Environment news

• PAS 2080: Construction industry welcomes new guidance on carbon reduction in infrastructure

  19-07-2016 15:51
  
  UK construction firms have praised the release of a new common framework for reducing carbon emissions when delivering infrastructure projects, which could mark a "key step-change" in supply chain sustainability.
  
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• Fuel leak spreads more than two miles along River Taff

  18-10-2026 15:10 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Public Health Wales advise people living nearby to shut their doors and windows due to the smell.
  
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• The problem with telling people the world is ending

  18-10-2026 13:00 via theguardian.com
  In the face of terrible crises, it can feel right to shock people into action. But what if that has the opposite effect?These days, it’s easy to succumb to hopelessness. Whether you’re thinking about the climate crisis, the prospect of AI apocalypse, war or political turmoil, the list of challenges facing humanity can seem insurmountable.It certainly feels unprecedented, and much of it may be. The sense of impending doom, on the other hand, is nothing new. And what we have learned fr
  
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• A California town’s beaches are washing away. Can its residents turn the tide?

  18-10-2026 13:00 via theguardian.com
  Rapid coastal erosion threatens coastal homes and economies, and as Super El Niño rounds the corner, a town is reckoning with the reality of climate crisisSan Clemente is one of southern California’s most picture-perfect beach towns – a capital of American surf culture since the 1950s. In two years, 2028 Olympic surfers will compete at Lower Trestles, a world-class surfing beach.But the town’s longtime cultural and economic driver, its beaches, are now under threat. As p
  
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• Free clear-up has big engagement on social media

  18-10-2026 12:59 via bbc.co.uk
  
  One man's battle against weeds and overgrown pathways makes a big difference to the town
  
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• Pony herd gathering raises money for air ambulance

  18-10-2026 12:25 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Kristina Auckland said the herd was made up of around 100 ponies.
  
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• If Trump fells 430 trees in the middle of a golf course, do they make a sound?

  18-10-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  In attempting to turn a public space in DC into an enclave for elites, Trump is moving the US capital closer to GracelandWhen is a tree not a tree? When it’s an obstacle to a par-3. If a tree falls in the middle of a golf course, does it make a sound? Yeah, probably. I wasn’t there, but I have to assume, based on my limited knowledge of the laws of physics.What I do know is that Donald Trump’s crusade to clear more than 400 trees for the purposes of redeveloping East Potomac Go
  
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• More peas, please! 17 delicious ways to devour Britain’s most brilliant vegetable

  18-10-2026 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  They’re healthy, versatile, sustainable and available. Yet pea consumption in the UK is at a 50-year low. Here are the curries, dips, pasta dishes and even cakes that could turn all that aroundIt’s not good news for the pea farmers: pea consumption in the UK has fallen to a 50-year low. According to data from Defra, the average Briton ate just 37g of peas per week in 2025, down from 144g per week in 1975.Though a classic British staple, peas are not for everybody. Apparently only 22%
  
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• How to see the Orionid meteor shower

  18-10-2026 10:54 via bbc.co.uk
  
  One of the best-known meteor showers peaks this week and will remain active until 7 November.
  
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• Turning the tides: Could hidden sea power energise our coastal towns?

  18-10-2026 10:12 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Engineer David Mummery has developed a tidal energy generator that he says can change lives for people living in coastal communities.
  
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• Seal pups spotted at nature reserve for 12th year

  18-10-2026 08:20 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Two pups have been recorded at South Walney, home to Cumbria's only breeding grey seal colony.
  
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• Heat pumps and insulation would cut UK living costs more than new oilfields, study suggests

  18-10-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Warm homes plan would create 50,000 jobs, compared with about 1,100 for Rosebank oilfield, thinktank findsInsulating Britain’s homes and investing in heat pumps would do more to cut the cost of living, create jobs and boost the UK’s economy than drilling for new oil, research suggests.The government’s £15bn warm homes plan, currently under threat of cuts as ministers seek budget savings, would slash £1bn a year from household energy bills across the UK, concentrated
  
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• Corby metal pollution may harm people, says study

  18-10-2026 07:37 via bbc.co.uk
  
  However, the Environment Agency says it has not found evidence that could cause significant harm.
  
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• Two damselfly species return to restored woodland

  18-10-2026 07:16 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A three-year project to restore woodland at seven nature reserves is completed.
  
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• Fast-moving California wildfire burns homes as people are ordered to leave

  17-10-2026 21:13 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Fanned by the fierce Santa Ana winds, the Norte Fire is one of 13 burning across the state.
  
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• ‘We can’t leave people behind’: frustration and hope mingle in the wake of Lismore’s post-flood renewal

  17-10-2026 21:00 via theguardian.com
  Almost five years after it was devastated by a record-breaking flood, Lismore is a city divided into those rebuilding and those still navigating a way outGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAlison Norris looks admiringly around the simple two-bedroom home that has housed her and her three children for the past nine months. From the outside, it looks like a demountable found at a construction site, bordered by a tidy native garden. But it’s more than she has had in th
  
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• Hiding in plane sight: the invisible turbulence that can strike out of a clear blue sky

  17-10-2026 21:00 via theguardian.com
  As the planet warms, airlines are grappling with what this means for air travel – and for the passengers who simply refuse to keep their seatbelts fastenedIt was a swelteringly hot afternoon in south-west Myanmar on 21 May 2024. Tropical thunderstorms, showers and highs of 36C were forecast for the area around the Irrawaddy Basin. High above, monsoonal heat and humidity were building into a vast convective column of water vapour, a towering cumulonimbus cloud soaring up to 35,000ft (more t
  
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• A tale of two cities: hope and despair within Lismore after the flooding

