Environment | The Guardian

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

Drone footage released by the Grenadian prime minister's office showed widespread destruction on the island of Carriacou after Hurricane Beryl struck. After his visit to Carriacou, Grenada's prime minister, Dickon Mitchell, described the aftermath of the category 4 storm as 'Armageddon-like'. Mitchell said about 98% of the buildings were either damaged or demolished, and the electrical grid and communication systems were almost entirely obliterated

Category 3 storm with wind speeds of up to 120mph continues to wreak utter devastation' in Caribbean

Projections of shortfalls - and calls for more production - come even as the bulk of gas produced in Australia is exported

Changes to menu are part of the All England Club's drive to be more environmentally sustainableVictoria sponge bursting with strawberry jam and cream has been a staple at Wimbledon for decades, but now the All England Club has created a plant-based version for the first time.The famous British cake has been transformed with Flora spread and coconut cream as part of a wider move to make the tournament more environmentally sustainable. The cake is being served to hospitality guests paying up to 2,000 a ticket. Continue reading...

Study that researchers say highlights chemicals' ubiquity also shows PFAS association with seafood and red meatNew research aimed at identifying foods that contain higher levels of PFAS found people who eat more white rice, coffee, eggs and seafood typically showed more of the toxic chemicals in their plasma and breast milk.The study checked samples from 3,000 pregnant mothers, and is among the first research to suggest coffee and white rice may be contaminated at higher rates than other foods. It also identified an association between red meat consumption and levels of PFOS, one of the most common and dangerous PFAS compounds. Continue reading...

The fastest birds in the world, peregrine falcons are sought after for racing and can sell for up to 250,000 in the Middle East. Poaching is a constant threat, with eggs and chicks stolen to supply the hidden market. Now, there are nationwide efforts under way to ring and take DNA from wild chicks - but just reaching their nests can be perilous

From wildflower retreats and Novid rooms to locking yourself in a disabled toilet, hospital staff reveal where they go when they need a moment's peace Continue reading...

Melbourne's pressure reading reaches 1,040.8hPa on Thursday, just below all-time high of 1,041.2hPa

It is no coincidence that ever more extreme politics has come at a time of ever more extreme weatherA disrupted climate and diminished natural world are widening the dividing lines of ideological debate. Left unchecked, this will undermine democracy.That may not be the first thing on the minds of British voters as they go to the polls on Thursday. It is probably also a minority view in the rest of Europe or the US, where people are too much in the thick of a polycrisis to consider anything outside politics and economics as usual. But from a distance, in my case from the Amazon rainforest, there is a very different explanation for the tremors being witnessed in the old world and the new. Continue reading...

A study of the sea cow population in the South Pacific islands is urgently needed, say experts, as numbers fall dramaticallyOn a bright spring day, the sun dances over the water of Havannah Bay on the island of Efate in Vanuatu. Below the surface, pockets of seagrass that can just about be seen from the shoreline, sway in the current. It's here, if they are lucky, that onlookers may spot a dugong bobbing in the shallow water, orbiting the seagrass meadows they feed on.It's wonderful seeing them swimming by and grazing off the seagrass in front of the resort," says Greg Pechan, the owner of a local hotel, the Havannah, which sits at the tip of the bay. Pointing out beyond the jetty that stretches into the Pacific Ocean, he says Vanuatu's sea life is a big attraction for visitors to the Melanesian country. Continue reading...

Thompson fire near Oroville destroys homes and vehicles as state simmers in brutal and potentially historic heatwaveThousands of homes are under threat from a raging wildfire that erupted in northern California on Tuesday, as the state simmers in a brutal and potentially historic heatwave.Roughly 28,000 residents have been forced to evacuate as the Thompson fire quickly swept across more than 3,500 acres (1,416 hectares) near the city of Oroville, about an hour outside Sacramento, California's capital. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Ageing, flood-prone rail line carrying the city's waste to landfill increasingly vulnerable to disruptions, experts say

The entrepreneur claims agency exaggerated the costs of the Coalition plan despite it using best-case scenario South Korea as the benchmark

More plans afoot for compostable food use, says head gardener, as tournament commits to wildlife net gain' by 2030Rain or shine - usually more of the former - Wimbledon's stunning floral displays always manage to dazzle.For those hoping to give their gardens an SW19-inspired transformation, the tournament's secret has finally been revealed: coffee grounds from the staff room. Continue reading...

