Environment news

• Traffic noise reduces birds' response to alarm calls

  28-12-2016 16:04 via feedproxy.google.com
  Pollution can take many forms--including noise. Excess noise in the environment from sources such as traffic can have negative effects on animals that rely on sound to communicate and get information about their surroundings. A new study from The Condor: Ornithological Applications shows that traffic noise makes birds less responsive to alarm calls that would otherwise alert them to dangers such as predators.
  
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• Microplastics in soil pose global threat by acting like ‘Trojan horse’ to deliver toxins

  16-09-2026 14:00 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: Plastic surfaces form hotspots with an increase of antibiotic-resistant genes, study findsMicroplastics act like a “Trojan horse” delivering pollutants, pesticides and bacteria through the soil, a five-year multinational research project has found.The EU-funded project, which has so far resulted in 22 peer-reviewed studies, found microplastics in the soil of all 227 agricultural fields it tested across 11 European countries. The researchers said this poses a global threat,
  
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• Datacenter rush will create ‘tsunami’ of discarded electronics, report says

  16-09-2026 13:00 via theguardian.com
  Global push will triple toxic e-waste annually in 25 years, filling enough shipping containers to circle globe six timesThe ongoing campaign to build thousands of massive datacenters for AI will create a “tsunami” of discarded electronics, putting the world on a course to triple its annual generation of toxic e-waste in the next 25 years, a new report projects.The electronic trash AI generates in the next 25 years could fill enough shipping containers to encircle the globe six times,
  
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• ‘We’re near a breaking point:’ firefighters say US government is failing them amid intense wildfire season

  16-09-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  US grapples with federal firefighter shortage as crews say they’re spread thin and lack resources during unrelenting year of fireFirefighters battling enormous wildfires in the United States say the federal government is failing them at a time when supercharged blazes have made their jobs exponentially more dangerous.While the US continues to grapple with a critical shortage of federal firefighters – with especially large gaps in essential management positions – the Trump admin
  
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• Company behind failed Surrey oilfield project sells site at massive loss

  16-09-2026 11:00 via theguardian.com
  New owners apply for permission to extract oil in Horse Hill despite landmark ruling from supreme court in 2024After years of trying to dig for oil in Surrey, the company behind the drilling project that was turned down in a landmark supreme court ruling has sold off the site for a fraction of the money it spent on it, and rebranded as a clean energy company.Meanwhile, the new owners, who picked up the site for £1m, are applying, once again, for permission to dig. Continue reading...
  
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• Record heatwaves bring Britain’s second-best butterfly season in 16 years

  16-09-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Volunteers counted almost 1.4m common butterflies and moths, with painted ladies up 335% on last yearThe recording-breaking heat of 2026 delivered the second-best British butterfly season of the past 16 years, according to the Big Butterfly Count.The largest insect count in the world, in which more than 100,000 volunteers counted almost 1.4m common butterflies and day-flying moths, confirmed what many people experienced – a noticeable profusion of butterflies during the five-heatwave summe
  
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• Plantwatch: The insect-eating alpine plant that proves Darwin was right

  16-09-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Study shows Saxifraga candelabrum traps and digests midges – just as the evolutionary biologist predicted back in 1875In 1875, Charles Darwin predicted that Saxifraga candelabrum, a small alpine plant, could eat insects.Its leaves, petals and stems are smothered in tiny, sticky hairs and – just as the evolutionary biologist suspected – the sweet glue on the hairs can lure and trap midges before digesting them with an enzyme. Continue reading...
  
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• People protecting nature and land set up self-defence units amid threat of murder

  16-09-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Defenders of forests and rivers killed at rate of one every three days in 2025, with 85% of deaths in Latin AmericaNature and land defenders were murdered at the rate of one every three days last year, prompting many communities to set up self-defence units, according to the latest annual death toll by the independent watchdog Global Witness.Organised crime groups or professional killers were implicated in more than a third of the 124 killings of defenders in 2025 as narco-trafficking activities
  
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• Drama on the trail cam – this is Somerset’s version of the snow leopard | Derek Niemann

  16-09-2026 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Frome: We’ve been trying to help out struggling hedgehogs, and finally we have a sighting. But how long should we intervene for?Deep into the night, and out of our sight, tiny claws rake over plastic. The animal skitters halfway through a pipe, then stops. A hunter five times its weight is on its tail, but it is safe from harm, and not just because the tunnel is too narrow for the hunter to enter. Curiosity killed the cat’s predatory thoughts with a face full of prickl
  
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• Country diary: Drama on the trail cam – this is Somerset’s version of the snow leopard | Derek Niemann

  16-09-2026 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Frome: We’ve been trying to help out struggling hedgehogs, and finally we have a sighting. But how long should we intervene for?Deep into the night, and out of our sight, tiny claws rake over plastic. The animal skitters halfway through a pipe, then stops. A hunter five times its weight is on its tail, but it is safe from harm, and not just because the tunnel is too narrow for the hunter to enter. Curiosity killed the cat’s predatory thoughts with a face full of prickl
  
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• The rubbishscapes of Essex: why our buried trash is back to haunt us – podcast

  16-09-2026 06:00 via theguardian.com
  We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors.This week, from 2023: Landfill sites have swallowed many a beauty spot along the Thames estuary in the past 50 years. Now, as those dumps start to disgorge tonnes of mouldering detritus into the river, it truly feels like the Age of ConsequencesBy Tim Burrows. Read by Sam Swainsbury Continue reading...
  