  17-10-2026 21:00 via theguardian.com
  Almost five years after it was devastated by a record-breaking flood, Lismore is a city divided into those rebuilding and those still navigating a way outGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAlison Norris looks admiringly around the simple two-bedroom home that has housed her and her three children for the past nine months. From the outside, it looks like a demountable found at a construction site, bordered by a tidy native garden. But it’s more than she has had in th
  
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• From little acorns … to his 1,000th article for the Guardian country diary

  17-10-2026 14:00 via theguardian.com
  
  As Mark Cocker approaches a landmark for the world’s oldest column in an English-language newspaper, he is still inspired by powerful encounters with natureIn the autumn of 1987, Mark Cocker sat in a field near Norwich and watched a jay burying acorns for the long winter ahead. He described the scene in his first country diary for the Guardian. Thirty-nine years on, some of those jay-planted acorns will be mature oaks now, and Cocker is completing his 1,000th diary for the world’s ol
  
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• How the quirky puffin became a symbol of the climate crisis – and hope

  17-10-2026 13:00 via theguardian.com
  In an extract from his new book, the nature historian explains how technology could help the seabird surviveFor centuries human beings have exploited puffins, harvesting them by the thousand on their breeding grounds for their food and feathers. Over time, though, this relationship has changed, so that today we have come to love them, celebrating their quirky character and comical appearance and giving them a central place in our affections – a journey described by the environmental histor
  
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• Honeybees are barging aside wild pollinators in hunt for pollen and nectar, study finds

  17-10-2026 11:00 via theguardian.com
  As a surge in beekeepers has lead to increased numbers of honeybees, researchers record them pushing bumblebees and other rival species away from flowersHoneybees are outcompeting wild pollinators for resources by aggressively bumping into them and chasing them away from flowers, research has shown.The study, by researchers from Anglia Ruskin University, found that areas where there were higher concentrations of honeybees had fewer wild pollinators, such as bumblebees, solitary bees and hoverfli
  
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• Avian flu and costs among reasons for loss of captive birds at Castle Espie

  17-10-2026 07:10 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Difficulties in transporting animals since Brexit has contributed to the decline in the number of captive birds.
  
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• Country diary: The challenge of making a thatched roof pine-marten proof | Tom Allan

  17-10-2026 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Glenisla, Angus: Damage by squirrels is common; the mustelid less so. Still, as a local told me, ‘you cannae blame them wanting somewhere to live’That the thatch is thick with moss and crusted with the brittle fronds of lichen is not unusual for a roof of this age. What’s puzzling me is the hole in its centre. It is about 10in wide – a dark scoop, as if someone has taken a giant ladle to the roof.When I climb the ladder for a closer look, I can see toothmarks on
  
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• Brazil sees record fall in Amazon deforestation as key election looms

  17-10-2026 04:33 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Amazon rainforest is a crucial buffer against climate change - but deforestation had expanded under former president Jair Bolsonaro.
  
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• Why hasn't the UK had any named storms yet?

  17-10-2026 03:53 via bbc.co.uk
  
  So far this autumn wet and windy weather patterns have been steered away from the UK. When could we see that change?
  
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• Uncovering the secrets of New Zealand’s elusive ‘jungle penguins’

  17-10-2026 01:15 via theguardian.com
  The tawaki, or Fiordland crested penguin, known for its prominent yellow eyebrows, has for years baffled scientists with its unusual habitsDeep in the misty fjords of New Zealand’s South Island, a team of researchers is trying to catch one of the world’s most elusive penguins: the forest-dwelling tawaki, or Fiordland crested penguin.For weeks, researchers stand sentry each day over a burrow on Eleanor Island, hoping to corner the female bird so they can retrieve data from its tagging
  
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• Cloudy with a chance of moths: bogong swarms are bamboozling weather radars across NSW

  17-10-2026 01:00 via theguardian.com
  Radar systems designed for rain, hail and snow are picking up bogong moths migrating to the Australian AlpsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastIt was during Sydney’s Olympic Games in 2000, people say, that a swarm of bogong moths attracted by stadium lights was so huge that meteorologists mistook it for rain.Fast forward 26 years and the bogongs are back in big numbers. And, this time, they are firmly on the radar. Continue reading...
  
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• Healey backs pro-growth case for Heathrow third runway after Burnham ducks issue

  16-10-2026 23:30 via theguardian.com
  Chancellor says government will study responses to public consultation, with airports being ‘big part of jobs and growth’John Healey has said there is a pro-growth case for going ahead with a third runway at Heathrow despite the prime minister declining to back it.Healey’s predecessor as chancellor, Rachel Reeves, put approval of the long-planned runway at the heart of her “growth speech” last year, saying it would “make Britain the world’s best-connecte
  
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• Brazilian Amazon deforestation falls to lowest on record as pivotal vote looms

  16-10-2026 21:37 via theguardian.com
  Forest clearance at smallest total since records began in 1988 in success for Lula ahead of presidential run-offDeforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has fallen to its lowest level since records began, new government data shows.But whether this globally important success is maintained or reversed is on a knife edge ahead of a presidential election run-off on 25 October between two candidates with sharply different visions for the future of the rainforest and how that affects relations with the U
  
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• US voters want more action on global heating. Why are Democrats and Republicans staying silent?

  16-10-2026 17:00 via theguardian.com
  Polls show that Democrats and Republicans in battleground states want to hear more from candidates about the climate crisisMost Americans feel unease or alarm about the climate crisis and, in both red and blue states, want to know how political leaders are going to fix it. But in midterm election campaigns across the US, candidates have responded to this desire with near silence.People in the US have this year endured a record hot summer as well as soaring costs, equating to roughly $2,000 per h
  
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