Environment | The Guardian

Investors say climate change poses biggest risk to their assets, and urge Albanese government to see the economic dangers of a slow path to net zero

Conservative wishlist' of policies for a future Trump administration goes so far as transforming food and farmingWhen Project 2025 began making headlines this summer, it was largely for the ways the conservative wish list" of policies for a future Trump administration would restructure the entire federal bureaucracy, deepen abortion restrictions and eliminate the Department of Education.But the document - a proposed mandate for the next Republican president authored by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative thinktank - also outlines steps that would radically transform food and farming, curtailing recent progress to address the excess of ultra-processed foods in the United States. Among those: weakening the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap), ending policies that consider the effects of climate change - and eliminating the US dietary guidelines. Continue reading...

UC San Diego has added an innovative prerequisite to prepare students for the future they really will encounter'Melani Callicott, a human biology major at the University of California, San Diego, thinks about the climate crisis all the time. She discusses it with family and friends because of the intensity of hurricanes like Milton and Helene, which have ravaged the southern US, she says. It just seems like it's affecting more people every day."That's one reason why she is glad that UC San Diego has implemented an innovative graduation requirement for students starting this autumn: a course in climate change. Courses must cover at least 30% climate-related content and address two of four areas, including scientific foundations, human impacts, mitigation strategies and project-based learning. About 7,000 students from the class of 2028 will be affected this year. Continue reading...

Residents and marine scientists unable to identify pale masses, as myriad theories are blown out of the waterThey are slimy on the outside, firm and spongy on the inside and surprisingly combustible. And in recent months, they have been washing up on the shores of Newfoundland.The depths of the Atlantic have long held mysteries, but the riddle of the mysterious white blobs" spotted on the beaches of the eastern Canadian province has baffled both residents and marine scientists. Continue reading...

As he travels along the Iranian coast, Khashayar Javanmardi photographs rusting ships, blazing wetland fires - and humans struggling to stay alive Continue reading...

Natural sinks of forests and peat were key to Finland's ambitious target to be carbon neutral by 2035. But now, the land has started emitting more greenhouse gases than it storesRead more: Trees and land absorbed almost no CO2 last year. Is nature's carbon sink failing?Tiina Sanila-Aikio cannot remember a summer this warm. The months of midnight sun around Inari, in Finnish Lapland, have been hot and dry. Conifer needles on the branch-tips are orange when they should be a deep green. The moss on the forest floor, usually swollen with water, has withered.I have spoken with many old reindeer herders who have never experienced the heat that we've had this summer. The sun keeps shining and it never rains," says Sanila-Aikio, former president of the Finnish Sami parliament. Continue reading...

A US study estimates the total climate pollution from LNG was 33% greater than that from coal over a 20-year period. This should have major ramifications for emissions policy

Stellantis chief says company is nearing decision on Ellesmere Port and Luton amid row over EV quotas

Poorly maintained and uninsured vessels transporting up to 70% of country's seaborne oil, says reportRussia's shadow fleet of oil tankers is expanding, according to research, transporting up to 70% of the country's seaborne oil despite western efforts to curb Moscow's wartime energy revenues.The volume of Russian oil being transported by poorly maintained and underinsured tankers has almost doubled in a year to 4.1m barrels a day by June, according to a report published on Monday by the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE). Continue reading...

We've all been there. We've all felt like a badly made-up, odd-limbed, irritable floor-dwelling messAs you contemplate the wonders of evolution, and how a creature can be born with something weird and new, and that thing can either help it get ahead or not hurt its chances, and it can then reproduce and make another one like it, spare a thought for the red-lipped batfish.A real animal, it has the kind of mouth that, as a kid, you may have made from Babybel cheese wax, to go with your red wax fake nails. It has a beard of white whiskers. It has fins that bend backwards, like a person's arms at yoga when they are about to do upward dog. Before your eyes, it sprouts a new limb from its nostril. Its nose - technically a snout - is long, at the top of its head, and hook-shaped. It cannot swim, only crawl. Its crawl is more like a waddle. Continue reading...

