Environment news

• How to watch the solar eclipse safely

  11-08-2026 16:08 via bbc.co.uk
  
  People should take precautions while witnessing the "amazing celestial event", an expert says.
  
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• Inglorious Twelfth? Calls for grouse season to be banned to prevent wildfires and peatland damage

  12-08-2026 14:19 via theguardian.com
  
  As London restaurants say wild birds are smaller and fewer this year, experts say countryside should not be ‘playground for bloodsports’Every year on 12 August, fans of traditional British cuisine flock to plush restaurants in Mayfair to dine on grouse served with bread sauce and game chips.But those hoping to find the small wild birds, sourced from the UK’s moorlands, may be disappointed. Wildfires have been raging on moors across the UK, burning habitats and incinerating wild
  
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• Humpbacks return to Rio: the whales are back from the brink of extinction – but will tourism help or hinder?

  12-08-2026 14:00 via theguardian.com
  The gigantic aquatic acrobats are exciting Brazil’s tourists as numbers recover from whaling. But some marine biologists question how booming tourism and conservation can coexistThe anticipation is palpable onboard the Boaventura II as the yacht sets off from Rio de Janeiro at sunrise. Once beyond the Cagarras Islands, rocky outcrops just three miles off Ipanema beach, the group gathers at the bow and starts scanning the horizon.They do not have to wait long. “Eleven o’clock!&r
  
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• ‘Like an alien invasion’: the neon flying squid that can fly in formation above the ocean

  12-08-2026 13:00 via theguardian.com
  Smart, sociable squid use funnel-like organ to force water to jet propel themselves along in and out of seaOn a research vessel 15 years ago, a group of Japanese scientists documented something that had only previously been described by startled sailors to disbelieving listeners. They saw a formation of squid flying through the air.The shoal of about 100 squid rose unexpectedly from a patch of the Pacific Ocean around 370 miles from Tokyo and glided near the boat for about 30 metres. The astonis
  
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• I was enjoying growing vegetables. Then the climate crisis raised its ugly head | Bim Adewunmi

  12-08-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  My child and I were bonding over our hit-and-miss approach to reaping crops. But with heatwaves pushing more of Britain into drought, it’s starting to feel like a luxury we can’t affordFor the first time in my life, I live in a home that has real outdoor space. What a concept! There are no downsides to a garden. Back in spring, I made grand plans – I watched all the TikToks, I bought seeds and trays and pots and grow bags, I ordered soil, a trowel and a watering can. I knew wha
  
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• Just 20 of 6,600 Defra staff working on climate adaptation amid drought and wildfires

  12-08-2026 11:36 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: England ‘desperately unprepared’ for effects of crisis including water shortages and heatwavesUK heatwave live – latest updatesJust 20 staff are working on climate adaptation within a key government department tasked with protecting the environment and maintaining food security, a freedom of information request has revealed.The officials make up 0.3% of staff within the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘It’s been a revelation’: how heat pumps can cool your home in a heatwave

  12-08-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  It might seem an unlikely way to stop overheating, but many owners have found the tech a lifeline in hot weather“If it is 35C outdoors, I can get the temperature down to 21C,” says Andrew Ingram of the sanctuary that his living room has provided this summer.“On the nights I’ve slept in there, you have to put your thick pyjamas on,” jokes Ingram, who lives in Maidenhead, Berkshire, with his wife, Sue. Continue reading...
  
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• Signs of a house sparrow comeback in the UK after decades of decline

  12-08-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Populations starting to stabilise but much still needs to be done to reverse loss of 30m that almost led to species vanishingHow do you lose 30 million house sparrows? That is the number that have vanished from Britain’s hedgerows, fields and gardens during my lifetime.I can recall clouds of sparrows rising up in the fields behind my suburban childhood home on the edge of London. But by the late 1990s they had simply vanished from many of their former haunts. Continue reading...
  
