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

Highest recorded temperatures supercharged extreme weather - with worse to come, EU data showsClimate breakdown drove the annual global temperature above the internationally agreed 1.5C target for the first time last year, supercharging extreme weather and causing misery to millions of people".The average temperature in 2024 was 1.6C above preindustrial levels, data from the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) shows. That is a jump of 0.1C from 2023, which was also a record hot year and represents levels of heat never experienced by modern humans. Continue reading...

Bureau of Meteorology says showers and storms a regular feature of Australian summer but warm and dry periods still to come

It's possible for massive fires to burn in Australian cities. Planning needs to reflect thisAs the Los Angeles wildfires rage, we are watching a disaster unfold in real time.We knew this would happen eventually. We have moved from possible futures to these things now happening. The deferment has ended. Continue reading...

Emissions caused by wealthiest 1% so far this year would take someone from poorest 50% three years to createThe world's richest 1% have already used up their fair share of the global carbon budget for 2025, just 10 days into the year.In less than a week and a half, the consumption habits of an individual from this monied elite had already caused, on average, 2.1 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, according to analysis by Oxfam GB. It would take someone from the poorest 50% of humanity three years to create the same amount of pollution. Continue reading...

With winds scattering embers across swaths of land, the Eaton fire burns down some houses while leaving others unscathed

What began as a wildfire in Pacific Palisades on Tuesday has expanded to five fires still burning fiercely on Thursday

McNeese State University in Louisiana building a liquefied natural gas center, prompting fears of corporate capture'One of Louisiana's top public universities has prompted concerns about corporate capture" over its expanding relationship with the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry, despite environmental warnings about pollution and prolonging fossil fuel use.As the US's LNG boom gained momentum in south-west Louisiana, McNeese State University courted the industry to help launch a new LNG Center of Excellence currently under construction, hired a director doubling as an LNG industry lobbyist, and approached federal regulators to co-locate their own research center at the university, according to emails obtained via public records requests by DeSmog and the Guardian. Continue reading...

Panels installed on south quire roof expected to meet a third of church's electricity needsAnd God said, Let there be light" - and on a witheringly cold winter morning there was light, as the Dean of York carried out a rooftop blessing for the minster's 184 new solar panels.The sky was blue and the sun shone when the Very Rev Dominic Barrington led the blessing ceremony as the panels were switched on for the first time. They were absolutely gleaming," said one witness. Continue reading...

The current fires in Los Angeles are reminders of the costs of forgettingThe fires raging in and around Malibu are huge, and they're terrible, and they're also the latest in a series of catastrophic fires in Los Angeles county and the region, the latest consequence of heat and drought and wind that have long created the region's volatile fire weather.The climate crisis has made it hotter and drier and made wildfire worse here and across the west and around the world, but this region's ecology has always been wedded to fire. Homes built in and around natural landscapes - canyons, chaparral coastal hills, forests, mountainsides - with a history of wildfire that are pretty much guaranteed to burn again sooner or later create the personal tragedies and losses and the pressure for fire crews to try to contain the blazes. But suppressing the blazes lets the fuel load build up, meaning that fire will be worse when it comes.Rebecca Solnit is a Guardian US columnist. She is the author of Orwell's Roses and co-editor with Thelma Young Lutunatabua of the climate anthology Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility Continue reading...

With 2024 set to go down as the hottest year on record, we know that what is coming is truly horrifyingThe past 12 months have seen our world enter new territory. Last year will go down as the first time that the global average temperature exceeded 1.5C above preindustrial times over a calendar year. We could crash permanently through the 1.5C guardrail within the next five years, and shatter the 2C limit as soon as 2034. This will almost certainly result in the tipping points for collapse of the Greenland and west Antarctic ice sheets being crossed, committing us to the drowning of coastal towns and cities.In years to come, we will look back at this time and ask the same question that future generations will ask: why didn't we stop this catastrophe?Bill McGuire is professor emeritus of geophysical and climate hazards at UCL and author of Hothouse Earth: an Inhabitant's GuideRoger Hallam is co-founder of Extinction Rebellion, Insulate Britain and Just Stop OilDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

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Steve Reed says planning rules have got in the way' of farmers and apologises for shock' of inheritance tax change

Cities cancel flights and school in anticipation as Dallas, Texas, is expected to get a year's worth of snowParts of Texas and the US south are getting hit with yet another winter storm.The winter storm will hit central and northern Texas with 1-6in (3-15cm) of snow, according to the latest update from AccuWeather. Pockets of snowfall from 6-12in are expected to hit north of Dallas, Texas; to Arkansas, Tennessee and eastern North Carolina through Friday. Continue reading...

