Environment news

• Climate anxiety was consuming me. Then I learned to laugh about it

  28-07-2026 13:00
  The daily dread pushed me to enroll in a standup class. Could I channel my anxiety into something lighter?If you had told me six months ago that I would soon be performing standup comedy to dozens of strangers, I would have assumed it was a bad dream.Public speaking ranks about as high as driving in rush hour traffic through downtown Boston on my list of favorite activities. That I would choose to do standup, with its potential for public humiliation, is basically unimaginable. Continue reading.
  
  Read more

• The Guardian view on noise pollution: keep it down | Editorial

  28-07-2026 19:23
  New research linking the issue to Parkinson’s disease adds to the evidence of serious health repercussions from traffic volume and other sourcesThe roar of late-night traffic is not just annoying for those trying to sleep. It can also have profound effects on their health. A pioneering new study, published this month, has found a clear link between road noise and Parkinson’s disease. The research, which followed more than 3 million Danish participants, found a modest but consistent e
  
  Read more

• ‘They’re part of folklore’: storks return to Derbyshire after 600-year absence

  28-07-2026 19:22
  Conservationists are thrilled at the arrival of three juvenile birds at Willington Wetlands, hoping more will followA long orange beak poked curiously out from its wooden crate, followed by a sleek head and slender body. Then the first white stork of the morning flapped its wings and took to the air. Moments later a second emerged tentatively to stalk through the long grass, followed closely by a final sibling who stretched its wings and explored the length of the enclosure.The trio of juvenile
  
  Read more

• Almost 4,000 people evacuated from tourist sites near Bordeaux as wildfires rage in France and Spain

  28-07-2026 18:42
  Return of winds and extreme heat threaten firefighters’ attempts to bring blazes under controlNearly 4,000 people have been evacuated from tourist sites on France’s Atlantic coast as the return of winds and extreme heat jeopardises firefighters’ battles to contain wildfires raging in France and Spain.The precautionary evacuation order in France, which covers campsites, holiday villages and other tourist accommodation around the resort of Lacanau to the west of Bordeaux, exacerb
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• It’s time to prosecute climate crimes – with laws that already exist | Aaron Regunberg

  28-07-2026 16:00
  Some have called for Nuremberg-style trials against big oil. But there are laws already on the books to describe companies’ conductThe sky outside is hazy orange, and my five-year-old son is screaming bloody murder. “Sorry, buddy, we have to stay inside,” I say. “It’s not safe to breathe out there.” I had told him we’d be going to the beach today. Something inside me tears a little as I wonder how many promises he’ll see similarly broken in the com
  
  Read more

• New evacuation from tourist sites near Bordeaux as France and Spain fight wildfires

  28-07-2026 15:59
  French authorities order evacuation of almost 4,000 people from Lacanau resort amid return of heatwaveEurope live – latest updatesThe evacuation of nearly 4,000 people from tourist sites on France’s Atlantic coast is under way as the return of winds and extreme heat jeopardised firefighters’ battles to contain wildfires raging to the west of Bordeaux.The precautionary evacuation order, which covers campsites, holiday villages and other tourist accommodation around the resort of
  
  Read more

• My climate anxiety was crippling. Could a stand-up comedy class help?

  28-07-2026 13:00
  The daily dread of political and planetary free fall had become untenable. What if I channeled my anxiety into something lighter?If you had told me six months ago that I would soon be performing standup comedy to dozens of strangers, I would have assumed it was a bad dream.Public speaking ranks about as high as driving in rush hour traffic through downtown Boston on my list of favorite activities. That I would choose to do standup, with its potential for public humiliation, is basically unimagin
  
  Read more

• I took a standup class to cope with the end of the world

  28-07-2026 13:00
  My climate dread was becoming unbearable. I never thought I would do comedy, but what if I channeled my anxiety into something lighter?If you had told me six months ago that I would soon be performing standup comedy to dozens of strangers, I would have assumed it was a bad dream.Public speaking ranks about as high as driving in rush hour traffic through downtown Boston on my list of favorite activities. That I would choose to do standup, with its potential for public humiliation, is basically un
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Could ‘Godzilla’ El Niño bring the hottest year on record? – video explainer

