Environment news

• 'Zero tolerance' plan eyed for plastic pollution

  01-12-2017 08:56 via bbc.co.uk
  A plan to drastically cut plastic pollution of the oceans may be agreed at a UN summit.
  
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• ‘I’ve never watered it’: how an Australian groundskeeper achieved the world’s ugliest lawn

  23-01-2026 15:00 via theguardian.com
  Neighbours might look askance at Jarno Coone’s unkempt yard, but the local birds, bees and bats aren’t bothered by the aestheticsWhen they moved in about 13 years ago, there was plush green lawn out the front. Nowadays the grass is so high that neighbours fear it could be harbouring snakes. Even the meter reader is a bit wary.“I’d love to have snakes in the front yard. But they need water. And so they stay down by the river, which is a couple of blocks away,” says J
  
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• New filtration technology could be game-changer in removal of Pfas ‘forever chemicals’

  23-01-2026 14:00 via theguardian.com
  Researchers found a new way to filter and destroy Pfas chemicals at 100 times the rate of current systemsNew filtration technology developed by Rice University may absorb some Pfas “forever chemicals” at 100 times the rate than previously possible, which could dramatically improve pollution control and speed remediations.Researchers also say they have also found a way to destroy Pfas, though both technologies face a steep challenge in being deployed on an industrial scale. Continue r
  
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• Week in wildlife: a proud eagle, an adorable axolotl and a goofy seal

  23-01-2026 09:00 via theguardian.com
  This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...
  
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• Thailand’s endangered ‘sea cows’ are washing ashore – pointing to a crisis in our seas

  23-01-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  The Andaman Coast has one of the largest concentration of dugong in the world, so why are numbers falling dramatically and what can they tell us about a biodiversity warning cry• Don’t get Down to Earth delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereThailand’s Andaman Coast is home to one of the largest dugong populations in the world, with 273 of the plump marine mammals, sometimes called sea cows, estimated to be living there as of 2022. In recent years, though, more and more dead or st
  
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• Particle pollution in the Balkans is the highest in Europe, research finds

  23-01-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Study also says Balkan levels are often higher than in Beijing – and sometimes among the highest in the worldWhen we think of the world’s most polluted cities, images of Delhi or Beijing come to mind, but new data has revealed acute pollution problems close to the heart of Europe.Prof Andre Prevot, of the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Switzerland, explained: “In winter, the particle pollution in the Balkans is the highest in Europe. Particle pollution levels are often higher
  
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• Dramatic rise in water-related violence recorded since 2022

  23-01-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Experts say climate crisis, corruption and lack or misuse of infrastructure among factors driving water conflictsWater-related violence has almost doubled since 2022 and little is being done to understand and address the trend and prevent new and escalating risks, experts have said.There were 419 incidents of water-related violence recorded in 2024, up from 235 in 2022, according to the Pacific Institute, a US-based thinktank. Continue reading...
  
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• Country diary: Mammoth and bear, replaced by mattress and beer can | Michael J Warren

  23-01-2026 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Grays, Essex: I visit an unassuming gorge where a wealth of ice age fossils was once found, telling us about Britain’s megafauna – and NeanderthalsYou wouldn’t know the Lion Pit was there. This overgrown gorge exists quietly, without the sensation its name implies, below a housing estate, by Lakeside shopping centre and within earshot of the M25, wedged on all sides as tightly as the newbuilds that line its cliffs. This is industrial West Thurrock, far south Essex, where t
  
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• Indonesia takes action against mining firms after floods devastate population of world’s rarest ape

  23-01-2026 06:00 via theguardian.com
  Conservationists hail the ‘desperately needed’ measures and urge greater protection after up to 11% of endangered Tapanuli orangutans wiped outThe floods and landslides that tore through Indonesia’s fragile Batang Toru ecosystem in November 2024 – killing up to 11% of the world’s Tapanuli orangutan population – prompted widespread scrutiny of the extractive companies operating in the area at the time of the ecological catastrophe.For weeks, investigators searc
  
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• European cold snap may increase bird migration to UK

  23-01-2026 06:00 via theguardian.com
  This year’s RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch, which begins on Friday, could reveal ‘some surprise migratory visitors’The chances of spotting a fieldfare or redwing in 2026 have risen, thanks to cold and unsettled weather in Europe, prompting a bumper year in birds migrating to the UK.The RSPB highlighted the trend on the eve of the Big Garden Birdwatch, an annual event that constitutes the world’s largest garden wildlife survey, which will take place between 23 and 25 January. C
  
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• ‘An environmental nuclear bomb’: documentary examines fight to save Great Salt Lake

