Labor's koala strategy doesn't go far enough, Coalition says, but environmentalists hail park a once-in-a-lifetime' decision

Sam Shoemaker's record-setting voyage shows the promise - and limits - of fungi as a plastic alternativeOn a clear, still morning in early August, Sam Shoemaker launched his kayak into the waters off Catalina Island and began paddling. His goal: to traverse the open ocean to San Pedro, just south of Los Angeles, some 26.4 miles away.But upon a closer look, Shoemaker's kayak was no ordinary kayak. Brown-ish yellow and bumpy in texture, it had been made - or rather, grown - entirely from mushrooms. His journey, if successful, would mark the world's longest open-water journey in a kayak built from this unique material. Continue reading...

We're beyond Mel Gibson's Mad Max era. We no longer need oil to make it through the apocalypseAs I write these words, the No 1 trending story on the Guardian is titled: The history and future of societal collapse". It is an account of a study by a Cambridge expert who works at something ominously called the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk; he concludes that we can't put a date on Doomsday, but by looking at the 5,000 years of [civilisation], we can understand the trajectories we face today - and self-termination is most likely".I can't claim to have done a study, though I have been at work on climate change for almost 40 years and I gotta say: seems about right. So it's maybe not the worst moment for a bit of worry about how you would fare in the case of a temporary breakdown of our civilization. Perhaps you have noticed that extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and violent. Or you read the stories that Donald Trump was shutting down the Federal Emergency Management Agency and surmised you'll have to take care of yourself going forward. Or hey, maybe you think a cabal of pedophiles might try and use black helicopters to herd you into a 15-minute city where a communist mayor will make you spend the rest of your life riding a scary subway. Continue reading...

Rise in cases south of the border prompts concern over US livestock as Trump budget cuts hit research and foreign aidA patient in Maryland was diagnosed in August with New World screwworm, a parasitic fly, after traveling to El Salvador. Doctors and veterinarians say the case poses very low risks for human health in the US, but it comes after an increase of cases in South and Central America and the Caribbean in recent years. It also highlights the importance of international cooperation on research and prevention.For decades, the fight against the screwworm was a success story of scientific innovation and collaboration with other countries. There were devastating outbreaks of the parasite in the US in the first half of the 20th century until an ambitious program pushed it south, all the way to Panama. Continue reading...

More habitat has been given up legally in 2025 so far than any other year since the animals were listed as threatened, analysis shows

Minns government to create one of the largest national parks in the state as forest advocates welcome historic' victory

Samuel McLennan has spent two years salvaging fish farm waste and other marine debris from Tasmanian shores for his oceangoing vessel. McLennan's boat, which he named Heart, has slowly made its way across the Bass Strait to Victoria. Otis Filley joined McLennan aboard for part of the journey Continue reading...

After a years-long battle, organic dairy ranches are being expelled from Point Reyes national seashore to revitalize the ecosystemRodd Kelsey gazed out on the golden slopes of Point Reyes national seashore sweeping down to the rugged California coastline, pointing to the patches laden with invasive stalks of prickly thistle and browning sod. These are some of the hallmarks of the region's recent history, he said - but they also showcase the opportunities for its future.A new chapter is unfolding on the striking landscape located some 70 miles (113km) north of San Francisco. The unique patchwork of wild and pastoral ranges operated by the National Park Service (NPS) has spent decades mired in battles between local ranchers operating on the lands and environmentalists who see their presence as a blight. Continue reading...

Livestream of voyage to bottom of one of country's deepest lakes draws thousands - but no sign of Tahoe Tessie yetThe cobalt waters of Lake Tahoe have long captivated the public, helping drive the area's massive tourism industry and even attracting urban legends about what lies in the cold, shadowy depths.Theories have ranged from an aquatic creature named Tessie to perfectly preserved bodies dumped by the mafia decades ago. Continue reading...

These wildfires tend to burn in more remote areas and grow larger faster, posing a higher risk to public safety and healthThe climate crisis will continue making lightning-sparked wildfires more frequent for decades to come, which could produce cascading effects and worsen public safety and public health, experts and new research suggest.Lightning-caused fires tend to burn in more remote areas and therefore usually grow into larger fires than human-caused fires. That means a trend toward more lightning-caused fires is also probably making wildfires more deadly by producing more wildfire smoke and helping to drive a surge in air quality issues from coast to coast, especially over the past several years. Continue reading...

