Environment news

• Plug-in hybrids use three times more fuel than manufacturers claim, analysis finds

  18-02-2026 19:41 via theguardian.com
  While most hybrids are said to use one to two litres of fuel per 100km, a study claims they need six litres on averagePlug-in hybrid electric cars (PHEVs) use much more fuel on the road than officially stated by their manufacturers, a large-scale analysis of about a million vehicles of this type has shown.The Fraunhofer Institute carried out what is thought to be the most comprehensive study of its kind to date, using the data transmitted wirelessly by PHEVs from a variety of manufacturers while
  
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• Trump has done more than harm the government’s ability to fight global heating | Jamil Smith

  18-02-2026 16:00 via theguardian.com
  By repealing the EPA’s determination that greenhouse gases threaten public health, the president is denying reality itselfThe climate crisis is killing people. These deaths are measurable, documented and ongoing. Concluding otherwise is just playing pretend. Studies explain the mechanics, but lived experience supplies the truth. The people who suffer the consequences see the fire rising and water closing in. They need their government’s help.Despite that, the president of the United
  
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• Speeding, jaywalkers and imported ‘clunkers’: Romania in safety drive to improve EU’s deadliest roads

  18-02-2026 15:00 via theguardian.com
  Government has taken first serious steps to crack down on dangerous driving but pace of change is frustrating campaignersThe first time Lucian Mîndruță crashed his car, he swerved to avoid a village dog and hit another vehicle. The second time, he missed a right-of-way sign and was struck by a car at a junction. The third time, ice sent him skidding off the road and into two trees. Crashes four to eight, he said, were bumper-scratches in traffic too minor to mention.That Mî
  
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• Romania in safety drive to improve EU’s deadliest roads

  18-02-2026 15:00 via theguardian.com
  Government takes its first serious steps to crack down on dangerous driving but progress is slowEurope live – latest updatesThe first time Lucian Mîndruță crashed his car, he swerved to avoid a village dog and hit another vehicle. The second time, he missed a right-of-way sign and was struck by a car at a junction. The third time, ice sent him skidding off the road and into two trees. Crashes four to eight, he said, were bumper-scratches in traffic too minor to mention.That
  
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• US sanctions, power cuts, climate crisis: why Cuba is betting on renewables

  18-02-2026 14:00 via theguardian.com
  With Trump blocking Venezuelan oil imports and old power plants breaking down, the island – with Chinese help – is turning to solar and wind to bolster its fragile energy systemIntense heat hangs over the sugarcane fields near Cuba’s eastern coast. In the village of Herradura, a blond-maned horse rests under a palm tree after spending all Saturday in the fields with its owner, Roberto, who cultivates maize and beans.Roberto was among those worst affected by Hurricane Melissa, w
  
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• Plaid promises Welsh communities share of renewable energy profits

  18-02-2026 13:20 via bbc.com
  Plaid Cymru says renewable energy projects would have to hand over stakes of up to 25% to local communities.
  
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• Environmental groups sue Trump’s EPA over repeal of landmark climate finding

  18-02-2026 13:10 via theguardian.com
  Lawsuit from health and environmental justice groups challenges the EPA’s rollback of the ‘endangerment finding’More than a dozen health and environmental justice non-profits have sued the Environmental Protection Agency over its revocation of the legal determination that underpins US federal climate regulations.Filed in Washington DC circuit court, the lawsuit challenges the EPA’s rollback of the “endangerment finding”, which states that the buildup of heat-t
  
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• Second wild beaver spotted living at Norfolk nature reserve

  18-02-2026 13:05 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: Pensthorpe was believed to be home to just one individual but pair have been filmed grooming each otherNo one knows where they came from or how they ended up in Norfolk. But one thing is certain: now, there are two of them.Until last week, experts believed there was only one wild beaver living in Pensthorpe nature reserve, about 20 miles outside Norwich. But just in time for Valentine’s Day, two were caught on camera going for a late-night swim together and grooming each other b
  
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• Coffee-growing countries becoming too hot to cultivate beans, analysis finds

  18-02-2026 11:00 via theguardian.com
  Five countries responsible for 75% of world’s coffee supply record average of 57 extra days of coffee-harming heat a yearIn Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee, more than 4m households rely on coffee as their primary source of income. It contributes almost a third of the country’s export earnings, but for how much longer is uncertain.“Coffee farmers in Ethiopia are already seeing the impact of extreme heat,” said Dejene Dadi, the general manager of Oromia Coffee Farmers Co
  
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• No trees, no food, shot for fun … yet Serbia’s imperial eagles are making an improbable return

  18-02-2026 10:00 via theguardian.com
  Less than a decade ago, the Balkan country had just one breeding pair of the eastern imperial species of raptor left. Now things are changing, thanks to the dogged work of conservationistsAt the start of every spring, before the trees in northern Serbia begin to leaf out, ornithologists drive across the plains of Vojvodina. They check old nesting sites of eastern imperial eagles, scan solitary trees along field margins, and search for signs of new nests.For years, the work of the Bird Protection
  
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• 'It's overwhelming': Plastic from 1960s Canada washes up on Orkney beach

  18-02-2026 07:24 via bbc.com
  One litter picker says he has seen a huge increase in the amount of plastic washing up on Sanday this year.
  
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• Country diary: Persistence and confusion – this is how magpies build their nest | Nic Wilson

  18-02-2026 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Hitchin, Hertfordshire: It’s not quick, it’s not graceful, but these early nesters are hard at work in preparation for egg-laying in a few weeksIs it too early to whisper the S word? If so, I blame the magpies. Every day for the past two weeks, while enjoying my morning cuppa in bed, I’ve been watching a pair nest-building in a Norway maple across the road. But though the arrival of spring advances each year at a faster pace than any other season, the magpies’ calendar is
  
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• The death of Heather Preen: how an eight-year-old lost her life amid the UK sewage crisis

  18-02-2026 06:00 via theguardian.com
  In 1999, Heather Preen contracted E coli on the beach. Two weeks later she died. Now, as a new Channel 4 show dramatises the scandal, her mother, Julie Maughan, explains why she is still looking for someone to take responsibilityWhen Julie Maughan was invited to help with a factual drama that would focus on the illegal dumping of raw sewage by water companies, she had to think hard. In some ways, it felt 25 years too late. In 1999, Maughan’s eight-year-old daughter, Heather Preen, had cont
  
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• The death of Heather Preen: how an eight-year-old lost her life amid sewage crisis

  18-02-2026 06:00 via theguardian.com
  In 1999, Heather Preen contracted E coli on a Devon beach. Two weeks later she died. Now, as a new Channel 4 show dramatises the scandal, her mother, Julie Maughan, explains why she is still looking for someone to take responsibilityWhen Julie Maughan was invited to help with a factual drama that would focus on the illegal dumping of raw sewage by water companies, she had to think hard. In some ways, it felt 25 years too late. In 1999, Maughan’s eight-year-old daughter, Heather Preen, had
  
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• One in nine new homes in England built in areas of flood risk, study shows

  18-02-2026 01:01 via theguardian.com
  Figures from Aviva also show number of homes being built in risky areas is risingOne in nine new homes in England built between 2022 and 2024 were constructed in areas that could now be at risk of flooding, according to new data.The figures show the number of homes being built in risky areas is on the rise – a previous analysis showed that between 2013 and 2022, one in 13 new homes were in potential flooding zones. Continue reading...
  
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