Environment news

• Where do rubber trees get their rubber?

  24-06-2016 22:33 via feedproxy.google.com
  Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS) in Japan along with collaborators at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) have succeeded in decoding the genome sequence for Hevea brasiliensis, the natural rubber tree native to Brazil. Published in Scientific Reports, the study reports a draft genome sequence that covers more than 93% of expressed genes, and pinpoints regions specific to the biosynthesis of rubber.Natural rubber flows in latex ducts and protects plant
  
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• Rebecca Hendin on Britain’s air con debate – cartoon

  03-08-2026 19:04 via theguardian.com
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• July was driest month in southern England since records began

  03-08-2026 17:44 via theguardian.com
  England and Wales provisionally record driest July in nearly 200 years, Met Office saysJuly 2026 was the driest month in southern England since records began nearly 200 years ago, the Met Office has said.England and Wales also provisionally recorded their driest July since records began in 1836. Wales had its joint warmest July on record for mean temperature, and England recorded its second warmest July. Continue reading...
  
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• The buzz about fly infestations this summer | Letters

  03-08-2026 17:27 via theguardian.com
  Readers respond to an article on the swarms of houseflies people are having to cope with in hot weatherMy experience of flies is that during the past 20 years or so there has been a significant decline in numbers – Highland midges not included of course (‘It makes you feel you’ve got a really dirty house’: what’s behind the UK’s plagues of flies?, 30 July).Memories of childhood summers in the 1950s and 60s are of endless sticky flytraps, typically placed near
  
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• Whey to go! Could the cheese byproduct heat our homes and fuel our cars?

  03-08-2026 17:02 via theguardian.com
  British cheesemakers have struggled to find a use for the 95,000 tonnes of salty whey they produce every year. But researchers may have come up with a solutionName: Whey.Age: As old as milk. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘The obsession with endless growth can only end in tears’: your questions on extreme weather this summer answered

  03-08-2026 16:14 via theguardian.com
  From Europe’s deadly heat to floods in Asia, it’s been a terrifying summer. Environment writers Jonathan Watts and Ajit Niranjan answered Reddit users’ questions about their work – and their sources of hopeExtreme weather supercharged by the climate crisis is fuelling an explosive wildfire season in Europe and extreme rainfall across Asia this summer.Global heating made hot, dry and windy weather stoking wildfires at least 20 times more likely in Spain and twice as likely
  
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• From living roofs to rainwater harvesting: the future of sustainable homes

  03-08-2026 16:00 via theguardian.com
  A new book, Homes for Our Time, by Philip Jodidio, showcases the quiet revolution in green residential architecture Continue reading...
  
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• ‘They are such neat, busy little folk’: the unexpected superpowers of the common woodlouse

  03-08-2026 13:00 via theguardian.com
  This detritivore – known by a range of colourful names – tidies up our world and can withstand toxic pollutionRevealed: the top 10 invertebrates of the yearChucky pig. Slater. Monkey pea. Roly-poly. Boat-builder. Butchy boy. Cheeselog. Hobbling Andrew. Wood pig. If there were a prize for the range and joyfulness of a creature’s English-language names, the humble woodlouse would undoubtedly triumph over its million-plus invertebrate rivals.Over centuries of easy cohabitation wit
  
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• ‘Danger no longer only comes from the hitmen, but from the state’: the Honduran farmers labelled terrorists for protecting their land

  03-08-2026 13:00 via theguardian.com
  After another massacre of smallholders – who are subjected to violence from palm oil firms and drug traffickers – the country’s new Trump-backed government has criminalised community leadersSitting on the back of the motorcycle, 15-year-old Orlean* heard gunshots. A moment later, the bike crashed. His uncle and two cousins fell to the ground dead. Orlean fled into the dense green forest of the palm oil farm and rushed along the dirt road until he was home.He survived a massacre
  
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• Suspected mass bird flu deaths found in second state as Murray Watt warns ‘this is the beginning’

  03-08-2026 12:27 via theguardian.com
  Environment minister says Australia has ‘long and difficult journey’ and says more mass mortality events likelyGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAerial surveillance has detected mass bird deaths in a second Australian state in another suspected escalation of the spread of deadly H5 bird flu.The environment minister, Murray Watt, said on Monday Australia had begun “a long and difficult journey” as CSIRO analysis confirmed Australia’s first ma
  
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• Black Foils on crest of a wave in fight against destructive marine trawling

  03-08-2026 12:24 via theguardian.com
  New Zealand sailing team combine racing with campaigning for environmental and social impact“Sailing on the Solent was awesome, but our racing … not quite perfect,” says Blair Tuke, co-chief executive of the Black Foils, New Zealand’s SailGP team, after finishing fifth at last month’s Great Britain Sail Grand Prix. It was only the team’s second competitive outing of the season after the boat had to be “pretty much rebuilt” following a big crash in
  
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• South-eastern Europe faces heatwave energy crunch as Romania detonates Danube rock to increase water flow – Europe live

  03-08-2026 11:34 via theguardian.com
  Explosives used to move a large rock and let more water flow to cool nuclear power plantHere’s a better look at the impressive controlled explosion in Romania…Meanwhile in Romania, the Romanian naval forces carried out a controlled explosion to divert a large volume of water to the Old Danube and the Cernavodă nuclear power plant to help with its cooling. Continue reading...
  
