Environment | The Guardian

Oscar-winning film-maker Craig Foster on his first octopus encounter, the price of fame and his new video book about the power of connecting with animalsWhen the film My Octopus Teacher aired on Netflix in 2020 it was a huge overnight success, going on to win an Oscar the following year for best documentary. The simple but touching tale of the tender bond between film-maker Craig Foster and his young undersea companion had audiences spellbound worldwide. Some, like Sir Richard Branson, even gave up eating octopus after watching the film.Yet for Foster himself, the overnight fame was emotionally debilitating. You're working on this little story that you think a few people might be interested in and suddenly you're in front of 100 million people," he says. I didn't think it would affect me so much, but it was very difficult. Terrifying, to be honest." Continue reading...

Free-roaming animals reintroduced in Romania's arcu mountains are stimulating plant growth and securing carbon stored in the soil while grazingA herd of 170 bison reintroduced to Romania's arcu mountains could help store CO emissions equivalent to removing almost 2m cars from the road for a year, research has found, demonstrating how the animals help mitigate the worst effects of the climate crisis.European bison disappeared from Romania more than 200 years ago, but Rewilding Europe and WWF Romania reintroduced the species to the southern Carpathian mountains in 2014. Since then, more than 100 bison have been given new homes in the arcu mountains, growing to more than 170 animals today, one of the largest free-roaming populations in Europe. The landscape holds the potential for 350-450 bison. Continue reading...

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington taking very serious look' at whether Mar-a-Lago meeting justifies legal actionA powerful watchdog group that has been at the forefront of efforts to hold Donald Trump accountable for constitutional violations is investigating whether his Mar-a-Lago meeting with oil company executives last month merits legal action.Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (Crew) has told the Guardian that it is investigating the dinner at Trump's club with more than 20 oil and gas company executives. Trump asked them for a $1bn presidential campaign contribution, while at the same time vowing to undo Joe Biden's restrictions on natural gas export permits, oil drilling and car pollution, the Washington Post reported. Continue reading...

Cross-party group of 50 calls on prime minister to appoint climate envoy and back Beyond Oil and Gas AllianceA cross-party group of MPs and peers has urged Rishi Sunak to make a U-turn on his oil and gas extraction plans as part of a broader plea to increase efforts to address the climate crisis.The 50 politicians, including three Conservatives, wrote to the prime minister calling for the UK to regain its international leadership on the crisis by ending the licensing of new oil and gas fields, appointing a climate envoy, and backing the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance. Continue reading...

Human-caused climate crisis brought soaring temperatures across Asia, from Gaza to Delhi to ManilaThe record-breaking heatwave that scorched the Philippines in April would have been impossible without the climate crisis, scientists have found. Searing heat above 40C (104F) struck across Asia in April, causing deaths, water shortages, crop losses and widespread school closures.The extreme heat was made 45 times more likely in India and five times more likely in Israel and Palestine, the study found. The scientists said the high temperatures compounded the already dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where displaced people are living in overcrowded shelters with little access to water. Continue reading...

Experts say changing climate is threat multiplier' and that US and Germany already include it in planningThe US, Germany and other countries are putting the climate crisis at the heart of their national security plans but the UK is failing to do likewise, experts have told the government.Extreme weather and heat are killing increasing numbers of people, damaging economies and forcing millions around the world to flee their homes, adding to an already unstable geopolitical situation, MPs were told on Tuesday at a select committee hearing. Continue reading...

National Farmers' Union president warns food production is likely to drop next year and says farmers need help right nowRishi Sunak's plan to improve the UK's food security will not help build farmer's confidence in the short-term, the head of the country's biggest farming body has said.Food production was likely to drop next year, said Tom Bradshaw, the president of the National Farmers' Union, who warned that the prime minister's plan, published during the UK's second annual Farm to Fork summit, failed to give farmers the solutions they needed. Continue reading...

Extra 270 million adults aged 69 or over will suffer dangerous heat levels of 37.5C amid global heating and ageing populationsThe heat exposure of older people will at least double in all continents by 2050, according to a study that highlights the combined risk posed by a heating world and an ageing population.Compared with today, there will be up to an extra 250 million people aged 69 or above who are exposed to dangerous levels of heat, defined as 37.5C. The paper warned this is likely to create biological and social vulnerability hotspots with increasing concentrations of older adults and high temperature extremes. Continue reading...