Beaches from Manly to Narrabeen closed after death of 57-year-old who leaves behind wife and child

Flooding in northern India and Pakistan has destroyed homes - and hundreds of thousands of acres of cropsFor days, farmers in the Indian state of Punjab watched the pounding monsoon rains fall and the rivers rise with mounting apprehension. By Wednesday, many woke to find their fears realised as the worst floods in more than three decades ravaged their farms and decimated their livelihoods.Hundreds of thousands of acres of bright green rice paddies - due to be harvested imminently - as well as crops of cotton and sugar cane were left destroyed as they became fully submerged in more than five feet of muddy brown flood waters. The bodies of drowned cattle littered the ground. Continue reading...

Maureen Gilbert, 83, was discovered drowned in her home after river in Chesterfield overflowedThe son of an 83-year-old woman who died during Storm Babet has called for more money to be invested in protecting homes from flooding.An inquest at Chesterfield coroner's court heard on Friday that Maureen Gilbert drowned in her home in Chesterfield after the River Rother overflowed on 21 October 2023 during the storm. Continue reading...

Fragmented' policies leading councils to prioritise approval of housebuilding over parks, study findsChildren in cities across England face barriers to playing outside because urban planners are prioritising housebuilding over parks, a study has found.The research, published in the peer-reviewed journal Cities and Health, found that planners were prioritising the approval of new homes ahead of outdoor play spaces due to a combination of policy misalignment, financial constraints and pressures stemming from a lack of housing. Continue reading...

Kokichi Akuzawa climbed with 70-year-old daughter to break record for oldest person to make ascent - a second timeKokichi Akuzawa has become the oldest person to climb to the top of Mount Fuji at the age of 102 - despite almost giving up during his trek.I was really tempted to give up halfway through," Akuzawa said. Reaching the summit was tough, but my friends encouraged me, and it turned out well. I managed to get through it because so many people supported me." Continue reading...

Temperatures climb above 40C, while a powerful hailstorm in the US lashes Kansas and OklahomaA spate of extremely hot weather in British Columbia has broken Canada's national maximum temperature record for September.On Tuesday, it reached 40C (104F) in Lytton, matching the previous all-time high. That was only the third time that temperature has been recorded in the country in September. Continue reading...

Survey of eight countries finds 82% of people support 30x30 biodiversity target, as progress stalls on protected areasMuch of the world favours protecting 30% of the world's land and water for nature by 2030, according to new research that has found overwhelming public support for the goal across eight countries on five continents.Nearly 200 nations agreed in 2022 to set aside 30% of the world's land and 30% of marine areas for nature. But just 17.6% of the world's land and 8.6% of the seas are now under global protection, and more than 100 nations are less than halfway to meeting the target, which was established under the 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Continue reading...

Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia are beautiful tourist destinations, but off their coasts is a darker hidden reality, where overfishing and unregulated catches are rife and fishers face exploitation and loss of income. The freelance photojournalist Nicole Tung spent nine months reporting in south-east Asia and was this week awarded laureate of the 15th edition of the Carmignac Photojournalism Awards Continue reading...

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

Exclusive: Analysis shows farmers ploughing to the edge of waterways, destroying crucial wildlife ecosystemsHuge tracts of precious riverside habitats for water voles and other wildlife in England are being lost as they are not covered by post-Brexit farming rules, campaigners warn.New analysis by the Wildlife Trusts found more than 400square km of riverside habitat in England may have been lost since the UK left the EU in 2020. Continue reading...

BCA member criticises climate modelling commissioned by lobby group that underplays' economic opportunities and does not factor in cost of inaction

States claim Revolution Wind project was stopped illegally, threatening jobs, clean energy and billions in investmentsRhode Island and Connecticut will sue the Trump administration over its decision to halt the huge Revolution Wind electricity project off the north-east coast of the US, the two announced on Thursday morning.This kind of erratic and reckless governing is blatantly illegal, and we're suing to stop it," said Connecticut attorney general, William Tong, in a statement. Continue reading...

