Seeds from the last toromiro, unique to remote Easter Island, were taken away in the 1960s. Now, after a crucial discovery gave hope for its survival, it is making a returnIn the Mataveri Otai nursery on the island of Rapa Nui, Estefany Pate cradles a bag of soil with a 10cm sprout like it is a baby. She caresses its leaves. It's been so emotional to have it here," says Pate, who works for Chile's National Forest Corporation (CONAF).It was here before us; it was here before the moai," she says, referring to the megalithic statues that dot the island. It has a sentimental value." Continue reading...

What is the point of this government?

Attempt to refloat false killer whales was unsuccessful, forcing wildlife authorities to make difficult decision for safety and welfare reasons'

A group of 157 animals that appear to be false killer whales have stranded, according to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania, with initial observations showing 136 animals were still alive on Wednesday morning. Veterinarians and conservationists have responded to the mass beaching, but experts warn inaccessibility and poor conditions may limit their ability to help

Study found electric vehicles and batteries added largest amount to country's clean-energy economyClean energy contributed a record 10% of China's gross domestic product in 2024, an analysis has found.With sales and investments worth 13.6tn yuan (1.5tn; $1.9tn), the sector has now overtaken real estate sales in value. Continue reading...

Growth in 2022 and 2023 was driven by soaring gas prices caused by Russia's invasion, but 2024 saw sales slumpHeat pump sales fell 23% in Europe last year, industry data shows, reverting to the level they were at before the war in Ukraine and slowing the shift away from gas-burning boilers.Demand for clean heating devices fell by about half in Belgium and Germany, and by 39% in France, according to data for 13 countries that cover 85% of the European heat pump market. Continue reading...

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Demonstrators have protested against an expedited cleanup process that would involve using a beloved beach as a toxic waste sorting siteThis weekend, more than a hundred demonstrators protested against a new plan by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to use a local beach as a toxic waste sorting site, to process debris from the Palisades fire. They waved signs saying Save Our Beaches" and Sort Toxics at the Burn Site" as they walked up and down the path along Will Rogers state beach in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, just outside Los Angeles.Their message? Wildfire debris isn't just ash - it's poison. Asbestos, heavy metals, dioxins and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons will not remain contained," a petition circulated by a local resident, Ashley Oelsen, says. Toxic contaminants from the wildfire debris could leach into the soil and the waterways. Onshore winds will undoubtedly carry these hazardous particulates, compromising the air quality where people live, work and play. The risk to our ocean's health is just as alarming." Continue reading...

Make polluters pay' laws, led by blue states AGs, and accountability suits will be a major front for climate litigation for the coming yearsDonald Trump's re-election has turbocharged" climate accountability efforts including laws which aim to force greenhouse gas emitters to pay damages for fueling dangerous global warming, say activists.These make polluters pay" laws, led by blue states' attorneys general, and climate accountability lawsuits will be a major front for climate litigation in the coming months and years. They are being challenged by red states and the fossil fuel industry, which are also fighting against accountability-focused climate lawsuits waged by governments and youth environmentalists. Continue reading...

I'm campaigning for legal protection for cleaner fish, because no one has done a proper assessment of the impact of removing them from Scottish reefsI was in my 50s when I first became aware that cleaner fish existed, when I met a fisher who sold them to Scottish salmon farms. Each year, around the world, such farms use more than 60 million cleaner fish to eat - or clean" - parasites off other fish. But the natural habitat of the cleaner fish is the reef.On a reef, each cleaner fish has clients that visit them to have their parasites removed - sometimes much bigger fish or predators such as sharks and rays. I was intrigued to discover the cleaner fish would gently massage these clients with their fins and make sure they were comfortable. Continue reading...

It could be wildfires, a pandemic or a financial crisis. The super-rich will flee to their bunkers - the rest of us will have to fend for ourselvesThough we might find it hard to imagine, we cannot now rule it out: the possibility of systemic collapse in the United States. The degradation of federal government by Donald Trump and Elon Musk could trigger a series of converging and compounding crises, leading to social, financial and industrial failure.There are several possible mechanisms. Let's start with an obvious one: their assault on financial regulation. Trump's appointee to the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Russell Vought, has suspended all the agency's activity, slashed its budget and could be pursuing Musk's ambition to delete" the bureau. The CFPB was established by Congress after the 2008 financial crisis, to protect people from the predatory activity that helped trigger the crash. The signal to the financial sector could not be clearer: Fill your boots, boys." A financial crisis in the US would immediately become a global crisis.George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Lobbyists argued it was unfair for their industry to be treated the same as others as end product - oil and gas - inevitably produced emissionsExperts have accused the fossil fuel industry of seeking special treatment after lobbyists argued greenhouse gas emissions from oilfields should be treated differently to those from other industries.The government is embroiled in a row over whether to allow a massive new oilfield, Rosebank, to go ahead, with some cabinet members arguing it could boost growth and others concerned it could make the goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2050 impossible to reach. Labour made a manifesto commitment to halt new North Sea licensing, but Rosebank and some other projects had already been licensed and were awaiting final approval when the party won the general election. Continue reading...