New rule hailed as major step toward reining in source of local toxic air pollution that hits low-income neighborhoodsThe EPA plans to require the nation's municipal waste incinerators to monitor for dangerous air emissions, a move environmental groups have hailed as a major step toward reining in a staggering source of localized toxic air pollution that most frequently hits low-income neighborhoods.Municipal incinerators' stacks often spew hazardous pollutants like dioxins, particulate matter, PFAS, carbon monoxide, acid gases, or nitrogen oxides. The substances are linked to cancer, developmental disorders and other serious diseases, but still are burned with limited or patchwork oversight. Continue reading...

The wild cats were humanely trapped using cameras near baited traps and are in quarantineTwo lynx that were illegally released into the Scottish Highlands have been captured overnight and are said to be in good health.Police had issued a warning to the public on Wednesday evening not to approach the wild cats, after several sightings in the Drumguish area, near Kingussie. Continue reading...

Environment secretary Steve Reed urged to bring in full and swift ban' to protect health of people, wildlife and petsWildlife charities have called on the government to ban the sale and use of lead in ammunition used for outdoor shooting.The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT), RSPB, Wildlife and Countryside Link, Chem Trust and Wild Justice have sent an open letter to the environment secretary, Steve Reed, asking for a 18-month transition period for a ban on lead in ammunition sales. Continue reading...

Conditions for a January LA firestorm have not existed before now, writes a meteorologist and climate journalistAn exceptional mix of environmental conditions has created an ongoing firestorm without known historical precedent across southern California this week.The ingredients for these infernos in the Los Angeles area, near-hurricane strength winds and drought, foretell an emerging era of compound events - simultaneous types of historic weather conditions, happening at unusual times of the year, resulting in situations that overwhelm our ability to respond. Continue reading...

A failure of justice, and draconian Tory law, put Gaie Delap in prison. A failure of government is keeping her thereGaie Delap will turn 78 on Friday, in Eastwood Park prison, Gloucestershire. Sentenced to 20 months last August for climbing a gantry over the M25 for Just Stop Oil, she was released in November to serve the rest of her sentence on a home detention curfew. But the electronic tag that she was required to wear couldn't go round her ankle because she has deep-vein thrombosis and it might have risked causing her a stroke. It couldn't go round her wrist because they couldn't find a tag small enough, which people keep saying is because she's frail. Delap hates being called frail. Her wrist is a perfectly reasonable size, 14-and-a-half centimetres. It's the wrist-tag design that's wanting. The topsy-turvy world where a government contractor, Serco, can fail and fail again, while a citizen with a social purpose gets called back to prison five days before Christmas to atone for that failure, isn't even the most absurd thing about this story.Delap was engaged in direct action to raise awareness about the climate emergency, and the day citizens stop doing that is the day that progressive politics might as well give up and go home. Whatever pretzel twists Labour ministers have to perform to sound as if they're on the side of the decent, honest commuter, while simultaneously signalling that they understand the scale of the climate crisis, they must surely remember this: the trade union movement, the peace movement, the suffragette movement, the civil rights movement, the climate justice movement; every known movement of change has relied on non-violent action to disrupt the status quo.Zoe Williams is a Guardian columnistDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

Hollywood stars once came for the big-game fishing, but the return of a host of species to the depleted waters around Britain's coast is a cause for quiet optimismFrom the outside, the Tunny Club looks like any other seaside fish and chip shop. A short walk from Scarborough harbour, only the photos of John Wayne and Errol Flynn on the wall betray the shop's fleeting history as a global centre for big-game fishing.In the 1930s, film stars and the ultra-wealthy flocked to the Yorkshire seaside resort for their chance to catch the enormous bluefin tuna - known as tunny" - lurking off the North Sea coast. In 1933, aristocrat Lorenzo Mitchell-Henry reeled in what remains the largest fish ever caught in British waters: a 386kg bluefin tuna. Continue reading...

