Environment news

• Vancouver aquarium won't keep whales or dolphins captive after public outcry

  20-01-2018 10:00 via theguardian.com
  Canada aquarium has announced it will end the practice of keeping cetaceans in captivity, after pressure from the publicFor years the Vancouver aquarium fended off pressure from animal right activists, local government and residents, arguing instead that whales and dolphins were central to its mission. But this week the tourist attraction gave in to public pressure, and announced that it would end the practice of keeping cetaceans in captivity.“It had become a local hot topic, to the point
  
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• Skeleton of the world’s rarest marine mammal preserved by digital imaging

  20-06-2026 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The reconstruction of the vaquita, whose numbers barely reach double figures in the wild, is designed to help research and conservation effortsScientists have created a digital reconstruction of the world’s most endangered marine mammal, preserving its anatomy in three dimensions to aid research and conservation efforts as the species teeters on the brink of extinction.The project digitised the skeleton of a female vaquita, a small porpoise found only in Mexico’s northern Gulf of Cal
  
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• From coal to cabernet: the wine seller using a flooded mine to cut heating bills

  20-06-2026 11:00 via theguardian.com
  Lanchester Wines in north-east England uses heat from a disused coalmine to maintain wine temperatures and with 23,000 flooded mines in the UK, there’s huge potential for more businesses and homes to follow its leadShove them in a fridge, stash them in a cellar – this is how most people store their favourite bottles of wine. But if you have warehouses full of thousands of vintages, you have to think a little differently.For the last eight winters, Lanchester Wines has used heat from
  
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• ‘It’s Russian roulette’: alarm as Europe backs critical minerals mines in water-stressed regions

  20-06-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: European Commission planning to rewrite key law to allow water-intensive mines in regions suffering from droughtThe European Commission plans to rewrite the EU’s flagship water protection law to speed up the development of critical minerals mines, despite many being located in drying and water-stressed regions, analysis has found.Mining is a water-intensive industry, requiring large volumes of water for ore processing, dust suppression, waste management and mine dewatering. Whil
  
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• Country diary: For the beloved Ash Dome, death is not the end | Anita Roy

  20-06-2026 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd: This living sculpture, planted in the 1970s ‘for the 21st century’, is fading fast. But heartbreak is not the only responseTen years ago when I visited the Ash Dome, it was an elegant, twisting circle of beautiful trees. Ten years ago, ash dieback had not yet reached this corner of Wales. Returning now to this secret location, I steeled myself for heartbreak. And there it was.Today, the Ash Dome, a living sculpture by the renowned artist David Nash,
  
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• Can we electrify the world? Ambition moves from nerdish backwater to centre stage

  20-06-2026 06:00 via theguardian.com
  Apart from effort to electrify, there were geopolitical tensions around climate science and the 1.5C goal at pre-Cop31 climate talksElectrifying the world – with electric vehicles, electric heating and cooling, and modernised heavy industry – could be the next biggest step towards phasing out fossil fuels, replacing the 80% of global energy that still comes from hydrocarbons. As using electrical energy is much more efficient than combustion, the move would save billions of dollars fo
  
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• Kidney cancer rates near Pfas factory in Lancashire a ‘major source of concern’

  19-06-2026 15:42 via theguardian.com
  Experts cast doubt on conclusion of government-funded study of factory emitting forever chemicals near BlackpoolQuestions have been raised about the conclusions drawn by a government-funded study into kidney cancer rates near a factory linked to forever chemicals near Blackpool.Pfoa, a known carcinogenic forever chemical that was banned globally in 2020, was emitted from the AGC Chemicals Europe plant in Thornton-Cleveleys, near Blackpool, between the 1950s and 2012. An estimated 49 tonnes of Pf
  
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• ‘Termination shock’: trust our expert warnings on geoengineering’s planetary risks | Raymond Pierrehumbert, Julia Slingo, Michael Mann and Valerie Masson-Delmotte

  19-06-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Do we really want to play dice with our planet?A series in the Guardian recently declared “it’s time to talk about geoengineering.” So let’s talk about it. And let us start with some simple truths about this cluster of techno-optimistic “quick fixes” which purport to somehow offset our slow progress towards zeroing out planet-warming carbon emissions.Solar geoengineering proposals – reducing sunlight – have received the most attention, but a host o
  
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• How the world’s voracious appetite for shrimp is destroying Ecuador’s mangroves

  19-06-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  As demand soars, the country’s mangrove forests and the livelihoods of shellfish gatherers are under threat from encroaching farms and unchecked pollutionAt low tide, Johana Carolina Cruz Potes steps into the mudflats around Isla Costa Rica, in Ecuador’s Jambelí Archipelago. Holding a bucket and a short metal hook, she probes the tangled roots of a mangrove patch, searching for concha negra, black-shelled cockles, buried beneath the sludge.Cruz Potes has done this work since s
  
