From bats to moths, species working the night shift are suffering as light pollution soarsWhen we think about invertebrates, most of us picture bees, butterflies, worms, crabs or perhaps even a jellyfish. But did you know that at least two-thirds of invertebrates are active at night, meaning many are unlikely to be seen? Invertebrates carry out many of the same functions as their daytime counterparts, in some cases doing so with greater efficiency and variety.For centuries, artificial light has been a symbol of progress. From the flickering flames of early fires to the dazzling LED displays of modern cities, light has shaped human civilisation. But while we celebrate its convenience, we often overlook the darker side of our obsession with illumination: light pollution.The Guardian is running the invertebrate of the year competition 2025 - and this time it's global. Nominate your favourite invertebrate, and then, in a few weeks time, we'll vote on which is the best. Continue reading...

Brad Homewood is charged with four offences after a 2021 Extinction Rebellion protest at the Exxon/Mobil depot in Spotswood

Residents in Topanga Canyon - an area of Indigenous heritage and artists - mobilized against the state's decision to bring in hazardous materials after wildfiresTwenty years ago, it was called Rodeo Grounds - an eclectic neighborhood of artists, musicians and surfers living in beach shacks where Topanga Canyon meets the Pacific Ocean. In a bizarre agreement with the former owner some paid as little as $100 a month for rent, raising multiple generations of their families here since the 1950s. But that was before the state purchased the property and started evicting residents in 2001. Julie Howell, who once owned Howell-Green Fine Art Gallery further up in the canyon, says the bohemians were kicked out.I actually had a show in my gallery 20 years ago for the group of artists who lived there at Rodeo Grounds, who they kicked out of that spot because it was so environmentally sensitive," says Howell. Continue reading...

Velvet worms have rows of pudgy legs, skin speckled like a galaxy and dissolve their prey with sticky gooAn ancient gummy-looking worm-like creature with a vicious hunting method that involves projecting sticky goo from its head has been crowned New Zealand's bug of the year.The Peripatoides novaezealandiae is from the family of velvet worms, or Ngokeoke in the Mori language. The invertebrates have rows of pudgy legs and skin speckled like a galaxy, and are considered living fossils", having remained virtually unchanged for 500m years. Continue reading...

The condition of the state's system was already precarious when the US president ordered billions of gallons be let outFirst, there was Donald Trump's executive order to release billions of gallons of water from two reservoirs in California's Central valley, a move the feds walked back after farmers and water experts decried it as wasteful, ill-conceived - and an unnecessary risk factor for levees in the region.The mandate, said Nicholas Pinter, a professor of applied geoscience at the University of California at Davis who studies California's levees, amounted to hydrologic insanity". Continue reading...

Experts warn victory for Energy Transfer, whose CEO is a Trump donor, could have a chilling' effect on free speechA fossil fuel company's $300m lawsuit against Greenpeace opens in rural North Dakota on Monday, in a case that has been widely condemned by constitutional rights experts as baseless, bad faith litigation that threatens free speech.Energy Transfer Partners, a Dallas-based oil and gas company worth almost $70bn, accuses Greenpeace of defamation and orchestrating criminal behavior by protesters at the Dakota Access pipeline (Dapl). Continue reading...

In Grimsby, locals have created a society focused on the environmental and health benefits more trees provide, planting thousands in schools, parks and hedgerowsBilly Dasein was born on Rutland Street, Grimsby, in the front room of the house where he still lives. His father was a fitter, and his mother a housewife who also worked in the Tickler's jam factory. He left school at 16 and wound up working at Courtauld's synthetic textiles factory.Rows of terrace houses, constructed for workers in the booming fish industry, are set out in a grid structure by the docks. Life was similar on all these streets: doors left unlocked, kids out playing. Everyone knew everyone. Continue reading...

