Environment news

• Corby metal pollution may harm people, says study

  18-10-2026 07:37 via BBC News
  
  However, the Environment Agency says it has not found evidence that could cause significant harm.
  
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• When the weather is frightful, you don’t need to be: everything you need to stay cozy during cold months

  28-10-2026 15:15 via Environment | The Guardian
  Here are some of our writers’ best ways to stay toasty and occupied, even during cold weather, from teas to pajamasSign up for the Filter US newsletter, your weekly guide to buying fewer, better thingsWhen the weather starts to take a turn for the brisk, the impulse to stay inside and hibernate is nothing new – but there are ways to optimize your time spent inside for maximum coziness and pleasure.From a limited-edition candle to a plush, furry comforter that does double duty, here are some
  
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• Snail ate your mail? Why gastropods munch paper – and how to stop them

  28-10-2026 15:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  In wet weather, garden snails can seek shelter in letterboxes – and find a feast there waiting for themWe’ve all heard of snail mail – a term popularised since the advent of electronic mail – but who knew that snails eat mail? It might sound far-fetched but it’s true.We have it on good authority from the ecologist Simon Mustoe, who said snails ate his letter from Sir David Attenborough, a BBC report announcing the closure of a Northumberland Royal Mail postbox because of snails “munc
  
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• Mark Carney is celebrated abroad – while consolidating power at home | Shiri Pasternak

  28-10-2026 14:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  The Canadian prime minister’s reckoning with Trumpism in Davos clashes with his attacks on environmental, Indigenous and labour rightsThe Canadian prime minister is a hero around the world for his Davos speech that reckoned with a reconfiguration of power in the shadow of Donald Trump.But at home, Mark Carney is mirroring the US president by radically centralizing power within his office and cabinet and taking a hatchet to dozens of laws protecting environmental, Indigenous and labour rights,
  
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• Will it be AI or the climate crisis that ends humanity? We can make it neither | Adam McKay and Philip Eubanks

  28-10-2026 13:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  Both of these threats have the same roots: private entities seeking to cash in. We have the power to stand against themA summer of extreme heat, entire villages obliterated in Nepal, a super El Niño breaking records, Exxon publicly saying we may reach 3C by 2050 – could it possibly be any worse?How about throwing AI extinction in the mix? Continue reading...
  
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• The climate crisis will destroy our economies – we learned this 20 years ago. When will we act? | Fiona Harvey

  28-10-2026 09:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  The radical Stern report showed that a low-carbon future is also good economics. But it seems that capitalism needs a reminderSaving the only planet we have makes good economic sense. There is, after all, no money to be made on a dead Earth. There may be costs involved now, but they are worth paying to protect our children from certain destruction.These propositions seem self-evident now. But two decades ago, mainstream economists had very different ideas. They had proved that the climate crisis
  
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• Sea of crimson: vivid ‘red beach’ transforms China’s wetlands and marshes – in pictures

  28-10-2026 07:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  A striking transformation takes place along the coast of Qinqdao in autumn, when a native seepweed turns a brilliant shade of red.The ‘red beach’ phenemon can be seen in the salt marshes and wetlands on the coast of China’s Shandong province, where the Suaeda glauca plant matures and absorbs water, changing it from green to crimson between September and November Continue reading...
  
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• How rising seas transformed dry land into Venice lagoon

  28-10-2026 07:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  Scientists uncover ancient hills and swamps that disappeared as sea levels rose across northern AdriaticVenice is famed for being a floating city, but research shows the land it sits on once lay many miles inland. Dramatic changes in sea level over 10,000 years have reshaped the northern Adriatic coastline, with much of the land that our ancestors roamed now lying beneath the waves.Samuele Ongaro, at the University of Southampton, and colleagues combined seismic data with sedimentary cores from
  
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• Country diary: A vial of water from the rivers, becks and springs of Yorkshire – but not without permission | Amy-Jane Beer

