Environment news

• King Charles will have to tone down support for net zero after Badenoch says 2050 is ‘impossible’

  05-04-2025 19:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Constitutional expert says Tory leader’s break from political consensus over target for greenhouse gasses will require monarch to choose his words carefullyKing Charles will have to temper his public support for net zero after Kemi Badenoch broke the political consensus over the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions.Senior royal sources have conceded that the 76-year-old monarch, who has spent more than half a century highlighting environmental challenges, will have to choose his words more
  
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• Millions of Americans believe they’re safe from wildfires in their cities. New research shows they’re not

  05-04-2025 15:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Many of the suburbs and cities hit hardest in recent years were caught off-guard, and key stakeholders are racing to understand the dynamics that drive these firesCommunities across the US that were once considered beyond the reach of wildfires are now vulnerable to disaster. As fires increasingly spread deep into neighborhoods, researchers estimate roughly 115 million people – more than a third of the US population – live in areas that could host the next fire catastrophe.The unders
  
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• AI scanning helps Scottish conservation project turn tide for flapper skate

  05-04-2025 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Anglers who campaigned for protected area off Oban and Mull are providing key data on critically endangered speciesSea anglers will tell you that catching and landing a large flapper skate is the equivalent of running a four-minute mile. The fish can weigh 100kg and stretch the length of a dinner table.The first thing anglers will reach for when they land one is their camera or mobile phone, to capture the unique pattern of white spots ranged across each skate’s mottled brown back. Continu
  
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• ‘An exciting moment’: England’s urban and rural trees mapped for first time

  05-04-2025 09:36 via theguardian.com
  
  ‘Groundbreaking’ tool aims to help tree-planting efforts and identify areas to create nature-rich habitatsEngland’s non-woodland trees have been mapped for the first time, using cutting-edge methods of laser detection and satellite imagery.Tree scientists at the UK’s Forest Research agency have built a comprehensive picture of trees in urban and rural areas in a “groundbreaking” map that goes live on Saturday. Continue reading...
  
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• My message from prison: Just Stop Oil may be ending civil disruption, but the struggle must go on | Indigo Rumbelow

  05-04-2025 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  We forced the government to take some action, but still it closes it eyes to the impending climate collapse. A new method of confrontation is neededIndigo Rumbelow is co-founder of Just Stop Oil. She is currently on remand in HMP StyalAfter three years, Just Stop Oil is ending its campaign of non-violent civil disruption: we are hanging up the high-vis. But this does not mean the resistance is over. Sitting here in a prison cell in HMP Styal, I am still demanding an end to oil and gas. Every pri
  
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• Farmers in England fear for nature after sustainable farming funding frozen

  05-04-2025 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Government also considering blocking more profitable farmers from a revised future schemeFarmers fear they will no longer be able to afford to restore nature in England and reduce their carbon footprint after government funding for doing this was frozen.The environment secretary, Steve Reed, recently announced that the sustainable farming incentive (SFI), which pays farmers for making space for nature on their land, would be paused and overhauled before June’s spending review. The scope of
  
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• What next for climate activism now Just Stop Oil is ‘hanging up the hi-vis’?

  05-04-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  After three years, thousands of arrests and a state crackdown on protests, the group is ending direct action after a polarising campaignOn the morning of Valentine’s Day 2022, Hannah Hunt stood at the gates of Downing Street to announce the start of a new kind of climate campaign, one that would eschew mere protest and instead move into “civil resistance”.Last week, three years and thousands of arrests later, in a neat tie-up exemplary of Just Stop Oil’s (JSO) love of med
  
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• Country diary: Rescued hens are among the spring arrivals on the farm | Andrea Meanwell

  05-04-2025 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Tebay, Cumbria: These ex-commercial hens have a home for the rest of their lives here, where they can be ridiculously free range and entertain us with their anticsThe first crocuses have come out this week, the winter jobs have been finished and we are getting ready for lambing. This winter we planted more than 1km of new hedgerows and an orchard of 16 fruit trees: local varieties of apple and damson sourced from a nearby orchard group. We also repaired drystone walls and fen
  
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