Environment news

• The AA's Cyclist's Highway Code has scope for amendments

  07-06-2016 13:10
  
  A motoring organisation telling cyclists what to do seems bizarre, but this part-Haynes Guide, part-bike shop catalogue, has good advice for new cyclists and parentsWhen the AA, the UK’s largest motoring organisation, published a Cyclist’s Highway Code on Monday, I thought it seemed like a bizarre but effective way to wind up passionate cyclists such as myself. I already don’t like the official Highway Code for telling me I “should” wear a helmet and fluorescent clo
  
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• March for Romans was a time to sow conflict as well as crops

  12-03-2026 07:00
  Rome did not only organise its agriculture in tune with the rhythm of the seasons, it also fought its wars that wayMarch is named for the Roman god Mars. He was among other things the god of agriculture, and the month was marked by ceremonies to protect new crops from bad weather.Mars was the god of war too, and better weather also meant the start of the campaigning season. The roles sometimes merged. In one of the oldest Roman ceremonies, the “leaping priests” of Mars, 12 young men
  
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• Harold ‘the Kangaroo’ Thornton: the extraordinary, forgotten life of the ‘greatest genius who ever lived’

  11-03-2026 15:00
  The Australian artist was a relentless self-promoter, prolific painter and pro wrestler. He loved a tall tale – but his true story was remarkableGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailIf you checked out the Archibald prize finalists back in 1983, one painting in particular might have caught your eye. Taking up seven feet of wall space, Dr Brown and Green Old Time Waltz is a psychedelic portrait of the then Greens leader, Bob Brown, rendered in rich colours and filled with hidden detail
  
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• ‘Severe water stress’: why desalination plants are the Gulf’s greatest weakness

  11-03-2026 13:01
  Recent attack on plants led to fears of escalating strikes, but Iran knows drought has left it equally vulnerableMiddle East crisis – live updatesIn 1983, the CIA determined that the most crucial commodity in the Gulf was its desalinated potable water.Although the loss of a single plant could be handled, “successful attacks on several plants in the most dependent countries could generate a national crisis that could lead to panic flights from the country and civil unrest”. And
  
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• How Toronto's snow mountains hide a toxic secret – video

  11-03-2026 12:57
  The Guardian reporter Leyland Cecco visits an almost 100ft-tall snow mountain, one of six created in Toronto to store all the snow cleared from roads and paths across the city.Toronto has spent more than C$1bn dollars over a decade to successfully re-naturalise the mouth of the Don River. But this is at risk because the salt contained in the snow mountains is likely to end up in water systems, causing an 'ecological crisis'.More than 130,000 tonnes of salt were used during the winter's record sn
  
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• Peak interest: Toronto’s snow mountains that refuse to melt are a toxic hazard

  11-03-2026 12:00
  Reaching up to 100ft, these massive piles contain tonnes of salt that keep roads clear – but pose environmental risksMost mountains take tens of millions of years to form. Toronto’s newest mountain took just days.Towering atop the crowns of evergreens, it has no skeleton of limestone or granite. There are no spires, cornices or headwalls. It is simply piles upon piles of snow, mixed with a toxic cocktail of road salt, antifreeze, oil, coffee cups and lost keys. It is the final restin
  
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• ‘When I leave, part of me stays’: why Scarborough’s youth won’t turn their backs on the seaside town they love

  11-03-2026 11:00
  Hemmed in by the sea and poor transport links, many young people from the Yorkshire town feel trapped, but there is also a pride in the areaIt’s the morning after a wet and stormy day in the Yorkshire seaside town of Scarborough. The waves, which the previous day had been crashing dramatically on the harbour walls, have calmed and a few brave souls have entered the water with surfboards. There is a man throwing a ball for his dog on the beach and a kayaker bobbing on the waves.Just up from
  
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• This is the story of Weda Bay – and how nature is being sacrificed for mining

