Environment news

• US FDA declares genetically modified pork 'safe to eat'

  17-12-2020 11:13 via theguardian.com
  
  Developer says it plans to focus on using pig organs for human transplant rather than selling for meatGenetically modified (GM) pigs have been approved for food and medical use in the US, drawing mixed reactions. The pigs are only the second GM animal to be approved for food after GM salmon in 2015.The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week approved the GM pigs, which have been engineered to eliminate alpha-gal, a sugar found in pigs that can cause allergic reactions.
  The FDA said it wa
  
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• South West Water fined £8m for hundreds of sewage spills in Cornwall and Devon

  29-09-2026 17:19 via theguardian.com
  District judge orders record fine for region and says incidents of pollution cannot be toleratedA water company has been ordered to pay a record fine of almost £8m for hundreds of sewage spills at popular bathing spots and sensitive habitats in Cornwall and Devon.On one occasion, untreated sewage gushed through a harbour wall on a bank holiday weekend but South West Water (SWW) engineers took 10 hours to attend. Continue reading...
  
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• New English homes in flood-risk areas could become uninsurable, says Aviva boss

  29-09-2026 15:32 via theguardian.com
  Amanda Blanc says flooding threat is ‘absolutely increasing’, as she also warns ministers over ‘kite flying’ before budgetBusiness live – latest updatesThe boss of Britain’s biggest insurer has said that homes being built now in England could become uninsurable in the future because they are sited in flood-risk areas.Amanda Blanc, the chief executive of Aviva, said the flooding threat was “absolutely increasing”. Continue reading...
  
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• The night sky is getting 10% brighter every year. We’re forgetting what darkness feels like

  29-09-2026 14:00 via theguardian.com
  If more cities start regulating outdoor lighting, we humans could make the environment better for all living creaturesEvery night, I can turn off the lights in my room – but I can’t do anything about the outdoor lights in the walkway or parking lot that leak through the curtains. Living in Portland, where the night is still illuminated by street lights, porch lights and parking lot glare, I forgot what it actually feels like to sleep in darkness.I was excited when I realized my trave
  
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• How gold surpassed cocaine as Peru’s most profitable criminal industry

  29-09-2026 14:00 via theguardian.com
  As gold prices surge, illegal mining has laid waste to swathes of Tambopata National Reserve’s rainforest“Halt, stop right there,” shouts a Peruvian Navy Seal, firing warning shots into the air. But the fleeing man pays no attention, scrambling up to the rim of a football pitch-sized crater and disappearing into the dense rainforest as the commandos give chase, swearing and shooting.Meanwhile, other marines set dynamite charges on a makeshift wooden raft that floats in the crat
  
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• New UK homes in flood-risk areas could become uninsurable, says Aviva boss

  29-09-2026 11:28 via theguardian.com
  Amanda Blanc says flooding threat is ‘absolutely increasing’, as she also warns ministers over ‘kite flying’ before budgetBusiness live – latest updatesThe boss of Britain’s biggest insurer has warned that homes being built now could become uninsurable in the future because they are sited in flood-risk areas.Amanda Blanc, the chief executive of Aviva, said the flooding threat was “absolutely increasing”. Assuming current construction patterns conti
  
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• UN warns of ‘narrowing window’ to restore world’s forests

  29-09-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Food and Agriculture Organization urges governments to make forest restoration a national priority The world faces a “narrowing window” to restore forests essential for food security and resistance to the climate emergency, a United Nations report has warned.More than 489m hectares (1.2bn acres) of forests have been cleared since 1990, while an even greater area is degraded, the world body said in a call for governments to make forest restoration a national priority. Continue reading
  
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• Saving the Siamese crocodile: Cambodia moves to protect one of the world’s last wild populations

  29-09-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Indigenous communities play crucial role, as ‘genetic bank’ area of wetland offers hope for critically endangered reptileIn the 1990s, conservationists in Cambodia feared the Siamese crocodile had disappeared for good. Fishing and hunting had devastated the species throughout the 20th century, leaving populations across its native south-east Asia on the brink of extinction.But in villages dotted among the wetlands of the remote Cardamom mountains, Indigenous Chorng communities still
  
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• Country diary: A tangle of butterflies and battle re-enactments | Paul Evans

  29-09-2026 06:30 via theguardian.com
  The Marches, Shropshire: On a day of micro-dramas past and present, we witness a Welsh victory over the English, just as it was 861 years agoI’m telling the story from a pub in the bailey opposite the ruins of Oswestry Castle. There in 1165, Henry II, the Angevin (Anglo-Norman) king of England, gathered troops from the Marcher Lords to advance on an alliance of Welsh princes for control of the Marches.The previous Sunday, 861 years later, we went the same way as Henry’s army to Chirk
  
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• Can Labour bring down our energy bills? | Politics Weekly

  28-09-2026 23:02 via theguardian.com
  Speaking to Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey at the Labour party conference in Liverpool, Miatta Fahnbulleh, the energy secretary, said a mark of her success or failure would be whether she could get bills down and said she would do so. She also challenged Reform UK and the Tories on their climate inaction, saying they would eventually ‘bow’ because they were on the ‘wrong side of history’. Continue reading...
  