  28-07-2026 12:50
  The Earth keeps getting hotter and experts fear this year's El Niño, nicknamed 'Godzilla' because of its predicted intensity, could raise global temperatures by up to 3.6C. Environment correspondent Damien Gayle spoke to climate scientists to understand how the weather phenomenon and the climate crisis pose a huge threat to the planet‘Super’ El Niño could cause global food price shock lasting into 2028, analysts sayEl Niño is back with a vengeance – and fea
  
  Read more

• How one man’s near-death experience led to the discovery of the first Jurassic sea dragon in Wales

  28-07-2026 11:00
  Matthew Myerscough’s remarkable find is one of many detailed in his new book. But his journey into fossil hunting began years earlier, when he was caught in an avalancheWhen Matthew Myerscough walks along a beach, he cannot help hunting for fossils. “I think my fossil radar is always on – even if I’m not looking, it’s hard sometimes to not see things,” says the 40-year-old civil engineer, who has discovered thousands of fossils on British beaches.It was while
  
  Read more

• ‘Ash fell from the sky’: Tourists describe fleeing ‘apocalyptic’ wildfires in France

  28-07-2026 10:00
  Hundreds of thousands of residents and holidaymakers in France and Spain have been forced to evacuateWildfires have forced about 375,000 people to leave their homes in France and Spain.In France, nearly 260,000 have had to flee, while in neighbouring Spain 116,000 have been evacuated as the wildfires continue to wreak havoc across southern Europe. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Country diary: Dark against the gold wheat stubble, the hares sit tall like a hieroglyph | Amy-Jane Beer

  28-07-2026 06:30
  North Yorkshire: It’s been a remarkable breeding season for these gorgeous creatures with ripped physiques and all-seeing eyes“Just seen a gorgeous hare and thought of you. They’ve had an unbelievable breeding season.”Like most farmers, my friend Richard is always busy and often exasperated. But he’s also refreshingly cognisant of his privilege and determined not to blow the opportunity to make a difference. Nature is always part of his management, and now and then
  
  Read more

• ‘We have lost everything’: extreme rainfall across Asia brings flash floods and typhoons

  28-07-2026 06:00
  From Afghanistan to Taiwan, unprecedented deluge highlights devastating impact of climate breakdown“It rained for 10 days and 10 nights, non-stop – I’d never seen anything like it,” says Anar Gul, a construction worker who lives in the remote district of Dur Baba in eastern Afghanistan.The houses in his village are built from stone and mud, which makes them extremely vulnerable to heavy rains. After days of rain, Gul’s kitchen collapsed and his neighbour, Sayed Afsa
  
  Read more

• France and Spain race to contain huge wildfires before fresh heatwave begins

  28-07-2026 04:37
  Coming days are ‘absolutely critical’ for firefighters before temperatures rise again this week, officials say Firefighters in France and Spain are racing to bring huge wildfires under control before another heatwave this week that will complicate efforts to tame the flames.Spain’s interior minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, said Monday and Tuesday were “absolutely crucial days” before temperatures rise again from Wednesday, prompting prime minister, Pedro Sá
  
  Read more

• What do the heatwaves in Europe and North America tell us about our future? | Fiona Katauskas

  28-07-2026 02:54
  The signs are thereSee more of Fiona Katauskas’s cartoons here Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• The prehistoric species fighting for survival in Lough Neagh

  28-07-2026 01:01 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Restrictions have been placed on fishing the critically-endangered European eel in Lough Neagh to try to restore the species
  
  Read more

• Is it time to stop using glue and labels on paper?

  28-07-2026 01:00 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Labels and adhesives can prevent paper from being recycled but there's new tech aimed at changing that.
  
  Read more

• Gates smashed and crops destroyed as farmers threatened by gangs hunting hares

  27-07-2026 23:40 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Some barricade the entrances to their fields with concrete blocks and fallen trees.
  
  Read more

• Wildfire now nine miles from French city of Bordeaux, mayor warns

  27-07-2026 22:34 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Thomas Cazenave says they are preparing if further evacuations are issued, as the mayor of a nearby town called the situation "catastrophic".
  
  Read more

• Wildfires 'stark reminder' of extreme climate challenge, says William

  27-07-2026 21:59 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The prince's warning comes as wildfires rage in parts of Europe and the UK during a spell of extreme heat.
  
