Supporters rally to Rachel Kyte after criticism of appointment over link to investment firm Quadrature CapitalThe UK's new climate envoy will retain her role on the board of a charity whose founders made a multimillion-pound donation to the Labour party and have investments in fossil fuels, the Guardian has learned.Rachel Kyte, the former World Bank climate chief who was announced as the UK's special representative on climate this week, is on the climate advisory board of Quadrature Climate Foundation, a charity set up by the founders of the Quadrature Capital investment company. Continue reading...
by Ramon Antonio Vargas and Richard Luscombe on (#6R233)
Residents in several states suffer power outages and heavy flooding as officials warn of very dangerous environment'Helene left a dizzying path of destruction as it raged across the south-east United States on Friday, killing at least 40 people across four states, causing dangerous flooding and leaving millions without power.The storm - which registered maximum sustained winds of 140mph - crashed ashore late on Thursday in north-western Florida as a potent category 4 hurricane. It weakened to a tropical storm and then to a depression as it moved across Georgia as well as the Carolinas on Friday afternoon, when residents whose communities experienced Helene's peak effects more directly were only just beginning to fathom the recovery process ahead. Continue reading...
September has offered little reprieve after a sweltering summer, with Las Vegas on 102nd day of temperatures above 100FBrutal heat continues to plague the south-west US, with excessive heat alerts lingering long into September as parts of the region set grim new records for deaths connected to the sweltering temperatures.Autumn has offered little reprieve for cities that have already spent months mired in triple-digit temperatures. This week, Las Vegas, Nevada; Phoenix, Arizona; and Palm Springs, California, are all grappling with severe weather, with highs that have pushed over 100F (38C). More than 16 million people in the US were under heat alerts on Friday, according to the National Weather Service, mostly clustered in the southern tips of Nevada, Arizona and California. Continue reading...
Builders already have the tools needed to build cooler homes for an increasingly hotter worldThe US sweltered under record-breaking heat this year, with new research suggesting that air conditioning is no longer enough to keep homes cool. Spiraling energy demands and costs of indoor cooling now have planners looking to alternative ways to keep buildings cool - some fresh out of the lab, others centuries old.The amount of buildings we expect to go up in the next couple decades is just staggering," says Alexi Miller, director of building innovation at the non-profit New Buildings Institute (NBI). If we build them the way we built them yesterday, we're going to use a phenomenal amount of energy. There are lots of ways we could be doing this better. It's not all fancy, emerging technology - there's some basic stuff we don't do nearly enough." Continue reading...
Domesticated creatures feature heavily in contemporary contributions to Guardian column compared to diaries of 1920sIn the early 1920s, the British countryside was a place where blackbirds sang, rabbits scurried and the summer skies were animated by swallows and house martins. A century on, blackbirds still sing and ancient oaks stand proud but the landscape is dominated by sheep, cows and dogs - according to Guardian country diarists.A study of the most-featured species in the Country Diary column from 2021-24 and a century earlier reveals a surprising dominance of domesticated creatures in the mind's eye of the contemporary contributors. Continue reading...
JD Vance had to cancel two events in Georgia on Thursday after the category 4 storm surged across the regionJD Vance has been forced to cancel two campaign events in Georgia due to the threat posed by Hurricane Helene, in the latest instance of Donald Trump's presidential bid being affected by extreme weather worsened by a climate crisis that both Trump and Vance have routinely mocked.Vance, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, scrapped plans to make a speech in Macon, Georgia, and then hold a rally in Flowery Branch, Georgia, on Thursday due to the hurricane, which has surged across the Gulf of Mexico and hit Florida's west coast as a category 4 storm. Continue reading...
Findings come amid growing concerns about overuse of medicines in farm animals and rise of superbugsNone of the UK's large supermarket chains are ensuring their suppliers use antibiotics in the most responsible way, an assessment by campaigners has found, despite heightened concerns about their overuse in farm animals.Supermarkets play an important role in the fight against superbugs, because most of the world's antibiotics are used on livestock and retailers can enforce strict standards on the farm suppliers they use. Resistant bacteria known as superbugs are rapidly developing, posing an increasing risk to human health. Continue reading...
