Environment news

• Control of Britain’s 39m smart meters passes to non-profit startup

  02-11-2026 19:13 via Environment | The Guardian
  The handover marks the end of a 13-year licence for Smart DCC, a subsidiary of Capita, after years of spiralling costs and delaysControl over Great Britain’s 39m smart meters has passed to a non-profit startup after its former owner presided over more than a decade of spiralling costs and delays in the troubled network.The company owned by crisis-hit outsourcing firm Capita has promised a “seamless transition” to its not-for-profit successor, which will take over running the data network c
  
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• ‘It’s really, really unusual’: tender bond between male donkey and bull baffles scientists

  02-11-2026 17:53 via Environment | The Guardian
  Patroclo and Achille’s interspecies affair sheds new light on social and sexual relations between animals, scientists sayIn ancient myth, Achilles and Patroclus were two Greek heroes of the Trojan war whose intense bond was believed by some to have turned into a sexual relationship.In modern science, they are a bull, Achille, and a donkey, Patroclo, whose tender interspecies affair has helped to shed new light on social and sexual interactions between animals. Continue reading...
  
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• Rare ant nest stolen from last place in England where species survives

  02-11-2026 16:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  Devon nature reserve says ‘reckless’ theft of narrow-headed ant colony sets back years of conservation workA nest containing up to 5,000 of England’s rarest ant species has been stolen from a nature reserve, a conservation charity has said.Devon Wildlife Trust (DWT) said a nest of narrow-headed ants had been dug up and taken from Chudleigh Knighton Heath nature reserve in south Devon, which is the last place in England where the species still exists. Continue reading...
  
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• Greenpeace activists create ‘boulder barrier’ in North Sea to deter industrial fishing

  02-11-2026 14:10 via Environment | The Guardian
  Action taken to prevent bottom trawling in the marine protected area and conserve porpoise populationsGreenpeace activists have dropped boulders in the North Sea to snag the dragnets of industrial trawlers fishing in a marine protected area.Activists onboard the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise dropped the giant stones to form an underwater barrier around the Southern North Sea marine protected area (MPA) – the UK’s most bottom-trawled MPA. Continue reading...
  
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• A lackluster response to North Carolina flooding disasters is eroding Republican support in one county

  02-11-2026 13:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  At more than $52m, the race has become the most expensive in US history, but residents are fed up with floodingAida Havel mulled her fate over coffee after working the early voting polls all day in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. “We are trapped,” she concluded.The Dare county commission candidate lives about 50 miles (80km) south, on Hatteras Island on the state’s Outer Banks. Continue reading...
  
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• Europe could face colder weather as polar vortex weakens

  02-11-2026 12:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  Disruption to winds above Arctic threatens to alter weather patterns across parts of continent in coming weeksThe stratospheric polar vortex over the northern hemisphere is facing the prospect of an unusually early weakening. Forecast models suggest it could weaken significantly over the next 10 days, when it would typically be strengthening.A major sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event is possible. This could influence weather patterns in the following weeks, increasing the likelihood of per
  
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• ‘They assume the man next to me is the owner’: four women doing business in Africa in their own way

  02-11-2026 11:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  From feeding schoolchildren to recycling tyres, these entrepreneurs are challenging stereotypes while solving social and environmental problemsAfrica is thought to have a higher proportion of female entrepreneurs than any other continent and yet many still struggle to access financing. Four business leaders from Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya and Malawi tell us about the inspiration behind their success – and the challenges women still face. Continue reading...
  
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• Google search has gone from being very handy to useless | First Dog on the Moon

  02-11-2026 06:54 via Environment | The Guardian
  Google’s AI summary is punching a huge hole in their own profits – is this good?Sign up here to get an email whenever First Dog cartoons are publishedGet all your needs met at the First Dog shop if what you need is First Dog merchandise and prints Continue reading...
  
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• Country diary: As winter approaches, all eyes here are on heating oil prices | Nicola Chester

  02-11-2026 06:30 via Environment | The Guardian
  Inkpen and Combe, Berkshire: If the price goes down, the village WhatsApp group lights upBeyond the reach of the gas mains, there is tension about the coming winter. Many rural homes have an open fire or wood burner, but most rely on kerosene oil for hot water and heating. Since the US-Iran war began, its cost has more than doubled. Currently, 1,000 litres (lasting 10-12 weeks) is £1,219. A year ago, it was £549. Seasoned wood is in demand.We watch the oil price rise, with none of the consumer
  
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• ‘They have schedules to follow’: how fast ferries can threaten endangered whales in the Mediterranean

  02-11-2026 06:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  A Guardian investigation has found that despite a recommendation to slow down, leading shipping companies continue to travel above advised speeds in a key habitat for cetaceansMarine biologist Alice Barbarioli waits with her camera trained on the horizon. A few minutes earlier, the hydrophone beneath the Pelagos research vessel detected codas – the sequence of clicks sperm whales use to communicate.The sperm whale reveals its head and dorsal fin as those onboard the vessel in the Pelagos sanct
  
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• Cryosphere faces permanent damage when world overshoots 1.5C, scientists warn

  02-11-2026 01:01 via Environment | The Guardian
  
  UN-backed report finds even temporary rises above Paris agreement target could cause harm to glaciers and polar ice sheetsEarth’s icy regions face such dangerous melting that global heating should be brought back below 1C after an inevitable period of overshooting global temperature targets, a UN report has found.Permanent and widespread losses of snow and ice expose a “persistent myth” that overshooting the 1.5C target of the Paris climate agreement – to 2C or 3C – could be manageable
  
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