Environment | The Guardian

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...

Colombian environment minister Susana Muhamad once worked for Shell. Now, as the country gears up to host the biodiversity Cop16, she is calling for a just transition away from fossil fuelsShe is one of the biggest opponents of fossil fuel on the world stage - but Susana Muhamad's political career was sparked in the halls of an oil company. It began when she resigned as a sustainability consultant with Shell in 2009 and returned home to Colombia. She was 32 and disillusioned, a far cry from the heights she would later reach as the country's environment minister, and one of the most high-profile progressive leaders in global environmental politics.Muhamad joined Shell an idealistic 26-year-old. I really thought that you could make a huge impact within an energy company on the climate issue, especially because all their publicity was saying that they were going to become an energy company, meaning they will not be only a fossil fuel company," she says, when we meet in the Colombian embassy in London. Continue reading...

Forests around world being changed from carbon sinks into carbon sources, making it harder to slow global heatingWildfires are burning through the carbon budget that humans have allocated themselves to limit global heating, a study shows.The authors said this accelerating trend was approaching - and may have already breached - a critical temperature threshold" after which fires cause significant shifts in tree cover and carbon storage. Continue reading...

Social media stars of 367 Collins Street welcome baby birds to the nest

A grueling heatwave resulted in five students being treated for general weakness' during a sports meetAs a grueling heatwave baked the US south-west this week, there were reports of at least three students being taken to the hospital with heat-related injuries. The injuries highlight the effects of extreme heat on health as the country struggles to grapple with increasingly severe weather amid the climate crisis.Cal Fire and the fire department in Riverside, east of Los Angeles, reported responding on Tuesday afternoon to a junior high school and high school cross-country meet in the city where they evaluated five juvenile patients for general weakness". Three were transported to a hospital for further evaluation, the agency said. Continue reading...

Damage to sewage systems and pipes means widespread boil water notices and conservation orders could last weeksHurricane Helene left a path of devastation behind, with storm-ravaged areas struggling to access safe water for days because flooding damaged sewage systems, wastewater treatment plants and pipes that deliver drinking water to residents in the affected areas.Boiling water advisories and water conservation orders are in place in counties in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia. Continue reading...

Nuclear waste dump in Cumbria pleaded guilty to leaving data that could threaten national security exposed for four years, says regulatorSellafield will have to pay almost 400,000 after it pleaded guilty to criminal charges over years of cybersecurity failings at Britain's most hazardous nuclear site.The vast nuclear waste dump in Cumbria left information that could threaten national security exposed for four years, according to the industry regulator, which brought the charges. It was also found that 75% of its computer servers were vulnerable to cyber-attack. Continue reading...

Proponents say using hallucinogens can spark consciousness shifts' to inspire climate-friendly behaviorsThousands gathered for New York City's annual Climate Week last week to promote climate solutions, from the phaseout of fossil-fuel subsidies to nuclear energy to corporate-led schemes like carbon credits. Others touted a more offbeat potential salve to the crisis: psychedelics.Under the banner of Psychedelic Climate Week, a group of academics, marketers and advocates gathered for a film on pairing magic mushrooms with music, a discussion on funding ketamine-assisted therapy and a panel on Balancing Investing & Impact with Climate & Psychedelic Capital". Continue reading...

The emissions impact is obvious but with full employment in construction, approving three mine extensions is saying you want workers there rather than building homes

Employers hiring migrant workers through a federal program must provide food or cooking facilities. But those picking our fresh food have no access to adequate mealsOn an August afternoon, Pablo stared down at a foam plate sloshing with flavorless pinto beans and a particularly bad version of huevos a la Mexicana. The simple, usually delicious scramble of eggs, tomatoes, onions and jalapenos is difficult to mess up. But if anyone can find a way to make it unpalatable, it's the cook at his labor camp.Soupy eggs are the last thing the 42-year-old from western Mexico wants to eat. But after a 12-hour day harvesting tobacco in the brutal and sometimes deadly summer heat, he must eat - and this was far from the worst meal he's been given. A few weeks ago, fellow farm workers got sick due to raw and moldy food they were forced to purchase. Continue reading...

Camera installed inside a tree hollow in NSW forest to raise awareness of the plight of the endangered possum

The Idaho camp where Nora Zavala Gallion harvested sugar beets in 1968 felt like a prison because it had been one - for Japanese Americans in the second world warMy mother, Nora Zavala Gallion, was 11 years old when she first set foot inside the farm labor camp in Caldwell, Idaho. It was 1968, and her family had traveled over 2,000 miles (3,218km) by car from Texas's Rio Grande valley to harvest sugar beets as migrant laborers.While my family had worked numerous crops across the country for decades, the girl who would become my mother sensed something very different about this location. The camp's small, dilapidated wooden living quarters were called barracks" and featured open, latrine-style bathrooms and showers. Somehow, my mother knew this place had a troubling past. Continue reading...

Though utilities' mission is to provide clean water, their trade groups for decades have often fiercely opposed initiatives to improve qualitySeveral unexpected plaintiffs are behind a legal challenge aiming to kill the Environmental Protection Agency's groundbreaking new drinking water limits for highly toxic PFAS: the US's water utilities, represented by their major trade groups.But utility industry opposition to clean water regulations is nothing new. Though utilities' mission is to provide the US with clean and safe water, their trade groups have for decades often fiercely opposed initiatives to improve quality. Continue reading...

The Austrian capital has been spared the worst of recent flooding. Its experience could be a lesson in how to tackle the climate crisisFloods are seemingly unavoidable these days. Florida, North Carolina, Nigeria, Tunisia, Mexico, India, Nepal, Vietnam, Poland and Austria are among the places that have experienced flooding in the last month. Those floods should no longer come as much of a surprise. Climate change leads to more frequent and intense rain almost everywhere on the planet, and most infrastructure, from roads and bridges to canals and hydroelectric dams, is simply not built to withstand such extremes.That's where Vienna stands out. The floods that have deluged central Europe over the past two weeks caused plenty of disruptions in Lower Austria, including to a newly built train station meant to connect the burgeoning suburbs to the city. But aside from some disruption to Vienna's otherwise well-functioning subway system, Viennese homes were largely spared. Why? It's not because Vienna sits on higher ground than the surrounding areas (by and large it does not). The reason the city escaped the worst of the floods is because of human engineering and political foresight dating back to the 1960s, which emerged in response to earlier floods that devastated parts of the city.Gernot Wagner is a climate economist at Columbia Business School. He is a member of the scientific advisory board of the Wiener Klimarat, Vienna's climate council

Tensions ramp up between authorities and property owners who don't want chemical treatment spread on their land

Excessive heat warnings bring elevated wildfire risk, potential for power outages and rising death tollSan Francisco recorded its hottest day of the year on Tuesday, and Phoenix set a record for the hottest 1 October on record, as the National Weather Service predicted record-high fall temperatures across the south-western US.With temperatures hitting 100F (38C) or higher in many places, officials and local media outlets issued warnings that the heat posed a significant threat to property or life". Excessive heat warnings were in place across the region, bringing with it warnings about elevated wildfire risk, the potential for sweeping power outages in California and a rising toll of heat-related deaths, a particularly deadly risk for unhoused people and the elderly. Continue reading...