Peter Malinauskas says South Australia's renewable energy credentials make it a logical host for UN's annual climate summit

The sudden collapse of carbon sinks was not factored into climate models - and could rapidly accelerate global heatingIt begins each day at nightfall. As the light disappears, billions of zooplankton, crustaceans and other marine organisms rise to the ocean surface to feed on microscopic algae, returning to the depths at sunrise. The waste from this frenzy - Earth's largest migration of creatures - sinks to the ocean floor, removing millions of tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere each year.This activity is one of thousands of natural processes that regulate the Earth's climate. Together, the planet's oceans, forests, soils and other natural carbon sinks absorb about half of all human emissions. Continue reading...

The mid-Atlantic archipelago of nine islands, the tips of drowned volcanoes, is a remarkable place for marine mammals. The clear, deep waters provide the perfect habitat for cetaceans, and 28 species of whale and dolphin have been documented there. The Dutch scientist and photographer Jeroen Hoekendijk spent a week in September capturing the diversity of Azorean wildlife

New climate network will teach trainee doctors more about heatstroke, dengue and malaria and role of global warming in healthMosquito-borne diseases such as dengue and malaria will become a bigger part of the curriculum at medical schools across Europe in the face of the climate crisis.Future doctors will also have more training on how to recognise and treat heatstroke, and be expected to take the climate impact of treatments such as inhalers for asthma into account, medical school leaders said, announcing the formation of the European Network on Climate & Health Education (Enche). Continue reading...

Dispute over use of invasive species could hit production at seafood farmsYou can see them on the specials boards of new restaurants and on chalkboards propped outside bars and pubs. Foodie TikTokers are eating them by the dozen. Healthy, available for 1 and even good for the environment, oysters are experiencing a boom in popularity.But the UK industry is being hampered by a row over the farming of different species, with producers saying they are struggling to expand to meet demand. Brexit has also affected the UK shellfish industry by restricting imports and exports. Continue reading...

Information blueprint' of the spotted handfish could aid monitoring, captive breeding and protection efforts, scientists say

The keen birdwatcher encourages others to take 20 minutes out of their day, describing the experience as meditative'

Claimants seeking damages from Anglo-Australian mining company over 2015 environmental disaster in BrazilThe mother of a seven-year-old boy who was torn from the arms of his grandmother and drowned in one of Brazil's worst environmental disasters is among more than 620,000 claimants who will have their case heard this month in the largest group claim in English legal history.Gelvana Aparecida Rodrigues da Silva, 37, lost her son Thiago on 5 November 2015 when the Fundao dam, near Mariana in eastern Brazil, collapsed, releasing about 50m cubic metres of toxic waste. Continue reading...

Former administration officials say Trump deliberately denied funds to states he deemed politically hostileDonald Trump deliberately withheld disaster aid to states he deemed politically hostile to him as US president and will do so again unimpeded if he returns to the White House, several former Trump administration officials have warned.As Hurricane Helene and then Hurricane Milton have ravaged much of the south-eastern US in the past two weeks, Trump has sought to pin blame upon Joe Biden's administration for a ponderous response to the disasters, even suggesting that this was deliberate due to the number of Republican voters affected by the storms. Continue reading...

Water firm Severn Trent accused of being in breach of environmental permits over pollution near Malvern Hills Top-rated UK water firms dumped 1,374 illegal spills into rivers'Colwall, a village of less than 3,000 people on the border between Herefordshire and Worcestershire, is renowned for its spring water, which comes from the nearby Malvern Hills. An area of outstanding natural beauty, it has been favoured by the royal family for centuries, including Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria.But the water at Colwall is now in the spotlight for very different reasons. The most recent data from Severn Trent Water, the company that covers the area, reveals that a sewage treatment works on Cradley Brook, near the village, spilled sewage for 1,756 hours in 2021 and 1,361 hours in 2022. Continue reading...

