Environment news

• New wood-burning stoves to carry health warnings in UK plan

  22-01-2026 14:56 via theguardian.com
  Pollution from wood burners kills thousands but proposed emissions limit would cut toxic particles by 10%New wood-burning stoves will carry a health warning highlighting the impact of the air pollution they produce, under UK government plans.Ministers have also proposed cutting the limit on the smoke emitted from wood burners by 80%. However, the measure would only apply to new stoves, most of which already meet the stricter limit. The new limit would cut the annual toxic emissions from wood bur
  
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• A bid to clean up shipping industry intensified a coral bleaching event on Great Barrier Reef, study says

  22-01-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  The removal of sulphur from shipping fuels caused ‘a lot of extra sunlight’ to get through atmosphere and hit reef in 2022Steps to clean up the shipping industry by removing sulphur from fuels intensified a major coral bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef by allowing more of the sun’s energy to hit the oceanic wonder, according to a new study.Sulphur pollution can cause respiratory problems for humans and cause acid rain, but it also has a shading effect and can make clou
  
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• Blind, slow and 500 years old – or are they? How scientists are unravelling the secrets of Greenland sharks

  22-01-2026 11:00 via theguardian.com
  Described by one researcher as looking ‘already dead’, the enigmatic creatures are one of the least understood species on the planetIt looks more like a worn sock than a fearsome predator. It moves slower than an escalator. By most accounts, it is a clumsy and near-sightless relic drifting in the twilight waters of the Arctic, lazily searching for food scraps.But the Greenland shark, an animal one researcher (lovingly) said, “looks like it’s already dead”, is also o
  
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• What happens when the taps run dry? England is about to find out | Aditya Chakrabortty

  22-01-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  It’s not just Tunbridge Wells – a country famous around the world for its rain is in danger of self-imposed droughtYou get up and go to the loo, only to find the flush doesn’t work. You try the shower, except nothing comes out. You want a glass of water, but on turning the tap there is not a drop. Your day stumbles on, stripped of its essentials: no washing hands, no cleaning up the baby, neither tea nor coffee, no easy way to do the dishes or the laundry. Dirt accumulates; tem
  
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• Schools, airports, high-rise towers: architects urged to get ‘bamboo-ready’

  22-01-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Manual for building design aims to encourage low-carbon construction as alternative to steel and concreteAn airport made of bamboo? A tower reaching 20 metres high? For many years, bamboo has been mostly known as the favourite food of giant pandas, but a group of engineers say it’s time we took it seriously as a building material, too.This week the Institution of Structural Engineers called for architects to be “bamboo-ready” as they published a manual for designing permanent b
  
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• Half the world’s 100 largest cities are in high water stress areas, analysis finds

  22-01-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: Beijing, Delhi, Los Angeles and Rio de Janeiro among worst affected, with demand close to exceeding supplyHalf the world’s 100 largest cities are experiencing high levels of water stress, with 39 of these sitting in regions of “extremely high water stress”, new analysis and mapping has shown.Water stress means that water withdrawals for public water supply and industry are close to exceeding available supplies, often caused by poor management of water resources exace
  
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• Country diary: Meet the kelo tree – dead, but refusing to fall | Paul Evans

  22-01-2026 06:30 via theguardian.com
  The Marches, Shropshire: Without its bark, this Scots pine’s life cycle has slowed, allowing it to stand tall in death for hundreds of years“The clown passeth by thee and heedeth thee not, / But thou’rt a warm source of reflection for me” wrote John Clare in To a Dead Tree. This clown has passeth an old dead tree in Attingham Park – at Atcham, near Shrewsbury – many times without much heedeth, but today, warmed by bright sunlight after weeks of cold weather, i
  
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• Wind and solar overtook fossil fuels for EU power generation in 2025, report finds

  22-01-2026 00:01 via theguardian.com
  Researchers say event described as ‘major tipping point’ for clean energy in era of destabilised politicsWind and solar overtook fossil fuels in the European Union’s power generation last year, a report has found, in a “major tipping point” for clean energy.Turbines spinning in the wind and photovoltaic panels lit up by the sun generated 30% of the EU’s electricity in 2025, according to an annual review. Power plants burning coal, oil and gas generated 29%. Co
  
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