Environment news

• Weather tracker: New Zealand hit by storms and widespread floods

  16-02-2026 11:22
  Low pressure system funnels rain over already saturated areas, compounding risk of further floodingA deep area of low pressure to the south-east of New Zealand’s North Island swept into the region on Sunday, bringing heavy rain, gale-force winds and dangerous coastal swells that lashed exposed shorelines. The storm triggered power outages, forced evacuations and damaged infrastructure, with further impacts likely on Monday as the system lingers for a time, before tracking southwards later.
  
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• Rural drivers to face steepest bills under UK’s mileage-based electric vehicle tax

  16-02-2026 08:13
  Analysis reveals big regional disparities as critics say Labour’s proposed levy could slow uptake of EVsDrivers in the south-west of England would pay nearly four times as much as those in London as a result of Labour’s mileage-based tax on electric cars, according to analysis of official data.The 3p-a-mile road charge, announced in the autumn budget and due to take effect in 2028, is expected to raise £1.1bn a year, partly offsetting the loss of fuel duty revenues as drivers s
  
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• Why did I get a £100 parking fine when charging my electric car?

  16-02-2026 08:00
  The charger firm claimed the site operated 24 hours a day, but the parking operator had different ideasI charged my electric car at the 24-hour Mer EV charging station in my local B&Q car park.I then received a £100 parking charge notice (PCN) from the car park operator, Ocean Parking. It said no parking is allowed on the site between 9pm and 6am. Continue reading...
  
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• Country diary: An anxious buzzard has me mirroring its movements | Derek Niemann

  16-02-2026 06:30
  Frome, Somerset: As the large raptor squirms and uses its wings to try to balance on a precarious perch, I find my own arms lifting in solidaritySix, seven, eight, nine long‑tailed tits are on a foraging flit through hawthorn bushes, and the straggler drops obligingly on to a berry‑stacked twig before my eyes. Its tail works like the hand of a clock as the clinging bird jiggle‑jumps through a full 360-degree rotation, beak pecking for who knows what. The twig is unmov
  
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• The Guardian view on Donald Trump and the climate crisis: the US is in reverse while China ploughs ahead | Editorial

  15-02-2026 18:30
  The president’s destructive policies enrich fossil fuel billionaires, while Beijing has bet big on the green transitionDevastating wildfires, flooding and winter storms were among the 23 extreme weather and climate-related disasters in the US which cost more than a billion dollars last year – at an estimated total loss of $115bn. The last three years have shattered previous records for such events. Last Wednesday, scientists said that we are closer than ever to the point after which
  
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• Charity buys tract of land for Wales’ biggest rewilding project

  15-02-2026 15:55
  Project in Ceredigion aims to help country catch up with large-scale nature recovery projects elsewhere in UKA Welsh charity has bought more than 480 hectares (1,195 acres) in Ceredigion to establish Cymru’s “flagship” rewilding project, helping the country catch up with large-scale nature recovery projects under way elsewhere in the UK.Tir Natur (Nature’s Land), founded in 2022, announced it had acquired the site at Cwm Doethie in Elenydd, or the Cambrian mountains, afte
  
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• Charity buys £2.2m tract of land for Wales’ biggest rewilding project

  15-02-2026 15:55
  Project in Ceredigion aims to help country catch up with large-scale nature recovery projects elsewhere in UKA Welsh charity has bought more than 480 hectares (1,195 acres) in Ceredigion to establish Cymru’s “flagship” rewilding project, helping the country catch up with large-scale nature recovery projects under way elsewhere in the UK.Tir Natur (Nature’s Land), founded in 2022, announced it had acquired the site at Cwm Doethie in Elenydd, or the Cambrian mountains, afte
  
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• Let's get a grip and learn how to live with the rain | Emma Beddington

  15-02-2026 15:00
  Wetter winters are set to become the norm, so unless we’re farmers or flood victims, we need some coping strategies to keep our spirits upThere’s a lot of complaining about the weather currently and I get it, it’s wet. Here in York the river is getting above itself yet again and the council has fenced off large puddles in the park for health and safety reasons, to widespread mockery. Things currently taking in water include the letterbox (yesterday the postman told me with a ma
  
