Environment news

• Bagpipes - the first defence against alien invaders?

  30-07-2026 12:15 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Oxfordshire piper's tunes could soon make it to the moon under the plans of an space entrepreneur.
  
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• Reader Q&A: Our natural history writer Patrick Barkham is answering your questions on invertebrates – live

  05-08-2026 17:02
  This week, we launched our third annual vote to honour nature’s unsung heroes. The Guardian’s natural history writer – and woodlouse fanboy – Patrick Barkham is now answering your questionsAsk a question: log in or sign up herePatrick is now answering your questions about invertebrates and anything else about the natural world.What do the tardigrade and the earthworm have in common? They are, of course, the two previous winners of the Guardian’s Invertebrate of the
  
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• ‘Alarming’ surge in bluetongue disease among UK sheep

  05-08-2026 16:00
  Farmers advised to vaccinate after recent hot weather provides ideal conditions for virus-carrying midgesThere has been an “alarming” surge in the number of sheep affected by an outbreak of bluetongue in the UK, with farmers whose livestock are at risk being urged to move them out of areas where midges are plentiful.The virus, which does not necessarily kill sheep but makes them ill and can have a long recovery time, presents as high fever and swelling of the lips and tongue, with a
  
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• ‘You’d want one as a pet’: the irresistibly cute solar-powered sea slug

  05-08-2026 13:00
  The beady-eyed, Pokémon-like leaf sheep is far more ingenious than us land mammalsRevealed: the top 10 invertebrates of the yearInvertebrate of Year Q&A: discuss our countdown with Patrick BarkhamA neon green punk sheep that lives underwater. A solar-powered slug that can perform photosynthesis. If you are seeking beauty, brains and a wonderfully innovative lifestyle, then vote leaf sheep.The leaf or sea sheep, Costasiella kuroshimae, is a sea slug about the size of a grain of rice. L
  
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• Butterflies around the world are changing habitats – and experts say it’s ‘signalling a warning’

  05-08-2026 11:05
  New research shows early-warning species is on the move, expanding or contracting geographic range and changing altitudeButterflies, often considered a “sentinel of change”, are on the move across every continent they inhabit, shifting to survive as global heating reshapes their environment.About one in 10 species have already expanded or contracted their geographic range, or shifted in altitude, according to a global study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution. Continue readin
  
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• The ‘Cockroach Lord’ who names new species after Tolkien and Pokémon characters

  05-08-2026 10:00
  Cristian Lucañas has discovered multiple species of cockroach in the Philippines, and believes there’s far more to the much-maligned insect than meets the eyeWhen Cristian Lucañas tells people about his job, their response is normally a mix of shock and confusion. “The majority would actually be questioning why,” says Lucañas, 32, who is the only entomologist specialising in cockroaches in the Philippines, where he is known as the “Cockroach Lord&rdqu
  
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• El Niño could push 50m people into acute hunger before end of next year

  05-08-2026 10:00
  
  UN forecasters warn of worsening conditions in 45 countries currently experiencing severe food insecurityAbout 50 million people are likely to be pushed into acute hunger before the end of next year by the rapidly developing El Niño weather system, according to forecasting.This is in addition to the hundreds of millions of people already facing dangerous levels of hunger, owing to years of drought in parts of Africa and pressure on food prices from the war in Iran. Continue reading...
  
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• Specieswatch: Wild deer release millions of tonnes of methane a year

  05-08-2026 07:00
  Scientists find ruminants emit more of greenhouse gas individually than cows, although total contribution tiny compared with domesticated livestockWhen cows belch and fart they release methane, which is warming the planet, but how does this compare with the digestive gases emitted by wild animals? A new study shows that deer add the greatest amount of methane to the atmosphere, but compared with domesticated livestock their total contribution is minuscule.Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, whic
  
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• Reader Q&A: what have you always wanted to know about insects? Grill Patrick Barkham on the natural world

  05-08-2026 07:00
  This week, we launched our third annual vote to honour nature’s unsung heroes. The Guardian’s natural history writer – and woodlouse fanboy – Patrick Barkham will be here from 4pm BST (11am EDT) to discuss this year’s poll and why we must celebrate the spinelessAsk a question: log in or sign up hereWhat do the tardigrade and the earthworm have in common? They are, of course, the two previous winners of the Guardian’s Invertebrate of the Year poll. An annual co
  
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• Murderous heat, an endangered food supply, decimated landscapes: embrace the Mediterranean life | George Monbiot

  05-08-2026 07:00
  As climate disaster stares us in the face, the radical right says ‘Embrace the Mediterranean life’. Embrace death, more like itCan’t you leftists understand? Mass death is good for you. Reject the woke love of life! Welcome civilisational collapse! Watch it all burn, then dance in the ashes! This, roughly speaking, is how the dismissal of climate action is now being justified: the argument has shifted from science denial to outright nihilism.The new incendiary spirit is exempli
  
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• Invertebrate of Year Q&A: discuss our countdown with Patrick Barkham

