British-grown fruit much bigger after unusual winter and spring conditions led to slower ripeningTennis fans may be treated to juicier strawberries at Wimbledon this year after a wet and dark winter slowed the growing times, resulting in bigger and more flavoursome fruits.Growers said the further wet and cold weather this spring, as well as less sunlight, has delayed the British strawberry season by a fortnight this year, with the main harvest expected at the end of May. Continue reading...
One way to mitigate he eco-guilt of a to-go habit is to choose restaurants that serve food in sustainable containersGetting restaurant meals to-go often comes with a side of guilt: did I need to supersize? I should have saved the money and cooked at home." And the final sting, perhaps muttered while hovering over the trash and recycling bins deciding where to toss the empty boxes: Oh, the waste."Dietary and budgeting concerns notwithstanding, one way to mitigate the environmental impact (or the eco-guilt) of a takeout habit is to choose restaurants that serve their food in more sustainable containers. Continue reading...
Trust builds passes under road bisecting Berkshire commons for increasingly endangered venomous snakeHow did the adder cross the road? It didn't - it was too scared.Now, however, road-shy populations of the increasingly endangered snake are being given a helping hand with the construction of Britain's first adder tunnels. Continue reading...
NFU's director of strategy asked for review of EU-derived protections as part of post-Brexit loosening of rulesThe National Farmers' Union lobbied to increase the amount of pesticides allowed in the UK's drinking water and to allow farmers to spread manure more frequently as part of a post-Brexit loosening of environmental regulations, it can be revealed.Nick von Westenholz, the director of strategy for the lobby group, met Timothy Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, the Earl of Minto, who is the minister of state for regulatory reform, last year and asked him to review EU-derived environmental protections. Continue reading...
Waste and cost among drawbacks, as researchers say renewables could power UK entirelyIn the battle to prevent the climate overheating, wind and solar are making impressive inroads into the once dominant market share of coal. Even investors in gas plants are increasingly seen as taking a gamble.With researchers at Oxford and elsewhere agreeing that the UK could easily become entirely powered by wind and solar - with no fossil fuels required - it seems an anomaly that nuclear power is still getting the lion's share of taxpayer subsidies to keep the ailing industry alive. Continue reading...
Trust aims to boost small pearl-bordered fritillary colonies in Shropshire Hills by planting 20,000 violets this year for their caterpillarsA mass planting of marsh violets across England's Shropshire Hills is to take place to try to prevent further decline of the small pearl-bordered fritillary or Boloria selene, a rare UK butterfly.The small pearl-bordered fritillary's distribution across the UK has plunged 71% since the mid 1970s and the species is now listed as vulnerable, according to the 2022 state of UK butterflies report. Continue reading...
Sugar's texture and taste can be as individualistic as coffee beans or wine grapes grown in specific regions, but most of us don't know thatOne night, I was preparing steak for dinner and mistakenly reached for the wrong white granulated substance. Instead of salting my steak to create a brown crust by searing, I created a brown crust with notes of caramel.Ethan Frisch, co-founder of Burlap & Barrel, an artisanal spice company that works with small producers worldwide, laughed wryly when he heard this story over Zoom. This is the first time in history anyone could make that mistake. Refined, white-bleached sugar is a very modern development in the centuries-old sugar industry. Sugar is brown! It's only white when you do a lot of work to remove the brownness." Continue reading...
Trump promised to 20 executives at Mar-a-Lago dinner to increase oil drilling and reverse pollution rules among other pitchesDonald Trump dangled a brazen deal" in front of some of the top US oil bosses last month, proposing that they give him $1bn for his White House re-election campaign and vowing that once back in office he would instantly tear up Joe Biden's environmental regulations and prevent any new ones, according to a bombshell new report.According to the Washington Post, the former US president made his jaw-dropping pitch, which the paper described as remarkably blunt and transactional", at a dinner at his Mar-a-Lago home and club. Continue reading...
The 44ft-long whale corpse was an endangered sei whale, which will now be examined to determine how it diedA cruise ship has journeyed into New York City's harbor bearing a gruesome cargo in the form of a huge, dead whale sprawled across its bow.The incident happened on Saturday, according to local US media reports, and the event is being held by some as further evidence of the unfortunate impact on sea life that large vessels can have. Continue reading...
