Environment | The Guardian

With less congestion, less carbon pollution, less accidents, could it be a model for other US cities? Six months in, environmentalists say yesIt has faced threats and lawsuits and even had its death proclaimed by Donald Trump as he startlingly depicted himself as a king in a social media post. But New York City's congestion charge scheme for cars has now survived its first six months, producing perhaps the fastest ever environmental improvement from any policy in US history.New York vaulted into a global group of cities - such as London, Singapore and Stockholm - that charge cars for entering their traffic-clogged metropolitan hearts but also ushered in a measure that was unknown to Americans and initially unpopular with commuters, and was confronted by a new Trump administration determined to tear it down. Continue reading...

Mass lobby in Westminster is kicked off with giant image on cliffs of Dover stating 89% of people want climate action'More than 5,000 people from across the UK arrived in Westminster on Wednesday to meet their MPs and demand urgent climate action to protect their communities.The mass lobby is one of the largest to date. The constituents, including parents and pensioners, doctors, teachers, farmers and youth campaigners, have arranged to lobby at least 500 MPs, about 80% of the total. Continue reading...

At least 27 people died at Camp Mystic, but survivors credit coast guard swimmer and young staff with saving livesA US coast guard rescue swimmer on his first rescue mission as well as teenage counselors who helped shepherd cold and wet young campers to safety have been credited with saving dozens of lives at a flood-ravaged Christian summer camp on the banks of Texas's Guadalupe River.Their stories of heroism and fortitude - including the counselors' writing young campers' names on their arms and legs with Sharpies so that authorities could identify them if necessary - are among the first to emerge recounting the grim reality of the torrent of water that surged Friday through the all-girls Camp Mystic, where at least 27 campers and counselors are known to have died. Continue reading...

Fire has brought many of the city's services to a halt, with all flights cancelled at Marseille airportA fast-moving wildfire on the outskirts of France's second-largest city, Marseille, has destroyed homes and forced hundreds of people to evacuate, as a heatwave and dangerous fire conditions grip the Mediterranean.Interior minister Bruno Retailleau said the fire around Marseille could be contained overnight if the gale-force winds fanning the flames weaken, as expected. So far, 400 people had been evacuated, around a dozen houses destroyed and 63 others damaged, he said. He added about 100 people had also suffered light injuries, including from emergency services. Continue reading...

UK ministers should update the public on the outlook for bills as the price of overhauling the system is adding upThe government's decision on zonal pricing for electricity - the issue that divides the energy industry like no other - is due any day. Whichever way ministers jump, it would be a good moment to update consumers on the outlook for their bills in the sprint" to decarbonise the UK's electricity system by 2030. Does the government still think cleaner energy means cheaper energy? If so, when and how?It deserves an answer for two reasons. First, because the costs of turning down gas-fired generation in favour of renewables are clearer than a year ago - and current trends, sadly, are not encouraging. Second, because promising consumers up to 300" off their bills by 2030 via clean energy, as Keir Starmer and the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, have done, risks handing a political gift to anti-net zero opponents if the savings do not materialise. Continue reading...

Military Road on island's south is threatened by erosion, with some parts now less than 5 metres from steep cliffsIt is considered one of the most scenic routes in the UK, an 11-mile stretch of road that skirts the coastal cliffs and enjoys sweeping views of the Channel.The problem is that Military Road on the southern coast of the Isle of Wight is getting just a little too close to those plunging cliffs for comfort. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Defra warned three years ago of farmland contamination by water firms' sewage-derived productGovernment ministers have ignored Environment Agency pleas to tighten rules on the use of sludge fertiliser for three years, despite the regulator having said that water company attitudes towards the substance are akin to fly-tipping on to agricultural land", it can be revealed.Sludge, sometimes referred to as biosolids, is a byproduct of the sewage treatment process that is sold by water companies to farmers as a low-cost fertiliser. Continue reading...

The seaside resort has become a byword for coastal deprivation but its youth say there's a world of creativity bubbling under the surface

Maha' promised to tackle ultra-processed foods - but is it hijacking the food movement instead?Over the space of the last year, Robert F Kennedy Jr. has made the term ultra-processed foods" something of a household phrase.Once a term only used by nutritionists and food policy researchers to describe the most processed foods in the supply chain (think: chips and sodas, packaged bread, microwave dinners and even some yogurts), ultra-processing has become a calling card of the Make America Healthy Again" (Maha") movement. Continue reading...

