Environment news

• Dropbox targets carbon neutrality and 100% renewable electricity within a decade

  05-08-2020 12:03
  
  File hosting firm Dropbox has pledged to achieve carbon neutrality for direct, power-related and business-travel-related emissions by 2030, as part of a sweeping new sustainability strategy.
  
  Read more

• Q&A: ‘Are the warnings all hype?’ – our environment writers answered your El Niño questions

  07-10-2026 19:37 via theguardian.com
  Guardian reporters Jonathan Watts and Gabrielle Canon answered your question climate and extreme weather, from what to expect this winter in the UK to the increasing risk of natural disastersfunkymentalist asks: Unrelated to El Niño, what is the likelihood of the AMOC (Atlantic meridional overturning circulation) shutting down?Jon says: I don’t think these two things are unrelated. Everything is affected by climate breakdown. And both El Niño and the slowdown of AMOC are rela
  
  Read more

• Q&A: ‘Godzilla-level’ El Niño is causing extreme weather – our environment writers answer your questions – live

  07-10-2026 17:19 via theguardian.com
  Guardian reporters Jonathan Watts and Gabrielle Canon are online answering your questions on climate and extreme weather from what to expect this winter in the UK to the increasing risk of natural disasters.ndl4321 asks: Has the accuracy of forecasting improved significantly in the last decade or do the same margins of error still apply?PhDistracted asks: I’ve been trying to read up on El Niño, but having difficulty finding any other answer than (to expect) “extreme weather&rd
  
  Read more

• World’s largest penguin colony suffers ‘enormous population crash’

  07-10-2026 17:00 via theguardian.com
  Chinstrap penguins on Zavodovski Island in Antarctica down by two-thirds since 2011, probably due to climate crisisThe world’s largest penguin colony has declined by two-thirds since 2011, most likely because of the climate crisis, a study has revealed.Scientists said the rapid demise of chinstrap penguins on Zavodovski, the northernmost of the South Sandwich Islands in Antarctica, increased the risk of a wider ecosystem collapse. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Landslides, flash floods and raging seas: is California ready for the ravages of El Niño?

  07-10-2026 16:30 via theguardian.com
  A mix of natural disasters could all befall the state at once as it finds itself in the crosshairs of the climate phenomenonOn a cloudless autumn afternoon, sunlight sparkled on the water that had quietly swallowed a busy intersection to the north of San Francisco, as the surrounding rush-hour traffic slowed to a painful crawl.There were no crashing waves or storm surges to blame for the flood. Marin county was one of many areas up and down the California coast affected by high tides last week,
  
  Read more

• ‘A real-life moment from The Castle’: the retired Australian couple who took on a coal giant and won

  07-10-2026 16:00 via theguardian.com
  Wendy Wales and Tony Lonergan’s four-year fight over MACH Energy’s Mount Pleasant coalmine went all the way to the high courtSign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter hereWhen Wendy Wales and Tony Lonergan and a few of their neighbours in the New South Wales Hunter region decided to take on the expansion of a local coalmine, people thought they were “crazy” to engage in the David and Goliath battle.“When we started this
  
  Read more

• Flávio Bolsonaro’s advance in Brazil’s election is grim jolt for climate campaigners

  07-10-2026 14:03 via theguardian.com
  Inquest under way into why President Lula’s success in curbing Amazon deforestation has not lead to success at pollsMore fire, more ash, more crime, more death. And a globally important ecosystem driven ever more rapidly towards a point of no return. That is the prospect for the Amazon rainforest for at least the next four years if Flávio Bolsonaro holds on to the lead he established this week in the first round of Brazil’s presidential election.This appears to be of far more
  
  Read more

• Flávio Bolsonaro’s advance in Brazil’s election is an unnerving jolt for climate campaigners