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• Airlines should pay for CO2 removal if Heathrow expands, say climate advisers

  16-09-2026 06:00 via theguardian.com
  Climate Change Committee says government cannot expand airport without requiring aviation industry to clean up its emissions Heathrow airport should be allowed to expand only if airlines pay for the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, the government’s climate advisers have said.Building a third runway and new terminals, as some in government want to do, would breach the UK’s carbon budgets and make reaching net zero by 2050 impossible, on current policies, according to the
  
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• The women saving Borneo: battling fire, patriarchy and super El Niño on Indonesia’s peatland frontlines

  16-09-2026 03:18 via theguardian.com
  Fire threatens Kalimantan’s rainforests. On the peatland frontlines, a group of local mothers is defending their community. Words and Photography: Garry LotulungIrma puts on her heavy rubber boots as she prepares for a volunteer firefighting shift in her village of Sungai Putri, on the Indonesian side of Borneo island.Dressed in full safety gear she heads into fire zones on her motorbike, the air thick with toxic smoke. Continue reading...
  
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• Air pollution linked to higher suicide risk, international research suggests

  15-09-2026 23:30 via theguardian.com
  Analysis of 29 studies highlights potentially heightened danger from small particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide Air pollution is associated with an increased risk of suicide and suicidal thoughts, according to research.Environmental pollution is known to be associated with poorer mental health but its role in suicide risk is less well understood. Scientists at Queen’s University Belfast examined whether air, noise, light, and water pollution could influence the risk of death by suicide
  
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• Indonesian wildfires threaten leading orangutan research site in Borneo

  15-09-2026 17:57 via theguardian.com
  Critically endangered Bornean orangutans flee forests as staff at Cabang Panti work round the clock to stave off blazeWildfires in Indonesia are sweeping through a critical research site for Bornean orangutans and are now threatening a celebrated research camp, home to one of the world’s longest-running studies of wild apes.In the past few days, the fires have burned within 200 metres of Rangkong research station, a satellite of Cabang Panti research station, which lies about four miles no
  
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• Thousands of sea turtles reach Mexico in yearly migration threatened by climate crisis – video

  15-09-2026 17:39 via theguardian.com
  More than 330,000 sea turtles arrived in southern Mexico in a mass nesting phenomenon known as an ‘arribada’.The sixth arribada of the season, which began in March, brought thousands of turtles to the beach in less than 48 hours to lay their eggs, according to officials at La Escobilla beach sanctuary in Oaxaca, Mexico.The olive ridley turtle plays a fundamental role in marine and coastal ecosystems by contributing nutrients to beach-dune systems and regulating populations of jellyfi
  
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• NSW bumper canola crops shine on – in pictures

  15-09-2026 17:00 via theguardian.com
  Vibrant yellow fields of canola light up the landscape, as an ideal growing season sees crops flowering earlier than usual. in the south-west slopes and Riverina regions of New South Wales Continue reading...
  
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• Hello yellow: canola crops shine on in NSW – in pictures

  15-09-2026 17:00 via theguardian.com
  Vibrant fields light up the landscape as an ideal growing season means crops are flowering earlier than usual in the south-west slopes and Riverina regions of New South WalesBlankets of colour: Western Australia’s wildflower season bursts into life – in pictures Continue reading...
  
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• The love of her life died at sea hunting shipwrecks. Now she’s taking the helm

  15-09-2026 15:00 via theguardian.com
  After Jennifer Sellitti lost her partner Joe Mazraani, she thought everything was over. Then she inherited his shipAfter Joe died, Jennifer Sellitti felt as though she were living underwater.Other people became murky, their words muffled. She slept constantly; unconsciousness was a blessing. On the worst days, memories bowled her over. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘It’s really taking off’: hedge revival as farmers rediscover ancient tools

  15-09-2026 09:00 via theguardian.com
  Grant applications in England surge as interest grows in habitat that captures carbon and helps reduce flood riskThe ancient craft of hedge laying is experiencing a strong revival as farmers use techniques that peaked in the 18th and 19th centuries to boost wildlife, capture carbon and help tackle flooding.Hedge laying, which restores and revives mature hedges to keep them fresh, was among the four most popular categories of capital grants selected by farmers out of a total pot of £225m pr
  
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• Conservation ‘gateway drug’: farmers embrace ancient craft of hedge laying

  15-09-2026 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Grant applications in England surge as interest grows in habitat that captures carbon and helps reduce flood riskThe ancient craft of hedge laying is experiencing a strong revival as farmers use techniques that peaked in the 18th and 19th centuries to boost wildlife, capture carbon and help tackle flooding.Hedge laying, which restores and revives mature hedges to keep them fresh, was among the four most popular categories of capital grants selected by farmers out of a total pot of £225m pr
  
