Environment news

• SpaceX aims to launch internet from space

  17-11-2016 14:50 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Private rocket firm SpaceX applies for US government approval for a large network of internet satellites.
  
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• Trump has done more than harm the government’s ability to fight global heating | Jamil Smith

  18-02-2026 16:00
  By repealing the EPA’s determination that greenhouse gases threaten public health, the president is denying reality itselfThe climate crisis is killing people. These deaths are measurable, documented and ongoing. Concluding otherwise is just playing pretend. Studies explain the mechanics, but lived experience supplies the truth. The people who suffer the consequences see the fire rising and water closing in. They need their government’s help.Despite that, the president of the United
  
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• Romania in safety drive to improve EU’s deadliest roads

  18-02-2026 15:00
  Government takes its first serious steps to crack down on dangerous driving but progress is slowEurope live – latest updatesThe first time Lucian Mîndruță crashed his car, he swerved to avoid a village dog and hit another vehicle. The second time, he missed a right-of-way sign and was struck by a car at a junction. The third time, ice sent him skidding off the road and into two trees. Crashes four to eight, he said, were bumper-scratches in traffic too minor to mention.That
  
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• US sanctions, power cuts, climate crisis: why Cuba is betting on renewables

  18-02-2026 14:00
  With Trump blocking Venezuelan oil imports and old power plants breaking down, the island – with Chinese help – is turning to solar and wind to bolster its fragile energy systemIntense heat hangs over the sugarcane fields near Cuba’s eastern coast. In the village of Herradura, a blond-maned horse rests under a palm tree after spending all Saturday in the fields with its owner, Roberto, who cultivates maize and beans.Roberto was among those worst affected by Hurricane Melissa, w
  
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• Plaid promises Welsh communities share of renewable energy profits

  18-02-2026 13:20 via bbc.com
  Plaid Cymru says renewable energy projects would have to hand over stakes of up to 25% to local communities.
  
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• Environmental groups sue Trump’s EPA over repeal of landmark climate finding

  18-02-2026 13:10
  Lawsuit from health and environmental justice groups challenges the EPA’s rollback of the ‘endangerment finding’More than a dozen health and environmental justice non-profits have sued the Environmental Protection Agency over its revocation of the legal determination that underpins US federal climate regulations.Filed in Washington DC circuit court, the lawsuit challenges the EPA’s rollback of the “endangerment finding”, which states that the buildup of heat-t
  
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• Second wild beaver spotted living at Norfolk nature reserve

  18-02-2026 13:05
  Exclusive: Pensthorpe was believed to be home to just one individual but pair have been filmed grooming each otherNo one knows where they came from or how they ended up in Norfolk. But one thing is certain: now, there are two of them.Until last week, experts believed there was only one wild beaver living in Pensthorpe nature reserve, about 20 miles outside Norwich. But just in time for Valentine’s Day, two were caught on camera going for a late-night swim together and grooming each other b
  
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• Coffee-growing countries becoming too hot to cultivate beans, analysis finds

  18-02-2026 11:00
  Five countries responsible for 75% of world’s coffee supply record average of 57 extra days of coffee-harming heat a yearIn Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee, more than 4m households rely on coffee as their primary source of income. It contributes almost a third of the country’s export earnings, but for how much longer is uncertain.“Coffee farmers in Ethiopia are already seeing the impact of extreme heat,” said Dejene Dadi, the general manager of Oromia Coffee Farmers Co
  
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• No trees, no food, shot for fun … yet Serbia’s imperial eagles are making an improbable return

  18-02-2026 10:00
  Less than a decade ago, the Balkan country had just one breeding pair of the eastern imperial species of raptor left. Now things are changing, thanks to the dogged work of conservationistsAt the start of every spring, before the trees in northern Serbia begin to leaf out, ornithologists drive across the plains of Vojvodina. They check old nesting sites of eastern imperial eagles, scan solitary trees along field margins, and search for signs of new nests.For years, the work of the Bird Protection
  
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• 'It's overwhelming': Plastic from 1960s Canada washes up on Orkney beach

  18-02-2026 07:24 via bbc.com
  One litter picker says he has seen a huge increase in the amount of plastic washing up on Sanday this year.
  
