Environment news

• 2025 ‘virtually certain’ to be second- or third-hottest year on record, EU data shows

  09-12-2025 04:00
  Copernicus deputy director says three-year average for 2023 to 2025 on track to exceed 1.5C of heating for first timeThis year is “virtually certain” to end as the second- or third-hottest year on record, EU scientists have found, as climate breakdown continues to push the planet away from the stable conditions in which humanity evolved.Global temperatures from January to November were on average 1.48C higher than preindustrial levels, according to the Copernicus, the EU’s eart
  
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• ‘A shift no country can ignore’: where global emissions stand, 10 years after the Paris climate agreement

  13-12-2025 07:00
  The watershed summit in 2015 was far from perfect, but its impact so far has been significant and measurableTen years on from the historic Paris climate summit, which ended with the world’s first and only global agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions, it is easy to dwell on its failures. But the successes go less remarked.Renewable energy smashed records last year, growing by 15% and accounting for more than 90% of all new power generation capacity. Investment in clean energy topped $2
  
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• The path of least emissions: how to take a sustainable holiday this summer

  13-12-2025 00:00
  While it’s impossible to escape the emissions associated with flying, some travel methods are more carbon-intensive than othersChange by degrees offers life hacks and sustainable living tips each Saturday to help reduce your household’s carbon footprintGot a question or tip for reducing household emissions? Email us at [email protected] the Australian summer gets under way, many of us are planning holidays.When it comes to limiting emissions associated with travel, a
  
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• Families washed out of tents as flood waters course through Gaza

  12-12-2025 16:26
  Gaza has been hit by heavy rains and low temperatures, deepening the misery of most of its 2.2 million population who are living in tents after two years of Israeli bombardment. Thousands of homeless people have been washed out of their makeshift shelters and forced to seek emergency refuge Continue reading...
  
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• ‘We’re all rattled’: early season fires spook towns across Australia, even if it’s not black summer conditions – yet

  12-12-2025 15:00
  Fast-moving fires in parched urban fringes have residents on edge, and no one needs a reminder of how bad things can getIt was 3am Sunday when Robin and Paul McLean received the text. A fire was encroaching on their Lake Macquarie home, and it was too late to leave.Their adult daughter, who lives with them, is confined to her bed due to disability and has her own evacuation plan that includes calling an ambulance if they reach a “watch and act” alert level – the second of three
  
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• ‘The worst is when the rubbish explodes’: the children living in Patagonia’s vast dumps

  12-12-2025 15:00
  In sprawling landfills, thousands of Argentinian families scavenge for survival amid toxic waste and government neglect, dreaming of steady jobs and escape The sun rises over the plateau of Neuquén’s open-air rubbish tip. Maia, nine, and her brothers, aged 11 and seven, huddle by a campfire. Their mother, Gisel, rummages through bags that smell of rotten fruit and meat.Situated at the northern end of Argentinian Patagonia, 100km (60 miles) from Vaca Muerta – one of the world&r
  
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• Indonesia floods were ‘extinction level’ disturbance for world’s rarest ape

  12-12-2025 14:42
  Conservationists fear up to 11% of Tapanuli orangutan population perished in disaster that also killed 1,000 peopleThe skull of a Tapanuli orangutan, caked in debris, stares out from a tomb of mud in North Sumatra, killed in catastrophic flooding that swept through Indonesia.The late November floods have been an “extinction-level disturbance” for the world’s rarest great ape, scientists have said, causing catastrophic damage to its habitat and survival prospects. Continue readi
  
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• Indonesia floods were ‘extinction level’ disturbance for rare orangutan species

  12-12-2025 14:42
  Conservationists fear up to 11% of Tapanuli population perished in disaster that also killed 1,000 peopleIndonesia’s deadly flooding was an “extinction-level disturbance” for the world’s rarest great ape, the Tapanuli orangutan, causing catastrophic damage to its habitat and survival prospects, scientists warned on Friday.Only scientifically classified as a species in 2017, Tapanulis are incredibly rare, with fewer than 800 left in the wild, confined to a small range in p
  
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• ‘Soil is more important than oil’: inside the perennial grain revolution

  12-12-2025 13:00
  Scientists in Kansas believe Kernza could cut emissions, restore degraded soils and reshape the future of agricultureOn the concrete floor of a greenhouse in rural Kansas stands a neat grid of 100 plastic plant pots, each holding a straggly crown of strappy, grass-like leaves. These plants are perennials – they keep growing, year after year. That single characteristic separates them from soya beans, wheat, maize, rice and every other major grain crop, all of which are annuals: plants that
  
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• The Paris climate treaty changed the world. Here’s how | Rebecca Solnit