  05-08-2026 07:00
  This week, we launched our third annual vote to honour nature’s unsung heroes. The Guardian’s natural history writer – and woodlouse fanboy – Patrick Barkham will be here from 4pm BST (11am EDT) to discuss this year’s poll and why we must celebrate the spinelessAsk a question: log in or sign up hereWhat do the tardigrade and the earthworm have in common? They are, of course, the two previous winners of the Guardian’s Invertebrate of the Year poll. An annual co
  
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• Calls to ban ‘toxic’ pet flea treatments that harm UK wildlife and environment

  05-08-2026 07:00
  Over-the-counter treatments for cats and dogs contain chemicals that are banned in pesticides and pollute waterwaysOver-the-counter flea treatment for cats and dogs should be banned as millions of hazardous chemicals are unnecessarily applied to UK pets each year, a parliamentary report has concluded.Cats and dogs are widely treated with topical, or “spot on”, treatments that include insecticides to prevent fleas. Vets often recommend regular treatments as a preventive measure, even
  
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• Country diary: A beetle with a prehensile anus? Thanks to local wildlife recorders, I know one lives here | Gwyneth Lewis

  05-08-2026 06:30
  Troedyraur, Ceredigion: Let’s sing the praises of this network of volunteers who move slowly and look hard, gathering vital wildlife data – and finding fantastic speciesEven before we start a Wildwatch recording morning, Carys May of the West Wales Biodiversity Information Centre has made two identifications: an intimidating dark giant horsefly (Tabanus sudeticus) with huge eyes close together and a notch-horned cleg or horsefly (Haematopota pluvialis), which bit me.As we w
  
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• ‘I just want to find them’: deadly cloudbursts devastate Kashmir’s mountain communities

  05-08-2026 06:00
  Increasingly erratic weather patterns due to climate change mean people are losing homes, crops and livestockAs rain lashed the Pir Panjal mountains before dawn on 19 July, Haji Mohammad Latief stepped outside his home in Murrah, a remote mountain village in Indian-administered Kashmir. His daughter had asked him to move the family’s car to a safer place as the rain got heavier.“I had only just parked it,” Latief recalled. “When I turned around, I saw the water coming.&rd
  
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• Europe’s rivers are running dry, and the knock-on effects are disastrous | Yiannis Baboulias

  05-08-2026 06:00
  Droughts that were once a century now happen every year, and the impact on wildlife, industrial output and culture itself is catastrophicLast week, 186 passengers had to be evacuated from the cruise ship Viking Ullur, after it ran aground on a sandbank in the Danube. Others have been left stranded, unable to move between Vienna and Budapest. Passengers stood on deck, the Habsburg splendour around them out of reach as the river fell to 41cm in Budapest, within 8cm of its 2018 all-time low. Elsewh
  
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• Protesters occupy 200-year-old tree at US-Mexico border to stop its destruction: ‘She’s our Statue of Liberty’

  05-08-2026 01:20
  
  Demonstrators stage ‘tree sit’ in Arizona town to stop felling of ancient cottonwood grove to make way for border wallProtesters are staging a “tree sit” in a tiny Arizona town to prevent the destruction of a grove of ancient cottonwood trees as federal contractors race to build a row of two 30ft walls along the border with Sonora, Mexico.The gathering ramped up last week in the town of Lochiel, in the remote San Rafael valley of south-east Arizona. On 27 July, contractor
  
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• Revealed: major oil firms make $93bn profits amid war and climate crisis

  04-08-2026 19:49
  
  Iran conflict windfall over three months reignites calls for companies ‘cashing in on human misery’ to pay for environmental damageEight of the biggest oil companies amassed profits of more than $90bn (£67bn) in just three months as the Iran conflict sent energy prices soaring and the emissions-fuelled climate crisis caused deadly heatwaves.The windfall war profits have reignited calls for oil and gas supermajors such as Saudi Aramco and BP to pay for the environmental damage c
  
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• Calls to ban disposable barbecues in England and Wales over wildfire risk

  04-08-2026 19:46
  
  Lib Dems and many Labour MPs join farmers, landowners and firefighters in urging temporary prohibitionFarmers and landowners are calling for a temporary ban on disposable barbecues in England and Wales, as they warn of the risk of igniting wildfires.The call, which has also been made by firefighters and is backed by the Liberal Democrats and many Labour MPs, comes as much of England faces further hot dry weather, despite rain in some areas. Continue reading...
  
