Environment news

• Ben Nevis gets automatic weather station

  09-11-2017 03:42 via bbc.co.uk
  For the first time in 113 years, live data is streaming from the top of the UK's tallest mountain.
  
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• ‘The LED of heating’: cheap geothermal energy system makes US comeback

  29-01-2026 18:33 via theguardian.com
  Minnesota housing project to draw energy from water stored deep underground, 45 years on from city’s initial researchNearly half a century ago, the US Department of Energy launched a clean energy experiment beneath the University of Minnesota with a simple goal: storing hot water for months at a time in an aquifer more than 100 metres below ground.The idea of the seasonal thermal energy storage was to tuck away excess heat produced in summer, then use it in the winter to warm buildings. Co
  
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• ‘Clean air should not be a privilege’: how Bogotá is tackling air pollution in its poorest areas

  29-01-2026 18:30 via theguardian.com
  Colombian city launched its first clean air zone in one of its poorest neighbourhoods and has plans for green spaces tooEvery Sunday in Bogotá, streets across the city are closed to cars and transformed into urban parks. Shirtless rollerbladers with boomboxes drift leisurely in figures of eight, Lycra-clad cyclists zoom downhill and young children wobble nervously as they pedal on bikes for the first time.This is perhaps the most visible component of a multipronged plan to clean up the Co
  
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• ‘Feels like a losing battle’: the fight against flooding in Somerset

  29-01-2026 17:18 via theguardian.com
  Emergency pumps are deployed in attempt to stop water inundating homes around River Parrett‘Like a sea out there’: flooded Somerset residents wonder how water can be managedSince medieval monks started draining and managing the Somerset Levels, humans have struggled to live and work alongside water.“At the moment it feels like a losing battle,” said Mike Stanton, the chair of the Somerset Rivers Authority. “Intense rainfall is hitting us more often because of climat
  
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• Polar bears on Norwegian islands fatter and healthier despite ice loss, scientists say

  29-01-2026 17:00 via bbc.com
  Scientists think that Svalbard bears have adapted to recent ice loss by eating more land-based prey.
  
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• ‘Pesticide cocktails’ polluting apples across Europe, study finds

  29-01-2026 13:38 via theguardian.com
  Pan Europe found several pesticide residues in 85% of apples, with some showing traces of up to seven chemicalsEnvironmental groups have raised the alarm after finding toxic “pesticide cocktails” in apples sold across Europe.Pan Europe, a coalition of NGOs campaigning against pesticide use, had about 60 apples bought in 13 European countries – including France, Spain, Italy and Poland – analysed for chemical residues. Continue reading...
  
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• Valium, health checks and fabric slings: the complex logistics of moving 30 beluga whales

  29-01-2026 13:11 via theguardian.com
  Canada has reached a tentative deal for 30 belugas in an amusement park to be shipped to four aquariums in US‘It’s heartbreaking’: how 30 captive beluga whales have become pawns in row over animal crueltyBefore boarding the plane, the travellers will be given a dose of Valium to calm their nerves. For some, it will be the first time they’ve flown. Others have logged thousands of miles over the Pacific Ocean. Like most weary and anxious passengers, they will be offered min
  
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• US leads record global surge in gas-fired power driven by AI demands, with big costs for the climate

  29-01-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Projects this year expected to triple global gas capacity, forecast finds, as concerns grow over impacts on planetThe US is leading a huge global surge in new gas-fired power generation that will cause a major leap in planet-heating emissions, with this record boom driven by the expansion of energy-hungry datacenters to service artificial intelligence, according to a new forecast.This year is set to shatter the annual record for new gas power additions around the world, with planned and under-co
  
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• Baltimore bridge collapse: crew members from ship still held by US two years on

  29-01-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Despite no criminal charges being brought against them, four officers have been detained since the MV Dali struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge, killing six workersSeveral crew members of a ship that collided with a bridge in Baltimore almost two years ago are still being held in the US by federal authorities despite the fact that no criminal charges have been brought against them.In the early hours of 26 March 2024, the MV Dali departed the port of Baltimore bound for Sri Lanka. While navigating
  
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• Does Antarctica really have the bluest sky in the world?

  29-01-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Light scattering creates the shade we see when we look skyward, and studies show the process varies around the worldOn holiday the sky may look a deeper shade of blue than even the clearest summer day at home. Some places, including Cape Town in South Africa and Briançon in France, pride themselves on the blueness of their skies. But is there really any difference?The blue of the sky is the product of Rayleigh scattering, which affects light more at the blue end of the spectrum. The blue
  
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• Country diary: Rowdy or charming, there’s no one way to wassail | Anita Roy

  29-01-2026 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Wellington and Wiveliscombe, Somerset: This movable pagan feast can be celebrated very differently, but it’s all to thank the apple trees and fire up their sapOld apple tree, we wassail thee,
  And hope that thou wilt bear
  Hatfuls, capfuls and three bushel bagfuls
  And a little heap under the stairs!We are standing around a little crab apple tree by the side of Wiveliscombe village hall, singing our hearts out between the car park and the high street. It’s Old Twelfth Night, and in the
  