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• Trump administration to slash clean car rules aimed at cutting climate emissions

  28-09-2026 17:56 via theguardian.com
  
  Environmentalists decry move that relaxes requirements on automakers to control pollution from gas-powered carsThe Trump administration on Monday announced it was slashing clean car rules that had been aimed at reducing planet-heating emissions and boosting electric vehicles.The move, which was criticized by environmentalists, relaxes requirements on automakers to control pollution from gasoline-powered cars and light trucks for model years 2022 through 2031. Continue reading...
  
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• Gene-edited bananas that don’t go brown could hit UK supermarkets

  28-09-2026 17:50 via theguardian.com
  Scientific breakthrough could reduce food waste and make it easier to add the fruit to prepackaged foodIt is the bane of every fruit bowl: sliced banana that turns brown before it has reached the table. But such woes could soon be a thing of the past, with gene-edited bananas that keep their freshly peeled colour now one step closer to reaching British shoppers.According to Tropic, the Norwich-based agricultural-biotechnology company that developed the fruit, the bananas have the same taste and
  
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• ‘Are these chemicals in my blood?’ How one community learned the truth about Pfas pollution

  28-09-2026 16:54 via theguardian.com
  People living next to a chemicals plant near Blackpool were tested for ‘forever chemicals’. Last week they received the alarming resultsLast February, I got a call from a woman called Sam Hammond. We had been speaking on and off for a while over her growing concern that her garden could be affected by pollution from a nearby chemical plant.That morning, Sam had been hand-delivered a letter from her council informing her that her pet ducks’ eggs, reared in her garden, were conta
  
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• ‘Are these chemicals in my blood?’: How one community learned the truth about Pfas pollution

  28-09-2026 16:54 via theguardian.com
  People living next to a chemicals plant near Blackpool were tested for ‘forever chemicals’; last week they received the alarming resultsLast February, I got a call from a woman called Sam Hammond. We had been speaking on and off for a while over her growing concern that her garden could be affected by pollution from a nearby chemical plant.That morning, Sam had been hand-delivered a letter from her council informing her that her pet ducks’ eggs, reared in her garden, were conta
  
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• Heat pump sales soar across Europe after states cut electricity taxes, data shows

  28-09-2026 15:53 via theguardian.com
  EU to push members to cut tax rate below duty on gas, with 10%+ surge in sales also put down to fallout from Iran warBusiness live – latest updatesEurope live – latest updatesSales of residential heat pumps jumped across Europe in the first six months of the year as the Iran war sent oil and gas prices rocketing and some countries lowered electricity taxes.Homeowners bought 1.16m heat pumps across 12 European countries, up from 1.05m in the first half of 2025, according to the Europe
  
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• ‘Contract between humans and river’: Bristol Avon’s rights enshrined in charter

  28-09-2026 13:00 via theguardian.com
  River charters part of wider movement establishing ‘moral’ framework to protect nature and hold institutions to accountOne Monday morning in spring last year, 12 people gathered in the morning drizzle at Joyce’s Pool, one of the sources of the Bristol River Avon, and took the first steps of the inaugural Avon pilgrimage.Over the course of eight days, a revolving cast of pilgrims walked about 100 miles from the source of the river to the point at which it reaches the sea, in som
  
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• The Hotspot | Stumped for wood, bamboo bats offer cricket a substitute to leather on willow

  28-09-2026 11:30 via theguardian.com
  Traditional woods have had a good innings but rising temperatures mean the need to find alternatives is pressingWhat happens if you run out of trees? It is a situation cricket must face in the perfect storm of an expanding game and more precarious growing conditions due to accelerated climate change.Cricket and willow are the sun and moon of sport. The handcrafted bat, the beautiful, insect-rich tree. But there are now 200 million regular cricketers worldwide. The UK produces half a million will
  
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• The endangered wild ponies of Eriskay in the Outer Hebrides – a photo essay

  28-09-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Fewer than 400 Eriskay ponies remain. One of the rarest native breeds in the world, their plight is unique because the community living on their tiny Hebridean island are fighting for them. The ponies wander the village and townsfolk care for them togetherOn the slopes of Beinn Sciathan, a rocky outcrop in the Outer Hebrides, white and grey ponies roam freely. Eriskay ponies, one of the rarest native breeds in the world, are critically endangered.They have often been mixed with the Highland pony
  