Andreas B. Heide has been shortlisted for a Shackleton award for his work in the far north, getting up close to nature to connect people emotionally with a fragile ecosystemTo say the images of Andreas B. Heide during his working day are dramatic is an understatement: a freediver deep underwater in a black wetsuit, his lean silhouette enhanced by powerful bladed fins, looking up towards a group of orcas; or standing on an ice sheet next to a small sailboat in the Arctic, amid a sea full of dangerous looking ice floes in poor visibility.But for the marine biologist and adventurer, plunging into freezing waters with orcas or embarking on a 4,500-mile sailing expedition from the Arctic north to the UK and back, documenting whale behaviour and their dramatic encounters with polar bears, whales and walruses, is all part and parcel of storytelling that he hopes can ultimately change human behaviour. He works with scientists and conservationists, photographers and drone pilots, to underline the importance of conservation in the extreme north, under challenging conditions.The crew land at the Sjuoyane, Svalbard 2023, wearing a rifle for polar bear protection. From left: Zimbabwean sailor Tawanda Chikasha; Andreas B. Heide; Spanish marine biotechnologist Almu Alvarez; and Norwegian photographer Tord Karlsen. Photograph: Tord Karlsen/Barba Continue reading...
If passed, the groundbreaking measure could be a model for other states to hold fossil fuel companies liableVermont is poised to pass a groundbreaking measure forcing major polluting companies to help pay for damages caused by the climate crisis, in a move being closely watched by other states including New York and California.Modeled after the Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund program, which forces companies to pay for toxic waste cleanup, the climate superfund bill would charge major fossil fuel companies doing business within the state billions of dollars for their past emissions. Continue reading...
The discovery of these underwater hot springs in 1977 solved the mystery of how life first began on Earth, but it was locating the world's most famous shipwreck that made me a celebrityThe mid-ocean ridge is where the Earth creates its outer skin. It's called the boundary of creation. We knew there was life on the bottom of the ocean but not entire ecosystems supporting large animals until our expedition went down there in 1977.First, we sent down an unmanned vehicle called Angus, which was essentially a camera system and strobe lights within a two-tonne steel cage. It was going down in the eternal darkness, slaloming back and forth like a skier down a mountain. Continue reading...
by All photographs and text by Sean Smith on (#6MNZD)
The island nation is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world, as changing weather patterns bring more dry spells and unpredictable rainy seasons. Sean Smith travelled to the south to meet those affected and to report on the ways they are trying to prepare for an altered future Continue reading...
Government's failure to match EU measures to improve condition of rivers, lakes and oceans called deeply concerning'England's rivers are likely to remain in a poor state for years to come because the government is failing to put in place EU clean water laws post-Brexit, the watchdog has found.When Britain was a member of the EU, the government was required to follow the water framework directive (WFD), standards for waterways that have been credited with cleaning up Europe's dirty water.Under their worst-case assessment, just 21% of surface waters will be in a good ecological state by 2027, representing only a 5% improvement on the current situation. This would break the Environment Act, which aims to improve air and water quality, protect wildlife, increase recycling and reduce plastic waste.There is insufficient funding to meet the targets, meaning that under the WFD ministers are being compelled by the OEP to write a new, properly funded plan to protect the country's waters. The Environment Agency has calculated a cost of 51bn to clean up England's waters, which would provide 64bn in monetisable benefits. However, confirmed funding of only 6.2bn is just 12% of that required.There is not enough monitoring taking place to find out the state of England's waterways, making it nigh on impossible to clean them up. Continue reading...
Climate chaos is threatening food production, trade and lives, says World Meteorological OrganizationHunger and disease are rising in Latin America after a year of record heat, floods and drought, a report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has shown.The continent, which is trapped between the freakishly hot Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, probably suffered tens of thousands of climate-related deaths in 2023, at least $21bn (17bn) of economic damage and the greatest calorific loss" of any region, the study found. Continue reading...
Scientists reclassify Humboldt glacier, also known as La Corona, after it melted faster than expectedVenezuela has lost its last remaining glacier after it shrunk so much that scientists reclassified it as an ice field.It is thought Venezuela is the first country to have lost all its glaciers in modern times. Continue reading...