Advertising expenditure on the large, highly polluting vehicles leapt by 29% between 2022 and 2023

Stellantis deal with Leapmotor aims to cash in on imports as Biden imposes 100% tariff in US

Farmer confidence at low ebb amid fears for their future as experts say extreme weather will hit crop yields

Vast array of projects included in sweeping package aimed at boosting domestic manufacturing and speeding up path to net zero

Weather bureau says there is now a 50/50 chance of La Nina forming this year

Government told Net Zero Teesside gas scheme will be massive polluter despite its carbon capture claimsA multibillion-pound net zero" project backed by two of the world's biggest fossil fuel firms will be responsible for more than 20m tonnes of planet-heating carbon over its lifetime, according to research submitted to the UK government.The Net Zero Teesside scheme to build a new gas-fired power station in north-east England is backed by BP and Equinor and says it will use carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology to capture up to 95% of its emissions and bury them beneath the North Sea. Continue reading...

Out-of-control Parker Lake fire, which has already forced thousands to evacuate, bears down on Fort NelsonOfficials in western Canada were bracing for volatile wildfire activity" on Monday as an out-of-control blaze, which has already forced the evacuation of thousands, threatened to destroy a northern British Columbia town.The province's wildfire service said the blaze was burning just 2km (1.2 miles) north-west of Fort Nelson, which has already seen about 3,500 people evacuated from there after an order to leave was issued on Friday. Continue reading...

Republican frontrunner vows to put an end to horrible' wind turbines, pledging to undo yet another key US green policyDonald Trump has vowed to immediately halt offshore wind energy projects on day one" of a new term as US president, in his most explicit threat yet to the industry and the latest in a series of promises to undo key aspects of the transition to cleaner energy.Trump repeated false accusations about wind projects as being lethal to whales during a rally on Saturday in Wildwood, a resort city on New Jersey's coast, promising to stamp out an industry that has been enthusiastically backed by Joe Biden. Continue reading...

State's department of fish and wildlife says the brown pelicans are showing signs of malnutrition, but that the cause is still unclearHundreds of starving and stranded brown pelicans have turned up along the California coast in recent weeks in what wildlife advocates have described as a crisis".In Newport Beach in southern California, lifeguards came upon two dozen sick pelicans on a pier last week. The Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center in Huntington Beach, the non-profit caring for the animals, said they had treated more than 100 other birds who were anemic, dehydrated and extremely underweight. Continue reading...

To move away from a disposable culture, businesses need robust, efficient reuse systems, argue campaignersFor several months last year, patrons of a Seattle coffee shop called Tailwind Cafe had the option of ordering their americanos and lattes in a returnable metal to-go cup. They could borrow one from Tailwind, go on their way and then at some point - perhaps a few hours later, perhaps on another day that week - return it to the shop, which would clean it and refill it for the next person. If the cup wasn't returned within 14 days, the customer would be charged a $15 deposit, although even that was ultimately refundable if the cup was returned by the end of 45 days.But the system quickly ran into trouble. It was overwhelming" trying to explain the return system to every interested customer, said Tailwind's head chef, Kayla Tekautz. Many were hesitant to participate after learning that they could only return the cups to Tailwind or the other drop-off location, six miles away. Plus, Tailwind's QR code reader kept malfunctioning, requiring repeated visits from a mechanic. At the end of last summer, Tailwind quietly ended the scheme. It just didn't work," Tekautz said.This story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Continue reading...

The ancient fish were successfully hatched by scientists in Tasmania using two adults and 50 eggs. The Maugean skate is thought to be found only in the vast harbour on the state's west coast. Numbers have fallen sharply due to the impact of salmon farms, hydro power stations altering upstream river flows, gillnet fishing and rising harbour temperatures due to the climate crisis, studies have found

The climate crisis can seem intractable - especially in an election year. But the remarkable actions of individuals are reason for hopeThe hottest year on record. Extreme drought, wildfires and flooding. Despairing scientists, wildlife loss and rampant waste. The sheer scale of the climate crisis can feel overwhelming.And when it comes to taking serious action, politicians move at a glacial pace, and the very real possibility of another Donald Trump presidency could stymie progress even further.If you would like to share your story, send us an email at diyclimate@theguardian.com. Tell us a bit about yourself, your project and why you started it, and the impact it's had. Please leave contact details; one of our reporters will get in touch if we are interested in finding out more Continue reading...

