Environment news

• Clouds part for blessing of York Minster’s 184 solar panels

  09-01-2025 19:33 via theguardian.com
  
  Panels installed on south quire roof expected to meet a third of church’s electricity needs“And God said, Let there be light” – and on a witheringly cold winter morning there was light, as the Dean of York carried out a rooftop blessing for the minster’s 184 new solar panels.The sky was blue and the sun shone when the Very Rev Dominic Barrington led the blessing ceremony as the panels were switched on for the first time. “They were absolutely gleaming,”
  
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• The Los Angeles fires are a reminder of the cost of forgetting | Rebecca Solnit

  09-01-2025 18:00 via theguardian.com
  The current fires in Los Angeles are reminders of the costs of forgettingThe fires raging in and around Malibu are huge, and they’re terrible, and they’re also the latest in a series of catastrophic fires in Los Angeles county and the region, the latest consequence of heat and drought and wind that have long created the region’s volatile fire weather.The climate crisis has made it hotter and drier and made wildfire worse here and across the west and around the world, but this r
  
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• The chronicle of a fire foretold | Rebecca Solnit

  09-01-2025 18:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The current fires in Los Angeles are reminders of the costs of forgettingThe fires raging in and around Malibu are huge, and they’re terrible, and they’re also the latest in a series of catastrophic fires in Los Angeles county and the region, the latest consequence of heat and drought and wind that have long created the region’s volatile fire weather.The climate crisis has made it hotter and dryer and made wildfire worse here and across the west and around the world, but this r
  
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• Scientists prize neutrality – that doesn’t cut it any more. In 2025, they must fully back the climate movement | Bill McGuire and Roger Hallam

  09-01-2025 17:00 via theguardian.com
  With 2024 set to go down as the hottest year on record, we know that what is coming is truly horrifyingThe past 12 months have seen our world enter new territory. Last year will go down as the first time that the global average temperature exceeded 1.5C above preindustrial times over a calendar year. We could crash permanently through the 1.5C guardrail within the next five years, and shatter the 2C limit as soon as 2034. This will almost certainly result in the tipping points for collapse of th
  
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• New images of Mercury captured by UK spacecraft

  09-01-2025 16:58 via bbc.com
  
  Stevenage-built BepiColombo makes final flyby of Mercury ahead of entering the plant's orbit in 2026.
  
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• Ben Jennings on the California wildfires – cartoon

  09-01-2025 16:41 via theguardian.com
  
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• Labour’s agriculture plans will increase chicken waste in rivers, say campaigners

  09-01-2025 15:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Steve Reed says planning rules ‘have got in the way’ of farmers and apologises for ‘shock’ of inheritance tax changeUK politics live – latest updatesLabour’s proposal to loosen planning regulations for farmers will deluge rivers with chicken faeces, environmental campaigners have warned.The environment secretary, Steve Reed, promised farmers on Thursday they would be able to build larger chicken sheds, but experts have said this would create “megafarms&r
  
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• I’ll never be a summer person but I’ve found ways of surviving the season and even enjoying it – sometimes | Indigo Perry

  09-01-2025 15:00 via theguardian.com
  Everyone around me is commenting on the loveliness of the weather and I’m wiping the sweat off my upper lip and hoping for a nice southerlyI’m not made for heatwaves. If my DNA could talk, it would tell me about how it still dreams of the windswept Scottish island that was home to my ancestors and then ask why it’s so hot outside.Many people talk about suffering low moods in winter but I’m the opposite. I adore winter but easily get sad in summer. Everyone around me is co
  
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• European imports of liquefied natural gas from Russia at ‘record levels’

  09-01-2025 11:34 via theguardian.com
  
  Rystad Energy releases data days after Ukraine stopped flows of Russian gas through its pipelinesEurope bought a record amount of liquefied natural gas from Russia last year, data shows, despite EU efforts to ditch the fossil fuels funding Putin’s war chest.Ships carrying 17.8m tonnes of ultra-cold Russian gas docked in European ports in 2024, up by more than 2m tonnes from the year before, according to analysts Rystad Energy. Continue reading...
  
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• Wildlife groups urge UK government to ban lead ammunition

  09-01-2025 11:18 via theguardian.com
  Environment secretary Steve Reed urged to bring in ‘full and swift ban’ to protect health of people, wildlife and petsWildlife charities have called on the government to ban the sale and use of lead in ammunition used for outdoor shooting.The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT), RSPB, Wildlife and Countryside Link, Chem Trust and Wild Justice have sent an open letter to the environment secretary, Steve Reed, asking for a 18-month transition period for a ban on lead in ammunition sale
  
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• Million year-old bubbles could solve ice age mystery

  09-01-2025 11:01 via bbc.com
  
  What is probably the world's oldest ice, dating back 1.2m years ago, has been dug out from deep within Antarctica.
  
