Environment | The Guardian

Selected from a record-breaking 59,228 entries from 117 countries and territories, the winners of the Natural History Museum's prestigious wildlife photographer of the year competition have been announced, with an exhibition opening on Friday 11 October. The Canadian marine conservation photojournalist Shane Gross was awarded wildlife photographer of the year 2024 for his image of tadpoles, The Swarm of Life, captured while snorkelling through lily pads in Cedar Lake on Vancouver Island, British Columbia Continue reading...

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IEA says faster clean energy rollout being led by solar power in China with country set to boast half of world's renewables by 2030China is expected to account for almost 60% of all renewable energy capacity installed worldwide between now and 2030, according to the International Energy Agency.The IEA's highly influential renewable energy report found that over the next six years renewable energy projects will roll out at three times the pace of the previous six years, led by the clean energy programmes of China and India. Continue reading...

The Joides Resolution has contributed to our understanding of climate crisis, the origin of life, earthquakes and eruptions. But funding cuts mean it may have sailed its last expeditionIn the early summer of this year, a ship set sail around the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. But this wasn't any ordinary ship. For almost 40 years the Joides Resolution drilled into the ocean floor to collect samples and data that helped scientists to study Earth's history and structure. Expeditions on the vessel have made a vital contribution to our understanding of the climate crisis, the tectonic plates theory, the origin of life on Earth and natural hazards such as earthquakes and eruptions. Yet the two-month voyage around Svalbard was to be its last.The National Science Foundation (NSF), the US agency that provided scientists at Texas A&M University with funds for the ship, announced last year it would not give money for the drilling vessel past September 2024. It was a declaration that shocked the global scientific community and meant that Svalbard would be the ship's final outing.The vibration isolated television is attached to the drillpipe and is used to image the seafloor before drilling begins. Photograph: Lisa Crowder/IODP JRSO Continue reading...

Emma Pinchbeck will take over as chief executive of Climate Change Committee next monthThe government's official climate watchdog has appointed the head of the energy industry's trade association to lead its work helping to drive the UK's emissions to net zero by 2050.Emma Pinchbeck, the head of Energy UK, will take up the role of chief executive of the Climate Change Committee (CCC) from early next month after four years at the helm of the trade association. Continue reading...

Dam removal concluded a decades long fight on 2 October, which also saw Chinook salmon return to the watersWith California's Klamath Dam removal project finally completed, new before and after photos show the dramatic differences along the river with and without the dams. The photos were taken by Swiftwater Films, a documentary company chronicling the dam removal project - a two decade long fight that concluded 2 October.The tribally led effort to dismantle the dams is an expression of our sacred duty to maintain balance in the world," Yurok tribal chairman Joseph L James said in a statement. That is why we fought so hard for so long to tear down the dams and bring the salmon home." Continue reading...

Timor-Leste president's trip comes amid mounting pressure for Labor to finalise an agreement

President to announce in Wisconsin EPA rule aimed at ensuring drinking water is safe for all AmericansA decade after the Flint, Michigan, water crisis raised alarms about the continuing dangers of lead in tap water, Joe Biden is setting a 10-year deadline for cities across the nation to replace their lead pipes, finalizing an aggressive approach aimed at ensuring that drinking water is safe for all Americans.Biden announced the final Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule during a visit to the swing state of Wisconsin in the final month of a tight presidential campaign. The announcement highlights an issue - safe drinking water - that Kamala Harris has prioritized as vice-president as well as during her presidential campaign. The new rule supplants a looser standard set by former president Donald Trump's administration that did not include a universal requirement to replace lead pipes. Continue reading...

An entire family was killed less than a month before wedding day as Hurricane Milton bears down on FloridaAs the country turns its attention to Hurricane Milton, which is expected to bring life-threatening conditions to parts of Florida after it makes landfall later this week, communities in much of the south-east US are still reeling from the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene almost two weeks ago.In western North Carolina, home to many mountain communities such as Green Mountain, entire towns were destroyed and washed away during the storm. Residents became isolated as roads became impassable. Electricity and cellphone service went out. Continue reading...