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• Extreme heat: why our cities can't cope | Opinion

  04-08-2026 15:38
  The UK and Europe have been facing extreme heatwaves – Greenpeace recorded temperatures of up to 53C at one London playground in recent weeks. It’s clear our cities are not equipped to deal with the soaring temperatures brought by the climate crisis. With the ‘Super El Niño’ on its way, next year is forecast to get even hotter. But is anyone really doing anything about it? The Guardian’s deputy opinion editor Kirsty Major goes in search of playgrounds that ar
  
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• ‘When you kill it, it doesn’t die’: the jellyfish that has cracked the secret of immortality

  04-08-2026 13:00
  Turritopsis dohrnii has the ability to turn back into a baby jellyfish and grow up all over againRevealed: the top ten invertebrates of the yearImmortality is generally considered the realm of the gods or science fiction, a fantasy that’s actively pursued by tech entrepreneurs in macabre experiments that include injecting “young blood”, cryopreservation, or resurrection in an AI afterlife.But one ethereal, thimble-shaped jellyfish has already cracked the code.It’s Inverte
  
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• We launched a war on nature. Now we are in a climate warzone | Rebecca Solnit

  04-08-2026 12:00
  Summer is not what it once was. We have been robbed of one of life’s great joys Far beyond the fires raging across Europe and North America, the smoke, dangerous to breathe, hangs in the air, dimming the view, changing the very color of sunlight into something grimly unsettling.An estimated 20,000 are said to have died in the extreme heat in Europe earlier this year, and heat is climate change’s quiet killer, compared to the dramatic violence of death by fire or flood. In eastern Was
  
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• UK plastic ‘waste colonialism’ found to be polluting Turkey’s farming heartland

  04-08-2026 11:00
  A Guardian investigation finds irrigation canals polluted with microplastics in Turkey, a major destination for UK waste• ‘Nobody cares’: Turkish farmers bear the burden of UK’s plastic waste problemHigh levels of microplastics and other plastic contamination have been discovered in a waterway close to a major recycling hub in Turkey supplied with plastic waste by British companies.The polluted waterway, which floods into agricultural fields after heavy rain, feeds into a
  
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• ‘Nobody cares’: the Turkish farmers bearing the burden of UK’s plastic waste problem

  04-08-2026 11:00
  Britain exported 139,000 tonnes of rubbish to Turkey last year, leaving smallholders and poor districts of Adana to cope with the debris, microplastics and toxic smokeUK plastic ‘waste colonialism’ found to be polluting Turkey’s farming heartlandPlastic debris clings to the reeds in a waterway metres from where Ayhan*, a farmer in Adana, southern Turkey, is harvesting aubergines. “We get pollution from all sides here,” he says, referring to the plastic recycling zon
  
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• Six mind-bendingly amazing facts about invertebrates

  04-08-2026 09:00
  Just in case you hadn’t already realised how extraordinary the gigantic group of creatures known as invertebrates are, we’ve gathered together five facts that made our brains hurt (plus one more, because we couldn’t choose). Tell us your favourite extraordinary fact in the comments belowThe top ten invertebrates revealedDid you know that the mantis shrimp can accelerate to strike its prey faster than a .22 calibre bullet. They can smash shells, and even crack aquarium glass wit
  
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• Three lions die of suspected heatstroke at Tokyo zoo as Japan swelters

  04-08-2026 07:46
  
  Most of the zoo’s 16 lions have struggled to cope with high humidity this summerThree lions from a Tokyo zoo have died from suspected heatstroke and others are undergoing treatment, a spokesperson said on Tuesday, as the big cats struggle in Japan’s high levels of humidity.Japan sweltered through its hottest summer on record last year and parts of the country have hit 40C in recent weeks, qualifying for the new “cruelly hot day” designation. Continue reading...
  
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• Nine Lives, the feral cat that terrorised New Zealand’s rare ducks, is caught after three years

  04-08-2026 07:45
  
  Large tabby cat that wiped out dozens of rare pāteke, or brown teal, has been killed after eluding trappers with its ‘very erratic’ behaviourA notorious feral cat given the name “Nine Lives” because it eluded trappers for three years has been caught and killed in New Zealand, ending its devastating rampage against one of the country’s rare duck populations.The cat, a large grey tabby, is estimated to have killed dozens of New Zealand’s rarest mainland duc
  
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• Young white-tailed eagles released on Exmoor

  04-08-2026 07:24 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Up to 20 additional young birds will be released over the next three years.
  
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• Curlew revival continues at nature reserve

  04-08-2026 07:08 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Birds from previous releases pair up and return to nest at the site on the Isle of Sheppey.
  
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• UK plastic manufacturer could face legal action over toxic emissions

  04-08-2026 07:00
  Exclusive: Environment Agency is considering whether to prosecute Huntsman Polyurethanes over emissions of carcinogenic benzeneA plastic manufacturer in the north of England is facing potential legal action over emissions of benzene, a carcinogenic chemical with no safe level, the Guardian can reveal.The Environment Agency (EA) is considering taking legal action against Huntsman Polyurethanes in Teesside for a potential breach of licence, which is a criminal offence. Continue reading...
  
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• Country diary: Martha, a tribute to Buxton’s miners, has been knocked off her plinth. Why? | Mark Cocker

  04-08-2026 06:30
  Buxton, Derbyshire: Acts of vandalism are not unusual. Have we normalised the destruction of ‘common ground’?Our town is blessed to have the Buxton Civic Association, a charity devoted to the built and natural environment. It owns and manages, for wildlife and people, almost all our important woods, including Grin Low, which was a historically important area for lime‑burning. To celebrate that industry, the civic society commissioned wooden sculptures – Charlie, then Mart
  
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