Environment news

• Why the UK needs a full peat compost ban

  17-11-2020 22:30
  
  Bags are still on sale despite a phasing out in England for amateur usersGrowing plants, both in houses and gardens, has been hugely popular this year, helping to raise spirits during the coronavirus lockdowns. But gardeners and the horticulture industry often use peat compost from peatlands.Peatlands hold vast amounts of carbon that was absorbed by living sphagnum moss. When the moss dies it does not fully decompose in the waterlogged ground, and healthy peatlands can lock away the carbon for t
  
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• Weatherwatch: How increased Arctic shipping affects cloud formation

  23-07-2026 07:00
  Shipping routes opened by climate change mean more industrial pollutants in the airThe gradual reduction in Arctic ice has started to open up new shipping routes, with marine traffic increasing by about 40% over the past 12 years. All these ships leave trails of pollutants in the air, which are already having a measurable climate effect.Aerosol particles in engine exhaust act as nuclei for water droplets, promoting cloud formation. Like aircraft, ships may leave contrails behind them in the sky.
  
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• Besieged by lobbyists, will UK ministers protect our ecosystems? No, they’ll chicken out | George Monbiot

  23-07-2026 07:00
  Industrial poultry farming is killing our rivers. But rather than stop it, the government has been facilitating it. Will Andy Burnham end this ecocide?There’s a slightly mean question I often ask British people with an interest in the living world: can you name the environment secretary? I don’t intend to show them up: it’s not them I’m testing. I watch the brows knit, a finger go up, the mouth open and close. “It’s, you know, the one who … no, they wen
  
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• ‘People are scared their neighbours will call the police on them’: how the hosepipe ban got caught up in the culture wars

  23-07-2026 06:00
  While many people in the UK recognise the need to preserve water, others are furious and planning to flout the ban in their area. The target of their anger? Failing water companies and frighteningly thirsty datacentres‘Plants are like your babies,” says Harry. And accordingly, he argues, most people would do anything to keep them alive, including break the law. This is what he plans to do this week – defying a hosepipe ban in place across large parts of England, to ensure his s
  
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• Climate crisis-driven heat ‘sucking soils dry’ as extreme drought hits Europe

  23-07-2026 06:00
  
  Analysis shows how heatwaves are making atmosphere thirstier, damaging water supplies, food production and power generationExtreme heat supercharged by the climate crisis is sucking Europe dry in summer and intensifying the drought hitting the continent, a scientific analysis has found.Record-breaking heatwaves meant the hot atmosphere strongly evaporated water from rivers, lakes, soils and plants – conditions made 80 times more likely by global heating in western Europe and 40 times more
  
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• Nicola Jennings on drought-hit Britain – cartoon

  22-07-2026 19:27
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• One billion plastic pellets spilled into River Tyne after two ships collide

  22-07-2026 18:14
  Up to 25 tonnes of nurdles, the raw material for plastic manufacturing, have spread further than initially fearedApproximately a billion tiny plastic nurdles have entered the River Tyne after a “devastating spill”, with the pellets thought to have spread much further than first thought.Nurdles, which are usually 1mm-5mm in size, act as the raw material to manufacture most plastic products. Continue reading...
  
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• The human fridge: is this really the best way to cool down in a ‘cruelly hot’ climate?

  22-07-2026 18:11
  A ‘personal cooling booth’ that promises to chill you out in 10 minutes has launched in Japan, with its makers claiming it beats air-conditioning or a fanName: The human fridge.Age: Brand new. Continue reading...
  
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• Billion plastic pellets spilled into UK river after two ships collide

  22-07-2026 17:34
  Up to 25 tonnes of nurdles, the raw material for plastic manufacturing, have spread further than initially fearedApproximately a billion tiny plastic nurdles have entered the River Tyne after a “devastating spill”, with the pellets thought to have spread much further than first thought.Nurdles are tiny pellets, usually about 1-5mm in size, that act as the raw material to manufacture most plastic products. Continue reading...
  
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• Great Barrier Reef microbiome mapped as researchers discover 500 bacterial species previously unknown to science

  22-07-2026 17:00
  Research identifies 808,585 viral genomes belonging to what scientists estimate to be 362,802 different virusesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastMore than a decade after the human microbiome was comprehensively mapped, scientists have now identified the vast communities of microbes that make up the Great Barrier Reef.Analysing DNA from seawater samples of 48 reefs, researchers have mapped the microbiome of the Great Barrier Reef, documenting more than 360,000 distinct vi
  
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• Food price fears after Europe’s heatwave destroys estimated €2bn of crops