Also known as devil birds' for their haunting scream, they are just starting to arrive from sub-Saharan AfricaMay Day dawns cold and breezy, with sullen grey clouds promising rain. Hope seems very far away. But then, a distant dark streak scythes through the skies over the Avalon Marshes, stiff-winged, direct and determined. A single swift, my first of the year.As I do every spring, I silently recite the words of the poet Ted Hughes: They've made it again, which means the globe's still working ... " Continue reading...
by Jillian Ambrose Energy correspondent on (#6MMXX)
Report says humans may be on brink of cutting fossil fuel generation, even as demand for electricity risesRenewable energy accounted for more than 30% of the world's electricity for the first time last year following a rapid rise in wind and solar power, according to new figures.A report on the global power system has found that the world may be on the brink of driving down fossil fuel generation, even as overall demand for electricity continues to rise. Continue reading...
The US cattle industry adopted a climate neutral' goal in 2021 but scientists say that misses the point' in keeping global temperature rises below 1.5C
Campaigners appalled' as French energy company EDF gets go-ahead for next stage of projectA planned nuclear power station at Sizewell in Suffolk has been granted the first site licence in more than a decade as investors and government officials race to finalise a deal for the multibillion-pound project this year.The licence from the nuclear regulator is considered a milestone for EDF, which plans to build Sizewell C as a replica of its Hinkley Point C project in Somerset, which has been dogged by delays and cost overruns. Continue reading...
Charity asks people to charm worms to the surface and count their numbers to contribute to worm map of UKDancing for worms may seem an odd pursuit, but an environment charity is calling for people across the UK to charm the creatures from the depths in order to count them.The Soil Association is trying to get a nationwide picture of worm abundance, to track their decline and see where they need the most help. Continue reading...
by Nina Lakhani climate justice reporter on (#6MMA9)
Outgoing special rapporteur David Boyd says there's something wrong with our brains that we can't understand how grave this is'The race to save the planet is being impeded by a global economy that is contingent on the exploitation of people and nature, according to the UN's outgoing leading environment and human rights expert.David Boyd, who served as UN special rapporteur on human rights and the environment from 2018 to April 2024, told the Guardian that states failing to take meaningful climate action and regulating polluting industries could soon face a slew of lawsuits. Continue reading...
Abalobi provides a real-time marketplace for fishers to sell their catch, while also monitoring fish populations, and the tech could go globalThe 59-year-old Wilfred Poggenpoel is a fisher from Lambert's Bay, a picturesque town 170 miles north of Cape Town that's popular with surfers and home to 17,000 breeding pairs of Cape gannets. Five years ago, he made the decision to join a virtual marketplace called Abalobi, which enables fishers such as him to sell their catch directly to restaurants, retailers and consumers using a custom-built app.I get a better price and I can sell more species now," he says. I've bought a 60-horsepower motor that I'd never have been able to afford before. I've bought a second boat." He joined, he says, because he didn't want to spend all day walking around town in the sun trying to sell fish. My quality of life has improved. I've even been able to help some old people in the community." Continue reading...
Your daily caffeine habit is not good for the planet. Thankfully, researchers are finding alternatives to ground coffee beansName: Synthetic coffee.Age: Three. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Mukhtar Babayev says clear accounting crucial to build trust as developing world seeks trillions in supportPoor countries must demonstrate clearer accounting and transparency to back up their calls for trillions of dollars of climate finance, the president of global climate negotiations has said.Mukhtar Babayev, the ecology minister of Azerbaijan, who will lead the Cop29 UN climate summit in November, urged governments in developing countries to draw up reports showing their progress on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, and their spending on the climate crisis. Continue reading...
This part of South America is no stranger to major rainfall, but last week's storms were particularly devastatingTorrential rainstorms in Brazil's southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul have caused the worst flooding the country has seen in 80 years, many deaths and the displacement of thousands of families. Central parts of the state were hit the hardest after the storms began last Monday, with unofficial weather stations in the area recording 50-100cm (20-40in) of rain over the past week.Widespread floods and landslides have caused major damage to homes and infrastructure, most alarmingly triggering the partial collapse of a small hydroelectric dam on Thursday, which sent a 2-metre-high wave through the surrounding area. At least 57 deaths have been reported and 24,000 people have been displaced, alongside an estimated 500,000 being without power and clean water. Continue reading...
