Environment news

• Ghost water, poor planning and theft: how the Murray-Darling plan fell apart

  04-04-2018 20:00
  More than five years and $9bn since the basin plan began, the Murray-Darling river system is in crisis. In a series of in-depth features and articles this week, Guardian Australia will explore what’s gone wrongKate McBride stands on the banks of the Lower Darling river as it flows past her family property, Tolarno, south of Menindee in New South Wales. She surveys the stagnating waterholes that were once a river. They are turning an alarming shade of chartreuse, thanks to blue-green algae.
  
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• Dangerous temperatures forecast for parts of Europe as heatwave moves east

  29-06-2026 17:49
  Red warnings issued in Hungary, Poland, Romania and the Balkans, with authorities urging people to stay indoorsParts of central, eastern and southern Europe sweltered on Monday as the “heat dome” behind last week’s record-breaking temperatures shifted east, bringing dangerous conditions to a new swathe of the continent.Budapest is forecast to exceed 40C on Tuesday, according to models from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘Literally growing the future’: volunteers help save Scottish rainforest by collecting 11m seeds

  29-06-2026 16:06
  
  Teams painstakingly combed endangered Atlantic habitat over several years, helping to grow 8m native treesA small band of volunteers has helped to grow nearly 8m native trees in Scotland, crucial to efforts to restore lost parts of the Atlantic rainforest, after collecting 11m seeds by hand.About 100 volunteers, including retired teachers and doctors, office workers and young families, have spent tens of thousands of hours venturing into often remote woods in the western Highlands and islands to
  
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• Park strife: Delhi’s historic polo club becomes a battlefield for the city’s fate

  29-06-2026 11:00
  Opposition is mounting to the government’s requisition of two of the last green spaces in India’s overheated capital For decades, the social highlight of winters in Delhi for the “beautiful people” was the polo season. A sprinkling of royalty and diplomats, impeccably groomed women in pearls and chiffon saris, along with wealthy industrialists sporting silk pocket squares used to gather to watch polo players compete under the mild, balmy sun.They cheered on handsome playe
  
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• ‘It’s open green space versus construction’: Delhi’s historic polo club and the battle for the city’s future

  29-06-2026 11:00
  The government’s requisition of a historic green space has ignited a fierce debate about air quality and heat stress in India’s scorching capitalFor decades, the social highlight of winters in Delhi for the “beautiful people” was the polo season. A sprinkling of royalty and diplomats, impeccably groomed women in pearls and chiffon saris, along with wealthy industrialists sporting silk pocket squares used to gather to watch polo players compete under the mild, balmy sun.Th
  
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• New campaign urges public to reduce water use as UK emerges from heatwave

  29-06-2026 09:00
  Exclusive: £75m publicity drive will ask people to treat water as precious resource and cut daily use by 28 litresThe biggest ever campaign to encourage the public to reduce their water use will launch this week, as the UK emerges from record temperatures attributed to the climate crisis.The £75m publicity drive, called Let’s Save Water, will advise and encourage people to treat water as a precious resource and has a target for everyone to cut their daily use by 28 litres &ndas
  
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• Not just for rich people: the progressive case for air conditioning | Phineas Harper

  29-06-2026 07:00
  Air conditioning can bring significant benefits but also real harms. The answer is for it to take its place alongside a comprehensive state plan for climate adaptationAs Britain reels from Europe’s worst ever heatwave, many households are, for the first time, seriously considering air conditioning. Leftists have often been critical of AC, pointing out that there are cheaper, more ecological ways to combat severe heat. But with decades of underinvestment leaving the UK dismally unprepared t
  
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• Country diary: There’s no blackbird song like the one on my street | Josie George

  29-06-2026 06:30
  Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire: With summer’s great silence coming, we must enjoy the birdsong while we can – as I have done with my local conifer croonerI have two summer earworms right now. The first is O Sole Mio, the jingle of our local ice-cream van, the second is a particular phrase that our resident blackbird keeps singing. Four notes, moving down the scale but ending slightly on the minor: that’s his party piece, delivered after a jazzy performance that includes dozens o
  
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• ‘We’re up against forces that have all the money in the world’: Erin Brockovich on her battle against AI datacentres

  29-06-2026 06:00
  In 1993, she squeezed a $333m settlement from a Californian energy company in a scandal over contaminated water. Three decades later, she has a new target in her sights – and it’s globalWhen Erin Brockovich woke to find 30 emails from people from the same town, she realised something was going on. People email Brockovich all the time because of what happened in 1993, when she was instrumental in suing Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) on behalf of residents of the town of H
  
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• Germany, Czechia, Poland and Hungary swelter through hottest days on record