Report highlights worrying retreat' in support for shareholder resolutions on environmental and social risksSupport for shareholder proposals aimed at tackling environmental and social risks hit a record low last year, figures show, amid a worrying retreat" by investors, particularly in the US.A report compiled by the responsible investment campaign group ShareAction found that, out of 279 environmental, social and governance (ESG) shareholder resolutions put forward at annual general meetings last year in the UK, Europe and the US, only four - or 1.4% - secured majority support. Continue reading...

Bladder cancer risk increased 33% and colorectal cancer by 15% in using chlorine to disinfect waterChlorinating drinking water at levels common in the United States and European Union probably increases the risk of several cancers, a new analysis of recent research from across the globe finds.The process of disinfecting water with chlorine creates trihalomethane (THM) byproducts, which are found in virtually all public drinking water systems across the US and EU - nearly 300 million people in the US have concerning levels in their water, by one estimate. Continue reading...

Researchers say the animals could keep red deer numbers under control, leading to storage of 1m tonnes of COReintroducing wolves in the Scottish Highlands could lead to an expansion of native woodland, which could take in and store 1m tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, researchers have suggested.A study led by researchers at the University of Leeds said that reintroducing the species into the Cairngorms, as well as the south-west, north-west and central Highlands could help curb the problem of red deer eating tree saplings, which stops natural woodland regeneration. Continue reading...

Those supporting the deal hope it will raise billions to help poor countries deal with climate breakdownBrazil has asked the UN to throw out plans for a new levy on global shipping that would raise funds to fight the climate crisis, despite playing host to the next UN climate summit.The proposed levy on carbon dioxide emissions from shipping will be discussed at a crunch meeting of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) that begins on Monday. Those supporting the deal, including the UK, the EU and Japan, are hoping the levy will raise billions of dollars a year, which could be used to help poor countries cope with the effects of climate breakdown. Continue reading...

The Eaton fire destroyed nearly half of the Black households in Altadena, wiping out businesses and wealthA memorial service early this month for three Black victims of the Eaton fire was marked by simmering anger at Donald Trump's choice not to visit Altadena, a suburb with a historic Black community disproportionately affected by the disaster.It's one of many decisions that have left residents of Altadena, a racially and economically diverse suburb of Los Angeles, worried about political and financial neglect in the aftermath of the fires. Continue reading...

Robert Taylor recently lost his wife to a long-term illness he linked to chemicals produced by a nearby plant, and now the Trump administration is preparing to scrap pollution reforms in the areaIt is only February and already Robert Taylor is facing his second seismic life event of the year.Both are wrapped in grief and angst, tied indelibly to the land that surrounds his home in the community of Reserve, Louisiana. Continue reading...

Mountain communities in southern Appalachia begin rebuilding after climate crisis-fueled disasterIt's hard to picture what Barnardsville looked like before Hurricane Helene converted the calm creek that meanders through this North Carolina mountain holler into a roaring river that engulfed the community.More than 50 homes including an entire trailer park were destroyed when Ivy Creek flooded in late September after three days of unprecedented rainfall and hurricane-force winds uprooted thousands of trees - and this close-knit community's sense of safety. Continue reading...

Harmful algae bloom off south-west coast blamed for deaths of marine life and poses threat to beachesEnvironmentalists in Florida are calling on the governor, Ron DeSantis, to declare an emergency as a worsening red tide" algae bloom off the state's south-west coast threatens popular tourist beaches and is being blamed for the deaths of wildlife including fish and dolphins.Several counties have issued health alerts in response to the outbreak, which scientists say began in the Gulf of Mexico last year when Hurricanes Helene and Milton tore up nutrient-rich waters that feed the algae. Continue reading...

