Environment news

• The seven big decisions made at the Cites global wildlife summit

  05-10-2016 18:19 via theguardian.com
  
  A major meeting on the regulation of trade in endangered species is drawing to a close in Johannesburg - here are seven of its key hits and missesPangolinSadly for the pangolin, the tough brown scales that so neatly tile its body are in huge demand for medicinal purposes, while the flesh that they protect is also appreciated as a delicacy in Vietnam and some parts of China. Earlier this month, conservationists warned of the devastating decline in pangolin populations. Cites followed up by puttin
  
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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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• 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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• 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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• US voters want action on global heating. So why are midterm candidates ‘climate hushing’?

  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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• US senators call for investigation into Ukraine's Starlink restrictions

  16-10-2026 16:19 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Ukraine says temporary speed limits to the Starlink internet network disrupted its battlefield missions.
  
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• EVs are holding value better than expected – and it has a lot to do with Australia’s cost of living

  16-10-2026 16:00 via theguardian.com
  The appeal of electric vehicles is financial as much as environmental for manydriversSign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter hereThe electric vehicles were splattered after a concrete spray incident, but repairable. Eager to recoup their costs, insurers sent the 40 BYD vehicles to an auction run by asset sales company Pickles in late March.With fuel prices soaring in response to the US and Israel war on Iran, a bidding frenzy erupted. Continue rea
  
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• For restaurants Covid-19 was a crisis – pandemic loans are proving a disaster

  16-10-2026 15:00 via theguardian.com
  Low-interest loans kept many eateries afloat. But the industry never recovered enough for them to repay the debtFor almost 20 years, Jai Mazumdar has served vegetarian curries, samosas, gulab jamun and other Indian delicacies at Spice N Curry, a cafe and grocery nestled inside a modest strip mall near Florida International University (FIU) in Miami. When the Covid-19 pandemic devastated his business, as it did with so many restaurants, Mazumdar took out a $370,000 economic injury disaster loan (
  
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• British food and drink exports to EU collapse by more than a third since Brexit

  16-10-2026 14:34 via theguardian.com
  NFU analysis of official data shows falls in exports to UK’s largest trading partner since 2019 include 70% for sugar and 74% for egg productsExports of British food and drink to the EU have collapsed by more than a third since Brexit with eggs, chicken and potato producers badly hit, new figures show.Analysis by the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) of HMRC data shows a sharp fall in exports in the year to July compared with the same period in 2019, with sugar dropping the most, down 70
  
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• Watch: Did Tesla really just unveil a flying car?

  16-10-2026 14:32 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Tesla CEO Elon Musk showcased the vehicle at a facility owned by his SpaceX company, which helped develop the model.
  
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• What is behind the success of dark skies festival?

  16-10-2026 12:13 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Stargazers are preparing to enjoy an annual festival that celebrates the beauty of the night sky.
  
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• Sod’s law: what can two turf swaps 40 years apart tell us about Britain’s biodiversity crisis?

  16-10-2026 12:01 via theguardian.com
  In 1983, David Nash dug up a section of Kensington Gardens and swapped it with Welsh grassland. Four decades later, Mike Perry’s reverse swap revealed a striking reversal in the fortunes of urban and rural natureIn 1983, an open-topped truck unloaded an unusual cargo in Kensington Gardens: 83 hunks of turf cut from Cae’n y Coed, a wooded hillside in the Ffestiniog valley. The ring of turf measuring eight metres in diameter that was removed from the park beside the Serpentine Gallery
  
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• Iguazu Falls in South America hits record 10 times normal water flow – video

  16-10-2026 11:37 via theguardian.com
  Iguazu Falls, an Unesco world heritage site, has reached a record water flow after heavy rains across the river basin. El Niño weather patterns are said to have driven the water flow to hit 10 times the normal amount. Usually the water flow is 1.5m litres per second, but local government registered a flow of 15m litres of water per second.Argentina temporarily closes Iguazu Falls after El Niño-fuelled surge in water levels Continue reading...
  
