Environment news

• An object lesson in thrush hunger

  17-01-2017 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Rockland, Norfolk It’s not uncommon to see two fight over fruit for minutes on end, each lunging alternately at the otherOur neighbours grow apples commercially and their five acres supply both the community in autumn and the thrushes during winter. Recently I fulfilled a long-held promise to erect a hide and watch the birds among the windfalls there. First I had to gather several barrowfuls of my own, which was itself a memorable exercise. While I raked the wasp-mined Bramleys my boots mu
  
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• Gotta watch ‘em all? Pokémon-style app for birdwatching launches

  17-02-2026 17:42 via theguardian.com
  Users of Birdex get points for each bird they see and can compete with friends, with 200,000 sightings logged so farA new app has launched that aims to gamify birdwatching by allowing people to collect digital cards of UK bird species whenever they record seeing one.Users of Birdex accumulate points for each bird they see, with less common and rare species yielding the greatest rewards. It is possible to add friends and compete over bird sightings. The app has got birdwatchers talking online &nd
  
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• Cardboard crazy! Scavenger genius Shigeru Ban on building cathedrals and quake shelters with paper

  17-02-2026 17:16 via theguardian.com
  From high-end boutiques to housing in disaster zones with beer-crate foundations, the Japanese architect creates with things people throw away. What will his distillery in whisky’s holy land look like?‘I don’t like waste,” says Shigeru Ban. It’s a simple statement – yet it encapsulates everything about the Japanese architect’s work. He takes materials others might overlook or discard – from cardboard tubes to beer crates, styrofoam to shipping cont
  
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• France issues red flood alerts after ‘exceptional’ rainfall

  17-02-2026 13:23 via theguardian.com
  Aftermath of Storm Nils causes chaos across country with flooding under way or expected on Garonne, Maine and Loire rivers France has issued red alerts for flooding in three départements as the aftermath of Storm Nils causes chaos across the country.Flood waters have inundated homes and isolated villages after the Garonne River overflowed its banks, with hydrologists warning that rain is falling on soils that have hit record-breaking levels of saturation. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘It’s betrayal’: Shetland’s scallop fishers brace for arrival of UK’s largest salmon farm

  17-02-2026 13:00 via theguardian.com
  Huge project by Norwegian-owned Scottish Sea Farms gets go-ahead amid concerns over the environmental cost of fish farming and threat to traditional way of lifeAt Collafirth, north Shetland, Sydney Johnson is unloading bags of two-dozen scallops by throwing them over his head like medicine balls to the pier above. Johnson, who has just finished a 10-hour shift on his boat, the Golden Shore, is concerned that plans for a new salmon farm will put fishers like him and his two sons out of business.&
  
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• Country diary: It’s extraordinary how much our orchards are founded on connection | Mark Cocker

  17-02-2026 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Buxton, Derbyshire: From those who planted them, to those who pruned them, to the pollinators and the mosses, it’s a long, collective endeavourAs I prune one of our pears – a black Worcester, incidentally, a British variety from the 13th century – I ponder the linguistic connections that arise from our garden “acre” in a place called “Hogshaw”. The first word derives from Old English æcer, meaning an “acorn”. It was linked to
  
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• Claims that AI can help fix climate dismissed as greenwashing

  17-02-2026 06:00 via theguardian.com
  Industry using ‘diversionary’ tactics, says analyst, as energy-hungry complex functions such as video generation and deep research proliferateTech companies are conflating traditional artificial intelligence with generative AI when claiming the energy-hungry technology could help avert climate breakdown, according to a report.Most claims that AI can help avert climate breakdown refer to machine learning and not the energy-hungry chatbots and image generation tools driving the sector&
  
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• ‘Daunting but doable’: Europe urged to prepare for 3C of global heating

