Environment news

• Average person eats six times more chicken than in 1961, UN report finds

  05-06-2026 10:00
  UN report says global meat supply has risen fourfold in last 60 years and is expected to keep risingAnalysis: Ingredients in place for shift to plant-based diets but meat still dominatesThe average person eats about six times as much chicken and twice as much pork as their grandparents’ generation did, data from a UN report suggests, with global meat supply having risen fourfold in the last 60 years and expected to keep rising.The supply of poultry rose from below 3kg a person in 1961 to 1
  
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• Scientists warn Trump plan to axe US ocean monitoring system will leave world ‘flying blind’

  05-06-2026 12:00
  Experts say dismantling the ocean observation system will ‘severely degrade’ the accuracy of weather predictionsThe Trump administration’s plan to dismantle an ocean observation system vital to understanding the climate crisis and marine ecosystems would “severely degrade” the accuracy of weather predictions and El Niño forecasts, with economic consequences for the US, European and American scientists have warned.Decommissioning the US system, which plays a m
  
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• A disease of deforestation: how Ebola is linked to the smartphone in your pocket

  05-06-2026 11:00
  As demand for cobalt, gold and other minerals grows, mining is accelerating deforestation in the Congo basin – and increasing the risk of deadly Ebola outbreaksFor decades after the discovery of Ebolavirus in 1976, outbreaks of the disease were relatively small and contained, affecting a few hundred people at most.Not any more. In recent years, outbreaks of Ebola have been much larger, affecting thousands and even tens of thousands of people across multiple countries. The 2014 outbreak of
  
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• Week in wildlife: a lazy sea lion, baby ospreys and rare lemur quads

  05-06-2026 09:00
  This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...
  
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• Get set for a painted lady summer: big year for orange butterflies in Britain

  05-06-2026 09:00
  Migrant insects have been seen in large numbers along east coast thanks to heatwave and benign southerly windsIf you’ve spotted a pale orange butterfly dashing at frenetic pace through streets, fields or gardens, you’ve noticed the new migrants that will add colour to the summer in record-breaking numbers.What is expected to be the largest arrival of painted lady butterflies in Britain for 17 years is under way after heatwaves and favourable winds ushered thousands if not millions of
  
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• How the insatiable thirst of datacenters is leaving communities across the US high and dry

  05-06-2026 08:00
  
  In this week’s newsletter: Utah’s gargantuan Stratos development is the latest battleground in the AI-driven fight for water, energy, and our environmental future• Don’t get Down to Earth delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereKevin O’Leary is many things. He is a flamboyant venture capitalist, co-host of the TV show Shark Tank, vocal supporter of Donald Trump and, recently, a villainous tycoon (or, in his character’s words, a vampire born in 1601) in the Oscar-n
  
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• Country diary: The ‘queen of trees’ is holding a secret | Elizabeth-Jane Burnett

  05-06-2026 06:30
  Eggesford Forest, Devon: I thought I was alone in admiring a towering beech in the chilly wood, but I was notI breathe in the bluebells as a blackcap sings. At the crescendo, a flash of yellow breaks up the blue – a brimstone butterfly flies up to my face, then moves back, approaches, then draws back, repeating the fluttered action until I follow.Together, we weave through fresh-scented firs before my companion flits away and I realise that I have come further into the forest than intended
  
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• Scramble for biofuel as oil prices rise ‘could push world closer to food crisis’

  05-06-2026 06:00
  
  Experts say increased use of crops for fuel is ‘dangerous game’ that could send food price inflation soaringDemand for biofuels is likely to leap by nearly a third this year, which could send food price inflation soaring further and push the world closer to a global food crisis.More countries are opting to increase biofuel use as the price of oil has jumped to nearly $100 a barrel after the US-Israeli attacks on Iran and the closure of the strait of Hormuz. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘I couldn’t breathe’: the sinister spread of France’s killer seaweed – podcast

  05-06-2026 06:00
  After a series of deaths on the beaches of Brittany, one bereaved family set out to prove the foul-smelling bloom was to blameBy Marta Zaraska. Read by Lucy Bromilow Continue reading...
  