Wildfires continued to burn across LA, with at least five people killed and more than 1,500 buildings destroyed. A new blaze broke out in the Hollywood Hills and evacuation orders were extended to Santa Monica. Winds had eased, but the danger was far from over

The firefighters earn $5.80-$10.24 per day plus $1 an hour when responding to active emergencies, according to CDCRHundreds of incarcerated firefighters are helping battle the destructive blazes that are rapidly spreading across southern California as a powerful windstorm devastates the region.The California department of corrections and rehabilitation (CDCR) said on Wednesday that it had deployed 395 imprisoned firefighters across 29 crews while the county fights multiple out-of-control blazes fueled by extreme winds and dry conditions. The incarcerated crews are embedded with the California department of forestry and fire protection (Cal Fire) and its nearly 2,000 firefighters, who have been stretched thin from several simultaneous emergencies. Continue reading...

Firefighters said the destruction from the California fires was unlike any they had seen in their decades-long careers

Wildfires continued to grow in Los Angeles as overtaxed fire crews battled three major out-of-control blazes that have killed at least five people. The largest and most devastating so far have been the Palisades fire and the Eaton fire, but other blazes, particularly the growing Hurst fire and the Hollywood Hills-based Sunset fire, are continuing to worry Los Angeles residents Continue reading...

Crews from across California and other states dispatched to help battle intense fires fanned by strong winds

Huge wildfires roaring through the Los Angeles area of Pacific Palisades has left the neighborhood in ruins. Resident Sanah Chung left his Pacific Palisades home when a mandatory evacuation order was placed but returned to protect his home from the fire. 'I know this looks pretty stupid, but If I can save one ember from burning down my house, I'll take the risk,' said Chung.

Environment secretary says Labour is aiming for half of food procured for the public sector to come from British farmsFood supplied to the public sector will be monitored for the first time to see how much was grown by British farmers, the environment secretary is to announce.Steve Reed will speak at the Oxford Farming Conference on Thursday in an attempt to reset his relationship with the farming sector after a tumultuous start in his role. Farmers have been angry about issues including changes to the inheritance tax regime, cuts to EU-derived subsidies and delays to flood payments for submerged farms. Continue reading...

In new paper in the New England Journal of Medicine, leading researchers to propose action to protect kidsChildren are suffering and dying from diseases that emerging scientific research has linked to chemical exposures, findings that require urgent revamping of laws around the world, according to a new paper published on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).Authored by more than 20 leading public health researchers, including one from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and another from the United Nations, the paper lays out a large body of evidence" linking multiple childhood diseases to synthetic chemicals and recommends a series of aggressive actions to try to better protect children. Continue reading...

Hadi Nazari, 23, found after going missing two weeks ago, discovered two muesli bars at a hut while lost, police say

Blazes devastate affluent Pacific Palisades with more than 30,000 people under evacuation orders

There are significant health benefits to trying new things, whatever the activity - and there is always more to learnThere is a paradox to being 20 metres under the ocean. It is a place of calm and wonderment. I am immersed in a foreign world, with a new watery sky above me. There is a sense of serenity, blissful peace as countless colourful fish glide past.Only the tranquillity is deceiving. As a novice diver, my mind ticks over in hyperdrive. All that stands between me and an agonising fate is the tank of oxygen on my back (and, hopefully, the dive guide's spare air). Continue reading...

Lawsuit challenges the federal government's December 2024 decision to add restrictions to offer of drilling leasesThe US state of Alaska has sued the Biden administration for what it calls violations of a congressional directive to allow oil and gas development in a portion of the federal Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).The federal lawsuit in the US district court in Alaska filed on Monday challenges the federal government's December 2024 decision to add restrictions to an offer of oil and gas drilling leases in an area known as the coastal plain. Continue reading...