Three-quarters plan to invest solely in continued fossil fuel production between now and 2030, research showsNorth Sea oil and gas companies are failing to switch their investments to renewable energy, research has shown.Three-quarters of the offshore oil and gas companies operating in the UK plan to invest solely in continued fossil fuel production between now and the end of the decade, according to data compiled by the analyst company Rystad. Continue reading...
High levels of antibiotics and other drugs have been found in water in the country's most treasured and protected landscapes, raising concerns over antimicrobial resistance
We should be celebrating the revival of the bluefin tuna - but a ravenous fishing industry, backed by government and science', is already licking its lipsOver the past three weeks, I've been watching one of the greatest natural spectacles on Earth, here in south Devon. At a certain station of the tide, within a few metres of the coast, the sea erupts with monsters. They can travel at 45mph. They grow to 2.5 metres (8ft 2in) in length and 600kg in weight. They herd smaller fish - saury and garfish in this case - against the surface, then accelerate into the shoal so fast that they overshoot sometimes 2 or 3 metres into the air. Bluefin tuna. They are here, on our southern coasts, right now.When I've mentioned this on social media, some people refuse to believe me: you must be seeing dolphins, they say. Yes, I often see dolphins too, and it's not hard to spot the difference. They don't believe it because we have forgotten that our coastal waters were once among the richest on Earth. Bluefin and longfin tuna were common here. So were several species of whale, including sperm, fin, humpback and Atlantic grey, and a wide range of large sharks. Halibut the size of barn doors hunted the coastal shallows. Cod reached almost 2 metres in length, haddock nearly a metre, turbot were the size of tabletops, oysters as big as dinner plates, shoals of herring and mackerel were miles long.George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
At least 46 people, most of them children, drowned in the eastern state of Bihar while bathing in rivers swollen by recent floods in observance of Jivitputrika Vrat.At least 46 people have drowned, most of them children, while bathing in rivers and ponds swollen by recent floods, during the observance of a Hindu religious festival celebrated by millions in India.The dead include 37 children and seven women who drowned in the eastern state of Bihar in scattered incidents across 15 districts, authorities said on Thursday. Continue reading...
The south-east of England could also see lightning, winds of up to 50mph and even isolated, brief tornadoes'Parts of the UK have been hit by further flash floods and the Met Office has warned of more heavy rain throughout the evening and into Friday morning.The Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (Torro) is also forecasting that much of the south-east of England could see lightning, winds up to 50mph and even isolated brief tornadoes". This includes much of East Anglia, the south-east Midlands and central southern England. Continue reading...
Lobbyists and lawmakers have coordinated to enact new laws that increase criminal penalties for peaceful protestsFossil fuel lobbyists coordinated with lawmakers behind the scenes and across state lines to push and shape laws that are escalating a crackdown on peaceful protests against oil and gas expansion, a new Guardian investigation reveals.Records obtained by the Guardian show that lobbyists working for major North American oil and gas companies were key architects of anti-protest laws that increase penalties and could lead to non-violent environmental and climate activists being imprisoned up to 10 years. Continue reading...
It's that time of year when homes fill with hairy eight-legged monsters. At least they keep the flies under control ...It is giant spider season and I am delighted. As someone who is ravaged by flying insects all summer, I welcome these eight-legged death machines into my home with open arms. Speckle-backed Tegeneria? Be my guest! Iwould far rather something that looks like an animated tomato stalk occasionally scuttled across my curtain than be beset by a swarm of fruit flies, bluebottles or midges. I have even heard that spiders might eat clothes moths, although I think for them to have a significant impact on numbers I would have to lean even further into my Miss Havisham alter ego and stroll around bedecked by webs.I wasn't always this way. As a child, I was as terrified of spiders as I am today by droughts and unfiled tax returns. I would watch in amazed horror as my country-born mother picked up arachnids the size and heft of dogs and calmly threw them out the window. There were whole cupboards I refused to open for fear of spiders. Once, after accidentally walking into a web during a game of hide and seek, Iactually vomited at the thought ofaspider being close to my skin (they found me quite quickly after that). Continue reading...