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• The greening of career education: US students learn new skills as climate crisis intensifies

  15-02-2026 14:00
  Some districts are adding programs in clean energy and sustainability, while one state is infusing environmental lessons into culinary education and constructionOn one end of the classroom, high school juniors examined little green sprouts – future baby carrots, sprigs of romaine lettuce – poking out of the soil of a drip irrigation system they built a few weeks prior.On the opposite end of the room, a model of a hydropower plant showed students how the movement of water can stimulat
  
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• ‘It makes no sense’: the battle over plans for a windfarm by the Yorkshire Dales

  15-02-2026 08:00
  The fight for Hope Moor is set to be repeated across the UK as the government aims to hit its renewable energy targetsInstead of a slingshot, the Davids are brandishing a sculpture and a coffee table book. Their Goliaths are a Norwegian energy company and a UK energy secretary with renewable targets to meet.A fierce battle has begun over one of England’s tallest windfarms, proposed for deep peat moorland overlooking the Yorkshire Dales national park, in what residents say will mark the irr
  
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• ‘What’s more important, the electricity or food?’: Extreme heat is driving up power bills in central Australia

  14-02-2026 20:00
  Vanessa Napaltjari Davis puts $70 per week on her prepaid electricity card – but as Alice Springs swelters through ever-hotter summers, that credit lasts less than three daysGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastSince the start of summer, Vanessa Napaltjari Davis and her grandchildren have sweltered in their two-bedroom home. Temperatures in the southern half of the Northern Territory have been well above average, and the electricity running their single air-conditione
  
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• ‘What do we want gardens to sound like?’ It began with a frog pond – then suburban rewilding became an obsession

  14-02-2026 20:00
  Wild gardening is about shedding obsessions with tidiness, embracing a looser aesthetic and providing a home for ‘the most important creatures on the planet’On a wintry January day in Manchester, I crossed University Green, navigating a paved path behind our hotel through lush patches of lawn. It was the start of the inaugural “Wilding Gardens” conference. For two days, scientists and practitioners were gathering to discuss new ways to think about gardens and nature, abou
  
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• From cigarette-smoking orangutans to lavender for lions: Melbourne zoo’s dark history gives way to progressive animal care

  14-02-2026 20:00
  Tackling the tension between promoting conservation, keeping animals in captivity and its heavy history, the zoo has been reshaped around environmental awarenessOn the other side of wire mesh, two large lions pace, shaking their shaggy manes and occasionally letting out a low rumbling, not quite a roar. They think – or perhaps hope – it is feeding day but their keepers have other plans.“We sort of mimic what happens in the wild,” Meryl says. “They got fed on Monday.
  
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• Democratic senators launch inquiry into EPA’s repeal of key air pollution enforcement measure

  14-02-2026 17:32
  Senators said repeal was ‘particularly troubling’ and was counter to EPA’s mandate to protect human healthMore than three dozen Democratic senators have begun an independent inquiry into the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) following a huge change in how the agency measures the health benefits of reducing air pollution that is widely seen as a major setback to US efforts to combat the climate crisis.In a regulatory impact analysis, the EPA said it would stop assigning a
  
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• ‘Seasons have become confused’: the people struggling in UK’s relentless rain

  14-02-2026 07:00
  A thatcher, gardener and others on keeping their business afloat in the bad weather – and their fears for the futureWith 76 flood warnings still in force across the UK and further downpours forecast this week and next, parts of the country have endured rain almost without pause since the start of the year.The prolonged wet weather is disrupting livelihoods as well as daily life, particularly in rural areas, where flooded roads, waterlogged ground and repeated storms are making it harder to
  
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• Rain, rain, go away: the peculiar British stoicism of ‘celebrating’ awful weather

  14-02-2026 07:00
  Bizarre idioms for downpours are just one facet of how the UK uses dark humour and ritual to brave the wetMay it fall as a blessing, not as a curse. So goes the ancient prayer inviting us to embrace days of rain.It is a prayer that would not be welcomed by anyone on the floodplains the UK persists in filling with houses. It would be met with outright hostility by any farmers who are now unable to do any of the things they need to do in February because their land has had literally 40 days and ni
  