We all need to be careful about how we get information and reach conclusions - especially nowWhy exactly so many people drowned in the terrible Independence Day floods that swept through Texas's Hill Country will probably have multiple explanations that take a while to obtain. But it's 2025, and people want answers immediately, and lots of people seized on stories blaming the National Weather Service (NWS).There were two opposing reasons to blame this vital government service. For local and state authorities, blaming a branch of the federal government was a way of avoiding culpability themselves. And for a whole lot of people who deplore the Trump/Doge cuts to federal services, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Weather Service, the idea that the NWS failed served to underscore how destructive those cuts are. Continue reading...

Cuts and chaos instigated by Trump come as threat from extreme weather grows due to human-caused climate crisisThe deadly Texas floods could signal a new norm in the US, as Donald Trump and his allies dismantle crucial federal agencies that help states prepare and respond to extreme weather and other hazards, experts warn.More than 100 are dead and dozens more remain missing after flash floods in the parched area known as Texas Hill Country swept away entire holiday camps and homes on Friday night - in what appears to have been another unremarkable storm that stalled before dumping huge quantities of rain over a short period of time, a phenomena that has becoming increasingly common as the planet warms. Continue reading...

Restrictions to be brought in from Friday after region receives just 15cm of rainfall between February and June

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Girls summer camp Camp Mystic confirms 27 children and counsellors deadThe death toll from the flash floods that have wreaked devastation in Texas since Friday has passed 100 and is expected to rise further as more victims are found and more rain threatens to deluge the region.Camp Mystic, the girls summer camp on the banks of the Guadalupe River in Texas, has confirmed that 27 children and counsellors died. Continue reading...

Hundreds of homes, bridges and roads washed away in north Indian state after unusually heavy rainfallIndia's mountainous state of Himachal Pradesh has been left reeling after it was hit by rainstorms, flash floods and landslides, with dozens of people reported missing.Hundreds of homes, bridges, roads and electricity pylons in the north Indian state were washed away after 23 flash floods and 16 landslides caused by unusually heavy rainfall over the weekend. There were also 19 cloudbursts, in which an enormous amount of rain falls in a sudden deluge, according to a report by the Himachal Pradesh state government. Continue reading...

Across the Bangladeshi megacity, designers are adapting to the climate crisis Continue reading...

Exclusive: Experts call for stricter regulation as current rules set in 1989 require testing for only a few heavy metalsMillions of tonnes of treated sewage sludge is spread on farmland across the UK every year despite containing forever chemicals, microplastics and toxic waste, and experts say the outdated current regulations are not fit for purpose.An investigation by the Guardian and Watershed has identified England's sludge-spreading hotspots and shown where the practice could be damaging rivers. Continue reading...

President Lula rebukes wealthy countries for retreating on climate and trade but bloc is divided and unbalancedAs the US retreats from the international stage, the most powerful political alliance in the global south has come together in Brazil this week to try to revive and reinvent a collective approach to the world's problems.The summit of the Brics group of nations at the Museum of Contemporary Art on the edge of Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro is both a dress rehearsal for the Belem Cop30 UN climate conference in November and a rebuke to wealthier countries that have withdrawn to bunkers, launched missiles and choked off aid to poorer regions. Continue reading...

Vessels on Rhine in Germany and Danube in Hungary forced to sail partially loaded

The administration has wiped over $2.7bn in climate grants, hitting underserved communities across the US the hardestThis story was originally published by FloodlightAcre by acre, the village of Kipnuk is falling into the river. Continue reading...

People who lost everything describe leaving homes and express anger at poor preparedness and officials who seemed to shirk responsibility

Our research shows people are strongly in favour of measures to tackle the climate crisis. They just need to be listened to

Young people living by the sea are often in some of the most deprived areas of the country, but they say they want the chance to thrive. The Guardian is embarking on a year-long series to tell their stories

It's bad news for the Antarctic sea ice and everyone who relies on it being there (everyone)

This blog is now closed. Our latest full report is hereOfficials have said waters in some parts of Texas are starting to recede to where they were before the storm.The Guadalupe River near Kerrville - which surged by more than 20 feet within 90 minutes during the downpour - is, according to CNN, back down to just a foot or two higher than its level before the flood. Continue reading...

They are suffering disproportionately and without help, say researchers, and unless they are given a voice, problems will continue to mount up

Texas's flash flood alley' could bring even more floods in near future as Trump cuts compound with warming climateThe ongoing challenges of forecasting extreme weather during the era of the climate crisis have been brought to the fore again amid catastrophic flash flooding in the hill country" region of Texas.As of early Sunday, hundreds of rescuers are searching for at least 12 people still missing as rains taper off outside of San Antonio and Austin. Hundreds of people have already been pulled from floodwaters that have killed nearly 70 people so far, many of them children at a summer camp along the banks of the Guadalupe River. Continue reading...