On my return to the UK from Brazil I've seen how northern latitudes are behaving like the equatorial marginsReturning to British suburbia from the Brazilian Amazon is always disconcerting, but it has been doubly weird in the past few days because the London commuter belt has been inundated with volumes of rain that normally belong in the tropics.Mini-tornadoes, flash floods and the dumping of a month's worth of rain in a single day have flooded transport hubs, high street pubs, and the shrubs of semidetached homes.Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough!It isn't fit for humans now, Continue reading...
by Jessica Murray Midlands correspondent on (#6R11Q)
Roland Cherry, from Warwickshire, sustained severe bite wounds after being mauled by animal during safariA man narrowly survived after being dragged to the bottom of a river and thrown through the air like a rag doll" when he was attacked by hippo while canoeing on holiday in Zambia.Roland Cherry, who was on a five-week holiday through southern Africa with his wife, Shirley, sustained severe bite wounds across his body, including a 25cm (10in) wound to his abdomen, as well as a thigh injury and dislocated shoulder in the attack. Continue reading...
by Robyn Vinter North of England correspondent on (#6R11R)
Lilly, an 8.5-metre tall puppet designed to help children talk about the environment, provokes mixed responseThey say it is rude to comment on a baby's appearance but that has not stopped the residents of Rochdale, who awoke on Wednesday to a freaky" new arrival.Lilly, an 8.5-metre tall puppet designed to help children talk about the environment, went on display in the town centre to a somewhat bewildered response. Continue reading...
Loved-up brown bears and whispering raccoons feature in this light-hearted look at a selection of finalists from the Nikon Comedy Wildlife awards. A winner will be announced on 10 December Continue reading...
From breeding spots overrun by visitors to photographers disturbing endangered species, experts say the rarer the find is, the bigger the problemWith its impressive size, striking plumage and rowdy displays, sighting a capercaillie is many birders' dream. Only about 530 of the large woodland grouse survive in the wild, most in Scotland's Cairngorms national park.But in recent years, those tasked with saving the species from extinction have had to walk a line between calling attention to the birds' plight and discouraging people from seeking them out. Continue reading...
Carbon Brief says more than 800m will need to be spent in each of the next two yearsThe UK government has been failing to meet its commitments to fund nature protection in the developing world, and will need to double current spending to meet the targets, new data has shown.Underspending on overseas climate aid by the previous Conservative government has meant spending averaged 450m a year for the three full years since 2021 - less than half the 3bn that was pledged for nature projects in poor countries. Continue reading...
Upgrade to Merseyside site will allow it to build hybrid cars and prepare for electric vehicle productionJaguar Land Rover has said it will spend half a billion pounds to upgrade a Merseyside factory to build hybrid cars and prepare for electric vehicle production.Britain's largest automotive employer - officially known as JLR - said it has already spent 250m on new car production lines, machinery, people and digital technology at the Halewood plant, with plans for 250m more over the coming years. Continue reading...
Ricarda Lang and Omid Nouripour call for reset as party faces deepest crisis for a decade' after Brandenburg resultThe leaders of Germany's Greens, partners in the embattled central government of Olaf Scholz, have announced their resignation, saying that a series of election defeats requires a radical reset.Ricarda Lang and Omid Nouripour, joint leaders since 2022, said on Wednesday that the environmental party, a trailblazer in Europe and the first to have MPs elected to a national parliament, faced its deepest crisis in a decade after the result of the Brandenburg state election on Sunday. Continue reading...
Residents in Sierra Madre report increased bear sightings - and some bears are finding their way into homes and yardsHumans are building homes closer to the forest in southern California, and bears are putting their foot, or their paw, down.Residents in Sierra Madre, a city neighboring the more than 700,000-acre (283,280-hectare) Angeles national forest, have had black bears break into their homes, cars and yards. Continue reading...
In 27 states, utilities can disconnect power for non-payment on the hottest days, which can have deadly consequencesMichael Crowley runs his air conditioner nonstop on hot summer days to keep his cat, Arya, comfortable. But when the Richmond, Virginia, chef got home after work on 7 August 2022, it felt like 100 degrees". His power was out. He phoned his leasing office and was told his electricity bill was unpaid.Crowley protested, saying his utilities had long been covered by his rent check. But then he learned his building's new property manager required tenants to pay for power separately - something Crowley said was unclear. No one told him about the delinquent bill, he said. Continue reading...