The US president has scrapped paper straws because they allegedly explode' - a bit like the PM's reputation if he keeps refusing to confront him on the big issuesIt's difficult to know whether to set any store by Donald Trump's bleak and yet also often banal pronouncements, which read as if handfuls of offensive concepts have been tossed into the air by a monkey, read out in whatever order they landed and then made policy. Until it's clear they can't work. At which point, the monkey must toss again.But this month, Trump, whose morning ablutions increasingly appear to consist of dousing himself in sachets of the kind of cheap hot chocolate powder I steal from three-star hotels, like a flightless bird stuck in the machine that glazes Magnum lollies, declared he wanted to build his hotels on the mass graves of Gaza. Hasn't Trump seen The Shining? It won't end well. Pity those whose children have the misfortune to die next to a monetisable stretch of shoreline. And hope humanity's next wave of mass killings happens somewhere uneven and way inland that hopefully wouldn't even make a decent golf course.Stewart Lee tours Stewart Lee vs the Man-Wulf this year, with a Royal Festival Hall run in JulyDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 250 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at observer.letters@observer.co.uk Continue reading...

A councillor's alleged attempt to blow up a bird-prowling moggie reveals the pet-loving divide runs deepThe resignation last week of James Garnor, a parish councillor in Whittlebury, Northamptonshire, may look like further proof of the maxim, established by the infamous Jackie Weaver lockdown meeting, that low-level politics produce high-level emotions. However, the cause of his undoing was nothing as trivial as democratic principles; it illustrates a far more profound question that, sooner or later, we all confront: are you a cat or a dog person?Garnor, we may safely conclude, is not a cat person. He quit following allegations that he rigged up a bird table with a firework device so that it exploded when a cat paid a visit. The consequences of this shocking but non-lethal incident, which took place back in 2023, have only now come to a head, but it's fair to say that, as anti-cat statements go, a remote-detonated IED is at the extreme end of things.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 250 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at observer.letters@observer.co.uk Continue reading...

Malabar wastewater plant discharges 5.4bn to 120bn microplastic particles each day, CSIRO report says, prompting calls for more advanced treatment processes

As the supermarket vows to introduce electrical stunning for its farmed prawns, campaigners call on others to follow suitThey are a popular staple for office lunches, barbecues and takeaways, but prawns often suffer an unpleasant death before reaching our plates.Animal rights campaigners say billions of prawns farmed each year deserve better welfare protection and are targeting what they describe as atrocious" practices of eyestalk ablation" and suffocation in ice slurry. Continue reading...

As wildfires, floods, droughts and record-breaking temperatures have shown, the post-climate change era has arrived. Now we need honesty and action from our leadersNot yet a quarter of the way into this century and global average temperatures are already 1.75C above the preindustrial average. January 2025 was the hottest on record and has also set a record for the highest yearly minimum global surface temperature, and likely the highest minimum in the past 120,000 years. It is part of a clear pattern. Last year's global average was 1.6C above the preindustrial - a sobering reality check, given that, only three months ago at the UN Cop29 summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, leaders were still declaring that limiting global temperature rises to 1.5C was within reach.We are firmly in the post-climate change world now, and the serious implications of this demand honest acknowledgment. The reality is that we are living now in a time of continual disasters that are unfolding alongside our slower, planetary scale disaster. In this riskier time, we need to prepare. Continue reading...

Adrian Simancas encountered a humpback off Chile's coast - but scientists say he was never at risk of being swallowedAdrian Simancas had been paddling for two hours in the calm but icy seas of the Strait of Magellan, off the coast of Chilean Patagonia, when something massive emerged from the water and dragged him under.I saw dark blue and white colours before feeling a slimy texture brush against my face," the 24-year-old told the Guardian. I closed my eyes to brace for impact, but it was soft, like being hit by a wave." Continue reading...

Prime minister tells Salmon Tasmania of promise to change legislation and allow sustainable' farming to continue

Residents in Sierra Madre begin cleanup effort after strongest storm of year sweeps through southern CaliforniaResidents of a southern California mountain community near the Eaton fire burn scar dug out of roads submerged in sludge on Friday after the strongest storm of the year swept through the area, unleashing debris flows and muddy messes in several neighborhoods recently torched by wildfires.Water, debris and boulders rushed down the mountain in the city of Sierra Madre on Thursday night, trapping at least one car in the mud and damaging several home garages with mud and debris. Bulldozers on Friday were cleaning up the mud-covered streets in the city of 10,000 people. Continue reading...