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• Weather tracker: Austria breaks heat records as Japan braces for Typhoon Dolphin

  03-08-2026 10:16 via theguardian.com
  Soaring temperatures continue to sweep parts of Europe, while Okinawa faces powerful winds and storm surgesEurope live – latest updatesUnbearable, record-breaking heat has dominated the summer of 2026 across much of Europe. New records were set in central Europe last week, with Wieselburg in Austria registering a new July peak of 40.3C (104.5F). This is particularly significant as it is just 0.2C behind the all-time high, set in the August of 2003.However, not all of the northern hemispher
  
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• It’s the debate of the century! Two climate ‘denialists’ battle it out to see who agrees the most denialistly | First Dog on the Moon

  03-08-2026 08:24 via theguardian.com
  What a vibrant marketplace of ideas 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: Down an old lead mine, an explosion of colour | Susie White

  03-08-2026 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Garrigill, Cumbria: The abandoned Tynebottom mine is alive with vivid orange, raspberry-ripple pink and sulphurous yellow. But it’s the cave pearls that captivate me mostAt first I can’t believe that there’s a way in, the entrance is so hidden by downy willow, ferns and field rush. Just a trickle of rusty water hints at the opening to an abandoned mine. That we have to push through scrub to enter the underground world only adds to the excitement.A long adit stretches before us,
  
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• Two helicopters collide outside Athens as Greece battles to control wildfires

  02-08-2026 19:36 via theguardian.com
  Fire department says two-person crew of one aircraft killed in incident during gale-force winds to west of capitalTwo firefighting helicopters have collided west of Athens, killing the two-person crew of one of the aircraft, as efforts to control a massive wildfire barrelling towards the outskirts of the Greek capital intensified.Footage showed one of the helicopters losing control in the face of gale-force winds that have pushed flames towards settlements on Athens’ western fringes. Conti
  
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• Britain could face food shortages as drought continues, farmers warn

  02-08-2026 18:54 via theguardian.com
  Farmers battle to salvage what they can of their crops as heatwave set to continueBritain could face shortages of certain foods after punishing drought in parts of England, the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has warned as a heatwave was forecast to continue into next week.The UK’s Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued heat health alerts for eight regions of England, with temperatures set to rise above 30C in parts of the country. UKHSA said rising temperatures may increase health
  
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• The Guardian view on drought: hot, dry conditions make inequality starker | Editorial

  02-08-2026 18:30 via theguardian.com
  Water is a vital shared resource, and privatisation has made a just transition harder Compared with rising heat-related deaths, and devastating wildfires in the Cairngorms and Suffolk, the announcement that the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) is considering moving its hydrangea collection from Surrey to Greater Manchester and North Yorkshire might seem unimportant. But it points to geographical differences in exposure to global heating that have arguably never been mor
  
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• Solar powers record share of Britain’s electricity mix in July

  02-08-2026 17:46 via theguardian.com
  Farms and rooftop panels contribute 14.4% to the grid – and figures reveal a surge in new installationsSolar energy supplied more power to Great Britain’s grid in July than in any previous month as households turned to rooftop panels to cut their energy bills.Solar farms and rooftop panels provided 14.4% of the country’s electricity after some parts of the UK recorded almost twice the average sunshine hours for the time of year. Continue reading...
  
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• A new Queensland bill aims to ‘streamline’ major projects. Matt and Caitlin fear it could hand their farm to developers

  02-08-2026 17:00 via theguardian.com
  Experts say new power to bypass conservation and planning regulations are incredibly broad and could let the state effectively fast-track any project it wantsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastMatt Wood gives Neville a pat behind his ear – as if the one-tonne Droughtmaster bull were an oversized labrador puppy – while his wife, Caitlin, watches hundreds of pasture-fed hens scratch beneath old macadamia trees her dad planted.Their talk is of building their rege
  
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• A mystery virus started killing horses. Then humans. Was this the moment our coronavirus era began?