Documents tabled in NSW parliament show state agency took four years to publish report and told miners it would be put online quietly' but EPA says it was released to community earlier

Scientists say old-school denier nonsense' isn't helpful as podcaster repeatedly airs false claim on his showFor months now, the popular comedian and podcaster Joe Rogan has been telling his vast audience of a study that shows Earth is cooling - even though this research states the complete opposite.Rogan's false claim about the climate crisis, which he has repeatedly aired on the Joe Rogan Experience, one of the world's most popular podcasts, has exasperated the scientists who authored the research. Continue reading...

Carcinogens entering waterways from 25,000 road outflows are not monitored or regulated by Environment Agency, committee hearsToxic, carcinogenic pollution that pours from 25,000 road outflows into rivers in England is being ignored by politicians and regulators, MPs have been told.Road runoff containing toxic particles from tyres and brakes, and pollution from fuel and oil spills - which washes into rivers after rainfall - can devastate aquatic life and, by increasing toxicity, reduce the overall health of waterways. It is responsible for 18% of the reason all rivers fail to meet good ecological and chemical standards. Continue reading...

As powerful forces push back against green forces, it is little surprise that many of us feel dismay. Climate scientists do, too. But together we can take action to challenge the prevailing apathySupport the Guardian's independent journalism today Last year, I stood in front of a black-clad skinhead as he shook a fist full of rings thick enough to double as a knuckle-duster. Flecks of spit flew into my face as he railed against the green agenda of the last German government.Until recently, it would have felt bizarre to talk to protesters at a neo-Nazi-linked rally about climate change or hear them rant unprompted about heat pumps. But far-right parties have entered the political mainstream, and their scathing tirades against woke" green rules are energising their base.Join George Monbiot and special guests on 16 September for a special climate assembly to discuss the growing and dramatic political and corporate threats to the planet. Book tickets - in person or livestream Continue reading...

The country's fisheries and the health of its seas still rely on a method practised for nearly 1,000 years - catching skipjack tuna one fish at a time

Scientists say ozone is warming Earth by 40% more than expected but that repair is still right thing to doThe repair of the Earth's ozone layer has been a success, but a new study reveals a downside: ozone is warming the planet up to 40% more than originally anticipated.Bill Collins from the University of Reading and his colleagues used a computer model to project the amount of warming associated with changes in ozone between 2015 and 2050, taking into account changes in humidity, clouds and surface reflectivity. If we continue to implement the air pollution controls mandated by the Montreal protocol in 1987 their results, which are published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, suggest that the healing of the ozone layer will create more warming, cancelling out most of the climate benefits from stopping production of ozone destroying chemicals such as CFCs and HCFCs. Continue reading...

Wildfires were 30% more intense than would have been expected without global heating, scientists sayThe extreme weather that fuelled astonishing" blazes across Spain and Portugal last month was made 40 times more likely by climate breakdown, early analysis suggests.The deadly wildfires, which torched 500,000 hectares (1.2m acres) of the Iberian peninsula in a matter of weeks, were also 30% more intense than scientists would have expected in a world without climate change, according to researchers from the World Weather Attribution network. Continue reading...

US schools were built for a cooler climate that no longer exists. Now they face record-high temperaturesAs schools are returning to session following one of the hottest summers ever recorded, districts are faced with a new problem: how to handle increasingly extreme heatwaves, both in and outside the classroom.Unbearably hot days are no longer just a summer problem. In the US districts from the north-east to the mountain west to the deep south are shortening days, delaying openings, and reworking calendars as temperatures spike during August and September, the typical back-to-school months. Continue reading...

BYD overtakes Mitsubishi after nearly quadrupling sales in past year, according to official figures, as GWM, MG and Chery also surge

Oil firm, which paused project in 2024, will not restart work because facility deemed insufficiently competitive'Shell has axed the construction of its biofuels plant in the Netherlands, ending what would have been one of the biggest converters of waste into green jet fuel in Europe.The oil company, which paused construction at the site in July last year to tackle technical problems, said it had decided not to restart building after it found the plant would be insufficiently competitive" to meet demand for affordable, low-carbon products". Continue reading...