  07-10-2026 13:20 via theguardian.com
  Inquest under way into why President Lula’s success in curbing deforestation in the Amazon did not lead to success at pollsMore fire, more ash, more crime, more death. And a globally important ecosystem driven ever more rapidly towards a point of no return. That is the prospect for the Amazon rainforest for at least the next four years if Flávio Bolsonaro holds on to the lead he established this week in the first round of Brazil’s presidential election.This appears to be of fa
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• ‘We’ll borrow a stargazing kit next’: first public nature library in US helps visitors explore great outdoors

  07-10-2026 13:00 via theguardian.com
  As well as books, the new facility offers hundreds of kits to connect people with the natural world, including hammocks and nightvision binoculars. We asked five of the first visitors what they thought of itMark Fink knows exactly why he opened the first public nature library in the US. “There are a lot of barriers for people to access nature here. We want people to learn about the birds and the plants in their own back yard and to appreciate that you don’t need a three-day camping t
  
  Read more

• Tents, night-vision goggles, bear tracking kits – and even books: America’s first nature library opens

  07-10-2026 13:00 via theguardian.com
  As well as books, the new facility in Colorado offers hundreds of kits to connect people with the natural world. We asked five of the first visitors what they thought of itMark Fink knows exactly why he opened the first public nature library in the US. “There are a lot of barriers for people to access nature here. We want people to learn about the birds and the plants in their own back yard and to appreciate that you don’t need a three-day camping trip in the mountains to experience
  
  Read more

• Heatstroke ruined his health. Years before, it took the life of another farm worker at the same company

  07-10-2026 13:00 via theguardian.com
  A farm labor contractor exposed laborers on H-2A agricultural visas to heat-related health hazards, but is still bringing hundreds of migrant farm workers to North CarolinaIt was 4pm and 90F (32C) when Carlos Vargas Moreno and other farm workers set out to weed a watermelon field in Goldsboro, North Carolina, on 19 July 2022.The work day had begun at 7am and included two 15-minute breaks and a one-hour lunch eaten outdoors. The heat index – what the temperature feels like to the human body
  
  Read more

• A ‘Godzilla-level’ El Niño is causing extreme weather conditions around the world – put your questions to our environment writers

  07-10-2026 10:47 via theguardian.com
  Climate reporters Jonathan Watts and Gabrielle Canon will be online from 4pm BST (11am EDT) today to answer your El Niño questions.Sign in or sign up to join the conversationThis year’s huge El Niño is causing climate chaos around the world. Temperate records have already been broken, with extreme heat reported from western Europe to California. Meanwhile, Bangkok is suffering massive flooding and the weather phenomenon is projected to cause a further 450,000 deaths globally
  
  Read more

• ‘He loved that little bat’: Richard Morecroft’s passion for wildlife rescue praised in tributes

  07-10-2026 08:45 via theguardian.com
  Former ABC presenter, who died aged 70 after a cancer diagnosis, kept an infant flying fox tucked under his shirtGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast“There’s a small, furry animal, wrapped up in a handkerchief, keeping warm inside my shirt.”So begins a 1989 documentary featuring the late ABC broadcaster Richard Morecroft, one of Australia’s most celebrated news anchors. But Morecroft had another deep passion – for wildlife rescuing and advocac
  
  Read more

• Scientists who put faith in technology less likely to take climate action

  07-10-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  ‘Techno-optimism’ may lead to reliance on unproven solutions at expense of societal changes neededScientists who believe technology will largely solve the problems caused by the climate crisis are less likely to engage in civic action on the issue, according to a study.The report from the London School of Economics found they are 23% less likelyto sign petitions or take part in protests than peers who doubt that technology is the answer. They are also 18% less likely to make high-imp
  
  Read more

• Wanted: children to rear harvest mice at home for wild release in Devon

  07-10-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Teenagers Eva Wishart and Emily Smith launch project to breed and release 250 of the tiny animals by SeptemberChildren in Devon are being invited to become “citizen captive breeders”, rearing harvest mice at home for release into the wild to help revive endangered nature.Wild Pets, a new conservation project launched by two 14-year-old friends, is seeking 20 Devon-based children to rear hundreds of mice after the duo’s own successful restoration efforts. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Beautiful butterflies get more attention from the public – and from scientists