More than 4,000 species are targeted by traffickers, with illegal trade active in 80% of countries, says Office on Drugs and CrimeMore than 4,000 species around the world are being targeted by wildlife traffickers, causing untold harm upon nature", a UN report has warned.Wildlife crime is driven by demand for medicine, pets, bushmeat, ornamental plants and trophies. Out of all the mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians seized, 40% were on the red list of threatened or near-threatened species, the report found. Continue reading...

Water campaigner Feargal Sharkey says newly designated sites will join ignoble, floundering list of failure'Twenty-seven new bathing sites will be designated in England ahead of this summer's swimming season, the government has announced.Giving waterways bathing status means the Environment Agency has to test them for pollution during the summer months, putting pressure on water companies to stop dumping sewage in them.Church Cliff beach, Lyme Regis, DorsetCoastguards beach, River Erme, DevonConiston boating centre, Coniston Water, CumbriaConiston Brown Howe, Coniston Water, CumbriaDerwent Water at Crow Park, Keswick, CumbriaGoring beach, Worthing, West SussexLittlehaven beach, Tyne and WearManningtree beach, EssexMonk Coniston, Coniston Water, CumbriaRiver Avon at Fordingbridge, HampshireRiver Cam at Sheep's Green, Cambridge, CambridgeshireRiver Dart estuary at Dittisham, DevonRiver Dart estuary at Steamer Quay, Totnes, DevonRiver Dart estuary at Stoke Gabriel, DevonRiver Dart estuary at Warfleet, Dartmouth, DevonRiver Frome at Farleigh Hungerford, SomersetRiver Nidd at the Lido leisure park in Knaresborough, North YorkshireRiver Ribble at Edisford Bridge, LancashireRiver Severn at Ironbridge, ShropshireRiver Severn at Shrewsbury, ShropshireRiver Stour at Sudbury, SuffolkRiver Teme at Ludlow, ShropshireRiver Tone in French Weir Park, Taunton, SomersetRiver Wharfe at Wetherby Riverside, High St, Wetherby, West YorkshireRottingdean beach, Rottingdean, East SussexWallingford beach, River Thames, BerkshireWorthing Beach House, Worthing, West Sussex Continue reading...

Charity that challenged UK's Rwanda policy helps create space designed to evoke happier memories of homelandsThe healing power of horticulture for survivors of torture is to be celebrated at this year's Chelsea flower show in a garden also promoting the work of a charity at the forefront of challenging the government's Rwanda deportation plans.The garden, one of the most politically themed yet to appear at the annual event, will be relocated afterwards so it can be used as part of the therapy work undertaken by the human rights charity Freedom from Torture (FFT). Continue reading...

Among world's top 60 banks those in US are biggest fossil fuel financiers, while Barclays leads way in EuropeThe world's big banks have handed nearly $7tn (5.6tn) in funding to the fossil fuel industry since the Paris agreement to limit carbon emissions, according to research.In 2016, after talks in Paris, 196 countries signed an agreement to limit global heating as a result of carbon emissions to at most 2C above preindustrial levels, with an ideal limit of 1.5C to prevent the worst impacts of a drastically changed climate. Continue reading...

Animal lingered around a campsite at night, wildlife officers say - days before a 10-year-old boy was bitten

H5N1 has been found in commercially available milk - but gaps in testing of cattle and humans are hampering effort to stop virusSerious gaps in testing animals and people could be obscuring the true rate of avian influenza cases in the US and make it difficult to understand how the H5N1 virus is spreading - and how to stop it, experts say.Facing reluctance from farms to test workers and animals, scientists are now turning to experimental studies to understand how H5N1, a highly pathogenic bird flu, is spreading through cows and on to other farms. Continue reading...

SES issues minor flood warnings for the Hawkesbury River at North Richmond and the Colo River

Top temperatures expected, but heavy rain to follow with weather warnings in place for week aheadBritain will experience its hottest temperatures of the year on Sunday - before thunderstorms and heavy rain bring an end to the sunny conditions that the country has enjoyed over the past few days.The Met Office forecasts temperatures will peak at around 27C before the wet weather arrives. Western areas, including parts of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, will be the first to encounter the storms. Continue reading...

