Environment news

• Top climate scientist blasts UK’s fracking plans as 'aping Trump’

  13-10-2018 13:55 via Environment | The Guardian
  James Hansen, ‘father of climate science’, accuses Britain of ignoring scienceOne of the world’s leading climate scientists has launched a scathing attack on the government’s fracking programme, accusing ministers of aping Donald Trump and ignoring scientific evidence.James Hansen, who is known as the father of climate science, warned that future generations would judge the decision to back a UK fracking industry harshly. Continue reading...
  
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• Greenpeace activists create ‘boulder barrier’ in North Sea to deter industrial fishing

  02-11-2026 14:10 via Environment | The Guardian
  Action taken to prevent bottom trawling in the marine protected area and conserve porpoise populationsGreenpeace activists have dropped boulders in the North Sea to snag the dragnets of industrial trawlers fishing in a marine protected area.Activists onboard the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise dropped the giant stones to form an underwater barrier around the Southern North Sea marine protected area (MPA) – the UK’s most bottom-trawled MPA. Continue reading...
  
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• A lackluster response to North Carolina flooding disasters is eroding Republican support in one county

  02-11-2026 13:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  At more than $52m, the race has become the most expensive in US history, but residents are fed up with floodingAida Havel mulled her fate over coffee after working the early voting polls all day in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. “We are trapped,” she concluded.The Dare county commission candidate lives about 50 miles (80km) south, on Hatteras Island on the state’s Outer Banks. Continue reading...
  
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• Europe could face colder weather as polar vortex weakens

  02-11-2026 12:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  Disruption to winds above Arctic threatens to alter weather patterns across parts of continent in coming weeksThe stratospheric polar vortex over the northern hemisphere is facing the prospect of an unusually early weakening. Forecast models suggest it could weaken significantly over the next 10 days, when it would typically be strengthening.A major sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event is possible. This could influence weather patterns in the following weeks, increasing the likelihood of per
  
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• ‘They assume the man next to me is the owner’: four women doing business in Africa in their own way

  02-11-2026 11:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  From feeding schoolchildren to recycling tyres, these entrepreneurs are challenging stereotypes while solving social and environmental problemsAfrica is thought to have a higher proportion of female entrepreneurs than any other continent and yet many still struggle to access financing. Four business leaders from Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya and Malawi tell us about the inspiration behind their success – and the challenges women still face. Continue reading...
  
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• Google search has gone from being very handy to useless | First Dog on the Moon

  02-11-2026 06:54 via Environment | The Guardian
  Google’s AI summary is punching a huge hole in their own profits – is this good?Sign up here to get an email whenever First Dog cartoons are publishedGet all your needs met at the First Dog shop if what you need is First Dog merchandise and prints Continue reading...
  
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• Country diary: As winter approaches, all eyes here are on heating oil prices | Nicola Chester

  02-11-2026 06:30 via Environment | The Guardian
  Inkpen and Combe, Berkshire: If the price goes down, the village WhatsApp group lights upBeyond the reach of the gas mains, there is tension about the coming winter. Many rural homes have an open fire or wood burner, but most rely on kerosene oil for hot water and heating. Since the US-Iran war began, its cost has more than doubled. Currently, 1,000 litres (lasting 10-12 weeks) is £1,219. A year ago, it was £549. Seasoned wood is in demand.We watch the oil price rise, with none of the consumer
  
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• ‘They have schedules to follow’: how fast ferries can threaten endangered whales in the Mediterranean

  02-11-2026 06:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  A Guardian investigation has found that despite a recommendation to slow down, leading shipping companies continue to travel above advised speeds in a key habitat for cetaceansMarine biologist Alice Barbarioli waits with her camera trained on the horizon. A few minutes earlier, the hydrophone beneath the Pelagos research vessel detected codas – the sequence of clicks sperm whales use to communicate.The sperm whale reveals its head and dorsal fin as those onboard the vessel in the Pelagos sanct
  
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• Cryosphere faces permanent damage when world overshoots 1.5C, scientists warn

  02-11-2026 01:01 via Environment | The Guardian
  
  UN-backed report finds even temporary rises above Paris agreement target could cause harm to glaciers and polar ice sheetsEarth’s icy regions face such dangerous melting that global heating should be brought back below 1C after an inevitable period of overshooting global temperature targets, a UN report has found.Permanent and widespread losses of snow and ice expose a “persistent myth” that overshooting the 1.5C target of the Paris climate agreement – to 2C or 3C – could be manageable
  
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• Rare beetle that oozes substance from its knees when attacked rediscovered in Wales

  01-11-2026 11:40 via Environment | The Guardian
  Natural Resources Wales says short-necked oil beetle has been found in country for first time in nearly 60 yearsA rare beetle has been rediscovered in Wales after nearly 60 years, conservationists have said.The short-necked oil beetle, driven to the brink of extinction in Britain due to habitat loss over the course of the 20th century, has been found at the Castlemartin range in Pembrokeshire, according to Natural Resources Wales (NRW). Continue reading...
  