  Read more

• Industrial chicken farming accelerating spread of diarrhoea bacteria, study finds

  27-07-2026 21:00
  Intensive nature of modern chicken farming creates ideal conditions for campylobacter, allowing bacteria to evolveIndustrial chicken farming is accelerating the spread of the world’s most common bacterial cause of diarrhoea, scientists have found.The study found a dramatic increase in the exchange of campylobacter strains between wild birds and chickens as farming has intensified, creating the ideal conditions for the bacteria to mix, spread and acquire new traits. There has also been a ri
  
  Read more

• The Guardian view on Europe’s wildfires: politics must catch up with the new reality | Editorial

  27-07-2026 19:30
  At a time when the quickening pace of global heating has never been clearer, climate policies are being deprioritisedA new and ominous word has entered the vocabulary of firefighters struggling to cope with the vast wildfire sweeping through south-west France. A pyrocumulonimbus is a fire-generated thunderstorm that can whip up winds in unpredictable ways, making the containment of a blaze and assessment of its likely course far more difficult. A known phenomenon in North America and Australia,
  
  Read more

• Ben Jennings on southern Europe’s wildfires – cartoon

  27-07-2026 19:06
  Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Swathes of Cairngorms unrecognisable after 12 days of ‘cataclysmic’ wildfires

  27-07-2026 18:00
  With large areas still burning, damage from national park’s worst blaze could take decades, if not longer, to put rightIt is the jewel in the crown of the Highlands, one of Scotland’s most impressive natural landscapes, but 12 days on from the start of an enormous wildfire that is tearing through moorland and forest, the Cairngorms national park is unrecognisable.Hectares of blackened land were visible as low cloud cleared on Sunday, with smoke billowing into the air from large areas
  
  Read more

• Devastating European wildfires in maps - and how they're being tackled

  27-07-2026 17:59 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A blaze near Bordeaux has torn through more than 162 sq miles (420 sq km) in less than four days, while the Madrid region is seeing its worst fires ever.
  
  Read more

• Britain braces for fourth heatwave of year as fire chiefs issue public appeal

  27-07-2026 17:47
  Temperatures up to 35C forecast, triggering heat health alerts and pleas to take care in parched parks and rural areasParamedics and firefighters are braced for emergencies across the country this week after UK forecasters predicted a fourth heatwave of the year.Temperatures are forecast to reach as high as 35C by Wednesday, triggering heat health alerts and an appeal from fire chiefs to take care in parched parks and rural areas. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• When it comes to predicting the future, why are TV writers better than politicians? | Zoe Williams

  27-07-2026 17:32
  From BBC drama The Rapture on the climate crisis to Apple’s Criminal Record on the rise of the far right, culture often sees what politics fails toIn the BBC’s new apocalypse drama, The Rapture, the UK is engulfed in a terrifying heatwave. I watched a preview of the programme in May, while preparing to interview the lead actor Ruth Madeley. I thought at the time: “This will be much more frightening when it chimes with the real life weather, bad luck for them that it’s not
  
  Read more

• US environmental groups urge EPA to reject new Pfas to cool datacenters

  27-07-2026 14:00
  Coalition says Chemours downplayed health and climate risks in bid to fast-track the compound’s useA coalition of 17 environmental groups is demanding the Environmental Protection Agency reject a new Pfas that chemical giant Chemours is attempting to fast track for approval for use in cooling datacenters, and would almost certainly pollute regions around the facilities.In formal comments submitted to the agency, the groups accuse Chemours of using bad science to downplay the chemical&rsquo
  
  Read more

• ‘It came out of real frustration’: the 90s activist network that set fires to save a burning planet

  27-07-2026 14:00
  Matthew Wolfe’s Fires in the Night examines Earth Liberation Front, a US eco-anarchist movement, and its legacy of radical environmentalismAre echoes of 1990s radical environmentalism returning louder or fading away? It’s a question posed by Fires in the Night, a new book on the history of the Earth Liberation Front (Elf), a loosely grouped band of US Pacific north-west activists that used economic sabotage and arson to protest environmental destruction.The members called themselves
  
  Read more

• UK's iconic Jodrell Bank telescope faces axe in science cuts

  27-07-2026 13:50 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Astronomers warn it would tear the heart out of UK science, and leave a generation untrained.
  
  Read more

Follow @UK_Environment on Twitter!