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• Race to find source of carcinogenic Pfas in Cumbria and Lancashire waters

  14-02-2026 07:00
  Exclusive: High levels of banned ‘forever chemical’ have been detected in rivers and groundwater at 25 sitesA string of toxic pollution hotspots has been uncovered across Cumbria and Lancashire, with high levels of the banned cancer-causing “forever chemical” Pfos detected in rivers and groundwater at 25 sites.The contamination, spread across a large area, was uncovered by Watershed Investigations and the Guardian after a freedom of information request revealed high conce
  
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• Country diary: There’s a monster looming over our garden | Gwyneth Lewis

  14-02-2026 06:30
  Cardiff: It steals light, it discourages growth at its base, and it blocks what was once a panoramic view. How do I make peace with it?It goes against the grain for me to hate a plant, but I’ve been resenting a certain Leyland cypress for a long time. Planted by a neighbour in the 1970s to give the house we overlook privacy, it now blocks part of our panoramic view over Cardiff. When we moved in 12 years ago, I was able to lie down in bed and see only sky. In that time the solitary tree ha
  
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• ‘A different set of rules’: thermal drone footage shows Musk’s AI power plant flouting clean air regulations

  13-02-2026 19:00
  Images confirm xAI is continuing to defy EPA regulations in Mississippi to power its flagship datacentersElon Musk’s artificial intelligence company is continuing to fuel its datacenters with unpermitted gas turbines, an investigation by the Floodlight newsroom shows. Thermal footage captured by Floodlight via drone shows xAI is still burning gas at a facility in Southaven, Mississippi, despite a recent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ruling reiterating that doing so requires a state
  
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• DJ more, channel Zohran and get a sleep doctor: Adam Bandt on life after politics and saving the planet

  13-02-2026 15:00
  The former Greens leader’s appointment as CEO of the Australian Conservation Foundation raised eyebrows – but for him, the mission remains the sameGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastSometime in the months after his shock defeat at last May’s federal election Adam Bandt made a decision: his time in party politics was over.Friends and colleagues had suggested the former Greens leader consider running for parliament again in 2028 – either returning to
  
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• Week in wildlife: a thirsty raccoon, a superhero squid and a delinquent swan

  13-02-2026 09:00
  This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...
  
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• River Thames spot among 13 sites shortlisted for swimming status

  13-02-2026 08:00
  Choice could prove difficult for Thames Water, which is trying to push through a water recycling scheme nearbyThe first designated bathing water area on the River Thames in London has been shortlisted as one of 13 new monitored swimming areas across the country.The Thames at Ham, in south-west London, was shortlisted as a new river bathing water after campaigners gathered evidence to show thousands of people use the river for swimming throughout the year. Continue reading...
  
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• Businesses must take responsibility for biodiversity loss – for their sake as much as ours

  13-02-2026 08:00
  Scientists believe we’re seeing the largest loss of life since the dinosaurs – and it’s a risk to the global economy. Governments and companies need to work together on solutions• Don’t get Down to Earth delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereIt feels like groundhog day: another week, another warning about the seriousness of the biodiversity crisis. This time it was the financial sector’s turn, as on Monday a major report, approved by more than 150 governments, s
  
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• Weatherwatch: The surprisingly complex science of ice skating

  13-02-2026 07:00
  Pressure, frictional heating and a disordered layer of molecules on top of the ice make skating possibleIce skating is counterintuitive: why should a narrow blade make it easier to slide over the ice? The science is surprisingly complex, but unscientific people worked out the practical application a long time ago.William FitzStephen described how Londoners entertained themselves in freezing conditions in 1173: “Crowds of young men go out to play on the ice. Some of them fit shinbones of ca
  
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• ‘We are hopeful’: small signs of recovery for Scotland’s rare capercaillie bird

  13-02-2026 07:00
  Number of males at RSPB Abernethy rises to 30, after ‘huge amount of work’ by conservationists in Highlands forestsAfter decades of decline, there are signs of hope for the capercaillie, one of Britain’s most endangered birds.Populations of the charismatic grouse, which is found only in the Caledonian pine forests of the Scottish Highlands, have increased by 50%, from 20 males in 2020 to 30 in 2025 at RSPB Abernethy. Continue reading...
  