We are losing in the fight against global warming, it is time to put effort into controlling what we pump into the atmosphereThe havoc unleashed by Hurricane Milton provided unambiguous evidence that we are entering a critical and alarming new phase in the planet's climate crisis. Rising fossil fuel emissions have triggered increases in ocean temperatures and sea levels to such an extent they are generating some of the most destructive storms ever experienced in Florida. Together with Hurricane Helene earlier, the lives of about 250 people have been claimed and thousands of homes destroyed. Florida has been left reeling and forecasters have warned there is more to come - a lot more.It is a grim prognosis that should be galvanising Florida's political leaders into taking urgent action to protect the state. Extraordinarily, this has not been the case. Despite the intensification of hurricanes and worsening flooding over the past decade, governor Ron DeSantis has consistently rejected the idea that global warming poses a threat to Florida or that the phenomenon exists at all. A few weeks ago, he signed a law erasing the words climate change" from state statutes and effectively pledged the state's future to burning fossil fuels. Such behaviour is disturbing. Continue reading...

Party donor Dale Vince warns that urging homeowners to switch to clean-power technology risks political storm bigger than UlezThe government risks a huge political backlash if it keeps pushing the public to install heat pumps to replace their boilers, one of Britain's leading green entrepreneurs has warned.Dale Vince, a major Labour donor and renewable energy advocate, called on Keir Starmer to rethink national programmes, championed by Boris Johnson, pushing the technology. Vince argued that Whitehall should explore alternatives to the devices, which he said were expensive, caused serious disruption and could end up increasing energy bills for some people. Continue reading...

Financial impact on mining company does not outweigh permanent loss' to cultural sites, environment minister says

50,000 people sign petition against creation of channel for river water through Ferris Meadow LakeA freshwater lake that attracts more than 30,000 swimmers a year is under threat of closure from an Environment Agency (EA) plan to reduce flooding that will channel in polluted river water, according to campaigners.Almost 50,000 people have signed a petition calling on the EA and Surrey county council to reroute the flood channel away from the lake, which is a site of nature conservation. But the EA and Surrey council seem likely to press ahead with the 50-metre wide channel, bisecting the lake and feeding river floodwater into its centre. Continue reading...

More than year's worth of rain fell in two days in south-east Morocco, filling up lake that had been dry for decadesDramatic pictures have emerged of the first floods in the Sahara in half a century.Two days of rainfall in September exceeded yearly averages in several areas of south-east Morocco and caused a deluge, officials of the country's meteorology agency said in early October. In Tagounite, a village about 450km(280 miles) south of the capital, Rabat, more than 100mm (3.9 inches) was recorded in a 24-hour period. Continue reading...

Storms Helene and Milton have triggered rise of misinformation stoked by Trump and fellow RepublicansMeteorologists tracking the advance of Hurricane Milton have been targeted by a deluge of conspiracy theories that they were controlling the weather, abuse and even death threats, amid what they say is an unprecedented surge in misinformation as two major hurricanes have hit the US.A series of falsehoods and threats have swirled in the two weeks since Hurricane Helene tore through six states causing several hundred deaths, followed by Milton crashing into Florida on Wednesday. Continue reading...

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

Piece that will premiere at book festival includes mine's cavernous' effects, music by colliery bands and interviewsIt was odd, but really fun," said Adam Cooper about his time spent helping to record the sound of an empty coalmine. To put it in one word, I'd say it sounds cavernous. But it also has its own complexities and depth to it."Cooper and his colleagues spent time down an old drift mine to capture the sound of carbon" for a new musical commission that will premiere this weekend. Continue reading...