The former Police drummer Stewart Copeland, with the help of the British naturalist Martyn Stewart, has produced Wild Concerto, a collaboration between nature and music'. The album fuses sounds of nature, such as the call of Arctic terns and the howling of wolves, with traditional instruments. Stewart hailed the environmental theme of the work, explaining that most of the species represented were endangered

Developers must now offset damage to nature by achieving a 10% biodiversity net gain - but is buying up pockets of land and rewilding them the answer?To most people driving through the waterlogged fields of West Sussex, a patch of muddy land dotted with scrubby trees would not warrant a second glance. But this former farmland is being given a new lease of life as part of a government scheme to boost wildlife.Ardingly habitat bank is one of the pilot sites for the biodiversity net gain (BNG) scheme. Under legislation that came into force in February 2024, new roads, houses and other building projects must achieve a 10% net gain in biodiversity if nature is damaged on a site. So if a forest is bulldozed to make way for a block of flats, the developer must recreate a similar habitat, plus 10%. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Firms outnumber green groups at environmental talks, with related events sponsored by fossil fuel companiesAviation industry delegates outnumbered those from green groups by 10 to one at the previous conference of the UN's committee on aviation environmental protection (CAEP), an analysis has found.Other recent meetings held by CAEP's parent body, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), were sponsored by large fossil fuel companies and airlines, including Saudi Aramco and Etihad. Critics accuse the ICAO of having been captured by the industry, resulting in slow efforts to tackle the climate crisis by reducing the carbon emissions from aircraft. Continue reading...

It's not just eggs, but coffee, orange juice and bacon, making life especially hard for diners, bakeries and brunch spotsMost menu items at the popular Philadelphia breakfast chain Green Eggs Cafe are - true to its name - made with eggs.Its co-owner Stephen Slaughter said that about 90% of its dishes depend on eggs, ticking off a short list: Our French toast, our pancake batters, our hollandaise sauce, obviously eggs and omelets." So when his vendors started charging $8 for a dozen eggs, all six Green Egg Cafe locations felt the pinch. Continue reading...

No, it isn't a leftwing plot, it's a proposal I authored for the Conservatives in 2021. And it could be brilliantly transformative for EnglandLast week saw the launch of what could be - if done right - the most important political policy in a generation. You may not have heard about the new land use framework, but if you did hear something, chances are it wasn't good. National suicide!" declared the shadow farming minister, Robbie Moore, who described the policy for good measure as food lunacy".I should confess that I am the original author of this lunacy. It was one of the key recommendations of the 2021 National Food Strategy - an independent review I was commissioned to write by the then Tory government. The purpose of the land use framework was - is - sane enough. It is intended to inform and streamline planning decisions and steer other government incentives, to ensure that areas of land are used in ways they are naturally well suited to. Continue reading...

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

Forecast for rising global electricity use likely to stoke fears of rising costs and stalled efforts to fight climate crisisThe world's electricity use will grow every year by more than the amount consumed annually by Japan because of a surge in electric transport, air conditioning and datacentres, according to the world's energy watchdog.The International Energy Agency has raised its predictions for the world's rising demand for electricity, pegging the growth at almost 4% a year until 2027, up from its previous forecast of 3.4% year. Continue reading...

Research shows move to electric vehicles may not be enough to enable pollution from cars to be eradicatedMicroscopic particles emitted from brake pads can be more toxic than those emitted in diesel vehicle exhaust, a study has found.This research shows that even with a move to electric vehicles, pollution from cars may not be able to be eradicated. Continue reading...

Parts of the Midwest have seen temperatures 15-30C below the climate average, while Australia temperatures hit almost 50CDisruptive weather has continued to affect the US this week, with a mixture of winter hazards, heavy rainfall and extreme temperatures across the country. Extreme cold warnings have affected more than 90 million people, with parts of the midwest seeing temperatures about 15-30C below the climate average.Temperatures fell to about -35C earlier this week across states including Montana and North Dakota, with maximum daytime temperatures reaching -15C. Continue reading...

Green politicians describe plan as a historic attack on Norwegian nature'The Norwegian parliament has voted to open up protected rivers to hydropower plants, prompting fury from conservation groups who fear for the fate of fish and other wildlife.The bill allows power plants bigger than 1MW to be built in protected waterways if the societal benefit is significant" and the environmental consequences acceptable". It was voted through on Thursday as part of measures to improve flood and landslide protection. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Future of further projects uncertain after Rosebank and Jackdaw licences were found to have been unlawfully grantedThirteen more oil and gas licences could be cancelled as ministers decide new guidance for fossil fuel extraction after a landmark court case, the Guardian has learned.The admission that many more licences may ultimately be unlawful comes on the back of cabinet tensions over the future of two major oil and gas fields - Rosebank and Jackdaw - whose licences were last month found to have been unlawfully granted. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Rupert Lowe recently fitted panels on his farm, it emerges, as Reform claims renewables are more expensive

Fears grow for endangered species as the US president sets about dismantling basic laws to protect them to make way for oil and gas drillingDonald Trump has already begun dismantling parts of the envied US endangered species protections in his quest to boost oil and gas drilling, in part using a panel with an ominous name: the God squad.A slew of early actions by the Trump administration has set about throwing open more land and waters for the fossil fuel industry, triggering the reversal of regulations that strengthen the Endangered Species Act, the country's landmark 1973 conservation bill, including a rule that protects migratory birds from unintentional killing. Continue reading...