  28-10-2026 06:30 via Environment | The Guardian
  Wharram and York, North Yorkshire: It’s the nervy few days before a ceremony that will honour our local waterways, and I have work to doI visit the source of the tiny stream called the Gypsey Race now and then, drawn by the everyday miracle of its water welling to catch sunlight like a plaything and alchemise it into colours and sparks. Today, though, is different, because I’ve come to ask for something. Something like permission, or approval maybe.I’ve been helping to organise a gatheri
  
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• A bust-up between mathematicians is fuelling fears that AI could undermine science

  28-10-2026 02:01 via BBC News
  
  AI has made some awesome scientific discoveries. But now, questions are being raised about its accuracy
  
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• Aerial video shows California flooding amid ‘record-breaking tides’ – video

  27-10-2026 22:55 via Environment | The Guardian
  Coastal communities across California were preparing for days of flooding amid potentially 'record-breaking tides' this week, as water levels began rising on Monday.Coastal California braces for flooding amid forecast of ‘record-breaking tides’ Continue reading...
  
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• Weather warning lifted as third storm to hit Scotland eases off

  27-10-2026 22:20 via BBC News
  
  Energy provider SSEN says 2,000 properties in the north of Scotland are still without power after days of high winds and heavy rain.
  
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• Rosebank oilfield would not breach UK emission targets, say government insiders

  27-10-2026 20:17 via Environment | The Guardian
  Emissions from exported oil would not count against carbon budget, insiders say – reasoning likely to draw dismay from climate campaignersThe giant Rosebank oilfield can be approved without breaching the UK’s emission targets, according to government insiders, in a boost to those in the cabinet who are pushing for it to be given the go-ahead.The Guardian revealed last week that Miatta Fahnbulleh, the energy secretary, was leaning towards rejecting the project, but her position has put her at
  
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• Will a new strategy help protect Northern Ireland's nature?

  27-10-2026 18:51 via BBC News
  
  About 40% of the plants and animals in protected sites across Northern Ireland fall short of meeting the standard for "favourable condition".
  
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• Nanotyrannus skeleton sells for $47.3m in New York auction

  27-10-2026 18:10 via BBC News
  
  The sale of the rare skeleton reignites debate in the scientific community about whether dinosaur remains should end up in private hands or public view.
  
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• Slovenia mourns loss of glacier on its highest peak after scorching summer

  27-10-2026 18:08 via Environment | The Guardian
  
  Extreme heat accelerated disappearance of Triglav glacier from mountain revered as a symbol of Slovenian identityThe final ice patch has vanished from Slovenia’s Triglav glacier, the latest Alpine casualty of Europe’s scorching summer.The once mighty ice mass lost 93% of its surface area between 1983 and 2003, shrinking to cover less than a hectare of overheated rock, but went on to surprise researchers who feared its imminent demise, clinging on to the mountain for two more decades. Continu
  
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• Tiny zebra-striped bee sighting a 'huge surprise'

  27-10-2026 17:50 via BBC News
  
  A zebra-striped bee is seen in Somerset for the first time, offering hope in restored saltmarshes.
  
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• Scotland's recycling rates at five-year low. How is your area doing?

  27-10-2026 16:32 via BBC News
  
  Environmental regulator Sepa says households recycled 42.8% of waste in 2025 - down from 44.3% the previous year.
  
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• What's happening to our rubbish?

  27-10-2026 16:30 via BBC News
  
  As Scotland's recycling rate falls to its lowest level in five years, Kevin Keane looks at what happens to our rubbish.
  