Exodus from target-setting group is attempt to head off anti-woke' attacks from rightwing politicians, say analysts Business live - latest updatesThe six biggest banks in the US have all quit the global banking industry's net zero target-setting group, with the imminent inauguration of Donald Trump as president expected to bring political backlash against climate action.JP Morgan is the latest to withdraw from the UN-sponsored net zero banking alliance (NZBA), following Citigroup, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs. All six have left since the start of December. Continue reading...

The tiny nation of Niue has raised 3m selling sponsorship of its marine protected area at just over 100 for a square kilometreNiue, also known as the Rock of Polynesia, is one of the tiniest island states in the world. It takes a mere two hours to drive around it, giving views of its rugged limestone cliffs and occasional sandy coves. These coves give way to caves and chasms, once used for storage, burial sites and even as living spaces. But perhaps what visitors seek most are its crystal clear waters, home to spinner dolphins, eels, grey reef sharks, sea snakes and humpback whales.Now the island is engaged in an innovative plan to try to conserve these vast and pristine territorial waters. The scheme, which has been running for a year, involves selling off sponsorship of the ocean surrounding the island to individuals or companies for NZ$250 (116) a square kilometre. So far, it has raised NZ$7m, nearly halfway to its target. Continue reading...

Fueled by major windstorm, Pacific Palisades fire touches museum site but officials say collection safe

Chuckwalla and Sattitla monuments in California will be safeguarded against extraction and energy developmentJoe Biden will designate two new national monuments in California in his last days in office, after tribes and environment groups asked him to take urgent action.The designation of the Chuckwalla monument in southern California and the Sattitla monument in the far north of the state will place 840,000 acres (339,935 hectares) of land under protection, shielding it from extraction and energy development. Continue reading...

Agency has either ignored petitions or ruled against taking action against chemical that presents serious health risksA coalition of environmental groups has sued the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over the use of highly toxic phthalates in plastic food packaging because the chemicals have been found to leach at alarming rates and present a serious health risk, especially for developing children.The suit is the latest salvo in an ongoing eight-year battle in which advocates have pressured the FDA to ban the chemicals' use in food packaging, but the agency has sided with industry that opposes the calls. Since 2016, the FDA has either illegally ignored petitions or rejected demands to revoke a 40-year-old authorization for the chemicals that is based on long-outdated science. Continue reading...

Campaigners welcome move but say success depends on enforcement and global agreement on a treatyThailand has banned plastic waste imports over concerns about toxic pollution, as experts warn that failure to agree a global treaty to cut plastic waste will harm human health.A law banning imports of plastic waste came into force this month in Thailand, after years of campaigning by activists. Thailand is one of several south-east Asian countries that has historically been paid to receive plastic waste from developed nations. The country became a leading destination for exports of plastic waste from Europe, the US, the UK and Japan in 2018 after China, the world's biggest market for household waste, imposed a ban. Continue reading...

Waterways can protect biodiversity, help with water security and keep cities cooler, says Canal & River TrustProtecting the UK's canals is crucial for improving the nation's resilience to climate change, campaigners have said.A report by the Canal & River Trust charity found canals could play a critical role" in biodiversity, decarbonisation and climate adaptation. Continue reading...