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• Country diary: Persistence and confusion – this is how magpies build their nest | Nic Wilson

  18-02-2026 06:30
  Hitchin, Hertfordshire: It’s not quick, it’s not graceful, but these early nesters are hard at work in preparation for egg-laying in a few weeksIs it too early to whisper the S word? If so, I blame the magpies. Every day for the past two weeks, while enjoying my morning cuppa in bed, I’ve been watching a pair nest-building in a Norway maple across the road. But though the arrival of spring advances each year at a faster pace than any other season, the magpies’ calendar is
  
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• The death of Heather Preen: how an eight-year-old lost her life amid the UK sewage crisis

  18-02-2026 06:00
  In 1999, Heather Preen contracted E coli on the beach. Two weeks later she died. Now, as a new Channel 4 show dramatises the scandal, her mother, Julie Maughan, explains why she is still looking for someone to take responsibilityWhen Julie Maughan was invited to help with a factual drama that would focus on the illegal dumping of raw sewage by water companies, she had to think hard. In some ways, it felt 25 years too late. In 1999, Maughan’s eight-year-old daughter, Heather Preen, had cont
  
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• The death of Heather Preen: how an eight-year-old lost her life amid sewage crisis

  18-02-2026 06:00
  In 1999, Heather Preen contracted E coli on a Devon beach. Two weeks later she died. Now, as a new Channel 4 show dramatises the scandal, her mother, Julie Maughan, explains why she is still looking for someone to take responsibilityWhen Julie Maughan was invited to help with a factual drama that would focus on the illegal dumping of raw sewage by water companies, she had to think hard. In some ways, it felt 25 years too late. In 1999, Maughan’s eight-year-old daughter, Heather Preen, had
  
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• One in nine new homes in England built in areas of flood risk, study shows

  18-02-2026 01:01
  Figures from Aviva also show number of homes being built in risky areas is risingOne in nine new homes in England built between 2022 and 2024 were constructed in areas that could now be at risk of flooding, according to new data.The figures show the number of homes being built in risky areas is on the rise – a previous analysis showed that between 2013 and 2022, one in 13 new homes were in potential flooding zones. Continue reading...
  
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• Gotta watch ‘em all? Pokémon-style app for birdwatching launches

  17-02-2026 17:42
  Users of Birdex get points for each bird they see and can compete with friends, with 200,000 sightings logged so farA new app has launched that aims to gamify birdwatching by allowing people to collect digital cards of UK bird species whenever they record seeing one.Users of Birdex accumulate points for each bird they see, with less common and rare species yielding the greatest rewards. It is possible to add friends and compete over bird sightings. The app has got birdwatchers talking online &nd
  
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• Cardboard crazy! Scavenger genius Shigeru Ban on building cathedrals and quake shelters with paper

  17-02-2026 17:16
  From high-end boutiques to housing in disaster zones with beer-crate foundations, the Japanese architect creates with things people throw away. What will his distillery in whisky’s holy land look like?‘I don’t like waste,” says Shigeru Ban. It’s a simple statement – yet it encapsulates everything about the Japanese architect’s work. He takes materials others might overlook or discard – from cardboard tubes to beer crates, styrofoam to shipping cont
  
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• France issues red flood alerts after ‘exceptional’ rainfall

  17-02-2026 13:23
  Aftermath of Storm Nils causes chaos across country with flooding under way or expected on Garonne, Maine and Loire rivers France has issued red alerts for flooding in three départements as the aftermath of Storm Nils causes chaos across the country.Flood waters have inundated homes and isolated villages after the Garonne River overflowed its banks, with hydrologists warning that rain is falling on soils that have hit record-breaking levels of saturation. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘It’s betrayal’: Shetland’s scallop fishers brace for arrival of UK’s largest salmon farm

  17-02-2026 13:00
  Huge project by Norwegian-owned Scottish Sea Farms gets go-ahead amid concerns over the environmental cost of fish farming and threat to traditional way of lifeAt Collafirth, north Shetland, Sydney Johnson is unloading bags of two-dozen scallops by throwing them over his head like medicine balls to the pier above. Johnson, who has just finished a 10-hour shift on his boat, the Golden Shore, is concerned that plans for a new salmon farm will put fishers like him and his two sons out of business.&
  
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• Country diary: It’s extraordinary how much our orchards are founded on connection | Mark Cocker

  17-02-2026 06:30
  Buxton, Derbyshire: From those who planted them, to those who pruned them, to the pollinators and the mosses, it’s a long, collective endeavourAs I prune one of our pears – a black Worcester, incidentally, a British variety from the 13th century – I ponder the linguistic connections that arise from our garden “acre” in a place called “Hogshaw”. The first word derives from Old English æcer, meaning an “acorn”. It was linked to
  
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• Claims that AI can help fix climate dismissed as greenwashing