As Floridians prepare to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Milton, debris from Helene still litter swaths of the stateLess than two weeks after Hurricane Helene lashed the Florida coastline, an even more powerful hurricane is hurtling toward the state.It's the kind of double hit becoming more common as the climate crisis persists, further complicating hurricane preparation, experts say. Continue reading...

Complaint against NW Natural, the state's biggest provider, marks first time a utility faces climate deception chargesOregon's most populous county has sued the state's biggest gas provider for allegedly sowing climate doubt, marking the first time a utility has faced charges of climate deception.Last year, Multnomah county sued 17 fossil fuel companies and interest groups for allegedly deceiving the public about the climate crisis. The lawsuit came two years after a record-shattering heat dome killed 69 people across the county. Continue reading...

Ofwat says firms must lower bills next year after poor performance on issues such as sewage spills and leaks

Tanya Plibersek claims Labor is protecting 52% of its ocean territory, but experts say that is misleading'

Critically endangered flowers get stay of execution after local environmental group threatens legal action against Victorian government

Harvesting in Bulga state forest, inland from Port Macquarie, is just 400km from global nature-positive summit the government is hosting

Wasps released on Nightingale Island have protected Wilkins' bunting by halting spread of mould-causing insectsA tiny parasitic wasp has given a lifeline to one of the world's rarest bird species by killing off an invasive insect that was threatening its survival.The Wilkins' bunting lives on Nightingale Island, part of the Tristan da Cunha group; the world's most remote inhabited archipelago. It eats the fruit of the Phylica arborea, the island's only native tree. Continue reading...

Demand for beef, soy, palm oil and nickel hindering efforts to halt demolition by 2030, global report findsThe destruction of global forests increased in 2023, and is higher than when 140 countries promised three years ago to halt deforestation by the end of the decade, an analysis shows.The rising demolition of the forests puts ambitions to halt the climate crisis and stem the huge worldwide losses of wildlife even further from reach, the researchers warn. Continue reading...

Energy system operator expects winter power supplies to outstrip demand by almost 9% this yearThe risk of winter blackouts in Great Britain has tumbled to its lowest in four years even after the shutdown of the UK's last coal plant, thanks to investments in low-carbon electricity sources.The National Energy System Operator (Neso) expects Britain's winter power supplies to outstrip demand by almost 9% this year in its base case scenario, the greatest margin since the winter of 2019 to 2020. Continue reading...

News comes after Iron Gate dam was removed to let river near California-Oregon border return to natural flowFor the first time in more than a century, salmon are swimming freely along the Klamath River and its tributaries, just days after the largest dam removal project in US history was completed.Researchers determined that Chinook salmon began migrating on 3 October into previously inaccessible habitat above the site of the former Iron Gate dam, one of four towering dams near the California-Oregon border that were demolished as part of a national movement to let rivers return to their natural flow and to restore ecosystems for fish and other wildlife. Continue reading...

Reports of strategy reset leave campaigners saying company is prioritising profits over planetGreen groups have reacted with fury to reports that BP has dropped a target to cut its oil output in the next five years, saying the company was prioritising profits over the health of the planet.Campaign groups including Greenpeace and Reclaim Finance slammed the move that would potentially result in the oil company scrapping its plan to reduce oil and gas output by 25% by 2030 under a strategy reset by the company. Continue reading...

Local people and businesses left in lurch' after council says it cannot afford to support or develop Alpe du Grand SerreA large French Alpine ski resort has announced it is to close, citing a lack of funds to become a year-round destination, as low- and medium-altitude mountain areas around Europe struggle with a truncated season due to global heating and declining snowfalls.Local councillors voted not to reopen Alpe du Grand Serre in the Isere this winter, saying they could no longer pay for the mountain lifts or pay to complete a programme to diversify as an all-year tourist destination. Continue reading...