In today's newsletter: Widespread flooding, snow and power outages have left thousands of households and travellers facing the aftermath of a cold snap - with more disruption to comeGood morning.British winters have grown markedly milder over the past century: analysis has shown that the average UK winter has gotten 1C warmer and 15% wetter in the last century. Last February was the warmest in recorded history. There have been fewer and fewer snow days and the Met Office found that ground frost periods are three weeks shorter compared to the 1970s.Canada | Justin Trudeau has said he will step down as Canada's prime minister. His resignation throws open the doors to a fierce political battle to be the country's next leader, with polls showing the Liberals losing badly to the official opposition Conservatives.Child sexual exploitation | Keir Starmer has condemned Elon Musk's increasingly erratic attacks on the government, suggesting that his lies and misinformation" on grooming gangs were amplifying the poison" of the far right. Ministers meanwhile promised to implement a key demand of a 2022 child sex abuse inquiry so that professionals who do not report claims of abuse will be sanctioned.US politics | The US Congress certified Donald Trump's presidential election victory on Monday, in an event heavy with symbolism four years to the day since he incited a violent mob to disrupt a similar ceremony. Kamala Harris presided over a joint Senate and House of Representatives session to validate the result.Foster care | The UK is facing a fostering crisis where retiring carers are not being replaced by younger people, while the number of children entering care homes is rising, a charity has warned. The decline in foster carers is due to the impact of the pandemic, the costof living crisis, biological children staying at home for longer, spare rooms being used as home offices and changing family situations, Barnardo's children's charity said.Tibet | A magnitude 6.8 earthquake has struck near one of Tibet's holiest cities, the China Earthquake Networks Centre has said, killing 53 people, injuring 62 and damaging buildings around Shigatse, according to state media. Continue reading...

NSW police hopeful' of finding 23-year-old Hadi Nazari alive in remote national park as they track movements since he was last seen on Boxing Day

Officials warn of fire risks and potential outages as gusts could reach 80mph in Los Angeles county and VenturaSouthern California could experience a life-threatening, destructive" windstorm this week, with forecasters warning of major fire risks unusual for January and potential power outages.The gusts are expected to intensify on Tuesday into Wednesday, potentially reaching 80mph (129km/h) across much of Los Angeles county and Ventura to the north, according to a National Weather Service alert on Monday. In the foothills and mountains, there could be isolated winds over 100mph (160km/h). Continue reading...

Ban includes entire Atlantic coast, eastern Gulf of Mexico, Pacific coast off California, Oregon and Washington, and part of Bering SeaJoe Biden has banned offshore drilling across an immense area of coastal waters, weeks before Donald Trump takes office pledging to massively increase fossil fuel production.The US president's ban encompasses the entire Atlantic coast and eastern Gulf of Mexico, as well as the Pacific coast off California, Oregon and Washington, and a section of the Bering Sea off Alaska. Continue reading...

The ex-president was a pioneer on renewable energy and land conservation but his 1980 defeat was a fork in the road'When a group of dignitaries and journalists made a rare foray to the roof of the White House, Jimmy Carter had something to show them: 32 solar water-heating panels.A generation from now," the US president declared, this solar heater can either be a curiosity, a museum piece, an example of a road not taken, or it can be just a small part of one of the greatest and most exciting adventures ever undertaken by the American people." Continue reading...

Future homes standard' will not mandate replacing boilers with environmentally friendly alternativeThe government is to scrap the 2035 ban on gas boilers in its new housebuilding standards.The previous Conservative government had laid plans to phase out gas heating for homes by banning the sale of new gas boilers by 2035, so people replacing their gas boilers after that date would instead have to buy a heat pump or other environmentally friendly way of heating homes. Continue reading...

British chef Mike Keen paddled up the coast of Greenland eating only what local people did, and the health benefits led him to question the global food systemFor a period of two months last year, a typical day for chef Mike Keen would see him skipping breakfast and lunch in favour of snacks such as dried capelin (a small bait fish), dried halibut, jerky-like dried whale and a local Greenlandic whale skin and blubber treat called mattak.Mike Keen eats fermented seal blood in Sermilik fjord, east Greenland. Photograph: Mike Keen Continue reading...

Exploring the aberration, absurdity, madness and ingenuity of skiing, an activity that raises both questions and concerns despite its global success. It continues to fascinate and intrigue in the face of social and environmental upheavals. There are more than 2,000 resorts scattered across the world, attracting hundreds of millions of skiers, but there are also profound questions about its future amid climate challenges and societal changes Continue reading...

Conditions to become more unsettled as winds begin to shift and clouds move in, officials warn

Video removed as Life Saving Victoria carries out 145 rescues - We don't remember when we've been that busy'

Hot and humid conditions increase difficulty of finding Hadi Nazari, 23, after he failed to show up at campsite