Call for means-tested grants or loans to cover upfront costs that prevent poorer households from benefitingPoorer households could cut their energy bills by a quarter if solar panels were installed on their rooftops, a report has found.However, the upfront costs mean that those who stand to benefit most from decreased energy bills are prevented from getting panels installed, according to the Resolution Foundation thinktank. Continue reading...

Bogs and swamps are a colossal carbon store but their continued destruction would blow climate change targetsThe world's peatlands are dangerously underprotected" despite the colossal amount of climate-heating carbon dioxide already being emitted due to their destruction, a study has warned.Peatlands occupy just 3% of all land, but contain more carbon than all of the world's forests. However, farmers and miners are draining the peatlands, releasing so much CO that if they were a country, they would be the fourth biggest polluter in the world after China, the US and India. Continue reading...

The technology is new, chargers are expensive and regulations hard to navigate - but all that could soon changeOur cars sit unused most of the time. If you have an electric vehicle, you might leave it charging at home or work after driving it. But there's another step you could take. If you have a bidirectional charger, you can set it to sell power back to the grid when demand is high.Fewer than 10 people across Australia actually do this, because the technology - known as vehicle-to-grid (V2G) - is very new. To date, it only works with a single car model (Nissan Leaf) and a single charger (Wallbox Quasar 1). We've estimated the number of users based on sales of this charger. The chargers are expensive and there's a thicket of regulations to navigate.Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best readsYou originally think of it as a car you can also use to power your house. [But actually] it's a house battery you can drive around. Continue reading...

Kathleen Sgamma to oversee Bureau of Land Management, agency that manages quarter-billion acres of public landDonald Trump has nominated a longtime oil and gas industry representative to oversee an agency that manages a quarter-billion acres of public land concentrated in western states.Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Colorado-based oil industry trade group Western Energy Alliance, was named Bureau of Land Management director, a position with wide influence over lands used for energy production, grazing, recreation and other purposes. An MIT graduate, Sgamma has been a leading voice for the fossil fuel industry, calling for fewer drilling restrictions on public lands that produce about 10% of US oil and gas. Continue reading...

Program is meant to help the endangered northern spotted owl - and it's only C$5! - but rat lovers are not amusedRevenge, they say, is a dish best served cold. And for an endangered owl breeding program in Canada, it's also a dish best served dead.For the price of a coffee, spurned and disgruntled lovers can revel in the satisfaction of having a dead rat named after an ex, before it is fed to a northern spotted owl. Continue reading...

Critically endangered bird detected after analysis of tens of thousands of hours of song meter recordings

Crackdown on climate' predicted as oversight enacted over agency staffers' email and meetings with foreign nationalsThe US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) has placed onerous new restrictions on its scientists that people within the agency say could hamper the quality and availability of the world's weather forecasts, among other key services.The new requirements have created a sense of unease within the agency, according to current and former high-level Noaascientists and officials the Guardian spoke with, and alarmed partners at European agencies. Continue reading...

Greenpeace protest draws attention to worsening typhoons and demands accountability from major pollutersFor two days and two nights, Ronalyn Carbonel and her four children clung to the roof of their home as a huge storm raged around them. With the wind battering her village of Rizal, about 10 miles east of Manila in the Philippines, and water swirling through the rooms below them, they had no choice but to wait, hoping that someone would come to rescue them and hundreds of their neighbours.We did not have shelter, we did not have food ... we just had to wait for the government for two days," Carbonel said. It is not easy, no electricity, no light, we just wait for the sun to rise. The children were scared, we had never experienced anything like this." Continue reading...

Surge in solar, wind and battery capacity comes as president pledges to halt federal support for clean powerThe US had record-breaking growth in renewable-energy capacity last year, new research shows, but the future of the sector is uncertain amid threats from Donald Trump's administration.The country brought online 48.2 gigawatts of capacity from utility-scale solar, wind and battery storage in 2024, according to a report from the research organization Cleanview; the report is based on an analysis of federal data. That surge in capacity - enough to power some 3.6m homes - was 47% larger than the increase the US saw in the previous year. Continue reading...