The supposedly green project - brainchild of the previous Tory government - will increase emissions, not reduce themThis will be Keir Starmer's HS2: a hugely expensive scheme that will either be abandoned, scaled back or require massive extra funding to continue, after many billions have been spent. The government's plan for carbon capture and storage (CCS) - catching carbon dioxide from major industry and pumping it into rocks under the North Sea - is a fossil fuel-driven boondoggle that will accelerate climate breakdown. Its ticket price of 21.7bn is just the beginning of a phenomenal fiscal nightmare.There might be a case for a CCS programme if the following conditions were met. First, that the money for cheaper and more effective projects had already been committed. The opposite has happened. Labour slashed its green prosperity plan from 28bn a year to 15bn, and with it a sensible and rational programme for insulating 19m homes.George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Some Florida residents rode out Hurricane Milton despite evacuation orders, staying in their homes after the second major hurricane in two weeks. Milton slammed into Florida as a category 3 storm, killing at least 10 people, spawning tornadoes and leaving more than 3 million homes and businesses without power

The man was aboard a fishing vessel that became disabled off Madeira Beach, Florida, hours before Hurricane Milton made landfall, a Coast Guard press officer says. The man was able to radio the Coast Guard in nearby St Petersburg before contact was lost

Climate change deniers such as Florida's Ron DeSantis lament the impact of such events but won't acknowledge the underlying problemThe preparations for Hurricane Milton were on a mammoth scale, as the clean-up will be. The storm thankfully lost some of its force before it slammed into Florida, making landfall on Wednesday night as a category 3 hurricane. But many more lives would surely have been lost without the massive evacuation and the deployment of thousands of national guard troops and personnel from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.This was the second direct hit on the state in less than a fortnight, after Hurricane Helene, which killed at least 225 people in the US. The hotter ocean temperatures which worsened these storms are hundreds of times likelier because of human-made global heating, a new analysis has shown. Climate change may have increased the rain dumped on parts of the south by Helene by 50%, scientists believe. Another study has suggested such double punches could arrive every three years thanks to the continuingburning of fossil fuels.Do 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...

Shimmery cellulose-based alternative looks safer for soil than conventional microplastics, Australian-led research finds

Wheat haul in England estimated to be down by 21%, with Britain's wine producers also hit hardEngland has suffered its second worst harvest on record - with fears growing for next year - after heavy rain last winter hit production of key crops including wheat and oats.The cold, damp weather, stretching from last autumn through this spring and early summer, has hit the rapidly developing UK wine industry particularly hard, with producers saying harvests are down by between 75% and a third, depending on the region. Continue reading...

Firefighters are stoic about the risks they face but say climate change has affected every part of the jobA short drive and a world away from the tourist-thronged old town of Split, past retirees clambering out of cruise ships and stag parties stumbling into beachside bars, Ivan Sanader studied a smouldering hillside that stank of smoke.The night before, he had fought a fire that charred the slope and threatened to engulf a roadside restaurant. Now, the commander of a mobile firefighter centre in Croatia was issuing orders to stop it flaring back up. Continue reading...

Former Sydney Morning Herald reporter part of community protest to protect endangered species in Bulga state forest

Large, cattle-like tauros will shape landscape and strengthen wildlife as huge, extinct herbivore once didA herd of beefy, long-horned tauros are to be released into a Highlands rewilding project to replicate the ecological role of the aurochs, an extinct, huge herbivore that is the wild ancestor of cattle.The tauros have been bred in the Netherlands in recent years to fill the niche vacated by the aurochs, which once shaped landscapes and strengthened wildlife across Europe. Continue reading...

Our leaders may prefer complexity because it means they can defer taking action - but doing something about emissions reduction or slow wage growth is actually not that complexAfter spending any time analysing policy you quickly realise that politicians expend a supreme level of effort to avoid doing the obvious, and instead they do complex things that neither solve a problem nor appease their opponents.For politicians, the problem with clarity is that it demands action. Complexity provides safety because action can more easily be avoided. And so the obvious and clear are painted as extreme", while the complex is regarded as mature".Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Continue reading...

Milton, which fluctuated in intensity as it approached Florida, was a category 3 hurricane as it made landfall.'It will continue to move across central Florida throughout the night and into the early morning hours,' said Florida governor Ron DeSantis.

As Hurricane Milton approaches many cities were largely deserted but some people decided to shelter in placeMost left when they were told to. But some chose to stay, even though officials warned Hurricane Milton would turn their homes into coffins.Along Florida's Gulf coast, where millions of people were urged to get out of harm's way, cities were largely deserted on Wednesday afternoon as time ran out to evacuate. Those who remained were advised to shelter in place as best they could. Others who fled spoke of their dread at what, if anything, they would return to once the storm had passed. Continue reading...

