Environment news

• How citizen science is tracking changes in shorelines around the world

  23-10-2026 07:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  
  An app and a camera phone are all that’s needed at more than 200 spots to help researchers monitor coastal areasThe shoreline changes with the weather. Tracking these changes over time is a labour-intensive task, and an army of citizen scientists with camera phones is a great asset.The CoastSnap project started in Australia in 2017 and has spread to beaches worldwide. You may have spotted the setup while out walking along the coast: a cradle to rest your phone on while taking a picture and a s
  
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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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• UK government met 137 businesses over AI datacentres – but no environmental groups

  27-10-2026 08:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  Investigation finds dozens of ministers and civil servants moved into AI roles as government developed datacentre expansion plansThe UK’s policy on datacentres and AI was developed without any meetings with environmental groups, an investigation has found.The nonprofit organisation Spotlight on Corruption said a “considerable revolving door” shaped the government’s development of “AI growth zones”, a central plank of the former prime minister Keir Starmer’s AI and economic policy,
  
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• The pest I’ll never forget: the rats stood six or seven deep on the lawn beside my dormitory

  27-10-2026 08:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  All it took was one or two careless teenage girls giving the vermin a taste of their snacks and they became the most well-fed animals imaginableI’ve written a fair amount about my boarding school years in Nigeria in the 90s, but never about the rats that accompanied my school experience. Picture it: thousands of girls from across the country, each bearing a suitcase or two of a term’s worth of “provisions” – cornflakes, sugar cubes, powdered milk, hot chocolate powder, and so on. All i
  
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• Burnham in danger of sleepwalking into climate disaster, say campaigners

  27-10-2026 08:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  Letter to PM argues series of wrong choices on North Sea oil, Heathrow, EVs and heat pumps will scupper net zero plansAndy Burnham will “sleepwalk” into climate disaster if he fails to get a grip on a series of important policies whose combined impact could scupper plans to reach net zero, campaigners have said.Big decisions on North Sea drilling, the expansion of Heathrow airport, electric vehicles (EVs) and grants for heat pumps are awaiting decisions from ministers. Continue reading...
  
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• Country diary: Our tiny island is awash with waxcaps | Tim Earl

  27-10-2026 06:30 via Environment | The Guardian
  Calf of Man, Isle of Man: Such is the wealth of Manx fungi, a map is being built to plot it all. We took a special trip as part of that projectThe bird observatory on the Calf of Man was sulking under a low cloud base as we stepped ashore at South Harbour. The dank mist was perfect for our surprise visit to the island, as it was not for the birds we had come across, but fungi – in particular, waxcaps.My wife, Liz, and I had taken the chance to accompany Nev Kilkenny, a visiting mycologist, who
  
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• Super-rich get ‘double dividend’ from causes and costs of climate crisis, report finds

  27-10-2026 06:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  
  Oxfam says investing by rich in disaster recovery widens inequality and gives incentive to delay climate actionThe world’s wealthiest people are not just profiting from the polluting causes of climate breakdown, they are also increasingly cashing in on the catastrophic consequences, according to a study by Oxfam.The global equality organisation has found that the richest 0.1% of the world’s population are heavily invested in disaster preparedness, recovery and reconstruction – a market tha
  
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• New weather warnings as third storm set to hit Scotland

  27-10-2026 00:00 via BBC News
  
  The country is braced for the third storm in as many days as communities continue to clean up after the weekend.
  
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• Storm Boelo leaves 22,000 without power as Met Office issues new wind warning

  26-10-2026 23:43 via BBC News
  
  A yellow warning for strong winds came in effect at 18:00 on Monday across the west coast of England, Wales and Scotland and eastern parts of Northern Ireland.
  
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• 'Safety first' as wedding guests stranded on island after Storm Boelo

  26-10-2026 19:09 via BBC News
  
  Wedding guests at an island in County Fermanagh were left stranded due to the storm.
  
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• Political battle intensifies within Labour over Rosebank oil field

  26-10-2026 19:09 via BBC News
  
  Scottish Labour leader Michael Marra is urging the energy secretary to approve the controversial plans.
  
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• Part of Antarctica named after former BBC science correspondent

  26-10-2026 15:54 via BBC News
  
  A stretch of water in the west of the continent is now called the Amos Channel after the ex-BBC journalist.
  