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• Country diary: Here be monsters – less than a millimetre long | Phil Gates

  13-02-2026 06:30
  Stanhope, Weardale: One of the best gifts I’ve ever received is a microscope. Sixty years on, it’s still a wonder to watch a mini rainforest in actionIt was hard to resist running my fingers over the velvet carpet of moss that smoothed the drystone wall’s jagged capstones. Six months ago, after four heatwaves and prolonged drought, these same mosses resembled brown, wizened threads of dried tobacco. Today they were an inch-tall emerald forest again, studded with yellow moss bel
  
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• Tony Blair’s thinktank accuses Ed Miliband of driving up energy prices

  13-02-2026 01:01
  Report by Tony Blair Institute urges government to drop some green policies amid criticism of decarbonisation goalAnalysis: Blair’s oil lobbying is a misleading rehash of fossil fuel industry spinTony Blair’s thinktank has accused Ed Miliband of driving up energy prices in his push to make Britain’s energy supply more environmentally friendly.The Tony Blair Institute (TBI) published a report on Friday criticising the government’s green policies and urging the energy secre
  
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• The science of soulmates: Is there someone out there exactly right for you?

  13-02-2026 01:01 via bbc.com
  For many, the idea of soulmates still shapes how love is understood.
  
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• MPs fear data centre boom could derail Miliband's net zero plans

  12-02-2026 21:34 via bbc.com
  A senior Labour MP says emission from data centres "have been highlighted as a key area of concern".
  
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• China’s Yangtze River shows signs of remarkable recovery after fishing ban

  12-02-2026 20:00
  Doubling of fish biomass and rebounding of endangered species shows government measures starting to work, biologists sayThe Yangtze River in China, which has been in ecological decline for 70 years, is showing signs of recovery thanks to a sweeping fishing ban.The ban was made more effective by the implementation of “evolutionary game theory”, which included finding alternative employment for fishers. Continue reading...
  
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• Trump named ‘undisputed champion of beautiful clean coal’ by industry group

  12-02-2026 17:36
  Award was presented as president directed Pentagon to buy billions of dollars’ worth of energy from coal plantsUS politics live – latest updatesDonald Trump was crowned the “undisputed champion of beautiful clean coal” during a White House ceremony on Wednesday, during which the president received a trophy after ordering the US defense department to purchase billions of dollars’ worth of power from coal plants.The award was reportedly granted by the Washington Coal
  
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• ‘Not blind optimism’: why Coach’s designer is not giving up on sustainable fashion

  12-02-2026 15:50
  Stuart Vevers wants the luxury brand to keep championing upcycled materials and reduce landfill wasteStuart Vevers, the British designer of the American mass luxury brand Coach, is working to keep sustainability in the spotlight at New York fashion week. Not an easy task, when environmental concerns are slipping down the global agenda and fashion, perennially a mirror to the world we live in, has reverted to putting profits first.“I’m an optimist, but it’s not a blind optimism.
  
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• National security plans must adapt to avoid ‘new world disorder’, says UN climate chief

  12-02-2026 15:26
  Simon Stiell tells audience in Cop31 host nation Turkey that climate extremes are fuelling famine, displacement and warNational security strategies that fail to take account of the climate crisis are “dangerously narrow”, and will leave countries open to “a new world disorder” threatening famine and conflict, the UN’s climate chief has warned.The warnings came as a draft of a key agenda for the Cop31 climate conference omitted to mention fossil fuels, and skewed ins
  
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• ‘People like cheap energy’: the bagel shop saving money and emissions with plug-in batteries