  17-02-2026 00:01 via theguardian.com
  Advisory board member says Europe already paying price for lack of preparation butadapting is ‘not rocket science’Keeping Europe safe from extreme weather “is not rocket science”, a top researcher has said, as the EU’s climate advisory board urges countries to prepare for a catastrophic 3C of global heating.Maarten van Aalst, a member of the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change (ESABCC), said the continent was already “paying a price” for
  
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• Trump lashes out at California governor’s green energy deal with UK

  16-02-2026 20:23 via theguardian.com
  President says it is inappropriate for UK to be dealing with Gavin Newsom after Ed Miliband meets governor in LondonDonald Trump has vented his fury against a green energy deal between the British government and California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, a likely future Democratic presidential candidate.“The UK’s got enough trouble without getting involved with Gavin Newscum,” Trump said in an interview with Politico, using the derogatory nickname he reserves for Newsom. &ldquo
  
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• The US is merely the latest to join the global rush to hoard critical minerals

  16-02-2026 14:00 via theguardian.com
  JD Vance is seeking to create a ‘trading bloc’ as shortages and climate crises mean a kaleidoscope of rare earths are increasingly jealously guardedThe announcement by the US vice-president, JD Vance, that the country is seeking to create a new critical minerals “trading bloc” is a final, exotic, nail in the coffin of the old global trading system. The era of mass abundance, as supplied by unfettered free trade and global markets – “neoliberalism” &ndash
  
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• Floating cities of logs: can the ‘lungs of Africa’ survive its exploitation?

  16-02-2026 13:00 via theguardian.com
  The Congo River basin is one of the planet’s most biodiverse ecosystems. But it is also home to a growing population and relentless trade in timber and charcoal“You can’t be scared of the storms,” says Jean de Dieu Mokuma as the sun sets on the Congo River behind him. “With the current, once your voyage has begun, there is no turning back.” Mokuma, along with his wife Marie-Therese and their two young children, is piloting a cargo of timber downstream lashed o
  
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• Weather tracker: New Zealand hit by storms and widespread floods

  16-02-2026 11:22 via theguardian.com
  Low pressure system funnels rain over already saturated areas, compounding risk of further floodingA deep area of low pressure to the south-east of New Zealand’s North Island swept into the region on Sunday, bringing heavy rain, gale-force winds and dangerous coastal swells that lashed exposed shorelines. The storm triggered power outages, forced evacuations and damaged infrastructure, with further impacts likely on Monday as the system lingers for a time, before tracking southwards later.
  
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• Rural drivers to face steepest bills under UK’s mileage-based electric vehicle tax

  16-02-2026 08:13 via theguardian.com
  Analysis reveals big regional disparities as critics say Labour’s proposed levy could slow uptake of EVsDrivers in the south-west of England would pay nearly four times as much as those in London as a result of Labour’s mileage-based tax on electric cars, according to analysis of official data.The 3p-a-mile road charge, announced in the autumn budget and due to take effect in 2028, is expected to raise £1.1bn a year, partly offsetting the loss of fuel duty revenues as drivers s
  
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• Why did I get a £100 parking fine when charging my electric car?

  16-02-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  The charger firm claimed the site operated 24 hours a day, but the parking operator had different ideasI charged my electric car at the 24-hour Mer EV charging station in my local B&Q car park.I then received a £100 parking charge notice (PCN) from the car park operator, Ocean Parking. It said no parking is allowed on the site between 9pm and 6am. Continue reading...
  
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• Country diary: An anxious buzzard has me mirroring its movements | Derek Niemann

  16-02-2026 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Frome, Somerset: As the large raptor squirms and uses its wings to try to balance on a precarious perch, I find my own arms lifting in solidaritySix, seven, eight, nine long‑tailed tits are on a foraging flit through hawthorn bushes, and the straggler drops obligingly on to a berry‑stacked twig before my eyes. Its tail works like the hand of a clock as the clinging bird jiggle‑jumps through a full 360-degree rotation, beak pecking for who knows what. The twig is unmov
  
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• The Guardian view on Donald Trump and the climate crisis: the US is in reverse while China ploughs ahead | Editorial