  23-01-2026 01:15 via theguardian.com
  Sundance film festival: A cautionary new film, executive-produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, warns of the devastating consequences if the Utah lake continues to disappearThe Sundance film festival kicked off its final edition on Thursday in Park City, the Utah ski enclave that has housed the independent film hub for more than four decades. Beginning in 2027, the festival will move to Boulder, Colorado, after a multi-year selection process that many assumed would end in Salt Lake City.Utah’s lar
  
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• MPs ask Serious Fraud Office to investigate UK home insulation sector

  23-01-2026 01:01 via theguardian.com
  More than 30,000 households left with defects after ‘catastrophic failure’ of Tory government schemesMembers of parliament have called for the Serious Fraud Office to investigate the UK’s home insulation sector, after thousands of householders suffered ruined homes, big financial losses and months of disruption from the “clear and catastrophic failure” of two Conservative government schemes.More than 30,000 households were left with defects, some of them severe, inc
  
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• New wood-burning stoves to carry health warnings in UK plan

  22-01-2026 14:56 via theguardian.com
  Pollution from wood burners kills thousands but proposed emissions limit would cut toxic particles by 10%New wood-burning stoves will carry a health warning highlighting the impact of the air pollution they produce, under UK government plans.Ministers have also proposed cutting the limit on the smoke emitted from wood burners by 80%. However, the measure would only apply to new stoves, most of which already meet the stricter limit. The new limit would cut the annual toxic emissions from wood bur
  
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• A bid to clean up shipping industry intensified a coral bleaching event on Great Barrier Reef, study says

  22-01-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  The removal of sulphur from shipping fuels caused ‘a lot of extra sunlight’ to get through atmosphere and hit reef in 2022Steps to clean up the shipping industry by removing sulphur from fuels intensified a major coral bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef by allowing more of the sun’s energy to hit the oceanic wonder, according to a new study.Sulphur pollution can cause respiratory problems for humans and cause acid rain, but it also has a shading effect and can make clou
  
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• Blind, slow and 500 years old – or are they? How scientists are unravelling the secrets of Greenland sharks

  22-01-2026 11:00 via theguardian.com
  Described by one researcher as looking ‘already dead’, the enigmatic creatures are one of the least understood species on the planetIt looks more like a worn sock than a fearsome predator. It moves slower than an escalator. By most accounts, it is a clumsy and near-sightless relic drifting in the twilight waters of the Arctic, lazily searching for food scraps.But the Greenland shark, an animal one researcher (lovingly) said, “looks like it’s already dead”, is also o
  
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• What happens when the taps run dry? England is about to find out | Aditya Chakrabortty

  22-01-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  It’s not just Tunbridge Wells – a country famous around the world for its rain is in danger of self-imposed droughtYou get up and go to the loo, only to find the flush doesn’t work. You try the shower, except nothing comes out. You want a glass of water, but on turning the tap there is not a drop. Your day stumbles on, stripped of its essentials: no washing hands, no cleaning up the baby, neither tea nor coffee, no easy way to do the dishes or the laundry. Dirt accumulates; tem
  
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• Schools, airports, high-rise towers: architects urged to get ‘bamboo-ready’

  22-01-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Manual for building design aims to encourage low-carbon construction as alternative to steel and concreteAn airport made of bamboo? A tower reaching 20 metres high? For many years, bamboo has been mostly known as the favourite food of giant pandas, but a group of engineers say it’s time we took it seriously as a building material, too.This week the Institution of Structural Engineers called for architects to be “bamboo-ready” as they published a manual for designing permanent b
  
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• Half the world’s 100 largest cities are in high water stress areas, analysis finds

  22-01-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: Beijing, Delhi, Los Angeles and Rio de Janeiro among worst affected, with demand close to exceeding supplyHalf the world’s 100 largest cities are experiencing high levels of water stress, with 39 of these sitting in regions of “extremely high water stress”, new analysis and mapping has shown.Water stress means that water withdrawals for public water supply and industry are close to exceeding available supplies, often caused by poor management of water resources exace
  
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• Country diary: Meet the kelo tree – dead, but refusing to fall | Paul Evans

  22-01-2026 06:30 via theguardian.com
  The Marches, Shropshire: Without its bark, this Scots pine’s life cycle has slowed, allowing it to stand tall in death for hundreds of years“The clown passeth by thee and heedeth thee not, / But thou’rt a warm source of reflection for me” wrote John Clare in To a Dead Tree. This clown has passeth an old dead tree in Attingham Park – at Atcham, near Shrewsbury – many times without much heedeth, but today, warmed by bright sunlight after weeks of cold weather, i
  
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• Wind and solar overtook fossil fuels for EU power generation in 2025, report finds

