Environment news

• Felling of ancient London oak tree reported to police

  15-04-2025 18:19 via theguardian.com
  
  Oak in Whitewebbs park in Enfield was cut down by contractors but Enfield council has urged police to investigateThe sudden felling of one of the oldest and largest oak trees in London has been reported to police, as campaigners renewed calls for better protection for such nationally significant trees.The oak in Whitewebbs park in Enfield was up to 500 years old, with a trunk that was more than six metres in circumference. It was listed on the Woodland Trust inventory of ancient trees, but was n
  
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• Felling of ancient London oak tree by Toby Carvery owner reported to police

  15-04-2025 18:19 via theguardian.com
  
  Whitewebbs Park oak cut down by contractors working for firm that runs nearby restaurantThe sudden felling of one of the oldest and largest oak trees in London has been carried out by the company that owns a nearby Toby Carvery, as campaigners renewed calls for better protection for such nationally significant trees.The oak in Whitewebbs Park, Enfield, was up to 500 years old, with a trunk that was more than six metres in circumference. It was listed on the Woodland Trust inventory of ancient tr
  
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• Parched waterways, dead fish and trees ready to give up: historic big dry grips South Australia

  15-04-2025 17:00 via theguardian.com
  Parts of the state record their lowest rainfall on record, with devastating impacts on freshwater fish, butterflies, bees and even some hardy treesSign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter hereUsually hardy trees and shrubs are dying, waterways have turned to dust and ecologists fear local freshwater fish extinctions could be coming as historic dry conditions grip parts of South Australia.Large swathes of the state – including the Adelaide Pla
  
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• Green groups sue Trump administration over climate webpage removals

  15-04-2025 16:58 via theguardian.com
  
  The White House has pulled federal webpages tracking climate and environmental justice dataUS politics live – latest updatesGreen groups have sued the Trump administration over the removal of government webpages containing federal climate and environmental justice data that they described as “tantamount to theft”.In the first weeks of its second term, the Trump administration pulled federal websites tracking shifts in the climate, pollution and extreme weather impacts on low-in
  
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• ‘Shock to the system’: farmers hit by Trump’s tariffs and cuts say they need another bailout

  15-04-2025 14:00 via theguardian.com
  With extreme weather and Trump’s looming trade war, US farmers are reeling and resigned to needing more cash helpFarmers across the United States say they could face financial ruin – unless there is a huge taxpayer-funded bailout to compensate for losses generated by Donald Trump’s sweeping cuts and chaotic tariffs.Small- and medium-sized farms were already struggling amid worsening climate shocks and volatile commodities markets, on top of being squeezed by large corporations
  
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• Amphibious boat brings Bond-style glamour to RSPB in Northumberland

  15-04-2025 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Bear Grylls-inspired vessel helps wardens on Coquet Island care for UK’s only breeding colony of roseate ternsIt looks like something James Bond might drive – or, more accurately, Bear Grylls. But rather than enabling secret missions or carrying millionaires, this innovative amphibious boat is helping RSPB wardens look after Britain’s only breeding colony of roseate terns.The endangered birds nest on Coquet Island off the Northumberland coast each spring but seasonal wardens wh
  
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• Atomic Secrets: a Chornobyl scientist warns of a toxic future

  15-04-2025 11:40 via theguardian.com
  
  Dmitry Kalmykov is a Ukrainian scientist who has dedicated his life to investigating environmental disasters, first at Chornobyl and now in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan - formerly the Soviet Union's primary nuclear weapons testing site. He teaches schoolchildren about how bombs were tested, and how – more than 30 years after the site was decommissioned – the surrounding community is only beginning to comprehend radiation's lasting deadly effects. Against the backdrop of war in Ukraine a
  
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• Fifteen years after a volcano shut European airspace, could it happen again?

  15-04-2025 09:55 via bbc.com
  Could volcanic ash close down airspaceacross the UK and Europe bringing the widespread disruption we experienced in 2010.
  
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• The rise of the digital fishmonger: how Covid helped customers buy fresh from the boat

  15-04-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Britain’s traditional retailers were in decline for years. Then the pandemic changed how we buy food and boosted the fishing industryThe seafood chef and restaurateur Mitch Tonks recalls the moment things for him changed dramatically. It was March 2020, the start of Covid, when a local fishing boat skipper called him in a panic. “Nick was having a tough time; nobody was buying his catch, so I emailed our customer network,” he says.Tonks asked people to bring cash and containers
  
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• Faintings, blackouts and violence: Iraq’s scorching emergency – in pictures

  15-04-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The country’s average temperature has risen by 0.48C a decade from 2000. Last August, photographer Susan Schulman visited Baghdad and Amarah, to capture the impact of extreme weather on everyday lives Continue reading...
  
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• Country diary: Newt sex is more about chase than clinch | Mark Cocker

  15-04-2025 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Cressbrook, Derbyshire: The pond I’m observing is a murky metropolis that doesn’t reveal itself quickly. When it does, I find common newts in full breeding modeI initially assumed that the depths near the centre of the pond were entirely sealed off from my air-breathing world above, with its relentless sunshine and skylark song. But no. I gradually realised that the life within was sensitive to the outside, and to me. The more inanimate I became, the more the underwater place reveale
  
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• Deadly floods and storms affected more than 400,000 people in Europe in 2024

  15-04-2025 04:00 via theguardian.com
  
  European State of the Climate report ‘lays bare’ impact of fossil fuels on continent during its hottest 12 months on recordThe home-wrecking storms and floods that swept Europe last year affected 413,000 people, a report has found, as fossil fuel pollution forced the continent to suffer through its hottest year on record.Dramatic scenes of cars piled up on inundated streets and bridges being ripped away by raging torrents were seen around the continent in 2024, with “high&rdquo
  
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• Iraq sandstorm leaves many with breathing problems

  15-04-2025 02:52 via bbc.com
  
  The sandstorm blanketed southern regions in an eerie, orange haze and shut down airports.
  
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• Couple arrested for breeding exotic cats in Spain

  15-04-2025 00:23 via bbc.com
  
  The couple is suspected of selling exotic cats online, including protected species such as white tigers.
  
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