The hole - about 100 metres deep - was not visible from the surface - and there could be thousands more like it

A future of extreme heatwaves, drought and collapsing habitats awaits if we continue to ignore the danger signsWhat does British summertime mean to you? Blackberries? Picnics? Festivals? Ticks? This summer has been the hottest on record in the UK. As human-caused climate breakdown intensifies, the outdoor areas we spend time in are changing - and so, too, are our relationships with the land and the ecosystems we live in.My home is in the south of England, near beautiful woodlands. Since moving there in 2016, the number of ticks my family has picked up in the woods has increased each year, but this summer has been astonishing. For a few weeks, our four-year-old came home from nursery with a tick almost every day. I've had many: some tiny nymphal ones that could be easily missed. We spend time in Scotland, too, and find ticks often when we go there now.Lucy Jones is a journalist and the author of Losing Eden and The Nature Seed Continue reading...

Hundreds of billions of dollars invested in extractive mining for green transition with few safeguards, research findsThe financing of transition mineral mining is driving widespread environmental destruction and human rights abuses, according to a report.Banks and investors have ploughed hundreds of billions of dollars into companies mining for minerals for the manufacture of solar panels, wind turbines, batteries, energy grids and electric vehicles in the past decade, according to the research. Continue reading...

Australia's 2035 target for cutting emissions will reveal how serious we are about addressing the climate crisis

More than 97% at Yosemite and Sequoia & Kings Canyon parks voted to unionize as president enacts major cutsHundreds of staff at two of California's most popular national parks have voted to unionize, a move that comes during a troubled summer for the National Park Service, which has seen the Trump administration enact unprecedented staff and budget cuts.In an election held between July and August, more than 97% of workers at Yosemite and Sequoia & Kings Canyon national parks voted in support of organizing a union, according to a statement from the National Federation of Federal Employees. The Federal Labor Relations Authority certified the results last week. Continue reading...

Megaberg' known as A23a has rapidly disintegrated in warmer warmers and could disappear within weeksNearly 40 years after breaking off Antarctica, a colossal iceberg ranked among the oldest and largest ever recorded is finally crumbling apart in warmer waters, and could disappear within weeks.Earlier this year, the megaberg" known as A23a weighed a little under a trillion tonnes and was more than twice the size of Greater London, a behemoth unrivalled at the time. Continue reading...

MPs on Commons committee describe figures as a waste and say money should have been used to fix infrastructureEnglish water companies have spent 16.6m fighting legal action against regulators and campaigners over environmental breaches such as illegal sewage spills.Correspondence from the companies to the Commons environment, food and rural affairs (Efra) committee published on Tuesday reveals that millions of pounds of billpayers' money has been spent over the past five years on expensive external lawyers enlisted to reduce liabilities for regulatory breaches. Continue reading...

Authorities said the boy, who survived and was hospitalized, was bitten while snorkelling near Key LargoAn eight-year-old child suffered a significant amount of blood loss" after he was bitten by a shark as he was snorkelling near Key Largo on Monday, authorities in Florida said.The boy survived and was taken by helicopter to hospital in Miami for treatment to a leg wound above the knee. His condition was unknown on Tuesday morning, but local media reports described his wounds as severe". Continue reading...

Exclusive: The progressive thinktank, which has championed a real zero' emissions policy, says it protects privacy of donors to avoid them being targeted

More than 40 round-leaf pomaderris discovered by environmental community group inside the area earmarked for fire break in July

Over 85 top climate specialists lambasted administration's review, calling it a shoddy mess' that downplays risksA group of the US's leading climate scientists have compiled a withering review of a controversial Trump administration report that downplays the risks of the climate crisis, finding that the document is biased, riddled with errors and fails basic scientific credibility.More than 85 climate experts have contributed to a comprehensive 434-page report that excoriates a US Department of Energy (DOE) document written by five hand-picked fringe researchers that argues that global heating and its resulting consequences have been overstated. Continue reading...

Research reveals huge disparity between perceived and actual willingness of public to contribute to fixing climatePoliticians and policymakers significantly underestimate the public's willingness to contribute to climate action, limiting the ambition and scope of green policies, according to research.Delegates at the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) were asked to estimate what percentage of the global population would say they were willing to give 1% of their income to help fix climate change. The average estimate was 37%, but recent research found the true figure is 69%. Continue reading...