Electric car sales made up 21.6% of sales in first half of 2025, only just below the effective 22% share needed to meet rulesCarmakers are on track to meet existing UK electric car sales targets despite having successfully lobbied the government to water them down.Electric car sales made up 21.6% of sales in the first half of 2025, only marginally below the 22.06% share needed to meet existing rules once concessions are taken into account, according to an analysis by New AutoMotive, a thinktank. Continue reading...

Footage shows the impact of an algal bloom unfolding along South Australia's coastline. The deadly bloom of Karenia mikimotoi algae has devastated marine life from the Fleurieu peninsula, to Kangaroo Island, to the Yorke peninsula and the Ramsar-listed Coorong. Since the start of the bloom in March, more than 7,800 marine animals have died and almost 400 different species have been affected, including shellfish, sharks, rays and many rare and unusual marine species, according to the SA Marine Mortalities project Continue reading...

About 1,000 swimmers a day will be allowed to use three bathing sites after 1.4bn clean-up programmeParisians and tourists flocked to take a dip in the Seine River this weekend after city authorities gave the green light for it to be used for public swimming for the first time in more than a century.The opening followed a comprehensive clean-up programme sped up by its use as a venue in last year's Paris Olympics after people who regularly swam in it illegally lobbied for its transformation. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Letter to government says lower prices for repaired goods would cut waste, create jobs and help households save moneyMinisters are facing fresh calls to scrap VAT on all repaired and refurbished electronics, with businesses, charities and community groups arguing the move would help households cut costs and stop electrical goods being binned prematurely.In a letter to the environment secretary, Steve Reed, the signatories say that removing VAT on repaired electronics should be part of a wider push to cut waste, extend the life of products and develop a truly circular economy". Continue reading...

While we work towards net zero, we also need to adapt. And we can pay for cooling measures like splash pads and trees by taxing the worst pollutersThere's a lot to be anxious about as a new parent, let alone in a heatwave when the thermometer in your one-year-old daughter's room is reading 26C. That's six degrees higher than the upper limit of the recommended temperature for a child's room. After scrolling my phone for advice on how to cool her room, I couldn't help waking up every few hours to check she was OK on the baby monitor.In the UK, we are unprepared at every level for the extreme weather caused by climate breakdown. Whether it's unbearably hot buildings in the summer, our damp and cold homes (some of the leakiest in Europe) filled with mould in the winter, our unprotected towns built on flood plains, or our unfit-for-purpose train tracks that get shut down at the slightest weather warning, the climate crisis is already wreaking havoc on public and private infrastructure - and it's only getting worse. Continue reading...

Activating real civic resilience could be a KPI for the prime minister's progressive patriotism, rather than spending billions more on big, shiny machines

Following the destruction from 2010's Deepwater Horizon oil spill, an anti-drilling coalition took action with HB 1143 - and got it signed by DeSantisThe giant and catastrophic Deepwater Horizon oil spill, also known as the BP oil spill, didn't reach Apalachicola Bay in 2010, but the threat of oil reaching this beautiful and environmentally valuable stretch of northern Florida's Gulf coast was still enough to devastate the region's economy.The Florida state congressman Jason Shoaf remembers how the threat affected the bay. Continue reading...

Climate change, development, labor shortages and tariffs are making life the pits for the state's cherry farmersNearly 100 years ago, north-west Michigan cherry farmers and Traverse City community leaders started a festival to promote the city and their region's tart cherry crop as a tourist destination.Now known as the cherry capital of the world", Traverse City's National Cherry Festival draws 500,000 visitors over eight days to this picturesque Lake Michigan beach town to enjoy carnival rides and airshows, and to eat cherries. It also sparked a thriving agrotourism industry amid its rolling hills that now boasts dozens of shops, wineries, U-pick orchards, and farm-to-table restaurants helmed by James Beard-award-winning chefs. Continue reading...

A14 in Cambridgeshire promised biodiversity net gain of 11.5%, but most of the 860,000 trees planted are dead. What went wrong?Lorries thunder over the A14 bridge north of Cambridge, above steep roadside embankments covered in plastic shrouds containing the desiccated remains of trees.Occasionally the barren landscape is punctuated by a flash of green where a young hawthorn or a fledgling honeysuckle has emerged apparently against the odds, but their shock of life is an exception in the treeless landscape. Continue reading...

Ecologists say 283 purple emperor recordings on one day at Knepp signal higher numbers nationwideA conservation project in West Sussex has had its best day on record for rare purple emperor butterfly sighting, and ecologists say they are confident the species is doing well nationally.Purple emperor populations steadily declined over the course of the 20th century but they have been slowly recolonising the landscape at Knepp since 2001, when Isabella Tree and her husband, Charlie Burrell, decided to turn the stretch of former farmland into a process-led" rewilding project. Continue reading...