Light pollution acts as midnight fridge', drawing in young fish, then predators, according to tests in French PolynesiaArtificial light shining from coastlines around the world is acting like a midnight fridge" full of tasty snacks, threatening young fish who can be drawn to it and who are then eaten by predators also attracted by the brightness, according to a study.It has long been established that light pollution hampers people's ability to see the night sky and harms migrating birds, insects and other animals. But its impact on marine ecosystems has rarely been taken into account, said Jules Schligler, the lead author of the study at the international coral ecosystem research centre in Mo'orea, French Polynesia. Continue reading...

The ex-president is ranting about low water pressure and attacking mundane rules and technologies - and Republicans in Congress are now following his leadWhen Donald Trump embarked upon a lengthy complaint at a recent rally about how long it takes to wash his beautiful luxuriant hair" due to his shower's low water pressure, he highlighted the expanding assault he and Republicans are launching against even the most obscure environmental policies - a push that's starting to influence voters.In his bid to return to the White House, Trump has branded Joe Biden's attempt to advance electric cars in the US lunacy", claiming such vehicles do not work in the cold and that their supporters should rot in hell". He's called offshore wind turbines horrible", falsely linking them to the death of whales, while promising to scrap incentives for both wind and electric cars. Continue reading...

President hails proposal to protect millions of Americans from extreme heat - the top weather-related US killerPresident Biden on Tuesday trumpeted new rules from his administration that aim to protect Americans from extreme heat.Extreme heat is the No 1 weather-related killer in the United States," he said at the Washington DC Emergency Operations Center. More people die from extreme heat than floods, hurricanes and tornadoes combined." Continue reading...

Sweltering conditions and power shutoffs may overlap with errant fireworks or badly tended campfiresA brutal and long-lasting heatwave is threatening to wreak havoc across the US west this week, as sweltering conditions, power shutoffs and a severe uptick in wildfire risks coincide with Fourth of July celebrations.Nearly 90 million people were under heat alerts from the National Weather Service (NWS) on Tuesday morning, as swaths of the south-central and western US were scorched. As pressure builds over the west through the week, the dangerous weather event is expected to stretch for days with little reprieve. Continue reading...

The season to tap trees is now earlier and longer, but new processes and generations are helping the industry thriveOn a warm May Monday, more than three dozen high school students took to the forest behind a former dairy barn at Vermont State University in Randolph.In teams of four, they ran blue plastic tubing from tree to tree, racing to connect the tubes across three trees in 30 minutes. One student leaned back and pulled it taut with his body weight while another secured tube to tree. Quickly, they dashed to the next in what appears to be a twisted tug-of-war. Continue reading...

Technical difficulties blamed for new blow to firm's sustainable energy plansShell has paused the construction of one of Europe's largest biofuel plants which was expected to convert waste into green jet fuel and biodiesel by the end of the decade.The oil company said on Tuesday it would temporarily pause" work on one of its biggest energy transition projects to address the technical difficulties that have delayed its progress so far. Continue reading...

Decision by supreme court means water companies could be sued for damage caused by dumping of human wasteWater companies could face a spate of legal challenges by people and businesses affected by sewage pollution after a ruling that United Utilities could be sued by a private company for damage caused by the dumping of human waste.Lawyers said it was a watershed moment" as the courts had previously ruled that penalties for water companies were a matter for the regulator, and companies could not sue firms for damage caused to their property by sewage pollution. Continue reading...

Federal review sparks fresh warnings that biodiversity scheme is increasing risk of animals going extinct

Trump appointee indicates he expects states' suit against Department of Energy to allow new LNG projects to succeedThe Biden administration cannot delay consideration of projects aimed at exporting liquefied natural gas while a legal challenge by 16 Republican-led states plays out in federal court, a Louisiana judge said on Monday.US district judge James Cain Jr, a Trump appointee, sided with the states, granting a preliminary injunction that puts the Biden administration's delay on hold. Continue reading...

Dropoff in government approvals put billions of investment in offshore wind schemes at risk, ports bodies warn

Activists from the award-winning Mother Nature found guilty on charges of plotting against governmentTen activists from a prominent youth-led environmental group in Cambodia have been sentenced to between six and eight years in jail in a case human rights experts have widely condemned.The activists from Mother Nature, an award-winning group of environmental campaigners, were found guilty on charges of plotting against the government, while three were also convicted of insulting the king. They denied the charges. Continue reading...

