Environment news

• Why it’s boom time for beavers in England - podcast

  04-03-2025 16:44 via theguardian.com
  Beavers were once abundant in the UK, but hunting them for their fur, meat and scent oil drove them to extinction. Now they’re back, with the news that the release of beavers into English waterways is to be allowed for the first time in centuries. To understand why this is seen as a huge win for the environment, Madeleine Finlay hears from the Guardian’s environment reporter Helena Horton.‘Ultimate bringers of life’: How one Cornwall farmer is using beavers to stop floodi
  
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• ‘Good lord, what a smell’: can Brazil’s biggest city save a vital source of water from sewage, bacteria and organised crime?

  04-06-2026 15:15 via theguardian.com
  As São Paulo faces a climate-induced water crisis, campaigners are fighting to reverse the impact of pollution and illegal deforestation on its largest reservoirIn a small motorboat laden with water-monitoring equipment, biologist Marta Marcondes and community activist Wesley Silvestre Rosa cross Billings reservoir on the far southern edge of São Paulo. Bright white herons glide over the water, which is flanked by thick dark green clusters of Brazil’s Atlantic forest, as the
  
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• ‘This is not a hippy thing’: the startup recycling urine to make natural fertiliser

  04-06-2026 14:40 via theguardian.com
  As recent conflicts expose vulnerability of fertiliser markets and its effect on food security, VunaNexus offers an alternativeWhen staff answer the call of nature at the European Space Agency’s headquarters in Paris, their urine is not simply flushed away – it is turned into something much more useful. While urine-diverting toilets are often associated with smelly festival loos, there is nothing bohemian about recycling nutrients from human pee, said David de Chambrier, the chief ex
  
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• England’s poorest areas face deepest cuts to green space under planning law changes, report finds

  04-06-2026 14:22 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: New loopholes for developers will exacerbate extreme disparities across country, charity coalition warnsThe poorest and most nature-deprived communities in England will be further left behind in their access to green spaces if proposed changes to planning laws go ahead, a report finds.More than 7.4 million people in England live in areas completely devoid of immediate biodiversity, including 1.4 million children under 15, the report commissioned by a number of wildlife and environment
  
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• ‘To them a power line is a line of trees’: Costa Rica moves to protect howler monkeys from electrocution

  04-06-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Electric shock is one of the biggest causes of death among wildlife in the country but a court ruling is a first step to making power lines safePeque, a small black howler monkey, scratches her head as she sits on a thick wooden branch in a wired enclosure with seven other orphaned baby howler monkeys at a rescue centre in Nosara, on Costa Rica’s Pacific coast.Last year, Peque was one of more than 100 animals to arrive at International Animal Rescue Costa Rica (IARCR) as a result of electr
  
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• Protesters clash with police in Albania over Jared Kushner-backed luxury resort – video

  04-06-2026 11:24 via theguardian.com
  Protests in Albania over a proposed luxury resort backed by Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, are expected to intensify after opponents rejected an offer from the country’s prime minister 'to discuss solutions'. Footage showed police firing water cannon at protesters as thousands of people took to the streets of Tirana for a third day on Wednesday, some of them holding inflatable flamingos to symbolise the environmental damage they fear the project could cause, amid growing c
  
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• ‘An equal and habitable world is possible’: academics set out sweeping vision for planetary survival

  04-06-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Global report provides an alternative to climate breakdown, political extremism and economic tensions• ‘Happiness is not just about GDP’: ambitious plan or utopia?Humanity can raise living standards, reduce inequality and keep global heating within a 2C rise, according to a sweeping vision for planetary survival.The report by the World Inequality Lab (WIL) aims to be the most comprehensive attempt yet to navigate the polycrisis that is pushing the world toward climate breakdown,
  
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• A good life for the 99% isn’t a pipe dream: it can be done. Here’s how

  04-06-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Our plan is radical – but by transforming how we live on a finite planet, nearly everyone gains‘An equal and habitable world is possible’: academics set out sweeping vision for planetary survivalImagine a future in which everyone enjoys high levels of wellbeing; where 90% of the world’s population doubles their income but works half the hours we work today. A world in which the bottom half of humanity sees its share of global wealth rise from just 2% today to 30%; a world
  
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• Beating the heat: study explores the search for cool during heatwaves

  04-06-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Smartphone data shows how we seek refuge in extreme heat, and why social inequalities leave some vulnerableHeatwaves are now an increasingly expected part of summer for many. But how people stay cool varies from place to place. A new study uses mobile phone location data to track where people go when the mercury climbs, and assesses how we need to adapt to live better with the inevitable heatwaves to come.During the summer of 2025, a 10-day extreme period of heat across Europe led to 2,300 death
  