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• ‘Clean air is not a favour’: Indonesia’s neighbours fed up with acrid haze as Singapore threatens to prosecute

  16-10-2026 10:34 via theguardian.com
  Companies behind fires in Indonesia threatened with legal action as region dogged by persistent, transboundary hazeSingapore is threatening to prosecute companies responsible for some of the worst fires in years in neighbouring Indonesia, as the region grows increasingly frustrated with a persistent, acrid haze that could result in diplomatic relations fraying.Lawrence Wong, the Singaporean prime minister, said his government was distributing masks to vulnerable citizens and working with countri
  
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• The week in wildlife: a penguin posse, a little leopard cat and a chonky squirrel

  16-10-2026 09:00 via theguardian.com
  This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...
  
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• Revealed: VW, Ford and Tesla batteries linked to destructive deforestation of indigenous lands

  16-10-2026 09:00 via theguardian.com
  Mines in supply chains of western carmakers linked to widespread deforestation of primary rainforest in nickel-rich lands inhabited by Tolaki people in IndonesiaVolkswagen, Ford and Tesla are among the electric carmakers whose batteries may contain nickel mined in indigenous woodlands plagued by deforestation, an analysis has found, highlighting the struggle to make vehicles that are free from environmental destruction.Corporate disclosures and trade flows from the last two years show mines in t
  
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• Four years after the promises of Cop15, our biodiversity targets are slipping away

  16-10-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  ​The world pledged to halt biodiversity loss by 2030, but as Cop17 delegates meet in Armenia next week the outlook is bleak and optimism has faded• Don’t get Down to Earth delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereThe world has lost its way on nature once again. Next week, biodiversity Cop17 begins in Yerevan, Armenia, and expectations are low. Very low.Almost four years ago, governments reached an historic agreement at the biodiversity Cop15 to halt the destruction of Earth’s
  
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• Like dinosaur eggs in the sand: the pterosaur museum built to thrive in the Gobi desert

  16-10-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  How architects worked with harsh environment to create sustainable building in location where fossils were foundViewed from afar, the silver-hued Hami Pterosaur Museum almost looks like a space base on Mars. Viewed from above, it resembles a collection of dinosaur eggs in the sand. Nestled in the Gobi desert, in north-west China, the new tourist attraction showcases hundreds of impressive fossils of pterosaurs, ancient flying reptiles related to dinosaurs. But far from reflecting its prehistoric
  
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• Commercial kitchen staff exposed to high levels of air pollution, study finds

  16-10-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  US research says nitrogen dioxide in restaurants that cook with gas can exceed WHO limits, which also affects dinersEach time we enjoy a meal out or order a takeaway, someone cooks for us in a commercial kitchen. In the UK, 3.6 million people work in catering and hospitality. In the US it is estimated at close to 16 million. A first-of-its-kind study in the US has found catering staff can experience high air pollution at work – and that this can affect diners too.Dr Drew Michanowicz, senio
  
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• Country diary: A three-day perambulation around my own parish | Simon Lockett

  16-10-2026 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Golden Valley, Herefordshire: Even vicars can get stuck too much behind a desk, and the 800th anniversary of St Francis of Assisi’s death is a good excuse to strike out, and speak to local peopleI was sitting at my desk again, with the dull hum and the blue glow of the screen. It seems that every occupation traps people at their desk, and being a vicar is no different. But I wanted to resist, and it happened to be the 800th anniversary of Saint Francis of Assisi’s death. With Jesus o
  
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• Living with a stink? Technology might help

  16-10-2026 01:18 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Smells from rubbish dumps and industrial facilities are being more carefully monitored.
  
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• Suspected fly tippers shamed with online photos

  15-10-2026 20:05 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Hillingdon Council has shared social media posts showing people allegedly dumping rubbish illegally.
  
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• Watch: What does Starlink have to do with the Ukraine-Russia war?

  15-10-2026 19:31 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Ukraine's president has told Elon Musk that any restriction on the Starlink's system cost lives.
  
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• Severe drought declared and hosepipe bans in force - is your area affected?

  15-10-2026 17:42 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Parts of southern England have entered "severe drought", while about 30 million people are under hosepipe ban.
  
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• Was Neanderthal life violent? This wound suggests lethal fighting was more common

  15-10-2026 17:00 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A 75,000-year-old Neanderthal spear wound may be evidence violence shaped human life far earlier than thought.
  
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• £15m for zero-emission testing at Belfast Harbour

  15-10-2026 16:55 via bbc.co.uk
  
  It comes after a £15m investment from UK Research and Innovation's Local Innovation Partnerships Fund.
  
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