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• Country diary: One flower here is thriving, defying the drought | Derek Niemann

  12-08-2026 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Frome, Somerset: While other plants are withering or skeletal, tansy is growing in great profusion, and it rewards close observationAt first light, the scent of ’76 hangs in the air, a reminder of that endless summer burning itself into autumn, just like this one. I first caught a sniff of it walking home one sweltering evening in the June heatwave and said: “Too soon, too soon.” Now the toasted aroma of spent grass is everywhere – on crispy playing fields, stra
  
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• The Guardian view on wildfires: firefighters can’t handle this crisis alone | Editorial

  11-08-2026 20:04 via theguardian.com
  The response to this summer’s record heat and drought should be led by ministers – not left to the emergency servicesThe wildfire that began on protected heathland in the New Forest in Hampshire on Sunday was reported to be under control on Tuesday. But with temperatures forecast to reach 36C or higher in parts of England on Thursday, the risk of further outbreaks remains high. Firefighters responded to 185 wildfires in the first 10 days of August. In coastal Suffolk, conservationist
  
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• Solar eclipse glasses 'sold out everywhere' as people look for alternatives

  11-08-2026 19:58 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Eclipse glasses can offer protection from harmful rays of sunlight but most high street stores have sold out.
  
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• Eclipse chasers scramble for glasses as stocks run low

  11-08-2026 18:31 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Specialist glasses are all but sold out online ahead of the UK's most significant eclipse since 1999.
  
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• Three ways to watch the solar eclipse safely without glasses

  11-08-2026 18:29 via bbc.co.uk
  
  With some shops running out of stock, it may be too late to buy eclipse glasses - but you can still safely watch the spectacle using some household items.
  
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• ‘Subsidies for fossil fuels ... are pouring fuel on the fire’: your questions on fossil fuel profits and the climate crisis answered

  11-08-2026 17:58 via theguardian.com
  Reporters Jillian Ambrose and Damian Carrington discussed their story on oil firms’ profits amid the war in Iran and the climate crisis and answered your related questions
  PCMcGarry asks: Given the facts that we live on a collection of islands and that tides are predictable, what serious efforts have been made to harness sea power and with what success?Damian:The UK is actually home to the world’s most powerful tidal stream turbine, operated by Orbital Marine Power, off Orkney and, t
  
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• ‘Real struggle’ to tame New Forest blaze as UK set for hottest summer on record

  11-08-2026 17:49 via theguardian.com
  Key tourist route closed and residents rallying round as battle against wildfire expected to go on for several daysThe battle to contain a large wildfire spreading across the New Forest will go on for several days, experts have said, as wind changes and a desiccated landscape fuel the flames.Smoke billowed above the deserted A31 road, the main tourist route into the New Forest national park where tens of thousands of families are on holiday, late on Tuesday while a helicopter flew above the blaz
  
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• Thames Water 'flagship' chalk stream rated as poor

  11-08-2026 17:14 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The firm says it has invested in the chalk stream and water quality is "influenced by a range of factors".
  
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• Solar eclipse 2026 weather forecast – where and when will the best view be?

  11-08-2026 17:02 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Look to the skies on Wednesday because one of the most spectacular solar eclipses for decades is coming the UK's way with likely optimum viewing conditions for many.
  
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• Summer 2026 on course to be UK’s hottest on record, says Met Office – latest news

  11-08-2026 16:44 via theguardian.com
  Prediction comes amid warning of ‘extreme heat’ this week with temperatures of 38C possibleThe Guardian’s environment editor, Fiona Harvey, has written a useful explainer about the UK public services that are struggling in the extreme weather. You can read it in full here:There’s only one solution in the end to the drought now declared across most of England and that’s rain, says Hannah Cloke, professor of hydrology at the University of Reading.An important conseque
  
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• Reader Q&A: ask our reporters anything about fossil fuel profits and the climate crisis – live

  11-08-2026 15:17 via theguardian.com
  Last week reporters Jillian Ambrose and Damian Carrington published a piece which revealed that biggest oil firms made $93bn in profits in three months amid the war in Iran and the climate crisis. They’re online now to to discuss their story and any other questions you might haveAsk a question: log in or sign up here
  Mazter asks: I see that oil imports into China have dropped about 30%. And that may be the reason the oil price hasn’t gone far higher, is that correct?Also, that 30% ma
  
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• Best places to see partial solar eclipse across England

  11-08-2026 14:35 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Some parts of England could see up to 96 per cent of the moon covering the sun on 12 August.
  
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• ‘I feel motherly towards them’: the nature reserve manager sharing her office with a wasp nest

  11-08-2026 14:00 via theguardian.com
  Eilish Rothney’s first instinct was to get rid of the wasps entering her converted shipping container in Norfolk. Now she enjoys their constant humWhen wasps began streaming through a rusted gap in her office door one June morning, Eilish Rothney’s first instinct was the same most people would have: get rid of them. The reserve manager for the Trinity Broads, part of the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, had discovered a wasp colony taking up residence in her office, a converted shipping conta
  
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• When and where to see the solar eclipse in Scotland

  11-08-2026 13:17 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Up to 95% of the Sun will slowly disappear behind the Moon in the most dramatic eclipse visible from the UK since August 1999.
  
