Environment news

• Ministers under fire over bid to delay publication of air pollution plan

  24-04-2017 12:06 via theguardian.com
  
  Campaigners attack government request to be allowed to breach Monday deadline to publish air quality planThe government is facing renewed pressure after a last-minute attempt to delay the publication of its plan to tackle the UK’s air pollution crisis.Ministers were under a court direction to produce tougher draft measures to tackle illegal levels of nitrogen dioxide pollution, which is largely caused by diesel traffic, by 4pm on Monday. The government’s original plans had been dismi
  
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• Our climate is changing rapidly – and our politicians sound increasingly surreal | Zoe Williams

  24-08-2026 17:17 via theguardian.com
  On a panel show last week, everyone in the audience wanted to talk about the climate emergency, but the lines rolled out by a Tory MP simply dissolved on contact with realityAs it is August, and everyone with stronger opinions is currently on holiday, last week I went on Any Questions?, the BBC Radio 4 panel show. I had prepared beforehand with a friend whose life’s work it is to make sure people don’t say anything stupid on the radio (or TV), and we’d talked about everything &
  
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• How growing up in ‘Chemical Valley’ inspired lawyer to sue industry she used to work for

  24-08-2026 14:00 via theguardian.com
  Hélène Duguy is taking on companies accused of failing to stop Pfas pollution in the area of France she calls homeThe factories were just part of the landscape for Hélène Duguy growing up in the heart of an area known as France’s “Chemical Valley”.“Those factories are visible from my mother’s apartment,” says Duguy, 34, whose mother still lives in St-Genis-Laval, south of Lyon. Continue reading...
  
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• Devastation, doubt and blame: Hurricane Helene looms over North Carolina’s US Senate race

  24-08-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  The Democratic and the Republican candidate each blame the other for the bungled recovery effort after storm struck regionTwo years after North Carolina suffered the worst natural disaster in its history when Hurricane Helene struck the state’s western half, life in the hardest-hit areas appears back to normal. Downtowns are lively, blocked roads have been reopened and rivers are flowing below their banks.But the telltale evidence of the disaster’s expensive impacts can still be seen
  
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• This is not a natural calamity: it is being done to us knowingly

  24-08-2026 11:45 via theguardian.com
  Global heating is an outrage, not a tragedy. We deserve the facts about the climate crisis – I choose the Guardian because it’s one of the few places left to share them honestlyClimate campaign 2026: help us reach 30,000 acts of supportWell, there’s no getting around it now. What many of us once feared has become a reality.The dangerous conditions climate scientists long warned of have become our common, if deeply unwelcome, experience, and season by season, our acquaintance wi
  
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• Can Burnham justify giving the go ahead to oil drilling? Yes, but these must be the conditions | Michael Jacobs

  24-08-2026 11:00 via theguardian.com
  Carbon capture and storage could make the Rosebank site compatible with UK net zero commitments – if its owners are willing to pay the priceThe British government must soon decide whether it should give consent to two oil and gasfields, Rosebank in the North Atlantic and Jackdaw in the North Sea. Amid both insecurity of energy supplies and deadly evidence of the climate crisis, the prime minister, Andy Burnham, is facing pressure from the oil and gas industry and unions on one side, and en
  
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• No fridge, no fans, just blocks of ice: improvising to survive in Pakistan’s searing heat

  24-08-2026 10:00 via theguardian.com
  With limited electricity and poor ventilation, many families in Nasirabad have little to shield them from temperatures of up to 50CAs the first light reaches Nasirabad, a queue of men, women and children has already formed outside the town’s ice factory, with their buckets, sacks and plastic containers. Among those hoping to buy some ice to help their families endure another scorching day is 12-year-old Taimoor, in his school uniform. He says it is his most important task of the day.&ldquo
  
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• How do you vaccinate 1,000 tiny penguins against bird flu in the wild? It’s ‘really tricky’ but there is a way

  24-08-2026 08:11 via theguardian.com
  Phillip Island’s ‘iconic’ little penguins get first bird flu vaccinations in what is thought to be largest program of its kindFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastMore than 1,000 little penguins have received their first dose of bird flu vaccine in Victoria, in what is believed to be the world’s largest vaccination program involving wild birds.Catherine Basterfield, the chief executive of Phillip
  
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• Wild beaver kits born in Norfolk for first time in more than 500 years

  24-08-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Pair are offspring of two beavers who mysteriously arrived in Pensthorpe nature reserve near Fakenham in DecemberWild beaver kits have been born in Norfolk for the first time in more than 500 years.The pair of newborns are the offspring of two free-living beavers who mysteriously arrived in Pensthorpe nature reserve near Fakenham in December. Continue reading...
  
