Environment | The Guardian

Hybrids outsold pure electrics in the past three quarters, according to new figures, while petrol and diesel sales fell 8%

Minnesota's Lower Sioux Indian Community is pioneering green building with its fully integrated hempcrete facility - a first in the countryWhen Earl Pendleton first heard about building houses out of hemp more than a decade ago, it seemed like a far-fetched idea.To start, it was still illegal to grow hemp - the non-psychoactive strain of Cannabis sativa - in the US. Importing it from overseas was prohibitively expensive. But Pendleton, a member of the Lower Sioux Indian Community, was intrigued by early research that showed hemp could be transformed into non-toxic construction materials that allow for faster build times and result in low-carbon, energy-efficient houses. Continue reading...

As the soundscape of the natural world began to disappear over 30 years, one man was listening and recording it allRead more: World faces deathly silence' of nature as wildlife disappears, warn expertsThe tale starts 30 years ago, when Bernie Krause made his first audio clip in Sugarloaf Ridge state park, 20 minutes' drive from his house near San Francisco. He chose a spot near an old bigleaf maple. Many people loved this place: there was a creek and a scattering of picnic benches nearby.As a soundscape recordist, Krause had travelled around the world listening to the planet. But in 1993 he turned his attention to what was happening on his doorstep. In his first recording, a stream of chortles, peeps and squeaks erupt from the animals that lived in the rich, scrubby habitat. His sensitive microphones captured the sounds of the creek, creatures rustling through undergrowth, and the songs of the spotted towhee, orange-crowned warbler, house wren and mourning dove. Continue reading...

The 2013 documentary Blackfish turned orca trainers into pariahs in the US. Now some are hitting it big in ChinaSome people spend a long time deciding what they want to do in life. Hazel McBride feels lucky that she's always known. As a child in Scotland, she watched a VHS tape of Free Willy on repeat. That was the first time she felt a connection with killer whales. The second time was at age eight, on a trip to SeaWorld Orlando in 2000. Shamu was the animal world's greatest celebrity, and in the US, SeaWorld ads were ubiquitous. Kids wanted to see the killer whales, and after they saw them, they told their parents they wanted to become killer whale trainers. McBride actually did it.It wasn't easy. Scotland didn't have a SeaWorld, or warm water, or anywhere, really, where McBride could get experience with marine mammals. She had horses she cared for, and she was on the national swim team - a modest start. She sent out volunteer applications to local zoos and worked with California sea lions at a safari park. She reached out to trainers online and one told her a psychology degree would help, so she got one. Continue reading...

Loss of intensity and diversity of noises in ecosystems reflects an alarming decline in healthy biodiversity, say sound ecologistsRead more: No birdsong, no water in the creek, no beating wings: how a haven for nature fell silentSounds of the natural world are rapidly falling silent and will become acoustic fossils" without urgent action to halt environmental destruction, international experts have warned.As technology develops, sound has become an increasingly important way of measuring the health and biodiversity of ecosystems: our forests, soils and oceans all produce their own acoustic signatures. Scientists who use ecoacoustics to measure habitats and species say that quiet is falling across thousands of habitats, as the planet witnesses extraordinary losses in the density and variety of species. Disappearing or losing volume along with them are many familiar sounds: the morning calls of birds, rustle of mammals through undergrowth and summer hum of insects. Continue reading...

Heavy rain likely to cause low yields in Britain and other parts of Europe, with drought in Morocco hitting imports

Many products consumed by Britons could be hit by floods and droughts driven by climate crisis

Seven months after an El Nino associated with hotter and drier weather got under way, conditions have returned to neutral

Tanya Plibersek says two new agencies will be established but a commitment to rewrite national environment laws has been pushed back

Scientists have recorded widespread bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef as global heating creates a fourth planet-wide bleaching event. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Coral Reef Watch, 54% of ocean waters containing coral reefs have been experiencing heat stress high enough to cause bleachingSubscribe to Guardian Australia on YouTube

Supreme court ruling left more than 90% of state's surface waters with no pollution protections, since they don't run continuouslyNew Mexico's rivers, which include the Rio Grande, Gila, San Juan and Pecos, are America's most threatened waterways, according to a new report. This is largely due to a 2023 US supreme court decision that left more than 90% of the state's surface waters without federal protections from industrial pollution, according to state officials.Virtually all the rivers in New Mexico are losing clean water protections," said Matt Rice, the south-west regional director of American Rivers, the conservation group that publishes the annual list. It has the most to lose, and the threat is particularly acute there." Continue reading...