With solar module prices well down' in 2024 it could yet be a record year for installations, Sunwiz says

Ralph Gonsalves of St Vincent and the Grenadines calls Cop largely a talk shop' and beseeches west to honor commitmentsThe prime minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) has decried a lack of political will in western Europe and the US to tackle global climate crisis as Hurricane Beryl has made landfall as an extremely dangerous" category 4 storm.Speaking from his residence in SVG on Monday, Ralph Gonsalves described the unfolding catastrophe as the monster" storm ripped off rooftops, including that of the 204-year-old St George's Anglican cathedral in the country's capital, Kingstown. Continue reading...

Exclusive: shadow energy security secretary promises to fill vacuum' left by Rishi Sunak's U-turn on net zeroLabour will promise to take the lead on global efforts to tackle the climate crisis, filling a vacuum of leadership" on the world stage and proving Rishi Sunak's U-turn on net zero has been a historic mistake", Ed Miliband has said.The shadow energy security and net zero secretary said the UK needed to change course and was off track". Continue reading...

Most rats, like most people, try to distinguish themselvesYou must go to the rats," the Great Owl tells Mrs Frisby in the Rats of Nimh.Mrs Frisby, a mouse, needs help: her son is sick and she has to move out of her house at the edge of a field, because the field will soon be ploughed. Continue reading...

Hit show's British host Graham Hancock has been criticized for promoting fringe beliefs about advanced lost civilizationControversial British writer Graham Hancock has abandoned plans to film a new season of his hit Netflix show Ancient Apocalypse in the US following an outcry from Indigenous groups over his depiction of their history and culture.Hancock is a former journalist who has been criticized by experts for his promotion of fringe beliefs in the show which presents theories about an advanced lost civilization active during the last ice age. Continue reading...

Agency rejected FOI request about potential conflicts of financial and business interests held by regional directorsThe Environment Agency is refusing to provide campaigners with details of potential conflicts of interests with water companies held by its directors across England.The refusal to provide the information comes after the head of the agency, Philip Duffy, admitted that freedom of information requests have been buried by the regulator because the truth about the environment in England is embarrassing". Continue reading...

Rain expected to ease but no respite from cold nights in New South Wales and Victoria until well into July, with just 1C forecast for Melbourne on Wednesday

Exclusive: Analysis of social media posts, including by candidates projected to win seats, finds multiple mentions of hoaxes' and the Illuminati'At least 30 Reform UK candidates have posted material or made statements that cast doubt on the validity of human-induced global heating, a Guardian analysis can reveal.A suite of the party's prospective parliamentary candidates have publicly cast doubt on the existence of the emission-caused climate crisis. Continue reading...

Rainfall is down 40% since 2003 and experts predict a third of Sicily will be desert by 2030Every morning, as soon as he wakes up, Luca Cammarata looks to the sky in the hope that some clouds on the horizon will bring a few drops of water. On his farm in the Sicilian interior, it hasn't rained for months. Cammarata's 200 goats graze on a parched landscape resembling a lunar surface, forced to eat dry weeds and drink from a muddy pond.The 53-year-old has never experienced a drought like it. If things continue like this," he said, I will be forced to butcher my livestock and close down my farm." Continue reading...

Rescue operation run by specialised whale disentanglement crews cut off ropes and buoys to let it swim freely again

The full-size adult whale was first spotted a week earlier with approximately 200 metres of rope and fishing buoys wrapped around it. In a multi-agency operation, rescuers were able to free the animal of 800kg ropes and buoys. However, because of how the rope was wrapped around the whale and safety concerns for rescuers, the crew were not able to disentangle all of the rope. Ellen Dwyer, an incident controller in the rescue team, says they are 'pleased' they have been able to 'successfully remove a significant amount of weight and rope from the whale'Subscribe to Guardian Australia on YouTube

Absorption through skin could be significant source of exposure' to toxic forever chemicals, study showsNew research for the first time proves" toxic PFAS forever chemicals are absorbed through human skin, and at levels much higher than previously thought.Though modeling and research has suggested the dangerous chemicals are absorbed through skin, University of Birmingham researchers say they used lab-grown tissue that mimics human skin to determine how much of a dose of PFAS compounds can be absorbed. Continue reading...