  28-06-2026 19:10
  Heat records of over 40C set as extreme weather spreads east, with more than 191m in Europe enduring 35C or above‘A sad inevitability’: after decades of climate warnings, why is Europe so unprepared for rising heat?Germany, Czechia, Poland and Hungary reached record temperatures of more than 40C on Sunday as a heatwave linked to hundreds of deaths in western Europe spread east.More than 191 million people in Europe faced temperatures of at least 35C, with extreme heat warnings across
  
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• Temperature records tumble across Europe as heatwave moves east

  28-06-2026 13:24
  More than 191m people in Europe face temperatures over 35C, with extreme heat warnings from Germany to Hungary‘A sad inevitability’: after decades of climate warnings, why is Europe so unprepared for rising heat?Poland, Czechia and Slovakia are braced for record temperatures of over 40C as a heatwave linked to hundreds of deaths in western Europe spreads east.More than 191 million people in Europe faced temperatures of at least 35C on Sunday, with extreme heat warnings in Germany, Cz
  
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• More European nations brace for 40C-plus conditions as heatwave moves east

  28-06-2026 13:24
  More than 191m people in Europe face temperatures over 35C, with extreme heat warnings from Germany to Hungary‘A sad inevitability’: after decades of climate warnings, why is Europe so unprepared for rising heat?Poland, Czechia and Slovakia are braced for record temperatures of over 40C as a heatwave linked to hundreds of deaths in western Europe spreads east.More than 191 million people in Europe faced temperatures of at least 35C on Sunday, with extreme heat warnings in Germany, Cz
  
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• Ed Miliband as chancellor would benefit every part of the UK – and the bond markets | Josh Ryan-Collins

  28-06-2026 13:06
  
  If Andy Burnham chooses the energy secretary, Labour could fully use the benefits of net zero to promote growth and jobsIt should have been a great week for Ed Miliband and his mission to decarbonise the UK economy. Western Europe has experienced one of its worst ever heatwaves, providing powerful evidence of the need to transition away from fossil-fuel-driven energy production to reduce the carbon emissions that are contributing to global heating.Instead, however, he has been attacked by an unh
  
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• ‘British food will disappear’: trade deal after Brexit is hitting UK farmers hard

  28-06-2026 13:00
  
  Home-grown food may become a niche product for wealthy in our supermarkets as British farmers’ incomes plummetFor Liz Webster, who farms 647 hectares (1600 acres) in Wiltshire, south west England, the latest impact of Brexit has been particularly brutal. About £400 per animal has been wiped off the price she can get for her beef cattle, a hefty blow at a time when all the inputs – feed, energy, fertiliser – are going through the roof.The fall in price, on livestock that t
  
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• Rising cost of insuring against climate crisis will have wider knock-on effects for UK economy | Heather Stewart

  28-06-2026 11:34
  As extreme weather events become more common, economists say government will need to take more active role to protect consumersAnyone attempting to notch up a productive day’s work in the searing heat of southern England this last week was left in little doubt about the impact of extreme weather.But the economic effects of the climate crisis for the UK are not confined to the many hours lost to quietly perspiring – or fetching kids dismissed early from scorching classrooms. Continue
  
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• Rising cost of insuring against climate crisis will have wider knock-on effects for UK economy

  28-06-2026 11:34
  As extreme weather events become more common, economists say government will need to take more active role to protect consumersAnyone attempting to notch up a productive day’s work in the searing heat of southern England this last week was left in little doubt about the impact of extreme weather.But the economic effects of the climate crisis for the UK are not confined to the many hours lost to quietly perspiring – or fetching kids dismissed early from scorching classrooms. Continue
  
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• The last continent: how deadly bird flu travelled the world before landing on a remote Australian beach

  27-06-2026 22:00
  The H5N1 virus has now reached every continent on the planet. What does it mean for some of the world’s unique species?Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThis article contains images of dead wildlife. Reader discretion is advisedIt was a rough five-day sail from the Falkland Islands and, as the science expedition approached the South Georgia coast, they found fur seal carcasses floating on the water. “There were these moments when it would hit us,” says
  
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• Is the Northern Territory a ‘mini Trump-style’ government?

  27-06-2026 22:00
  The CLP’s ‘tough on crime’, pro-development agenda brings sweeping changes, which advocates say cut the NT’s most vulnerable out of the conversationFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Northern Territory is out of sight – and often out of mind – for many Australians. But for 18 months, environment, First Nations, justice and family groups have been sounding the alarm with increasin
  
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• Is the Northern Territory a ‘mini Trump-style government’?