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• Country diary: A close-up view of a shimmering beauty | Sara Hudston

  04-06-2026 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Bridport, Dorset: The female in my garden has been a glittering presence of late, but soon she will return to the river to breedThe beautiful demoiselle (Calopteryx virgo) is aptly named. This loveliest of damselflies is on the wing now across south-west England and Wales, fluttering like a falling scrap of metallic paper among the vegetation.One of only two species of damselfly with coloured wings, the males have blue bodies and dark-sheened wings while females are green with contrasting tan wi
  
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• Australia’s GDP figures are meaningless when the boom in datacentres means destroying jobs and the climate | Greg Jericho

  03-06-2026 17:00 via theguardian.com
  In the March quarter Australia’s economy grew 0.3%. But the real issue is what drove that growthGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe March GDP figures, not for the first time, showed that the focus on economic growth seems rather foolish when you place it within the context of the climate crisis. While the economy did grow in the first three months of this year, the big driver was investment in datacentres, which a new report on Wednesday revealed is greatly incre
  
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• ​Why is Europe still not ready for extreme heat?

  03-06-2026 16:25 via theguardian.com
  ​The first heatwaves of the season reveal how ​ill-prepared governments across the continent are to protect people from increasingly dangerous temperatures• Don’t get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereMeteorological summer has begun, ushered in with scorching heat that struck before spring was up. Although western Europe is now mostly free from last week’s heat dome – which shattered temperature records for May in the UK and Ireland – it
  
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• The row at Hampstead Heath is about far more than a few thoughtless swimmers in a heatwave | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

  03-06-2026 16:02 via theguardian.com
  As summers get hotter, investment and education are vital to ensure we all have access to the clean, safe water we needA local row about swimmers and swans in Hampstead Heath has now inspired a government reaction. Environment ministers over the weekend wrote to the City of London Corporation, which oversees the heath, to say that they were “deeply concerned” by footage of crowds of people in the water during last week’s heatwave.One viral video showed young revellers – w
  
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• Bathing warning issued after 'potential water pollution incident'

  03-06-2026 14:15 via bbc.com
  
  The National Trust, which manages Portstewart Strand, has urged visitors to the beach to be vigilant.
  
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• Antibiotics use in livestock could rise by a third in next 15 years, UN report warns

  03-06-2026 13:04 via theguardian.com
  
  Governments urged to act to prevent potentially disastrous impacts on human resistance to medicinesThe use of antibiotics on livestock will rise by nearly a third in the next 15 years without government intervention, according to new global estimates, with potentially disastrous impacts on human resistance to essential medicines.Animal husbandry accounts for close to three-quarters of global use of antimicrobial medications and in many countries their use is poorly monitored. Some herds are rout
  
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• Deprivation, resilience and a giant bunny: Polly Braden on capturing the ‘beauty and bleakness’ of young lives on the coast

  03-06-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  In the Guardian’s Against the tide series, the documentary photographer got to know some ‘amazing’ 16- to 25-year-olds living on the fringes of England and Wales, and now her work is the centre of a new touring exhibitionIt was while reading a landmark report about the poor health of people who live on the English coast that documentary photographer Polly Braden had her big idea. “I was just blown away by it,” she says. “I thought: this is about England. And i
  
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• Noted swift nesting site destroyed by contractors in peak season

  03-06-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Campaigners say builders’ demolition of nest site highlights weak protection of wildlife from developmentA building that was a noted nesting site for swifts, among the UK’s most at-risk birds, has been demolished during the nesting season, highlighting significant weaknesses in the protection of wildlife from development, campaigners say.Contractors for the housebuilder Hill Group carried out the demolition of Regent House near Dorking station in Surrey over the last few weeks, durin
  
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• What next for Upton Heath after charity buys land?

  03-06-2026 07:08 via bbc.com
  
  Dorset Wildlife Trust starts restoring 110 acres of heath it bought after a fundraising campaign.
  