  22-07-2026 16:12
  Record June temperatures expected to cut grain harvest by 9m tonnes to its lowest level since 2018 The heatwave that swept across Europe in June is estimated to have cost the continent’s grain farmers €2bn (£1.7bn) in lost revenue and destroyed 9m tonnes of crops, sparking concern about the impact on the price of food.Coceral, the European cereals and oilseeds trade association, made the estimate for the harvest of crops such as wheat, barley, maize and oats following the heatwa
  
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• Sperm whales change ‘vowel’ sounds when boats are nearby, scientists discover

  22-07-2026 15:00
  Researchers listening off the Caribbean island of Dominica found variations in the mammals’ audible clicks when marine traffic was closeSperm whales produce a specific pattern of clicking noises when they hear the noise of boats, researchers have found. The pattern is so distinct that the scientists who identified it said they can now use it to predict when ships are nearby.Researchers from Project Ceti (the Cetacean Translation Initiative), a non-profit research organisation working to de
  
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• Six beluga whales finally leave embattled Canadian marine park

  22-07-2026 13:48
  Whales flown to US aquariums after long-running saga in which Marineland had threatened to euthanise themSix beluga whales have at last left Marineland, the embattled Canadian marine park in Niagara Falls that previously threatened to kill its own animals, and are arriving at US aquariums this week.While the whales’ journey into the US marks the end of their long and controversial saga of captivity in Canada, advocates say the new conditions, though superior to Marineland, could bring cont
  
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• The world is on fire, and who does Trump blame? The Canadians | Arwa Mahdawi

  22-07-2026 12:00
  The US president has been complaining about Canada’s ‘filthy, polluted and unhealthy air’. Maybe he should put all that energy into tackling the climate crisisRight, that’s it: we’ve got to do something about Canada. The country’s wildfires, which resulted in air quality alerts across more than 20 US states, ruined my weekend. On Friday the air in Philadelphia, where I live, was so unhealthy I couldn’t go outside without my eyes stinging. My kid’s
  
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• It cost £2.1bn to divert a river in Brazil’s outback. So where has all the water gone?

  22-07-2026 12:00
  Despite official claims that the São Francisco River project supplies 12m people, many of those who had to make way for its construction in 2007 still have no water at allA concrete canal cutting through the Caatinga scrubland feeds a surface reservoir two and a half miles from Maria de Fátima Ferreira da Silva’s home in rural Brazil. The canal passes Sertânia and continues until it reaches Monteiro, the next town along, where it spills its precious cargo into the bed o
  
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• ​World’s largest meat company faces legal challenge over green credentials of $6bn global expansion

  22-07-2026 08:00
  Greenpeace petitions Dutch courts to order JBS to disclose how its aims are compatible with responsibilities to climate and human rightsThe world’s biggest meat company, JBS, faces a landmark legal challenge to disclose how its $6bn (£4.5bn) global expansion plan is compatible with responsibilities to the climate, nature and human rights.Courts in the Netherlands, where JBS is headquartered, will assess the petition filed by Greenpeace for information on whether the company is compli
  
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• ​World largest meat company faces legal challenge over green credentials of $6bn global expansion

  22-07-2026 08:00
  Greenpeace petitions Dutch courts to order JBS to disclose how its aims are compatible with responsibilities to climate and human rightsThe world’s biggest meat company, JBS, faces a landmark legal challenge to disclose how its $6bn (£4.5bn) global expansion plan is compatible with responsibilities to the climate, nature and human rights.Courts in the Netherlands, where JBS is headquartered, will assess the petition filed by Greenpeace for information on whether the company is compli
  
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• Japan swelters through rising heat – in pictures

  22-07-2026 07:15
  For Japan, days where the mercury soars above 40C now have their own term – kokushobi (酷暑日), or ‘cruelly hot day’, as rising temperatures cause heatstroke deaths and impact on crop yields across the countryJapan records its first ‘cruelly hot day’ as cities swelter in 40-degree heat Continue reading...
  
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• ‘Risking blackouts’? How Great Britain’s grid operator was dragged into a political row

  22-07-2026 07:00
  Neso denies allegations aired by Tory MP that staff took part in cover-up over decision-making in heatwaveIn a control room in Wokingham, Berkshire, staff work around the clock, minute by minute, to align Great Britain’s fluctuating power supplies with its ever-changing demand.However, as households struggle to adapt to soaring summer temperatures, staff at the government-owned National Energy System Operator (Neso), tasked with keeping the lights on, have faced the kind of challenge usual
  
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• Country diary: With a flick of its tail, the fragile baby lobster vanishes into a rock pool | Charlie Elder