On her @brutalistplants Instagram page, Olivia Broome collects photographs that combine the angular shapes of raw concrete with the greenery of the natural world. I really enjoy the aesthetic of eco-brutalism and tropical modernism," she says. I love mezzanines and ziggurats, and when you pair them with plants it softens them up. Brutalism can be this quite harsh, austere architecture style, but with nature involved, it balances it all out." Now collected in a book, the images bring together buildings from across the globe, from Hong Kong to Sri Lanka, London to Mexico. It's a pleasant movement that people can get behind, especially in smaller spaces and modern cities - it's nice to fill them with plants and nature."

Virus sent to high-security facility so that experts can examine the potential risks to people and livestockAvian flu typically spreads by infecting wild birds and moving along migration routes, but the virus currently running rampant in the US is about to be transported across the Atlantic by plane.This category A pathogen, which is now spreading among cows in the US, is being sent to a high-security laboratory in the UK so that experts can better understand the potential risks to people and livestock. Continue reading...

Fears Climate Change Committee's advice not to allow carryover from last carbon budget will be ignoredMinisters are considering plans to weaken the UK's carbon-cutting plans by allowing the unused portion of the last carbon budget to be carried over to the next period.This would go against the strong recommendation of the government's statutory climate advisers, the Climate Change Committee. Continue reading...

Climate scientists have told the Guardian they expect catastrophic levels of global heating. Here's what that would mean for the planet

Loss of habitat and food sources driving fruit bats closer to urban centres, leading to bat deaths, power outages

Group says two women in their 80s took hammer and chisel to protective glass at British LibraryTwo Just Stop Oil protesters have smashed the glass around Magna Carta at the British Library.The Rev Sue Parfitt, 82, and Judy Bruce, 85, a retired biology teacher, targeted the protective enclosure with a hammer and chisel on Friday morning. Continue reading...

All designers who have gone through carbon audit are eligible for consideration for green awardA green medal for sustainability is to be introduced at the Chelsea flower show, rewarding gardens with the lowest carbon impact.Landscape designers are reporting that clients are commissioning them to make their gardens more wildlife-rich and eco-friendly, and that nature-friendly gardening is becoming increasingly important. Continue reading...

British-grown fruit much bigger after unusual winter and spring conditions led to slower ripeningTennis fans may be treated to juicier strawberries at Wimbledon this year after a wet and dark winter slowed the growing times, resulting in bigger and more flavoursome fruits.Growers said the further wet and cold weather this spring, as well as less sunlight, has delayed the British strawberry season by a fortnight this year, with the main harvest expected at the end of May. Continue reading...

One way to mitigate the eco-guilt of a to-go habit is to choose restaurants that serve food in sustainable containersGetting restaurant meals to go often comes with a side of guilt: Did I need to supersize? I should have saved the money and cooked at home." And the final sting, perhaps muttered while hovering over the trash and recycling bins deciding where to toss the empty boxes: Oh, the waste."Dietary and budgeting concerns notwithstanding, one way to mitigate the environmental impact (or the eco-guilt) of a takeout habit is to choose restaurants that serve their food in more sustainable containers. Continue reading...

Trust builds passes under road bisecting Berkshire commons for increasingly endangered venomous snakeHow did the adder cross the road? It didn't - it was too scared.Now, however, road-shy populations of the increasingly endangered snake are being given a helping hand with the construction of Britain's first adder tunnels. Continue reading...

NFU's director of strategy asked for review of EU-derived protections as part of post-Brexit loosening of rulesThe National Farmers' Union lobbied to increase the amount of pesticides allowed in the UK's drinking water and to allow farmers to spread manure more frequently as part of a post-Brexit loosening of environmental regulations, it can be revealed.Nick von Westenholz, the director of strategy for the lobby group, met Timothy Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, the Earl of Minto, who is the minister of state for regulatory reform, last year and asked him to review EU-derived environmental protections. Continue reading...