Paris claims ban breaches UK-EU trade deal but environmentalists say dispute is hypocrisy', given Macron's rhetoric on saving oceansFrance has been accused of hypocrisy by conservationists over a fresh post-Brexit dispute with the UK over fishing rights.France launched an official protest after the UK banned bottom trawling from parts of its territorial waters last month, with the aim of protecting vulnerable habitats. Continue reading...

Intense patches of cold water rising from the depths are killing sharks, rays and other creatures, researchers sayA climate-disrupted ocean is pushing sharks, rays and other species to flee ever-hotter water in the tropics, only for them to be killed by increasingly intense upwells of cold water from the depths, a study has found.One of the authors of the paper described the eerie" aftermath of a mass die-off of more than 260 marine organisms from 81 species in a singular event of extreme cold upwelling off the coast of South Africa in 2021. Continue reading...

The percentage of reef areas experiencing bleaching-level heat stress is increasing by about 1% a week, scientists sayGlobal heating has pushed the world's coral reefs to a fourth planet-wide mass bleaching event that is on track to be the most extensive on record, US government scientists have confirmed.Some 54% of ocean waters containing coral reefs have experienced heat stress high enough to cause bleaching, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Coral Reef Watch said. Continue reading...

For the women who pick and prepare Maryland's famous crab, the once profitable work is far more uncertain - and the climate crisis has had a damaging impactIn the evening light, Maribel Malagon stepped outside into a rain storm.It was late October and Malagon, 53, had worked all day picking crab off the eastern shore of Maryland. That night, she and a handful of other seasonal workers walked to a neighbor's house for an evening of prayer. On the way, Malagon clutched a pendant of St Judas, the patron saint of lost causes, that hung around her neck; she hoped he would hear her prayers for more work. Continue reading...

Lumbricus terrestris claims landslide victory with 38% of vote, while Asian or yellow-legged hornet comes in last with 0.8%It's a political earthquake! The common earthworm, the soil-maker, food provider and grand recycler, is the landslide winner of the inaugural UK invertebrate of the year competition.Lumbricus terrestris, also known as the lob worm, dew worm and nightcrawler, took a mighty 38% of the popular vote after readers nominated it to be added to the shortlist for the Guardian contest. Continue reading...

Underwater mountains are biodiversity hotspots and researchers exploring the Salas y Gomez ridge off Chile have found 50 species probably new to science. How much more has yet to be discovered?

Study connects heatwaves and cold snaps to surges in payday lending, keeping people in debt and harming communities of colorTwo competing payday loan stores stand on the corners of an intersection in south Los Angeles. An area of persistent poverty, south LA is also a banking desert where payday lenders fill the gap. Long lines form inside the stores on the first of the month, when rent is due.Guillermina Molina, a 60-year-old retired housekeeper, visits the same Speedy Cash each month. During the summer months - which are becoming increasingly hot - she runs her air conditioner but frets about her utility bills. It's kind of hard because the [power bill] is coming up too high because you gotta have the air conditioner on," Molina said. Continue reading...

Removal of nearly 500 barriers last year will help restore disturbed waterways to their natural state, says Dam Removal EuropeEurope removed a record number of dams and other barriers from its rivers in 2023, a report has found, helping to restore its disturbed waterways to their natural states.Nearly 500 barriers were taken out of European rivers last year, according to figures compiled by Dam Removal Europe, an increase of 50% from the year before. Continue reading...

A new collection of wildlife photography aims to help understand why people have photographed animals at different points in history and what it means in the present. Huw Lewis-Jones explores the animal in photography through the work of more than 100 photographers in Why We Photograph Animals, supporting the images with thematic essays to provide historical context

Juliette Wells and Reece Mortensen are allowed to keep the bird, which had become Instagram famous with their staffy, Peggy, but are forbidden from monetising it

Protemnodon viator believed to have weighed up to 170kg - double the size of the largest species alive todaySupersized marsupials roamed the Australian continent for millennia. But until now the understanding of giant kangaroos - or Protemnodon - has been confined to isolated bones and difficult-to-distinguish species.Scientists have now identified three new species of the extinct giant kangaroo - Protemnodon viator, Protemnodon mamkurra and Protemnodon dawsonae, which lived from 5m to 40,000 years ago.Sign up for Guardian Australia's free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...