  22-01-2026 00:01 via theguardian.com
  Researchers say event described as ‘major tipping point’ for clean energy in era of destabilised politicsWind and solar overtook fossil fuels in the European Union’s power generation last year, a report has found, in a “major tipping point” for clean energy.Turbines spinning in the wind and photovoltaic panels lit up by the sun generated 30% of the EU’s electricity in 2025, according to an annual review. Power plants burning coal, oil and gas generated 29%. Co
  
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• Green spaces should be the norm for all new housing developments in England, guidelines say

  21-01-2026 19:23 via theguardian.com
  Experts say big flaw is the lack of mandatory requirements, meaning developers could ignore the guidanceHousing where shops, schools, public transport and possibly pubs are close by, with green spaces and access to nature, and where heritage is preserved, should be the norm for all new developments, according to guidelines set out by the government.King’s Cross in London, for example, where industrial buildings have been converted into shops, restaurants and public spaces, and where school
  
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• Scientific rigour and the dangers of microplastics | Letters

  21-01-2026 18:49 via theguardian.com
  Joe Yates, Prof Philip J Landrigan, Prof Jennifer Kirwan and Prof Jamie Davies respond to an article on doubts raised about studies on microplastics in the human bodyWhile it may be a belated Christmas present for the petrochemical industry, your article (‘A bombshell’: doubt cast on discovery of microplastics throughout human body, 13 January) was less surprising to the scientific community, where constructive debate around microplastic detection in humans has been ongoing for some
  
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• Oldest cave painting of red claw hand could rewrite human creativity timeline

  21-01-2026 17:00 via bbc.com
  A stencilled outline of a hand found on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi is the world's oldest known cave painting, researchers say.
  
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• Nature loss is a national security risk, intelligence group warns

  21-01-2026 16:08 via bbc.com
  The degradation of ecosystems around the world threatens UK food security, a long-awaited report says.
  
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• Why are British people so obsessed with bins? | Polly Hudson

  21-01-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Our nation’s fascination with rubbish knows no bounds – as was proved by one recent online debateEven if you’ve never been anywhere near it, the Mumsnet message board is legendary. Since it launched in 2000, it has changed the vernacular – “am I being unreasonable?” is not just a question, it’s a shorthand for the type of person who asks it – and introduced us to the penis beaker (one maverick husband’s postcoital hygiene regime, made infamou
  
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• Toby Carvery owner faces eviction from north London site for felling ancient oak

  21-01-2026 11:25 via theguardian.com
  Felling of 500-year-old oak has provoked fury from public and Enfield council, which leases land to Mitchells & ButlersThe restaurant chain Toby Carvery is facing eviction from one of its sites after taking a chainsaw to an ancient oak tree without the permission of its council landlord.The partial felling last April of the 500-year-old oak on the edge of a Toby Carvery car park in Whitewebbs Park, Enfield, provoked widespread public dismay and fury from Enfield council, which leases the lan
  
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• ‘Every time I look at one, I smile!’: how axolotls took over the world

  21-01-2026 11:00 via theguardian.com
  Our passion for these cute-looking salamanders means they are everywhere – except in the wild, where the species is under increasing threatAxolotls are the new llamas. Which were, of course, the new unicorns. Which triggered a moment for narwhals. If you are an unusual-looking animal, this is your time. Even humans who have never seen an axolotl – a type of salamander – in the smooth and slimy flesh will have met a cartoon or cuddly one. Mexican axolotls have the kind of look t
  
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• UK homes to get £15bn for solar and green tech to cut energy bills

  21-01-2026 10:00 via bbc.com
  The government has announced the details of its long-awaited Warm Homes Plan which promises to cut energy bills.
  
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• Plantwatch: Neighbouring plants warn each other about incoming stress

  21-01-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  A study of Arabidopsis thaliana plants found that plants growing together activated genes to protect themselves, while isolated plants did notPlants growing close to each other can warn each other about stresses in their lives.Thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) plants were grown on their own or crowded so close together they were touching each other. When all the plants were then stressed with intense light, the isolated plants suffered severe damage, but the crowds of plants were able to cope w
  
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• Half of world’s CO2 emissions come from just 32 fossil fuel firms, study shows

  21-01-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Critics accuse leading firms of sabotaging climate action but say data increasingly being used to hold them to accountJust 32 fossil fuel companies were responsible for half the global carbon dioxide emissions driving the climate crisis in 2024, down from 36 a year earlier, a report has revealed.Saudi Aramco was the biggest state-controlled polluter and ExxonMobil was the largest investor-owned polluter. Critics accused the leading fossil fuel companies of “sabotaging climate action”
  
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