Letter says technologies to produce blue hydrogen and capture COare unproven and could hinder net zero effortsLeading climate scientists are urging the government to pause plans for a billion pound investment in green technologies" they say are unproven and would make it harder for the UK to reach its net zero targets.Labour has promised to invest 1bn in carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) to produce blue hydrogen and to capture carbon dioxide from new gas-fired power stations - with a decision on the first tranche of the funding expected imminently.Lock the UK into fossil fuel production for generations to come.Result in huge upstream emissions from methane leaks, transport and processing of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US.Rely on carbon capture and storage (CCS) during the production of hydrogen - technology they say has been abandoned in the vast majority of similar projects around the world.Pose a danger to the public if there are any leaks from pipes carrying the captured carbon. At least 45 people had to be taken to hospital after a leak in the US. Continue reading...
Nine climate protesters have stopped a coal train headed to the Port of Newcastle in opposition to the federal government's approval of three new mining projects. Rising Tide, the group behind the move, said in a statement that the three projects - Whitehaven Coal's Narrabri thermal coal project to 2066, Mach Energy's Mount Pleasant thermal coal project to 2058 and Yancoal's Ashton coal project to 2064 - would create 1.4bn tonnes of emissions Tanya Plibersek approves three coalmine expansions in move criticised as the opposite of climate action' Continue reading...
Until the government changes its stance on the environment and the war in Gaza and Lebanon, there is nothing to celebrateOn Monday morning, we walked into the main hall of Labour's annual conference in Liverpool, before the keynote speech of the chancellor, Rachel Reeves. What we did next, you might have seen.Shortly after Reeves began her address, two of us stood to speak out on Labour's complicity in suspected Israeli war crimes, and the party's ties to climate-wrecking corporations. We were there on behalf of Climate Resistance, a group campaigning to end the cosy relationship between politics and the fossil fuel industry. Just like arms manufacturers, oil companies have been guilty of hindering democratic processes with donations and lobbying, putting human lives on the line for their own profits.Jack McGinn is a climate activist with Climate ResistanceDo 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...
The underwater archaeologist Mensun Bound recounts some of the astonishing relics he has seen, as detailed in his new co-authored book, Wonders in the DeepTreasure and shipwrecks go hand in hand - but what are the most magnificent and historically significant items ever salvaged and what do they tell us about the world we live in? The underwater archaeologist Mensun Bound, who was the director of exploration on the team that discovered Ernest Shackleton's ship Endurance, has written a new maritime history of the world through shipwrecked objects he has encountered over the course of his career.Here, he reveals some of the most important - and quirky - items that have ever been salvaged from the sea. Continue reading...
When sighting rates for basking sharks are high they are low for minke whales, says monitoring programmeThe highest ever recorded numbers of minke whales and the lowest number of basking sharks were observed in the Hebrides in 2023, according to a report.The latest findings of the 20-year monitoring programme by the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust suggest a possible association between these two highly mobile and long-lived species. When sighting rates for basking sharks are high, they are low for minke whales, and vice versa. Continue reading...
California could become the first state to tackle the fast fashion waste overwhelming consumers and landfillsLet's say you bought a new pair of jeans and wore them for a few years before deciding it was time to part ways. You could throw them away, or, if you wanted a more environmentally friendly option, you might try to sell or swap them or donate them to a local thrift store.Either way, the onus is on you to pass those jeans on, and hope for the best. But a new California bill that tackles the growing problem of fashion and textile waste could change the way we get rid of our clothes, putting the burden on clothing producers to implement a system for recycling the wares that they sell. Continue reading...
by Oliver Milman , Dharna Noor and with graphics by A on (#6QZ81)
Seven states received almost half of funds for clean energy manufacturing, though there is little evidence it will deliver electorally for DemocratsThe seven swing states that will decide the upcoming US election have received nearly half of the torrent of clean energy manufacturing dollars unleashed by a landmark 2022 climate bill, a new analysis shows, amid stuttering Democratic efforts to translate new factory jobs into political support.Since the passage of clean energy incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a bill called the most significant climate law in the history of mankind" by Joe Biden, nearly $150bn has been announced for a flurry of new American facilities producing electric cars, batteries and components for renewable energy. Continue reading...
by Jessica Murray Midlands correspondent on (#6QZ1N)
Thirty-five flood warnings in place across England after some areas get more than 100mm of rain in 48 hoursFlooded roads and cancelled trains have caused travel disruption to commuters, after some parts of England received more than a month's worth of rain in 24 hours.Woburn in Bedfordshire recorded 132mm rain in the past 48 hours, more than twice its September average rainfall, according to the Met Office. Continue reading...