Indigenous groups see hope in the environmentally friendly process of bioremediation. But will cities pay attention?It almost looked like a garden. In Taylor Yard, a former railyard near downtown Los Angeles, volunteers knelt down to tend to scrubby plants growing in neat rows under the sweltering sun.But beneath the concrete of the 60-acre site overlooking the Los Angeles River, the soils were soaked with an assortment of hazardous heavy metals and petrochemicals like lead, cadmium, diesel and benzene. As the volunteers worked to dig up entire plants for closer study - some with roots nearly 12ft deep - they wore protective gear and carefully avoided inhaling or touching the toxic soil. Even a brief exposure to the contaminants could cause serious health consequences. Continue reading...

Hairy-nosed otters and cats that catch fish are among the startling diversity of creatures making their home in threatened habitatsOne of the most comprehensive biodiversity surveys ever carried out in a mangrove forest has revealed that an astonishing array of wildlife makes its home in these key, threatened habitats.Hundreds of species - from bats to birds and fish to insects - were identified during the study of the Peam Krasop sanctuary and the adjacent Koh Kapik Ramsar reserve in Cambodia. Hairy-nosed otters, smooth-coated otters, large-spotted civets, long-tailed macaques and fishing cats, as well a wide range of bat species, were among the residents recorded by the survey, which was funded by the conservation group Fauna & Flora International. The variety of wildlife has staggered biologists. Continue reading...

Paris agreement negotiator Todd Stern attacks premiers who say that decarbonisation programmes are unrealistic and should be slowed downPolitical leaders who present themselves as grownups" while slowing the pace of climate action are pushing the world towards deeper catastrophe, a former US climate chief has warned.We are slowed down by those who think of themselves as grownups and believe decarbonisation at the speed the climate community calls for is unrealistic," said Todd Stern, who served as a special envoy for climate change under Barack Obama, and helped negotiate the 2015 Paris agreement. Continue reading...

Amy Westervelt and Kyle Pope have covered climate disinformation for a combined 20-plus years - here's their guide on how to decode itIncreasingly sophisticated and better-funded disinformation is making climate coverage trickier both for journalists to produce and for the public to fully understand and trust.But telling the story, and understanding it, has never been more urgent with half of Earth's population eligible to vote in elections that could decisively impact the world's ability to act in time to stave off the worst of the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Treasurer offers more detail on forthcoming Future Made in Australia plan after concerns raised by productivity commissioner

The marine mammals are increasingly endangered as warmer waters push them into ship traffic and fishing gearA North Atlantic right whale has been spotted entangled in rope off New England, worsening an already devastating year for the vanishing animals, federal authorities said.Right whales number less than 360 and are vulnerable to entanglement in fishing gear and collisions with ships. The entangled whale was seen on Wednesday about 50 miles (80km) south of Rhode Island's Block Island, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said. Continue reading...

Bulldozed tracks and informal byways in tropical forests and palm-oil plantations almost always' an indicator of future deforestation, say researchersA vast network of undocumented ghost roads" is pushing into the world's untouched rainforests and driving their destruction in the Asia-Pacific region, a new study has found.By using Google Earth to map tropical forests on Borneo, Sumatra and New Guinea islands, researchers from James Cook University in Australia documented 1.37m kilometres (850,000 miles) of roads across 1.4m sq kilometres of rainforest on the islands - between three and seven times what is officially recorded on road databases. Continue reading...

Decision by European court of human rights around vulnerability of older women to heatwaves marks significant shiftA landmark legal ruling at the European court of human rights could open the floodgates for a slew of new court cases around the world, experts have said.The Strasbourg-based court said earlier this week that Switzerland's failure to do enough to cut its national greenhouse gas emissions was a clear violation of the human rights of a group of more than 2,000 older Swiss women. The women argued successfully that their rights to privacy and family life were being breached because they were particularly vulnerable to the health impacts of heatwaves. Continue reading...

Alliance says there's not enough ambition in proposed laws to prevent extinctions, as promised by the environment minister

Company is fighting Dutch court ruling that says it must emit 45% less CO2 by 2030 than in 2019Shell has argued that it lobbies for, not against, the energy transition" on the final day of its appeal against an important climate ruling.The fossil fuel company is fighting the decision of a Dutch court in 2021 that forces it to pump 45% less planet-heating CO into the atmosphere by 2030 than it did in 2019. In court on Friday, Shell argued the ruling is ineffective, onerous and does not fit into the existing legal system. Continue reading...