  12-12-2025 12:00
  There’s much more to do, but we should be encouraged by the progress we have madeToday marks the 10th anniversary of the Paris climate treaty, one of the landmark days in climate-action history. Attending the conference as a journalist, I watched and listened and wondered whether 194 countries could ever agree on anything at all, and the night before they did, people who I thought were more sophisticated than me assured me they couldn’t. Then they did. There are a lot of ways to tell
  
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• EA to spend millions clearing Oxfordshire illegal waste mountain in break with policy

  12-12-2025 11:47
  Announcement draws anger from Labour MP over refusal to remove tonnes of rubbish dumped near school in WiganThe Environment Agency is to spend millions of pounds to clear an enormous illegal rubbish dump in Oxfordshire, saying the waste is at risk of catching fire.But the decision announced on Thursday to clear up the thousands of tonnes of waste illegally dumped outside Kidlington has drawn an angry response from a Labour MP in Greater Manchester whose constituents have been living alongside 25
  
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• Hightailing along high streets and raiding ponds: otters’ revival in Britain

  12-12-2025 11:00
  Still rare only 20 years ago, the charismatic animals are in almost every UK river and a conservation success storyOn a quiet Friday evening, an otter and a fox trot through Lincoln city centre. The pair scurry past charity shops and through deserted streets, the encounter lit by the security lamps of shuttered takeaways. Each animal inspects the nooks and crannies of the high street before disappearing into the night, ending the unlikely scene captured by CCTV last month.Unlike the fox, the ott
  
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• Hightailing along city streets and raiding ponds: otters’ revival in Britain

  12-12-2025 11:00
  Still rare only 20 years ago, the charismatic animals are in almost every UK river and a conservation success storyOn a quiet Friday evening, an otter and a fox trot through Lincoln city centre. The pair scurry past charity shops and through deserted streets, the encounter lit by the security lamps of shuttered takeaways. Each animal inspects the nooks and crannies of the high street before disappearing into the night, ending the unlikely scene captured by CCTV last month.Unlike the fox, the ott
  
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• Week in wildlife: a baby echidna, a 600lb gator and an ‘unbearable’ bear

  12-12-2025 09:00
  This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...
  
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• As the UK looks to invest in nuclear, here’s what it could mean for Britain’s environment

  12-12-2025 08:00
  In this week’s newsletter:​ The government’s bid to speed up nuclear construction could usher in sweeping deregulation, with experts warning of profound consequences for nature• Don’t get Down to Earth delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereWhen UK prime minister Keir Starmer announced last week that he was “implementing the Fingleton review”, you can forgive the pulse of most Britons for failing to quicken.But behind the uninspiring statement lies potentia
  
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• Country diary: Twenty years ago this thriving woodland didn’t even exist | Phil Gates

  12-12-2025 06:30
  Low Burnhall wood, Durham: The smell of decay, the screech of jays – nearly 100,000 trees planted in 2008 have really come of age“I remember when these were all open fields,” said with a sigh, is a lament usually associated with open countryside disappearing under creeping urban sprawl. Not here at Low Burnhall Wood, two miles south of Durham city centre, where former farmland in the valley of the River Wear is now filled with thriving young native trees.For 30 years I saw arab
  
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• Changes to polar bear DNA could help them adapt to global heating, study finds

  12-12-2025 02:00
  Scientists say bears in southern Greenland differ genetically to those in the north, suggesting they could adjustChanges in polar bear DNA that could help the animals adapt to warmer climates have been detected by researchers, in a study thought to be the first time a statistically significant link has been found between rising temperatures and changing DNA in a wild mammal species.Climate breakdown is threatening the survival of polar bears. Two-thirds of them are expected to have disappeared b
  
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• Will net zero really cost UK households £500 a year?

  11-12-2025 18:25
  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
  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
  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
  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
  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
  
  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
  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
  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
  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
  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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• A dead whale shows up on your beach. What do you do with the 40-ton carcass?

  10-12-2025 17:00
  A fin whale washed ashore in Anchorage and was left there for months. Then a self-described ‘wacko’ museum director made a planWhen a whale dies, its body descends to the bottom of the deep sea in a transformative phenomenon called a whale fall. A whale’s death jump-starts an explosion of life, enough to feed and sustain a deep-ocean ecosystem for decades.There are a lot of ways whales can die. Migrating whales lose their way and, unable to find their way back from unfamiliar w
  
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• A tribute to resilience: what we can learn from the splendour of Accra Cultural Week

  10-12-2025 15:46
  Ghana’s capital is a party and entertainment hub but members of the diaspora would do well to experience its spectacular art scene• Don’t get The Long Wave delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereAfter more than 50 editions surfing across the waves of the global Black diaspora with Nesrine, this will be my final dispatch for the Long Wave, as I move on to a new role on the Opinion desk at the Guardian. I am heartbroken to be leaving, but I am so thankful to all of our readers for b
  
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