  22-07-2026 06:30
  Trevone Bay, Cornwall: The odds of survival of these juveniles raised in a hatchery are 1,000 times greater than if they had been born in the wildAs I tipped the plastic pot, the juvenile lobster edged forwards, seemingly reluctant to take the plunge. Barely a couple of centimetres long, it had been nurtured through the perilous first weeks of life. Now it was free to roam the sea, with all the risks that entailed.Shaped like a miniature clothes peg, tiny claws spread wide, it gave a f
  
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• ‘A great thrill’: baby puffin is first one seen on Dorset coast in three decades

  22-07-2026 06:00
  Puffling excites volunteers trying to save the last known regular nesting site on mainland of southern EnglandFor years, volunteers have craned their necks and tested their patience to peer into the crevices of the cliffs hoping for a glimpse of fluffy joy.Finally it all paid off as a puffling – baby puffin – poked its way into the sunshine, becoming the first to be spotted on the coast of Dorset in southern England for three decades. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘Saved my bacon every summer’: 12 things our writers use to keep cool on hot, sticky days

  21-07-2026 21:15
  Portable fans, a ‘cooling necklace’, sun protective hats and more products we reach for when the heat won’t quitSign up for the Filter US newsletter, your weekly guide to buying fewer, better thingsIf you’ve stepped outside lately, you know the heat isn’t letting up. With another round of triple-digit temperatures and heat advisories blanketing parts of the US, we asked our writers to share the things they rely on when summer gets unbearable.They shared recommendati
  
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• Millions face long-term coastal flooding risk in UK without climate action, scientists warn

  21-07-2026 19:00
  A ‘reasonable worst-case scenario’ suggests need for large-scale movement of populations away from reshaped coastUp to 13 million people in the UK face the long-term risk of coastal flooding due to the climate crisis, scientists have warned, with a “reasonable worst-case scenario” suggesting the need for the large-scale movement of populations away from a dramatically reshaped coast.Even if today’s global pledges to cut carbon pollution are met, about 1.4 million mo
  
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• Tick bites are on the rise in the US and UK. Here’s how to protect yourself

  21-07-2026 18:00
  Experts share tips to avoid the blood-sucking pests that can transmit Lyme disease and other illnesses on to humansI won’t go into gory detail about the tick I found latched behind my ear approximately 35 hours after a hike in early June. Suffice it to say, the parasite was well fed, and I was horrified.I am far from alone in making such a disgusting discovery. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), emergency room visits for tick bites have been unusually high i
  
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• Thames Water joins hosepipe ban as England and Wales approach drought status

  21-07-2026 16:05
  About 23 million people across country affected by water-saving measures with ‘prolonged dry weather’ in eight areasHow can I water my garden in a hosepipe ban and will there be drought this summer?Thames Water investors offer ‘golden share’ in bid to head off nationalisationAbout 23 million people will be banned from using hosepipes by this weekend, as England and Wales moves closer to drought status.On Tuesday Thames Water became the latest water company to announce a h
  
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• How can I water my garden in a hosepipe ban and will there be drought this summer?

  21-07-2026 13:29
  
  Millions of people in southern England and parts of Wales face restrictions after prolonged periods of hot weatherMillions of people across southern England are subject to hosepipe bans after prolonged periods of extreme heat and reduced rainfall. On Tuesday, Thames Water, Britain’s biggest water company, announced a ban starting on Thursday. Here, the Guardian answers questions about what the restriction means for you. Continue reading...
  
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• Country diary: I’m immersed in the rich, chromatic aura of a summer meadow | Mark Cocker

  21-07-2026 06:30
  Hartington Meadows, Derbyshire: Amid a complex reticulation of stalks, stems, blooms and leaves, the right response might be to drop down before itIn his glorious poem Haymaking, about a flower meadow, Edward Thomas describes how the fiery day “had a kernel sweet of cold” and “the white empty road was lightly strewn/With leaves”. The heat here, however, was unrelieved, and if the road was empty, it was also liquefying at its margin. Sweat banded my cap and ran in the crea
  
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• Not enough water for UK’s datacentre plans, trade body says

  21-07-2026 06:00
  Industry says government’s failure to address cooling demands means AI growth plans are ‘fatally flawed’The UK will not have enough water for future datacentres, the water industry has said in stark criticism of the government’s AI growth plans.Datacentres rely on large amounts of water to manage the heat generated by densely packed servers. Cooling towers, chillers and humidification systems make direct use of this water, with large volumes also consumed indirectly throu
  
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• Tropical Storm Bertha threatens US Gulf coast

  21-07-2026 04:42 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Storm surges up to 4ft are possible along parts of the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts, officials say.
  
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• Is UK facing drought for second summer in a row?

  21-07-2026 02:12 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The longest dry spell in over 30 years for central England raises concerns about drought and when it might rain.
  
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