Chamonixia caespitosa found during rewilding project in west Highlands while removing non-native Sitka spruceNaturalists have found a very rare type of truffle living in a Scottish forestry plantation which is being cut down so a natural Atlantic rainforest can grow in its place.The discovery of the globally rare fungus near Creagan in the west Highlands has thrown up a paradox: the work to remove the non-native Sitka spruce, to allow rewilding by native trees, means the truffle will be lost. Continue reading...

El Nino weather phenomenon has contributed to warm, dry conditions in US, leading to more fires much earlier in the yearThe US midwest typically spends the start of spring emerging from snow. But this year, after a warm winter left landscapes parched, the region instead was primed to burn. Hundreds of blazes ignited in recent months in states more accustomed to dealing with just dozens for this time of year, as extreme fire behavior defied seasonal norms.Experts say the unusually early and active fire season was a symptom of El Nino, a climate pattern characterized by warmer surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean that was predicted to supercharge global heating and extreme weather. But the climate crisis turned up the dial, and helped create conditions in the midwest where winter temperature records were not only broken - they were smashed. Continue reading...

Bogota brings in water rationing with El Nino weather phenomenon meaning city could run out in under two monthsCouples in Bogota are being asked to shower together as water supplies are rationed in the Colombian capital.Major neighbourhoods were cut off from the water grid on Thursday to preserve dangerously low water levels at reservoirs that have been starved of rain by the weather phenomenon known as El Nino. Continue reading...

My first rideout back in 2011 was liberating - and this Sunday, the monthly demonstration celebrates a big milestoneThirteen years ago, riding through central London on my way to meet a friend one evening, I found myself surrounded by hundreds of cyclists, some blaring horns, one popping wheelies, and even someone covered in lights, thundering out drum'n'bass from a mobile sound system.In spite of being overdressed in a shirt and my best trousers, I was taken by the spontaneous solidarity of this diverse group, who I later found was mostly made up of strangers. Continue reading...

Millions of years ago, animals adapted to become warm-blooded amid huge climactic changes. Now scientists hope these clues from the past could help us understand what lies aheadIn Chicago's Field Museum, behind a series of access-controlled doors, are about 1,500 dinosaur fossil specimens. The palaeobiologist Jasmina Wiemann walks straight past the bleached leg bones - some as big as her - neither does she glance at the fully intact spinal cord, stained red by iron oxides filling the spaces where there was once organic material. She only has eyes for the deep chocolate-brown fossils: these are the ones containing preserved organic matter - bones that offer unprecedented insights into creatures that went extinct millions of years ago.Wiemann is part of the burgeoning field of conservation palaeobiology, where researchers are looking to the deep past to predict future extinction vulnerability. At a time when humans could be about to witness a sixth mass extinction, studying fossil records is particularly useful for understanding how the natural world responded to problems before we arrived: how life on Earth reacted to environmental change over time, how species adapted to planet-scale temperature changes, or what to expect when ocean geochemical cycles change. Continue reading...

Blue tits, starlings, wood pigeons and blackbirds next most sighted in RSPB survey involving 600,000 participantsA friendly if slightly tuneless chirp is the most ubiquitous birdsong in British gardens with the house sparrow topping the Big Garden Birdwatch charts for the 21st consecutive year, according to the annual RSPB survey.Blue tits, starlings, wood pigeons and blackbirds were the next most-sighted birds by more than 600,000 participants in the world's largest wildlife garden survey. Continue reading...

London mayor expected to criticise Susan Hall in speech launching solar panels on school roofsSadiq Khan will accuse his Conservative rival in the race to be London's next mayor of being Trumpian" over the climate crisis, as he announces plans for solar panels on schools.Khan is expected to acknowledge resistance to his expansion of the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) in a speech on Friday but insist that he still intends to go further". Continue reading...

Climate Change Authority says goal could be achievable if more action is taken by governments, business, investors and households

New organisation behind protest outside Keir Starmer's home has big plans for future political changeA new organisation calling itself Youth Demand has hit the headlines in recent weeks after spray painting the Labour party headquarters and the Ministry of Defence, as well as staging a protest outside Keir Starmer's home.Rows of children's shoes were laid at the Labour leader's front door in Kentish Town, north London, at the beginning of the week. A banner surrounded by red handprints was hung outside the house he shares with his wife and children, with the words: Starmer stop the killing." Continue reading...