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• Heathrow third runway likely to harm health of millions nearby, official report warns

  19-06-2026 11:14 via theguardian.com
  Expansion could also hit access to housing, education, healthcare, open spaces and transport, analysis saysConstruction of a third runway at Heathrow is likely to have significant adverse effects on the health and wellbeing of up to 3 million people living nearby, an official report has said, as the government launched the next stage of its rapid airport expansion plan.An analysis for the Department for Transport (DfT) has found that expanding London’s hub airport could have “major a
  
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• Week in wildlife: a hungry hoopoe, a hot croc and a snoozing otter pup

  19-06-2026 09:00 via theguardian.com
  This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...
  
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• The changing face of Mongolia as, beneath the grass, permafrost thaws

  19-06-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  The warming caused by climate breakdown in the landlocked east Asian country is transforming its fragile ecosystemAs the climate crisis accelerates, Mongolia is warming rapidly, transforming the country’s cryosphere, including some of the most southerly permafrost landscapes in the northern hemisphere.Although rarely associated with the Arctic, Mongolia has a remarkably cold climate. Ulaanbaatar is the coldest capital city in the world, and a substantial portion of the country lies within
  
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• My trip to meet the scientists trying to refreeze the Arctic

  19-06-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  In this week’s newsletter: The melting of the Arctic’s summer sea ice is the most visible upshot of the climate crisis. Refreezing it might be a long shot – but do drastic times call for drastic measures?• Don’t get Down to Earth delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereSpeeding across rapidly melting Arctic ice on a snowmobile gave me a vivid feel for its beauty and fragility. The brilliant white landscape gleamed ahead, while the sky blue pools of meltwater jetted up o
  
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• ‘I’m 90 for goodness sake’: rainforest activist to pedal 104 miles down Thames

  19-06-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Veteran campaigner Robin Hanbury-Tenison is raising money for a research station near his home in CornwallPedalling on water for more than a hundred miles in a heatwave, pushed back by east winds and having to navigate 31 locks would be a challenge for anybody. But when that body is 90 years old, with a bad knee, failing balance and malfunctioning arms and shoulders, it’s a herculean feat.Rainforest campaigner Robin Hanbury-Tenison, 90, is pedalling 104 miles down the River Thames from Oxf
  
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• Weatherwatch: Saharan dust drops microorganisms into European soil

  19-06-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Scientists are examining how ‘blood rain’ affects soil microbiome, with Portuguese vineyards a particular focusDust events, when thousands of tonnes of fine sand whipped up from the Sahara are dumped over Europe, are becoming more intense. These sometimes produce “blood rain” that leaves visible red streaks, and while generally harmless, the dust is not sterile but brings a freight of microorganisms.One big concern is how imported microbes may affect the soil microbiome a
  
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• Country diary: These oysters are destined – we hope – for great things | Claire Stares

  19-06-2026 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Portsmouth, Hampshire: A huge conservation effort is under way to restore native oysters to the Solent, and I was on hand to help give them a pre-release spa dayNative oysters (Ostrea edulis) have been harvested from Chichester Harbour since Roman times, but due to overfishing, disease, pollution and competition from invasive Pacific oysters (Magallana gigas), the population has declined by 96% over the past century.The Solent Oyster Restoration Project is working to restore reefs by reseeding t
  
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• The Tassie devils in my neighbourhood keep stealing shoes and laundry, but I adore them | Kelley Swain

  19-06-2026 04:45 via theguardian.com
  The thievery of these little creatures is endlessly amusing to me, but there have been, I’m told, a few rounds of inconvenienceGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastTo have your knickers go missing at a music festival may be seen as evidence of having a great time, but what if you’re at a folk music festival in the lush green Huon Valley of Tasmania, where parents stroll around with children in prams, and the wildest thing happening is an 8pm ceilidh?The thing is
  
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• Trump administration reverses decision to scrap ocean monitoring system

  18-06-2026 21:31 via theguardian.com
  Move to dismantle $368m sea observatory initiative faced opposition from experts and lawmakersThe Donald Trump administration has reversed its decision to dismantle a $368m deep-sea observation system following an outcry from lawmakers and ocean experts.On Thursday, the National Science Foundation announced that it would halt plans to dismantle the Ocean Observatories Initiative, stating: “effective immediately, [it] will not proceed with further removal or descoping of equipment from the
  
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• Showdown in the desert: the small town fending off a new California gold rush