There are just 300 electric HGVs in the 500,000-strong lorry fleet - and only one public charging point, says RHAThe road haulage industry is calling on the new government to urgently tackle investment in infrastructure for electric trucks, after pointing out there is just one public charging point for HGVs in the whole of the UK.Takeup of electric cars is soaring, with about 1.1m fully battery-powered cars on British roads and about 63,000 charging units in 33,000 locations, according to Zapmap data. Continue reading...

Crowdfunding scheme salvages imperfect' fruit and veg following the country's wettest autumn, winter and spring on recordWhen 31-year-old Dutch farmer Bastiaan Blok dug up his latest crop, the weather had taken a disastrous toll. His onions - 117,000 kilos of them - were the size of shallots.We had a very wet spring and a dry, warm summer, so the plants made very small roots," said Blok, who farms 90 hectares in Swifterbant, in the reclaimed province of Flevoland. Half of them were less than 40mm and normally at this size they aren't even processed. We would have probably sold them for very little for biomass, or maybe to Poland for onion oil. It's either far too wet and cold, or far too warm and dry, and there's no normal growing period in between." Continue reading...

Angela Richardson accuses campaigners against polluted water of putting Conservative MPs in dangerThe Conservative party deputy chair Angela Richardson called the sewage crisis a political football" and claimed opposition parties and activists had put Tory MPs in physical danger by campaigning on the issue.Richardson, who is standing for re-election in Guildford, where the River Wey was recently found to have 10 times the safe limit of E coli, also suggested the only reason people were talking about the problem was because the Conservatives let everyone know it was happening". Continue reading...

Outgoing Green MP calls for combined strategy to ensure net zero will not be done on the backs of the poor'Labour must combine tackling the climate crisis with pursuing social justice, if elected, to show that achieving net zero will not be done on the backs of the poor", the UK's outgoing Green party MP has warned.Caroline Lucas, who has held the seat of Brighton Pavilion since 2010, said: The biggest priority is to demonstrate that is not the case. We have to make sure that this is a strategy and a policy that is the opposite of being done on the backs of the poor." Continue reading...

RHS reports 35% surge in orders, while garden designers note pond trend at Hampton Court Palace flower showA pond boom is happening in Britain's gardens as people try to halt wildlife loss by digging water sources for amphibians and other aquatic life.Data from the Royal Horticultural Society shows a marked increase in sales of pond greenery; their online store had a 35% increase in sales of pond plants for 2023 compared with 2022. Continue reading...

Lycra, neoprene, polystyrene and other potential pollutants have become near-ubiquitous but there are alternatives - if you know where to look

Incident reignites concerns over crackdown on media before crucial UN climate talks in Baku later this yearWestern journalists were refused entry to an energy industry conference in Azerbaijan earlier this month, reigniting concerns over the state's crackdown on the media ahead of crucial UN climate talks in Baku later this year.At least three journalists from the UK and France have told the Guardian that they felt unsafe" after they were denied entry to the Baku Energy Week forum, despite registering with the event organisers weeks in advance. Continue reading...

Climate groups and anti-war activists say bank using reported 20m deal to hide its multitude of sins'Wimbledon is facing calls to drop Barclays as a sponsor over the bank's ties to fossil fuels and defence companies supplying Israel.Ahead of the 2024 championships, which begin on Monday, climate groups and anti-war activists say the bank is using the event to cover up its role" in funding the climate crisis and to hide from accountability for its role in enabling Israel's war crimes". Continue reading...

Reform chair is hostile to net zero but is CEO of company that boasted of saving hundreds of tonnes of CO'

A Carbon Tracker report shows the cost to safely shut down low-producing wells is $3bn more than what they earnThis story is co-published with DeSmogThousands of oil and gas wells across Colorado cannot generate enough revenue to cover their own cleanup costs, according to a new report. Unless state officials act simply and quickly", it says, Coloradans can expect to be on the hook for a $3bn shortfall. Continue reading...

Fears of fire and environmental disaster as company repeatedly misses UK deadlines to decommission sitesThe North Sea's biggest oil and gas infrastructure company is risking fires and environmental disasters, experts have warned, as documents reveal it is failing to plug its ageing oil wells in time and is missing decommissioning deadlines by up to a decade.Last year, the fossil fuel firm Perenco faced controversy after an oil spill from its Poole Harbour operations polluted the Dorset site, which is internationally recognised for its ecological importance. The RSPB reported oiled birds in the water at the largest natural harbour in Europe, which is one of the most heavily protected areas in the UK. Perenco promised it would never happen again and committed to pay for the damage caused. Continue reading...

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