  02-08-2026 17:00 via theguardian.com
  In the 1990s, scientists in Australia began searching for the origins of a new disease showing up in places hundreds of kilometres apart. They discovered the origin: bats. And found a way to reduce the risk of bat disease spilloversThe virus could have appeared in many places on the east coast, but it is a strange coincidence, in the light of later scientific discoveries, that it first became known in the Brisbane suburb of Hendra. The high school is named Aviation High, and the streets are bord
  
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• ‘There’s no nurdle fairy’: thousands mobilise to clean up plastic spillage in north-east England

  02-08-2026 15:00 via theguardian.com
  Volunteers painstakingly gather plastic pellets washing up on beaches after ship collision on 19 July“You’ve got a local community that really cares about the coastline,” said Alice Laverty, reflecting on the huge army of volunteers who had taken to crisis-hit beaches in north-east England with passion and only the most basic tools. “They’ve all got a dustpan, a brush, a bucket, a kitchen sieve.”On beaches from Cambois in Northumberland to Seaburn on Wearside,
  
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• Struggling to get through summer? Treat yourself like a beloved dog – and six other survival tips | Emma Beddington

  02-08-2026 15:00 via theguardian.com
  August usually sends me into an anxious funk, but I think I’ve worked out how to handle 2026’s terrifying heat and apocalyptic imagesUnfortunately for hairdressers, “How’s your summer going?” is a loaded question this year. Even basking lizards and barbecue obsessives are wavering in their sun worship as cataclysmic wildfires engulf our nearest neighbours (and threaten the UK), Wales and parts of England experience drought, and farmers issue dire warnings about our
  
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• Relentless UK heatwaves turn ‘green and pleasant land’ brown

  02-08-2026 12:12 via theguardian.com
  Visible impact of warming climate is impossible to ignore across landscapes that have been starved of rainfallHalf of England and the whole of Wales are officially in drought and July is set to be the driest month on record as extreme heat intensified by the climate crisis continues to grip the UK and Europe this summer.The announcements this week by England’s Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales mark the third such event over the past five years, and come in the wake of four rec
  
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• Relentless UK heatwaves turn ‘green and pleasant’ land brown

  02-08-2026 12:12 via theguardian.com
  Visible impact of warming climate is impossible to ignore across landscapes that have been starved of rainfallHalf of England and the whole of Wales are officially in drought and July is set to be the driest month on record as extreme heat intensified by the climate crisis continues to grip the UK and Europe this summer.The announcements this week by England’s Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales mark the third such event over the past five years, and come in the wake of four rec
  
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• July set to be driest on record for England and Wales after relentless heatwaves

  02-08-2026 12:12 via theguardian.com
  Climate scientist urges better planning as southern England had just 1% of long-term average rainfall last monthHalf of England and the whole of Wales are officially in drought and July is set to be the driest month on record as extreme heat intensified by the climate crisis continues to grip the UK and Europe this summer.The announcements this week by England’s Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales mark the third such event over the past five years, and come in the wake of four r
  
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• ‘I have an understanding housemate’: the student who makes videos of fungus on faeces

  02-08-2026 10:00 via theguardian.com
  Alfred Drummond-Herdman’s extraordinary timelapses have been viewed by millions – and led him to identify new speciesAlfred Drummond-Herdman is possibly the only person in the UK who is sent animal faeces in the post out of goodwill. His bedroom in Edinburgh is full of the stuff: clothes have been removed from his wardrobe and cupboards, replaced with terrariums and plastic containers housing sections of cowpats, grouse droppings and rabbit pellets.“I have a very understanding
  
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• ‘We cannot magic up more water’: the supply problems putting housing targets in England at risk

  02-08-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Council leaders say crumbling infrastructure and lack of water are jeopardising government’s plans for new homesThe government’s housebuilding agenda is hitting the stark reality of a lack of water and crumbling infrastructure across the east and south-east of England.Half the country was declared to be in serious drought this week, for the second consecutive year, with the Environment Agency warning of dire consequences for the economy, environment and wildlife. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘Climate change kills’: Pedro Sánchez speaks plain truth to Spain’s deniers

  02-08-2026 06:00 via theguardian.com
  PM has long history of speaking out on realities of global heating but political opponents remain unnmovedJust over four years ago, Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, visited a small town in the south-western region of Extremadura that had been affected by one of the wildfires devouring tens of thousands of hectares of land across the country.That summer’s blazes had left two people dead in the northern region of Castilla y León and another man there fatally burned
  
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• The case for a blatantly discriminatory Australian voting system

  01-08-2026 22:00 via theguardian.com
  Older Australians are overrepresented in every sphere of life, from politics to the economy and media … and they’re living longer. It’s time we stack the deck in favour of young people. Here’s howAs someone nearing 60, I can confidently say my generation, and older generations, have been very good at tilting the policy playing field in our favour. Our political and economic system is very good at prioritising the views of older people. So maybe it’s time to tilt th
  
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