Exclusive: council issues advisory as investigation begins and documents reveal estimates of PFOA emissionsPeople living near a chemicals plant in Lancashire have been told to wash and peel vegetables from their gardens before eating them, while an investigation into potential contamination of soil in the area with a banned toxic chemical gets under way.The chemical PFOA, one of the PFAS family of about 15,000 chemicals, does not break down in the environment and last year was categorised as a human carcinogen by the World Health Organization. It is also toxic to reproduction and has been linked to a range of health problems such as thyroid disease and increased cholesterol. Continue reading...
In an extract from her new book, Still Waters & Wild Waves, the artist and illustrator Angela Harding documents the wildlife and landscapes of the Scottish islands Fair Isle and ShetlandWords and images: Angela HardingToday the UK woke up to a day of excitement. A day of street parties, a national holiday, and celebrations for a new king. It was also day three of gale-force winds on Fair Isle, and it was the day my mother died. A brief phone call from her care home, then the aloneness. The phone call came as I stood outside the south lighthouse. I watched the tower-tall waves, Payne's grey, reflecting the colour of the sky. Waves built by wide, powerful seas and a wild wind that rocked me back and forth on my heels. The news was expected; it was the logical conclusion for a fragile 92-year-old.Shetland Sea, an illustration from Angela Harding's sketchbook Continue reading...
Norwegians are putting their natural environment (and weekend activities) ahead of tourism's economic benefitsIn Norway, nature is something of a national obsession. Norwegian children are taught that there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing", and Norwegian babies are packed into thermals and overalls and taken on day trips to the woods. Cross-country skiing, hunting for wild mushrooms or cloudberries, or huffing and puffing up a mountain are standard weekend activities.The recent decision to scrap a campaign that aimed to attract more foreign tourists to the country's rural landscapes was a stark reminder of this: rather than encouraging tourists and the income they provide, many Norwegians would prefer to protect their natural environment. Continue reading...
The winning images in this year's Bird Photographer of the Year competition have been selected from 23,000 entries from around the world. The overall winner Patricia Homonylo's image showed birds killed by colliding with windows
Former secretary of state accuses oil and gas companies of business as usual' at major climate summit in New YorkCountries are ignoring commitments they made less than a year ago to shift away from fossil fuels and to provide aid to those most vulnerable to the climate crisis, a host of leading figures have admitted during a gloomy start to a major climate summit in New York.Al Gore, the former US vice-president, and John Kerry, the former US secretary of state and climate envoy, have led the condemnation of the largest greenhouse gas emitters, led by China and the US, for failing to follow a UN pact signed in Dubai by nearly 200 countries in December to transition away" from oil, coal and gas. Continue reading...
The new head of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty on Cop29 and why activism is not winning enoughTop climate scientists have long warned that swiftly curbing fossil fuel production will be necessary to avert climate catastrophe. Yet international climate treaties have failed to include such commitments. Despite pressure from vulnerable nations and activists, in the agreement signed at international climate talks last year, world leaders failed to commit to a fossil fuel phase-out", instead calling for a transition away" from coal, oil and gas. Its a longstanding problem: the 2015 Paris agreement does not even mention that fossil fuels are responsible for global heating.That paradox led climate-vulnerable nations and civil society groups to launch the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative. First dreamed up following the Paris climate talks and officially launched in 2019, the proposed treaty would include concrete plans for the phase-out of fossil fuels, complementing the Paris agreement. It has been endorsed by 13 countries including Colombia and vulnerable island nations such as Vanuatu, as well as hundreds of elected officials, 118 cities and municipalities, and thousands of organizations. Inspired in part by the 1968 nuclear non-proliferation treaty, which aimed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, the initiative calls on nations to agree to halt the expansion of coal, oil and gas. Continue reading...
Labour will bring in regulations that apply to social as well as private housing, says energy secretaryLandlords who rent out substandard draughty homes face a crackdown under plans set out by the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, at the Labour party conference.Miliband said the measures would lift a million renters out of fuel poverty. Previous plans, outlined in the Labour manifesto, applied only to private landlords, but the new stipulations will also cover tenants in social homes. Continue reading...
Environment | The Guardian