Environment news

• Hawaii has often dodged the path of hurricanes. Why did it see so many storms this summer?

  10-09-2026 16:00 via theguardian.com
  Despite its location, the island chain has avoided the worst effects, but Hurricanes Lowell and Lala left a trail of damage this yearHurricane Lowell surged near the Hawaiian Islands this week, leaving a trail of downed trees and power lines, crumbled roads, sunken boats and destroyed piers on the island of Kauai.Residents were left to grapple not only with the damage, but the rising risks to the tropical archipelago as sea surface temperatures climb. Continue reading...
  
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• UK ministers explore raising price of water for some users amid shortages

  10-09-2026 13:14 via theguardian.com
  Environment Agency says talks under way about increasing prices for industrial users to try to reduce poor water managementMinisters are exploring making water more expensive for some users, in the face of severe supply shortages.Despite the UK being a famously wet country, the precarious nature of the water supply has been made particularly acute this summer, with almost three-quarters of England and all of Wales in drought and 27 million people facing restrictions on their water use. Continue
  
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• UK ministers explore raising price of water for industrial users amid shortages

  10-09-2026 13:14 via theguardian.com
  Environment Agency says talks under way about increasing prices for industrial users to try to reduce poor water managementMinisters are exploring making water more expensive for some users, in the face of severe supply shortages.Despite the UK being a famously wet country, the precarious nature of the water supply has been made particularly acute this summer, with almost three-quarters of England and all of Wales in drought and 27 million people facing restrictions on their water use. Continue
  
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• World must reject climate culture wars or face economic ruin, says UN’s Stiell

  10-09-2026 12:42 via theguardian.com
  Warning by United Nations climate chief comes as EU data shows August 2026 was joint hottest month everAttempts to stoke a climate crisis culture war must be rejected or the world will face economic disaster, the UN’s climate chief has warned.Simon Stiell, the executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, warned that this year’s “hot as hell” summer had killed tens of thousands of people in Europe alone and “hammered” infrastructure, bu
  
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• Climate ‘feedback loops’ could worsen global warming by 30%, study finds

  10-09-2026 10:00 via theguardian.com
  Emissions of planet-heating methane and CO2 from natural sources are worsening the climate crisis, paper saysRising global temperatures caused by the burning of fossil fuels are transforming the world’s forests, wetlands and tundra to the point they are releasing emissions that could further worsen global heating by as much as 30%, a new study has found.As the world heats up, permafrost in the high latitudes is thawing, fiercer wildfires are burning in drying forests and wetlands and lakes
  
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• How the fate of a small furry animal reveals the ecological tragedy of Israel’s war on Lebanon | Hisham Younes

  10-09-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The Syrian rock hyrax depends on the fragile landscapes of the border region. Alongside other environmentalists, I have been documenting the destruction of its habitatWars are usually measured in the number of people killed, homes destroyed and towns erased. Far less attention is paid to what happens beneath the rubble. Across southern Lebanon, repeated large-scale detonations are not only causing human tragedy by demolishing villages, they are also destroying the ancient limestone habitats that
  
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• Is Burnham trying to appease Trump? Or Reform? What other reason is there for these North Sea oil plans? | George Monbiot

  10-09-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Climate catastrophe is on our doorstep – yet Labour’s impending approval of further drilling will bring more pain for negligible gainsPinch yourself, it’s happening again. Here is a Labour government spending a vast amount of political capital to earn tiny material gains while risking huge political losses. It occurred repeatedly under Keir Starmer, and now – with the impending decision to approve further gas and oil drilling in the North Sea – it is happening under
  
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• August was joint-hottest month ever recorded globally

  10-09-2026 04:00 via theguardian.com
  Temperatures reached 1.65C above preindustrial levels, months before El Niño system reaches full strengthAugust was the joint-hottest month ever recorded around the world, with global temperatures reaching 1.65C above preindustrial levels, scientists said on Thursday, amid warnings of further heating on the way.August 2026 tied with July 2023 for the hottest month ever recorded, according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. Sea surface temperatures also soared to their hi
  
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