  07-10-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Research has shown that colourful and patterned species are the subject of more studies, and receive more conservation fundingLarge and beautiful butterflies attract far more attention than species that are smaller and dull. Now a new study has shown that this bias towards beauty results in the boring butterflies being overlooked in conservation programmes.To understand the link between beauty and conservation, researchers surveyed more than 21,000 people from more than 100 countries, asking the
  
  Read more

• Country diary: A gleaming beetle that could be bad news for my garden favourites | Susie White

  07-10-2026 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Allendale, Northumberland: On a hot autumn day, I see rosemary beetles here for the first time. This could be a problem for many thriving plantsThis year there have been several firsts in my garden: old lady, vestal and blood-vein moths attracted to the light trap; hummingbird hawk-moths, normally occasional, feeding summer-long from verbena and buddleia; and it’s a painted lady year – a once-a-decade event, these high-flying insects migrating from Africa through successive generatio
  
  Read more

• Australia faces summer of extreme weather, Anthony Albanese warns at pre-Cop

  06-10-2026 13:24 via theguardian.com
  Prime minister tells delegates in Tuvalu and Fiji that ‘super El Niño’ brewing in the Pacific shows climate change is ‘here right now’Anthony Albanese has warned Australia faces a hazardous summer, likely including floods, cyclones and extreme heat, due to the immediate threat of the climate change and a rising “super El Niño”.Speaker alongside national leaders at a climate summit in Fiji, the prime minister said the expected nasty summer and the
  
  Read more

• Drax datacentre could create nearly twice the yearly emissions of all Gatwick flights

  06-10-2026 12:27 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: Campaign group’s analysis of North Yorkshire plans finds datacentre would have to burn 4.9m tonnes of wood a yearDrax’s planned datacentre could produce nearly double the emissions of all flights out of Gatwick airport each year by burning 4.9m tonnes of wood annually, an analysis has shown.Campaigners say this would make it “one of the dirtiest datacentres out there”. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• ‘They take our water, our soil’: protesters fight ‘foreignisation’ as Javier Milei encourages land sales in Argentina

  06-10-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  The country’s far-right president is courting billionaire investors by removing a block on foreign ownership of land and natural resourcesOn 19 September, Marta Sahores, an 84-year-old chemistry professor and activist who has mobilised against mega-mining projects for more than two decades, took to the streets in Argentina. Alongside workers, retirees, students, Indigenous groups and human rights organisations, Sahores was there to protest against the country’s far-right president, J
  
  Read more

• The pest I’ll never forget: the cockroaches I still dream about

  06-10-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  My student house in Manchester had several thousand other occupants. Despite pest controllers regularly dousing the property, the glossy, greasy, relentless insects marched onwards, endlessly reproducing‘You do know about the cockroaches?” I’ve forgotten most things people said to me in the 80s, but never that. It was said by one of the occupants of the student house in Longsight, Manchester, that I had signed up to live in the following year. When the landlord had shown me and
  
  Read more

• Agreement to transition away from fossil fuels ‘not open for renegotiation’, Pacific leader tells pre-Cop

  06-10-2026 07:01 via theguardian.com
  International leaders visit Tuvalu as part of climate talks co-hosted by Australia ahead of Cop31 conferencePacific island leaders have urged a promised global transition away from fossil fuels must not be left open to renegotiation as they gather in tiny Tuvalu in a bid to build momentum before a major climate summit.About 50 dignitaries – 14 national heads including Australia’s prime minister, Anthony Albanese, a list of climate change ministers and the heads of global agencies &nd
  
  Read more

• Country diary: On the bluest of days, the plaintive call of a pipit | Mark Cocker

  06-10-2026 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Combs Moss, Derbyshire: There is plenty to be gloomy about, but today was not the day for it up on the moorThe morning was sunlit and the sky the sort of deepest blue dome that makes your heart sing – and all the louder for being at the time of least natural sound.Autumn is the most silent season for birds, but at least I could hear the passing meadow pipits more clearly as they came out the blue in small numbers and crossed overhead on migration. There is something inherently melanch
  
