Environment news

• How birds are coping in the heatwave

  16-07-2026 07:00
  Birds are unable to sweat but they keep cool by seeking shade and bathingAs we humans sweltered in the record-breaking late June heatwave, we might not have spared much thought on how birds were coping.Unlike us, birds are unable to sweat, so instead they have evolved other ways to avoid overheating. These include seeking shade beneath trees, bushes and hedgerows, spreading their wings to allow cooler air to circulate around their body, and opening their bills to cool down, the same as dogs do w
  
  Read more

• The rising cost of Australian ski resorts: ‘It was like throwing $100 bills out the window as we drove up the mountain’

  17-07-2026 17:00
  Australia experienced a boom in beginner-friendly skiing in the 1980s and 1990s. But have global heating and rising lift prices ended that run?Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastMount Hotham was like a second home to Dan Burke. In the 1980s, his family stayed in the communal lodges, back when the lifts were run by the Schumann family, who lived in Harrietville at the mountain’s base and knew regulars by name. He’d sneak into nightclubs with the teenagers who w
  
  Read more

• Southern Water fined £7m after illegally dumping sewage off Kent coast

  17-07-2026 16:56
  Firm pleaded guilty to 13 offences over discharges at Margate and Broadstairs wastewater pumping stationsSouthern Water has been fined more than £7m after illegally dumping sewage off the Kent coast between 2019 and 2021.The company, described by the judge as having a “record of criminality” that was “an exceptionally serious aggravating factor”, pleaded guilty to 13 offences at Medway magistrates court last April over sewage discharges at Margate and Broadstairs wa
  
  Read more

• Help, my sofa is killing me! The toxic chemicals hiding in your home – and how to avoid them

  17-07-2026 16:00
  From mattresses to saucepans, scientists offer tweaks to help detoxify your spaceThe problem Whenever we burn anything inside our homes, we cause indoor air pollution, whether we’re cooking using gas, frying bacon, lighting a wood burner, an open fire, a cigarette or incense, or ruining the toast. “ We spend 80-90% of our time indoors,” says Prof Francis Pope, chair of atmospheric science at the University of Birmingham. “And there is potential to have quite high co
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Biodiversity fears as human-bred hybrid fish integrate into Philippines lake

  17-07-2026 16:00
  Escaped flowerhorn cichlids are causing concern for native species and about parasites capable of infecting humansEscaped ornamental aquarium fish have integrated into a local ecosystem in the Philippines, but scientists say they may be threatening the native biodiversity of the lake.Flowerhorn cichlids – human-bred hybrid fish prized for their bright-gold colour and prominent head humps – are believed to have escaped from breeding facilities into Lake Sampaloc, which sits in a volca
  
  Read more

• Jackdaw gasfield would create only 27 direct full-time jobs, documents show

  17-07-2026 14:30
  Campaigners say field will bring minimal benefit for UK economy, as industry lobbies Burnham for go-aheadMore people can fit on to the top deck of a standard London bus than will be directly employed on the new Jackdaw gasfield in the North Sea, industry documents show.Only 27 direct full-time jobs would be created by Jackdaw, one of the biggest gasfields remaining in the North Sea, according to an environmental impact assessment filed publicly by its owner, Adura, a joint venture between Shell
  
  Read more

• California braces for its sharkiest summer in a decade – but experts say don’t panic

  17-07-2026 12:00
  
  Young great white sharks are returning in large numbers, but researchers say humans are not on the menuSurfers, swimmers and fishermen across California will be sharing the waves with an influx of visitors this summer: young great white sharks.Juvenile white sharks are already appearing along the coastline, fleeing warmer than usual waters in Mexico during what’s expected to be an incredibly strong El Niño. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Weather tracker: Thunderstorms strike across Europe amid record heatwave

  17-07-2026 10:35
  
  Storms are typical during intense heat but this week’s have been extreme. Plus, deadly monsoon rains in BangladeshHailstones the size of golf balls have been seen in French villages as, on top of the exceptional European heatwave, thunderstorms have struck across parts of Europe.While thunderstorms are typical during and after a period of extreme heat, the storms across countries such as France, Germany and Poland have been particularly severe, bringing flooding, strong winds and heavy sho
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Week in wildlife: a stuck raccoon, a hardy mouse and a well-camouflaged wildcat

  17-07-2026 09:00
  This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• ‘Forever chemicals’ – the national cancer scandal brewing in a Lancashire town

  17-07-2026 08:00
  In this week’s newsletter: residents living near a chemical factory are the latest community concerned about the health and environmental impact of Pfas contamination• Don’t get Down to Earth delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereResidents within a kilometre of the AGC Chemicals Europe factory in Thornton-Cleveleys in the north of England, have found themselves at the centre of what is quickly becoming a national scandal.In 2024, the UK Environment Agency and the local authority
  
  Read more

• Country diary: A magical encounter with a ‘fairy bird’ not seen here for 30 years | Mary Montague

  17-07-2026 06:30
  Annagh Marsh, County Mayo, Ireland: I hold my breath as I watch a red-necked phalarope darting about, tweezering food. Without habitat restoration, it wouldn’t be hereOn a sunny morning a few weeks ago, Dave Suddaby, the reserves manager with the conservation organisation BirdWatch Ireland, led me across the machair to where the fairy birds were nesting in Annagh Marsh. “Fairy bird” is the name given to the red-necked phalarope by the Irish naturalist Robert Lloyd Praeger after
  
  Read more

• As the UK and Europe battle deadly wildfires, what lessons can Australia offer?

