Environment news

• Nicola Jennings on drought-hit Britain – cartoon

  22-07-2026 19:27 via theguardian.com
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• One billion plastic pellets spilled into River Tyne after two ships collide

  22-07-2026 18:14 via theguardian.com
  Up to 25 tonnes of nurdles, the raw material for plastic manufacturing, have spread further than initially fearedApproximately a billion tiny plastic nurdles have entered the River Tyne after a “devastating spill”, with the pellets thought to have spread much further than first thought.Nurdles, which are usually 1mm-5mm in size, act as the raw material to manufacture most plastic products. Continue reading...
  
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• The human fridge: is this really the best way to cool down in a ‘cruelly hot’ climate?

  22-07-2026 18:11 via theguardian.com
  A ‘personal cooling booth’ that promises to chill you out in 10 minutes has launched in Japan, with its makers claiming it beats air-conditioning or a fanName: The human fridge.Age: Brand new. Continue reading...
  
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• Billion plastic pellets spilled into UK river after two ships collide

  22-07-2026 17:34 via theguardian.com
  Up to 25 tonnes of nurdles, the raw material for plastic manufacturing, have spread further than initially fearedApproximately a billion tiny plastic nurdles have entered the River Tyne after a “devastating spill”, with the pellets thought to have spread much further than first thought.Nurdles are tiny pellets, usually about 1-5mm in size, that act as the raw material to manufacture most plastic products. Continue reading...
  
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• Great Barrier Reef microbiome mapped as researchers discover 500 bacterial species previously unknown to science

  22-07-2026 17:00 via theguardian.com
  Research identifies 808,585 viral genomes belonging to what scientists estimate to be 362,802 different virusesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastMore than a decade after the human microbiome was comprehensively mapped, scientists have now identified the vast communities of microbes that make up the Great Barrier Reef.Analysing DNA from seawater samples of 48 reefs, researchers have mapped the microbiome of the Great Barrier Reef, documenting more than 360,000 distinct vi
  
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• Food price fears after Europe’s heatwave destroys estimated €2bn of crops

  22-07-2026 16:12 via theguardian.com
  Record June temperatures expected to cut grain harvest by 9m tonnes to its lowest level since 2018 The heatwave that swept across Europe in June is estimated to have cost the continent’s grain farmers €2bn (£1.7bn) in lost revenue and destroyed 9m tonnes of crops, sparking concern about the impact on the price of food.Coceral, the European cereals and oilseeds trade association, made the estimate for the harvest of crops such as wheat, barley, maize and oats following the heatwa
  
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• Sperm whales change ‘vowel’ sounds when boats are nearby, scientists discover

  22-07-2026 15:00 via theguardian.com
  Researchers listening off the Caribbean island of Dominica found variations in the mammals’ audible clicks when marine traffic was closeSperm whales produce a specific pattern of clicking noises when they hear the noise of boats, researchers have found. The pattern is so distinct that the scientists who identified it said they can now use it to predict when ships are nearby.Researchers from Project Ceti (the Cetacean Translation Initiative), a non-profit research organisation working to de
  
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• Six beluga whales finally leave embattled Canadian marine park

  22-07-2026 13:48 via theguardian.com
  Whales flown to US aquariums after long-running saga in which Marineland had threatened to euthanise themSix beluga whales have at last left Marineland, the embattled Canadian marine park in Niagara Falls that previously threatened to kill its own animals, and are arriving at US aquariums this week.While the whales’ journey into the US marks the end of their long and controversial saga of captivity in Canada, advocates say the new conditions, though superior to Marineland, could bring cont
  
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• The world is on fire, and who does Trump blame? The Canadians | Arwa Mahdawi

  22-07-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  The US president has been complaining about Canada’s ‘filthy, polluted and unhealthy air’. Maybe he should put all that energy into tackling the climate crisisRight, that’s it: we’ve got to do something about Canada. The country’s wildfires, which resulted in air quality alerts across more than 20 US states, ruined my weekend. On Friday the air in Philadelphia, where I live, was so unhealthy I couldn’t go outside without my eyes stinging. My kid’s
  
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• It cost £2.1bn to divert a river in Brazil’s outback. So where has all the water gone?

  22-07-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Despite official claims that the São Francisco River project supplies 12m people, many of those who had to make way for its construction in 2007 still have no water at allA concrete canal cutting through the Caatinga scrubland feeds a surface reservoir two and a half miles from Maria de Fátima Ferreira da Silva’s home in rural Brazil. The canal passes Sertânia and continues until it reaches Monteiro, the next town along, where it spills its precious cargo into the bed o
  
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• ​World’s largest meat company faces legal challenge over green credentials of $6bn global expansion

  22-07-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Greenpeace petitions Dutch courts to order JBS to disclose how its aims are compatible with responsibilities to climate and human rightsThe world’s biggest meat company, JBS, faces a landmark legal challenge to disclose how its $6bn (£4.5bn) global expansion plan is compatible with responsibilities to the climate, nature and human rights.Courts in the Netherlands, where JBS is headquartered, will assess the petition filed by Greenpeace for information on whether the company is compli
  
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• ​World largest meat company faces legal challenge over green credentials of $6bn global expansion

  22-07-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Greenpeace petitions Dutch courts to order JBS to disclose how its aims are compatible with responsibilities to climate and human rightsThe world’s biggest meat company, JBS, faces a landmark legal challenge to disclose how its $6bn (£4.5bn) global expansion plan is compatible with responsibilities to the climate, nature and human rights.Courts in the Netherlands, where JBS is headquartered, will assess the petition filed by Greenpeace for information on whether the company is compli
  
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• Japan swelters through rising heat – in pictures

  22-07-2026 07:15 via theguardian.com
  For Japan, days where the mercury soars above 40C now have their own term – kokushobi (酷暑日), or ‘cruelly hot day’, as rising temperatures cause heatstroke deaths and impact on crop yields across the countryJapan records its first ‘cruelly hot day’ as cities swelter in 40-degree heat Continue reading...
  
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• ‘Risking blackouts’? How Great Britain’s grid operator was dragged into a political row

  22-07-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Neso denies allegations aired by Tory MP that staff took part in cover-up over decision-making in heatwaveIn a control room in Wokingham, Berkshire, staff work around the clock, minute by minute, to align Great Britain’s fluctuating power supplies with its ever-changing demand.However, as households struggle to adapt to soaring summer temperatures, staff at the government-owned National Energy System Operator (Neso), tasked with keeping the lights on, have faced the kind of challenge usual
  
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• Country diary: With a flick of its tail, the fragile baby lobster vanishes into a rock pool | Charlie Elder

  22-07-2026 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Trevone Bay, Cornwall: The odds of survival of these juveniles raised in a hatchery are 1,000 times greater than if they had been born in the wildAs I tipped the plastic pot, the juvenile lobster edged forwards, seemingly reluctant to take the plunge. Barely a couple of centimetres long, it had been nurtured through the perilous first weeks of life. Now it was free to roam the sea, with all the risks that entailed.Shaped like a miniature clothes peg, tiny claws spread wide, it gave a f
  
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• ‘A great thrill’: baby puffin is first one seen on Dorset coast in three decades

  22-07-2026 06:00 via theguardian.com
  Puffling excites volunteers trying to save the last known regular nesting site on mainland of southern EnglandFor years, volunteers have craned their necks and tested their patience to peer into the crevices of the cliffs hoping for a glimpse of fluffy joy.Finally it all paid off as a puffling – baby puffin – poked its way into the sunshine, becoming the first to be spotted on the coast of Dorset in southern England for three decades. Continue reading...
  
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