  15-02-2026 18:30 via theguardian.com
  The president’s destructive policies enrich fossil fuel billionaires, while Beijing has bet big on the green transitionDevastating wildfires, flooding and winter storms were among the 23 extreme weather and climate-related disasters in the US which cost more than a billion dollars last year – at an estimated total loss of $115bn. The last three years have shattered previous records for such events. Last Wednesday, scientists said that we are closer than ever to the point after which
  
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• Charity buys tract of land for Wales’ biggest rewilding project

  15-02-2026 15:55 via theguardian.com
  Project in Ceredigion aims to help country catch up with large-scale nature recovery projects elsewhere in UKA Welsh charity has bought more than 480 hectares (1,195 acres) in Ceredigion to establish Cymru’s “flagship” rewilding project, helping the country catch up with large-scale nature recovery projects under way elsewhere in the UK.Tir Natur (Nature’s Land), founded in 2022, announced it had acquired the site at Cwm Doethie in Elenydd, or the Cambrian mountains, afte
  
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• Charity buys £2.2m tract of land for Wales’ biggest rewilding project

  15-02-2026 15:55 via theguardian.com
  Project in Ceredigion aims to help country catch up with large-scale nature recovery projects elsewhere in UKA Welsh charity has bought more than 480 hectares (1,195 acres) in Ceredigion to establish Cymru’s “flagship” rewilding project, helping the country catch up with large-scale nature recovery projects under way elsewhere in the UK.Tir Natur (Nature’s Land), founded in 2022, announced it had acquired the site at Cwm Doethie in Elenydd, or the Cambrian mountains, afte
  
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• Let's get a grip and learn how to live with the rain | Emma Beddington

  15-02-2026 15:00 via theguardian.com
  Wetter winters are set to become the norm, so unless we’re farmers or flood victims, we need some coping strategies to keep our spirits upThere’s a lot of complaining about the weather currently and I get it, it’s wet. Here in York the river is getting above itself yet again and the council has fenced off large puddles in the park for health and safety reasons, to widespread mockery. Things currently taking in water include the letterbox (yesterday the postman told me with a ma
  
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• The greening of career education: US students learn new skills as climate crisis intensifies

  15-02-2026 14:00 via theguardian.com
  Some districts are adding programs in clean energy and sustainability, while one state is infusing environmental lessons into culinary education and constructionOn one end of the classroom, high school juniors examined little green sprouts – future baby carrots, sprigs of romaine lettuce – poking out of the soil of a drip irrigation system they built a few weeks prior.On the opposite end of the room, a model of a hydropower plant showed students how the movement of water can stimulat
  
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• ‘It makes no sense’: the battle over plans for a windfarm by the Yorkshire Dales

  15-02-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  The fight for Hope Moor is set to be repeated across the UK as the government aims to hit its renewable energy targetsInstead of a slingshot, the Davids are brandishing a sculpture and a coffee table book. Their Goliaths are a Norwegian energy company and a UK energy secretary with renewable targets to meet.A fierce battle has begun over one of England’s tallest windfarms, proposed for deep peat moorland overlooking the Yorkshire Dales national park, in what residents say will mark the irr
  
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• ‘What’s more important, the electricity or food?’: Extreme heat is driving up power bills in central Australia

  14-02-2026 20:00 via theguardian.com
  Vanessa Napaltjari Davis puts $70 per week on her prepaid electricity card – but as Alice Springs swelters through ever-hotter summers, that credit lasts less than three daysGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastSince the start of summer, Vanessa Napaltjari Davis and her grandchildren have sweltered in their two-bedroom home. Temperatures in the southern half of the Northern Territory have been well above average, and the electricity running their single air-conditione
  
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• ‘What do we want gardens to sound like?’ It began with a frog pond – then suburban rewilding became an obsession