Employees at SBTi have called for their CEO to resign over controversial plans which they fear will enable greenwashingStaff at one of the world's leading climate-certification organisations have called for the CEO and board members to resign after they announced plans to allow companies to meet their climate targets with carbon offsets.They fear that companies will use the offsets for greenwashing, while avoiding making the necessary cuts in greenhouse gas emissions - without which the world faces climate catastrophe. Continue reading...

Country had previously turned the tide on deforestation but armed rebels have revoked banDeforestation in the Colombian Amazon is surging and could be at a historic peak as armed groups use the rainforest as a bargaining chip in peace negotiations with the government.Preliminary data shows that deforestation in the region was 40% higher in the first three months of this year than in 2023 as armed groups tightened their control over the rainforest, said Susana Muhamad, the country's environment minister. Continue reading...

Government recovery fund stipulates affected areas must be less than 150 metres from a main' riverFarmers who have their entire cropping land submerged underwater have found they are ineligible for a government flooding hardship fund - because their farms are too far from a major river.According to the Met Office, 1,695.9mm of rain fell from October 2022 to March 2024, the highest amount for any 18-month period in England since the organisation started collecting comparable data in 1836. Scientists have said climate breakdown is likely to cause more intense periods of rain in the UK. Continue reading...

Rules celebrated for reducing exposures, but experts say it's not enough and will lead to an endless game of Whac-A-Mole'Strong new limits for some PFAS compounds in drinking water set by the US Environmental Protection Agency this week are being celebrated for how far they go in reducing exposures to the dangerous chemicals.But public health advocates say the rules merely represent a first step that is limited in its impact on the broader PFAS crisis because they do not directly prevent more pollution or force the chemical industry to pay for cleanup. Continue reading...

Leaders have failed to tackle invasion of sargassum, which may have a bumper year in 2024Schools evacuated due to toxic gas. Smelly tap water at home. Tourist operators and fishers struggling to stay in business. Job losses. Power outages affecting tens of thousands of people at a time. Dangerous health problems. Even lives lost.Such crises were some of the consequences of sargassum seaweed in the islands of the Caribbean in 2023, which have become common in the region since 2011, when massive blooms began inundating the shorelines in the spring and summer months. Continue reading...

Biden administration hopes funding will spur enduring cuts to planet-heating emissions no matter who is in White HouseAmid rising global temperatures and a looming election against an opponent who has indicated he will gut his climate policies, Joe Biden's administration is shoveling billions of dollars into efforts it hopes will spur enduring cuts to planet-heating emissions, no matter the occupant of the White House.In recent weeks, large tracts of funding has been announced by the administration to help overcome some of the thorniest and esoteric challenges the world faces in driving down carbon pollution, seeding the promise of everything from the advent of zero-emissions concrete to low-pollution food production, including mac and cheese and ice-cream, to driving the uptake of solar panels and electric stoves in low-income households. Continue reading...

Marine researcher devastated' by widespread event that is affecting coral species usually resistant to bleachingConcern that the Great Barrier Reef may be suffering the most severe mass coral bleaching event on record has escalated after a conservation group released footage showing damage up to 18 metres below the surface.Dr Selina Ward, a marine biologist and former academic director of the University of Queensland's Heron Island Research Station, said it was the worst bleaching she had seen in 30 years working on the reef, and that some coral was starting to die. Continue reading...

Increase of 2% last year driven by plant expansion in China and slowdown in US and Europe closuresThe world's coal power capacity grew for the first time since 2019 last year, despite warnings that coal plants need to close at a rate of at least 6% each year to avoid a climate emergency.A report by Global Energy Monitor found that coal power capacity grew by 2% last year, driven by an increase in new coal plants across China and a slowdown of plant closures in Europe and the US. Continue reading...

VisitAHeatPump service allows householders to look and ask questions about low-carbon systemUK householders considering swapping their gas boiler for an electric heat pump could see how they work by visiting an early adopter in their area.A new service aims to help would-be heat pump owners to book a visit with households that already have one installed, through a website launched by the innovation charity Nesta. Continue reading...