Greenpeace argues European-backed projects hamper countries' ability to decarbonise their own economiesEuropean countries are extracting renewable energy from Morocco and Egypt to greenwash" their own economies, while leaving north Africans reliant on dirty imported fuels and paying the environmental costs, a Greenpeace report says.Both Morocco and Egypt are aiming to leverage their strategic locations south of the Mediterranean, and their solar and wind power potential, to position themselves as pivotal to Europe's quest to diversify its energy supply. Continue reading...

Groups from Sierra Club to Greenpeace take aim at Trump's drilling orders in term's first environmental legal battlesGreen advocacy groups filed two lawsuits against the Trump administration on Wednesday, marking the first environmental legal challenges against the president's second administration.Both focus on the Trump administration's moves to open up more of US waters to oil and gas drilling, which the plaintiffs say are illegal. Continue reading...

Experts raise fears for England's largest colony at Blakeney Point as they conduct tests to identify source of infectionExperts have raised fears for the seals at England's largest colony after four were found to have died after having been infected with bird flu.Government scientists are investigating to find out whether the seals died after scavenging from the corpses of infected birds. Continue reading...

Activists warn new designation for projects such as pipelines threatens US wetlands and watersEnvironmentalists were outraged on Wednesday after the Trump administration moved to fast-track fossil fuel projects through the permitting process, with activists describing it as an attempt to sidestep environmental laws that could harm waterways and wetlands.In recent days, the US Army Corps of Engineers created a new designation of emergency" permits for infrastructure projects, citing a day one executive order signed by Donald Trump which claims the US is facing an energy emergency" and must unleash" already booming energy production. Continue reading...

Site in Cumbria can now return to routine inspections but concerns remain over cybersecurityThe UK nuclear industry regulator has taken Sellafield, the world's largest store of plutonium, out of special measures for its physical security - but said concerns remained over its cybersecurity.Guarding arrangements at the vast nuclear waste dump in Cumbria have improved enough to allow for routine inspections from the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), rather than requiring enhanced regulatory oversight". Continue reading...

Decades-long research shows world's glaciers collectively lost 6.542tn tonnes of ice between 2000 and 2023Melting glaciers have caused almost 2cm of sea level rise this century alone, a decades-long study has revealed.The research shows the world's glaciers collectively lost 6.542tn tonnes of ice between 2000 and 2023, causing an 18mm (0.7in) rise in global sea levels. Continue reading...

Bank is criticised for pushing climate targets to 2050 and watering down environmental goalsHSBC has been criticised after it delayed key parts of its climate goals by 20 years, while watering down environmental targets in a new long-term bonus plan for its chief executive, Georges Elhedery, that could be worth up to 600% of his salary.The London-headquartered lender said it was reviewing its net zero emissions policies and targets - which are split between its own operations and those of the clients it finances - after realising its clients and suppliers had seen more challenges" in cutting their carbon footprint than expected. Continue reading...

Poorer countries want rapid emission cuts and more financial help in face of US leader's stance on global heatingDeveloping countries are calling on the rich world to defy the US president, Donald Trump, and bridge the global chasm over climate action, before the goal of limiting global temperatures to safe levels is irretrievably lost.Diplomats from the developing world are rallying to support Brazil, which will host a crucial climate summit in November, after last year's talks in Azerbaijan ended in disappointment and acrimony. Continue reading...

Seeds from the last toromiro, unique to remote Easter Island, were taken away in the 1960s. Now, after a crucial discovery gave hope for its survival, it is making a returnIn the Mataveri Otai nursery on the island of Rapa Nui, Estefany Pate cradles a bag of soil with a 10cm sprout like it is a baby. She caresses its leaves. It's been so emotional to have it here," says Pate, who works for Chile's National Forest Corporation (CONAF).It was here before us; it was here before the moai," she says, referring to the megalithic statues that dot the island. It has a sentimental value." Continue reading...

What is the point of this government?