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• Experience: I sat under an oak tree every day for a year

  05-06-2026 06:00
  After a period of burnout, I realised that nature knows what you need, and is always ready to offer it – you just have to be quiet enough to receive itIn 2022 I moved to Clevedon, near Bristol. As soon as I saw the oak tree behind my flat, I started sitting under it. It’s not in some beautiful, remote place – it’s on an urban hill surrounded by grassland – but as a solitary tree on the side of a hill, it drew my attention. I was burned out. For 10 yea
  
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• ‘Unpredictable and extreme’: Asia braces for El Niño

  05-06-2026 04:30
  Weather models project a potentially strong El Niño this year, which could spell disaster for heatwave-hit India, drench China and hurt agriculture across south-east AsiaThe UN has warned that the world must prepare for the imminent return of El Niño and the raised global temperatures and weather extremes it brings.The powerful natural weather pattern has an 80% chance of forming before September and a 90% chance before November, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on
  
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• Wildfire smoke has reversed US progress toward ozone air quality, study finds

  04-06-2026 21:16
  Since 2015, fires have undone years of effort to reduce ozone levels, underscoring a growing public health crisisThe highly destructive wildfires that have battered the US and North America in recent years have significantly increased emissions and been linked to tens of thousands of premature deaths, but their impact on air quality is greater than previously known, according to new research.A study published in Science on Thursday found that, since 2015, wildfires have reversed US progress towa
  
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• ‘They surprise me every time’: bees can use tools to solve problems, study finds

  04-06-2026 20:00
  Insects join list of species capable of solving simple ‘box-and-banana’ problem that demonstrates basic intelligenceBumblebees can use tools to solve a problem, according to experiments that demonstrate their remarkably advanced cognitive abilities.The bees were given an adapted version of an experiment that, 100 years ago, first demonstrated chimpanzees could work out how to retrieve an out-of-reach banana by stacking boxes. Since then, various other primates, elephants and crows ha
  
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• Canada endorses embattled marine park’s plan to relocate 30 beluga whales

  04-06-2026 19:40
  Beluga whales, which Marineland threatened to euthanize in 2025, will be moved to sanctuaries in Spain or across USCanada and an embattled marine park have reached a tentative deal on the future of 30 beluga whales, ending a saga that has captivated the public and angered animal rights groups.The federal fisheries ministry announced this week that all of Marineland’s belugas would be shipped to either Spain or one of four locations in the US, ending whale captivity in Canada. Continue read
  
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• ‘Good lord, what a smell’: can Brazil’s biggest city save a vital source of water from sewage, bacteria and organised crime?

  04-06-2026 15:15
  As São Paulo faces a climate-induced water crisis, campaigners are fighting to reverse the impact of pollution and illegal deforestation on its largest reservoirIn a small motorboat laden with water-monitoring equipment, biologist Marta Marcondes and community activist Wesley Silvestre Rosa cross Billings reservoir on the far southern edge of São Paulo. Bright white herons glide over the water, which is flanked by thick dark green clusters of Brazil’s Atlantic forest, as the
  
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• ‘This is not a hippy thing’: the startup recycling urine to make natural fertiliser

  04-06-2026 14:40
  As recent conflicts expose vulnerability of fertiliser markets and its effect on food security, VunaNexus offers an alternativeWhen staff answer the call of nature at the European Space Agency’s headquarters in Paris, their urine is not simply flushed away – it is turned into something much more useful. While urine-diverting toilets are often associated with smelly festival loos, there is nothing bohemian about recycling nutrients from human pee, said David de Chambrier, the chief ex
  
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• England’s poorest areas face deepest cuts to green space under planning law changes, report finds

  04-06-2026 14:22
  Exclusive: New loopholes for developers will exacerbate extreme disparities across country, charity coalition warnsThe poorest and most nature-deprived communities in England will be further left behind in their access to green spaces if proposed changes to planning laws go ahead, a report finds.More than 7.4 million people in England live in areas completely devoid of immediate biodiversity, including 1.4 million children under 15, the report commissioned by a number of wildlife and environment
  
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• ‘To them a power line is a line of trees’: Costa Rica moves to protect howler monkeys from electrocution

  04-06-2026 12:00
  Electric shock is one of the biggest causes of death among wildlife in the country but a court ruling is a first step to making power lines safePeque, a small black howler monkey, scratches her head as she sits on a thick wooden branch in a wired enclosure with seven other orphaned baby howler monkeys at a rescue centre in Nosara, on Costa Rica’s Pacific coast.Last year, Peque was one of more than 100 animals to arrive at International Animal Rescue Costa Rica (IARCR) as a result of electr
  
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• Protesters clash with police in Albania over Jared Kushner-backed luxury resort – video

  04-06-2026 11:24
  Protests in Albania over a proposed luxury resort backed by Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, are expected to intensify after opponents rejected an offer from the country’s prime minister 'to discuss solutions'. Footage showed police firing water cannon at protesters as thousands of people took to the streets of Tirana for a third day on Wednesday, some of them holding inflatable flamingos to symbolise the environmental damage they fear the project could cause, amid growing c
  
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• ‘An equal and habitable world is possible’: academics set out sweeping vision for planetary survival

  04-06-2026 08:00
  Global report provides an alternative to climate breakdown, political extremism and economic tensions• ‘Happiness is not just about GDP’: ambitious plan or utopia?Humanity can raise living standards, reduce inequality and keep global heating within a 2C rise, according to a sweeping vision for planetary survival.The report by the World Inequality Lab (WIL) aims to be the most comprehensive attempt yet to navigate the polycrisis that is pushing the world toward climate breakdown,
  