  17-02-2026 06:00
  Industry using ‘diversionary’ tactics, says analyst, as energy-hungry complex functions such as video generation and deep research proliferateTech companies are conflating traditional artificial intelligence with generative AI when claiming the energy-hungry technology could help avert climate breakdown, according to a report.Most claims that AI can help avert climate breakdown refer to machine learning and not the energy-hungry chatbots and image generation tools driving the sector&
  
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• ‘Daunting but doable’: Europe urged to prepare for 3C of global heating

  17-02-2026 00:01
  Advisory board member says Europe already paying price for lack of preparation butadapting is ‘not rocket science’Keeping Europe safe from extreme weather “is not rocket science”, a top researcher has said, as the EU’s climate advisory board urges countries to prepare for a catastrophic 3C of global heating.Maarten van Aalst, a member of the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change (ESABCC), said the continent was already “paying a price” for
  
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• Trump lashes out at California governor’s green energy deal with UK

  16-02-2026 20:23
  President says it is inappropriate for UK to be dealing with Gavin Newsom after Ed Miliband meets governor in LondonDonald Trump has vented his fury against a green energy deal between the British government and California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, a likely future Democratic presidential candidate.“The UK’s got enough trouble without getting involved with Gavin Newscum,” Trump said in an interview with Politico, using the derogatory nickname he reserves for Newsom. &ldquo
  
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• Ancient bone may prove legendary war elephant crossing of Alps

  16-02-2026 18:26 via bbc.com
  It would be the first hard evidence that elephants were used in battle by General Hannibal.
  
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• The US is merely the latest to join the global rush to hoard critical minerals

  16-02-2026 14:00
  JD Vance is seeking to create a ‘trading bloc’ as shortages and climate crises mean a kaleidoscope of rare earths are increasingly jealously guardedThe announcement by the US vice-president, JD Vance, that the country is seeking to create a new critical minerals “trading bloc” is a final, exotic, nail in the coffin of the old global trading system. The era of mass abundance, as supplied by unfettered free trade and global markets – “neoliberalism” &ndash
  
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• Floating cities of logs: can the ‘lungs of Africa’ survive its exploitation?

  16-02-2026 13:00
  The Congo River basin is one of the planet’s most biodiverse ecosystems. But it is also home to a growing population and relentless trade in timber and charcoal“You can’t be scared of the storms,” says Jean de Dieu Mokuma as the sun sets on the Congo River behind him. “With the current, once your voyage has begun, there is no turning back.” Mokuma, along with his wife Marie-Therese and their two young children, is piloting a cargo of timber downstream lashed o
  
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• Weather tracker: New Zealand hit by storms and widespread floods

  16-02-2026 11:22
  Low pressure system funnels rain over already saturated areas, compounding risk of further floodingA deep area of low pressure to the south-east of New Zealand’s North Island swept into the region on Sunday, bringing heavy rain, gale-force winds and dangerous coastal swells that lashed exposed shorelines. The storm triggered power outages, forced evacuations and damaged infrastructure, with further impacts likely on Monday as the system lingers for a time, before tracking southwards later.
  
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• Trump eyes Venezuela visit – but obstacles to his oil plan remain

  16-02-2026 10:50 via bbc.com
  The US president wants American energy firms to start extracting the crude but they are reluctant.
  
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• Rural drivers to face steepest bills under UK’s mileage-based electric vehicle tax

  16-02-2026 08:13
  Analysis reveals big regional disparities as critics say Labour’s proposed levy could slow uptake of EVsDrivers in the south-west of England would pay nearly four times as much as those in London as a result of Labour’s mileage-based tax on electric cars, according to analysis of official data.The 3p-a-mile road charge, announced in the autumn budget and due to take effect in 2028, is expected to raise £1.1bn a year, partly offsetting the loss of fuel duty revenues as drivers s
  
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• Why did I get a £100 parking fine when charging my electric car?

  16-02-2026 08:00
  The charger firm claimed the site operated 24 hours a day, but the parking operator had different ideasI charged my electric car at the 24-hour Mer EV charging station in my local B&Q car park.I then received a £100 parking charge notice (PCN) from the car park operator, Ocean Parking. It said no parking is allowed on the site between 9pm and 6am. Continue reading...
  
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• Country diary: An anxious buzzard has me mirroring its movements | Derek Niemann

  16-02-2026 06:30
  Frome, Somerset: As the large raptor squirms and uses its wings to try to balance on a precarious perch, I find my own arms lifting in solidaritySix, seven, eight, nine long‑tailed tits are on a foraging flit through hawthorn bushes, and the straggler drops obligingly on to a berry‑stacked twig before my eyes. Its tail works like the hand of a clock as the clinging bird jiggle‑jumps through a full 360-degree rotation, beak pecking for who knows what. The twig is unmov
  
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