  11-03-2026 08:00
  Analysis has found more than 3,000 mining operations within the most naturally precious areas of the planet, a much bigger footprint than previously thoughtWeda Bay is just one example of a global trend that could see the mining industry expand into some of Earth’s last areas of wilderness in search of minerals and materials to feed the global economy.Analysis produced for the Guardian by a group of academic researchers found more than 3,267 mining operations within key biodiversity areas
  
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• The Iran oil crisis has proved Ed Miliband right on green energy. But households still need more help | Mathew Lawrence

  11-03-2026 08:00
  Britain’s whole energy economy needs to be reformed – decarbonising the grid is only part of the mixBritain is once again paying the price of an energy system that is more effective at extracting profits than delivering security. Illegal war and geopolitical disruption are sending fossil fuel prices soaring – and because our electricity market turns volatile gas prices into higher electricity bills, families here risk paying the cost. The government is already unpopular. How it
  
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• Ultrasound repellers could keep hedgehogs off roads, scientists hope

  11-03-2026 07:00
  Study shows animals hear very high frequencies, making it possible to design a deterrent to cut deathsHedgehogs have been discovered to hear high-frequency ultrasound, raising hopes that they could be deterred from dangerous roads with ultrasound repellers.Vehicles are estimated to kill up to one in three hedgehogs, a big factor in the much-loved mammal’s drastic decline across Europe over recent decades. Continue reading...
  
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• Reaching net zero by 2050 ‘cheaper for UK than one fossil fuel crisis’

  11-03-2026 07:00
  Climate change committee finds move to renewable energy would also bring health, economic and security benefitsAchieving the UK’s net zero target by 2050 will cost less than a single oil shock and bring health and economic benefits while insulating the country against future costs, the government’s climate advisers have forecast.Eliminating the UK’s reliance on fossil fuels by adopting renewable energy and green technologies, such as electric vehicles and heat pumps, would be t
  
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• Birdwatch: Blue tits are feisty and fascinating but often taken for granted

  11-03-2026 07:00
  They will soon be looking for nest sites to begin the huge effort of raising their brood of between eight and 10 chicksIf there were an award for the most underrated British garden bird, the blue tit may well come out on top. Feisty and fascinating, this colourful little creature is so common and familiar that we often take it for granted.This could be because of the blue tit’s ubiquity. In both the main garden bird surveys in the UK – the RSPB’s annual Big Garden Birdwatch and
  
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• Country diary: The art of noticing rewards with a mini glittering web | Jeni Bell

  11-03-2026 06:30
  Knightwood Inclosure, New Forest: I realise my knowledge of my favourite haunt is the size of the spidery-speck hanging in the heatherIn soft sunlight the woodland wakes. Brimstone butterflies boast their presence, a raven pair rattle overhead, and the first scents of warming earth drift upwards. Spring shouts its arrival across Knightwood Inclosure, home of the New Forest’s girthiest tree, the Knightwood Oak. It falls on deaf ears though; knelt in mud, immersed in undergrowth, I’m m
  
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• ‘My lovely distraction’: live stream of kākāpō – world’s fattest parrot – and her chicks captivates New Zealand

  11-03-2026 02:03
  More than 100,000 people have tuned in to watch ‘kākāpō cam’, which captures a rare flightless bird sleeping, tidying her nest and fighting off intrudersOn an island in New Zealand’s remote southern fjords, one of the world’s strangest and rarest parrots – the kākāpō – is caring for her tiny chick as fans from across the globe watch on.Through the black and white lens of a hidden camera, a fluffy orb with a kazoo-like squeak jostl
  
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• ‘It feels like a seed has been planted’: Morecambe looks to Eden Project for revival

  10-03-2026 17:00
  Young people hope green light to build eco attraction’s northern outpost will change theirs and the town’s fortunesIn the Lancashire coastal town of Morecambe, there has been talk of Eden Project’s futuristic biomes being built beside the shoreline overlooking the bay for a decade.But this summer, spades will finally break ground to make the project a reality, with the visitor attraction expected to open in less than two years. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘A sobering preview’: extreme heat now affects one in three people globally, study finds

  10-03-2026 15:00
  Rising temperatures making it hard even for young, healthy people to safely do normal physical tasks in many regionsClimate breakdown is shrinking the amount of time that people can safely go about their lives, according to a study that shows a third of the world’s population now resides in areas where heat severely limits activity.Rising temperatures, driven by the continued burning of fossil fuels, are making it difficult even for many young, healthy adults to do basic physical activitie
  
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• ‘Everyone feels like they are being scammed’: can Central America’s small coffee growers survive as global prices fall?