  12-02-2026 15:19
  A pilot scheme in Brooklyn is giving businesses batteries to form an electricity storage network – part of a growing number of innovative DIY energy ideas around the worldIn the back of Black Seed Bagels in northern Brooklyn is a giant catering kitchen filled with industrial-size containers of condiments and freezers full of dough. A tall, silver electric oven named the Baconator stands in a far corner, cooking thousands of pounds of meat every week to accompany Black Seed’s hand-rol
  
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• Portugal urged to adapt to climate emergency after series of deadly storms

  12-02-2026 14:40
  Continuing extreme weather has caused deaths of 16 people, evacuation of thousands and destruction of homesEurope live – latest updatesPortugal is under pressure to draw up plans to adapt to the climate emergency as the country continues to be lashed by an unprecedented series of storms that have killed at least 16 people and left tens of thousands without electricity.More than 3,000 people were evacuated from the Coimbra area of central Portugal on Wednesday as the Mondego River reached c
  
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• We can move beyond the capitalist model and save the climate – here are the first three steps | Jason Hickel and Yanis Varoufakis

  12-02-2026 14:00
  Capitalism cares about our species’ prospects as much as a wolf cares about a lamb’s. But democratise our economy and a better world is within our graspWe have an urgent responsibility. Our existing economic system is incapable of addressing the social and ecological crises we face in the 21st century. When we look around we see an extraordinary paradox. On the one hand, we have access to remarkable new technologies and a collective capacity to produce more food, more stuff than we n
  
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• The race to save Wikie and Keijo: the mother and son orcas left in a shut-down aquarium

  12-02-2026 11:00
  Marineland Antibes, the French government and animal welfare groups all agree on the need to rehome the listless killer whales but no one can agree whereIn a sprawling aquarium complex in south-eastern France that once drew half a million visitors a year, only a few dozen people now move between pools that contain the last remaining marine mammals of Marineland Antibes. Weeds grow on walkways, the stands are empty and algae grows in the pools, giving the water a greenish hue.It is here that Wiki
  
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• Economics has failed on the climate crisis. This complexity scientist has a plan to fix that

  12-02-2026 09:00
  Doyne Farmer says a super-simulator of the global economy would accelerate the transition to a green, clean worldIt’s a mind-blowing idea: an economic model of the world in which every company is individually represented, making realistic decisions that change as the economy changes. From this astonishing complexity would emerge forecasts of unprecedented clarity. These would be transformative: no more flying blind into global financial crashes, no more climate policies that fail to shift
  
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• Economics has failed on the climate crisis. This complexity scientist has a mind-blowing plan to fix that

  12-02-2026 09:00
  Doyne Farmer says a super-simulator of the global economy would accelerate the transition to a green, clean worldIt’s a mind-blowing idea: an economic model of the world in which every company is individually represented, making realistic decisions that change as the economy changes. From this astonishing complexity would emerge forecasts of unprecedented clarity. These would be transformative: no more flying blind into global financial crashes, no more climate policies that fail to shift
  
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• Supersized dump fire risk report kept from public

  12-02-2026 08:13 via bbc.com
  Oxfordshire fire and rescue service says releasing its waste site report could put safety at risk.
  
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• Weatherwatch: How frost flowers turn icy landscapes into beautiful gardens

  12-02-2026 07:00
  Intricate ice formations can grow on frozen lakes and seas when relatively warm ice is exposed to still airIntricate fern-like “frost flowers”, said to be painted on windows and windscreens by Jack Frost, are a familiar feature of British winter. In Arctic regions there is an even prettier three-dimensional version.These frost flowers are typically 3-4cm across and whole gardens of them grow on frozen lakes and seas. Like the window version, they are the result of ice crystals growin
  
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• Country diary: How much bad weather can one village take? | Tom Allan

  12-02-2026 06:30
  Torcross, Devon: 2026 has been defined by storms here. My job of repairing a thatched roof is simple compared with the wider recoveryDuring the storm, the waves sounded like bombs going off under the house, Bonni Breeze Lincoln tells me. She lives on the seafront of Torcross, a Devon village that is accustomed to weathering storms, but even she is not used to waves shattering her storm shutters, or sending seawater down the chimney.I’ve come to Torcross to repair the thatch on Bo
  
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• Why red roses on Valentine's Day are so bad for the planet – video

  12-02-2026 06:11
  A dozen red roses may say 'I love you', but many conventional bouquets carry an environmental price, having been imported by air, dipped in chemicals and wrapped in plastic. Guardian Australia's Petra Stock explains how you can choose flowers that show you care for both a valentine and the environmentRoses are red, violets are blue: why Valentine’s Day flowers need a redo Continue reading...
  