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• UK looking to give carmakers incentives to turn EVs into ‘power plants on wheels’

  26-10-2026 14:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  V2G tech enables drivers to charge automatically when electricity is cheaper and then sell some back to the grid at times of high demandBusiness live – latest updatesElectric cars that can be used as “power plants on wheels” could be given government backing as part of plans under consideration to help UK manufacturers.Ministers are considering giving manufacturers incentives to add “vehicle to grid” (V2G) technology to cars as part of its review of the zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mand
  
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• Sunlight at night: US startup’s demonstration of lighting Earth from space draws criticism

  26-10-2026 13:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  Company imitates reflection of sun from mirrors, prompting pushback from some scientists, environmentalists and California localsLocals in a rural area of California were recently startled to see dazzlingly bright light shining down from nearby mountains at night, illuminating a swathe of the desert below.Unbeknown to them, the strange nocturnal illumination was the latest step in a company’s plan to erect thousands of giant mirrors in space to reflect sunlight on to the Earth during night-tim
  
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• Sunlight at night: US startup’s demonstration of lighting Earth from space draws critcism

  26-10-2026 13:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  Company imitates reflection of sun from mirrors, prompting pushback from some scientists, environmentalists and California localsLocals in a rural area of California were recently startled to see dazzlingly bright light shining down from nearby mountains at night, illuminating a swathe of the desert below.Unbeknown to them, the strange nocturnal illumination was the latest step in a company’s plan to erect thousands of giant mirrors in space to reflect sunlight on to the Earth during night-tim
  
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• Stunning photos capture October's Hunter's Moon around the world

  26-10-2026 12:27 via BBC News
  
  October's full Moon, nicknamed the Hunter's Moon, lit up the night sky this weekend.
  
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• Storm Boelo clears but more wind and rain bear down on UK

  26-10-2026 12:21 via BBC News
  
  Another area of low pressure will pass close to the north-west UK with a Met Office yellow wind warning issued for Tuesday.
  
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• What do we still need to know about the Tyne nurdle spill?

  26-10-2026 12:01 via BBC News
  
  The spill of 18 tonnes of plastic pellets happened in July but there is still a lot we do not know.
  
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• Plans to create a wildflower meadow take shape

  26-10-2026 07:33 via BBC News
  
  Fairstead Recreation Ground is being planted with wildflowers to benefit insects and pollinators.
  
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• Weary driver creates AI 'litter-tracking dashcam'

  26-10-2026 07:18 via BBC News
  
  Robin Bennett says he created the app after getting frustrated by the amount of rubbish beside roads
  
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• The dump detectives on the trail of the fly-tippers

  26-10-2026 07:09 via BBC News
  
  The BBC joins environmental enforcement officers as they sift through illegally-dumped waste for clues.
  
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• Fire-hit nature reserve 'will never be the same'

  26-10-2026 07:03 via BBC News
  
  Three months on from a devastating wildfire, the RSPB says it will take 20 years to recover.
  
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• Country diary: Jackdaws carve up the sky as dusk descends on the moors | Richard Smyth

  26-10-2026 06:30 via Environment | The Guardian
  Eldwick Crag, West Yorkshire: In the low light and the high wind, these corvids are preparing to roost for the night. And they seem to be enjoying themselvesJackdaws like blustery weather the same way dolphins love choppy seas. There are faster flyers and more graceful flyers, but I can’t think of a bird that just enjoys flying as much as a jackdaw does. They bob and bank and yaw and wheel. And right now it’s roosting time in the copse above the quarry.A jackdaw roost – or rather the prelu
  
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• Two men killed by falling trees as Storm Boelo leaves 90,000 properties without power

  26-10-2026 05:41 via BBC News
  
  An amber wind warning has now expired after severe weather sweeps across the UK.
  
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• From agriculture to AI-griculture: How tech is changing farming

  26-10-2026 01:13 via BBC News
  
  From remote monitoring of cattle to automation of processes that took up valuable time, farmers in NI are rapidly becoming skilled in technology.
  
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• Majority of homes in NI have power restored after Storm Boelo

  26-10-2026 00:53 via BBC News
  
  Northern Ireland Electricity Networks (NIE) said around 12,500 properties were without power at one stage.
  
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