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• ‘This is a robust recipe’: the experimental farm bucking the decline in UK birds

  31-10-2026 13:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  Allerton Project attracts abundant wildlife and its success can offers clues to reversing the sharp drop in populationsFarmer Alastair Leake is standing in a field of sprouting winter wheat, pointing at his experiment. One side was ploughed before planting, with green shoots breaking through neat rows of upturned soil. On the other, the crop was drilled directly into the earth, emerging through a messy carpet of “trash” – stems, stubble and crop residue from previous harvests.“When we’
  
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• Mill 19: a creative hub built into a former steel factory

  31-10-2026 13:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  In Pittsburgh, Pennsylviania, a post-industrial site gets a second life Continue reading...
  
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• ‘Bunch of baloney’: calls grow for Cop summit reforms as countries on track to fail nature targets

  31-10-2026 11:01 via Environment | The Guardian
  Cop17, focused on protecting nature and restoring ecosystems, concludes on Saturday with critics saying system allows ‘one idiot’ to stall progressCalls are growing for major reforms to UN biodiversity summits as countries fail to deliver on their promises to halt the destruction of the natural world, with governments likely on track to continue their record of never having met a target in the 34-year history of the convention.Two weeks of negotiations at biodiversity Cop17 in Yerevan, Armen
  
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• ‘Plantation tourism’: court victory signals hope in Jamaica’s fight to keep beaches public

  31-10-2026 11:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  A temporary injunction in the coastline battle for beaches to be publicly accessible, not sealed off for private developments, is just a step in fighting what islanders call a tourism model that disadvantages JamaicansWhen the Australian human rights lawyer Eva Buzo emerged from the sea on to the shores of One Man Beach in Montego Bay on Sunday after her gruelling, nearly 11-hour-long swim, the thunderous pulse of welcome drums was drowned out by the chants of “free beach” from jubilant supp
  
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• ‘Bunch of baloney’: calls grow for Cop summit reforms as latest event on track to fail targets

  31-10-2026 09:48 via Environment | The Guardian
  Cop17, focused on protecting nature and restoring ecosystems, concludes on Saturday with critics saying system allows ‘one idiot’ to stall progressCalls are growing for major reforms to UN biodiversity summits as countries fail to deliver on their promises to halt the destruction of the natural world, with governments likely on track to continue their record of never having met a target in the 34-year history of the convention.Two weeks of negotiations at biodiversity Cop17 in Yerevan, Armen
  
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• ‘Bunch of balcony’: calls grow for Cop summit reforms as latest event on track to fail targets

  31-10-2026 09:48 via Environment | The Guardian
  Cop17, focused on protecting nature and restoring ecosystems, concludes on Saturday with critics saying system allows ‘one idiot’ to stall progressCalls are growing for major reforms to UN biodiversity summits as countries fail to deliver on their promises to halt the destruction of the natural world, with governments likely on track to continue their record of never having met a target in the 34-year history of the convention.Two weeks of negotiations at biodiversity Cop17 in Yerevan, Armen
  
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• Country diary: An impromptu birding trip with a total stranger – and it was magical | Eben Muse

  31-10-2026 06:30 via Environment | The Guardian
  Slimbridge, Gloucestershire: A chance meeting led me and my partner into an afternoon of discovery and generosity that is nothing like a certain YouTube documentary on birding“What did you just see?” a bearded man asked, through the open window of his old Mini Cooper.“Just some crows in that tree.” Continue reading...
  
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• Australia’s best photos of the month – October 2026

  31-10-2026 00:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  Dolly Parton, tulips and outback life all feature in the best images captured across the country in OctoberApartments, community centres and a pink outdoor toilet: Australia’s 2026 National Architecture award winners – in pictures Continue reading...
  
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• Twice as many plants and animals sold in wildlife trade as previously thought, says report

  30-10-2026 19:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  More than 100,000 species are traded globally, whether illegally smuggled, sold as ornaments or in fisheries, timber and fashion industries, study findsThe number of plant and animal species in use or sold in the wildlife trade is more than twice as high as previously thought, researchers have discovered.A study, published in Science Advances, warns that there are huge gaps in global assessments of how wildlife is traded, and that past estimates have failed to keep up with changes such as the bo
  
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• The Iran war is deepening the US energy crisis. A bad winter is ahead | Mark Wolfe

  30-10-2026 15:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  Congress must act to ensure that families are able to heat their homes before the start of the seasonHeating oil may be the clearest warning yet of how the war in Iran is deepening the US’s energy affordability crisis. Families who heat their homes with oil are facing bills that could be 50% higher this winter, adding nearly $900 to the cost of keeping their homes warm. These families were already struggling before the war began.As the Guardian recently reported, research by my organization fo
  