Union cites extreme wet weather and post-Brexit phasing-out of EU subsidies as main reasons for slumpFarmers' confidence has hit its lowest level in at least 14 years, a long-running survey by the biggest farming union in Britain has found, with extreme weather and the post-Brexit phasing-out of EU subsidies blamed for the drop.The National Farmers' Union warned there had been a collapse of confidence" and that the outlook was at its lowest since the annual poll of its members in England and Wales began in 2010. Continue reading...
Officials in Rio Grande do Sul state say more than 80,000 have been displaced by record water levelsSeventy-five people are now known to have died in the flooding in Brazil's southern Rio Grande do Sul state, while more than 100 people remain missing, local authorities said on Sunday.The state's civil defence authority said 101 people were unaccounted for and more than 80,000 had been displaced after record-breaking floods swept across the state, which borders Uruguay and Argentina. Continue reading...
About 6,000 have been installed this year, a quarter of them rapid chargers that can power up a car in under an hourThe UK has installed a record number of public electric car chargers this year, as companies race to keep up with the growing number of battery vehicles on British roads.Nearly 6,000 new chargers were installed during the first three months of 2024, according to quarterly figures from data company Zapmap published by the Department for Transport. About 1,500 of those were rapid chargers, capable of charging a car in less than an hour. Continue reading...
by Michael Gonzalez in Eagle Pass, Texas on (#6MJY3)
Greg Abbott's strategy to deter immigration isn't just harming people and costing billions - it's ruining the Rio Grande's ecosystemStrong-arm strategies by Texas along the US-Mexico border have eroded more than human rights for migrants seeking asylum in the US; they have degraded the environment - and now the destruction is escalating.In the hotspot of Eagle Pass, environmental damage from years of expansion of anti-migration security measures can be seen everywhere. Continue reading...
Organisers of this year's environmental conference hope cooperation on green issues could help ease global tensionsThis year's Cop29 UN climate summit will be the first Cop of peace", focusing on the prevention of future climate-fuelled conflicts and using international cooperation on green issues to help heal existing tensions, according to plans being drawn up by organisers.Nations may be asked to observe a Cop truce", suspending hostilities for the fortnight-long duration of the conference, modelled on the Olympic truce, which is observed by most governments during the summer and winter Olympic Games. Continue reading...
by Jon Ungoed-Thomas, Aneesa Ahmed and Geneva Abdul on (#6MJDE)
Water bottle stations set up in St Leonards-on-Sea and part of Hastings as Southern Water customers face days without serviceSouthern Water was criticised this weekend for overseeing a debacle" after a mains pipe burst, leaving 31,000 properties in Hastings and St Leonards without water.There were long traffic queues leading to just four bottled water stations after supplies were cut off on Thursday. Businesses are expected to lose thousands of pounds, with the firm likely to face compensation claims. Continue reading...
Court hears effects of 2021 leak, in which thousand of gallons of fuel seeped into drinking water supply from US navy storage tankMilitary and civilian families told a federal judge this week they continue to be sickened, more than two years after a US navy underground fuel storage facility leaked thousands of gallons of jet fuel into Pearl Harbor's main drinking water and caused a water crisis in the Pacific.United States district court judge Leslie Kobayashi heard testimony from nearly a dozen impacted families suing the US government over the leak from the second world war era storage tanks that has resulted in vomiting, diarrhea, rashes and other ailments. Plaintiffs said the illnesses are connected to the tainted water serving the nearly 93,000 residents in and around Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. Continue reading...
Effects of heat are expected to worsen after bill prohibiting municipalities from enacting shade and water protection is passedFor Javier Torres and other workers whose jobs are conducted outdoors in south Florida, the heat is unavoidable. A new law recently signed by Ron DeSantis, Florida's Republican governor, that prohibits any municipalities in the state from passing heat protections for workers ensures that it is likely to stay that way.Torres has seen a co-worker die from heatstroke and another rushed to the emergency room in his years of working in construction in south Florida. He has also fallen and injured himself due to heat exhaustion. Continue reading...