Malmesbury sanctuary pays tribute to jolly' bird, which is thought to have drowned after falling into swollen river at nightThe tale of Irwin the missing emu has ended sadly, with the jolly" big bird's body found in a river close to the sanctuary where he was last seen alive a week ago.Staff at the Malmesbury animal sanctuary in Wiltshire believe Irwin slipped into the swollen river while playing with other emus and drowned. Continue reading...

World Meteorological Organization says water is canary in the coalmine of climate change' and calls for urgent actionRivers dried up at the highest rate in three decades in 2023, putting global water supply at risk, data has shown.Over the past five years, there have been lower-than-average river levels across the globe and reservoirs have also been low, according to the World Meteorological Organization's (WMO) State of Global Water Resources report. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Leaders warn damage to artwork at Dendrobium coalmine in NSW could be a second Juukan Gorge'

The federal government, state governments and larger non-profits have had a slower - and, say some residents, insufficient - responseThe first thing members of the Pansy Collective, based in Asheville, North Carolina, did following the start of Hurricane Helene was reach out to each other, ensuring that everyone was OK, and helping people who needed to evacuate. As soon as they were able to get down from the Blue Ridge Mountains, where Asheville is nestled, they drove more than 200 miles to Durham to gather supplies and bring them back to Asheville.The Pansy Collective is just one of several mutual-aid disaster-relief organizations that have mobilized across Florida and the Carolinas since Hurricane Helene made landfall on 26 September. Continue reading...

As prime minister Justin Trudeau trails in polls, opposition seek to persuade voters environmental policy is a burdenMass hunger and malnutrition. A looming nuclear winter. An existential threat to the Canadian way of life. For months, the country's Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has issued dire and increasingly apocalyptic warnings about the future. The culprit? A federal carbon levy meant to curb greenhouse gas emissions.In the House of Commons this month, the Tory leader said there was only one way to avoid the devastating crisis: embattled prime minister Justin Trudeau must call a carbon tax' election". Continue reading...

New scheme to improve recycling rates and tackle pollution was pushed back by Tories after industry complaintsLobbyists for Britain's biggest food brands successfully pushed for a 1.7bn packaging tax to be deferred, new documents reveal.The fees for a new scheme to improve recycling rates and tackle plastic pollution were due to be imposed this month, but were delayed for a year by the last Tory government after the industry complained about the costs in a series of private meetings. Continue reading...

Rescuers search for missing after huge volumes of rain fall in area around Jablanica and Konjic, causing sudden floodingRescue teams are searching for survivors after flash floods and landslides hit parts of Bosnia, killing at least 16 people and injuring dozens more.Construction machines worked to remove piles of rocks and debris covering the central town of Jablanica after the rainstorm early on Friday. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Farmers still awaiting promised payments for uninsurable damage caused by Storm HenkLabour may cut financial support for flooded farmers, the Guardian has learned, while money to compensate them for deluges in January has still not hit their pockets.The previous Conservative government earlier this year promised up to 25,000 in payments for uninsurable damage from flooding caused by Storm Henk. However, the eligibility criteria for these grants has still not been set out, leaving farmers out of pocket. The scheme has been plagued with delays, with some affected farmers not being paid because they live too far from a river. Continue reading...

At least 14 people died in floods in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Friday and others were missing as torrential rain and landslides destroyed homes, roads and bridges across the centre of the country, officials said. Bosnia's presidency said it had requested military help for the wider Jablanica area, and engineers, rescue units and a helicopter were deployed, including to rescue 17 people from a mental health hospital. Neighbouring Croatia was hit by floods on Friday, though there were no reports of casualties. Authorities issued a severe weather warning for the Adriatic coast and central regions of the country Continue reading...

