Environment news

• Mega datacentre planned for outer Melbourne will be six times bigger than a large shopping centre

  25-07-2026 22:00 via theguardian.com
  More than 3,600 people sign petition for careful assessment of proposed AI hub, now a flashpoint for national debate on datacentre boomGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastFor some residents it started with a letter in the mailbox. It was a “friendly introduction from the team behind the Victorian AI hub”.“I am knocking on doors to explain what we have in mind and, most importantly, to listen,” the letter from Syncline Energy stated. Continue reading
  
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• Mega datacentre planned for outer Melbourne will be almost six times the size of Chadstone shopping centre

  25-07-2026 22:00 via theguardian.com
  More than 3,600 people sign petition for careful assessment of proposed AI hub, now a flashpoint for national debate on datacentre boomGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastFor some residents it started with a letter in the mailbox. It was a “friendly introduction from the team behind the Victorian AI hub”.“I am knocking on doors to explain what we have in mind and, most importantly, to listen,” the letter from Syncline Energy stated. Continue reading
  
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• Locals fear for their children’s quality of life if the biggest coalmine extension in NSW is approved

  25-07-2026 22:00 via theguardian.com
  Minns government promised no new coalmines but permits expanding existing sites, despite being behind on climate targetsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAt Branxton community hall in the New South Wales Hunter Valley last week, local resident Janet Murray was given five minutes to speak about plans for the state’s biggest coalmine extension.Before her were dozens of people, also there to share their views about whether the 19-year extension proposed by Hunter Vall
  
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• Swinney requests UK military aid as 500 firefighters tackle Cairngorms wildfire

  25-07-2026 18:50 via theguardian.com
  Scottish first minister hopes aerial support will help quench 10-day fire that has forced evacuation of Highlands villageThe first minister of Scotland has asked for military aid from the UK government as more than 500 firefighters continue to tackle a firewhich has raged in the Cairngorms national park for the past 10 days and forced the evacuation of homes in the remote region.John Swinney has said the blaze remains a “major and serious” incident but that Saturday afternoon had bro
  
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• More than 250,000 people flee wildfires in France and Spain

  25-07-2026 16:50 via theguardian.com
  Hundreds of firefighters battle blazes as strong winds drive fires towards Bordeaux and smoke prompts health warnings in MadridUnrestrained wildfires in Spain and France have forced more than 250,000 people to flee, authorities from both countries have said, as they struggle to contain the blazes.About 70,000 people were evacuated from central Spain, while 197,000 people fled in France, including tens of thousands from the wine region city of Bordeaux. Continue reading...
  
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• Firefighters in Spain and France battle raging wildfires – video

  25-07-2026 16:11 via theguardian.com
  Footage shows the extent of the devastation caused by wildfires in Cenicientos, in the Madrid region of Spain, on Friday. Members of Spain's military emergency unit sought to contain the blazes in the Madrid region and in Cuevas de Cañart in the country's north-east. In France, dozens of firefighters battled flames threatening homes around the towns of Saumos and Sainte-Hélène in the south-west as a wildfire swept the nearby forest. The virulence of the wildfires, fuelled by
  
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• France and Spain race to control wildfires as more than 250,000 evacuated – live

  25-07-2026 13:52 via theguardian.com
  Meanwhile, in the UK, a blaze in the Cairngorms national park has been described as ‘very serious’ by Scotland’s first ministerTell us: have you been affected by wildfires in Europe?The French prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, has requested the armed forces to deploy an Airbus A400M military transport aircraft earlier than originally planned to help tackle the major wildfires in Gironde, according to Le Monde.The French newspaper reported the aircraft’s use was no
  
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• France and Spain race to control wildfires as Bordeaux suburbs evacuated – live

  25-07-2026 13:24 via theguardian.com
  Meanwhile, in the UK, a blaze in the Cairngorms national park has been described as ‘very serious’ by Scotland’s first ministerTell us: have you been affected by wildfires in Europe?The French prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, has requested the armed forces to deploy an Airbus A400M military transport aircraft earlier than originally planned to help tackle the major wildfires in Gironde, according to Le Monde.The French newspaper reported the aircraft’s use was no
  
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• Young country diary: A jellyfish party around our surfboards | Jess

  25-07-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  North Devon: The cool water was full of them – and we found out later that one of them, the compass jellyfish, should be avoidedOn a scorching hot day, my friend and I went surfing at my local beach. We partnered up to carry the boards down to the water – mine coral-coloured, his blue – and we clambered across the dunes, with the sand burning the soles of our feet. As we jumped into the cool water, we realised we were not alone. At first, we saw one or two, but by the point we
  
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• Entire Cairngorms village evacuated as raging wildfire nears

  25-07-2026 11:45 via theguardian.com
  Major incident declared over blaze that has intensified amid strengthening windsA major incident has been declared over a wildfire that has been raging in the Cairngorms national park for more than a week, police have said, with a whole village having been evacuated.Officers from Police Scotland said there had been a significant change in weather conditions, with strengthening winds making a fire that has been burning out of control for 11 days yet more difficult to contain. Continue reading...
  
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• Almost 75% of England’s riverbanks ‘off limits’ to public, figures show

  25-07-2026 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Campaigners urge government to introduce right of access to water, particularly as heatwaves become more commonAlmost three-quarters of riverbanks in England have no public access, according to data released by the Right to Roam campaign.Across the country, the public cannot use riverbanks or gain access to the rivers themselves in most of the river catchments from the west of Cornwall up to the Tweed, which flows through northern England and Scotland. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘Without us, they are doomed’: volunteers save fish from French rivers drying up in heatwaves

  25-07-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Fish being moved to oxygenated flowing water further downstream as water levels drop across countryAlong the Odet River in Brittany, fisher Mathieu Le Bouter and a dozen volunteers are catching hundreds of trout and young salmon – not for sport but to save them.They are only a few miles from the source of the river, which springs from the Black Mountains in Finistère and runs for about 40 miles (65km) into the Atlantic Ocean, but the water is barely up to their knees. Continue readi
  
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• ‘No time to waste’: Greece bids for Mount Olympus to be included on Unesco list of world heritage sites

  25-07-2026 06:00 via theguardian.com
  Officials have long lobbied for peak that rises 2,918 metres above sea level to be given coveted designationMore than four decades have elapsed since Evangelos Geroliolios made his first ascent to the home of the ancient gods. At the top of Mount Olympus, on the rocky peak of Greece’s highest mountain, he felt unalloyed awe.“I’ve never forgotten that unique moment, that unique feeling up there on the throne of Zeus,” recalled Geroliolios, who as mayor of Dion-Olympus now
  
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• Lofty ambitions: can puffer jackets be made more sustainable?

  25-07-2026 02:00 via theguardian.com
  As temperatures dip, the puffer’s appeal inflates. But quality and filler are factors to consider before buying newChange 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] you call it a parka, puffer or Tassie tuxedo, the insulated jacket has become a cold-weather closet staple.A 1920s version by Australian mou
  
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