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• A good life for the 99% isn’t a pipe dream: it can be done. Here’s how

  04-06-2026 08:00
  Our plan is radical – but by transforming how we live on a finite planet, nearly everyone gains‘An equal and habitable world is possible’: academics set out sweeping vision for planetary survivalImagine a future in which everyone enjoys high levels of wellbeing; where 90% of the world’s population doubles their income but works half the hours we work today. A world in which the bottom half of humanity sees its share of global wealth rise from just 2% today to 30%; a world
  
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• Beating the heat: study explores the search for cool during heatwaves

  04-06-2026 07:00
  Smartphone data shows how we seek refuge in extreme heat, and why social inequalities leave some vulnerableHeatwaves are now an increasingly expected part of summer for many. But how people stay cool varies from place to place. A new study uses mobile phone location data to track where people go when the mercury climbs, and assesses how we need to adapt to live better with the inevitable heatwaves to come.During the summer of 2025, a 10-day extreme period of heat across Europe led to 2,300 death
  
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• Country diary: A close-up view of a shimmering beauty | Sara Hudston

  04-06-2026 06:30
  Bridport, Dorset: The female in my garden has been a glittering presence of late, but soon she will return to the river to breedThe beautiful demoiselle (Calopteryx virgo) is aptly named. This loveliest of damselflies is on the wing now across south-west England and Wales, fluttering like a falling scrap of metallic paper among the vegetation.One of only two species of damselfly with coloured wings, the males have blue bodies and dark-sheened wings while females are green with contrasting tan wi
  
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• Australia’s GDP figures are meaningless when the boom in datacentres means destroying jobs and the climate | Greg Jericho

  03-06-2026 17:00
  In the March quarter Australia’s economy grew 0.3%. But the real issue is what drove that growthGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe March GDP figures, not for the first time, showed that the focus on economic growth seems rather foolish when you place it within the context of the climate crisis. While the economy did grow in the first three months of this year, the big driver was investment in datacentres, which a new report on Wednesday revealed is greatly incre
  
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• ​Why is Europe still not ready for extreme heat?

  03-06-2026 16:25
  ​The first heatwaves of the season reveal how ​ill-prepared governments across the continent are to protect people from increasingly dangerous temperatures• Don’t get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereMeteorological summer has begun, ushered in with scorching heat that struck before spring was up. Although western Europe is now mostly free from last week’s heat dome – which shattered temperature records for May in the UK and Ireland – it
  
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• The row at Hampstead Heath is about far more than a few thoughtless swimmers in a heatwave | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

  03-06-2026 16:02
  As summers get hotter, investment and education are vital to ensure we all have access to the clean, safe water we needA local row about swimmers and swans in Hampstead Heath has now inspired a government reaction. Environment ministers over the weekend wrote to the City of London Corporation, which oversees the heath, to say that they were “deeply concerned” by footage of crowds of people in the water during last week’s heatwave.One viral video showed young revellers – w
  
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• Bathing warning issued after 'potential water pollution incident'

  03-06-2026 14:15 via bbc.com
  
  The National Trust, which manages Portstewart Strand, has urged visitors to the beach to be vigilant.
  
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• Antibiotics use in livestock could rise by a third in next 15 years, UN report warns

  03-06-2026 13:04
  
  Governments urged to act to prevent potentially disastrous impacts on human resistance to medicinesThe use of antibiotics on livestock will rise by nearly a third in the next 15 years without government intervention, according to new global estimates, with potentially disastrous impacts on human resistance to essential medicines.Animal husbandry accounts for close to three-quarters of global use of antimicrobial medications and in many countries their use is poorly monitored. Some herds are rout
  
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• Deprivation, resilience and a giant bunny: Polly Braden on capturing the ‘beauty and bleakness’ of young lives on the coast

  03-06-2026 12:00
  In the Guardian’s Against the tide series, the documentary photographer got to know some ‘amazing’ 16- to 25-year-olds living on the fringes of England and Wales, and now her work is the centre of a new touring exhibitionIt was while reading a landmark report about the poor health of people who live on the English coast that documentary photographer Polly Braden had her big idea. “I was just blown away by it,” she says. “I thought: this is about England. And i
  
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• Noted swift nesting site destroyed by contractors in peak season

  03-06-2026 08:00
  Campaigners say builders’ demolition of nest site highlights weak protection of wildlife from developmentA building that was a noted nesting site for swifts, among the UK’s most at-risk birds, has been demolished during the nesting season, highlighting significant weaknesses in the protection of wildlife from development, campaigners say.Contractors for the housebuilder Hill Group carried out the demolition of Regent House near Dorking station in Surrey over the last few weeks, durin
  
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