The emergence of trillions of cicadas is under way in parts of the US - what should you do when they're around, and what on earth are zombie' cicadas?The cicadas are arriving. The periodic emergence of trillions of cicadas, on a scale not seen in several hundred years, is under way in parts of the US, with several states reporting the orange-eyed insects are bursting from their underground dormancy.Cicadas have started arriving earlier than expected in Illinois, a cicada hotspot this year, while there are reports of swarms emerging in Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee, along with some other states. Continue reading...
More frequent heatwaves mean bees are unable to thermoregulate their hives - further endangering a species already in declineBumblebee nests may be overheating, killing off broods and placing one of the Earth's critical pollinators in decline as temperatures rise, new research has found.Around the world, many species of Bombus, or bumblebee, have suffered population declines due to global heating, the research said. Bumblebee colonies are known for their ability to thermoregulate: in hot conditions, worker bees gather to beat their wings and fan the hive, cooling it down. But as the climate crisis pushes average temperatures up and generates heatwaves, bumblebees will struggle to keep their homes habitable. Continue reading...
Even products marketed as organic' may be toxic, say campaigners, with risks for the wider ecosystemGardeners are inadvertently killing scores of earthworms with soil conditioners marketed as organic", experts fear, as they call for tighter regulation on products that poison the invertebrates.Earthworms may appear humble, but Charles Darwin thought their work in improving soil structure and fertility was so important he devoted his final book to them and said: It may be doubted if there are any other animals which have played such an important part in the history of the world as these lowly organised creatures." Continue reading...
Officials say a landslide hit Luwu regency in South Sulawesi on Friday after torrential rain pounded the areaA flood and a landslide have hit Indonesia's Sulawesi island, killing at least 14 people, according to officials.The landslide hit Luwu regency in South Sulawesi on Friday just after 1am local time, Abdul Muhari, spokesperson of Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency (BNPB), said in a statement. Continue reading...
For 30 years, Brian McNeill hunted the world's second-biggest fish from small boats off the wild west coast of Ireland. Now the species has made a recovery so rapid it has astounded scientistsThe ambush was simple. A spotter on a hill would scan the sea and when he saw the big black fins approach, he would shout down to the boatmen. They would ready their nets and quickly row out to the kill zone.When a shark got tangled in the mesh, Brian McNeill would wait a minute or two while it struggled, then steady himself and raise his harpoon. This was the crucial moment. The creature would be diving and thrashing, desperate to escape. If the blade hit the gills blood would spurt, clouding the water. The trick was to hit a small spot between the vertebrae. Continue reading...
Science Advances report also finds people of color and low-income residents in US disproportionately affectedUsing a gas stove increases nitrogen dioxide exposure to levels that exceed public health recommendations, a new study shows. The report, published Friday in Science Advances, found that people of color and low-income residents in the US were disproportionately affected.Indoor gas and propane appliances raise average concentrations of the harmful pollutant, also known as NO, to 75% of the World Health Organization's standard for indoor and outdoor exposure. Continue reading...
Extraordinary general meeting of the UK writers' union narrowly voted against making an official protest at violence that has killed at least 95 journalists and media workers'The Society of Authors (SoA) has come under fire from all sides after members voted against a resolution demanding it issue an official statement condemning Israel's military action in Gaza.The campaign group Fossil Free Books (FFB) submitted two motions to the SoA, the UK's largest trade union for writers, illustrators and translators, triggering an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on Thursday night. Members voted 1,480 to 251 in favour of the first, which called for the publishing industry to divest from ties with the fossil fuels industry. Calls for the book industry to break ties with investment firm Baillie Gifford, which sponsors the UK's most prestigious nonfiction prize and a number of literary festivals, began after Greta Thunberg pulled out of her scheduled appearance at the Edinburgh international book festival last year. Since then, FFB was formed, and a number of authors have continued to speak out against Baillie Gifford, which has a proportion of its investments in corporations that profit from fossil fuels. Continue reading...
Environment | The Guardian