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• This 77-year-old climate activist should never have been jailed – and now faces a Kafkaesque struggle to get out | Zoe Williams

  09-01-2025 11:00 via theguardian.com
  A failure of justice, and draconian Tory law, put Gaie Delap in prison. A failure of government is keeping her thereGaie Delap will turn 78 on Friday, in Eastwood Park prison, Gloucestershire. Sentenced to 20 months last August for climbing a gantry over the M25 for Just Stop Oil, she was released in November to serve the rest of her sentence on a home detention curfew. But the electronic tag that she was required to wear couldn’t go round her ankle because she has deep-vein thrombosis and
  
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• The Los Angeles wildfires are climate disasters compounded

  09-01-2025 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Conditions for a January LA firestorm have not existed before now, writes a meteorologist and climate journalistAn exceptional mix of environmental conditions has created an ongoing firestorm without known historical precedent across southern California this week.The ingredients for these infernos in the Los Angeles area, near-hurricane strength winds and drought, foretell an emerging era of compound events – simultaneous types of historic weather conditions, happening at unusual times of
  
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• A failure of justice put Gaie Delap in prison. A failure of government is keeping her there | Zoe Williams

  09-01-2025 11:00 via theguardian.com
  A failure of justice, and draconian Tory law, put Gaie Delap in prison. A failure of government is keeping her thereGaie Delap will turn 78 on Friday, in Eastwood Park prison, Gloucestershire. Sentenced to 20 months last August for climbing a gantry over the M25 for Just Stop Oil, she was released in November to serve the rest of her sentence on a home detention curfew. But the electronic tag that she was required to wear couldn’t go round her ankle because she has deep-vein thrombosis and
  
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• Two lynx captured after being illegally released in Scottish Highlands

  09-01-2025 10:25 via theguardian.com
  
  The wild cats were humanely trapped using cameras near baited traps and are in quarantineTwo lynx that were illegally released into the Scottish Highlands have been captured overnight and are said to be in good health.Police issued a warning to the public on Wednesday evening not to approach the wild cats, after several sightings in the Drumguish area, near Kingussie. Continue reading...
  
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• Grey seals, minke whales and bluefin tuna: is the North Sea bouncing back to its glory days?

  09-01-2025 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Hollywood stars once came for the big-game fishing, but the return of a host of species to the depleted waters around Britain’s coast is a cause for quiet optimismFrom the outside, the Tunny Club looks like any other seaside fish and chip shop. A short walk from Scarborough harbour, only the photos of John Wayne and Errol Flynn on the wall betray the shop’s fleeting history as a global centre for big-game fishing.In the 1930s, film stars and the ultra-wealthy flocked to the Yorkshire
  
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• LA fires: devastation as wildfires rip through Los Angeles – in pictures

  09-01-2025 07:08 via theguardian.com
  
  Wildfires continued to burn across LA, with at least five people killed and more than 1,500 buildings destroyed. A new blaze broke out in the Hollywood Hills and evacuation orders were extended to Santa Monica. Winds had eased, but the danger was far from overCalifornia fires live: follow the latest newsAt least five dead as firefighters struggle to contain LA blazes Continue reading...
  
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• Weatherwatch: how planting rain gardens can reduce flooding

  09-01-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Rain gardens absorb runoff, filter pollutants and lower the surrounding temperatureAs extreme rainfall events become more common, one response is to plant rain gardens. A shallow depression filled with absorbent but free-draining soil and planted with vegetation, a rain garden absorbs runoff and prevents it from immediately draining into waterways. This helps reduce the chances of flooding.Also known less attractively as bioretention facilities, the plants and earth hold water rather than lettin
  
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• ‘A day not soon forgotten:’ the Palisades take stock after blazes rage

  09-01-2025 05:15 via theguardian.com
  Firefighters said the destruction from the California fires was unlike any they had seen in their decades-long careersCalifornia wildfires – liveThe sun glared red as it sank into the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday, casting an orange hue over the carnage smoldering on the southern Californian coast. It will be a day not soon forgotten in Los Angeles, which by evening was flanked by catastrophic wildfires in nearly all directions.It’s too early to determine the full extent of the destruct
  
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• 'This firestorm is the big one': LA mayor provides update on California wildfires – video

  09-01-2025 04:54 via theguardian.com
  
  Wildfires continued to grow in Los Angeles as overtaxed fire crews battled three major out-of-control blazes that have killed at least five people. The largest and most devastating so far have been the Palisades fire and the Eaton fire, but other blazes, particularly the growing Hurst fire and the Hollywood Hills-based Sunset fire, are continuing to worry Los Angeles residents Continue reading...
  
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• 'This firestorm is the big one': LA mayor provides update on California widlfires – video

  09-01-2025 04:54 via theguardian.com
  
  Wildfires continued to grow in Los Angeles as overtaxed fire crews battled three major out-of-control blazes that have killed at least five people. The largest and most devastating so far have been the Palisades fire and the Eaton fire, but other blazes, particularly the growing Hurst fire and the Hollywood Hills-based Sunset fire, are continuing to worry Los Angeles residents Continue reading...
  
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• LA hasn't seen anything like this before: Pacific Palisades residents react to wildfires – video

  09-01-2025 03:09 via theguardian.com
  
  Huge wildfires roaring through the Los Angeles area of Pacific Palisades has left the neighborhood in ruins. Resident Sanah Chung left his Pacific Palisades home when a mandatory evacuation order was placed but returned to protect his home from the fire. 'I know this looks pretty stupid, but If I can save one ember from burning down my house, I'll take the risk,' said Chung.Visual explainer: why are the LA wildfires so bad?Celebrities among thousands to flee homes as Los Angeles wildfires rageAf
  
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• Food for public sector to be monitored to see how much is grown in UK

  09-01-2025 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Environment secretary says Labour is aiming for half of food procured for the public sector to come from British farmsFood supplied to the public sector will be monitored for the first time to see how much was grown by British farmers, the environment secretary is to announce.Steve Reed will speak at the Oxford Farming Conference on Thursday in an attempt to reset his relationship with the farming sector after a tumultuous start in his role. Farmers have been angry about issues including changes
  
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