Environment news

• Will net zero really cost UK households £500 a year?

  11-12-2025 18:25 via theguardian.com
  An official report lays out different scenarios for the cost of transitioning away from fossil fuels to net zero by 2050Britain’s official energy system operator has attempted to work out what achieving net zero carbon emissions will cost, with its figures showing surging spending in the coming years.The scale and speed of the shift to a low-carbon economy, and how to fund it, are hotly debated by political parties. Continue reading...
  
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• Orcas team up with dolphins to hunt salmon, study finds

  11-12-2025 17:00 via theguardian.com
  Northern resident killer whales appear to use dolphins as ‘scouts’, in asurprising cooperative hunting strategyOrcas and dolphins have been spotted for the first time working as a team to hunt salmon off the coast of British Columbia, according to a new study which suggests a cooperative relationship between the two predators.The research, published on Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports, shows interactions between northern resident orcas (also known as killer whales) and Paci
  
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• Reaching net zero: what will it cost the UK and is it a price worth paying?

  11-12-2025 16:32 via theguardian.com
  An official report says the bill for switching to clean energy will rise sharply – and puts forward a slower, ‘falling behind” alternativeThe cost of hitting net zero targets has been laid bare by the UK’s energy system operator, showing a surge in spending over the coming years.But investing in clean generation projects, distribution networks and replacing fossil fuel cars and boilers could be many billions of pounds cheaper if the UK was less ambitious, according to Thu
  
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• Economic growth no longer linked to carbon emissions in most of the world, study finds

  11-12-2025 16:24 via theguardian.com
  Analysis marking 10 years since Paris climate agreement underscores effectiveness of strong government policiesThe once-rigid link between economic growth and carbon emissions is breaking across the vast majority of the world, according to a study released ahead of Friday’s 10th anniversary of the Paris climate agreement.The analysis, which underscores the effectiveness of strong government climate policies, shows this “decoupling” trend has accelerated since 2015 and is becomi
  
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• MP calls for ban on ‘biobeads’ at sewage works after devastating Camber Sands spillage

  11-12-2025 10:16 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: Use of toxic plastic beads in treatment works is unnecessary and outdated, say conservationistsThe use of tiny, toxic plastic beads at sewage works should be banned nationwide, an MP and wildlife experts have said after a devastating spill at an internationally important nature reserve.Hundreds of millions of “biobeads” washed up on Camber Sands beach in East Sussex last month, after a failure at a Southern Water sewage treatment works caused a catastrophic spill. It has d
  
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• Snakes, spiders and rare birds seized by Border Force in month-long operation

  11-12-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Wildlife smuggling is serious organised crime that ‘fuels corruption and drives species to extinction’, Home Office saysMore than 250 endangered species and illegal wildlife products were seized at the UK border in a single month, new figures have revealed, including spiders, snakes and birds.The illicit cargo was uncovered as part of an annual crackdown on wildlife smuggling known as Operation Thunder, which is led by Interpol and the World Customs Organisation. Continue reading...
  
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• Endoscopy finds Neanderthal noses not as adapted to the cold as expected

  11-12-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Study on skull of Altamura Man could be blow to adaptation theories about Neanderthals and their extinctionOne sign of a really cold day is the sharp sting of freezing air in your nose. It was believed that the noses of Neanderthals were better adapted to breathing the cold air of the Ice Age and that when the climate became warmer they were outcompeted by modern humans. This is now being questioned.The opening in the Neanderthal skull is bigger than ours, with a larger nasal cavity behind it. T
  
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• Country diary: A lifelong love affair with common scoters | Mary Montague

  11-12-2025 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Tyrella Beach, County Down: These fine ducks are tricky to spot from the shore, but I feel lucky to be seeing them at allThe common scoter has long haunted the edges of my mind. I think of this handsome duck migrating from its summer breeding grounds in the boreal lakelands of Scandinavia. I watch for the tattered ribbons of its flight formations arriving to winter along this coast. I scrutinise the sea for flocks far offshore.Because even here in Dundrum Bay, where large winter flocks gather, a
  
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• Sea urchin species on brink of extinction after marine pandemic

  11-12-2025 06:00 via theguardian.com
  Ecologically important Diadema africanum almost eliminated by unknown disease in Canary IslandsA marine pandemic is bringing some species of sea urchin to the brink of extinction, and some populations have disappeared altogether, a study has found.Since 2021, Diadema africanum urchins in the Canary Island archipelago have almost entirely been killed by an unknown disease. There has been a 99.7% population decrease in Tenerife, and a 90% decrease off the islands of the Madeira archipelago. Contin
  
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• ‘Not normal’: Climate crisis supercharged deadly monsoon floods in Asia

  11-12-2025 04:00 via theguardian.com
  Cyclones like those in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Malaysia that killed 1,750 are ‘alarming new reality’The climate crisis supercharged the deadly storms that killed more than 1,750 people in Asia by making downpours more intense and flooding worse, scientists have reported. Monsoon rains often bring some flooding but the scientists were clear: this was “not normal”.In Sri Lanka, some floods reached the second floor of buildings, while in Sumatra, in Indonesia, the floods we
  
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• Shell facing first UK legal claim over climate impacts of fossil fuels

  11-12-2025 01:20 via bbc.com
  Survivors of a deadly typhoon in the Philippines have filed a claim against the UK's largest oil company.
  
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