Prime minister suggests there will be more public money made available for new technologies

Firms such as Smallhold have lessons to be learned on what business can - and can't - do in transforming agricultureWhen Andrew Carter and Adam DeMartino started their business Smallhold in 2017, they set out with a simple vision they thought could have a big impact: feed people mushrooms.Mushrooms are one of the most sustainable calories on the planet, in every aspect," Carter said, whether you're looking at water, waste, plastic use or greenhouse gas emissions. We just wanted to get more people eating them." Continue reading...

Recycling is, by its nature, complicated. The imperfections in the process don't mean the whole system is a conThe process of recycling is, by its nature, complicated. We put our mix of rubbish in the right bins, and from that point onwards hope that those we entrust it to - be it local councils picking up rubbish or supermarket recycling schemes - will do the rest. If this is you, then you may be dismayed to learn that a recent Everyday Plastics report found that most soft plastics collected by two of Britain's biggest supermarkets are not being recycled and are, instead, incinerated.Soft plastics are anything flimsy that you can scrunch in your hand: think bread bags, pouches, clingfilm, chocolate wrappers and crisp packets. But as this latest report shows, they aren't as easily recyclable as you might think. Here's why.James Piper is the co-host of the Talking Rubbish podcast and author of The Rubbish BookDo 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...

Research challenges idea that sending liquefied natural gas around the world is cleaner alternative to burning coalExported gas emits far more greenhouse gas emissions than coal, despite fossil-fuel industry claims it is a cleaner alternative, according to a major new research paper that challenges the controversial yet rapid expansion of gas exports from the US to Europe and Asia.Coal is the dirtiest of fossil fuels when combusted for energy, with oil and gas producers for years promoting cleaner-burning gas as a bridge" fuel and even a climate solution" amid a glut of new liquefied natural gas (or LNG) terminals, primarily in the US. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Broadcaster joins board of Climate Emergency Fund and says there needs to be new ways of pushing for changeClimate activists need to stop blocking roads and start holding fossil fuel executives personally to account, Chris Packham has said, after being appointed to the board of one of the biggest activist funds in the world.The naturalist and broadcaster is the first non-US-based director of the Climate Emergency Fund, which has given almost $15m (11.4m) to activists taking part in non-violent civil disobedience around the world since 2019. Continue reading...

Behind the violence of extreme weather is that of the fossil fuel industry, and Americans are suffering for itThe weather we used to have shaped the behavior of the water we used to have - how much and when it rained, how dry it got, when and how slowly the snow in the heights melted, what fell as rain and fell as snow. Climate chaos is changing all that, breaking the patterns, delivering water in torrents unprecedented in recorded history or withholding it to create epic droughts, while heat-and-drought-parched soil, grasslands and forests create ideal conditions for mega-wildfires.Water in the right time and quantity is a blessing; in the wrong ones it's a scourge and a destroying force, as we've seen recently with floods around the world. In the vice-presidential debate, Tim Walz, the Minnesota governor, noted that his state's farmers know climate change is real. They've seen 500-year droughts, 500-year floods, back to back." Farmers around the world are dealing with flood, drought and unseasonable weather that impacts their ability to produce food and protect soil. Continue reading...

Analysis of satellite data finds plant cover has increased more than tenfold over the last few decadesPlant cover across the Antarctic peninsula has soared more than tenfold over the last few decades, as the climate crisis heats up the icy continent.Analysis of satellite data found there was less than one sq kilometre of vegetation in 1986 but there was almost 12km2 of green cover by 2021. The spread of the plants, mostly mosses, has accelerated since 2016, the researchers found. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Study suggests people more willing to reduce own carbon footprint if they see leaders doing the samePolitical leaders walking the talk" on climate action by flying less or eating less meat could be a crucial missing link" in fighting global heating, according to a study.Researchers found that people are significantly more willing to reduce their own carbon footprint if they see leaders doing the same. The finding, by psychologists in the UK, was not a given, as green action by high-profile people can sometimes be dismissed as virtue-signalling. Continue reading...