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• Labor will never have a better time to revisit carbon pricing – but does it have the stomach to make polluters pay? | Clear Air

  12-02-2026 01:58
  The government has not made enough of a dent in emissions, but global trends and a shambolic opposition offer a rare opportunity to actWant to get this in your inbox when it publishes? Sign up for the Clear Air Australia newsletter hereThere is good news out there, even if it feels like scraps in a world on the brink. Some came last week – with plenty of caveats – when analysts at the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) found coal-fired power generation decreased in both Ch
  
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• Alex Kirby obituary

  11-02-2026 18:24
  My father, Alex Kirby, who has died of cancer aged 86, was a well-respected journalist – at the BBC and elsewhere – and, despite beginning his career in the church, ended up dedicating much of his life to chronicling the climate crisis.Following a degree in theology at Keble College, Oxford, he trained for the priesthood at the Anglo-Catholic theological college in Mirfield, Yorkshire, and after ordination, became a deacon in the Isle of Dogs, east London. Continue reading...
  
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• Point of no return: a hellish ‘hothouse Earth’ getting closer, scientists say

  11-02-2026 17:00
  Continued global heating could set irreversible course by triggering climate tipping points, but most people unaware The world is closer than thought to a “point of no return” after which runaway global heating cannot be stopped, scientists have said.Continued global heating could trigger climate tipping points, leading to a cascade of further tipping points and feedback loops, they said. This would lock the world into a new and hellish “hothouse Earth” climate far worse
  
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• ‘The normal should be darkness’: why one Belgian national park is turning off ‘pointless’ streetlights

  11-02-2026 13:00
  The radical project is an attempt to preserve wildlife in one of Europe’s most light-polluted countries, but can they persuade local people they will still feel safe?Two yellowing street lamps cast a pool of light on the dark road winding into the woods outside Mazée village. This scene is typical for narrow countryside roads in Wallonia in the south of Belgium. “Having lights here is logical,” says André Detournay, 77, who has lived in the village for four decade
  
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• ‘The trend is irreversible’: has Romania shattered the link between economic growth and high emissions?

  11-02-2026 07:00
  Emissions have plunged 75% since communist times in the birthplace of big oil – but for some the transition has been brutal Once the frozen fields outside Bucharest have thawed, workers will assemble the largest solar farm in Europe: one million photovoltaic panels backed by batteries to power homes after sunset. But the 760MW project in southern Romania will not hold the title for long. In the north-west, authorities have approved a bigger plant that will boast a capacity of 1GW.The sun-l
  
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• Birdwatch: Rain, water, wings – a winter’s gift at Cheddar reservoir

  11-02-2026 07:00
  Vast flocks of birds return to Somerset and a rare grebe turns an ordinary walk into something specialAfter weeks of heavy rain, Cheddar reservoir in Somerset is finally full again – of water, and of birds. Thousands of coots, hundreds of gulls and ducks, and dozens of great crested grebes crowd the surface, some already moulting into their smart breeding plumage, crests and all.They feed almost constantly, building up energy reserves for the breeding season. Among the throng are some less
  
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• Country diary: Echoes of Iona at this tiny, precious church | Merryn Glover

  11-02-2026 06:30
  Kincraig, Badenoch: The Loch Insh Old Kirk is a compelling place, and yet, like the copious wildlife here, it is on the edge of existenceThe snow has retreated to the tops of the Cairngorms and the last fragments of ice are crumbling at the edges of Loch Insh. In a muddy landscape, an old white church rises on a knoll on the northern shore. The simple stone building with its bell tower and arched windows dates to 1792, though the site was established by early monks from Iona, probably as fa
  
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