Attempt to refloat false killer whales was unsuccessful, forcing wildlife authorities to make difficult decision for safety and welfare reasons'

A group of 157 animals that appear to be false killer whales have stranded, according to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania, with initial observations showing 136 animals were still alive on Wednesday morning. Veterinarians and conservationists have responded to the mass beaching, but experts warn inaccessibility and poor conditions may limit their ability to help

Study found electric vehicles and batteries added largest amount to country's clean-energy economyClean energy contributed a record 10% of China's gross domestic product in 2024, an analysis has found.With sales and investments worth 13.6tn yuan (1.5tn; $1.9tn), the sector has now overtaken real estate sales in value. Continue reading...

Growth in 2022 and 2023 was driven by soaring gas prices caused by Russia's invasion, but 2024 saw sales slumpHeat pump sales fell 23% in Europe last year, industry data shows, reverting to the level they were at before the war in Ukraine and slowing the shift away from gas-burning boilers.Demand for clean heating devices fell by about half in Belgium and Germany, and by 39% in France, according to data for 13 countries that cover 85% of the European heat pump market. Continue reading...

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Demonstrators have protested against an expedited cleanup process that would involve using a beloved beach as a toxic waste sorting siteThis weekend, more than a hundred demonstrators protested against a new plan by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to use a local beach as a toxic waste sorting site, to process debris from the Palisades fire. They waved signs saying Save Our Beaches" and Sort Toxics at the Burn Site" as they walked up and down the path along Will Rogers state beach in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, just outside Los Angeles.Their message? Wildfire debris isn't just ash - it's poison. Asbestos, heavy metals, dioxins and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons will not remain contained," a petition circulated by a local resident, Ashley Oelsen, says. Toxic contaminants from the wildfire debris could leach into the soil and the waterways. Onshore winds will undoubtedly carry these hazardous particulates, compromising the air quality where people live, work and play. The risk to our ocean's health is just as alarming." Continue reading...

Make polluters pay' laws, led by blue states AGs, and accountability suits will be a major front for climate litigation for the coming yearsDonald Trump's re-election has turbocharged" climate accountability efforts including laws which aim to force greenhouse gas emitters to pay damages for fueling dangerous global warming, say activists.These make polluters pay" laws, led by blue states' attorneys general, and climate accountability lawsuits will be a major front for climate litigation in the coming months and years. They are being challenged by red states and the fossil fuel industry, which are also fighting against accountability-focused climate lawsuits waged by governments and youth environmentalists. Continue reading...

I'm campaigning for legal protection for cleaner fish, because no one has done a proper assessment of the impact of removing them from Scottish reefsI was in my 50s when I first became aware that cleaner fish existed, when I met a fisher who sold them to Scottish salmon farms. Each year, around the world, such farms use more than 60 million cleaner fish to eat - or clean" - parasites off other fish. But the natural habitat of the cleaner fish is the reef.On a reef, each cleaner fish has clients that visit them to have their parasites removed - sometimes much bigger fish or predators such as sharks and rays. I was intrigued to discover the cleaner fish would gently massage these clients with their fins and make sure they were comfortable. Continue reading...

It could be wildfires, a pandemic or a financial crisis. The super-rich will flee to their bunkers - the rest of us will have to fend for ourselvesThough we might find it hard to imagine, we cannot now rule it out: the possibility of systemic collapse in the United States. The degradation of federal government by Donald Trump and Elon Musk could trigger a series of converging and compounding crises, leading to social, financial and industrial failure.There are several possible mechanisms. Let's start with an obvious one: their assault on financial regulation. Trump's appointee to the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Russell Vought, has suspended all the agency's activity, slashed its budget and could be pursuing Musk's ambition to delete" the bureau. The CFPB was established by Congress after the 2008 financial crisis, to protect people from the predatory activity that helped trigger the crash. The signal to the financial sector could not be clearer: Fill your boots, boys." A financial crisis in the US would immediately become a global crisis.George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Lobbyists argued it was unfair for their industry to be treated the same as others as end product - oil and gas - inevitably produced emissionsExperts have accused the fossil fuel industry of seeking special treatment after lobbyists argued greenhouse gas emissions from oilfields should be treated differently to those from other industries.The government is embroiled in a row over whether to allow a massive new oilfield, Rosebank, to go ahead, with some cabinet members arguing it could boost growth and others concerned it could make the goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2050 impossible to reach. Labour made a manifesto commitment to halt new North Sea licensing, but Rosebank and some other projects had already been licensed and were awaiting final approval when the party won the general election. Continue reading...