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• Freakish frocks and ghoulish guises: last-minute Halloween costumes that won’t haunt the environment

  30-10-2026 15:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  Keen to join in the revelry but don’t have a costume? You can still fashion a get-up without buying – or wasting – anythingChange by degrees offers life hacks and sustainable living tips each Saturday to help reduce your household’s carbon footprintGot a question or tip for reducing household emissions? Email us at [email protected] thrill of an event like Halloween doesn’t come from a brand new costume or “two pillowcases’ worth of sweets”, says play specialist
  
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• Public sector an ‘afterthought’ to North Sea oil jobs, says Unison leader

  30-10-2026 14:04 via Environment | The Guardian
  Andrea Egan calls for same political focus on teachers, care sector and NHS and says Jackdaw decision ‘a serious misstep’The leader of the UK’s biggest trade union has called for the same political focus to be given to NHS, education and care sector workers as there has been on those employed in North Sea oil and gas.Andrea Egan, the general secretary of Unison, said too often public sector workers were treated as an “afterthought” by the government compared with the “massive politic
  
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• Five reasons why the US midterms matter for the climate – and your energy bill

  30-10-2026 12:30 via Environment | The Guardian
  Voters are feeling the pinch of Trump’s anti-climate agenda as energy costs rise, but a shake-up in Congress could shift thingsIf the polls can be believed, the US could see a blue wave in the midterms, giving Democrats a chance to take back the House and Senate, and gaining up to four governor’s seats.These wins could give Democrats new power to resist Donald Trump’s anti-climate agenda, and to push forward climate policies at the state level. But if Republicans maintain power, it could f
  
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• Severe rainfall and flood warnings issued for central Greece and western Turkey

  30-10-2026 11:07 via Environment | The Guardian
  
  Turkey has been hit by powerful thunderstorms and a fatal tornado this week with more heavy rain expectedHeavy rain and strong winds will continue to affect parts of south-eastern Europe and Turkey over the next few days, as an area of low pressure in the region has allowed for the formation of powerful thunderstorms. During a particularly intense thunderstorm in Antalya, a coastal city in the south-west of Turkey, the formation of a tornado resulted in the deaths of four construction workers on
  
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• Healey’s budget cuts mean Britain is likely to miss green heating targets

  30-10-2026 11:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  
  Ex-energy secretary Ed Miliband’s agenda appears undermined as money is diverted from renewables to defenceBritain is unlikely to hit its targets on green heating after the cuts announced by John Healey this week, experts have warned, as critics of Ed Miliband claim the former energy secretary’s green agenda is being dismantled.The chancellor unveiled more than £3bn worth of cuts to the energy department’s budget this week, much of which will pay for higher defence spending. Continue read
  
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• ‘You can see the water going down’: residents on edge as one of England’s worst-hit reservoirs dries up

  30-10-2026 10:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  
  After UK’s hottest summer on record, Ardingly near Haywards Heath is just 19% full – and next-closest reservoir is unusable due to broken treatment works“You can see the water level at Ardingly going down and down. I don’t remember ever seeing it this low,” says Caroline Allan, a lifetime resident of Haywards Heath, the nearest town to one of England’s most depleted reservoirs.The Ardingly reservoir, managed by South East Water and serving about 95,000 properties in and around Haywar
  
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• Week in wildlife: a fishing anhinga, a northern nutcracker and cuddling seals

  30-10-2026 09:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...
  
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• Biodiversity Cop17 seems to be stalling. Is it time to reform the process?

  30-10-2026 08:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  In this week’s newsletter: There are too many meetings, and not enough decisions, say experts – and time is running out• Don’t get Down to Earth delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereWhen things are not going well at an environmental summit, organisers often tell delegates that the “world is watching” in an attempt to focus minds. But spend any time at biodiversity Cop17 in Armenia and it is clear that the world’s attention is elsewhere.The negotiating halls of Yerevan’s Meridian
  
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• How many of these official creature kindness badges have you earned? | First Dog on the Moon

  30-10-2026 07:01 via Environment | The Guardian
  A cartoon that celebrates small acts of graceSign up here to get an email whenever First Dog cartoons are publishedGet all your needs met at the First Dog shop if what you need is First Dog merchandise and prints Continue reading...
  
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• Greener front gardens could help combat air pollution and summer heat

  30-10-2026 07:00 via Environment | The Guardian
  Scientists call for incentives to preserve vegetation as study highlights benefits of plentiful planting in LondonYour front garden could be a first line of defence against air pollution, according to a year-long field study in two London neighbourhoods.The UK’s 26m gardens cover nearly 5% of the country’s land area, but they account for a much larger share in urban areas. In Greater London, domestic gardens cover 41% of the city, compared with 27% of Cardiff and 23% of Edinburgh. Continue r
  
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