildfires and left about 130 million people under a high-temperature threat is about to intensify enough that the National Weather Service has deemed it potentially historic".The NWS on Saturday reported some type of extreme heat or advisory for nearly 133 million people across the nation - mostly in western states where the triple-digit heat, with temperatures 15F to 30F higher than average, is expected to last into next week. Continue reading...

Polling shows voters in south of England switched because of Conservative inaction on polluted rivers and beachesThe sewage crisis was a significant factor in the Tories' losing support in the blue wall" in the south of England, electoral polling suggests.Seven out of 10 voters supported legal measures to eliminate sewage spills in ecologically sensitive areas by 2030, according to polling conducted for Greenpeace by Survation just before the election. Less than a third of voters thought the Conservatives were right to weaken their commitments on the climate crisis and the environment. Continue reading...

Local residents are mourning the planned removal of the trees, symbols of the state's northern-southern divideWhenever Cassie Yoshikawa drives through the Central Valley on the former US Highway 99, she looks for the century-old landmark that symbolizes the midpoint of California: the Palm and the Pine.Located on the highway median and towering over neighboring oleander shrubs, the Canary Island palm and the Deodar cedar tree are said to represent the spot where the balmy bottom of California meets its woodsier counterpart. In a state where north-south divisions run deep, the trees have long been a bright spot that speaks to the spirit of each half. Continue reading...

There's officially just one classification for wild dogs/dingoes', which lists them as pests

Critics point out political roadmap for a potential second term created by more than 20 officials Trump appointed'Donald Trump is trying to claim he has nothing to do" with Project 2025, a political roadmap created by people close to him for his potential second term.The project, which is led by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative thinktank, seeks to crack down on various issues including immigration, reproductive rights, environmental protections and LGBTQ+ rights. It also aims to replace federal employees with Trump loyalists across the government. Continue reading...

French fire grows to more than 900 acres, as millions across US west face sweltering temperatures and dry conditionsA fast-moving wildfire burning near Yosemite national park is threatening rural communities as millions of people in California and across the US west swelter under a brutal heatwave that is predicted to persist through the weekend.The French fire broke out on Thursday and grew to more than 900 acres (364 hectares) by Friday afternoon. The fire is 15% contained with multiple evacuations and road closures in place", according to local fire officials.US swelters on Independence Day with over 150m people under heat alertsWildfire season has arrived. Here's why it could be an explosive summerBroken toilets, bed bugs and rats: US firefighters are in a housing crisis Continue reading...

The hit show shows how kitchens are pressure cookers of stress, but not how professional cooking ravages the bodyThe opening scene of the popular F/X drama The Bear's latest season opens with troubled chef Carmen Carmy" Berzatto gazing at a deep scar in his hand. He vaguely explains its origin to his doctor girlfriend, Claire; the now-healed injury seems like nothing much to him. Attuned to what Carmy leaves unsaid, she asks if the wound hurt so much that he couldn't feel it at the time.That delayed pain applies to Carmy's other wounds: the mental health damage sustained in an abusive kitchen and a harsh upbringing. But now he's passing his trauma on to his own restaurant staff as he pushes them toward their breaking points. Continue reading...

Former Oasis guitarist describes festival, which has long championed political causes, as kind of preachy and a bit virtue-signalling'Noel Gallagher has decried Glastonbury festival, long a champion of leftwing political causes such as the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, as getting a bit woke now".Speaking to the Sun, the former Oasis guitarist said: It's getting a bit woke now, that place, and a bit kind of preachy and a bit virtue-signalling. I don't like it in music - little fucking idiots waving flags around and making political statements and bands taking the stage and saying, Hey guys, isn't war terrible, yeah? Let's all boo war. Fuck the Tories man,' and all that. It's like, look - play your fucking tunes and get off." Continue reading...

Working group to look at where birds might be introduced and engage with boroughs and local community in capitalWhite storks could soon be wheeling in the skies above London and building their huge nests among towers, flats and spires as a result of new rewilding plans.After the success of the charismatic birds' successful reintroduction into southern England since 2016, a white stork working group has been established to seek out habitat and gauge the political will to reintroduce the birds to Greater London. Continue reading...