Report highlights worrying retreat' in support for shareholder resolutions on environmental and social risksSupport for shareholder proposals aimed at tackling environmental and social risks hit a record low last year, figures show, amid a worrying retreat" by investors, particularly in the US.A report compiled by the responsible investment campaign group ShareAction found that, out of 279 environmental, social and governance (ESG) shareholder resolutions put forward at annual general meetings last year in the UK, Europe and the US, only four - or 1.4% - secured majority support. Continue reading...

Bladder cancer risk increased 33% and colorectal cancer by 15% in using chlorine to disinfect waterChlorinating drinking water at levels common in the United States and European Union probably increases the risk of several cancers, a new analysis of recent research from across the globe finds.The process of disinfecting water with chlorine creates trihalomethane (THM) byproducts, which are found in virtually all public drinking water systems across the US and EU - nearly 300 million people in the US have concerning levels in their water, by one estimate. Continue reading...

Researchers say the animals could keep red deer numbers under control, leading to storage of 1m tonnes of COReintroducing wolves in the Scottish Highlands could lead to an expansion of native woodland, which could take in and store 1m tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, researchers have suggested.A study led by researchers at the University of Leeds said that reintroducing the species into the Cairngorms, as well as the south-west, north-west and central Highlands could help curb the problem of red deer eating tree saplings, which stops natural woodland regeneration. Continue reading...

Those supporting the deal hope it will raise billions to help poor countries deal with climate breakdownBrazil has asked the UN to throw out plans for a new levy on global shipping that would raise funds to fight the climate crisis, despite playing host to the next UN climate summit.The proposed levy on carbon dioxide emissions from shipping will be discussed at a crunch meeting of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) that begins on Monday. Those supporting the deal, including the UK, the EU and Japan, are hoping the levy will raise billions of dollars a year, which could be used to help poor countries cope with the effects of climate breakdown. Continue reading...

The Eaton fire destroyed nearly half of the Black households in Altadena, wiping out businesses and wealthA memorial service early this month for three Black victims of the Eaton fire was marked by simmering anger at Donald Trump's choice not to visit Altadena, a suburb with a historic Black community disproportionately affected by the disaster.It's one of many decisions that have left residents of Altadena, a racially and economically diverse suburb of Los Angeles, worried about political and financial neglect in the aftermath of the fires. Continue reading...

Robert Taylor recently lost his wife to a long-term illness he linked to chemicals produced by a nearby plant, and now the Trump administration is preparing to scrap pollution reforms in the areaIt is only February and already Robert Taylor is facing his second seismic life event of the year.Both are wrapped in grief and angst, tied indelibly to the land that surrounds his home in the community of Reserve, Louisiana. Continue reading...

Mountain communities in southern Appalachia begin rebuilding after climate crisis-fueled disasterIt's hard to picture what Barnardsville looked like before Hurricane Helene converted the calm creek that meanders through this North Carolina mountain holler into a roaring river that engulfed the community.More than 50 homes including an entire trailer park were destroyed when Ivy Creek flooded in late September after three days of unprecedented rainfall and hurricane-force winds uprooted thousands of trees - and this close-knit community's sense of safety. Continue reading...

Harmful algae bloom off south-west coast blamed for deaths of marine life and poses threat to beachesEnvironmentalists in Florida are calling on the governor, Ron DeSantis, to declare an emergency as a worsening red tide" algae bloom off the state's south-west coast threatens popular tourist beaches and is being blamed for the deaths of wildlife including fish and dolphins.Several counties have issued health alerts in response to the outbreak, which scientists say began in the Gulf of Mexico last year when Hurricanes Helene and Milton tore up nutrient-rich waters that feed the algae. Continue reading...