  10-03-2026 12:00
  Family-run farms in El Salvador and Honduras face mounting losses, rising costs – and the need to adapt or be left behindRead more of our Coffee crisis series hereOn a steep hillside in western El Salvador, Oscar Leiva watches rainfall in December, a month that once marked the start of the dry season. During this harvest cycle, flowering came early and then stalled. A heatwave followed. What remains of the crop is uneven, lower in quality and more expensive to produce than the last.For Lei
  
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• Testing the waters: can pumping chemicals into the ocean help stop global heating?

  10-03-2026 07:00
  To some it was a reckless experiment but scientists hope the dispersal of 65,000 litres of sodium hydroxide into the Gulf of Maine could ease the climate crisisFor four days last August, a thick slick of maroon bruised the waters of the Gulf of Maine. The scene, not unlike a toxic red tide, was the result of 65,000 litres of an alkaline chemical, tagged with a red dye, that had been deliberately pumped by scientists into the ocean.Though it sounds perverse, the event was part of a scientific exp
  
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• Country diary: Orchids, plums and pine cones – all bursting out of cathedral walls | Nic Wilson

  10-03-2026 06:30
  St Albans Cathedral, Hertfordshire: The chapel here is a wonderful curiosity, thanks to its restoration by a green-fingered Victorian sculptorAll’s quiet in the Lady Chapel, sheltered from the bustle of the city by thick limestone walls of Totternhoe clunch, quarried just a few miles north-west in Bedfordshire. But though I’m aware of being alone in a vast vaulted space, when I look at the stonework, I feel surrounded by the echoes of women who’ve stood here before me and left
  
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• Bombing of Iran’s oil infrastructure to have major environmental fallout, experts warn

  10-03-2026 06:00
  Monitors admit they are struggling to keep track of the environmental disasters arising from widening warIsrael’s bombing of Iran’s oil infrastructure will have major long-term environmental repercussions, experts have warned, as monitors admitted they were struggling to keep track of the environmental disasters arising from the widening war.Even as Iranians filled the streets to mark the appointment of a new supreme leader, the Shahran oil depot north-east of Tehran and the Shahr-e
  
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• The Guardian view on the Iran crisis exposing Britain’s energy vulnerability: clean power offers protection | Editorial

  09-03-2026 20:11
  The war reveals Britain’s exposure to volatile fossil fuel prices. More North Sea drilling will not shield households, building domestic green energy willWhat should Britain do when war in the Middle East sends energy prices soaring? If the strait of Hormuz were blocked for the month of fighting that Donald Trump predicts, British households could face another brutal cost of living shock. Goldman Sachs warns of prices at the pump rising to 2022 levels. That would put more than 50p on each
  
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• Help a toad across the road – and five more ways to save these endangered amphibians

  09-03-2026 15:55
  Britain’s toads have begun their spring migration, putting them at even greater risk than usual. Here’s how – and why – we should look after themThere’s a touch of old magic about toads, those shapeshifters of myth, superstition and folklore. Charismatic creatures with the pleasing Latin binomial bufo bufo, common toads have astonishing copper- or gold-coloured eyes and rugged, textured skin. “People say they look warty, which I’ve always thought is a bi
  
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• Pay per view: Victoria wants to charge visitors to see the Twelve Apostles – will it become like Stonehenge?