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• The endangered native ponies of Eriskay in the Outer Hebrides – a photo essay

  28-09-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Fewer than 400 Eriskay ponies remain. One of the rarest native breeds in the world, their plight is unique because the community living on their tiny Hebridean island are fighting for them. The ponies wander the village and townsfolk care for them togetherOn the slopes of Beinn Sciathan, a rocky outcrop in the Outer Hebrides, white and grey ponies roam freely. Eriskay ponies, one of the rarest native breeds in the world, are critically endangered.They have often been mixed with the Highland pony
  
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• Country diary: A young shieldbug has found a safe place to hide – or so it hopes | Nic Wilson

  28-09-2026 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Bedmond, Hertfordshire: Serge Hill Project is a haven for humans and wildlife, and there’s much to find in its collection of drought-tolerant plantsLooking across a swathe of golden oat grass to the Apple House, it seems almost inconceivable that the M25 and M1 motorways are just beyond the treeline. I’m exploring the Serge Hill Project for Gardening, Creativity and Health: a therapeutic resource for local schools, community groups and charities, founded three years ago by Tom and Su
  
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• ‘You can taste the land’: the Somerset farmer bringing wildflowers back to cheddar

  28-09-2026 06:00 via theguardian.com
  Tom Calver has sacrificed milk yields to give his cows a more varied diet of plants and believes the result is better cheese and richer farmlandIn the rolling hills of Somerset, hundreds of thousands of cows placidly munch lush green grass to produce milk for cheddar.But six fields stand out. Rather than uniform grass, they have technicolour wildflowers sprouting across the meadows. Farmer Tom Calver said that to allow the flowers to grow he has to keep fewer cows and leave some fields ungrazed
  
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• The ups and downs of SpaceX's Starship test flights

  27-09-2026 23:03 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The BBC's Ricky Boleto looks how previous SpaceX test flights went.
  
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• Watch: The ups and downs of SpaceX's 13 Starship test flights

  27-09-2026 22:05 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The BBC's Ricky Boleto looks how previous SpaceX test flights went.
  
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• Most of UK’s essential food supply grown in drought-risk areas, report warns

  27-09-2026 18:24 via theguardian.com
  Keys crops such as cereals, potatoes, sugar and oils grown in areas with moderate to very high riskThe vast majority of the UK’s essential foods, including cereals, potatoes, sugar and oil, are grown in areas of England rated as having a moderate to very high risk of drought.A very high proportion – 81% – of England’s fresh produce is concentrated in parts of the country that are already experiencing water stress, according to the analysis by the nature-focused investment
  
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• Father and son crowned Sheep Dog World Trial champions

  27-09-2026 18:08 via bbc.co.uk
  
  David and Jack Howells say they "never in million years" thought they would win the double.
  
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• The UK wildfire investigators: ‘If someone has used a match, chances are you’ll find it’

  27-09-2026 17:00 via theguardian.com
  Scientists are racing to understand how fires behave to predict and prevent them as hotter summers create tinderboxesFrom the scorched heathlands of the New Forest to the smouldering valleys of south Wales and burned-out homes in Stourbridge, an extraordinary summer of wildfires has left its mark across Britain.To most of us, these charred landscapes may look like pure devastation, but to a trained wildfire investigator they are full of clues. Heat-scorched leaves can become frozen in position,
  
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• Anatomy of an inferno: inside the push to map, predict and prevent spread of increasing UK wildfires

  27-09-2026 17:00 via theguardian.com
  Scientists are racing to understand how fires behave as hotter summers turn green landscapes into tinderboxesFrom the scorched heathlands of the New Forest to the smouldering valleys of south Wales and burned-out homes in Stourbridge, an extraordinary summer of wildfires has left its mark across Britain.To most of us, these charred landscapes may look like pure devastation, but to a trained wildfire investigator they are full of clues. Heat-scorched leaves can become frozen in position, preservi
  
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• One dead as nor'easter storm pummels New York and New Jersey

  27-09-2026 14:34 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Tens of millions of people from Maine to Virginia found themselves in the path of the powerful weather system.
  
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• Your pictures of the Harvest Moon shimmering across the UK sky

  27-09-2026 14:32 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The full Moon put on a stunning display over the skies of UK on Saturday night and here are some of your photographs.
  
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• Grizzly reality: US states grapple with uptick in encounters between bears and humans

  27-09-2026 14:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Bears are increasingly entering places where humans live in the US, forcing wildlife workers to make tough decisionsDan Thompson, supervisor of the large carnivore section of the Wyoming game and fish department, enjoys the field work of capturing mountain lions, wolves, black bears and grizzly bears to study them.“I have always been personally intrigued with carnivores and their role throughout any ecosystem,” Thompson said. “I actually feel very fortunate to get paid to do wh
  
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