The US president has scrapped paper straws because they allegedly explode' - a bit like the PM's reputation if he keeps refusing to confront him on the big issuesIt's difficult to know whether to set any store by Donald Trump's bleak and yet also often banal pronouncements, which read as if handfuls of offensive concepts have been tossed into the air by a monkey, read out in whatever order they landed and then made policy. Until it's clear they can't work. At which point, the monkey must toss again.But this month, Trump, whose morning ablutions increasingly appear to consist of dousing himself in sachets of the kind of cheap hot chocolate powder I steal from three-star hotels, like a flightless bird stuck in the machine that glazes Magnum lollies, declared he wanted to build his hotels on the mass graves of Gaza. Hasn't Trump seen The Shining? It won't end well. Pity those whose children have the misfortune to die next to a monetisable stretch of shoreline. And hope humanity's next wave of mass killings happens somewhere uneven and way inland that hopefully wouldn't even make a decent golf course.Stewart Lee tours Stewart Lee vs the Man-Wulf this year, with a Royal Festival Hall run in JulyDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 250 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at observer.letters@observer.co.uk Continue reading...

A councillor's alleged attempt to blow up a bird-prowling moggie reveals the pet-loving divide runs deepThe resignation last week of James Garnor, a parish councillor in Whittlebury, Northamptonshire, may look like further proof of the maxim, established by the infamous Jackie Weaver lockdown meeting, that low-level politics produce high-level emotions. However, the cause of his undoing was nothing as trivial as democratic principles; it illustrates a far more profound question that, sooner or later, we all confront: are you a cat or a dog person?Garnor, we may safely conclude, is not a cat person. He quit following allegations that he rigged up a bird table with a firework device so that it exploded when a cat paid a visit. The consequences of this shocking but non-lethal incident, which took place back in 2023, have only now come to a head, but it's fair to say that, as anti-cat statements go, a remote-detonated IED is at the extreme end of things.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 250 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at observer.letters@observer.co.uk Continue reading...

Malabar wastewater plant discharges 5.4bn to 120bn microplastic particles each day, CSIRO report says, prompting calls for more advanced treatment processes

As the supermarket vows to introduce electrical stunning for its farmed prawns, campaigners call on others to follow suitThey are a popular staple for office lunches, barbecues and takeaways, but prawns often suffer an unpleasant death before reaching our plates.Animal rights campaigners say billions of prawns farmed each year deserve better welfare protection and are targeting what they describe as atrocious" practices of eyestalk ablation" and suffocation in ice slurry. Continue reading...

As wildfires, floods, droughts and record-breaking temperatures have shown, the post-climate change era has arrived. Now we need honesty and action from our leadersNot yet a quarter of the way into this century and global average temperatures are already 1.75C above the preindustrial average. January 2025 was the hottest on record and has also set a record for the highest yearly minimum global surface temperature, and likely the highest minimum in the past 120,000 years. It is part of a clear pattern. Last year's global average was 1.6C above the preindustrial - a sobering reality check, given that, only three months ago at the UN Cop29 summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, leaders were still declaring that limiting global temperature rises to 1.5C was within reach.We are firmly in the post-climate change world now, and the serious implications of this demand honest acknowledgment. The reality is that we are living now in a time of continual disasters that are unfolding alongside our slower, planetary scale disaster. In this riskier time, we need to prepare. Continue reading...

Adrian Simancas encountered a humpback off Chile's coast - but scientists say he was never at risk of being swallowedAdrian Simancas had been paddling for two hours in the calm but icy seas of the Strait of Magellan, off the coast of Chilean Patagonia, when something massive emerged from the water and dragged him under.I saw dark blue and white colours before feeling a slimy texture brush against my face," the 24-year-old told the Guardian. I closed my eyes to brace for impact, but it was soft, like being hit by a wave." Continue reading...