  14-02-2026 20:00 via theguardian.com
  Wild gardening is about shedding obsessions with tidiness, embracing a looser aesthetic and providing a home for ‘the most important creatures on the planet’On a wintry January day in Manchester, I crossed University Green, navigating a paved path behind our hotel through lush patches of lawn. It was the start of the inaugural “Wilding Gardens” conference. For two days, scientists and practitioners were gathering to discuss new ways to think about gardens and nature, abou
  
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• From cigarette-smoking orangutans to lavender for lions: Melbourne zoo’s dark history gives way to progressive animal care

  14-02-2026 20:00 via theguardian.com
  Tackling the tension between promoting conservation, keeping animals in captivity and its heavy history, the zoo has been reshaped around environmental awarenessOn the other side of wire mesh, two large lions pace, shaking their shaggy manes and occasionally letting out a low rumbling, not quite a roar. They think – or perhaps hope – it is feeding day but their keepers have other plans.“We sort of mimic what happens in the wild,” Meryl says. “They got fed on Monday.
  
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• Democratic senators launch inquiry into EPA’s repeal of key air pollution enforcement measure

  14-02-2026 17:32 via theguardian.com
  Senators said repeal was ‘particularly troubling’ and was counter to EPA’s mandate to protect human healthMore than three dozen Democratic senators have begun an independent inquiry into the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) following a huge change in how the agency measures the health benefits of reducing air pollution that is widely seen as a major setback to US efforts to combat the climate crisis.In a regulatory impact analysis, the EPA said it would stop assigning a
  
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• ‘Seasons have become confused’: the people struggling in UK’s relentless rain

  14-02-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  A thatcher, gardener and others on keeping their business afloat in the bad weather – and their fears for the futureWith 76 flood warnings still in force across the UK and further downpours forecast this week and next, parts of the country have endured rain almost without pause since the start of the year.The prolonged wet weather is disrupting livelihoods as well as daily life, particularly in rural areas, where flooded roads, waterlogged ground and repeated storms are making it harder to
  
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• Rain, rain, go away: the peculiar British stoicism of ‘celebrating’ awful weather

  14-02-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Bizarre idioms for downpours are just one facet of how the UK uses dark humour and ritual to brave the wetMay it fall as a blessing, not as a curse. So goes the ancient prayer inviting us to embrace days of rain.It is a prayer that would not be welcomed by anyone on the floodplains the UK persists in filling with houses. It would be met with outright hostility by any farmers who are now unable to do any of the things they need to do in February because their land has had literally 40 days and ni
  
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• Race to find source of carcinogenic Pfas in Cumbria and Lancashire waters

  14-02-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: High levels of banned ‘forever chemical’ have been detected in rivers and groundwater at 25 sitesA string of toxic pollution hotspots has been uncovered across Cumbria and Lancashire, with high levels of the banned cancer-causing “forever chemical” Pfos detected in rivers and groundwater at 25 sites.The contamination, spread across a large area, was uncovered by Watershed Investigations and the Guardian after a freedom of information request revealed high conce
  
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• Country diary: There’s a monster looming over our garden | Gwyneth Lewis

  14-02-2026 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Cardiff: It steals light, it discourages growth at its base, and it blocks what was once a panoramic view. How do I make peace with it?It goes against the grain for me to hate a plant, but I’ve been resenting a certain Leyland cypress for a long time. Planted by a neighbour in the 1970s to give the house we overlook privacy, it now blocks part of our panoramic view over Cardiff. When we moved in 12 years ago, I was able to lie down in bed and see only sky. In that time the solitary tree ha
  
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• ‘A different set of rules’: thermal drone footage shows Musk’s AI power plant flouting clean air regulations

  13-02-2026 19:00 via theguardian.com
  Images confirm xAI is continuing to defy EPA regulations in Mississippi to power its flagship datacentersElon Musk’s artificial intelligence company is continuing to fuel its datacenters with unpermitted gas turbines, an investigation by the Floodlight newsroom shows. Thermal footage captured by Floodlight via drone shows xAI is still burning gas at a facility in Southaven, Mississippi, despite a recent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ruling reiterating that doing so requires a state
  
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