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

Waste and cost among drawbacks, as researchers say renewables could power UK entirelyIn the battle to prevent the climate overheating, wind and solar are making impressive inroads into the once dominant market share of coal. Even investors in gas plants are increasingly seen as taking a gamble.With researchers at Oxford and elsewhere agreeing that the UK could easily become entirely powered by wind and solar - with no fossil fuels required - it seems an anomaly that nuclear power is still getting the lion's share of taxpayer subsidies to keep the ailing industry alive. Continue reading...

Trust aims to boost small pearl-bordered fritillary colonies in Shropshire Hills by planting 20,000 violets this year for their caterpillarsA mass planting of marsh violets across England's Shropshire Hills is to take place to try to prevent further decline of the small pearl-bordered fritillary or Boloria selene, a rare UK butterfly.The small pearl-bordered fritillary's distribution across the UK has plunged 71% since the mid 1970s and the species is now listed as vulnerable, according to the 2022 state of UK butterflies report. Continue reading...

Sugar's texture and taste can be as individualistic as coffee beans or wine grapes grown in specific regions, but most of us don't know thatOne night, I was preparing steak for dinner and mistakenly reached for the wrong white granulated substance. Instead of salting my steak to create a brown crust by searing, I created a brown crust with notes of caramel.Ethan Frisch, co-founder of Burlap & Barrel, an artisanal spice company that works with small producers worldwide, laughed wryly when he heard this story over Zoom. This is the first time in history anyone could make that mistake. Refined, white-bleached sugar is a very modern development in the centuries-old sugar industry. Sugar is brown! It's only white when you do a lot of work to remove the brownness." Continue reading...

Trump promised to 20 executives at Mar-a-Lago dinner to increase oil drilling and reverse pollution rules among other pitchesDonald Trump dangled a brazen deal" in front of some of the top US oil bosses last month, proposing that they give him $1bn for his White House re-election campaign and vowing that once back in office he would instantly tear up Joe Biden's environmental regulations and prevent any new ones, according to a bombshell new report.According to the Washington Post, the former US president made his jaw-dropping pitch, which the paper described as remarkably blunt and transactional", at a dinner at his Mar-a-Lago home and club. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Samuel Sandy, chair of Nurrdalinji Aboriginal Corporation, says the treatment of its submission was wrong and upsetting'

Top climate figures respond to Guardian survey of scientists who expect temperatures to soar, saying leaders must act radically

The 44ft-long whale corpse was an endangered sei whale, which will now be examined to determine how it diedA cruise ship has journeyed into New York City's harbor bearing a gruesome cargo in the form of a huge, dead whale sprawled across its bow.The incident happened on Saturday, according to local US media reports, and the event is being held by some as further evidence of the unfortunate impact on sea life that large vessels can have. Continue reading...

Andreas B. Heide has been shortlisted for a Shackleton award for his work in the far north, getting up close to nature to connect people emotionally with a fragile ecosystemTo say the images of Andreas B. Heide during his working day are dramatic is an understatement: a freediver deep underwater in a black wetsuit, his lean silhouette enhanced by powerful bladed fins, looking up towards a group of orcas; or standing on an ice sheet next to a small sailboat in the Arctic, amid a sea full of dangerous looking ice floes in poor visibility.But for the marine biologist and adventurer, plunging into freezing waters with orcas or embarking on a 4,500-mile sailing expedition from the Arctic north to the UK and back, documenting whale behaviour and their dramatic encounters with polar bears, whales and walruses, is all part and parcel of storytelling that he hopes can ultimately change human behaviour. He works with scientists and conservationists, photographers and drone pilots, to underline the importance of conservation in the extreme north, under challenging conditions.The crew land at the Sjuoyane, Svalbard 2023, wearing a rifle for polar bear protection. From left: Zimbabwean sailor Tawanda Chikasha; Andreas B. Heide; Spanish marine biotechnologist Almu Alvarez; and Norwegian photographer Tord Karlsen. Photograph: Tord Karlsen/Barba Continue reading...

If passed, the groundbreaking measure could be a model for other states to hold fossil fuel companies liableVermont is poised to pass a groundbreaking measure forcing major polluting companies to help pay for damages caused by the climate crisis, in a move being closely watched by other states including New York and California.Modeled after the Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund program, which forces companies to pay for toxic waste cleanup, the climate superfund bill would charge major fossil fuel companies doing business within the state billions of dollars for their past emissions. Continue reading...