  27-06-2026 22:00
  The CLP’s ‘tough on crime’, pro-development agenda brings sweeping changes, which advocates say cut the NT’s most vulnerable out of the conversationGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Northern Territory is out of sight – and often out of mind – for many Australians. But for 18 months, environment, First Nations, justice and family groups have been sounding the alarm with increasing urgency.The populist, “tough on crime” a
  
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• Germany and Italy swelter in heatwave as records tumble across Europe

  27-06-2026 17:08
  Denmark experiences highest temperature on record on Saturday as weather system spreads eastwardEurope heatwave – latest updatesGermany ⁠and Italy endured sweltering conditions on Saturday as a heatwave linked to dozens of deaths in western Europe spread eastwards, after temperatures broke records above 40C (104F).Denmark registered its highest temperature on record on Saturday, according to the Danish meteorological institute. “With 36.6C north of Odense, we have the warmest d
  
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• Europe heatwave live: drought fears in Italy, records broken in Slovakia and Denmark, major roads buckle in Germany

  27-06-2026 15:49
  Forecasters say hottest conditions spreading into central and eastern EuropeAfter decades of climate warnings, why is Europe so unprepared for rising heat?Seawater is seeping into Italy’s longest river as the waterway starts to run dry in the heatwave, hitting a farming heartland that produces the milk for Parmesan cheese.The Po River has never fallen this low so early in the year, raising fears of a devastating drought in July in this corner of northern Italy. Continue reading...
  
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• Europe heatwave live: drought fears in Italy, records broken in Slovakia and Denmark, and 700 flights delayed in England

  27-06-2026 14:52
  Forecasters say hottest conditions spreading into central and eastern EuropeAfter decades of climate warnings, why is Europe so unprepared for rising heat?Seawater is seeping into Italy’s longest river as the waterway starts to run dry in the heatwave, hitting a farming heartland that produces the milk for Parmesan cheese.The Po River has never fallen this low so early in the year, raising fears of a devastating drought in July in this corner of northern Italy. Continue reading...
  
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• Europe heatwave live: Germany braced for temperatures ‘well over 40C’; extreme heat warnings for England

  27-06-2026 13:50
  Forecasters say hottest conditions spreading into central and eastern EuropeAfter decades of climate warnings, why is Europe so unprepared for rising heat?Seawater is seeping into Italy’s longest river as the waterway starts to run dry in the heatwave, hitting a farming heartland that produces the milk for Parmesan cheese.The Po River has never fallen this low so early in the year, raising fears of a devastating drought in July in this corner of northern Italy. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘A sad inevitability’: after decades of climate warnings, why is Europe so unprepared for rising heat?

  27-06-2026 13:00
  Scorching summer of 2003 triggered first efforts to deal with the problem but heatwaves still have devastating impactOn Wednesday, Pierre Masselot received a text from his daughter’s nursery – less than 50 miles from the weather station that was the first this week to break the UK June temperature record – asking parents to collect children early because the school buildings were about to get worryingly hot.Similar scenes were repeated across Europe this week as the continent s
  
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• Young country diary: Our outdoor learning highlight – making a den in the woods

  27-06-2026 12:00
  Edinburgh: As we are visually impaired, we love to appreciate the sounds and smell of the woodland. This time it had been raining, so we could smell the wet groundOur school, the Royal Blind school, Sight Scotland, is across the road from the Astley Ainslie hospital. The hospital gardens are open to the public and have over 2,000 trees, and sometimes we go to there for outdoor learning lessons with Margon, who helps us learn about the outdoors.Recently we went to a wooded area to make a den for
  
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• Are we in for a summer of serial heatwaves?

  27-06-2026 05:16 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Forecasters have suggested that summer is likely to be warmer than average with an increased chance of more heatwaves, as Simon King explains.
  
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• Snow and ice on Swiss glaciers melting at alarming rate amid heatwave, expert says

  27-06-2026 04:50
  
  Accumulation on Switzerland’s glaciers from last winter expected to all be gone by Monday amid ‘enormous’ melt rates across AlpsSwiss glaciers are set to lose an enormous amount of ice due to the heatwave battering Europe, according to the head of Glacier Monitoring in Switzerland (Glamos).The snow and ice accumulated last winter by Switzerland’s glaciers is expected to have all melted away by Monday, marking the alarming second-earliest arrival on record of the tipping p
  
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• Weekend to bring cooldown after record-breaking heatwave

  27-06-2026 02:21 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The record-breaking heatwave is set to end with cooler and more unsettled weather bySunday.
  
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• Breaking it down: how to limit the environmental impact of your body after death

  27-06-2026 02:00
  From cardboard coffins and natural burials to water-based cremation, Australians are increasingly open to alternative farewells – but the key is to planChange by degrees offers life hacks and sustainable living tips each Saturday to help reduce your household’s carbon footprintGot a question or tip for reducing household emissions? Email us at [email protected] may seem small among the decisions people have to make as they face the end of their life, but what happens
  
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• Future generations being failed if more trees not planted, experts say

  26-06-2026 23:07 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Statistics show the number of trees being planted is increasing, but conservationists say it is not meeting targets.
  
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