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• Why unwanted fridges are piling up at recycling centres across England and Wales

  15-09-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Capacity has been overwhelmed by heatwaves that have pushed white goods to breaking point“In Oxfordshire, recycling centres are filling almost three articulated lorries with discarded fridges every week,” says Simon Perry of W&S Waste Management, which runs a recycling centre in Ardley.Together, those fridges would cover an area just under half the size of a football pitch. But the space to store them – in Oxfordshire and beyond – has become a growing problem after th
  
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• They’re the sopranos of the forest, so what’s silencing the gibbons’ morning chorus?

  15-09-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  As human development and roads increasingly fragment their habitats, a study suggests traffic noise could be altering the animals’ wake-up callDawn has broken, and the air is cool and still. It’s at about this time that gibbons usually erupt into song, wa-oo-ing and wa-ing from the highest branches and filling the tree tops with rich melodies. But in this corner of Malaysian forest, bordered by housing and roads, the resident white-handed gibbons are quiet. All that can be heard is t
  
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• The incoming ‘super’ El Niño will create chaos around the world. And we are far from ready for it | Bill McGuire

  15-09-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  One of the biggest upheavals in a millennium is on its way, strengthened by the climate crisis. We need leaders who make things better not worseIf you think you have heard enough about the growing “super” El Niño, trust me, you are going to hear a lot more. What is happening in the equatorial Pacific is jaw-dropping and could well mark one of the biggest global weather upheavals in a millennium. It will spawn a string of weather catastrophes around our world in what remains of
  
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• Country diary: Goldfinches and grasses, together in an explosion of movement | Mark Cocker

  15-09-2026 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Priestcliffe Lees, Derbyshire: What a sight – and sound – it was, this huge flock of juveniles, feeding as the wind thrashed the vegetation Stands of tufted hair-grass, some over a metre tall, burned beige by the summer heat, were churned by strong autumn westerlies. Over and through the vegetation’s swaying lather roved a flock of about 200 goldfinches, most of them this year’s young. They were intent on the hanks of thistle and knapweed seed which lay below the hai
  
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• Benedict Cumberbatch on his Earth-saving eco film: ‘We are in the last grab of the extraction era’

  15-09-2026 06:00 via theguardian.com
  From Obama’s chef to a big cat obsessive, the actor has gathered experts from Alaska, the Amazon and beyond for a film about how to heal our besieged planet. He talks about naysayers, elephant tusks – and the wonders of venisonBenedict Cumberbatch is dreading stepping outside. He’s speaking to me from his air-conditioned hotel room in Soho at the peak of the summer heat. Few doubt that climate breakdown was a major cause of those scorchers, with nature, farming and water suppli
  
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• Panama canal traffic to be cut again as drought from El Niño worsens

  15-09-2026 04:43 via theguardian.com
  
  Latest daily reductions will further choke one of the world’s most important shipping lanesThe Panama canal plans to again cut maritime traffic due to worsening drought caused by the El Niño climate phenomenon, further choking up one of the world’s most important shipping lanes.The canal handles 5% of global maritime trade and about 40% of US container traffic; it is favoured by shippers because it usually reduces cost and transit times, especially for companies trading betwee
  
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• Panama canal traffic facing further cuts as drought from El Niño worsens

  15-09-2026 04:43 via theguardian.com
  Planned daily reductions will further choke one of the world’s most important shipping lanesThe Panama canal plans to again cut maritime traffic due to worsening drought caused by the El Niño climate phenomenon, further choking up one of the world’s most important shipping lanes.The canal handles 5% of global maritime trade and about 40% of US container traffic; it is favoured by shippers because it usually reduces cost and transit times, especially for companies trading betwe
  
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• Europe’s summer emergency was a dire warning for Australia. What can be learned before it’s too late? | Nick Rowley

  15-09-2026 03:36 via theguardian.com
  Between 2000 and 2018, extreme heat caused more deaths in Australia than all our bushfires, floods, storms and cyclones combinedFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastBack in April 2004, in the shadow of the previous European summer, I started work at Downing Street advising the British prime minister on climate change. The 2003 heatwave had killed an estimated 70,000 people across Europe. Many were older people, in homes
  
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• A job that changed me: Working the pool kiosk in the summer of ’82, I was excited when older boys came by – but I learned that respect is better than attention

  14-09-2026 17:00 via theguardian.com
  My job made me the envy of the cool girls; it made me visible. Then Johnno, Stevo and Whack paid a visitIn the summer of 1982, at the age of 14, I was hired to work in the ticket office and kiosk at the Sale Memorial Pool in Victoria’s Gippsland region. The cool girls at school, who did not usually acknowledge me, were seething with jealousy. It was a sought-after job in a time before fast-food outlets and chain supermarkets.I was anxious because I didn’t look like the girls who usua
  
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