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• Are seed oils unhealthy? Why are so many influencers speaking out against them? | Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz

  27-10-2026 15:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  Randomised trials of omega-6s do not show an increase in inflammation caused by the fatty acidRead more in the Antiviral seriesIf you’ve been online lately, you’ve probably been bombarded with the discourse about seed oils. Once a completely innocuous food that no one really talked about, they have become the enemy of the moment. Robert F Kennedy Jr, the secretary of health and human services in the US, has called them “toxic” and vowed to act against them. There are countless activewear
  
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• UK spending on ‘fairytale’ carbon capture tech is a national embarrassment, chancellor told

  27-10-2026 14:28 via Environment | The Guardian
  Chris Packham says £24bn earmarked for projects with ‘ludicrously uncertain results’ should be redirected to help lower bills and cut emissionsCampaigners are calling on the chancellor to cut the government’s £24bn spending plans for “fairytale” carbon capture technologies in favour of funding green schemes that can reliably cut emissions and lower energy bills.The environmentalist Chris Packham is leading an 11th-hour appeal for the Treasury to use this week’s budget to scale back
  
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• Wildlife appeal closes in on £30m target

  27-10-2026 14:26 via BBC News
  
  The government pledges £1.9m to wildlife groups' efforts to buy the Rothbury Estate.
  
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• Regular spaceplane flights planned in project

  27-10-2026 14:11 via BBC News
  
  Spaceplanes could take off on regular flights from Cornwall following an agreement.
  
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• Silicon Valley parents want the tech they help build out of their children’s schools

  27-10-2026 13:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  Both private and public schools in tech regions are limiting the use of tech in classrooms. But will low-income districts be able to follow suit?German Gil spends most of his waking hours looking at screens. Since moving to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2015, the software engineer has bounced between start-ups and giants including Netflix, Facebook and GitHub.But when it came to the education of his daughter, Victoria, he wanted her to have a different experience, one in which his “kid could b
  
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• Silicon Valley parents want the tech they help build out of their childrens’ schools

  27-10-2026 13:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  Both private and public schools in tech regions are limiting the use of tech in classrooms. But will low-income districts be able to follow suit?German Gil spends most of his waking hours looking at screens. Since moving to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2015, the software engineer has bounced between start-ups and giants including Netflix, Facebook and GitHub.But when it came to the education of his daughter, Victoria, he wanted her to have a different experience, one in which his “kid could b
  
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• ‘No one saves the planet if it hits their pocket’: UK heat pump installers fear planned subsidy cuts

  27-10-2026 12:59 via Environment | The Guardian
  Boiler upgrade scheme, which provides grants of up to £9,000 for sustainable alternatives, expected to be slashed in budgetWhen Bill Tuck first started installing air source heat pumps six years ago, other heating engineers were skeptical the green technology would take off. “Now, the conversation is completely different,” he said.“I’m getting approached by them saying: ‘Mrs Jones, my customer for 15 years, she’s enquiring about a heat pump. What can you tell me?’ The whole narrat
  
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• Trump’s cuts have exposed US to ‘cascade’ of El Niño dangers, experts warn

  27-10-2026 12:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  President has taken an axe to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, stalling climate research on and response to extreme weather eventsSweeping cuts to the premier US climate agency under Donald Trump have severely hampered the country’s capacity to forecast, research and respond to extreme weather events, former government officials and scientists have warned, as the US faces a cascade of hazards fueled by a potentially historic El Niño this winter.From the start of his second ter
  
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• I struggled to come to terms with my mum’s death. Then I swam in the sea and suddenly felt connected to her

  27-10-2026 12:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  My mother was a keen swimmer, and she lived with depression. I wonder if she found the same respite in the water that has helped heal me since she passed awayIt was early morning in late September, off the coast of Kaş in Turkey. Watching the slightly choppy sea from a boat, the last thing I felt like doing was embarking on another 5km (3-mile) swim. Mind fog had sapped my energy, and my mood was decidedly Eeyore-like. But as I pulled on my cap and flippers, adjusted my goggles and took the plu
  
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• What is Nasa's Artemis III mission? And what comes next?

  27-10-2026 11:33 via BBC News
  
  Artemis III will help test crucial systems needed for the planned Artemis IV Moon landing in 2028.
  
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• More high winds hit parts of UK as Storm Boelo clean-up continues

  27-10-2026 11:30 via BBC News
  
  A Met Office weather warning is in place for Scotland and Northern Ireland for much of Tuesday.
  
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