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• ‘I wasn’t going to be diverted,’ says King Charles about campaign on the environment

  28-01-2026 18:30 via theguardian.com
  Monarch says he has remained focused despite early criticisms of his beliefs, in new film Finding Harmony: A King’s VisionKing Charles has revealed he “wasn’t going to be diverted” from his environmental campaigning despite criticism in the past in a new documentary showcasing his philosophy of “Harmony”.In the Amazon Prime Video film, his first project with a streaming platform, Charles recalls past attacks on his outspokenness on the environment, saying: &ld
  
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• Dutch government discriminated against Bonaire islanders over climate adaptation, court rules

  28-01-2026 17:55 via theguardian.com
  Judgment in The Hague orders Netherlands to do more to protect Caribbean people in its territory from impacts of climate crisisThe Dutch government discriminated against people in one of its most vulnerable territories by not helping them adapt to climate change, a court has found.The judgment, announced on Wednesday in The Hague, chastises the Netherlands for treating people on the island of Bonaire, in the Caribbean, differently to inhabitants of the European part of the country and for not do
  
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• ‘Like a sea out there’: flooded Somerset residents wonder how water can be managed

  28-01-2026 16:40 via theguardian.com
  People in south-west mop up after Storm Chandra and prepare for next bout of rain, with major incident declaredIn the early hours, the Wade family’s boxer puppy began barking. Thinking it needed to be let out, they traipsed downstairs and opened the back door – to be greeted not by their neat garden but an expanse of water.“It was like a sea out there,” said James Wade. Over the coming hours the water crept into their home on a modern estate in Taunton, forcing James, his
  
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• Swift bricks to be installed on all new buildings in Scotland as MSPs back law

  28-01-2026 12:22 via theguardian.com
  Rest of UK has resisted calls to make builders install bricks that provide nesting for swifts and other endangered birdsSwift bricks will be installed in all new buildings in Scotland after the Scottish parliament voted in favour of a law to help endangered cavity-nesting birds.The Scottish government and MSPs across the parties backed an amendment by Scottish Green Mark Ruskell to make swift bricks mandatory for all new dwellings “where reasonably practical and appropriate”. Continu
  
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• Pregnant, 19 and facing down a mutiny: how did Mary Ann Patten steer her way into seafaring lore?

  28-01-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Finding herself in charge of her sick husband’s clipper, a self-taught working-class teenager overcame storms, icebergs and a disloyal first mate to get her ship to safetyNo one knows exactly what Mary Ann Patten said in September 1856 when she convinced a crew on the verge of mutiny to accept her command as captain. What is known is that Patten, who was 19 and pregnant, was a force to be reckoned with.After taking the helm from her sick husband in the middle of a ferocious storm off the c
  
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• Sunken Thames barges create new island for birds

  28-01-2026 08:02 via bbc.com
  The National Trust describes the Northey Island project as "a bold marine engineering feat".
  
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• Smothering, bullying, stabbing: how it feels to be in one of the hottest places on Earth

  28-01-2026 07:52 via theguardian.com
  Everything felt like it was swelling, and despite my diligent consumption of water and Hydralyte, I couldn’t quite escape the persistent, low-level nausea. Even thinking took longerMy mother grew up in Warracknabeal, a speck of a town four hours from Melbourne, Australia, in the wide, wheat country of the Wimmera – that part of Victoria where the sky starts to stretch, where you can see weather happening 100 kilometres away.Once or twice a year, our family would pack into the rattlin
  
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• Filming a Frosty Fruit in 48C heat. Spoiler alert: the camera couldn't handle it – video

  28-01-2026 07:41 via theguardian.com
  How long does it take for a Frosty Fruit to melt in a heatwave? Guardian Australia sacrificed three ice blocks in Melbourne, Sydney and Ouyen, where the temperature hit 48C on Tuesday. It was the fifth day in a row that temperatures have exceeded 40C, with four more forecast to followExplainer: What happens to the human body in 49C heat? Australians are finding out Continue reading...
  
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• Country diary: A woodpecker with a difference – it’s not pecking at wood | Charlie Elder

  28-01-2026 06:30 via theguardian.com
  West Dartmoor, Devon: It’s quite normal for greater spotteds to start staking out territories in January, less so on a plastic box near my bedroom windowThe electrical junction box, fixed to the top of the roadside telegraph pole, displays a yellow sign that warns “Danger of death”. Not that the bird perched on top seemed the slightest bit concerned – the acoustics are exceptional.I was first woken one snowy morning early in January to short bursts of drilling outside the
  
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• ‘My Tesla has become ordinary’: Turkey catches up with EU in electric car sales