From the firing of the labor statistics chief to plans for a new census, the president's moves serve to entrench authoritarianismIn 1937, Joseph Stalin commissioned a sweeping census of the Soviet Union. The data reflected some uncomfortable facts - in particular, the dampening of population growth in areas devastated by the 1933 famine - and so Stalin's government suppressed the release of the survey results. Several high-level government statistical workers responsible for the census were subsequently imprisoned and apparently executed. Though the Soviet authorities would proudly trumpet national statistics that glorified the USSR's achievements, any numbers that did not fit the preferred narrative were buried.A few weeks ago, following the release of disappointing" jobs data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Donald Trump fired the commissioner of labor statistics, Dr Erika McEntarfer, and claimed the numbers were rigged". He also announced his intention to commission an unprecedented off-schedule census of the US population (these happen every 10 years and the next one should be in 2030) with an emphasis that this census will not count illegal immigrants". The real goal is presumably to deliver a set of population estimates that could be used to reapportion congressional seats and districts ahead of the 2026 mid-term elections and ensure conditions favorable to Republican control of Congress - though it is not clear there is sufficient time or support from Congress to make this happen. The administration is also reportedly updating" the National Climate Assessments and various important sources of data on topics related to climate and public health have disappeared. In addition to all this, Trump's justice department launched an investigation into the crime statistics of the DC Metropolitan police, alleging that the widely reported decline in 2024 DC violent crime rates - the lowest total number of recorded violent crimes city-wide in 30 years - are a distortion, fueled by falsified or manipulated statistics. One might say that the charge of fake data" is just a close cousin of the fake news" and all of this is par for the course for an administration that insists an alternate reality is the truth. But this pattern may also beget a specifically troubling (and quintessentially Soviet) state of affairs: the public belief that all political" data are fake, that one generally cannot trust statistics. We must resist this paradigm shift, because it mainly serves to entrench authoritarianism.Daniel Malinsky is an assistant professor of biostatistics in the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University Continue reading...

First observed in Sydney in 1860, the magical' phenomenon has become more common in Australia's warming waters since the 1990s

Unprecedented average temperature made about 70 times more likely by human-induced climate change, says agencyThe UK has had its hottest summer on record, the Met Office has said, after the country faced four heatwaves in a single season.The mean temperature for meteorological summer, which encompasses the months of June, July and August, was 16.1C (60.98F), which is significantly above the current record of 15.76C set in 2018. Continue reading...

Pedro Sanchez says country's deadly August wildfires show society needs to mobilise and take immediate actionSpain's prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, has announced a 10-point plan to prepare the country for the climate emergency, warning: If we don't want to bequeath our children a Spain that's grey from fire and flames, or a Spain that's brown from floods, then we need a Spain that's greener."Sanchez said August's heatwave-fuelled wildfires - which killed four people, burned through an area six times the size of Ibiza and required the biggest human and technical deployment" ever seen in Spain - showed that immediate action must be taken to mitigate the effects of the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Conservationists hope that in 15 years species will no longer be at risk of extinction in Mexico - but challenges remainIn 2010, Gerardo Ceballos and a group of other researchers set out to answer a burning question: how many jaguars were there in Mexico? They knew there weren't many. Hunting, loss of habitat, conflict with cattle ranchers and other issues had pushed the population to the brink of extinction.Ceballos and his team from the National Alliance for Jaguar Conservation (ANCJ) thought there were maybe 1,000 jaguars across the country. They decided to carry out the country's first census of the animal to find out exactly how many there were. They found 4,100. Continue reading...

Most of these little-known but already endangered fish have never been seen alive in their natural habitat, but are under threat from bottom trawling and deep-sea miningThree years ago I was running a research project from a bottom trawler off Namibia about deep-sea sharks - all of which live under enormous water pressure, close to the seafloor and are rarely seen by humans.These sharks were being brought up in the trawler's nets. By the time they were brought to the surface, they had experienced such a dramatic change in pressure that they had undergone barotrauma, so they were internally damaged and unlikely to survive. Continue reading...