Prime minister tells Salmon Tasmania of promise to change legislation and allow sustainable' farming to continue

Residents in Sierra Madre begin cleanup effort after strongest storm of year sweeps through southern CaliforniaResidents of a southern California mountain community near the Eaton fire burn scar dug out of roads submerged in sludge on Friday after the strongest storm of the year swept through the area, unleashing debris flows and muddy messes in several neighborhoods recently torched by wildfires.Water, debris and boulders rushed down the mountain in the city of Sierra Madre on Thursday night, trapping at least one car in the mud and damaging several home garages with mud and debris. Bulldozers on Friday were cleaning up the mud-covered streets in the city of 10,000 people. Continue reading...

The former Police drummer Stewart Copeland, with the help of the British naturalist Martyn Stewart, has produced Wild Concerto, a collaboration between nature and music'. The album fuses sounds of nature, such as the call of Arctic terns and the howling of wolves, with traditional instruments. Stewart hailed the environmental theme of the work, explaining that most of the species represented were endangered

Developers must now offset damage to nature by achieving a 10% biodiversity net gain - but is buying up pockets of land and rewilding them the answer?To most people driving through the waterlogged fields of West Sussex, a patch of muddy land dotted with scrubby trees would not warrant a second glance. But this former farmland is being given a new lease of life as part of a government scheme to boost wildlife.Ardingly habitat bank is one of the pilot sites for the biodiversity net gain (BNG) scheme. Under legislation that came into force in February 2024, new roads, houses and other building projects must achieve a 10% net gain in biodiversity if nature is damaged on a site. So if a forest is bulldozed to make way for a block of flats, the developer must recreate a similar habitat, plus 10%. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Firms outnumber green groups at environmental talks, with related events sponsored by fossil fuel companiesAviation industry delegates outnumbered those from green groups by 10 to one at the previous conference of the UN's committee on aviation environmental protection (CAEP), an analysis has found.Other recent meetings held by CAEP's parent body, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), were sponsored by large fossil fuel companies and airlines, including Saudi Aramco and Etihad. Critics accuse the ICAO of having been captured by the industry, resulting in slow efforts to tackle the climate crisis by reducing the carbon emissions from aircraft. Continue reading...

It's not just eggs, but coffee, orange juice and bacon, making life especially hard for diners, bakeries and brunch spotsMost menu items at the popular Philadelphia breakfast chain Green Eggs Cafe are - true to its name - made with eggs.Its co-owner Stephen Slaughter said that about 90% of its dishes depend on eggs, ticking off a short list: Our French toast, our pancake batters, our hollandaise sauce, obviously eggs and omelets." So when his vendors started charging $8 for a dozen eggs, all six Green Egg Cafe locations felt the pinch. Continue reading...

No, it isn't a leftwing plot, it's a proposal I authored for the Conservatives in 2021. And it could be brilliantly transformative for EnglandLast week saw the launch of what could be - if done right - the most important political policy in a generation. You may not have heard about the new land use framework, but if you did hear something, chances are it wasn't good. National suicide!" declared the shadow farming minister, Robbie Moore, who described the policy for good measure as food lunacy".I should confess that I am the original author of this lunacy. It was one of the key recommendations of the 2021 National Food Strategy - an independent review I was commissioned to write by the then Tory government. The purpose of the land use framework was - is - sane enough. It is intended to inform and streamline planning decisions and steer other government incentives, to ensure that areas of land are used in ways they are naturally well suited to. Continue reading...

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

Forecast for rising global electricity use likely to stoke fears of rising costs and stalled efforts to fight climate crisisThe world's electricity use will grow every year by more than the amount consumed annually by Japan because of a surge in electric transport, air conditioning and datacentres, according to the world's energy watchdog.The International Energy Agency has raised its predictions for the world's rising demand for electricity, pegging the growth at almost 4% a year until 2027, up from its previous forecast of 3.4% year. Continue reading...