  28-01-2026 06:00 via theguardian.com
  Popularity of EVs in country is part of global trend of emerging markets spurning fossil fuel cars at surprising speedsWhen Berke Astarcıoğlu bought a BMW i3 in 2016, he was one of just 44 people in a country of 80 million to buy a battery electric vehicle (BEV) that year. By the time he bought a Tesla in 2023, BEVs were no longer a complete oddity in Turkey, making up 7% of new car sales.Fast-forward two years and electric cars are selling so fast that Turkey has caught up with the EU
  
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• The UK government didn't want you to see this report on ecosystem collapse. I'm not surprised | George Monbiot

  27-01-2026 17:52 via theguardian.com
  It took an FOI request to bring this national security assessment to light. For ‘doomsayers’ like us, it is the ultimate vindicationI know it’s almost impossible to turn your eyes away from the Trump show, but that’s the point. His antics, ever-grosser and more preposterous, are designed to keep him in our minds, to crowd out other issues. His insatiable craving for attention is a global-threat multiplier. You can’t help wondering whether there’s anything he w
  
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• Through the heatwave haze, the hypocrisy of Australia’s fossil fuel policy shines bright | Clean Air

  27-01-2026 15:00 via theguardian.com
  The heatwave in Melbourne and Adelaide this week is likely to become the norm. We should prepare nowWant to get this in your inbox when it publishes? Sign up for the Clear Air Australia newsletter hereOn Tuesday, Australia’s second largest city baked through one of its hottest days since modern instrumental records began in 1910. Several Melbourne suburbs topped 45C.The country’s fifth largest city, Adelaide, reached that temperature on Monday. Its residents then suffered through the
  
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• The 16-month battle to reveal the truth about Sydney Water’s poo balls

  27-01-2026 15:00 via theguardian.com
  After debris balls closed Sydney beaches in October 2024, Guardian Australia reported they could be linked to sewage outfalls. Authorities were less keen to talkGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastLast week, after torrential rain in Sydney, fresh poo balls washed up on the beach at Malabar, the closest beach to the problematic Malabar sewage treatment plant.Signs were erected on the beach warning people not to touch the “debris balls” or swim. But authorities d
  
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• Europe’s supermarket shelves packed with ‘misleading’ claims about recycled plastic packaging

  27-01-2026 14:48 via theguardian.com
  Manufacturers use method that labels plastic as ‘circular’ and climate-friendly, despite being mostly fossil-basedEurope’s supermarket shelves are packed with brands billing their plastic packaging as sustainable, but often only a fraction of the materials are truly recovered from waste, with the rest made from petroleum.Brands using plastic packaging – from Kraft’s Heinz Beanz to Mondelēz’s Philadelphia – use materials made by the plastic manufactu
  
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• What is a heat pump and what grants are available?

  27-01-2026 14:05 via bbc.com
  The government wants more homes to have heat pumps and is making grants available.
  
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• ‘The land will be left as ashes’: why Patagonia’s wildfires are almost impossible to stop

  27-01-2026 13:00 via theguardian.com
  Funding cuts, conspiracy theories and ‘powder keg’ pine plantations have seen January’s forest fires tear through Chubut in southern Argentina Lucas Chiappe had known for a long time that the fire was coming. For decades, the environmentalist had warned that replacing native trees in the Andes mountain range with highly flammable foreign pine was a recipe for disaster.In early January, flames raced down the Pirque hill and edged closer to his home in the Patagonian town of Epuy
  
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• Air pollution kills thousands a year in the UK and abroad – why isn’t there a bigger uproar? | Devi Sridhar

  27-01-2026 10:00 via theguardian.com
  Initiatives such as London’s ULEZ can be a model for other cities. But even more could be done to save lives and protect us from deadly toxins in the airBreathwork is everywhere, whether it’s in yoga studios, corporate retreats or self-help reels. We’re told to “just breathe”. Be mindful. Lower our stress levels. Inhale. Exhale. In the yogic tradition, bringing clean air into our lungs and our body (pranayama in Sanskrit) is about purifying and detoxing, and then ex
  
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• Ouyen may have hit the highest recorded temperature in Victoria’s history – and some fear it could get even hotter

  27-01-2026 08:48 via theguardian.com
  As the temperature nears 49C in the Mallee region, residents take refuge in air-conditioned rooms Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastIn the slanting, late-afternoon summer sun, the fields around the small Australian town of Ouyen – almost 450km north-west of Melbourne – turn the colour of honey. The edges shimmer with silver, that old cruel trick of feigning water where it hasn’t rained for weeks.Summ
  
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• The Fukushima towns frozen in time: nature has thrived since the nuclear disaster but what happens if humans return?

  27-01-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Fifteen years after a tsunami caused the Fukushima nuclear accident, only bears, raccoons and boar are seen on the streets. But the authorities and some locals want people to move backNorio Kimura pauses to gaze through the dirt-flecked window of Kumamachi primary school in Fukushima. Inside, there are still textbooks lying on the desks, pencil cases are strewn across the floor; empty bento boxes that were never taken home.Along the corridor, shoes line the route the children took when they fled
  
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