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• Air conditioning push favoured over emissions cuts in six European nations, survey finds

  24-08-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Poll also finds sizeable majorities who believe it should be easier to install air con in homesGiven the choice, more people across six major European nations including the UK favour encouraging the adoption of air conditioning over keeping carbon emissions down, a survey has found.After four extreme heatwaves that have caused thousands of excess deaths across the continent, the survey showed between 30% and 52% of people in six countries had feared for their household’s health in temperat
  
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• Country diary: South Wales’s summer of fires will linger long in the memory | Eben Muse

  24-08-2026 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Tylorstown, Rhondda Valley: These coal areas are shaped by fire and ash. I find a high point to try and survey the damageMy friend John and I are climbing Tylorstown Tip – a summit also known as Old Smokey, named after the hot ash it was partly made with. We want to see how much of south Wales has burned.The tip towers over the surrounding hills, a perfect crow’s nest from which to witness the blackening of the region. From the summit, with its sitka spruce and flowering heather, the
  
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• Ella Baron on AI and the drought – cartoon

  23-08-2026 19:03 via theguardian.com
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• The end of Latrobe Valley coal – in pictures

  23-08-2026 17:00 via theguardian.com
  Once the economic lifeblood of the region, Latrobe Valley’s coal industry is in terminal decline. Jesse Thompson’s photographic project aims to document this period of rapid change and examine the legacy that is being left behind Continue reading...
  
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• ‘I love it. It’s hope’: the mysterious self-willed wildflower meadow that seeded itself

  23-08-2026 16:00 via theguardian.com
  Farmer Derek Sayer let a boggy field run wild and just one annual hay-cut has led to remarkable biodiversityTucked away on a country lane, a small field bursts with yellow and pink flowers. Quail and whitethroats call from the thick hedges and the plants, including common centaury, yellow rattle and marsh and common spotted orchids, bounce with hoverflies and butterflies.More than 150 plant species have been recorded on Sayer’s Old Meadow, in north Norfolk, England, which is remarkable whe
  
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• Readers reply: Is it inevitable that consumerism will literally fill up the planet?

  23-08-2026 15:00 via theguardian.com
  The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions considers whether there is sufficient global physical capacity for all our discarded and worn-out purchases• This week’s question: If all car tyres were filled with CO2, would this cut atmospheric carbon significantly?If consumer capitalism continues at its current rate, will we reach a point at which there is literally no space left on Earth for all the stuff that has been created? Alex Robinson, Alnwick,
  
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• If all car tyres were filled with CO2, would this cut atmospheric carbon significantly?

  23-08-2026 15:00 via theguardian.com
  The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions probes an intriguing scientific question in relation to the climate emergencyReaders reply: Is it inevitable that consumerism will literally fill up the planet?If all the vehicles on the planet had their tyres pumped up with CO2, would this lock up enough carbon to lower the amount in the air significantly? Would there be other issues, such as the carbon cost of trapping it all into the tyres? Chris Coldwell, Lancaste
  
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• Stores are selling Halloween stuff in August. Time has lost all meaning | Dave Schilling

  23-08-2026 13:00 via theguardian.com
  Capitalism and the climate crisis are conspiring to destroy the concept of seasons. I’ll take solace in my pumpkin spiceHappy spooky season, everyone! Get those jack-o’-lanterns out, because Halloween is just around the corner!Just kidding, no, it’s not. Continue reading...
  
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• Pine-cone grenades and planet-baking carbon: the French fires 170 years in the making – a visual guide

  23-08-2026 13:00 via theguardian.com
  An 1857 decree to drain swamps and plant a monoculture, detritus from the trees and global heating combined to produce the conditions for the Gironde infernoThe ruinous fires that overran parts of France this summer have burned more land than ever recorded, forced more people from their homes than at any point since the second world war and caused what scientists suspect is the country’s first firestorm thundercloud. The smoke from France’s biggest inferno in nearly 80 years choked L
  
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• Against the wind: despite Trump’s attacks, unions are fighting for good US clean energy jobs

  23-08-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Since Hurricane Sandy in 2012, a growing labor movement has addressed the climate crisis and economic inequalityRyan McElroen had spent years repairing the New York City subway underground when he got the opportunity to work in the middle of the ocean.“I had no views other than the darkness at work,” he said. “Then I went polar opposite.” Continue reading...
  
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• London’s low emission zone is working – so why are cities around the world so cautious about clean air?

  23-08-2026 09:00 via theguardian.com
  Similar initiatives have been launched from Barcelona to Bogotá, but they have misinformation, political pressure and vested interests stacked against themTen years ago, Alastair Harper was an advocate for young people’s health sitting in a stuffy meeting room in London planning an air pollution campaign. “My phone started buzzing,” he said. “I took the call, and then told the room I needed to leave immediately.“I had to get to UCLH [one of London’s maj
  
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• Onshore windfarm applications hit 10-year high in England

  23-08-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Surge in proposals follows Labour’s lifting of de facto ban, with about 45 plans submitted in the year to MarchPlans for new onshore windfarms in England have reached their highest annual level in a decade, after the government overturned the Conservatives’ de facto ban in 2015.About 45 applications for new onshore windfarms were submitted in the year to March,according to a Guardian analysis of government data. Continue reading...
  