  18-06-2026 18:00 via theguardian.com
  A prospecting company’s search for gold has the town of Lone Pine and Indigenous leaders on edge, as the Trump administration green lights new projects across the American westLone Pine, population 1,882, lies along a stretch of California highway framed by the vast Inyo mountains and a sweeping desert landscape of sagebrush and dunes.It’s the type of small town tourists drive through en route to Death Valley,; where hikers get a motel room between Pacific Crest Trail treks. But amid
  
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• ‘The sea took everything away’: how Nigeria’s ‘Happy City’ is disappearing beneath the waves

  18-06-2026 10:00 via theguardian.com
  More than half of Ayetoro – a Christian utopia founded in the 1940s – has been lost to the ocean, and its remaining people are running out of optionsIn the early hours of 15 February 2019, the Atlantic Ocean came for Arowo Victoria’s livelihood. The 60-year-old retired midwife was asleep when neighbours began banging on her door, shouting that the sea had started covering buildings along the nearby coastline.By the time she got to her small shop, she discovered that the Atlanti
  
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• Cambridge experts recreate 336-year-old garden to commemorate ‘father of natural history’

  18-06-2026 10:00 via theguardian.com
  John Ray, 17th-century botanist who coined words petal and pollen, was a tutor at Cambridge when he created his first gardenHe coined the terms petal and pollen, helped to lay the foundations of modern biology and is widely regarded as the greatest English naturalist of the 17th century.But it was while he was a young college tutor at Cambridge in the 1650s that the botanist John Ray – also known as “the father of natural history” – created his first known garden and bega
  
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• A bonanza for fans of the natural world: the digital library sharing 64m pages of scientific knowledge with everyone

  18-06-2026 09:00 via theguardian.com
  The Biodiversity Heritage Library is an invaluable online archive of historic texts on species living and lost supplied by the world’s leading museums and universities. Now its future is in doubtSome go there to read about the wood that Victorian manufacturers used to make walking sticks. Others want to see an illustration of a Tasmanian tiger or marvel at the field diary of one of the first known botanists to explore the Antarctic.Over the past 20 years, more than 64m pages have been made
  
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• Real-time monitoring to protect chalk stream

  18-06-2026 07:09 via bbc.com
  
  Real-time pollution levels tracked along length of Hampshire's rare chalk stream.
  
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• Escape hatches on lobster pots protect marine life

  18-06-2026 07:06 via bbc.com
  
  Fishing equipment is being redesigned to prevent "bycatch" affecting thousands of marine creatures.
  
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• Weatherwatch: UK’s migrant waders feel the effects of a changing Arctic

  18-06-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Warmer winters and springs are drying out wetlands and the birds are missing out on an abundance of insects to eatWhen we think of spring migrant birds, it is easy to focus on songbirds such as warblers, flycatchers and swallows. Yet during late spring, many are waders – passing through Britain on their way north to breed in the high Arctic from their winter quarters in sub-Saharan Africa.According to the British Trust for Ornithology’s regular migration blog, it has been a good year
  
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• Watch: Seven cheetah cubs born at Whipsnade Zoo

  18-06-2026 06:41 via bbc.com
  
  The cubs are the first to be born at the conservation zoo for 15 years.
  
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• Country diary: Watching the ruffs strut like ludicrous Walter Raleighs | Michael J Warren

  18-06-2026 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Blackwater Estuary, Essex: Near a vast sweep of flats and creeks, one small pool has become a destination for both me and a parade of shore birdsI saw in this summer with the brief stays of Arctic-bound birds. Waders from the south came in such number and variety to my local patch near Tollesbury that for one week in May I went down to the marsh every dawn and dusk. I went to watch and feel the motion of it all at the turn of tide and time. Everything was change.They kept coming, new species eve
  
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• Can ecosystems ‘malfunction’?

  18-06-2026 06:00 via theguardian.com
  We are told the natural world is ‘breaking down’. But forests don’t work like aeroplanes or human heartsA version of this piece was originally published on Aeon as Why we need to think again about ecosystem failureThe Amazon rainforest, according to a 2021 study, is losing its capacity as a carbon sink and now emits more than it absorbs. In the tropics, marine scientists are reporting that coral reefs are in decline, threatening fish stocks. Equally concerning is research into
  
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• Simpler, older version of Stonehenge found three miles from famous site

  18-06-2026 01:11 via bbc.com
  
  The structure consisted of two posts that lined up with the solstices 5,000 years ago.
  
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• ‘Most famous tree in the world’: Sherwood Forest’s 1,000-year-old Major oak dies

  18-06-2026 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Nottinghamshire tree, one of Europe’s oldest and largest, fails to produce leaves after being stressed by series of hot, dry summersThe Major oak, one of Europe’s oldest, largest and most celebrated ancient trees, has died.The huge tree, which has grown in Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire, England, for at least 1,000 years, failed to produce any leaves this year, after becoming stressed by a series of hot, dry summers. Continue reading...
  
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