  17-07-2026 06:00
  Knowledge learned over more than a century in Australia is being tested by worsening fires. It’s a familiar narrative around the worldThe violent hot red flames of deadly wildfires across the UK and Europe and scenes of panicked communities fleeing homes could not, at least geographically, be further away for Jan Harris.But sitting in her new home at Reedy Swamp in rural New South Wales in Australia, the 67-year-old has found herself in tears. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• ‘We are waiting with bated breath’: experts alarmed as BoM says gathering El Niño could be strongest on record

  17-07-2026 01:56
  Most Australian capital cities have at least 80% chance of unusually warm and dry spring as climatologists watch developing system with increasing alarmFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe El Niño climate phenomenon linked to record global temperatures and now locked in place in the Pacific Ocean could develop into the strongest on record, according to Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology.Climatologists are
  
  Read more

• UK heatwave approaches two-week mark

  17-07-2026 01:28 via bbc.co.uk
  
  All UK nations have experienced recent heatwave conditions but in southern England, the heatwave has now continued for 13 days. Sarah Keith-Lucas looks at how unusual this spell of heat is, and when we might see it easing.
  
  Read more

• At least one dead in Texas floods ravaging same area where campers died

  17-07-2026 00:08 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The same area devastated by floods last year's floods, which caused more than 130 deaths, is once again being hit.
  
  Read more

• Leaky pipes may explain years-long bay pollution

  16-07-2026 22:16 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Environment Agency has rated Cullercoat's water quality as "poor" since 2018.
  
  Read more

• Buzz off: this pop-up screen shelter provides a safe retreat from bugs and mosquitoes

  16-07-2026 21:15
  I tried repellents, mesh hats and natural remedies, but this inexpensive screen tent beats them all to keep insects outThis $380 foldable kayak fits in my Prius and goes from backseat to lake in 10 minutesSign up for the Filter US newsletter, your weekly guide to buying fewer, better thingsWhen I lived in Arizona, I used to think mosquitoes were a minor annoyance. Then I moved to Nova Scotia.Blanketed with lakes, rivers and streams, Canada’s east coast is also thick with mosquitoes, biting
  
  Read more

• Watch: Flood waters surge in Texas after huge rainstorms

  16-07-2026 18:45 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The deluge prompted evacuations and water rescues in the same region where 25 children and two counsellors at Camp Mystic died in flooding in 2025.
  
  Read more

• What does an air purifier do and can it help with wildfire smoke?

  16-07-2026 18:27
  As wildfires burn in Canada and parts of the US, air purifiers can be useful when the air outside is unhealthyWith smoke from wildfires in Canada and Minnesota spreading across the US, more than 20 states have issued air quality alerts. Local leaders urged people to stay inside as “unhealthy” air quality levels affected the US midwest and north-east.For several decades, air quality in the US was trending up by many measures. Data indicated that fine, inhalable airborne particulate ma
  
  Read more

• When will it rain again in the UK?

  16-07-2026 18:13 via bbc.co.uk
  
  July has been very dry so when will it rain again in the UK?
  
  Read more

• What to know about the Canadian and US wildfires and their impact

  16-07-2026 18:08 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Wildfires in Ontario have blanketed US and Canadian cities with dangerous smoke.
  
  Read more

• Nature reserve declared to coincide with King's visit

  16-07-2026 17:50 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A stretch of sand dunes will receive the highest statutory protections as a national nature reserve.
  
  Read more

• Watch: What we know about newly discovered monkey species

  16-07-2026 16:50 via bbc.co.uk
  
  New monkey species hailed as 'amazing discovery' by conservationist.
  
  Read more

• New monkey species a 'fascinating discovery', study lead says

  16-07-2026 16:30 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A monkey found in the forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo has been confirmed as a new specie.
  
  Read more

• Volunteer firefighter suspected of starting devastating France forest fire

  16-07-2026 14:44 via bbc.co.uk
  
  President Macron said there would be no leniency for arsonists, as France - along with much of Europe - deals with a series of unusual heatwaves.
  
  Read more

• Extreme weather in the UK is the 'new normal'

  16-07-2026 14:02 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Sarah Keith-Lucas details five things you need to know about how the UK climate has changed.
  
  Read more

• 'Complete extermination' of greys is the only way to protect red squirrels

  16-07-2026 13:58 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A grey squirrel control officer says there is no other option to trapping and killing the greys after a number of cases of squirrelpox were confirmed in the Borders.
  
  Read more

• Revealed: how Europe’s most powerful farming lobby killed EU’s pesticide law

  16-07-2026 13:00
  Exclusive: High-level documents show how Copa Cogeca worked to weaken legislation to protect climate and wildlifeEurope live – latest updatesNewly revealed documents from inside the most powerful farming lobby in Europe show how it delayed, gutted and overturned some of the most sweeping farming reforms in EU history, including a plan to cut pesticide use in half.Copa Cogeca describes itself as the voice of 22 million farmers across the continent, and enjoys unrivalled access to EU lawmake
  
  Read more

• Emergencies on planet Earth: images from the climate crisis – in pictures

  16-07-2026 08:00
  From fierce flooding and escaped pigs to birds that can’t fly due to the weight of plastic in their stomachs, mankind’s biggest challenges are on stark display at Summit Photo 2026 Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Country diary: From the beech trees of home to the hot Surrey Hills | Virginia Spiers

  16-07-2026 06:30
  St Dominic, Cornwall, to Reigate: Along the way, this nervous passenger passes rolling downlands of cereals, Stonehenge, and of course, lorries loaded up with strawAt the start of the second heatwave, we visit Jack’s twin and her family in Surrey. From our landmark clump of beech loaded with mast, the car brushes through lanes of rampant deciduous growth woven with bedstraw, honeysuckle and incipient fruits of bramble. Our neighbour’s cut and cleared hayfield overlooks luminous flowe
  
  Read more

Follow @UK_Environment on Twitter!