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• Specieswatch: Scientists trace haunting sea thrums to humpback whales

  03-06-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Understanding whale sounds could help prevent strikes from ships and even aid in search for extraterrestrial lifeIf you stand on certain shorelines and listen carefully you might just hear deep rumbling noises. Sharp-eared fishers, lighthouse keepers and sea kayakers have been haunted by these late-night sounds for centuries and now, for the first time, scientists have recorded these thrums and pinpointed them to humpback whales, proving that whales have a far larger vocabulary than previously t
  
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• Country diary: My family has lived near here for 300 years – no wonder it feels like home | Andrea Meanwell

  03-06-2026 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Tebay, Cumbria: Some of my ancestors were fell pony hauliers and our farmhouse used to be a coaching inn. Might they have called in for a drink?There is always some waiting around at lambing and calving time, so I like to have a project ongoing. Some years I have written books; this year I’m researching my family tree, in particular whether any of my ancestors may have visited Low Borrowdale farm when it was a coaching inn in the 18th century. I knew they had been involved in fell pony hau
  
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• Puffins, dolphins and bumblebees in running to feature on new UK banknotes

  03-06-2026 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Bank of England says updated imagery will celebrate native wildlife while bolstering anti-counterfeit featuresPuffins, dolphins and bumblebees are among the wildlife that could feature on new banknotes in the UK as the Bank of England announces its shortlist.There has been controversy over the decision, with figures including Nigel Farage criticising the Bank for, he claimed, wanting to replace Winston Churchill with a beaver. The Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, said it was “a silly th
  
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• ‘My son is still suffering’: the ill effects of water contamination in ‘Brixham incident’

  02-06-2026 18:09 via theguardian.com
  Physical and psychological impacts of a tap water parasite outbreak continue to be felt in south DevonSouth West Water fined £1.85m over parasite outbreak in DevonMost of the tourists milling around the busy fishing harbour or visiting Agatha Christie’s riverside holiday retreat have probably forgotten what South West Water euphemistically calls the “Brixham incident”.But for residents at the centre of the “incident” – a parasite outbreak that caused per
  
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• One Nation says it wants a Norway-style gas policy – but it’s not actually in favour of higher taxes on profits

  02-06-2026 17:00 via theguardian.com
  Pauline Hanson wants the government to take a stake in resource operations. While experts say this may sound reasonable, the devil’s in the detailsFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastIn September 2022, Pauline Hanson stood up in the Senate to berate the chamber – but she wasn’t fired up about immigration or the latest battle in the never-ending culture wars.The One Nation leader was arguing for gas and
  
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• Next El Niño could be strongest in decades

  02-06-2026 16:50 via bbc.com
  
  A new phase of the natural El Niño weather pattern could begin in a matter of weeks, the UN has warned, boosting temperatures on a planet already under strain from climate change.
  
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• There are thousands of dirty old drill sites in Colorado. The state gave oil firms a $1bn pass

  02-06-2026 16:00 via theguardian.com
  Investigation reveals regulator let firms off the hook on cleanup bonds despite backlog that will take decades to clearWhen Christiaan van Woudenberg moved to Erie, Colorado, in 2007, he never imagined he would become an anti-fracking activist. He simply thought he was buying his dream home – a four-bedroom with a panoramic mountain view, 30 minutes north of downtown Denver.Then, in 2014, the drilling started. Oil and gas rigs sprang up, some just 800ft (240m) from his bedroom window. The
  
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• Paralympian could become first astronaut with disability to live and work in space

  02-06-2026 10:16 via bbc.com
  
  John McFall takes one step closer to becoming first disabled astronaut.
  
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• It has the highest levels of toxic Pfas in drinking water in Scotland. But how did this remote island become awash with forever chemicals?

  02-06-2026 10:00 via theguardian.com
  Scientists believe they may now have found the cause of Fair Isle’s pollution – and warn that it should be ringing alarm bells in other coastal areasWhen the wind picks up on Fair Isle, Britain’s most remote inhabited island, puffs of seafoam start to drift across fields like tumbleweed. The pale yellow blobs are ubiquitous enough to hold their own place in the island’s mythology: known as the butter churned by a local troll, Lukki Minni.“When the Atlantic gets goin
  
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• Prepare for imminent return of El Niño, UN warns

  02-06-2026 09:00 via theguardian.com
  UN agency predicts phenomenon that supercharges weather extremes has 80% chance of forming before SeptemberThe world must prepare for the imminent return of El Niño and the supercharged weather extremes it brings, the UN has warned.The powerful natural weather pattern, which raises global temperatures and worsens some rainfall, has an 80% chance of forming before September and a 90% chance before November, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Tuesday. Continue reading...
  
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• Kids collect five bags of litter left on riverbank

  02-06-2026 07:19 via bbc.com
  
  A farmer says he is having to remove litter from his fields on a daily basis.
  
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• Water voles brought back to river after 20 years

  02-06-2026 07:07 via bbc.com
  
  About 300 water voles are released in Farnham as part of a bid to restore the species to the river.
  
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