Environment news

• The Guardian view on cruise ships: a licence to pollute | Editorial

  26-11-2024 19:46 via theguardian.com
  
  The environmental harm caused by this shapeshifting, underregulated industry must be tackledLocal pushback against cruise ships in the world’s top tourist destinations is nothing new. More than three years ago, these vast vessels were barred from Venice’s lagoon on grounds of the risk they posed to the city’s historic buildings. This summer, cruise ships in Amsterdam and Barcelona were targeted by protesters, on grounds of chemical pollution but also as part of a wider movement
  
  Read more

• More than 500 properties in England and Wales were hit by Storm Bert floods

  26-11-2024 19:30 via theguardian.com
  Ministers reveal extent of damage as Met Office issues latest severe weather warning for parts of southern England More than 500 homes and businesses were flooded across Wales and England during Storm Bert, it has emerged, as forecasters issued another severe weather warning for rain in parts of southern Britain.In Wales, the first minister, Eluned Morgan, said 400 homes had been damaged as well as businesses and infrastructure, and reviews were being done to find out why some householders appea
  
  Read more

• Storm Bert flooded 500 properties in England and Wales

  26-11-2024 17:36 via theguardian.com
  
  Welsh first minister to ask UK government for more money to make coal tips safe after Cwmtillery landslipMore than 500 homes and businesses were flooded across Wales and England during Storm Bert, it has emerged, as forecasters issued another severe weather warning for rain in parts of southern Britain.In Wales, the first minister, Eluned Morgan, said 400 homes had been damaged as well as businesses and infrastructure, and reviews were being done to find out why some householders appeared not to
  
  Read more

• Environmental grants promised to farmers in England frozen

  26-11-2024 17:07 via theguardian.com
  Scheme to fund activities such as hedge-planting paused owing to budget constraints, sources sayGrants promised to farmers in England for planting hedges and cleaning up waterways have been frozen by the government.The capital grants scheme, which was opened by the government to allow farmers to invest in infrastructure such as slurry storage so animal excrement does not go into rivers, has been abruptly paused. Farmers have said this will make it difficult for them to run their businesses in an
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Water companies in England ‘using loopholes’ to avoid paying for outages

  26-11-2024 16:28 via theguardian.com
  
  Ofwat CEO says rules must be changed so that customers left without water get compensation automaticallyWater companies in England are using loopholes in order to not pay people who are left for days without running water, the CEO of the regulator has said.Tens of thousands of homes across the country have been left without water for days this year as ageing pipes burst. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• In Wales, we’re one more flood away from another disaster like Aberfan | Aaron Thierry

  26-11-2024 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  It is only a matter of time before a mountainside is brought down. We need climate adaptation help – and we need it nowAaron Thierry is an Earth-system scientist and environmental campaignerIt’s “raining old ladies and sticks” is the Welsh equivalent of cats and dogs, and boy did those old ladies mean business when Storm Bert poured out nearly a month’s worth of rain on the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) over Saturday night. By Sunday, the deluge was surging in
  
  Read more

• Record number of English bathing sites classified as having poor water quality

  26-11-2024 12:48 via theguardian.com
  
  River water quality distinctly worse than that of coastal bathing sites, results from tests for harmful bacteria foundWater quality has been designated as poor in a record number of bathing areas this year after 16 rivers were included in summer testing for harmful bacteria, figures reveal.The push to clean up England’s rivers has led to an increase in demand for bathing water status at river locations across the country. Rivers suffer from water company sewage pollution and agricultural p
  
  Read more

• Sharp rise in bathing sites rated unfit for swimming

  26-11-2024 12:01 via bbc.com
  
  The government blames the water companies and says tougher regulation is on the way
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• How the battle of Claremont Road changed the world: ‘The whole of alternative London turned up’

  26-11-2024 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Thirty years ago, more than 500 activists united to save a street – and their actions marked a major turning-point in the environmental movementWalking through Leyton, in east London, you could easily miss Claremont Road. It is hardly a road at all, but a stubby little side street between terrace houses that ends abruptly in a brick wall. But when it comes to the history of direct action, this could be one of the most significant sites in England. Thirty years ago, in November 1994, the sc
  
  Read more

• Selfies and surf simulators: the young cruisers driving boom in sea holidays

  26-11-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  A new generation is taking to the ocean in growing numbers – and fears over the environmental impact of cruise ships appear not to be denting their popularityRead more in this seriesThis summer was the first time 31-year-old Daisie Morrison had been on a cruise when she set sail on a two-week holiday with two friends, also in their early 30s.“One of my friends suggested it,” she says. “She had seen different influencers on Instagram going on cruises. You go to so many pla
  
  Read more

• How late $300bn deal left a sense of dissatisfaction and betrayal at Cop29

  26-11-2024 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  While an agreement on climate finance was eventually reached in Baku, many poorer countries were outragedThe Lamborghini showroom and a Tiffany branch sit at either end of Baku’s long boulevards beside the Caspian Sea. Adorned with grand 19th-century mansions, all plaster nymphs and columned facades, that were built by the first oil millionaires, they are a testament to the enduring power of fossil fuels. Oil has been very good to Azerbaijan.It flows out of the ground here, and gas has see
  
  Read more

• Backroom deals and betrayal: how Cop29’s late $300bn deal left nobody happy

  26-11-2024 07:00 via theguardian.com
  While an agreement on climate finance was eventually reached in Baku, many poorer countries were outragedThe Lamborghini showroom and a Tiffany branch sit at either end of Baku’s long boulevards beside the Caspian Sea. Adorned with grand 19th-century mansions, all plaster nymphs and columned facades, that were built by the first oil millionaires, they are a testament to the enduring power of fossil fuels. Oil has been very good to Azerbaijan.It flows out of the ground here, and gas has see
  
  Read more

• Country diary: A gothic masterpiece reaching out of the ground | Jan Miller

  26-11-2024 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Halkyn Mountain, Flintshire, north Wales: This area of ancient, undisturbed land is rich with fungi. Star of the show is the Cordyceps, scourge of nearby ghost mothsAlthough this autumn has been very mild, the air is still scented by the rotting breakdown of the previous season’s abundant growth. That means mushrooms, those marvellous and mysterious things. The US poet Marvin Bell wrote: “Each mushroom was a button, each a flowering, some glow in the dark … The dead man has se
  
  Read more

Follow @UK_Environment on Twitter!