Environment news

• Why it’s boom time for beavers in England - podcast

  04-03-2025 16:44
  Beavers were once abundant in the UK, but hunting them for their fur, meat and scent oil drove them to extinction. Now they’re back, with the news that the release of beavers into English waterways is to be allowed for the first time in centuries. To understand why this is seen as a huge win for the environment, Madeleine Finlay hears from the Guardian’s environment reporter Helena Horton.‘Ultimate bringers of life’: How one Cornwall farmer is using beavers to stop floodi
  
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• First Trump threatened to nuke hurricanes. Now he’s waging war on weather forecasters | Arwa Mahdawi

  04-03-2025 15:54
  How do you stop people worrying about the climate emergency? By sacking anyone whose job it is to keep an eye on it. Chalk up another win for Project 2025Some politicians go whichever way the wind blows. Not, however, the US’s esteemed leader, Donald Trump. He is such a force of nature that he can dictate the direction of the wind. During his first term, he suggested “nuking hurricanes” to stop them from hitting the country. A few weeks after that, Trump seemed to think he coul
  
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• Alice thought Brisbane wouldn’t flood twice in one decade. Now she’s bracing for Tropical Cyclone Alfred to hit

  04-03-2025 15:00
  Residents in Queensland’s capital are preparing for impact – and for some it’s bringing back memories of the 2022 floodsTropical Cyclone Alfred LIVE updates and latest newsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastOne month ago, when Alice Dent moved into her bottom-floor riverfront unit in the Brisbane suburb of Toowong, she told herself the city couldn’t possibly flood twice in the same decade.But with category-two Tropical Cyclone Alfred bearing down o
  
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• Invasive Asian hornets ‘preying on’ hundreds of native insect species in Europe

  04-03-2025 14:46
  
  Researchers at University of Exeter warn many of the hunted species are important crop pollinatorsInvasive Asian hornets are eating hundreds of different species of insects in Europe, including many which are important pollinators, researchers have warned.The findings, from tests of the guts of more than 1,500 larvae, raise new concerns over the “extra threat” the hornet poses to native insects already under pressure from farming, changes in land use and chemical pollution. Continue
  
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• Woolly mice designed to engineer mammoth-like elephants

  04-03-2025 14:16 via bbc.com
  
  Experiments on mice could see hairy, genetically modified elephants living in the Arctic, a US company claims.
  
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• Power struggle: will Brazil’s booming datacentre industry leave ordinary people in the dark?

  04-03-2025 13:31
  While millions live with regular blackouts and limited energy, plants are being built to satisfy the global demand for digital storage and processing – pilingpressure on an already fragile system Thirty-six hours by boat from Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state, Deodato Alves da Silva longs for enough electricity to keep his tucumã and cupuaçu fruits fresh. These highly nutritious Amazonian superfoods are rich in antioxidants and vitamins, and serve as a main source of inco
  
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• Federal layoffs hit the deep-red, rural US west: ‘Our public lands are under threat’

  04-03-2025 13:00
  As layoffs under Trump bleed out, workers in the Mountain West fear devastating consequences for their communitiesRepublican representative McKay Erickson walked through the halls of the Wyoming capitol with a Trump 2024 pin on the front of his suit jacket. Much of Erickson’s home district in Lincoln county falls under the jurisdiction of the Bridger Teton national forest and Grand Teton national park.With that federal land comes federal workers. While it appears districts in Wyoming cruci
  
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• World's largest iceberg runs aground off remote island

  04-03-2025 11:27 via bbc.com
  
  The iceberg appears to be stuck and may start breaking up near the island of South Georgia.
  
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• $5 a dozen: major egg companies may be using avian flu to hike US prices, new report finds

  04-03-2025 11:00
  
  The highly concentrated egg market may be contributing to soaring consumer prices – and the spread of the virus, data shared exclusively with the Guardian showsMajor egg corporations may be using avian flu as a ruse to hike up prices, generating record profits while hurting American consumers, new research suggests.The cost of a dozen large eggs hit almost $5 in January – a record high in the US and more than two and a half times the average price three years ago before the avian flu
  
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• Elon Musk sparks row at Royal Society but remains a member

  04-03-2025 10:44 via bbc.com
  
  The world's most prestigious science institution has been considering whether to remove Musk as a fellow.
  
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• Nature Photography Contest 2024 winners and finalists – in pictures

  04-03-2025 08:00
  The winners from the second annual Nature Photography Contest feature breathtaking images showcasing life on our planet. This year’s competition showcases the power of photography to capture landscapes, wildlife, and the delicate balance that sustains life on Earth Continue reading...
  
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• Country diary: Meeting a remarkable tree | Mark Cocker

  04-03-2025 06:30
  
  Shining Cliff Woods, Derbyshire: The Betty Kenny yew is reputed to have begun to grow at about the same time that Christ was bornThese woods by the River Derwent are famous for holding probably the oldest organism in the county. The Betty Kenny yew is reputed to have begun to grow at about the same time that Christ was born. Its death was even announced in the 19th century, but this stalwart creature, measuring 8 metres around its waist, persisted as a hollowed-out relic whose interior serv
  
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• The Rainham volcano: a waste dump is constantly on fire in east London. Why will no one stop it?

  04-03-2025 06:00
  
  Under Arnolds Field, tonnes of illegally dumped waste have been burning for years, spewing pollution over the area. Locals fear for their health – and despair that no one seems willing to help
  One afternoon in July 2011, an 11-year-old boy named William Knowlden was out cycling with friends when he came upon Arnolds Field, an expanse of green land in Havering, east London. The site spans about 17 hectares, or 24 football pitches, and around its perimeter runs a wooden fence, with two acces
  
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• ‘People see it as invasive’: did anti-green feeling fuel the right’s rise in Germany?

  04-03-2025 06:00
  
  A backlash against climate initiatives appears to have resonated in conservative strongholds – and could influence future policyA country divided: five key takeaways from the German electionThe empty factories in Plattling and Straßkirchen sit just 6 miles (10km) apart but they tell two very different tales about the state of Germany’s economy.In Plattling, an ailing paper factory closed two years ago and put 500 people out of work – a casualty of high gas prices and a sy
  
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• The revellers making Trinidad's carnival more sustainable

  04-03-2025 03:28 via bbc.com
  
  There are efforts under way to recycle and reuse more at what has been dubbed "the greatest show on Earth".
  
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• Why detecting methane is difficult but crucial work

  04-03-2025 01:01 via bbc.com
  
  From handheld to space-based, new methane detectors are making it easier to track the greenhouse gas.
  
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