  Read more

• Green party drops longstanding opposition to nuclear power

  05-10-2026 17:53 via theguardian.com
  Party in England and Wales ditches commitment to phase out nuclear in major shift in its energy policyGreen party members have voted to end the party’s opposition to nuclear power, dropping a commitment to phase out the technology in a major shift in its energy policy.The motion, adopted at conference, removes a “blanket opposition to nuclear fission” and instead commits the Green party of England and Wales to assessing nuclear projects alongside other low-carbon technologies.
  
  Read more

• Snakes, bobcats, mountain lions: the secret animal world beneath the Hollywood sign

  05-10-2026 16:00 via theguardian.com
  An international symbol for the city, the sign is also hallmark of the region’s environmental richnessAtop Mount Lee, in the heart of Los Angeles, the wind is quiet. Two red-tailed hawks sail above, barely flapping as they coast the thermal air like surfers on a wave. Standing beside the giant letters of the Hollywood sign, the city seems peaceful. On a clear day, blocks and blocks of homes unfold beneath and the skies reveal sights all the way to Catalina Island – 10 miles out, acro
  
  Read more

• Mixed start for pre-Cop as just two non-Pacific leaders accept Australian invitation to climate summit

  05-10-2026 11:52 via theguardian.com
  Anthony Albanese joins about 4,000 people in Fiji for preparatory meeting for year-ending Cop31 UN climate summitSign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter hereThe Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has declared it is “important that Pacific voices are heard” after landing in Fiji on Monday to attend his first UN climate summit since becoming prime minister more than four years ago.Albanese joined about 4,000 people in Nadi for
  
  Read more

• Revealed: the methane mega-leaks from UN climate summit host Turkey

  05-10-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: Cop31 leader calling for global curbs on climate-heating gas has landfills producing some of world’s worst plumesTwo or three nights each week, the smell descends. Residents of villages on the rural outskirts of Istanbul don’t know what the smell is, but they have been plagued by it for years: a smell so bad they have to sleep with their windows closed even during hot summer nights. They know the source, too: the huge Silivri municipal waste dump a few miles away that is b
  
  Read more

• Country diary: Lave net fishing is a tradition in trouble | Gwyneth Lewis

  05-10-2026 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Portskewett, Monmouthshire: For hundreds of years this has been a method of catching salmon in the Severn’s churning waters. I visit one of the few fishermen still goingEvery time I cross the new Severn Bridge leaving Wales, I check the state of the tide, using a buoy in the middle of the channel. I learned to sail in these cocoa-coloured waters of the Bristol Channel, with its ferocious tidal range (the distance between low and high water) the second highest in the world. You can’t
  
  Read more

• To cull or not to cull: Greenland debates fate of world’s slowest shark

  05-10-2026 06:00 via theguardian.com
  As trawlers compete with Greenland sharks for halibut and cod, conservationists and fishers clash over what to do about misunderstood species‘When I accidentally catch a shark, I bring it to my dogs,” Henrik Jensen, a 27-year-old from Greenland’s west coast, says casually. “I don’t let it back down because [the sharks] bully me and cut my lines.”Jensen has fished for halibut in Ilulissat, Greenland’s third largest town, for a decade. He works an hour nor
  
  Read more

• Tories to pledge to scrap Environment Agency and Natural England

  04-10-2026 23:00 via theguardian.com
  Shadow chancellor will also promise to scrap affordable homes regulations as part of strategy to refocus on growthThe Conservatives will announce a bonfire of regulations including abolishing affordable homes and community funding rules as well as scrapping Natural England and the Environment Agency.The shadow chancellor, Andrew Griffith, will say the party intends to “streamline regulations” that protect nature and oblige developers to include affordable homes and community services
  
  Read more

Follow @UK_Environment on Twitter!