As Milton makes landfall in Florida, experts warn the climate crisis is fueling more powerful storms

Advocates believe governor is unfit for emergency planning due to policies that fuel the crisis worsening stormsRon DeSantis, Florida's Republican governor, is back in the spotlight as he briefs residents on the arrival of Hurricane Milton, amid warnings it could be one of the most powerful storms to ever hit the state.DeSantis, who dropped his presidential campaign in January, is as governor responsible for implementing Florida's emergency plan by coordinating agencies, marshaling resources and urging residents to follow evacuation orders. Continue reading...

Brown bear 128 Glazer defeated male bear that killed her cub this summer in Katmai national parkFor the second year in a row, a brown bear named 128 Grazer won the Fat Bear Contest at Alaska's Katmai national park and preserve - she also got her revenge.This summer a behemoth male killed her cub. On Tuesday, Grazer beat the bear, who is named Chunk, by more than 40,000 votes cast by fans watching live cameras at explore.org of the preserve. Continue reading...

Climate disasters risk pulling society apart. To survive we need solidarity - and only one ticket in the US election offers thatEven as the good people of Florida's west coast pulled the soggy mattresses from Helene out to the curb, Milton appeared on the horizon this week - a double blast of destruction from the Gulf of Mexico that's a reminder that physics takes no time off, not even in the weeks before a crucial election. My sense is that those storms will help turn the voting on 5 November into a climate election of sorts, even if - as is likely - neither Kamala Harris nor Donald Trump spend much time in the next 25 days talking about CO or solar power.That's because these storms show not only the power of global heating (Helene's record rains, and Milton's almost unprecedented intensification, were reminders of what it means to have extremely hot ocean temperatures). More, they show what we're going to need to survive the now inevitable train of such disasters. Which is solidarity. Which is something only one ticket offers. Continue reading...

Prof Pedro Arrojo-Agudo says regulator Ofwat complacent' about water firms putting their shareholders before publicThe privatised English water system has been singled out for criticism by the UN special rapporteur on the human right to clean water.Prof Pedro Arrojo-Agudo said water systems should be managed as a publicly owned service, rather than run by private companies set up to benefit shareholders. Continue reading...

The mining tycoon says his iron ore business will stop using fossil fuels by the end of the decade without carbon offsets or carbon capture and storage

Once a champion of initiatives to protect nature, the EU is now giving in to pressure from farmers and the far rightWhen diplomats struck a deal to save nature in 2022, pledging to halt biodiversity loss by the end of the decade, Europe was seen as a credible leader in fraught negotiations. The EU cajoled others into stepping up their game as it championed a target to protect 30% of the land and sea by 2030.But two years later, as delegates meet in wildlife-rich Colombia for Cop16 - the international summit to save nature - Europe's own enthusiasm for saving species appears to be endangered. Continue reading...

Government criticised over list of potential countries for sourcing biomass, which also includes AfghanistanA plan by the British government to burn biomass imported from countries including North Korea and Afghanistan has been described as bonkers", with critics saying it undermines the credibility of the UK's climate strategy.A bioenergy resource model, published in late summer, calculates that only a big expansion in the import of energy crops and wood from a surprising list of nations would satisfy the UK's plan to meet net zero. Continue reading...

Superpower Institute says analysis of Queensland, NSW and Victorian sites shows need for independent reporting of greenhouse gas emissions

Analysis shows Gulf's heat that worsened Helene 200-500 times more likely because of human-caused global heatingAs Hurricane Milton bears down on Florida, fueled by a record-hot Gulf of Mexico, a new analysis has shown how the Gulf's heat that worsened last month's Hurricane Helene was 200 to 500 times more likely because of human-caused global heating.Helene, one of the deadliest storms in US history, gathered pace over the Gulf before crashing ashore with 140mph (225km/h) winds. Continue reading...