Researchers tethered 50 long-spined and 50 short-spined urchins outside lobster den and sharks were observed smashing the whole thing'

An experiment designed to investigate the role lobsters play in regulating sea urchin numbers unexpectedly found sharks were eating them instead. The research, led by the University of Newcastle marine ecologist Jeremy Day, involved 50 long-spined and 50 short-spined sea urchins tethered to the entrance of a lobster den on the south coast of NSW. Over the course of 25 nights, sharks ate 45 of the urchins, while lobsters ate only four. Sea urchins are native to NSW but have become are a pest in Tasmania, where they are threatening local ecosystems Continue reading...

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

The stars of 367 Collins Street have welcomed baby birds to the nest. Two hungry chicks are taking meals after entering the world on a Melbourne skyscraper. Last year's eggs were unable to hatch after the mother stopped incubating - likely due to a territorial dispute - making the stakes all the higher this year

New vehicle efficiency standards (NVES) will not apply to at least four large vehicles, source says

Investment will fund two CCS clusters - but environmental campaigners have criticised plansRachel Reeves is paving the way for a multibillion-pound increase in public-sector investment at the budget after the government announced plans to commit almost 22bn over 25 years to fund carbon capture and storage projects.In what is expected to be one of the biggest green spending promises of the parliament, the chancellor, prime minister and the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, will unveil the details on a visit to the Liverpool city region on Friday declaring a new era" for clean energy jobs. Continue reading...

Harris reiterates she won't ban fracking if elected as Trump runs ads stating the opposite in tight Pennsylvania raceKamala Harris reiterated that she won't ban fracking on Wednesday in an interview with KDKA-TV, the CBS affiliate in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Though the US vice-president once backed a ban on the fuel extraction process, she said on Wednesday that she changed her mind since joining Joe Biden's presidential campaign in 2020 and has since remained firm.The statement comes as she and Donald Trump compete for votes in Pennsylvania, a swing state with 20 seats in the electoral college and a major gas producer. The Trump campaign, meanwhile, has been running ads claiming that if elected, Harris would enshrine a ban on fracking, costing Pennsylvania over 300,000 jobs. Continue reading...

Laborers from the Caribbean nation pick berries and process Thanksgiving turkeys across rural AmericaOn a foggy morning in June 2021, I left my Durham, North Carolina, home to travel two and a half hours to rural Whiteville, North Carolina, population 5,000-ish. I headed there to meet some of the town's newest, albeit temporary, residents: 200 Haitian migrants employed as blueberry pickers.These farm workers put food on our tables - and on family tables back in Haiti. But they're a less visible work force in our food supply chain, toiling largely out of sight on farms in places like Columbus county, with its miles of fields. They are doubly invisible among US guest workers, who overwhelmingly hail from Mexico. Continue reading...

Sea levels along the US coastline could rise as much as 12in from 2020 to 2050 due to climate crisis, scientists warnFloods affecting much of the south-east US show the destructive force of higher sea levels and warmer temperatures. Now, researchers at the non-profit Climate Central are using artificial intelligence to predict how climate-related flooding will affect US communities into the next 75 years if warming continues at its current pace.Previous research has shown that by 2050, sea levels along the US coastline could rise as much as 12in (30cm) from 2020 levels. High-tide flooding, which can occur even in sunny weather, is projected to triple by 2050, and so-called 100-year floods may soon become annual occurrences in New England. Continue reading...

As the Line fire exploded, dense smoke made it difficult to breathe and heat became intolerable', but work carried on

Nature was the painter's ultimate muse, and he would have admired those seeking to protect it

A row over sea life, lice and livelihoods is dividing communities as the government plans to end open-net pen farming in British Columbian watersOn a clear August morning, Skookum John manoeuvres his fishing boat, Sweet Marie, out of the Tofino harbour and into the deep blue waters of Clayoquot Sound on Canada's west coast.On shore, the late summer sun shines on visitors from all over the world who have flocked to the bustling fishing town on Vancouver Island, where they wander in and out of surf shops, art galleries and restaurants and pile into small boats in the hope of glimpsing orca, humpback and grey whales. Continue reading...