  09-03-2026 15:00
  Like Stonehenge, the Australian coastal landmark is first seen from a busy highway – and locals warn charging a fee for safe viewing could make existing congestion worseGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastHow much is a view worth? The Victorian public is asking itself that question after the state government announced on Monday that it would impose visitor fees on one of its most spectacular landmarks, the Twelve Apostles.Bookings would be required and a fee payable
  
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• Countries can rewild borders to deter invasions, says EU environment chief

  09-03-2026 12:17
  Jessika Roswall cites Poland and Finland, which have made border areas near Russia or its allies ‘more hostile’ to crossCountries should look to rewild their land borders as a deterrence to invasion and build up other geographical defences to attack, Europe’s environment chief has said.Jessika Roswall, the EU’s commissioner for the environment, water resilience and a competitive circular economy, said nature should be used to improve national security. “Investing in
  
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• Large tortoiseshell butterfly confirmed no longer extinct in UK

  09-03-2026 12:00
  Early spring sightings show colourful insect is a resident species for first time in decades, says conservation charityThe large tortoiseshell – an elusive and enigmatic butterfly that became extinct in Britain in the last century – is a UK resident species once again, with a flurry of early spring sightings.Britain’s list of native butterflies has increased to 60 with the return of the insect after individuals emerged from hibernation in woodlands in Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, D
  
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• Yorkshire Water receives fresh funding despite sewage fines and pay row

  09-03-2026 09:29
  Private equity group EQT to take 42% stake as supplier faces scrutiny over environmental record and CEO’s payBusiness live – latest updatesA leading European investor will pump fresh funding into Yorkshire Water including helping to cover a £600m loan, despite recent heavy sewage fines and a scandal over executive pay at the utility firm.EQT, a Swedish private equity group, said on Monday it would take a 42% stake in Kelda Holdings, the Jersey-registered parent company of Yorks
  
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• How the ‘Galápagos of west Africa’ is plundered by floating fish factories

  09-03-2026 08:00
  A Guardian investigation with DeSmog reveals thousands of tonnes of fish are illegally turned into fishmeal and oil off the coast of Guinea-BissauThe only ice factory on Bubaque, an island in west Africa’s Guinea-Bissau, is out of service. Local fishers, such as Pedro Luis Pereira, are forced to source ice from factories on the mainland, about 70km away – a six-hour round trip by boat.“The machines have been broken for months,” Pereira says, as he pulls in his nets on the
  
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• Country diary: A riverside walk reveals the city’s history written in plants | Susie White

  09-03-2026 06:30
  Lower Ouseburn, Newcastle upon Tyne: Under boardwalks, in concrete, on window ledges, seeds borne by water and carried on feet surviveThe Ouseburn slides glassily, reflecting clouds, as it moves towards the Tyne. These lower reaches are tidal, once used for loading coal barges, here in the industrial heart of Newcastle. From glassworks, bottleworks, potteries and flax mills, the area is now transformed into waterside cafes, bars and housing. The burn flows through a variety of habitats: a wooded
  
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• ‘The smell wasn’t healthy’: the artist who wore 24 nappies to highlight sewage pollution – and fell ill

  09-03-2026 06:00
  zack mennell made a costume out of nappies and waded into filthy waterways saying: ‘I’m going to be the parasite.’ The performance artist’s project became more literal than originally intendedOn the Deptford foreshore, a ghoulish figure is sinking into the Thames. Performance artist zack mennell (who writes their name in lower case) wades to their belly button as a crowd watches on. DAs they dip down further, their mutant costume – sewn together from 24 adult nappie
  
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• The Guardian view on EV charging: China took the right lessons from Britain’s past | Editorial

  08-03-2026 18:25
  Megawatt fast EV charging reflects a coordinated grid strategy the UK once used. Privatisation and fragmentation now make that infrastructure far harder to buildThe future of electric cars arrived this week in China. The world’s biggest car seller, BYD, unveiled a new battery giving its latest electric models more than 600 miles of range. Remarkably, the Chinese motor-maker said 250 miles of range could be injected into its new batteries in just five minutes. If true, the last remaining ad
  
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