The women are raising larvae of the endangered Taylor's checkerspot for release into the wildTrista Egli was standing in a greenhouse, tearing up strips of plantain and preparing to feed them to butterfly larvae.Of the many things the team here has tried to tempt larvae of the Taylor's checkerspot - a native of the Pacific north-west - with, it is the invasive English plantain they seem to love the most. Continue reading...

Loss of access to lake and waterfall in Thomas Hardy country prompts action at Bridehead estateHeaven only knows what Thomas Hardy would have made of it. On Saturday, protesters will arrive at the Bridehead estate in Dorset, hop across a low stone wall and take part in a peaceful trespass" to express their anger and sadness at the loss of access to a spot in the sort of landscape Hardy wrote about so evocatively.They will picnic near a lake, listen to songs and some will join a writing workshop, while drawing attention to the closure of a permissive path that local people and visitors have used for generations. Continue reading...

In an Arctic reshaped by the climate crisis, less ice really means more as countries face risks in push for more shipsFor millennia, a mass of sea ice in the high Arctic has changed with the seasons, casting off its outer layer in summer and expanding in winter as it spins between Russia, Canada and Alaska. Known as the Beaufort Gyre, this fluke of geography and oceanography was once a proving ground for ice to mature" into thick sheets.But no more. A rapidly changing climate has reshaped the region, reducing perennial sea ice. As ocean currents spin what is left of the gyre, chunks of ice now clog many of the channels separating the northern islands. Continue reading...

New study finds troubling levels of Pfas near wastewater plants and sludge sites in 19 statesSewage sludge and wastewater treatment plants are major sources of Pfas water pollution, new research finds, raising questions about whether the US is safely managing its waste.A first-of-its-kind study tested rivers bordering 32 sewage sludge sites, including wastewater treatment plants and fields where the substance is spread as fertilizer - it found concerning levels of Pfas around all but one. Continue reading...

Eni has filed at least six defamation suits against journalists and NGOs since 2019 in what critics say is intimidation campaign

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Letter from workers, which EPA claims is unlawful', says agency is no longer living up to its missionThe Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Thursday put on administrative leave 139 employees who signed a declaration of dissent" about its policies, accusing them of unlawfully undermining" the Trump administration's agenda.In a letter made public on Monday, the employees wrote that the agency is no longer living up to its mission to protect human health and the environment. The letter represented rare public criticism from agency employees who knew they could face blowback for speaking out against a weakening of funding and federal support for climate, environmental and health science. Continue reading...

Costa Rica-based inter-American court of human rights says states have obligation to respond to climate changeThere is a human right to a stable climate and states have a duty to protect it, a top court has ruled.Announcing the publication of a crucial advisory opinion on climate change on Thursday, Nancy Hernandez Lopez, president of the inter-American court of human rights (IACHR), said climate change carries extraordinary risks" that are felt particularly keenly by people who are already vulnerable. Continue reading...

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Israel-based study finds that by 2050 average daily milk production could be reduced by 4% as a result of worsening heat stressDairy production will be threatened by the increasing frequency and intensity of heatwaves, a study has found.Drawing on records from more than 130,000 cows over a period of 12 years, the researchers report that extreme heat reduces dairy cows' ability to produce milk by 10%. Continue reading...

Plans announced by environment secretary mean many upland farmers may be incentivised to stop farmingSome farms in England could be taken entirely out of food production under plans to make more space for nature, the environment secretary has said.Speaking at the Groundswell farming festival in Hertfordshire, Steve Reed said a revamp of post-Brexit farming subsidies and a new land use plan would be aimed at increasing food production in the most productive areas and decreasing or completely removing it in the least productive. In reality, this means many upland farmers may be incentivised to stop farming. Continue reading...

Commissioner says two women were attacked by female elephant that was with a calfTwo female tourists from the UK and New Zealand have been killed by an elephant while on a walking safari in a national park in Zambia, police in the southern African country have said.The Eastern Province police commissioner, Robertson Mweemba, said the victims, who he named as 68-year-old Easton Janet Taylor from the UK and 67-year-old Alison Jean Taylor from New Zealand, were attacked by a female elephant that was with a calf. Continue reading...

More people reporting problems as climate crisis means plants and trees flower earlier, extending the pollen seasonPollen levels were so extreme in parts of Europe during spring that even people not known to suffer allergies felt the effects of hay fever, data has shown.The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (Cams) observed a seasonal rise in grass and olive pollen release and transport across southern Europe and extreme levels" of birch pollen in north-eastern regions, it said on Thursday. Continue reading...