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• ‘Living fossil’: the blue-blood arthropod that has changed little in 445m years

  11-08-2026 13:00 via theguardian.com
  Tenacious and confounding, the horseshoe crab pre-dates dinosaurs and has copper-based blood vital to vaccine safetyThey pre-date dinosaurs, eat food using their legs and contain blue blood that we use to keep us healthy. Horseshoe crabs are the supreme, if offbeat, survivors of the invertebrate world.Often called “living fossils” for visually obvious reasons – horseshoe crabs resemble a sort of prehistoric helmet (their Japanese name translates as “helmet crab”) &n
  
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• Drought, water rationing and dry rivers: our water crisis is here | Peter Gleick

  11-08-2026 13:00 via theguardian.com
  It doesn’t have to be this way. We know what needs to be doneDisturbing news about our water resources is now constant and unrelenting. In just the past few weeks, media have reported that Puerto Rico is suffering a deep water crisis as severe drought has cut water supplies to thousands. The Rhine and Po rivers in Europe are at record low levels. The seven states sharing the Colorado River in the US are fighting over unprecedented shortages, while its major reservoirs have shrunk to their
  
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• Don’t despair about what’s happening to our planet. That’s what they want you to feel

  11-08-2026 13:00 via theguardian.com
  There are social tipping points when the seemingly impossible suddenly becomes inevitable. Good journalism plays an essential role in helping drive these shifts and shows us how real change can happenClimate campaign 2026: help us reach 20,000 acts of supportThere are many reasons to despair: our green and pleasant land is parched and brown, reservoirs are depleted, and wildfires are wracking the UK, Europe and the US. But there are many more reasons not to despair: despair is self-fulfilling; d
  
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• ‘Extreme heat’ warning issued for parts of England on Thursday as temperatures could reach 38C – latest news

  11-08-2026 12:24 via theguardian.com
  Met Office says this warning will likely cause ‘adverse’ health effects with travel and power generation also possibly affectedThere’s only one solution in the end to the drought now declared across most of England and that’s rain, says Hannah Cloke, professor of hydrology at the University of Reading.“While water companies and regulators have a range of measures available to manage demand, like restrictions and hosepipe bans, these are aimed at slowing the rate at
  
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• The return of the caspian tiger: how a species feared extinct has come back to Kazakhstan

  11-08-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  The wild capture and release of a female big cat into a nature reserve is the first step towards reintroducing a population that hasn’t been seen for 70 yearsOn 31 July, “Umit” – which means hope in Kazakh – was released into a nature reserve on the edge of Lake Balkhash after more than a decade of careful planning to return the caspian tiger to the region. With this release, Kazakhstan became the first country to restore its tiger range after they had been thought
  
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• Amber heat health alerts kick in across most of England ahead of fifth summer heatwave – latest news

  11-08-2026 10:40 via theguardian.com
  Amber heat health alerts are now in effect across all regions of England, aside from the north eastFarmers have reported their earliest harvests in 20 years, with reduced yields, while reservoir levels have fallen to 69% – 11.6% lower than expected for this time of year.Paul Tompkins, the deputy president of the National Farmers’ Union, said that with no meaningful rain forecast in the coming weeks, the situation for farmers was increasingly concerning. He said:Many farmers have comp
  
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• Reader Q&A: ask our reporters anything about fossil fuel profits and the climate crisis

  11-08-2026 09:23 via theguardian.com
  Last week reporters Jillian Ambrose and Damian Carrington published a piece which revealed that biggest oil firms made $93bn in profits in three months amid the war in Iran and the climate crisis. They will be online at 2pm BST to discuss their story and any other questions you might have Ask a question: log in or sign up here
  Last week Jillian Ambrose and Damian Carrington published a front-page story that revealed the vast scale of the profits that eight of the biggest oil firms made in three
  
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• What he told me made my blood run cold - Michael Sheen investigates Wales' toxic legacy

  11-08-2026 07:21 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Hollywood actor investigates claims cancer-causing chemicals were dumped across Wales.
  
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