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• Drill, Burnham, drill? The oil basin that is a totem for Trump – and a headache for Britain’s new PM

  23-08-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  North Sea oil, once the driving force of the UK economy, may be dwindling but it remains a symbol of prestige and a rich resource for political debateWhen oil was first discovered off the north-east coast of Scotland in September 1969, industry folklore has it that the duty superintendent on the rig carefully poured it into a pickle jar commandeered from the canteen and took it back to Amoco’s Great Yarmouth office in Norfolk. There, it was emptied into an ash tray, sniffed and then set al
  
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• Drill, Burnham, drill? The oil basin that is a totem for Trump - and a headache for Britain’s new PM

  23-08-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  North Sea oil, once the driving force of the UK economy, may be dwindling but it remains a symbol of prestige and a rich resource for political debateWhen oil was first discovered off the north-east coast of Scotland in September 1969, industry folklore has it that the duty superintendent on the rig carefully poured it into a pickle jar commandeered from the canteen and took it back to Amoco’s Great Yarmouth office in Norfolk. There, it was emptied into an ash tray, sniffed and then set al
  
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• Heathrow expansion ‘is threat to England’s largest surviving medieval barn’

  23-08-2026 02:00 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: campaigners warn 600-year-old New Barn at Harmondsworth could be ‘shaken to pieces’ by vibrationsSix hundred years after it was built, England’s largest surviving medieval timber-framed barn could now be “shaken to pieces” by aircraft vibrations, campaigners warn.The public has until 1 September to submit objections to the Heathrow airport expansion, which could threaten the survival of the New Barn at Harmondsworth, considered a remarkable example of med
  
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• ‘Devastating’: Western Australia fears a black swan moment as bird flu threatens flagship species

  22-08-2026 22:00 via theguardian.com
  The state’s bird emblem is an indicator species for H5N1, with high visibility populations and low survival rates. Experts are warning of ‘significant mortality’Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastWhen the black swans start dying, Western Australians will know that bird flu has truly arrived.The birds are an “indicator species” because once they are infected with the H5N1 virus they are more likely to die than survive, according to the Univers
  
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• ‘Unsafe for swimming’: Ironman Leeds is latest casualty of heat-fuelled toxic algae

  22-08-2026 13:00 via theguardian.com
  Athletes faced last-minute cancelling of 2.4-mile swim, as experts say pollution and extreme heat are causing bloomsAs far as athletic accomplishments go, few are held in higher regard than completing an Ironman triathlon.The amount of training required to tackle the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26-mile run that make up the course, as well as the expensive equipment required to train in the first place, means that only about 50,000 people in the world complete a full race and earn the t
  
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• Young country diary: Camping in my garden, nose to nose with a fox | Ada

  22-08-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Leeds, West Yorkshire: I missed it first time as my dad couldn’t wake me up. The second time round, he pulled my toeDad and I were boiling in the house because of the UK heatwave. So we decided to camp out and sleep in our garden instead. Before we went to bed, while playing catch, we could hear the swifts swoop around our house in the orange evening light.Once it had cooled down, Dad said it was time for bed and tucked me up. At some point in the night, Dad heard something and he tried to
  
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• ‘Its pretty much a guarantee you’ll get stung’: jellyfish keep swimmers out of Delaware beaches

  22-08-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Beach patrols report hundreds of stings a day as warmer waters and drought create favorable conditions for jellyfishAn unusually high number of jellyfish are crowding Delaware’s beaches this summer amid climate change and other environmental factors – keeping some beachgoers out of the ocean and stinging lifeguards as well as bathers.Beach safety patrols in the state have reported hundreds of daily stings as the jellyfish have increased with intensifying environmental factors, includ
  
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• ‘It’s pretty much a guarantee you’ll get stung’: jellyfish keep swimmers off Delaware beaches

  22-08-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Beach patrols report hundreds of stings a day as warmer waters and drought create favorable conditions for jellyfishAn unusually high number of jellyfish are crowding Delaware’s beaches this summer amid climate change and other environmental factors – keeping some beachgoers out of the ocean and stinging lifeguards as well as bathers.Beach safety patrols in the state have reported hundreds of daily stings as the jellyfish have increased with intensifying environmental factors, includ
  
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• Why am I called The Black Farmer? Because there are so few of us in Britain. I’d like that to change | Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones

  22-08-2026 10:00 via theguardian.com
  Running a farm is tough – TV’s Clarkson’s Farm shows that – but I know many minorities would love the chance. And we would all benefit Who’d be a farmer? Clarkson’s Farm on Amazon is great entertainment but it also gives some indication of the stresses and challenges behind the farm gate. Would anyone who lacked the significant alternative income that Clarkson is lucky to have want that? Well, actually, yes.I’m an entrepreneur who owns a farm, as opposed
  
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